Current events can leave all of us on edge when it comes to investing, and the price of oil certainly has all of us holding our breath in Alberta. I recently attended a speech made by an economist from one ofthe major banking institutions in our country. I have to admit the content was sometimes hard to follow and downright boring, but one of the big things I took away from all the facts and information was that they are not expecting a recession in our great province. Better yet they were not forecasting any major changes in our housing market.
Understanding the Housing Market
Alberta has enjoyed a steady increase for years in residential housing costs. I really started to ponder what this would mean for our business, are we going to see people shy away from building their dream home? Are we going to see people shy away from renovating their home? In my mind these two events seem to be inevitable in our industry, over any given timeline we will always see an increase or decline in the market. In the case of the latter, the first thing most of us do is panic, then we settle in, and the next thing you know you are back to business as usual.
My thought process has been drastically affected by some very interesting concepts that were put in front of me this past week. I have always considered what we do as an investment, there are huge monetary gains to be made from owning land, building houses, or renovating property. But what are the other types of investments you are engaged in when you renovate your home or build a new house?I would like to think there are some other key things that we are investing in. How about your family and their comfort, or health? What about your own happiness, and personal well being? Why not invest in your dreams, invest in your quality of life? Well, the facts are in, after building a new home or completing a renovation, children do better in school, and have more pride and self-confidence. Homeowners perform better in our jobs, and have less stress. They have more confidence and better health. When we realize these investments are just as important as the financial rewards, it really opens our eyes as to what other investments we are making.
Investing Using Your Mortgage
The reason I included the economy in this is because investing in our dreams can be scary when the outside world doesn’t feel in order. Most people think they can only accomplish these dreams by saving huge sums of money, or having a line of credit to use on top of their mortgage. The fact is there is a program in place that makes it very feasible for anyone to finance renovations and upgrades right into their mortgage, and in turn see the value of their home increase before the construction begins. We have been working with a mortgage specialist at the Bank of Montreal to help our clients and others realize the full potential of this mortgage plus option. We chose BMO because they are experts at this type of mortgage. How amazing is it that you can buy a home and renovate it to your liking as part of your mortgage and see the value increase immediately?
Even when the economy is struggling, the outside world is chaotic, and there is financial instability, we are still able to invest in ourselves, our family, and our financial future by putting these simple strategies to use. The very best time to engage in construction related projects is when there is a down-swing in home building and trades become less busy. This will ensure the most bang for your buck.
