Why Not Collect $$ for your Property

THE ACCIDENTAL LANDLORD

So many people bought four to five years ago when the real estate market was at its peak and now that the bubble has burst prices are upside down.

One of my clients initially put her house on the market at the price she paid, taking the hit for all of the repairs and upgrades she and her husband had made in the last three years. Slowly, she began to lower the price until she couldn’t go any further.

It wasn’t long before my client realized she was not going to get her money back with the property in the existing market. That’s when she turned to the rental market and specifically, the furnished rental market and listed the place with me. She and hubby became “accidental landlords”.

This is becoming common practice with owners of properties that are not selling – which is most. After all, why let it just sit there, carrying costs and all when it could at least be generating some revenue.

Right now, putting your house for rent is a good solution if you have to move on and leave your house or if you bought a second home with the hope of reselling. It gives you some cash flow for a couple of years while the market appreciates,

The weak housing market has given birth to what the real estate industry is calling “accidental landlords” and my new client is now one of them.

“We never meant to become landlords”,says my client, “so it will be interesting to see how this all turns out.”

At the moment in Victoria we have a new age of renters atypical of what we have seen in the past. A lot of them are new in town and don’t trust the market to buy and wish to rent for a year or so and evaluate which neighborhoods they might like to live in permanently. Others in this new landscape have been imported by local and international corporations for working contracts from 1-3 years in duration and indeed the demand from the corporate sector has singularly created and exploding demand for furnished accommodations.

For single executives and executives couples without children, the preferred location remains the downtown core, especially Humboldt Valley. For executive families with school age children Fairfield, Oak Bay, Cordova Bay are more preferred.