Growing up between Metchosin and Jordan River BC, I’m no stranger to rural British Columbia. So when we decided to look for land to build a cabin you didn’t have to twist my arm to make the trek to check out land near beautiful Strathcona Park.

Weather you’re in the market for some remote land or cabin, or you’re looking for your next island getaway, consider Gold River and Tahsis! The legendary MV Ukchuk was down for maintenance, an adventure cruise that services the even more remote communities of Friendly Cove and Nootka Sound. There was too much to see anyways so we’ll save that for another trip.

It’s worth noting that every single person we met on our trip was beyond friendly, welcoming and inviting. There wasn’t a single overly hip establishment (think Tofino, 30 years ago), we hit up the local FIELDS (my favourite rural BC store, where else can you get a Def Leppard T-Shirt, fishing tackle and $10 gum boots? The BEST.)

The local Realtors, our AirBnb host, every local we bumped into - friendly as prairie folk. ❤️

We fished with loons serenading us and no other humans in sight at Antler Lake, ate salmon berries and were able to fish from our backyard that backed onto beautiful Peppercorn Park in Gold River.

Tahsis did not disappoint. It felt exactly like I was back in Jordan River in the 90s. I felt immediately at home. The locals cleaning their catch of the day, dogs lazing about the marina, turquoise waters with an absolutely verdant and stunning mountain backdrop.

We traversed the Upana Caves along the Tree to Sea Highway joining Gold River to Tahsis, and hoped to catch a Sasquatch sighting along the way (Winnie wishes ;)

From the smooth river rocks of Gold River to the jagged mountain tops that peaked out like some kind of Lord of the Rings homage, we are just smitten with this area.

What is a trip up island without a stop in Coombs?

It was pretty apparrant I haven’t been up island for years, I was shocked to see the independantly owned shacks of Coombs had been torn down (told it was a fire hazard, of course) to make way for some 2010’s tuscan inspired buildings. Sob.

The goats on the roof were still there, and it’s really the best stop to break up a 5hr road trip up island.

#beautifulbc #bcre #tahsisorbust #goldriver #goldriverbc#tahsisbc #vancouverisland #vanisle #yyj #victoriabc #bcrealtor#stackhausrealty #victoriarealestate #managingbroker#friendlycove #treetoseadrive #strathconapark #antlerlake#FIELDS #victoriarealestate #lowermyrafalls #buttlelake#campbellriverbc #goldriverbc🐟🎣 #vancouverislandlife#ruralbc #bc

There is no place I’d rather be. 

Having grown up in rural Metchosin with overly industrious German parents, we cultivated our acreage with acres of vegetation and ornamental perennials laid out neatly in defined rock-walled gardens built by my father and tended to by my mother. Germans don’t do anything half measure, we raised chickens and even had a large aviary filled with pheasants, owls, geese and if you can imagine - a pet Canadian goose named ‘Lucky’ that slept in my bedroom. 

I picked up some of my parent’s German accented words and still refer to a garden bed as a garden ‘bade’ :) 

It was the the 80s and they were immigrants living their best life. My wonderful uncle Gordie Stach (my late father’s brother, John Stack was an anglicized version of his German name Johannes Stach) was the ‘Dahlia Champion’, his house filled with ribbons, his legacy hundreds of dahlia hybrids, my memory of his garden in Surrey packed with literally thousands of dahlias. 

https://www.timescolonist.com/archive/dahlias-dazzle-and-delight-4599376

The houses I’ve lived in have always had a fussy garden reminiscent of the English Gardens I visited during my time living in the UK, elaborate perennial borders and fastidiously weeded lawns. Vegetable gardens with potatoes (obligatory for Germans) and truck loads of compost layering every year…I just love every season of it. I do NOT love the protected Garry Oak that hangs over my property (rooted in my neighbours yard). I remove over 60 bags of leaves a year. Bel-ief it. 

People are often shocked that I chose Victoria over Manhattan when I married my husband Nicky, leaving our apartment in the Upper West Side for Esquimalt. They must have never lived in New York, and they must not have ever seen my garden ;) The heat radiating off of the cement during the summer months in Manhattan made me long for the cool sea breezes of Victoria, especially my home in Esquimalt, all near 9,000 sf of this manicured lot, south facing, verdant, my pride and joy.

The summer in my garden smells like the ocean (only a couple blocks away), sweet peas, and yes, sometimes it smells like Ribfest ha! 

