All Forum Posts by: Ming Lim

@Luc Boiron - Just to add on, we meet monthly and also have guest speakers focusing on the various areas in real estate investing. We're education focused, and don't typically present any deals. We are realtors, so if people want to work with us, we're more than happy to, but the meetup is about networking and education.

It's $15 to attend, but now looking at the above, maybe we should raise our price!

@Chris Bellissimo - Exactly what Luc said, and if you're looking to flip within Toronto itself, much more capital intensive. The numbers don't make sense on small renovations here in the core of the city. All the flips we do with our clients, are pretty intense - adding GFA (gross floor area) through extensions, additional floors and / or full interior guts. 

Both Luc and I run meetups in Toronto (I believe their the #1 and #2 meetups now eh @Luc Boiron?) where I'm sure you would be able to meet successful flippers.

Hope that helps!

@Steven Michael Thomas - I actually have an assignment right now which might fit your criteria. I'll PM you the details!

Cheers,

Ming

@Steven Michael Thomas As @Hai Loc mentioned pre-construction has a strong element of speculation. You're banking on future rent growth and future property value. Add to this, many developers right now have banked in future property values, and we're seeing per square foot pricing from $1200-$1500.

Opportunities lie in some of the unique condo properties / strategies. We have a clients doing room-by-room rentals ($6k a month in rents), we have others doing executive rentals (not just furnished, cups, plates, maid services, all utilities etc.) all to make cash flow. Of course these strategies don't work on all properties.

Another area of opportunities is in assignments. Due to the changes in mortgage qualification, there are some people looking to get out quickly from their condo purchases. We've found a few gems here with pricing closer to $950 sq/ft and some that are cash flow neutral with possession in a few months. That's pretty awesome for a Toronto condo. Downside is assignments are inherently complicated and require you to have a well networked agent to find. Some require huge down payments.

Anyway, if you're just looking to buy and rent, Toronto will be a disappointment for you. It takes a bit more of a sophisticated approach, but it can still be done.

Hope that helps!!

Hey @Preeti Madan,

Hope you found our conversation helpful! Just wanted to post the key takeaway from our conversation incase others come across this thread also looking for some help. Basically, since you're coming from the US and don't have an established Canadian credit history, the first thing would be to figure out your qualification abilities and get pre-approved with a lender that will recognize your US credit history. This starting point will allow you to figure out what kind of budget you're working with and therefore the kind of deals which are open to you. Hope that helps!

Cheers,

Ming

YES! Location fundamentals are so key when investing in Toronto. The best investment areas (not always the best areas to live), didn't take much of a hit through the market down turn. In fact, like for like, single family in W01 never dropped and has continued to rise. 

Cheers,

Ming

@Mojdeh Toyserkani - Just curious why you're not considering investing in Toronto? I've been an active investor here for many years and though the rules of the game have changed, I still find cash flowing properties. Also as mentioned by @Marcus Auerbach, investing in your own backyard has it's advantages. 

This isn't a knock on Milwaukee, but just curious on your motivations!

Cheers,

Ming

WOW - this is a blast from the past! Myself, @Luc Boiron and @Gary McGowan all run meetups now. My business partner has spoke at Gary's meetup and we've all attended each others events. We were all also REIN members at one point. Small world!

@Francis Toribio - Wholesaling still doesn't happen in the GTA, but it's a bit more difficult to execute on. IT's simply a different environment - our foreclosure rates are lower than the US, we have privacy laws which make harvesting leads more challenging, etc. 

As for meetups, yes! I run a monthly meetup in the downtown core. We usually have about 30-50 people turn out, so it's a great chance to network and learn about the local market. I post it on BP every month as well in the meetup section, but seems like no one from Toronto actually checks it. :) Feel free to PM me for details. 

@Derek Merdzik - I created a separate email and used a cheap IP phone number. I never tell tenants that I'm an investor, just a property manager, so my business card reflected that. It gives me some distance when dealing with tenants.  Hope that helps!

Cheers,

Ming