Setting the pace to prosperity in Woodstock

Eleven months of 2013 beats 12 months of 2012

By Mark Schadenberg

In 12 months of 2012, there were 1065 reported sales in WIDREB.

In just 11 months of 2013, there were 1191 sales posted in the Woodstock-Ingersoll District Real Estate Board statistics.

Wow!

In the first 10 months of 2013 -- Jan 31 to Halloween night -- there were 1117 sales (*).

It is safe to say that even though market activity in November of 2013 was rather slow, overall 2013 has been quite a good year in this area.

Locally there always seems to be good news on the industrial front with the number and value of building permits, plus expansions, new lease deals (AGCO; www.agcocorp.com), relocations (Scholastic Books within Woodstock) and brand new arrivals.

The WIDREB residential board totals for November of 2013 were 67 residential units – a dip of just one versus 2012. The year of the roar (insert Lions Club of Woodstock plug here or link to a Katy Perry YouTube video perhaps) is ending with a meow, but all indications are 2014 will continue to mark a steady market in the Woodstock area – low interest rates, a desired Woodstock city council driven local possible expansion of Pattullo Ridge business park, (www.cometothecrossroads.com), and a relatively high optimism.

As a member of SOMA (Southern Ontario Marketing Alliance; www.somasite.com), Woodstock is in the middle (geographically and literally) earth of all talks about new commercial ventures rolling out in southern Ontario.

Woodstock is attractive with its location at 401 – 403, but since the city owns most of the best available industrial acres, the local economic development office can do three things: control the price of land for sale, steer prospects to the best location, and plan the servicing of said properties (roads and curbs, sewers and hydro).

Expanding residential subdivisions is good news for growth as Alder Grange grows east with a road appearing off Lakeview Drive, Sally Creek expands north toward the former Tollgate School, and the Builders Group (Reyneveld, Deroo bros, Oxford Builders, Goodman Homes) is always busy – now digging and drywalling east of Halifax in the northeast.

I will certainly post the year-end 2013 sales total when it becomes official in early January, but when you compare to the 10 previous years as noted below, the current calendar will likely be fifth out of 11.

* - Reported sales are MLS listings, so this would not include private sales and some builders' sales of custom homes that were never listed.  

Here are the year-by-year WIDREB final numbers.

2012: 1065                           

2011: 1159                           

2010: 1216                  

2009: 1080

2008: 1176                           

2007: 1359                           

2006: 1278                  

2005: 1473 (correct)

2004: 1366                           

2003: 1153

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.wesellwoodstock.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

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Rembrandt buys portion of old hospital grounds

Update on old Woodstock General includes purchaser of west parking lot

By Mark Schadenberg

It’s been quite some time since I devoted space here to the space of land devoted to the former Woodstock General Hospital on Riddell Street.

It would appear a familiar name to developments in Woodstock has purchased the land on the west side of Riddell, which previously was staff parking. 

As this parcel will have residences (to be determined in style) backing on to Brant, Graham and Riddell streets, I would think the City will pay close attention to the wishes of the neighbourhood residents when Rembrandt unveils its plan (of subdivision) – likely some time in the spring of 2014.

Locally, the London based Rembrandt is building the new 2-storey 3-bedroom townhouse condominiums at 176 Ferguson Road (Beacon’s Way, MLS: 70584, 70942, & 72116) and behind the Peace Lighthouse and current Ferguson homes. Rembrandt also built the ranch (1-floor and a basement) condos at both 450 and 500 Lakeview Drive in AlderGrange on the north side of Pittock pond.

Take it from someone who attended the public meetings, including a packed house for a geared-to neighbourly gathering at the Legion, either type of format is possible for this low residential zoning section.

The west portion of the hospital property is 1.97 acres and once included a house, but it was purchased by the hospital board many years ago so it could be converted into a controlled parking lot.

According to the Woodstock Sentinel-Review story (links below), the hospital board of trust fund will receive $500,000 for this land. Those dollars will go toward off-setting the costs of demolishing the entire hospital grounds.

The listing office was the commercial Realtors CBRE.

I’m not sure if there were any delays in this purchase process as no conditional sales were ever announced publicly and the deadline to submit a site proposal and accompanying bid was Aug. 15.

Across The Street

The block (Riddell frontage to Vincent and around Wellington and Brant) where the actual hospital stood, is about 6.4 acres, and there’s been no updates released to the public on any sales.

The original hospital had bricks and mortar dating back to 1895, but moving day was Nov. 20, 2011 (https://www.wgh.on.ca/wgh/images/stories/pdf/newsletters/comeda.pdf), so the olde medical facility ceased operations more the two years ago, and the site demolition work (Priestly Inc. from Aurora; www.priestly.ca) has included tons of recycling of materials (dollars recouped) and tons of non-useable and sometimes hazardous waste. (https://www.wgh.on.ca/wgh/images/stories/media/media%20release%20%20-%20demolition%20riddell%20property.pdf)

I for one look forward to the future of this quadrant of Woodstock as there is also a game plan to develop the nearby Beckett Farm Market lot as well.

