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/

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UPCOMING EVENTS

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.