Landlords! Could you share your experience renting out your home, please?
My husband and I live in the Mount Seymour area and are going to be renting out our townhouse that we adore and have lived in for the last four years. We’ve never been landlords before and are trying to be as careful and considerate as possible. The reason we’re doing so is that we have to move abroad for a few years for work. We love our space and will be returning to it to occupy it when we come back.
Basically, we’re brand new to this. We’ve tried asking some people in person, but have received some flack for being landlords at all (we aren’t the owners of multiple properties and aren’t buying up real estate to price others out). We have some idea of the tax forms and strata forms, but we also want to be good landlords for our tenant(s).
We’ve explored the idea of using a property management company, though the reviews on these services seem to be all over the place. Fees vary between 6-8% of the monthly rent. We like the idea of them being available same-day in case anything goes wrong since we’ll be out of country, but a lot of reviews suggest they aren’t reliable and you’re paying quite a bit of money for little to no help. And they haven’t disclosed their vetting process for tenants.
My husband’s biggest concern is getting bad tenants who squat and refuse to pay rent (whether on purpose or circumstantially) because we do need to charge rent to help cover the mortgage since we’ll be paying rent ourselves while abroad and can’t fund both at the same time time.
Basically, we’d love to hear the experience of others. Do you have any tips or suggestions? If you wouldn’t mind sharing your experience, we’d appreciate it!
I’m not sure if the details matter at all, but here’s the description:
Three bedrooms (giant primary) and two dens
Duplex-style townhouse (one shared side)
Two and a half bathrooms
Living room and family room
Private two-car garage
Unfenced yard
Incredible residential neighbourhood with excellent walking paths and hikes
5 minute drive to Deep Cove
Excellent catchment schools
7 minute walk to the Parkgate shopping plaza with everything you could possibly need
10 minute walk to the Parkgate community centre and library
Any insight is greatly appreciated! Thank you!