Monday, September 29, 2014

Tar Hugger

"When people are calling Fort Mac — calling a city in Alberta — an open sewer, ground zero for climate change, or they’re calling it Hiroshima, that adds a lot of fear and emotion to the argument that’s not supported by the facts, but industry can’t respond the same way. The industry has to respond with facts and it takes them a long time to do so,” Realtor Cody Battershill read about his one man (but growing) battle here

I do agree.


Thursday, September 25, 2014

Booms and Busts

You’ll never be wrong predicting a bust.

Same with predicting a boom - the rub is trying to get the timing exactly right. You might wonder why I put this article up on our blog dedicated to investing successfully in Edmonton real estate, and the answer is that everyone is right sometimes.

I haven’t read this book as it’s not out yet. I think that it’s naive to say that there won’t be another down cycle, because there will be many more up-cycles and many more down-cycles for as long as man buys-sells-creates. Economic fluctuation is the norm.

Do I think that there is a big correction headed for CANADA in the future?
No, not really. Canada’s a big place after all.

Do I think that certain markets, property types and lending manoeuvrings may create a dangerous situation for some speculators? Yes, I do.

But, that doesn’t mean that a crash is coming and even if it did indicate that, with the right investing skills, it would create an excellent time to make strategic real estate/business buys.

Simply put - don’t believe the hype (both good and bad). Study economic fundamentals, invest using a proven strategy, buy the right property (or business). Be responsible and be active.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Edmonton of the future - super cool

Image courtesy of Stantec
Do you like growing Edmonton or do you still have that image of the city in the 80’s? Here’s where we are today - and where we’re going. Edmonton is an up-and-comer. The new buildings, restaurants, sports facilities and the BUZZ show that. Jump

Premier Prentice lays out the need for getting Alberta oil out. His comments below are bang on.

“Sometime around 2017, 2018, 2019 at the latest, we begin to run into a circumstance where there’s not enough pipeline capacity to absorb the energy that’s being produced in the province, and we start to get bottlenecks that will create the so-called differentials where we no longer get even continental prices but start to get deeply discounted prices instead,” the Premier said.

He said that scenario will create a serious economic problem for Alberta and should be of concern to all Canadians, as it will have a “profound effect on the national economy post-2018.” Read More Here

Monday, September 15, 2014

Alberta's Story

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


September 15th., 2014
Volume 17, Issue 4

Dear Friends and Partners,

Summer sure came to halt here in Edmonton, Calgary even more so. 'What happened?’ asked all my cucumbers, withered and frozen on the vine. Despite a JOLT of winter the summer has been great - I hope yours has too.

We’re starting to see more Single Family Residential properties coming on the market and even a mortgage rate decrease. On Tuesday BMO listed a 5 year fixed rate of 2.99% to take advantage of fall home shoppers. The few points off won’t make too much of a difference to your cash flow, but will spur would-be home buyers to get active in the market after a lazy summer.

One of the best strategies for home owners to take advantage of low rates is to increase their payments as if their rates were higher.  They can pay down equity faster or save the extra cash and apply it towards a down-payment on a rental. Edmonton's multi-family inventory remains tight. There is a small handful of decent properties out there, however the price point tends to be higher than what an investor needs to make it work. With that said, we continue to work with unlisted properties and pocket listings to make deals happen. You have a good window ahead for Q4/Q1 to add quality revenue property to your portfolio - take advantage of it! 

Below are a few fairly stock snippets from an article on the upside of property investing and the hard work associated with it - believe me, there is a lot more of both!  

"Ms. Jansson is in good company. Thousands of Canadians rely on residential income properties, whether close to home or abroad, to help them feather their financial nests.” 

“It’s like any business that you want to enter. It’s all about time, money and expertise. If you don’t have the time, you at least have to have the expertise and you have to have the money to make it fly,” says Phil McDowell, a mortgage broker in Calgary.”
Read the whole article here


Central Edmonton: Inglewood 4-Unit Cashflow (Purchase Plus Improvement Deal)


Turbo charge your portfolio. This 1950 built Raised-Bungalow-Style 4-Plex is located in the heart of Inglewood, minutes from trendy 124th and downtown. The airport revitalization project is sending ripples of improvement throughout this area. Easy access to the Yellowhead as well as many parks and schools to enjoy in this character -rich neighbourhood.

