This is where it all started. Our first personal residence and investment property. Its crazy to think that our first property that we bought was almost 9 years ago. We bought this property in the Clarkson neighbourhood, of Mississauga. This was the most affordable neighbourhood of Mississauga at the time. We fell in love with not only the price, but also the location itself since it provides express train access to Toronto’s Union Station. The Clarkson Go Station is the last stop before the rush hour train becomes express (basically direct to Union with 0 stops). This is also the case back from Toronto, during rush hour. In addition, the neighbourhood, is right next door to Lorne Park, which is one of the nicest (if not the nicest) neighbourhoods in Peel.
We knew from Day 1 that we wanted to buy a duplex house to help us subsidize the cost of our mortgage. For our first project, we wanted to get into something that was already set up as a duplex. After 3-4 months of searching the market, we finally settled on a house, and bought it for $390k. It was a semi-detached home with 2 Bedrooms Upstairs, and basically the same layout (minus the furnace room) in the basement. The home was already fully done, upstairs but did need some work in the basement.
We decided to rent out the top unit right after taking possession, to ensure that there was a coverage of our mortgage and help us cover the holding costs. Here is a video of the unit from last year. The only thing that we have done to this unit since 2013 is paint (in 2021), replace a microwave range hood (in 2020), and put in a new washer/dryer (in 2020). We have invested in some CAPEX for the overall property (Roof, AC, HVAC, Boiler, and Driveway) but wanted to highlight how the overall condition of the top unit was and still is 9 years later.
We were quite fortunate because the sellers wanted to close quickly. There was a family dispute, and they just wanted out of the house, which worked in our favour. It sounds a bit crazy now, but we spent only $20k in total renovations in the basement. The kitchen was the most expensive, part of the renovation. Everything was already set up; it just needed a modern touch.
The total upfront costs were $113,700 which included Down Payment, Closing Costs, Renovations and Holding Costs. Once we were done with the project, the value of the home went up by 35% to $525,000. After refinancing, we pulled most of our money out of the deal except for $5,700. Not a Bad Deal. At the same time, the property was generating $28,914/year in returns. That’s an ROI of 407% per year. Now the problem that we had; was we didn’t act quick enough to buy more. We were rookies and didn’t take advantage of the last “R” repeat quick enough. We waited for almost 3 years, before we made our next purchase. I guess, you can say we had cold feet.
It’s been almost 9 years, since we bought this property and we have refinanced it 3 times, altogether to purchase other properties in our portfolio. The last time, it was refinanced was in December 2020, at $750,000 – that’s 92% (or $360k) increase since purchase. What’s even more exciting, is that most recently our neighbour just sold their property, which needs quite a bit of work, for over $1MM. Comparable houses, have been selling for around that mark, but this sets a new benchmark for our street (for this specific house). This makes us wonder if now a good time to re-finance the property again. At this evaluation, we could potentially pull out another $200k and the cash flow on this property is strong enough to support this.
As you can see, this first deal has done well, but we cannot underestimate the key attribute “time in the market”. We truly believe that time in the market is what makes real estate investing so powerful. Its not a quick money scheme, but given enough time with the right strategy you can easily create wealth through real estate.
If you are interested in finding out more information on how you can invest with us on our next deal – reach out to us directly at 289-242-6294 or steeltowntitovs@gmail.com
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The information provided in this blog is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended to be a source of advice with respect to the material presented. The information contained in this blog do not represent legal or financial advice and should never be used without first consulting with a financial professional to determine what is in your best interest to meet your individual needs.
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