Quote:
Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse
Here's an interesting snippet from today's Globe on whether it was better to own a condo in Calgary or units in Boardwalk for the last few years:
Over the three-year period from 2005 through 2007, the Calgary condo would have appreciated from $171,135 to $304,719, for a capital gain of $133,584 or 78.1 per cent. The net rental income over the period – gross rent minus condo fees and property taxes – was $26,485, for a further gain of 15.5 per cent.
All told, the condo owner would have made a profit of $160,069, for a return of 93.5 per cent on his original investment.
Most investors would kill for a return like that. Now let's see how Boardwalk REIT made out.
From 2005 through 2007, the initial $171,135 investment would have grown to $413,246, for a capital gain of $242,111 or 141.5 per cent. The investor would have pulled in an additional $38,490 of distribution income, for a further gain of 22.5 per cent.
Total profit: $280,601 or 164 per cent, beating the condo's returns hands-down.
There's no guarantee Boardwalk will continue to deliver such superb results. Indeed, the units are down 11.3 per cent this year.
But if you buy an apartment REIT instead of a rental condo, there's one thing you can count on: You won't be getting any calls in the middle of the night to fix a leaky toilet.
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Did the article also examine how many people took out mortgages with 0 - 10% down to buy Boardwalk REIT units in that same time period (or opened 10:1 margin accounts)?
A lot of people did this with their condos and saw a much greater return on their invested capital - put in 17K for the mortgage, use the mortgage to buy the condo, sell the unit for a profit of 130k... that's a "780%" return on what actually came out of their pocket, plus any rental income they would have collected.
That same 17k, invested in Boardwalk would have made a lot of money, but nowhere near what was earned with the leverage available in the loose mortgage lending that has been available in the past few years.
Sure, on a 100% cash comparison, this is analysis holds water, but not everyone has 170k kicking around to push into REIT units.