CategoryReal Estate news

Housing crisis.. Made in Canada

It’s really not that complicated. If you really want to resolve the housing crisis you just need to do these FIVE things

1. Bring back 35 year amortization periods and increase qualifying home prices to $1,250,000 or higher.
2.Remove rent control rules.
3.Halt new immigration until we can build up enough support services to handle what we have already. *(exception below)
4.Cut back on the municipal, provincial gov’t Red Tape to build any type of residential housing and that includes purpose built rental apartment buildings.
5.Create a hiring program to entice and incentivize people to get into skilled trades …and bring over people from outside Canada if you have to (this would be my exception to point 2 above)
Do this and you’ll soon have more housing units available than you could even dream of. It could be done in 3 to 5 years. It’s just not that complicated.

Rental properties as a secure long-term investment

Posted February 1, 2024 Finance

Population Crisis Part 2: The Good News

Hopefully you read Part One of this article where I discuss the Canadian government’s delusional (and incredibly damaging) immigration strategy. With no meaningful plan to absorb 500,000 newcomers per year, we’re looking down the barrel of a number of crises to come: a jobs crisis, a healthcare crisis, an infrastructure crisis, and of course, a housing crisis.

Posted January 30, 20241 Comment Finance

Population Crisis Part 1: The Bad News

Well, it’s safe to say that our federal government has officially lost the plot. Immigration numbers have exploded, and Trudeau has done absolutely nothing to prepare for the mass amounts of newcomers flowing in. Pre-Trudeau, we were receiving on average 200,000 immigrants per year. Under Trudeau, that number ramped up to 400,000, then 500,000, then 1,200,000.

Posted January 16, 2024 Finance

There’s Never a Good Time To Time the Market

Rates are up, inventory is low, and sales volume is flat. If you’re looking to buy a new home, what are you supposed to do? A lot of people will tell you to wait. After all, rates are dropping soon! Why not just be patient until you can lock into lower monthly mortgage payments?

What these people don’t realize is that waiting can be a dangerous game. I’ve been in real estate for more than 3 decades, and while things change all the time, one thing has remained consistently true: it’s never a good idea to time the market.

Posted November 29, 2023 Finance

The Case For Short Term Rentals

A couple weeks ago, the federal government announced they’re cracking down on short term rentals. Property owners will no longer be able to claim their rental expenses against the income they make, thereby making it far less lucrative to rent out properties on sites like Airbnb or VRBO.

I think this is a huge mistake. People argue that short term rentals limit the availability of inventory for long term renters, but I believe this view misses the big picture for a few reasons.