Archive for the ‘Alberta Landlords Association Membership’ Category

A Long Term Successful Alberta Landlord Gives Advice

Saturday, August 1st, 2020

A Landlord Who Has Owned Rentals Since the 1980’s Speaks Out

Thank you ALA for agreeing to post my message “edit free” so I can talk “real talk” about my experiences as a long term landlord/investor who is now a millionaire thanks to owning residential rentals.

Time Are Super Tough Now…But They Were Even Worse Before

Just about all of us are dealing with non-payers or vacancies and it looks like being a small private landlord is a hopeless investment.

It’s not. You can succeed and make a lot of money.

As some who bought his first rental property in 1981 I’ve seen it all.

Our province is the golden land and the problem is the federal government often makes some poor polices which hurt our economy.

And we rely on oil prices and access to sell our product.

Bad Times Can Change To Good Times Fast

Keep confident because it’s always a cycle.

We get low oil prices and a bad government and it hurts us…but then we get a pro-Alberta government and high oil prices and it’s like 2014 when landlords could charge applicants $50 just to see our rentals!

Hold On And Good Times Always Come, You Lose If You Don’t Hold On.

Like I said, our economy is cyclical. We are up and down due to who is running the country and oil prices.

Things could be improving soon and then your rental industry will boom!

Remember it wasn’t so long ago Calgary Mayor Nenshi was blaming us for high rents when there was a huge migration of people to come to work in our province.

Become An Expert Landlord To Hold On During Bad Times, And Thrive During The Good Times.

The up cycle is on the way. Landlords will see our property prices appreciate and a huge influx of people into our province for jobs.

Stay Positive

It’s always like this. We have an up and down economy and things are soon going to get better.

How To Succeed?

(1) Market Your Properties The Right Way

Remember, when good tenants have lots of choices you can stand out with the prettiest property and  consider a lower rent for the first years.

(2) Always Run Credit and Criminal Checks

The ALA offers huge discounts so you can make sure you know you are renting from a good tenant…and not a pro who has ripped people off before.

(3) Get Help From Successful Alberta Landlords To Fix Problems

Join our forum to get help and advice. Don’t listen to the media, don’t listen to the government…learn from people like me who have been in this industry for decades.

I’ve been through it all, all the ups and downs. The most successful landlords know we have a cyclical economy and when times are tough you just ‘get through it’ and carefully screen tenants.

When times are good you raise rents to build a nest egg (and you might even sell some of your rentals at the top of the market!)

Discuss this at the Alberta Landlords Forum

Alberta Landlords Need To Be Able To Evict Non-Paying Tenants

Monday, May 11th, 2020

Landlords Across Alberta Need The Legal System Up & Running

Small landlords are different than big REIT corporate landlords. Many of us used to rent ourselves, or we have friends and family members who rent.

We are understanding and helpful. We are patient and kind to our tenants. We want to work things out for a win-win situation. We aren’t afraid of posts on this site to help tenants.

We also need rent to be paid on time in order to survive!

Small landlords don’t have economies of scale, don’t have huge cash reserves, and many need rent paid each month just to cover our costs.

A large number of tenants are co-operating with their landlords and deferring rent or creating payment plans.

However, many tenants are not paying rent or even a portion of rent.

Many tenants even with the means to pay are simply saying “No.”

They know they cannot be evicted and are ‘gaming’ the system by not paying when they can.

In our internal polling over 60% of tenants did not pay rent on May 1st.

WE NEED RENT TO BE PAID OR NON-PAYING TENANTS TO BE EVICTED!

We understand many tenants are facing financial difficulties. But do not put their financial problems on the backs of small residential landlords who are also suffering.

If you think this is cruel then government can just give the tenants a grant or a loan, instead of putting all the pressure on small landlords.

We need to open up the legal process and allow small landlords to evict non-paying renters.

Over 50% of our internal polling shows small landlords are going to sell if they cannot collect rent or evict non-paying tenants within the next couple of months.

