Category Archives for "Real Estate Investment Coaching"

If you talk to many developers like I do, the answer to this question is often, “No one” or “Not many.” I disagree. Market segments which need the extra income or space include: -seniors who need extra income for their retirement-millennials who need extra income to help pay their mortgages -investors who need higher cap […]

It’s complicated. A client of mine is doing a PAAN (property animation and analysis report) for a client of his. He writes and asks me the above question. Here below is my response… That is an excellent question, David. Truly. The honest answer? It depends. Say you bought a home in Ottawa in 1980 for […]

When you buy a new home from a developer or if you are buying a lot and building your own, a new home purchase poses quite a few challenges. The three biggies are: -cost overruns -delay -deficiencies So, recommending a homebuilder is fraught with danger–since almost all of them are late in delivery, want more […]

If you want to crater your property value, the fastest way to do that is probably to allow deferred maintenance to build up. Yesterday, I visited a place that had quite a few positives for my clients including: Decent land size, interesting home and outbuildings and the right location for these folks (they have family […]

Coach houses (sometimes referred to ask “Granny Flats” or ADUs, accessory dwelling units) have been legal in Ottawa Canada since November 2016 and this trend (adding an ADU to your existing lot/home) is spreading across North America. Why? Well, for one, cities are worried about providing more affordable housing and more rental units. Secondly, parents […]

If you read my title carefully, there’s a contradiction in it: An ROI from your front yard? Really? Most front yards are neglected wastes of space. Folks might think that grassy buffer zones (aka front yards) are somehow “green,” meaning environmentally important. Other than being the color green, grassed front yards are anything but. You […]

If you are like me and think most condos are poor investments with little or no ROI for investors, homeowners, visitors, guests, neighbors and neighborhoods, let alone the environment, well, have a look at these over-priced, over-hyped “branded” homes. Who said: There’s a sucker born every minute? Mind you, branded waste-of-space places apparently sell for […]

Want to create an above-average performing real estate investment portfolio and/or a PB4L (personal business for life) that will take care of you and your family for 3 generations? Want to learn how to finance, buy, lease/rent, animate, and manage real estate properly? Want to know the secret to driving up the value of your […]

My friends in Quebec at High Cube, led by Patrick Sauvé, build awesome container homes, offices, workshops and hunting cabins. Their model container home is now for sale for $79,995; that’s Canadian dollars (not USD). They’ll deliver the model to any place in Ontario or Quebec for free; ie, it’s included in the price. You […]

Ever wonder why, according to Sports Illustrated, nearly 80% of former NFL players go broke within three years of leaving the league? Not to mention other high net worth people like successful actors or busy executives and entrepreneurs experiencing financial problems as they age. According to superstar player agent Leigh Steinberg, there are five main […]

[This article originally appeared in Ottawa Business, Journal, https://obj.ca/article/opinion-big-rig-gaining-steam-microbrewery-biz.] What’s in a name? Well, if you are Ottawa Senators defenceman Chris Phillips and the other four founding partners of Big Rig restaurant and brewery, a lot. Mr. Phillips and his partners – Angelis Koutsos, Lon Ladell, Pierre Cleroux and Jimmy Zourntos – spent $5 million […]

If you want to understand entrepreneurs, maybe you live with one or work with or for one, then read this excerpt (see below) from Don’t Back Down, the real story of the founding of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators and why big leagues matter, a book I wrote for the 25th anniversary of the founding of […]