John Roumanis is back again and upon his insistence we opened a 2009 Italian bottle of Chianti (I can’t help but think of Hannibal Lector’s line how he ate liver and kidney beans with a nice Chianti…) and chatted about real estate, mindset for success, challenges and successes, stock investing and so much more.  I know it’s a long episode and but do listen to the end to hear what motivates John. It wasn’t what I expected.

 

John is my friend and client, he holds a CPA, MBA, and he’s a part time instructor at Sheridan College to round out his busy life as an executive at a major coffee company and new father.

 

To follow or contact John:

on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john_roumanis/

on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnroumanis/

My friend and Marketing guy John Cerpnjak just entered the housing market, a new construction apartment condo on the west side of downtown Toronto.

 

John is a hard working millennial who works from home for the most part helping small businesses with their online, direct Marketing.  Much of the work is contract based and from home, a trend that is becoming more and more popular, and no different than many millennials, they rent and want to enter the real estate market as an owner.  Who can blame them, pay rent forever or join the middle class buy owning property.

 

John was expecting to pay rent for the majority of his 30’s but something happened allowing him to afford a downpayment on a property and the following is his story.

 

As a socialist, I want to see more affordable housing but that’s just not happening considering the sellers’ market I continue to see at the starter home category and rents in major markets continue to climb.  It is a sad reality in which we live and something I want to see my kids avoid and for you the listener to act today so your children and grandchildren may choose home ownership vs. paying rent for life.

Starting an Amazon Business

 

Does is seem like Amazon is everywhere? They sure seem to be creating jobs in the thousands each time they are in the news: 3,000 jobs in Vancouver and more recently announced another 1,000 in Ottawa.

 

I’m fasting on Amazon along with breakfast too but I can’t help but buy lots of books on my kindle as I love reading it to fall asleep each night in the dark.  But our household still buys tons off Amazon: phone cases, organic coconut milk, belts, hard drives, nail clippers, web cam, microphones (I simply look around my desk and sadly see hundreds of dollars spent buying off Amazon LOL).

 

The Amazon marketplace is often the first place I look to shop for convenience and home delivery. That’s where this week’s episode comes in as my friend and client Kensen Wah took the deep plunge to leave his successful career at a big bank to start his Amazon business and he’s here on the show to share how he started and his progress.

 

Show Notes:

Amazon Store: https://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&me=A383GP6YI87PZY&page=1

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

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

Kensen on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kensen-wah-5736b619/?locale=de_DE

Mortgage Market Update With Dave Butler

 

This week’s guest is none other than Dave Butler of Butler Mortgage, one of the top producing mortgage brokers in the country and my personal Mortgage professional.  Dave is going to update us on the latest in the lending markets in terms of government restrictions on lending, where interest rates are going, choosing between fixed or variable interest, the dirty secrets of the private lending market and how to limit risks when private lending.

 

Dave also shares how he built his business with long term relationships in mind so this is not just about real estate but about business building as well from a very successful businessman.  I hope you all enjoy this interview as much as I did!!!

 

The audio could be better as my wifi signal in the office was degrading but it was temporary and did improve but trust me, the content is worth the trouble!

 

Dave's website: https://www.butlermortgage.ca/

Investing in Rural Real Estate Outside Winnipeg, MB with Candice Bakx-Friesen

 

I was talking to my friend Stephen Jones at the May REIN meeting about the affordability crisis in the Golden Horseshoe’s real estate market.  Stephen lives in the East, I in the West but the challenges are no different, where will the next generation live?

 

Stephen theorized if our kids did not have investor parents, they would have to move to Winnipeg for affordability reasons.  I countered, “no, they will be living with you!” to which we both laughed, could you imagine? He’s got four kids too, imagine if all the kids got married and moved back home with their spouses and started having kids.

 

Speaking of Winnipeg, this week’s guest on the show is Candice Bakx-Friesen, a rural investor since 2001, Realtor, Trainer to Realtors, Coach to investor, speaker, mother and wife.

