Gorgeous two storey home with sprawling views, lots of living space, extra parking plus a one bedroom inlaw suite.
This home features a nice foyer with travertine tile, there is a bedroom/office off the main entry way. The great room is an open floor plan with 10 foot ceilings, built in entertainment cabinets with gas fireplace, custom kitchen with granite counters, shaker style cabinets with stainless steel appliances and large windows overlooking the (39×12) deck.
The main floor also has a 2 piece powder room and mud room off of the oversized garage (21×21 plus 9×4 bonus). The second level features the master suite with 5 piece ensuite, two additional guest bedrooms, 5 piece guest bathroom, laundry room with built ins and bonus play room over the garage. There is a storage area on 3rd level accessed through front bedroom.
Basement level features large rec room with access to back bottom level patio, theatre room, 5th bedroom and 2 piece powder room. There is a separate one bedroom self contained inlaw suite with its own laundry.
Other features include: built in sound, granite in all bathrooms, two stage high efficiency furnace, hot water on demand plus 2nd hot water tank, heat pump, roughed in central vac, fully landscaped and very little carpet in the home! 24 hours notice for showings.
New Listing: 15-460 Azure Place, Mesa Estates, Sahali, Kamloops, BC $699,900. Gorgeous two storey home with sprawling views, lots of living space, extra parking plus a one bedroom inlaw suite.
This home features a nice foyer with travertine tile, there is a bedroom/office off the main entry way. The great room is an open floor plan with 10 foot ceilings, built in entertainment cabinets with gas fireplace, custom kitchen with granite counters, shaker style cabinets with stainless steel appliances and large windows overlooking the (39×12) deck.
The main floor also has a 2 piece powder room and mud room off of the oversized garage (21×21 plus 9×4 bonus). The second level features the master suite with 5 piece ensuite, two additional guest bedrooms, 5 piece guest bathroom, laundry room with built ins and bonus play room over the garage. There is a storage area on 3rd level accessed through front bedroom.
Basement level features large rec room with access to back bottom level patio, theatre room, 5th bedroom and 2 piece powder room. There is a separate one bedroom self contained inlaw suite with its own laundry.
Other features include: built in sound, granite in all bathrooms, two stage high efficiency furnace, hot water on demand plus 2nd hot water tank, heat pump, roughed in central vac, fully landscaped and very little carpet in the home! 24 hours notice for showings.
This article appeared in the Kamloops Daily News on May 2nd, 2012 and was written by Mike Youds.
For a neighbourhood nervous about a proposed strip mine just over the hill, a City open house on Wednesday seemed, well, more like a walk in the park.
West Highlands will be Kamloops’ newest city park once it’s developed next year, and there was no doubt at Aberdeen elementary Wednesday night that the park will be a crowd pleaser.
“It’s a good thing,” said Vance Ardell, one of about 75 people, many of them area residents, who attended the session. “I’d like to see people using it, I like to see the dogs out using it and the kids using it, too. I like the whole thing.”
The 14-hectare, donut-shaped green space is an urban redevelopment project that practically fell into the City’s lap when Aberdeen Highlands Development Corp. decided to close Aberdeen Links last fall.
The golf course simply wasn’t sustainable, said Glenn Grant, a neighbourhood resident.
“This will be more widely used by residents around there,” he said.
Responding to a survey that showed overwhelming support for a park, the company sold a parcel of the land to the City for $2.3 million and donated other portions. With another $2.5 million earmarked for park development, the City got the planning process underway Wednesday by asking for input.
Conceptual plans include redeveloping the former clubhouse as a possible community centre flanked by a couple of playfields, expanded parking, community gardens and preservation of the existing pond. A 1.7-kilometre linear path would weave through the grassland section of the park, which encircles an existing subdivision.
Erynn Carney, a young mother, sees the potential to address a recreational shortcoming in the city — toddler parks.
“There are so many kids up here,” she said. “In fact, most of the city doesn’t have a toddler-friendly park.”
Another not-quite-so-young contingent was well represented.
