Get Real Wealthy

16 - The Nine Habits of Highly Effective Real Estate Investors

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 02 May 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin D'Souza shares the qualities he has observed in successful real estate investors, and what you can learn from them.

Quentin says that successful investors possess certain qualities that he has observed over the years. He has met investors who own one or two investment properties and those who own $300 million in assets. There is a big difference between the two types of investors in terms of growth. He advises that to achieve your goals, you should follow people who have already succeeded in it. If you want to own one or two investment properties, you should seek advice from people who have done so. If you want to grow a real estate empire with $300 million in assets, you need to find those who have already achieved that goal.

Quentin shares that the first quality he has noticed in successful investors is their willingness to never stop learning. Successful investors are always seeking new knowledge and opportunities to grow. They know what they know, but they are aware that there is always room for improvement. The second quality of successful investors is that they do not make excuses. They take responsibility for their actions and admit their mistakes. They do not dwell on past failures but use them as learning opportunities to improve and continue to grow.

The third quality that successful investors possess is their constant effort to improve upon what they have already done. They make slight tweaks or little changes to their methods to continue growing and bettering themselves. They recognize that there is always room for improvement, and they actively work towards it. The fourth quality of successful investors is that they celebrate their achievements along the way. They take time to acknowledge their progress and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Whether it's a dinner out or a vacation, they take time to celebrate their successes, big or small.

The fifth quality is that they follow a vision and a process for achieving their goals. They have a clear vision and a plan to reach their objectives. They may use a vision board, quarterly plans, or 30-60-90-day goals, but they always have a process that they follow to achieve their goals. The sixth quality of successful investors is their commitment to keeping their word. They strive to do their best and follow through on their promises. They work hard to help others and achieve whatever they said they would do.

The seventh quality is that they dream big and achieve bigger. They set lofty goals and push themselves to achieve them. They continuously work on their process to achieve their goals, which often leads them to achieve more than they thought was possible. The eighth quality of successful investors is that they leverage their failures throughout the process. They understand that failure is part of the journey and use it as a learning opportunity. They use their failures to grow and do better in the future. Finally, successful investors have deep relationships with others. They understand the importance of building strong, meaningful connections and leverage those relationships when needed. These relationships often help them achieve their goals faster and more efficiently.

In conclusion, Quentin suggests that to become a successful investor, you should reflect on these qualities and make some changes while never stopping learning.

Important Links and Resources

15 - Making Money in Real Estate: Investing Wisely and Avoiding Pitfalls

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin D'Souza discusses the reality of real estate seminars and the need to be careful when signing up for them.

Quentin highlights that although some real estate seminars may be legitimate, many of them are merely ways to enroll participants in more expensive seminars. As a veteran of the industry, Quentin provides listeners with tips to make informed decisions and avoid scams.

According to Quentin, attending low-cost or free real estate seminars that cost around $100 or $200 will likely only provide a high-level overview and not much actionable information. The majority of the time is spent discussing why you should invest in real estate, how it's important, and how you can earn more money. However, the ultimate goal is to persuade attendees to invest in a more expensive course, usually offered at the end of the seminar. This is a classic example of a real estate quick money seminar.

Quentin cautions that during seminars, presenters often showcase their wealth by sharing their vacations, cars, and properties. This is done to create an association with wealth in the attendees' minds. The seminars teach how to buy a property with little to no money down, which is doable, but difficult without help and support. Even though this is achievable, it will take more than a weekend or an education course to learn the required skills. Attendees should keep this in mind.

During the seminars, the presenters ask a lot of questions to which attendees are expected to respond with a "yes." This is done to soften the audience, making them more likely to agree when an incredible offer is presented. The offer is usually valued at thousands of dollars, but the cost is only a fraction of that if purchased right away. There is typically a time limit or a limit on the number of courses available, creating scarcity. This is a component of the weekend course, and Quentin warns that this technique is used to make participants more susceptible to buying the product offered.

Quentin says that although he has learned a lot about real estate from various courses, including weekend courses, he suggests having the mindset to learn something from any course. However, he emphasizes that networking with other participants is the most important aspect, as they are on the same journey and can provide valuable insights. He suggests doing research on the presenter, checking out their website, references, and reviews to learn more about them, and warns against seminars that guarantee returns or once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, as there are no guarantees in real estate.

In conclusion, Quentin advises caution when considering attending low-cost or free seminars that include upsells at the end. If you’re interested in learning more about him, his real estate investing career, and find free resources and learning materials, you can visit, https://EducationREI.ca and https://DurhamREI.ca.

Important Links and Resources

14 - Building a Strong Relationship with Your Property Manager: An Essential Guide

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin D'Souza discusses how to effectively manage your property manager.

Quentin suggests that before purchasing a property, you should consult a local property manager in the area to determine if they are willing to manage it. This conversation can offer valuable insights into the various factors that may influence a property manager's decision to manage—or not manage—a specific property. Quentin emphasizes that when working with a property manager, it is vital to obtain copies of all lease agreements and addenda given to tenants, as well as any other documents completed by the property management company, such as the property management agreement.

He further states that it is essential to review these agreements for a better understanding of how the property manager will charge fees. This encompasses determining whether they will charge a flat fee per month, based on gross rents or a per-door fee, tenant placement fees, and if there are any additional charges. It is crucial to discuss these fees with the property manager, especially if they are not outlined in the agreement. Moreover, it is important to inquire about the management fee for repairs and maintenance, as well as how the HST will be charged and when it will be applied.

Quentin also highlights the importance of closely monitoring vacant units, particularly if they have been unoccupied for more than 30 days. Managing these vacancies thoroughly and maintaining regular communication with the management company is essential to make necessary adjustments to the units. If the property is not filling quickly enough, renovations, such as interior updates or a fresh coat of paint on the exterior, may be required. Quentin advises comparing the quality of your unit to other units in the area to ensure it meets or exceeds local standards.

Additionally, Quentin says that getting to know your neighbors and establishing communication with them can be beneficial. This provides an extra set of eyes on your property and potentially valuable feedback, whether solicited or unsolicited. Keeping a few people in the area informed about your property could offer valuable insights. Regular communication with your property manager, facilitated by quarterly or bi-annual phone calls, is essential to maintaining open lines of communication. This practice is particularly important if an issue arises that needs to be addressed and you were not previously aware of it.

Lastly, Quentin recommends reviewing all monthly bills and statements from the property management company and utilities to ensure there are no unexpected increases. If any changes occur, the property management company should provide an explanation. As the property owner, you remain ultimately responsible for your property, and hiring a property manager does not absolve you of that responsibility.

In conclusion, Quentin suggests that if you're interested in learning more about managing your property manager, check out the full course on filling vacancies and property management at educationrei.ca. You can also find his books on Amazon, which cover the topic of property management. Furthermore, you can join Durhamrei.ca and become a member to gain access to all of the video courses.

Important Links and Resources

13 - Why RRSP Mortgages Can Be a Game-Changer for Your Investment Portfoliomortgages

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin D'Souza discusses using registered funds for private mortgages to create an income source and the associated risks.

Quentin notes that the public is generally unaware that they can use registered funds, such as TFSAs, RESPs, and LIRAs, to lend as mortgages and earn a fixed return. The reason for this lack of awareness is the mutual fund industry's focus on managing portfolios and not providing information on alternative investment options. People are not aware that this option is available.

He adds that the mutual fund industry earns money based on their management expense ratios, regardless of the portfolio's performance. As a result, they prefer that people keep their funds in mutual funds instead of lending them privately and earning higher returns.

Quentin recommends placing registered funds with a trustee, such as Canadian Western Bank or Olympia Trust, to lend to third parties while adhering to specific criteria, such as not exceeding 100% of the property's appraised value. For instance, $300,000 can be moved to an Olympia Trust account to lend as a private mortgage.

He emphasizes the importance of transferring funds directly between registered accounts to avoid taxation. Due diligence is crucial when lending funds to third parties, and it is recommended to focus on investors. The loan-to-value ratio should not be too high, as this increases the risks associated with the investment. Mortgage brokers can help with private lending and bring together multiple investors for a single mortgage.

When lending, understanding the borrower's exit strategy, the loan-to-value ratio, and the property's risk is essential. Retail properties are riskier than residential properties at the same loan-to-value ratio. The area, person's experience, and returns should also be considered. Understanding that a good return may not be achieved if the funds are returned earlier than expected and there is no other project to invest in is essential for private lending using registered funds.

In conclusion, Quentin advises that there are numerous resources available to learn more about using registered funds for private mortgages. You can also contact him at quentin@getrealwealthy.com to learn about his own experiences using registered funds.

Important Links and Resources

12 - The Underutilized Housing Tax Form: What You Need to Know

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin D'Souza discusses the Underutilized Housing Tax Form.

Quentine explains that property investors in Canada must complete the nine-page form, issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Applicable to corporations, holdingc ompanies, and partnerships, it must be submitted annually by the end of April, starting in 2023. The form discloses property ownership under structures like corporations, limited partnerships, or joint ventures and is mandatory for properties with three or fewer units. Non-compliance fines are steep, at $10,000 per property. The form includes details about ownership, partnership, and vacancy, aiming to target vacant properties for additional taxation.

However, Quentin notes that the form may cause confusion for investors with non-traditional ownership structures or partnerships where not all owners are listed on the title. While the CRA may already possess some of this information from annual tax filings, the new form and database create a separate compilation of data that could potentially be shared with third parties like financial institutions. This could create problems for some investors in qualifying for properties or loans.

Although it is unclear whether the CRA can share this information, it is essential to be aware of potential risks and consider solutions like putting the property in your name or co-qualifying to alleviate any title issues. Quentin advises listeners to make sure to review the Underutilized Housing Tax Form if they have not completed it yet.

To reduce costs and bureaucracy when completing the required housing tax forms for multiple properties, Quentin suggests having an accountant complete the forms using one property as a template. Accountants may charge $500-$800 per form, but they can ensure that the nine-page forms are filed correctly.

In conclusion, Quentin emphasizes that as more bureaucratic procedures arise, fewer housing units might become available, especially for smaller-scale landlords managing three or fewer units.

Important

Links and Resources

https://DurhamREI.ca

11 -Maximizing Your Rental Income with Accessory Dwelling Units: Tips and Tricks

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin D'Souza shares everything you need to know about accessory dwelling units.

Quentin says that accessory dwelling units usually refer to basement suites, or when a particular house or duplex has another unit added to its footprint. He adds that a new bill, Bill 23, has been implemented in Ontario to increase the number of units in single-family homes. The bill enables the creation of additional basement units or garden suites, thus increasing the density of existing properties. As for what you need to look for in accessory dwelling units, Quentin says that being closer to major centers is important to obtain higher rents, which could result in a larger net operating income for the asset. However, this may be offset by higher purchase prices.

Quentin recommends looking at places like Peterborough, Belleville, or Kingston where you have a lower purchase price but similar rents. He further adds that you also need to be cautious when inheriting an existing tenant on a property to be purchased. To ensure the legality of the rental, a tenant acknowledgment form should be obtained and the legality of the suite should be verified before purchasing. If the accessory unit is illegal, it may lead to complaints from neighbors, and the unit may be shut down, resulting in a loss of rental income and potentially affecting the property's maintenance and cash flow.

He further adds that when looking for basement suites, you should also look at the amount of natural light going into the bedrooms and living room. This is important as it can help one forget that they are in a basement. In the suburbs, it is necessary to ensure that each unit has at least one parking spot and public transportation nearby. Having separate entrances and laundry facilities for each unit can reduce tenant interactions and lower management issues. Quentin further suggests that including a bathroom with a tub in the basement is a great idea as it provides more flexibility for different tenant profiles.

Quentin adds that when considering a basement suite, it's important to think about small upgrades that can make it more attractive, such as lighting and flooring. These details can affect the overall appeal of the unit. It's also essential to ensure good color combinations and sufficient lighting to prevent the space from feeling smaller. In conclusion, he says that the top priority should be to have a positive cash flow every month after all expenses, including mortgage, insurance, utility costs, property tax, maintenance and repairs, and vacancy, are accounted for. This will ensure the property continues to appreciate in value while generating income..

Important

Links and Resources

10 - The Five Golden Rules of Borrowing Against Equity: Expert Tips and Strategies

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin D'Souza discusses the five golden rules of borrowing against equity.

Quentin starts by sharing that borrowing is a common financial tool for real estate investing. It is used to buy investment properties and can help grow and diversify a portfolio. Equity in one's home can be used as collateral. If you're investing to build a portfolio, it's a valid financial strategy. But whether you're considering borrowing against equity for investment or other purposes, make sure you follow these five rules. Number one, beware of low-rate offers from banks and other financial institutions. Banks and financial institutions can make borrowing appear cheaper than it is, but be wary of low-rate offers. You should check the rates, including how they could rise, to avoid any financial shock to your investment portfolio.

Number two, always read the terms carefully. Borrowing can be a financial necessity for real estate investments, but it's essential to use it correctly. When considering borrowing, be wary of banks' low-rate offers and read the terms carefully. The terms may include penalties for early payment or balloon payments at the end of the term. Number three, credit could harm your credit score and reduce your score altogether. Borrowing against equity can harm your credit score and decrease your ability to get a new mortgage on an investment property in the future.

Number four, remember that all borrowing is risky for both lenders and borrowers. Accessing equity in your home can reduce risk for lenders, but increase risk for the borrower as they risk losing their home. Make sure to have a safety cushion in case of any issues. Number five, examine the alternatives. Before borrowing, one should be aware of its risks and examine the alternatives. Borrowing should only be used to create assets and income, not for spending on non-essential things, adding "the risk of borrowing badly is something that I really want to you to consider. You could lose your home, your family, your livelihood; it does happen."

In conclusion, Quentin says that borrowing for investment in real estate is necessary for most people but must be done carefully. Five rules to follow include: be wary of low-rate offers, read terms carefully, understand how it will affect your credit score, remember that all borrowing is risky, and examine alternatives before making a decision.

Important Links and Resources

· The Property Management Toolbox

9 - The Importance of Competitive Rental Prices in Real Estate Investing

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 00:15:00 -0500

[thrive_2step id='834']In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin D'Souza discusses how to guarantee rental profits.

Quentin says that once you've bought a cashflow-positive property and taken out long-term debt, deciding on the right rent is crucial, as a wrong decision can lead to vacancy and financial losses. You have to consider the benefits and features of the property location and highlight them to potential tenants. If the property remains empty, it may be due to an overpriced or underpriced rent. For example, setting the rent too high could discourage prospective tenants from even considering the property. Setting the rental price too low for a property in a great location can also turn off prospective tenants and attract lower-quality renters. He emphasizes that setting the right price is essential to avoid months of vacancy.

Quentin further adds that staying competitive in rental pricing is crucial for minimizing vacancy, especially in Ontario's rent-controlled environment. You should use tools like rentalmeter.com and doorinsight.com to find the average rent for a property in a given area, and check rental websites like Kijiji, Craigslist, or Facebook Marketplace to see current offerings, further adding "setting the right rent will make your profit on your rental income." Quentin adds that the goals that you want to achieve from your property investment won't be the same as another investor. However, whatever your goals are, for most investors, rental income should cover the cost of their expenses, mortgage insurance, maintenance, etc.

He says the first few years may be challenging, but the property value and rental income should increase as the property stabilizes. At the same time, keeping rents competitive will also maintain the property's value. Quentin continues by saying that the rent you can charge when selling a property with tenants depends on several factors, including local and state rules, the economy, and property-specific features such as appliances. If the local economy is weak, rental prices may improve due to a higher demand for rental properties. To establish a competitive rental price, compare your property to similar properties in the same area with the same bedroom and bathroom mix. The rule of supply and demand dictates the rental potential; where demand is higher, the rent will be higher.

Furthermore, to increase rental potential, consider specific benefits of your property, such as appliances, flooring, layout, outside space, views, amenities, and utilities offered. These factors can influence the rent you can charge. You can also compare your property to similar properties in the area. In conclusion, Quentin recommends that to learn more about renting out a property, consider getting "The Property Management Toolbox" and "The Filling Vacancies Toolbox" from Amazon.

Important

Links and Resources

· The Filling Vacancies Toolbox

8 - Deflationary Cycles in Real Estate: The Good, The Bad, and The Opportunity

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin D'Souza discusses taking advantage of a deflationary cycle in real estate.

Quentin says that the interest rates in real estate have risen over the past year, leading to lower real estate prices in Canada and the US. Deflation, the opposite of consumer price inflation, where prices for goods and services decrease, also has its own opportunities. People may delay their house purchase, but if selling property in a persistent deflationary environment, one could experience a decrease in equity. Deflationary effects may take six to eight months to materialize. Quentin explains that the currency supply influences deflation and inflation. An increase in the currency supply leads to an increase in prices, while a decrease in the currency supply results in deflation. For example, if the government restricts the bank's reserves, there will be less money available to lend, increasing the cost of borrowing.

Deflation affects borrowers and lenders differently. In a deflationary environment, borrowers repay more expensive money. He adds that falling property values can be a disadvantage for borrowers. Quentin further says that as a real estate investor, it is important to consider the cost of interest rates during a deflationary period. He says that you should only consider purchasing properties at a discounted price if you can maintain a cashflow-positive position. He adds that deflation can become a self-reinforcing cycle and punish all except borrowers. The federal government, as the largest borrower in the country through its national debt, may also be impacted by deflation. With the recent increase in interest rates, the cost of the national debt has put the central bank in a negative position.

In conclusion, Quentin says that understanding deflation and its effects is important for anyone looking to invest in real estate. By considering interest rates, currency supply, and asset prices, you can make informed decisions and take advantage of a deflationary cycle.

Important

Links and Resources

· Property Management Toolbox

7 - Uncovering Hidden Opportunities in Apartment Building Investing: Tips for Real Estate Investors

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin D'Souza talks about uncovering hidden opportunities in apartment building investing.

Quentin says that real estate investing offers many opportunities. To create value, you need to increase the net operating income, which is income minus expenses before debt. He adds that there are five hidden opportunities to increase net operating income. The first opportunity is to look for properties with below-market rent. He adds that taking advantage of the spread between current rents and projected rents can benefit the buyer. Rent control in places like Ontario creates a distorted market, making it difficult for new tenants and the production of new units. Therefore, when buying rental property, finding below-market rents with the potential for a rent increase is an opportunity.

The second opportunity is to look for properties that have been poorly managed, leading to disorganization and lack of repairs. This can present an opening for you to acquire the building, come in with a professional management company and solve these problems. The third opportunity is to look for buildings experiencing tenant management issues, where the owners or property managers are not addressing illegal activities, such as drug dealing, and not handling late payments or evictions properly. A skilled investor can purchase the property at a lower price, solve the issues, and achieve a better return on investment.

