March 2023 Newsletter

Less than an hour commute to the city.

Lake living offers many benefits for a richly rewarding life that includes outdoor water and land recreation

Rather than looking at lake living as another piece of real estate, think of it as a lifestyle choice.

Think of your life as an on-going celebration or a healthy indulgence. Celebration and indulgence are two words that typically don’t go together, but you will soon see your life will become a treat to the senses.

No more constant buzz of city life in the background, clean air and more quality friendships will become a part of your life. Reconnect with the stars at night. Those grandkids or grandparents will want to see you more than ever, and they will notice the change in you.

Between the land and water recreation available to you, activities, like sitting on the deck or going for a walk, will become an enjoyable experience. In most lake communities, you will find many recreational options within minutes of your home and, in many cases, within walking distance. If you have an RV or recreational vehicle, your lake property will only add to your lifestyle and with beautiful parks, trails and fishing options within easy reach.

Here are just a few of the recreational options open to you:

• Golf course – no less than 7 quality courses
• Campsites
• Restaurants
• Festivals
• Farmer’s Markets
• Boating
• Both stream and lake fishing
• Snowmobiling
• Cross Country Skiing

Buyers look at vacant land as a great way to get started in Lake Country and at times have misconceptions about how they can use the property. This blog will outline the things you need to consider if you plan on purchasing vacant land for the purposes of putting an RV on it.

Lake Country is home too many listings featuring vacant land that vary in size and location. Many of these properties are located in rural subdivisions or Summer Villages and at first glance look like an affordable place to land an RV.

Vacant land may already have services on it like power, water supply, septic tanks, or out buildings.

So it begs the question can I simply buy a lot to put my RV on?

There are many considerations:

Restrictive Covenants: These documents are in place and supersede the local development permit application. Properties where restrictive covenants are in place set minimum standards for building size or appearance. These restrictive covenants cannot be removed from the title and remain in force regardless of when they were written. This can have a serious effect on your lot purchase.

Easements/Encroachments: A lot may have an easement or encroachment agreement on title. These agreements may allow for shared driveway access, or items that might be partially on municipal land or an adjoining property.

Utility Right of Ways: There are utility companies that may have to come on the property to service their product. A very common one is natural gas companies.

Summer Villages: Lake Country is home too many Summer Villages. These villages are a collection of properties that have adopted a set of bylaws and provide a variety of services (garbage removal, sewer services, road maintenance, etc) These Villages for the most part have bylaws in place that do not allow for RV’s to be placed on properties as a primary residence.

Water: You have to determine a source of water for your lot. You can drill a well or have a cistern. There are several new water supply depots in Lake Country that allow you to haul your own water to your property.

Septic: You will need to a system in place to remove sewage. You can install a tank or have septic services onsite. There are RV dump stations in the area as well.

Power: It is becoming much more difficult to get power permit for a lot that only will have an RV on it. An electrical permit is part of a complete development permit application. Other options are solar and batteries.

Natural Gas: Natural Gas is available for the most part at the property line and can be brought onto you lot for a cost. The alternative heat source is propane.

Accessibility: Most lots are accessible by using public roads, some properties are in gated communities, and others may have private access roads that would be part of the title with an easement agreement.

It’s not as simple as buying a piece of land and simply parking an RV on it. Buying property for this type of use requires a thorough investigation and understanding of the various areas and rules. Having a local expert familiar with the area is a great asset.

While this may seem like there are no options available there are RV friendly areas in Lake Country. Give us a shout at 780-991-5107 or contact us a info@edmontonlakeproperty.com

No one could have predicted the swift-moving market that the pandemic created. We’ve seen more sales, higher prices and many new buyers bringing Lake Country Into focus.

