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Real Estate Investing by Women on the rise

by Anne Stropel

In Edmonton, as in many Canadian cities, the price of homes has skyrocketed to previously unimaginable heights, making real estate the “hot” topic of conversation of late.

The influx of people into Edmonton has placed great demands on the housing industry. At the same time, more people are purchasing properties for investment purposes.

Traditionally the number of women real estate investors has been relatively small in comparison to the number of men. However, the last five years have seen a marked increase in the number of women investing in real estate.

Don R. Campbell is the author of Real Estate Investing in Canada (100 per cent of royalties from the book go to Habitat for Humanity) and the president of Real Estate Investment Network. The network helps average Canadians tap into the real estate market, cutting through the hype and emotion that surrounds it. It does not sell property, but counsels its members on matters that pertain to real estate investment.

Fourteen years ago women investors accounted for five per cent of his business. Today 33 per cent of the members are women. Women in the 35 to 50 age group are investing most, either by themselves or in groups of two or three women working together.

“Women make amazing investors,” says Campbell.

He attributes Edmonton’s strong real estate market to factors such as in-migration, higher incomes, lower income taxes, and more available jobs. It is a market, he says, that is based on strong fundamentals and not on speculation.

According to Campbell, who along with wife Connie is also an investor, the reasons for the increase in women investors are varied. Marriages today are more equal partnerships. Single mothers are looking to real estate investment as a way of creating wealth for themselves and helping to ensure a more comfortable retirement.

“Women are becoming more proactive than reactive,” he notes.

For Valerie Pawluk, an Edmonton investor, real estate investing is her full-time job. She has found the experience to be a positive one and appreciates being able to set her own hours while raising her 5-year-old son. Valerie looks for properties that are ready to rent out. Her advice to women wanting to get into the real estate investment market is to have a strong focus, find a good property in a good area and have about 25% downpayment. “If the desire is there, the money shows up.” You can even use your existing home equity to get started. For Valerie the experience has been a positive one - allowing her to grow and learn.

Catherine Brooker has been investing in real estate locally for the past three-and-a-half years. A registered nurse, she formerly worked in the healthcare field on a full-time basis and invested in real estate on a part-time basis. Today, managing her 26 properties is her full-time job and she works part time at her healthcare job.

Brooker believes that women succeed as real estate investors because they are not overambitious. “Women do well in this industry because they do not have ambitions of becoming Donald Trump – at least not overnight,” she says. “They are often satisfied to have just one, two or three properties.” Although Brooker now has a team of trusted professionals to assist her, she originally did all the work herself , including painting, cleaning, remodelling and repairs. “Buy the ones that need work if you can make them pretty,” she advises.

Real estate investment is not meant to make a person rich overnight, but rather provides a safe, stable investment that over the long term will realize a positive return on your investment. Owning just one investment property can put you in a much better financial position at retirement.