College Instructor Invests in Real Estate: Duplexes, ABNB, 11 Plex

A broken Canada? No way. We’re richer than ever but tell that to young people who don’t have rich parents, living on their own paying rent. $1,800 for a basement apartment? Welcome to the Truth About Real Estate Investing Show for Canadians.  We’re a little podcast that started in 2016 with well over 300 episodes, each an hour long and these days, we have an unpopular opinion depending on where you stand.  

Friend of the show, Scott Dillingham, owner of Lendcity who can co-broker as in accept referrals from other mortgage professionals to aid their clients in obtaining US mortgages with US lenders beyond the Canadian banks has been signing and onboarding over 20 agents and brokers.

I spoke to some of those veteran mortgage agents and one of them said “I see no business case to invest in a Canadian investment property unless the parent is buying a student home for their kids to go to college or university for ten years”

What I love about mortgage professionals is they know numbers hence they’re fans of US income properties over Canadian ones and I’ve yet to have anyone want to debate me I’m wrong.

Sure, they’re is good business to be done flipping, wholesaling, and developing which are active businesses, hardly passive investing but I’ve yet to have anyone disagree with me that US long term rentals are better than Canadian ones.

For that reason, I have a bad feeling for investor focussed real estate realtors and mortgage professionals going forward.  My advice to my clients is to diversify to the US, hold, maybe sell some Canadian properties if they’re unable to hold them or they no longer serve them.

I could be wrong but based on the information we have right now… for example, my colleague Tim Hong posted a reel to his instagram showing the difference between tenanted, 3 bedroom properties and vacant or owner occupied 3 bedroom properties in Kitchener-Waterloo.  Tenanted properties were selling for on average $60,000 less than non-tenanted properties and took 65% longer to sell: 38 days on market vs 23.  

Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/C-LRvqEvWyf/

This current market is telling us they value rental properties less than regular properties.  We are seeing the same even for vacant, legal duplexes in Hamilton.  My investment thesis was the house with the basement apartment aka mortgage helper would be the most desirable property as it would be more affordable than a single dwelling home.  Live in one unit, rent out the other but no, the market doesn’t want to be a landlord.

That may change as rates are cut further but the math is the math. Income properties in the USA have better numbers with less tenant risks, no rent control, no landlord tenant board.  To me, the more Canadian investors get educated on how easy it is to invest in the USA, the better so they can avoid the troubles I’ve had from three basement floods and four visits to the Landlord Tenant Tribunal, easily one of the most depressing places to me. 

And I can’t wait to lead the journey for many.  Speaking of, we are back on September 17th with an all new Free Training, a 101 of real estate investing to now incorporate the best practices of both local real estate investments vs. USA.  I’ll got more into detail about the house I bought in San Antonio, Texas for $120 per square foot or $265,000 for 2,200 square feet and $2,300 rent per month.  I’ll share my latest from my economic research including which market we’ve taken off the list for top areas to invest in which will again be an unpopular opinion but we can as we at SHARE can service all of the USA so we may cherry pick the best markets for the best returns.

“A Broken Canada? No way. We’re wealthier than before the pandemic…”  Some brighter news as per the headline of a recent Toronto Star article.  House owners and those with stock portfolios are generally better off than before the pandemic in terms of net worth.  I have no argument there. Where I disagree is in every conversation I have with someone from the real estate community or anyone younger than me with limited assets. They all complain about the lack of affordability and how they can make more money and pay less tax elsewhere.  Usually the USA or Dubai.  For lifestyle, I hear a lot about Mexico, Costa Rica or southern Europe.  The grass may seem greener on the other side but the truth is, we all know talented people who are investing outside of Canada, preparing to leave, or have left. Am I leaving? Just my capital.  I doubt my kids stay in Canada after University but they may have to leave for university as it’s so competitive to get into our excellent programs here while spots are reserved for international students.

Sadly, I won’t be surprised if my kids have to be international students somewhere outside Canada.

College Instructor Invests in Real Estate: Duplexes, ABNB, 11 Plex

Speaking of education, we have a college instructor on this week’s show! Brian Gordon is an old friend of mine from years ago, he works full time for the largest appraisal company in Canada, if not North America in Management.  Prior to that he worked as a Senior Property Tax Analyst for one of Canada’s largest REITs, if not the biggest.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brigor/

Brian has been methodically growing his own real estate portfolio over 7 years consisting of duplexes, a AirBnb in Blue Mountain, more recently an 11 plex development where he’s adding two additional units.

As mentioned Brian is the course creator and instructor of “Real Estate Investment Strategies” at George Brown College, a comprehensive, yet affordable course which is one of the big reasons why I wanted him on the show.  Real estate investing is largely about return on investment and that includes one’s education.  This course is only $392.24 for 20 hours including private 1 on 1 consultation time with Brian.  What an absolute steal.

Link: https://coned.georgebrown.ca/courses-and-programs/real-estate-investment-strategies-online

Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed recording this episode for you all to learn Brian’s tips and tricks so we may all improve our own businesses and you’ll want to hear about where Brian’s next investments will be and his views on Canadian opportunities.

Please enjoy the show!

Follow Brian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acquiring_wisdom/

To Listen:

