Happy Canada Day - And Thanks, Mom and Dad - 06/30/10 10:51 PM
When my dad was 12, he and his family came across the ocean from Holland to make a new life in Canada.  My grandfather had arranged for his family (wife and 5 children) to help work a farm. They would live on the farm and make their living there.
When they arrived at the port in Montreal, there was a telegram waiting for them. It was from the farmer in Alberta who had hired them. Their work was no longer needed. They were on their own.
Devastated, they eventually found their way to a community near London, Ontario, where other Dutch immigrants were settling.  A year after they … (25 comments)

I Got a Promotion...and Other Changes to Real Estate Law in Quebec - 06/29/10 10:31 AM
I got a promotion but I swear I'm not bragging because it has everything to do with changes to real estate law in Quebec and nothing to do with anything I did to deserve the promotion.  But I got it just the same, as did all real estate agents in Quebec.
What happened?  On May 1, 2010, the new Real Estate Brokerage Act came into effect in Quebec.  As part of this, I got a promotion from real estate AGENT to real estate BROKER, as did all real estate agents in Quebec.  Other changes will be implemented over the next 18 months.
Here are some of them:
… (13 comments)

Only in Quebec - 06/26/10 11:13 AM
Every summer when I was a kid, my parents would pack all 4 of us kids into the car and make the sweaty, stifling 18-hour trip from the east coast where we lived to London, Ontario, where we were born and our extended family lived. 
My parents somehow handled the sweating, and complaining, and boredom and unending roads extremely well. (Except for the time they forgot my brother at a rest stop, but after hours of therapy, we're ready to let that one go.)
The only time they truly got frantic was when we passed through Montreal.  "Jean, watch the signs. WATCH THE SIGNS!  Oh for the … (19 comments)

Confessions of a Social Media Neophyte - 06/22/10 10:39 AM
1.  I feel guilty for making new "virtual" friendships when I can't seem to keep up with my "real" friendships.
If I spent as much time visiting with the 3-D people in my life as I do visiting with people I can only "see" by way of a still photo...or, if we're lucky, a vlog...I'd have a fuller social calendar than Megan Fox at a men's club.
2.  I question the validity of my rationalization that all this time spent on the computer is actually good for business.
This doesn't feel like work at all.  Oh, I tell myself it is.  And I tell those around me that it is, too.  … (45 comments)

I sure love this guy. - 06/20/10 10:36 AM
When I was pregnant with our first child, I told my husband that I hoped the baby was a girl.  Not because I had always hoped to have a girl.  Quite the contrary.  As a child, I was always more comfortable building with Lego than having a tea party.  I was climbing trees while other girls were playing with Barbies.  I could relate more to boys than to girls in a lot of ways.
I hoped our first child would be a girl because my husband was so reserved emotionally.  I mean, the guy had never in his life EVER hugged one his guy friends.  It … (13 comments)

Adding Some Life to a Home: Montreal Home Staging Before and After Pictures - 06/16/10 06:43 PM
I've got some Montreal home staging before and after pictures for you here.  These come from a Montreal West Island home staging project we recently did.  The home sold after 6 weeks on the market, which was great considering it was in the $500,000+ range where homes generally sit on the market longer than lower priced properties. 
It was another real estate agent's listing, but I was happy to stage it because the homeowner was the mother of my very first client as a Montreal home stager. 
The home was essentially vacant, as the homeowner spent very little time there.  It needed a bit of PERSONALITY … (8 comments)

A Big Part of "List"ing is Listening - 06/08/10 12:54 PM
I love it when I hear a non-salesy, common-sensical approach to gaining business.  'Cause I'm not salesy at all.  Never have been, never will be.  I tried to be salesy once, while working in a clothing store to help put myself through university.  I ended up stalking the client who said she didn't want my help throughout the store, pretending to be fixing the clothes on the racks near her.  She knew what I was doing...and ran away.  Then I ran away too.
I'm now a Montreal real estate broker and Montreal home stager, but I'm still not salesy.  And I have no intention of … (40 comments)

Imperfection - 06/06/10 02:42 PM
There's beauty in imperfection.
And art.
Whimsy and surprise.
Character.
The imprint of a life that's LIVED.
 
 
 
 
 
… (10 comments)

 
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Tanya Nouwens ~ Montreal Real Estate Broker & Stager

Montreal West Island, QC

More about me…

RE/MAX Royal (Jordan)/Ready, Set...Sold! www.readysetsold.ca

Address: 101 Amherst, Beaconsfield QC H9W 5Y7, Kirkland, Beaconsfield, Baie d'Urfe, Montreal, Quebec, H9J 4A5

Office Phone: (514) 694-6900

Cell Phone: (514) 919-8468

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