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Shirley and I are touring the small beach resort town of Bucerias in Mexico on our bikes and having a blast. (It’s our anniversary treat and my gift to myself on my birthday.) She welcomes this time to ourselves as she’s already been working hard to prepare her music students at the Central Memorial High School Centre for Performing and Visual Arts in Altadore for their Christmas choir concert on December 17 at McDougall United Church.

Shirley is Director of the school’s Strings Program and she’s proud of it because there aren’t many such programs in public schools across Calgary.

And I’m proud of her because of her commitment to make her teen students’ music dreams come true or at least to help shape their characters through music.

Here’s the thing; in years past, she’s asked me to help them promote their concerts but I kept turning her down, using my convenient excuse that “I’m busy.” And it was 100% true, but it may be that my age is turning my heart to mush, or that the air atop the Sierra Madre Mountains here in Mexico has cast a spell on me. All I know is that this year, I’m stepping up to the plate and finally helping Shirley sell tickets to their Christmas concert!

It should be a great concert. First, they’re practicing like there’s no tomorrow. And second, they’re a pretty talented and passionate bunch backed by a school that’s been offering music programs for the past 40 years. In fact they’ve been bringing home golds and top ratings in regional, national and international competitions like the Provincial Choir Festival, Calgary Kiwanis Festival, Alberta Choralfest, Alberta Music Festival and Alberta International Band Festival, just to name a few.

Add to that that my wife is hardly a newbie – she’s a cellist with the Calgary Civic Orchestra, Symphony of the Kootenays, and several chamber ensembles in Calgary, and she’s been teaching music for 22 years, the last nine at Central Memorial High. (Sadly for her, I can’t carry a tune!)

Writing this is making me actually look forward to watching the concert. I can already hear the students filing the air with beautiful Christmas music that could lift any heart — especially after the year we’ve had in Calgary. After the concert, you could cap off the evening by taking a nice stroll at the park under the stars. As for me, I’ll be back at the concert hall with Shirley and her students packing up all the instruments…. I admire all the hard work and dedication that goes into making concerts like these effortless.

You can get tickets to the concert online at the PVA website or you can get in touch with me. You won’t be disappointed. Hope to see you there!

Are you looking to Sell or Buy a home in Calgary and need someone who won’t rest until you’ve found your dream home or until your home is sold? I’ll work hard to earn your trust and to deliver exactly what you need. Contact me at 403-589-0004 or at TheHowardTeam.net.

About the Bryon Howard

Bryon Howard and his team of Calgary real estate professionals sell an average of two homes a week. He is a member of the MLS Million Point Club, which ranks him roughly in the top 2% of productive realtors in Calgary. His aim is not just to please clients but to help them buy/sell a home in Calgary at the best price, in the shortest time, and with the least hassle. He is a member of the RE/MAX House of Real Estate that leads in the Canadian market. Learn more about Bryon at TheHowardTeam.net.

My wife Shirley and I are counting the weeks to the first-ever Bici Bucerias Couples Bike Tour on November 16 to 23 in Mexico. Should be tons of fun: touring the cobblestone streets, the miles and miles of beaches, and the beautiful Sierra Madre Mountains in this charming Mexico town with my best pal on our trusty bikes! What more can a guy ask for, besides tacos? If you haven’t noticed it yet, I love biking – it takes me places! But even just back home in Calgary, there are few things I’m happier doing than biking.

Thanksgiving gifts (photo courtesy of stevendepolo)

Thanksgiving Day is here again; where will you be? I hope by the time you’re reading this, I’ll know where my family and I will be. We all have special traditions on this special day, and ours is spending it with my sister Peggy Perry and her family.

You see, Peggy’s what’s called a “sommelier” — an expert in wine tastings and pairings – and a well-known foodie here in Altadore and greater Calgary. She helps people eat and drink really well. She lives in a spectacular home near River Park here in Altadore, just four blocks from ours. We always count on her to invite us for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with her family, but last year, she was away so it really felt odd for us not to have had Thanksgiving with them.

