All Forum Posts by: Erich Schmitt

@Jason Chung

Good luck to you buddy! I'm can relate to your fire and motivation, and also with the confusion with where to start out. There's so much information!

I haven't invested in real estate yet, but have been slowly working towards it and I'd say this: keep in mind it's a lifestyle, not a race. I would also recommend Rich Dad, Poor Dad highly. NOT for specifics on REI, but more the mindset. It'll help you think outside of the box, but the book is not just about REI, so keep that in mind. You are on the right track. Keep reading, networking and saving.

I will say this: having savings (capital) starts to open up doors/opportunities. And I've just recently started networking, and wish I had done it sooner. You can't start out alone, so develop relationships now. Good luck man! Keep that fire burning

@Curtis H.
Hi! I was just wondering how your deal turned out? Was it a MHP in the US that you were investing in from Canada?

I've been looking into MH's as a strategy, and I'm trying to figure out if Canadians can do it easily, either in Canada (MH's and MHP's in Canada) or in the US as a Canadian. Feedback on your experience and what you found out would be of great help! Cheers

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome!

@Ash Badry My preferred markets are BC (because it's closest to home), NB (low prices) and MTL (due to my sister living there). Cities I have been considering are Nanaimo, MTL, Moncton and Fredericton. I have recently been looking into Nanaimo after spending 8 months looking in Victoria and becoming discouraged with the high point of entry. That's not to say there aren't deals and gems here, but it's the high price point of entry, due in part to the high price of land here, that is encouraging me to look elsewhere. We are surrounded by water on 3 sides, with a protected parks/watershed on the 4th side, which creates an island-like effect to land availability here in Vic. As for the cities further out east - I haven't done any detailed analysis on them besides perusing MLS. Anecdotally and price-wise, Moncton/Fredericton interest me, but my research is early days there!

@Account Closed Thanks for the sage advice. Yes, I've already seen one or two "too good to be true" deals whilst looking here in Victoria. As soon as you scratch beneath the surface there's always more to them. One of them was detailed in a thread here by another member @DevinMarlowe http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/432/topics/173523-advice-on-run-down-11-unit-multifamily-in-affluent-area?page=1#p1189962 The was a load of bylaw and permitting issues involved with that one lol!

Thanks guys and I will keep you all updated on my progress as I go!

Hey guys!

Time to stop lurking and introduce myself. Hi BP! I'm a geologist, from Victoria, BC, Canada.

Like most, it started with reading Rich Dad Poor Dad when I was a teen. Always wanted passive income. The pieces are just recently starting to come together for me. So although I joined BP recently, I've been wanting to be a landlord for years, and have been working seriously towards it for the past 2.5 years by saving as much as possible.

I've decided to start out in Canada. I'm open to anything REI. I'm really excited about networking and hearing others case studies and examples/stories on here. I really getting into things, so you might see me asking a lot of questions. I appreciate everyones feedback and thank you in advance.

My goal is 3k/mo cash-flow by July, 2017 (my 32nd birthday). At this point I'll declare my self "semi-retired" and only work one 2-3 month geology contract per year. 

I imagine I will start out solo, build a track record, and would be open to mutual partnerships as well in the future. One asset I can bring to the table is that my work affords me blocks of 3-4 months off, twice/year. This can be a valuable asset to get a project done, or do boots-on-the-ground work, to borrow a geology term :)

So that's my story. Thanks BP! Talk to you soon.

This is a related article that is very interesting. It discusses 7 different ways people have valued Canadian Housing, from the Fitch Ratings, vs BoC vs CMHC, etc. 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/...

@RoyN Table 8 also super interesting in previous discussed report: Moncton is in the top 10 affordable!

Haha, yes a little!

Also, with regards to the original theme of this thread, here's a recent study comparing global housing affordability in the developed world, using 2014 Q3 data I believe. They basically compared median incomes to median house prices to get a ratio.
http://www.demographia.com/dhi.pdf

Haven't read it in detail, but the tables and rankings are super interesting to me. Most affordable? You guessed it, US midwest lol!

Hi Thomas, would be interested in which city that was? Alberta/prairies? Just interested in finding out what other markets REI investors are active in around here. (Haven't met anyone yet here finding strong deals in Victoria LOL).
Thanks!

Hey Tyler,

Good to see you're progressing. I'm in a bit similar boat - although I've only recently discovered BP, I've been saving my down payment for the past 3 years, and thinking about REI even longer. Only in the past 8 months when I started to realistically get closer to a down payment have I started to look at listings and try to crunch numbers. My spread sheet now is a lot more refined that it was 6 months ago! And then the next step was talking to lenders recently, which actually helps a TON with knowing what can/can't be done.
And now with BP and starting to network with others in/interested in REI I feel better prepared than in the past, as I'm sure you do compared to when you started this thread. So good luck and let us know how your first deal goes!
If you even come down to Vic and want to network give me a shout. 

Cheers.

@Roy
I agree, it sounds similar to here this spring. Sellers market, the only good listing I saw this month (full duplex for 368,000, which is cheap for here) had 8 offers in 12 days and accepted offer that week! Yikes!

 I can only speak anecdotally from my research the past year or so. Here in Victoria, Canada, I'm told by local realtors/investors that you're lucky to break even to cash-flow up to $100 per unit. So anything in the + is considered "good" here. But that's because prices are high here similar to certain parts of West Coast USA. 

In Alberta, Can, e.g. Edmonton, I've been told people aim for $200-$500 per unit, generally suited SFRs, and that you're doing pretty good to get $500 per suited house (2 units combined). Price/rent ratio is better there. 

So obviously it's market dependant, I have no clue about your local market, but that should give you a rough comparison to up here! Again this is anecdotal and you can never rely on how thorough others are with their numbers.

I think that's relatively good since, as the above posters have said, you're living for free. In the future, if you can find a similar deal, you could rent the 3rd unit (in this case basement) to really get a good CAP rate/returns. Also, have you considered getting 2 roommates to increase your monthly income, "house hacking" style as they call it? Would be a pain, but could help you get to that next property faster.
But also, as they've said, time will tell as to the sustainability of those numbers with the vacancy rates and tenant quality, as well as CapEx items. Looks like so far so good, congrats!
I'm in a similar situation, looking for returns as well as a place to live myself, so congrats!