Wendy Stueck, Globe & Mail, September 16, 2002
VANCOUVER — For years, British Columbia in general and Vancouver especially have attracted foreign real estate investors.
But if the buzz once focused on Asian speculators snapping up downtown condos before the units were even built, today it centres on Americans — drawn to B.C. by a low Canadian dollar, relative accessibility and in some cases, a desire for a safe haven in troubled times.
Peter Mitham, Business in Vancouver, July 15, 2002
The market for B.C. recreational properties is beginning to follow the broader residential market upwards, with realtors noting more interest and higher prices across the province.
The market swung upwards last October after three slack years, said Rudy Nielsen of Landquest Realty Corp. in New Westminster.
“People weren’t buying any recreational lands. The American and the German markets were kind of quiet,”
Wyng Chow, The Vancouver Sun, May 1, 2002
As Edmonton-born telecommunications tycoon Bernie Ebbers tries to extract himself from his personal and his company’s financial woes, look for him to sell his flagship British Columbia property — the famed Douglas Lake Ranch.
While the sprawling 66,371 hectare (164,000 acres) ranch isn’t officially on the market, it is known that Ebbers, the towering, charismatic CEO in cowboy boots, has been testing the waters as he liquidates assets to cover debts running in the hundreds of million dollars.
M.P. Dunleavy, MSN Money Online, April 8, 2002
So if you’re thinking of investing in a second home, why not buy your own island in the Bahamas for just $75,000? It’s a full acre in size with “a rocky shoreline and dense foliage,” according to the listing at Private Islands Online. There’s also a private dock on the island so you can visit your rocks and foliage. Best of all is the name: Carrion Crow Cay.
Alan Daniels, The Vancouver Sun, March 28, 2002
One of British Columbia’s most spectacular privately-owned properties, the 1,000-acre Firlands Ranch, overlooking the Columbia Valley Wetlands near Radium Hot Springs, goes on the auction block Friday.
The main residence is a 4,000 square feet, five-bedroom log house built three years ago at a cost of more than $1 million. The beauty is in the details: a built-in wine bar made from 100-year-old barn wood;
Chad Skelton, The Vancouver Sun, October 6, 2001
Growing up, Marian Churchill loved to listen to her parents tell her stories about “the family’s islands.” The idea that a poor family in Nanaimo owned its very own islands — two, no less — added a touch of magic to the life of a young girl in the 1950s. “I wondered why we weren’t King and Queen, because we owned an island,”
Talk Magazine, August 2001
It may be some distance from Walden Pond, but KASSAN ISLAND, on Stuart Lake in central British columbia, would have suited Thoreau to a T. The 0.3 acre rock formation even boasts the requisite one-room cabin nestled amid 30-foot pines. And it’s a safe 10 miles from Fort Saint James (population 2,000), which has all the basic small-town amenities – plus a sailing club. Available from NIHO Land &
Steve Berry, The Vancouver Province, June 20, 2001
Doug Blamey is president of the Whistle Punk Railway. It’s a railway built on little more than a dream – there’s no track, no rolling stock, no rights of way.
But what a dream.
The Maple Ridge man is proposing to build a rail line from Pitt Meadows to Whistler. And he’s advancing one small step at a time.
Mark Lamey, The Montreal Gazette, May 11, 2001
William Blomstrom, a Toronto ad man, is the brains behind www.privateislandsonline.com, a Web site that markets island real-estate all over the world. Are you looking for an Italian idyll or a Greek getaway? Then this is the place to start.
His site features 162 island retreats in places as exotic as Oceania or as homey as Georgian Bay. He even has two Quebec properties listed.
Susan Balcom, The Vancouver Sun, January 20, 2000
Buying recreational land used to be something people did in their retirement. Couples dreamed of quitting their jobs, selling their homes, and escaping to a simpler life in the country. But the dreams waited until the magic age of 65. Now, thanks to more flexible work schedules and telecommuting, 20-year-olds are shopping for property in the country, both as an investment, and to enjoy now on weekend get-aways.