Why Rejecting Airbnb in Toronto is Short-Sighted

by Davelle Morrison

Recently, landlords lost their case for Airbnb but is it only the landlords that have lost out here? Airbnb, much like Uber & Tesla is like any other market disrupter. And, yes, our knee-jerk reaction is to hate change, I’m usually guilty of that myself.  Except when we only want to stick to the status quo, we are missing out on other opportunities that exist because of our comfort.

Continue Reading

For Rent: Bright 1 Bedroom Condo at the Junction

by Davelle Morrison

Located in the Junction, This bright, South-facing 1-Bedroom with balcony offers a beautiful view. Open-concept kitchen, living and dining space ideal for entertaining. Close to buzzing new restaurants and coffee shops that the junction has to offer. Near Keele and Dundas subway stations, High Park, bike trails and Hwy 400. Includes locker.

Visit #1912 – 60 Heintzman St.

Continue Reading

How can you rent your rental property faster?

by Davelle Morrison

I work with rentals on behalf of clients and for my own properties and the one thing I have learned is that pictures are critical. I repeat pictures are incredibly important. With more and more rentals available and with many people moving into Toronto for school and career shifts, I’m noticing a greater number of renters, renting places sight unseen because they live in other cities.

If you are renting a place sight unseen, the most important thing for you is great pictures. It also improves your chances of having your place rented given the competition. When I have a new condo for rent, I hire a stager who will make the place look amazing. I know that it’s common to have condos and houses staged for sale so it’s a little uncommon to have a condo staged for a rental.

Although the cost to stage the condo could be $1,500-$2,000 which is usually around the same cost as 1 month’s rent, I still feel that it is a worthwhile investment for the long-term real estate investor. Every time a tenant leaves, you will need pictures. Tenants don’t always keep their places in the best condition. In addition, many tenants don’t want their belongings photographed.

The best solution is to stage your rental and hire a professional photographer to take pictures. This way, prospective tenants have a great example to see. More renters will most likely come to see your place because of it. And when an out of town renter is looking for a home, they will most likely select your place because you have put your best foot forward. Your place will look amazing.

An initial $2,000 investment can become the gift that keeps on giving for the years to come each time you need a new tenant. Do this once and then you don’t have to do it again. Pictures in this digital world are simply uber important. People are moving at a faster pace and need a quicker way to select your place over the completion. So make your rental stand out. Stage your place. Take great quality professional pictures.

 

_alp9433

How To Find A Great Tenant?

by Davelle Morrison

I’m often asked what are the best ways to find a good tenant. It’s important to get a quality tenant right from the beginning. Attracting a good tenant means having a quality place to rent out. First and foremost, make sure you have pictures. Then make sure the pictures offer a fair representation of what the house or apartment looks like.

Write up a great description then post the pics & other details on various websites. Padmapper.com, Kijiji.ca & Viewit.ca are great places to start. Padmapper.com is a free rental posting site which will aggregate all of the postings on MLS, and other sites so that you can see what other landlords are charging in the area. Although Kijiji.ca is free, I would highly recommend paying for more guaranteed exposure on their site, like on the top of the page. Viewit.ca will also cost money. I have found the best success using padmapper.com & kijiji.ca.

Increase your exposure by posting your kijiji link to your Facebook profile in case any friends or friends of friends are looking for a place to live. Once you have your listing posted and you start to receive inquiries, it’s time to use the powers of Google to search each prospective tenant to make sure they are on the up and up. Google them so that you can peruse their Facebook and Linkedin profiles to determine if you have any mutual contacts. If you do, it can be a great opportunity to get an authentic reference.

Once they have decided to rent your place, make sure they fill out a rental application so that you can call their references, employer & previous landlords. It’s important to invest the time before someone moves in to make sure they are a respectable person. Unfortunately the Landlord Tenant Board only favours the tenant so once someone is in, it will be hard to get them out so make sure you choose correctly from the beginning. You should also run a credit check on them to make sure they do pay their bills on time. A credit score of at least 650 is ideal. And they should be paying their bills within 30 days, at an R1 level. An R2 level means they pay their bills within 60 days, R3 within in 90days. And if they pay people within 90 days what’s to stop them from paying you in the same fashion.

Smiling guyYou can also work with a real estate agent who can take care of all of these details for you. They will also post your rental on MLS. The fee for doing this is usually 1 month’s rent. Half a months rent will go to the person who found the tenant and half a month’s rent will go to the agent for posting and handling the listing. As a real estate investor, I believe that learning to find your own tenants is a good skill to acquire. If you are looking for some handholding on finding a tenant on your own, I’m happy to help.

Once your new tenant moves in, don’t forget to treat them nicely. A welcome gift of something bubbly is always a nice touch and don’t forget them at Christmas time.