- Joined
- Aug 31, 2007
- Messages
- 189
Hi All!
I hope 2008 is going well for everyone so far, and just wanted to share a little of our story - I haven`t been on this site as much as I should be! I hope a starting investor reads this and perhaps takes some encouragement from this story and takes action!
I moved to Fort St. John BC from a small town named Kemptville (near Ottawa!) when I was 17 years old, and began working drilling rigs. The lifestyle was not at all what I wanted, and even though I was making a lot of money, I never seemed to save any of it to put to good use. After a few wasted years doing this, my wife (then girlfriend!) decided to go to Calgary to attend school together to build a future. I was attending upgrading (Alberta wouldn`t recognize my grade 12 diploma from Ontario
) to take a degree course in business specializing in Real Estate. After my first semester, I was nearly finished upgrading, and was looking at another full four years of school.
My wife and I went looking for a different place to rent near Mount Royal College, and the guy who showed up to show us the place was young (maybe 25 or so) and it turned out he owned the property and a few others as well in the area - I didn`t know about REIN at the time, so I don`t know if he is part of this group or not. Although we did not rent from him, that young man really opened my eyes as he was doing exactly what I wanted to do, but thought I didn`t have the resources or knowledge to make happen.
To make a long story short, I had to make the tough decision to quit school and move back to Fort St. John so I could begin working again. However, this time I was determined to purchase Real Estate until our passive income was sufficient to allow me to begin a career as a Realtor! So, just after I got back in town, I began work as a Power Tong operator making very good money (for a 22 year old!). After a few months however, I felt that I had fallen back into the same routine as before - make a lot of money and spend it. Then I ran into a little book - "Real Estate Investing in Canada" and knew then and there that this was what I had been looking for. I immediately ordered the Quickstart binder and began delving into the information!! I had no idea at all about how financing worked, and I had always thought that was my biggest challenge. My fiancee and I were still living with her parents (in their small RV camper in their front yard
) and we desperately wanted a place to call our own.
With the information I learned in the program, I found a trailer that was going to go into foreclosure, and got a contract signed for $14,000. Now the problem was how was I going to get $14,000!?? Two weeks earlier, both my fiancee and I had been turned down for a small vehicle loan and a $500 visa as I had a lot of credit problems going back into my younger years. After utilizing the information in Quickstart, I put together a package and went in to see a Lady at RBC - and was turned down again for a mortgage. However, she saw that I was very serious and jumped through some hoops to lend me the $14,000 plus closing costs as a personal loan!! (She was the senior account manager at RBC at the time)
So, we bought the trailer (It was in ROUGH condition), moved in and cried the first night at the job we had ahead of us - I`m talking nasty!! We renovated the trailer and by that time next year it was one of the nicer trailers in the park! So, while we were content with our home, we had much bigger aspirations, and once again I began getting into Quickstart, and made the decision to go to Calgary and see an event live. I was so inspired with the people and the stories that I had heard, it made me feel that I actually could make my goals a reality. I joined REIN at that time, and met a fellow at that meeting that was going to prove crucial to my future success. So, I decided that when I got home, I was going to `put it on the line` and make a change.
So I decided to make another tough decision and follow through with my previous commitment. I quit my high paying job to work construction ($14/hr) at a new OSB mill they were building in FSJ. I did this purely in the hopes to land a job at the mill when it opened, as it was fairly high paying, was 5 minutes from my home and the way the shift worked, I got 7 days off every 2 weeks. To me, this was a perfect job to focus on purchasing Real Estate.
I ended up getting a job at the mill when it opened
and decided to go for it. So, my wife (got married over 2 yrs ago) and I began the hunt for investment properties. We ended up finding a wonderful duplex that we got a 5 month closing on. We got the property for $247K and the other half more than paid the mortgage! When we closed on the property, it was appraised at $385,000!!! This was a nearly 60% gain in half a year. Utilizing what was taught at REIN, I had borrowed the money to finance the down payment and closing costs so it was an absolutely $0 down deal. With this huge achivement behind us (we were totally overwhelmed at this!), we began looking for other properties, and have since purchased 11 rental suites in FSJ (all in the same neighbourhood within 5 blocks from each other) for absolutely none of our own money utilizing the JV partner I had met at my first REIN meeting.
