COVID and the housing market

Forum Sponsor
Housing has always been an investment, 100 yrs ago , the family home was usually the biggest investment they had . The pay days have gotten significantly bigger , but it’s been forever thus .


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
 
mimico_polak said:
This is one of the biggest issues facing the country. Homes are an investment and properties being pulled off the market for short term rentals as it’s much more money and less risk than having a tenant.

My only solution to this is if the city / region outright bans AirBNB, and it’s slowly happening. I think just recently NYC banned AirBNB with the exception that the owner must live in the house during the term of the rental.

I don’t see any east way out of it. Housing has become an investment, and there’s no stopping that juggernaut.
Click to expand...
Well, fixing part of that equation is easy and squarely on douggies shoulders. A functional landlord tenant board with rapid resolution, teeth and big hammers is required. Bad landlords and bad tenants need to get their ***** kicked.
 
GreyGhost said:
Well, fixing part of that equation is easy and squarely on douggies shoulders. A functional landlord tenant board with rapid resolution, teeth and big hammers is required. Bad landlords and bad tenants need to get their ***** kicked.
Click to expand...
But that doesn’t fix the non rental controlled building issues. Those can raise their rents however much they please, and evict tenants as they please as they’re not subject to LTB regulations.
 
mimico_polak said:
This is one of the biggest issues facing the country. Homes are an investment and properties being pulled off the market for short term rentals as it’s much more money and less risk than having a tenant.

My only solution to this is if the city / region outright bans AirBNB, and it’s slowly happening. I think just recently NYC banned AirBNB with the exception that the owner must live in the house during the term of the rental.

I don’t see any east way out of it. Housing has become an investment, and there’s no stopping that juggernaut.
Click to expand...
I'd be happy as a small landlord if the cards were not so stacked against me.

I have never needed to evict s tenant, I have paid tenants to leave. A single eviction for a modest $1500/mo rental unit will cost a small landlord $15-20k in Ontario today. Most likely a few thousand more for cleaning and repairs, refurbish.

If an AirBnb renter doesn't move out I kill utilities, call a Russian to tow their vehicle, then the cops to remove a trespasser.

Easy peasy.
 
mimico_polak said:
But that doesn’t fix the non rental controlled building issues. Those can raise their rents however much they please, and evict tenants as they please as they’re not subject to LTB regulations.
Click to expand...
Rent control is double edged sword. Well intended, but in the end they discourage investment which reduces supply.

Supply is the biggest cause of skyrocketing rents, rent controls are the biggest cause of supply problems.
 
I seem to have the exact opposite problem. Yesterday our tenant offered to pay us more because she feels that 'costs have gone up' everywhere and she knows she is paying well below market rent. She's a great tenant so her rent stays the same since the day she moved in.
 
shanekingsley said:
I seem to have the exact opposite problem. Yesterday our tenant offered to pay us more because she feels that 'costs have gone up' everywhere and she knows she is paying well below market rent. She's a great tenant so her rent stays the same since the day she moved in.
Click to expand...
I've had similar experiences with great tenants. I have never had payment issues.

My only bad experience was a sloppy guy, borderline hoarder. Never cleaned a thing over 3 year tenancy. Molymaid refused the cleanup.

I've always under charged the market rents, and rarely increased them. Gave me a bigger pool of applicants to chose from and some certainty I'd get paid.
 
Scuba Steve said:
I think my current truck is going to get driven into the ground looking at new prices. I can't make myself spend the kind of money being asked. It seems bizarre to me that my truck is worth the same now as it was new 10 years ago.

Sent from the future
Click to expand...
Not true. A friend paid $25,000 for a used loaded Ram 11 years ago, put 200,000 on it and only got $20,000 for it a year ago. SF

Used vehicles are worse than new for pricing.

Another friend was checking boat prices and the local marina told him they'd give him what he paid for it 10 years ago but the replacement would be over double.
 
shanekingsley said:
I seem to have the exact opposite problem. Yesterday our tenant offered to pay us more because she feels that 'costs have gone up' everywhere and she knows she is paying well below market rent. She's a great tenant so her rent stays the same since the day she moved in.
Click to expand...
A friend did the same thing but there might be two problems.

1) Are rent increases locked in if she moves out and you get a less desirable tenant. Or you sell the unit to an investor that doesn't want to be tied to your price and the LTB rules the limits, making your property less financially desirable.

Would it be legal / practical to raise the rent but pay her a house keeping fee to offset it? Taxes and paperwork WSIB etc,

2) Your tenant seems to be watching the market and adjusting. A lot don't and when a property changes hands they are out on the street looking for housing at 20 year old rates or worse.

A complex in Rexdale was being razed and the tenants were complaining that they couldn't find equal housing at $1300 a month. In the immortal words of Doctor Phil, "What did you think was going to happen?"

If the city is determined to add density then a lot of the three story walk-ups are going to be demolished and go high rise. Rents won't be the same. The government rarely fixes anything, they just relocate the problem.
 
mimico_polak said:
But that doesn’t fix the non rental controlled building issues. Those can raise their rents however much they please, and evict tenants as they please as they’re not subject to LTB regulations.
Click to expand...
I am not familiar with any rentals except renting a room in your house that isn't controlled by the ltb?

Sent from the future
 
Scuba Steve said:
I am not familiar with any rentals except renting a room in your house that isn't controlled by the ltb?

Sent from the future
Click to expand...
Lots of places are exempt from rent control and the LTB…

www.sorbaralaw.com

Exemptions to Ontario Rent Control: The Ability to Increase Rents for New Residential Units Occupied After Nov. 15, 2018.

