COBALT, ON, August 14, 2009 — The Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario and the Town of Cobalt today announced $1.5 million to fund a construction-ready project.

The funding was made available as a result of a $1.2 billion joint investment under the amended Canada – Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement, which includes funding through Canada’s Economic Action Plan and by the Government of Ontario. The federal and provincial governments are contributing equally to this overall investment.

Today’s announcement recognized the successful application by Co-Tem Pro Native Non-Profit Housing Inc to build 15 units of affordable housing for low-income families.

The Honourable Gordon O’Connor, Minister of State, Chief Government Whip and Member of Parliament for Carleton – Mississippi, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC); and David Ramsay, Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier and Member of Provincial Parliament for Timiskaming – Cochrane on behalf of the Honourable Jim Watson, Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing; along with Norman Menard, Chair of the District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board, made the announcement today at the housing site.

“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Harper, our Government is working hard to support Canadians during these challenging economic times and we are moving aggressively to ensure Canada’s Economic Action Plan is implemented rapidly,” said Minister O’Connor. “With these investments in Ontario, we are stimulating our economy and making an important difference in the lives of some of our community’s most vulnerable citizens. Low-income families, seniors, and persons with disabilities will soon have better access to suitable, affordable housing.”

“New housing initiatives add significant support to the McGuinty government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy,” said MPP Ramsay. “This first wave of funding will lead to construction by September and we will continue to work with our municipal partners to ensure more units are built during the life of this program.”

“We have a considerable demand for Social Housing, especially in the south end of our District and this project will assist us in fulfilling some of this demand,” said Chair Menard. “Programs such as the Canada – Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement are essential for our district if we are going to have the means to increase our affordable housing units.”

Ontario is moving quickly to implement this new funding, which increases the number of quick start projects to 39 totalling more than $76.5 million and which will improve access to affordable housing for low-income families, seniors and persons with disabilities. It will also create jobs and strengthen local economies. To find out more about affordable housing in Ontario, visit www.mah.gov.on.ca.

Last fall, the Government of Canada committed more than $1.9 billion over the next five years to improve and build new affordable housing and to help the homeless. Canada’s Economic Action Plan builds on this with an additional one-time investment of more than $2 billion over two years in new and existing social housing and lending of up to another $2 billion to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure.

My problem is as follows: I am an immigrant who has been in Canada for 6-7yrs and have no RRSP room to speak of, and can only count on a small CPP. All my savings and investments are in a non-registered account.

My allocation if I include property is about 60/40 FI/Equities.

Inflation is certainly a hot topic for many investors since every pundit in the media has an opinion of where inflation will appear and to what degree of severity with hyperinflation being a term that’s been thrown around far too loosely as governments attempt to stimulate economies.

Any conservative investor, regardless of risk or investment style, needs to concern themselves with inflation in all market conditions because inflation affects the real value of your investments. If your investment portfolio returned 4% after costs last year and the inflation rate was 2% your real return for the portfolio was only 2%. What an investor wants to do is achieve returns in their portfolio that outpace inflation over the long-term and provide them with equal or greater purchasing power in the future.

Investing for inflation is really not much different than wanting a raise each year that matches your increases in the cost of living. Essentially your portfolio should be giving you a raise each year in your income to offset the increasing prices of goods and services you use.

To answer Vince’s answer directly it’s not whether he should invest in only short-term bonds, real return bonds or common shares but how much of each to hold over the long-term.

Short-term bonds provide decent inflation protection at the expense of a much lower yield than a longer yielding bonds because you’re not taking on the same interest rate risk. Real return bonds maintain your investment from inflation and you only need to buy a weighting large enough for your desired allocation. Common shares, specifically ones that pay dividends, offer an investor a few advantages in terms of protecting against inflation. Companies that own/operate inflation sensitive assets such as real estate, commodities and infrastructure tend to fare better in valuation terms than other companies. Some dividends stocks pay a dividend and increase that dividend on a yearly basis above the annual rate of inflation then have already achieved your desired goal if the dividend continues to be paid regardless of the effect on share prices. Because dividends, for Canadians, are eligible for the Dividend Tax Credit in a non-registered portfolio the taxation of dividends is less than that of gains from interest (bonds & GIC’s) or from capital gains.

http://www.nurseb911.com/2009/07/protecting-investments-from-inflation.html

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC canadian funding corp CEO

On July 14, 2009 Barb Millsap of Raiffeisen Non-Profit Housing Corporation along with Minister of Industry Tony Clement,Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Rick Bartolucci,and Mayor John Rodriguez announced that the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, and the City of Sudbury would be beginning a project for the building of 80 low income housing units.

