Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!!
Photo Credit: Glen Lowson for the Globe and Mail
Here I am, expecting a typical photo shoot where I pose with something Hamilton related in the background when the photographer, Glen Lowson for the Globe and Mail asked me about the subject of the article. I tell Glen that I partake in the occasional extreme activity to test my limits to grow as a person and professionally (full article here: Globe and Mail). Glen comes up with a great idea that I should do something extreme for the picture… I’m dressed business casual in dress shoes but, you know me, I’m up for anything. Glenn gets me on a skateboard which I borrowed from some teenagers, I did handstands on a grassy knoll, and here in the picture the editors chose, I’m walking on top of a railing at Pier 4 Park with Stelco in the background.
Admittedly, I have had fears of failure, public speaking, heights, and spiders. I still do, I just don’t let them control me as much as before as I have taken action to face each of these fears head on: I test my limits at the gym, climbing ropes and lifting ridiculous amounts of weight. I’ve booked myself for speaking engagements in front of hundreds of people even though the booking itself made me want to throw up. And spiders… well, I try to catch spiders, show the captives to the kids, then escort them outside. I want my kids to be better than me, so I think pretending to not to be afraid helps as I’m pretty sure I learned my fear of spiders from my older brother who’s petrified of them.
The same goes with real estate. I have friends and family living the craziness of the market in the Greater Toronto Area. We’re getting more calls from investors in Vancouver because it’s just too crazy there as well. We visited an open house this past Sunday, across the street from Cherry’s uncle’s house in Markham, asking $200,000 more than what he paid for a superior property (better finish, better lot, purchased after three rounds of offers) less than one year ago (my feeling is the house will sell over asking…).
With all the insanity in the market, we can still cash flow on a single family home in Hamilton. What’s more insane? How the market is behaving? Or not getting in the way of this wave of price appreciation supported by economic fundamentals? As scary as it is, I’m on a conference call now with Cherry and my mortgage broker as we prepare an offer for a West Hamilton Mountain property. At least this time it’s easier. I don’t even need to open a spreadsheet to know I should be buying it. I haven’t even seen the house yet but James Maggs said it’s a good one so the wheels are in motion.
You know what my biggest fear is? Regret. Regret that I miss this opportunity to generate intergenerational wealth for my family and I. There are risks, the market could melt down, but how likely is that? Pretty unlikely and I’m confident in my team’s Marketing and Sales skills to beat the competition. As always, someone will have a vacant property, but it won’t be me.
Speaking of economic fundamentals, my award winning team and I will be educating our attendees of the Mr Hamilton Inner Circle Meeting (click here to register) about the economic drivers: legislated land scarcity, strong housing demand supported by population growth and affordability. We hope to see everyone for this Saturday’s meeting!! Free tour of Hamilton too, immediately follow the meeting.
Thanks for reading and happy Hamilton real estate investing everyone!
Erwin Szeto |Â MrHamilton.ca
Sales Representative
Rock Star Real Estate Inc., Brokerage
Ph: 905-361-9098
