These techniques should work in any country, city or area. The trick is simply finding the real deals. Let me tell you the fastest way you could start making money in real estate right away.
Call all the classified ads and “We Buy Homes” signs you see in your area and tell them you’re unemployed and would like to be a bird dog to them. Ask them for $100 when they sign the contract to buy from the seller and $400 more when they close ($500 is a fairly typical amount). Ask them to let you go with them when they go to view the property so you can get some experience. Also try joining your local investment group, in most cities they are $20 or less for each monthly meeting (it’s a bargain). Visit your local section 8 housing office and ask for the list of landlords and contact some of those who deal with single-family homes.
Also, turn around and start looking for empty houses. Call the real estate agents and tell them you are looking for investment properties. If you’ve lined up 5 or more investor buyers and find a real deal, one of them will snatch it up and pay you a bird dog fee. While you’re away, look for signs for houses for rent, call them, ask if they buy houses, if so, get their phone, fax, email, etc. and send them offers too. If they don’t find out if they are looking to sell their rental homes. You will be able to find owner financed deals this way.
Soon you’ll be able to find out which properties to contract yourself and move into wholesale where you’ll make $2,000-$10,000 per deal instead of $500. It just keeps getting better from there.
If you are aggressive and go property hunting today, you could be making a few hundred dollars a week next week, a thousand dollars a week a month from now, and over $10,000 a month from now 6 months from now. These techniques work but require work. Interestingly, you could do a lot of this work by bike if you didn’t have a car (but maybe not in Canada during the winter).
None of these techniques require cash or credit and will get you started investing in real estate right away.