This week it got COLD in Toronto, especially today.  I guess I should not complain as some parts of South Western Ontario got upwards of 90 centimeters of snow in less than a week.  For my American friends, 90 centimeters is approximately 35 inches!

Instead of heading out today and braving the cold, I am hiding out in the warm indoors and writing the First Rental Property’s Weekly Wrap.

Contrary to popular belief, it does not snow all year round in Canada.  We actually DO have a summer.

There’s nothing like Toronto smog on a humid August afternoon!

Monday:

Who else Wants Their Rent Paid on Time?

If all landlords followed the advice in this article, they would save themselves a lot of pain and agony.  Unfortunately, some people like to suffer, and chose not to be proactive.  Landlords included.  Join the increasing number of landlords that are dropping the gloves when their rent is not paid on time.

Read the full post here

Tuesday:

Who else Wants Multiple Streams of Income?

Modern day real estate investors are making money in so many different ways.  Gone are the days of relying just on cash flow generated from rental properties.  Real estate investors are collecting multiple streams of income through Internet marketing.  Want to learn how you can do this yourself?  Read this post…

Read the full post here

This week’s cool links:

Diva Money Club: If you want to learn how you can take real estate investing to the next level, you need to check out this link.  Some of my fellow real estate bloggers share their secrets as to how they generated multiple streams of income through their real estate business.

The Secrets of a Baseball Ironman: Cal Ripken Jr. – Every veteran real estate investor knows “The Secret”.  The “secret” to surviving as a real estate investor over the long term is perseverance.  No one knows perseverance better than the baseball great, Cal Ripken Jr.  This is a great article written by The Karadza Brothers.  You need to check this one out.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

PS: If you liked this blog post, or any of the links contained in it, please do the following:

1) Share this post via Facebook or Twitter.

2) Subscribe to my blog.

The world’s richest man doesn’t care about making money.  He thinks it’s crazy if you keep on buying things.

Carlos Slim is a telecommunications tycoon that was ranked by Forbes as the world’s richest man in 2010.

He firmly believes that electronic communications is now the nervous system of society.

In an interview with CNN‘s Larry King, Carlos opened up about money, life, business and family.

Carlos shared some incredible insights.  These great insights should be studied carefully by new real estate investors.

Here is what you ought to know about The World’s Riches Man

1. Family is the most important thing to him.
2. His happiness does not come from buying things.
3. He thinks that someone is “crazy” and that they “have a problem” if they “keep on buying things.”
4. The more that you buy, the more that you will want.  Materials things don’t matter.
5. Family should not be looked at as an obstacle.  Rather, you should turn to family for support.

Understanding Carlos’ point of view is very important for new real estate investors.  If you completely understand and practice what Carlos preaches, you will have a much more fulfilling real estate investing career.  Buying rental property should never be about making money hand over fist…which leads me to my next point…

1) Never buy rental properties solely for monetary gain

Your long term happiness as a real estate investor has more to do with than just making money.  Don’t get me wrong…  There is absolutely nothing wrong with monetary gain.  However,  you have to have other, more dominant motivations, fueling your desire to invest.  If you just invest to make money, you probably will not fully enjoy the experience of being a real estate investor.  Any super successful real estate investor, like Donald Trump will be the first to tell you that you have to do what you love.

2)  Your family can help you become a better real estate investor

View your family in a positive light.  Gain strength from them. Work as a team, not against each other.  Look to them for support during tough times.  This is what Carlos believed, and continues to believe today.  Many real estate investors, including myself got to where they are today because of the support of their family.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

PS: Learn from the most successful people in the world, and learn how to become a real estate investor simply by subscribing to my blog.    

Cash flow from real estate is only the beginning when creating multiple streams of income.   We now live in an age in which multiple streams of income can be derived through methods such as monetization and affiliate marketing programs. If you are a new or aspiring real estate investor, it is never too early for you to start learning about how to generate multiple streams of income.

The truth of the matter is that the new age real estate investor generates cash flow not only from their real estate holdings, however, also from a variety of different forms.   

