What do your financial capabilities allow? Where is the ppty? And what is the RTO market like where the ppty is? Have you run any trial ads to see what the response rate is? What kind of tenant are you going to get if they know or think they are going to be bounced in three to six months in...

As you point out, Monte, an AFS is a firm contract, and provided the buyer meets all the terms of that contract, your property is sold. You have the right to sue if the buyer defaults. An RTO is nothing more than an Option To Purchase, with the key word be OPTION. The buyer can walk with...

There are other aspects to using or not using a Realtor than the vast majority of people never consider when deciding to list. The number 1 item... TIME. It takes time to write a GOOD ad. It takes time to place and monitor your advertising. It takes time to answer the phone and all the...

Our job is in Edmonton, so I do not have contacts in other cities. We are installing sub-meters on all utilities in this property. There are 8 buildings that need monitoring. The cost of the electrical meters alone is $14+K.

If the property is used, there is no HST paid, therefore, nothing to claim. While I am not in Ontario, I was in NS when HST was introduced. It is the property that warrants the refund, not the use to which it will be put. If you, as an investor, but a new property, you are entitled to the...

Here is another little tidbit of a hint to help in the selection. If you can interview the potential tenant at their existing home, it will give you an idea of what kind of tenant they will make in your property. A slobby tenant in one place will be a slob in the next place. Failing that, see...

I would also recommend talking with a local credit union.

I don`t mean to pour water on your deal, Raj. But, every RTO deal starts out well. It sounds as if yours is a new deal. The horror stories begin to develop months, or even years into the deal. I trust you did all your diligence and that this one closes as planned. MOST DO.

Rick Ledding is a REIN member, I believe. He works with Thompson & Elliott on Broadway. Quite a few RE investors use Rick as their lawyer.

Cap Rate is also calculated before debt service and taxes, or on the NOI, as Thomas points out. Unless we are the actual owner of a property, we do not know the exact operating expenses. Therefore, we have to guess in the dark. AND, just because a seller tells you expenses are $xxx, that does...

I don`t have costs yet, but we are doing the same thing for all utilities for a larger project in Edm. There is a new method for submetering that allows remote monitoring of the meters. We are getting prices. Apparently these meters are good for electricity, gas, and water.

They are also called Lease Options by some.

Joseph and Jim make very good points that I want to add to. There have been numerous RTO horror stories here recently. I have one of my own. I have learned two very valuable lessons. The first is to qualify the TB in the same way the bank would. The TB needs to be able to qualify for the...

One thing to keep in mind is that when you do an AFS in BC, you trigger PTT the day the agreement is registered. If you do an RTO that PTT is delayed until the actual closing. One lawyer who knows a lot about RTOs and AFSs in BC is Rick Ledding. I believe he is a REIN member. He works with...

Do you know how many investors would kill for a $500 per month cash flow from any property. Michael is right. Whether you have a good, great, or indifferent ROI depends on more details than you gave us. Join REIN so that you can determine this for yourself, and what else you can do to improve...

You do not give us an indication of the property`s value, Carrie. As Thomas points out, and AFS is an agreement to buy the property at a future date, or over time. In many ways it is like an option, or RTO, except that it is a firm contract to buy. Any agreement that you and the seller...

It depends on the type and size of the property. For a single family home, up through 5 - 10 units, 10% is most common. If you have a highrise with hundreds of units, you could be as low as 3%.

That is an interesting suggestion, Mark. Thanks for sharing. It proves that for every problem there is a myraid of possible solutions.

Don`t go out a buy a "wide angle" lens thinking the widest you buy is the best. If you go too wide, your pics start to look as if they are fish-eyed. Look at lenses around 28 mm. Someone mentioned free photo editing software to improve your shots. I have and use regularly, PhotoScape. It is a...

That is one of the major pitfalls of RTO. There is no easy answer. Mark Loeffler has two ways around it, you, the investor, carry a VTB, or extend the RTO until values catch up to the sale price. I have a friend who does quite a bit of RTO business. He had one deal that he extended eight...