** Transcript Auto-Generated**


(00:00) a broken Canada no way we’re richer than ever but tell it to young people who don’t have Rich parents living on their own paying rent 1,800 for a basement apartment yes that’s what I’m asking for my basement apartment not just one bacon welcome to the truth about real estate investing show for Canadians where’re a little podcast that started in 2016 with well over 300 episodes we’re probably approaching 350 by now each an hour long and these days we have an unpopular opinion depending on where you stand on the future for real EST investing in
(00:31) Canada friend of the show Scott dilam owner of Len City who can broker as in he can accept referrals from other mortgage professionals to who want to help their clients obtaining us mortgages with us lenders uh beyond the Canadian Banks um appreciate that Canadian Banks still use your local credit which most of us real Real Estate Investors don’t want to because we’re all tapped out anyways uh Scott’s been on boarding and signing uh a numerous number of mortgage professionals agents and Brokers so anyways I spoke to some
(01:02) of them uh just this past last week and one of them said uh again these are veterans uh to quote to quote Bill he said I see no business case to invest in a Canadian investment property unless the parent is buying a student home for their kids to go to college or university for 10 years end quote what I love about mortgage professionals is they know numbers hence they’re fans of well Bill and uh Dory and I are on a call because they want to learn more about us income properties because they’ve seen the numbers that we off that we’re that
(01:38) our clients are doing at share o over the Canadian deals that they they’re used to looking for and uh just quick side note I’ve yet to have anyone debate me uh that uh that I’m wrong anyways uh so there so yes I agree there is good business be done in flipping on repositioning properties wholesaling developing which are all much more active businesses or Investments so it’s hardly passive so again I agree with all those things there’s tons of that to be done I’ve seen I have lots of past guests of the show who are making making hay on those
(02:18) types of businesses um if you don’t believe me just look at you know half my past guess anyways uh but again I’ve yet to have anyone disagree with me that us long-term rentals uh are better than Canadian Mones pretty much again if you PLL Canadian investors these days there’s almost no one buying something that has long-term rental attached to it uh for that reason uh I have a bad feeling for investor focused real estate uh realter and uh mortgage professionals going forward my advice to my clients uh for many reasons uh other
(02:55) than just the state of the the Canadian Market is to diversify to the US hold uh maybe even sell some of their Canadian properties if they’re unable to hold them or if they no longer serve them uh I could be wrong I admittedly I could always be wrong but the I’ve been generally right on these long-term trends uh based on the information we have right now um for example uh my colleague Tim uh Tim Hong who on my team a member of Rockstar real estate like myself uh he posted a real on his Instagram showing the difference between
(03:26) ATT tenanted three-bedroom properties uh that are are vacant owner occupied again these are three bedroom properties in Kitchen warl Cambridge he he was showing stats comparing uh tenanted or occupi sorry tenanted properties versus vacant or or occupied properties the tenanted properties were selling for an average of $60,000 less than nonr tenanted properties and they took 65% longer to sell that’s 38 days on Market versus 23 and this is just what happens to sell now that’s not these aren’t perfect comparisons but that gives you an idea
(04:02) on what the market thinks about tenant properties so uh I posted I posted uh screen capture in the link in the show notes so you can grab it there or you can follow my my my colleague I recommend that you do follow Tim Hong on Instagram because honestly he’s hilarious and he tells it like it is which is why we get along so well uh the current market is telling us that they they they Value Rental Properties less than regular properties we are even seeing the same for vacant legal duplexes in Hamilton uh my investment my
(04:31) my investment thesis was the host with the Bas in our apartment AKA in in the west they call a mortgage helper I I always thought it would be the most desirable property as it would be more affordable than a sing than a regular single dwelling home live in one unit rent out the other but uh based on the market that we’re in today the market does not want to be a landlord of long-term rentals and then in general a lot of these markets are are quite against uh airb be short-term rentals in general uh so that may be the case may
(05:05) change once we have rate cuts and the market goes back to being nuts uh but the current math is the current math income properties in the USA have better numbers with less tenant risks no rent control no landlord ten boore uh to me the more investors the more conventing investors get educated on how easy it is to invest in the USA the better uh the better for them so they can avoid honestly the troubles I’ve been through I’ve had three basement uh three basement’s flood I’ve had four visits personally where I’ve had to go visit to
(05:35) the landlord tenant Tribunal for tenant issues for nonpayment of rent for tenant vandalism uh and if you’ve never been to the LTV before that’s a short term for it it’s easily one of the most depressing places to be uh so again I can’t wait I’m having so much fun in my work I cannot wait to lead the journey for many uh speaking of we are back on September 17th with an all new free training uh a 101 of real estate investing uh style to now incorporate the best practices of both local real estate investing and the USA I’ll go into more
(06:10) detail uh about the property I just bought in St San Antonio Texas uh so on realtor.com they actually list uh my property as having 2,200 fet I paid 265 for the house for all you condo investors out there you all know square foot costs so the math says I bought my house at $120 us per square foot how’s that compared to condos which are $ 13 to $1,800 a square foot oh also my rent is $2,300 per month I’ll share that my latest economic research including which markets which Market we recently took off our list to invest in which will
(06:51) again be an unpopular opinion uh but uh we at share we have no geography bias because we basically service the entire country um so if you can service the whole country why not just cherry pick the best markets with only Mark with Market leaders in their Industries making historic levels of investment to me it’s a very pragmatic decision a broken quote a broken Canada no way were wealthier than before the pandemic end quote uh some brighter news as per for the headline that is the headline of a recent tal Star article house owners and
(07:29) those with stock portfolios are generally better off now than they were before the pandemic in terms of net worth I have no argument there I person my client vast majority of my clients and I have benefited greatly U by holding properties since the p since before the pandemic started where I disagree though is that every conversation I have with someone in the real estate Community or anyone younger than me with limited assets they all complain about the lack of affordability um for anyone who’s a parent they all
(07:59) are concerned for their kids uh due to the lack of affordability um a lot of folks know they can make more money in the states or they have friends who are already leaving in Canada or have already left because they’re make they can go make more money in the states uh they can and there’s many places in the world they can pay more less tax maybe not many but generally the conversation centers around the USA or Dubai uh for lifestyle I’m hearing more and more Canadians are going to Mexico Costa Rica or even southern Europe the grass may be greener
(08:28) on the side but the truth is we all know talented people who are investing outside Canada for sure there’s t i we have my phone won’t stop bringing FK on on folks interested in investing outside of Canada there some folks are preparing to leave some have already left I was just the I was just chatting with uh friends who had moved to Florida and the question comes back to am I leaving right now just my capital is leaving uh based on the world today the way things are in Canada today I don’t expect my kids to stay in Canada
(08:58) after University uh for the same reasons I mentioned it before uh and uh and the other thing is I’ve spoken to a lot of parents who have kids in high school and they all tell me that the good programs here in Canada at our wonderful universities they’re really hard to get into like 90s 95s High 90s to get in honestly I don’t think my I don’t know if my kids have that in them uh and also where our local kids are having to compete with uh SP uh with International students a lot of stud spots are saved for international
(09:32) students so uh the writing’s on the wall I’m at least mentally preparing myself that my kids will have to be International students themselves as in they won’t go to school in Canada uh for College University sadly uh speaking of Education oh we have a college instructor on this week’s show Brian Gordon is an old friend of mine from years ago I believe we met both I think we first messed each other at rain uh he works full-time for the largest appraisal company in Canada if not North America in a management position uh I’ve
(10:06) linked his his LinkedIn in the show notes if you want to know who it is we’re we’re not naming it because we’re not we’re not here to promote his employer anyways prior to that he works for as a senior property tax analyst for one of Canada’s largest REITs if not the biggest uh you know working for the re that is owned by one of Canada’s biggest million billionaires again you can get the details on on uh Brian’s LinkedIn uh Brian has been methodically growing his own real estate portfolio over a 7-year period consisting of a dup a collection
(10:36) of duplexes an Airbnb in Blue Mountain and more recently an 11px uh development in Branford Ontario where he’s adding two additional units so super cool um adding value that’s typically a good way to go uh as mentioned Brian is a course creator and instructor of it’s called Uh real estate investment strategies at George Brown College a comprehensive yet affordable course which is one of the big reasons why I wanted to have him on the show real estate investing is largely about return on investment and that includes what one the dollars one
(11:08) invests in one’s education Brian’s the course that Brian teaches it’s only $392 24 cents uh and I’m pretty sure there’s government stuff out there that uh that will that will help you make this even cheaper it’s a 20-hour course and it includes some private one-on-one consultation Time with Brian that Brian will in the show what an absolute steal uh I’ve got a link in the show not show notes for this course again it’s real estate investment strategies uh online and if you add George Brown when you’re Googling you’ll find it that’s how I
(11:42) found it needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed recording this episode it’s always a pleasure to speak to folks who are very very well-versed in real estate investing again he’s been in full-time his day job is working in analyzing properties for over 10 years uh so you better believe Brian knows what the deal looks like and we need more of those folks in this community so anyways we’re going to learn Brian’s tips and tricks so we may all learn uh for ourselves to add so we may improve our own businesses Brian recently returned from
(12:16) Mount Everest or yeah I think that’s right uh inde he did kgal recently as well so he he’s here to share these absolutely extreme experiences and again talk about my favorite subject real estate investing uh and of course we you want to hear about Brian’s next Investments uh what his views are on the Canadian opportunities please enjoy the [Music] show hi Brian what’s keeping you busy these days what’s keeping me busy um I’d say probably my garden Suite that I’m working on right now um first time ever doing a garden Suite you know I think
(12:59) it’s the city of Toronto um introduced it what was it last year um changing zoning so I’m working on a converting a detached garage into uh one-bedroom Garden Suite so very excited about that project it’s my first Garden Suite ever so a lot a lot of learnings with that but very excited about that project now tell us some more uh are you is it going to be two unit one unit how you financing it yeah yeah great question so it’s going to be uh one unit it’s about 400 square feet so what makes the numbers work with this particular
(13:32) project is because I know a couple other investors that are building Garden suites and have built Garden Suite but on average you’re spending about $350,000 for a garden Suite give or take I know people Sor are you’re tearing down the garage so no so what makes my numbers work and what makes it make what makes it make sense is that I’m going to use my existing detach garage got it and convert that into the one bedroom so my all-in cost is going to be approximately $160,000 and that’s hard and soft cost so Renovations the hard cost is going to be
(14:04) about $130,000 and then soft cost and then I’m going to add you know I’m building a shed but anyways there’s some other ancillary things that I hadn’t expected um to or I didn’t budget for but roughly it’s going to be about 160,000 right and this particular property it’s a triplex in Toronto the young and fut exting Triplex then the the garage will be a fourth unit exactly sorry yeah no no the garage is going to be a fourth unit that’s right and so it’s a great location I should be able to get rents upwards of
(14:34) $2,400 plus utilities um and I had one of my property managers come out to you know take a look at the property and give me their you know their perspective on rents and so on so he said anywhere from 22 to $2,400 Daisy and so it makes sense so if I’m all in at $160,000 and you know my financing is at say 6% interest only it makes sense and you know as we all know interest rates have started to come down um there’s been two what interest rate decreases in the past what month or two yeah so and two more expected this
(15:11) year yeah exactly at least two more expected this year so it makes sense what I don’t think makes sense is building a garden suite and spending $350 to $500,000 and getting 26 $2,700 for rents right um and what but a lot of people are promoting it these days a lot of people are promoting this year and I have friends that done it and what I like with what I’m doing is and that’s was a this was an idea from my property manager is I think this property the specific property will will help with that missing middle um you’re not going
(15:42) to be able to put a family in there but you’ll be able to put a couple for you know a couple one or two people and it’s going to be relatively affordable um versus you know spending $35 $33,700 for a two or three bedroom Garden Suite right so I could have built a 2 or three bedroom Garden Suite 800 ft um but that would have cost me probably upwards of $350 to $400,000 right so I opted to just stick with the shell yeah spend $160,000 that increases affordability for many people and it just it just makes more sense so it’s a lot more
(16:18) affordable and it’ll attract a lot more people and that was kind of my rationale for sticking with the existing detach garage and not tearing it down and starting from scratch any feedback from the existing tenants in yeah Sorry’s up with that yeah oh yeah great question so that’s been a challenge dealing with tenants so anyone that has invested before and has done Renovations where there’s existing tenants there’s always going to be issues and I’ve done that with my first projects about seven years ago and I promised myself I would never
(16:48) do it again I had no choice because it’s a Triplex so I’m not going to get rid of all the tenants U myself included so there are challenges so one one of the things that happened is when I was getting the trench dug to put in the piping the contractor ran over one of my tenant bikes so warped the bike yeah and so my tenant showed me he was good about it he’s like you know I wasn’t going to make it a big deal but you know it’s going to cost quite a bit so I told him don’t worry about it just invoice me go get it fixed invoice me and I’ll pay for
(17:18) it um you know my uh the again when the trench was getting dug the contractor blocked in my tenant cuz my tenant didn’t move his car yet and so my tenant’s car was there and he couldn’t use it and he had to go out so I said you know I’m a very reasonable landlord and I believe in treating people fairly so I told my I told my tenant look if you need to go out take an Uber give me the invoice and I’ll pay for it right because you want to keep good tenant relations right um so I’ve had challenges with that and you know my my
(17:47) projects already should have been done technically this week but I’m only at the point where I’ll probably be calling for inspections early next week so I’m probably halfway there so I’m way behind schedule but again that being said when a contractor tells me a Project’s going to be done in a month I budget for two months so although I’m behind scheduled based on what he projected I in my mind I’m more or less on track I’m a little behind but I’m still more or less on track and neighbors been okay with this
(18:15) cuz you have right you have right to do this absolutely by you can do this yeah by right you can do this in the city of Toronto which is awesome and my neighbors actually have been awesome so my neighbor to my right he owns there’s a sixplex on the right side um of where I live and he’s very very nice guy and you know my my contractor damaged the fence right so he was very good about he didn’t even mention it I told him I’ll fix it um and actually I got to know him a lot better which is nice um but yeah there’s been no issues with with uh
(18:45) fantastic with tenants yeah sorry was not tenants my neighbors which has been good I don’t know if we mentioned for listeners benefit you live in the triplex yeah so I live in the top unit so when I purchased a Triplex 2 years ago two years ago yeah about two years just over two years ago the main the top floor was vacant um so I renovated it gutted it um almost to the studs and refinish the entire unit oh wow so it’s a 1200t unit it was a two-bedroom unit I then converted it into a 2+ one um beautiful unit my contractor did a
(19:19) fantastic job and um yeah so I live on the top unit and the main and the basement unit are currently rented MH and because it’s City Toronto that’s why you can get at these kind of rents you’re probably not far from the subway no so I’m probably a 10-minute walk to Finch Station amazing and then probably about 11 minute walk to North York Center so yeah so that’s why I can get these great rents because you know an older two-bedroom apartment would is renting for about $2,600 whereas I just rented my basement
(19:49) a two-bedroom basement about 800 ft um for 24 plus utilities right so those rents are pretty good amazing yeah because your walk score is probably like 99 exactly exactly walking score to everything shops like you said transit entertainment very cool now we’ve we’ve talked micro I want to talk to my backup now now um what I like about you as a guest is you your entire career has essentially been in real estate including your education can you can you share about that sure so I went back to school as a mature student probably
(20:25) about 12 years ago and so I got laid off from my job I used to work for the Law Society and I knew I wanted to go back to school I just didn’t know what program I wanted to take and so I scurried through all the colleges universities real estate has always been a passion of mine since I my early 20s and I wasn’t necessarily looking for a real estate program but I wanted to finally take a program that would interest me so anyways long story short I started looking at a number of programs and I found this program that
(20:56) was offered through the University of British Columbia and senica college it was a joint program and I started looking at the courses and they all resonated with me so it was like um real estate investment analysis um property tax and Appraisal property tax and assessment uh law courses real estate law and so it just it to me it was a no-brainer it was a two-year program but because I had um previous gone to University and college before I was able to accelerate it and do it in eight months right and uh which means so l
(21:29) courses yeah so less exactly less courses it was it was still tough though I think I was taking six to seven courses a semester okay versus normal is like five yeah versus normal so you’re like 20 40% more workload exactly so it was intense like I didn’t see my family for eight months it was insane but it was totally worth the sacrifice and so with that graduated with um that diploma certificate from UBC in property tax and assessment so I’m technically a qualified appraiser I can go and start appraising properties
(21:58) if I wanted to right now I work for an appraisal company I decided not to go that route um as soon as I finished school I was hired by one of the larger reachs yeah um so a big one yeah big one so Choice proper they used to be called Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust but they were bought by Choice Properties so they’re you know gayen Weston they own all the Shoppers Drug Mars the LA Blas Etc um throughout Canada so they’re huge R um one got be one of the biggest oh yeah by far they’re one of the biggest if not the
(22:27) biggest now since the merger and so they own office Towers commercial properties they own industrial again right across Canada so they’re Coast to Coast so I used to work in the property tax and assessment uh department so I’d manage Consultants do the budgets for property tax um related I do forecasting for future um developments when they’re finished you know how much they were pay in property taxes um but what again what was cool though what I got excited about is the fact that my vice president was the vice president of developments and
(22:56) so he was in charge of all the acquisitions and dispositions so I was sitting with all the guys that were buying properties that were you know budgeting for huge developments you know $2 billion office properties commercial properties so I was in that group so I got to see it hear it and again I’ve always loved real estate always passionate about real estate so I learned a ton you know just by being there and you know being around those guys and uh yeah so from there I got recruited um to one of the companies
(23:27) that does the assessment and um um assessment in Ontario um from actually one of my former professors um she was the vice president there and I got recruited from her and then so I moved over there and yeah so I’ve been with so what what year was that mov that year was 2015 December 2015 you’re making me age myself or when um for the listener’s benefit we have we need to justify your reason to be here absolutely why did you listen so yeah so December 2015 I started at um this assessment organization and I’ve been there for 8
(24:00) and a half years in management and a senior management position now oh sorry just for the listen benefit for privacy reason we’re not naming it but it’s a big one that everybody knows yeah absolutely absolutely absolutely um you know I’m not there on I’m not here on their behalf which is why I’m not going to name it but but yeah they’re the biggest in North America okay right and uh so yeah so I is a it’s a National Organization right no provincial provincial okay so every province has their own jurisdiction and
(24:30) even some provinces it’s broken down by municipality so but again we’re the largest in North America I believe definitely Canada but I’m pretty certain in North America right and then what what kind of real estate did you assess all of it any Farm everything so every single property type in Ontario so Farm um office Towers you know TD Tower downtown Sky doome yeah so failing marks for anyone who can’t guess who this is but basically basically you can easily Google it you can easily Google me right um but yeah they’re they’re
(25:06) they’re huge and you know again so I’m I love real estate passion about real estate this allowed me to be in the real estate industry from a different perspective because I work in stakeholder relations um there but and it’s good relations and to me that’s my when people ask you what’s your superpower it’s to me it’s it’s relationship like I’m a relationship person you know naturally I enjoy people I’m able to build relationships with people very naturally easy and so that’s you know it’s no surprise at my day job I’m in I
(25:39) guess stakeholder relations amazing yeah that’s cool so yeah you’ve seen lots of stuff yeah seen lots of stuff like I said my background educational background um is in real estate assessment Taxation and of course you know I’ve been a real estate investor I’d say seriously for about nine years um and and yeah so I I have the Practical I guess and the theory mhm behind what I do and your day job isn’t it yeah and you’re paid lots of money to do this stuff yeah I get paid decent I got paid decent definitely I have no
(26:09) complaints uh sorry quick question about the UBC synica program is it still around yeah absolutely it is around actually I met with the coordinator of the program a month ago cuz I started a scholarship um at the program I started it a couple months ago actually it was one of my goals this year um in honor of my brother who passed away years ago in a car accident s so thanks so I so I started a scholarship on on his behalf and I was just met with the dean for a coffee who’s a lovely person and uh we were just catching up so because again
(26:42) the program was like you said it’s still around very beneficial did a ton for me from a career standpoint yeah um and just I I can’t see enough about the program right right because before we recording we were talking about like private education around this and coaching programs and how you know they can range from like 10 to 35,000 I’ve seen yeah per year versus like how much do you think this how much is the UBC course for example uh the program probably you’re probably looking at I don’t know maybe two grand two three grand a semester I’m
(27:13) sure inflation but still you know say you spend 10 grand for the two semesters if you do the accelerated program which is what I did you’re you’re almost guaranteed a job right basically they have like a 90% um chance that you’ll get a job when because such huge demand and it’s such a niche industry so you can either do inhouse property tax for a major re you can work for an assessment jurisdiction you can work for as an appraiser you can work as a consultant for property tax like you have a lot of opportunities and because the industry
(27:44) is so Niche there’s just not a lot of people right I actually have this conversation with a lot of investors when they like they tell me about what they’re paying for coaching whatever and then they’re they want to they want to do a development project and learn on the job I’m like yeah why not just get a job yeah and then not risk your credit and capital in like your home which is often the security for the development yeah yeah no absolutely like you can go learn on someone else’s dime and get paid for it well that’s it so but you’re right
(28:11) though right cuz it’s a it’s a win-win you’re learning you’re getting paid for it and you know most people I would argue and the best way to learn is learn by doing right and so you get to learn on someone else’s dime yeah you get paid yeah you mentorship it’s all part of the job you don’t have to pay for it exactly so to me it’s a win-win right right um and which is kind of how it worked out with me fortunately um especially at at the re right yeah so you you you have a wealth of knowledge to apply to your own
(28:41) portfolio so tell us about tell us about what are you investing sure so so this is your own portfolio yeah so my own personal portfolio that I built over the past seven years consists of several triplexes in Pickering and ashaa specifically um so you know the Ty go buy a detached property at a legal secondary Suite so I have several duplexes in again aswa Pickering I have a Airbnb in Blue Mountain that’s worked out really well I bought that about seven years ago8 minutes yet I paid $250,000 for a three bedroomroom four
(29:15) bath town home and uh 9 minute walk to the Village my actually my son and his friends are there right now sorry for the listeners benefit this is our I don’t really want to say it but it’s like a equ it’s Ontario’s equivalent to Whistler yes yeah Fair yeah fair not as nice but not as nice not not world class skiing but you know Ontario is really populated so they get a ton of people up there it’s a huge tourist destination humongous huge and so with that prices have you know more than tripled since I bought it so I I that property that was
(29:48) more luck than anything else and so I bought that with some investors so that worked out really well um I have a that Triplex that I’m converting now to a fourplex Young and Finch which which I bought two years ago I have a 11 unit building in Brandford where I bought with my partner and I we currently adding two more units so the property is more or less stabilized now which is awesome we bought that just under a year ago we bought that last year August closed on it last year August and we’re just working on like I said we have
(30:20) permits for the 12th unit we’re working on we’re getting a we applied for a minor variance for the 13th but that should go through and then we’ll be able to add two more units to that are these additions or within the existing envelope yeah so so one of them is we’re converting the washer the the laundry room laundry room thank you to a unit and then so that’s in the existing envelope and so we’re relocating the laundry room into the hallway the hallway is massive it’s a waste of space so we’ll close it off and add the washer
(30:51) and dryers there and then the other one we’re adding on top of the um existing envelope of the property so cost a bit more but okay so it’s like a top up exactly exactly how much is a topup cost so we don’t have many people doing top-ups in we’re budgeting about 160 grand for it because it’s going to be a small unit so it shouldn’t cost too much really cuz we’ll make the building is Brick but we’ll just use vinyl for this for the side we’ll put it off to the side so it won’t cost too much okay um how long does that take and there many
(31:21) contractors that do this yeah yeah so we’re we we’re still in the process of getting quotes because we’re still W we’re still waiting for the minor variants um but we got a quote for the first one I think we budgeted 70 grand for the first one because we’re using the existing envelope it’s it’s like a 400 square feet property around there and um so that’s not going to cost a lot Plumbing is already there electrical is already there it’s just about running um further plumbing and of course your framing your studs your drywall Etc
(31:50) kitchen bathroom exactly exactly IKEA style right um so that’s so that’s ongoing U my part George he takes the majority of lead on that so shout out to George and U also Sir George is more like the like the operations guy yeah he’s the operations guy so it’s interesting we so we’re both active investors and I’ve never I’ve never been a passive investor in my life so when we decided to team up to do this project you know we were talking back and forth you know who’s how do we do this right and I reached divide up the work right so I reached
(32:20) out to one of my mentors um ask him like you know you know how should we divide it how should we do it what are your thoughts and I got and he the exact same thing so the long story short is he takes most of the lead you know I provide you know my expertise in terms of knowledge um you know resources where he needed but he does a lot of the boots on the ground work which looking back at it now I’m glad I live in Toronto yeah bf’s a little far for you far for me much closer for him and traffic’s horrendous traffic’s horrendous and it allows me to
(32:51) continue working on my projects allows me to continue teaching and do all the great things that I really prefer to do yeah things you enjoy exactly and it’s a different tenant profile right and that’s one of the things what do you mean between braford and Toronto evening but even but even just the product type right so everyone touts multif family and multif family is great but you with multif family unless the property is in Toronto and even Toronto has sketchy multif family um um tenants but the tenant profile is just very different
(33:26) yeah for 11 unit in Brandford will be different than a duplex in aswa very different very different right like asosa you have workingclass people they’re not going to skip out on on your rent assuming you know you you you screen properly um I’ve never had an issue with a tenant in terms of R paying rent whereas Branford again totally different tenant profile apartment um but you’re also assuming these tenants you didn’t place them exactly totally different yeah so we got I think three or four units were vacant when we got it
(33:56) and now it’s fully stabilized which is is great we’re getting great rents um so right you know things are looking good but still different tenant profile which well an 11 unit in ashaa would likely have a similar profile to Brandford absolutely versus the duplex because the rents are in the duplex are way higher so again the price point kind of filters out your like well sort out your demographic yeah exactly price point and and and your T target audience with a duplex you’re going to get a small family one kid maybe two again they’re
(34:24) not going to skip out on on your rent you know in the middle middle of the night and do a and dash right you’re not going to get that generally speaking I’m generalizing but you’re not going to get that type of tenant profile with a duplex um whereas 12 Unit in ashaa or brenford some of those tents have probably been there forever exactly exactly so some like be on government assistance and again I’m generalizing stere for sure you get talking from my experience you get that and that’s why for me I’m decided to stick with you
(34:56) know like singles duplex Triplex because of the ten yeah and what I’m looking for in life yeah like yeah I the same thing like I think everyone should just um Define who they want as their Customer because you’re going to be they’ll be part of your life yeah so if if if certain people you don’t want to be part them to be part of your life then maybe that’s not for you agree like for example like in an 11 Plex in Branford so I’ll use my own experience like if it was an 11 Plex in Hamilton you know probably half the
(35:24) units the tend to smoke which is their right I don’t like smoke so I don’t want to be there so that’s why it’s not part of my strategy yeah and we had that same issue too when we moved in for months tenant smoking your Tri no not no not the Trix no in the uh Branford got it yeah all right so to your point my in my Triplex I have young the true definition of like young professionals just both graduated from um UFT master’s program got jobs before they graduated and working I think for celestica and oh they’re making good
(35:59) money though yeah yeah both making good money young tech people um yeah and my other tenant is an engineer yeah right so totally different tenant profile right which I prefer I want I want peace in my life yeah yeah right and again I don’t I I am passionate about real estate but I’m more passionate about traveling and spending time in family so amazing that’s my focus okay we need to take the travel but I still need to get the George Brown can I say that yeah yeah of course absolutely yeah how do you end up teaching college yeah so so
(36:30) great question something that I didn’t expect I would do too so one of my best my best friend uh we we go out once a month we’ll have dinner we’ll talk about life like everyone else business Etc and I told him that I want to create a a program and a real estate program for um new investors and I’m thinking about may maybe not sure how I’ll set it up would I do a workshop on the weekend like many other investors um but I wanted to teach it at a college and he was like yeah that’s a great idea he’s like well I’m uh you know I teach
(37:03) at George Brown and I can connect you and I’m like oh my gosh I forgot that you teach there right so the next day it’s it’s a part-time thing for him too totally yeah yeah he he doesn’t teach you anymore he actually he facilitates the the um he’s just one of the coordinators so he built um an HR program there and so he he connected me with the dean of continuing education and we had a like a three-hour conversation back in um your first conversation was 3 hours about 2 hours about a 2our conversation we hit it off
(37:35) still long yeah we hit it off really nice guy he was totally um interested and and in what I was going to going to uh offer in terms of you know the Target and George Brown doesn’t have a program like that and I don’t think any college has a program like that and um so he looked me up you know he did some research on me I could tell he went on my LinkedIn profile and obviously wanted to make sure I was credible and you know did some other due diligence and then he called me back a couple weeks later and he’s like yeah we’d love to have you
(38:02) teach so I developed the program the curriculum and uh that took several weeks and then I started teaching so the course is geared to new investors and the reason I did that is selfishly is because I know when I was in my early 20s you know internet wasn’t as readily available as it was you know I had no one to go to you know I guess the typical immigrant parents they were trying to you didn’t have a smartphone that used access the internet no not at all and I didn’t have anyone in my circle that I could use as a mentor or
(38:34) leverage and so that’s why I wanted to create this program that could be a starting block for new investors right um like someone like the 20-year-old you yeah ex exactly a 20-year-old me surprisingly enough my my the age range of the program is probably on uh probably maybe 40 right because it is done through the continuing education program okay in the evening so which is fine though because these people are more likely to take action this age group they either have a house or they’re thinking about buying a house so I just hope more young
(39:08) people would take it too some 18y olds 20y olds no I haven’t I think the youngest person in my program so far is probably late 20s right because I’m guessing they don’t get a they don’t this this credit isn’t credited to wordss or diplomas exactly exactly it isn’t credited towards a certificate program or diploma and nor do I want to build a curriculum that way way like my focus is just to give them enough tools and I try to make it as practical as possible that’s the benefit right not just Theory just practical so I provide resources I
(39:39) provide podcasts you know like so one of my slides is here are some real estate investment groups in Alberta because I have students in Alberta I had a student reach out um from New Brunswick that’s going to take my course so I find real estate groups saying Hey cuz to me one of the things that you should do as an investor is join a real estate group like that propelled me as a new invest and durh exactly durh sh Quinton yeah shout out quintona and that helped Propel my investment career and so that’s one of the things I promote right
(40:09) so I have a slide with you know a number of real estate groups in the GTA that I think are credible I have you know podcast you know one of the podcasts that I listen to right again free education so yes you are going to have to pay for certain things but you know what are what are other ways that you can educate yourself um and podcast is a great way it’s free you can listen to it at your leisure so again practical tools I try to I provide to the students and steps that they can take to start their Journey amazing how long did it take you
(40:40) to put together this course oh probably about a month and a half right how many hours do you think that was oh god of effort maybe 50 hours okay 50 hours um the good part is a lot of the knowledge I already had a lot of the knowledge it was just putting it on paper putting it on a slide deck presenting it properly making sure that I’m not using a lot of jargon and I can explain it easily to the students and then you know where I have the gaps because I’m definitely not an expert in every field I’ll bring in a
(41:16) expert in the industry right so if I want to present on short short-term rentals or midterm rentals I’ll bring in a midterm Rental specialist um if I’m really passionate about a project um or shouldn’t say a project but a strategy that I think is working right now I’ll bring in an expert on that strategy if I’m not the expert so it’s awesome because you know you have you get to obviously hear me speak and and you know try to share my knowledge but then you also have experts in the industry that you wouldn’t typically have access to
(41:46) unless you’re paying hundreds of dollars or thousands of dollars for coaching or workshops Etc and so it’s it’s a huge win for the students and where can people find more information on on the George Brown course yeah so if you go to George Brown continuing education uh course you can find it there I think it’s under the business um program but I I would just type up real George Brown real estate investment strategies and it’ll come up so again just type George Brown real estate investment strategies and you’ll see the course I typically
(42:14) run it each semester so the next course starts I think September 11th and then I I run it again in the winter and I think the next course is around February and then I take the summer off because I like to spend time with family and and just relax and it’s it’s $10 to $35,000 to take this course it’s actually 26,000 no I’m kidding so again for limited time only for limited time only there’s only eight slots left run to the back of the room going back to what I said earlier I wanted to provide the education to the audience again I
