Showing posts with label investing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label investing. Show all posts

Thursday, January 31, 2019

Forced Appreciation for Noobs

You know those customers at Home Depot, who point their finger and call everything "Thing" or "Thingy" when seeking advice. 

They have no idea what any of the tools are called in English. They just show up and trust the Home Depot staff will understand their mumbling and point out a way to resolve the issue.


Well. That's me. And trust me - the approach works!

Ever since I started 50Doors, I mostly point my finger, gesture, mumble and draw the best I can whenever it comes to building, renovating, and fixing things and thingies.

And people around me not only understand me but also gladly help me out!

To my big relief, I realized that not knowing can be advantageous.

Through lack of knowledge and skills, I learned how to trust people who know better, how to tell experts from talkers, and how to create real value from simple ideas.

Here is an example.

I had an idea of renting a property, which was never rented out before, but I was unsure because cash flow wouldn't be good enough. I talked my idea over with a friend who is a lot more experienced. He suggested that I renovate, split the place into two units and double my cash flow. My gross annual rent will increase by $14,400 and result in positive cash flow.

I loved the suggestions, but I was unsure that I could split the unit into two apartments. I talked it over with my husband who is a lot handier. My husband thought the concept was feasible and explained to me how the unit could be split. Together we made these drawings:




I loved our discussion and the drawings, but I wasn't sure how this could actually be accomplished and what it would take.

So I sent our drawings to my friend, who runs an on-demand property management company. Within a week, I had several quotes and a start-to-finish renovation project plan. I now knew that a $25,000 investment will be required. The work could be finished within about three weeks.

Wow! That's a 57.5% return on investment!

ROI is $14,400 / $25,000 = 57.5%


It's been almost three weeks since the start. The work is nearly complete. Two separate units are now a reality.

I am starting to look for tenants! It seems surreal that the ideas came to life so fast and soon there will be two families moving into their new homes and starting to build their memories.

Simple ideas turned into real value, which will positively affect the lives of many people for many years to come.

I am extremely grateful to the amazing property management company that actually got the job done!

Fortune Property Management 

converted my mumbling into 

two beautiful apartments 

within a couple of weeks.


Thank you!









Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Discovery of the Year: Passive Income Exists! and why I say so

Lo-o-o-o-o-ng road to Financial Freedom


Up until very recently, I thought that 4% return on your money was a GREAT deal.

In fact, I believed that anything better than 4% was most likely a SCAM.

Given this information, my freedom seemed practically-unattainable:






My financial freedom was THREE MILLION dollars away

3 million @ 4% = $120,000 / year = $10,000 / month

Imagine, how HAPPY I was when I learned that there are 

NUMEROUS LEGITIMATE WAYS

to make more than 4% on your money! 

How about 6%, 8%, 12%, 17 % or even 20+%?!?

With higher returns, the path to financial freedom is much shorter! 



For example, at 8% return, financial freedom is

1.5 million away:

1.5 million @ 8% = $120,000 / year = $10,000 / month 








Discovery of Private Exempt Market

During summer, I started investing in what is called private exempt market. I learned about this type of investing from a good friend, whom I met at a networking event about a year ago.

Investing means lending your money to someone who will use it to create value and pay you your money back with a profit.

You have to remember that investing can be risky - you can lose time, money, go through a load of stress, etc.

This is why there's a whole slew of regulation around investing in private exempt markets, which is in place to protect consumers (aka you and me) from making bad decisions and getting themselves into financial trouble.

Private market means all non-public businesses, from mom-and-pop-shops to huge private enterprises.

Exempt means that there are rules for investing into these private deals.

You have to meet one of the exemptions to qualify. 

These exemptions are governed by law. Their purpose is to protect the consumers from financial losses, which they can't withstand.

Up until a couple of years ago, only accredited investors were qualified to invest in private exempt market and private companies could not advertise investment opportunities to non-accredited investors.

Accredited investor is someone who meets at least one of the following criteria:

  • Earns more than $200,000 per year before taxes
  • Together with spouse, earns more than $300,000 
  • Owns more than $1 million before taxes of financial assets but net of related liabilities
  • Owns more than $5 million of net assets 

Needless to say, the whole concept of private exempt market was invisible / forbidden / unattainable to average middle class professionals because most of us don't qualify as an accredited investor, so we fall under the protected class.

