Blog entries will be posted in the language in which they were written.

Archive for June, 2009


June 19th, 2009

Summer is here… time for strawberry jam!

Posted by Joan McGuigan

If you go to the market, it's time to buy some good fresh strawberries. I suggest you try our delicious and so easy to do recipe: Mama Betty's Strawberry Jam

 

Back to top of page
June 8th, 2009

Home Inspection – A MUST Before Purchasing

Posted by Joan McGuigan

Buying a home is one of the most important – and expensive – purchases you will make! GIVE YOURSELF PEACE OF MIND – GET A PROFESSIONAL HOME INSPECTION!

KEEP THESE IMPORTANT ‘HOME INSPECTION’ POINTS IN MIND:
•    Think of a Home Inspection as a ‘fact-finding mission’!
•    It’s a big step towards telling you everything you need to know about the property
•    Choose a Building Inspector who works in the area where you are buying
•    Make sure he/she is a member of ‘The Quebec Association of Building Inspectors’ (AIBQ) – a designation recognized in the industry as the authority in building inspections throughout Quebec
•    Verify he/she has valid insurance
•    A Home Inspection is the best investment you can make when purchasing a new home or other property
•    Check out this helpful Website:  http://www.aibq.qc.ca/eng/association.php

Back to top of page
May 13th, 2009

3 Great Recession Busters!

Posted by Joan McGuigan

Summer is coming! Okay, so maybe the economy is lagging, but there's no reason why WE have to be!   

HERE ARE 3 GREAT RECESSION BUSTERS!

1/  REORGANIZE YOUR HOME!

  • It's a fact: when your surroundings are calm and organized, your mind is calm and organized!
  • Get rid of 10 things you don't wear/use/need! – give them to charity
  • Make paper your slave – not your master! Use coloured folders for important papers and a shredder for the rest!
  • Decrease dust-collecting knickknacks and magazines
  • Putting your home in good order makes it easier to list – and sell!

2/ REVITALIZE YOUR MIND!

  • Cleanse your mind of negativity – life will feel more harmonious!
  • Make time for ‘Laughter' – that wonderful cure-all; rent a funny movie
  • Skip the tv news before bedtime – read something uplifting; listen to music
  • Join a Library/Book Club; learn a new craft/language!

3/ ENJOY GETTING HEALTHY!

  • Feel energized and look great – walk/exercise 20-30 minutes/day
  • Enhance your immune system – Omega 3 supplements, nutritious foods, water

‘Kale' — the new superstar! – try our delicious recipe, at McGuiganPepin.com/recipes

Back to top of page
May 5th, 2009

Choeur des enfants de Montréal – Final concert

Posted by Joan McGuigan

Photo

Here is an invitation for the last concert of our season – and the final CEM concert directed by Iwan Edwards.
Hope to see you there!

May 24th 2009, at 4 p.m.

Eglise Moutainside, Westmount

687, av. Roslyn (corner Roslyn and The boulevard)

Voici une invitation pour notre dernier concert de la saison – et le dernier concert du CEM dirigé par Iwan Edwards.
On espère vous y voir!
 

Back to top of page
April 30th, 2009

Talking about our newsletter!

Posted by Joan McGuigan

Simon Payn is talking about our newsletter in his blog…

Here are his comments on it:

 

Another Great Example of a Customized Real Estate Newsletter

It makes me smile from ear to ear when one of my clients takes the real estate newsletter I offer and really  makes it theirs.

Here's another example (click here for a previous one), this one from Marianne Derjean, who is with broker McGuigan Pepin, in Quebec,  Canada.

Here's what I love about it.

  1. A "Message from the Presidents". Not just any message, but a report from a recent trip to a real estate conference in Paris, France. Not only is this an interesting article full of useful facts, but the "meta" message here is that these brokers are plugged into the international luxury real estate market. You'd want to hire people like that, wouldn't you? (The article mixes news about real estate, fractional ownership and the economy with a paragraph about how they spent their leisure time in Paris. A great way to make the tale more personal, strengthening their relationship with their clients by sharing what they did in their free time.)
  2. A story about the company's trademark yellow golf flag, which is part of its logo and which flies outside its open houses. A neat little story that gives some insight into the company, while mentioning that one of the owners was a champion golfer. (I bet lots of their clients golf – great way to make a connection!) The golf flag is, of course, a great way to brand the brokerage- stands out from the regular lawn signs. (Plus: they also encourage reader feedback with a little competition to create a catchy phrase about the brokerage and the flag.)
  3. An informative column on the current market focusing on pricing. Plus, another on why now is a good time to do renovations. Both are great up-to-date topics.
  4. An article by a mortgage banker. This is a great way to get extra content for your newsletter – partner with a relevant, non-competing provider.
  5. On their winter newsletter, not only do they wish people happy holidays, but there's a notice on the front page about the agency's Open Door Day. The position of the notice, on the bottom right corner of the page, is great for catching people's attention – and the freebie shopping bags they give away are a valuable (and timely) incentive.
  6. Recognition to winners of a recent contest they held.

