Real Estate Insider: October 2018 News Report

Hi there, readers! With new local real estate developments and a continuing housing war, we thought we'd bring you a collection of reading just for the occasion. Take a look as we cover renovation tips, the benefits of living small, how to whittle down that mortgage, and more!



More often than not, renovations increase the value of your home. Everyone should be careful of renovations that are only improvements in their eyes! This article lists 7 home renovations that might not help the re-sale value of your home. >>

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Monthly mortgage payments is something every homeowner has to deal with. There are many different theories and strategies that go with paying off your mortgage, but have you ever heard of a sinking fund? If not, you can read all about it here! >>

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There’s one thing standing between the house size you think you need, and the house size you actually need: your ego. Set it aside and read the benefits of owning a smaller home. >>

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Condo popularity is growing in the Windsor-Essex area, and they are popping up all over! If you’re thinking of buying a condo make sure to keep these tips in mind so you don’t have any surprises after you make the big investment. >>

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House flipping is rapidly gaining popularity and can be a great way to earn extra cash to set yourself up for financial freedom. However, like many things, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Read this article for some things to consider before diving into a flip so it doesn’t turn into a flop. >>

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Investing in a vacation rental could be the perfect opportunity to finance a vacation spot for you and your family—if you’re willing to put in the work! As always, we want you to stay informed on all decisions involving real estate, so if you’re thinking of investing in a vacation home, be sure to read this article first. >>

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Getting your home ready for an inspection is a win-win for everyone; doing it right is important! This article does a great job at listing the simple things you should do pre-inspection to assure you get the highest price for your home. >>

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It’s easy to make mistakes when first starting anything, but some “rookie mistakes” can end up costing you a lot of money! Be sure to avoid the common ones by reading this article, and get yourself ready for a successful investment property! >>

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Does the thought of your mortgage constantly stress you out? If you want to live mortgage free, you can start by reading these 12 tips on how to reduce that pesky mortgage. >>

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How would you feel about having a neighbour that frequently rents out their home short term? Are you with the majority of Canadians? Find out here! >>

Real Estate Insider: September 2018 News Report

Welcome back, Real Estate Insiders! This month we have a solid list of topics ranging from finding the perfect tenant to the latest craze of remodelling. We hope you have a cup of coffee and are ready for some of the most informative reads we've ever found. Enjoy!

Title insurance is a closing cost that everyone seems to question, but do you really need it? Well the short answer... is YES! Read how title insurance can save you from financial and personal stress.

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While not everyone might know what “Sequence Risk” is, it affects everyone the same. This is why you need to eliminate as much sequence risk as possible! Real Estate is a great way to significantly reduce this risk and this article explains why.

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Are you buying a new home or condo? Make sure to be caught up on the HST rebate rules so you don’t miss out on huge savings!

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True or False: Windsor is the most affordable city to buy a house in all of Canada. Find out the answer here!

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Remodelling is a rising trend among homeowners that doesn’t seem to be slowing down! But there are negative effects not shown on HGTV. Read them here.

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Cannabis is being legalized in less a month! Here are 5 things you should know now to stay informed.

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In trial separations it is sometimes unclear how the real estate is going to be divided among the family. This article can help with that part!

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Making sure you have good Tenants can make or break a rental property, so don’t leave anything to chance! Read the ultimate screening process here so picking good Tenants can be easy.

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The first year of anything you do usually has the biggest learning curve, so this article of 5 Lessons that Chris Mamula learned in his first year as a Landlord should help ease that curve! 

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Real Estate Investing isn’t only for the rich! Read here for an example of how to invest in a rental property with little to no down payment.

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. >>

Real Estate Insider: May 2018 News Report

Hello there, Real Estate Insiders! Get ready for some of the most important topics we've discovered yet. Why you need a lawyer if you're selling your house, the best way to approach mortgage renewal, and why it's harder for Millennials to buy are just a few of the reads we have in store for you. 

There’s a lot of things you can do to save some money, but skipping out on a Real Estate lawyer when buying a home should NEVER be one of them! Read why it can end up costing you way more than the legal fees if you decide to buy a home without a lawyer. >>

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While owning a condominium in Toronto and renting it out may seem like a great investment, it appears nearly half aren’t getting enough rent to cover their costs. Is it still worth it? >>

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If you sold your home after 2016 and didn’t report it to CRA, you might be looking at hefty fine! Read here to stay updated on all the forms and necessary steps to avoid an unwanted call from the CRA. >>

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If you own a rental property with more than two people, tax season can be tricky! Be sure to know how to split these taxes fairly, and you can start by reading this article! >>

