All Forum Posts by: Khaled Majouji

Hey all,

As might or might not know, I live in Montreal, Canada, wich is according to my standards the coldest freakin' place on earth. Ok done complaining. I was surfing Ebay real estate today and came across some ridiculous deals, I mean I've found 3br 2bath 2 car garage nice houses for 20 000$ I mean how does this happen? Here even if you bought a house far away from any big city you'd never find anything decent under 120 000$-140 000$ and that's considered dirt cheap! I understand the whole mortgage subprime thing but man 20k for a nice house that's insane. Buy and hold people must be really happy right now, if I was there I'd get 8 houses cash and finance another 8 and live off the rents :superman:

another niche could be to be small houses, make them nice looking, and focus on making the house extremely functional through using smart, cheap solutions and accessories that make everyday life easier. The houses could be sold to people retiring that want to trade down to something smaller and cheaper but still own their own place. Waddayall think?

I totally agree, it is very niche related. In my case I like to find good houses that are cheap, rehab them, then sell them out for a profit. I've come to find out that most people interested in those houses are either a)young family, 2 jobs, 1st house, or b) single person with a good job looking for their first place. In both cases the potential buyer is young and the Ikea style seems to fit them very well, I mean the baby boomer generation is about to retire, so who will buy houses if it's not the younger folks? I also think you can have an edge over the competition not through styling only, but through making the house more live in friendly. Ikea has lots of small accessories and items that make life at home much easier (hooks, storage solutions, organizing rooms and spaces, etc) I have personally never seem a house with those attributes but I think it can also be a niche

I understand what you mean Mike, I was referring more to kitchen cabinets and sinks and islands, bathroom items (shelfs, furniture to store towels in etc,) and various ingenious items that make everyday living and organizing easier argggg this is hard to explain I need a drink :beer: lol

well that also, but I was thinking mostly bathroom designs, kitchen designs, and you can also do the entire house furnished, I mean people like trendy designs, Ikea has them cheap, and they've already done the design job. One could just pick up the pieces from ikea get their crew to install all of it, copying the Ikea demo rooms. Trendy high end condo type houses would logically command a higher sales price, and even if the profit remains the same, I'm sure the properties will move extra fast if correctly priced. I think these properties would appeal to women much more than the "average" house and I'm a big believer in women having a lot of power and influence when it comes to house buying. Id be curious to hearing some of the veterans here on this subject

Hey all,

Ok I just had this crazy idea and I need your feedback. I was just browsing the Ikea website looking at their various new products and noticed they put a lot of effort (and probably a lot of money too) into predesigning every room of a normal house (there's about 15 different designs per room). I mean their interior decorators do a great job, and I was thinking us investors can take advantage of that, copy those rooms with their products (wich are cheap! nice) and have killer rehabs without the need to hire an interior designer and do extensive staging. I haven't done the math, it sure is a bit more expensive than upgrading to the minimum, but it does take your project to the next level, bringing in a higher sale price and a quicker sale. Do you guys think I'm crazy, or am I onto something here?

Weathie:

Thanx for the response, you are totally right, this property will never be a winner in terms of cash flow and its keeping all my money tied up, I guess it's just hard to sell it since it's been in the family for over 20 years (you know how it is, emotional ettachment lol)

As for the triplex thing everything was done by the book, 3 appartment approved by the city and ive got the right zonage so no problems there.

Here's my financial situation : I have a full time job earning me 43 000$/year plus benefits, I've got no debt whatsoever, and I don't have any savings except for the money in this property, a small 3000$ in the bank and my retirement account wich I can't touch. Maybe I'll go into rehabbing and retailing properties since I can pay cash for them, and I'll try to keep one out of every 4 (the one with the best cash flow) in order to build a portfolio

Hi,

Here are the specifics on the triplex : 1 have an upstairs 5 1/2 thats rented for 800$/month and the basement appartment is rented for 525$ a month. I am currently living in the biggest unit that has the garage and backyard and all, this unit would rent for an easy 1100$/month if I was to rent it. So I'm collecting 1325$ in rent per month. My mortgage is 1248$/month (15 years mortgage paid weekly so finished paying in about 13 years). You are right when you say this property would not cash flow if we would take it's value today, but I got it at a steep discount and only have 150 000$ left on the mortgage. I could refinance on longer term (25 years) to keep my payments low (and pay monthly instead of weekly). If someone was to buy this property from me at 425 000 they would collect about 2500$ a month in rents, wich we all know is far from positive cash flowing, but this is an up and coming area and people buy for the long term appreciation (and im keeping it for the same reason too! lol)

Hello All!

I'd like to expose my situation and get comments from you people on how I should go about this, in the most profitable way possible of course :P Here's the deal: I purchased a duplex a year ago wich is now a triplex (i made a small appartment with the basement) The mortgage left on it is 150 000$, resale value right now is an easy 425 000$ where I live, wich leaves me with a nice 275 000$ in equity. Here's where I got stuck, I have all this equity but I can't quite decide what to do with it. Now I wouldn't consider myself a rookie when it comes to real estate but I'm no pro yet, so I'd like you guys to tell me how to make this equity work for me the best possible way. My strategy for the long term is building up a portfolio of rental properties and holding onto it, but I would still like to be able to get a nice return on this money right now. Anyone cares to share their opinion?

Well MikeOh youre gonna have to detail those expenses to me, cuz i really dont see where u can find a building thats gonna cost 185000$ and bring in 3700 a month (44400$ a year!) I know different people use different ways to determine if a building's gonna be profitable, and i also know that nobody buys a building that yields this good, at least not in my area! MikeOh i dont mean to offend you but if you can break down thoses expense for me id appreciate!