** Transcript Auto-Generated**

Erwin 0:00
Welcome to the truth about real estate investing show. My name is Robin Seto, today’s guest loves to travel and invest in properties in several countries. He’s originally from our nation’s capital, but he’s put down roots in Costa Rica. But before we get difference, while NTA I’m still buzzing after my recent return from Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States for meetings and taking up properties that are that are under management that front by a very large property management company, how large they currently manage 2000 single family homes across America for their institutional clients who invest in, of course landlord friendly states, so no New York, no California, I’ve been told by insiders that institutions are rebalancing their portfolios away from commercial way from commercial office and retail, even multifamily as cap rates are being squeezed. And appreciate that. If you have a pension or you’re investing in a REIT, there’s a good chance that you also are invested in these properties. Because if they because again, even Canadian REITs are buying down in the States, institutional demand is so big, that the property manager that we’re just that we’re meeting with, they just signed a new investor client, a single investor client, also an institutional investor, with 800, single family rentals to add their already $2,000 properties under, under under management. The this now we’re again, we’re in Atlanta, Georgia, and the pm already has 800 single family properties in and around Atlanta, Georgia. So who better to show us around investment properties at different stages? We visit we visited a bank foreclosure sale, we’ve been visited a host they’ve been renovated post post major fire, a couple of properties that are currently vacant. So they’re in between tenant turnover. So they’re in between tenants. So we saw before them renovated and after innovation. These are no these were major renovations. I think they range from like 6000 to like 19,000. So again, not major renovations. But that’s, that’s that’s what they’re doing between tenant turnover. I honestly was like a kid in the candy store, I was so excited to see properties. And, and I would especially in the properties of the property manager already manages, I’d love to own each of the houses that we saw. Each house, each house had gross rent yield of close to 8%. gross rent yield is the annual rent divided by the cost of the house. For example, one of the houses that we saw, we ran for over $25,000 per year, which is about 21,000 per month, but for the math 25,000 per year, and it was worth about 320,000 located in the suburbs of Atlanta. In Atlanta is greater metropolitan area is about 6.2 million people. That’s that’s actually about the same thing, Toronto, so it’s a little bit smaller than Toronto, but that’s okay. Tim, who is member of the pm team, he’s like their boots on ground, he lives locally. He works locally, other members from the pm company flew in from other parts of the country anyways, so Tim was showing us he was one that was able actually gets access to the properties because he you know, has the keys, or actually not only keys that everything’s using electronic keypads, but anyways, he shared with us how he inspects properties, and he coordinates renovations. When there’s tenant turnover. He shares what the timelines for for for these were generally I think the longest renovation between tenants, it was going to be like two weeks. And that already gone over. But again, it’s under two weeks. isn’t that big a deal. The budgets again, seem reasonable in my experience, no basement suite, none of these properties or no basement suite conversions because none of these properties have basements. They’re all built on a concrete pad. No garden suites needed since single family homes cashflow as is. So because there’s already cash flow, there’s no renovations or Tashlich keys needed. Since there’s no rent control and the landlords honestly have rights. I shared my experiences landed on in Ontario with our new American friends over dinner and drinks. And they stared at me with wide eyes like I was an alien. Needless to say, I’m excited to exit some of my real estate here and add some in Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia. I’m also planning site visits to Memphis and Texas as I will want properties there as well. Again, it’s just diversification, economic fundamentals are there. If anyone’s interested, I’m happy to share my research. I mean, especially thinking about putting together a report to share all my research. You know, because I’m looking for a gold real estate Goldmine just like everybody else is. If you’re looking to learn more about investing away from long term rentals in Ontario, our next IOM meeting is Wednesday night November 15 7:30pm. Eastern Standard Time, we will have the CEO of shear enter Chem talking about missing in Florida, Texas and Georgia. I’ll share some sample properties as well. And the CEO of Pinnacle wealth brokers who dive in deserve flu who will be Sheeran he’s been both of them on my podcast. So check them out if you haven’t already. The point of the the Ireland meeting is they will expand and go into more detail and get into some numbers about these properties and these deals. So back to back to Darwin of Pinnacle wealth brokers, he’ll be specifically, I was looking for someone to speak on the subject of vacation properties, and short term rentals. So Darren owns over 400 acres across, I think, three or four properties. So he’ll be sharing about how the how the numbers break down on those. For those interested in joining, I have a link in the show notes. And also there’ll be an for you who are on our email newsletter, you’ll receive invites or straight to your inbox. on to this week’s show. We have friend Sal NTA, who has already exited his long term rentals in Ontario A while ago, and now lives in Costa Rica with his wife and teenage kids. Francoise has investments in New Brunswick, Alberta, Michigan, Florida Dominican Republic, Dubai, I think yeah, some of the Eastern Europe as well. Or he’s going there and looking to add some, and he’s also on his way to Panama. It’s like he’s trying to buy up all the spaces, monopoly on the Monopoly board, and he’s not gonna leave any properties for a little while for the rest of us. On this week’s show, he details what he thinks his ideal investment property is in Costa Rica. And also he’s offering a three day real estate investing conference that cherry my wife is speaking at in Costa Rica. So my family and I will be attending in person and that’s less in late January. You can get more information there at WWW dot invest in Pura vida.com. If you’re not familiar, Pura Vida means like Purelife it’s, it is the catchphrase for all Costa Ricans, again, invest in pura vida.com link is shown in the show notes or in your email inbox. If you’re on our newsletter, Francois shares a bunch of his research on where he invests and why and his path to leaving Canadian tax residency. We do pay a lot of taxes here and he’s not wanting to pay anymore. He shares his non negotiables are on wanting to live also I find as a parent myself, I find it interesting to hear about what the French wants kids are doing. They’re teenagers, so they’re in high school. I should know sorry. One is one is out of high school. Anyways, but the point is that they’ve left Ottawa and they’re the kids are with them in Costa Rica, but they still are continuing in their education. I think you’ll find it fascinating what he has to share but that these near the show

Hi, friends follow what’s keeping you busy these days.

Speaker 2 7:34
Right now is that making sure my bananas are ripe and looking at coconuts, things like that. So very different lifestyle. Just enjoying the beach and Pura Vida life right now.

Erwin 7:46
And you’re enjoying this in, in southwestern Ontario. Where do you find bananas around here?

Speaker 2 7:52
Yeah, so not not in Canada? Obviously. It’s in Costa Rica right now. So yeah, I’m actually even trimming my my cacti heads or cactus heads. stuff I’ve never done before.

Erwin 8:09
Okay. Is that naturally forming? Or did so put that there like hedges or cacti?

Speaker 2 8:18
Naturally forming but of course you can plant them and cultivate them, like cedar hedge where you can have huge hedges of cactuses, or cacti. But they grow like crazy. So you have to trim them. Which I didn’t know I thought these things didn’t grow very much.

Erwin 8:36
Yeah, I didn’t know you trim them. Yeah, because they’re not really like, like, they’re not really like branches, like our leaves. I know the needles of the leaves, but stop them.

Speaker 2 8:47
And yeah, it’s very, very messy. Very juicy.

Erwin 8:51
You have to send me a picture. But take your picture on your Instagram.

Speaker 2 8:54
I will for sure. Wait, hang on, you have bananas and coconuts on your property? Not me. No, but I it’s just keeping an eye on the neighbors. They have big plantations. So it’s very nice.

Erwin 9:08
How big? How big is the plantation?

