Real Estate Insider: August 2018 News Report

Readers, can you believe it's the end of August already? And that means that Fall is just around the corner along with big changes in store! This month we've found some valuable reads, including 7 home projects to do before Winter, buying at a discount in a seller's market, the advantages of living in Windsor-Essex, and 5 important things to know about the new Cannabis Act!

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With the rapid increase in automation in today’s society, some people think Realtors will be obsolete in the next few years, but we disagree! Read why a computer cannot replace the value that a Realtor provides! >>

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Capital Gains Tax is something everyone dreads. A lot of people are aware that their principal residence is exempt, but if you have multiple properties you should read this article to make sure you are getting the most money out of your properties when it comes time to sell! >>

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There are many advantages of living in Windsor-Essex, perhaps one of the most significant is NO LAND TRANSFER TAX! Read here how much you would have to pay living in other places in Canada (sorry Vancouver). >>

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Having a hard time deciding whether to buy a property for yourself or invest in a rental income? Why not do both! A duplex might be the perfect way to get your foot in the door. Read the pros and cons of buying a duplex you plan to live in. >>

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While some chores seem to be manly for aesthetic purposes, many can save you thousands in the long run. Learn about the 7 home improvement projects to put on your list before winter! >>

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Discover the “5 C’s of credit in action” and see where you might fall. >>

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For the fourth time this year the Bank of Canada has raised its interest rates due to strong economic growth, but with concerns over Trump and NAFTA negotiations, some people aren’t so sure it’s a good idea. Read here about some of the implications of the recent spike. >>

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Real Estate Lawyers.ca is back at it with 5 things to know about the new Cannabis act! Watch this video to be more prepared for October. >>

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We are no doubt in a seller’s market right now, but that doesn’t mean you always have to pay top dollar for a property! This article gives a few tips and tricks to increase your odds of buying at a discount. >>

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“A rising rate guide to mortgages, HELOCs, GICs, savings and more”. >>

Real Estate Insider: September 2017 News Report

Welcome back to the Lalovich Real Estate Insider! We've been busy reading a tonne of topics and wanted to share the best finds with you. How much do you need to make to buy a house in Toronto? How did a multi-million dollar home street sell for less than $100k in California? What does the end of the Canadian housing bubble market mean for you? Find out the answers and much more in this edition. Enjoy!

Don’t be tricked by ‘buzz words’; make sure you know your options when applying for insurance. >>

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Looking at the house price-to-rent index, to balance out from the recent spike in housing prices, value either needs to go down or rent needs to come up. Based on this, the OECD predicts a 28% decline in home prices by 2020. Read more here >>

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The Ontario Real Estate Association is stepping up to become the self proclaimed “watch dog” for the industry’s regulatory body. This transformation is catalyzed by the fact that as of 2020, they will no longer be providing real estate education. Read more about the transformation here >>

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Thinking of becoming a landlord? Here are 10 tips to follow to make your rental property a successful one. >>

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A change of heart ended up costing this buyer $360,000! Learn why walking away from a deal could cost you more than just your deposit. >>

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While the housing boom drew thousands into the Real Estate career, the inevitable slowdown is expected to decimate the ranks of the inexperienced realtors. >>

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A private street in San Francisco with 35 Mega-Million Dollar mansions was sold to a couple for $90,100… all because of a $994 unpaid tax bill. Read why here >>

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Are you getting the best rates on your mortgage? Experts say people need to start comparing mortgage rates the same way they do when booking flights or hotels. Read the startling facts here >>

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Thinking of moving to Toronto? A recent study has found that to afford the average detached home, residents need an average income close to $200,000. >>

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Deciding what to do with your rental properties? Considering entering the rental property market? Be sure to read this list of every indicator to consider when selling an investment property. >> 

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Going with traditional: a new mixed commercial/residential building is planned for an empty Walkerville area lot, becoming one of the first buildings of its type built there in a long time. >>

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Learning from past mistakes: it seems as though Canada’s housing market bubble is officially over, without the notoriously feared “pop”. >>

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Buyer's remorse: people are scrambling to close after the recent cool down of the housing market. >>

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The real estate association believes it's time to increase the penalty for unethical behaviour in the real estate profession and is lobbying for stricter regulations due to the fact that the current regulations are close to 15 years old. >>

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Feel like you're paying too much for your mortgage? It's likely you've made one of the top five costly homeowner financial mistakes. Find out here >>

GUEST BLOG: A Day in the Life of a Lawyer

Today we have a guest blogger! Continuing on with the theme of "a day in the life of", we have another professional that realtors often work with - a lawyer. Lyndsey Lalovich, an associate with the Willis Law Firm (and my Sister), is going to take us through a typical day.


