Keller Williams Elite Realty
#A123 - 2099 Lougheed Hwy,
Port Coquitlam, BC
P: 778-834-6873
F: 604-468-0042
Welcome to my Coquitlam Real Estate Report!
In this section of my website I put together plenty of useful resources that I’m sure you will find useful.
Wednesday November 30, 2011 - Douglas College in Coquitlam Growing By Leaps and Bounds
The Coquitlam campus of Douglas College is about to get a whole lot bigger. Some 850 students will be transferring to the location from the Westminster facility. The entire part of the college, faculty and all, devoted to family, child and community studies is being permanently relocated to the David Lam locale.
Westminster is just not big enough to adequately host the CFCS program. Instead, the New West location will be used for other programs, advised Scott McAlpine, the president of New West. The Coquitlam campus also has state of the art labs and other learning facilities that the CFCS students will now have access to. Current students will be kept at New West to complete their programs, but starting September of 2012, new enrollees will head to Coquitlam.
Douglas College is also set to be the school of choice for post-secondary students from China participating in exchange programs. Beijing University, the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade and the Shanghai Administrative Institute have all signed agreements. Also included in these agreements are the opportunity for faculty exchanges and opportunities for joint research.
Friday November 4, 2011 - Coquitlam Resident Sees Home Assessment Increase $109,000 in One Year
Bert Temple of Coquitlam bought his 1,349 square foot home in 1984. It sits on a modest lot measuring 67 feet by 153 feet. It cost him $115,000. Fast forward to 2010, where B.C. Assessment valued that same home at $681,000, which in itself is an increase of $109,000 from the 2009 assessment value.
Temple is more than a little upset, not so much because of the potential for higher property taxes, but because homes are priced so high that future generations have little chance of actually owning one. His children already have homes, but things are looking pretty bleak for his seven grandchildren.
After appealing twice to B.C. Assessment, once in 2007 and this year, and loosing both times, Temple was even more aggravated. Edward Shum, who is the North Fraser Region’s deputy assessor, penned his letter to Temple on September 18th of this year, stating that there was no mistake, the assessment was correct.
Temple wants the system to change, and Richard Stewart, Mayor of Coquitlam, agrees with him. Stewart also noted that Temple may not necessarily pay higher taxes, because if everyone’s home went up by roughly the same percentage points, then it all stays the same. But the mayor did note that the way B.C. Assessment uses the system to create municipal funding is antiquated at best.
Friday September 30, 2011 - B.C. Health Sitting on $12 Million Donated For Mental Health Facility
The B.C. government has had $12 million dollars sitting in limbo, intended to go towards the building of a brand new mental health care center at Vancouver General Hospital. The hold up is the provincial government; they just can’t seem to fund the balance of the project. You see, the $12 million was a private donation from Joe Segal, a local real estate developer.
This fact came to light on a recent CBC Go Public report that showed the horrible conditions at VGH’s psychiatric ward. Herschel Hardin who is with the Schizophrenia Society in the North Shore wasn’t surprised about the failure to use the money. Hardin has been trying to get the province to fund mental health care since the 1980s. That was when the regional mental facility in Coquitlam, Riverview, was set for closure. The idea was to integrate the patients back into their own communities.
Since then a few new mental health facilities have been opened, but it’s not enough to make up for the closure of Riverview. To have that $12 million sitting around when another facility could be opened is almost unthinkable. But the B.C. Ministry of Health notes that in the last year alone $1.3 billion was spent on mental health issues. They also added 3,854 beds since 2001. No word on the $12 million, other than there would be more questions answered on another CBC news interview with Mike de Jong, the Health Minister.
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - Coquitlam Family Getting Home Makeover
The community outreach group The Home Team is about to take on its ninth home renovation project for a needy family. The non profit group works out of Coquitlam’s Cornerstone Seventh Day Adventist Church. The lucky family is from Maple Ridge. The Kuris family will be going on a much needed surprise vacation while their home gets the makeover.
Shelly Kuris lives with her three children ages 12 to five. Her husband Sam was killed earlier this year at work in a forklift accident. The Home Team will be working from September 16th to the 25th on everything from a kitchen renovation to an outdoor spruce up.
The kitchen is one of the biggest problems. The oven doesn’t work, cupboards are on their last legs and the dining room was never finished. The chimney has no cap and is loaded with insulation. Both the inside and outside of the home have mould problems. The driveway is cracked and needs replaced, as does the deck, front door, gutters and flashing.
Time and materials are being donated by local businesses, among them Weatherguard Gutters Inc, Ames Tile and West-Jet. A good deal of the work is being done by volunteers.
