VOTING IS A PRIVILEGE

Have you ever experienced a moment when you didn’t realize how good you had it until you didn’t have it?

You don’t realize how great your health is until you get sick.

You don’t realize how great air conditioning is until you visit a place without it.

You don’t realize how great our roads are until you visit a country with no infrastructure.

And most Canadians don’t realize how important your vote is.

Japanese Canadians were not allowed to vote until April 1, 1949.

This is why I do not take my right to vote for granted.

GRATEFUL FOR THINGS THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN

Thanksgiving is usually a time to list our gratitudes.

There are many things to be grateful, but what about giving thanks for all the prayers that averted disaster?

We don’t worry about dying from starvation in Canada or going without clothes or drinking contaminated water.

We discount minor things like running out of gas or the car breaking down or avoiding a fatal accident.

Two years ago, our friends were taking a road trip for a romantic getaway. They were upset when they both missed the alarm and got up late. However, a radio commentator warned commuters of a highway shootout. The location of the shootout was exactly where they would have been if they had left on time. Thank God for traveling mercy prayers.

Sometimes we don't know why the answer is no or not yet until years later; most times we may never know.

Grateful for toilet paper - the alternatives are not particularly appealing.

WHAT'S BETTER THAN A BANK ACCOUNT?

Langley was the only market to experience year over year growth.

The other market holding steady is Coquitlam.

Our neighbors listed their house and when it didn't sell after a year, they were in a dilemma as to what to do.

They didn't need the money to buy another house.

The proceeds of the sale would be going into a bank account at 2% - 3% interest.

The better alternative is to keep the house and outsource the property management - thus, providing cash flow from the rental income.

As an added bonus, the house is collateral for any future needs.

Truly grateful for the real estate advantage; it provides leverage and options.

LOUGHEED LANDMARK MILESTONES

Development applications are designed for frog eaters. 

It takes patience, perseverance, persistence, and prayer to navigate the ever increasing number of materials required for a City Hall submission. 

The Lougheed Landmark project is proceeding on schedule.

Our 1st milestone this year was submitting our application to the City of Coquitlam on January 26, but the introduction of new Provincial legislation delayed its review for 5 months when it should have taken 45 days.

Our 2nd milestone was receiving the First Review Letter on August 18, along with the standard request for resubmission materials.

Our 3rd milestone was receiving the go-ahead to open dialogue with the Real Estate division to formally acquire 590 Lougheed which was re-designated a right-of-way.

Municipal elections are coming up on October 17 - your vote counts.

The BC Provincial general election is on October 24 - your vote counts.

We are responding to their resubmission materials request and hope to be on the docket for the December 14th hearing. 

TOP 3 MOST WANTED

The top 3 tasks that Canadians commonly put off are: (1) filing taxes, (2) home maintenance and repairs, and (3) financial and estate planning.

Of the three, estate planning can be the most costly in terms of man-hours, money, and mental stress. 

Put the 1% Rule into practice.

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, emphasizes the importance of small consistent improvements in achieving goals.

All it takes is making a tiny change by moving the needle 1% each day.

“Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind” (Proverbs 21:5 The Message).

WHAT IS A RESTRICTED WILL

A restricted will, as known as a corporate will, is an estate-planning tool used alongside a general will to deal with specific assets that may not require probate commonly used for private-company shares, unsecured debts, and certain personal assets.

The restricted will may also have a separate executor, one who is more qualified to administer the activities of a director and officer.

The shares in a privately held company are not subject to probate so there are reduced probate fees, ability to maintain confidentiality and efficient transfer of corporate assets.

It’s a sad day when a business is shuttered because there is no succession plan in place.

Take the time to protect the asset that you’ve worked so hard to build.

BC PROPERTY CONNECT

The Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia (LTSA) is urging home owners to set up property alert if scammers attempt to impersonate legitimate property owners.

LTSA created BC Property Connect a secure online service that allows owners to track property updates and protect their most valuable asset.

First, you need to download and set up the BC Services Card mobile app.

Then, you will receive a unique one-time code to set up your BC Property Connect account.

Thank you Joan Letendre for this valuable tool - and it's a free service.

PASSKEY REPLACING SMS

If you are currently using Short Message Service (SMS) or voice authentication as your 2-Factor, Microsoft is phasing that out with Passkeys by default.

September 1, 2026 is the soft roll-out for Users to register a passkey when completing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

February 1, 2027 is when Microsoft fully retires the Entra ID system and Users who have not switched to Passkey will be blocked from signing in.

Passkeys are simpler than SMS or voice because it relies on biometrics such as Face ID or your fingerprint - bypassing the need for passwords.

This provides stronger security against phishing and data breaches because there is no shared secret to steal.

TEST DRIVE AI APPS

Did you know that you can go to POE.com to chat with the best AI, privately or in a group chat?

