All Forum Posts by: Cassidy Logsdon

@Hai Loc, the listing inventory is actually very low right now which is creating quite a bit of competition in Windsor. Most multifamily properties that get listed are sold very quickly.

The University of Windsor is expanding their campus to downtown. 2 historic buildings have already been converted and there are more developments to come. This is a great opportunity for investors to get ahead of the curve as this area will become another student area over the next few years. 

Details about the new downtown campus:

http://www.uwindsor.ca/campustransformation/326/do...

Thanks Scott for starting this thread, great idea!!

Vistaprint is always a good deal for printing. And they are fast

Hey @Dan Forbes, welcome! Glad to hear you're looking to do your first deal. If you are interested in Windsor, I would be happy to connect and talk more about the market here. I am a local investor and investor-focused realtor, and I also host the local meetup group so I am happy to connect you with the network here.
Cheers

Welcome @David Weckworth! Good to connect with you. I am 25 as well with a portfolio of properties in Windsor. I grew up in Windsor but moved to Guelph for school, and when I got into real estate investing I ended up moving back to Windsor because the prices and cash flow were so attractive. There are markets like this where you can get similar returns to what they discuss about the states (the 1% rule is no problem in Windsor). It just depends whether you are comfortable investing from a distance, but I have many clients who do so with success. Great book list, thanks for sharing! 
Cheers! :)

Hey @Cody Weiss, how we typically structure our JVs in Windsor Ontario is that one party puts up the capital and financing, and we do all of the work finding the deal, normalizing the property, managing the asset. We split all net profits with the the investor 50/50.

If you are splitting the downpayment, the other factor you will need to consider is what else each party brings to the table. Does one of you have expertise while the other has no knowledge or experience in real estate? If so that is worth something.
If the two of you have a similar level of experience and knowledge and you are working together to find & close the deal then that portion of the value is equally split.

We typically look at property management as a service that is paid as an expense of the property, not as a task that one would receive equity to do. The reason being - consider if you were to get more properties and you decided that it made sense to hire out the property management to a management company. Now you will be paying the management company a monthly fee to do that, and one partner will still have extra equity that was supposed to compensate him for property management. In our experience it is best to leave property management as a service fee and not equity. If one partner is taking care of the property management then it may make sense to pay them a management fee (maybe 8%, or whatever you decide on) from the income of the building rather than giving equity for this. 

You can think of it this way:
Experience, expertise, deal, and asset management = 50% value
Money & financing (otherwise passive) = 50% value

If you provide equal value in terms of experience, deal, asset management, etc, then you can split that (25% equity each). 
If you are bringing 30/70% of the money & financing then that is a split of 15% and 35%
So this would look like an overall 40%/60% split, and property management would be paid to whoever is doing it as a management fee out of the gross income of the property.

Looking at the value split this way, you can rebalance it however it makes sense based on what you each are bringing to the table.

Hopefully this way of looking at the framework is helpful for you! Ultimately the most important thing is that you come to an agreement that makes sense for both of you, and make sure you put it in writing including what specific roles each party is accountable for.

I have many clients who are out of town investors and are able to make it work. If you focus on getting great tenants and have a solid property management team then it can be a great set up. The cash flow in Windsor can be healthy enough to support property management and still be positive.

@Andrew Cox I liked @Anna Watkins's idea as well to connect with groups that may rent the entire group home. 
I am also wondering, do you think there would be any possibility of converting to a duplex or triplex? Would the layout be conducive for this? It would mean some capital outlay but it would be much easier to manage as a multifamily, you would be able to refinance, and it would be easier to sell when the time came as well. 

Good point @Louis Henry not much of a difference between a 2hr drive and a 4hr drive in terms of managing properties. I'm happy to connect you with some local resources.

NAFTA could hit Windsor if things go unfavourably, and no doubt this would have an effect on the local economy, as did the closing of the GM plant and related factories in 2009. The good news is that since 2009 our workforce has become more diversified since jobs were diverted from auto to other industries.
The way I see it, we always buy our properties for cash flow, and make sure to renovate to above average standards. This way, if vacancy rates were to rise due to a dip in the economy, our units would not sit vacant.
Also consider, there are the 2 new bridge projects getting underway now which is going to bring many jobs to the area over the next 10 years. Construction companies working on the bridge are already tying up 3 year leases for their employees. With vacancy rates already extremely low, there is going to be a shortage of rental properties and strong rental demand.