I'm tired of blogging about Crombie REIT and downtown Halifax!
So I've decided to try something new!
I've realized today that just because I'm not Oprah doesn't mean I can't have my own lists of favourite things. Here are a few things that I have absolutely loved over the last couple of days:
1. Abraham-Hicks, Upstream or Downstream? I watched a bunch of Abraham-Hicks things awhile back, but got inspired to look for this because I was thinking about a lyric in Jason Webley's song, "Ways to Love".
The lyric is: our mother made us into swimmers, she threw her babes into this river and well, if you want to hear more, go to his website and buy the album it is fantastic!
Abraham-Hicks is not without its critics, but the message in this video is exactly what I needed to hear today:
2. I also love this story/song/video of Steve Poltz's. Love, love, love... watched this at least 5 times over the weekend. I thought to look this up because Hawksley Workman started writing a song on twitter and it reminded me of this:
3. This song by Arcade Fire!
Lyrics first, then the video:
AntiChrist Television Blues
"Don't want to work in a building downtown
No, I don't want to work in a building downtown
I don't know what I'm going to do
Because the planes keep crashing always two by two
Don't want to work in a building downtown
No, I don't want to see it when the planes hit the ground
Don't want to work in a building downtown
Don't want to work in a building downtown
Parking the cars in the underground
The voices when they scream, well, they make no sound
Want to see the cities rust
And the troublemakers riding on the back of the bus
Dear God, I'm a good Christian man
I'm your boy, I know you understand
That you got to work hard and you got to get paid
The girl's thirteen, but she don't act her age
She can sing like a bird in cage
Oh Lord, if you could see her when she's up on that stage
You know that I'm a God-fearing man
You know that I'm a God-fearing man
I just got to know if it's part of your plan
To see my darling stand by your right hand
I know that you'll do what's right, Lord
For they are the lanterns and you are the light
Now I'm overcome
By the light of day
My lips are near
But my heart is far away
Tell me what to say
I'll be your mouthpiece
Into the light of a bridge that burns
As I drive through the city with the money that I earn
To the dark of a starless sky
I won't stare into nothing and I'm asking you why
Lord, let me make her a star
So the world can see who you really are
Little girl, you're old enough to understand
You'll always be a stranger in a strange, strange land
Men are going to come while you're fast asleep
So you better just stay close and hold onto me
If mama's mockingbird don't sing well,
Then daddy won't buy her no diamond ring
Dear God, would you send me a child?
Oh God, would you send me a child?
Because I want to put it up on the TV screen
So the world can see what your true word means
Lord, won't you send me a sign?
Because I just got to know if I'm wasting my time
Now I'm overcome
By the light of day
My lips are near
But my heart is far away
But now the war is won
How come nothing tastes good?
Oh you're such a sensitive child
You know you're such a sensitive child
I know you're tired, but it's all right
I just needed you to sing for me tonight
You're going to have your day in the sun
You know God loves the sensitive ones
Oh, my little bird in a cage
Oh, my little bird in a cage
I need you to get up for me up on that stage
Show all the men that you're old for your age
Now in the times of fear
But if you don't take it, it'll disappear
Oh, my little mockingbird, sing
Oh, my little mockingbird, sing
I need you to get up on the stage for me, honey
Show the men it's not about the money
Want to hold a mirror up to the world
So that they can see themselves inside my little girl
Do you know where I was at your age?
Any idea where I was at your age?
I was working downtown for the minimum wage!
And I couldn't let you just throw it all away
Throw me a kid, God, throw me a knife
So tell me Lord, am I the Antichrist?"
I think everyone has songs at different times that resonate with them so well they have to just keep hitting 'previous track' on the cd player. (Yes I still listen to cds :) Today, this was that song for me:
4. Banappelopes. Ok. I made this last thing up. You scrolled down this far? Hello!
I learned a lot this week, in getting all riled up about the story of Ray and Crombie REIT and my last 4 blog posts.
I learned that I need to read some Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall and brush up on my primate behaviour. You see, this week I've realized I'm a primate from a different group.
So I've come up with a story: "The Story of the Monkey with the Banappelopes". I've since moved it to its own blog post. (Feb 10, 2014).
OOOK OOOK EEEK ACCK ACCK!!
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Thursday, February 6, 2014
A Proposal that Could Benefit Both Crombie REIT and Halifax.
This is the fourth post that was inspired by the eviction of 2 small businesses from Scotia Square Mall in Halifax. Scotia Square mall is owned by Crombie REIT, so this is a follow up to the letter I wrote about them on Feb. 2nd.
This story alarmed me as I think it is a symptom of a larger problem plaguing cities across Canada.
In looking for more information about Crombie REIT I found this article in the Herald which points out that Crombie soon plans on selling Park Lane Mall, located in downtown Halifax.
Aha, perhaps here is an opportunity to turn what at the onset was a sad, frustrating story into a happy one.
Perhaps here is an opportunity to test the whole idea that an Ethical REIT could be created which would lower rents for small businesses in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM).
I don't know Park Lane Mall well at all, and don't know about the units that are currently vacant, though there appear to be quite a few: http://www.crombiereit.ca/PDF/factsheet_24.pdf.
My guess is there are many small business owners in the HRM currently paying high rent who would jump at the chance to have a stable, long term location that would hopefully be more reasonably priced. Maybe a few small business owners with complementary skill sets would see the opportunity to merge together into larger businesses that could be more robust, or even just share one rental space.
Maybe there are owners of venues of locally made-products who could come together and share their skills and resources for the great benefit of the makers of this province. Cheaper rent = lower overhead = lower consignment rate = more $$ in local makers' wallets and more opportunity for the public to afford to buy local.
Maybe Mike Savage, the Mayor of Halifax would see the value of this project and assist it by ensuring the property taxes are reasonable, to help reduce overhead. Before other business people think, "woah!" bear in mind all the government handouts that have been given to other businesses in this province.
Maybe the local media would promote the project so well that tradespeople would give good prices for necessary renovations in return for the positive press.
Maybe Park Lane Mall would present an opportunity to build community downtown. Maybe it could turn into a friendly gathering place where more senior members of our community could share their expertise in all sorts of business skills with younger entrepeneurs; to ensure that their businesses make sense and thrive. Can we not see how this could benefit the entire province? Maybe, over time, it could become an oasis for residents and visitors committed to buying local, and a sort of "Noah's Ark" for small businesses.
This project wouldn't have to deliver a large salary to a CEO, or worry about growing revenues for investors and maintaining a 15% return. It would produce a return though. A fair, sustainable return that would be guaranteed by the equity in the building and the collection of monthly rents. This equity would increase as any mortgage was paid down by rent, and hopefully via appreciation of the mall. Perhaps the building, or parts of it, could be turned into commercial condos which the more established businesses could buy from the REIT, or rent-to-own.
I'm not talking about a free ride for businesses, or charity. I'm just talking about reasonable rent, and a fighting chance to make a decent living as a local, small business owner. It would also be an opportunity to create something interesting for Halifax, that wasn't just a pile of foreign-owned chains. But imagine if this mall turned into the reverse of Scotia Square, and instead of given the boot, small business was given a break. Existing "chain" tenants would still pay fair market rent, this would shore up the income needed to run the place, while providing opportunities for our local businesses.
Maybe CEED would like this idea, after all, they assist entrepreneurs; where are these entrepreneurs supposed to set up shop? It has occurred to me that commercial rents in Halifax may be on par with those seen in other Canadian cities which might have a much larger population.
Maybe Mr. Clow, CEO of Crombie REIT would see the opportunity to rebound from a public relations disaster by agreeing to sell Park Lane Mall at a fair price, or even as a rent-to-own arrangement. Maybe Crombie executives would lend their expertise in the financial realm to ensure the project would be a success. One thing I've noticed is that super creative artsy types often aren't very good at 'money math'. Maybe the Sobey's family would bring snacks to the grand re-opening, seeing as Crombie REIT originated via Sobey's.
Maybe given actions we've seen by Crombie REIT to date, the above paragraph is far fetched, but it is fun to dream.
Now, I think, this idea needs to be thoroughly dissected and critiqued:
I don't buy that Crombie REIT would be dumping Park Lane Mall if it was actually an awesome investment. If it was, I think it would make more sense to keep it; that would be a lot of equity building up from all those rents.
Given Crombie's actions with its other properties I'm pretty critical of what they say. To quote the article about Park Lane's sale:
“Our rationale for the sale is that, despite it being in a strong urban market like Halifax, it is a non-core asset in our growing national retail and office portfolio and, as such, presents an opportunity for us to recycle capital into accretive development and growth,” Clow said.
I wonder if the plain English translation for this is something like "This property doesn't support giant executive pay hikes while providing big returns to our investors so we've decided to dump it".
My guess is that the operating costs are high and tenants able to pay the rent are hard to find (some of the spaces for lease are quite large).
The "anchor" tenant for Park Lane is a movie theatre that was just taken over by Cineplex. Now there's a risky business these days, now that so many people have giant televisions and home, and accounts for things like Netflix.
Plus going to the movies is expensive, so many other expenses are going up (like rent, mortgages, property taxes, gas, utility bills and groceries) so the "let's go to the movies" budget, a former popular pastime for the middle-class, isn't as possible anymore for many people. The gap between the rich and poor is widening. When have you ever seen the "super rich" taking in a movie? And people living cheque to cheque would probably be more likely to stay home and watch something.
At the same time, to critique this critique, a pile of creative types might find an awesome way to revise that theatre if the anchor tenant ever pulls out. Think about the potential for taking in films while munching out on locally made treats. Think about bringing back things like "Rocky Horror Picture Show". Now there's a movie going experience you can't replicate on your big screen at home with Netflix. Think about hosting lectures. Here's one article I found on redesigning theatres, and I only spent a few minutes looking into it.
Maybe downtown Halifax could use a supercool "revival house" or "repertory cinema" like bigger cities have, where university students could unwind by taking in classic movies on the cheap. Foreign films, in particular, are more fun to watch on a big screen as they make subtitles easier to read.
I have no idea about how Park Lane is heated or where if it has any design features that would enable the use of Solar. So I have no idea if the building can be "greened up". Maybe it can, maybe it can't. These are more things to look into.
Anyways, this is a much happier thing for me to imagine than a future where REITs spin out of control and we're left with a Halifax with only big chains to eat and shop at, and overpriced commercial units sitting vacant because nobody has a hope in hell of selling enough stuff to keep them rented, let alone pay for living expenses and staff.