 

 

If you’ve never been exposed to investing in rural real estate investing, you are in for a treat as we have a professional in guest Candice. On this episode we talk about speculative investing as in she developed a lot of land, built a house and put it up for sale. What separates mature investors from amateurs. Kids stealing rent cash, what training looks like for Realtors, the challenges of working with investors, and general lessons in business, investing, and raising kids.

 

So without further a do I present to you Candice Bakx-Friesen

 

 

To connect with Candice

204-392-6406 or email candice@cbfteam.ca

FB: https://www.facebook.com/CandiceBakxFriesen

 

Why would anyone want to build a $1 Million RSP? With Kathleen Van Den Berg

 

It all started with an article I sent CFP, MBA Kathleen Van Den Berg, an article titled How to build a million dollar RRSP — it isn't as hard to get there as you think and she corrected me in stating "think they are asking the wrong question.   Why would anyone want to build a $1M RSP?” To which I responded, I don’t know! Let’s flush it out on the podcast!! hahaha

 

We also cover some hot topics such as how much we need to retire, financial advice for folks at different stages of their lives, and for having trouble getting their 6th or 11th or 15th mortgage, you will want to hear about the benefits of whole life insurance as I personally know folks who were out of credit who not have credit thanks to a little known insurance called whole life.

 

 

 

To Connect with Kathleen:

web: http://www.kavwealthstrategies.com/

linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-van-den-berg-mba-cfp-clu-7b20b258/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/KAVWealthStrategies

 

If you’ve heard our previous interview, you know listening to Oliver Manalese will expand your mind and today’s interview is no different. He was co-owner of Rent Busters, a leading Rent To Own company and he gave it all up to pursue more fulfilling work as a personal performance coach.  We talk about business, investing, how he was a catalyst for a mutual friend (a successful real estate investor) who ended their divorce and got back together with his wife making his kids the happiest kids in the world.  The stuff that really matters. This same friend is travelling the world with the whole family including Trinidad, Croatia, Australia, Thailand, more places than I can count.

Pretty cool eh?

 

Former CMHC Underwriter for apartment buildings Pierre-Paul Turgeon is a veteran apartment building investor and the country’s best teacher in multifamily investing is back on the show.  Not only is he a leading expert on investing, he is a philanthropist who offered vacant units in his buildings rent free to victims of the Fort McMurray Fires plus food and clothing.  He is exactly the type of guest we enjoy having on the show for an update on the Alberta market, lessons on apartment building investing, mindset for success and if you stay to the end, we get a bit controversial talking politics and pipelines.  Interesting and informative stuffs.  Pierre even keeps it real revealing he’s had recent cash calls, something most investors do not talk about.

 

Pierre Paul is back in Ontario later in May to give an all weekend workshop May 25th-27th and you can quickly learn and obtain the tools to be a professional apartment investor. 

 

For more information and register go to: https://www.multifamilyinvestingcanada.com/a/8483/RDSYz2i5

Note: this is an affiliate link but I am not receiving any sort of personal compensation, I simply want more investors to have good information so they can take care of themselves and their loved ones.  

 

Pierre Paul has kindly offered to support my charity the Hamilton Basket Brigade so feel free to use my affiliate link or not, either way is totally cool, just promise me you will grow your wealth and support your own favourite charity or church.

 

Show Notes:

Pierre Paul’s rental website: https://www.matterhorn.apartments/

and his website: https://www.multifamilyinvestingcanada.com/a/8483/RDSYz2i5, check it out for more information and testimonials from friends of the show Jules Mackenzie, Rene Masse, and Charles Wah

 

 

My friend Mike Iuliano is many things, a backyard gardener, a foodie expert of restaurants in the Niagara Region, same with apartment buildings in the Niagara Region.

