Despite the somewhat up and down nature of this year's so called winter, area ski resorts have managed to provide ski and snowboard enthusiasts with a relatively good season. Snow conditions fluctuate almost daily between machine groomed powder to granular or spring-like conditions. Nonetheless, we have been able to enjoy some degree of reasonable on-hill activity which is something that can't be said by snowmobiling enthusiasts.
For the most part of this winter area snowmobile trails have remained closed. This has no doubt hurt not only snowmobile dealers but also restaurants and other businesses that typically obtain revenue from this winter activity. For certain there are many people out there that have enjoyed the unseasonably mild winter but in general it's not good for business. Retailers depend on the appropriate weather conditions to drive sales be it clothing, footwear, snow shovels or whatever. The local Rona store is promoting a "No Snow Snowblower Sale." Sales and profit margins both suffer when we have weather conditions that are out of sync with the norm.
With an upcoming ski trip planned to Vermont I have been watching the snow and weather conditions at Stowe. Average base depths are reported as being 24" to 36" on the runs with snowmaking. They typically might get that in just one snowfall! For sure it's going to be a short ski/snowboard season so best enjoy it while we can.
Georgian Bay has remained virtually ice-free all winter. I own a cottage on Manitoulin Island just off Lake Huron. My uncle lives two doors over from my cottage and has been an Island resident for 81 years. Never has he seen such little ice which does not bode well for water levels this summer. With little or no ice coverage the lakes have no doubt experienced greater evaporation this winter and the lack of snow means no significant run-off this spring. Time will tell what the water level will look like come May and June but I suspect it will be down.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Meeting Consumer's Expectations
First, some of my readers may have noticed that I have re-branded my blog to "Live Play - Georgian Bay." Personally, I feel this new name better reflects what our area is all about. Whether you are into an active, sports oriented lifestyle or prefer the "arts," the southern Georgian Bay lifestyle is what continues to attract people to this wonderful area.
I recently attended the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) Conference in Anaheim California. This four day event drew 18,000 REALTORS® from not only the U.S. and Canada but from other parts of the world as well. This is an excellent conference with a variety of educational sessions scheduled over four days that apply not only to issues pertaining to real estate Boards and Associations but there is also a broad variety of topics for individual REALTORS® and their respective businesses as well.
The real estate profession like many other businesses has essentially been transformed via the Internet and the future holds even greater changes still to come. The NAR conference offered a glimpse into the future of real estate and more importantly the various educational sessions served to educate REALTORS®
in terms of how we need to adapt and re-invent our businesses so-to-speak, in order to meet the needs and expectations of today's consumer.
Humans naturally tend to resist change. Breaking away from old habits or established ways of doing business can be a hard pill to swallow for many. Very few REALTORS® write blogs for example. It's time consuming, requires a flow of ideas and the ability to communicate via the written word. I started the process in the fall of 2007. Coincidentally that was after attending the NAR Conference in Las Vegas during which time blogging and social networking was somewaht in it's infancy. Four years later and it's virtually become a necessity and or an expectation of consumers.
I've slipped in my writing in recent weeks partly due to the fact that Google has made some changes to their platform that denied me access to my "Blogger" account. Google is a great example of a company that continues to evolve, offering more and more services that they "bundle" together in an effort to take business away from their competition. In future posts I will continue to elaborate on the changes taking place not only in our community but also with respect to real estate market and other issues that affect us as well. In the meantime I'm building a Facebook Fan Page, I've started to "Tweet" via Twitter and soon you will start to see a stream of videos that I will product over the months ahead to further inform and educate my clients and followers on things that matter. Stay tuned.....
I recently attended the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) Conference in Anaheim California. This four day event drew 18,000 REALTORS® from not only the U.S. and Canada but from other parts of the world as well. This is an excellent conference with a variety of educational sessions scheduled over four days that apply not only to issues pertaining to real estate Boards and Associations but there is also a broad variety of topics for individual REALTORS® and their respective businesses as well.
The real estate profession like many other businesses has essentially been transformed via the Internet and the future holds even greater changes still to come. The NAR conference offered a glimpse into the future of real estate and more importantly the various educational sessions served to educate REALTORS®
in terms of how we need to adapt and re-invent our businesses so-to-speak, in order to meet the needs and expectations of today's consumer.
