Welcome to the spring edition of the Canadian Real Estate Insider. We want to welcome all the brand new members to our newsletter and the inner circle of the unbiased Canadian Real Estate market fundamentals. Spring is in the air and as we moved our clocks forward recently it is important that we take a look into future fundamentals of the real estate markets across Canada.

The weather continues to heat up and, in some markets, so is the 'fear based' newspaper headlines. While some people are running around crying the 'sky is falling', many sophisticated Real Estate investors have now resurfaced and are stating "It's about time. Finally, here's the buying opportunity we have been waiting for".

Congratulations on staying on top of the market, and NOT getting caught up in the fear and greed that surrounds Real Estate. Remember this great quote from Warren Buffet, "Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful." Right now is a great time to take calculated actions and buy well- selected Real Estate in fundamentally strong towns.

Once again you can take your time (Investing in Real Estate is a marathon... not a sprint), pick well selected properties, write some sharp offers and aggressively negotiate a favorable price and terms.

The key right now is to stick with your system (as our clients have for over 16 years). Make sure you concentrate fully upon the economic fundamentals, this will dramatically increase returns and reduce your risks. In a market such as this, you will need to be better educated and more on top of the economic fundamentals or you risk making a poor investment decision based on fear or greed, the two killers of quality investments.

The rest of this newsletter is set to provide you insights into the markets and to share strategies to make your business run better and more profitably, including a couple of exclusive articles only available to our newsletter subscribers.

This Month's Issue Includes:

1. Investing with Family and Friends - potential landmine or untapped opportunity?

2. Mortgage Market News - Bank of Canada Announcement, and strategies to help you save money.

3. Should You Incorporate Your Real Estate Business - From an Accountant's perspective

4. Final Thoughts

-- But First, A Quick Event Update --

*** EXCITING NEWS & Deadline Fast Approaching!***

The First Ontario ACRE System Live for 2008 is less than 3 weeks away, and, as anticipated, this event is going to sell out in advance (again!)

Don R. Campbell and special Canadian Real Estate experts are coming to present his upcoming ACRE System program in Toronto (April 12 & 13). This program is Canada's longest and most successful Real Estate system that has been used to purchase in excess of $2.4 Billion dollars of Real Estate.

As a reader of the Canadian Real Estate insider, we would like to invite you to attend this exclusive event. We have managed to secure you a $200 discount off the registration price PLUS you can get access to the private members only meeting (typically only available for exclusive members of the Real Estate Investment Network™). This additional bonus event will happen the Friday night before ACRE System, April 11th. This bonus event alone will be worth your attendance.

You've probably seen Don on BNN, CTV news, Global TV, CBC news, CITY TV and heard him on local radio stations. He is Ontario's no-hype real estate expert and he is releasing his latest Ontario market research on April 12th and 13th in Toronto.

So if you have questions regarding...

The potential of slow down or even downturn in the Canadian economy?
How the strong Canadian Dollar will affect your Real Estate?
Automotive layoffs, how will this affect you?
The U.S. Subprime and Housing Crisis?
How can you increase your revenue and net worth during these times?
... and you want the true answers to find out how these questions will affect your current investment property or home's value, you'll want to be at this important event...

We've arranged a special $200 discount for you. So if you want the truth about the long-term property market click on the following link to register special link..

If you would like more details before you register, here is a link to a long and detailed page that lays the whole weekend out for you. This is our 16th year of providing unbiased research and investment systems to Canadian investors, so we know EXACTLY what you need to produce results.

Investing with Family and Friends

Don R. Campbell

The 8 Steps to Success

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." This opening sentence to the classic book A Tale of Two Cities also can describe what can happen when family members with differing philosophies decide to work together in a business or in real estate investing.

Successful real estate investors and brothers, Mark and Eric Gonneau (as featured in Canadian best selling book 51 Success Stories From Canadian Real Estate Investors) readily admit that they live their lives under different philosophies; they have acknowledged this difference and have forged a real estate business that allows them both to live to their strengths. They work together, but not exclusively, which helps to release the potential tensions of disagreements.

They have worked very hard at building a team that supports where they want to go both together and independently. However, as with all family business relationships clear communications is the key to success as they have found out throughout the years of working together. Whenever there was a major dispute, it inevitably could be traced back to misinterpretation of poor communications. A great lesson for all of us in all of our business dealings, don't be afraid of getting clarification if you're not 100% sure of what was agreed to, and always get confirmation in writing, even if it is just a quick e-mail.

Family partnerships sound like a wonderful solution, pooling resources and expertise with someone you know incredibly well (often your whole life) to create a strong investment team with a single minded goal. But along with the positives, there are often negatives that you wouldn't have to deal with if your partners were not close family.

For instance, all the past family baggage and old 'set-in-stone' family behavioral patterns come along for the ride.

ACTION STEPS TO SUCCESS:

Family units investing together can create amazing results, as you'll hear in the many Family & Friends stories in this book. (51 Success Stories From Canadian Real Estate Investors) You're all working for the common good of the family legacy and wealth. The key to making a family-business relationship like this work is to set some very clear guidelines, for instance:

1. Acknowledge that differences in opinion will occur and that they need to be dealt with from a business only perspective.

2. Discussions of business should be during scheduled times, not everytime you get together. For instance, birthdays, Thanksgiving dinners and other family gatherings are for family, NOT for business. Schedule regular business meetings to deal with the business issues. Just like the separation of church and state: you need to separate family from business.

3. All parties agree to work very hard to be 'adults' and separate business disputes from family relationships. Remember, it is just a business deal, not life or death. Family MUST come first, before money.

4. Design a dispute resolution process for when the inevitable impasse occurs. Define who you will use as an outside source to help you get to a conclusion.

5. Acknowledge that one party will always think they are doing more work than the other one (even if, in reality, they are not) Schedule regular twice yearly meetings to solely discuss the division of labour and expertise.

6. Treat it like a business. All Joint Venture agreements, cash infusions, and division of responsibilities notes MUST be in writing and agreed to by all parties involved. No Exceptions. Remember to deal with the inevitable situation in which one partner wants to buy a property and the other doesn't. Define whether the one who wants to can go and buy it on his own.

7. The older or more forceful stronger sibling MUST agree not to lord-over the younger or less forceful sibling, and the younger one cannot play the role of the 'poor-me' victim.

8. Define exactly how you will break-up the business Joint Venture if and when one of the parties wants to end it. Remember to address the key elements such as: property valuation, does the portfolio have to be liquidated, what is the partner buy-out process, how is the tax liability going to be shared of one partner buys out the other. It is MUCH easier to get these all dealt with before there are large dollars on the table. Do it early.

If you treat the family business relationship as a true business partnership, and every party is clear on what your agreements are, working with a family member or two can be amazing. However, if you take this relationship more casually than you would a regular business relationship. It is a recipe for disaster, and if there is a disaster in the business relationship it can't help but ripple into the family time. Don't let that happen; plan and discuss well in advance of starting the business and you will enjoy an amazing business that will only enhance and strengthen the family bonds.