Canadians Please Respond!!!!!

[happyardy 0]

Hello Canadians,

Which cities according to you guys are more favorable for doing creative deals(CAs, LOs etc) in Canada ? I know that deals can be done in all markets etc but I thought I would post this question just for the heck of it.

I was reading that out of new immigrants to Canada, Toronto gets 47%, Vancouver gets 13%, Montreal 10% and Calgary 5%. These are the top 4. Would that mean the market for starter homes would be really good in Toronto ? Also most of the immigrants would be perfect candidates for T/B side of CAs, LOs etc.

Doug and everyone else around Toronto, are you guys seeing this trend there ? Or is it mere statistics ?

- Ardy

[Doug Pretorius (ON) 9]

Ardy, a very large percentage of the Canadian population is first-generation immigrants so pretty much wherever you go you'll find plenty of them. But I don't think this has much to do with demand for starter homes, low interest rates, 100% mortgages and interest-only mortgages certainly does though!

 

Toronto and Vancouver are also the most expensive markets in the country so if you want to work with starter homes you're talking apartment condos and maybe townhouses on the outskirts.

 

RTO candidates isn't a problem in Canada, there's virtually zero competition anywhere you go. Even in Toronto you can count the number of RTO ads on one hand. But sellers seem to be much harder to come by than in most US markets.

[happyardy 0]

But sellers seem to be much harder to come by than in most US markets.

 

Doug,

Any idea why it is the way it is ? Is it becase of

a)Not many people moving to other cities ?(Greater Toronto Area probably is the biggest job market so people move out less out of there?),

b)Less divorce rates ?

 

And all the other factors leading to motivated sellers. Are those factors on a low in Toronto ?

- Ardy

[Doug Pretorius (ON) 9]

No, there's plenty of movement in and out of Toronto. There is definitely strong immigration into the city (from other parts of the country as well as other parts of the world) but there are also a lot of people moving out because of the cost of housing and increasing crime.

 

* Foreclosures and tax sales seem to be lower in Canada than in the US but I don't track them so I'm not 100% sure.

* One thing that is definitely lower is job transfer, since most large companies in Canada only have 2 or 3 major offices across the country there's much less movement from that source.

* The same goes for the military.

* Everything else like divorces, marriages, deaths etc. are about the same in percentage, but of course the population is 1/10th the size so there are 1/10th as many of all of those.

 

But above all sellers simply are not motivated by what you think they should be motivated by. From what I've heard about the US, if you find someone who is behind on their taxes and payments with 2 weeks until the bank kicks them out on the street and a house that is over-encumbered with massive rehab required to make it habitable, chances are you could get the seller to not only give you their deed but pay you to do it, assuming you wanted such a mess.

 

In Canada a seller in that same situation would say: "I'm not in any rush so if you want my house you're going to have to pay my full asking price in cash."

 

As a result, I have long since given up spending my time and money to find people in those situations. I've found that there is simply no way to know who might be willing to do a creative deal, or any kind of deal. You just have to keep making your offer over and over and hope someone bites.

[happyardy 0]

No, there's plenty of movement in and out of Toronto. There is definitely strong immigration into the city (from other parts of the country as well as other parts of the world) but there are also a lot of people moving out because of the cost of housing and increasing crime.

 

* Foreclosures and tax sales seem to be lower in Canada than in the US but I don't track them so I'm not 100% sure.

* One thing that is definitely lower is job transfer, since most large companies in Canada only have 2 or 3 major offices across the country there's much less movement from that source.

* The same goes for the military.

* Everything else like divorces, marriages, deaths etc. are about the same in percentage, but of course the population is 1/10th the size so there are 1/10th as many of all of those.

 

But above all sellers simply are not motivated by what you think they should be motivated by. From what I've heard about the US, if you find someone who is behind on their taxes and payments with 2 weeks until the bank kicks them out on the street and a house that is over-encumbered with massive rehab required to make it habitable, chances are you could get the seller to not only give you their deed but pay you to do it, assuming you wanted such a mess.

 

In Canada a seller in that same situation would say: "I'm not in any rush so if you want my house you're going to have to pay my full asking price in cash."

 

As a result, I have long since given up spending my time and money to find people in those situations. I've found that there is simply no way to know who might be willing to do a creative deal, or any kind of deal. You just have to keep making your offer over and over and hope someone bites.

 

 

Thanks, Doug.

I got busy at work and hence the delay in replying.

- Ardy