If you find yourself in "downtown Ganges", on special Salt Spring Island, please drop by my "seaside village" office and say hello! Full real estate information package awaits you...real estate supplement, maps, detail sheets of all listings, from all companies, and weekly updates on what's for sale / what has sold.

My office is located at the corner of Lower Ganges Road (the main street) and Rainbow Road, and there is parking behind, off Rainbow. I have a great view of the Harbour, and the Boardwalk, and Ganges Marina.

With access to all listings, from all companies, I look forward to showing you all properties in your preferred category. It's important to me that buyers who work with me "see it all", so that they can make that all important "informed decision". I work for the best interests of my clients.

In this secondary home / discretionary marketplace area, which describes all Gulf Islands, including the largest and best serviced one in the Southern grouping (Salt Spring Island), it does take time to decide "for" both an Island and then a property on that chosen Island. I do take time, with my client base, as it's a serious and an important purchase. There's always time to '"get it right".

Potential impact of the Islands Trust bylaws on a property, water quantity and quality, if on a well, sun exposure, sense of quietness, proximity to amenities, zonings (agricultural land reserve?), etc. -- all questions that require answers. Also important to know market trends, past trends and projections for the future...again, questions deserving of thoughtful answers. A real estate purchase is an investment.

Now associated with Sea to Sky Premier Properties (head office is based in Whistler, and there are auxiliary offices in West Vancouver, in Squamish, in White Rock, in Victoria, and I am a branch office on Salt Spring Island), I am the Managing Broker of the Salt Spring office.

Sea to Sky Premier Properties is affiliated with Christies Great Estates, which opens up a global/international market to the Gulf Islands, through my office's presence here.

Sea to Sky Premier Properties is also a member of the Luxury Real Estate group, another international venue. As an individual, I was invited to be a Regent of the Luxury Real Estate group, and so act in an advisory capacity.

Real estate as an industry has seen significant changes over the past few years; an outcome of the "internet revolution", of course!

Up to the mid-1970s, companies were in charge of information, and realtors were considered employees. After the mid-70s, it became an agent centric model of business, and this was put in place by Dave Liniger of Re/Max. Many other such "agent centred" companies sprang up. With the advent of the internet, however, the old referral system offered by such business models changed.

Suddenly it's a consumer centric model of business. It has been reported that 89% of all real estate transactions start with an internet search. The consumer goes direct, now, seeking information about an area, about listings in that region, about realtors to work with. Lately, in Canada, the mls system, which is there for the benefit of agents with listings, is under pressure to allow any seller to put up their property offering on that system, for a flat fee. This kind of shift from agent to consumer control is profound, and will leave everything "changed".

A recognition of such important shifts, and a desire to be of service to my client base, is what created my wish to affiliate with the Sea to Sky Premier Properties group, as I continue my real estate career. It's important to be in a position to allow innovation, and partnerships with offices, not necessarily a part of a franchise model, is, I think, the future of this industry.

The internet, which erased time and geography, did create the "global village" forecast by Marshall McLuhan, back in the 60s and 70s. We haven't really yet seen the outcome of the internet revolution, but it's definitely already clear that the consumer of any service is in charge. That includes the service of real estate.

This control by the consumer of a real estate offering means that the role of the realtor has changed, too. No longer the expediter of knowledge, the realtor has become more of an interpreter. An editing function, for all that raw data!

How may I help you to discover and to purchase your special Salt Spring Island and Southern Gulf Islands property?

I look forward to your call! "Your Interpreter Connection for Salt Spring Island and the Southern Gulf Islands...Li Read."