All Forum Posts by: Anthony Therrien-Bernard

Quote from @Henry T.:

You're preaching to the choir. Rent control works to get politicians re-elected. Eliminating the free market, Rent Control WILL raise the rents for tenants. The end.

 Yes correct, and now would be the only time pretty much that rent control would have a chance to come into Alberta. When the NDP was in power rents were going down... thought sale, but now with double-digit increases they would have a much better chance at getting this done.

These are all great real-life examples of why we need to do all we can to prevent rent control from coming to Alberta

As the topic of rent control seems to be coming back to the Alberta news I figured I would share some of my thoughts on the topic. ⁣⁣The idea of rent control is obviously very appealing to tenant that see this as a solution to rising rents. Unfortunately, if we dig deeper in both the history of rent control and the economic fundamentals at play the idea of bringing this piece of legislation to solve rising rents single handily falls short of it’s intended results.⁣⁣Think of where rent control is currently in force and where the rental market is currently fairly open, think of cities like New York, Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco etc. Meanwhile Alberta has some of the best affordability in the country while having no rent control at all!⁣⁣Why does rent control not actually lower rents?⁣⁣- According to the basic theory of supply and demand, rent control causes housing supply to tighten as the incentive to own rental properties gets lowered. Rent control tend to raise demand for housing — and therefore, rents — as a result.⁣⁣- Rent control creates an incentive for apartment buildings to be converted into condos, further decreasing the rental supply.⁣⁣- Because it becomes difficult for landlord to cover their repairs and maintenance cost there is a built-in incentive to let buildings get into states of disrepair and even unsafe living environment. This is something I have witness happen first hand when living in Montréal.⁣⁣⁣⁣Rent control appears to help affordability in the short run for current tenants, but in the long-run decreases affordability, fuels gentrification, and creates negative externalities on the surrounding neighborhood. These results highlight that forcing landlords to provide insurance to tenants against rent increases can ultimately be counterproductive.⁣⁣Please read this very interesting publication that looked at the removal of rent control in Alberta back in 1980: https://publications.gc.ca/.../schl.../NH15-532-1982-eng.pdf ⁣⁣In summary from that study: “Review of the rent control literature shows that if rent controls are left in place long enough, they will impact negatively on maintenance levels, abandonment, rental housing stock and investment, and labor mobility.”⁣⁣

What do you all think?

Also heads up I was at a Calgary Residential Rental Association event last week and apparently, the Acorn Tenant Union is getting established in Alberta and will be pushing for rent control: https://acorncanada.org/

Quote from @Tobi Ayanleke:

Thank you all for the advise and input. I issued the tenant a letter on Sunday and the very next day the rent was paid.

I am definitely not renewing the lease agreement once it ends

 I'm glad you managed to get paid, make sure you keep running your property like a business and be friendly but firm with the payments going forward. Also remind her that her payment history can affect her ability to find another rental property in the future and that you can also report her late payments to the credit bureaus.

Quote from @Ian Dale Ibrado:

Hi guys, just curious. I know people are saying add value by adding rooms but will it add value if you convert an office space or den into a bedroom?

Thanks

 It depends what the final layout would look like. For example if you are converting an office into a tiny bedroom then you are likely hurting the value, especially office spaces are more in demand now with more people working from home.

Great success story thanks for sharing @Jamie Blair

Hi Tyler,

I've been investing in Calgary for 10 years now mainly buying houses with basement and garage suites. What are your main questions right now?

Anyone has a good handymen to recommend in Calgary? I am not looking for a general contractor I need someone to do smaller repair tasks. In all my years of real estate investing this Is the trade I have struggled the most to find a consistent one, over the years I found great electricians, GC, plumbers etc but keep having to find new handyman every year it seems. Anyway anyone has good recommendations?

Quote from @Ian Dale Ibrado:

Hi everyone, is gettinga half duplex good idea as a first investment?

Thanks

Like Steve said there is the risk of the other owner but other than that it's a great way to get started at a cheaper price point on my opinion. The rents for an up/down duplex are often not that different than an up/down détached property at similar unit sizes and finishes so it's often easier to get a good cashflow as well. 

Quote from @Greg H.:

Quote from @Anthony Therrien-Bernard:

Quote from @Greg H.:

Quote from @Anthony Therrien-Bernard:

Quote from @Jerrad Shepherd:

It’s crazy to me how many potential tenants have aggressive breed dogs. I would estimate that a good 25% of the people that contact me any given month about a property have a Pitbull or multiple. They are shocked when I tell them that I cannot allow them in my units. It’s crazy to me that a large percentage of the population choosing to rent would have such a liability that would limit their choices on housing. Yet I know very few people who own their own homes that have aggressive breed dogs when they don’t have the limitations holding them back. I have noticed the same about smokers as well.

 I rent to tenants with pitbulls, actually right now more than half of my tenants have pitbulls, I heavily screen the tenants and in my experience usually the dogs match the owners... the dogs I have in my rentals right now are super chill friendly dogs

Does your insurance cover Pit Bulls from a liability standpoint?  

 Yes, no restrictions against any breed from my insurance

 I missed that you are in Canada.  It is a rarity in the States that a Pitbull would be covered for a LL.  I am a dog lover and think 99% of pitbulls are fine but I would not be willing to risk my livelihood to allow one

 Yeah I'm not too familiar with the situation in the USA but I have not so far had any home insurance have restrictions on dogs or any pets really other than some that don't insure aquariums