I personally had no idea about these deals. Protection worked :)







The Good News!


The good news is - the legislation was updated and we now qualify and can learn about investing in private exempt market. 

Here is the recently added Eligible Investor exemptions:


  1. Owns $400,000 or more net assets
  2. Earns more than $75,000 per year before taxes 
  3. Together with spouse, earns more than $125,000 
Lastly, there is one more exemption - Any Investor!

Legislation still protects us by setting the limits of how much Eligible and Any Investors can invest.

Yet, we all now have an opportunity to invest into many of the same deals that accredited investors have been investing into. And I bet, most accredited investors wouldn't be too thrilled investing into something like this, which I constantly see in my Facebook feed:

This is NOT a good deal.
Hope you aren't clicking on ads like this one...


My First Two Assets in Private Exempt Market


11% vs. 3.2% - Gets You There Faster!
I invested in two private exempt market deals so far. Here are the key reasons why I chose them:


1) Like the horse and bet on the Jockey 
  • I educated myself about the details of the project and understood it. I checked with people who are a lot smarter than I will ever be.
  • I am very clear about the business model, project plan, exit strategy, and underlying securities 
  • Most importantly, I verified the track record of the Jockey. I know that they’ve done what they are about to do over and over and over and over again successfully. 

2) Operating within my comfort zone
  • Using RRSP money, which will not be available to me anyways for a couple more decades 
  • NOT putting all my life’s savings into a deal all at once - I allocated two chunks and spread them across two independent projects 
  • Selected projects within the real estate niche, which I'm familiar with
  • Am comfortable with the timeline and the fact that my money will be locked for 3-5 years


3) Trust but verify

I chose one asset with frequent cash distributions and another one with higher return and longer waiting period.

The former pays investors quarterly. I chose it because I wanted to see how the asset works start to finish, before looking for any other deals.

I got my first quarterly deposit! Over $900 dollars - a single quarterly payment covered my family's internet for an entire year. Not bad!!!

The best thing is this income was purely passive.

I can imagine how much work it has taken the private business to generate this return.

For me, it is truly passive - zero effort - 11.06% annualized return.

Now, that I've completed this small proof of concept, the sky is the limit :)

Hope this blog post helps.

I wonder if you knew these deals existed and 6, 8, 10, 17% or 20+% passive return was achievable? 

What was your experience? 

Feel free to leave a comment below! 

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Can't Afford Financial Freedom? Start with these THREE Steps

Overcoming the No Money Hurdle.
This is how I feel when I need to finance a new deal.
I recently sent out a 2-minute survey about financial freedom. If you haven't responded, feel free to  fill it out HERE -  it's fun, super-quick, and your response will help me understand what's important to you.

It'll also give you a moment to think about your personal financial goals.

One of the survey questions was:

"What's holding you back from reaching financial freedom?"

So far, the top-most response with 58% vote is:

"I can't afford it. Not enough money"
 

I thought it would be helpful if I gave you the exact steps I followed to finance my real estate assets. This approach worked for me over a dozen times.

Step 1: Acquire an Asset not a Liability 


An asset puts money in your pocket. A liability takes money away from you. 

Assets are easier to finance than liabilities. 

By definition, assets make money and, hence, provide a less risky security for a prospective lender.
A typical A or B lender always makes money, no matter if you pay your mortgage or not:


  • If you stop paying your mortgage, the lender can collect the rent instead of you. This is why many lenders require a current lease agreement, so that they have a way to verify how much income you collect from the asset. This gives them a method to make money, even in the worst case.

  • In case of default, the lender can choose to sell your property. If your property makes money and is priced under market, there will be lots of buyers - the sale will be quick and easy. This is why most lenders will also require that an appraiser they approve off, provides a current market assessment and confirms the market value of the property. The bank will only finance up to 65-80% of the value. 
On the flip side, all your liabilities add up and play against you. You may be able to get financing for the first few real estate properties, which are not cash positive, if your personal income can support paying for them. However,

  • Most traditional lenders will turn you down, if your debt service ratio is worse than 44%. This means that at the most, 44% of your income has to be enough to cover all your interest, tax, and heating payments. 

