First Rental Property

As I glanced over my  left shoulder, I could not believe how close the bus was to me.  I was about 6 inches away from being hit by it.  It was moving at a speed at which if I was hit, I probably would have been run over by it.  It would have been lights out, game over for me.

This happened to me when I was in University.  I was minding my business and walking along a sidewalk parallel to one of the main streets in my university town.  I had my Walkman on and I had music playing which prevented me from hearing any other sounds around me.

I felt the urge to step down from the curb and onto the road, in anticipation of crossing over to the other side of the street. I had planned in my mind that once I had stepped down onto the road I would be taking off my Walkman, and looking behind me so that I would be able to hear the sounds and see the oncoming cars before I crossed the road.

The planned step would only have taken me 6 inches away from the curb and the sidewalk that I was walking on, and far out of reach any oncoming traffic….so I thought.

Little did I know that at the same time, there was a bus pulling up o the curb to make a stop and to drop off people.

For some reason, unknown to me to this very day…I hesitated in stepping down onto the road. Had I not hesitated and had I stepped down onto the road, the bus would have hit me and I would have been easily run over.

What does this have to do with buying your first rental property?

This has a lot to do with real estate and your first rental property.

Before I make the connection, I would like to thank Henrik Edberg of The Positivity Blog.  Henrik made a great suggestion in one of his posts titled, How to build a somewhat successful blog: 16 Lessons I have learned.

Henrik made me realize how very important the first few lines of every blog post are. As a result, I am going to spend time making sure that I have an impactful introduction for every article that I write.

Thank you Henrik!

As many of you reading this embark upon your real estate investing careers, you will be faced with many tough decisions.  Very honestly, some of you will succeed in buying your first rental property, and some of you will not.  In fact, a number of you may chose to develop a real estate portfolio bigger than just one rental property.  There will be a certain number of you that will put an extreme emphasis on buying real estate and growing your portfolio as much as possible or as fast as possible…

…This is completely fine and there is nothing wrong with that.  However, I will caution you on one important matter, in the hopes of helping you identify a potential problem before it actually occurs.

My caution to you is to not lose focus of what really matters in life.  It is great to be ambitious and it is great to invest in real estate.  There is no better way at building wealth than by investing in real estate.    However, never invest in real estate at the detriment of the people and relationships that are important to you.

People will always be more valuable than real estate, and you should never do things to compromise these people. 

You never know how long you will have some people in your life, so you better make the most of it while they are still around.

Investing in real estate should be secondary to investing in people. 

Don’t lose focus of this.  If you do, you will end up leading much of your life pursuing real estate goals while distancing yourself from the people that matter to you the most.

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 tips and tricks in order to help you purchase your first rental property.

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are doing well.

As you begin your real estate investing career, the people that you surround yourself with become increasingly important as time goes on.

Throughout your investing career, you will have many different experiences and will face many different obstacles.

The people that you surround yourself with will either be able to help you during these tough times, or they won’t be able to help you a all.

It becomes increasingly important that you network with purpose, because as you encounter obstacles as a real estate investor, you want to be able to reach out to people that you have met along the way that will be able to help you.

As an aspiring real estate investor, the challenges that you face will be quite different than the challenges that someone who owns 5, 6, or 7 rental properties will face.

This is why it is also very important that you are meeting and networking with new real estate investors, with varying levels of experience.

You constantly need to be adding on people to your social network.  When I say social network here, I mean it in the context of people that you know that you can reach out to at any time.  Whether it be during a time of need, or just to simply say hello.

Birds of a feather flock together

I pay attention to detail and I have noticed some similarities within real estate investment groups.  In these groups, real estate investors with similar levels of experience tend to gravitate to one another.  They gravitate to one another because they have something in common.  For example, aspiring real estate investors who have not purchased their first rental property can often be seen associating with other aspiring real estate investors.

Further, real estate investors with one rental property may feel comfortable hanging out with others who have just bought their first rental property as well.

In addition, real estate investors with multiple rental properties often enjoy the company of others that have also achieved what they have accomplished.

