All Forum Posts by: Greg F.

Thanks @Bobby Eastman, @Colleen F. for your replies.

I didn't know about the unrelated people thing, so I'll have to check into that.

@Patricia Hinojos, sounds like you have a good system in place and lots of great points in there.  I especially like point #4, screen the kids for background and parents for financial.  The 1 cent trick is hilarious too and a great way to differentiate similar payments.

Thanks!

My rental property is just being rehabbed and will be ready for tenants in the new year.
I've had investment properties for a number of years now, but always rented to family and friends, so this part is new to me.

The area is near a university so there are a lot of students looking for accommodations.  There are many houses being used as rooming houses (renting each room separately),  but I'm not interested in that approach.  First off these are illegal in my neighbourhood, and secondly, even if I tried to get away with it, the city is aggressively trying to get rid of these and it's simply not a risk I'm willing to take.

Therefore, I need to rent the house as a single unit, and I will likely end up with a number of student applicants, and I'm not sure what the best way to screen them is.  It's a 5BR 2.5bath unit for what it's worth.

I've reviewed the ultimate guide to tenant screening, but that is focused on renting to a single person / family.  Does the process change when you have a group of unrelated people like students renting a place?

Some specific questions I have:

1. How many people are actually on the rental agreement?  One, or all of the tenants?  Assuming everyone who is living there to be on the agreement, but that leads to the next question.
2. How do you verify income? Is it an aggregate from all the people on the agreement, or do you get one party (possibly with a co-signer) that has 3 times the rent as income?

Thanks!

Fellow Winnipeger here just saying hi.

@Prince Soriano, congrats on the duplex.

@Bryan Wesley, 4-6 / month is crazy.  Also interested to hear more.

I'd be interested in joining up for a chat.

@Vian Simpson, I think @Daniel O. is probably right.  It's easy to buy and hard to sell.  I've also heard that the property value doesn't really increase either, which makes sense considering there are still lots of units for sale.

The trick is to find a place that can generate enough cash flow while you own it to turn a profit, and then hopefully you can get the same price or more back when you sell it.

See if you can find some investors that already own property in CR and get some insight from them.

@Vian Simpson: Jaco and Tamarindo areas are very popular tourist spots on the beach.  If you're looking to rent out your place, these would be good places to start.  Costs to get into the market are going to be higher, but so will your volume of visitors and rental prices.

If you're interested in something more inland, La Fortuna is a central location for a lot of tourist activities in the area, might be some opportunities there.  I did see a number of hostels in La Fortuna so there are lower cost options available there to compete with, but the prices to purchase will also be a lot lower.

I'm not familiar with the east coast, however, my understanding is that it is less developed.  This may mean more opportunities to get in before the market takes off, but at a higher risk of course.

I'd suggest getting your feet on the ground before you get too invested.  The country is very diverse and half an hour in the car can lead to dramatically different markets / opportunities.

You don't say if you currently own a home or not in the US.

If you do, the easiest way to finance a purchase like this would be to borrow against the equity you have built in your own home in the US. Get a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) setup or take a second mortgage on your house and use the proceeds to fund your purchase in CR. Either option should be easy with your income level.

I'm not sure San Jose is the #1 place for tourists.

The advice I received when travelling there was to get out of SJ as fast as you can, and it was good advice.  The rest of the country from the mountains to the coast is just full of natural wonder, staying in the city has very little appeal to me as a visitor.

Generally speaking, the closer to the beach, the higher your chances of getting rentals I would think.

Vehicles and property is generally purchased through a corporation in CR, so you'd have to get that setup in CR before you make a purchase.  I've heard it's about $200 USD and not a big deal, but I haven't dug into it a lot myself.

@Vian Simpson, have you visited CR already?

He is located on the water somewhere in Guanacaste in an area with many AirBNB type rentals.

Also curious about the market in CR.

I've done some digging and got some pricing from local management companies and Nosara Travel lists some average fees for a 3 BR / 2 bath house. 

I ran the numbers and came up with a total of $813 / month.

I got replies from some other management companies and they were all quite similar.

I have a friend of a friend who owns a place down there and says that now with the Canadian dollar the way it is, he wouldn't bother, he's just breaking even without carrying a mortgage, although he does use it himself for 6-8 weeks during high season.