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<\/p>\nFor investors lacking one, a background in construction might seem like the ultimate missed opportunity. What other field provides you with skills that allow you to evaluate the guts of a property or greatly reduce the cost of extensive renovations? What better way to prepare yourself for your initial infill project or the inevitable repairs demanded by your first large-scale multi-unit property?<\/p>\n
But those looking at construction from the outside are generally unaware \u2013 especially at a time when demand for new housing in Canada\u2019s largest markets seems unquenchable \u2013 of the industry\u2019s feast-or-famine nature. \u201cEither you\u2019re busy,\u201d says Brian McGuckian, \u201cor you\u2019re dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGuckian followed his father into construction after completing high school. It wasn\u2019t long before he learned just how painful those gaps between jobs could be. Maintaining a steady income was proving challenging in the family\u2019s adopted hometown of Toronto \u2013 McGuckian and his parents immigrated to the city from England when he was 7 \u2013 so, after a four-year slog of hits and misses, he decided to venture back to London to ply his trade and create more stability for himself.<\/p>\n
That stability wouldn\u2019t come in the form of a steady paycheck, but rather in the form of McGuckian\u2019s new bride, Maria, whom he met during a trip to Ibiza in 1983. Within a year of their wedding, the couple was back in Toronto. While Maria\u2019s nursing background allowed her to find consistent work right away, Brian was faced with the same prospects as before. Over the course of the next decade, he started a number of other businesses to supplement his income \u2013 supplying labour to homebuilders, exporting Corvettes to the UK \u2013 but a deeper satisfaction remained elusive.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I was meant for better things,\u201d he says. \u201cI always knew there was something out there that, sooner or later, we\u2019d be able to capitalize on. It was just a matter of: What is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer to McGuckian\u2019s question materialized late one night when a confident, undersized Vietnamese man sailed onto his television screen on a rented yacht. Surrounded by a bevy of bikini-clad models (also rented) who seemed completely indifferent to him, Tom Vu promised financial freedom through real estate. The general awfulness of Vu\u2019s infomercials did nothing to blunt their overall message: If this guy can do it, so can you.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we could never find anything with a Canadian base to it,\u201d McGuckian says. \u201cIt was never a Canadian home. It was the Americanized version, and I knew that wouldn\u2019t really cut it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hungry for a pursuit that would satisfy his unrelenting desire for something more \u2013 and for the less cartoonish aspects of Tom Vu\u2019s success \u2013 McGuckian started educating himself about the power of cash flow and team-building. \u201cThat basically started the wheels in motion for me and my wife,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Inexperience as an asset<\/strong> \u201cI didn\u2019t have a clue what a lease looked like,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn\u2019t have a clue about any of that stuff. It was 100% fly by the seat of your pants.\u201d<\/p>\n But rather than hold the couple back, their lack of knowledge gave the McGuckians free rein to experiment and find simple, innovative cures for a number of common landlord headaches, namely getting rid of problem tenants. \u201cInstead of relying on the standard kangaroo court of the [Landlord and Tenant Board] tribunal in Ontario,\u201d he says, \u201cit was so much easier just to give them moving money.\u201d<\/p>\n When it comes to ingratiating himself with new tenants, McGuckian says one of the best ways he has found is to bring them gifts upon moving in \u2013 and at Christmas, too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really takes away a lot of the hassles of the day-to-day maintenance of properties,\u201d he says, adding that doing so encourages tenants to take care of small issues themselves rather than annoying their generous and thoughtful landlord. \u201cYou\u2019re investing in a customer who\u2019s paying you anywhere between $12,000 and $20,000 a year.\u201d<\/p>\n In more recent years, McGuckian has turned to the internet to find clever ways of determining what renters are willing to pay. He recently posted a series of dummy ads on Kijiji to find out what tenants would pay for a two-car garage in Toronto\u2019s Little Italy neighbourhood. By increasing the amount posted in each ad by $100, McGuckian found that the magic number was $600. \u201cAnd you wouldn\u2019t believe what they put in it,\u201d he laughs. \u201cI don\u2019t think the two cars are worth $600.\u201d<\/p>\n Paradise calling<\/strong> Instead of focusing on a single area, McGuckian pulled the trigger on deals whenever they popped up in a top 10 Ontario market and there were joint-venture partners hungry for a smart purchase. \u201cIn the end it\u2019s worked out, because everyone is very happy with the results we\u2019ve been able to obtain using our system,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n McGuckian abandoned Ontario altogether for two of his most profitable single-family properties. At a time when Canadian investors might be questioning further forays into the US market, McGuckian\u2019s continued success in Florida speaks to the area\u2019s enduring appeal.<\/p>\n While his first purchase \u2013 a one-bedroom waterfront condo in St. Petersburg nabbed for only $92,000 \u2013 was essentially a painless impulse buy, the second \u2013 a condo hotel unit in Treasure Island \u2013 was purchased for $200,000 in 2007, mere months before wildly irresponsible lending practices helped flip the world economy on its head, leaving Florida\u2019s market severely concussed.<\/p>\n As the market continued its brutal, multi-year meltdown and McGuckian found himself pouring more money than he could afford into the unit, another manmade disaster \u2013 the Deepwater Horizon oil spill \u2013 hit Florida. Vacancies skyrocketed, as did McGuckian\u2019s anxiety. If it weren\u2019t for a $25,000 cheque from British Petroleum, holding onto the property would have soon become impossible.<\/p>\n Narrowly escaped catastrophes aside, McGuckian is still bullish on Florida real estate. Prices are fair, and Canada\u2019s rapidly aging population virtually guarantees a steady stream of snowbirds as tenants; the two properties he owns net $25,000 a year in rent. He says investors worried about managing their properties from a distance have little to worry about \u2013 maintenance crews are the same phone call away, no matter where an owner lives \u2013 especially if they rent their units for a minimum of 30 days. \u201cTypically, when people rent for 30 days, they\u2019re going to treat the place like their home,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to treat it like someone who\u2019s spending three days in a hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n When CREW spoke to McGuckian, he and his wife were a few weeks into their most recent Florida getaway, steeping themselves in sunshine and crunching the numbers for the possible purchase of their first largescale apartment building \u2013 rewards creating opportunities rather than the other way around. Whether he envisioned luxury or freedom when he went in search of better things, Brian McGuckian can now enjoy his share of both.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For investors lacking one, a background in construction might seem like the ultimate missed opportunity. What other field provides you with skills that allow you to evaluate the guts of a property or greatly reduce the cost of extensive renovations? 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\nThe McGuckians\u2019 first purchase was an underperforming four-plex in Orangeville, Ontario. Even though Orangeville was barely a blip on investor radars 30 years ago, the initial price \u2013 $310,000 \u2013 was considerable at that time. But McGuckian says the property\u2019s untapped potential outweighed the couple\u2019s apprehensions and inexperience.<\/p>\n
\nRather than staying focused on a particular region, McGuckian expanded his portfolio to include properties in Brampton, Kitchener and Guelph. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t the way they teach you,\u201d he acknowledges.<\/p>\n