Real estate investing saved my family and it can save yours

Investors can approach real estate investing through various creative ways

My family lived in rented houses whilst both my parents worked the longest hours possible to make ends meet. I remember they worked shifts and on some days (usually not more than once a week) they spent some time with us.

I grew up thinking that was normal and that for families to live a good life the parents had to literally live at work. Not once did I hear them talk about anything other than how we should put our head down and study hard so that we can get a good job and make a decent salary.

When my father did get around to building his own house, it was a tedious and uphill battle between himself, contractors, masons, etc. He was very conscious of any of them mismanaging any of the resources devoted to the project. However, about 9 months down the lane, he finished the house and we could move in; which we did and life seemed better. In spite of completing the house, my dad still worked long hours to keep up the upgraded lifestyle that living in such a house required.

He did his best and quite well too. But about 12 years later when he died, he had no will, no estate, and my siblings and I were too young to keep up with the expenses on our own. The house became empty and deserted because we all needed to get ahead and earn a living.

Today, that house is currently rented out, not necessarily making profits for us but at least keeping the house open and standing.

Discussions have been broached to sell it off, but even that is proving difficult because though the house is built to high-quality standards; it is outdated and not economically viable.

“I don’t understand why people think and believe that owning property is a wealth-building strategy but it is definitely not one I am going to adopt for myself or future generations,” said Tolulope.

Tolulope is a now 40+-year-old woman. Though married and with kids, she has refused to get involved in any joint investment related to properties that her husband has wanted to initiate. Tolulope’s husband had to invest outside of their joint finances and he focused on the income-generating property only as his goal wasn’t to acquire properties in a portfolio but to enjoy the benefits that real estate investing can offer – without offending his wife or infringing on her preferences.

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And because he never could afford to invest in real estate all by himself, he had to do so via cooperative initiatives where he doesn’t own the asset but owns fractional shares/units and is earning income as dividends on a bi-yearly basis that are currently being reinvested for their kids future on an ongoing basis.

During the pandemic, he lost his permanent job, and in the time that he was searching for a replacement job (which took a few months, he had to rely on his investments to include one of the interest payments that matured during the time.

He has since gotten a job and now come clean to Tolulope about the investments that yielded the income he relied upon. In doing this, here are some of the learning points that he shared with Tolulope as to how, why and for what reasons he chose to invest in real estate.

1. He opted for fractional shares of real estate projects offering multi-family homes that gave him the flexibility to earn income from their rental use. He specifically chose them with the view of balancing both yearly and short-stay rentals to ensure he could earn yearly, bi-yearly and quarterly
2. His choices always included lifestyle services in both developed and fixed income areas – they were always in demand for tenants
3. To ensure that the buy-in value was below the market price, he invested in off-plan properties that had 6 – 12 month construction timelines and were with developers who had confirmed track records.
4. He consistently raised the money for his investment choices by sacrificing some items that would have normally been expensed and he took on virtual jobs that leveraged his expertise and paid per job.

In summary, he concluded that though he found it very tough to get started, things got better after he had committed to the plan and made the first payment.

Are you looking for investments that yield cash flow consistently?

Have you been contemplating getting started in real estate?

Here is hoping that you can understand the perks, benefits and realistic ways in which you can and should start investing in real estate even when you are working a 9-5 or a business.

Do you have either a similar experience or questions to ask?
Share them in the comments or send me an email at leratoconsults@gmail.com

For more insights on real estate investing, get Lerato’s e-book here

Happy Children’s Day!!!