Curtis Leibel 780-438-2500

A lot of people have questions about flipping houses.  Do I recommend it?  Definitely not.  Is it a good source of revenue if you know what you are doing?  possibly, but it is risky!

I have recently completed my 19th successful flip over the last 3 years.  Over this time I have learnt alot about flipping, and each project I like to think I get a little bit better.  The one question that everyone asks is “how do you do it in a down economy?”  My answer is – it actually makes it easier!  Not only can I find some better prices, but it also less risky because the market is not flucuating at all – thus the property’s value will flucuate less, so there is less uncertainty as to what the property will be worth once renovated.

Over time I plan to post more information about flipping, but for now, here are what I feel the most important suggestions one must follow in order to be successful at flipping:

1) Always look for the worst house in the nicest neighborhood.  Location is one of the most important rules of flipping, and therefore if you can find a house worth 200,000 in a nice community where the average is 250,000 you are already ahead of the game. 

2) Have loads of money – No matter how well you budget, there is ALWAYS going to be unexpected costs.  The worst thing you can do is cheap out on the end of the project because you are out of money.  Buyers will notice this.  It is a good idea to set aside an extra 20% for unexpected costs.

3) Set finished price before you finish!  This is a tough one- but before I ever buy a project I calculate what I will list it for when it is finished so I know what my profit margin will be.  It is very easy after a lot of long hours and days to start to value the house more than it is worth, and thus price it higher than the market says it should be.

4) Have a back up plan – Although stable right now, housing markets are completely unpredictable.  That is why I always have a back up plan with renting.  If for some reason I cant get enough value out of the house that I hoped for, I always know that I can rent it out and make enough to at least cover the carrying costs so I am not losing money.

5) Leave personal taste out of it – The biggest mistake you can make, is to start renovating to your own style and taste.  Not only will you start spending more money (because you will undoubtedly start picking better quality and more expensive products) but you will also start eliminating potential buyers with your own tastes in mind rather than theirs.  Always try to appeal to as many buyers as possible.

6) Be dedicated!  This may sound easy, but over the course of a long project, it can become very stressful and demanding to the point you may not want to be around it anymore.  If this is the case, go back to the drawing board, revise your plan and get back to it  – because the sooner you get it finished, the sooner you make money!

There you have it.  Flipping can be a very risky business, and I dont recommend getting into without having spoken to someone first who has experience in the area.  Theres alot you can learn from speaking with someone who has been through the ups and downs of flipping!

Whenever I take a holiday, I like to take some time out of my trip to look into the real estate market/trends of the location.  Not only can it provide a better sense of the global market, it allows me to provide my buyers with knowledge and experience in foreign real estate investment. 

My most recent trip led me to Eastern Europe.  The majority of my time was spent in Croatia, with brief stops in Germany and Austria.  Although I didnt get much time to look into things in Germany and Austria, I did get the opportunity to speak with a few experts and see some properties in Croatia.  Not too long ago (20 years ago), Croatia was admist a civil war as the former Yugoslavia disintegrated into 6 seperate countries.  Although still volatile for a few years after, Croatia has come into its own, offering beautiful landscapes, safe environment and friendly people for the last 15 years.  Although it still off the radar from most north american citizens, it has become a top destination for European tourists.

Although it has recently become a tourist mecca, it still remains relatively cheap.  The main form of real estate is either apartments or condos.  In more popular centers (island of Hvar, city of Dubrovnik) prime real estate will end up costing $150,000-200,000 for a modern 900 sq foot 2 bed, 1 bath condo.  However, if you are willing to go a little bit off the beaten path, to some lesser known locations it is not unusual to find a similar condo in the $100,000 range. 

Croatia is currently trying to enter the European Union.  Of course the pro for this is that the economy should become a lot more stable once becoming part of this group.  The down side could be however that prices of real estate will increase accordingly.  My advice for buying in Croatia:  Best to wait 6 months until a decision has been made one way or another as to whether or not Croatia will be able to join the union.  It is a bit risky to buy there right now.

One of the most common questions I am asked by potential home sellers is should I invest money and renovate my property before selling, or should I sell it as is because the new owner is going to tear it down and rebuild anyways?  Well the answer of course, is it depends!  The bottom line is, will the time and money you spend putting into the property be returned to you through a higher selling price?  When considering this, there is a lot to take into consideration. 

Here are some points to consider:

Location – if you are on a busy road or not in a very desireable neighborhood is different than being in a great community close to ameneties.

State of repair – if you only need to spend a few thousand dollars doing minor repairs, it may be more worthwhile completing as opposed to spending 10’s of thousands of dollars doing major repairs.

Time spent – if your time is very valuable (whos isnt?!) the effort and time off work consumed trying to line up contractors and materials, or doing the work yourself might cost more than the extra money you see upon sale.

