Advanced Mortgages In Mexico
With all of the negative press regarding the global economy, there has never been a better time to buy real estate!
In Canada, we are seeing historical interest rate lows, and lower home prices in Canada, USA, and Mexico.
There are still buyers out there, we hope our information will help you pass on the good news about the affodable financing available for Mexico real estate purchases.
Please remember that we are independant mortage brokers, we shop numerous banks for the best rate. We have the ability to finance clients homes in Canada (rates as low as 3%), or the USA (rates as low as 4%) in order to provide funds for a Mexico home purchase.
We also have mortgages available in Mexico starting at 7.75% and have one of the highest mortgage approval/closing ratios of all the broker firms.
Yes, we are open for business in MEXICO!
www.yourmexicanmortgage.com
Natural Wonders
The economic downturn doesn’t seem to have hurt a pair of new courses, tucked into the mountainous terrain of the golf-rich East Kootenays.
The economy has taken its toll on a number of BC golf projects, but a couple of them have managed to weather the storm and will open for play this season. Shadow Mountain, located just a few minutes north of Cranbrook, has set July 1 as its opening date. Black Mountain near Kelowna will welcome its first players sometime in May.
Wayne Carleton is intimately familiar with both of the newest additions to the BC golf landscape. Carleton, the Delta resident who is part of the prolific Cooke Carleton International design team, was the lead architect on both projects.
Shadow Mountain is split in two by Highway 95A, which runs between Cranbrook and Kimberley.
“The site is quite dynamic,” says Carleton, whose most recent work in BC was the impressive Talking Rock layout near Chase.
“The west half is more mountainous terrain and the east half is more of a rolly, sandy, pine-forest type of setting.
“We tried to give it a very natural character. With the abundance of sand on the site we did a lot of waste bunkering and there are some fescue areas. ‘We tried not to move a lot of dirt. All in all, it’s more of your natural, rustic and rugged type of golf course. It turned out well.”
The course, which will stretch to about 7,400 yards, includes 19 holes. There’s a bonus par 3 located between the 17ul green and 18th tee. It serves two purposes. It gives players a bonus hole to play and it provides the course with an extra hole to use in the future when any renovation work requires a hole on the course to be closed.
The back nine at Shadow Mountain features a couple of dramatic elevation changes.
“The 15th hole, a par 4, drops about 120 feet, and the 17th hole, a par 5, drops about 150 feet,” says Carleton. “That’s from tee down to fairway and the it climbs back up.”
Shadow Mountain recently hired Rob Anderson, the Canadian Professional Golfers Association teacher of the year in 2008, as its general manager and director of golf.
Anderson, who most recently was head professional at The Harvest in Kelowna, didn’t fully realize how golf rich the East Kootenays had become until he accepted his new job.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “The last time I ever played golf out here was way back in about 1985 when we had the B.C. Amateur split between Cranbrook and Kimberley. You can start up in Golden and work your way all the way down and it’s like ‘holy cow! look al all this golf.’ It’s amazing.
“Coming from the Okanagan, I would have to say the quantity of golf courses is similar, but I think a lot of the courses here are a little bit higher-end. You’ve got four or five that are high·end in the Okanagan and darn near every one is here.”
The Shadow Mountain project includes 600 housing lots, about 200 of which have been pre-sold. Anderson hopes his course, which is located just five minutes from the Canadian Rockies International Airport, can capture its share of the growing golf tourism market in the area.
“Once the housing is fully under way and we a have a population of people living here, it will definitely lean more toward member play,” Anderson says. “But certainly in the short term, this season and next season at the least, we will be be targeting groups from Alberta, Saskatchewan, the BC Interior and the Spokane area.”
The course’s local owners have already established a relationship with the nearby St. Eugene Mission course. Future plans call for cart paths to connect the two facilities.
Peak-season green fees at Shadow Mountain will be $99 on weekdays and $115 on weekends. That fee includes golf, power cart, driving range and all taxes.
Black Mountain, located in the Rutland area on the way to the Big White Ski Resort outside Kelowna, is a mountainside layout that measures about 6.300 yards from the back tees. The par-71 track features six par 3s, seven par 4s and five par 5s.
“It’s unique in the fact that most of us are now doing golf courses lhat are 7,000 yards·plus,” Carleton says. “There’s rock outcrop· pings and some tightness to it, so it is the kind of a course that you plot your way around. You won’t be using driver on every tee. It’s kind of like your old·style country club golf course developed on a small piece of property.”
Green fees this year at Black Mountain, which has been developed by Edmonton based Meleor Developments, will be $58 Monday to Thursday and $64 Friday, weekends and holidays.
Brad Ziemer | Vancouver Sun
Hockey High to Rocky Mountain Dream
Life was good or so she thought. A good marriage, the kids were grown and doing well. She had an exciting job promoting women’s and girls hockey in Ontario.
There were the persistent "Move west for a great life in the Rocky Mountains" sales pitches from her sister including numerous invitations to her new hometown of Cranbrook, British Columbia.
The births of a nephew and niece also meant frequent trips to the beautiful East Kootenay corner of BC. With each visit it became more difficult to leave the peacefulness and fresh mountain air to return to the traffic jams and chaotic life in southern Ontario.
Then one September evening in 2007, when chatting on-line, her sister excitedly typed that she found a website for the new Shadow Mountain golf course development.
Well that was it. A month and two trips west later, the decision was made to invest towards retirement in the amazing Rocky Mountain playground.
Next question, how could Melanie McFarlane and her husband Rick make the dream happen sooner than later? Could Melanie leave the women’s hockey world where she had spent the last 18 years involved in local, provincial, national and international events; her efforts culminating in being honoured as the 2003 Woman of the Year for Health and Fitness for the City of Hamilton.
Then in 2006, Melanie received national recognition when Hockey Canada presented the left-winger turned goaltender with the Isobel Gathorne Hardy Award. The prestigious "Player of the Year" award is attributed to an active player, at any level of the game, whose values, leadership and personal traits are representative of all female athletes. The award recognizes a player that has demonstrated strong community involvement and dedication to the game of hockey.
Could the lure of a life in south-eastern BC be greater than her hockey life? The answer was YES!
Melanie and Rick were excited at the prospect of joining the friendly and fast growing Cranbrook community, with Shadow Mountain offering a very special place to ultimately put down retirement roots.
Making the mid-life move, Melanie looked for a business idea which also offered an opportunity to get to know local folks. Who better to ask then someone who has a finger on the Kootenay pulse.
Over a coffee, Shadow Mountain Sales Consultant Irene Barnes and Melanie talked about the exciting future for Cranbrook, the Kootenays and Shadow Mountain.
The new Rocky Mountain International Airport was a key ingredient in the future growth of the region. It provided international access to the local recreational lifestyle communities. With Delta Airlines offering a link to their western hub Salt Lake City, the world was finally discovering BC’s best kept secret.
Irene mentioned the need for someone to help the future recreational homeowners keep care of their homes while vacant. What a great idea! The wheels began turning and the company name happened before the end of the day.
Thinking about the bear shadow on Shadow Mountain a perfect name would be The Bear Necessities Home Watch Service. Melanie could offer home checks, snow removal, lawn mowing, house cleaning, stock fridges, greet deliveries, airport shuttles and much more.
One goal would be to offer the recreational home owner a chance to spend more of their precious time on recreation and less time in the grocery store or cleaning. The company’s services would also be provided to permanent Cranbrook and area residents going away on vacation.
The transition west has started. Melanie has made the move and The Bear Necessities Home Watch Service is up and running. Rick currently remains in Ontario and is looking forward to joining Melanie soon in their new western adventure.
Melanie has certainly found a niche market as young families, baby-boomers and retirees all discover this recreation paradise. Not wanting to forget about her love of hockey, Melanie packed her goalie gear and was lucky enough to find that the new Cranbrook Women’s Rec Hockey League needed a netminder. Playing hockey in the Rockies, living in the beautiful City of Cranbrook…..dreams do come true!
Now it is Rick and Melanie’s turn to make the persistent "Move west for a great life in the Rocky Mountains" sales pitch to Ontario family and friends!
