Buying a House, a Rental or Flipping Houses

Today we have Meghan Chomut on the show who is a financial planner specializing in real estate for both your primary residence and rental properties. She has also personally done property flipping before so I thought it would be great to have her on the show to teach us some lessons and best practices that we can apply to both our primary residence (whether we are an existing or aspiring homeowner), as well as learn more about what to consider and look out for when deciding to invest in a rental property, or flip houses.

I’m a former rental property owner and former landlord as well so we both share some of our lessons learned and give a realistic preview of real estate investing so that you can better decide whether it’s the right fit for you.

Resources from the Episode:

Top Tools and Resources for Financial Independence (for Canadians): All the top tools and sites that I've personally used to help us achieve financial independence in our early 30s. They're also what we use now to optimize and manage our finances, and ensure that we're paying the lowest fees while getting solid returns on our investments. 

Have a mortgage question? Looking for the top mortgages in Canada? Get a free call with our mortgage expert Sean Cooper (you'll also get a free guide on what to look out for when choosing a mortgage).

Canada's Top ETFs Guide & Top High-Interest Savings Account: In the guide, I go over what I personally invest in, why I invest in it. The investments that I talk about ​are literally where we have almost our entire net worth (apart from our house), and is what we are primarily living off right now in our early retirement. At the very least you'll learn about some great ETFs to consider for your portfolio, and if you are new to ETFs, it'll give you a nice list of some top ETFs to consider from the thousands that are out there. 

The guide available for free to any listeners that that use my special link to sign up for a free savings account with the bank that I personally use, EQ bank. 

The reason that I personally use EQ bank, is that they have one of the highest interest savings rates in Canada (they are currently offering 2.3% which is more than double what the major banks are offering).

It’s also free to sign up and keep an account with them, so you’re not paying a monthly fee like you do with many of the other banks out there. You also get unlimited transactions, unlimited Interac e-transfers, and can take out your money at any time if you need it, and there are no minimum balances.

Because of those reasons, I’ve been with them ever since they launched in Canada years ago, and it’s where I keep my entire emergency fund and spending money. 

To get the free high-interest account and the free guide on the top ETFs in Canada, just go to buildwealthcanada.ca/eq, open the free account, and once you’re done, forward any email that you get from EQ to [e-mail] and I’ll send you the full comprehensive guide for free. 

Meghan Chomut's Site: A big thanks to Meghan for coming on the show. You can reach out to her and learn more about her over at www.meghanchomut.com.

Questions Covered:

• When deciding to purchase a property whether for personal use or as an investment property, what components should we be factoring in that are critical when crunching the numbers?
  
  
• How should we do be doing the math on the mortgage amount to take? (instead of taking the top amount our mortgage specialist or bank says that we can afford)

• What are things that Canadians often forget to calculate? (on both home and investments properties that they are considering)

• When saving for a downpayment, where do you suggest Canadians keep that money (ex. High-interest savings account, GIC, and ETF, etc.)

• You’ve actually flipped a house before. Can you tell us about that experience, what did you learn, and what are the pros and cons of this approach to making money?

• What are the top mistakes Canadians make when it comes to flipping homes?

• To help reduce the chance of unexpected surprises when purchasing a home or investment property, what type of due diligence do you recommend Canadians do?
  
  
• How is the due diligence required different between a rental property vs a home that you actually live in?
  
  
• Many Canadians view the home that they live in as an investment. Is this the right way to think about it?

• What are your thoughts between going with a fixed vs variable mortgage and what analysis do you do to determine the right one?