Need opinions on buying my first rental property

[Mark Lermer]

Hello Everyone,

I am a 24-year-old Canadian that just got out of University. My partner and I are currently traveling and when we arrive back home in a month we are thinking about investing in a rental property. My partner has about $27,000 in student debt and I have about $3,000. We will get jobs when we are back home of course, but we have no positions lined up for when we get home yet and income may vary. I have completed University although I have not started a career and my girlfriend has not completed school and is still unsure of her career path.

Our personal financials are not amazing but I am lucky to have a family who owns and operates a large farm. My father has offered to co-sign with a bank to get us a loan but its also possible to have the farm buy the property completely and just pay the farm back.

My partner's father has been building houses all his life and has offered to suite a basement for us for free (just the labor fee, we would have to pay for materials etc). He could also help with inspection and fixing up the property if necessary. We are looking at SFR's that have a basement to suite, so we can rent out the basement and live in the upper floor. As we will have to pay rent when we move home anyway, we are thinking about how we can possibly do more with our money than just pay rent to someone else.

Here come the questions. 

• 1. Is it better to Co-sign through a bank and establish a reputation/credit or have the family farm buy the property outright?
• 2. With our debt and current financial standing, are we in a position to even be considering this?
• 3. Is it beneficial to buy the property through the farm corporation so we get taxed as a small business instead of under personal income tax?

Another note, my partner and I have been doing a ton of research to educate ourselves and we are also reading Brandon Turner's book on rental property investing right now. 

Thanks for all the help!