Tag Archives: risk management

Oct 8 2014

How can I make money in real estate?

disorientedEarlier this week I had a meeting with one of the local startups that I am mentoring.  Over the last year his company’s bank account has been reaping the rewards of their hard work and so he has been considering his best option to invest the returns from his compounding successes.

Knowing that I am an active real estate investor he wanted to learn about how real estate makes money.  He had performed a number of cashflow analyses, but, was failing to find lucrative returns.  I could sense his frustration mounting in each additional word that he was saying.  “The best cashflow I’ve been able to find is approximately 8% on a real estate investment and that’s just… well average”.  He frowned.  I smiled and excitedly said “That’s fantastic, you should put in an offer, do your due diligence and buy this property if everything checks out.”

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Sep 26 2012

Change The Way You Think About Purchases, Quit Being A Slave To Your Possessions

Slave to MoneyLast week one of my friends was talking to me about her weekend filled with her perceived much needed bout of “retail therapy”.  She talked about all the new clothes and shoes, and even more clothes that she bought!  She upgraded her iPhone to the latest version and she even managed to go out to both lunch and dinner twice!

We both know what happened after.  I completely lost it!  “Are you nuts?!” I exclaimed, “I cannot believe my ears!”.  She smiled and retorted in sarcasm, “I know… I know… I went a little overboard, but I work hard so I deserve it!”.  Ironies abound, what she didn’t realize was she was about to start working even harder just to cover the costs of all of these material possessions.  Believe me, I was once in this trap for several years of my life… I know this situation all too well.

After some coaxing I convinced her to reveal the details of her purchases over the weekend so that I can create a case study to present back to her (I got her permission to post it to my blog as well).  I just couldn’t take it that she was about to set herself up for decades of suffering and I had to at least try to pull her out of the trap of first-world slavery (self-inflicted by the lust for unnecessary physical possessions).

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Apr 17 2012

OREIO Event Recap: Don R. Campbell, President of REIN

Ontario Real Estate Investors Organization (OREIO)Last night, my business partner Reid and I attended the Ontario Real Estate Investors Organization (OREIO) monthly event at the Travelodge Hotel on Carling in Ottawa.  This month I was very excited, because this month the presenter was one of my mentors and educators and the catalyst which brought me out of the phase that many investors get into known as “analysis paralysis”.  The presenter was none other than Don Campbell himself!

For those of you who don’t know Don Campbell, he is one of Canada’s most experienced real estate investors.  He wasn’t born into riches, didn’t have a silver spoon, he started when he was working at a customer service desk at Sears and worked his way to where he is today, one accomplishment at a time.  It wasn’t an easy ride, there’s no such thing as easy money, but he worked through the challenges as he faced them and any real estate investor can save themselves thousands or even millions in mistakes learning from his experience.  He is a realist at heart, and isn’t afraid to share both the successes and challenges he’s been through.

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