All Forum Posts by: Hannah Westner

Can anyone recommend any good resources or rules of thumbs for coming up with a ballpark estimate for property insurance when doing a quick analysis of a rental property?   

Roy, I followed up with Sarah when you gave me her name last year. Unfortunately she has moved out west. She didn't think the group was still meeting.  

If anyone in Fredericton is interested in getting together, even once in a while we would be very interested. 

Hi @Charlotte Adams, I've been following the discussion - just haven't chimed in yet, because we've taken a bit of a back seat from real estate investing for the last year to focus on the other side of our business.  My husband does residential building, and renovations.  He just recently did a job in Miramichi, so if you're ever in need of that kind of work, give us a call: [Moderator:  removed URL to personal business site]

We hope to do another RE project in the coming months.  I'd be happy to keep in touch.  Like you, I was hoping to find a real estate investing group in our area.  But the only one I've found so far is in Moncton (https://www.facebook.com/MonctonREIO/) and it's just too far to drive on a weeknight.  I've thought about starting one in Fredericton, but haven't gotten that underway yet, between all the other things!  

Anyone have a recommendation of a lawyer in Fredericton, NB to do an incorporation?  

Thanks everyone!  Very helpful.   I appreciate your feedback.  

Yes, @Roy N. this is why I'm looking for a new accountant (as we've discussed elsewhere).  Mine doesn't have a lot of experience with real estate.  I was checking his response here, after I raised the question with him of whether we could claim the ITCs.  In the end, it seems he gave me the right advice but I'd rather have someone who would proactively alert me to these things, rather than the other way around.  

Have a great week everyone.

HI Faye, can you elaborate at all?  So, it's OK to claim the HST on the purchases we made to renovate the house?  When do you have to charge HST on the sale of a house?  

Hello, we completed our first house flip recently.   We were doing it as our first foray into real estate investing for my husband's carpentry and renovations business.  Did not charge HST on the sale of the house. Does that mean that we do not claim HST on purchases of materials for the renovations?  

Thanks for all the responses.  This is what my gut was telling me; great to have that confirmed.  

Yes, @Jacob Perez, I would definitely be using real numbers if we find something we are serious about.  The video that I watched was talking about how to do a "quick" analysis to decide whether or not to look further.  

@Ben Wilkins, that's what I was thinking I should do - just use a higher % for the rough calculation.  

@Roy N., thanks for the explanation about "double" taxes in NB.  Very helpful insight.  

Hello, BP newbie here.  

I was watching this video by Brandon recently and found the method interesting for helping to identify properties that might be worth a second look (https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/04/09/how-to-buy-a-small-multifamily-property/).  

However, he talks about a "50% rule" meaning that you can roughly estimate that 50% of rental income will go to expenses and the remainder is left to pay the mortgage and generate cash flow. 

For those of you investing in New Brunswick (Canada, not New Jersey) do any of you find this useful for your initial analyses?  In New Brunswick, where we pay double property tax for non-owner-occupied properties, is the 50% rule a good estimate?  

(Recognizing, of course, that it's just a rule of thumb!) 

Thanks