“The city is very pleased with this ground breaking ceremony” said Moishe Alexander CEO of the CFC. Many residents of Sudbury said this project was overdue. There are many families in Sudbury that are struggling to make their rents because of the lack of residential properties available the housing costs just keep going up and up. With this new low income housing initiative and hopefully many more to follow there will be some kind of relief to these families that cant keep up with the constant inflation on the housing market.

The project has been budgeted for $11.8 million whitch includes $3.3 million from the Canada and Ontario Affordable Housing Program. The Canada and Ontario Affordable Housing Program has a commitment from both levels of government for $301 million whitch will help build some 20,000 houses in Ontario.

“The City of Greater Sudbury is very excited about the possibilities afforded to our community by the generous support of CMHC and Municipal Affairs and Housing,” said Greater Sudbury Mayor John Rodriguez. “In difficult times, it is always good news when the Canadian community rallies together to put together solid projects that will help citizens achieve greater quality of life and living.”

“The Government of Canada is committed to making affordable housing available in Ontario and across Canada for those who need it the most,” said Minister Clement. ”These new units in Sudbury provide low-income individuals and families with access to suitable, affordable housing that meets their specific needs.”

“The construction of safe, affordable housing is a priority for the McGuinty government,” said Minister Bartolucci. “We are proud to support initiatives such as this, which will provide long-term affordable housing for vulnerable persons in Sudbury.”

“Today’s announcement marks the culmination of our 14 year dream, and two years of focused development work to build Raiffeisen Phase 2 adjacent to our Phase 1 co-operative,” said Barbara Millsap, President of Raiffeisen Phase 2. “We are grateful to all three levels of government who have contributed to the funding of our 80-unit one and two bedroom affordable apartment complex overlooking the downtown center of the City of Greater Sudbury.”

This project is truly going to help the City of Sudbury whitch because of its tremendous growth in the past five years has become an increasingly more difficult place to find low income housing. Now that the 14 year dream of Raiffeisen Phase 2 has become a reality everyone can benefit from a better City.

As stock markets around the world have taken a fall with the economic recession, one market that remains strong is Israeli real estate. The Park Hyatt Hotel was host to Israeli real estate firms including Azorim, Gindi Holdings, Dimri Building & Development, Pollock Real Estate and Ashdar Building Company a few weeks ago when they flew into Toronto to deliver a presentation to potential investors.

It was the first time they’d done so directly, according to Ainnat Lifshitz, director of marketing and sales of Bayit4U, the company that coordinated the event. Alongside the real estate developers were bank representatives and lawyers who “give a panoramic view of Israel and cover all aspects of real estate,” she said.

Residential properties in Israel were under the spotlight as they’ve performed well in recent months. According to Lifshitz, demand for homes in Israel was up 14.6 percent in April 2009, compared to the same period in 2008.

http://www.canadasisrael.ca/2009/07/israeli-house-for-sale-in-toronto/

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC canadian funding corp CEO

TED-Spread On Wednesday, this widely quoted credit risk indicator fell to a 26-month low. The TED spread is now below its August 2007 levels. (August 2007 is generally viewed as the beginning of the subprime crisis.)

The TED spread is simply the difference between what banks and the U.S. Treasury pay to borrow money for three months. People use it to gauge fear and liquidity constraints in the North American credit market.

The TED spread reached an all-time high of 4.65% at the height of the credit crisis in October 2008. Its long-term average is about 1/2%.

http://www.canadianmortgagetrends.com/canadian_mortgage_trends/2009/07/ted-spread-continues-to-fall.html

brought by Moishe Alexander, CFC canadian funding corp CEO

According to Calvin Lindberg, President of CREA, “We are caught in a cycle where consumer confidence has been eroded because of job losses, and consumer confidence is an essential ingredient for housing sales activity.” However, it must be recognized that life goes on, and people will always need to upsize, downsize and move homes for any number of reasons. Because of the current market climate, sellers must acknowledge that it’s more important than ever to emphasize and maximize the positive features in their sales presentation.

