Thousands Flock to New Offering Allowing Canadians to Buy Shares in Commercial Properties
(TORONTO) – A popular new investment product is making commercial real estate ownership a reality for Canadians who’ve been sidelined by rising prices.
Willow.ca is a securities-approved Canadian company that’s attracting customers who can’t buy entire buildings but want to own apartments, shopping centres, office buildings and more, in red-hot real estate markets such as Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary and Halifax.
PropSharing (property sharing) is a safe and trusted form of investing, having received approval from the Ontario Securities Commission in December 2021. It’s the first of its kind in Canada, set up by the team that helped launch WealthSimple.
Willow.ca purchases and manages thriving commercial buildings, passing along monthly profits from rental income, plus appreciation on the buildings themselves. And you can sell your shares whenever you want.
“We are the great equalizer for the little guy” said Willow.ca founder & CEO Logan Yergens, a self-described farm boy from Estevan, Saskatchewan with a Rotman MBA. “Willow.ca gives everyone a chance to own real estate in our thriving cities. That dream of ownership is not out of reach anymore” he said.
“Our investors range from a 78-year-old grandmother to 18-year-old millennials who can now say they own prime property in Canada’s great cities – no middlemen, no costly barriers, and YOU don’t have to be the landlord,” Yergens added.
Willow.ca properties earn roughly 5% per year from rental income, plus property appreciation.
“I’m always mindful of the memorable quote by billionaire industrialist Andrew Carnegie who said: ’90% of all millionaires become so through real estate.’ As a farm kid who’s worked in finance and blockchain, it feels nice to be able to help everyday people build wealth in real estate,” said Yergens.
The commissions and fees of a traditional real estate transaction are usually 9% of the total value. Willow can do it for as little as $5 using technology and a safe, regulated, share-buy-and-sell program. Willow clients tend to enter the market with an average $1,000 investment but can buy-in for as little as $100 because it’s like the stock market for commercial real estate.
The Willow.ca expert team purchases top-flight commercial real estate properties and holds the mortgage on 50% of the value while carving the other half into 100,000 equal units. Investors then have the chance to buy and sell shares in the secure secondary online platform.
Willow.ca is insured by CIPF and meets all regulatory requirements. Investor profits are taxed as capital gains and not income, providing beneficial tax treatment.
