Sometime during late 2007 or early 2008 (I honestly can’t remember), I attended this free first-time home buyer seminar sponsored by PC Financial. I was a little reluctant, but deep down I knew I should go. And it was certainly worth every effort. There were basically 3 parts: 1) The financing side from CIBC/PC Financial, 2) the role that CMHC (Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation) takes, and 3) home inspection.
#1 didn’t teach me much that I didn’t already know, but it did confirm a lot of what I wasn’t too sure about. #2 was intriguing in that I never knew CMHC existed and what its role was. #3 was by far the best part of the seminar, which was a real eye-opener. The speaker was Ed Witzke.
Anyway, just now I have stumbled across his book (which I will be taking out from the VPL soon) and his website: http://edwitzke.com. And I felt like I found a treasure trove. But in addition to that, I was again reminded that the best websites I’ve come across have been the most aesthetically unimpressing. These websites have a wealth of priceless content, and they don’t bother with flash and/or javascript annoyances. Most don’t even have dynamically generated pages! Those static pages, once they’re done, they’re done.
So here are some of the great sites. See how simple and great they are. Contrast them with typical restaurant homepages (a lot of times done completely in Flash) or condo marketing/rental sites. It’s day and night.
Ed Witzke: homepage, real estate course 101, etc.
Look. Photos. In fact, judging by how most of his writings are really writings (i.e. scanned pages!), he’s probably a two-finger typist. Yet it’s got what it counts: invaluable knowledge and pictures to illustrate. Oh, and he’s a Vancouverite.
Ken Rockwell: homepage, latest news, etc.
Again, simple formatting for everything, but a ton of honest, straight-up opinions and facts. This is where I get my photography and camera technology news. It keeps me grounded and reminds me that 1) camera is merely a tool and 2) the real macho camera uses film.
Daniel Eran Dilger: roughlydrafted
Great analysis. Site powered by wordpress (wow, modern). Again, simple format. Pictures, essays, pictures, essays. I get a load of mac news from here.
Real Estate blogs: Greater Fool, Vancouver Condo, Irvine Housing.
Greater Fool is a mix of financial advice and real estate commentary by an ex-MP who wrote about the Canadian crash prior to 2008. That’s where I get national news. Vancouver Condo is where I get more local commentary. Irvine is where I learn what the hell is going on in California and all the fine details that went on during the Great Bubble.
Sarcastic rave/rants/randomness: Best page in the universe, best of craigslist
These are not informative sites by any means. These are more like comic reliefs. Although there are certainly some extremely heartwarming posts on the best of craigslist.
Some more great content, mediocre layout sites: Net Center, zFacts, Housing Crash
The point of me pointing out these sites is to see their layout. All simple. Some almost too 1990′s. Some don’t even seem to be “navigation friendly”, yet click after click after click, all the info seems to be there. And that’s just the point of it all… If you don’t got time for both appearance and contents, focus on what’s important… A lot like those sayings about outer and inner beauties.