This will hurt the entire rental stock of our province. Where is the long term planning by our government leaders…leaders who our members help get elected on their promise of “making Alberta open for business!” LOL!

The Alberta Landlords Association Will Get Your Voice Heard

We are sending your ideas and concerns directly to the Premier.

Please send us your support of “Landlords Must Be Able To Evict Non-Paying Tenants” to us at  evictnow@lobbyist.com

We Need To Be United and Together To Send A Strong Message!

We Need the Legal Process Working And To Be Able To Evict Non-Paying Tenants!

Did Your Tenants Pay May 1st Rent?

Friday, May 1st, 2020

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Alberta Landlords Forum – Network With Other Landlords To Help Your Landlord Business Succeed

Wednesday, January 9th, 2019

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 Want to Network With Thousands of Alberta Landlords and Even More Across Canada?

Have Questions? Looking For Help In a Challenging Situation? Just Want To Chat With Others Landlords?

Things have changed for Alberta landlords. It was only a few years ago that the Calgary Mayor was accusing Calgary landlords of “gouging tenants” because the economy was so strong and the vacancy rate was very low.

For experienced veteran landlords this was both ridiculous and insulting. And Alberta Landlords Association members stood up to the charge by explaining to the public that for landlords the market goes up, but the market can also go down.

This means when times are good landlords need to charge market rents and make sure they get paying tenants. This wasn’t “gouging” it was just good business practice for us to survive. Because all of us who have been in the industry for a considerable period of time know that we have a pretty up and down rental market here. 

When times are good, they can be really good!  But when times are down it can be very tough to be a successful landlord anywhere in Alberta. It’s the nature of our industry.  This is why it’s important to network with others in the Alberta Landlords Forum

Alberta Landlords Face Challenges in 2019

The reality is landlords in our province face challenges in 2019. There are still lots of great renters out there, but things have changed over the past three years. Not only are there less qualified renters around, but some tenants are beginning to view renting as some type of weird ‘fight’ with their landlord. We’ve heard this from lots of people.

An Edmonton landlord wrote in the forum:

Been in this for 20 years and it’s weird having people treat me like I’m getting ‘rich’ by renting out my unit. Used to be people were happy to find something nicely decorated and at a good price!

Some tenants seem to think that because they are paying for a place to live in we landlords are cheating them or being unfair to them. We’ve even had tenants write in trying to teach other tenants to take their landlords to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service instead of being mature and work out any problems with the landlord :

A Calgary landlord posted a situation she faces with a tenant she just rented to recently:

With her every little request comes with quotes fro the landlord/tenant law. And if I don’t heed her beck and call she threatens to take me to the resolution service. What about mature adults working things out together? Help!

Alberta Landlords Need to Help Other Succeed

By working together we can help each other face challenges and overcome them. If you have a problem, another experienced and successful landlord has faced it before and succeed and can give you advice. If someone has a problem you have faced before you can help them. 

We also face some big issues in 2019!  For example, how are we going to handle tenants who smoke and grow marijuana when it is legal?

Alberta Landlords Forum – Landlords Helping Landlords

This is a great place to share tips and advice.  You’ve got a ton of Alberta landlords and also experienced and successful landlords from all across Canada who are united to help each other succeed by renting to good tenants and avoiding the pros.

ALBERTA LANDLORDS FORUM – Join Our Huge Alberta Landlord Community And Get Access to the Biggest and Best Landlord Forum in Canada! All For a One-Time Registration Fee (no annual fee!)

