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The Truth About Real Estate Investing... for Canadians

For Canadians by Canadians sharing the truths about generating wealth through real estate investing. This show is about getting rich slowly, investing is a marathon, no get rich quick methods will be discussed here hosted by award winning investor and three time Realtor of the Year Erwin Szeto aka Mr. Hamilton
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Mar 5, 2024

On to this week’s show!

Today we have my Mortgage Broker Scott Dillingham from Windsor Ontario who as far as I know is the only investor specialist who can help Canadians with mortgages in both Canada and the USA. Scott while he was the #1 mortgage broker at one of Canada’s biggest banks got my clients and I many mortgages at cheap rates and I’m now selling one of them.

Scott has since opened his own mortgage brokerage called Lendcity, he shares how American debt service coverage ratio mortgages work when buying income properties in the USA. Scott is a real estate investor himself and shares some of his own challenges as a Windsor landlord and how/where he plans to buy his next investment property and why.

For long-time investors, you’ll remember the days around ten years ago when we used to negotiate seller credits to bring down our downpayments, thus improving our ROI. Well roll back the calendar as seller credits are more of a norm in the US, even more so with builders in this slow market with historically high interest rates.

Scott of course will be our mortgage expert, guest speaker at our next US Investment Workshop on the morning of Saturday April 13th at our office in Oakville broadcast live over Zoom.  I thought the last one would be our last as it’s not easy, nor cheap to have as much talent in the room that we do.

We have everyone’s favourite real estate Accountant, my wife Cherry Chan, the CEO, CIO and CFO of Share: Andrew Kim, Dmitri Bourchtein, Carmen Da Silva respectively to explain how to be a USA landlord without all the work but keep all the equity.

Link is in the show notes: simply choose between in person or virtual. https://USAworkshop.eventbrite.ca. Cost is only $30 plus tax and eventbrite fees.

You can also reach Scott and team at iwin@lendcity.ca, an a custom email address made specially for you, my 17 listeners.  

Please enjoy the show!

Feb 28, 2024

On to this week’s show, someone polar opposite to my strategy of lazy investing: fully involved and active investing including having executed on 150 or some deals in 2023 including 50 flips.  While Luc Boiron lives in Ottawa, he has flips are far as Vancouver and while flips are sexy as people love to watch them on tv or take courses on flipping… well I’m sorry, not sorry we have Luc here to share a behind the scenes look at why he’s flipping and it’s not what you’d expect.

Luc is the founder of Bliss Realty, former lawyer, one of Canada’s leading investors.  He has a massive team and even more massive advertising budget. Luc is a legit investor and even has some stories about fake it till you make it investors failed to close on buying wholesale deals from him.

Listeners, never forget, the community is a small one and we all talk.  We know who the fake it till you make it investors and gurus are and where they learnt those strategies.

As Warren Buffet says “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.”

Luc Boiron has also recently launched his podcast the Selfwealth Real Estate podcast available on Apple Podcasts and my fav platform Spotify.

Please enjoy the show.

Feb 20, 2024

Our guest should need no introduction, it’s my lovely wife the Real Estate Accountant Cherry Chan!

 

Cherry Chan is here to share about the convoluted changes by our Federal government who seem to know more about what real estate we own, they keep coming out with half baked ideas only to delay, delay, make us all jump through hoops, make busy work. It’s really complicated stuff but Cherry is a talented messenger who can explain what the Trudeau, Liberal government is doing.

 

We also chat about our lessons from the downturn in the real estate market, how we are refocusing on at least cash neutral properties hence the decision to diversify to the landlord friendly states of the USA.  I’m hoping Cherry and I can take a trip to the south: Georgia and Tennessee in May after tax season. Romance and cash flow. Two of my favourite things in life.  I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day and find more cash flow in your lives because never forget, cash flow is what affords you freedom.  US dollars are also worth more than Canadian dollars.

 

Please enjoy the show!

Feb 14, 2024

In this enlightening episode, Rachel, with a background in advertising managing a $65 budget and a significant journey in real estate investment from growing up in a duplex to owning investment properties in Florida, investing in duplexes and garden suites in Barrie, Ontario to now full blown cottages resort business owner and operator in Muskoka.  Rachel's story of strategic investment and personal growth. Our conversation touches on the challenges of property management, the insights gained from renovating and selling properties, and her aspirations to contribute positively to societal health through real estate.

 

Cottages and short term rentals are a hot topic in the community, Rachel has experience in both short and long term rentals, she’s a no BS kind of gal, she’s obviously smart, you don’t get $65 million dollar advertising budgets to manage for some of the most recognizable brands in the world at two of the top 10 advertising agencies in the world.

 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chaletsmuskoka

Chalets on Muskoka: https://www.chaletsmuskoka.ca/

Property Management: https://www.caradengroup.com/

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

 

Feb 7, 2024

On today’s show I invited my good friend Christian Szpilfogel to discuss the sad truth about real estate in managing and recovering distressed assets, understanding the root causes and having proactive strategies.

