Legal, Tax and Accounting Strategies for the Canadian Real Estate Investor

Legal, Tax and Accounting Strategies for the Canadian Real Estate Investor begins and ends with the premise that buying property in Canada can be a smart, safe and successful way to invest your money. However, like most things in life, success requires hard work. You need to do your homework, understand what you are buying, and know the pros and cons of various decisions. Most importantly, you also need to know how to structure and maintain your investment. That's where we come in. Experience is a good teacher-but its lessons can be nasty and, in the real estate business, mistakes can cost you big bucks. Our goal with this book is to help you do it right-the first time. Rest assured that this book covers a vast range of topics and you're going to appreciate its breadth and depth if you're wondering about things like whether: You should opt for a sole proprietorship versus a partnership or corporate ownership strategy. There are things you can do to manage the way HST impacts your real estate investment business. You need information about the tax implications of a real estate disposition. You can change your bookkeeping system to better meet your needs and those of your accountant. Who Are We? This book was written by two individuals whose collective experience in helping Canadians make wise property investment decisions spans several decades. Steve Cohen is a securities lawyer with a great deal of experience in the real estate sector. George Dube is a chartered accountant whose knowledge is based on many years of helping clients with their property buying needs. Both Steve and George are real estate investors themselves. Working from this foundation, we have put together the definitive guide on how to build a successful real estate portfolio in Canada from a legal, tax and accounting perspective.

Foreword vii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Eyes Wide Open 7 Chapter 2: Building a Successful Team 17 Chapter 3: Mastering the Basics 29 Chapter 4: Structuring Your Acquisitions 49 Chapter 5: Structuring Your Acquisitions with a Large-Scale Joint Venture 89 Chapter 6: Structuring Your Real Estate Business 105 Chapter 7: Owning Your Properties 115 Chapter 8: More Tax Strategies for Property Ownership 153 Chapter 9: Structuring Dispositions 167 Chapter 10: Tax Considerations on Dispositions 183 Chapter 11: Estate-Planning Considerations 195 Chapter 12: Keeping the Books 205 Appendix 1: Joint Venture Agreement Checklist 227 Appendix 2: Legal Considerations Relating to Syndicate Offerings—Investor Checklist 231 Appendix 3: Legal Considerations Relating to Syndicate Offerings—Promoter Checklist 233 Acknowledgements 235 About the Authors 237 Index 239