RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE
Buying and Holding: The most common instance of real estate investment, buying and holding involves purchasing a property and renting it out to cover the mortgage costs and potentially additional passive income as well. Putting a larger down payment down will increase your potential passive income. Also, due to the nature of the real estate market, there is a good chance that the value of the property will increase over time, so you can make money both in the short-term and long-term.
Buying and Flipping: Flipping a home is another good way to make money in real estate. Many people buy properties to flip with the intention of doing the work themselves, but it is certainly not a requirement - you can hire contractors and labourers to do some renovations and still walk away with money in your pocket from the project! Recently, the rules surrounding residential property flipping in Canada have changed, but it's not as bad as it's been made to sound. Flipping a home is absolutely still allowed, but if you resell the property within a calendar year from the purchase date, the sale of the property will be fully taxable as business income. If you resell the property after a calendar year from the purchase date, the sale of the property is not taxable as business income. It's definitely worth considering doing renovations, then renting the property out for a year and selling the property afterwards!
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
Commercial Real Estate is, in many ways, similar to residential real estate, just on a bigger scale. It'll take a more significant investment up front, but the ROI can be even bigger. There are many factors to consider before making a significant investment like commercial real estate, but there are also many different resources available to help you with this journey.
Development has become one of Stirling's favourite aspects of real estate. He's worked on many projects in and around Calgary, perhaps most notably the evolution of 33rd Avenue SW in Marda Loop. Whether creating new properties, such as multi-family residential or mixed-use residential/commercial, it's very rewarding to help communities evolve. And it can be financially lucrative too. But there are so many steps involved, so many things to consider. Where should you build? What kind of property should it be? Is there something that exists already that you can redevlop, or are you better out starting from scratch? Is commercial possible, and if so, is it worth building? Will you rent out the spaces, or sell the project? The questions go on and on. Thankfully, Stirling can help you out with some answers. Reach out to the team and allow us to assist you with your real estate development goals!
REITs, or real estate investment trusts, are companies that own and/or fund income-generating real estate across a variety of real estate properties. Most REITs are traded publicly on the stock market, but some are traded privately. There are obviously risks associated with both sides, but despite the lack of liquidity private REITs usually carry, they can offer higher returns. It's a smart way to diversify your investment portfolio, and real estate is historically a safe long-term investment, with big short-term potential.
With the popularity explosion of services like Airbnb or VRBO, people have turned the properties they own into short-term rental properties and found great success with it. Depending on location, price, and a few other factors, buying a property and renting it out short-term can be extremely lucrative. It's also a smart way to justify a vacation property for yourself; if you're not going to use it every day, why not let it make money for you?
