All Forum Posts by: Jason Ridout

As Randy said, the play is long term holds with good debt pay down and hopefully appreciation. I wrote a blog on here about the island possible being recession proof. https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Port Alberni gets about as close as you can find to the 1% rule on the island. You can find 0.75-0.85%, but if you want a full 1% you will need to get creative with some value add. Prince George, Quesnel and Williams Lake areas you can find the 1% rule sometimes, but even there it is tough and the vacancy rate is slightly higher than the island, so it's a push. 

The smaller island areas like Port Alberni will give you better cash on cash returns, but the larger hubs like Nanaimo and Victoria will give you more stability with property value.

Just because something doesn't meet the 1% rule doesn't mean it's not profitable, and as a matter of fact the more expensive the property, the less the 1% rule needs to apply. A $500,000 house bringing in $3,000 with a $1,600 mortgage payment will cashflow better than a $125,000 house bringing in $1,250 a month with a $400 mortgage payment. Even though the $500k house is only a 0.6%, it leaves $1,400 per month for expenses vs the cheaper house which hits the 1% but only leaves $850 for expenses.

Hi @Curtis H.

Sorry, I worded that poorly. I have a mortgage on the property for 75% of the purchase price (I put 25% down) and the rent covers the mortgage payments in full.

Almost anything will cashflow with enough money down. A million dollar house rented for $2,000 will cash flow after all expenses such as property tax, insurance etc but if you add the $3,500 mortgage payment that would go with a $800,000 mortgage on a million dollar house, you won't cash flow. It's very hard to find properties in BC that will cashflow with a 75-80% mortgage, but I find it can still be done in areas like Port Alberni and Prince George.

3rd ave near the base of Redford is a not very good area in Port.

I think there are more high paying jobs on the island than the stats lead us to believe.

I moved from the mainland 3 years ago and both me and my wife had increases to our incomes upon moving to the island. I worked in automotive repair and my wife is a commercial insurance broker. The demand for dependable skilled people on the island is very high. Many islanders are either use to the low cost of living and therefore don't apply themselves, or are of retirement age. There is a major demand for skilled trades which pay on par with the lower mainland. 

I think the only area where the island might not pay as high as Vancouver is the higher paying white collar jobs. The low median income that the stats show on the island is in large part to the fact that there are a lot of lazy people over here on "island time" and choose to work as little as possible which makes the stats look like jobs pay less. If you are a hard worker and show up every day, there are limitless opportunities here.

I have owned a house in Port Alberni for about two years now and receive $900 for the one bedroom basement and $1,300 for the two bedroom upper, plus tenants pay the utilities. I have had a 0% vacancy so far with not a single month of rent missed. That's not as high as the $1,100 and $1,500 you mentioned, but I'm into the house for about $290,000 so the rent pays a 75% mortgage and still cash flows after all expenses which is very hard to do in other markets right now.

Port Alberni is still one place where you can find a cash positive house with a traditional 80% mortgage, but even in Port it is getting hard. If you are looking for growth over cashflow, Nanaimo and Duncan are doing well. 

Gold River could be a hot spot, but it's a gamble. It's a small community with very low vacancy rates and low property prices. I could turn into a great community, or it could just stay the quaint little place it is. It has no cell phone coverage or currently a grocery store, but if those two things change, the market will take a big jump up. That might be in 3 months or 5 years.

Overall, the whole island is a hot spot. The lower mainland and even the rest of BC have taken a bit of a down turn in the last year. The lower mainland is overinflated, and the rest of BC gets cold in the winter. The island is seeing a huge migration from the rest of Canada. Baby boomers looking to retire somewhere with mild winters, but can't afford the mainland. I'd estimate 40% of my clients that are looking to buy houses are not from the island. Lots from Alberta, Ontario, Kamloops, Kelowna etc. Prices all over the island are continuing to climb and I can't see it stopping with the number of people moving from the rest of Canada.

As a real estate agent I can setup automatic searches that only look for foreclosures. Talk to a local real estate agent and ask them to put you on a search for foreclosures only. You should get all foreclosures sent to you via email as soon as they hit the market. It's free and instant.  

If an agent doesn't want to do it, find another agent.

Make sure you follow up with more than one visit. Try to become their friend with multiple visits instead of just being an annoying salesman.

Figure out what the owners need, not what you need. If you can help them and solve their problems they will be more likely to work with you. 

Lots of books on this and podcasts. The lost are of Closing is a good one by Anthony Lannarino

Hi @Jordan VanThiel, it is still active. We meet upstairs at the Country Grocer on Dufferin in Nanaimo on the third Monday of every month at 6:00.

All of the info is on meetup.com under Nanaimo real estate investors group.

Make sure to RSVP through the site so I know how many people are coming.

Hey Cole. There are a few threads already going on here about investing on the island with lots of good info. I'm in Parksville, and invest in a few different areas on the island. 

As for multi family or single family, that all comes down to how much money you have, what you want to achieve with your investing and what your skill sets are.

I host a meetup group in Nanaimo once a month for investors. Check out meetup.com and search for Nanaimo real estate. Lots of great local info there.

Hey Chris, not sure exactly where you are on the island, but there are lots of smaller submarkets that can work. You might need to drive 30 minutes or an hour from where you live to make it work, but it is still manageable. Even if it's 2 hours away, it can still be worth the effort.

I'm in the Parksville area and have found deals that work not too far from me. If you are up this way and want to chat about places that might work, feel free to contact me. If you are down further south in Victoria, Randy is your guy.

@Jesse Graham I think places like Cranbrook, Kamloops, Revelstoke etc all have deals that can work. You need to know as much about each place as possible. Every city/town has its good areas, bad areas and niches you could get into.

I invest in Port Alberni and Prince George. I live 30 minutes from Port Alberni and go there weekly, so I drive the neighbourhoods, know the infrastructure, know the demographics etc etc. I have a very good friend and investor that lives in Prince George, and he knows all the little details about that city, which has been extremely valuable.

What I'm getting at is, it's probably more important to become an expert in one or two towns than it is to know which town is better. I'm sure I can find better deals in Port Alberni then @Greg Eaton could, but he can find better deals in Cranbrook than I can. Either pick a couple of towns that work best for you and become an expert, or partner with someone that is already an expert in a town you are interested in.

By the way, congrats on getting in Canadian Real Estate Wealth magazine Greg! I saw your name and Cranbrook and put two and two together! Great article! I'd love to pick your brain about the hotel you bought.