Explore GPT-5.6-Sol, Claude-Opus-5, Claude-Fable-5, Claude-Sonnet-5, Kimi-K3, Gemini-3.5-Flash-Lite, Grok 4.5, Inkling, and thousands of others, all at one location.

Grok Imagine has a particularly strong image generation system that requires minimal prompt engineering whereas Midjourney's greatest strength is visually compelling concept art images.

CARPE DIEM (SEIZE THE DAY)

Turning 90 this year, my mother Sumiko continues to inspire me and others to new levels.

She is the North Star that propelled me into learning about financial literacy and ultimately into real estate investing.

When I look back, I see a woman who endured hardships beyond imagination, leading a life of quiet commitment and perseverance. 

OUR PRIVILEGE

This quote from Simon Sinek has profound meaning embedded in it, and he has a lot of these quotes.

I was given the luxury of creating an abundant lifestyle by my parents who sheltered me from the financial storm after my divorce. 

They never blamed me for how my life turned out; they simply embraced me with kindness.

How true this quote from Ephesians 6:2-3 "Honor your father and mother - which is the first commandment with a promise - so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."

Her sacrifices for family and friends revealed something invaluable: that love is more than a feeling; love is acting in spite of inconvenience.

REGRET-FREE

Bronnie Ware is a palliative care nurse who spent years caring for patients in their final stages of life.

She noticed a recurring theme with the dying: their regrets.

The top five regrets are:

1: Choosing to live for other's expectations instead of having the courage to live your true self.

2: Choosing to work instead of spending time with loved ones.

3: Choosing to be silent instead of expressing your true feelings.

4: Choosing to let friendships go instead of nurturing them.

5: Choosing to live in the same fear patterns instead of joy and happiness.

Your greatest freedom is the freedom to choose.

10 AIR SQUATS ARE BETTER

Being sedentary is a disease.

If you sit all day, did you know that doing 10 air squats per hour outweighs the benefits of a 30-minute run.

And just like neuroplasticity for the brain, there is heart plasticity achieved through intense exercise. 

The Ben Levene study showed remodeling in the hearts of 50 year old men after 2 years of specific exercise had the biological age of a 30 year old heart.

Heart plasticity is available up to age 65, after which the heart becomes too stiff to remodel.

CREATINE SUPER CHARGER

Our liver and pancreas produce creatine naturally, but more is better for brain health.

Supplementing with 20 grams of creatine per day has anti-cancer effects as reported in the NHANES 2025 Study (National Health and Nutrition Examination Study).

The ensure high quality creatine, check to see if it is NSF certified and its purity because many manufacturers add ingredients to make creatine more mixable.

Creapure is a high-purity, German-made creatine monohydrate known for its 99.9–99.99% purity and rigorous quality control.

SLEEP IS YOUR SUPER POWER

One night of sleep deprivation increases the risk of dementia by 4% and this compounds over time.

Our brains build up toxins during the day and it is only during sleep when those toxins are flushed out.

Personally, getting into a good sleep regimen has been challenging with a spouse who likes it hot when I do not.

So, found alternative solutions such as cool blankets (haven't tried the pillows yet), grounding sheets, and red light bulbs to minimize melatonin disruption.

CLAIM YOUR HOMEOWNER GRANT

It's Property Tax time.

The due date is always July 2nd of every year.

My bad, I actually forgot to pay it on time last year because I was trying to time it closer to the due date, and incurred a 5% late payment penalty.

This year, I am paying early.

For eligibility requirements and to apply for the home owner grant, calll 1-888-355-2700 or visit gov.bc.ca/homeownergrant.

REVIEW BEFORE YOU BUY

Before you buy a product, look for online reviews first.

#1: The number of reviews: thousands of reviews are better than hundreds to give a more balanced cross section of experiences.

#2: Sponsored reviews: these are not impartial, they are paid by advertisers.

#3: Read the worst reviews first: are the failings consistent or varied? In my experience, consistent failure remarks are due to product design whereas various types of failures are due to personal preference. 

#4: Ships from: does it come directly from Amazon or a third party? There are freight costs when returning a product to a third party. 

2 TERABYTES FOR UNDER $200

Incredibly, our digital storage capacity exceeded 1-Terabyte with our service provider and the cost for every byte over 1-Tb was really expensive.

So, we decided to transfer the stale-dated digital files on our server from 20 years ago onto an external hard drive.

There are great deals on Amazon and found a 2-Tb Seagate external drive for less than $200, and paid for itself after one month.

Did you know there are Seagates that hold up to 256-Tb of data?

And got an 8-Tb Seagate when it went on sale for the same price as the 2-Tb.

BEING NICE IS NOT KIND

“Be friendly, not friends” is a core tenet of property management. 

This excerpt from Steven Bartlett’s podcast explains the difference between a nice person and a kind person.

Nice is about people pleasing and hiding behind a facade: “I can’t tell them the truth; it wouldn’t be nice.”

Kind is about connecting to people and choosing transparency: “I care about you enough to tell you the truth.”

