All Forum Posts by: Bayard P.

Message me if you want the contact info for the guy I have used on 2 properties.  

Let me put this in another perspective.  Doing business in the US is like having access to a 315 million people real estate market vs 35 million in Canada.  

 Not sure why he would give you that kind of advice.  Sure there are initial costs to setting up your us business entities and yearly accounting fees. If your plan was only to buy a few properties, than I can see the point.  It sounds like you are treating it as business you want to scale, so many of those costs will become minimal as you grow.  

Compared to Canada the US real estate market is more diverse in size and also the type of deals you can find.  It's hard to decide where you want to start to look and invest.  You don't need to be a rocket scientist to know that Canada's hot real estate market can't continue its space mountain trajectory indefinitely.  

Hi Duncan,

If you want to check out some cities from the macro level. I like to use Trulia, specifically for the crime map. It's a pretty good place to start to see if a neighbourhood is a warzone. Unless your strategy is to invest in high crime areas and you have a bullet proof team, I would avoid them. I like to use Redfin when I'm searching for investments and find the MLS home details more accurate than Zillow or Trulia. Definitely never buy a property sight unseen unless you really know the neighbourhood/area and have physically visited the area. Don't rely on google street view.

You will definitely want to consult with some cross border experts before proceeding to purchase your first property.  I know some cross border contacts, feel free to message me.  @Dennis M.

I believe that there is an enormous amount of investment speculation in the Canadian markets especially the GTA market.  Alot of people are taking advantage of their home line of credit to buy multiple investment condos.  They are essentially utilizing the rising equity in their homes to double/triple down on the housing market.  I've seen this strategy encouraged at real estate meetups.  That is one of the reasons Canadians now have a higher debt to income ratio than the US had pre-bust.  

3 things I've heard in sales pitches/real estate seminars for Toronto condos.  Toronto is going to be the next New York City, immigration will help support the housing market and our banks are smart and didn't do NINJA(no income no job or assets) loans or sub-prime.

ARRRRGHHHHH!!!!! I hate when people compare Toronto to New York City.   NYC is about 4 times more populated than Toronto and at least twice as dense.  NYC Metro Area is about the population of all of Canada.   You can't compare them period, not even close.  So much money is produced in NYC, it's annual GDP almost matches the GDP of all of Canada.  

If immigration is going to save/support the Canadian or Greater Toronto Area market than why didn't immigration save the US housing bubble.  Just over 1 million people legally immigrate to the US a year and that did nothing to stop the downturn nor has it been a huge factor in the upturn.

I won't get into the whole bank thing but our banks are not as risk averse as they seem to be.  I've known a few people that were able to get mortgages with sporadic job history.  In general banks seem just as eager to add fuel to the housing bubble by doling out as many mortgages/hloc to as many people as they can.  

Sorry just had to get this off my chest.  I'm not calling for a Canadian Housing Market Armageddon but this market is definitely in need of a correction.  How will people react when they see house prices fall following +15 years of annual appreciation?  I'd rather be the person sitting on the sideline prepared to take advantage of the correction.  As a famous Stark once said "Winter is coming."   

If you haven't already you should check out some local real estate investor meet ups in Buffalo.  Great place to meet other investors/landlords and make some new connections.  Should message @Michael Sherwood to add you to the email list for the next Western New York REI meetup.

You might want to start your search with a good local property manager that could show you the good and safe neighbourhoods.  @Michael Sherwood  As well you will want to consult with a lawyer and accountant with cross border experience.  I'm also a Canadian, currently closing on a couple properties in Buffalo, feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions. 

Most documents can now be signed online or scanned emails/faxed.  The only things that really require in-person signings are for bank related stuff like opening a bank account/mortgages/refinance.  Again would double down on the recommendation of getting proper cross border consultation for finding the right business entity to use and operate with.  

There is a local real estate group that meets up almost every month.  Would be a good place to start and network with other local investors.  It's organized by @Michael Sherwood who also runs a local property management company with a partner.  Great group of guys.  

Didn't see any extensive discussion around BP about this.  Small city Rochester Minnesota, home of the prestigious Mayo Clinic plans to become global biotech hub/destination medical centre.  THE $6.5 BILLION, 20-YEAR PLAN TO TRANSFORM AN AMERICAN CITY - Fast Company .  Does this mark a good time to invest in this small town city looking to grow into a big town city?  Anyone have any comments/experience on the current investment market in the city?

Highlights of the article:

Mayo Clinic economic hub of the city

Expected to double population from current pop. 110,000

Create 25k to 45 k jobs (Mayo Clinic plans to create 15k)

Redesign downtown and 7 newly created neighbourhoods

Rail link to Minneapolis 

Foreign investments pouring into the city from Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia

Residents concerns: 

-influx of out of town construction workers

-under funded infrastructure projects

-lack of clarity on spending

-affordable housing