I read an article in the Province last week. The article was titled, “Social Media Scrap For Space”. Essentially, it detailed the competion between social-networking and social media websites such as MySpace, YouTube, Google Video and Yahoo! Video Search. But it was the small chart on the bottom right hand side that caught my attention. It was a list of these social networking sites and their average visit length. Essentially, it is the amount of the time a visitor stays at a website.

It can be argued that average visit length is a better measurement of the effectiveness of a website than number of pages, hits or visitors. The length of time is fair evaluation of how captivated visitors are by the content on a particular website. How captivated are viewers of our videos? The average visit length to our website was 270 seconds in 2006. Since our videos are generally between 90 to 150 seconds in length, it is safe to conclude that the majority of our Video Openhouse Tours are being watched in their entirety! Essentially, as a realtor, you have the undivided attention of a potential buyer for 1 and a half to 2 and a half minutes! Your name, picture and contact information at the top of the page for the duration of a video. Video tours not only promote listings, they promote agents!

I was looking through our web statistics for 2006 and was surprised to find that the top country by page views behind Canada and the United States was South Korea.  I have since found an interesting article from the August 22nd, 2006 issue of the Asian Pacific Post titled, “Koreans Snap Up Local Real Estate”.  Here is the article:

Canada is among the top destinations for rich South Koreans who are capitalizing on an easing of rules on overseas real estate investment.

Koreans invested more than US$100 million in overseas real estate in the two months to July in the wake of the foreign exchange deregulation in May, the Ministry of Finance and Economy said in Seoul.

The sharp rise came after the government allowed an individual to buy overseas real estate worth up to US$1 million for investment purposes beginning May 22.

The government eased the rule to increase the flow of dollars out of the country and curb the won’s further rise against the greenback.

Despite growing concerns about a cool-off of the global property market amid rising interest rates, affluent Koreans are shifting their funds into overseas property in the belief that they cannot make capital gains as strong as before on the local market. In July, applications for overseas real estate investment totaled $54.4 million in 143 cases, compared with $54.2 million in 145 cases in June.

Most investments landed in the U.S., Canada and China. In July alone, 49 applications were for investments in the U.S., 37 cases in Canada and 24 in China.

Real estate brokers say that the actual amount of investment in properties in foreign countries is probably far higher than that reported to the Bank of Korea.

For the first seven months of the year, investment in overseas real estate reached $190 million in 526 cases.

Brokers say that more Koreans will opt to increase investment in homes and land overseas as a means to avoid higher property-related taxes here.

“Overseas real estate is appealing, especially to those wealthy multiple homeowners who face heavy property holding taxations here,’’ Lim Chae-kwan of Lootiz Korea, a local real-estate brokerage firm, said, according to the Korea Times.

“They also think they can make currency gains if the dollar strengthens as it did in recent weeks,’’ he said.

This means that they will have to take some currency losses if the dollar weakens going forward, he said.

Types of overseas properties are also become diversified from residential houses to condos.

One area attracting Koreans in large numbers is Coquitlam’s Westwood Plateau.

Andrew Yan, a former Vancouver resident studying in the department of urban planning at UCLA’s School of Public Affairs, crunched some census numbers in the area.

He found dramatic increases in the numbers of people of Chinese descent settling on the Westwood Plateau and also in the numbers of people with other Asian ethnic backgrounds moving there.

In 1991, there were only 25 people described as Korean living on the Westwood Plateau, out of a total population of 7,205, according to Yan.

Ten years later, there were 23,600 people living on the Westwood Plateau – and 2,015 of them (about 8.5 per cent) were Korean.

Yan said the increase in Korean-Canadians living on the Westwood Plateau may be largely due to the Canadian government’s decision to grant a visa exemption to South Koreans in the mid-1990s.

While North Road is known for its Korean businesses, Yan said many of the people who own those businesses live on the Westwood Plateau.

Source: Asian Pacific Post
August 22nd, 2006
Koreans Snap Up Local Real Estate

Video tours are a great way to market to overseas clients.  Our web traffic clearly indicates that there is significant international interest from South Korea, Australia, Great Britian, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, the Russian Federation, and European Union. 

Here is a video we produced for Karen Bong of a listing in the Westwood Plateau:

3138 Plateau Boulevard video – photos
 

Since my arrival, nearly a year ago, I have been amazed at the number of new buildings, especially condominiums being built around the city. A few months ago, while on a shoot in Downtown Vancouver, I started counting the number of cranes that could be seen from my vantage point. The grand total was over 20. That day, I started compiling a comprehensive list of all the new construction/development that was occuring around the city. I thought that this may be beneficial to anyone in the real estate industry, especially with all the interest in assignments. I am sure that I have overlooked more than a few significant developments/buildings/condos and included others erroneously. Please feel free to send us an email with any updates to this list.

