Why are people moving?
Why are people moving?
As a rental manager we are privy to some housing trends in the market before they become popularly known. Here are a few of the narratives we have heard since covid started.
When covid hit everyone was told to stay at home for work purposes. Surprisingly this created the first narrative we heard as a result of covid.
Immediately following the work at home announcement people started showing up looking to rent giving us the narrative that they need more space and were willing to move further away from the office for the place that gave them more space. It took a few months for the media to identify this trend. This started in the summer of 2020 and carried on through to the fall of 2020 until the second narrative began.
What happened next was in the fall of 2020 house sales took off creating a “must move" narrative due to the place I am living in has just been sold. In the fall of 2020 we started hearing from prospective tenants that they have to move due to the sale of the condo they are living in. This became a very significant narrative with almost all of the tenants we rented to from Nov 2020 through 2021 in this situation. We were still hearing the first narrative as well but by early 2021 the need to move had replaced the need for more space. This was also the start of the significant increase in rental prices as tenants were panicking to find any places to rent due to the supply being reduced witht he number of properties sold. When sales increase and remove rental products from the market, rental rates can only go in one direction and that is up due to a restriction of the supply.
By the end of 2021 and in early 2022 we started hearing the third and narrative. For most of 2021 nine out of ten prospects coming to view a property were saying the place they lived in was sold. In the fall of 2021 we started to hear people saying we are just looking to upgrade where we live. They may have moved into a two bedroom place in 2020 or earlier but now rates were starting to level off and were not renting as soon as they were advertised. For the majority of 2022 our new tenants were people moving for preference of location or quality of rental product not a need to move.
In early 2023 we started to hear the fourth narrative, office time. During covid many people relocated away from the office due to work from home options. Now business was starting to ask or demand for one or more days in the office. At first the commute was okay, then as the days were added it started to get more difficult and tenants started looking for places closer to their offices.
In 2024 we started to hear the next narrative, a modification of the office call back. Now that people are going to the office, tenants started looking for an improvement on their current living situation. This could be closer to work, closer to transit, closer to school, larger space or a better area. This narrative combines all the narratives and is the traditional reason people seek places to rent. This narrative is what we are still experiencing today. We have come full circle back to the main reasons people look for housing, what meets their needs.
Tenants are being more selective with their choices before making a decision.
Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com
Vacancy Rates
What is a Vacancy Rate? A vacancy rate is an indicator of the vacant properties in a specified area. It is a calculation of the total properties available verus the number of units available for rent. If there are 100 units for rent and one unit is vacant there is a one Percent vacancy rate. This is the standard way to indicate what the vacancy rate is in an area.
Another way to view the rate is how long it takes to fill the vacant property. There is a correlation to the number of months units are vacant to the standard vacancy rate calculation. Let’s explain how this works in Vancouver.
Vancouver has traditionally had a vacancy rate around 1%. What this means is for every 100 units for rent one of them is vacant. What many landlords miss in this calculation is that this is a monthly rate, meaning every month one unit will be vacant. Many landlords indicate they understand this but, when their unit is occupied they pay no attention to it. They don’t expect their unit to be the one that is vacant until it has happend. We prefer to explain the vacancy rate differently. We explain it based on how many months it will take to find a new tenant.
If the rate is one percent, then the correlation is it will take one month to replace the current tenant. In BC and especially in Vancouver when the rate is one percent landlords don’t experience a period of vacancy. The reason for this is in BC the tenancy laws require tenants to provide one month notice to vacate a property. With a one percent vacancy rate there is a high probability that the landlord is able to find a new tenant to move into the rental the following month after the tenant vacates the unit. If the rate exceeds one and is two percent then the landlord is more likely to have a month where there is one month with the unit vacant. That equals the one month of notice provided and one vacant month to equal a two percent vacancy rate.
With this correlation it is easier to see the current trends of what the current vacancy rate is. If you are trying to rent your property and it is vacant for three months after the tenant moves out, it is safe to assume the vacancy rate is four percent. We use this correlation because the CMHC vacancy rate numbers are often lagging behind the real time market conditions.
The most recent CMHC findings reported a 3.7 vacancy rate in December of 2025. We were already finding a rate above three months vacant in the summer of 2025. Later into the fall the vacancy month increased to 4-6 months and we expect the vacancy report will report a rate close to or higher than 5 percent in the next report. At the rate we are going now in the fall we anticipate the rate to exceed 6 percent. It will then begin to level off and retract as the amount of new products entering the market is slowing down which will reduce the number of units available in the market place. We are not anticipating a reduction in the rate until sometime in 2027 though thai may start in the fall of 2026.
Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com
When can I issue the next rent increase?
When can I issue the next rent increase?
The Residential Tenancy Act requires that a rent increase can only occur once every twelve months. What that means is if the tenancy starts on January 1, 2026. The earliest a rent increase can take effect is January 1, 2027.
What it doesn’t say is how long you must wait once it has passed the twelve month period. A tenant must be provided three months notice before a rent increase takes effect. If you want the rent increase to be effective January 1, 2027 a notice must be sent to the tenant before October 1, 2026. Two important issues with the notice are it requires three months’ notice which means the tenant needs to not just be sent the notice before October 1st, but they must be deemed received by this date.
A rent increase is not required to be sent in a special format and can be posted in regular mail. A letter sent by regular mail to a tenant is deemed to be received five days after it has been mailed. This means that a notice for January 1, 2027 must be in the mail no later than October 26, 2026.
The second concern landlords have is I missed the time to send the notice and now need to wait until the following year. Once the twelve month period has passed an increase can be at any time with the proper notice. If on October 1st of 2026 you realize you forgot to send the notice for January 1, 2027 then you can change the date to February 1, 2027 for the effective date of the increase. This will then start a new twelve month period which means the next increase after that can not ocurr until February of 2028.
