All Forum Posts by: Dave Vogt

Just got "The Lean Start-Up" Eric Ries in Audio.

Crush It" Gary Vaynerchuk also in audio

Listen to these while I renovate my houses and my next book is Gary's new one...I'm with Brandon on this one. Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook! It's all about social media.

One of my absolute favorite books is Starting Small Finishing Big in Real Estate by Jay DeCima...really good book for the guy starting out on a journey.

Having a good real estate agent on your side is so important. If you bring your uncle on board. Having a good team is really important. Surrounding yourself with good people, It's key. Your lawyer, title company, contractors and your uncle will be the biggest part of your team. So make sure these are top notch they are going to be responsible for a big part of your success.

As always the suggestions here from other BP'ers is to go and find your local REI group and learn as much as you can. When you do go simply explain what it is that you want to do with your real estate and put on your listening ears. Work out some good questions to ask other investors and certainly ask for referrals to find the key people for your team. If it's in your budget I would be buying a lot of lunches for the ones you hit it off with and offer to help them (often for free) to learn the ropes.

I too wish I started way younger. I owned an automotive repair shop for 16 years 1st. Once I flipped two houses in a year and realized I had made as much money doing that as I do working 12 hour days 6 days a week, I saw a light bulb go off. I was almost 40 when that happened. If I had started investing at your age I would probably just come down and hang out with all the newbies on here. I would get them pointed in the right direction just for fun. I know I wouldn't be working any more if I started sooner unless I wanted to.

Best of luck in your adventure.

See I complimented you on being a smart cookie for a reason Roy. Good solid information. Thank you...I love learning new things. My lawyer just felt more comfortable with the double close and now I understand why. It can get a bit grey and sketchy depending on your intent as you mentioned.

I agree, you should be ready and willing to close if you can't assign which very few wholesalers getting started can or want to do. At least this is what I find. Good deals should be easy to assign.

Recently we discovered how to hide what we pay for properties. You need to ask the lawyer to pay your land transfer taxes up front. We did this on our last deal so people paying 225K for our flip didn't know we payed 155K. This would work well with a double close if you got a stellar deal and wanted to make more than an assignment fee. No worries of pissing off the other investor. Just a thought.

As far as I know any good real estate lawyer can do this for you. I don't believe you can do assignments in Canada. When I talked to my lawyer in Niagara (who specializes in RE) we basically decided the only way to do this effectively was to do simultaneous closings. Not sure what other people's experience in the wholesale side of the biz have been.

I have really been looking at gearing up my wholesale side of the business, so any insight from other BP'ers on the topic of wholesaling in Canada would be appreciated.

As to a lawyer the only thing I would highly recommend is that real estate is the only source of income for this lawyer. It should be their specialty. I can certainly mention one that you shouldn't use out of Ancaster that a big investment group out of Oakville use. Private message me if you would like this name so you can stay away...far away.

Hey there George,

Welcome to BP.

You sound a lot like someone I know very well....me 10 years ago. So many questions and no idea which way to go. Can't say that I made all the right decisions, but I have managed to make it my full time income.

Roy makes a very good point about BP. Start reading and learning...that is where we all get started. The more you know the better prepared you will be for all of the craziness of this biz called real estate investing. There is a lot to learn.

Also to Roy's point, the content is very american and you will have to read a bit between the lines. The general concepts are all the same with a few things being unique to our side of the border.

I would say the best thing to do is to find some local investors and meet with them, pick there brains, offer to help them for free or close to it, and get your feet wet with this property you have. You have been given a great starting point.

If you ever have any questions, put them up here on the forum and you will find a wealth of knowledgeable investors happy to point you in the right direction. If you ever want to venture down to Port Colborne ( about a 3 hour drive) I would be happy to give you a tour of my projects and we can talk shop. Can't say I will teach you everything you need to know, but I am sure if we talk I can help you figure out what it is that would fit you best and how to get going.

The offer is always on the table....best of luck on your new adventure.

Still haven't found the name of the gentleman I saw at that conference last year, but as I mentioned in a previous post there is a lot to know before you even consider investing in the states. I don't want to scare anyone as I am sure with prices and improvement in markets there is money to be made, but please do all your homework and be prepared.

These recent changes in the cross border rules will surely affect those investing there so take extra precautions.

Here is a link to an article that some of you may have read and one I should share on some of the other forum topics about investing in the USA for Canadians. Kinda pisses me off as a Canadian....read it and let me know your thoughts.

http://www.worldwealthbuilders.com/watch-canadians-going-usa-2014.html

It's been a while since visiting Windsor. I think the only thing that troubles me with that area is that there hasn't been much other than the automotive and manufacturing your typical industry type jobs. I should send out to the city for a more current demographic and economical update.

I did this recently with Cornwall. I must admit I was actually considering jumping ship from Niagara for a bit once I received the package from the city. Again a situation of close to 3 Metropolitan areas and a border town. Combine this with some major jobs moving in with one of Canada'a largest distribution centers, a very large and new call center, and a ton of other up and coming jobs. They have a good school as well. Something to look into I think and still on my radar.

As far as my area down south...so far so good. Things have been steadily improving and there are a lot of good rentals that cash flow well. The student rental gig is good too if your into that. Property values continue to slowly creep up. Appreciation rates of 2-4% depending on the area and steady increase in employment with some good economic development in place. I think the biggest thing helping us is the ever moving line of acceptable commuting distance and ever increasing house prices as you move closer to GTA.

I still see the higher rents and longer term tenancy in the 6-20 unit buildings with 2 bedroom units. Most of those buildings here seem to have waiting lists if they are in better areas in good condition. Overall this is the area I am moving towards.

On the flip side (dual meaning lol) there are a large number of 1st time buyers and downsizing baby boomers here. The population tends to be more senior so bungalows fly of the shelf. The point is that the houses in our area between 120K-180K sell like hotcakes as long as you take care of the majors like roof, windows, kitchen, bath, etc. and give them a turn key property. We love this niche as most people in this position don't have a house to sell and are looking for the nicest home in the price range that is affordable and we can consistently deliver a product like that without big cash outlays and make good returns. It's sustainable business.

As far as I am concerned there will always be a place for both good clean rentals in nice buildings and first time or the downsize priced property. It has and will continue to be my bread and butter. We have done a 1/2 dozen higher priced homes in our area and sold them quick, but almost everyone had condition of sale.

I would agree Filipe...It has always been my goal to go to the 10-12 unit buildings from where I am now. Flipping houses for me is the transition into this market. I want to skip right over the 3-4 unit buildings as they are classed as residential investments and right into the commercial.

Every effort you make to improve the building, each expense you lower, every rent you increase, is a direct increase in NOI and a straight up increase in the value of the property. Such a cool structure. More importantly the banks tend to look more at the property and it's performance vs. you the investor.

CMHC is really on board with these types of units with up to 85% loan to value available. It's such a great way to build an empire. Getting closer each year and building up my list of investors to transition some of these properties. They can be work, but so worth it in the end.

Have you thought of going a little further south. The markets down here are really good as well. Something to think about. As that circle moves further from Toronto the values are slowly creeping up in the areas surrounding Hamilton. Such as Grimsby, St Catharines, Stoney Creek.. although I was looking that way a while ago and nothing came up on the radar. I find to get buildings like this you almost need to reach out to the owners themselves.

Holy crap...I am laughing my butt off right now.

It's ok to share a little....no? I won't give away all my secrets nor should you.

Keep saying there is plenty to go around, but you may have a point here. SHHHHHHH! We shouldn't say anymore!

Thanks for the laugh....I needed it.