1 Harbour Green – 1169 W Cordova Street
(www.harbourgreenplace.com)

2 Harbour Green – 1139 W Cordova Street
(www.harbourgreenplace.com)

3 Harbour Green – 1109 W Cordova Street
(www.harbourgreenplace.com)

819 Seymour – 819 Seymour Street

893 Seymour – 893 Seymour Street

990 Beatty Georgia/Beatty Above Costco – 990 Beatty Street

1133 W Georgia – 1133/1153 W Georgia Street

1321 Richards – 1321 Richards Street

1730 W Georgia – 1730 W Georgia Street

Aqua at the Park – 550 Pacific Street
(www.concordpacific.com/aqua)

Abbott Tower – Abbott Street
(www.woodwardsdistrict.com)

Avedon – 1468 West 14th Avenue
(www.polygon-homes.com/avedon/avedon.htm)

Bayshore Gardens – 1616 Bayshore Drive
(www.bayshoregarden.com)

BlackSwan Apartments – 2936 West Fourth Ave
(www.intersoft.ca/crmclients/gw/blackswan/register.asp)

Camera – 1675 W 8th Avenue
(www.cameraliving.com)

Cielo – 1205 W Hastings Street
(www.cielosoon.com/cieloFlash.html)

Circa – Collingwood Village
(www.circavancouver.com)

La Columba – 1030 W Broadway
(www.lacolumba.com)

Coopers Quay (Coopers Lookout) – 33 Smithe Street
(www.cooperslookout.com/cooperslookout_content.html)

Coopers Quay (Coopers Pointe) – 980 Cooperage Way
(www.cooperspointe.com)

Cooper Quay (Flagship) – 8 Smithe Mews
(http://www.concordpacific.com/flagship)

Creekside – 125 Milross Avenue
(www.creeksidefalsecreek.com/main.asp)

Crossroads – 522 W 8th Avenue
(www.crossroadsvancouver.com)

Donovan – 1055 Richards Street
(www.donovanlife.com/)

DUKE on Dunbar – 3364 – 3398 Dunbar Street
(www.dukeondunbar.com)

DWELL – Broadway and Quebec
(www.dwellhere.ca)

Elan – 1295 Seymour Street
(www.elanliving.ca/)

Ellison – 1233 Hamilton Street
(www.ellisonyaletown.com)

The Erickson – 1500 Homer Street
(www.concordpacific.com/erickson)

Espana A – 600 Abbott Street
(www.espanaliving.com)

Espana B – 600 Abbott Street
(www.espanaliving.com)

The Evergreen – 1235 W Pender Street

Fairmont Pacific Rim – 299 Burrard Street
(www.fairmontpacificrim.com)

Finale – Euclid Avenue & Aberdeen Street
(www.finalehomes.com)

Firenze I – 58 Keefer Place
(www.firenzeliving.com)

Firenze II – 688 Abbott Street
(www.firenzeliving.com)

FIRST – First Avenue & Burrard Street
(www.firstonfirst.com)

Flatiron – 1277 Melville Street
(www.flatironliving.com)

Freesia – 1082 Seymour Street
(www.freesialiving.com)

Grace Residences – 499 Drake Street
(www.graceresidences.com)

H+H Homer + Helmcken Yaletown – 1133 Homer Street
(www.hhyaletown.com)

L’Hermimtage en Ville – 788 Richards Street
(www.lhvancouver.com)

The Hudson – 610 Granville Street
(www.hudson610.com)

Icon I – 638 Beach Avenue
(www.iconliving.ca)

Icon II – 633 Kinghorne Mews
(www.iconliving.ca)

Jameson House (Jameson Tower) – 800 W Hastings Street
(www.jamesonfoster.com)

King Edward Tower – 1402 Kingsway
(www.kingedwardvillage.com)

Koret Lofts – 55 East Cordova Street
(www.koretlofts.com)

Laguna Parkside – 1901 Alberni Street
(www.lagunaparkside.com)

Living Shangri La – 1120 W Georgia Street
(www.livingshangri-la.com)

Mariner 1 – Cooperage Mews
(www.concordpacific.com/mariner)

Mariner 2 – Cooperage Mews
(www.concordpacific.com/mariner)

The Melville – 1189 Melville Street
(www.themelville.ca)

Metro Living – 999 Seymour Street 
(www.metroliving.ca)

Mira on the Park – 683 West Victoria Park Ave
(www.cannewhomes.com)

MoDe – 900 Richards Street
(www.livingmode.ca)

Orpheum Condominiums – 833 Seymour Street

Pomaria – 1455 Howe Street
(www.pomaria.com/)

The Portofino – 1383 Howe Street

PURE – 1252 Hornby Street
(www.livingpure.ca)

Qube – 1383 W Georgia Street
(www.qubeliving.com)

Quintessential Vancouver Living – Homer Street/Smithe Street
(www.amacon.com)

R & R on Robson – 488 Robson Street

Raffles on Robson – 811 Cambie
(www.rafflesonrobson.com)

The Ritz – 1211 Melville Street
(www.liveattheritz.com)

