Blog Archives
Location, location, location. Choosing where to buy an investment property.
Contrary to popular belief, the first step to buying a great investment property isn’t having your offer accepted — it’s putting in the hours of research weeks and months before you ever make an offer. One of the most important things to consider when buying an investment property is the location and what characteristics in each neighbourhood are going to make a property more or less appealing to tenants. Jobs — and whether they’re available in the area — are going to be one of the major concerns of your tenants. What jobs are available in the area is also going to affect who your tenants are and how many people are looking to rent. Buy an investment property near a university, and you’ll likely have a nearly endless supply of students looking for housing between September and May, but you may face vacancies each summer. Buy near a large hospital, and you’ll likely still benefit from a decent number of young nurses, doctors, and other professionals looking to rent close to work, but you won’t have the summer lapse. Schools and Amenities is another important feature to keep in mind. Tenants may or may not have kids, and they […]
Four Ways to Save Money on House Insurance
House insurance is pretty much a mandatory part of home ownership. While it’s not required by law, if you’re buying a home in Canada, your lender is going to require you to have insurance. This makes sense, a lender uses your home as a guarantee that they’ll have their loan repaid. If you don’t have insurance and the house floods or there’s a fire, they’ll lose that guarantee. However, that doesn’t mean you should have to sell a kidney each month just to pay your premium. Here are four ways to save money on your house insurance. Know the Actual Rebuild Cost of your Home. Many first time homeowners (and many veteran homeowners to boot) insure their home for the same amount as they purchased it for. However, when you buy a house, you’re also buying the property it sits on. Even if your house burns to the ground, the cost to rebuild will never include the value of the land. Instead, you should hire an expert to evaluate the actual rebuild cost of your home. Some of the construction and home building companies around Calgary might even do it for free if you ask them. Raise your Deductible. Whether […]
Top Three Real Estate Myths that most People Believe
When it comes to real estate, home buyers and seller are becoming more savvy than ever. Unfortunately, despite the internet allowing Albertans to look up information with the click of a button, some myths seem to be sticking around. Here are the top three real estate myths that most people seem to still believe. All real estate agents are the same. These are the same people that will hire the first real estate agent they meet — or won’t hire one at all. The fact is that each real estate agent is unique. We all have different skills, experience levels, and traits. Some of us have spent a 20 year career selling luxury downtown condos; others have only been in the business for a couple months or specialize in family homes. In order to find the real estate agent best fit to suit your needs, I suggest doing a search for agents who are in the areas you’re interested in and who have sold similar properties in the past. Pick three or four agents with the experience you’re looking you, then call them up for an interview. Once you have a feel for each agent, pick the one who’s the […]
Is Your Home Safe?
Most homeowners spend more time at home than anywhere else. It’s where they cook, sleep, and enjoy their free time. During the winter months, Calgarians spend even more hours in their home since it’s often too cold to enjoy the parks and bike trails throughout the city. Because of this, it’s important to make sure your home has all the security features necessary to keep your family safe. Things Every Home Should Have. Regardless of where you live or if you own or rent your home, there is a small list of things you should keep in your house. A CO and smoke detector are crucial to alerting your family of a fire or gas leak. These detectors save hundreds of lives by giving people a chance to escape a hazardous building. Remember to check them annually. Every house should also have a fire extinguisher on each floor of the home. A fire extinguisher in the basement won’t help if you’re trapped in a second story bedroom. Lastly, a first aid kit should be stocked and easy to find incase of injuries. In an emergency, a good first aid kit can make the difference between life and death while waiting […]
Things that can go Wrong with Real Estate Sales
