The last few months have been just about as crazy as they get. Periods of insanity, followed by complete boredom. There’s three exciting things happening before the New Year (beside the birth of my first child) and I wanted to remind y’all that there’s a mailing list separate from this blog where I’ll be sharing them first.

You can sign up for the email newsletter here.

REALTOR® News

As you might have seen, I’ve just finished all the courses and exams to become a REALTOR®, and I’ve been interviewing real estate brokerages. I’ll be making a decision very soon and getting started helping people sell their properties and find new homes or investments. The lucky people on the email list will get to hear about it first (exciting, I know…) and also hear a little bit about the process (the things I’m reluctant to post on my blog for all to see).

Internet Marketing Workshops

Back by popular demand (i.e. people lovingly nagging me) will be my one day Internet Marketing Workshops. The date is yet to be set, since I’m trying to dodge Christmas Parties, but it’l be in early December. This will also be a very intimate session, limited to no more than 8 participants and it’ll be the last time I offer the course for $247 before I completely re-write the curriculum and the price goes up. This course is great for real estate investors, Realtors and small business owners.

Affiliate Webinars

And after a bit of a delay, the REIN affiliate program is going to get things going with a big December sale. Here’s part of an email I recieved from REIN’s Member Support Manger

Last year we decided to do a year-end clearance sale of a number of popular REIN™ products, and since it was so well received, we’ve decided to repeat that promotion again this year. So, get ready for the REIN ™ December Blow-out Sale for 2010 – we will be discounting nearly our entire line-up of programs, kits and some e-based products as well!

This year we are also going to give our Affiliates a piece of the action… You can publish those links or banners on your website, or use the text in an email or newsletter that you send out to your group. These promotional pieces are being designed now, and will not be available in your Affiliate dashboard until Dec. 1, so you may want to think about the timing of your next communication to your group…can you publish something to your database on, or just after Dec 1, and will that fit with your overall communication schedule?

As you promote our Sale to your contact database, every one of your people who clicks on the link embedded in the Sale banner or text copy that you post and then gets transferred to our shopping page will qualify you for a commission if they purchase a Sale item. They don’t even need to purchase an item on that visit – our system will also track future visits and purchases from that same user, and will credit you with a commission for a purchase even days later.

To help people get up and runing on the affiliate program, I’ll be doing a free webinar to help teach you the basics. We’ll get that rolling sometime the last week of November, but it’s only available through my email newsletter so sign up now!

No related posts.

It’s been nearly a month since I decided to become a Realtor, and Dad suggested that I blog a bit about the process and what I’ve learned about it thus far.

Hurry Up and Wait

After my time with Enquiro ended, I has some stuff to do, like finish the renovations on a house we’re now selling and do some consulting. Beyond that I had lots and lots of time and was prepared to devote myself to the Real Estate Associates Program (REAP) full time. I register for the short online Phase I course, and it takes a couple days for them to send me a login. You took my payment instantly, why does it take anything more than minutes to send me registration info?

At the conclusion of the Phase I course, which is a ‘pre-licensing’, learn about the industry, complete joke course, I’m supposed to write an exam according to everyone’s websites and the course material. I call AREA and the Testing Center, and finally discover that the test has been abolished. Good to know. Good to know that Realtor folks are up on the importance of the internet and having timely, accurate information on their websites.

Phase II – Real Realtor Info

Just to put everything into context, there are three phases in becoming a Realtor. The first one is a tiny online course which I really should have skipped. The next two are more substancial, and are broken into sections. Phase II has six phases and an online course, then an exam. Phase III covers the different area of practice, each with an exam, then an online course and finally the Provincial Qualifying Exam.

Here’s the flow chart of the progression:

As of today I’m on Phase II, Section III (and I’ve done the Environmental Issues online course)

Getting registered for Phase II was a gong show, and I’m seriously unimpressed with AREA. That’s a sentiment I gather is echoed throughout the industry. I’m still waiting on a refund they said would be coming through over 2 weeks ago, and an interesting conversation about a $150 administrative fee.

The content of Phase II isn’t bad. There will be more posts to come with tidbits of new/interesting things I have found in the content.

I’m working to approach this without thinking my experience has given me more than it has, and without any pre-conceived ideas, but really I’ve seen ~90% of this before. Oh, for the days when you could challenge the exam.