So, in summary, what this broker has done is take a ready-made newsletter and then personalize it with their own content to create a much stronger bond with their clients and a fraction of the price of doing

 the entire newsletter themselves.

That's why I'm smiling!

 

 

Back to top of page
April 27th, 2009

Jane’s Walk May 2 & 3 2009

Posted by Joan McGuigan

In the Gazette, today I found an interesting article from MIKE BOONE, and I thought it might interest you too…

The city’s first Jane’s Walks are happening on Saturday and Sunday.

Jane Jacobs, who died nine days short of her 90th birthday in 2006, had no training as an urban planner. But The Life and Death of American Cities, which Jacobs wrote in 1961, is considered a classic treatise on how urban environments should and should not work.

Jacobs looked at cities as ecosystems that would change and evolve according to how they were used. She believed in higher population densities, shorter city blocks, mixed-use neighbourhoods.

Her work has influenced generations of architects, activists and forward-thinking urban planners and politicians. A Pennsylvanian by birth, Jacobs studied at Columbia University, lived in Greenwich Village and moved to Toronto in 1968.

Jacobs did not like cars and was active in the campaign that stopped construction of the Spadina Expressway. She believed in studying urban life at ground level and, in Downtown is for People, wrote: “No one can find what will work for our cities by looking at … suburban garden cities, manipulating scale models, or inventing dream cities.

“You’ve got to get out and walk.”

Jacobs’ enduring legacy inspired Toronto’s Centre for City Ecology to organize neighbourhood walking tours in 2007. Jane’s Walks have spread to New York, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Halifax, Guelph, Charlottetown, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Boston, New Orleans and, organized by the Centre for Urban Ecology, Montreal.

The list of neighbourhoods to be Jane’s-walked includes N.D.G., the Plateau, Mile End, Little Burgundy, Point St. Charles, Shaugnessy Village, Mercier-Est, Park Extension and Outremont. On each tour, Jane’s Walks are led by people who know the turf and have stories to tell.

For details for Montreal’s walk: Clic-clic

Back to top of page
April 24th, 2009

Some signs of Hope with the signs of Spring

Posted by Joan McGuigan

As I write this note the world markets have been continuing their positive weekly advances over the last 6 weeks. Although we ended the quarter still down from beginning of year, today we have Canada's stock market positive for the year and U.S. and world indexes have also gained considerable ground.

 You may be aware; the stock market is a leading indicator. This means that they change before the economy has changed, providing clues of whether we are in for an upswing or decline. A market rebound is typically associated with the early expansion phase of the economic cycle, or with expectations that the cycle is about to turn positive. Unfortunately as you know, market performance occurs in fits and starts and it is often only in hindsight that the larger trend lines become discernable.

 Governments worldwide have taken unprecedented and coordinated action to stabilize financial markets and economies around the world. Thru Fiscal Policy with the Stimulus packages to monetary policy of easing of the lending rates all countries are focused to lessen the turmoil of the world's recession and the length of it.

The Lagging indicators such as employment, GDP, consumer spending and housing starts tend to attract more attention than the leading indicators. At their bleakest or most negative, lagging indicators, despite their focus on the past, may also say something about the future. This is because as numbers hit their bleakest or most negative – in confirmation of a slowdown or recession-  is also often when you'll see the leading indicators kick into effect and start heading up.

In previous economic slowdowns, job creation typically found a footing well after equities bottomed and the recession was over.  This is because equities often rebound as lagging economic fundamentals continue to decline.

  

As we continue on in '09 we will hear positive news and some negative news. Remember that Financial Planning and a long term perspective remain key to achieving financial goals.

Back to top of page
April 1st, 2009

Susan Pepler

Posted by Joan McGuigan

Photo

c o m i n g   s o o n :
opens April 16, 2009
T O R O N T O

Hosted by Carol McFarlane Interiors
310 Davenport Road, Toronto
tel: 1.416.967.7766

* Montreal preview & presale in progress
514.933.0776
P  E  P  L  E  R    F  I  N  E    A  R  T  S
 F L O R A L S  .  S T I L L   L I F E S  .  L A N D S C A P E S  .  A U T O M O B I L E S
Investing in Art is investing in longterm quality enjoyment.

Back to top of page
February 19th, 2009

McGill Women’s Alumnae Association presents “Come and be Inspired: A Cocktail Rendevous with Jessica Trisko”

Posted by Joan McGuigan

Photo

Feb. 25, 2009 – 6:00 PM

  • 3425 University Street, Royal Victoria College, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Drawing on the theme of "compromise," Jessica will share her struggle as a young woman and as a student to balance personal interests and professional goals. Jessica will discuss her experiences in the media spotlight, in Canada and abroad, and how she has reconciled the fast-paced life of an international model with that of the solitary academic. Her message is that what may seem like completely unrelated goals, a Ph.D. and a beauty queen's crown, can be understood when we take a deeper look at what drives one person's journey through womanhood.

