Getting Creative

AirBnB’s got a bit of a bad rep in Charlottetown over the years and I get it. Some people can’t find a place to live and the older downtown homes that had slowly become affordable rentals over the years were being bought, fixed up to be historical and quaint and then rented out for multiple times more. But we were those who benefited from the AirBnB market and we did it creatively without taking any rentals off the market. It was uncomfortable and a bit of a pain in the ass, but it helped us live for almost-free for 2 more years (as the first year we were living in the duplex and our downstairs tenant was covering most of the mortgage.)

We were those who benefited from the AirBnB market and we did it creatively, without taking any rentals off the market.

In 2016, we bought this small house on an even smaller lot on Gerald Street. It was the cutest little yellow house you ever did see. And it was totally an impulse purchase!

We saw it online on Sunday morning, reached out to our REALTOR® and she got us in on Monday. We wrote the offer while we were at the house, sitting at the kitchen table. We hadn’t spoken to our mortgage broker yet so we only assumed we could afford it.

Little Yellow on Gerald Street.

We were wanting to grow our property portfolio - our impression of this house was:

• Affordable - chances are we would be fine to purchase this property with only 5% down

• Not a huge property - this house would be a good rental because of that.

• Downtown location - great for AirBnB

• Cute, historical, quaint, small - PERFECT for AirBnB

So we got it to all come together and we became the new owners of Little Yellow.

But wait - we were looking for a house for us to live in. We didn’t want to be living in the duplex when we had kids…right? So where would we live if we were putting Little Yellow on AirBnB? Well we did move in to Little Yellow for the first year. We had to get the house set up, the heating system and electrical panel upgraded and furnish the house for an AirBnB rental.

When we moved into Little Yellow, we rented the upstairs unit of our duplex to some very lovely AVC students. The original tenant from when we purchased the duplex was still living in the basement unit and his rent was below market value.

In March 2017, we gave the downstairs tenant notice that we would be moving in to the basement unit of the duplex. We were planning to live in the basement unit while we had Little Yellow on AirBnB for May-September and then, come September, we would rent the basement unit as a furnished rental on a 9 month lease. This was a great option for a student who wanted a place during the school year and was willing to pay a bit more per month for a furnished rental on a shorter lease.

Oh yeah, and I was pregnant.

We did this for 2 summers (and 2 pregnancies). Each May, we would move in to the duplex for the summer and rent out Little Yellow on AirBnB. This creative arrangement made our properties work extra hard for us and enabled us to live rent free for 2 years. There was some extra work that went into it, beyond just moving back and forth while pregnant/with a newborn but we made it work.

And it paid off.

If you want to know more about how we made this work for us, Let’s Chat…I will go through how the numbers looked for us and we can come up with a creative plan for making your property work for you.

Tattoos and Houses

Buying a home and getting a tattoo. One is more intimidating than the other - but which one??

To me, whether or not to buy a house is a simple yes or no - I don’t over-think it. I don’t get bogged down in the details of the flooring or the paint or even the layout of the house - I can work with it or change it. No biggie!

Out of the past 3 houses we have bought, we have looked 5 houses - TOTAL. In fact, in 2 of those purchases, we bought the first and only house we looked at. And we made the offer on the day we looked at the house! We just “know” if the house will work for us or not.

Realtor Sidebar - making a want/needs/hard-no’s list helps you initially figure out if the house is even worth looking at.

But y’all, seriously, I have been thinking about and looking at, and wondering about getting a tattoo for twenty years! And I might be getting close to finally committing to one - but for now, I’m still thinking about it. I know that there are so many people out there who don’t see tattoo’s the same way that I do. Tattoos to them are houses to me - they just know and they just do it!

The turning point in me finally being (almost) ready to get a tattoo - I’ve found someone I know, like and trust - so maybe I’ll let her stab me repeatedly with a needle. I know that I can go to her and she will help guide me through the process of getting the tattoo. The process before just seemed so scary and permanent and like I would be wasting their time.

(In all honesty - I have no idea what tattoo’s cost and if one would even be worth the price in my mind. So I’ll keep you updated on the tattoo debate.)

To me, tattoo’s are sooo freaking permanent - how will I know that I will still appreciate the tattoo in 5 years? So I get it…for some people, buying a house can seem just as huge.

You should know, that REALTORS® love talking about houses. You are not wasting our time asking questions. I love houses and teaching people important things so being a REALTOR is a natural fit for me. Please, ask me questions - and if you are asking me questions about buying a house that you are truly curious about, it’s probably not a stupid question. Our entire job is to guide you through the process of buying and/or selling your property - so for goodness sake, find someone that you connect with and trust.

So if you are in the confused and indecisive loop of buying a house and you don’t know what to do, I know how you feel. Maybe when you find a REALTOR® that you know, like and trust to guide you through the process, then you will feel more confident about the buying process. It doesn’t have to be the first one you meet, or your neighbour, cousin, or the best-friend of your second-cousins ex-husband. You find your person.

For now, I’m going to go think on the tattoo question at least one more day.

The 6 places I would actually take my kids to eat in Charlottetown (Canada Games edition)

It’s almost time for the Canada Games. So if you are here visiting our lovely island from away, Welcome! I hope you don’t blow away.

With so many people coming to PEI in the off season, finding the best places to eat that are family friendly and not just fast food can be a bit more difficult. So here is my list of restaurants in Charlottetown, PEI that I would actually take my kids to.

