All Forum Posts by: Bo Fric

I've been quite happy with True North Accounting. They are smaller, but very sharp and the lead accountants are both real estate investors themselves which is encouraging. I moved to them after getting very frustrated with the advice I was getting from one of the larger firms in our area. 

 One piece of advice I would give on this is to really talk to a lot of local mortgage brokers here about your plan. The AirBnB model is great and I was really looking to expand in this area. The problem is the big 5 Canadian banks are very averse to short-term rentals right now. You shouldn't have a problem getting one or two mortgages, but if the bank starts asking for rental agreements and you try to show them short-term rental receipts (even if they are excellent), you can find yourself running into roadblocks quickly. 

This is a bigger problem for refinancing properties than for purchasing new, as the banks will want do dig into your cash-flow more for your debt service. 

 I don't believe you can view them through realtor.ca, so the best course of action is likely to contact a local agent and ask them to prepare a list for you in your local area. If you provide some information and explain that you aren't working with a broker currently they should be happy to help with an eye for obtaining your business should you go a more traditional route. 

I really like this analysis. It sounds very similar to our situation in Calgary where migration is excellent, inventory is abysmal and new growth sectors are emerging. Yet all the doom and gloom people read, particularly about other markets, is keeping our market stagnant for now. I agree with the sentiment for our market, that any decrease in interest rates could lead to a surge in appreciation.

Inventory is super tight (lowest in years) and deals are very hard to come by right now.. We have been largely protected from the problems larger Canadian markets have faced the last several months. Hoping the Spring adds some inventory and also promotes strong sales. Our migration numbers are also excellent right now and should continue to be as long as oil prices stay high.