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I've read a number of posts where downtown condo buyers are concerned about the number of rental properties scattered amongst the owner-occupied units. Personally, I see it as a positive indicator of the general shift in mindset about 'how' and 'where' we live. The latest generation of young entrepreneurs and professionals don't want to be tied to a specific location, office or even a specific home for that matter. They work virtually, host business meetings in coffee shops and move with the tide. They may not be ready homebuyers, but they attract life and fun and activity to our core. Something we can all agree is beneficial for all of us.
And to accommodate these beacons of activity, we need the investment condos. It's the circle of downtown life. Our renters today will most surely be the investors of tomorrow, because they understand the need, the desire and the profitability of an urban condo.
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05-07-2015, 04:10 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-07-2015, 04:10 PM by panamaniac.)
What Downtown needs at the moment is a couple of new rental apartment towers.
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Personally, I don't think it is a good thing for too many units in a condo to be rented out. In any event, a ready supply of rental units would seem more desirable from the renter's point of view (no need to worry about the investor/owner selling out from under you or wanting the unit back at the end of the term of the lease.
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05-07-2015, 06:39 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-07-2015, 06:40 PM by sprudham.
Edit Reason: typo
)
From the investment POV, I've got 2 units in Uptown Waterloo, and both have been rented for over 2 years by the same renters.
Both really nice young couples who have taken really good care of the units. There's always risk when renting, heard a few horror stories, but my experience has been really smooth. I'll hold onto the units as long as I can, and keep my fingers crossed for premium renters like I have right now. Market rent on the condos does most of the tenant weeding for me upfront, and the rest is up to me. I appreciate that my neighbours expect a certain level of decorum, and that's always top of mind when interviewing tenants.
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I think if I were to do it, I would use the services of a property manager, as I do for an out of town property that I've owned for a number of years. I don't see myself as dealing directly with tenants.
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The plus side to that is in case of legal issues the property manger is responsible for dealing with it!
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Almost any condo apartment is going to have a number of renters, but if the percentage is very high it can cut into the number of owner/residents committed to running the condo corp as their home. I don't mean to imply that renters are more likely to create problems than owners, it is more about what goes in to ensuring a "good condo".
