Every real estate investor has a TSN Turning Point. If you are Canadian, and if you are a sports fan, you may know what I am referring to when I say, ‘TSN Turning Point‘.

If you have no idea what I am talking about, not to worry.

Here is what I mean…

For many years TSN had been Canada’s leading sports network.

After each televised sports game on this network, the sports commentators covering the game would review the highlights of the game as well as what they called the ‘TSN Turning Point’.

The TSN Turning Point was the time in the game where the momentum shifted for the winning team.  It was a time in which the winning team took stride.

It was a point in which the winning team made a key play that helped them win the game.

All Real Estate Investors Have A TSN Turning Point

Every experienced real estate investor can tell you when their own personal TSN Turning Point occurred.

A TSN Turning point for a real estate investor is a time in which they gained momentum, confidence, and belief in themselves.

For myself and many other real estate investors that I know, The Real Estate Investment Network ACRE Event was The TSN Turning Point.

Today I have a treat for you. The Real Estate Investment Network and Don R. Campbell have a guest post for you. In the post Don and the Real Estate Investment Network refer to the real estate investing space in Canada as well as the upcoming Toronto REIN ACRES Event.

Enjoy the post and feel free to leave your comments for Don in the comments section below.

Best Regards,
Neil Uttamsingh

ps: Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog if you are a new to the world of real estate investing. You will find very valuable information on this blog that will help you to buy your first rental property.

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A Canadian
Real Estate Market

Doesn’t Exist in 2011,

So Don’t Be Fooled

What does 2011 hold for
Canadian Homeowners and Real Estate Investors?

Almost a quarter of the way into the new year, many
people are still looking for ‘predictions’ of what 2011 will hold. That’s why
you see so many pundits come out of the woodwork to share their insights. I do
find this a bit strange as nothing about the market really changed from December
2010 to January 2011 and through to March 2011, other than a few new pictures on
your kitchen calendar. Those who pay close attention to the underlying economic
fundamentals aren’t struggling with what is coming next.

But having said that, let’s take a look at what the next 12 to 18 months hold
for Canadian real estate.

Quick 2010 Overview – Multiple Levels of Confusion

In order to look forward, we do need a quick review of
2010. The year in real estate turned out to be exactly as predicted in January
2010. It was a year of turmoil and confusion (the big economic ‘W’) and those
who were unaware that we were riding this 2010 ‘W’ allowed themselves to be
shaken out of the market (right at the wrong time!)

The economic ‘W’ does have a real cleansing effect on the market as it always
chases out most of the speculators (those who profit only when market values
increase dramatically) and leaves the market to the real professional investors
and landlords.

This confusion was especially felt by those using housing market numbers to
analyze the market. Investors understand that:

If You Are Making Decision based
on Housing Market Numbers

… You are Driving By, Looking In The Rear-view Mirror, and are Bound To Crash!

Government Meddling Led To
Unsustainable Mini-Boom

More confusion was thrown into two very large markets
(BC and Ontario) with the announcement of the HST. Despite some limited efforts
by both provincial governments, how the HST was going to affect real estate
purchases and sales was not clear – into this vacuum sped confusion and an
almost breathless panic to get purchases done before July 1st. This caused a
higher percentage of purchases to be pushed into the first half of the year than
would normally be expected. Due to their sizes, these two markets hold such a
high percentage of the Canadian real estate transactions that this activity made
the Canadian average price and activity jump despite most other markets
underperforming.

This cursory analysis led some housing analysts to predict that a bubble was
forming. This, of course, turned out to be false as markets slowed down again
later in the year. Those of us who analyze the real estate market by looking at
underlying economic conditions knew this boom would be short lived and was a
product of desperation rather than true market sentiments.

A ‘Canadian’ Real Estate Market Does Not Exist

Overall, 2010 proved to investors and homeowners alike
that a ‘Canadian’ real estate market doesn’t exist in and of itself. The
Canadian real estate market is actually a series of very regional markets all
which perform relatively exclusive of each other.

In fact, in 2010 and in 2011 the market really will be a ‘Goldilocks’ story.
Some markets will be too hot (compared to underlying economics), others will be
too cold, and some will perform just right. As our regions continue to detach
from each other economically this trend will continue for many years to come and
will compel investors and homeowners to ignore national real estate numbers and
trends. They must focus on what is happening in their region.

2011 Market Predictions

To make it easier to predict what is going to occur in their
local real estate markets, investors can use the formula shown below. Long term
increasing prices of real estate stem from economic (GDP) growth. Without
economic growth, a real estate market is not sustainable. Sure there can be
upward and downward blips not attributed to economic growth (such as when the
governments meddle as in 2010), but these are just short-term unsupported blips.

Figure: The Long Term Real
Estate Formula

GDP Growth = Job Growth = (12 months later) Population
Growth = Increased Rental Demand = Decreased Vacancies = Increased Rents = (18
months later) Property Purchase Demand = Increase in Property Prices

This cycle works both ways, over roughly the same time lines. Sustainable real
estate price increases occur approximately 18 months after a region’s economy
begins to grow and they drop approximately 18 months after the economy in a
region begins to shrink.

We can use Alberta’s markets as the perfect illustration of this formula in
action. Alberta’s GDP grew so quickly for years in a row and the real estate
markets skyrocketed over that time and even after the economy began to slow
down. This set up a number of high expectations and assumptions by people not
understanding this formula and scared a lot of people out of the market. Even
today, despite the fact that Alberta is going to lead the nation in economic
growth in 2011, those who experienced the 20% annual increases in the past are
sitting on the sidelines waiting for the market to come back. Smart investors
who understand the inevitability of this formula are quietly picking up pieces
of Alberta cash-flowing real estate, positioning themselves for the inevitable
increase in demand 12 to 18 months from the start of the strong economic growth.

Because Canada’s 2011 market is going to be even more regionally fractured than
in 2010, it is imperative that investors and homeowners understand this formula
and they make their investment decisions based on it, rather than the
fluctuating housing market numbers.

CREA & Competition Bureau
Settlement Leads to Unintended Consequences in 2011

As with any structural changes to an industry, the settlement
imposed by the Competition Bureau on Canadian Real Estate Association’s MLS
website will have many unintended consequences on the health of the Canadian
real estate market. We are currently completing a full report and analysis of
these consequences (some of which are OK and some of which are not good news).
Here are some preliminary conclusions that will affect the overall market:

1. Housing metrics will indicate incorrect readings of the
   health of the market, leading to inaccurate analysis by some market
   commentators during the year
2. Often used metrics such as ‘sales to listings ratio’,
   ‘days on market’, and ‘overall number of listings’ will be impossible to use
   as comparisons to previous year’s performance. This is because under the new
   rules, there will be many more listings being posted by people just fishing
   the market at very little cost (many poorly priced, poorly managed listings
   left in the system too long).
3. These additional listings will lead to average price
   increases being softened more than the underlying economics would usually
   lead to.

The complete Unintended Consequences of the CREA
Settlement with the Competition Bureau report will be publically distributed to
all who are subscribed to
www.myREINspace.com.

Finally, the distinction between real estate “investors” and real estate
“speculators” is created by one thing – a sound and unbiased education in real
estate fundamentals. Done properly, real estate investing produces results in
any market conditions because it incorporates economic fundamentals, proven
business practices, and a long-term vision. On the other hand, real estate
speculation requires perfect timing, lots of hope, and a strong enough stomach
to ride out the cycles in the market!

By far the quickest, least expensive and most engaging way to become a
sophisticated real estate investor is to set April 16th and 17th aside to attend
the

2011 Toronto ACRE™ Live event. Now in it’s 19th year, the ACRE™ system
continues to be where Canadians go to receive an unbiased real estate investing
education that works – not because if focuses on the “Canadian” market, but
because it teaches investors to drill down into the economic fundamentals that
drive regional real estate markets.

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.

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.

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are doing well.

I am a firm believer that in order to progress as a real estate investor, you need to continually educate yourself on the topic of real estate.

I have been very fortunate to be associated with The Real Estate Investment Network also known as, REIN.

The president of REIN, Don R. Campbell is a class act.  He has positively affected the lives of many people. He educates people regarding the fundamentals of real estate investing. People that have studied these economic fundamentals, taken action and invested in real estate in specific geographical areas, have realized positive results.  In fact, REIN members have purchased over 26,000 properties valued at over $3.2 billion dollars.  Don is a Canadian Best Selling Author of 4 real estate books.  Each book has achieved Canadian Best Selling status.   All of the proceeds from the books are donated to Habitat for Humanity.  Donations have now exceeded  $600,000.

