Lloydminster

[nigelwray1982]

Hey everyone, I've been thinking of moving to Alberta from Ontario, and have a good feeling I have a job lined up in Lloydminster. Could anyone give me abit of information about the area from an investing perspective or just in general, your feelings about the city? And how are people taxed being on the border?

 

[garyyeung]

I used to work in Lloydminster and have invested there since 2008. It's a small town of 30,000 with a growing population. The census showed a 15% population growth from 2006 to 2011.



The local economy is based on heavy oil. When oil prices went down in 2009 and 2010, the rents went down and vacancies up significantly. If you do invest there expect to make a couple hundred dollars extra cash flow per month per door vs. a large city. Currently, the vacancy rate is next to zero and rents are rising.



You will not pay PST on either side of Lloydminster. Income taxes are based on your province of residence. So, higher income people tend to live on the Alberta side.

 

[Sherilynn]

I have family with a few rental properties out there. They have had zero vacancy for years. I have also received several calls regarding rent-to-own for Lloyd for this reason. People come to town and discover there is nowhere to live. There seems to be a shortage of rental properties.

 

[nigelwray1982]

Low vacancies, amen to that! Wow, I've been looking for places to live and cant find anything I'd be happy with, mostly price wise. I can and want to live a very minimalistic lifestyle when I first get settled in, but there doesnt look to be any public transportation (city bus/train) either. I'll have to think about this, but thanks for the heads up guys.

 

[kfort]

The town is fairly small though, you may be able to throw some studded tires on your Huffy and rock 2 wheels all winter...

 

[nigelwray1982]

Well, I'll be moving to Lloydminster this week. I'll be working as a manager at sportchek, come by if you want any good deals.