Not at Big White - Edinburgh instead.

I left Big White on Friday, just before the season ended - good, I won't cry, bad, the season ended :(

But I am enjoying the "delights" of Edinburgh Business School, at the Heriot Watt campus. I never did the university thing, I can't really claim to have done the school thing - I left at 15 to pursue a career in doing nothing. Whilst very successful in the beginning, I soon realized it was not very lucrative...

So, trying to kill two birds with one stone (travel & survival) I joined the British Army - to be the best I could be... So the formative student years were spent in Basic Training and army life. The Army has some differences to being a student and some similarities.

Well the obvious one is number of syllables - the army could only afford two whilst University (count them) has five!

Second
During basic training you are surrounded by a similar demographic - uneducated, Northern, working class men (British Army), good at drinking and fighting.

At Uni, (reduced syllables here to prevent Army from being jealous)
You are again surrounded by similar demographics, educated, Southern, middle class, good at drinking and not fighting.

Thirdly.
There is also a similar reward and control system in both 'societies'

At Uni,
If you are late. Nothing happens
If you miss a class. Nothing happens
If you fail an exam. You get to retake it, ad nauseam
If you lose your ID card. You get a new one.
If you don't shave, shower, wash your clothes. Nothing happens
If you don't iron your clothes. Nothing happens.
If you don't polish your shoes. Nothing happens.
Your day starts - when you want, or not at all - stay in bed.
Your day finishes - when you want, or get bored, or never even started, whatever.
If you fail your fitness test. What?
Classes last a whole 20 hours a week.
And a 26 week per year commitment.
Social skills are developed - you can talk to boys/girls.
Uni is high pressure. If you fail your exams, you may have to stay in this insufferable environment, longer.

In the Army.
If you are late. Go to jail.
If you miss a class. You are considered AWOL - go to jail.
If you fail a subject. Get beat up by your mates.
If you lose your ID. Go to jail.
If you don't shower, shave, wash your clothes. Get beat up by your mates, then go to jail.
If you don't polish your shoes, press your kit. Get beat up.
Your day starts at 5:25am.
Your day finishes at 11:25pm. (of course this is not always the case, sometimes your day does not finish)
If you fail your fitness test. Extra classes are provided free of charge during your down time (11:25pm - 5:25am)
The Army is 18 hours per day, seven days per week - 126 hours per.
The Army lasts 52 weeks per year, although it feels longer.
Social skills are converted into killing skills - 600 yards in a section fire action.
The Army is also high pressure - sometimes you are in risky environments where people try to kill you. Luckily the Army moves you to these environments free of charge. And whether you get killed or not, for the most part, they bring you home.

What the flump has this got to do with Big White? Well not much really, however, I am at Edinburgh Uni attending a course. And the campus is quite small and getting hold of some things (food) is sometimes challenging. The bar closes at 5pm, my classes finish at 5pm - not really the student experience I was expecting.

Last night I played squash until 9pm, I then went (tried) for dinner to the restaurant which, was closed, I went to the campus shop, which closed at 6pm and then went back to the sports centre to the only vending machines available - but by the time I got there... it was closed.

Tonight I went to the cafeteria first and had a baked potato - the only hot thing they had.

Have you ever had baked potato? It is one of my favourites, I like Mars Piper type potatoes, which I wash, dry, prick all over with a fork, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle generous amounts of sea salt, and bake for 90 - 120 mins; turning occasionally, until the skins are nice and crisp and the flesh is light and fluffy. A bit of butter, salt and pepper - hmmm delicious!

The campus cafeteria potato was prepared in a slightly different manner - it was washed (I think) then microwaved. I was offered Flora (posh margarine) but declined. Just touching on margarine for a second, I heard margarine is one of the only foods that if you leave it out in the sun for two weeks, other than melting, nothing will happen. Interestingly, flies will not touch the sun warmed margarine... its butter or nothing for me and flies, or is it flies and I?

Anyway, I think that is it from me, I did embellish a little with the army stuff, you don't go to jail for those things - you get to go for lots of other stuff too.

Have Fun!

Big White is AWESOME! - Mountain Growth

So Big White is awesome - look at the growth since 2000. 

Why 2000?
Well after a rigorous and difficult selection process, involving many variables added to a complicated formula; the result, surprisingly, was 2000 - a strange coincidence, because that is the year I arrived at Big White. 

Happy Valley Day Lodge and Game on the Rink

And what has happened since then?

Infrastructure.

Well, the skating rink was in the village and it was pretty small not the olympic sized rink we now see. 

Which leads to the Happy Valley Day Lodge with its restaurants, bar, live entertainment and cafeteria. The day lodge was built in 2001. And the Gondola built in 2002.

We have also had the tube park, the largest in North America. The Telus terrain park, and park chair. The Snow Ghost 6-pack express chair, Cliff chair and the two magic carpets down in Happy Valley.

Ice Climbing - Girl against the elements.

And the ice-tower another great alternative outdoor winter activity - man against the elements.

What about developments? 

Feathertop.

• Estate Lots
• Copper Kettle Phases I & II.
• Sundance Phases i & II and the Sundance cabins.

Master Bedroom in the Edge.

Snowpines 2

• The Forest
• Northern Lights

White Forest Estates
Bullet Creek Cabins
Woodcutter Cabins
Happy Valley.

• Southpoint
• The Raven
• The Edge
• Timbers
• Snowbird Lodge
• Solitude
• Trailside Homes

Rock Ridge

• Glacier Lodge
• Blacksmith Phases I & II
• Pinnacles

Cliff from the bottom.

Upper Village

• Timber Ridge (Phase II)
• Aspens
• Tree Tops.

Village

• Stonebridge Phases I, II, & III
• Stonegate Phases I & II.

And of course the school.
There are others, but my mind is not that young anymore. But the point remains, in thirteen years Big White has grown and grown and grown.

Of course globally the real estate market also had a significant boom, one of the reasons the market has lost so much ground over the last couple of years has to be related to the oversupply of property - and yes Sólido contributed to the inventory. But you make your decisions based on the information available at the time, and  the indicators said build. With the benefit of hindsight I not have made the mistakes I made... but with the benefit of hindsight I would have bought Apple stock in the 90's.

So Big White is awesome and yes I admit, I am biased, but the growth is hard to dismiss... Will it continue, yes of course, maybe not in the short term, but in the long term 3-5 years? Big White has better snow than Europe, it lasts longer, the temperature is family friendly (most of the time) and the airport is attracting direct flights from US, Mexico and hopefully soon, Europe.

With the drastic fall in real estate values at Big White, properties are very inexpensive right now, (lower than 2000 levels)  despite this real estate is still it is still a long term store of wealth, and hedge against inflation - buyers are buying again, for the first time in probably four years, sales have risen.

Anyway here is the pitch - if you own at Big White and are looking for an alternative to short term vacation rentals Sólido Properties can help. Like us on Facebook or visit our website for more information.

Big White is AWESOME! Real Estate.

The biased view :) Real Estate.

So I think I know a little bit about real estate at Big White. I live here, been a realtor here, owned 7 properties here and since 2001 have developed these developments below. Whitewolf, Glacier, Timbers, Raven and The Edge.

A bit of an evolution... if only I knew what I was doing...

But I don't really know how to start.

Do I start with property values, what they were, do I use my properties illustrating how far they have fallen - is this saying my developments have under-performed the market? Do I start with other properties and look biased to my own projects...?

Okay, let me start with construction costs and yes you builders out there can criticize.

In 2001 we built Whitewolf and the costs including furnishing were around 200 per sq ft. At the time my project manager was paying as low as $9 p/h for labor. In Kelowna at the time you could build around $95.

Glacier/Timbers and Raven continued to increase, eventually getting to $300 - $400 per sq ft including soft costs (marketing, real estate commissions, design, furnishings etc.) 

Edge, is a little harder to estimate because we completed the whole site, site-work, individual lot improvements, 100% paving, and infrastructure for the whole site. and land costs. However we only completed 60% of build-able space. But $400+ per... would not be too far off the mark - the glass in one building ran at $160k.

Why were Costs are so high?

Snow loads, 390lb per sq ft, means more concrete more structural elements, more design costs more labor... And getting labor from Kelowna? At the peak of the construction real estate boom, getting people to Big White when they are over worked in Kelowna? Not easy at premium rates...

Today?

Today is a different construction market, I have not built for a while but quotes are running at $200 - $250 per sq ft. for a single family home.

But What does this mean for real estate? 

Great question, glad you asked. We have a 1050 sq ft Raven for sale at $249k, we originally had it at $424k (back in the day) -  this is fully furnished, rental ready, heated floors, hardwood, geothermal... You can buy 1700 sq ft in Treetops for $199k - unfurnished and needing TLC but $199K?

So, before land costs, marketing (if), real estate fees, design costs, DCC's etc. At current construction rates Treetops would cost $340k+? As you can imagine very limited construction is happening at Big White.

But it also means (in my (biased) opinion that real estate values are unsustainably low. 

Another interesting Statistic.

Property values at Big White in some instances are below the levels in 2000, Kelowna on the other hand are estimated at roughly 250% of the 2000 levels - really glad I bought at Big White... But every market has its cycles, will Big White recover? I think so, I have more confidence in Big White recovering than the Kelowna market significantly improving. But remember I am Biased :)

And the Pitch :)

You can switch of now if you want.

But if you are still reading, and own a property at Big White that you want to rent, Sólido Properties can look after it for you. We are now already receiving enquiries for next season. And if interested in real estate values at Big White, look at Mountain Realty.

Big White is AWESOME!

Why Big White is AWESOME!

A completely biased commentary on the best place I can imagine.

Reason Number 1 - Great place to live, work and grow up!

Whether you are live here permanently, are here for just the season, or here because mum and dad chose it, Big White provides you the best in life.

Seasonal Staff.

Every year Big White attracts almost a thousand seasonal staff from Australia, England, Canada... even Poland this season - ski/board instructors, lifties, servers, cleaning crews, hot tub guys etc etc...

Yeah the pay is not gonna make you rich, but the lifestyle is fantastic - the best snow and a free ski pass. Your money is not going to feed a family of twelve, but it will pay for your accommodation, food and most importantly your beer tokens! For the six months holiday from your life, what else do you need?

And getting a job at Big White is pretty simple, if you are willing to work hard, and are reliable - not many other qualifications are needed. I will touch on finding work later.

Permanent Residents.

Me... oh and others - I’m a bit narcissistic. I love living at Big White and I have lived in many places, New Zealand, Bosnia (not that much fun during the war, but I did meet my wife), Bahrain (cool and Hot!) Saudi in the desert (can you say flies), England, Germany, Austria, France (full of French people... I’m not even sure the French like the French... hope I’ve not offended them... here comes another strike...)  - I’ve travelled around South East Asia, Australia and many places in the USA.

By far, Big White is my favorite. Busy and vibrant and beautiful in the winter, peaceful and stunning in the summer. And it is an active community, I know every single parent, child and teacher at the school, I can walk into a bar or restaurant and know someone. I can get to anywhere on the mountain without driving - yes it could be a twenty minute walk but come-on, twenty minutes? I lived in Kelowna, you cannot walk to anywhere in Kelowna, you cannot walk to the school, the skating rink, any restaurant, hiking trails, lake (unless you live on it) yacht club, golf course, wineries (and for the pedants, I can’t do the golf/lake/winery thing here, thank-you) but you know what I mean - Big White is easy.

And it is ski in/out - globally very few resort can make that claim.

Kids at Big White.

Big White kids are ruined, these kids will never be able to say to their kids, add Yorkshire accent here “When I was a lad...”

Okay, this is the kids school week.

• Monday - Hockey on the 2 acre ice rink, kindly provided by Big White.
• Tuesday - Oh, hockey again.
• Wednesday - Snowshoeing - the trails around Big White are stunning by the way, if you have not been yet, shame on you.
• Thursday - ski lessons, provided by erm, Big White again.
• Friday - day off. What? Yes the kids do extended days, Monday to Thursday, and get Friday’s off. I don’t think they are that happy about it...

And school transport? Skis - yes, snowboard - yes, snowmobile - yes, gondola - yes, quad - yes, bike - yes and of course walking.

Oh and while I am on the topic of the school, during the off-season there are roughly 20+ kids, during the season 30+. With two teachers and various age ranges in classes and diverse cultures the kids get -

• High ratio teacher student time.
• Mentoring experience
• Cultural exposure.
• Broad social skills development.

And the teachers are the outdoorsy type that want to live in a ski resort, young, fit, active - great role models - Kudos to you Sara and Becky!

And whilst I am thanking people, thanks Big White, Peter, Peter, Michael, Jay, Jeromy etc etc!

Oh, and here is a little pitch for my business - if you are looking for long term or seasonal accommodation register on the Sólido Properties web page or visit our facebook page.

Okay, that is my reason #1 - next time maybe real estate...