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All Forum Posts by: Robin L.

Robin L. has started 4 posts and replied 9 times.

Post: Is vendor take back (seller financing) dead in Canada?

Robin L.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver
  • Posts 10
  • Votes 7

Hello Everyone,

Recently I have been testing direct mail marketing to attract private home sellers. Had some success with replies (abt 7% reply rate), the main reason is that I am able to negotiate more fixable terms directly with the owner (vendor take back mortgage), or potentially better deals than MLS...(however I believe this largely depends on the market trend..so far owners generally give way too high price, unrealistic..).

I know someone was able to negotiate lots of Vendor take back deals back in 2002, 04 in BC, she was able to spend minimum capital to expend very fast and was very successful. Now I am trying to do the same. (seems 2020 will see some real estate opportunities)

Does anyone have any experiences with this types of deals? If so, can you share some case studies as well?

I know the common ones involve having the down payment financed by seller, or the have the mortgage with the seller instead of bank. Both saves capital or capacity for mortgages.

Here I am also sharing one email I wrote to the seller, if you have any suggestions would be awesome=)
PS: the seller replied my flyer and asked my background and meaning of "flexible terms" here is my reply

"Hello XXX
I totally understand your concerns. I can provide you with all the background information you need. Once we have an agreement, we can sit together with a trustworthy real estate lawyer to finalize the deal. Hope this will help with your concerns.


By "flexible term", I mean the payment terms can be discussed, such as:

1.) We can make cash offer if price is suitable, for fast closing

2.) Or we make payments in terms + interest to you, to lower the overall capital gain tax..(large payment made within few years, under tax brackets...so lass tax on your side)

3.) Or we can go with the traditional method, obtain a loan from the bank

As a private buyer..I suppose the options are endless, hopefully we can settle for an option that works for both of us.
Thanks for the information, I am very interested to know more about your property! Was wondering if the house has a basement?, would be great to know the floor area of the house as well. If possible, would you please send me some pictures of your house?
I did sent out several letters last week..so I am not 100% sure your address. If you are comfortable, can also let me know the address.
Once I have more understanding of the property, I will confirm a time to come to Merritt, should be in the next few weekends.
Best regards,
Robin"


I was able to have some good discussions with the seller and understood their motivations on this deal, they are quite motivate, however their price is doubled of the BC assessment, I though was kinda unrealistic, so ended up letting this one go.

Sorry for my length posts...hopefully can give everyone some insights or start good discussions, hope you all have a great day.

Take care be safe=)



Post: Offering higher commission to motivate realtors?

Robin L.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver
  • Posts 10
  • Votes 7

Hi Everyone,

Currently I am looking for long distance investment properties, and I had made connections with few local realtors in that market during my last trip there. 

According to the brrrr strategy book by David Green, realtors are everything for deal finding in long distance market. I agree and did homework in researching realtors, meeting them. 

One thing I noticed is that good investor friendly realtors will always have few local clients they always work with. If the realtor ever has off market deals before MLS, I might not always be their top choice. (For long distance, slow reaction time etc...)

Would offering higher commission add in extra incentive for the local realtors? and by how much is reasonable, also was wondering the most polite way to bring this up. Any suggestion?

Thanks in advance.

Robin

Post: Evicting for Family Member to Move in

Robin L.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver
  • Posts 10
  • Votes 7

While in BC, it seems impossible to evict tenants unless the owner lives in it.

Was thinking to do long distance Brrrr (where I cant personally live inside) and this seems like a big problem. Any suggestions?

Post: Investing in Prince George

Robin L.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver
  • Posts 10
  • Votes 7

@Jack Young That's awesome! Looks like you have some solid investments, congrats! Let's have coffee when m in town=)

@Aaron Saarela Hi Aaron, thanks for your response! I am very happy to see your success, it definitely helps.

I live in New West, we have investment properties in Surrey, Delta, there are some appreciation potentials but not much for cashflow..for now. Definitely PG has good potential for cashflow, sustainable growth.

