Podcast Episode 136: “AFS Paperwork and Education.” About four months ago, I got a call from a client who wanted to sell his property by way of Agreement for Sale (AFS). Unfortunately, he had only a skimpy notion of the AFS concept and no actual education on how to apply the strategy. This blog post and podcast tell the tale of how we managed to pull the deal together and how my client could have saved a bunch of money by learning about the AFS strategy before trying to implement it. We’re hosti...
Aug 23, 2022•11 min
Podcast Episode 135: “Win-Win Real Estate Investing.” Here’s another success story from the lucrative Creative Real Estate Investing space. For would-be Canadian real estate investors, two of the biggest obstacles are building up cash for a deposit and qualifying for a mortgage. This Tale is an example of how one of our students creatively solved a seller’s problems while also acquiring properties with a minimal down payment and no mortgage. Sound impossible? We’ve taught hundreds of investors i...
Apr 26, 2022•12 min
Podcast Episode 134: “Wholesale Home Run!” For a change of pace, here is a positive Tale about a massive success in Canadian real estate investing. Longtime readers/listeners know that my Tales from the Trenches series is mostly about how buyers and sellers of real estate get themselves in trouble. It doesn’t matter whether folks are homeowners or whether they are investors, all aspects of real estate are full of minefields ready to explode. We look at those individual Tales, examine what went w...
Apr 07, 2022•15 min
Podcast Episode 133: “Foreclosure Timing Traps.” When searching for the ideal piece of real estate to buy, properties in foreclosure can be an interesting place to look. Are you an investor looking for a new rental property? Or maybe you’re a buyer looking for a dream home—or at least a property you can turn into your dream home. By considering foreclosures, you open up more options for yourself. Read or listen on to learn more about how timing a foreclosure deal can be tricky. https://barrymcgu...
Nov 10, 2021•16 min
Podcast Episode 132: “(Un)attached Goods, Defects, and Stigmas.” Negotiating an Offer to Purchase for a piece of real estate is about more than just the price. In this blog post, I’ll start by looking at two key points that must be worked out between buyer and seller: unattached goods and material latent defects. Then I’ll include a third topic that can be very important—but is often overlooked. https://barrymcguire.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Unattached-Goods-Defects-and-Stigmas.mp3 Download ...
Mar 03, 2021•10 min
Podcast Episode 131: “Renovation Heartbreak.” Dishonest, fly-by-night, or even inexperienced renovators can leave a trail of heartbreak. Buyers happily move into their newly-purchased, freshly-renovated home, but problems often don’t show up till later. Here are three recent scenarios from my real estate law practice in Edmonton, Alberta . First, I’ll discuss the problems, then I’ll talk about how best to avoid them. https://barrymcguire.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Renovation-Heartbreak.mp3 Do...
Nov 25, 2020•15 min
Podcast Episode 130: “Third Flood.” Recently, some Alberta homeowners finally ran out of patience when their property was flooded—again. They lived on the lower end of a sloped street, and water flowed down the block from the higher end when it rained. The curb had slumped in front of their home, allowing water to run over it, across the neighbour’s driveway, and onto the homeowner’s property, causing damage. After the third occurrence (yes, that’s right, three floods!), the homeowners decided t...
Oct 06, 2020•8 min
Podcast Episode 129: “Home-buyer’s Dilemma.” Seems like I’m always finding examples to write about regarding real property reports (RPR) and how they fit into a real estate transaction in Alberta. Land surveys, as RPRs are also known, should be simpler than they are. The standard AREA/MLS contract says that the seller will provide an RPR showing current improvements on the property along with written evidence of municipal compliance or non-conformance. Pretty straightforward, right? Regrettably,...
Aug 12, 2020•20 min
Podcast Episode 128: “Secondary Suite Grudge Match.” Would-be Calgary Landlord Builds Legally-Approved Secondary Suite but Gets Stifled by Restrictive Covenant on Title for Neighbourhood’s Single-Family Dwellings. And now for the main event! This Real Estate Regulation League title fight is scheduled for five rounds in the heavyweight division. At stake is the Secondary Suite Championship Belt! The reigning, defending, undisputed champion, Restrictive Covenant, is the long-time king of title enc...
Jul 08, 2020•15 min
Podcast Episode 127: “3×3 Permits.” This is the third Tale in my recent mini-series on Real Property Reports (RPR), municipal compliance, and building/development permits. Our first two Tales dealt with the maze of bureaucracy that surrounds permits and the dangers of not getting a clean RPR with compliance when buying real estate . As per usual, my examples are from Alberta, because that’s where I practise law , but these issues are relevant across Canada and beyond. My third and last instalmen...
