John Castle Real Estate Sales Representative

08/11/2020

'Look for properties with a unique paint pallet. They typically sell at a discount.'

Rocket Mortgage recently quoted me in their guide to investing in real estate.

https://www.rocketmortgage.com/learn/womens-housing-gap/

The women’s housing gap has large, long-term effects on financial growth and retirement. Learn more about what it is, why it may exist and how to combat it.

07/30/2020

Seek Capital recently quoted me in their article on rehab projects.

You've heard '80% of your results come from 20% of your effort'. When rehabbing a property, it's the last 20% that counts. Profit depends on finishing the job well.

Getting ready for a fix and flip? Check out these expert tips on maximizing house flipping profits from professional house flippers.

06/01/2020

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to limit their participation in the refinancing of multifamily properties to loans intended to finance capital investment (improvements or acquisitions). Refinancing as a means of profit taking is out if CMHC is participating.

05/25/2020

Quoted in two articles in this month's issue of REBI - Real Estate Business Institute Magazine.

https://www.rebinstitute.com/REBI/Magazine/Latest_Issue.aspx

05/08/2020

Recently featured in American Express Business Insight's article on doing right by your customers in a Crisis.

People want to feel seen during this unprecedented crisis. Here's how your business can be there for them.

05/03/2020

Council wants infill inspired by this design in order to overcome the two challenges to intensification:

1. The absence of affordable new homes suitable for families within the intensification target zones.

2. Community opposition concerned about preserving the appearance of the neighbourhood.

paid for the design of the '613 Flats' concept (6 rooms in 1 unit with 3 bedrooms) to illustrate how infill developers could profitably build units that increase intensity, satisfy the demand for affordable family homes, and reduce the risk of community opposition frustrating a project.

The design meets those challenges by

1. Setting most of the entrances back from the street, which preserves the street's cadence (e.g. a door every x meters)

2. Using more of the lot's depth.

On the face of it, these designs suggests that the rear yard set back requirements may be loosened. The model depicted on the left doesn't seem to have the 25% rear set back that even the most intense low-rise zoning (R4) requires.

For reference. The model on the left is 3x3 beds. The model on the right is 4x3 beds + 2x1 beds.

05/01/2020

Don't sell your property on headlines about bubbles alone.

A Forbes blogger recently wrote about a US bubble. To make his case, he points to the increase in values since 2019.

Look at the bigger picture: From the far left of the graph (1998) in the article, US CRE appreciated 5.5% annaully. Hardly suggestive of a bubble.

There are obvious issues with using 2009 as a benchmark. Namely, purchase financing was abnormally restricted. CRE didn't lose its ability to produce long term income, investors lost their ability to purchase it. The fast return of CRE values is evidence of that.

Compared to other paying assets (debt and equities), the CRE run up is modest. It's hard to argue for a bubble when the alternatives are more expensive.

I'm happy to market your investment if you think a crash is coming, but I'd advise you to run that hunch by your first. I doubt we'll see a lasting dip in values.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jessecolombo/2020/04/30/why-the-us-commercial-real-estate-bubble-is-about-to-burst/

04/27/2020

Council's favoured expansion adds 120 low-rise urban units/year starting in 2021 (compared to the status quo). Averaging about 200 additional units/year over the next 25 years.

That modest increase that probably matches the expectations of most, but falls short of what many had hoped for.

Planning Committee's initial directions are linked here.

Council's favoured expansion adds 120 low-rise urban units/year starting in 2021 (compared to the status quo). Averaging about 200 additional units/year...

04/24/2020

Calling it now: the City of will mostly limit its expansion of the urban boundary to the area north of the tech park.

I'm not claiming any special foresight. I'm relying on the predictions of competent urban planners.

That said, this article from the CBC suggests that a more substantial expansion is plausible.

Despite the city's intensification mantra, the propotion of the population inside the Greenbelt has remained in *relative* decline. Favourable treatment of rezoning applications hasn't been sufficient. Most land is cut into small lots that don't suit large projects. Small infills rarely justify the cost of a rezoning application.

If the City wants to accomodate its projected growth it will need to change something. If the planners are right, and the boundary will remain largely unchanged, then we can expect broad changes to the zoning maps and provisions.

2021 could be a big year for infill development. A once in a career buying opportunity may not be far off.

For the first time in years, city council will debate whether to encroach on more surrounding farmland to accommodate the 400,000 new people expected to call Ottawa home over the next quarter-century.

04/23/2020

Remote work will kill the office tower.
Or so I hear people saying. On the face of it, it seems plausible enough. After all, forced experimentation can change habits.

The 1994-95 MLB strike changed the sports viewing habits of North Americans. The League hasn't recovered its television market-share.

The 2014 disruption of the London Underground forced commuters to find new ways to work. Many travel patterns remained changed even after the Underground re-opened.

So the thinking goes, after this period of forced experimentation, maybe some companies will conclude they can save by shrinking their footprint. As someone who gets paid when real estate transactions happen, that would be a convenient narrative (tenants - sign new leases for right-sized space; landlords - sell your office space before demand shrinks).

However, it's not a narrative that the facts support. Silicone Valley experimented with work from home a decade ago. Google, Yahoo, and IBM now prohibit it.

The research is clear: Staff are more productive in environments they share with their colleagues. That productivity more than pays for the cost of the space.

Rent is usually 5-10% of an employee's cost. A small boost to productivity and the space pays for itself.



https://is.gd/5zn2WS

Breadcrumb Trail LinksLocal NewsColumnistsEgan: The folly of office towers in a time of pandemicAuthor of the article:Kelly EganPublishing date:8 hours ago • 3 minute readHealth Canada's Jeanne Mance building in Tunney's Pasture. Tony Caldwell / Postmedia NetworkArticle SidebarShareCloseShare this...

03/20/2020

Featured in Forbes today.

01/21/2020

Short term rentals are a good way to get more income out of a property.

If you're thinking about buying a short-term rental property in Ottawa, read my to learn what you need to know.

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If you're thinking about buying a short-term rental property in Ottawa here's what you need to know.