The frenzy was hugely emotional as many aspects of daily life was suddenly confined to our Properties. Space became a significant aspect, and lake property hit a high note. Most of us wanted to gather some semblance of everyday life. Now fuel market with low-interest rates and increased inventory, we found ourselves setting records. At Lake Wabamun, we had a record sale of $1,730.00 million, 2 million higher than the previous record, $705,000 at Lake Isle and 1,3 million at Lac Ste Anne. All Records, note Wabamun and Lake Isle were ELP listings.

The bad news is in the last 30 days, we’ve seen property sales drop by ½ since they opened up the Province. Now people are waking up to the reality of real life and having to go back to the office or, in many cases, find a new career.

The bright side of our journey is homeowners now have higher equity and could withstand a price drop. For home buyers, interest rates are still low, and inventory is increasing. This opens up many opportunities for lake buyers that would not have been possible a month ago.
Our staff at Edmonton Lake Property are on top of these changes. They are aware of many pocket listings as well as the stocked MLS offering many buying opportunities.

August-2021-Newsletter

A lake home is not a static place; it is constantly changing. Life goes on, moods change from season to season. Your lake home can be about celebrating that change. I see lake homes every day, and for some, it can be a place of personal expression; for others, it is an amusement park of activity.

No matter what your purpose, the lake home creates an environment that is alive, full of thought and beauty that can enrich not only the owners but also their friends and family.

Each one of the four seasons can bring a season of change and expression. When the summer sun gives into the autumn chills allow for memories from the summer and the fun that was had by you and anyone you shared your environment with.

The winter brings about a whole new season of activity. Believe me, there are many. Once winter gives way to the spring sun, anticipation and dreaming of another beautiful summer take hold. Driving around the lake in the spring, I can see new construction, add-on, a new toy in the driveway. Lake residents looking to share stories of past summers and the coming season.

For us in real estate, it is about new dreams into our area, the buyers looking to build a better life for their families. For some of us, it is time to move on and let a new generation move in. I can tell you we all stay too long at the party, many of us for health and other reasons should have made the move years ago, but for many, we hang on.

Spring brings a new rush of buyers and sellers ready to let go. The Edmonton Lake Property team is here to help. Feel free to discuss your buying dreams, and for those moving on, we do free evaluations, and we’ve been even known to provide a bit of comfort.

-info@edmontonlakeproperty.com

Marketing your lake or recreational property means much more than listing it. The difference can mean REAL TAX-FREE DOLLARS in your bank account. The main issue when listing your rural property comes with two choices:

1. Do I list it with a local agent around but outside of MLS® has no real marketing happening where 50% of the market comes from the city and elsewhere?
2. Do I list it with a city agent with a house here and come out on the weekends? But outside of a few friends in a localized area, does not WORK lake country?

Generally, these are the choices. However, lake country west of Edmonton has now has a 3rd choice that will soon become the blueprint for selling your recreational home for top dollar.

Let me introduce you to your 3rd choice; we are the people at Edmonton Lake Property. We are a group of professionals headed by Wayne William Heine, a 30 veteran of real estate sales, selling almost 2400 homes that include 400 lake sales in Lake country. His associate Charlene Anderson has lived in Lake country most of her life and sells millions annually in lake country sales.

I Have owned lake property since 1990 and have loved every minute at the lake. I have a lot of energy, and I like to share my love of country living with my city marketing connections and friends.

This includes the property available, a website where Lake property is easy to find.  We utilize the mediums of Trade shows, TV, radio, local magazines, flyers, and we create not only more business for me and my customers, but we’ve made lake country alive. This buzz benefits all. This is exterior mass marketing and will help everyone.

Look for us in our mobile office with fax machines, photocopier, 28 inch TV monitors, high-speed internet and all the comforts of my city office. I can even make you a hot cup of tea or let you use the washroom, which can be handy out in the country.

Look for us driving or walking through your neighbourhoods or call us today.

