Victoria Real Estate Investors Club Newsletter
Meeting - Tuesday November 29 November, 2011 |
|
|
|
Next Breakfast Meeting
| |
Sat, Dec 17,
9:30am
Princess Mary Cafe
On West Bay in the inner harbour, at 453 Head St in Esquimalt
reserved under Real Estate Club
|
| ad | |
Cheri Crause
 Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty 1933 Oak Bay, Victoria 250-592-4422
|
ad
| |
AINEY
CONSTRUCTION
250-818-9725
Renovations, Additions, Roofing, Siding, Fully Licensed and Insured
|
ad
| |
Mike 
Patterson
Plumber
250-880-0104
When you need a trustable, reliable, and reasonable Plumber who can do the job right the first time.
|
|
|
|  Hi Folks!
As 2012 approaches, when I glimpse at the world news, I get occasional pangs of worry about where we're all heading. You know - mid-east upheavals, warming climate, looming world financial crises, etc. As I keep my eyes on what's really going on around me, things look positive, busy, colourful, natural and the worry fades. My optimistic self emerges. Lesson: don't listen to the news, spend all your noticing the world as it really is rather than how they say it is. If something really important happens out in the world, someone will tell you about it. One recently experienced exception: check the ferry situation BEFORE you head out. Even with a reservation, ultimately, Mother Nature decides if you get across the water.
My mentors taught me that there's no bad market for RE investors, every part of the cycle has a matching strategy to grow one's money. I believe all the effective strategies have one thing in common: choose the investment wisely. That applies to any type of investment - properties, stocks, cars, notes, jewelry, whatever.
New investors always wonder HOW to choose wisely and so search for rules-of-thumb to use while they gain experience. In an ideal world, newbies would have a mentor, someone with experience, at their elbow, giving them hints and clues on the next step to take.
The talk this month at the VREIC meeting on Tues Nov 29 is about one common strategy that applies in all markets, on all investments, that is: Due Diligence. This process covers a lot ground AND can be done quickly. It's essential to determine if an investment is worth acquiring. We can use a gut-feeling to shorten that process, but I think good gut-feelings come from many hours of doing Due Diligence. See the article below for more details on the meeting.
My friend Cornell has an opportunity below on a Rent-To-Own property. I want to emphasize that many of his opportunities are for investors! If one can acquire an executive home with no mortgage (ie use other people's money), surely one can find a way to make a profit from it. Great Education!
One of my favourite article writers has a great message on being diligent during condo buying. I've included it below. He's pointing out all the reasons to not buy condos. If you like 'em anyway, heed his advice. We own two and they're both worth it.
I've included another of his articles below on a strategy for acquiring rental properties that most folks would not think of. By helping a rental property owner unload a problem, you can turn it in into an opportunity. This is good education. Read it! He's a great mentor IMO.
See your Tuesday night.
Gord Knox
|
|
|
|
|
ad
|
Become part of Canada's top debt elimination franchise
...be a professional Debt Consultant with 4 Pillars Consulting Group* Potential to earn $100K - $200K annual income helping clients to avoid bankruptcy and restructure their finances! * 4 Debt Consultant locations still available: 2 in Victoria, 1 in Cowichan Valley & 1 in North Island (Parksville & North). Nanaimo available in 2012! * Turnkey business with extensive training and ongoing support! Debt Consultant program licensing/training Fee: $23,500 Call Cornell 250-756-9239 cornellp@4pillars.ca All 4 Pillars offices are independantly owned and operated. 4 Pillars and its associated trademarks are used under license.
|
|
Tuesday November 29 Meeting
| 
DUE DILIGENCE
Speaker: Gord Knox
Checking out a property before you buy is IMPORTANT! Gord will give his thoughts and experience on how to do this effectively.
7 - 9 pm
Tuesday November 29, 2011
Comfort Hotel
3020 Blanshard St
$15 at the door (no charge for annual or REAG members)
There's always an after-meeting meeting at Redd's down the hall and up the stairs for networking, socializing, eating, etc. |
| ad |  Andy Vickers avickers@dominionlending.ca Mortgage Broker 250-477-7555 Harbour View Mortgages Home purchase Investment Multi-Unit Properties Refinance Construction Commercial Land  |
|
OPPORTUNITIES
|
RENT-TO-OWN in College Heights!Lovely 4-BR, 3-Bath Family Home NO MORTGAGE REQUIRED! Spacious 2-level family home on spacious, private, treed 1/4 acre lot on Camosun Drive. Lovely living and dining area with vaulted ceilings and 2 wood stove, ocean view throught huge floor-to-ceiling windows, nice deck, 2-car garage, with a lower level that could easily be suited. Only 3 minutes to VI University in Nanaimo! Deposit required. Monthly rent $1,800 - $2,000 More Info at Call 250-616-9053
|
|
Why Do Some Investors Avoid Condo Purchases Like a Plague?
| By Dave Dinkel
Condominiums are essentially single family homes or apartments that are usually governed by a board. Some investors avoid these properties because of past bad experiences. While the cost of these properties varies greatly depending on the location of the condo community, they can have very specific issues in common.
There are exceptions to all of the statements that will be made below, but in many cases if you are involved in buying and owning one of these properties, you can be getting into a major headache and lose tons of cash very quickly. Following are some of the unusual aspects of these types of properties that investors must be aware of:
1. The condo association rules can change at any time by a majority vote of the board members. This means that renting units was OK on one day and the next it is not.
2. Condo association boards can be sued but in most states the board members have no personal liability, so they can be outright vengeful in their actions against owners and not have to fear prosecution.
3. Condo associations can literally go bankrupt if condo owners don't pay their assessments and monthly fees. This can result in the building falling into disarray and a substantial loss of equity for the remaining owners.
4. The regulations for renting units vary greatly. In some cases there are no regulations; in other communities the owner must have owned the unit for two years before renting it. There also can be regulations on how many times a year a unit can be rented, for example once in 18 months.
5. Assessments are unlimited monetarily if other unit owners decide not to pay. The remainder unit owners have to pick up the slack; or the reason for the assessment (new roof) may become serious to the wellbeing of the unit owners.
6. Legal fees to fight a condo board's action are charged to all the unit owners, so the board has no legal fees or their fees are reimbursed by the association when the law suit is completed.
7. Most associations require a buyer to be screened and this can lead to abusive actions by keeping a qualified buyer out of the community.
8. With great power comes great responsibility, and this power is often abused by one or two unit owners who use the association's rules and regulations in an abusive manner. No children in the complex can be enforced so that even grandchildren coming to visit their grandparents have to leave the same day - no overnight stays!
It is safe to say that anyone looking to purchase a condo for the reasons of security, lack of maintenance or as an investment, should carefully look at the association's bylaws and rules and regulations so there are no surprises later. While it is a generalization, the older the board members, the less flexible they are in dealing with unit owners so interview the board members before you make a purchase.
Dave Dinkel has over 35 years experience in real estate investing which has given him a unique perspective into the real estate market. http://www.DaveDinkel.com is the place to interact with Dave Dinkel. You can read some of the latest informative Real Estate articles he has written. Here you can discover and educate yourself on topics ranging from foreclosure, For Sale By Owner (FSBO) Sales, Credit and much more.
Article Source: Why Do Some Investors Avoid Condo Purchases Like a Plague? |
|
Where Are the Best Prospects for Buying Rental Properties?
|
By Dave Dinkel Any investor who wants to be a landlord is constantly on the search for rental properties that yield a high cash-on-cash return. The sellers of these properties, essentially tired landlords can be found in a number of places. Rental properties do not generally trade on a potential price appreciation potential basis as do single family homes. Yes, rents can be increased and the cash flow increase will correlate into a higher sale price sometime in the future. But this appreciation is limited by competitive rents in the area. It is therefore important that an investor looking to buy rental income properties get the best possible deal when he initially buys the property. Conventional ways to find multi-family income properties is to go to the multiple listings and look for properties for sale. Sometimes landlords simply put a for sale sign in the yard of the property or run an ad in a local newspaper trying to sell it themselves and save a real estate commission. But, the best source of multi-family rental properties comes from frustrated landlords. Motivated landlords are everywhere because the average landlord only stays a landlord for about 3 years. By this time he has had at least two turnovers of tenants and if he had three units, he came in contact with 6 - 8 tenants. Some of these tenants have to be bad tenants even when the landlord screens them carefully. Ultimately, the landlord becomes a distressed landlord and wants out. Once the landlord is close to his emotional breaking point with tenants, he will have had to evict some of them. This eviction process includes a court appearance which further aggravates the landlord's emotional state. If the tenant is represented by an attorney, the landlord may have more legal costs than he ever imagined. This court appearance for the eviction hearing is the time for an investor to approach the landlord as a buyer of rental properties. This is when the landlord is very motivated to have someone (the investor) solve his problem and is more open to accepting a reasonable offer for his property. If the landlord is represented by an attorney at the eviction hearing, give him your business card and tell him you need more rental properties. This attorney can be a great source of referrals because he deals with landlords when they are most distressed. As a final note, if you want passive income from rental units, the most successful way is to hire a management company to take care of all the chores and tasks associated with landlording. These include, but are not limited to, collecting rents, evicting tenants and screening and signing leases with new renters. The cost of a property management company is usually based on the gross rental income per month and can be as little as 5% and as much as 15% with an industry average of 8.5%. A good management company is worth its weight in gold! Dave Dinkel has over 35 years experience in real estate investing which has given him a unique perspective into the real estate market. http://www.DaveDinkel.com is the place to interact with Dave Dinkel. You can read some of the latest informative Real Estate articles he has written. Here you can discover and educate yourself on topics ranging from foreclosure, For Sale By Owner(FSBO) Sales, Credit and much more. Article Source:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
