Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

MANITOBA LANDLORD CREDIT CHECKS FOR ONLY $9.95 (WITH SCORES & NO ANNUAL FEE) FROM THE LEADING BACKGROUND CHECK PROVIDER IN CANADA: TRITON!

Thursday, April 1st, 2021

Join the Manitoba Landlords Association for a One-Time Registration Fee. Get Credit Checks for Only $9.95/Check With The Leading Background Screening Company in Canada – TRITON!

It used to be you could rely on a handshake or a good chat with your potential tenant and decide to rent to them. The harsh reality is those days are over.

It’s essential every small landlord runs a credit check to make sure they know who they are renting to. If you don’t your could face huge losses!

It’s now also essential landlords understand the need to use the most professional companies to run these checks and avoid scams.

You Can Stand Out To Great Tenants As A Professional Win-Win Oriented Landlord By Using Services From the Leading Background Check Provider In Canada

Recently there have been a lot of shady small start-up companies that are offering “services” for small landlords.

These companies have upset good tenants because of things like secretly adding them to illegal “bad tenant lists”, allowing defamatory comments on their sites and even not even requiring tenants to consent for their information being used.

There are already investigations, disputes, and lawsuits starting and lots of negative media and reports.

It’s a ticking time-bomb that you need to avoid.

Let’s face it- the best tenants are going to avoid landlords who use shady services and want to rent from landlords who use the best!.

If you were a great tenant you would want a landlord who runs credit checks with the leading background check company in Canada (With Your Privacy Protected)!

You and your rental property will stand out when you partner with TRITON to find great tenants. Using TRITON means you are a pro and tenants love it.

1. TRITON CREDIT CHECKS HELP LANDLORDS

TRITON credit checks provide all the information a landlord needs and more more. You get scores, employment info., addresses, bankruptcy info and more…everything you need to choose whether to rent to someone or not.

2. TENANTS CAN TRUST TRITON (Unlike shady start ups)

Tenants can trust TRITON! In carrying out its business, Triton gathers personal information about individuals from individual clients or from employer clients. Triton is committed to excellence in protecting the privacy of personal information. Triton continually reviews and updates its procedures to protect the privacy of individuals.

TRITON provides information to landlords, but also doesn’t defame or ‘play games’ with tenants who agree to run a credit check.

TRITON has clear rules for accountability, the purpose of the credit check, requiring tenants consent, limiting the information sent to only what is needed, limiting use, disclosure and retention of personal data, accuracy of data, safeguards, openness,  individual access, and a clear complaints process if tenants think their data has been misused.

Tenants can trust landlords who use TRITON for their background checks.

3. TRITON IS THE CANADIAN LEADER IN FOR BACKGROUND CHECKS HIRED BY TOP CANADIAN COMPANIES.

Let your potential tenants know you are a professional landlords who avoids shady start up companies and your partner TRITON is the leading background check company in Canada!

-TRITON has been running checks in Canada for over 50 years.

-The company runs criminal checks with the RCMP

-TRITON credit checks are based on real data from Transunion that you can trust not phony “AI” and defamatory comments.

-TRITON is the leading background check company in Canada and also provides checks for:

The Ontario government

The Canadian Olympic Committee

Bell Canada

McDonald’s Canada

Uber

Take Control Of Your Rental Business and Succeed!

Tenants respect landlords who are professional and use the best services. They feel confident in you and will rent from you over other landlords who are not as professional.

Become an MLA member and the savings is incredible when you run a premium TRITON credit check on your potential tenants.

Non-Member Price: $24.95 per check (+$75.00 Set Up Fee)

MLA Members Price: $9.95 per check (No Set Up Fee)

Join the Manitoba Landlords Association for a One-Time Registration Fee. Get Credit Checks for Only $9.95/Check With The Leading Background Screening Company in Canada!

 

Manitoa Landlords Are Facing Challenges In 2021…But Also Opportunities!

