My wife and I wanted to buy our first rental property. We decided to look in a few different markets across the GTA, one of which was Peterborough. We knew very little about real estate investing and knew that for our first property we would need to rely heavily on a knowledgeable real estate agent to help us. Therefore, we wanted a real estate agent from the Peterborough area who knew the market and had their finger on the pulse. One day I just called Alket's office and he picked up the phone. I introduced myself and explained that I wanted to buy a house in PTBO and become a first-time landlord. We arranged to have a meeting the next day via Zoom video call to discuss things further. So the next day, Alket and I spoke for about an hour. Alket was extremely knowledgeable about real estate investing and showed me several homes that were currently on the market that he thought would fit our strategy and comfort level. Fast forward a couple days (that’s right, a couple days!) and Alket located a nice little bungalow that had just hit the market (this turned out to be the house we bought as our first investment property. I arranged to meet Alket the following day to visit the house. When I met him the next day, I could tell something was a bit off. Alket proceeded to show me throughout the house, pointing out the positives and negatives, things to watch out for and consider as an investor, and even helped break down the expenses vs expected monthly income for me. Alket answered EVERY one of my questions (and believe me I had a lot since this was a huge risk for my family and never done it before). Alket never once made me feel rushed, took time to answer every question, and educated as we walked through the house. He was exactly what I needed out of a realtor for buying my first investment property. When we were leaving the house it had come up through conversation that his uncle had passed away earlier in the day. I couldn’t believe it! Alket had just taken the time to show me a house after receiving that gut-wrenching news. I could now tell he was grieving but had obviously pushed it aside to show me the house. I can guarantee there is no other realtor (who I had just met by the way) who would have shown a house after receiving that kind of news. That experience spoke volumes about his dedication, work ethic, and customer loyalty. The next day, I told Alket my wife and I wanted to put in an offer. We made the leap of faith and decided to pull the trigger. Alket pulled some current and recent comps for us to go through and we came up with THE NUMBER. The number we chose was our best and final. We didn’t have time to fool around, and couldn’t risk a bidding war. Alket knew this was a huge risk for us and out of our comfort zone to be honest. I’m married with two children, and a third on the way. I was maxed out and this real estate endeavour was intended to make a better future for my growing family. Alket knew how much it meant to me and also knew how important it was to achieve a positive outcome at THE NUMBER I gave him. Well, needless to say, Alket got it done!  Despite multiple offers, Alket went to battle and knew what the sellers wanted. Our offer turned out to be in the same price range as another offer on the table, however, Alket knew what the sellers wanted and, in this case, it was a short closing date with no conditions (which we were comfortable with). Alket negotiated his butt-off and came out with the win. I’ll say it here, if you want a realtor who will go to battle for you and give you maximum effort to get you the outcome you need, Alket was just that. Fast forward again. My wife and decided we were going to rent out the main floor and then attempt to tackle the daunting task of a ‘legal accessory unit’ for the basement. Let me quickly tell you about the main floor first. We decided that we wanted Alket to find us renters for the main floor. We had never done this before so we decided we wanted Alket to find us tenants. The two most important things at this stage in the game: 1) Finding good tenants; and 2) obtaining the rental income you want. To make a long story short, Alket found us a fantastic couple who have been renting our main floor for two months now and we couldn’t be happier. They are a great couple. Secondly, Alket rented out our main level for MORE than what he had promised us. He gave us a number, the number by which I made all my calculations based off of, and Alket was successful at obtaining $100 more per month than what he originally told us. We were pumped! That meant a little more financial security for my family for instances such as needing to replace an appliance or when its time for a new roof, etc. Every little bit helps and Alket got it done. Now comes the story about legalizing the basement as an ‘accessory unit’ – that meant doing everything legally and straight up with the City – building inspectors, permits, the whole 9-yards! I’m going to be honest, I didn’t know where to begin. I felt like I had bitten off more than I could chew. However, with Alket’s guidance and reassurance he got me off on the right foot and off I went. It started with applying for a permit, current and proposed drawings, dealing with inspectors, etc. The permit process took me about 4 weeks to finish. I received my approved permits a couple weeks ago and I am currently in the renovation stage of my basement. Alket has helped me with contacts for different contractors and renovation companies during this stage. Most the time, your real estate agent’s job is done after completion of the sale. Not Alket. He’s helped me through each stage of the process. He really takes pride in helping his clients and seeing them succeed, which is hard to find these days. Overall, I would rate my experience with Alket as A+ and I would do again in a heartbeat. Remember, when I first contacted Alket I didn’t know him. It was a cold call to his office about 2 months ago. I’m not submitting this review because he’s an old buddy or a family member. I’m submitting this review because Alket was honest, trustworthy, knowledgeable, professional and bent over backwards for us during the entire process, which continues today.

5.0
5
5
5
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5
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Buying
Successful
YES
Residential
Peterborough, ON
Jun 2020
Aug 24, 2020 12:57

Chris