landlord posts

Building a real estate portfolio can be a smart way to generate monthly income and to create a retirement nest egg. That's why more and more people are turning their homes into income properties. If you're thinking of becoming a landlord, or if you're already one, the following suggestions may help you save time and money.

First things first

Not being aware of the law is never an excuse for breaking it. Educate yourself on landlord and tenant regulations. Each province has its own tenancy regulatory board and they will provide you with guidance

regarding landlord and tenant issues. Since the rules and regulations are constantly changing, it's the landlords responsibility to operate under the most current legislation. So contact your local board or download the complete regulations from your provincial regulatory body and keep it as a reference. Plus, most provinces have tip sheets that can help you with the most common issues.

The Moneyless Man
Could you go an entire day without spending any money? A weekend? A month? How about a year? That's what Mark Boyle did before writing his book The Moneyless Man. Read a review of Boyle's adventure into what many would consider insanity, yet turned out to be how he ultimately learned to connect to the world in a meaningful way by learning how to make, borrow or trade for everything he needed to live.

5 Reasons to Be Bullish on the Market
The Dividend Guy is optimistic at heart: he saw tons of buying opportunities even in 2008. Now that the dust has settled, he discusses five reasons why he's still bullish on the market.

How Do I Get My Spouse Interested in Early Retirement?
Even if you're highly motivated to make some of the financial sacrifices necessary to retire early, if your spouse isn't on board it's not going to be easy to make that happen. Canadian Dream: Free at 45 tackles the sticky wicket of how to get a reluctant spouse to buy into your dream.

9 Dividend Stocks on the Radar
Doing analysis for dividend stocks is time-consuming; luckily The Dividend Guy shares his analysis, which gives you a head start. This week he does an analysis of 9 stocks that are on his radar that you might want to keep an eye on yourself.

Canadian Banks and Dividends
Taking into consideration that all banks post profits (even in 2008) and they have a low payout dividend ratio, Canadian banks are definitely about to increase their dividend in 2011, The Dividend guy wrote before the holiday season started. Now that 2011's arrived, how's that for a reason to buy bank stocks this year?


New Year, New Beginnings: Ways to Save All Year Long
The Financial Highway blog talks about having made not-so-smart purchases in December, lamenting dipping into his savings after going overboard with the annual gift extravaganza. He offers some tips on how to save money in 2011 to provide a savings cushion.

Avoiding Gifting Pitfalls

This week we're letting Financial Highway do the heaving lifting for us: they've put together a list of great links that range from frugal gifts and ideas for gifts for your kids' teachers to a list of gifts you should never buy your kids, ever.

How To Deal With Nasty Prospective Tenants

Whether you rent a basement suite, are renting your house out during a long absence, or have a rental property, you'll want to read Landord Rescue's nine rules for prospective tenants and how to deal with a tenant deal that turns nasty when you ask for a deposit.

Top 2010 Stock Picks

Frugal Trader over at Million Dollar Journey has posted his quarterly update on his Top 2010 Stock Picks and looks back on how his four top stocks have done.

Why Small Business Owners Should be Their Own Landlord

Landlord Rescue explains the benefits of small business owners becoming their own landlord, and explores options from commercial space in condominiums to mixed use commercial buildings.

It's become almost as popular as those emails from abroad from someone who desperately needs your bank account details to transfer their fortunes. Some people still fall prey to that one. However, there's another scam out there ready to hijack your cash, and it can be found all over the world.

Real estate rental scams are popping up everywhere. The general premise goes like this: The renter finds a property listing -- usually on Craigslist, Viewit.ca, Kijiji, or a similar free listing site -- and contacts the landlord by email. The landlord has a seemingly respectable job, like a doctor or missionary, that requires him or her to travel for work. As the landlord is away, he or she asks the renter to provide a 'deposit' to their bank account and in return the landlord will mail a key to the renter so they can view or move into the apartment. However, the renter never receives the key because the apartment never existed in the first place.

Now some of these scams can get tricky. The landlord for instance may not ask you to put money directly in their bank account, but rather, deposit the money via MoneyGram into your friend's account. They say that they just want to ensure that you have funds to pay the rent in the future, so all you have to do is show them the receipt of the transfer amount. Unfortunately, anyone with that information is able to pick up the funds from MoneyGram.

So how can you spot these scams at first glance? There's a few things rental scams have in common.

Weird Tenants and How to Avoid Them

If you own a rental property or have a rental suite helping you pay your mortgage, you might think that any tenant who pays their rent on time is a good tenant. You would be wrong, and Landlord Rescue explains why in this post about weird potential tenants and how to avoid them. There is a handy list of the eight types of tenants you should avoid.

A Primer on Corporate Bonds

If you're thinking about adding bonds to your portfolio and are wondering how corporate bonds could fit in, our friends over at Million Dollar Journey have put together a lovely Primer on Corporate Bonds. Corporate bonds are not as stable as government bonds and not all corporate bonds are created equal.Did you know companies have credit ratings just like you do? One of the first things this primer talks about is how to check a company's credit rating before buying their bonds.

How Spousal RRSPs Work
I've chosen an oldie but goodie from Million Dollar Journey this week because so many people don't understand the benefits of spousal RRSPs. This post from Frugal Trader tells you who should use it, and why.

5 Steps to a Debt-Free Life
There's a great post this week on Financial Highway for people who are "drifting on menacing sea of debt." You don't have to accept ballooning bills as your destiny, read the article for pointers on how to bail out your lifeboat and get to shore.

10 Fun Careers to Start From Home
Expert Lisa Kanerk reveals 10 great ideas for home-based businesses this week on Women on the Web and examines the moneymaking potential behind them.