Recently, I attended the annual Advance Canadian Real Estate Investing workshop in Toronto that was hosted by the Real Estate Investment Network (REIN). At the workshop, to my surprise, I learned that Ottawa became ranked as the number one city in Ontario to invest in real estate! This is a proud moment for Canada’s national capital! To learn more about which other cities in Ontario, other than Ottawa, that made the top list, you can visit: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/ontarios-top-10-cities-for-real-estate-investment-report-released-675839223.html

REIN produced a market research report that examined a series of market and economic factors that made Ottawa outperform other Ontario cities. One of the reasons why Ottawa is outperforming other Ontario cities in real estate investment growth for the next five years is its new infrastructure projects. The most notable infrastructure project is the city’s new Light Rail Transit (LRT) system. For new and experienced investors, the LRT system provides plenty of potential positive cash-flow opportunities, especially rental properties located within an 800-metre radius of the nearest newly-built LRT stations, which will open in November 2018. The location of these properties will be in demand for tenants who are looking for convenient rental accomodations that are closer to work, school or shopping outlets. In fact, the City of Ottawa 2016 Annual Development Report conducted a study on walkability ratings of each LRT station, using walkscore.com. They discovered that five stations — Lyon, Parliament, Rideau, Bayview, and St Laurent — produced a 90+ walkability score. This result demonstrates that these stations provide transit users with convenient access to important amenities that they demand, such as shops, restaurants and tourist attractions.

A map showing the expected ‘walkscore‘ — a measurement intended to illustrate how easy it is to perform everyday tasks on foot of the Ottawa light rail stations set to open in 2018. (City of Ottawa)

Finally, spring is officially here! No more unexpected snowfall days and it is that time of year to change the winter tires, which I have to do myself pretty soon!

Enjoy the newsletter! 

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.