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Rolling with my homies 🤣🤣🤣 Noon time workout at @mnunesbjj_hq. Workout and self defence all in one. #bjj4life yes I’m a white belt and have a white belt mentality in all things in life. #whitebelt4life

A post shared by Erwin Szeto (@erwinszeto) on Sep 21, 2018 at 4:21pm PDT

Thank goodness my health and nutrition are on point as it’s been a tough week with Cherry in China attending a funeral. Thank you to everyone sending in your condolences. No sorries are needed. Grandma Chan is leaving behind a successful legacy. Much of her family evaded Communist China, her grandkids are all quite successful, and her great grandkids (my kids) are on a good path while living in the greatest country in the world, during the best time in history to be alive.  RIP Grandma Chan, we honour you in our efforts to make this a better world for everyone around us.

Another tough week is upon us as we approach Thanksgiving where we as the Hamilton Basket Brigade will spend $20,000 on what has become a birthday party for 40 of Hamilton’s most underprivileged families.

I am the co-founder and President of our registered charity on a mission to relieve poverty and be the change I want to see in the world.

The local elementary school boards support us by contacting the families and having the families fill out wish lists. Here is what one Hamilton school administrator wrote about one of the families we are supporting on Oct 6th and this Christmas as well.

“We have definitely kept our eye on this child and have helped where we can.

Last year our principal got some outside help for this student during the Christmas season and the family was very grateful as they were unable to provide.

This boy often comes to school without having eaten and depends on us throughout the day to sustain him until he returns. Last year this student fainted from hunger. He is in grade 7.”

The slogan for the Hamilton Basket Brigade is “be the change,” a shortened version of the famous Mahatma Gandhi quote. Gandhi may not approve, but come hell or high water, we will be the change for this family and 39 others this Thanksgiving.

Thanks to all the listeners who are donors and volunteers. Volunteers, I’ll see you Saturday for what has proven to be our most challenging event, and hopefully the most rewarding.

CEO Health and Nutrition with Dr. Callum Cowan

You as the CEO of your life and business.  If you were to take a third person view, say as the chairman, and have a look at the CEO you have employed to run your life and business, would you want them to have high energy and eat a healthy diet or would you want someone sluggish who considered french fries a vegetable?

In masterminding with many entrepreneurs, health and weight are concerns for many, as they should be. Much of your health and weight depend on your inputs, meaning what you eat, and here to help us all with what the heck we should be eating, is my performance doctor, Dr. Callum Cowan. If you follow him on Instagram (@phenom_doc), you’ll notice his patients include many elite athletes, whether Canadian Olympians, or NHL’ers (such as local Hamilton boy and defenceman for the Nashville Predators, Ryan Ellis) and UFC Champion, Max Holloway.

 

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1 week out for The Champ! Can’t wait for this one. Better than ever and keeps pushing for better. @blessedmma #ufc226 #champ #blessedera #andstill #ufc

A post shared by Dr. Callum Cowan (@phenom_doc) on Jun 30, 2018 at 4:00pm PDT

Dr Cowan answers my millions of questions on what to eat vs. not to eat: e.g. coffee, chocolate, a glass of wine a day, most science backed optimum diet, the fastest path to gaining more energy and health.  If you don’t believe in functional medicine, that’s cool too, I just know I’ve gone from needing regular naps in afternoons to having the best mental clarity I’ve ever had. I’m pushing new personal bests in the weight room, my abs are popping, and I know I could beat up any previous version of me.  I’m not looking to impress, but rather share my results from my lifestyle changes.

If you hear me mention Tom, that’s my friend, mentor, gym buddy Tom Karadza, co-owner of Rock Star Real Estate. He’s the one who introduced me to Dr. Cowan.

Anyways, without further ado, Dr Callum Cowan.

Dr. Cowan’s Instagram
Phenom HPM Website

Hello investor!

I hope you all had as great a weekend as I did!!! My Friday and Saturday were spent with my wife Cherry and friend James Maggs at the Archangel Summit (a business and self development conference) and it was excellent!! I’m fired up to do more, be more, help more!! I will summarize my notes and present them to you all at a later time.

Happy birthday to my mom, the lovely woman who gave me life. A blessed life that I lead where I can take my mom to lunch on a Monday afternoon in a near empty restaurant as if it were a private, chefs table, for just mom and me.

My dad’s brother was the first to immigrate, who then brought my dad to Saskatoon. Thank the powers that be he soon decided to move to Toronto as he found Saskatoon to be too cold. My mom followed on a student visa a few months later at the age of 19. For my fellow Canadians, imagine uprooting your life from a tropical climate to the frozen tundra that is Canada. 😛

From a language barrier standpoint, we Canadians learn French much like students from Hong Kong learn English. It’s a start but if you’ve been to Quebec, you know how challenging it is to communicate.

Anyway, thank goodness for real estate.  My grandpa was able to provide my parents a downpayment on our first house in Scarborough, Ontario. The house was only $61,000 but my parents still had three mortgages. I don’t even know anyone personally who’s had a third mortgage. Seconds on primary residence are quite uncommon.

