The Wealth Building Guy

A new report just released by the Conference Board of Canada has ranked Waterloo Region as one of the most attractive mid sized metropolitan areas in the Country.  Canada’s Technology Triangle put out this news release with a comprehensive summary of the report:

Canada’s Technology Triangle, Waterloo Region, December 12, 2007… The area known as Canada’s Technology Triangle (CTT) - Waterloo Region, Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo – today was ranked high among mid-sized metropolitan areas in the Conference Board of Canada’s first ever report, “City Magnets: Benchmarking the Attractiveness of Canada’s CMAs”.

The report seeks to measure the attractiveness to people of each of Canada’s CMAs on the premise that attracting talent and the business investment they encourage is critical to Canada’s competitiveness in the decades ahead.

The Kitchener CMA – the Waterloo Region minus Wilmot and Wellesley – ranked high among Canada’s mid-sized metropolitan areas and ninth overall out of 27 CMAs. The Kitchener CMA (Waterloo Region) is especially favourable for offering a wide range of employment opportunities within its communities. It is also an area known for being a strategic and competitive location in which to invest.

The Waterloo Region ranked in the top five in many individual categories including number of innovations patented, quality of housing stock, lowest crime rate based on drug crimes and criminal code violations per 100,000 people, household access to recycling, density of population per square kilometer, highest productivity, best employment rate, and Gross Domestic Product per capita.

The Waterloo Region also has an excellent track record in attracting new people and talent. As noted in the report, the Kitchener CMA attracted the sixth strongest flow of net new migrants per capita between 2002 and 2006. Also in terms of population growth between 2002 and 2006, Waterloo Region ranked fifth among the 27 CMAs with the Kitchener CMAs population growth at 8.9% versus a national average of 5.4%.

The report also acknowledges that the larger CMA’s – especially the ‘Big Six” with populations over a million – are much more likely to score highly based on the survey’s metrics.

Combined with the recent CMHC report showing that the vacancy rate in Waterloo fell to 0.9%, it’s no wonder investors from across Canada are turning their attention to this region. 

I’m just helping a client of mine from British Columbia put his second rental home in Kitchener Waterloo under contract.  Instead of buying a condo for $500,000 or  $1,000,000 in Vancouver or Whistler, he’s decided to buy condo’s for $120,000 and $160,000 in Waterloo and Kitchener.

I have helped him put together a Wealth Building team here in Waterloo Region, including a property management firm that looks after screening & qualifying tenants, and dealing with maintenance issues. 

If you have always known you should be investing in an area with more growth but hesitated because you didn’t live close enough to a growth region, contact me today to discuss how my Wealth Building team can help you acquire property here.  You’ll be a property owner, instead of a landlord. 

I always tell my clients "Live where you want, but invest where the numbers make sense."  Call me today to discuss how your equity can be working harder for you in snowy Waterloo Region, while you’re lounging comfortably by the water or the mountains.

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Kitchener Waterloo’s Favourite Real Estate Agent* wants to show you how Real Estate Investing can make you wealthy. Benjamin works with people from across Ontario, Canada, and North America helping them build wealth through smart real estate investments.

Benjamin is hosting a FREE Millionaire Real Estate Investor workshop January 10th, 2007 from 7-8:30PM. Registration is free in advance, or $5 at the door. Call or email Benjamin Bach today to register, and learn how you can start your Real Estate Investment portfolio.

Benjamin is a Sales Representative with Keller Williams Golden Triangle Realty in Kitchener Waterloo and would love to answer any questions about buying or selling a rental, income or investment property.

You can reach Benjamin at Benjamin(AT)BenjaminBach.com or call him at 519 570 4447