First Rental Property

Almost every real estate market has certain areas that are referred to as transitional areas.

A transitional area can also be referred to as an area of gentrification or an area of revitalization. It is in these areas that the real estate market is experiencing changes. The changes that are being experienced are changes for the better.

Transitional areas often times start off as a depressed area. When I say depressed, I mean that it is an area where properties are not maintained well by the owners, people generally don’t want to move in to that particular area, often there is visible crime, and there isn’t a general sense of pride of ownership demonstrated by the homeowners.

Transitional areas can be certain streets in a city or town, certain subdivisions or even entire neighbourhoods.

An area becomes a transitional area when it starts to experience a change for the better. With this change, there are a number of things that start to happen to the area.

You begin to see people with above average incomes move into this area. These people will purchase a home, spend some money to fix up the home, and they will begin to demonstrate pride of ownership towards their home. This pride of ownership is demonstrated by the care and attention they have put forth in order to make the exterior of their home look nice. During holiday seasons such as Halloween and Christmas, these owners will jb hublot king power around 15mm men 701 nx 0170 rx deployment around 18cm spend time, effort, and money dressing the exterior of their home up with decorations. In the spring and summer, these same owners will tend to their gardens, hang potted plants, and make sure that their yards are generally tidy and attractive looking.

When an area is in transition, there are a few signs that you can look for. First, you will start to see an assortment of well looked after houses, in which these new owners are moving. At the same time, just next door, you may see a run down house, where little care and attention has been put towards the home. For every 2 run down houses you see, you should be able to see one well maintained, attractive looking house. These numbers I give are just an approximation. As long as you are seeing an assortment of nice looking houses, mixed in with run down houses, this is a sign that you are in a transitional area.

Another indicator of a transitional area can be found by observing the type of cars that you see in the neighbourhood. In transitional areas that are experiencing revitalization, you will start to notice higher end cars, such as BMWs, Mercedes, and Audi. You start to notice these cars because people with higher than average incomes are moving into these areas, and generally speaking higher income earners might own higher end cars.

In these transitional areas, you often may notice construction taking place. An indicator of construction would be found when you see dump trucks, construction workers, and any sort of construction equipment. Construction will be taking place in these areas, as sometimes new houses or condo buildings are being built in the area. In addition, you will notice construction taking place on some of the run down houses. This would be a situation where someone has moved in from outside of the area, has an above average income, and is spending the time and money to make their house look nice.

You also might see notices for re-development from the town or city placed on certain properties, or you might see a number of properties fenced off and a re-development sign placed on the fence. When you see this, this simply means that a real estate developer has purchased this particular fenced off section, and the use of that land is going to change. More often than not in a case like this, new homes or condo buildings are being built on this land.

Whenever I am driving through an area that I believe to be a transitional area, there is always one indicator that I look for. If I notice a number of custom built homes, I know that I am in a transitional area. These homes would look very grand, large, and attractive and often out of place, when you compare them to the rest of the homes on the street. When you see several of these homes scattered throughout he streets or neighbourhood, you know that the area is in transition.

A transitional are that I purchased a property in was the Juction Area of Toronto Canada. Below is a map of the Junction.

This was an area that was riddled with crime, drugs, and prostitution. There are still parts of the area that quite rough. However, over the past several years, this area has experienced a lot of change. Many young families and higher income earners are moving into this area. People now want to live here. The pride of ownership is evident, and the sense of community here is strengthening with each passing day. Many new businesses and restaurants have moved into this area, and are continuing to move in each day. I had watched this area experience change over the past few years. As I keep myself educated with respect to the real estate markets, I knew this was an area where there would be tremendous long term potential. I read about the City of Toronto injecting money into this area in order to better it, and I read real estate reports that said that this area of Toronto would outpace other areas of Toronto in terms of property appreciation over the next few years. Finally, I had actually read an article in the New York Times that highlighted the Junction and the revitalization that is was undergoing.

Almost every real estate market has these transitional areas. If you know what signs to look for, you should have no trouble in identifying these areas.

