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Investment-Real-Estate

Do not get caught

The difference between speculation and Investing

Like clock work, every time the market cycle heats up, the opportunist in us comes out to play. 

The slow-and-steady-wins-the-race mentality gets abandoned as people chase the sexier, faster buck. 

Great people with admirable intentions to do right by their families look to “invest” some of the freshly minted equity in their home into something that has the potential to pay off big.

The right idea, but lately the conversation has begun to shift from solid, yet agreeably less sexy investments like single-family homes with suites, and duplexes, to this idea of “buying” three units in the latest pre sales condo development. 

The thinking is: I could spread out my $150,000 by putting deposits on three units and then in a year or two, when the market has climbed up another 10 per cent each of my $500,000 units are now worth $550,000. 

Since I only have a deposit of $50,000 with the developer, I have doubled my money on each unit just for sitting on them for a year. 

Is the above scenario possible? Sure. Is it a forgone conclusion? Absolutely not! There are countless other ways this can go, including losing all your investment. 

I use that word reluctantly because although the intention of the person was to invest their equity, what they were actually doing is speculating. 

Speculation means: Ideas or guesses about something that is not known.

The cruel teacher of experience has taught me that to win big in this real-estate game you must avoid guesswork at all costs. 

  • Forget about timing the market.
  • Forget about trying to predict where pricing is headed, and focus on the fundamentals. 
  • Focus on positive cash flow.
  • Focus on creating your own appreciation through value-adding renovations. 

I fell into the trap of speculating the last time the market was hot in 2006/2007.

I put $1.5 million worth of the hottest condo project under contract for $150,000 and had expectations of doubling my money at least. 

I wasn’t alone as I waited at the front of a 300 plus person line from 2 a.m. the night before the sales centre opened to the ravenous public.

I lost every penny of my six-figure investment when things went sideways in 2008. And that hurt like a you-know-what.

Contrast that with a duplex I bought around the same time in 2007, at the peak of things. 

I put a similar amount down on this property, $140,000. I bought this property because the cash–flow made sense. 

I wasn’t trying to guess what the market would do; I was investing my capital into a proven revenue stream. 

In this case, it made about $1,000 per month net. Between that, and the equity I was building each month through my mortgage being paid off by the tenant, the returns were actually pretty good (18 per cent) despite paying peak pricing for the duplex. 

Around the same time my $1.5 million in a half completed condominiums saw their values sliced by 20 per cent, my duplex value had plummeted to a mere 80 per cent of its former value as well. 

The difference between the two was that I wasn’t forced to sell my duplex at a loss, it cash flowed through the entire five-year market slump. 

My mortgage got paid down by nearly $50,000 and I had approximately $50,000 in cash flow paid to me during that time.  

Today, that duplex is worth about 10 per cent more than what I paid for it and the cash flow is about 20 per cent better than what it once was thanks to rents climbing at about three per cent per year. 

The $150,000 I dumped into the condos was an expensive lesson, but one I’m glad I learned as we go into this next boom cycle. 

As exciting and alluring as some of these shiny new projects seem as an investment, sinking that same money into a boring, old duplex or multi-family building will always be my choice. 

I know what I’m getting into. I know where I can add value, and I know that as long as it cash-flows, there’s no down turn in prices that will ever force me to take a loss. 

As an investor, I like control; I don’t like putting my fate in the hands of bankers, politicians or even public opinion. I like to see my returns on paper in black and white and I like to be able to influence my upside.  

My challenge is I also love the smell of opportunity and, if I’m honest ,I love the thrill of a good wager as well. 

Knowing this about myself, I have to work hard at finding the discipline to stay the course with my investments and follow the plan I’ve laid out, as unsexy and tortoise like as it may be. 

If you’re a boring old tortoise as well and want to see my hand-picked selection of painfully unglamorous cash flow properties with PDF analysis of each showing the predictable double-digit returns, click here and prepare to be underwhelmed.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

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About the Author

AJ is the owner of Kelowna’s downtown boutique firm, Vantage West Realty. The firm takes pride in breaking the mould when it comes to how they practice real estate. With a well-deserved reputation as a real estate renegade, Hazzi has been shaking up the Kelowna real estate scene since 2002.

Having been a student of real estate through two market cycles, AJ has come to see an absence of truly qualified professionals specializing in investment real estate. This has become AJ’s role within the firm and the community: To educate clients on how to achieve financial freedom through real estate.

Arming his clients with knowledge on where to find positive cash-flow, how to renovate for profit, and other creative avenues that most agents completely ignore, Hazzi has carved out his niche as a real estate investment advisor (REIA), and loves nothing more than educating people on the right strategy to capitalize on both boom and bust years.  AJ is a firm believer that the Kelowna market is rich with opportunity, if one knows where to look.

If you are in search of an advisor who practices what they preach, consider that AJ has built his own real estate portfolio up to include multi and single family cash-flow rental properties, development property, resort property, fix and flips, and commercial properties. By sharing the lessons learned from his own experiences, his clients get the knowledge and confidence to invest without having to make the expensive mistakes he and many new investors have made along the way.

His goal is to impart on people, especially of the X and Y generation, that depending on RRSPs and Government Pension Plans to look after us down the road is risky business. Most people don't realize that as little as one or two properties added to your real estate portfolio now, can secure a comfortable, even lavish, retirement.

Bringing a consultant's approach rather than the tired, old-fashioned sales approach, AJ and his partners offer a world class service from finding, pre analyzing, and negotiating your next acquisition, to property management, all tailored to today’s busy investor.

To hear what AJ Hazzi's clients have to say about his service view the testimonials.

Contact Information

For more details or to reach AJ Hazzi, please visit www.vantagewestrealty.com

Email [email protected] Cell 250.864.6433



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The views expressed are strictly those of the author and not necessarily those of Castanet. Castanet does not warrant the contents.

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