Early on in my career I believed this as well but I quickly learned that this was not the case. While condominiums are a good investment, a house that is set up for rental can earn almost double the income that a condominium does. It has more space to rent and has no condominium fees. Most houses also appreciate much faster than condominiums as over the last three years in the GTA homes have been appreciating at 7% per year and condominiums have been appreciating at 1% per year. If you're not careful and experienced though, a rental house can also be very difficult to rent out and can be risky.
The amazing thing about real estate is that the bank can lend you at least 75% of the money if not more. Leverage is truly the magic of real estate returns. In many cases you can even buy property with 5% down. Investment properties start in the $200 000 range in Toronto and go up from there. This translates to only a $10 000 initial investment for some people.
Make no mistake about it, there is work to be done in finding the property and getting all the paper work in order. On the other hand, for responsibilities like tenanting and fixing small problems (leaks, water problems, etc) a good property manager is a huge asset that can aleviate many of the headaches for you. If you have the right staff, owning a rental property effectively can be a much simpler process that you expect.
Real Estate Banner Network