If you've been following any current events the past few weeks you can't help but hear what is ongoing in Egypt & Libya. Without going into the minutiae of the current failing government administrations suffice to say there has been a breakdown of the Infrastructure.
What happens first?
The first part of the infrastructure that crumbles is the rule of law. The military and civilian police forces become fractured and ineffective. As a result of a non unified ruling body petty crime erupts in isolated incidents and worsens as the infrastructure implodes further.
How does this apply to us?
A breakdown of infrastructure can happen in any organization of two or more people who work together as a team. Think of a marriage breakup where children are involved. This is a sad and tragic example of a family not having a unity base of support to draw from. Think of a work or sports situation where leadership in a certain area is challenged or somehow becomes ineffective. The truth is a strong infrastructure in an integral part of all of our lives.
Your own Real Estate Portfolio must have a Strong Infrastructure
Not surprisingly your Real Estate Portfolio must operate with a strong teamwork infrastructure. The infrastructure must be structured and maintained vigilantly to keep its integrity. Two of my fellow investors, friends, and fellow bloggers Neil Uttamsingh http://www.firstrentalproperty.com and Joey Ragona http://engagedinvestor.ca/ are examples of investors that have built up an infrastructure to support their business. They also share those steps and the many lessons learned along the way.
I have also seen where certain investors have not built a solid infrastructure to support their portfolio. Then we see what happens similarly to the current events in Egypt and Libya.
However the market acts much more swiftly and decisively and a portfolio can quickly become a row of dominoes falling into foreclosure.
Whether you are building your own portfolio or investing with another experienced investor ensure you or they have built a strong infrastructure based on prudent financing and professional affiliates to mention a few important points.
Contact us at www.cfiproperties.ca and don't be afraid to ask us about our infrastructure because as we now know it matters a lot!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Your perception is Your Reality
Perception = Reality
Do I need to say more? The truth is even though we may be aware of it our perception of everything in life creates our ultimate belief in how we view things.
Here is a very vivid example: approximately 3 years ago I met my good friend Todor Yordanov of Proact Investments www.proactinvestments.com who had begun investing in Hamilton. He and I were both relatively new investors with one or two properties. He was describing to me his most recent property aquisition in Hamilton. Now this was a place I definitely wanted to stay away from. I had a perception of Hamilton as a dirty steel town with a tough tenant profile.
Cashflow? no way!
When Todor rolled off the numbers on his property I immediately thought this won't cashflow. I went home and plugged the rent numbers into the average price of townhomes in that area and was surprised to see that yes it did cashflow just as Todor had described it. I wouldn't believe it because my negative perception of Hamilton had influenced my beliefs. Todor gave me the name of a very knowledgeable realtor with whom he was working, Gary Vandervelde. I phoned Gary the next day and he was good enough to spend the next 30 minutes on the phone with me asking me about my investment goals and describing his experiences growing up in Hamilton as well as working as a builder and subsequently as a realtor.
The following week Gary showed me several townhomes in the same area as Todor had purchased his and 1 week later I had an accepted offer in the same complex as Todor was invested in!
Hamilton Rocks!!
Almost 3 years later I still own that townhouse and 6 additional townhouses and 1 duplex. That property has an A+ tenant and in the last quarter my investor and I split a very nice cashflow payment well in excess of $1500. Hamilton is rated by the Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) as #2 of the top 10 investment towns in Ontario. Hamilton survived the recent recessionary downturn with barely a bump in the road, 4 to 5% increases in values and less than 3.5% vacancy rate.
Here is the real lesson:
Before I actually fully commited to focusing on Hamilton as an investment area I spent some time researching the city as I was trained to do by REIN. Everywhere I looked I saw the types of fundamentals at work that indicate a strong future. Things such as job growth & demand, a strong and proactive Economic Developement office, transportation expansion, areas of gentrification, and a solid plan for the future in cutting edge technologies.
My perception had changed and I had proven myself wrong.
Oddly enough many other investors are seeing the same as Todor and I. Many are also investing in Hamilton and if you would like to learn more about them, or mine and Todor's strategy please contact me and I will help you with further information and put you in touch with any other of these investors and their related professionals.
Do I need to say more? The truth is even though we may be aware of it our perception of everything in life creates our ultimate belief in how we view things.
Here is a very vivid example: approximately 3 years ago I met my good friend Todor Yordanov of Proact Investments www.proactinvestments.com who had begun investing in Hamilton. He and I were both relatively new investors with one or two properties. He was describing to me his most recent property aquisition in Hamilton. Now this was a place I definitely wanted to stay away from. I had a perception of Hamilton as a dirty steel town with a tough tenant profile.
