Ralph Case's Archives
Question: Sunday, July 25, 2010
We have a traditional 4-bedroom Colonial 2-story home. The master bedroom has a very small bathroom (4x6) and equally petite walk-in closet. We are considering converting one of the adjoining four bedrooms into a master bath/walkin closet, and would like to know if a large bath/closet offsets the loss of the fourth bedroom for resale?
Question: Sunday, July 25, 2010
My wife and I are both 60 and working full time with combined annual income of $130,000. We both are rebuilding our credit due to bankruptcies from divorces. Would we be better to save our money in RRSPs or purchase a home with 5% down? We are looking at a home in Langford area of Victoria for 673,000 with a 2 bdrm suite rented for 1300/mth. We are thinking of buying and renting out the main part of the house as well for 2000/mth and holding for 5 to 10 years.
Question: Wednesday, June 23, 2010
I've come across opinions that think real estate prices will go down. What's your opinion? I'm wondering whether I should wait a bit longer to buy an investment property?
Question: Thursday, July 23, 2009
I currently own a condo (in a sought after area in Vancouver West) which we bought 7 years ago to eventually use as an investment property (assessed at over $350K, remaining mtg $131K). Is it wise to fully leverage the equity in the condo (refinance) to use the equity for a down payment on a house for my family? We plan on using the rental income to cover the refinanced mortgage (35 year amortization period) on the condo. We want to buy a $600K home and our mortgage broker is saying we don't need to have our own down payment as the refinancing of the condo will cover a 35% down payment on the house - where we hope to have a basement suite built. Please advise if this is commonly done and a wise investment long term.
Question: Thursday, December 18, 2008
I have two rental properties which are cash flow positive $800/month. Total mortgages are $73,000 @ 2.99% open variable 5 years. I have just retired and have the money to pay these properties off and increase the cash flow to $1200/month which is part of my retirement income. I do not want to buy another rental property. What is your opinion?
Question: Wednesday, September 10, 2008
I have 2 properties in Prince George. I just watched a program on TV (was aired in February of this year) about the Pine Beetle situation and that people should think about selling their PG properties before house prices start dropping (if they haven't already). Do you think we should sell now? I looked on MLS and there are many properties up for sale. If not, is there an upside to PG? I know they just built a new international runway at the airport.
Question: Thursday, June 19, 2008
If I refinance a revenue property is the gain taxable?
Question: Friday, June 13, 2008
Three years ago we invested in a condo in an up and coming neighbourhood in Vancouver. We are thinking of selling now as the listing prices seemed to have hit a high at roughly 40% more than the original buying price. However, if we sell we are thinking to rent for 1-2 years and wait for the market to cool down. At this point, we are not ready to increase our mortgage amount - therefore, getting back into real estate would lead us to a smaller or the same type of property. Is it completely unheard of to get out of the real estate market and rent for a while?
Question: Wednesday, June 04, 2008
3 years ago my husband and I bought some lower priced townhouses in Prince George as investments. These we locked in with a very good rate over a 7 year period. They have all cash flowed well and their value has also increased approximately 25-35%. I know that lately Prince George has been hit with some difficulties, ie pine beetle, softwood lumber issues and now the fire (and layoffs as a result by Canfor) of the mill. We understand that maybe in the next 4 or 5 years, the economy will start to be challenged here. My dilemma is this: I have been told that cash flow is the most important thing. If the market is challenged in 5 years or so, should we try and ride the tough times out and hope that the economy in PG will recover in 12 or so years (when we hope to retire and thus have these paid for by then) or should we consider selling in a year or two before it gets too tough and put our money elsewhere in real estate? I am struggling with what to do next. I really don't know. Do you have any advice?
Question: Wednesday, June 04, 2008
What are your thoughts on Prince George from an investment perspective? We can rent a place for $1350 or buy the same place for $1408 monthly (all in). Except, we want to be able to get out of that market in a couple of years.