Real Estate Investing and Yoga

Recently someone emailed me from my real estate web page serving the London Ontario Canada real estate market asking for advice regarding the purchase of there first real estate investment. The next morning when I was practicing some yoga it occurred to me that successful real estate investing is very much like yoga. Both are very simple in execution and theory; however both require discipline, consistency and perseverance.

In yoga you take a relatively simple position and hold it for a long period of time to derive benefit. Likely at this point you see where I’m going with this analogy. Yes indeed real estate is quite the same. You take a position which is buying a property and hold onto that position for a sufficient period of time to derive a benefit. Sounds simple indeed! However, if you’ve tried yoga you know that it can be one of the most challenging workouts one can do. In real estate investing one can be challenged by, raising interest rates, bad tenants, vacancies, maintenance issues and perhaps most significant changing personal circumstances. You need to hold on to your position to derive a planned for or significant benefit, which in this case is significant appreciation of the property.

To derive a benefit from yoga one must have certain rules that have to be consistently followed. For example, one must plan for specific times per day or week to set aside for yoga practice. Other rules might be not to be overly fatigued, inebriated etc. for these time periods. For real estate investing setting goals is a separate issue from setting rules. In my opinion it is extremely important to do significant research so that one can realistically set certain rules as these rules will protect you from impulse buying and poor buying practices in general the least of which is one’s own greed or ambition. For example, many years ago prior to being a realtor I bought houses close to the University of Western Ontario Canada and fixed them up to rent to students. So here are my rules from this time period.

1. Identify certain geographic area based on travel time to the main campus.

2. Know market rents for this geographic area

3. Be very conversant with market value of properties in this geographic area and know cost of capital improvements if any for all the work required prior to purchase

4. Ignore other geographic areas

This went extremely well for me, until I broke one of my own rules and purchased a house outside the geographic area. I’d like to blame this on a fast talking real estate agent; however it was my greed/ambition that truly was to blame. The main point here is one needs a set of rules or guidelines specific to his/her investment goals, geographic area and capabilities and stick to them. The above rules may not be applicable to your situation but are for illustrative purposes. After all everyone should have their own rules to live by (lol) In regards to investing in real estate or Yoga I hope the above may provoke some thought and provide some guidance.

How to Build a Real Estate Investing Power Team

How to Build a Real Estate Investing Power Team

 by: Adem Hamidovic

As you continue to read about real estate investing, you will no doubt come across the term ‘power team’. What is this ‘power team’? A power team is a group of people without whom successful real estate investing becomes very difficult, if not impossible. Included in a power team are at least one real estate agent, a mortgage broker, and a real estate lawyer, all of whom will have experience in creative real estate investing.

So, how do you go about building this team? Well, you could just get a copy of the Yellow Pages and start calling, but that will most likely take a very long time, time that could be better spent working on real estate deals! Wouldn’t it be better to have these people call you? I thought so, so here’s what I did. Keep in mind that this technique not only netted me a power team, but also a list of potential partners/buyers for future deals.

The local paper offers a deal on weekend real estate listings, so I placed an advertisement in the paper that read:

“Fixer-upper for sale. Cheap. Need cash and quick closing. 555-5555″

What sort of people would respond to an ad like this? Some will be tire-kickers and the curious, but a good number of callers will be investors and real estate agents. I had the number in the paper forwarded to a voicemail service, and it’s a good thing I did as there were a lot of calls! I find that those who are just curious about the ad tend to hang up without leaving a message, so that takes care of those that aren’t serious.

After listening to the messages I found that there were two real estate agents that had answered. I called the first one, George, and told him that the home had sold, but would he be interested in working with fixer-uppers in the future? He replied that he would, but didn’t seem interested in discussing it much further. Now, I should mention here that I never actually had a home to sell - what I posted is called a ‘ghost ad’, used to guage interest in something. You may not feel entirely comfortable with this, and that’s fine. Simply post a different ad that gets the same sort of message across.