Success is not defined by pleasing people - that’s impossible. Success is rooted in kindness.

YOU CNUT CONTROL THE TIDE

King Cnut (aka Canute) was teaching humility, not promoting his hubris.

The only thing you can control is your attitude and actions.

Harv Eker used the TFAR formula: Thoughts + Feelings + Actions = Results.

Bad thoughts lead to bad feelings lead to bad actions lead to bad results.

Good thoughts lead to good feelings lead to good actions lead to good results.

Why do we try so hard to control things over which we have no control over? 

Work with the tide instead.

LIFE IS ABOUT CADENCE

Ever wonder where the concept of work-life balance came from?

In 1817, a Welsh labor activist Robert Owen wanted to create balance by dividing the day into 8 hours of work, 8 hours of discretionary time, and 8 hours of sleep.

Then it re-emerged in the 1970s during the Women’s Liberation Movement and we’ve been trying to balance work-life ever since.

The error in this logic is that life is designed to ebb and flow, like a sine wave or a heart beat. 

If you try to flatline nature's rhythm, you're nullifying your drive, your energy, your vitality.

Karl Martin points out that you don’t get balance by trying to be balanced.

Life is, more appropriately, a cadence.

FOCUSED OR FUDDLED

I was trained to get things done - not to "not do things."

However, I've learned that knowing what not to do is more valuable than doing.

When your list of activities becomes overwhelming, some coaching programs advocate the Eisenhower Matrix to sort through the Urgent and Not Urgent tasks.

This may be great for prioritizing many high stakes issues, but there are times when less is more.

Growth for the sake of expanding is not always the right path. 

YOUR NOT-TO-DO LIST

My mentor T. Harv Eker taught that one of the fastest ways to grow your personal development is to learn from the successful strategies of others.

Why re-invent the wheel of failure when others have gone before you?

This is not to say that failures are bad because every failure is the foundation upon which success is built on.

But why not take a short cut if you can.

So, for all of us who love To-Do lists and a full calendar of activities, let us take a pause and ruthlessly focus on what we do well by taking inventory of your Not-To-Do List.

Remember - it's better to be a big fish in a small pond of your choosing.

DURABLE WPC PANELS

The most wear and tear in a rental building is the elevator.

Wood Plastic Composite panels are an inexpensive outdoor solution to an interior problem.

WPC resists moisture, UV rays, mold, pests, impacts, scrapes, and is highly durable.

It sure beats having to fix drywall every month, plus it has an elegant aesthetic.

EYES THAT SEEK VALUE

It boggles my mind that high net worth individuals see value in low-interest bearing savings accounts - and by low, I mean 1% to 2%.

This is highway robbery from my perspective because this money is actually losing value due to inflation. 

There is a significantly higher return in real estate investments (double-digit returns) than term deposits, GICs, or savings accounts.

Okay, this is a great place to park cash while waiting to deploy it into an investment but it's not ideal as the primary wealth-building strategy.

It takes educated eyes to see where to place cash for maximum returns.

EZ EYEWEAR - META GLASSES

Steve's son has a painting business in Washington and it seemed like a great idea to record the walk-throughs with the clients during the estimate because there are times when the owner misinterprets a quote or forgets that they added/eliminated a change order. 

However, the glasses get very hot if used for more than a couple minutes.

The glasses are designed for shorter video bursts, not for 30-40 minutes.

Here are 10 brutally honest meta glass reviews before buying.

EZ EYEWEAR - TOBII TRACKER

The Canadian military is seeking wearable eye-tracking glasses to understand how their personnel work.

Trobii tracker glasses can help track inefficiencies or improve safety conditions.

I'm waiting for the glasses (not headsets) that can give you a heads up display.

LOUGHEED INVESTOR UPDATE

The next investor update and information session is on Saturday, February 28th from 12:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. at 5794 - 203 Street, Langley, BC. 

Please note that the Class C capital raise remains open for subscribers who qualify under the National Instrument 45-106 exemption. 

FINANCIAL HEALTH CHECK UP

Just like an annual physical with your doctor, it's important to conduct an annual check up on your financial health.

It's a great time to review your budget and spending habits just in time for tax season in three months. 

The first step is identifying your financial goals, preferably in writing.

Although there are a lot of resources available online for the DIY Do-It-Yourselfer, some people need a coach or an accountable partner to prompt them into action. You don't have to do this alone.

Chunk down your big goals into small actionable steps.

Remember that one completed task is more than zero; and the power of one is massive when compounded daily over time.

It just takes that one step to get started.

DOCTOR CHECK UP

Did you know you can check your physician credentials online?

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC is the regulating body for medical professionals.

All healthcare practitioners must be licensed, regulated, and accountable.

You can also register complaints, see the disciplinary actions list, and review the list of unlicensed practitioners.

It is only prudent practice to third-party verify accreditations, just like you would do in any real estate transaction.