I’m out of Quarantine on Thursday, and If anyone is out funds and need money for basics, I’m happy to provide a limited amount of $25.00 food funds with the delivery of basics (rice, milk, etc.) if needed. I invite others in our area to get creative how we can all help in our area that has been blessed with abundance. Required is the word. If you have needs you need help with; you may call me directly at 780-991-5107.
If your need is outside of that, I’m also a caregiver. Note my wife is disabled and has been for yrs. I have been self-trained through on-line courses and the help of a few wonderful nurses. I can also pick up prescriptions if required.

On a secondary note Real Estate has been deemed an essential service and I have developed our program to provide safe marketing of properties, presenting your home virtually to the public. We plan to start going on real estate appointments starting on April 13, 2020 – I’m free to talk anytime. 780-991-5107

Real Estate Update Regarding the Services of Edmonton Lake Property (ELP)                                                                               Serving Lake Wabamun – Isle Lake and Lac Ste Anne.

Dear Friends,

It’s logical given the news we are trying to navigate the current situation and maybe even a new normal. Our first concerns are to make sure ourselves and our loved ones are safe and sound, and they remain that way.

Given that concern, Real estate in Alberta has been deemed as an essential service. Given that we at Edmonton Lake Property don’t even open our season usually until April 10 (when the snow is gone and our full services by the 15th to 21st of April, so given that it still March, we are early. By this time, we usually have already been contacted by 12 – 15 potential buyers for the upcoming market. I’m happy to announce we are at least 50% of normal considering all that is going on.

Personally, I just back from America, and I’m in quarantine until April 12. We at ELP will not be going on any physical appointments till April 15, maybe longer, depending on conditions. We will consider opening up our services under a strict set of guidelines at that time, which will include social distancing and qualifying both potential buyers and sellers with a questionnaire to judge both of our possible safety. While real estate is essential, your personal safety is our first priority.

Now, if you are like most, you are wondering about the state of the market. Given the uniqueness of our market and the 10,000 people on our real estate mail list, we may find on a hopeful note that our market may experience a bit of rush once we start to see an end to this pandemic.

Considering the negative side of the pandemic’s effect on the market, the longer this goes on, the more it will affect sales and prices. The economic toll could take years to recover as a Country, Province and locally if this continues until mid-summer until we can see a recovery curve.

With our extensive market reach to 10,000 potential clients who have shown interest in Lake country in the last 8 years. We are grateful to the 350 successful transactions to buyers and sellers that amount to over $85 million in total sale value. I feel we have the experience to guide you through the current conditions. We even had a few offers in the last few days.

Our approach to this year is to rely heavily on professional photography, aerial photography and virtual showings. We are preparing our system to show buyers’ property virtually through Facetime or messaging. That’s right we will be able to show your property while the potential buyers sit in the comfort of their living room if it comes to that

We have been working on videos to portray our listings in their best light to our potential customers and on social media marketing. We have the staff and the equipment to make you shine as a seller.

We will be sending all potential buyers and sellers our protocol for safety. In the meantime, here is a first draft video my daughter put together from our sister company www.yourtruhome.com in Edmonton.

I invite you to look at the city video https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Y0q9VO6ieeWXUxJX6-5Fw. This gives an idea of our future on-line promotions,

I will be reaching out as time permits, but I would like to invite you to call me personally regarding all your local real estate questions. If you have any concerns, I would be happy to take the time to answer them on an individual basis.

In closing, we are clearly in unchartered territory that none of us have sailed through. There will be a point where the kids are playing on the beach, social distancing will be eased, and we will start to return to our healthy lives. This COVID-19 health event will be a distant memory.

In the meantime, stay safe and stay home.

Need Help? Although I’m in quarantine till April 12, if you or a loved one needs help in any way, you feel we may be able to provide it. I’m a caregiver and can provide minimal services if required, cooking, housecleaning, catheter changes, deliveries. Call, and I may be able to help. No charge for those in need in Lake Country.

The Local Guy,

Charlene Anderson & Kelvin Vandesselaar