Tales from the Trenches

By Barry C. McGuire

What's Tales from the Trenches about?

Podcast featuring stories of real estate landmines—and how to avoid them. Coming to you from the desk of veteran Canadian lawyer Barry McGuire.

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Tales from the Trenches episodes:

08.23.2022
Learn How to Write Agreement for Sale Paperwork in Canadian Real Estate
Podcast Episode 136: “AFS Paperwork and Education.” About four months ago, I got a call from a client who wanted to sell his property by way of Agreement for Sale (AFS). Unfortunately, he had only a skimpy notion of the AFS...
04.26.2022
How to Buy Property Without a Mortgage in Canada by Solving a Seller’s Problems
Podcast Episode 135: “Win-Win Real Estate Investing.” Here’s another success story from the lucrative Creative Real Estate Investing space. For would-be Canadian real estate investors, two of the biggest obstacles are building up cash for a deposit and qualifying for a...
04.07.2022
How Much Money Can I Make Quickly in Canadian Real Estate?
Podcast Episode 134: “Wholesale Home Run!” For a change of pace, here is a positive Tale about a massive success in Canadian real estate investing. Longtime readers/listeners know that my Tales from the Trenches series is mostly about how buyers and...
11.10.2021
How Long It Takes to Buy a Foreclosed Property
Podcast Episode 133: “Foreclosure Timing Traps.” When searching for the ideal piece of real estate to buy, properties in foreclosure can be an interesting place to look. Are you an investor looking for a new rental property? Or maybe you’re a...
03.03.2021
Three Issues to Negotiate When Buying or Selling Real Estate: Chattels, Defects, and Stigmata
Podcast Episode 132: “(Un)attached Goods, Defects, and Stigmas.” Negotiating an Offer to Purchase for a piece of real estate is about more than just the price. In this blog post, I’ll start by looking at two key points that must be...
11.25.2020
Renovated Basements Without Permits and Inspections Come Back to Haunt Buyers
Podcast Episode 131: “Renovation Heartbreak.” Dishonest, fly-by-night, or even inexperienced renovators can leave a trail of heartbreak. Buyers happily move into their newly-purchased, freshly-renovated home, but problems often don’t show up till later. Here are three recent scenarios from my real estate...
10.06.2020
Third Preventable Flood at Alberta Home; Who Is Liable?
Podcast Episode 130: “Third Flood.” Recently, some Alberta homeowners finally ran out of patience when their property was flooded—again. They lived on the lower end of a sloped street, and water flowed down the block from the higher end when it...
08.12.2020
Should a Buyer Accept Title Insurance in Lieu of a Real Property Report and Compliance?
Podcast Episode 129: “Home-buyer’s Dilemma.” Seems like I’m always finding examples to write about regarding real property reports (RPR) and how they fit into a real estate transaction in Alberta. Land surveys, as RPRs are also known, should be simpler than...
07.08.2020
Real Estate Cage Fight: Restrictive Covenants vs. City Bylaws
Podcast Episode 128: “Secondary Suite Grudge Match.” Would-be Calgary Landlord Builds Legally-Approved Secondary Suite but Gets Stifled by Restrictive Covenant on Title for Neighbourhood’s Single-Family Dwellings. And now for the main event! This Real Estate Regulation League title fight is scheduled for...
06.02.2020
Three Examples of Real Estate Woe with Permits, Surveys, and Compliance
Podcast Episode 127: “3×3 Permits.” This is the third Tale in my recent mini-series on Real Property Reports (RPR), municipal compliance, and building/development permits. Our first two Tales dealt with the maze of bureaucracy that surrounds permits and the dangers of not getting...
03.23.2020
Rules and Regulations for Secondary Suite Permits Getting Stricter
Podcast Episode 126: “Trapped in a Permit Maze.” This Tale from the Trenches is the second in our ongoing mini-series on permits for real estate. You know, those sometimes-nasty bits of paper that towns, cities, counties, and other municipalities require before...
02.18.2020
You Can’t Fight City Hall on Real Property Reports and Compliance
Podcast Episode 125: “Hot Tub Trials and Tribulations.” This episode of Tales from the Trenches is shocking! A client had retained my legal services to help with purchasing her dream home in Edmonton, Alberta. The seller provided a brand-new real property...
12.11.2019
Negotiating Tax on Real Estate Deals when the Seller Is not a Resident of Canada.
Podcast Episode 124: “Non-Resident Taxes Part II.”Like all things tax related, non-resident tax is complicated when it comes to buying and selling real estate in Canada. In February, 2016, I posted a lengthy blog on non-resident tax and how it...
05.22.2019
Panelists Share Experiences with Creative Real Estate Investing – plus Q & A
Podcast Episode 123: “Creative Real Estate Investors Panel.”Special one-hour dive into the trenches of Creative Real Estate in Canada… and Africa! Barry has gathered a panel of experts, veritable rock stars of Creative Strategies, to share their experiences and answer...
05.08.2019
Protect Property Against Flooding
Podcast Episode 122: “Water Is Coming”: Climate Change Preparedness for Homeowners and Real Estate Investors. Damaging floods are on the rise, whether as sewer backups, swollen rivers and lakes, rising ocean levels, or overland flooding. As a result, water related insurance...
04.17.2019
Subdividing Property to Increase Density Can Raise Issues with Mortgages on Titles
