Hi Marcia, I Bought in the Temple and Falconridge area in the NE 10 years ago. I had other investment property investment before and found that if i was every to buy a rental. i would not buy older houses. 1970 or below. The two that me and my partner bought during the peak, we bought 6 years ago was 2 houses in highland park. we bought one for 420k and the other for 440K, We rented all upstairs by rooms and rented the 2 bedroom bsmt suite out separately. We found out that it is a hassle to rent by rooms, we would get people moving out between 6 month to a year. The property cash flowed once we bought it, but when we managed it. Something always go wrong. bad tenants, maintenace problems, tenants fights between other tenants. I believe the old owners were able to succeed because he lived in the upstairs of the property and managed the doors himself while always being in the property. I live and learn. I believe we lost around 60K each after 6 years, since we sold one for 360K and the other for 380K. But i learned alot from this experience. Never rent by rooms unless you live there. Dont buy older houses for full price when they only repainted the whole house to make it feel new. Make sure they replace furnace, roof and hotwater tank. Anything that is over $1000 dollars because if they dont, you will be the one to replace them once you buy that property down the road. Renovate fully before selling, if we spent 10g each and upgraded the inside, i believe we could of sold for higher. and would not have lost that much money. I guess me and my partner was frustrated that every year we would be losing money on the 2 properties , so we just sold it fast and at a lost.
Yes i agree prices can get a bit lower. Too bad i bought in dec 2015 while it was still at its high, but my wife likes the house layout and i like it too. it has 4 bedrooms upstairs, so it suits my future needs, since we plan to have more kids in the future. I believe that if i keep this house for 10 years, it will be worth 560K or more.
