All Forum Posts by: Anthony Therrien-Bernard

Thanks I appreciate all the feedback and info. I'm thinking the condos in Alberta would have the lowest appreciation and Calgary would have the most appreciation. Trying to balance out cash on cash and overall house value over time.

Thanks again

Have and had are the two biggest factors here. Calgary HAD the biggest appreciation. No doubt about that. My properties in the Calgary area all came close or doubled in value in the last 4 years. My condos in Edmonton (the ones I bought earliest, 2 years ago) have gone up about 20-30%, but I just bought them 2 years ago to 4 months ago. I believe Calgary appreciation has run it's course, but it's really an educated guess. A half duplex in the Calgary suburbs where I live sells between 500-700k. I purchased them at 275k 4 years ago.

Alberta builds homes faster than any other province. It's why our market cycles are faster. That goes for condos and single family homes though. I think the Edmonton condo market is going to be the fastest riser in the major metros moving forward. Again, that's an educated guess and not a fact. They also have real cashflow that lets me hold it. Most single family homes in AB, even suited ones, don't have real cashflow.

One thing to be careful with is the last 3 years have been atypical for the Calgary market, it's been a good run, but don't expect these kinds of returns long term.

1 Vote

Edmonton, Alberta

Quote from @Kevan Baum:

Quote from @Ryan F.:

Thanks again

I can still find tons of cashflowing properties in Calgary, especially suited ones, 4plexes etc

0 Votes

Edmonton, Alberta

Quote from @Ryan F.:

Thanks again

Calgary condos are not terribly great investments either. In fact we just did a presentation on this last night we'll have a video out in about a week. But here are some really interesting numbers...

Ok so this one doesn't look too bad but notice how much more the townhouses and condos dropped in prices over the last downturn.

2007 peak to now isn't so good...

Before the 2007 run up to now is better, but even then, apartment condos performed the worse (so best case scenario, you have the worse performing asset type, worse case scenario you had a terrible return), and that's assuming you had nothing go wrong with the condo (special assessment etc)

But benchmarks don't even tell the whole story, because if you had a specific condo investment, and you tracked it's value overtime, benchmark prices isn't the right approach as it evolves overtime (benchmark price is the price of a typical property generated at each point in time). So what I did is I looked at median prices of 2 bed condos between 800-1200sqft built between 1980-1990, I did this to eliminate new condos being added into the pricing pool, and look at this rollercoaster...

Detached faired a LOT better, less variability in downturns, and much better return (for this chart I did not look at semi-detached, but the trend is closer to detached)

0 Votes

Edmonton, Alberta

Quote from @Ryan F.:

Hello Newbie here with my first post.

My wife and I thinking of purchasing our first investment property with the plan to get a retirement income in 15 yrs from now. We currently live in BC and due to expensive market are thinking of purchasing in Alberta.

Where and what would you purchase if you had approximately 100k down. We may be able to get a attached rental with suite in Calgary or a detached rental in Edmonton. Trying to balance out appreciation and monthly cash flow.

Suggestions and advice is greatly appreciated

Ryan

Hi Ryan,

In Calgary with $100k down I would try to get a suited semi-detached or one where you would add one.

0 Votes

Edmonton, Alberta

Quote from @Natasha Rooney:

Quote from @Anthony Therrien-Bernard:

Quote from @Natasha Rooney:

Quote from @Jonathan Klemm:

What's up @Natasha Rooney! What market are you currently in, and why no interest?

The main thing I am looking for in a market is the right team! Someone is making good money in every market. I am a biased fan of Chicago, Illinois, because of the awesome real estate community here.

Outside of just a good community, I love Chicago because:

1. In the city, there is a plethora of old multi-family properties that need to be renovated at all different price points

2. In the south suburbs, there are tons of great single-family cosmetic flips

We do have winter, high taxes, and crime, but like anything else there is pros & cons to everything.

With the right team, you can be successful in any market...focus on networking and figure out where you might have a competitive advantage with some boots on the ground.

Hello, thanks for the comment on my post!
I have pretty much zero interest in the market I am currently in - its WILD haha Canadian housing has no potential to provide positive cash flow. I am currently in Calgary, AB and used to be located in Toronto - real estate in Canada is nuts.

Sounds good! Yes, I think a good team is crucial to being successful in any market and you're right - people are making money in every market. I think we may focus on somewhere in the midwest and plan to make trips out when purchasing and to meet people and network first.

Do you mainly do business in Chicago then?

I am not sure where you are looking but I live in Calgary and I've been finding cash-flowing properties for over 10 years

Really?! We are in Calgary as well haha I'd love to meet up and chat sometime over zoom or in person!

I'd love to meet I'll send you a DM

0 Votes

Quote from @Stevo Sun:

Quote from @Patrick Mooney:

Hi all!

First off THANK YOU to all the posters on the BP forum. I only discovered the podcast + platform about 10 months ago and was immediately hooked! It's from reading your posts and listening to the show that I managed to get my act together and buy my first place in North America.

I recently purchased my first investment in Edmonton Canada, a duplex where I have rented out the other unit (Closed on 1st June 2024 / $475k CAD price paid / 5% down payment). It's an older property and I haven't made any improvements yet as it was in great condition.

I'm trying to expedite the process of moving on to my next deal, although I will very likely need to put down 20% this time as it will be an investment property rather than a house hack. I'm trying to figure out how I can best finance my next deal without having to wait for either:

- getting together 20% cash downpayment

- waiting 12 months until I can do another 5% down on my next house hack

I'm looking for buy and hold so from what I've read short term financing (eg. for a fix and flip) likely isnt the best for my needs.
If it's useful info I have access to ~$60k line of credit at about 9% a year, and another $35k in credit card credit available (although no suggesting I'd use this to finance a deal). Very high credit score.

I gather majority of people are in USA and not Canada, but definitely appreciate any input you might have for an newer investor looking to keep the momentum train moving along.

Thanks again and happy Sunday!

Congratulations on the investment. I will tell you something you might not want to hear 😂.

1) CMHC can deny your mortgage insurance for the next one if you house hack too fast. I had anecdotally heard this one so your mileage may vary.

2) You might be stretching yourself too thin if you are just maxing out your leverage. If you get hit with something unforeseen can you absorb that cost? This is a consideration people forget. Your cashflow can't make up for some big capital expenses so you should have some reserve funds.

I'm similar to you that I just want to keep on going but I actually think Calgary and Edmonton will experience a slowing in rent increases. We are building record levels of housing units and those will come online in the next 1-5 years.This supply will put downward pressure on rent. Since Alberta has no rent control, rent will drop if the market gets oversupplied.

I agree with Stevo, Calgary and Edmonton are "experts" at building, usually our supply catches up with demand within a few years.

0 Votes

Edmonton, Alberta

Quote from @Natasha Rooney:

Quote from @Jonathan Klemm:

What's up @Natasha Rooney! What market are you currently in, and why no interest?

The main thing I am looking for in a market is the right team! Someone is making good money in every market. I am a biased fan of Chicago, Illinois, because of the awesome real estate community here.

Outside of just a good community, I love Chicago because:

1. In the city, there is a plethora of old multi-family properties that need to be renovated at all different price points

2. In the south suburbs, there are tons of great single-family cosmetic flips

We do have winter, high taxes, and crime, but like anything else there is pros & cons to everything.

With the right team, you can be successful in any market...focus on networking and figure out where you might have a competitive advantage with some boots on the ground.

I am not sure where you are looking but I live in Calgary and I've been finding cash-flowing properties for over 10 years

0 Votes

Quote from @Richard Caponero:

Hi Anthony,

Thanks for the reply.. I appreciate it.

Are those free to use or do I have to sign up and pay monthly?

I literally put the bro in broke...

I was told to use Google voice because it's free.. but we can't use it here in Calgary.

They are VOIP phone lines so you do need to pay

0 Votes

Calgary, Alberta

Quote from @Richard Caponero:

Hey everyone! It's nice to see plenty of new investors looking to help each other and learn from folks that have done what we want to learn. I'm in Calgary, Alberta and will be doing everything virtual. I'd be grateful for any advice or help from anyone else wholesaling from Canada. I need to fully understand boots on the ground and to JV with awesome investors. I need to figure out how to get a Google Voice so I can make cold calls, but look local, as Google Voice does not work in Canada. Cheers everyone!! Happy learning and Happy investing!!

There are a ton of other options than Google voice in Canada just lookup Voip service.

Some examples:

RingCentral

Tresta

Integration from a CRM

1 Vote

Calgary, Alberta

Quote from @Jeremy H.:

So, if anyone search why doesn't Canada have 30 year fixed, the first article says they attach all your assets as collateral /lien.

Seems like getting a mortgage is a big deal, but is it true you will lose everything you own if you default (with Canadian mortgage)?

Mortgages on a corporation and personally owned properties aren't quite the same. At least for the province of Alberta personally owned properties are usually non-recourse, so if you default they take the property back but don't go after other assets. On the other end pretty much all mortgages on a corporation require personal guarantee which is full recourse

0 Votes

All Forum Posts by: Anthony Therrien-Bernard

Anthony Therrien-Bernard has started 23 posts and replied 266 times.

Post: Where Would You Invest ? Calgary, Edmonton, other ?

Post: Where Would You Invest ? Calgary, Edmonton, other ?

Post: Where Would You Invest ? Calgary, Edmonton, other ?

Post: Where Would You Invest ? Calgary, Edmonton, other ?

Post: Starting Out - How to Narrow in on a Decent Market

Post: Advice to finance my next deal - Newer investor / Canada

Post: Starting Out - How to Narrow in on a Decent Market

Post: Canadian learning to wholesale virtually

Post: Canadian learning to wholesale virtually

Post: The Disaster That is Canadian Real Estate ... and Lessons From It