QUOTE (housingrental @ Oct 29 2010, 09:12 AM) So this is similiar to something like bytheowner.com or fsbo but also posted on by realtors and targetting commercial properties?
Do a lot of multi-family properties in Canada get posted on this that don`t get posted on ICX ?
I checked it out once when looking for multi-family properties in Calgary (there is so little and so overpriced). The results were modest. But I did not want to pay the membership fees, so I guess it may not be the total picture.
You may ask why I was so cheap. The answer is that I felt that I paid already enough on real estate membership fees, MLS fees and other realtor fees. Also, I lost my enthusiasm for Calgary multifamily very rapidly. It is an insiders game and it feels a bit like the `Wild West`.
Those who own multi-family have little financial incentive to sell. So, they only sell when they get an offer that is difficult to refuse. Hence a lot of commercial realtors do not much more that soliciting bids for unlisted properties and presenting them to the owners. This is then called `pockett listing`.
The other source is the CLS - the commercial counterpart of the MLS - and what is offered there is a pittance as well. Considering all the unfamiliar rules, higher acquisition costs, higher mortgage rates, environment assesments, building inspections, and the `Wild West` conventions (I don`t think rules are very well followed) of this market, I decided I was too much of a novice to spend a lot of time on it.
My current tactic is to focus on a few communities with low to medium cost condo complexes and buy when prices are attractive. I can buy here single units as cheap if not cheaper than doors in multi-family complexes on the CLS.
I have also looked around in Edmonton and prices appear there a lot more reasonable. However, as Calgarian, it is difficult to manage units in Edmonton unless you have a lot of units (30 to 40) otherwise you may experience
the PM horror stories listed on this forum. So, I have been retrenching and focus only on Calgary.
I definitely feel that this multi-family stuff is for the not-faint-of heart and with a lot of real estate experience under the belt. Maybe start with four-plexes, then several four-plexes close-to-gether and once you`ve have the experience then a careful move into multi-family. For a silver member only intend to diversify my overall investment portfolio this is not a market for me. Obviously I am not Thomas Beyer.