Year In Review
2023 was a year of growth and resilience.
Some highlights positive and negative of the year in no particular order:
Despite facing three interest rate hikes and high inflation, we had a good year. At Correa Equity Partners, we conservatively underwrite and evaluate all of our deals. We were able to continue to stabilize our properties despite the market because we didn't over-leverage and focused on increasing revenue while cutting expenses. ( We also added grey hairs!)
Refinance Success Story:
The Dollhouse:
5plex purchased in 2021.
Renovations finished in 2023 - she was in really bad shape.
Added a 6th unit.
Focused on creating safe, beautiful spaces for our new residents to call home
Raised rents and decreased expenses.
The Numbers:
Purchase price $ 408,000
Renovations $ 330,000
New Appraisal $1,173,000!
Increase in value of $ 435,000 (forced appreciation) due to adding a unit, increasing revenues and decreasing expenses which improvesthe net operating income of the property. And this is tax free money.
New mortgage of 80% LTV as my partner on this and I wanted to be conservative and not over leverage, even though 90% was on the table from the lender.
Refinance proceeds
Paid back all of our private lenders
Reserved $30,000 for future repairs (old buildings always have some)
Reserved $5,000 for emergencies. This is on top of our vacancy and regular maintenance reserves.
Returned all of my investment partner’s initial investment
An extra equity takeout of $10,000 each for my investor partner and us
The result of this is an asset that is “free” with no money left in the deal that produces approx. $550 of cash flow per month each for our investor partner and for ourselves. This is even with the refinance being at the highest interest rates that have been seen in the last 22 years. As there is no money left in the deal, this is also an infinite return on investment!
Now this didn’t happen overnight. It was a lot of work, stress, and had many “problem solving” opportunities which I will go over in a future newsletter.
Rezoning for a 55 unit Development in Fredericton New Brunswick
Rezoned a property we own with 19 units on it.
Able to build an additional 55 units on the property, doing our part to help the housing shortage in a small way.
Phase 1 will be a 40-unit building and Phase 2 will be a 15-unit building.
Committed to 20% of the total units being affordable housing and all units will be energy efficient, aligning with our values of making everyone and everything we come in contact with, better than when we found it.
This has been a lesson in patience and many challenges went along with this rezoning which we will explore in a future newsletter. The rezoning of the lots added over $800,000 to the value of our property :)
Hoarder: We inherited a tenant on one of our properties we purchased, who is a hoarder. Her entire apartment is almost waist high with “stuff”. We have worked with her social worker to try and get her the help she requires. However, this is a fire hazard to the other tenants in the building so we started the eviction process. The tribunal in New Brunswick, felt that her clearing a path to the window and covering the stuff with a blanket, somehow made it all ok and will not evict her. More to come.
Luckily this same building is full of lovely tenants who have really built a community amongst themselves. Many of them have been in this building for years, and one family has lived there for over 40 years and has a garden in the back. They look out for each other and help each other out as many of them are elderly.
Hired and fired Power Team members. It is so critical to hire slow and fire fast. I gave too many chances to two professionals on my team, an accounting firm and a contractor. This cost me in time and money and I will be much quicker to fire next time around. Just as it is important to do your due diligence on a property, it is equally important to do your due diligence on the people you will be working with. Trust and verify!
The year was also full of fun, building friendships and partnerships, personal development, and travel. I attended 3 big real estate conferences – one in Toronto, one in Vancouver, and one in Arizona (that one was just for women investors!).
I also hosted two events at our home for a real estate community I belong to. A summer party and the 3rd annual Correa Ugly Christmas sweater party.
The Trust Your Talent community is such a huge part of my journey and full of amazing humans. If you want to know more about learning to invest in real estate, check them out. If you want to hear about my experiences, reach out. They are also doing a 3 day workshop in Vancouver April 5th, 6th and 7th. It is an immersive and interactive investing workshop leveraging real estate and paper assets to show you how to create the financial RESULTS you desire. I highly recommend attending. (Reach out to me if you do and I have a code for 50% off!)
I had the honour at the Trust Your Talent Annual Conference last October, of becoming the 1st Hall of Fame Award Winner. It has been an incredible 3 years of learning, growing, investing in myself and surrounding myself with awesome humans. And this is just the beginning ◡̈ As their theme for this year says…Be About It!
We ended the year with investments in 4 provinces – Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. Multifamily properties are our main strategy, and we have also added Rent To Own and land development to our toolbox. 2024 will see us expand into the US market in vacation rentals and multifamily and also get back into acquisition mode in Canada, particularly Alberta.
Useful Website:
DOOR INSIGHT
I recently discovered this site that is a great tool to do high level investigation into a market or property to see if it is worth pursuing further. You can estimate rents, get market facts, see crime maps, vacancy maps, and do a quick property analysis.
What I am listening to on audible
Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell
Highly recommend if you are in business. This book is full of practical, actionable ways to start to buy back your time immediately, even if you are a solopreneur. He then goes over how to use this time wisely both at work and at home so you can keep building your empire while living your best life. I loved this one so much, I have also ordered the physical book.
Useful App
I love the Pic Tap Go app for quick editing of photos before posting them. With 137 stackable filters, it is so easy with the touch of a button to edit the photos. I typically make them a little lighter before posting. This is a great tip for posting your reno photos.
Here is the website with the link to the app store. I just took this photo of Maui. He is adorable in both of course, however straight out of the camera on my phone, he is a little dark as it was later in the day and he is so black. I opened the photo in the app and applied the Brightside filter (my favourite) and then the lights on app. Took 2 seconds and the photos look much better.
We’d love to hear from you!
If making your money work harder for you by investing in real estate without all the hassles is something that interests you, or you want to partner alongside us and learn as you participate, reach out to us to book a no-obligation call or email michele@correaequitypartners.com.
We can discuss your goals and see if we are a fit to work together and invest with purpose.
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