Having grown up in Toronto, still living nearby and having friends who currently invest there, detached homes are in limited supply and that supply has been pent up for some years now compared to demand, while sustained demand due to added competition from foreign investors, local investors, and sustained low rates compound the rate of increase.  

This goes to auction and last time I had clients bidding on it - it went up as high as $150k before my client bowed out of it

Remember, interest on residential mortgages in Canada is compounded semi-annually.That said, in todays market should be able to secure an interest rate of <=3.5% ...

A lot of resources I googled say 4-6% for residential but that seems pretty high when you compound it.

Compound interest is one of the most powerful forces in the world, and the longer you give it to work the more the results will impress you.

Work through your learning and problem solving TOGETHER, in a methodical manner:what's the problem to be solved (and each should not be compounded with extra conditions).list all possible solutions you can find (without discarding any due to bias, personal business ideas or obvious negative effects).then find and list all pro+con issues related to that solution you can.SAVE your work in a binder for quick access later and to visibly demonstrate just how far you both have come.There's no rocket science in REI, but limited exposure to business concepts, contracts, accounting, marketing can ALL be overcome and your partnership will grow as a result.

Spoke with the owner by phone and he indicated that he had several wall anchors installed in the basement a few years ago to fix bowed walls.

Hey Ian,you survived some shots across bow today after a rough start, we are all just starting to warm up to you and looking in our bag of questions we would like answered by someone running a systematic marketing machine to investing in RE==don't leave it only gets better from here.I also do not understand what you mean when you speak of canvassing, could you explain that further?

The timing is almost ALWAYS right to buy when the intention is to hold and save the cash flow for years and years and allow the tax savings and compounding interest let you retire earlier.

However I recognise that starting early with some kind of retirement savings is good for building it up (the compound benefit), and I'm wary of having all my investments in property.So, for those who have made a concious decision to pay off the home loan first, or are also working on some non-property investments at the same time, why have you decided to go down these paths?