All Forum Posts by: Graeme Cram

@Jett Rao Yeah no doubt that 1% would be very hard to hit in Calgary! Potentially you could do that in College towns in Alberta like Red Deer or Olds? Maybe... 

@Ram Srinivasan Thanks for the comments. I have found the group on Facebook and look forward to the next meet! Very curious to hear about how to structure your deals. I personally was expecting to need to use my savings or a HELOC to finance the downpayment/reno's of units that I plan to buy.

Thanks all for your replies!!

@Jessie Shields - Thanks I will keep an eye out for those meets and try to attend.

@Sean Kollee - The house hacking was a big win for me as I was able to pay down my house in the 4 years with my roommates paying the majority of the mortgage and me making double-up/lump sum payments throughout the time. My plan now is to pull some of the equity from this house to buy our next family house / rental properties. I never thought of the duplex idea I may have to talk to you further about that! 

@Jesse Conforth - I hear ya.. The townhouse my wife bought was unfortunately not a wise investment. We hope to break even when we initially rent it out and then grow it over time. Job security is always scary in O&G - goes with the cycles. I was laid off in 2008 too when it was bad but then quickly moved over to a tech company to ride out the storm (with much less pay...). My current role supports the Downstream side of O&G primarily the refineries which are making good money right now, so I should be safe for now..

@Jett Rao - Yeah I believe the 2016 outlook isn't great at all. We plan to buy 2016 spring/summer when hopefully we can find a deal! I will look into the 1%, 2% rules as I confess I don't know those. The legal suite is very interesting and appealing to me. The areas they are proposing are exactly within my desired neighbourhoods. Perhaps I buy one and get your team to renovate it to include a legal suite? :)

Hi BP Community,

My name is Graeme and I am a new REI located in Calgary, Canada. I am a fulltime IT Project Manager in the Oil & Gas sector and since reading a number of investment books I am looking to expand my investments beyond the stock market. I was fortunate to buy a single family home after University and lived with 2 roommates for 4 years before turning it into a fulltime rental property. I moved in with girlfriend (now wife) and we are looking at moving out of her townhouse to buy a 'Family home', making the townhouse our 2nd rental property. My goals in Real Estate are to buy additional rental properties (SFH, Multi-units) in Calgary initially and expand outwards as my knowledge grows. Looking to connect with anyone in the Calgary area that is into REI to network, learn and potentially partner up with!

Cheers,

Graeme