Why Toronto Condo Investors Are Quietly Switching to Multiplexes

Añadido: 2026-04-28

[00:00:00]Most people who invest in Toronto real estate think the options are either a condo or even a whole house. But there is a whole other category that is surprising number of people have never heard of even those who already own property in Toronto. This is called a multiplex and in a lot of cases it is a better investment. So let me break down what it actually is and why more and more Toronto investors are paying attention to it these days.

[00:00:32]A multiplex is a residential property with more than one unit in it. In Toronto, that typically means a duplex, a triplex, or a forplex. It's still residential, still qualifies for a residential mortgage. You own the whole property, and you collect rent from multiple units, and you build equity the same way you would with any other condo or house. The big difference is that you would have more than one income stream coming in every single month on a single purchase. And so the rent yields are typically much stronger. A lot of them look exactly like the houses, the single family homes on the street next to them.

[00:01:11]Some would have separate entrances on the side or the back. Some would have basement units. And from the outside, you would never know. And this is where most people get surprised. These properties exist all over Toronto.

[00:01:24]starter pockets like East York or St. Clair or Egllandon West and all the way up to more premium spots like Rody, Little Italy, the Annex or Riverdale.

[00:01:34]You are buying a house in Toronto that happens to have two or three or four families living in it. So, why do investors buy these instead of condos?

[00:01:45]Well, let's run the math. A $600,000 condo might rent out for $2,200 a month after you pay for your mortgage, condo fees, property taxes, maintenance, utilities. You're probably losing money every single month. And so, a lot of condo investors in Toronto are sitting on negative cash flow right now and hoping that appreciation eventually can bail them out. A triplex in Toronto might be double the price at $1.2 $2 million, but you end up getting three units each renting for around $2,300 a month. And that gets you close to $7,000 in monthly rent. You double the price, you triple the rents, so you end up getting much better rent yields. And with a 20% down payment, you can produce over $1,000 a month in positive cash flow on these multiplexes in Toronto.

[00:02:36]The property ends up paying you every single month, not the other way around.

[00:02:41]and you are still building equity. Every single month, your tenants are helping you pay down your mortgage and over time the property appreciates just like any other Toronto real estate property, but you own land. So, the chances that it'll hold its value ends up being higher.

[00:02:56]There are actually different ways that you can approach this. The first way is the turnkey multiplex that we just talked about. You buy a property that already has separate units, renovated, and you collect rents on day one. The second opportunity would be a value ad project. So in this case, you buy a house that's probably not as nice. So you have to put in renovations to upgrade it. So the purchase price might end up being lower around a million. You put in $50,000 to do the renovations.

[00:03:25]You bring up the rents to market value.

[00:03:27]You increase the value of the property in the process. And then you benefit from a cheaper purchase price and value ad lift on top since the property ends up being worth more than what you put in for renovations. And if your goal is to scale more quickly, this is the way to do it. property values end up going up faster because you're putting in sweat equity to actually bump its value up and then you can go back and refinance sooner, pull your capital back out sooner, and then get into your next purchase if you want to. The city of Toronto right now allows up to five units on all low-rise residential lots, four in the main house, plus a laneway suite or garden suite in the backyard.

[00:04:11]And that has opened up a lot more opportunities that did not exist a few years ago. If you do this right, you can get back most if not all of your renovation money out and maybe some of your down payment out as well and still positive cash flow on your property after you refinance. And if you do want to see how a Toronto multiplex project works with refi, you can check out this video right here. And if you do want to keep up with the latest Toronto real estate investing strategies, make sure you subscribe to our channel here at Elevate Realy. We are Toronto multiplex investors ourselves, so we know what to look for when it comes to multiplex investing. We'll help you find the right properties, run the numbers, get a great deal, plan renovations with you that actually move the needle on value, support leasing and property management, and eventually guide you through refinancing if you need it so that it works the way it's supposed to do so.

[00:05:09]And if you do want help mapping out how this could work for your own portfolio, just book a free strategy call with us right here and let's chat.