Investors, what are some great buys now?

[MinusTheBear]

I'm using the current situation (hopefully) to my advantage by buying a house now. The current market in the Hamilton, Ontario area has dropped by about 10%, and it just so happens that I'm looking at the moment. The plan is to buy a place with excellent property, a nice house, but maybe a dated interior.

I've done a few basement reno's so plan to do a small amount of work to fix a place up over at least 5 years (not planning on buying and flipping). I just don't want to buy a place that needs to be gutted...

Methinks if I can do it right, I can increase the value enough to take a step up when moving to a larger home in the future.

What part part of Hamilton are you looking at. I have always loved the houses in the Dundas area. Buying up property around McMaster university is always a good investment if you have the capital.

 

[poutanen]

If you have good credit and can afford to make a real downpayment in order to secure a lower rate mortgage, then buying a house is not a bad way to spend your money. MY only advice on real estate to people is that you shouldn't buy just for the sake of buying... if renting makes more sense financially, then you're better off renting and finding another way to invest your money. With taxes and legal fees, most residential real estate investments do not turn large profits. One more thing to keep in mind- if you're looking to take out home equity loans to pay for renovations you need to think again... banks have been cutting off lines of credit to homeowners with little notice. If you're planning on doing renovation, I'd make sure that you can pay for most of it on your own.

Thanks for the advice!

Well I got pre-approved at a rate of 4.15% (variable, convertible) that's not an intro rate, it's a prime -0.6% 5 yr term mortgage that I can convert at any time into a prime +0.6% (5.35%) fixed rate.

I can pay for the reno stuff myself, and would be doing 90% of the work myself. I don't want a place that needs more than drywall, some fixtures, maybe a little landscaping. I work for a large civil construction company so I get all the tools, rentals I want for free, and a pretty decent discount on supplies. Being handy the labour is 'free'... although it's not free, I would essentially be earning tax free money while working on the place.

I've been renting for a while, and it will cost me about 40-50% more to buy a place, so I'm looking for a place with an in-law suite that I could legalize into a basement apartment. Or I'd like to find a duplex... there's also a university and a college in my town, so I could rent a room to a student to help off-set the costs. Maybe a hot student... some sorta nursing chick..... YEAH!

 

[poutanen]

What part part of Hamilton are you looking at. I have always loved the houses in the Dundas area. Buying up property around McMaster university is always a good investment if you have the capital.

Basically anything on the outskirts. My first choice would be waterdown/freelton/dundas but it looks like I'm having better luck in Stoney Creek. There are some real nice places that back onto the escarpment in the $220-260k range.

I thought about buying near Mohawk, but most of the places in my price range look like they're in a grungy area.

Do you live near Hamilton?

 

[MinusTheBear]

Don't keep your money in stocks right now. Stick to commodities and real estate.QUOTE]


If I had money to play with I would buy up as much silver as I could.

http://stockreads.com/Stock-Newsletter.aspx?id=3062