All Forum Posts by: Larry Smet

Here's a perfect example (that just showed up in my keyword alerts with this post!) of why you follow the above steps when investing out of state!

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/522-investor-...

Bump to @Glen Emery, @Robert Howell, @Linda Labbe, @Hai Loc, @Jim Chuong and @Suzanne P.

Not too many people have registered yet - please advise if you plan to come or not.  It's still on if we get a few more, otherwise I'll cancel this month's meetup and switch to a bimonthly schedule.  The cold weather probably doesn't help but it's warm inside!

Thanks

I'm in Toronto but have been investing in the US for several years.  In case anyone's interested, I've formed a monthly meetup for folks in Toronto investing in the US.  The next meetup is next Wednesday:  

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/39...

We had a good turnout in December, despite it being cold and it being before Christmas.

Also forgot to add @Suzanne P. - hopefully you'll also be able to make it!

This meetup is a networking event for anyone living in (or visiting!) Toronto who invests in real estate anywhere in the US. This is a regular event, on the second Wednesday of every month. There are no plans for pitching or selling, just a venue to share experiences and resources for those of us actively investing in the US. Anyone interested in learning more about investing in US real estate is also welcome, of course.

I expect it will go from 6 until about 9. The location was chosen to be easily accessed from the subway (it's just a few minutes walk from Sheppard subway stop) and close proximity to the 401.

Please confirm by responding to this post or PMing me so I can confirm with the establishment how many people would be expected. I don't have any ties to the establishment but they are running a business so I would hope that everyone showing up will show their appreciation by ordering something other than water! :)

Last month we had seven attendees with a wide variety of US-based (and Canadian-based) experience including vacation rentals investing, traditional rental investing, flipping, note investing and more.  Multiple US markets were represented by the 7 attendees and several mentioned that other investor friends would likely attend the next meeting.

Thanks

Larry

PS - I'm pinging several people here who attended or expressed interest - please ping any others that you think may be interested.  @Glen Emery, @Robert Howell, @Linda Labbe, @Hai Loc, @Jim Chuong

We get a lot of plaster walls in older buildings in Chicago - one technique that we've used to some success (especially if you need to cut holes in the walls to run new wiring, etc., is to simply put up drywall over the plaster.  Plaster can have funky patterns that don't look great, especially for clientele that are used to drywall so this minimizes the cost and ends up looking good.  This was for a flip though, not a rental.

Hey @Dino Cardamone, please PM me if you want who I've been using since 2012.  They've been doing a good job for me.

Regards,

Larry

Hi @Brian Fitch

We're in the same position as you - we'll be replacing the water services to 2 of our flips in Albany Park and Logan Square... but not until early next year.  It may not be soon enough for you but I'll let you know how it goes with them and recommend our plumber if they do a good job.  It's very expensive and the quotes we got ranged by several thousand dollars so you'll want to get multiple quotes anyway.

Good luck!

Hi @Haseeb Awan

The simplest way to look at it is only the interest portion of your mortgage payment is deductible (is an expense that you can claim).  As you pay down the mortgage your annual interest expense will gradually decrease as more and more of each mortgage payment goes toward principal.  Of course, you can always refinance down the road to boost your expenses and take out tax-free equity which you can use towards growing your real estate empire.  :)

We had a good turnout of 7 for our first meeting with people coming from as far west as London and as far east as Scarborough.  :)

Thanks to @Glen Emery and @Robert Howell for taking a chance and turning up to this meetup - it was a pleasure meeting you both.

I received several regrets from other investors saying they couldn't make this meetup but will make it out next month.  Stay tuned @Gary Lamb - I plan to have the next meetup on Wednesday, January 11 and will post the details on biggerpockets.

If anyone has suggestions on a different venue please let me know by January 3 so I can look into it before posting the next meetup.

See you in the New Year!