QUOTE (Robax @ Nov 18 2010, 12:55 AM) I`m considering the followings:
1) Purchase a single family home to stay in and rent out the other. It must have a separate entrance for tenant to have more privacy.
2) Purchase a townhouse with 3 or 4 rooms and stay in one of the room. Am not sure if tenants are comfy with that.
3) Any opportunity with a property that come with tenant and a spare room for me to stay in.
4) Any opportunity with JV with cash flow property and a spare room for me to stay in.
Please let me have your thoughts and appreciate any comments/opinions.
Thanks and looking forward.
Congratulation Robax.
I would like to ad my voice to the choir. In fact Adam came closests to my thinking when he asked what down payment you had and how large a morgage you qualified for.
You are obviously good with your money because you lived below your means in a basement for 3? years in order to save a downpayment. The first question you have you ask your self now is, what kind of a property you can afford without having to live from Kraft Dinners.
I assume, that your income is not overly generous and even if you qualify for a certain mortgage level, that does not mean there is much money left for living. The banks will give you credit to the max that THEY feel comfortable with, that may be quite different from what you are comfortable with.
Also, how would you handle vacancy? My daughter for example tried to get a room mate at a property near Calgary`s university. But that appeared to be very dependant on the time of the year. Yes, it was relatively easy to find a room mate in the Summer when everybody was planning to go back to U of C or started to just move in the area. But later in the year, especially during winter it was near impossible and she was sometimes out of a room mate for months.
The reason I mention a room mate, is that it is the easiest way to rent without getting into issues such as legal or illegal suites. So you could buy a large appartment or a small townhouse with a developed basement. You can buy those for anywhere between $120,000 and $300,000 (that is my guess for Edmonton). Then get one or maybe even more room mates. It would be an improvement from the basement lifestyle and a very economic option.
Doing things in small steps rather than making big jumps is less risky. Also, once you`re ready to make your next real estate purchase, you have an affordable property with a large rental market from which to select the right tenant(s).
So I suggest
step #1: Talk to a mortgage broker to help you determine how much money you can spend
step #2: Determine how much YOU want to spend without losing sleep when having a vacancy
step #3: Contact one of the Edmonton Realtors on this site to better define what you are looking for.
step #4: Once you find the right property, act. Don`t feel afraid to write an offer or two; neither feel personally hurt when an offer is rejected. It just means that buyer and seller have different expectations that cannot be brought together.
I suggest a REIN Realtor, because they know better what criteria you want to use and they probably have more patience than a typical residential Realtor. (This is just a generality). You may want to meet several of those Realtors until you find the one you are comfortable with.
This is a bit like `dating`
, but it is very important that you and the Realtor get along and that you don`t feel `pushed` or `rushed` into a deal. On the otherside of the coin, you have to realize that the Realtor has to make a living, so you should be honest with him/her, set out the rules of working together clearly upfront (buyer brokerage contract). And be aware that the Realtor`s time is preciously so don`t use it up unnecessarily (work efficiently - the Realtor can tell you how).
Remember, the seller pays the Realtors (both his and yours) through a commission based on the purchase price. So don`t be afraid to use one.
Hope this helps,