Real Estate investors just like the rest of the population tent to gravitate toward and feel comfortable around people that share similarities with them.

It is your responsibility to know that in order to become a better real estate investor, you cannot always hang out with people that have the same level of experience that you do.

In order to get to the next level, you have to network and hang out with real estate investors who have accomplished more than you have.

So how does one network properly?

Networking properly is really quite simple.  It is something that I have been very good at, however, it came so naturally to me that I never even realized that I was good at it.  I began to realize that I was good at it, when people started to ask me for advice on how to network.

In my opinion, here is the most important thing that you need to do when networking:

YOU NEED TO LISTEN

Many people think that networking should be an intense experience where you go out to an event where you need to power through the room and talk to every single person in the room and exchange business cards with each and every person.  To some, this may be an ideal form of networking, however to me, it is a waste of time.

If you approach networking as an opportunity to listen to what people have to say, you will find it tremendously worthwhile.

SIMPLY APPROACH PEOPLE AND ASK THEM WHAT THEY DO

Students of Dale Carnegie know that people like to talk about themselves.  The more you can master listening to others, and talking less about yourself, the more the other person will appreciate the conversation, and the more you will learn about the other person.  (I highly recommend trying this if you have not done this before — you will be very impressed with the outcome)

Be genuine.  Listen to what the other person has to say.  If you feel a good connection with this person take note.  Also, if they repulse you beyond believe, also take note.

IT IS NOT ABOUT TAKING, IT IS ABOUT GIVING

Another very important lesson that people have to learn is that you don’t enter into a networking event to take from others.  You enter into a networking event to give to others.  If you listen to what people have to say, and where appropriate you offer them help as to how they can improve their real estate business, you are providing them with real value.  You have to be genuine with your intentions.  If you cannot offer them any help, don’t.  Just listen to what they have to say, and perhaps follow up with them at a later date and time with any help that you can offer.

It is also a good idea to follow up with them at a later date, asking them to talk more about themselves.  For instance, if there was something that they had mentioned in their real estate business that you found particularly interesting, take a mental note of that.  Ask them further about this, and let them talk about it.

The bottom line is that people enjoy talking about themselves.  Allow people to talk about themselves and you in return will benefit a great deal.  You will learn a lot about them, and the other person will have appreciated the conversation the two of you had shared.

In summary, networking as a real estate investor is not that hard, you just need to focus on doing the right things.  If you approach every real estate investment group meeting with the same game plan, you will be very happy with the outcome.

To network properly you need to first listen.  Listen to what others have to say.  Let them talk.  You do not talk.  If you are talking more than they are, you are not listening.

You then need to simply ask people what they do.  Let them explain what they do, and let them tell you all about their real estate business.

Finally, never approach the activity of networking from the position that you are looking to take from others.  Always keep on the forefront of your mind that you are there to give something of value to others.  Look to help others with their real estate business.  Perhaps you can share with them the name of a good property manager, the name of a good painter, or you can share with them some of the key things that you have learned as a landlord.

Make these 3 changes to how you network, and you will notice a dramatic change in how people respond to 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 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.

Real Estate investing is an interesting thing.

There are people that become extremely successful at it, and there are also people that try it out for a bit, but end up throwing in the towel and giving up altogether.

The people that give up, do so as a result of a variety of reasons. I would argue that most of the people that give up are giving up because they are burnt out.

The stress of investing in real estate really gets to them, and they feel that their only course of action is to sell off their real estate.

Then, there are those people who think about investing in real estate, however, never end up doing so because they defeat themselves.

These people are defeating themselves in their minds, well before they have even physically started to invest in real estate.

Focusing on and speaking directly to this particular group through this blog post is very important to me.  It is very important as many of you reading this very article may fall into this group.  You may be considering investing in real estate, and buying your first rental property.

The reality is that most of the people that fall into this group, never end up getting started, and it is due in my opinion exclusively to limiting beliefs that these people hold.

Before I explain these  limiting beliefs, I would like you all to know that this article was inspired by Yaro Starak.  As I have mentioned in a previous post, Top 3 Reasons Not To Become a REIN Member, Yaro’s teachings have been instrumental to me. He has taught me pretty much everything I know about blogging through his Blog MasterMind Program.

