All Forum Posts by: Trevor Gaal

@Cameron Chambers Check out Darren Voros on YouTube. He is in the GTA and also has a coaching program. I had to the opportunity to meet him in person a few weeks ago at the Synergy Mastermind REI event in BC. Great guy, super knowledgeable.

@Christa Oliver I keep getting drawn back to this thread. What specific US resources are you looking for from Keyspire? I used to think that the biggest value from Keyspire would be in the training videos, coaching and software. I was totally wrong on that because about 6 months into my membership I realized that it's connecting with other like-minded investors inside the community and collaborating with them on deals. I didn't have enough money to do more than one deal on my own, so I connected with people that didn't have the time or knowledge, but they had the money and wanted a passive investment. We grew from 3 doors to 30 very quickly just by networking within the community and finding great deals that they wanted to be a part of. We created win-win solutions.

The best place to start if you're looking for market-specific resources is to find a good Realtor that mostly works with investors (rather than just homeowners/buyers). Your Realtor will be your quarterback and have *most" of the other connections you need to build out your team of professionals (mortgage broker, real estate lawyer, accountant, property manager, contractors, etc). Learn how to properly analyze deals and start networking. You can do this Christa!

@Paul Chislett let's connect on a DM. I'll send you me email and we can figure out what kind of introductions you're looking for. I should be able to at least point you in the right direction. As for expiring tickets, that's news to me, and will need to contact member services myself and/or check to see if there's any contractual obligations. T :)

Hi @Janice Beare 
I sent you a private message, looking forward to connecting with you. 

@Paul Chislett
I pre-paid for tickets to attend two Summits in Niagara Falls last year. I've been to three of them, and it's well-worth going back for the networking. I was certainly disappointed to not be attending "live", and actually decided to hold off using my tickets until the live events are back again. That being said, there's a tonne of support besides just your coach. You should have access to the Keyspire Inner Circle Facebook group. There's always lots of advice and connections there. Like-minded investors from all across the country are just a message/text or call away. Again, as I said in an earlier post, I'm happy to help a fellow member any way I can. You can message me here or look me up on Facebook.

Good for you Evan!
We don't know anything about your situation, so can't really give any advice. REI is a great big world lots of options.
What's your skill-set? How much time do you have to devote to your investing? How much REI education do you have? Do you have a team? Realtor? Broker? Contractor? PM? Lawyer? Accountant? Handyman?

Do you have capital to invest yourself or do you need to use private lending or joint venture capital?

Do you want to be an active or passive investor? Do you have RRSP money to invest into passive mortgages?

If you're a first-time home buyer, there's nothing that will get you started faster than buying a triplex or 4plex with 5% down and fixing up the worst unit while you live in it, then rent it out and move into the next worst unit and fix it up, and so on. By the time you're done with the sweat equity you put in you'll be able to refinance and buy another one with the money you pull out. Just make sure you get a variable mortgage or you'll be waiting until the end of your term to do the refi... breaking a fixed-term mortgage is rarely worth it with the steep penalties.

This assumes you have the time and skills to do a renovation like this (and don't have kids). Lots of other advice to be given, but we don't know enough about your situation and your goals.

Cheers,
Trevor :)

Hi @Stephanie Blouin,

All insurance has gone up quite a bit since last year, but you'll find that anything older than 1945 has gone up significantly. So as you're looking at properties be aware of their age, as it's now enough to kill certain deals if you have hard-line criteria that you stay above. As @Theresa Harris said, you'll need to get a quote on the particular property from your insurance broker. Rob Scott can help you in NB.

@Chris Baxter is on point with Ground Floor PM. Tony Leblanc has built out a one-stop shop for everything you'd ever need in terms of operating, managing and renovating a property. As Chris said, it's 5% of gross rents and a flat fee of $250/placement (this is typically a 1/2-month's rent, so very good rates from Tony). The other PM you should talk to is Jeff Murray with Canada Homes for Rent. Both excellent choices, so this gives you some options to compare. When calculating my PM budget I use 6% for NB as this will capture placement fees and HST. Don't just plug in 5% there.

Your other expense questions can vary widely depending on the type of building, heat source, number of units etc. Sometimes landlord pays heat, power, hot water, water, sometimes they don't. You need to figure out which ones the tenant pays for and which ones are included in the rent.

Here's some general guidelines that I use if these expenses are paid by the owner (all are per door/month):

Electricity: $40-45/door/month, unless electric baseboard heat then $150-180

Water: Approx $50-60. Unless you're in Saint John, NB then it's a flat rate of $120 unless you have a water meter, (you can only get a water meter on triplex or larger). Be aware that it's a flat rate whether you're using any water or not! So if you do a 6-month reno on a duplex you'll pay 6x2x120 = $1440 in water/sewer holding costs. Yikes!!

