All Forum Posts by: Chris Baxter

@Dave Fairb can you clarify the statement " But it's frustrating to have all the equity and not be able to have some" ? What's preventing you from refinancing your mortgage to access 75-80% LTV on the current value of your property? You have ~$250k available at a valuation of 1.5M and 75% LTV (which should be achievable even if self employed).

Failing that, @Brian Hosier's plan is a solid one.  You can still live in the Lower Mainland and have everything you need and enjoy without living right in Vancouver.  

Hi Nito... a duplex simply means two dwelling units under the same roof. You are currently living in a townhouse.  Two townhouses together in one building (a very common configuration) is a duplex. You own both; live in one and rent the other.

Hello @Phil Truong ... welcome to BP.  The explanation is a little complicated but here is the tax bulletin: https://www.canada.ca/en/reven... 

From my read on it, since you can only have one principal residence your first house will be deemed disposed when you move into your new house. Capital gains will be assessed based on FMV at the time of deemed disposition. I would strongly recommend that you get your accountant involved in this one (I am not an accountant).

Chris

@Nito Kunda  have you considered doing both?  Can you afford a duplex or a suited house so that you can live in the building and drive rent from it? Per @Tyler Stiller, this allows you to potentially qualify for a much smaller down payment (first time home buyer https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en...

The BP community refers to this strategy as 'house hacking'... Good luck!

@Yousef Reda selling your property you your holding company will likely trigger a capital gain. Best to speak to your accountant to get clarity on the most tax efficient strategy for your own personal situation.  

@Yousef Reda there are lots of different exit / retirement strategies in REI. Are you concerned only about you and your mother, or do you want a legacy for your family? I am personally working towards replacing all my active business income with cash flow (passive), without liquidating. I use my active business income (and value-add through BRRR) to acquire new properties, so I am still in growth mode. I could retire now by liquidating everything, but would likely evaporate our wealth with an early retirement. I would rather keep building to pass wealth on to the next generation, even if this means a few more year of work for me.

@Tanveer Mostafa  this really isn't a good time to be buying a condo in downtown Toronto   https://www.reuters.com/articl...

Also, when you get to 20% equity, you have no equity from a refinance perspective. Lenders will allow (at most) 80% LTV against the property...

@Vijay Balakrishnan  what's your definition of a "4 seasons cottage"? Are you talking about a vacation rental? If so, these are more of a business than a passive investment... money to be made, but balanced against the effort involved in managing guests, it's not something I've considered. 

@Michellene F.   that's not an investment proposal, it's a scam.  Anyone who messages in such a way with absolutely no detail is not someone to consider doing business with.  There are so many people out there with more money than knowledge that 'deals' like this are constantly being pitched. 

@Anthony Panepinto you definitely want to work with a local lender / broker as they would be more knowledgeable about the market you are investing in and have better access to the right financing.  As an example, when we bought our first 6plex in the Maritimes, I took the deal to a broker in BC.  They had no idea how to fund a $275k MF property, as that doesn't exist in BC. A local(to the investment) broker had many options to consider.