3483 replies to this topic

[spanky123]

Listed at $18 million, assessed at just over $4 million.

 

5x times assessed value for a tear-down, that sounds about right for something Helps would promote.

[Mike K.]

This piece questions the alarmism of a recent CBC radio segment that the National Post claims used misleading data gleaned from a source with too small of a sample to be making claims on national rental rates.

 

The article also discusses how landlords, by and large, are not supplying as many rental units as they could be due to a system that is biased against them.

 

To the point identified in burgundy, government is directly competing with private landlords that not only face years of municipal wrangling, surging costs and obstacles to providing housing, they must then compete for tenants with government-backed, government-financed units that in many cases were fast-paced through the municipal process.

 

If rental accommodations are hard to find, it must be because enough people to fill them up are able to afford the rent. And if rents are “too high,” we should ask ourselves why greater supply isn’t forthcoming. In the market for rental housing, as in any market, if you want prices to fall, you’ve got to either reduce demand or increase supply. CBC wants all would-be renters to find the homes they desire, so in effect it isn’t in favour of reducing demand. The question therefore becomes: Why don’t more landlords supply more spaces for rent?
 
Think about it for a minute, however, and that question is answered with another question: Why would anyone in their right mind get into the apartment business? Think of the obstacles to making your money back. Restrictive zoning, comprehensive regulation, zealous activists, rent control, high property and income taxes, new proposals to tax wealth, direct competition from subsidized government housing, and so on and so on. Putting up an apartment building isn’t quite as hard as building a pipeline, but it is in the same ballpark. - https://business.fin...er-to-landlords

[spanky123]

^ We discussed this very issue a few pages back. Most of these "polls" by online rental property aggregators are bogus. If you strip off the airbnb data (which they simply take the daily rate and multiply by 30), the sample sizes are so small as to be meaningless. If I recall, the data for Victoria only looked at 8 actual monthly rentals yet the article confidently claimed a percentage growth in rental rates. .

Edited by spanky123, 26 February 2019 - 10:56 AM.

[On the Level]

I know I've mentioned we don't rent out our suite anymore and have taken over the space.  I have to ask, unless you *have* to rent to offset your mortgage, why would anyone rent?  We have had great tenants for years but it's different now.  After all of our screening, there have been some challenges and now there is little recourse. I had to put out significant funds to repair the space.

 

Leaving  BC gov provided notices on the door then "asking" for the damage deposit to help cover the damage?  Renting is very risky for families. 

[sdwright.vic]

^so one bad ape and its all over. You are a business if you want to rent. Not a family.

Just like any business that hires a new employee, spends $$$ on training them, then they decide to quit two weeks after training is done because of whatever reason.

You are aware that the cost of doing repairs can come off the gross income you declare when you file your taxes? Upkeep and repair of a rental property is an expense from your gross income.

So your not all out.

[Mike K.]

I don’t think you’re quite up on repair costs, sd. To get a contractor to come in and handle even a simple task is a $1,500-$2,500 job. And these repairs can also uncover unpermitted work from a previous owner, and suddenly you’re looking at $5,000-$7,500.

A splash of paint and a new fridge anyone can handle but many residences that weren’t well maintained by a tenant can sustain thousands in damage in addition to damaged appliances and general neglect.

You might be a class A tenant but many people aren’t. And it’s not always because they’re bad people, they just don’t know any better or don’t take care of things in general.

But here’s one trick I’ve used in the past. Take note of the tenant’s vehicle, if they pull up in one. And no, the age or make doesn’t matter. The cleanliness of the inside matters. The cleanliness of the exterior matters. Are the tires bald? Is the vehicle dinged up? Is the insurance sticker on straight (a detail-oriented person wouldn’t dare put it on crooked). You can get an instant snapshot of someone’s general tendencies just by taking a moment to observe their car. Responsible, tidy people will take good care of their vehicle and they’ll take pride in it regardless of what it is. People who don’t generally care about cleanliness or upkeep will spell it all out for you with their car.

[sdwright.vic]

I didn't indicate anything about "an understanding of cost". I stated renting, like any other business, has risk.

[Mike K.]

And that’s why so many people are walking away from renting their suites.

One man’s “risk” is another’s $5,000/$10,000/$15,000 financial disaster.

[LJ]

The city of Portland has just instituted rent controls throughout the city. You are restricted to a 7% annual increase plus the CPI %.

 

Some people are happy others say it will restrict building of rental accommodation.

 

Might be interesting to watch what happens there.

