Monday, July 30, 2012

It's all about Balance.

Alberta Oil Sands Investment Real Estate News®
Glenn Simon Inc., Suite 1217, 5328 Calgary Trail NW, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Tel 1-888-780-5940 Fax 1-888-276-4517
www.glennsimoninc.com email: info@glennsimoninc.com

August 1st., 2012
Volume 13, Issue 1

Dear Friends and Partners,

Listening to B.C. Premier Clarke and AB Premier Redford in the media recently, has been interesting. It's a careful dance to watch as the Premiers use just enough posturing, strategy and manipulation to coax agreement out of one another.

I'm often reminded of how we sit in a balance. Ontario and several areas of eastern Canada have really entered into rough economical patches. In the west we are (at least currently) set up for growth - but like everything we sit in a balance, often dependent on external sources and relationships to propel us forward.

Every property I buy, I do so with caution and anticipation. Granted here in Alberta, and to a lesser degree B.C. and Saskatchewan, we are well situated and blessed with a bounty of natural resources; and we need a market for them. We need to be cognizant of events in the USA, Europe just as well as our provincial neighbours and of how events can play out, affecting us both in the positive and negative; remember those 'unintended consequences'?

Buying for the long term, focusing on cash flow and preparing your portfolio for rate and expense increases is solid advice and a strategy for weathering storms. There is opportunity in every market, especially this one.

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Transitional Area - North Central Edmonton:
4-Suite Cashflow Property in Killarney


*This isn't one of my target areas but it offers value to turbo charge your portfolio.*

Upgraded 1960 built suited side by side bungalow with separate entrance to lower suites. Upstairs you'll find two upgraded 1900 sqft, 2 bedroom suites per side with upgraded windows, appliances and some laminate. The lower units each have a 1 bedroom 850 sqft suite. Features down include new carpet, windows, and shared laundry area. The yard is a shared, fenced area, and a 3 car detached garage with automatic door and opener, bring in additional revenue. Some upgrades include new windows and paint. 15 minutes to NAIT, Grant MacEwan and Downtown. Fast access to the Yellowhead and 137th Ave., and on the bus routes. These pictures show the detail and care that went into building this quality property.

Comes complete with great tenants making this a totally turn-key property for you. Convenient North central area with easy access to transit and downtown. Kensington is an established neighborhood featuring strong rental base; solid value and stable rents. HUGE upside potential due to the great purchase price, strong economic fundamentals and the proximity of this home in relation to Edmonton's improving downtown area.

Produces $668.15 positive cash flow per month using an investor's mortgage plan - taking advantage of current low rates.


Purchase price: $598K Total Investment: $136,756K. Your Estimated 5 Year Profit $84,230.45K. Your pre-tax Total ROI is 62% or 12.4% per year + $668.15 Cash Flow Every Month

These 4 suites rent for top dollar and have everything arranged, including financing structure and incredible tenants. Your investment includes: impeccable tenant selection, financial analysis, professional inspection, insurance, financing set-up, legal fees, basic accounting, reserve fund, CMA, bi-annual statements, strategic market planning to ensure successful entry and exit, plus much more!


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Booming Edmonton Spurs New Wave Of Shopping Developments
By Bill Mah, Edmonton Journal, July 20th 2012


EDMONTON - Edmonton may already boast North America’s largest mall and one of its biggest power centres, but a new wave of shopping developments is springing up across the region.
Tightening vacancy in Edmonton’s retail market, a strong economy, growing population and an influx of new retailers are spurring the building boom.

Over 3.2 million square feet of development is being added to Edmonton’s commercial footprint over the next year, said Colliers International in its first-quarter retail market report.

Vacancy in the retail market has plummeted to 2.4 per cent, a historic low, it said. GRAB THIS STORY

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Hotel Called Cornerstone Of Edmonton's Inner City Revival

By Bill Mah, Edmonton Journal, July 16th 2012

EDMONTON - On a dusty lot, across the street from a minimum-security correctional facility, derelict buildings and a former peep show, developer Prem Singhmar broke ground Friday for an upscale $45-million hotel.
The hotel is the first to be built in central Edmonton in decades, but more importantly, supporters call it a catalyst project for the long-awaited Quarters redevelopment of the inner-city area east of downtown.

“It’s taken a long time to come up with a project that is worthy of developing in this neighbourhood,” Mayor Stephen Mandel said.

