Acquiring Real Estate Strategies

[UTCVenturesLtd]

I have owned several principle residences over the years and live in Calgary. I was remarried in Oct of 2004 and with all of our 2 sets of furniture, we purchased a second home in the Crowsnest Pass in April, 2005. I used the line of credit on my principle residence to buy it and had it paid off within 18 months. It was a weekender home for about a year and a half until my wife and i ended up working 7 days a week. My stepdaughter lives there now, paying a reduced rent as she does some ongoing remodelling for me. The prices there rose dramatically and i looked into Saskatchewan for the next house as property there was just starting to take off. I found a house nearly 2000 sq ft with 5 bedrooms and a den for very cheap. I made a deal with my inlaws to just pay the interest on the line of credit as i was looking for the appreciation of the house and to help them out being pensioners and wanting to move from Alberta back to where they grew up. It is now an awesome bed and breakfast 15 mins to Outlook and 15 mins to L. Diefenbaker. I also bought a lake lot at Hitchcock Bay and have a 3rd interest with two other guys (one a renovator/builder) on a second lot, which is almost completed now with our new cabin to "flip". My cabin gets built next summer along with the other two guys. All of the lake lot project ventures are currently paid up and i am saving up as fast as i can for next summer to pay off the Sask house and the new cabin which i will be using my vacation time to go out there and help build it as well. I was told that i should roll the rental properties into a corporation so i went to see a lawyer and formed one. I am currently looking for a good accountant or help in lining up these ducks. Given these holdings and current situation, can anyone tell where to go from here in their opinion. I have considered selling off the Crowsnest Pass house, taking the profits to further invest, but would that be capital gains or taxed as income? Since i work 7 days a week saving up for the real estate investments, the last thing i need is to get taxed to pieces along with my extra income with all the overtime that i do.
I am looking at Calgary foreclosures fix and flips for this winter/early spring with my reno partner and to do joint ventures with small starting out investors who don`t want to put their life savings on the line in getting started. We would like to build a great team of like minded investors to work with.
After the cabin projects are completed by the end of 2008, my reno partner and i would like to form a U.S. corporation and accumulate southern U.S. properties with other jvs as well. He is currently in Las Vegas scouting out property with a Canadian realtor down there. We could be our own best clients and salespeople to help the corporations grow. We could form corporations in different states holding property in key places. I think getting involved in something great for snowbirds, vacationers etc would be an excellent area to tackle. There are many great real estate deals in the U.S. in great locations which will likely be around for the next few years plus the exchange rate lets us invest with a bonus as well.
Look forward to meeting new potential JV investors and to hear what others would advise or add to what i have here. As you can see, both myself and my reno partner have an endless amount of energy and enjoy moving ahead full steam. We lack in not having a good accountant to see that we make the most of our efforts and hopefully we can rectify that problem very soon as we move into working with JVs who are go getters and want to run with us.
My nephew in Winnipeg is in the middle of the "Joint Venture" training program. Hoping to have him and his wife on the team as well.
Thank you.
Dean
ve6eee@yahoo.com

 

[RedlineBrett]

QUOTE (UTCVenturesLtd @ Jan 10 2008, 12:32 PM) I have owned several principle residences over the years and live in Calgary. I was remarried in Oct of 2004 and with all of our 2 sets of furniture, we purchased a second home in the Crowsnest Pass in April, 2005. I used the line of credit on my principle residence to buy it and had it paid off within 18 months. It was a weekender home for about a year and a half until my wife and i ended up working 7 days a week. My stepdaughter lives there now, paying a reduced rent as she does some ongoing remodelling for me. The prices there rose dramatically and i looked into Saskatchewan for the next house as property there was just starting to take off. I found a house nearly 2000 sq ft with 5 bedrooms and a den for very cheap. I made a deal with my inlaws to just pay the interest on the line of credit as i was looking for the appreciation of the house and to help them out being pensioners and wanting to move from Alberta back to where they grew up. It is now an awesome bed and breakfast 15 mins to Outlook and 15 mins to L. Diefenbaker. I also bought a lake lot at Hitchcock Bay and have a 3rd interest with two other guys (one a renovator/builder) on a second lot, which is almost completed now with our new cabin to "flip". My cabin gets built next summer along with the other two guys. All of the lake lot project ventures are currently paid up and i am saving up as fast as i can for next summer to pay off the Sask house and the new cabin which i will be using my vacation time to go out there and help build it as well. I was told that i should roll the rental properties into a corporation so i went to see a lawyer and formed one. I am currently looking for a good accountant or help in lining up these ducks. Given these holdings and current situation, can anyone tell where to go from here in their opinion. I have considered selling off the Crowsnest Pass house, taking the profits to further invest, but would that be capital gains or taxed as income? Since i work 7 days a week saving up for the real estate investments, the last thing i need is to get taxed to pieces along with my extra income with all the overtime that i do.
I am looking at Calgary foreclosures fix and flips for this winter/early spring with my reno partner and to do joint ventures with small starting out investors who don`t want to put their life savings on the line in getting started. We would like to build a great team of like minded investors to work with.
After the cabin projects are completed by the end of 2008, my reno partner and i would like to form a U.S. corporation and accumulate southern U.S. properties with other jvs as well. He is currently in Las Vegas scouting out property with a Canadian realtor down there. We could be our own best clients and salespeople to help the corporations grow. We could form corporations in different states holding property in key places. I think getting involved in something great for snowbirds, vacationers etc would be an excellent area to tackle. There are many great real estate deals in the U.S. in great locations which will likely be around for the next few years plus the exchange rate lets us invest with a bonus as well.
Look forward to meeting new potential JV investors and to hear what others would advise or add to what i have here. As you can see, both myself and my reno partner have an endless amount of energy and enjoy moving ahead full steam. We lack in not having a good accountant to see that we make the most of our efforts and hopefully we can rectify that problem very soon as we move into working with JVs who are go getters and want to run with us.
My nephew in Winnipeg is in the middle of the "Joint Venture" training program. Hoping to have him and his wife on the team as well.
Thank you.
Dean
ve6eee@yahoo.com