Speaker 2 9:11
Some have a few 100 acres of bananas and different fruit and vegetables. So

Erwin 9:18
anybody want to just you’re allowed to help yourself?

Speaker 2 9:21
Well, if they fall over the fence, yeah, you can so too bad.

Erwin 9:27
So don’t trim those branches.

Unknown Speaker 9:29
No, those I want to keep Yes.

Erwin 9:33
Okay, are we gonna get pictures? Or do you post these pictures?

Speaker 2 9:38
Probably on my Instagram. I haven’t posted enough of that. I’ve shown mostly the beach but I need to show more the fruit and the wildlife here.

Erwin 9:47
Alright, let’s promote your Instagram because you’re about to post these pictures. Where can people find your Instagram?

Speaker 2 9:53
Yes, so it’s at Wine underscore and underscore real underscore est So wine in real estate, and yeah, right now it’s mostly beaches and stuff like that. But yeah, I’m gonna start showing that I didn’t think about it.

Erwin 10:10
Everyone’s got beach pictures in Ontario. No kidding.

Speaker 2 10:13
I know. Beach is more normal. But yeah, I’ll show that unusual stuff.

Erwin 10:21
So how long have you been living? How long have you been living in Costa Rica?

Speaker 2 10:25
So it’s been three weeks at the time of this recording. So not very long.

Erwin 10:31
Well, that’s more than most people take a vacation. So

Unknown Speaker 10:33
yes, that’s it. Yeah. Now we’re just testing everybody.

Erwin 10:40
And then how long you’re staying there? Sorry. You said eight months?

Speaker 2 10:43
Yes. Yeah, eight months. I am traveling during that time, but not back to Canada like Panama. I’m going to possibly Dubai. Places like that. Really? Didn’t

Erwin 10:55
you just get back from Dubai?

Speaker 2 10:57
I did. But I need to go back because it’s too amazing. Not not to go back. So it’s in the plans.

Erwin 11:05
Okay, we’ll get to all these. Okay, so hang on. First. Let’s just before we move on to from Costa Rica, what brings you to Costa Rica.

Speaker 2 11:13
Various things. So lifestyle number one, it’s the country of Pura Vida, which means pure life. And it is so true. And everything like the food is delicious. The weather is very pleasant right now. It’s rainy season. And it’s beautiful in the morning until about one or 2pm. And then it rains for a little bit. And it’s so lush and green. And it’s just amazing. And then for real estate. And investment opportunities are enormous here. There’s all kinds of construction and projects. And I sell real estate here. So why not mix my love of real estate nature. I’ve always liked gardening. So that’s kind of why I mentioned all the plants and just nice weather you’re around them. The water is filled with minerals. It’s just a nice calming atmosphere, you come back refreshed.

Erwin 12:07
And then where do you like where do you recommend for living in investing in Costa Rica. So really, pretty big country, isn’t it?

Speaker 2 12:17
It’s about the size of New Brunswick. So it’s not that big, actually. But it’s very mountainous. So there’s huge mountains and volcanoes. So if you want to get around, it takes quite a bit of time to drive across the country. It’s not like the province of New Brunswick with a big highway. You can’t really go that quick, maybe walk from one end to the other. Maybe it’s a 10 hour drive, while New Brunswick would be two, three hours so not as modern and of course with the big hills and 5.5 million people so it’s a bigger population than New Brunswick. But it varies a lot. There’s 21 microclimates. So if you live in the mountains, it’s cooler, it’s spraying year round, it’s always around 25 degrees, and that’s where they grow coffee. Where I am, I chose the warmer parts. So the northern part, which, as a Canadian, the further north, usually the colder it gets here, it’s the opposite. The more North you are, the hotter it is, and the more dry as well. So anything south has a lot more rain, longer, rainy season more lush, I chose a drier area just I just feel safer. I don’t know this country very well yet. So there’s less flooding and just less rain. So even rainy season. I mean, it’s a few hours here and there, not even every day. So it’s amazing. And it’s close to all the conveniences like International Airport, we have price smart, which is like Costco, but it’s owned by Costco, and Walmart and highways and paved roads, which is not everywhere in Costa Rica. And there’s many areas where it’s all dirt roads, so I would not want to be there right now. If you’re more adventurous if you’re on a holiday, yes, but living here every single day on that dirt road for a month. That like gets tiring. So here it’s more kind of modern, but we have all the nature and all that as well.

Erwin 14:24
And then so how well do you know the area then? Like, are you there for eight, eight months to experiment? Are you planning on bouncing around? Or yeah, no,

Speaker 2 14:34
I plan on my I know that province where I am going to Costa so there’s seven provinces in the country. And going across the is the more most northern province. So the hottest and driest one like when it comes to annual fairly well now. What I want to get to know eventually is explore the other provinces when it’s appropriate, but I also like to travel so this is a nice home base. I get to fly out Like I was saying to Panama in December, and maybe in March Dubai and other things, so I chose it as a home base. I do want to explore but I’m going to live in Guanacaste state where I’m where I’m staying right now.

Erwin 15:14
So where are you staying right now? Do you own the property or you’re just renting?

Speaker 2 15:17
Yeah, it’s my house. I’ve owned it for a few years. It’s in Playa del Coco. So if anybody knows Tamarindo, we’re about about an hour north of Tamarindo. So we’re closer again to the airport, about 30 minute drive at the most. And there’s no traffic here, which is amazing. Ottawa, I’m from Ottawa, so I can’t complain compared to Toronto and GTA. But the traffic was getting heavy. I mean, the light rail train and all that that didn’t really work very well. So I feared that worst is a cow crossing or big one as or something like that. So it’s actually fun. You’re like, Oh, something you crossing the road. And there’s never any rash here.

Erwin 16:03
Amazing. So you mentioned you sell real estate. So what do you recommend for like, prestigious questions? And what do you recommend for investment? What do you recommend for a living? Yes, the same?

Speaker 2 16:16
That depends like for me, I moved into an investment property, it was a short term rental. And my wife and I and the kids, we weren’t ready to commit to a bigger house and more money and do something else. So we just moved in. Now, but for investments, it’s best if you do, there’s a few opportunities, but number one, I’d say is construction. There’s a big shortage of properties. There’s lots but like well thought out properties, there’s a lot of little condos that’s that exists. It’s more villas, like a detached house with what we would call a tiny house in Canada or here they call it a casita or a cabana. So if you buy land and build those people snap those up like crazy, they don’t stay on the market. There’s never enough. So there’s huge opportunities for development for investors, and you have two incomes, you got the main house, and then the small house, and even the main house, you can design yet that it’s a locks off, you can have like two units. And if you build somebody builds that they’re gonna do very well, I’m working on a development here, probably 60 units, just like that, and I think that’s gonna be a great product.

Erwin 17:35
So the units, they’re gonna be essentially like tiny homes. Each unit is a tiny No,

Speaker 2 17:39
no. So there’s a main house like three bedrooms, two bathrooms, three bathrooms, whatever, you want carport, swimming pool, then usually in the back or front yard, depending on the layout, then there’s a tiny house. But that tiny house is usually one or even sometimes two bedrooms. And this came about because a lot of rich locals, the T codes, as they call themselves have staff so they could have been caretakers. But Canadians Americans are actually flipping that model around and they rent it out. And they don’t have live in staff. They just get people to come and make money out of their house. So they get to enjoy their house, relax and get a rental income. And then when they leave, they can rent the whole place out the two units or three depending.

