The Schoelers at Their Meadows Home

"We moved to the Parkview Meadows in March of 2011. We like our
home very much for the good neighborhood and the location for shopping.
The neighbors are very friendly and we like living here."

Leony and Peter Schoeler

*For more information on living at The Meadows, visit us here*

Meadows Homeowners Speak About Their Parkview Experience

"About a year ago we took possession of a Meadows condominium bungalow by Parkview and we know that we made the best choice. There are a variety of different layouts and ours is an open space bright and beautiful. The folks at Parkview were most helpful in assisting us in the selection of the interiors from the kitchen to all the other choices of decoration like tiles, carpets, etc. , and we are very happy with all our choices.

After living in the community for a year, we also know that we have found one of the most friendly and helpful neighbourhood one can ask for. We would give our highest recommendation to anyone interested in purchasing a Meadows Condominium Home by Parkview."

Inge and Heiner Wefers

**For information on The Meadows, visit our website here!**

Parkview Homes' Summer Staff Event

Everyone needs a break, especially on a hot summer day and Parkview Homes' staff is no exception!

When they’re not busy designing homes, excavating and meeting with customers, the staff of Parkview Homes sure know how to relax and have fun!

Our staff summer BBQ was held last Friday, 8/19/11, and what a fabulous evening it turned out to be! The pool, kept at 90 degrees, was warm and inviting for all ages. The kids swam and swam until dragged out at the end of the night. Games kept them interested and occupied after a delicious dinner.

We lucked out with great weather, the food was delicious and the company even better! This is definitely a must for an annual event!

Susan Fenn

Parkview Homes' Newest Model

Visit Parkview Homes' Mapleridge model home located in the West end of the city, at 1514 Ireland Drive.

We have had a steady flow of visitors since we opened the doors of this professionally decorated model home in June of this year!

A new twist on design, this home has a very contemporary décor focusing on the open concept with a spacious loft master bedroom design, inspiring our homeowners to select the latest finishes from our design studio.

For more information call Rick at 705-748-4665 or visit our website here!

The Perfect Vacation Destination: Mont-Tremblant, Quebec

I always love to hear about new and interesting vacation spots within driving distance, so I thought I would share this one with you….

For those of you looking to do a little traveling this summer, I highly recommend Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. It’s only about 6 hours away from Peterborough. We just got back and we had a blast…definitely fun for all.

We rented a 2-bedroom condo unit 5 minutes away from the village (which made it more reasonably priced). This allowed us to be prepare a quick breakfast and dinner in, while eating lunch out each day to save a little money on the food budget.

A private beach was just a short walk from the condo, so we spent each day playing water football, swimming and diving off of a dock into the very warm lake (even warm enough for me). As you can see from the photo, we went cycling through the mountains on wonderful paved, well-marked trails with a river running alongside the trails. A few tourists were fly-fishing in the river, too.

A trip into Mont-Tremblant village was a must do! Zip-lining was one of the highlights for my 13 year-old son (A return to Tarzan…it’s a boy thing). We all took a chair-lift up the mountain and a luge ride down the mountain on these little go-cart type of cars you can individually control… Everyone loved this! Also took in a little bungee jumping and even an afternoon at the spa for a massage…much needed after the 2-hour bike ride!

The restaurants are fantastic and the shopping is plentiful, so there is no excuse for returning without a souvenir or two.

One day we detoured 90 minutes away into Old Montreal, and toured the city in a horse-drawn carriage with a private tour guide to learn about the highlights and history of Old Montreal. Plus, there were even more great cafés and art galleries and boutiques to visit.

This trip was packed full of fun and adventure….A great time was had by all!

Please share with us on our Facebook wall where you've recently vacationed. Tell us your experience!

Susan Fenn

Parkview Homes 25th Anniversary Celebration

Saturday, June 4^th 1:00 – 4:00 pm

1514 Ireland Drive, Peterborough

My how time flies when you are busy building homes …..

25 years to be exact!

Parkview Homes has been happily building dreams for the residents of Peterborough for 25 years. This is why we call ourselves ‘Your Hometown Builder’ ; its just what we do.

So, where have we come from?

