All Forum Posts by: Philippe Laurin

Way to go! Congrats!! 

@Derek Dickson, yes I've been attending the events lately. Let me know if you attend the next one. 

Hi Chris,

The reason for asking banking info is usually to check your credit score. I do this for all prospective tenants to see what their credit history looks like. 

As for the deposit, the law in Quebec is that landlords can ask for a deposit covering the rent for the 1st month. Any additional security deposit should not be asked by the landlord. Asking for an ID makes sense, I've had a case of a tenant who signed under a fake name once.

@Guillaume D., I plan on attending the CIIQ monthly event next week as well, want to meet and grab a bite downstairs before?

Hi!

I've never heard of this place, on the surface it looks like most other very small towns. You would need to find out what would make this place a good prospect for the future, perhaps a major company is planning on building offices or a plant nearby?

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone is planning on going to tomorrow's event by the Club d'investisseurs Immobiliers in Montreal (at Hotel Evo). I'll be going, and will grab a bite nearby around 5:00pm if anyone is interested in joining. 

Hi @Account Closed,

We have units which are a bit above market average (because the units are high quality for this market), and we have good tenants for the most part. Our strategy for the past few years have been to increase just enough to cover the inflation for that year. For long time tenants, sometimes we might even not increase rent at all if inflation is super low. We figure that an extra few dollars are not worth the risk of having good tenants leave.

Hi @Frederick S., welcome to BP! As @David Thompson said, with your experience you can probably reach this goal faster if you put your 100% into it. Good luck and have fun! :)

@Karen Ng, if you plan on managing yourself then 5% is fine, but keep in mind that it's always possible that for some reason (moving away, disability, too much work, etc) you would have to hire a management company, so it's good to include that number in your calculation. 

As for finding deals, 99% (if not more) of what's advertised on the market won't cash flow, unless you can find ways to increase the revenues, which is not always possible. Otherwise, plexes in nearby smaller cities have better chances of cash flowing from the start, but the potential for appreciation is not as good. Trois-Rivière is a good example, the rent vs property price ratio is pretty good, but the city seems to have very little in terms of property appreciation in the last few years. 

Hi @Karen Ng,

5% property management seems on the low side, depending on the type of manager you'd take. The maintenance and capex figures seem ok to me, however that depends a lot on the condition of the plex. If it was fully renovated before you buy it, you can lower the capex requirements for a while, but honestly the likelihood of finding a great deal on a fully renovated plex is really low. 

I would say that the Montreal market is a tough one, mostly because of the Régie du logement keeping the rents down compared to many other places. You have to look hard to find the deals :)