All Forum Posts by: Brian Hosier

Hi Aaron, you have an amazing head-start for your young age. Well done!  Not sure what market you're looking at but you would need a funding partner if you are house-hacking anywhere in the Greater Toronto area. It's tough to do anything in Toronto with less than $100k available. Be patient and continue to save, get more education, and network (once the pandemic is over). Likely once you are working full-time after graduating, you'll be able to qualify for a mortgage. As part of your education, approach the banks or a good mortgage broker and see what you need to qualify for a mortgage.

You are in an excellent position and I'm sure you'll be successful in the long run.

Be careful when comparing stocks to real estate because you have to factor in leverage. Unless you're a margin investor (which you cannot do in registered accounts), you are always paying 100% of your cash for your investments. If you're in a market that has appreciation, it can easily provide a return better than stocks but there's an obvious risk when buying and hoping for appreciation. I buy for cash flow and typically shoot for 15+% which is better than most stock investment. 

Do you research but don't compare "apples to oranges" because the details matter. 

The short answer is No. The numbers don't work in Vancouver if you have just $10k. While it's tempting to invest in your local area, you should really look at all markets and find out where the numbers work. Even with $50k, it's tough to invest in the GVRD where studio condos are at least $300k and up.

Hi @Tomislav Glamuzina and glad you're looking at getting educated on financing options. @Zorya Belanger has covered it but just to add to her good info, I'll share my story. We have a few out-of-province rentals and fund some flips. 

We refinanced this year with RBC and it was painless. We were very fortunate because we had just paid off our mortgage a few months earlier so we were mortgage-free. With our new financing, the LOC part was up to 65% LTV but since we wanted to get the maximum cash, we took an additional mortgage for 15% LTV which gave us a total of 80% LTV. The mortgage is principal and interest with a 25 year amortization. However, what I love is that the LOC part is interest-only, which we have used to fund flips at 12%. We have borrowed at 3% but make 12% so using the banks money, we net 9% after all expenses. It's an infinite return because we are using none of our own money.

If you want more info, always glad to get on a zoom call and discuss the details, or go for a coffee after this "COVID-thing" is over. Good luck on your REI journey.

Hi @Robby Jones, @Faez Rawas, @Brian Jung, @Keiran Griffiths

Feel free to join our BC Investors Group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/group...

We also have an online event coming up on Sun. Jan. 24 from 1-3pm. We will have newbies and more seasoned investors there so you can learn no matter what stage you are at. Hope to see you there.

Hi @Jaydon H. and welcome to BP. I'm currently in PoCo so just around the corner from you as well. Chris and I are both part of a local BP meetup group. Checkout https://www.facebook.com/group...

I will be holding a virtual meetup via zoom on a Sunday afternoon in late January and hope you can make it. If you want to connect before then, let me know. 

Hi @Riley Barclay and congrats on getting ready to pull the trigger on your first deal! The 1% rule is a "guideline only" to be considered along with a list of other factors in a purchase. It is getting harder and harder to find 1% with so many markets experiencing appreciation without the corresponding rental rate appreciation. Your deal is close enough that I would consider it as meeting the 1% rule goal.

Having a 3-year tenant that has not had any issues is valuable on its own providing they want to continue to stay after you purchase. Have you confirmed they want to stay and renew another 1-year lease with you at the new rate? One BAD tenant that trashes a property can quickly destroy any profit you thought you might have made for the year. Also, check online for reviews of the local Remax office as a PM. I would not take just the word of your friend.

As part of your due diligence, I would consider getting a thorough home inspection to ensure it's in the condition you think it is. If it's "turnkey", you should not have any significant CAP-EX needed for at least a few years.

All the best and good luck on your REI journey.

I haven't worked with them myself but I know others such as @Joseph Schweizer who recently purchased through RentToRetirement with @Zach Lemaster. There are others on BP who all seem to have had a similarly good experience. Check them out.

Hi Kevin,

Are you looking for appreciation or cash flow? It's tough to cash flow in BC but there are other locations across Canada where cash flow is possible. If you want to meet other BC investors, checkout our FB group at https://www.facebook.com/group...

I invest out of province primarily because it's hard to cash flow here. 

Hi @Johnson Yu and welcome to the BP community. There are many good markets in the US but as a Canadian living in Canada, it can be more complicated than just buying in Canada. If you plan to grow a large business in the US, be sure to do your research so that you are optimized from a tax perspective. If not and you have the wrong business structure, you can end up being double-taxed.

If you are open to investing long-distance in Canada, there are markets that can cash flow. Checkout Prince George in BC, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Saskatoon, just to name a few. We have a few passive rentals in Saskatoon that work for us because we have a good local team on the ground there.

Feel free to join our FB group at https://www.facebook.com/group... if you want to connect with other local investors. Many in our group are like yourself, just starting out.

If you want to connect online, message me and we can get on a zoom call. Good luck with your RE journey.