There’s a huge list of important variables and issues to consider when you’re looking at a piece of investment real estate. Even with all the due diligence a good investor does, there’s one big variable that’s harder than all the rest to judge…and we’re going to make it easier for some of you who are interested in investing in Edmonton.
In no particular order, some easy ones are:
- purchase price
- vendor motivation
- interest rates
- down payment
- title insurance
- real property report
- amortization period
- prevailing vacancy rate
- local economy
- political climate
- job growth
- zoning
- legal fees
- cost of labour, repairs and maintenance
- property management
But if you’re looking for an investment property, your ROI, yield, ability to hold and potential to buy more property hinges on one number that’s more difficult than any other to estimate and control…rent.
Estimating Rent
There’s quite a bit you can do when it comes to estimating rent, particularly if you’re an out of town investor. Sites like Rent-O-Meter can be useful. You can play the tenant, go and Google phrases like ‘apartments in edmonton’ and click on the first listing or two to check prices. What’s missing from that equation is a pair of experienced eyes on the ground.
What I’m proposing is this: leave a comment or fill out this form (which will keep things hidden) with some details about a property you’re considering, or that you already own.
Between Brent and I, we’ll drive by, take pictures, tell you some information about the neighborhood and give you a single hard number of what we’d try to rent it for. We’ll also give a range of rents; the real world can change, and we know that. What you get is a drive-by rental appraisal from a team of experts.
Why do I care what you think?
Having eyes on the ground means having a professional property manager and a Realtor let you know what the neighborhood is really like, where things are really going and can identify the real world risks that you can’t see through a computer in Toronto.
Brent is both a Realtor and a property manager, and has 25 years of experience in the property management field, taking care of single family homes, high rise apartment buildings and condos, institutional and government properties, as well as commercial buildings. I drew my first paycheque from our former property management company when I was 12. I worked in some capacity for Davies Management for the next 13 years. You might say we both have some experience in setting rents around the Edmonton area.
Each month (or more often if we have time), we’ll pick a property you suggest, drive by and post the results on www.chrisdavies.ca and/or www.brentdavies.com.
To be eligible, the property must be in the greater Edmonton Area. The information we need is: Name, Email, Phone Number, Subject Property Address, Comparable Property Address, and Planned Purchase Price. Leave a comment or fill out the form below, and we’ll get things rolling!