In previous post called The Nova Scotia Pottery Emergency, I describe an idea for a big consignment store that would sell Nova-Scotian made products at a low consignment rate. I called it my 80/20 vision, I've had it for awhile. It would be a sort of anti-Walmart. Maybe this store concept could evolve, and become an anchor tenant.
What ever happens, as ruffled as I was about the story of Ray's and Taste of India getting the boot, it was so nice to see how so many people picked up for these small business owners. It indicates that there are people in Halifax long for community and a diversity of interesting small businesses.
Whether somehow procuring Park Lane for the sake of protecting habitat for local entrepreneurs would make financial sense and be a good idea or not, I have no clue. My only fear would be that the transaction would be born in positive intention, but end in mismanagement, corruption and greed, like the story Animal Farm by George Orwell. Perhaps were it to go ahead, all involved in the project could all meet regularly to watch the Animal Farm cartoon together in the mall's theatre.
Perhaps there would need to be a conservation biology-style "management plan" for the mall, in an attempt to conserve the integrity of the vision and corruption-proof the project. Perhaps the mall would need to have a legal 'conservation covenant' attached to its title, as land trusts do for conservation properties.
Maybe now that so many people shop online, buying a shopping mall is a crazy investment. Maybe Park Lane Mall will be for sale for years. Who knows. Or maybe out of commitment to their unit holders Crombie REIT will feel obliged to hold out and sell this property for some big price that would render the project impractical.
In any case, it is something to think about!
***
Feb 8 - I sent the above post around to a couple of people to "pre-test it' before sharing on #downtownhalifaximin . Someone pointed out that this mall's value is around 50 million, which would be hard to raise compared to what the Seaport Market cost.
I don't know much about the financials of that project, but unlike Seaport Market, Park Lane already has some established tenants that I'm guessing are paying high rent. Park Lane also has much more lease-able space.
I realized what I didn't point out is that most real estate investments are leveraged, meaning, that people or companies with lots of equity can end up using the bank's money to buy more buildings without having to physically raise the cash themselves through working and saving.
Leverage can either make you a lot of money, and it can also lose you a lot of money. Here's an article about how it works.
Perhaps this would be something that CEED could get a mortgage for, or, indeed investors would feel comfortable pitching some money into a REIT for a downpayment. The deal here is, I think, the REIT would have to be set up by an actual investment company. Maybe Crombie REIT could help in this since, from a financial standpoint, they are good at making money for their investors. With Crombie REIT's vast amount of assets maybe they would be ok with financing the sale of the mall as a rent-to-own, at a reasonable interest rate, for a fair price. Maybe this would be the most efficient way for help, if residents of Halifax agreed that it was a good idea. Maybe it would be an opportunity for Crombie to really give back to the community and exchange bad publicity for good publicity.
Here are some numbers I came up as a really quick study:
Divide 260k/month by the leasable square footage of the building from the fact sheet: it is 164k sqft. That works out to $1.6 per square foot. so $1600/month for a 1000 square foot space in park lane mall, mortgage cost.
Then there are expenses: taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance, repairs, upgrades, cleaning, a salary for a leasing agent. Accounting and bookkeeping costs. Then the whole financial part of it. This would be a giant project that would take many supporters so I would hope there would be a volunteer board representing both business-types and creative-types.
I have no idea what expenses would come to, but to be quick about this, I'll double it. Hopefully this would be generous. so add another $1.6 per square foot. Now the total is $3.2 per square foot, or $3200/month for 1000 sqft of space. is still way better than the 5k/month ray is paying for a little stall at Scotia Square. I'm not sure what are rents downtown... $20/sqft I think? or more? Perhaps here is an opportunity to develop an awesome, funky international food court. Maybe businesses that are currently renting space at Scotia Square would follow Ray's over and relocate to Park Lane.
I'll point out here, though, that I think the Park Lane location might not be as ideal as the Scotia Square location in terms of proximity to lunching office workers leaving their cubicles for a snack.
REITs usually have to factor in cost of vacancies, and damage/repair incurred by tenants, but I still think that were rents to be ratcheted down a building could operate efficiently at 100% occupancy.
I think people may not realize that banks make it super hard for normal people to buy their first home, but they make it very easy for companies to acquire many properties.
Maybe there needs to be more education among right-brained creatives as to the nature of finance and money math. Maybe this why so many left-brained (math) types seem to be good with their money, and so many right-brained (artsy) types end up working for and renting from the left-brainers, and going broke.
Maybe we need to literally have a "meeting of the minds". Left-brainers, how about finding a right-brainer who is working for you or renting from you to explain finance to. Right-brainers, maybe we need to be engaging the left-brain set more with community music, art, and dance. I think people used to come together more to do these things.
The truth is I don't even live in Halifax anymore, so I have no attachment to this idea one way or another, even if it does make sense. Maybe it will help, maybe it won't. Who knows.
In any case, I do think everyone wants the same thing for Nova Scotia: a healthy economy. And I think to get there, there needs to be more dialogue between the younger creative types and the older money-managing types. Maybe this could be a start!
This story alarmed me as I think it is a symptom of a larger problem plaguing cities across Canada.
In looking for more information about Crombie REIT I found this article in the Herald which points out that Crombie soon plans on selling Park Lane Mall, located in downtown Halifax.
Aha, perhaps here is an opportunity to turn what at the onset was a sad, frustrating story into a happy one.
Perhaps here is an opportunity to test the whole idea that an Ethical REIT could be created which would lower rents for small businesses in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM).
I don't know Park Lane Mall well at all, and don't know about the units that are currently vacant, though there appear to be quite a few: http://www.crombiereit.ca/PDF/factsheet_24.pdf.
My guess is there are many small business owners in the HRM currently paying high rent who would jump at the chance to have a stable, long term location that would hopefully be more reasonably priced. Maybe a few small business owners with complementary skill sets would see the opportunity to merge together into larger businesses that could be more robust, or even just share one rental space.
Maybe there are owners of venues of locally made-products who could come together and share their skills and resources for the great benefit of the makers of this province. Cheaper rent = lower overhead = lower consignment rate = more $$ in local makers' wallets and more opportunity for the public to afford to buy local.
Maybe Mike Savage, the Mayor of Halifax would see the value of this project and assist it by ensuring the property taxes are reasonable, to help reduce overhead. Before other business people think, "woah!" bear in mind all the government handouts that have been given to other businesses in this province.
Maybe the local media would promote the project so well that tradespeople would give good prices for necessary renovations in return for the positive press.
Maybe Park Lane Mall would present an opportunity to build community downtown. Maybe it could turn into a friendly gathering place where more senior members of our community could share their expertise in all sorts of business skills with younger entrepeneurs; to ensure that their businesses make sense and thrive. Can we not see how this could benefit the entire province? Maybe, over time, it could become an oasis for residents and visitors committed to buying local, and a sort of "Noah's Ark" for small businesses.
This project wouldn't have to deliver a large salary to a CEO, or worry about growing revenues for investors and maintaining a 15% return. It would produce a return though. A fair, sustainable return that would be guaranteed by the equity in the building and the collection of monthly rents. This equity would increase as any mortgage was paid down by rent, and hopefully via appreciation of the mall. Perhaps the building, or parts of it, could be turned into commercial condos which the more established businesses could buy from the REIT, or rent-to-own.
I'm not talking about a free ride for businesses, or charity. I'm just talking about reasonable rent, and a fighting chance to make a decent living as a local, small business owner. It would also be an opportunity to create something interesting for Halifax, that wasn't just a pile of foreign-owned chains. But imagine if this mall turned into the reverse of Scotia Square, and instead of given the boot, small business was given a break. Existing "chain" tenants would still pay fair market rent, this would shore up the income needed to run the place, while providing opportunities for our local businesses.
Maybe CEED would like this idea, after all, they assist entrepreneurs; where are these entrepreneurs supposed to set up shop? It has occurred to me that commercial rents in Halifax may be on par with those seen in other Canadian cities which might have a much larger population.
Maybe Mr. Clow, CEO of Crombie REIT would see the opportunity to rebound from a public relations disaster by agreeing to sell Park Lane Mall at a fair price, or even as a rent-to-own arrangement. Maybe Crombie executives would lend their expertise in the financial realm to ensure the project would be a success. One thing I've noticed is that super creative artsy types often aren't very good at 'money math'. Maybe the Sobey's family would bring snacks to the grand re-opening, seeing as Crombie REIT originated via Sobey's.
Maybe given actions we've seen by Crombie REIT to date, the above paragraph is far fetched, but it is fun to dream.
Now, I think, this idea needs to be thoroughly dissected and critiqued:
I don't buy that Crombie REIT would be dumping Park Lane Mall if it was actually an awesome investment. If it was, I think it would make more sense to keep it; that would be a lot of equity building up from all those rents.
Given Crombie's actions with its other properties I'm pretty critical of what they say. To quote the article about Park Lane's sale:
“Our rationale for the sale is that, despite it being in a strong urban market like Halifax, it is a non-core asset in our growing national retail and office portfolio and, as such, presents an opportunity for us to recycle capital into accretive development and growth,” Clow said.
I wonder if the plain English translation for this is something like "This property doesn't support giant executive pay hikes while providing big returns to our investors so we've decided to dump it".
My guess is that the operating costs are high and tenants able to pay the rent are hard to find (some of the spaces for lease are quite large).
The "anchor" tenant for Park Lane is a movie theatre that was just taken over by Cineplex. Now there's a risky business these days, now that so many people have giant televisions and home, and accounts for things like Netflix.
Plus going to the movies is expensive, so many other expenses are going up (like rent, mortgages, property taxes, gas, utility bills and groceries) so the "let's go to the movies" budget, a former popular pastime for the middle-class, isn't as possible anymore for many people. The gap between the rich and poor is widening. When have you ever seen the "super rich" taking in a movie? And people living cheque to cheque would probably be more likely to stay home and watch something.
At the same time, to critique this critique, a pile of creative types might find an awesome way to revise that theatre if the anchor tenant ever pulls out. Think about the potential for taking in films while munching out on locally made treats. Think about bringing back things like "Rocky Horror Picture Show". Now there's a movie going experience you can't replicate on your big screen at home with Netflix. Think about hosting lectures. Here's one article I found on redesigning theatres, and I only spent a few minutes looking into it.
Maybe downtown Halifax could use a supercool "revival house" or "repertory cinema" like bigger cities have, where university students could unwind by taking in classic movies on the cheap. Foreign films, in particular, are more fun to watch on a big screen as they make subtitles easier to read.
