This is a house built in 1910 at the corner of Maddock and Harriet. The house is moderately big of a middle class construction. The house has not been significantly renovated since 1975.
The outside was stuccoed many years ago and it is flaking off.
We would like to buy it. This would mean a lot renovations. We would want to bring it back to the look and feel that it had in 1910. We also need to have it be able to have Sheila's business in it and would have to renovate that.
I suspect we will be making an offer later this week.
A cool tool we are using to look at houses is the CRD Natural Atlas - they have all the lot lines and they have very good ariel photos of the whole CRD.
ps If anyone is interested, the realtor we are using is Karen Scott I recommend her to anyone who is looking for a confident, relaxed and knowledgable realtor.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
How to create a walking culture
There is a lot of desire to develop more density in the hopes that people will drive less and walk more, but this rarely seems to happen when planners are working on the city. So why do some neighbourhoods work and others not for having people be able to walk?
I do not have all the language and skills to address this fully, but I will try to do giv eyou my views on what is going on.
Currently I live close to town but not right in the centre of town. I can get most things I need within a moderate distance of my home - three major grocery stores, two malls, a rec centre, one library, the Gorge, schools, parks, and more. But all of it is more than 500 metres - a return walk to the local Fairway is a 45 minutes. My neighbourhood is better than most of the suburbs - one of the houses I am looking at the moment is not that far away, but the neighbourhood has already changed enough so that this house is walking distance from much at all.
My current house is well served by transit - there are 5 different bus routes within a very short distance of this house. I can get to UVic, Oak Bay, Downtown, Esquimalt, Camosun Interurban, VGH and Royal Jubilee without changing buses. Go slightly northwards to this new house and there is only really one bus route within a short walk and a few suburb/downtown routes not much further. The other house would make having to own two cars make more sense.
Also, moving from Victoria to Saanich means going from sidewalks to no sidewalks. Not having a formal place for walking reduces the amount of walking that will take place. Sharing road with cars is not
For a location to have a walking culture, there has to be the following things within 500 metres:
But not a lot of locations have all of this. When I think of greater Victoria and try to think of areas that can do this, the areas close to Tillicum road from the bridge to highway 1 are close to all of the needs except for the work needs -0 the library will open soon.
Areas in James Bay work but do not have the schools after grade 5 or the recreation centre or library.
Oak Bay village has everything but the work.
The Songhees area is missing the schools and recreation centre
The centre of Esquimalt is one of the best for achieving all of the needs if your work is military oriented.
If one were to move more of the office work further out from downtown, there is a good chance to bring the work closer to where people live. But it has to also allow for families or else it will not develop a long term sense of community. The Songhees area works for people when they do not have kids, so they tend to be pre-kid of post-kid, a rather odd age demographic distribution. 25-35 aand then 55+
I do not have all the language and skills to address this fully, but I will try to do giv eyou my views on what is going on.
Currently I live close to town but not right in the centre of town. I can get most things I need within a moderate distance of my home - three major grocery stores, two malls, a rec centre, one library, the Gorge, schools, parks, and more. But all of it is more than 500 metres - a return walk to the local Fairway is a 45 minutes. My neighbourhood is better than most of the suburbs - one of the houses I am looking at the moment is not that far away, but the neighbourhood has already changed enough so that this house is walking distance from much at all.
My current house is well served by transit - there are 5 different bus routes within a very short distance of this house. I can get to UVic, Oak Bay, Downtown, Esquimalt, Camosun Interurban, VGH and Royal Jubilee without changing buses. Go slightly northwards to this new house and there is only really one bus route within a short walk and a few suburb/downtown routes not much further. The other house would make having to own two cars make more sense.
Also, moving from Victoria to Saanich means going from sidewalks to no sidewalks. Not having a formal place for walking reduces the amount of walking that will take place. Sharing road with cars is not
For a location to have a walking culture, there has to be the following things within 500 metres:
- Schools
- Grocery store
- Recreation centre
- Library
- Work
- Open space or parks
But not a lot of locations have all of this. When I think of greater Victoria and try to think of areas that can do this, the areas close to Tillicum road from the bridge to highway 1 are close to all of the needs except for the work needs -0 the library will open soon.
Areas in James Bay work but do not have the schools after grade 5 or the recreation centre or library.
