Hello Everyone:
Most of us are thankful for the low interest rates we are enjoying these days. But those low rates are a bit of a 'double-edged sword'. If we're borrowing money, we dont pay much interest, however if you're buying RRSP's or other investments, you'll know that you're getting around 2% return. Which is why some folks are thinking of investing in Real Estate.
For this purpose, the ideal way to invest is (in my opinion, anyway) to purchase rental property. Buy a reasonably priced house, rent it out for a few years and then sell it, hopefully for a profit. But even if you don't realize a huge profit a few years down the road, the tenants will be paying for the mortgage, and perhaps even put some money into your pocket along the way. Here are some of the 'numbers' you might be looking for:
Lets say you find a house for around $80,000 (NOOO, you WONT find that in S. St. Vital, so please don't even ask..lol). So we need to figure out what your true costs of this home will be. Here are some guides:
Mortgage Interest at 4.5%...(as an example).... $300 per month
Home Taxes. approx. $1200/year........... $100 per month
Home Insurance, approx. $600/year.......... $ 50 per month
So far, your costs of owning this home is approx. $450.00 per month. Keep in mind that although your mortgage payment will be substantially higher than $300.00 per month, since everything ABOVE this amount goes towards paying off YOUR house, it can not be considered a cost (or loss).
You should also budget for repairs and maintenance, as well as perhaps water-utility bills, as many times the rent includes water.
One other factor you need to decide: Will you manage this little enterprise by yourself, or do you want to go thru a Property Management Company? If you only have 1 rental property, you might opt to do it yourself, but there are many benefits to working with a Management Company. Some benefits include:
1) They find and pre-screen possible tenants
2) They handle all payments and enforce late fees, etc etc.
3) Tenants dont call YOU with problems but deal with the Management Company
Some property owners decide that, even if they only own one property, these benefits are well worth the 12-14% of gross rental income that they have to pay. So if YOU decide to go thru a management company, tack on another $100 per month to your expenses.
So we may be up to approx. $600/month to operate this $80,000 home, and any potential rent needs to, of course, cover this. In fact with Winnipeg's rental market in its current state, rental properties are few and far between, so you may find that this is easily attained. So if, for example, you're able to collect $750 per month (plus utilities), you're realizing a profit of $150 per month, or approx. 24% return on your investment.
Please keep in mind that these are very rough calculations, but many investors are finding this to be a better investment choice than RRSP's or bonds.
One other piece of information: With investment properties, most banks require substantially more than 5% down...some are asking as much as 50% down on homes under $80,000 in value, so a little homework will be required.
If you're thinking of investing in real estate, please call me anytime. I have contacts in both the Mortgage Industry as well as reputable Property Management Companies.
Contact me at boknowshomes@gmail.com
Here is my Website