I have no idea about how Park Lane is heated or where if it has any design features that would enable the use of Solar. So I have no idea if the building can be "greened up". Maybe it can, maybe it can't. These are more things to look into.
Anyways, this is a much happier thing for me to imagine than a future where REITs spin out of control and we're left with a Halifax with only big chains to eat and shop at, and overpriced commercial units sitting vacant because nobody has a hope in hell of selling enough stuff to keep them rented, let alone pay for living expenses and staff.
In previous post called The Nova Scotia Pottery Emergency, I describe an idea for a big consignment store that would sell Nova-Scotian made products at a low consignment rate. I called it my 80/20 vision, I've had it for awhile. It would be a sort of anti-Walmart. Maybe this store concept could evolve, and become an anchor tenant.
What ever happens, as ruffled as I was about the story of Ray's and Taste of India getting the boot, it was so nice to see how so many people picked up for these small business owners. It indicates that there are people in Halifax long for community and a diversity of interesting small businesses.
Whether somehow procuring Park Lane for the sake of protecting habitat for local entrepreneurs would make financial sense and be a good idea or not, I have no clue. My only fear would be that the transaction would be born in positive intention, but end in mismanagement, corruption and greed, like the story Animal Farm by George Orwell. Perhaps were it to go ahead, all involved in the project could all meet regularly to watch the Animal Farm cartoon together in the mall's theatre.
Perhaps there would need to be a conservation biology-style "management plan" for the mall, in an attempt to conserve the integrity of the vision and corruption-proof the project. Perhaps the mall would need to have a legal 'conservation covenant' attached to its title, as land trusts do for conservation properties.
Maybe now that so many people shop online, buying a shopping mall is a crazy investment. Maybe Park Lane Mall will be for sale for years. Who knows. Or maybe out of commitment to their unit holders Crombie REIT will feel obliged to hold out and sell this property for some big price that would render the project impractical.
In any case, it is something to think about!
***
Feb 8 - I sent the above post around to a couple of people to "pre-test it' before sharing on #downtownhalifaximin . Someone pointed out that this mall's value is around 50 million, which would be hard to raise compared to what the Seaport Market cost.
I don't know much about the financials of that project, but unlike Seaport Market, Park Lane already has some established tenants that I'm guessing are paying high rent. Park Lane also has much more lease-able space.
I realized what I didn't point out is that most real estate investments are leveraged, meaning, that people or companies with lots of equity can end up using the bank's money to buy more buildings without having to physically raise the cash themselves through working and saving.
Leverage can either make you a lot of money, and it can also lose you a lot of money. Here's an article about how it works.
Perhaps this would be something that CEED could get a mortgage for, or, indeed investors would feel comfortable pitching some money into a REIT for a downpayment. The deal here is, I think, the REIT would have to be set up by an actual investment company. Maybe Crombie REIT could help in this since, from a financial standpoint, they are good at making money for their investors. With Crombie REIT's vast amount of assets maybe they would be ok with financing the sale of the mall as a rent-to-own, at a reasonable interest rate, for a fair price. Maybe this would be the most efficient way for help, if residents of Halifax agreed that it was a good idea. Maybe it would be an opportunity for Crombie to really give back to the community and exchange bad publicity for good publicity.
Here are some numbers I came up as a really quick study:
If the mall is worth 50 million, that translates into a mortage payment of
260k/month if the entire purchase price was financed at 4%, amoritized over 25 years. This scenario would mean zero cash would have to be raised (no money down! no fundraising campaign!).
Divide 260k/month by the leasable square footage of the building from the fact sheet: it is 164k sqft. That works out to $1.6 per square foot. so $1600/month for a 1000 square foot space in park lane mall, mortgage cost.
Then there are expenses: taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance, repairs, upgrades, cleaning, a salary for a leasing agent. Accounting and bookkeeping costs. Then the whole financial part of it. This would be a giant project that would take many supporters so I would hope there would be a volunteer board representing both business-types and creative-types.
I have no idea what expenses would come to, but to be quick about this, I'll double it. Hopefully this would be generous. so add another $1.6 per square foot. Now the total is $3.2 per square foot, or $3200/month for 1000 sqft of space. is still way better than the 5k/month ray is paying for a little stall at Scotia Square. I'm not sure what are rents downtown... $20/sqft I think? or more? Perhaps here is an opportunity to develop an awesome, funky international food court. Maybe businesses that are currently renting space at Scotia Square would follow Ray's over and relocate to Park Lane.
I'll point out here, though, that I think the Park Lane location might not be as ideal as the Scotia Square location in terms of proximity to lunching office workers leaving their cubicles for a snack.
REITs usually have to factor in cost of vacancies, and damage/repair incurred by tenants, but I still think that were rents to be ratcheted down a building could operate efficiently at 100% occupancy.
I think people may not realize that banks make it super hard for normal people to buy their first home, but they make it very easy for companies to acquire many properties.
Maybe there needs to be more education among right-brained creatives as to the nature of finance and money math. Maybe this why so many left-brained (math) types seem to be good with their money, and so many right-brained (artsy) types end up working for and renting from the left-brainers, and going broke.
Maybe we need to literally have a "meeting of the minds". Left-brainers, how about finding a right-brainer who is working for you or renting from you to explain finance to. Right-brainers, maybe we need to be engaging the left-brain set more with community music, art, and dance. I think people used to come together more to do these things.
Anyhow I'm running out of steam in terms of blogging about this topic, and looking forward to presenting this for #downtownimin
The truth is I don't even live in Halifax anymore, so I have no attachment to this idea one way or another, even if it does make sense. Maybe it will help, maybe it won't. Who knows.
In any case, I do think everyone wants the same thing for Nova Scotia: a healthy economy. And I think to get there, there needs to be more dialogue between the younger creative types and the older money-managing types. Maybe this could be a start!
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
How Now, Mr. Clow? (More About Crombie REIT)
Note: Since writing this post it has occurred to me that the Star Wars story is actually a good metaphor for what is happening here. Darth Vader is Luke's father. We're all connected. We all have a "force" and the ability to choose how to use it. My next post is a follows up on some of the ideas in this one, and proposes a solution: "A Proposal That Could Benefit Both Crombie REIT and Halifax".
For youngsters reading this, the title of this post is a play on the phrase "How Now, Brown Cow?"
This post builds on my last post: The Letter I Wrote Today About Crombie REIT
I wrote the last post in order to express my concern over how Crombie REIT has been treating its tenants. Crombie REIT tenants include small business owners that have been faithfully paying rent to this company in return for what they thought was a long term place to make a life for themselves.
My original post now has links to a petition, a CBC NS video interview with Ray and a few other news stories that have been published since.
The information in these stories compelled me to write another letter. Here it is:
****
Statements by Mr. Clow in this article contradict a CBC NS interview, with regards to tenants having been offered to stay at Scotia Square with long term leases and participate in the Scotia Square expansion. The wording of this implies that this was on the table since last June, which is opposite to what Ray says in his interview.
So I'm just curious what exactly is the truth?
To quote the most recent Herald article:
"Clow said the projects show Crombie’s commitment to downtown Halifax."
I don't understand, if Crombie is committed to downtown Halifax and working with these restaurants, why did the heartless eviction occur in the first place? Is Mr. Clow being genuine, or is he just doing damage control for his shareholders?
Further in the article comes this statement:
"Crombie is in a difficult business where margins are tight, and like any business, if it can make more money by implementing changes at its properties, then it is obligated to do so for its unitholders."
Ok. Then my next question is, if this is the case, then how can Mr. Clow justify the giant pay-bump he received in 2012 which saw his salary increase to $1,436,000 from $1,008,000 in 2011, and $833,900 in 2010.
This salary information is outlined in this April 3rd, 2013 article, also in the Chronicle Herald:
Wait, it gets better.
Further in the Herald article from Feb 4, 2014:
"The leasing specialists, who asked not to be named, suggested that many of those who support the small operators probably don’t eat there often enough.
Although there is opposition to fast-food chains moving in, one expert said the reality is that those operations are profitable and help to draw others to the food court, with a greater payoff for the landlord."
1. that it is justifiable to hand out 42% salary increases to executives, while doubling their tenants rent by more than 100% in the case of a Taste of India (whose rent increased from $3000 to $7000).
For youngsters reading this, the title of this post is a play on the phrase "How Now, Brown Cow?"
This post builds on my last post: The Letter I Wrote Today About Crombie REIT
I wrote the last post in order to express my concern over how Crombie REIT has been treating its tenants. Crombie REIT tenants include small business owners that have been faithfully paying rent to this company in return for what they thought was a long term place to make a life for themselves.
My original post now has links to a petition, a CBC NS video interview with Ray and a few other news stories that have been published since.
The information in these stories compelled me to write another letter. Here it is:
****
Dear members of the media, investment community
and government;
Further to my last letter, I'd like to express a few concerns with information in a follow-up article that was published in The Herald on February 4th:
Statements by Mr. Clow in this article contradict a CBC NS interview, with regards to tenants having been offered to stay at Scotia Square with long term leases and participate in the Scotia Square expansion. The wording of this implies that this was on the table since last June, which is opposite to what Ray says in his interview.
So I'm just curious what exactly is the truth?
To quote the most recent Herald article:
"Clow said the projects show Crombie’s commitment to downtown Halifax."
I don't understand, if Crombie is committed to downtown Halifax and working with these restaurants, why did the heartless eviction occur in the first place? Is Mr. Clow being genuine, or is he just doing damage control for his shareholders?
Further in the article comes this statement:
"Crombie is in a difficult business where margins are tight, and like any business, if it can make more money by implementing changes at its properties, then it is obligated to do so for its unitholders."
Ok. Then my next question is, if this is the case, then how can Mr. Clow justify the giant pay-bump he received in 2012 which saw his salary increase to $1,436,000 from $1,008,000 in 2011, and $833,900 in 2010.
This salary information is outlined in this April 3rd, 2013 article, also in the Chronicle Herald:
Wait, it gets better.
Further in the Herald article from Feb 4, 2014:
"The leasing specialists, who asked not to be named, suggested that many of those who support the small operators probably don’t eat there often enough.
Although there is opposition to fast-food chains moving in, one expert said the reality is that those operations are profitable and help to draw others to the food court, with a greater payoff for the landlord."
I am sorry everyone, but the conclusions that I'm drawing from the actions of Crombie REIT are:
1. that it is justifiable to hand out 42% salary increases to executives, while doubling their tenants rent by more than 100% in the case of a Taste of India (whose rent increased from $3000 to $7000).