 

Mike lead a coalition of Niagara landlords to fight the city of St. Catharines in Ontario Superior Court and won thus allowing all us student rental investors to operate our safe, clean rental properties for young adults.  Mike’s advice and lessons are now more important than ever as a couple Niagara Region towns are implementing licensing as well as St. Catharines which is getting started with theirs.

 

Mike is also a savvy stock investor who consistently outperforms the market and when folks know how to make money, that always peaks my interest.  He also trades Cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin so if that interests you, you will want to have a listen on how he does it.

 

Finally he is a Cancer survivor and it has shaped how he now lives his life.  You don't want to miss this episode!!

 

To get in touch with Mike:

linkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ppmniagara/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/InvestLikeMike/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOpOaEqGLrY

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

Rob Break is the newest member of the Rock Star family as a real estate agent and coach, and we are happy to have him!! Rob has invested in countless investment properties and guided investor clients through the same in the Durham region.

 

As Rob is the host of possibly the top real estate podcast in Canada, we are in for a treat as he shares tips on podcasting, favourites guests, tips on investing in the Durham region and wholesaling real estate.

 

our mic of choice AudioTechnica ATR2100

 

To Listen:

 

 

 

Tony is many things, a father, husband, real estate investor, real estate agent, and not just any real estate agent but rather the preferred agent for Ottawa by both Keyspire and the Real Estate Investment Network

 

He has also literally been homeless and lived on the streets of Ottawa when he was a teenager but turned it around including a long stint working for the Government of Canada with great pay and one those wonderful defined benefit pensions we all envy but don’t forget, you have to trade a good portion of your life for that guaranteed money.  The wasn’t good enough for Tony who decided to leave the steady job and pension to purse real estate as a full time endeavour.

 

Tony and I discuss his recent solo week long vacation, how the market is fairing in Ottawa, Ontario and his recommended investment strategies.  So without further ado, I give you Tony Mr Ottawa Miller

 

Understanding your personality is essential to success and will advance your business and career.  That is why we invited Leadership Coach and Consultant with 20 year experience as a Corporate Leader and Executive Lisa Mitchell on the show to explain the types of personalities, the preferences for each personality and the areas to develop for improvement.

 

If possible, I would suggest you pause this episode and if you’ve never done a personality test before, go to www.TonyRobbins.com/disc and complete the personality test.  The results are almost instant, have a read then continue to listen to my discussion with Lisa.

 

To Follow Lisa:

 

website:  www.greenappleconsulting.ca

contact info:  lisa@greenappleconsulting.ca   or 647-988-4003

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/lisa-mitchell-7437636 

Everyone’s favourite combination Property Manager, Paralegal, licensed Realtor Diane Digiandomenico is back for round 2 at my request to explain her thoughts on the new standardized lease that comes into effect at the end of April.

 

Before we start, so that no one sues Diane or I...

 

The content on this web site and podcast is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other professional advice or an opinion of any kind. Users of this web site and podcast are advised to seek specific legal advice by contacting their own legal counsel or Diane regarding any specific legal issues. Erwin and my companies do not warrant or guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of any information on this web site and podcast. The articles published on this web site and podcast are current as of their original date of publication, but should not be relied upon as accurate, timely or fit for any particular purpose.

 

Please seek professional advice as you should in any real estate or business transaction.

 

That said, I’ve come across many property managers and paralegals in my lengthy experience as a professional real estate investor and as you know, our community is a small one.  Everyone heres the good and bad on everyone and there is a vast amount of good references for Diane’s work hence I reached out to her for this interview we recorded shortly after the new standardized lease was announced.

