Re: Water testing in Ontario

Sam, My water testing costs last year totaled slightly under my total water fee income. I have a UV treatment system and pre filters the cost of which was part of that total. Chlorine systems in my opinion are a royal PITA.

Parks in your area may have higher rates due to water treatment costs as opposed to testing costs or they may simply be gouging their tenants. The rate we are allowed to charge is to cover our costs not make a profit but unless challenged by a tenant it is unregulated. Or the park owners are paying to have testing done or they are not efficient with their testing the costs can escalate. Your due diligence will tell the story.

The testing is considerable when you throw in such tests as Lead, pesticides, inorganics etc on top of the regular testing.

Depending on what the tests are there are weekly, monthly, 3 months, 12 months, 3 year and 5 year tests. The key is understanding the system

and working the schedule to the max. For example the monthly tests are to be taken between 20 and 40 days. I test between 38 and 40 days.

Lead testing can be expensive but inexperienced landlords may not know that contrary to the common understanding they can be done every three years instead of every year. There are plenty of tricks and a lot to understand about the requirements.

Once you take the government training course you will better understand.

I do all my own testing, in fact I do everything in the park myself except cut grass and snow plow and of course septic pumping but I do all my own septic maintenance (snaking lines etc).

The nicest thing about owning a park, if you have the time is the multiple income sources. I purchase the oldest ugliest homes and renovate to increase the value of the park and put money in my pocket. You can also hold mortgages and loans for your best tenants.

The biggest problem is if you buy a park with a large portion of rents below market. You simply have no control over raising rents and now we are faced with a max annual restriction of only 2.5%.

Due diligence is extremely important. You must know the market rents and understand that it is dependant on location. If you are lucky you can find a close by park to the one you are interested in that is owned by a corporation. They will set the market rate as a long time park owner will likely be far behind the curve.

We should communicate off board if you are interested.

My Gmail account is ptpropmgmt3303@gmail.com

Be patient if you respond as I do not remember to check it very often.