All Forum Posts by: Allison Shepstone

Aha, that makes sense. I thought maybe you had found some magic pocket here in Toronto!

@Roy N. Where is that?

Welcome to BP!

I am a Real Estate Agent in Toronto and my husband and I also invest in properties within the Toronto Market. We have done two strategies thus far: buy and hold-income properties and then we have rehabbed as well. Rehabbing is tough in the market because we have both the ON Land Transfer Tax and the Toronto Land Transfer tax...really eats into potential profits.

If you are looking for an investment property with an owner occupied unit in Toronto, I know there are a number of neighbourhoods in which you can get into for $700k, and they have been phenomenal investments for our clients who have gone that route. One thing to keep in mind though, the basement apartment won't pay the whole mortgage, but it will certainly cut it down significantly. You would need 2/3 units before you are getting close to covering your mortgage. Also, are you prepared to do some work to an older home?

@Account Closed If you want to chat a bit more about our experiences here in the market and what your looking to get into, send me a message, I'd be more than happy to talk with you directly

Im wondering...as you partner with the locals, how are you setting the partnership up. Are you just acting as a financial investor and splitting profits hoping for a certain ROI? Or are you more active in it and working things out in another way? Any advice? I know a great real estate agent in Atlanta, but she doesn't do reno's or property management, so I'm a little nervous to work on a partnership there.

Im an investor in Toronto, both flips and income properties. The market in TO has become increasingly difficult due to low supply. This has forced most decent homes to end up going in bidding wars, which as an investor is a nightmare. Anyone else facing this problem and had success around it?

We have begun to look at investments in Phoenix, Austin and Atlanta, but on a recent trip we saw a lot of potential in flips. The idea of managing one remotely and the international struggles seem a bit daunting though....anyone have experience and advice on this?

Thanks, that really helped. Coming from Canada, we don't have many of those resources so I will definitely check them out!

Hi there...any chance and of you with advice on here can expand on where you find all of these statistics. I live in Toronto and am looking to invest in Atlanta in a rental property or two. It is a very large city that I am unfamiliar with and there are so many options for investing...single family home in the burbs, apartment near the university, condo downtown with easy public transport, etc etc

Are there specific websites/resources you use to find all this data? I have been on Trulia, but feel overwhelmed as the city is so large and there are so many options. I am specifically interested in rental rates. Are there places with historical data. Craigslist just doesn't seem like a concrete enough place to rely upon.

I plan to travel there later this month to look at places....any advice for when actually visiting?

Toronto market has been doing pretty well actually. A bit of a slow down, but by that simply meaning there aren't crazy insane bidding wars with $100k over asking, but there are still multiple offers and most properties moving within 30 days. I focus mostly in the GTA and we are looking at investing next in the states.

Mike-we actually owned a property in Hamilton once-not a great investment ad took forever to get rid of it. Actually glad to have it off our hands, but that was just one property, there are definitely some good areas out there.

Thanks for the warm welcome James. Great advice about writing down goals. I recently did just that and it really makes a difference when you write them. One thing I found really important was to write down both professional and personal goals because I feel like in this industry, they can really be quite intertwined.

As for the market here in Toronto, its a pretty great rental market and the flipping is also becoming harder as we haven't seen the same drops in home prices as many have in the states. Home prices have on average been increasing at staggering over the last couple of years and there is a huge Land Transfer tax in the Toronto area which really cuts into the profits.

Hi everyone, not sure if this is where I should be posting, but....new member here! Looking forward to learning and contributing. Ive invested in Real Estate with my husband, both flips as well as income properties. I also just recently received my Real Estate License. Any one have any great advice on where to start for my Real Estate Career and what to look for in our next investment? We are thinking about rehabbing an investment property and then holding onto it for some time. Thoughts?