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Archives
Wednesday November 30, 2011 - Douglas College in Coquitlam Growing By Leaps and Bounds
Thursday June 23rd, 2011 - Public Welcome to Funeral for Betty Fox
Thursday May 26th, 2011 - April Sees Return to Balanced Real Estate Market in Fraser Valley
Friday April 29th, 2011 - Fraser Valley Sees Increase in Housing Sales
Monday March 28th, 2011 - Coquitlam City Council Votes Against Growth Strategy
Thursday February 24th, 2011 - Fraser Valley Home Sales Exhibit Slight Growth in January
Thursday February 3rd, 2011 - Lower Mainland Saw Year Start With A Balanced Real Estate Market
Wednesday January 26th, 2011 - Real Estate Prices in Lower Mainland Show Slight Increases for 2010
Wednesday January 19th, 2011 - Coquitlam on the Road to Getting New Learning Centre
Friday January 7th, 2011 - Tri-City Property Assessments Are Out and Values Are Up
Tuesday December 28th, 2010 - Vancouver Area Sees Spike in November Home Sales
Tuesday December 21st, 2010 - Coquitlam Budget Passed, Not Everyone Is All That Thrilled
Friday November 26th, 2010 - Local Real Estate Market Predicted To Stabilize
Friday November 19th, 2010 - Number of Home Sales in British Columbia Drops, But Prices Keep Rising
Friday October 29th, 2010 - Movember Moustache Growing Season Is Upon Us
Friday October 22nd, 2010 - Port Coquitlam Mayor Wants Evergreen Line Extended
Thursday October 14th, 2010 - TransLink Planning To Get Funding Through Yearly Property Tax Increase
Friday September 28th, 2010 - B.C. Home Prices Increases, Sales Decline
Wednesday September 1st, 2010 - British Columbia’s Commercial Real Estate Market is Smoking
Tuesday August 17th, 2010 - British Columbia’s Housing Market Showing Dramatic Decrease in Sales
Monday August 9th, 2010 - British Columbia’s Real Estate Market Hits Expected Slowdown
Thursday July 29th, 2010 - Coquitlam Skating Club Hosts Korean Skaters For Summer Training
Tuesday July 13th, 2010 - City of Coquitlam Looking For Opinions On Puppy Park Location
Monday July 5th, 2010 - Economist Predicts HST’s Impact Short Lived
Saturday June 26th, 2010 - Coquitlam City Staffers a Well Paid Bunch
Thursday June 17th, 2010 - Over-Taxing Small Businesses Can Cause Firms to Close Doors And/Or Move
Wednesday June 9th, 2010 - British Columbia Prices Are Up, But Sales Starting to Slow
Wednesday June 2nd, 2010 - Coquitlam In Stage One of City Mandated Water Restrictions
Monday May 24th, 2010 - Coquitlam Seeks More Research on Waste-to-Energy Plan
Wednesday May 12th, 2010 - Bureaucracy Thwarts Novel Homeless Shelter
Tuesday May 4th, 2010 - Housing Mindset For Greater Vancouver Changes With The Times
Monday April 26th, 2010 - Further Studies Needed Before One Stop Recycling Centres Are Approved
Wednesday April 21st, 2010 - Developers Rush to Beat July 1st HST Sales Tax Deadline
Tuesday April 13th, 2010 - Vancouver Island windstorm grounds ferries and knocks out power
Wednesday April 7th, 2010 - Real Estate Expert Sees The Lower Mainland As Very Stable
Saturday March 27th, 2010 - Canadian Housing Market Is Strong
Monday March 15th, 2010 - Report: Vancouver Job Outlook Improving Versus Last Year
Wednesday February 17th, 2010 - Dramatic Increase in Home Starts
Thursday February 4th, 2010 - Reborn Koos Garage Becomes Centerpiece of a Neighbourhood
Thursday January 28th, 2010 - Real Estate Market Hopes for Olympics Gold
Wednesday January 20th, 2010 - Trans-Link Needs to Be Self-Governing to be Self-Sustaining
Friday January 15th, 2010 - Charges Still Pending in Oil Pipeline Bombings
Tuesday January 12th, 2010 - Homeowners Will Receive Assessment Reports Soon
Tuesday December 29th, 2009 - Local Family Back Home After Waiting Out Mud Slide
Tuesday December 15th, 2009 - B.C. real estate market has hottest November since 2005
Tuesday December 8th, 2009 - NDP Wins New Westminster-Coquitlam Riding in By-Election
Thursday November 26th, 2009 - Canada’s Housing Market Shows Signs of Strength
Friday November 20th, 2009 - New Book on Real Estate Photography
Thursday November 5th, 2009 - Jack Poole The Man Who Brought The Olympics To Vancouver
