Info on Stratford, Ontario

[JackC]

Saw an article on Stratford in the Toronto Star a couple of weeks ago. Main focus of the article was on how well run the Town is. Was wondering if Members have insight into Stratford for investing. For example is it close enough to Kitchener/Cambridge to serve as a place people would rent??

Thanks

My very first post by the way...

 

[mark186]

This is my first post as well.

I`ve always loved Stratford as a town to visit (I live about 40 mins away) and usually go shopping there once a month but I have some reservations about it as a place to invest. The first thing is that you are so close to KW, why not just invest there? Also, to me property seems to be at a premium in Stratford compared to much larger urban centres nearby (KW & London). I also question the Toronto Star`s assessment of how things are run (they probably think Cuba is run pretty good). Currently the city council is looking very obstinate in not allowing a Wal Mart to go up at the edge of town saying that it will affect the feel of their town and hurt other small merchants. I wonder if the Zellers, Giant Tiger, new Staples or mall now at the edge of town have affected the feel of the town or other merchants. Of course Wal Mart`s application is going to the OMB and will likely go through at a large cost to taxpayers. Another thing that comes to mind is a few years ago the town had a major sewer/drainage issue affecting dozens of homes in the downtown core. I have a friend that had minor problems and he mentioned that the lawsuits were flying fast and furious. My recollection is that there may have been some negligence on the part of the municipality and I don`t know what ever was resolved but it is something I would look at before putting money in the town.

Ideally you would want to do a Property Goldmine Score Card on a property you were looking at. There will likely be some ripple effect from the Woodstock/Toyota boom as well as KW`s influence. If you were looking at a B & B in Stratford I don`t think you could go wrong as long as you were aware of all of the rules and regulations. Once again, I absolutely love this place and can`t believe I`ve written such a negative post about it, but you do want to be careful.

 

[JackC]

QUOTE (mark186 @ Nov 22 2007, 02:57 PM)
This is my first post as well.



I've always loved Stratford as a town to visit (I live about 40 mins away) and usually go shopping there once a month but I have some reservations about it as a place to invest. The first thing is that you are so close to KW, why not just invest there? Also, to me property seems to be at a premium in Stratford compared to much larger urban centres nearby (KW & London). I also question the Toronto Star's assessment of how things are run (they probably think Cuba is run pretty good). Currently the city council is looking very obstinate in not allowing a Wal Mart to go up at the edge of town saying that it will affect the feel of their town and hurt other small merchants. I wonder if the Zellers, Giant Tiger, new Staples or mall now at the edge of town have affected the feel of the town or other merchants. Of course Wal Mart's application is going to the OMB and will likely go through at a large cost to taxpayers. Another thing that comes to mind is a few years ago the town had a major sewer/drainage issue affecting dozens of homes in the downtown core. I have a friend that had minor problems and he mentioned that the lawsuits were flying fast and furious. My recollection is that there may have been some negligence on the part of the municipality and I don't know what ever was resolved but it is something I would look at before putting money in the town.



Ideally you would want to do a Property Goldmine Score Card on a property you were looking at. There will likely be some ripple effect from the Woodstock/Toyota boom as well as KW's influence. If you were looking at a B & B in Stratford I don't think you could go wrong as long as you were aware of all of the rules and regulations. Once again, I absolutely love this place and can't believe I've written such a negative post about it, but you do want to be careful.




Thanks Mark, Helpful input, especially the stuff about sewers and the like. Welcome, not that I'm a veteran or anything. By the way, did you notice that based on our membership numbers that you are almost 1000 members after me in only one month's time??

 

[George]

Good evening,

While I am certainly not an expert on the area, I do live between Stratford and Kitchener, have an office in both cities, own a couple of properties in Stratford and am treasurer of the Stratford Chamber of Commerce so have enough familiarity to be dangerous.

I had to laugh with the opening piece indicating how well run the city is. That is certainly not a comment I`ve heard frequently over the past few years as there has been a signficant amount of disagreement within Council as to the direction the city should go on various fronts. In my mind, there are and have been a couple of very strong representatives on council, and similarly, a couple of very weak members. I expect that most people would agree with this statement. The disagreement comes into play as to categorizing whether the people in question are on the strong or weak side, and this polarization has caused some comedy/drama more appropriate for the Festival Theatre. In my opinion, the economic development group is easy to work with and knowledgeable. The MPP for the city is in my mind hard working and quite capable of helping the city (which for me to say is something as I`ve only voted for his party once in my life).

Careful consideration is needed before investing into the city, but that`s not much different than most places. That being said, I personally find my Stratford properties cash flow better than my others but I don`t have enough properties to make this a meaningful statistcal conclusion. I also like a few things that are potentially in the works for the city. "Potential" is a problematic word though.

Warm regards...

George