First Rental Property

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all doing well.

As a new real estate investor, you may not yet understand the importance of associating yourself with goal oriented and like minded people.

Doing this is absolutely critical to ensuring your success as a real estate investor.

Fellow Canadian Real Estate Investors and Bloggers Tom and Nick Karadza have done a lot of reading on the topics of real estate and business.  They have a number of great recommended readings over at their Rock Star Inner Circle Blog. A number of books that they recommend discuss the importance of associating yourself with goal oriented and like minded people.  In addition, topics such as ‘accountability partners’ are discussed in some of these books.

We will now dive into today’s blog post, as I will discuss with you 3 reasons why you need an accountability partner…

The First Reason you need an accountability partner…

Real Estate investors are an entrepreneurial lot.  As entrepreneurs, we all personally hold ourselves accountable in different ways.  Some of us are very good at being accountable, and some of us are not very good at being accountable.

From my observation of real estate investors, I believe that most lack an ability to keep themselves accountable.

Due to the fact that most of us have a poor ability of keeping ourselves accountable, we need all the help we can get with this.

Therefore, the first reason you need an accountability partner is because your partner will keep you on track. When you are on track, you stay focused on your goals.  Due to this rediscovered focus you are able to complete tasks and accomplish goals more rapidly than you would have been able to, had you not been matched up with your accountability partner.

The Second Reason Why you need an accountability partner…

A good accountability partner can be a great help.  Not only can this person help us, they can also serve as a gauge as we measure our own success in comparison to our partner’s.

For example, you may have two individuals acting as accountability knockoff richard mille rm 52 02 partners for one another.  The first partner, let’s call him Sanjay, owns 3 rental properties.  The second partner, let’s call him Frank, has not bought his first rental property yet.

As Frank and Sanjay engage in their discussions as accountability partners, Sanjay’s experience in purchasing 3 rental properties can prove to be a great help for Frank.

Frank can try to reproduce Sanjay’s success, by purchasing his own rental property.

No one really likes to be left behind.  As such, Frank can use Sanjay’s success as a motivator in order to push him closer to the goal of owning his first rental property.

The Third Reason Why you need an accountability partner…

An accountability partner will help you to become smarter.  Each person in a 2 person accountability partner relationship has different strengths.

For instance, one partner may be great at raising joint venture money, while the other partner might be great at building a strong real estate team.

Because of the different skills sets that you and your partner have, you can easily learn from one another.  With dedication and commitment, you can learn from your partner and become better at tasks that perhaps you were previously not very good at.  Since you will now be better at tasks that you were once not very good at, your level of overall intelligence and general knowledge will have increased!

So in summary, the 3 reasons why you need an accountability partner are as follows:

• Your partner will keep you on track. When you are on track, you stay focused on your goals.
• They can also serve as a gauge as we measure our own success in comparison to the success of our partner.
  
• An accountability partner will help you to become smarter.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

PS: To keep up to date with my blog, enter your e-mail address on the LEFT hand side of the blog.  To receive The First Rental Property Newsletter, enter your e-mail address on the RIGHT hand side of the blog.  In The First Rental Property Newsletter, experienced real estate investors will share with you how they bought their first rental property.  They will also share with you some ‘tips’ and ‘tricks’ to help you buy your first rental property.

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are doing well.

Today’s blog post was inspired by Jason Hanson at the Bigger Pockets Real Estate Blog.   Jason’s recent article was titled The #2 reason real estate investors don’t become successful (and what to do about it)

In Jason’s article he raised a couple of great point which I would like to speak further on.

As a new real estate investor reading this post, pay special attention to these points, as this applies directly to you.

In Jason’s article, he describes a book that he read about John D. Rockefeller.  In the book, Rockefeller explained that most people never become successful because they have a ‘lack of concentration’.

I could not agree with this statement more.

As Jason articulates in his article, if you never put in a consistent effort in growing your real estate business, it will never happen.

What I enjoyed the most about Jason’s blog post was a statement that he made.  I have provided the statement below, and below the statement, I will give my interpretation.  Here is the statement:

“In short, if you want to be rich (in any business) have a long-term focus and don’t let anything distract you. Also, I highly recommend writing yourself a promise and signing it and looking at it every time you think of doing something else.”

Jason is bang on with his first point.  New real estate investors, please pay attention.  Jason says that, “if you want to be rich (in any business) have a long term focus and don’t let anything distract you.”

This is great advice because in the real world of real estate investing, distractions are all around us.  Distractions could come in the form of other business ventures that we are thinking about pursuing, or distractions could simply be unproductive time spent on less important tasks.

Being focused, and not being distracted are key to success as a real estate investor.

Further, Jason makes a recommendation that I really like.  He suggests writing down a promise to yourself, signing it, and looking at it every time you think of doing something else. (other than staying committed to real estate investing)

This sounds like a really simple thing to do.  However, the act of doing this can be extremely powerful.

So in summary:

• Real Estate investors fail often because they have a lack of concentration.
• In order to stay focused, have a long term vision and don’t let anything or anyone derail you from your path.
• Make a written promise to yourself, sign it, and look at it every time you think of bailing from real estate investing.

Thanks again Jason for your great post.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh.

PS: To keep up to date with my blog, enter your e-mail address on the LEFT hand side of the blog.  To receive The First Rental Property Newsletter, enter your e-mail address on the RIGHT hand side of the blog.  In the Newsletter, experienced real estate investors will be sharing with you how they purchased their first rental property.  They will also share some ‘tips’ and ‘tricks’ with you as to how to buy your first rental property.

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are doing well.

Before I dive into today’s blog post, I would like to thank fellow Canadian Real Estate Investor and Blogger Chris Davies.  I was chatting with Chris this week, and he gave me some great tips as to how I can improve my blog.  One of the blogs that he recommended to me that I am going to be leveraging in order to improve my blog is SEOmoz.  The SEOmoz blog has nothing to do with real estate investing, however, everything to do with Search Engine Optimization — which is something that I am going to be learning more about and integrating with First Rental Property.  Thanks again Chris!

Now for today’s blog post…

Today’s post was inspired by fellow Canadian Real Estate Investors and Bloggers Julie Broad and Dave Peniuk of Rev N You.

In Julie and Dave’s recent Rev N You Newsletter, they talked about figuring out your ‘why’ when you are buying rental property.

Over the past couple of years, they have met a number of real estate investors who have purchased 30 or more properties in a very short period of time.

Despite these large portfolios that these investors have accumulated in a very short period of time, they are not satisfied.  They are not satisfied because they never took the time to figure out WHY they were investing in the first place.

When I read this in Julie and Dave’s Newsletter, I knew exactly what they were talking about, because I see this happening as well with real estate investors that I know, or hear about.

It has been my observation that some real estate investors become obsessed with buying as many properties that they can.  Some investors ‘explode’ onto the real estate investing scene and buy a lot of properties REALLY fast.  Before the dust has settled, some find that they are in a situation in which they despise….very unhappy, and holding a large portfolio of rental properties.

For instance, they now have a lot of additional stress with the management of these properties and with dealing with all of their tenants.

Why it pays to be self aware…

Most Real Estate Investors just like most of the general population are not overly self aware.  Due to this lack of self awareness, people do things without really thinking why they are doing it.

Fortunately, I have always had a high degree of self awareness.  This has helped to guide me through my real estate investing career.  If and when I begin to question what I am doing, I have to stop and ask myself the reason why I am investing in real estate.

As a new real estate investor, being self aware is crucially important.  Generally speaking, the more self aware you are, the less stress you will cause yourself down the road.

Here is an example of what I mean…

Some new real estate estate investors think investing is all about money, and all about how many properties you can buy and how fast.

Fortunately, I came to realize early in my real estate investing career that it is not all about that.

This past year, I  had to turn down an individual who wanted to joint venture with me.  He was a guy with access to a large amount of capital and with experience in real estate.

When he first asked to joint venture with me, I struggled slightly with the decision making process, as all I saw were ‘dollar signs’, as I did not want to turn down this guy’s money.

Being the extremely self aware individual that I am, it did not take me long to figure out that I had to listen to my gut and not joint venture with this guy.

He was someone that did not have the same core values as myself.  He viewed life and business much differently than I did.  His time horizon for investing did not match up with mine.  Due to all these factors, my decision to turn him down was very easy.

Having only been investing in real estate for a little over 5 years now, I know well enough never to venture with someone who does not share the same core values that I do.  This in my mind is a recipe for disaster.

Unfortunately, there are so many investors who do not realize this and jump into partnerships with anyone, just because that other person has money to invest.  They get blinded by the dollar signs, and more often than not, are left cleaning up a mess and/or are completely miserable.

What I have learned by observing others…

I have been fortunate to learn a lot by watching what other investors do.

What I have learned is that in this point in my real estate investing career, I would only joint venture with family members (people that I am related to) or with people who have core values that match up closely with mine. (this could be close friends, friends or acquaintances — however, there has to be an alignment of core values)

Due to this decision on my part, it may take me longer to build my real estate portfolio, however, I will be much happier and will not be adding any unnecessary stress to my life by partnering with people just because they have money to invest.

So how many rental properties do you need to retire rich?

There is no right or wrong answer to this question.

This all comes down to your own personal goals.

As you can see from my example, I am choosing to grow my portfolio more organically…

It is perfectly okay to grow your portfolio in this manner.

If you are a new real estate investor, you may only need one rental property to meet your real estate investing goals.

Let’s say for example, you chose to purchase 3 properties.   Depending on your individual circumstance, there is no reason why you cannot do this on you own.  For some it may take a number of years to acquire 3 properties by yourself.  Whereas with others, it may only take a few months in order to achieve this.

At the end of the day it is important to remember:

• There is no ‘secret’ number of properties required to retire rich.
• It is completely fine to grow your portfolio organically (by yourself)
• If you do joint venture with someone, make sure that you are not doing it just for the money, and that your partner and yourself are well suited for one another.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

PS: To keep up to date with my blog, enter your email address on the LEFT hand side of the blog.  To receive The First Rental Property Newsletter, enter your e-mail address on the RIGHT hand side of the blog.  In The First Rental Property Newsletter, experienced real estate investors will be sharing how they purchased their first rental property.  They will also share with you some ‘tips’ and ‘tricks’ as to how to buy rental properties.

Hi Everyone,

I hope that you are all doing well.

Don R. Campbell, fellow real estate investor and President of The Real Estate Investment Network, a.k.a. REIN, is a wise man.  Don is a Canadian Best Selling Author of the book Real Estate Investing in Canada.

Don made a comment a few months ago that I particularly enjoyed.

His comment was…

“Fools get wealthy.”

Over the past several years, Don has been instrumental in changing the conversation on real estate investing in Canada.  In my opinion, Don provides a lot of insightful commentary on the real estate market and the key economic factors effecting the real estate market in Canada.

With regards to Don’s statement, “Fools get wealthy”,  he explained that the super successful people are often referred to as fools, by the rest of the population.  They are ‘fools’ because they are not normal people, nor do they behave like normal people. These ‘fools’ do things that normal people would never consider doing…

What I am trying to explain to you is this…

If you are a new or aspiring real estate investor, you are a fool!!!

Here is why…

Real Estate investors are a unique segment of the population.  There are not very many of us.  As an example, in Canada, it is estimated that 94% of homes are owner occupied.  This leaves us with 6% of the homes in Canada as rental properties.

Plain and simple, if you own a rental property, you are not like the rest of the population.  You are in the minority.  Since you are in the minority, many people will classify you as being a ‘fool’ for taking on the ‘risk’ of owning a rental property.

As a new or aspiring real estate investor, here is the first point you need to recognize.  The point is:

• People will think you are a ‘fool’ for owning a rental property.  Having a rental property is not a ‘normal’ thing to have.  You are a ‘fool’ for taking on the risk of owning a rental property.

Further, if you take the time to study some of the people who have achieved great success with real estate investing, you will notice some common characteristics.

Fools will have done and continue to do a lot of things different from the normal population.

Here are some examples of what ‘fools’ do differently from the general population.

• Fools study successful people, in order to find out common characteristics between these people
• Fools get up early in the morning, in order to get a head start on their day.
• Fools continue to work hard, even when they have ‘made’ it.
• Fools want to constantly improve themselves everyday
• Fools generally never focus on making money, they focus on what they enjoy
• Fools know that working hard does not necessarily guarantee success
• Fools know what they are surrounded by opportunity everyday

In your opinion, what are some other things that ‘Fools’ do differently when compared the rest of the population?

If you are a fool, be proud of yourself!  After all, “Fools get wealthy.”

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

PS: To keep up to date with my blog, enter your e-mail address on the LEFT hand side of the blog.  To receive The First Rental Property Newsletter, enter your e-mail address on the RIGHT hand side of the blog.  In the First Rental Property Newsletter, experienced real estate investors will share with you how they purchased their first rental property.  They will also share with you some tips and tricks in order to help you get started.

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are doing well.

This past weekend, Ron LeGrand was in Toronto presenting to members of Don R. Campbell’s Real Estate Investment Network (REIN).

For those of you that do not know, Ron LeGrand is renowned in North America as a real estate expert and lecturer who has taught thousands of people how to earn big incomes through his ‘quick turn’ real estate strategy.

In Ron’s ‘quick turn’ real estate strategy, personal income and credit is not used when buying and selling properties.

Ron has personally bought and sold more than 1,600 homes and is known as the “Guru” of quick turn real estate.

Ron, also known as the “millionaire maker” has taught more than 250,000 students how to be a Quick Turn Real Estate Millionaire.

I am a member of The Real Estate Investment Network (REIN). At our member events, I often help out where ever I can.

After Ron had finished presenting this weekend at our member event, myself and a fellow REIN member and friend got the opportunity to drive Ron back to the Airport so that he could catch his flight back to the USA.

Our member event was being held about 5 minutes away from the Pearson International Airport in Toronto, and we were driving Ron directly to the Airport.

I took these 5 minutes to ask Ron the most intelligent questions I could think of. I always take full advantage of asking successful people questions, in order to gain an insight into how they view things.

Here is what I asked Ron:

Neil: “Ron, in your years of presenting to students all across North America, what do you feel has been the commonality between the students that have become successful with the Quick Turn strategies?”

Ron LeGrand: “They have been committed.  They weren’t just there (in the class) to collect information.”

Further, I told Ron that Don R. Campbell of The Real Estate Investment Network, has a great quote.  I told Ron that the quote is, “The most successful people do not wait for all of the lights to turn green before taking action.”

Ron commented that he liked that quote and gave a quote of his own.  His quote was something to the effect of, “80% of America’s CEOs have made crucial decisions with only 20% of the information”

So what does this all mean to you?

If you are an new real estate investor, there are a couple of big take aways for you from my discussion with Ron.  The first take away is…

• In order to become successful, you have to be committed.  As Ron said, the most successful students that he had were all committed, and they were not just there to collect information.  Listen to Ron and stay committed!

The second big take away is a little less obvious, however, equally as important.

• As the wise Philip McKernan says, ‘In the absence of clarity, take action.”  This is the exact same message that Ron is conveying.  The most successful people in the world became this way because they had to often make important decisions when they did not have all of the necessary information.  The point is that they did not wait for this information and for complete clarity.  They pulled the trigger, took the leap of faith, and took action…even when they were not certain what the result would be of their actions

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

PS: To keep up to date with my blog, enter your e-mail address on the LEFT hand side of the blog.  To receive The First Rental Property Newsletter, enter your e-mail address on the RIGHT hand side of the blog.  In the Newsletter, experienced real estate investors will share with you how they purchased their first rental property.  They will also share with you ‘tips’ and ‘tricks’ to help you buy your first rental property.