Colourview Ontario Real Estate

Archive for March, 2010

Like any other western country, the real estate market in Canada is a traditional and mature market that employs hundreds of thousands of people and provides attractive returns to investors. The investor returns are cyclical and are representative of the key economic factors like unemployment, GDP growth, interest rates, inflation etc.

Investing in either the residential or the commercial real estate in Canada provides a real estate investor an opportunity to diversify their portfolio and thus stabilize their returns. In the recent past, the Canadian real estate market has yielded above market returns after adjusting for inflation and has attracted billions of dollars from both domestic as well as foreign investors.

Given the high demand and recent high rates of appreciation in the real estate market in Canada, investing in Canada real estate market provides the investor an opportunity to buy a residential property and either rent it out or flip it within a year during a market upswing. In the recent past, several investors who invested in real estate market in Canada have followed the flip strategy and benefited from annual returns in excess of twenty percent.

Overall Canada has the following two attractions for real estate investors interested in investing in Canada:

First, Canada attracts a large number of rich expatriates who move to Canada either to retire or to work under the Canadian Immigration Department‘s skilled worker program. This is a big contributor to the Canadian economy as a whole and the real estate market in particular as theses expatriates continuously keep up the rental demand and in some instances demand for resale of homes. Cities that are most popular amongst the immigrants offer a great investment opportunity in the Canada real estate market as the immigrant inflow make these cities slightly immune to the national economic conditions.

Secondly Canada has been blessed with a fast growing market within its borders. For more than five years in a row, Canada has been rated as one of the best places to live in the world by a leading research company. The political stability, economic strength and high quality of life has resulted in spawning and expansion of a multitude of small businesses and led to the physical expansion of several Canadian cities. These cities have in turn developed commercial and residential real estate sectors which offer tremendous investment opportunities. A real estate investor thus has the option to invest in any one of Canada’s growing cities and either buy a residential or a commercial property – office space, industrial or retail units. In addition, there is also a fast growing tourist sector that creating new and attractive opportunities as more and more people invest in second or vacation homes.

Thus there are unlimited opportunities for a real estate investor in the Canadian real estate market and if one performs their due diligence and follows the process, one can easily achieve above market returns. Short term gains, sustainable income and long term growth can all be provided by Canada’s real estate market if the investor can correctly target and time their investments.

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Ben Hirsh is an expert on Woodstock GA real estate and has an excellent website all about Woodstock real estate which features a Woodstock GA MLS search, the Woodstock GA history page, and much more.

Whether you are just getting into a new home or are looking for a tenth investment, your credit score is important.  This plays a large part in helping you to qualify for the amount of money that you want and need.  By keeping up with your credit score, and understanding how it will tie into your investment, you can be sure to benefit from the points that you have.

Before you get involved in a loan, you will want to check your credit score in order to make sure that you will have the ability to get the loan you want.  There are three major companies that rate your credit score, giving you points for good credit and how your history has related to the credit that you have.  The companies that you can get your credit score from are Equifax, Experian, and Transunion.

Credit scores will affect the loan you get because it helps you to be pre-approved for a loan.  Lender companies will be more willing to work with you if you have a higher score.  They will also have the ability to give you a higher amount of money.  This usually means that you are responsible with keeping up with your payments, have a good history, and how you have handled things such as overdue payments.  For some, this is the only way that loans will be approved.  For others, other factors will be considered, such as financial stability, your income and job status.  Before even beginning the process of finding real estate, you should make sure that these are in the right place.

By adding up the points you can also add up the abilities that will take place with your loan.  Understanding the various elements of your credit score can help you to save money, time and to get approved for the loan that you want.  Simply adding it all together will be the place that you want to start in order to build your credibility.

Terms for investments are everywhere in real estate.  You may hear lenders, agents and brokers talking the real estate jargon.  If you are finding a way to be a part of the real estate world for any type of investment, you will want to become familiar with the different terms that are used in real estate.  The first one to define is comparable sales.

Often times, comparable sales will be termed as comps.  These will be the basis of your real estate investment and are important to know.  If you are looking at a property, always ask what the comps are on the property.  Your real estate agent, or you, will then look up a variety of factors to compare your property with the others around it.  You can find these through various companies, the multiple listing service, (MLS), and even courthouses and newspapers.

Some of the comps that are included are the history of the property, the sales from the past, the sales of the other homes, the demographics of the area, and the different trends that have affected the sales.  Anything that will affect the investment that you plan to make on the home is what you will need to look up when considering comps.

Why is it important to look up the comps.  By doing this, you will know whether you are making the right investment or not.  Technically, the value of the home should go up.  At the same time, the value will need to be the same as the other homes.  If you don’t have a balance between the historical investments and the neighborhood investments, you could end up paying too much.

When looking at cash flow, you should always begin with the comparable sales.  This will give you a good idea about what is happening with the real estate that you are interested in and whether it is worth your time and investment.  Finding the comps is the beginning to moving over the threshold and into your new home.

Money is one of the elements that easily comes and goes just as easily.  If you have a home, you want to make sure that the flow of money coming and leaving is to your advantage.  By investing in a home equity line of credit, you will have the ability to invest, finance and profit off of what you are able to have in property value.