We discussed the risks of private lending, the responsibilities of the borrowers.  Christian has the unique perspective of having worked in a heavily securities regulated environment of Mergers and Acquisitions when he was a general manager under one of Canada’s richest Canadians only to see the wild, wild west that is real estate investing where some investors openly violate securities laws in soliciting the public for capital even offering guaranteed returns.  

The last time I heard “guaranteed returns” was from the owner of a now bankrupt company and he’s on the run from the cops.

Christian being one of the good guys in real estate, I thought he was ideal to text at 9:30am to come on the show for 10:30am to talk about losing money.  Christian is the owner of the Aliferous Group where he invests his and only his family’s own money, he has no courses to sell, no coaching to sell, he’s not accepting OPM other than the bank’s, he just wants to help people.  It’s why we get along so well.

Christian is also Vice President of OREIO, the Ottawa Real Estate Investing Organization, a non-profit, membership based educational organization.  Annual membership is only $127, I’m a member too and the value is unmatched. https://www.oreio.org/Membership

I’ve included some links to news sources in the show notes as well.  Sadly, I saw investors go belly up in 2008 in the financial crisis, we’re seeing many have problems today and we’ll see this happen again because some didn’t learn from history.  So please take this chance to learn from history else be doomed to repeat it.  Also watch out for confidence artists, note that con artist is short for confidence artist.

Please keep your investments safe and enjoy the show.

 

From the Globe and Mail article: 

https://www.ksvadvisory.com/experience/case/SID

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/investors-bankruptcy-1.7102325

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-former-ytv-child-actors-northern-ontario-real-estate-empire-files-for/

 

Jan 31, 2024

Real Estate Journey: Woods started with a $69,000 property, gradually moving to multi-family properties, mixed-use, and commercial buildings.

Market Shifts: Discussion on the changing real estate market dynamics, particularly in Ontario, Canada, and his strategies in response to these changes.

Personal Strategy and Lifestyle: Woods talks about his transition to investing in the Dominican Republic and the U.S., focusing on lifestyle alongside investment returns. He stresses the importance of being in markets that are favorable to investors.

Investment Philosophy: Woods emphasizes the value of education in real estate, joint ventures, and creative investment strategies, including his plans to explore single-family homes and creative financing in the U.S.

Health and Work-Life Balance: He touches upon the significance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance and not letting the pursuit of wealth overshadow personal well-being and relationships.

Challenges and Learning: Woods shares lessons learned from managing properties, the difficulties faced, and how these experiences shaped his approach to real estate investing.

 

Book: https://www.amazon.ca/Ultimate-Wealth-Strategy-Complete-Refinancing/dp/0993671705/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083765135506

Web: www.jefferywoods.com

 

Jan 24, 2024

We have podcast host of A Canadian Investing in the US, Glen Sutherland, hey’s a nice, sharing guy, a seasoned real estate investor, and he’s here to share his own journey of how he ran into a wall investing in Ontario then pivoted to the USA in 2017 and never looked back. 

Glen shares insights from his experience, including strategies for finding and managing properties, navigating different market conditions, and the importance of building a reliable team all from the comfort of his home near Waterloo, Ontario. He emphasizes the value of solving complex property issues, I emphasise complex as Glen is dealing with complicated deals in small towns not for the faint of heart.

Me personally, I’m going for boring, Glen however is a full time investment with sufficient capital and he must like the excitement.  We are totally on two different end of the risk tolerance spectrum which is totally ok. This is the truth about real estate investing podcast and there are various ways to invest in real estate.

So with no further ado, I give you Glen Sutherland

 

Web: https://www.glensutherland.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@acanadianinvestingintheusa

Jan 16, 2024

This week we have professional, full time investor Chad Urbshott who lives in near me in Oakille, Ontario but he’s been investing in the US since 2013 and doing so remotely from Canada. He’s tried pretty much all the small residential investing strategies, fix and flip, wholesale but found his niche by specializing in U.S. mortgage notes

Chad discusses his journey and strategies in the complex field of note investing. He emphasizes the importance of thorough due diligence, explains various aspects of note investing, and shares his experiences, including the challenges and rewards of this niche market.

I know I’ve talked a lot about about boring investing on this show so I wanted to offer you my listener the other extreme for those who want a full time strategy that’s worked for someone as talented as Chad.  Note his returns, risks, effort, and please take lots of notes. I’m sure for some of you, you will want to listen to this more than once.

You can find Chad on social media by searching his name Chad Urbshott or his website: https://www.equigrowth.com/

 

Please enjoy the show!

Jan 10, 2024

Dmitri Bourchtein (CIO & Co-Founder of SHARE) was formerly an Executive Director of Investments at Starlight U.S. Residential, with direct involvement in over $7B of U.S. residential real estate transactions. Dmitri is a seasoned institutional investor with experience in all aspects of the real estate value-chain and is passionate about levelling the playing field for retail investors in the competitive landscape of U.S. SFRs and enabling everyday landlords to maximize their returns.

