Has REIN conducted rental surveys with its members and other groups with regards to how hot or soft the rental market is?

[VicChung]

Hello Everyone,

I have not had to rent my properties for at least a year. In the last week, I have been trying to get one of my properties back on the market. I am finding that tenants are now blackmailing landlords of leaving if we do not agree to their reduced rents. The impression I have is that the market might be a little soft. However, a lot of tenants have talked to friends and without accurate data, have decided to ask for a rent reduction. I have posted on a few web sites (i.e., Kiiji, rentspot, craigslist, homerent) to get feedback with regards to my rent. I also checked the market rent on rentometer.com

However, since we belong to such an huge network like REIN which is known for studying fundamentals, can REIN provide such a survey and analysis?

Thanks,

Vic

 

[greg12]

Such a report would be great to have, but might be tricky to create. My sense is that rents are all over the map at the current time, but overall on a downward trend in most markets. A report created today could be irrelevant a couple months later. In the mean time, I thank goodness for "prime minus" variable rate mortgages as lower rents have been offest by lower payments in my portfolio.

 

[VicChung]

QUOTE (greg12 @ Feb 28 2009, 04:34 PM) Such a report would be great to have, but might be tricky to create. My sense is that rents are all over the map at the current time, but overall on a downward trend in most markets. A report created today could be irrelevant a couple months later. In the mean time, I thank goodness for "prime minus" variable rate mortgages as lower rents have been offest by lower payments in my portfolio.

well, the report does not have to be extensive. REIN already provides fundamentals on economics, mortgages, migration trend. Why not rent fundamentals every quarter to give REIN members an edge???

 

[David90]

Check out CMHC`s website. They conduct semi-annual rent surveys for most of the major markets in canada. Although they are mostly for apartment rentals. They also cover apartment condo`s and townhouses.

 

[Thomas Beyer]

QUOTE (VicChung @ Feb 28 2009, 12:10 PM) ... I am finding that tenants are now blackmailing landlords of leaving if we do not agree to their reduced rents. ...supply and demand !Yes, a REIN survey, much like CMHC`s is useful .. BUT: YOU have to be on top of current vacancies and rental situations .. as a range such as "a 2BR in Edmonton rents for $850 to $1200" is too broad a range to be useful or "the average rent is $995" is also too narrow .. as your specific property in a specific location should be well below or well above that magic "average" !

25% up or down from average is not uncommon and factors to consider are:

a) marketing / sales / quality of onsite manager / marketing person
b) suite size
c) location
d) views
e) amenities of building
f) distance to transportation
g) vacancy in neighborhood
h) vacancy in building
i) quality of upgrades
j) # of bathrooms
k) is there a balcony or patio
m) # of rooms
n) size of fridge
o) single or double sink
p) heat/water/parking/TV/internet included or extra ?

How does your property rank on these factors mentioned above ? Where is it ? What is the rent you charge ? What reduction does the tenant have in mind ? perhaps he is reasonable in asking for a reduction .. perhaps he is not ..