Podcast Episode 121: “Subdivision Nightmare.” Across Canada, there is an ongoing discussion about the lack of affordable housing. In some areas, developers won’t build rentals because building condos is more lucrative, because there are rent controls, or perhaps a combination of...
01.23.2019
How to Work with a Property Manager
Podcast Episode 120: “Property Management Nightmare.” I got an email recently from an unhappy investor about problems with his property manager in Edmonton. Real estate investing is all about relationships, and you need to be able to rely on the people...
08.07.2018
How to Avoid Bad Real Estate Deals
Podcast Episode 119: “A Deal That Went Bad and the Lessons Learned.” This edition of the Tales from the Trenches podcast features special guest Arden Dalik, a senior advisor in the Calgary office of Global Governance Advisors. Her Tale concerns a...
05.30.2018
Get to Know the Real Estate Purchase Contract in Alberta
Podcast Episode 118: “Big Changes To The Standard AREA Contract.” September 2016 (with mild tweaks in July of 2017) brought numerous and meaningful changes to the existing 2014 residential purchase documentation approved by the Alberta Real Estate Association (AREA). These changes...
05.22.2018
Inheriting Property Isn’t as Simple as it Seems
Podcast Episode 117: “Estates Are Tricky!“ Real estate can cause all kinds of problems when a family member passes away. First, it can take a long time before the will is executed and the inheritor is actually in control of the...
05.09.2018
Walk Away From a Real Estate Deal at Your Own Peril!
Podcast Episode 116: “Failure To Close? More Than Your Deposit Is At Risk!” A real estate purchase contract is a legally binding agreement. If the buyer doesn’t meet their obligations by closing the purchase, there can be financial repercussions. At a minimum,...
04.29.2018
Avoid Jail-time and Make Money: Assigning Offers to Purchase Real Estate in Canada
Podcast Episode 115: “Flipping / Assigning Properties? Don’t Go To Jail!” Not too long ago, I wrote a blog post about the legalities of flipping properties using a Creative Investing Strategy called “assignment.” Now I’m making that topic available as a podcast...
02.20.2018
Investing with Those Closest to Us Is Fraught with Peril
Podcast Episode 114: “Real Estate Between Friends and Family.” It might seem easier to invest in real estate with people you know and love because you already trust them. Actually, you still need to do the same amount of due diligence, if...
02.13.2018
Flipping Properties is Risky. Here’s Why!
Podcast Episode 113: “So, You Want To Be A ‘Flipper.’” There is a whole section of the real estate investment world known as ‘flipping.’ Basically, flipping is when an investor gets control of a property by signing a purchase contract, but rapidly...
02.06.2018
If Disaster Strikes, Will Your Property Insurance Coverage be Enough?
Podcast Episode 112: “Insurance Realities.” This is a Tale of woe about property insurance, including some ideas about how to make sure you have enough coverage. After heavy rains in Edmonton, a bunch of my clients had flooded basements. Not surprisingly, many...
01.30.2018
Don’t Lose Time and Money from Outdated Real Estate Documents!
Podcast Episode 111: “Keep Your Joint Venture Up-to-Date.” In real estate, as in all facets of life, things change. A detailed contract or written agreement can protect your investments, but you’re still vulnerable if you don’t follow the terms exactly. A client...
01.15.2018
What to Do When Seller Doesn’t Have Leases for Tenants
Podcast Episode 110: “Get the Details.” A client of mine found a four-plex in Alberta with a motivated seller, but soon discovered that he would have to deal with problems caused by the seller’s inexperience. The location was good, with a tenant...
10.23.2017
Creative Investing with Foreclosures: Appearing in Court and Taking Notes.
Podcast Episode 109: “Foreclosures, Creative Deals, and Court.” This Tale is about taking good notes when you appear in court as the buyer of real estate in foreclosure. My client was a creative kind of guy and he found a property in Alberta...
10.15.2017
Is Your RRSP Mortgage Legal?
Podcast Episode 108: “RRSP Mortgages and the CRA.” Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) mortgages, the supposed Holy Grail of private lending. I hear it all the time. Borrowers of all stripes believe there is a vast pot of money held in RRSP...
10.08.2017
How to Lose a Deposit: Unmet Conditions Can Sink a Real Estate Deal
Podcast Episode 107: “Conditions, Lost Deposits, and Collapsed Deals.” In other Tales from the Trenches I’ve talked about the importance of accomplishing sufficient diligence on any property purchase to say that you have done ‘Due Diligence.’ It’s worth repeating here because it’s so...
10.01.2017
Secondary Suites and Real Property Reports in Alberta
Podcast Episode 106: “A Real Property Report with Municipal Compliance Doesn’t Prove a Suite is Legal.” Are you looking to buy a property with a secondary suite? Ideally, you want to buy properties with legal secondary suites. But guess what? A Real Property...
08.29.2017
Wills, Estates, and Selling Property
Podcast Episode 105: “Probate Sales Need Patience” This Tale is about the legal process in Alberta (and some other Canadian jurisdictions) of selling property as part of an estate after someone dies. A long-time client got in touch to say that her...
08.22.2017
Guarantees, Title Insurance, and New Legal Precedent in Canada