(42:48) thought about myself when I was in you know when I when I was 20 years or 20 years ago and I couldn’t afford a course for 10 or $5,000 25 years ago and so I wasn’t going to even consider charging that much I wanted to make sure it was accessible and affordable for the average person so the course is around $400 and it’s eight courses for roughly three hours I think it’s two and a half hours once a week so it’s a very affordable course and what I like is that so a lot of people like you irn they’ll reach out to me on Instagram and
(43:21) say hey can I pick your brain can I take you for lunch and you know I’m probably too nice when it comes to that I will always do it and so now what I do is and you know it’s not and I’m not promoting my course but what I tell them is take the course and then I’m happy to have a couple consults with you after because I know that if you are serious you’ll spend $400 but if you’re not serious you’re not going to spend $400 and I’m frankly I’m just not going to spend time with you right yeah so that especially with like absolute begin your questions
(43:52) should I incorporate or not uh what are the top cities to invest in yeah yeah that’s that’s like the number one rookie question I always tell people that what what uh should I incorporate now or later like but yeah so it allows me to actually step one figure out how to make money basically right we’re all going to pay taxes yeah so it allows me to sift through people that are actually going to take action um which you know so so to spend $400 not a lot of money they can start to learn and then like I said I I do provide my time I tell each
(44:23) student I’ll give them three hours of free consult to help them along their Journey right afterwards for a $400 course yeah where they’re going to learn a bunch of stuff to get three hours of your time as well yeah which is insane I mean I know myself I’ve paid $400 an hour to consult with certain people yeah well our lawyers are like right and I even saying other Real Estate Investors that I respect I’ve spent upwards of $400 for an hour of consult right so you’re getting I don’t know what is it 24 hours for $400 so anyways I think it I
(44:57) think it’s a great program um especially for what you’re what you’re paying and it’s it’s a great way to start you know if you’re a seasoned investor this is definitely not for you um but for those people that want to start the process and they have they don’t know where to go they don’t have resources then this is a great way to start I always think it’s good for refresher as well especially for $400 and you can take this anytime you want you deliver it live looks like I deliver it live September’s delivered live 6 6:15 p.m.
(45:25) on Wednesdays delivered live and you get the recording yeah you get the recording right how long you get to keep the recording you can keep it as long as you want if you download it oh wow yeah which is cool yeah okay and you get you get my slides as well um but and you get to meet other people you get to build relationships with other industry folks because again I bring in a lot so what I’ve heard from many students is that one of the greatest benefits that they’ve seen is that the resources that I bring that I
(45:53) bring in right so again I bring in experts in the industry um from you know whether it’s folks in the west whether it’s folks in the East so you know if you live in the East or you want to invest in the east then I’ll bring in experts in the East that can whether it’s a real estate agent whether it’s a mortgage specialist to um you know to help people on their Journey because as you know Irwin if you’re going to become an investor you want to work with investor focused everything investor focused agent investor focused mortgage
(46:20) broker investor Focus appraiser etc etc and so these are the resources that I bring in that I make available to my students which otherwise they wouldn’t know how to do folks you’ve already vetted exactly yeah cuz I you and I both know that you can’t trust everybody oh gosh and that’s one of the things I stress on my course is that just because someone’s on Instagram yeah you know in front of a plane or in front of a fancy car means nothing yeah a lot of those people went bankrupt recently yeah exactly sadly so sadly to your point you
(46:50) know I make sure I vet the people and that you know they’re aligned with my values right it’s not all about money yeah we all want to make money that’s fantastic but like they actually truly want to help people that’s important to me yeah amazing and we before we recording we were talking about like return on investment you know if your investment for Education starts at $400 there’s a good chance your return on investment will outperform no question a lot of things yeah right no question I know I know I’ve had people on the show
(47:19) who who’ve taken like $30,000 programs whatnot I had one that took I had someone that took paid 40,000 and it was complet they said it was complete sham uh so you know negative Roi for 40,000 but again like you know this is a small bite yep small bite great way to leverage resources great way to see if you want to get started and you know one one of my first class I tell people tell my students that you know before you even consider becoming a real estate investor you need to decide what type of real estate investor you want to be
(47:53) meaning are you going to be an active partner are you going to be a passive um um investor sorry active investor or passive investor and I met one of my students um I won’t say her name but she she was actually at the event I saw you at that Rockstar event the last one actually and um she’s a doctor and she’s like I don’t need the money obviously right but I’m going to retire soon and I need someone to keep myself stimulated and so I told I told her and I met her after and I said you need to figure out what type of investor
(48:22) you want to be based on where you are and then we met her for a coffee a couple weeks ago and she said she’s like okay Brian I’ve decided I want to be a passive investor for now until I wind up my practice and then also become active and I’m like awesome you know now your next step is deciding who you want to partner with right so again everyone thinks they want to become an investor or an active investor but there’s other ways to become um an investor right like through channels like share um which we’ll probably talk about later but
(48:49) there’s different ways to still invest in real estate but not be an active investor as you know Irwin right I will say and I think always it always I always like to repeat it is uh in my experience people who get rich are generally the ones who who are somewhat active by definition they’re active and I’ll qualify by that saying U they’re they’re 100% owners yeah right it’s it’s I don’t know many passive investors who get rich going that way if they get rich if they make a lot of money like a million or more it’s typically because
(49:21) they have a lot of money to put in right exactly and they don’t need the money originally right it’s just a great way for them to diversify and on the flip side though the people who are losing their shirts were the active investors as well true so more risk right more risk more risk but then we we this the stuff that’s going on that like neither of you or I were ever touch no no like we before we were recording you were talking about and I say this all the time I do one project at a time y right like my Project’s not over until tenants
(49:48) in rent rent’s being paid and collected and properties refinance for me like again I’m very methodical and some people will say slow so part of the that my investment Club I know people are doing FES or were doing five or six Burrs flips at the same time and I’m like wow that’s fantastic but I’ve always said I’m going to buy renovate you know Place ATT tenant like you said refinance the property and once my refinance is done then I’ll take a break for couple weeks and then I’ll look for the next property so that cycle is
(50:18) usually about 8 months from beginning to end and so I you know for the past seven or eight years I’ve been buying a property about every eight months but it worked for me I have two kids I enjoy full-time job I and a parttime job and a parttime job and now I teach as well so you know my time is very precious like most of ours and I want to make sure that I’m using my time in the best way and I don’t want I don’t I don’t need to do two or three Deals you know simultaneously I don’t need that for my goals again and you know or I don’t have
(50:52) to tell you but one of the first things you should do when when you become an investor is saying you know what are my goals what are my objectives what am I trying to achieve and I didn’t that was a mistake I made I just did what everyone else was doing but um you need to decide like what are what are your goals what are your objectives and the strategy should then be determined based on what your objectives and goals are right where they should align and so you really need to determine like what are you trying to achieve with your
(51:18) Investments um so yeah that’s kind the point of the show as well is like if uh for example I have like I’ll have like stars like yourself like Thea like Ryan Carr on the show and then I extract from them like what their day-to-day looks like what what that period of life has been like for them to to You Know M build massive portfolios and now for an investor who’s listening to this like I want to be like Ryan Carr like okay understand Ryan car is like a 7 to S guy seven days a week 7:00 a.m.
(51:48) to 7 p.m. that’s how he works like oh I don’t want to do that but I want the same results like can’t have it both ways I don’t know how you get there is my point and that’s kind of the point of the show when I have people like that on right like you know and then like for me I know I’m not that so I Stay in My Own Lane agree right and again that’s the kind of the point of the show like this is how they got there and now decide for yourself where you fit into that yeah I agree with you 100% And I remember when
(52:11) I was when I was traveling with Quinton last month he said to me he’s like you know there’s times that I’m very stressed like there’s a lot of stress that comes with having a portfolio and it really made me think to exactly what you were saying like you know it’s great to be extremely successful but understand that there’s downsides right stressed um you have to be available you know so it’s in many cases you can’t have it both ways like you have to put the work in you have to put the time in if you want a mass a massive portfolio
(52:41) yeah and and uh and like we are in real estate winter right now I was talking to uh someone you know someone you know as well who whose apartment buildings to sell and I don’t even think they’re getting showings and she’s a great investor and she your buildings aren’t even getting showings yeah right I know who you’re talking about yeah so it’s whereas fast forward or go back two years ago and people were buying side on scene yeah villains were going like hot cake Hot Cakes it’s six PL I’ll write the offer right now yeah no totally I
(53:12) remember I was flying looking at look looking for apartment buildings it was it was a totally different environment totally crazy totally crazy um but you know and everyone was celebrating everyone was making money but like uh but yeah so many people have gone quiet social media right now for example yeah well it’s again it’s telling and again I tell my students yeah the war Muffet quote right yeah like when what does it go again when when the goes out yeah you know who’s swimming naked and this is what you’re seeing so I expect to see a
(53:43) lot of investors disappear a lot I expect to see only a few investors really left over the next couple years which is why I still think there’s you know there’s still a ton of opportunities depending on the strategy but a lot of people have already disappeared right you know you’ve seen the news um headlines like I have you know we’re in the Investment Circle you know we you know I hear things people that I know that have done extremely well you know they tell me about other people that have reached out to them and
(54:10) see if they see if they’re buying yeah yeah yeah I have this to sell you buying exactly so although again what people yeah we went from flying to fine building leads to sellers of of owners of apartment buildings calling you to see if you’re buying you’re 100% right people reached out to me and said hey this person’s selling their buildings they’re offloading all their buildings really but it’s it’s just a different time and you have to understand that and some of the great best advice I’ve gotten from one of my previous mentors
(54:39) was that you have to have staying power and I was like what do you mean what do you mean by that right and what he said is older guy’s I think he’s probably 60 and so he’s been through the ups and downs of the real estate cycle and he’s like you know there are going to be bad times and you you need to have you need to be liquid enough to get through those bad times and Co taught me if Co taught me anything was that from a financial standpoint was that when covid hit I wasn’t liquid um April rolled around and like
(55:14) many investors I was very concerned because we thought you know Doug Ford was telling people not to pay rent um politicians were saying not to pay rent I love that and so I was worried right that who wasn’t exactly every investor was worried everyone was sh so I’m running I’m running all these models saying okay what do I look like and I had access to you know line of credits and so on right I access a ton of line of credits but I did not have a lot of cash right right you know give God thanks all my tenants continued to pay
(55:43) but it taught me a lesson without going through the lesson was that I was not comfortable relying just on my helocs to get me through bad times so I started raising Capital right enough Capital right to to get me through the back at times which is actually the only reason why I was really able to buy that apartment building that I bought last year because I had Capital um for an emergency fund MH so you know a lot of people have have come through the situation where you know we’re all dealing with rough times
(56:13) now because of interest rates but you know a lot of people are overleveraged they have no Capital available and no liquidity they have no liquidity right no credit no credit no liquidity and sorry I’ll clarify credit like they’re credible it says lenders ain’t lending lenders aren’t lending you know they have to exit deals like we were talking about with private money um you know I raise private money for this this uh duplex s not duplex this building that we bought fantastic deal we did a vtb and then a good friend of mine led us to
(56:49) rest privately um but I made sure that I had like threee btb right because I knew this wasn’t going to pass anytime soon soon um and so so far it’s working out extremely well but I told people if you’re going to do a btb now or private funds you better have it for at least two to three years at a minimum and this was about a year ago yeah get through real estate winter get through real estate winter but um but yeah so it’s tough times you know I don’t wish ill on anyone I hope everyone’s able to make it through this you know this downturn but
(57:21) that’s not going to be the situation no it’s going to be pretty bad yeah yeah it’s going be this is going to be the worst correction I’ve seen because um you I I saw some people go belly back in 0807 0708 but the commun the investment the community is way larger now yeah and there um and The Leverage that people took on was way higher than back then yeah by far Yeah by far by far so we are going to see way more Carnage here cuz a lot of it was hard money loans in this current time versus back then it was people with people it was largely equity
(57:56) deals back then yeah yeah but the cash flow just yeah well the credit ran up credit problems cash flow problems and that that put people under but like all the this current generation they never learn from those mistakes because they’re brand new y yeah and they never like I said experience there’s one thing you know when you when you teach Theory or you listen to Theory but you really learn through taking action and actual practical experience and a lot of these folks have never been through a downturn yeah right so they don’t know how to
(58:24) react yeah 2008 was a credit crisis meaning there was no credit so your portfolio should be stress tested against what if you can’t get more credit yeah and most people don’t even understand that right so again I stress tested my portfolio I don’t know I can’t tell you how many times over the past three years right whereas you know newer investors I mean you upwards of five years they probably don’t even know how to stress test their their portfolio properly because they they can just continue to raise money right right or
(58:51) or or interest rates not interest rates or values continue to go up so it’s you know it’s good times and you know even myself included I got pretty comfortable in that prices were just going up right um but you know it’s unfortunate but again I think there’s going to be more opportunities because there’s going to be a lot less investors right in the next for people who have capital and credit exactly for people which we’ve always known yeah you have capital on credit you will win Agreed 100% now we Al you and I have also talked about a
(59:19) bit about the states as well what what are you seeing I think most people know where our standpoint is yeah I think most people and like I said recording I don’t want to drink my own Kool-Aid no no no but I so here’s there’s a couple reasons I like the states I think Canada you know and I love Canada I was born and raised in Canada is on an economic decline right like even if you don’t understand money and I spend a lot of time understanding money money supply um the history of money and how money works and so on
(59:50) right but even if you don’t understand that and you know you’re not really into that Canada has has and had a a productivity problem right we’re just not productive which is interesting considering that we bring in and I was thinking about this on the way here we we bring in record numbers of immigrants and especially way more per capita than the US oh yeah then you ask yourself why is Canada not as productive right because a lot of the productivity The Innovation the entrepreneurship comes from immigrants right at least in the
(1:00:23) states and some degree here too so why musk was an immigrant yeah so so why do we have such a productivity problem right and we could spend hours talking about that but the reality is Canada is on an economic decline um our productivity is like the lowest I think in the G7 and the bright spot of Canada right now is Alberta because of oil of course um but and they’re attracting all the talent of people and they’re attracting all the talent absorbing it from everyone else and they have aord housing so where does that leave the rest of
(1:00:59) Canada um we live in Ontario you know you probably know Ontario has the highest sub sovereign debt in the world meaning if Ontario was a country they’d be the most indebted in the world most people don’t know that so think about that for a second yeah and while our services haven’t improved hasn’t Ser has healthare and education haven’t improved so what does that mean Irwin it means that governments have to raise taxes which they did which they did and will continue to raise taxes um it means that it will be tougher for
(1:01:29) landlords or rental providers going forward investors period investors period there’s no question in my opinion so if you believe those things which I do I think it’s prudent to look elsewhere so and I also realized too and a friend of mine was telling me this when we were traveling it’s like he said he owns a number of properties in the States because a him and his wife were thinking about moving there wintering there but also he never has to change you his Canadian currency when he travels to the US and I’m like that’s a
(1:02:02) fantastic idea if nothing especially at today’s rates especially at today’s rates they were like 72 cents right now yeah especially after the most recent announcement uh interest rate announcement yesterday and so you ask yourself where are you going to go right you know we we border the the country that has the largest um the largest economy in the world or is almost everything right and that has similar property rights which are important to Canada yeah and that’s still very productive and still has the the world
(1:02:42) Reserve currency sure it’ll be gone in 20 30 years but yeah yeah we’ll be dead i’ probably be dead by then I may be dead by then no maybe not yeah but but I’ll be well set up for it exactly that’s my point that’s my point right so I’ve started doing some research I started talking to different people i’ I’ve had a couple calls with Sher I started doing my own macro research um no different than what I teach in you know my course and we should have lunch and talk about it totally should so I’ve narrowed down my search to Atlanta oh
(1:03:12) that’s where I’m going to buy and I started researching the neighborhoods the only thing I don’t know with is am I going to go with am I going to get use share to support the process for the first couple properties and go on my own or do I just go on my own and just start buying so that’s that’s where I’m at right now I want to take a trip to Atlanta either this month MH or next month just deciding on life because I may have some Life Changes soon so if that does happen then I’ll probably go in mid August um if not I’ll go in I’ll
(1:03:42) go September and do boots on the ground and and just to get a feel I’m a very visual tactile person so I like to see touch and feel and I find taking a couple trips out there um just to get a feel of communities and so on make sense but I’m I am my focus after completing this Garden Suite in Toronto will be the US um single family homes yeah yeah and I I keep having to CU Canadians are generally marketed courses around much more advanced things I find CU because there’s no cash flow in single family homes condos single
(1:04:15) detach duplexes really y so almost everyone comes to me like oh I’m on a garden Suite I’ll buy a apartment building like in your they’re a complete novice and they’re like why are you buying single family home in the states like so like literally my house in San Antonio is a 5.1 cap rate Wow versus duplexes for my math for like Osa Ottawa Hamilton roughly about like a 4.1 to 4.
(1:04:40) 3 yeah and think about it right if you could buy a single family house in a GTA you would go nuts and just start buying single family homes right the least tenant issues yeah at least tenant issues um you’re not dealing with multiple tenants you don’t have to split the utilities split you’re getting a higher profile tenant your property manager loves you property manager loves you it just makes sense so you can go to the largest economy in the world in great neighborhoods beautiful homes oh they’re so nice and cash flow or break even on a single
(1:05:15) family house yeah yeah why would I complicate it I’m a simple guy Irwin so to me it just makes sense from a currency diversification standpoint a geographic diversification standpoint and like I said unfortunately things are going to get worse in so many different ways in Ontario again whether it’s it’s um increased taxes U more Pro um tenant legislation anti- landlord anti capitalist sentiment anti- capitalist sentiment anti- bus sentiment at some point people are just going to give up investors right and seen well yeah you
(1:05:56) see it I’m sure you saw the same stats the same stats I saw where they said there were record outflows of capital um in Canada record right B Canadians Canadians aren’t investing locally Canadians aren’t investing locally and although people will always hate on landlords but the reality is you know there are small landlords like us or rental providers like us that are you know that own one to 20 units we’re the ones that are responsible for producing like 80% of the housing in Ontario by adding one two or three Suites so if
(1:06:29) people like us are leaving and I can’t tell you irn there’s not a there’s not a real estate meeting or real estate session that goes by where I speak to an investor that either has left or they’re thinking about leaving mhm yeah wait till I talk to them honestly so not everyone’s going to leave and don’t get me wrong I still think there’s opportunities here from like small development intensification yeah but I think you really I think if you look long term the opportunities are going to dry up in the GTA yeah in the next I don’t
(1:07:08) know three four years yeah like even just simply like my my uh cash to close in my house in San Antonio is 67,000 American wow right like that’s your hard cost on your garden Suite or 130,000 Canadian I paid I paid what did I pay I paid I think I paid like 25,000 land transfer tax oh my God on this Triplex I bought two years ago was insane some ridiculous amount Hey cuz it’s Toronto yeah CU of Toronto you’re paying double land transfer tax but you know I I think it’s prudent to start looking at other options yeah
(1:07:46) my advice to my clients is um you know you don’t have to sell everything but your your next purchase you have to compare to what we’re doing in the States agree agreed and and I’m not going to like there’s a couple properties I have I don’t I don’t usually buy new construction at all but I did buy a new construction um in Georg and Bay I paid 600,000 for 2200t end unit town home on a golf course sounds amazing yeah fantastic deal it’s gone up hundreds of thousands of dollars and they keep pushing the closing which is
(1:08:17) fantastic for me um but I also own a property in Blue Mountain with investors that property the property in Georgia Bay I won 100% And but I I’m not going to keep both properties right like I don’t need two I don’t need both properties so I’ll sell one of those and I’ll divert that cash to the states um but I will sell one or two properties and invest there and right now I’m just in the process of raising capital and I’ll use some of my own to make my first purchase but I think you have to look outside of Ontario or Canada I think you
(1:08:50) we’re we’re at a point now where it’s not a nice to have it’s a I think you almost have to start looking outside to me I think it’s a baseline I think I think a share of property for everyone in that and you know obviously I’m biased but Al straight up I make more money selling a local property in commission wise than I do in in the states not even close uh but yeah so my bias my professional opinion is a share of property should be everyone’s Baseline and compare everything against that yeah both in terms of cash flow return and
(1:09:22) effort and capital out outlay right like we know many people who are shelling up 300 350 to build Garden suites yeah right 350 I know a friend of built the 350 I know someone who spent 500,000 yeah and you get no land with that right and because we in real estate cuz we want hard assets yeah I get I have a large lot in the state I’m getting my San Antonio property but but it’s a good point though because if you spend 350,000 on a garden Suite you 200,000 yeah but let’s say you’re going to be conservative you wanted to dip your feed
(1:09:54) in and you bought it cash 300,000 like I don’t know or like it said buy two properties spit it I don’t know I just think at that at this point now a lot of investors are looking for ways to continue to invest and until something changes with Garden suites the math doesn’t make sense because if you spend $350,000 you’re better off lending it at 10% ideally using two tfsas so you don’t pay taxes and then you pay tax on the other because interest interest interest income is taxed high and but otherwise like it it doesn’t make
(1:10:29) Financial sense I’m generalizing to build a garden Suite yeah I agree with that right I don’t even think it makes sense for a basement Suite no because if you spend say you spend 80 grand on a basement Suite 90 oh that’s a cheap one okay yeah I mean if you’re if you don’t have connection you’ll spend 130 but I would probably end up spending about 90 right it’s still worth it because 90 so you do that in Ashawa you’ll get $1900 rent it’s still worth it now if I know people a friend of mine she just finished a
(1:11:01) basement she spent 180 Grand for basement and some cosmetic finishes at the top so at some point it doesn’t make sense but it doesn’t make sense because the purchase price is too high so whether it’s whether it makes sense to spend the money on a basement apartment you can’t buy the house to spend the money on the basement apartment because prices are too high so it doesn’t make sense dup the duplex formula is gone that ship has sailed years ago it doesn’t make sense which is why people are you know pushing Garden suites but
(1:11:30) Garden suites also don’t make sense unless in my opinion you can use a detached garage to do it yeah do with in an existing building exactly but otherwise Garden suites don’t make sense yeah yeah so I’ll throw in at the other pieces uh my current observation of the current market is that the market we uh for example I believe there’s six legal duplexes in the in sitting in Hamilton that aren’t selling they’re vacant wow so the market is telling me that buyers don’t want rental property like there’s a cuz my original
(1:12:01) philosophy with buying doing basement suiting duplexes was that people would want the mortgage assistance from having the rent being able to rent out part of the house M but the the current market is telling me that’s not not wanted anymore interesting right the the the uh the market is telling me that like being a landlord is like a basically a stigma no one there the market does not want to be a landlord so that part that plays into my decision why would I invest all that money if buyers don’t want it now
(1:12:31) that’s a snapshot of this current market I don’t know what’s going to happen a year from now but based on what I know today this is where it is and and if the LTB doesn’t improve how does this how does this change well we know that’s not going to improve and and well you know what it’s funny because my students I’ve had a couple students reach out to me and and they don’t want to buy an Ontario at all they’re just not interested they won’t yeah buy an Ontario and it’s because of they don’t want to be landlords because they’re afraid of
(1:12:59) they don’t want exposure to the LTB exactly which is reasonable which is very reasonable and so they’re looking at other options so even new investors which I mean most new investors they want to invest close to home it’s familiar you know they feel it’s easier money though right which is more money but even new investors now which is interesting they’re not they don’t even want to invest in Ontario so it tells you how bad things are mhm mhm right and even my one experience is being a realtor uh is converting rich people to
(1:13:30) become landlords in Ontario really difficult oh yeah yeah because they don’t to them it’s not worth it no because they’re rich yeah they’re rich they value their peace and they don’t want the headaches y yeah so again so that plays into my decision my my own current theory that it doesn’t make sense to basement Suite or garden sweet yeah and as you get older too or as I get older you know my my needs change right so I’m not going to yeah do some of the things that I did when I started 79 years ago right oh yeah this is fluid
(1:14:03) I want is fluid right I want more peace right so to more to me single family homes in great markets makes sense yeah I was just in I was in Atlanta just uh two months ago for uh a networking meeting among seven figure entrepreneurs and I met a rapping manager there who who manages 800 units wow I’m like oh you have a qualified what are you buying next single family homes okay okay you just more of my own Kool-Aid but again qualified opinion right yeah no agreed agreed all right we have to talk about Everest because
(1:14:38) you’re crazy sure let’s talk about Everest what do you want to talk about what L you the people die wait did you see bodies no well we saw we saw a shrine so let me backtrack so I’m sorry I’m just getting right into it let me backtrack so why did I do Everest let’s backtrack so I climbed kilamanjaro last year and the reason I did it was because my my mentor at the time as we were planning out I think 2023 he he wanted me one of the things he wanted me to do was he wanted me to do something that was going to challenge me physically and
(1:15:13) mentally and make me uncomfortable yeah you could go run a 5k right could you could but so this was December 2022 and I had just come back from a trip with a couple Durham REI members and I remember Quinton saying that he was going to he was going to climb Kil Manjaro and when he told me I kind of gave I kind of just did the whole IR roll thing cuz I was like yeah good for you right and um you know I moved on and then when I sat with my my mentor at the time I was like okay and I so anyway I went back and I messaged Quinton and I
(1:15:43) was like hey is there a room for me right cuz I was like oh that’s going to make me uncomfortable I’ve never even camped before I’ve never slept in I’ve never slept in a sleeping bag before I’m not an outdoors person nothing so I knew this would make me a hardcore city boy yeah I’m a city boy right I mean sure I go to a cottage but I’m in a nice Lake I’m sleeping indoors airing air conditioning yeah yeah the weather’s not going to kill you outside no no not at all so I knew this was going to challenge me mentally physically push me
(1:16:11) make me uncomfortable and anyway long story short I I you know I went on that trip to uh to kilamanjaro how hard is that oh it was very hard the last night I got very sick I could barely I so we started we started our Trek about 12:00 in the morning and it was a 10-hour Trek to get to the peak so it was- 20 um it was you’re wearing so you’re wearing five layers B bottom and top I felt amazing I started walking ear than I kid you not within 50 minutes of starting you know the ascent 12:00 in the morning I felt sick I started
(1:16:47) getting hot flashes I thought I was going to pass out so I I needed to sit what was this altitude sickness food poisoning was it altitude sickness that that got you no yeah altitude sickness and long story short so for the next 15 20 hours going up and down I struggled I could barely walk I was literally taking four steps pausing for I don’t know two or three minutes the uh our Sherpa thank God they were were awesome they were literally feeding me my protein bars because I was so weak it was it was absolutely it it was the most difficult
(1:17:24) thing I’ve ever done in my Life by far hands down um wait hang on how much harder is Everest then so the difference I find with Everest is most of kilamanjaro was manageable except the last night right Summit night so the last 36 hours that was absolute hell the difference with Everest is every day was difficult it was manageable but every day was very difficult so I think overall Everest was harder than kilamanjaro um you know but everyone has their own opinion but the views with Everest were absolutely stunning but again very
(1:18:04) mentally tough you know physically tough but it’s worth it it’s worth it so I’m a big believer in pushing yourself making yourself uncomfortable I think those things build resilience when things go bad like they are now with you know many Real Estate Investors and I think it makes you it just makes you a better person father husband wife because it builds resilience if you if you purposely put yourself in uncomfortable situations you’re going to build that experience experience on how to deal with uncomfortable situations right so
(1:18:34) when they actually occur um involuntarily you have that experience and you don’t bury yourself your head in the sand so to me it’s it’s it’s done wonders for me I think over the past couple years I know it sounds crazy and I’m not a like I’m people are like oh you’re a hiker I’m like no I’m not a hiker I mean I like it but I’m not a hiker I just do it to push myself and you meet amazing people which has been pretty awesome did you get sick wait how do you prepare yourself for altitude so when I was climbing Killy I went to a gym
(1:19:06) downtown Toronto called altitude and they can simulate the loss of oxygen mask and so you can simulate different elevations so I did that um to train and then for Everest it was just regular training you know strength training cardio um hiking up Mountain ski hills in Toronto they have a couple ski hills in Toronto and so i’ you know walk up and down the hills um how how many months was prep for Everest so Everest I prepped for four months I started January and serious May yeah so four months and yeah so it’s you know it’s a lot of
(1:19:43) training you have to walk you should walk at least three or four hours a couple times a week just so your body gets used to walking that long cuz generally you’re walking 6 to 8 hours a day uphill sometimes just steps which I was expecting so you could walk 3 hours up a up a hill just step after step after step you know in 35° weather so it’s brutal sorry 35 Fahrenheit or Celsius 30 Celsius it was hot yeah hot so the first couple days it’s very hot oh yeah yeah first couple days it’s very hot because you’re at sea
(1:20:15) level right okay and then and then once yeah once you start ascending it gets colder and colder and colder and colder right so like where that picture was taken that was a base camp and you know so there’s glaciers off to the side you can see glaciers and just um yeah absolutely incredible for the listeners benefit we’re looking at uh Brian’s Instagram uh acquiring wisdom base C 5,000 almost 5,400 meter elevation yeah so about that’s what uh it’s probably about 16 17,000 feet above sea level what’s the equivalent in Canada would
(1:20:52) that that’s Canada we’re probably at sea level so maybe like would would B be close to that elevation no not even close not even close nothing nothing in North America nothing North America no okay nothing in North America South America has a couple mountains that are huge AK in kagwa um but nothing close to this would you recommend this experience absolutely I re so here’s what I tell people you don’t need to climb a mountain uh most people won’t that’s fine but just find things that are going to push you and make you uncomfortable
(1:21:22) so if you’re afraid of heights you know maybe do the Tower um walk outside I think you did that right did you do that done three times doing a. this summer yeah so do that right it’s going to make you uncomfortable it’s going to push you do whatever is that you know is going to make you uncomfortable it’s going to push you because there’s lots of local options there are a lot of local options but one of the cool things is again we were talking about I’m a relationship person and you meet people from all over
(1:21:48) the world yeah right and which we all stay in contact we have a WhatsApp group so a lot of the people that I climb kill them on J are the same people that I climbed Everest with right and we’re all we’re it’s an experience of travel you’re you’re all bonded for life exactly exactly and you know we stay in contact you know we message each other all the time so it’s very cool and you know we’re planning our next trip we’ll see where that takes us but it’s awesome Atlanta Georgia there’s mountain to climb there but yeah I’m I’m just a big
(1:22:20) believer in pushing yourself amazing right all right all we’re running out of time Brian I always like to give some um some open air to my my guests anything we haven’t covered or you want to share um not really just take action in life be intentional about life regardless of what it is if you want to build wealth take action if you want to become a better father be intentional you know I book date nights with my daughter you know I book you know date nights with my son just be intentional put it in your calendar and just be
(1:22:51) intentional about life whatever that is for you whatever important to you be intentional amazing uh Instagram acquiring wisdom search I’ll have the George Brown Link in the show notes but what can they search George Brown George Brown College real estate investment strategies course amazing yeah so if you’re thinking about getting into real estate this a great first option right ridiculously affordable um feel free to message me if you want some more details or you just want to B some ideas off me and learn more about the course maybe
(1:23:21) some people should even just sign up their adult children for it yeah actually I met uh I was meeting who did I meet with a couple weeks ago and they’re actually oh my one of my co-workers and she’s uh she’s going to do that um pay for adults on to do it amazing yeah any us component to this course so I actually I do have a us I had a US speaker last time someone who invests in the US because it’s this is what people want right it wasn’t my intention but people are inquiring about investing in the US because
(1:23:50) unfortunately they’re afraid to invest in Canada it’s kind of sad actually yeah if you need Carmen Demetri or Andrew I’m sure we can set that up yeah yeah for sure well my next class like I said starts September so we’ll have you guys on Amazing happy to assist awesome because I I feel like we’re like I feel every day I’m doing a public service by sparing Ontario landlords cuz hard assets we still need it still need hard assets absolutely yeah yeah yeah if if like you you you mentioned like if the US dollar fails in 30 years that the
(1:24:25) US Canadian dollar had already failed somewhere along the way exactly well that that’s how I look at it right the Canadian dollar will fail way before the US dollar yeah yeah way before so we we need diversification outside of Canada even if the Canadian economy was doing well relative to its peers we still need diversification outside of Canada yeah yeah hard assets yeah take your pick yeah exactly you and I have our favorites obvious yeah all right Brian thanks again for doing this no glad to be here and hopefully people saw some value in
(1:25:00) it thank you for watching if you want to learn how to invest in real estate from scratch my team teaches beginners how to use the number one investment strategy that I personally use in a virtual free training class every month go to investor training.com guest and if you’re just starting out feel free to ask questions and comment below and I do the best to answer each of those comments and questions myself again if you’re ready to learn the nitty-gritty about real estate investing from a professional investor register for our next virtual
(1:25:37) class that’s at investor training.com