Saturday, January 2nd, 2021

Manitoba Landlords have had a very challenging 2020

With the Covid pandemic many tenants couldn’t (or just didn’t) pay rent and this led to financial stress on many of us. Despite some help from the province, many did not collect full rent and others faced late rent regularly.

Opportunities in 2021

Experienced and successful Manitoba landlords know there will also be opportunities in 2021.

When the economy gets stronger there will be more people coming to our province to work. These more qualified tenants will be on the way and looking for great rentals.

Students will also be returning. This will lead to a very strong rebound in the student rental sector.

Tenant Screening

Make sure you continue to screen your potential renters carefully. This should include references, employment proof and a credit check.

You can join the Manitoba Landlords Association and begin running credit checks for under $10/check.

Manitoba Landlords Face Challenges And Opportunities in 2021

Make sure you take advantage of the opportunities and make sure you screen all potential tenants with a credit check.

Manitoba Landlords Rent Increase Guideline For 2016

Saturday, December 5th, 2015

Manitoba landlords rent increase 2016

Manitoba Landlords Can Raise the Rent 1.1% in 2016 (For Most Rental Properties)

Experienced and successful Manitoba landlords know the importance of renting out a safe and well maintained unit.  An attractive rental property will lead to more qualified tenants wanting to rent from you and that will help during your professional tenant screening process.

This is why you need to make sure your rent is at a level which will allow you to afford maintenance and any repairs or improvements which may be needed. With increased costs professional Manitoba landlords have told us they need to raise rents in order to to keep up.

How Much Can Manitoba Landlords Raise the Rent in 2016?

With higher costs landlords and property investors want to know who much they can raise the rent. After all, taxes are higher, and utility bills, along with higher prices for plumbers, contractors and electricians landlords are also increasing. This means landlords need to make sure they can run a viable business and that their investment in residential rental property makes sense (and doesn’t take them to the cleaners!)

This is a similar concern for private residential landlords across Canada. Lets see how much landlords in other provinces can raise the rent in 2016.

1. Ontario Landlords.

Ontario landlords can raise the rent by 2%

2. BC landlords

BC Landlords can raise the rent by 2.9%

3. Alberta landlords

Alberta Landlords are lucky as due to the free market system there landlords can raise the rent by as much as the market will accept annually (as long as they give their tenants a lot of notice).

Manitoba Landlords Can Raise the Rent By Only 1.1% in 2016

According to the provincial government Manitoba landlords can only raise the rent by 1.1% in 2016. Is this fair?

Does this cover your increasing costs to maintain a high quality, well maintained and safe property? Many landlords don’t think so. Such a low allowable increase will lead to potentially serious financial pressures on good landlords who want to take care of their rental properties, improve the quality of rental stock of our province, and take care of renters.

Are landlords truly appreciated in Manitoba?

This a question many landlords and property investors are asking. Are we truly appreciated for taking the financial risk of buying a property and renting it out at an affordable price?

With such a low allowable rent increase smart landlords know that tenant screening becomes more important than ever. Because you are not allowed to increase the rent as needed renting to tenants who don’t take great care of your property can lead to major expenses.

The good news is there are lots of good tenants out there. Just make sure you screen your tenants carefully, including running a credit check, to find them. Landlords across Canada know the importance of renting to good tenants.

Manitoba Landlords Are You Going to Raise the Rent in 2016?

Manitoba Government Proposes Changes for Landlords and Tenants

Saturday, June 1st, 2013

June 1st, 2013

Can Daily Affirmations Help You Change Your Mindset?

According to a report on CBC news, the Manitoba government is proposing changes to landlord and tenant laws in the province.

Bill 40 was introduced in the legislature. The government has stated this Bill will help landlords. For example, it proposes allowing landlords to end a tenancy in response to unlawful activity if it damages the building or poses a safety risk to other tenants.

It’s clear landlords need more tools to deal with dangerous situations.

In a news release by the Minister in charge of healthy living, seniors and consumer affairs, Jim Rondeau:

“We’re … giving landlords new powers to evict tenants who break the law, such as drug dealers, because illegal activity can create an unsafe living environment for tenants and real problems for landlords.”

The bill also proposes making landlords provide compensation for moving costs, as well as higher rental rates, if they are purposefully creating an “undesirable living environment” to displace tenants.

Among other things, it calls for changes to how rent increases are set so that they would follow a prescribed formula or are linked to the Consumer Price Index.

Rondeau’s news release also said “the legislation would allow landlords to charge a higher pet damage for new tenants to encourage more landlords to allow pets in their buildings

Here are the main points of the proposed changes

         The province will devise a formula, perhaps based on the consumer price index as the Ontario rent increase formula is, for setting annual allowable rent increases.

     Rules will be changed to make it easier for landlords to evict dangerous, law-breaking tenants

     Landlords who purposely create undesirable living conditions during building renovations to push tenants out will have to compensate them for moving costs and the increased rent.

     The appeals process will be reformed to speed up rulings in cases where tenants have not paid their rent.

     Landlords will be allowed to charge a higher pet-damage deposit for new tenants to encourage more landlords to allow pets.

     The rules for granting above-guideline rental increases will be tightened and limits will be set on the amount landlords can immediately charge to pay for renovations.

To discuss these and other issues facing Manitoba landlords go to the Manitoba Landlord Forum

 

Winnipeg Transit driver’s amazing act of kindness stuns passengers

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

November

Today, as I was riding a Winnipeg Transit bus from Unicity to Downtown I did not realize that I would be a witness to something amazing.

The ride was, as usual, long and uneventful, until we reached the corner of Portage and Main.  That’s when the driver pulled over. This of course surprised all of the passengers on the bus.  But, what happened next still brings tears to my eyes.

The bus driver jumped off the bus to chat with a man that looked to be down on his luck; by all accounts, a homeless man. I first thought the driver was going to offer the man a ride until our driver took off his own shoes and gave them to the man on the sidewalk.

That is when I realized that the man the driver was chatting with was barefoot.  The bus was dead silent.  I think we were all stunned and speechless.  As we proceeded to our next stop, one of the passengers got up and said to the driver, that was the most amazing thing she had ever seen; and then she asked him, why did he do that?

The bus driver answered because he couldn’t stand the thought of that poor man walking without shoes.   Wow!  No judgement; it was just, “Here buddy you need these more than I do.”

There wasn’t a dry eye on the bus. All the passengers were moved by this bold and selfless gesture.

Now, a homeless man will have shoes for his feet because of a bus driver’s random act of kindness.

Not bad for a Tuesday morning in downtown Winnipeg.

http://www.communitynewscommons.org/our-city/winnipeg-transit-drivers-amazing-act-of-kindness-stuns-passengers/

Investing in a Rental Property Part II

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

November

 

 

Then they need to keep saving for their next home.

“If a fixer-upper rental home sells for $100,000 in seven years, they should have more than enough for the 20 per cent down payment to secure financing for the rental,” she says.

Yet even if their plan unfolds successfully, what Sylvester shouldn’t do is stop RRSP contributions. He might even want to start a spousal RRSP for Linda until she has full-time work to allow her to contribute to her own RRSP.

Chatain-White says an RRSP is more than a fallback plan. It makes tax sense, too. They get the benefit of tax-deferred growth over time, and they will also be eligible for tax credits when they retire.

“It’s advantageous to have RRSPs when they retire to ensure that they can access all the pension credits,” she says. “If they don’t have a work pension or an RRSP that converts into a RRIF (registered retirement income fund), they cannot receive this credit, so they would be leaving money on the table.”

Sylvester and Linda should also hire an accountant at some point. It’s not that they will need help with retirement tax planning — they will need tax advice to manage multiple income properties.

“Good tax advice ensures they claim all allowable credits, because their tax situation could get quite complicated depending how many rental properties they really acquire over time.”

