What You Can Learn from a Zimbabwe Real Estate Investor

by Monica Mutumba

Hello, my name is Monica and I have just signed up for the Rev N You real estate course. As I go through the course I will be sharing my real estate investing experiences which will be based mostly on what I would have learnt from the course as I progress. I will be putting out an article once every month.

Let me mention here that I am a total novice real estate investor. Through the course, Dave and Julie are taking me on my first steps into that sphere. The objective is to share with others aspects of real estate in my part of the world. My experiences will hopefully be of interest to other students of real estate and investors out there. The feedback will also give readers an insight into some of the differences in the way real estate is carried out between Canada and my part of the world.

I live in Southern Africa where the business fundamentals are essentially the same as Canada. However there will be differences in some areas as here our systems are derived mainly from British systems. Be that as it may when we talk of real estate it's essentially the same the world over and differences could largely be in the laws of the various nations. Being part of the developing world, our economy is a few decades behind developed nations like Canada in terms of technological advancement, commerce and other areas of business.

Ours is a small economy with an equally small but vibrant real estate sector. The economy itself is an interesting mixture of the west and the third world. The climate is lovely with mild winters. Our winter season is from May to August with July being the coldest month. A typical "cold" day in July could have a maximum day temperature of 15 degrees Celsius! The tourism industry is a big contributor to the economy as tourists come from the world over to enjoy the sunshine and to see the wild life - we boast healthy populations of the "big five".
 
On a personal level I have a day job as a PR executive in a medium size manufacturing firm. My plan is to retire, totally or partially, in 10 years, or less if I plan and handle my investments well. Apart from my job I am also a freelance writer and will be publishing a book towards the end of the year. I plan to write on a full time basis in my retirement. I am also a full time mentor to my two almost grown up sons - so I know a thing or two about parenting as well!

In terms of property I have watched people in my community build wealth through real estate but I have up to now viewed this subject with fear and apprehension.

I have been of the view that people who invest in real estate are those who have money already, which I do not have. However as I have been reading on the topic it is dawning on me that just like any other business activity real estate has its fair share of hazards and that one needs to take time and work on it bit by bit. I have learnt this mostly from information provided on Rev N You and also from feedback from its readers.

The other reason why I feel I should venture into real estate is that even other so called "safe" investment instruments can be shaky. While in my part of the world we are not in recession like most western countries are, we have had our share of economic turbulence where investments have been eroded by high inflation.

This just goes to show that irrespective of where one lives on this earth, economic challenges will arise at some point and it is critical to get hold of the right kind of information in order to make sound investment decisions.

With the above in mind I made a decision, fears and all, to look further at real estate investment as one of the ways of moving towards financial freedom as I plan for retirement. As I read the lessons and updates from Rev N You I realize that Dave and Julie's step by step approach to tutoring and mentoring will help me gain a deeper appreciation of real estate and build my confidence to take the first steps towards achieving my set goals. Already by starting on the course I feel my confidence growing. It's a liberating experience.

As I write this I am already working on my first module and by the time I get my next article out in a month's time I will have something to share with other readers.

Till next time, happy reading!
Monica

published August 4th, 2009

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