As I am sitting here at the table writing this blog at my favourite coffee spot, Bridgehead, nestled in the beautiful community of Westboro, I reminisced about my experience, earlier in the day, doorknocking and interacting with homeowners living in the quiet, friendly neighbourhood of Westboro Village. I was engaged in interesting conversations with some homeowners in that community to find out if they knew anyone in the neighbourhood who would consider selling their home.

To give you some background, I recently sold a home for a client in Westboro Village where I faced intense negotiations with several buyers who were highly keen in buying the home. In fact, when I held the first open house for the property, there were over close to 40 interested buyers who visited the property on that particular day! Furthermore, some of my buyer clients were not only interested in my listing but were looking for a home similar to my listing in Westboro. Westboro has transformed substantially over the years, as it has become one of the highly sought neighbourhoods in Ottawa for many buyers due to new infrastructure and residential developments in that community, such as the new Light Rail Train station at Tunney’s Pasture and new infill homes, which have significantly gentrified the neighbourhood.

Based on increased buyer demand for single-family homes in Westboro, I decided to visit Westboro Village to seek out potential listing opportunities. The consistent message I received from my interaction with some homeowners was that they did not want to leave the neighbourhood because of its location near the Ottawa River, parks and walkways, its close proximity to downtown Ottawa, local shops and restaurants and offers popular community events such as WestFest and, more importantly, it is a close-knit community. In fact, some of the homeowners I spoke with have lived in the neighbourhood for over 20 years. This was an interesting experience learning more about this great neighbourhood and what it offers in terms of community and a better quality of life.

I have started a new workout program developed by a well-known, results-driven personal trainer, Funk Roberts, who I have been following and used some of his workout programs for many years. Funk has trained many mixed martial arts athletes and professional athletes from other sports. This full-body workout program I am doing is intense and unique where it incorporates a combination of cardio, fat loss, muscle growth and muscle endurance. The best thing about this workout is it can be done in about 15-20 minutes, which is convenient and useful for those who have busy lives such as myself. You can learn more about this workout by clicking here.

Have fun reading the newsletter!☺

Best regards,

Michael B. Arthur

       While real estate also follows a cycle, it tends to be a much more gradual one.  Investing in revenue properties offers us limited immunity from fluctuation. 

         This means that you don’t tend to see the massive ups and downs of the stock and commodity markets.  It’s a much gentler ride, and tends to provide very solid returns on investment over the long run.  This is another reason I prefer real estate investing over other kinds of investments.