Do you take full advantage of the unique housing resource your tax dollars finance?

The internet represents a vast warehouse of knowledge, but knowing where to start can be a challenge, especially when you know little about the real estate or financial topic you're researching. When it comes to housing, you've got a head start with Canada's federal housing agency, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This government agency makes real estate, construction and related housing information and research accessible to Canadians, and the businesses and organizations that serve them.

Visit the bilingual site and you'll discover the variety of information and resources available to improve results when you're shopping for a mortgage, home improvement systems and much more.

Online material is free, so CMHC is a good first stop when you've got a renovation or property-improvement project in mind. (Printed editions are priced and can be ordered by calling toll free at 1 800 668 2642. Check publication dates before you spend.) The PDF-manuals designed for buyers and property owners are great resources. And there's more ... .

CMHC's monthly, quarterly and annual publications and reports provide topical housing-related articles and data in accessible formats. For instance, Housing Now reports deliver relevant statistics and analysis on housing market conditions for centres across Canada, shedding light on housing starts, completions, mortgage rates, new home prices, absorption rates and economic indicators.

• The Canada edition regularly includes detailed analysis of Canada's primary and secondary mortgage markets "to help identify trends in mortgage activity, [to] monitor market share of mortgage credit by type of lending institution, [to] track trends in mortgage rates, and stay on top of the demand for mortgage credit."

• Reports covering Abbotsford, Barrie, Brantford, Guelph, Kingston and Peterborough were recently added to the extensive list of target municipalities.

To learn more about the range of resources, check the annual calendar of publication dates or sign up for notifications. For instance, the 2010 2010 Planned News Releases and Report Calendar lists news releases and reports, annual and quarterly for your city and others.

What Can You Learn? Avoid unquestioned "follow the leader" behaviour in real estate, and search out ways to anticipate changing standards and technologies. Going to the source of housing research instead of reading rehashed versions online or in print, can give you an entirely different perspective on the patterns and results revealed by the surveys or investigations involved.

For instance, the 2010 Renovation and Home Purchase Report states: "Over C$25.8 billion was spent on renovations in 2009 across ten major surveyed centres ... . According to CMHC's Renovation and Home Purchase Survey, an estimated 2.1 million households in surveyed centres indicated they had completed some form of renovation in 2009. This represents a 27 per cent increase in the number of households that completed a renovation in 2008. Fifty per cent of homeowner households across the surveyed centres completed renovations in 2009, up markedly from 40 per cent in 2008."

• Sellers' Perspective: Here's a view of what the competition is doing in your market. Recently-renovated and dead-on decorated homes will consistently sell for higher prices compared to their unimproved neighbours, unless the work is glaringly substandard. Real estate professionals can tell you the price points for neighbouring homes that have not been modernized to 21st-Century building codes and those which have not been updated to current decor fashion. Learn what is happening in your market—and those you wish to move into—and you'll have a solid information base from which to discuss local value details for your property with experienced real estate professionals.

• Buyers' Perspective: Reports like this disclose trends in property ownership and maintenance that reveal opportunities for individual purchases. When you buy someone else's renovation, you'll be paying top dollar—perhaps even more than the renovation cost. This approach is particularly expensive for buyers who anticipate re-doing some or all of the existing renovations to suit their own taste. Buyers who purchase houses, cottages or condominium units with dated decor can gain the greatest investment advantage, particularly if they are prepared to carry out some or all of the modernizing themselves. They can also gain if they learn how renovations should be done so they can demand consistently high workmanship at reasonable rates. "Buy the best location with the worst decor" is still the fast-track to acquiring significant increases in market value over short time periods. This approach can also protect buyers from dramatic drops in real estate prices if the market turns quickly.

• Business' Perspective: Discover connections between what you sell and the real estate market, and you can tap into boom times and weather softer economies. Property owners want the best for their properties and their families in hot markets, however, they want the same in poor economies, too. If your products and services, directly or indirectly, enable them to achieve these goals, local owners will become loyal customers. When speaking to business groups about connections between real estate, property ownership and their bottom line, I'm often struck by how seemingly-obvious business opportunities are overlooked or under-marketed. (If you want some examples, scroll through the more than 500 articles in "Decisions & Communities" for ideas.)

CMHC.CA is a treasure trove of real estate research and construction information for consumers and business people alike. You may be interested in the events and Housing Outlook Conferences, too. Why not start your next housing query with CMHC?

Published: September 21, 2010

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Futurist and Strategist PJ Wade is "The Catalyst" - intent on "Challenging The Best to Become Even Better." PJ earned this title by translating the dynamic impact of Boomers and their multi-generation families into relevant insights that start people thinking and taking action—in business and in life. Author of 8 books and more than 1800 published articles, PJ encourages individuals to become their own futurist. PJ writes and speaks about the insight, knowledge and solid decision-making skills that professionals and their clients need to live and work in this vortex of change. For instance, since PJ knows that home is headquarters for the new decades-long "unretirement," she wrote the popular book "Reverse Mortgages: Best Friend, Worst Enemy...Your Choice!", which is filled with suggestions and cautions on protecting, building and managing home equity. Her new business book, "What's Your Point?: Cut The Crap, Hit The Mark & Stick!" will be published in 2012. As The Catalyst, PJ provides strategic communication, client appreciation and advanced education services to the financial, tourism, lifestyle and service sectors - and the clients they serve. A frequently-quoted financial and business commentator, PJ is a thought-provoking strategic speaker who offers practical, real-life suggestions on leaving "the box" behind and embracing Forward Thinking - a talent she regularly demonstrates in this column. For more on keynotes, blogs, books and information on a range of 21st-Century topics, visit TheCatalyst.com.