Unfortunately many people get into real estate investing only to back out when they realize that they are not going to get rich as quickly as they dreamt of. Not knowing how or where to invest are basic yet fundamental problems that beginners face. The Alberta oil sands in Canada offer the perfect investment area.

Real estate is well known as a solid asset class and thus it attracts many savvy and not so savvy investors. For “newbies” the benefit of investing with the guidance of a real estate investment expert is crucial to meeting investment goals. Having a mentor who will help you see the pitfalls of investing and advise you in situations where they have valuable experience is an important aspect of building a profitable portfolio. The majority of new investors fail by employing unproven techniques that may not be suitable for their market or their goals. Proven systems are virtually unbeatable with the guidance of a real estate pro who has been there and done that in your specific market. The first steps to success are finding someone in your area to mentor you and following a system that has helped other investors accomplish what you want to do in your market.

Once you have the mentor and system in place, target your investment area and begin narrowing down the property choices to find the best deal. Canada is a stable, developed country with an abundance of natural resources and is a strong, consistent favorite with investors from all over the world.

The province of Alberta is oil rich and one of its biggest cities, Edmonton, has seen billions of dollars of investment over the last few years. One of the major reasons for such incredible investment into Edmonton is the city’s proximity to the Alberta Oil Sands.

Oil Sands are deposits of bitumen, molasses-like highly viscous oil that must be heated or diluted with lighter hydrocarbons. They are contained in three major areas beneath 141,000 square kilometers in northeastern Alberta - an area larger than the state of Florida and twice the size of New Brunswick.

However, only about two per cent of the initial established resource has been produced to date. This is very attractive to investors as the Alberta government encourages the development of its extensive resources to ensure a competitive and economically sound region. A total of $14 billion industry investment in Alberta oil sands was invested in 2006 alone. Over the last four fiscal years, from 2003 to 2007, oil sands development returned $4.276 billion to Albertans in the form of royalties paid to the provincial government.

Reasons to invest in Edmonton, Alberta:

Alberta oil sands are the second largest oil deposit in the world. There have been billions of dollars invested in the Edmonton area and with over $100 billion in projects scheduled over the next 20 years.

The conference board of Canada has forecasted that Edmonton will continue to lead western Canada in gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

With $10 billion in refineries under development, there is a major surge in economic spin-offs.

The Edmonton area (as well as the province of Alberta) is completely debt free and has extra money to invest in major infrastructure and educational projects. Over $80 billion dollars of development projects have already been confirmed for the province of Alberta.

Edmonton’s Anthony Henday ring road is a major factor for the increase in property values to all areas around the highway. Its effect on the city’s transportation flow will reduce commute times and improve the strain that large population growth has put on the area.

China, India and the USA are already investing in the Alberta oilsands projects and rely on the energy output created.