All Forum Posts by: Anthony Therrien-Bernard

Hey everyone! It's nice to see plenty of new investors looking to help each other and learn from folks that have done what we want to learn. I'm in Calgary, Alberta and will be doing everything virtual. I'd be grateful for any advice or help from anyone else wholesaling from Canada. I need to fully understand boots on the ground and to JV with awesome investors. I need to figure out how to get a Google Voice so I can make cold calls, but look local, as Google Voice does not work in Canada. Cheers everyone!! Happy learning and Happy investing!!

So, if anyone search why doesn't Canada have 30 year fixed, the first article says they attach all your assets as collateral /lien.

Seems like getting a mortgage is a big deal, but is it true you will lose everything you own if you default (with Canadian mortgage)?

Quote from @Dan Illes:

Quote from @Stevo Sun:

Ontario housing has far out stripped fundamentals. The income and price have uncoupled from each other over many years.

Similar story in BC, but Vancouver has a lot of foreign capital so income is less of a factor.

I live in AB and we saw a huge run up in price because Ontario and BC folks came with significant capital. Even then housing prices here is still less than half of what it is in Ontario and BC. We have not experienced any significant drops yet. Calgary specifically is at all time highs. At this rate we are also decoupling from fundamentals and eventually will be overpriced.

Yeah Alberta (especially Calgary) is on its way to becoming the same craziness that Ontario and BC are as well.

I think prices will go up but I highly doubt it'll get as crazy as Ontario and BC just because we have so much land to build on. Relatively the density in Calgary is low, we sprawl out a lot which creates other issues.

What I never understood is how small towns in Ontario can have prices that are double of Calgary. That absolutely makes no sense to me. I assume some of those small towns have seen significant declines from peak. 

Quote from @Anthony Therrien-Bernard:

Quote from @Graham M.:

Hi BP Calgary Community,

I live in Calgary and am looking getting into property investment. I am looking to invest about $100,000 on a down payment for a long term rental, but running the numbers on a few different property types I just don't see how it currently pencils out to positive cash flow. Wondering if this is just the state of the market right now, or if any of my assumptions or numbers are off. Here's a high level average cash flow calc for a few different property types based on what I'm seeing.

Apartment/Condo (2/3 BR, 1/2 Bath):

Purchase Price: $350k 

Mortgage Payment: $1550/month

Property Taxes: ~$1600/yr or $134/month

Maintenance Fee: $700/month

Property Insurance: $125/month

Utilities: $300/month

Assume no maintenance/capex reserve since Condo. $140/month vacancy reserve (5%)

Rental Income: $2800/month

Cash Flow: -$134/mo

Townhouse:

Note: Looking at low price units on the market for < 7 days to possibly get more value / minimize mortgage payments

Purchase Price: $450k

Mortgage Payment: $2150/month

Property Taxes: $1900/yr or $159/mo

Utilities: $300/month

Property Insurance: $125/month

Maintenance (5% rent) + Capex + Vacancy (5% rent) Reserve: $500/mo

Rental Income: $3000/month

Cash Flow: -$232.64

Detached Home - Single Unit

Purchase Price: $600k

Mortgage Payment: $3193

Even if I can get $3300-3400/month for a 3-4BR home purchased at $600k, maintenance and reserves will cause it to be negative cash flow

Detached Home - Two Units

Purchase Price: $700k

Mortgage Payment: $3831

Property Taxes: $3500/yr or $292/mo

Utilities: $300

Property Insurance: $125/mo

Maintenance (5% rent) + Capex + Vacancy (5% rent) Reserve: $860/mo

Cash Flow: -$608.57

Are any of my numbers way off? Reserves too high? Rents too low? I just don't see how this works out profitably in the current market.

 I would also suggest that you offload utilities to the tenants. Your 2 unit detached example will cost a lot more in utilities than $300 on average with current rates in Calgary, more like $500+. But just let the tenants pay with 60/40, same with the condos/townhouses. For your townhouse scenario $3000 rent is definitely on the high side, for the most part $2300-2500+utilities would be more realistic (generalizing). Your condo rents are also too high for the most part a $350k condo would fetch closer to $1800-2200 (large generalization again). I personally don't like using a % of rents of maintenance cost, realistically speaking an older unit with lower rents will have higher maintenance cost than a newer/nicer unit with higher rents.  I think your estimations are a little high. My personal average for a 2 unit detached is closer to $300, for an older property I think $300-400 is reasonable (not including vacancy).

 Thanks very much for the detailed and informative reply. Interesting to hear that suited semi-detached seem to work best - I hadn't run the numbers on any of those yet, and good feedback on the costs as well.

Are you allowed to offload utilities to tenants even if maintain the relationship with the utility company? I'm considering purchasing a SFH with a basement suite in Edmonton that has the utilities tied together. Currently the landlord is paying the utilities but it's a huge expense and I'd like to offload it to the tenants. Something like the 60/40 split you mentioned. Ideally I keep the relationship with the utility companies and then the tenants pay me their split.

My two concerns though are that this is not legal and that tenants wouldn't be willing to do this sort of ad hoc split. Thoughts?

