Hey there – Welcome to my website.
My name is Brian Fitzgerald and I am a real estate investor, a real estate agent and a real estate coach to many clients who are looking to create wealth through real estate investing.
I’ve had my hooks into real estate for a little over a decade when I bought my first home at the age of 24. It wasn’t long afterwards that I started to enjoy getting my hands dirty by doing small renovation jobs around the house, as well as helping friends and family tackle their projects. Fast forward a couple more years and thanks to HGTV and how easy they make flipping houses look, I decided to do exactly that – Flip a house.
Well, lets just say that Flipping a House with little experience was an eye opener. To make a long story not so long. The project took twice as long as planned, the renovations cost twice as much as expected and the stress was through the roof. On the upside though, I made a healthy sum of money once the property sold, and I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and get my life back.
Once that first big project was complete, I took my profits and hit the streets of Hamilton to look for my first rental property. It only took a few weeks, but I found a small 2 bedroom home in a “O.K.” area that needed very little work. After a few weeks of freshening up the place, I had it rented and was making a profit.
Here is a quick breakdown of that property:
Purchase Price: $132,000
Down Payment: $6,600 (5%)
Mortgage Payment $600.00/month
Taxes: $110/month
Insurance: $50/month
Utilities: (Tenant Pays)
Rent: $1050/month
CASH FLOW: $290/month
Not bad eh!?
So lets jump another year forward – There I am, constantly e-mailing and calling my agent asking what properties sold for, what his opinion were on values and if they matched mine, or if he had any leads on upcoming properties.
(Side Note: My agent at the time (Harry Bowes – Re/Max Escarpment) was one of the best, most honest agents you could find. No BS, No sales tactics – just pure honesty, and that was something I could relate to.
We’re still friends to this day, grabbing a lunch here and there, and I still look to him for advice from time to time.)
Getting my real estate license was something I was contemplating for about a year or two, and it was Harry that pushed me to go for it. I half expected him to tell me that I was driving him insane with all of the calls and e-mails – but Harry would never think that. He said to me “Brian, you need to get your license. You have a unique experience with your construction background, you’re honest and you have something great to offer your future clients. I think it would be a waste not to.”
Ok, ok, that probably wasn’t verbatim, but you get the idea 😉
So here we go again, lets jump ahead. Now I have my real estate license and I can now trade in real estate. The information that I always craved was at my finger tips. I spent hours a day combing through the ‘secret information’ of realtors. It was awesome. It was overwhelming, but it was awesome.
So here I am now, working with some great clients and helping them acquire their dream home, some I help get top dollar for their house. I love working with people, and I love making a big decision like buying or selling a home, an easy and smooth one for my clients.
The last couple years, while helping with the usual real estate transactions like buying and selling, I’ve noticed my focus has shifted just a little bit.
My new favourite thing is to build wealth through real estate.
The world around us isn’t getting any cheaper, and house prices are steadily climbing year over year. The rentals I’ve acquired the last few years are opening doors for my family and I. It’s giving us stability, growth and even a little more enjoyment out of life
Remember that property I bought for $132,000??
Well, it was appraised at nearly $300,000 in just 4 years.
That is an appreciation of $168,000 in 4 years. Where the heck do you make money like that?
So, what did I do? I reinvested it into another rental property.
Yep, that is what I do. I re-invest my money, and in the last few years, I’ve been helping others do the same thing.
In keeping with helping others create wealth through real estate, I’m getting my hands into something else…
A Podcast!?!?
You bet!
The ‘Real Estate Investors Lounge’ Podcast (www.reilounge.ca)
Keep this website in your favourites and check back every so often to keep up to date with upcoming episodes from my podcast – The ‘Real Estate Investors Lounge’ Podcast.
Not to mention, I’ll be doing some short videos on essential topics to help you succeed in creating wealth through real estate.
So, with that long rant, if you’ve ever considered making a jump into real estate investing, I encourage you to reach out to me. Together, we can build you and your family wealth through real estate and set you up for the future.
I appreciate you taking the time to read this…
Brian Fitzgerald