QUOTE (mark186 @ Nov 22 2007, 02:57 PM)
This is my first post as well.
I've always loved Stratford as a town to visit (I live about 40 mins away) and usually go shopping there once a month but I have some reservations about it as a place to invest. The first thing is that you are so close to KW, why not just invest there? Also, to me property seems to be at a premium in Stratford compared to much larger urban centres nearby (KW & London). I also question the Toronto Star's assessment of how things are run (they probably think Cuba is run pretty good). Currently the city council is looking very obstinate in not allowing a Wal Mart to go up at the edge of town saying that it will affect the feel of their town and hurt other small merchants. I wonder if the Zellers, Giant Tiger, new Staples or mall now at the edge of town have affected the feel of the town or other merchants. Of course Wal Mart's application is going to the OMB and will likely go through at a large cost to taxpayers. Another thing that comes to mind is a few years ago the town had a major sewer/drainage issue affecting dozens of homes in the downtown core. I have a friend that had minor problems and he mentioned that the lawsuits were flying fast and furious. My recollection is that there may have been some negligence on the part of the municipality and I don't know what ever was resolved but it is something I would look at before putting money in the town.
Ideally you would want to do a Property Goldmine Score Card on a property you were looking at. There will likely be some ripple effect from the Woodstock/Toyota boom as well as KW's influence. If you were looking at a B & B in Stratford I don't think you could go wrong as long as you were aware of all of the rules and regulations. Once again, I absolutely love this place and can't believe I've written such a negative post about it, but you do want to be careful.
Thanks Mark, Helpful input, especially the stuff about sewers and the like. Welcome, not that I'm a veteran or anything. By the way, did you notice that based on our membership numbers that you are almost 1000 members after me in only one month's time??