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Shannon and Anton Titov

BRRRR [BUY RENOVATE RENT REFINANCE REPEAT] – Part #3

With this example we are going to go all the way back to 2016. We thought it would be a good idea to show an example of how a property can continue to pay dividends not only during BRRRR but also throughout your hold. This was the second property that we had ever owned. Although it was 5 years ago, it seems like it was just yesterday. At this point in time of our investment journey we did not know about the BRRRR strategy. In fact, we were sort of in the discovery stage – trying to learn everything on our own. We had just refinanced our primary residence and were toying with the idea of using the additional funds to purchase this property. We spent a lot of time researching different areas to invest in. Originally, we had our mind set on expanding further in Mississauga, which is where we were living at the time. The house prices were quickly increasing and cashflow was getting even harder to find in Mississauga. We decided to expand our search. We looked within 30-45 min drive for other key investment areas and that is how we came across Hamilton. The main reasons behind why we chose Hamilton were:

  1. Low purchase price

  2. Diverse Industries

  3. Strong Rent Demand

  4. Strategic Location

  5. Inter/Intra Transportation

The numbers just made sense in Hamilton – at that time it was low cost of entry, and the rents were awfully close to what we were getting in Mississauga. Cash flow was much easier to find in Hamilton. After doing more research on the city, we found that the city was going through a renaissance. There was a lot of money being poured into the city and gentrification was everywhere you looked. We researched the different industries, transportation, education, etc. This was definitely an area that we wanted to double down on. It also helped that Anton lived in Hamilton for 7 years. When his family immigrated to Canada, their first home was Hamilton. He knew all parts of the city. As a kid he would bike all over the city, from Westdale to Center Mall and up the Rail Trail ending up at Albion Falls. When we first started looking for properties it was incredible to see how much things have changed over the last 15 years.


There was a major disparity between home prices in the surrounding area [Hamilton and just 5-10 min drive on the QEW in the surrounding areas. We bought this property for $343k – I remember we over bid by ~$10k. It seemed expensive at the time for Hamilton, but we knew that there was no where to go but up. Remember our main objective is always to purchase based on cash flow but we knew that there is potential uplift in appreciation.


This property was a huge learning experience for both of us. We won’t go too much into detail on this on the blog but if you want to know more about our experience check out our book – link listed below. The first thing we tackled was the top unit. We wanted to make sure that it was ready for rent as soon as possible. It required little work. In fact, we did not even paint the unit. Lucky for us our first tenants were professional painters, and they painted the entire first floor to a cool neutral grey colour. They did this prior to moving in.




Now, lets take a look at the numbers. First, our upfront costs included the down payment, closing costs, renovations, and holding costs totaling $131.5k. After all the renovations were complete the house was appraised at $485k [vs $343k purchase price]. We essentially forced the appreciation of this house by 41.4% - is that not incredible?

Once the bank finished the re-finance, we were really close to covering off the entire investment [up front costs]. In fact, we were only $17.9k into the deal. The best part is that $17.9k investment is making us $21.9k per year [or 122% return on our money]. How did we get this number? Well let’s start with the top line, we were able to rent out the place for $2,550 [$1,350 Upstairs + $1,200 Downstairs]. In addition, the mortgage is getting paid down by our tenants which equals to $10,157/year. We also want to consider market appreciation of a conservative 2%. Now in reality the property has gone up by 10% per year but we don’t want to bank on that in our calculations in case of market correction.


So where do we stand now? Fast forward 5 years later and now the rent is $3,075 [$1,750 Upstairs + $1,350 Downstairs] – we were able to increase by $525/month or $6,300/year. The rental market has been on fire due to the supply and demand issues. We have had a hard time trying to catch up with market rents even with a healthy turnover of 2-3 years per tenant. We still think that our property is under market rent by quite a bit. We think we can get another $625/month in rent or $7,500/year. In addition, we have re-financed this property again at $680k approximately 1 year ago. When the prices started to increase during Covid-19, we immediately started to refinance all of our properties. That is an extra $175k in our pocket and guess what, we simply re-invest these funds back into our portfolio. Keep in mind we still have $136k worth of equity in the house.


Now this is an example of 1 house over a span of 5 years. Just imagine a small portfolio of 2, 3, 4, or 5+ properties the numbers become exponential. Very quickly it becomes a snowball effect propelling you to financial independence. If you like these blogs or would like to see more examples – write a comment for us – we would love to hear from you! Also check out the other BRRRR examples:


If you are interested in finding out more information on how you can invest with us on our next deal – reach out to us directly at 289-242-6294 or steeltowntitovs@gmail.com


Follow us on Instagram @steeltowntitovs


Have you seen our book "The Novice Investor"? https://tinyurl.com/y3gbtw3a



LEGAL DISCLAIMER

The information provided in this blog is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended to be a source of advice with respect to the material presented. The information contained in this blog do not represent legal or financial advice and should never be used without first consulting with a financial professional to determine what is in your best interest to meet your individual needs.



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