By the way, if you like what Dmitri has to say, he will be speaking at our US Investing Workshop this Saturday January 13th.  

Our guest speakers included Andrew the CEO, Carmen Da Silva, last week’s guest and CFO, and today’s guest Dmitri, CIO of Share.

We have owner of LendCity Scott Dillingham, the only investor focussed Mortgage Broker I know who can offer US commercial style mortgages to Canadians for income properties. Note commercial lending is better than residential mortgages. The property and the cash flow is the lender’s focus so it’s way easier to qualify and one can in theory have unlimited mortgages.

I’m your host and we are teaching direct investment as in the investor owns the property 100%. That is the definition of direct investment. No shares, no joint venture partners, not private lending. Good old fashioned income property ownership, in-line with how my client 350+ clients and I invest in real estate.  

 

Link for details or to register: https://USworkshop.eventbrite.ca/?aff=iwin

To connect with SHARE: https://sharesfr.com/partners/iwin

Jan 3, 2024

This week’s guest Carmen Da Silva, a Canadian who lives full time in Florida who knows a lot about investing for cash flow in the USA.  Carmen Da Silva (CFO & Co-Founder of SHARE) is a CPA in both Canada and the USA. She articled with Price Waterhouse Cooper specializing in corporate and cross-border tax. Carmen built an insurance platform that allows boutique investment brokers to sell tax-sheltered insurance using Family Office Teams. She generated in excess of 500M AUM in just 5 years, sold it, and bought 25 single family homes in 2008 for early retirement.  She has significant firsthand experience in U.S. Single Family Rentals (SFR) and has always recommend direct ownership in US real estate to her Accounting clients including her own children.  Carmen’s 25 year old son already owns two rental houses in the US. 

 

Currently, Carmen is passionate about combining Ai, technology and real estate investing to make US income properties accessible to everyday investors, not just the ultra wealthy and multi-billion dollar institutional investors currently gobbling up all the income properties.

 

In my experience, it’s rare for Financial Planners and Accountants to recommend and own so much real estate so for you my 17 listeners, you’re in for a special treat.

 

We can only cover so much in a 60 minute interview so if you would like to learn more about US income property investing, Carmen and her team will be presenting at our US Investing Workshop on the morning of Saturday January 13th.  We will cover what the investment looks like, the numbers, corporate structures and Accounting, Financing, property management, as much as we can in a morning.

 

Of note, we are teaching direct investment as in the investor owns the property 100%. That is the definition of direct investment. No shares, no joint venture partners, not private lending. Good old fashioned income property ownership, in-line with how client 350+ clients and I invest in real estate.  

 

Link for details or to register: https://USworkshop.eventbrite.ca/?aff=iwin


To connect with SHARE: https://sharesfr.com/partners/iwin

Dec 18, 2023

I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the human beings negatively affected by investing on pre-construction or speculation. There have been many and will be many more people losing their 15% deposits on pre-construction condos and houses and they’re on the hook for any costs and losses incurred by the builder when they resell the property.

In combination with a slowing economy and job losses it’s just awful out there.  

In a country with massive affordability issues someone was going to get burnt and let’s not forget renters who are praying to stay in their rent controlled units as a move could be a disaster in having to pay today’s outrageous market rents.

A friend of mine told me he rented out his downtown Toronto condo, two bedroom, two bath for $3,500 plus utilities and it’s still negative cash flow. Rent went up $500 over a two year period.

If the federal Liberals wonder why their polling numbers look so bad… well they didn’t have the courage to force municipalities to revise their zoning to allow for higher density and they’ve simply allowed immigration to exceed the supply of health care, education and housing.

While the Canadian economy is shrinking in real GDP terms.  The numbers are even worse when you remove the economic growth from immigration.  Housing affordability hasn’t improved much either and it’s about to get worse.

Royal LePage is forecasting Toronto housing prices to increase by 6% by end of 2024.  Between rate cuts and rising prices, this is why I’ve recommended my clients to wait for a rising market to sell to maximise their sale prices.  We investors need all the help we can get with investment properties so out of favour in the current market.

The housing crisis still exists, there are deals out there for short term gains for those with deep pockets and strong stomachs.  I still believe those who create housing, as they always have will continue to be a profitable investment business hence we have a serious expert today in Michael Collins-Williams who is the CEO of the West End Home Builders’ Association.

MCW as he’s known to his friends, has spent his entire working career in Planning and Building with a degree in such from Ryerson University, followed by 18 years at Ontario Home Builders’ Association before taking the big job as CEO almost 3 years ago at the West End Homes Builders’ Association.

I know several members of the West End Homes Builders’ Association.  They are an close knit, active community of members with the major players including folks with hundreds of millions worth of real estate.  Cool party is the crazy rich builders are approachable and humble in my experience.

With all the development craze I’m seeing on social media, if you’re one of them, I can’t recommend enough you check out your local, non-profit, Builders’ Association for low price, high value networking.

There’s a saying in Chinese, the best things are cheap and quality which is why I’m so frugal :).

