Canada Cottage Country Real Estate – Part Five

Ontario Cottage Country Is Quickly Becoming A Real Estate Hot Spot

First Published Date: Jan 23, 2009

Muskoka, 1 ½ hours north of Toronto, is a land of beautiful lakes, waterfalls, and wooded pine forests that has become well known for its’ beautiful terrain. Long known as a home to wealthy sportsmen who settled here from the British Isles, this little piece of heaven is quickly developing into some of the most sought after real estate in the world.

Muskoka is comprised of a group of townships including Georgian Bay, Huntsville, Lake of Bays, Bracebridge, and Muskoka Lake Township. With over 2500 square miles of untouched wilderness in Muskoka there is an uncanny few amount of permanentresidents. Just over 50,000 residents call Muskoka their permanent home. There are nearly 100,000 more seasonal land owners that call Muskoka their home away from home.

The exciting natural beauty of this area has a setting of pristine lakes mixed in with natural rocky shores and magnificent landscapes. The real estate here is sought after because of the peacefulness it brings to calm your soul while still offering access to sports, shopping, and entertainment.

The 3 major lakes, Muskoka, Rousseau, and Joseph, offer more than 100 miles water for your boating pleasure. Residential cottages have hefty price tags but are a cherished family gathering place to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and are generally passed down through the generations. Some of the beautiful cottages here feature gazebos, boat houses, automobile garages, and full length cottage decks. Custom woodwork and one of a kind designs in fireplaces andstaircases are among the most beautiful and elegant features one could hope for. Custom stone walkways, upper decks on the boat houses and even specialaccommodations and extra rooms are some of the options that these countryside cottages offer.

As for activity options in Muskoka the list goes on and on. Nearby museums, sledding, and parks are just a few of the activities that are available in Muskoka. For the sportsmen there is plentiful fishing and hunting activities, not to mention snowmobiles, flying tours, camping, and incredibly beautiful golf courses. For the women there are numerous shopping venues, exhibits of fine art, and delicious restaurants about. Or perhaps spending the day in one of Muskokas’ full service spa and salons where you can restore health and beauty to your body and soul while being pampered to the highest possible standards.

Real estate prices range from $100,000 on the low end to upwards of $2 million for the extravagant properties. Real estate agents online have properties listed with plenty of pictures and well written content to help you learn about the area. If you are in the market for a vacation home and enjoy the peace and tranquility of preserved wildlife I highly recommend you look at Muskoka as an option. Of course you better have your cheque book ready too!

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Jan 23, 2009.

Burj Khalifa — The Tallest Building in the World

World’s Tallest SkyScraper

First Published Date: Feb 6, 2010

In September 2004, the Burj Dubai project started, intending to build what was expected to become the world’s tallest building. In officially opening the building, this January of 2010 – some two years after the originally intended completion date in 2008, the opening ceremony is a testament to the spirit of co-operative human endeavour, overcoming all obstacles, including the global recession, to achieve an outcome which is recognized as being second to none – the achievement of having built the tallest building in  the world.

Despite good progress until late 2008, the fate of the Burj Dubai was left somewhat in the balance when the exposure of the emirate of Dubai to the financial havoc caused by global recession became apparent, with Burj Dubai looking likely to become one of many fire sale items that might need to be sold off to get the emirate out of the red. However, in the pomp and ceremony of the opening day was included a re-naming ceremony for the Burj Dubai – and it was formally opened as the Burj Khalifa – by way of tribute to the leader of Abu Dhabi – Sheik Khalifia bin Zayed Al Nahayan  who recently provided financial assistance to the neighboring Dubai to the tune of  CAD 11 ($10) billion securing the financial future of Dubai and ensuring completion of the Burg Khalifa, enabling it to take its place as the fully accredited tallest building in the world. It can be seen from 95 kilometers away. The Khalifa Tower is around half a mile high and overlooks the entire city, including existing tall buildings, it is expected to be a tourist magnet, not only for its unique height, but its location from which can be accessed all of the wonders of Dubai – the world’s largest arch bridge, the twirling tower, a refrigerated beach and some artificial islands shaped like a map of the world – for a vacation or a stopover, this new centre for tourism in Dubai promises an experience in the grandest style and well worth including in your travel plans, particularly for those who enjoy fine dining and those who love to shop.

There are over 160 levels in the Burj Khalifa – including the area given over to the Armani Hotel. The elevator has the longest travel distance in the world and there are double deck elevators which travel at 10 meters per second-the highest speeds to take you up to the highest level observation deck, where breath taking panoramic views can be enjoyed by night and day. Most of the lower levels of the Burj Khalifa are taken up by the luxurious Armani Hotel with 160 guest rooms, suites and nine hundred one or two room living accommodation units. There are 37 floors of office space all fitted out with the very latest in design and e-technology – the Burj Khalifa is a new hub for both business and social interaction and will bring some much needed new tourism and trade into the economy of Dubai.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Feb 6, 2010

Which City Has the Most Skyscrapers?

Is It Hong Kong or New York?

First Published Date: June 15, 2009

Very few subjects on the topic of architecture divide opinion as much as sky scrapers. For many, a sky scraper is a demonstration of the art of structural engineering taken to its ultimate level – both literally and metaphorically. For others, there is an impression that the presence of sky scrapers on a skyline is as much a demonstration of an absence of imagination as anything else. As children, we look upon a sky scraper in wonder. How could anything be that tall? How could anything man-made reach that high? It is hard to avoid being impressed even as you get older. So many sky scrapers are still built today because people continue to be amazed by what structural engineers can do.

