If you are in sandy soil you can make a probe .

The Halifax market is healthy and strong, you can see growth and change in the bedroom communities of Fairview and around Dartmouth as well.

Likewise the 1st time a new investor client sees this stuff they have a healthy level of shock & disbelief as well.

Most of my home owners are out of state owners who purchased either their future retirement homes or simply liked the tax advantages of owning a vacation home in a state that is fiscally healthy. 

I do keep a healthy reserve fund and have the money to replace it, it's more that they haven't made monetary sense to me. 

I don't know which markets near you that would work it, but those numbers seem like a safe, healthy starting point for you to do a little proof of concept work.Good luck!

There’s also entitlement risk – the chance that government agencies with jurisdiction over a project won’t issue the required approvals to allow the project to proceed; environmental risks that range from soil contamination to pollution; budget overruns and more, such as political and workforce risks.Location is another idiosyncratic risk factor.

What I have going for me - a Class A Contractor’s license, a healthy W2 salary (I’m an engineer at a “think tank”), a little bit of experience, and about $25k or so in the bank for my next investment.  

It's a healthy reminder that it's a game that not everyone succeeds in. 

Luc:While nothing like the craziness in the BC's Lower Delta or southern Ontario's horseshoe, Halifax {proper} has enjoyed a pretty healthy  run of appreciation over the past number of  years ... to the point where we no longer seriously monitor the market as it is over priced from our perspective.