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$24,000 FREE from the City of Edmonton

seanverret

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Hey everyone,

I`ve recently been interviewed by Avenue Magazine and Canadian Real Estate Magazine regarding the Cornerstones Secondary Suite Grant Program in Edmonton. We were one of the first through the program and last fall we cashed in on a free $24,000 from the city of Edmonton!!

Russell was supposed to be doing a phone interview with me but hasn`t gotten in touch with me lately so I figured I`d start a topic on here to let people know more about the program and how it was very successful.

If you are interested in hearing more, please reply.

Cheers
Sean
 

rosecorp

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Sep 27, 2007
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That would be great.


QUOTE (seanverret @ Feb 5 2010, 09:20 AM) Hey everyone,

I`ve recently been interviewed by Avenue Magazine and Canadian Real Estate Magazine regarding the Cornerstones Secondary Suite Grant Program in Edmonton. We were one of the first through the program and last fall we cashed in on a free $24,000 from the city of Edmonton!!

Russell was supposed to be doing a phone interview with me but hasn`t gotten in touch with me lately so I figured I`d start a topic on here to let people know more about the program and how it was very successful.

If you are interested in hearing more, please reply.

Cheers
Sean
 

powerhouse

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Oct 15, 2007
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Hello Sean,

Tell us more about the program. What type of house is your suite located in (duplex, detached, etc)? How many & what type of hoops did you have to jump through to make it legal?

Larry
 

GSI

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Aug 30, 2007
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QUOTE (seanverret @ Feb 5 2010, 09:20 AM) Hey everyone,

I`ve recently been interviewed by Avenue Magazine and Canadian Real Estate Magazine regarding the Cornerstones Secondary Suite Grant Program in Edmonton. We were one of the first through the program and last fall we cashed in on a free $24,000 from the city of Edmonton!!

Russell was supposed to be doing a phone interview with me but hasn`t gotten in touch with me lately so I figured I`d start a topic on here to let people know more about the program and how it was very successful.

If you are interested in hearing more, please reply.

Cheers
Sean

Hello Sean,

My comment refers to the Edmonton Secondary Suite program named `Cornerstones`.

My experience was that with no ifs, ands or buts we had to reside in the property during all renovations for at least 6 months and then had to rent it out for a `moderate` amount of rent for 5 years. If you break those rules you have to pay back the `grant` at a pro-rated fee. I explored this route in September 2009. Apparently it had changed slightly and become tighter than the previous plan they had.

It seems like a good program if you are able to live in the property and potentially add a suite or turnaround an illigal one. The shortsightedness of the program is that it (technically) cancels out investors as the home is supposed to be a primary residence.

My discussion with the city was that I could provide 10-20-50+ converted, legal suites as an investor and have a greater impact than a homeowner who is limited to one. However, my argument fell on deaf ears.

Good potential, but I was disappointed that no matter which way we tried to work it we couldn`t.

Perhaps in the future we will try this on a residence if the program still exists.

Here is a quote from their site: "Homeowners can get help building secondary suites through the Secondary Suites Grant Program. The program also provides funding to homeowners who have existing, illegal secondary suites to renovate the suites to meet fire and building codes, provided their properties are able to meet zoning regulations. In exchange for funding, homeowners agree to rent the suite to modest income tenants at 85 per cent of the median market rent for five years."

Thanks,
 

ahenry009

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QUOTE (seanverret @ Feb 5 2010, 09:20 AM) Hey thanks for sharing!!! what is this free money about...

Hey everyone,

I`ve recently been interviewed by Avenue Magazine and Canadian Real Estate Magazine regarding the Cornerstones Secondary Suite Grant Program in Edmonton. We were one of the first through the program and last fall we cashed in on a free $24,000 from the city of Edmonton!!

Russell was supposed to be doing a phone interview with me but hasn`t gotten in touch with me lately so I figured I`d start a topic on here to let people know more about the program and how it was very successful.

If you are interested in hearing more, please reply.

Cheers
Sean
 

seanverret

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Messages
298
QUOTE (powerhouse @ Feb 5 2010, 01:46 PM) Tell us more about the program. What type of house is your suite located in (duplex, detached, etc)? How many & what type of hoops did you have to jump through to make it legal?

Hi Larry,

Our house is a Single Family Home that had an existing suite and we made it fully legal by using the Cornerstone`s Secondary Suite Program with the city of Edmonton. More answers coming below.

Sean
 

seanverret

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QUOTE (GSI @ Feb 5 2010, 03:01 PM)
My comment refers to the Edmonton Secondary Suite program named
My experience was that with no ifs, ands or buts we had to reside in the property during all renovations for at least 6 months and then had to rent it out for a 'moderate' amount of rent for 5 years. If you break those rules you have to pay back the 'grant' at a pro-rated fee. I explored this route in September 2009. Apparently it had changed slightly and become tighter than the previous plan they had.



It seems like a good program if you are able to live in the property and potentially add a suite or turnaround an illegal one. The shortsightedness of the program is that it (technically) cancels out investors as the home is supposed to be a primary residence.



My discussion with the city was that I could provide 10-20-50+ converted, legal suites as an investor and have a greater impact than a homeowner who is limited to one. However, my argument fell on deaf ears.



Good potential, but I was disappointed that no matter which way we tried to work it we couldn't.



Perhaps in the future we will try this on a residence if the program still exists.



Here is a quote from their site: "Homeowners can get help building secondary suites through the Secondary Suites Grant Program. The program also provides funding to homeowners who have existing, illegal secondary suites to renovate the suites to meet fire and building codes, provided their properties are able to meet zoning regulations. In exchange for funding, homeowners agree to rent the suite to modest income tenants at 85 per cent of the median market rent for five years."


You are correct, back at one point last year they had changed the program for ONLY homeowners who were going to update/create the suite in their own home. Due to several "fights" with the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues this was the end result. However, since then the city has lightened up because of frustration by people like yourself.



Now as long as the house you own or are going to buy has some sort of existing suite you can qualify for the funding. The only way you cannot is if you are developing a BRAND NEW suite where nothing existed before.



This is a major change and has not been publicized.



I will post some more information shortly.



Sean
 

seanverret

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Also, the rent limitations have been limited, you can charge anything you want, thus the ONLY limitation is that you rent to lower income individuals.

Sean
 

Sherilynn

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Oct 22, 2007
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We also received a $14,000 Cornerstones Grant for a suite upgraded in February of 2009.
But "lower income" does not necessarily mean lower quality. Let me explain:

Any tenants moving into
a grant-funded suite must earn less than the median income (as determined by the CMHC). So if you have two tenants they must make less than $41,800 combined.

But they need only be below this level when they move in. So the tenants could be University students graduating in one month. Our tenants were two brothers: one earning $34,000 and one student making next to nothing. Two months later he graduated and was earning $42,000.

Furthermore, any tenants you currently have cannot be removed just because you go through the Cornerstones program. So you could fill a vacant suite with a tenant earning $100,000, as long as he moves in to the suite before you apply for the grant.

And there are no restrictions on the tenants in the main suite. The income caps only apply to the secondary suite.

Another important note: this program should continue through 2010, but it will not continue forever.

Regards,
Sherilynn
 

seanverret

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Hi Sherilynn,

We had a situation very much like you described occur as well. Our tenants, when they first were our tenants, were NAIT students, and now they both have full time jobs making more than the $41,800.

Congratulations on your $14,000!

And yes, they are reviewing the merits of the program because not enough people have taken advantage of it... So the time is now to act.

Sean
 
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