2. It is justifiable to hand out these big salary increases, and at the same time imply that Ray's and Taste of India's customers are the ones to blame for not being more supportive. Does this not contradict the fact that there is a huge public outcry in the first place?
3. Crombie REIT needs more profits for its shareholders! So in order to do that, people like Ray and Taste of India, who are probably the ones who are actually operating on a tight margin, should be replaced with large American owned chains that can feed the visitors and workers at Scotia Square Mall high-profit low-nutrient food.
I think it is worth noting that according to this letter to Empire Co. Shareholders, Empire Co owns 42.8% of Crombie REIT.
This letter and other articles on line indicate that Empire and Crombie REIT have been performing great for investors.
But at what cost to people like Ray? It is disheartening to me that this article indicates Mr Clow is fine with taking longer, higher interest terms on mortgages and sleeping great at night. In contrast, this CBC NS article about the online backlash indicates that Ray has barely been able to sleep since he was given notice to leave.
I wish that Mr. Clow and other executives would take the time to actually read all of the comments posted by readers on all of the media articles and petitions that have been published to date.
I wish everyone in Canada would take the time to read these articles and the comments, Crombie REIT has apparently been doing this to other small businesses all over.
I think if everyone were to do so we would realize that it is time for Crombie REIT to either make fundamental changes to its ethics, or to be deflated via investors pulling out their investments, and tenants finding other landlords.
If neither of these things happen, I wish that the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) would consider the expropriation of Scotia Square Mall. This may sound ludicrous, but if HRM can expropriate property to build roads, why can't they expropriate a Mall to serve the best interests of its taxpayers?
Sincerely,
Susan Paczek
This letter and other articles on line indicate that Empire and Crombie REIT have been performing great for investors.
But at what cost to people like Ray? It is disheartening to me that this article indicates Mr Clow is fine with taking longer, higher interest terms on mortgages and sleeping great at night. In contrast, this CBC NS article about the online backlash indicates that Ray has barely been able to sleep since he was given notice to leave.
I wish that Mr. Clow and other executives would take the time to actually read all of the comments posted by readers on all of the media articles and petitions that have been published to date.
I wish everyone in Canada would take the time to read these articles and the comments, Crombie REIT has apparently been doing this to other small businesses all over.
I think if everyone were to do so we would realize that it is time for Crombie REIT to either make fundamental changes to its ethics, or to be deflated via investors pulling out their investments, and tenants finding other landlords.
If neither of these things happen, I wish that the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) would consider the expropriation of Scotia Square Mall. This may sound ludicrous, but if HRM can expropriate property to build roads, why can't they expropriate a Mall to serve the best interests of its taxpayers?
Sincerely,
Susan Paczek
PS - Star wars fans, it seems that we now have an actual Empire to fight... [edit Feb 9th - I mean we have an Empire to communicate things to in a rational manner, I'm beginning to think that "fighting" is pointless, see my post on Feb 9th, favourite thing #1]
Sunday, February 2, 2014
The Letter I Wrote Today About Crombie REIT
Please note that as of Feb 5th I've since published a follow up post this post: How Now, Mr. Clow?
**
Well, the stories in my last post got me thinking a lot.
**
Well, the stories in my last post got me thinking a lot.
Today I decided to write a letter clarifying my thoughts and send it off to a bunch of people. I figure I'd better post this letter on my blog. I also wrote a preamble, which I've since moved to the end of this post, explaining why I wrote this up.
Here is the letter:
Dear members of the media, investment community
and government;.
I think it is time that as Canadians we open our eyes and
recognize the possibility that Real Estate Investment Trusts such as Crombie REIT are potentially
damaging the Canadian economy.
Please review 2 recent Halifax news articles:
The first was in Halifax’s Coast Magazine:
And here is the article in the Halifax Herald, Canada’s only remaining family-owned daily:
Scroll through all the comments and it is evident that the
local community, especially readers of the Coast, are understandably outraged
by the mistreatment of these small business owners. Sure, some people have mentioned, no worries
they can move someplace else. But where
are they supposed to move to? How far
can their regular Scotia Square customers walk during their lunch breaks? Please check out the large list of properties that
Crombie REIT now owns and manages not just in downtown Halifax but across
Canada:
At first glance, maybe this just appears to be a story about 2
small businesses getting ousted in favour of what is best for a company’s goals
and profits. But is there a bigger
picture here? Can we "connect the dots"? CBC's Doczone recently aired “The Condo
Game”
which highlights many
issues with the Condo boom in Toronto. My understanding is that projects such as
these are often backed by REITs.
Here’s another dot to connect: Doczone also aired “Generation Jobless”
This episode highlights the lack of opportunities now available for
millennials.
Can we not recognize that if the boomer parents of
millennials are mindlessly shoveling their retirement dollars into investment
vehicles such as Crombie REIT, they are in effect creating the very economic
conditions that are robbing their offspring of opportunities? I am talking about outrageous commercial rents,
the disappearance of affordable housing, and an economic landscape that becomes
increasingly devoid of small businesses and overrun with large chains.
So many young people would love to take a run at owning their own business, but where is their chance to succeed if REITs like Crombie keep ratcheting up the rents in city centres in order to make money for their investors?
So many young people would love to take a run at owning their own business, but where is their chance to succeed if REITs like Crombie keep ratcheting up the rents in city centres in order to make money for their investors?
If I understand correctly, Crombie REIT is a child of parent companies
Sobey’s Inc. and Empire Co Ltd.
The Sobey’s website has a section boasting its social responsibility which describes how it serves its communities.
Isn’t Ray, owner for 31 years and Scotia Square Mall Tenant, part of the downtown Halifax community? How is Ray being served, or rewarded for the positive impact his business has made on his customers?
The Sobey’s website has a section boasting its social responsibility which describes how it serves its communities.
Isn’t Ray, owner for 31 years and Scotia Square Mall Tenant, part of the downtown Halifax community? How is Ray being served, or rewarded for the positive impact his business has made on his customers?
I am hopeful that the humans in charge of Sobey’s and Crombie
REIT truly do care about community and can recognize the power that their
corporations wield.
I hope they choose to use this power to promote community health and not obliterate it.
I hope that the media coverage of this story will help them to recognize the error of their ways, and to take the opportunity to right a bad decision.
I hope Ray and Taste of India get an apology and are allowed to stay. Because as a society, if we all stand idly by while this sort of thing happens I’m afraid that we’re going to find ourselves living in a country where REITs own entire downtown cores, and the only jobs available for young people are with chains such as the Subway restaurant that Crombie REIT plans to replace these small businesses with.
I hope they choose to use this power to promote community health and not obliterate it.
I hope that the media coverage of this story will help them to recognize the error of their ways, and to take the opportunity to right a bad decision.
I hope Ray and Taste of India get an apology and are allowed to stay. Because as a society, if we all stand idly by while this sort of thing happens I’m afraid that we’re going to find ourselves living in a country where REITs own entire downtown cores, and the only jobs available for young people are with chains such as the Subway restaurant that Crombie REIT plans to replace these small businesses with.
Investors: is there not an opportunity here to create an “Ethical
REIT” that would use real estate
investment not as a mere cash cow but a tool of social change?
Modest, sustainable profits could still be realized for your investors while downtown cores of our cities could be re-imagined in ways that would help small business owners flourish while promoting creativity and community health.
This imaginary REIT would be committed to providing more affordable rents for both businesses and residents, as well as providing rent to own opportunities and mentorship.
Modest, sustainable profits could still be realized for your investors while downtown cores of our cities could be re-imagined in ways that would help small business owners flourish while promoting creativity and community health.
This imaginary REIT would be committed to providing more affordable rents for both businesses and residents, as well as providing rent to own opportunities and mentorship.
Reduction in gross rents might sound off-putting at first to
some, but this could be mitigated by a lack of vacancies and reduced repair
costs. Conscious investors would be
relieved to have a place with excellent ethics to park their cash. Local
governments could fast-track development proposals from this REIT. People would seek to rent homes or commercial
space from this REIT. Tenants in return
would, hopefully, respect this REIT and not break leases without notice or
damage property.
With lower rents business owners might have a better shot at staying in business, making a decent living, and creating decent jobs for employees. This could in turn strengthen the economy as a whole and reverse the trend in the destruction of our middle class. The Landlord/Tenant relationship doesn’t need to be one of domination and control, it can be a symbiotic one where each side recognizes and appreciates what they receive from the other.
With lower rents business owners might have a better shot at staying in business, making a decent living, and creating decent jobs for employees. This could in turn strengthen the economy as a whole and reverse the trend in the destruction of our middle class. The Landlord/Tenant relationship doesn’t need to be one of domination and control, it can be a symbiotic one where each side recognizes and appreciates what they receive from the other.
Why must we sacrifice long-term community health for short
term profits? If we keep going with our current model of unbridled REITs
swallowing up cities and ousting or extorting small businesses in the name of
profit, who wins in the end? And can we not see how short sighted this is?
Sincerely,
Susan Paczek
***********
change.org petition to keep Ray's and Taste of India open.
And (as of Feb 3rd) a CBC NS interview with Ray:
Note: Feb 4th: I found this Herald article "Crombie REIT executives get major pay hikes in 2012"
Looks like working for a REIT pays pretty well!
I would also like to know Mr. Clow reconciles the information given in the above Herald article, with this most recent Herald article about the public outcry to Crombie REIT's actions.
And here's a recent CBC article about the online backlash.
***
I wrote up a little preamble for this post, but I moved that to the end of my post, as this post is getting a bunch of hits. Does that make it a "postamble"?
anyhow...
To any recipients of my letter who might check on my blog, I figure I'd better point out a couple of things:
***********
change.org petition to keep Ray's and Taste of India open.
And (as of Feb 3rd) a CBC NS interview with Ray:
Note: Feb 4th: I found this Herald article "Crombie REIT executives get major pay hikes in 2012"
Looks like working for a REIT pays pretty well!
I would also like to know Mr. Clow reconciles the information given in the above Herald article, with this most recent Herald article about the public outcry to Crombie REIT's actions.
And here's a recent CBC article about the online backlash.
***
I wrote up a little preamble for this post, but I moved that to the end of my post, as this post is getting a bunch of hits. Does that make it a "postamble"?
anyhow...
To any recipients of my letter who might check on my blog, I figure I'd better point out a couple of things:
1.
To the taxpayers of Canada; you paid a pile of money for me to spend
years in university so I could get a BSc in Animal Behaviour and an MSc.
in Conservation Biology. Lately I've taken it upon myself to try to
use this training in critical thinking to try to conserve Humans.