He called it a cornerstone project that will spur development in the area. Already, the city is working with the arts community to build an artists habitat nearby and with the Chinese community on other projects, he said.

“We’re lucky to have special people in our community like Prem Singhmar, who have a great vision for what things can be, rather than what they aren’t.” READ MORE HERE

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Edmonton Firms Head To Seattle Seeking Trained Workers To Fill
Manpower Gaps
By Bill Mah, Edmonton Journal, July 4th 2012

EDMONTON - A newly launched campaign to recruit skilled workers from the United States by industry and the Edmonton Economic Development Corp. (EEDC) got a publicity boost from a major American news outlet Wednesday.

But the online report on FoxNews.com also had officials at the city’s economic booster agency scratching their heads.

The Fox program reported EEDC was wooing U.S. military veterans and active-duty soldiers across the border to fill as many as 114,000 skilled-labour jobs including working on Canada’s section of the Keystone XL pipeline — a project which isn’t scheduled to start any time soon since Keystone has not been approved in the United States. FOLLOW THIS ARTICLE


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I appreciate all your calls and emails. I'm looking forward to helping you with your next step towards building real wealth.

Your success continues EVERYDAY, let me help you build for tomorrow.

"Failure teaches success"
-Japanese proverb

Warm Regards,

Todd and Danielle Millar


===SPECIAL NOTICE: NO CASH, BUT GOOD CREDIT? CALL US TODAY TO LEARN HOW YOU CAN OWN INVESTMENT PROPERTY===

P.S. Stay ahead by checking out Danielle's daily blog at Edmonton Real Estate Investor for all your cutting edge market news and information.

P.P.S. Don’t forget to visit our website and take advantage of the Resource Tools and product section including REIN's #1 real estate books and Quick Start homestudy sets at a discount. Get your copy of the Canadian Success Stories book and the 2010-2014 Top Ten Investment Towns of Alberta and Ontario.


Sunday, July 15, 2012

Summer in the City

Alberta Oil Sands Investment Real Estate News®
Glenn Simon Inc., Suite 1217, 5328 Calgary Trail NW, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Tel 1-888-780-5940 Fax 1-888-276-4517
www.glennsimoninc.com email: info@glennsimoninc.com


July 15th., 2012
Volume 12, Issue 10

Dear Friends and Partners,

We've been having a pretty awesome summer here in Edmonton, and by awesome I am referring to our weather. The past two weeks have been terrifically hot (for this city) with a 'heat wave' pushing temperatures into the 30s. We've had sensational thunderstorms even with a bolt of lightening hitting our neighbour's house!

Unfortunately, the storms have caused much flooding in the South of the city resulting in water damaged basements, road and business shutdowns and even, ironically, the pool at the recreation centre to close. A smoky haze blanketed the city yesterday from wildfires burning up north. It has been an eventful summer so far.

Aside from the weather being hot, the real estate market is too. Mortgage brokers saw a sharp spike in purchases as a result of the mortgage laws tightening last week, bringing the amortization period down from 30 years to 25 on unsecured loans.

I've seen strong demand in suited homes and multifamily properties. Many deals change hands well before they hit the MLS and the good ones that do get listed are often pending on the first or second day. I had 3 potential MLS deals do the same on Wednesday and Thursday of last week.

My advice for the summer? Stay cool, enjoy the heat and target your properties wisely so that you can write an offer that gets accepted.

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North Central Edmonton: 2-Suite Cashflow Bungalow
Turbo charge your portfolio. Upgraded 1964 built suited bungalow with separate entrance to lower suite. Upstairs you'll find a stylishly finished 1015 sqft, 3 bedroom suite with upgraded windows, appliances and new laminate. The lower unit has a 1 bedroom 850 sqft suite. Features down include new carpet, windows, and separate laundry area. There is a shared, fenced area, and a 2 car detached garage with automatic door and opener, bringing in additional revenue. Some upgrades include new windows down and kitchens. 15 minutes to NAIT, Grant MacEwan and Downtown. Fast access to the Yellowhead and 137th Ave., and on the bus routes. These pictures show the detail and care that went into building this quality property.

Comes complete with great tenants making this a totally turn-key property for you. Convenient North central area with easy access to transit and downtown. Kensington is an established neighborhood featuring strong rental base; solid value and stable rents. HUGE upside potential due to the great purchase price, strong economic fundamentals and the proximity of this home in relation to Edmonton's improving downtown area.

