Landlord Academy: practical checklists

Buying

Estimate the down payment, monthly mortgage payment and closing costs, and keep each calculator result.
List property tax, insurance, condo fees, and a budget for repairs and vacancy; compare several rent scenarios.
Set up a property record with the province, currency, ownership share and rental-use percentage.

Renting

Gather the layout, rent and real photos; label any virtually staged images as illustrations.
Look up the official lease for the province where the property is; keep the signed documents and handover records.
In the workspace, add a tenant nickname, the lease term and monthly rent; record the deposit separately.

Renting

Go room by room: check appliances, keys, cleanliness and existing damage, and keep a record both sides agree on.
For a condo, also confirm the move booking, management office rules and shared amenities.
Download the checklist and turn anything that needs fixing into a repair to-do.

Renting

Record rent due and rent received separately, keep proof of payment, and check what is owing rather than only total income.
Use the message assistant to draft a payment check or quote request; confirm amounts and dates before sending.
For formal legal notices, use the official form that applies. An ordinary message is not legal service of a notice.
Each month in the workspace, generate this month's rent due from your leases, then import your bank statement and confirm each payment; partial payments can be applied to the right month.
When a tenant asks, export a monthly or annual rent receipt.

Maintenance

File repairs by property, with urgency, planned date and status.
Compare written quotes, scope of work, insurance and warranty, not just the lowest price.
Keep invoices and before-and-after photos; check capital improvements separately from routine repairs.

Taxes

Reconcile rent and expenses by property and by year; look for missing and duplicate entries.
Check mortgage interest versus principal, the personal-use versus rental-use split, and capital improvements.
Export the transaction details, the T776 prep sheet and receipts; CCA, special situations and the final return are for your accountant to confirm.
On the workspace's Taxes page, review expenses missing a receipt and the comparison with last year; add the missing receipts and look into any unusual changes.
Export the rent summary CSV and give it to your accountant with the T776 prep sheet, and export a JSON backup; keep your original records as CRA requires.

Landlord Academy: start with your first property