Page 8. WNhy Free Pros, Wednesday, JuIy le, 1995 e. Si -b LeavesINRS Buchanan Realty 110W independant By Mark Reesor Local real estate broker Blair Buchanan has gone independent walking away frem his NaienaI RealE state Service (NRS) franchise. «There's been a huge kind of change ini the real estate indus- try and franchises don't have the numbers anymore fer them te really provide the services that they premised they'd provide,» siaYsBuchanan. «As a resuit, I guess yeu ques- tion what value we as salespee- pIe are getting for our money and we decided that we cen de it a little more effectively ourselves as independents.» There was very littie corperate transfer business -- someone who would corne te Durham -looking fer an NRS broker -- "(so)- we thought te ourselves, 'well what's the point of belonginK o a big netwerk if there's no enefit te it',» he says.. "You're paying for a national identity but reelly what we dis- covered is that real estate is a local business, er regional et best; 75 te 80 percent ef our business is done frein Toronto te Bowmnanville. «TMe rest cf eur buyers, they're going te come here anyway and ck u a ppeTand they're going poeu utas quîckîy as, they're going to phone 1eMax or Royal LePage or whoever.» The change te Buchanan Realty Service Inc., which is new the 1ergest independent broker in Whitby, officially took place July 1, says Buchanan, who adds aIl his agents stayed with him and embraced the move «with real enthusiasm.ý» They now have more money in their pockets and cen be more creative in marketing and pro- moting their houses, hie says. «We are real hagpy with the way it's turned out. Trhinge are looking up in the local real estate mnarket after a real dry spell, he says. «The lest 12 months have been the toughest 12 months I've ever experienced in 21 years in real estate ... but I sense that there is a real awakening of the public te the fact that heuse prices are really, really low right now, cern- paritively speaking, and interest rates are low... "I thmk finrally people are slowly coming te their senses and realizing bhey, maybe we should get eut there and start ldcking a few tires,' and that's what the re doing.» Buchanan predicta real estate values will rise by twe per cent by the end of this year and sees a new sense of confidence. Mural maker WHITBY ARTIST Mark Segal puts the finishing touches on a 'Thomas the Tank Engine' mural on a front waIl at 'Kidstuff.' Segal, who's started his own company, 'Fly on the. Wall,' does illustration and custom mural art on outside and inside walls.> Photo bv Mark Reesor, WhIhy Free Press Waste exchange program reaches internet Durinm Region's waste reuse exch neprrSa --listings of wente mnd available waste materials -- can now be reached throu the Intrnet Terogram listings are on the National Materials Exchange Network (NMEN), a network created in 1992 by a grant frem the United States Environxnental Protection Agency. The NMEN is a free on-lime marketplace for numerous regional and local exchanges thogot North Ainerica. The NMEN cen be reached on the World Wide Web et http:\\www.earthycle.com/nmen. Ueawill b ale te identify Durham Region's listings by the 'This servie allows Durhamn nsexchange te promote loa usines lstings te a broader audience on the information superhighway," says Peter Watson, manager cf waste reduction for the Region. <Call Durham Region's works deatent at .(905) 668-7721 anta= for Elaine Colla at ext. 5308 te ffnd eut more about the prograin. Genesis 486 DX4.100 MPEG Multimodia Computer To - AMD 486 DX4-100 MHz pro>cessor *POI - local bus architecture *8 MB RAM, 256K extemal cache *530 MB high speed hard drive *3.5" high density floppy drive *High speed serial and parallel ports $ 2499 *1 MB POI SVGA video card Double speed IDE CDROM drive 2 d4 g q* Soundblaster 16 gnangnan mag.... mu.... mman am.. mu un a A GEN Artimdi <0 b3 1 cýý u Ir ulrs L L y 4-- cors cibc>ur -là ESISAuthorized Dealer 4 Al logos and trademarks are registered trademarks of their respected companies. For information computer contact: B st yt Performance <31i B stb e enter 4 25 Thickson Road. North (Near K.F.C.)N Tel: 905-725-7454e* Fax: 905-725-7732 Hy Hours: Mon., Tues. 10-7, Wed.-Fri. 10-9, Saturday 10-6, Sunday 11 -4 tj~&.~ê4 ~ ~ ~ à ~,Y.d* i ~ ~ î44~ ~4j-- - - - ~ Home business group plans summer events The Durhamn Home Business Association will meet on Wednes- day, July 26, 7:30 p.m., at Tril- hum Trails, 55 Snewridge Court (just west of Sùmcoe Street North in Raglan). A few days later, the association will hold its first annual barbecue/poo1prty, et 8 Greenview Court, 'Whitby, on Saturday, July 29. There will be pool gaines, food, a raffle, door prizes, a most outrageous clothing contest end more. Festivities run from 1 te 5 p.m., the rein date is July 30. For more information, cafl Keith Camacho et 723-8491. Free-Net in action The first stage in the Durham Free-Net pub lic program has Araresidents cen now log inte the Free-Net, register on- lime and browse through Free- Net. Later this month there will be a public test phase te prepere for the grand opening right efter Labour Day. Anyone with a PC and modem cen log in and register. Whitby residents cen dial 725-0544. Free-Net, a non-profit organi- zation funded by donations by sponsors and the contributions cf usera, does net charge a fee. An 'adept-a-line' service has benestablished, welcoming local speonsorships cf $1,000 te widen the access te, the Free-Nét. Free-Nét also offers an 'ofihine? sevcallowing the user te gt E-ma2l frein Free-Net co, y (or downlead) te their PC an reed/ reply at his/her leisure without staying enline the whole time. When e reply has been cern- posed, the user legs on again and sends the message --saving time and allowing other users access te the system. The offline num- ber is 725-9525. During the test p hase, more features will be added te the Durham Free-Net. ri 1: Offering ail insolvency services including personal & corporate bankruptcies OSHAWA 122 Albert St. 721-7506 AJAX: 50 Commercial Ave. 619-1473 COBOURG: 72 King St. W. 372-4744 Saturday & evening appointmnents available. FREE initial consultation. JAMES R.YANCH M lx re prz- rï ý ItIr -1 w w * il U fmczrm rc3rt:mj Nloor