Africa to Multi-Entrepreneur and Investing Abroad with Christopher Katende

It’s a long-term game to invest in real estate. To keep the business running, you need time, money, and resources. Apart from that, there are challenges and issues to contend with. Additionally, investing in relationships and networks will help you grow your business far into the future. There is no doubt that it takes hard work, a skill set, and a resilient attitude.

It may be the way things are, but there are always ways to make things better, letting you start affordably while allowing you to scale quickly.

Christopher Katende shares multiple investment strategies in this episode. The kind where there is no maintenance or repairs to be done, low labor costs, less regulatory agency intervention when it comes to inspections, strong layers of tenant screening and due diligence in place, and low competition.

He also teaches investors and sellers how to use creative financing strategies to ensure consistent cash flow to the business.

He provides tips on interpersonal skills as it's handy for finding deals and dealing with people in the industry.

In addition, he talks about cross-border investing and the many attractive and flourishing opportunities available in the US market today.

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What you will learn from this episode:

Discover an investment strategy where you don't worry about maintenance and repairs, yet, you get a steady stream of cash flow.

Build out an investment portfolio where you invest low but grow fast.

Hear of attractive investment opportunities in the US right now.

Having moved to Toronto from Kenya in 2013, this Ugandan-born award-winning Art Director turned real estate investor, Chistopher Katende, brings his knack for creative problem-solving to the table. He also understands the personal needs of the local and international clientele he deals with on a regular basis having had to go through the relocation process himself 3 times.

He has experience starting multiple entrepreneurial ventures, such as a successful car rental business, while also investing in the highly competitive Toronto Real Estate market. He began this journey in 2016 with short-term rental properties in the downtown core; he then ventured into cross-border investing in Upstate NY as well as Detroit, Michigan before returning to the Toronto market to fix and flip multiple residential and commercial properties. He also holds ownership of multiple family-owned farms in Uganda that include cattle, timber, various food crops, as well as clay mining.

Connect with Christopher Katende:

Email: info@smartassetgroup.com
Website: https://www.smartassetgroup.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smartassetgroup/

Topics Covered:

02:57 - Distinguishing real estate in Kenya versus Canada

05:12 - Drawing the differences between Kenya and Canada from an architectural standpoint

06:47 - Lessons learned from his car rental business that also works for his real estate business

09:45 - What the experience of investing from afar, like in the US during a pandemic, taught him

12:43 - Discussing what a rent-to-own strategy is and how to go about it

14:46 - What happens when a property is suddenly transitioned back to you?

15:59 - The good things about having mobile park homes in your portfolio

18:31 - Taking a look at a successful mobile home park deal that he considers a home run

21:59 - More attractive investment opportunities in the US right now and more tips in finding deals

25:07 - Tenant laws: Canada versus the US

27:43 - Employing creative financing for buying properties

32:30 - Encouraging words from Christopher and what's coming up for him these days

Key Takeaways:

"Treat people right." - Christopher Katende

"I found just being friendly, genuinely nice, looking after your neighbors and the people around you takes you a very, very long way without costing you much money coming out of your pocket." - Christopher Katende

"You don't always have to be physically present if you have boots on the ground. And you can definitely scale very quickly. That gave me more courage to buy in places that are even much farther away, that I don't need to drive there." - Christopher Katende

"Mobile homes have a huge, huge demand that people don't seem to know about, and they're considered vehicles. So you don't have to go through the traditional inspections and repairs that you would with a home." - Christopher Katende

"Working with mobile home park managers, getting to know them; again, relationships, treating them nicely, they will call you when they have a deal coming on, and you'll be the first to know."- Christopher Katende

"You have all these different investment vehicles in terms of real estate that you can get into. I think the most important thing would be figuring out what you want to achieve first, and then figuring out which area is best, and then narrowing it down going from there." - Christopher Katende

Connect with Mario Griffiths: