All Forum Posts by: Jan B.

Hi there -

Quick question - hope this is the best forum for this topic - but as a software developer myself and interested in starting with REI I was wondering if there's an iPad app for the (in particular small/medium) real estate investor to provide a quick overview of ones portfolio?

You know, the basic information about your properties with general data, financials -
Kind of your personal Real Estate Dashboard providing all information at a glance..?

I've frequently heard about investors organizing all information about their properties in a bunch of (paper) folders and there's probably no way around keeping physical copies like that, however I was looking more for a general "How am I doing/Where am I at" overview.

Any hints appreciated!

Cheers,
Jan

Hi there,

on a more general note: does the current boom in the Kamloops are appear to be sustainable, i.e. what's the main driver? Seems like quite a few tech companies have moved to the area.

Cheers,
Jan

Hi there,

Again, thanks for all the great insights!

The general feedback sound like investing in BC is doable, however trickier than in other parts of the country. That's certainly good to know.

@Chris Baxter  Well, we're basically looking for cash-flowing properties as appreciation is sure nice but not the priority for us.. mind sharing the areas outside BC you're focusing on?

@Shawn Kelly Thanks for the insights - good to hear there's still ways to invest in BC

@Sam Perren Yes.. the Kamloops area came up a bunch of times - just revived the Kamloops thread so the info doesn't get lost here..

Lots of great information in this thread, I hope it's valuable to many potential investors!

Cheers,

Jan

@Justin K. Thanks for the info!

We certainly loved the idea of moving our properties into a LLC... until realizing the impacts that'll have on our ability to get attractive mortgages (https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/05/2...)!

Got to wrap out heads around the concepts of Note Investing LLC and Property Investing LLC, sound useful..

Many thanks for the the book tip, already in my Amazon cart!

@Odie Ayaga - I'll check out that podcast episode, thanks.

Cheers,
Jan

Hi @Odie Ayaga

Thanks for pointing that out - hard to imagine people going around willy-nilly suing house owners or RE investors.. for me as a newbie anyway.

Maybe you can share some more specific examples or stories?

Cheers,
Jan

Wow, thanks for all the feedback!
Much appreciated - it's terrific to get such a diverse set of impressions from all across Canada!!

We realize that major cities are a tricky market (as in many locations all over the globe), we've heard some crazy Vancouver property market stories first hand from locals on our travels there.

Rentals with 200x monthly rent or more certainly don't sound super-profitable..
In BP tradition we'd be aiming at areas where 1% is feasible. So we want to keep an open mind and don't restrict ourselves to a specific area - especially not initially - but Vancouver Island would certainly be handy.
Thanks for the Kelowna hint, we'll look into that as well!

But anywhere else in BC or Alberta could work for us basically.
Priority for us is definitely cash flow, not appreciation.

@Brianne Hall , @Ken Min - thanks for the BC market insights, sounds tricky for landlords..

@Pawan J. Now that's interesting - would you mind telling what kind/size of rental properties in Vancouver you've invested in (and I suppose when you could purchase them)..?

Cheers,
Jan

Wow, thanks for sharing your story!

That's really inspirational for those of us who haven't quite started yet (but are keen to).

All the best,
Jan

Hi there -

Just listened to podcast episode #214 of the podcast and was surprised by Joel Sherlocks statement that REI in Canada didn't made much sense for him/his company so they went to the US/Arizona instead..

We're currently located in Munich, Germany but have been all over the place in the past, spent a couple of years in NZ, and are now seriously thinking about moving to Canada (BC) and starting to invest in real estate (small rentals) there.

Any insights from local investors much appreciated -
Does it make sense to invest in real estate in the BC/AL area these days, i.e. are there good deals to be found..?

Cheers,
Jan

Ok, thanks for the additional explanations!

I get the idea about maximizing cash flow using, well, perpetual (30y) leverage vs. virtually no cash flow until the property is debt free with shorter mortgage periods. Guess we might have to wrap our heads around the idea of making the numbers work with ongoing mortgage payments.

Good thing is of course that we might be able to retire earlier this way with (decently) cash flowing properties from day one vs. cash flowing properties in 15 years.

We don't quite get the equity = bad part, though.

Isn't that one of the great advantages of being able to buy RE with leverage and having your tenants pay off the debt, i.e. continually increasing your equity?

Would you mind explaining how increased equity in a property increases risk?
(aside from binding your cash that might be used more profitably elsewhere)

Cheers,
Jan

Hello @Quoc Tran,

thanks for the feedback!

Being new to the REI game our basic motivation was to maximize cash flow in retirement with debt free properties.

Passive income for our retirement via rents is what we're aiming for - getting a similar cash flow with non debt free properties would require 3-5x the number of properties, wouldn't it?

Sorry, as I've mentioned we're complete newbies with what I suppose must be a 'natural' preference to be debt free, eventually.. 

Happy to hear about different takes on this!

Cheers,
Jan