Using real estate to Help Your Kids

Investors already know that buying real estate is a solution to paying for a child’s education however, this may not be the right solution. In fact, it could be detrimental to a child’s performance, according to a paper published by University of California, “More is More or More is Less? Parent Financial Investments During College.” It suggests that there is a direct relationship between parents who pay the bills and lower academic performance by their children.
Rather than let your children party at school while you are stuck with the bills, why not get them to pay the bills. Tracy Ma from Financial Nirvana Mama outlines four key strategies for getting your kids to pay for their own education and at the same time, teach them real estate investing skills.
1. Teach them property management
If your properties are less than five years old (i.e. low maintenance) and your child goes to a school near your properties, why not have them manage the properties as their part-time job? Better yet, have them live in a unit as their principle place of residence and rent out the extra rooms to friends. Teach them how to manage the properties like a pro, with the right agreements, contracts, and templates. And don’t forget to teach them about all the applicable rental regulations. Now, they can use the cash
flow from the properties to help pay for their own tuition and books.
2. Teach them to profit from a real estate portfolio
If you have a couple of properties that you have held for more than ten years, you probably have a nice nest egg for your child’s education. Rather than selling the properties when your children are ready to go to post-secondary school, hold the properties a little bit longer until they graduate. Have them take out an interest-free student loan to pay for their education. Then, transfer the assets to your kids after they graduate from post-secondary education and have them sell it, or borrow against it, to pay for their loans. Any remaining profits from a sale, or available room in a home equity line-of-credit, can jumpstart your child’s purchase of their own real estate.
3. Have them manage a real estate portfolio
If the properties are held more than 15 years and your children decide to the leave the city, why not refinance the balance of the mortgage, and have them retain a team to manage these properties? Teach them to oversee the properties and monitor the expenses and payments. The cash flow can be used to offset their tuition fees and books. Once school is finished, they can liquidate, or borrow against, a property and pay off their loans.
4. Teach them hard money lending
If the properties no longer have any mortgages and your kids are off to medical school or they are too busy to manage real estate, teach them to sell the properties, contribute a portion to their tax free savings account, and lend out their money to other real estate investors as a mortgage-backed loan. Now your kids have mortgage payments coming into their bank accounts to help offset their living expenses and tuition costs. And after they have finished their education, they can recall the loans that they have issued to pay off their own student loan.
Be creative and financially savvy with these exit strategies to not only make your money work smarter, but teach your kids life skills. Using the strategies described, your kids will be on their way to paying off their education (and becoming real estate investors) in no time.

source: http://www.canadianrealestatemagazine.ca/expert-advice/item/2158-using-real-estate-to-get-rid-of-the-kids

5 Easy Ways to Update a Room

You don’t have to hire a decorator (or break the bank) to give a room a quick update with lots of impact. So whether you’re getting ready to sell, have just moved in or feel like a mini overhaul, these five tips will have you enjoying the room of your dreams in no time. Change Your Fabrics Replace your curtains, re-cover your throw pillows, buy a new rug, Any one of these easy fixes can make a big impact; but all three will completely change the entire room! And if it’s a bedroom you’re tired of, same rules apply: Replace the duvet cover, re-cover the headboard, and toss a few new pillows on the bed. Freshen Up With Paint Whether you tackle an entire room, or maybe an accent wall or two, a new coat of paint is probably the easiest way to change a room. From light and bright to dark and dramatic, paint can completely alter the mood. Re-Organize A Bookshelf Bookshelves are amazing; not only do they keep your books organized, but they can also serve as great focal pieces. Try colour-coding your books or arranging them in stacks instead of side-by-side. Remove an entire row of books and replace them with framed family photos or bright accent pieces. Sometimes all a room needs is a shift in thinking about it. Update Your Art Updating the art on your walls is a great way to showcase the family talent. Frame your daughter’s sketches from high school (no one will know it’s not a real Picasso) or your son’s first finger painting. Or grab a blank canvas and paint it a bright colour to hang in the kitchen (you don’t have to be a Fine Art grad to add some basic pops of colour!). And the best part of this approach is once you’ve bought the frames, the art can be rotated throughout the year at no extra cost. Add An Accent Is your bathroom feeling boring or your living room giving you the yawns? Pick bright, colourful wallpaper and add an accent wall! Paint stripes in your dining room, or buy a chandelier for your front hallway. Adding an impressive accent is a fun way to give the room some personality without a complete overhaul (of the room OR your bank account).

Source: http://www.hgtv.ca/realestate/article/5-easy-ways-to-update-a-room/

7 Tips for selecting great students for your rental

The student market can be a lucrative business but landlords need to do their homeowork when selecting tenants as Tim Collins from Student Rental Investing explains.
When renting to a ‘typical’ tenant, the normal checks that I undertook were references, job credentials and a credit check. I could then take all that information and make an educated decision on whether to rent out to that particular individual. I'm also a big believer in trusting your gut so if your intuition is screaming something’s not right, well then it's probably worth listening to.
When it comes to students, things can be a bit trickier. Credit checks are irrelevant as students often have not had time to build credit check. As such, it may be necessary to do a credit check on the guarantor.
By having a fabulous advertisement with great pictures and offering utilities for a nice affordable monthly price, you're likely to attract more than just students. It's not good practise to mix students with non-students and so you need to be explicit that it's a student only house. Ideally, you will attract a group of students that already know each other, and they will all be sharing common areas and bathrooms so this makes things much easier.
7 tips for selecting great student tenants:
1. Ask for proof that they are a student - acceptance letter or student card.
2. Ask for a guarantor to sign the application form establishing that they have some financial backing.
3. Ask for a deposit before holding a room, many show interest but change their mind.
4. Establish start date and term of lease that they are looking for.
5. Get job and personal references.
6. Get details of most recent addresses for last three years.
7. Set expectations - No parties will be tolerated at this house.

Source: http://www.canadianrealestatemagazine.ca/expert-advice/item/2135-7-tips-for-selecting-great-students-for-your-rental