Mr. Lindberg makes a practical observation about today’s real estate market by noting that: The essential selling ingredients in today’s market are realistic pricing, marketing and preparation. The se crucial points are where an experienced real estate sales representative makes all the difference.

As your real estate representative, I have my finger on the pulse of both countrywide housing trends and local real estate activity. I invite you to call me for help with all your real estate needs.

http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200907/1246980126.html

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

PEI is a great location for the novice investor to get started. Properties are generally less expensive and while they have risen over the years and continue to do so, the up and down movement is not so great and therefore PEI real estate offers an investment scenario more suited to the beginner. However with land prices throughout Canada on the rise again, and I notice a larger recent rise in home prices here, you can be sure that you will still have a solid investment.

Real estate offers much greater potential to make money than many other forms of investment and does not generally require the services of managers as in the case of mutual funds. You will want to carefully research your market potential and you will, in the case of PEI, first of all decide whether you will be buying residential properties to rent year round or cottages which rent at much higher rates but only for the summer.

It is important when deciding what to invest in here on PEI to determine the amount of money you have on hand and what you can afford to invest for the “long-haul”, say anything up to ten years. Some investors get caught in the liquidity crunch and need to get their money out of the investment in a hurry. This means selling early and at a disadvantage and can result in losses.

If you feel this might apply to you then you should probably refrain from getting into the cottage market. The properties cost much more, are harder to re-sell in a hurry and require more work to rent. Small family rental homes provide year round income, require less maintenance having residents year round, and are generally easier to sell should you need to.

If you own your own home now then you are already a PEI real estate investor. If you have a sizeable equity built up in your home you can use this equity to smooth the mortgage application. Most investors are going to buy several if not numerous properties as they build their real estate portfolio and they are going to have to use that portfolio as financial leverage to acquire the next property. So you will probably start with your own home now!

The cities of Charlottetown and Summerside on the island offer a good selection of current single, duplex and triplex home rentals. Of course you can purchase some of the larger character homes and convert these to apartments. It is a good idea to look for homes that are in need of repair. Some owners will sell just because they don’t have the cash or desire to fix up a rental and it is getting to the point where it will need fixing to be rentable.

If this is the case make sure that you do your home-work and know the condition of the home and the cost to repair. Bring in a home inspector and make sure that you get quotes from reputable contractors on the work recommended.

Also ensure the neighborhood is suitable – however the island neighborhoods are generally good, the “bad neighborhoods aren’t really “Bad”.

Do your research and you will be growing your income through a steady stream of rental payments and your real estate portfolio will be bringing you that much closer to retirement.

http://real-estate-direct.com/real-estate-resource/investment-in-pei-real-estate/

brought by Noishe Alexander, CFC CEO

The Zombie Subdivision. The living dead of real estate.

The Wilmington Star out of North Carolina had an interesting article on the phenomenon. Wilmington

and the surrounding area had a huge boom as people were leaving the northeast and moving to the ocean. Property values soared. Development was rampant. In Brunswick county, between Wilmington and Myrtle Beach, huge golf communities were planned and permitted. In 2005 and 2006. Ready to open just when the bottom fell out of the market.

These empty tracts, the shell is ready but there is no life, are the prime examples of zombie subdivisions.

It’s clear now to developers, bankers and real estate agencies that the planned development in Brunswick didn’t fit the market.

“What we saw from an appraisal and real estate point of view was that we really peaked about the third quarter of 2005,” said Tom Shoaf, a broker with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty. “But by then, the permits had been pulled for a lot these projects and stuff was getting in the ground, so they were past the point of no return.”

In the end, these developments will probably get moving again – though maybe not for the next couple of years, officials say.

“I foresee a slow, steady growth,” Brunswick County Assistant Attorney Jana Berg said.

But the homes will likely be cheaper, smaller and come with fewer perks.

reported by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

http://www.therealestatebloggers.com/2009/05/27/zombie-subdivisions-the-living-dead-of-the-real-estate-market/