The generous proportions of this exceptional space are a stand-out among all other lofts in Toronto.

• 3,000 square ft of living space.
• 14 feet ceiling heights.
• Entertaining Area of 65 feet across and 1,000 square feet.
• Panoramic view of 270 degrees.

Click here for a brochure in PDF.

Address: 250 Innisfil St., Barrie, ON

Two Units Available for Lease

• Unit 4: 1,250 sq. ft
• Unit 5: 1,140 sq. ft.

These two units can be combined into one large unit.

Download the Information Package

Address: 1950 Lawrence Ave., Unit 4, Toronto, ON

Possible Configurations:

• 650 sq. ft.
• 1,267 sq. ft.
• 1,917 sq. ft.

Download the Information Package

Claude Boiron, co-author of Commercial Real Estate Investing in Canada (Wiley), is a successful Realtor whose primary focus is commercial properties, but he also has extensive residential real estate experience.  While conducting numerous seminars through private employers, and teaching at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies, he received many requests to help Realtors upgrade certain skills, especially the “soft skills” that have to do with communication and client relationships.

“The real estate industry is notorious for eating up a Realtor’s time, energy and money. It may be a difficult pill to swallow, but many of the inefficiencies are of their own making and those of companies that refuse to break old habits,” says Boiron.

Boiron will be delivering help in the form of The Canadian Realtor’s Essential Business Guide, scheduled for publication in September of 2011 by John Wiley & Sons. The book will cover all of the essential things that a Realtor needs to know such as how to effectively attract clients, market properties to a Landlord or Seller’s benefit, represent a Buyer or Tenant, and properly and legally close a business deal.

Boiron hopes that Canadian Realtors, by acting on the lessons in his book, will improve service to clients, ensure that transactions are done in an ethical manner, and improve the ROI for sellers through using technologies such as social networking to advertise properties and attract clients.

Realtors have significantly more influence over their clients’ money, in one transaction, and often for a larger dollar amount than other professionals (financial advisors, lawyers, accountants, etc.) will ever have over a client’s money. The Canadian Realtor’s Essential Business Guide will be an indispensible guide for the Canadian Realtor to conduct their business in a way that engenders trust, gets results, gives the maximum value possible to their clients, and raises the profile of the industry itself.

As well as being an author, Claude Boiron is a sales representative with Coldwell Banker Terrequity Realty.
For more information on the upcoming publication and development of the book, contact:
Claude Boiron
http://www.realestatementor.ca/
Preferred E-Mail: claude@rementor.ca

Preferred Phone # 905-882-8800

Where: The National Club, 303 Bay Street, Toronto Click here for a map

Dresscode (as required by the Club): Business Casual

We encourage you to bring friends or colleagues interested in Real Estate Investing, who will meet two of the most respiected Commercial Realtors in Canada, Claude and Pierre Boiron.

Please RSVP by November 11, 2009 to rsvp@boirongroup.ca or 905-882-8800, indicating the number of attendees and your guests’ names if applicable.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Click here to download the invitation

Gymnastics aside, Pierre Boiron pointed out that commercial properties in the Greater Toronto Area are very attractive to both domestic and international buyers at the moment. One of Claude Boiron’s (Pierre’s partner) clients, Jonathan Rosemberg, hails from Venezuela and is looking at properties in the GTA for a group of investors. He states that “In Venezuela the situation is very chaotic. Here (in Toronto), property owners are unlikely to have their investment seized by the government.”

There is especially fierce competition in the $500,00 to $2,000,0000 dollar range. These properties are generally smaller properties with a couple of small apartments and a store, a 10 or 12-plex, or a similar setup. The factors forcing sellers to sell in the current market are generally a neutral or negative cash flow. When this situation occurs, despite the fierce competition, you can still ask for concessions on the sale and add items tailored to this particular situation. Here are just a few of Boiron’s tips for the informed real estate investor:

Put More Money Into the Down Payment

This will help generate some cash each month that you can put into doing necessary improvements on the property. While most improvements will improve your cash flow month over month, we recommend purchasing our book, Commercial Real Estate Investing in Canada, to get more tips on what specific improvements will help. One of them is to clean as much as possible. The cleaner the building, the more comfortable your commercial and residential tenants will be with the arrangement, and the less likely they are to move to another property.

Negotiate a Vendor Take Back (VTB) Mortgage

A VTB mortgage is great for buyers, especially on commercial properties, because it saves money. Surveys, appraisals, inspections and other various reports are costly and are not necessary with such an arrangement.

