All Forum Posts by: Jaymes Croken

 Yes Sean you are 100% right, my current living situation is a negative cash flow.

Took some time to think about it..

My goal is to develop enough passive income that I do not need to work my day job anymore for financial reasons. To build a portfolio of properties that generates income equal to or exceeds my person income. If a hard number is better, I'd like to have 10 doors in 5 years.

As for zoning, I found out some technical differences between r1, r2, rc1 and rc2. As well there is some information about requirements to actually be able to use the r2 zoning for basements etc. This link is a couple years old but helpful..

http://findnewdigs.com/blog.html/secondary-suites-in-calgary---what-you-need-to-know-2256643

My LOC is a consolidation of debt from much travel and having a long distance relationship. Only in the past few months now that I am coming up on 25, have I shifted my focus from treading water and enjoying my 20s to making progress financially. I fully intend to pay off my LOC within 2 years, I'm just taking advantage of the current price pops in the marijuana equities, thanks to our Liberal gov't. So far, that is more than compensating for the interest I am paying on the LOC.

Sweat equity, the one thing I do have. My father is also "semi-retired" due to a work injury, but was a contractor for years. So with his guidance, I think I can accomplish quite a bit for little more than the cost of materials, leaving certain things to specialists of course.

I am currently renting a 2/1 SFH at $1100/month. Part of the reason a condo attracted me so much is the low barrier to entry, and the fact I could be building $300/month in equity on the mortgage, and still saving $250/month after mortgage, insurance and fees over the rent I am paying.

In particular, the unit I have had my eye on is listed at $130k, currently rented at $1000/month. If a deal can be had, I think it could CF $200-300 a month (after satisfying the occupancy requirement). A similar unit in the same building was rehabbed and is selling for $145k, so there is some room to build some equity there as well.

I will definitely need to look more into Calgary zoning if I am going to get into a house or multi family. I'm not sure if r1 zoning covers basement suites as well and r2 is solely for duplex or detached multi family residential or what.. another thing to tack onto the list!

I'm not planning on jumping into a property right away, maybe around the end of the year after I have built a little more cash and freed up some more room in my credit. I hope that the market will have come down a little more by then as well. 

By the end of the year I should be positioned with $10-15k in liquid cash and $20k available of my $30k total credit. It will definitely have to be a deal to make it work. 

Assuming that I get myself adequately capitalized, a single family home with a mortgage helper in the basement would offer a better return on equity than a condo?

 Hi Aaron,

I haven't gone to any banks for a pre approval yet, I'm not sure if I should go to a broker or to some banks for an approval. When I worked for provincial EMS, I did get some extra confidence from lenders even when I had bad credit, but since I am working industrially now it has been hit and miss. TD for instance gave me no leeway on my personal LOC based on my occupation.

As for the condos, I have found a few but you are right, they are not plentiful. All of them are 2/1, 1/1 or studio. Some new in the 150-200k range and some 20-30 years old in the 125-150k range, though these are not in the downtown core or inner city. Some near the airport and others west near Bowness.

What route have or are you taking with the prices of Calgary? Thanks

Ah ok, I understand now. Haha, I remember this happening to my family as a kid, painting a townhouse complex and all units had to come up with a portion to cover the work. I can see that is something I will have to keep an eye out for.

What is the best way to look out for these hidden traps without having the experience to rely on? Inspections, or having the strata/condo corp give a record of maintenance or future capital expenditure outlooks?

Thanks for all of this help!

Hi Ron and Marcia,

Thanks for the warm welcome! Yeah, as it stands now, accounting for current rent being put towards a mortgage and savings that I can direct towards other things I have about $2000 per month, and another $400 per month free after I have my last bit of debt paid off. Not one to count my chickens before they hatch, but I am expecting a significant raise this summer. 

So, it is doable for a condo around 125k, if not 150k yet.

I definitely need to get my current living situation contributing to my net worth instead of detracting from it, so a larger property might be a good way to get started. Thanks for the suggestion!
I will have to investigate my options for larger mortgages. Because of my T4s being smaller the past couple years I have been working under the assumption that I may be stuck with a mortgage under $250k. However if I can get a mortgage on a letter of employment guaranteeing my income then I may be in luck!

I am about as green as the forest when it comes to the details, so lots of things to find out in this respect..

Marcia, when you say special assessments, what are you referring to? I have only thought about property taxes, insurance, condo fees, and the mortgage

Hello Everyone,

My name is Jaymes, and I am not a property owner but am looking to start my career in real estate investing. I am a paramedic of 7 years experience and I work largely on remote industrial projects that leaves me with a large amount of free time for about half of each month.

I am looking at purchasing my first property soon, and am starting to put my "team" together, hopefully by starting with a good real estate agent in my local area of Calgary that can help guide me. 

I have been doing a lot of thinking and debating a couple of different processes to start off with for the current economy and how expensive prices are for real estate in Canada. I am learning more about low and no money down strategies, but for the time being I think I may do one of two things, unless of course I can find a better path.

1) Purchase a small unit in the $125-150k range with a 5 year amortization, leveraging the equity through a LOC to purchase a number of other properties, most likely similar small units.

or 2) Purchase a unit in the same price range with a 25 or 30 year amortization, saving extra money and fulfilling the owner occupancy requirement and turning it into a cashflowing rental, while finding a new unit to repeat the process with ad nauseam.

Regardless of what path I choose, I am here to learn for long term growth and share what I can on subjects in which I am knowledgeable

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think