LINKS:

TODAY

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2013/12/12/the-smaller-parcel-of-land-at-the-former-woodstock-general-hospital-has-sold

STORY FROM 2010

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2010/11/17/history-brought-to-light

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)

Royal LePage Triland Realty

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.wesellwoodstock.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

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Tillsonburg is terrific town too! Oxford County awaits you

Attracting new residents from GTA at fall home show

By Mark Schadenberg

TILLSONBURG – There are many reasons to reside in Oxford County, and in particular the Town of Tillsonburg, just ask the mayor.

The town’s mayor, John Lessif (pictured), is so convinced about the importance of promoting Tillsonburg as a place to call home, he attended a large home trade show in Toronto to promote the community at the south end of Oxford.

While Woodstock, K-W, Brantford, London and even Strathroy can brag about convenient locations along the 401 - 402 - 403 corridor in southern Ontario, many communities do not share that advantage. St. Thomas, Stratford, Simcoe and certainly Tillsonburg are just four of many locales who must attract residents and industry by promoting itself differently.

Tillsonburg, for example, is bringing back it’s outdoor New Year’s Eve party (see Tillsonburg News link).

With the cost-of-living so much lower in Tillsonburg versus the GTA, Lessif and other Tillsonburg promoters attended the International Fall Home Show (Nov 7 – 10) in Toronto and from their kiosk literally handed out 'Discover Tillsonburg' post cards.

“There are a lot of people who are looking to make a lifestyle change and we want Tillsonburg to be on their radar. It’s all about raising awareness,” said town businessperson Dominic Bradley (See: www.baldwinplace.ca – an adult lifestyle neighbourhood).

Colleen Pepper – Tillsonburg’s marketing and partnerships officer notes (Link: in the Tillsonburg News story) that the community has been gradually building up its marketing campaign, including much more than simple brochures and post cards.

“A lot of our time this year has been spent on creating tools that we can use over the next several years. We started 2013 without much in our marketing arsenal. Thanks to the combined contributions of the Town and our builder partners, we now have a beautiful new booth, signs, banners, and the consistent messaging we need to be successful in a competitive marketplace.”

I agree. While I reside in Woodstock, Tillsonburg would be a good choice for anyone to call home.  

LINKS:

www.discovertillsonburg.ca

http://www.tillsonburgnews.com/2013/12/06/tillsonburg-targets-gta-for-new-residents

http://www.tillsonburgnews.com/2013/12/06/tillsonburgs-new-years-eve-celebration-at-the-rotary-clock-tower-returns-after-one-year-hiatus

Specializing is residential re-sale in Woodstock and anywhere 

in Oxford County, and with 14 years full-time experience.

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Royal LePage Triland Realty

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.wesellwoodstock.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

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Several changes happening with postal service

Canada Post is losing millions of dollars, so it will discontinue all home delivery
As many as 8,000 jobs eliminated through attrition

By Mark Schadenberg

With the ease and instant reach and access of email (on your phone and where you are), along with online banking, it was inevitable that Canada Post would soon have to reduce its services offered.

If you live in a subdivision that is 20 years old or newer, you don’t receive home mail delivery.

I am surprised that Canada Post didn’t already have a system in place where homes that still (grand-fathered) had the luxury of door-to-door delivery would be receiving mail only three days per week.

The millions of dollars Canada Post is losing annually is obvious.

In the U.S., the postal service is billions and billions in the hole.

Check out a portion of this Reuters news story from Nov 15 about the U.S.:

"The U.S. Postal Service reported on Friday that it managed to slow the hemorrhaging of cash in its latest fiscal year, but said a legislative fix is still needed to put it on a sound financial footing.

The mail agency, which does not rely on taxpayer funds, said its loss for the 2013 fiscal year narrowed to $5 billion from nearly $16 billion in the prior year.

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) said it benefited from growth in its shipping and packages business as well as aggressive cost-cutting that included a drastic reduction in employee hours. But the agency is still struggling under the weight of heavy mandatory payments into its future retirees' health fund, which was mandated by Congress in 2006, as well as the continued slide in first-class mail, its most profitable product."

In Canada, the post office is a spoke of the wheel we call federal government – it’s a Crown Corporation. As we always say, there is just one tax payer, and the mail system is losing its shirt and socks currently.

Our door-to-door mail delivery will cease to exist by 1919 as Canada Post shifts everyone to super boxes on street corners (Or neighbourhood stores).