Go Outside the Greater Toronto Area

In order to find properties with a higher Capitilization Rate,* you may need to turn to properties outside the Greater Toronto Area. The capitalization rate is the ratio between the net operating income produced by an asset and its original purchase price or its current market value. It is simply the annual Net Operating Income divided by the current market value/original purchase price. While the GTA offers more of a demand, the costs involved in operating an income property within the GTA are also higher than costs further afield. Hamilton, St. Catherines, and Kingston may offer you higher capitalization rates and lower initial investments than a GTA property.

Can You Lower Operating Costs?

Sometimes a negative cash flow property is simply just that, and no stunning feats of brilliance can turn it around. Do a thorough analysis on the property to see if you truly can lower operating costs without huge capital investments. If you are new to the game, consider hiring experienced real estate consultants to help you with this analysis.

I Only Have $50,000. How Can I Get Started?

Realistically, most of us cannot save a million dollars. You have to start small. The Boiron Group administers Real Estate syndicates, which allow you to make smaller investments of $50,000, $100,000 or $200,000 in a pool with other investors in order to put that money to work for you immediately. This is a much better strategy than letting it languish in the bank until you reach your magic number.

The Boirons have been consulted by the Wall Street Journal (see articles at realestatementor.ca/wsj) and now, more recently, by the Globe and Mail for their expert real estate advice. This hardly comes as a surprise to those of you who are already their clients. They are also presently teaching a Commercial Real Estate Investing course at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies. Those of you who haven’t yet become clients can contact The Boiron Group for referrals and testimonials about their service and investment acumen. Contact them today to get their expert advice working for you.

A good deal of the savvy advice that the Boirons have to offer is available in their book, Commercial Real Estate Investing in Canada, which may be purchased at a significant discount.

* To obtain the Cap. Rate, divide the Net Income by the price.  Example: $87,000 / 1,160,000 = 0.075 or 7.50%.

First Article: Commercial Real Estate Lagging
The first article, Commercial Real Estate Lagging, was published on September 4, 2009. Pierre Boiron’s opinions on the recent downturn in the Canadian commercial real estate market are cited throughout the piece. Pierre Boiron is in a unique position to comment on the state of Canadian commercial real estate, having decades of experience in the business and a keen eye for trends. In this excerpt, Boiron indicates that the market has signaled that it is bottoming out, with solid explanations for his reasoning:

Boiron estimates the commercial market is nearing the bottom of the adjustment phase, a time characterized by slowing demand, inventory peaks and price declines. “It means that the mess is being cleaned up,” he said, adding that lenders are selling properties through power of sale, buildings that had been under construction are being finished and put on the market, and pessimism is widespread.

Boiron goes on to counsel commercial real estate investors to practice cautious optimism when investing in the market, stating that the momentum is sure to move slowly at first before it ramps up to “boom” levels again.

Second Article: Build Commercial Property Know-How
The second article, Build Commercial Property Know-How, was published on September 11, 2009. In it, Pierre Boiron shares his tips for running a real estate investment property successfully. He gives away one of the biggest secrets in real estate investment, which you will definitely want to read. He also counsels that multi-unit apartments are the least risky commercial property, due to the fact that you typically aren’t relying on one tenant to make mortgage payments in a residential apartment building.

Boiron also points out the importance of being a hands-on property manager if you do want to deal with a multi-family residential property, as property management options can quickly eat up profits for the smaller investor. For those who can’t deal with this hands-on approach for multiple residential units, he recommends a small commercial property with a few business tenants, such as a store with apartments above it.

In both articles, Pierre Boiron shares more expert real estate knowledge than you will typically get out of a one-week course. Any one of the valuable tips offered in both articles will give you a push in the right direction if you are considering or are already participating in real estate investment in Canada. We run our business this way as well, as most of you already know; if we have a valuable tip or opportunity to share, we will happily tell our friends and business colleagues. We’re very excited that these two articles gave us the chance to share these tips with the world.

“Commercial Real Estate Lagging” and “Build Commercial Property Know-How” were written by Andy Georgiades, a business reporter at Dow Jones Newswires. Georgiades mentions our book, Commercial Real Estate Investing in Canada – The Complete Reference for Real Estate Investors and Professionals, which is available at a discount.

