All Forum Posts by: Brianne H.

@Michael Plante Oooh that was not a good week to be here, we have not had very pleasant weather the last 2 weeks. However we do get chinooks which are a God-send in the middle of winter. One January a couple years ago after a cold stretch it got up to +19C and I was walking the dog in a T shirt! Makes a heck of a mess but it gives you a few days of reprieve from the winter weather. 

Yes, unfortunately I don't know of any Canadian markets that are able to do as well as some of those midwest markets. One downfall is we also just don't have the population in the smaller cities like the US does, and we have more limited markets to choose from. 

Originally posted by @Vincent A.:

Originally posted by @Brianne H.:

Hello fellow Calgarian! What are you looking to invest in? 

Hi Brianne! Good to know there are also some fellow Calgarians here! My initial thought thought on investment due to my current situation was just a condo unit or townhouse, but looking on MLS and the strata fees I find are just ridiculous sometime and I feel like these could eat up costs as well as defer any potential future buyers.

What do you think?

I think you're smart to stay away from all things condo. Our first flip was a townhouse in Ranchlands. While we profited (being our accidental flip) in hindsight we got out at the perfect time as new management was coming in just as we were leaving, and it wasn't a change for the better. We bought it for $230,500, condo fees at the time were about $300/m, and interest rate was 3.09%. Our next house the following year was purchased for $333,000, no condo fees, interest rate 2.15%, and when I worked out the math, we were only paying about $150/m more everything included for a house that we bought that was over 100k more in price (the lower interest rate is a factor too). So if you can, go for a house in a neighbourhood that may not be your top pick, or a semi-detached/half duplex. Feel free to PM me for more info. Are you looking to do flips, rentals, something else? 

Hello fellow Calgarian! What are you looking to invest in? 

I'm not very familiar with Section 8 yet, but it was my understanding that the tenant does pay a portion of the rent themselves. Do you have much issue collecting the portion of the rent from the tenant? What type of neighbourhoods are your properties located in? 

Could you put a little decorative stone or concrete fence or divider between your 2 properties? If that fourth spot is halfway on each property, problem solved! If he then tries to squeeze 4 spots only on his property, not much you can do except submit a complaint probably. Now obviously if you decide to go this route you have to be darn sure your "fence" is on your side of the property line.

Thank you all for the replies, and thank you @Andrew Campbell for sharing your article. Sounds like the general consensus is a 4 unit is favourable to the 5+. For the short term, I think I will stick to my original plan of acquiring 4-plexes and see how that goes before deciding to make a big leap into a much larger MF property. 

I haven't yet sat down with anyone who does cross-border taxation, but I certainly will before I get serious about buying. There is a lot to know! 

Hello BP! As a quick background, I am from Canada and currently in the process of developing and renovating our recently purchased primary residence, which we will then refinance and should have a decent chunk of money to invest. I'm interested in investing in the US market where our money can go further, as the local economy has been floundering, but the average SFH price is still about $500k. I am still researching different US markets, but I'm leaning toward Ohio, though considering Georgia, Indiana, and other states. My original plan was also to focus on 2-4 unit properties, as I've heard it's easier to finance those.

Then I realized I'm probably not seeing the bigger picture because I locked onto "easier to finance" 2-4 residential units. Just because it may be easier now doesn't actually mean better long-term, and I want to scale up fairly quickly. 

I still have a lot to learn, but what are the biggest pros and cons for investing in SFH 2-4 units and MF 5+ units?

How does the financing differ on each? 

Are there any additional tax or other considerations with one or the other being that I'm not American and don't reside in the US? 

Can you 1031 either type of property? (And as a Canadian does that apply to me?) 

Thank you! 

@Peace Lily I know nothing about drywall and the process of doing it, but there are a lot of red flags. 

Why is the GC not on the same page as the electrician? If the GC is the one paying and managing the subs, the electrician should be bringing any issue to him. Why does it seem (to me anyway) that the electrician is pitting you against the GC when they should be working together? 

Why did the GC not pay the electrician? Or did he and the electrician blew it all? 

Having a permit issue now and blaming you is another red flag. Things are going to get ugly very soon. 

Now that you know things are going south, what is your state's policy on doing holdbacks? If you don't know, look it up, NOW. In my province, the rule is that a homeowner has the legal right to hold back 10% of the costs for up to 45 days in order to work out any issues that may arise should a contractor attempt to file a lien on your property. This rule is set up for these types of situations, because if you pay a GC for all the work in full, but the GC doesn't pay the electrician, the electrician has the right to file a lien against your property. Now you're stuck because you've paid for the work in full, but you also have a lien on your house. Please learn your state laws in regard to this, and hopefully you never need to use it.  

@Thomas Lorini looks great! Can I ask why you you chose to invest in Ontario vs another place in the US or Canada? I'm from Calgary and once our primary home is completed I am looking to purchase some rentals, but haven't found a Canadian market that excites me much yet.

In university I worked part time as a note taker, and one class I worked in was a criminology class. Fascinating class, but the thing I remember most was the teacher (former police officer) said that while alarm company signs in the yards are good, any thief knows that it could take 20 or 30 minutes at least for someone to show up. Far more effective from a deterrent standpoint is have Beware Of Dog signs on the property, a big dog bowl with some water in it, and the largest, rattiest-looking pair of men's workboots you can find sitting on the porch. That, and having lots of outdoor light. I think if you do that, plus have the portable alarm inside, lights and TV/radio on a timer, blinds/curtains, a cage on the AC and someone checking in regularly, hopefully you should be okay.