Originally posted by @Luc Boiron:
Originally posted by @Marianne Lopez-Henthorn:
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
@Marianne Lopez-Henthorn. You want to leave a high paid job in one of the best cities in the world in a country that actually provides things like universal healthcare to move into some small city in America?! (because that's where the cheaper real estate is). And you want to raise kids there? In a place where six year olds are put under "active shooter" drills?
If you think you will find cultural diversity and food etc of the kind you have in Vancouver anywhere outside the major coastal cities you will be sorely disappointed. Yes smaller cities have got more diverse over the years but nothing compared to Vancouver or SF or NY.
I get the interest in real estate but is it really that important that you would walk away from everything to invest in some cheap houses? If you are that passionate about real estate you should be able to find a way to make it work and live where you are. Unless you hate Canada for some reason. I would really reconsider this plan.
Not quite true. I don't live in Vancouver anymore. I moved to pursue work in the Oil Industry. Do I miss Vancouver, absolutely! The average house price in Vancouver is currently $1.25 million, so a little out of my reach right now. If I can actively invest in Real Estate even in the suburbs and live there too, then I will. As an investor in Canada, you need a 20% down payment. There seems to be a lot more creative ways for financing in the States and a lot more opportunity.
I will miss universal health care for sure. However, I often get taxed 40% of my income. If my husband were to work in Florida, his income tax would be 0%, and that would help pay for a really good health care plan - if he doesn't already get one from his employer.
I don't want to live in a small city in the US, I would prefer a large city. Tampa Bay area has a population of ~3.1 Million. The median house price in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area January 2020 was $279,450. Still much more affordable than Vancouver! I understand I will compromise on diversity a bit. It won't be anything like Vancouver, SF, NYC, Toronto, but that's a trade-off for affordability. As long as there is some diversity, I will be happy.
Regarding active shooter drills, yes this is something I worry about coming from Canada. Canada isn't immune to mass-shootings, but it is far less common. There's not too much I can say about that other than it's something I worry about.
Suggesting that I hate Canada is as far from the truth as you can get. Just because you leave one country to looks for opportunity elsewhere doesn't mean you hate your home country. This is a great, free country. But my husband is American, so I have a unique opportunity to pursue work elsewhere - why wouldn't I try? I'm young and consider myself resourceful, I'm not afraid to try new things. I'll be letting go of a great job, but if I'm not happy here, why not try something else? Luckily, because I have a good job, I'll have a good nest egg to fall back on. I'd always have my experience here also. I could most likely work in oil again, if all else fails.
Thanks for your input.
You mention your husbands tax in Florida would be 0%. You seem to forget federal income tax.
I live in Toronto. My average tax on my salary that I pay myself is about 30%. In Florida, the federal tax would be 24%. So I wouldn't find it worthwhile to move for a 6% savings. But wait! I would need to pay self-employment tax in Florida, which doesn't exist in Toronto. In addition, the CCPC income tax rate on active business for the first $500,000 of net profit in a tax year is only 12.5% while left in the company (or borrowed out to buy rentals...)
And, I own a good amount of real estate. Now, with depreciation, insurance, interest, etc, I don't need to worry about paying very much in income taxes on rental properties anytime soon, and capital gains are only half taxed here.
Income taxes being lower are probably not a good thing for RE investors. It means that either you live in a dangerous ****** place because the government doesn't have enough money to fund basic necessities, or property taxes are very high. High property taxes are not good for buy and hold investors.
So if you're talking about a low income tax place as being good to build a rental portfolio, I don't really agree. If you want to live there and own a rental portfolio elsewhere, sure. Or if you want to live there and run an active business, sure.
Personally, I'm sick of traffic in Toronto as well. I bought a house in Ottawa on 3 acres for less than half of what my townhouse in Toronto on a 15' wide lot is worth. I'm ready to go there and enjoy some peace and quiet.
I plan to spend my winters somewhere warm, it may be Florida this year but I hope to spend winters in the Canary Islands in future years. The culture there is lovely and there's so much less poverty and violence.
As for where you should move in the US - real estate doesn't need to have anything to do with it, invest where it makes sense and live where you want to live. I personally love the ocean and want to spend winter by the ocean so that would limit the options for me, and I'd want to live far enough south because I don't like it being freezing outside.
You have good points for sure. It's not like I have to move to the US forever. The door doesn't close behind me once I leave. In 1.5yrs my husband can apply for Canadian citizenship. Through him, I can apply for US residency, and then citizenship. The two of us potentially could have dual citizenship.
It's not all upside moving to the states, obviously. I've lived in BC and now northern Alberta. It would be a nice change. Our winters here are 6 months, getting to -40 degrees. I understand there would always be federal tax in the States. I often get taxed 40% here. So, it is quite a bit different. I could work and get paid in USD, then eventually come back to Canada and retire here.
Healthcare and safety will be much different in the States. But again, I'm never stuck.
As for real estate, I would love to do a flip eventually, and possibly some airbnb rentals in Florida. I know I don't have to live where I invest, but it would be nice. I can't see it being too tough to live there, especially if I keep my condo outside of Vancouver to "reverse snowbird" to in the summer.
ps. Ottawa is beautiful!
