Market Thoughts
The spring market is poised to leap and you can almost feel it waiting to see what rates will do. Will they come down in April or June? Most say June. How many times will they come down this year? Most say three times. The pain of mortgage renewal is real for many people as a very large portion of mortgages renew this year and next.
It is a catch-22 cycle – inflation isn’t where the Bank Of Canada wants it to be because housing costs are still counted in the CPI (Consumer Price Index), and CPI is high because mortgage costs are included. If the housing costs were taken out of the calculation as many countries have done, rates could come down as we would be under the 2% benchmark.
There is also a huge housing shortage being fueled in part by immigration. Almost 1.3 million people came to Canada last year which is great, however, they need somewhere to live. As a country, when we welcome people into our home, they need somewhere to stay. This continues to show the need for housing and why investing in real estate is a strong move.
This need for housing also keeps fueling the supply and demand equation which keeps housing prices high as there is not enough housing to fill this demand. Governments at all levels need to reduce red tape, speed up the process and reduce the onerous fees for development. Our development project is only 55 units and I feel the pain of delayed time frames, holding costs and fees upon fees upon fees. This equates to millions of dollars for very large projects causing many large projects to become unviable, meaning they don’t get built.
What do Floods and Great Relationships Have in Common?
April showers bring May flowers, and with it, much rain. New Brunswick has seen unprecedented rain the last few weeks which has caused much flooding. I got a call the Easter Weekend that one of our units had flooded. Even though it was a holiday weekend, my property manager was at the unit with some of her team, soaking up the water. Click on the picture to see the amount of water in the unit.
There were no dehumidifiers to be found anywhere to rent, as many buildings have flooded due to the volume of water. My contractor went to his storage unit on Saturday, and on Easter Sunday, went and set up two big fans to move the air and help dry it out. Also, my insurance broker was able to find a connection with dehumidifiers that got set up on Easter Sunday.
This teamwork from the team we have built will hopefully save a big reno bill/insurance claim. This stresses the importance of building great relationships and having the right team members on your team.
I was just interviewed on the topic of Building Great Relationships for an Elevated Women’s Real Estate Investors Summit, happening in early May. It was a fun interview, watch my socials for dates to watch it. There are a whole powerhouse of women speaking at this summit and I am honoured to be included.
One thing I realized from the interview when I saw a copy of the video, is that even though I look good to me on my computer screen on Zoom, that is not what the other end is seeing lol. You can see from the photo that I am much grainier and dark than Alecia. So I just purchased an external camera and some lighting to look more professional ;) I’ll keep you updated on my setup.
I have created a resource guide for the summit to help you build better relationships, see below to download.
Fun Never Ends
Another “fun” call I received from my property manager was that an exterior wall on one of my properties was separating from the house. Say what?!
Seems that a previous owner years ago, built an upper deck and the posts this deck was supported on were put directly into the dirt. The dirt was soft, and the posts have been sinking over the years. This has caused the deck's weight to pull on the wall of the house.
My contractor was able to try a fix he wasn’t sure was going to work, however, if it did, he said it would save about $30,000. Yes, please!
He was able to wrap huge straps through the apartment and around the wall, attach those to his truck to help secure it, and pull the wall back into place! And I said to my property manager, “You didn’t take a video of it?!” She was so concerned he was going to get hurt, she completely forgot. So, no video to share with you, however here is a wall picture from the outside where it was bulging at the deck. You can also see where the paint is coming off the shingles from the wood rotting because rain was getting in.
Have no fear, all is being repaired correctly! Updates next month.
I am flying out to New Brunswick mid-April to spend some time there at our properties, make plans, meet with power team members and further the development. Watch for updates.
I’m also bringing my pink hard hat with me for a “before” picture of the field where our development will be.
Useful Resource
I have created a Resource Guide for the Elevated Women’s Real Estate Summit, titled Building Great Relationships by Asking Better Questions. Download the link below if you would like a free copy :)
What I am listening to on Audible
Indistractable by Nir Eyal and Julie Li
This is a great book for all of us with “squirrel” syndrome. The distractions in the day, from phone calls to unscheduled meetings to phone notifications, pull us away from focused time. I haven’t finished it yet, however, there are great actionable steps to help keep your focus where it needs to be.
I am in the process of working on my phone screen and the mess it was with pages of apps. I am cleaning it up, setting up folders, turning off some notifications and more. Even though I am only about halfway through his suggestions, I am already noticing a difference.
If you are ready for fewer distractions, follow the 4 steps he suggests:
4 Steps to Hack Back the External Triggers on your phone:
time required, less than one hour.
Remove – uninstall the apps you no longer use or need.
Replace – shift where and when you use potentially distracting apps such as social media and Youtube to your desktop instead of on your phone.
Rearrange – move any apps that trigger mindless checking from your phone’s home screen to another page.
Reclaim – change the notification settings for each app. Be very selective regarding which apps can send you sound and sight cues. Learn to use your phone’s Do Not Disturb settings.
Useful Phone Photo Tip
We’d love to hear from you!
If making your money work harder for you by investing in real estate without all the hassles is something that interests you, or if you want to partner alongside us and learn as you participate, reach out to us to book a no-obligation call or email michele@correaequitypartners.com.
We can discuss your goals and see if we are a fit to work together and invest with purpose.
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