Podcast Episode 104: “Sellers, Are You Guaranteeing Title?” Wow, a recent bombshell of a legal case from the Ontario Court of Appeal is causing huge ripples in the Canadian real estate world. In the Courts and in the world of precedent there...
08.15.2017
Rare Investing Opportunities with Creative Real Estate Strategies
Podcast Episode 103: “Unpredictable Seller Motivation And Agreement For Sale Magic.” An investor recently showed up in my Edmonton law office with this absolutely marvellous Tale about a unique property seller in Alberta and the magic of having the right real estate...
08.06.2017
Struck Corporations, Land Titles, and Tax in Alberta
Podcast Episode 102: “Corporate Matters Matter.” My law firm in Edmonton, Alberta is the corporate registered office for many corporations. We get lots of letters addressed to those corporations because that’s part of being registered office. Anyone who wants to send something...
08.01.2017
Legal Suites and Airport Vicinity Protection Areas in Alberta
Podcast Episode 101: “Deep Diligence Saves Half A Million Dollars!” I heard from a Calgary investor recently about dodging an expensive bullet. Houses with legal suites or houses zoned for legal suites are all the rage in Alberta. What’s not to like about adding...
07.02.2017
Success with Buy and Hold Real Estate Investing
Podcast Episode 100: “A Tale of Real Estate Investing Success.” I’ve been doing Tales from the Trenches for 15 years. These are amazing stories from real estate investors, mostly from Alberta, Canada because that’s where I practice law. Tales began as a segment...
06.12.2017
Assuming Mortgages and Transfering Property to a Corporation
Podcast Episode 99: “Happy Assumptions & Corporate Rollovers.“ This episode of Tales from the Trenches contains two stories about transfers: one is about transferring mortgages and the other is about transferring property. In theory, many mortgages are assumable, but in practice lenders in...
05.04.2017
Disappearing Tenants and Vanishing Buyers
Podcast Episode 98: “Don’t Wait, It Only Gets Worse; Discharge That Caveat.“ The first part of this Tale is about an Alberta landlord with tenant problems. The renter usually paid on-time, but then the rent started coming late. The tenant’s girlfriend left him,...
04.27.2017
How to Avoid Mortgage Fraud
Podcast Episode 97: “Mortgage Fraud.“ The simplest way to avoid committing mortgage fraud is to fully disclose everything about a deal to your lender. If they are satisfied, then you’re probably okay. But what happens if someone else is defrauding you? In...
04.06.2017
Interest Rates on RRSP Mortgages
Podcast Episode 96: “RRSP Mortgages.“ In Canada, it is possible to use money held in a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) to fund mortgages. While this strategy can yield a nice steady return on investment, there are rules in place that can...
03.30.2017
Due Diligence Fails
Podcast Episode 95: “A Couple on Due Diligence“ I talk a lot about due diligence because it is one of the most important aspects of achieving success with real estate. This is a two-part Tale, showing a couple different examples of problems...
03.01.2017
Removing Conditions on Purchase Contract
Podcast Episode 94: “Removing Conditions—Should I or Shouldn’t I?“ Conditions on a real estate purchase contract should only be removed once the due diligence is complete. But what if the conditions are sort of met, but not completely? Should you still remove...
02.18.2017
Property Inspections, Reports, and Permits
Podcast Episode 93: “Inspection Reports & Multi-family Diligence.” Under Alberta’s Residential Tenancies Act, an inspection report must be made whenever a tenant moves into, or out of, a rental property. But what happens if you buy a property and can’t get the...
02.02.2017
Joint Ventures, RRSP Mortgages, Due Diligence, & More!
Podcast Episode 92: “A Few Quick Tales.” Here’s some great stories about people buying and selling real estate in Alberta. These five quick Tales from the Trenches are short, but they show a wide range of different issues, problems, and successes. In a...
01.26.2017
Giving Keys to a Buyer and Fixed Cash Deals
Podcast Episode 91: “Keys & Cash.” Here are two quick Tales from the Trenches: 1) tips on keeping a property buyer motivated and 2) contract language to fix the cash portion of a real estate deal. Our first Tale shows one reason why...
01.13.2017
When to Remove Conditions on a Purchase Contract
Podcast Episode 90: “Diligence Pays Off.” I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: when you’re buying a property, never remove conditions on the purchase contract until you’ve done due diligence. A real estate lawyer like me can protect your interests...
12.21.2016
Transferring Property Without a Lawyer
Podcast Episode 89: “Transfer of Land.” A Transfer of Land is a document that allows the Land Titles office to register a property in the name of a new owner. In rare circumstances, you might be able to get this done without...
12.16.2016
Tenant Running Illegal Business
Podcast Episode 88: “I Ain’t No Ho!” As a landlord, you need to be proactive about what is happening with your tenants. Be concerned if you suspect that a renter may be running an illegal business out of your property! This Tale...
12.07.2016
Mortgage Penalties
Podcast Episode 87: “Fun with Mortgage Payout Math.” Paying off a mortgage early can result in penalties. However, there are ways of minimizing the financial repercussions. In this Tale, Barry works through some mortgage math that could save you money. Download the audio...

