All Forum Posts by: Luc Boiron

I agree with @Matt Geerts - this is a very good sized lot. 

Not sure whether it's the highest and best use, but here are some things to consider if you are considering a severance:

What are lots selling for in the neighbourhood?

Check the zoning by-laws for the area and look at what size lots are allowed. A 40x120 or 60x120 is a perfectly good sized lot - which gives you the option to potentially divide into 2 or 3 lots. You wouldn't need divide by subdivision, only by consent. You can do this at the committee of adjustment. I have heard that the planning department in the City of Ottawa is a huge pain to deal with, but the committee of adjustment does allow things to go quicker. So you could apply for 3 lots, and if approved, tear down the house and sell off two lots, using the proceeds to help fund you back up and possibly build or sell the third lot. 

Don't forget to take into account development charges, they can be tens of thousands. You would not need to pay them on one of the lots though, as you are replacing an existing property, you woudl only need to pay them on the new ones.

Some people even sell the lot subject to the committee of adjustment approving it, so you could apply with the purchaser's name as the transferee of the lot, saving you the cost of transferring it to your name, and then transferring again to the buyer.

Also, as Matt said, if the house is off to one side of the lot, you could sever off the otehr part, and still fix up and sell the original house, just with a smaller lot. That tends to be more profitable than just a flip.

Where are you getting the contract? I recommend you use the standard form OREA contract, and just put the clauses in the schedule, like an agent would do. I'm not sure if you meant you would be writing your own contract from scratch, as the standard has certain terms such as title search or time being of the essence that are vital.

This may scare the seller, but try I was speaking to @Claude Boiron the other day and we were discussing how you should always try to have your assignment clause state that once the contract is assigned, you are no longer liable for the contract at all.

My 2 cents, not legal advice.

@Sahand Farhadi

Could you post a link to your Kijiji ad? It might give us an idea.

I find renting for September 1 to be the busiest rental period of the year. See what else is on the market in the area, both on the MLS and kijiji. It will give you an idea of how your home compares to other options tenants have. Also, do make sure your location is correct as David said. Make sure you are posting in Markham/York region, not Toronto.

If you post your ad we might be able to tell you more.

Good luck!

@Alina K.

Barrie and Innisfil have a reputation for not having a great tenant pool (Barrie in particular). However, many people succeed there, and if the property is well or professionally managed, it can be great. The vacancy rate is very low, and rents to property values are much better than Toronto. Innisfil is similar.

Bradford is a little different, but can be a great place. Fewer people have heard of Bradford, as it only grew recently as the province forced Bradford to re-zone a huge area of land after making the infrastructure upgrades to the area. This has more than doubled the size of their planning department, and drastically increases the population. A lot of townhouses will be newer construction. Bradford has essentially now been swallowed up by Toronto/GTA - many people see its relationship to Newmarket like Newmarket's is to Aurora: a little further, a littler cheaper.

Bradford will have two types of tenants - the tenants from old Bradford, who are from the area, and will be a similar demographic to that of Barrie, and the newer tenants, who have been attracted to the area by urban sprawl and the promise of cheaper real estate if they drive further.

Bradford has a low vacancy rate as well, though property prices are higher so your rent to property price may not be a good.

Probably @Roy N.

I had a friend who paid a local real estate agent to check in on his properties and deal with the tenants. He paid her around $75 per month flat fee, and I don't think that included leasing it when it was vacant.

Welcome @Amiee Thompson

I'm sure there are many investors from the Ottawa area that would love to buy more deals if you can find them.

There's a lot to learn about real estate, but you learn the most by doing. Good luck!

Bradford has grown at an explosive rate, and it is amazing. I remember about 10 years ago before the province forced the municipality to accept new construction, and the population was half of what it is now. With Toronto expanding so much, it seems the new construction has become a bit of a bedroom community for commuters and prices has jumped quite a bit. I remember when there wasn't even a Home Depot.

A good realtor can do very well, a bad realtor can do very poorly. If you have a good drive, you can do well. Good luck!

Looks amazing! I love flip stories. It sounds like you did a ton of work to it, and saved tens of thousands in labour costs by doing it yourself.

Congrats on the sale and the profit!

Pretty much everything nice in my market is being set up for multiple offers, so they sell quickly. There are definitely pockets of the city or buildings where there is less demand, so I know I won't be able to sell as quickly, but I'm still looking in those buildings because it can help me get a good enough deal in this crazy market.

I sold a condo over asking after 2 days on market, and just sold a house after 3 days on market for almost 15% more than my asking price.

The market is kind of scary here because I know it will be hard to find my next deal.