Erwin 18:30
So sorry, you mentioned 60 units, or units

Speaker 2 18:34
60 houses. So there’s a large, like little subdivision that I’m working on right now. And there could be up to 60 houses, plus the Casitas and all the stuff that comes with it could be like a gated community of 60 homes.

Erwin 18:55
Fanta fantastic. And then how does financing work? And like land title and all sorts of things like here, we take it for granted in Canada, in Canada and North America. Well, I can’t save her for Mexico, but at least here in Canada, like our land title systems pretty tight. And what can be outdated technologically technologically wise, but otherwise? It’s pretty straightforward. Yes, like in Costa Rica.

Speaker 2 19:19
Very similar here. Because I’m I speak French I have invested in Quebec. I think you’ve had guests from Quebec as well or invest in

Erwin 19:26
many you don’t really

Speaker 2 19:27
know. Yeah, no, not many. Canada, most people know the common law, which applies to all of Canada except for Quebec. Quebec has the Civil Code. And the Civil Code is very much like the Napoleonic Code, which is what we have here in Costa Rica. And if you’re buying in California, they have the Civil Code and in Ireland as well. So, I mean, there’s many countries that have that. The differences are instead of a lawyer, you’re dealing with a notary and a notary is a lawyer. You’re really, it’s a lawyer that specializes in real estate. And then you do get a deeded title. So it’s yours. And it’s very clear, they call it planyo cadastro, which is like a survey just like in Canada. And there’s a number like a property identification number. In due form. The only place where it differs is if you want to be waterfront, the first 50 meters is public land, no one can own that piece of land. Except for old concessions, like if you own before the laws came about in the late 70s. The first 50 meters is for everyone, all beaches are public here, which is amazing. And then the first 150 meters, so from 50 to 200. That’s what’s called concession land. So you rent it from the government. So there you would not get an actual deeded lot. So that’s why most people buy about 200 meters and beyond from the water, which is great anyway, because on the water friends, you’ve got the salt and stuff eating away the house. So you want to be a bit further anyway and go enjoy the beach when you want to.

Erwin 21:15
And sorry. And then with the the 16th or subdivision. Is it like on the water? Does it have a view of the water? does these things matter?

Speaker 2 21:23
Yeah, they do. But I mean, here, it’s different. Most people want water views, because it’s very hilly. So a lot of people want to be in the hills looking at the water, but not near the water. Because as I said, it’s public land. So there could be a party at 8pm. And you have no control. So really, if you want a nice lifestyle, you want to be a little bit further from the water, maybe a five minute walk not far but just not right I did. And then there you can more your boat, do whatever you want as well. So that development will be a bit further maybe a 10 minute walk from the beach, which is great. Or you can rent a golf cart. A lot of people have golf carts everywhere. The

Erwin 22:10
golf car traffic jams.

Speaker 2 22:12
Yeah, it happens. People lining up and they’re going to get a coffee and there’s all golf carts everywhere and very different life or four by fours like little ATVs and things so

Erwin 22:24
awesome. Do you have a golf cart or an ATV? Because I do I’ve been HAKO and like I’ve been on the ATV tours and it’s lovely. Okay, let it go to the rain forest on an ATV. Yes. So with these, okay, so with with the subdivision, for example, let’s use as an example, like what is it cost?

Speaker 2 22:46
Yeah, so the the piece of land is actually not that expensive. So it’s about $2 million US to buy. And then each property, once they’re done really depends, like we’re so early, but I think they’re gonna go for around half a million US dollars each. So they’re not going to be huge. As I mentioned earlier, they’re probably three bedrooms, two bathrooms, plus a casita in the backyard. But once they’re done, they’re going to be worth a lot more. So I bought one last year for 375. And my neighbor just sold for 650. So there are some huge construction projects here in cocoa where I live plaster cocoa, and it’s causing some massive appreciation. Of course, don’t bank on it. It’s never the thing to do. But I mean, it’s a nice cherry on the cake here. So

Erwin 23:46
okay, let’s continue with it with the $500,000 House example. So that comes let’s cancel the three bedroom two bath and plus a tiny home. Yes, it’s

Speaker 2 23:56
a little pool. It’s very small pool like a diving pool or something. Nothing huge, but most people want that just to stay fresh. And then they actually go to the ocean nearby

Erwin 24:12
grandfer house and you get a separate tiny home. Because you’re like 250 300 grand to make. Well, that’s no garage like.

Speaker 2 24:21
Yeah, it’s not that it would be in a gated community. So there’s a gate. This will not be an HOA so not a homeowner’s association. It’s more up like a common feed just for the electric gate. And that’s it everything else is public. So there’s garbage service, city water, or town Water Town. Electricity as well. Okay, so fiber optics, the internet is great.

Erwin 24:51
You get fiber optic in Costa Rica. I don’t get fiber optic here in Oakville.

Speaker 2 24:57
It’s everywhere here. It’s crazy. So And you’re most reception is quite good pretty much everywhere even in the jungle, you’re like, oh, yeah, I’m, I’m streaming live on Instagram from the jungle

Erwin 25:10
and then how much would the house in the in the casita run for?

Speaker 2 25:14
So it really depends, again, high season low season, high season, I’d say, probably 250 US per night for the main house, the Casita, you’re gonna get less because it’s probably more like a studio, so maybe 125 A night.

Erwin 25:32
What about like, okay, and then what about like an annual number? I don’t do short term rentals myself personally. So Oh, yeah, the annual number even?

Speaker 2 25:42
Well, let me let me do some quick math that 250. But

Erwin 25:47
that’s because it’s not going to be rented up to 50 a night. 125 a night for three?

Speaker 2 25:51
No, that’s it. So you’re probably going to bring in about 80,000 US dollars per year, I would say, with the house. And then of course, you’ve got to remove all your expenses and stuff. And then you could provide extra services like a golf cart, eight or $10,000. You park one in the driveway, and you rent it for more. You can charge other services like airport pickup, drop off the transfers. There’s many ways to maximize your investment there.

Erwin 26:28
And then what are your expenses, then? What are your what’s the cost of operating this house?

Speaker 2 26:31
Yeah, so operating is not that expensive. Property taxes are? This one’s over 375. So it’s zero point 25% of the property value up to 375. And then it’s 0.55. So it’s a low, low property taxes, maybe, maybe 700 a year. That’s it? Yes. Very cheap, as I mean, there’s no snow removal. There’s really not much going on, they do garbage. And then water. So you gotta pay your water bill. For a house like that. You’ll probably pay around $40 a month. Water is very cheap here. Really, really cheap.

Erwin 27:15
But taxes are so cheap. That no hospital. Far difference, please.

Speaker 2 27:19
Yes, yeah, there’s there’s a fire hydrants, fire departments, police, hospital, hospitals, hospitals. Here, it’s like a two tier system. So there’s private and public. And yeah, you got pretty much everything. I mean, you are in a developing country. So it’s not the same. But there’s a lot of medical tourism. So a lot of people come for the services very modern, on the private side, public depends. And then internet, you’ll pay around $65 a month for quite a good internet. It’s all US dollars again. So not sure the exchange and then electricity, that’s where that is expensive electricity. Maybe $300. A month three or 400, depending on the season.

Erwin 28:15
Is that because you’re running Water Conditioning or just because rates are high?

