All Forum Posts by: Ming Lim

@Florence Lee, @Philip Robbins - So glad to hear that you find the meetups useful and educational. It's always been our aim from the start to provide great CANADIAN education!

@Eric C. - Awesome, look forward to meeting you!

Hey Eric ! Welcome to BP. I'm also an investor based in Toronto. It's certainly not your average market and can be tough for someone new to investing. Feel free to ask me any questions about Toronto investing and our little community here. :)

Hey Luc! Wish I could make it out. Things have been a bit nuts for me with the closing on my latest purchase. Long story, but I'm hoping to make it out next month and tell you all about it. :)

Hi Patrick - I'm always open to chat. Just PM me and we can arrange a time!

Cheers,

Ming

@Quang Nguyen - If you're looking to invest $45k, why not look at a Hamilton / St. Cats property? They'll be cheaper and give you the cash flow you're looking for.

I do agree with Daniel though, just because something is expensive, doesn't mean it's a bad buy. Toronto might take more work, but there is certainly money to be made. It comes down to being an expert in your market. I recently picked up a lot that was under-valued in this crazy hot market and I was able to identify it because I knew the local market. Nothing wrong with investing in the US, just make sure wherever you're investing you know really well.

@Jan B. - Canada is a huge and diverse market - it's really hard to say anything of use when drawing with such a broad brush. Places like Toronto and Vancouver are very expensive (think New York and London). Investors in these cities aren't pushing for cashflow, if they can even find it, more than wealth preservation or relocation. 

Where in BC would you be looking to invest? Kelowna has been all over my news feed these past few months as investment hot spot, but I don't have any expertise there as I'm focused on Toronto.

@Bryan Kirow - Seems like an interesting idea. They have a lot of military there too, but not sure if that's the Airbnb crowd. Are you able to go on to Airbnb and see how busy the summer months are and the kind of rates they're getting?

Thanks for your insight on Airbnb! All my places are normal rentals now, but I'm planning on giving it a try on a place in the Danforth next summer. I've used Airbnb as a guest multiple times, but never as a host. What were some of your biggest challenges?

@Bryan Kirow - Your story of condo boards banning Airbnb seems unfortunately all too common these days. Which town are you looking at buying in? I think it would depend highly on the town itself as to its ability to draw visitors from other places either as tourists or for business.

For your Airbnb in Toronto, did you use a management company or do it yourself?

@Roy N. - Agreed, but there is a fix for that!

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/business/ontario-housing-real-estate-1.4076068

Of course, this all comes down to implementation. If there are lots of loopholes for foreign investors, then the tax will be rendered useless.

@Roy N. - I've been tracking this closely. There are few things I'm happy to hear.

1) "Speculation Tax" I'm glad to see this come in place. While Toronto has had the fundamentals to support healthy growth, the rate at which prices are exceeding those fundamentals is the problem. I'm not sure if this is going to have it's intended effect, as Toronto foreign investment is (anecdotally) lower in Toronto vs. Vancouver. Also, Vancouver market is starting to recover now with a red hot March numbers now being reported.

2) Development Rebates - One of the reasons that Toronto has so much illegal rental accommodations is the very high development fees. The city has been charging up to $30k per unit for multi-family conversions. Investors don't want to do it illegally, but at that price, many are hiding their rental conversions. Making this cheaper and easier for landlord will increase rental supply.

3) Double Ending/ Paper Assignments  - About time. Too many shady deals have bene going on in Toronto and the problems have been exacerbated by the hot market. I want to see an open bid process (in a multiple bid situation) and a ban on double ended deals.

4) Standard Form Lease - I'm in favour of this. There are a lot of shady landlords slipping in illegal clauses into leases. Let's keep everyone educated of their rights and keep both tenants and landlord on the up and up.

I'm not wild about rent control, but selfishly this has little impact to me. My tenant profile is young and transitional so I haven't had any problems with lifers.