Pei - Great Waterfront Real Estate Values

PEI, also known as Prince Edward Island, is an island province of Canada lying 13 km off the eastern coast. It is connected to the mainland by the Confederation Bridge, as well as ferry and air links. PEI is the ocean playground of Canada and the permanent population of approximately 140,000 swells to around one million in the summer months as tourists, holidaymakers and summer residents arrive to take advantage of this quiet, pastural island reminiscent of the rolling hills of England. PEI has been popularized over the years by the tales of author Lucy Maude Montgomery and the life and adventures of her heroin, the red-haired orphan, Anne of Green Gables.

However the adventures of Anne and Gilbert took place in a much more rural and undeveloped PEI than what visitors to the island find today. PEI is perhaps a second Martha's Vineyard in the making. The island has a strong and developing cultural identity that is eclipsing Anne and we are seeing a developing arts sector, both in terms of artisan crafts and performance art. The island has a developing infrastructure as well, both public and private and with the construction of new public resources, such as hospitals and private such as shopping malls, big-box shopping, and power centres, PEI is becoming a modern and desirable place to live.

PEI offers excellent real estate investment opportunities. Probably the most interesting investments on the island are to be found in the area of waterfront property. PEI has a very jagged coastline and there are many bays, inlets and rivers. As a consequence PEI is well endowed with lands that border water. Proportionately PEI may have one of the highest land to waterfront ratios in the country. As PEI is really only in the beginnings of finding its place in the world real estate market, the land prices are, in relationship to most other places in the world, really quite a bargain.

There are still many undeveloped waterfront properties to be had, especially to the eastern and western ends of the island where development really hasn't begun in earnest. However in the middle sectors of the island, where development is more advanced there are still deals to be had both in well developed subdivions like Granville-on-the-Water, where roads, culverts and other infrastructure are laid on as well as other developments where the purchaser will be responsible for pushing through roads and bringing in utilities. These subdivisions, which usually accomodate lots over an acre and sometimes in the 3-5 acre range, are ideal places to build large summer homes and in some cases year round living is possible.

However purchasing land and building is but one option. There are many homes and cottages that can be bought at very reasonable prices. It is popular for many Canadian and American city-dwellers to purchase a summer home or cottage and use it for their own holidays as well as renting it to other holiday-makers. Summer rentals help recoup a large part of the mortgage costs while building equity in a property that, in real estate markets of the future, with less and less similar property available, will experience a marked increase in value. There is the option of putting your recreational property in the hands of a property manager and many will provide internet services to market your rental property as well as cleaning and maintenance, the check-in and check-out of guests, collection of payments etc. In this way owners are freed from the rig ours of running the property themselves.

Your search for the perfect real estate investment should begin on the internet with a search such as "PEI real estate" or "PEI waterfront". You will find many local realtors with property offerings. You can also use realtor.com. Contact any realtor listing a property of interest - initially by email. You may contact a number of realtors and then, depending on who you "click" with, whoever seems to best answer your questions in a timely matter, arrange to visit the island to view a short-list of properties personally. The process of purchasing real estate on PEI is much the same as anywhere else in Canada , with the exception that when purchasing waterfront land, there are some restrictions on the amount of coastline any one person can own, as well as the need to apply to IRAC, the Island Regularly and Appeals Commission, which is charged with seeing that ownership restrictions are adhered to. This is usually a formality and most interested parties buy their desired property without incident. The true purpose of this step is to ensure that certain interests do not purchase a disproportionately high amount of land.

So, start your internet search now and welcome to PEI!