Speaker 2 28:18
Air conditioning and rates are high 99% of the electricity here is renewable. So it’s solar, wind power, all kinds of things. So it’s very green. And yeah, they charge a charge accordingly.

Erwin 28:35
Right, because log green tech isn’t very efficient. No rain. It’s not efficient in terms of cost. But

Speaker 2 28:41
exactly. So it’s not cheap. But I mean, you may feel good about it. And yeah, so there’s that property insurance, you probably pay around. It’s very cheap here. Maybe 800 a year.

Erwin 28:58
Really natural. Like is it because there’s like no natural, limited natural disasters.

Speaker 2 29:03
Very limited, especially where I’m buying very, like I said, very little flooding a very, like earthquakes are very minor. There’s no hurricanes. You’re not like in Florida and Florida, you pay a fortune because of hurricanes and stuff. And Tornado Alley in the US. And that’s it here. There’s none of that because of the mountains. The volcanoes are very far so they’re not affecting you. So super cheap. Most people actually don’t even get insurance here. I would recommend to get hits. But it’s not a thing locally. Most people don’t insure things, even cars. They only insure them one way like if somebody dies or something. So very different culture. That’s probably why it’s

Erwin 29:48
cheap to people that have mortgages. That’s why they don’t have my house mortgage and they don’t have house insurance.

Speaker 2 29:53
Well, yeah, most of the market is not mortgaged. It’s a cash market for the most part.

Erwin 29:58
Okay, so sorry. This, are people buying these houses then cash 500 on us

Speaker 2 30:05
that I’m talking about, but the locals Yes. So it’s a very stable economy because very few people have mortgages, foreigners do locals don’t as much anyway. Okay. Which is great. So there’s not much like variation. It’s cash so people don’t speculation Well, that is not the same.

Erwin 30:26
Okay, so most investors I know have mortgages?

Speaker 2 30:30
Yes. Available. They are Yes. So that’s why new build is very interesting. Usually the builder will offer financing. So this project when it goes ahead, I will offer and my partner’s 50%. So it’s a low LTV 50% loan to value, usually around 8.5% interest, so it’s not cheap. And it’s five years, after five years, you got to pay it off or get a more local mortgage.

Erwin 31:02
No, no, no option to renew just five years it’s over. That’s because it’s

Speaker 2 31:05
builder financing, but then you can go I know quite a few lenders, and then they can offer you a mortgage on the new value. So as I mentioned earlier, let’s say you buy buy it for half a million, and at the end, it’s worth 650, let’s just say at 650, the new lender will offer you 6070, maybe I’ve had up to 80% of the new value. So it’s not a burr, but you’re pulling some money out and you’re getting a new mortgage on the property. Our flowers planned for 5050 to 60. Beyond that it depends

Erwin 31:44
are Kenyans able to build up credit in order to get to get like a better mortgage schedule a mortgage.

Speaker 2 31:51
No, because that’s not that’s not really a thing here. So most mortgages are more like commercial. So it’s the building that qualifies, not you. So they actually send an appraiser. And that’s what qualifies. You don’t need to have an income or anything left the check yet. But that’s not what makes you qualify. Interesting. That’s why the loan to value is lower.

Erwin 32:16
And then we’ll be direct. So say someone wants to exit in five years after the after the builder financing is over. You have an idea what the property’s worth.

Speaker 2 32:24
Yeah, so as I said, I think those that 500 will be worth at least six 650, if not more, because there’s right now, there’s the QSC K Peninsula. So it’s the cocoa players a cocoa, it’s like crescent shaped Beach, in that one. And there’s a long Peninsula that was bought by the owner of AOL. So I know that’s dating. That’s really old America Online, but it still exists. So the owner bought the whole peninsula and is by building a Waldorf Astoria resort, and houses their start at $5 million. us like that rock bottom pricing. And we’re a five minute drive from there. So we’re already seeing an influx like there’s new stores opening there’s a marina that’s been announced there’s all kinds of things happening here that will boost the values of these properties. So in five years, I think prices will be insane because we saw the same in a town about 100 kilometers from here, and everything doubled and tripled in value once they built all that

Erwin 33:33
so I felt bad about asking all these investor questions because my question my next question was going to be who should be buying these properties? Are these for self use? Are they for investment they for both? I’d say

Speaker 2 33:47
more investment so more investors people that may want to flee winter for a month or two and then rent for the rest of the year. Maybe come during the summer it’s actually quite nice during summer here it’s very quiet and very green and lots to do still and activities are less expensive offseason if you come during high season it’s not a cheap country here. So I’d say yeah investors for sure.

Erwin 34:14
So what what’s the temperature like what’s what’s what’s the what’s living like in the summer because you know, many people think to go that far. So for the wind, I know economies are expensive.

Speaker 2 34:26
Well that’s it summer is actually cooler here. So summer is more 28 to 34 degrees plus humidity so that’s cool for here. While if you come during March like March Break, it’s more 35 to 45 plus humidity so summer is quite nice. evenings are like 24 So it’s quite pleasant. A little bit of rain once in a while. But the rain here is warm so you’re never cold. I mean, actually stepped in in the street the other day was a bit flooded and it was like stepping in Hot Tub. It’s crazy.

Erwin 35:02
Alright, so first question. When Jerry and I are supposed to be there in January, what’s the weather like,

Speaker 2 35:08
though it’s the best time of the year in the 30s, the low 30s and drier. So because there’s no rains, it’s going to be a lot drier. Just really a good time to be here, kind of like Florida and it doesn’t rain for about six or seven months. So

Erwin 35:25
interesting, because I just for example, a lot of our friends who moved to Florida, a lot of them come back in the summer because they say it’s too hot. Ontario. Yeah, Lira when it tells me because what you’re saying last four seasons sounds like a four season destination. There’s not really many four season destinations out there.

Speaker 2 35:46
No, the only time I would say is normally September and October is extremely rainy. But I’m here right now it’s this is mid October. So far. I mean, like I said a few hours here and there not even every day. And we’ve had one day where it really poured but otherwise it’s very pleasant. So depends. I mean, if you got more time if you’re planning outdoor stuff, you got to be flexible, early. Everything starts very early. Like school starts at 7am people are out at 5am 530 It’s very different.

Erwin 36:22
I didn’t expect that for a Caribbean country.

Speaker 2 36:26
Yeah, it’s it’s slow, but they’re early. I don’t know how quickly to get things done. But it’s it starts very early. Very interesting. Very interesting. Because it’s it said the near the equator where eight degrees on the planet like to the equator, so the sunset and sunrise are almost always the same. It’s around like Sunrise around 5:15pm Sunset around 530. And then winter 6pm 6am. That’s about it. 12 hour days.

Erwin 36:56
That’s not so bad. This is predictable. Yeah. Oh, it’s

Speaker 2 36:58
quite nice. I find it relaxing. You know, your day, and it’s the same almost every day. There is no daylight savings, none of that stuff.

Erwin 37:07
Fascinating. How are you liking it?

Unknown Speaker 37:12
I love it so far.

Erwin 37:15
How long are you staying?

Speaker 2 37:17
So eight months. And if as a Canadian, if you come here you have 180 days on your, your passport, so Visa free entry. And then you can leave for a day and then get 180 days again. But if you want to drive you need to exit every 90 days. So right now I’m exiting every 90 days for it to drive. So now we’re about an hour and 40 minutes to Nicaragua. You could just go there. There’s buses that do that. But personally, I chose to actually fly out. I’m going to Panama. It’s another one of my markets I’m interested in so I want to go see it. And then just plan trips around it. And then when you get residency, you don’t have to but anyway, that’s about a year a year to two years process.

