Landlord Reflections #2

A month ago, I received a call regarding my current tenant and I gave my tenant a good reference.  Shortly after, my tenant gave me a month's notice that she will be moving out of my rental unit.  Even though she liked my unit, it was becoming too small for her and growing toddler.  She offered to let me show the unit while she was out of town.  

 For over a year, I did not check up on her.  Yes, I am a very passive and trusting landlord as long as my tenant pays up.  I had no idea what condition the unit would be in.  To my surprise, she has really good taste décor sense and the rustic furniture pieces fit perfectly in the unit.

After listing my unit for rent on Craigslist, I got a number of replies and scheduled showings for the span of two hours in one night.  To my relief, a lot of good potential tenants were interested in my unit and I was able to secure a single tenant in five days.  

Maybe my rent is on the lower side for a newer condominium that garnered so much interest.  But I was able to raise my monthly rent by $100.  Now I am break even in terms of rent coming in and mortgage/strata going out.  Of course, this doesn't account to other expenses like insurance, property taxes, repairs and so forth.

I will be losing out on half month's rent in this process, but I was able to increase the rent and sign another one year lease with my new tenant.  Not really looking forward to cleaning up the apartment though. 

Location is key to finding a tenant quickly.  My condo unit is in the suburbs of greater Vancouver area.  It has shops and restaurants and public transit within walking distance.  Hopefully over the years, I will get a decent return on my investment property.  I have no idea if I am going to keep or not.  Time will only tell.

Landlord Reflection

It has been over a year since I've become a landlord.  I was lucky enough to find a good tenant once I gained possession of my investment property.  With the steady rental income coming in every month, I am not that cash strapped like other home owners.

Today, I received my annual mortgage summary statement.  My interest payments were more than my principal payments.  It is sad to see how much I'm paying to the bank for the mortgage.  But if you don't have the cash to buy outright, this is the only option to build equity one payment at a time.

I also received a first complaint from my tenant about a minor issue. I have addressed the problem and will take action if necessary.  

Overall, I have a negative cash flow on my investment property every month.  This means that my rental income does not cover my mortgage payments and outgoing expenses for the year.  In hindsight, I should have charged more for rent.  But I wanted to find a long term tenant that will take care of my place while they stay there.

As long as I have a renter, my investment property will eventually pay itself off.  Two more years, I shall re-evaluate the real estate market and my situation to see if it is worth keeping it or not.