Alberta Landlords Speak Out: “Something Must Be Done About Midnight Move-Outs ASAP”

Sunday, August 12th, 2018

Alberta landlords speak out

Landlords Speak Out and Share Their Concerns and Opinions on the Rental Industry

As part of our “Let’s Improve the Alberta Rental Industry” we have invited landlords and tenants to share their opinions on how we can make these improvements. These opinions are from individual contributors and are not the opinions of the Alberta Landlords Association. We believe by fostering communication between landlords and tenants we can improve the Alberta rental industry. Landlords and tenants can share your thoughts and opinions by emailing us at landlordtenantsolutions@groupmail.com

Renters Did a Midnight-Moveout, breaking the lease and leaving $1,200 in damages to the basement rental

Renters did a midnight move out, breaking the lease and leaving $1,200 in damages to the basement rental

There Are Too Many Renters Who View Midnight Move-Outs As An Option To Break A Lease

As landlords for over 30 years we want the “powers that be” to be aware of something we didn’t really see before so much. Over the past year and a half we have had two renters pull what is called a “midnight move out” or a “midnight run” on us. 

They still had months left on the lease and we made it crystal clear from day one we expected them to fulfill the full terms of what they agreed to sign on for. We didn’t hide anything from them. We put the lease in front of them, explained the terms, and they signed the contract.

Fair and square, right?

The way consenting adults interact with each other.

No games played.

And what makes it even worse is they were unethical and broke the contract and didn’t even try to contact us to try to work something out!

We never had this type of calculated behaviour by our renters before. Sure over the years there were a issues we had to deal with.  Sometimes renters brought in some pets.  Another situation was a the boyfriend was charged with assaulting the girlfriend. 

A couple times we had to explain that cat pee on the carpet wasn’t wear and tear and they had to pay for the cleaning or replacement of the carpets. We had some people suffer job losses and we worked with them to break the lease in a way that both sides agreed to was fair.

Just about all of the challenges we’ve had were not really calculated to rip us off, but because the renters were having their own problems or were just careless.

In all the years we never had someone lie to our faces before so matter of fact. Lie to our faces that everything was good and then the rent check bounces and we go and see the place has been abandoned.

Going inside in both cases showed how disrespectful some renters are these days. The fridge wasn’t clean and the oven was full of grease. The bathrooms were not in good shape and there was some broken drywall. In one place they left a lot of garbage around that costs us money to clean up and dump. At least have the courtesy to dump your garbage.

Give me a break!

WE ARE NOT HAPPY AND THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED BEFORE IT GETS WORSE

The bad news is we hear from other Alberta landlords midnight move outs are becoming more common these days. A lot of hard working landlords are losing a lot of money.  You just don’t lose it in lost rent, you lose it because it costs so much time and money to fix a place up to get it rent ready again.

Right off the bat don’t expect any “legalese” from me because I’m not a lawyer or anything. I’m a small hard-working landlord with a few rentals thanks to the hard work of my Hubby and me.So we don’t have the answer to how to fix this. 

Just something needs to be done because nowadays we even see in the news how shocking it is Alberta renters see a ‘Midnight run as an easy way to break the lease and screw the landlord!

Renters Need To Understand What Landlords Go Through To Market Our Rentals

I emailed in because I want to help other landlords and educate them.

What We Learned and Maybe This Can Help Others Out There

With all the people trying to rent out their units these days we made some mistakes that we don’t usually do. Hubby and me want to share what happened to us and what we did wrong.

1. We Didn’t Do a Credit Check

This was a big mistake as we thought past bad credit experiences was important but we needed to rent out our properties and not leave them empty.  But now it does like never before. DON’T RENT TO PEOPLE WITH BAD CREDIT BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE! It’s not only the credit score, but you can see if they went bankrupt or if other people are chasing them for bad debts.

2. We Believed Their Nice Story

The people who ran from us had the best stories. It’s almost like they prepare to screw good landlords.

In our last case they had a really long 15 minute speech how they were hardworking people but their last landlords was a total bad guy who never fixed anything and they had to leave because they worried about mold. Oh, they were looking to stay for at least a couple years and probably more as the “put in roots in the community” and “when up the corporate ladder at their jobs.” LOL.

3. We Didn’t Take A Damage Deposit

Because so many landlords are urgently looking to end vacancies and fill their units we are not even demanding a security deposit. We did the same. This was stupid on our part!  With no Alberta damage deposit we get no protection.  Hindsight is 20/20 but we would have saved a lot of money waiting and not going against our usual tenant screening system.

