All Forum Posts by: David Steinbok

Depends what you want. Single family usually has better tenant profile, easier to sell, appreciates at a faster rate if its located in a nice neighborhood. And generally are easy to manage. Buildings have much better cash flow and you can raise the value much quicker by raising rents and lowering expenses. But buildings can be alot of headaches.

Thank you Andrew. That is pretty much what I did. I bought old dumpy granny houses that looked like the 1970's inside and renovated them and built a basement apt. I then rented them out an refinanced at 80%ltv for the new value of the house. I then used the refinance money to purchase another dumpy house. I used that money for the down payment and Reno costs. I repeated this 12 times. My problem now is that each property only cashflow by about 300$ a month and after repairs and a month vacant here and there, I'm in the negative. I was ok with that at first because the mortgage pay down and equity appreciation on my houses was incredible. But it's not sustainable in the long run and I am trying to buy more property but I'm having a hard time. Most of my houses are worth 600k with a 400k mortgage, being rented for 2600mth plus util. So I have a massive debt load with not much cashflow. I have a reserve fund from left over refinanced money, for unexpected expenses, and some cash left that I was going to use towards the down payment of another property. 

Some  people have suggested to sell a few and buy properties in a cheaper market that have similar cashflow. This way I can sell 1 house to buy 3 and create 900mth cashflow with the same debt and capital investment. 

Hello everyone. I'm looking for some advise or creative suggestions please. I'm new to this site and have just spent hours reading posts. I've been investing for 6 years and have 9 houses that I have bought as single family homes and converted then to legal duplexes. I invest in oshawa, Scarborough,  and London Ontario. My issue is that I have hit a wall. I am having a hard time qualifying for anymore properties and I would like to switch to multifamily.  My properties are increasing in equity every year alot but I feel like I am always cash poor. I have refinanced half of my houses in order to buy more and have spent most of the refinance money on down payments or renovation costs to build basement apts. My question would be, how do I stream line what I have to provide better cash flow. Should I sell one or 2 houses and buy a multiplex with the equity. Or should I sell all and have a few million to start over. And if I sell how do I not loose half to capital gains tax. Any ideas would be appreciated.  Dave

my approach was a bit different. I calculated how much I earned at my day job, and figured out how many years i had left until retirement. So i figured my max total earnings for my life if I was going to continue to work until 65. Once i earned that amount in equity through real estate, then I quit my day job. Now I live off the monthly cash flow from my properties but don't lead an extravagant life. 

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $320
Cash invested: $37
Sale price: $600

Single family house that I converted into a legal duplex. Demo entire basement to foundation. Built a legal 2 bedroom apt. Did it evenings and weekends with my buddy. We took 4 months since we both had day jobs. Rent up apt for 1350 plus util. Down is 1100 plus util. Refinanced a year later for 80ltv

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Brrr

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Agent

How did you finance this deal?

D.p was from refinance of oshawa house #1. Mortgaged the rest.

How did you add value to the deal?

Built a legal 2 bed apt.

What was the outcome?

Refinanced the house at new value. Still cashflow.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Great house. Demo was very difficult. Ran all new electrical and all new plumbing. My first time doing that.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Toronto.

Purchase price: $425
Cash invested: $18
Sale price: $800

Bought an old lady granny house. Looked like the 1970's. Cleaned the house up and build a 1 bedroom basement apt. Spent 18k on Reno. There was already a kitchen and bathroom in the basement. Rent upstairs for 1600 plus util and basement is 1200 plus util. Refinanced for 80ltv after 2 years.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Buy reno rent refinance

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Real estate agent

How did you finance this deal?

My life savings and borrowed 6k from a buddy because I ran out of money during the Reno.

How did you add value to the deal?

Cleaned up house and built a 1 bedroom apt. Legalization of 2 unit house

What was the outcome?

Refinanced for good profit. House still cashflow.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This was my second conversion. Went smoothly.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $249
Cash invested: $50
Sale price: $600

Bought dumpy single family house. Built a basement apt and had the house registered with city. Rent up for 1350plus util. Basement for 1200 plus util. Refinanced last year for 525.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Buy fix rent refinance

How did you finance this deal?

Refinance my personal house. Bought in cash. Renovated. Refinanced to 80ltv and used money to buy 2 more houses

How did you add value to the deal?

Built basement apt. Legalization of 2 unit

What was the outcome?

Good profit after Reno. House still cash flows.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Evicted first upstairs tenant. Basement flooded.