I personally have benefited from the education and the network of like minded real estate investors associated with REIN.  The Real Estate Investment Network is a high class organization, bottom line.

Over the past year this very blog First Rental Property has become a lot more popular and I have established a large readership.  A large part of my success has come from observing the best practices of top notch real estate and business bloggers like Julie Broad and Yaro Starak.  I have benefited so much by Yaro’s Blog Mastermind Program. If it was not for Yaro and his teachings, First Rental Property would not be where it is today.

The success of my blog has been no accident.  It has been the product of writing consistently, and continually demonstrating my writing style through articles like The Darkside of Real Estate Investing.  Fortunately, many people appreciate my approach which has resulted in a loyal readership, and I am thankful for that.

I have also had to market my blog through a variety of different methods. One of these methods involves reading similar real estate blogs and providing my own comments on articles.  This is done with the intent that people will read my comments, like what I have to say, and trackback to my blog.

I make a conscious effort to avoid blogs that have a negative tone, as blogs with a negative tone generally have negative people that follow these blogs.

This week I came across a blog with very negative comments about REIN, which I did not appreciate.

I read through all of the comments and found them ridiculous as they were made by people for the most part who are negative and who probably have little to no experience with real estate investing.

Reading these comments provided confirmation to me as to why I avoid blogs with a negative tone in the comments section.  Simply put, I do not enjoy engaging in banter with negative people.

In the comments people were devaluing REIN and explaining why an individual should not be a member.

It so turned out that the numerous comments that I read  inspired me to write this very blog post.

So I will now share with you the following.  Here are the…

Top 3 Reasons Not To Become a REIN Member.

#3)  You want to get rich quick

There are many people out there that believe that you can get rich quick by investing in real estate.  Many veteran real estate investors know that investing in real estate is a long term commitment.  You realize the fruits of your labour some years down the road, and not on day one.  Unfortunately, many people have the belief that in fact you become rich on the very first day you buy real estate…this is not the case.  Real estate investing requires commitment, hard work, and follow through.  If you want to get rick quick, in my opinion REIN is not the right place for you.

#2) You are negative and you have nothing to contribute

If you are an overly negative person and don’t like contributing in a positive manner, chances are you will not last in REIN.  It is not difficult to see that some of the most successful and well liked REIN members are the positive ones who work hard and give back.  The successful ones are the ones who enjoy helping others and sharing their knowledge with both new and experienced real estate investors.  There are many positive and well liked members, however, top notch members in my books  are Andrew C. MacDonald, Joey Ragona and Ian Szabo.  Conversely, if you are negative and you have nothing to contribute, you are not going to benefit those around you.

#1) You are unethical

In any industry there are those that play by the rules, and those that do not.  The real estate investing industry is no different.  There are a lot of bad apples out there.  These people operate with sub-par moral standards.  They break rules by finding short cuts and cheating.  Since REIN is an organization full of integrity, there is no room for unethical people.  If people are found out to be cheaters or operating with a below standard code of ethics, they are quickly shown the door and are not welcome back, especially by the members.

So there you have it ladies and gentlemen.  REIN is a fantastic organization.  It is an organization in which I am proud to be a member of.  I highly recommend that you join if you are an aspiring real estate investor with ambition and great positivity.   However, as described above, it is not for everyone.

If you are an unethical, negative person looking to get rich quick REIN is not the place for you.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

PS: Learn more about Real Estate Investment Groups, such as REIN by subscribing to my blog.  Don’t keep my blog a secret, tell a friend!

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.

Hi Everyone,

I hope that you are all doing well.

In the early days of my blog, I talked about what transitional areas were.

Over the years I have noticed a handful of people do exceptionally well by investing in transitional areas.

A few of these people were not real estate investors in the traditional sense.  Rather, they were people that saw opportunity in a market that was changing.

As you can read from my previous post on transitional areas, these small pockets in the market, that are going through or have gone through tremendous change.

Pride of ownership has increased in these areas, and these are areas that people want to move to.

• If we look at transitional areas as a real estate investment strategy…you can really win BIG with this strategy.

Investing ‘early’ in transitional areas will contribute to you getting the biggest payout down the road…

For example, if you are looking to buy your first rental property, you can consider buying this property in a transitional area. The benefits of doing this would be:

• Property values will increase (because it is a transitional area)
• You will have a great exit strategy, as you will be able to sell your property at a time in which the area is much improved.

As mentioned above, due to the fact that transitional areas area going through significant change (for the better), property values increase in these areas.

As an example, I purchased a property in a transitional area of Toronto in October 2008.
I had done my homework, as I researched this area thoroughly. As well, I studied the research conducted by extremely reputable sources such as Don R. Campbell’s Real Estate Investment Network.

(Oh and by the way, Don has one of the best Canadian real estate blogs.  Check out Don R. Campbell’s Blog.)

After conducting all of my research in this area, I knew that I would realize some good appreciation with this property.

This property, is located in a new development and is scheduled for completion in the middle of 2011.  I estimate the market value of this property to be $40,000 to $70,000 higher than what I paid for it in October 2008.

In my view, this was not speculation, rather a well thought out purchase in an area going through significant revitalization.

As you can see from the example above, if you adopt a strategy in which you are buying your first rental property in an area of transition, you can win big with equity appreciation.

In fact, why stop there?

Why not adopt a strategy of buying your first, second, third rental property all in transitional areas?  Within a matter of years, you will have created a significant amount of equity.

Happy Investing!

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 bought their first rental property.  They will also share with you some tips and tricks to help you get started!

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for reading the first part of this two part blog post.

Here is Part I, in case you missed it…

How to find a trustworthy real estate mentor Part I

In this post we will finish off what we started.  In Part I, I shared with you one recommendation that you can take in order to find a real estate mentor.  Below, I have included my second recommendation.  Enjoy the post, and as always, feel free to leave your comments in the comments section below.

How to find a trustworthy real estate mentor

2) Follow People on-line

In today’s market, one of the best ways to find a real estate mentor is by following the online real estate community. Clearly, there are many real estate investing forums that real estate investors visit on a consistent basis. 2 very popular and very good forums are Josh Dorkin’s Bigger Pockets and Don R. Campbell’s MyReinSpace.

On these online real estate forums you will often read about real estate investors who are taking a lot of action, and actively buying real estate.

Keep note of the people that you meet on these forums that are putting their money where their mouth is and investing in real estate.

It is these investors that you will be able to go to in the future and ask many of the real estate questions that you have.

Also, there are real estate entrepreneurs who frequently visit these forums that offer mentor-ship for a certain fee. As part of this fee, they may also offer you workshops and specific training courses.

If you are a new real estate investor, it is very important to know that you do not have to pay for mentor-ship. There are many real estate investors out there with experience who would gladly share their advice and experiences with you free of charge.

On the other hand, there are some great real estate investors and real estate entrepreneurs out there that offer excellent mentor-ship programs.

Tom and Nick Karadza of Rock Star Real Estate Inc. are very well known within the online real estate community. They are brothers who are very down to earth and who offer excellent mentor-ship programs to new real estate investors, among many other things. If you are new to real estate investing, I highly recommend that you check out Tom and Nick Karadza.

So the next time you visit these real estate forums mentioned above (Bigger Pockets and MyReinSpace), take some time to read the comments of other real estate investors.

If you like what you are reading from a certain individual on a particular real estate forum, take the leap of faith and ask them some real estate related questions. Most people are more than willing to help, and would gladly answer any questions that you may have.

It is within these online real estate forums where a lot of mentoring takes place.

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

To sign up for The First Rental Property Newsletter, enter your name and e-mail address on the RIGHT hand side of the blog.

As a subscriber to the Newsletter, you will receive interviews that I have conducted with experienced real estate investors. In these interviews, they will be sharing with you their experiences when they bought their first rental property.

Onwards and Upwards!

Neil Uttamsingh.

How to find a trustworthy real estate mentor Part I

Hi Everyone,

One of the realizations that you must make early on in your real estate investing career is that you will need a mentor.

Every real estate investor who has achieved any sort of success has had a mentor at some point.

Mentors play a huge role in the development of a novice real estate investor.

A mentor is someone that you can watch, listen, and learn from their experience.  You can take away certain tidbits of information from them, that help you to become a better real estate investor.

Also, the relationship that you develop with your mentor can take on a more formal arrangement.  This arrangement can be one in which you meet with and discuss your goals and challenges on a more formal basis.

When investors are first staring out, they may not have a mentor, or even know how to go about locating one.

When I began my real estate investing career back in 2005, I did not have a mentor.  As time went on, I realized that in order to get better, I needed to search out a mentor who would be able to answer many of the questions that I had.

As my interest in real estate continued to develop, I began to have so many  questions that no one was able to answer for me.  As such, I realized that  a real estate mentor would be the only individual who would be able to answer these questions.

My first real estate mentor turned out to be the father of one of my friend’s.  At the time, he was the only person that I knew that had invested heavily in real estate, and who had achieved success doing so.

The important thing to note is that as a beginner to real estate investing, you have to be proactive and go out and find a real estate mentor.  A real estate mentor is not just going to fall out of the sky for you.  It is also important to note that finding a real estate mentor  is not the easiest thing to do, if you don’t know how.

To help you with the journey of finding a mentor, I have provided you with 2 recommendations to consider when seeking a mentor.

How to Find a Trustworthy Real Estate Mentor

1)  Word of Mouth

Ask people you know if they know of anyone investing in real estate.  You never know who might be an experienced real estate investor.  These experienced people are a wealth of knowledge.  It is important to ask around, because sometimes real estate investors are very secretive.  Believe it or not, but there is a breed of real estate investors that don’t openly share with people that they invest in real estate.  It has been my observation that these people are sometimes the older real estate investors, who have adopted an old school train of thought.  This old school train of thought is to not share with people what they do.  Sometimes these investors, if you get chatting with them and show an interest in real estate, can really open up.  These investors can often be the most knowledgeable of all real estate investors. This is because they have been investing in real estate over the long term, and have weathered the ups and downs of the economic cycle.  These investors are a great asset.  Get them on your side.

To read Part II of How to find a trustworthy real estate mentor, click on the link at the bottom of this blog post.

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In the First Rental Property Newsletter, I will be providing you with interviews that I have conducted with experienced real estate investors.  In these interviews, they will share the experiences and challenges they had buying their first rental property.

Onwards and Upwards,

Neil Uttamsingh

How to find a trustworthy real estate mentor Part II

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOA5Mn4loBc[/youtube]

What’s up Everybody?

I am always speaking with new and aspiring real estate investors.

I love chatting with people and hearing about how they are starting to get involved with real estate investing.

Most conversations I have are very positive.  However, I had a couple of recent conversations that I found somewhat concerning.

A small hand full of aspiring real estate investors were doing all the wrong things, in that they were setting themselves up for eventual failure.

When I spoke with these new and aspiring investors they were not in good spots in their real estate investing careers. Some of these people had been investing for a few years, while some others had just started to invest.

In speaking with them, I could easily tell that they did not have what it takes to make it as professional real estate investors.

It was easy to notice this, as there were commonalities shared among these investors.

These investors shared 2 ‘traits’ that will eventually lead, in my opinion to the destruction of their real estate investing careers.  These traits were:

1) Greed

There is no good way to sugar coat what I am about to say, and that is:

Humans are greedy.

As a new or aspiring real estate investor, if you are motivated by greed, or you allow greed to continualy influence your decision making process, chances are that you will get your rear end handed to you at some point in your real estate investing career.

Greed clouds judgement and it forces individuals to make poor decisions.  If you are a real estate investor, and you are continually making poor decisions as influenced by greed, sooner or later, one of these poor decisions will end up costing you financially.

2) Lack of due diligence

The second trait that these investors shared was that they exercised a lack of due diligence. Simply put, these wannabe investors did not do any of their homework, and got involved in real estate transactions that they had no business getting involved with in the first place.

Personally, I cannot fathom how people invest in real estate without doing their homework first.  Buying a rental property is often times one of the biggest investments one can make.  If you are making a big investment, surely one would think that you would do your homework first.  Right?

People take so much time researching what type of flat screen TV or car to buy.  Sometimes people take years doing this research.  Why isn’t the same due diligence exercised when people buy real estate?

I know the answer to this.

It is because Greed will often cloud their judgement.

If as a new real estate investor, you are constantly suppressing your desire to be greedy, and you are completing necessary due diligence before investing, you are two steps ahead of those individuals that are not.

To keep up to date with my blog, click on the orange RSS button at the top right hand corner of the screen.

To sign up for The First Rental Property Newsletter, you can enter your name and e-mail address on the right hand side of the blog. (All the cool people are doing it)

Onwards and Upwards!

Neil Uttamsingh

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0j7F5wQzfE[/youtube]

ps: learn how to make it as a real estate investor by following Don R. Campbell’s Blog