All Forum Posts by: John Humphries

Hi @Matt Belzile, I'm still on the hunt.  Have not seen anything that really makes sense in the Comox Valley since this thread started as prices have really taken off.  Seems like there might be some room for some fix and flips but even the houses that need work are going pretty high these days.

I went to Port Alberni and viewed a few small multis, duplexes, and SFRs with suites and came away pretty depressed at the quality of properties and tenants that I met.  Having said that, the investors out there with good tenants and decent properties probably are not having to sell.  I'm sure there are some good tenants in PA, but you would definitely want to screen and put them in yourself.  Have not heard much positive about local property managers there.

I'm still looking at Alberni and have reached out to an agent in Powell River as well to see if numbers might work better there. Lots of people from Squamish and Cumberland headed that way right now as prices have gotten out of hand.

@Don Meinke you can definitely get one side planed although that adds to the price considerably. I've got a belt sander and infinite patience so I'm not too worried about sanding if it comes to it. I had pretty much decided on that route for the floating patio in the back yard, but our local mill does not have any wood at the moment.  We've heard that more is on the way, but no timeline.  My infinite patience may be wearing thin on waiting for that cedar!  The 5/16" green treated stuff at Home Depot might be looking a bit better if I have to wait much longer.

Thanks all for the recommendation of the Rust-Oleum Restore.  We are going to sand off all of the flaking paint from the patio attached to the house and then give the 10x a shot to see how long it will last in comparison to the pain.  The wood is pretty nicked up and cracked so I like the sounds of the thick, filling properties.  Just have to wait for the willows and cottonwoods to let up with their seed dispersal.  It's like it's snowing outside on Vancouver Island right now with all of the willow and cottonwood fluff in the air.  Not an ideal time for outdoor painting!

Thanks again everyone! Once again the Bigger Pockets blog has come through with some great advice.

@Roy N. Keep in mind that this is rough cut cedar that I priced.  That is why the price is so low.  Also, getting straight from the mill doesn't hurt considering it's all harvested here on the island. It's not the most ideal lumber to build with, but for our purposes and being very novice DIY'ers, we can make it work for this particular deck project. 

For the backyard floating deck, we may try the rough cedar, sand it smooth and look into the "onetime" that @Scott Sarel mentions above. Alternatively, we don't mind the weathered cedar look so may consider not treating at all.

@Phillip Huber and @John Pearson, thanks for the Rust-Oleum Restore tip.  I looked it up and it could be useful for the patio that we are tired of painting. Sounds like we could maybe get a few more years out of that product instead of having to re-paint every two. The trick will be getting the proper shade of brown to match the surroundings as it sounds like they have a limited # of tints available.

The cedar is the most affordable option, we've seen.  Rough cut though.  We have a mill just down the street.  Don't mind the rough cut look, and we figured if we were bothered with the roughness, we can just sand it down.  Picked up a new belt sander today and keen to put it to work!

The cedar is 38 cents per foot and we can do the whole top of the deck for $150.  Using the treated 5/16x6s from Home Depot would run about $210.  Those are definitely the most affordable options we have at the moment, but just not sure which direction to do for the long term.

Hey @Roy N., thanks for the recommendation, but we are trying to keep costs down on the new deck going in the back yard. That composite decking is a bit expensive.  Although, if it holds up, it could be worthwhile in the long run.

Hi decking experts.  I've got a few deck related questions - 

1. Our back patio is treated lumber (the green stuff from Home Depot).  When we bought the property 5 years ago, the wood was in good shape but looking pretty rough as it had not been finished with any type of paint or seal.  My immediate reaction was to paint it.  Since then, without fail, every 2 years, the deck paint that we used from Home Depot has started to crack and peel in the areas that are exposed to the sun and rain (we are on Vancouver Island and get lots of rain).  The painted boards under the patio roof still look great. Is there anything that we can do to avoid having to re-do all of our work every two years? Sand and stain? Sand and do nothing? Is there a miracle product out there that I don't know about?

2. We are building a floating deck in the back yard.  We used rough cut cedar from a local mill for the frame and are trying to determine the best option for topping the deck.  We had planned to use rough cut cedar 1x4x12s for the top, but our supplier is now out.  We can wait for them, or we can use the green treated 5/16x6x12s from Home Depot.  Given these 2 options, which would you do, and what treatment, if any, would you do to the wood, given that it will be completely exposed to sun and rain?

Any tips welcome!

Hi @Tom Mattinson, thanks for the offer, but I'm looking more at places a bit closer to home at the moment or in markets that I know and understand. I'll make it over to your side of the country one of these days though and might follow up after I've seen it in person. 

Hi @Account Closed, thanks for the link and the tip. 

Hi @Patricia K., I never really found any turnkey opportunities in Canada. I'm sure there are people doing this type of thing, but I did not come across any.

It's actually a business model that I would love to start myself up here, but my market on Vancouver Island would not produce returns like lots of the US markets! Having said that, though, if you ever get interested in looking at anything out this way, feel free to follow up with me.  I'd be happy to help out in any way.

Hi @Ozzy Smith, Thanks for the offer, but I pulled out my contributions awhile back and will be using that as a downpayment on my next purchase. I looked into moving my Roth $$ to a SDIRA, but in my opinion, the fees associated with the account were not worthwhile for my $30,000 investment.  It was better for me to pull out my original $20,000 and invest freely without all of the fees and rules.  

This is definitely not advice for all, just worked best for my scenario.