What's Tales from the Trenches about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Tales from the Trenches episodes:

Learn How to Write Agreement for Sale Paperwork in Canadian Real Estate

How to Buy Property Without a Mortgage in Canada by Solving a Seller’s Problems

How Much Money Can I Make Quickly in Canadian Real Estate?

How Long It Takes to Buy a Foreclosed Property

Three Issues to Negotiate When Buying or Selling Real Estate: Chattels, Defects, and Stigmata

Renovated Basements Without Permits and Inspections Come Back to Haunt Buyers

Third Preventable Flood at Alberta Home; Who Is Liable?

Should a Buyer Accept Title Insurance in Lieu of a Real Property Report and Compliance?

Real Estate Cage Fight: Restrictive Covenants vs. City Bylaws

Three Examples of Real Estate Woe with Permits, Surveys, and Compliance

Rules and Regulations for Secondary Suite Permits Getting Stricter

You Can’t Fight City Hall on Real Property Reports and Compliance

Negotiating Tax on Real Estate Deals when the Seller Is not a Resident of Canada.

Panelists Share Experiences with Creative Real Estate Investing – plus Q & A

Protect Property Against Flooding

Subdividing Property to Increase Density Can Raise Issues with Mortgages on Titles

How to Work with a Property Manager

How to Avoid Bad Real Estate Deals

Get to Know the Real Estate Purchase Contract in Alberta

Inheriting Property Isn’t as Simple as it Seems

Walk Away From a Real Estate Deal at Your Own Peril!

Avoid Jail-time and Make Money: Assigning Offers to Purchase Real Estate in Canada

Investing with Those Closest to Us Is Fraught with Peril

Flipping Properties is Risky. Here’s Why!

If Disaster Strikes, Will Your Property Insurance Coverage be Enough?

Don’t Lose Time and Money from Outdated Real Estate Documents!

What to Do When Seller Doesn’t Have Leases for Tenants

Creative Investing with Foreclosures: Appearing in Court and Taking Notes.

Is Your RRSP Mortgage Legal?

How to Lose a Deposit: Unmet Conditions Can Sink a Real Estate Deal

Secondary Suites and Real Property Reports in Alberta

Wills, Estates, and Selling Property

Guarantees, Title Insurance, and New Legal Precedent in Canada

Rare Investing Opportunities with Creative Real Estate Strategies

Struck Corporations, Land Titles, and Tax in Alberta

Legal Suites and Airport Vicinity Protection Areas in Alberta

Success with Buy and Hold Real Estate Investing

Assuming Mortgages and Transfering Property to a Corporation

Disappearing Tenants and Vanishing Buyers

How to Avoid Mortgage Fraud

Interest Rates on RRSP Mortgages

Due Diligence Fails

Removing Conditions on Purchase Contract

Property Inspections, Reports, and Permits

Joint Ventures, RRSP Mortgages, Due Diligence, & More!

Giving Keys to a Buyer and Fixed Cash Deals

When to Remove Conditions on a Purchase Contract

Transferring Property Without a Lawyer

Tenant Running Illegal Business

Mortgage Penalties