Looking at our history and the acquisitions of assets we acquired, we can’t help notice that every building has a story in terms of the added value we brought to it. Being selective and having a solid group of analysts to analyze every deal coupled with off-market deals has been the secret to our success.
Our InvestPlus REIT corporate strategy can be summed up:
Let’s be clear: we don’t buy “western Canadian” real estate!
We buy assets in specific geographical locations that are located in western
Canada that show signs of a growing economy, job growth and growing population.
It starts with economic fundamentals. Economic fundamentals tell us if jobs are being created in a specific market. By knowing where GDP growth is, which begins with investment dollars invested by companies or government, there is a good chance that jobs will be created. As jobs are created, population growth increases in that geographical area which increases demand for rentals/housing. The increase in rental values increases building values. The same applies to commercial assets. New businesses migrate to those areas and existing business flourishing as a result of the increased demand.
Combine this knowledge and timing with the ability to buy apartment and commercial properties and you now have a recipe that will see the value of those assets increase due to both the management’s value creation and market upswing. While a simple concept, it’s a learned skill from experience in transacting over $100 million in assets over 16 years and riding through three economic cycles…both up and down.
