All Forum Posts by: Gary McGowan

I would say the big lesson here is to work in an area that you are an expert in. Knowing the Condo's maintenance history and reviewing the Condo's status certificate would have raised some red flags. Before you bought did your lawyer review the Status Cert? 

You probably won't find anything on the 7% cashback. It's a program that the government doesn't talk about too much. 

It only applies to brand new "never lived in" properties and has nothing to do with the lenders. 

@Michael Chow

For the past few years I have been telling people NOT to invest in Brampton due to the second suite confusion. Town Council members didn't even know what was going on. Legalization of second suites is a HUGE step for the city of Brampton. I still need to wrap my head around all the requirements behind it. I have always said when City's legalize second suites this is a Great thing. Newmarket has had second suite registry for many many years. When you have a property that is legal is valued 5-8% higher and will always sell quicker. 

I have owned single family homes in Brampton and have done well there. Appreciation was nice and the rents were avg. There is a lot happening in the city with growth. New hospital, homes, stores, infrastructure and as you pointed out transportation. 

Investors that take the time to understand the Second Suite Requirements  should do really well with a long term strategy. You will have some buyers today that will jump ship. So there could be an opportunity. 

@Francis Hermanson

 Yes, You will need a  detailed quote from a contractor. Once all the work is completed the Lender's Appraiser will visit the property to verify the work you said you were going to do actually got completed. The Appraiser will sign off on it and within a day or two your Lawyer will release the funds. 

Many lenders today will not allow any unsecured LOC's including credit cards. Also if you are proving your down payment funds are coming from your RRSPs you will have to actually de-register them (cash them out). You can receive a "gift" from a family member but not a friend.

Hi @Francis Hermanson,

In Canada our lending policy for investment properties is a min 20% down. Some lenders will allow 5-10% Second mortgage but it is VERY rare. One option is to purchase with 20% down and then sometime later place a 2nd mortgage on it. 

Another option is a getting Mortgage + Improvements. Which is a mortgage with with 20% and they will provide renovation funds up to 10% of the mortgage balance. I have done this and it works GREAT !!! You have to front the renos and once completed your lawyer will release the funds. 

I love the doom and gloom and talk. Look for opportunity in chaos....!

I live and invest heavily in the out skirts of the GTA. While I think the "Toronto" market is overpriced there is still some great buys in the surrounding areas. The first thing to watch out for is the Days on Market. Toronto is still sitting in at around the 28 days on Market. Which is a really strong sign of a good moving market. Next would be Sale to asking price. We are hovering at about the 99%-101% of asking. In areas like Newmarket, Aurora new home builds are very strong. In fact 1 min north of Newmarket they are building 15,000 new homes. Sales have just started and they are very strong. A lot of new people moving to the area. 

With the lower CDN dollar manufacturing is picking  up (slowly). Case and point, colleagues in the Industry are already seeing larger sales to the US. With the lower Oil prices, the talent we lost to the Alberta boom is already coming back to work in the Manufacturing or Natural gas sectors. 

Nah sayers have been saying the CDN housing market will bust since 2008-09, These are the same people that have books to sell on the same subject. 

Benjamin Tal is a decent economist to listen too. 

While I believe there will be a "market correction" in Toronto, I don't believe it will fall the 20-30%. We will likely see a leveling off in the Toronto area. Good markets to watch for are Barrie, Hamilton, Whitby, Oshawa. 

my 2 cents... 

Hey Brian, I'm also from Newmarket. 

Generating capital is every Investors dig questions. How you do it, where you do it and most importantly why you do it? We used Joint Venture partners to buy the 50 ish doors we have. Otherwise we would not of been able to purchase the amount of properties we did (all in the GTA). I would start to figure out what my long terms and work backwards from there. Figure out what you want from the properties and what it represents to you and your family.