All Forum Posts by: Matt Belzile

The closest thing I've seen to being exempt from paying capital gains is the subsection 45(2) election. This let's you turn your principal residence into a rental while keeping it as your principal residence. it will let you do this for up to four years.  It's not exactly as sweet as the 1031 exchange but it's something! And can be useful in the right situation.

I'm doing it with one of my properties right now and with all the appreciation we've been having in BC, it makes for an interesting option to sell with out having to pay capital gains and being able to roll all the gains into something else. 

I'm no expert but does it make sense to amortize your reno cost on a certain number of years, then figure out how much of a monthly increase would cover that cost? 

Example: Renovation was $10,000 you feel it's acceptable to get paid back in 5 years - $2000/year divided by 12 = $166/mo increase. or round it up $170-$200/mo...

Does that make sense?

I've been watching the Vancouver market closely which is seeing the same kind of "frenzy" as Toronto. It's really hard to say when things will calm down especially with these low interest rates. 

What are your thoughts on interest rates and the affect on the housing markets in these areas? Could the rates be what triggers the correction? 

I have a feeling people are over extending themselves just to get into these markets so that they don't "miss the train" and once rates start climbing....pop?!

Hi everyone, 

This is a bit of a strange topic, I have never heard of anyone going through this and asking around I have been getting people not knowing what to think about it. 

Anyways, I recently bought a ground floor condo unit. I guess its considers a townhouse with a condo council. I was crawling in the crawl space when I was doing the plumbing for my bathroom reno. While I was down there, I found a room behind my unit... it's the width of my whole unit and there is about 10 ft before the ground starts to incline. like the building was built on a hill and they didn't excavate that area. this room is closed off to everyone, it's insulated, vapour barrier just no dry wall. 

Has anyone had a similar situation or is familiar with strata policies? Is there anyway I can legally claim this dead space? Any insight or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance

- Matt

 Hi William, 

I grew up on the Gatineau, Qc, Aylmer more specifically. My parents did very well with rental properties in Aylmer. They have a portfolio of semi-detached homes that are relatively easy to rent, They are very careful when choosing tenants and haven't had any issues in years.

If you have good tenants than you shouldn't have any problems with the rules favouring tenants  

 The first rental I bought is in Squamish, then I bought one in Quebec in a partnership with my brother. I bought one in Whistler as an owner occupant that I plan on turning into a rental. I'd like to keep buying in Whistler and Squamish

Tell me about! it's been a struggle for me to get mortgages... had to partner up for my last mortgage.

Roy N. Thanks for your reply. I'm looking at residential at the moment and I do have some equity in my units that I can pull out of them but not enough to buy something with out a mortgage... 

Thanks for the suggestions sounds like most of the time you really have to shop to find a lender that is willing to work with multiple rental properties. I wanted to make sure that portfolio lenders were a thing in Canada. So I'm going to start looking more aggressively! 

Hi, I've been reading up on how to get financing on multiple rental properties, I've seen "portfolio lending" pop up a few times where a bank such as a credit union will keep the mortgages on their books. I have 3 rentals now and the banks aren't very keen on giving me another mortgage with my self-employed income. 

Have any of you been successful with portfolio lending in Canada?