All Forum Posts by: Gary McGowan

I sure am, we usually have 35-45 Investors out every month.  

I also just hosted a Barrie Bus Tour. I took 10 investors around Barrie looking at different Investment properties. It was a great day. We got to look at 6 off market properties too! 

You can stay connected here. 

www.realestateventures.ca and http://www.meetup.com/York-Region-Real-Estate-Investors-Group/

@Michael Chow , 

@Filipe Matos Is bang on with how agents work in the GTA. That's is why it is SO important to only work with agents that have done 20,30+ deals themselves.... Not for their clients, deals they have actually bought and invested themselves.  There are very few of us agents that actually have that kind of experience. Work with one agent per area. If you want that agent to keep sending you the best deals be prepared to take action. Otherwise you will end up being the last call as opposed to the first call. 

I do know of agents and myself that have run jobs in the past for their clients or I provide all my trades for the work. Remember you will always get what you pay for. When it comes to paying your trades don't cheap out.  My best clients get the BEST deals because they pay top commission. 

We have to buy in the GTA very differently than in most of the US. We simply do not have the same motivation to sell. In fact, the average Days on Market in March 2015 for all of the Toronto Real Estate Board was 20 days. That includes 8,940 sales. At 100.6% of asking price.  1.7 months of inventory. That's incredible !!!! Some might argue a buble, whatever your take is, you need to know what is happening in the market before you decide to market and buy something. 

What you really want is an agent that is willing to teach you... You should not be the one teaching the agent... Tough to find though....  A good investor agent already knows how to run the numbers, knows what the rents are, knows what value to add, knows how to manage an investment property 

Here's my top three questions I ask my clients when buying properties. 

How are you going to buy it?

How are you going to add value to it?

How are you going to sell it?

Stick to these and everything else should fall into place. 

my Canadian 2 cents. 

Hey @Michael Chow

 I'm from Newmarket! I have owned a number of investment properties and different projects. I'm also licenced with Keller Williams. I run a monthly investment workshop, you should check it out. Just click my website link in my signature. 

gm

You always get what you pay for... Have I reduced my commision? yes, however never below what I think my service is worth on a particular transaction. The standard is 5% here in the Toronto area. I have only reduced it slightly on special occasion. To say that many realtors will jump at 3% is crazy. 9/10 times we offer 2.5% to the buyers side. That would leave very little to the Seller's agent. How will they market a property using a limited budget? How are they working in the Seller's best interest? How are they doing themselves any credit by reducing their paycheck to just get a listing?   got me..?

Every lender does it differently.... 

Talk to a mortgage broker that understands commercial financing. There must be 25+ lenders out there that only mortgage brokers have access to. 

Hey Thomas, Small world !!! 

I had heard you moved down south. All the best and much success to you!!!

gm

Ben Leybovich just curious as to where you are getting your stats on the Toronto condo market? Yes there are a lot of units and towers being built. However the toronto downtown vac rate is at 1.1%. With a huge influx of people moving back to Toronto from Alberta and that's not to mention the new Canadians. While the re market may seem overvalued our dollar has dropped which means Ontario's manufacturing sector has just gotten a huge boost from US buyers and new jobs have already been created to keep up with the new demand. The economic fundamentals are just not there yet for a bubble to burst. New jobs, homes, universities and infrastructure are all being built in and around the Toronto area.

In Strong Stable markets no... In the GTA for the past 8+ years I can think of only a few times that I did or heard of a Sandwich Lease Option. 

As for Subject to; we use this wording in all contracts however perhaps not with the same intended use that you have in mind. 

Our Market is too strong for the time being and in the GTA our market moves really slow compared to other areas eg Alberta. 

I would focus on other strategies first... 

Hey Danny, Send me the link, I will take a look at it. 

I'm in the GTA, Perhaps I can offer some ideas. 

Welcome to BP @Tyler Veres Always great to see other Canadians here. 

Your right with your concerns on the new builds in the KW area although if you market your properties well and have them in great areas there will always be the students (parents) that don't want the big life of large student res....

Keep up the great work!