All Forum Posts by: Heidi Wilson

thanks for the feedback on flips vs buy/hold Ted. I’m still tempted to do a flip at some point but for all the work that’s required I think I would want to do it in a more expensive neighbourhood (or city) than where I currently invest. Rehabbing homes is a ton of work and it would make me sad to do all that work just to make $25k. I like the idea of making more later and letting renters pay for my investment in the meantime (or be my retirement cash-flow later)

Hey Robert A. Where is that meeting? Where can I find out more on where/when etc? Would be good to meet folks in person from here.

But the interest is fixed for the term of the loan.

I actually have to refi or pay in full at the end of five years. It’s only a 5 year term.

Hi there, I’ve been procrastinating introducing myself until I could get a profile pic up but apparently the only way to do that is on my computer and not my phone so I’ll post without a photo (sorry!). You can find me on LinkedIn or Facebook if you are curious. I own four SFH rentals which I bought as majorly distressed properties and rehabbed. I didn’t know at the time that I was “BRRRRRR”-ing (or however many Rs there are). I called it “the long flip” in my head. Creating equity up front by buying crap houses in nice areas and making them amazing, then renting them to high end tenants for top dollar until the day I want to sell. My intent is to buy ten houses but I gotta say the multitenant thing is tempting the more I read about it. But regardless I will always buy a crappy place and rehab. I can’t stand to buy a place where the value has already been created by someone else. I work full time in telecommunications and that funds my real estate ventures. I have a lot of flexibility with my job which allows me to be on site during projects. I also rehabbed my own house and am trying to figure out if I should sell it or rent it or hang onto it. It’s in a hot area and prices are going through the roof. But I also feel like “selling now” is almost always too soon unless it’s for an amazing reason. How I ended up here: I caught the real estate bug in Calgary when I stumbled into a hot market and made good money on a condo in only a year! That will never happen again - total luck. Then I bought a distressed condo in a hot area in Montreal and renovated it. Then planned a move to South Carolina and bought a house sight unseen for $44k to renovate and live in. 4 months later (while still in Canada) the house across the street from my dad came on the market so I bought that one sight unseen to renovate (better area) and decided to rent the first one. I loved it so much that I can’t stop! It’s a sickness. I love the thrill of finding a deal and transforming old properties. And rentals are my escape hatch from the corporate grind. Fun fact: since i moved here I have now bought and renovated 5 houses in 2 years while working full time. I’m tired! Fun fact number two: I really enjoy living in flip flops now vs boots. Question for the group: I have a friend who keeps trying to convince me to flip. I feel like the rental angle I have is a good one. Am I missing out?

Jefferson Smith I just used my local bank’s commercial lending department. I like using my local bank because they know the area and are more responsive and “get” what I do. As I said in my post above my mortgages are 15 year fixed 5 year term with a balloon. But my mortgages are not huge so paying them off is feasible and the mortgage payments fit well into my financial model and allow the rentals to be profitable.

I have done this 4 times and always do a commercial loan 15 year fixed with a balloon. Requires 20% down and the interest is a bit higher than my personal mortgage but if your house isn’t a million dollar house (which mine aren’t) it shouldn’t break the bank. There are also no limits with the number of properties you can finance this way (at least that’s my understanding).

I take a similar approach as Jerry Murphy in that I show the appraiser that I have a passion for and knowledge of real estate in the area and let the conversation flow from there. I try to keep it conversational like we are in it together - “can you believe the stuff that’s happening around here? I just saw a house over at xyz sell/list for blah blah blah” while we are talking about the renovations and why I rehab properties in the area. I do however provide a very detailed list of work done to the property with associated costs and value as well as dates. My last appraisal got me well above what I had hoped for and I think in part it was due to him viewing the property through the lens of “this person knows what she’s doing” which came from our chat. Delicate balance though; you have to give them space and respect their process. I usually start out by being super arms length and approach them later to offer details on the property and then let the conversation evolve. This way he has already gotten a lot of what he needs and doesn’t feel like I am being pushy/derailing him (or her!).

Is this prepayment of property taxes pretty much a blanket recommendation regardless of circumstance? I have quite a bit in property taxes to pay on my different properties so prepaying is no small feat but if it’s worth it I would consider it. I read on Michael’s blog an example where an engineering couple didn’t benefit from prepaying because of exceeding the Passive Activity Loss Rules but didn’t really get what that had to do with deductions.

You might do a little bit of research into how the oil prices and subsequent market downturn impacted things in Calgary. Inevitably things will pick back up so you may be at a point where you can get some relative deals there even if they don’t seem like deals compared to Saint John. Calgary is a booming town with a ton of business. Lots of opportunity there. If you time it right the upswings can be huge. I made $100k in a year on the sale of a condo there many years ago just from sheer market appreciation. Look into it a bit deeper. Don’t forget that once you have equity you can leverage that to get the next deal if the value is there. Don’t let deal size scare you.