The biggest surprise for most novice investors is the amount of their own cash that they will have to put into a transaction. Far too many people have seen those late night infomercials telling them how to buy with no money down. While there may indeed be one or two investors out their who have found the perfect deal that allowed them to buy with no money down, it is rarely that easy. In fact, most lenders will demand that you have at least 5% of the purchase price available as a down payment. For commercial or industrial properties, lenders will often require a down payment of between 25% to 35% of the value of the property.
Once the shock of having to come up with a large down payment wears off then the novice investor is shocked to hear about all the costs involved in obtaining the Financing, Environmental Report, Appraisal, Land Transfer Tax, GST, Lawyer's cost.