Defining Success

[Kilarney]

In October 2004 I attended my first REIN QuickStart in Calgary.
Because of that weekend and what I learned, I made the decision to change my life.
To begin that change, I became a REIN member and decided that investing in real estate would be
the vehicle that I would use to transform my life.

I then set myself an ambitious goal of 10 properties in 1 year.Those people close to me who knew my circumstances thought I was crazy.

I ignored all the doubt that bombarded me, and set about systematically DOING exactly what REIN teaches.
One deal at a time.
I did not reach my goal in that first year. To my delight however, I did reach that goal in two years!
Currently, I just purchased property #17- which closes in February, and put an offer in yesterday on property 18.
No one is more amazed or more grateful than I am.

While I am pleased with my results in real estate investing, I cannot begin to explain how much my life has changed in more important ways as a result of the personal growth and development that I went through in order to reach my goals.

For me, achieving success in real estate investing is not about the money. It is about who do you want to become, how do you want to spend your time, how do you want to help others, and it is about embracing the freedom that comes with financial independence.

My personal success story is also about becoming a better person- one who is able to share my story with all of you, and one who will hopefully inspire anyone new to REIN.
If you are new to us, you have found the right place!
This group, under the integrity and the dynamic leadership of Don Campbell can transform your life too.
You only need to LEARN, COMMIT, and TAKE EDUCATED ACTION!
You are the only one in your way, and when you understand that- all the barriers come down!



oman-->I want to personally thank Don Campbell and the REIN team for helping me to realize my dreams.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
My personal Belize keeps changing as my portfolio grows, and my mind expands to the possibilities .....
and isn`t that a wonderful thing?



Sincerely,



Brenda

Edmonton Alberta

 

[Kimberly]

WOW! Congradulations. This is my first year at REIN and I`ve just purchased my 3rd property. Ironing out the bugs in each one, so I can take my learnings forward to the next ones. Awesome writeup. Thanks for the encouragement you`ve sent out for all to read.

Kimberly

 

[RebeccaBryan]

Brenda,

Awesome! That was very well written and I`m glad it`s in the public forum for all to enjoy.

 

[TheresaWhite]

Brenda - thanks for sharing your story. What a great inspiration to read. I`m a new member and when reading stories like yours, I truely believe it is possible to reach my goals. Thank you!

Theresa

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Brenda, thank you for sharing this your story!! The ability to be empowered and affect the lives of others is truly the best investment there is.

 

[RussellWestcott]

Outstanding story, thanks for sharing.

Loved seeing your picture at the last Quickstart of you Roller blading around Paris.

It is great to hear peoples stories of how they create their `Personal Belize`s`

Keep up the great work, and thanks for being an example of the possibilities

 

[jclacasse]

Congratulations Brenda


J.C.

 

[Brandon]

Hi Brenda, congrats on your success. But I have a question for you, how does one go about acquiring that many properties so quickly? What are the best strategies i.e. joint ventures, purchasing low/no money down.

I am approaching 10 properties now but am a little reluctant to keep refinancing to buy as soon it will put my portfolio into negative cashflow if I do. I would be interested in hearing your suggestions - thanks.

Brandon

 

[Kilarney]

QUOTE (Brandon @ Dec 9 2007, 07:53 PM) Hi Brenda, congrats on your success. But I have a question for you, how does one go about acquiring that many properties so quickly? What are the best strategies i.e. joint ventures, purchasing low/no money down.

I am approaching 10 properties now but am a little reluctant to keep refinancing to buy as soon it will put my portfolio into negative cashflow if I do. I would be interested in hearing your suggestions - thanks.

Brandon

Hi Brandon, Congratulations on your success!

For me, joint ventures have been essential. REIN shows you the way on how to successfully do joint ventures. Just follow the steps. Think of joint venture money as mutually beneficial. You are helping someone else make good real estate investments with your time and your knowledge. These could be people who might otherwise not have invested in the market. I have helped people realize some outstanding returns by using their money as leverage.They have helped me by providing some captial and in some cases the mortgage qualifying. So far, I`ve only needed to joint venture with people close to me. Everyone has these kinds of people in their circle of influence. Helping one person successfully will lead to helping the next person.

I was also fortunate enough to find two deals a week apart that were both mortgage assumptions. Realtors can help with those if they know you`re ready to take action when they come across an assumable that meets your criteria. Sometimes you will pay more for the property to assume a mortgage, but in these examples it made sense for me because of what the market was doing at the time. I just did the analysis that REIN taught me, and then I didn`t hesitate to take action if it made sense.

In addition, my stratgey has been to furnish some of the properties in order to get significantly higher rents. This has been helpful for the obvious reasons: better cash flow, and therefore better net incomes for your TDS ratios, and better appraisals for refinancing, and it can often make it easier to find a tenant.....
For instance, I recently helped my son rent out a condo simply by furnishing it. Unfurnished it was not getting any interest at the rent he needed to cover costs. After furnishing it and marketing it a little differently, it rented readily.
This strategy is not for everyone though. The tenant turnovers are more frequent and the management of furnished properties have some different challenges. There are also more costs up front. It is an option to consider with certain kinds of properties in certain locations however. You need to do some diligence to see if it will work in your circumstances.

Hope this helps!

Brenda