Jun 02, 2020•18 min
Podcast Episode 126: “Trapped in a Permit Maze.” This Tale from the Trenches is the second in our ongoing mini-series on permits for real estate. You know, those sometimes-nasty bits of paper that towns, cities, counties, and other municipalities require before you can do certain types of work on a property. From my perspective as a real estate lawyer, I think it’s fair to say that the permit landscape has changed over the last few years in Alberta (and elsewhere across Canada), so it’s good to ...
Mar 23, 2020•17 min
Podcast Episode 125: “Hot Tub Trials and Tribulations.” This episode of Tales from the Trenches is shocking! A client had retained my legal services to help with purchasing her dream home in Edmonton, Alberta. The seller provided a brand-new real property report (RPR) to my client, who in turn sent the RPR to me for review. There were a few red flags, but not even decades of experience as a real estate lawyer could prepare me for what happened… https://barrymcguire.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/...
Feb 18, 2020•14 min
Podcast Episode 124: “Non-Resident Taxes Part II.” Like all things tax related, non-resident tax is complicated when it comes to buying and selling real estate in Canada. In February, 2016, I posted a lengthy blog on non-resident tax and how it can affect buyers, sellers, and realtors. Lots of liability and dangerous situations here, folks, so don’t treat non-resident tax lightly. If you have a non-resident tax situation, please read the previous post ( link ), and then dive into the case study ...
Dec 11, 2019•14 min
Podcast Episode 123: “Creative Real Estate Investors Panel.” Special one-hour dive into the trenches of Creative Real Estate in Canada… and Africa! Barry has gathered a panel of experts, veritable rock stars of Creative Strategies, to share their experiences and answer questions from the audience. The essence of Creative Real Estate Investing is knowing strategies and recognizing opportunities. Sometimes deals come along that don’t work for your usual approach. Knowing alternative strategies lik...
May 22, 2019•1 hr 6 min
Podcast Episode 122: “Water Is Coming”: Climate Change Preparedness for Homeowners and Real Estate Investors. Damaging floods are on the rise, whether as sewer backups, swollen rivers and lakes, rising ocean levels, or overland flooding. As a result, water related insurance claims have been rising, triggering changes to policies and premiums. If you own property—and especially property with a basement—it’s time to re-evaluate your preparedness. This blog post considers climate change and what it...
May 08, 2019•13 min
Podcast Episode 121: “Subdivision Nightmare.” Across Canada, there is an ongoing discussion about the lack of affordable housing. In some areas, developers won’t build rentals because building condos is more lucrative, because there are rent controls, or perhaps a combination of both situations. Some Canadians are completely priced out of the housing market—especially in the Great Toronto Area and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Even in Alberta, where I live and work as a real estate law...
Apr 17, 2019•10 min
Podcast Episode 120: “Property Management Nightmare.” I got an email recently from an unhappy investor about problems with his property manager in Edmonton. Real estate investing is all about relationships, and you need to be able to rely on the people in your team. Property managers are supposed to find tenants, collect rent, and deal with maintenance, among other things. The following Tale is an example of what can happen when you hire the wrong property manager—and how to do it the right way....
Jan 23, 2019•8 min
Podcast Episode 119: “A Deal That Went Bad and the Lessons Learned.” This edition of the Tales from the Trenches podcast features special guest Arden Dalik , a senior advisor in the Calgary office of Global Governance Advisors. Her Tale concerns a real estate investment project in Alberta presented to the REIN Group by a REIN member. Quite a number of REIN members invested in the project, including Arden. Unfortunately, the deal went bad, but I was able to come to Arden’s rescue as her real esta...
Aug 07, 2018•27 min
Podcast Episode 118: “Big Changes To The Standard AREA Contract.” September 2016 (with mild tweaks in July of 2017) brought numerous and meaningful changes to the existing 2014 residential purchase documentation approved by the Alberta Real Estate Association (AREA) . These changes affected both the Residential Purchase Contract used for all homes and houses and the Residential Resale Condominium Property Purchase Contract, used for condominiums. Existing wording has been modified and new wordin...
May 30, 2018•37 min
Podcast Episode 117: “ Estates Are Tricky! “ Real estate can cause all kinds of problems when a family member passes away. First, it can take a long time before the will is executed and the inheritor is actually in control of the property. Second, the person who inherits the property also inherits the financial responsibility (mortgage, taxes, etc.), which they end up responsible for even before they own the real estate! This Tale is about what happened when someone inherited a piece of property...