Still, Sylvester and Linda have a few years before they’ll need an accountant. They’re looking at about six years before they will have enough money to buy their first rental property, and it’s likely a decade before they’ll be able to buy their second.

And there’s no telling what lending rules will be like at that juncture, Chatain-White says.

“In theory, if their residence is free and clear and their rental property has equity, they will likely be able to obtain a line of credit to acquire more properties if the rules are much the same.”

One note of caution, she adds.

“While real estate is a good asset, in tough economic times, it may not be quite so easy to find a buyer when they want to sell,” she says.

“Historically, though, Manitoba has had stable real estate markets, so that may not be a very big risk.”

Chatain-White says Sylvester and Linda are likely the biggest risk to achieving their goal because success hinges on their ability to pay down debt and save religiously. That’s a formula that can be very difficult to put into practice.

giganticsmile@gmail.com

Sylvester’s and Linda’s finances

INCOME

Sylvester: $50,000 ($3,180 a month)

Linda: $22,000 ($1,412 a month)

EXPENSES

Monthly: $3,974

DEBTS

Sylvester’s consumer proposal: $11,500; $610 a month payments

Mortgage: $58,000 owing at 2.5 per cent

Linda’s student loan: $6,500 at 6.5 per cent

Linda’s Visa: $3,500 at 20 per cent

ASSETS

House: $100,000 (estimated)

Sylvester RRSP: $2,100 in growth dividend mutual fund

Savings: $1,470

NET WORTH: $24,070

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/finance/homes-sweet-homes-170807586.html

Investing in a Rental Property, Part I

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

November 1st, 2012

 

Sylvester and Linda want to make like “The Donald,” but they don’t fancy sporting outlandish comb-overs, nor do they long to say “You’re fired.”

They do, however, hope to emulate Donald Trump’s success as a real estate tycoon, only on a much smaller scale.

“We’d like to start buying rental properties — maybe owning about 20 someday,” says Sylvester, a carpenter in his mid-30s.

“It’s kind of my line of work so I know we could maintain them with little cost.”

Linda, in her late 20s, also has work experience with rental properties. She is employed part time with a non-profit housing corporation.

She’s also in school part time and expects to more than double her salary of about $22,000 a year when she graduates.

The couple owns a home with a mortgage of about $58,000. Sylvester estimates the home is worth about $100,000. They purchased it for $62,000 two years ago, and he says they have put at least $30,000 worth of work into it.

Linda’s parents had to co-sign the mortgage because Sylvester, who earns about $50,000 annually, has no credit. A few years ago, he ran into debt trouble and entered into a consumer proposal with creditors. He still owes about $11,500, which he says will be paid off in 13 months.

With that behind him, they hope to bear down on other debts.

“We are looking to be debt-free in five years,” he says, adding that includes the mortgage and about $10,000 of student loans for Linda.

Afterward, they will save up for a down payment to buy another home, then another and another.

“We like the idea of buying a property every one to two years,” he says. “The idea is to buy and rent homes for about 20 years, and then we can just start cashing them in every few years in retirement.”

Of course, they’re not without a fallback plan. Sylvester recently started contributing to an RRSP. Still, he’s confident real estate is the key to their retirement.

“I’ve worked in property management most of my adult life, so I don’t see it being a problem.”

Then again, a little bit of expert feedback can’t hurt, he says.

Certified financial planner Valerie Chatain-White says investing in real estate for rental income is a tough road. Most people tend to focus on the upside of real estate, often overlooking the endless work involved: delinquent tenants, leaky roofs and calls in the middle of the night about the furnace conking out.

It’s a lot of headaches, especially when it’s a second job.

Yet, Sylvester and Linda appear to have the right skill sets for success.

“It’s always a big benefit when real estate entrepreneurs understand and possess the skills to undertake home renovations,” says Chatain-White, with the Next 30 Years. “There is no question that being able to handle renos and regular maintenance ultimately yields more money in a rental owner’s pocket.”

