Easy Ways to Invest in Real Estate

Buying property has the potential to provide you with a significant ROI, and is a favourite strategy for many investors. With the real estate market in southern Ontario continuing to show strength, investing in Peel Region properties can be particularly effective. Peel Region boasts a growing market, yet an investor can enter the fray in Brampton or Mississauga without having to invest the kinds of sums necessary in other GTA jurisdictions. Homes in Toronto, for example, are often priced at more than a million dollars, and consistently sell for greater than the asking price. In Peel, luxury homes can be purchased for much less, and are in almost as much demand. If you have the capital, you can find some easy ways to invest in real estate in the GTA.

Partnering with a Broker

While real estate investments have excellent potential, you must also be careful to choose the right property. That’s why partnering with a knowledgeable and experienced local broker is essential. An outsider can only ever know part of the local story, but experienced brokers usually know a wide array of facts about every neighbourhood on their turf – the statistics regarding prices, the rate of growth, or the amount of time a house can be expected to stay on the market, for example. Other factors might include the area’s job market, GDP growth and infrastructure developments. Facilities such as hospitals or access to public transit can also make a property more valuable.

Many of these things are fairly straightforward, but a local broker can also be expected to know details that might not be easily uncoverable, such as whether or not particular properties can be subdivided, which properties have pending permits for development, and any drawbacks that might be foreseen. You would want to know, for example, if the country estate home you’re considering purchasing is about to get a large pig barn operation as a neighbour.

Fixer-Uppers

One thing that can help your real estate investment get the best possible return is the willingness to spend some time and money on improvements. If you have carpentry skills, or know contractors that will work at affordable rates, buying a home that needs some work can be a great option. Many buyers will by-pass a "fixer-upper,” but sometimes a few thousand dollars’ worth of renovation/redecoration can transform the property so that it can be sold for tens of thousands of dollars above what you paid for it. It’s estimated that adding details such as a marble or granite kitchen countertop, for example, boosts the asking price of a house far above what the countertop is actually worth.

However, bear in mind that investing in real estate is not the same as "flipping” houses. A true investor enters the market ready to play the long game, finding properties that will increase in value over a period of several years.

There is always easy ways to invest in real estate, especially with interest rates currently so low, it’s a great time to buy. Partner with a broker, analyze the data, and find an investment property that will bring you significant returns!