Experience is useful partly because it teaches you what works.
It’s even more useful when it teaches you what not to do.
Michael Ruge has spent 45 years building housing, and he doesn’t describe those decades as one uninterrupted run of successful projects. Quite the opposite.
In Building Hope in Housing, Ruge says the early years included plenty of mistakes. His team fought city hall, pursued rezonings that weren’t worth the effort, spread itself too thin and learned lessons the expensive way.
Those experiences now shape how he thinks developers can help tackle the Housing Crisis.
Lesson One: Stop Fighting Every Battle
One of the clearest changes in Ruge’s development strategy is his attitude towards planning.
Instead of buying property in an area where apartments aren’t wanted and then trying to force a rezoning, his team looks at where municipalities already expect growth.
If future plans call for apartments or townhouses, that’s where they start looking for opportunities.
It’s a simple shift from asking, “Can we convince the city to let us build this?” to asking, “Where does the city already want this built?”
The second question can save enormous amounts of time and frustration.
Ruge compares the strategy with Wayne Gretzky’s famous approach to hockey: don’t focus only on where the puck is now. Think about where it’s going.
Lesson Two: Every Property Should Work on Its Own
Land assembly can create valuable development sites.
It can also go wrong.
Imagine buying one house because you expect to acquire the property next door. Then the neighbour refuses to sell.
If your entire plan depends on owning both properties, you’re stuck.
Ruge’s rule is straightforward: don’t purchase a property unless it is viable as a standalone asset.
That gives the developer options.
If neighbouring properties become available, the assembly can move forward. If they don’t, the original property still has a purpose.
During a Housing Crisis, speed matters, but so does financial discipline. Developers who take poorly considered risks aren’t helping anybody if their projects fail.
Lesson Three: Keep Existing Assets Working
Michael Ruge’s team often keeps houses as rentals while assembling land.
That means the properties can continue generating cash flow rather than sitting vacant while the larger project comes together.
Eventually, the assembled site can be sold to a major developer capable of handling construction and the financial responsibilities associated with a larger project.
Ruge’s team can then focus on the part of the process it does well.
This idea of specialising rather than trying to control every stage is a recurring theme in his approach.
Lesson Four: Work With Homeowners
Land assembly can sound intimidating from a homeowner’s perspective.
Ruge says his team avoids playing hardball.
Where possible, homeowners are given time to make a gradual transition. That can mean several years to decide where they want to live next, whether they want to downsize and how they want to use the proceeds of the sale.
The aim is for the homeowner, land assembler and eventual developer all to see a benefit.
Not every owner will want to participate, and Ruge acknowledges that.
The broader lesson is that housing development works better when the people involved aren’t automatically treated as obstacles.
Lesson Five: Think About Tomorrow During Construction
Some of Ruge’s advice concerns decisions that may seem small when a building is first developed.
One example is registering an apartment building as a condominium from the beginning, even if there are no immediate plans to sell individual units.
Why?
Because plans change.
Ten, 20 or 30 years later, owners may decide individual sales make sense. Preparing for that possibility from the beginning can potentially avoid a complicated conversion later.
Ruge also strongly favours separate utility meters.
His argument is that when residents are directly responsible for their own utility consumption, they become more conscious of how much energy and water they use.
These aren’t headline-grabbing solutions to the Housing Crisis. They’re operational lessons that can affect how efficiently housing performs over decades.
Lesson Six: Don’t Treat Every Developer as the Enemy
Perhaps the most important lesson from Michael Ruge is his belief that the Housing Crisis is simply too large for developers to think only in terms of competition.
Canada needs millions more homes.
No company is going to build them all.
Ruge believes the solution requires thousands of developers creating projects of different sizes, from five units to 500.
That means sharing knowledge can be more useful than guarding every lesson.
After four and a half decades, Ruge’s stated goal is to help others learn more quickly than he did.
Experience Should Make the Next Project Better
Nobody spends 45 years in real estate without getting things wrong occasionally.
The useful question is what happens next.
Michael Ruge’s current approach to the Housing Crisis reflects lessons earned through projects that worked and decisions that didn’t.
Build where growth is wanted.
Manage downside risk.
Keep assets productive.
Treat homeowners fairly.
Plan for the long term.
And recognise that solving a housing shortage measured in millions will require far more people than one development company.
Experience doesn’t make the Housing Crisis easy.
But used properly, it can help the next generation avoid spending 45 years learning the same lessons.
Michael Ruge’s new book “Building Hope in the Housing – How to Solve the Rental Affordability Crisis” will be realeased this fall (2026).
Sources:
NLIHC Releases The Gap 2025: A Shortage of Affordable Homes
Quarterly Residential Vacancies and Homeownership, Second Quarter 2026
Housing Supply: Still Undersupplied by Millions of Units
Building Hope in Housing – How to Solve the Rental Affordability Crisis
Links to Michael Ruge, Affordable Apartments and his Initiatives:
Canada’s Housing Crisis: How Affordability Slipped Away
Owning Real Estate Without the Risk: Daven Michaels & Michael Ruge
All Ways Solutions – Michael Ruge Duncan BC
Discovering the Ideas of Michael Ruge the Author
