Anyone here own an apartment building or similar?
 

well? A friend is thinking of buying 2 deplex's and renting them out.. he said he'll harldy haev to work cause he can live off the rent... hmm not too sure bout that

I'm thinking he'll need quite a few more than 2... unless he loves Ramen.

Exactly. Apartment buildings and the like are often profitible because there are so many units in the building, but in a Duplex you will probably be just about even with maintenance and other expenses.

It all depends on how much you pay. You _really_ make money in real estate at the moment of purchase.

:2 cents:

:1orglaugh exactly what I was thinking

hmm I wonder where I can get info on bank seizure'd houses and cars

I own a 8 unit appartement, the revenue generated is not enough to live on.
And there is plenty of work to be done all the time.

In what area.?

I have a bunch. RE is a good investment but duplexes are on the bottom rung. For around the same price he could get a 4-plex with twice the income. He'd also need a lot more than 2 duplexes to live off of.... even if he didn't have a mortgage. Over time, get some buildings with total of 20+ units and you'll be sitting pretty.

how much?

In Lachine, near 32nd ave.
I'm looking into a 100+ units on the West Island, the couple that owns it want to retire soon, just might get it for a real sweet deal.

I have a number of rentals...but with the overhead involved (mortgage payments, property taxes, maintinance etc.) there is not a big payoff until properties are paid for. Having said that RE, in my opinion, is a great long term investment.

Gross in the mid 40k range, It's located in a lower income area.
Average apt. rents for 450$ a month.

most people be lucky just to break even on small rentals,,

but you still have basically assests with minimal out of pocket expense,, unless of course you don't have tenants

I agree that this is a great long term investment. It is what I am looking to get into. Basically if you can even have the rent pay for the expenses, at the end of it all you have a property that someone else paid for, and you can sell. Pretty sweet.

Everybody loves Raymond!!

Hey, I just bought a condo a few streets from there... in the village st-louis.

RE is awesome to preserve capital.. you'll never lose unless your stupid.. but the real money isn't in the rent.. it's the tax benefits and the appreciation on the property when it comes time to sell it.

Montreal is not a good place to be a landlord. The laws here favor the tenant in too many ways.

west island? hmm can I ask how much the building is for?

Nice area, the old golf course use to be there.

In the 7 digit range. :)

i know that i check out toron.ca for the bigger houses on sale in mtl

i help manage a couple of houses in mtl. its not bad when u have good tenants... when u dont it takes a long time to kick them out

what i suggest is that if u are in a sketchy neighborhood with ppl, sign for 1 month contracts instead of 1 year, so if they dont pay a month, u can kick them out right away.

hmm, not as much as I thought:1orglaugh where in the west?

There were only 8 apartment buildings with 50+ units (the maximum was a 70 units) that was sold in Lachine since 2001. The price per unit ranged from $27,000 to $38,000.

There were no transaction of 50+ units in the West-Island (Montreal Ouest) since 2001.

I have 2 buildings, 7 units total. I hate it, I can't deal with stupid people and most renters are just that. If they weren't paid for I would probably sell them in a heartbeat. The cash they bring in each month is nice but I often wonder if it's worth the hassles.

The smartest thing I ever did was by a duplex near a university. The mortgage is about 2K/month and I rent the places out for $2000 and $2500 ($2500 has patio and is a few SqFt bigger). The reason they're so pricy (relative to the mortgage) is because the units are all hardwood floors, and I furnished the place. On top of all that I (:winkwink: ) pay for a DSL line. The tenants are all students from the uni so they love the place and take _DAMN_ good care of it. Haven't had a problem yet. Thank God.

That's ~$2500 in my pocket (err for my wifes shopping habit) per month.

What about Insurance and Taxes...

Alex, are you a real estate broker?

Yes, I have a real estate agent license and I'm also a real estate appraiser...

hmm you have any contacts with bank seizured(?) houses?

there are hardly any bank seizures that i know of, i just follow bad mortgage liens last summer.. boy u get turned down faster than anything in the world!

hmm what happend when you don't pay your taxes or mortgage?
doesn't the bank kick you out?

Good to know... I won't be giving out any more hints about that apt. complex, don't want to get into a bidding war.

But I might have a property going up for sale in Lachine. Located on the waterfront, next to the Marina and canal.

When I deal with an agent, I prefer to pay cash... if you know what I mean.

Yes but there aren't alot of foreclosed properties these days in the Montreal Island. Most of them are sold within the week of being advertised.

hmmm.. anyway I can see what is available?

Good to know because I never accept cash payment. You never know where that money came from, if you know what I mean:)

Sure, tell me what you are looking for and I can send it to you by e-mail if there are any...

houses mostly.. east end.. like St Leo.. St Micheal.. RDP etc..

You can try searching thru MLS listings
http://www.mls.ca/mls/map.asp?gt=Z&g...L=1&T=RR&map=1
But there's nothing much for repo, not like the early 90's

That's why I wanted to know if he had any contacts.... casue like he said, they are sold much to qucikly

There is only one right now in the east end. (In the Rosemont burough). However there is already an offer to purchase (untill May 22) on it.

you wanna icq or email me and let me know when new stuff comes out? with an address? do you bid or is their a fixed price?

he wouldn't be able to live off the income, unless he was charging an outrageous (and i mean really high) price.

with two duplexes, he'd be able to live in one of the units and the rent from the others would/could pay his mortgage.

my step-grandfather owns 4 or 5 buildings (including the one i live in) with approx. 100 units and a few commercial units on the ground floor. he retired at 50 and spends 5 months a year in florida.

cool side story: my girlfriend's parents used to rent a video store from him back when she was a little girl. so my dad's girlfriend and her brother knew my girlfriend 15 years before i knew her or them. her parents went to high school with them. fucked up.

1- You decide how much you want to pay for the house thru an offer of purchase and the owner (the bank) will make you a counter offer.

2- There also public auction held a few time a year by two or three brokerage houses. But they are mostly for multi-dwellings and commercial properties.

Give me your e-mail with what you are looking for along with the price range and I'll will update you (but you must remind me from time to time).

shaun
at
openface.ca

hmmm not too sure about the price range now... some people told me you jsut pay the balance of whatever is owed and some say no you just bid...

You got mail.