First Rental Property

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Check out the Diva Money Club now.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

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

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 you are doing well.

I thought that I would change things up a bit for today’s blog post and talk about some of the negatives of real estate investing.

By now, most of you know my writing style and my general philosophy.  I am a positive person, I like to write motivating articles and I like to write about the benefits of investing in real estate.

However, today I thought that I would talk about all the reasons why a person should not become a real estate investor.  Any experienced real estate investor will tell you that succeeding as a real estate investor is not easy.  There are times when you feel on top of the world and there are times in which you want to ‘throw in the towel’ and quit real estate investing for good!  My real estate buddies Julie Broad and Dave Peniuk chronicle their adventures as real estate investors at their blog Life As Real Estate Investors.  This is a great blog to check out if you have not done so already.  Their blog will give you a real sense of how it is to be a real estate investor.

In this post I chose to focus on some of the negative aspects of real estate real investing, so you will be able to see that there  ACTUALLY are negative aspects about the business.  It is important to be aware of these negative aspects.  The more awareness we have of these downside of the business, the greater chance we have of finding solutions to these problems, and the greater chance we have of not letting these negative things effect us and get our spirits down.

Here we go.  Here are the top ten reasons why you should NOT become a real estate investor.

10.  You have to deal with tenant issues

Whether you chose to manage your properties on your own, or whether you have a property manager looking after your properties, you will have to deal with tenant issues as they arise.  This can cause anxiety, as dealing with tenant conflict is never a fun thing.  You can never sit back and be totally hands off when you own multiple properties, or even one property for that matter. Depending on the tenant profile that you have selected, you may be surprised as to how ‘hands on’ you need to be as a landlord. Be prepared that you are going to have to deal with difficult issues with tenants.

9.  You have to worry about additional payments

If you own the home that you live in, you are making various payments in relation to your home each month.  Payments such as mortgage, taxes, utilities and many others.  If you own a rental property, you have a whole set of other payments that you have to worry about as well.  You better be on top of things, as a few missed payments can spell disaster for you.  Don’t fall behind on your mortgage payments on your rental properties, and don’t fall behind on your property tax payments.  If you do, you are getting yourself into serious trouble. 

8. You will never have enough money in your reserve fund

I have been around long enough to know that most investors are never happy with the amount of money they have in their reserve fund.  Some investors keep a tremendous amount of funds in their reserve fund, in anticipation of the “end of the world”.  However, most investors keep ‘just enough’ money in their reserve fund to get by.  Investors always worry about their reserve fund, as they constantly wonder if they have enough money put aside in the event of  major repairs or extended vacancies.

7.  You will not fit in

Whether you like it or not, owning  rental properties is not something that many people do.  I have heard a number of different stats on this topic.  Since I am Canadian, I will give you a Canadian stat.  The last stat that I heard was that 5 % of Canadians owned a property in addition to their principal residence.  That is not a large percentage as that equates to…5 out of 100 people.

Whenever you are the ‘five’ out of 100 people, you are clearly in the minority.  When you are in the minority, generally, you don’t fit in with how the rest of society operates.  For example, if you strike up a conversation with people and talk about the challenges that you face as a landlord, it is very possible that they will not relate to you, as they have no idea what you are talking about.

Plain and simple, as a real estate investor, you are weird, and you do not fit in.  Get used to it.

6.  You will have less disposable income

Experienced real estate investors  will be the first to tell you that they are ‘house rich and cash poor’.  As a real estate investor, owning a rental property is a big commitment.  In reality, you are going to have to put in your own funds (from a job or other source) in order to replenish reserve funds or to pay for any repairs, maintenance, or vacancies from time to time.  I know this last sentence has some of the aspiring real estate investors figitting in thier chairs as they read this.  Some of the experience real estate investors might be thinking…”Neil, did you just say that?”  Yes, I did.

I will say it again.  You put in your own funds (from your job or from another source) in order to sustain your portfolio.  This is the reality.  Anyone who tells you differently is probably lying to you.

5.  You will always regret selling a property

People who understand the value of real estate as an investment, understand that you benefit by holding real estate long term.  As a real estate investor, if you sell a property at some point during your real estate investing career, there is a good chance that there will be a part of you that regrets selling the property at that period in time.  This is because, if you held the property for another 5 or 10 years, you would benefit from additional cash flow, mortgage pay down and potential appreciation.

No matter what the circumstances are, when you sell a property, there will be a part of you that will second guess that decision.  It is not fun to live with regrets.

