All Forum Posts by: Nicole Tate-Stratton

I would also be interested in templates - relatively new to Asana and wanting to document processes for flips and BRRR projects. If anyone is willing to share how they are using Asana that would be terrific!

Don't be intimidated by off-market properties. It's a lot easier to present a couple of options to a Seller when you've been able to have a conversation with them directly. When you can figure out what they need out of the deal, you are in a much better position to negotiate a solution that can work for both of you. 

After speaking with a Seller, I like to present three soft offers in an email - the first might be a lower dollar amount but a quick close and with few or no conditions. The highest dollar value might include some creative financing (VTB or an Agreement for Sale structure) and then the middle offer will fall somewhere between. The particular market you are working, the type of property, etc. will also influence the types of deal structures you suggest - but there is really nothing like getting on the phone with the Seller and asking questions about what they need to get out of the deal and when. You'd be surprised at how open Sellers may be to your proposals.

Once I have a feel for a few options, I run the numbers to make sure all scenarios will work for me, and then I send an email that clearly outlines the general deal structures I'm proposing. The Seller's response tells me a lot about where they stand, how open they are to creative financing options, and often elicits some additional information that didn't come out in the original phone conversations. 

This is a lot harder to do with a realtor in the middle (not impossible, but you need to have an investor-friendly realtor to work with who is willing to present non-traditional offers). 

Best of luck! Shoot me a message if you have any questions.

Another southern Alberta investor here happy to connect with others!! 

@Jim K. What a strange question- and what an interesting set of answers! 48 +10+10+5 - so in my head it sounds more like counting - 48-58-68-75.

@Brian Hosier I’d love to connect! Based in Canmore and investing in Calgary, The Bow Valley, and Vancouver Island and super interested in exploring options south of the border (and Saskatoon...) Going to check out your Facebook group!

@Johnson Yu location is one consideration for sure but it’s also really important to set yourself up properly for tax reasons so you don’t get dinged by the CRA. Let me know if you want me to connect you with a great cross border real estate lawyer/investment specialist. She’s based in Florida but originally from Toronto - not on BP but I have her contact details on my laptop (on my phone right now so don’t have it handy). I’m also looking into getting set up south of the border because it’s so much more affordable even with the exchange rates.

@Sebastian Patten Lauren Cohen - Canadian lawyer, real estate investor, and RE agent living in Florida is terrific - she specializes in cross border investing, visa applications, etc. Shoot me a message and I’ll put you in touch-

@Juan Soto other than pulling title, I’m not sure of a better strategy. That works well if you are being very strategic and aren’t doing massive mailings... we are doing that in a neighborhood where we are looking at acquiring a lot but there only a handful left that are undeveloped. Where are you located in Alberta? I’m in the Bow Valley with a couple of properties in Calgary.

@Andrew Dutcher to be honest, I’m not quite sure. I’ll assess a little further down the road and see what the markets are doing (Calgary is soft at the moment but I expect it will recover before too, too long). As long as it’s cash-flowing, I might decide to hold for longer and refinance with a commercial mortgage before the AFS closes. It will also depend a bit on what else I’m trying to do at the time and whether I want to sell and cash out completely. One of the things I like about this particular deal is that I have several exit options. I’ll try to remember to post an update closer to the time!

@Andrew Dutcher the sellers don't need to have paid off the mortgage. In an AFS you agree to a price and contractually agree to purchase, but you don't close (and, in Alberta, title doesn't transfer) for X number of years down the road. In the meantime, you (the buyer) assume all the carrying costs and full responsibility for the property. As part of the agreement, there are checks and balances to make sure you make your payments to the seller and that seller in turn continues to pay the mortgage and property taxes. You leave the seller's mortgage in place. You are free to rent the property out, renovate, assign the contract, etc. It's easier to set these deals up when you are dealing directly with the seller, but it's not that hard to find off-market properties if you are willing to put in a little legwork and make some phone calls. I found the duplex deal on kijiji, I think - it's under contract for another two years and because I've totally taken it over, I was able to arrange to renovate and add secondary suites on the lower level. AFS is a type of seller financing, which makes it different to something like a lease with an option to buy structure where it's still a landlord-tenant type of arrangement rather than a buyer with alternative financing. (**Note for others reading this: this is how it works in Alberta - the exact mechanism and terms used vary from province to province and state to state)