Return on investment – if looking at comparable houses, we can determine you need to spend $10,000 in renovations and you are only get a sale price of $10,000 higher, it may not be worth it (although if time on market is important to you, this will reduce the number of days your house is for sale)

Taking all this into consideration, you can see that the answer to this question is going to be different in every situation.  The best solution – get a proper current market analysis completed by a realtor for your house.  Through this you will be able to determine what the house is worth now as is vs. how much it will be worth if you invest “x” amount of dollars.   Then you can use those numbers to determine if it is worth your time.

One question that my clients bring up often, is what happens if the house isnt in the same condition when we take possession?  Well, if you are a buyer, you will be happy to know by law it has to be in the exact same condition!

With all the rain we have been getting, there have been alot of flooded basements over the last few months.  Some might be because of faulty foundations, and some might just be a once in a lifetime thing because of the record rainfall we have been experiencing – nonetheless, no one wants to move into a wet basement!  Therefore, if a house floods in between the time of sale of the house, and the actual possession date, the seller is responsible (and quite often it is not covered by insurance).  There are a couple ways to deal with this:

1) Either the seller can replace everything with the same products that were used before possession date.

2) the seller can offer cash back (usually through reduced sale price) to the buyer for an agreed amount, and it is then the buyers responsibility to fix.

Either way, there is usually an open dialogue between the buyer and seller so the result is in everyones best interest.   The same principles appy to anything that may happen (ie. fire, hail, damage to the property) – it is the sellers responsibility to keep the property in the exact same condition as it was when the buyer did their last viewing.  However, if something like a flood was to happen the day after possession, it is now the buyers sole responsibility to fix (unless it was a result of something the previous seller knew and did not disclose.)

Now you can rest assured on possession day you will be getting the house you bought!

Hi all,

I have just returned from a trip from the other side of the world.  Everytime i go somewhere I take some time to stop and check in to see how the real estate market in that area is.  I myself plan to purchase some foreign real estate in the near future, but want to do adequate research before I do.  Here is what my thoughts are on my most recent visits:

Hong Kong:  Beautiful space, beautiful people and real estate is at a premium.  This country continues to grow at incredible rates, but the size of it won’t.  If you can afford it, I dont see how you can go wrong investing here.  There is no such thing as houses here, as everything is skyrises.  An average 2 bedroom condo at 800 sq feet would set you back about 800,000-1 million Canadian so it would take a big investment to get in.

Macau:  This city takes in more gambling revenue than all of North America combined.  It is a huge vacation hotspot for Asians and thrives on tourism.  The city has doubled in population in less than 10 years.  However, the vacancy rate is very high, and for that reason, I feel it could be hit or miss.  They expect the population to double again over the next few years, but have already built an enormous amount of skyscrapers in preperation.  I would say this is a classic boom/bust scenario.  You could double your money in 5 years, or you could lose half.  It could go either way but I would stray away for something more stable.  2 bedroom 800 sq foot condo runs about 400-500,000 Canadian there.

Borocay, Philipines:  The biggest tourist location in the Philipines, this island has it all.  Miles and miles of beachfront property, friendly people, and cheap!  There are a few (not too many) luxury condos currently under construction, which will run between 200-400,000 Canadian.  In my mind this would be a great place to invest before it becomes too popular.  There are also many larger islands nearby where you can still enjoy the same amenemities, but at a lower purchase price because its a little further away.

There you have it.  If you would like any more in depth analysis on any of these locations, give me a call!

From a legal standpoint, a contract that is verbally accepted (ie. both parties have accepted the terms verbally, but have not actually signed the contract yet) is a legally-binding contract.  However, in the real world, no contract is done until both parties have signed and initialled the final contract.

For example, I recently had a client write an offer on a foreclosure.  In this case, all offers are submitted to the bank.  The bank denied it but sent back a counteroffer.   My client accepted, signed the contract where necessary and submitted it back to the bank awaiting their final signature.  The offer had been verbally accepted, the bank just needed to sign off on it.  Of course, this all happens on a friday afternoon, and the bank could not sign off on it before the weekend.  Over the weekend, another offer comes in from a different client, and now the bank wants to entertain both offers. 

In the end, legal action could have been taken, but the time and costs associated are not worth it.  My client has resubmitted a higher offer and now we wait and see what happens….Bottom Line is that no deal is ever done until it is done.

Not only will I be posting listings on this blog, but I’ll also add some information about real estate as I come across it.  I am currently handling a deal where the purchase of one home is condition on the sale of the purchasers current home.   Alot of people dont know, but this is the only condition that can be waived by the owner of the house being bought – meaning should another offer come in, the seller can choose to accept it, giving the original buyer (often 48 hours) a short period of time to decide whether or not they want to honor the original deal.  If they can’t sell their own house in that time, or can’t risk holding 2 properties, they will have to void the original contract.  It’s a different scenario, because as mentioned, although a legally binding contract, this is the only clause on the sellers behalf that can be included to negate the contract.

The new website is up and running and I couldnt be more excited!  In the future I will be adding posts relating to listings, sales and just general real estate info that you should be aware of.  Check back often to see whats going on in the world of real estate and feel free to post any questions or comments you  may have.  I look forward to helping you meet all your real estate goals.