We are a gay couple (late 30's) living in the small town of Biggar, Sk (2500 pop.) 45 minutes west of Saskatoon. We moved here from Calgary because of cheap rent/housing cost while making a good living wage 5 1/2 years ago. With a little luck and hard work we purchased our own home with an empty neighbouring lot (our lots give us 95x140 ft). The house was built in 1912 and cost below 125k. Now we are looking at buying a rental property in either our location (or perhaps Saskatoon) or maybe where would like to retire (Nanaimo area).
When we moved here the economy was hot (2011) it took us 5 months to find a rental property before moving (all I found was bachelor pad at 450$ a month till I could find a house). Eventually we rented an old shabby 1 1/2 storey house for 800$/mo. Surprisingly after the downturn in oil and potash the vacancy rates did not rise and neither did rental accommodations. The are many homes that come up for sale for cheap as elderly residents move to care homes or die. Family members live elsewhere or out of province and generally just sell the house for cheap to get rid of it. Some do need updating but most seem structurally sound and seem to have a potential. Some of these homes go for 40-100k for 800-1200 square ft. We would like to buy a rental home here by year end or our retirement home on Vancouver Island within 2 years time.
Our aim would be to build a portfolio of homes here or in the Saskatoon area. Are we wise to do so? Or should we just try to buy on Vancouver Island and let somebody else pay down the mortgage for us? My research indicates we are in a winter/spring season cycle for real estate in this area(yes I've read Don's books!) but a lot depends on Saskatoon growing and shutting out blue collar workers out of that market. The flip side would be to lay out more money and become landlords 2 provinces over.
Looking for some insight!
When we moved here the economy was hot (2011) it took us 5 months to find a rental property before moving (all I found was bachelor pad at 450$ a month till I could find a house). Eventually we rented an old shabby 1 1/2 storey house for 800$/mo. Surprisingly after the downturn in oil and potash the vacancy rates did not rise and neither did rental accommodations. The are many homes that come up for sale for cheap as elderly residents move to care homes or die. Family members live elsewhere or out of province and generally just sell the house for cheap to get rid of it. Some do need updating but most seem structurally sound and seem to have a potential. Some of these homes go for 40-100k for 800-1200 square ft. We would like to buy a rental home here by year end or our retirement home on Vancouver Island within 2 years time.
Our aim would be to build a portfolio of homes here or in the Saskatoon area. Are we wise to do so? Or should we just try to buy on Vancouver Island and let somebody else pay down the mortgage for us? My research indicates we are in a winter/spring season cycle for real estate in this area(yes I've read Don's books!) but a lot depends on Saskatoon growing and shutting out blue collar workers out of that market. The flip side would be to lay out more money and become landlords 2 provinces over.
Looking for some insight!