Seven years ago (2012) we were celebrating being "debt-free" and contemplating what our next financial move would be. We had a significant amount of equity built up in our house and were looking for opportunities to grow our wealth. We had already set up a "HELOC" (Home Equity Line of Credit) on our home in Calgary, so we decided to tap into that equity and use some of it as a down payment on another rental property.
"Banks have no problem taking your money to build their wealth,
why not take their money to build your wealth instead"
Our Realtor found us a nice semi-detached house in an "up and coming" neighborhood. So we made the plunge and bought the house using our line of credit as a down payment and applied for a mortgage. We were approved and we made the purchase. We found excellent tenants that moved into the house in July 2012.
Six years later in June 2018, we sold that house.
Here's the good part: That house was worth more than we paid for it, by $70,000, and we had paid down the debt by about another $70,000. And, to top it all off, we earned $300 per month in rental income. That's an additional $21,600. It had the original tenants still living there. There were some maintenance costs and a roof replacement, which was an insurance claim.
When we sold that property we walked away and gained about $161,600 of wealth in a 6 year period and we never used any of our own money but used the bank's money instead. That's what I mean by robbing the bank. Even if the value of this property hadn't appreciated, we still would have made about $90,000. This is what we mean by using someone else' money (The Bank) to build your personal wealth. This is an example of "Good Debt", which is using debt for appreciating assets, like real estate.
Now, the REALLY good part: What if we kept this property for 20 years? How much would we grow our wealth during that long-term horizon? You do the math on that one. So far, we have multiplied this process 5 times over, at varying degrees of success.
"Someone else can get rich using your money or you can get rich using someone else's money - it's your choice"
If you want to live like most people, hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck, then keep doing what you're doing - working long hours, paying lots of taxes and interest on bad debt. Or, meet with us and discover the strategies we use to grow and protect your wealth for a lifetime of success. Book Now!
Retirement Income & Investment Advisors,
Willis & Nancy Langford
Financial planning for everyday people
