All Forum Posts by: Greg Eaton

Hi John,

I don't know of any good Realtors in the Elkford market, but we have a bunch of good Realtors in the Cranbrook area...  I would recommend Steve Throndson with Redline real estate.  He is a savvy investor, and he sells a lot of houses in the Cranbrook and Calgary markets, so he likely has some insight into the Elkford market as well.  He is an all round nice guy also...

Elkford is a beautiful place, but the entire economy hinges on the coal mine, which worries me a little.

Hey Nick, search Cranbrook Real Estate Investor Meet-up under the group heading in FB and you should find us.  Our Zoom meetings are on the third Tuesday of every month also, not sure what the topic will be this month though...

Hi Nick, hope that are doing well! There are a few of us from the Kootenays kicking around bp. There is also have a monthly meet-up and Facebook page for investors in the Kootenays. Cranbrook is a great place to invest. House hacking is the best way to get started... your first house should have potential for extra income. Get something with a suite or extra bedrooms that you can rent out.

Good luck!

Greg

Hi Katie,

There are a few of us kicking around on BP from the Kootenays.  I always enjoy hearing about potential deals and discussing the pros and cons.  Hope to see you at our next real estate meet-upon April 20th via Zoom...

Greg

There are a several Kootenay investors on biggerpockets. Send me a message if you want me to introduce you some of them...

@Jesse Graham It's a bit of a tough market to start investing in right now.  There's not a lot of a great cash flow deals, they are getting snatched up quickly.  

A lot of it comes down to risk vs return in my eyes. If all you are concerned about is a high CAP rate, there are small towns all over BC that look great on paper and will spit out lots of cash, but I'd be cautious about investing in small towns unless you know that market very well and have boots on the ground to help you out. I live in Cranbrook BC, I'm still finding 8% CAP rate deals out here, although they are not sitting on the MLS like they used to be.

If you base your decision on cash flow, population growth and job growth, over the long run you will have an excellent investment.  There won't be a "holy grail" location to invest in, so maybe start with places where you have friends or family or where you can find a trustworthy property manager. the worst thing you can do it sit on the sideline and not pull the trigger.

Having been a landlord in Calgary before moving to BC, I am well aware of both landlord/tenant systems.  The BC system is clearly in favour of the tenant, but if you are a good honest landlord it will almost never be an issue.  I would love to see a more balanced RTB system in BC, but this also ends up being my advantage, because it scared many landlords away, and I know how to work the BC system.  Every cloud has a silver lining.

@Zack Kahl I don't feel like I have it all figured out, but I appreciate the compliment. @Ken T. We also have an investor meet-up in Cranbrook every third Tuesday of the month, you should try to make it out.  Send me your email address and I'll add you to the list.  Otherwise, let me know when you're passing through town!

@Ken T. Cranbrook is a great rental market, diverse economy, strong cash flows, lower housing prices, limited competition.  I moved to Cranbrook from Calgary over 10 years ago and I've buying rentals here ever since.

Hi @Stacey Jarratt, The Kootenay market is certainly an overlooked market for investment in my estimation. I am in Cranbrook and while our economy is different then in Castlegar, both markets are diverse, reasonable demographics, lower costs of entry and pretty high cap rates (10% cap rates are on the MLS right now in Cranbrook).

I have entertained the thought of a local investor meet up at some point, maybe we need to make this Kootenay wide?  I know a few other Cranbrook investors that would be interested as well.

sorry for the slow reply, I just stumbled upon your post.

@Stacey Jarratt