|
|
|
|
|
|
Victoria
Real Estate Investors Club Newsletter
Meeting Tues Aug 31, 7pm
|
|
|
|
|
 Hi folks!
How do you tell we're in the last half of summer? Crickets and grasshoppers. I hear the crickets and I see the grasshoppers jumping around. These sensations bring back a lot of memories from childhood. It's a great feeling. Still 2 weeks from school!
Of course back then it wasn't so bloody hot (northern Ontario) and mom cooked dinner every night. Life was simple. Why do things get so complex when we reach adulthood? I want more simplicity with the new-found wisdom of being in my fifties.
Here's how I'm breaking my life down these days in order to keep things simple. Relationships, health, education, tending my money. If I do each of those every day (yes, most weekends too), I find things work out pretty good over time. When they overlap, my life gets even simpler.
For instance, a lot of my friends (relationships) are investors, so when we socialize together we talk about investing some of the time and we both learn something.
I have an ongoing education process around being a better man and husband. My men's team keeps me on track. It turns out that some of them are "experts" who I can use in my my money making role. So now my education network overlaps with my property managing network.
One of those people is Bob Salmond. He's a lawyer in Victoria who has a long history of doing real estate transactions. I've invited him to the meeting this month on Tuesday August 31 to talk about succession planning. See details below.
If you own properties in BC, are there trees on them that hang over neighbouring properties? Check the opinion piece at the bottom about inspecting your trees. I don't know if the author is telling the legal truth. His words again demonstrate that taking care of the details is important for property managers.
Finally, the next Wealth By Design Wealth Expo event is coming on September 25th. The keynote speaker this time is Ozzie Jurock. Some of you have gone with us to Ozzie's Outlook event in Vancouver. His message and predictions have always been suprisingly accurate and relevant. See below for more info.
Take care,
Gord Knox
|
|
Next monthly meeting August 31, 2010
|
Speaker: Bob Salmond of Salmond Ashurst, Lawyers
Topic: Succession Planning for RE Investors
Now that you've got your real estate empire going (maybe it's still in the planning stage!), have you considered what's going to happen to it after you've passed on? Some of us abhor the thought of giving our assets to the government in the form of taxes. Some of us have convinced our heirs that they should take over our RE empire. How does one get started on the path to taking care of that business?
Bob will give us an introduction to this subject. It's broad and can be complex, depending on what you want to do. This talk will get you started. Bob loves questions so come out and participate.
7 - 9 pm
Tuesday August 31, 2010
Comfort Hotel
3020 Blanshard St
$15 at the door (no charge for annual members)
There's always an after-meeting meeting at
Redd's down the hall for networking, socializing, eating, etc.
|
|
 |
| Ad | |
HOLMES
CONSTRUCTION
250-508-7032
250-588-4684
New Constr, Renovations,
Retrofit Old Windows with Thermal Units,
Project Management and Consulting
Serving the Island since 1982 |
| Ad |
Gord and Denise have an investment
property for sale in Langford.
See the listing
|
| Ad | |
Cheri Crause
Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty
1933 OAK BAY, Victoria
250-592-4422
|
| Ad | |
Mike
Patterson
When you need a trustable, reliable, and reasonable
Plumber
who can do the job right the first time.
250-880-0104 |
|
|
Ozzie Jurock coming to Wealth By Design Event
|
VICTORIA WEALTH EXPO - SEPTEMBER 25TH, 2010
Featuring one of Canada's leading business motivators, Ozzie Jurock will be at the Victoria Conference Centre on Saturday,
September 25th, 2010 from
10a.m. until 4 p.m.
This informative event
will be FREE with pre-registration by Tuesday, September 21st, or $39.95
at the door. Register online at www.VictoriaWealthExpo.com
The VREIC has endorsed Ozzie and his events for years. His knowledge of RE trends in BC is second to none. Those of you who've attended Wealth By Design's wealth expos in the past know that this event delivers great value. Pre-register now and see you on Sept 25th!
|
|
The Silver Lining of a Weak Economy: Low Variable and Fixed Rates Ahead
|
July 28, 2010 @ 9:15 PM by: Layth Matthews
U.S. and
Canadian economic indicators are pointing to low inflation and
mortgage rates ahead. The consensus is that variable mortgage rates
are likely to rise no more than .75%, if that much, over the next 12
months. There is also speculation that fixed mortgage rates
will remain low or even fall in the near future. The
new restrictive mortgage rules introduced by the Canadian Finance
minister this spring have already begun to be relaxed in effect, by the
marketplace, making it a little easier for borrowers to qualify for
variable rates and allowing rental income to contribute more to the
mortgage qualification ratios. Hopefully, some of these policies
will be relaxed again soon.
We
continue to believe variable rate mortgages are clearly superior on a
risk adjusted basis. Some home owners with variable and fixed rate
mortgages acquired at higher rates in the period from 2007 to Spring
2010 may be able to achieve significant cost savings by refinancing to
reduce their mortgage rate at this time.
