What are your rates?
Rates will vary for furnished and unfurnished Management Agreements. Rates are based on the monthly rental income, all rates subject to GST, and are as follows:
Unfurnished: 50% Lease-up (to locate and place a new tenancy) - 7% per month (minimum $100)
Furnished: 20% per month (minimum $200)
Lease-up Only: 50% of the monthly rental rate
Should I rent furnished or unfurnished?
One of the most common questions from our clients is whether to rent their property furnished or unfurnished. It may not seem like there is much difference between the two, just simply put some furniture in a suite and rent for a higher rate. Unfortunately, this is not the case, it is a common misperception that since furnished rentals achieve higher rents they must make higher profit. Furnished suites are basically long term stay hotel rooms and come with electricity, cable, phone, internet service and sometimes cleaning services. The leases are most often 3 - 6 months and the vacancy rate can be as high as 30% in the off season months. For these reasons, we will most often suggest renting a property unfurnished for long term 1 year leases and let the tenant pay for the utilities and cable. Other benefits of renting your property unfurnished are that you get steady income with only a 1-2% vacancy rate in Vancouver’s Downtown areas, you will not have transient tenancies and damages to furniture is more costly to repair than bare walls and carpet. There are circumstances where renting furnished makes sense. In cases where the owner of the property is the primary resident and will be taking extended leave. Due to the high cost of storage and the possibility of the owner using the property throughout the year or coming back to live permanently in this case we do support renting a property furnished for convenience and availability.
What is a Lease-up?
Lease-up is a term that we use to refer to the process of placing a new tenant, including advertising, showing and approving a qualified tenancy.
Is there a standard rate in the industry?
No, we do not have standard rates, each company charges the rates and structures their rates to reflect the services and expertise provided.
What makes Advent Real Estate Services Ltd. different from other
Property Management companies?
The Property Managers at Advent Real Estate Services Ltd. work in a similar structure to that of Real Estate Sales Representative. What this means for you is that we essentially work independently for our clients to provide them with personal service that a Property Manager working 9-5 in an office cannot. We are available for our clients 7 days a week by mobile phone or email and we are also available to do evening and weekend showings to make sure that we find the best tenancy for your investment.
Advent Real Estate Services Ltd. limits the amount of properties that each Property Manager can effectively manage. Therefore, we do not have assistants and other staff involved in the process, you will deal directly with your Property Manager on every issue concerning your property.
Where will you advertise my property?
Advent Real Estate Services Ltd. utilizes the Internet to it’s fullest to advertise and attract qualified tenants for your investment property. We have accounts with many of the sites available to us as Property Managers and also use our own website to show your property to it’s fullest potential. Print advertising is also a popular media for rentals, however, we have found that over the past 2 years the local papers are becoming more costly and less effective, although we still do some print advertising it is minimal.
What criteria do you use to choose a tenant?
Advent Real Estate Services Ltd. takes a full application on each and every tenant that we place in our clients’ properties. With this application the tenant signs authorization to perform credit and reference checks as well as criminal checks (only done if necessary). This information gives us a history of financial responsibility, confirms previous addresses as well as giving us work history and income verifications. All of our Property Managers have at least 10 years experience in the industry and we are trained in reading the credit histories and noticing any inconsistencies in the information that the tenant is giving.
When do you do showings?
Simply, whenever the perspective tenant wants, within reason of course. If a property is currently tenanted we are limited as to how often and when we can show the property, however, with a good working relationship with the tenant we rarely have conflict. Preferred showing times are during the daylight hours to show the property in it’s best light but unfortunately schedules don’t always permit and this can be difficult in Winter months, this makes Saturdays and Sundays very popular days to conduct showings.
Do I have a choice in who lives in my property?
Advent Real Estate Services Ltd. will make the final decision on the tenant but would be happy to discuss potential tenants with you prior to approving applications and signing leases. Advent Real Estate Services Ltd. does not deny applications based on sex, religion, race, and/or children or for any other reason that can be considered biased or prejudiced.
Do you guarantee the tenancy?
No, unfortunately we cannot guarantee tenancies. This is due to basic human nature that is not easily predicted. We could place the perfect tenant and have no problems for years until a change in the tenant’s life, job, divorce, or even family tragedy. With these types of unpredictable events possible in everyone’s lives financial hardship can change everything. In most cases, the tenant understands their personal situation and deals with it in a professional manner with little or no interruption to the Landlord’s income. On rare occasion there is potential loss to the Landlord and we take immediate action at that point to mitigate damages.
What if the tenant breaks the lease do I have to pay another Lease-up Fee?
If the tenant breaks the lease, he/she is responsible for all costs associated with their actions. Therefore, the cost to re-lease the property, including our fee, is the tenant’s responsibility. The tenant will also pay for credit checks, advertising and any other miscellaneous charge associated with the process.
Who does the tenant call for repairs and emergencies?
The tenant will always call their Property Manager or Advent Real Estate Services Ltd. directly to arrange for repairs and emergencies. The tenant will not have any contact with you and will not in most cases know who you are. Advent Real Estate Services will be their only contact by email and mobile phone in case of emergency.
Are you Licensed and with what governing body?
Advent Real Estate Services Ltd. is licensed with the Real Estate Council of BC as are all of our Property Managers.
Are you a member of the Better Business Bureau?
Yes, Advent Real Estate Services Ltd. is a member of the Better Business Bureau.
Click here to view our BBB Accreditation and Report
How is the rent collected and how do I pay for your fees?
Advent Real Estate Services Ltd. collects postdated cheques from all the tenants when we sign the leases. These cheques are deposited into an audited trust account until they clear and then on the 15th (or the next business day) of every month we deposit a cheque directly to the account of your choice in BC less our fee and any other costs associated with your property during the previous month.
Who pays the utilities?
The tenant will pay the utilities unless the suite is furnished; in this case we receive the bills at our office and pay them on your behalf. These costs are deducted from your income prior to depositing the rent in your account.
Do I need insurance and what does it cover?
Yes you do need landlord’s insurance. The tenant will insure their content and you will insure the fixtures and the rental income. Each insurer has different packages, please see your insurance agent for any details about insurance.
What is an RSS Feed?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS Feeds contain frequently updated content published by a website. To get content automatically you should subscribe to an RSS feed. Advent's rental listings feeds have the same content as our webpages, but the format maybe slightly different. When you subscribe to our RSS feeds your internet browser will check our website and download new content so you can see what is new since you last visited the feed.
Is it free to subscribe to Advent's RSS Feeds?
Yes, it is free to subscribe to our feeds. We provide three RSS Feeds - Unfurnished Rentals Feed, Furnished Rentals Feed and Apartment Rentals Feed.