Some folks prefer maintenance free gardens and strata properties. Not me. Give me weekends of pruning and fussiness. Let me pour hundreds of hours into digging and weeding. Let my wrists ache and my knees have dirt embedded in them, I have zero shame running errands with soil all over my face, in my nose, in my ear. I choose to spend hours, days, weeks in the garden, but that time is never lost. It’s where I belong. 

Our #ArtDecoEsquimalt is always filled with flowers, and the literal fruits of my labour have been giving back, we’re eating from the garden every night here and we’re growing : Apples, Figs, apricots, lettuce, spinach, kale, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, kiwis, lavender, tomatoes, peppers, squash squash, squash, beans, peas, potatoes, peppers!, onions, garlic, eggplant, currents, pumpkins, and every single perennial that I’ve proudly grown from seed, cottage biennials like mighty hollyhocks and snapdragons, lilies, daisies, anemones, ferns ferns ferns. There’s a hosta garden, a rose garden, an herb garden. A berry patch and room for more raised beds! 

The next project is a greenhouse and some chickens of course! Head on over to instagram to see more pics of the garden, or better yet, drop by for a visit to see it in person :) 

#esquimalt #esquimaltgardens #yyj #yyjgardens #victoriagardens #bcgardens #vancouverislandgardens #gardencity #cityofgardens #germanslovetogarden #gordonstach 

We’re so excited to be listing this amazing family home in the Colwood Lake neighbourhood! 

https://tours.snaphouss.com/2878pickfordroadvictoriabc?b=0

Check out StackHaus' latest renovation, we're proud to present 2878 Pickford Rd., listed at $869,900 in the beautiful Colwood Lake area. It's not uncommon to see kids playing hockey in the middle of the street in this quiet family oriented neighbourhood. We've fully cosmetically updated the entire upstairs and downstairs fourth bedroom, check out the retro rec room and incredible unfinished lower level space - roughed in plumbing and sep entrance make this a perfect space to suite out or add extra finished square footage. Buyer to verify measurements, zoning, permits.

We replaced the deck railing and stairs to the huge level flat yard. Access to David Cameron School is right across the street - perfect for soccer or walking the dog. OPEN HOUSES SAT & SUN JULY 12&13th 2-4PM

Not a day goes by that I’m not happy to have our suite set up as a furnished rental. We’re booked with 30 day min rentals all summer long, and the revenue that we get from our income property is 90% written off against the mortgage. It’s a win-win-win. 

Plus, I’m able to house clients while looking for a home to buy in Victoria, like the folks we just gave the keys to today! We’ll miss them as tenants but so happy they will be our neighbours here in Esquimalt. 

We often get people that say things like “That house is so much work, you should sell!” and “You need a smaller house”… why? Even when I was single I was perfectly happy with a 3500sf house on an 8,000 sf lot. It keeps me busy, and I’m GERMAN. We LOVE gardening, home improvement and are always HAUS PROUD. So again, NO, I’m NOT SELLING :) 

The other part of the puzzle is that I used to be a Duty Manager at a 4Star hotel in the UK for years and years, and grew up in our family restaurant in Jordan River. Hospitality runs deep. I just love hosting folks from other parts of the world, and I absolutely ADORE sharing this house with guests. 

Do you have a suite and would like to turn it into a furnished rental? Call us! We are licensed in Property Management and have a long list of repeat rental clients that are looking to rent in Victoria! 

We’re celebrating our client’s new home with some dollar rolls from the Dutch Bakery today! The best part of the day was offering to carry my clients over the threshold, classic Real Estate humour :) 

A big shout out to all the entrepreneurs that put themselves out there and REALLY put their $$$ where their mouth is. We’re out here doing things by the book, bootstrapping our way through. And it takes GUTS and strength to be so bold to put yourselves out on a limb and start a legitimate business.

Because we LOVE to be our own bosses, and we’re just so damn good at all things Real Estate! 

If we had a dollar for every wannabe that’s come into our sphere over the past year in Real Estate, trying to glean free information and advice, I wouldn’t have to work, I swear to god. People will try to use you in Real Estate, that’s a hard fact.

StackHaus Realty Inc. is LEGIT. We spent the time and money to incorporate. Christina spent 15 years as a Realtor, sat through the 3 hour written exam to become a Managing Broker, went through every hurdle imaginable to be a BCFSA approved Real Estate Brokerage, studied and paid to become a Property Manager. We pay insurance, worker’s compensation, the bookkeeper, the accountant, thousands of dollars in education, licensing, advertising, incorporation filing, advertising, you name it.