You can connect with MCW on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikejcw?lang=en, website is https://www.westendhba.ca/ and Mike is happy to speak to anyone interested in joining, just reach out!  Just tell him you heard him on this show.

 

Please enjoy the show!

Erwin

Dec 13, 2023

On to this week’s show!  MacKenzie Wilson is a risk adverse, smart guy as he got into investing in Calgary real estate and wisely knew that screening for the right tenant was absolutely key and that the wrong tenant would lead to a living nightmare.  This coming from a Calgarian! Ask him what he thinks about the investing in BC or Ontario!!

MacKenzie Wilson is an advocate for affordable housing and reduces the risk for landlords and tenants across Canada. With this MacKenzie has created and manages the largest online community of 4,000+ Landlords in Alberta. His online presence allows landlords to learn key fundamental landlord practices, navigating the risks and challenges associated with being a landlord, and maintaining a mutually beneficial tenant-landlord relationship. 

If you’re a fan of development, highest and best use investing, pay special attention to Mackenzie’s current tear down, infill project in Calgary that will qualify for the in demand CHMC MLI select financing of 95% loan to value, 50 year amortization.  He’s already purchased an everyday 60’ by 100’ lot which the correct zoning for which he will intensify into eight units.  Not quite 10X but 8X the housing supply on a single lot is pretty awesome.

Mac as he’s known to his friends also works at Singlekey, Canada’s largest tenant screening service.  The online service I use and recommend my clients use to screen tenants.  I luv how far credit reports have come, they’ve gotten cheaper, faster, digital and more user friendly.  

 

To follow Mackenzie:

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/AlbertaLandlordCommunity

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

Dec 6, 2023

On to this week’s show!

We have my old friend Tim Hong, we’ve been associates at Rock Star Real Estate and coaching investors since 2011.  Tim has done several joint ventures in rent to owns, an apartment building, student rentals. Tim has his own property management company for condos to duplexes from Toronto to Hamilton to Kitchener-Waterloo.  In his newest venture, a cash flow play, Tim acquired a private, off market Canada Post franchise and he is approaching one year of ownership and has drastically raised revenues.

He’s done this all while being married, having three young kids and two dogs.

To follow Tim:

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

Email: tim@infinitywealth.ca

Nov 28, 2023

On with the show! This week we have the lovely Victoria Cluney who has a different journey than most… well at least she is the first career Canadian Armed Forces personnel to be a guest of this show.  Victoria shares her journey of how she stumbled into being a landlord by renting out her home when she was transferred by work to different bases, which made great money but it wasn’t until she developed her cottage property for short term rental income did she realise what she enjoyed most.

Victoria is now levelling up into commercial, recreational property, specifically a BRRRR motel in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia a vibrant and historic coastal town known for its unique architecture and rich maritime heritage.  The perfect location for a vacation property.

https://www.instagram.com/thebreezemotel

It hasn’t been a smooth and easy journey to success as Victoria shares on today’s episode and I do think this is a good one as more and more, Canadian investors want diversification away from long-term rentals. Commercial is one way to go!

 

To follow Victoria:

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

Ottawa InestHer Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/the-real-estate-investher-meetup-ottawa-canada/

Motel: https://thebreezemotel.com/

 

Please enjoy the show!

 

Nov 20, 2023

On to this week’s show!

Our guest is basically a Canadian as he grew up in Minnesota near the border. Ryan grew up further north that the vast majority of Ontarians so he knows snow, hockey, black flies and cold winters.

Then he smartened up and moved to Florida and participated in some roller coaster markets including the financial crisis and housing market crash of 2007-2009.  Ryan will share his experience on how they made a killing back then.

Ryan is well beyond just being a Realtor, he’s the founder and CEO of RealTrade Inc. which is like the Facebook Marketplace for real estate professionals and real estate listings, a smart diversification play for Realtors to keep control of their listings vs the Zillows and Redfin.

On the Florida real estate side, Ryan recounts how he made money buying bad mortgages from the banks in 2009, the current market inventory and demand, short term or hybrid rentals which is a split between mid-term and short term rental, hurricane insurance and changes to construction, the landlord, tenant laws and tax benefits, what to do for fun the south Florida.

50% of survey respondents wanted to hear more about Florida so here you go! I give you Ryan Poole, please enjoy the show!!

 

To follow Ryan:

Ryanpool@realtrade.io

 

Nov 14, 2023

Investing for positive cash flow, areas of job growth and warm weather, regaining control of the retirement investment plan and legacy portfolio; all this and more on today’s episode of the Truth About Real Estate Investing Show for Canadians.

I’m your host Erwin Szeto, landlord since 2005, Realtor and Coach to investors since 2010, 4X Realtor of the year, $400,000,000+ in client transactions, and host of this little podcast that could that is ranked #81 Business podcasts per Apple iTunes.

We have a different podcast for you today as I am the one being interviewed by today’s guest of the show Andrew Kim, CEO of Share, a technology based asset manager of single family rental properties in the USA with focus on the landlord friendly states of the southern USA.

