All Forum Posts by: Yuan He

@Danny Godbout

Yeah, the third unit got some Reno during past two years but the finish is not quite great. The tenant told me that the window frame is not sealed very well. The snow removal is shown as 172 something but they didn’t seem to clean the lawn at all.

Owner just told me that internet is paid by tenant themselves.

Hello, my BP heroes,

I recently came across a deal that I'm very interested in, and I'm hoping to do house hacking with occupying this largest unit. And right now we are in the process of negotiating offers and definitely would appreciate some of your thoughts.

Listing price: $270,000, built in 1890

Property type: triplex. Location: downtown Truro, 10min walking distance to business district.

Rent roll(verified with tenants): 

1st unit, largest: $1195 (tenant pay cable)

2nd unit: $1100 (tenant pay cable)

3rd unit: $ 700 (tenant pay heat, power, cable)

so generally, first two units, heat, power, and internet are all included.

Expenses anual:

Insurance: $2900, Heating $5022, Power: $1904, Tax $4348, Water/Sewage: $640, Snow/Garbage: $172

Pros: Great location, good zoning, ready to move in condition, two level garage but pretty shabby.

Concerns: There are some water leaks in the foundation(stone and concrete), there are two quarter-thick cracks near the foundation(the bricks are tilting and shifting a bit), age.

Given all above, are the listing price too high ? the triplexes in this area are generally listed between 200 - 240k.

Greatly appreciate any advice, and happy to provide more detail if these are not enough to anchor a price.

Thanks @Chase Gaudet !

Yes, I've been searching in Fairview and Clayton park as well, but there are not tons of multifamily units that make sense to me number-wise, although I would never stop looking. I'll visit couple of more properties in Truro and hopefully can make a decision for my first property. Dartmouth is also a very interesting area I'm looking at.

And belated congratulations on your graduation.

Yuan

Hello there,

Hope everyone is doing fantastic !

I am looking to start my first house hacking by owning an multi-family property, hoping to get some advice and thoughts here. I just recently moved from New Jersey to Halifax, working remotely as a full-time data engineer for a company in NYC. The point is, I can live literally anywhere because I don't have to go to an office. Only thing is that I have a wife and kid with me, so areas with good school are ideal.

My search started at Halifax, and soon realized Halifax rental property is a bit expensive to pursue and the rent/purchase ratio kinda fall far behind 1%. Of course not to say this is the deal breaker, but rough math tells me that with ourselves living in, it probably won't cashflow well with big chunk of rent going to mortgage payment.

So I started to enlarge the span a bit and visited some properties in Truro since I heard it's the 'Hub'. I set goal to go for triplex or fourplex, and currently found two properties that might be a good deal with inherited tenants in it. From talking to the tenants themselves and some local people, the neighbourhood is alright. However, I talked to some lenders, and some of them are not even willing to lend in Truro and claim it's 'chaotic'. When I drove in Truro, everything looks just like a normal suburban area and no way I can tell how the economy and employment are here, and thus how rental properties will turn out here.

So since I have heard two sides of the stories now, would love more inputs from anybody. How's Truro in general ? Do they have good grade schools ? Do they have tons of vacancies here ? And why don't everyone go here given it's reasonable price and being close to HRM ?

Sincerely appreciate it.

Yuan He

@Paul Chehade

Thanks Paul for the info ! I guess it makes sense now since there are other people telling me that the land itself in these areas are already worth the prices. This also demonstrated to me that what a interesting market Halifax is !

Generally speaking, I do not have to reside in Halifax given that I’m working remotely anyway and all I want is a good school area when my daughter turns 3 or older(she’s currently 13months) so I guess regarding how far I’m willing to travel, the answer is probably very flexible. Of course I do not know much about the schools here in Nova Scotia and surroundings, which is the only factor I think limit my search range.

Appreciate your input on this !

Yuan

@Trevor Gaal

Thanks so much Trevor ! Your explanation does make sense. I guess I have much more to learn about this game.

I would love more details about the meetup if you don’t mind sharing in inbox !

Yuan

Hello friends !

Hope all are doing great !

It is the end of Sep 2019 as I'm writing this post. Would love to hear more about folks thoughts on currently investing in Halifax(HRM).

Context: I got relocated to Halifax from NYC due to job change, and look to start my real estate investing here by doing house hacking. I've been looking at multi-unit properties with a broker for a while, two visits make me wonder whether current market is "irrational exuberance": 1)saw a gorgeous turnkey duplex only on the fourth day of it being on the market and someone else made an offer right before I preparing to make an offer..2)Booked a view for a four-plex at the earliest convenience of the owner(1 day after it being on the market), but only to find out there are 7 offers made already and some of them are made with site unseen !

So if the market is so white hot right now, should investor even consider jumping in on this wave since it might cool down a bit later ? Or if this is just a beginning which means the price is not going any cheaper, would investing in a place further but driving distance like dartmouth, bedford, sackville or even mahone, bridgewater be a better option ?

Appreciate any input on this !

Yuan

Just moved here two months ago, also looking to buy a rental ;)

Thanks for the advice, I actually have a broker with me in halifax. It's a great learning experience for me to get a sense of the market.

Thanks James, been enjoying it so far and surprised how hot this market is given that the world is generally cooling down.