[Catherine O’Neill]

Incompletions take up brain space as you have to keep thinking about the same issues, but never finishing them off. Stop and start. Also, you never have the satisfaction of finishing the project and the benefit of learning from what went well and didn’t. I also think there is some guilt over never seem to finish stuff, and then when it gets too old, the guilt of not having done it on a timely basis.

[Catherine O’Neill]

Although they are looking at reducing the amount of immigration (via fewer foreign students, which will be very hard for universities that have come to rely on the tuition paid by foreign students), we still have so much need for housing, the minute the rates go down people will be back in the market.

There is so much focus on investing in the US for Ontario investors because of the better economics, I wonder if Ontario will get the investment it needs to pay for all the housing required. And without the supply, the government could use more policies to favour tenants, which further pushes investors out of Ontario.

I am spending some of my time this year learning about generational wealth, which seems to be based on getting a number of assets into the family over 1-3 generations and then steadily growing and borrowing against those assets. If anyone knows a lot of growing generational wealth, let me know!

[Catherine O’Neill]

I think it’s a journey. Many of us start out with real estate as a hobby, because of our day job and just learning about things. As time progresses, real estate either fades as another failed interest, or increases to where you leave your day job and go all in. At some point it needs to be though of as a business or else it’s just a hobby and hobbies don’t get critical attention.

[Catherine O’Neill]

Totally agree. Only realized this in 2023. Symptom of taking on too much, allowing myself to be distracted with new things that are valuable but also only seem more interesting because they are new. Working on that for 2024.

[Catherine O’Neill]

Agree on cash flow. I believe the further from TO you get, the more likely for cash flow. Windsor is still an option, but less good than Northern Ontario, but might have more longevity with the cross border investments happening. both of my properties are cash flowing, although not as much as when interest rates were lower!