The fourth opportunity is to look for properties with poor records management. This can result in difficulty finding bills, leases, and other important documents. Quentin says you can take advantage of this opportunity by finding ways to solve the problem and make more money as a real estate investor. Lastly, he suggests looking for buildings with neglected maintenance, particularly those under rent control with low rents. The building owners have no motivation to maintain the property, leading to a rundown building. But if an opportunity arises to turn over the units and create value, it can be an excellent opportunity for you as an investor.

In conclusion, Quentin highlights that these hidden opportunities in apartment building investing, from finding below-market rent properties to solving poor records management issues, present great opportunities for investors. By identifying and addressing these opportunities, investors can achieve a better return on investment. To further assist in this endeavor, he recommends two books: "Property Management Toolbox" and "Filling Vacancies Toolbox," which offer valuable insights on creating value in buildings through effective management.

Important

Links and Resources

· Filling Vacancies Toolbox

· The Property Management Toolbox

6 - Weighing the Options: Professional Property Management vs. Self Management

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin D'Souza discusses the pros and cons of property management vs. self-management.

Quentin says that there are several benefits to hiring a third-party property management company. Firstly, experienced companies understand problem tenants in the area and can guide the property owner through tenant selection. Secondly, third-party property managers can effectively handle uncomfortable situations and legal issues. They have knowledge of the necessary documentation and contacts for paralegals or legal lawyers. They act as intermediaries between the property owner and tenant, avoiding emotional involvement by the owner. Thirdly, professional management offers peace of mind for those who do not live near their property, as local managers can handle any situation quickly and efficiently. Fourthly, property management companies have a list of maintenance and repair professionals, saving time and allowing the owner to focus on acquiring new properties. Lastly, they have extensive experience managing tenants and assets, making them efficient in handling current properties and tenants.

As for the pros and cons of self-management, Quentin says that the first advantage is that all decisions made align with your business goals as you make them. The second point is that while you save on the cost of a professional manager, you also sacrifice your time. Therefore, you have to determine if the time spent is worth the cost savings. Third, some individuals believe that a manager may not maintain the property as thoroughly as an owner would, though Quentin disagrees. He believes that some owners may have extra time and a desire to manage the property themselves. Fourth, self-managing property owners tend to search for the lowest prices and compare quotes from various sources, which saves money and keeps costs in line. Finally, he says that with self-management, you have complete control over the asset, but it also requires a lot of time.

In conclusion, Quentin adds that considering the time and size when deciding between hiring a third-party property management or self-managing. Self-management may be suitable for one or two properties, but a property manager may be needed for five or more. He recommends the books, "The Property Management Toolbox" and "The Filling Vacancies Toolbox," available on Amazon, for an overview of managing real estate assets and being a property manager."

Important

Links and Resources

· Filling Vacancies Toolbox

5 - Understanding Apartment Buildings Listings: A Guide to Avoiding Common Pitfalls

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin D'Souza talks about five things to watch out for on real estate listings for apartment buildings and the need for due diligence.

First, Quentin suggests that you should be cautious when a listing states that a building or roof has recently replaced an AC. The term "recently" can be ambiguous and should be verified with a specific date to ensure the property's true condition. Secondly, he suggests that you should be aware of listings that advertise potential rents. These potential rents may not align with the current net operating income and can affect financing options. He suggests carefully evaluating the current net operating income and comparing it to the potential rent to ensure that you are not overpaying for the property.

Thirdly, Quentin adds that you should look at listings that describe a property as located in an "up-and-coming neighborhood" more closely. Such neighborhoods may have a high crime rate or be undergoing major changes, which can affect the tenant profile and the property's overall value. He recommends visiting the neighborhood, talking to the local residents, and gathering as much information as possible about the area. Fourthly, Quentin says you should be aware of listings describing a building as a "century building" or "historical building." Such buildings may be subject to stricter regulations and have to go through a Heritage Committee, which can make them more expensive to make changes to. So, you need to consider if you are willing to take on the added expenses and regulations that come with owning a century or historical building.

Lastly, Quentin suggests that you should be cautious of listings that advertise "guaranteed rent." This may mean that the tenants are on social assistance, which can make it difficult to turn over the property and make it challenging to increase the rental income. He suggests carefully evaluating the risks and benefits of such property before making an offer. As a bonus tip, Quentin adds that you should also pay attention to the location of the property and its surroundings when reviewing the listings. Be aware of properties located near gas stations, former dry cleaners, or in industrial areas. A quick Google search and checking the Street View can give you a good idea of what's around the building.

In conclusion, Quentin suggests that you should pay close attention to the details in real estate listings, do proper due diligence, and keep in mind the potential red flags. By doing so, they can make informed decisions and avoid potential pitfalls in the process of buying an apartment building.

Important Links and Resources

4 - Finding the Right Real Estate Investing Coach for You

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin shares tips and tricks for finding the right real estate investing coach or advisor.

Quentin says that many people are eager to sell their services on social media, and it's important to be cautious when looking for a coach or advisor. There are a few steps that you can follow to find the right mentor. He suggests that the first step in finding the right coach is determining what specific topics you're interested in learning about. Joining a real estate club, like Durham REI, can help you get a general overview of different aspects of investing in the Canadian real estate market. Once you have a general understanding, Quentin advises to figure out exactly what you want to learn from an advisor or coach.

The second step is to understand the track record of the advisor. Quentin suggests looking for an advisor who has invested for a full real estate cycle and has experience with different types of strategies during different parts of the cycle. He further adds, "you got to be careful who you're getting advice from because they may push you down the path that leads you into the same problems that they went into." The third step is ensuring the coach or advisor is still an active investor. Quentin says that you have to be cautious if the coach hasn't bought a property or done a flip project in the last few years, as they may not have current experience in the market and knowledge of the current rules and regulations.

Quentin says that the fourth step is considering the coach's qualifications and credentials. He mentions that one red flag to look out for is if coaching is the main source of income for the coach or advisor. He suggests being wary of their past success in real estate investing, and if they are currently active in the real estate investing space. You should also be cautious of coaching programs where you pay a large lump sum of money and have access to the program forever, as you may outgrow the program, and the coach may focus on bringing in new clients instead of moving you to a higher level.

The fifth step is to consider the support you will get from the coaching program. Quentin suggests looking for weekly calls, WhatsApp groups, quarterly masterminds, accountability programs, and access to videos, courses, books, and other materials. Lastly, he suggests looking for references from former coaching clients. Quentin suggests looking for pictures, quotes, and testimonials from former clients to get an idea of their experiences with the program.

In conclusion, Quentin emphasizes the importance of being cautious and doing your research when looking for a real estate investing coach or advisor. These steps will help you find the perfect coach to help you in your real estate investing journey.

Important Links and Resources

· coach@durhamREI.ca

Coaching Application

3 - How to Navigate the Challenges of Full-Time Real Estate Investing

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin talks about the challenges faced by those deciding to become full-time real estate investors.

Quentin starts by sharing his personal experience of transitioning from being a full-time teacher to a full-time real estate investor. He became a full-time investor because he wanted to do more than just teaching. Quentin was a full-time teacher and consultant until 2014 and banked his income and used the income from his portfolio to pay for his expenses. He demonstrated the ability to do this for an entire year before leaving his job. Once he left his job, he could invest more in real estate, including flipping projects, rent-to-own properties, etc. He also began investing in apartment buildings and multi-unit properties in 2015, allowing him to grow his asset base while spending less time on these investments.

He adds that often those who find their time totally consumed by their job struggle to earn additional income. Quentin discovered that real estate provided a means to continue earning income without dedicating hours to the task and at a pace that worked well for him and his family. He adds that while this option may not be for everyone and there is nothing wrong with having a job, real estate investing can help you create more time, location, financial, and thought freedom, adding, "those freedoms are all things that are important to me."

Quentin says that one of the big challenges for individuals who invest full-time is the possibility of being equity-rich but cashflow-poor. They may have assets with significant equity but cannot access them due to borrowing regulations and practices. The cash flow from rental properties can also be unpredictable, with some months being low in cash flow and others being higher. As a result, for those who rely on a small number of rental properties for income, your income can get very distorted. He adds that, therefore, you need to prepare yourself. First, you need to figure out your true spending habits, as they may differ significantly from when you were employed. You should also consider the tax implications of your expenses and how it affects your income.

Secondly, he says that it is essential to have a cash flow buffer in place. Income can be unpredictable and may fluctuate over a three to four-month period. He further adds that you should also take three to five months of income and place it in a separate account that is not easily accessible. This way, the funds will be available to cover monthly expenses during periods of instability. Additionally, it is important to periodically refresh this buffer. Thirdly, before leaving a job, you should get any financing or refinancing done as early as possible. Financing often depends on income history, and if you don't have a history of two years in your workplace, it may be difficult to get financing.

Fourthly, he recommends establishing multiple income streams, either prior to leaving the job or after. He adds that having multiple income streams can add up over time and help smooth out the ups and downs. Lastly, he suggests seeking support and advice from other full-time investors can be beneficial. Joining a local real estate investment group or seeking education from groups like https://DurhamREI.ca and https://EducationREI.ca can provide opportunities to learn from and connect with other full-time investors who can offer tips and insights.

In conclusion, he says that while becoming a full-time real estate investor can offer more time, location, financial and thought freedom, it also poses challenges. To overcome these challenges, it is important to prepare yourself by understanding your true expenses, creating multiple income streams, and seeking support from other full-time investors.

Important Links and Resources

· The Book Finding Properties Toolbox – Book

2 - Win-Win Negotiation Strategies for Real Estate Investors

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin talks about powerful negotiation techniques for real estate investors who are working directly with sellers.

Quentin says that to prepare for negotiations with sellers, it is important to gather as much information as possible about their motivations for selling. When working directly with a seller, you can gather more information as you do not have a realtor acting as a gatekeeper and filtering the information shared with you. Take advantage of this opportunity to ask the seller about their reasons for selling and gather as much information as possible. It is also essential to keep the conversation with the seller conversational and avoid making it feel like an interrogation. This will help establish a good rapport and make the seller more comfortable sharing information with you.

He adds that by focusing on the seller's motivations and understanding why they are selling, you can position the opportunity in a way that creates a win-win situation for both parties. It is important to anticipate and prepare for potential issues or objections during the negotiation process. Coming up with solutions ahead of time makes it easier to deal with objections with a solution or a way to get a solution. For example, suppose a seller wants a quick closing on a property but the buyer needs more time for financing. In that case, the buyer can suggest offering a vendor take-back mortgage or seller financing option to speed up the closing process. This can be a win-win solution as it allows the seller to close more quickly while also providing the buyer with financing.

Quentin further adds that instead of offering just one agreement, you can offer multiple options to the seller, such as one with a higher price and seller financing and one with a lower price without seller financing. This allows the seller to choose between two options rather than deciding between you and another buyer. It is important to keep the options simple and not overly confusing, as a confused mind is more likely to say no. Practice negotiating with different sellers to improve your skills and increase your chances of success.

In conclusion, he says that to improve negotiating skills, it is important to practice negotiation and be willing to walk away from a deal if necessary. To learn more about negotiation tactics, consider reading the book "Finding Properties Toolbox: Buying Real Estate at a Discount" or visiting findingdiscountedproperties.com.

Important Links and Resources

· findingdiscountedproperties.com

1 - Creating a Strong Real Estate Investment Team: Tips and Strategies

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 4, Quentin discusses the different ways to build an investment team in real estate: solo investing, partnering with other investors, and general partners.

Quentin starts by talking about soloi nvesting. Solo investors focus on building a team of professionals such as property managers, insurance advisors, and contractors to help them run their businesses. This approach allows them to get a higher return on their investment, but it also requires a larger time commitment. The second approach is bringing on partners. They'll take on a smaller cut of the equity, but they'll be able to scale their time more because they'll have other partners and an established team with a system and process that are working for them.

General partners are real estate investors who work with other investors to build a team. Members can focus on their strengths and work together to build a larger business. This approach may result in a lower equity amount per project, but it also leads to a larger overall cash flow. Quentin adds that it just depends on your approach and how you want to do things.

Quentin also offers some tips and strategies for identifying which approach to take and building an effective investment team. First, to understand your strengths and weaknesses, make a list of what you believe they are and ask three friends for their input. Secondly, building a good reputation is also important when building a team or partnering with others. To gauge your reputation, ask three friends and three acquaintances for their perception of it. This can help you understand what has been built already and decide whether to build on it or make a slight change.

He further adds that It's important to plan your exit strategy when building or working with a team in real estatei nvesting. If you're a solo investor, you may simply sell the asset. If you have multiple investors, you may need to buy out some passive investors overt ime. If you're building a team of active investors to grow your portfolio,your exit strategy may involve selling to a REIT or other fund. Consider youra pproach to building a team and plan your exit accordingly.

In conclusion, Quentin says that reale state investors can achieve their financial goals by following these tips and choosing the right approach for building an investment team. To learn morea bout building an investment team and real estate investing, visit EducationRei or Durham Rei.com. These resources can provide valuable guidance and helpy ou make informed investment decisions.

Important Links and

Resources

10 - Buying Real Estate as a Young Adult? Here are Four Things You are Going to Need

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 3, Quentin talks about four important things young adults need to know to buy real estate.

First, Quentin emphasizes the importance of income history, which is essential for securing a mortgage from a bank. Banks typically require at least two years of income that can support mortgage payments before approving a loan. If you don't have this income history, it may be difficult to purchase a property. However, there are mortgage products available that can help those without income history, but they often require a higher down payment.

The second is a good credit score. A good credit score shows that you are responsible with credit and will be able to pay back a mortgage. It's important to monitor your credit and continue to build it by taking on loans and credit cards that you can handle and paying them off on time. The third is a down payment. These are the funds you need to purchase a property. One way to save for a down payment is through a milestone savings account, which we discussed in the previous episode. Another way is to receive a gift from a family member. You can also partner with someone who has a good income history and credit score in order to purchase a property together.

Lastly, he adds that education and mentorship are critical in real estate investing. Surrounding oneself with mentors and individuals who are already investing in real estate can provide valuable guidance and help young adults make informed decisions about their investments. There are many online communities and forums, such as EducationREI.ca and DurhamREI.ca, where young adults can connect with like-minded individuals and learn more about real estate investing. They can help you understand different aspects of investing, such as the importance of understanding the difference between positive cash flow and expenses and how to analyze properties to ensure they are a good investment.

In conclusion, income history, a good credit score, a down payment, and education and mentorship are four key concepts that you need to know to buy real estate as a young adult. By understanding these four things, young adults can be better prepared to buy real estate, reach their financial goals, and achieve financial freedom.

Important Links and Resources

9 - Investing Better and Saving More Using Accounts as a Young Adult

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 3, Quentin talks the importance of using bank accounts to save and invest better.

Quentin says that as a young adult, it's crucial to take control of your financial situation and make smart decisions about how you manage your money. One of the first steps in doing this is to choose the right bank accounts for your needs. Quentin suggests using student accounts or low-cost bank accounts that offer a good balance between savings and access to your money. It's important to carefully examine the fees being charged by these accounts and negotiate with the bank if necessary. Many banks are willing to offer lower fees or other incentives to keep your business, so don't be afraid to shop around and compare offers.

Quentin further adds that another strategy that can be helpful is to have at least three separate bank accounts to segment your funds into different buckets. This allows you to allocate your money to different goals and priorities, and makes it easier to track your spending and savings. He suggests having the following three accounts:

• A milestone savings accounts for big purchases, such as a car or a house.

• A lifestyle or social account for spending on necessities, such as food and transportation, and for building credit.

• An investment account for buying paper assets, such as stocks and bonds.

By using these three accounts, you can save and invest for the future while still having access to funds for your daily needs. He also suggests starting with paper statements rather than online statements, at least at the beginning. This can help you better track your spending and avoid missed payments, which can damage your credit and cost you money in the long run.

For homework, he says that you should find three accounts that you can open with the same bank or institution that costs you $0 per month in order to do online transactions. So, if you do online transactions, you'll get zero charge per month. In conclusion, he says that by using student or low-cost bank accounts and segmenting your funds into different accounts, you can take control of your financial situation and reach your goals as a young adult. With these strategies, you can save and invest more effectively and build a solid foundation for your future.

Important Links and Resources

8 - Why You Should Earn More Than What You Spend as a Young Adult

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 3, Quentin talks about managing your time and earning more than what you spend.

Quentin says that while he usually focuses on investment earnings, for people starting out, leveraging earnings from different sources, such as part-time, gig-based jobs, can be a great way of making more money. He adds, "things like the gig economy are based on how hard you want to work; you can work more and get paid more in a shorter amount of time. And therefore, you manage your time better, but you can earn more money…." He says that one of the things he wishes he had done as a young adult was to take advantage of opportunities that allow you to learn while you earn.

One of the ways to utilize that is by working on something that aligns with your ten-year goals. For example, you could be working in a beginner-level position in real estate; learn the steps through the process. What is it that needs to happen? And when does it need to happen? Another thing you could do is become an assistant to a business owner or entrepreneur, where you can learn what is going on to earn some income, and then you can go off and do it on your own.

Now, if you could use some of the gig economies to support you while you're learning, there's an opportunity to continue growing. The other piece that we want to discuss is when you're earning more than what you're spending every month is to have a frugal mindset versus spending what you have. This way, you can use the leftover money to invest. Furthermore, you have to watch out for the lifestyle creep. He adds, "Remember, you are at a different place than other people are; you're starting out, and you want to keep that frugal mindset, which is saving money versus spending all of what you have…."

In conclusion, he says that the homework for this episode is to look at what you spend each month, and I want you to try to save at least 20% on what you spend every month. This way, you can get started on your journey of the frugal mindset.

Important Links and Resources

7 - Five Key Financial Literacy Concepts Young Adults Should Know

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 3, Quentin shares five key concepts he wishes he had understood better as a young adult.

Quentin says that the first concept is compound interest and compounding in general. He adds, "one of the things that I wish I understood was that concept between a penny doubled every day for 30 days, or a million dollars if I gave you an offer…." While a million dollars seem like a lot in comparison, the penny that doubled every day for 30 days would give you $5,368,709.12. That is the difference between compounding and compound interest. So, by compounding and having that doubling effect, we're getting that considerable value. Compounding is what you want in your investments rather than simple interest.

The second concept he shares is the difference between real and paper assets. You want to own real assets. Paper assets are okay but not as good as real assets. Real Assets are durable, and they last for generations. They can continue to pay you and pay you over time. Paper assets are great, but they can suddenly increase or decrease in value. The third concept is the difference between good debt, bad debt, and opportunity debt. Good debt helps you to earn money. You would have good debt that helps you buy a rental property that creates monthly income and an asset on your balance sheet that continues to earn.