We were once a small builder, co-owned by Steve McLaren and Paul Dietrich, back in 1986. Steve and Paul single-handedly ran the company, wearing many hats in sales, marketing, quality control, etc... interesting yet challenging times. Parkview Homes has since grown to have a total of 30 staff members, including their own excavation team, in house marketing specialist, in house Interior designers, and a beautiful décor centre.

Now spread across 8 communities, with a sales team of 5 talented specialists, we are the single largest builder in town, producing approximately 100 homes each year! Our innovative production department has 3 designers/draftspersons, to keep up to the needs of customization with over 50 unique floorplans to choose from.

What have we learned in 25 years?

We have learned a great deal over the years by listening to our customers and responding to their needs. During our expansion, we have introduced a Sales and Production Coordinator position to the team, in response to the request of our customers to be more involved in the building of their homes, with increased communication during the process. We now offer each purchaser an opportunity to review their plans and walk through their home before we get too far along in construction. This allows homeowners an opportunity to view their home in its initial stages and provides an avenue for communication.

Come help us celebrate our 25 years in business with a special VIP tour of our brand new, professionally decorated model home on 1514 Ireland Drive in the West end of Peterborough. This home features many unique and interesting design concepts….be the first to see!

Our Grand Opening day combined with our 25^th Anniversary Celebration is on Saturday, June 4^th from 1-4pm.

A Few Words About Downsizing From Rick Phillips

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rick Phillips, the Director of Sales and Marketing for Parkview Homes. I’m very fortunate to have a job that I absolutely love which involves dealing with the public and selling NEW HOMES. I enjoy meeting with people and determining exactly what is important to each new family, in terms of homes and lifestyle, so we can quickly show them two or three floor plans that match their needs.

As some families are experiencing growth and require a larger home, retirees come in with a wholly unique set of needs and desires. Several times a week I have the pleasure of sitting down with retirees that have made a conscious decision to downsize. Often they tell me, “The house is now too big now that the kids have left home… The cost to operate a large home has become excessive considering we’re now on a fixed income… It’s become too much house and property to maintain when I could be enjoying the golden years on the golf course or down in sunny Florida.”

During the course of conversation, here are some of the typical questions that I ask:

• How many square feet is your current home?
• What style home do you like? i.e. Bungalow? Condominium?
• Are stairs a problem?
• Is a dining room required?
• What is your comfortable budget?
• Do you want a finished basement with a bedroom downstairs for family or guests?
• What upgrades are important to you? i.e. Kitchen, flooring, lighting, bathrooms, deck, etc?

While speaking with these customers, I really try to point out the positive benefits of downsizing and also the benefits of buying new.

Some of these benefits are:

• Less space to maintain which provides more leisure time, and money to put towards that leisure time
• Costs go down with lowered operating costs such as repairs, utilities, taxes, etc.
  
  

I also point out the excitement of selecting a new community, choosing a style of home to meet their new needs, plus brick colors, a custom kitchen, customizing the floor plan, all of the wonderful new upgrades, etc.

Some people, especially those who live in rural areas such as a farm or property with a lot of acreage and a beautiful view, struggle with the idea of leaving a familiar lifestyle. Then they begin to consider the many benefits of moving into a community with neighbors nearby, easy access to hospitals, doctors, stores and many other amenities, restaurants, fine dining and fun activities for seniors, as well as social interaction in a friendly and supportive community such as Peterborough.

If you have any questions about a NEW HOME or downsizing, and would like to get together for a tea and a chat, it would be my extreme pleasure to offer advice, and to help find you the perfect community and home to meet your lifestyle and your budget.

Contact me directly by phone at 705-748-4665 or drop me a line at rphillips@parkviewhomes.ca. I look forward to talking to you!


Rick Phillips
Director of Sales & Marketing and New Home Specialist

A few words from our newest sales representative!

Having been with Parkview for less than a year, all I can say is what an exciting business to be involved with!

Everything that I enjoy in life is tied into the new home selling business… Meeting and helping new people everyday… helping to create a new life and lifestyle for people coming from a wide variety of backgrounds, financial abilities, family sizes and unique sets of needs and desires… and each day bringing a plethora of fresh situations with not a dull moment in the mix.

The sales staff, site supervisors, construction workers and office staff are such a hard working and caring set of individuals. Together, we work in an environment that is exciting and passionate, and founded on giving people an experience that makes purchasing one of the biggest items in their lives a joyful time of expectation.