Ever wondered what a day in the life of a corporate lawyer would look like?


I am a lawyer with Willis Business Law, a new, cutting edge business law firm, located in the heart of downtown Windsor at 1 Riverside Dr. W. Around here, they call me the “closer”. I am the lead associate lawyer on all our firm's transactional work, overseeing all aspects of a deal and going the extra mile to ensure timely completion of deliverables.


So what does a day in the life of a transactional lawyer look like? While no day looks quite the same in this field, below is a snapshot of my day!


7:00am – Rise & Shine! Hearty breakfast and morning news.


8:00am – En route to the office, Willis Business Law, to start another day.


8:30am – The calm before the storm. Catch up on emails and get organized for the day.


9:00am – Join Willis Business Law’s founding partner, William Willis, for a meeting with clients in the beautiful boardroom at Willis Business Law to discuss a proposed commercial real estate purchase. Complex factors related to the transaction made the face-to-face effective to strategize the best approach.




10:00am – Return calls and emails.


11:00am – Time to put my head down and do some work! Prepare closing agenda for an upcoming commercial acquisition and work with our corporate and real estate clerks to get the package of closing documents prepared.


12:00pm – Networking lunch! Relationship building is key in this career. One of the best parts of working downtown is our close vicinity to our referral sources and, of course, the great restaurants!


1:15pm – More emails.


2:00pm – Signing with client for a commercial financing transaction. Once the client leaves, the pressure is on! Our team needs to get the signed documents to the other lawyer as fast as we can to ensure there is no hold up in the closing of the transaction. With our experienced clerks, we have it down to a science!


3:00pm – Uh oh... Residential real estate closing gone sideways. Various phone calls (and emails of course) with the other lawyer and our client to get the issues resolved.


4:00pm – Wrap up work projects for the day. Have I mentioned responding to emails? Much like other fields, nowadays email is the primary mode of communication for lawyers. At Willis Business Law we try our best to maintain a 24 hour response time on emails, even if we are just responding to let the client know we will look into their inquiry and get back to them. This means a significant percentage of my day is spent sitting in front of this computer keeping up with my inbox!




6:30pm – Head home for some dinner with the hubby.


7:30pm – Gym time. After sitting at a computer for most of the day it’s especially important to stay active in the evenings!


9:00pm – Wind down. Watch some Big Brother Canada while treating ourselves to protein pancakes!


10:00pm – Get a head start on preparing for tomorrow’s work day and, you guessed it, respond to emails.


11:00pm – Lights out!



So there you have it folks. Thanks for participating Lyndsey. Contact her for all your business law needs. You can find more info about her and the firm at www.willislawfirm.ca. Thanks for reading!

A Day in the Life of A Real Estate Agent

Have you ever wondered what a typical day looks like for a realtor?  Well I have bad news for you… no days in our industry are typical!  Depending on the day we could have a whole range of things going on.  You never know when your appointments could all cancel and you're left waiting around for a document to get signed or for a call back from another professional.  Sometimes you'll wake up thinking the day will be quiet, but by 10am it has completely flipped flopped and the rest of your day is totally booked.

A typical day just doesn't exist. But here is an example of a recent work day I (Russel) had so you can peer into the life of a real estate agent!

8am – Breakfast (most important meal of the day) and answer some emails.

9am – Out the door ready for the day.

9:30am – Inspection out at a waterfront property in the County.

12pm – Drive back into Town and return calls in the car (over Bluetooth of course).

12:30pm – Business lunch Downtown.

1:30pm – Meet photographer for photos for new industrial property that we listed this week.

2pm – Tenant comes to view same property that was just listed this week.

3pm – Back to the office to do some follow ups and work on an appraisal for a property we are being asked to submit a listing proposal on next week.  Return more phone calls and respond to emails. Set up appointments for tomorrow.  Eat a snack (Daryl's Bar).

5pm – Meet tenant to view office unit we have listed.

6pm – Head home.  Return some more calls.  Appointments finished for the day.

6:30pm – Dinner at home.

7pm – Gym time.  Need it to stay fit and healthy.  Productivity and sleep quality slip without it.

