Went to an
amazing seminar last night at the Sheraton Centre (Hotel), by Dr.
Dolf de Roos on the topic of real estate investing. I heard about him from my overall reading this past year and then later saw him listed in the learning annex so I decided to register to hear this real estate millionaire share some how-to's. Very funny, dynamic guy, also very youthful...if you ignore his grey hair and stand back a bit and just listen to him speak - lots of energy ! He shared his experiences, did some surprising/enlightning demonstrations that proved/revealed our inner attitudes, assumptions about money and investing - part of one demonstration involved one bold audience member walking away with a $100 bill (canadian), so these were fun to experience..
Being aware of these attitudes was important, he noticed that after he made lots of money in real estate and decided to go share this/teach others, he was puzzled as to why only a small percentage of those who attended his seminars actually went out to make money , and then eventually realized attitudes/assumptions were the problem not the how-to so he changed his seminar format.
He went on and talked about lots.. about how if you he came across a property that lacked a garage he'd see that as a good thing because he after buying he could put in a garage and the value went up by such and such thousand dollars amount.. there were so many ways of raising property value (he even wrote a book listing 101 ways to increase property value, simple things like changing the mailbox) ... , stuff about how to use depreciation for tax credits, stuff about commercial property how he rented a funeral pyre, stuff about about how you should actually be offering the bank to give you the mortgate instead of approaching as the "please-please give me a mortgage, perhaps/maybe?" type begging the bank, it should be the bank begging you..tips on that.. , about how after the first, second or third property that you personally manage you should then be able to know what to ask when interviewing to hire a property manager, tips like a peep into your prospective tenant's car should give a clue as to how well they will take care of your house.. .. lots of stuff to digest, to apply one day ...
There were lots off people at this seminar, around 400 (2 columns of seats down the length of the room, 20 rows per column, 10 seats each, and packed). It was a multicultural (typical of Toronto perhaps?0 audience, mostly people who look like they are in their 30's but I also saw families, people who brought their eldest son/daughter or old parents.. Also saw Dexter, he runs a business renting records to DJ's, I met him a few weeks earlier at my first game of
Cashflow 101 that I helped arrange ( a very fun/financially educational board game). I didnt get his email tho, must learn to do so next time =)
Overall the seminar was fun very educational and i hope the
hosting organization will introduce a student discount someday because this seminar cost about ~ $60/ticket. but it was well spent.
As I came home with the TV turned on to
Guys Night In , I remember Dolf de Roos saying:
"If you watch TV,
throw it out your window.
hmm.. its cold in toronto-
so maybe open your window first, then throw it out!
focus on real estate,
and then in 6 months you can get a bigger better TV.. maybe even HDTV .."
=)