2.
To natives of Nova Scotia: yes I am a "Come From Away". But before you
choose to hold this against me, I'll ask you the same question I asked
my bluenosed husband the other day. Where exactly am I supposed to
live?
My
father's village in Poland was taken over by the Russians at the start
of WWII, so he and his whole family got loaded onto a train and sent off
to a Siberian work camp. So my "first family home"? Gone.
After
the war my father emigrated to Canada and built a life for him, my mom
and siblings in Richmond BC. That's where I grew up. Have you been to
Richmond BC lately? Apparently from the air it looks like the head of a
dragon in the mouth of the Fraser River, and so was selected as an
auspicious place to move to around the time Hong Kong's lease came up in
1997. It is now a big city with a population that is over 60% Chinese
immigrants that has awesome night markets but over-development (in my
opinion) and little affordable housing. It is also below sea-level so
I've always been a bit wary of living there long term.
My
family home, built in the early 70's, has since been sold to
developers, smashed down and replaced with a monster home. The folks
remaining in our small family have bugged out to Ladner which still has
that Suburban-Canadian feel. I tried being a conservation biologist in
BC but found it so frustrating that I decided to leave and try something
else.
I moved to Regina for awhile. My house there burned down.
So I've been kicked out, priced out and burned out.
Now
I'm here. Moving to rural Nova Scotia has made me realize I've always
been homesick for a home I'll never be able to visit. I love it. I'm
staying. And I'm committed to doing anything I can to keep this
province an awesome place to live. Because really, I have nowhere left
to go!
I really hope my letter helps the owners of Ray's and "A Taste of India" somehow, in case they also feel like they have nowhere else to go...
I really hope my letter helps the owners of Ray's and "A Taste of India" somehow, in case they also feel like they have nowhere else to go...
Friday, January 31, 2014
Why I Wish Everyone Would Boycott Crombie REIT Immediately
I haven't posted for awhile. In my last 2 posts I described how we were waiting for our first eviction January 8th.
Long story short, yes it appeared my house and yard were filled with trash by a pack of "North End Crack Babies" (I read that descriptor somewhere online before and found it catchy. Given the variety and amount of paraphernalia left in my home I figure this might describe the youngsters who occupied my house... apologies if I'm jumping to conclusions).
There was damage, to the tune of 13k. I felt violated. Violated to the point that I almost took down my last two posts out of a feeling of shame because of the idea that "you get what you deserve". Maybe part of me figured I deserved this treatment for being bourgeois enough to own more than one home. Then there was the fear that prospective new tenants might stumble upon my blog and not be keen on renting a place where a bunch of youngsters apparently all watched the movie Trainspotting together and thought it'd be fun to act like destructive hobos.
But then I decided, no, this sort of thing needs more light shed on it if the problem ever is to be fixed. I've met and heard of many other landlords who have experienced this exact same type of thing. The damage is needless and expensive, and contributes to reducing the availability affordable housing as described in my previous posts this month.
So unfortunately I had to spend a few days picking up trash that wasn't mine. Trash that had been ripped open by dogs and rats, and included other peoples' used tampon applicators that I had to pick up off my frozen yard.
Fortunately I was able to use the entire experience as an exercise in the power of positive thinking, and managed to find all sorts of things to be grateful for. Mainly I'm grateful for the fact that there wasn't more willful damage done. Tenants, if you really want to screw over random mom'n'pop landlords apparently the way to do it is to grab hammers and start bashing up drywall and hot water tanks. I'm so grateful that our tenants didn't do this - other than the busted front window. The damage to my home was mostly due to foolishness rather than intent, but far worse has happened to other landlords in my neighbourhood. I'll admit it was my fear of worse happening to me that compelled me to start blogging about this experience.
I don't want to be a victim. So when I reminisce about January 2014, instead of trash, dog crap and assorted repairs, I'm choosing to remember the things that made me smile. Creative things left behind. Like the ewok-village-esque fence made of tree limbs that encircled a gathering place in the backyard. And the bright blue "Y.O.L.O" happily painted on my yellow basement wall indicating that at least for a minute someone had fun expressing themselves in my home.
I'll think about the call centre paystub I found and the irony that I wrote "What If Michelangelo Was A Telemarketer" in part as a commentary on the enslavement of so many members our millennial generation to low wage jobs.
It's occurred to me that these low wage jobs were largely created by the corporations that the millennials' boomer parents invested their retirement money in, thus siphoning away future economic opportunities from their offspring.
Investment funds like Crombie REIT (the actual topic of this post, yes, I'm going to get there soon).
Rather than post more sad pics of my house on my blog, I'm going to save them for the Tenancy Board Hearing and likely small claims court. All except for this one, which I feel sums up the overall message I got from the former residents of my home:
I don't think the message in this photo was intended for me personally but if it was in response I'd just like to say: why? I'm on your side. ps- I'd appreciate the return of the antique mirror that was stolen from above my fireplace it had sentimental value to me. Yes yes I've since learned don't every leave anything of sentimental value in a rental home.
In any case I would like to personally lob the message in the above photo forward to the people at Crombie REIT. Why? Because apparently they decided it would be a good idea to double the rent of 2 independently run food businesses in Scotia Square Mall, forcing them out in favour of more profitable large-chain-tenants like Subway.
Check out what they've done, described in today's Coast article.
And also, in today's Herald article.
Ha! What was I just talking about 2 posts ago? I think I'll quote myself:
I wish more people with good jobs and savings would quit dumping their money into mutual funds or other investments where they have no idea how their money is actually being spent. Maybe their investment money is being spent cutting down rainforests in Borneo, displacing Orangutans to grow palm oil. Maybe the money is going to some big corporation with bad ethics. Maybe the money will, in an ironic twist of fate, somehow circle back around and be part of the reason the investor gets laid off, eg, via offshoring of jobs.
Yes, maybe people are investing in soulless corporations like Crombie REIT which has chosen to prey on small, indie food establishments in the name of higher profits for their investors.
How do we stop this?
We need to spread the word, people, and get investors who have invested in Crombie REIT to pull out all of their money ASAP. And then, quick, somebody with the know-how and a functional moral compass, start an "Ethical REIT" that supports small businesses. I described this idea briefly in this blog post last year.
Let's do it! Let's see if this idea will work! Let's test the hypothesis that money is power and dollars are ballots with which we cast our votes for the world we want to see! And as we do this, let's all bombard Crombie REIT's contact page telling them exactly what we're up to:
http://www.crombiereit.ca/en/contact_us.aspx
We can do this!
Yes!
If you don't believe me, listen to Iyanla Vanzant, she knows. I've posted this video on my blog before but it is the perfect ending for this post. (the youtube poster disabled the embedded video feature so ya gotta click the link to see it).
And while we're at it, Crombie REIT is owned by Sobey's so everyone who is disturbed by this corporation's actions could just quit shopping there, out of solidarity with the small business owners who have been treated so unjustly. Not everyone has money for investments, but we all buy groceries!
Long story short, yes it appeared my house and yard were filled with trash by a pack of "North End Crack Babies" (I read that descriptor somewhere online before and found it catchy. Given the variety and amount of paraphernalia left in my home I figure this might describe the youngsters who occupied my house... apologies if I'm jumping to conclusions).
There was damage, to the tune of 13k. I felt violated. Violated to the point that I almost took down my last two posts out of a feeling of shame because of the idea that "you get what you deserve". Maybe part of me figured I deserved this treatment for being bourgeois enough to own more than one home. Then there was the fear that prospective new tenants might stumble upon my blog and not be keen on renting a place where a bunch of youngsters apparently all watched the movie Trainspotting together and thought it'd be fun to act like destructive hobos.
But then I decided, no, this sort of thing needs more light shed on it if the problem ever is to be fixed. I've met and heard of many other landlords who have experienced this exact same type of thing. The damage is needless and expensive, and contributes to reducing the availability affordable housing as described in my previous posts this month.
So unfortunately I had to spend a few days picking up trash that wasn't mine. Trash that had been ripped open by dogs and rats, and included other peoples' used tampon applicators that I had to pick up off my frozen yard.
Fortunately I was able to use the entire experience as an exercise in the power of positive thinking, and managed to find all sorts of things to be grateful for. Mainly I'm grateful for the fact that there wasn't more willful damage done. Tenants, if you really want to screw over random mom'n'pop landlords apparently the way to do it is to grab hammers and start bashing up drywall and hot water tanks. I'm so grateful that our tenants didn't do this - other than the busted front window. The damage to my home was mostly due to foolishness rather than intent, but far worse has happened to other landlords in my neighbourhood. I'll admit it was my fear of worse happening to me that compelled me to start blogging about this experience.
I don't want to be a victim. So when I reminisce about January 2014, instead of trash, dog crap and assorted repairs, I'm choosing to remember the things that made me smile. Creative things left behind. Like the ewok-village-esque fence made of tree limbs that encircled a gathering place in the backyard. And the bright blue "Y.O.L.O" happily painted on my yellow basement wall indicating that at least for a minute someone had fun expressing themselves in my home.
I'll think about the call centre paystub I found and the irony that I wrote "What If Michelangelo Was A Telemarketer" in part as a commentary on the enslavement of so many members our millennial generation to low wage jobs.
It's occurred to me that these low wage jobs were largely created by the corporations that the millennials' boomer parents invested their retirement money in, thus siphoning away future economic opportunities from their offspring.
Investment funds like Crombie REIT (the actual topic of this post, yes, I'm going to get there soon).
Rather than post more sad pics of my house on my blog, I'm going to save them for the Tenancy Board Hearing and likely small claims court. All except for this one, which I feel sums up the overall message I got from the former residents of my home:
 |
| A message left by tenants in the laundry area of our rental home. Somehow the smiley face softens the impact of the words |
I don't think the message in this photo was intended for me personally but if it was in response I'd just like to say: why? I'm on your side. ps- I'd appreciate the return of the antique mirror that was stolen from above my fireplace it had sentimental value to me. Yes yes I've since learned don't every leave anything of sentimental value in a rental home.
In any case I would like to personally lob the message in the above photo forward to the people at Crombie REIT. Why? Because apparently they decided it would be a good idea to double the rent of 2 independently run food businesses in Scotia Square Mall, forcing them out in favour of more profitable large-chain-tenants like Subway.
Check out what they've done, described in today's Coast article.
And also, in today's Herald article.