  • When you go after liabilities, you reach this 44% ratio very fast. As soon as that happens, most traditional lenders stop giving you money. Your strategy becomes too risky for them.

Keep in mind that you can usually find more creative ways to finance the deal. However, in my experience, creativity usually is expensive. You have to get more expensive money from lenders who don't mind extra risk or trade equity for money. Either way, mathematically there is a point at which financing cost turns your property from an asset into a liability - you start losing money.

Long story short - getting financing for assets is a LOT easier and more affordable than getting financing for liabilities. 

My recommendation is to focus only on assets and stay away from liabilities. 

Step 2: Play by Lenders' Rules 


There are numerous lenders out there. Each lender has their unique underwriting rules and procedures. These are similar on a high level, yet minor nuances sometimes make a big difference. You might not qualify with some of the lenders, but be a perfect candidate with others.

Underwriting is the process by which a lender determines whether you qualify for a mortgage or a loan with them. Knowing how the underwriting process works is half the battle.

Hence, it's beneficial to work with an expert who knows this process inside out and can help you navigate through the mortgage application, and position you properly with the lenders, where you have the most chance. It's similar to resume writing and interview process - a good mortgage broker can help you with your money resume and your money application.

If you don't qualify at the moment, an expert mortgage broker can explain to you what may be missing. This way, you can plan your next step and work your way to your next deal. Alternatively, knowing what is missing, you can find ways to partner with friends, family, or third parties to fill in the blanks and make the deal work. Understanding lenders' rules gives you a chance to structure your deal correctly and make things work.

Financing is a repetitive task. At the minimum, you have to review financing for each asset every 5 years. When you build your portfolio aggressively, financing becomes a never-ending ongoing task.

You are always looking for money. You are always looking for ways to replace expensive money with more affordable money. Every time you find cheaper money, your cash flow goes up. 

Financing mistakes are costly. In my experience, each finance/re-finance transaction ends up costing at least $7,000 on a small residential deal. On an ongoing basis, my regular mortgage payment is often just under 50% of gross rent.

It makes sense to have a good partner on financing side of things. The last three transactions that I completed were possible thanks to the help I got from the Loan Central team. 

If you are in GTA and access to money is your biggest hurdle, give Loan Central a call! It doesn't cost you anything to ask the question. You could also drop in and attend one of their weekly meet ups. I've attended several and found lots of great FREE information and connected with a few like-minded people.


Here's Loan Central's contact info. They helped me multiple times.
If you have financing related questions, ask them!


Step 3: Be Extremely Organized 


No matter how many assets you plan to acquire - one, two, ten, 50, or a 100, stay organized.

On many occasions, lenders, mortgage brokers, and money partners complimented me on giving them the information they needed quickly and in the format that was easy for them to follow.

Lenders typically need a lot of information to complete their underwriting process and determine whether you qualify for a loan with them.

The way you present the information and its accuracy makes it easier or harder for lenders to make the decision.

It's in your best interest to make your application to be as easy to evaluate as possible.


  • Provide complete accurate information 
  • Double check all numbers against supporting documents before you submit information
  • Make it a rule to keep track of information on a regular basis - after all, making money is what you are after. 
You will make MORE MONEY, if you keep track of it.

This is how I feel
EVERY TIME
when I finalize financing for a new deal

Here is a link to download my Excel tracking template. If you'd like it FREE, please email me and ask me to email my sample Excel portfolio template back to you. I'll respond as quickly as I can.

Here's an old blog post on what sort of documents you'd typically be asked to provide when you apply for a mortgage.

Hope you find this blog post helpful. If you have any comments or questions about money, please leave me a comment below.

PS You also might be wondering how you can come up with a down payment. That'll be in one of my future blog posts. Please stay tuned.



The Beauty of A La Carte Property Management

Loving A La Carte Property Management
A friend of mine runs an amazing property management company – they offer on demand white glove property management services. I call it a la carte property management.

