Buy
Buy a rental building with 5% down.
From fourplexes to 100-unit buildings, including new buildings bought before they're finished. We check every property's numbers ourselves before we show it to you.
Tell me what's availableIs this for you?
This is for you if…
You want your first rental building and 5% down makes it possible.
You're adding to a portfolio and want buildings that fit MLI Select rules.
You want someone to rebuild the seller's numbers before you make an offer.
How it works
The steps, in order.
- 01Free call to set your budgetWhat you can put down, what you can carry, and which market fits.20 minutes
- 02We match properties to your numbersWe only send buildings that clear your budget after we've run them.1–2 weeks
- 03Review the full numbersRents, expenses, taxes, and the MLI Select point score, line by line.1 week
- 04Offer and financingWe negotiate, then structure the MLI Select mortgage with your lender.2–6 weeks
- 05CloseInspections, conditions and paperwork handled with you.30–60 days
- 06Property management or hand-offOur in-house manager runs it, or we set you up to run it yourself.At closing
What a building earns
A real example
Two buildings on our desk.
One is a brand-new building bought before completion; the other is an older, fully rented building with room to raise rents. Both are typical of what we work with.
- Units analyzed
- 841
- Cities
- Calgary + Edmonton
- Min down
- 5%
- Typical close
- 30–60 days
Debt coverage and returns shown are as presented by the sellers and re-checked by us, not guarantees.
Diletto Park View, Stony Plain
- Units
- 60 stacked townhomes
- Price
- $18.0M
- Per unit
- $300,000
- Debt coverage
- 1.13×
- Note
- Buying before completion
30-suite building, Drumheller
- Status
- 100% occupied
- Price
- $2.7M
- Per unit
- $90,000
- Starting return
- 8.83%
- Note
- Older building, room to raise rents
Our method
What we check before anything else.
- 01
One freehold title
A single title finances as one commercial asset. A condominium plan means separate titles, condo fees, and a completely different lending picture.
- 02
MLI Select scoring designed in
Affordability, energy and accessibility points have to be in the drawings. "We'll look at the scoring after permits" means the terms aren't locked.
- 03
Product the market doesn't have
If the builder is delivering the same product as everyone else, the rent assumptions are competing with supply that's already coming.
- 04
Demand anchored to employers who don't leave
A hospital, a school division, a university, an industrial corridor. Population growth alone isn't a thesis.
- 05
An operating cost profile that matches the product
No elevators, no lobbies, tenants paying their own utilities. That's what carries an expense ratio below 30%.
| Rate | Debt coverage | Cash flow per month |
|---|---|---|
| 4.60% | 1.08 | $6,309 |
| 4.35% | 1.13 | $9,382 |
| 4.20% | 1.16 | $11,202 |
| 3.85% | 1.23 | $15,377 |
At 4.60% this project falls below CMHC's 1.10 floor. That's what a three-point cushion means in practice.
Our method
What makes us walk away.
Preconstruction packages are professionally produced and designed to be persuasive. These are the findings that end the conversation regardless of the headline numbers.
- 01
A condominium plan
If the parcel isn't one freehold title, the deal we were shown isn't the deal that exists.
- 02
Rent growth required to clear coverage
If the model needs 2.5% annual rent growth to reach 1.10, it doesn't reach 1.10. Growth is upside, never load-bearing.
- 03
Scoring that isn't confirmed
Points that are "expected" are points you don't have — and so is every number derived from them.
- 04
No delivery track record
A builder's first purpose-built rental is your construction risk, not theirs. We want completed projects we can walk.
- 05
Deposits with no protection
Deposits held without trust protection mean the construction risk transferred to you quietly.
On our desk
Newest available
Edmonton
Stacked fourplex
- Units
- 4
- Price
- $1,250,000
- Status
- Available
Calgary
24-unit apartment
- Units
- 24
- Price
- $7,900,000
- Status
- Available
Calgary region
Preconstruction rental
- Units
- 48
- Price
- Call for pricing
- Status
- Preconstruction
What it costs
Typical costs.
With MLI Select, the money down is smaller than most people expect. Here's where the cash goes on a typical purchase.
| Item | Typical cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Down payment | 5% of purchase price | On qualifying MLI Select buildings. |
| Deposit with offer | $25K–$100K | Becomes part of your down payment at closing. |
| Inspection and reports | $3K–$8K | Building condition, environmental where needed. |
| Legal fees | $2K–$5K | Purchase plus financing documents. |
| CMHC insurance premium | Varies by loan size | Usually added to the mortgage. |
- Older buildings often need a condition assessment; we tell you before you write an offer.
- We don't charge buyers a fee on buildings we bring you — we're paid through the sale.
Questions
Straight answers.
Can I really buy with 5% down?
Yes — on rental buildings with 5 or more units that qualify for CMHC MLI Select. Fourplexes are treated as residential and follow different rules, usually 20% down. We'll tell you exactly which program applies to a building before you offer.
Is buying before completion riskier?
It's a different risk, not necessarily a bigger one. You're buying a building that doesn't exist yet, so we check the builder, the deposits are held properly, and the financing is pre-arranged. The upside is you often pay today's price for a building finished in a year or two.
Do you verify the seller's numbers?
Always. Every rent, expense and tax figure gets rebuilt by us. If a building doesn't hold up to that, we tell you and we don't send it.
Who manages the building after closing?
Your choice. We have property management in-house — the same people who write the rent-up plans — or we'll hand everything over if you run your own.
What areas do you cover?
Calgary and Edmonton first, and anywhere else in Alberta where the numbers make sense. We know the small-city markets too, like Stony Plain and Drumheller above.
Next step
Tell me what's available.
Tell us your budget and what you're looking for. We'll send buildings that fit — with the numbers already checked.
Prefer to talk? Call Joshua at 403-305-9167