Yaro wrote a great article recently titled, 3 Limiting Beliefs You Must Eliminate From Your Mindset.  It was this very article that inspired my blog post today.

So here we go…  Here are the:

Top 3 Limiting Beliefs of Aspiring Real Estate Investors

3) “I am not prepared to deal with midnight calls”

One thing that seems to really freak out aspiring real estate investors is the midnight call from tenants.  If you polled 100 experienced real estate investors, I bet you that at the very highest 2 or 3 investors would tell you that they ever got a call in the middle of the night from a tenant. The fear of a midnight call is what scares off wannabe real estate investors.  They are so afraid of dealing with potential tenant issues, and they think that it is normal to get calls from tenants in the middle of the night.

This is a limiting belief that prevents aspiring real estate investors from taking action.  As a successful real estate investor, you have to work in managing many different aspects of your real estate business.  Part of this involves managing the relationship you have with you tenants.  Being proactive with your tenants and dealing with tenant issues when they arise earns you respect by your tenants.  If your tenants respect you and are confident in your capabilities, even if there was an issue that came up at midnight, they would probably wait until the morning to contact you.  By the way…what do you classify a midnight issue as???

2) “I am not a handy person”

You do not need to be a handy person in order to be a successful real estate investor.  I am pretty bad myself when it comes to being handy.  At the beginning of my real estate investing career, I struggled terribly with trying to complete repairs myself on a few of my rental properties.  Once I made the realization that I did not need to be handy, and that I could outsource this work out to someone that was, I was able to grow my portfolio, and focus on buying properties as opposed to completing repairs.

The long story short here is that it doesn’t matter if you are handy or not.  To be a successful real estate investor, you need to learn how to leverage on others that have specialized knowledge in certain areas.  A Handyman is someone who has specialized knowledge in knowing how to complete repairs and do maintenance on properties.

Learn to leverage on people that are smarter than you in specific areas.  This is the secret to becoming successful as a real estate investor.

1) “Real Estate is risky”

Sure…I definitely agree with you here.  Then again, so is crossing the street.  No matter what you get involved in, regarding investments, there will always be an element of risk.  If there is a chance for a greater return on your investment, the risk will be higher.  Conversely, if you are receiving a low, predictable rate of return, the risk will be low.

Bottom line here is that some people never end up taking action because they are always afraid that the ‘market is too risky’.  In order to combat this fear, you must educate yourself with regards to the market you are choosing to invest in.  Knowing your market and the local economy is key.  If you are investing in a declining market with limited job growth, then yes I agree with you….the market here is risky.

Far too many people give up on the idea of investing in real estate simply because they can’t get over the mental block that the ‘market is too risky’.  The more you take the time to learn about real estate an the ‘risky’ markets…the more you will realize that you have to take steps in order to mitigate any potential risks.  One form of mitigation can simply be, knowing your local economy, and knowing the major employers in the area.  By knowing this, you will be able to ascertain if the local economy is prospering or not.

People that I have seen that have gone from owning one rental property to owning one or more rental properties in a short period of time have been able to do this because they have NOT allowed limiting beliefs to hold them back.

They were aware of the risks involved with investing in real estate, however, they did not let this information paralyze them from taking action.

If you can figure out that you WILL have limiting beliefs, and that it is your JOB to fight past these limiting beliefs…I am excited for you because you understand the principles of success.

…not many people do.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

PS: Keep up to date with my blog by entering 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 some tips and tricks to help you get started.

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are doing well.  In my last article, I spoke of the Top 3 Reasons NOT to become a REIN Member.  If you did not read this first article, I suggest that you do as this will eliminate any confusion you may have.  If you are confused already, look for the definition of REIN Member in my last article in order to figure out what I am talking about.

Today, I am going to switch things up a bit as I will describe the Top  Reasons I believe someone SHOULD become a REIN member.

Before I do this, I would like to give mention to a great article I read this week by fellow real estate blogger Shae Bynes of Good Faith Investing.

