Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!!
Many investors are solely focused on the economic fundamentals, stats, employment figures, cap rates, vacancy rate etc… That’s fine and all, however the truly sophisticated investors have an intimate understanding of their target neighbourhoods and city. To obtain that understanding, you have to know walkability and the area amenities. Â Some of you will say “I know how to use walkscore.ca”, but if you know the website well, you’ll know that if it points for being “near a park”, it doesn’t matter if it’s the famous Stanley Park in Vancouver or a plain old park with some benches and a baseball diamond. Â The value your tenant or future buyer will place on those parks is completely different and the same goes with premium rents and resale values. Â Knowing the difference can mean your property rents or sells in multiple offers or your property sits vacant and inactive for months. Â Sophisticated, next level investors know the difference. So take those Walkscores with a grain of salt!
How Hamilton’s Collective Pursuits Are Creating Canada’s Brooklyn
Here’s an article about the “new Hamilton 2.0” click here for article, below are some excerpts from the article:
The city is showing us that if you celebrate and create a collective atmosphere, everyone wins: local businesses, the culture and food mavens, communities, tourism and development.
Hamilton now attracts 4.5 million visits that spend $359.5 million annually and in 2014, it welcomed 57 conferences and 76 sporting events.
In one sentence, tell us why someone should visit? And live?
TP: Hamilton is an open, affordable and accommodating city, with lots of hidden gems ranging from culture to architecture to the nature surroundings.
JC: “Because you can do anything in Hamilton.”
Where do you see the city in five years? 10 years?
TP: Massive growth, rebirth of a downtown, downtown living, thriving core one of Canada’s cultural hotbeds. In 15-20 years — the most talked about city in Canada.
JC: Five years — I believe Hamilton will continue on its path of creating vibrant communities and will be home to wonderful homespun amenities. Those amenities created almost exclusively by the citizens that call it home. Ten Years — Hamilton will become one of the top three cities to live in in Canada. This will be a result of a city hall that acts as a conduit to lead and engage its change agents to listen closely to its neighborhoods.
Here are my thoughts and takeaways:
- We used to focus heavily on West Harbour for the reasons mentioned in the article but it’s not easy as many houses are in disrepair
- Buyers and tenants want to be in the lower city and near downtown. Historically, Hamiltonians did not, but the historical architecture of the Victorian style, century homes is attracting home buyers in droves. Â These same houses in Hamilton sell for 3x as much in Toronto.
- For those ready to renovate, there is opportunity and it may be the greatest near the future LRT lines which are currently less desirable than the adjacent neighbourhoods south and west.
Thanks for reading and happy Hamilton real estate investing everyone!
Erwin |Â MrHamilton.ca
