Your 1st Rental Property Should be A Condo in Burlington

August 19th, 2015

My wife and I bought our 1st rental property in April 2010.  It was a condo in North Burlington.  We had it rented out a month later and have had the same tenants ever since.  I was 37 years old at the time.

You may ask ‘why a condo?’ and ‘why Burlington?’  Well, I am in my early 40’s and have wanted to get into rental properties since my late 20’s.  My dad and older brother always talked about getting into the market to try and earn some passive income.  It took almost 10 years to pull trigger.  

I always wanted to buy in a city that: I lived close to;  was growing; and had quality tenants.  It just made sense to go with Burlington.  It was always rated one of the best cities to live in all the studies at the time.  

I wanted to start with the condo market initially because I am not the handiest person.  A benefit of condos is that most of the maintenance is covered within the condo fees.  That was definitely appealing to my wife and I.  Another reason is that most renters are usually single or couples.  They tend to rent smaller places which condos definitely fit that need.  Finally average condos prices are usually lower than the average townhouse and average detached homes.  We didn’t have much money back then so this was also a positive.  However, with pros their is cons.  With condos, you as the owner are not in total control.  There is condo corporation which directs the operation of the condo corporation.  So, if not managed properly, condos fees can increase higher than normal inflation. Plus, another drawback is that you can’t alter/renovate your condo any way you want.  There is sometimes restrictions on structural modifications you want to perform.  An
example would be removing or adding walls.

The pros of a condo rental property definitely outweigh the cons.  It is the first step to financial independence if done properly.