What can I say… working at Parkview is awesome!

Catey Jobin
Foxmeadow
705-748-4665

Customer Service at Parkview Homes

"Ashley is nothing short of an exceptional customer service representative. Her dedication to quality customer service is very apparent. She possesses tact and patience and is always very professional, friendly and courteous. Parkview homeowners and contractors have nothing but positive comments with respect to Ashley’s job performance and gracious personality.

Ashley is a hardworking, top-performing customer service professional. We are very thankful for all the work she completed on our behalf."

Yours truly,

Steve and Marnie Ayotte

1212 Scollard Drive

Peterborough, Ontario

K9H 0A8

What is the “Parkview Experience”?

At Parkview Homes we are committed to achieving excellence in making the home buying experience a unique and valuable one for our customers. Our goal is to create exceptional living spaces, inside and out.

We are proud builders, providing homes for individuals and families for more than 25 years. Over the years we have developed a proven method of creating the ultimate “Parkview Experience” for the homeowner, to make them feel special and to ensure accuracy in the homebuilding process.

Here’s how we do it:

• Within a few weeks of purchase, our in-house Décor Centre representative will assist the purchaser in making selections to finish the home.

• Shortly after this, we prepare building plans for the home and have our Sales and Production Coordinator arrange a plan review appointment with each purchaser.

• Once the home enters the construction phase, we arrange a walk-through of the home just before drywall is installed. This allows our purchasers to view the homes progress and quality of construction.

• Finally, a few days prior to closing, we arrange a New Home Orientation with the purchaser, to present the many features and functions of their new home.

We are currently building in 7 communities throughout the city. Please come visit us, and have your own “Parkview Experience”. For more information, call 705-748-4665.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Steve McLaren - President

Paul Dietrich - Vice President

Parkview Homes Customer Satisfaction is on the Rise

Surveys are sent out to each of our new homeowners about a month after they move in. Based on independent research conducted by Avid Ratings we have lots of interesting feedback…and the stats below make us so happy!

• Overall, (this year vs. last year) we went from 77.6 to 83.3 out of 100 in total home buying experience. This is a 13.6% increase from this year to last year.

Total home buying experience score consists of 3 factors:

1. Builder’s level of caring

2. Sales, product and service experience

3. Recommend to family and friends

• We increased the total home buying experience score from 79.4 this month last year to 90.2 this year.
• Out of 21 surveys sent out, 14 were returned – a 67% response rate between Oct. and Dec. (Note: Anything over 45% is a good return rate for surveys.)
• Based on last quarter’s performance, 92.9% of Parkview homeowners are willing to recommend us to family and friends.
  
  

Needless to say, this is all great news! We are thrilled to know that we’re making our homeowner’s happy, and we look forward to improving our customer service even more.

Susan Fenn
Sales and Production Coordinator

The Journey Through Our Office Renovation

We began our office renovation on our first day back to the office in January. It has been an interesting journey for the corporate office staff of Parkview Homes during the process. Allow me to share with you a few details about our journey…

We were temporarily located in another suite in the same building, which was very convenient and close, However, a move is still a move, whether you move 30 ft. or 30 km! It meant boxing up all items in filing cabinets, removing all items from desks and drawers, taking everything out of a very busy and productive office so it could be stripped right down to the bare walls. A lot of work went into this move and all the while business was still maintained as usual. Fortunately, we only experienced a lapse of a few hours of phone service at most…not bad at all!

Then a number of our trusted contractors went to work, very quickly and efficiently reconstructing the office. This involved removal of walls, reconstruction of our boardroom and reception area, adding a few closets and a kitchenette with a small sink (a much needed addition), revising our HVAC needs, replacing the flooring, painting the walls, installing blinds, and best of all, installing modular workstations for staff.

Six weeks later, a very short timeframe, on February 15^th, we packed up all over again, and moved back upstairs, into to our fresh new, warm and inviting office environment. Initially it was a little like organized chaos, with the boxes everywhere and staff getting settled into their new workspaces, but it was soon discovered to be well worth the small struggles we endured to create a beautiful office we look forward to coming to every day.

