All Forum Posts by: James Ma

You can start talking to accountants before purchasing your property but not critical unless you're thinking of purchasing a property at a loss on purpose for tax reasons. Definitely start looking after you buy one so you can align on how they like their paperwork, if they have any templates etc. that will save them time as they tend to charge by the hour 

Since late 2017, long enough to go through a few hurdles including foreign property taxation, speculation tax, mortgage stress tests (canada) and COVID.

Investments are all doing well though :) 

Its not paycheques it's the mentality that results from upbringing and society. People will always say to play it safe, especially friends and family. Most people dont have an entrepreneurial mindset otherwise everyone would be their own boss and run their own companies. Many people just want to do a 9-5 and not worry about doing extra work or stress etc. and that's okay too if that makes them happy.

What bothers me more is the people who either naturally are weak minded or were raised that way and don't have any passion to succeed and are unhappy because they feel the world isn't giving them what they deserve. I'm watching the new show on netflix about the basketball kids in LA, Last chance U, and there's one kid who was supposed to be a superstar. He was doing great and on his way until he had a couple of injuries and he struggled to deal with that adversity and ended up getting into drugs. He's trying to make a comeback but ends up quitting in the middle of games when things aren't going his way etc. and he feels like he's the best and owed something by the world. The kid would probably be doing great if he had the work ethic and resiliency but one set back or slight against him and he gets super emotionally upset, wants to quit and give up.

I see a lot of that in the workplace nowadays too. Everyone wants to be rich and successful but after they get off work, it is straight to the couch and complaining about why they have to work 2 jobs to get ahead, or applying for jobs here and there but end up staying in the same old job cause they don't put themselves really out there to grind and network, or not doing enough to better themselves with more education on weekends or late nights. Or complaining they don't have enough to get started in real estate but then they're taking a vacation every year, buying a new iphone, and buying skip the dishes etc. instead of saving up and grinding. For them it is not about the long game and its a short term gratification; they dont have the discipline to control. With that mindset, its probably a good thing they didn't start their own business or there's a high chance it wouldn't do well.

Your friend is right, starting out you should be focused on building a good REI team. It's critical for any successful investor longterm.

Get a good realtor, mortgage contact, accountant, trades, property manager. You should understand the deal economics and analysis and be able to convey what you want to your realtor who will bring you properties that fit so you don't have to hunt as much on your own. It sounds like you're doing rehabs so find a good contractor who will work with you to provide estimates on a property so you can underwrite your deals.

As an investor, I feel like the main focus of our work is finding the deals and building the team. That means understanding the markets, economics, what "good" looks like and finding others aligned with your vision and can help you reach those goals. 

Also once you find a deal  - If the numbers work, then jump on it. Don't try to time the market

@Ryan Guffey You'll want to always track income and expense by property or you'll pay a lot more for your accountant's time as they will do that for you. 

I'll track any income and expenses that come up and allocate to the property via excel.

I usually invest the profits rather than keeping it inside a bank account, but I will keep a separate chequings account per property to deposit funds and pay HOA fees

You don't need 5 sources of income, as long as you have strong enough passive income generating streams its fine. Whether that is simply stocks and having $100K a year in dividends, $100K net rental income, $100K income from social media or a mix you can meet your retirement goals. Of course diversifying is highly recommended at least into 2 streams like real estate and stocks but you can still diversify well within one line of revenue stream (ie. buying properties in different states, countries etc.)

I thought the same and went for cashflowing buy and hold rentals. Simplest strategy as it involves less trades/contractor experience or connections and less dependency on rising market values but have been curious at trying BRRRR sometime but all my local renovation companies tend to be booked for months out so harder to coordinate

The other large downside of crypto at the moment is the large exponential growth in ransomware attacks. Blackmail and ransoms are on the rise as its very easy now to receive the money and have little repercussion from the law. Its not just large enterprises being hit but often the smaller mom and pop or medium business space as they often have less security measures in place to prevent phishing attacks and hacks

I used to be more bullish on crypto but as things have matured a bit, I don't think it has as much upside since I can't see it taking over mainstream transactions but can still be seen as a store of value like gold.

Without gov't backing and the difficulty of tracing transactions, can you imagine the target on rich people who hold large sums of crypto? No longer needed is the money bag drop for ransoms or blackmail and all you need is asking someone to transfer the crypto to a foreign account. 

I also look at gov't intervention stepping in eventually. Look at online poker and how the US shut it down since they didn't want large inflows and outflows of capital without regulation and visibility. 

I am more curious about other cryptos that utilize the blockchain for smart contracts and other applications though and their potential value.