Q: We have an older home on the west side. We have a lane and we were told that if we build a laneway home it would be more profitable to sell?
A: First off, depending on where you are located on the west side, you may have a $1.5 million asset already -just in the lot value -if your home is on a 33-foot lot.
If it is on a 50-foot lot … it may be over $2 million. A 500-to 600-square-foot laneway home may cost $200,000 to $300,000.
A laneway home also on a 33-foot lot often eliminates a lot of the backyard. I would not do it.
On the 50-foot lot, it may work better. But I would get a builder to draw up plans, get quotes and sell the idea of the laneway home … but if someone pays that kind of money for the lot they likely have their own ideas. If on the east side, I would definitely consider it as ‘the mortgage helper” that may make a difference.
We have purchased rental properties that we rent out as furnished suites. We have used our heloc to purchase these. They make us very nice positive cash flow. My question is; should we be paying down our heloc or putting this extra $$$ onto our mortgage. We don,t want to pay the tax on them if we can find other alternatives.