All Forum Posts by: John Humphries

Excellent! Thanks @Greg Eaton. I'll look up Steve to see if he can help. It's the coal mine that brings me to Elkford. The company that I work for does a ton of work in the area and we struggle with accommodations. I've had my eye on the Elkford/Sparwood area for a potential crew house to rent back to the company and wanted to chat with someone that knows the market.

Hi BC BP'ers

I'm looking for a real estate agent that knows the Elkford, BC market. Does anyone have any recommendations here?

Hey folks, unsolicited testimonial here.

I attended a "trial run" of this retreat in August of this year. I had a personal interest as I connected with Shiloh through BP a few years ago and had invested with him without ever meeting him in person. One of the investments with Shiloh is this particular property in Costa Rica pictured above. I jumped at the chance to join Shiloh and many others at the house in August to chat and learn about real estate. Experience ranged from those of us who owned a few rentals to seasoned investors who have bought hundreds of homes. We all learned from one another and had an absolute blast while doing so. 

Touring around Costa Rica while learning from a bunch of like-minded real estate professionals was a life-changing experience. Many new friendships were made and partnerships that were chatted about while surfing (or getting thrashed by waves as the case may be) or zip-lining through the rainforest are already paying off financially. I can't recommend this opportunity enough. It was great to finally meet Shiloh in person and hang out with him for a week, picking his brain by the pool and on the beach. If you have the opportunity, don't pass this up!

If you have not already, shop around for mortgage brokers/lenders. It can vary widely. For my last purchase, the a few of the banks would not offer much. Several mortgage brokers were able to get more creative and had different lenders that they used to help us close. Keep shopping around and asking locally for referrals for good mortgage brokers.

Hey Shelton
Great question, and as always, the frustrating answer - It depends...
I'll share two of my experiences for context and maybe this will help in some way. When I moved to Toronto years ago, I found that rents were more expensive than cost to buy (assuming you had a down payment). In that market, I found a duplex where I wanted to live and house hacked. It worked out well and I learned many important lessons.
Many years later, I moved to a different town in BC. Here, I could not find any suitable duplexes and could not afford larger multis. It was also tricky to find cash flowing properties. My partner and I found a small 2BR/1BA, simple house that looked like it could be a decent rental one day. Not our dream home, but a good place to live for a few years at a reasonable cost (well less than what we could have borrowed). We were able to save up another down payment within a year and purchase another property as a rental when we did finally find a deal that cash flowed. 5 years later our market took off, rent prices included. Because we had bought such a cheap primary residence, we were able to hold on to it and rent it out with a large margin of cash flow. We've used that cash flow to help fund a much nicer property to live in and now have 2 rentals in this market.
My point here is that you can take what your market is giving you. Don't fight it by just deciding to buy a multi or to house hack. What makes the most sense in your market? What is going to make you happiest? I learned pretty quickly that I did not want to see my tenants every time I left my house in that Toronto property. Also, if this your first purchase, don't get too bogged down in the details or trying to make it perfect. You may not knock it out of the park on your first investment, but if you buy smart using what you learn from BP, it will likely set you up well for future investments.

Hello Philly BP

I'm looking for recommendations for a good lawyer specializing in foreclosures. I have a delinquent note on a property in Philadelphia and need assistance with legal action against the borrower. Any recommendations greatly appreciated.

@Scott Parenti that sounds all too familiar. Safeguard strung me along for several months of late partial payments and very little communication. They had said that they would take care of any foreclosure issues and that it would be fairly hands off. When it has come down to it though, they have just pawned me off on an attorney and said that it would cost $500. The attorney had a good laugh about that and said that they had sent several others his way with the same story. The process will obviously cost quite a bit more and Safeguard seems to have washed their hands of it completely. 

I would not recommend this company to anyone. Very disappointed in my experience, but good lessons learned.

Good luck with closing out your notes. Hopefully, there is some equity in your property.

Hey Chris, the Comox Valley Real Estate Group is long overdue. Aaron Bellmore and I were going to get this going last year when COVID hit and then got stalled. I think getting this going on Zoom right now is a great idea to get the group moving. I'll reach out to Aaron to see if he wants to collaborate.

@Hai Loc, Ok, great! Thanks for the info, and the disclosure. We will definitely run this by an accountant, but just wanted to float the idea by BP as it just popped into my head yesterday as a way to maximize return without getting creamed by capital gains. These forums are always great for creative solutions and ideas.

We did indeed put 20% down and get a conventional mortgage on the property when we purchased it, so if you are correct, we would have pay a bit of tax, but certainly not as much as if we just sold the property, looking to put that money to work elsewhere. 

@Hai Loc Thanks for the feedback. Just to ensure I understand your statement though - Property was purchased for $193.000. If I sell for $400,000 but carry the note, I would likely want 20% down ($80,000). Would the fact that I am selling for $400,000 trigger the capital gains or would it be based on what I actually netted at the time of the transaction which would be the $80,000 down payment (which would be significantly less than my purchase price)?