Ha! What was I just talking about 2 posts ago? I think I'll quote myself:
I wish more people with good jobs and savings would quit dumping their money into mutual funds or other investments where they have no idea how their money is actually being spent. Maybe their investment money is being spent cutting down rainforests in Borneo, displacing Orangutans to grow palm oil. Maybe the money is going to some big corporation with bad ethics. Maybe the money will, in an ironic twist of fate, somehow circle back around and be part of the reason the investor gets laid off, eg, via offshoring of jobs.
Yes, maybe people are investing in soulless corporations like Crombie REIT which has chosen to prey on small, indie food establishments in the name of higher profits for their investors.
How do we stop this?
We need to spread the word, people, and get investors who have invested in Crombie REIT to pull out all of their money ASAP. And then, quick, somebody with the know-how and a functional moral compass, start an "Ethical REIT" that supports small businesses. I described this idea briefly in this blog post last year.
Let's do it! Let's see if this idea will work! Let's test the hypothesis that money is power and dollars are ballots with which we cast our votes for the world we want to see! And as we do this, let's all bombard Crombie REIT's contact page telling them exactly what we're up to:
http://www.crombiereit.ca/en/contact_us.aspx
We can do this!
Yes!
If you don't believe me, listen to Iyanla Vanzant, she knows. I've posted this video on my blog before but it is the perfect ending for this post. (the youtube poster disabled the embedded video feature so ya gotta click the link to see it).
And while we're at it, Crombie REIT is owned by Sobey's so everyone who is disturbed by this corporation's actions could just quit shopping there, out of solidarity with the small business owners who have been treated so unjustly. Not everyone has money for investments, but we all buy groceries!
Monday, January 6, 2014
More About Garbage, and Affordable Housing
This post is building on my previous post.
"Happy New Year and How to Fix the Affordable Housing Crisis in Canada." If you haven't read it, please do. If you read it before yesterday evening, please read it again as on Jan 5th I've added a preamble that clarifies my intentions with sharing the story.
I have to share something. I have to share that this whole thing with how my property is being treated has been stressing the hell out of me, up until this morning. Why? Because I have had a lifelong struggle with worrying too much about what other people think. This experience has helped me work on that, so for that I am grateful. Yes. Grateful for the trash heap around my house.
You see, when the window was first broken and the trash started to pile up my first reaction was "Omg, we need to jump in and fix this right away."
"No." Said Brendan, "They signed a lease let them handle it."
I was resistant because I felt embarrassed. And fearful that others would judge me for the condition of my property.
Aha, today I realized so what. Our tenants wanted to lease our house and be treated like adults. We gave them that opportunity. I'm giving the opportunity to provide me with feedback and start a dialogue. I hold positive thoughts that they will make good on this agreement, and if not, yes I agree with Brendan we should use the legal system to hold them accountable for any damages we may incur.
We're not doing this to be jerks, it is called "tough love". We just want our tenants to take responsibility.
You see, if this is happening, for whatever reason, it isn't just our tenants that need to take responsibility. If we can't get them to do that, maybe there are bigger issues at play. Is this happening because they don't know any better? Then their families, and more mature members of their communities need to take responsibility. Maybe other adults can step in and help us teach these people to become mature, responsible adults.
Is this happening because they are feeling overworked, over expensed and broken down? Then everyone as a society needs to take responsibility. Yes even the rich people who I'm scared might pass by, see my house and think "tsk tsk, how terrible I would have cleaned up that house right away." You know what, I've realized that that would have been the easier, more comfortable thing to do. Now I'm glad I've let myself stay uncomfortable.
Maybe employers, investors, politicians, other landlords, everyone in positions of higher wealth and power need to take responsibility for the challenges being faced by our young people. Because this hasn't just happened in my house, from what I've heard it is pretty common behaviour among tenants. Maybe we all need to realize this is the generation that we're counting on to run the planet, to care for us in our old age. If they can't even figure out how to take out their trash, or feel like it isn't their responsibility, or are mentally or physically unable to take responsibility, then we're in big trouble.
Maybe Monsanto needs to take responsibility for poisoning our food supply with Genetically Modified Organisms. Maybe the producers of sugar, flour and factory farmed animal products need to take responsibility. Because my suspicion is that the young people responsible for my trash are living on a cheap, low nutrient diet full of highly addictive substances. Hey, young people - and everyone else - if you want to feel better, eat clean. Try a vegan diet free of flour, sugar and GMOs. I've been doing it since Jan 1 and I feel great. And no, eating well doesn't have to be expensive. Eating cheaply doesn't have to mean no nutrition, I think a lot of the world lives on lentils and rice. Maybe in the future when Brendan and I get better at gardening we'll be able to provide our tenants with affordable food as well as housing. Why not!
I'll end this post with what I've realized is the problem I have with the solution to Affordable Housing set out by the Killam guy I linked to in my last post. I think this solution leans too much on government handouts. Harvesting rent from tenants is something that is being done by the private sector for investment purposes, I'm not convinced it makes sense, as a long term or complete solution, to lean on government assistance for this kind of arrangement.
You see, Killam guy, I've personally known a lot of people who have had to struggle with low wages and high expenses, drug addiction and mental illness. The brightest and shiniest souls I've met among these would do anything they could to stay off of assistance, though some have had to use it as a last resort. By promoting assistance, there is a danger that you could be promoting dependence and saying maybe we need a class system where we accept that there are poor people who can't get their shit together so let's keep giving them handouts for long periods of time. I am NOT by any means saying that there isn't a place for assistance, there absolutely is. And we absolutely need to help those people who need it. I'm just hopeful that it would only go to the people who really need it. I would not want this kind of solution suggested by the Killam guy to be become the only way people could find affordable housing. Because if and when the people who are on assistance, are ready to get off of assistance, where are they supposed to move to, if there is no other affordable housing? Instead, my preference is that as a society, we figure out ways and systems to redistribute wealth in a way that would empower, encourage, and lift people up from despair, while still benefiting those who share. It could be a start. One day, maybe we could help figure out what everyone's strengths are, what they love to do, and help them create a decent lifestyle where they get to contribute to society doing what they love.
Speaking of mental illness, in an effort to eliminate the stigma surrounding it I'll admit right here that I have had a lifelong struggle with PTSD. In the future I plan on blogging about how I've learned to cope with it, as I think this might be helpful to returning military people who have developed this condition. Lol, it really is not our faults.
If housing was more affordable, people would have more money for healthy food, relaxation, and higher pursuits. They would have a chance to build up savings. They could buy their own homes. Or, if they'd rather be renters than take on the burden of home ownership, we could ensure that they wouldn't have to worry about having a selection of affordable, nice places. Can't we see how this would help all of us, as we grow a stronger economy?
There. I feel even BETTER. Now I love the garbage in my yard as it has taught me something and improved my philosophy. And I hope my tenants feel better, I really do want to turn what at the outset could have just been another story of tenants being disrespectful, and landlords cleaning up a mess into a positive experience for all involved.
Let's all watch Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein, I've posted this before but it is great.
"Happy New Year and How to Fix the Affordable Housing Crisis in Canada." If you haven't read it, please do. If you read it before yesterday evening, please read it again as on Jan 5th I've added a preamble that clarifies my intentions with sharing the story.
I have to share something. I have to share that this whole thing with how my property is being treated has been stressing the hell out of me, up until this morning. Why? Because I have had a lifelong struggle with worrying too much about what other people think. This experience has helped me work on that, so for that I am grateful. Yes. Grateful for the trash heap around my house.
You see, when the window was first broken and the trash started to pile up my first reaction was "Omg, we need to jump in and fix this right away."
"No." Said Brendan, "They signed a lease let them handle it."
I was resistant because I felt embarrassed. And fearful that others would judge me for the condition of my property.
Aha, today I realized so what. Our tenants wanted to lease our house and be treated like adults. We gave them that opportunity. I'm giving the opportunity to provide me with feedback and start a dialogue. I hold positive thoughts that they will make good on this agreement, and if not, yes I agree with Brendan we should use the legal system to hold them accountable for any damages we may incur.
We're not doing this to be jerks, it is called "tough love". We just want our tenants to take responsibility.
You see, if this is happening, for whatever reason, it isn't just our tenants that need to take responsibility. If we can't get them to do that, maybe there are bigger issues at play. Is this happening because they don't know any better? Then their families, and more mature members of their communities need to take responsibility. Maybe other adults can step in and help us teach these people to become mature, responsible adults.
Is this happening because they are feeling overworked, over expensed and broken down? Then everyone as a society needs to take responsibility. Yes even the rich people who I'm scared might pass by, see my house and think "tsk tsk, how terrible I would have cleaned up that house right away." You know what, I've realized that that would have been the easier, more comfortable thing to do. Now I'm glad I've let myself stay uncomfortable.
Maybe employers, investors, politicians, other landlords, everyone in positions of higher wealth and power need to take responsibility for the challenges being faced by our young people. Because this hasn't just happened in my house, from what I've heard it is pretty common behaviour among tenants. Maybe we all need to realize this is the generation that we're counting on to run the planet, to care for us in our old age. If they can't even figure out how to take out their trash, or feel like it isn't their responsibility, or are mentally or physically unable to take responsibility, then we're in big trouble.
Maybe Monsanto needs to take responsibility for poisoning our food supply with Genetically Modified Organisms. Maybe the producers of sugar, flour and factory farmed animal products need to take responsibility. Because my suspicion is that the young people responsible for my trash are living on a cheap, low nutrient diet full of highly addictive substances. Hey, young people - and everyone else - if you want to feel better, eat clean. Try a vegan diet free of flour, sugar and GMOs. I've been doing it since Jan 1 and I feel great. And no, eating well doesn't have to be expensive. Eating cheaply doesn't have to mean no nutrition, I think a lot of the world lives on lentils and rice. Maybe in the future when Brendan and I get better at gardening we'll be able to provide our tenants with affordable food as well as housing. Why not!
I'll end this post with what I've realized is the problem I have with the solution to Affordable Housing set out by the Killam guy I linked to in my last post. I think this solution leans too much on government handouts. Harvesting rent from tenants is something that is being done by the private sector for investment purposes, I'm not convinced it makes sense, as a long term or complete solution, to lean on government assistance for this kind of arrangement.
