All Forum Posts by: Shawn Devoid

Thank you- I was a bit confused by various terms!

I have a question (my son wants to relocate to Detroit from Portland, he's a chef, so all his research only pertains to restaurants).  Is East English Village the same as English Village?

You have to look at your goals (& home prices in your area) for the year & see if it would make more financial sense for you to do commission splits vs fee-based.  I would also make sure that whoever you go with is willing to help you by reviewing your contracts, especially at first.  And they need to be ok with you buying & selling for yourself; E & O insurance can sometimes be a little particular about that.  That's why it might be a good idea to talk to some other investors in your area & see what they recommend.

With only two unrelated people, I'm sure occupancy won't be a problem.  But to double-check, if you can't find the information on your municipal website, just give them a call.  I would try the housing department first & if that doesn't work, maybe health & sanitation.  Every municipality has their own rules & runs things their own way.  Depending on your municipality, you may need to get a certificate of occupancy to rent your property to someone (or face fines).  It wouldn't be in your state laws, because it's a municipal thing.  You need to get on that insurance thing ASAP, especially if they have pets (like dogs).  There are breed restrictions.  You could end up losing both houses if someone has an accident on your property, their dog bites someone, etc.  I would also be wary of letting your current tenant help advertise & "screen" potential tenants.  You should have your own criteria, run background checks (always, but especially when putting two strangers under the same roof.  Maybe you just meant that the prospective tenant would need to meet her, with her having final approval.  That makes good sense!

Hi @Edmund Ricker. To start with, not only will you need to maintain your license, but you will also, most likely, need to join your local, state, & national Realtors association to have access to your MLS. I would look up your local Realtors association- ask them their annual fees. While you have them on the phone, ask them if they know of any brokers (the person whose license you will need to work under) who operate on a monthly (or annual) fee-based system, rather than commissions. Most of the large franchises are commission-based and want a big share of the pie (in my area, about $20,000/year). Here we have a large fee-based brokerage & I pay $70/month to hang my license with them (+$475 per transaction). That includes Errors & Ommissions insurance. Other good resources might be your local REIA and real estate schools.

Hi @Christian Baker. I find what you're doing to be very resourceful & I think it can be done, with a few caveats.  Is the woman renting the two rooms by herself ok with you renting out the third room?  Does she have kids?  Either of those things could spell disaster.  Also, what do your municipal or state laws and regulations allow?  There may be additional stipulations on a rooming house situation, especially if it isn't owner occupied.  This practice of renting by the room is very common in college towns; you can probably get some good ideas from the websites of these type of rentals, including rules, applications, & leases.  Good luck!

To get the most accurate information, I would suggest posing these questions to your loan officer. As was mentioned, they keep changing the rules. Don't forget to take into account the fact that interest is very low right now & most likely will go up should you choose to refinance at a later date. Plus, your FHA duplex may be financed now at a lower rate than than a non-owner occupied loan down the road. Not deal breakers, just questions to pose to your loan officer.

Totally understand- you have to do what works for you!  You can still use the calculator above to compare your anticipated profits from a 1/1, 2/2, or 3/2 to decide what type of property is best for you.

I've been using a great calculator to analyze properties.  The only caveat is that it uses US IRS tax code.  Maybe try an Internet search and see if there is a similar Canadian calculator OR just apply Canadian code to this calculator (specifically depreciation, income tax, and capital gains).  Here's the link. As far as taxes, they are a local thing (at least here in US), so I would try an Internet search with "Barrie Real Estate taxes" or "Barrie Tax Assessor" or Canadian equivalent.  The Bigger Pockets book on Estimating Rehab Costs is a great resource.  Even in the US, rehabs vary greatly in price from one region to another, but it's a great book for understanding all the various components of a property, including the lifespan. You'll probably have to do a little research on your own to determine pricing.  Don't forget about insurance!  Sorry, I don't have any knowledge regarding Canadian financing available:(

But the internet is a wonderful resource- just Google it & the information will come!  Good luck!

The sick & tired of being sick & tired theory- that came from work I used to do with families that had lost their military member to a death.  I was their go-to liaison with the military; helped them with their benefits & emotional support.  I could see that they knew what they needed to do to get their lives on track, but they were at a point where their "fear" of the change was greater than their discomfort.  Only when the discomfort gets worse than their fear could they make the leap.  Since then, I've observed it with pretty much everybody.  I've found it to be a useful tool when working with clients.  I try to take away the unknown as much as possible, as fear really is our greatest enemy!