All Forum Posts by: Antonio Yong

Thanks @Roy Cleeves & @Will Fraser,

Great tips and I'll try to use some of these going forward,

Hey BP community,

As we know, Tenants can make or break a rental property. Right now, I'm trying to improve how I look for tenants and my screening process. I highlighted where I look for tenants and my screening qualifications below. How do you advertise your rental and screen for tenants? What are your tips and tricks?

Advertisement: I use Kijiji (I always make sure to boost my ad for a week) and Facebook Marketplace

Rental Qualifications:
-650 credit score
-3x Income
-Stable Job (recession proof jobs are a bonus)
-Previous references
-No Pets

Quick Brandon Turner screening tip: look at the condition of the prospect's car (e.g., is it clean inside?)

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your input,

Antonio

Hey Dylan,

I like Kitchener - Waterloo for it's diverse employers (e.g., Manulife, Sunlife, Google, Shopify, University of Waterloo, Laurier, etc.,) and Transportation (e.g., VIA Rail, GoTrain, LRT). There's a lot of development in the city now and many have coined the city as the Silicon Valley of Canada. It's appreciated a lot over the past couple of years and it's hard to find cash flow now. With this being said, I started to look at investment properties in Brantford. I ended up buying an investment property in Brantford and I'm still learning about the market - but the city appears to be gentrifying. If you stay out of the Downtown area and buy in the right neighbourhoods, it can be a solid investment.

Welcome to BiggerPockets @Bryce Fairburn!

I'm not sure where your property is in Ontario - but based on your numbers, it sounds like the property does cash flow with both units rented out long-term. If that's not the case, I would  look at the option to sell the place.

If I were in your situation, I would chat with an real estate investment focused Mortgage Broker and a CPA.

Chat with a Mortgage Broker / Specialist first to see if you and / or your partner (the one who wants to stay on the investment) qualify to refinance the property and for how much if you haven't done so already. If you qualify for the full 300K (80% LTV) refinance, this allows you to pay off your private investor and potentially buy-out your other partner depending on how much share he owns on the joint investment. Personally, I wouldn't pay off the private loan because a 2% interest rate is cheaper than what you'll qualify for from the bank. Even the lowest rates are around 2.5% now, I'd try to keep it because it'll allow you to buy more investment properties later on if that's what you choose. Again, I don't know your full situation so I'll let you figure that out.

Next, I recommend you chat with a CPA regarding the ownership situation among your partners (e.g., JV agreements, 1 person on title, 2 people on title, etc.,). I know that if you add / transfer the title on the property, it'll trigger a sale which will involve taxes.

Hope this helps!

@Bianca Kwon

Yes Windsor and London are quite popular nowadays because of its cash flow and better implementation of the BRRRR strategy. I don't invest in those areas because it's too far for me - but I do have friends who live in the GTA and invest in Windsor. They've done it through building a power team (e.g., property manager, realtor, etc.,) and the right systems.

I started my journey two years ago so I’m still learning and have about 9 units now. I’m mainly focused on the KWC.

Welcome to the BP community Bianca!

I'm also new or I should say I finally created an account. I'm a long-time lurker on the forum and recently created an account.

I agree with both Anthony and Michael,

Househacking [ living in one unit and renting out the other unit (s) ] is the best way to start-off with real estate investing because you'll have someone help you pay down some of your home expenses (e.g., mortgage, insurance, property tax, etc.,) and you'll get direct landlord experience (e.g., finding, screening tenants, managing tenants, etc.,).

I know that in some areas you can even find deals to pay down almost all of your expenses (London, Windsor, etc.,) and essentially live for free. Regardless, there are deals everywhere - but it's harder to find the closer you are to Toronto, at least for me.

I recommend you chat with a Mortgage Specialist / Mortgage Broker to find out how much "home" you'll qualify for if you haven't done so already before you start to look for houses. This will give you a better idea on the type of home you can afford. Furthermore, I don't recommend putting a 5% down unless you absolutely need to, CMHC will take an upfront cost of 4% of your loan value leaving you with 1% equity on the home, making it difficult to refinance your home quickly.