Here's my plan for 2014 - What would you do?

[Ming Lim]

Hi BP! In my introduction, I mentioned that this is the year for big changes, so I wanted to run my plans by the great minds on this forum.

Current State: I've got two student rental properties in Waterloo (university town 1h outside of Toronto), one SFR in Mississauga (suburb of Toronto) and a condo in Toronto. I'm fully rented currently.

The Plan:

1. Complete the rehab work. It's basic stuff, kitchens / bathrooms / flooring. And slightly bump up the rents for the next round of students.
2. Put most, if not of my places up on the market for sale. I'm selling my places in Waterloo mostly because I feel that the market is over-saturated there. Tons of new apartment complexes going up around me. I think it will be difficult for me to compete with my little multiplex. Selling the other properties would just be to raise more capital. Cap rates are dropping in Waterloo as well - which means it's time to sell.
3. I should have in hand after taxes about $800k - $1.2M in hand to reinvest.
4. I'm looking to buy a small apartment block in Hamilton or Cambridge (cities outside of Toronto). They range from $2-3M and are anywhere from 15-35 units.

Questions:

1. Am I crazy? These properties all cash flow nicely. It's a bit of a pain managing students in a town 1h drive away from where I live. I'm there almost every weekend. I'd like to get out of student rental because they are so high touch.
2. What would you invest in with around $1M? Maybe a smarter strategy would be to split my investments amongst multiple buildings? But I feel a single apartment would be easier to manage.
3. Are apartments worth it? I've would really be stepping outside of my comfort and more importantly my knowledge zone. I'd likely need professional property management, need an entire new set of contractors (how do I get elevators repaired?). I would need to incorporate.

Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading this lengthy post!

Cheers,

Ming