In just less than a year, we went from 24 year olds who could not qualify for a $500 Visa, had absolutely no resources, had no one in our family that could bail us out if we got into trouble, to purchasing over $2.6 million worth of investment Real Estate that was providing us with a net cash flow of over $4,000 per month (our share after expenses). Our last property closed in August 2006 was a 10 unit Apartment building in Dawson Creek we bought for $218,000 that appraised at $285,000 before we even closed on it, and after renovation are completed at the end of this month will bring revenue of approx $6,500 per month (a 35.78% property!!) and should net us about $1,100 for our share of the cash flow. Although we are not yet asset millionaires, we are about half way there and are really looking to get buying property in `08! Also, my mother who followed me to FSJ two years ago fell into bankruptcy after a divorce and was living with us for 6 months. Helping her with what I learned at REIN, we were able to get her approved (on her own!!) for a mortgage on a property I got under contract for her - she paid $220,000 for a house with two legal suites (that generate $1,850 in rent) that is now worth about $340,000 (after a long 6 month closing)!! Helping her get back on her feet financially so fast, with her own home that more than pays for the mortgage and expenses was an absolutely wonderful feeling!!
Real Estate has provided freedom for us in the following ways -
1. My wife had our first baby - a beautiful girl Madelynn - August 28th 2006 and the passive income has allowed her to stay at home comfortably as long as she wants.
2. We have set up education savings plans for our daughter, and our two neices (all born in `06) to ensure that they will have many options in their life that we didn`t have
3. We adopted a couple children from World Vision and are very happy with the difference a little money makes in their lives.
4. We have committed to putting 25% of any future passive income going forward into one form of charity or another - to me this makes all the work worthwhile.
5. This passive income will also allow me to begin a career as a Realtor in 2008 - something that I`ve been scared to jump into without a guaranteed income to start, but have wanted to do since high school!
So, if you are just starting out, have nothing, know nothing, and think you still can`t do this - THINK AGAIN! REIN is full of members who have absolutely stunning success stories, and I am absolutely amazed at some of the challenges people have overcome to achieve huge success.
Thank you Don, Russell, my 1st JV partner Clint Stewart, and everyone else who posts these stories - it`s just more proof that the only barriers we have are the ones we give ourselves! Your information and systems and enthiusiasm have changed our lives in a profound way and I cannot thank you enough.
Best wishes to everyone in 2008!
Mitch and Miranda Collins
I hope 2008 is going well for everyone so far, and just wanted to share a little of our story - I haven`t been on this site as much as I should be! I hope a starting investor reads this and perhaps takes some encouragement from this story and takes action!
I moved to Fort St. John BC from a small town named Kemptville (near Ottawa!) when I was 17 years old, and began working drilling rigs. The lifestyle was not at all what I wanted, and even though I was making a lot of money, I never seemed to save any of it to put to good use. After a few wasted years doing this, my wife (then girlfriend!) decided to go to Calgary to attend school together to build a future. I was attending upgrading (Alberta wouldn`t recognize my grade 12 diploma from Ontario
My wife and I went looking for a different place to rent near Mount Royal College, and the guy who showed up to show us the place was young (maybe 25 or so) and it turned out he owned the property and a few others as well in the area - I didn`t know about REIN at the time, so I don`t know if he is part of this group or not. Although we did not rent from him, that young man really opened my eyes as he was doing exactly what I wanted to do, but thought I didn`t have the resources or knowledge to make happen.
