Real estate investing involves the purchase, ownership, management, rental and/or sale of real estate for profit. Improvement of realty property as part of a real estate investment strategy is generally considered to be a sub-specialty of real estate investing called real estate development.

Real estate assets are typically very expensive in comparison to other widely-available investment instruments (such as stocks or bonds). Only rarely will real estate investors pay the entire amount of the purchase price of a property in cash. Usually, a large portion of the purchase price will be financed using some sort of financial instrument or debt, such as a mortgage loan collateralized by the property itself.

Homebuyers, including first-time buyers, usually use the Internet for the preliminary work of finding homes for sale and collecting information on neighborhoods and recent sales. But those buyers, particularly if they are first-timers, often use real-estate agents to identify long-term value in properties, negotiate prices and ensure that deals go through.

If you are new to real estate investing you may be overwhelmed by the options and choices you have seen or heard about. And you may be concerned that you do not have the money or credit to get started. You may even wonder if real estate investing is for you.

When a non-resident sells Canadian real estate, he/she is required to pay the appropriate amount of taxes on any capital gain. The normal Canadian tax rates will be applied to 50% of the gain. However, a non-resident is required to pay an estimate of the tax before the sale, an amount equal to 25% of the gain. This amount is to be retained by the seller’s lawyer until such time as a clearance certificate is received from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in connection with the sale of the property.

Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) is a combination of GST and PST and is used in British Columbia, Ontario, and the Atlantic provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia. The HST is collected by the Canada Revenue Agency, which then remits the appropriate amounts to the participating provinces. Every province except Alberta has implemented either a provincial sales tax or the Harmonized Sales Tax.

After finding your home and ensuring your financing is in place, the most important step is to have your property inspected by a competent Home or Commercial Property inspector. The Commercial Building Inspector in Toronto has the experience and knowledge to protect your hard earned investment dollars.