Most real estate investors I know are liars.

The number one thing that real estate investors lie about is their reserve fund for their rental properties.

Here is a really funny clip from the movie, Liar Liar.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBeiKpAGXzc[/youtube]

A reserve fund is money that is allocated for each property that an investor might own. A reserve fund is often kept in a bank account that has been set up for that particular rental property. These funds are very important as they come into play whenever there may be a vacancy with the property or if there are any repairs or maintenance that are required. These funds are very important, because in the event of a vacancy, as a real estate investor, you will be drawing upon these funds in order to pay your operating expenses on your property, such as your mortgage, property taxes, insurance, and any other fees that may apply to your rental property.

As a general rule of thumb, it is always a smart idea to have some money put away in this reserve fund, so in the event of a vacancy, you are in a strong position to make payments, and you do not have to look around for other sources of funds so that you can make these payments.

Opinions differ as to how much money should be set aside in the reserve fund. Some investors that I know say that they keep 2 months of expenses in their reserve fund. I have heard others say that they keep 3 months of expenses. Another investor said that he keeps 6 months. The highest that I have ever heard is that one investor said that he keeps $10,000 in the bank for each rental property that he owns. In my opinion, that is a little crazy.

I have noticed that investors lie about the amounts in their reserve fund in order to impress potential joint venture partners. This dishonesty is wrong and I do not support it. However, when I take a step back and examine why these investors are lying to their potential joint venture partners, I understand the psychology behind it.

The number one thing that I have noticed that novice investors are concerned about with regards to purchasing rental properties is the inherent worry that the property will go vacant. Generally speaking, people with no experience as a real estate investor worry to no end at the prospect of a rental property going vacant. They feel that once the property goes vacant, they will not have the money to pay the mortgage on their rental property, they will end up going bankrupt, lose their rental property to the bank, and then their life will be over.

Experienced real estate investors know that vacant properties are a part of the real estate investment game. The goal and objective of real estate investors should be to minimize the vacancy period as much as possible, through a pro-active approach. Pro-activity can take on many forms. It often involves advertising for an upcoming vacancy through multiple online channels, through print media, and often times through a property management company.

However, let’s come full circle and take a look at why some real estate investors continue to lie about the amount of money they have in their reserve fund. If they are working with a joint venture partner that is new to real estate investing, as stated above, one of the fears that the potential joint venture partner may have is the fear of a potential vacancy. If the real estate investor is able to address the joint venture partners concern about vacancies, he or she may lie to them and give them an over inflated number as to how much money they keep in their reserve funds for their existing properties. By giving the potential joint venture partner a false, inflated number, the real estate investor is hoping that they will come off as being more competent to the potential joint venture partner. As such, they are hoping that the joint venture partner will agree to invest their funds with them.

Again, I think that if a real estate investor lies to a joint venture partner about this, it is wrong. A real estate investor must be transparent and honest with their joint venture partners. It is this transparency and honesty that builds trust. Trust has to be earned.

As I have embarked upon my real estate investing career, I have dealt with vacancies on a number of properties. I have often had to inject my personal funds into the reserve fund account so that I could continue to make payments on my rental property. For example, I recently had a vacancy on a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom townhouse. The vacancy lasted 3 months, however, I only had one month of expenses available in my reserve fund. As such, I had to draw upon my personal funds in order to make the payments for the other 2 months that the townhouse was vacant.

Some real estate investors might say that this makes me a bad investor, as I do not keep a ‘sufficient’ amount of funds in my reserve fund. Am I am bad investor? I don’t think so. If there is one thing that is for certain, I am honest.

Moving forward, I have learned from my experiences that I am always going to make sure that I keep 3 months of expenses in my reserve fund account. That way, when my next vacancy comes, I will not have to move money from my personal accounts in order to cover the vacancy.

When you enter into the world of real estate investing, you must constantly be focused on bettering yourself. The advantages of bettering yourself are numerous. One of these benefits is increased knowledge. You should always have a focus on increasing your knowledge, no matter what your focus is in life. Increased knowledge will definitely lead you to becoming a better real estate investor.

