Hello!  Last week we talked about the first five points to remember when you are considering buying an investment property.

Well known Real Estate Lawyer, Author and Speaker, Mark Weisleder, offers up 10 great tips to consider before jumping into the world of investment properties.  Here are the next five:

6. Keep all of your paperwork!  In a separate box/file folder, hang on to all of your records of income and expenses for your investment property. If you don’t keep them separate you risk mixing them in with your personal financial paperwork and you don’t want to make your accountant’s job any harder.

7. Are you doing this with a partner?  Ensure you have the correct, legal partnership agreement.  This will protect your and your partner(s) in the event things don’t work out as planned.  Make sure things are fair and that everyone involved understands all the conditions and responsibilities.

8. It’s a good idea to hire an experienced property manager. This person will help you find suitable tenants, deal with ongoing maintenance, repairs and any other issues with tenants, especially if you don’t live in the same city or town that your investment is located.

9. Know what the Canada Revenue Agency guidelines and rules are with respect to investment properties.  Take care not to buy and sell properties too quickly or you will end up paying tax on the profit you make.  It’s more worthwhile if you are able to look at this as a long term investment whereby you can reduce your mortgage and build equity in the property.

10. Recognize the signs that the investment isn’t going well.  Don’t be afraid to walk away from the deal if it isn’t working for you.  It’s better to step back and lose a small amount of money, then to stay in it and risk losing even more.

Do your research and stay organized, get help from professionals and look at it as a long term process.  Success could be yours!

Check out Mark’s website anytime at markweisleder.com.

We hope you have found this 2 part series on investment properties helpful.  Feel free to send us your comments or call the Weber Team anytime!  You can reach John Weber at 705-727-6111, and you can reach Christie Bond at 705-220-1152