Bad debt is essentially putting your money into something that is neither paying off the loan nor earning you any income. Opportunity debt could be a line of credit, not necessarily a credit card that you can use to buy good debt in the future. The interest on that debt can be written off, it's a tax deduction. So if you're taking opportunity debt, moving it to good debt, oftentimes you can write off the interest. Fourthly, you need to understand the difference between income, wealth, and net worth. Income is what you make every month. Wealth is what your value is, and it's your net worth. When you take all your assets, add them up, take all your liabilities and add them up, you have your net worth. That net worth can grow over time. If you can measure it, you can increase it whenever you want to do something.

The fifth key concept he wishes he had understood as a young adult is a passive income. Passive income is earned, not per hour of your work; you continue to make that money, whether you are working or not. There are different ways that can come in. You can leverage different ways to create passive income. It requires you to think creatively, so passive income comes from business ownership, rental properties, it can come from dividends from stocks In conclusion, Quentin says that these five concepts are crucial for young adults on their journey to financial freedom to understand.

Important Links and Resources

6 - Four Life Lessons for Young Adults

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 3, Quentin shares four things he wishes he had spent more time doing when he was a young adult.

Quentin starts by saying the first thing he wishes he had done more was to take more risks and fail more often. as a young adult, that is the best time to take risks, business risks, and social risks because it's okay to fail. You should focus on your strengths and not on your weaknesses. Although we live in a culture where failure in school is considered bad, it does not equate to a failure in life. He adds that it's okay to try different jobs and quit. This way, you get to interact with different types of people and get to see different things. All those experiences can help you explore what it is that you like. He adds, "I think selling is one of the most important pieces that people forget that is necessary. Anything to do with selling, I would recommend that you get exposure to that…."

The second thing Quentin says he would have done differently as a young adult was to have spent more time learning after school was done on business topics. He further adds, "I would have read more books; I would have found more mentors… audiobooks… podcasts and find other people who were moving in the same direction as me…." There are many meetups, groups, and online communities that can help you learn. So, you must continue to learn after school is done. Learning and continuing to learn is more important.

The third thing he wishes he had spent more time doing was traveling independently. Traveling by yourself can be challenging. It's tough because you're forced to act and interact with other people; you're forced to talk and meet people. You need to come out of your shell to do that, but it also gives you a greater sense of independence.

The fourth thing he wishes he had done more often is related to "analysis paralysis." He adds, "you must apply what you learn. Don't get stuck in learning. Learning is important. It helps you take your mind from one place to another, but then you must apply what you learn as fast as possible." In conclusion, he says homework for this episode is to reflect on those four things and see if you can plan one area in each of those four things mentioned for you.

Important Links and Resources

5-The Importance of Knowing Your "Why" in Your Financial Freedom Journey as a Young Adult

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 3, Quentin talks about the importance of knowing your "why" in your journey toward financial independence.

Quentin says that there are many ways to achieve financial independence, but one must know "why" do they really want it, and a way to do that is to figure out your real motivation. Knowing your "why" is the key; once you figure that out, you need to permanently put it up somewhere that you can see every day. This will help you get through some of the challenging days.

Talking about the importance of "why," he further states that identifying the "why" will help you continue to drive, and it will be part of your larger purpose. Most people simply don't take the time to figure that out, further adding, "it's going to be very different for you than it is going to be for me, but you need to go deeper. It requires you to take some time, maybe 45 minutes, maybe an hour, to think about this, how to get deeper into what your why is of what you're doing."

Quentin says that when you figure out your "why," you need to permanently put it up somewhere that you can see it every day. This is a deep meaning for your financial independence. It's not easy for you to be able to do this every day to continue to push forward for your financial freedom. So, your "why" will help you get through challenging days and times. If you have a deep "why," deeper than money and anything else, that will help drive you to continue to grow and do these goals.

He adds that it is going to help you to continue to drive, and it's going to be part of your larger purpose. In conclusion, he shares another homework, adding, "I want you to write down a list of 100 items. We can call this a bucket list, you can call it a to-do list…things you wish to do or achieve in your lifetime, 100 items, write it down. you're going to start off with the first activity. So, this is going to be part of your homework. Make sure that it's deep, not surface level."

Important Links and Resources

· Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T.

4 - Financial Independence, Retire Early movement (FIRE), and How to Achieve It?

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 3, Quentin talks about the FIRE - Financial Independence and Retire Early movement and its relevance for young adults.

Quentin says that being a part of such communities can be greatly helpful for young adults as the financial landscape these days is very different from what it used to be three or four decades ago. He adds that there are various approaches to doing this, and one of them is the FAT FIRE movement, which is having a large nest egg and being able to live off of that. It may take you five years, ten years, or 20 years to create something like this, but you live off that. There is also a LEAN FIRE community that is really about being frugal and living minimalistically. This allows you to create an environment where your monthly freedom number is so low that it becomes easy for you to have that financial freedom.

Quentin says there is also another movement called the BARISTA FIRE movement, which means that you continue to work while you're retired but get additional benefits. It's like you've created the financial freedom part, but just not all of the pieces. He adds that there's the COAST FIRE movement as well, which is about investing early enough to generate income to retire later. He says that the other thing you need to understand is the difference between assets and liabilities. Assets pay you to own every month, whereas liabilities are things you have to pay every month. He further stated that this is an interpretation from Robert Kiyosaki. He also recommends reading his famous book Rich Dad, Poor Dad for more gems like this.

Quentin adds that it is also important to know the difference between good debt and bad debt, and how it can be an asset or a liability. He further talks about the Golden Handcuffs. It's when you're in a situation where you get a lot of income but end up spending it because of your lifestyle. It prevents you from growing and having financial independence. In conclusion, he says that the best thing you can do is explore the FIRE acronym, and if you want to learn something, you must be around other people who are doing the same thing.

Important Links and Resources

Kiyosaki

3 - What is Financial Independence and Why is it Important to Young Adults?

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 3, Quentin talks about financial independence from the perspective of a young adult.

Quentin says that financial independence means that you are given more choice in what you want to spend your time doing. While it is different for different people, a common theme is that you need to go out, get a good education, get a good job, work for 40 or 50 years, retire, and use your nest egg to be able to live off that. Now, you can do it at an earlier age if you choose. You have to decide where you want to see your life ten, twenty, thirty years from now. So, what exactly is financial independence? Everybody has three main expenses: accommodation, transportation, and food. Now, if you can create income that comes to you without having to spend time creating it, you can create financial independence because it covers your accommodation, transportation, and food.

For accommodation, transportation, and food, the only way to figure it out is to devise a plan and write it down, make a budget, and figure out how much you would spend in a month. Your needs and, consequently, the budget will differ depending on where you are now. In order to have financial independence, you need to have income coming in that exceeds your expenses. While there are different ways to achieve that, a simple way people move down this path is through house hacking, where you can rent out space in your house that you don't need or is extra. This can help you save a significant amount of money.

He adds that as you get older, you will have different requirements. Things will change, and you have to change the funds that come in. He says that when you decide on having financial independence, it could be related to what you want to do in the future for a job. Perhaps, if you've created this financial independence, you can have a job because you love it. You can leave a job for another job because you have this financial independence in the background, or if you have no job and you choose to work on passion projects, instead, you'll have that ability because you have financial independence.

In conclusion, Quentin says there are several creative ways we can go about doing this. The homework for this episode is to read about the FIRE movement and see if it appeals to you.

Important Links and Resources

2 - How to Start Building Credit as a Young Adult

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 3, Quentin talks about building your credit and why it's important.

Quentin says that a lot of the things we're going to do while investing require some credit. You can start without credit, but for growth and scaling, you need good credit. It allows banks or other institutions to track how well you repay funds you borrow. We are moving from a money-based system to a credit based economy. He adds, "If we are good with our credit, we will be able to borrow more, and if we can borrow the right type of debt, we're going to be able to create wealth from that, and if we borrow the wrong type of debt, then we're going to have to pay for that for years and years and years."

Choosing the correct type of credit card and the financial institution behind it is crucial, as it builds credit with a credit history. He says that you should only borrow what you plan to pay back. So whatever you put on your credit card, you will pay it back that same month, if you can, or within two months. It's okay to carry a bit of a balance because you want to show that you can pay it back, and if you do that, you start to build credit over time. Things like car loans, and mortgages, are also great ways of building credit.

Quentin says there are also services like Borrowwell or Credit Karma you can use to look at your credit. Another tip, especially if you're young or having trouble with credit, is to get paper statements, especially at the beginning, for tracking so that you can cross off what you paid back and what you borrowed in a month. He adds that little things come up, but remember, what you're doing is you're building a credit history; the better you can utilize this credit, the easier it is for you to borrow later on.

In conclusion, he says that if you haven't done so, go out and apply for credit. Whatever that looks like for you, start asking questions about getting some credit, which is also your next assignment.

Important Links and Resources

1 - The Ultimate Goal Setting Process for Young Adults: How to Create a Ten-Year Plan for Your Life

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 3, Quentin talks about coming up with ten-year goals for young adults who are starting their journey toward financial freedom.

Quentin says that, as Tony Robbins noted, "most people underestimate what they can do in two or three decades but overestimate what they can do in a year" we want to solve that problem by coming up with big goals for the next ten years. He says that when it comes to displaying your goals, you can use a bulletin board or a display board where you have all your plans laid out. You can also do it as a letter to yourself like you're writing a letter to somebody or writing an email to somebody from 10 years in the future. You can also do it now by describing what it looks like ten years from now to a family member.

If you choose a bulletin board, get images related to different aspects, such as financial, relationship, spiritual, social, professional self, and goals. You can outline your pictures and put them into those six different areas. You can use it as your desktop background, someplace where you look at it often. You can also do a letter for yourself describing those six areas from 10 years in the future. What does your life look like now, and what have you done with those six aspects? You can also do it as a description instead of a letter.

He further adds, "You want to take the time to be able to do this; the more time you spend doing this, the more detail you're going to put into it, the more effective this tool is going to be for you. Goal setting is important." He says that the most important piece when it comes to mindset because it will take you from where you are now to get those goals sooner than you ever thought possible. Quentin adds that you should be the person who looks at their goals every month and then works towards those goals.

He says that there are different tools and templates that you can use, including his The Action Taker’s Real Estate Investing Planner, which has helped him tremendously over the years. In conclusion, he says you should start developing your ten-year goals and displaying them. As for the homework, before you watch the next episode, have your 10 year goals set out, write them out, put them into a diagram, put them into a bulletin board, put them into a letter to yourself, have it ready, and then that way you'll be ready for the next episode.

Important Links and Resources

● https://www.instagram.com/qmanrei

● quentin@getrealwealthy.com

● https://EducationREI.ca

● https://GetRealWealthy.com

● https://DurhamREI.ca

The Action Taker’s Real Estate Investing Planner

52 - How to Get Your First Rental Property Using Your Own House

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about creative strategies to help you buy your first rental property if you own a house.

Quentin says that these are out-of-the-box strategies but these creative solutions will help you get your first rental property. Number one, home financing, using your home equity line of credit to borrow against the equity to purchase the new property. Any of the lines of credit that you use to pay down the principal on the new rental property, the interest on that is tax deductible. You can use your HELOC paid and use that for the principal and then continue to own that new rental property. Number two, you can rent out your existing property, and buy a new primary residence. That way, you can usually lower your down payment. However, you will have to figure out if this will work with CMHC or not.

Number three is using second mortgages to access the equity from the primary house. Especially if you're locked into a five-year mortgage, and you're not able to access the equity, you can use a second mortgage for the downpayment on the rental property. Number four is using cross-securitized lenders. What you're doing is that you’re using the equity from your house as the downpayment on the rental property by securitizing a second-position mortgage on the property with the first mortgage on the rental property. Number five is to refinance your house. Instead of getting a HELOC, just increase the mortgage on your house, and especially when mortgage rules change, it is the best thing to do.

Lastly, you can use joint ventures. If you're looking at into joint ventures, take a look at The Scaling Up Toolbox book, available only on jointventurebook.com. In conclusion, Quentin says that these six creative strategies can help you leverage your primary residence to secure your first rental property.

Important Links and Resources

• The Scaling Up Toolbox book

51 -Six Tactics for Finding Off-Market Properties

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about six tactics for finding off-market properties.

Quentin says that these tips are taken from his book, The Finding Properties Toolbox, which can tremendously help you in finding off-market properties. He says that it's important to find off-market properties because there is little to no competition when you're dealing directly with the seller. You can get more flexibility in negotiations and different pricing as well. Finding off-market properties can be timing consuming and can cost a lot, but there are five tactics that you can employ to make things easier for yourself. Number one, you need to develop relationships with realtors to get pocket listings; listings that never make it to the MLS. If you have relationships with realtors, and they know you can close on a property, they are going to go out and provide you with these pocket listings.

Number two, look for online listings on Kijiji or Property Guys are similar sites, where you are negotiating directly with the seller. You don't have the middle person, a realtor, an agent, or a broker. Number three, ‘For Sale by Owner’ signs, when you're driving for dollars. So, driving for dollars is the term for when you're driving around an area where you're looking to buy a property. You can deal directly with the owner. He adds that you should call them as soon as you see them and find out what they want to do. You want to make sure it's not somebody who's just trying to cut out the realtor but has another reason for selling the property. Number four is to look for garage sales, and dumpsters. When you see a garage sale, usually it is someone getting rid of stuff, because they’re going to sell the property.

Number five is marketing directly to sellers. You can do marketing campaigns where you have fliers that are going out, door hangers, posters, etc. Perhaps you're marketing them online through Google or Facebook. Whatever marketing strategy you're using, it's going to cost you money, but the more you market, the more you're likely to be able to find a property. Number six is getting referrals. You can offer people a referral fee for leads to purchase a property. In conclusion, he adds that these are a few of the tactics that will make it easier for you to identify good off-market deals.

Important Links and Resources

• The Finding Properties Toolbox

• https://QuentinDSouza.com

50 - Five Ways of Increasing Profits on a Property

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about increasing profits on a particular property.

Quentin mentions that these tips are taken from one of his bestselling books, Property Management Toolbox. Quentin says that what we want to do is increase or get a higher net operating income, and therefore increase the value of a property. It depends on the provincial laws, as well as the municipal laws. He adds that if you need to increase the profit on a particular property, and the deal doesn't make sense, inexperienced investors usually sell the property. However, you can renovate the property and then sell the property. Secondly, you can increase the density of the asset. Whenever you evaluate a property, you want to bring it to its highest and best use, such as adding secondary dwelling units. Adding new units is a great way of increasing profits. He says that this depends on the municipality and regulations.

Another option is to use the rent-to-own strategy. Although this is primarily an exit strategy, it's a way for you to collect some money upfront. You get an additional option payment alongside the rent. He adds that sometimes it can turn a negative cashflow property into positive territory. Another option is to do a short-term rental, either within one of the units or within multiple units within a rental property. However, it is time intensive. It's like running an additional business. Lastly, he shares an out-of-the-box strategy. He says that you should look at the neighboring properties and see if you can acquire the neighboring properties and rezone those properties into something different that you can build on.

Quentin adds that in some places, you can take two or three single-family homes, put them together and create an envelope that you can build 20 units on, and then a developer can come in and buy that. You don't even have to do the development part, all you have to do is the land assembly. In conclusion, he adds that sometimes you can take these five strategies and combine some of them to put the property to its best use and maximize profits.

Important Links and Resources

• Property Management Toolbox

https://www.instagram.com/qmanrei

49 - Four Things to Keep in Mind When Hiring General Contractor for Property Renovation

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about four steps on hiring a general contractor for your rental property renovation.

Quentin says that it's really important to have a great general contractor and there are some tips and tricks that can save your time and money. The difference between hiring a general contractor and doing it yourself is time. Usually, you have to give up a lot of time in order to do a good job at a renovation. If you are giving up your time, then you are saving money. If you want to have more time however, you hire a general contractor, and they manage all the subcontractors like plumbers, electricians, carpenters, etc. He adds that there is a downside of undertaking the renovations yourself, and not going with the professionals. He says that one of the ways to find better general contractor is by talking to other investors and getting referrals. Quentin further adds “I would also ask a contractor to give me a referral from another investor. And then that way, I can talk to that investor and find out how they work with that person.”

Second step is to inquire them about the nature of their insurance. Do they have WSIB coverage? Do they have any type of insurance that you can verify? Step number three is to get everything in writing. This will help you keep things smooth throughout the process and save you from any misunderstandings. If they need to negotiate something with you that that's up to you, but get it in writing. Step number four is to make sure you're reviewing the work that is being done. Don't completely pay for anything until you've actually gone on site and reviewed the work, or you've had a very trusted employee, advisor or property manager to go in and inspect the work, someone who has done inspections in the past.

In conclusion, Quentin says that these tips can help the renovation process smooth and stress free for you while building a relationship with the contractor for future projects.

Important Links and Resources

• QuentinDSouza.com - Free 15 Min Discovery Call

48 - Purchase Plus Improvement Mortgage for BRRR Strategy

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about the purchase plus improvement mortgage.

Quentin says that this is a mortgage that you would use for the buy, fix refinance, and rent strategy or the BRRR strategy. He has highlighted this strategy in his book The Ultimate Wealth Strategy. This way, you're able to get a mortgage and get the funds for the renovation from the same bank. There are lots of banks that do this, or talk to your mobile mortgage specialist to see the options that are available for you. He says that there are a few things that you need to keep in mind. First, you need to define what the renovations are and get quotes in writing from contractors. Number two, you close on the property, and usually, you try to get the work done within like six months.

Once you close on the property, and you've completed the renovations, you're going to inform the lender that you have completed the renovations, the lender may send in somebody to see that you've done the renovations, and then they are going to give you that whole back of that additional money that they're holding back for the renovations to cover your cost on the renovation. As an investor, it's a great tool to add to your toolbox.

In conclusion, he says that there are different ways to look at it, depending on how efficient you can be, but the purchase plus improvement mortgage is a great mortgage for doing the BRRR strategy.

Important Links and Resources

• The Ultimate Wealth Strategy

47 - Six Numbers to Look at When Investing in a New Area

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about six numbers that you should look at when you're deciding to invest in a new area.

Quentin says that it is important to look at this specific information so that you can evaluate its potential for investing and the value of the properties in the future. The first thing to look at is demographics. Look at the age of the population, are they working in the area or are they commuting to somewhere else to work? In the end, you want to be in an area that's in demand, with a growing population. Secondly, you need to look at the employment statistics. Is there a diversity of employers when you look at the census data? He adds “I would avoid towns that have only one major employer, a good example would be like a mining town.” Additionally, areas with multiple schools, universities, or colleges are also good spots to consider.