Hi BP Calgary Community,

I live in Calgary and am looking getting into property investment. I am looking to invest about $100,000 on a down payment for a long term rental, but running the numbers on a few different property types I just don't see how it currently pencils out to positive cash flow. Wondering if this is just the state of the market right now, or if any of my assumptions or numbers are off. Here's a high level average cash flow calc for a few different property types based on what I'm seeing.

Apartment/Condo (2/3 BR, 1/2 Bath):

Purchase Price: $350k 

Mortgage Payment: $1550/month

Property Taxes: ~$1600/yr or $134/month

Maintenance Fee: $700/month

Property Insurance: $125/month

Utilities: $300/month

Assume no maintenance/capex reserve since Condo. $140/month vacancy reserve (5%)

Rental Income: $2800/month

Cash Flow: -$134/mo

Townhouse:

Note: Looking at low price units on the market for < 7 days to possibly get more value / minimize mortgage payments

Purchase Price: $450k

Mortgage Payment: $2150/month

Property Taxes: $1900/yr or $159/mo

Utilities: $300/month

Property Insurance: $125/month

Maintenance (5% rent) + Capex + Vacancy (5% rent) Reserve: $500/mo

Rental Income: $3000/month

Cash Flow: -$232.64

Detached Home - Single Unit

Purchase Price: $600k

Mortgage Payment: $3193

Even if I can get $3300-3400/month for a 3-4BR home purchased at $600k, maintenance and reserves will cause it to be negative cash flow

Detached Home - Two Units

Purchase Price: $700k

Mortgage Payment: $3831

Property Taxes: $3500/yr or $292/mo

Utilities: $300

Property Insurance: $125/mo

Maintenance (5% rent) + Capex + Vacancy (5% rent) Reserve: $860/mo

Cash Flow: -$608.57

Are any of my numbers way off? Reserves too high? Rents too low? I just don't see how this works out profitably in the current market.

Hi BP Calgary Community,

I live in Calgary and am looking getting into property investment. I am looking to invest about $100,000 on a down payment for a long term rental, but running the numbers on a few different property types I just don't see how it currently pencils out to positive cash flow. Wondering if this is just the state of the market right now, or if any of my assumptions or numbers are off. Here's a high level average cash flow calc for a few different property types based on what I'm seeing.

Apartment/Condo (2/3 BR, 1/2 Bath):

Purchase Price: $350k 

Mortgage Payment: $1550/month

Property Taxes: ~$1600/yr or $134/month

Maintenance Fee: $700/month

Property Insurance: $125/month

Utilities: $300/month

Assume no maintenance/capex reserve since Condo. $140/month vacancy reserve (5%)

Rental Income: $2800/month

Cash Flow: -$134/mo

Townhouse:

Note: Looking at low price units on the market for < 7 days to possibly get more value / minimize mortgage payments

Purchase Price: $450k

Mortgage Payment: $2150/month

Property Taxes: $1900/yr or $159/mo

Utilities: $300/month

Property Insurance: $125/month

Maintenance (5% rent) + Capex + Vacancy (5% rent) Reserve: $500/mo

Rental Income: $3000/month

Cash Flow: -$232.64

Detached Home - Single Unit

Purchase Price: $600k

Mortgage Payment: $3193

Even if I can get $3300-3400/month for a 3-4BR home purchased at $600k, maintenance and reserves will cause it to be negative cash flow

Detached Home - Two Units

Purchase Price: $700k

Mortgage Payment: $3831

Property Taxes: $3500/yr or $292/mo

Utilities: $300

Property Insurance: $125/mo

Maintenance (5% rent) + Capex + Vacancy (5% rent) Reserve: $860/mo

Cash Flow: -$608.57

Are any of my numbers way off? Reserves too high? Rents too low? I just don't see how this works out profitably in the current market.

Hola everyone, 

For those in Canada 🇨🇦 : We live in Vancouver, but we are interested in purchasing a property in either Alberta or Windsor. While my work is remote and I can move, my husband works in person. Can I qualify for this purchase using my husband's income, even though he will remain in British Columbia while I relocate first with my kid to our new property?

Thank you so much for your insights ❤️

Hey @Stevo Sun @Santhosh Nathan,

I am looking to build a portfolio with long-term rentals too and currently looking to do a CHMC MLI project and looking for like-minded people who have done it and want to do it together. Let me know if you guys have done it or know someone who had done it.

Thank you

Hey everyone, 

I'm looking for an investor friendly agent in Alberta, Canada,  which biggerpockets seems to only have resources for US markets. Can anyone know if bigger pockets actually has resources for Canada, and if not does anyone know of any resources I should check out?

I live in BC in the lower mainland, which this market is priced extremely high so I am looking to invest out of province, specifically in Alberta. The markets I am interested in most are Edmonton, lethbridge, and Airdrie. I am hoping to find something with 2 - 6 rental units, and I would like to be in the $300-$500k range. I don't mind having a slightly higher down-payment, as my primary objective would be cash flow, with appreciation as a close 2nd. I know a bit about the Alberta market, but am limited in knowledge with regards to specific neigbourhoods, and contacts.

Any help you could provide would be much appreciated!

Cheers,

Jordan