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If you are thinking of investing in your first rental property, this article is for you. Be better prepared to make this decision. Should it be a house or condo? Duplex? Where are you living now? This article has all the right questions you might not have thought to ask! >>

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“My mortgage comes up for renewal this year.” If you are in the same boat as these authors then you should definitely read their mortgage renewal strategy to help with your own! >>

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Think that if you can afford the down payment and the mortgage payments you can afford a house? Think again! There are a lot of costs involved in buying a home and we want to make sure you are financially prepared for all of them. Read this list so there are no surprises on closing day! >>

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Real Estate Lawyers discuss the "5 Things to Know about Government Standard Lease Form”. >>

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The 2018 OSFI stress test has cut Millennial purchasing power by over $40,000! What does that mean for first time home buyers? >>

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With a lot of things now being done online, should dealing with a mortgage broker be one of them? Read the pros and cons of going online for a mortgage. >>

Real Estate Insider: October 2017 News Report

Did your equity in your home spike in the past few months due to the increase in property values? Use it to make your wealth grow! Read this to learn the basics such as how, when, and why. >>

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If you have multiple rental properties, this article is for you! Learn the pros and cons of opening up a holding company. >>

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Planning your estate or have you recently gotten a large inheritance? Here’s what you should know about estate and inheritance tax in Canada. >>

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Are you self-employed or a new Canadian? CMHC proposal will make it easier for you to buy a home by getting rid of a lot of the ‘red tape’. Read more here >>

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Read the top 9 things this experienced couple looks for when buying a rental property, and what they wish they knew when they first started. >>

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These few little known facts could save you tons of money on capital gains tax when selling your rental property. >>

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Inheritance can be tricky, especially when it isn’t divided equally or fairly. Read this man's conundrum when his Mother left him everything and his brothers were left empty handed. >>

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 >>

Investing In Real Estate – Building The Right Team: Series Recap

As a real estate investor, you have a lot at stake. It's important to remember to treat your investing as a business. As the CEO of your investing business, it's important to run your business properly to ensure its success.

As any good CEO will do, you need to surround yourself with the right help. It's hard to do it properly all on your own. Focus on your strengths and outsource the rest to the proper professionals.   You might not need every one of the team members we discussed in our series, but they should all be considerations for the future.

Make sure to value your time as an investor. Why spend your time mowing the lawn of your property when it could be spent analyzing your next deal? If you're busy with your career or family life and don’t have the time to take care of everything yourself, it doesn’t mean you don’t have time for investing in real estate, it just means you need to outsource.

One of the main reasons people hold back from investing in real estate is the horror stories they have heard about problem tenants or problems with the property (ie. flooded basement). One of the great benefits of outsourcing to professionals is that it minimizes your mistakes and potential liability as an investor. You don’t have to learn the hard way.

Remember, the path to real estate investing success and future wealth is a marathon, not a sprint.  Surrounding yourself with the right people will help you keep a steady pace on your journey and not stumble along the way. Now get moving!

This wraps up our series on building the right team as a real estate investor. Hopefully it was insightful and made you think differently about your chances of becoming a real estate investor.  We’d love to hear from you!

Investing In Real Estate – Building The Right Team #8: General Maintenance Professionals

Just like at your principle residence, general maintenance items must be done to ensure the property is safe and well maintained. This is general labour type maintenance such as grass cutting, landscaping, snow removal & cleaning of common areas (if in a multi-unit building). Today we are going to elaborate on this subject and discuss a few items you should be aware of.

Can I do this general maintenance myself?

You certainly can get your hands dirty and tackle these items yourself, as long as you have the time and will be completing them on a timely basis. Saving money on these items will certainly increase your cash flow but make sure to put a value on your time. Don’t let the place go in between visits, as poor curb appeal or lack of general maintenance can be a large turn off for tenants and can negatively affect your occupancy rates and rental rates. Maybe you want to start with handling these items yourself when you are just getting started, but as you progress as an investor, and as your portfolio grows, it may be prudent to outsource some help.  

If I hire out my general maintenance, who should I hire?

Grass, landscaping and snow removal can usually be done by a local landscaping company. You can consider hiring your tenant or a tenant in your building to handle these items, but beware of the pitfalls. Especially with snow, if they don’t do their job in a timely manner, you could end up with someone falling and injuring themselves on your property and inheriting legal trouble. On the cleaning of common areas, it is common to see one of the on-site tenants handle the job. Usually the cleaning of the common areas, or handling of grass cutting or snow removal can be done with a reduction in the rent, just make sure it is stated in writing.

How much should I budget for maintenance on my property?

