|
This is going to be another long post so grab some popcorn. This is pretty much my story on my experience in real estate investing.
One thing I've learned is to only do commercial real estate. In the beginning this was not an option as I didn't have much money. Now that I have a lot more cash and a high net worth, I will only do commercial real estate. I will never do residential for the rest of my life.
If I knew what I know now, I would have never done residential but as I mentioned, you need a lot of cash in order to get involved in it (unless you pick little shitty places but then you're right back where you started with the residential problems).
There is so much bullshit to deal with in residential real estate. I got into it because I thought it would be easy money. The idea is simple. Someone pays the rent which covers your mortgage and the capital appreciation makes me rich in the future. This has been the big Vancouver dream over the last decade. While the benefits are mostly true, the road to getting there is a lot of work. This work was not something I was ready for.
What I thought would be my ticket to financial freedom was my ticket to many problems and headaches.
When Jay Z had that song 99 problems my friends said it was about me because I had 99 problems and a bitch wasn't one, they were all related to my investment and rental properties.
I needed to fix a leaky washer that ended up fucking up the unit below (wood building). Hours on the phone with insurance company plus dealing with people below that wanted to know why there was a puddle in their living room.
The rent isn't paid on time so I come there and scare them into paying up. Next month they take off and fuck up the whole inside of the unit. You think damage deposit will cover the mess? Yeah right.
You're probably thinking, yeah you didn't know how to get a good quality tenant. That's the thing, I knew exactly what I was doing with renters.
One was a school teacher, another one a nurse. Another was a family with two working parents and a kid. Another was an accountant etc. These were just some of the dirty bitches who didn't pay the rent, broke shit and needed me to come over to fix the dumbest things such as a screen door that came off the tracks.
People who think being a landlord is some kind of holiday where the money rolls in is on more crack then the last tenant I had (who was another teacher I might add).
It's hard work and if you want to make a lot of money you will put in twice as much time as a normal job.
I remember I was just about ready to sit down and enjoy a nice dinner when the phone rings. Hot water tank exploded in a house of mine. I look at my gf and say, I have to go. I ended up grabbing a burger on the way there.
Needless to say, as time went on, my gf is now my ex gf. If you want to be good at investing and real estate you have to put it first and it's not easy at all.
I've learned my lesson with managing my properties. Lucky for me, I have managed to sell off most of my holdings and thank goodness because I don't know if I could take it any more.
Commercial real estate from here on in.
|