Saturday, March 23, 2013

The real estate in my tummy

We're going out to a restaurant tonight that we had to book 6 weeks in advance to get a seat. It's a lot of expectation but apparently this place can deliver. While browsing their site I found this wonderful video.






Which lead me to this channel. I'm not eating lunch today!

Monday, March 18, 2013

This and That March

Alberta's economic snapshot for March 16, 2013 - With many of Alberta’s economic indicators showing some slowdown over the past several months, it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see more households with strained debt levels. However, according to the number of personal bankruptcies filed at the end of last year, consumers appear to have things under control. Go Read it Here

In my line of work I do see people struggling to keep their finances in order. Recently I have less tenants making late payments than ever. 

Fears of a Canada Bubble unfounded - BMO report - Despite significant price hikes the last 10 years, house prices remain affordable across most of the country, with mortgage payments on the average Canadian home eating up a “moderate” 28 per cent of family income, and just 23 per cent when the two costliest cities, Vancouver and Toronto, are factored out, says BMO senior economist Sal Guatieri. Jump to it

Canada's high credit ratings entice global investors - “Money is coming to Canada and for good reason,”  “Typically when international markets buckle a little bit, that’s when you see more participants come to Canada.”says Grant Berry, managing director and head of government finance at RBC Capital Markets. Read More

We see Canadian real estate featured in investment shows all around the world. Not because of Canada's "great beaches" but because it's a great investment. 

Canada's Shale Boom - Unlocking Alberta's oil and gas -
“80% of the world’s oil reserves are held by national oil companies (NOCs)” says Ken Hughes, Alberta’s Minister of Energy. Hughes is referencing the simple fact that countries — like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Nigeria, Brazil, Mexico and others — have nationalized their oil industry. Indeed, 80% of the world’s oil reserves are “hands off” for you and me. Although, “of the other 20%” Hughes concludes, “HALF are here in Alberta.” Read more

It seems like a pretty amazing time to be in Alberta.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

RE/MAX marketing to a new generation




Keep Calm and Carry On

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
 


March 15th., 2013
Volume 14, Issue 3

Dear Friends and Partners,

Last Wednesday Danielle and I attended Dr. Paul Stoltz's Adversity Quotient seminar. Dr. Stoltz is an energetic and engaging speaker for sure, but I was a little disappointed with the content. Dr. Stoltz could have crammed some tips and strategies into the 3 plus hours of his monologue. There were probably a few 'nuggets' but none spring to mind.

To give you the overall gist, if life were a mountain full of adversity there are two types of people; those that climb (the climbers) and overcome adversity, and those that camp (the campers) that sit out until the trouble passes and/or consumes their lives. So, which do you want to be? Yup, a climber.

Well, unfortunately, Dr. Stoltz was a little shy on telling you how to actually overcome adversity. I'd say that you need to stay on course, have endurance and continually reprogram your brain by incorporating positive patterns that help you deal with challenges. For example, pay attention to your health, relaxation, relationships, goal setting and all the steps/tools you need to learn to educate yourself to reach the 'summit'.

There I saved you a few bucks. You're welcome. I would consider downloading the audiobook and prying out whatever nuggets are hidden in there. In the meantime, keep your chin up, eye on the target and push forward.
















Central Edmonton: 4-Suite Cash-flow Property in Queen Mary Park

Turbo charge your portfolio. The advantage of this transitional area is the nearby development of the downtown core (city airport and arena). It is a tougher area for management but offers a lot of upside. The property can be purchased low and combined with $90K of renovation wrapped into a PPI mortgage you can invest in a nice, safe, upgraded building. Note this is pre-renovation and total purchase price after renovations are approximately $550K. Upgraded 1953 built 4 unit property with separate entrance to lower suites. All units to be renovated using our PPI strategy at purchase and costs wrapped into mortgage. You'll find spacious 2 X 2 bd upstairs and bright 2 X 2 bd units downstairs. Renovations at time of purchase to include  2 HWT, windows, kitchens, bathrooms and flooring. The 2 lower units are each 1000 sqft units with access to yard. Features down to include new counters and flooring. Upper units to have newer kitchens, lighting and bathrooms. There is common laundry down. The yard is large and partially fenced. Only 5 minutes to NAIT and downtown, with routes to Yellowhead and Fort Saskatchewan. Plenty of stores, shopping and on bus routes.

Comes complete with great tenants making this a totally turn-key property for you. Convenient central area of Queen Mary Park with easy access to transit and downtown. Queen Mary Park is a mature and transitional area that will benefit from the downtown development ripple effect. Highly rentable area; 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 core. 

Produces $904.76 positive cash flow per month using an investor's mortgage plan - taking advantage of current low rates.


Purchase price: $550K Total Investment: $124,376.36K. Your Estimated 5 Year Profit $76,773.38K. Your pre-tax Total ROI is 62% or 12% per year 

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!


=========================

Heavy Crude Discount No Cause For Panic

By Yadullah Hussain, Financial Post, February 3rd 2013

While the widening Canadian heavy crude discount has sent the Alberta government scrambling to make up for the shortfall, the province’s oil sands companies are not pressing the panic button — yet.

Stronger balance sheets backing projects, foreign capital and risk-sharing will help the industry weather the downside, Bob German, chief executive of contracting firm Horizon North Logistics Inc., told a recent investor conference.
“Many companies, five years ago, did not partner with anybody to share the risk, but are doing so now.

The staying power given the long-term nature of these projects and through dips in commodity prices are better than they were five years ago,” he said.  GRAB THIS STORY


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Alberta's Real Economic Advantage

Diane Francis, Huffington Post, March 4th 2013

Albertans are unique because they don't occupy a parallel universe, living on other peoples' money. They live in the real world and the province's current fiscal deficit has sparked intelligent conversation.

The Alberta Advantage is its adherence to discipline and is why it has the lowest taxes in the country. Alberta is the only debt-free sub-national in the Western Hemisphere. And now that a rainy day has hit, the province is financially resilient: it has some $16 billion (in a stability fund) on hand to ride out shortfalls, a $16 billion Heritage Fund and, most importantly, the backing of its voters to cut spending rather than raise taxes. "There will be no taxes raised," said Premier Alison Redford in a discussion I had with her at an Alberta Enterprise Group gathering this week.   FOLLOW THIS ARTICLE

===============


Highest Average Weekly Earnings in Alberta Tops all province's at $1,094 per week

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald, February 26th 2013
CALGARY — Average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees in Alberta remained the highest of all provinces in the country in December, according to Statistics Canada.

The federal agency reported Tuesday that earnings in the province were $1,093.58, up 1.2 per cent from the previous month and an increase of 4.2 per cent from December 2011.

“This earnings level was at least 17 per cent higher than that of any other province,” said Statistics Canada.  READ MORE HERE



 ===============

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.

"It always seems impossible until its done."  -Nelson Mandela

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  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, March 01, 2013

Psst... We're doing it again

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

March 1st., 2013
Volume 14, Issue 2

Dear Friends and Partners,

We seem to be teetering back into the scary-territory for North American and European news. I touched on this a few weeks ago along with the upcoming Alberta budget and tempering talk of a 'bitumen bubble'. It's better to talk a jumper down than to shoot one, and by setting expectations of a tough budget, lower oil revenues and costs of greening the stage is set to anticipate a slower and more challenging market  the other half to that being  it's pretty tough to predict with certainty what will happen in the future.

Our Alberta and Edmonton economy we will do well. Yes, house prices will go up and down, as will oil. We'll eventually get it up, down and out of Alberta to 'world markets' and that will enable us to get a better dollar for it.

In the meantime we are still on a steady course with a great opportunity to pick up CF properties with stress-tests built in (for example: higher vacancy rates, higher interest rates) to buffer the storms that inevitably come up. There is a lot on the go and so much positive renewal happening in Edmonton right now, it is a shame to let some gloom shadow an otherwise positive outlook.














