One very cold mid January morning in northern British Columbia, in a fairly remote area known as the “Lakes District”, my oldest son and I got ourselves into trouble… but with good common sense we managed to reverse the situation. We had ventured out in search of a 160-acre parcel of land that was on the market for sale at a very attractive price. When we left our home the day before, the weather had been clear,

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Sorrell Downer,Financial Times of London   September 22, 2006

“You wouldn’t believe how many people want to buy a town.” When Rudy Nielson says this, you can’t help but doubt him. Given the money one must need to acquire a thriving settlement and the hassles that would certainly come with rescuing a declining one, town ownership seems like an option for only the most foolhardy investor.

But for romantics and visionaries – those people who see dusty streets,

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Shawn Ohler, Calgary Herald,  August 27, 2006

Cash-flush Albertans are taking advantage of their province’s recent oil boom by snatching secondary properties from their westerly neighbours at unprecedented rates, according to a real estate research firm.

Albertans have purchased 2,219 properties in B.C. worth more than $650 million in the first six months of 2006, ahead of the 2005 pace, and drastically more than buyers from elsewhere in Canada and the United States,

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With all of my years of experience in the remote British Columbian wilderness, I have developed what I call my Sixth Sense. Nature has taught me to be aware of my surroundings by listening and observing its sounds and sights. When hiking in remote areas, every 15 to 20 minutes I stop, stand motionless in one place, and listen and look for unusual things I listen for things like the rustling of leaves, the snapping of a twig,

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Shawn Ohler, Victoria Times-Colonist,  August, 27, 2006

Cash-flush Albertans are taking advantage of their province’s recent oil boom by snatching secondary properties from their westerly neighbours at unprecedented rates, according to a real estate research firm.

Albertans have purchased 2,219 properties in B.C. worth more than $650 million in the first six months of 2006, ahead of the 2005 pace, and drastically more than buyers from elsewhere in Canada and the United States,

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In my seven day survival vest, I carry many things, including 100 feet of thin strong nylon rope which I store in the back of my vest. Rope is very handy out into the bush. I have used it not only just for camping, but it has gotten me out of some very tight situations.

Out in the wilderness, you may not have a tent, or you may be unexpectedly caught in the woods overnight.

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Shawn Ohler, Edmonton Journal,  August, 27, 2006

Jay Champigny rattles off the numbers — “7,000-square-foot lot, 2,350-square-foot house, $1.75 million” — like a blase shopper reciting a short grocery list.

Yet the most remarkable thing about the Edmonton businessman’s new property on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast is not its gaudy pricetag — or its stunning ocean view, or its secluded locale in relatively undeveloped Pender Harbour — but the fact he’s never actually seen it.

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Ashley Ford, Vancouver Province,  August, 20, 2006

They are the new force in the B.C. housing market.

Armed with assets and better health than their mothers and fathers, retirees are leaving the urban jungle for the fresher climes of smaller towns and communities across the province.

In the process, they are helping create a heated housing market rivaling that of the Lower Mainland and blurring the lines between recreation and conventional housing.

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Ashley Ford, Vancouver Province,  August, 20, 2006

So just who is buying up B.C. property?

The simple answer is British Columbians, the bulk of them retirees from the Lower Mainland.

But there are plenty of outsiders who also want their piece of spectacular B.C.

Cash-rich Albertans may be a small percentage of buyers, but they are coming in droves and so are foreign buyers to a much lesser degree.

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Ashley Ford, Vancouver Province,  August, 20, 2006

B.C.’s recreation market is as searing as the urban residential sector.

While much of it is being propelled by “aging baby boomers,” there’s plenty of action coming from younger buyers and so-called “lifestyle” buyers intent on grabbing their piece of paradise.

According to RE/MAX of Western Canada, “never before have those aged 50-plus been such a strong segment of the recreational property market.”

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