I have been following Shae’s writing on her blog mentioned above and previously over at the BiggerPockets Real Estate Blog on and off for about a year.  I always like her content, as she provides very good insight into the world of real estate investing.

In her most recent article titled, Getting a Head Start on 2011, which I highly recommend you read, she made one point that really ‘hit home’ for me.

She introduced an idea that I will be implementing for 2011. Further, this is an idea that I believe is really going to help me.  In fact, I think this idea is going to be a real ‘game changer’ for me.

Her idea was to ‘Create a Theme’ for your year. I must say that this tip is already helping me. I am not going to recite her entire article here, so click on the link above and check out what she has to say.

Thanks for the tip Shae!

As mentioned above, in today’s article I am going to talk about the top 3 reasons to become a REIN member.  Here are the reasons in no particular order…

TOP 3 REASONS TO BECOME A REIN MEMBER

3) YOU WANT TO GET TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Whether you have bought your first rental property or your 50th rental property, REIN is the right place for you if you are looking to expand your horizons.

One of the many good things about REIN is that the experience of real estate investors in the organization varies across the board.

If you are in search of buying your first rental property, you will be able to easily come across individuals who have just purchased their first rental property.  Many of these people will be able to offer you advice on how to go about buying your first rental property.

Conversely, if you own 50 rental properties and are looking at buying more, in REIN you can also find people that have purchased that many properties and who are willing to provide you with advice and guidance as to how you can continue to purchase rental properties.

Getting to the next level is not accomplished in isolation.  Surround yourself with the right people and you will soar.

2) YOU HAVE BEEN BEAT UP BADLY AND YOU NEED A CRUTCH

Unfortunately I have seen far too many REIN members fall victim to ‘Get Rich Quick’ Seminars, prior to them knowing about and joining REIN.  These seminars coupled with poor advice leave people financially crippled.  I have seen people shell out thousands upon thousands of dollars in order to learn how to become real estate investors.  These ‘Get Rich Quick’ seminars are not concerned about building a long and fulfilling relationship with their students.  Rather, they are more concerned about sucking their students dry of all of their personal savings.  It is not surprising to hear of ‘Get Rich Quick’ coaching programs costing upwards ot $30,000 a year.

REIN is a good place to come to restore your faith in real estate investing and real estate education.  Since there are no ‘real estate opportunities’ being sold by REIN, they serve as an unbiased party.  They are strictly focussed on providing their members with information and research on the real estate markets. This article offers free shipping on qualified products, or buy online and pick up in store today at Medical Department.

If you have been beat up badly before, put your faith in REIN.  The organization will provide you with a much needed crutch that will help you to mend and come back as a stronger, much more determined real estate investor.

1) YOU ARE NOT SURE IF YOU SHOULD JOIN

One of the most common questions that existing REIN members get by prospective real estate investors is, “Should I join REIN.”

If I had a penny for every time I was asked that…I would have a lot of pennies.

My answer to this questions is YES. My answer to this question is especially Yes if you are sitting on the fence and are not sure whether you should join or not.

As you might very well know, no one likes a fence sitter.  It is incumbent upon you to make a decision.

By joining, you have nothing to lose as you will learn an www.fakegoldwatches.re incredible amount of information from your fellow members.

I am not sure, but the last time I checked, becoming smarter is a good thing.  By joining REIN you will definitely become smarter, which will enable you to make better financial decisions as you embark upon your path of investing in real estate.

So there we go.  There you have the 3 top reasons why someone should become a REIN member.

If you are looking to get to the next level, joining REIN will benefit you tremendously.  If you need help buying your first or 50h rental property, there is someone in REIN that will be able to guide you, from their own personal experience.

If you have had horrible experiences with Get Rich Quick real estate seminars, repair the damage that has been done by joining REIN.  REIN will get you back on track, and will provide you with all of the support and tools in order to regain your faith in the real estate investing world.

If you are not sure what to do, doing nothing is not going to get you there.  Make a decision to be proactive and take charge.  Make a decision to join REIN.  If you do so, you are going to increase your chances of becoming a superpower in the world of real estate investing.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh

PS: If you want to learn more about real estate investment groups, such as REIN, subscribe to my blog. 

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.

It has been quite some time indeed since my last installment of my Business Life Story.  It has been so long that many of you probably don’t remember the previous posts, or have not been subscribed long enough to receive them.

Fortunately, I am able to share all installments with you, with just a simple click of your mouse, you can relive my ‘story’ by checking out the previous installments below.  By reading through the articles, you can learn how I became a real estate investor, and learn about the path that I took in order to get to where I am today.

Business Life Story Part One

Business Life Story Part Two

Business Life Story Part Three

Business Life Story Part Four

Business Life Story Part Five

Business Life Story Part Six

In the Business Life Story Part Six, I discussed the first 2 property purchases.  In this installment, I am going to describe the remainder of the property purchases.

After my second property purchase in October 2008, I went on to buy 3 more properties between October 2008 until August 2010.

At the time of writing, it is November 12th 2010 and I own 5 rental properties in total.

The three properties that I purchased between October 2008 and August 2010 have all been located in Hamilton, Ontario Canada.

The fact that I purchased these properties in this particular market had a lot to do with the education I received from my real estate investment group, which is called The Real Estate Investment Network, more affectionately referred to by it’s members as REIN.

My association with REIN allowed me to and continually allows me to meet very smart entrepreneurs, business owners, and savvy real estate investors.  Many of these people have helped in making me smarter.  I have become smarter as an investor simply by observing what other more successful people are doing and trying to recreate what they are doing to the best of my ability.

My three Hamilton properties are all generating positive monthly cash flow.  To the novice investor this means that with the monthly rent that I collect, I am able to pay for all of the monthly expenses and still have some money left over as my profit each month. The fact that I could buy these properties in Hamilton and cash flow them monthly was a big selling feature which resulted in me buying these properties.

A number of years ago, Hamilton was identified as a region in Ontario with a very bright future.  Jobs are being created in this area, and where there is job growth, real estate values are always effected in a positive manner.

My plans are to continue to grow my portfolio of rental properties.  I am keeping a careful eye on the management of these properties.  I am always looking to move forward and acquire more properties by partnering up with the right joint venture partner.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, it is good to exercise extreme due diligence when selecting joint venture partners.

Through my association with REIN and after meeting a large number of real estate investors, I began to notice that a good number of these members had different types of products and services related to real estate that they sold.

Some people were Realtors, some people offered real estate services at a cost, and some people sold real estate informational products.

Watching all these people essentially ‘monetize’ real estate products and services really got me thinking as to how I could do this myself.

After some careful thought and some research on my end, I decided that I would establish my own real estate blog.  It was at this time that First Rental Property was born!

Picking the focus for the blog was easy for me.  I have always been genuinely interested in helping other people.  Therefore the theme of providing knowledge and confidence to new and aspiring real estate investors made complete sense to me.  I knew that this was a topic that I could write about with great ease.

Although my intent was to monetize First Rental Property from day one, I have yet to do so.  The blog has been in existence for about one year now and I have not generated any revenue from the blog.

I have enjoyed building a large readership, however, the monetization of the blog has always been the plan.  As the blog continues to grow, I will be incorporating different monetization strategies into the blog.

The Future

As far as the future is concerned, I plan to continue to actively manage my real estate portfolio. I will continue to acquire more properties with  joint venture partners, and continue to produce quality content for First Rental Property, as well as to incorporate monetization strategies as the blog continues to develop.

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 tips and tricks on how to buy your first rental property.

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are doing well.

Today is November 11th and that means that it is  Remembrance Day here in Canada.

The majority of the readers of First Rental Property are from North America, and as a result are very familiar with this day and what it means.

To the many American readers I have, your day is known as Veterans Day and it  also occurs today, as you know.

Remembrance Day, also referred to as Poppy Day, Veterans Day, or Armistice Day is observed in Commonwealth countries.

The purpose of the day is to remember the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and civilians during times of war.

Increasingly, this special day is also acknowledged by many non-Commonwealth countries.

