A shiny new book showed up today, in a boring brown package. Wiley sent me a free copy (being a Facebook addict has it’s advantages), just for commenting on the wall of their Facebook group. That’s a pretty smart way to do things, and I’m going to pay it forward, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

First, it’s called 81 Financial and Tax Tips for the Canadian Real Estate Investor: Expert Money-Saving Advice on Accounting and Tax Planning, and it’s written by Don Campbell, George Dube (CGA) and Navaz Murji (MAcc, CA). I’ve heard them all speak at REIN meetings, and I’ve talked with Navaz about handling my taxes, although I’ll probably wait until next year. I’m looking forward to reading this one, especially given that it’s tax time.

It’s laid out in the same way as 97 Tips and 51 Success Stories. There’s a tip, some explanation and then a series of boxes with red flags, insights and tips.

I thing they’re great books, and I’m looking forward to this one. To pay it forward, I’m going to give away a copy of one of Don and Russell’s (et al)  books. Just drop a name and email in the form and I’ll send you a free copy.

Real Estate Investing in Canada: Creating Wealth with the ACRE System

Real Estate Joint Ventures for Canadian Investors: A Proven and Powerful Step-by-Step System
51 Success Stories from Canadian Real Estate Investors
81 Financial and Tax Tips for the Canadian Real Estate Investor: Expert Money-Saving Advice on Accounting and Tax Planning
97 Tips for Canadian Real Estate Investors

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Russell Westcott, the VP of the Real Estate Investment Network, asked me to swing by their offices in the Lower Mainland last time I was in Vancouver, and we had a great chat. Part of that chat took the form of a REIN Interview with an Expert on the topic of internet marketing.

Russell and the whole REIN team are excellent marketers, and I was flattered to be asked to participate. You can click the play button below or use the link below that to download it for your iPod. It’s over an hour, so find yourself some time and enjoy.

Download Internet Marketing Tips – Chris Davies and Russell Westcott

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Yesterday I was passing through the Vancouver area and I made time to meet up with Russell Westcott.

For those who haven’t met him before, he’s the Vice President of the Real Estate Investment Network. The REIN members will know him as the MC of most of the meetings and the resident Joint Venture expert. He’s also the author of the JV Secrets books.

We’ve chatted before, and I’ve had the chance to talk at meetings with some of the other people who make up the REIN team, but this was my first visit to the home of REIN. The only think I can say is that’s a group of people who work their butts off for the organization. I’m amazed they manage any time for their own real estate, but  they’ve sure got the focus to do it.

Anyways, Russell and I had a chance to chat about what REIN’s doing, and he offered some advice on a couple projects I have going. Then we taped an interview for the Interview with an Expert series they’ve been doing. I had a great time, and considering two of the interviews I’ve posted here were Greg Habstritt and Thomas Beyer, I’m in pretty good company. It’ll be  a couple weeks before it’s available, but I had a great time there.

It’s not surprising to see this story in Thursday’s Edmonton Journal.

The members of the Real Estate Investment Network(REIN), led by President Don Campbell, are passionate in their support for Habitat for Humanity. REIN Canada is 3,400 members strong, and through book sales and other initiatives, they have raised almost $500,000 toward the building of new homes for families in Edmonton since 2005.

Campbell believes 100 per cent in the Habitat for Humanity program. Along with his wife, REIN CFO Connie Campbell, he says, “We are a community and we are in an economic turmoil. I believe that in good times and in bad times, people have to find a way to support their community.”

They’re a great group of people, and I’m proud to be associated with REIN.

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There’s a great Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) event in Edmonton coming up soon, June 26-28th.

Friday night starts with an economic summit with key speakers, some top Canadian economists and veteran analysts. You can download the PDF brochure here, or click here to register.

The panel for the summit will include:

• Carl Gomez, Vice President, Research, Bentall Capital
• Todd Hirsh, Senior Economist, ATB Financial
• Ron Gilbertson, President and CEO, Edmonton Economic Development Corporation
• Mary MacGregor, Chief Economist, Government of Alberta
• Peter Kinch
• Don R. Campbell

Saturday is the Advanced Landlording and Investing Fundamentals Expo and Brent is participating on the panel of property management experts.

The other panels and participants are:

Property Management Panel:

Keenen Tameling
Tyler Uzelman
Rebecca Bryan
Brent Davies
Carol Garrett

Overcoming Obstacles Panel:

Marnie & Ryan Griffiths
Dan Heon
Julie Hoffman
Garth Chapman
Philip McKernan
Troy Sirett
Tana Wheatcroft

Raising Money Panel

Thomas Beyer
Mark Garrett
Arlen Dahlin
Greg Habstritt
Russell Westcott

The cost for the Economic Summit is $199. The LIFE weekend is $787, but if you click here you can get $200 off ($587), and be able to bring additional guests for $387.

You can submit questions in the myREINspace thread for the panels, and see get  information and a lot of videos in this thread.

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Here’s a 20 minute video that gives some pretty cool insight into Mark Carney, Canada’s monetary policy and economic strengths.

The first half is an interview with Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of Canada. The second half is a panel with Kelly Keehn, Jack Mintz from University of Calgary , and Russell Westcott. My notes (liveblogging style) are blow.

My notes and thoughts.

