Real Estate Quotes

The cost of an inspection depends largely on the size of the property, but for easy reference, a typical single-family home will cost between $350 and $500 for an inspection. Your home inspector may suggest the following separate inspections after he completes his walk-through of the property: plumbing, asbestos, lead-based paint, pets/wood destroying organisms. The items you discover in your inspection can be used to negotiate a better price on the property. If you find things that you didn't know about, you can ask the seller to either fix those issues, credit you the cost of those repairs at closing, or simply lower the price of the property. [2015] - Brandon Turner

Choose the right insurance: For homes that will need some fixing up, you may be limited to an actual cash value (ACV) policy. That means the insurance company will give you only enough insurance to cover what you paid for the property, minus the value of the land it sits on. On the other hand, a replacement cost policy is the preferred option if you can get it. The coverage is better, and it will pay for the full cost of a covered loss (minus your deductible) or even to fully rebuild the house, if necessary. To qualify, the property must be in good condition, with the roof and paint in good shape. With most policies, if you are more than 20% under market costs, you will be subject to a coinsurance penalty. Make sure your policy includes outbuildings (garage, shop, etc.) and you have liability coverage on the home (common limits are $300,000, $500,000 and $1,000,000). I recommend requiring your renters to carry their own renter's insurance as well. [2015] - Brandon Turner

You must keep your rental property expenses separate from your personal income. Don't use your personal checking account to run your rental business! If you have the property owned by a legal entity, this could destroy any chance of protection that entity might otherwise offer. Head to your local bank and open a business checking and savings account for the property. [2015] - Brandon Turner

Property Manager Interview Questions: What are your management fees? How do you communicate with owners (how frequently, what about)? How many properties do you manager? How long have you been a property manager? Am I locked into a management contract with you (if so, how does that work)? How many evictions do you have each month? What kind of reserves do you/does your company require? How long does a typical tenant stay in a property? How long do properties usually stay vacant before being rented? How do you screen tenants? Do you accept people who have had an eviction on their record? How do you handle maintenance requests? Is there a minimum charge for a maintenance visit? What do you do if a tenant doesn't pay rent? How do you market vacant properties? [2015] - Brandon Turner

If you are going to use a property manager, just remember this: most of them suck. You need to find the one that doesn't. Treat it like a job interview. Get referrals and actually talk with those referrals. Ask the property manager hard questions in an interview. Don't settle for mediocre. [2015] - Brandon Turner

In my experience, the leads I get on Craigslist tend to be higher-quality applications than those from other sources, though that could just be my area. I recommend using the free website Postlets.com to create your ad, because this will give you some basic HTML code you can simply copy and paste into the Craigslist ad to stand out. [2015] - Brandon Turner

If you live in a large city, it's very possible that the MLS will be the main driver of tenants for your property. Homes can be listed for rent on the MLS and real estate agents can help bring you tenants--for a price. You will typically need to pay the agent a fee when the property is rented, but this might be a small cost to get a great tenant. [2015] - Brandon Turner

Rental Criteria Example: Gross monthly income must be approximately three times or more than the monthly rent; Applicants must have a favorable credit history (a score of 600 or higher); Applicants must have a source of income and be able to furnish acceptable proof of the required income; Applicants must have good references concerning rental payment, housekeeping, and property maintenance from all previous landlords; The number of occupants per bed room is limited to two (per Washington State law); Only non-smokers are considered. [2015] - Brandon Turner

Always take a rental application fee with the application. The amount you charge must be reasonable and reflect the actual cost of you running the application, plus reasonable compensation for your time doing so. I recommend finding out what the local property management companies charge and charging a similar amount. Currently, I charge $35 per adult. Be sure to check with your state laws and make sure there are no laws dictating how much you can charge. [2015] - Brandon Turner

Seller financing has a few key benefits over a regular sale: 1. Possibly higher sale price (buyer is more concerned about the terms). 2. Lower tax bill (you pay only on the income received in a given year). 3. Ongoing passive income. If you plan to use seller financing, just be sure to hire a lawyer and do your homework, because there are numerous laws that must be followed, as well as some general best practices. Also, the person you sell to matters, so screen them carefully and require a sizable down payment. [2015] - Brandon Turner

Typically the depreciation report will forecast if upcoming special levies are needed based on the current financials and which areas of the complex are in need of repairs. More info can be obtained at https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/strata-housing and you can download a depreciation report guide at http://www.housing.gov.bc.ca/pub/stratapdf/Guide12.pdf [2015] - Gary Wong

Listing agents often allow buyers to do home inspections before writing the offer for the purpose of writing a subject free offer. Yes, there is no guarantee that you'll win the multiple offer situation and so there is a possibility that you'll feel like you wasted a couple of hundred dollars on a home inspection, but the risk of you not doing one could cost you thousands. [2015] - Gary Wong

If you're in a bidding war, cash is the king. Write subject free cash offers. It is uncommon for sellers to take an offer with subject clauses over a subject free cash offer UNLESS the offer with subject is MUCH higher than the asking price. Include a copy of your bank draft deposit with the offer. This shows that you are really serious. [2015] - Gary Wong

You need to receive the Strata's meeting minutes for at least 2 years, Strata Plan, Form B, Depreciation Report (if available), Engineering Reports for the last 2 years, Rental Disclosure Statement and Financial Statements. The most important thing is you MUST READ them. If you're working with a realtor, don't just rely on him/her to read it because your realtor will not memorize them and verbally dictate the whole thing out to you. [2015] - Gary Wong

You can obtain a copy of the title search for $10-$20 at the Land Title Office (https://ltsa.ca/contact-us). [2015] - Gary Wong

You can find out how much any home is tax assessed at https://www.bcassessment.ca/ [2015] - Gary Wong

Try to present the offer in person or have your realtor present the offer in person if at all possible. Statistically, people who negotiate in person are more likely to come to a deal than people who negotiate over email or over the phone. [2015] - Gary Wong

As of 2015, the standard allowable rent increase is a maximum of 2.5%. You can find more information on the BC government website at https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy [2015] - Gary Wong

One of the things you can do to prevent difficult rent increase conversations is by having the rent increase talk at the very beginning when you have your tenant sign the lease agreement. Since most landlords don't have this conversation, let me suggest another alternative. Give your tenant 6 months advance notice before you increase the rent. If the tenant asks why, just explain that strata fees are going up, property taxes are too, inflation, etc... [2015] - Gary Wong

Always get permits for any appliance replacements that you do in your condo or ask your insurance company whether they need that. Always get sufficient insurance coverage. Speak with a professional insurance broker who can lay out all the options for you. Don't just buy the cheapest insurance policy out there. [2015] - Gary Wong