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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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Now displaying: November, 2018
Nov 23, 2018

While on vacation, I didn’t get much work done, just a little bit of emails and communicating with my team over instant messaging. I’m on vacation with my kids so no hard core work was getting done but I did do some light thinking.

Such as how so many people are working for the weekend.  My family and I were in Hong Kong for my brother in law’s wedding so there was sufficient notice to all we were coming.  This is partly cultural and partly being an entrepreneur as both of my wife Cherry’s parents have their own businesses but they each took maybe one or two days off during our two week stay.

My in laws only see their daughter and grandkids once per year but could only afford 1-2 days off between the wedding of their son and visit from their grandkids.

They did not join us for any of our activities site seeing or the two days we spent at Disney.

On the flip side, my cousin’s wife who retired a year ago from her executive position at one of the big banks.  She spent a whole day driving us around, sight seeing, taking us to the beach. She doesn’t have kids but is crazy about kids.  She had a job offer from another big bank for an executive position with salary in the 300k zone. Her competing offer was to be a personal chauffeur to her teenage niece who is a competitive swimmer who needs to get to practice before and after school with dreams of going to the Olympics.

Which would you choose? What if money was no object?

She turned the bank down informing them she had a better offer.  No stress, no long hours or responsibilities defined by others, no greed.

To me, that’s what investing is all about.  Her and my cousin invest in 2nd mortgages. Making money passively so you can do whatever your heart desires. To me that’s living the dream.

Quick announcement before we get to our business buying guest, I’m still getting questions on almost a daily basis on timing real estate, the future of real estate, blockchain and real estate, am I worried about interest rates and bubbles, etc… so come January at my monthly networking meeting I will go over how I see the world and how the research drives my decisions.  I am not an economist however I am a multi millionaire investor, I’ve coached multiple multi millionaire investors, and I spend a lot of time around other real estate multi millionaires so hopefully I’ve learnt something along the way. I’ll share the research anyways so you may make your own decisions. So go to http://www.truthaboutrealestateinvesting.ca/meeting/ to get on the invite list.

How to Buy a Business with Ajay Jain

It seems we’ve all read Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, if you haven’t, please do so before continuing listening :)

Robert Kiyosaki wrote about starting or buying a business instead of getting a job hence I sought out an expert on buying businesses which is how my friend and client Ajay Jain got on the show.

Ajay has his Chartered Accountant designation from India, his MBA from Rotman’s School of Business from the University of Toronto, he’s worked in Merger’s and Acquisitions at CIBC (the department at a bank whose role is grow the business through acquisition for example often time when you see a Canadian Bank in the States, it’s because they bought the local bank).  

Ajay is also licensed to work as an agent in brokering the purchase and sale of businesses so he’s here today to share how that works, how he values businesses, and structures deals.

If you’re an existing business owner, pay special attention as Ajay is giving guidance how to increase the value of your business and how to get paid out faster.

To Follow Ajay:

Connect on LinkedIn
Ajay's Email Address: ajay@aldrin.ca
Website: www.aldrin.ca

Nov 21, 2018

I’m back!! My family and I landed back in Canada 12 hours ago after a two week vacation in Hong Kong to witness the marriage of my brother in law Vick to his lovely bride Kitty.  Hong Kong in the real estate world is known as the least affordable real estate in the world and as a real estate nerd, it was fascinating to me to be able to witness it first hand.

I know Hong Kong is not Canada but as a real estate nerd, I’m always interested in how real estate markets behave, both for sale and rent for ideas how my tribe and I may too invest to capitalize.  For many of you listeners, you may recall the massive influx of Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong in the 90’s and today it’s more the mandarin speaking folks. I hear it all the time from my friends in Vancouver and around Toronto.

If you’ve spent any time in China like Hong Kong you’ll understand why and it starts with prices.  The condo I stayed at, only a few years old, on the suburban, terminal end of the train line to the north East.  The GTA equivalent, this would be Barrie or Stouville. For a recent listing, the asking was just under $2,000,000 Canadian for…. Wait for it… almost 800 square feet, two bed, two bath apartment condo…  Just think what $2,000,000 gets you in Canada. $2,000,000 gets you into a decent house West Vancouver, the most expensive neighbourhood in Canada.

Another way to think about the price is per square foot which is almost $2,500 per square foot.  Compare that to 1 Bloor West in Toronto, which is one of the most premier, most expensive condos in Toronto priced at around $1,500 per square foot.

Do you still wonder why we are seeing so much foreign investment from China?

On the rent side, not as crazy as this same condo rents for just over $3,000 per month.  On the other hand, we have a family friend paying over $11,000 per month for her 1,100 square foot, ocean facing condo.  Something to keep in mind as condo investing will become synonymous with single family home investing, condos with views will rent for above market prices.

Canada sounds pretty cheap doesn’t it? Affordability is a concern for every Canadian, just know how much better we have it than many.

On a socialist front, 28% of Hong Kong’s population or over 2,000,000 people live in public housing.  In comparison, Toronto Public Housing just 164,000 tenants.

Some other fun facts of Hong Kong:

  • Minimum wage is under $6/hour
  • Income tax is 15%
  • There is no sales tax or capital gains tax
  • Investment property financing requires 50% as down payment.

