Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Real Estate Insider: June 2018 News Report




Housing prices are moving on up and houses are harder to come by! Whether you're investing, buying your first home, selling, or renting, we've found 10 topics you need to look at before you make your next move.



Real Estate investing can be hugely profitable, but only if it’s done right! Read these 7 lessons one man learned from failing in Real Estate Investment (so it doesn’t happen to you)! >>

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Statistics show many young professionals and new families are moving back home to their mid-sized cities and towns and shying away from the “Big City Dreams”. The reason? These revitalizing cities are showing great potential and opportunity for everyone! Read more about the mid-sized city magnetism here. >>
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With the recent hike in property value in many Canadian cities, a lot of people are doing the math on how much money they have made on their home. But it’s much more complicated than most people think! Read this article to make sure you are calculation your ROI on your home correctly! >>

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Here’s a list of home insurance discounts most people don’t know about. See which ones you qualify for to make sure you are getting the best rate on your home insurance! >>

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When do you think the target age of home ownership should be? Discover The 2018 Zoocasa Housing Trends Report for the ideal time to buy a home. >>

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“What is capital cost allowance and when can I claim it for my rental?” >>

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Are you thinking about selling a rental property that is currently occupied? Here are 5 things to remember when selling a House with a Tenant! >>

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Regulations and zoning issues have made it difficult for builders to construct new single-family homes in some of the hottest real estate cities in Canada. The result? People overpaying for homes! Find out by just how much here. >>

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Looking to pay down your mortgage a little earlier than planned? Read here for a wide variety of tips on how to pay off your house earlier than expected! >>

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Passive income is quickly becoming the most sought after source of financial freedom and comfortable retirement. Check out this in-depth analysis of Triple Net Properties. >>



Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Russel's Review: Thoughts & Pointers After Completing A Large Renovation On An Investment Property





I just recently passed the five year anniversary of buying my first rental property! What a ride it has been. It was a detached home with an unfinished basement. As I chose a five year term, my mortgage was up for renewal this spring. I saw this as an opportunity to finish the basement, to get the property reappraised, and to refinance the property at the improved value (I can touch on this investor mindset in another post). Well, I just finished the renovation (managed the job myself) and I wanted to share some of the thoughts and pointers that I learned during the process.  Hopefully you can use some of these on your next renovation!

Everything Always Takes More Time Than Projected
This is a pretty standard one. Things happen and it throws other things off schedule. Plan for this in advance and allow for a very conservative contingency period.

Get Three Quotes For Large Trades Jobs
Some of the variance in the quotes were huge. Sometimes these trades guys are too busy and give quotes almost as if they don’t want the job.  Get three to make sure you know where you are at.

Don’t Always Take the Cheapest Quote
To build on the last point, the cheapest quote shouldn’t automatically be chosen. Make sure you understand the quality you are getting. Often the middle quote ends up being the best deal!

Ask for Referrals
Ask the professionals you work with for referrals to different skilled trades. Sometimes just saying to someone on the phone “so and so referred me” gets you better treatment. I wouldn’t refer someone to a friend unless I was very confident they would do a good job!

For Rental Properties Choose Neutral Materials
A good saying that is common in the real estate rental world is “choose things for 90% of people, 90% of the time”.  Don’t ever choose anything ornate or too trendy as it might not be most people’s taste. Remember that your not living here…

Keep Detailed Notes
This project has been an invaluable experience to understand firsthand how much different jobs and materials cost and the time frames associated with them (drywall, electrical, plumbing, tile, paint, framing, etc). This will give me a big leg up on my next project. Document things on a weekly basisor even more frequentlyto stay organized.

Shop Around For Materials
This seems obvious but you can save quite a bit if you shop around for the larger materials you need. If you know you need to buy tile, but not for while, you can keep an eye out for sales and save hundreds of dollars.

Buy As Many Things As Possible With A Credit Card
First off, it will keep things organized by having many of the items on the same statement making for easy bookkeeping. You can rack up a boat load of points as well .

Splurge on A Few Things
As long as it doesn’t break the bank, it’s a good idea to splurge on a few items. In my case, I did a large tiled glass shower, a shiplap fireplace with a sweet napoleon electric fireplace and some upgraded funky laundry cabinets. Now I have some nice selling features for the next renter or for when I go to sell the property.

Pay Your Workers Right Away
If your trades did a great job, pay them promptly to keep them happy. You can use them again in the future and having a list of these contacts is invaluable. If they know they will be paid fairly and promptly, they won’t think twice about working for you again!

I could go on and on about this renovation but these were some of the items I thought would be useful for our readers. See the accompanying videos and photos and tell me how you think I did!