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More than just rental housing in London A young investor reveals his strategy for quick success in the Ontario town
properties at a satisfying price.” Currently, Miller is primarily employing a buy-and-hold strategy. However, the 24-year-old investor recently purchased a home with the intent of quickly flipping it to gain more capital for further investment. “Obviously at my age, you don’t have a lot of capital, and the banks stop lending you money at a certain point,” he says. “So I’m just starting to bring in joint-venture partners; previously, I’ve done everything on my own.”
“As of right now, you can get into this market fairly cheap and get rental properties at a satisfying price”
The university town of London, Ontario, isn’t just for one-trick investors anymore, according to a new investor in the market whose single-family home investments will one day allow him to quit his day job. “In London, we have great drivers of our economy,” says local investor Kevin Miller. “We have huge, huge hospitals. We have Victoria Hospital here in London that houses one of the largest children’s units in Canada. And then we have the University Hospital,
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St. Joseph, which also employs thousands of doctors, nurses, etc. It’s a huge, huge industry here.” And of course, the town is also home to one of the country’s leading universities. “We also have Western University – obviously the population is on the rise constantly because of the universities and the hospitals,” Miller says. “It’s a great time for investing. And as of right now, you can get into this market fairly cheap and get rental
Investors bowing out of Vancouver market
The average price in Vancouver increased 25.6% year-over-year to $1.1 million in February – and that’s keeping the real investors on the sidelines, according to one veteran investor. “The Vancouver market is just so overheated at this point that anybody who calls themselves a professional investor is sitting on the bench at this point,” said Vancouver-based investor Hans McFarlane. “Basically, any place for sale either in Vancouver or Victoria, if it’s even remotely priced appropriately, you’re looking at multiple offers, sold within a day.”
However, up to this point, Miller says he hasn’t faced any additional challenges due to his age – and he encourages other young investors to take the plunge into real estate. “Getting the initial capital isn’t that difficult as a young investor in this city because you can get in fairly cheap,” he says. “It’s just jumping in and realizing that you’re ready. A lot of people, they see the rental market and they see the money coming in, and they know it’s a good choice. But just jumping in headfirst and getting involved is the biggest [obstacle]. People just hold themselves back because they don’t want to spend the money.”
Investor spotlights overlooked GTA market
One investor’s bold claim may draw others to the overlooked Oshawa market. “Properties within an hour of Toronto under half a million dollars will not exist this time next year – even in Oshawa,” said real estate broker and investor Randy Ramadhin. And it’s Oshawa that Ramadhin is particularly bullish on. “New home building supply is the best option for investors,” he said. “So of the GTA home builders, I believe there’s more affordable new home supplies for detached and semis and towns in Durham than everywhere else in the GTA.”
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22/04/2016 9:18:29 AM