Courtesy of Doug Smilski

DESTINATIONS FOR CANADIAN SNOWBIRDS

It’s estimated that each winter a million or more Canadians will migrate from their snowy homes in search of warmer locations. Referred to as Snowbirds, these travellers will nest for months outside of Canada, to return with the spring like their avian namesakes. Traditionally the destination of choice (and still the number one location) is the United States. Thanks to the convenience of air travel, differences in monetary values and effective marketing, these other destinations are picking up an increasingly large share of this lucrative visitor traffic: • Mexico has become the second primary locale for Canadian snowbirds due to glorious beaches, forested mountains and the lure of ancient civilizations. • Costa Rica, the northwest, is especially sought-out, thanks to its proximity to Pacific beaches and other tourist-centered attractions. • A tropical climate, affordable lifestyle and tourist-friendly tax laws, Panama is becoming a favoured winter location. • The island nation of the Dominican Republic is popular because of affordable rents, fabulous beaches and low cost of living.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES HAVE CHANGED REAL ESTATE Finding a way to make technology work for the betterment of any industry has helped change our modern world in ways unimagined by earlier generations. Time and again it’s been proven that imagination is the catalyst that leads to innovation and that’s never been truer than with the profession of real estate sales. Today’s real estate can cross the globe at the speed of light, serving an audience that could number in the thousands. A REALTOR ® at their computer keyboard can manage dozens of properties without leaving the comfort or convenience of their office. Thanks to websites, digital photography, simple-to-use video production software, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality experiences, 3D renderings, interactive maps and other technologies, customers can visit a property virtually from the comfort of their home, on the other side of the world in some cases. Increasingly property purchases are made remotely, without the client ever leaving their home, with the contracted on-site REALTOR ® looking after the physical details of the transaction. One of the industry’s key technologies is the MLS ® System, the industry standard database that provides sales professionals anywhere instant access to a vast trove of information regarding specific listings, neighbourhoods and more. Originally presented as a paper catalog, a document that was quickly out of date and increasingly expensive to produce, today’s MLS ® Systems are constantly updated and accessible around the clock. As new technologies emerge the real estate sector will be finding new and imaginative ways to turn those breakthroughs into ways of doing their jobs quicker, easier and to a larger audience. Real estate sales in the 21st century are eagerly riding the crest of this new technological wave.

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