Oak Bay village has everything but the work.
The Songhees area is missing the schools and recreation centre
The centre of Esquimalt is one of the best for achieving all of the needs if your work is military oriented.
If one were to move more of the office work further out from downtown, there is a good chance to bring the work closer to where people live. But it has to also allow for families or else it will not develop a long term sense of community. The Songhees area works for people when they do not have kids, so they tend to be pre-kid of post-kid, a rather odd age demographic distribution. 25-35 aand then 55+
Friday, March 23, 2007
The Greater Victoria Economic Development Agency
This is a new region wide body that is be championed by the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce.
The goal seems to be bring together all manner of economic interests such as
I can see the need to work on a regional basis, and I am glad of any regional cooperation, but almost all of the groups involved were already operating on a regional basis.
This is not a substitute to a rational and effective re-organization of our local governments.
The goal seems to be bring together all manner of economic interests such as
I can see the need to work on a regional basis, and I am glad of any regional cooperation, but almost all of the groups involved were already operating on a regional basis.
This is not a substitute to a rational and effective re-organization of our local governments.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
A house on Qu'Appelle st
I am looking at a 1915 built house on Qu'Appelle street. I can not believe that I am thinking that a house for sale for more than $450 000 is not a bad price. This is not something fancy, just a moderately decent house on a small city lot....
and worst of all, odds are that it has already sold.....
That has been the case of the last three houses that looked to be appropriate for our needs.
and worst of all, odds are that it has already sold.....
That has been the case of the last three houses that looked to be appropriate for our needs.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Saanich and sidewalks
I grew up in Tsawwassen and we had no sidewalks on most of the residential streets, but the edges of the street looked neat and the properties came up to them nicely.
In Saanich has very few sidewalks in residential neighbourhoods. And the edge of the streets look messy in almost all cases.
I would prefer to buy a house in Victoria because they have sidewalks and street side landscaping.
Yesterday we looked at a house at 900 Lavender street. A nice middle class neighbourhood that looks down market because of the messy fronts of houses. The street I live on is lower middle class, but looks much better.
can one convince Saanich to do more sidewalks? Is it even beneficial for the world?
In Saanich has very few sidewalks in residential neighbourhoods. And the edge of the streets look messy in almost all cases.
I would prefer to buy a house in Victoria because they have sidewalks and street side landscaping.
Yesterday we looked at a house at 900 Lavender street. A nice middle class neighbourhood that looks down market because of the messy fronts of houses. The street I live on is lower middle class, but looks much better.
can one convince Saanich to do more sidewalks? Is it even beneficial for the world?
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Sudden change in the housing market
Spring has come to Victoria and the housing market suddenly bloomed. As I mentioned, I am looking at houses in the Tillicum Gorge area at the moment. For the last few months house prices were stagnant or falling. Houses were falling in price, people were waiting and hoping for buyers and places wer moving for their assessed rate.
Then things changed. There have been houses listed in the last few weeks that have been selling for more than their list price.
There were two nice houses I wanted to look and consider and they sold in a few days.
I think we will ahve to back out of hte market until May or there is some sign of cooling.
Then things changed. There have been houses listed in the last few weeks that have been selling for more than their list price.
There were two nice houses I wanted to look and consider and they sold in a few days.
I think we will ahve to back out of hte market until May or there is some sign of cooling.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
In Street Housing
This is an idea I was first introduced to in 1993 in Vancouver at their Ideas Fair that was part of CityPlan.
In most cities a large part of the land base is given over to streets, parking lots and other impervious surfaces. It is actually amazing the percentage of the land that is owned by local governments when one looks at streets and such. All this publicly owned pavement is not enhancing anything. Run off is intensified, and because it is from road surfaces, contains more pollutants.
What was proposed at the Ideas Fair was something called "In Street Housing". The idea was developed by some UBC students. The idea is that there a lot of side streets that are through roads that do not need to be through roads. They suggested that within a block of a street, that the road be blocked off and that land be then converted to housing.
A typical city lot is between 40 and 60 feet wide and 80 to 100 feet long. A typical city street is 30 feet wide with another 10 to 20 feet total for sidewalks and city owned grass. One could make a 40 wide lot that is 80 feet long on the street area. 3200 sq feet is not a large lot, but not the smallest out there. The 80 foot lot would cover 40 feet in front of each of the houses on either side of the existing street.
