Hi, my name is Brad and I'm as new as it comes to investing in real estate. I live in Langley, work full time in Richmond and now invest in Kamloops. We took possession of our first property Jan 1, rented it back to the owners for half a month then spent 3 solid weeks renovating the house into a 3up 2 down 2 suite house.

We have a property manager, who was able to get the basement rented, but seems to be having a harder time renting the top. I'm pretty confident its priced to market, and its nice, fresh and clean so in my opinion it should show well. Their reasoning is that its very slow right now. I know we will find a good tenant eventually, I just thought there would be more interest since its supposedly "less than 1% vacancy".

So I thought I'd finally make a post and see if there was any appetite for a discussion in the Kamloops area. I'm interested in hearing how others are doing? Whats working, whats not. Is there anyone who lives in the lower mainland and has properties up in kamloops or surrounding areas? (Kelowna, Vernon, Barriere, Logan Lake, etc) What are peoples experiences good and bad with property managers in the area?

I'll talk about anything, here or by PM :)

-Brad

We lived in Kamloops for over 17 years, but have moved to Alberta. We had two properties there and rented them, but have sold them to invest elsewhere. Kamloops is a great city, but the RE market there seems 'flat' over periods of time. It doesn't seem to have the exciting ups and downs that the Okanagan, or Shuswap does. 

That being said, one can invest literally anywhere, as long as the numbers work. As for renters, we didn't get a lot of response and the rents were not what we would have liked. This was 3-5 years ago, but sounds similar today? I've lived in Chilliwack, Kelowna and Kamloops. As much as I love truly love Kamloops, it's not a place people are dying to move to and for that reason it seems to take a little more effort to get new and good renters? In places that are more transient, getting renters is easier, as you simply have more to choose from. Just throwing in my two cents...

I've got 25 "doors" in Kamloops and have no problems. Tons of interest in anything listed at $1000 or less. Likely the problem is marketing and/or lazy property manager.

Send me a link to the rental ad and I can comment further.

Cheers!

I get $1477 - $1877 for a 3 bedroom upstairs unit depending on what part of town.

@Sam Perren , welcome to BP. I'm glad you're here. Congrats on your current success! Keep up the great work!

Originally posted by @Dallas Trufyn :

We lived in Kamloops for over 17 years, but have moved to Alberta. We had two properties there and rented them, but have sold them to invest elsewhere. Kamloops is a great city, but the RE market there seems 'flat' over periods of time. It doesn't seem to have the exciting ups and downs that the Okanagan, or Shuswap does. 

That being said, one can invest literally anywhere, as long as the numbers work. As for renters, we didn't get a lot of response and the rents were not what we would have liked. This was 3-5 years ago, but sounds similar today? I've lived in Chilliwack, Kelowna and Kamloops. As much as I love truly love Kamloops, it's not a place people are dying to move to and for that reason it seems to take a little more effort to get new and good renters? In places that are more transient, getting renters is easier, as you simply have more to choose from. Just throwing in my two cents...

 What part of Alberta are you in?  I grew up in Chilliwack, prices there have gone a bit silly.

Originally posted by @Sam Perren :

I get $1477 - $1877 for a 3 bedroom upstairs unit depending on what part of town.

 Hi, nice of you to share numbers outright, I appreciate that.  I'm right in that range.  Is it appropriate to link to our online ads? Or better to PM it to you?

I'm in Edmonton now. Lived in the 'Wack in the 80's when I was teen. Lived off Chilliwack Central by the Coop and went to AD Rundle. Mom and dad bought their house brand new for $52(?)k. Yes, things have jumped! 

Hi Brad. I don't know why there would be any problem posting a link to your ad. If you'd prefer to message me my contact info can be found at www.rentkamloops.com, this forum won't let me post my contact info here.

Originally posted by @Sam Perren :

Hi Brad. I don't know why there would be any problem posting a link to your ad. If you'd prefer to message me my contact info can be found at www.rentkamloops.com, this forum won't let me post my contact info here.

 True. Here is my craiglist ad: https://kamloops.craigslist.ca/apa/6005516445.html  The PM doesn't advertise on CL, so I forward leads.  They advertise on kijiji, their own website and somewhere else as well as a front yard sign.  I welcome all feedback.

Originally posted by @Sam Perren :

Hi Brad. I don't know why there would be any problem posting a link to your ad. If you'd prefer to message me my contact info can be found at www.rentkamloops.com, this forum won't let me post my contact info here.

 I LOVE your tenant cleanup checklist on your website! 

@Sam Perren Great resources thank you for sharing those!

@Brad Fournier I have a number of doors in Kelowna and have looks at Kamloops a few times, the healthy job, population and income growth in Kelowna has kept us focused here. Kelowna does have less then 1% Vacancy. So we have no problem at all with filling vacancies, often we need to remove the ads days after we put them up as we get so many applications.

I would look at how much exposure they are getting on their ads and where the manager has it posted. Also could be good to call a few other managers to get a 2nd opinion on the speed of temperature of the market.

I don't understand why it hasn't been snapped up! Perhaps say you allow pets. You get a bigger deposit, responsible pet owners are better tenants than many without pets, and really opens you up to families. A headline that works well is "finally a place to call home - fur babies too"

Originally posted by @Sam Perren :

I don't understand why it hasn't been snapped up! Perhaps say you allow pets. You get a bigger deposit, responsible pet owners are better tenants than many without pets, and really opens you up to families. A headline that works well is "finally a place to call home - fur babies too"

I know! Everyone I talk to says it should go quick, so I'm really baffled.  I'm wondering at what point I have to worry about my PM doing something wrong.  

Oh great catch!  I did have in there that pets were negotiable, but I didn't tick off that box in the add saying cats/dogs are okay.  Perhaps the ad was just getting filtered out by some lookers.  

Originally posted by @Joel Sherlock :

@Brad Fournier I have a number of doors in Kelowna and have looks at Kamloops a few times, the healthy job, population and income growth in Kelowna has kept us focused here. Kelowna does have less then 1% Vacancy. So we have no problem at all with filling vacancies, often we need to remove the ads days after we put them up as we get so many applications.

I would look at how much exposure they are getting on their ads and where the manager has it posted. Also could be good to call a few other managers to get a 2nd opinion on the speed of temperature of the market.

 So this time of year you have no issues with lots of response and filling vacancies?  I was thinking maybe with the worse than normal winter people weren't out as much.

Why don't you call the property management company and pretend you were an interested Tenant. Get a feel for how people are treated.

@Brad Fournier This winter has been only getting hotter, still nothing to rent in the downtown areas.

Originally posted by @Sam Perren :

Why don't you call the property management company and pretend you were an interested Tenant. Get a feel for how people are treated.

Good Tip.  This has now led me to find out that they don't do weekend or evening showings.  My PM confirmed that it was only by exception.  Is this normal in the industry?  Of all the reading/research I"ve done, I never even considered this to be a possibility.  Now I'm wondering if any potential leads have been turned away because of this.

That is a problem. I also invite EVERYONE to view the property at the same time. Even people who would never pass my screening process. Many people don't want to make an application unless they see the place first so YouTube videos are handy. A mass showing creates higher demand and forces your good prospects to take action based on scarcity.

Hi there,

on a more general note: does the current boom in the Kamloops are appear to be sustainable, i.e. what's the main driver? Seems like quite a few tech companies have moved to the area.

Cheers,
Jan