8:30pm – Return Home.  Protein shake while reviewing new listings that came up that day.

9pm – Finish up appraisal for next week.  Prepare for appointments tomorrow.  Answer more emails.

10:30pm – Netflix and Chill.

11:30pm – Read some non-fiction.  Recent recommendation is Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.  Reading is very important to keep you mind sharp and it helps me wind down.

Midnight – Lights out!

I didn’t pick the most exciting day but it was pretty busy and varied in scope.  The important thing in this business is to be consistent and work hard everyday.  It is also important to have a good work-life balance so you can keep up your productivity.  We are lucky to have flexibility in our schedules that way.  Is this day in the life different than you would have expected?

New Series: Real Estate and Related Terms Explained

Over the next several weeks we will be doing a new series on the blog. In a nutshell, each week we are going to choose a term that we often find that is either confusing or misunderstood in our travels with our clients. We will define the term in verbiage that is easy to understand and expand on the concepts where necessary.

After this series we hope that you will be able to talk confidently about many real estate related topics. Sometimes, there are different terms for different items in different jurisdictions. For example, in Ontario (where we live and sell real estate), we use the term Condo for condominium ownership, whereas in British Columbia, they use the term Strata. So therefore, as experts in Ontario only, we will focus on terms used in our market.

The first post next week will be regarding a term that we get asked about a lot…triple net.

Readers: are there any terms you find confusing that you’d like us to touch on? We’d like to make this series informative so we’d love to hear from you.

Investing In Real Estate – Building The Right Team #2: Lawyer

Moving along in our series of building the right team as a real estate investor, after you’ve selected your realtor, it is time to consider legal representation. Today we are going to talk about what to look for and why you need the right lawyer on your team.

Why do I need a Lawyer?

The most basic task you need your lawyer for is to close the real estate transaction, transferring title to you. They will also provide legal advice for your investment business to protect your interests.

What will my Lawyer do for me as a Real Estate Investor?

Aside from the closing transactions, they will run title searches, register mortgages on the property, give legal advice or opinions on properties or related issues, review or even prepare real estate documents and even advise on ownership structures of your real estate.

What should I look for in a Lawyer

You’ll want to look for a lawyer who does a lot of real estate transactions and has the requisite experience. They should be able to provide relevant advice for your situation as a real estate investor and how to protect your interests. Having a lawyer that is an investor in real estate or has some sort of background in the business is a bonus.

How much will my Lawyer cost?

As in anything else, the costs will vary depending on the lawyer and the amount of work needed. On real estate transaction, some lawyers charge a flat rate plus disbursements (out of pocket costs the lawyer incurs on your behalf) and an hourly fee. Make sure you understand the costs beforehand and maybe compare prices in your market. Although the decision of cost alone shouldn’t determine which lawyer you choose, the decision is very important!

As we aren’t lawyers, we leave the legal advice to the legal experts. This is far from an exhaustive list regarding legal professionals but an intro to get your started with adding to your team. Now get to work!

Investing In Real Estate – Building The Right Team #1: Realtor

Last week, we briefly reviewed a list of the team you should consider building if you want to become a real estate investor. Over the next set of posts, we will elaborate on some of these team members and what you should know. To begin, we will start with arguably the most important member of your team... the realtor ☺.

What should you look for when choosing a realtor to help you with investment properties?

Consider a realtor who specializes in income properties, or at least has significant experience with dealing with investor clients both on the buying and selling side. Ask for a list of properties they have worked on and possibly for references. It is also a huge bonus to have a realtor who is an investor themselves. They will be able to speak from first-hand experience and should be able to offer excellent insight. Choosing the right realtor is especially critical when investing outside of your home market, where you’ll be relying on them more for information about that market.

In what ways will my chosen realtor help in the process?

Your realtor should meet with you, understand your goals for investing and gauge your financial and management abilities to invest in properties. They should provide you information about the rental market, including rents, vacancy rates, employment info, demographics, municipal and fire code regulations, neighbourhood info and more. At this point you should be ready to look into specific properties and narrow down your focus to the right property for you. After finding the right property, your realtor will handle offer negotiations, facilitate inspections, appraisals, etc. to meet conditions and generally handle the sale right through to closing.

In what ways can my realtor go over and above?

