A few other points of consideration, 8 units will qualify as commercial so your looking at fees that include reports (appraisal, engineering, phase 1), as well as mortgage related fees that will likely exceed $20,000 so you will be in an instant negative equity position, and the fees are...

The bottom line is how much of a difference the 20K makes on your actual tax bill, and is it worth your time and effort, and risk of going even higher if you appeal it. I had the same thing happen to me this year as well.

Buying a multi that size in Edmonton will have no cash flow unless you put more than 50% down and manage yourself. Be careful as the down cycle will last at least another year and your rents could fall even farther than they are now. If you manage to get a 75% loan (rare), and you pay less...

Yes that's the answer I was after. I think the key takeaway here is that many owners perhaps did not do enough diligence in choosing their PM, and/or their asset needed too much work that was fine in a low vacancy environment but hit them extra hard when times were tough. As an owner of a...

Meaning what exactly?

Interesting. Perhaps the landscape is changing on how we manage our properties and we have just become too complacent with our property managers and really only notice the flaws during economic tough times. I can certainly understand the anger from PM companies towards these boutique care...

Thanks for the reply Martin, and some very good points here. Yes I would say it would be worth looking at for those that have 50 units or less, in particular with buildings that have 20 suites or less as it's very difficult to hire an onsite manager. From speaking to another PM it has become...

As 2017 wraps up on a brutal year for many landlords who have been hit with falling rent, massive incentives to fill units, rising property tax, insurance, utilities (including Alberta carbon tax increase in January) landlords have had to make some tough choices in order to survive. One trend I...

This is unfortunately what happens when your cash cushion is too skinny going in, and there are many folks in your situation. I would hold on as long as possible as you never want to sell when prices are down, but if you must I would remove the tenant, spruce up the unit, and sell as owner...

Especially on a building so small, if you buy at 80/door and even if you go nuts and spend 20 a door, you should have a nicely renovated project in a mature area still well below build prices. Plus tenants will wear out the newness as well. I know they went loco in Saskatoon with many builds...

Why would you want to build when you could purchase a multi family project at a fraction of the cost?

With mostly service based jobs I question the household income stats. Of note is the amount of multi starts, a classic sign of overbuilding.

Sounds like a good time to sell anything questionable and buy back in a year or two.

Some very good advice above. For me my first home was suited as prior to that I always had roommates so never really noticed, but when I moved out and rented the other space the cash flow was amazing. If your able to move every so often, it's a very quick way to build equity.

Thanks for the informative reply. Not sure where your going with this, but my only point of this thread was to discuss the risks of investing in the Okanagan vs. markets like Edmonton. If it's not the bottom surely it is very close to it with economic news in Alberta mostly improving from what...

Yes in general a tenanted home is more difficult to sell, as is often marketed to investors who are fewer and less mortgage options than homeowners could be one reason the house has not sold. The most likely reason is it is priced too high, so I would find out what the assessed value is and...

I got started in Real estate this way and it introduced me to being a landlord so was worth it for me, and is a very smart way to reduce the costs of home ownership. Why buy an expensive house however, instead of a more modest one where rental income would not be a factor?

People want to live there because they are both fabulous places to live, work and raise a family that's why! I grew up in Saskatchewan and lived in Edmonton for 9 years. I do find your comments somewhat offensive and they offer no useful contribution to this thread.

Fundamentally many people live in Alberta and Saskatchewan because that's where the jobs are. Fundamentally the value of a home is directly tied to what the average person can afford to buy. The affordability metric is horrible and I honestly don't know how most moving there are able to afford...

It blows my mind that people will throw buckets of cash at already superheated markets. Any investor that invests based on fundamentals will see that the perfect storm to dive in right now is in Alberta or Saskatchewan, where it is a no-brainer. Economies improving, the oil patch recovering...