Number three, he says, is to look at what's happening to the population growth. Are people moving there? Number four, you want to see infrastructure. What projects are being built in the area? Are there new highways? Is there transit? What are the government initiatives in the area like an immigrant center? This means that the government is trying to push people to that area. He further adds that in such areas, what you find is a lot of demand for rentals and then a lot of demand for newer single-family or newer homes small, starter homes for families.

Number five is to look at the average income of the area and do you have income that's above average. Lastly, number six is to look at what is being built in the area. Are you seeing large swaths of land with houses being developed? Or are there large apartment buildings being developed? The rampant development of apartments can impact both the demand and the prices of rental properties. In conclusion, he says that these are some of the things to keep in mind when you are looking to invest in new areas to help you make informed decisions.

Important Links and Resources

46 - Borrowing to Invest in Real Estate? Here is What You Need to Know

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about five things you should know when borrowing to invest in real estate.

Quentin says that these invaluable strategies are mentioned in detail in the book The Ultimate Wealth Strategies. He says that the first thing to keep in mind is that you can’t save yourself to financial freedom. Budgeting is important to learn so that you don’t overspend your income. While it's important to save some on the side, to help you to invest especially at the beginning, but if you want financial freedom, just putting money in the bank isn't going to do it. You will have to understand the power of leverage. He adds “Well, let's say you are going to invest in something... So are you going to get an annual rate of return on that asset, when you invest in it, I'll give you an example. I buy a rental property, and I buy it for $500,000. I have a mortgage on it for $420,000, I have $80,000 invested in that property, that property, remember is leveraged.”

What usually happens in real estate is that property goes up 5% to 20% or even more in a year. So that 5% is what you have made on the property through appreciation. Now, on top of that, your mortgage went down. If you improve the property in some way, you are adding additional equity and that increases the rate of return. So you need to understand that rate of return. He adds “if you are working with an accountant, and I suggest you do, you can also reduce any income that you get from your rental properties by using capital cost allowance. So it's a way to reduce your taxes.” It is something to keep in mind when you are starting your real estate investing journey.

Secondly, Quentin says that you need to think about when borrowing to invest in real estate is the interest rate. Are you getting a fixed rate or a variable rate? What is the term? What are the type of terms that you are getting within your mortgage, and what are the penalties? Are you able to put a second behind the first mortgage? What kind of flexibility do you have on it to refinance? All of those aspects need to be considered. Thirdly, how long are you going to hold on to the asset? If you need the money, be careful, because that may force you to sell an asset that you don't necessarily want to sell. So make sure that you understand when you're buying an asset and how long you plan to hold that asset. Be careful not to over-leverage yourself into a position where you're forced to sell that asset.

Next, does the property itself support the payments or do you have to come out of pocket to pay that loan or mortgage? It's really important when you're thinking about leverage, and when you're borrowing to invest in real estate. Lastly, it's the mindset – are you able to tolerate the ups and downs when it comes to the residential market? He adds “you're going to recover in the future as long as your payments are fixed, and you're not in a variable rate product, or you're in a product that is going to get you into trouble, that you're comfortable with that. So just make sure that whatever your mortgage payments are, they're able to cover it.”

In conclusion, he says that it's important to have the right mindset. By these tips in mind, you can navigate the roller coaster ride of real estate investing.

Important Links and Resources

• The Ultimate Wealth Strategy Book

45 - Four Challenges in Multifamily Properties and How to Deal with Them

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about the challenges of purchasing multifamily properties.

Quentin says that when you buy distressed multifamily assets, the benefit that comes with repositioning that asset is that you're buying a property, as the value is based on the net operating income and the current cap rate. This means that when you're buying a property, there is value that you can create by increasing rents, increasing the quality of the building, and therefore increasing the value of the building. So, there are a few challenges and things that you need to be aware of when purchasing multifamily properties. Oftentimes, you'll find that there are unexpected arrears that happen when it comes to a residential property. The way to mitigate that risk is by having a good reserve fund. So when you're buying a property, you want to have enough funds in the bank to cover at least three months of all your expenses, if not more for an apartment building.

Secondly, expect tenant troubles. It's going to take time to get to know the building, understand the different tenants that are in there, and the type of issues that come up when you are taking over a building. Your property manager or you will have to learn how to deal with them. Number three is to dig deep into the mechanicals of the building and the roof system. Those are some of your bigger expenses and structures. The number four thing to watch out for is keys. Sometimes you'll find that you get to a building, and you may have the keys for the units, but not the keys for the washing machine, the dryer, the elevator, the electrical room, and the electrical panels sometimes have locked locks on them. So, when you're going through your building condition report, you should locate where all of the keys are.

In conclusion, he says that these are the challenges with purchasing multifamily properties or just acquiring multifamily properties that you need to be mindful of to make your experience smooth and easy.

Important Links and Resources

·https://www.instagram.com/qmanrei

44 - Residential vs. Commercial Real Estate Lending? Here is What You Need to Know

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 06 Sep 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about the differences between getting a residential mortgage and a commercial mortgage loan.

Quentin says that when you are getting mortgages for your rental properties, they're going to look at the debt coverage ratio on the actual rents that you get, your income, credit history, tax records from the last few years, etc. So, in the residential space, it involves a lot of paperwork. Commercial properties on the other hand are very different, as you would get a mortgage on commercial property because it is a business. They look at whether the building supports the loan on the property or not. If it does, they'll give you a mortgage based on how much that building can support. If you're looking at a conventional lender, like a regular bank, they can give you a loan, perhaps with a debt coverage ratio of 1.1, based on the net operating income of the building. Commercial loan-to-value ratios generally fall into the 65% to 80% range.

These lenders would look at things like your credit report, net worth, etc. As different lenders have their own criteria, you should consult with your banker or mortgage broker. He adds that typically, the building takes priority in commercial, and in residential, it's the person that takes priority. In conclusion, he says that depending on what you're doing – commercial or residential, it's going to depend on either the building or more on you, depending on the type of mortgage that you're getting.

Important Links and Resources

·quentin@getrealwealthy.com

·https://EducationREI.ca

43 - Why You Need to Build your Real Estate Power Team

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about the importance of building a real estate power team.

Quentin says that it's important to build the best power team possible based on your current position, and there are seven members you need to have on your team. The first ones are realtors and brokers. The second ones are lawyers and paralegals, and the third ones are bankers and mortgage brokers. The fourth ones are home inspectors. the fifth ones are appraisers and the sixth one are the environmental companies for phase one and phase two. Lastly, there are insurance brokers. Quentin adds that realtors and brokers change depending on the type of properties you're buying. He adds “I don't suggest that you use a real estate broker who does one to four-unit properties in the five plus unit range. Because the type of contracts they use, and the due diligence that you do is very different.”

Secondly, we have lawyers. Quentin says that you need to do is find lawyers that will work with you on your level. Furthermore, the lawyers dealing with residential are going to be different from the lawyers who are dealing with commercial properties. As for mortgage brokers, the same rule is valid. In the residential space, there are mobile mortgage specialists who work specifically at a bank. For commercial, you want to find a firm that specifically works on commercial properties. The next ones are the home inspectors. They are people that will help you identify issues with the property, in one to four-unit spaces. As for commercial properties, you need a building condition report, which requires an inspection company. The next member of your power team is an appraiser. Similarly, they vary depending on the residential or commercial space. Oftentimes, the process in commercial is longer than an appraisal in residential, so you need a company that can quickly carry out the project.

The next power team member is an environmental company that can do a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, to see if there are any environmental conditions in the property that will require you to do some remediation. Lastly, we have the insurance broker or insurance agent, who is going to help you reduce your net operating income and give you the best coverage possible for your apartment buildings. You want to work with somebody who has specific experience doing rental properties. In conclusion, he says that having these power members on your team can greatly help you in your real estate investing career.

Important Links and Resources

42 - The Secrets For Writing Great Rental Listing Ads

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about how you can make a great ad for your rental properties.

Quentin says that these are some of the tips mentioned in The Filling Vacancies Toolbox book, which is a step-by-step guide for Real Estate investors and landlords for renting out residential real estate. He says that a great ad is important because if you don't get people into your rental units to actually take a look at them, you're not going to rent them out. The first thing you can think about is, what you see first, when you come to the website, because the days of newspaper ads are gone, and offline marketing is now limited to options like student rentals, etc. So, in an online ad, the first thing that people see is the title. The title needs to be compelling and grab the attention of the reader and make them want to click on the link.

He further adds “Now, the great thing about online is that you have an infinite amount of space, you don't have to be overly descriptive, but be descriptive, help the tenant to visualize the property, what are the aspects of the property that really make it unique and different.” Quentin says that the key here is to focus on benefits and not features. Describe the actual benefits of the area like schools, parks, malls, etc. You should also be upfront with rent numbers, and any additional utilities and or maintenance agreements or anything like that on the rental ad.

Furthermore, you should have images of the property that highlight the mentioned benefits. He adds “add lots of pictures to be to be able to show what the unit looks like show the best features.” Lastly, you should clearly mention how they can contact and reach out to you. Some apps can help you with answering FAQs as well. In conclusion, he says that these are a few of the tips that can help you make great rental ads, and if you want more tools like this, you should check out the book The Filling Vacancies Toolbox on Amazon.

Important Links and Resources

41 - Demystifying Residential and Commercial Real Estate Trends

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin tries to demystify the differences between what's happening in the residential market and the commercial market.

Quentin says that in the residential market, you have one to four-unit properties, and they are based on what's called the comparative model. For instance, if the house next door from you sells for $700,000, your house is most likely close to the value of $700,000. He adds that in the current market across Canada, we're seeing differences. He adds “let's use the GTA, for example, and where we're seeing is a 20 to 25% decrease in prices over the last few months. Now, you always have to ask compared to what. So if you compare that price drop to the beginning of January, or let's say March this year, you see that 20 or 25% drop, if you compare that between this year and last year, you see a slight increase.”

He says that what's happening now is there's a lot of supply on the market versus demand. Now, the commercial market is very different. The way that you evaluate a commercial portfolio is based on the net operating income, and the net operating income is your income minus your expenses. Then you divide that by the cap rate, and the cap rate hasn't changed much in the last year, but there have been slight variations. He further adds that if you're a new apartment building investor you may overpay for something just to own it, whereas an experienced operator selling an apartment building would just pull it off the market if they're not willing to sell it at a particular price.

Quentin says that the competition is very different between one to four residential, and multifamily apartment buildings. He concludes by adding “You're buying a business when you're buying commercial property, whereas when you're buying a one to four-unit property, and you are an investor, you treat it like a business, but it is evaluated very differently.”

Important Links and Resources

40 - How to Avoid Getting Caught in Mortgage Traps as a Real Estate Investor

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about five mortgage traps real estate investors face and how to avoid them.

Quentin says that the first trap is a fixed closed mortgage with a five-year timeframe. You may get lower interest rates, but you will have problems accessing equity. Secondly, with a fixed closed mortgage, you will have a large prepayment penalty a large prepayment penalty if you want to break that mortgage after a year or two. He adds “lowest rate isn't what real estate investors should be looking at.” The next mortgage trap is buying insurance on your mortgages. With insurance on a mortgage, where the mortgage amount is actually declining, you're paying insurance at a higher rate for a declining coverage over time. Quentin suggests “get a term life insurance policy that would cover you for the same amount of the mortgage, and then you're covered off in the same way.”

Number four is trap equity and the inability to access that equity. If you have a fixed closed mortgage with a five-year timeframe, your equity will be trapped. You will have to pay higher amounts to untrap that equity. Instead of being able to refinance the property with the same lender, you'll probably have to get a second mortgage with a private lender at a steeper rate. Lastly, as a real estate investor, building a portfolio and not the lowest rate should be on your mind if you want to succeed as a real estate investor.

In conclusion, Quentin adds “if you think of mortgage brokers … and lenders that are out there, those ones that look at you from your goals, versus just qualifying on the next property is the type of mortgage broker or lender or mortgage agent that you want to work with.”

Important Links and Resources

39 - Alligator Properties and How to Avoid Negative Cash Flow from Them

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about alligator properties and how to deal with them as a real estate investor.

Alligator properties are negative cash-flowing properties, and they can seriously hinder your real estate career if you are trying to grow a portfolio of properties. Taking about negative cash flow, he adds “If I buy a condo in downtown Toronto, and I put 80% down, then my condo and my mortgage fee is $2,000, and my condo fees are $500, and my property tax is $300, and my insurance is $100, and my rent is $2,500. I am losing money every month because I have to bring money to the table every month in order to be able to hold on to that asset.”

He says that sometimes what people will suggest you put more money down, but it is not a great strategy. You have to look at what you're investing in, and make sure that they are going to give you both cash flow, and appreciation. Negative cash flowing alligator property is a liability. It's not an asset, and we want assets. You should be able to leverage your properties as much as possible to have positive cash flow and continue to purchase assets because you have positive cash flow.

Quentin adds that when you are investing in a property, you should not be betting on appreciation, and increases in rental income, adding “it's not really an investment if you're putting money into it every month. That's called a liability.” It will also make it harder for you to get mortgages. The bank is going to look at your low debt coverage ratio, they would not want to give you more money. If for every dollar they lent you, you're making $1.20 or $1.30, they are more than likely to be able to give you more properties.

In conclusion, he says that if you're trying to build a portfolio of property, you need to be good with financing, and you can't be buying alligators. What you want to do is find cash flow and appreciation.

Important Links and Resources

38 - Why Genworth and Canada Guaranty Should Also Offer Multifamily Mortgages

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about why Genworth and Canada Guaranty also need to offer multifamily mortgages like CMHC.

In Canada, there are mortgage insurers, who allow people to borrow mortgages at a lower rate because they insure those mortgages. In the residential space, CMHC and private providers Genworth and Canada Guaranty provide these services for one-to-four unit properties. You can borrow funds up to 85% loan to value, 90% loan to value, 95% loan to value depending on your credit score. As for the multifamily space, there is only one lender – CMHC. He adds that they are a money-making machine when it comes to insurance, as defaults in this space are rare.

Quentin says that Genworth and Canada Guaranty need to step into the multifamily mortgages as well. This might prompt CMHC to optimize and expedite their funding process as they would have competition. He adds “So, if you're a candidate guarantee and you're Genworth, I want to see you tell me why you're not in the multifamily space. Why would you give up millions of dollars?” In conclusion, he says that these companies are missing out on millions of dollars, and this is something they should seriously consider.

Important Links and Resources

37 - How to Handle Pests on Your Investment Property

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 19 Jul 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about pest problems on an investment property and how you can handle them.

While not a fun subject, Quentin says that taking care of bedbugs is crucial. When looking for signs of bedbugs, first of all, you want to talk to people who are staying there, and ask if they have little bites on their skin, or are there little brown spots on mattresses in different locations. He adds “when this happens, you really need to work with tenants quickly in order to identify what the problem is, solve the problem, you got to take action.” If you have a situation where you see bedbugs, you need to call a professional right away, don't handle stuff yourself, it's not worth it. It also depends on the type of treatment required to rid the property of the bugs.

He adds that sometimes, you deal with tenants that have mental health issues. In such cases, you need to follow through with the forms that are required, through the landlord tenant board in your area so that you can either get the tenant out, get the tenant help, or get the tenant to help you to do what you need to do. Quentin adds that the other challenge is carpenter ants. Ants that you see often on buildings inside buildings, around wet damp wood. They eat the wood, and it can cause serious issues.

If you spot any carpenter ants, you want to look for leaky areas, and moist areas, and work with tenants immediately to solve that because if you have carpenter ants for an extended period of time, it could cause structural issues to a property. In conclusion, he adds that as a real estate investor you need to take action, and perhaps work with a professional to handle bug problems before things get out of hand.

Important Links and Resources

• The Action Taker's Real Estate Investing Planner

36 - Key Metrics Every Real Estate Investors Should Know

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about the key metrics every real estate investor should know about.

Metrics are a way for you to use tools to identify where you are, and where you're going. Some matrix can help you when you are evaluating a property while others can help you in the investing phase. One of the first things to look at is Cash on Cash Return, which helps you evaluate how much profit you've made in a year. Another key metric that you use in real estate investing is called Cap Rate. The formula for Cap Rate is equal to Net Operating Income (NOI) divided by the current market value of the asset. It depends on three different factors: the condition of the property, the location of the property and interest rates. He adds that if you go to a different area, you may find a different cap rate. It comes in handy when you are trying to identify an opportunity.

Another key metric that we use is called an Annual Rate of Return. It is the amount earned on an investment over a 12-month period, and is usually expressed as a percentage. He adds that it comes into play when we are refinancing or selling an asset, adding “that usually happens on the sale or refinance of an asset, the shortest time that I've ever been able to do that is a year, the longest time I've been able to do that is four years in an apartment building.” The last metric you should know about is the Internal Rate of Return. Internal rate of return (IRR) is the discount rate at which a project’s returns become equal to its initial investment. It is the percentage of returns that a project will generate within a period to cover its initial investment.

In conclusion, he says that as an investor, you should be familiar with metric such as Cash on Cash Return, Cap Rate, Annual Return, Internal Rate of Return, so that you can make informed and profitable decisions.

Important Links and Resources

35 - How to Use Registered Funds to Borrow or Lend as a Mortgage

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about using registered funds to lend or borrow as a mortgage.

Quentin says that a lot of people know that registered funds, such as RRSP, RSP, TFSAs, LIRA, can be put in a self directed account and lend those funds as a mortgage and get a fixed amount of return. He further says that it is a great tool to use, “I borrowed hundreds and 1000s, from different people on our projects, and I've lent out hundreds of 1000s to different people through my registered funds…”

Talking about how this works and the things that you need to keep in mind, he says “Number one, it has to be arm's length. Now, arm's length means that it can't be my wife, or anybody that is immediate family.” The second thing is that you will have to use a trustee, adding “keep it in your RSP, but move it to cash inside the RRSP, then transfer the funds into Olympia Trust, into your self-directed account.” When you do that, you never removed the funds out of your registered funds, and that's how you're not going to pay taxes.

Quentin adds that you should do your research about which company to use as a trustee. Once you have those funds into that account, there are going to be some fees associated with it such as a setup fee and an annual fee. Legal and realter’s fee can also incur if you use them. One of the steps of doing this, he says is getting an appraisal on the property. The only challenge with doing mortgages is the time it takes between when you have a mortgage that's finished and a mortgage that starts.

He says it's really important that you're doing due diligence on the investor who's borrowing the funds and the business plan that they have. you want to see somebody who has a depth of experience, not the person who's just doing this for the very first time, because that may be a warning sign for you. In conclusion, he adds that using registered funds is a great tool for somebody who has money in registered accounts, but is not happy with the stock market.