Their main obstacle, however, is Sylvester’s credit history. A consumer proposal isn’t quite the same as bankruptcy, but it makes getting credit difficult for a long time, generally affecting an individual’s credit rating for about three years after it’s been paid in full.

With that in mind, repaying Sylvester’s consumer proposal as quickly as possible should be a priority so he can rebuild his credit rating by the time they’ve paid off their home.

This should be a task they can accomplish fairly easily. Chatain-White says they have a $618 monthly surplus, which they should set aside in a high-interest tax-free savings account (TFSA).

“If they could save even $500 a month, that’s $6,000 in one year, plus a little bit of interest,” she says.

This sum will also provide them with an emergency cushion — something they don’t have.

“If they are successful in saving that sum for one year, they can then apply it to the consumer proposal and get it paid off faster.”

They should continue saving the surplus afterward — and they can also save the $860 presently going toward the consumer proposal.

All told, they could be saving $1,400 a month in as little as a year. That’s $16,800 a year, plus $372 in interest earnings, based on a two per cent rate of return.

“Depending on the terms of their current mortgage, they can likely make a 10 per cent per year additional lump-sum payment, which would be about $5,700 a year from now.”

They can use additional cash to pay off Linda’s student loans while saving the rest.

If they keep saving and making annual lump-sum payments until their mortgage is up for renewal in four years, they should have just enough in their TFSA — about $36,000 — to pay the mortgage in full.

http://ontariolandlords.org/blog/at-last-tenant-from-hell-moves-out/

http://manitobalandlords.ca/2012/10/07/landlords-the-2013-rent-increase-guideline-is-1/

http://albertalandlords.ca/2012/10/18/online-rental-scam-resurfaces-in-grande-prairie-alberta/

http://bclandlords.ca/2012/09/22/half-of-all-canadian-tenants-under-35-dont-have-renters-insurance/

 

 

 

 

 

Then they need to keep saving for their next home.

“If a fixer-upper rental home sells for $100,000 in seven years, they should have more than enough for the 20 per cent down payment to secure financing for the rental,” she says.

Yet even if their plan unfolds successfully, what Sylvester shouldn’t do is stop RRSP contributions. He might even want to start a spousal RRSP for Linda until she has full-time work to allow her to contribute to her own RRSP.

Chatain-White says an RRSP is more than a fallback plan. It makes tax sense, too. They get the benefit of tax-deferred growth over time, and they will also be eligible for tax credits when they retire.

“It’s advantageous to have RRSPs when they retire to ensure that they can access all the pension credits,” she says. “If they don’t have a work pension or an RRSP that converts into a RRIF (registered retirement income fund), they cannot receive this credit, so they would be leaving money on the table.”

Sylvester and Linda should also hire an accountant at some point. It’s not that they will need help with retirement tax planning — they will need tax advice to manage multiple income properties.

“Good tax advice ensures they claim all allowable credits, because their tax situation could get quite complicated depending how many rental properties they really acquire over time.”

Still, Sylvester and Linda have a few years before they’ll need an accountant. They’re looking at about six years before they will have enough money to buy their first rental property, and it’s likely a decade before they’ll be able to buy their second.

And there’s no telling what lending rules will be like at that juncture, Chatain-White says.

“In theory, if their residence is free and clear and their rental property has equity, they will likely be able to obtain a line of credit to acquire more properties if the rules are much the same.”

One note of caution, she adds.

“While real estate is a good asset, in tough economic times, it may not be quite so easy to find a buyer when they want to sell,” she says.

“Historically, though, Manitoba has had stable real estate markets, so that may not be a very big risk.”

