Real Estate Investing – Doesn’t Have to be Hard

Have you been thinking of investing in real estate for some time?  But are allowing fear to hold you back? We normally experience fear when we are uncertain about the outcome.  But in the timeframe that you have been worried about the unknown - real estate prices in the Greater Toronto Area are going through the roof.

If you have been thinking of getting into real estate investing don’t continue stressing about it but start taking action now.  

Whether you want to get into real estate investing for your future retirement financial freedom or whether you want to lock in real estate prices for your kids and support them in building equity – taking action is the key.  

Here are 4 critical steps to increasing your confidence and getting you taking action quicker:

Step 1 – Building your Real Estate Investment Team
 

You can increase your confidence in investing in real estate by building a team of real estate investing experts that will help you get through the learning curve quicker and reduce any potential risks by ensuring that you are following best practices and processes.

Engage a Realtor how has personally been involved in real estate investing and can educate you on best practices and will handhold you in selecting a property that will rent quickly, for top rent, and will also cash flow.

You should also work with a mortgage professional that specializes in real estate investing and will help you set up mortgages to maximize your cash flow (which means the rent will pay off your investment the property mortgage, property tax, insurance, and condo maintenance fees (if you are considering a condo) and ideally still leave you with a little cash for unforeseen repairs.
 

Step 2: Leverage Bank Money for Down Payment 

Are you aware that if you have a home you can most likely purchase an investment property without spending your hard-earned money – you can leverage money to make money?  There are no gimmicks or tricks to this investment strategy. I have personally done this for 15 years. Your mortgage professional will also be able to guide you on this financing strategy.  If you need a referral to a Mortgage Broker that specializes in real estate investing reach out - I can make a recommendation.

Step 3 – Offer Accepted – Now What?
 

Once you have found the perfect property and your offer has been accepted – what is next.  

The next step is finding the perfect tenant that will take care of or your property as if they own it.  There are many steps that can be taken to find that perfect tenant. Pre-screening will be key and once you have found the perfect tenant do the thorough due diligence of the following: confirm employment by calling an employer to validate the information the tenant has provided, call the existing landlord and ask open-ended probing questions to validate that there aren’t concerns with rent payment and that they take good care of the current rental property, and pull a credit report or ask the tenant to provide a copy of the credit score.  These steps will dramatically increase your odds of finding a great tenant.
 

Step 4 – Found Perfect Tenant – What Next?

You found the perfect tenant but your due diligence is not over yet.  Make sure they sign a lease, collect first and last months’ rent, and provide them with a copy of the Landlord and Tenant rules.  Make sure that you outline their rights and your rights. If a tenant knows that you follow the rules you are less likely to run into issues down the road.  

If you found an amazing tenant treat them with love.  Give them a welcome home warming gift. I personally provide a basket full of goodies for the move-in date: cleaning products, coffee mugs, wine glasses, if they have children a couple of toys for the kids, etc.
 

A little about me
 

15 years ago I realized that I had a passion for real estate when I started investing in real estate and through trial and error have established best practices of having a stress-free real estate investment portfolio of tenants that I truly like and enjoy.  I became a Real Estate Agent after building my investment portfolio.

If you are seriously thinking of investing in real estate it would be my pleasure to be your real estate investing Real Estate Agent on your team.  I eagerly guide and advise on which properties are the best investments and also share best practices in managing the property and tenants.

Give me a call, it would be my pleasure to guide and educate you on your real estate investment journey and trust me it really isn’t as hard as you may believe it to be.  Ready to get started?