Would you be interest to have a coffee meetup? looking forward for your response XD

Cheers,

Robin

Post: Investing in Prince George

Robin L.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver
  • Posts 10
  • Votes 7

@Chris Muller Hi Chris, for sure I will update you! Right now I have seen many multifamily with great cash flows, ex: fourplex 300- 400K with 3K - 4K monthly rent, well within the 1% rule. That's a great sign. I haven't get the time to go to PG yet, but will let you know!

I see you are from Kelowna area, any insights about that area? I was seriously considering there few months ago but I found the numbers generally doesn't make sense..for BRRRR, rentals at least.

@Theresa Harris Thanks for the insight! I have read through the post, very informative. Yes I totally agree student housing is a great direction. One of the reason I choose  PG is because of the schools there.

@Evan McLeish Thank you very much for the insightful reply! I am very happy to see your success there! Yes I believe Prince George is promising, and I have already seen many properties with 1% rules just from MLS.

I have a friend also invests in Prince George, she is doing very well with commercial real estates. She also started small here back in 2004. Hopefully I cal also share some useful insights to you as well.

Looking forward to go to Prince George, lets have a coffee when you are available.

Again, thanks for the insights!

Robin

Post: Required + Recommended readings for Canadian RE

Robin L.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver
  • Posts 10
  • Votes 7

I have been following this guy for the while, he is doing very well in London, Ontario, strongly recommended!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdRtqnqBSq4GY7DGiYICu5g

Post: Investing in Prince George

Robin L.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver
  • Posts 10
  • Votes 7

Hello Everyone,

Hope all is well with you=)

Recently I have been looking in Prince George / Northern BC for investment opportunities.

Was thinking to implement the BRRRR strategy here because:

1.) Price is affordable

2.) Rent / Price ratio is a lot better than other areas in BC

3.) Low vacancy rate

4.) Higher population base (relatively)

5.) Diverse industries (construction, forestry, education etc.)

I believe even the room for high appreciation is uncertain, it's safe to invest for cash flow here (especially BRRRR).

Would love to hear your opinions on investing in Prince George / Northern BC, or successful stories ;)

I am planning for a trip to Prince George, calling for all real estate professionals in town, lets have a chat!

Or any recommendations for realtors, brokers or property managers would be greatly appreciated.

Post: 1% Rule in Canada - is it possible?

Robin L.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver
  • Posts 10
  • Votes 7

@Patrick Archer

Thanks for your insights Patrick! 0.8% is very good ratio too.

Recently I've been following an investor on YouTube. It seems he is doing very very well in London, Ontario.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdRtqnqBSq4GY7DGiYICu5g

Hope that helps =)

@Roy N.

Thanks for the reminder Roy, yes I agree 1% is a rule of thumb, and I have been using this rule to filter massive listings.

For sure I will post once in the future=)

@Jacob G.

Yes I agree, small towns might be better. Right now I am starting to look further in BC. However with smaller towns there are smaller population...less rental demand I suppose?

Any suggestions?

@Thomas Lorini

Thanks for the insight, yes definitely student housing and Airbnb are good ways to boost cash flow. Currently I am considering to convert my condo investment to Airbnb, hopefully I can share some insights to you soon =)

@Edison Reis

Thanks for the insights Edision! Yes I totally agree smaller cities will have better ratios. I live in Vancouver area and now I have been shifting my focus to Kamloops, Kelowna area. I have been looking through listings and  have seen few duplexes with ratios between 6.5 - 7% ratio so far (very rough estimate).

Ps: I was an engineer too, and I am very happy to see your success. Good luck to you too=)

Robin

Post: 1% Rule in Canada - is it possible?

Robin L.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Vancouver
  • Posts 10
  • Votes 7

Hello Everyone,

Hope all is well with you.

Over the past year I have been reading books, watching real estate investment videos, and the 1% rule seems like a common target a lots of investors looking for. It is basically the gross rent should be at least 1% of the selling price.

It is definitely an awesome target to reach, and it definitely will generate great returns. However, I have been looking and looking in BC, Canada, especially in Kamloops, Kelowna and Prince George with No luck so far.

I talked to many local realtors in the areas and asked about the 1% rule, all of them said it is impossible in that market.

So...any suggestion and insights?

PS: I am looking to invest in BC this year, currently I live in Vancouver, with one condo investment. The unit has good potential for appreciation, but cash flow BAD lol