Ty Lacroix, a London, Ontario real estate broker with 50 years of personal investment experience, argues that basing real estate investment decisions solely on monthly cash flow is a costly mistake. Experienced investors evaluate the full picture — equity paydown, tax deductions, appreciation, and leverage — across a minimum 10-year window. In London's 2026 market, where average single-family rents are approximately $2,500/month and home prices average $621,700, the math rewards patience and strategy over short-term cash-flow chasing.
So many beginning real estate investors will decide whether a property is good or bad based on a single question: "Will it produce positive monthly cash flow?"
That is a very limited way to look at an investment. Sometimes there is no simple answer when you are trying to build real wealth.
There are several things real estate investors — beginners and experienced alike — should be weighing before they make that call.
How much money are you putting down?
In Canada today, investment properties require a minimum 20% down payment. That is not a small number, and it is not something to gloss over. What you do with that capital — how you deploy it — matters enormously.
Before you fixate on monthly cash flow, ask yourself:
What are your actual financial goals?
Are you leveraging your capital for maximum long-term advantage?
Are you using every available tax deduction?
Are you accounting for the fact that your mortgage is being paid down every single month?
Let's look at this more closely.
Let's use a $500,000 property — a realistic entry point for a solid single-family rental in London, Ontario in 2026.
With a 25% down payment, here is what the numbers look like:
$500,000 — Purchase Price
$125,000 — Required for 25% Down Payment
$1,990/month — Mortgage carrying cost at 4.09% fixed, 30-year amortization
$450/month — Property Taxes
$110/month — Insurance
$2,550/month — Total Carrying Costs
Can you rent a $500,000 property in London, Ontario, for $2,500 or more per month?
According to current market data, the median asking rent for a three-bedroom house in London is $2,450/month, with well-located properties regularly achieving $2,500 and above.
So, at $2,500/month in rent against $2,550/month in carrying costs, you are running at a negative $50/month. Cash flow negative. By the beginner's logic, this is a bad investment.
Except it is not.
Here is where beginners and experienced investors part ways completely.
Beginners look at one month. Experienced investors look at ten years.
That negative $50/month — $600 over the year — is not the story. The story is everything happening underneath it.
Every month, your tenant pays rent; a portion of that rent is applied toward the mortgage. On a $375,000 mortgage, you are building several hundred dollars in equity every single month simply through amortization. That equity belongs to you. It is not showing up in your monthly cash flow calculation, but it is absolutely showing up in your net worth.
What about tax deductions?
Canadian real estate investors routinely leave money on the table at tax time. Insurance premiums, property taxes, legal fees, maintenance, land transfer costs, mortgage interest — these are all deductible against your rental income. In many cases, a property you thought was breaking even is actually working in your favour once a qualified real estate accountant runs the numbers. The wealthy use professionals. You should, too.
For what it typically costs to have a real estate accountant handle your return, you will almost certainly recover double that in deductions you did not know to claim.
What about appreciation?
You cannot guarantee appreciation. Anyone who tells you otherwise is not someone you should be taking advice from.
But over long periods, appreciation is the most powerful accelerator of wealth in real estate. The average single-family home price in London, Ontario, as of April 2026, sits at $621,700. London has consistently rewarded patient, long-term holders.
Here is what a conservative 5% annual appreciation does to a $500,000 property:
After year one: $525,000
After year two: $551,250
After year three: $578,813
After year four: $607,753
After year five: $638,141
That is $138,141 in appreciation — a 110% return on your $125,000 down payment, before you factor in equity paydown or a single dollar of tax savings.
Now let's talk about leverage.
Instead of putting $125,000 into one property at 25% down, what if you used 20% down and bought two properties?
$100,000 down on each. Two assets are appreciating. Two mortgages being paid down by tenants. Two properties are building equity simultaneously.
The modest negative cash flow you might experience on one becomes context, not crisis, when you see what the full ten-year picture produces.
This is how experienced investors think. This is not speculation — it is strategy.
A word of caution.
I am not telling you to jump on any property simply because negative cash flow is tolerable.
That would be wrong.
You still need to do your homework, run the real numbers, and choose a fundamentally sound asset in a location with durable rental demand. I have written separately about the specific scenarios where I would — and would not — move on a negative cash-flow property.
The purpose here is to expand your thinking. To get you asking better questions than "Does it cash flow this month?"
One last thought.
I have had the privilege of working with investors in London, Ontario, who came to me asking the right questions. Three of them went on to build portfolios of 4, 6, and 10 properties respectively — and more than doubled their equity in the process.
None of them made their decisions based on monthly cash flow alone.
If you are a serious investor — or someone who wants to think like one — I am available for a direct conversation. We can look at the real numbers together, and only when we are both comfortable does any course of action make sense.
You are under no obligation when we first speak.
Reach me at 519-435-1600 or here
Please discuss the ideas in this post with your professional advisors, including your accountant and your lawyer. Real estate investment is not guaranteed, and results depend on individual circumstances, market conditions, and investment decisions.
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Also find me at tylacroix.com and Totally Preachless