My preferred markets are BC (because it's closest to home), NB (low prices) and MTL (due to my sister living there). Cities I have been considering are Nanaimo, MTL, Moncton and Fredericton. I have recently been looking into Nanaimo after spending 8 months looking in Victoria and becoming discouraged with the high point of entry. That's not to say there aren't deals and gems here, but it's the high price point of entry, due in part to the high price of land here, that is encouraging me to look elsewhere. We are surrounded by water on 3 sides, with a protected parks/watershed on the 4th side, which creates an island-like effect to land availability here in Vic. As for the cities further out east - I haven't done any detailed analysis on them besides perusing MLS. Anecdotally and price-wise, Moncton/Fredericton interest me, but my research is early days there!
@Erich HD Schmitt I don't have a comment as to whether or not any of those markets would be good to invest in, but I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you don't pick markets solely based on the price of properties and because someone you know lives there. There may be other reasons to invest in those markets (GDP growth, job growth, positive net in migration, diversified economy, shortage of rental properties), but you should definitely do your research first. I'm sure there are plenty of threads in the forums that spell out how to research markets.
During my many hours and spent dollars of self education I've heard the same concept shared a number of ways but it basically boils down to this.
FIRST establish your investor identity; what type of deals do you want to get involved in (flips, wholesales, buy & hold, rent to own, etc), what type of property do you want to invest in (single family homes, multi family, commercial, etc), what's your risk tolerance, what sort of returns do you expect to get, do you want to be hands on or make it as passive as possible, etc.
SECOND pick a strong market based on it's ability to meet your investor identity and based on strong fundamentals like I mentioned above.
THIRD put together your team in that market. Find a savvy Realtor that is investor friendly and willing to work hard for you. Find a great property manager unless you'll manage your own (you should probably still find a PM anyway because they will be a wealth of info). Find great contractors, a mortgage broker, a lawyer, an accountant and so on. You don't need to find all these people before moving onto the next step but at a minimum you would want your Realtor, property manager, a mortgage broker, and maybe a general contractor if you plan to buy something that needs repairs.
LASTLY go find a deal. Most newbies like to go find the deal first and there may be a chance that everything works out but the odds are at some point down the road you'll wish you had taken the steps as I outlined them above. Deals are like buses when you're waiting at a bus stop; don't worry if you missed the last one because if you keep your eyes open the next bus will be along shortly.