The System Does Not Protect Alberta Landlords And It’s Getting Worse

The real problem is landlords not protected by the Alberta system these days.

It’s too easy for renters to use the system to rip us off and end up costing us some real financial losses. After many years in the industry we had two midnight move outs in a short period of time. It cost us a big chunk of our savings just to keep afloat and keep our rentals on the market for the next renters.

When the vacancy rate was really low a few years back and a few landlords were being a bit unfair the media and the politicians were all over it. Where are they now that small landlords keep getting shafted?

The powers that be must find a way to stop this because it really us good people renting out good properties. If it’s so easy to rip of a landlord now who will invest in rentals in Alberta?

Word spreads fast and people won’t just invest to commit financial suicide! Landlords are hard working people and we need to be protected from the bad people out there who can’t afford to be ripped off. The real problem is landlords are not protected by the Alberta system these days.

You won’t hear this from real estate agents or people trying to sell you “how to make big money being a landlord in Alberta” but the reality is it’s too easy for renters to use the system to rip off landlords and end up ruining us financially!

The Alberta Landlord Knowledge Vault

Thursday, October 12th, 2017

Alberta landlord knowledge vault

Get Real World “In the Trenches” Advice From Experienced and Successful Alberta Landlords & Property Managers

Experienced and successful Alberta landlords know there are a lot of great renters out there. For years Alberta has been a place hard-working people from across Canada want to come to.

Even with the recent economic downturn people see Alberta as the ideal place to find a job, start a business, put down roots, start a family, and invest in the future.

What Makes A Great Renter?

Long time landlords know the key to being a successful Alberta landlord is finding good renters. These are people who pay their rent on time, take care of the rental property, and respect their landlord and other renters (if it’s a multi-unit rental).

An Edmonton landlord wrote about her great tenants saying:

“They are a couple who moved here from Nova Scotia and found work. They keep the property clean, pay the rent with post-dated cheques and are just wonderful people.” 

A Calgary landlord who rents his basement wrote:

“There are still good renters out there if you have an attractive place at the right price. I rent to a younger guy who is working two jobs now and also studying at night! He says his goal is to land a good job and be a landlord himself one day!”

Be Careful Because Bad Renters Are Out There Too!

A recent story on the CBC news site is about a landlord named Jennifer Leeming who owns a rental property in Calgary. 

Jennifer did all the right things. She had a bright and spacious rental property on the market and had the best intentions to be a super landlord and rent out her beautiful rental property. It sounds so simple, right? A caring landlord with a wonderful rental property just waiting for good renters. It should be so simple…but it isn’t!

Dedicated, caring single mom landlord tried to help her renters out, and in return they destroyed her rental property

Tenants From Hell

Jennifer ended up with “Tenants from Hell” who played the system and ended up costing her huge financial losses.When the renters asked for a break this landlord tried to accommodate them and work something out. This was a big mistake as it only led to more damages to the rental unit, more non-paid rent, and bigger problems.

The new flooring was treated like an ashtray.  The renters didn’t even have the common courtesy to buy an ashtray at the dollar or go outside to smoke.

Alberta landlords rental vault 3

There were many holes in the drywall all over the property. And the stair railings were ripped out making it dangerous to go up and down the stairs.

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The nicely renovated bathrooms were destroyed.

These “Tenant From Hell” caused tens of thousands of dollars in damages!

Just Follow the System, Right?

Wrong.  Look what happened.

When Jennifer started the eviction process the renters challenged her and said: “I’M NOT MOVING UNTIL YOU PROVIDE A COURT DOCUMENT! “ Unfortunately this type of rude and aggressive behaviour is common with bad tenants who are going to rip you off.

Tenants Finally Left…Then Vanished Without Paying a Cent

And when Jennifer used the RTDRS and got them out what happened? She got paid by the tenants for the amount the RTDRS ordered right? Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way.

After she served the tenants, they did a midnight run and took off to Saskatchewan. They did all the damages and it will be basically impossible to ever to recover her losses from these “Tenants From Hell”.

