All Forum Posts by: Zorya Belanger

Welcome @Debra A.!

For your team, you want to start with a good investor-focused realtor. Ask how many properties they own and if they have off-market or pocket-listings. Talk to a few and go with the person whose answers you like best. The realtor should be able to connect you with the rest of your team. Mortgage broker should have similar criteria: be investor-focused, have their own portfolio. Get recommendations from other investors. Property manager - get recommendations. The good ones don't even advertise themselves at all; they get stream of business from referrals.

Edmonton is a great place to invest right now for the long term. You need to find the right property though; not everything works. 

As far as the pipeline, I wasn't too happy about it either, but overall the new administration is going to be good for Alberta. He will be imposing more restrictions and controls in the US and thereby making Canadian oil more competitive again. There was a really good presentation that Todd Hirsh (economist with ATB) did, explaining this, as well as giving his overall opinion on 2021. On youtube, video is called "2021 Economics with Todd Hirsch ATB Economist, Is Alberta Economy Crashing and Burning? Real Estate?"

Properties with more than one door is the way to go in Edmonton. 1-4 doors is considered residential. When you say multifamily, that typically implies 5 or more units (and involves commercial financing). I agree with Grace, start with a duplex, a house with a basement suite, or a house with a garage suite, a suited duplex, or a 4plex. If you live in one of the units, you can put as little as 5% down on the property when you go with a CMHC insured mortgage. A local meetup you can join is the Edmonton Real Estate Investors Association (on meetup).

I would talk to Brendan 780-370-1020. He's a wholesaler in Edmonton and has been helping others get started in their wholesaling businesses. His youtube channel is "Ashton Fisher"

Ok, I was wondering about that - whether you were considering Edmonton due to having one already there, or not. I am finding that if you want a good investment property with 3-8 units, you have to build it. It helps that Edmonton is very infill friendly, and there are many greenfield options too. There are opportunities to find lots with one small old single-family house on it, and build a triplex or 4plex (and potentially add basement suites making it a 6plex or an 8plex) on the land. Or build 2 skinny houses, each with a basement suite and a garage/laneway suite. Or there are greenfield options (new community developments) where you can build 2-3 units on one lot. Many builders to choose from, and lots of construction happening here right now. I'm in the middle of looking at all of these options and trying to figure out which one to do next! We do have higher vacancy right now due to oversupply, but if you have a brand new place, you will find tenants. Once covid clears up, immigration will increase, and things will get better. It's already sounding like it's going to be a busy spring market. 

Hi @Anna Korishch Welcome to BP's! I'm currently buying multifamily (6+ units) in Edmonton. Whatever market you choose, work on putting together an investor-focused power team in that city, and then they should be able to help you figure out what is the best strategy and type of product to buy for that particular market. I find this chart below interesting, though it is from 2010, and there's no way it is accounting for all the duplexes and 2-unit basement-suited houses in Edmonton (maybe because they aren't considered apartments?).

Either way, it's interesting to compare Edmonton vs. Montreal for buildings with <6 units.

@Danielle Leo and @Anthony Loggia speaking of Montreal, I'm wondering if you can provide your insights into why there are so many small multi-unit buildings in Montreal vs. other cities. Was it just the preferred product to build as the city grew? 

data from 2010

My thoughts are that you need more information before making a decision. Do more due diligence. Is there a realtor you can talk to understand actual value of land and how long it might take to sell? I don't think your friend's hunch that its worth more is enough. Will you be able to rent out those additional trailers? Are there people moving to that town that will need a place to rent? From your description sounds like a poor rental market. I think I would only do it if I had another buyer lined up, and then act like a wholesaler, or do a sandwich closing, if those are still allowed.
When just getting started, I wouldn't rush into anything too quickly. There are PLENTY of deals out there, make sure FOMO isn't driving you.

I recommend reading Secrets of the Canadian Real Estate Cycle by Don Campbell to understand it better. It will give you a lot more confidence on what to do once you understand the various indicators and influencers in a particular market.

I can't comment much on GP, as my expertise is in Edmonton. 

As a new investor, you can start local or invest from a distance. Pros and cons to both. If you do decide to invest out of town,  but stay in Alberta, I would suggest sticking to Alberta's top ten towns* (according to research done by Real Estate Investment Network):

1. Edmonton
2. Calgary
3. Leduc
4. Fort Saskatchewan
5. Lethbridge
6. Okotoks
7. Red Deer
8. Medicine Hat
9. Airdrie
10. Lacombe

*as of March 2020

I don't have example packages for flips/BRRRs. I suggest just doing a one-pager with the info, a picture, and a short bio.

What happens if costs end up being higher than expected? What's GNA? Is GNA doing the PM, or an assigned PM? Who qualifies for the mortgage?  Just a few things others might be wondering too, and that you may want to include in your package.

@Devon Rollison As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Free/cheap advice will likely be poor advice. If I was doing this, I would want to set it up right from the beginning to avoid possible expensive legal and tax consequences later. Spend now or spend later. Just my 2 cents. I'm not going to pretend that I know much about wholesaling or cross-border work at all. I am always learning, as there is always more to know.

It was great meeting everyone yesterday! Those who missed it - hopefully you're able attend if we have a zoom call again. I most enjoyed hearing everyone's skills and specialties... the thing they bring to the table in real estate, or could contribute to a deal. We had experts in negotiation, finding off-market deals, raising capital, multifamily, time, and more!