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Jun 20, 2007, 2:10 PM
City 'No. 1' for long-term investment
Real estate guru Don Campbell bullish on capital region
Ron Chalmers, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Wednesday, June 20, 2007
"Edmonton is the No. 1 place in North America for long-term real estate investment," says Don Campbell, president of the Real Estate Investment Network, and he expects the value of apartment buildings to especially rise where renters are near improved public transit.
The southern extension of the LRT will boost the value of revenue properties south of the University of Alberta, Campbell said Tuesday.
He also likes the outlook for northeast Edmonton, near the sites of proposed bitumen upgraders, each of which will employ up to 4,000 people during construction.
On Friday, Campbell will lead a nine-bus tour of 495 members of his Real Estate Investors Network to locations in Edmonton, Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan and the "industrial heartland" area -- with lunch at Josephburg, near Fort Saskatchewan.
About half of the participants are coming from beyond Alberta, including a few from outside Canada, Campbell said. This will be his 12th annual tour of the Edmonton, Calgary or Red Deer areas.
"Our goal is to show investors who want to develop or buy properties some of the regions with the best potential for strong equity appreciation," he said.
"We will focus mostly on transportation changes, and show where the jobs are."
Campbell said his advice is based on the work of eight researchers. He does not sell real estate.
"Most of our members are average mom-and-pop investors, for whom we take the hype out of the market," he said.
Campbell also is holding a daylong real-estate investing conference on Saturday, for which 650 delegates have registered.
Campbell said he advises revenue-property investors not to raise rents quickly.
"The relationship with tenants is the most important part of investing," he said. "If you have quality tenants paying decent rent for decent property, there is no need for $500 rent increases."
Campbell said some participants in his tour and conference will be property developers who may build new rental properties -- helping to ease the pressure on rents.
At a similar conference last week in Calgary, where Real Estate Investment Network is based, delegates gave $30,000 to the Edmonton chapter of Habitat for Humanity, Campbell said. He hopes for similar contributions this Saturday.
Campbell is the author of two best-selling books, Real Estate Investing in Canada and 97 Tips for Canadian Real Estate Investors, with more than 55,000 combined copies in print.
He donates their royalties to Habitat for Humanity.
rchalmers@thejournal.canwest.com
BEST BETS
Alberta's top places for real estate investment
1. Edmonton
2. Grande Prairie
3. Calgary
4. Red Deer
5. Sturgeon & Strathcona
6. Lacombe
7. Sylvan Lake
8. High River
9. Devon
10. Fort McMurray
Source: Real Estate Investment Network
© The Edmonton Journal 2007
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Real estate guru Don Campbell bullish on capital region
Ron Chalmers, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Wednesday, June 20, 2007
"Edmonton is the No. 1 place in North America for long-term real estate investment," says Don Campbell, president of the Real Estate Investment Network, and he expects the value of apartment buildings to especially rise where renters are near improved public transit.
The southern extension of the LRT will boost the value of revenue properties south of the University of Alberta, Campbell said Tuesday.
He also likes the outlook for northeast Edmonton, near the sites of proposed bitumen upgraders, each of which will employ up to 4,000 people during construction.
On Friday, Campbell will lead a nine-bus tour of 495 members of his Real Estate Investors Network to locations in Edmonton, Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan and the "industrial heartland" area -- with lunch at Josephburg, near Fort Saskatchewan.
About half of the participants are coming from beyond Alberta, including a few from outside Canada, Campbell said. This will be his 12th annual tour of the Edmonton, Calgary or Red Deer areas.
"Our goal is to show investors who want to develop or buy properties some of the regions with the best potential for strong equity appreciation," he said.
"We will focus mostly on transportation changes, and show where the jobs are."
Campbell said his advice is based on the work of eight researchers. He does not sell real estate.
"Most of our members are average mom-and-pop investors, for whom we take the hype out of the market," he said.
Campbell also is holding a daylong real-estate investing conference on Saturday, for which 650 delegates have registered.
Campbell said he advises revenue-property investors not to raise rents quickly.
"The relationship with tenants is the most important part of investing," he said. "If you have quality tenants paying decent rent for decent property, there is no need for $500 rent increases."
Campbell said some participants in his tour and conference will be property developers who may build new rental properties -- helping to ease the pressure on rents.
At a similar conference last week in Calgary, where Real Estate Investment Network is based, delegates gave $30,000 to the Edmonton chapter of Habitat for Humanity, Campbell said. He hopes for similar contributions this Saturday.
Campbell is the author of two best-selling books, Real Estate Investing in Canada and 97 Tips for Canadian Real Estate Investors, with more than 55,000 combined copies in print.
He donates their royalties to Habitat for Humanity.
rchalmers@thejournal.canwest.com
BEST BETS
Alberta's top places for real estate investment
1. Edmonton
2. Grande Prairie
3. Calgary
4. Red Deer
5. Sturgeon & Strathcona
6. Lacombe
7. Sylvan Lake
8. High River
9. Devon
10. Fort McMurray
Source: Real Estate Investment Network
© The Edmonton Journal 2007
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