Comments on: Buying an Income Property to Live in

By: Bill Gassett

Bill Gassett — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 13:58:00 +0000

The way the Real Estate markets have been for most areas the last five years buying an income producing property and living in it yourself has become a lot more common place. It is easy to see this being a viable alternative for those that just don’t have the means to do otherwise.

By: Vancouver Realtor

Vancouver Realtor — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:57:26 +0000

There are other ways to increase your rent. If yout property has a garage you cant rent it out for stoarge or a small work shop. If you have a large driveway rent it for RV parking or boat storage. Another option is convert the garage in to a studio apartment and rent it to a student.

By: Neil Uttamsingh

Neil Uttamsingh — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 02:45:56 +0000

Deya,

I really liked this article. You analysis showing how much of the mortgage payment the individual would have to come up with was very good.
In a lot of the suburbs of Toronto, such as Brampton, Markham, mainly, there are a lot of basement apartments located in single family homes. A lot of people end up purchasing the home to live in, and then renting out the basement as a source of income. The city By-Laws of the suburb that I live in prevents basement apartments, however, there are a good number of people that are still renting out their basement units to tenants as a source of income.

Another factor to consider, if someone is looking to buy a rental property with multiple units, and living in one if them is, will they be able to handle living in such close proximity to their tenants. Some people can do this no problem, whereas others find it a little bit difficult to do.

A friend of mine bought a 4-plex in the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge area. He rented out 3 of the units and lived in one. He hated every minute of it. :)

So he decided never to do it again. :)

Best Regards,
Neil.

By: Scott Nachatilo

Scott Nachatilo — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:45:59 +0000

yes i agree, one problem would be arise if the tenant would not be able to pay on time, so you need to raise again then an extra money to cover up the mortgage

By: Upton Real Estate

Upton Real Estate — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:35:30 +0000

Excellent thoughts on what to consider when buying an income property. There are many that don't figure out all the true costs involved with home ownership. I like how you have laid out examples on what to expect with mortgage payments/rent/expenditures.

By: connie

connie — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:59:25 +0000

We own a fourplex and are very lucky to have 4 wonderful tenants .We have never missed a month's rent but we also maintain price right and take care our property and if somehing breaks it gets repaired asap. These ingrediants make ownership very pleasureable and profitable. We have been lucky . There are horror stories with troublesome tenants but I think the good outweighs the bad.

By: Based

Based — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:00:20 +0000

Great post!
I was wondering – Is it true that that banks will increase their available mortgage (above your current maximum lending amount) to the purchaser of a triplex, as (living in one of the units) 2/3 of the units will be income properties contributing to the larger mortgage?

I heard something like that, but have so far avoided asking my bank if it's at all true.