So if you’ve come to us looking for free advice, wanting to see a house without a contract, want a CMA so you can turn around and represent yourself, we are not your people. Fortunately we have a long list of faithful, genuine clients (like the ones we gave the keys to today!) that respect us and our time. And we’re so so grateful for that!! Thank you!!! 

xoxo Celebrating the sale of a beautiful house AND one year of StackHaus Realty Inc!!

Most of the time when we’re flipping a home for sale, we’re not looking to reinvent the wheel or end up with editorial worthy cutting edge design, we’re updating to get the home ready for a family to move in, and if the new owner wants to splurge on a larger renovation that involves moving plumbing or framing, that’s up to them. In the meantime, they can proudly move into a home that has fresh finishes and working modern fixtures.  

In my personal residence I’m all about going big, going luxe, going BOLD. Not as bold as the bathroom above (ha!) but BOLD, and that’s because I have no plans of selling my house. Ever. I refuse to sell, so I’ll do whatever I want when it comes to renovations and design in my own home, and you can too! 

But what about renovating homes for sale? We’re taking these walls and colour schemes from the 1970s to the 2020s, and we want the home to appeal to as many buyers as possible so we want neutral, bright, fresh, clean, repaired and ready to go. Blank Canvases for the new owner.  

The never ending Honey-Do List

Nicky comes from a long line of NYC Real Estate experts, his family owning and operating multiple multi-family buildings in Brooklyn long before he became the infamous Building Superintendent that he is today.

Having successfully completed decades of renovations and tenant turnovers in the UWS of Manhattan, including large scale commercial, pre-war rental and luxury apartments, buildings in Brooklyn and Long Island.

Through watching his NYC flips and tenant prep-for-sale turnovers, I learned a lot from NYCRE that we apply to our work here in Victoria every day.

Having a Superintendent that is the real Stack of all Trades is truly the StackHaus Ace. I have yet to find something he can’t repair or build.

What we both love to do (Dad Stack was a flipper and taught me well!) is flip homes for sale for our clients. The joy we get from improving homes is like nothing else. And how does one flip a home for sale on a budget? Lots and lots of elbow grease! 

I just love working within the confines of refresh renovation, especially a time capsule like this one. As an abstract sequential learner/thinker I get immense satisfaction in repairing and making homes work for the new occupants, and knowing all the little ways to cosmetically update a room. 

We applied the same winning formula that we flipped the kitchen with to the bathrooms - paint, epoxy, new fixtures, et voila! We removed SO MUCH wallpaper from this house, scrubbed the walls with TSP and perfected smooth walls with multiple layers of spackle & sanding. Painting is 75% prep work. 

Using Cloverdale Paint’s fantastic cabinet paint we sanded and refinished all the bathroom cabinets, moving and replacing the hinges. After that we sprayed the inside of the boxes, applied new modern contact paper and shiny chrome hardware with new plumbing fixtures. 

We recycled the cabinets as well as the tub & tile, Nicky installed a new sink, toilet, faucet, mirror, shower head and towels bar. He does it all :) 

You like that black General Contractor nail? SEXY!

For the blue tub, we were quoted nearly $2,000 to have it reglazed or refitted. No thanks! 

Instead we got our PPE on (Personal Protection Equipment), gas mask and goggles for protection, and carefully painted out 3 coats of enamel. You’ll have to stay tuned to see the finished product, but we are SO PLEASED with the results!

If you’re going to refinish a bathtub or tile with Tub & Tile epoxy, please remember the fumes are NASTY and no one should be in the house for at least 3 days after. Not even for a minute.

Second Coat - Almost Done!

After all of that was done we attacked the bathtub that needed an upgrade.

You’ll have to stay tuned for the listing pics and promo videos to see the end result, but here we have two coats of Tub & Tile epoxy on the tub and surround.

We added some marble tile and added some more 1×1 tile to extend the tiled area to a more modern height.

Looks so awesome! Can’t wait to show you the end result :)

Pending : A-489 Foster St. 

Congratulations to these wonderful buyers! They had a wish list and got exactly what they were looking for, in the BEAUTIFUL Municipality of Esquimalt! This zebra built home is located on a sweet street with an ocean cove at the end of the street and walking distance to shopping, restaurants and parks. Esquimalt is the BEST! Way to go buds, So proud of you, so, so proud. 