[spanky123]

The city of Portland has just instituted rent controls throughout the city. You are restricted to a 7% annual increase plus the CPI %.

 

Some people are happy others say it will restrict building of rental accommodation.

 

Might be interesting to watch what happens there.

 

Well at 10% (inc CPI) rent increase is still far more than the 2% we have here and would at least allow landlords a reasonable return on their investments. 

[lanforod]

My rental has been steadily getting more cash flow negative over the last few years. If it weren't for the massive asset gains I would have bailed a long time ago. 

[spanky123]

My rental has been steadily getting more cash flow negative over the last few years. If it weren't for the massive asset gains I would have bailed a long time ago. 

 

And that is the way that most landlords think about their assets. According to the CMHC, you won't be seeing much in the way of an asset gain for the next 5 years though.

[Mike K.]

And now rental advocacy groups want to limit rental increases to units, not individuals. So say, if you have a tenant whose rent is $1,000/month, and when they vacate the market rent for that unit is $1,450, you as the landlord won’t be able to rent it for $1,450 but $1,000+annual permitted rental increase.

What the rental advocates don’t understand is by instituting this restriction tenants will be GUARANTEED an annual increase to their rent, whereas many landlords do not raise rents on an annual basis or to the full permitted maximum.

If they had, the senior living in a $1,000/month apartment would actually be paying significantly more in-keeping with annual rent increases (I.e based on inflation ALONE a $750/month apartment rented in 1995 would be $1,080 today; add even 1% to that per annum and the rent would be significantly higher).

[Victoria Watcher]

advocates should point to just one example of where rent controls kept rents down.

New York?

property owners will tear whole buildings down if need be so the unit no longer exists.

[tjv]

You are aware that the cost of doing repairs can come off the gross income you declare when you file your taxes? Upkeep and repair of a rental property is an expense from your gross income.

You are assuming that people with basement suites declare that income.  From the people I know with suites its very rare they declare the income, some even demand payment in cash every month so there is no paper trail.

[Mike K.]

The last paragraph of substance from a Vancouver Sun article.

““My client has tried to minimize the impact as much as it can, including by offering subsidized rent and alternative affordable housing to the existing tenants, the vast majority of whom have accepted my client’s offers of accommodation.””

The first paragraph of the same article:

“On Saturday, about 40 people joined a rally and walking tour organized by the New West Tenants Union, during which they protested the eviction and displacement of renters for the purpose of renovations.”

In the article we also learn that the protestors were an organized group and not representative of the actual tenants of the building.

The overwhelming majority of landlords who pursue major renovation projects that require units to become vacated bend over backwards to accommodate tenants. Very, very rarely, and particularly so I n Victoria, do we see the sorts of scenarios that protestors try to insist are rampant, Iike the “replacement of a sink” leading to a renoviction (raised as an example during a CFAX interview on Friday morning with a renter advocate).

Read more here: https://vancouversun...stole-christmas and take note of the article title: New Westminster Tenants Rally Against Landlord who Stole Christmas

Despite this, the backlash towards new housing supplies continues. If it’s not a government-funded project, several City of Victoria councillors will vote against housing. Using terms like luxury, or high-end, or out of reach, they work against the supply of housing under the guise that the new housing will make no impact on the rental vacancy rate, but measures like garden suites, clamping down on AirBnB’s and City of Victoria-built housing WILL.

We’ve now seen the region’s rental vacancy rate triple over the last two years. Has this been forgotten, or does it simply stay out of the narrative as it complicates the politicization of market housing supplies?

[Victoria Watcher]

the cfax guest was also disingenuous about the impact of the speculation/vacancy tax on his partner's vacant apartment. he knew it was not going to be applicable but he said he was still researching if it was.    he lied.

[Nparker]

...the backlash towards new housing supplies continues. If it’s not a government-funded project, several City of Victoria councillors will vote against housing. Using terms like luxury, or high-end, or out of reach, they work against the supply of housing under the guise that the new housing will make no impact on the rental vacancy rate, but measures like garden suites, clamping down on AirBnB’s and City of Victoria-built housing WILL. We’ve now seen the region’s rental vacancy rate triple over the last two years. Has this been forgotten, or does it simply stay out of the narrative as it complicates the politicization of market housing supplies?

This.

[spanky123]

This.

 

Several Councillors have the view that housing should not be an privately owned asset. 

Edited by spanky123, 04 March 2019 - 08:24 AM.

[Nparker]

Several Councillors have the view that housing should not be an privately owned asset. 

Then they need to run for much higher political offices, as there is absolutely no way this sort of decision should be made by municipal politicians,