The RISE – 485 W 8th Avenue
(www.therisevancouver.com)

Sakura – 1300 Blk W. 11th Ave
(www.polygon-homes.com)

The Sapphire – 1188 W Pender Street
(www.liveatthesapphire.com)

Silver Sea – 628 Kinghorne Mews

The Skyline on Broadway – 2483 Spruce Street
(www.skylinecondos.ca)

Spectrum A – 111 W Georgia Street
(www.myspectrum.ca)

Spectrum B – 668 Citadel Parade
(www.myspectrum.ca)

Spectrum C – 602 Citadel Parade
(www.myspectrum.ca)

Spectrum D – 131 Regiment Square
(www.myspectrum.ca)

Stella – Kingsway & E 12th Ave
(www.liveatstella.com)

Tapestry – 715 West 16th Avenue
(www.discovertapestry.com)

The Terraces – 1598 West 7th Avenue
(www.terraceson7th.com)

Touchstone – 1603 MacKay Avenue
(www.ledmac.com/new/touchstone.html)

Tribeca Lofts – 988 Richards Street
(www.tribecaloftsyaletown.com/tribecaFlash.html)

TV Towers East – 700 Hamilton Street
(www.tvtowers.ca)

TV Towers West – 700 Hamilton Street
(www.tvtowers.ca)

Uno – 328 E 11th Avenue
(www.unoliving.com)

The VINE – 2268 West Broadway
(www.the-vine.ca)

Vita at Symphony Place – 565 Smithe Street
(www.thesweetlife.ca)

W (Woodward’s) – 101 W Hastings
(www.woodwardsdistrict.com)

Yaletown Park 1 – 928 Homer Street
(www.yaletownpark.com/flashSite.html)

Yaletown Park 2 – 909 Mainland Street
(www.yaletownpark.com/flashSite.html)

Yaletown Park 3 – 977 Mainland Street
(www.yaletownpark.com/flashSite.html)

YMCA Tower – 955 Burrard Street

The ZONE – 1080 West Broadway
(www.thezoneliving.com)

 

I am always amazed at the number of listings on the mls and realtylink websites that don’t maximize the number of pictures for their property. The restrictive 10 photo limit that has been imposed by the mls is severely inadequate to accurately capture the essence of any home. For example, any 3 bedroom house would require photos of the exterior front, living room, dining room, 3 bedrooms, family room/den, 2 bathrooms, patio, backyard and rear exterior. Being able to post just 8 pictures does not benefit the seller, prospective buyer or the agent.

I just finished reading a great article by the Technology Evangelist (www.technologyevangelist.com) titled, “Real Estate Agents Should Take More Photos of Real Estate Properties“. The article compares 3 scenarios to determine who is the more qualified prospective home buyer. Each scenario has a potential buyer visiting the agents website and finding an affordable home matching their requirements. The examples are differentiated by the number of pictures that were available online, 0, 1 or 12. Essentially, the author of the article argues that pictures are used as a screening process that ultimately saves the agent from wasting their valuable time.

The article also touches upon the agents’ argument that they are unable to take more than 1 or 2 good photos of some properties. Having photographed over 300 properties in the Vancouver area, I realize that some homes are more challenging than others. But with the right equipment, good lighting, proper composition and a little hard work, it is always possible to get more than 15 shots that anyone would be proud to have on a website. We are often asked how many photos we provide for each listing. We have never provided less than 15 and on many occasions have given our clients over 35 editted photos of their property.

How many photos are needed for a real estate listing? I would argue that the more photos you display, the better. Unlike the mls and realtylink websites, realtor websites do not have the same restrictions on the number of pictures that can be displayed for each listing. Make the online real estate world a better place and include more pictures!

Over the holidays, I watched EVP starring Michael Keaton and Deborah Unger.  The movie was shot here in Vancouver and I immediately recognized one of the buildings.  The Waterfall Building, 1540 West 2nd Avenue, located just south of Granville Island is one of Vancouver’s modern architectural masterpieces.  Michael Keaton’s character in the film is an architect and the building was the setting for his home.  It’s unique design and distinct appearance made it a great choice.  The building got its name from the Arthur Erickson-designed waterfall of recirculated water that plunges down in the middle of the main street-level entrance. This embodied his stated belief that as well as fulfilling function, architecture should offer visitors and passers-by a rewarding experience. 

The building itself reminded me of another condo that we shot for Jim Noonan a few months ago.  ROAR-one, 4387 West 10th Avenue, located in Point Grey is another modern masterpiece.  There were many similar design elements; the concrete contsruction, its use of glass, rooftop patios and high ceilings.  ROAR_one consists of ten residential units and two retail/commercial units.  The project creates a new model for residential living in Vancouver. The design incorporates mezzanine spaces and uniquely; deep, inset courtyard balconies that provide a rare ability for indoor/outdoor living in combination.  Please check out the video and pictures that we took of this incredibly unique and modern property.

ROAR_one, 4387 West 10th Avenue video – photos