1. Boom Burger -This is our all-time go-to choice if we are going out to eat. Simple burgers that are so yummy; the fries, amazing; the poutine, best I have had in a while! They also have lettuce bun options and a few other menu items for those that don’t like burgers. Website

2. Maid Marians Diner - A classic diner and a staple in any diner’s list in Charlottetown. Website

3. Cedar’s Eatery - A well-loved downtown restaurant that offers Canadian and Lebanese foods. Website

4. Casa Mia - This is a bit on the fancier side but if you are looking for a place to get some amazing eats, this is the place. With a fabulous brunch menu, this place is my go to for late morning meals. Website

Brunch of champions for this kiddo from Casa Mia!

5. Pizza Donair Hub, Cornwall - A newer addition to the restaurant scene in PEI, this joint is right next door to Seven’s Pinballorama so you can fill the kids up and tire them out, all in 1 stop. Website

6. Sam’s Restaurant (Charlottetown and Cornwall) - The menu at this restaurant probably has something for everyone. Pizza, burgers, wraps. If you have a gaggle of kids that all want something different, this is a great option. Website

Bank Vs. Broker

This past couple of weeks, I have been sitting down with local mortgage brokers to chat about the services they offer clients and get a feel for who they are. I have had 2 coffees and an office chat and I still have a couple more appointments to come. It has been great sitting down and talking with local, professional, experts who see another angle of the real estate market.

Buying a house, that can be fun and exciting - I mean, who doesn’t love endlessing scrolling the MLS® looking and dreaming of their next home?? But, actually paying for that house, that is intimidating. And let’s not even talk about the feeling you have when you have to go get the bank draft for the downpayment when you finally purchase the house!

Since our first purchase in 2015, we have bought 3 other properties, which means shopping around for 4 mortgages, plus we refinanced one mortgage. Shopping for 5 mortgages in the past 8 years has given me some perspective on the banks vs. brokers conundrum.

For our first purchase, we actually visited all the major banks to talk about mortgages and what they have to offer. One bank actually told us that if we went out and found the rate we wanted at a different bank to bring it back to them and they would match it. Basically, you go out and do allllllll the work, and then come back here.

“Um, NO!”

Ultimately, when it comes down to talking with someone about your mortgage needs, you should:

• Speak with someone you trust

• Maybe talk to two or three different people, one of which should be your bank.

Comparing mortgages sometimes can feel like comparing apples and apples. A mortgage broker can help you make sense of what the terms of each mortgage offers you.

For our most recent purchase, we spoke with both a private mortgage broker and our bank We ended up getting a slightly better rate through our bank and a substantial reimbursement on some of our fees, which ultimately in the end made more financial sense. But, I do usually prefer working with a mortgage broker.

Here are a couple reasons I prefer a broker over the bank:

• I find mortgage brokers aren’t trying to slip anything past you. Maybe it was because of Covid and we were trying to get a mortgage appointment in while having the kids watch TV in the car, which means my husband and I were taking turns going back and forth between the mortgage specialist at the bank and the van. This means that everyone’s attention was split and not focused on the task at hand but I just felt like there were definitely things that were not well explained. My history with a mortgage broker has always been that everything was very well explained because they are there to do best by you, not the bank’s interest!

• They do the shopping around for the best rate for you and have multiple options about where they find the best deal to work for your needs.

• They can work with alternative lenders based on your financial situation to help you achieve your goals!

If you are thinking of buying a new property in the near or distant future, it doesn’t hurt to sit down with a mortgage broker to see what you should focus on in the immediate future to help you achieve your goals. They can help you come up with a plan to get you into your next dream property on your timeline.

If you are just starting to think about buying your next home, a great place to start is to have a complete understanding of how you spend your money. I recommend using You Need a Budget. This amazing software/app can really help you gain a full understanding of how much money you are spending, on what, and what your true cost of living is. It can also help you plan for the purchase of you home by seeing how much you can truly afford for the purchase. Don’t plan to go “house broke” when you buy your house. Know that you can afford the home that you are purchasing and understand, technically being able to afford something and actually being able to afford something can be two totally different things. The bank or broker might tell you that, based on numbers, you can technically afford $XXX,000. But what does your budget ACTUALLY tell you that you can afford.

The Real Estate Dream

When I was in my early twenties, I remember one specific nugget of advice that my dad gave me (there were lots but this one really stuck with me).

“If I could do it again, for our first house, I would have bought a duplex.”

Here is a man who has put himself through university, got a job, bought a cheap house in the country, fixed it up while working full time and raising his young family and has been moving his way up in houses over the years. The house they were living in at the time was a wonderfully comfortable, family home more than large enough for all of us. And still, he had a thought about how he could have done something better. And it stuck with me.

When Tyler and I talked about buying our first home, this long remembered piece of advice was discussed and we decided that yeah, buying a duplex for our first home WAS a great idea. We could live in half, charge rent for the other half and essentially live almost rent free. So we did.

As we searched, for each property that we looked at, we evaluated the price, the rent numbers, the bills, etc. We had a spreadsheet that gave an extrapolated income versus expenses for each property (we were both in our nerd element here) - we needed to know that we could cover the expenses of the property for several months without any rental income coming in. In the end, we only looked at 5 or 6 properties before we made an offer. and we were ready to jump at the property when we found it because we had been doing our homework.

And so we did it - we jumped at the opportunity to buy our first property. Four year later, we did sell it when we were expecting our third kiddo. Today, I joke that we traded our investment property for a minivan, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.