 

I’ve known Ian Szabo for a very long time, since about 2008 when I first joined REIN and there was a lot more of him.  He’s since lost 40-50 pounds and written two best selling books: Reno to Riches and Fix & Flip.  At the time he’d started his transformation already from his renovation business to full time investing for himself.  Ian then wanted to give back to the community by starting his flip school and his current focus, Ian’s short bus talks where he video logs from a refurbished, pimped out short school bus.  You see, Ian rode the short bus in school with the other kids with learning disabilities giving him limited beliefs about himself.  Ian has since purchased a short bus, repainted it a deep orange, installed a roof top patio, installed new benches complete with flat screen TV and Play Station gaming console.  Ian just recently interviewed Gary Vayneychuk the media baron who LOVED the short bus.  I’ll include a link in the show notes.  Ian is one of the super successful yet humble good guys in the real estate world so without further ado, I give you Ian Szabo

 

 

Flip school: http://www.flipschool.ca/

Ian on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flipschools

Short Bus Talks: https://www.facebook.com/ShortBusTalk/

Short Bus Talk featuring Gary Vaynerchuk: https://www.facebook.com/ShortBusTalk/videos/1683274645098908/

Haste and Hustle: http://hasteandhustle.com/

Ian’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1?ie=UTF8&text=Ian+Szabo&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=Ian+Szabo&sort=relevancerank

All Time Best Selling Canadian Real Estate Author Don R Campbell ep3

 

This week’s guest is none other than all time best selling Canadian real estate author Don R Campbell and spoiler alert, he’s a fan of the show!!

 

"I like your podcast, I think it’s real, it’s fresh, you have got good guests that area real life guests, it’s awesome” Don R Campbell; All Time, Best Selling, Canadian Real Estate Author

 

We cover a lot of subjects: politics, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency investing, stock investing strategy, we throw back to when Don wrote his first book and what major re-write he did, being real, the dangers of the real estate investing industry, who the best economist is (it’s not who you think), and so much more.

 

I hope you enjoy hearing my interview of one of the greatest minds in real estate as much as I enjoyed giving the interview.

 

If you would like to learn from Don and attend ACRE, short for Authentic Canadian Real Estate just north of Toronto on March 2-4th then Google Toronto ACRE (A-C-R-E). Discount code is Erwinsguest. The adjacent hotel is already sold out so make sure to register ASAP with my discount code to avoid disappointment!!  

 

link: http://info.reincanada.com/toronto-acre-2018 

Discount code Erwinsguest

Ryan Hindmarsh was referred to me by my then client James Maggs over six years ago.  James is now the VP of my Coaching Services team and it’s funny how much can change in six years… For Ryan, he wrote a goal six years ago to buy investment property outside of his two family home in Toronto in order to make money in his sleep.  He then reached out to his BFF James Maggs because he knew he was already investing and the result is assets minus liabilities equals $2 million without investing a dime of Ryan’s own money.

 

Ryan is a driven individual.  He starred on his varsity basketball team for the University of Saskatchewan graduating in Kinesiology, training elite athletes including NHL’ers.  Moved to Toronto to become an in demand personal trainer earning the highest fees I’ve heard of.  Started a sports clinic business with zero clients and building it up to be one of Toronto’s leading clinics.  

 

Then Ryan wanted a new challenge, after personally witnessing the transformation of his own business via leadership development courses, he joined the same leadership development company to inspire, motivate, lead and coach other entrepreneurs and their leadership teams.

 

Ryan is also our guest speaker this February 24th and he’s giving us a taste of what to expect.  You too can attend by registering at www.HaltonREI.ca

 

Ryan’s coordinates:

Web: http://www.lmicanada.ca/Members/RyanHindmarsh.aspx

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanhindmarsh/

and no he’s not a fan of the distraction that is social media :D

The Certified Financial Planner Who Recommends Real Estate

 

Kathleen Van Den Berg, aside from having a long name has an alphabet of academic designations after her name: MBA, Master of Business Administration; CFP, Certified Financial Planner; CLU, Certified Life Underwriter; I may be missing some other letters but I know Kathleen also has her mortgage license.