The Old Days

Speaking of challenging the exam, I had a good chat with Dad about when he did the exam. He was the last group who could challenge it, back in 1991 or so. Then the course was much shorter, didn’t include the extra modules and the Commercial/Residential/Rural areas at the end were optional instead of covering all three. It appears to be a much more comprehensive course now than it was before, and I have hope that when AREA is no longer the provider the courses will be even better.

Road Bumps?

So as I sit in the middle of Phase II, with little else to occupy my days (not actually, but I’d like to get through the course as fast as possible), I have one worry.

There’s at least four points to come where I have to register for a new phase, take an exam or wait for AREA/RECA to do something. If I have to wait for 3-5 business days between each step, this may take almost a month longer than I’d planned. And that, my friends, would suck.

In the mean time, I’m doing some freelance SEO/Social Media/Analytics consulting, renos, family and shopping for Brokerages. I’d like to get my designation sorted and start helping people out. If you’re planning to move or sell, and would like to chat once I’m licensed, give me a shout.

I’ll be easy to find. I’ll be the one behind a book in a Starbucks.

Photo Credit: Billselak on Flickr.

No related posts.

There’s a cliche in the real estate business that you make your money when you buy. It sounds all fancy and sexy to say things like:

I bought a place 25% under value.

or

I never pay more than 75cents on the dollar.

For the rest of us in the real world, buying is only the start of a long, complex and often stressful road. Guys like Russell Westcott and Don Campbell will tell you to stop grinding down sellers, buy in the right areas and pay what something’s worth. Good property management, effective leverage and economic fundamentals will make you more money than you can shake a stick at.

Good Property Management is the new Black

The most often cited cause of stress, foreclosure or gross stupidity is failure to manage a property and tenants well. Failing to buy well only results in loss of a deal or tighter cashflow. Failing to manage well results in total loss of equity, damage to your property, lawsuits, negative cashflow, midnight moves, visits to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Board and swift consumption of your reserve fund.

Managed right you’ll have steady cashflow, reliable and respectful tenants, preventive maintenance done right and a fantastic asset for your exit strategy.

The Best Advice Around

I went shopping for condos last month in North Edmonton and stopped at a complex called Castlewood (circa 109st and 165ave, Google Map and Streetview). They’re two story complexes that are listed and seem to be 3-bedrooms. My Realtor is also very experienced property manager (he only does real estate sales now) and knew that the window in the third bedroom wouldn’t meet the safety standards. We automatically walked out of the complex because I won’t waste my time on units that don’t conform. I don’t want the risk.

Not two weeks later I saw this post on myREINspace. Here’s the important parts of the post:

We have three three-bedroom townhouses in a complex of 80 units. The owners of the Condominium received a letter stating that one of the bedrooms is not to be used for sleeping purposes. It is not safe because the window in that room is 9 feet from the ground and cannot be reached and opened from the inside without the use of tools or special knowledge.

We have contacted AHS for clarifications and for solutions that we could apply in our units immediately, since our tenants have been using that room as a bedroom. All our suggestions such as pocket door, or emergency ladder were declined….

Our plan is to work with a lawyer to file an appeal and at the same time work with the Condo Board to find a common solution. The Condo Board has not been very pro-active in this regard and transferred the problem to the owners, since “all owner occupied premises are strongly discouraged from utilizing the affected room for the purposes of sleeping.” However, the officer from [Alberta Health Services] left very clear that if they have an inspection and somebody is using that room for sleeping purposes in a rental unit, the owner and the Board will have to respond. It is a huge liability.

I don’t know if it’s the same complex, but there’s at least three others I’m familiar with that have the same problem.

And that one move earned Brent every penny of his commission.

No related posts.