You see, Killam guy, I've personally known a lot of people who have had to struggle with low wages and high expenses, drug addiction and mental illness. The brightest and shiniest souls I've met among these would do anything they could to stay off of assistance, though some have had to use it as a last resort. By promoting assistance, there is a danger that you could be promoting dependence and saying maybe we need a class system where we accept that there are poor people who can't get their shit together so let's keep giving them handouts for long periods of time. I am NOT by any means saying that there isn't a place for assistance, there absolutely is. And we absolutely need to help those people who need it. I'm just hopeful that it would only go to the people who really need it. I would not want this kind of solution suggested by the Killam guy to be become the only way people could find affordable housing. Because if and when the people who are on assistance, are ready to get off of assistance, where are they supposed to move to, if there is no other affordable housing? Instead, my preference is that as a society, we figure out ways and systems to redistribute wealth in a way that would empower, encourage, and lift people up from despair, while still benefiting those who share. It could be a start. One day, maybe we could help figure out what everyone's strengths are, what they love to do, and help them create a decent lifestyle where they get to contribute to society doing what they love.
Speaking of mental illness, in an effort to eliminate the stigma surrounding it I'll admit right here that I have had a lifelong struggle with PTSD. In the future I plan on blogging about how I've learned to cope with it, as I think this might be helpful to returning military people who have developed this condition. Lol, it really is not our faults.
If housing was more affordable, people would have more money for healthy food, relaxation, and higher pursuits. They would have a chance to build up savings. They could buy their own homes. Or, if they'd rather be renters than take on the burden of home ownership, we could ensure that they wouldn't have to worry about having a selection of affordable, nice places. Can't we see how this would help all of us, as we grow a stronger economy?
There. I feel even BETTER. Now I love the garbage in my yard as it has taught me something and improved my philosophy. And I hope my tenants feel better, I really do want to turn what at the outset could have just been another story of tenants being disrespectful, and landlords cleaning up a mess into a positive experience for all involved.
Let's all watch Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein, I've posted this before but it is great.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Happy New Year! and How to Fix the Affordable Housing Crisis in Canada
Note: I added this bit Jan 5th -
I wrote this post a couple of days ago and since posting it on Facebook I'd just like to clarify my intention with writing and sharing it. The intention wasn't to shame our tenants. It was to encourage them to take responsibility, which I hope they do, and to explain the consequences of their actions, while clarifying my own feelings about the issue.
I can't imagine how stressful it must be to have to worry about rent while living paycheque to paycheque. I understand that many people live a cheque away from homelessness and I feel grateful I don't have to live that way. In a landlord/tenant relationship clearly the balance of power lies with the landowner. Maybe this is why tenants sometimes get frustrated and demonstrate a lack of respect for that property. I can understand that.
At the same time, the properties we own represent huge investments for us that carry with them large obligations to banks, the city and our insurance company. Our tenants legally accepted certain responsibilities, including garbage and snow removal as well as repairing damage. If the responsibilities involved with renting our house became too burdensome for whatever reasons, I wish there was more open, honest communication, as we could have worked something out, especially where it was a month to month lease.
I'm hopeful that all involved will be able to discuss this situation as adults, and agree on a resolution. If anyone on the tenant side of the issue has anything to add, I'll happily post it on my blog as I think it could turn into a productive conversation that would make all involved feel better and more empowered by the experience. I'd love to publish other points of view, I got to publish my own, so it is only fair. Maybe it would open an interesting dialogue that would be important for others to see. Maybe there are things Brendan and I could have done differently. Maybe, in the way we made assumptions, you've made assumptions about us and our intentions. Let us know. If we want to attempt to build a successful real estate company that helps people, your feedback could help us improve our skills as landlords. If you have questions, please ask. Add me on Facebook and comment on my wall if you'd like. In general, I hope this experience turns into a positive learning experience, and shows how the housing issue affects us all.
Okay, back to the post.
I love Jim Rohn. Can’t say I know much about Herbalife, but this video of an inspirational talk Jim gave to Herbalifers randomly popped up as a suggestion for me on youtube, on New Year’s Day. I think it has a great message for 2014.
My country tenants bought and moved into their home in Feburary 2012, so I was in a hurry to rent out the house I had bought in Halifax. We rented it to "Tenant A" and "Tenant B", for March 1, 2012. They were a young couple, had a young roommate and 2 dogs. Tenant A said it wasn’t easy to find a rental house in Halifax that would take 2 dogs. Being pet lovers, we were fine with multiple pets, and while my house is more suited to a couple, split 3 ways the rent would be relatively affordable. I liked that.
A friend knew their reference so I figured they were probably alright.
And they were alright! They were alright, up until this past summer when we found out that Tenant B had moved out, she didn't contact us, we found this out when her rent cheque bounced. No worries, said Tenant A, she’d found roommates and would be taking care of the rent.
I wrote this post a couple of days ago and since posting it on Facebook I'd just like to clarify my intention with writing and sharing it. The intention wasn't to shame our tenants. It was to encourage them to take responsibility, which I hope they do, and to explain the consequences of their actions, while clarifying my own feelings about the issue.
I can't imagine how stressful it must be to have to worry about rent while living paycheque to paycheque. I understand that many people live a cheque away from homelessness and I feel grateful I don't have to live that way. In a landlord/tenant relationship clearly the balance of power lies with the landowner. Maybe this is why tenants sometimes get frustrated and demonstrate a lack of respect for that property. I can understand that.
At the same time, the properties we own represent huge investments for us that carry with them large obligations to banks, the city and our insurance company. Our tenants legally accepted certain responsibilities, including garbage and snow removal as well as repairing damage. If the responsibilities involved with renting our house became too burdensome for whatever reasons, I wish there was more open, honest communication, as we could have worked something out, especially where it was a month to month lease.
I'm hopeful that all involved will be able to discuss this situation as adults, and agree on a resolution. If anyone on the tenant side of the issue has anything to add, I'll happily post it on my blog as I think it could turn into a productive conversation that would make all involved feel better and more empowered by the experience. I'd love to publish other points of view, I got to publish my own, so it is only fair. Maybe it would open an interesting dialogue that would be important for others to see. Maybe there are things Brendan and I could have done differently. Maybe, in the way we made assumptions, you've made assumptions about us and our intentions. Let us know. If we want to attempt to build a successful real estate company that helps people, your feedback could help us improve our skills as landlords. If you have questions, please ask. Add me on Facebook and comment on my wall if you'd like. In general, I hope this experience turns into a positive learning experience, and shows how the housing issue affects us all.
Okay, back to the post.
I love Jim Rohn. Can’t say I know much about Herbalife, but this video of an inspirational talk Jim gave to Herbalifers randomly popped up as a suggestion for me on youtube, on New Year’s Day. I think it has a great message for 2014.
This is the part of the video that got me excited, when you read the rest of my post you'll see why:
“You've gotta have a good mature attitude about everybody. Everyone in your family. Everyone in your organization. Everyone in the community. Everyone in the world. Everyone in your country. We need each other to make a successful
life. You gotta have a unique sense of
appreciation of everyone. The last
one. The first one. You gotta learn to appreciate the youngest
one. You gotta learn to sense the value
of the oldest one. And the one that
gives you the most joy, and the one that gives you the most trouble."
I haven’t posted for a while because I’ve been pretty sick the last week, and because I’ve been wanting to write about some ideas I have to solve the affordable housing crisis in Nova Scotia. But I felt conflicted doing so, seeing as for the first time, Brendan and I are in the middle of evicting tenants.
So it took me a lot of thinking but just today I realized exactly how this experience fits into my ideas about the affordable housing problem faced not only in Nova Scotia, but across Canada.
I think the affordable housing crisis in Canada could be solved by private landlords, in a different way that Jeremy Jackson from Killam Properties described in the Herald recently.
Here’s what I think, and what I have personally experienced: carefully chosen real estate can be an awesome investment vehicle that can help people.
I wish more people with good jobs and savings would quit dumping their money into mutual funds or other investments where they have no idea how their money is actually being spent. Maybe their investment money is being spent cutting down rainforests in Borneo, displacing Orangutans to grow palm oil. Maybe the money is going to some big corporation with bad ethics. Maybe the money will, in an ironic twist of fate, somehow circle back around and be part of the reason the investor gets laid off, eg, via offshoring of jobs.
A rental property, however, now there is an investment you can keep your eye on. We all need shelter, food and water. A person of means could physically buy a house with the intention of giving affordable rent to people, with the hope that these people would protect their investment for them.
It can work out beautifully, and it has for me.
I bought the rural Nova Scotian home that I currently live in 2003, while I still lived in Vancouver. It was a batshit insane thing to do. "Throwing your money down black holes” I remember my supervisor saying as I booked my ticket east. But I was frustrated with trying to be a conservation biologist in BC and just desperately wanted to have a piece of land I knew I could move to someday. In effect, I was planning for my retirement at the age of 29. I’m so grateful to the family that rented my house for 8 years, and kept it in good shape. In return I kept the rent low so they had plenty of time to save up to buy a home of their own. When I moved to Halifax in 2008, I didn’t give them 3 months notice, I gave them 3 years notice.
So my point is, the landlord/tenant relationship can be a respectful, mutually beneficial one.
So why don’t more people, who could afford to give others cheap rent and help others, do it?
I haven’t posted for a while because I’ve been pretty sick the last week, and because I’ve been wanting to write about some ideas I have to solve the affordable housing crisis in Nova Scotia. But I felt conflicted doing so, seeing as for the first time, Brendan and I are in the middle of evicting tenants.
So it took me a lot of thinking but just today I realized exactly how this experience fits into my ideas about the affordable housing problem faced not only in Nova Scotia, but across Canada.
I think the affordable housing crisis in Canada could be solved by private landlords, in a different way that Jeremy Jackson from Killam Properties described in the Herald recently.
Here’s what I think, and what I have personally experienced: carefully chosen real estate can be an awesome investment vehicle that can help people.
I wish more people with good jobs and savings would quit dumping their money into mutual funds or other investments where they have no idea how their money is actually being spent. Maybe their investment money is being spent cutting down rainforests in Borneo, displacing Orangutans to grow palm oil. Maybe the money is going to some big corporation with bad ethics. Maybe the money will, in an ironic twist of fate, somehow circle back around and be part of the reason the investor gets laid off, eg, via offshoring of jobs.
A rental property, however, now there is an investment you can keep your eye on. We all need shelter, food and water. A person of means could physically buy a house with the intention of giving affordable rent to people, with the hope that these people would protect their investment for them.
It can work out beautifully, and it has for me.
I bought the rural Nova Scotian home that I currently live in 2003, while I still lived in Vancouver. It was a batshit insane thing to do. "Throwing your money down black holes” I remember my supervisor saying as I booked my ticket east. But I was frustrated with trying to be a conservation biologist in BC and just desperately wanted to have a piece of land I knew I could move to someday. In effect, I was planning for my retirement at the age of 29. I’m so grateful to the family that rented my house for 8 years, and kept it in good shape. In return I kept the rent low so they had plenty of time to save up to buy a home of their own. When I moved to Halifax in 2008, I didn’t give them 3 months notice, I gave them 3 years notice.