Cashflow? no way!
When Todor rolled off the numbers on his property I immediately thought this won't cashflow. I went home and plugged the rent numbers into the average price of townhomes in that area and was surprised to see that yes it did cashflow just as Todor had described it. I wouldn't believe it because my negative perception of Hamilton had influenced my beliefs. Todor gave me the name of a very knowledgeable realtor with whom he was working, Gary Vandervelde. I phoned Gary the next day and he was good enough to spend the next 30 minutes on the phone with me asking me about my investment goals and describing his experiences growing up in Hamilton as well as working as a builder and subsequently as a realtor.
The following week Gary showed me several townhomes in the same area as Todor had purchased his and 1 week later I had an accepted offer in the same complex as Todor was invested in!
Hamilton Rocks!!
Almost 3 years later I still own that townhouse and 6 additional townhouses and 1 duplex. That property has an A+ tenant and in the last quarter my investor and I split a very nice cashflow payment well in excess of $1500. Hamilton is rated by the Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) as #2 of the top 10 investment towns in Ontario. Hamilton survived the recent recessionary downturn with barely a bump in the road, 4 to 5% increases in values and less than 3.5% vacancy rate.
Here is the real lesson:
Before I actually fully commited to focusing on Hamilton as an investment area I spent some time researching the city as I was trained to do by REIN. Everywhere I looked I saw the types of fundamentals at work that indicate a strong future. Things such as job growth & demand, a strong and proactive Economic Developement office, transportation expansion, areas of gentrification, and a solid plan for the future in cutting edge technologies.
My perception had changed and I had proven myself wrong.
Oddly enough many other investors are seeing the same as Todor and I. Many are also investing in Hamilton and if you would like to learn more about them, or mine and Todor's strategy please contact me and I will help you with further information and put you in touch with any other of these investors and their related professionals.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Do I like it? Am I good at it?
Value & Time
Last post I wrote about the value of time vs the value of money. I explained how time is worth far more since it is not renewable, while money is in fact renewable. Income can increase exponentially and time is finite.
What do I spend time on?
If I'm going to spend time doing something for myself or my business I ask myself two questions:
Do I like it? & Am I good at it?
Obviously yes answer to both questions means I will do it, no to both means I won't. So if its no and I can hire someone to do it, it gets done by someone better and who enjoys it. Its not always cut & dry so common sense and judgement comes into play.
I bet you want a real example, yes?
Recently I came across the opportunity to hire someone to optimize my social network marketing. It didn't take long to figure out this was a no brainer for me. Remember the 2 questions? Yup its no & no so away I went. Dani has already taught me a lot & done a lot, and we're just getting started. The cost was very reasonable and the time saved was immeasurable.
So don't spend time on stuff you dislike and/or you're not good at to save a few bucks. Money is only a medium of exchange, Time is precious, use it, guard it, enjoy it! Life is too short.
Want to see some of what Dani did for me go here:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/CFI-Properties/188016691218465
And if you want to contact Dani for some very cool Social Networking opportunities, go here:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/The-Like-Button/173153549369037
You can also try dani@thelikebutton.ca
Last post I wrote about the value of time vs the value of money. I explained how time is worth far more since it is not renewable, while money is in fact renewable. Income can increase exponentially and time is finite.
What do I spend time on?
If I'm going to spend time doing something for myself or my business I ask myself two questions:
Do I like it? & Am I good at it?
Obviously yes answer to both questions means I will do it, no to both means I won't. So if its no and I can hire someone to do it, it gets done by someone better and who enjoys it. Its not always cut & dry so common sense and judgement comes into play.
I bet you want a real example, yes?
Recently I came across the opportunity to hire someone to optimize my social network marketing. It didn't take long to figure out this was a no brainer for me. Remember the 2 questions? Yup its no & no so away I went. Dani has already taught me a lot & done a lot, and we're just getting started. The cost was very reasonable and the time saved was immeasurable.
So don't spend time on stuff you dislike and/or you're not good at to save a few bucks. Money is only a medium of exchange, Time is precious, use it, guard it, enjoy it! Life is too short.
Want to see some of what Dani did for me go here:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/CFI-Properties/188016691218465
And if you want to contact Dani for some very cool Social Networking opportunities, go here:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/The-Like-Button/173153549369037
You can also try dani@thelikebutton.ca
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