I am on the verge of renewing a natural gas contract for another 5 year term. Until now, it has been an excellent deal. $3.99/kj for the last 10 years with the option to renew at the same price for 5 years at a time for...... forever! Right now though, it isn`t such a good deal. Regulated...

We bank everything with TD Canada Trust. So far, I`ve put security deposits we hold into a separate savings account, but it`s not a trust account. According to TD, there is no trust account available for private individuals, only for businesses. It hasn`t been a big issue yet with any of...

I`m about to give our former tenants an accounting of the deductions from their security deposit. My deadline according to Alberta law is on Monday. We just had the carpets professionally cleaned by a professional company specializing in stain removal. There are 2 separate rooms and a...

We just had tenants move out after being tenants for 1 year, and the house wasn`t left in the best condition. I need to do some deductions but wonder if everything I`d like to charge is actually legit, or not. Here is my wish list for deductions but are they reasonable. Windows: Move in -...

We are getting a house ready for a new tenant at the end of this month. We will be repainting a lot of the house with a better quality paint so it can be wiped and cleaned without damaging the paint finish. The carpets and underlay are premium quality stain master type and only 2 1/2 years...

Students usually don`t have a regular or full time income, and sometimes don`t have much credit history either. So checking their credit report, confirming employment and income, can be pointless. What is the best way to ensure you will get your rent paid on time? Would you ask for a...

Wow, this business is very hard on the emotions - at least it is on mine. See my earlier post for details but in a nutshell, very nice applicants - he with a disability income and she with a great longstanding job with a high income. Middle aged, no kids, one dog but not one I was worried...

This is the situation. An unmarried couple in their late 30`s applied to rent one of our properties. The details on each are: She: - long time stable job with fairly high income which I have confirmed. - good reference from her previous landlord where she was a tenant for 3 years. - good...

We are looking for a tenant for a property in Kelowna and have used Kijiji with good results in the past. This year though, it is much slower and we`d like to advertise the property on other rental websites as well. Does anyone know what is another popular website we could use in addition to...

We had an email inquiry about renting one of our properties. It is for a family of 4 - women and her boyfriend, 2 children aged 5 yrs and 10 months. They have 3 pets as well - a chihuahua dog and 2 kittens they claim are very well trained. We are not totally against pets but know that it can...

We are advertising a house for rent in Calgary on Kijiji. We`ve turned away a few already because of too many pets and/or too many people/too many children, etc. But we are considering renting to a couple with no children but they have 2 declawed middle aged cats. We aren`t too concerned...

Looking for an Early Termination of Lease form for Alberta. Can`t see one in the critical forms section. Is there such a form? Thanks,

The board format changed a few days ago. At least I think it did. Instead of being able to scroll through all the replies to a post, the replies are now all listed at the bottom of the post and I now have to click on which reply I want to read. A real pain if I want to read them all and much...

Lately in Calgary, the headlines have been just brutal. In the last few days alone: - 8% drop in average home prices - Oil & Gas land sales down - below B.C. and Saskatchewan - Alberta slump bringing down Canadian house price average - Condo over-supply will take years to absorb if...

Would love opinions on this situation:We have a 3 bedroom house for rent in Calgary, advertised on Kijiji, and got many responses. Everyone who wanted to see the house had to first give us a completed `rental application form`, and were also advised we would do a credit check. This approach...

We are planning a basement development in our home and want to put in a larger size gas fireplace. The prices at the fireplace stores are way up there. Does anyone know where they can be purchased at a discount? We have the install arranged already with a gas fitter so we just need to do...

We have just received security deposit money for a rental and it is currently in our personal savings account while we figure out where we should put it. This will likely be a short term rental (less than 6 months). My question is this...... can the money be left in our personal savings...

We are on the verge of renting a property and I have a few questions about the tenant credit check. I have the Application for Rental Accommodation for Alberta from the Critical Forms Section. Under Section 4 it asks for "credit references". What exactly is a "credit reference" and what do...

Does anyone know the top ten Canadian towns to invest in? (Not specific to any province, but the best ten in Canada?)