New member checking in from Ottawa, Canada

[Brad De Vries]

Hey everyone, first post here. 

I'm 30 years old and have been interested in investing in real estate since I was a teenager. My family owns multiple commercial properties in my home town and I've seen how it can provide financial freedom! Now that I've paid off my school debt and bought a car, I've been reading like crazy and listening to as many podcasts as I can about real estate investing. 

I've seen a few posts around here that Ontario isn't the greatest market to invest but I still plan on finding good cash flowing properties. I used to build houses during college and I'm relatively handy - electrical being the exception. My girlfriend is a licensed interior designer and is also jumping aboard to search for properties. I believe that my skills (and hers) will help us get the ball rolling in the beginning. Of course, doing all our own reno's isn't scaleable really, but I'm hoping it will save some money in the beginning that we can use to get the ball rolling.

Seeing as I just broke even earlier this year, my goal is to purchase a property by the end of 2019. I'm mostly interested in very run down properties that would require a full gut - as long as the bones are good! (My OCD makes me want to strip everything right down to the studs to build fresh lol)

Are there any other Ottawa investors here and if so, how do you feel about the Ottawa market compared to surrounding areas? Any tips and advice would be extremely appreciated!

Thanks,

B

[Chris Habets]

Hey Brad,

Houses that need a gut in Ottawa are competitive to buy, be careful about overpaying! If they're MLS listed, expect them to sell the next day for 10% over asking price.

Smiths Falls is very interesting for this type of thing right now - lots of relatively well off people moving out there to grow weed. Lots of old homes that were well built and UUGLY or in disrepair. Are you planning on renting or flipping?