# First Home/Duplex Questions



## RonaldThun (Jun 24, 2015)

Hi Everyone.

I will be purchasing my first home and was hoping to get a duplex in which I would occupy one unit. 

My question is does any sort of comprehensive guide that has relevant information I may need to know about being a landlord prior to making my purchase? Specifically for Canada/Ontario.

Any help would be appreciated.


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## none (Jan 15, 2013)

Obligatory: http://www.greaterfool.ca/


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

Has Garth Turner ever been right about anything? How many decades has he been warning about the collapse of real estate prices, that we are still waiting for?

As far as renting and putting your savings in the stock market, I have been hearing about that for 50 years. In that time I know exactly one person who has done it, but I know a hundred people whose biggest financial asset, and best investment, is their house.


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## CalgaryPotato (Mar 7, 2015)

Garth is pretty over the top, and he's definitely hyper focused on the extremes. Finding ridiculous examples of overpriced houses, and comparing them to rare rental offers that you could search for years for.

That being said, he does make some fair points about the bubble we are in right now at least in some areas.


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## none (Jan 15, 2013)

Rusty O'Toole said:


> Has Garth Turner ever been right about anything? How many decades has he been warning about the collapse of real estate prices, that we are still waiting for?
> 
> As far as renting and putting your savings in the stock market, I have been hearing about that for 50 years. In that time I know exactly one person who has done it, but I know a hundred people whose biggest financial asset, and best investment, is their house.


Sure, he's right about a bunch of things but as CP says, he does tend to over sell his certainty on his forecasts. Best one can do is make the best decision based on the information one has at the time. Things change - being wrong is nothing to be ashamed of if the information changes.

He is right about the housing market, that's not his though, it's VERY VERY widely accepted.

i've personally given up on WHEN the market will correct. It will eventually. The only way it won't is if interest rates Never ever go up. If they do, and I don't think it's reasonable to say they never will, the market will go splat.


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## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

RonaldThun said:


> Hi Everyone.
> 
> I will be purchasing my first home and was hoping to get a duplex in which I would occupy one unit.
> 
> ...


Ontario is more of a tenant-friendly jurisdiction than some of the other provinces. Just means a little more vigilance is required when selecting a tenant. First start would be to find the landlord tenant advisory board in your area and see what they have to offer. They usually have a package that can be purchased for a small fee with the entire applicable acts, various blank forms, etc to get you started.


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## Cal (Jun 17, 2009)

I always recommend to discuss with your accountant prior to purchasing so that you are aware of what you can and cannot do tax wise, and whether those parameters fit your personal financial/tax situation.


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## Barwelle (Feb 23, 2011)

Re: Garth Turner, something posted on reddit the other day: 



> When reading his blog, you have to keep in mind that he's providing a balance on the opposite side of the spectrum to the people who blindly buy big dollar homes for primary residence or investment, thinking that real estate will never fail or drop in value.
> 
> Reality is somewhere in between.


And to this:



Rusty O'Toole said:


> As far as renting and putting your savings in the stock market, I have been hearing about that for 50 years. In that time I know exactly one person who has done it, but I know a hundred people whose biggest financial asset, and best investment, is their house.


Maybe I'm nitpicking here but IMHO a principal residence isn't an 'investment' and should not be thought of that way. It's not making them any money. It's a forced savings plan, sure, that hopefully will reduce their cost of living over a long period of time compared to renting (if they can a) resist trading up and doing extensive renovations b) avoid/manage expensive repairs and c) pay off the mortgage in a reasonable timeframe) but it's not really comparable to investing in a business, stocks, or bonds. My 'personal finance high horse' side says that if their house is their 'best investment', then they must not have much for investments. Well, unless they rent out rooms in their house.


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## Barwelle (Feb 23, 2011)

A post that's a bit more on topic (sorry RonaldThun) a great idea if you haven't already would be to take a read through fellow forum member Berubeland's blog Landlord Rescue. I think her title would be self-employed property manager. Lots of good info about being a landlord from her experience. She's been blogging for a while so there are lots of posts, which may be intimidating, but it would probably be worth your while to go through it.


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## none (Jan 15, 2013)

Barwelle said:


> Re: Garth Turner, something posted on reddit the other day:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Investment / massively leveraged depreciating asset. Pick your poison. Semantics.


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