We haven’t reached perfection quite yet in the office as we move things into place, but can clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel in this renovation.

On behalf of all office staff, I would like to extend a warm “thank you” to the owners of Parkview Homes, Paul Dietrich and Steve McLaren, for embracing this welcome change.

Susan Fenn

Sales and Production Coordinator

Parkview Homes

Remedies for Mold & Moisture Issues

About two weeks go we had a homeowner raise a very important concern that is pertinent to all homeowners, especially this time of year...mold and moisture issues.

Unfortunately it is a common occurrence, and in recognition of this, the Canadian Mortgage & Housing Corporation (CMHC) has published a very helpful booklet “Moisture & Air – Householder’s Guide – Problems and Remedies”. This guide addresses how to control humidity levels in homes based on the outside temperatures.

This guide advises that:

1. In very cold weather, a level of 30% or lower may be needed to prevent window condensation.
2. In the winter heating season, the relative humidity should not exceed 45%.

The guide is in PDF form and will need to be downloaded or a hard copy can be ordered and delivered free of charge. It is well worth the read.

Here is the link for reference to this booklet - https://www03.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/catalog/productDetail.cfm?lang=en&cat=5&itm=37&fr=1299247008022

-Ashley Fontaine

Meet Susan, your Sales and Production Coordinator!

My name is Susan Fenn and I joined the Parkview Homes team just over a year ago.

I am the “Sales and Production Coordinator”, and am fortunate to meet all of our purchasers and work with them from the time of purchase to the completion of their new home.

I see each purchaser at three critical contact points during the exciting journey of building their dream home:

Step 1: When the blueprints are produced we arrange a meeting to review the plans and ensure the home is exactly as requested.

Step 2: Once the framing of the home is complete and electrical is installed, I meet with each purchaser to do a walk-through of their home with the site supervisor prior to drywall installation.

Step 3: Prior to closing date, once the home is complete, I provide a new home orientation. (This is my favorite part – seeing the smiles on our homeowners’ faces when they are presented with their beautiful new Parkview home!)

Everyone at Parkview Homes is dedicated to exceptional customer service. We get better each day at what we do to exceed expectations and meet the needs of our buyers.

It is a privilege to be a part of such a forward- thinking organization, where improvements in customer service and business practices are at the forefront of this successful homebuilder.

Susan Fenn

An Email From Some VERY Happy Homeowners!

Gerry and I thought we would send an email with regards to the PARKVIEW HOMES experience. At first we were a little skeptical in looking for a new home because of a bad experience with another so called local builder.

When we first met Rick we were rest assured that we would be taken care of. Rick's professionalism and his upbeat attitude made us feel right at home from day 1. Sheri at the Decor Center was a tremendous help in achieving the look that we were looking for in our townhome.

With excitement we watched the progression of the home and saw many local trades working on our home, which also put our mind at ease knowing that the work would be second to none.

Now that we are in our home, which was right on its closing date, as promised by everyone at Parkview, we would like to thank everyone involved for not only being there for questions to be answered, but quick responses to phone calls, which have been very few, the beautiful work of all the trades , as well as the site supervisors is appreciated. I am sure our experience with Parkview Homes will continue to be a postive one well into the future.

Once again thank you.
Gerry Mason and Kim Morris

Our Homeowners Love Our Service Technician!

Here are a few comments we've received from some of our homeowners about how much the have enjoyed their experience working with our service technician.

Beverly comments on our after closing service : “ I wanted to drop a quick email to say how great your service technician was this morning with the items that were on his work order. He is professional, courteous, tidy, efficient and took the time to fix the items on the work order.”

Tracey in Thompson Bay reports: “We have your service technician here now and we just wanted to say that we are wowed and beyond impressed with his kindness, skill and professionalism. As he is going through our list of final fix ups he’s not only working to make things right for us, but he’s doing it so willingly and so professionally. Again, we are impressed and extremely pleased with the Parkview team. He seems to be a great new addition. Also wanted to say thanks for the work being done on the area boulevards to clean them up – just another example of how Parkview is continuing to care for the neighbourhood and the product it creates.”

Derek in Valleymore reports: “First off I would like to compliment your service technician; he was so wonderful to work with this afternoon. His patience and expertise was appreciated!! He is definitely an asset to your company.”