All Forum Posts by: Brandon Copeland

@Chris Baxter Wandering cities that aren't my own and thinking about what I could do is one of my favourite things to do. I hope you enjoy your stay, if you want to grab a beer don't hesitate to reach out. ;) 

 Huge red flag IMO, make sure you stay on top of it, or talk to someone else. As mentioned initially, a verbal confirmation is useless if you make application for business permits, renovation permits, or whatever and they don't grant them. If you purchase the building before you get this formally ironed out, you're going to be sitting there making payments while the city takes its time figuring out what it will allow you to do. What's worse is if they decide your planned use isn't allowed.

Zoning is not rocket science. If you know the zoning, look up your cities regs, and find out what the zoning is. Hell, post them here and I'll take a look. Is what you want to do a clear allowable use? Is it a discretionary use? Big difference in application time, cost, and headache. 

Don't get stuck holding a vacant property while the city figures it out. Either make the P&S contingent on permits, or get the city to make a decision. Escalate if you need to because that isn't something you play around with.

Good luck!

As a follow up to @Karen Schimpf 's comment on business needing to occupy 51% of the building,  I recently learned that AirBnBs are considered a commercial use by one of my local lenders if you have a business plan to go with it. Get the financing, work the apartments into the build, and if you want to transition out of nightly rentals once you've navigated the waters there is nothing stopping you.

It sounds like you've already done so, but be crystal clear regarding what you want to do (ie: have the end-game plan before purchasing) and receive confirmation with your contact at the city that everything falls within the zoning regulations. I've seen countless instances here where people buy property thinking they can do what they want, only to get snagged up because something catches the city's eye AFTER the property has been purchased. 

If you're changing use, find out if you need any sort of traffic impact study or anything like that. 

Consider making full city approval a condition of purchase. 

@David Zheng Dude, great stuff. Incredibly inspirational to see how well you've done. Definitely exciting for someone like myself with similar aspirations. Keep killing it, and keep updating!

@Paul MacInnis Interesting stuff, I think there is tons of potential here. I am already profiting off of the tourism season myself, and have some additional ideas regarding the types of investments I'd like to make. Look me up next time you're in town, I'd love to talk to you about what I see happening in the market here over a beer for no other reason than its a fun discussion!

As a side note, I grew up in Wolfville, not far from Winsor. It's been almost ten years since I moved to St. John's, hope everything is great back home! Cheers, nice to meet you. 

@Roy N. Couldn't agree more! That's an opportunity that I see, and that I want to capitalize on. I think that trends among millennials (who make up most first time buyers, which is a massive chunk of my market) are significantly more interested in an urban lifestyle. Investment in downtown also allows for mixed-use potential, reducing risk by merging commercial leasing with residential leasing. As someone who grew up in Nova Scotia, I love Atlantic Canada and want to build my business across the region, not just in my current city.

Hi guys!

I'm eager to start browsing your community and picking away at your collective minds. I've been listening to the podcast for a long time, but have only just decided to take the plunge and join the community.

I'm a business graduate with a keen interest in real estate, and urban planning. I'm fascinated with the built environment, how city neighbourhoods form and flourish, and how I can invest in buildings that can contribute to building better places. I spent the first four years of my career managing the land development portfolio for one of my city's largest real estate developers, but have recently branched out on my own. Using my knowledge of real estate development, zoning, and project management, I'm hoping to do some consulting work in my city on impactful renewal and renovation projects. I'm also hoping to begin investing in mixed-use properties in my city's core.

St. John's is an interesting place. I don't know of many cities where downtown properties are significantly cheaper than suburban ones. I think there is a lot of opportunity in our city's core, and I'm hoping to contribute to its revitalisation through strategic investment and partnership with some of the small businesses that have emerged here. Right now I am working on a couple of contracts, the most notable one being the expansion of our city's primary coworking facility. 

I only own one property to date, the home my girlfriend and I own. We bought land downtown in an area where a building had been demolished, and built a very traditional townhouse. I didn't want to invest in property that didn't generate me any money, however, so we incorporated a very small "micro-apartment" into the unit that we rent on AirBnB. I love this style of living, and it has been incredibly lucrative for us to date. The apartment takes up about 18% of my building's square footage, yet it pays about 70% of all of the building's expenses. If we didn't live in the upstairs, this property would have an impressive return. And it is a very small building! I want to get my hands on another and run a few of these micro-apartment AirBnBs. I'm more than capable of coordinating construction, I just need to build up the money to invest.

Anyway, I'm excited to share ideas and learn from you all. Me registering has been a long time coming, but now that I'm here I'm looking forward to contributing.

Cheers!