 

I first met Kathleen through an introduction by a mutual friend and I find her presentations and our conversations fascinating as she is the only fee based CFP who will talk to me hahaha.  The fee based CFP’s I’ve been referred to simply don’t have time for me.  First of all, the ones I’ve reached out to require 1-2 million of investable assets, typically not real estate since they don’t make money on real estate.

 

That’s where Kathleen is different, she’s open about her own real estate portfolio, the fantastic returns she’s getting and recommends some real estate to everyone even though she doesn’t directly make money selling real estate.  She’s also highly educated and can apply financial planning theory and products that make sense to real estate investors hence the reasons we’re hired Kathleen for a portfolio review.

 

She has also agreed to come present at a future Halton REI event after snowmobiling season is over so make sure to register as live, in person presentations and meetings are best.  To register, go to www.HaltonREI.ca

 

Without further ado, I give you Katheen Van Den Berg.

 

I was talking to one of my fellow students during a break during Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class who is still a student.  He’s in electrical engineering so as always, I’m rhyming off unsolicited advice on fields of study to make money. I recommended learning about SEO (search engine optimization) and Block Chain as that’s the future right?

 

Why is SEO a big deal? Search engine optimization may be the reason you found me or one of my websites, but I’m merely a student of the subject, that’s why I sought out the teacher in Hamilton real estate investor and client of ours John Vuong.  He’s an ultra successful entrepreneur because his firm, Local SEO Search is providing tons of value to small and medium sized businesses in driving traffic to their websites and landing pages to translate into more sales.  John’s time is really expensive too, so he doesn’t even see the houses he’s buying as he has that kind of track record and success rate with his real estate team.  John was kind enough to spare us an hour of his time to share his story here and give us advice on how we can all grow our businesses with search engine optimization.

 

Who is John Vuong? He’s a 15 year veteran of Sales and internet marketing, a hard worker and track record of being a top performer in every work position he’s held until a business opportunity presented itself and John took action in starting a new business in 2013 that is Local Seo Search Inc.  He too attended the best University in Canada which happens to be the same as my alma matter, the University of Western Ontario, he’s a young dad and John started his own charity providing school materials to local schools for underprivileged kids.

 

So without further ado, I give you Hamilton real estate investor and SEO expert, John Vuong.

We are BAAACKKK!  And we survived FOUR days and three nights in Las Vegas!!! LOL

 

I have a group of real estate buddies I hang out with for several reasons, we all like to have fun, we have flexible work schedules to meet during the week so we can reserve weekends for work and family, and most importantly we love to talk business and real estate.  Business and pleasure wrapped into one, dropped in the middle of the Las Vegas strip for some masterminding and fun.

 

The masterminding could have been better as it took much of a back seat to the fun HAHAHA.  The initial plan was to block off six hours allotting 30 mins for each member to share their 2017 accomplishments and 2018 goals.  Unfortunately, like the vodka we were drinking, those 30 minutes were distilled down to 5-6 minutes each. That was all the time we had to spare.  Those who presented first enjoyed a how you say, more sober audience...

 

We hit a club, gambled, ate many great $15 steaks, saw O: the Cirque de Soleil show, shot some automatic machine guns, raced some exotic cars, mine was a Lamborghini Huracan, zip lined  the length of Freemont St., rode ATV’s in the Nevada desert, dined at the Heart Attack Grill, we fought zombies in a live urban warfare simulation, enjoyed a libation or twenty, etc… what we didn’t do was sleep much so I personally slept about 25 of the next 48 hours when we got home.

 

It all started with Westjet announcing direct flights to Las Vegas from Hamilton Airport and our return flight was only $300!!!  We then price shopped everything and Groupon’d almost of the activities.

 

The real estate investor in me enjoyed touring through the hotels thinking how grateful I was other gamblers were paying for me to enjoy the beautiful casinos as my gambling losings only totalled $15.  I don’t gamble. I mean it’s fun but I’m more interested in earning returns like investing in real estate.

