REITs – all the benefits and none of the hassle of owning real estate

June 7, 2011

Everyone wants to own real estate. It’s supposed to be a way to sit back and enjoy passive income, right? Actually, many fledgling real estate investors forget that there are a lot of hidden costs to real estate investment, such as property taxes, maintenance and upkeep, and even finding (or getting rid of) tenants! For [...]

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BMO Blue Book download

June 2, 2011

Yesterday, BMO released its answer to the U.S. Beige Book, providing a new perspective on the Canadian economy with input from “people with their feet on the street.” It’s a really interesting document that is getting a lot of press. Here’s a link (you’ll be prompted to download a pdf): http://bit.ly/iqGz4D Here are a couple of observations from [...]

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Vancouver commercial real estate market conditions

June 1, 2011

Devencore Company Limited has released its 2011 Spring/Summer Vancouver Market Conditions Report, and Downtown Vancouver’s office market is increasingly tight, with more desirable office locations now fetching top dollar. The Vancouver Sun has an excellent summary of the report: With an overall vacancy rate of just 3.3 per cent for top-tier or Class A office buildings, [...]

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What is the world’s tallest building?

May 27, 2011

SkyscraperPage.com a Canadian site that claims to be the authoritative online website that contains illustrated diagrams and a database or every tall building in Canada and all skyscrapers from around the Globe. The site has a lot of useful information. For example, what is the difference between a hi-rise and a skyscraper? According to SkyScraperPage.com: [...]

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Where are Canada’s new Target stores

May 26, 2011

Target recently unveiled where it will open its first stores in Canada (US-based Target bought Zellers from HBC earlier this year). There will be 105 new Target stores opening across Canada, and every one of these stores will replace an existing Zellers. The list of Zellers store sites announced by Target encompasses those held by [...]

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Are you benefiting from Ontario’s energy efficiency incentive programs?

May 16, 2011

Are you taking advantage of Ontario energy efficiency grants? Better yet, is your REIT or commercial property manager clued in on these great ways to save money, increase value and therefore pump up distributions? As Ontario aims to become a green and clean energy leader in North America, the province continues to offer more and [...]

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Are you ready for Ikea and Target?

May 13, 2011

A couple of recent articles from the Globe and Mail discuss potential trends in Canadian commercial real estate on both a local and a national level. The big news in the Canadian commercial real estate landscape of course is that Target, after acquiring the Zellers discount retail chain from HBC earlier this year for nearly [...]

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How’s the health of the commercial real estate market? Read this report!

May 11, 2011

The Real Property Association of Canada (REALpac) has just published the results  of the REALpac/FPL Canadian Real Estate Sentiment Survey, which measures executives’ current and future outlook in three areas including overall real estate conditions, real estate asset values, and availability of capital. The health of the Canadian commercial real estate market appears to be good. Here’s what the latest REALpac [...]

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Look north to Canadian REITs

May 9, 2011

Want to collect “dividends”? Look north to Canadian REITs says the Santa Cruz Sentinel. The article then goes on to explain basic information about REITs: most of their taxable income is paid out to shareholders, shareholders are actually called “unitholders”, and REITs do not produce dividends, but pay out “disbursements” instead. The article also notes [...]

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Marketing commercial real estate: the rules are changing

May 4, 2011

The way commercial buildings are being marketed is changing dramatically.  Here’s the link to the story. Says one commercial real estate marketing consultant: “It’s not just about a name and a logo, it’s about establishing a brand. It’s a great example of how you can take a commercial building and use some of the rules for [...]

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