Dean,

REIN is full of investors with different goals for their investment businesses. If you haven`t joined I think you should consider it! The members-only section is a lot more `off the cuff` and people are quicker to invest their time by giving advice to a member as opposed to a transient user just looking for a quick tip. The monthly meetings and networking sessions (like this saturday) are great to rub shoulders with other real estate people. Given your background and your future plans I think you`d get a lot from membership. Feel free to send me a personal message (PM) if you`d like to discuss it a bit further.

Good luck!

 

[UTCVenturesLtd]

QUOTE (RedlineBrett @ Jan 10 2008, 02:08 PM) Dean,

REIN is full of investors with different goals for their investment businesses. If you haven`t joined I think you should consider it! The members-only section is a lot more `off the cuff` and people are quicker to invest their time by giving advice to a member as opposed to a transient user just looking for a quick tip. The monthly meetings and networking sessions (like this saturday) are great to rub shoulders with other real estate people. Given your background and your future plans I think you`d get a lot from membership. Feel free to send me a personal message (PM) if you`d like to discuss it a bit further.

Good luck!


There have been a good number of viewers to my post now and no other responses to either post that i have made. It appears that the users here are transient ones in search of a tip as you suggest and that the best way to move forward will be by being a member and networking with active investors who like me, take action. The key for me at the moment is to find a great accountant to work with in order to use the new corporation. My other choice is to sell the principle residence, buy and fix up another place, live in it for a year and sell and just keep repeating that system which is limited and a paperwork nightmare when you keep relocating but a way to build up equity. It is a good way for someone to start their real estate investments until they are ready to own 2 or more properties. Another way instead of looking for JVs is to be a JV with someone else`s projects. I have been in contact with a few of those offers which would be a learning experience as well. I always say that if you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there!
Thank you for your response.
Dean
ve6eee@yahoo.com

 

[timk519]

QUOTE (UTCVenturesLtd @ Jan 11 2008, 02:10 PM) There have been a good number of viewers to my post now and no other responses to either post that i have made. It appears that the users here are transient ones in search of a tip as you suggest and that the best way to move forward will be by being a member and networking with active investors who like me, take action. Or they had hard time figuring out what your original post was about. For me it was a rather hard read.

 

[RebeccaBryan]

Yes Dean,

By the explaination of the decisions you`ve made in your past investments, you would learn what are the smart moves you`ve made and what are the questionable.
If you join REIN it takes the guessing out of the investing. You would benefit greatly being a REIN member as you are an action taker and that`s the most important quality you need to have in order to benefit from the education REIN has to offer.

 

[UTCVenturesLtd]

Maybe my little "book" is a bit hard to digest...

Much easier explaining things in person when i can draw pictures.

Basically, i have done everything to date outside of using a corporation. Now i have a corporation shell sitting on my desk. I need an accountant that i have not been able to find in order to streamline the holdings and to put the personal and business life together in such a way as to pay the minimal tax and take full advantage of moving forward. To date, i have had one accountant give me totally bad and untrue information about CRA, several not reply, one not return my call, some passed me to others who never responded, one who wanted someone with a higher amount of assets to consider working with. Another said their fee was $650 hr. And one accountant that i know personally would not take me and said to just find someone else in the office. I think for a starter investor, you need a starter accountant who has the resources at the office where they work out of. My wife told me to take an accounting course.

Maybe it is like a full service stock broker, have a large account and you get the service and the small starter investor never hears anything from them? (Guess that is why i manage my own stock trading accounts)

I have two real estate lawyers in Calgary and a 3rd in Saskatchewan. No problem there finding them and no complaints.
I have a real estate course that i purchased. Accounting and legal are to be left to those in that field it says. Disclaimer... so it does not cover specific answers.
Some questions for example:
1. Suppose i want to sell my weekender home that i do not use anymore
A. Capital Gains or B. Income?
* Do i roll it into a corporation first, then sell or just have to sell it as personal?
* What about selling it using a contract where i get paid so much each year as to reduce taxes in each year for say the next 5yrs as i recieve only so much each year?
2. I want to do some house flipping.
A. Capital Gains or B. Income?

My right now problem in a nutshell is the lack of an accountant who has a passion for real estate and to do some mentoring and watch their client grow.

I am maxed out currently having to work 7 days a week with one week of vacation time til next Oct. If all stays on budget, i will be up to maximum cash flow again and REIN looks like a good possibility since i want to head down the joint ventures road in the future working as a team with others. I will certainly be working with the new to real estate investors in the future. I don`t mind investing in my own education along the way.

Thanks for the responses.. B)
Dean
ve6eee@yahoo.com