Looking to start in Hamilton

[jamie]

Hello, I am looking to start real estate investing and I'm looking for advice. I'm 23 years old and I'm very handy, I have a trades certificate in ventilation and sheet metal. I currently live in Sudbury, Ontario and I would like to start looking at small 1 or 2 bedroom condos in the Hamilton area. I have $35,000 in cash and i do not want to involve my current equity in my home......How do I proceed? I`ve done allot of reading for the past 8 months and I want to jump into this as soon as possible.



Any post is helpful, Thanks

Jamie.

 

[markl]

Hi Jamie,



Why a 1 - 2 BR condo? For that down payment you could probably get into a 3 BR 1.5 bath town home.



If you want give me a call and we can discuss some possibilities.



647-388-3173



Regards,

 

[invst4profit]

Condominiums generally do not cash flow adequate to justify the investment. Condo fees and special assessments by condo boards generally are unpredictable and expensive. In Ontario those costs are not permitted to be passed along to tenants. Single family homes are also notoriously poor at cash flow.



How do you intend to manage your property from Sudbury, vacancies, leaking toilets, regular inspections, neighbour complaints, condo board complaints, evictions, landlord tenant board hearings etc. Do you know a reliable property management company in Hamilton. Do you know what is required on your part to be able to manage a management company to oversee your property. Do you intend to do your own tenant screening or leave it in the hands of a stranger with no vested interest in your investment.



For your first property I would strongly advise against purchasing a property you can not personally manage. It should be within easy driving distance, less than an hour away, and preferably a multiplex which will lessen your loses in the case of inevitable vacancies. Your first sign of tenant issues will have you regretting you purchased out side of your home base.

 

[jamie]

Thank for the advice. I'll try much harder to find some thing in and around the sudbury area. The vacancies rates here are 3.1%, and an unemployment rate of 7.1, both just over provincial average (that had me a little worried) and population growth is slightly over 1%. How do these numbers look? I'm just not sure on how much the growth in equity will be in the next 5 years.

 

[markl]

You can cash flow TH's in Hamilton. Not great cash flow but they cash flow with property management. As for property management there are a number of good PM's in the area. On the other hand I know of a couple of properties that already have tenants and could be managed from Sudbury if you wished. As for small repair items I have a contractor who does my smaller stuff as well the tenants call him directly and then I speak with him before he does anything.

 

[MrHamilton]

I agree with Greg. Personally, I would only ever buy freehold properties in Hamilton. Condo investors I know dislike dealing with the condo board as they feel their properties are targeted because they're rentals and the condo fees increase several times inflation.



Hamilton does have three property managers who happen to be REIN members and are all dependable, so in Hamilton the challenge is more about finding a good solid investment property as there are quite a few investors here looking to pick up property in the #1 investment town in Ontario.



A good place to start is a place like a REIN meeting to get educated and meet many Hamilton investors. Find the ones who are doing well and duplicate their investment strategy. It's not rocket science, its quite simple actually but this does take some work.



Hope that helps!

Erwin

 

[mflynn]

Hi Jamie. You're right to consider Hamilton. As you probably know, it is the number one city to invest in Canada.

I agree with Erwin, the the condo market is not the best place to invest for many reasons.

Also it is a bit scary to invest in a city that's so far away, but lots of people do it. I am a property investor and property manager in Hamilton. I manage properties for a number of REIN and nonREIN members; all of them from out of town. My clients live as far away as Nova Scotia and Banff.

A couple of things you could consider. I run a mentor program which I would love to tell you more about that would help to answer a lot of your questions.

Also the Hamilton District Apartment Association is running a free event on November 7 specifically for new investors in Hamilton. If. Your schedule permits, you should come down for the day -- we could run a mentor session for the afternoon and then you could take in the seminar in the evening. It would be a great overview for you.

Check out the details of the seminar here

hamiltonapartmentassociation.ca/events/upcoming-events/strategic-real-estate-investing-in-hamilton/

Cheers

Mary