With more than two decades of experience under her belt, Tamara Stone knows the real estate game inside and out.
Together with her sister Shannon, Stone heads up the Stone Sisters Team, made up of a dozen highly dedicated real state professionals in Kelowna, BC.
Own the Dirt
Stone has been selling real estate for 24 years and investing for 23. The team has had as many as five rental properties at a time and currently holds one.
“We buy and sell lots all the time,” she says. “I believe in owning the dirt. I like the stability of it.”
There’s an ongoing debate between Stone and her husband, who works in the financial world. They can’t come to an agreement over which is the better investment – property or stocks – but Stone knows where she stands on the issue.
“You know the old cliché – they aren’t making any more land,” she says.
Investing in Your Back Yard
Stone always funnels her investment dollars into the beautiful lakeside town of Kelowna, a lush jewel on the shores of Okanagan Lake, surrounded by mountains and verdant pine forests.
“I’ve always invested in Kelowna because I’m a big advocate for the town,” she says. “I take great pride in raising my family here.”
Family is a prime motivator for Stone’s success. She grew up in a real estate family and learned its lessons early.
“The value of real estate and land has been drilled into me,” she says. She works hard and so does her husband, but she says that less than half of their combined net worth has come from their earnings.
“More than half has come from buying and selling real estate,” she says. “Growth is more lucrative in real estate compared to stocks.”
Bank on Canadian Real Estate
Stone anticipates that Canadian real estate will continue to climb in value.
“We’re viewed globally as a safe, secure and democratic society,” she says. Compared with the unrest that’s being seen in other places in the world, Canada is generally viewed as a good place to live. Life in the Okanagan Valley was fairly insulated for a long time, and then people began to filter in from other parts of Canada.
“Now we’re getting inquiries from Germany, Italy and Hong Kong,” she says.
With a continued upward trend, values could continue to increase, pricing some new buyers out of the market. With the exception of investors in addy, of course. Those who do not have hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of liquidity can leverage the platform to begin building their portfolio and their net worth.
Not Your Typical Investment Method
“I love addy,” Stone says. “I think it’s very cool. It’s different. It takes a little wrap your head around it, but only because it’s not the typical thing.”
Rather than saving for years to buy a property, addy allows even young investors, or those with little on the balance sheet, to take control of their futures.
“It’s enabling you to be part of something bigger,” she says. “It’s enabling you to diversify in different markets. I can’t wait for people to hear about it and jump on board because I think it will absolutely take off.”
She said some people balk at a large investment or at the thought of having to play landlord.
“Some people don’t have the capital or the confidence to take on the role of landlord,” she says. “But this will allow people to invest as little or as much as they are comfortable investing. I think it’s really going to help people.”
BE A PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER:
I like the concept and have joined what used to be IMBY: In My Back Yard, now “addy”. I am also looking forward to a more seamless way of loading up my account personally as well as moving $ to various properties. I also see the value in diversifying the investment dollars to various markets across Canada for now it is primarily in western Canada while lucrative markets in other parts of Canada are “ripe” for a great return on the ROI. But it is in the growing stage and I appreciate that.
Great to have you onboard Will. I look forward to investing along side of you.