I was dead wrong about duplexes being a bad investment

Three years ago I thought buying a duplex in London, Ontario was a sucker's move. My buddy kept pushing the idea but I figured you'd just get nightmare tenants and crap returns. He went ahead and bought one near Western University for $480,000 back in 2021. Two years later his mortgage is getting paid by the upstairs unit alone and he's pulling in $2,100 a month from the downstairs. The property's also up like 80k in value. Anyone else have an investment they passed on that turned out to be a goldmine?

2 comments

2 Comments

brookep273d ago

That 80k in value is probably more like 60k if we're being real. London's market cooled off a bit from the crazy highs in 2022, so the peak might have been higher but the current value depends on when you actually check it. Still, 60k of equity in 2 years plus rental income is a solid win no matter how you slice it. I know someone who bought a duplex in Kitchener around the same time and the numbers are similar, maybe even a little better since Waterloo Region has more demand from tech workers. The headache part is real though, not everyone can handle being a landlord.

blake4324d ago

Buddy kept pushing" - wish I'd listened to mine on a similar deal. Missed out on a triplex in Hamilton back in 2020 because I was scared of the headaches. Now that guy's sitting on like 150k in equity and I'm still renting. Hurts to think about doesn't it?