After months of research and due diligence on both investing in the US and on Share, I’ve convinced my wife Cherry the risks we bear with the Landlord Tenant Board with an eight month backlog just for a hearing, rent control that makes inflation our expense to bear and with better, simpler investment opportunities in the USA it make sense to sell some, if not all our rental properties here in Ontario.

On today’s episode, the tables are turned: Andrew asks me all about the decision to invest in the USA via direct ownership of real estate. Direct ownership, unlike what others out there in doing in raising capital or OPM is I own the property with full title. I have complete control over the house and do not share ownership with others like joint venture, or shares in a company.  It’s just me, the bank, and my wife Cherry.

As always in how our nearly two decades of investing has been, direct ownership, if done correctly, means higher returns to get ahead in life.  I bear all the risk and keep all the upside.  Worst case, I own a quality house in a quality location that I can renovate, move into, or sell.  That’s how I’ve always invested.  

My wife and I don’t take on partners, you don’t need us as joint venture partners, I can show anyone how to invest just like my 45+ millionaire and multimillionaire real estate investors in the most efficient path, with the least stress as possible via direct ownership.

Let’s never take our eye off the goal of every real estate investor: a comfortable, maybe earlier retirement.  With easy financing in the US available for unlimited properties, the tax part I’m not worried about as the worst case scenario if done correctly is one pays the same amount of total tax but split between US and Canada, the biggest risks to the real estate investor are removed when investing in the southern, landlord friendly markets… there are risks like there always are but I’m choosing to invest my hard earned money where there are a lot fewer risks and more potential for cash flow.

Everyone has to do their own research and due diligence. I’ve done mine including a site tour around Atlanta, Georgia and I’ve grilled Andrew probably more than anyone ever has.  Poor guy was seated next to me on the flight home from Atlanta and there was no inflight entertainment on our ghetto Air Canada plane.  Just 2+ hours of me asking questions :))) 

Have a listen to Andrew asking me the most common questions Canadians are asking about investing in the United States.  Please enjoy the show.

For more information on SHARE and investing in the US:

Web: www.iwin.sharesfr.com mention Erwin or iWIN or you’re in pursuit of the truth about real estate investing and they’ll take good care of you.

Nov 7, 2023

Hello and welcome to the Truth About Real Estate Investing for Canadians, my name is Erwin Szeto, residential real estate investor since 2005, and in my experience, the investment that has gotten my over 350 clients ahead in life is direct ownership of real estate as they own the property, manage it themselves or hire a property manager, and grow their portfolios by borrowing cheap mortgage money. My team here at iWIN real estate has been coaching clients to do so since 2010 and it’s been a great run.

Yesterday, I was supporting one of my clients who I’ve helped acquire several properties whose tenant has not paid rent in 13 months even though they won at the Landlord Tenant Board five months ago.  He also shared with me how his rental portfolio was the highest source of stress in his life.

Another client, a real estate mortgage professional, he’s had minor basement leakage in one property in a brand new renovation and in his other brand new renovation, the tenant move out because the floors are out of whack having been installed onto of an uneven floor.  The tenant said the flooring edges are sharp and too dangerous for their baby to be crawling around on. My client is back and forth with the flooring manufacturer and the general contractor and it’s been months.

The truth about real estate investing is it can be stressful and there are challenges.  I have my own stories too for another day but this is not why I first got into real estate.  I started investing for an alternate source of income. I would side hustle as a real estate investor for a return of more freedom, more control over my finances and bring my clients along for the same journey.

It’s always my job as chief investment officer of my household and for my clients to find ways to optimize their portfolios including reducing risk.

In the current environment with inflation, rent control, dysfunctional Landlord Tenant Board, and elevated interest rates.  Add to that how anti landlord the politicians and media are, I don’t feel I’m in control anymore hence I see the writing on the wall.  Cherry and I are selling several if not all of our rental properties in Ontario to take profits, pay off debts, raise cash to take advantage of other opportunities mostly in landlord friendly locations in and around the top 10 cities for investment in the USA.

Both Americans from California and New York along with Canadians are making the move to red, sunbelt states.

The business environment in certain states where I will be targeting offers better numbers and less risk. No question.  At my stage of investing career, I’ve invested in over 40 houses, done many advanced BRRRRs but because I can cash flow better on single family houses in the US, 5-7 cap rates, the same cap rates past guest of this show do with apartment buildings after 5-10 years of renovating, turning over apartments.

I see no reason to take on so much risk when there’s an easier way.

I finally have easy financing, it’s actually easier to get a Mortgage in the US than in Canada. Scott Dillingham of LendCity, who I’ve been working for years to get me mortgage brokers on income properties shared with me in the summer he would soon be able to offer easy, commercial style mortgages for Canadians to invest in an unlimited number of American income properties.  No credit needed.

Investing in real estate without mortgages makes little sense hence I’d never taken US investing seriously but Scott opened the door, I walked through it and went all in on my due diligence.

