Well, either I’m completely nuts or I just made another smart move? I bought another 2 bedroom condo  (this one is closer to home) in Burnaby near the Lougheed Mall area.  Rent for this 2 bedroom should be between $1300 - $1400, and I bought it for $185,000. Personally I follow what Ozzie Jurock preach which is the 0.75% rule. Your rent should be 0.75% of the purchase price. If you do the math 0.75% of $185,000 is $1,385.00.  If I get rent of $1300 - $1400, then I am following the rule.

What the hell does the 0.75% do?

If you can get rent of 0.75% of the purchase price then the rent will be able to cover all costs, such as taxes, strata fee and monthly mortgage. So you put your down payment and the renters will over time pay your condo in full, all you do is put down the down payment of 25% and the rent does the rest. Once again 0.75% of $185,000 is $1,385.00. Get rent of $1,385.00 or better and your investment covers itself nicely.

This my friends is how to build a real estate portfolio the RIGHT WAY. I don’t care if the real estate market goes down or up because my rents will cover all my expenses, through good and bad economic situations. As long as I can find renters then I am safe. This is a bullet proof way of retiring early, nevermind the B.S stock market. And f*ck RRSPS, just another scam if you ask me.

I lost $5,000 in the dot com stock crash back in 2000 and I learned my lesson for good. I will ALWAYS stick with real estate. Being a landlord might sound boring but it will make you wealthy in the long run, and it’s the safest investment as long as you have a clue what you are doing. It’s not that hard, all you need is a good realtor and they will do all the work for you. This condo gets me 1 step closer of my goal of having $20,000 in rental income per month.

And if you’re one of those people who thinka that renters will ruin your house and burn it to the ground it can happen. But don’t come crying to me when you’re 64 years old and still working for the man. Nothing in life is a cake walk, but realistically this is probably the quickest and safest way to get to financial freedom. Everyone needs a place to live and they always will.  Don’t tell me about the economic depression either, blah, blah, blah.  If you believe every word of the news then you’re the BIGGEST SUCKER out there………………

Get off your ass and make your life what you want it to be!

Anyways I am tired this evening, my daughter kept me up in the wee hours of the morning. It’s time to go relax and take a bath. Let the stress wash itself away.

C.V

Craigslist does it’s magic once again and gives me a great tenant. 3 different people came out to look at it and I ended up choosing a young family with little girls. I called their references and everything seems fine. It’s better to judge people in person because they can use anyone as a reference. So far my personal judgement of tenants has been good, and I have had few problems overall.

When I first started with rental properties I used to advertise in the Vancouver Sun, this was before Craigslist existed. The Vancouver Sun is a dinosaur like all newspaper classifieds. The Vancouver Sun was expensive and lame, now I advertise for 100% online. Craiglist is the best way to get tenants hands down. I placed over 30 images in my Craigslist rental ad (the ones from this site), so the tenant knows EXACTLY what the place will look like even before they call me. What I did before Craigslist I don’t know, wasted lots of money I guess.

And there you go, bought a condo and rented it all in under 7 days, you have to love the Internet once again. Now onward and upward to the next investment property.  I hate moving slowly, once I find something I like then I move like lightning to get it done. If you waste to much time analysing, then opportunities will pass you by. You make a decision and stick with it, simple.

Today is inspection day. I hired an inspector (something every home buyer should do) to do a inspection of the condo. I don’t want any surprises after I own the place, so I do my home work before hand.  It costs about $400 but it’s worth just for peace of mind. I already went through the strata minutes and everything seems fine but it’s better to be 100% safe than sorry.

I also placed the ad on Craigslist and have rental showings today and tomorrow. I like to move fast and get it rented ASAP, so then I have one less thought on my mind. By Monday everything should be done and then we just sit and wait for the closing date when I get the keys. From there it’s off to the next one, bada boom!

The reasons I am liking condos more is a few reasons:

1. I don’t have to worry about the exterior of the building (painting, cutting grass, landscape, draining, gutters, etc…)
2. The prices of houses is too much now for them to be able to cover any type of mortgage you have.
3. I plan on having at least another 10 rental properties and if they are all houses it’s WAY more work than owning 10 condos. I want my rental income to come easy not hard.

I really want to get things moving for me in my real estate portfolio, so I plan on probably putting a low ball offer on another 2 bedroom condo in Burnaby for $170,000 (asking price is $208,000). It’s not as nice as this penthouse loft however it is still updated nicely with laminate flooring and modern colored walls.  Low ball offers are usually rejected but some people are very motivated to sell and sometimes they will take your offer even if its way below asking prices ($208,000).

Well…. We Got it! There was a bit of a bidding war and we actually had to pay $200,500 and the asking price was $200,000. We own a 2 bedroom loft  penthouse suite in Port Coquitlam now! We ended up paying $2,500 over asking price but it’s a great deal. Considering people are selling 1 bedroom units in the exact same building for $200,000. Our 2 bedroom should have been sold for around $220,000. Overall I am happy with the purchase, now we need to get it rented!

I put it on Craigslist last night, asking $1600 for rent. I got 1 email so far, I reposted the ad this morning so my ad can appear at the top of the list.  I have to get the place inspected as well, but it should all be fine. We went through the condo “minutes” (a log of all meetings of the strata council), to see if they discussed any problems with the building at strata council meetings. The minutes were fine, nothing wrong with the building (no leaky condo problems especially).

One thing I found out that was interesting, is that since this a penthouse suite, we can actually build a bedroom where the outdoor patio area is located (see pics in my last post). I have NO intention to build another bedroom, way too much work however it’s good to know that it is allowed for.

A couple things I plan on doing to the loft:

• install laminate flooring where the carpet is now (carpet is a bit rough)
• paint the walls with some light modern colors

The better shape your rental unit is in, the better type of renters you will attract. If you place looks like hell you will be in for hell from your tenants. A good rule of thumb is to decorate as you would your own home, treat it as if you were going to move in.

I already told my realtor to be on the lookout for another 2 bedroom but there is nothing else out there compared to what we just bought. I mentioned looking into Surrey for condos (they are cheaper there), however she said that the quality of tenants are worse in Surrey, hmm. We will see, I have this on my plate for now. Next month is Christmas, we will see if we find something before Christmas. Anyways that’s all to report for now.

I put the offer on the 2 bedroom condo in Port Coquitlam. Unfortunately there is another person interested in it as well, so now we have to sit and wait  for the vendor to decide which offer he likes better.  This is a 2 bedroom loft/ penthouse suite for $199,000. Over 1000 square feet with a sweet  patio up top that is awesome. I really love this place and I would have no problem moving in myself (If I was single). The loft has amazing vaulted cathedral ceilings that gives you a really open feeling.  Anyways I took a bunch of photos so if/when  we get the place I can list it on Craigslist right away for renting. It should rent for $1500 - $1600. You can see the photos of the condo below, looks pretty sweet right?