This idea brings a number of strong benefits:
I would propose that the value of the lot be divided between the neighbours, 20 each for the four immediate neighbours and 5% for each of the next properties. For the immediate neighbours this would be a $50 000 windfall. I would let them take this in the form of a property tax holiday till it runs out (giving them prime rate as interest on the amount not used) - ideally let them do this to avoid capital gains taxes.
What sort of an overall benefit could this have?
Let us assume that we could find 3000 suitable locations and 1000 are used. This would lead to:
an increased wealth of $250 000 000
An increase of $3 000 000 annually in taxes
34 less acres of impervious surfaces
In most cities a large part of the land base is given over to streets, parking lots and other impervious surfaces. It is actually amazing the percentage of the land that is owned by local governments when one looks at streets and such. All this publicly owned pavement is not enhancing anything. Run off is intensified, and because it is from road surfaces, contains more pollutants.
What was proposed at the Ideas Fair was something called "In Street Housing". The idea was developed by some UBC students. The idea is that there a lot of side streets that are through roads that do not need to be through roads. They suggested that within a block of a street, that the road be blocked off and that land be then converted to housing.
A typical city lot is between 40 and 60 feet wide and 80 to 100 feet long. A typical city street is 30 feet wide with another 10 to 20 feet total for sidewalks and city owned grass. One could make a 40 wide lot that is 80 feet long on the street area. 3200 sq feet is not a large lot, but not the smallest out there. The 80 foot lot would cover 40 feet in front of each of the houses on either side of the existing street.
This idea brings a number of strong benefits:
- In the city of Victoria, this building lot would be worth about $250 000 as bare land. This is $250 000 in value that has been liberated.
- There would be about 1500 sq feet less impervious surfaces
- The city would get about $3500 a year in taxes more than now
- Neighbourhood density would be increased with no negative impact on the community - higher density brings benefits in better transit, cheaper services, more local shoppers and higher school populations
- Traffic is calmed
- Two new cul-de-sacs are created
I would propose that the value of the lot be divided between the neighbours, 20 each for the four immediate neighbours and 5% for each of the next properties. For the immediate neighbours this would be a $50 000 windfall. I would let them take this in the form of a property tax holiday till it runs out (giving them prime rate as interest on the amount not used) - ideally let them do this to avoid capital gains taxes.
What sort of an overall benefit could this have?
Let us assume that we could find 3000 suitable locations and 1000 are used. This would lead to:
an increased wealth of $250 000 000
An increase of $3 000 000 annually in taxes
34 less acres of impervious surfaces
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Property Assessments
I happen to sit on the Property Assessment Review Panel #611 - Greater Victoria Residential. It concerns me that a lot of people come before us and are not properly prepared, so I thought I would muse on how to best present your appeal to PARP.
1) Just because a neighbours assessment is low does not give the panel any reason to lower your assessment. The mandate for the panel is to rule on what the sale price for a property would have been on July 1. The panel is looking at your property and not your neighbours.
2) Find sales of homes that are like your home and submit this as evidence. BC Assessment will come forward with 3 to 5 sales that they think are comparable. You can bring in more - find ones that show your case. An appellant with 3 good comparable sales has a strong case.
3) Investigate the details of the comparables BC Assessment will be using - understand how they are the same and how they are different to your home.
4) Review the BC Assessment information on your property - an assessor can have 10 000 properties and therefore the data they have on your home may not be correct. Letting the assessor look at your home will often lead to them making changes to the files.
5) State and condition of your home - this is a factor that can matter. We evaluate a house based on what it was like on October 31st. If your home needs work and it was not done on Oct 31, explain the state and condition. Best is coming in with estimates for how much it will cost to fix the problem.
6) The panel looks at the total value of an assessment - not at either the land or the improvements. The panel first determines the full package value and will then consider how to apportion it. Saying, "I am happy with the value of the land but would like you to only look at the building value" is an argument that will not go far. What you need to say is "My assessment is too high and I feel should reduce it and take the value off of the house"
7) Consider logical adjustments that you would have to make to a comparable sale to make it equal to your house. How much is your street worth, your neighbourhood, how your house is laid out etc...... Assign dollar values to this and see how it all comes out. In a rising market, as Victoria was for the last few years, sales before July 1 are increased to reflect the market increase each month.