Important Links and Resources

https://www.instagram.com/qmanrei
quentin@getrealwealthy.com
https://EducationREI.ca
https://GetRealWealthy.com
https://DurhamREI.ca
15 Minutes Discovery Call - QuentinDsouza.com

34 - Get Creative with Seller Financing in Real Estate Investing

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about seller financing.

Quentin

says that seller financing

is one of those great tools that you can use in your toolbox to give you some

financing when you need it. The first thing is to understand what seller

financing exactly is. Oftentimes, when you're buying a property, the owner may

have already paid off that property. They don't have a mortgage on that

property, but you need a mortgage on the property. So, you can ask the owner of

the property carry back a mortgage for you, and they can get paid a specific

interest rate.

adds that it is also a way for investors to delay paying the capital gains tax

if they do carry back mortgage on the property. A lot of investors already

understand vendor takebacks, so it's easy for them to implement, but you have

to ask the owner. It is a simple clause and a lawyer can help you out with it. .

If you're dealing with a realtor, and you're not going directly to the owner,

your job as an investor is to educate the realtor. You may have to educate them on how to

use this creative financing tool.

adds that you can find seller financing on places like MLS listings. You could

have your realtor send you any listings that have seller financing in there.

as long as the numbers work

on the deal, that's the most important part for you as the investor. Another

way you can use seller financing is through private sales.

Lastly,

rental properties and buildings are the key to finding seller financing. In

conclusion, he says that seller financing and creative financing really can

boost your ROI and boost your returns.

Important Links and Resources

https://www.instagram.com/qmanrei
quentin@getrealwealthy.com
https://EducationREI.ca
https://GetRealWealthy.com
https://DurhamREI.ca
15 Minutes Discovery Call - QuentinDsouza.com

33 - Getting Paid with the Right Appraisals in Real Estate Investing

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about talk about appraisals, their importance, and the process involved.

Quentin starts by saying that appraisals are crucial because that is when you get paid or make money as a real estate investor. So, understanding how it works is important. He adds that the three different ways appraisals are figured out include comparative market analysis, the income approach, and the replacement value or cost approach.

Comparative market analysis is the most commonly used for residential properties between one and four units. It is based on the recent selling prices of similar properties in the same neighborhood. When you can do that with two or three other properties on the same street, that is a comparison between numerous properties in that particular market on that street.

The income approach is usually what you use for commercial and rental properties, from one to four units to apartment buildings. The value of a property is based on the income it generates. It’s calculated by taking the net operating income, and dividing it by the capitalization rate, the expected rate of return.

The third approach is slightly different and it is referred to as the replacement value or cost approach. It evaluates what it would cost to rebuild something. Oftentimes, you see this when you're trying to finance that building that doesn't exist yet.

Quentin shares that the members can access his course on EducationREI.ca which can help you get higher appraisals. He adds that the things that you can do to get a higher appraisal include preparing a package for the appraiser to share our own market analysis, two or three comps, a letter of what we've done to improve the property, and sharing a higher value of the property than we expect to get.

In conclusion, he says that the refinancing process is when you get paid. It can help you recapture funds that you can reinvest in other projects, and all of this is possible with good appraisals.

Important Links and Resources

Getting a Higher Appraisal
https://www.instagram.com/qmanrei
quentin@getrealwealthy.com
https://EducationREI.ca
https://GetRealWealthy.com
https://DurhamREI.ca
15 Minutes Discovery Call - QuentinDsouza.com

32 - The Action Taker's Planner: Doing, Delegating, or Dumping Tasks

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about talk about doing delegating or dumping part of the weekly plan in The Action Taker's Real Estate Investing Planner.

Quentin says that you need to identify tasks and get them done quickly. That is how you continue to achieve your goals. If you can do this every week, you get things done and you can get them done faster and easier, and you create systems around it. The idea behind doing, delegating, and dumping is identifying something that you need to do now. When you see a task, what are the things that you can get done now? The next thing is to go through the list and delegate. It could be to an employee, contractor, subcontractor, or new team member.

Delegation means that you get rid of that task off your list because you've delegated it to somebody else. The last one is different. Is it really important to have it on this list right now? It's crucial to be able to get the things that you want to do. In order to achieve your goals, there are tools that you can use to help you to do that, and The Action Taker's Real Estate Investing Planner is packed with such tools.

In conclusion, he says that every week, if you do, delegate or dump your activities, you are streamlining your daily process. That's really how you get things done off your list and through your daily and weekly plans.

Important Links and Resources

• The Action Taker's Real Estate Investing Planner

31 - Set Real Estate Goals to Set Yourself Up for Success

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about the importance of setting real estate investment goals.

Quentin says that it's important for any real estate investor to have some big goals and you need to connect those goals together. He likes to do 10-year goals, and suggests that you should write them somewhere you could see them every day. It could be a vision board or a chart. He recommends the book, The Action Taker's Real Estate Investing Planner, which will help you with goal setting. The book has plenty of templates and examples to help you get started.

He adds that when you are setting your 10-year goals, you need to start with the reality of your current state. Understand it, so you know where you want to go. Number two, ask the hard question of why. Why do you want to have that particular goal? Whether it's a real estate goal or not, you want to figure it out. He further adds that you can start with just one goal. It's the easiest way to develop weekly, and daily habits that help you to focus on that goal.

Another thing that can help you is telling others and sharing what your goal is. In a like-minded community, people will try to help you reach your goal. Lastly, you should get an accountability partner. They could help you evaluate what you are doing weekly and the action items that you are working on. All you need to do is find another person to act as an accountability partner.

In conclusion, Quentin says that if you are interested in finding an accountability partner, you can reach out to him or the EducationREI and DurhamREI communities.

Important Links and Resources

• Free Discovery Call with Quentin

30 - The Pros and Cons of Switching Mortgage

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 31 May 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin weighs out the pros and cons of staying or switching your mortgage.

Quentin says that some people think interest rates are the only thing you should look at, but terms are just as important when deciding whether you should stay or switch on a mortgage. Terms and conditions are not limited to the timeframe but also things like prepayment penalties, etc. He adds that another thing to think about is the current rate versus the new rate and what are the potential savings. You also have to look at the interest savings over the mortgage term. So it's not just the interest savings based on the month.

He further adds that you want to know also what the mortgage balance will be at the end of the term with or without switching. This will help you make comparisons. Look at both the cost over the near term and the cost of breaking your mortgage and savings when making that comparison.

In conclusion, he says that there are a lot of factors that you need to take into consideration when you are pondering over the idea of staying or switching your mortgage.

Important Links and Resources

29 - Why You SHOULD Consider Investing in Multi-Family Properties

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 24 May 2022 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about why multifamily apartments are better real estate investments.

Quentin says that the difference between apartments is that a one to four-unit apartment is considered residential while five-plus units would be commercial or multifamily. In the residential game, financing is different based on the number of units. When you're doing financing, you'll find out that the appraisal is different on a one to four-unit property than it is on a multifamily property. In a one-to-four-unit property, you have a comparative method, where similar properties in the vicinity are compared for price. For multifamily property, it's based on the Income Method; the net operating income of your property is going to define the value of the property. The type of financing you're going to get on that property will be based on the debt coverage ratio.

For financing rental properties, usually, the amount of equity you can release in a property is going to be based on what the rents are and what your income is, and that will allow you to release some equity in the property. In an apartment building, as it's based on the net operating income, oftentimes, you can release that equity a lot easier in a multifamily building. He adds, "one of the reasons why I like the multifamily space is the ability to use debt coverage ratios and then operating income to be able to release equity and take that equity and reinvest that into more buildings."

Quentin further says that another thing he likes about multifamily is that it's a small group of people. People know each other, and it takes time to develop the relationships that allow you to invest in those properties because there aren't many such buildings. He says that another good thing about multifamily buildings is the CMHC mortgages. This allows you to have 30, 35, and 40-year amortizations. It lowers your monthly costs and allows you to qualify for more of a mortgage. Another benefit of multifamily buildings is that there's a lot of demographic growth and that's driving demand. Additionally, you're often buying apartment buildings for lower than the replacement costs.

He further says, "Another thing I want to say is the repositioning the asset, we do the BRRR strategy of apartment buildings; buy, reposition, refinance and then continue to rent." Quentin says that cap rates are affected by three factors; location of the asset, interest rates, and the condition of the building.

In conclusion, he says that take a look at your portfolio. See if you want to invest in multifamily apartment buildings, and remember, Get Real Wealthy.

Important Links and Resources

• Book a 15 Minute Discovery Call

28 - A Canadian's Guide to Financing US Investment Properties

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 17 May 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about financing US properties for Canadians.

Quentin says that to increase the yield of any real estate investment, you need good financing. Financing can help you increase the yield on a property manifold. Mortgages are the power tools of real estate investing, and having great financing is essential. If you leverage it appropriately, it can make you very wealthy. He adds, "You're doing basically what governments are doing. Governments are borrowing money, and they are using it to be able to invest in infrastructure and people in things that they think are going to have the GDP of the economy."

He adds that you can do the same thing by investing in assets that will continue to pay you for years and decades to come. You should remember that returns will be related to how well and how much financing you can get. As a Canadian investing in the US, you are a foreign investor. They don't know you and don't have your credit history. So there are different things that you can do to help. Number one, there are Canadian banks in the US. You can get one mortgage, perhaps as a vacation property, through that bank, but it isn't a great way to build a portfolio of properties.

There are credit unions present both in Canada and the US. They are in specific states that you can utilize to help you purchase properties. Another approach that you can use is Foreign National Programs, which mortgage brokers in the US have. Oftentimes as this means that you can go up to 60% loan to value your interest rates are much higher. So, as long as the numbers work and you can utilize that leverage, you're still able to get that return in yield.

Another approach is using a portfolio loan. A US lender will put a mortgage behind all of those properties with one charge, especially if you have multiple properties that are smaller. Usually, they'll have a minimum loan size, like $250,000 or $300,000. Another option is to partner with a US citizen and have them qualify on the property for you. Another option is becoming a limited partner in general partnerships. He adds, "One of the strategies that I'm using down there, it allows me to invest in larger multifamily projects, but I have a tax structure for investing in the US that helps me avoid double taxation."

In conclusion, Quentin adds that if you want to learn more about his US investing, you can reach out to him on Instagram @qmanrei or email him at quentin@getrealwealthy.com

Important Links and Resources

27 - Why You Should Invest in the US as a Canadian Real Estate Investor

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 10 May 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about the US investing for Canadian real estate investors.

Quentin shares that he invests in the US, and has a portfolio of both direct investments and limited partnership investments in the US. He says one of the reasons why he is investing in the US, on the limited partnership side is to develop relationships with boots on the ground and different general partners that are in the US is to help him grow his portfolio in a much bigger market. He further adds "By investing in other people's projects, I'm actually developing some of those relationships that will help me to continue to grow myself…"

He says that it's really important for him to invest to meet specific goals, and the goals for investing in the US can be the same as the goals for investing in Canada. He adds "for me, I'm investing in the US to hedge against the Canadian economy." He adds that it is also one of the ways you can protect yourself from any new government policies. Quentin says that another reason is that he likes to make US dollars when he is spending US dollars, especially when he visits his properties and different places across the border.

Quentin further adds that "another reason why I'm investing in the US is future pacing my personal financial goals." Another reason behind investing in the US is because he understands the process. He adds that from a returns perspective, he disagrees that you can get higher returns in the US than in Canada. It depends on the area, property types, and market you are working in, regardless of whether you are in Canada or the US.

In conclusion, he says that as a real estate investor, you need to decide for yourself if you're going to invest in the US. What are your reasons for doing it, and is it going to help you to achieve your own financial goals?

Important Links and Resources

26 - 10 Creative Financing Options Every Real Estate Investor Should Know About

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 03 May 2022 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin shares ten creative financing options that most real estate investors don't know.

Quentin says that the idea behind these creative options is that sometimes there are sometimes difficulties in getting financing or being able to purchase a property. As a real estate investor, you are a problem solver. He adds, "creative financing strategies actually helps you to acquire more properties, solve more problems, and getting cash flow and equity as payment of that, as well as mortgage, pay down."

Important Links and Resources

· jointventurebook.com

Action Taker’s Real Estate Investing Planner (Free Chapter 1)

25 - Fill Your Vacancies with Great Tenants Using These Tips

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 26 Apr 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin shares different tips to help you attract great tenants.

Quentin says that tenants can make or break a rental property. If you want to learn about the ways to select great tenants, you should check the previous episode. He says that it is really important to get great tenants in your property because the cost of eviction can be very high, especially if you're in a rent-controlled area. One of the first things he suggests is getting a copy of the book The Filling Vacancies Toolbox, which is a comprehensive guide to filling vacancies. He adds that first of all, you want to figure out who you are targeting in your ad. Make sure that the things and the benefits that you're describing would appeal to the tenant profile that you want to attract.

Secondly, you want to have great titles for your ads, something to make them unique and stand out. When you're attracting great tenants, don't talk about the features. You want to talk about what's unique about the property like what are the benefits of living there? What are the things that can't be replaced by other properties? When you attract great tenants, you're attracting them right now to your rental ads. That is the best way to do it. That's the way that most people are going to interact with you. He further adds that another way to attract great tenants is to ask the tenants that you have that are great tenants for referrals.

In conclusion, Quentin says that you can find plenty of tips like these in the book The Filling Vacancies Toolbox, which is a great tool for you to add to your toolbox when you're trying to find great tenants and place them in your rental properties.

Important Links and Resources

The Filling Vacancies Toolbox by Quentin D'Souza
https://EducationREI.ca
https://GetRealWealthy.com
https://DurhamREI.ca

24 - Commercial vs. Residential Mortgages – Everything You Need to Know

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about the differences between commercial financing and residential financing.

Quentin says that residential financing is usually for one-to-four-unit properties, while commercial financing is usually used in the case of five or more properties. These could be industrial properties, retail properties, storage units, etc. The financing process is different depending on the type of financing. For example, for apartment buildings, you may only get a 75% to 70% loan to value if you're doing conventional financing. That means that you have a higher down payment. If you're doing a single-family home or a rental property, it's very possible that you can have a lower amount that you can put down, and get a higher loan to value.

With commercial financing, to get a higher loan to value you can use CMHC financing on commercial properties and you can go to 80% to 85% loan to value, sometimes even higher. In conventional financing, you're usually doing 25-year amortization but if you are in commercial financing with CMHC, you can do 30, 35 years, sometimes even 40 years amortization, and this will lower your monthly cost. When you're looking at residential properties, typically, it's based on your debt coverage ratio, which means how much your property can debt service.

He adds that if you are getting CMHC funding on a commercial property, it's going to take four or five months to get that and that usually isn't conducive to closing on an apartment building. So usually, you have to use some sort of bridge mortgage that gets you from the person to when CMHC financing is ready. He further adds that when you're looking at commercial buildings, you're usually looking at cap rate, the cap rate is made up of interest rate, the location of the property, and the quality of the asset.

For residential properties, the cap rate is based on the comparative method. There is a lot more paperwork involved in the case of commercial financing as compared to residential financing, so he suggests preparing everything in digital format ahead of time. The broker fees in case of commercial financing are also very high. When you're dealing with financing for commercial property, often they're going to be asking for phase one, phase two, and hopefully, you never get to a phase three, but phase one is usually a historical understanding of the environmental contamination of a particular building. Once you get a phase two done and it comes back clean, then you're able to get your financing in place.

You will also have to get a building condition report and appraisals, which can cost around $3,500 each. residential properties if you are doing a lower down payment because it's your first property not necessarily an investment property, but it could be if you're living in one of the units and it's a multi-unit property, you would be able to get a lower down payment and you would be paying that insurance or CMHC fee in order to do that.

Important Links and Resources

23 - Six Tips to Help You Pick Better Tenants for Your Investment Property

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin shares some tips that would help you pick better tenants.

Quentin says that choosing and filtering tenants is probably the most important thing you can do for having a successful investment property. He shares some tips and strategies that can help you save your investment property from potentially troublesome tenants. First of all, you want to have a good title for your ad. It should contain good information about the benefits, not the features of the property. The great thing about online ads is that you can put lots of pictures and lots of details. That's something that you couldn't necessarily do in print advertising.

Once you've got that online ad, you do not want them to call you directly. What you would want to do is have them complete some sort of questionnaire. This will greatly help you figure out if this tenant is going to be a good fit for you. If you don’t want to show anyone the unit, never give any reason other than that we have decided to go with another tenant and leave it at that. Next, when you show the unit to the potential tenant, observe how they present themselves. You want to look for red flags during the conversation, and avoid people who seem dramatic or tell horrible stories about their previous landlords.

So if you start to get a feeling from tenant, you're should inform them that you decided to go with another tenant, after they've already left. The next step is to go over the application. Did they complete everything? If they have mentioned references, follow up with them to find out their previous experience. Thirdly, go through their social media, as people tend to share a lot online these days. Next, you should go through the different tenant databases that are available and see if you could spot any red flags. The fifth step of the sub process is to do a credit check. You can use services like Rentcheck Crop, where members of Durham REI and Education REI.

Lastly, he recommends using Rentify. It allows tenants to connect their bank account to the service and the service analyzes their bank account fees and they're picking up over the last 12 months to let you know if there have been any issues or any pet charges that appear in there. In conclusion, he says that when people are already giving you problems during the screening process, they're going to continue to give you problems throughout the tenancy. You can also check Quentin’s book The Property Management Toolbox to learn more.

Important Links and Resources

22 - Overcoming Fears and Developing the Investor Mindset

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about developing and having an investor mindset.

Quentin shares that “as I have grown and become more experienced as a real estate investor, having done this for a very long time and acquiring, you know, quite a bit of a portfolio. I know that mindset is the most important thing and it has helped me to be able to grow and overcome the fear of doing different sorts of deals and getting things done.” He adds that overcoming fear is really important, especially when you have to do new things all the time.

Talking about one of his practices, which he has mentioned in his book The Action Taker's Real Estate Investing Planner, Quentin says that in the first chapter of the book, he has a quarterly plan, where he has a quarterly challenge. That challenge is something that takes him out of his comfort zone. By setting that challenge and developing that mindset, he is able to achieve things that he didn't think he could achieve before. It helps you to get over the fear of failure. He further says “I think that sometimes we fear so much on making mistakes, and I don't really like to think of them as mistakes. I really like to think of it as like learning opportunities.”