Not sure that we’d get invited this year, I brainstormed on how to wangle that invite out of her. Should I bring her flowers? A bottle of wine with an exotic-sounding name that’s not on sommeliers’ lists? Or give her a massage? I ended up googling it and I found this great website  with out-of-the-box ideas that will surely keep your hostess guessing what new and exciting thing you’ll bring her next year. Here are my picks.

Not flowers but a potted plant

You can break tradition by, instead of giving your hostess flowers, gifting her with a nice-looking potted plant that can perk her up as it grows and help cleanse the air in her home, plus – my sister will love this – that she can even cook with (like herbs such as mint, thyme and oregano).

Not just any wine but organic wine

Instead of giving your hostess the customary bottle of wine, why not initiate her into the “Love the earth and love yourself” movement (if she’s not yet in it) by bringing her organic wine? That’s wine made from grapes grown without chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides, and that doesn’t have preservatives. That’s a great way to tell your hostess you hope she’ll live longer, but with my sister already being a wine afficionado, she may see through my veiled attempt.

Not just any cookbook but one where guests can write their Thanksgiving greetings to the hostess after dinner.

A book that generates all-around good vibes is a cookbook with a message, like Denis Gingras and Richard Béliveau’s Eating Well, Living Well. Scribble your special greeting for your hostess on the inside front cover, and urge her to pass the book around after dinner so the other guests could write their greetings too. That’s something that will not only keep her healthy and pretty, but that she’ll also want to go back to again and again and that will give her many happy memories!

I’m sure Peggy will love any one of these gifts so much that she’ll never miss another Thanksgiving feast at home just so she could invite my family and me! Happy Thanksgiving, sis, and to you all! Peggy, in case you need it, my number is 403-589-0004….

Are  you looking to Sell or Buy a home in Calgary and need someone who won’t rest until you’ve found your dream home or until your home is sold? I’ll work hard to earn your trust and to deliver exactly what you need. Contact me at 403-589-0004 or at TheHowardTeam.net.

About Bryon Howard

Bryon Howard and his team of Calgary real estate professionals sell an average of two homes a week. He is a member of the MLS Million Point Club, which ranks him roughly in the top 2% of productive realtors in Calgary. His aim is not just to please clients but to help them buy/sell a home in Calgary at the best price, in the shortest time, and with the least hassle. He is a member of the RE/MAX House of Real Estate that leads in the Canadian market. Learn more about Bryon at TheHowardTeam.net.

It’s the last quarter of the year, and by now, many of us are pushing hard as we cover the last mile to the finish line. If the thought of unreached targets is making your heart pump double-time, relax – you’ll make it yet with a burst of second wind, as I’ve found by following these simple steps.

I refocus on the finish line.

I’ve covered many miles and finished pretty decently in many races on my bike, and when I felt exhaustion creeping in before I reached my destination, I just refocused on my goal. I get a fresh spurt of energy whenever I do that. I guess that shows my body that my mind is the boss – and what the boss wants is to get to that finish line, fast. In the race of life, the bumps I meet along the way sometimes wear me out, but when that happens, I just refocus on my goals. I’m a goal-oriented guy, and I set my goals far in advance. There are lots of things I want to achieve for myself and my family, and there are lots of people counting on me to help them find their dream homes or sell their homes, so I need to stay strong and focused.

I breathe deeply.

Of course I can’t ignore my body, though. When pedaling hard to gain speed finally takes its toll on my body and I begin to gasp for breath, I do what every long-time biker does: I take rapid deep breaths. Soon I make up for my body’s oxygen deficit, and have enough to finish the race. In my work, when my target is almost within my reach, I muster all my resources, including spurring and strategizing with my team, to cover that last stretch.

I picture the medal on me.

