About Edmonton Region, AB

With the holidays around the corner ( I know I am pushing it!) there is never a better time to give back. Coming out of an recession is hard on everyone's pocket books and sometimes it is most obvious during the holidays.

There are so many great charities to take part in. I have been invited via Facebook to Wrap Harder which sounds like a lot of fun.

Another one via the news Stuff a bus - the Edmonton Food Bank hopes to raise 240,000 kg of food. That's right about $90,000 or a bus full of food!

A great idea. I hope to do all I can here. Canadian Feed The Children Best Gift Ever is a great program where you can donate in someones name.

The gifts range from about $15 dental care for a child in a developing country to a $2000 new school. There are all price ranges in between. My husband and I are doing this for each other.

"Meanwhile, according to ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner, the average Albertan spent more per capita on retail items since 2004 than people from any other province, yet in 2008 the average Albertan saved 13.7 per cent of disposable income, compared to a national average of 3.8 per cent. The reason for this discrepancy is that Albertans have had greater disposable income than people in other provinces, with high incomes and lower taxes. That will attract young people from Central Canada."

You can expect population growth in Alberta to continue at a steady pace. The article goes on to state that real estate is not where people will be investing in the futue.

I know that with a statement like the one above and all people generally needing a place to live - real estate will be the way to go for me. I invest in other things sure but as far as being able to control my own investments I want tangible real estate.

The days of oil rigs pumping furiously are coming to an end. Unconventional sources of oil require more manpower to get the oil out of the ground.

What does oil have to do with real estate?

Imagine if your investment property was near the next big oil reserve, workers from around the world were going there to live and work for the next few decades. Tenants were willing to pay top rents because the economy was booming and they were making oil dollars.

Alberta is that place, with vast oil sands that hold a proven 175 billion barrels of recoverable oil, second only to Saudi Arabia. The most impressive part is that Alberta has only just begun; experts say oil sands production can be sustained for at least 400 years.

"These are ambitious projects, very big projects, and thus very expensive," he said in a telephone interview from Calgary, Alberta -- Canada's oil capital.

"It's clear that cost is a problem," he conceded. "But it's also an important deposit -- several billion barrels of oil in the ground -- while more conventional sources of oil that would be relatively easier to extract are either drying up or are inaccessible to international firms such as Total."

"The price of energy is not going to collapse," despite downward pressure from a spiralling global economy, Gires predicts.

"To justify our massive investments in the oil sands, we're looking at what the world will look like in 2020, 2025 or 2030," he said.

"In the long run, despite all of the efforts to boost energy efficiency and develop alternative energy sources, the planet's appetite for energy ... will mean additional oil production will be welcomed and we'll find buyers for our output."

Think of the long-term, not an economy that in coming out of a recession but as the world starts to recover and the demand for oil increases - rents, property values will again increase. Maybe not like 2007 in Alberta but steady consistent growth that makes investors happy.

Wherever your real estate investment is located—provided you bought it at the right price and terms—there are many ways to keep your property profitable. If you analyze your real estate, update and improve your investment team, review your long- and short-term investment plans and stay focused on the end result; your real estate portfolio will be a rock solid fortress that can weather any storm.

Analyze

The first and most important thing is to carefully analyze your portfolio.

• What properties are doing well?
• Are there properties that are slowly leaking dollars like a dripping tap?
• If so how can you fix them?

If you don’t know the hard numbers on your properties, then you are risking everything that you have worked for. Keep your budgets in line and carefully evaluate every purchase and renovation. Once you have a better idea of where you stand, you can start to recession-proof your properties. First, your customers are your tenants, so learn how to keep them happy and decrease vacancies. For example:

• Provide Internet or free cable
• Give lease incentives or rewards for rents paid on time, or even the best garden.

Increase your revenue by adding rental units to your properties or other moneymaking add-ons like renting garages separately, extra parking spaces or coin-op laundry facilities. You can also refinance your mortgages with longer amortizations, increase rents where reasonable or rent your properties furnished.

Evolve and involve your team

• Is your property management up to par?
• Are you getting discount rates for a big portfolio?
• If you have few properties are they being managed in a way that will help you grow your portfolio?
• Are their rates competitive and are they keeping your property in excellent resale condition?

Streamline your team. I don’t mean fire everybody and do it all yourself, but rather make your team out of the best players available in your area. Once you have the all-star team, get their input and advice, use their knowledge and experience to protect and improve your assets and your position in the market. Accountants can help you lower your taxes, lawyers can protect your assets, bookkeepers keep you aware of money liquidity and property management can up the cash output of your investment property.

Be aware

Be aware of longer-term trends and statistics. Don’t get caught up in the moment—especially when making decisions. There are both positive and the negative things that are happening in headlines. Take both sides into account and be realistic as you evaluate what’s really going on. Review your business plan both short-term and the long-term and adjust it as necessary. Don’t knee-jerk react, but also don’t drift back and forth without any solid goal in site. Have multiple investment strategies all with a clear exit in place.

This is not the first economic downturn the world has seen nor will it be the last. What is important is to mind your business and your properties to make them profitable no matter what comes your way.