All Forum Posts by: Jeffrey Kay

Looking to buy a condo maybe in Olympic Village Vancouver for 500-600k. Want to rent it out as a short-term rental or airbnb. Probably cashflow negative, but I want to try something. What do people think?

I think my end goal is to have passive income and so cashflow from RE is part of that. There are a lot of options and I don't know how to decide.

I have around 80k saved up... and was looking to buy a property for cashflow. Never owned real estate before, so open to anything - Alberta, Maritimes, USA... I live in Vancouver and nothing I can buy there.

Hi all,
I live in Canada and have started looking at perhaps buying some real estate in the US for cashflow. I live in Vancouver and the cap rates are ... awful. I have saved around 80k USD so at 20% down I would be looking for something around 400k. I was thinking the Phoenix area would be good since I wouldn't mind living there in the winter. Do you think it's possible to buy something there maybe a duplex where I could rent out one and live in the other part time? I just turned 25 so I don't really know what I'm doing. thanks!

Thank you all for your responses!

@Julie Toh I don't intend to house hack. Right now my rent is $0 because I live at home (and partly the reason why I've saved so much). It seems like a lot of work for the potential to make a little cashflow and/or live for free. I've looked at places in Vancouver close to where I need to be and there are 0 properties that are cashflow positive even with house hacking.

I'm fine with a PM and lower returns in the US but I'd like to know what the returns could be like in my situation. I can easily fly anywhere in the US and pick out a property but it seems that it's risky too especially if you're relying or 1/2 tenants and/or need to get a mortgage. My parents (also Canadian) would potentially be willing to co-sign for a mortgage through a bank with both Can/US presence (e.g. TD Bank) and perhaps contribute as well, but the numbers need to be really good on that.

Would 10-15% COC be unrealistic?

Hi there,

I live in Vancouver Canada and am trying to figure out whether I should be investing in real estate. I currently have around 95,000 USD in cash savings, earning 2-3% in a HISA. I am 23, and am going back to school for a second degree in computer science. I previously completed a business degree. All the money I've saved has come from my side business, which I am currently running as well but the income is inconsistent. I have 0 credit card + student debt, and live with my parents. My cost of living is exceptionally low at this point; my tuition is covered by grants and I'd like to think myself as fairly fiscally prudent.

Since I do not have much time to 'manage' properties, is there anything in between managing your own property and putting your money into stock/bonds which might earn 5-15%? I like real estate because of the leverage but given my situation no lenders would give me money. As well, I am wondering if going to the US to invest is a better idea because where I live a three bed townhouse is around a million bucks which is on the low side in Vancouver, and there are so many places that are comparatively cheaper. Thanks! I was also reading about the Fourplex FIG group in UT and TX and the cash on cash returns are 4%? That's like nothing.

anyone?

for example something like this looks good if i want to get started? https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/88/topics/733196-calc-review-help-me-analyze-this-deal

Originally posted by @Elliot Marszalek:

Most REIT pay 3-8% if they're solid stocks. They're great if you want to put almost no effort into it other than clicking a few buttons to purchase but like @Geordy Rostad said, the returns you can get from physical RE with the right deals will be much higher. REI is going to take a lot more effort than REITs and finding a deal that cashflows 1k+ a month isn't easy. House hacking is a great way to get your foot in the door with REI but if that's your plan but don't expect to cashflow anywhere near 1k a month. Even if you're breaking even it's still better than paying for a place to live and you'll build equity at the same time.

Sorry I meant to say rent ratio. There are places scattered all over the US (Kentucky, Texas, North Carolina, etc.) that do offer 1.0% or close to that. Where as a 2k rent on a 800k property is 0.3% - nowhere near covering the mortgage.

Originally posted by @Geordy Rostad:

@Jeffrey Kay

A REIT is not really real estate investing. You own shares in a company that owns real estate but you really have no control of it. Don't get me wrong, I have some REITs and enjoy the dividends but you'll never come close to the returns you can get from owning actual real estate. Also, I'd love to know about any REITs that have/will steadily pay 10-15% over a long period of time. Those sound like dividend traps to me.

I would suggest heading east to search for some better deals. Maybe Mission or Hope? 

You could also head south to Blaine or Ferndale. There are certainly deals near there that could work. 

Not talking about 10-15% dividends but rather overall return - vs a 3% return on a bank account. The thing is that I have heard there are properties in random US places like Kentucky or Tennessee or Georgia or Texas where a house is 50k-100k and the rent is 1k a month. So there are people who are 25 and 'own' two houses with cashflow being 100-200 per house. That's 0.5-1.0% - nowhere in the GVA or Blaine/Ferndale will you ever, ever, get that. ever.

Hi all, I just signed up for the forum and had a few questions. I have always been interested in real estate since I was younger (I used to play Robert Kiyosaki's board game) and the notion of passive income always came across.

I am trying to understand how it all works, especially for those in my situation. I live in Vancouver, Canada, which has one of the highest prices for real estate in North America - think San Francisco equivalent. The average price for a detached home in the city is 1.64M ($1.25M USD). It is basically impossible for anyone here to afford real estate except for wealthy overseas investors, those who had houses handed down to them from their parents/family, and the top 1% of income earners. 

Right now, a decently desirable one-bedroom condo downtown is $2,095++ per month on an assessed property value of 800k and a $4,500 rent for a 2bd 1.8M property. Absolutely ridiculous. I bring this up because I have read posts where someone will buy a duplex/multi-plex for 90k, and live in one of the parts. The idea is that the rents will cover the mortgage and other costs, right? It seems absolutely impossible anywhere in Canada.

That also means financing might be a little difficult. That being said, I have around 50k USD saved up ready to go - so I want to know if it's even possible to use that and get $1k+/month cashflow on the table. A REIT might get me 10-15% (and index funds less), so I am trying to find out if buying a property would provide a better return on that money without too much risk and additional effort. Thank you!