One last thing that gives me that much-needed burst of energy for the final run is – you guessed it — the prize! When I’m close to a home run, I pump myself up by letting loose my excitement over my reward: a nice vacation with my family! There’s no way I’m not going to take that — so off I go to the finish!

There you have it, the three ways by which I get my second wind to reach my targets. This last quarter, don’t think “Oh, no… I won’t have enough time to reach my target….” Instead, think “Oh, yes… just one more quarter and I’ll be there!” See you at the finish line!

Are you looking to Sell or Buy a home in Calgary and need someone who won’t rest until you’ve found your dream home or until your home is sold? I’ll work hard to earn your trust and to deliver exactly what you need. Contact me at 403-589-0004 or at TheHowardTeam.net.

About Bryon Howard

Bryon Howard and his team of Calgary real estate professionals sell an average of two homes a week. He is a member of the MLS Million Point Club, which ranks him roughly in the top 2% of productive realtors in Calgary. His aim is not just to please clients but to help them buy/sell a home in Calgary at the best price, in the shortest time, and with the least hassle. He is a member of the RE/MAX House of Real Estate that leads in the Canadian market. Learn more about Bryon at TheHowardTeam.net.

Image resource: www.unprofound.com

I’m finding it a bit difficult to talk about Altadore real estate now with all this commotion going on around here about this year’s Marda Gras Street Festival that’s happening tomorrow, so heck, I’ll just join the fun! For those of you who are wondering what this festival is all about, it’s a free one-day public event every second week of August at Marda Loop, the premier shopping center in Altadore, that’s patterned after the famous Mardi Gras street festival in New Orleans. That means Marda Loop’s streets will be filled with the sights and sounds of New Orleans, from the purple, green and gold colors to the jazz and R&B music! Oh, good – I can wear my purple socks!

There’s actually a long list of activities that will start at 10 a.m. (check them out here: http://www.mardaloop.org/html.php?action=Anchor&anchor=MardaGras), but here’s my pick of those that I think I’ll take my family to:

Street shows

This is a street festival, right? So bring on the street shows! There’ll be a magician, and someone who’ll walk with a nine-foot-tall free-standing ladder and juggle knives up there! (You won’t want to get anywhere near him, of course, but don’t worry – he’s been doing this stunt for eight years!) And there’ll be a group that will put on their unique open-air aerial art, comedy and street theater show with which they’ve been amazing audiences all over the world. Watch out too for strolling music from the Dixie Knights and the Sweet Adelines! And for art lovers, don’t miss the inflatable Art Tent where you’ll see lots of masterpieces.

On the main stage

Expect great street dancing with band music, hot swing and gypsy jazz, blues and swing from the 1920s to the 1950s, plus belly dancing and some new moves! There’ll also be the yearly popular Pet Pageant, with prizes for the Most Unique, the dog with the Best Costume, and the Crowd Favorite!

Kids Quarter

Hey, this is for kids of all ages! There’ll be face painting, a bouncy castle, crafts, games, sports and entertainment. And the organizers say all the funds that will be raised here will be used to support the projects of the Marda Loop Communities Association, so you bet we’ll be there!

Kudos to Marda Loop for putting together such a great event each year. This is one of the areas we’re very proud of here in Altadore, as it offers first-class shopping, professional services and dining, and as you can see, fantastic events!

So again, I’ll be taking a break from selling Altadore real estate (and will hop onto my trusty bike, as there’ll be an Open Streets Area for us bikers and parking would be next to impossible). And for those of you who want to catch the fun, you have until 5 p.m. tomorrow….

Know someone who is looking to make a decision in real estate? If you know any friends, family or co-workers who are looking to buy, sell or invest in real estate within the next six months, would you forward this email to them or reply with their contact information? I’ll send them important information about the Calgary, AB surrounding area real estate market and politely ask for their business. I greatly appreciate your valued referrals; it’s the only way I build my business.

