Start-up week is finally upon us! A week to celebration entrepreneurship and innovation and we are extremely excited to be a part of the excitement. This year, HomeTribe has been included as one of the start-up’s being featured at Launch Party 6 this Thursday, October 22, 2015.

What Is Edmonton Launch Party?

Launch Party Edmonton, the city’s flagship startup event that celebrates and showcases the hottest startups in town. Launch Party gives you the opportunity to meet our city’s brightest entrepreneurs, demo their products, and celebrate everything that our startup community has to offer.

Many amazing companies that have been a part of this amazing event have gone on to reach new heights. I’m sure many people have heard of Poppy Barley or Pogo Car Share for example. These are just 2 examples of many.

So, who exactly made the cut for the class of 2015, preview some amazing companies that will be cheering on tonight as well:

Chitter

Brought to you by: Mark Galloway, Tamara Bain, Kyle Kaiser, Ben Lavin, Sabby Choudhary

Get To Know Chitter: “Chitter is a mobile social media app that gives college and university students a digital way to engage with each other and keep up with what is going on around them in the fast paced environment of higher education.”

FitSet

Brought to you by: Tim Gourlay, Jake Stief, Raj Gandhi, Leila Panjvani, Bindesh Rach

Get To Know FitSet: “Fitset is a single membership to thousands of group fitness classes every day in 5 major Canadian cities — including yoga, spinning, obstacle course training, dance, boot camps, ballet barre and so much more. Our membership gives you the ability to try a new workout every day or visit each partner studio up to three times per month — for $99/month. Whether you are looking to diversify your workouts, discover your next favourite studio, or just explore your city, chances are we have studios close to wherever you live, work, and/or play. We aim to make fitness exploration as simple and convenient as possible.”

Carenetwork.com

Brought to you by: Dr. Noel Gibney, Kyle Fox, Emmet Gibney

Get to know Carenetwork.com: “CareNetwork.com is the easiest way for teams of hospital doctors to stay in sync. With teams working in shifts to provide around the clock care to dozens of patients with complex problems it is incredibly challenging to stay organized. CareNetwork.com helps these doctors to keep track of who their sickest patients are, what their patients’ stories are, and what needs to get done now. Collaborating through the CareNetwork.com app ensures this typically ephemeral information gets shared during shift change. Happier doctors, safer patients.”

instaMek

Brought to you by: Asem Alsaadi, Uzair Ahmed

Get To Know instaMek: “instaMek removes the hassle and struggle associated with traditional automotive service and repair by making the process as simple as ordering a book online. Within seconds this on-demand service allows car-owners to request and schedule a fully certified mobile mechanic (“Mek”) to their home or workplace – all at a price up to 30% cheaper than a shop. All work is guaranteed with a warranty on parts and labor and Meks are reviewed after every job to ensure top notch workmanship. Since its launch in February, instaMek has serviced over 500 vehicles and currently operates in 11 different cities across Canada.”

Evented

Brought to you by: Ramneek Purewal, Avneet Purewal

Get To Know Evented: “Evented is a web-based platform geared towards serving the event industry. Evented works by offering people who are planning events a consolidated, comprehensive, and current directory of local vendors who can service their events. Users can use features such as sorting filters and user reviews to make finding and finalizing vendors a more streamlined and efficient process. Evented is also able to eliminate the need for vendors to advertise on multiple platforms by providing a marketing tool that specifically targets their intended audiences. Evented works to create something useful for you; your city’s essential event vendor directory.”

VR Bike

Brought to you by: Peter W Wood, Pierre Boulanger, Stephanie Shaeffer, Ga Young Kim

Get To Know VR Bike: “MedROAD Inc. is a company designed and formed to act as a portal for delivering to the general community the exciting and state-of-the-art research and innovation developed out of the Advanced Man Machine Interface Laboratory, University of Alberta. These areas of innovation include: 3D virtual reality, telemedicine and enhanced image viewing. We at MedROAD Inc. are very excited to deliver some of the exciting and unique projects we have been worked on at the University; connecting our clients and consumers with the very forefront of research and development.”

PFM Scheduling Services

Brought to you by: Dale Schuurmans, Csaba Szepesvari, Martha White, James Neufeld, Jason Harder

Get To Know PFM Scheduling Services: “PFM is a company that came out of Alberta Innovates Center for Machine Learning (AICML) at the University of Alberta after 3 years of ground breaking research. PFM has developed a scheduling product suite that automates schedule production, optimization and analysis for shift workers in complex organizations that contend with sophisticated rule sets such as collective bargaining agreements. Currently, PFM is focusing on healthcare and is partnering with Telus Sourcing Solutions as a distribution channel and United Nurses of Alberta Union and Alberta Health Services as clients.”

Varafy Corporation

Brought to you by: Werner Biegler, Justin Sharp, Ken Fyfe

Get To Know Varafy Corporation: “Varafy gives Educators the power to create an unlimited number of fresh and unique problems and their detailed solutions in minutes versus hours – and have fun doing it!”