Erwin 38:10
So where else do you have properties?

Speaker 2 38:12
Yes, so well in Canada. So in New Brunswick, Alberta. They have properties in Michigan, in Florida, in Dominican Republic, Dubai, and here in Costa Rica, and then I’m looking at Eastern Europe and South like Sorry, South America as well.

Erwin 38:36
Eastern Europe like Ukraine.

Speaker 2 38:39
Yeah, well, not Ukraine, but I guess you could get some good deals right now. But no, bad joke. But I would say more like Albania, Bulgaria. There’s some great properties there Romania. Georgia. Everything that’s Ay ay ay ay.

Erwin 38:57
None of those are RNA on the euro. Animals. European Union.

Speaker 2 39:02
Yeah, summer and we’re using the euro, summer Euro zone, some are nine. It varies. Personally, I don’t really care about that. It’s actually maybe an advantage to not be in the Euro because then you’re not tied to that and the Schengen area as well, you’re not. If you go there, like Georgia, as a Canadian, you can stay there 365 days, and then you leave for one day or two days. If it’s a year with more days. And then you’re back and you get stamped again. You don’t need to emigrate, you could live there as a perpetual traveler if you wanted to.

Erwin 39:40
So just spend your life trying to collect places and different places.

Speaker 2 39:43
Yeah, well, because there’s advantages for business. Like some bank accounts in Georgia, you put your money in and you can earn 12% interest on just that checking account. So there’s there’s opportunities a lot of people don’t in there Local currency, the Georgian Lari. So it’s been quite stable. It’s about half an American dollar. 52 cents. That’s crazy.

Erwin 40:12
Yeah, just a second mortgage money to operate is. Yeah. And you’re going to do this?

Speaker 2 40:22
Yes. All right. And if you have a company there you pay 1% income tax. So it kids a very alluring country. And if they’ve pretty much invented wine about 1000 years ago, so sounds like a nice place to me.

Erwin 40:43
Why security wise, why, why? Why be in so many different places in terms of your password? And clarify your investments as well? Like, do you own a property like, like, it’s all yours like thing or like your shares in something like a REIT? Or how is your ownership?

Speaker 2 41:00
Yeah, usually it’s about 50%. I do a lot of joint ventures. So I find other investors that are like minded and want to partner to invest in these properties. And so it varies some I own myself with my wife, some summit partnerships. So why so much diversity? Oh, look at the world we’re living in. So if you put all your eggs in one basket, what happens if Canada gets attacked for some reason? It’s gone. No. I mean, we are very big sticks. Yes, we are very close to Russia. And I mean, there is internal, like fighting, I was in Ottawa with the trucker convoy and stuff. And it almost felt like the beginning of a civil war. So you never know. I mean, I hope none of that happens again. But whether you’re for or against, there’s some scary stuff and currencies as well. So I don’t want all my money in Canadian dollars, or American dollars, or colonias in Costa Rica are pesos or I want, I want them all. So if one goes down, I just move on to the next. So that’s a personal decision, but I like more variety. And it’s more fun. Have like,

Erwin 42:21
I have trouble keeping track of you have like tough currencies.

Speaker 2 42:27
Yes. Oh, yeah, I have way more than five bank accounts. But anyway, that’s, that’s another story.

Erwin 42:35
But, but you do have your boots on ground partners. And yeah, and most of these properties?

Speaker 2 42:41
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you need to I mean, like Dubai is super far and where I am right now. It’s a 14 hour time difference. So when you call there I mean, the next day over and over, so it’s doesn’t make it easy.

Erwin 42:58
And then what is your message in Dubai? Because I hear Dubai come up often. That’s Yes. I often hear it’s one of the best places to be investing. It really is.

Speaker 2 43:08
world class city. I’ve never seen a place so clean in my life ever. Everybody said it was clean. And when I went I was I was shocked. It’s crazy. how clean it is.

Erwin 43:19
So invest to be caught littering?

Speaker 2 43:23
Yeah, no, they’re, they’re like, Yeah, but I guess they cut off your hand. But it might not be a bad idea elsewhere to apply that. So I’m a bit of an extremist. So, Dubai, what’s good and preconstruction. They call it Off Plan. So you can because of Islamic law. A lot of builders will offer payment plans without interest. So when Islam if, you know, really, it’s it’s hard to have interest free loans. Yeah, but I mean, you do very well there, you’re able to buy places. Sometimes they have like an eight year payment plan. So five years up to the construction, and then you get the keys. And then you have three more years to keep paying the property or sell it or do whatever you want rent it, something like that, which is great. And as a foreigner, you can get a mortgage at that point, because it’s now built. So you can get a 60% loan to value mortgage in Dubai. And that’s gonna be traditional look with interest and amortization, things like that development. A lot of people do assignments, they buy entire floors of buildings, and then sell off other units. There’s so many things you can do open a business. You pay no income tax as a person so it’s really great.

Erwin 44:44
How’s Dubai? Are they still keep growing country they’re still trying not to immigration investment.

Speaker 2 44:49
Yes, all the top talents you go there and it’s other people with PhDs and very educated population and extremely wealthy Like stuff you find in Canada, that’s a luxury There is basic amenities. All the bathrooms and shopping centers have Butler’s people constantly washing them. It’s not it’s not like Canada at all anymore. People have driver like chauffeur and they have maids and nannies and very different population. And

Erwin 45:25
they were able to get cheap labor there from from neighboring countries.

Speaker 2 45:28
Absolutely. Which in Canada, you can’t. So that’s why when I’m there, I’m like, well, there’s no way I could hire all those people. I’d pay more than one iron. So it’s crazy

Erwin 45:39
downside of having these big oceans to cross? Yes, that does mean no one attacks us. No. So, so how did how? So you visited all these places? What is it about Costa Rica that makes you stay there?

Speaker 2 45:54
Yeah, here. It’s the people that called the Latin culture, I just find it very nice and welcoming. And it’s just, it’s delicious. I’m very, I like food. So it’s a big thing. There’s great food and Dubai as well. I just like it. And I’ve always enjoyed Spanish. So I started learning it when I was 14. I speak French. So Spanish is very close. Just a nice culture, the beach, the relaxed atmosphere. Dubai is not relaxing. It’s like Toronto on speed. So it’s a lot busier and much bigger, like highways and just construction 24/7 Here, it’s super chill and just enjoy. You can watch a plant grow and don’t feel bad about it.

Erwin 46:44
Alright, so it’s just it just fits your pace. Your pace. Yes. Goodbye. It’s like the big brands, big vehicles. Louie Vuitton, Gucci everywhere. And consumerism.

Speaker 2 46:55
So I’m more of a minimalist so Costa Rica, you can’t get a lot of things. So with you have to be a minimalist no matter what. So it’s a lot harder to find certain things while Dubai as a consumer culture, so I don’t mind some consumerism a few months every year, but I do like the minimalist lifestyle. Alright,

Erwin 47:18
I maybe Oh, Phil’s not for you then because the cost goes just down the road. And that yes, the opposite of minimalist.

Speaker 2 47:24
I know which we have here too. But I mean, it’s a mini Costco you would laugh when you’d see it, but no lineups nothing. It’s just nice.

