by Jeff Gunther on May 19, 2012
Our brains are powerful and resilient; they can also be surprisingly fragile.
We would do well to guard against dismissing or disdaining those in our society who seem to struggle with behaviour that we do not consider normal – whether through neglect, injury, or happenstance.
As a landlord, I am required to make decisions about prospective tenants. I do my very best to select those I believe will responsibly pay rent on time, and care for the home they live in. On more than one occasion, I have been caught off-guard by good people suffering from hidden problems – often hidden even from themselves.
Everything seems just fine for a while; then tell-tale symptoms appear – often affecting relationships within a household, and frequently addiction-related – irregularity shows up in rent payments, communication drops off, promises are broken.
Eviction is not an easy answer. I have learned that these people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and that family members, especially, require support and understanding through difficult times.
Ultimately all affected parties require proper support in order to recover from, or cope with, damage done to themselves and those around them. As a landlord, while I may not be equipped to do that, I do consider it part of my responsibility to help in any way I can.
There but for the grace of God go I.
How can we help? Please post your comments…
by Jeff Gunther on May 17, 2012
In Alberta, our Land Titles System is among the world’s finest. Access to valuable information for land owners and investors is at our fingertips – fast and affordable.
“Service Alberta is responsible for registering land ownership rights in Alberta. The Land Titles Act provides the legislative framework for the department to register land related documents that both create and terminate legal rights in property.”
I use Spin 2 online to search title documents. I have also discovered that this is the best – meaning quickest, least expensive, and most reliable – way to acquire the most recently registered copy of Condominium Bylaws.
Click the link and explore; I’d love to hear of any innovative ways you use the system.
by Jeff Gunther on May 14, 2012
Hey Landlords!
Here are 2 little secrets I’ve discovered that almost always hold true…
Tenants who provide you with a series of meticulously neat handwritten rent cheques, almost always take exceptional care of their homes, pay rent on time, communicate well, and do exactly what they say they will do.
And, tenants with inappropriate or goofy email addresses live up to their self-professed quirkiness with unfortunate regularity.
Now I’m not suggesting that these are rules you can live by, but you just may find that both are pretty good indicators of future behaviour.
Am I right? Am I wrong? Are there any other tell-tale signals you’d like to share with your fellow landlords?
by Jeff Gunther on May 12, 2012
More and more frequently I’m pleased to find that our premium clean, safe, affordable rental properties are already spoken for before we finish renovating them – and often before we even purchase them.
That’s the power of tenant referrals. We recently completed this beautiful home for a preferred tenant couple who where actually able to watch us as we prepared their home. A few days after it was finished, they moved in.
We never advertised it, and they didn’t have to compete with other prospective tenants. Maybe that’s why we call these Secret Homes!
Hello and thank you for visiting us! We understand that every decision about buying, selling, or renting a house is important. If you’re not quite sure what to do next, we can probably help. We’ll share some simple real estate secrets. If you like what you see, we’d love to hear from you.
