Two new earthquake fault zones have recently been discovered. One fault line is close, and could cause significant damage to Abbotsford BC. Newly released seismic hazard maps from the U.S. Geological Survey feature the Boulder Creek Fault. Another finding was the South Whidbey Island Fault, which stretches southeast from Victoria, is longer than expected and runs through Seattle's northern and eastern suburbs. These fault lines could potentially cause earthquakes measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale. There is evidence of earthquakes having occurred there three times in the past 7,500 years.

So, make a ICE (in case of emergency) plan with your family, buy a emergency survival kit and some sort of earthquake insurance for your home. But don't be concerned too much because we are talking about time frames of hundreds of years. Just be a little prepared, just in case.

Finally its going to become reality. The University College of the Fraser Valley (UCFV) will become a university, to be called the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), Premier Gordon Campbell and Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell announced earlier this week. The University of the Fraser Valley will keep thousands of students closer to where they live. UFV is also expected to attract international students. Amendments to B.C.'s University Act will be required to allow for the designation of the new university. Premier Campbell said new bill will be introduced in the house next week. The institution began as Fraser Valley College in 1974. It was granted university college status and renamed the University College of the Fraser Valley in 1991. Fraser Valley students and officials have been lobbying for full university status for a number of years.  New university will boost the housing market in Abbotsford BC where the main campus is located. Condominiums close to the campus are already in high demand.

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For the second time in eight weeks, the Bank of Canada slashed its policy-setting overnight interest rate by half a percentage point, to 3 per cent. The bank also lowered its outlook for economic growth to 1.4 percent for this year. In January, the bank forecast the growth at 1.8 percent. The bank also lowered its outlook for economic growth to 1.4 percent for this year. In January, the bank forecast the growth at 1.8 percent. The big banks were slow to lower their prime lending rates by a corresponding amount. But by late afternoon, they had all announced half-point reductions in their prime rates to 4.75 per cent, effective Wednesday. The bank added that Canadian demand is projected to remain strong, supported by firm commodity prices, high employment levels and the effect of the Bank of Canada's interest rate cuts. The central bank left the door open for more rate cuts if they are needed to keep the economy moving. The U.S. economy will get a temporary reprieve later this year from Washington's massive fiscal stimulus package, but the U.S. housing market won't stabilize until 2010, and credit conditions will also take that long to return to normal, the central bank said.

Just added a MLS search function to my real estate website. You can search Vancouver, Chilliwack and Fraser Valley Real Estate Board's MLS databases. Search our extensive inventory of available properties. All information is current and available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. Over 20,000 listings are now available. Select a search type that most suits what you are looking for.

Canadian housing starts grew unexpectedly strongly in February, again highlighting the contrast with the United States, where the battered housing sector has sparked an economic downturn. New home construction in Canada rose by 15.4 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 256,900 units, from 222,700 units in January, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp said on Monday. However, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said yesterday that it still expects the trend in housing starts to head down by the end of this year. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of starts hit 256,900 units last month, CMHC said. It outstripped the consensus forecast of private sector economists by 51,900 units, and was also up from 222,700 units in January.

BC posted Canada's largest increase in housing starts last month as demand for condos in the Lower Mainland lit a fire under the homebuilding sector according to Canada Mortgage And Housing Corporation. BC posted an increase of 45.2 per cent in housing starts between January and February.

The Bank of Canada today announced that it is lowering its target for the overnight rate by one-quarter of one percentage point to 4 1/4 per cent. The operating band for the overnight rate is correspondingly lowered, and the Bank Rate is now 4 1/2 per cent. The Bank is likely to trim rates again in January, although the tone of today’s press release does not hint at a significant easing campaign. The Bank is still officially concerned about upside risks to inflation (given a very low jobless rate), but the credit squeeze and a possible U.S. recession are the dominant concerns now.

The Bank of Canada lowered interest rates yesterday ... . .. .Read More >>>

I have a mortgage blog where I blog about mortgages, market etc. sometimes. Its something that I do when I have nothing better to do. Recently I noticed an increase in the traffic to this blog and I as was feeling quite good about it until I noticed where the traffic is coming from. I checked my statcounter and it tell me most of that increased traffic is coming from another domain "mortme.com". When I clicked on Mortme.com, It my blog. Everything is mine except the domain name and Google ads (link units above labels and post headers). But when you click on a label or a post header, you go to that page using my domain name and everything appears normal. I don't understand what is happening, why someone will do this and how can I fix it. Is my blog "framed"? new domain name redirected to my blog? and cloaked? Its not indexed by Google as "mortme" and there is no traffic coming from search engines to that domain name. why would someone do it. what is the benefit to them?

Foreclosure rescue scams are multiplying in the wake of the nationwide sub-prime lending crisis that has caused lenders to repossess hundreds of thousands of homes. Many victims never report these scams, and even when they do, prosecution is difficult, so no concrete statistics exist, but consumer advocates and law enforcement experts say the scams are increasingly common.

Because lenders must file public notices of mortgage defaults, it's easy to find people who are on the brink of losing their homes. Con artists promise the homeowner that a network of investors would save their house from foreclosure by taking over ownership then renting it to them, promising that they could .. .. . . .. .. . . . ..  READ MORE >>

1. Create a profile on Active Rain and start  communicating with Realtors. You can learn a lot from this community. Click here to get started.
2. Build a website that you can manage yourself easily. Template websites are a good way to start. Point2 Agent offers a very good system for free. Click here to claim your free website. There are many other option available, just ask the Activerainers.
   
3. Customize your website. Don't make your site look like a 900th copy of a mega agent. 
4. Offer free, instant information on your website.
5. Offer maps and area info for your "out of town" visitors.
   
6. Add listings to your website. People are looking for listings most of the times. Point2 allows you to show listings from other members if you don't have any listings (you work with buyers only).
7. Add the IDX / VOW function. IDX can allow buyers to search for listings of your MLS database while they are visiting your website.
   
8. Add a mortgage calculator on your website.
9. Offer mortgage, title, insurance and other realty related information.
10. Link to other useful sites.
    
11. Give your visitors a reason to contact you.
12. Add a blog to the website and update it on regular basis.. (IE www.yourrealtywebsite.com/BLOG.)
13. Update your website at least 3 times/week.
14. .....................  .. Add your suggestion here.
    

What's the next step?