Local & out-of-province
Buying from Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver or overseas? I'm your eyes on the ground — the same underwriting, plus honest notes on the area, the building, and what the photos don't show.
For investors
Will an Edmonton rental actually pay?
That's the only question that matters, and it deserves a real answer — not a pro-forma built to look good. I'm Trevor Tardif, a REALTOR® in Edmonton who underwrites investment properties the way you'd want to before risking your own money: the full return, the real rent, and the deals that don't work shown as plainly as the ones that do.
REALTOR® · REAL Broker AB Ltd · Edmonton, AB
Properties screened
105 → 6
A recent investor search — 105 run through the numbers, the 6 that actually pencilled out.
Return drivers modelled
3
Cash flow, mortgage paydown, and appreciation — together, not just the monthly number.
Rent from real listings
100%
Backed by comparable active listings — never a lookup table or a hopeful round number.
The method
How I underwrite an investment property
I lead with the honest part. Here's exactly how a property gets evaluated before you ever write an offer.
How do you decide whether a property is worth buying?
I model the full return, not a single number. Cash flow is only one of three drivers — mortgage paydown and appreciation often matter more in Edmonton — so I put all three on the table together, with conservative assumptions you can see and change. The rent comes from comparable active listings, not a lookup table, because the rent assumption is where most pro-formas quietly break.
What kind of return should I expect?
It depends entirely on the property, and anyone who answers that before running your specific numbers is selling something. I show returns as scenarios — a conservative case and a base case — so you see the range, not one hopeful figure. In Edmonton today many deals pencil on total return while monthly cash flow stays thin; I'll tell you plainly when that's the trade you're making.
Do you only show me the deals that work?
No. You see the properties that don't work, and why — that's most of them. My job isn't to talk you into a purchase; it's to find the few that survive the math. In a recent search that meant running 105 properties through the numbers to surface the 6 worth a serious look.
The Edmonton case, in the data
The forces that decide whether a rental pays
Good underwriting starts above the property. These are the forces that decide whether an Edmonton rental works — each tracked on its own page, straight from Statistics Canada, CMHC and the Bank of Canada, and compared against Alberta and Canada so the numbers have context.
Rents & vacancy
The income side — how much rent the market actually supports, and how easily a unit fills.
View the data →Condo & suite rentals
The secondary market — rented condos and suites, where most small investors actually play. Tighter vacancy than purpose-built.
View the data →Jobs & unemployment
Demand. Jobs bring tenants and buyers; employment is the foundation under both rent and price.
View the data →Interest rates
The cost of leverage. The policy rate and the 5-year yield set your mortgage — and your cash flow.
View the data →Who I work with
From your first rental to your next ten
Your first rental, or your fifth
Testing the waters with one property or adding to a portfolio, the analysis is the same discipline — it just scales with you.
Suited homes & condos
Edmonton's bread-and-butter investor stock. I only ever model income from legal, permitted suites — never a basement that "could" be rented.
Start with the data on a specific area: browse Edmonton neighbourhoods → or explore Edmonton by area →
Stay in the loop
The monthly Edmonton market update
Not ready to talk yet? Get my Edmonton market update — what's selling, where prices are heading, and what it means — the same read I post each month, plus the occasional timely note. Unsubscribe anytime.
See the thinking
How I talk about the numbers
I post short, no-hype breakdowns of Edmonton real estate on YouTube — the same analytical lens I'd bring to your deal. Written investor guides are on the way.
Run your next deal past someone who'll tell you the truth
Bring me a property you're weighing — or just the criteria you're hunting on — and I'll put the real numbers in front of you before you write an offer.
Book an investor strategy callThis page is general information, not financial or investment advice, and does not account for your personal circumstances. Every property's numbers differ, and any returns discussed are illustrative scenarios, not guarantees. Trevor Tardif is a licensed REALTOR® with REAL Broker AB Ltd, Edmonton, Alberta. An investment analysis or comparative market analysis is not a formal appraisal.