Quick announcement before we get to our World Champion guest, I’m still getting questions on almost a daily basis on timing real estate, the future of real estate, blockchain and real estate, am I worried about interest rates and bubbles, etc… so come January at my monthly networking meeting I will go over how I see the world and how the research drives my decisions.  I am not an economist however I am a multi millionaire investor and I spend a lot of time around other real estate multi millionaires so hopefully I’ve learnt something along the say. So go to http://www.truthaboutrealestateinvesting.ca/meeting/ to get on the invite list.

Investing early at Age 18 to Living The Dream the last 14 years Choking People and Becoming a World Champion at Jiu Jitsu with Barbie Benton

Barbie is living the dream.  No there is no Ken or pink corvette but she does what she wants with her time when she wants to. Barbie chooses to train and teach martial arts several times per day and she’s quite good at it including having won at the Abu Dhabi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Championships.  She is the first world champion I’ve had on this show but she won’t be the last.

Most of us have day jobs.  Barbie’s day job is that of a self sponsored professional athlete thanks to having started investing at the age of 18.  17 years later that same property now makes up half of the income she earns today.

Barbie shares about what it takes to be a world champion, what life is like as a successful investor, her recent trip to China to start her ecommerce business.  Really I’m just jealous she has fun all day and doesn’t have to work aka living the dream.

 

Show Notes:

Barbie’s BJJ Journal
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbie__on__fire/

Nov 9, 2018

Driving down country roads near Hamilton Mountain, top down, in a 600 horsepower, v10, 5.something litre engine in a Lamborghini Huracan Spyder.  They cost around $350,000 to own but I’m no investor of cars therefore we rented :P

The experience was amazing, the handling, braking and acceleration is unreal.  The experience was made better by sharing it with my fellow real estate entrepreneurs and my new Marketing person Darren Cabral.  He knows cars like I know houses. Darren would buy one of these if he was in my financial situation which I think is interesting.  Whenever Cherry and I have capital available, it gets invested. I do drive a decent German sedan but that’s the norm for my line of work.  

To me, I would much rather vacation with the kids and acquire a vacation property. One idea is to buy one of those Pier 8 condos in Hamilton as it will be quiet with no major roads nearby and we will be on the water yet close to a mid sized city with all the hottest cafes and restaurants.

It’s just one idea but I’m sharing because I do want you all to think bigger.  I’ve had some great ideas that were born while networking and masterminding with many great investors, many well ahead of me in their careers.

If you have any trouble finding folks who will raise you up, a good place to start is my own HaltonREI.ca meetings.  We have the wonderful Jay Gabrani as our guest speaker on November 24th at the prestigious Sheridan College in Oakville his lessons on preparedness from the sudden loss of his wife and mother of his three young children and the investments he made to support his life as a stay at home, single dad.

Investing saved his life including investing in stock options and private lending so you don’t want to miss this keynote talk.

The experience was amazing, the handling, braking and acceleration is unreal.  The experience was made better by sharing it with my fellow real estate entrepreneurs and my new Marketing person Darren Cabral.  He knows cars like I know houses. Darren would buy one of these if he was in my financial situation which I think is interesting.  Whenever Cherry and I have capital available, it gets invested. I do drive a decent German sedan but that’s the norm for my line of work.  

To me, I would much rather vacation with the kids and acquire a vacation property. One idea is to buy one of those Pier 8 condos in Hamilton as it will be quiet with no major roads nearby and we will be on the water yet close to a mid sized city with all the hottest cafes and restaurants.

It’s just one idea but I’m sharing because I do want you all to think bigger.  I’ve had some great ideas that were born while networking and masterminding with many great investors, many well ahead of me in their careers.

If you have any trouble finding folks who will raise you up, a good place to start is my own HaltonREI.ca meetings.  We have the wonderful Jay Gabrani as our guest speaker on November 24th at the prestigious Sheridan College in Oakville his lessons on preparedness from the sudden loss of his wife and mother of his three young children and the investments he made to support his life as a stay at home, single dad.

Investing saved his life including investing in stock options and private lending so you don’t want to miss this keynote talk.

How to Choose a Coach with My Coach for the Last 7 Years Mary-Anne Gillespie

The real estate investing industry has exploded with coaches. I get it, my team and I coach investors too. It is highly rewarding work to teach others to become successful investors, we have many multi millionaire clients who started with nothing.  They are crazy grateful, doing amazing things with their families, favourite charities, and living life to the fullest.

But who is a good coach?  Personally, I always want to work with the best of the best hence when I first sought out a coach, I asked several winners who the best coach was.  That is how I found my coach since 2011, Mary-Anne Gillespie. At the time, she was head trainer for a very large brokerage. She is also coach to many top level real estate entrepreneurs who are household names in my industry.

I have no idea what she saw in me when she took me on but here we are.

Maybe because we’re both a little nuts as Mary-Anne finds marathons boring and is no preparing for an Ironman triathlon. She is also an exclusive member of the Forbes Coaching Network.  To summarize, she’s a winner, coaches winners, and one can never spend enough time among winners.

To follow Mary-Anne:

Mary-Anne's Instagram
Mary-Anne's website

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