1. Call some FSBO‘s.
2. Go look at properties for sale.
3. Call your mortgage broker about new financing.
4. Check the renewal dates on your mortgages.
5. Call a friend who could be a JV partner just to catch up. Don’t talk about real estate (yet).
6. Sit down with your Realtor and define exactly what types of properties you want. Know prices, bedrooms, bathrooms, neighborhoods, amenities and transportation down to a very narrow range.
7. Check your records to see which of your tenants pay late on a regular basis. Call them up and see how you can improve the situation. (Online rent payments? Post-dated cheques?
8. Write some offers. Use a good backup clause and just do it.
9. Look at the cash-flow analysis from when you bought it. Compare it to the actual monthly expenses. Use that information to improve your next cash-flow analysis projection. I use different assumptions for repairs and maintenance depending on what reno I have to do and the condition when I buy it.
10. Find out what new rents on similar properties in your area are. You want to be reasonable. Don’t be the cheapest on the block; you’ll attract scum. Don’t be the most expensive, you’ll never keep it full. Be reasonable.
11. Make sure you’re advertising your vacancies on the best rental websites.
12. Go fix something. We call it preventative maintenance.
13. Do your ‘annual’ inspection of a unit. Decide what renovations might payoff with your exit strategy.
14. Run the numbers on a 3-bedroom townhouse (my favorite property).
15. Run the numbers on a four-plex.
16. If you’ve done #14 and #15, return to #8.
17. Take the time to learn more about a topic like commercial real estate investing, RRSP Mortgages,  Joint Ventures, Renovations, Rent to Own or Condo Conversions.
18. Write a story about one of your experiences: tenants, deals, financing, friends, people you’ve helped. Post it on a place like myREINspace or offer it as a guest blog post.
19. Make sure you know your tenants’ birthdays. Send them a $10 Tim Hortons’ gift card on the big day.
20. Make a list of all your properties and rank them from best performing to worst.
21. Try listing the worst performing one for sale. See if you can unload one of your dogs and move on to something better.
22. Go take some good pictures of a property.
23. Learn more about internet marketing.
24. Have some fun. Figure out how much you’d make if prices suddenly went up 30%. What if rents went up 20%?
25. Ask an experienced real estate investor if you can buy them lunch and pick their brains.
26. If you’re an experienced investor, offer your time to some newbies.
27. Remind yourself why you’re going to all this trouble.

Picture Credit

No related posts.

Your computer, your life and your business all need a restart every so often. Unload everything, wind down, unplug, go have a cup of coffee, and then fire things back up one at a time.

I just came back from one of REIN’s ACRE weekends, which is really Real Estate Investing 101 and 102. For me, it’s a great time to reset and re-focus what I’m doing to drive my business forwards so I can have more freedom and time with my family in the future.

These are seven steps to reset your own business.

Revisit your Personal Belize – This is your raison d’être for investing in real estate. I’m doing it because I want to be a stay-at-home dad, or at least be able to devote as much time to my wife and future children as possible.

Do a Financial 360 – Figure out your assets, debts and available credit. Examine the loan-to-value ratio on all your properties, the financing you have in place, including making note of when your mortgage renewals are. Check the current rents, market rents and when the next possible opportunity to raise the rents are.

Pull your credit report - I use Credit Alert which sends me regular updates and notifications. You can pull your bureau for $23.95. Take the time to repair any problems with old collections, check for entries which don’t belong to you and make sure your addresses are up to date.

Call your mortgage broker – See what financing you can get, see where rates and terms are heading and start a discussion on your goals. As Peter Kinch is fond of saying, you need a portfolio approach, not just a transactional approach. Talk about how you’ll be able to buy your next 10 properties, not just your next one.

Go have coffee with your Realtor and Property Manager - Find out where the market is, what opportunities are out there and what’s happening with rents. Help your property manager out by sending them a copy of the rental site ranking report.

Call some FSBO’s - The for sale by owner properties are often your best opportunities to find motivated vendors. They’re great to buy, and they’re also a great way to find out how the market is doing.

Write some offers - It’s the critical success event in real estate investing. You can find all the money, management or tenants you want, but without writing offers and buying properties, nothing will happen. I went and looked at three last week and I’m checking out three more this week. I’ll write 2-3 offers between this week and the weekend. All else will follow.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arenamontanus/ / CC BY 2.0

No related posts.

I’ve said before I love the iPhone, even though I hate the iPhone. Coldwell Banker, a major real estate brokerage in the US and Canada has launched an iPhone platform for their excellent online resources. In particular, their home value estimation tools and browsing have been specially formatted for browsing on the iPhone’s smaller screen.

All you have to do is visit coldwellbanker.com on your iPhone and it’ll automatically recognize that you’re on an iPhone and adjust for you.

This is part of the future of real estate, particularly residential real estate. It’s a future of home buyers searching while they’re mobile, and being better informed and armed when negotiating. It’s part of why there’s still a role for Real Estate agents in marketing homes for sale and in assisting buyers.

Hopefully Coldwell is going to build out some more functionality for their Canadian friends, including their home value estimator.

Check out some pictures:

(Hat tip to Manoj at Web Analytics World)

No related posts.