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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Hi - are you current fans of the US homebuilding stocks (and their macro environment) for next 12-18 months? If so, what stocks do you prefer to buy at current prices (and a brief "why")? Many thanks as always!
Read Answer Asked by Doug on March 27, 2024
Q: In the US last week, there was a landmark agreement with the National Realtors Association that should change the way commissions are determined across the board. There should be more competition with lower commissions. Can you comment on how the decision and the new direction might impact the housing market here in Canada and what impact it may have on companies in the real estate buy/sell market? What companies might be affected? How big might the impact be? Who could be winners and losers?
Read Answer Asked on March 21, 2024
Q: Found this tiny REIT that has a portfolio of multi-family properties in Winnipeg. They trade at a significant discount to NAV; however, the debt is high and it is VERY illiquid primarily because there are a very low number of equity units O/S.

The Company is externally managed with a management agreement that pays fairly high fees.

Is this one worth the risk?

Read Answer Asked by Brad on March 20, 2024
Q: With a record immigration numbers and very few pre-construction sales due to the spook that high rates have put into real estate investors, there is a massive shortage of new housing units that has yet to be felt by the market (in my opinion). I think this is a uniquely Canadian problem and wonder if you see any companies poised to outperform when rates are falling and housing starts begin to pick up? Could you name 3-4 companies that would benefit in different ways when the shortage of available housing starts to translate into a rapid increase in units built?
Read Answer Asked by Tim on March 18, 2024
Q: Hi - can you please give your perspective on why the shares have performed so poorly despite the company having such "sticky" tenants? I would have thought that the business would have been so predictable (due to the type of tenant) and therefore easy to "manage" into a reliable long term moderate growth company....but it hasn't. Going forward...do you think the sticky tenants offer a positive way forward for the company?
Read Answer Asked by Doug on March 13, 2024
Q: Which REITs, either Canadian and/or US, are suggested for secure dividends and potential appreciation once interest rates settle. I asked this question several days ago but it much have fallen through the cracks. thanks A,
Read Answer Asked by alex on March 12, 2024
Q: On March 4 you wrote, "We do like the outlook for REITs and think that as rates stabilize and even decline, the sector should benefit. Out of the two REITs mentioned we like XRE better due to the bigger size and slightly lower expense ratio."

On January 12 you wrote, "HCRE is an equal-weight REIT ETF, which has a small AUM of $48.3M, a relatively low MER of 0.33%, and a yield of 5.9%.

ZRE is also an equal-weight REIT ETF, but has a much larger AUM of $583.7M, an MER of 0.61%, and a yield of 5.1%. XRE is not equal-weight, has a large AUM of $1.0B, a yield of 5.4%, and an MER of 0.61%.

ZRE has outperformed XRE over a long period of time, and thus we like the equal-weight approach."

Can you please clarify your preference for either XRE or ZRE and the main reason for that preference? I gather your preference is for ZRE given it is part of one of your portfolios. It is just that your March 4 response has led me to wonder.

Thanks as always for your expertise.

Read Answer Asked by Richard on March 11, 2024
Q: BBU owns(last reported 28%) of Bre.Complete silence on Bre even though belongs to the famous BN group. and paying a great dividend,currently 9.45% for an extended period of time.Why?Please short comment on last Q results .When is the next report and estimated Rev.& Eps.Please comment on co.I have held it for a few years and at a current loss of of 14.7% Add,Hold or Sell. Txs for U usual great services & views
Read Answer Asked by Peter on March 11, 2024