At the time, my dad was still in University, I know because I was in the family pictures at dad’s graduation. They were quite broke.

Out of necessity to pay the bills, my mom was the first real estate investor in the family. She AirBnb’d rooms in our home (before AirBnb even existed) for $50 per month plus $50 for food. Mom was cooking and cleaning for up to four house guests at a time.

My mom has sacrificed and hustled a lot, resulting in the blessed lives my family and my kids now lead.

 

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Happy birthday to my mom, the original real estate investor in the family who AirBnb’d rooms in our home for $50 per month plus $50 for food when growing up so we could afford to eat and pay THREE mortgages on the house. Mom was cooking and cleaning for up to four guests at a time. Now she’s retired and can enjoy to the fruits of her labour and I will ensure the pay her back 100 fold. Love you mom!!

A post shared by Erwin Szeto (@erwinszeto) on Sep 11, 2018 at 5:50am PDT

My mom is now retired and can enjoy the fruits of her labour and I get to now share my successes with her.

What greater definition of success is there than giving back to your family?  This November we’re bringing my mom on a Caribbean cruise with us on a brand new ship in a room with a balcony.  Paid for by our real estate. Not bad for a child of immigrants.

How to Invest in Toronto and Actually Cash Flow with Cindy Wennerstrom-Wroblewski

Yes, it’s actually possible and Cindy is doing it.

Cindy is a full time Real Estate Investor, Owner of Oro Properties, and a Consultant specializing in Toronto’s South East End. With 17+ years experience in the rental and investment properties arena under her belt.

Cindy is an old friend from REIN, the Real Estate Investment Network, she’s most famous for targeting high end tenants and renovating her properties accordingly to charge precedent setting, above market rents.

We talk about how it all started, sweat equity, the Toronto market, mistakes, the earlier than expected transition from corporate to full time investor and lessons learned, plus how and where she would invest today if she were to start all over.

So without further ado, I give you Cindy Wennerstrom.

Web: http://oroproperties.ca/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oroproperties/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindy-wennerstrom-513b6723/

Life is too short to not have more fun

Life is too short to not have more fun, more often. I was thinking this after a night out on Friday with a bunch of buddies who all happen to be real estate investors, to celebrate a friend’s birthday doing axe throwing, indulging in an adult beverage or ten, gambling, clubbing, and more gambling.

That how we do!! #bullseye #howicollectrent

A post shared by Erwin Szeto (@erwinszeto) on Aug 17, 2018 at 5:34pm PDT

Then on the following Tuesday, I was reminded how short life is as I was driving home from my colonoscopy appointment. My family doctor requested the procedure because we lost my uncle at 51 to colon Cancer. My cousin was ten when he lost his father. He’s a good man now, having turned 18, and is apprenticing as a car mechanic at Honda. But I’ll never forget the image of my cousin after the coffin was in the ground and buried, how he ran back to place his hand on the mound of dirt to say one final goodbye.

My friends, life is short. Go have more fun, stay away from negative people, make lots of money while you’re young so you can enjoy it.

Last week I made the decision that on my 45th birthday, I’m taking most of the year off to travel the world with my wife and kids. Anyone can do the same with our Freedom 45 program. Don’t know what that is? That’s OK, we at Titan Investment Real Estate will be rolling it out soon. For our existing clients, you’re already a part of it, we’re just finally giving it a name now.

Learning Lessons From Mental Illness With Jay Gabrani Part 3

This week we have part 3 of my interview with Jay Gabrani. Parts 1 and 2 had a lot more about investing passively so that you don’t have to work, but part 3 is the most important part. Personally, I’d rather have my wife and mother of my children than my real estate. A real estate portfolio is easy to build with the right team and education – I can’t replace Cherry.

So you’ve been warned, this episode is less about making money and more about Jay’s lessons and story of living with someone suffering from mental illness and what he would have done differently. This may be the most important episode of the podcast and I hope we make a difference in a few lives.

I give you, Jay Gabrani.

https://www.jaygabrani.com/

Oh the lengths we will go for our kids….

On Sunday, my wife Cherry planned a half day event for us and cousins to ride Thomas the Train.  No idea what I’m talking about? That’s OK. He’s a crazy popular cartoon character who is a train and for $25, you can ride in the train that he pulls.

The price is fine, it’s the distance, 122 kilometres from home in Uxbridge, ON that was my problem. We did it, me driving without my license as I brilliantly left my wallet at home 😛. I thought Uxbridge was far when I lived in Markham!

The event was really good, we boarded the train on time, there was plenty of free parking close by, tons of stuff for the kids to do included: bouncy castle, colouring, a mini train to ride, a travelling zoo, and face painting. The kids and their cousins all had a blast. Kudos to my wife for planning the event!