So my point is, the landlord/tenant relationship can be a respectful, mutually beneficial one.
So why don’t more people, who could afford to give others cheap rent and help others, do it?
Aha, I realized today it is because of people like the
tenants that we’re currently evicting!
You see, stories about good tenants don’t make it into the news. There’s nothing sensational about good,
honest, hardworking people who keep a nice house and abide by their lease
agreements, and whose landlords abide to their lease agreement too by promptly making
repairs. It isn’t newsworthy that a lot
of time tenants and landlords enter into symbiotic agreements, where rent is
exchanged for tenants making improvements to a house.
For
example, I once gave a roommate-turned-friend free rent in Regina in return for dogsitting and building
me a patio with firepit. It turned into a mutually
beneficial win/win/win situation for me, my friend and the dog as well as
many people who got to enjoy that firepit (I'll note that the firepit wasn't the cause of my subsequent house fire).
But stories like that don't get into the news.
The stories that get into the news are ones
about slum landlords, or tenants trashing rental properties.
Tenants like my current tenants.
 |
| Trash Heap in my backyard |
 |
| Smashed front picture window |
 |
| "firewood" pile from a tree cutting place, which we were ok with for affordable heating, but is now just a frozen mess we'll have to deal with, plus it is blocking half the driveway. normally we'd put wood in the shop but we've heard that is packed with more trash. |
 | |
| part of the side yard trash heap |
 |
| random front yard trash |
My country tenants bought and moved into their home in Feburary 2012, so I was in a hurry to rent out the house I had bought in Halifax. We rented it to "Tenant A" and "Tenant B", for March 1, 2012. They were a young couple, had a young roommate and 2 dogs. Tenant A said it wasn’t easy to find a rental house in Halifax that would take 2 dogs. Being pet lovers, we were fine with multiple pets, and while my house is more suited to a couple, split 3 ways the rent would be relatively affordable. I liked that.
A friend knew their reference so I figured they were probably alright.
And they were alright! They were alright, up until this past summer when we found out that Tenant B had moved out, she didn't contact us, we found this out when her rent cheque bounced. No worries, said Tenant A, she’d found roommates and would be taking care of the rent.
Long story short, while I'm grateful for the months and months of rent that were paid, my yard is now filled with trash,
apparently the shop at the side of the house is as well. Apparently there’s an abandoned car frozen into my driveway. Rent has not been paid for December or
January, and given the current state of the property I can’t see how we could
possibly rent it for February even if it by some miracle it is vacant, spic and
span for the January 8th eviction date. (Note that in Nova Scotia you can now evict 15 days after non payment of rent. We're reasonable people, and hoped to resolve things with Tenant A but gave her a notice on the 23rd in order to protect us against excessive losses, given that we hadn't been able to communicate with her for weeks. We told her we'd tear it up if she cleaned up the trash and paid rent by Dec 31st - she texted Brendan that she would, did neither, and has not been in touch though we've heard she's found another place).
My
front picture window was smashed in October.
We were told that Tenant B’s brother broke it on purpose. Tenant A said it would be fixed right away.
It hasn’t been fixed.
A few weeks
ago, because of the garbage, the City of Halifax issued us a warning that our property is a dangerous hazard
and needs to be cleaned up. Tenant A
assured us this would be dealt with right away; we believed her because it happened once before and it got cleaned up promptly. The trash is still there, and more has been added. There are now 3 dogs living in the house
rather than two and I've heard there has been numerous complaints about barking.
To all of my neighbours, and everyone who has
to see my house when they drive by, I am sorry.
I’m sorry my house looks like a crackhouse owned by slumlords. Brendan and I are not slumlords. We take our duties as landlords seriously and
have done our best to provide energy efficient, comfortable spaces. When something breaks that is our fault, it
is dealt with promptly. The only reason
we’ve let the place stay looking like it does for as long as it has is because
we’re waiting for Tenant A to take responsibility and clean up the mess, and if she doesn't, it will help us with the eviction. It simply is not fair to us, or our other
tenants, for us to have to absorb this expense.
Back to what I was saying about creating affordable housing…
It is stories like this, and the far worse stories we've heard of others, that becomes the topic of conservations that most sane people would end with teeth
sucking and “tsk tsk, this is why I would never be a landlord”.
It is these stories that root into landlords minds when they
treat all prospective tenants as potential vandals.
And maybe, some tenants, hearing that people have done this sort of thing and escaped without consequences, start to think this sort of behaviour is normal and an acceptable protest by the "have nots" against the "haves".
Respect is lost by both sides for eachother.
It is stories like mine that turn people,
who could afford to have affordable rentals, off of having rentals, or compels them to
sell off their properties to other investors or to management companies.
Would-be landlords, who perhaps would have been kind and fair, decide not to bother. Maybe they'd rather invest their money in a Real Estate Investment Trust instead, as it would be way less work. However this gives even more power to big
corporations and property management pools to own and control the rental stock in
cities.
As with the difference between
big box stores and small business owners, that personal touch is diminished when dealing with large companies, as
tenants deal with hired staff rather than the actual property owners. As with most big corporations, business becomes
driven by profit over wanting to create mutually beneficial win/win
situations. Rents rise, in part because
the market bears it, and increased expenses, but also because evictions, property management and repair
costs must be factored into these rents for the companies to return a cut to
their investors. By the way, in my 12
years of being a landlord I’ve never given anyone a rent increase.
So this is my attempt at some communication, to bridge the landlord/tenant
gap.
Hey, people living in my house, what is up with all
the trash in my yard? Did I ever come
to your house and throw my trash in your yard? Do you realize that my house
now looks like a crack house, with its taped up broken window? Is drug addiction playing a role in this scenario? Who broke my window? Was it Tenant B's brother?
What have I done to any you, other than
provide a nice renovated place to live? Do you want to live in a city where your only options for renting a place to live is from big corporations with strict rules? Because that is the sort of consequence that your actions are going to generate.
I think back to the day we signed the lease with these tenants, and how they mentioned that they had friends who were leaning on the tenancy act to live rent free for a few months while waiting out
the eviction process. In hindsight eventhough they swore they would never do such a thing, maybe this was a red flag. Maybe this is
what is now happening in my house. In any
case, I hope that people who do this realize the consequences of their
actions. If that is the case, which I hope it is not, right now we're looking at three months lost rent, garbage
removal, damage – the cost can quickly add up to thousands of dollars, easily wiping out any equity that we may have built up during the tenancy. And I've heard, and seen, far worse happening to other landlords.
I think when people pay rent, they assume
every dollar goes straight into the landlords pocket. It doesn’t.
There are expenses like property taxes, mortgage interest, house insurance, which is high
for us because we afford our tenants the cozy luxury of backup wood heat, repairs,
maintenance, appliances, and lost rent from instances like this. Without instances like this, I think having a well-maintained, well chosen rental
property is a good longterm investment and something more kindhearted would-be investors might take an
interest in, as it would present them with the ultimate ethical investment: an "affordable living" property they get to own and operate. If more wealthy people did this, it could give tenants more choices and help bring housing
costs down.
Unfortunately it is people like the ones in my house who ruin it for everyone, especially other young people. This is why nobody wants to rent to young people. This is why young people end up being forced to take overpriced properties owned by people who perhaps aren’t as concerned about repairs and maintenance. This is why big corporations get to gobble up rental stock in cities. It's a bad cycle that makes itself worse.
Unfortunately it is people like the ones in my house who ruin it for everyone, especially other young people. This is why nobody wants to rent to young people. This is why young people end up being forced to take overpriced properties owned by people who perhaps aren’t as concerned about repairs and maintenance. This is why big corporations get to gobble up rental stock in cities. It's a bad cycle that makes itself worse.
We’re not deterred, though.
I’ve done well with real estate investing as it has allowed me both
my own freedom and the ability to help other people over the years. One day I'd like to be able to leverage our equity to build a business that would offer not only affordable rent, but also rent to own scenarios and mentorship. In fact long ago I had a daydream about an ethical real estate company called "The Artists Trust" or similar that would help creative types own their own homes, including homes with suites for passive income.
This eviction has just been a good learning experience so I’m grateful for that. Would I rent to young people again? Yes. But next time I would get far more references, and a family member to cosign. Had we realized when Tenant B moved out that she was the only one that we had banking and employment info on, we would have demanded a new lease right away.
Anyhow, we'll see what will happen on the 8th! Despite my yard looking the way it does, I still like these people. I think the Jim Rohn video at the beginning of my post helped to give me perspective. I'm hopeful the interior of the house will be in much better shape, and everyone involved in this situation ends up doing the right thing. I hope I'll have more favourable pics to post in my next blog post. To Tenant B's credit, she got in touch with us as soon as she found out what was happening. Maybe the yard has been cleaned up since I wrote this post - I hope so. I'm sure this tenancy has been a good learning experience for them as well.
I’m a big believer in the law of karma, so I have every confidence that the people responsible for violating my property will pay for any damage, in one way or another. I just hope everyone who thinks it is fun, funny or just plain o-k to rip off their landlord thinks twice about what they’re doing in the future, and the role they are playing in making housing less affordable for everyone. Then maybe we could all work together; the people with means, and the people without, to create more affordable housing in Canada.
This eviction has just been a good learning experience so I’m grateful for that. Would I rent to young people again? Yes. But next time I would get far more references, and a family member to cosign. Had we realized when Tenant B moved out that she was the only one that we had banking and employment info on, we would have demanded a new lease right away.
Anyhow, we'll see what will happen on the 8th! Despite my yard looking the way it does, I still like these people. I think the Jim Rohn video at the beginning of my post helped to give me perspective. I'm hopeful the interior of the house will be in much better shape, and everyone involved in this situation ends up doing the right thing. I hope I'll have more favourable pics to post in my next blog post. To Tenant B's credit, she got in touch with us as soon as she found out what was happening. Maybe the yard has been cleaned up since I wrote this post - I hope so. I'm sure this tenancy has been a good learning experience for them as well.
I’m a big believer in the law of karma, so I have every confidence that the people responsible for violating my property will pay for any damage, in one way or another. I just hope everyone who thinks it is fun, funny or just plain o-k to rip off their landlord thinks twice about what they’re doing in the future, and the role they are playing in making housing less affordable for everyone. Then maybe we could all work together; the people with means, and the people without, to create more affordable housing in Canada.
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