Editor:
Re: Burnaby landlords need to stop complaining about their profits, NOW Letters, Dec. 26
Please stop with the landlords-are-raking-in-the-cash dribble.
Half of a building's monthly revenue is profit? Money for nothing?
Fact: rate of return for Burnaby multi-family buildings may be 2.5-4.5 per cent. That means if you buy it for $500,000, you only get a 2.5-to-4.5-per-cent return. If you choose to use leverage – i.e. take more risk -then that increases to maybe 6-7 per cent, if you're lucky.
"Rent increase is capped at inflation. Laughable. Rents in Vancouver have skyrocketed during the past decades."
Fact: Yes it is tied to inflation, but you are confusing an annual increase with a turned-over suite. If a tenant moves out, the landlord can charge the next tenant the market rate, whatever that is. If you remain in the unit, the landlord has to abide by the statutory limit.
"The eviction process is long and costly. Absurd."
Fact: if a tenant doesn't pay rent and it takes a month or more to evict them, does that not equal a month or more of lost rent? What if you didn't get all your paycheques? Is that not absurd as well? What's wrong with getting paid for services rendered?
"Yes, we have a rental housing crisis in the Lower Mainland."
Fact: Yes, that is correct, we need more supply to bring down prices. Developers need incentives to build rentals from the cities or they will keep building condos which are more profitable. Talk to your mayor and city councillors about this. And please do some research before you demonize people trying to make a living.
Craig Buvyer, Burnaby