Esquimalt is lucky to get two wonderful new neighbours to Saxe Point! This newer home is the Victoria dream, being able to smell the ocean from your house, walk to a pub or farmer’s market, enjoy excellent amenities, mild winters, sunny gorgeous summers. Congratulations :) :) 

Have we been busy? Why YES WE HAVE. 

Congrats to our referral up in Nanaimo this week - what amazing value Nanaimo offers, thank you Feron Walker at 460 Realty Inc. for such great work and congrats to the buyers - welcome to Vancouver Island! So excited for you! Nanaimo offers incredible value, and is just booming right now. Get in, act fast, and hold that property! 

So we’re nearly ready to have professional photos taken of our latest flip but I couldn’t help but get some images of the kitchen up on here, I’m beaming with satisfaction after completing this little mini-renovation. 

This 1970’s kitchen was in its original untouched state, and needed to be refreshed. The cabinets next to the windows were taken down to allow more light to come into the space. We then scrubbed and rinsed every surface with TSP, spackled and caulked, sanded and prepped the cabinets. 

We sprayed out the ceilings, rolled out the walls, applied 3 coats of a fantastic product from Cloverdale Paint, their ‘Cabinet and Furniture’ comes in 5gal pails - what an excellent candy coat finish it gives! We replaced the hardware and hinges, sprayed the insides of the cabinets and applied new contact paper. 

Nicky is the StackHaus Realty secret weapon, the sauce, the gravy. He added a marble tile backsplash, hood fan, cleaned up the sink, added a new faucet and worked magic on the countertops, applying a stone finish epoxy then layers of buffed resin for a gorgeous stone look! 

The cherry on top is the new stainless slide in range and larger fridge. We found the perfect off-cut vinyl flooring at End of the Roll. Flipping houses is my favourite thing in the whole world, thank you Nicky none of this would be possible without you and your incredible skills. 

Having been my own landlord for over a decade, I was inspired when I met my husband, Nicky, a Building Superintendent from Manhattan, to get my Property Management licence and start our own Real Estate Brokerage - and guess what? We did just that. 

Nicky was a Building ‘Super’ in the UWS of Manhattan for a large mix-use 1890’s building at 99th & Broadway, and when I would visit him there I learned a lot about Property Management. New York City doesn’t mess around, and being privy to a NYC Building Superintendent’s day to day was anything but boring.

Between tenant turnovers, commercial tenants, leasing, constant repairs, renovations, upgrades! New York Building Superintendent work is not for the faint of heart, there was constant hassling and haggling, a non-stop barrage of defensive negotiations and dodging scams. Every second of the day. So! I trust us at StackHaus Realty Inc. to handle any situation Victoria Real Estate has to hand us. After NYC, Victoria is absolute paradise.

We met our lovely home owners at 1215 Lockley at an open house at one of our listings for sale, we got along great and I was so pleased when they asked me to represent their Rockheights, Esquimalt home as a Property Manager. With patience and diligence we all worked together to achieve short-term rental registration status with the Township of Esquimalt, who allow 30 day minimum rentals. 

There is SUCH a demand for these mid-term rentals, not quite short enough to really be a week long holiday short term rental, and not a long term unfurnished rental, the mid-term furnished rental is key for folks looking for a home away from home in Greater Victoria. 

Who needs mid-term or monthly furnished rentals? Family coming to visit! People visiting for medical reasons, to visit our hospitals and also travelling nurses. Locals need to be housed in mid-term rentals when their home is being remediated or renovated, and every winter our Victoria rentals are filled with renters from the rest of Canada enjoying our mild weather and lack of snow :)

Students, snowbirds, evacuees, locals, travelling nomads. They are all looking at Victoria for their temporary home away from home. The amount of people that want to rent while they purchase a home in Victoria is HUGE, also folks between their sale and next purchase. It can take months to find the perfect home. 

Are you looking for some extra cash from your primary residence while you’re away? Do you have a suite you’d like to turn into a furnished rental? We are your people! 

We love to market and manage rentals, and will take care of your home with the same care that we take of our own properties. Call us at Stackhaus Realty today for any questions about making some rental income with your Real Estate! And while we don’t have property managers that represent residential tenants I’m happy point you in the right direction. 

