The Valemount Investment Opportunity

The Next Canmore?

Canada's Rocky Mountain national parks are renowned for their breath-taking mountain scenery, crystal blue glacier-fed lakes, amazing wildlife, and friendly hosts. It's no wonder that visitors from around the world have fallen in love with the area and often wish about owning a piece of this paradise.

Unfortunately, it's all crown land and while it's not impossible to live and set up business in the towns inside these national parks, there are no true real estate investment opportunities as a result of doing so.

For this very reason, communities in close proximity to these national parks have huge potential for investors. One needs to look no further than Canmore, situated just outside of Banff National Park, less than an hour away from Calgary, Alberta. The town's Municipal Development Plan from 1998 stated, "The surrounding natural environment is the primary source of economic activity for the community." Unfortunately, if you've only just recently gotten your financial ducks in order and are looking to invest in Canmore, you better be prepared to pay. While real estate experts say that the market has come down significantly since the worldwide economic downturn, you still need to have fairly deep pockets in order to participate. The best opportunities for small investors to make money in Canmore are long gone.

While "location, location, location" is still the sounding call for real estate, "timing, timing, timing" is just as important for investment. Those who got in at the beginning of the Canmore boom made some big bucks, and ever since, investors have been looking for "the next Canmore".

A Better Canmore

But do we want another Canmore? Its proximity to the big city is both a blessing and a curse. This now "not so small" town has turned into a condo project for folks fleeing busy lives in the city. The unfortunate result is that the peace and quiet that was once so appealing in Canmore has become a thing of the past. Just drive out on a weekend and you'll be amazed at the traffic jams in and out of Highway 1 between Cowtown and Canmore. Do you really want a place to get away from it all that replicates what you're trying to get away from? If you're an investor looking for mountain property that will grow in value but that you might want to use and develop as your own private hideaway, you actually don't want another Canmore.

If you look a little further north and across the border, you'll find a place very similar to what Canmore used to be but never will be again. Furthermore, this place will never be subject to the regular population explosions that Canmore experiences on a weekly basis, ensuring that its quaint small town charm will always be there for you when you need it. What is this place?

Welcome to Valemount, British Columbia. Nearest cities: Prince George and Kamloops, both over three hours away. Edmonton is even further away at five hours. These distances ensure that not everyone from the city will be dropping in at the same time every week. But how will property values rise, you ask?

They already have, and here's why.

... continued on Opportunities page 2