All Forum Posts by: Roy N.

@J Scott

How are you planning to finish the stairs? I cannot really tell from the pictures, but it looks like you have *real* treads with OSB risers. Are you planning to face the risers or cover the stairs with {shudder} carpet?

@Brian Stephens

Here, diagonally across the continent, most buildings have basements and/or crawlspaces (often both) and the older ones are rubble walls. We too practice application of a vapour barrier at ground level where there is a dirt floor to keep moisture from entering the unconditioned space from below.

Similarly, our experience has found batt insulation to be undesirable for insulation of floors over unconditioned basements/crawlspaces, but mostly due to is propensity to capture and retain moisture and that it's insulation density is insufficient to provide an adequate thermal barrier in the 8-12" typically afforded by the floor joist system (the 8-12" measurement includes the 1.5-2" rigid board layer spanning the underside of the joists themselves). Given our version of winter here (-25 to -40C; -4 to -40F), it is desirable to obtain R25+ of insulation over unconditioned spaces.

I am a big proponent of closed cell spray foam due to its versatility and ease of application. Many of the older buildings here (Second Empire, Georgian, Victorian) are ballon framed and spray foam is {arguably} the most cost efficient way to achieve air sealing of these structures. [If you have ever tried to apply an effective poly vapour barrier in a balloon framed house, your head is most probably bobbing in agreement].

As for Joseph Lstiburek's air gap, we have a student property with a small (10 x 12) addition over a crawlspace. I am planning to attempt a slight variation on his approach by applying a thin layer of foam (<=1/2") directly to the underside of the floor to achieve an effective barrier. I will then leave a 3-4" air gap and fill the remainder of the joist cavity with rigid board and/or closed cell spray. I also plan to encapsulate moisture sensors in several of the "air gaps" to allow monitoring of our little experiment. My hypothesis is by sealing both sides of the air gap we can prevent moisture accumulation, while still providing a "conditioned space" below the floor.

@Brook W.

We are taking that approach. Most of our properties are 50+ years of age, some well over 100. When we acquire a property, we do so with the objective to improve its operational efficiency by 40-70%. So far we have two whose improvement was around 50% and a third where we are looking at 70+% by the time we are finished.

Our renovations tend to run a little more than other landlords in the area - whose idea of operational efficiency is to install baseboard heaters and offload the heating costs to the tenants - but we are taking a long-term strategy to deliver more comfortable, healthy, and affordable homes to our tenants. If it costs a tenant half as much to heat one of our apartments, turnover should be less. We are just starting to see this type of benefit from our efforts.

While we have not used geothermal - it is not an option in the parts of the city where most of our properties are located due to zoning and in the one place where we could have used it, the cost-benefit was not there. We have replaced old furnaces/boilers with newer, more efficient, units ... but only after we improve the efficiency of the building envelope. While a more efficient boiler will lower gas/oil/electricity consumption to produce heat, if 50% of that heat is escaping through non air-sealed, uninsulated (R4-R5) walls & roof and single pane windows, you are still waisting energy & money, and your building will still be draughty and uncomfortable.

@Shahriar K.

As @Hadi Komeyl mentioned, the LLC is a U.S.A. entity which lays partway between the Canadian Sole Proprietor and Private Corporation ... and sports many of the benefits of each.

As Hadi mentioned, using a {holding} company to own your properties has advantages w/r to liability. It can also have advantages when it comes time to sell your properties.

However, the one place where it makes more sense to own a property under your own name is your primary residence. In Canada, you do not pay capital gains on proceeds from the sale of your primary residence. In your case, with a duplex, at the time you sell it (perhaps even to a company controlled by you), you will not pay capital gains on the portion (presumably 50%) which is your primary residence. If your primary residence were owned by a corporation, you would be a tenant and would loose the capital gains exemption on sale.

The book referenced by Hadi above is a good starting point and will provide you with enough information to have a realistic dialogue with your accountant and council about how you should proceed in the near term and when you should look at incorporation (and structuring of corporations), trusts, etc, as your investing business grows.

Just a caution on the telescoping ladders. Research the particular brand and model thoroughly before purchasing. There are cases of the locking system on certain models failing and the ladder retracting under load.

@Michael Stole

Are you dealing with the in-house staff at both of these "Big-5" banks or are you using an independent broker in either case? If dealing with in-house staff, they are employees - at some banks they may be on a base salary w/ commission basis. If dealing with a mortgage broker, you should offer her/him something - either an opportunity to match you best offer and/or a payment that recognises the effort they have.

If you were buying a home, the Big-5 are usually within fractions of each other, however with rental properties a couple of them are more welcoming than their peers.

In this type situation, I am always upfront with a lender and let them know I am talking to others. If you already have a relationship with the first lender, then let them know what their competition has offered to do - they'll either match or bow out.

@Deborah Burian

At least they were friendly and relatively respectful. ;-P