Family is trying to talk me into buying a rental unit in Poland...not sure if I want to make that type of commitment. 150k and I've got a nice 1 bedroom unit in my home town...
|
|
|
COVID and the housing market
- Thread starter mimico_polak
- Start date
I assume family would be property managers for now? If they can't, can you find a trustworthy manager? What would the apartment rent for? What does appreciation look like in Poland? For many reasons, I'd lean towards tossing that money in the market instead of buying Polish real estate. The upside for you could be you can probably write off a ticket to poland every six months or a year to check on your property. Now, a write off assumes this is business. Would you register this in Poland or Canada? If you buy it, you need to check the box when you do your tax return about owning foreign property. No idea if that makes your life more complicated or not.
All valid questions that I would have to look into. Basically our relatives own a hotel in the city, and they're snapping up properties in order to rent out when the hotel is 100% booked (currently fairly often) and would use this property for this requirement. Then when we go over we can just use it instead of having to live with someone for the duration of the trip.
Lots of questions, and lots of research before I pull a trigger on a decision like that.
For now my buddy's scaring me that my variable will go to 6-7%. That's what it is in Poland (depending on lender 7-9%) to taper inflation...yet inflation is still running rampant as rates keep climbing.
My two cents , if you need to mortgage the Polish property , don’t do it . Eastern Europe is not seeing property gains like France and Germany . Place to stay is nice , so are hotels . Tax obligations in Poland ? Is there an upside , do you get a Polish version of CPP? I’ve owned and sold foreign real estate (us) , it’s a tax with capital gains payable in both US as a foreign investor and Canadian on foreign investment.
Be careful your family isn’t just helping you part with your money .
Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
Be careful your family isn’t just helping you part with your money .
Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
Mad Mike
Well-known member
I'm with you on that. I have some US stuff, rent's don't carry the operating costs unless your equity is well above what most real estate investors want in the game. You can bet on appreciation, but that's a long game, and the challenges of managing the property from thousands of miles away are daunting.
Thank you, well said. It's still very early stages so I'm not the type to go out and drop 1k on a whim...let alone 150k!
As for family trying to part me with our money, that's honestly the last worry I have in regards to this type of operation. As a family, my parents have forwarded 100s of thousands of dollars to help them out, and there has never been a single dollar missing.
While we may all be far apart physically...our family is super close, and the entire family works together to run businesses that feed off one another.
But I think the better / safer bet is just to keep on the plan to move with the TFSA/RSP method.
A few updates from our housing-driven exodus from Toronto:
Driving out west, Sault Ste Marie - a brief stop at the gas station and caught the tail end of a conversation that ended in the customer calling the attendant a "sand n*****". Attendant is Indian, I'm Middle Eastern. How stupid do you have to be to even get your racist insults wrong?
White River, I worked here years ago on a hydro job. Stopped in at Robin's Donuts and had coffee and donuts with Winnie the Pooh. I like stopping here.
Dryden, this place gives me the creeps. It's a necessary stop, but a quick one, in and out.
Winnipeg, caught in a blizzard and ice covered roads first time - and I mean ice. Second time, flooding. Hard to explore the city in those conditions. We didn't stay long enough to enjoy mosquitoes too but it was enough to put my wife off the place. Job offer turned down.
Yorkton, seems like a nice town. We stop in for dinner but not enough time to really explore.
Saskatoon, we like it. Friendly people, sunny, slower pace, lots of bridges around town (the civil engineer in me likes that), beautiful campus and gothic architecture at the University of Saskatchewan (the architect in my wife likes that). They say there's nothing to do there, we found plenty to keep us interested. There's a new youthful energy and spirit to the place - to replace the old demons perhaps. Seems like football (not the European kind) is big here. We'll come back, maybe to catch a game.
Drive between Saskatoon and Edmonton. They say SK is flat and boring, but we enjoyed this drive regardless. Nice views of the North Saskatchewan River for a good portion of it. The drive from Winnipeg to Saskatoon is the worst of the lot.
