The housing slump of the past few years has lent itself to the invention of the Accidental Landlord Loosely defined, an Accidental Landlord is somebody who has attempted to sell a property at a price that the market deemed as being unrealistic, and as a defensive maneuver, has elected to rent out

In the last few years we have experienced a massive increase in do it yourself investors who have choosen to include rental real estate in their portfolios As values increase, people seem to be naturally drawn to the market and often buy numerous revenue properties

Owning a rental property is a great way to build a nest egg in today’s unstable economy Unlike bank brokered investments, being a landlord provides a safe and secure investment with a degree of piece of mind because you can look at your house almost anytime you want and rest assured that instances of house theft are extremely rare

Landlords frequently ask me how security should be dealt with It seems that almost every landlord I have ever met tells me of a security related story wherein a costly break in or act of vandalism has provided grief to their residents, managers, or other staff

My existing clients and other landlords frequently ask me what is the best way to reduce utility costs on their apartment buildings One of the simplest solutions is to change all of the toilets to more efficient, low volume models

There is no debate that vacancy rates are low and most local governments are responding to these vacancy rates with tighter legislation governing tenants and their relationships with landlords When tenants are in breach of their tenancy agreements and the breach is restricted to non-payment of rent, the court has been taking a more lenient approach and providing tenants with longer time periods in which to vacate the premises

House prices are down This is clearly bad news for those of us who own one or more properties

I am frequently asked for legal advise relating to tenancy rules and regulations from landlords Over the past few years I have studied tenancy and rental property legislation in numerous states and provinces