All Forum Posts by: Alex Rossol

Oh and I should mention that I had kicked off the whole thought of renovations to begin with since I am refinancing this property with a new lender, and will be getting a new appraisal - currently it's likely it'll be at the same value it was appraised at last time if I don't do any renovations.

Thanks you for all the replies!

@Ryan Scully 

Interesting take on it, I neglected to see the other options for the cash. The other possibility for the money would likely be purchasing another house, something along these lines...
Hypothetical house 3: $2100-$2200 per month rent, $150-$200 cashflow

@Aaron Montague 
1. Renovations, rough but fairly accurate
2. Renovations would add a bedroom in house 1, and build out the suite in house 2 (+1 bed + 1 kitchen)
3. Yes property manager would be there, so -10% of the $925

So I guess now I have 3 options; a) renovate both houses b) renovate house #2 c)Look for and buy hypothetical house #3.

Thanks for all the feedback so far!

Hi there,

I have 2 rental properties that I was wondering if I should renovate in order to increase the potential cashflow, the issue is that the renovations would be quite expensive and I would have to wait quite a  while before getting a return on my investment..

Current situation:
House 1: Upstairs= $1200, downstairs=$775
House 2: Whole house= $1500
Total: $3475/month

After ~70K renos (30-40K for each suite, yes it is that expensive - at most 5K less per suite)

Future Possibility:

House 1: Upstairs= $1200, downstairs=$1000
House 2: Upstairs= $1200, downstairs=$1000

Total: $4400/month

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Hi All,

I've just started investing in real estate with a Full duplex and a half duplex that I bought through my realtor. The contract that a signed with my realtor, states that all purchases in real estate that I get must go through him and he will continue to work on my behalf to negotiate and present offers? Is it usual to have an exclusive contract with a realtor? Or do real estate investor's usually just have a few go-to realtors they use interchangeably?

(I guess I am posing this question since I feel chained to my current realtor, and I preceive that I can't be as felxible in my deal seeking and buying)

I know the short answer is that you should never bank on market timing, and should generally be carefully when looking for appreciation. But I am more interested long term buy-and-hold properties. I feel like my local market (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), is currently still on the up trend, and I was wondering if I should continue to invest in properties now, or wait for a market correction? What signs would determine what part of the cycle your local market is at? What are signs of a coming correction?

I have heard that you want want something greater than the 1% or 2% rule for commercial or mixed commercial/residential, is this the case?

As far as I can tell, zoning shouldn't be an issue. Looking at the city maps, other duplexes on that same street have been split and the zoning remains the same.

Hi, I recently purchased a side-by-side duplex in Alberta, Canada that is under one land title. I've noticed other half duplex on that street that are selling at quite a decent price. I was wondering is it generally worth it to split the title into 2 half duplexes and then sell off each half? If so, what would be all the steps required? Including costs and time.

Thanks!