4.  People Judge You.

Further to point number 7, not only will you not fit in, people will judge you as well.  People can often be hostile towards you if they find out that you own a rental property or two.  They think that because you own a rental property, you must be a) rich, b) given money from a family member, c) involved in illegal activity, d) from a well off family, e) lucky, f) won the lottery, g) unfairly given money that you did not have to work for, etc.  The list can go on and on.  Plain and simple, people judge you and wonder where you got the money to invest in real estate.  They tend to think that you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

3.  You strive to obtain goals that are not your own

The more you surround yourself by other real estate investors, the more you learn.  As you learn more, you also start to unknowingly compete with other real estate investors.  You quickly find yourself in a position in which you are constantly comparing yourself with other real estate investors.  One area of comparission, and also the most obvious one relates to ‘how many’ properties you own.

Believe it or not, but people get caught up in a frenzy where they try to buy as many properties as they possbilby can, trying to keep pace with other investors.  People get so caught up in this activity, that they don’t take anytime to stop and think what they are doing.  Soon enough, they find themselves in a position in which they have taken on too many properties, that they can’t manage. As a result, their stress level goes up, and their personal lives suffer.

2. Life is more important than just trying to make money

It is easy to get caught up in life focussing on activities that are worthless.  Many people focuss exclusively on trying to make money.  More often than not, people who pursue wealth creation exclusively are not happy.  You have to have balance in your life, in order feel fullfilled.  Some real estate investor pursue investing in real estate as their sole focus.  This is not the right thing to do, as life is more than just about making money.

1.  Real Estate investing is like the Mafia.  Once you are in, you can’t get out.

True veteran real estate investors never give up investing in real estate.  This may sound noble, however, sometimes it is something that is done against their will.  Buying rental properties is a big undertaking.  Once you have purchased a property, sunk your own money into the investment, looked after repairs, maintenance and fed the property with your own personal funds to cover vacancies, you want to make sure that you realize a good profit from this investment.

Since you have put so much money, time and effort into your rental property, it doesn’t make any sense to exit from the investment, even if you are burnt out and do not want to deal with the investment any longer.  Once you are invested, you are stuck with it. You are stuck with it because you want to hold it long enough that you are able to profit from the investment in a major way.

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 some tips and tricks to help you get started.

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all doing well.

I have a number of things to update you on.

First off, I would like to give a shout out to Rachelle of Landlord Rescue.

As I have mentioned before, Rachelle got the ball rolling and has created a Canadian Real Estate Blog Carnival.

You can read some of best posts from Canadian Real Estate bloggers at this carnival.

In case you missed the first three additions, I encourage you to check them out:

Canadian Real Estate Blog Carnival, First Edition
Canadian Real Estate Blog Carnival, Second Edition
Canadian Real Estate Blog Carnival, Third Edition

I was very happy to receive an ‘honourable mention’ in the 1st edition, and win the silver medal in the 2nd edition!

I was away for a few weeks and wasn’t able to submit an article for the Third edition, but I will definitely be submitting an article for the upcoming Fourth Edition. Stay Tuned!

In the upcoming fourth edition, I am looking forward to reading posts from from some of the best Canadian Real Estate bloggers including Julie Broad and Dave Peniuk from Life As Real Estate Investors and Nick and Tom Karadza from Rock Star Inner Circle.

If you are a new real estate investor looking to educate yourself on the topic of real estate investment, The Carnival is a must read for you.  Although this carnival has specific Canadian content, much of the content would be of great value to real estate investors from all around the world, especially investors from the U.S.A.

You will be pleasantly surprised as to how much you will learn by reading The Canadian Real Estate Blog Carnival.

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 you can use to help you buy your first rental property.

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are doing well.

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

Now for today’s blog post…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why it pays to be self aware…

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

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

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

Here is an example of what I mean…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What I have learned by observing others…

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

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

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

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

There is no right or wrong answer to this question.

This all comes down to your own personal goals.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

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

Hi Everyone,

I hope that you are all doing well.

I am happy to let you know that the First Edition of The Canadian Real Estate Carnival is available.

Fellow Canadian Real Estate Blogger Rachelle from Landlord Rescue has done a fantastic job in putting this carnival together.  There you can read a collection of articles by fellow real estate investors and bloggers such as Julie Broad and Wade Graham.  Check it out!

Every successful real estate investor realizes at some point that they have to think differently from everyone else.

