Once again, thanks to all for some great advice. I completely agree with taking a tough stance with these tenants. I was definitely WAY too easy on them the first couple times they were late and I now need to work a little harder to reclaim some credibility as a hard-nosed (but fair)...

Great advice and insight. Thanks for your help, Greg!

Thanks for the advice, Greg. Yes, I have a late fee in the lease, however I`ve only been able to collect it once. I don`t see a lot of leverage in the landlord / tenant act to enforce late fees either. The lease was for 6 months and expired at the end of July. Would that make a difference in...

I am a fairly new landlord. I have tenants that moved into a unit in February. They have been late paying their rent every single month since May. There have been a variety of excuses (bank fraud, vet bills, EI cheque not arriving, blah blah blah . . . ). They have come through each month...

I am about to sign a lease with a couple who will be moving into the main floor of a duplex I own. The building is heated by one forced air gas furnace that heats both units. The tenant in the upper unit also has some electric baseboard heaters. As we will be paying the gas bill, my wife...

QUOTE (kennicoll @ Nov 10 2008, 03:25 PM) wondering if closing old credit card accounts no longer needed or used for some time will improve a credit score thanks ken Hi Ken, Yes, the number of open accounts you have showing on your bureau absolutely affects your score. Available credit is one...

I live in the Niagara Region (Welland) and am on the hunt for my first investment property. I`m looking at duplexes and triplexes here in the region. I`d like my first property to be fairly close to home, so I can manage it hands-on and learn the ropes before moving on to more aggressive...

Thanks for your input, Todd. Much appreciated!

jqq, thanks for your reply and input. I agree that I`ve probably underestimated the maintenance costs and neglected other expenses. However, what I`m trying to get an understanding of is, if you are able to set-aside a healthy reserve fund to cover things like vacancies and major repairs, and...

First, I`d just like to quickly introduce myself: My name is Paul and I`m a beginning real estate investor located in the Niagara Region. I have a learned a ton from reading this forum and would like to thank all the expert contributors who take the time to share their valuable insights. I`m...