I find it fitting to give this background of Remembrance Day as readers of First Rental Property come from 50 different countries and territories around the world, and as a result may not even know what Remembrance Day is.

Today I took the opportunity to attend a Remembrance Day ceremony held in my Town.

It was great to see the event so well attended.  Many people took the time out of their day to show their respect and remember those that gave their lives in order to protect their country.

It was great to see a good number of living veterans in the crowd. For some reason, I thought there would be a lot fewer in attendance given the fact that they are all aging.  It was great to see so many of them, decorated with all of their medals.

I also took note of the fact that there were kids in attendance.  Remembrance Day is not a holiday here in Canada.  As such, this meant that these kids had coordinated with their parents or teachers in order to attend the event.  This I found impressive, as many adults are indifferent to this day, and don’t take nearly as much time to reflect when compared to kids.

Here is a picture I took at the event:

I have consciously made the decision not to talk about real estate investing in this post.

I decided this because in life there are more important things than real estate investing.

Today is an example of one of them.

If you so incline, don’t forget to take some time today to remember the sacrifices made by others, so that we can live in peace.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh.

PS: Follow my blog.  Enter your e-mail address on the LEFT hand side of the blog.

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are doing well.

Very often we hear about real estate investors who have become successful at investing.  We can read about these people everywhere, especially on the ‘Blogosphere’.  People like to write about their successes, and how well they are doing as investors.

However, we don’t often hear from the real estate investors that have failed, and who are no longer investing in real estate.

I have yet to come across a real estate blog written by a former swiss made rolex clones real estate investor, who has lost all of their money, and who are no longer investing in real estate.

The reality is that when people fail as real estate investors, they disappear into the night and we often never hear from them ever again.

This is unfortunate because these people have made mistakes that all of us can learn from.

As my blog has become a lot more popular over the past year, I have spoken to a number of people who have failed as real estate investors.  The truth is that there is not much of a difference between those that have failed and those that have succeeded.  For the most part, everyone starts off with great ambition, and with hopes of accumulating wealth through investing in real estate.  This is fine and dandy, but…

In only takes one mistake to fail.  Often it is this one mistake that wipes out the real estate investor altogether.

I will share with you one common mistake that is made by aspiring real estate investors.

This mistake relates to the purchase of new construction properties.  On a number of occasions, I have seen people make grave errors with this investing strategy.

Unlike many experienced real estate investors, I am a proponent of buying new construction.  If the numbers work, and you are buying in the right location, under the right market conditions (ie: transitional area)  you can really do well in terms of equity appreciation with new construction.

Despite all of the advantages of investing in new construction, I have witnessed people make huge errors with this this buying philosophy.

For example, In the Greater Toronto Area there were increasing numbers of people buying new construction from 2003 until about 2007.  The area was experiencing a rising market, and it was easy to look like a genius if you purchased new construction during these years.  It was not uncommon to realize  double and triple digit returns year over year, depending on the size of your down payment.  It was a great time as a real estate investor, and those that purchased during this time, realized substantial gains in property values.

This rising market made people believe that it was easy to make money investing in real estate, and as a result, people did not take the time to do their own personal research before buying.  They blindly jumped into buying new construction properties with that hopes that the property would rise in value and that they would profit.

I have been contacted by a number of people who bought new construction during the past several years and who have now found themselves in a position in which they are unable to obtain a mortgage for their new property.  Some of these people were able to able to obtain a mortgage at the ‘eleventh hour’, by bringing in mortgage partners,  however, many of these people ended up losing all of their deposit, and in some cases, even more than just their initial deposit.

I have seen people lose between $20,000 to $50,000 when they have attempted to purchase new construction properties and have not been able to close (obtain a mortgage) on the property.

When people are not able to close on the property, due to the fact that they are not able to be approved for a mortgage, they lose their deposit to the builder, and in many cases are sued by the builder for additional amounts.

There is one common mistake that these would be investors make, that results in the eventual loss of their money.  Their mistake is as follows:

They deposit money with a builder to buy a new property, yet they NEGLECT to determine if they are able to obtain a mortgage on the property, prior to making their deposit.

