How to Evict a Tenant – Part Five

Posted by neil on February 27, 2011
General / 10 Comments

The eviction process sometimes feels like it is never ending.  Depending on where you live, the eviction process can be short and sweet, or it can be long and painful.  If you are in Ontario, it is the later.

Just because it is a long and painful process, it does not give you an excuse to let this experience defeat you.  The process of evicting a tenant is a true test of every real estate investor.  It is an experience that you must endure.

As my friend Erwin Szeto (a.k.a Mr Hamilton) says, it is inevitable that every real estate investor will experience eviting a tenant at some point in their investing career.

In part one, two, three and four I spoke about the importance of over preparing for your hearing, the advantage of taking an entourage with you, as well as the importance of presenting a transaction summary at your hearing.

In this post, I am going to talk to you about the importance of forming alliances at your court hearing.

When I arrived at the Government building the day of my hearing, I came in with the mindset that I had to form one alliance.  However, when I got into the building and assessed the situation, I quickly realized that I needed to form three alliances, not just one.

Alliance Number One

Prior to attending my court hearing, I spoke with several experienced real estate investors, who had all been through the eviction process before.

One common piece of advice that I got from these investors was the importance of working with my tenant in order to work out a mutually beneficial deal at the hearing.

This was a valuable piece of advice that I received.  It was valuable because it gave me a winning mindset heading into the court hearing.

Naturally, many landlords who attend court hearings are adversarial towards their tenants.  Landlords take on this adversarial approach due to the fact that their tenants owe them money.  I can completely understand the frustration that landlords feel towards their tenants, especially on the day of the court hearing.

I quickly discovered that although I myself was feeling adversarial, I could not let this emotion influence me.

Rather, what I did discover by speaking to experienced investors prior to my hearing was that I needed to  to maintain a calm demeanour throughout my hearing and not demonstrate any frustration or anger, as this would be looked upon in a negative manner by the judge and the ruling body overseeing the hearing.

Therefore, I realized that in order to succeed and eventually ‘win’ my hearing, I had to form an alliance with my tenant.  By doing this, I would be demonstrating to the tenant and the the ruling body at the hearing that I was willing to work cocooperatively in order to work out an agreement of re-payment of rent.

Many of my experienced fellow real estate investors advised me that this was the only way to go.  Further, they told me that based on their experience, in most cases their agreements of re-payment were not honoured by their tenants.  Further, at the time of forming these ‘agreements of re-payment’ with their tenants, the investors knew that the agreements were probably not going to be honoured.  However, the investors knew that this was just part of the process, and that they had to show ‘good faith’ at their court hearing by accepting the agreement.

In summary, you must be wiling to form and alliance with your tenant.  By doing this, you are demonstrating to them as well as the Governmental ruling body overseeing the hearing that that you are willing to co-operate and work out an agreement of repayment.

In the next part of this series, I am going to talk about the other 2 alliances that I formed at my hearing.

These alliances were with the Governmental Ruling Body and with another landlord.

Until next time…

Being aggressive and confrontational is not going to help you win your court hearing.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

ps: If you are a new real estate investor and you want to learn more about the eviction process, subscribe to my blog today!

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How to Evict a Tenant – Part Four

Posted by neil on February 25, 2011
General / 6 Comments

I won my court hearing thanks to the advice of a friend.  My friend told me to bring a transaction summary with me on the day of my hearing.  Preparing this document provided me with a boost of confidence that helped me to keep my composure during the hearing.

I know that I would not have been able to achieve my level of success as a real estate investor if it were not for great people like Jeff Varcoe.  Jeff is a rising star in real estate investing circles in Ontario, Canada.

Jeff is a successful real estate investor, Rock Star Inner Circle Member, property manager and owner of Cornerstone Properties

As a real estate investor, sometimes all it takes is a few words of wisdom from a trusted and fellow real estate investor to give you the inspiration to keep on plugging away.

This was the case for me, when Jeff gave me the advice to take a…Transaction Summary with me to my court hearing.

A transaction summary is a very simple document, and takes less than a few minutes to put together.  However, it is an extremely important and powerful document.  Here is why…

The Eviction Process can be Intimidating

No matter what anyone tells you, the first time that you are in court evicting a tenant, you will be nervous.  Although I was very composed on the outside at my court hearing, I was nervous on the inside.

As I had mentioned in How to Evict a Tenant Part One, it pays off to be over prepared at your court hearing.  Part of being over prepared involves having a Transaction Summary with you.

What is a Transaction Summary?

A Transaction Summary is a simple document that outlines:

  • Money that is owed to you
  • Money that the tenant has paid

Sounds pretty simple, right?  Well it is.  Here is an example of a mock transaction summary:

123 Cash Flow Crescent, Anytown, Anycity.  M4X 1F5

(owed) January Rent ——————->    $1,000

(owed) February Rent ——————>   $1,000

(owed) March Rent ———————->  $1,000

(owned) January Admin Fee ———->        $20

(owed) February Admin Fee ———–>        $20

(owed) March Administration Fee —>        $20

(owed) Filing Fee to the Board ——–>       $170

(minus) Partial Rent Payment (Dec.) –>   $100

—————————————————————-

Total Amount Owned  ————————>$3,130


Why a Transaction Summary is so important

This document was the most important document I brought with me to my court hearing.  It was the most important document because it provided me a with a quick snapshot of the total money that was owed to me by the tenant.

Depending upon where you live, and depending upon the Government Organization that overseas the eviction process, you will be faced with a tremendous amount of paperwork throughout the eviction process.

My friend and fellow real estate investor Ed Renkema of CFI Properties recently called the eviction process a ‘War on Paperwork’.  He is absolutely correct.  Especially in Ontario, there is a tremendous assortment of paperwork that you have to file with the local authority.

Due to the fact that the paperwork can be overwhelming, especially if it is your first time evicting a tenant, a Transaction Summary helps to minimize the chaos.

Not only did I find the transaction summary beneficial for me, he judge at my hearing also found it beneficial.

When my court hearing was being ‘heard’ by the judge, she had my file of paperwork in front of her. In total, there were probably 30 different sheets of paper, consisting of required forms as well as additional evidence that I had submitted at the hearing.

One of the few questions that she asked me was:

How much money are you owed?

As soon as she asked me this, I pointed out the Transaction Summary that I had included in my paperwork.  She took a quick look at the document and could easily see for herself how much money I was owed.

If she did not have the transaction summary, I would have told her verbally how much money was owed to me, and then she would have had to sift through the mounds of paperwork in order to verify the figure that I just gave her.

Once I pointed out the transaction summary to her, she simply took a quick glance of it.

I know that I definitely  saved her time sorting through my paperwork.  Further, by providing this document, I clearly  demonstrated to her that I was organized and prepared.

In my next installment of How to Evict a Tenant, I am going to share with you some war stories that a veteran real estate investor and landlord shared with me, as I waited in the court room for my hearing to begin.

If you are a new real estate investor, you cannot be afraid of the eviction process.  These experiences make you stronger.  You have to endure them so that you can reap the rewards of holding real estate for the long term.

Stay tuned for my next installment.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

ps: follow my blog if you are a new real estate investor or if you are looking to buy your first rental property.

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How to Evict a Tenant – Part Three

Posted by neil on February 24, 2011
General / 7 Comments

The more I am learning about the eviction process in Ontario, the more I am coming to realize how much risk real estate investors truly take on.

In How to Evict a Tenant Part One, I spoke of the importance of being over prepared when you are in the process of evicting a tenant.  Over preparation can help you win your court hearing.  Again, ‘winning’ is a relative term.  You don’t really ‘win’ the hearing, rather you have judgement granted in your favour…if you are fortunate.

In How to Evict a Tenant Part Two, I spoke about the importance of having an Entourage at your court hearing.  Here is what I mean:

When I attended my court hearing, I made an interesting observation.  The landlords that were in attendance had come by themselves.  They had no friends or peers with them.  They were just there by themselves.

The tenants on the other hand came in groups.  The groups ranged in size from 2 to 4 people.

Before the hearing started, all of the groups of tenants gathered together and began to socialize, just outside of the ‘courtroom’.  I don’t know what the official name of the room was that the hearings were conducted in, however, it did in fact REALLY feel like a courtroom.

There were frosted windows around the perimeter of the door to the courtroom.  Therefore, the groups of tenants waiting outside in the hallway could peer into the courtroom.  Also, the people sitting in the court room could peer back through the windows and look at the tenants who were all gathered outside.

It did not take me long to figure out that a good number of the tenants at this hearing had been there before, probably on a number of occasions.  I have a gut feeling when it comes to these sorts of things, and I could tell immediately, that they had been here before and that they were very familiar with the process.

The People Inside the Courtroom

Prior to attending the hearing, I had considered brining one of my real estate investing peers with me for some moral support.  However, I opted against that as I felt that I was prepared enough to tackle any obstacle or challenge that presented itself during the hearing.

When I had located the room in which my hearing was taking place, there was a sign in sheet on a table which was just in front of the door.  There was a large gentleman guarding the door.  I assumed that he was a baliff, as he was dressed like one.

When I approached him, he asked me to put my name on the sign in sheet.  I did.

I entered into the courtroom 30 minutes before my court hearing was scheduled to begin.  I was the first one in there.

Over the course of the next 20 minutes, only 2 other people entered into the room.  It was a small room, with seating for about 40.  Picture a really, really small court room, similar to the one in the OJ Simpson trial.  That is what this room looked like.

The 2 other individulas that joined me consisted of one property manager, and one other landlord.

I could tell that they had both been here many times before.  I could tell this based on their body language, how they were dressed, and where they sat in the room.  Like I said, I have a sixth sense when it come to noticing these things…

In the next installment of How to Evict a Tenant, I am going to talk about the other landlord that was in the courtroom with me.  He had some really interesting stories that he shared with me.  He was a landlord with 40 years of experience, and I learned a great deal from him.

In closing, I am going to leave you with another tip on what you should take with you to your court hearing.  This item is a:

Transaction Summary.

In my next post, I am going to explain what a Transaction Summary is, and how it can help you ‘win’ your court hearing.

Until Next Time…

Don’t be afraid of non-paying tenants,

-Neil Uttamsingh

ps: If you want to buy your first rental property, but you are too afraid to…  Follow my blog so that you can gain the necessary knowledge and confidence.  Don’t delay.  Follow today!  🙂

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How to Evict a Tenant – Part Two

Posted by neil on February 18, 2011
General / 2 Comments

I don’t even know where to begin…

The experience I gained from my court hearing this past Thursday was incredible.

It was probably the most insightful day I have had as a real estate investor during my 6 years of investing.

To let you know how it went, I technically ‘won’ my case.  ‘Won’ is a relative term here, so don’t get too excited.  There is a lot more that still needs to play out, so stay tuned!

Before I jump into Part Two of this series, I would like to review the key learning point I shared with you from How to Evict a Tenant – Part One.

In Part One, I mentioned the following:

If the time ever comes where you are in the process of evicting a tenant, and you are attending a court hearing, you must over prepare. Do your homework, and take with you to the hearing all of the documents and evidence that you feel will help you to prove your point in court and help you to win your case.

Here is an example of how my over preparation helped me to ‘win’ my case on Thursday.

By nature, I am a very diligent person.  I am organized and I keep records.  As a real estate investor, these skills are paramount.  You need to keep information in order.  I am specifically referring to paperwork.

When you buy your first rental property, you may be surprised to see how much paperwork is involved with the property.  The constant flow of paperwork does not stop once you have purchased the property.  Rather, you will continue to receive new paperwork concerning the property on a continual basis.  This paperwork can come in a number of different forms.  Here is a short list of some of the different types  of paperwork that you will have to collect, sort and manage on a continual basis:

  • Mortgage Documents

This is your original mortgage agreement that you get when you obtain financing on your rental property.  This is very important to keep as you may have to present this document in the future.  You never know when you might need to refer to it again, so keep it in a safe place.  I personally have a filing cabinet where I keep all of my mortgage documents.  That way, if I need to access them in a hurry, I know exactly where to find them!

  • Mortgage Statements

This is a a periodic statement that you recieve from your lender.  Your lender being of course the bank or mortgage company that you hold your mortgage with.  This document gives you a snapshot of all of the ‘vital signs’ of the mortgage.  Things such as mortgage balance, interest rate, and remaining amortization are just a few things listed on this statement.

  • Property Tax Bill

This is a record from your local municipality pertaining to the taxes that you owe on the rental property.  If you purchase more than one rental property, you will no doubt have to present your property tax bill for each property every time you obtain financing for a subsequent property.  This document is very important.  By taking a close look at this document, the reader can tell if you have been paying your property taxes or not.  If you have not, you better pay them fast, otherwise you can be at risk of losing your rental property.

  • Utility Bills

Even when a tenant pays all utilities on a rental property, there will still be some utility bills that you may need to pay yourself, and that you need to keep track of.  I have a constant flow of utility bills that come in each month that I need to keep track of and sort.  This may sound overwhelming.  It’s not.

Do you have property management on the unit?  If so, you will need to keep track of what you owe them for the monthly property management fee.  In addition, you will also have to keep track of any repairs and maintenance that they have done on the property.  The property manager will have to issue you invoices that you will have to pay, and then file for your records.

Before I get off topic too much, let me come full circle and talk about how keeping certain documents in order can help you during the eviction process.

The documents that you will have to keep in order are the documents that are directly related to the eviction of your tenant.  These documents will of course be the ones in relation to the legal proceeding that you are in the middle of.

No matter what state, province, territory or country you live in, the process of evicting a tenant can be very different.  However, in many of these jurisdictions, the is a set process in place that you must follow.  With this process there are also prescribed documents that you need to either file with your local authorities, or that you need to have a good record of.

My success during my hearing this past Thursday was a direct result of me being organized and having all of the required documents on hand.

Despite the fact that these documents were not filed properly the first time with the authorities.  However, that is a story for another day, and a story that I am not going to blog about.  If you are interested to know, contact me offline and I will share the story with you.

I was asked by the ruling authority at the hearing to present key documents.  I was able to present these documents without hesitation, because I WAS PREPARED AND I BROUGHT THEM WITH ME…

I can’t stress this point enough.

The point is:

You need to over prepare AND have all of your necessary documents in order when you are in the process of evicting a tenant.

In closing, I am going to leave you with another key point.

I share this key point with you in the hope that it will help you one day when you yourself are going through the eviction process.

This key point is to have an Entourage with you.  Have an entourage with you either at your court hearing or have them close by.   Have them close enough to you so that you can call them or e-mail them when you need them the most!

In Part Three of this post, I will explain the importance of your Entourage and how support from this group can help calm your nerves, and ultimately help you “win” your hearing!

Keep Learning,

Neil Uttamsingh

ps: If you are a new real estate investor, consider following my blog.  If you do, you will gain knowledge and confidence that will help you to purchase your first rental property.



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How to Evict a Tenant – Part One

Posted by neil on February 17, 2011
General / 7 Comments

Hi Folks,

This could very well be the shortest blog post that I have done in over a year.  In fact, it is probably the shortest post I have ever done!

However, although it is a very short post, this series of post which I have called, “How to Evict a Tenant” may provide the greatest value to you if you are a new real estate investor.

Here is what is going on:

  • I have a court hearing today, as I am in the process of evicting one of my tenants.
  • I am well prepared for the hearing, however, I am also prepared to expect the unexpected.
  • I will elaborate on what I mean by, ‘expect the unexpected’ in Part Two of this series.

In closing, here is some extremely valuable advice for new real estate investors, who are looking to buy their first rental property.

If the time ever comes where you are in the process of evicting a tenant, and you are attending a court hearing, you must over prepare. Do your homework, and take with you to the hearing all of the documents and evidence that you feel will help you to prove your point in court and help you to win your case.

Until Next Time,

Neil Uttamsingh

ps: Sign up to my blog so you can obtain the necessary knowledge and confidence to help you buy your first rental property.

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Give Me 10 Minutes and I’ll Give You the Secret to Real Estate Investing Success

Posted by neil on February 11, 2011
General / 4 Comments

Ten minutes is all I need.  This is the about the time it will take many of you to read this article.

This article is especially directed towards the aspiring real estate investors out there.

If you are new to the real estate investing world, and you are currently researching how to buy your first rental property, you will find this article very beneficial.

Throughout your research, you may have spoken to or read about the importance of treating your real estate investing like a business.

This is probably some of the best advice you will ever receive on the topic of real estate investing, and here is why:

  • Real Estate Investing Is A Business

You may not own any properties right now.  Some of you may own one property, and some of you may own multiple.

Whether you own one or 100 properties, you are in business, and you have to treat your real estate like a business.

  • This Is Easier Said Than Done

This is definitely easier said than done.

The difficulty that most people have with running their real estate investing like a business, is that they don’t know HOW businesses run.

People who invest in real estate come from all different walks of life.

I have met people who own rental properties, from all different types of professions.

These professions have included Miners, Truck Drivers, Teachers, Dentists, Lawyers, Contractors, IT Professionals, and the list goes on…

No matter what profession a person is in, when you tell them that they need to run their real estate investing like a business, they may have absolutely NO idea what this means.

If you fall into this category, that is okay.  As humans, we do not automatically have a business sense.

It has been my experience that most people that have a keen business sense have either grown up surrounded by business and business owners, or they have developed this keen business sense through many years of studying business and entrepreneurship.

  • Here are some things you absolutely NEED to know

If you don’t know anything about business and how businesses work, here are some things that you absolutely need to know.

1) The most important thing for a business is it’s cash flow

The number one indicator of the strength and longevity of a business, is through it’s cash flow.  Specifically, the more cash flow that a business produces, the stronger it is, generally speaking.

If you are a real estate investor, you have to ensure that your business…your rental properties are producing cash flow.

2)  Businesses have to manage their operating expenses

Every business has expenses.  Also, every business has revenues.

Generally speaking, the revenues being generated in a business should always be greater than the expenses of the business.

If the revenues of a business and the expenses of a business at the same level for a long period of time, this can be problematic.

  • Here is an example to help illustrate

You are a real estate investor and you own one rental property.

The monthly rent that you collect from the tenant is $1000/month.

The rent is the total revenue that you are collecting off of the property each month.

You have a mortgage on this property, and your monthly obligation for the mortgage is $800/month.

You also have to pay property taxes on the property.  You own $200/month in property taxes.

Therefore, your total expenses owed on the property are $800 + $200, which equals of course $1000/month.

Therefore, in this example, you have a mothly rental revenue of $1000/month and a monthly expense of $1000/month.

As you can see, the expenses on this property of $1000/month cancel out the revenues being generated each month.

This is what is called a ‘break even property’.

  • Why ‘break even properties’ can be a problem

Break even properties do not generate any monthly cash flow as evidenced above.

If this property experiences any vacancies or if repairs and maintenance are required on the property, there is no cash flow being generated to pay for these costly expenses.

  • Working Capital, and the importance of a Working Capital Injection

Businesses that are experiencing challenges with their day to day operation can often benefit from a working capital injection.

  • What is working capital?

Working capital is essentially money.  Let me rephrase that.  Working capital IS money.  It can be injected into a business through a variety of different methods.  It can be in the form of a loan, a third party can inject the funds into the business, or the owner herself can inject these funds into the business.

The main purpose of a working capital injection is to aid the business with their day to day operations.

If we use the real estate investing example above, a working capital injection of $5000 could help the real estate investor to pay for any vacancies and repairs that come up on their property.  This working capital injection would be absolutely crucial to help the real estate business to continue on, as no cash flow is being produced on a monthly basis in the above example.  If you recall, the monthly rent of $1000/month is cancelled out each month by the $1000/month total expenses (mortgage and property taxes.)

  • Working Capital Does Not Help Out a Sinking Business

It may seem to you at this point that a working capital injection is the ultimate solution for a struggling business.  This is not the case.

In the long run, a working capital injection can only be beneficial to the business, if the working capital (a loan) can be repaid.

If the working capital (loan) cannot be repaid, a business will continue to need further working capital injections, especially if they are still struggling with their daily operating expenses.

  • How working capital is repaid

Ultimately, working capital is repaid through cash flow generated from a business.  Let’s look again at the real estate investing example outlined above.

Let’s assume that you as a real estate investor needed the $5000 working capital injection mentioned above in order to pay for vacancies and maintenance on the property.

Let’s also assume that the monthly revenue (rent) of $1000/month and the monthly expenses of $1000/month are unchanged.

This ultimately means that there are $0 (zero dollars) a month that are being generated in order to repay the working capital injection.  This is not a good thing.

This is not a good thing because the debt level of the business (your real estate investing business) is going to continue to to rise.

Here is how working capital SHOULD be repaid

As mentioned earlier, working capital should be repaid from the cash flow generated from a business.

In order to repay the working capital injection in the real estate investing example, the monthly revenue and the monthly expenses cannot be equal.  Either the monthly revenues need to increase, or the monthly expenses need to decrease.  Here is what I mean…

In our real estate investing example, we need the following to occur.

Let’s assume that we were able to re-negotiate the interest rate on our mortgage on the rental property.  Through negotiation, we were able to get a lower rate.  As such, our payments on the mortgage have decreased. Now our monthly mortgage payment is $700/month, instead of the previous $800/month.  Our property taxes have remained consistent at $200/month.

Now if you add up our expenses, we have a $700/month mortgage payment and a $200/month property tax payment which equals…a total monthly obligation of $900.

If we assume that our monthly rent has remained consistent at $1000/month, we now have a positive monthly cash flow on this property of $100.  This is because $1000 – $900 = $100

Therefore, if no other vacancies or unexpected expenses are incurred, it will take us a little over 4 years to pay back the working capital injection (loan).  I get this number by dividing the $5000 loan by $100 cash flow per month.  If you divide these numbers (5000 /100) you get … 4.17, which is like I mentioned, a little over 4 years.

So what do you think?

So what do you think about working capital?  Is working capital a necessary thing to have in order to ensure that a business survives?  How would a business survive without working capital injections?  Please leave me your thoughts.

Real estate investing becomes WAY easier when you treat your investments like a business.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

ps: If you want to buy your first rental property, subscribe to my blog so that you can gain knowledge and confidence. Subscribe by clicking on the orange RSS button at the top of the page.  Do it now!

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Real Estate Investors Always Lose Money

Posted by neil on February 05, 2011
General / 5 Comments

If you are a regular follower of mine, you might be wondering where I have been for the past little while.  I would like to send out a big thank you to all of you who contacted me to see where I had gone.

First of all, I would like you to know that I am fine.  I couldn’t be better!

The reason for my absence from the blogosphere is a result of dealing with matters that arise when you are a real estate investor.

You will have to pardon my French, but I am currently getting my a$$ handed to myself.

I am in the eviction process with tenants that live in one of my properties.

So far I have lost about $4000 in rents owed and I am no where near out of the woods yet.

When all is said and done, I will be taking a financial hit on this property.

Unless things dramatically turn around and I am able to recover my rents from the tenant, which I highly doubt at this point, money will be lost on this property.

As such, it is going to take me a number of years to recover this loss on this property.  That is of course if I remain invested in this property without selling it prematurely, due to the poor performance.

If you are a new real estate investor wanting to purchase your first rental property, you can’t be afraid of things like this.  You can’t be afraid of things like this because if you stay invested for the long term, you will always, always, always win the game.  Here is what I mean…

Although I am currently taking a beating on this one property, I realize the following:

It is part of the business

As a real estate investor, you are going to have ups and downs.  If you are invested in real estate for the long term, you more than likely will have non-paying tenants.  You will lose money when they don’t pay you.  However, here is the cool part (if there is even a cool part about non-payment of rent)…

If you have owned multiple properties for a number of years.  These properties have more than likely appreciated in value and you have definitely had mortgage pay down on the properties.

Therefore, if you compare your total Return on Investment for your portfolio compared to your money lost on one property where you are not getting paid rent, chances are you are still coming out on top, and making a positive return on your investment.

This is the case in my situation.  The strength of my portfolio and the overall return on investment far outweighs the loss I am taking on the one property where the tenants are not paying.  However, it is important that you never underestimate how significant a financial loss can be.  This is important because you are responsible to your joint venture partners.

Your Joint Venture Partners

Many new real estate investors may have a joint venture partner on their first renal property.  If this is the case, and you take a financial loss on the property due to non payment of rent, both parties are losing money.  With the property that I mentioned above, I do not have a joint venture partner.  As such, the financial loss I am taking is entirely mine.  I am fine with that.  However, if I did have a joint venture partner on this property, we would be sharing in the financial loss.  Further, if this was the only property that we held together as partners, the performance of our investment would not be good.

Rather, if I owned multiple properties with a single joint venture partner, and we took a hit on one of the properties with non payment of rent occurring, chances are is that collectively we would be much better off, because our other properties would be performing well, with regular mortgage pay down and steady appreciation.

Nobody wants to lose money

Nobody want to lose money, especially a joint venture partner whose money you have invested.

You have to be aware

You have to be aware of the fact that you CAN lose money when you are invested in real estate.  This happens and it probably will happen to you if you are invested long enough.  Like I said earlier, new investors cannot let this scare them away from investing.  With real estate investing, you realize the benefits many years down the road.  Non payment of rent is a bump in the road.  You cannot let this bump stop you from realizing your long term goals as a real estate investor.

How to overcome the bump in the road

Here is how I overcame this non-payment drama that I am dealing with.  Tax time is slowly approaching in Canada.  As such, all of the banks and mortgage companies start to mail out to their customers their mortgage statements.

Today I was feeling a bit frustrated about the non payment issue.  I made myself feel better about the situation purely by accident.  This happened when I opened up the envelopes sent to me by the mortgage companies and took a look at a number of the mortgage statements for my properties.

When I saw how much my mortgages had been paid down over the past year, and when I reflected on the total appreciation of my portfolio, I felt a lot better.  The non payment of rent issue really did then feel like just a small tiny little bump in the road.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

ps: If you want to buy your first rental property, follow my blog so you can gain knowledge and confidence.

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The Real Estate Investing Buddy System

Posted by neil on January 12, 2011
General / 2 Comments

Who talked you out of jumping in those puddles when you were little?

Your buddy probably did…

Who held your hand and warned you not to run onto the road?

Your buddy probably did…

Think back to your school days.  When you were a young student in elementary school or junior school, did you ever go on any field trips with your class?

Did you ever go for walks with your classmates outside of the school grounds?  Depending on where you attended school, maybe you went for a nature walk or a walk around the block…

Whatever the case was, whenever you would embark upon these journeys and leave the school grounds, to keep you safe, your teacher matched you up with a ‘buddy’.

Your buddy was someone that you would stick close to.  Both you and your buddy knew that you were each responsible for one another.  If something bad were to happen your buddy, you would be in trouble, as you were held accountable for the safety of your buddy.  After all, it was your duty to make sure that your buddy was okay at all times.

Your teacher assigned you a buddy so that you could protect one another.  Your mission was to make sure that your buddy did not get into any dangerous situations.

If you tried to wonder off the path you were walking along with your buddy and your classmates, your buddy was there to pull you back in line.

  • The buddy system works the same way with real estate investing.

As a new real estate investor, you will embark upon a journey into the unknown, when you are researching how to buy your first rental property.  After you purchase your first rental property, you will especially be entering into the unknown, as you will probably have no experience as a real estate investor.    There will be times in which you will want to quit and deviate from the real estate investing path that you have chosen.

The role of the real estate buddy is to pull you back on track when you are losing focus.  Just like your buddy from grade school, your real estate buddy is there to protect you.

Your buddy from grade school stopped you from jumping into puddles.  Your real estate investing buddy will stop you from jumping ship from real estate investing when the going gets tough.

Your real estate buddy should be someone that is like minded, and who also invests in real estate.  Ideally, your real estate buddy should be more knowledgeable than you regarding real estate investing.  That way when the going gets tough for you, your buddy can offer you advice and proper guidance.

  • Without question, all new real estate investors need a real estate buddy.

Whenever you are about to make a financial blunder or make a risky move with respect to your real estate investing business, your real estate buddy will be there to make sure that you don’t make a mistake.

After all, your real estate buddy is there to keep you in line!
Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

ps: If you would like to learn how to become a real estate investor,  subscribe to my blog today!

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

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2 Simple Ways to Become a Knowledgeable Real Estate Investor

Posted by neil on January 11, 2011
General / 2 Comments

Real estate investing is no different than grade school.  During your school days there were always those students that learned very quickly, as well as those that picked up on concepts a lot slower.

The same difference in learning exists with real estate investors.

Just because some real estate investors learn faster than others does not mean that they are any smarter.

More appropriately, the speed at which a real estate investor learns is directly related to two variables.

These variables are:

1) Volume

2) Market

Volume

Let’s look at the following example.

2 real estate investors are new to the world of real estate, and they buy their first rental properties on the very same day.

One real estate investor goes on to buy a total of 5 properties during the course of 5 years.

The other real estate investor does not buy any more properties, other than the first purchase.

The investor that bought more properties, will more than likely become a lot more knowledgeable than the investor holding one property.

This is due to volume.

When you are an investor holding multiple properties, you are exposed to multiple issues.

In this case, you would have 5 different tenants to deal with at any given time.  You will also have 5 furnaces to maintain, and 5 air conditioner units to maintain.

Overall, you will be responsible to carry out any repairs and maintenance as well as property management on 5 different units.

Due to the higher volume of activity, this investor will learn more and become more knowledgeable in general than the investor that holds one property.

Therefore, if you want to become a more knowledgeable real estate investor, increase the amount of properties you own and manage.

Market
The second variable that effects the knowledge level of a real estate investor is the market that they invest in.

In my experience, real estate investors learn who own properties in a  high income neighbourhood, learn at a slower pace than those investors that own properties in a low income area.

It has been my experience that tenants that occupy rental properties in high income neighbourhoods generally are more independent than tenants in low income neighbourhoods.

What I mean by this is that if you own a rental property with higher income earning tenants in a nice neighbourhood, you will probably not be dealing with any non payment of rent issues, or any evictions due to non payment.

This of course is not always the case, as any tenant, no matter what neighbourhood they live in can all of a sudden not pay rent.

However, generally speaking, higher income earning tenatns are more independent.  As a result, an investors that owns in this type of neighbourhood will deal with very few tenant issues.
As you continually learn more about real estate investing, keep in mind the importance of:

volume and market

If you can get more experience dealing with multiple tenants, and you can get experience owning and managing rental properties in a wide range of markets, you will be well on your way to becoming a well rounded and knowledgeable real estate investor.

Best Regards,
Neil Uttamsingh

ps: If you are interested in real estate and want to learn how to buy a rental property, subscribe to my blog today!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wHGXqcxcw8[/youtube]

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How Real Estate Investors Leverage Criticism

Posted by neil on January 10, 2011
General / 3 Comments

The greatest basketball player to every play the game once said, ” I have looked at every experience I have had either positive or negative and I have seen all those experiences as being positive.”  This legendary player was none other than the great Michael Jordan.

As a new real estate investor, you will have many positive and negative experiences during your real estate investing career.

The secret to lasting as a real estate investor over the long run, is to ignore the negative experiences and focus on the positive ones.  If you dwell on the negative experiences, you will have a horrible time as a real estate investor, and chances are that you will quit sooner or later.

Real estate investors are often criticized by others in the following ways:

First, people will tell you that real estate investing is too risky.  They may make you feel guilty by saying to you that you are taking on too much risk, or that ‘the bottom’ will fall out of the real estate market soon.

Second, another form of criticism that real estate investors face is from people who say that “real estate is not a good investment.”

I always love hearing people tell me this.  I guess it is because in my mind I know that they are SO wrong.  However, in their mind, they think that they are SO right.

It is humorous.  I laugh to myself when I engage in conversations with people that are trying to convince me that real estate is not a good investment, and that the stock market or financial markets are a better investment.

To survive as a real estate investor, you have to learn how to both ignore the negative criticism that you encounter AND use this criticism to fuel you.

There will also be negative people in this world, that will have something bad to say about real estate, or that will be jealous of your accomplishments.  These people will try to bring your spirits down.  You cannot let them.  You need to learn the art of ignoring these people.  Once you become good at ignoring these people, it really becomes quite fun.  (The act of ignoring)

Further, you have to be able to learn how to use negative criticism as fuel.  This fuel can be used to motivate you.

This is easier said than done.  However, once you figure out how to harness criticism and turn it into ‘fuel’ that motivates you, you will be an unstoppable real estate investor, just like Brian Persaud.

Best Regards,
Neil Uttamsingh

ps: If you liked this post and the video, and want to learn how to become a real estate investor, subscribe to my blog today!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bVqJQN2B4A[/youtube]

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