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BEFORE YOU GO…

Before you go, if you’re interested in what kind of properties I am looking at in the landlord friendly states of the USA please go to iwin.sharesfr.com for what I consider the best investment for most Canadians, most of the time.

I’ve been investing in Ontario since 2005 and while it’s been a great, great run. I started out buying properties in the 100,000s and now it’s $800,000 to $1,000,000.  How much higher can it go? I don’t know

To me, the remaining potential for appreciation does not match the risk hence I’m advising my clients to look to where one can find rental properties that are affordable range of $150,000 to $350,000 US$, with rents that range from $1,400 to 2,600/month plus utilities.   As many Canadians recognize, these numbers will be positive cash flow and are night and day compared to anything locally. Plus the landlord has all of the rights, no rent control, and income is US dollars which are better than Canadian dollars.

If you don’t believe me, US dollars are better than Canadian dollars, go ask 100 non-Canadians which currency they prefer to be paid in.

So to regain control of your retirement planning.  Go to iwin.sharesfr.com and check out what great cash flow properties are available in the USA.  

The best part is, my US investments will be much more passive compared to by local investments as I’m hiring an asset manager called SHARE to hand hold me through the entire process.  As their client and shareholder, Share will source me quality income properties, help me with legal structure and taxes, they manage the property manager and insurance provider while passing down to me preferred rates so I save both time and money.  

Share will even tell me when to strategically refinance or sell.  SHARE can even support investors all over the country for proper diversification hence my plan is to own in Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas.  Share is like my joint venture partner but I only have to pay them fees while I keep 100% ownership and control.

If your goal in investing is to increase cash flow, I don’t know of a better strategy for most Canadians most of the time.  One last time that’s iwin.sharesfr.com to see what boring, cash flowing real estate investing can look like on your path towards financial peace.

This is how I’m going to make real estate investing great again for my family and hope you choose the same.  Till next time!

Sponsored by:

This episode is brought to you by me! We don’t have sponsors for this show. I only share with you services owned by my wife Cherry and me.  Real estate investing is a staple in my life and allowed me to build wealth and, more importantly, achieve financial peace about the future, knowing our retirement is taken care of and my kids will be able to afford a home when they grow up.  If you, too, are interested in my systematic strategy to implement the #1 investment strategy, the same one pretty much all my guests are doing themselves, then go visit www.infinitywealth.ca/events and register for our next event.

Till next time, just do it because I believe in you.

Erwin

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Disclaimer:
As a committed advocate for transparent and responsible real estate investment, I want to openly share my involvement with SHARE SFR (Single Family Rental) as an Advisor. I hold an equity position in this company and receive a referral commission for clients I introduce to their services. My endorsement of their business model – focusing on direct ownership of positive cash flow income properties – is consistent with my own personal investing since 2005, is based not only on a professional assessment but also on my personal experience and belief in their approach. Please note that while I stand behind my recommendations, it is crucial for each individual to conduct their own due diligence and consider their unique circumstances before making any investment decisions. As always, my priority is to provide you with honest, insightful, and practical real estate investment education.

20 Years of Investing: Duplexes, to Apartment Buildings, Now A REIT with Amanda & Marty Gordon

Sharing a stage with Brandon Turner of Bigger Pockets Fame at the Aligned Life Conference, lessons from losing one’s life savings, telling it like it is with often censored, former real estate coaches Marty & Amanda Gordon.

Greetings from cottage country my fellow truth seekers. This is the Truth About Real Estate investing show, I’m your host, producer since 2016 and over 300 episodes where we tell it like it is.  

In my experience, real estate when done right is a sure path to getting rich slowly. Unfortunately there are those who have challenges scaling and executing which to me is no surprise.  I’ve shared on this show several times how someone I know had a pretty great portfolio of 50+ properties in Hamilton but a series of unfortunate events, his car getting broken into and rent cheques getting stolen (this is back in 2007 when post dated cheques was the most popular means for paying rent), he was getting in over his head with so many renovation projects on the go: mostly cosmetic as those days, you could cash flow with single family, these weren’t basement apartment conversions, the credit crisis hit, the investor went bankrupt, the properties went to power of sale. His investors got wacked and investor buyers at the time were picking up deals if they had capital and credit.  I personally know many who were affected which is why we coach our clients to be both offensive and defensive with their portfolios, to not over leverage including next to no private money.  B lender money on occasion as a short term solution but no hard money loans like promissory notes in our close to half a billion in income property transactions.

Then this new wave and I literally mean new investors, folks with maybe five years experience who failed to learn from history.  This Robby Clark who’s all over the news with Dylan Suitor and Claire Drage.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-how-former-child-tv-star-robby-clarks-crumbling-real-estate-empire-has/

They were operating in small markets, bigger volumes, expensive hard money, duplex conversions are totally doable but the timelines and budgets can’t always be predictable hence my clients almost never did more than one conversion at the time. Plus these were small cities, finding quality contractors would be difficult and liquidity would be poor. As someone who despises risk, I wouldn’t recommend any of this to my clients.

I had a bad feeling about Epic Alliance, I don’t know Robby Clark or Dylan Suitor let alone their investment strategy.  The stuff written about them in the news is just sad as well, especially all those who invested with them via promissory notes.

On a positive note, I’ll be presenting at the Aligned Life Conference alongside huge names such as Brandon Turner of Bigger Pockets fame, Dan Martell, hosted by Caleb West who’s a super cool guy with tons of experience in commercial development, management and construction.  Caleb will be next week’s episode guest and he’ll share his journey to the Aligned Life Conference and what role real estate investing played in his own family and allowed previous generations the freedom of time to spend with their kids and grandkids. For those about intergenerational wealth, you’ll like this episode!

20 Years of Investing: Duplexes, to Apartment Buildings, Now A REIT with Amanda & Marty Gordon

But first we have my friends returning to the show, Marty and Amanda who’ve been renovating and investing for nearly 20 years, Amanda Bouck has managed properties for nearly 20 years, Marty her husband is a carpenter by trade and personally much of their 15+ duplex conversions in Guelph.  They are a power couple: they get numbers, execution, cash flow and hate vacancy. They drank the same Kool Aid I did. They’re reward is a country acreage and building the custom home of their dreams they’re too humble to talk about with all the gurus out there flaunting Rolex watches, Lamborghinis, private jets and yachts.

