Investing in Canadian Real Estate

There once was a time where the world did not think much of Canada. It was the backwater of North America, a simple piece of landmass that was known best as the 51st state. Times have changed, and Canada has moved from being on the periphery to taking centre stage.

The events of the last year has seen the emergence of Canada as an important economic actor on the world stage. Canada has emerged from the crash of 2008 and subsequent recession unscathed: the country experienced no subprime mortgage crisis, nor do we have a sovereign debt crisis like the European Union. Canada has already exited the post-recession recovery stage and entered a period of growth. Canadian banks are in sound shape, and are being regulated by sound monetary policy by the Minister of Finance and Governor of the Bank of Canada.

If you are planning to invest in real estate in British Columbia, Canada, one of the challenges is to decide on a strategy that would bring the highest returns. In the current market, you can no longer count on quick price increases and flipping. Now that real estate prices are stabilizing, one must think about long term strategy for their investment. The easiest and most popular one is to rent unfurnished property for a long-term. However, more and more landlords are realizing that they can get higher returns in short-term furnished rentals market, particularly by converting their investment property into a corporate housing unit. Corporate housing units are rented to companies which send their employees for short term projects or relocate them on temporary basis. Since the company is responsible for the rental payment and the unit, property owner can be sure that the unit will be in good condition and always paid for.

In the city of Vancouver there is an enormous demand for corporate housing because of the nature of the economy. Vancouver is home to many large corporations in a variety of sectors which often bring in employees from other parts of the country or around the world on a temporary basis. Examples of this can be found in the film, technology, software, and shipping industries. Film companies will often assemble a cast and crew for a production that lasts a few months; technology companies such as Telus will bring in staff to Vancouver for training courses that last a number of months; software companies such as EA Games will import talent from their other offices for the production cycle of a video game. Regardless of which specific industry it is in Vancouver, there will be a perpetual demand for furnished property rentals.

If you are considering investing in Canadian real estate, an investment in Vancouver apartments and condominiums is a wise one. If a landlord takes the time and spends the money to tastefully furnish the property, its possible to make an impressive return on investment that will perform continuously.