All Forum Posts by: David Steinbok

So basically what I did was refinance my personal house and I didn't know any better so I bought a single family home in a smaller town for cash.i didn't qualify for a second mortgage .   I built a legal duplex and rented it out. With the  left over money, I put a 20% dp on house number 3. I learned not to buy houses with cash from other investors I had recently met. Then with my job and 2 rented rental properties, I refinanced house number 2 and took 80% of the value out. Then I used that money for deposits to buy 2 condos and another house. And I just repeated that over and over. But as I met other more experienced investors, I sold my condos to buy cash flowing houses. 

I have done things differently than others here. Made a few mistakes along the way.  I was able to quit my job after a few houses. I never took the cash flow from my rentals, I instead use the money to pay for my personal house and all its expences so I live for free. I also had to quit my job because I bought 3 houses one summer and I couldn't renovate them and have a day job at the same time. It was alot of work, but as every year goes by it gets easier. 

From my experience, if you are buying in Toronto, the builder is going to hold your 70k$ deposit for probably 2-3 years. Assuming you buy the day the sales center opens for the best price. I know tridel didn't let me rent out until the condo was registered so I'm not sure if you can sell before that either. You may be able to since I always saw condos I was working on for sale. Then you sell along with every other investor. So a buyer looks at 10 similar units in your building and buys the one that's the cheapest.  Now if you used that same 70k$ to buy a duplex in Windsor or kitchener or any town, you would earn rent from day 1. Get mortgage pay down. Build equity. And refinance and maybe buy 2 more houses in that same 2 -3 year period. 

Condos are safe,  easy investment for people who don't care about negative cash flow or pay in cash and just want better return than the bank. But not for people who want to grow an investment business.  

Hi rany. I worked in construction in Toronto for 18 years. Mainly building new condos. Who is the builder. I was lucky enough to build the sales centers and the builders even gave us a 10% discount. Great I thought, so I bought 2 condos in a fancy tridel building. 2 and a half years later I rented both. Took a day. 25 applicants. 1 bedroom rented for 1550 and 1 bed plus den for 1800. Value of condo went up 65k by the time I closed. Only issue was that mortgage, ins, tax and maintenance fee I was short about 600 mth on each. I couldn't get more for rent because tridel had about 50 units they were renting in the 2 buildings for same price. After meeting other investors I decided to sell in favour of duplexes. But there were 75 other 1 bedroom units for sale at same time. Everyone was cashing out who was a speculator. Took me a year to sell both apts. 

I learned not to buy condos, all my properties must have positive cash flow, and having a developer hold my deposit for 2 years, I could use that money to earn more money. 

Hi I invest in Ontario. Mainly oshawa Scarborough and London. I buy single family homes and convert them to legal duplexes. Rent them out, refinance them and hold. Send me a message anytime. Dave

Hi. My wife and I took the equity from our personal house to buy our first rental. That is how most people I know got started. I don't know anyone who actually saved 100k$ by themselves. One thing to be aware of, is that you will have a larger personal mortgage and your rental is technically purchased with 100% borrowed money. So even though your calculations show a positive cash flow, there really isnt any cashflow because you have to pay the difference of your personal mortgage. So just make sure you have some money saved away for repairs or for vacancies

Hi I am also having this issue. I have 9 duplexes. Quit my job to build the basement apts and look after the properties but now cant qualify for another mortgage. I have 2 jv partners on 2 of the houses. how did you guys get past this? Or have  you?

hi everyone. I'm from Toronto. Just joined this site a few days ago. I have a few properties in London, Scarborough and oshawa. Looking to meet new people this year. Thanks

Hi e everyone.  My 2019 goal would be to meet new people who are investing. To learn about commercial lending and private lending and to move from single family homes to large multifamily.  Goal is for 20 doors this year.

I knock on doors and look for run down houses or 2 mailboxes or meters. Some owners are tired of being landlords and just want an easy way out. 

hi Robert. I have converted 12 single family houses into duplexes. Where I live you need to pass 3 inspections. Fire code, electrical, and building. And we need a permit. Your city should have guidelines as to what's expected. Where I live, big ones are ceiling height, egress windows and firesepression on the furnace. 1 hr Fire seperation between the apts. Inspectors come at various stages of construction to make sure everything is up to standards and when you are finished you get a certificate and your house is recorded with the city. 

Pros of legal apts is, neighbors cant cause you legal issues, it raises the value of your house, and you have done your best to ensure a safe place to live. You get higher rents

Cons, it takes longer, costs more money to renovate, and when you fail an inspection or the inspector wants you to change something it costs more money and time. 

Hope that helps