Thanks Thomas. I appreciate the input. I wouldn't have thought to include a bio and picture.

Thanks Thomas. I kind of figured it would be a good way to burn through wads of cash, and I'm definitely not in a position to do that. I've been looking at warehouses and commercial buildings too, but they are all much more expensive than this church. That's the only reason I gave it more than a...

I'm curious if anyone here has any experience converting a church, a school, or other building that is zoned for institutional use to residential/commercial use? I'm not talking about the physical conversion, but the issues related to rezoning, financing, etc. This is total blue-sky thinking...

Hi everyone, I've been watching the market and saving for a down payment for a couple years now and I'm getting to point where I might be ready to start making offers on my first duplex or triplex. When the time comes to visit the bank I want to look as prepared and professional as possible...

I did some Googling and found out there was a fire in one unit about 6 years ago with an estimated $50K in damages. Two tenants also suffered fairly serious injuries and the fire inspector said an upstairs smoke detector was installed near the floor, so the tenants weren't alerted in time to...

I emailed a realtor to ask about utility costs for a duplex where the landlord currently pays all utilities. This same duplex was on the market for several months earlier this year and was then taken off the market. It reappeared on MLS last week for the same asking price as before. The realtor...

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not exactly sure how the hydro works, but there are two separate meters. So I'm thinking the upstairs tenants pays their own and the landlord pays for the main floor, plus the common area in the basement where there is a shared laundry, storage, etc.

Thanks for the quick reply Thomas. I guess I'm getting too hung up on cash flow and need to start looking at the bigger picture. I'll check out that other thread and if anyone else has any comments please let me know. Cheers, Andy

Hi everyone, I've been looking at income properties (mostly duplexes or triplexes, but some single family homes as well) in my hometown in southern Ontario (pop: 70,000). Most of the properties that have been on the market over the last year are priced around $100-150K. At first glance, these...

Thanks very much for the lengthy replies. This gives me lots to think about and it's certainly not a easy as it sounds in some books and blogs ;-)

Hi everyone, I'm still learning about real estate investing and have some questions about refinancing after a renovation. I've heard a lot of people talking about buying an income property that needs repairs, rehabing it to add value, and then refinancing to recover their initial cash...

Is it wrong to ask questions to minimize the risk of drowning?

Thanks for your response. $20 per square foot is an estimate for a "standard cosmetic rehab" as outlined above. So this does not include things like furnaces, roofs, drywall, structural work, etc. Is that for cosmetic work as described above? Are you having the work done by a contractor or are...

No one has any thoughts on this? Any other suggestions for estimating rehab costs?

Thanks! I'll know better next time.