Investing in real estate has many upsides, but if you’re not careful, it can have just as many downsides to navigate through. Your goal is to gain a profit from your investment, but the only way to do that is by protecting your home investment. Here are four ways to do just that and to ensure you’ll get a decent ROI.
Purchase the Right Insurance
If you plan to rent out your property, you will likely need additional insurance over the standard homeowner insurance policy. In the event of a partial property loss, liability lawsuit, or even total property loss, if you don’t have the right insurance in place, you could have your entire finances wiped out. It’s best to talk to a mortgage broker about the options available to you and whether or not you need any additional coverage such as flood, sewer back up, or loss of income insurance.
Hire a Property Manager
It’s not easy running and maintaining an investment property. But it is easy to fall behind on your bills, mortgage payments, rent collections, and maintenance requirements. To help keep yourself on track, consider hiring a property manager who will take over the marketing of your rental, collecting rent, preparing tax returns, handling tenant correspondence, and repairing and maintaining the building. A PM can be a huge asset to your business – they’ll save you time, ensure you’re operating efficiently and legally, and even help your properties increase in value.
Have an Adequate Budget for Repairs and Maintenance
One way you can really damage your bottom line and profits is by having a misappropriated budget that does not provide enough funds towards your annual repair and maintenance fees. You can draft a performance to estimate costs for your future roof repair and other necessary improvements, but you also need to be prepared for unexpected expenses that could arise like a broken furnace or flooded basement. So, what is the right amount to put aside? Experts recommend that you should have at least $1 per square foot per year budgeted to maintenance and repair costs. If your property is older or run down, you might want to allocate even more than that until the heavy-hitter items are replaced.
Have Legal Representation
The cost of hiring an attorney is a small price to pay compared to losing your investment over a tenant issue, tax implication, or disagreement with a contractor. A lawyer can do a number of things for you, including checking that there are no claims against the property before you purchase, reviewing the lease terms to ensure you’re adequately protected, drafting contracts with contractors to outline who is responsible if issues occur or the work is subpar, and standing up for you in court if a suit arises. A lawyer can also help find ways to avoid risk by navigating through all the tax laws and local by-laws.
When you need a real estate lawyer on your side to protect your home investments, reach out to us at Accord Law. Our team has the extensive experience and knowledge needed to ensure that your rights and assets are safeguarded. Contact us today to learn more about our services.
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Privacy Policy
Accord Law Professional Corporation is a firm that specializes in Real Estate, Immigration, and Business law with offices in Toronto, Ontario. The lawyer[s] and staff at Accord Law Professional Corporation (sometimes referred to as “we”) are committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy outlines how we handle your personal information to protect your privacy.
Privacy Legislation
Since January 1, 2004, all Canadian organizations engaged in commercial activities have been required to comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) and the Canadian Standards Association Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information incorporated by reference into PIPEDA. These obligations extend to lawyers and law firms, including Accord Law Professional Corporation.
In addition, an Act respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector has been in force in Quebec since 1994 and sets out rules regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information within that province.
Lastly, as a professional services firm, we have professional and ethical obligations to keep confidential the information we receive in the context of a lawyer-client and agent-client relationship.
Personal Information
Personal information is defined in PIPEDA as information about an identifiable individual, but does not include the name, title or business address or telephone number of an employee of an organization. In other words, it does not include the information that one expects to find on a business card.
Consent to Our Collection of Personal Information
In most cases, we obtain your consent to collect, use and disclose your personal information. Usually, if you retain our firm, we assume that we have your implied consent to our collection and use of your personal information, however, at times we may ask for your express consent, either verbally or in writing. Generally, we collect your personal information directly from you at the start of or during the course of your retainer with our firm. Sometimes we may obtain information about you from other sources such as a government registry or other professionals who serve you.
Use of Personal Information at Accord Law Professional Corporation
We use your personal information to provide legal advice and services to you, to issue invoices and to maintain our database of clients. In addition, if you apply for a position with Accord Law Professional Corporation, we will use your personal information to assess your candidacy. Lastly, we may use your contact information (name, e-mail and postal address) so that we may communicate with you about recent developments in the law, keep you abreast of Accord Law Professional Corporation news and invite you to our firm events.
Withdrawal of Consent
You may withdraw your consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information at any time, subject to legal and/or contractual restrictions and upon reasonable notice. Your withdrawal of consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information may impact our ability to represent you and provide you with legal advice.
You can ask us not to send you marketing communications by following the opt-out instructions in each communication or you may let us know by contacting us at info@accordlaw.ca.
Disclosure of Personal Information
Generally, we do not disclose your personal information to third parties without your consent unless permitted or required by applicable laws or court orders. The following are some examples where we may disclose your personal information: such disclosure is necessary to collect fees or disbursements; we contract with a third party to provide us with certain services such as archival file storage or insurance. (In such cases, we will use contractual or other means to ensure the third party service provider is bound by obligations regarding privacy which are consistent with this policy); or we engage expert witnesses or other law firms on your behalf.
Accuracy of Your Information
It is important that the information that we have on file be accurate and up-to-date. If, during the course of the retainer, any of your information changes, please inform us so that we can make any necessary changes. We may also ask you from time to time whether your personal information is up-to-date.
Safeguards
Accord Law Professional Corporation uses various safeguards to ensure that your personal information is protected against loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying or alteration. These include: security of our physical premises; our professional obligations; security software and firewalls to prevent unauthorized computer access or “hacking”; and internal passwords that restrict access to our electronic files.
Access to your Personal Information
You have a right to challenge the accuracy and completeness of your personal information and to have it amended, as appropriate. You also have a right to request access to your personal information and receive an accounting of how that information has been used and disclosed, subject to certain exceptions prescribed by law. For example, if the requested information would reveal personal information about another individual, your request for access may be limited or denied. If your request for access is denied, Accord Law Professional Corporation will notify you in writing of the reason for the denial.
To request access or to amend your personal information, please contact the lawyer with whom you normally correspond or write to our Privacy Contact at the address below. Accord Law Professional Corporation will respond within thirty (30) days of receipt of your written request.
Challenging Compliance
Accord Law Professional Corporation will respond to inquiries about its policies and practices relating to its handling of your personal information. Inquiries should be directed to Accord Law Professional Corporation’s Privacy Contact using the contact information below. Accord Law Professional Corporation will investigate all complaints and will respond within 30 days of receipt of a written inquiry. If the complaint is found to be justified, Accord Law Professional Corporation will take appropriate measures to resolve it, including, if necessary, amending this Policy and its procedures.
Website Privacy
Like most other commercial websites, we may monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information to optimize your visit to our website.
We do not use cookies or any electronic means to collect personal information from you or your computer; however, our website server will automatically collect IP addresses. We may view the IP log from time to time, for example, to maintain the security of our website. We do not link the IP addresses to other personally identifiable information.
Privacy Contacts
If you have any questions or complaints about this Policy or the handling of your personal information, if you wish to withdraw your consent to our use of your personal information, or to request access to or update any information we have on file, please contact the lawyer with whom you are dealing, or contact:
Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec
480 St. Laurent
Suite 501
Montreal, Quebec
H2Y 3Y7
Telephone: 514.873.4196
Toll Free: 1.888.528.7741
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on our website at accordlaw.ca and will be made available upon request through your contact at Accord Law Professional Corporation. Please check from time to time to ensure you are aware of our current policy.