I have found that there are a couple of common traits that super successful real estate investors have.  These traits are:

1. They think differently (from everyone else)
2. They only act on advice from people that have ‘gone’ before them

Think Differently

Very successful business people and real estate investors have become wealthy because they do not ‘follow the crowd’.

In fact, if there is one single piece of advice I can ever give someone starting out as a real estate investor, it is exactly that, ‘never follow the crowd’.

Successful business people and real estate investors have an ability to mentally block out all of the ‘noise’, and ‘opinions’ that are given to them by the rest of society.

If everyone knew how to become rich, don’t you think the majority of the people would attempt to do so?

You see the thing is, the majority of people do not know how to become wealthy, yet many people who are not wealthy give their opinions as to how someone can become wealthy…

There is a small minority of the population that does know how to become wealthy, and they achieve this by working towards their goals and ‘thinking differently’.

The point I am trying to make here is that successful real estate investors become wealthy partly because they think differently!

They don’t follow the crowd because the crowd is a collection of average people.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am not saying that there is anything wrong with being average…

What I am saying is that super successful people know that to become GREAT, you can’t be average.

Thinking differently is the first step towards achieving MORE!

Only act on advice from people that have ‘gone’ before you

What does this mean?

Simply put, do not take the advice from people who have not accomplished what you are trying to accomplish.

Here is a classic example that I see time and time again.

A new real estate investor is considering purchasing their first rental property.  They are doing their homework on their selected investment area and property type.  They have built up *just enough* confidence in order for them to ‘pull the trigger’ and make the purchase.

Their dream of buying their first rental property gets shattered when they receive “advice” from a friend or family member stating that:

• “buying a rental property is a too risky.”
• “the real estate market is in a bubble “. —  (I personally can’t stand this one!)
• “how are you going to manage the property?  You are not a handy person!”
• “there is NO WAY that you are going to be able to pay for 2 mortgages.”

In most cases, these potential real estate investors take all of this ‘advice’ to heart and end up ‘throwing in the towel’…

…never to attempt purchasing a rental property again.

Here is what successful people do

Really successful real estate investors get to the point in which they never act on the advice of others, who have not achieved what they are trying to achieve.

Notice here that I have used the words…”never ACT on the advice”, rather than, “never LISTEN to the advice”

There is an important distinction to be made here because successful real estate investors can LISTEN to the advice from these inexperienced people.  It is hard not to LISTEN to the advice when people are trying to give it to you 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, even when you don’t ask for it!

It is okay to LISTEN, however, the super successful do not ACT on this advice.  The successful know that the only advice that they should be ACTING on is the advice given to them by those that are MORE successful than them.

Once a novice real estate investor realizes this distinction, everything starts to ‘click’ and making decisions becomes a lot easier!

You must THINK DIFFERENTLY and only ACT on the advice from people more successful than you!

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 tips and tricks in order to help you get started!

Hi Everyone,

I am very happy to share with you some good news.

Fellow Real Estate Investor and Blogger, Julie Broad of Rev N You is now a regular contributor on the BiggerPockets Real Estate Blog.

Her introductory article called, The Great Canadian Real Estate Opportunity is a must read for any aspiring real estate investor.

If you are an aspiring real estate investor, I highly recommend that you keep up to date with Julie’s articles on the BiggerPockets Real Estate Blog.

Here are the reasons why you should do this:

One

Julie is an experienced Canadian real estate investor. By following her articles and her comments, you will be able to gain an insight into the Canadian real estate market.  If you are looking to buy a property in Canada as your first rental property, pay close attention to what she has to say regarding Canada.

Two

In her article series, she will be commenting on certain States in the US where Canadians are buying real estate. If you are an American real estate investor, this will give you an insight into where Canadians are purchasing property.

Three

Julie is a well respected real estate blogger and investor. She presents the facts and is well intentioned. It is helpful to learn from people like this, because they are always willing to share their knowledge.

Four

Separate from her articles on the BiggerPockets Blog, she has 31 Free Real Estate Investing Videos that you can benefit from.  I have watched a number of these videos.  I think that the videos are very helpful to aspiring real estate investors looking to buy their first rental property.

Five

Finally, I believe that Julie is the best Canadian representative that we can have representing fellow Canadian Real Estate Investors and Bloggers on the BiggerPockets Real Estate Blog.

There you have it. Julie Broad has made the ‘big time’ on BiggerPockets. Keep up to date with her article series and you will learn a lot!

To keep up to date with my blog you can click on the orange RSS button at the top right hand corner of the blog. Or you can type in your e-mail address on the left hand side of the blog.