The Canadian Credit Report: How Will You Score?

Even if your financial reputation is flawless, credit reporting bureaus, used by lenders, builders, real estate brokerages and other companies to check your credit worthiness, may have the wrong information in your file. Although, Canadian law allows you to correct mistakes and misinformation, the process is slow and the lost time may cost you the mortgage you needed, the condominium unit you wanted or the house you dreamed of.

"About 40 per cent of credit reports have errors that range from not serious to serious, but how we define an error and how they do is different," said Chartered Public Accountant Mike Morley CPA, FCI, CCE, MICM, author of The Complete Guide To Credit & Credit Repair for Canadians. "I'm closing in on 400 talks and every time I talk to a live crowd and I ask, 'Who has seen their credit report?' I barely get one or two hands. How people trust banks and credit organizations to look after them!"

Read the full story here>>>

When Selling Your Home, Using Scents Makes Sense!

Even if now doesn't seem to be the ideal time to sell your home, you can take heart in knowing that small actions may make a difference in getting your home sold.

"Scentmosphere" isn't exactly new but it is rapidly becoming a way to attempt to attract buyers.
"When buyers walk into a house before they actually see anything in that house, because they breathe, they are smelling. So they are actually getting an impression, whether it's conscious or subconscious, of your home -- just by the way it smells," says Rick Ruffolo, senior vice president of brand, marketing, and innovation for Yankee Candle Company.
So, right now take a deep breath. What kind of "smellment" is your home making?

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Carbon Monoxide and Your Family

Do you know why you will not be killed or maimed by carbon monoxide? What steps have you taken to ensure this toxic, odourless, colourless gas -- universally known as The Silent Killer -- does not become an unwanted guest in the spaces you consider safe?
You may have taken precautions in one area, but all these essential locations must be equally safe: your home, garage, cottage, ski chalet, car, recreational vehicle and workplace. The same cautions apply when staying with friends or away on holiday.
Each year, adults, children and families fall prey to this deadly gas. Symptoms of this fatal invisible contaminant have often been mistaken for those of flu by family members and physicians. Even exposure to low levels of CO can cause health problems, brain damage or death. What specific actions have you taken to be sure tasteless, toxic CO cannot leak into your sleeping rooms and other spaces where you live, work, play and breath?
The blood test for exposure to CO detects the degree of poisoning by measuring the level of carboxyhemoglobin, a compound formed when CO combines with red blood cells to replace oxygen in your blood. This reaction reduces the oxygen supplied to

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Sellers Must Work In Their Own Best Interests

Two similar properties, two different listing strategies and two very different outcomes.
This comparison of sellers involves a mid-career, two-income professional couple and a long-retired widow. One transaction netted relatively better returns due to seller savvy while the other continued to be a problem for months after closing. Reading this description you've probably decided which is which, but read on anyway ... .
The same pair of real estate salespersons, working for the same broker, listed both properties within days of each other.
Property #1: The first property was long over-due for modernization: original wiring and plumbing, an almost non-existent kitchen, and a very small and strangely-arranged lot.
The real estate professionals, as part of their listing pitch, dissuaded sellers from undertaking renovations, repairs or upgrades prior to sale suggesting it wasn't necessary for a speedy sale. No comparative market analysis was ...
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Go to Charlie's website today at www.buythedrive.com

Home Selling Tips For Spring Buyer's Market

If you're planning to put your home on the market in time for spring, now's the time to get it ready to show.

But wait, it's still a buyer's market. What can you do to catch the buyer's eye and get them to make an offer?

It's going to take more than a fresh coat of paint and a new welcome mat. A buyer's market raises the stakes, and you'll find you need to do a lot more work on your home than you think, if you want to get the highest price possible.

You've heard that you should clean, paint and repair, but that may not be enough. If your home is cluttered and in disrepair, buyers won't pay top dollar.

Knowing how buyers reason should help you pick which updates are most likely to help you sell your home.
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Welcome Aboard: Charlie Kiers, of Remax Crest Realty

Some of you have noticed a small - but significant - change to the blog with the addition of a banner ad under the blog’s title.

This month, we added our very first sponsor - Charlie Kiers, of Remax Crest, and owner of www.buythedrive.com. Charlie will be offering up tips on smart home buying and selling, as well as making recommendations on places he thinks are sound investments.
Having a paid sponsor means that we, or more specifically I, can dedicate some quality time to working on the blog providing first-hand coverage of more of what’s important to folks like you.
Take some time to click on the banner or go directly to his website www.buythedrive.com and drop him a line to say thanks for contributing to our community in such a direct and intelligent way!
As I mentioned in my last Dispatch, I’m actively looking for ways to promote my site both on and off-line and will seriously consider partnering with artists and other Drive-based businesses to share in promotional costs and responsibilities. If you are interested, do give me a call at 604-788-8340 or drop me a line and we can meet over a coffee and discuss the possibilities.

Editorial: The Sunday Muse (on Monday)

Big News:

Commercial Drive – Live! will be taking on its first major sponsor!

I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome aboard Charlie Kiers, of Remax Crest Realty as our banner supporter! Starting in February, Charlie will be offering some great insider advice for people looking to live or invest in, what experts are calling, “one of the hottest real estate markets in North America”. Plus, he’ll be sharing with us some local listings to help start you on the road to home-owning happiness! Check out his great website: www.buythedrive.com and stay tuned to CD – L! for his regular posts.

Well, my 2007 Christmas wish came true when last month Commercial Drive - Live! broke the 15,000 visitor mark! Thanks to all the people who have dropped in from all over BC, Canada, the US, South America, India, Africa, Asia and Europe! Please keep stopping by!

I’ve been raving about my new little Canon Powershot camera. Most of the pictures from November onward on Commercial Drive – Live! have been shot with it and I’ve had great responses to them. This gadget has really opened up possibilities, by helping me to put more real faces on the blog, like in my “Denizen of the Day” and “Live on the Drive” columns.

But most exciting is the video I can now shoot! You may have already seen some of the clips I’ve added, including a song I shot of one of our radio guests on Wax Poetic, Doris Lavoie, and some impromptu video of Queso Blanco at the Libra Room. Most recently I threw up a video I shot on New Years Eve of Wyckham Porteous and the Skedaddlers.

You can watch them all by either clicking on this link to go to the YouTube Playlist:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=478EF0B433DBB8C3;

or simply clicking on the label “video” at the bottom of any post with a video in it.

The next step is to start doing interviews. I’ve got one on file that I did with Battlestar Galactica’s Lorena Gale, on the patio of Fets last summer, using a simple web cam. Now that I’m starting to understand how Microsoft Movie Maker works, I’ll be finally able to cut it up for the web soon.

If you want me to catch you in action or cover your event, just drop me an email and I’ll do my best to fit you into my schedule. You get free access to the video to use as you please (as long as you don’t mind link information to Commercial Drive – Live! popping up every now and then).

Also, check out our fabulous sister site, run by entertainment guru LL Fisher, Live On The Drive! We’ll be working even closer this year to make sure all of the great stuff on the Drive gets covered completely!

By the way, if you are interested in learning more about blogging and why it is an essential promotional tool for most artists and small businesses, consider taking one of my upcoming Shoestring Marketing classes held at John Oliver Secondary through the Vancouver School Board. Find more info here: http://smart-arts.blogspot.com. We spend a lot of time covering internet technologies, and blogging specifically.

So until next time, Happy New Year, and best wishes to you and your families!!

Sincerely,

Steven R. Duncan

Publisher – Commercial Drive – Live!