To make a long story short, I had to make the tough decision to quit school and move back to Fort St. John so I could begin working again. However, this time I was determined to purchase Real Estate until our passive income was sufficient to allow me to begin a career as a Realtor! So, just after I got back in town, I began work as a Power Tong operator making very good money (for a 22 year old!). After a few months however, I felt that I had fallen back into the same routine as before - make a lot of money and spend it. Then I ran into a little book - "Real Estate Investing in Canada" and knew then and there that this was what I had been looking for. I immediately ordered the Quickstart binder and began delving into the information!! I had no idea at all about how financing worked, and I had always thought that was my biggest challenge. My fiancee and I were still living with her parents (in their small RV camper in their front yard
With the information I learned in the program, I found a trailer that was going to go into foreclosure, and got a contract signed for $14,000. Now the problem was how was I going to get $14,000!?? Two weeks earlier, both my fiancee and I had been turned down for a small vehicle loan and a $500 visa as I had a lot of credit problems going back into my younger years. After utilizing the information in Quickstart, I put together a package and went in to see a Lady at RBC - and was turned down again for a mortgage. However, she saw that I was very serious and jumped through some hoops to lend me the $14,000 plus closing costs as a personal loan!! (She was the senior account manager at RBC at the time)
So, we bought the trailer (It was in ROUGH condition), moved in and cried the first night at the job we had ahead of us - I`m talking nasty!! We renovated the trailer and by that time next year it was one of the nicer trailers in the park! So, while we were content with our home, we had much bigger aspirations, and once again I began getting into Quickstart, and made the decision to go to Calgary and see an event live. I was so inspired with the people and the stories that I had heard, it made me feel that I actually could make my goals a reality. I joined REIN at that time, and met a fellow at that meeting that was going to prove crucial to my future success. So, I decided that when I got home, I was going to `put it on the line` and make a change.
So I decided to make another tough decision and follow through with my previous commitment. I quit my high paying job to work construction ($14/hr) at a new OSB mill they were building in FSJ. I did this purely in the hopes to land a job at the mill when it opened, as it was fairly high paying, was 5 minutes from my home and the way the shift worked, I got 7 days off every 2 weeks. To me, this was a perfect job to focus on purchasing Real Estate.
I ended up getting a job at the mill when it opened
In just less than a year, we went from 24 year olds who could not qualify for a $500 Visa, had absolutely no resources, had no one in our family that could bail us out if we got into trouble, to purchasing over $2.6 million worth of investment Real Estate that was providing us with a net cash flow of over $4,000 per month (our share after expenses). Our last property closed in August 2006 was a 10 unit Apartment building in Dawson Creek we bought for $218,000 that appraised at $285,000 before we even closed on it, and after renovation are completed at the end of this month will bring revenue of approx $6,500 per month (a 35.78% property!!) and should net us about $1,100 for our share of the cash flow. Although we are not yet asset millionaires, we are about half way there and are really looking to get buying property in `08! Also, my mother who followed me to FSJ two years ago fell into bankruptcy after a divorce and was living with us for 6 months. Helping her with what I learned at REIN, we were able to get her approved (on her own!!) for a mortgage on a property I got under contract for her - she paid $220,000 for a house with two legal suites (that generate $1,850 in rent) that is now worth about $340,000 (after a long 6 month closing)!! Helping her get back on her feet financially so fast, with her own home that more than pays for the mortgage and expenses was an absolutely wonderful feeling!!
Real Estate has provided freedom for us in the following ways -
1. My wife had our first baby - a beautiful girl Madelynn - August 28th 2006 and the passive income has allowed her to stay at home comfortably as long as she wants.
2. We have set up education savings plans for our daughter, and our two neices (all born in `06) to ensure that they will have many options in their life that we didn`t have
3. We adopted a couple children from World Vision and are very happy with the difference a little money makes in their lives.
4. We have committed to putting 25% of any future passive income going forward into one form of charity or another - to me this makes all the work worthwhile.
5. This passive income will also allow me to begin a career as a Realtor in 2008 - something that I`ve been scared to jump into without a guaranteed income to start, but have wanted to do since high school!
So, if you are just starting out, have nothing, know nothing, and think you still can`t do this - THINK AGAIN! REIN is full of members who have absolutely stunning success stories, and I am absolutely amazed at some of the challenges people have overcome to achieve huge success.
Thank you Don, Russell, my 1st JV partner Clint Stewart, and everyone else who posts these stories - it`s just more proof that the only barriers we have are the ones we give ourselves! Your information and systems and enthiusiasm have changed our lives in a profound way and I cannot thank you enough.
Best wishes to everyone in 2008!
Mitch and Miranda Collins