You should budget an ongoing expense for maintenance items regardless of if you do them yourself or contract them out. A good rule of thumb is to budget 5% of gross rent, or up to one month’s gross rent per year, towards repairs and maintenance. This amount will also include large repairs such as roof, furnace, etc. which will be amortized over their expected life to smooth out your repairs and maintenance budgeting year to year. You don’t want to overspend on these maintenance items so you should err on the cheaper side when allocating expense dollars to these items.

Make sure you budget for these maintenance items in your income property and ensure the work is done in a timely manner. You'll be thankful you did!

Readers, do you do your own maintenance on your income properties or do you outsource them?

Investing In Real Estate – Building The Right Team #7: Bookkeeper

No one will ever care as much about your investment property as you do. But what exactly should you care about most as an investor? The short answer is: how much money you’re making! The funny thing is a lot of investors don’t actually know how well their investment property is performing. Don’t be one of those people! Today we are going to talk about the next member of your team, which will help you with this problem…your bookkeeper.

Do I really need a bookkeeper?

Technically, you don’t need one. You can do the bookkeeping yourself if you work with a simple spreadsheet or an accounting software such as quickbooks or simply accounting. Just make sure you keep detailed records and ensure you input all the income, expenses, etc, properly and allocate it to the right property. When you start out, it's often a good idea to start doing your own books so you can learn. As your portfolio grows, you will want to consider delegating the task to a bookkeeper.

What will my bookkeeper do for me?

A bookkeeper will input all income and expenses into whatever accounting software you use. They will keep neat records so when tax time rolls around, you have everything handy. They will also run regular reports (ie. monthly, quarterly) so you can track the performance of your investments.

What else should I know about bookkeeping?

The biggest aspect of bookkeeping is measuring performance. If things are going well and as good or better than expected then you want to keep up the good work to make sure things don’t slip. If things aren’t performing so well, it allows you to look at where the numbers are going wrong and make some changes (ie. increase rents, renovate, implement energy efficiency updates). And if after doing all you can, and after continuing to monitor the performance, it doesn’t turn around, maybe it wasn’t a good investment and its time to sell and move on.

How much will my bookkeeper cost?

As in the rest of the your team members the cost will vary, but bookkeeping is a highly automated process so the rates in your area should be pretty standardized. Either a per hour amount or a monthly fee is most common. Also make sure to check the work to make sure they are doing a good job with minimal errors and making it worthwhile for you.

The bottomline is that understanding your investment properties performance is very important and not a task to be taken lightly. Consider hiring a bookkeeper to make sure this is taken care of properly.

Do you do your own bookkeeping or outsource it for a bookkeeper?

Investing In Real Estate – Building The Right Team #6: Contractor/Handyman/Trades

Not very handy? Don’t feel bad…we aren’t either. But that shouldn’t discourage you from investing in real estate. By building a team that includes a contractor or handyman to handle your renovations and repairs, you won’t have to slave doing manual labor jobs that you either don’t have the time for or the skills to do properly. Today we are going to talk about how having the right guys for the job will help make your investment properties more successful in the long run. We are using the terms contractor/handyman/trades interchangeably, as who you need can vary depending on your situation.

Why Do I Need A Contractor/Handyman/Trades?

If you are truly good with your hands and know the ins and outs of construction, including trades, pulling permits, etc, then maybe you don’t need a good contractor. But for the rest of us, they are very important. They will carry out necessary renovations to your rental properties that will attract the right tenants for top rents and keep your real estate values high. Time is money in real estate investing. The longer a job takes the more potential vacancy you have and the larger the hit to your potential rent. You should also be doing routine maintenance to your property, so the improvements you have will last longer, ie. servicing of the mechanical.

What Should I Look For In A Contractor/Handyman/Trades?

You should look for an experienced contractor that can handle the type of jobs you need done for your properties. Check references and assess their work with due diligence. Having a contractor that has rentals or has a background in them is a bonus. They will understand where you are coming from when it comes to smartly investing in your properties. You are not making decisions the same way you would if you were renovating your own home.

What Else Will My Contractor/Handyman/Trades Do?

They will give you advice on general updates that need to be done. Sometimes things can wait another year or two. Sometimes, an item needing repair can be a money pit and a full replacement is better in the long run. They should also have good referrals for you. For example, if you were renovating a basement and had a leak in the foundation, they should be able to refer you to some potential specialists outside of their expertise.

How Much Will My Contractor/Handyman/Trades Cost?

As with most team members in our series, the costs will vary depending on the person and the job.  Make sure to get multiple, detailed quotes in writing so you fully understand what is included in the price. Also, you usually get what you pay for in construction, so choosing team members solely on who is the lowest price isn’t always the best idea. Sometimes they are the cheapest for a reason and getting the job done right can save you money in the long term.

So there you have it, real estate investors. Do you have a team of construction experts for your properties? How has your experience been in finding the right help?