Edmonton, it's bigger than expected. The ring road, Anthony Henday Dr. makes it super easy to get around. Driving in and around the River Valley is different, feels more like Europe than Canada. One thing takes me by surprise immediately - everyone slows down to the speed limit?! Highway construction zone speed limit goes from 100 to 80. The cars slow down from 100 to 80, and I mean exactly 80, not 90-95. I am shocked. Imagine that on the 401? Forget about it. Then I realize, there are speed cameras all over the place, and now I'm wondering if I'll get a surprise in the mail... The second thing that takes me by surprise, it's very multicultural - we meet people from Poland, Serbia, Ireland, Philippines, India, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Eriteria, Cameroon through random conversations within a week. St. Albert is supposed to be a nice suburb, and it is. Housing is overpriced though for what it is. We explore more of town, West Edmonton Mall, South Edmonton Common, more of the River Valley - there's a Middle Eastern joint in town called Jerusalem. We try the shawarma. It's good. Job offer accepted.
We find an apartment in SW Edmonton. 2 bedroom unit + the 10x12ft storage unit for the track bike and other stuff + the 2 parking spots at the apartment - all that combined for less than just the rent at the 1+den in downtown Toronto. We haven't seen winter yet so will reserve judgement for a permanent place until this time next year. The project has me on the job for at least 5 years so there's some degree of permanence to the move. First month at work has been a challenge but interesting and I'm enjoying the change. We'll have to plan a weekend trip to Jasper soon. The track bike needs a bit of work, but I finally feel settled enough to book a few trackdays. 2 days at Stratotech Park in July and 1 day at Rocky Mountain Motorsports Park in August - I find it a little concerning from a safety perspective that coolant/anti-freeze doesn't need to be replaced with water for trackdays here... But anyway, overall, so far so good and we're both enjoying the new adventure out West.
Driving out west, Sault Ste Marie - a brief stop at the gas station and caught the tail end of a conversation that ended in the customer calling the attendant a "sand n*****". Attendant is Indian, I'm Middle Eastern. How stupid do you have to be to even get your racist insults wrong?
White River, I worked here years ago on a hydro job. Stopped in at Robin's Donuts and had coffee and donuts with Winnie the Pooh. I like stopping here.
Dryden, this place gives me the creeps. It's a necessary stop, but a quick one, in and out.
Winnipeg, caught in a blizzard and ice covered roads first time - and I mean ice. Second time, flooding. Hard to explore the city in those conditions. We didn't stay long enough to enjoy mosquitoes too but it was enough to put my wife off the place. Job offer turned down.
Yorkton, seems like a nice town. We stop in for dinner but not enough time to really explore.
Saskatoon, we like it. Friendly people, sunny, slower pace, lots of bridges around town (the civil engineer in me likes that), beautiful campus and gothic architecture at the University of Saskatchewan (the architect in my wife likes that). They say there's nothing to do there, we found plenty to keep us interested. There's a new youthful energy and spirit to the place - to replace the old demons perhaps. Seems like football (not the European kind) is big here. We'll come back, maybe to catch a game.
Drive between Saskatoon and Edmonton. They say SK is flat and boring, but we enjoyed this drive regardless. Nice views of the North Saskatchewan River for a good portion of it. The drive from Winnipeg to Saskatoon is the worst of the lot.
Edmonton, it's bigger than expected. The ring road, Anthony Henday Dr. makes it super easy to get around. Driving in and around the River Valley is different, feels more like Europe than Canada. One thing takes me by surprise immediately - everyone slows down to the speed limit?! Highway construction zone speed limit goes from 100 to 80. The cars slow down from 100 to 80, and I mean exactly 80, not 90-95. I am shocked. Imagine that on the 401? Forget about it. Then I realize, there are speed cameras all over the place, and now I'm wondering if I'll get a surprise in the mail... The second thing that takes me by surprise, it's very multicultural - we meet people from Poland, Serbia, Ireland, Philippines, India, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Eriteria, Cameroon through random conversations within a week. St. Albert is supposed to be a nice suburb, and it is. Housing is overpriced though for what it is. We explore more of town, West Edmonton Mall, South Edmonton Common, more of the River Valley - there's a Middle Eastern joint in town called Jerusalem. We try the shawarma. It's good. Job offer accepted.
