Rental income question when living at the property

gwill211 wrote: ↑ Good luck with your rooming house. If its anything like this post its not going to go that well.

runeash wrote: ↑ Is it possible for corporation to collect rent instead of yourself on your owned rental properties. With job income, rental income would be pushing you to a high bracket so wondering if opening up inc and letting it collect rents as a management service so the tax would be at the business rate?

MichaelZZZ wrote: ↑ > In Ontario, the definition of a rooming house is renting out rooms to 4 or more people.

Fine. I'm not in Ontario and many Canadians aren't. As this scenario probably isn't for much of Ontario because of the higher land cost there. Can you get it through your skull that not everyone lives in hallowed, overpriced, polluted, noisy Toronto or would even want to? Can you grasp that? Honestly its like Torontonians think there is no other Canada outside of their own city. Wake up. Its a lot nicer away from huge cities. You can breathe better.

And I could only add things like kitchenettes if its within municipal code guidelines. Why would you assume I'm trying to skirt the law? In my city people do this all the time? Why? Because rental demand is high and availability is low so it makes sense. Also most single men (who I feel are the best candidates for this type of living because they get lonely less than most women and are not adverse to living alone and not having visitors - one of the stipulations that would be necessary) aren't particularly adventuresome in the kitchen. They make something quick and easy. You're thinking of some immigrant wife that lives in the kitchen creating sauces to die for. Not here.

> Parking... Well, much of Canada outside of the very major cities have relatively crappy transit systems.

Here is great. My previous city is great. You can also bike to transit then get a fast bus/rapid transit more downtown. Never an issue where I've lived. But someone without a car won't live in an area far from transit, will they? Duh.....Not an issue. Cars are a frightful waste of money, especially the insurance and fuel. Plus they pollute our air. The less the better. The depreciate fast, have high interest on their loans, are awkward and often expensive to service and are basically a money pit. I thought RedFlag readers value astute stewardship of finances. It seems I've wandered into a snowflake area where people are terrified of rain or colder weather. Bikes are the greatest transportation tool ever invented. No insurance, minimal maintenance a child could perform, no parking and you feel great when you've arrived. Unlike sitting in a metal pollution machine getting frustrated by traffic. Also bikes take up very little space in traffic, unlike your typical pig SUV. So the more of them on the road the better for cars. The main reason people don't ride bikes it they are enormously out of shape. They make every excuse in the world for not riding but it really boils down to that. Plus people want to eat whatever they want and then hop in their air conditioned/heated polluting machine and arrive to work in sumptuous luxury. With a bike you can't eat a bunch of fried food and then exercise hard. Your body will want to throw up that slop. When you have to exercise after you eat you consciously eat healthier. Its quite remarkable actually. You also learn that if you eat only 1 food at that meal you can exercise much harder, much sooner. Its because its much, much easier to digest. By stressing ourselves physically our body tells us what works and what doesn't.
As for cooking smells, I realize some cultures cook some pretty disgusting things and the aromas are very pungent. Filipinos have a certain fish they seem to like and its nauseating. I live around Filipinos and they almost never cook that and I never smell anything. I've rarely smelled neighbors in 30+ years of living in apartment buildings. Where do you live that this is such a problem? And you can always mention that the area is sensitive to smells so if they want to eat something that stinks they'll have to go to a restaurant. Its not a problem.

> Entrances... Entrances to basements are expensive, and can lead to many issues (primarily water related). Plus they take up precious space, so how many can you realistically expect to put in?

This is the first thing you've said that makes sense. Yes egress modifications are expensive. But it also will pay off over time. Its simply an excellent investment IF you're already renovating the basement. Here I see house after house with newer windows in the basement. But they're still small! Inside they probably renovated nicely but they still don't have much available, natural light which is the number one thing people miss and the main reason people don't like living in basements. I'm just saying if you're going to do it - do it well. A private entrance to a basement brings in huge amounts of light and transforms it from a cheap forgotten part of the house to a wonderful place to welcome you. Just do an image search of egress doors and you'll see all the great things people are doing. Oh....its also great for a fire escape so there's that. As it opens to the yard there's rarely an issue with space. Maybe in Toronto! And there won't be water issues if they've done it well. Egress doors are much like egress windows. Just better. Another option is to dig out more of the area and put in a patio in front of the door. At a certain point, it would probably be wise to just to buy a small backhoe and sell it when your renos are done. Then you're not pressed for time.

All your links are from Ontario. Who cares about Ontario? Not me as I would never want to live there. Where in Ontario can I find a 4 bedroom house for 200k that isn't a moderate driving distance to a well stocked urban area? Plus the winters are not warm and the summers are dripping in humidity. Its a horrible choice geographically. Plus most of its cities are heavily polluted. The only place that would be interesting would be near Niagara Falls because of its proximity to Buffalo, when the border ever reopens. But unfortunately Niagara Falls is not a cheap place to live! And I'm sure there are some lake areas that are rather pristine but they are inevitably a long way away from urban supplies.

> While there may be some social value in a rooming house, the conditions in most of them means that it's only people who are too desperate for housing that would consider them as an option.

No. You're thinking of a rooming house for drunks downtown. Think of hard studying students, hard working young people eager to save money, busy with their lives. Think of older adults without much money just wanting a peaceful place to live as they near retirement. I've found houses where the occupants have been there more than 20 years. Think they are peaceful people? Of course. They have to be. When you don't allow smokers (not smoking but smokers - because smoking outside doesn't work) you wouldn't believe how it cleans up the applying demographic. You also ban alcohol. Its simply not allowed in the house. Not a drop. This also attracts people that hate alcohol and its coarse, loud behavior it often instigates. And yes, living in the house is the way to do it. They have to know you care as well and are on top of problems. This breeds cooperation. Doing little favors for your roommates also works wonders. Doesn't have to be much. The gesture is what's important.

> If you want to continue your discussion on taxes, feel free.

I'm trying but a lot of you feel the need to torpedo this idea. I've seen it work. This is about taxes and shared accommodation. NOT rooming houses.

So you've lived in shared accommodation but were partying/drinking. That wouldn't occur in this situation. Alcohol makes most people loud, rude, overbearing and clumsy. And violent. Its a total fail for shared accommodation. I also wouldn't tolerate pot because of the smoke.

This situation is financial. Pure and simple. You go in with a 5 to 20% down payment and cash out a few years later after living expense free. Very few people have a return like that while living around others in apartment buildings or shared accommodation when they don't control things. And remember, you have control over all the outside area. Renters rarely use the yard I found. They just don't expect it. You can do a lot with a yard. Especially if you have young children.