Dealing With Alberta Tenant Challenges

When you rent to tenants you need to be aware of the system and the rules. The old saying “Knowledge is Power” really applies to being a landlord in Alberta these days.

And as Jennifer found out, just going through the system often isn’t enough and leads to huge headaches, drawn out evictions, and even bigger financial losses. 

According to landlord Jennifer:

“I feel it’s so unfair. I’ve worked my entire life to provide for my family and my child’s future and people have come along and taken that all away and that’s just so wrong”

Alberta Landlord Knowledge Vault

In order to help Alberta landlords succeed we asked experienced and successful landlords and property managers to come up with tips and strategies to help small residential landlords succeed.

Don’t Be a Victim of Bad Tenants

It’s more important than every before to learn tips and strategies to make sure your rental business is successful. The harsh reality is there are lots of bad renters out there and they can cost you thousands of dollars and months of headaches and heartaches.

Successful Alberta Landlords

There are a lot of great tenants out there. And there are also a lot of potential “Tenants From Hell”. With the Alberta Landlord Vault you can get the tips and strategies you need to succeed.

The Alberta Landlord Knowledge Vault

Alberta landlord knowledge vault

We asked some of the most experienced landlords and property managers to put together a vault of answers to help other landlords succeed.

And they came through big time – and we put their knowledge together in a professionally recorded audio CD that helps you through all the steps to running a successful and profitable rental business, in good economic times or bad.

Here are some of the issues answered in the Alberta Landlord Knowledge Vault to help you succeed as a landlord in Alberta.

What you get is a “start” to “finish” guide to becoming a successful Alberta landlord and how to deal with situations fast and effectively before they become like cancer and grow. No marketing hype, only real work “in the trenches” advice to help small landlords succeed.

Questions and discussion includes the following:

What really are the best ways to prepare my rental to attract the best renters out there looking for a place?

How can I convince the best tenants to rent from me over other landlords? How do successful landlords do this?

Do I need to get any type of special insurance for my rental to protect myself and my financial future?

What are good potential renters really looking for these days and how can I make my rental property special?

Is it a good idea to pay for a property manager or manage things myself?

I hear stories about some bad property managers out there! How do you choose the best property manager?

Is it a good idea to hire a real estate agent to rent out my property?

How do you set the best rental prices for your rental to advertise at attract premium tenants?

How do you do expert market research on your local rental market?

How do you ultimately decide how much the rent will be?

How do you pre-screen tenants to not waste time with bringing people you won’t don’t want to see the apartment?

How do experienced landlords really successfully screen tenants who want to rent from you?

How do you set times to show your rental property?

Tenants keep cancelling appointments on me and it’s driving me nuts. How do you fix this?

Do you screen everyone who is going to move in or is that not the way to do it?

Why is asking what renters are currently paying for rent important for me?

How do you avoid applicants who are just playing games and not serious?

How can I make sure the applicants say who they say they are and not playing games?

My applicants want me to explain to them! Do you tell your potential renters how you are screening them?

What’s the best way to verify if they are working or not? I want to avoid renting to scammers!

How do you go into really “in-depth” checking of their employment information and avoiding lying tenants?

How do you screen self-employed applicants to make sure they are financially sound?

How do experienced landlords screen applicants moving to Alberta from other provinces?

How important are personal references for Alberta landlords? How do you know if a reference is fishy or valid?

What do you do if the applicants refuses to give their current landlords information?

What do you do if an applicants refuses to provide their SIN number?

How do you run a credit check on a potential renter to find out the most important information?

How do you read a credit check to determine if you should rent to them or not?

What do you do if their credit history shows late payments?

What do you do if the credit check shows a lot of debt?

What do you do if there is a collection on the renter’s credit report?

What types of credit scores do experienced Alberta landlords demand?

How do you really choose the best tenants to put into your rental?

If you have two really good applicants, what is the real criteria to choose one over the other?

What do you do if the applicants have no credit history but seem like good people?

