Now

Buy now

Now is the best time

My answer will probably be the same next year.

Buy now

Got it? Good

How's that for an intro? One of the most common questions professional REALTORS® get asked is, "When is the best time to buy?" Invariably, the best time is now. The only time I actually hesitated was during the boom. Those of you that read my blog regularly know my thoughts on booms. Booms are nothing more than exuberance exceeding intelligence. They always end badly, and true to form, the last one ended badly. End of story. So...during the last couple years of the boom I cautioned clients about the dangers of buying in a euphoric market. I will probably never get the pleasure again in my lifetime of telling a client not to buy.

So why is now the best time?

Well, real estate is, contrary to the $10,000 seminar you took, a get rich slow scheme. But get rich you will. The end result is almost a certainty if you follow common sense. You will become wealthy...eventually. So, since real estate is a long-term proposition, it really doesn't matter much when you buy. Any slightly poor deal or slightly good deal will get averaged out over time and be of little consequence. Oh, did I mention that you should buy now?

But Gerald, today's real estate market is looking pretty flat and predictions are for the market to remain flat for some years. Yea, so what? So what if you do not achieve much capital appreciation (the value goes up) in the next few years. Real estate has four areas of return on investment.

First is cash flow. Your value may not go up much this year, but your tenants still pay rent and rent pays your bills.

Second is mortgage paydown. The tenants' rent pays your mortgage, so the amount of money you owe goes down every month at no cost to you. Nice. Buy now.

Third is tax advantages. Real estate ownership carries with it some pretty nice tax deferrals in the form of CCA deductions (ask your accountant). There are a few others but they are more for specialty situations.

Finally is capital appreciation. You probably won't get any for a while. So what? You get the other three.

And besides where else are you going to put your investment money? In the stock market? It is true you don't have to shovel snow off a stock, nor do you have to replace the shingles on a stock, but real estate has historically outperformed the market for return on investment. Yes it does involve some of your time, but you remain in control of your investment, not some $5,000,000 per year CEO who forces you to sell your stock back to him (in the interests of shareholder value) as soon as things start to look good, or who "restates income" whenever Canada Revenue Agency comes knocking.

Now don't go rushing out and buying the first piece of real estate you see. Real estate is a complicated investment and a good professional REALTOR®, especially one with a professional designation like the highly regarded FRI® designation (Canada's highest designation for real estate professionals), can help guide you through the process.

Now

Buy now

Now is the best time

My answer will probably be the same next year.

Buy now

And use a professional REALTOR®

Got it? Good