Book on Rental Properties' Return Metrics - Possible in Ontario?

[Jordan George]

After purchasing The Book on Rental Properties a couple years back and then putting it aside and not doing anything in the rental investment space, I've now gotten to the point where I've built up some capital and I'm ready to jump in and invest. However, I'm wondering what kind of numbers are attainable in terms of ROI metrics in a market like Ontario.

As an example, The Book on Rental Properties (TBORP from here on out lol), when talking about Cash-on-Cash ROI, says that 6.7% would be considered below average and potentially not worth looking at. However, looking at some listings in my local market (Peterborough, ON), at initial glance it doesn't look like you'd get anywhere close to that - and that maybe 1-3% CoCROI would be more realistic.

I'm just interested in picking the brains of those of you with more experience to get an idea of what kind of numbers I should be aiming for when appraising deals. Thanks in advance for the feedback - it means a lot to a newbie investor like myself!