All Forum Posts by: Luc Boiron

I just read an article about an American couple who sold their home in Oakville, which is a suburb of Toronto, to move back to Colorado. 

Here is the link.

Their home was being sold for multiple offers for over asking (as everything is), and they decided to accept an offer from $150,000 less than the highest offer, because the family provided a letter and the sellers thought they would be the best fit for the neighbourhood.

What do you think of this?

The offer they accepted was $200,000 over asking, they didn't accept an offer $350,000 over asking. 

@Salma Valimohamed Thanks, I hope you can make the next one.

@Brie Schmidt I didn't attend that either.

@Salma Valimohamed

I have the basic membership, which I got to save costs on screening tenants.

Since then, the forums seem to have gone down, and @Matt Geerts has mentioned the association seems to have died off. Unsure I would risk anything with them.

I host a monthly meetup in Toronto, which may be on interest to you. It's a place for REI to share information and ask questions, I'm sure there are members who will help you get started.

@Antoine Justiz I don't follow the 70% rule and I flip properties successfully.

However, you need to look at your numbers in a lot more detail than saying you would make $100,000 if you spent $480,000 including reno and sold it for $580,000.

Your agent commissions alone would be $35,000, unless you can find someone to take a lower commission who is still competent. You also have the legal costs to transfer, including title insurance, and land transfer tax, which seems pretty low in your area. If you are able to finance under a conventional mortgage, you can perhaps keep your financing costs low, but it can easily be tens of thousands in financing costs when you include the fees. You also need to anticipate carrying costs such as property taxes, insurance, utilities, etc.

So add up all your costs, and if the expected profit is sufficient, go for it. But don't make the rookie mistake of not including all your costs.

53 years old means this is from around 1964. Code may have been different in your area than mine, but I find homes built at that time to be better built than new homes.

Check the wiring - I usually only see aluminium wires in homes built in the 70's, but could be there in the 60's. If its copper the wiring should be fine. The first house I bought was built around 1965 and was probably the best built home I have owned. 

@Clayton H. I host a monthly meetup downtown. Inbox me or look at the events page to see details, I'm not allowed posting them here.

I agree with the previous comments, your quotes seem quite high. You might get back what you put in if you are able to do it for a lower price. Also, adding a full bath on the main floor doesn't usually have as much value as an upstairs bath. Again though, it is your home, so it's a different story, it's not all about return on your investment.

It's definitely better in my eyes to get one property rather than several. The advantage of multiple properties is that you are less hurt from any one vacancy, though buying a multi in a more expensive market has the same result. The more expensive properties allow you to have fewer loans, which is an advantage because it isn't just the amount you have borrowed that affects your ability to get loans, but also the number of loans you have. Also, fewer tenants results in fewer headaches, and you will spend less time on one expensive property rather than the cheaper ones. The issue is that usually cheaper properties will usually provide better returns, before accounting for your time. If you can get the same return on the more expensive property, do it.

I've seen wholesalers in my city get close to market value. You don't need a cash buyer. You assign the contract to them, they need cash for your assignment fee. Unless there's something different in your market, they can then lose with the seller and finance that purchase if desired. You need a big enough buyers list though, to get close to market value.