May 22, 2018•9 min
Podcast Episode 116: “Failure To Close? More Than Your Deposit Is At Risk!” A real estate purchase contract is a legally binding agreement. If the buyer doesn’t meet their obligations by closing the purchase, there can be financial repercussions. At a minimum, the buyer will lose their deposit. But it can be far, far worse. In this Tale, a BC real estate buyer didn’t close and ended up paying for it after the courts ruled in favour of the seller. https://barrymcguire.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/0...
May 09, 2018•5 min
Podcast Episode 115: “Flipping / Assigning Properties? Don’t Go To Jail!” Not too long ago, I wrote a blog post about the legalities of flipping properties using a Creative Investing Strategy called “assignment.” Now I’m making that topic available as a podcast because I want Canadian investors to have every opportunity to make money without getting on the wrong side of the law. In a hot real estate market, flipping properties by assigning your interest in the purchase can be lucrative. Just mak...
Apr 29, 2018•13 min
Podcast Episode 114: “Real Estate Between Friends and Family.” It might seem easier to invest in real estate with people you know and love because you already trust them. Actually, you still need to do the same amount of due diligence, if not more! When you get into real estate deals with friends and family, there’s more at risk than just money. This podcast is about protecting your relationships if you choose to invest in property with the people closest to you. https://barrymcguire.ca/wp-conte...
Feb 20, 2018•4 min
Podcast Episode 113: “So, You Want To Be A ‘Flipper.’” There is a whole section of the real estate investment world known as ‘flipping.’ Basically, flipping is when an investor gets control of a property by signing a purchase contract, but rapidly sells it to someone else for a profit. Don R. Campbell of Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) fame has long cautioned against the most common form of flipping, which is to invest in condominium pre-sales. This is a Tale about a client of mine who got...
Feb 13, 2018•3 min
Podcast Episode 112: “Insurance Realities.” This is a Tale of woe about property insurance, including some ideas about how to make sure you have enough coverage. After heavy rains in Edmonton, a bunch of my clients had flooded basements. Not surprisingly, many of them couldn’t make insurance claims to cover the damage. Why, you ask? Because insurance policies are intricate legal contracts, and insurance companies won’t pay unless your problem is covered exactly by the terms and conditions… https...
Feb 06, 2018•3 min
Podcast Episode 111: “Keep Your Joint Venture Up-to-Date.” In real estate, as in all facets of life, things change. A detailed contract or written agreement can protect your investments, but you’re still vulnerable if you don’t follow the terms exactly. A client of mine organized a joint venture with 15 investors to buy an apartment building in Alberta. They used a written Joint Venture to structure the deal, but later changed some aspects with only verbal agreement. This Tale is about what happ...
Jan 30, 2018•4 min
Podcast Episode 110: “Get the Details.” A client of mine found a four-plex in Alberta with a motivated seller, but soon discovered that he would have to deal with problems caused by the seller’s inexperience. The location was good, with a tenant profile that fit the type of people that my client liked to rent to. And, the price was very good. Listen to the podcast or read on to learn about documents you can use to protect your interests when buying from sellers like this who haven’t been very go...
Jan 15, 2018•3 min
Podcast Episode 109: “Foreclosures, Creative Deals, and Court.” This Tale is about taking good notes when you appear in court as the buyer of real estate in foreclosure. My client was a creative kind of guy and he found a property in Alberta where the mortgage payments weren’t being made. The seller was still living in the home but trying to sell and get out from under the foreclosure. After some conversation, my client put together a creative deal that the seller and the seller’s lawyer both li...
Oct 23, 2017•4 min
Podcast Episode 108: “RRSP Mortgages and the CRA.” Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) mortgages, the supposed Holy Grail of private lending. I hear it all the time. Borrowers of all stripes believe there is a vast pot of money held in RRSP accounts just waiting to be lent to them. And, to some extent, that’s true. There are lots of folks with lots of RRSP money tucked away. Maybe you’ve thought about leveraging your RRSP to become a lender yourself. But, like everything else run by the go...
Oct 15, 2017•5 min
Podcast Episode 107: “Conditions, Lost Deposits, and Collapsed Deals.” In other Tales from the Trenches I’ve talked about the importance of accomplishing sufficient diligence on any property purchase to say that you have done ‘Due Diligence.’ It’s worth repeating here because it’s so important. The notion of doing or accomplishing your own Due Diligence is what allows you to make a buying decision. Will you buy or not buy? In this Tale, a deal falls through because of a lack of diligence regardi...
Oct 08, 2017•3 min