Chatain-White says Sylvester and Linda are likely the biggest risk to achieving their goal because success hinges on their ability to pay down debt and save religiously. That’s a formula that can be very difficult to put into practice.

giganticsmile@gmail.com

Sylvester’s and Linda’s finances

INCOME

Sylvester: $50,000 ($3,180 a month)

Linda: $22,000 ($1,412 a month)

EXPENSES

Monthly: $3,974

DEBTS

Sylvester’s consumer proposal: $11,500; $610 a month payments

Mortgage: $58,000 owing at 2.5 per cent

Linda’s student loan: $6,500 at 6.5 per cent

Linda’s Visa: $3,500 at 20 per cent

ASSETS

House: $100,000 (estimated)

Sylvester RRSP: $2,100 in growth dividend mutual fund

Savings: $1,470

NET WORTH: $24,070

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/finance/homes-sweet-homes-170807586.html

Multi-family homes skyrocket

Thursday, September 13th, 2012

 

Multi-family homes skyrocket

WINNIPEG’S multi-family homebuilding sector is on fire, with the number of starts up 74 per cent from a year earlier and on pace to hit their highest annual level in 25 years.

New figures from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. Tuesday show there were 1,355 multi-family units started in the first eight months this year in the Winnipeg Census Metropolitan Area (CMA).

That already surpasses the total for all of last year, which was 1,329 units. It’s not far off the 1,501 starts recorded in 2007, the best year since 1987 for multi-family housing construction in the city.

This year’s eight-month total included 830 condominiums and 525 rental units. The latter include apartments, row-housing units, and semi-detached units.

Dianne Himbeault, CMHC’s senior market analyst for Manitoba, said builders have already surpassed their condo total of 517 units for all of last year.

“So this year is going to be the year of the condo, perhaps,” she said.

This year is also shaping up as one the better ones in recent memory for rental-unit construction — good news for beleaguered Winnipeg renters grappling with an overall vacancy rate of about 1.2 per cent.

Himbeault said builders have a good shot at matching last year’s rental-unit total of 812, also the highest yearly tally since the late 1980s.

The CMHC figures show local builders had the pedal to the metal last month, starting work on 557 single- and multi-family units. That was an 89 per cent increase over the 295 posted in August 2011.

The 256 single-detached units started during the month were an 11 per cent improvement over the 231 started a year earlier, and left year-to-date total starts running 34 per cent ahead of last year’s pace — 2,089 units versus 2,790.

— Murray McNeill

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/multi-family-homes-skyrocket-169428196.html

Monday, August 6th, 2012

 

 

 

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/real-estate-chill-not-seen-here-164987386.html?domain=fpnews

Monday, July 16th, 2012

July 16th, 2012

Winnipeg apartment dwellers waiting to go home

Chris Pointon is spending his summer sleeping on friend’s couches and spare beds.

He and his girlfriend have been shut out of their Edmonton Street apartment for six weeks, following an electrical fire on May 31.

“It’s been a real bounce around, we’ve been to three different places in six weeks, so it’s like moving every two weeks,” said Pointon.

The fire started in the middle of the day and residents were evacuated. That night they were given five minutes to retrieve necessities. Pointon said the first night they couldn’t find their second cat and had to abandon it for four days before they were let in again, this time for 15 minutes.

The building owner now offers 24-hour security for residents to go and out of their suites.

“As long as they have their I.D., they just need to wear protective gear,” said Curtis Shewchuk, who manages the property for Sussex Realty.

Shewchuck said people won’t be allowed back in to live until the building obtains a re-occupancy permit from the city. Shewchuck said the contractors are expected to be done reconstruction by July 27.

“The day after the fire we were told the anticipated re-entry into the building would be July 15 or earlier,” said Pointon. “If we had known it would be our whole summer, we would have looked for another place.”

“Unfortunately this is a great reason why people should have tenants insurance,” said Shewchuk.

Pointon said he does have content insurance for his collectibles, but does not have tenant insurance. Pointon and his girlfriend are looking for other options, but still have hope for the building.

“It’s a good location – if they call me tonight or tomorrow and say we can move back in a week or two, then okay,” he said.

http://metronews.ca/news/winnipeg/297846/winnipeg-apartment-dwellers-waiting-to-go-home/