I was reading an article in the Financial Post recently entitled "Is it ever a bad time to invest in a rental property?"  According to the FP NO! It's never a bad time to invest in Real Estate and with today's record low interest rates now might be the best time we have seen in the past decade or more. The FP broke it down like this and simply looked at the past 20 years using the average price for Canadian Real Estate. If you purchased a home 20 years ago (1992) put down 25% mortgaged the rest and rented it and your tenants rent was only enough to cover your properties basic operating expenses (that`s taxes, maintenance, and the interest portion of your mortgage) you would have achieved a 11.40% annualized rate of return on your investment....Not bad!  Try matching that 25% down payment and investing it in the TSX over the last 20 years would have produced 8.69%. Keep in mind that the average interest rate over the past 20 years was much higher than it is today. With today's low interest high rents and low vacancy I see investment properties in Vancouver and Richmond that with 25% down will produce positive cash flow with no problem at all. The important thing with real estate is thinking long term. This is not speculating or flipping this is buy, rent and hold. You're creating wealth 2 ways - by 1 paying down the debt (tenant is doing this and perhaps even some of the principal) and 2 over time getting appreciation on the property. I have personally been investing in Vancouver Real Estate for over 20 years and share this expertise with all my investor clients. I offer a unique value proposition that very few Vancouver Realtors can match. Want to learn more? Take a look at my personal views and philosophies on Real Estate investing in Vancouver and Richmond by visiting my website. www.owenbigland.com and clicking on the "Have Plans to Invest?" button on the home page or the link here: http://www.owenbigland.com/PlansToInvest.ubr