Do You Know the Best Area for Real Estate Investments?

Why Real Estate
Over the last 25 years in Canada Real Estate prices have averaged an increase of over 10% a year. Yes, we have had some decreases during that time, but we have also had some great increases as well. The important part is the consistent average growth over time and the ability to leverage these investments.

This consistent growth is what builds true wealth for an individual and it has been a vehicle the wealthy people learned years ago. Imagine where you would be now if instead of owning a single home, you had purchased two properties, or three, or even more? If you currently have $250,000 worth of equity in your home you bought five years ago, with two properties this could have been half a million dollars of personal wealth! With four properties you could already be a Millionaire!

Does this sound unrealistic? As an owner of multiple properties it's not only very real, but as we watch our own personal wealth increase each year it is also incredibly freeing! We started with initial equity in our own property and have built up to owning over 20 properties and over $6 million dollars of Real Estate in less than four years! And we are continuing to expand!
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Why Alberta Real Estate
With such high prices in Alberta these days and all the newspapers talking about areas like the Okanagan in BC and provinces like Saskatchewan, why would we be investing in Alberta?
The answer is the long term economic forecast for Alberta. People within the province have become so accustomed to the accelerated pace of the provinces growth, the wealth that has been created, the incredible growth we have seen that the current slowdown is seen as the end of the growth. They couldn't be more wrong.

What $250 Billion Does to an Economy
That's $250 billion worth of construction projects over the next ten years to take place in Alberta. It takes a lot of people to work on that many projects and fortunately, people are what drive Real Estate prices. The more people moving to an area automatically increase the demand which is what occurred in Alberta during 2005, 2006 and early 2007.
People tend to move towards the jobs and the Eastern manufacturing based economy is losing jobs right now at a startling pace. Due to this, the thriving Alberta economy is attracting a lot of attention from many former plant workers who have suddenly become unemployed and need some options. As the country is struggling with higher manufacturing costs, the high Canadian dollar and the US recession the manufacturing based economies of Ontario and Quebec are suffering.
Meanwhile Alberta is shuffling along with its energy based economy and steadily gathering more steam as oil continues to take center stage in the world. As the United States largest supplier of oil, we are also incredibly important to their economy if they are hoping to decrease their dependency on Middle East oil. All of this continues to draw more money into large oilsand projects in Northern Alberta which creates more jobs.
On top of this, you can throw in the provincial governments huge surpluses (due to higher than anticipated oil prices) which are allowing huge capital projects to be started creating even more jobs. As this infrastructure is completed, it helps for cities like Calgary and Edmonton to continue to grow and continue their cycle of economic prosperity.

So What's the Job Connection?
The need for workers to fill these jobs puts pressure on the rental market as people migrate in from other areas. Then as renters evolve into buyers this pressure increases the demand for homes to buy. This demand is typically 16 to 24 months after people initially move into the new areas and they then determines if they are staying and possibly in which areas of the cities they wish to live.
From a Real Estate investment standpoint, this is a long term recipe for success. Jobs plus people equals plenty of renters. Plenty of renters increase the speed at which rents increase. As rents increase, the cost to own nears the cost of renting which spurs people to buying. As renters become buyers, the market shifts up a gear and home prices start to escalate.
As an investor, I now not only make money over time by paying my mortgage down and capturing some cash flow, but I am also positioned to achieve higher than average appreciation on properties during this period. Even better, the time frame for many of these large projects being started can be as long as ten years from start to finish providing me with a very large window of opportunity to generate wealth.
Nowhere else in North America, and possibly in the world (other than Dubai, which is also oil based), is there such an area with such solid long term economic fundamentals for growth. Slow and steady is going to win the race here and anyone who is investing here and has a solid long term outlook will be very happy they jumped in.

If this information interests you, check out my Newsletter and Blog about Real Estate!