Saskatoon builder looking to flip abandoned homes to first time buyers
A Saskatoon man wants to play matchmaker for the unloved homes in the city.
Andrew Hunter, the owner of Homes by Hunter is looking for boarded up homes to refurbish and flip.
“Every time I drove down this area (Caswell Hill) I realized that there were a bunch of boarded-up homes and nobody knew what to do with them. Maybe it was out of their control, out of their expertise, but it was something I knew I could tackle,” said Hunter.
Hunter works with Triple H Ventures looking for properties, mostly on the west side of Saskatoon, that are boarded up and abandoned.
“It is our mission to the community to purchase and restore each boarded up home,” said Hunter.
Hunter’s hope is that the homes become economically viable for people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford them. To help make it even more viable, the builders are adding basements suites to offset mortgage payments.
“We’re building in these basements suites. Some can’t even afford the bare minimum, if we add in the legal basements suites, they are able to subsidize that with the income that they get to afford the home,” said Paul Hampson CFO of Triple H Ventures.
Hampson uses a home selling for $280,000 in Caswell Hill as an example. He says the basement suite could get anywhere from $1100-$1300 and if someone was also renting the upstairs it could net almost $1400 more.
Hunter hopes this opens up opportunities for homebuyers who might not be able to afford them otherwise.
“Everything is going up and it’s hard for millennials. They are stuck in this cycle that they just can’t afford to by a home,” said Hunter.
According to the City of Saskatoon’s former director of planning Alan Wallace, there are several positives to fixing up boarded homes. For him, he says it provides housing to the market while resolving issues a boarded up home brings to a community in terms of crime and safety.
“This will be good for the supply, good for the street, good overall and so far I would applaud their efforts,” said Wallace.
Hunter and Hampson are currently working on flipping their first abandoned home while keeping their eyes on several others.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Air traveller complaints to Canadian Transportation Agency hit new high
The Canadian Transportation Agency has hit a record high of more than 71,000 complaints in a backlog. The quasi-judicial regulator and tribunal tasked with settling disputes between customers and the airlines says the backlog is growing because the number of incoming complaints keeps increasing.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.