Monday, November 26, 2007

Pros and Cons of Buying a Vancouver Rental Property as an Investment

Purchasing a rental property as an investment in Vancouver, BC, is a risky business that also can bring in quite a bit of revenue. There are disadvantages and advantages of owning rental property.

The biggest advantage of owning Vancouver rental property is that it can provide you with a regular income. You will usually receive a monthly rental payment from your tenants that rent from you. If you purchase rental units in new neighborhoods like Yaletown, False Creek, Kits and others, with a low crime rate you will be likely to fill that unit up fast.

You can also take advantage of purchasing vacation rental property, which is also a very lucrative investment. You can make a profit renting out rooms and houses by the day, week, month, or even season. In the process you can make quite a bit of profit off of vacation rental property, especially if you own vacation property in a popular visiting location, like Vancouver, Yaletown, False Creek or Whistler, BC.

One of the disadvantages of buying rental property is the cost and responsibility of upkeep. You are the owner, so you will be responsible for providing lawn maintenance, plumbing repair, as well as basic upkeep such as replacement of windows, locks, and more. It can be quite expensive, especially if you have a large property, because you will have to hire other people to do the maintenance for you.

Another disadvantage is that it could be hard to find a good renter in Vancouver. However, you have the right to choose who you want to rent in most cases. You will have to be careful in regards to discrimination, however. So you will need to be careful.

Your rental property can go up in value instead of down in value if you keep that property in as good of a shape as possible, especially in hot markets like Vancouver and Whistler. Also, if you have kept that property for a while and have made a profit from it that will also be a sing for both lenders and buyers that the property you have rented out will be of value.

One way to make your experience as a landlord (or landlady), which is what you are if you purchase Vancouver rental property for the benefit of making a recurring profit, is to require your tenants to sign leases. In that lease will be all the rules and provisions that you would expect your tenants to live by.

Just think, when you draw up a lease agreement, you can think of all the landlords you used to despise, and you now get to be like them. It’s not that you have to be mean, but you will need to have a backbone if you expect to be able to enforce the leasing agreement that you have written up between you and your tenants.

Quite a bit of information is covered in leases. For example, if decide to own an Vancouver apartment complex you will have to designate quite hours and times to do laundry. If you own a luxurious hotel you may require a deposit on the room key or other valuables within the room. You are advised to write up as extensive of a lease necessary to help keep peace between you and your tenants.

Not only would you include your tenant’s responsibilities and the rules in the leases that you create, but also the tenant’s rights. If they have a question or concern they will want you or someone in your office to take care of it as soon as possible. Concerns that tenants may have are excessively loud tenants, abuse in the building, theft, vandalism and so on. This is being told to you to scare you out of being a landlord, but to prepare you for anything to happen-both good and bad.

If you think that you are up to the challenge of purchasing rental property in Vancouver you will need to decide which types of rental properties are the best for you. If you decide after all that rental property is not the right type of real estate venture for you, chances are you can sell your rental property to someone else.

In fact, if you keep up the rental property for the time you have it you can possibly sell it for a higher price than you paid for it. Make sure you take good care of your rental property in case you would like to sell it later on.

To read more about landlord and tenant responsibilities you can contact your local Vancouver housing office. Your local housing office may even have a website address you can visit. A good realtor like Amalia Liapus, A top RE/MAX realtor can also help you.

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