Sherwood Park Property Blog

Sherwood Park Resident Paul Boisvert Donates 600 Pints – Of Blood and Plasma

Have you donated blood? Once? Twice?  Well, Paul Boisvert or Sherwood Park has calmly taken the needle in the arm 600 times to donate that number of bags of blood and plasma to Canadian Blood Services.

After his record setting donation, given at an office near Edmonton’s University of Alberta Hospital, he was rewarded with a cake in celebration of his achievement. Boisvert wasn’t even aware that it was his 600th donation.  It was just another blood donation to him. Nor does he plan to quit.

His latest gift makes him 12th in the nation’s list of top blood donors.  The all time leader is a fellow Albertan who has, to date, donated 900 times.

Donating blood makes some people dizzy, but not so for Boisvert.  He has been donating since 1970.  Back then it was whole blood. He switched to donating plasma, which can be done once a week, in 1982.  Boisvert was encouraged to donate by his father, Roland.

The plasma collection process is a little different than that for whole blood. The donor’s blood is taken from the body and filtered through a machine that separates the blood cells and the plasma. The plasma is sent to a holding bag and the blood cells go back into the body to continue doing their work.

Plasma is very versatile. It has a high protein content and is routinely used to treat cancer patients, hemophiliacs, burn victims and in the operating room. Plasma has the ability to help the body fight against infections.
 

Sherwood Park Property Blog

New Homeowners Having to Pay Axiom Homes Contractors…Twice

It seems that some home owners are facing the prospect of paying twice for work contracted out by Axiom Homes to complete their custom made houses.  Various contractors, apparently not being paid by the contract management company, are going after the homeowners directly and filing liens against their property.  This, after these same homeowners have paid a $35,000 fee to Axiom to oversee the construction and subsequently forward payment to the contractors.

Axiom, founded by Danielle Addington in 2003 is not living up to its agreements. The company is also not responding to emails or phone calls from clients now having to deal with contractors seeking payment.  Clients are not receiving their refundable “float” fee back either.  This $15,000 fee was paid to cover unexpected expenses that may occur during construction of their homes.  Clients venturing to the Axiom office were allowed to view their files, but not photocopy any of the information.

As of November of 2008, 28 liens had been filed against properties built under management of the Axiom Homes Company.  In some cases, lien amounts have reached $33,000.  Homeowners, understandably frustrated, are trying to negotiate with equally frustrated contractors in hopes they can reach an agreement without having to pay twice for the same work.

When contacted, Lyle Bartfelt, the General Manger of Axiom Homes stated that the firm was restructuring and in the process of moving to offices in Calgary.  Further attempts at contact found the man unavailable.

It is possible that if Axiom Homes promised a service and did not deliver, they could be guilty of misrepresentation under the Unfair Practice code of Alberta’s Fair Trade Act. More information on the matter would be needed before an investigation is initiated. In the meantime, homeowners are hoping the various contractors, in the interest of fairness, drop the liens until an investigation can take place.

New Sherwood Park Gym Opening For Residents

Sherwood Park residents will soon have a new 24 hour gym. Snap Fitness at 201-101 Granada Blvd., has a targeted opening date of October 16th. The new owners are Sara and Wes Secrist.

The October opening was targeted to correspond with Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Members who run on the special pink treadmill will earn a 6 cent donation for every kilometre run from the facility’s equipment supplier. The donation will be matched by Snap Fitness.

Snap Fitness originated in Minnesota. The company has expanded to include gyms throughout Canada, India and Australia as well as throughout the United States. In Canada, the company has 40 locations, 8 of which are in Alberta.

Membership is on a month to month basis and that membership is good at any Snap Fitness facility. Members also have access to online personal websites to keep track of their progress and get meal planning advice. Supplements may also be ordered online.

Sherwood Park Property Blog

Several Canadian real estate agencies are seeing an upswing in home sales. This is leading many to claim that the hard-hitting and rapid real estate recession is essentially over. Home sales are rebounding so well, in fact, that some agencies are seeing home prices exceed even the highest prices of 2008.

The healthy sales prices seem to be due primarily to an increase in buyers without an equal increase in desirable residential listings. Well-placed and priced homes are selling faster than expected. It is not unusual for one listing to have several offers with at least one of those offers being higher than the asking price. Real estate agents in areas such as Hamilton and Burlington are reporting that solid properties under $250,000.00 to $300,000.00 are selling particularly well. Government incentive programs seem to be helping market recovery, especially with first-time home buyers.

The average home price nationally has been leveling out around $312, 585. This represents a 0.5 percent increase over last year. Home prices holding steady in a recession is a big enough feat. An increase of any magnitude is close to amazing. This has taken more than one housing analyst and economist by surprise.

Sherwood Park Property Blog

With relatively stable prices and a recovering economy, prices in the Sherwood Park area appear to be stable.  The Edmonton area is showing some pretty wild fluctuations, however Sherwood Park appears to be immune from them.  Compared with the market last year, Sherwood Park is looking very healthy.

During the month of July, there were 94 homes sold in the city of Sherwood Park.  The average value of the sale was $425,644.  Over the course of 2009, 674 homes have sold in the city.  The average price is down a little from the same time last year (last year at this time the average home value was $430,223) but compared with the beginning of the year it’s recovered quite nicely.  In January, the average sale price in the city was $376,545.

The amount of properties being bought and sold is up this year, with many people deciding the time is now right to get back into the market.  Low mortgage rates and a strong economic base are telling factors in the recovery of the market.

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