Erwin 47:33
Very cool. Very cool. Yeah, so you’ve covered so many things. Is Panama gonna be a big, big piece of your investment? Journey?

Speaker 2 47:45
I’m really hoping Yes, because it’s a tax haven. So another that’s that’s my thing. I love tax havens. Costa Rica, is not that high. It’s not a tax haven. It’s not a low tax country. But there’s many potential benefits. Panama. Yes, I think there’s some great affinities in Latin America, it’s the country with the most banks and all kinds of terms. It’s very consumer oriented. So very modern, they have, they have a huge mall, like almost like West Edmonton Mall. But you’d never know. In Latin America. It’s not a common thing. So I mean, lots of conveniences. It’s a great place to invest. It’s growing. And the canal makes it very stable economy as well. So we’ll see me because it’s more for my kids. I mean, the beach life is great. But I want them to also have City Living MOHAI like more connections and stuff. So Panama might be like our, a few months a year we go there and live in the city and then come back to our beach home and just enjoy life.

Erwin 48:53
I mean, sorry, your kids are there with you in Costa Rica right now?

Speaker 2 48:56
Yeah, they’re 17 and 19. So yeah, they’re they’re here and we brought our cat as well on the plane. And that’s it for suitcases, the cat and the kids. That’s all that’s left.

Erwin 49:06
So what did they do for school?

Speaker 2 49:10
So my son was done High School. He’s 19. So he’s studying online in it. So you can do it anywhere. As long as there’s internet, and our daughter is doing grade 12 online, and then she wants to do real estate with me. So she’s already helping me out. We’ve been to a few showings and listings and

Erwin 49:31
so your daughter grade 12 online. What is that through? Is that a Canadian program she’s taking or

Speaker 2 49:36
Yeah, yeah, she’s finishing grade 12 in Ontario. She’s actually heading back in early 2024. To graduate with her friends. That is her choice. She could finish it online completely. There’s local schools but high school ends at grade 11 here, which is again similar to the Quebec school and then you go to college and then University So, we didn’t want to do that. I mean, not at that age.

Erwin 50:05
How does? So for folks who missed that you are from originally from Ontario, or specifically Ottawa? How does a teenager How does a student in Ontario, take an online school,

Speaker 2 50:17
so you can choose to be homeschool, that’s what they call it. And then you go to the school board, and then they issue a letter saying you’re going to be homeschooled. And then you’re exiting the school board and the whole system, and then you can enter, there’s TVO, ILC. It’s an online high school, usually it’s more for adults going back to school, but the system’s there. So if your child is over 16, they can do that online and, and choose to be sort of emancipated in a way. And with COVID, I mean, our kids were on line for years. So like, what’s the difference here?

Erwin 50:58
Right. So for she’s great fall, so there was no option to do grade 12 in Costa Rica.

Speaker 2 51:06
No, because it doesn’t exist. Right. Right. So fascinating.

Erwin 51:09
And then your son he’s doing it is the it course? Is it like it was a Google? Was it Harvard? What is it?

Speaker 2 51:16
Yeah, with some with Google he’s doing he’s actually not doing like a bachelor’s degree or anything, it’s more courses, and apply them applying techniques and stuff. So yeah, it’s, we have a lot of friends in it. And most upset, it’s more experienced than education right now. A lot of people graduate from university, and they have trouble getting hired. So we told them, Well, get the experience, then just do it.

Erwin 51:43
Can you name it? I’m sure some people will be interested.

Speaker 2 51:47
That’s why I’d have to ask him. Sorry, I’m, he’s an adult. So I told him study, do well, good luck. So I’d have to look at what he’s doing. But it’s a lot of it’s actually free. And then you pay for certificates. And he’s got a lot of experience now with like full stack programming back end websites stuff. Ai pixelart. Other things I don’t understand. This is so

Erwin 52:12
cool. Yeah, we’ve Harvard, they I believe they made all of their online, specifically for something around computers, either coding or software engineering completely made it all online available for like, really, really cheap. And if you want, if you want the I’m calling it diploma, I don’t know if it’s the right word, but there’s only like three and $50. Official, if you want a document to see completed it is like very, very cheap.

Speaker 2 52:37
It really is. And that’s what he’s doing. He went to Ottawa EU last year, it didn’t go super well. So we told them, Well, let’s take this opportunity. Stop it, and try something else. And now he’s doing very well, so and what they were teaching was old code that’s not even being used anymore. And all kinds of things. I’m like, That’s That’s useless. So sorry, all the way you but now it’s not wasn’t great.

Erwin 53:02
That’s amazing. Yeah. So how is your daughter been doing her high school online?

Speaker 2 53:08
Just right now? Just yeah, just since September is a month and a month into recorders. And how’s it going? Great. Yes, going 1995. And it’s in French that’s available. A lot of people don’t know this. But in Ontario, there’s French school boards and all that. So the whole online school is available in French. So she’s taking her grade 12 in French to continue her French education.

Erwin 53:34
She can’t do it in Spanish.

Speaker 2 53:36
Now, she’s not that good. That was another issue here. She needs fluency test. I’m like, Yep, good luck with that one’s not gonna work.

Erwin 53:46
Or she need a fluency test to go to school.

Speaker 2 53:49
Local. Yes. So if you go to a local school, they’re bilingual, but you still need to be able to understand some Spanish and write some. And there’s private schools that are English only. But I mean, I personally am not for that. I’m more learned a local language, but she wasn’t ready. So

Erwin 54:10
that’s cool. Yeah. Because I’m sure many people are wondering how they have a slice of what you’re living, right. At least be away for the winter months. Ever since the pandemic, I think it’s two things because people were locked down and didn’t enjoy that. And the other thing is a lot of people made a lot of money through the pandemic. Yeah, and now they can afford it. You know, I mean, some might just be really equity rich, but still, they can always exit and take your profits and use that money to to move away. Yeah. Like we like like, you know, we all know Rob break is down there to know you’re

Unknown Speaker 54:42
about 100 kilometers from me, so very close.

Erwin 54:46
That’s super cool. And then I don’t know where to go because you name some of the countries. Where would you like to go next?

Speaker 2 54:56
Well, we can kind of probably end this with how can people do this well, the simplest thing is just do it. I’m sorry, but a lot of people ask how how do you do anything? You you inquire you booked flights you go you start doing things so if your dream is to be in Belize or Panama or Costa Rica or Mexico, wherever France, Italy, make some inquiries and make your dream happen like I’m more into doing and not like being like paralyzed by analysis. what’s the worst that’s gonna happen? Here worst case which we eat more mangoes there’s three mango seasons, we’ll just eat mangoes they’re free. So I mean, of course you need to plan but you also need to take action. A lot of people talk about things for years, and they never do it. So I’m more into just do it.

Erwin 55:53
Right Potter flight? Yeah, yes. Yeah, yes. Start by just trying to see if yes, the effort.

Speaker 2 56:01
Rent. Yeah, rent an Airbnb come and stay for two months, three months do slow travel. That’s my thing. Now I don’t like going to a place for a short time I want to go and spend a few months. See if I like it. Are people annoying? Is it noisy? What are your non negotiables? Can you can you live without Greek yogurt? I have trouble without it. So I had to find my source of Greek yogurt. And I mean, there’s things in your life, you don’t realize that you need your do you need your feather pillow? Do you need? I don’t know a certain type of car computer or something, a gym, whatever. So what are your non negotiables? And then what place fits that model? And then go and try it? Before you buy? Obviously don’t just buy a place and and then hope it works?