Quentin says that another fear is losing money. People are so afraid of losing money that they don't take action. You've got to develop that mindset that I am not going to lose money because I'm buying an asset that makes sense and I'm following these criteria. He adds “I want to have control over my future. I don't want to have somebody have control over me. And so I developed a mindset that allowed me to be able to do that.” As for the fear of making the wrong decision, he says that instead of worrying about picking the wrong side, do as much due diligence as you can and make the right decision that you believe is right, given all the information.

In conclusion, he says that overcoming the fear of failure, losing money, looking bad to your friends and family, picking the wrong side and the fear of not being good enough will help you develop an investor mindset.

Important Links and Resources

21 - Scaling Up Toolbox – Doing Joint Ventures the Right Way

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about his book Scaling Up Toolbox, a how-to guide for real estate investors who don't have to use their own money to buy property.

Quentin talks about the book and why it's important to scale your portfolio, and why it's necessary to work with others. He says that real estate is a team business. If you can bring members on your team who become part of that inner circle, you can actually grow your portfolio and grow other people's portfolios at the same time. You can use a co-venture agreement in order to create a partnership together, where people play different roles.

He adds that you should always have that co-venture agreement written or reviewed by a lawyer. You can find a template of the co-venture agreement that Quentin uses at DurhamREI.ca. There are different ways that you can structure a joint venture, depending on your level of involvement. He suggests consulting your accountant and your lawyer to make sure that you've got it covered from an accounting, legal and liability perspective. In addition, you should always talk to your insurance broker. Quentin further adds that you should make sure that all the things done in writing, do not do a handshake agreement.

He says that you should make sure that you have those agreements signed and closed on, and everything reviewed before you close on the actual property itself. The next thing that you're going to want to do is watch out for provincial legislation and securities legislation. You do not want to be on the wrong side of securities legislation. In conclusion, Quentin announces that for a limited time, the listeners of the podcast can access this book on jointventurebook.com

Important Links

20 - Five Ways to Improve the Curb Appeal of Your Investment Property

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about improving curb appeal.

Quentin says that when it comes to attracting better tenents, curb appeal plays a huge role. You can develop a low-quality profile on your investment property by turning tenants away due to bad curb appeal. Quentin shares a few tips that can help you improve the curb appeal of a rental property or an apartment building. First, you need to have the area maintained. Whether it is grass in the garden or snow on the sidewalk, make sure that it is cleared and maintained.

The next thing that you want to think about is the brickwork or the outside of the building. Some people clean up a building by spraying the brick, and it can look really sharp if it's done right. This can greatly improve the look and feel of the building. The next thing to look at is the entranceway. Make sure that there is no garbage on the floor, it is painted, and is kept up well. If you have an elevator, make sure that that area is cleaned, as well as any stairways in the building.

The next thing you want to ensure is that you have good lighting, especially on the exterior, around the building, and in the parking lot. It is important for safety reasons. You want to make sure that everybody feels safe. Another way to improve the curb appeal is to add security cameras. Lastly, you need to maintain and fix the driveways and the walkways if there are any bumps or worn-out patches. By implementing these tips, you can significantly improve the curb appeal of your property or your apartment building.

Important Links

19 - Everything You Need to Know about Basement Conversions

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about a unique basement conversion that he did in the past to help people who are starting out or working on their first few properties.

Quentin says that in a market where it's hard to cash flow, basement conversions can create great cash flow. He shares a project that he did in Courtice, Ontario. It was a single-family house, but it was actually connected by the basement. In Clarington, you could convert such properties. One of the issues that he had with the conversion was the parking, but as he was on a corner lot, he actually had the parking that was needed to do the conversion. In this particular unit, the stairs were actually in the middle of the house going to the basement.

He was able to solve this problem by sealing off the dining room and putting a door where the sliding door was into a common area. He put a door on the other side of the entrance to the basement to seal off that particular unit. So, he made it fire code safe and did this all with permits, but by having the entrance to the basement from the back, he was able to create space for the unit in the basement. He adds that the motivation behind these conversions was that he wanted to bring his properties to their best and highest use. Which is something he was able to accomplish with this conversion.

Quentin adds that in each municipality, they'll have different rules to make sure that you can do the conversion legally. Sometimes, they'll have green space requirements. So how much green space do you need to have? What type of parking access do you have? The egress and lighting rules are usually provincial or statewide. However, the way that municipalities interpret building code is different. It is something that varies and you need to take it into consideration before undertaking any project.

In conclusion, he says accessory dwelling units are a great solution for affordable housing, and “increasing the density of current housing will be a lot easier than creating new housing, and if we can create a lot of these accessory dwelling units that would help to take some of the load off what's happening out there.”

Important Links

18 - Dos and Don’ts of Buying Your First Investment Property

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about his first investment property.

Quentin shares his journey so that others could learn from his experience and mistakes. He says that he started by reading and educating himself about real estate, started going to meetups, and joined an organization to prepare for his first property. He bought a condo townhouse with a realtor who helped him identify a good cash flow property. There were three units, one on top of the other but it was called a townhouse that there was an underground garage as well. It was in 2008, and he was able to put 5% down at the time because the rules were different for financing.

He was getting decent cash flow from that property. This gave him the confidence to buy multiple properties. By scaling, he was able to get three to four properties. There, he says that he learned a lot about asset and tenant management from owning these properties. He adds “Being able to increase my income was a good way to be able to increase the cash flow and make that asset work harder for me, and so that was something that I learned and I found very useful.”

In conclusion, he suggests that you should get started by finding something that's cash flow positive, don't buy a negative-yielding asset where you're trying to include the mortgage pay down as part of cash flow when it's not. If money comes out of your bank account to pay for a rental property, it’s a negative-yielding asset. This helped him leave his job as a teacher to pursue real estate investing full-time.

Important Links

17 - What to Keep in Mind When Investing with Friends and Family

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about investing with friends and family.

While often a touchy subject, here are a couple of tips, warnings, and things to watch out for when you decide to use funds from someone in your family. First of all, you need to define your roles. Who is going to be doing what specifically? What are the expectations from them? What are they expected to do? You need to have a written document that outlines these roles. It could be a partnership agreement, a co-venture agreement, or a list that is signed. Next, you need to identify a process of reviewing that these roles are being carried out. This will ensure that everybody's doing what they said that they were going to do, and avoid conflicts and unpleasantries.

Quentin further suggests “don't allow business to cross over with personal and family events. You don't want to be discussing about the property and what's going on and if there's a problem, and you know, this and that, when you have a family event, you're at Christmas, you're at Hanukkah, you know, you just shouldn't have that conversation at that time.” He adds that you may also need to identify a system or process for handling issues that come up depending on what the role is. That way you have expectations in place, and everybody clearly knows the expectation.

He says that communication issues are the major cause of conflicts when investing with family members. In conclusion, he says that you should make sure to review your exit strategies. Make sure that there are clauses in your agreement that outline exactly how an exit will take place. These tips will help you navigate investing with family and friends in a much smoother manner.

Important Links

16 - How Changes in Interest Rates Impact the Real Estate Market + Contest

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about interest rates in Canada.

As a real estate investor, interest rates are really important and they matter for several different reasons. First are the effects that they have on property prices, at least what is said in the media. Be careful when you hear the media associate increases in interest rates with increases in property prices, as it doesn’t necessarily work this way. Similarly, a decrease in the number of sales, doesn't mean a decrease in property prices.

As for the cap rates, they are a combination of different things. For commercial assets, an interest rate increase means that you're actually going to see increases in cap rates because a third of the cap rate, the value of that comes from interest rates, but also remember cap rates are the quality of the asset and the location of the asset. So, what happens when we lower interest rates? So, when we lower interest rates, we're actually bringing forward purchasing from the future to today. When we're pulling forward those purchases today, we are affecting the future purchasing power, depending on what exactly or who exactly is doing the purchasing.

The Bank of Canada looks at CPI, which is the consumer price index and inflation, as well as employment. when they're considering interest rate increases. They also look at the value of the Canadian dollar, the real GDP, the US funds rate, etc. Housing prices are also connected with different rules that have come in over the past. Quentin says that if the Canadian government really wants to see a change, they actually need to work on the supply side of the issue.

Quentin adds homework for the listeners in this episode. He says “I want you to go and look at the amount of debt that the Canadian government has compared that to the last few years to where it is now. And I want you to find out what is the interest amount that the Canadian government pays on its debt. Now you've got to remember that that interest rate right now is quite low. Okay. And let's say we have an interest rate of 0.25% and the interest that is paid on that debt is $1. And the interest rate goes to, let's say, 0.5%. That means that interest that's going to be paid is let's say approximately $2 That can be a huge change depending on what that rate is. And if you find out what that answer is, and you send me a tweet or you send me a message on Instagram at @Qmanrei, I will send you a free copy of the book of your choice that I've written. So the first person to do that I will send you that book…”

Important Links:

15 - How to Make Your Mortgage Tax-Deductible Using The Smith Maneuver for Real Estate Investors

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 00:15:00 -0500

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about making your mortgage tax-deductible.

Quentin says that this episode is specifically for Canadians. As for the Americans listening to this, their principal residence mortgage is already tax-deductible. One of the ways to convert non-deductible debt to deductible debt is by using the Smith Maneuver strategy. There are a few different things that you want to consider when it comes to this strategy. Number one, talk to your accountant and make sure that you get professional advice. Then, spend some time figuring out what the benefit of this is going to be overtime for you. As for the process, you're taking a mortgage on your principal residence that has a home equity line of credit on it. As you pay down the principal, your home equity line of credit grows. The way that you can do this is by using the home equity line of credit to invest in a rental property. So, when you take the funds from the home equity line of credit, and you use it to purchase a rental property, the interest on the home equity line of credit now becomes tax-deductible.

Quentin adds that there are a number of different things that you can do with rental properties that would accelerate the process of making your mortgage tax-deductible. So, as you pay for the principal residence, the line of credit becomes available. As long as you can do additional payments on your principal in that home equity line of credit, you end up converting your debt quickly from non-deductible that deductible debt. As for the drawbacks, one consequence of the strategy is that the borrower’s net debt remains the same after many years, rather than being paid down. The second drawback is there never really is a strategy to pay this off. The third drawback is that when you decide to actually pay the interest back then you lose that deduction.

In conclusion, he says that this is something that you want to keep in mind, both the benefits and some of the drawbacks associated with this strategy, so that you can make an informed decision that is best for you.

Important Links

14 - How to Negotiate Your Purchase and Sale Agreement

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about negotiating your purchase and sale agreement.

Quentin says that if you're working with a realtor, they'll help you with the purchase and sale agreement. However, if you're going to work on a private sale, there are some typical clauses that you should include. The first would be a financing clause. If it's a single-family home you may have five or 10 days financing clause in order to submit your property to your bank. Then, an inspection clause where you hire a third-party inspector to come in and evaluate the property. A third clause is an ability for both of you to review the purchase and sale agreement with a lawyer, so that it is agreeable both and correct.

The other thing that you are going to want to negotiate in a purchase and sale agreement is the deposit structure. You might also include some broad terms about fixtures as well. Another thing is the appliances. You want to ensure that the appliances that are there are the ones that you're buying, but they're not switching them out with something else. Quentin adds that if you are just starting out, make sure that you work with an experienced realtor first and also have a lawyer go through the agreement before signing it.

Furthermore, he says that there are a lot of different ways that you can differentiate yourself in an environment where you have a tight market and you need to give firm offers. One thing would be to include a personal letter to the seller, explaining who you are and the property, and appealing to them emotionally. In conclusion, he says that “You want to be careful. I know you want to buy the property, but you also don't want to overpay. So, you want to not get emotional about winning the deal, but making sure that it makes sense to you financially and that the investment property still cash flows.”

Important Links

13 - 7 Ways to Turn Negative Cash Flow into Positive Cash Flow

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about seven ways to turn negative cash flow properties into positive cash flow.

Quentin says that the problem with negative cash flow hinders the growth of your portfolio. If you have positive cash flow and even if the value of your property goes down, you would still be able to hold on to that asset for a longer period of time. The other reason is that banks will continue to finance. If you have one negative cash flowing property, maybe two and then you'll get financing because you're betting on the appreciation. You want to have a high debt coverage ratio when you consider rents versus the debts that you have on your asset, and that is why you have to have cash-flowing properties.

Important Links

12 - Benefits of Vendor Take-Back Mortgages in Real Estate Investing

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about vendor take-back mortgages.

A vendor take-back mortgage is when you have financing that comes from the seller. When you have financing that comes from the seller it's usually because the seller has paid off the existing mortgage on the property and it's owned free and clear or they have enough equity in the properties that they could offer you a mortgage in the second position in order to lower your down payment on the property. Vendor financing or seller financing can help you to increase your ROI and also make a deal make sense.

Oftentimes you're including terms in your purchase and sale agreement that outline that the seller is going to carry back the first mortgage or a second mortgage on the property. Your lawyer outlines those terms and can set up a mortgage for you and sometimes people make it out that it's some complex thing and it really isn't. Oftentimes, it's possible to even cover closing and land transfer costs into your seller financing. It just depends on how you negotiate that in your purchase and sale agreement.

There are a lot of different and creative ways to do it. You can take possession of it through the mortgage, you could use a joint venture agreement in order to help you to use the existing financing on a property, and then once the work is done, flip that to either yourself or through a sale to the third party. Usually, it's just what you negotiate with the seller from a terms perspective.

In conclusion, there are lots of benefits for vendor take-backs or seller financing for the buyer and the seller. And it's a great tool for you to include in your toolbox for being in real estate investing.

Important Links

11 - How To Succeed in Real Estate Investing

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin talks about how to succeed in real estate investing.

Quentin shares some of the things that he has learned over the years and will hopefully help you to get going with your real estate investing. The most important thing before you start investing in real estate, is the mindset. Mindset is important to help you to get to the place where you want to go. There are lots of great books on this topic, such as Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck. The second one is understanding where you are in the real estate cycle. All markets, all areas go through the real estate cycle. You want to know where you are and you want to have that understanding of the real estate cycle.

The third is goals. You want to have specific goals when it comes to investing in real estate. Those goals need to be numbered. It needs to be categorized in a way that relates to you. What are the most important things for you and set those goals and write them down. You can use Quentin’s book The Action Taker’s Real Estate Investing Planner to help you with goal setting. The second last strategy is to buy and hold apartment buildings. The last one is, remember that there are tactics used to implement strategies that are out there to help you to get your other goals done. Remember to be proactive, and not reactive.

Important Links

10 - The ‘BIG DEAL’ Formula for Real Estate Investing

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin discusses the BIG DEAL Formula.

There is a BIG DEAL Formula scoring system on DurhamREI.ca, which is a free tool that can be used to analyze properties. In the BIG DEAL Formula, ‘B’ stands for below market value. You want to buy properties that are below market value so that you can have some instant equity. The idea behind this is that you're usually solving some sort of problem. Next, ‘I’ stands for income-producing property. We want to see cash flow, because cash flow helps us to hold on to an asset. If we can hold on to an asset for a long period of time, we're going to be able to see that hockey stick growth.

Lastly, ‘G’ stands for good fundamentals. We want to see an area with a population that's growing, has infrastructure investment at the municipal, provincial or state, and federal levels. The next thing we want to see is job diversity. As for the DEAL, ‘D’ stands for the downpayment. How are you getting the downpayment for your asset purchase? ‘E’ is for equity. You should be equity owners of a property if you are simply getting interest from a private loan, as equity is important to have in any deal.

‘A’ stands for asset value, which we want to build. Adding value is an important part of the BIG DEAL Formula. The last one is location. You can do a lot of things to a property, but one of the things you can't do is change the location. So, having a key location in a good area of town or a city makes it a lot easier for you to see appreciation and growth in an area.

Important Links

9 - Rental Unit Renovations – Repainting, Replacing, or Refacing

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 08:45:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin discusses renovations of the rental unit – repaint replace, or reface.

Quentin says that firstly, you want to maximize your renovation dollars as well as the possible rents for a given property. We always want to have our property clean, safe and secure, so we want our renovations to match it. You want to make the property appear safe when someone walks up, the curb appeal also makes a huge difference. He adds that when getting into a new rental unit or turning over a rental unit, make sure that you use the same colour paint. Quentin says that they have the same colour scheme that they use as well as similar lighting.

He adds that usually when turning over a unit, the property might require small-scale minor fixes. Ultimately, it just depends on the condition of the property, and whether a section needs repainting, replacing, or refacing. Whether it is cabinet doors in the kitchen, countertops, bathroom fixtures, vinyl tile flooring, faucet fixtures – you need to find things that work well for you. You want to create that list of items that you're going to continue to do over and over again in every rental unit. He concludes by saying that the key, when it comes to renovations of the rental unit is consistency.

Important Links

8 - Renting vs. Buying a Vacation Property

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 28 Dec 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin discusses renting versus buying a vacation property.

Quentin says that over the past few months, there have been a lot of vacation properties being rented out in the Halliburton area, where a few years ago, there were for-sale signs everywhere. So, why would you buy a vacation property? He says that if one of your goals was to own a vacation property and go ahead and buy it. However, if you're just looking to utilize the vacation property, there are a couple of different options. First, how often are you actually going to utilize the actual property? Look at the number of days that you were actually able to go to the cottage versus renting the same type of cottage in the same area. This will give you an idea of whether the expenses owing such a property are feasible or not.

He adds that oftentimes, the rental vacation properties barely cover the expenses and don’t offer any significant cash flow. It is different for people who are in the business of short-term vacation property rentals. The other thing is can you get a better yield on your money in a different asset? Sometimes it makes more sense to invest money in your business or in a rental property in a different area that has good cash flow and good appreciation.

Quentin adds that when it comes to vacation properties, there are other types of investments as well like new fractional ownership properties, where there are 12 owners of the property, and each one gets assigned five weeks, where you can go and visit. However, it is not an investment as it does not give a yield that you can get on an investment property with cash flow and appreciation in a good solid investment area. As for timeshare, he says “Get it off the secondary market you can probably pay for like the cost of the paper that it's on like $1 And you just take over the payments. Don't buy a new timeshare.”

In conclusion, he adds that to learn about whether your property would make sense as a vacation rental, you can use resources like AirDNA, to get an idea of how much time a certain area is being rented out and the prices that they're going for. This will help you make an informed decision.

Important Links

Bonus - How to Achieve Your Real Estate Goals Faster

Quentin DSouza — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this special episode of Get Real Wealthy, Quentin talks about how you can achieve your real estate goals faster.

Quentin says that when we're talking about goal setting, you really want to have a long-term vision, and then a shorter-term vision, and be able to achieve that weekly, whether you take a 10-year view out or 20-year view out, you want to have that big picture. So that you continue to work on that, and then you want to break it down into smaller goals. He adds “I am going to focus on your real estate portfolio. But you can do the same thing to any goals that you have.” He says that the first thing that you need is to have a “vision”, and what are you going to do when you get there. You need that big “why” of doing it and when that difference is big enough, then you will be able to achieve that goal. Quentin shares that his own journey in real estate became successful because of goal setting and goal achieving.

