By GLENN GARNETT
Linda Leatherdale is a multi-media business dynamo.
In addition to being Money Editor of The Toronto Sun, a nationally syndicated columnist and a popular speaker at seminars, she hosts Linda’s Money Show on the Global Prime Network seen nationally at 6:30 p.m. on Sundays (and on Toronto’s CFTO at 12:30 p.m. on Sundays) and is the author of Money is a Girl’s Best Friend, the best-selling financial guide for women. Coming up this fall, her second book: Money is a Kid’s Best Friend.
I worked with Linda as her associate editor for four years and can attest to her demanding schedule and amazing energy. But I also know about her secret getaway place, her family camp north of her hometown of Orillia, Ont., where she slips away every August to recharge her batteries, spend time with her family and get a little perspective.
Linda’s late father, Bruce Leatherdale built the camp in the midst of crown land while he was leader of a group of Rovers several years ago. It became the family fishing camp with just the basics – no electricity, no phones, no running water, no flush toilets. Bruce Leatherdale’s family of nine children, including Linda, would troop over a long trail through the woods to get to the cottage, carrying their supplies with them.
"It took hours to get in," Linda recalls. "Still does – the government forbids the use of cars and trucks in the area. We’d have to climb over beaver dams, swat mosquitoes and brave bee stings. My dad eventually bought a pontoon plane but some of us still had to hike in."
Affectionately called Long Lake, it quickly became the far-flung family’s gathering place. There Bruce Leatherdale taught his kids about conservation, canoeing, swimming and all about fishing – and what a prized fishin’ hole it was. Bruce Leatherdale helped the Ministry of the Environment stock the lake with bass, and muskie can be found there as well. It was their little secret until the day Linda’s husband Ian, a photographer, put a picture of a family fisherman with a huge bass in the pages of the Orillia Packet and Times.
"He just about killed me!" Linda recalls with a grimace. "We exposed our magical little secret and other fishermen began showing up."
Sadly, Linda’s dad passed away in 1980 at the age of 49. Title to the camp passed to a group of friends and Linda’s mother decided that the whole should gather at the camp every August to honor Bruce’s memory.
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and their friends last summer at her "Ontario Riviera". |
"It’s sacrosanct with my family," Linda says. "No matter how busy we are, we find the time to go to Long Lake. We’re all passing along what Dad taught us to our kids. Ian builds canoes and we try them out. And we’ve got our beach – I call it my Ontario Riviera."
It’s still a rustic place, although Linda and her mom have added a few feminine touches. And she packs a cellphone which she admits she’ll switch off now and then.
Linda says she shares the dreams of many Canadians of leaving the city and conducting her business from the peace and quiet of a cabin by the lake. And she’s convinced cottages will appreciate in value as baby boomers move into their 50s and 60s.
"I agree with Harry S. Dent, the American financial guru, who predicts great gains for smaller town and rural properties in the years to come," she says. "There are two reasons why – advances in technology will mean fewer people will have to live in urban centres to do their jobs and retiring boomers will want to get away from the same noise and congestion. Both trends point to that cottage on the lake."
A return to steadily rising property values will be a departure from recent experience, Linda points out, following the dreary ‘90s where most property values – and average family income – took unprecedented dips.
"The old saying is that God isn’t gonna make any more waterfront," she says. "But cottage owners were hurting along with home owners in the ‘90s. Now cottage property values are making a comeback."
Linda points to a recent Re/Max survey that shows aging baby boomers are flocking to rural waterfront properties, rapidly closing the window of opportunity for people mulling purchases while deals are relatively good.
"I believe recreational properties have a promising future in the new millennium as baby boomers create more wealth," she says. "People want to own a piece of Canada and where better than close to nature?"
If you’re considering a cottage purchase, and have to borrow to do it, Linda says remortgaging your home may be a better move than getting a loan for the cottage itself. "Often with recreational properties your interest rate turns out to be a little higher and a large downpayment is expected," Linda explains.
There’s a good chance you’ll get a much better rate remortgaging your principal residence and with relationship banking today, your friendly neighbourhood loans officer may knock a few points off the interest rate.
Something else for aging cottagers to worry about is capital gains. Thanks to the taxman, and unlike your principal residence, your home away from home is subject to a tax bite on its appreciated value upon sale or transfer. Like gains on stocks and income properties, 66% of the gain in your cottage’s value is taxed at the personal tax rate.
But Linda says there are ways to reduce the blow on your heirs and suggests getting a good real estate lawyer or tax accountant to guide you.
And before buying the cottage of your dreams, there’s a long checklist of questions you should ask to avoid nightmares later. Ask about property taxes, water quality and access rights. Check out local zoning regulations with regard to rebuilding or making improvements to your cottage. Is the road into your cottage maintained year ‘round? What about garbage pickup? Ensure your real estate agent has the answers to these and other questions and, again, a good real estate lawyer is your best defence.
Looking ahead, Linda says cottage investment will be the subject of one of her upcoming Linda’s Money Show programs. Check your local listings.
"For some people, cottages are status symbols or savvy investments," Linda says. "For a lot of people, like me, they’re a place to cool your jets and get away from all the corporate B.S.
"Cottages can be all of that."