We are your on-call experts for any kind of real estate advice. While we wrote the book on commercial real estate investing, we can also consult with you on residential real estate, land development, property management, or any other issues that you’ve been meaning to ask someone about. When you are dealing with the same people that the Wall Street Journal turns to for advice, you know you’ve got the right people on your team. Contact us today to make us your real estate experts.

Andrew Wells, Sales Representative
Coldwell Banker Terrequity Realty, Brokerage

This mortgage is a new first mortgage that closes the original simultaneously with the piggyback mortgage.  There are usually two lenders with this mortgage, without the second mortgagee assuming responsibility for the first mortgage.  The interest rate is often higher than the first mortgage because of elevated risk.

Construction Loan/Mortgage

Construction loans are generally used by builders and are usually only granted for a short period of time (12-24 months) by an institution.  Interest is paid monthly and the interest rates are higher than that of a “regular” mortgage due to increased risk.  Pre-sales of a certain amount, such as 50% for a condominium, are usual riders in such a mortgage.  The loan is expected to be paid progressively when units are sold.  Construction progress payments are made when the financial institution receives signed documents from an architect or engineer.

Bridge Financing

This is a very short term loan that covers the time gap between when a person has bought a property and sold one they owned, but they must close on the purchase before their old property is registered for closing.  The cost of bridge financing usually comes in at a few points above prime and a bank fee.

Participation Mortgage

This is a mortgage in which the lender receives a portion of the profits when the property is sold.  It is also known as a “Shared Appreciation Mortgage”.  The interest rate is usually lower than it would have been in anticipation of a payoff at the end of the term.

Development Land Loan

A land developer who has obtained a Draft Plan of Subdivision Approval will sell land (or the lots, already serviced or to be serviced) to a builder under the terms of this loan.  Terms are usually much more easygoing and at a lower interest than you would find with regular mortgages.

Leasehold Mortgage

Leasehold mortgages are used to make improvements to land, such as buildings, when that land is leased from the land owner rather than owned.

Collateral Mortgage

This mortgage is backed by both the property itself and a promissory note signed by the borrower.

Bond Charge/Mortgage or Trust Deed

These are generally only given for many millions of dollars and are given by the borrower to a trustee who holds title to the property in trust for several lenders.  The borrower must affix a corporate seal to this deed.

Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM)

This mortgage is rarely used for commercial real estate.  Rates are based on prime less a certain percentage.  If the prime rate changes, the rate is adjusted, usually on a monthly basis.  Principal payments are constant; it is only the interest that changes.

Bob:
Re 22 multi-family units.
I am attaching details and photos on this property, which in my opinion, is exceptional.
It is one minute from a Hwy 401 interchange, with a TTC bus stop at the door.
There are 2 buildings of 11 units each. The Vendor is the second owner (he bought them from the builder), and has owned them for 28 years. He does everything himself and it shows! I have rarely seen multi-family buildings so well maintained.
The owner tells me that the Gross is $216,000, and the Net $138,000, or a Cap Rate on the $1,966,000 asking price of close to 7%.
A neighbour of his sold his identical 11 units for $983,000, 1 1/2 years ago. He would like the same = $1,966,000.
You should insure the mortgage with CMHC. I believe they will go to 85%, and the premium should be 2.9%, which will be added to the mortgage amount.
The interest rate should be between 4 and 5%.

Normally, you are supposed to be scared at the idea of buying $2,000,000 of properties for your first Real Estate foray. In this case, you should not be, because the risk is very minimal. I believe that you should be able to acquire that with $300,000 down.
Remember: At the appreciation rate of 7% per year, your indirect return will be $140,000!

Pierre

May 11, 2009

Pierre

I ran some numbers last night.  By my calculations, there would be a positive cash flow but minimal as a % of the size of the building.  My concerns would be funding vacancies and capital/repair/maintenance costs going forward.  My view has been to have the properties generate enough cash to fund the costs involved in managing a building and not to fund through my personal funds.  Your comments are welcome. Thanks

Bob

May 11, 2009

Bob:

You are correct, but only partially. Let me elaborate.

Possible sources of funds: Your own; tenants’ last month deposits ($17,600?); VTB; postponing paying property taxes.

Remember that your mortgage interest rate may be lower than 5%, and that you can count on an average legal yearly increase in rentals of 2%.

I know that it is reaching high, but with such buildings and 22 tenants, I do not see any risk. If you can do this deal, you will be laughing for the rest of your life.

Pierre