All Forum Posts by: Ming Lim

Ha! I was going to jump on this thread to recommend @Jacob Perez as well. Looks like you're a rockstar buddy! :)

@Indy Singh - Awesome to see more Toronto investors! Welcome!

@Hai Loc - My partners and I are focused on Toronto investing and specifically multifamily. And yes, they all cashflow!

@Michael Panjvani - We had Russell at one of our meetups last year. Great guy, very humble given all the success that he's had in investing. It was definitely one of our highlights of 2017! Awesome, that you're an accountant getting into real estate. I think there is a lack of real estate focused accountants in the GTA.

Hi @Michael Panjvani . Don Campbell is a great author, but the numbers used in his books are a bit out of date, just keep that in mind. Cash flow isn't nearly as strong as from when most of his books were first published. Rusell Wescott is also another author to go with. Quality local meetups are my favorite place to stay educated. I usually attend 3-4 a month.

@Roy N. 's suggestion is great. George Dube is our company accountant and truly the leading expert in Canada in this area. Just a word of warning, George is a great guy, but it reads about as interesting as you'd imagine. It's a book written by an accountant after all!

Cheers,

Ming

Welcome to BP @Michael Panjvani ! I've said in other welcome threads, but it's worth saying again, whatever education you pursue, just ensure that it's Canadian content. BP is a great resource, but a lot of what they teach doesn't apply to the Canadian market.

Also, get out to all the local events - there are lots of BP members which host meetups. They're great places to become educated and grow your network.

See you around!

Cheers,

Ming

@Maria Hinton - Good for you! The real estate license process is a bit more lengthy and time consuming these days. It's not as simple as it used to be. The courses and exams are fairly easy, with the exception of Exam #3 - spend a bit of extra time studying for that one.

As for being self-employed, that's a challenge many of us face. @Roy N. certainly has a point around commercial properties and it's something most investors get to at some point (either the property is commercial or you have your residential properties, wrapped up as a commercial portfolio loan) as you simply can't keep qualifying personally.

Another option is going with a lender which is able to qualify the self-employed. There are lenders which look at your deposits instead of your T1's, or lenders which have products which are DCR based. Again, this is why networking is key! I wouldn't have known about these products until a broker in my network casually told me about them.

Anyway, good luck on your journey. Feel free to ping me anytime with questions you may have!

Cheers,

Ming

@Maria Hinton - LOL "I just felt eww" - Right? I know exactly what you mean. It's why I started my own meetup. I attended a bunch of local Toronto meetups and it was "eww". There wasn't even an attempt to hide the sales pitch and the worst part is the people who thought it was amazing. For our meetup, it was a chance to do something authentic. If people wanted to work with us, great, but it's never been our focus. 

If I started all over again, I would start with building my network. It's really true the saying "your network is your net worth" and my network has proven to be invaluable over the years.

I know I just called most meetups eww, but there are good ones out there. You're in Georgetown, correct? Erwin runs a great one out of Oakville. If you're in Toronto, you're most welcome to come to mine. Just meet other Canadian investors and ask lots of questions. This community is so welcoming and helpful - it's what I love most about real estate investing!

Cheers,

Ming

@Ardin Lalui - Love the title of this thread! It's almost a confession. :) There is nothing wrong with spending everything you earn, that was me in my younger years. Maybe you're looking to put your money to a different use now - family, friends, charity - my reasons for my continued pursuit of real estate have shifted as I've aged. It's not about having a Bentley in the driveway anymore, it's about easing my parent's lives in their old age. Whatever your motivations are, don't jump into real estate because it's the investment du jour in Toronto, that will only lead to disappointment. Real estate investing is a long slow process.

Secondly, I'd echo the comments from @Thomas S. - It's different for us Canadian investors. Please ensure you're getting yourself educated with Canadian specific content if you choose to dive in!

Good luck!

Cheers,

Ming

@Maria Hinton - It's unfortunate that the Real Estate Expo is such a major sales pitch - I haven't been myself, but I've heard the same for many attendees. I think it gives real estate investing, overall, a bad name. There are much better educational events in the Toronto area.

If you're considering investing in Canada, just make sure you're educated with Canadian content. As many of us Canadian BP'ers can attest to, things are different north of the border. Taxes, corporate structures, privacy laws, mortgage qualification, etc, etc. are all areas which differ from the states.

Anyway, just wanted to welcome you to the investing community!

@Tushar Sharma - Welcome to BP, Tushar!

Not to downplay investing outside of Toronto, but I think you can make money in any market. It really comes down to being an expert in that particular market and your ability to execute as an investor. My partners and I started in smaller cities and towns (Waterloo, Edmonton, Hamilton), but we've been consolidating our efforts in Toronto over the past 5-7 years.

There is a trade-off between cash flow returns and equity growth and when I started investing in the early 2000's, I was solely focused on cash flow and cap rates. Cash flow, really, is just there to help you hold for the long term. If my units get $200-500 more per month, that won't affect my day-to-day finances. Cap rates are a function of risk; just like any other investment as the returns increase, so does the associated risk. That maybe market risk, tenant risk, property risk, regulatory risk, etc. As investors, we're always looking for an asymmetric risk profile, and we can often get caught in looking at the upside without evaluating the downside. 

Hopefully, that helps to expand your thinking beyond cash flow and cap rates! 

Cheers,

Ming