Rom Houtstra - Blog

Why you should List your Home with Rom Houtstra & his Romrealty Team now

rom.houtstra@century21.ca — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Aside from our comprehensive marketing plan explained in our listing presentation on www.romrealty.com, the time is right NOW to list with the Romrealty Team.
In early February 2013, we will showcase your home and/or business listing at the largest Expat Show/Immigration Show in Europe with over 12,000 potential immigrants attending.
Robert Fine, the Kelowna Economic Development Officer, Kevin Poole, the Vernon Economic Development Officer and myself are going to promote and attract Immigrant Skilled Workers, Entrepreneurs and Investors to relocate to the Okanagan. We have already 4 Dutch families who are going to settle in Kelowna this year, buying a home and/or business.
Call me today for a free market evaluation of your home and/or business.

"ROMREALTY, GOING THE EXTRA (AIR) MILE FOR YOU"

5 Ways to avoid Investor hell

rom.houtstra@century21.ca — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

If there’s one area where savvy real estate investors excel, it’s finding and following through with lucrative deals. The very thought of purchasing a property and turning it into a cash flowing powerhouse is one that entices investors of all levels to get out there and start buying. However, as the old adage goes, “All that glisters is not gold,” and that is as applicable to real estate investing as it is to other aspects of the business world. There are countless stories out there about investors who ended up getting the short end of the stick in what seemed like a fantastic deal, and lost thousands – and sometimes even millions – of dollars in the process.
In short, investors need to know how to avoid landing in nightmarish situations, and Tony LeBlanc, owner of Ground Floor Property Management in Moncton, NB, has a Top 5 list of things to avoid.

Not knowing how much maintenance costs

Before buying an investment property, buyers must have some basic knowledge on what things costs, he says. We've had owners buy properties that needed significant amounts of work to be done. Once the work began, the owners were surprised by the associated costs.

Not analyzing the numbers properly

A big mistake I see with a lot of novices investors is the lack of verification of numbers provided by the seller. When buying a property, you should always ask for at least two years’ worth of expenses, examples are heat, electricity, water and sewage and maintenance. As the purchaser, you should pay great attention to all of these details to make sure things look right.

Security Deposits

It’s common practice for renters to pay some sort of security deposit when renting an apartment. Each province in Canada has different regulations as to how these security deposits should be handled by the property owner. With a typical purchase and sale agreement, most investors will always ask to have copies of all the current leases. Within the lease itself, there is usually a section to document details about a security deposit. The buyer must be aware of the status and location of all deposits. If the property owner has kept the deposits for himself, these funds should be then given to buyer on closing.

Financing and knowing what you need to pay

When buying a rental property, there can be numerous fees from different parties, says LeBlanc. “We had some clients recently close on a 12-unit property and they thought they knew all the fees that they would be charged. After everything was said and done, they ended up paying close to $7,000 more than they thought. This was very frustrating to them as they had to take this money from the reserve fund they had created for the property.”

Property management

Most new investors underestimate the time and expertise required to manage a rental property, often times this results in expensive lessons learned, says LeBlanc. One of the most popular issues that new investors struggle to get a hold of is dealing with tenants and the laws the govern tenancies. Before jumping into managing your own properties, be honest with yourself and see if you have the time, money and expertise to self-manage, he says.

Courtesy of "Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine"

LAS VEGAS news: In Real Estate Good Things Come to Those Who Don't Wait

rom.houtstra@century21.ca — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

They say that good things come to those who wait, but lately good things come to those who pounce quickly. Real estate has become a hot commodity once again, and houses that once languished months, or even years, on the Las Vegas MLS are now being snatched up in days or even hours. We have certainly observed this phenomena first hand, especially in the last six months, as we watch foreclosures and REOs being bid up and short sales being submitted with multiple back-up offers.

Nearly ⅓ of all homes on the market are selling within one month. This is a huge departure from sales data one and two years ago! Why are homes selling so quickly here in Las Vegas? Affordable housing and attractive interest rates. Interest rates remain the lowest they’ve been in years, and housing is extremely affordable even after the 20% gain in median home price we’ve witnessed in the last year. What is interesting to note in all of this, is just how strong the rental market in Las Vegas continues to be, even with low home prices and even lower interest rates.

Traditionally, as home prices drop, if interest rates are low, it becomes cheaper to buy than to rent. This is definitely true here in Las Vegas. The average home-owner can save between 50-100% monthly on their mortgage versus rent on the same property. When this occurs, typically rents will fall as landlords are forced to make their product more competitive. For the most part, this has not happened in Las Vegas. Rents have dropped very slightly, but nothing compared to the plummet in home prices, and even as interest rates remain low, rents have remained strong. This is due, no doubt, to the large percentage of the Las Vegas population who are currently ineligible to purchase a home because of recent foreclosure, bankruptcy, or other negative credit activity.

As a result, it continues to be an excellent time for investors to enter the Las Vegas real estate market, although it is much more difficult to find affordable properties than it was one or two years ago. Gone are the days when investors had multiple Las Vegas foreclosures to cherry pick. For those who are interested in Las Vegas investment real estate, I recommend “alternative acquisition strategies.”Please contact me if you would like to know more about great Vegas investment opportunities.

Small Business Profile BC 2012

rom.houtstra@century21.ca — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Please CLICK HERE for an update on the British Columbia small business profile.