The next agent, Elizabeth, was much more receptive. We spoke for well over an hour about her experiences in real estate - it turns out that she actively invests in real estate herself. She would be more than happy to search the mls on my behalf, as well as submit as many offers as I would send her way. Perfect!

And here’s the best part: since I had found a real estate agent who also invests, I was also able to use the resources that she uses in her deals. So I now had access to a great real estate lawyer as well as a mortgage broker, along with a recommended property inspector. That saved me loads of work and time. My power team was now complete!

I’ve since become good friends with Elizabeth, and she regularly sends me listings that haven’t made it to the mls yet. This gives me a huge advantage in pursuing deals as only a relatively small number of people are aware of the sale. I picked up my latest rental property this way - the property was going to be listed on the mls in two days time, but since Elizabeth let me in on the deal early I was able to close before the general public became aware.

A good power team is crucial to your success as a real estate investor, and oftentimes finding one member of the team can lead you to the others. Happy Investing!

About The Author Adem Hamidovic is a part-time real estate investor and operator of www.ProfitPiggy.com, a website devoted to new and experienced real estate investors alike. admin@profitpiggy.com

How to Build a Real Estate Investing Power Team

How to Build a Real Estate Investing Power Team

 by: Adem Hamidovic

As you continue to read about real estate investing, you will no doubt come across the term ‘power team’. What is this ‘power team’? A power team is a group of people without whom successful real estate investing becomes very difficult, if not impossible. Included in a power team are at least one real estate agent, a mortgage broker, and a real estate lawyer, all of whom will have experience in creative real estate investing.

So, how do you go about building this team? Well, you could just get a copy of the Yellow Pages and start calling, but that will most likely take a very long time, time that could be better spent working on real estate deals! Wouldn’t it be better to have these people call you? I thought so, so here’s what I did. Keep in mind that this technique not only netted me a power team, but also a list of potential partners/buyers for future deals.

The local paper offers a deal on weekend real estate listings, so I placed an advertisement in the paper that read:

“Fixer-upper for sale. Cheap. Need cash and quick closing. 555-5555″

What sort of people would respond to an ad like this? Some will be tire-kickers and the curious, but a good number of callers will be investors and real estate agents. I had the number in the paper forwarded to a voicemail service, and it’s a good thing I did as there were a lot of calls! I find that those who are just curious about the ad tend to hang up without leaving a message, so that takes care of those that aren’t serious.

After listening to the messages I found that there were two real estate agents that had answered. I called the first one, George, and told him that the home had sold, but would he be interested in working with fixer-uppers in the future? He replied that he would, but didn’t seem interested in discussing it much further. Now, I should mention here that I never actually had a home to sell - what I posted is called a ‘ghost ad’, used to guage interest in something. You may not feel entirely comfortable with this, and that’s fine. Simply post a different ad that gets the same sort of message across.

The next agent, Elizabeth, was much more receptive. We spoke for well over an hour about her experiences in real estate - it turns out that she actively invests in real estate herself. She would be more than happy to search the mls on my behalf, as well as submit as many offers as I would send her way. Perfect!

And here’s the best part: since I had found a real estate agent who also invests, I was also able to use the resources that she uses in her deals. So I now had access to a great real estate lawyer as well as a mortgage broker, along with a recommended property inspector. That saved me loads of work and time. My power team was now complete!

I’ve since become good friends with Elizabeth, and she regularly sends me listings that haven’t made it to the mls yet. This gives me a huge advantage in pursuing deals as only a relatively small number of people are aware of the sale. I picked up my latest rental property this way - the property was going to be listed on the mls in two days time, but since Elizabeth let me in on the deal early I was able to close before the general public became aware.

A good power team is crucial to your success as a real estate investor, and oftentimes finding one member of the team can lead you to the others. Happy Investing!

About The Author Adem Hamidovic is a part-time real estate investor and operator of www.ProfitPiggy.com, a website devoted to new and experienced real estate investors alike. admin@profitpiggy.com