 










Central Edmonton: 4-Suite Cash-flow Property in Queen Mary Park

Turbo charge your portfolio. The advantage of this transitional area is the nearby development of the downtown core (city airport and arena). It is a tougher area for management but offers a lot of upside. The property can be purchased low and combined with $90K of renovation wrapped into a PPI mortgage you can invest in a nice, safe, upgraded building. Note this is pre-renovation and total purchase price after renovations are approximately $550K. Upgraded 1953 built 4 unit property with separate entrance to lower suites. All units to be renovated using our PPI strategy at purchase and costs wrapped into mortgage. You'll find spacious 2 X 2 bd upstairs and bright 2 X 2 bd units downstairs. Renovations at time of purchase to include  2 HWT, windows, kitchens, bathrooms and flooring. The 2 lower units are each 1000 sqft units with access to yard. Features down to include new counters and flooring. Upper units to have newer kitchens, lighting and bathrooms. There is common laundry down. The yard is large and partially fenced. Only 5 minutes to NAIT and downtown, with routes to Yellowhead and Fort Saskatchewan. Plenty of stores, shopping and on bus routes.

Comes complete with great tenants making this a totally turn-key property for you. Convenient central area of Queen Mary Park with easy access to transit and downtown. Queen Mary Park is a mature and transitional area that will benefit from the downtown development ripple effect. Highly rentable area; 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 core. 

Produces $904.76 positive cash flow per month using an investor's mortgage plan - taking advantage of current low rates.


Purchase price: $550K Total Investment: $124,376.36K. Your Estimated 5 Year Profit $76,773.38K. Your pre-tax Total ROI is 62% or 12% per year 

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!


=========================

Alberta Economic Snapshot

By Troy Media, February 23rd 2013

CALGARY, AB, Feb. 23, 2013/ Troy Media/ – Maybe it was the hockey lockout, or maybe just the cold weather. Whatever the reason, Albertans seemed to be in little mood in December for one of their favourite pastimes: shopping.
According to Statistics Canada, total retail sales in the province slumped to $5.712 billion in the last month of 2012, a 2.5 per cent dip from November and the second consecutive decrease. Compared to December of the previous year, total sales are higher by 1.9 per cent. The figures are adjusted for seasonal variation, so any of the effects of Christmas shopping are accounted for.  GRAB THIS STORY
 


===============

Alberta's Housing Market and Affordability Levels Amongst the Strongest in Canada

Canadian News Wire, February 25th 2013

TORONTO, Feb. 25, 2013 /CNW/ - Alberta's housing market remained vibrant in the final quarter of last year, buoyed by attractive affordability levels, accelerating population growth, a healthy labour market and a strong provincial economy, according to the latest Housing Trends and Affordability Report issued today by RBC Economics Research.
The report indicates that although the pace of home resales slowed in closing months of 2012, the housing market tightened up as fewer properties were listed for sale.

"While homes are not particularly cheap in the province, Albertans boast the highest household incomes in Canada, which helps ensure that the share of their budget taken up by homeownership costs is easily manageable," said Craig Wright, senior vice-president and chief economist, RBC. "Barring an unexpected shock to the economy, housing market conditions in Alberta should remain positive in 2013."   FOLLOW THIS ARTICLE

===============

Redford Signals New Spending for Alberta's non-oil economy in Coming Budget

By Kevin Carmichael, Globe and Mail, February 24th 2013
Alberta Premier Alison Redford is signalling she will not roll out an austerity-minded budget as her government confronts an unexpectedly growing deficit, instead pledging new spending aimed at making her province less dependent on oil.

In an interview in Washington on the weekend, Ms. Redford addressed the debt-and-deficit issue more in the style of President Barack Obama than Ralph Klein, the former Progressive Conservative premier who made balancing budgets his overarching priority.  READ MORE HERE
 
 ===============

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.

"Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in."  -Bill Bradley

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.