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North Bay has a strong reputation in Ontario for being the great ‘Gateway to the North.’ However, for real estate investors looking for their next big investment opportunity, this up-and-coming city may be the gateway to financial freedom.
North Bay is currently home to a population of over 51,000 people. However, before it became the city we know today, it used to be part of a canoe route used by explorers and Canada’s First Nations people. The city’s location was so central and well connected that it eventually became a hub for lumber, mining, and railroad developments.
Now, it is on its way to becoming the hub for new growth and developments. However, it is still early, so there is plenty of time to get in and start exploring the North bay real estate market before things truly take off.
However, before you dive into the world of North Bay real estate investing, click the link below to book a free strategy call with our team at LendCity to discuss financing options and more.
North Bay Real Estate Offers an Accessible Market
North Bay offers an incredibly accessible and relatively easy to enter market compared to other cities across Ontario. Whereas some cities will demand you pay over $650,000 on average to purchase a single-family home, North Bay offers an average purchase price of $400,593 for a home at the time of writing this article.
This means that for investors that are looking for a great beginner market, as well as investors looking to try their hand at out-of-town investing, North Bay offers an incredibly affordable point of entry into the market.
Meanwhile, average rent prices in North Bay are not dissimilar with larger Ontario towns, meaning that on top of your mortgage being relatively affordable, you will still have plenty of room to earn a generous cash flow that can contribute to making additional investments or achieving the financial freedom most investors dream of.
Competition for commercial real estate in North Bay is relatively low compared to other cities in Ontario. This is largely due to the modest population size of the city. However, this does not mean that investments in this region are only capable of reaping modest returns.
While property values in North Bay are relatively affordable compared to larger municipalities, the rents are mostly consistent with the rest of Ontario. This means that the potential for cash flow on these properties can often be higher than you would expect in other cities. After all, one of the golden rules that real estate investors will follow when buying a property is that you should always try to ‘make money on the buy.’ This means that when you are purchasing a property, you want to get the best deal on the initial purchase price so that your profits later on are much more valuable.
North Bay Real Estate Welcomes Developers and Growth Strategies
The North Bay real estate market has spent plenty of time trying to clear the road for real estate developers to come into the city and invest in order to grow their local economy – and as a result they have created a developer-friendly market with multiple avenues for logistical and financial support in order to make your developments a reality.
The city also boasts their strong and efficient Development Application Review Team (DART). This team was constructed in order to speed up the process of getting development applications processed, reviewed, and approved so that new local investments can get started as early as possible. This method of streamlining developments is also widely respected because instead of expediting the process by cutting corners and trying to eliminate key checks and balances, they are working to make the approval process run more smoothly by putting more eyes on each application. This not only ensures that the best projects get approved on-time, but it creates new jobs within the city.
Discover How To Buy Unlimited Rental Properties With This Step By Step Guide
Reliable Occupancy Rates
Recent years have seen the population of North Bay fluctuate due to people moving in and out of the city for pandemic-related reasons as employment capabilities changed. However, during this time a remarkable thing was observed. Regardless of the drop in population, occupancy rates in the city held strong at about 94 per cent.
This means that when trying to calculate potential cash flow on rental properties in the city, North Bay offers one of the most consistent and reliable estimates possible. This is excellent for getting approved for mortgages on investment properties in the city because the lenders historically have a very clear image of how the market behaves.
Only time will tell whether this is changed by an increase in investors moving into the area. However, it is likely that an influx of investors and new residents would only serve to improve the city’s rental market.
Recognition is Growing
This year an exciting development for North Bay real estate investment prospects came in the form of a second place ranking on MoneySense’s list of the best places to buy real estate in Canada. This garnered the attention of national media outlets, thus putting plenty of new eyes on the otherwise underappreciated region.
However, people have not yet begun to fully take advantage of the opportunity that has been outlined by this news. Meaning that there is still plenty of time to dive into the market in North Bay before it erupts, thus allowing you to experience the full appreciation of the housing market once other investors jump onto this opportunity in the coming years.
Tax Reduction and Economic Incentives to Invest in North Bay Real Estate
One of the main avenues that the city highlights in order to entice developers into the region is their 20-year commercial tax reduction strategy. This allows commercial real estate developers and commercial developers to save money on their taxes each year, as well as clear the red tape and high costs that frequently serve as a barrier to entry for investors in other cities.
This tax reduction plan is only one of an array of tax strategies and incentives that have been implemented in order to entice out-of-town investors into the city to grow their portfolios. Another notable strategy is the Growth Community Incentive Program, which offers programming for industrial development and targeted support for new projects in key locations within the city.
Finally, the city offers raw, undeveloped land for a competitive price in order to further entice and incentivise investors to look into the region.
A Rich Industrial History in North Bay Real Estate
North Bay’s early growth as a small town was almost entirely attributed to it is role as a hub for lumbering and mining. This is due to the canoe route from the city across Ontario that was utilized by the region’s First Nation’s people and the settlers who built colonies along the route. This to this day, the city remains a strong, central locale for trade to pass through, contributing greatly to the local economy. In fact, it is estimated that the city is home to more than 65 companies in the mining industry, contributing nearly 3000 jobs for local residents.
A Central Location for International Business
For commercial investments that require access to other countries for trade, labour or expansion, North Bay real estate is a strong location to consider investing into.
The city of North Bay is located only three hours from Toronto – a major Canadian market and home to the Toronto Pearson International Airport. This fast route to the largest international airport in the country is a serious advantage to consider. However, for investors who want to make their investments close to land border crossings, the border crossing in Sault St Marie is only five hours away from the city. This makes North Bay an incredibly well-connected hub city that could host a variety of great investments.
North Bay Real Estate – A Land of New Opportunities
In conclusion, North Bay is incredibly welcoming to both residential and commercial investors alike. So, if you are looking for a location that will help you avoid being held back by red tape and excessive prerequisites meant to slow down the development process, North Bay may be the place for you.
So, if you are looking to partner with a mortgage brokerage that can offer you the best available financing for all of your residential and commercial investments as well as new real estate developments, look no further than LendCity. With our network of diverse and experienced lenders, we promise that we will find you the best financing option we can for your goals at whatever stage of your investment journey you are on.
To get started today, visit us at LendCity.ca or give our office a call at 519-960-0370 today.
North Bay Real Estate Professionals
We have searched high and low for real estate investing professionals in North Bay. Below, you can find professionals we have researched and can confirm they specialize in working with Real Estate Investors.
To ensure the maximum success in real estate investing in North Bay, or any city, you should always use professionals who understand and work with investors, your income depends on it.
This list may not fully list all the professionals in the area, but the ones we have personally investigated and that we would refer our clients to.
If you’re a real estate professional and would like us to consider adding you to the list, please contact us.
Mortgage Broker
LendCity Mortgages – Website – Click to Email – Click to Call
If you would like to learn about how to properly finance your North Bay real estate investments, click the link below to book a free strategy call with our team at LendCity.