Sometimes it is a good idea to move the date of the increase to a different time of the year. Tenants will often make a decision to move upon receiving a rent increase notice. Having the date at a time that is more favourable when people are looking to move could result in less turnover or vacancy time from your property.
Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com
Why you should never hire the strata company to manage your strata lot!.
Why you should never hire the strata company to manage your strata lot!.
We are not lawyers and one should always seek proper legal advice if they are unsure of the laws involved in their situation.
Many property management companies in BC offer both rental and strata management services. The strata companies are often selling the benefits of we manage the strata and if we are managing your rental in this property then we can manage your rental property better than anyone else. The reality is, that is not true?
What they are not telling you until it is time to sign the management contract is that when the strata company manages a rental in the same building, one of the two parties needs to be the primary client. What does being the primary client mean? It means when there is a dispute between the two parties, the strata and the tenant or the landlord, the management company is only able to represent the “primary” client. If you are not the primary client it means during the dispute when you ask your management company for advice they should advise you that they are unable to answer that question. We often hear them provide advice that is not correct because in many cases what is a benefit to the strata may not be a benefit to the landlord. This is called a conflict of interest.
When does a landlord need independent advice from the strata corporation?.
There are many situations where a landlord should have independent advice from the strata though the two most important areas are bylaw enforcement and insurance claims.
We see many strata corporations enforcing bylaw infractions on tenants without proper notice, or trying to enforce a bylaw that doesn’t exist. One of the most common ones is a move in or move out fee. Many strata have building managers who are collecting move in and more out fees they think are part of the building even when they do not have a move out bylaw. Many tenants just pay it or when a tenant fails to pay it the strata advise the owner it needs to be paid and they try to take it from the tenants deposit. This creates a dispute between the landlord and the tenant which did not need to occur.
Strata Corporations have a requirement to inform tenants not just the owners of any bylaw infractions they incur while residing at the property. We still see this as an ongoing issue where a management company is not sending the documents to the tenant saying they only communicate with the owners of the property. This is in contravention of the strata property act as tenants are residents in the building and have the right to the information on when they have breached the bylaws. There continues to be cases in front of the CRT where strata bylaw fines are being reversed due to the lack of providing a tenant with the information of the infraction or denying them the right to respond.
The other major area of concern for independent advice is when there is an insurance claim against your unit or when work has been performed in your unit by the strata corpaoation.
Strata corporations have insurance that covers the common prperty of the building. Inside the unit is not considered common property and is the responsibility of the owner.
For example If there is a water leak from another unit that affects your unit the strata may come and investigate to see if damage has occurred in your strata lot. This work is often performed by a restoration company and they may cut holes in the drywall in “your” strata lot. Often misunderstood is that the strata need’s your permission to cut the holes to investigate. If they do not have your permission then you could argue you did not authorize the work and they should repair it. Even if they do have your permission they are responsible to return it to paint ready condition. This gives you the opportunity to use their contractor or to choose to use your own contractor to repair the damage instead.
Another misunderstood issue with many strata corporations is the deductible. Every building has deductibles, and in the event of the water leak if the cost to repair exceeds the deductible then the strata insurance would be engaged to repair the damage. If you read your insurance documents you will see where your deductible amounts are for different occurences. In the past we would see some stratas choosing not to open a claim and repair the damage when the amount is just above the deductible amount. In turn they then send the owner an invoice to pay the deductible even though there was no claim.
Every home owner in the building has the right to contact the insurance provider directly and request a claim be opened to complete required repairs if the damage exceeds the deductible. This can also be done to investigate to verify it is above or below the deductible. Another factor relating to this is the strata must have a bylaw permitting them to charge the deductible back to the owner of the property. We see in brand new buildings the bylaws haven’t been updated to include this charge back bylaw. When the repairs are below the deductible amount the strata will sometimes charge owners for the repairs to your unit. If they had your pemrission this would be an acceptable charge back, if they did not have your permission then it could be considered unenforceable.
The difference between the costs of the deductible amount being charged and general repair costs below the deductible is important as well. The deductible amount is a charge the Strata Property Act permits if not paid, a strata could apply a lien on your property. For charges below deductibles this is not a leinable charge and a strata is required to start legal action, a CRT case is sufficient, against the owner within two years to collect unpaid funds. This applies to charges that you approved.
Both of these situations require independent advice and it is easy to see where if your rental property is not the primary client then you may not be receiving the proper information to make an informed decision about what you should do in these instances. BCFSA, the BC licensing body for property managers states in their training materials that this is a conflict of interest and should be avoided. We still see many landlords choosing this option over independent advice. The comparison we like to make is would you like to end up in court if the person suing you was using the same lawyer? It is not permitted for a law firm to represent both sides in a transaction for the reason they need independent advice.
For the above reasons Cartref Properties only manages rental properties, we do specialize in properties within strata corporations as we have experience in the strata market place.
Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com
Rental Management Services and the PST
Rental Management Services and the PST
The BC Provincial government in February presented its budget for the coming year. One of the major concerns for business in the budget is the PST ( Provincial Sales Tax). In the budget the government has removed PST exemptions from many sectors and services in the economy including, accounting, book keeping and commercial real estate services.
Currently rental management services are exempt from charging PST on their services. Effective October 1, 2026 the exemptions including commercial real estate services begin. It appears they are continuing the exemption on residential real estate services including our rental management services.
Another area they are changing is the speculation tax rate for foreign owners up from 3% to 4% for the 2027 year. The speculation tax is owed on properties that are vacant for six or more months in the calendar year. The current rental market has more supply than renters which is leading to longer times to locate new tenants for vacant properties. We anticipate many owners may be subject to the speculation tax in the next few years unless the market changes.
Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com