Matthew Gosse was with a group of young longboard riders from throughout the city who hope to see part of the park offer paved trails. As members of the Kamloops Longboard Club, they give lessons to youngsters and argue for a safer alternative to streets.
“Opportunities like this don’t come up too often,” Gosse said, noting that the amenity could serve multiple purposes.
“It would be the best place in the city for it,” added Brendan Woods, who recalled having been hit twice by vehicles while longboarding on the street.
Winter sports — skating on the pond and cross-country skiing on the trail — are another possibility.
“Given the elevation of the park, I think winter activities could have huge appeal,” said Michael Doll, a City parks planner.
There was but one bone of contention at the open house. Several residents complained about off-leash dogs and canine droppings. Stick-it notes were strategically placed on one map to show where bag dispensers ought to go.
“This is the biggest doggy park in the world,” said Joanne Linnell, whose home overlooks the golf course. “Is it going to be a doggy park or a park for people?”
With potential for another 3,000 residents in the neighbourhood through build-out by the developer over the next 10 to 15 years, there will be even greater need for a park in the area, said Coun. Nelly Dever.
Nick DeCicco, the City’s parks planning and project supervisor, said that’s a citywide complaint not confined to Aberdeen. He said residents are happy to see the former golf course preserved as public green space.
“Everything going well, we should be able to get the park developed next year,” he said.
Another open house will be held once public input has been added to the concept plan.
This article appeared in the Vancouver Sun on February 21st, 2012 and was written by Brian Morton. This tax credit will also benefit Kamloops as there is always a lot of new construction in our city. This will at the least help mitigate the HST expense on new homes for Kamloops buyers. Read article below.
A new tax break for first-time buyers of new homes will help stimulate the construction industry and create plenty of new jobs, an industry executive said of Tuesday’s 2012 provincial budget.
“This is welcome,” Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association president and chief executive officer Peter Simpson said of a temporary bonus for first-time homebuyers that will be effective until March 31, 2013, and is worth up to $10,000.
“They have a difficult time getting into the market and typically get assistance from the bank of Mom and Dad. So this helps property virgins get on the first rung of home ownership and helps stimulate construction.
“For every home start, there are approximately three full-time jobs each year.”
The bonus, a one-time refundable personal tax credit, is equal to five per cent of the purchase price of the home to a maximum of $10,000.
The bonus will be reduced based on a buyer’s or couple’s net income. For single people, the bonus is reduced by 20 cents for every dollar in net income over $150,000 (it’s reduced to zero at $200,000 net income). For couples, the bonus is reduced by 10 cents for every dollar in family net income over $150,000 (it’s zero at $250,000 family net income).
The bonus, which includes detached houses, duplexes, townhouses, condos, mobile homes, floating homes and cooperative housing units, is based on homes where the HST is now payable.
In a budget briefing, Finance Minister Kevin Falcon said the incentive will help people get into the market.
“We hear from people that talk about the challenge their children or their grandchildren are having getting into their first home,” Falcon said.
“And the biggest hurdle is usually the down payment you’re required to come up with. We believe a $10,000 contribution towards those first-time purchasers of new homes is a great contribution, a great way we can help your children or your grandchildren get into their first home and at the same time receive the dual benefit of supporting the new home construction industry over the next 12 months when it’s forecast across the country to be slowing.”
Urban Development Institute executive-director Maureen Enser agreed, saying the homebuyer bonus was an added bit of good news for the home construction industry on top of the government’s announcement last week raising the HST-rebate threshold to $850,000.
“In the Lower Mainland in particular, where housing is very expensive, both measures together make it easier for people to consider a new home [purchase] for a family,” Enser said.
She added that the maximum $10,000 bonus for first-time buyers with net income under $150,000 should stimulate some potential buyers to move off the sidelines and look for homes, particularly in the Lower Mainland.
“[About] 13 per cent of new housing is priced below $525,000, and 50 per cent is between the $525,000 and $850,000 range,” Enser said, so the measures combined help bring down the cost of new housing at both ends.
However, Simpson was less happy about the budget’s lack of any significant tax relief for the home renovation industry, noting that B.C. homeowners will spend more than $7.6 billion in home renovation, improvement and repair this year.