We find an apartment in SW Edmonton. 2 bedroom unit + the 10x12ft storage unit for the track bike and other stuff + the 2 parking spots at the apartment - all that combined for less than just the rent at the 1+den in downtown Toronto. We haven't seen winter yet so will reserve judgement for a permanent place until this time next year. The project has me on the job for at least 5 years so there's some degree of permanence to the move. First month at work has been a challenge but interesting and I'm enjoying the change. We'll have to plan a weekend trip to Jasper soon. The track bike needs a bit of work, but I finally feel settled enough to book a few trackdays. 2 days at Stratotech Park in July and 1 day at Rocky Mountain Motorsports Park in August - I find it a little concerning from a safety perspective that coolant/anti-freeze doesn't need to be replaced with water for trackdays here... But anyway, overall, so far so good and we're both enjoying the new adventure out West.
Both my kids moved west and will not likely be coming back , son is just north of you (2hrs) in LacLaBiche , Edmonton in winter is friggin cold . But after zero they don’t talk about temp , they just call it cold . You could do worse . You are in the redneck Capital of Canada , and they love fossil fuel.
Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
I was talking to a supplier yesterday and he mentioned his 30 year old kids still live at home, unmarried. He may help them out later. This isn't just a North American thing. It's common in Europe and for the kid, a good deal. Free or cheap room and board, mom cooks, cleans and does the laundry leaving more time and money to play.
Punch those numbers forward and we will see a lot of people having kids late in life. The demograph shift has serious implications in labour force and as Russia and China have found, military force.
Years back during a long recession no one took on apprentices. A steady flow is needed to balance the knowledge.
With a steady flow you have young trades people that can do grunt work as they learn. They progress to being able to to do heavy work needing skills and advance to older workers that can supervise with a less heavy work.
If you go long enough without adding to the stream you end up with trades people that can do the grunt work, people that can supervise, but no one that can climb a ladder and do technical work at the top. You need the middle guy that can climb and get the job done at the top.
Will we, on many fronts, end up with a world with lots of supervisors and novices but no skilled hands-on workers?
Punch those numbers forward and we will see a lot of people having kids late in life. The demograph shift has serious implications in labour force and as Russia and China have found, military force.
Years back during a long recession no one took on apprentices. A steady flow is needed to balance the knowledge.
With a steady flow you have young trades people that can do grunt work as they learn. They progress to being able to to do heavy work needing skills and advance to older workers that can supervise with a less heavy work.
If you go long enough without adding to the stream you end up with trades people that can do the grunt work, people that can supervise, but no one that can climb a ladder and do technical work at the top. You need the middle guy that can climb and get the job done at the top.
Will we, on many fronts, end up with a world with lots of supervisors and novices but no skilled hands-on workers?
No one wants to get their hands dirty not sure what is going to happen in 10-20 years but it wont be good
Nooo, it is not because we don't want to get our hands dirty. It is very difficult to get jobs as a apprentice, pay is so bad you can't pay rent with it and sometimes you gotta drive all over the place for work.
I considered electrical related apprentice path before I gave up and got my B. Eng
Ideally you start early in life when you can freeload off mom and dad until the bigger paycheques come in.
An apprenticeship pays better than the university paid you to get your B.Eng.... Same four years to get the hours.
Agreed. It's not going to be good.
Not sure I agree with the not wanting to get one's hands dirty, as I've only seen that in a handful of people.
But in the end, even my 18 year old cousin now has decided he doesn't want to go to college / university because he sees his parents do well and is expecting them to take care of him forever.
He ended up choosing a business course at college...because 'university will be too hard'.
I'm not going to de-rail this thread, but I'm now starting to look for some freelance work...just need to figure out how to go from what I know...to monetizing it.
I would prefer to work with my hands in a labour role as my own contractor...but looking honestly at my skills...I'm not there where I'd be comfortable enough to do the type of work people will pay for. At least I don't think I am.
In all honesty my issues are easy:
1. Scared of screwing up
2. Not sure how to get first clients
Outside of that...I'm just a pansy as I've got the time, tools, and can pull on others experience.
I'm willing to put the work in for evenings and weekends...but not sure how many clients would actually want someone to come in and work on evenings/weekends.
Is the hustle construction or related to your day job? Sadly, in either case, I'd probably spin up an insured company as the goal is to improve your situation not lose your house. That makes it harder as a side hustle as there are significant fixed costs.
|
|
|
|
|