New to Real Estate Investing

[gretmar]

Good day all,

I have bought and read Real Estate Investing in Canada 2.0 by Campbell. I found the book to be well written and full of useful information. Before jumping in feet first, I am trying to make sense of all the information I have read and I have a couple of obvious quick questions but I will start with the one that bugs me the most (I am a data and detail oriented person).

I found the tools presented in the book very clear but I was disappointed to see that they were not provided in a workable format such as a .XLS file. The .pdf format is great for printing but it does not allow users to utilize their data and get everything calculted for them easy... I figure all investors are using these tools but not in the .pdf formats. So what do you use and where did you get it? I am talking about the Property Goldmine Score Card, the Due Diligence Checklist, the REIN Property Analyzer Form, etc...

• Free Excel files that I have not found on the site?
• Free as a REIN membership benefits?REMA software (full version) purchase?

I will surely have other questions in the next few months... Thanks for your time.

Michel

 

[Dan_Eisenhauer]

Hi Michel;

To be blunt... membership has its privledges. All of that information is free in the members` section. I suppose you could convert all those pdf documents if you really want them. However, none of the documents you mention are .xls formatted in any case.

Here is the REMA website: http://www.remacanada.ca/

 

[ChrisDavies]

QUOTE (gretmar @ Apr 13 2009, 01:40 PM) Good day all,

I have bought and read Real Estate Investing in Canada 2.0 by Campbell. I found the book to be well written and full of useful information. Before jumping in feet first, I am trying to make sense of all the information I have read and I have a couple of obvious quick questions but I will start with the one that bugs me the most (I am a data and detail oriented person).

I found the tools presented in the book very clear but I was disappointed to see that they were not provided in a workable format such as a .XLS file. The .pdf format is great for printing but it does not allow users to utilize their data and get everything calculted for them easy... I figure all investors are using these tools but not in the .pdf formats. So what do you use and where did you get it? I am talking about the Property Goldmine Score Card, the Due Diligence Checklist, the REIN Property Analyzer Form, etc...

• Free Excel files that I have not found on the site?
• Free as a REIN membership benefits?REMA software (full version) purchase?

I will surely have other questions in the next few months... Thanks for your time.

Michel

Hi Michel,

To be honest for the first 4 months (as a member) I used hard copies, printed from the PDF. Raising Joint Venture money was a goal, and I wanted to know the numbers inside and out, so I did it the long way. When I want to do a cash flow analysis, I still tend to reach for the paper first. It`s only when doing more complex analysis do I turn to REMA or a more complex solution.

REMA is one option, and making your own Excel is another. There also might be a couple people here who would help you out, but truthfully, the tools to implement the ideas behind the PDF aren`t as important as the ideas.

 

[gretmar]

Thanks for the answers Dan & Chris.That is what I kind of expected... I am just more comfortable with electronic tools for calculations as it takes away some possibility of errors, especially when it will come to the Property Analyzer Form (my gut feeling anyways). The rest should be fine in the format it is now.

Dan :I acknowledge the benefits and privileges of membership. I just feel more comfortable doing ALL my homework before joining in with both feet. The day will come when I will become a member. I just want to get my ducks in line first.

Chris : I agree that the ideas come before the tools. Thanks for the suggestion of paper first and Rema if required.

Back to work. Thanks again to both you.

Michel

 

[Nir]

Michel,

After reading Don`s Great book I prepared an excel file I call property analysis.xls that I use ever since.

Preparing the file will also assure you you understood the book to an implementation level.

Enjoy,
Neil