Not just another blogger?

The last week has been pretty great for me.

I’ve been super-busy at work, and been the lead on a couple of very large projects with very positive feedback from clients and co-workers. It’s also our year end, and month end, so there’s always lots of work to go through and make sure we’re on course.

I’ve removed conditions on a property in Edmonton, and locked in a JV partner for it (and possibly several more).

Today Megan and her mom arrived in Kelowna to take possession of her condo.

I also had a couple posts get some great links, which led to a bunch of traffic, comments and emails. One of them was really touching, and went straight to the heart of why I have this blog.

Here’s what I received:

Chris,

Just a quick note to say thanks for your blog.

As a member of REIN I have had the opportunity
to meet some great people here in the east (mostly Toronto)
who aspire to greater visions than the run of the mill, follow
me, kind of “I’m really in this for me” rants.

It’s refreshing to get some meaningful content without
having to subscribe to some program that benefits the
sender directly.

I hope to get a chance to meet you someday and
then I can tell you myself how much I appreciate
what you are doing for the real estate community.

I wish you continued success.

Jim

That’s why I’m here. I was inspired by many of the people who I’ve met through DeMolay, Cadets and work, who make it their mission to teach and support others. When I went to the REIN Quickstart in Vancouver, my parents spent a lot of their weekend helping other investors and giving out free advice, with no intention of receiving any monetary or material benefit. I’ve been trying to re-create this spirit here.

The statistics I’ve shared here via links back to the sources, as well as my analysis, and the slidedecks where I try to explain basic real estate concepts are all available in their entirety via my creative commons license. Just credit me when you use them. That’s all I ask. It does give me a warm fuzzy when you tell me you like my stuff also.

However, a quick bit of disclosure about something Jim said. He mentioned it’s nice to get stuff for free, without having to subscribe. I agree completely. I have no plans right now to try and monetize this site directly. I’m not planning to move to a subscription based newsletter that you have to pay for. I’m not going to start plastering this blog with ads.

I do, however, do two things that will help me pay for keeping this website running. First, I participate in the REIN affiliate program. When you follow one of my links to a REIN product, and purchase something such as the REIN Quickstart Home Study Program, I get paid a referral fee. Second, in a similar way, when you click on one of my links to Amazon and buy a book, I get paid a (very small) referral fee.

If you want to support this blog, that’s how you can do it. Just buy the stuff you would anyways. I don’t link to things just to try and sell them. I’ve been to Quickstart, I have copies of the home study program, and the JV Secrets. I have copies of Real Estate Investing in Canada, 97 Tips, 51 Success Stories, Rich Dad Poor Dad, and a whole lot of others.

If you want to support me by buying something, and I haven’t linked to something you want, drop me an email and I’ll obligingly link for you. I’ll likely even check it out myself and share a review, something I’m hoping to do more in the future.

For now, I hope you all enjoy this blog as much as I enjoy writing it.

Thank you for reading,

Chris