Real Estate

You have probably invested a lot in your recreational property. That investment is money and time, and for many people it is also an emotional investment. Maybe you've owned a cottage for many years, or it has been in the family for a long time. That property holds many happy and precious memories of fun, laughter, sunshine, and relaxation. Or perhaps you are a new owner, enjoying the wonderful feeling of owning your own piece of paradise that you can return to after a long week in the city. Perhaps you've bought the property for your retirement and visit occasionally to dream and imagine what it will be like when you can be up at the cottage full time.

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We have some great books coming up this fall, and this summer we'd like you to get to know the amazing authors who are behind them.

Let us introduce you to the first author of the upcoming season: Dale Walters, the author of Buying Real Estate in the US (2nd edition, October 2016). Dale Walters is well known to Self-Counsel Readers after having published three books with us. This fall his very first book is going to its second edition....

True Story - when a British Columbia landlady saw a news story about a couple of so-called 'deadbeat tenants' who had been evicted five times in the past two years for paying little or no rent., she recognized the photo in the news. To her horror, she has just rented her house to that same couple!

Then, their first rent cheque bounced.

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Effective July 9, 2012

Buying your first home is a big decision. It is important you understand the amount of mortgage you are qualified for. If you are purchasing a home with less than a 20 percent downpayment you are considered a “high ratio” borrower, and required to add mortgage default insurance to your mortgage loan.

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Renting out a portion of your home or another property can be a great way to earn extra income. If you secure good tenants, landlording can reap large rewards such as more financial security or the ability to pay off a mortgage faster. If you are retired, it is also a good way to supplement your retirement income.

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Following are five misconceptions Canadians may have about buying US real estate, from Keats, Connelly and Associates' partner and CEO, Dale Walters, a leading cross-border wealth expert.

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You may own the property, but if you’re a landlord in Canada, you can only legally enter your tenant’s home under a limited number of circumstances. To protect yourself against liability claims, it’s important you make yourself aware of, and make sure you adhere to, tenancy laws local to your province.

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Many landlords are not sure of their legal rights and responsibilities when it comes to eviction, and when they are sure of their rights and responsibilities, they aren’t sure of the actual logistics of evicting a tenant so that's it’s 100 percent legal.

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People are often confused about the meaning of the word “lease”. They think that “lease” refers only to agreements that are for a fixed term, for example a “one year lease”, or that “lease” only applies to written agreements. This is not so...

  Michael Drouillard, author of Landlording in Canada, was recently interviewed by Sophie Lui on the morning news at Global TV in Vancouver. Drouillard discusses issues for landlords relating to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver...