There are a lot of stories about the oil prices tanking, the dollar dropping, and a lot of general doom and gloom over the economy in Calgary and area making a lot of investors fearful of what is to come. Many would say that now is not the time to invest – that holding off for right now would be a better ideal. Did you know that more millionaires were created during the great depression than any other time during north American history? Someone can always think of a lot more reasons to NOT to invest as opposed to reasons to just do it! The market fundamentals still need to be considered to make sure that your exit strategy (or strategies) is sound, but there are new ways to make money in every part of the real estate cycle. Fearful people generally make poor decisions, therefore you could capitalize on sellers panicking and selling their properties to you for a huge discount, at a minimum far cheaper than they would could get when they feel optimistic. Sellers will want out faster so you can get quicker closes, legal fees paid, all sorts of new negotiation tactics are in play when people are afraid. For those of you that buy and hold there will be an influx of renters when those panicked sellers sell and have to live somewhere possibly driving rents up in areas where rentals are already scarce. I am not sure if those of you outside of Alberta remember the great flood of 2013 but I can tell you that finding trades people for anything in this city and area as almost impossible for about 8 months, and if one could be found many were gouging customer on price making it impossible for some investors to make a profit on their renovation projects. When the market dips and the housing starts and uneducated investors stop doing renovations due to fear – those trades offer lower prices and faster turn around times because they are now looking for work and need to pay the bills. There are always advantages to a declining market – you just have to look at things a bit more creatively and compensate for the changes as they happen.
To your success!
Tim R