JumpSeat

Brought to you by: Mike Priest, Paul McCarthy, Trevor Dell, Christian Dendy

Get To Know JumpSeat: “JumpSeat is a product of Ten Speed Technologies and transforms how organizations onboard, train and support their employees. By providing in-context, interactive, step-by-step task guidance, users learn what they need to learn, at the moment they need to learn it. Our unique training method keeps the user in the browser, away from your support desk, and since it overlays on top of your existing web-applications, keeps them productive while learning. No code integration is required and no developers are needed to create your interactive guides.”

and last but not least last:

HomeTribe

Brought to you by: Elisse Moreno, Ryan Ramage, Luke Wang, Chantelle Maris and the rest of our awesome crew

Get To Know Home Tribe: “Home Tribe is a technology driven real estate team dedicated to creating a more personalized real estate experience. We do this by combining traditional real estate services, technology, Big Data and Analytics. Our first technology application, “Home Tribe Match” helps buyers find the perfect home based on their lifestyle needs. We take into account safety, commutability, neighbourhood dynamics and more to determine the homes currently for sale on the market that are most desirable to a buyer. This time-saving, easy to use app makes it simple for a buyer to move through the buying process.”

We hope to see a lot of friendly faces at this awesome event. Until tomorrow night. 🙂

Happy Thanksgiving To All Our Wonderful Clients & Friends!

Did we mention how lucky we are to have great people in our lives. Our success is truly only possible because of you “the believers” who entrust us to help you make one of your biggest decisions in life: To buy or sell real estate.  We have been honoured to serve you and look forward to the opportunity of being able to work with you, your family or friends in the near future. We hope that you have an amazing Thanksgiving! Enjoy your long weekend filled with good cheer, good company, good food and good drinks!

“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” – John F. Kennedy

New Edmonton Condo On The Market: Wild Rose condo

We are excited to announce our new listing in the Southeast community of Wild Rose is now available for showings. Listed at $217,500 this 1 bedroom, plus den condo features many benefits. Located on the main level, this is one of the larger units in the whole building with over 900 sq.ft of living space, 938 sq.ft. to be more precise. Upon entrance, you will love the open concept design, with 3 distinct entertainment areas: the kitchen, the living room and the dining room.

The kitchen has been designed well and comes complete with plenty of storage space and stainless steel appliances. The master bedroom includes a 4 piece ensuite and spacious walk-in closet. For guests, there is also an additional full piece bathroom located on the opposite end of the unit. In-suite laundry allows for great convenience in one’s day to day lives. For those with pet’s, this building is also considered pet friendly (pending board approval of course).

In the community of Wild Rose, amenities are prevalent. You are within walking distance to parks, schools, shopping, public transportation and even the new Meadows Community Recreation Centre. Want to learn more about this Edmonton Condo, get the facts here.

Want to take your own personal tour of the property, be sure to get in touch with our team to book a time today. 587-400-SOLD (7653)

Teachings From Marianne Williamson: What’s Wrong With Being A Pollyanna?

This weekend, 100’s of people had the opportunity to experience Bloom, a festival in Edmonton founded by Myrah and Robrindra. A beautiful couple that you can tell truly love our city and the boundless possibilities that we as a humankind can achieve. While, I would loved to have attended the whole event, Edmonton Real Estate was calling. That being said, I did get the amazing opportunity to experience the keynote of the very own Marianne Williamson.

To be able to be in the presence of a woman that has been spoken about so highly from authors such as Wayne W. Dyer and Deepak Chopra, speaks volumes about her vast knowledge and insight into our world. Her most notable work of literature “A Return To Love” is a book that I personally have grown from and continue to read to this day.

It is fantastic to see that Edmonton’s community is growing and that a speaker of her caliber was included in this 2 day event. It was filled with spirited energy both in the physical means and mental means. Participants of the day, enjoyed classes in yoga, meditation, and creative speakers in a collaborative environment. The Winspear Centre embodied the Bohemian vibe including a back drop of many large dream catchers.

For those who do not know who Marianne is, let me provide a brief introduction:

Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed spiritual author and lecturer. Marianne has been a popular guest on television programs such as Oprah, Larry King Live, Good Morning America and Charlie Rose. Six of her eleven published books have been New York Times Best Sellers. Four of these have been #1 New York Times Best Sellers. A Return to Love is considered a must-read of The New Spirituality. via Marianne’s Website

Not only was her talk both thought provoking and enlightening, I was amazed at how calmly and brilliantly she answered some of the audience questions.

One of the key moments from her event that I took away is that it is okay to be the Pollyanna of the group. If one starts to think about it, Pollyanna was truly a transformational figure in the sense that she was able to transform a group of unhappy people and show them how to be happy.

In Real Estate, I strive to be the Pollyanna for my clients. This does not mean that if a true problem arises that I don’t confront it, but more so that I address it and focus on finding a solution. Over the last fews months, I continue to learn each and every day because every transaction is unique, however, I also know that my clients are counting on me for answers, or at the very least finding them.

One case occurred this year  were there was some potential structural issues with the property. My client was distraught by this news, but even then still wanted to find a way to move forward with the purchase. I could have left her to her own merits to find the solution, but rather I suggested that we obtain some contractors to come in quickly to advise on the cost of remediation. We worked together to get quotes from the contractors. Thanks to the quotes, we now had knowledge on our side and were able to go back to the negotiation table to resolve the conflict.  The key solution was to ensure that she was able to move into a place that she could not only repair the issue, but that a majority of the costs were covered.

By staying optimistic through out the process, I was able to find a way for both parties to move forward in win-win manner. With this, I will leave you with a compelling quote from Marianne Williamson:

“When our minds move in harmony with love – through forgiveness or prayer or the simplest tender thought – then mountains move and the universe shifts.”