Interesting View of the City

by Darrin DeRoches October 20 - 26, 2011

I had an interesting view of the city this week through a Toronto investor. This investor owns a ton of properties in the Greater Toronto Area and he wanted to see firsthand what is going on in Hamilton. A mortgage broker I work with asked our company to do an Open House Tour of possible investments in our downtown and university areas. We began our tour on a proposed condo development; we then took him through a successful project – the film work lofts. He was impressed with the price per square foot and that the units all sold. We hopped back into the limo and drove down to the old knitting factory to show a project that is years away, we swung by the Witton lofts and saw the barriers are up and work has begun. We continued on throughout downtown and saw the crane up and work happening at Caroline and Bay and pointed out what is happening there and the future corner with the McMaster proposed medical building.     We then swung by the New Horizon project on Aberdeen and Dundurn and saw the hole is dug and rebar and cement are being laid for the foundation. I then showed him a house I just sold on Aberdeen which is going to be converted into a duplex with a positive cash flow of $700 a month. Our next stop was just around the corner at McMaster Innovation Park where they are finished the 60 plus million new build and beginning the 26 million dollar renovation on the warehouse. We proceeded to look at a couple of student houses in Westdale and pointed out one listing I have where you can buy the property and have another home with at $700 plus monthly cash flow. By this time we have given the investor a ton of information and all possible investment opportunities in Hamilton. I then asked him what his thoughts were on Hamilton.     He said he has heard Hamilton was the “next big thing since 1985.” 25 years later and is it really happening? I pointed out how high our rents are and how much lower our property values are. He was concerned about the strikes at the steel factories but I reminded him about the high paying “new jobs” being created at McMaster Innovation Park. He wondered aloud: “who is buying the condos?” and I answered with the successful Core Lofts and Film Work lofts plus pointed out that new projects are now pre–selling and moving forward. We concluded our tour with the Toronto investor heading for lunch at one of our institutions of Hamilton – Denninger's. We could have taken him out to a fancy place but he understands Hamilton as a hard–working middle–class good–value–type–of–city and he wanted this comfort food. We finished the tour and I really enjoyed seeing our city through the Toronto investors’ eyes. Hamilton may not be flashy and hip as the next best thing, but rather comfortable and a good value where you can invest for the long term. V     Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at mail@uniquerealty.ca.