Erwin 56:54
That’s all interesting stuff. And then how are you? You’re you are offering courses, workshops. What is it?

Speaker 2 57:00
Yes, yeah. So I actually help people realize their dreams like that of investing internationally. So I call it offshore Rei, and you can offshore your life as well if you want or not. I mean, a lot of people want just a winter home, or a getaway of some kind. And also diverse diversification. So I offer a 12 week program where I work with people and I help them think about what are their non negotiables like the list I just mentioned. For me, I need potable water. So I don’t like countries where you can’t drink the tap water. I did mention one country in there. So personally, anyway, I prefer when you just turn the tap on and drink the water I find it’s very telling that’s one non negotiable for me. Banking, how are you welcomed as a foreigner? Some countries don’t like Canada or the US anymore as much as some countries actually ban Americans from opening bank accounts there. So you have to be ready for that. Who doesn’t like Canadians? So like Dubai, for example. It’s harder if you’re Canadian and American because of reporting laws. So reporting requirements as parts of Europe do not want American or Canadian money anymore. Those are things that are coming so I’m I’m helping people realize that North America is not the center of the universe anymore. It’s more Asia where I guess you’re you’re from where your ancestors are from. So you have to be ready

Erwin 58:36
to do communism.

Speaker 2 58:39
Yes, but many French teachers about this morning. No, yeah, well, that’s it’s but I mean, Latin America has the doors wide open. And they do very well in in Asia and they have passports that allowed him to go to countries that we can’t as Canadians or Americans

Erwin 59:00
you mentioned it earlier. What’s the currency of Costa Rica not

Speaker 2 59:05
know well, they use the US dollar for real estate and like big purchases, real estate and cars or you can pay using the local currency that column C O L O N or colonias plural. So it’s actually not a bad currency. It’s been quite stable and becoming stronger and stronger lately, it’s actually kind of hurting the American dollar buying power locally. So I mean, it’s something Okay, Panama. Their currency is pegged at half of an American dollar, which is nice. You always know what it’s worth. So it’s important to know those things when you’re investing internationally and that’s something else I cover in my course.

Erwin 59:50
Do you know why Costa Rica cult is a is a culturally that they do to currency is that there’s a government

Speaker 2 59:59
it’s because For probably 2030 years and their currency was way too volatile. So the colonists, the local currency went up and down, up and down. So locals and I’d say 75% of people that immigrate here are Americans. So they kind of in a way imposed the American dollar. It just became normal. Kind of like in Mexico, you go there and they take a lot of, of US dollars that American all those countries, it’s kind of a dual currency.

Erwin 1:00:35
That’s funny. You mentioned that because the current like Colin colonias was volatile. People didn’t want and chose the US dollar. Yes. My jab at my my cryptocurrency listeners.

Speaker 2 1:00:48
Yeah, well, that’s. But then there’s other countries that don’t want the American dollar. So there’s that like, it’s, it really depends where you are with the culture. So yeah,

Erwin 1:01:01
I’m a geek. So I just find these things interesting. Like, for example, like, I’ve had a, I’ve had a close personal friend lived through two currency collapses while I lived in Moscow. Wow. And so if you live in Moscow, would you like to be earning your wages in rubles? or US dollars? Yeah, I know. That’s what that and what the government wants to do, and that, but there’s like, what protects you and your family? Exactly. Maybe you don’t want maybe you prefer to eat? Maybe you prefer euros or Chinese won. But my point is, like, a lot of places don’t people don’t even want their own currency.

Speaker 2 1:01:38
Well, that’s it. So it’s actually kind of shameful sometimes. And, yeah, so some people don’t realize that like Argentina, I mean, their their money went up, down, up down Colombia. And so you got to watch out when, when you’re investing in those countries?

Erwin 1:01:53
Yeah. reminds us that we’re lucky here. Yes. Nobody wants our currency belly to stable.

Speaker 2 1:02:00
Yeah, it’s kind of compared to those. Absolutely. It’s very stable. I mean, there’s more stable than that. But absolutely. It’s one of the stable ones.

Erwin 1:02:09
Interesting. And then what about the the January event that you’re hosting?

Speaker 2 1:02:13
Yeah. For those that want to learn about how to invest in Costa Rica in January, the 22nd 23rd, and 24th. It’s called invest in pura vida. So if you look it up, invest in Pura vida.com. It’s a three day conference, where we’re talking about everything you need to invest here. We’re gonna have all the legal teams that counting in Costa Rica and in Canada as well, we have none other than cherry chan joining us. So let’s give you awesome. And we’re talking about like financing, how to make it happen. I touched on it very briefly. But there’s a million other ways you could use life insurance, you could use RSPs TFSA. Is the list is crypto, if you wanted to the list is endless. So yeah, it’s a three day event, a lot of fun. And last week, we hosted one in March 2023. And we had about 50 investors. So we’re expecting about the same it’s not a huge event. It’s more like a mastermind, kind of. And we do a lot of fun things. And we’re right on the beach. So we’re at a beach club. And then we do a bus tour and look at properties and lots of networking. We have people from all over Canada, so eastern Canada, Western Canada, central Canada, some Americans are joining us. And lots of international investors, a lot of people joining have properties in four or five, six countries already.

Erwin 1:03:45
Having challenges dealing with 5456 properties in Hamilton. Accounts and

Unknown Speaker 1:03:52
time zones. Yeah.

Erwin 1:03:56
That’s hilarious. Do people put their kids through these things?

Speaker 2 1:04:00
So they can absolutely there’s a few people bringing their kids so there’s a swimming pool right there, depending on the age of the children. Yeah, there’s two swimming pools right at the beach club. And we’re on the beach as well. So if you’re coming as a couple well, you can go to the beach and take turns. There’s there’s not activities planned specifically for kids. But yeah, kids can come absolutely

Erwin 1:04:25
awesome. Yeah, my kids are I’m a bigger swing liability than my kids.

Unknown Speaker 1:04:28
There you go.

Erwin 1:04:31
plans to go with Ark plans to bring the kids because we’re all working. We’re all working on location. We are not on vacation. Yeah.

Speaker 2 1:04:39
But you can a lot of people I mean, that’s what I do here. I’m not relaxing here for eight months. You can do a lot of business here and it’s in Central time. So it’s like Alberta if you got lots of clients during winter will be like Saskatchewan times a one hour time difference with Ontario.

Erwin 1:04:57
Oh question. Where do you pay tax? too Do you pay taxes anymore? Still?

Speaker 2 1:05:02
So right now I’m still Canadian. So I pay taxes to Canada. Yeah. So by when I leave the Canadian tax residency, not my citizenship, but the tax residency, then yeah, I’ll have to pick residency. For now, it would be Costa Rica, because I have the most time in the country. But eventually, I can shop for a different tax residency and choose what suits me best.

Erwin 1:05:27
Fascinating. Okay, so I know you’re not accountant. So let’s preface that with a public listener. So what what does that mean? What does leaving your tax residency mean? And then what are you looking for a new tax residency?