I think this service is amazing. In fact, it’s just perfect. I tried it last month on one of my rentals and absolutely LOVED it.

To start, let me share my view on traditional property management and some challenges that I've come across.

This will help me explain why I am so excited about a la carte property management!

The Pains of Traditional Property Management

Traditionally, property managers charge a percentage of gross rent per month. Usually, somewhere between 5% and 8.5% of your gross rent. For example, if you rent a unit for $1,500, you’d be paying around $100 a month to the property manager. You pay based on proforma, not actual, i.e whether or not your tenant pays rent, you still pay your property manager.

Given a skinny average cash flow of $200 per unit, property management could easily take away half of your cash flow. So instead of getting $200 a month in your pocket and self-managing the unit, you’d be getting $100 a month from the unit when you outsource property management.

The biggest benefit of hiring a property management company is that your property manager becomes the point of contact for your tenants, instead of you. You never see, communicate with or hear from your tenants. Your tenants contact your property manager with all their questions and issues. The property manager coordinates issue resolution, gets your approval on costly items, and sends you an invoice at the end of the month. This invoice includes:

  • Property management fee of 5 – 8.5% 
  • Cost of labour to resolve issues
  • Cost of materials to resolve issues
Traditional Property Management can get Ugly
Here are some examples of what is not included in the property management fee and will be added as an extra line item on your invoice:

Painting / cleaning / making unit ready for a new tenant, plumbing issues, snow/grass care, new tenant search, sending an eviction notice to a non-paying tenant, representing you at the landlord and tenant board, fixing a broken screen on a window, etc. 

Basically, everything is extra with the exception of:

  • rent collection 
  • the contact phone / email that your tenants get to call when they need help
  • in some cases, annual rent increases. In my case, I have to remind my property manager about these.

In theory, this model works great for hands-off investors. You pay someone else to take care of your property and your tenants. You pay the invoice to cover all associated costs. You trust your property manager to do a great job and believe they will act in your best interests. You sleep great at night and can spend your time doing something more exciting than answering your tenants’ calls.

However, in my experience so far, the model seems to fail frequently. 

Some property managers that I’ve run into would let your unit stay vacant for many months. They wouldn’t put in any effort into collecting rent. 

They’d procrastinate for many-many months keeping issues that are important from owner stand-point in their waiting queue, and decide that it's not necessary to address these issues at all. 

They’d find a gazillion excuses and explanations of why some issues cannot be addressed or addressed timely. 

In the meantime, your have zero interaction with your tenant and practically no insight into what is actually going on at your property - you are at the mercy of your property manager. 

While you are becoming more and more frustrated with how things are going, the property manager still collects the monthly fee.

And the issues that are bothering you and costing you time and money still remain open, adding up to hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars.

The Beauty of A La Carte Property Management


The way on demand property management works is very simple.

You run your property the way you like. You keep in touch with your tenants. When you need an extra set of hands or an expert to do a certain property management or tenant management task, you pay for the service.

There is no monthly fee. You pay as you go.

In my case, I have a triplex in Guelph. My monthly gross rent is $3,126. I have long term tenants in two units. They are great tenants and rarely have issues or requests. They keep an eye on the property and bring up issues that need my attention. We have a great relationship. There is really no need to hire a property manager to manage these two tenants.

The third unit has higher turnover. My last tenant was a young professional. He bought his own place and moved out. I needed to find a new tenant. 

The property is about an hour away from my place. I have so much going on that I really had no time to clean, freshen up the unit, market it, screen applicants, etc.

In addition, I recently re-financed the property and pulled out most of the equity. As a result, my cash flow is barely positive. Every penny counts. There is no room for an ongoing property management cost.

Hiring a traditional property management company doesn’t feel right and, frankly speaking, isn’t cost effective.

A la carte property management, on the other hand, is just perfect.

What I needed was:
  • Great team to freshen up the unit and get some work done - mainly cleaning plus repair a couple of minor things
  • Expert marketing and advertising - respond to numerous requests timely
  • Run an open house for all interested applicants and show the unit
  • Complete applicant screening, reference / background checks, etc.
  • Help me choose a great new tenant.

