Savvy Real Estate Investing: Create a Passive Income Stream and Make Money in Your Sleep

By Shazia Virani

If you’ve dreamed of investing in real estate for enjoyment or financial freedom, this book was written with you in mind. Based on years of experience buying, renting out, and selling properties on behalf of clients and for her own portfolio, author, real estate agent, and investor Shazia Virani shares her tips and tricks in this concise guide.

Buying any property — whether a condominium, townhouse, detached, single family or multi-family home, or vacant land — should be planned and considered carefully.

Savvy Real Estate Investing: Create a Passive Income Stream and Make Money in Your Sleep answers many of the questions you may have about becoming a real estate investor. The book includes a downloadable forms kit with checklists and resources for you to use on your real estate investing journey.

Virani’s passion for investing in properties comes through in this book as she teaches readers to create passive income in the real estate market. From the decision to become an investor, through to purchasing a real estate investment, or several investments, this book will inspire and encourage you along the way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Self-Counsel Press
• Release date: Feb 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781770405165

Shazia Virani

Shazia Virani is an award-winning REALTOR®, RE/MAX Hall of Famer, Luxury Listing Specialist, International Real Estate Specialist, Certified International Trade Professional, and accomplished real estate investor. Virani is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, with a postgraduate degree in International Business. Her real estate endeavours and investment businesses have made her a trusted advisor to real estate clients near and far. Now, readers across the country who want to learn to make money in their sleep by investing in real estate can also benefit from her experience.

Book preview

Preface: A Game Plan Is Your Winning Ticket

You don’t make money selling real estate, you make money investing in it.

This is one of the most important lessons I ever heard at a seminar. It was my first year in real estate and I was ready to be one of the top young realtors, with all the motivation in this world. After hearing these words I wondered why I had signed up for this new job — other than to help people buy and sell real estate — if I wasn’t going to make enough money?

I was still successful and selling up a storm and one of the top agents in my office for years to come. At the age of 23, I was commuting 1.5 hours to get to work to show homes, then would sit in my office until 9:00 p.m. prospecting, and then would head back to my parents’ house. (Yes, my parents’ place. I had to move.) In one year, I saved enough money for a condo in the downtown Toronto core — 500ish square feet for $280,000. To my wonderful parents’ dismay at this astounding price for a box without a parking space (which I had to rent for an additional $200/month) I bought my first property. It was to be followed by many more.

My goal in life was to set myself up to have the ability to take care of myself and those I love within 20 years, and I wanted to have the option to retire whenever I chose. When I would say this, people would look at me as if I had three heads! I’m not saying I wanted the option to retire anytime because I don’t love my job. I wanted the financial freedom to live life, help people and those less fortunate, and really free up some time to make a difference in the world. I couldn’t do this with the job I had (and also love) just helping people buy and sell properties, with so much of my earnings going to taxes and me needing to be free for others’ schedules. I had to find another avenue and decided to explore the world of investing; a world that drives me as my passion is now investing.

As a child, my competitive nature meant I wanted to be at the top, and I grew up to be at the top in real estate sales for a long period of time. I still work for that day in and day out, though I realized I needed to spend attention on my acquisition of properties as much as I was working for clients. This is where the real money lies.

I was taught to work hard. And now I work like a boss. It feels like the stress also takes years off life sometimes, so working like a boss is great, but also you need to look after your heart and soul. The loophole to this, or the secret, rather, I believe is to find passive income. Then you’re a real boss. Having money make you money while you sleep is the ultimate goal, and as I am still learning, it is totally attainable. You can build a six-figure income where working can be a choice. You choose.

I am a young female who went from buying my first property to my second, then my third, my fourth, and tenth — I expanded into the US market to buy there also.

What a risk! some said, and I said, What a great safety net. What a different market and what great returns.

I purchased home after home, and am excited to continue until I can live off my investments completely passively if I wish.

This year our goal (and by our now I’m speaking about my husband and me), was to move into our three-unit building, and buy one to two more homes perhaps with multiple units, hopefully by the end of the year. After a few properties, buying properties with so much potential makes all the sense in the world to me.

Another goal is to buy a home for us and our parents to enjoy in Florida.

After buying home after home, and completing move after move (and we have moved a lot!), there has been so much to learn through my accomplishments and also my mistakes. There is so much more to accomplish. A purchase of a residential home could eventually turn into the purchase of commercial/industrial buildings and the possibilities are endless. Now, I would love to teach others how this is so achievable, how you can simplify your life by having a few years where you focus on this, and then later you can enjoy the rewards.

With the investment backing I have now with our army of properties, I have the ability to continue to grow our empire. This is just the beginning. Our investments will breed more investments — a pyramid tower of assets where a small home becomes a bigger home, which becomes an apartment building and a portfolio which continues to grow.

I have now learned and calculated how anyone can do this. It takes confidence in yourself regardless of what others tell you, learning to save some money, and making some key moves that will set you up. I’m a hardworking female, raised in a normal family who immigrated here, and everything I have in my portfolio has been built by my drive and passion. I want to share my story and experiences with you.

What you can do with a little bit of creativity, saved-up money, and courage can really change your life.

As Harvey Mackay once said: Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So, love the people who treat you right, forgive the ones who don’t and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said it would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.

Real estate is a great investment if you know what you are doing and can learn how to invest. Investing is a skill that you can learn, has a structure that you can follow, and is something that you can get better at with experience. So make a plan, and see where it takes you. Start by reading this book, then decide on your goals, the lifestyle you want, and your next steps.

Chapter 1

Plan for Your First Investment

Surviving the Rat Race

Never get so busy making a living, that you forget to make a life.

— Dolly Parton

Acknowledge this: Where are you in your life?

The truth is, the majority of us are running in this rat race called life. But shouldn’t life should be what we want it to be and what we make of it? Often, it’s eat, sleep, work, repeat. Maybe some weekends off. Go to bed at 11:00 p.m. to wake up at 6:00 a.m., and work eight to ten hours each day. Then pay off your mortgage, pay your taxes, and maybe have a little bit of money saved to shop and go on vacation. Does anyone else think this isn’t the way to live? I sure do.

As a child, I was blessed to have amazing parents who gave us everything they had. We lived in a small, two-bedroom apartment after my parents moved here, and my brother Shamez and I shared a room. My dad and mom busted their butts to save every cent they could to pay for an exceptional education for us. They put us in activities, and they taught us to try our best. I competed, and often won in competitions such as dancing, singing, and track and field. This didn’t come easily. It came from being taught work ethic and being on the track field at 6:00 a.m. running with my parents every day. I was trained to try my best.

Somehow my parents, who had just moved to Canada, managed to send both my brother and I to one of the most expensive high schools in the country, and then to university after that. At the time I didn’t realize how fortunate we had been for this — I do now. The friends that I made and the network of people I met is what helped shape me as a person. We were lucky to be given these opportunities. Until I left university, I never had a real full-time job. Once I did, it was an unglamourous shock to grind every day. This is when I finally realized the value of a dollar. Money = freedom. Freedom seemed expensive; lots and lots of dollars. I like nice things, I like vacations, and I like not having to stress out about going for dinner or buying whatever I want. I realized it was time to hustle now so I could reap the rewards later.

Nice things cost money. Making money takes time. Sometimes when you make a lot of money you need to sacrifice time. Or do you?

Part of working