I’ve never been so frustrated as an Ontario landlord.  For example, did you know tenanted properties for sale are getting next to no showings?  In my nearly two decades, I have never seen showings volume so bad for turnkey income properties at the same time the LTB is so broken, the allowable rent increase so far below inflation, the government anti landlord rhetoric so bad.  I just witnessed a turnkey duplex in Hamilton, ON sell for almost 30% off from peak this past weekend.

But that’s OK, I’m going to pivot to investing the the USA but big but, I’m risk adverse and I’ve seen so many deals go sideways when remote investing.  Plus I don’t like sharing my investments, I prefer to keep all of the equity and all of the upside returns to myself.

Then by fate, a past client of mine, Brent introduced me to his friend Andrew and it was as if the universe was telling me something.

Andrew Kim, I read about his start up, a tech, Ai, enabled asset management company in the Toronto Star and Brent out of the blue introduces me to Andrew. 

First off, what’s an asset manager? Let’s first start with explaining what a property manager is as we’re most familiar with that. Per ChatGPT a property manager handles daily operations, tenant relations, maintenance, and rent collection to ensure the property runs smoothly.

An asset manager manages the property manager, focuses on maximizing the property's value and investment returns, dealing with acquisitions, dispositions, and strategic financial planning like when to refinance.  That’s what Andrew’s company SHARE does specializing in single family rentals.

 

I’ve invested the last three months conducting due diligence on investing in the US, on Andrew’s Share, Scott’s Lendcity (I’ve researched their competition, checked references), and we delivered our first ever US investing workshop to much success. Feedback rating was 9.5/10, we’ll announce our next one mid January and we raised $5,400 for charity.  Win-win-win-win, the way I like it. A win for Andrew, Scott; a win for my business iWIN, the attendees loved it, and $5,400 goes a long way at my charity the Hamilton Basket Brigade.

My trip to Atlanta, Georgia was hosted by Share, I invited along another real estate investor friend of mine, we got to hang out with both Andrew and Chief Investment Officer Dmitri who is a real estate investing wizard having experienced acquiring and managing 20,000 apartment units or $7 billion as an Executive Director of Investments at Starlight. Dmitri easily has the most institutional experience of anyone I know personally and for someone who has a million questions like I do, I was super excited. 

Our tour of investment properties in the suburbs of Atlanta was led by a nationwide, institutional, top tier property management company who manages 2,800 single family houses in America with 800 alone in the Atlanta area.  I was thoroughly impressed by what I saw: well oiled systems, reasonable renovation budgets and turnaround times, no rent control.

I had a deadline to complete my due diligence by the end of the Atlanta trip, to understand the asset I was investing in plus the operations and just as importantly the leadership.

As we were exiting the baggage area of Pearson Airport, we’re walking out together and we see a family with small kids.  Mom and dad are pushing three, fully loaded luggage carts, mom is trying to push two carts while herding her four year old.  I take a step in their direction to help out, Andrew, CEO of Share who’s been struggling with pain the whole trip due to a partially herniated disk in his back beats me to it and pushes one of the mom’s carts.

What a Boy Scout like I was growing up.

As my due diligence is complete, I have some exciting news to share effective immediately:

iWIN Real Estate is proud to announce its strategic partnership with SHARE, a Canadian real estate asset management company specializing in streamlining the end-to-end process of vetting, buying, and managing high-return single-family rental homes in the USA for investors. Using IWIN’s influence in the Canadian real estate investor community, more frustrated, everyday investors will have the opportunity to improve cash flow, diversify, and make real estate investing great again!

By combining SHARE’s U.S. investment expertise and IWIN’s commitment to delivering exceptional results and pioneering investment solutions, investors of all levels can access a wealth of benefits, from streamlined investment process, quality education, and coaching.

“Frustrated Canadian investors, especially in Ontario and BC are looking for diversification in a more landlord-friendly environment and modern solutions, including supercharged systems where everything an investor needs exists under one roof,” said Erwin Szeto, Founder of IWIN. “Together with SHARE, we aim to make direct ownership of income properties more affordable, profitable, less risk, and rewarding for the everyday mom and pop investors.”

SHARE offers investors a comprehensive suite of services for Canadians, including sourcing and acquiring high-quality single-family rental homes in prime locations, professional property management, financing options, legal structuring, and investment portfolio diversification.

“With SHARE's diversified inventory and proven track record of generating high returns, investors can access even more lucrative opportunities with reduced risk,” said Andrew Kim, CEO and Co-Founder of SHARE. “Partnering with IWIN allows SHARE investors to tap into that passive income element and portfolio expansion all while knowing their assets are protected.” 

Partner With SHARE

SHARE offers real estate service providers with existing customer bases or audiences like iWIN Real Estate the opportunity to expand their investment offerings for a mutually beneficial relationship and provide clients with a comprehensive and seamless real estate investment experience in the USA.  Book a call with Erwin  to learn how partnering with SHARE can add value to your investment offerings.

End of press release.

 

My plan is to continue operating iWIN Real Estate as we are carrying more properties for sale than we ever had in my 13 year career as we continue to help our clients with their real estate needs.  Our offerings of real estate investments have simply expanded and when new investors come to me and ask what they should invest in, I simply present, side by side an $800,000 duplex or $1.2 million triplex here in Ontario vs. a single family for $100,000-300,000 in the US that cash flows better along with all the reasons a US investment is easier and they can decide for themselves.  

Officially, I’ve joined Share’s advisory board to guide the growth of the Canadian market as a part time role as part of my full time role as chief investment advisor for my family, to our hundreds of mom and pop investor clients, and my favourite people, our 17 listeners of the podcast.

The truth about real estate is, I haven’t been this excited about real estate investing since legal duplexes in 2015 and now with US investment properties on the table, I see the path to no longer have to subsidize the out of control housing inflation for my current tenants and make real estate investing great again.

Oct 30, 2023

On to this week’s guest Francois Lanthier has already exited his long-term rentals in Ontario a while ago and now lives in Costa Rica with his wife and teenage kids.

Francois has investments in New Brunswick, Alberta, Michigan, Florida, Dominican Republic, Dubai, with plans to find more investments in Eastern Europe and Panama. It’s like he trying to buy up all the spaces on a Monopoly board!

On this show Francois details what he thinks is an ideal investment in Costa Rica and a three day real estate investing conference that Cherry my wife is speaking at in Costa Rica.  You can learn more at www.investinpuravida.com

Francois shares a bunch of his research on where he invests and why and his path to leaving his Canadian tax residency.  His non-negotiables for choosing where to live. Also interesting is what his kids are doing for school since they’ve moved from Ottawa to Costa Rica.

I’m sure many will find this to be a fascinating episode.

Please enjoy the show!

 

To follow Francois:

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/wine_and_real_estate

Oct 24, 2023

We have Calvert Home Mortgage Investment Corporation in the house! OR Calvert for short. The specialise in short-term financing for flippers, BRRRR investors, even pre-construction investors who need short term financing to close a property so they may immediately sell said property.

As a real estate geek, I enjoy learning about what’s going on the in market, where investors are putting their money and borrowed money from Calvert to work. Where do they find deals? What cities, provinces, on or off market and I hope you the listener enjoy it too. 

I even turn the table on both Ryan and Garret who both live in Calgary and ask where they invest their own money.  For anyone who wants to lend their funds privately, I think it’s a good idea to listen to how professional lenders invest their money because if it’s good enough for an insider… well just have a listen.

For more information, their website is: www.chmic.ca and you can reach Ryan at ryan@chmic.ca.

Please like, subscribe, leave a 5 star review on iTunes or Spotify, funny enough our spotify rating is higher therefore Spotify is now my favourite podcast platform.  And please enjoy the show!

Oct 18, 2023

On to this week’s show!

We have the lovely Lena Guirguis on the show!

Her Asset Management company NV Property Management since 2005 manages 168 units including 32 of her own. Her portfolio is incredibly diversified from owning a commercial flex space in Richmond, residential properties around the GTA and apartment buildings in Cleveland, Ohio.

Lena is the founder of Stilettos and Hammers, a networking and educational real estate investment network for investors at every stage. They’re evening hosting a Hallowe’en social on October 26th at night in Etobicoke, ON. Link in the show notes https://stilettosandhammers.com/event/halloween-social-networking-event/ or you can find details on https://stilettosandhammers.com/

On today’s show, Lena shares her journey of strategic growth of her business and portfolio in partnership with her commercial contractor husband.  We discuss the state of today’s market and how she as a professional investor with established power team will invest going forward.

Lena came to Canada as an Iranian immigrant so be prepared for an inspiring example of what dedication, knowledge, talent and hard work can achieve.

I give you Lena Guirguis

Please enjoy the show!

Oct 10, 2023

On to this week’s show we have my old friends Mai Nguyen and Jonathan Lim who’s travel agency business was hit hard by Covid but thanks to their experience as early adopter AirBnb hosts were able to successfully pivot into short term rentals, specifically AirBnb and now own a couple and manage a total of 30 Airbnb properties.

From Muskoka Cottages two hours north of Toronto, to downtown condominiums, to recreational properties in Niagara Falls they have quite a bit of experience on what works, what doesn’t work, the good, bad and the ugly. The truth about short term rentals is they are a hospitality business: that means lots of customer service, cleaners are critical to the business, location and amenities mean the difference between success and failure.  It’s totally doable and comes down to education and execution. 

Mai and Jonathan tell it like it is, including the mistakes they made when they first listed their home on AirBnb, to how it funded their travel, what types of properties to buy, red flags for potential guests, scams, and if you should be buying a property today to AirBnb.

Before buying a recreational property or course, I highly recommend giving this episode a listen

Please enjoy the show!