Produces $227.13 positive cash flow per month using an investor's mortgage plan - taking advantage of current low rates.


Purchase price: $335K Total Investment: $78,344K. Your Estimated 5 Year Profit $41,909K. Your pre-tax Total ROI is 53% or 10.6% per year + $227.13 Cash Flow Every Month

Poised for massive growth. These 2 suites rent for top dollar and have everything arranged, including financing structure and incredible tenants. Your investment includes: impeccable tenant selection, financial analysis, professional inspection, insurance, financing set-up, legal fees, basic accounting, reserve fund, CMA, bi-annual statements, strategic market planning to ensure successful entry and exit, plus much more!

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Rental's Hard To Find In Edmonton's Booming Economy
By CBC, July 4th 2012


Edmonton's strong economy is making it harder to find rental housing because high migration numbers are driving down vacancy rates.

"When people are moving into the city there's an immediate demand for housing ," said Christina Butchart from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

"Because we're seeing higher migration flows and an expanding labour market we're seeing this tightening of the rental market."

The vacancy rate is just below 3 per cent. While the number of available vacancies has dropped since last year, it is still far cry from the one per cent rate seen during the last boom five years ago.

Still, prospective renters are having problems. Matthew Wood is moving from Ontario to Edmonton after his wife found a new job. However, his attempts to find suitable accommodation have been unsuccessful. GRAB THIS STORY

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Edmonton Adds 10,000 Jobs In June Due To City's "Unique Environment"

By Lewis Kelly, Edmonton Journal, July 6th 2012

EDMONTON - Edmonton bucked national and regional employment trends in June, adding 10,000 full-time jobs over the last month, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Friday.
The city’s unemployment rate dropped from 4.9 per cent in May to 4.4 per cent last month.

“The contrast between what’s going on here in Edmonton and what’s going on in the rest of the Canadian economy couldn’t be more stark,” said John Rose, the city’s chief economist. “The rest of the economy is struggling.

“We’re in a very unique environment here.”

Data for the whole province shows a slight decline in job numbers from May to June, including in manufacturing and construction, but both sectors grew in the greater Edmonton area. READ MORE HERE

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Oil Sands Tapping Military Veterns To Fill Jobs
By Edmonton & Calgary Globe and Mail, July 6th 2012

EDMONTON — When Heather Reid broke her ankle in a training exercise after seven years in the military, she suddenly found herself in an unfamiliar place: the job market.
But then she found Alberta’s Prospect Human Services, a job agency tha t launched a program this year tailored to Canada’s veterans. The program immediately caught the attention of the oil industry, which has been struggling with a critical labour shortage since the middle of the last decade.

Traditional labour pools, such as employees who commute from the country’s east coast, are not deep enough to meet demand in an industry that needs to fill at least 9,500 jobs by 2015, and between 50,000 and 130,000 positions by 2020.

And while the efforts of agencies like Prospect to reach injured and retired veterans from Canada and the United States will not solve the labour problem on their own, they serve as an example of the creative thinking that will be needed to address one of the oil sands’ most urgent challenges. FOLLOW THIS ARTICLE


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I appreciate all your calls and emails. I'm looking forward to helping you with your next step towards building real wealth.

Your success continues EVERYDAY, let me help you build for tomorrow.

"Love the life you live. Live the life you love." -Bob Marley

Warm Regards,

Todd and Danielle Millar



===SPECIAL NOTICE: NO CASH, BUT GOOD CREDIT? CALL US TODAY TO LEARN HOW YOU CAN OWN INVESTMENT PROPERTY===

P.S. Stay ahead by checking out Danielle's daily blog at Edmonton Real Estate Investor for all your cutting edge market news and information.

P.P.S. Don’t forget to visit our website and take advantage of the Resource Tools and product section including REIN's #1 real estate books and Quick Start homestudy sets at a discount. Get your copy of the Canadian Success Stories book and the 2010-2014 Top Ten Investment Towns of Alberta and Ontario.



Friday, July 13, 2012

Crazy Prairie Weather

Two nights ago Edmonton had an intense lightening storm. It was focused on the southside of the city. You know when you gauge the distance of the sound of thunder to the lightening flash? I could just count 1.. and then the lightening would arc across the sky. It was amazing, beautiful and terrifying. A house 1 block away from mine was hit and burned. One strike turned on my car alarm.

This video puts 30 minutes of this storm into two. Nature IS formidable.