Amanda & Marty scaled up as well in small multis likes six plexes, small apartment buildings to their current project, both a REIT: real estate investment trust called Legend Real Estate Trust and a 60 unit building in Waterloo.

Amanda and Marty are here today to share their experience including coaching, retiring from coaching for possibly the biggest real estate education company in Canada.  As always, we share both the negative and positive of real estate investing including all the losses going on in the community, over leverage with expensive hard money loans and their own investment philosophies where none of their investors have lost any money.

The honest truth about real estate investing is, speculative investments can work until they don’t and also I don’t endorse any product or offering of Marty and Amanda nor do I receive any compensation from Marty and Amanda nor from their businesses. This episode is for educational and entertainment purposes only.

Please do your own due diligence. If you read the article about Robby Clark, you see how some of the property used to secure financing had fires and were torn down by the city. If any lender, broker, investor had simply driven by the property, they would have known the deal was no good. 

For my house in San Antonio, Texas I have a termite inspection, home inspection including pictures and video walkthrough, a quote from the property manager for renovations and maintenance. My cousin is in San Antonio next week for work and doing a drive by.

Diligence people, trust but VERIFY. That goes for all guests of this show. I do my best hence Epic Alliance and Robby Clark never made it on this show or any of my platforms.  I learnt my lesson from Paramount Equity.

Back to this week’s guests, Amanda and Marty, just to note, they have been censored on other platforms and Facebook groups for trying to warn people about gurus losing other people’s money. They going to offend some so be warned.  

www.LegendRealEstateTrust.ca

Amanda@Legendinvestments.ca

Marty@Legendinvestments.ca

Please enjoy the show!

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Please help us reach new listeners on iTunes by leaving us a rating and review!
 

BEFORE YOU GO…

Before you go, if you’re interested in what kind of properties I am looking at in the landlord friendly states of the USA please go to iwin.sharesfr.com for what I consider the best investment for most Canadians, most of the time.

I’ve been investing in Ontario since 2005 and while it’s been a great, great run. I started out buying properties in the 100,000s and now it’s $800,000 to $1,000,000.  How much higher can it go? I don’t know

To me, the remaining potential for appreciation does not match the risk hence I’m advising my clients to look to where one can find rental properties that are affordable range of $150,000 to $350,000 US$, with rents that range from $1,400 to 2,600/month plus utilities.   As many Canadians recognize, these numbers will be positive cash flow and are night and day compared to anything locally. Plus the landlord has all of the rights, no rent control, and income is US dollars which are better than Canadian dollars.

If you don’t believe me, US dollars are better than Canadian dollars, go ask 100 non-Canadians which currency they prefer to be paid in.

So to regain control of your retirement planning.  Go to iwin.sharesfr.com and check out what great cash flow properties are available in the USA.  

The best part is, my US investments will be much more passive compared to by local investments as I’m hiring an asset manager called SHARE to hand hold me through the entire process.  As their client and shareholder, Share will source me quality income properties, help me with legal structure and taxes, they manage the property manager and insurance provider while passing down to me preferred rates so I save both time and money.  

Share will even tell me when to strategically refinance or sell.  SHARE can even support investors all over the country for proper diversification hence my plan is to own in Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas.  Share is like my joint venture partner but I only have to pay them fees while I keep 100% ownership and control.

If your goal in investing is to increase cash flow, I don’t know of a better strategy for most Canadians most of the time.  One last time that’s iwin.sharesfr.com to see what boring, cash flowing real estate investing can look like on your path towards financial peace.

This is how I’m going to make real estate investing great again for my family and hope you choose the same.  Till next time!

Sponsored by:

This episode is brought to you by me! We don’t have sponsors for this show. I only share with you services owned by my wife Cherry and me.  Real estate investing is a staple in my life and allowed me to build wealth and, more importantly, achieve financial peace about the future, knowing our retirement is taken care of and my kids will be able to afford a home when they grow up.  If you, too, are interested in my systematic strategy to implement the #1 investment strategy, the same one pretty much all my guests are doing themselves, then go visit www.infinitywealth.ca/events and register for our next event.

Till next time, just do it because I believe in you.

Erwin

W: erwinszeto.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/erwin.szeto
IG: https://www.instagram.com/erwinszeto/

Disclaimer:
As a committed advocate for transparent and responsible real estate investment, I want to openly share my involvement with SHARE SFR (Single Family Rental) as an Advisor. I hold an equity position in this company and receive a referral commission for clients I introduce to their services. My endorsement of their business model – focusing on direct ownership of positive cash flow income properties – is consistent with my own personal investing since 2005, is based not only on a professional assessment but also on my personal experience and belief in their approach. Please note that while I stand behind my recommendations, it is crucial for each individual to conduct their own due diligence and consider their unique circumstances before making any investment decisions. As always, my priority is to provide you with honest, insightful, and practical real estate investment education.

Insights on Portfolio Health, AI Integration, and U.S. Investment Opportunities

Greetings my fellow investors and truth seekers, this is the Truth About Real Estate Investing Show for Canadians and if you’re addicted to social media like I am, there’s not a lot of good news within our community.  It’s not all bad, we just had Kelly Caldwell, Victoria Cluney, and Milena Simsic. Spencer and Ashley with their AirBnbs, Zac Killem whose company Front Lobby will thrive.  In general those with healthier portfolios as in not over leveraged, focus on cash flow and operational execution are doing just fine like many past guests of this show. I was just speaking to one investor/Realtor while preparing this episode who did just that, he’s buying more multifamily buildings and completed two flips in the USA. 

Off the top of my head, I can think of two past guests in significant financial trouble, one has already declared bankruptcy, the others owe a lot of people a lot of money to individual investors, not just banks.  Individual investors post to social media and tell others to warn them. I know because I have friends everywhere in the community and the messages arrive in my DM’s.

Both were newer to real estate as they made the switch to full time within the last five years or so.  I’ve left the episodes up because as far as I’ve know, there was no criminal intent nor are they being accused of any.

I run a real estate investment business called iWIN Real Estate where we are always looking to learn, evolve, and adopt best practices to help our clients optimize their investments and time, the only non-renewable resource. We started investing in single family, then multifamily, then student rentals, basement suite conversions, to garden/garage suites and it’s gotten unaffordable. We use Ai all through out our businesses.

I used Chatgpt to research case law when sellers accepted a higher competing offer when we had already accepted their counter offer.  I’ve used Chatgpt to proof read my clauses for counter offers which saves everyone time: my clients, my lawyer, my broker. 

I’m working on creating a digital duplicate of myself as I’m really busy booking calls to discuss USA investing. 80-90% of the questions are the same: what is the legal structure to own US properties, how do you get a mortgage, what are the fees like, etc… all repetitive I could have an Ai twin version of myself do. 

If you think I’m crazy, check out the found of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman’s two way interview of his own Ai twin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgD2gmwCS10

For anyone in sales or customer service, if you’re not afraid for your job, I don’t know what will. This is one reason I diversify my business, use Ai tools, own cash flowing real estate.

The owner of Property Guys was on BNN talking about how 25% of Realtors in the USA will leave the industry after those historic lawsuit settlements.  This August, listings will no longer display co-operating commission for buyer agents hence buyer agents must negotiate commission from the buyer.  Property Guy mentioned there are two lawsuits in the works in Canada which confirms the rumours I’ve heard.  The implication is the public will be more aware that Realtor commissions are negotiable, they always have been and it my experience, sellers who want top dollar when selling will continue to offer co-operating commission.  Most of the professional investors do it. I do it, I actually offer above market co-operating commission and use it as a marketing tool and negotiation piece. I mean it’s worked for me, the last four houses I sold, I did so, on average in 22 days on market.

Point is, I’m a Realtor, I’ve worried for my job since 2010 and never been more worried with Ai, class action lawsuits and competition among other Realtors at their highest levels ever.  If only we had as many doctors and Realtors. Imagine how good our health care would be.

For complete business and investment sense, I of course partnered with SHARE, a tech enabled asset manager that allows Canadians to be US landlords without all the heavy lifting.  My 17 listeners know I’ve conducted well over 300, hour long interviews with successful and some no longer successful real estate investors work, invest, blood, sweat and tears.  In terms of cash flow and overall returns to effort, I haven’t seen anything before that beats SHARE’s offering.

In short, I’ve seen how the top investors implement their real estate investment business and can separate the hype from results. Those with results did not overleverage, were in control the whole time, delivered operationally to renovate and rent as fast as they could.  Those who didn’t are the ones making all the headlines in the news for declaring bankruptcy protection or bankruptcy or have their names dragged through Facebook groups for owing money. 

I had a call with a newer investor who’s got a great investment property in BC, she AirBnb’s the triplex in the summer months then rents to students during the school year.  That’s investing on steroids and she’s rewarded with six figures of rental income.

The investor asked why I call in long-term single family rentals boring?  To me it’s not exciting, there’s nothing innovative about it vs. what gets all the attention and likes on social media, note how many of those influencers have gone quiet or done major pivots. I know one big time condo agent appears to have pivoted to coaching Realtors which is going to be really tough in this market.  My clients and I’s investing is as passive as possible and we’ve done quite well. Our biggest challenge is under rented properties due to rent control but over the long-term, we’ve all done amazing with market appreciation.

Compare that to Airbnb in the summer where this newer investor does all the client interaction and only outsources the maintenance and cleaning to a property manager for 10% PM fees. Student rentals in my experience are a niche investment that is much more challenging to insure, manage, and get cheap financing.  My last student rental mortgage was with Home Trust at over 8% interest plus 1% lender fee.

Again, a wonderful business for the active investor.  Just be prepared for plans B and C and D should the municipality turn against student rentals or AirBnb.  Just last week, 10,000 protesters in Barcelona took to the streets, some even using water guns to shoot at tourists. The Mayor of Barcelona is banning 10,000 Airbnbs in the city… this makes me thing I need to buy some shares of hotels… source: https://www.ft.com/content/287c1d53-7dd0-410c-88bb-f43277c851b6

In my city, the City of Hamilton implemented rental licensing in the student neighbourhoods with plans to expand across the entire city and the mayor is former NDP leader Andrea Horwath.  To conform to licensing could costing landlords from a couple to several thousands of dollars in order to comply along with ongoing fees.  Thankfully I’ve sold my student rentals and I’m grateful for having done so as I look out the window of my office and know there are basements being flooded all over the province. There’s plenty of investors struggling out there already who don’t need this.  This widespread flooding event will push up insurance rates yet again, more housing cost inflation we can NOT pass onto the tenant in a rent controlled environment.

As someone who despises risk, I’m removing basement flood risk by divesting local houses and investing in houses in the USA that don’t have basements. I’m advising friends, family and clients to not invest in suiting their basements as it makes more sense to allocate those funds to buying a house in the USA.  To close on my house in San Antonio I need $97,000 US$ including a $10k reserve fund. A typical basement apartment conversion is $160,000 in my experience and you’re vacant six months.  How long depends on the municipality and the quality of your contractor.

My San Antonio tenants are renting the house back from me so I have zero vacancy and can defer my renovations till after they move out which I hope is never since this is Texas and there is no rent control

Only in colder climates do we need basements that go below the frost line to prevent heaving.  The same problem doesn’t happen in the southern USA making housing a lot less expensive to build, no need to ever have waterproof let alone flooding if you avoid coastal areas and Florida.

Even if you wanted to buy a turnkey duplex in Hamilton, Barrie, Oshawa, Ottawa etc… I’ve chosen those cities as prices and rents are similar there, I’ve calculated the capitalization rate = $ Net Operating Income / $ price at 4.1%. 

Compare that to what my clients are getting, low five to mid 7 cap rates in the USA.  The numbers don’t lie, the laws are landlord friendly, no rent control, and commercial style mortgages for us Canadian investors. I make way more commission selling a Canadian property than an American one but I want happy clients hence I recommend US investments over Canadian ones. Diversification and cash flow reasons alone make plain sense. The truth is also it’s way easier selling US income properties. I’ve sold way more US income properties than Canadian ones this year, never in my career since 2010 as a Realtor have I seen so little interest by investors to buy local income properties when the timing is ideal to pick up deals.

I do truly worry for my fellow real estate professionals in Realtors and mortgage agents/brokers. There’s a lot of them already and if they make a living focusing on selling local real estate investments and they not able to sell US products, I won’t be surprised to see many of them leave the industry.  

To me, it’s all a matter of education before investing in the USA via SHARE by Canadians is the norm, I honestly love my work, SHARE is the partner every lazy investor like me is looking for except they don’t take any equity share of the investment. Control and ownership remind 100% mine and Cherry’s. 

I’m going to record a video comparing a new condo investment vs. a duplex vs. my client’s property. He’s from Montreal, has never seen the house that is a 7.6% cap rate that only cost him about $160,000 Canadian. 

Link is in the show notes.

There is no guest this week. I literally had invited a former coach of a defunct real estate “university” as they invest big, nice people but their name is being blasted on social media for not making payments on their private mortgages.  The coach didn’t respond which never happens as gurus generally love coming on my show.  This isn’t an indictment on the coach/investor. If they can survive they’ll come out a winner.  Even if they don’t, I believe them to be talented and will come back.  

Personally I don’t like my investments to be a roller coaster hence I choose boring as I don’t have thick enough skin to tell people I’ve lost their money or I can’t pay them back.  That’s just me. The world needs the self declared crazies like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. I just know I’m not that and stay in my boring lane.

But I do have equity in SHARE, I have some say in the company’s direction as Head of Business Development in Canada and I don’t see a more efficient path to my company’s 10 year gold: help 200 Canadians become real estate millionaires.  I’m at 45 or so now and I can see it in my mind’s eye, 10 years from now enjoying golf and dinner with 200 Canadian real estate millionaires who’ve gained a lot of financial peace via their boring real estate investments.

I can’t wait but I’m totally enjoying the journey.  iwin.sharesfr.com if you’d like to learn about the deals my clients and I are doing, from there you can book a Zoom call with me. Past clients, I’m always down for coffee, dessert, breakfast, lunch, dinner, or golf. You know where to find me.

To Listen:

** Transcript Auto-Generated**

HELP US OUT!

Please help us reach new listeners on iTunes by leaving us a rating and review!
 

BEFORE YOU GO…

Before you go, if you’re interested in what kind of properties I am looking at in the landlord friendly states of the USA please go to iwin.sharesfr.com for what I consider the best investment for most Canadians, most of the time.

I’ve been investing in Ontario since 2005 and while it’s been a great, great run. I started out buying properties in the 100,000s and now it’s $800,000 to $1,000,000.  How much higher can it go? I don’t know

To me, the remaining potential for appreciation does not match the risk hence I’m advising my clients to look to where one can find rental properties that are affordable range of $150,000 to $350,000 US$, with rents that range from $1,400 to 2,600/month plus utilities.   As many Canadians recognize, these numbers will be positive cash flow and are night and day compared to anything locally. Plus the landlord has all of the rights, no rent control, and income is US dollars which are better than Canadian dollars.

If you don’t believe me, US dollars are better than Canadian dollars, go ask 100 non-Canadians which currency they prefer to be paid in.

So to regain control of your retirement planning.  Go to iwin.sharesfr.com and check out what great cash flow properties are available in the USA.  

The best part is, my US investments will be much more passive compared to by local investments as I’m hiring an asset manager called SHARE to hand hold me through the entire process.  As their client and shareholder, Share will source me quality income properties, help me with legal structure and taxes, they manage the property manager and insurance provider while passing down to me preferred rates so I save both time and money.  

Share will even tell me when to strategically refinance or sell.  SHARE can even support investors all over the country for proper diversification hence my plan is to own in Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas.  Share is like my joint venture partner but I only have to pay them fees while I keep 100% ownership and control.

If your goal in investing is to increase cash flow, I don’t know of a better strategy for most Canadians most of the time.  One last time that’s iwin.sharesfr.com to see what boring, cash flowing real estate investing can look like on your path towards financial peace.

This is how I’m going to make real estate investing great again for my family and hope you choose the same.  Till next time!

Sponsored by:

This episode is brought to you by me! We don’t have sponsors for this show. I only share with you services owned by my wife Cherry and me.  Real estate investing is a staple in my life and allowed me to build wealth and, more importantly, achieve financial peace about the future, knowing our retirement is taken care of and my kids will be able to afford a home when they grow up.  If you, too, are interested in my systematic strategy to implement the #1 investment strategy, the same one pretty much all my guests are doing themselves, then go visit www.infinitywealth.ca/events and register for our next event.

Till next time, just do it because I believe in you.

Erwin

W: erwinszeto.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/erwin.szeto
IG: https://www.instagram.com/erwinszeto/

Disclaimer:
As a committed advocate for transparent and responsible real estate investment, I want to openly share my involvement with SHARE SFR (Single Family Rental) as an Advisor. I hold an equity position in this company and receive a referral commission for clients I introduce to their services. My endorsement of their business model – focusing on direct ownership of positive cash flow income properties – is consistent with my own personal investing since 2005, is based not only on a professional assessment but also on my personal experience and belief in their approach. Please note that while I stand behind my recommendations, it is crucial for each individual to conduct their own due diligence and consider their unique circumstances before making any investment decisions. As always, my priority is to provide you with honest, insightful, and practical real estate investment education.

Converting a Dozen+ Houses Into Triplexes with Kelly Caldwell

We firmed up our Texas income property, is residential investing in Canada dead? A dozen plus triplex conversions in Collingwood, ON & launching a TV show with Kelly Caldwell.

Welcome to the Truth About Real Estate Investing Show my fellow Canadians! I hope you’re all enjoying a hot summer but you know what’s not hot? Condos.

I spoke to one condo investor last week who’s been abandoned by his Realtor who made all sorts of promises: the investor bought two condos pre construction with the intention of selling one via assignment the market and using the profits to pay down the mortgage of the 2nd, the Realtor promised to rent out the condo as well.

We all know how the condo market has fare in Toronto or Vancouver… not well. So now this investor who also happened to lose their job also now carries two condos that have negative cash flow $4,000 per month.

You know what never made sense to me about preconstruction condos? Was how the cost per square foot was higher than existing condos.  So often I would see pre construction condos being sold for $1,600 per square foot when used condos were $1,400 square foot. As a professional real estate investor, I invest for value, not to speculate. If buying new, one would have to speculate the price of resale real estate goes up more than $200 per square foot to make money.  The investment model never made sense to me hence we kept our clients away from pre construction condos unless there was a personal reason to own them.

For investment though? Double land transfer taxes in Toronto and tenant friendly laws and especially after Canada investors learn how technology has made investing in the USA so easy to be a US landlord, to directly own investment properties. If I could show every pre construction investor the benefits of a US single family house rental via SHARE, I don’t see why an investor ever buys a long term rental condo ever again. 

I was going to say maybe in Calgary, AB but ever the President of REIN, Patrick Francey doesn’t think it wise so.  You know another truth about real estate investing for Canadians? I’ve yet had a real estate professional disagree with me over diversifying to the USA. I once had a laugh with a buying agent for one of my properties, he was asking me about investing in the USA as he too is interested, we chatted, I shared financial projections and how landlord friendly certain states are, before I snapped back reality, I needed to sell my property so I could invest in the USA and advised how my duplex in Hamilton was a better investment to which we both laughed.