I myself am a student of creating multiple streams of income, and this is something that I am continually working towards achieving with my real estate business. 

For over a year now, I have been fortunate to follow and watch the best practices of fellow real estate entrepreneurs, Julie Broad, Shae Bynes and Steph Davis.

I became familiar with Julie, Shae, and Steph via the BiggerPockets Real Estate Blog. As fellow real estate bloggers, we all would frequent this site and leave comments on articles.  A common marketing strategy used by bloggers. 

Julie, Shae and Steph write blog articles for BiggerPockets.  One of my goals is to become a contributor to this real estate blog created by Josh Dorkin.

On the topic of multiple streams of income and the business of real estate, I was very happy to learn of a new initiative that Julie, Shae, and Steph are working on.

These ladies are disclosing for the first time publicly the steps that they all took in creating their multiple streams of income as it relates to the business of real estate. 

They are all full time real estate investors, and have named this new initiative The Diva Money Club. 

As the 3 ladies mention, this program was created for the ladies. However, there is a great deal that they guys can learn by following the methods that they each have taken.

I personally am going to be following their Diva Money Club and learning about the different paths that they took.

If you are a new or aspiring real estate investor, you must check this out as well. 

Creating multiple streams of income is what the business of real estate investing is all about.

Check out the Diva Money Club now.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

ps: To learn more about earning multiple streams of income through real estate, subscribe to my blog.

The most unsettling feeling you will have as a landlord is the first time you find out that your tenant is not going to pay you rent.  I have been there before, and I would compare this feeling to an adrenaline rush.  You become really fired up, and ready to take action.  I had to calm myself down the first time this happened to me, as I could feel my heart beating faster the moment I discovered that they were not going to pay their rent. 

I once heard an experienced real estate investor say, “If you have never had a tenant not pay you rent, you have not been investing in real estate long enough.” 

These words are very true.  The longer you spend as a real estate investor, and the more properties you potentially acquire results in your odds increasing that a tenant will be late with rent, or that a tenant will decide not to pay you at all.  Fellow REIN member and real estate investor, Chris Davies knows all about kicking out dead beat tenants. 

Tenants not paying rent is by far one of the biggest fears that newbie real estate investors have.  I would have to say that this fear ranks number 1, second to the fear of property management.

As a new or aspiring real estate investor, there is one thing that you need to understand very clearly.  If a tenant is not paying you rent, you have to be ready to kick some ass. 

This may seem like a harsh statement.  I don’t mean to come off as an aggressive or mean person, clearly I am not.  However, there is one thing that I do understand, and I understand this very well, and that is, no one is going to take v9 rolex day date m118348 0090 mens rolex calibre 2836 champagne jubilee dial gold tone advantage of me and compromise my real estate business.

As real estate investors, you have a lot on the line.  You have invested your money and time in order to buy real estate.  You have hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line.  Your rental properties are assets that you have to take care of.  If you don’t take care of them, no one else will.

So what do you do if a you are a new real estate investor and your tenant decides not to pay you?

Here are some suggestions:

1) Leverage on your property manager

Despite what some people might tell you, I believe that having a good property manager is very important.  Your property manager should know the ins and outs of the rules of your local Real Estate and Tenant Board.  When the you know what hits the fan and your tenants decide not to pay you, your property manger can step in and issue all of the appropriate forms and documents to the tenant pertaining to their non-payment of rent.  The property manager is your ally.  Leverage on them.  They are experts in dealing with this type of situation.

2) Don’t be a wimp

I have heard so many stories from real estate investors who didn’t have the heart to evict their tenants because it was the winter.  I have heard of a couple of occasions in which Små Vapes real estate investors did not evict their tenants because they “did not have another place to live”. 

Plain and simple, you can’t be a wimp.  If you do, you will get eaten alive.  You are running a business.  You are not running a charity.  If tenants have not payed you, it is costing you money out of your pocket, and they are living for free in your rental property.  When the time comes, in which you are legally able to evict them, do it.  It doesn’t matter what the time of the year is and it doesn’t matter what excuse they have given you.  If they have not paid you, you get them out of there!

Real estate investors run into big problems when they lose sight that they are running a business. 

It is fine to be a nice person, but business is business.  Don’t get being nice confused with being a smart business operator.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

PS: If you want to learn about other challenges that new and aspiring real estate investors face, subscribe to my blog.

First Rental Property just keeps on getting better and better. I am happy to share with you First Rental Property’s first Weekly Wrap. In the Weekly Wrap, the previous week’s articles on First Rental Property will be highlighted. I will also be sharing some cool links from the past week. Without further adieu, here is First Rental Property’s Weekly Wrap:

Monday

Two of The Most Important Blogs for Real Estate Entrepreneurs

This was a post dedicated to both the new and experienced real estate investors.  With vast amounts of information available online regarding real estate investing, it is important to know what sources to trust and what sources to ignore.  Want to know more about 2 websites I trust, and I think you should as well?  Check them out here:

Read the full post here.

Tuesday

Is Your Team Holding You Down?

In order to become good at what you do, you have to surround yourself with others that are great.  As an aspiring real estate investor it is important to learn from real estate investors that know more than you.  It is imperative that the people that you associate with share similar values.  Why is this the case?

Read the full post here.

Wednesday

Why the Media Loves Don R. Campbell

Don R. Campbell is a man that is always being interviewed by the media, and for good reason.  He is an authority on the real estate investing landscape.  What groundbreaking news did Don R. Campbell have to share with the media this time?

Real the full post here.

Saturday

Why Real Estate Investors Fail

Real Estate Investors that fail often have no support.  It is easy to make it in the real estate investing game…all you need is support.  What’s that you’re saying?  You don’t have any support currently?  Not to worry.  Find out how you can establish a supportive network by reading this article.

Read the full post here.

This week’s cool links:

Canadian Real Estate Blog Carnival: Read some great articles on real estate investing submitted by some of Canada’s top real estate bloggers in the 4th Canadian Real Estate Blog Carnival.  Be sure to check out my article here as well!

Hamilton Housing Outlook for 2011: I have been following Erwin Szeto’s Hamilton Ontario investment blog and I find that he is providing a lot of value for his readers with his extremely educational posts.  Keep it up Erwin!

Canadian Personal Finance and Investing Carnival: Check out here some of the best Canadian themed personal, financial, and investing articles of the past few weeks.  This carnival was hosted by Arjun Rudra Arjun is the creator of Investing Thesis.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

PS: If you liked this blog post or any of the links contained in it, please do the following:

1)  Tell a friend about my blog.

2)  Subscribe.

…I told him that I knew a number of property managers that would be able to help him.  As  result of my brief 10 minute conversation with him, he is now considering taking on a property manager.  He was formerly considering selling his rental property and paying a mortgage penalty of over $15,000.  By taking on a property manager, he will not have to sell his property, and as a result pay this mortgage penalty.  I was able to save him $15,000 instantly, just because I knew somebody that he did not know…

As a new real estate investor looking to buy your first rental property, you may be hearing experienced real estate investors tell you that you need to have a strong network around you in order to succeed.

This network should consist of a strong Realtor, property manager, mortgage broker, real estate accountant, and real estate lawyer just to name a few.

There is no question that a strong network will help you to succeed as a real estate investor.  The network will help you out at times when you feel like completely giving up.

How do you establish a network?

1)  You need to have people in your life that support you.

First, it is important to have a supportive network of people around you  that know nothing about real estate. This network of people serve more as your supporters, rather than real estate investment advisers.  They support you in everything that you do.  They do not judge you or hold you back.  You can have friends and or family members as your supporters.  It is important to note here, that you cannot survive just with a network of supporters that know nothing about real estate investing.  You will also need a network of people to support you that know a lot about real estate investing…

2) You need to join a Real Estate Investment Club

Real Estate Investors that fail, have no one to support them with their real estate business when the going gets tough.  I have met many landlords that get burnt out and sell their rental properties out of frustration.  If they had simply hired a quality property manager, this could have helped them out significantly, by taking a lot of stress ‘off of their plate’.  At a time in which they may have felt like throwing in the towel all together, the property manager would be able to provide a lot of support by dealing with a lot of the issues that would be stressful to the landlord.

You will also need a separate group of supporters in your life that have specialized real estate knowledge.  Many of these supports you can meet by attending real estate investment club meetings.  A great real estate investment club that I am a part of is The Real Estate Investment Network.  I have met many fellow real estate investors here that have become great supporters of mine.

3)  You cannot invest in a silo

Real estate investing is a team support.  Someone who gets started as an investor, and thinks that they can tackle everything on their own is in for a rude awakening.  You cannot do everything yourself.  I was speaking to someone this week that owned a rental property in Ontario, Canada  however, lives in Alberta, Canada.  For those of you not familiar with the geography of Canada, take a look to see how far apart these provinces are…

He currently has NO property management for his rental property, so he has to fly to Ontario to show his property to prospective tenants when it is vacant and to deal with any tenant issues.  He is currently dealing with some tenant issues now, and has to take some days off of work in order to handle this problem.  This can only go on for so long, until the stress takes him over completely.  I am getting him in touch with property management, that will be able to help him with the management of his property while he is in Alberta. 

Surviving as a real estate investor is simple.  The secret is that you need people to support you.

If it wasn’t for key members on my real estate team, I probably would have given up when the going got tough for me.  I would not have been able to make it this far without a supportive network.

What provided me with the strength to get through the tough times, and what will provide you with the strength to get through tough times will be your network of people.

So what do you do if you are a new real estate investor or an aspiring real estate investor, and you do not have a strong network of people around you?

1. The first thing I can suggest, is to post your comment at the bottom of this post, let us know where you are and what problem you are facing.  Are you looking for property management, are you looking for a Realtor that deals with real estate investors?  Do you need a real estate lawyer?  We have enough people following this blog that will be able to help you out.  So post your comment, and I will encourage others to chime in and help you out by providing a response.
2. If you do not feel comfortable posing your name, issue or problem in the comments section, feel free to e-mail me.  I know real estate investors primarily in North America and Europe.  As a result, if you are in a certain State in the US, and need a recommendation for a property manager, I am sure that we can get you in touch with someone that will be able to help you.  Also, depending upon which country you live in, in Europe, we may be able to help you as well.

One of the points I hope that I have expressed in this post is that real estate investors fail because they don’t have support.

If you don’t have it already, you will be amazed at what a little support can do for you and your real estate business.  Start surrounding yourself with supportive people.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

PS: My blog is awesome!  Follow me by entering your e-mail address on the LEFT hand side of the blog.   To receive the famous 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 get started.

You know you are good when the media is always contacting you for interviews. 

This is the life of Don R. Campbell.  Don is the President of The Real Estate Investment Network.

I am a proud member of The Real Estate Investment Network and I have previously spoken about the many advantages of becoming a REIN member .  I have also spoken about reasons  not to become a REIN Member.

The media, especially the Canadian media loves Don R. Campbell, because he is an authority on the real estate investment world.

Today is an important day for you if you are a new real estate investor.

Don will be featured on the hit TV Show Inside Toronto Real Estate. 

My friend and fellow real estate investor, Brian Persaud of Real Experts Inc. will be speaking to Don in detail about the real estate investing landscape.

If you are in the Toronto area, tune in to Rogers TV tonight at 7pm. 

If you are outside of the Toronto area, check your local listings for the availability of this show.

Hopefully soon, there will be online streaming of Brian’s shows on the web.  As a result, you will be able to get caught up with all of the great episodes and guests that Brian has had on the show. 

So once again, if you are in the Toronto area, tune in tonight at 7pm to Rogers TV.  If you are outside of this area, check your local listings.

I will keep you all up to date when full episodes of Inside Toronto Real Estate become available on the web.

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 tips and tricks in order to help you get started.