All Forum Posts by: Zorya Belanger

Hi @Mike Dovich You're right, SW Ontario doesn't make sense right now. There are several Ontario-based multifamily investors in the coaching program I'm in, and most are looking outside of Ontario, and like you, some are considering the US as well. I think it's hard to give advice without knowing more info, like how much time do you have to spend on your real estate investments? on traveling?How active do you want to be? What experience do you have already?

Right now we are focusing on new-build purpose-built multifamily in Edmonton (because I live here and know the market well), but I am considering the US too in the future, and if/when I venture there, I'm likely going to start off by investing as a passive investor or limited partner with someone who's already doing multifamily in the US. I will learn from them, and then will be better equipped (with knowledge and the right team) to do it myself. Best to invest with someone with a track record but not too huge of a company, where you are just 1 out of 100's of their investors and they wouldn't have any desire or time to teach you anything. There are other smaller companies/investors that have already figured it out, saving you time and lowering risk of making mistakes. 

Hey @Aqil Raharjo First of all welcome to bigger pockets! Secondly, make sure you get Canadian advice when it comes to mortgages as we don't have the same rules/products as in the states. Ex. the 30 year fixed rate that Logan mentioned is not a thing in Canada. I wish it was!

I do agree that you should NOT prioritize paying off the mortgage given low interest rates. Invest the money into something else, which will give you a return that's higher than 1.85%. Our target return for our real estate projects is 10-12%, and there's plenty of opportunities out there if you look. If you stay within RE, you can learn more about the industry while at the same time making the best use of those funds that you would have use to pay down your mortgage. Some RE investment funds allow as little as 10k investment, even for non-accredited investors. 

Using a HELOC to invest into next property is a good idea. That's what we did. You can write off the interest, which is called the Smith Maneuver.

I recommend starting with books by Don R Campbell if you're investing in Canada.

Hi @Taylor Summers It's not clear whether you would be moving into the new property. If it's not going to be your personal residence, you can't use CMHC. If you are moving in, I would definitely use CMHC, and put <20% down. I wouldn't over leverage myself with as little as 5% down though, in case prices in Ontario come down.

Hi @Darcy Niedermaier as others have suggested, "multifamily" implies 5 or more units, which involves commercial financing. A 4-plex still falls under residential financing. I agree that multi-unit residential properties, that is 2-4 units on one lot, is a great way to go. When I was looking into buying 4-plexes, they were all older and needed quite a bit of maintenance and upgrading, so just make sure you account for all of that when running the numbers.

 Yes there’s definitely good debt and bad debt. What matters is your net worth. Best to use the leverage that the banks offer to your advantage and get higher return on your money. If it’s a buy and hold, and you do proper due diligence before you buy like getting an inspection, I don’t see it being risky. CMHC and the lender won’t give you the loan unless they perceive it as low risk. We have pretty tight underwriting in Canada and it just got even tighter June 1 with new stress test rule.  

@Agnieszka Zalewska I completely agree with @Anthony Therrien-Bernard I wish I knew about this strategy when I first got started! Let me know if you need a referral to an investor focused mortgage broker. Good luck!

Hi @Elisheba Kihara I’ve been a REIN member for almost 8 years now. I can say I’m glad I joined when I did as I learned a lot and got me started down the right path. BUT, the organization has changed quite drastically, especially right now with everything being online. I can’t say it’s the same value as it used to be. At the same time, a surprising amount former REIN members / leaders have started their own education and coaching programs. Most are focused on a specific strategy.

The basics you can learn from reading Don Campbell’s books, starting with “Real Estate Investing in Canada”. 

I do believe coaching and real estate programs are helpful in fast-tracking your journey, but look at all your options. Since there are more programs than ever out there, it can be hard to navigate, so I’d be happy to provide more insight. Reach out if you want to chat. 

I hear about this all the time! It's usually one partner that has the interest first, but the other eventually comes around. They just need more proof, or more information, or hear more success stories. I also recommend encouraging her to read rich dad poor dad, or a variant of it. It was Retire Rich Retire Young that was my "a-ha!" moment. For some it takes seeing the money come in from the first property, and realizing that wasn't that hard at all. Or refinancing your first property and seeing a big chunk of money come in! Education helps. REIN used to have weekend workshops, and attending that was like a firehose of info, but it gave us the confidence to go out and buy our first property. Now it's an online course. Start with the book. Start with one property. You don't have to totally convince her about the entire financial freedom early retirement part before starting. Focus on, "why don't we just buy one house, and have our tenant in the secondary suite to pay part of our expenses, so you have more money to spend on [whatever she likes to do]?" There are always less tenant issues if they're in the same building and you can keep an eye on them. Good luck!

@Arif Bor I think you're doing it right. Put it out there on here and investor facebook groups and you will be able to find working partners. Or you don't have to look any further as I may have an opportunity for you on a 20 unit - funny how that's exactly what you put out there! I have it under contract and it's the perfect BRRR. Solid concrete structure, but many opportunities to add value, increase rent, and increase value. Im really excited it! Like @Landon Bleau said, we'll have to see if you qualify, but there also could be an option to do private lending on this one through a second mortgage.

@Andre Manzo Nice looking building by the way! I know it's a totally different market, but if it helps, we bought ours from the builder for $1.35M and it appraised for $1.45M. CMHC however only gave us 85% of the purchase price of 1.35M. Not sure how it works if you are the builder - maybe they will consider the appraised value more.