Asbestos: When Should I Worry?
Asbestos was commonly used in home building materials prior to 1990. You are only at risk of asbestos exposure when fibres are released into the air and breathed in.
The War of Art
I just read a little book called The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles (Steven Pressfield). You should read it too, if you’re an artist — or an entrepreneur! There are three parts and three themes. Defining the Enemy. The enemy is ‘Resistance’, personified as an evil that […]
The Market’s Moving Faster
A little good news for Alberta-based real estate investors… The market is again moving faster. For almost 18 months – from about September/October 2015 until about March of 2017, replies to residential rental ads slowed to a trickle. Landlords needed to offer a superior product at a competitive rate (which, by the way, is always […]
Sometimes All We Need Is A Little Appreciation
Don’t get me wrong! We get lots of appreciation – and we love it! Check out our Testimonials page. However, in financial terms… Appreciation is an increase in the value of an asset over time. The increase can occur for a number of reasons, including increased demand or weakening supply, or as a result of […]
Fallow Fields
A fallow field is land that a farmer plows but does not cultivate for one or more seasons to allow the field to become more fertile again. The practice of leaving fields fallow dates back to ancient times when farmers realized that using soil over and over again depleted its nutrients. Sometimes it is wise for […]
Almost Anything is Possible…
I like to believe the rent I charge is on the ‘higher-end’ of competitive. If I want to attract and retain good tenants, rents need to be within a reasonable range, but I can stay at the top of that range by always offering a little more… Over the past 2 years, the supply and […]
What Happens When Technology Fails…
Earlier this month – for about 3-days, from June 29-July 2, to be exact – Interac’s eTransfer system experienced technological difficulties affecting all major banks. E-Transfer is (normally) a quick, easy, reliable, secure way to send and receive payments. Increasingly, it has become the preferred method for residential tenants to make monthly rental payments to […]
Tenant Selection – A Primer
Getting lots of response on a rental ad is great! After awhile, your gut will play an increasing role in your decisions to say ‘no’, but you should never lose the discipline of doing the basics to confirm decisions to say ‘yes’. Remember, you’re running a business, so long sad stories about why you should […]
Get an Edge with Follow-Up
Landlords: People want to be wanted. If a prospective tenant is weighing your property against a competitor’s offering, you can often get an edge simply by following up. Here’s a sample email I sent recently following a showing: Hi {PROSPECT.NAME}, It was a pleasure meeting you and {FAMILY.MEMBER.NAMES} yesterday afternoon. If you decide that {ADDRESS} would […]
Good News Reports
When we ran a property management company serving our multi-family portfolio, we held regular meetings with resident managers (called Community Coordinators). Community Coordinators were responsible for setting the Agenda for these meetings. To our delight, one of our coordinators decided to add a little section called Good News. These immediately became our favourite part of […]