The Tortoise and the Hare and my Bruce. A tortoise spends the majority of its life on land vs a turtle is in water. That’s the difference between the two. I learnt that from a three year old 🤣🤣🤣 🐢

A post shared by Erwin Szeto (@erwinszeto) on Aug 12, 2018 at 1:47pm PDT

Our guest this week is a returning guest in Jules Mckenzie. He was previously featured on our show titled From $140,000 in credit card debt to 34 properties. If you haven’t listened to it yet, I suggest you go back and do so before listening to this week’s interview. The tips and tricks around investing are there, including joint venturing. This episode is to further dig into Jules’ life before his beginnings as an investor.

Link to previous episode: https://www.truthaboutrealestateinvesting.ca/from-140k-in-credit-card-debt-to-34-properties/

Jules has come a long way in his investment journey, from near ruin both in life and investing to 55 properties in 2005 to today’s portfolio of 21 properties after shedding poor performers and paying a lot of joint venture partners.

What Jules has been holding back is the deeper hole he’s had to dig himself out of growing up an indigenous Canadian on a reserve with limited opportunity, resources, and an early life of alcohol and drug abuse.

If you know Jules, he’s a big guy with a bigger heart and warmer smile. What he hasn’t shared until today is what he’s had to overcome and how he’s done it, but he shares it today.

For you new real estate investors, know that anything is possible. Even when life deals you a pretty bad hand. If Jules can build a portfolio of 21 “hold forever” properties than you can too.

To Reach Out to Jules:

Twitter @mckenziejules

Instagram @mrjulesmckenzie

# 705 330 1879

Sponsored by:

TitanInvestmentRealEstate.com – would you like to know how our investors returned 341.8% on positive cash flowing real estate over the last five years? On average, that was 68.4% per year, just imagine what winning in real estate could do for you. If you would like to know how we did it, ask us how by calling 289-288-5019 or email us at admin@mrhamilton.ca. Don’t delay, the top markets we focus in are trending upward in price, so you can pay today’s price or tomorrow’s price.

HaltonREI.ca – This episode is brought to you by my networking group, the Halton REI. We meet in Oakville (part of the Halton Region), but mainly invest in the top investment towns west of Halton: Brantford, Hamilton, Niagara Region, Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge.

We regularly feature the top speakers from our industry. The vast majority of our attendees are seasoned investors, so you will want to spend more time around these folks, as you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Your net worth is your network, so choose how you spend your time wisely.

Knowledge is power. Every meeting we share the latest in market rents, prices in the top neighbourhoods, and strategies for investment. We share the best property available as our Best Buy Property of the Month. We share the best tips and tricks for you to implement immediately to your investment businesses to fast track YOU on your journey to financial freedom. It’s up to you if you’d like to be on said journey.

To get on the invite list please register at https://www.truthaboutrealestateinvesting.ca/meeting/ and you will receive an invite to the next Halton REI meeting once announced.

But don’t listen to me, here’s what members of our community are saying about the Halton REI!!

Till next time, Just do it because I believe in you.
Erwin
Hamilton, St. Catharines, Toronto, Land Development, soon to be builder and Real Estate Investor
FB: https://www.facebook.com/erwin.szeto
IG: https://www.instagram.com/erwinszeto/

Summer is in full swing! We’ve had our July Halton REI meeting and we are taking the month of August off, but don’t worry! There will be a tour mid August for investment opportunities in St. Catharines.

This past Saturday, our Street Smart Tour brought us to a city truly open for business in Brantford, Ontario with my team, the Team Titans, and our friend Paisley Mackenzie, former Economic Development Office of Brantford. Paisley has nearly 30 years experience working around investments and Brantford so it was a special treat to have her along.

Brantford is an underrated market, as many regular Brantford investors know who are enjoying the returns in a market that is flying under the radar. Brantford is situated between Hamilton and Cambridge, Ontario and there are not many hotter markets than these two for those who care about the ripple affect. What many do not know, is how good the Planning Department is. They are consistent in following Ontario Building Code and, sadly, not all cities can say the same.

Days on market are some of the best I’ve seen in years, as this is summer when prices typically retreat, and we toured two pretty sweet properties that have been on market for around 60 days at prices mid 300 to low 400,000. Terrific affordability when compared to the neighbouring KWC and Hamilton markets.

On to this week’s show!!

Today’s Ben Oosterveld is crazy successful. Dad to four kids, happily married, booming business, he earned over $800,000 in 2017, in one 14 month stretch he acquired 41 properties.

By all definitions, Ben is killing it, but he wasn’t always successful. Ben, a preacher’s son, ran away from home at 12, abused drugs and alcohol until the age of 20, crawled home to his parents, checked into a 12 month rehabilitation program and turned his life around.

Ben talks about learning lessons on raising a challenging child such as himself, owning investments with other people’s money during the crash, being bullied by an investment partner, and what he would do differently with his investments if he could do it all over again. This is the first time Ben has publicly shared his challenges as an investor.

FB: https://www.facebook.com/ben.oosterveld