Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!!
I (Erwin) received the below question via email regarding last week’s post:Â My Stocks are up 60% and I’m not happy
Hi ErwinI log in and read your blog regularly. Thank you for the info.Just wondering how you invest your RRSP’s into real estate?Also, are you really investing in physical gold and silver right now?Can you elaborate on this decision?Thank youMike
Firstly, Thank you Mike for your question and thank for reading my posts 🙂
To invest my registered funds including my RRSP’s (and in the near future my TFSA’s), I will transfer cash from my self directed, RRSP registered trading account at my bank to another RRSP registered, self direct account at Olympia Trust which allows me to invest my cash and partner with real estate companies that I have researched (and diligence is key as I know of too many investors who had horrible experiences). There are three different companies I will be investing in in different businesses ranging from 2nd mortgages on principle residences in major centers in Canada, another builds long-term care facilities for Alzheimers patients, another builds subdivisions of houses or mixed use buildings.  This is like the show Dragon’s Den, I’m the one evaluating which real estate business to invest in BUT the dollar amounts are much smaller :D.
If any of you reading this would like to, we can grab a coffee to discuss further. I enjoy nothing more than speaking to ambitious folks and helping people.  Especially with a federal election coming and I’m feeling anxious for myself and all Canadians about how all these election promises being made will be paid for (via our taxes, new taxes, and increased taxes of course and there is nothing I can do about it but look to make more money via the tax advantaged means that we have).
Yes we really are going to invest a little in gold and silver 🙂  Not a lot, to start we’re only buying very little with cash gifts our children have received for some diversification and as a store of value.  Here’s Robert Kiyosaki’s take on investing in gold and silver.
Hope that explains things!
This Mistake Cost These Investors Over $10,000
After checking out a wonderful home for my friends and investor clients we couldn’t help but wonder why it had been on the market for two weeks. It was in great condition, location was A+, my wife wanted to buy the house (and so did I). In this market that heavily favours sellers, we knew we had to act quickly and were prepared to offer. The listing however stated “call listing agent before preparing an offer” and that means the sellers have something to disclose.  I call and leave a message and as we wait for the return call, my imagination starts to list a multitude of possible problems with the house: knob and tube, didn’t find any and the house was built in the wrong era; asbestos, same, wrong era; someone died in the property?  Wasn’t that; UFFI (Urea-formaldehyde foam insulation), a stigmatic insulation thought to cause cancer used in the 70’s, but no UFFI plugs (drilled holes in the brick mortar where the UFFI was
UFFI Plugs
injected); leaky basement, nope, basement was dry after a heavy rain plus several walls had been waterproofed on the outside. Â I’ve been around a while and seen almost everything so I came up with a long list and was probably scaring my client.
What happened is the sellers live next door, they own both properties, they bought one privately and to save money and instead of hiring a real estate lawyer, they hired their father - a lawyer who does NOT practice real estate law. For you veteran investors, you’re cringing and know where I’m going.
When you purchase a property adjacent to a property you own, the land titles will merge if the names of the owners are the same (putting the house in a corporation or spouse’s name or both names is the workaround – anything to make the ownership different). When the sellers went to sell, they learned of their mistake and had to sever the land titles so my clients can purchase the adjacent property.  Guess what the city wants to sever the land…  $10,000. And not just that, the sellers are required to obtain a new survey which is another $2,000+.
To my buyers this makes no difference as the sellers are paying for everything, but don’t let this be you. The lesson is to only use trusted professionals along your investment journey. By saving $1,000 in legal fees, it cost the sellers over $12,000. OUCH!!!
Thank you for reading and Happy Hamilton Real Estate Investing Everyone!
By the way, we need your help! We have a number of investors looking for investment property so if you know anyone looking to sell their property anywhere in Ontario please let us know!
Erwin |Â MrHamilton.ca