Speaker 2 1:05:38
Yeah, so leaving tax residency, there’s, well, if it’s from if you’re American, you can’t that’s tied to your citizenship. So Americans, they have to renounce their citizenship, which is a big deal. So that would be a tougher sell. I mean, some do it. There’s a few 1000 people each year. But if you’re Canadian, if your tax residency, where you pay your taxes is not tied to your citizenship, so a lot of people think, Oh, you’re going to lose your citizenship know what you’re going to let go of is the health care. So Oh, hip, or whatever province you’re coming from? Canada, Ontario was 212 days, you can be gone? Before you lose? Oh, hip. And then there’s different criteria. So where do you own your income? Is it mostly Canada, then? Yeah, you’re still you still have ties to Canada? Do you still have dependents in Canada? Like your kids? That are minors, then yeah, you still have ties to Canada, you have a car? Do you have a principal residence? Do you have bank accounts, and then the list goes down. So there’s many ways to do it. But it requires planning, you need a good accountant to do that. And if you’re an investor, it’s not an easy process. Like for me, it’s going to be probably three to five years. before it’s fully done.

Erwin 1:06:59
Would you have to sell off your dream remaining properties in Canada, or it’s okay, you

Speaker 2 1:07:03
know, you don’t, you could keep all your investments, the only big one is the principal residence, you can keep it, but you need to rent it out long term, or sell it. So I chose to sell it. And that’s it and no cars, you can’t own vehicles. So I still have a car in Ottawa for my daughter when she goes back with friends and stuff. So when I mean, when that’s done, then I’ve got less ties, but I still have my driver’s license, I need to get another one. There’s all kinds of things you need to work through. So the CRA does not let you go easily. But it is doable. If that’s that’s what you want to do.

Erwin 1:07:45
So why the why decision to give it up.

Speaker 2 1:07:49
You can save a fortune. So instead of paying like six figures and income tax, I could pay a lot less so I could choose pan, like I said Panama 510 15%, Costa Rica is a bit higher, I think 25 is the top income tax you can pay. So that’s still much lower than Canada Dubai’s 0%. So if I want to pay no taxes, I could live there. And I actually teach the center coaching. So yes, yeah, teach people how to do it if you want to, but it’s, that’s for a very niche market. Most people want to invest internationally. And then the rest is maybe more advanced. It’s for a smaller population.

Erwin 1:08:37
I don’t know man, I we sent out our survey on us investing like I think it was like 10% of respondents were talking about immigration.

Speaker 2 1:08:46
Well, it’s yeah, it’s bigger than what a lot of people think. Cuz in Costa Rica, whenever I go somewhere, they’re like, Oh, yeah. Is there anybody left in Canada? Everybody’s moving? I’m like, yeah, there’s still people. A lot more of us. Yeah. growing like crazy. That said, there’s people coming and then I think it’s more long term Canadians that are leaving the newcomers. Newcomers are some of them are not staying. I mean, it really depends what what you were sold on and expectations versus reality and opportunities. Things like that.

Erwin 1:09:22
Fascinating. Thought and Francoise, I prepared you for this question. I’m not journalist but I like to say I tried to uphold journalist journalist integrity. So so we don’t get sued by anyone. I can’t name names. How else do I put it? I think you kind of fell in with the wrong group. A term I don’t know what what do you want to say about it? You can even say nothing.

Speaker 2 1:09:58
Yes, no. Now I don’t want to talk about it. It’s, it’s in the past. It’s good luck for them. That’s all. Yes.

Erwin 1:10:08
Maybe, to what kind of due diligence you should do before joining any group mastermind. Membership, whatever you want to say,

Speaker 2 1:10:19
Oh, yes. Well, of course, I mean, do your due diligence, just like buying anything I’ve said now, like does not apply for everybody there. Like I said, if you’re American, a lot of this doesn’t even work for you. If you’re Canadian, too, might not be the best situation. Oh, we got thunder coming in.

Erwin 1:10:37
That’s funny. It’s so sunny behind you.

Speaker 2 1:10:40
Yes. Now, it’s super dark, actually. Yeah, weird lighting. So, yeah, I would say do your due diligence, make sure you do a bit of background check before signing up with a mentor. Ask for references. And ask around not just references because most people if they’re smart, they’re going to give you a good reference. So if I ask about Erwin, what are your references? Well, he’s going to give me names of good friends and people that will put in a good word. Ask around others. And then yeah, make an informed decision.

Erwin 1:11:17
Excellent answer. And I’ll just add listeners, if your listener does, you can feel free to reach out to me. I’m on social media. DM me, and I’ll gladly reference check people for you.

Speaker 2 1:11:29
Yeah, well, that’s it. Ask ask someone and I currently am starting a group with my friends in Ottawa. It’s called the capital connectors. And again, we have no agenda. It’s more just networking. There’s no teaching nothing like that. It’s just business networking, not even just real estate, but business networking.

Erwin 1:11:51
Wait, how you gonna do that? Over zoom? No.

Speaker 2 1:11:57
We’re hosting events everywhere. So we started in Ottawa, but now I have one in Costa Rica on November 6, and then Dubai, probably in March. So it’s kind of everywhere and capital as in money, or the National Capital, and then connectors, that working. That’s all. That’s all it is. So we’re keeping it very simple.

Erwin 1:12:16
And where can people get more information on?

Speaker 2 1:12:19
We have a Facebook group capital connectors, it’s like a pink logo. So it’s hard to like hot pink. It’s hard to miss. And we’re working on our websites. You can also find us on Instagram capital connectors.

Erwin 1:12:38
And then your own business working or more about investing, investing offshore real estate.

Speaker 2 1:12:44
Yes, wine and real estate.ca I kept the.ca

Erwin 1:12:50
You don’t want to give that up to give up your tax residency.

Speaker 2 1:12:53
That’s it. So for the next three years or whatever, I’m keeping it then I’ll have to switch. Probably don’t really are

Erwin 1:13:00
you willing to give up the seat.ca? Yeah. Go Daddy. Just keep clicking. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 2 1:13:08
If you have no, still have ties to Canada, but at some point that that CA is only for Canadians. So at some point, you can’t have it. So

Erwin 1:13:16
you could partner with Canadian then

Unknown Speaker 1:13:20
my corporation is Canadian, so I could keep it

Erwin 1:13:24
and you can keep your corporation if you if you leave your tax residency.

Speaker 2 1:13:28
Yeah, just that your corporate taxes go up. So you’re more at 25 Because you have no personal tax so they just capture the taxes in your corporation.

Erwin 1:13:38
So fascinating. Yeah. This has been enlightening for me.

Unknown Speaker 1:13:44
Yeah, a good

Erwin 1:13:46
listener finds this just as enlightening. First of all, thank you so much for doing this. Hope you enjoy Costa Rica. Hopefully it doesn’t rain. Too bad. Oh, I saw the lightning. Lightning flash.

Speaker 2 1:13:55
Yes. Yeah, it’s really getting scary, but there’s usually a few minutes and then it goes away.

Erwin 1:14:00
So okay. Yeah, but you’re scary is not hurricane scary. No, no, it’s

Unknown Speaker 1:14:05
just very loud. Thunder really loud.

Erwin 1:14:09
Yeah, better ever. It’s warm. It’s gonna snow here soon, so I have no problem for you. First of all, thank you again.

Unknown Speaker 1:14:19
Thank you have a good rest of your day.

Erwin 1:14:21
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.ca/youtube To register for our next class. Then links also in the description as well. I publish at least two to three videos a week here. So subscribe if you want to keep learning from seasoned investors, like myself, my guest and if you’re just starting out, feel free to ask questions and comment below. And I’ll do my 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 class. That’s at Investor training.ca/. Hey Youtube thanks again for watching see you in the next video

 

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