Edmonton Real Estate Investor: expatriates

Depending on where you make your home as an expat, you may be pleasantly oblivious to North American news. But, like a bad case of malaria, the negative world of English news can come back and sucker punch you when you least expect it. Don’t let their fear paralyze you-use it to empower you.

What you’ve got to do is decipher what is ‘real’ and what is ‘imaginary’. Sober yourself by separating the truth from the fiction.

By doing this you’ll be able to free yourself from day-trader mass market psychology and its rollercoaster ride of gut-wrenching twists and turns. READ MORE

We can't/don't want to go abroad this year with a 3 month old baby so we decided to spend our winter vacation in our prefecture in Japan. We are lucky because Tochigi is famous for onsen (natural hot-springs) and has many excellent and scenic places to soak in the healing waters.

As avid "onsen-ers" we have sampled some pretty fantastic baths in and around our home. This year we've found a special hotel to visit.

The Ranryo in Kawaji, Tochigi has a a history of more than 300 years as a spa ryokan and we were able to book a room there over the Christmas holidays. With traditional Japanese food like trout on a stick, winter vegetable hot pot and sashimi plus and assortment of excellent indoor and outdoor baths we hope to finish this fantastic year in style.

The best part of the story is we got an excellent rate. Since frugality is the new black we decided we were only willing to pay a certain amount of yen for this hotel. At first we were embarrassed to ask but once we did we easily got the discounted rate we had hoped for.

What's the lesson?
Be willing to ask! You never know what you might get by asking.

We celebrate many things in life. The greatest to date for us has been the healthy birth of our first child, our son Ronan .

He was born 4:25PM, 10/7 after a long labour by his amazing Mom, Danielle!

Through all the hard work, joys and successes in life and to come, we found Ronan's birth to be a wonderful experience to bond and connect on a different, higher level.

Ronan's baptismal name is Jason (Saint Jason) after a very dear friend of ours. This way he can be remembered and also share in a 'rebirth' of sorts.

To all of you who are parents, I now understand what you feel in many complicated ways.

Thanks for all your help and support.

Todd, Danielle and Ronan

Here is a preview of Todd's newest article on NuWire Investor. If you are an expatriate investor there are many useful points to help you increase the performance of your investment from anywhere in the world.

The DO's and DON'Ts of investing in real estate for expatriates

"The expat lifestyle has many benefits, such as traveling, living and working in exotic locations and often better compensation and benefits than that of domestic jobs. The expatriate life may be full of adventure, but one place that investors definitely don't want thrills is in large investments. High earnings allows expat investors more disposable income for investments, but whether saving for a home, planning for retirement or seeking cash-flow from current investments, expat investors face obstacles and needs quite different from those of average investors."

Read More

I live a large part of the year outside of Canada and so I often forget what a fantastic country it is. My mom and aunt flew out from Edmonton and Calgary to help me get ready for the baby and the inevitable changes that are coming very very quickly. They were telling me about their medical coverage and how much the pay for certain services. I'm pretty impressed with how little money they are required to pay.

As an non-resident expat I don't have Canadian medical. I pay an exorbitant amount of money to be protected for everything from organ transplants and dental to the delivery of a child. In Japan the delivery will cost about ¥500,000 (about $5,023 CDN) my medical covers most of that but I will pay about $500CDN by the end of it. This includes the delivery, some post-natal classes and 5 days in the hospital; they don't believe in sending the mother home the next day after the delivery in Japan.

Japanese families must pay for the delivery. The city will give nearly half of the costs back but these families are expected to come up with about $3,000 CDN. That is a lot of money to come up with when you are starting a new family and one of the income producers is now out of work. I'm sure this may play a small part in the birthrate being so low. In Canada of course the whole thing would be free and we would probably pay about $100 dollars a month for our medical coverage.

Canada is really beautiful, it's safe, the people are friendly and the streets are clean. There are social services for everyone and if you are determined you can do anything you dream to do. All in all it's a pretty wonderful place to live.

Depending on where you make your home as an expat, you may be pleasantly oblivious to North American news. But, like a bad case of malaria the negative world of English news can come back and sucker punch you when you least expect it. Don’t let their fear paralyze you- use it to empower you.

What you’ve got to do is decipher what is ‘real’ and what is ‘imaginary’. Sober yourself by separating the truth from the fiction.
By doing this you’ll be able to free yourself from day-trader mass market psychology and its rollercoaster ride of gut wrenching twists and turns.

I’ve been living abroad for nearly a decade now and have successfully invested in more than 50 property purchases (yes, this is what I do for a living).

Here I’ll address a few common worries pertaining to property investment for expats and what you can do to solve them.

Problems and Fears facing Expat Investors:

1) I don’t know enough about the market to invest now

It’s fear of the unknown, fear of losing money, fear of feeling stupid if you make a wrong choice. This is one of the most important fears to overcome because if you don’t, you’ll never pull the trigger on an investment and end up lacking the security, freedom and lifestyle you desire. Potentially working a lot longer and harder than you planned to or heaven forbid, working until you die.

Solution
Educate yourself. This doesn’t mean spend 5 years going back to school and getting a degree. Time is of the essence. Start reading impartial books on investing, speak to successful investors and make a step-by-step plan to reach your goals.

2) What the heck do I do with my money?

After you get educated, get into action. Have you ever noticed how many ‘experts’ there are out there sitting on the sidelines and telling you the time to invest has come and gone? Analysis paralysis is a pathetic state to be in.

Solution
After certain milestones have been reached ex. 2 books have been read, 3 realtors contacted, etc. get into action. Start taking measurable steps towards investing in a property or growing your money somewhere. If doing it yourself is not an option, enlist the help of unbiased professionals that will help you reach your goals.

3) How can I invest for my retirement?

It really depends on where you are in your investment cycle.

Solution
If you’re just starting out and capital is an issue you can begin by placing money into REITs, town houses or joint venture partnerships that require lower entry points. As you acquire more knowledge and capital, look towards multi-family properties or owning several cash flowing individual units.

In some cases, paying down or paying off your investment property mortgage to generate a stream of cash flow may be wise for retirement. In certain growth markets investing for a 5 to 7 year term may be enough to generate sizable capital gains that you can deploy for retirement income and reinvestment by refinancing or using an equity take out plan.

4) How safe is real estate as an investment?

Real estate is an incredibly safe, long-term investment. Despite the Subprime mortgage debacle, there are still solid, fundamentally sound investments in the States (and abroad) to invest in. Real estate moves in cycles, with a bit of knowledge you can pin point an area of stable growth to own income-producing property.
You’ll look like a genius in 10 years. People get into trouble when they speculate and look for the quick buck. Like any business it takes time and knowledge to invest successfully.

5) Where can I grow my money without triggering a bunch of taxes?

This will depend on your nationality, tax plan, income and country that you are investing into.

Solution
The best step is to speak to a real estate savvy tax planner and ask him how it can be done. Also speak to expat investors who have done what you want to do and ask their advice. Sometimes you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that there may even be tax breaks and tax treaties for your country (there are quite a few in Canada).

Living abroad gives you a unique perspective to be in two worlds at once. You can observe your compatriots lives back home without being a part of it. You can study the economy based on fundamentals and not emotion enabling you to seize opportunities when others are running away to hide. This is one of the many advantages the expat life offers you.

I get the Women's Hour Podcast from BBC and throughly enjoy listening to it whenever I'm driving in my car. I was surprised to hear that the Alberta government went to the U.K to entice immigration to Canada. It's a short snippet and the link will probably expire in 7 days but if you care to listen here it is.

Listen to BBC Women's Hour

Are you living abroad, based out-of- country, non-Canadian resident, Armed Forces, US, Australian, Kiwi, any other nationality or just an adventuresome globe trotter? If you’re like me and like to travel and enjoy some of the wonders the world has to offer, but are feeling the pressure of the work-save-spend cycle (A.K.A Rat Race) then read on…

Are you worried about your finances?

Is it time to think about planning for your children’s future? Are you saving to build a house or are you seeking better returns than what the bank, postal accounts or your current investments have to offer?

Is the Stock market giving you ulcers? Or is it time to take some of the profits off the table and put them into a more tangible asset? Tired of the average financial options; Mutual Funds, Land Banking, Bonds, etc..?

Would you like to invest in something hands free and safe, but still reap a decent return? Well, if you are looking to take control of your finances, put your hard earned cash into something with more control and security, or if you answered YES to any of the questions above, then read on…

T. Harv Eker of The Millionaire Mind says; “Wealthy people see every dollar as a ‘seed’ that can be planted to earn a hundred more dollars, which can then be planted to earn a thousand more dollars.”

Investing with us at GSI allows you the confidence and freedom to get into the secure and fundamentally solid, Canadian Real Estate market. This is not speculative buying. We use a proven system to purchase our properties in areas that are stable, not over inflated or emotion based. GSI partners with you. That means that we generally hold the mortgage and where you’ll be investing between 20%-35% and receiving all your initial investment back plus 50% of the profits on residential investments. We think that you’ll agree that’s a pretty good deal.

Please read through our site to learn more about why Alberta is the best place to grow your money. Or contact us now to get started right away!