“We’re still left with the issue of the underground economy, with people delaying their decision to renovate their home by waiting for the HST to disappear [on April 1, 2013],” said Simpson, who added that the home renovation tax credit of up to $1,000 a year for seniors to help them remain in their homes longer will not have a big impact on renovators.
Vancouver-based home renovator Todd Senft agreed with Simpson, saying he’d hoped for new relief but now believes the lack of tax breaks in Tuesday’s budget will force many people to put off renovations and go to the underground economy — where renovators with less credentials undercut legitimate contractors.
“That’s disappointing,” Senft, owner of reVISION Custom Home Renovations Inc., said.
“I’m glad they paid attention to new-home builders, but that doesn’t help us. People will wait a few months and save a few thousand dollars.
“It [the home renovation industry] is steady right now and the year has started moderately. But it will be a tough grind this year. I’m hoping more [homeowners] don’t head to the underground economy to save money. The savings by doing it under the table are massive.”
Meanwhile, Business Council of B.C. president Jock Finlayson said the 2012 budget is generally very positive for B.C.’s economy.
“We would give it high marks overall. It’s not perfect, but we think it will be well received in the business community and financial markets. [And] it reinforces the province’s strong fiscal position and aims to [return B.C.] to a balanced operating budget. It maintains most of the tax advantages of B.C.
“And the forecasts are credible, as we see it.”
However, B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair called the budget a continuation of policies that have put more money in the pockets of the richest British Columbians and B.C. Liberal insiders at the expense of working and middle-class families.
“British Columbians have a right to ask why in tough times we’re giving grants to CEOs to buy vacation homes in Whistler, while they’re telling health care workers and teachers that they have to take a pay cut. I think this is a poor excuse by a desperate government to try to capture the right wing.”
Sinclair said the budget speech acknowledged that front-line workers in B.C.’s public sector had already foregone billions in income due to real wage cuts over the past two years, while cabinet ministers and senior managers got double-digit pay hikes. “It’s simply not fair.”
Iain Black, president and CEO of the Vancouver Board of Trade, said his overall grade for the budget is a B. “We’re dealing with a government with very difficult global economic conditions to deal with and yet it managed to carve out some careful, strategic moves for B.C.”
Kevin Evans, CEO of the Industry Training Authority, also praised the budget for providing tax credits for the shipbuilding and ship repair industry to help employers hire apprentices.
Shachi Kurl, director of provincial affairs, B.C. and Yukon, for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said the budget appears to be on track to balance the budget by next year, but raises the unwelcome spectre of corporate tax increases and fails to honour the commitment to eliminate the small business tax rate.
Deloitte tax policy expert Lisa Zajko said the retention of the 2.5-per-cent small business rate and the provisional one-precentage point increase to the corporate tax rate — from 10 per cent to 11 per cent effective April 1, 2014, if the economy falters — are not surprising. “The wait-and-see approach to the corporate tax rate increase is a safe move but may affect B.C.’s competitive position in the future if Alberta and Ontario keep their rate at 10 per cent, without entirely foregoing the prior work toward cutting corporate tax rates.”
The main floor also has a 2 piece powder room and mud room off of the oversized garage (21×21 plus 9×4 bonus). The second level features the master suite with 5 piece ensuite, two additional guest bedrooms, 5 piece guest bathroom, laundry room with built ins and bonus play room over the garage. There is a storage area on 3rd level accessed through front bedroom.
New Listing: 15-460 Azure Place, Mesa Estates, Sahali, Kamloops, BC $699,900. Gorgeous two storey home with sprawling views, lots of living space, extra parking plus a one bedroom inlaw suite.
The main floor also has a 2 piece powder room and mud room off of the oversized garage (21×21 plus 9×4 bonus). The second level features the master suite with 5 piece ensuite, two additional guest bedrooms, 5 piece guest bathroom, laundry room with built ins and bonus play room over the garage. There is a storage area on 3rd level accessed through front bedroom.
A new tax break for first-time buyers of new homes will help stimulate the construction industry and create plenty of new jobs, an industry executive said of Tuesday’s 2012 provincial budget.