Last week we also hosted a virtual tour of income properties in the USA.  I showed internal and external walkthrough videos by home inspectors, I shared the economic fundamentals of the markets my clients and I have purchased in.  Special guest, friend and client Derek Wormsbecker (https://www.instagram.com/derek.worm.mortgage/) shared about his experience buying an infill, new construction house, 1,250 square feet, 3 bed, 2 bathroom, 2 car garage for $176,000 and rented it out for $1,425 per month. That’s a 6 cap rate that will cash flow with less than 35% down payment plus a commercial mortgage, the ideal mortgage for scaling portfolios.

If you’d like to peruse deal like Derek’s in Little Rock, Arkansas simple go to my website iwin.sharesfr.com, create a free account, browse real current and past deals, and book a call with me should you like to discuss. Again that’s iwin.sharesfr.com if you’d like to learn how easy it is to be a US landlord, maintain 100% ownership, while letting SHARE do all the heavy lifting.

Converting a Dozen+ Houses Into Triplexes with Kelly Caldwell

On to this week’s show! This week’s guest is the lovely Kelly Caldwell, who has converted over a dozen single family houses for basement suites AND garden suites. Together with husband Jeff Caldwell, they’ve become leaders in their community, Collingwood, ON filling in the missing middle working closely with local government as such they were invited to be a part of a new HGTV inspired series called Home Suite Home where viewers can follow along as Kelly and Jeff navigate the world of accessory suite financing, design and construction.  You can catch them on Rogers Cable TV this fall as well as Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@itshomesuitehome.

Kelly’s journey is a wild one.  She was barely an adult when she was orphaned as Cancer took her father, her only parent away leaving her as the eldest sibling of two teenage brothers. 

Kelly shares about her remote investing way up north, how she managed the renovations, Kelly shares the numbers around a typical basement conversion and garden suite.  For the first time a guest talks about the benefits of polished concrete floors for both heating and finish. Fascinating stuff for real estate nerds such as myself.

If you can’t tell, Kelly is no stranger to hard work so please enjoy the show!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itshomesuitehome/, https://www.instagram.com/the_dash_investher/

Realtor website: https://caldwellrealestategroup.com/

The dash poem: https://noahwatry.medium.com/the-dash-poem-by-linda-ellis-33fe4d54a1b4

ADUSearch: https://adusearch.ca/index.html

To Listen:

** Transcript Auto-Generated**

HELP US OUT!

Please help us reach new listeners on iTunes by leaving us a rating and review!
 

BEFORE YOU GO…

Before you go, if you’re interested in what kind of properties I am looking at in the landlord friendly states of the USA please go to iwin.sharesfr.com for what I consider the best investment for most Canadians, most of the time.

I’ve been investing in Ontario since 2005 and while it’s been a great, great run. I started out buying properties in the 100,000s and now it’s $800,000 to $1,000,000.  How much higher can it go? I don’t know

To me, the remaining potential for appreciation does not match the risk hence I’m advising my clients to look to where one can find rental properties that are affordable range of $150,000 to $350,000 US$, with rents that range from $1,400 to 2,600/month plus utilities.   As many Canadians recognize, these numbers will be positive cash flow and are night and day compared to anything locally. Plus the landlord has all of the rights, no rent control, and income is US dollars which are better than Canadian dollars.

If you don’t believe me, US dollars are better than Canadian dollars, go ask 100 non-Canadians which currency they prefer to be paid in.

So to regain control of your retirement planning.  Go to iwin.sharesfr.com and check out what great cash flow properties are available in the USA.  

The best part is, my US investments will be much more passive compared to by local investments as I’m hiring an asset manager called SHARE to hand hold me through the entire process.  As their client and shareholder, Share will source me quality income properties, help me with legal structure and taxes, they manage the property manager and insurance provider while passing down to me preferred rates so I save both time and money.  

Share will even tell me when to strategically refinance or sell.  SHARE can even support investors all over the country for proper diversification hence my plan is to own in Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas.  Share is like my joint venture partner but I only have to pay them fees while I keep 100% ownership and control.

If your goal in investing is to increase cash flow, I don’t know of a better strategy for most Canadians most of the time.  One last time that’s iwin.sharesfr.com to see what boring, cash flowing real estate investing can look like on your path towards financial peace.

This is how I’m going to make real estate investing great again for my family and hope you choose the same.  Till next time!

Sponsored by:

This episode is brought to you by me! We don’t have sponsors for this show. I only share with you services owned by my wife Cherry and me.  Real estate investing is a staple in my life and allowed me to build wealth and, more importantly, achieve financial peace about the future, knowing our retirement is taken care of and my kids will be able to afford a home when they grow up.  If you, too, are interested in my systematic strategy to implement the #1 investment strategy, the same one pretty much all my guests are doing themselves, then go visit www.infinitywealth.ca/events and register for our next event.

Till next time, just do it because I believe in you.

Erwin

W: erwinszeto.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/erwin.szeto
IG: https://www.instagram.com/erwinszeto/

Disclaimer:
As a committed advocate for transparent and responsible real estate investment, I want to openly share my involvement with SHARE SFR (Single Family Rental) as an Advisor. I hold an equity position in this company and receive a referral commission for clients I introduce to their services. My endorsement of their business model – focusing on direct ownership of positive cash flow income properties – is consistent with my own personal investing since 2005, is based not only on a professional assessment but also on my personal experience and belief in their approach. Please note that while I stand behind my recommendations, it is crucial for each individual to conduct their own due diligence and consider their unique circumstances before making any investment decisions. As always, my priority is to provide you with honest, insightful, and practical real estate investment education.

Pitching & Building Tiny Homes on Dragon’s Den With Victoria Cluney

Summer fun, failed home inspection, accepted offer in San Antonio, Texas, my friend Victoria is on Dragon’s Den for her Tiny Home village venture!!  All this and more on this week’s Truth About Real Estate investing!!

We are back from my friend’s cottage we rented along with friends and their kids.  It cracks me up how all my friends growing up had family cottages that were more like shakes compared to modern day cottages valued at well over a million dollars these days.

We rented from a friend for a couple thousand for the week which is great money but as a business or AirBNB? Not for me as our friends are hands on owner operators: husband is the handyman including having to unplug the septic system of feminine hygiene napkins in the middle of the winter that were accidentally flushed causing a back up to the wife being the point of contact for the renters. 

It’s a wonderful business for those who enjoy being in hospitality, just not for Cherry and I who have very active businesses, young family, and prefer our investments to be as passive as possible.

Speaking of investments, my accepted offer in Kansas City, Missouri. The deal died as the renovation budget came back too high, killing my numbers, specifically capitalization rate: net operating income divided by the investment value.  On to the next which came while I was at the cottage: an off market, detached 2005 build house in San Antonio, Texas, 2000 square feet, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom for $265,000 plus $35,000 renovation and $2,300 rent per month. Cap rate? 5.1% even after those Texas property taxes and it still beats the pants off of anything I can find in Canada in the context of landlord friendly, historic levels of investment and high paying creation of manufacturing jobs in the State of Texas.

My partner in SHARE (iwin.sharesfr.com) put the deal together for me, held my hand for legal structure creation, ordered the home inspection, property manager inspection and quoting for the renovation.  I just review everything from the comfort of the cottage.  We close in a few weeks and provide more details on a future episode if you and my 17 listeners are interested!

Fun useless fact of the day about Texas: if you removed Texas from America, it would be the 8th largest economy in the world. Bigger than Russia, Canada, Australia, Italy, etc… A $2 trillion dollar economy and growing with a population of 30 million. Compare that to Canada also with a $2 trillion collar economy that’s stagnating with 39 million population. 

I have about 100 more reasons to invest in Texas from my research, much of it you can pick up for free https://www.truthaboutrealestateinvesting.ca/. I have reports and a free newsletter, just click on the link on the right hand side, type in your name and email and you’re good to go along with receiving invites to our free and inexpensive educational events.

Another fun useless fact of the day: it’s public knowledge the American economy is exponentially increase their lead on Canada’s from here forward, why aren’t more Canadian real estate professionals promoting investing in the USA.  My team at iWIN Real Estate is still really busy helping local investors almost entirely on the sell side. I make way more money selling real estate in Canada than the USA but I won’t shut up about investing in the USA.  Food for thought.  And if you agree with my philosophy please do share this podcast with your friends and family.  The writing is on the wall how hard it is to be a long term residential landlord in Canada.  BC just announced it’s now four months notice to evict a tenant if you’re moving in.  The trend is not our friend here…

Pitching & Building Tiny Homes on Dragon’s Den With Victoria Cluney

Real estate development for it’s lack of long term tenants makes more sense which is a great segway for this week’s guest Victoria Cluney fresh off recording a show on Dragon’s Den to pitch her Tiny Home community and manufacturing of tiny houses!!  Victoria is under a hush agreement about what happens on her episode but will share her experience auditioning, getting called back and pitching to the real life Dragons for the show.

Victoria is a returning guest of this show who’s on a great journey from small landlord of long-term rentals to short-term cottage “bunkies” to AirBnb’ing a motel to building a tiny home community, manufacturing tiny homes and being a part of the solution to solving this affordability crisis we’re having in Canada.

Victoria is also co-hosting the RE Resilience Summit (https://realestateresilience.ca/) Saturday and Sunday September 28 & 29.  Her co-hosts include Meghan Hubner and Elizabeth Kelly.  Elizabeth Kelly as you know is a regular and friend of the show, she’s one of the few good ones in our industry so if you’re new or old to real estate investing, you know the RE Resilience Summit will have something for everyone.

To follow Victoria:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriacluney/?hl=en

WE BILD Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/webild/?_xtd=gqFyqTMzNzkwNjIyMaFwpmlwaG9uZQ%253D%253D&from=ref

Tiny Home building & community: https://www.tayridge.ca/

Please enjoy the show!!

To Listen:

** Transcript Auto-Generated**

HELP US OUT!

Please help us reach new listeners on iTunes by leaving us a rating and review!
 

BEFORE YOU GO…

Before you go, if you’re interested in what kind of properties I am looking at in the landlord friendly states of the USA please go to iwin.sharesfr.com for what I consider the best investment for most Canadians, most of the time.

I’ve been investing in Ontario since 2005 and while it’s been a great, great run. I started out buying properties in the 100,000s and now it’s $800,000 to $1,000,000.  How much higher can it go? I don’t know

To me, the remaining potential for appreciation does not match the risk hence I’m advising my clients to look to where one can find rental properties that are affordable range of $150,000 to $350,000 US$, with rents that range from $1,400 to 2,600/month plus utilities.   As many Canadians recognize, these numbers will be positive cash flow and are night and day compared to anything locally. Plus the landlord has all of the rights, no rent control, and income is US dollars which are better than Canadian dollars.

If you don’t believe me, US dollars are better than Canadian dollars, go ask 100 non-Canadians which currency they prefer to be paid in.

So to regain control of your retirement planning.  Go to iwin.sharesfr.com and check out what great cash flow properties are available in the USA.  

The best part is, my US investments will be much more passive compared to by local investments as I’m hiring an asset manager called SHARE to hand hold me through the entire process.  As their client and shareholder, Share will source me quality income properties, help me with legal structure and taxes, they manage the property manager and insurance provider while passing down to me preferred rates so I save both time and money.  

Share will even tell me when to strategically refinance or sell.  SHARE can even support investors all over the country for proper diversification hence my plan is to own in Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas.  Share is like my joint venture partner but I only have to pay them fees while I keep 100% ownership and control.

If your goal in investing is to increase cash flow, I don’t know of a better strategy for most Canadians most of the time.  One last time that’s iwin.sharesfr.com to see what boring, cash flowing real estate investing can look like on your path towards financial peace.

This is how I’m going to make real estate investing great again for my family and hope you choose the same.  Till next time!

Sponsored by:

This episode is brought to you by me! We don’t have sponsors for this show. I only share with you services owned by my wife Cherry and me.  Real estate investing is a staple in my life and allowed me to build wealth and, more importantly, achieve financial peace about the future, knowing our retirement is taken care of and my kids will be able to afford a home when they grow up.  If you, too, are interested in my systematic strategy to implement the #1 investment strategy, the same one pretty much all my guests are doing themselves, then go visit www.infinitywealth.ca/events and register for our next event.

Till next time, just do it because I believe in you.

Erwin

W: erwinszeto.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/erwin.szeto
IG: https://www.instagram.com/erwinszeto/

Disclaimer:
As a committed advocate for transparent and responsible real estate investment, I want to openly share my involvement with SHARE SFR (Single Family Rental) as an Advisor. I hold an equity position in this company and receive a referral commission for clients I introduce to their services. My endorsement of their business model – focusing on direct ownership of positive cash flow income properties – is consistent with my own personal investing since 2005, is based not only on a professional assessment but also on my personal experience and belief in their approach. Please note that while I stand behind my recommendations, it is crucial for each individual to conduct their own due diligence and consider their unique circumstances before making any investment decisions. As always, my priority is to provide you with honest, insightful, and practical real estate investment education.

Managing Six Figure AirBnBs in Canada & USA With Spencer & Ashley

New construction six plexes in Windsor, Ontario, tiny house communities, the status of real estate and investing in Canada, solving for happy, AirBnb investing: US vs. Canada, where is better, my show guest and I disagree. I’ll let you, my 17 listeners decide.  All this and more on the Truth About Real Estate Investing for Canadians!  What once was ranked #81 on all of iTunes in the Business category but much has changed. 

Real estate investing in Canada has really fallen out of favor.  I see it at work, my own listings, on social media: all the condo bulls have gone either quiet or pivoted to coaching. I feel so bad for the agents I see paying for paid advertising of new construction condos while there are nearly 10,000 condos available for sale right now per John Pasalis of Move Smartly.

Condo investors are rushing for the exits, unfortunately if you bought a small condo, there’s lots of competition and very few buyers.

My friend in Toronto with a 1 plus den however immediately rented his condo AND had three offers to purchase.  I’m not a condo investor but I’ve known for over a decade that the 1 plus den condo is the poor person’s two bedroom or the rich persons’ two bedroom so if you’re going to invest in one, make it a plus den as even in condo winter, the best practice is still working.

Housing inflation continues: my house insurance on my remaining portfolio in Hamilton, each one just went up $5-700/year. I’m not looking forward to rental licensing adding another $6-700. Our property tax is going up only 5.8% but they’re deferring a bunch of stuff so they only kicked the can down the road to be dealt with in the future.

This is why when a Canadian not from Alberta is pitching me a deal I ask them if their projected cash flow improves over time or gets worse? Between rent control and inflation.

But bless those who continue to create housing supply. I have an idea how difficult it is and we certainly need more of it.  It’s the only way prices will come down like we’ll see in small condos in Ontario and BC.

I just returned from Windsor, while I was there the sale of my daughter’s house closed yay! Milena Simsic and her business partner Brandon Finn were kind enough to host me as their speaker. It was a pretty sweet event. $20 admission got you stone over pizza dinner and there was tons of leftovers as funny enough, Milena and I don’t eat pizza LOL

For the first time ever, I gave a presentation with no power point slides, just a white board I borrowed from my office and drew a T chart: Canada on one side, US on the other and categories such as mortgages, landlord rights, cash flow.

The feedback was excellent, that you to everyone for coming and saying hi: Cody, Louis, Kyle, Matt, Kevin, Jonathan, Savio, and Mike Seal.  Thank you again to Milena and Brandon.

If you have not listened to my podcast interview of Milena Simsic: https://www.truthaboutrealestateinvesting.ca/how-a-nurse-became-a-millionaire-and-top-1-realtor-with-milena-simsic/

We really dug into her story and journey and if you want to be young and successful, she’s pretty much laid out hers on the show.

“Solving for Happy.”  I just finished Mo Gawdat’s book. I can’t recommend it enough thought caution to parents, it’s tough to listen to at times. Mo reads the audio book himself so each time he revisits his son’s accidental death he gets choked up and coincidentally someone decides to cut onions wherever I happen to be when it happens.

Some of the nuggets include accepting death, no amount of money will make you happy, do more of what makes you happy, recognize what doesn’t make you happy and do less of if.  In the absence of evidence based decision making, go with happiness.

I can’t tell you how much my work makes me happy I’m enjoying educating and sharing with Canadians about how much better and easier it is to be a US landlord and here locally while I get paid and have equity in SHARE.

Which reminds me, I’m hosting a free, virtual tour of USA income properties including the one I’ve conditionally purchased in Kansas City, MO for 1200 sq ft detached, 3 bed, 1.5 bath. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/5417189936607/WN_EQ_jWXpESF-r77oLzd28eg

Off market, BRRRR: $157,500 to buy, $25,000 renovation, equity uplift of hopefully 10k. $1,495 monthly rent. 5.9% capitalization rate which in other words is operating profit yield before financing costs.  Cap rate is a must know for all sophisticated investors because no one can tell you what your cash flow is because everyone’s financing is different. Pros know cap rate, it’s the lingo of our industry.

Link for full definition: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalizationrate.asp#:~:text=Understanding%20the%20Capitalization%20Rate,cash%20and%20not%20on%20loan.

Managing Six Figure AirBnBs in Canada & USA With Spencer & Ashley

 On to this week’s show, as always, we try to focus on cash flow the young, lovely couple Spencer and Ashley Giles are Niagara- based real estate investors with a shared love of travel (they are literally vacationing in Nashville, TN right now, hopefully they find an AirBNB investment there as I hear Nashville is awesome), fitness, and dogs. They started investing in 2018 and have since expanded their portfolio to 13 units with a mix of short- term and long-term rentals. Spencer and Ashley co-founded Travelluxe Inc. in 2019, a short-term rental management company, which currently manages over 45 units across Canada and has expanded to the USA. We go into detail about that on the show including the numbers.

They were able to leave their corporate jobs in 2021 and 2022 to focus all their efforts on their businesses. Their love for travel has brought them all around the world where they are able to mix work and pleasure by creating systems that allow them to be location independent. 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spencerandashley/

Website: https://spencerandashley.com/

Ellicottville Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/53721048?locale=en&_set_bev_on_new_domain=1719192849_EAMTU0NWYwZTcwNj&source_impression_id=p3_1719192850_P3OWaZ8QQzOrJpJd

To Listen:

** Transcript Auto-Generated**

HELP US OUT!

Please help us reach new listeners on iTunes by leaving us a rating and review!

UPCOMING EVENTS

I have an FREE Virtual U.S. Property tour on July 10th at 8:00 PM EDT. Join me for an insider look at these dynamic markets, fresh off my recent U.S. trip. We’ll dive into the specific locations I’m targeting, explore the properties themselves, and crunch the numbers to show their cash flow potential. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/5417189936607/WN_EQ_jWXpESF-r77oLzd28eg

BEFORE YOU GO…

Before you go, if you’re interested in what kind of properties I am looking at in the landlord friendly states of the USA please go to iwin.sharesfr.com for what I consider the best investment for most Canadians, most of the time.

