February was another busy month for real estate in the city and the surrounding area.

The total number of sales in Saskatoon were up 230 units in February 2020 to 352 in February 2021, an increase of 53 per cent.

New listings in Saskatoon were up by 15.8 per cent from 468 in 2020 to 542 in 2021, although active listings fell 21.6 per cent from 1,392 to 1,091.

This means that inventory of houses on the market has fallen, and that we are definitely in a sellers’ market right now. The MLS home price index of homes in Saskatoon rose 10.1 per cent from $299,800 to $330,010 in February 2021.

If you, are someone you know, is thinking about selling their home now is the time to do it. Please feel free to give me a shout if you have any questions about any information on the market here in Saskatoon, or anywhere in Saskatchewan.

BIG DEALS VS SMALL DEALS

In Robert Kyosaki’s board game CashFlow, there are two main types of real estate deals — big deals and small deals. If you haven’t had a chance to play cashflow, you are missing out, as it is a great metaphor for life.

There are two tracks to play on the board. The inner track is the rat race, where you are tied to a job and paying bills. The outer track is the fast track, where you have the time and money freedom to explore your dreams.

To get from the rat race to the fast track, you need to buy assets, like real estate, that pay you money to have them. Once you have assets that pay you enough passive income to cover all of expenses, you no longer need your job, and you are out of the rat race.

During the game, as in life, you can buy small deals like a condo or single-family house. You can also buy big deals with are a six plex, eight plex, or apartment buildings. The game is a great metaphor because you need quite a few houses or condos to get a significant amount of passive income, whereas you can get out of the rat race with one or two big deals.

Big deals can generate a significant amount of passive income. This is similar in the real world.

For example, some clients and I were recently looking at an apartment building that would generate approximately $5,000 per month. Having one or two buildings like this in your portfolio can be a real game changer. The really cool part is that it is far easier than most people have been led to believe.

Next month I will discuss some more about the differences between the small deals and the big deals, like how to qualify for financing for a big deals and how to analyze the opportunity.

Brad Chisholm is a Realtor and real estate investor based in Saskatoon. You can find him at bradleychisholm.exprealty.com or brad. chisholm@exprealty.com.

-Brad Chisholm