 

The trip was simply epic.  We shared a ton of laughs and a very, very memorable trip. I can’t recommend Hamilton Airport enough and I thought our hotel New York, New York was great for our frugal purposes.

 

On to this week’s podcast!

 

The Millennial Retirement Plan: Seven Houses at Age 33 w Sarah Larbi

 

Welcome ladies and gentlemen investors across Canada, the greatest country in the world.  My name is Erwin Szeto, aka Mr. Hamilton bringing you the Truth About Real Estate Investing show for Canadians where it is my job to bring you the tactics, education and lessons of real estate multi-millionaires. What makes these people successful? These world class entrepreneurs don’t have superpowers so let’s find out together how they are killing it so we too may reproduce their results to create financial freedom for ourselves and those closest to us. So lets get to it!

 

Sarah Larbi, is technically a millennial but is a contradiction to the stereotypes as she’s always working at her job, portfolio or self development AND she doesn’t have any social media accounts.  She’s a long term buy and hold investor whom focuses on cash flowing properties and buying under market value whenever possible. She has done this by being a market expert in one specific area; Brantford Ontario, and building a solid team of qualified professionals around her.

Sarah is also the co-founder of the SO REIT Club which holds monthly networking and real estate education meetings for investors. Sarah was also featured on the cover of the Toronto Star in June 2017 for being a young millennial building a portfolio of properties through hard work, dedication and commitment without the help of parents or relatives.

 

Show notes:

SOREITClub https://www.facebook.com/SoReitClub/

REIN’s ACRE (Erwin’s $300 discount code ERWINSGUEST): http://info.reincanada.com/toronto-acre-2018

Brantford Paralegal Wenda Allicock: http://www.wendaallicock.com/

Sarah’s website: https://sarahlarbi.com/ and email Sarah@sarahlarbi.com

 

Hello real estate investors!!

 

Welcome to another episode of the truth about real estate investing show.

 

Happy New Years to you all! We have many terrific guests lined up for 2018 so make sure to subscribe so you may learn their lessons to ensure you achieve your new years resolutions and I’m sure they include increased financial security and freedom!!

 

In case anyone is interested, the Real Estate Investment Network is hosting it’s annual weekend workshop call the Authentic Canadian Real Estate Systems (or ACRE for short) on March 2nd - 4th near Toronto Pearson Airport at the Pearson Convention Centre.  For my friends and listeners to the show, REIN has provided me a discount code and I tested it just now to save you $300 per guest.  If you’ve been to other events that are out there, the full retail price of $687 which has never gone up to my recollection, I’m a REIN member so my admission is included in my monthly fee…. but anyways, the full retail price is a fantastic deal already and my discount code of ERWINSGUEST will save you $300. Link: http://info.reincanada.com/toronto-acre-2018

 

If you want the full ACRE experience, I recommend you plan to attend the informal evening festivities to network with the other attendees.  To me, it’s a great time to reconnect with my out of town real estate friends who don’t make it to all the events but they make the time for ACRE because it’s such a great event.

 

Anyways, on to my 2017 Year in Review

 

The Real Estate Market:

From January to May, the market rocketed up. It was near impossible to purchase a property in Hamilton as it was a regular occurrence to compete with double digit offers on the same property with limited supply and demand through the roof from Toronto folks and locals.  St. Catharines grew in popularity for us as investors as competition was still fierce but nothing like Hamilton and we were renting at rates close to Hamilton’s.  KWC was crazy hot as well and continues to be hot as multiple offers there are a regular occurrence.  After May, and after the Foreign buyer tax becoming effective, the market slowed considerably for Hamilton and St. Catharines, exactly what us investors wanted though we noted less interest from investors in Summer and Fall.  Oddly enough, that is when I purchased two properties, in the summer and fall, both as discounts from the Spring market.  Right now the market feels more balance but prices remain up around 7-8% in our target markets compared to this time last year.

