education — Phoenix Real Estate

Top 5 Renovations to get you top dollar for your home

June 12, 2021 by admin

When renovating a home to sell when you are the owner-user getting it ready for sale can be a confusing process. This is in part due to so many “gurus” online and TV shows that show a very distorted view of how the value is really derived for the larges population of buyers in any market, at any part of the real estate cycle.

Common mistakes are to change things that will not really affect the re-sale value of the home compared to the cost of those changes/improvements.

Here are the top 5 picks for dollar in to dollars back OUT which is the most important metric that matters!Paint – modern and neutral colors or even white/off-white shades can work amazingly well to make a smaller space seem larger. This item can get you 1-1+ dollars back in value. This really changes the feel of a home that helps the property show in its best light

1. Paint – modern and neutral colors or even white/off-white shades can work amazingly well to make a smaller space seem larger. This item can get you 1-1+ dollars back in value. This really changes the feel of a home that helps the property show in its best light

2. Kitchens – updating an older dated or less functional kitchen will make a huge impact on the re-sale of the home bringing a modern feel and often adding new cupboards/drawers or a pantry will add a lot of value for the investment. This will be a more expensive change, but the time that we spend in the kitchen is huge and having this entertaining and meal-prepping area present the wow factor will help a home sell faster every time

3. Bathrooms – we spend a lot of time in the bathroom and just like a hotel having white towels so that it feels clean, fresh, comfortable having updated flooring, vanities, fixtures, dual-flush water saving toilets will help a home sell faster and for more money. Smaller investment than kitchens, huge impact for the whole family. Ninja trick – add his/hers sinks this will help avoid domestic arguments between kids and parents alike!

4. Flooring – having scratched, stained, old – looking flooring will really drag the price down for the property. Buyer’s know that this can be an expensive change (however done right it does not have to be) and they often don’t want to do it themselves because it is a hassle to have all the floor disrupted while living in a home, trust me I have been there – no fun at all! This change will add a lot of value, hard floors such as vinyl plank are very popular due to the lack of maintenance and durability. Hard wood is still popular in higher end homes – look at the area trends to see if that is the right fit for updated homes in the area.

5. Fixtures – I do not just mean light fixtures! Lighting, door knobs, drawer pulls, hinges, switch covers/outlet covers. Having brass door knobs and art-deco knobs on all the cabinets do create a vintage/dated feel for a home and changing all these elements can be very cost effective, yet have a large impact on the overall feel of a home.

If you have any questions on this or any other real estate topics, contact our team today, all things real estate we are here to help!

To your success,

Tim Reid

-respect the hustle

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: education, Investing, wealth, yyc

Timing and Motivation Client Immutable laws

April 4, 2021 by admin

Today I had what I would expect is a common challenge most business owners in real estate fact often, that challenge was the matter of timing. We have all heard the phrase “timing is everything” and I would agree that timing is the most important business force surmounting any other.

The client that I had a booked meeting with, albeit several days ago by the team – which in today’s faced paced real estate market might as well have been a lifetime ago …. had already bought a house. Now, this could result in frustration, anger, resentment, or many other colorful emotions and expletive language to go along with it! (the mental battle was touch and go for a few minutes there)

A better tactic is to ask yourself “self…what am I meant to LEARN from this experience?” Which was what I did to analyze the chain of events that lead to the outcome I didn’t want because if you constantly focus on what you don’t want you tend to get more of that.

Looking back through the booking process, sending the calendar invite (not accepted but that’s common), sending the zoom invite, text message the invite to be sure they got it, then as is my custom – the phone call 15-30 minutes beforehand to confirm they have it all and will by by the computer and not driving or walking the dog so I can garner their full attention to the meeting. I did not see many improvements that could be made in the system, other than calling the day before on a holiday weekend to ensure the meeting time still works.

Then I thought a bit harder, and I was reminded of the fundamental truths of sales: it could have just been the timing or motivation of the prospect. In this case the motivation was there clearly – just not the timing of our sales presentation. That is something that no salesperson or staff member can change. If someone does not have the problem your product solves or they have said problem and are unmotivated to solve it, you could have the cure for cancer and they will not pay attention let alone pay for that product or service!

Whether your business is in real estate investing, rocket ship repair, forestry, or IT timing and motivation is something you need to explore/ nail down/work within or you will have a real task on your hands wasting cycles attempting to convert those who are not in the end of the buying journey.

Thinking of investing in real estate in Calgary or other markets in Canada? Contact our team to book a discovery call to find out how building wealth for 3 generations could be easier than you think.

To your success,

Tim Reid

-Respect The Hustle

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: business, education, Investing, Realestate, realtor, wealth, yyc

Credit Repair Mysteries – how do I fix my credit?

October 29, 2020 by admin

Credit is a mystery for most people that are not in banking or finance. For most people, if they have a good job and never defaulted on a credit card bill (the bane of many a millennial that didn’t know better and said screw telus/rogers/bell when they were 14 and then find out that really screwed up their credit when it was brand new) then you would have been able to get credit cards, car loans without too much trouble.

Then when you first think about buying a house you go into your bank (not my recommendation) and the cheerful banker asks you to sign some forms and fill in an application then plugs a bunch of numbers into a database tool and it spits out a number you can qualify for. That number was shockingly low for most people that are middle class, just like I was a bit shocked with I first tried to buy a property for myself – about 180K was my approval….which at that time in Calgary could have bought me a beautiful single story outhouse in a bad part of town!