Garbage: You can call a couple bin companies, but it's often cheaper to have your PM quote you for the building. If you're looking at a duplex that will be covered by municipal pickup.

Lots of people don't budget properly for Cap Ex, pest control, snow removal, lawn/landscaping and cleaning. And I often see vacancy budgets lower than they should be. If you're trying to tighten everything down to make the numbers work you're probably going to be disappointed with your ROI or you'll be forced to come out of pocket when something unexpected comes up (or you'll be a landlord that gives terrible service because your margins are too tight).

I recently had a "toilet leak" on a Friday night... turns out it was a clogged main sewer line in a 4plex. I can't just shut off water to the entire building for the whole weekend to wait for regular plumbing rates on Monday morning. This type of service with a power scrub and scope is usually $350-400, but emergency, after-hour rates are double. One unexpected call like this can wipe out your cash flow for an entire year if you're into the wrong deal, and you don't have proper buffers budgeted in your numbers from the start.

Bottom line, run your numbers conservatively and get into the right deal. Quality over quantity.

I hope that helps.
Cheers,
Trevor :)

Hi Ryan,

Starting to think about your 2nd, 3rd,... 6th property is a chess game. You need to plan your next few moves. So first, you'll want to make sure you have your "3 C's" lined up: 1)  your Credit score, 2) your debt-to-income ratios (Capacity), and 3) your Collateral... you should be good for the third one as you have enough for your next down payment. You'll want to talk to a good investor-focused mortgage broker, not just any random broker. Tell them your goals and the strategy that you'd like to use, they'll help guide you and give you some education that you'll need at this point.

In terms of your capacity for another mortgage you'll want your broker to choose a lender that will count the maximum amount of rental income when determining your ratios. Scotia Bank has generally been the most favourable for this, but your broker will know which lender to approach based on your situation.

The next thing to consider is your investor profile and your skill set. Do you have much time to dedicate to managing your first property if you get a 2nd one? Do you like dealing with tenants and the issues that come up? Are you handy? Can you do small repairs yourself? Do you have the time to learn new skills and start doing some renovations if you do a BRRRR project or a conversion?

Personally I'd do a conversion and add a secondary suite to a house as close to the peninsula as you can afford. Either that or buy a beat-down triplex and fix up the apartment you're living in while renting the other two, then switch to the next unit and fix it up, and so on. The problem with multi-fam in HRM is, as you said, it's HIGHLY competitive because of the low low inventory. I've made 7 offers in the last 7 weeks (all my highest and best offer) and have been beat every time. There's a lot of folks willing to over-pay on speculation right now in Halifax! I'd look for a conversion project that's been on the market for more than 90 days. Those sellers are now willing to negotiate on price. There's either something that's just not appealing to a regular home-buyer, or they're priced too high. Either way, it can be a great opportunity for you because you're looking at it from a different angle than most home-owners.

I hope that helps somewhat. Feel free to reach out if you have questions or what to chat real estate in Halifax. Happy to help where I can.

Cheers,

Trevor :)

Hi @Ann Scanlan,

We hear the same issue from many investors out west... For the cost of a down payment in the Vancouver area you can buy about four multi-unit buildings that have solid cash flow in our market.

Dartmouth is a great place to invest. However, it's rare these days to "find" a deal that's good. Often you need to "make" it into great deal. There are a few areas that are lower income and have a concentration of people on social assistance. I have a triplex in one of those areas, but it's on the end of a quiet cul-de-sac surrounded by other good buildings. It was a triplex on foreclosure for 225k that we got cash flowing over $1200/mo after a renovation. I actually just brought a partner on board, so I'll be splitting the cash flow 50/50 with them now. They invested 66k to get 50% ownership and a 22% ROI and I'll use that money to buy another property! So it's a big win-win for both of us.

All of that being said, yes, Dartmouth can be great and yes, there are neighbourhoods to steer clear of (generally speaking... but there's always exceptions to be found). It's really incredible how one bad tenant can change the dynamic of an entire street. My triplex had a drug dealer living in the basement apartment before I bought it. Now we have a freshly renovated building with awesome new tenants and a much better vibe in the neighbourhood! Investing in any area can be great if you know what to look for and what pitfalls to avoid.

Feel free to send me a PM. I can try to help you with any info you need.

Cheers,

Trevor :)

Let's share some brag stories about how you've treated your tenants like gold. Maybe an example of how you went above and beyond for them, or did something unexpected and nice, or solved a problem they were having? After all, creating good-will with our tenants is just good business! Let's be awesome landlords and share some great ideas on this!

Hi Paul,

I've put the monthly meetups on hold temporarily until we get the all-clear to be meeting in large groups again. We also decided that an online meetup wouldn't have the same value. There's a million webinars and zoom calls that people can tap into until we're able to meet in person again. DM me and I can direct you to our Facebook group for further details. Congrats on the 3 duplexes by the way!

Trevor :)