Richelle Sibolboro

As we start the new year, I like looking back at the failures and success I had so I can see where I grew and where I need to go in 2024.

Failure #1 – Not being able to sell my house

I tried really hard to sell my northern house this year. And well, the housing market had another thing to say about that. I thought the renters were going to buy and they split up so they had to leave their dream home. I went months trying to sell it but the price just wasn’t right. I could float the house for a couple of months but if I didn’t sell before the fall I would need to put renters in because carrying the house during the winter is very difficult.

I had put out ads on Facebook to both sell the house and rent the house. I had interest but was about to go on vacation and was worried about doing things remotely. Luckily, I hired the right property managers (who were my neighbours), and cleaner (also my neighbour) who got the place ready for showings.

For the first time I was able to schedule showings for potential renters while on vacation. By the time I got back, I had someone who was ready to move in and sign a lease. I adjusted my rent and now I’m cash flowing.

Fail on the sale, success in cash flow.

Second failure – Not buying another property to scale my portfolio 

Earlier this year, I was trying to purchase my next property. But this time I wanted to do it with partners because if I didn’t I would run out of cash quickly. There’s that famous saying, “if you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go farther go together.” I needed a team to propel me to the next level.

My real estate agent introduced me to local contractors who were also looking to partner. They would provide the sweat equity and down payment and I would provide the renovation budget. With the terms clear we went house hunting. All the properties we say just weren’t right. And we saw a lot of properties in Hamilton, Brantford and even Simcoe. Because they are Flippers, they started to get busy with their own projects and our hunt fizzled out.

I then turned my sights to private lending. Essentially this was what I was going to do with the contractors but this would be more passive. Because I had been doing a lot of networking I met a mortgage broker who gave me a contact of another mortgage broker who could teach me and set me up with a potential private lending deal.

He taught me to think and act like a bank with private lending. And after one failed attempt…I loved that I can just walk away if the deal doesn’t fit my needs. I secured 2 private lending deals. One is equity and the other is interest! So by taking another approach I was able to double my real estate portfolio in 2024.

Fail on the partnering but major score on private lending.

Failure number 3 – Private Coaching

This is such hit or miss. This year I wanted to get more support and education in real estate, so I decided to do a mentoring program. The first program I did, was so different from what I was used to. It was very hands on. We had to work as a team to put the deals together. In the end, weren’t able to flip any real estate. It was hard to work with others who didn’t have an established network because they were new to real estate. Or were a little to passive while others were very active. My goal was to make my money back that I spent on the program and ended up with a big ZERO.

So when I decided to do another real estate coaching program, I was very clear that I needed to make the money back that I had already spent on these courses. My new coach reassured me that if he couldn’t make me money he shouldn’t be coaching. So, I went in again and he was right. He landed me my private lending deal (see story above) and now I’m pumped to make money money in 2024. 

I went from being down a significant amount of money to making a bit of money lol. 

In the end, when I look back at my “failures” they needed to happen so other doors and opportunities could open for me. I believe that you need to fail in life so you can learn and move faster in other directions. I now know what is possible and have a new sense of belief in myself and what I can do. Sky’s the limits in 2024…get ready to watch me fly!