About Bryon Howard

Bryon Howard is a top-producing real estate agent with Re-Max House of Real Estate in Calgary, Alberta. He is in love with his high school sweetheart, an enthusiastic Dad and crazy about endurance sports. To learn more about Bryon and his real estate tips, head on over to his website.

Image resource: commons.wikimedia.org

Schools are set to open again in a month’s time, which puts the spotlight at this time of the year on our children’s education.

If you’re a parent like me, you’ve probably given a lot of thought to what school to send your kids to in order to give them the best education.

You know, though, sometimes I think we look too much at the school and too little at our children.

Maybe if we looked at our children more and at what they need so that they would learn best, they’d be happier in school and later in life.

I found that out firsthand from my own children.

I have two: a 19-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy.

They’re the reasons why I think the way I do about education.

You see, they’re out-of-the-box learners. That is, they learn differently from most.

I say that because when my daughter was already in Grade 2 in the small community in Prince Edward Island where we first lived, she still couldn’t read or do math despite my wife’s and my efforts. So in 2003, we moved to Calgary, where we thought some of the best schools in Canada were. We chose a private school for her called Calgary Academy that was just a 20-minute ride from our home in Altadore. That school took a good look at her and then taught her based on her strengths and weaknesses. It did wonders for her. Last year, she graduated from high school with high marks, and she’s now doing well in a university.

As for my son, he was in Grade 4 when we moved to Altadore. He had wanted to go to Calgary Academy too because it’s a beautiful school, but it was expensive, so we sent him to a public school instead: Altadore Elementary School. But when he was in Grade 7, he wanted to go to an inquiry-based school, a sort of public science school. Well, things didn’t work out for him there. I guess it was because the school still focused on a particular learning technique, no matter how different it was from the conventional instructional method – a technique that was good only for a specific type of learners: super-inquisitive and aggressive learners, which my son was not. So when my son was in Grade 8, we finally gave in and sent him to Calgary Academy. He did very well there and has learned so much that he has since moved back to a public school.

It surely wasn’t an easy journey for our whole family, but I believe that when you’re a parent, you shouldn’t ask yourself how far you’ll go to give your children a great education. We went cross-country, and we shelled out a lot more money than we had first planned, but we can’t be happier because our children are happy and they’re now well on their way to creating whatever future they want.

If you’re looking for information on Calgary and area schools for your children, check out http://www.calgaryarea.com/schools/private_

schools.htm,

http://www.cbe.ab.ca/ and http://www.cssd.ab.ca/.

Know someone who is looking to make a decision in real estate? If you know any friends, family or co-workers who are looking to buy, sell or invest in real estate within the next six months, would you forward this email to them or reply with their contact information? I’ll send them important information about the Calgary, AB surrounding area real estate market and politely ask for their business. I greatly appreciate your valued referrals; it’s the only way I build my business.

About the author:

Bryon Howard is a top-producing real estate agent with RE/MAX House of Real Estate in Calgary, Alberta. He is in love with his high school sweetheart, an enthusiastic Dad and crazy about endurance sports. To learn more about Bryon and his real estate tips, head on over to his website.

Image resource:
www.flickr.com

Has it been almost six weeks since the biggest flood in Calgary’s history made all the headlines? If your house was swamped, you’ve probably done enough mud cleaning you could write a book on it. But before you move on, are you sure you’ve done everything you should? I helped haul off a lot of mud from my friends’ houses myself and have since learned some new things that could perhaps spare you a lot of headache and heartache.

Contact your utility company to make sure your appliances and electrical installations are safe to use.

Just because your appliances, electrical outlets, switch boxes, and fuse/breaker panels are dry and working now doesn’t mean they’re fine and dandy. You don’t want a fire next time, or an electrocution, or your other appliances to conk out due to a short circuit. So it’s best to do your due diligence now for your peace of mind.

Beware of mold and mildew.

