rental posts

Canadians have long had an interest in U.S. real estate, especially in sunny vacation spots in Florida and Arizona. It is rare though for such a great window of opportunity to open as it has now.

Whether you are looking for a vacation home or an investment, here are five reasons why now is a good time to buy Stateside:

• More Americans Are Renting. The housing crash in the U.S. combined with the financial crisis and recession have caused a great number of people to give up the "American dream" of owning a home. According to newspaper USA Today, 72% of Americans surveyed in August said home ownership was part of their dream, down from 77% at the beginning of the year. Greater demand for rental property has helped push rental returns higher in some U.S. cities, particularly for homes with three or more bedrooms. You can search historical rental rates at Rentbits.com.
• The Canadian Dollar Is Strong. The loonie has been hovering at just below parity with the greenback with the potential to break higher. The strength of the loonie is above its historical average over the past 10 years of about US78 cents. The strength against the greenback makes purchasing U.S.-dollar denominated goods cheaper compared to most other times in the past, and most likely the future too.

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.

There are some great money-making opportunities in Canadian real estate at the moment, particularly with low interest rates and affordable house prices. However, you have to know what you're looking for. Serious property investors always do their homework before buying a property, and there are a number of signs they look for in order to maximize their profits through property appreciation and rental income. Right now, those signs point to Calgary as being the best place in Canada to invest. In fact, three other areas in Alberta also make the list, making it the hottest property investment province in Canada.

Before choosing an investment, look at factors that could increase a property's value. For instance, are there any large development projects slated for the area? Is the property near an area that will benefit from planned transport infrastructure? Is there potential for jobs growth in the area? Is the population of the area increasing faster than average? Does the area have easy access to services and schools?

Finding this information by yourself can take a lot of time. Thankfully, the Real Estate Investment Network of Canada puts out a list of the top 10 hot spots in Canada based on these factors, making the research process much quicker and easier for you.