This was exactly what I got! It took them under a week. I got a great price. 

I loved the experience and the result:

Feeling Happy!

Zero vacancy.
Perfect new tenant.
No ongoing cost.
Got exactly the services I needed when I needed them.


Would you like to try a la carte property management? 


Ping me in comments below, if you’d like a referral to my friend’s firm. They are based in Toronto and serve a pretty wide radius. 

A la carte property management also works great for 2nd homes and cottages. For example, you can outsource your Spring / Fall routine to a professional property manager. 

Sunday, September 30, 2018

Instant Return on Investment

Ready for the Winter
The townhouse I acquired with a serious discount last month, came with no heating.

The previous owner removed electric baseboards throughout the house and used a gas stove in the basement as the only heat source. She was saving considerably on the monthly utilities!

My brother-in-law being extremely frugal as well is another person I know who uses a wood stove to heat his entire house!

However, I don’t think I’ll be successful finding tenants who’d be thrilled about a similar set up.

Most tenants would be looking for either baseboards on every level or a gas furnace. I don’t blame them!

Can you imagine starting a wood stove early mornings when it’s 30 degrees below zero?! 


I was debating between installing new electric baseboards or using the opportunity to upgrade to a gas furnace. I decided to get quotes and work timeline for both options and go from there.

My amazing property manager received several quotes from multiple reputable vendors. Now, we knew that the costs would be as follows:

1) Electric baseboards: $6,000
2) Gas furnace including ducts: $9,000.





Instant Return: $9,000 makes $4,000 = 44% ROI


A local appraiser let me know that the price of the property would go up by $15,000, conservatively, once the gas furnace is in place. This is a $4,000 net gain on a 9K investment.

44% return - not bad, eh?

An additional benefit is that the property will look more attractive to potential tenants. Many families prefer gas heating, as it typically costs less than electricity.

This property is a condo town house. I learned from the condo manager that, before making any updates, I am supposed to get approval from the Condo Board.





Getting Board's Approval 



The approval process turned out to be much smoother than I expected. I received an “Alteration / Renovation request Form” form from the Board. Then, completed this form and returned the following to the Board before their scheduled meeting:

1) Completed Alteration / Renovation Request form
2) Photos of the locations where the contractor will core through the brick (with the area circled)
3) Contractor’s WSIB eClearance Letter and Insurance Certificate.

My property manager helped me with all three of these!

The Board confirmed their approval and we now have all the work scheduled.

I am very grateful to my Property Manager and his team. 

Can’t wait to start looking for a tenant! I’m sure they’ll love this home and enjoy being warm and cozy during the winter.

Million Dollar Decision: Spend or Save?

Balancing Act! Spending vs Saving
Recently, I ran across a fantastic company. I loved their business model.

The team their helps Canadians take control over their finances and build passive income. Most of their clients achieve the following objectives:


  1. Pay off their bad debt within about 30 days
  2. Create about a $1,000,000 investment portfolio within 8-10 years
  3. And all this, without sacrificing their current lifestyle. 

I am starting to work closer with this firm, to learn more about the specific software program and approach they use to achieve such tremendous success. I can see how this process will benefit many of my readers.

Wouldn’t you want to have a million dollar portfolio!?

This afternoon, I worked through my own numbers and a couple of scenarios to see how I can use my primary home plus leverage to build up my passive income.

I'd like to share my notes with you. It’s amazing how the decision to hang on to current lifestyle affects the long-term outcome!





The Formula

Step 1) Re-finance your primary residence to extract as much equity as possible. Pay-off all high interest rate bad debt and invest the rest.

Step 2) Repeat step #1 above three times: today, then in 3 to 5 years, and then again in about 10 years.

Assumptions


Below are the key assumptions I made when working through my own numbers. These assumptions are reasonable in my particular case.

Your situation might be different, so please adjust and feel free to post questions below the post:

Property appreciates steadily at 5% a year
At first refinance, my mortgage interest rate will increase from 3.15 to 4.5%
Mortgage interest rate will remain at 4.5% for all future years
I will be able to re-finance up to 75% loan to value every five years
My portfolio will be invested with an average 11% annual return.

