First Rental Property

[Coban Scott]

I'm looking to House Hack as a start too my investing career, could I get a few tips to house hack in a very expensive place like Toronto, Canada. I have about $30,000 saved up as of now and I am a full time student in University, and tips or knowledge would be much appreciated.

[Paul Sverdlin]

Lots of great answers up here from good number of participants. I'd venture to say that Toronto market is not yet open to you. While I wish you all the sucess in this abundant universe, lets also be realistic and see what can actually be done.

1) $30k in savings is not enough to buy anything that can be fixed up since you need $ for closing costs, renovations, etc. Without consistent income it will also be hard to get financing. Even if you do find a private loan, it will likely be at rates that will eat into your returns quite a bit. 

2) Deals that do not require renovations, like a pre-construction condo, still sell at $600k+ price points from developers and require 15-20% down, which is more than you currently have.

3) Investor friendly agents prefer dealing with experienced clients who have the cash and experience to close on a very short notice. Great deals are rare and every good realtor has a line up of clients who will buy those in blink of an eye. Working with a new investor will take up so much time that after an initial call they will just set you up for a mailing list distribution of what is coming to the market and let you contact them if you see something interesting. Which is typically never since you can see same listings on realtor.ca anyways.

What may work in your case:

1. Team up with someone and buy a property jointly. Preferrably something you can put sweat equity into (paint, floors, clean-up can be done by you). Partnering can be tough, but may also be an amazing way to leverage 2 incomes and 2 sets of hands rather than 1.

2. Drive until you buy. As in - drive as far from TO as you are comfortable with to find something cheaper.

3. Explore US. That may seem like a huge task, but it is manageable (trust me on this, been operating down there for 12 years already).

4. Work for someone close to real estate industry. Property managers, contractors, realtors, inspectors, appraisers, delivery people, mortgage agents, photo & video editors, etc. All of them feed off real estate and if you can find a way to add value you'll see where the money flows. You'll know the hot areas, you might over time find an off-market deal, you'll make connections in the industry that would not otherwise be available.

5. If all else fails, consider a coach. That's the last resort as I heard plenty of stories about people spending tens of thousands on programs that lead them nowhere... And yet I still believe there are legit teachers out there who will get you where you need to be if you are willing to do what it takes to get to that level. It may mean relocating, it may mean driving 6 hours north to look at a house, it may mean looking at 100 properties to find 1 and not closing that deal just to repeat it again tomorrow... on the weekend... with no guarantees...on a rainy day... , attending auctions just to be outbid by others yet coming back, buying a house just to realize it has way more problems than you budgetted for. Sorry, got carried away down the memory lane. 

Good luck above all!