A long-term effect of flooding is the growth of mold and mildew. Your wallpaper, carpet, wood walls and floorboards, ceiling tiles, and mattresses, your kids’ stuffed toys, and your books and valuable papers may seem to have dried up, but mold and mildew starts growing as fast as 24 to 48 hours after a flood and may already be growing where you can’t see it. Experts say breathing in mold spores may cause anything from mere allergic reactions to asthma attacks and deadly brain, lung, nervous and immune system conditions. So check everything very closely and think hard if those stuffed toys and books are worth keeping. Ask a lawyer if you still need to keep your original damaged documents or if you can just jot down the information written on them. And consider hiring a professional mold inspection and home restoration company just to make sure your home has no lurking health and even structural dangers. Check out www.chbacalgary.com and www.renomark.ca for reputable contractors.

Get ready!

We were all caught with our pants down during that flood, and we’d certainly want to be more prepared just in case there’ll be a next time. So clean all your drainages regularly, put all your electricals on higher ground, secure your valuables, prepare emergency supplies, and know your community’s flood warning and evacuation plans.

You can’t be too careful after a flood. After all that upheaval, it’s tempting to think too early that the worst is over and get on with your life. But taking the three additional steps above will help you go all the way in protecting your family and your property from the hidden dangers of water damage.

Know someone who is looking to make a decision in real estate? If you know any friends, family or co-workers who are looking to buy, sell or invest in real estate within the next six months, would you forward this email to them or reply with their contact information? I’ll send them important information about the Calgary, AB surrounding area real estate market and politely ask for their business. I greatly appreciate your valued referrals; it’s the only way I build my business.

About the author:

Bryon Howard is a top-producing real estate agent with Re-Max House of Real Estate in Calgary, Alberta. He is in love with his high school sweetheart, an enthusiastic Dad and crazy about endurance sports. To learn more about Bryon and his real estate tips, head on over to his website.

Image courtesy of Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius

Calgary has certainly risen since the devastating flood a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, there are still 8,000 to 10,000 people who won’t be able live in their damaged homes for quite some time, according to CEMA director Bruce Burrell (http://www.calgarysun.com/2013/06/28/calgary-flood-damage-will-force-as-many-as-10000-people-from-their-homes-for-a-long-time). While the rebuilding gets underway, I have also had homeowners who were fortunately not affected by the flood ask if now is the right time to stay or should they sell.

If this is the position you find yourself in, here are some questions that could help you decide:

• What were my plans before the flood? If you were planning on selling before the flood, re-examine the reasons. Where were you planning to move? Has that area been affected by the flooding or was it relatively unscathed? The provincial government made some announcements this weekend with regard to homes in high-risk areas, so staying on top of the latest developments may help you make an informed decision.

• What if I stay? Calgarians don’t just sit back and wait for things to happen. This is Stampede country, and cowboys don’t give up without a good fight! So if you decide to stay, stay safe. Have your home inspected for lurking danger due to the water damage, and keep your ear to the ground on measures that are being introduced in your neighborhood to make it more resilient to flooding and other disasters.

• What if I want to move? With the expected influx of people moving into the city to help rebuild it, upward pressure on values is expected. Subdivisions like Altadore, which is on higher ground, will likely be considered favorable to buyers. Have your home evaluated and then make a decision.

Whether you’re staying or selling, or still undecided, the Calgary flood has been an emotional time for all of us. There are no right or wrong answers if you are deciding whether to sell or not. Take your time, make informed decisions and you will make the decision that is right for you and your family.

If you know any friends, family or co-workers who are looking to buy, sell or invest in real estate within the next six months, would you forward this email to them or reply with their contact information? I’ll send them important information about the Calgary, AB surrounding area real estate market and politely ask for their business. I greatly appreciate your valued referrals; it’s the only way I build my business. 

About Bryon

Bryon Howard is a top-producing real estate agent with Re-Max House of Real Estate in Calgary, Alberta. He is in love with his high school sweetheart, an enthusiastic Dad and crazy about endurance sports. To learn more about Bryon and his real estate tips, head on over to his website.