When it comes to setting long-term goals, he suggests choosing goals across various categories like business, health and fitness, financial, relationship, lifestyle, personal growth and development, contributions, etc. Then, you should have near-future goals, like what type of real estate investor do you want to be? You have to decide for yourself what that looks like, and then you have to be able to measure it. He also says that the trick is, whatever you spend the most time in, you are going to feel more successful doing it. Your mindset affects your behavior, and then you will be able to do something that you didn't think you were able to, he adds “whatever you focus on, grows.”

Quentin shares that by using the template from Action Taker’s Real Estate Investing Planner, you can set up quarterly goals like him. The other thing that you should be doing is a quarterly challenge, something that takes you out of your comfort zone. If you want to achieve your goals, you got to challenge yourself. You also have to delegate to other people, what you cannot do yourself. Real estate is a multiple-person game, you need other people on your team to be able to help you. For personal deployment, what are those centers of influence, who specifically is going to help you to get your goal? Lastly, what's your real estate strategy, your focus, and then identify what freedoms you have achieved. This is how you will be able to purposefully achieve your goals.

Resources Mentioned

Action Taker’s Real Estate Investing Planner

Important Links:

7 - Illegal vs. Legal Accessory Dwellings

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 00:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin discusses the illegal versus legal secondary suites.

Quentin says that an accessory dwelling is usually a dwelling that's found in addition to a primary dwelling. So the primary building could be a single detached, semidetached house or one house beside the other and then in the basement of that, there is another unit. Usually, there is another entrance into that unit. Sometimes it's from a shared common area. Sometimes it's a separate entrance from the outside going in. So the accessory dwelling unit can be in the basement, an addition on the back, or the top. Sometimes it could be an exterior building, like a pool building or a garage that has another living unit on the same lot as the building.

There are some units that are illegal, which were created without permits. They don’t adhere to building codes, the bylaw, or the fire code. So if you are buying a building that has an accessory dwelling, you need to make sure that it's legal. Sometimes there are properties that are legal and non-conforming, though, meaning that they were built perhaps years earlier, met the code at the time, and perhaps they are grandfathered in as being legal but they do not conform to current building codes or the bylaws. He adds that he stays away from the illegal suits because they can easily be shut down if someone complains.

There are different rules that are out there that allow you to legalize a unit. Sometimes there are pieces of legislation that allow you to grandfather in units. Every municipality is different in this regard. He adds “what I would love to see is that any unit can be made legal as long as it needs fire code, because by law, I think it's a little out of control when it comes to parking regulations and green space.”Quentin further says that there are some risks associated with illegal units. Putting an end to the unit itself can be a big risk because all of a sudden you're losing an income source. If it doesn't meet fire regulations and there's a fire in the unit, and your insurance provider wasn't aware that it was an illegal unit, it could cause some issues for you.

In conclusion, he says that you should make sure that you have all of those pieces in place. As a professional investor, he likes to stay out of illegal units, adding “that's the way that I like to play and I try to stick to legal units as much as possible. Sometimes I may have a building that has an illegal unit in it and I work to through the process to convert it to make it legal.”

Important Links

6 - BRRR - How Does a BRRR Refinance Work?

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 06:45:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin discusses the refinancing aspect of the buy renovate, refinance and rent, or the BRRR strategy.

Quentin says that when it comes to the BRRR strategy, this is when the investor gets paid. So, it is the most important step of the process. If you bought the property well, and identify what the after repair value of the property, whether it is with the help of an app, or a realtor, it should be higher than what it was when you started the project. It is really important that you take some time and prepare for the appraisal. Talking about the financing types, he says that you should be in a variable rate product, whenever you're doing this type of strategy. You want to make sure that you have the ability to get out with three months interest penalty, or you're in perhaps a private mortgage, that allows you to get out of the property current mortgage into an A lender or better product.

He adds that as opposed to the US, there is no seasoning period in Canada. He says that there are ways to prepare for the appraisal of a property. Knowing the comparables and preparing appraisal package for your appraiser is a key tool to help you get a higher than appraised value. During the appraisal, you want to make sure that you are walking through the property with the appraiser. You do not want to just find a time let them go in by themselves. You need to let them know about the new wiring, the upgraded plumbing, any bills or large expenses, share that you have spent the money and made upgrades to this property. You want to bring up the benefits of the property, as well as compare it to the other units or properties in the area.

Talk about some of the other pieces that make this property unique and better? Put yourself on a different pedestal versus the comparable properties. You want to make sure that you're doing that as best as you can. In the event of receiving a low appraisal, there are a few options for you. One, you can talk to your mortgage broker, your mobile mortgage specialist bank, and you can ask them, Can I get another appraisal? Sometimes you can. Another option would be to question the comparables that were used. In the appraisal, perhaps they are comparing your legal duplex to a similar single family home which is not the same, and especially if an appraiser doesn't know or understand the difference.

The third thing that you could do is you could take a short term mortgage, maybe a one year term, perhaps a variable rate mortgage, and get the property appraised again in a few months. A fourth option would be another financial company to come in and put the mortgage on the property and try for a different appraisal.

Resources Mentioned

Important Links

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5 - BRRR - How to Renovate a Property For its Highest and Best Use

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 08:36:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin discusses the renovation aspect of the buy renovate, refinance and rent, or the BRRR strategy.

Quentin says that when it comes to the BRRR strategy, it is crucial to keep your costs down. He says that add the buying, renovation costs, add them together and subtract the after-repair value, the spread that you get is what is going to be reduced from your 20% down payment. He adds that you have to have the renovation cost in mind. While keeping those costs down can be a challenge, but you're also trying to get the highest appraised value possible. It does not necessarily mean that the property has to have high-end finishes, it is about bringing it to its highest and best use.

He further adds “what it means is looking at a property seeing what it is now and seeing what it could be in the future after you added some renovations to it after you've solved the problem.” Essentially, you want to give the most value lift to the property. To keep your construction costs on budget, sometimes you buy a property, and you need to identify what your renovation costs are because you don't have the expertise to do it yourself. This is where you can ask general contractors for the services during the inspections of the property.

Perhaps two or three contractors, during the inspection process and get some quotes on the renovation costs for the particular property. He adds that what you're always trying to do is to see how you can increase the potential income from that asset, and that's why accessory apartments or accessory dwelling units can add value to a building. Quentin further says “I always suggest that you have a general contractor especially if you're doing it for the first time to handle all the day-to-day stuff. But you go in every week and make sure you understand the entire process and then you can always take it on yourself on the next project.”

In conclusion, he says that while it can be very challenging dealing with various municipalities and building inspectors in general. Just remember you're building to a building code and that's what you want to adhere to as best as possible.

Resources Mentioned

The Ultimate Wealth Strategy: Your Complete Guide to Buying, Fixing, Refinancing, and Renting Real Estate

Important Links

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4 - BRRR - Buying RIGHT: The Key to the Success of BRRR Strategy

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 08:34:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin discusses the buying section of the buy, renovate, refinance and rent process.

Quentin says that buying right is probably the most important part of the BRRR strategy. If you overpay for an asset, you are not going to be able to refinance it for a price higher than the purchase price, and the strategy is not going to work. He adds that you can actually buy at market price, but it will always depend on the market. Sometimes if you're in a heavily situated seller's market, the purchase price is a lot higher than what would be considered the previous market price. That can work, if the market price continues to push up over the time of the renovation, but you're taking a risk if you're trying to predict or speculate on a future price.

He further says that if you are buying high, in a fast-appreciating market, it can really benefit you, even if you bought it at the market price of today. He says that “my preference is to buy with equity and buying with equity means that you have to work harder in order to find those properties…” He dedicates his time and resources to find opportunities that other people won't be able to. You can either spend the time and marketing dollars yourself to do it, or you can give those dollars to somebody else and let them do it for you. You deal directly with a broker who has a pocket listing, or you can reach out to wholesalers.

Talking about the wholesalers’ assignment fees, Quentin says that they charge for the work, time and effort they dedicate to put such deals together. The alternative is going out, spending the time and looking for off market properties yourself. You can do that by reaching out to the people who put up the ‘WE BUY HOUSES’ signs, and asking to be put on their buyer's list. You can also use other sources like Property Guys or Kijiji. He further adds “create those relationships with those wholesalers…create relationships with realtors and brokers who have lots of listings that match the type of property that you are interested in purchasing.”

In conclusion, Quentin says that when you reach out to them, let them know that you've got your financing ready, you have your down payment ready, and you just need the property. Furthermore, create a property scoring system that could help you filter the properties that fit your criteria.

Resources Mentioned

Important Links

3 - BRRR - The Basics of The BRRR Process

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin shares how he was introduced, and how he has used the ‘buy, renovate, refinance and rent’, or the BRRR process.

Quentin says that he has used this approach since 2008, from small starter homes to large 40, 50 unit apartment buildings. While the process is the same, the timeline varies a little and the scope of what you are doing with capital expenses can be different. He shares that when they had gone back to 20% down, he was just trying to figure out a way to get a larger yield on his money. He started out in real estate by taking a line of credit out on their principal residence.

He adds that since the start, it's been refinancing and rolling that into new projects, taking on different partners on different projects, etc. while trying to take advantage of having a low-down payment into his projects, get better yield and have cash flow. What he had figured out was that if he bought a property that needed work, he could fix it, refinance it to the after repaired value, and as long as that after repair value cash flowed well, he could continue to hold that asset. The better that he did it, the more he was able to take out of the project and have none of his own money into it.

While he had success with this approach and developed great relationships, he says “if I were to go back, I would have done a lot more of the projects that I had passed over because I felt like they were singles or doubles…” It led him to seek out other people who are doing the strategy, and met two great friends, Andrew Brennan, and Jeff Wood. Quentin also wrote the book The Ultimate Wealth Strategy with the latter. He adds “The Ultimate Wealth Strategy, which is on buying fixing refinancing renting real estate back then we called it the BFRR strategy. It was rebranded years later to buy renovate, refinance and rent the BRRR strategy.”

In conclusion, he says that when you're able to find in use the strategy of buy renovate, refinance and rent and cashflow positive on an asset in an appreciating market where it is typically considered an appreciation market versus a cash flow market, you can do extremely well that's why he focuses on that strategy. In the upcoming episodes, Quentin will cover different aspects of this approach.

Resources Mentioned

The Ultimate Wealth Strategy: Your Complete Guide to Buying, Fixing, Refinancing, and Renting Real Estate

Important Links

2 - 100% of $5,000 a Month in Cash Flow vs. 1% of $500,000 in Rents

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin takes on the question; ‘would you rather have 100% of $5,000 a month in cash flow or 1% of $500,000 in rents.’

Quentin says that the reason why we're going through this is to give you a perspective of whether you invest directly in one to four-unit properties and build a portfolio over time or you decide to scale into a property and have an idea of what that cash flow would look like for you based on that portfolio. To understand this, really, you need to know about the debt coverage ratio, what cash flow is and agree on that. Then, look at the portfolio size, how that affects your cash flow and the returns that you get on a particular investment.

The debt coverage ratio is a way for the bank to determine whether they are going to fund your property or not. If you calculate your mortgage, utility payments, property taxes, insurance, and some variable costs, put them all that together, that is the debt on the property. So, If you are getting an equivalent amount of monthly rent to debt, that means you would have a 1.0 debt coverage ratio, and 1.2 would mean that you are earning 20% per month on that particular asset.

As for the one to four-unit property space, you are looking at proforma, which takes those same numbers that you use for a debt coverage ratio, but analyzes them from a cash flow perspective. Let's suppose you have a cash flow of $200 from a property, and your goal is to generate $5,000 a month, you would need 25 doors to accomplish that. On the other hand, if you had portfolio size change because you decided to scale up and get into larger multifamily units, it's easier to look at it from a debt coverage ratio perspective and get an idea of what your general rents are, you can come up with return you would be getting.

So, if you had $500,000 in rent, and you had that coverage ratio of 1.2, that means 20% of that is $100,000, which you would keep at the end of the month. If you had 50% of that as a partner, you would have $50,000 a month. Now being able to get to that scale in size takes time, but it depends on the size of the projects that you get involved in. However, other things also come into play when you scale, such as a much high mortgage payment, as compared to a smaller portfolio. Essentially, having 100% of $5,000 a month in cash flow or 1% of $500,000 in rents is going to depend on what your goals are and what you are looking to accomplish with real estate investing.

Important Links

1 - 8 Things I Would Have Done Different If I started Again

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode of Get Real Wealthy Season 2, Quentin shares eight things he would have done differently if were to build his portfolio again.

Quentin says that he purchased his first property in 2004. In 2008, he bought multiple properties for a year. By 2013, the cash flow from the portfolio allowed him to decide whether to quit his job or not. He left his job as a public-school teacher in 2014. He adds “it was quite a stressful decision, but decided to leave my profession and focus on real estate investing, full time, which I have been doing since 2014.”

Talking about the eight things he would do differently if he were to rebuild his portfolio, Quentin says.

Topics Discussed

• Eight Things He Would Have Done Differently

Important Links

• https://EducationREI.ca

• https://GetRealWealthy.com

• https://DurhamREI.ca

29 - Cash Flow Does Not Make You Wealthy

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member who immigrated to Canada 10 years ago and is looking to get back into real estate investing. He is working on a triplex in New Brunswick and also looking at properties in other provinces because of the cash flow potential, we cover how cash flow will help hold on to it, but it will not make you wealthy.

The member shares that before immigrating to Canada 10 years ago, he bought an apartment in the UK. he rented the apartment, and it has been positively cash flowing. After a bad experience with private lending, he moved away from real estate. Now, he is considering taking the money he had against ETFs and stocks and putting it into real estate for better returns, and just had his offer accepted on a triplex in New Brunswick. He is looking to learn about the due diligence process and grow his network as well.

Quentin suggests that the bi-monthly Q&A calls are a great place to learn, share and network with other investors in the area. The member shares that his motivation behind investing in the New Brunswick area was the better tenant rules, lower purchase price and higher cash flow, as he is looking to get out of his 9 to 5 sooner and build up that passive cash flow. Quentin adds that “cash flow is not going to make you rich. It will help you to hold on to an asset, but it will not make you rich. You need to make sure that you're also getting some appreciation.”

He further suggests looking at other markets around Ontario that make sense and are in a good positive cash flow market such as Kingston, Peterborough and St. Catharines. Quentin also recommends going through the “Your First Three Properties in Real Estate” course, as it will help him find out which areas, he should invest in. He adds that there's always a reason why you have higher cap rates because usually there's a risk. Cap rate is based on the asset price, the asset location and the interest rate. He suggests comparing the debt against the asset versus the cap rate. He further advises “I want you to go back to the street that you purchased your triplex on, talk to a realtor in the area, get the last 10 years of appreciation on that asset on the property that you purchased…you will get an average appreciation rate over the last 10 years.”

Quentin adds that cash flow will help you keep the asset. It will also help you to leave your 9 to 5 but appreciation will make you wealthy and you want to be able to have both. He also suggests talking with investors during the Q&A calls and discussing their cash flow numbers in the areas that they are investing in. On the subject of whether multifamily buildings are a sound investment, Quentin says that “the key is if you are going to scale just make sure that you include all your maintenance repair vacancy and property management into your calculations…”

He also adds that if he bought two newly built fourplexes side by side and the titles merge, he might be able to get commercial financing on the property. As it's a new build, there are some benefits to that. Quentin suggests looking at getting two together and then getting commercial, like CMHC financing, which on the new build would be impressive.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
His Background and Experience in Real Estate Investing [01:00]
Why Did He Decide to Invest in the New Brunswick Area? [03:48]
Are Multifamily Buildings Are a Good Real Estate Investment? [13:04]

Resources Mentioned

Your First Three Properties

Important Links

28 - Best Strategies for Finding Off Market Properties

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member who discovered real estate investing through property management. Her goal is to grow the property management company by finding off market deals and managing those properties. We cover some sources where she can find deals and why finding the highest and best use for a property might be a better strategy

The member shares that she worked as an analyst and started in real estate investing through property management. she bought her first property in Peterborough for $630,000, and now it is worth over $880,000. The cash flow so far after all expenses are paid is $1,500. Her goal is to grow their property management business, by finding off market deals and managing those properties themselves. Currently, they are trying to do flips in the area to generate that capital for these projects.

Quentin adds that while her cash flow numbers are impressive, she should try to scale it. As for the financing, he says that you don't always have to be the person that has money or don't do the financing, adding “Oftentimes you bring people together who have different components or skills and also the Raising Money for Real Estate course is a good place to start.” He also recommends going through the “Off Market and Discounted Properties Course” as it will teach her everything, she needs to learn to find those properties.

Quentin also suggests contacting people behind the ‘We Buy Houses’ signs and asking them to add her to their buyer's list. Talking about why wholesalers often have high assignment fees, Quentin says that it has mainly to do with the marketing costs. He adds that “you need to get on as many lists as you can so that if an opportunity comes up that you can take it or not take it, or you have to do the marketing yourself and pay for the market.” He further suggests that have a good relationship with realtors and show that you're going to actually close on the property. Sometimes they may have a pocket listing that they could perhaps share with you.

Talking about the property values, he says that sometimes looking at what the potential highest and best use of the property is to add the value that you want. You have to find something and see something in the property that other people don't see, or you have to solve a problem that other people aren't willing to solve. if you can solve those problems, then you can buy something with some value to it. As long as you know what the cost is to solve that problem, you can take advantage of the value.

Quentin adds that some people have a mental blockage, and it just depends on the person that has nothing to do and somebody who gives you a limit is because they're limited. He continues by adding that everybody's different and you have to find out and figure out what do you really want, what works best for you, and what the reason is that you're investing in real estate. If it's to replace your income, it's going to be different than somebody who perhaps is using it to like to retire from in 10 years.

On the subject of whether $10,000 a month is a realistic goal, he says that it is doable. He suggests listening to people who you resonate with and who resonate with you and ignoring all the noise. If you find somebody who was already doing what you want to do, then you should be listening to them. He says that by adding a few more properties to her portfolio, she can achieve this goal in the next three years or even sooner.

Furthermore, there'll be ancillary benefits that come from investing in real estate that allow you to scale your income in different ways. In conclusion, he says that “just be careful that you don't get too transactional because what happens if you get too transactional is that you're always depending on the next transaction to eat.”