How do you avoid renting from professional tenants who will cause me to lose thousands of dollars?

How the heck do you notify the person you want to rent to?

Are there any tips or strategies when telling your applicant you will rent to them?

How do you make sure the renters are clear on the rules from day 1 to avoid future problems?

What types of leases do you use?

What’s a period tenancy?

What’s a fixed term lease?

What’s better, a periodic tenancy or a fixed term lease…and why?

What information should I include in my lease to protect myself. I’m looking for the most protection!

Does the lease have to be in writing?

Can I require proof of insurance as a condition of the lease?

Is it okay to say no pets are allowed in the lease?

Can Alberta landlords change a pet fee or not?

What happens at the end of fixed term lease?

Can I charge a security deposit? How does that work in Alberta?

Can I charge a non-refundable pet fee and also charge a security deposit?

Can I deduct money from the security deposit for carpet cleaning, painting, and other damages?

If two tenants are renting my place and one moves out do I have to return half the security deposit?

Do you do an inspection when renters move out?

What happens if the tenant doesn’t show up for the move out inspection?

What do you do if your tenants don’t pay rent?

Can I best do an eviction if the renters don’t pay rent?  I need to get this done fast!

What do you do if the tenant breaks a rule in the lease?

What types of notices are available if your renters are breaking the rules of your lease?

What are the reasons I can use to evict a renter?

If the renters are damaging my rental what can I do?

If tenants are threatening me or other tenants in the building what can I do?

My renters are playing their music super loud so what can I do?

My renters are dealing drugs what can I do? This is a very troubling situation!

The Tenants are leaving garbage all over the place so what do expert landlords do when this happens?

If the tenants refuse to leave at the end of the lease what do you do?

Can my tenants have lots of guests over at all times?

My renters want my contact information. Should I give it to them?

I don’t want to give my personal information for safety reasons but do I have to provide it to tenants?

One group of tenants is complaining other tenants are noisy so what should I do? It becoming a nightmare!

I’m selling my property so do I have to tell my renters?

The new buyer of my rental wants to keep the tenants so how do I handle this?

I live with my tenant and she is nuts and argues with me about everything so what can I do?

How do you fix problems with tenants who live in your house with you?

Can I go to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service for problems with renters living in my house?

How to you handle renters who want to sublet?

Can I refuse a tenant who wants to sublet my rental property?

How do you reply to a renter who wants to sublet?

My tenant says he wants to assign his apartment so what can I do?

What are legal grounds to refuse a sublet or assignment as I don’t feel comfortable with it?

My tenants did some repairs and now are charging me! Do I have to pay?

The new people I rented to brought in bedbugs so what can I do?

How do you give notice if you are going into the rental to do repairs?

How do you give notice to your tenants to enter the rental property?

Can a contractor enter the rental property without the landlord being present?

My tenant said she doesn’t have to pay rent while I’m doing repairs. Is this true?

How do landlords deal with tenants who are smoking or growing marijuana?

My tenants are fighting over their shared laundry do I have to get involved?

My renters go laid off and want to break the lease so what should I do? 

How do you deal with tenant vs. tenant issues?

Do I have to give my tenants who are moving a recommendation?

My renters got laid off and want to break the lease so what can I do?

My tenants want to change the lease agreement and say I have to, is this true?

The current rent check is NSF what should I do and they didn’t move out! What can I do?

My tenants are rude and aggressive to me. I’m scared and wonder how I should deal with them?

I think I have “Tenants From Hell” and need help!  Renter trashing the unit, cops won’t help, drunk. What should I do?

Alberta Landlord Knowledge Vault – Get Help From Experienced and Successful Alberta Landlords and Property Managers

The Alberta landlord vault is designed to help landlords succeed.  Make sure you run your rental business the right way by knowing your rights and responsibilities and being ready to handle any challenges that might arise in a fast and effective manner.

Knowledge is power and by knowing how the industry works you can take control of your rental business! Get access the The Alberta Landlord Knowledge Vault in the Intermediate Services for a one time fee.