Real Estate Quotes

Your landlord can only evict you for certain reasons set out in law, and must give you written notice. Landlords should use a form from the Residential Tenancy Branch. [2015] - Kris Anderson

In order for a landlord to end a tenancy due to illegal activity, the illegal activity must cause or be likely to cause damage to the landlord's property, adversely affect or be likely to adversely affect the quiet enjoyment/safety/physical well-being of another occupant of the residential property, or jeopardize/be likely to jeopardize a lawful right/interest of another occupant of the landlord. [2015] - Kris Anderson

Your landlord can evict you for not paying all or part of the rent. Your landlord must wait at least one day after the rent was due before giving you an eviction notice. If you get an eviction notice because you did not pay your rent, you have five days to pay. If you pay all the rent within five days, the notice is canceled. If you don't pay the rent within five days, you must move out at the end of the 10 days from when you received the eviction notice. [2015] - Kris Anderson

If you are given an eviction notice for "landlord use" you are entitled to one month's rent as compensation from your landlord. The landlord must either pay you this money or give you the last month's rent free. You can move out with a minimum of 10 days notice if you find another place before the two months are up. When you give a short notice, you only have to pay for the days that you actually live there. If you have a lease (also called a fixed term tenancy agreement), you cannot be evicted for landlord use before the lease runs out. [2015] - Kris Anderson

Your landlord can ask the RTB for an Order of Possession in the following two situations; 1) Your landlord served you with a Notice to End Tenancy and you failed to dispute it within the required timeline; 2) You did dispute the Notice to End Tenancy, but the RTB has refused to cancel the notice. Even after getting an Order of Possession, the only legal way a landlord can forcibly evict you is by obtaining a Writ of Possession from the BC Supreme Court, and then hiring a court bailiff to enforce the writ. If you stay past the date on an Order of Possession, you will be liable to pay the landlord compensation for the extra time you stayed at the unit. As well, if the landlord has to resort to hiring a court bailiff, you will be liable for the court bailiff fees. [2015] - Kris Anderson

Before using a court bailiff to evict you from your rental unit your landlord must do all of the following: 1) Serve you with a copy of the Order of Possession; 2) Wait for the 2-day review period to expire. (note: if you file an application for review during the 2-day review period, the RTB might put the Order of Possession on hold until your review application is decided. If that happens, your landlord has to wait until the review is decided, before moving on to the next step.); 3) Take the Order of Possession down to the BC Supreme Court Registry, and get a Writ of Possession from the Court (a very quick process); 4) Once the Writ of Possession is issued, hire a court-appointed bailiff to evict you. [2015] - Kris Anderson

Neither the police nor the RCMP has the authority to evict tenants. The police may attend the occasion to prevent the breach of peace but they cannot play any role in evicting the tenant, however, the police will attend and remove the tenant if required to do so by the court bailiff. [2015] - Kris Anderson

If you are a first-time homebuyer, on the day you get your mortgage, on that very day when you sign the papers and the mortgage company gives you your money, immediately give the lender your first month's payment.Because the interest on your home is compounded daily, this will be the one and only time that 100 percent of the money you pay will be directed toward the principal. [2015] - Richard Dolan

If you double your mortgage payment, then mathematically speaking, a 30-year mortgage will be reduced to roughly six years. [2015] - Richard Dolan

When the housing market is down and it is a buyer's market, I could purchase one home for the same capital needed to mortgage three to four houses with a 25 percent down payment. The positive cash flow from my rental property is very similar whether I purchase one rental property with zero debt versus leveraging my capital to purchase three properties with a 25 percent down payment and a mortgage. The potential that the value of my property will appreciate is three times greater when purchasing three properties from that of purchasing one rental property when the housing market rebounds. [2014] - Michael Munsey

We would not own a property that we would not live in ourselves. We will not own a property that is not in a safe neighborhood. We primarily purchase one-story properties because there is less maintenance and upkeep on a one story property versus a two-story property. Since we are limited on capital, we prefer to purchase move-in ready properties, which help minimize the initial capital needed to purchase a property even though the purchase price of the property will be lower. [2014] - Michael Munsey

A good agent can bring you good deals on property when properties hit the market once they know you are a serious buyer. Your real estate agent must understand what you are trying to accomplish with the purchase of your investment properties. They must be willing to be aggressive when negotiating. When looking for my first property, I had a couple of agents tell me that they would not submit the offer as low as I had requested. I moved on to the next agent that was not embarrassed to submit to the initial offer I requested. [2014] - Michael Munsey

Before purchasing any property, I strongly recommend finding an inspector that has experience as a contractor. If there are concerns with the property, an experienced inspector can also help to give you a reasonable estimate on the amount of money to correct or repair the problem area. [2014] - Michael Munsey

If you have been to any real estate seminars, I am sure you have been advised to place all the properties you acquire under a corporation to help minimize the taxes you pay and to limit your legal liability. Be sure to consult both your accountant and attorney prior to going through the process of setting up a formal company. [2014] - Michael Munsey

Steer clear of condo complexes that offer units at bargain prices with excessively high monthly maintenance fees. [2013] - Dan S. Barnabic

Don't pay too much attention to real estate brokers' forecasts - or, for that matter, to banks' analyses of the markets - because these prophecies are mostly profit-driven. Instead, pay close attention to official government findings regarding the stability of interest rates for the immediate future and beyond, the surplus of unsold real estate, and the state of the overall economy. Reports of these findings are published in newspapers, broadcast on TV, and posted on the Internet. [2013] - Dan S. Barnabic

Regardless of market conditions,the right time to buy is: 1) When you can buy your condo unit at a price that requires no more than one-third of your annual income to cover mortgage payments, maintenance fees, and realty taxes; 2) When you're able to obtain a mortgage at a very favourable interest rate and lock in for many years to recession-proof yourself from exposure to market swings. [2013] - Dan S. Barnabic

Notwithstanding market conditions, always start with a lower offer, say, 75 percent of the asking price. If the broker doesn't want to present your low offer, find another one who will. If there are multiple offers for the condo unit you're interested in, don't let your broker get you into a bidding war. Walk away and consider another unit. [2013] - Dan S. Barnabic

A solid down payment of at least 25 percent will act as a buffer for you at mortgage-renewal time should interest rates increase or the value of your unit decrease because of a market slowdown. [2013] - Dan S. Barnabic

Whatever the size of your down payment, it should never be borrowed. It should come from your own savings, accumulated over time. [2013] - Dan S. Barnabic