A home equity is where one can borrow against their own home with the loan that they are using.  It will allow you to take out a second loan in order to consolidate debt and pay off major parts of your loan.  When this is in a line of credit, the way in which the transaction is made will differ.  A regular home equity loan will give you a sum of money at one time.  When this is in a line of credit, it will shift the balance as you pay the loan back.  During the loan period, you can borrow a certain amount, much like a credit card.  With a line of credit, you can borrow what you need at certain times or leave parts of the loan in the bank.

The major advantage of having a home equity line of credit is that you can use it like a credit card.  This means that you can use as much or little as you need at one time, and pay back the line of credit at your own convenience.  If you don’t use the full line of credit, you can use the extra amount of money later on in order to make more investments.  If you sell your house, you only responsible for what you have spent with your line of credit.

The major advantage of using home equity like credit is that it won’t be as risky as other types of home equity loans.  Because you can take it in any type of dose that you want, it will give you the ability to spend as you need and pay back as you want.  For anyone wanting to make a little more of an investment in order to add onto their home, or for other reasons, this is a great way to do it.

Like many other types of investments, the major thing that you will want to show at the end of the process is a piece of paper.  This is the same concept with real estate.  The type of paper that you will want to hold at the end of the loan is either a title or a deed.  This will allow you to show the locality that live in that you own the house and have paid off your loan. Now, you can even have a free from debt slogan on your lanyards at work.

A title is a document or evidence that you own the property or home that you have been paying off.  It can also mean that while someone else is on the property or land, an owner has the legal rights that are part of the property.  When you have a title as a piece of documentation, it will usually be matched in the records of the locality that you are at as well as by the one who has sold the property.

A deed is a similar type of documentation that will be used in the process of gaining a title.  Often times, those who are investing in real estate will receive a deed as a transaction paper to the title.  This shows that the person who will be getting the property has the right to the title as well as the right to the property.  Usually, there will be several legal factors and regulations that are bound to this type of documentation in order to make sure that the transaction is fair.

When you are about to receive a title or a deed for a home or piece of property, there are several steps you will have to take.  First, a proof of insurance will have to be shown.  You will also need copies that prove that you bought the house.  The person who is selling you the home or property will also have to have these proofs for purchase.  This includes a purchase agreement, invoices, receipts from the mortgage and proof of satisfaction that the one who is buying the property has met all of the requirements for purchase of the property.

The last step to making your home completely yours is to make sure that you have the title or deed in your hand.  By understanding the process of getting a title, and making sure that you walk into the final closing ready to make the exchange, you can own the piece of property that you have been working towards.

Foreigners interested in buying property abroad in a market that appears to be well positioned to withstand the current downturn and to stage a solid bounce back once the economy improves may find a good potential in Canadian commercial real estate. Investments in commercial real estate in Canada have proven especially resilient to the current downturn, which is a stark contrast to commercial real estate around the world, especially in the United States, where vacancy rates on various types of commercial properties, such as office, industrial and retail space, have climbed to multi-year highs. At the same time, rents on commercial properties have declined substantially, prompting owners of certain types or commercial real estate investments to offer various rent discounts and incentives. Therefore, in most economies, commercial real estate is in for an extended downturn that will slash income flows and returns for many investors. However, investments in Canadian commercial real estate are likely to are much better than most comparable markets.

Unlike in the United States, rents in the Canadian commercial real estate market have remained stable because vacancy rates have been relatively low. In Canada, office vacancy rates, for instance, have increased to about 6 per cent, which is well below vacancy rates reached in previous cycles. In fact, there are even some localities, such as Ottawa, which are bucking the trend. While vacancies have clearly increased over the past several quarters, they still remain exceptionally low compared to other countries in the world, especially the United States. What is working to the benefit of the Canadian commercial real estate investments, however, is that vacancies are increasing from a low base because, in general, there has been a limited supply of new commercial properties in most local markets. This should keep rent declines low and therefore should offer to foreign investors buying property abroad a rent yield that will be better than that provided by comparable commercial real estate investments in the United States and similar markets. Stable rental income flows should thus appeal to foreign commercial property investors interested in buying property abroad.

Another benefit of investing in Canadian commercial real estate market is that the current downturn in Canada should be both shorter and milder than in most developed economies. The economic recession in Canada will likely end in the second half of this year. Canada’s recovering economy will start adding employees to the nation’s payrolls much sooner than will other economies in the world, especially that in the United States. As a result, utilization rates for vacant commercial properties in Canada should improve sooner, helping the market stabilize. The only exception may be Toronto and Calgary markets, which will continue to see rising vacancies and falling rents due to oversupply issues. However, this will mean that commercial real estate prices in those markets will decline, creating opportunities for foreign property investors to capitalize on lower property values.

Investments in commercial real estate in Canada in the current cycle should also turn around much quicker than in previous cycles because this time the Canadian commercial real estate market does not suffer from the excessive supply of commercial properties. Therefore, the market rebound is expected to happen within two years, which is only a half of the time it usually takes for commercial real estate markets to stage a comeback from recession.

Even though the number of commercial property purchase transactions has dropped precipitously over the past several quarters, many investors interested in buying commercial real estate abroad, will likely flock to Canada’s commercial property market seeking good investment opportunities for the economic expansion that lingers ahead. Investments in Canada’s commercial real estate traditionally earn strong income for foreign investors that seek investments in markets characterized by long-term stability.