When the closing date for the property draws closer, they then try to obtain a mortgage by approaching their bank or mortgage broker.  This is often too little too late.

Had the individual first consulted their bank or mortgage broker, prior to depositing their money with the builder, they would know from the very beginning if they are able to afford purchasing the property or not.

It is a sad state of affairs, however, I have seen a number of people fall into this trap.  This truly is the dark side of real estate investing.  It is not pleasant to witness these people lose so much money.

What is even more troubling to me is that people think that they are invincible.  I have had a few occasions in which people have approached me and asked me questions about buying new construction.  I have spoken to them about the pros and the cons, and have advised them that BEFORE they do anything, they must first consult an experienced mortgage broker, so that the mortgage broker can advise them as to whether nový Mentolové příchuť Náplně or not they are able to afford the eventual mortgage on the new property.

I have given people this advice and on a handful of occasions they have not listened to me and gone ahead and purchased a new construction property, without even checking to see if they are able to afford the mortgage.

Having only been investing myself for under 6 years, I am not sure if this phenomenon of stupidity is a recent one, or if it has always been around.  I am wiling to bet that it has always been around, however, I would like to hear from those of you who are veteran real estate investors and who have insights to share on the new construction market.  Please share your comments.

In summary, there are a lot of people who lose large amounts of money trying to become real estate investors. We seldom hear about these people, and only seem to hear from those that are doing well and having a certain degree of success as a real estate investor.

It is very important to be aware, that with just one simple mistake (the mistake of not consulting a mortgage broker or bank) prior to purchasing a new construction property can very easily end a real estate investors career before it even begins.

If you make this type of mistake, you may dig a hole for yourself that may take you a lifetime to climb out of.

Continually educate yourself when it comes to real estate investing, and learn from the mistakes of people who have gone before you.

Best Regards,

Neil Uttamsingh.

PS: I can help you avoid the mistakes that many new real estate investors make.  Subscribe to my blog today. 

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are doing well.

Today’s blog post was inspired by Jason Hanson at the Bigger Pockets Real Estate Blog.   Jason’s recent article was titled The #2 reason real estate investors don’t become successful (and what to do about it)

In Jason’s article he raised a couple of great point which I would like to speak further on.

As a new real estate investor reading this post, pay special attention to these points, as this applies directly to you.

In Jason’s article, he describes a book that he read about John D. Rockefeller.  In the book, Rockefeller explained that most people never become successful because they have a ‘lack of concentration’.

I could not agree with this statement more.

As Jason articulates in his article, if you never put in a consistent effort in growing your real estate business, it will never happen.

What I enjoyed the most about Jason’s blog post was a statement that he made.  I have provided the statement below, and below the statement, I will give my interpretation.  Here is the statement:

“In short, if you want to be rich (in any business) have a long-term focus and don’t let anything distract you. Also, I highly recommend writing yourself a promise and signing it and looking at it every time you think of doing something else.”

Jason is bang on with his first point.  New real estate investors, please pay attention.  Jason says that, “if you want to be rich (in any business) have a long term focus and don’t let anything distract you.”

This is great advice because in the real world of real estate investing, distractions are all around us.  Distractions could come in the form of other business ventures that we are thinking about pursuing, or distractions could simply be unproductive time spent on less important tasks.

Being focused, and not being distracted are key to success as a real estate investor.

Further, Jason makes a recommendation that I really like.  He suggests writing down a promise to yourself, signing it, and looking at it every time you think of doing something else. (other than staying committed to real estate investing)

This sounds like a really simple thing to do.  However, the act of doing this can be extremely powerful.

So in summary:

• Real Estate investors fail often because they have a lack of concentration.
• In order to stay focused, have a long term vision and don’t let anything or anyone derail you from your path.
• Make a written promise to yourself, sign it, and look at it every time you think of bailing from real estate investing.

Thanks again Jason for your great post.

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 be sharing with you how they purchased their first rental property.  They will also share some ‘tips’ and ‘tricks’ with you as to how to 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.