Your realtor should have ideas and insights to help you be successful. They should understand the rental market and what makes a unit marketable to tenants. They can provide advice regarding value added renovations, marketing of vacancies, how to handle tenant inquires and applications and general maintenance of the property to keep things moving steadily. They can also provide referrals to other professionals for your team, including lawyers, mortgage brokers, insurance brokers, building inspectors, management companies, etc. Lastly, they should protect your interests at all times. They should see red flags such as blatant fire code violations, undesirable tenants, inefficiencies (electric heat loss) and other potential headaches of future problems.

This is a brief discussion about what to look from your realtor when looking at investing in real estate. It should give you some guidelines to get you started. Good luck!

Investing in Real Estate – Building The Right Team

After doing some research on different investing ideas, you’ve decided that real estate investing is right for you. No matter how big or small you intend for this investment venture to be, its important to be ready, willing and able to handle everything that comes your way. But how do we do that? By building the proper team of professionals around you to set yourself up for success.

But what type of professionals do you need? We've put together a list of such professionals. Not every one of them is necessary for every investor, but the list is a starting point to make sure your bases are covered.

Realtor

Now this is a pretty obvious one ☺. They’ll be able to help you out with understanding values, demographics, rents, etc. Working with a realtor who either owns rentals themselves or does a good amount of income properties is a huge bonus.

Lawyer

A good real estate lawyer is invaluable. They will make sure your interests are protected in whatever deals your are considering. Good legal advice can be expensive but can save you money in the long run.

Mortgage Broker-Professional

Assuming you will be mortgaging your properties, a good mortgage broker-professional is essential in getting your deals financed. They can give you advice so you can continue to accumulate properties and get the best terms possible.

Accountant

A good accountant is also invaluable. Understanding the best way to hold the real estate, claim expenses, amortize costs, etc. can save you tax dollars. They also have your back should CRA ever audit you.

Property Manager

Don’t have time or the ability to handle your rentals yourself? Finding a good property manager is must-have. They can collect rents, leasing, handle tenant calls and be the general go between the property and the owner. Fees generally range from 5% of rent to one month’s rent per year and up.  Make sure you factor this cost into your budget if you're planning to have the property managed.

Contractor/HandyMan

Not very handy? Then you’ll need to contract out any renovations or general upkeep. When you find good people who don’t cost an arm and a leg, it is important to keep them around and happy. They will make your life much easier in this business.

Bookkeeper

A good bookkeeper can keep track of all your income and expenses related to each property and make sure everything runs smoothly. They can also run regular reports so you understand your profits and can uncover trends (like increasing utility costs), so they can be addressed.

General Maintenance – Grass, Snow, Cleaning

A list of maintenance contacts can go a long way in efficiently operating your property and keeping it safe and attractive to tenants. Be sure to also add these costs to your budget.

This is far from an exhaustive list, but it gives you a general idea about who you should have on your speed dial as a real estate investor. How has your experience been in creating your team?

Bonus – Tax Time 2016: Tax Refunds

Now that the tax filing deadlines are officially behind us, a good portion of you will be getting a nice refund from the tax man! Now, before you go blowing it on the latest gadget or on a weekend getaway, it’s important to remember that this isn’t free money and it really is just a refund of the overpayment of taxes you made throughout the year. Considering it comes in the form of a lump sum, there are many opportunities to invest that money which can benefit you on an annual basis. Today we are going to make a list of the prudent potential uses for that hard earned tax refund, from your friendly local real estate professional’s perspective☺

Save Up For A Down Payment On Your Next Property

A lump sum tax refund can be a great head start towards saving for your next down payment.

Renovate or Update Your Investment Property

Have you deferred a renovation because cash flow has been tight? With your tax refund in hand, now could be the time to address some of those outstanding issues.

Value Added Upgrades to Your Home

Thinking about adding a bathroom or changing some flooring? Having some freed up cash to complete these tasks will not only make your further enjoy your home but increase its resale value.

Paying Down Mortgages

Without delving into people’s personal financial situations, paying off debt is never a bad option whenever you have a cash windfall. It gives you a guaranteed return on investment (ie. interest costs  saved). If you have any outstanding non-mortgage debt (credit cards, car loans, lines of credit) I would recommend you start with those as they are typically at the highest interest rate. Once those are taken care of, I would move to the mortgage on the principle residence. Lastly, I would pay down the mortgage on the income properties because of the tax deductibility of interest (as opposed to the principle residence mortgage debt).

So there you have it readers. What do you normally do with your tax refund?