Investor Resources
Articles, area guides and tools for investing in Windsor-Essex County.
A directory of the 32 investing articles and area guides published on jeremymcgraw.ca, grouped by topic, with a short note on what each one covers. Each link opens the full article.
Tools
Free calculators, and research in this guide.
Rental Check
A free, guided first look at a rental purchase: the cash needed, monthly cash flow, what drives it and what to check next.Ontario BRRR Calculator
A free Ontario calculator for a BRRR project: purchase, renovation, rent, refinance and the capital left in the deal.Monthly market reports
Windsor-Essex County residential figures, month by month, with Jeremy's take.Investment & development tracker
Major regional projects with dated updates and sources.Area profiles
Thirteen areas across the region, with property mix and Jeremy's quick take.
Getting Started
For a first rental, or a first purchase in Windsor-Essex County.
Buying Your First Rental Property in Windsor
Ten steps from setting a goal and working out the capital you need, through cash flow, property type, neighbourhood, landlord law and legal units, to building a team. Ends with the mistakes first-time investors make most often.Investment Property Realtor in Windsor
What Jeremy looks at when evaluating an investment property, the property types he helps clients explore and what working together looks like, for new and experienced investors.Buying Windsor Investment Property From Out of Town
How to build a search brief, keep an evidence trail for each candidate, use virtual viewings for what they can answer, line up local professionals and plan the handoff at closing.Toronto & GTA Investors Buying in Windsor
For investors comparing a Windsor rental with their home market: comparing the use of capital rather than asking prices, resetting rent assumptions and costing a second market.
Financial Analysis & Cash Flow
Working out whether the numbers support the purchase.
Rental Property Investment Analysis
A step-by-step method covering rental income, operating expenses, NOI, cap rate, cash flow after the mortgage, cash-on-cash return and DSCR, plus capital expenditures and stress-testing before you buy.Buying a Cash-Flowing Rental Property in Windsor
What cash flow looks like on a real property, the expenses investors underestimate, current versus market rent, how financing changes the result and why positive cash flow alone is not a good investment.
Duplexes, Triplexes & Multifamily
Properties with more than one rental unit.
Duplex & Triplex Investing in Windsor
What to check before buying a duplex or triplex, how the two compare, whether a duplex can become a triplex and how Windsor's market for these properties works.Multifamily Investment Properties in Windsor
How to analyze a multifamily building, read cap rates, finance the purchase, buy with tenants in place and decide between a fourplex and a larger building.Buying a Fourplex or Small Apartment Building
How fourplexes differ from small apartment buildings, how each is financed in Ontario (including five units and up), debt-service coverage and the due diligence to complete before buying.
BRRRR, Renovation & Refinancing
Creating value through renovation, then recovering capital.
BRRRR Investing in Ontario
The five BRRRR steps in order, the 75% rule, what happens when an appraisal comes in low, why cash flow still matters after refinancing and the most common BRRRR mistakes.Value-Add Investment Properties & Renovations
Repairs versus improvements, which rental renovations tend to pay back, the costs missing from contractor quotes, after-renovation value and renovating Windsor's older housing stock.Investment Property Refinancing & BRRRR Planning
Planning a refinance around the cash you could realistically receive, testing the property after refinancing and preparing the evidence a lender will ask for.Buying a Home With Renovation Potential
Separating necessary work from wished-for improvements, investigating before pricing the offer, building an all-in budget and confirming approvals for earlier work.
Buying & Due Diligence
What to verify before you commit, especially when tenants are in place.
Investment Property Due Diligence & Buyer Representation
A twelve-part walk-through of investor due diligence: setting the strategy, verifying the numbers, reviewing tenancies, confirming legal use, building condition, environmental checks, financing and structuring the offer.Buying a Tenant-Occupied Property in Ontario
A unit-by-unit document review, keeping rent assumptions separate from price, vacant possession as a legal question and planning the handoff to new ownership.Vacant vs. Tenanted Rental Properties
How the first year compares with a stabilized year, why units might be vacant and how to treat an existing tenancy as part of what you are buying.
Long-Term Holding & Portfolio Growth
Owning well over time and deciding on the next purchase.
Buy-and-Hold Real Estate Investing in Ontario
How buy-and-hold builds wealth, with a ten-year example, plus rent control, maintenance, reserves, paying down debt versus buying again, and when to sell.Expanding Your Rental Property Portfolio
Taking stock of the portfolio you own, the cash left after the next purchase, combined pressure across properties and whether buying now is the right move.
Mixed-Use & Commercial
Buildings with commercial income as well as residential.
Mixed-Use & Commercial Investment Properties in Windsor
Analyzing the commercial and residential sides separately, commercial vacancy and leases, financing, environmental due diligence and HST, drawing on Jeremy's own mixed-use ownership.Buying a Commercial and Residential Mixed-Use Property
The acquisition checklist: reconciling each income source to its lease, consistent expense treatment, financing, permitted uses and settling GST/HST before the agreement is final.
Selling an Investment Property
Pricing, tenancies and what you walk away with.
Selling an Investment Property in Windsor
How NOI drives value, selling with tenants or vacant, organizing the financials, renovating before sale, capital gains, and whether to sell or refinance.Selling an Estate or Inherited Property
Confirming who can give instructions, urgent care versus sale preparation, pricing for the sale date and keeping tax questions with the right adviser.
Area Guides
Property-level questions to ask in specific parts of Windsor-Essex County.
Ford City
Older buildings, Drouillard Road main-street properties, keeping improvement programs out of the base budget and relying on existing income before future potential.Walkerville
Character homes, verifying heritage status at the address, parking as an ownership detail and evaluating a rental on the operation it has.Downtown Windsor
Reconciling income one source at a time, testing commercial vacancy separately, shared building systems and treating incentives as a separate approval question.Sandwich Town
Separating a home search from a rental strategy, testing student-oriented assumptions, rental licensing at the address and heritage questions.Riverside
Houses versus condos, a view versus legal access, water-related questions at the address and reviewing the condo corporation.South Windsor
Comparing layouts rather than bedroom counts, lot and building costs, what is existing versus proposed nearby, and ownership arrangements.LaSalle
Residential settings, trail access, what waterfront means at a given address, and investigating constraints before relying on a proposed project.Tecumseh
The town's different communities, current zoning, confirming services before comparing costs, and surrounding land as it is and as planned.Lakeshore
Choosing a setting within the municipality, wastewater and utility arrangements, future versus existing servicing, and shoreline questions.Amherstburg
The historic core and other settings, heritage position before planning changes, character versus needed work, and the lot and services.
Articles are published on jeremymcgraw.ca and open in a new tab.
The Windsor-Essex County Real Estate Investment Guide