Ok, you all asked for it so here is "What`s behind the curtain"
1) I am not an addict of news articles as I scan but do not read 95% of them. All of you who need your daily news fix are the addicts. I internet traffic real estate economics while Don and Russell are the kingpins of this whole operation.
2) The sources I use for real estate fundamentals are as follows:
BC - Vancouver Sun. Municipalities around BC are covered at
www.vannet.com and they include Abbotsford, Surrey, Richmond, Coquitlam, etc.
Alberta - Calgary Herald, Red Deer Advocate, Red Deer Express and Edmonton Journal
Saskatchewan - Saskatoon Phoenix and Regina Leader Post
Ontario - Windsor Star, Ottawa Citizen, Toronto Star, Barrie Examiner, Orilllia Packet and Times
National - National Post and Financial Post
My favorite source is without a doubt Google. By typing in things like Toronto condos, Alberta real estate, etc and hitting the news option, I am given the latest information that is available on the internet.
One point I would really like to clairify is that my time commitment into finding these articles is not as much as many believe. I usually spend 10-15 minutes a day going through the paper editions of the Calgary Sun, Calgary Herald and Globe and Mail. When I first started doing this four years ago, it would take me around 2.5 hours but eventually I figured out what I was doing.
Please note that I have been playing hit and miss obtaining news articles on this website. I promised to call Don next week in order to obtain a system for covering the news articles relevant to REIN members across Canada while still having enough time to live. Therefore the above mentioned list may need to be revamped.
Apologies to those REIN members who live outside the areas that are not covered, but there is just far too much information out there for any one person to cover. That is why there are only four provinces listed under economic fundamentals instead of the whole country.
Please post any news articles that you encounter. What may seem trivial to you may be very important to someone else.
Finally, I would like to thank Rod Tweddle (who is my Edmonton counterpart for the Alberta news articles) and Don Campbell for helping me believe that I too could understand the economics of real estate investing.