One of the best ways that I have seen as to how a real estate investor can better himself or herself is through what is called a Mastermind group. The idea of the Mastermind group has been around for many years. One of the best, if not the very best definition of a Mastermind group is contained in the book, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. If you have not read this book, I highly recommend that you read this book. The principals talked about in this book, if practiced as to how they were intended will literally help you to grow rich. Most if not all of the modern day books written on wealth and how to acquire wealth echo the principals outlined in Think and Grow Rich. Once you read Napoleon Hill’s book, you will be able to notice all of the modern day references to the book Think and Grow Rich. There are numerous references and they show up everywhere in modern day literature!

The first step to becoming a better real estate investor is to establish this Mastermind group. When putting together this group, you do not want the group to be too big or too small. A size of about 6 people is the amount that I would recommend. You want all of these people to be real estate investors. If you do not have any rental properties as of yet, you will want people with experience who have purchased at least one property. This is crucially important. It is important because these people have experience. You will want to be able to ask advice from these other people. For instance, if you are looking to buy your first rental property and cannot decide on a particular geographical area, you can ask your fellow Mastermind members for their opinion. When these people are asked for their advice, they often times will have no problem sharing with you the pros and/or cons of the geographical area that they are invested. In fact, for the most part, people with experience with real estate investing generally have no problem with sharing their experiences or information with you. On the flip side, if your Mastermind group is full of people who do not have any experience in investing, this can be very problematic. It is problematic, as all of the advice that you would receive from these people will be based on theory and observation alone, not on practical experience. Theory and observation means nothing. Practical experience means everything!

One of the best places that you can find people to be on your Mastermind group is from local real estate investment clubs. This is a great place to find your group members as often times like minded people as well as action takers are associated with these groups. I caution you here however. Your Mastermind group will fail terribly if you simply just select people to become members who have no real estate investing experience. This needs to be a powerful group that you assemble. Each member has to have his or her own individual strengths. Each member must be able to bring value to the group. It is the value that each person brings that will make this group effective.

You also have to determine what your individual value is that you bring to the group. Do some introspection and figure out the things that you are naturally good at. Once you have identified these natural abilities, you will be able to confidently share these strengths with your fellow Mastermind members, as perhaps there is a member in your group that is not as strong in one particular area, that you are strong in. By sharing your knowledge with this individual, you are able to help them to grow and improve. As an example, I have been a member of a number of Mastermind groups. Some have been great, while others, not so much. The current Mastermind group that I am a member of is excellent. It is excellent because we are all action takers, and very motivated individuals. We each have our own individual strengths. One of the strengths that I bring to the group is my familiarity, comfort level, and experience with blogging. This is a topic that some of the Mastermind members do not have a lot of experience with. As such, I share with them my knowledge, in order to help them learn. Conversely, I learn a lot myself from one of the Mastermind Members who has a lot of experiencing doing Joint Venture Partnerships. He has a lot of experience and is very comfortable with this investment strategy. As such, he is able to field any questions that I throw at him. It is through my association with him, that I am better able to improve my knowledge on Joint Venture Partnerships.

You will also become a better real estate investor if you meet with your Mastermind group on a regular basis. Frequency of meetings is very important. This is important because effective Mastermind groups serve as an excellent way to keep people accountable towards their own goals. If you can meet with your Mastermind group once per month, this is a good thing. The frequency of monthly meetings allows you to go out in the real world and implement some of your goals and action items that were established by yourself or your fellow Mastermind members.

If you are not able to find people from local real estate investment groups in your town or city, another option is to check out online forums. There are lots of online real estate forums where people talk about real estate and real estate investing. If you search carefully, you will come across certain forums of people that are taking action, and that actually are real estate investors. By choosing this method, you could be able to form your Mastermind group virtually. The geographical locations where people live would not matter here, as you can connect via the Internet. Again, here you have to be careful, as you only want to associate yourself with action takers and real estate investors. Again, this is an important point because these are going to be the people that you learn from. You are not going to learn from someone with less experience than you in real estate investing. It simply just doesn’t work that way.

When you are looking to buy your first rental property, the first step you must take is to find a mortgage broker that you will be able to work with. When it comes to financing your rental property, financing can be obtained either through a mortgage broker or a bank.
I am a fan of doing your financing through a mortgage broker, as good mortgage brokers have an ability to put often times complicated deals together. Sometimes dealing with banks can be restrictive, as they do not have the same flexibility in finding solutions as a mortgage broker might have.

However, not all mortgage brokers are created equal. There are some very good ones, and there are some very bad ones. I have outlined 4 useful tips for you for when you are in the process of selecting your mortgage broker. Here they are:

1) Your mortgage broker should be a real estate investor

You want to be working with someone who is experienced in the field that you yourself are trying to get into. If your mortgage broker is a real estate investor, then he or she has experience in purchasing rental properties, and they have inevitably at some point purchased their first rental property. Since they are investors themselves, they would be able to offer you advice along the way. Make sure that your mortgage broker is a real estate investor. Experience counts!

2) Your mortgage broker must know your five-year investment plan

At the very least, your mortgage broker should know what your investment plans are over the next 5 years. This is very important because you are looking to build a long-term relationship with this individual. They (your mortgage broker) is going to be a very integral part of your real estate investment team. By knowing your five-year plan, they are able to advise you accordingly every step of the way. For instance, if your plan is to only buy one investment property over the next five years, they need to know this. This is because, the terms of the mortgage, would differ if you had plans of purchasing more than one rental property over the next few years. With mortgage financing for rental properties, good mortgage brokers are looking at how you can obtain financing for not just your first rental property, but also your second, third, or maybe even your 20th rental property, if that so happens to be your goal. Your mortgage broker must know your five year investment plan, as such they can set you up with the appropriate financing on your first rental property.

3) Your mortgage broker must keep up to date with what is happening in the mortgage industry

The mortgage financing world is ever changing. Interest rates often times change, and so too do the offerings from Banks and Lending Companies with respect to mortgages. Since there are so many changes, this creates opportunity for an individual looking to purchase their first property. When a good offer comes along from a Bank (such as a nice low interest rate), your mortgage broker should be up to speed of the changes as soon as they happen. That way, they can make you aware right away of all of the competitive offerings in the marketplace.

4) Your mortgage broker must have experience providing financing for other real estate investors

Often times, the more real estate investors that your mortgage broker works with the better for you. This is good for you, because your mortgage broker will have lots of practice in putting together deals for real estate investors. They will be proficient at this task, and will be able to deal with any roadblocks that are thrown in front of them. For instance, the reputation of your mortgage broker goes a long way when they are speaking to and negotiating with the mortgage underwriters at the banks or Lending companies. The mortgage underwriters are essentially the people who would review the particulars of your mortgage application. If the underwriter had any questions or concerns, they would converse directly with the mortgage broker to get the answers. If your mortgage broker has a solid history of putting together good deals, having a good relationship with the underwriters and the banks and Lending companies, then you are in good hands. The reputation of your mortgage broker is significant. They must have a track record of working with and putting together mortgages for other real estate investors.

There are a number of ways in which you can come up with the money required in order to purchase an investment property. Despite what many beginner investors might think, you do not need to have a lot of your own personal savings in order to buy a rental property. Using The H.O.P.E. Program is a great way to find the money to buy a rental property. The program has helped more than 12,000 people get homes who never thought they could, helping even those with bad credit get qualified. CLICK HERE to find out more about the program.

Let’s also take a look at all of the different ways in which you can find the money to buy a rental property
.

1) Your own personal savings

You can use your own savings in order to buy a real estate investment. This is probably the least common method that is used by real estate investors. It is not a common method used; because, generally you have to come up with a significant amount of cash in order to purchase an investment property. When I say significant, I am referring to tens of thousands of dollars. Most average income earners do not have tens of thousands of dollars saved. Furthermore, if somebody has a plan to buy more than one investment property, then by using this method, they will continually have to come up with tens of thousands of dollars of their own money.

2) Leverage the equity in your home

This is the most common method that I see being used by fellow real estate investors. This is also the method that we have used most recently to purchase our last 3 investment properties. This is a powerful method to use, because you are utilizing leverage here. If this method is used, it is recommended that a secured line of credit be used. In order for this method to work, there has to be equity in your home. Generally speaking a secure line of credit can be up to 80% of the value of your home, minus any outstanding mortgage balance. Here is an example to demonstrate. Let’s assume that you live in a house (your principal residence) and the value of your home is $400,000. You have a mortgage on your home and the balance is $250,000. Therefore, 80% of the value of your home (valued at $400,000) works out to be, $320,000.
We then take $320,000 and deduct your outstanding mortgage balance of $250,000. $320,000 minus $250,000 equals $70,000. Therefore, in this scenario, you would have approximately $70,000 that you would be able to use to purchase an investment property. With the secure line of credit, you only pay interest to the bank on whatever amount you use. Meaning, that you can be approved for the $70,000, and you can utilize the funds at your discretion when you are ready. The interest rate on a secure line of credit usually is around the bank’s prime lending rate. This method is one of the cheapest ways to borrow funds, especially if you are in a low interest rate environment.

3) Use a Vendor Take Back Mortgage

This is a fantastic way to find money in order to buy a real estate investment. Experienced real estate investors will tell you that this method was used frequently in the 1980’s, during a higher interest rate environment. Here is an example of how this method works. You purchase an investment property from a seller. Let’s call the seller, Sanjay. By the way, Sanjay is also the vendor, because the vendor and seller mean the same thing here. When you buy the house from Sanjay you ask him if he would be willing to do a vendor take back mortgage. If he agrees to this, this is in your favour.

What is a vendor take back mortgage?

A vendor take back mortgage or VTB is an arrangement where you are obtaining a mortgage from Sanjay (the vendor/seller). In essence, Sanjay has pretty much become ‘the bank’ here. You will be responsible to pay Sanjay mortgage payments, often principle and interest, or just interest on the funds that you have borrowed from him. Keep in mind however that you still need to secure a ‘first mortgage’ from a bank or major financial institution. The mortgage portion that Sanjay will be lending you often times is in the range of 10 %to 15% of the value of the home. This is good because this decreases the total amount of cash required that you have to put into the deal.

Why would Sanjay want to give you money?

There could be a variety of reasons. Perhaps Sanjay has had a difficult time selling this property in the past. As a result, he agreed to the VTB mortgage in order to make the deal work between the two of you. In addition, Sanjay may not have needed the funds from the proceeds of the sale of his home. As a result, giving you a VTB mortgage, and making a return on his investment with these funds could be something that appeals to him. As a side note, real estate investors who sell off a large portfolio of investment properties to other investors often offer VTB mortgages as a way to, a) facilitate the deal, and b) as a means of continuing to make a return on their invested capital.

4) Leverage the equity in you rental property

Once you have equity built up in at least one rental property, you can use these funds wisely in order to continue to purchase investment properties. Financing rules with investment properties differ when compared to financing rules on you principal residence (the house that you live in). As a result, I always advise that you deal with a knowledgeable mortgage broker, or bank, in order to get the proper advice. However, the good thing here is that I can tell you how you can leverage you rental property. ☺
You can either put a secure line of credit on the rental property in order to access funds, or you can re-finance your rental property in order to pull out equity from the house. I would advise you to put on a secure line of credit, as opposed to re-financing. A secure line of credit is better because you will only pay interest on the portion that you use. If you refinance the property then you have to pay on the new mortgage balance. For instance, let’s look at some new numbers. Let’s say that your investment property is worth $300,000. Your mortgage on the property is $200,000. Rules vary as to refinancing, so once again it is important to consult a good mortgage broker, or your bank. However, let’s say that you are able to refinance your investment property to 90% of the value of the property. Therefore 90% of $320,000 is $288,000. You now have to take $288,000 and subtract your mortgage balance of $200,000 in order to determine the amount of funds that you have gained. As such, $288,000 minus $200,000 equals $88,000. So this means that you have $88,000 of new funds to invest into real estate investments. However, remember that because you did a refinance here, you owe principal and interest payments on your entirely new mortgage balance of $288,000, starting from the day these funds were advanced to you. So, as you can see, a secure line of credit is a better option, as you don’t have to pay, until you use the funds.
**Please also note that I have not factored in the cost of bank appraisals or bank fees with regards to the secure line of credit or refinancing.**

5) Purchase a Rental Property with a Joint Venture Partner

This method is used by both beginning investors as well as experienced investors. This is a fantastic method to use if you are looking to buy your first rental property or your 100th rental property. With the classic joint venture partnership, you have a real estate expert, who does all of the work associated with locating, buying, and managing a rental property. In addition you have the money partner, who provides the funds required in order to purchase the real estate investment. If a real estate investor is able to master the art of joint venturing, there is no limit as to how many rental properties they would be able to purchase. However, the most important aspect of the Joint Venture Partnership is that it has to be a win-win relationship for both parties. Having a happy joint venture partner is key. If you are delivering on your promises with them and you are doing a good job, chances are that they will become an advocate for you.

The H.O.P.E. Program has been able to help more than 12,000 people purchase homes who never thought that they could, helping even those people with BAD great.  This program is the premium Rent to Own Program as it gives access to thousands of property listings for Rent To Own Homes.  CLICK HERE to enrol in The H.O.P.E. Program.

Happy Investing!

Neil

The Rent to Own System of real estate investing is by far better than the out of date Buy-Hold-Rent method.

Some of you may not have heard of the Rent to Own method before. That is okay. Here is an explanation:

A real estate investor has a rental property that they would like to rent out. They find a tenant who would like to rent the home, with the option to purchase it down the road. (In this scenario, we are going to refer to the tenant as the tenant/buyer). An agreement is established between the investor and the tenant/buyer. Contained in this agreement are a number of things. First, in order for the tenant/buyer to rent the home from the investor, they have to provide a down payment to the investor. This down payment that is provided will be used toward the future purchase of the home by the tenant/buyer. Second, the tenant/buyer agrees to pay the investor their standard monthly rent. In addition to the monthly rent, there is a premium that the tenant/buyer pays over and above their monthly rent to the investor. This monthly premium is credited to the tenant/buyer’s down payment and factored into the final sale price at the time of the purchase. Also, the final sale price of the home is usually established on day one by the investor. The final sale price of the home can be the market value of the property at the time of sale, or there can be a fixed appreciation model in place. For example, if the term of the Rent to Own agreement is 3 years. It can be pre-determined that the property will appreciate in value the first year by 4%, the second year by 5%, and the 3rd year by 5%. Usually, Rent to Own Terms are established for 2 or 3 years. After this term has been completed, the tenant/buyer has the right to exercise their option and purchase the property.

The benefits of the Rent to Own system to the tenant/buyer are plentiful. In my opinion the most important benefit is that the tenant/buyer is able to realize home ownership sooner rather than later. They are able to realize homeownership sooner because the ideal Rent to Own candidate has sufficient income in order to qualify for a mortgage, however their credit may be slightly bruised, and in need of some repair and attention. The tenant/buyer works with the investor over the course of the Rent to Own term, in order to repair their credit, so that they are able to purchase the home at the end of their Rent to Own term.

The benefits of the Rent to Own method to the investor are equally as plentiful. In my opinion, a couple of significant benefits are, 1) the increased monthly cash flow, and 2) significantly reduced repairs and maintenance required on the property.

This is an area where The Rent to Own and Buy-Hold-Strategy differ quite substantially. With the Rent to Own arrangement, the tenant/buyer is often times responsible for all repairs and maintenance on the property. In addition, Rent to Own tenant/buyers generally speaking have a high degree of pride of ownership. With this increased pride of ownership, properties are often treated better by the tenant/buyers, and they are not treated the same way as a straight rental unit.

So why is the Rent to Own Method better than the Buy-Hold-Rent strategy?

Two reasons.

1) As the real estate investor (which you are), you are (or should be) concerned with the cash flow of your investment property. The more cash flow that can be generated by a property, the better.

2) You do not have any repairs and maintenance to worry about. This point should not be underestimated, as many beginning investors are terrified of being a Landlord, and they are terrified of the duties and responsibilities that come along with this new role.

In addition, the Buy-Hold-Rent method of investing is less favourable than the Rent to Own Strategy, due to a number of reasons.

1) You are responsible for repairs and maintenance. No matter if the property is brand new, or many years old, there are repairs and maintenance issues that come up on all properties. If you are not a handy person yourself, then you should be delegating this work out to qualified handymen. This comes with an addition cost though.

2) Not as good cash flow is another reason whey the Buy-Hold-Rent method is less favourable than Rent to Own. Often times with these properties, your profit margins can be thin. Any unexpected repair or maintenance issue that you have to have completed can potentially wipe out your positive cash flow for the month, or even for the entire year.

The Rent to Own Method is gaining more popularity and support among real estate investors due to the clear advantages over the outdated buy-hold-rent strategy.

When you are investing in real estate, hopefully you will get to the point where you realize that you are running a business. Whether you own 1 investment property, or 100 investment properties, you are applying the same concepts, or should be at least.

Often times more experienced investors who own multiple properties realize through trial and error that they are running a business.

Beginning investors who take the time to learn from more experienced investors can be at an advantage. They will be at an advantage because they will learn to apply certain principles early in their real estate investment career.

All of the senior real estate investors that I associate with all have learned to run their real estate investments as a business. They all recommend that beginning investors should run their real estate investing as a business as well.

These experienced real estate investors that I speak of own a large number of properties. One of these investors owns 21 properties; the other one owns 50, while a few others own 100 and 200 respectively. Due to the number of properties that they each own their advice is extremely credible as they have the experience to show.

Here are some things that you can do so that you too can run your real estate investing like a business.

1) Be Decisive

The saying, ‘Time is Money’ holds true. You have to learn to make quick and decisive decisions. Once you have made your decision, stick to it. Don’t flip flop back and forth once you have made your decision.

For example, I have a rental property right now that is vacant. I received an offer from a prospective tenant to rent the property. The prospective tenant was supposed to return the signed lease to me, along with a deposit cheque, in order to rent the property. The lease and cheque was supposed to be returned to me 2 business days ago. Through communication today, the prospective tenant said that they are still interested in my property and that they are going to submit the documents to me. At this point I don’t care if they are still interested. They have lost their opportunity. I am not going to wait for them. I have cut them lose and have put the property back on the market. If they want to do business with me, they must meet my timelines. Be decisive and move on.

But wait…you might be asking…How do you be decisive? Good question. It comes with practice. The secret with being decisive I have found is that you have to think logically, not emotionally. When you think logically, making decisions is easy because everything is black and white. For example, I decided to cut this prospective tenant loose because the more time I spent waiting for their signed lease and deposit cheque, resulted in lost opportunity for myself. There could very well be other interested parties who want to rent my property. As such, I need to spend my time focusing on these people.

2) Make sure that the money coming in is greater than the money going out

I do not know of any business that has become successful in the long run by continually losing money month over month and year over year. It is easy to apply this same concept to real estate investing. Pay close attention to this next sentence.

Make sure that your expenses on your rental property are lower than your gross income for the property. If this is the case, then you are making money. This is a good thing. For example, if all of your monthly expenses on a property are $800, and your gross monthly income is $1000, then you have a $200 profit each month.

You do NOT want to be in a position where say for instance, your total monthly expenses are $1000, and your total monthly gross income is $800. This would mean that you have a $200 loss on your property each month. It is difficult to continue to grow a business when you are losing money. How do you make sure that the money coming in on a property is greater than the money going out, you may ask? For starters, you will have to know the market rents of your target property. By knowing the market rents, you will be able to accurately estimate what your actual rents will be. Also, before purchasing the investment property, you will have to do some pre-work in order to determine how much all of the expenses cost. For example, how much are your mortgage payments going to be? What about property taxes? Are there any condo fees to take into consideration? What about repairs and maintenance, how much will you allocate for that? Finally, are you going to hire a property manager, or will you manage the property yourself? These are all variables you have to take into consideration. After reviewing all of these variables, you will be able to accurately determine if the money coming in is greater than the money going out!

If you talk to any experienced real estate investor about their path to ’success’, chances are that they will share that their journey was not a smooth one.

At the end of the day, when you remove all of the B.S., real estate investment is not a walk in the park. It can be stressful at times, and many experienced investor reaches the point where they consider throwing in the towel, and giving up all together.

I have considered giving up once. It was at this time that I was considering selling all of the real estate assets and going back to school. Looking back, I am glad that I chose to stick with real estate investing because, this is really what I am interested in and what I like to do.

With investing, since the road is not always a smooth one, I have included some tips on how to stay motivated in the real estate investment game. These are all tips that I personally practice. As time goes on, I am sure that this list may very well expand. For now, here are some of the ways one can keep motivated, and thus continue to stay invested in real estate.

1) Surround Yourself with Like Minded People

There is no better way than to stay motivated. When you align yourself with people with common goals, this encourages you to stay the course with your own goals. Comparing notes with people with a similar vision makes you feel that you are not alone. Conversations with like minded people often help to recharge your batteries and give you enough energy to keep on moving forward.

This past Sunday I had a real estate meeting scheduled with some fellow real estate investors. I didn’t really feel like going as it was dark outside, and the weather has just changed as the winter is upon us here (December 2009). This was problematic for me as I am not a fan of the Winter or cold weather. Despite the outdoor climate, I knew that I had to go to the meeting. I know that if I did, I would feel better and more motivated after my meeting. As such, I bit the bullet and went to my meeting. I spent some time talking to investors who were using the same investment strategy that I currently am using (rent to own). After my conversation with them, I felt so much better, and I had increased confidence and reassurance that I was on the right track.

When you surround yourself with like minded people, they will charge your batteries. They will give you the energy you need in order to keep on moving forward.

2) Surround Yourself with Action Takers

Action takers and Like minded people are not one and the same. There is a big difference between the two. Like minded people may believe in the same things that you believe in. For example, that real estate investment is a good way to generate monthly cash flow. However, action takers are the ones who are not only talking about the benefits of monthly cash flow, however, they are implementing things and actually DOING something. They are the ones that are buying properties, and leading by example. Action Takers are powerful people to be associated with. Their actions rub off on you and force you yourself to take action.
A friend of mine is a big time action taker. This year he, and his joint venture partner have purchased 11 properties. He is an inspiration to be around because he has such positive energy. This positive energy is no doubt a result of his recent success with all of his purchases. As human beings we often compare ourselves to other people. Comparing yourself with an action taker is a good thing, because if they are taking action and you are not, you will want to take action as well, just like them.

3) Read as much as you can about real estate investment

The more you read about real estate investment, the smarter you will become on the topic. Being smart is important because smart people can find solutions for problems. As well, smart people can come up with creative ways of solving different problems. Not only that, but knowledge is power. The more you know the better.

For example, I was recently reading about a real estate investment strategy called RRSP second mortgages. It is an interesting strategy which allows a real estate investor to utilize RRSPs as a second mortgage on an investment property. With my initial reading, I had discovered that this strategy was only permitted as an Arms Length transaction, which means that the 2 individuals involved (Real estate investor and RRSP lender) cannot be blood related. This discovery posed some problems for me, as I was looking to implement this strategy with family members.
I was not content with my findings, so I continued to read further on this topic. After further reading, I came across some information that confirmed that the RRSP second mortgage strategy was in fact allowable between blood related people. This was a big breakthrough for me, as this discovery will potentially lead to 3 or 4 new investment properties in 2010.
If I did not continue to read more on this topic, I would not have found this solution. Reading about real estate investment is powerful because it allows you to gain more knowledge. Knowledge creates options.