Where there is scope to impress, there is also competition. This fact, whether it occurs to people or does not, has inspired human behaviour in countless and varied ways. Witness the space race. Witness dance-offs. And, naturally, witness sky scrapers. These buildings exist, in no small part, because someone did it first, and someone else wants to beat them. City authorities and private companies are certainly not above asking aloud the question “How tall was the one they built? OK, let’s make ours one foot bigger!”. The concept of competitive ambition collided with the practice of architecture, and the sky scraper was what resulted. In terms of advertising a holiday destination or a business city, one of the most powerful images any advertiser can use is a picture of the city’s skyline. If that skyline is dominated by sky scrapers, the city is deemed successful and interesting. People will want to visit a place with a lot of sky scrapers, even if they are not quite sure why.

This has led to an interesting (if you like this kind of thing) dispute over the question of which city has the most sky scrapers. Believe it or not, this is the source of no little controversy, with figures from the website Emporis (considered experts on the topic of building) suggesting that Hong Kong is at the top of the tree with more than seven thousand buildings and counting. However, if you could one sky scraper as being a building from its own unique platform, then New York’s 5,000+ total will be more than Hong Kong’s.

The source of the controversy is that, for counting purposes, some will use the number of towers that reach a certain height (150 meters, as often as not) as the number of sky scrapers. Others will only count one skyscraper even if multiple towers of sufficient height spring from the one platform on the ground. So some will say that New York has the most sky scrapers, some will argue that it is Hong Kong. Others still will point out that Dubai is building the world’s largest sky scraper, and will argue that this is at least as important, as it is more groundbreaking. Then still others will argue that sky scrapers are a blot on the landscape and should not be encouraged. This is the nature of debate.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on June 15, 2009.

Cities With The Most Skyscrapers

Is New York, Hong Kong, or Dubai Has The Most Skyscrapers?

First Published Date: July 1, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

When it comes to building a skyscraper that will impress the world and stick in the minds of people, there is nothing like height that comes into consideration. And it’s no wonder that the topic “Which city has the most skyscrapers?” will always be a debated one. A skyscraper demonstrates the art of structural engineering taken to its ultimate zenith, literally and metaphorically. And there is no straightforward answer to the above question.

The cities with the most skyscrapers reward depends on how you look at the definition of skyscraper and various other factors. For example, if you consider a building at least 115 feet (35 meters or 12 stories) tall, Hong Kong stays on top of the list with close to 8000 buildings. However, if you consider one skyscraper as being a building from its own unique platform, then New York City’s close to 6000 total will be more than Hong Kong. If you follow strict rules on height and consider skyscrapers only above 300 meters (980 feet or 80 floors), Dubai, Shenzhen, New York City stay on top of the list.

So some will use certain heights to count skyscrapers, and others will only count one skyscraper even if multiple towers of sufficient height spring from the one platform on the ground. And the answers can always be argued upon whether if it’s Hong Kong, New York, or Dubai based on how you look at it.

Sources:
http://www.emporis.com/statistics/most-skyscraper-cities-worldwide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_with_the_most_skyscrapers#Cities

Why Go Into Real Estate?

Why Should You Consider Getting Into Real Estate?

The world of real estate is one that is filled with challenges, and is never as straightforward as one would like it to be – as some think it may be from the outside, indeed. There is certainly no reason to suggest, though, that one should give up on the idea just because of the difficulties, it is these difficulties that make real estate what it is – an arena in which the strong survive and are rewarded handsomely for so doing. What is the story? Why should you consider getting into real estate?

1. The money. Let’s not pull any punches, very few people who get involved in the business of real estate go into it without money as their primary motivation. The most recognized way in which people make money from real estate is to buy a property when it is cheap, and potentially not very nice to live in, then spend some money bringing it into shape so that it can be sold on at a profit. The equation is fairly straightforward. You start with a modest outlay on a modest property. You want to maximize what you can bring in for it while not spending too much. Clever property developers will know how to improve a property while getting the best value.

2. Working for yourself. Sometimes there will be a lot of money in a job where you are answerable to other people. Sure, you enjoy the money, but when you are continually having to devote your time and skills to serving the need and request of someone else it can be tiring and unrewarding (except on the financial front, of course). Being your own boss means that you get to make the decisions and as well as being able to benefit financially you will also have the chance to make your personal philosophy into something concrete. This is something that is enriching in more than just the obvious way.

3. Standing in the community. This is something that tends to go hand in hand with financial success, of course. The two things are different, though. You can become a respected member of the community without a lot of money, and you can certainly make a lot of money without becoming a respected member of the community. But working in the real estate business can offer you the chance to really make ties that will stand you in good stead. Good property options will make a community far more profitable, and by contributing to that you may find that you are sought out by people with sway.

4. The journey is a blast. Often when someone buys a house, they do it up, sell it on and go back to work with a tidy profit in their bank account. This isn’t wrong. But if you realize  a knack for developing properties, you can continue reinvesting and keep making more money. When you are successful in real estate, it often means the big dream coming true – being able to retire early in order to enjoy your spoils at leisure.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to Ahmed Dawn Dot Com. This article originally published on the above website on May 1, 2009.