 

The Rental Market:

As a real estate investor we have two real estate markets to monitor: real estate prices as that determines the value of our portfolio and acquisition costs.  Then there is the rental market and 2017 was very good to investors.  From January to May, our investors were obtaining the highest rents we’ve ever seen in the markets we operate: mainly Kitchener Waterloo Cambridge, Hamilton, Brantford, Hamilton, St. Catharines, Niagara Region.  In the Spring we were consistently seen rents of 1650 plus utilities for renovated three bedroom apartments and 1300+ for basement two bedrooms.  Keep in mind about five-six years ago, we rented entire three bedroom houses for 1300+.  The summer saw reduced demand as kijiji ad views and showings were way down and returned to a moderate level in the Fall.  Myself, I like to review my rental ads and prices every two weeks.  If I need to make an adjustment I will, most often to price or tweaking of the headline or ad copy.  For the property we purchased in the summer, I needed to reduce the rent 3-4 times by $25-50 increments till we found a great tenant.  For the property we closed on December 1st, knowing we were approaching the holidays and winter, the slowest market, I was ultra aggressive by advertising our rent $50 below market value.  Evaluating a $50/month discount vs. being vacant for three months, an opportunity cost of $4,800, I chose the $50 discount and we rented to a customer who attended the first showing.

 

On the business side, we’ve grown considerably helping investors transact on over 100 properties in 2017.  We’ve undergone many changes moving away from the Mr. Hamilton brand to the Halton Real Estate Investment Group as a necessity as we expanded our geographic coverage of top towns for investment in pursuit of cash flow.  Our team has grown considerably as well in order to support the number of clients we support, apparently good news travels fast and when you do a great job helping to coach clients to financial success, they compliment you with referrals of friends and family for which we are forever grateful.  Erika Spencer joined our team in late 2016 and has been a force to reckon with even with the birth of baby Owen in October and was back to work in November.  Koukun Unosawa, Han Wang, Tammy Ditomaso all joined us in 2017 plus Paisley Mackenzie is coming onboard in early 2018 all as Junior Coaches.  To ensure our newest team members received the same or better training I had given, James Tiberius Maggs was promoted to Vice President of Coaching Services with all of our coaches reporting directly to him.

 

On the Personal side of 2017, improving my health and energy levels took main stage.  After years of pushing myself mentally and physically for years, I was burnt out.  My body was giving up yet I continued to get by on excessive caffeine (coffee) and sheer will power.  I took a couple tests while seeing a new doctor, Dr Callum Cowan, a high performance health specialist who works with pro athletes like NHL’ers, UFC fighters, high level executives, to repair the damage I’ve inflicted on myself to get to where I am today.  I did a very restrictive cleanse in February and March avoiding my food sensitivities and to take care of a parasitic bacteria I picked up somewhere all the while competing in the Crossfit Open.  I also started going to bed earlier.  As you parents and entrepreneurs know, we can only control what we can control and I’ve found my mood and energy level is simply better with more sleep.  My kids and family, my clients, my business deserve the best me so I started tracking my sleep with my wearable technology called a Whoop and app to ensure my peak performance.  With all these changes, the quality of my work has improved as my mind is rested and more clear. I’m able to train more often which I love without having to take as many afternoon naps.  The best part is I’m less cranky with my wife and kids so everyone wins with more sleep.

 

Dr Cowan is one of our guest speakers for the January Halton REI Group meeting on January 13th. His talk is titled "Feel Better, Function Better, Become a Phenom” and if you’ve seen him present before, don’t worry, the doctor has promised updates as the science of health is ever evolving!!

We will also be hosting a guest panel of investors on the subject of raising successful kids featuring Carol Dias, Margaret Plut, Rob Watson, Charles Wah and Mary Clements.  All are successful in their careers and as investors, and they are happy to share the lessons so we can all achieve one of our ultimate goals, parents to successful children.