Meet Anna:
My parents bought their first home when I was about 9 years old, and soon afterwards, my mother caught the renovating bug. Every year my mother would start a new project, to rebuild, fix, or decorate a part of the house. After more than a decade, the house in unrecognizable in comparison to what it first looked like. This was my first introduction to the idea that you can make a house gain in value.
My mother is a lawyer and part of her area of expertise is Real Estate law. As a young girl, I used to go with her on occasion to Land Registry in St. Catharines. I loved it. There was a series of unmanned telephones that rang constantly. They would be answered by people as they walked by and the name of whoever was wanted called out loudly. I would position myself next to the phones and play secretary, diligently noting the name of who was wanted and calling out across the entire room. I would also help run errands for my mother, helping her find the documents she needed, photocopying, and even filing things with the appropriate clerk. I remember one such time, my mother handed me a bunch of files and a number. I patiently waited for the number to be called. Took the documents, handed them over to the clerk, waited for her to do what needed doing, and once everything was done, went back to find my mom. As I walked over, she smiled and said “Congratulations, you just did a closing.”
I laugh now to think how excited those words made me feel. I felt so mature, so smart. Here I was all of eleven or twelve years old and I had done a closing!
As I got older, I started working a bit more officially for my mom’s office. Once I got my driver’s licence, one of my main responsibilities was taking the documents and cheques for various closings and taking care of what needed to be done at the bank. I remember from experience that August 31, if it falls on a Friday, is officially the busiest day for Real Estate Law Firms. I think we ran into the double digits in terms of the number of closings we had to do. Everyone was on edge as we waited desperately for banks and other lawyers (and yes Realtors) to send us all the appropriate information. The closer it got to five o’clock, the more jittery and snappy everyone became.
In 2005, I left St. Catharines and moved to Ottawa for University. I spent my first year living in residence. Although I enjoyed it, I also knew that it was not something I could do for more than one year. Between the various romances and drama, the many university events, that one group of people who would fill the hallways with Marijuana smoke, a University Residence is one of the worst places to concentrate on your studies. Most of all, I missed having my own kitchen where I could cook real food.
As I began looking for an apartment for the next year, I stumbled across a great idea. Why not buy a house with my parents and rent out the rooms to people I know, or buy one of the available . The rent would cover the mortgage and other expenses, and in return I would have a nice permanent place to live. I called my parents to discuss the possibility. The reaction I got was not enthusiastic. I still remember my father telling me that the cost of repainting units every time someone moved would cost too much. Like most people who fear getting involved in rental properties, he was also afraid of the midnight phone call. He was convinced that something would break in every unit, every single week, and that at the end of the year he would be broke. Something didn’t quite sit right with me. If rental properties were such a bad investment, why did people do it? Why was my dad acting as if I was suggesting we get involved in a multi-unit investment?
I figured out then that my parents and I thought differently about money. It was also then that I promised myself, that once I had money I would look into owning rental properties. I have often regretted not working harder to convince my parents that getting a house that we could rent out while I lived there would have in fact been a good idea. Since 2005 I have moved almost every year. In my first year, I lived in the well-lit basement of an older couple with a house in Rockcliffe. They had four rooms to rent out in the basement, with 1.5 bathrooms, a laundry room, and a kitchen. I was the youngest student they had. By default I was blamed for anything that went wrong in the house. It was frustrated to be judged based on age rather than fact. The longer I lived there, the more frustrating it became.
At the end of the year-long lease, I moved; this time into a large, multi-unit, apartment complex. Over the course of the next few years, I moved often. I have now lived in 7 different apartments. At some point, I live in one of the units in a fourplex. It was a nice place, and felt almost as though I had my own home. The only problem was that I couldn’t make the renovations I craved. The unit’s walls and carpets were damaged by a previous tenant’s cigarette smoke. I had a friend who worked in construction, and often told me he would gladly replace the carpets with hardwood for being allowed to live there for one month rent free. About four months before our lease was up, I was informed that the landlord was considering selling. We could remain until the end of the lease, but after that, we might be required to move. The property manager, who was also handling logistics of the sale on behalf of the landlord, called me one day and asked if I would be interested in continuing to live there. She mentioned that the Realtor had some investors in mind for the property, and thought he could make the sale more appealing if there were already tenants. Seizing my chance, I told the property manager that I would gladly continue living there, if the new owners agreed to replace the carpets. I then repeated my friend’s offer to her. The property manager seemed intrigued and promised to pass on the information to the Realtor.
I remember at this time, I had found out the listed price of the unit and approached my parents once again. I told them that I had people in line already willing to live there. Between the four, or five, of us, we would renovate the unit and pay the mortgage as rent. I don’t even think my parents heard me at this time. They told me the house was too expensive and left it at that. It had been listed at $132, 000. Thinking back to this time, reminds me of the Realtor who was in charge of the sale. He was a Remax agent who had a cloud of bad cologne following him around. I always knew when he showed the house since you could smell it when you first walked into the house. I did not like him. I tried asking him some questions about the sale, and the house, trying to come up with a good argument for my parents. He kept shrugging me off, telling me the bear minimum and insisting I couldn’t understand most of it. When the professional cleaners I hired to clean the unit when we left didn’t finish the job, he called me and began threatening me with lawsuits and other unpleasantness. Luckily, I managed to get the company to come in and finish the job the next day, but his unprofessionalism left a sour taste in my mouth.
In 2010, I met a wonderful couple who knew all about Real Estate investments. They were my current landlords. I was once again renting a house. It was great having my suspicions confirmed when they told me that Real Estate was a great investment.
In the spring of 2011, I began looking for long term full time or part time employment. I was still going to school, but was determined to start covering all of my expenses myself. I spent endless hours sending out resumes, and going on interviews. I kept hearing the same thing over and over again “you are overqualified and we don’t hire students.” Finally in desperation, I posted an ad that included the words “your girl Friday” in the subject line.
While on vacation in St. Catharines, I received a call from a woman in Ottawa. She said she loved my ad and was looking for someone to work as a sort of personal assistant. She ran a Real Estate team she told me, and needed someone to help with the various minutia of running such a business. I sent her my resume, and a week later I met Julie.
Those of you who work with Julie know that she is fond of homework. She sent me home from my interview with a list of questions and tasks I had to complete, and send in at my own convenience. I walked out of that interview determined to return those answers that same night, or the next morning at the latest. As soon as I got home, I pulled out my computer and got to work.
I can’t fully remember if it was the same day, or the next day, that I got the call back. “I loved your answers, but do you feel capable of implementing your ideas? In that case, you’ve got the job”. I was now in Real Estate. Not as a Realtor, but as Julie’s Marketing and Events Coordinator.
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