Scenario 1: Keeping My Lifestyle


After each re-finance, I’ll spend all of the passive income.

It is important for me to use the extra disposable income right away.


Outcome


  • Fifteen years later, my net worth will be $770,000.
  • My investment portfolio will be $383,000, producing $42,000 of passive income a year. This income will not be enough to cover my annual mortgage principal and interest payment of $55,000.





Scenario 2: Extreme Frugality


After each re-finance, I’ll find a way to reduce my day-to-day spending, so that all of the passive income goes right back into my portfolio. 

As a result, my disposable income will get smaller with each refinance, yet my portfolio will grow very fast thanks to the compounding interest.


Outcome


  • Fifteen years later, my net worth will be $1,307,000.
  • My investment portfolio will be $1,001,700, producing $110,000 of passive income a year – more than enough to cover my mortgage payments of 55K. 


Know Your Options - Make Conscious Decisions 

These two scenarios show you the full spectrum of possibilities.

The first scenario best fits those who appreciate today and live in the moment. It shows that with some effort put into making your equity work for you, you can build some wealth while enjoying some extra passive income.

The second scenario emphasizes the importance of being conscious about the impact of compounding interest over a long time. If you can be frugal – be frugal! This will pay off over time and you could be on the road to creating a multi-million-dollar portfolio and hundreds of thousands in passive income!

Whichever point on the spectrum of options you choose, it's extremely important to know yourself well, evaluate the possibilities, and go for whatever plan you believe fits your needs and desires best.

Friday, July 13, 2018

Hey! Where should I invest?

I often get a question:

"Hey, I'd like to invest in .... 
plug in any town or city you are wondering about - Toronto, Milton, Hamilton, Windsor, Oshawa, Montreal, Ottawa, Rochester, Buffalo, etc... - 

... what do you think?"




To be honest, in most cases, I think absolutely nothing. I'd really have to do some homework and educate myself about the market before I can answer such a question.

Sometimes, I have a gutt feeling. Especially, when I've had some previous experience in a certain city. Still markets are so fluent and I'd need to look up latest stats and information, in order to provide an educated opinion.

I'd like to share a few questions that I research, whenever I'm getting ready to expand into  a new location.

If you have questions or would like to share your own tips on how to choose a great location to invest in, please add a comment below or send me an email!

1. Do People Want to Live There?

Ideally, population should be 100,000 - 200,000. If it's smaller, you'd really need to study the demand and supply carefully and make sure you know who your tenants are and how you'll find, attract, and keep them. You’ll also need to verify current inventory. Last week, I came across a city that had 26,000 vacant units while the total number of households is around 85,000 and has been declining. This tells me that supply drastically exceeds the demand and I’d have issues filling in units. Prices will not go up for a while in this market. 

There should be evidence and factual proof of recent and upcoming population growth. There are many great cities that, for one reason or another, have experienced population decline. Study latest trends in detail, before deciding to invest in them.

For example, if you come across a town that has been losing people over the past 50 years, I wouldn't bet on a sudden popularity spike. Watch out when you see outward migration, job loss, crime rate increase, poverty climbing up, vacancy rates sky-rocketing, lots of unused or abandoned inventory, etc. All these signs show you that you will likely have difficulty finding quality tenants. 

On the other hand, if you see population decline slowing down, flattening out, and notice people  starting to flood back in, you are onto something! Projected population spike might be a potential gold mine. If you start investing at the right time and get your property at a price that works, you might catch the wave of appreciation. 

Even though appreciation is always a bonus and should not be used in your assessment calculation as a given, it still makes sense to look for areas with high probability of growth and stay away from dying towns.

Projected population growth, recent considerable increase in population, new jobs and businesses opening, new or refreshed infrastructure changes, nearby city or town becoming hyper expensive and over-populated, and vacancy rates dropping are some signals of an emerging market.





2. Lots of Diverse Positives 

Look for social and economic diversity with lots of positives. Be careful when you see a location that has only one great thing going for it. An example of this is all the single big employer cities as well as cities majorly supported by a single industry.

