I am in the process of buying a townhouse in London, Ontario and need to find a property inspector. Can anyone recommend a local inspector there? (I did check the referral section in the members resource area of myREINspace, but it only has Alberta and Toronto.) Thanks!

Have a look through my blog with particular focus on the "tenant" category and you can key word search on `what can go wrong`. I have a fair amount of detail on that as well as on how we structure things. Feel free to send me an e-mail if you would like me to review the structure that you come...

Don Campbell did a great presentation last night in which he covers many potential pitfalls of investing in "Tropical Real Estate". All REIN members should read the handout material over a few times and pay heed to what he said. Some really important aspects were presented.

Brad`s advice is spot on - south of Main is important and so is east of Sherman. If you are looking for other properties in that area, I have a fully tenanted 4 plex for sale. As for student rentals, always go for the 12 month leases, with parents` signatures.

QUOTE (Torg @ Jan 30 2008, 12:48 PM) I am also looking at Arizona but will most likely wait another 12 months as I believe the market will drop some more. I have never purchased anything in the US. Do you have to go through a US bank and get a US mortage? Is the qualification process similar to...

I thought about all of those options before I bought my house in Arizona. Then I decided that doing something was better than over analyzing. So I jumped in. Trying to time the bottoms or tops of markets is never an easy thing. I prefer not to use that as a reason for delay.

You will not regret your decision to join REIN. There is no better organization for Canadian real estate investors. It is an important and wise first step. Wishing you great success!!

Like Ed, I don`t have enough info on your background and am not in a good position to give specific advice. You do, however, seem somewhat concerned about the added costs of property management. I guess your assumption is that if you could do it yourself, then it would be "free"? If so, you...

QUOTE (Varsity @ Mar 1 2008, 09:50 PM) Having realised that my insane career leaves me little or no time to manage my current properties, and given that I`ve resolved to purchase a 4-6 unit block soon and that I have just about used up any existing goodwill from my friends and family when I am...

I love real estate investing and I love traveling. As soon as I can lose the "day job" I plan to do much more of both. For now, I look for ways to combine the two eg. [list type=decimal]"traveled" to Arizona in December and "invested" in a property there;arranged a real estate investment...

Carla`s idea is a good one. As another option, consider Hugh Barclay. Hugh has been our helpful agent on 9 of our last 10 deals. He understands real estate investors` needs. And he has access to K/W, Cambridge, and Brampton - all on the REIN Top 10 list. You can find Hugh at...

Caution: before you buy a rooming house, ask your insurance agent about getting insurance on it. Don`t be surprised if this becomes a show stopper!

As I type this from my new winter home in Arizona (closed 4 days ago), I feel the need to express my thanks to Don, Russell and the REIN team for their huge part in my real estate investing success. With their support and the training/mentoring they have provided, my wife and I are a giant step...

QUOTE (tbarcier @ Feb 18 2008, 08:00 PM) TY! Im pretty excited to go to my 1st workshop and then off to Quickstart in April woo! ... and by the time you have been to the workshop and Quickstart, you will no longer be concerned about the REIN costs. I have been investing for a few years now and...

The general rule in Hamilton is: stay east of Sherman, stay south of Main. You can get amazing numbers (monthly cashflow) if you dare to head north or west of Sherman and Main. But you will lose on poor quality of tenants, renovations, and lower appreciation. When you look at the numbers, it...

QUOTE (EdRenkema @ Feb 3 2008, 04:01 PM) From my understanding of your post I can take my RSP funds, maintain their status w/in my self directed plan and use that to invest in a lease to own property. If that is correct I may be in a position to set something up, please contact me to confirm...

The most important consideration for you is to know that any RRSP investment you make has to be in an arm`s length deal. So you cannot buy properties for yourself using money kept within your RRSP. And arms length also excludes family members (by blood or by marriage). I have some other basic...

Can`t help you with the `angry wife on vacation` issue other than to say: "been there, done that, got the scars". I can tell you that we have a JV partner in England who has done three deals with us and we have had absolutely no issues so far from legal (same JV agreement) or money...

My investment partner, Thomas Wong, lives in Brampton and has plenty of properties there. I am sure he can help. Send him an e-mail to [email protected] and he will let you know if he has something suitable.