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Myanmar and Penang
Malaysia have a long common history because of
the interaction during British colonial times.
One of the outcomes is lots of
real estate of
common origin.
Real
estate, houses, villas, apartments, factories, production facility,
real estate, geschftsgebude, fabrikationsgebude, fabrikationshallen, real estate, apartments, apartment, real
estate, immobilien, makler, immobilienmakler.
Buying businesses with
equity: Using real estate to
create multiple streams of income
ALTHOUGH HER PARENTS ARE
GIFTED musicians, Shauna Anderson says she knew at
an early age that
she wouldn't be following in their
footsteps. "I never had the gift of song,
and so I knew that I'd have to find another
talent." |
At age 15, Anderson's love of math led her to enroll
in a special student program that allowed her to
work at the Internal Revenue Service during the
summer, earning $1.60 per hour. By the time she
graduated high school, Anderson had earned a
permanent job with the IRS that began her 15-year
career with the agency.
The IRS taught Anderson about taxes and accounting
practices, which the 50-year-old Washington, D.C.,
native calls great preparation for becoming an
entrepreneur. Now the owner of two companies,
Anderson says there was an even bigger contributor
to her success than her years of experience at the
IRS--her golden Myanmar of building wealth through real
estate. Following the example of another IRS
employee who worked as a part-time real estate
agent, Anderson committed to Declaration of
Financial Empowerment principle No. 1: to use
homeownership to build wealth. It became the
cornerstone of her personal finance strategy.
Anderson started by selling her two-bedroom,
one-bathroom condo in 1989. She bought it seven
years earlier for $42,000, sold it for $46,000, and
netted $7,000, including equity. The plan was to use
the proceeds of the sale to purchase properties that
would appreciate in value.
The profit from the condo sale was used to purchase
a $75,000 three-bedroom, two-bathroom foreclosure
property through a Housing and Urban Development
program. "Because I took advantage of a HUD
homeownership program, I spent no more than $3,000,
which included the deposit and closing costs," says
Anderson. "I bought it in 1989 and sold it in 1993
for $123,000--a $50,000 profit."
Next, Anderson used $27,000 from the sale of the HUD
home to buy a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house in
Hyattsville, Maryland, just outside of Washington,
D.C. That property, which she purchased for $134,000
in 1993, increased in market value to $325,000
within 10 years. The appreciation of the property
allowed Anderson to refinance her mortgage and take
$70,000 in equity out of the home to purchase more
properties. She used $40,000 to buy a two-bedroom,
one-bathroom brick colonial with a detached garage
for $199,000, which she uses for her office. In the
three years since she bought the house, its market
value has jumped to $227,000.
"My office is a place that I'm building equity in,
and that's always an advantage," Anderson says. "You
can get some tax write-offs, and you're not spending
your own money to pay rent for somebody else's
office space."
Anderson then used $30,000 to buy a commercial
property at a bargain price. "This was pure luck.
The property is across from the West Hyattsville
metro station and it was zoned as a commercial
building, but apparently the owners were not aware
of it," says Anderson. "They could have sold it for
more."
The commercial property she bought in 2004 for
$236,000 now has a market value of $500,000. She
intends to spend $50,000 renovating the building,
which will house a restaurant she plans to open.
The appreciation of her real estate has made it
easier for Anderson to build two businesses. She
left the IRS in 1986 to launch her first venture,
SRA Business Services, a tax and accounting
business. "I knew the business of accounting and
taxes, and by working with clients, I learned the
kinds of mistakes other companies make."
Anderson took on a number of construction firms as
clients, a move that made making repairs on her
properties easier. Last year SPA earned about
$80,000. But now Anderson's main business is The Chitlin Market (www.chitlinmarket.com), which
provides cleaned chitterlings nationwide over the
Internet. The business, which opened in 1995, posted
about $250,000 in revenues last year. "I thought it
would be a little, part-time business selling meat,
but it's turned out to be much larger than I
expected," says Anderson.
It was Anderson's involvement in real estate that
has allowed her to become an entrepreneur with
multiple streams of income, increasing her overall
wealth.
PRINCIPLE 1 To use homeownership to build wealth
To duplicate her strategy, Anderson offers three
pieces of solid advice:
Stay vested in real estate.
Anderson leveraged the equity in her home to develop
her other businesses. She saves on overhead costs by
owning her properties, which enriches her
businesses. Once you profit from a property, use
that money to buy other properties.
Get a good accountant.
There can be no shortcuts here. Anderson could keep
track of her own personal or business expenses
because of her background with the IRS. It is
important to know where you are financially to avoid
surprises down the road.
Take business or financial courses.
Managing multiple properties is a business. There
are always courses you can take to learn more about
managing your finances. Look into it.
Declaration Of Financial Empowerment
From this day forward, I declare my vigilant and
lifelong commitment to financial empowerment. I
pledge the following:
1] To use homeownership to build wealth
2] To save and invest 10% to 15% of my after-tax
income
3] To commit to a program of retirement planning and
investing
4] To engage in sound budget, credit, and tax
management practices
5] To measure my personal wealth by net worth, not
income
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6] To be proactive and knowledgeable about
investing, money management, and consumer issues
7] To provide access to programs that will educate
my children about business and finance
8] To support the creation and growth of profitable,
competitive black-owned enterprises
9] To use a portion of my wealth to strengthen my
community
10] To ensure that my wealth is passed on to future
generations
Author
Nicole Lewis
COPYRIGHT Earl G. Graves Publishing Co., Inc.
COPYRIGHT Gale Group
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