Investing from Canada

[Mahesh Sam]

Hi All.I live in British Columbia, Canada and the real estate here is crazy to consider any investment. So I am researching on investing in the US where the prices and returns seem to be saner.  Considering the crazy prices here, I am surprised that most of the Canadians aren't investing in the US. What am I missing? I have spoken to a Tax consultant and he gave me not major tax red flags except the obvious logistics of managing a property in another country. Which is is why I am planning to go with a premium turnkey provider like Memphis invest. Does anyone have any specific investing from Canada advice for me? I would appreciate any tips. Learning a lot from yall here already. Thanks.

[James Wise]

Originally posted by @Mahesh Sam:

Hi All.I live in British Columbia, Canada and the real estate here is crazy to consider any investment. So I am researching on investing in the US where the prices and returns seem to be saner.  Considering the crazy prices here, I am surprised that most of the Canadians aren't investing in the US. What am I missing? I have spoken to a Tax consultant and he gave me not major tax red flags except the obvious logistics of managing a property in another country. Which is is why I am planning to go with a premium turnkey provider like Memphis invest. Does anyone have any specific investing from Canada advice for me? I would appreciate any tips. Learning a lot from yall here already. Thanks.

I see a decent amount of Canadians investing in the USA actually. They typically invest in the turnkey markets. Tons of turnkey markets out there. Many of these markets are very well represented by sellers & turnkey operators here on BiggerPockets. In no particular order I have listed some of the most popular markets for out of state investors

• Cleveland, Ohio
• Dayton, Ohio
• Toledo, Ohio
• Youngstown, Ohio
• Cincinnati, Ohio
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Birmingham, Alabama
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Saint Louis, Missouri
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Detroit, Michigan
• Erie, Pennsylvania
• Louisville, Kentucky
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Jackson, Mississippi

Each of these markets is popular with turnkey investors because of the low barrier to entry, high rental demand & high rent to price ratio. I recommend setting up keyword alerts for each area as they are discussed in the forums daily with advertisements posted in the BiggerPockets marketplace hourly.

One thing to note when looking at the individual markets, you can make or loose money in any market. Don't think that one particular out of state market will shoot you to success or abject failure. It's not really that complicated to buy out of state. It only becomes complicated when investors try to over complicate or over think everything. Whenever you are buying a property out of state you should do a few things to ensure it's as smooth as possible.

• Don't buy in the roughest neighborhood in the urban core. Pick a solid B-Class suburban area. Perhaps a nice 1950's built bungalow.
• Always hire a 3rd party property inspector to give you an unbiased feel for the home. The reports are 40-90 pages long and go through the entire house in great detail.
• Get an appraisal. If your using financing the bank requires this. This is good. The bank isn't going to let you blow their money. They have more skin in the game then you do.
• Make sure you get clear title. If using a lender this is a non issue. They will make you do this. It's those maniacs that buy homes cash via quit claim deed off of craigslist that really get screwed.
• Make sure your property manager is a licensed real estate brokerage.
• Understand you can not eliminate all risk, only mitigate it. If you are risk adverse real estate, (especially out of state) is not for you.