If you acquired your mortgage in that time frame please discuss your options with a Mortgage Advisor at your earliest convenience. |
|
Hazardous Trees And The Duty To Inspect
|
By Luigi Frascati
Trees can be a nuisance.
Common Law recognizes two types of nuisance: public nuisance and private nuisance. A public nuisance is defined as an unlawful act or omission, which endangers the safety or comfort of the public. Examples of public nuisance include obstructing a highway, keeping a common gaming house or selling unwholesome provisions. On the other hand, there are two types of private nuisance. The first involves any wrongful disturbance of an easement or other right in respect of land. The second, by far the most common, involves the act of wrongfully causing or allowing the escape of injurious things onto another person's land such as, for example, water, smoke, smells, fumes, gas, noise, heat, electricity, vibrations, animals and vegetation.
A shade tree that is an object of beauty to the owner of the property upon which the tree stands, may be nothing but a nuisance to the next door neighbour. The neighbour may have to contend with falling leaves, overhanging branches, roots that extend into his drains or the wind driven fall of the tree onto his property. Since the planting and growth of a tree is a natural use of one's property, the question revolves around the type of remedies that are available to the adjoining neighbour to combat these nuisances. Negligence may come to the neighbour's aid, but the law of nuisance is the principal remedy. Nuisance in this sense refers to a use of one's property, which causes material discomfort and annoyance for the ordinary purposes of life, to a neighbour or to his property.
The most troublesome source of damage is the tree that falls onto the neighbour's home. In one case a windstorm which evidence indicated could occur once every two years, broke off the top portion of a tree approximately thirty-five feet above the ground, and it fell on the roof of the adjoining home. While the break occurred because of advanced internal decay and ant-tunnelling, there was no reason for the tree owner to know that the tree was decayed or dangerous and should have been cut down. There was evidence that the neighbour enjoyed the shade provided by the tree which was very close to the property line, and that the neighbourhood in which the two properties were located, was well treed and homes were normally built among the trees.
The Judge decided that there was no liability because the growing of the tree was a natural use of the property.
A recent decision, however, examines a different question: whether Common Law imposes a duty on property owners to have trees on their land routinely inspected by an expert to determine whether any of them constitute hazards. This particular action was based on damages as a result of a tree falling on a wharf. The tree was approximately 125 to 150years old, approximately 180ft. long and approximately 4ft. in diameter. The tree fell because it suffered from a disease, which causes root and trunk rot. There was no wind or other external force that caused the tree to fall. The defendant did not know that the tree was a hazard or that it was under distress of any sort. He also did not have the expertise to recognize a tree that was in distress. He was able to see the top of the tree from his home because eagles perched on it. He did not think that the tree was lacking in foliage.
From a practical point of view, the only way the defendant could have known about the hazardous tree would have been to have his property inspected by an expert. No experts had inspected the property prior to the accident.In fact, the tree grew at the top of a steep, forested slope and, while it was clearly visible from the neighbour's house, the defendant was unaware of the condition of the tree also because it was difficult to access.
On crashing down on the wharf, the fallen tree caused CAD $35,000 in damages and the waterfront owner lost his dock.
There was a difference of opinion between the expert witnesses called by each party as to whether the amount of foliage, the discoloured and raised bark and a ten-degree lean towards the dock were evidence enough of a hazardous tree. However, they did agree that only an expert would have been able to determine that the tree was diseased.
On examining the case law brought forth by the lawyers, the Judge found no duty on the part of property owners of relatively inaccessible, densely forested land to hire experts to routinely inspect trees. In fact, the Judge commented as follows:
"In my view the law does not impose on landowners in British Columbia a duty to hire an expert to routinely inspect their forested land. Reasonableness requires that the landowners pay attention to trees that line busy roads, or are adjacent to homes or areas where there is frequent human traffic. Reasonableness also requires some action to be taken if signs of decay become visible to the ordinary person from a routinely accessible vantage point. It is not reasonable to require landowners to retain an inspector to scale steep slopes and wade through dense underbrush in order to locate signs of decay."
Whereas the instant case was therefore dismissed, the Judge further commented that landowners "[...] who live next to busy roads or homes or areas used by the public, and who have reasonable access to the trees on their properties, have a duty at Law to inspect those trees for signs of disease that justify obtaining expert advice".
Luigi Frascati
Luigi Frascati is a Real Estate Agent based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics and maintains a weblog entitled the Real Estate Chronicle where you can find the full collection of his articles on Real Estate Economics and Finance. Luigi is associated with the Sutton Group, the largest real estate organization in Canada, and is based with Sutton-Centre Realty in Burnaby, BC.
Luigi is very proud to be an EzineArticles Platinum Expert Author. Your rating at the footer of this Article is very much appreciated. Thank you.
Article Source: Hazardous Trees And The Duty To Inspect |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
