New landlord in London, Ontario

New landlord in London, Ontario

Investor · St. Thomas, Ontario · Member since 2015 · 692 posts · 312 votes

Hello!

I am an aspiring real estate tycoon currently posing as a computer engineer. I live in St. Thomas and work in London, Ontario and I'm in the middle of closing my first rental! 

I am currently trying to find people in Ontario who understand the "special" legal environment that we suffer here so I can draft an effective application and an airtight lease. I learned an incredible amount by reading about 700 threads on the Ontario Landlord Association landlord help forum, and a great deal about investing in general from BP's blog and podcasts.

As an engineer it is natural to me to put together spreadsheets, analyze risk, pore over information and weigh the pros and cons of all possible scenarios ahead of me. This helped me greatly in my search for the first one, and it will be even more important in my search for my hundredth one.

I've been a home-owner (/renovator) for 8 years and I know how to swing a hammer. I'm looking to put those skills to use in undervalued homes in my area for BRRRR strategy of growth. I'm aligned with a great lender and realtor, but perhaps a local wholesaler could complete my team to get me onto that strategy.

Once I have a great deal of equity under me, my end-game goal is to own dozens of high-end 8-and-greater-plexes in various cities, put the right people in charge of them, and go live life unencumbered.

Looking forward to learning more!

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  • Real Estate Educator, Mentor, Investor · Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2015 · 206 posts · 86 votes
    10y

    Hi @Matt Geerts. I'm excited for you! What I've always done for every different type of Real Estate investment (retail, residential, industrial, etc.), is to have a qualified lawyer draft a boilerplate lease, and then I use that going forward. I know it is not tempting to spend the money now, but as you seem aware of the legal environment we swim in, in Ontario, you probably know how costly it can be to not have the right terms and clauses in a lease.

    Good luck!

  • Investor · Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2016 · 19 posts · 20 votes
    10y

    HI Matt,

    Congrats on the new venture. I am also an engineer and once owned several investment properties in London. I have a large network of connections in London, from wholesalers and agents to owners/landlords. I would be happy to set you up with any of them. Also, I have a few different leases that may interest you as I use different leases for my different properties.

    Let me know,

    Tyler

  • Investor · St. Thomas, Ontario · Member since 2015 · 692 posts · 312 votes
    10y

    @Tyler Bruce

    This is me, letting you know!

    I envy your new locale. Eastern Ontario is such a nice place to live compared to Southwestern Ontario for someone like me that enjoys the outdoors. My parents are a dozen lakes over from you in Bobcaygeon. One day I'll be out that way, I hope.

  • Investor · St. Thomas, Ontario · Member since 2015 · 692 posts · 312 votes
    10y

    Thanks @Claude Boiron

    My intention is to build up a lease of all of the "extras" that I find from experienced landlords that a lawyer would not include, then go to a lawyer to pour the foundation underneath it. For example, a lawyer would never put "Tenant assumes responsibility for plumbing costs deemed to be tenant's fault", but that would allow me to send over a guy with a camera to find their kid's pencil crayons and leave the bill for the tenant - thus stopping future calls of this sort, as they'd probably rather pay for a guy that doesn't bring an expensive camera. My personal banker (an ex-landlord) didn't include this clause and was paying to have the kid's things removed from the toilet every couple of weeks.

    This is just a rough example of the "type" of clauses that I want to protect myself. But yes, your advice of having a lawyer ratify is very important!

  • Real Estate Educator, Mentor, Investor · Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2015 · 206 posts · 86 votes
    10y

    @Matt GeertsI think your approach is great - kudos!

  • Investor · St. Thomas, Ontario · Member since 2015 · 692 posts · 312 votes
    10y

    Claude, that is seriously relieving to hear. I'm writing a million checklists in my head and checking the boxes, but I'm living in the world of theory still - as an engineer I am well aware that Theory And Practice Are Only The Same In Theory

  • Thomas FranklinPro Member
    Real Estate Investor · Miami, FL · Member since 2010 · 939 posts · 739 votes
    10y

    @Matt GeertsWelcome to the community, of BiggerPockets! The people here have a vast amount of knowledge and are more than willing to share their experience and provide sound insight and advice. Be sure to check out the forums, the blogs, podcasts as well as other parts of this amazing website and like minded community. Do not hesitate, to post questions and bounce ideas around in applicable forums. There are lots of people, on this site, with a vast amount of knowledge and experience. Much to your success!

  • Investor · St. Thomas, Ontario · Member since 2015 · 692 posts · 312 votes
    10y

    Thanks Thomas. I've been lurking here for nearly a year now and I'm through about 20 hours of podcasts and dozens of blog posts. I'm well on my way!

  • Investor · London, On · Member since 2016 · 27 posts · 26 votes
    10y

    Congrats on your first investment rental Matt! Care to elaborate more on your first rental investment? Where is it located - is it turnkey or will you be rolling up your sleeves to improve it? What made you decide it was going to be your first rental?

    If you end up creating a fantastic lease template that's specific to Ontario - I'd love to see it/use it.

  • Investor · St. Thomas, Ontario · Member since 2015 · 692 posts · 312 votes
    10y

    I am in Southwest London near the Home Depot plaza and the huge new high high-end development. Not that I'm banking on appreciation, but I'm certainly in the right neighbourhood.

    It is untenanted but otherwise turn-key. Total top to bottom flip. It was my full intent to buy something very low-end and do my own general contracting and renovations, but sometimes you find yourself with a "business partner" (wife) that doesn't want the risk to start with. 

    So, my next one will definitely be a place that I can add value to instead of paying someone else (and their GC and their REA) to improve it. I can't BRRRR without that second "R".

  • London, Ontario · Member since 2016 · 16 posts · 3 votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Tyler Bruce:

    HI Matt,

    Congrats on the new venture. I am also an engineer and once owned several investment properties in London. I have a large network of connections in London, from wholesalers and agents to owners/landlords. I would be happy to set you up with any of them. Also, I have a few different leases that may interest you as I use different leases for my different properties.

    Let me know,

    Tyler

     Hey Tyler, 

    You mentioned you have connections in London with wholesalers.  I was wondering if you could help me connect with a few of them.  I'd be interested in having coffee with them sometime.

  • Investor · St. Thomas, Ontario · Member since 2015 · 692 posts · 312 votes
    10y

    Yes, if this mythical Canadian wholesaler exists, I am sure the group of us that are going to meet up in London shortly would love to get to know him/her.

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