So it was at that time I decide to buy a nice car because a house was out of the question, and after all I couldn’t drive the house to work…so that made sense to me at the time. Looking back is always easier than looking forward, was the the best financial choice? Maybe, maybe not – but as luck would have it that was just prior to the top of the market in the 2005-2007 era right before the crash. So, sometimes things work out even when we don’t have all the info to make the informed decision.

Now, some people might get a different answer from the banker’s little software – congrats you can afford 400K! If only your credit score didn’t suck and it is below their allowable guideline (typically 650+ for the “big 5” in Canada). At this point is where most people learn for the first time that your credit score is a big deal – unfortunate timing when you have a lease ending and you want to go house shopping!

The banker will know very little about credit and possibly give you some terrible device – so beware banks are not in the business of credit scores they are in the business of banking! Talk to a specialist or an amazing mortgage broker who knows about credit repair.

What to do? There are also many credit counseling advisors out there, which can give you good habits to follow. What we suggest is that you talk to a credit repair specialist that knows real estate and how to fix credit fast – because who wants to wait another 2-3 years? That will help expedite the process, contact us and we can recommend rock stars in this field.

Credit matters – why they don’t teach this somewhere in schools is unfortunate. We are here to help, also dispel myths about home buying such as: if you go bankrupt you can’t buy a house for 7 years. That is total BS and if that’s you give us a call because we have options. Home ownership could be closer than you think.

To your success,

Tim Reid

-Respect The Hustle

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: calgary, Coaching, education, Realestate, wealth

Delegation Will Set you Free

July 23, 2020 by admin

4 people's hands in fists coming together, signifying teamwork and delegation

When we start off any business, real estate being no exception to the rules of course, we have to wear all the “hats”. These are things that the 9-5er may not have ever even thought about before such as:

Accounting/book keeping (they are NOT the same thing)
Sales
Marketing
Deal Analyiss
Underwriting
Negotiating
Business Credit
Corporate Financing
Total Cost of borrowing
Mangement
HR
Operations
Creating Systems (critical)
Time Management
Social Media
Traditional Media
Branding
Legal
Building your power team

Seems overwhelming right? Well, that is OK because you do NOT have to go it alone. Even though you may not have the budget for full time staffing in many if not all of these areas in the beginning, you can outsource almost everything these days. I would suggest that even IF you did have the budget to hire a bunch of full time staff that it would be an ineffective allocation of resources.

Why? Primarily because you are learning what you are great at in the list of skills above, and what your time will be worth to your new business (or even existing) – and this is VERY important to know before you decide where to delegate/outsource/hire any role in your new empire.

Rome was not built in a day, as they say – great companies aren’t either, it takes some time to build them up and add head-count. I have seen countless businesses start and fail because they added a bunch of staff before they were ready and it killed their cash flow (employees are expensive) especially when compared to contractors. You can even rent board members, advisors, even a CEO for a few days per month to give the guidance you need for a fraction of the costs.

Now, when you are clear on what you love to do and really hate to do in your business (such as accounting/book keeping for example) then you can decide what to delegate, when, and to whom.

The whole reason we start a business is to have freedom, have fun, and provide value to the market place in a way that is fulfilling. How the heck can you do that if you despise a bunch of tasks you have to undertake every day? Simple: you CAN’T.

With that in mind, budget and map out on the calendar when you want to outsource making it a goal – having X increase in stabilized revenue then we can hire Y which will free up Z amount of hours for your the Entrepreneur to spend more time working ON the business and not IN it.

To your Success,

Tim Reid

-Respect The Hustle

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: alberta, business, calgary, education, Investing, Realestate

Avoid Bank Penalties with Blended Mortgages

June 19, 2020 by admin

When real estate investors start out, normally they use their own resources: credit, down payment, bank financing. This is the common way we all get started in real estate investing, however without having knowledge of creative financing structures the penalties can bite into your profits big time!

Whether you plan to flip, RTO, or renovate and refinance the property how your mortgage is set up is key to maximizing your profits. The bank’s and most mortgage brokers will never tell you anything about how to use blended mortgages – why? Because it isn’t in their interest to help you pay less interest and reduce fees, that is how they make their money!

A blended mortgage is defined as using 2 or more different mortgage products to fund your deals. There are private mortgage and financing options that are available, further, a variable VS fixed-rate mortgage is important. LOC’s do not have penalties when paid out early, and fixed-rate/variable-rate mortgages have pre-payment penalties in almost all cases.

Some mortgages will allow you to blend/extend the mortgage and use it to purchase another property. However, this can be problematic because of the price difference between properties 1 and 2.

When you plan to refinance/sell the house in the short term, then finding creative ways to minimize that penalty is a wise thing to do. Using blended mortgages+private money to structure the deal is one of the things we specialize in at the phoenix group.

Example: a 300K property you could get a LOC for 65% of the value 195,000 and a fixed-rate mortgage for 15% (total LTV 80%) 45,000 to fund your project. Now, you have a penalty to pay on the fixed Mortgage of only 45K rather than the full 300k! This is one of the things the bank will never tell you, however with the right guidance they can be sold on these structures easily and effectively.

Stay tuned for more insider secrets like these.

PS: If you want to learn how this strategy and others work Contact Us to book a discovery call to have a chat on how we can serve and support your real estate pathway to wealth.

To your success,

Tim Reid

-Respect The Hustle

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: calgary, Coaching, education, Investing, Realestate, realestateprofits, wealth