July 5, 2023
Freedom to Live Your Best Life:
Innovative Ways to Build Wealth Through Real Estate Investing
Lorraine Jordan
Aviva Publishing (2023)
ISBN: ISBN: 978-1-63618-200-1
New Book Shows How Real Estate Investing Is Path to Freedom
Lorraine Jordan’s new book opens with this powerful quote by her: “Anything is possible, and so is everything.” If anyone has proven this quote true, it is Lorraine. A long-time realtor and real estate investor who now holds more than $71 million in real estate across Canada and has grown her business, Team Jordan, to $3.5 billion in sales, Lorraine Jordan has never let the thought that something was impossible get in her way.
Now in her new book Freedom to Live Your Best Life: The Pathway to Wealth Through Real Estate Investing, Lorraine shares the wisdom she has learned from decades in the real estate industry, beginning with when she bought her first investment property at eighteen. Throughout, she shares processes and strategies for investing in the real estate market and some truly out-of-the-box ideas that will fit whatever situation you may be in so you can also find financial freedom through real estate.
This book is no pie-in-the-sky, too-good-to-be-true, get-rich-quick strategy. It is the advice of a seasoned professional who has worked hard to achieve success and what she most values—freedom to live her life the way she wants to.
And that freedom is at the very center of the book. Lorraine begins by asking the reader to think about why they want to invest. Do they want to save for retirement, fund their child’s college education, or create a vacation home that can earn income when they are not there? Many reasons exist for investing in real estate, so it’s best to know your reasons and then what you feel comfortable doing. Not that it isn’t worth stepping out of your comfort zone also. Once you understand the various aspects of investing that Lorraine will explain, your comfort zone could expand and you might find that while you didn’t think renting to tenants was for you, you are interested in investing in international properties, using property management companies, or renting out parts of your acreage to a beekeeper to earn some extra income. The possibilities are really endless, and you have control over the choices.
But you also have to be willing to make some initial sacrifices. You may have to let go of some free time or not buy something you can’t afford now so you can afford more later. Lorraine offers real-life examples of what is required to get into real estate and to stay there successfully. One of the best things about this book is it is story-based and extremely readable. Yes, some number-crunching examples are here, but the numerous stories about various people in different situations with different dreams will open you up to the possibilities that exist for finding the investment possibilities that best fit your skills, schedule, and dreams.
You might also find that investing means not buying property but using the property you already have. Lorraine offers numerous tips for “house hacking,” which incorporates all the ways you can make money with your house from renting out a room as an Airbnb to housing international students. Investing may mean you just want to buy your first-time home, but don’t know how. It may mean sacrificing some space in that property to provide income to pay off the mortgage sooner. The possibilities are endless.
No matter what your investment interests are, you are bound to find advice to fit your situation and ideas about things you never considered that will get you excited. Chapters in the book focus on such diverse topics as flipping houses for profit, joint venturing, renting to own, buying pre-build properties, international buying, working with land developers, and multi-family investing. Lorraine shares stories about people who did each of these things, and she provides worksheets to show how the financials will work in each situation. She also provides practical advice; for example, about flipping a home, she says, “It is easy to get carried away on interior finishes and blow the budget, leaving minimal to no money to make the exterior look attractive to buyers. Start with the outside, do the necessities, then move inside.” She walks house flippers through the BRRRR strategy—buy, renovate, rent, refinance, and repeat.
Lorraine also talks about the importance of knowing the zoning laws, rules, and regulations in your area. It’s great to come up with a plan of what you want to do, but she also talks about the importance of a back-up plan. For example, if you decide to rent part of your own home and rental laws change, what can you do to still create income? One chapter is completely devoted to how to use your property to make income without having to deal with tenants.
Plus, Lorraine shares her personal stories of how she began investing. For example, she states: “Several years ago, I met a man who owned a number of investment properties. At the time, I was starting to invest, so I asked him if he had any tips to share. He said an investor can purchase a $500,000 or a $5 million property. In the end, even if the market stayed completely balanced, and all you gained was a paid-off asset, which would be better to own, a $500,000 asset or a $5 million asset? Put that way, it seems like an easy decision, but at the time, such a large price was intimidating.” However, Lorraine didn’t let a little intimidation stop her. Even though she started small, she took chances and her business grew.
But Lorraine knows you can’t do it alone. She states, “One of the most beneficial things I have learned over the years is that who you know is just as important as what you know. I made a lot of investments on my own, which paid off with perseverance, but if I could revisit the past with my current knowledge, I would have worked to find a mentor and built a team early on. Creating a team you have an authentic connection with is an incredibly important part of this journey, and it will make the process as seamless as possible.” Lorraine then provides a list of people you want on your team from contractors and mortgage brokers to lawyers and inspectors. She shares what each of them does and how you can work with them.
Altogether, Freedom to Live Your Best Life is filled with advice that you’ll be grateful to have received for years to come. The title says it all—this isn’t a book about real estate investing. It’s a book about how you can use real estate investing to live the life you want to live. Don’t stay in your comfort zone. A better life awaits.
For more information about Lorraine Jordan and Freedom to Live Your Best Life, visit www.LorraineJordan.ca.
— Tyler R. Tichelaar, PhD and award-winning author of Narrow Lives and The Best Place
