They did it! Whoo! Léo and Dave not only raised over $100,000 but they balded. Well, mostly. Dave still has his sideburns and is looking for just a bit more so he can get rid of them. And even if he has gotten rid of them by now, Léo brings up a good point: those donations never have to stop.

It's a great charity, and they've done a great thing. My hat off to you gentlemen; you can borrow it if you want to avoid sunburn.

Today we're taking a look at something we haven't talked about here before: investment properties. I know a lot of people who've considered buying investment properties, but I don't think they've ever had as convenient of a look at a potential property like we see here. Even before we look at the Vancouver property itself, we know how awesome it could be.

Kelly and Kim start by letting us know how profitable the property can be - a great hook. They transition smoothly without the need for, "Wait, there's more!", but I wouldn't have faulted them if they had. Showing us the beautiful home, they also provide great details such as additional benefits including coin-operated laundry. Topped off with the line about being easy to find tenants, I think they did this investment great justice.

This is one of those times doing this is somewhat saddening - I would gladly jump on this if I had the money!

Hardwood floors and I have a love-hate relationship. I love them because they look so beautiful and in the right socks I can zip from one end of the room to the other on one push. They hate me because I'm dangerous to them. Ages ago as a child, shortly after moving into my first home with hardwood floors, I played a game which led to me dragging the rivets of my jeans across the hardwood floor... ... ... It turned out how you expect.

Seeing this Burnaby home with its REAL HARDWOOD caption made me think of that time so long ago. A properly maintained hardwood floor, as ours was afterwards, will last for ages and look pretty doing it. So if you know what you're doing then the value of a hardwood floor cannot be denied.

And in case you missed it, we are currently the real estate video of the month, whoo!

Whoo! We made it! EOM! EOM! EOM!

OK, I suppose I should explain that a bit.

You may well be familiar with the video below, it's our first Elite video/commercial of awesome. We created it for Kim Cheng back in March and I don't think anyone would argue if I said that it's one of if not our best video ever. The only thing more impressive is where that video is now: the Coldwell Banker blog Blue Matter.

Today we've been graced with their title of: Real Estate Video of the Month. The high honour is one we're very grateful for and I'm pretty sure some thanks and possibly a beer is owed to Kim Cheng for making this possible. This is an undeniably big deal for us and the recognition from the community means a lot to us.

If you haven't been to Blue Matter then I suggest you check it out.

As my siblings and parents would no doubt agree, pets can be double-edged. As much as we might love them and their companionship, sometimes they can be real jerks. Cats and even some dogs are terrors when it comes to carpet and furniture. We've had at least a few who've pretty much annihilated sections of carpet or left the backs of chairs in tatters.

Since my sister moved a bit ago, leaving about a square foot of carpet carved to the wood beneath thanks to Bucky, the description of this house caught my eye. Pet-free might not mean much to those of us used to the hazards of our beloved pets, but it's a big thing to some people and I think a good point to highlight. Also, it has the advantage of meaning the home isn't full of dander, and that's a good selling point for those with allergies.

I loved my pets, but living a few years where the only things I feed are the birds and neighbour's cats outside I'm OK with waiting a few more years with clothes not covered in hair or carpet fibres.