I’ve been investing in Ontario since 2005 and while it’s been a great, great run. I started out buying properties in the 100,000s and now it’s $800,000 to $1,000,000.  How much higher can it go? I don’t know

To me, the remaining potential for appreciation does not match the risk hence I’m advising my clients to look to where one can find rental properties that are affordable range of $150,000 to $350,000 US$, with rents that range from $1,400 to 2,600/month plus utilities.   As many Canadians recognize, these numbers will be positive cash flow and are night and day compared to anything locally. Plus the landlord has all of the rights, no rent control, and income is US dollars which are better than Canadian dollars.

If you don’t believe me, US dollars are better than Canadian dollars, go ask 100 non-Canadians which currency they prefer to be paid in.

So to regain control of your retirement planning.  Go to iwin.sharesfr.com and check out what great cash flow properties are available in the USA.  

The best part is, my US investments will be much more passive compared to by local investments as I’m hiring an asset manager called SHARE to hand hold me through the entire process.  As their client and shareholder, Share will source me quality income properties, help me with legal structure and taxes, they manage the property manager and insurance provider while passing down to me preferred rates so I save both time and money.  

Share will even tell me when to strategically refinance or sell.  SHARE can even support investors all over the country for proper diversification hence my plan is to own in Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas.  Share is like my joint venture partner but I only have to pay them fees while I keep 100% ownership and control.

If your goal in investing is to increase cash flow, I don’t know of a better strategy for most Canadians most of the time.  One last time that’s iwin.sharesfr.com to see what boring, cash flowing real estate investing can look like on your path towards financial peace.

This is how I’m going to make real estate investing great again for my family and hope you choose the same.  Till next time!

Sponsored by:

This episode is brought to you by me! We don’t have sponsors for this show. I only share with you services owned by my wife Cherry and me.  Real estate investing is a staple in my life and allowed me to build wealth and, more importantly, achieve financial peace about the future, knowing our retirement is taken care of and my kids will be able to afford a home when they grow up.  If you, too, are interested in my systematic strategy to implement the #1 investment strategy, the same one pretty much all my guests are doing themselves, then go visit www.infinitywealth.ca/events and register for our next event.

Till next time, just do it because I believe in you.

Erwin

W: erwinszeto.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/erwin.szeto
IG: https://www.instagram.com/erwinszeto/

Disclaimer:
As a committed advocate for transparent and responsible real estate investment, I want to openly share my involvement with SHARE SFR (Single Family Rental) as an Advisor. I hold an equity position in this company and receive a referral commission for clients I introduce to their services. My endorsement of their business model – focusing on direct ownership of positive cash flow income properties – is consistent with my own personal investing since 2005, is based not only on a professional assessment but also on my personal experience and belief in their approach. Please note that while I stand behind my recommendations, it is crucial for each individual to conduct their own due diligence and consider their unique circumstances before making any investment decisions. As always, my priority is to provide you with honest, insightful, and practical real estate investment education.

Navigating Legal Structures and Taxes: A How To for Canadians Investing in the US with Carmen Da Silva, Tax Specialist, CPA in both USA&CAN, CFO of SHARE

Off market, Accepted offer in Kansas City for a three bedroom, 1.5 bath, 1,200 sq feet for $183,000. Estimated monthly rent? $1500, 5.9% cap rate.  Potential for civil unrest including rent strikes in Canada and Legal and Accounting structures for Canadians owning US rental properties with Carmen da Silva, CPA in both Canada and USA. All this and more on this week’s Truth About Real Estate Investing for Canadians!

Greetings my fellow Canadian investors! My name is Erwin Szeto, host of this humble podcast since 2016, home of over 300 episodes where we speak to Canadian investors about what repeatable successes they have, where they made mistakes, what drives them so we may all learn from their experiences to improve our own investment portfolios.

This past week has been a wild one. My US entities have been created, I’ll applied for my employer identification number (EIN) so I report taxes to the IRS. I have funds after selling a few houses from our investment portfolio and have been eagerly awaiting to buy a house in the US then Thursday I get an email from Dmitri, CIO of SHARE, an off market deal from a wholesaler came available, we have a conditional sale, and I’ve ordered a home inspection. 

The deal? Kansas City, MO, Detached house 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath, single garage, 1,200 square feet for a whopping $183,000 including renovation. Projected rent: $1,500 per month plus utilities. Cap rate for those who know commercial real estate, 5.9% in a single family house.  In my experience, 5.9% cap rates are extremely hard to come by without significant development and renovations as you’ve heard many of my past guests of this show discuss by full time investors vs. I’m remote, passive investing. I’m happy to stay in my boring lane and happy for those who enjoy the excitement of active, exciting real estate.

Some quick interesting facts about Kansas City? 46% of the households are renters in KC, the Ford F150, the most popular pick up truck in America is manufactured in KC employing 7,500, and Panasonic is building a new electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant just west of KC, a $4 billion investment projecting 4,000 employees. Needless to say, I’m liking the economic fundamentals. (https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/mo/kansas-city/#:~:text=occupied%20Households%3A%2054%25-,End%20of%20interactive%20chart.,54%25%20are%20owner%2Doccupied.)

As mentioned I’ve ordered a home inspection and the property manager will be quoting about $25,000 worth of renovations to optimize my rent return. 

When the email came in, I was literally finalizing my presentation I was about to give in front of 120 Dominion Lending Centres (DLC) mortgage agents and brokers.  My mortgage broker, Scott Dillingham who can get me both US and Canadian mortgages invited me to speak as he was announcing the availability of US mortgages to all of Dominion Lending Centres’ 2,800 mortgage professionals.

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive as this was a trade show and SHARE had a booth I was attending. It didn’t hurt that the two Chief Economists who spoke at the same conference has many positive things to say about the US economy.

Pardon the geek speak but my two favourite economists were speaking at the same event: Dr. Sherry Cooper and Benjamin Tal, both I’ve been following for over a decade as they’re sharing and very insightful.

Benjamin Tal, Deputy Chief Economist for CIBC mentioned how the housing crisis we are in is quite bad and if left to continue we could see some civil unrest of anti-immigration and renter strikes.  I’d argue we’re seeing both already.  Ben also mentioned we are in a recession in terms of real GDP per capita as in inflation adjusted per person.  When this happens, expect quality of life to decline which we are seeing now with health care and education suffering.

All this while the US economy is chugging along, Jerome Powell, Chairman of the US Federal Reserve has revised downwards the number of rate cuts in 2024 from three to one. Most economists are predicting four rate cuts for Canada in 2024.

Both Ben Tal and Dr. Sherry Cooper predict the Bank of Canada’s overnight rate to fall to 200 bps to 3% by end of 2025 and a steady increase in prices for detached real estate.  Condos not so much: buyers market for next year, year and a half.

For this reason, I don’t feel so bad for still holding several local properties in our portfolio. I fully anticipate appreciation to be there, just not cash flowing and worsening with inflation running so high. 

I also don’t know why immigrants continue to come here hence I asked Dr. Sherry Cooper, Chief Economist for Dominion Lending Centres. She had shared earlier that the federal government is still forecasting 500,000 new immigrants per year in each of the next few years.  I asked Dr Sherry if there is still demand and she said yes, there is plenty of demand for immigrants to come to Canada… while owning a home has never been so unaffordable in Canada. 

At the same time Canadians leaving Canada for the USA is at an all time high. A 70% increase from a decade ago. Exactly 126,340 in 2022. I have a feeling that number will continue to trend upwards.

Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadians-moving-to-the-us-hits-10-year-high-1.7218479

Personally, I’ve never been so busy fielding calls from Canadians to invest in real estate but they’re asking about SHARE and investing in the USA, not locally.  If you too would like more information on investing in the USA, I’ve written a free guide to USA Investing for Canadians. You can download it from www.truthaboutrealestateinvesting.ca/ once you have the report, you can check out current and past deals available for direct investment on the SHARE website and you can pick up my report on the best places to invest in the USA in 2024.

Navigating Legal Structures and Taxes: A How To for Canadians Investing in the US with Carmen Da Silva, Tax Specialist, CPA in both USA&CAN, CFO of SHARE

On to this week’s show!

We have a special guest today who we squeezed in before her return home to Tampa Bay, FLA to warm weather, pickleball year round, fruit trees in her backyard. The reasons are obvious why Canadians love Florida. Carmen is a Canadian living in Florida, she’s Chartered Professional Accountant Tax Specialist in both Canada and the USA. She owns 70 income properties in the USA, her 24 year old son even owns three rental houses in the States too! Carmen got into investing after selling her business, then in the 2008 real estate crash and bought a portfolio of single family homes in Florida to generate cash flow and replace part of her income.

Carmen is a passive investor as SHARE’s property management team takes care of everything so she gets to enjoy early retirement income.

As Carmen is a practicing Accountant who prepares tax returns for Canadian clients, she introduced clients to invest in US based single family rentals including Andrew Kim, CEO of SHARE and together could see how involved the process from legal setup to ongoing property management but the returns are life changing hence they knew they had to create SHARE, a technology based real estate solution for anyone to become a US landlord without all the hard work.

I’ve invited Carmen Da Silva, CPA in both Canada and US to return to the show to focus on the most common questions Canadians have about investing in the US.  The answer is different for everyone and Carmen takes the time to explain why.

Friendly disclaimer, I Erwin Szeto am not an Accountant, Carmen Da Silva is an Accountant but not your personal Accountant so you still need to seek your own professional, expert advice for your specific situation.  Our conversation is for educational purposes, tax let alone cross border tax is a complicated subject.

With that said please enjoy the show!

To Listen:

** Transcript Auto-Generated**

HELP US OUT!

Please help us reach new listeners on iTunes by leaving us a rating and review!

UPCOMING EVENTS

I have an FREE Virtual U.S. Property tour on July 10th at 8:00 PM EDT. Join me for an insider look at these dynamic markets, fresh off my recent U.S. trip. We’ll dive into the specific locations I’m targeting, explore the properties themselves, and crunch the numbers to show their cash flow potential. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/5417189936607/WN_EQ_jWXpESF-r77oLzd28eg

BEFORE YOU GO…

Before you go, if you’re interested in what kind of properties I am looking at in the landlord friendly states of the USA please go to iwin.sharesfr.com for what I consider the best investment for most Canadians, most of the time.

I’ve been investing in Ontario since 2005 and while it’s been a great, great run. I started out buying properties in the 100,000s and now it’s $800,000 to $1,000,000.  How much higher can it go? I don’t know

To me, the remaining potential for appreciation does not match the risk hence I’m advising my clients to look to where one can find rental properties that are affordable range of $150,000 to $350,000 US$, with rents that range from $1,400 to 2,600/month plus utilities.   As many Canadians recognize, these numbers will be positive cash flow and are night and day compared to anything locally. Plus the landlord has all of the rights, no rent control, and income is US dollars which are better than Canadian dollars.

If you don’t believe me, US dollars are better than Canadian dollars, go ask 100 non-Canadians which currency they prefer to be paid in.

So to regain control of your retirement planning.  Go to iwin.sharesfr.com and check out what great cash flow properties are available in the USA.  

The best part is, my US investments will be much more passive compared to by local investments as I’m hiring an asset manager called SHARE to hand hold me through the entire process.  As their client and shareholder, Share will source me quality income properties, help me with legal structure and taxes, they manage the property manager and insurance provider while passing down to me preferred rates so I save both time and money.  

Share will even tell me when to strategically refinance or sell.  SHARE can even support investors all over the country for proper diversification hence my plan is to own in Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas.  Share is like my joint venture partner but I only have to pay them fees while I keep 100% ownership and control.

If your goal in investing is to increase cash flow, I don’t know of a better strategy for most Canadians most of the time.  One last time that’s iwin.sharesfr.com to see what boring, cash flowing real estate investing can look like on your path towards financial peace.

This is how I’m going to make real estate investing great again for my family and hope you choose the same.  Till next time!

Sponsored by:

This episode is brought to you by me! We don’t have sponsors for this show. I only share with you services owned by my wife Cherry and me.  Real estate investing is a staple in my life and allowed me to build wealth and, more importantly, achieve financial peace about the future, knowing our retirement is taken care of and my kids will be able to afford a home when they grow up.  If you, too, are interested in my systematic strategy to implement the #1 investment strategy, the same one pretty much all my guests are doing themselves, then go visit www.infinitywealth.ca/events and register for our next event.

Till next time, just do it because I believe in you.

Erwin

W: erwinszeto.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/erwin.szeto
IG: https://www.instagram.com/erwinszeto/

Disclaimer:
As a committed advocate for transparent and responsible real estate investment, I want to openly share my involvement with SHARE SFR (Single Family Rental) as an Advisor. I hold an equity position in this company and receive a referral commission for clients I introduce to their services. My endorsement of their business model – focusing on direct ownership of positive cash flow income properties – is consistent with my own personal investing since 2005, is based not only on a professional assessment but also on my personal experience and belief in their approach. Please note that while I stand behind my recommendations, it is crucial for each individual to conduct their own due diligence and consider their unique circumstances before making any investment decisions. As always, my priority is to provide you with honest, insightful, and practical real estate investment education.

From International Student to Stock Option Investment Coach and USA Apartments With Cody Yeh

What a week: we had a rate cut, I sold my daughter’s house, I got into a heated disagreement with another agent who doesn’t understand contract law, and hosted a sold out US Investing Workshop. Our best ever in my humble opinion.

We also have a great guest this week. What can we say about Cody Yeh other than he’s a young hustler. In a good way! He used to work as an Engineer for Honda in Alliston, invested in real estate, built and AirBnb’s a garden suite, quit his job, started a stock option education and coaching company, built and Airbnb’s a massive garden suite in Bowmanville, Ontario.  He’s lived all over Ontario now he’s bought an apartment building in Ohio.

All this and more on the Truth About Real Estate Investing for Canadians!

How much fun is this real estate market?  

We finally got a rate cut of 0.25% as the Bank of Canada is finally signalling the economy is as weak as everyone knows, one of the weakest among the developed countries, there are more condos being listed than ever before, local investment buyer activity still seems lows while my business in the USA investing in single family houses is going quite well.

I literally met with my clients on the weekend Mason and Melissa, not their real names. My team had been helping them find a duplex in Welland, ON, a hot spot for many Ontario investors in the $650,000 range that would rent for about 3,400-3,500 per month.

Mason shared how he didn’t feel right about the investment until he saw what we are doing in the US with SHARE and has since purchased a perfect BRRRR project off market via a wholesaler SHARE has a relationship with, the wholesaler actually wanted the house for himself as this house in Atlanta was a projected 6% cap rate which is a very rare find. In a single family house nonetheless.

If you’re not familiar with cap rate that’s totally normal, it’s short for capitalization rate, a common metric for commercial real estate: apartment buildings, retail, office, and industrial.  

It’s simply your rent minus operating expenses like repairs, maintenance, property management, bad debt, property taxes, insurance but before mortgage payments and income taxes. This is called net operating income or NOI for short.  Keep in mind, many listings leave out expenses for I don’t know what reasons like bad debt, the tenant not paying you, property management, repairs and maintenance. I literally reviewed projected financials for a duplex in Brantford that quote/unquote cash flowed over $700/month so I dug into the numbers and yup, omitted were property management, repairs and maintenance, bad debt and vacancy allowance.

Now divide the NOI by the purchase price AND the initial renovations 

You as the sophisticated investor need to be able to read pro forma, aka future performance financials. One can youtube better explanations with visuals and learn how to compare. Don’t let someone dupe you into paying top dollar for something with incomplete financials.

At the end of the day, Mason and Melissa got a sweet deal as I don’t know where you can find a six cap in a large, economically diversified city like Atlanta, GA in Canada.  For context, if Atlanta, GA was in Canada it would be the 2nd largest city based on great area population.

Real estate investing in the USA simply makes sense to have the majority of the rights. For example, in the State of Georgia, the lease agreement may set reasonable limitations on the number of occupants during the tenancy.  Pets and smoking can be restricted or banned in the rental agreement.  In practice, some landlords charge extra rent for each pet depending on size.

In Ontario, I have no such rights.  I literally had a tenant, a single guy moved in, a trucker so he made great income and wouldn’t be at the house much, the perfect tenant. Then his girlfriend moved in and bred puppies in my duplex.  My poor basement tenants rightfully complained about the smell and noise but legally, I couldn’t do anything about it.  I suggested to my basement tenants to call the city and police to complain.

The tenants with the puppies even left for a day, leaving the puppies in the house to cry all day and night, defecating all over the place and disturbing my poor basement tenants.

Versus in Georgia, my lease word be worded to allow me to charge for additional occupants and pets and limit the number of both.

Hence the reason I’m selling off a portion of my portfolio to reduce my stress, improve cash flow.

Speaking of, my daughter’s house is sold and it closes before the June 25th deadline before capital gains inclusion rate goes up on corporate owned investments.  Doing so saves me close to $50,000 in income taxes.

The sale took me three weeks. I was honestly expecting a better market since everyone knew the rate cut was coming, my duplex is legal, move-in-ready, vacant and staged.  As good as it gets but the buyer activity was so slow.  Showings were slow, I only received three offers, all I considered low but thanks to my 14 years of experience being an investor specialist Realtor and having studied negotiations extensively, I stood my ground on my terms and got quite close to it.

Funny story, the agent who brought the winning offer did his due diligence on me. He knew me as Mr. Hamilton from his REIN days.  The importance is my branding gave him and his clients a lot of comfort over the quality of the house they were buying.  This mattered because the City of Hamilton had been hacked so I can’t easily get my zoning verification to prove the legal use of my daughter’s house, a legal two family home or as most call it, a duplex.

I did have my permits, proof my permits were closed, ESA certificate, proof of insurance for a two family house but my word and reputation is what sealed the deal.

Now that I have sold four houses from our portfolio, I have some capital to deploy down south. We still have a significant amount of real estate in Hamilton and GTA so we’re still well poised to benefit from appreciation but not so much cash flow so we are refocusing my search for US income properties with better yield and cash flow so my new focus will be on Memphis, TN, Birmingham, Alabama, Kansas City, MO, and Little Rock Arkansas.  

Basically, 6 cap rates and up. I can’t wait! To start researching each city 🙂

From International Student to Stock Option Investment Coach and USA Apartments With Cody Yeh

On to this week’s show!

Cody Yeh arrived in Canada at the age of 18 on a student visa, initially lacking knowledge in income and wealth creation. Over the past 11 years, Cody has undergone a significant transformation, evolving from a student to a full-time project manager, and eventually to a financial coach, real estate investor, and stock options investor. The skills he acquired during this period enabled him to leave his full-time job at the beginning of 2020. 

Cody now has a stock options investing program and he’s buying apartment buildings in the USA.  It’s quite the journey.

To follow Cody, his website is his name Codyyeh.com

Please enjoy the show!

To Listen:

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HELP US OUT!

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UPCOMING EVENTS

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with! Build connections with empire builders and trailblazers at our iWIN events.
 
CLICK HERE to check out what’s coming up next.

BEFORE YOU GO…

Before you go, if you’re interested in what kind of properties I am looking at in the landlord friendly states of the USA please go to iwin.sharesfr.com for what I consider the best investment for most Canadians, most of the time.

