You and I just recently met at the REIN Multi-Family Investing Boot-Camp. After seeing the materials, presentations, and most importantly the people that were at this conference, I have to say I’m quite impressed. I’ve been to a number of real estate, investing and stock market seminars and none have quite come close to providing this amount of detailed information.

The reason I’m following up with you is simple – we met, and I’d like to keep the contact fresh. I’m a Winnipeg Investor and am staying very focused on Winnipeg. Most of you that I spoke with seem to have an acute interest in Winnipeg, and I can’t say I blame you. The properties are extremely cheap, which makes breaking into the game that much easier. Even with the rent controls as they are, there are some gems out there where the ratios just work, and really make you give your head a shake.

If you have even a slight interest in investing in Winnipeg, I urge you to stay subscribed to this blog. Over the winter my plans are very simple – optimize and automate my existing properties, and analyze as many new ones as I can find. When April hits, I have made plans to hit the ground running, and will be buying more properties with a vengeance.  Read more... (409 words, 1 image, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

This is part 2 of my short series on “What’s the ROI?”.  The series is written in 4 parts, Analyzing Cashflow, Principal Reduction, Appreciation, and finally the ROI Calculation. If you have not already read part 1, I suggest doing so.

Principal Reduction is one of the most commonly overlooked areas of profit, though arguably it is just as important as cashflow or appreciation.  Principal Reduction comes from the portion of your mortgage payments that is not eaten up by interest.  For the first few years this will only make up a small portion of your payments.  As you pay down the mortgage, the principal of the mortgage shrinks.  What is left is called Equity.  This is something that adds to your overall net worth, and should be used in any calculations of the same (including loan applications and such).

The biggest difference between the equity you gain from Principal Reduction, and Cashflow, is that equity is a lot more difficult to either spend or leverage.  Most usually only benefit from their equity when selling a property, and using it to ‘trade up’.  You’ve probably done this yourself, when you moved into a bigger house.  There are some ways that one can leverage this equity without selling, though we will leave those for another time.  Read more... (421 words, 1 image, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

A lot of people have asked me the question: “How do I know when I’ve found a good deal?”

Usually they aren’t 100% sure they trust their Real Estate agent, or they aren’t using one.  In either situation, probably the best advice for most people would be to either get an agent, or a new agent.  That’s not who I am talking to today.  Today I’m speaking to the people who are genuinely interested in being more self reliant, and expanding their context.

The first rule: Information is Power.

I don’t think I have to back that up with any empirical evidence, no one will argue that point.  The real question is, what information?  And how do I gather it?  These are the questions that need to be answered.  In order to make good deals happen, you need to be confident in your position.  You need to know, better than your opposition what a particular property is worth to the market, the seller, and even the agents involved.

What information is needed?  Read more... (657 words, 1 image, estimated 2:38 mins reading time)

We are committed to bringing affordable, real, investments to the average Canadian investor. We are not currently offering investments to the public, but expect to do so by 2012.

We own and operate 8 properties with 32 doors in Winnipeg, MB, Canada. While we prepare for public investments, our Real Investors will be writing about their experiences with the properties to better prepare you for Real Estate Investing. Our goal is to educate in order to create confidence. We will provide you the tools necessary to properly evaluate any Real Estate Investments.

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