Investing in St. John`s. NF

[jkcomm]

Greetings to all REIN members and forum visitors!

After reading Don`s REIIC (the best book I`ve read in a while - Thanks Don!), my wife and I purchased our first property in St. John`s, Newfoundland.

As rookie investors, we were wondering if anyone (REIN members included) invest in that area as well?

We would like to exchange ideas!

James

 

[JRL]

Hi James:

Do you live in St. John`s? I`m in Calgary and am interested in Maritime properties myself. Lots of offshore oil development and very, very affordable housing.

How difficult was it for you?

 

[jkcomm]

Hi!
To tell the truth, I live on the other side of the country (Vancouver). B)

The whole story began when I finished reading Don`s Real Estate Investing in Canada and started looking for a property using the 10% rule. I contacted a realtor specializing in investments/rentals and he helped me greatly in sourcing properties. During the process, it was tough to "weed" through properties that don`t fit under the criteria and when we did, there were quite a few offers on it.

Long story short, my wife and I kept cool and stuck to the principles of not overpaying for the property. At the end, we were blessed to have secured a property that the both of us liked and it will be managed by a property management company out in St. John`s.

If everything goes well, we are projecting $0 - $100 positive cash flow monthly.

The market is picking up out there for sure!

James

 

[JRL]

Congratulations! I`m actually a Vancouver transplant living in Calgary, I grew up in Tsawwassen.

I`m personally more interested in Nova Scotia as an investment than Newfoundland, but all of the Maritime provinces are intriguing to me for investment purposes.

 

[JeffSmith]

It is true, once a maritimer always a maritimer.

Be it Herring Chokers, Bluenosers, Spud Islanders or Newfies bye. We all have the urge to go back.
I am originally from Moncton, N.B. and also return on occassion for visits. I now live in the Edmonton area and have been blessed with equity gains in my principle residence in the past 3 years that I could only have acheived in 30 years in Moncton.

I have experience in real estate ownership, sales and property management in the maritime provinces and love it dearly to this day. However, I would caution everyone to do their due diligence and base their investments on market fundamentals not emotions. I will probably be buying a property in the maritimes in the future however it will be for personal/retirement reasons, not investment reasons.

 

[jkcomm]

Hi Jeff,

I highly valued your opinion and took it to heart! Again, I am cautious and have done due diligence before I plunged into the purchase. However, I will now be looking at potential locations from various "angles" before proceeding.

Thanks a million Jeff!

James Kwong, CGA

 

[nenos11]

hi james,

I live in st.pierre and planning to do a first investement in canada in st.john`s. Would you be abble to give me the name of the real estate agent that helped you in st.John`s ? What did you think of him? Would you make him part of your team ?
I`m also having a hard time finding a property management conpagny on the net that works for st.John`s newfoundland would you give me the name of the compagny you use, are you satisfied so far ?
This would really help me ! Thanks

Does anyone knows if St.John`s will be a good market for the future, newfoundland just signed a huge oil deal with hebron.

Thanks again

 

[jkcomm]

Hi nenos,
The realtor that I used is by the name of Larry Hann (www.larryhann.com). He is very good and knows the market quite well. The most important point is that he works in your interest and not in the vendor`s.

Bear in mind that inventory level in St. John`s is decreasing by the minute and good deals are hard to come by. You will need to work real hard with the realtor to spot the "ideal" investment. As for property management, you can use Island Property Management (www.ipm.nf.ca). They are the largest property management company in St. John`s and they are excellent.

In general, the St. John`s market will be very promising in the next 3 to 5 years with all the activities in the Hebron deal. Again, I am no expert in the area but my property is generating a small monthly cash flow after all expenses with zero down.

Best of luck with your property hunt!
James