As many as 8,000 jobs will disappear through attrition over the next five years. Don’t think for a moment that won’t affect our unemployment numbers or employment opportunities as obviously Canada Post will no longer hire new people, but rather encourage current staff to retire.

Also, by March 31, you will have to purchase stamps in bulk at 85 cents each, or if you want to buy just one for Aunt Martha’s birthday card it will be $1.

This is important to me because with my current bout with arthritis, I have mailed about half my Christmas greetings (calendars) to past clients and friends.

Just as corner stores are hoping for the ability to sell beer (a story for another day), more variety stores will now have small post offices within to weigh parcels and sell stamps.

“Due to the lack of demand, mail volumes have dropped almost 25 per cent per address since 2008 and continue to fall. This is leading to a steep decline in revenues for Canada Post,” transport minister Lisa Raitt’s office wrote in a press release.

Less business, less volume of mail delivery and the result is Canada Post is using only red ink in its ledger in recent times.

The post office reported a loss before tax of $109-million for the third quarter of 2013, down from a loss of $145-million in the third quarter of 2012.
A key contributor to the loss was the fall in so-called transactional mail, which is down 184 million pieces or 5.1 per cent in the first nine months of the year, noted one news story.
Several links follow, including one from the bosses of Canada Post, and the Woodstock-area angle with comments.

LINKS:

http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/aboutus/news/pr/2013/2013_action_plan.jsf

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/12/11/canada_post_5_key_changes_you_need_to_know.html

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/12/11/canada_post_timeline.html

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/12/11/canada_post_to_announce_radical_changes_to_save_itself.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canada-post-delivery/article15868531/
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2013/12/12/woodstock-postal-union-representative-says-he-was-blindsided-by-canada-posts-announcements

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Royal LePage Triland Realty

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.wesellwoodstock.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

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Exterior of Ingersoll Lions Club home sees many improvements

Service club receives grant from Ontario Trillium Foundation

By Mark Schadenberg

INGERSOLL – Service clubs and volunteering are important to the heartbeat of all communities.

If the bricks and mortar of a service club’s home is beginning to crumble, how does that reflect on the community?

A hearty congratulations and a Lions ‘roar’ goes out to members of the Lions Club of Ingersoll for restoring its home at 58 Thames Street South.

Mostly due to a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the club recently completed its $60,000 renovation project. Among the improvements is a new furnace, exterior doors and siding.

Last month, with the exterior work completed, the Ingersoll fire department assisted in lifting the club’s lion statue back to the roof.

The Lions Club, which apparently shares their building with the Big Brothers / Big Sisters association of Ingersoll and Tillsonburg, will now shift their focus, according to an Ingersoll Times story, on updates to the club’s meeting area or den.

The story added that the Ingersoll Lions is apparently the only group in its zone which owns its own building.

Me In Woodstock

As a Lions Club of Woodstock member, I know our group calls the Legion Branch 55 on Brant Street home and has invested a lot (donations) to up-keep and improvements of the Legion, but the Lions locally are tenants. About 40 years ago, the Lions Club of Woodstock made significant contributions to the building of the Oxford Auditorium at the fairgrounds on Nellis Street, and more than 60 years ago built Lions Pool on VanSittart Ave.

LINK:

http://www.ingersolltimes.com/2013/11/26/lions-hall-renovations-complete

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Royal LePage Triland Realty

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.wesellwoodstock.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

www.markroyallepage.blogspot.com

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

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Canadian dollar at 93.65 . . . good or bad?

Where should the Loonie float versus the U.S. dollar?

By Mark Schadenberg

Firstly, even though I took an economics course at WCI in Grade 12 -- almost 30 years ago, I do not pretend to be an economist.

I don’t play an economist on TV either, but I am always told to be more economical in my verbiage (Rogers TV).

Therefore, if I say somewhere between 94 and 95 makes the most sense, I wouldn’t tell your friends about my number suggestions.

However, at the end of yesterday that number was sinking to just 93.65.

The level of the Canadian dollar greatly affects our economy – imports and exports – interest rates and consumers’ interest in crossing the border to shop.

The 93.65 score is a three-year low, actually dating back to May of 2010.

I don’t believe our economic machine works well unless our dollar is 95 or lower as too many jobs are moving to the U.S. and elsewhere.

It is often a silly scenario as the U.S. economy was stagnant and the government practically shutdown and a deficit in the trillions south of the border, how is it possible that the Canuck dollar is slipping against that benchmark Lincoln coinage?

Read The Globe And Mail story as many factors are presented, but it would appear an unchanged Bank of Canada interest rate (1.0) receives the most blame for a sliding Loonie.