This property has front entrances to the 2 X 2BD main floor units and lower entrances for the 2X 1BD suites.

This property was built as a RF3 duplex and is noted as having lower-level suites in the tax assessment. This is a purchase plus improvement deal, meaning that we wrap the ($25K) renovations into a new mortgage.

 Ensuite laundry to be added. Property has 1 x double detached garage . Excellent access to downtown, transit and St. Albert.

Comes complete with great tenants making this a totally turn-key property for you. Inglewood is a great mature area that is a desirable for tenants working in the city or attending NAIT.

HUGE upside potential due to the quality of the building, great purchase price, strong economic fundamentals and the proximity of this property in relation to Edmonton's desirable growing core. Purchase price factors in renovations.

Purchase price: $664,000K
Total Investment: $152,930K
Your Estimated 5 Year Profit: $86,096.28K
Your pre-tax Total ROI is 56% or 11% 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!

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Painting a picture with numbers, the story of Alberta

By Karyn Mulcahy, CTV Edmonton, August 21st., 2014

 We’ve heard it time and time again, Alberta is a prosperous province with a booming economy, but how do we actually stack up, numbers wise? The Alberta Office of Statistics and Information has answers.

"Last year the population in our province jumped by 3.5%, which is triple the national average. More than four million people now call Alberta home. The average rent for a two bedroom apartment in the province sat at $1,190 in April of 2014, with the cheapest rent found in Medicine Hat ($739 a month), and the most expensive in Fort McMurray ($2.061). Workers earned the highest average weekly wages in the country ($1.108.01), 22% more than the national average, and the unemployment rate sat at only 4.6%, the second lowest in the country after Saskatchewan."  FOLLOW THIS ARTICLE

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Arctic route for Alberta could trump stalled B.C. pipeline projects

By Justin Ling, Special to Financial Post, September 5th, 2014

Alberta’s plan to get its landlocked oil to overseas markets by way of Arctic shores might just become a reality — and sooner than the stalled Northern Gateway or Keystone XL projects.

The plan, until recently dismissed as dubious by some skeptics, may have finally found the right combination of winning conditions: a hunger for resource development in Yellowknife, a desperate need to find new markets for oil-sands bitumen, an aggressive push from the federal government to reduce environmental oversight in the territory, and the changing northern climate.   GRAB THIS STORY

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Pembina Pipeline strikes Billion-dollar energy deals

By Bertrand Marotte, The Globe and Mail, September 2nd, 2014

Pembina Pipeline Corp. has struck a deal to build a West Coast propane export terminal in Portland, Oregon and is also tapping into the prolific North Dakota Bakken play with the acquisition of an ethane pipeline.
Calgary-based Pembina said on Tuesday it plans to develop a 37,000-barrel-per-day export facility in Portland’s port at a cost of about $500-million (U.S.).  READ MORE HERE

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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.

“Show class, have pride, and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself."  - Paul Bryant

Warm Regards,

Todd and Danielle Millar


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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.




















Wednesday, September 03, 2014

Reading between the lines

Articles like this make me scratch my head. "Thinking of heading out to Alberta? Sure, there are lots of jobs. But be forewarned–there’s also lots of debt.” Does that mean that if I move to Alberta and start earning a higher wage that I’m going to start recklessly spending and go into debt?

“Sure, go to NY but be warned there are a lot of Broadway shows there... you might find yourself stuck in a musical, unable to ever leave.” Another rubbish sentiment.

The closing comments are especially telling "The report indicated 43% of Canadians hold mortgage debt, up 13% from a year ago. The rising share of households with a mortgage is driven partly by the active participation of first-time buyers, mainly younger Canadians, BMO said. More than half of all households are carrying a credit-card balance, although that total declined to 52% from 56% in 2013.”

Wait, it gets worse… the rising share of households with a mortgage falls to 'First Time Home Buyers’? That is good, not terrible. I don’t like the idea of ‘many households’ carrying credit card debt - yet the reported number doing so has DECLINED. Another good thing. What is being reported anyways?

I’m (generally) not one to pick apart news stories but sometimes enough is enough. The patter is so dubious and patronizing to spin some fairly good factoids into something bad. Be smart and read through the noise.