Lately, I’ve been working with Canadian home buyers who are more and more knowledgeable about the home buying process. It’s great to see more folks taking the time to learn about this major transaction, but there are a few things that a google search won’t help you with. Things Missed in Contracts. When you choose to not work with a realtor, that leaves a lot of the complicated paperwork and your offer to be done without any guidance. During the home buying process, your realtor is your personal expert. We know how to fill everything out, so we can help you keep everything in order. Mortgage specialists and others in the real estate business will tell you that homebuyers and sellers who choose to fill out their paperwork themselves often have mistakes or have missed portions completely. Problems with the Home. It’s something every new homebuyer is afraid will happen to them. They buy a new house, and find out something is wrong with it. An infestation perhaps or a problem with the foundation. Whatever it is, nobody wants to own a home with expensive imperfections that now need to be fixed. A realtor can help to steer you in […]
First Time Home Buyer: Preparing for the Big Move
When you’re getting ready for the big move, it can seem like there’s a million things to do in just a few days. If you have a pet and kids, or if you are moving far from helpful friends and family, the stress can be even greater. I’m sure you’ve remembered to go over your packing list the eighth time and have a special box or three for the essentials that will be last into the truck and first into the house, but here are a couple things you may not have thought of. Window Coverings. It’s one of those things many new homeowners don’t think of until they’ve arrived. However, I’ve met very few people who like to sleep without window coverings or don’t mind all their possessions being on display through the living room window. It can be a luxury to order your window covering ahead of time and have them up and ready for the big move. However, if you don’t have time or the window measurements, don’t worry. You can just pin up a couple old bed sheets in the mean time. New Locks. When you take possession, you’re given a set of keys to your […]
Two Things to Consider when Investing in Properties
Buying an investment property isn’t for everyone. It takes a solid understanding and control over your finances to maintain numerous properties at once. It’s imperative that, before buying an investment property, you know you can afford it even if it takes time to find renters or you have a couple months between tenants. Once you know that you can afford it and have done the bookwork and decided property investing is for you, here are the next few things to consider. Where do You Buy? This can be a tough decision. Do you buy an investment property in the city you live in? In another town in the same province? A different province? A different country?! For a real estate investor, one of the most important characteristics of a city or town is the vacancy rate. Vacancy is one of the highest expenses an investor can have to swallow, so it’s important to pick a city (or town) with a low vacancy rate. That will nearly guarantee that someone is looking to rent and that their choices may be limited. Properties in these areas will likely be more expensive, but you’ll also likely be able to charge slightly higher rent […]
First Time Homebuyer: Congratulations! You’re a homeowner — Now to Insure Your New Asset!
Some types of insurances may seem like a luxury. Other types are simply mandatory. If you own and drive a car, it has to be insured. Similarly, if you’re paying off a house, you must have home insurance. Home insurance is a way of distributing the risk of owning a house. If something were to happen to their home, most people couldn’t afford to just write that cost off and move on. However, an insurer has your monthly premiums and the premiums of thousands of other homeowners. If just one of all those houses is damaged, then the insurer can easily afford to fix that home. The insurer benefits assuming that they make more in premiums than the amount they need to pay out to fix all of the homes they’re insuring. The homeowner benefits because if something does happens to their home, the insurer is there to help them fix it. But what should you look for when choosing your home insurance? There are several things you should consider before choosing your home insurance. For example: How large of a deductible do you want? Most of your considerations will affect the cost of your premiums, but we’ll discuss those […]
First Time Home Buyer: Getting a House Inspected
If you’ve found your dream home and are busy working with your realtor to create an offer, the last thing on your mind may be an inspection. After all, you new home may seem perfect just the way it is! However, a home inspection should always be a condition of purchase; even when on the surface, the house couldn’t look better. That’s because there can always be hidden problems or issues that a lay person just isn’t going to notice. Here are just a few things that a home inspector will help you catch. Outside. There are so many things to check outside, that I just don’t have the time to go over them all. That said, I’ll try to give you a general idea. The five big things outside that’ll need to be inspected are the grounds, the structure, the exterior surfaces, the doors and windows, and the roof. While looking over the grounds, your inspector will make sure your trees, walls, siding, fence, railing, sidewalk, pavement, and what not are all in good condition, but what they’re really paying attention for is water damage. Is the drainage away from the house up to grade? Is there any evidence […]