Gordon Isfeld in the Financial Post wrote, as he explained his thoughts on Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz (pictured):

There are tentative signs that Canada’s economy is picking up speed. In the third quarter of this year, growth increased by a surprisingly strong 2.7% — though few economists expect that pattern to spill over into the fourth quarter.
Still, policymakers are forecasting the output gap — the difference between economic potential and actual activity — to close “around the end of 2015.”
That is the same timetable the bank sees for inflation to return to its 2% target — the midway point of its comfort zone of 1% to 3%. Statistics Canada’s consumer price index now sits at 0.7%.
Economists do not anticipate the bank adjusting rates an earlier than mid- to late 2015.

Economic numbers are always interesting to track and debate. As per usual, the links to published stories follow.

LINKS:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/currencies/loonie-down-traders-look-to-boc-improving-trade-data/article15758398/

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/12/04/bank-of-canada-dollar-poloz/

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Royal LePage Triland Realty

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.wesellwoodstock.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

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Christmas shopping for books by local authors

I say look for writers Doug Symons & Tom Ryerson 

By Mark Schadenberg

If you like to shop – Shop Local !

If you like to read -- Read Local !

I own several local history books and a few books penned by local authors. When you’re Christmas shopping, consider buying a local history book for a pal on your list.

Doug Symons and Thomas Ryerson are two local writers worth exploring.

‘Symon Says’ has been a column in The Sentinel-Review for many years and in 2011 he released a book called Memories of Yore, which compiles many old columns into a bound pages. Symons is 83, so his memories are abundant.

At the time of the book release – just in time for Xmas that year – Symons told The Sentinel about his inspiration for writing down his thoughts and memories of growing up in Woodstock and how it all relates to the community’s past. 

"It's done chronologically, sort of," he said. "It starts with (Sir John Graves Simcoe) and the very last page has a picture of Toyota.”

Yes, I lifted a quote from The Sentinel piece, but the full link can still be found below, which also includes: Bruce Urquhart, city editor from The Sentinel-Review:

“The once-reluctant history student could now teach a graduate class on local history. And if that class needed a textbook, Symons has already written a few, including the just-released Memories of Yore. His fifth book, Memories of Yore collects the best of his Sentinel-Review columns from recent years, offering another impressionistic and engaging look at the city's past. . . .

Merging his own recollections with research from the Woodstock Public Library, Woodstock Museum and other sources, Symons' newest history book is, in part, autobiographical, providing some of the historian's own perspectives and experiences as part of the stories.”

As a former Sentinel-Review editor myself and a current member of the Lions Club of Woodstock, I have known Doug for many many years. I also own copies of Giants Of Oxford and The Village that Straddled a Swamp. All three are available at Merrifield’s in Downtown Woodstock. If you find a copy in the store without a Doug Symons signature on it, call me and I will tell you where he lives.

As for Ryerson – the Woodstock resident and not the university in Toronto – his stories range from fantasy to fiction (and non-fiction), to thoughts and ideas ranging from life in the last few days of Earth (The Last Girl On Earth) to a strong society of 2061 in which everything appears to be aplenty (Fun City).

I didn’t call Tom before writing this entry, but I’m sure he would be most proud of the historical story, which requires a few interpretations and assumptions, and that would be A Big World as it’s a true attempt at a biography of William Edwy Ryerson, who cruised on the Titanic, and participated in both the First World War and Boer War. Tom Ryerson is the great-grandson of the book’s hero.  

Ryerson lives in Woodstock, but I’d like to know where his crafty mind lives as he weaves his tales.

The Last Girl On Earth can be described as a premise about survival, ingenuity and discovery as two people realize they are possibly the last two remaining citizens of Earth.

Again, visit Merrifield’s as I saw at least six of his books there for sale. Or, look up Tom Ryerson on www.traveloguebook.com, Facebook, Kindle, Amazon or simply Google this local author for more titles that can be enjoyed.

Ryerson is not making millions as a writer, but like all storytellers spends as much time promoting his projects wherever he can, including an appearance on CKCO TV noon news, attending specific book fairs, guesting at an Oxford Creates show which promotes both artists and authors. He has appeared locally on Rogers TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzaE_RycR_E or enjoy this vintage daytime (Rogers TV) discussion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9RGH5OThdA

Other books include Travelogue, Carnal Wreckage, April’s Call, The Anatomy Of A Mermaid, and Castle Lake.

ANCIENT LINK IS STILL ONLINE:

Doug Symons

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2011/12/12/symons-memories-of-yore

Tom Ryerson

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2012/03/26/grave-marker-for-titanic-survivor-sinks-in

Selling and promoting Woodstock talent and . . . as a great place to live!

Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative

Royal LePage Triland Realty

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

www.wesellwoodstock.com

(519) 537-1553, cell or text

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Twitter: markroyallepage

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination