First Rental Property

Hi Everyone,

I hope that you are all doing well.

It is the Labour Day long weekend here in Ontario, Canada.

This of course is the last weekend, before kids go back to school, and many people return to work from their summer vacation.

With this extra day off, I had some time to stop by and visit with my property manager, Dan of ADP Property Management.  (I work with Donna also at ADP Property Management and she is great.  However, in this post, for simplicity, I will be referring only to Dan.)

Dan and I were going over some details of the renovations that were completed on my recent rental property purchase in Hamilton, Ontario.

This recent property purchase was my fifth rental property purchase. As well, it was the fourth property purchase within less than two years. The new acquisition did however come with some anxiety.

The anxiety I experienced was around the topic of property management. I knew that with this purchase, I was reaching the point in which more time would be required from myself in order to properly manage these properties.

You see, up until today, I have always self managed all of my rental properties. I have referred to Dan as my property manager before in previous blog posts. He was working as my property manager to locate tenants for the properties and to look after repairs that I had brought to his attention.

So in essence, he was not completely the property manager. I was self managing the properties, and I would contact him for his expertise on an ad hoc basis.

Today however this changed, as I finally accepted the fact that I need to leverage more on my property manager and the expertise that he provides.

As such, we are going to make him the full time property manager of the newest rental property purchase in Hamilton.

So how did I finally come to this decision and why is it such a big deal?

I decided to make the decision of using a full time property manager, simply because I have been listening to the advice of smarter, more successful real estate investors.  Real Estate investors that hold a number of properties, usually well over 3 (some of them hold properties in the double digits and even triple digits), had been giving me advice to use a property manager on a full time basis, after I exceeded 3 properties.

When I had 3 properties, things were manageable.  I could deal with anything that came up, no problem.

Even now, if I wanted to, I could deal with managing 5 properties.  However, my key realization was that just because I can do something, doesn’t mean that I should.

Let me repeat myself here…

“My key realization was that just because I can do something, doesn’t mean that I should.”

As you continue to grow as a real estate investor, you need to leverage on the strengths of the people on your real estate team.

• As an individual, and as an investor, when you learn to focus on the things that you are really good at, things become a lot easier.

My decision to have Dan manage this property on a full time basis simply came down to the question of….’What do I want to be doing with my time?”

I could be focusing my time on actively managing a portfolio of rental properties, or I could be focusing my time on growing my real estate portfolio by attracting and working with joint venture partners.  Currently my focus is on the later, so I need to free up my time so that I can focus on that priority — the priority of growing my real estate portfolio by working with joint venture partners.

As a new investor looking to buy your first rental property, you need to be aware that you cannot do everything yourself.  There comes a time in which you have to leverage upon people on your real estate team who have a different skill set from you.

I often see that real estate investors sometimes try to hold onto everything and do everything themselves.  This often happens to investors that hold between 3 and 8 properties.  Investors who hold these many properties are still at a stage in which, perhaps they are still able to balance things, and continue self managing their units…

There does come a time though in which you have to learn to let go.

The cool thing is that many of the super successful real estate investors completely embrace this concept.

This being the concept of learning to let go, and leveraging on the strengths of the people on your real estate team.

Only focus on what you are great at!

To keep up to date with my blog, you can enter your e-mail address on the LEFT hand side of the blog.  To sign up for The First Rental Property Newsletter, you can 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 bought their first rental property.  You will also be able to pick up some tips and tricks from these experienced real estate investors. Sign up for The First Rental Property Newsletter today!

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh.

Hi Everyone,

I hope that you are all doing well.

This week I closed on a rental property in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Yay!

The process of purchasing rental properties is becoming very familiar to me now.  The process almost feels automatic.  However, it wasn’t always that way…

One of the biggest discoveries that I have made recently, that I would like to share with new and prospective real estate investors is this…

There is a secret to becoming a successful real estate investor.

This ‘secret’ as I like to call it, may not seem obvious at first.  The secret is however the linchpin to all future success in real estate investing.

Once you understand what this secret is, it is easy to see how some people become very good and experienced at real estate investing, while others who attempt to become successful, fail.

The secret is simply this…

Successful real estate investors are afraid of investing in real estate, however, they are able to manage this fear.

This may seem like a confusing statement.  It is however not confusing at all.  Let me explain…

No matter how successful a real estate investor becomes, the individual always experiences a degree of fear with regards to real estate investing.

This fear may be centered around having a vacant rental unit, selecting tenants, obtaining financing, or growing their real estate portfolio.

I know all about this fear because I experience it.

Here is where this blog post gets interesting… (if it has not already)

• Successful and experienced real estate investors are able to manage this fear.

The key to success is being able to manage this fear.

For example, as I mentioned above, I closed on a townhouse in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada this week.  With every property purchase that I have made, I have experienced a degree of fear.  More appropriately put, this fear has more so been anxiety that I have experienced.

I think that every experienced real estate investor feels some sort of anxiety or fear with each property acquisition, no matter how many properties they may have.

For myself, I was experiencing anxiety with regards to finding tenants for this property.  I was concerned that due to the time of the year (the end of summer), the property may sit vacant for a couple of months, as the rental market that I invest in, tends to slow down a bit come September.

New and aspiring real estate investors allow this fear to consume them.  Fear paralyzes them, and because of this, they end up never taking any action!  Which translates into….

NEVER BUYING THEIR FIRST RENTAL PROPERTY!!!

Experienced real estate investors are able to manage this fear because they are resourceful, and they know where to get answers when they need them.

For example, I am resourceful, and I rely on my real estate team.  Members of my real estate team have strengths that I do not.

I am become more confident about real estate investing because I know that my real estate team is good at what they do.

For example, my fear of having a vacant unit was quickly reduced when the property manager that I work with ADP Property Management, contacted me 2 days after my closing date, with a tenant that wants to move in September 1st.  If this works out with the tenant, they will move in simply 7 days after I closed on the property.  Not bad in my books!

Once again, I was able to manage this anxiety  by working with the right people.  My property manager has the knowledge and the network, in order to provide me with a list of potential tenants that I can chose from.

So as you can see, although I keep on plugging away as a real estate investor, there are still things that I am afraid of, or that I experience anxiety over.  In this example, it was the anxiety of having a vacant unit for 2 months plus…

I know how to eliminate and reduce this fear, because I know where to get answers.

This is the biggest difference between the experienced real estate investors and the investors just starting out.

The new investors trying to get things going, often do not know where to get the answers to their important questions.  They often do not know who the right people are to network with.  It is because of this, that many of the new investors fail at real estate investing, or don’t even start investing because they are too overwhelmed.

In order to become better as  a real estate investor, you have to understand and embrace the fact that you will be afraid of certain things, however, you have to forge ahead and manage those fears.

Your resourcefulness and the people you know in your real estate network will help you to manage and or eliminate these fears.

To keep up to date with my blog, you can enter your e-mail address  on the LEFT hand said of my blog.

To receive The First Rental Property Newsletter, you can enter your e-mail address on the RIGHT hand side of the blog.  In this newsletter, experienced real estate investors will share with you what they went through when they purchased their first rental property.  They will also share with you some tips and tricks that you can implement when you buy your first rental property.

Best Regards,

Neil.