Humans naturally tend to resist change. Breaking away from old habits or established ways of doing business can be a hard pill to swallow for many. Very few REALTORS® write blogs for example. It's time consuming, requires a flow of ideas and the ability to communicate via the written word. I started the process in the fall of 2007. Coincidentally that was after attending the NAR Conference in Las Vegas during which time blogging and social networking was somewaht in it's infancy. Four years later and it's virtually become a necessity and or an expectation of consumers.
I've slipped in my writing in recent weeks partly due to the fact that Google has made some changes to their platform that denied me access to my "Blogger" account. Google is a great example of a company that continues to evolve, offering more and more services that they "bundle" together in an effort to take business away from their competition. In future posts I will continue to elaborate on the changes taking place not only in our community but also with respect to real estate market and other issues that affect us as well. In the meantime I'm building a Facebook Fan Page, I've started to "Tweet" via Twitter and soon you will start to see a stream of videos that I will product over the months ahead to further inform and educate my clients and followers on things that matter. Stay tuned.....
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Century 21 Wins Lawsuit Against Zoocasa
For consumers, the Internet has had a very profound impact on the way in which we search for products and or services that we may be looking to procure. Perhaps no other commodity has been so broadly impacted as real estate. This stems partly from the fact that unlike many countries including the U.S., Canada has a nationwide MLS® system that allows consumers to universally search for properties virtually anywhere in the country.
In Canada, the MLS® system and trademark are owned and maintained by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). CREA maintains the consumer real estate website http://www.realtor.ca/ which hosts MLS® property listings coast-to-coast. This site regularly draws 3 million+ visitors per month making it the most frequented consumer real estate website in Canada.
Given the success and far reaching impact of Canada's MLS® system, third parties have tried to replicate its success. Individual REALTORS® as well as companies have on occasion lifted or "scraped" MLS® data from http://www.realtor.ca/ and other legitimate real estate websites for posting on their own online sites. Often, the integrity of MLS® data and property details are compromised in the scraping process, resulting in consumers getting information on a property that may be inaccurate and or misleading
Century 21 Canada recently won a court case against the real estate website http://www.zoocasa.com/ which is a subsidiary of Rogers Communications. Century 21 successfully argued that the listing information and data was their property and essentially it is. When sellers sign an MLS® Listing Agreement, that Agreement is essentially the property of that given real estate brokerage. As such it is not free to be used by either individuals or companies for their own commercial gain without permission.
As consumers, we have come to rely quite heavily on our ability to research things online. Whether it's for a house, car, clothing, books or whatever, online information needs to be both timely and accurate in order for it to best serve a buyer's needs. Increasingly, consumer's permission is also needed in order to effectively post some information online. When that information is then acquired unlawfully by a third party and posted online, accuracy is often compromised and privacy perhaps violated so Century 21's success challenge of Zoocasa's activity was justified.
In Canada, the MLS® system and trademark are owned and maintained by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). CREA maintains the consumer real estate website http://www.realtor.ca/ which hosts MLS® property listings coast-to-coast. This site regularly draws 3 million+ visitors per month making it the most frequented consumer real estate website in Canada.
Given the success and far reaching impact of Canada's MLS® system, third parties have tried to replicate its success. Individual REALTORS® as well as companies have on occasion lifted or "scraped" MLS® data from http://www.realtor.ca/ and other legitimate real estate websites for posting on their own online sites. Often, the integrity of MLS® data and property details are compromised in the scraping process, resulting in consumers getting information on a property that may be inaccurate and or misleading
Century 21 Canada recently won a court case against the real estate website http://www.zoocasa.com/ which is a subsidiary of Rogers Communications. Century 21 successfully argued that the listing information and data was their property and essentially it is. When sellers sign an MLS® Listing Agreement, that Agreement is essentially the property of that given real estate brokerage. As such it is not free to be used by either individuals or companies for their own commercial gain without permission.
As consumers, we have come to rely quite heavily on our ability to research things online. Whether it's for a house, car, clothing, books or whatever, online information needs to be both timely and accurate in order for it to best serve a buyer's needs. Increasingly, consumer's permission is also needed in order to effectively post some information online. When that information is then acquired unlawfully by a third party and posted online, accuracy is often compromised and privacy perhaps violated so Century 21's success challenge of Zoocasa's activity was justified.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
