My Best Real Estate Investment to Date

[Aidan Kutcher]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Calgary.

Purchase price: $725,000

We bought this property knowing that it was a good candidate for rezoning to a higher density due to reading City policy plans known as Area Redevelopment Plans. As a Realtor I had automatic searches set up and anytime a property matches the criteria it gets emailed to me.This property came up and I saw that it was in an area slated for high densification in the ARP. I postponed my plans and immediately wrote an offer, which was accepted. We just had our land use change approved by City Council!

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I've wanted to do a rezoning for years, ever since we bought our acreage on the edge of the City. It's a great way to create value and really force appreciation.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Pre-set MLS search, negotiated with listing agent in multiple offer scenario.

How did you finance this deal?

B lender through a mortgage broker.

How did you add value to the deal?

Took a property that a developer could build a duplex on and turned it into a property that could have a 29 unit, 6 storey mixed use apartment building on it.

What was the outcome?

Land Use Amendment has been approved by City Council and we are now exploring to see if we can use the increased equity in the property as the down payment to build the apartment building.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I learned how the whole process works as I only hired a drafter to help with the application. Most people would hire a consultant for between $5,000-$10,000 but I enjoyed learning the different components to the process as I plan on doing more in the future.