Taste, Try and Buy

**Shuswap Celebration moved to July 8**

We are really excited to showcase a small part of what makes the Shuswap Mara Lake so spectacular with our 3^rd Annual Shuswap Celebration! a Mara Lake wine and cheese tasting. Come and join us by boat or by car and visit one of the last true “Jewels” of summer cabin/cottage life.

Enter to Win!!!!

Qualified Buyers can enter to win!!

• First Prize – $25,000.00
• Second Prize – $15,000.00
• Third Prize – $10,000.00

Off the purchase price of their new Hummingbird property. Call 1-877-707-0097  for more details.

When?

Our Celebration has now moved to July 8th starting at 11 am through 3 pm.

Who’s Invited?

• The Boating Community
• Anyone from the local community
• Registered Guests
• Friends and Family
• Anyone interested in learning more about what Cabin & Cottage life is like on Mara Lake and the incredible beauty of the Shuswap.

 What is there to DO?

• Enjoy our private, south west facing beach
• Hot-dogs for the kiddies
• Meet other owners and families
• Tour some of the best vacation real-estate available on Mara Lake
• Staying for the evening? Check out Sicamous and their Canada calibration and fireworks

 Who Else is Coming?

• One site broadcast from Easy Rock 91.5 – Bringing more music variety to our celebration
• Larch Hills Winery – Famous for award winning, premium cool climate wines
• Gort’s Gouda Cheese Farm – Cheese made the way it should with only natural ingredients and no preservatives
• White Lake Organics – Makes for the delicious Bickies. They taste great and are good for you!

We hope to see you all at our 3rd Annual Mara Lake Celebration!

With all the news on Mara Lake flooding coming out of Sicamous, I want to take a moment to update the Hummingbird community. The last few days have been eventful but we want to reassure cottage owners and buyers at Hummingbird Beach Resort that quick steps were taken to protect the resort and many residents across Hummingbird Creek.

The Mara Lake flooding happened as the large volume of rainfall caused a surge of water through the tributaries of Hummingbird Creek. This led to build up of debris and created a blockage that caused the water to breach the banks and disperse throughout Swansea Point. As the threat of flooding and destruction from debris increased, we reacted quickly and took immediate action to clear debris from Hummingbird Creek so that the water could flow unobstructed and stay in the creek.

These actions prevented any substantial damage to the resort and people’s homes. Despite the upheaval most of the resort was not affected by the flooding. We are still standing and in good shape as water has dispersed into the lake.

Not everyone fared as well so to aid clean up efforts, we are asking people to bring and donate water if they are coming out this weekend. A water ban was announced after the filtration system at the water intake for the water for Sicamous was damaged and the water was not being filtered.

Interior Health Medical Health Officer Dr. Trevor Corneil has said the water is still not safe to drink. As a result of the Mara Lake flooding the ban is in affect for Sicamous and Swansea Point. Residents are being encouraged to conserve all water use to prevent further compromising the municipal water system.

We received many calls from people asking how they can help and after speaking with Swansea Point Fire Chief Mike Melnachuk, Columbia Shuswap Regional Director Rhona Martin and Sicamous Mayor Darrell Trouton, the best way to help is to donate water. This will be of great benefit to home owners without water and those working on the clean up.

Water donations can be dropped off at the Swansea Point Fire Hall at 8843 Highway 97a (corner of Davidson road and Highway 97a).

The evacuation order for residents of the Swansea Point was lifted on Tuesday afternoon. A helicopter, with officials from the Provincial Emergency Program flew over Sicamous and Hummingbird creeks on Monday to assess the current state and potential for another Mara Lake flooding. It was unofficially announced that things looked positive for Hummingbird creek but PEP officials are remaining caution with regards to Sicamous Creek.

It’s been tough, but the whole community is working together. We’ve had to postpone a Canada Day wine tasting and food fair at the resort to July 8^th, but we will still take a break from clean up on July 1 to celebrate this great country. The holiday will take new meaning this year as things could have been much worse.

Crews are continuing to rebuild roads and other infrastructure damage by the flooding. At present visitors coming from the north to Hummingbird Beach Resort will have to re-route by following the Trans-Canada Highway to Salmon Arm, head south on Highway 97B to Grindrod and head north on Highway 97A.

Sincerely Yours,

Steele Jordan, President, Hummingbird Beach Resort

You won’t find many new real estate developments that offer fractional ownership or quarter share ownership. The banks don’t really like them because of liquidity.

These type of opportunities have offered many families to obtain a piece of the recreational market whether it is on the lake, ocean, golf course or the mountains.

Now – this does not mean that you can’t buy a resort property with a friend, relative or sibling. Buying whole ownership properties with a partnership agreement is a great way to own a piece of paradise. You can split up your year in any manner that fits your schedule. You can share the costs and you can even have your own mortgages. This makes sense for so many families today that live busy and active lives with their children.

As an example you could buy a cabin today that is priced in the mid $400 K range, put 20% down ($90,000 or $45,000 split between partners) and with today’s borrowing costs could achieve a monthly mortgage payment of $1200 or $600 each. For most families this is affordable and the family benefits are measurable. This same 3-bedroom cabin would rent for roughly $2200/week in the summer months.

Here is an example of the annual costs and what they look like with shared ownership.

Purchase Price $450,000

Financing – 20% or $90,000 ($45,000 each)

Annual Operating Costs

Mortgage $14,400

Property Taxes $2100

Hydro and Tel./Cable $1500

Strata Fees $2500

Total Annual $20,500 / 2 = $10,250 or $855 per month

What you get for this is whole ownership titled real estate, year round use, a lakefront cottage community, 600’ sandy beach, private marine, pool / hot tub and friends for life!

So when you are having dinner with your friends or you are talking about owning a recreational property with some relatives, think about a joint ownership opportunity. It will be very rewarding.

Steele

Hummingbird Beach Resort

Is it any surprise that families are the real buyers of recreational and resort homes? The push in the market that led up to 2008 allowed for some speculative investors to take advantage of an active market. Now that the market has adjusted it really is geared towards the buyer seeking a quality lifestyle and investment in their family. These two traits were important to the buyers at Hummingbird Beach Resort eventually and we see this pattern continuing.

This isn’t to say that owners of recreational and resort homes don’t like how rental income offsets the annual operating costs – I just mean that for the most part families that are buying are using.

Continuing on with this thought, I am often asked when is a good time to buy? Generally speaking now is the time to buy. The market pricing seems to have levelled off and the family buyers seem to be back. It is always tough to hear this from an owner developer but the truth is that if you are buying for the reasons mentioned above then now is the time.

Just like the purchase of the primary home, the recreational home purchase is equally as important. What we hear is that the buyer does not want to make a pricing mistake. I understand that, but a sound investment exists when the buyer considers recreational property as a long-term proposition. In the course of time they will see their real estate appreciate and their rewards from investing in family. They will witness a development of lifelong friendships, maturation of their family and they will witness a real sense of family commitment. The experience of a family growing together and making memories together is very rewarding.

The family buyer for the cottage wants to make the right decision. The buyer today is armed with information and they seem to know what is important. What is important to you? Is it whole ownership with title and year round use? Is it a true lakefront cottage community? Is it four seasons of activities or is it a warm lake, private marina and nearly 600’ of sandy beach?

Share your thoughts with us – we would like to hear from you.

Steele

Hummingbird Beach Resort – (877) 707-0097