I know that it might seem highly improbable for a giant company to shut the doors, yet we’ve seen so many examples. Windsor, Detroit, and Rochester are some examples of cities that went through a relatively long down town due to larger employers leaving.

One of the ways to find cities with lower risk of over concentration is to look for diversified and balanced list of positives across a wide spectrum: diverse demographics, income levels from entry to high, education from high school to PHD, household sizes from single person to families with kids, several unrelated employment industries, various types and levels jobs - white color, blue color, small businesses, large businesses, new technologies, and established employers, etc.





3. Who and How is Helping the City Grow?  


Lastly, I do a lot of research regarding economic development plans for each location that I plan to invest in. 

Looking at the plans of a City gives you a lot of insight into upcoming trends. For examples, some cities would promote latest technologies, set up programs to attract businesses, implement solutions to upgrade skills of the population to meet incoming businesses' requirements. You'd come across articles when agreements are made between various levels of the government to fund major infrastructure improvement programs: build new bridges, highways, and train stations; grow wind mills farms; re-build airports, etc.

On the other hand, you might come across a town that has its entire budget dedicated to fixing some pot holes in the roads. Most achievements listed on their website would be outdated or insignificant. No major partnerships with outside investors would surface, when you search for news on economic development. You'd realize that no one cares if the city grows. The focus is on status quo. In this case, you'd need to make sure you are good with the status quo and it works for your strategy. Momentum might last a few more years and this may be sufficient.


To recap, since my strategy is mainly based on buy-fix-rent-and-hold-long-term, I focus on finding locations with a high probability of market appreciation due to:


  • Sufficient market size for my needs
  • Recent, current and projected positive trends in population growth
  • Lots of evidence for finding quality renters and demand for the type of units I offer
  • Good supply/demand balance and trends 
  • Minimal risk of economic collapse due to over-concentration in a single niche/industry/social group/etc.
  • Great leadership and people interested in helping the city grow with budgets dedicated to major improvement projects that will attract jobs, people, businesses, and money. Work already under way! 

Friday, May 18, 2018

Finally! A movie STAR!

Red Carpet Time!
As some of you may already know, in the past I attempted to become a movie star!

Like many aspiring stars, I signed up with a couple of agencies.

This was a great experience with some lessons learned!

On the positive side, I did feel great going to a couple of photo shoots, where a professional make up artist made me look amazing. The pictures turned out awesome as well.

On the reality side of things, I went to about 20 auditions and then gave up.

At the auditions, I felt seriously average and slightly worn out when applying for youth roles. When trying to go for Canadian parent type of roles, I felt puppy-ish and unqualified. It wasn't a surprise to have never been called back.

The biggest lesson I learned during my brief acting career was when taking a course in acting. Our acting academy teacher said one day:

"Guys! If you want to be in a movie, the easiest way to go about it would be to make your own movie!"

Since then, this is one of my core principals. If I really want something, it's on me to make it happen.

I think that this idea is one of the simplest concepts of life, which took me a long time to grasp.

Most of us probably agree with this concept on the subconscious level. This is why we often hear and believe expressions such as:

"Whoever needs it, does it",
- my Mom
"Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it's at the end of your arm, as you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others."
- Audrey Hepburn
"Sink or swim",
- Wise people, often parents

Long story short, last week I partnered with a Canadian feature film producer and became one of the associate co-producers (aka investor) in his upcoming Canadian feature film.

This project is very exciting! It will be amazing to learn more about the entertainment industry from investor stand-point as the project develops. Here are some reason why I love this opportunity:


  1. Learn about a new industry
  2. Observe a production and launch of a new asset from start to finish 
  3. Acquire an asset 
  4. Differentiate into a field with great demand and lots of room on supply side
  5. Partner with an ambitious experienced team of people who have been successful in the past
  6. And lastly... have my name in movie credits and attend various film festivals!

Risks are everywhere of course! In this case, I strongly believe that the probability of success times reward greatly outweighs the probability of failure times loss.

If you are curious and would like to learn more, please let me know. There is still room for several film lovers to join the project.