A birthday girl needs advice

My minimum cashflow for a sfh is 200/month but I aim for 300 or more. It kinda depends on what your intention is. If you plan to sell within a year or two then maybe little cashflow is acceptable but if you plan to keep for any length of time I'd shoot for a higher cashflow. If you are going to barely break even then don't bother, you never know what could happen with a tenant.

"is it worthwhile to hold on to a property for 4 years if you only break even during the period?"

Absolutely not....

It appears you made the deal and bought it. So as elix says not. The market is showing some more instability. Flip it asap. Get your money back. This way you can cut the management fees and other cost to be incurred. You'll probably be farther ahead. Do ONLY what you have to and bale!

Panama!

Michael R.

are pretty nice for rental properties. Not only the mortgage interest, but the taxes, insurance, property management fees, any expenses associated with the rental or running of it, so don't forget to calculate your 'unseen' profits. The tax benefit has a formula and I forget what it is! But, once I jog my memory, I'll reupdate, or maybe someone else knows.

REMEMBER, owning rental property means you are in business, and therefore it is treated much differently than a primary residence. You get to write off advertising, mileage that you accrue, costs associated with acquiring the property, and the BIG deduction... DEPRECIATION!!!! And, a good CPA will be able to maximize your tax deductions by making sure you are classified as a 'professional real estate investor'.

I don't know anything about Canadian taxes and laws though, so I don't know if the deductions apply in your country. But, so long as they do, you will actually reduce if not eliminate your tax burden. So, if you pay any taxes at all, expect them to be reduced (Check Canadian tax code and a reputable CPA). Don't count it all as a bad thing.

Best advice, BE PICKY about your property manager and make sure she CALLS all the references, supervisors, landlords, does background checks and runs credit. Its EASY to get a bad tenant in, and hard to get them out; but a GOOD tenant is the key to being a successful landlord. And a good rental contract. Since you've already closed on it, DON'T feel bad about it. Its better than taking a loss, and you should get several thousand back a year by NOT having to PAY taxes you would have normally paid. Breaking even isn't necessarily a loss...

And, if you plan to hold LONG TERM, say 10 years, look at any 10 year span in history. Even now, properties are selling higher than they were 10 years ago. Take this experience and enjoy all the tax benefits (which is money you can use for YOU and YOUR INVESTING now instead of paying Uncle Sam) and invest in another more profitable deal, and do all the numbers ahead of time. It is CERTAIN you will SUCCEED!

Madeleine,

You make your profit on a property when you buy it, not when you sell it...

If the numbers don't add up to a profit now, I would walk away..

There will be many opportunities for you to get a deal, you just have to keep looking... initially, you don't want to tie up all your $ in a property that won't cashflow for you...

wishing you great success,

valerie

You are all right, I was able to get out of the deal during the inspection period

pm me if you get involved with orperty again. i have some ways i can help you. btw, orlando may not come back until 2027

pm me if you get involved with orperty again. i have some ways i can help you. btw, orlando may not come back until 2027