• Talking about Mark Carney, the youngest Central Banker in the G8
• Carney went to Harvard and Oxford. He’s an Edmonton boy, so when he was in town he took some some people to Earl’s Tin Palace on Jasper Ave.
• Do you agree that Alberta’s insulated? It’s a global recession, and there isn’t any part of the global economy which is unaffected. Some areas have some strength which help to mitigate the impacts.
• Alberta’s budget is being released. Here’s Mark’s three thoughts. First there’s a need for stimulus, to fill in the void. The second need is for credible policies with a long term fiscal outlook. Third, there’s a need to make an investment in long term productivity and sustainability.
• Original projections were recovery in ’09 and in ’10 but have been amended. The Bank of Canada actually reviews its forecasts on a quarterly basis, so it’s nothing too crazy. Things that have changed, the global recession is deeper and the timing of our recovery will depend on the stabalization of the global financial system. The problems are outside of Canada.
• David Dodge has criticized the projections. He responded by saying ‘read the transcript of his comments’. The BofC has a very transparent process, and they welcome other people’s inputs.
• Why such a wide variety of projections? There’s a huge amount of uncertianty. The band of uncertianty is wider than the range of projections. The question is how quickly the massive policy responce will take effect (monetary and policy).
• Interest rate cuts, not much farther to go, but are working? They are, monetary policy always works with a lag, but our monetary system is still working. The levels of corporate borrowing have remained steady.
• You’ve been critical of the banks in the past for not passing along rate drops. Now they’ve passed through all but 25 basis points.
• What are the big lessons from what has happened?
• Canada has many lessons we can teach others. You have to have rules and infrastructure, and a measure of prudence. We restricted the level of leverage banks could have.

Then at 12:04, Kelly Keehn, Jack Mintz from UofC, and Russell Westcott.

• Anyone surprised? Kelly Keehn – no. Russell – no. “He who forecasts the most often gets it right eventually.” Jack – “The variability of the forecasts often gets it right eventually.”
• The David Dodge clip at 13:45 is the one where he says ‘likely we’ll do as well as, or better than other countries, but why should we recover very quicky when the rest of the world is recovering moderately.’
• Is it a fair criticisim? Yes, it’s been a remarkable set of changes, and it’ll take the world economy will take a while to re-adjust. Growth will take some time come back. there are huge deficits which will slow that. (and put Alberta ahead)
• What should people be doing? Buying, selling? If you’re planning to live in your house you’ll be ok. It’s not like daytrading, just chill out. If you can’t afford to hold onto it for 5 years, you should still be renting.
• Kelly does point out that the small drop this year over last pales in comparison to the increase the year before.
• Housing is a consumption good, not just an investment.

Getting into Investments:

• Kelly: Understand fear and greed. Get back to basics, and understand your risk profile.
• Jack: Tough time to understand that. People are afraid it’ll get worse before it gets better.
• Russell: Pay yourself first. 100% of investment portfolio is focused on yield.

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Greg Habstritt is a very successful commercial real estate investor, REIN member and he spoke at the Alberta REIN meetings. Before the meetings he did a phone interview with Russ. They covered some good topics, and there’s some great insight.

If you want to put a copy of this interview and the player on your own site, just paste this code into your html editor. You’re welcome to hotlink the mp3 file if you ask, otherwise just put a copy of the file on your own server and change the red text to where your copy of the file lives. 

<object width=”300″ height=”52″ data=”http://www.odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash”><param name=”flashvars” value=”valid_sample_rate=true&amp;external_url=http://www.chrisdavies.ca/Podcasts/Greg-Habstritt-Commercial-Real-Estate-Feb09.mp3” /><param name=”src” value=”http://www.odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf” /><param name=”wmode” value=”transparent” /><param name=”quality” value=”high” /></object> Audio Hosted by <a href=”http://www.chrisdavies.ca/2009/04/greg-habstritt-russell-westcott-interview/”>Chris Davies</a>

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Thomas Beyer is the President of Prestigious Properties, and a veteran (Diamond) REIN member. He’s also a great guy, a prolific contributor to myREINspace and he’s contributed guest posts here before (2010 Alberta Real Estate).

In preparation for the REIN meetings this week in Edmonton and Calgary, Thomas and Russel did a little conference call. It’s just over an hour long, but they cover lots of good topics.It’s a rare chance to hear the owner of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of real estate reflect on the last few years, and the challenges involved in growing his business to that size in just a few years.

Some folks had trouble downloading it, but they got it sorted out, and now you can just click the little arrow below and listen to it from this page. You can also download a copy of it by right clicking here and selecting ‘save as’.

Enjoy!

If you want to put a copy of this interview and the player on your own site, just paste this code into your html editor. You’re welcome to hotlink the mp3 file if you ask, otherwise just put a copy of the file on your own server and change the red text to where your copy of the file lives. 

<object width=”300″ height=”52″ data=”http://www.odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash”><param name=”flashvars” value=”valid_sample_rate=true&amp;external_url=http://www.chrisdavies.ca/Podcasts/thomas-beyer-rein-interview.mp3” /><param name=”src” value=”http://www.odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf” /><param name=”wmode” value=”transparent” /><param name=”quality” value=”high” /></object> Audio Hosted by <a href=”http://www.chrisdavies.ca/2009/03/thomas-beyer-russell-westcott-interview/”>Chris Davies</a>

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