Building Equity: Part of your rent can contribute to the eventual purchase, helping you accumulate equity.Cons: Risk of Losing Money: If you decide not to buy at the end of the lease, you might lose the option fee and any rent premiums.

would appreciate any information 

I would think that a lot of folks who were in it 2-3 years ago were in it for the non-performers, and we know how that market is currently.I'm not currently buying because my capital is currently deployed. 

And you cannot use it to purchase a primary residence.You can however use it to buy an investment property and later convert that into your primary residence to get a prorated amount of the gain tax free.You can also use it purchase and improve an investment property as long as the improvements are complete prior to you taking title to it. 

Never buy a property with the intent of changing a neighborhood or a city unless you have capital to waste.

My tenant informed me that a staircase and surrounding backyard porch is in bad shape and I'm looking for someone to come by and quote the job.

To pay something off or to buy a property? 

Steve,Unless you are cash fluid and have a good chunk of change to continue to buy more properties, I would tell you to pull out some cash.

I'd suggest you keep checking redfin and zillow home estimate, once you see price is stabilizing or moving up then you can buy aggressively.

Also with the new policy changes with CMHC high ratio mortgages first time home buyers will have a much tougher time buying their first home so the rental pool will increase leaving more people looking to rent.I currently hold two rentals one in which is an owner occupied rental which I purchased for 200k 7 years ago and it is worth around 275k today and this year I purchased a triplex as well for 250k and as is with no improvements this yields me an 8% return a year which I would say is quite low.