It may come as a surprise that not all Ontario rental units are subject to rent control. New buildings, additions to existing buildings and ...
www.sorbaralaw.com www.sorbaralaw.com
 
Scuba Steve said:
I am not familiar with any rentals except renting a room in your house that isn't controlled by the ltb?

Sent from the future
Click to expand...
A friend rented rooms and had a lot more leeway in getting rid of undesirables. With roomers they share facilities and that is the main difference.
 
Mad Mike said:
I've had similar experiences with great tenants. I have never had payment issues.

My only bad experience was a sloppy guy, borderline hoarder. Never cleaned a thing over 3 year tenancy. Molymaid refused the cleanup.

I've always under charged the market rents, and rarely increased them. Gave me a bigger pool of applicants to chose from and some certainty I'd get paid.
Click to expand...
To add to this, I've always use a realtor (same one who helped us buy all our properties and find all our tenants). Cost us one months rent to have his help, but we've been fortunate to have great tenants every single time.

My bro also has a couple properties and he's generally had good tenants, but has had one or two that have given him grief. No horror stories, but some people not very clean or following basic rules.
 
nobbie48 said:
A friend did the same thing but there might be two problems.

1) Are rent increases locked in if she moves out and you get a less desirable tenant. Or you sell the unit to an investor that doesn't want to be tied to your price and the LTB rules the limits, making your property less financially desirable.

Would it be legal / practical to raise the rent but pay her a house keeping fee to offset it? Taxes and paperwork WSIB etc,

2) Your tenant seems to be watching the market and adjusting. A lot don't and when a property changes hands they are out on the street looking for housing at 20 year old rates or worse.

A complex in Rexdale was being razed and the tenants were complaining that they couldn't find equal housing at $1300 a month. In the immortal words of Doctor Phil, "What did you think was going to happen?"

If the city is determined to add density then a lot of the three story walk-ups are going to be demolished and go high rise. Rents won't be the same. The government rarely fixes anything, they just relocate the problem.
Click to expand...
That unit is paid off in 1 year, so if we never raised the rent again it wouldn't matter to us. She's not watching the market - others have commented to her that her rent is so much less than market value. She's from another country and would like to eventually move back home, so no issues there either. After she moves out, I'd prefer to rent it cheap to family or the university students of close friends and help them out to avoid strange undesirables.

We don't plan to sell it for another 15 years or so. The plan is to retire, sell all our belongings and either move into that unit, or sell it and move into a unit slightly larger.
 
Out for a walk and noticed redevelopement signs along the West Mall south of Bloor. It looks like they are going to tear down the whole strip of three story six-plexes and build thirteen story towers adjacent the highway. Someone indicated that once the approval hammer comes down there is a four to six month notice to vacate. Five to ten years and the street won't be recognizable. Bunglow owners across the street won't be happy.

Some renters have opted to move out while they have time to plan. Vacated units are being rented out for short term use at what the market will bear and acceptance of fast vacating.

I'm guessing the existing buildings are ~ 60 years old.
 
What a week...

Put our house on the market Sept 16 between then and now we've had 12 scheduled viewings.
From what we have concluded by the feedback we've received either tire kickers or did not know anything about our home prior to viewing it.
Finding it very strange that people are looking to spend this kind of money and neither they are their agent does the simplest of research.
One family reached out to our agent for a viewing so we got the mindset of the typical buyer today.

They complained that our basement was not finished, our agent then went on the explain the many exterior upgrades we put into our home.
Roof, siding, gutters & down spouts, all new windows and doors, garage door, driveway, concrete walkway and entrance, expanded patio in yard, cedar gazebo etc...

They replied, we don't care about any of that, we expect a finished basement, a simple phone call or email could have saved all of time and hassle.

No saying anyone is right or wrong, just surprising what people see no value in...

That being said, if anyone is interested in moving to Georgetown, let me know I'd be happy to share the listing.
 
Jampy00 said:
What a week...

Put our house on the market Sept 16 between then and now we've had 12 scheduled viewings.
From what we have concluded by the feedback we've received either tire kickers or did not know anything about our home prior to viewing it.
Finding it very strange that people are looking to spend this kind of money and neither they are their agent does the simplest of research.
One family reached out to our agent for a viewing so we got the mindset of the typical buyer today.

They complained that our basement was not finished, our agent then went on the explain the many exterior upgrades we put into our home.
Roof, siding, gutters & down spouts, all new windows and doors, garage door, driveway, concrete walkway and entrance, expanded patio in yard, cedar gazebo etc...

They replied, we don't care about any of that, we expect a finished basement, a simple phone call or email could have saved all of time and hassle.

No saying anyone is right or wrong, just surprising what people see no value in...

That being said, if anyone is interested in moving to Georgetown, let me know I'd be happy to share the listing.
Click to expand...
Buyers are by and large braindead. When we were selling our old house we got "this is smaller than the townhouse we looked at that is the same price". Yup, that's how detached house prices work. Also, "why wouldn't there be a main floor powder room?" 21x23 exterior footprint doesn't leave a lot of space, would they like to give up living, dining, kitchen or stairs to accommodate their powder room?

EDIT:
Your listing even says basement is unfinished (in RE speak "open canvas"). With that wording and no pics, I would expect a concrete room.
 
Last edited:
New listings are great compared to that of decades ago. LOOK AT THE PICTURES. Google maps / street view tells you there’s a school nearby.

“There’s no upstairs” Yeah, it’s a bungalow, as listed.

One problem is expectations of granite and a six figure recent kitchen at fixer up prices

Staging is like makeup on a woman. With enough almost anyone can look good. Without staging you see what you’re going to be looking at in the morning after the beer has worn off.
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom