Good day, hope all is well with you. Today I am talking about ”Paradigm Shifts” in our current Real Estate Market.
What is a Paradigm shift you may ask? A Paradigm Shift is a Pattern or Model an Awareness…and often referred to as a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices, a thought pattern.
Think of a Paradigm Shift as a change from one way of thinking to another. It’s a revolution, a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis. It just does not happen, but rather it is driven by agents of change.
Similarly, agents of change are driving a new paradigm shift today. The signs are all around us.
For example, the introduction of the personal computer and the internet has impacted both personal and business environments, and is a catalyst for a Paradigm Shift. Newspaper publishing has been reshaped into Web sites, blogging, and web feeds. The Internet has enabled or accelerated the creation of new forms of human interactions through instant messaging, Internet forums, and social networking sites. We are shifting from a mechanistic, manufacturing, industrial society to an organic, service based, information centered society, and increases in technology will continue to impact globally.
Change is inevitable. It’s the only true constant.
So what is the next Paradigm Shift or Shifts in our Real Estate World? Where are the opportunities?
I can identify 3 major Paradigm shifts happening right now. The residential Condo Market, Energy Savings Market and Business and Small Town Ontario growth.
I further believe, provided interest rates remain below 5%, these shifts will continue to grow and create other shifts in the market place and other opportunities.
- Condo residential Real Estate Market Shift – Due to the increased value in homes since 1996. The Condo apartment offers a great alternative to owning a home and is usually around half the price. The number of projects will continue to grow until all the available downtown Toronto space is absorbed. For many people who work the downtown area the condo offers excellent advantages.
- More Super Energy Efficient Buildings and Homes – Major growth in energy savings industry and products is happening now. Major job and career opportunities in this area are being created for our young adults. I believe we should see the increased demand for alternative sources of energy and more focus on Energy savings and I believe we all should be involved and do our part and join “THE ENERGY REVOLUTION”.
Part of the Energy Revolution is ‘ Smart Buildings ‘ becoming ‘ Net Zero ‘. What is a Smart building? A smart building is designed to do one thing really well: Keep the outside out and inside in. What is a ‘Net Zero building’? A building or home that generates the same amount of energy that you consume. How? By installing better insulation panels, solar panels on the roof, building a wind turbine or two, even constructing a neighborhood Bio-Mas plant using tree waste from a local forest. The Earthships are probably the original Net Zero home – but you don’t have to be off grid to be Net Zero. In fact, it’s actually easier if you’re plugged in, that way you can give back any extra energy that you produce. These ideas are gaining traction in cities and towns worldwide. Check out our website. - Major increases in Income producing Real Estate values in small town Ontario – I see a continued growth of investors moving out into small town Ontario…Cash Flow is Cash Flow whether it is in the GTA or Smith Falls, Ontario. Smaller Towns and rural communities offer a slower growth rate however, a steady cash flow.Happiness in Real Estate is a Positive Cash Flow. Further management is the other key to owning income properties located out of town. Many local realtors are offering Management Services.
THESE 3 PARADIGM SHIFTS ARE GREAT OPPORTUNITIES! TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THESE TIMES, THEY MAY NEVER COME AGAIN.
Questions:
Where are the opportunities?
What can I do to help others join the Energy Revolution?
How can I make money and perhaps a obtain a career in the Energy Revolution?
What is the best way to start?
What is the most cost- effective thing I can do right now to start saving energy and money?
Email Keith to discuss these questions.
Hi Keith,
I’ve been on your e-mail list for many years and always find you send me information that is helpful and informative.
Your latest newsletter talks about paradigm shifts and real estate opportunities, but it seems to be more “politically correct” than provocative.
I spent over 30 years as a “paradigm shifter” in the corporate world. One of my most useful tools, (and expertise), was to research and understand the changing wants and needs of the Baby-Boomers and subsequent generations and then adapt emerging technologies and business models to capitalize upon the new markets.
I remember the first condo buildings in Toronto. What is taking place now is merely a supply/demand adjustment to the present economic restructuring taking place in Canada. It isn’t so much a paradigm shift in human behaviour as a financial adaptation to Canadian income distribution.
This rapid market growth does indeed create some financial opportunities for realtors, but the contemporary product being offered will make Toronto’s core into an “elevator zombie” culture. Their purchase of a piece of “sky-space” will be hampered by accelerating fees and taxes that will never allow their property investment to compete with ground-owning property.
The area I grew up in in Toronto at the bottom of Avenue Road hill was built right after WWI. To-day, it is still an elegant area. But, 100 years from now these new condo buildings, if they are still standing up, will look worse than the dirty, ugly condos north of the 401 built in the ealy 1980′s.
Needless to say, my condo advice to my clients is that these condos should be looked at as short-term investments. They aren’t building them like the ones at Upper Canada College anymore.
I won’t go into the energy issue other than to say that I’m absolutely confident that technological and scientific advances will resolve most energy shortage problems within 25 years.
As for small towns, I am hoping they will not grow too fast as it would be nice to retire in a town where I can understand the language of my neighbours. But for a mortgage lender, there are lots of opportunities coming to finance second properties for ageing boomers.
I’ve been trying to find someone interested in setting up an international corporation that specializes in financing foreign property purchases. Canada’s major lenders aren’t there yet, even though they have foreign branches.
Sorry for the diatribe – I was just taking a break from developing my Fall marketing programme.
All the best.
Jim