1) Just because a neighbours assessment is low does not give the panel any reason to lower your assessment. The mandate for the panel is to rule on what the sale price for a property would have been on July 1. The panel is looking at your property and not your neighbours.
2) Find sales of homes that are like your home and submit this as evidence. BC Assessment will come forward with 3 to 5 sales that they think are comparable. You can bring in more - find ones that show your case. An appellant with 3 good comparable sales has a strong case.
3) Investigate the details of the comparables BC Assessment will be using - understand how they are the same and how they are different to your home.
4) Review the BC Assessment information on your property - an assessor can have 10 000 properties and therefore the data they have on your home may not be correct. Letting the assessor look at your home will often lead to them making changes to the files.
5) State and condition of your home - this is a factor that can matter. We evaluate a house based on what it was like on October 31st. If your home needs work and it was not done on Oct 31, explain the state and condition. Best is coming in with estimates for how much it will cost to fix the problem.
6) The panel looks at the total value of an assessment - not at either the land or the improvements. The panel first determines the full package value and will then consider how to apportion it. Saying, "I am happy with the value of the land but would like you to only look at the building value" is an argument that will not go far. What you need to say is "My assessment is too high and I feel should reduce it and take the value off of the house"
7) Consider logical adjustments that you would have to make to a comparable sale to make it equal to your house. How much is your street worth, your neighbourhood, how your house is laid out etc...... Assign dollar values to this and see how it all comes out. In a rising market, as Victoria was for the last few years, sales before July 1 are increased to reflect the market increase each month.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
How many representatives do we need?
The Greater Victoria area - Sidney to Sooke - has a lot of politicians.
Or if we compare to Nanaimo Regional District - they have 46 representatives for a population of about 150 000 - 3250 people per representative. Normally an area with a lower population should have a smaller number of people per representative.
One upshot of having 124 representatives in this region is that they are almost all unknown to the public. This many people means that the regional media really can not consistently cover any of them.
I live in Victoria proper, but my neighbourhood is mainly in Saanich and many of the areas I use are in Esquimalt. This means that I effectively need to be aware of 20 councilors, 3 mayors, the CRD board and 9 school board Trustees that have a direct impact on where I live. I am pay attention to politics and try to keep up on local politics, but it is not easy.
I read the Times Colonist most days, but coverage of local governments is weak. The newsgroup papers sometimes offer me what I am looking for, but I have to seek them out.
I believe that regionally we should work on a model that reduces the number of municpal governments to 3 that run along the same boundaries as the current school districts. This would reduce the number of representatives to 63 region wide and the population per representative would be at about 5000 people. In the core area it would be close to 10 000 per representative.
Victoria 9
Saanich 9
Oak Bay 7
Esquimalt 5
View Royal 5
Highlands 5
Metchosin 5
Sooke 7
Langford 7
Colwood 7
Central Saanich 7
North Saanich 7
Sidney 7
CRD Electoral area 1
Total Local Government 88
SD 61 9
SD 62 9
SD 63 9
Total School Districts 27
MLAs 6
MPs 3
Total Fed and Provincial 9
TOTAL Elected 124
This is one elected representative per 2500 people
Compare this to Richmond, Burnaby or Surrey with comparable populations - they have about 25 each.
Or if we compare to Nanaimo Regional District - they have 46 representatives for a population of about 150 000 - 3250 people per representative. Normally an area with a lower population should have a smaller number of people per representative.
One upshot of having 124 representatives in this region is that they are almost all unknown to the public. This many people means that the regional media really can not consistently cover any of them.
I live in Victoria proper, but my neighbourhood is mainly in Saanich and many of the areas I use are in Esquimalt. This means that I effectively need to be aware of 20 councilors, 3 mayors, the CRD board and 9 school board Trustees that have a direct impact on where I live. I am pay attention to politics and try to keep up on local politics, but it is not easy.
I read the Times Colonist most days, but coverage of local governments is weak. The newsgroup papers sometimes offer me what I am looking for, but I have to seek them out.
I believe that regionally we should work on a model that reduces the number of municpal governments to 3 that run along the same boundaries as the current school districts. This would reduce the number of representatives to 63 region wide and the population per representative would be at about 5000 people. In the core area it would be close to 10 000 per representative.
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