Jessica Trisko is currently a Doctoral student in the Department of Political Science at McGill University. At 24 years old, Jessica has also studied at universities in Russia and the United States. Her dissertation research is supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and REGIS.
Jessica has been involved in charitable work through alliances with organisations such as TRENDS and the Miss Earth Foundation. As Miss Earth International 2007, Jessica travelled throughout Asia to promote environmental conservation. She recently handed over her title as Miss Earth and has returned to her studies.

Cost: $5 CDN (students)

$15 CDN (non-students)

Online registration available on Alumnilife.

Back to top of page
February 14th, 2009

Worthwhile Canadian Initiative

Posted by Joan McGuigan

A very inspiring read! 

Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1—compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1.  
Fareed Zakaria 
 
From NEWSWEEK magazine issue dated Feb 16, 2009
 
The legendary editor of The New Republic, Michael Kinsley, once held a "Boring Headline Contest" and decided that the winner was "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative." Twenty-two years later, the magazine was rescued from its economic troubles by a Canadian media company, which should have taught us Americans to be a bit more humble. Now there is even more striking evidence of Canada's virtues. Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it's Canada. In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada's banking system the healthiest in the world. America's ranked 40th, Britain's 44th.
 
Canada has done more than survive this financial crisis. The country is positively thriving in it. Canadian banks are well capitalized and poised to take advantage of opportunities that American and European banks cannot seize. The Toronto Dominion Bank, for example, was the 15th-largest bank in North America one year ago. Now it is the fifth-largest. It hasn't grown in size; the others have all shrunk.
 
So what accounts for the genius of the Canadians? Common sense. Over the past 15 years, as the United States and Europe loosened regulations on their financial industries, the Canadians refused to follow suit, seeing the old rules as useful shock absorbers. Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1—compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1 and European banks at a frightening 61 to 1. Partly this reflects Canada's more risk-averse business culture, but it is also a product of old-fashioned rules on banking.
 
Canada has also been shielded from the worst aspects of this crisis because its housing prices have not fluctuated as wildly as those in the United States. Home prices are down 25 percent in the United States, but only half as much in Canada. Why? Well, the Canadian tax code does not provide the massive incentive for overconsumption that the U.S. code does: interest on your mortgage isn't deductible up north. In addition, home loans in the United States are "non-recourse," which basically means that if you go belly up on a bad mortgage, it's mostly the bank's problem. In Canada, it's yours. Ah, but you've heard American politicians wax eloquent on the need for these expensive programs—interest deductibility alone costs the federal government $100 billion a year—because they allow the average Joe to fulfill the American Dream of owning a home. Sixty-eight percent of Americans own their own homes. And the rate of Canadian homeownership? It's 68.4 percent.
 
Canada has been remarkably responsible over the past decade or so. It has had 12 years of budget surpluses, and can now spend money to fuel a recovery from a strong position. The government has restructured the national pension system, placing it on a firm fiscal footing, unlike our own insolvent Social Security. Its health-care system is cheaper than America's by far (accounting for 9.7 percent of GDP, versus 15.2 percent here), and yet does better on all major indexes. Life expectancy in Canada is 81 years, versus 78 in the United States; "healthy life expectancy" is 72 years, versus 69. American car companies have moved so many jobs to Canada to take advantage of lower health-care costs that since 2004, Ontario and not Michigan has been North America's largest car-producing region.
 
I could go on. The U.S. currently has a brain-dead immigration system. We issue a small number of work visas and green cards, turning away from our shores thousands of talented students who want to stay and work here. Canada, by contrast, has no limit on the number of skilled migrants who can move to the country. They can apply on their own for a Canadian Skilled Worker Visa, which allows them to become perfectly legal "permanent residents" in Canada—no need for a sponsoring employer, or even a job. Visas are awarded based on education level, work experience, age and language abilities. If a prospective immigrant earns 67 points out of 100 total (holding a Ph.D. is worth 25 points, for instance), he or she can become a full-time, legal resident of Canada.
 
Companies are noticing. In 2007 Microsoft, frustrated by its inability to hire foreign graduate students in the United States, decided to open a research center in Vancouver. The company's announcement noted that it would staff the center with "highly skilled people affected by immigration issues in the U.S." So the brightest Chinese and Indian software engineers are attracted to the United States, trained by American universities, then thrown out of the country and picked up by Canada—where most of them will work, innovate and pay taxes for the rest of their lives.
 
If President Obama is looking for smart government, there is much he, and all of us, could learn from our quiet—OK, sometimes boring—neighbor to the north. Meanwhile, in the councils of the financial world, Canada is pushing for new rules for financial institutions that would reflect its approach. This strikes me as, well, a worthwhile Canadian initiative.

Back to top of page