AirBnb is still the number one place for finding monthly furnished rentals, there’s also Kijiji, Craigslist, UsedVictoria, Rentals.ca, Facebook Marketplace and so many rental groups on Facebook as well that you may want to join. Most of those websites apply to unfurnished websites, but I would also suggest looking at the big rental companies in town, they will have the larger buildings posted online as well. 

The RTB recognizes anything less than 90 days as a ‘short term rental’ and anything more is subject to the RTA (Residential Tenancy Act). Check out the BC Gov website for more info on legislation, registration, provincial requirements (and check with your municipality as well)…

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/short-term-rentals

Reach out if you have any questions, and I’ll try my best to help, or will point you in the right direction. 

Between selling homes and renovating homes, I have to get some weightlifting in. I love the physicality of renovating and selling homes. Renovating is back breaking work. I lift heavy so I can wield a sledgehammer to put in signs or to take down walls. Yesterday to the horror of everyone at the building supply store, I hefted two toilets out to the parking lot, lifted them into my van, then carried them into the house we’re renovating. I can say I did that with no problem, and wouldn’t have been able to if I didn’t lift at the gym multiple times a week.  

People ask me all the time how to get into flipping houses, Real Estate or Renovations. The truth is most successful folks in any profession didn’t get there just from work experience alone. Education, be it through UBC Sauder School of Business for Real Estate Licences, or Trades from Camosun or BCIT is the foundation for success.

Employers don’t want to teach you how to use excel, market properties or hold your hand teaching you a skill or trade. Employers and clients want YOU to be educated and bring skills TO them. Make yourself so skilled and educated that no one can refuse your talents. And that starts with educating yourself.

When I started in Real Estate there was no mentoring program at my brokerage. I had to beg a Realtor at each point of the transaction how to market, write offers, broker-load properties into MLS. My renovation skills happened over decades being surrounded by skilled tradesmen and tradeswoman in my family. All of these skills learned are the result of wanting to learn! 

So to anyone interested in Renovations or Real Estate - don’t expect an employer to arm you with skills. Go out and learn them for yourself, bring something to the table. 

Get a licence, get a trade. Don’t expect to learn everything from work experience, and keep learning. Did you know the supplemental Property Management and Strata Management exams, Broker’s exam all count as credits towards our manditory PDP credits needed to reinstate our Realtor licences? Well they do! :) 

As a General Contractor and Realtor I’m not just stacking up my licences I’m stacking up my skills. Drywalling, minor plumbing and electrical, basic framing, painting, roofing, welding, you name it I’m always picking up new skills and trades from Camosun, YouTube, DIY books. If you’re a woman who’s curious to pick up a trade check out this BCCWITT offering - recruiting for a ‘Try a Trade’ program - awesome! 

After renovations and showings with buyers I’m sitting down to study at night, recording audio files of condensed chapter notes to pass the UBC Sauder Strata Management exam. I’ll be forever upping my game, and encourage those wanting to break into Real Estate to do the same.

Big thanks to Dad Stack who raised me like a son. Women can do anything. 💪

We found some cool Vintage FSBO House For Sale Signs at our latest project and decided to clean them up for the StackHaus office! 

Stackhaus Realty is excited to have our office in action for clients to drop by and talk shop. Real Estate is done mostly over the phone, on location of the listing or via docusign, but sometimes my clients do need to meet in person, and we at StackHaus Realty encourage it! 

We’re talking confidential information and that’s sometimes easier face to face. Plus we can go over documents, options and inventory together, in person. It’s the in-person interactions that convey a lot in Real Estate. I love to present offers in person and of course do listing presentations face to face. It’s a dialogue, and you’re hiring us to negotiate in your best interest. 

In the next month we’re bringing 3 new houses to the market! We’ll be bringing a a super luxury WestShore Award Winning house to the market with 20 foot ceilings and ICF Construction, a starter house with room for further development also in the Colwood area. Tomorrow we’re getting media ready, pics and videos for our new furnished house rental in Esquimalt. StackHaus is busy! 

Our construction and renovation side of the business has also taken off and we’re going to have to start an entirely new company to keep up. Again, what better than to have a physical office to go over finishes and plans? We’ve got plenty of coffee and a vary misbehaved corgi on retainer here on Wordsley St. in Esquimalt :) 

Meetings are by appointment only and we’d love to have you over - contact us anytime for any of your Real Estate needs!