Entries from March 2009

March 31, 2009

Setting Goals for Real Estate Investing

Dave and I are practicing our video creation skills for a video series we’re going to start recording in April. As part of that, we’ve been recording lots of different videos. This video is all about setting goals for real estate investing.

For us, goal setting is the first step in our [...]

March 27, 2009

Finding Rental Property Locations

We’re slowly learning how to record, edit and post videos. We will continue to get better – we promise! In the meantime, here’s a video filmed in Nanaimo, on what makes a good rental property area. And, specifically, I talk about why I like Nanaimo’s prospects for the future.

March 25, 2009

Why Real Estate Investing Partnerships can be like Chocolate Bars

The main reason my husband and I were able to build a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio in less than eight years is because we found a few trustworthy partners.
After we made two purchases, one of our partners became preoccupied with a rapidly growing business he had recently started. It got to the point where it [...]

March 19, 2009

Upgrades to Negotiate with a Builder when buying a New Home in Today’s Market

Last week Dave wrote about our friends that just purchased a new house in Toronto. They did a fantastic job of negotiating the best price AND a ton of upgrades into their deal. Dave didn’t take the credit for the great deal they made, but he did spend hours on the phone coaching and prepping [...]

March 15, 2009

Video On Potential Redevelopment Land in Nanaimo’s Departure Bay Area

We were in Nanaimo, B.C. last weekend meeting with our property manager and checking out a few of our properties. While we were there we shot a few videos around town. This video is of a 1 acre site just steps from the beach, a few little shops and some parks [...]

March 13, 2009

Scared of Real Estate Deals on Friday the 13th?

Well, here we are Friday the 13th and wouldn’t you know it, almost everyone is scared to do almost anything – especially buy real estate! “Prices forecasted to drop 10% this year”, yells the newspaper! It is a scary time!
Well, for our very good friends, they didn’t think too much about it. Why? Because they [...]

March 11, 2009

Read This Before You Sign Up for Any Real Estate Investing Course

We felt swindled. We’d spent nearly $20,000 on several instructional programs, on a mentor for our real estate investments, and to incorporate. Despite all of that, my husband and I found ourselves in court trying to defend fire code violation charges for a six-unit property we’d purchased.
We blamed the property manager who had turned our [...]

March 6, 2009

New Article in Early to Rise: The First Step to Becoming a Millionaire Real Estate Investor

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat
“I don’t much care where…” said Alice
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go” said the Cat
-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
It’s one of my favourite quotes – and if [...]

March 5, 2009

Guest Article at Must Know Investing: Finding Real Estate Investing Bargains

The Stanley Cup winner of the  Carnival of Real Estate #131 was an article by Dan Melson called “Confusing Past Performance and the Present Situation with Future Planning“. The article ended with a fabulous summary:
You can always find a good investment if you’ve got the patience. But right now, properties that are going to make [...]

March 2, 2009

Carnival of Real Estate #131 – Hockey Night in Canada Style!

Today is Dr. Seuss’s birthday. If he were still alive he would be turning 105 today. So, Dr. Seuss was going to be the theme for this carnival – except my husband Dave thought not a lot of people would remember all of his wonderful characters. So, Dave suggested HOCKEY TROPHIES! And, given we’re Canadian, [...]