Mark Vosylius, Barrie, Orillia, Ontario

Micro Economics

There is a great article in the Orillia Today Friday February 15 2008. On Page 15 there is a piece on Georgian College trying to raise funds to accommodate the growth in the region. The part that I found interesting for real estate investors is the statistic that states "Since 2004 Georgian has the second highest growth in college enrollment percentage wise among the 24 colleges in Ontario". What does this tells us? Well the students have to be coming from somewhere. Although Georgian College does have a strong automotive education department which draws students from beyond the local region, it tells us that the region which includes Muskoka, Parry Sound, Midland and Collingwood areas has the young people already here. Which is a micro economic fundamental needed in real estate analysis. In very simplistic terms....lots of young families produce kids, which produces schools, which produces services to take care of schools and kids and families, which produces jobs which produces demand on real estate. Simcoe County, Muskoka, Midland, Collingwood, Parry Sound, Huntsville, Owen Sound....great places to be investing in real estate.

MANA REAL ESTATE GROUP

Your Full Service Real Estate Team . We do investments, property managing and for sale by owner ( fsbo) real estate in the Barrie, Orillia, Midland-Penetang, areas. Also Collingwood, Innisfil, Wasaga Beach, Alliston, Owen Sound, Parry Sound, Muskoka, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Honey Harbour, and Parry Sound areas

www.homesbyowner.com/barrie

http://www.manainvestments.com/

http://www.sixstepstosuccess.com/

http://www.georgianmgmt.com/

Growth in Simcoe County and Barrie Orillia due to the Ripple Effect

The impact of the GO train in Barrie Ontario is yet to be felt. It is the poewrfect example of the ripple effect. We will see its slow impact over the next few years. The "ripple" effect is an extremely important factor in general real estate analysis but most importantly for real estate investing. It is a huge factor for deciding upon which areas to invest in for future value when accounting for the speculative term of appreciation. Although I am not a strong advocate for buying on appreciation only, it is a must to consider when looking at the economcs of the region and should come into play on financial analysis spreadsheets. People live in Barrie's south end because of; a- the price for a nice home is reasonable and; b-its closest spot in Barrie to get to work in Toronto. These are the people who will first use the GO train. The next GO train ripple effect will spread out like a wave into the whole region including Orillia, Midhurst, Elmvale and even Midland and Wasaga Beach. The effect on real estate will once again force the real estate values upwords as influx of baby boomers look for "country homes" in the simcoe region and they will discover that home prices in the area are still affordable when compared to that of Toronto and the GTA.

MANA REAL ESTATE GROUP

Your Full Service Real Estate Team . We do investments, property managing and for sale by owner ( fsbo) real estate in the Barrie, Orillia, Midland-Penetang, areas. Also Collingwood, Innisfil, Wasaga Beach, Alliston, Owen Sound, Parry Sound, Muskoka, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Honey Harbour, and Parry Sound areas

www.homesbyowner.com/barrie

http://www.manainvestments.com/

http://www.sixstepstosuccess.com/

http://www.georgianmgmt.com/

In 1993 I found myself out of work with an investment property that was breaking even. I was living on a boat down in Port Credit Marina. The bubble burst and like thousands of others I lost tens of thousands of dollars. What did I learn that is actually relevant and useful today and for you?

Well the biggest thing in relation to real estate is that all appreciation is speculative. I had a conversation that turned into an argument with a fellow investor from Alberta. He was trying to convince me that Alberta's economic fundamentals pointed to a boom that will not stop and that cash flow is irrelevant because the property will appreciate so fast. Now from the data he presented, it looked tempting. And yes I am believer in economic fundamentals, but I learned my lesson. All apperception is speculative. My point simply is this....do not invest in a investment property that does not cash flow (breakeven is ok as long as all diligence has been accounted for) when appreciation is the only thing making you money.

MANA REAL ESTATE GROUP

Your Full Service Real Estate Team for the Barrie, Orillia, Midland-Penetang, Collingwood, Innisfil, Wasaga Beach, Alliston, Owen Sound, Parry Sound, Muskoka, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Honey Harbour, and Parry Sound areas

www.homesbyowner.com/barrie

http://www.manainvestments.com/

http://www.sixstepstosuccess.com/

http://www.georgianmgmt.com/

Well we took the plunge and listed our first property on homesbyowner.com/barrie. We chose homesbyowner as our for sale by owner company for many reasons. First homesbyowner.com is the 2nd larghest for sale by owner company in the world, with ovr a million hits a day!! And the largest for sale by owner company in the world does not even have representation in Ontario. The second reason we chose homesbyowne.com in orillia is because the competitors were too expensive. They did not provide the same options for the money the amount of money they were charging. The third reason we chose homesbyowner in Orillia was that the web site www.homesbyowner.com/barrie was so easy to navigate and they seemed to provide other opportunities for all professionals in the real estate business.

MANA REAL ESTATE GROUP

Your Full Service Real Estate Team for the Barrie, Orillia, Innisfil, Midland-Penetang, Collingwood, Wasaga Beach,Owen Sound, Parry Sound, Muskoka, Gravenhurst,Bracebridge, Honey Harbour, and Parry Sound areas

www.homesbyowner.com/barrie

http://www.manainvestments.com/

http://www.sixstepstosuccess.com/

http://www.georgianmgmt.com/

After my first purchase of the semi-detach I then thought I would expand my empire (ha!) and invest with my first partner, Gary Does in a huge old 8 bedroom mansion near weston road and 401. It required massive work ( re dug basement floor, lathe and plaster replacement, plumbing, knob and tube etc...by by money....).

We had fun though and talk about learning the hard way!. We were paying 12.5% interest!!!! And we thought we had a deal!. Wow what a lesson. After about 8 months all hell broke loose and yes the bubble came crashing down. I sold my interest back to Gary ( as I got laid off from my job) losing about 40k in the process and moved onto my sailboat ( yes its still my dream). I managed to hang onto the semi detach in Richmond Hill and kept renting it out. I certainly was beginning to learn the ropes of property management by having many professional tenants move in as i knew nothing of tenant laws and rights and just assumed everyone was telling me the truth.

After getting laid off I actually applied to get my real estate license. I completed pahse one, but moved onto as i started another business ( a whole blog unto itself!) I did though constantly look for deals in real estate. Eventhough I was not trained in what to look for, I still envisioned that real estate was in my future.