 

To connect/follow Mai and Jonathan

www.shortstaysintl.com

info@shortstaysintl.com

Direct business line: 416-521-3141

Airbnb host referral link: www.airbnb.ca/r/main8

IG: https://www.instagram.com/mainguyenlim/ and https://www.instagram.com/shortstaysinternational/

Oct 2, 2023

Our guest today is Andrew Kim, with ten years of real estate experience starting in the GTA, before building a portfolio of 20, fully managed properties in the state of New York, Florida, Atlanta and Dallas.  He’s a serial tech entrepreneur who’s worked in Silicon Valley startups and is now combining his passion for real estate investing with his technology. 

Andrew’s company combines the expertise to handpick quality investment properties for Canadians in the US., writing offers to arranging ownership structuring, taxes, property management, financing partners, renovations and setting lease rates, it doesn’t get any more passive.

To me this is the dream, as the investor I’d have direct ownership and control over the house but passive as the property generates enough rent to pay for top notch management.

[iWIN Hybrid Workshop] How to Invest in the US Real Estate Market: https://iwinworkshop.eventbrite.ca

With inflation getting out of control, rent control, uncertainty of receiving rent here in Canada for mainly Ontario and BC investors, I think it’s advisable to give this episode a listen.

To follow Andrew or interested in learning more about Share go to iwin.sharesfr.com. To view current and past US deals, you do need to sign up, let them know Erwin sent you and they’ll take good care of you.

 

Website: www.sharefrs.com

Article in the Toronto Star: https://www.thestar.com/business/priced-out-of-your-neighbourhood-this-real-estate-investment-ceo-suggests-looking-south/article_a5704a4f-7524-5f53-a40d-fc78f477fd48.html

 

Sep 25, 2023

We have a long-time friend of the show Kayla Andrade, President of Ontario Landlords Watch, a grass roots, not for profit organisation, there’s almost 10,000 Facebook group members. Kayla has been advocating for landlords ever since her local city passed a by-law that if a tenant doesn’t pay their water bill, said debt gets applied to the landlord’s property tax.  Got to love how landlords are expected to back stop the tenant’s debt.

Kay is here to share about best practices and how we may advocate for our rights so we may all come together to make a healthier rental market for everyone including the vast majority of tenants who are great.  We discuss challenges we face, how she’s pausing growing her portfolio, and the always amazing, upcoming Ontario Landlord Watch Conference on October 28th, doors at 1pm and dinner is included.

I’ll be there along with many wonderful speakers and a certain member of Parliament Kayla announces for the first time on this show!!

Link to receive more information and tickets available here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/ontario-landlords-watch-5th-annual-private-housing-sector-conference-tickets-681955085017?fbclid=IwAR2BgiOKha4BOJhFvCHjY9MSN7UwA2AUISHy-tUsPRgMZO6hqNOUlpajMUI

Again that’s Saturday Oct 28th, doors at 1pm, my friends from SingleKey and Front Lobby will be there too. Dinner buffet included!

Please enjoy the show, I present to you Kayla Andrade.

To Follow Kayla:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayla-andrade-b4855648/?originalSubdomain=ca

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/818378618219840

Personal FB: https://www.facebook.com/Kayla.Andrade.olw

Website: https://ontariolandlordswatch.com/

Sep 18, 2023

If you need help improving your record, myself and my lovely friend, today’s guest Elizabeth Kelly loves to help too.  It’s why we get along so well.

Hopefully Elizabeth Kelly does not need an introduction.  She tells it like it is. Elizabeth was a paid, professional educator for Rich Dad Canada since 2012 and taught a couple thousand investors, including many of today’s influencers, coaches, full time real estate operators.  

She has own property management, Sandstone Property Management that manages hundreds of doors across multiple strategies, apartment buildings, AirBnb, Rent to own. Elizabeth has done around 100 rent to owns. 

She’s the longest time investor in New Brunswick I know so before going there please listen to this show, reach out to her, she doesn’t mind.

Elizabeth is hosting her 2nd conference after the highly successful, inaugural Real Estate Resilience online event she’s back again for 2023.  The price is very affordable at $74, link is in the show notes: https://www.accelevents.com/e/resilience2023?aff=Elizabeth

There are several friends of mine and past guests of this show and event a client on the speaker panel. If you want to go deeper into what the successful pros are doing you want to check out the Real Estate Resilience summit, a two day event, Saturday & Sunday October 14-15th.

 

Please enjoy the show!

Sep 8, 2023

In this episode, I am breaking down the newest updates from the Bank of Canada on what's happening with interest rates. There’s talk of a possible recession and the economy slowing down, and we're here to get to the bottom of it all.

 

Using fresh info from Stats Canada and the Bank of Canada, I look at how the continuous increase in interest rates is affecting not just the big picture, but our day-to-day lives too. From what we are spending at home to what's happening in the housing market, we’ll see how big world events, like China's economy slowing down and wildfires here in Canada, are having a ripple effect on our economy.

 

We will also go step by step through the newest facts and figures from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, all fresh from August. Whether you’re thinking of buying a condo or a standalone home, I've got the latest scoop on trends, prices, and tips for both buyers and sellers to help you make the best decision.

 

So sit back and enjoy the show as we unravel what’s really happening in the Canadian real estate market, making it simple and easy to understand for everyone.

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