I’ve been investing in Ontario since 2005 and while it’s been a great, great run. I started out buying properties in the 100,000s and now it’s $800,000 to $1,000,000.  How much higher can it go? I don’t know

To me, the remaining potential for appreciation does not match the risk hence I’m advising my clients to look to where one can find rental properties that are affordable range of $150,000 to $350,000 US$, with rents that range from $1,400 to 2,600/month plus utilities.   As many Canadians recognize, these numbers will be positive cash flow and are night and day compared to anything locally. Plus the landlord has all of the rights, no rent control, and income is US dollars which are better than Canadian dollars.

If you don’t believe me, US dollars are better than Canadian dollars, go ask 100 non-Canadians which currency they prefer to be paid in.

So to regain control of your retirement planning.  Go to iwin.sharesfr.com and check out what great cash flow properties are available in the USA.  

The best part is, my US investments will be much more passive compared to by local investments as I’m hiring an asset manager called SHARE to hand hold me through the entire process.  As their client and shareholder, Share will source me quality income properties, help me with legal structure and taxes, they manage the property manager and insurance provider while passing down to me preferred rates so I save both time and money.  

Share will even tell me when to strategically refinance or sell.  SHARE can even support investors all over the country for proper diversification hence my plan is to own in Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas.  Share is like my joint venture partner but I only have to pay them fees while I keep 100% ownership and control.

If your goal in investing is to increase cash flow, I don’t know of a better strategy for most Canadians most of the time.  One last time that’s iwin.sharesfr.com to see what boring, cash flowing real estate investing can look like on your path towards financial peace.

This is how I’m going to make real estate investing great again for my family and hope you choose the same.  Till next time!

Sponsored by:

This episode is brought to you by me! We don’t have sponsors for this show. I only share with you services owned by my wife Cherry and me.  Real estate investing is a staple in my life and allowed me to build wealth and, more importantly, achieve financial peace about the future, knowing our retirement is taken care of and my kids will be able to afford a home when they grow up.  If you, too, are interested in my systematic strategy to implement the #1 investment strategy, the same one pretty much all my guests are doing themselves, then go visit www.infinitywealth.ca/events and register for our next event.

Till next time, just do it because I believe in you.

Erwin

W: erwinszeto.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/erwin.szeto
IG: https://www.instagram.com/erwinszeto/

Disclaimer:
As a committed advocate for transparent and responsible real estate investment, I want to openly share my involvement with SHARE SFR (Single Family Rental) as an Advisor. I hold an equity position in this company and receive a referral commission for clients I introduce to their services. My endorsement of their business model – focusing on direct ownership of positive cash flow income properties – is consistent with my own personal investing since 2005, is based not only on a professional assessment but also on my personal experience and belief in their approach. Please note that while I stand behind my recommendations, it is crucial for each individual to conduct their own due diligence and consider their unique circumstances before making any investment decisions. As always, my priority is to provide you with honest, insightful, and practical real estate investment education.

How a Nurse Became a Millionaire and Top 1% Realtor With Milena Simsic

 

I sure hope interest rates are cut on June 5th! I could use the bump to help sell my daughter’s house.  That is the Truth About Real Estate Investing for Canadians! My name is Erwin Szeto, host of this little podcast, 17 devout listeners, thank you to all 17 of you who said hello and some of you joined me for dinner at the Multifamily Conference! I always appreciate the kind words both in person and on iTunes’ 5 star reviews.

I do have to say I’m grateful for our listeners and past guests of this show who share with me both how they make money AND unfortunately lose money.  I had one listener share with me at the Multifamily Conference. She has five private mortgages that have gone bad. I already knew this is a main area of losses as my wife Cherry has an Accounting practice specializing in Real Estate and private lending is the current #1 loser for investment categories.

I know some out there don’t agree with my stance that I don’t lend privately and probably never will. The worse case scenario that many investors are facing today falls outside my investment criteria.  As my regular listeners know, I’m very diligent and risk averse and if I ever did lend, I would be registered on title.

As for a real estate market update, activity is definitely increasing compared to Victoria Day long weekend. Showing volume is up, I’m getting offers though it’s mostly from what I call vultures: investors throwing out low ball offers looking for motivated sellers.  I don’t blame them, I would be doing the same.

My student rentals had considerably more interest so I’m guessing I’m not the only one steering away from long term, residential tenants.  While tenants in Ontario and BC have all the rights, I don’t see how rents don’t keep climbing as housing is not built, immigration is high, mom and pop landlords are generally exiting.

If you’re a parent or renter, I’d recommend taking action asap.  As many of you know my story, I bought each of my kids a house as a RESP when they were born. I’ve sold one and am selling another now and will redeploy in the USA.  Housing inflation in the USA has been 5.5% each year over the last 53 years so I’m hedging my inflation risk and building wealth for the family.

Speaking of kids, how cute is it that my kids participated in a Dragon’s Den style public speaking competition.  They were taught how to structure a business business pitch then pitched their fictitious businesses in front of a live audience including judges.

My son pitched his flying magic carpet business as an alternative to driving a boring car to avoid traffic jams.  The price of a flying magic carpet? Only $50,000 each LOL. Never forget talk is cheap, in real estate execution is everything, those who don’t execute go bankrupt as we’re seeing in our community.

The cash flow and effort involved never worked for Cherry and I for a large scale portfolio with investment partners in Ontario when commercial interest rates were 4% (we now dream of those days…even at 4% we were conservatively forecasting negative cash flow).  Today we’re at historic highs and I feel sorry for all those losing their shirts and retirement funds.

Keep it boring investors, focus on cash flow, and be passive as possible.  Unless you’re prepared to invest more than 15 hours per week and like being an active investor, go for it. Otherwise, keep it boring and go back to work and your family.

If you want to know the truth about how Cherry and I will be investing boring and for cash flow in the USA then, Saturday June 8th for a hybrid workshop meaning both in person in our offices in Oakville and broadcast online via Zoom webinar.  This is for beginner to experienced investors who have little previous experience investing in the USA and we’re teaching everything you need to know for a whopping $30 plus tax and Eventbrite fees.  That’s tremendous value considering attendees will be learning about the future of Canadians investing in real estate.  The writing is on the wall and from my research, my conclusion is buy American. Pretty much everyone at the Multifamily Conference was saying the same, it’s only a matter of education on how to at this point. 

Link to register: https://USAworkshop-er.eventbrite.ca/?aff=podcast

How a Nurse Became a Millionaire and Top 1% Realtor With Milena Simsic

On to this week’s show!

In the latest episode of our podcast, we had the pleasure of speaking with Milena Simsic, a remarkable individual who transitioned from being an ICU nurse to becoming a top 1% Realtors in Windsor, ON. Milena’s journey is a testament to the power of determination, strategic thinking, and adaptability.

Milena’s story begins in the high-pressure environment of an ICU in Detroit, where she worked for four years, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite her passion for nursing, she realized that her financial goals and long-term aspirations required a different path. Intrigued by the potential of real estate, she saved diligently and made her first property investment, a sixplex within eight months of starting her nursing career.

In February 2022, Milena made the full-time switch to real estate. Leveraging her skills, discipline, and having grown social media presence of 10,000, she quickly established herself as a formidable player in the Windsor market. By the end of her first year, she had achieved $300,000 in gross commission income, placing her in the top 1% of realtors in the area.

We talk about why and how Windsor’s market is booming unlike the rest of the province and how an investor can take advantage of it.

What I love about having this podcast is getting an hour of time from busy, successful talented people such as Milena so we can drill into what makes her tick, her secrets to success, how it didn’t come easy but rather with a lot of hard work.

I’ve been lucky to have many pasts guests of this show and I happen to hang out with 7 figure entrepreneurs all the time so I have experience hanging out with talented people and I’d count Milena among them. You don’t become a top 1% Realtor without talent and hard work. 

If you’re in the Windsor area, you definitely want to the check out the Windsor REI Social, the largest real estate networking event in Windsor, ON. Milena has honoured me with an invite to be the guest speaker Wednesday June 19th, 6pm at the Winelogy Restaurant and Bar.  I’ll be sharing my journey from 20 year landlord in Ontario to my recent pivot to the USA and I have to same kudos to Windsor REI Hosts Milena and Brandon Finn for hosting a speaker on the subject of USA Investing.  Not many local real estate professionals would.

To register for the meetup: Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/windsor-rei-social-429899

To follow Milena:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/milena_simsic/

Website: https://milenasimsic.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/windsocialrealty/

Please enjoy the show!

To Listen:

** Transcript Auto-Generated**

Subscribe on Android
 

HELP US OUT!

Please help us reach new listeners on iTunes by leaving us a rating and review!

UPCOMING EVENTS

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with! Build connections with empire builders and trailblazers at our iWIN events.
 
CLICK HERE to check out what’s coming up next.

BEFORE YOU GO…

Before you go, if you’re interested in what kind of properties I am looking at in the landlord friendly states of the USA please go to iwin.sharesfr.com for what I consider the best investment for most Canadians, most of the time.

I’ve been investing in Ontario since 2005 and while it’s been a great, great run. I started out buying properties in the 100,000s and now it’s $800,000 to $1,000,000.  How much higher can it go? I don’t know

To me, the remaining potential for appreciation does not match the risk hence I’m advising my clients to look to where one can find rental properties that are affordable range of $150,000 to $350,000 US$, with rents that range from $1,400 to 2,600/month plus utilities.   As many Canadians recognize, these numbers will be positive cash flow and are night and day compared to anything locally. Plus the landlord has all of the rights, no rent control, and income is US dollars which are better than Canadian dollars.

If you don’t believe me, US dollars are better than Canadian dollars, go ask 100 non-Canadians which currency they prefer to be paid in.

So to regain control of your retirement planning.  Go to iwin.sharesfr.com and check out what great cash flow properties are available in the USA.  

The best part is, my US investments will be much more passive compared to by local investments as I’m hiring an asset manager called SHARE to hand hold me through the entire process.  As their client and shareholder, Share will source me quality income properties, help me with legal structure and taxes, they manage the property manager and insurance provider while passing down to me preferred rates so I save both time and money.  

Share will even tell me when to strategically refinance or sell.  SHARE can even support investors all over the country for proper diversification hence my plan is to own in Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas.  Share is like my joint venture partner but I only have to pay them fees while I keep 100% ownership and control.

If your goal in investing is to increase cash flow, I don’t know of a better strategy for most Canadians most of the time.  One last time that’s iwin.sharesfr.com to see what boring, cash flowing real estate investing can look like on your path towards financial peace.

This is how I’m going to make real estate investing great again for my family and hope you choose the same.  Till next time!

Sponsored by:

This episode is brought to you by me! We don’t have sponsors for this show. I only share with you services owned by my wife Cherry and me.  Real estate investing is a staple in my life and allowed me to build wealth and, more importantly, achieve financial peace about the future, knowing our retirement is taken care of and my kids will be able to afford a home when they grow up.  If you, too, are interested in my systematic strategy to implement the #1 investment strategy, the same one pretty much all my guests are doing themselves, then go visit www.infinitywealth.ca/events and register for our next event.

Till next time, just do it because I believe in you.

Erwin

W: erwinszeto.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/erwin.szeto
IG: https://www.instagram.com/erwinszeto/

Disclaimer:
As a committed advocate for transparent and responsible real estate investment, I want to openly share my involvement with SHARE SFR (Single Family Rental) as an Advisor. I hold an equity position in this company and receive a referral commission for clients I introduce to their services. My endorsement of their business model – focusing on direct ownership of positive cash flow income properties – is consistent with my own personal investing since 2005, is based not only on a professional assessment but also on my personal experience and belief in their approach. Please note that while I stand behind my recommendations, it is crucial for each individual to conduct their own due diligence and consider their unique circumstances before making any investment decisions. As always, my priority is to provide you with honest, insightful, and practical real estate investment education.

Revolutionizing How Tenants Build Credit & Improving Rent Collection with Zac Killam

Cherry and I have created our legal entities: limited partnership and LLC: limited liability company to begin writing offers and owing income properties in the USA.  Welcome to the Truth About Real Estate Investing Show for Canadians, my name is Erwin Szeto, a 20 year landlord in Ontario, Canada and investment specialist Realtor with over 300 past clients transacting on close to half a billion dollars for of income properties since 2010 with my team at iWIN Real Estate. 

In my experience, the writing is on the wall for investing in Canada vs. the USA hence I am selling a significant percentage of my portfolio here in Canada to diversify to the USA and I haven’t been this excited since I first got into real estate investing.

Where am I investing?  There are historical levels of investment going on in the USA by major corporations in microchip manufacturing and car manufacturing, specifically electric vehicles so there is much to choose from.

How I chose my target areas is I looked for the intersection of towns and cities with the best of the best past, I can still get value as in three bedroom detached houses for between $2-300k with historic levels of manufacturing investment and the creation of high paying manufacturing jobs.

The creation of high paying manufacturing jobs means my future tenants will have great, growing income to afford my rent and people naturally migrate to areas with affordable real estate and high paying jobs.  

But I’m in this for the long term so I need stability of employment. Without a growing industry or employment, the real estate market won’t go up.  Simply google “Foxconn investment in Wisconsin” (wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconn_Valley_Science_and_Technology_Park#:~:text=The%20Wisconn%20Valley%20Science%20and,with%20the%20state%20of%20Wisconsin.) or look at Fort McMurray of Alberta which has been decimated by the downturn of oil investment and forest fires.  Oh yeah, maybe stay away from climate change and insurance risk like hurricanes hence places like Houston and Florida are off my list for investing.

Fort McMurry Median Price of Detached Home

Source: https://creastats.crea.ca/mls/fort-median-price

Based on my current research, I like Austin and Dallas, Tx, Atlanta and Savannah, GA, Phoenix AZ, and Memphis, TN for cash flow.

All of the above locations are landlord and business friendly hence you see all those areas attracting billions of dollars in investment including foreign investment and institutional scale property management firms with 800-3,000 houses under management are available to my partner SHARE to hire.

PM companies of scale do exist in Canada but they typically want 100 doors or more before they’d take you on as a client and there’s not many of them or they only manage their own massive portfolios, the rest are small mom and pop shops.

From my friend in Alberta who works for a public traded company with an apartment building portfolio, the same cannot be said for Alberta so while Alberta is great, I have many friends killing it in Alberta right now, I can de-risk my investments further and scale larger, faster in the USA including in the Texas of the world vs. investing in the Texas of Canada aka Alberta.

Speaking of scaling, my mortgages in the USA will be commercial which are 10 times easier to scale than mortgages in Canada due to affordability and not having to personally qualify.

In case anyone wants to learn more about how and where Cherry and I are investing in the U.S, I’m co-hosting a workshop with Cherry and the SHARE team on Saturday, June 8th.

We’ll go over the best spots to invest in the U.S., how buying property works there, what you need to know about taxes, tips for managing properties when you’re not there in person, and much more! Limited spots available!

Revolutionizing How Tenants Build Credit & Improving Rent Collection with Zac Killam

Zac Killam: Real Estate Innovator and Entrepreneur, a Top Forty Under 40 winner, has made significant strides in the real estate industry. He has built a rapidly growing multi-family real estate business of 500 units, leveraging his entrepreneurial acumen to drive success in this competitive market.

Beyond real estate, Zac founded Canada’s largest taxi advertising network, the second largest globally, and a PropTech company.  The other property technology company he’s know for in our community is getting national attention called Front Lobby, pioneering rent reporting to credit bureaus in Canada, enabling renters to build credit through their monthly payments, used by a small as mom and pop landlords to publicly traded real estate investment trusts.

Join us on our podcast as we explore Zac Killam’s real estate ventures and his innovative impact on the industry including how all landlords can better screen and improve rent collection while tenants build credit. A win win outcome!

https://frontlobby.com/

Please enjoy the show

To Listen:

** Transcript Auto-Generated**

Subscribe on Android
 

HELP US OUT!

Please help us reach new listeners on iTunes by leaving us a rating and review!

UPCOMING EVENTS

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with! Build connections with empire builders and trailblazers at our iWIN events.
 
CLICK HERE to check out what’s coming up next.

BEFORE YOU GO…

Before you go, if you’re interested in what kind of properties I am looking at in the landlord friendly states of the USA please go to iwin.sharesfr.com for what I consider the best investment for most Canadians, most of the time.

I’ve been investing in Ontario since 2005 and while it’s been a great, great run. I started out buying properties in the 100,000s and now it’s $800,000 to $1,000,000.  How much higher can it go? I don’t know

To me, the remaining potential for appreciation does not match the risk hence I’m advising my clients to look to where one can find rental properties that are affordable range of $150,000 to $350,000 US$, with rents that range from $1,400 to 2,600/month plus utilities.   As many Canadians recognize, these numbers will be positive cash flow and are night and day compared to anything locally. Plus the landlord has all of the rights, no rent control, and income is US dollars which are better than Canadian dollars.

If you don’t believe me, US dollars are better than Canadian dollars, go ask 100 non-Canadians which currency they prefer to be paid in.

So to regain control of your retirement planning.  Go to iwin.sharesfr.com and check out what great cash flow properties are available in the USA.  

The best part is, my US investments will be much more passive compared to by local investments as I’m hiring an asset manager called SHARE to hand hold me through the entire process.  As their client and shareholder, Share will source me quality income properties, help me with legal structure and taxes, they manage the property manager and insurance provider while passing down to me preferred rates so I save both time and money.  

Share will even tell me when to strategically refinance or sell.  SHARE can even support investors all over the country for proper diversification hence my plan is to own in Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas.  Share is like my joint venture partner but I only have to pay them fees while I keep 100% ownership and control.

If your goal in investing is to increase cash flow, I don’t know of a better strategy for most Canadians most of the time.  One last time that’s iwin.sharesfr.com to see what boring, cash flowing real estate investing can look like on your path towards financial peace.

This is how I’m going to make real estate investing great again for my family and hope you choose the same.  Till next time!

Sponsored by:

This episode is brought to you by me! We don’t have sponsors for this show. I only share with you services owned by my wife Cherry and me.  Real estate investing is a staple in my life and allowed me to build wealth and, more importantly, achieve financial peace about the future, knowing our retirement is taken care of and my kids will be able to afford a home when they grow up.  If you, too, are interested in my systematic strategy to implement the #1 investment strategy, the same one pretty much all my guests are doing themselves, then go visit www.infinitywealth.ca/events and register for our next event.

Till next time, just do it because I believe in you.

Erwin

W: erwinszeto.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/erwin.szeto
IG: https://www.instagram.com/erwinszeto/

Disclaimer:
As a committed advocate for transparent and responsible real estate investment, I want to openly share my involvement with SHARE SFR (Single Family Rental) as an Advisor. I hold an equity position in this company and receive a referral commission for clients I introduce to their services. My endorsement of their business model – focusing on direct ownership of positive cash flow income properties – is consistent with my own personal investing since 2005, is based not only on a professional assessment but also on my personal experience and belief in their approach. Please note that while I stand behind my recommendations, it is crucial for each individual to conduct their own due diligence and consider their unique circumstances before making any investment decisions. As always, my priority is to provide you with honest, insightful, and practical real estate investment education.