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
His Background and Experience in Real Estate Investing [00:53]
What Does She Rent Her Property for in Peterborough? [03:17]
Does She Have Any Financing, or Talked to Anybody About Financing Flip Projects? [06:03]
How Many Deals You Should Do in a Year? [15:22]
Is $10,000 a Month in Cash Flow an Unrealistic Goal? [20:37]

Resources Mentioned

Important Links

27 - Tips for Getting a Higher Property Appraisal

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member who is going through his first BRRR property. He is looking for advice on the refinancing part of the strategy. He doesn't have comparables in his area, but we cover some tips to help him maximize his appraisal.

The member shares that he is currently working on his first BRRR project in the Port Coburne area of Niagara region. His first investing endeavor is transforming a single-family home into a legal duplex. In addition, he has a condo in Calgary. Currently, he is trying to gauge what his next steps should be, while looking to prepare for refinancing his property.

The member shares that his Calgary property has depreciated in value. Quentin adds that while the value of the real estate does not always go up, it is important that the property has a positive cash flow. On the subject of property appraisals, Quentin recommends going through a course on the appraisal procedure, available in vault section. As for the preparation steps, Quentin says that the first one is to locate any comparables in the region and create an appraisal package for the appraiser. There are also samples on the website that have helped other members receive higher appraisals.

He adds “The key is always to, if you're expecting the appraisal to come in, let's say at $500,000. To prepare your package so that your appraisal looks like $550,000, and if you end up getting $525,000, then you know, it's a win win-win.” Quentin further adds that if the member does not get the desired appraisal, they have the option to either go for a second appraisal or take a shorter-term mortgage.

He prefers variable rate mortgage as with a variable rate, you can always refinance a variable rate with three months interest penalty.

On the subject of lack of comparables in the area, Quintin suggests picking a square footage of a house that's very similar to the square footage of his property.

Another option is to look for comparables a little further down the road. Out of the three property appraisal methods—comparison, income, and replacement—according

to Quentin, the ideal is the income method. In conclusion, he reiterates that the member must be present when the appraiser arrives. He needs to show a professional attitude and seriousness, as an appraisal is when you get paid.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]

His Background and Experience in Real Estate Investing [00:50]

Importance of Having Cash Flow on Assets [02:50]

How To Prepare for Property Appraisal [03:54]

Strategies to Get Desired Appraisal Value [05:25]

What If There Are No Comparable in The Area? [08:19]

Resources Mentioned

Appraisal Process - Course

Important Links

https://EducationREI.ca

https://GetRealWealthy.com

https://DurhamREI.ca

26 - Investing in Multifamily Properties

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member who is wanting to move from renting out condos to multifamily properties. We touch on how to find those off market deals and screening methods for potential joint venture partners.

The member shares that he had always wanted to get into real estate, as his father was a real estate investor. Ten years ago, he bought a two-bedroom condo, where he rented one of the rooms. His wife also had a condo and she brought that into the marriage. Together, they also purchased a rental cottage that they are putting on Airbnb. He says that his goal is to use real estate as a retirement vehicle. He wants to invest in multifamily units and wants to find a joint venture partner. He is also looking for opportunities to network and connect with people who are already in the business through the Education REI network.

Quentin shares that there are always different parts to every deal, and you can always participate in different parts. When you're talking about multifamily, it is multifaceted. He adds that the member should be considering commercial multifamily properties like 12-to-20-unit range to get started and then move up to 20-to-40-unit range. He further adds that as there are different aspects of every deal, you have to be able to bring some parts to make it happen, such as bringing the actual property itself, bringing the funding to the deal, or helping out in the financing realm and net worth requirement. Another alternative that requires none of that is bringing money into the deal as a partner.

Quentin suggests going through the Multifamily Properties area of the Road Map section, such as Overcoming the Challenges of Commercial Residential Investing, Pros and Cons of Multifamily Properties, How to Acquire and Develop Land, and Electricity and Water Sub Metering. He also suggests going through Raising Money for Real Estate System Joint Ventures, adding that whether it’s a big apartment building or a smaller multifamily unit property, the principles are very much the same. He says that if you want to do the lead generation piece, you should look at the Off Market and Discounted Properties Real Estate System.

Furthermore, Quentin suggests attending both of the Q&A sessions, for the beginners and the experienced investors, as the networking section of the latter would be a great opportunity for the member. He also recommends going through the Action Taker Goal Attainment Program, making the plan, going out and then doing it. On the subject of vetting potential JV partners, Quentin adds that the member can ask them for referrals to people who have invested in one of their previous projects. He adds that building relationships should be a priority, and if there are any agreements, have them reviewed by a lawyer to make sure that everything is done correctly.

He adds “You're kind of doing your due diligence on the person more than the deal itself, because there's lots of opportunities that come along, and then it's about finding the right one for you.” Talking about how he can find off market deals, Quentin suggests going through the Off Market and Discounted Properties Real Estate System course, as it covers the necessary systems and processes. He also recommends being prepared in all aspects before talking to the brokers. He adds that following through is also important because once you stop following through, people will stop wanting to do business with you.

In conclusion, Quentin says that while the journey is not an easy one, especially in the beginning, it gets easier over the time. You can create what you want, but it just takes time to do it. Be the director, be the leader, take a group of people together and move them forward. The things that people call you, see you as an asset, when you introduce yourself, introduce yourself with those skills.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
His Background and Experience in Real Estate Investing [01:13]
Different Parts of Multi-Family Real Estate Investing [04:21]
How to Vet Your Potential JV Partner? [12:02]
Where to Find Deals for Multi-Family Projects [16:34]
How to Lead, and Not Just be a Part of the Journey [22:43]

Resources Mentioned

Important Links

25 - Real Estate Investing for Beginners: Focus on One Area When Starting Out

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member who has a few investment properties spread out over long distances, we cover why it is important to focus on one area starting out and becoming an expert in that area. We also touch on a blend and extend for when you are feeling stuck in a fixed mortgage.

The member, who is a nuclear engineer, started investing in real estate last year and now has three properties under his belt. He shares that his short-term goal is to get enough cash flow to cover the mortgage on his primary residence. In the long term, he wants to replace his active income of around $10,000 from his 9 to 5 job. Talking about the cash flow that he's getting from his properties, he says that they are rented under the market rate.

Quentin suggests add one of the things he should consider is doing some ‘Cash for Keys’ and offering his tenants to leave, since there is a huge difference in market rent and the rent that he is getting. Quentin suggests going through the Property Management: Key Policies and Procedures course to get a better idea of how things should be done and why to take the time to do that. Furthermore, he should be careful if he is spreading his assets all over the place, adding “it's okay to invest in different areas. It's better to focus.” The Your First Three Properties in Real Estate course identifies the fundamentals that he should be looking for in any area that he invests in.

Talking about the available equity, that member shares that he has not maximized the available equity on his principal residence about plans to do so. Quentin recommends that he can do a ‘blend and extend’ to avoid the penalty for switching from fixed rate mortgage. He further adds that the member should have a secured line of credit on his principal residence and if his income is over $10,000 a month he should also be applying for unsecured lines of credit as well, adding “even if you don't use it, it's always good to have and not need the need and not have.”

Quentin adds that the member should go to TD, BMO, CIVC, National Bank, then apply for a line of credit on usually all four or five banks at the same time, as long as he is comfortable with the debt and the numbers make sense. He also recommends asking for more than what he wants from the banks. He continues “those unsecured lines of credit, you know, the interest is tax deductible, but you have to make sure that you can service the debt, with the properties okay that everything makes sense.”

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
Their Background and Experience in Real Estate Investing? [1:10]
What Are His Goals with Real Estate Investing? [02:51]
What is the Current Cash Flow Based on His Portfolio? [03:57]
When Did he Purchase the Townhouses? [05:15]
How Much Equity and Access to Line of Credits Does He Have? [09:18]

Resources Mentioned

Important Links

24 - How Networking Can Help You Find Joint Venture Partners

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 10:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with Jeff, a member who was a contractor. He joined DurhamREI to find new clients and to learn what real estate investing is all about. He was hesitant to start investing until he met some joint venture partners through networking. Now he's already on his second property. He shares his journey and what his experience has been since joining DurhamREI.

Jeff is a contractor by trade, who owns his own business, and he closed his first property, a rental in Peterborough, Ontario in January, a JV partnership. He says that he partnered up with someone he met through DurhamREI, which has been a great experience for him. It has allowed him to network, find likeminded people and make connections. He adds that he was nervous, being a first-time investor, and this person helped him feel more confident. He shared his knowledge with Jeff, and they did a deal together in Peterborough to get him started. Now, they are closing their second property which will be a flip in Peterborough.

Talking about the first property, Jeff shares that it was an undervalued duplex, and the owner was having problems with the tenants. They were paying under market rent to start. After meeting the tenants, they realized that the tenants weren't the problem, and they seem to be taking care of the property extremely well. They got it at a time when the market had just started to hit that point where everybody was out-bidding each other. They were able to get it $20,000 undervalue, so we got it for $380,000 instead of the $400,000. He adds that the property is cash flowing barely but they are working out some solutions to get tenants in paying more rent. In the meantime, they have also gained appreciation, and he is really happy with the overall experience.

Quentin adds that “the great thing is that you were able to come up to an event, you know, make some connections, also then build on those connections with actually going out and doing a deal together, and then figuring out what works, what doesn't work and then gaining some confidence in order to, to get your, your own deals.” Talking about his contracting business, Jeff shares that he started his own business after working with his father for 15 years. He adds that his original intention of joining DurhamREI was to promote his contracting business. Being there, he learned about real estate investing, and as a great added bonus, he made connections with some investors who were also looking for contractors and now 75% of his business is actually investors.

Jeff further adds “when I joined, I was so unsure about joining a group of people, who obviously were at further stage in life investing, financially and it was really scary for me, but I did it anyway and I could not be happier.” He says that there was a lot of knowledge to learn, and he can't put a number on the value. He gained so much value from being a member there and thinks that it the best decision he has ever made. As for his advice for investors when working with a contractor, Jeff suggests that you should always get more than one quote, because prices can range drastically, depending on the contractor and how busy they are. Try to work with someone local, it can be a little cheaper and more convenient, but do your due diligence when checking out a contractor.

He concludes by adding that check out the references and work of a contractor, and if you can, go to a site in person rather than seeing pictures do that. Try to build a relationship, as it's not all about money. So, good contractors are hard to find, and when you find one, stick with them if they're reasonable in prices. That's kind of someone you can keep in your team.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
Their Background and Experience in Real Estate Investing? [0:56]
How His First Real Estate Investing Experience Went [2:55]
His Contracting Business and How That Has Looked Over The years [5:42]
His Advice for Investors When Working with a Contractor [8:52]
How to Reach Out to Jeff? [10:08]

Resources Mentioned

completecontractingdurham@gmail.com
905-439-0747

Important Links

23 - The Basics of Real Estate Investing for Beginners

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member who is starting his real estate career with a house hacking strategy. He changed his career and moved into construction, and got his real estate license as a way of investing in real estate. We found that he is running the risk of doing too much himself, and might want to look at outsourcing in order to grow faster.

In terms of real estate investing, the member has rented out the basement of his property. He wants to eventually buy another house, rent out the upstairs, get another house with a basement apartment again, and build his way up that way. He left his job as an accountant five years ago, and took on construction and carpentry, with the end goal of getting into real estate. He has also earned his realtor license as well.

Talking about what he wants to achieve by participating in the membership, he says that it will help him in gaining subject knowledge, networking, a work life balance and building some wealth for his kids as he wants it to be his career. Quentin adds that while the member likes to be hands-on with all aspects himself, he does not need to do any of that to be a real estate investor. He needs to figure out how to build a team around him to do the things that he doesn't like to do, while figuring out what he likes doing in the business and then focusing on that.

Quentin suggests starting with Your First Three Properties in Real Estate course, as most Realtors don't have the background in the investment side, where you really need to be, if you're going to go down this path. He also suggests using the Property Analyzer Tool, that helps you to analyze a property to see whether the numbers work or not. As the member likes to be hands-on with the renovations, there is also a video series on renovations. Quentin adds that he should take some time, go through the videos, and the actual case studies to get familiarized with the ins-and-outs of real estate investing.

The member share that he wanted to learn how to do everything, so that he would have the knowledge. Quentin adds that in this business there are so many different roles that you could do. The industry allows for different ways for people to earn income, but what happens is you become transactional, where you are selling your time for dollars. That is not something you would want to do, so you have to build the asset base, and to do that it requires you to focus on adding assets into your portfolio.

Quentin suggests attending the meetings, the Q&A calls, and networking events, and talking to other people to find out what they're doing, where they're buying and what makes sense. He also suggests using the Action Taker Goal Attainment Program. It helps you to outline what your 10-year goals are, what your three-year goals are, and then helps you to outline quarterly goals for yourself. He adds “if you write down in some way what you want, and you look at it, they are more likely to achieve it, than if you were to, you know, have an idea in your head.”

On the subject of investing in areas a little further away, Quentin says that you have to be careful when you're thinking about something like that. There is a criterion to stick to and he can identify that after going through the First Three Rental Properties Course. It highlights the fundamentals that you want to look at, and factors to take into consideration before making a decision. Once he has decided, he can join the Q&A calls, networking events, and find somebody else who has invested in that area. That way he can get a better idea. He concludes by saying that the challenge isn't usually the area, it's finding the right assets.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
What Does He Want to Achieve by Participating in the Membership? [02:53]
Where Areas Should He Invest in? [15:00]

Resources Mentioned

22 - How to Build a Real Estate Portfolio for Cash Flow

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a couple who has a single-family rental that they would like to increase its cash flow, and they are also coming up with a mortgage renewal. We cove why moving to a variable rate mortgage will give them more options for further investing and what situations work best for putting properties under a corporation.

They purchased an investment property, a freehold townhouse five years ago in Alliston. They want to expand their portfolio, as they want to leave a property each for their sons, and help them in their retirement. After doing research into real estate investing, they have been excited about the possibilities that it can offer. For their next property, they are looking to buy a duplex or a triplex. They have reached out to some of Quentin’s students in the Durham Region, to join them and see and learn how the whole process works. While there Alliston property turned out great, it has a cash flow problem.

Currently, their mortgage payment is $1297 a month after property taxes, while the total mortgage amount is $227k. Their property is currently valued around $600,000. As for the current rent of the property, they are charging $1610, but if they were to re rent it, they could get over $2000. Their mortgage is coming due December. They went with a fixed rate, and they have the option to refinance early. While doing research about their next purchase, it has only led to further confusion about whether or not they should leave this property in their personal names, and then going forward, open up a new company.

Quentin suggests going through the ‘When to Use a Corporation and When Not To Use A Corporation’ course in the world to get an idea of both. Having a corporation is a good idea if they are looking to build a portfolio of three, four or more properties. The upside of having corporate is that it doesn't appear on their personal name, but that's only a benefit if they're going to multiple lenders. He adds that if they're not sure, the thing is they can always come back and do Section 85 later. He says that one of the reasons why they might want to speed up the process is that if the Liberal government gets reelected and they change capital gains tax.

Quentin suggests that for the amount of funds that they have access to with that CIVC or Scotia Bank mortgage, they should make sure that whatever they give them, they should maximize the loan that they have access to through the line of credit component to it. He adds that when they're doing 100% financing, it's tougher to make the numbers work but it's good to be able to access funds because then it will allow them to invest in other projects. He suggests that never go fixed rate again.

He further says that they will never be able to catch up or take advantage of changes in interest rates, but they can always lock in. If they feel uncomfortable about anything, but lock in for a year. As an investor, access to capital is even more important because it can prevent or allow them to access more deals, and if they have a variable rate mortgage, they can always exit a variable rate mortgage by paying three months interest penalty and then access funds.

The members share their plans to sell their primary residence in the next year, so Quentin suggests going through the Getting Higher Appraisals: The Basics. He adds that a lot of people don't understand this but as a real estate investor, that's when you get paid on appraisals, because when you do an appraisal, you get access to funds either through a line of credit or remortgaging the property. He also recommends going through the content on Property Analyzer, as it helps learn about what to look for.

Talking about another way to get an idea about the rent is just going to Kijiji and or Facebook marketplace and look for ads in their area and see what the rents are, because that way they get a better sense of what something is renting for, or they can talk to a realtor in the area. The members share that the reason that they went directly to Scotia is they don't have any kind of a line of credit with using the equity from the house and Alliston property, Quentin adds that they should start out right away, because it can take some time, and update them once they get it done.

Quentin adds that the mortgage brokers are really helpful in finding other types of lenders and putting it together. They can help with a plan, particularly if they're looking to buy multiple properties. They can help plan out their next few purchases rather than usually somebody who's at a bank will only look at their next purchase. It may not help them or position them well for those future purchases, so it's something to keep in mind. Talking about how they can ask their tenants to vacate the property, he says that they should use the ‘Cash for Keys’ approach, where both parties sign an N11, declaring that both have agreed to end the tenancy, for a certain amount of money. They could also apply to The Landlord and Tenant Board for an above the guideline increase, if they have done a capital expense.

Talking about whether they should sell the property or not, Quentin says that the problem with single family home properties is that at a certain point, they won't be able to leverage it enough to access any equity. If it were an apartment building, they could bring it up to the maximum loan to value, but a one-to-four-unit property is based on the rent numbers, and on comparables. Then they may have equity that they can't access, because the rents don't support them taking more.

He suggests going through the calculation called the Return on Equity Calculation, as it is something that he does for his portfolio. They may want to do on their property, just to see what that looks like. In conclusion, he suggests attending the Q&A calls, participate in the networking with other members, and get feedback if they have any questions, because “your journey is always easier when you take it with somebody else.”

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
Are They Looking to Expand Their Portfolio? [02:03]
What is the Current Mortgage that they Have on the Alliston Property? [05:23]
What Would the Rent be if they were to Re-rent it? [06:12]
Do They Have Access to the Equity in Some Form on the Townhouse? [06:53]
Have they Talked to Any Mortgage Broker for Financing their Next Property? [22:53]
Would it Make Sense to Sell the Property? [31:47]

Resources Mentioned

Important Links

21 - Immigrant Empowerment Through Real Estate Investing

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with member, who is a new immigrant to Canada and new to investing. His future goals are to invest in multifamily residential complexes, and help new immigrants with getting started in real estate investing.

Talking about his background, he shares that he is fairly new to Canada, and got interested in real estate after reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and getting connected with a few people in the Kitchener area. He has one property, where they renovated the basement or rented it out. Now, his goal is to focus on multifamily triplexes, fourplexes, and wants to focus on buying homes, joint venture agreements, and raising money through people. He says that he would like to concentrate on buying and holding, and slowly expand over time. He wants to purchase his second property in the next six months, and wants Quentin to guide him through the process.

Talking about financing, he says that he does not have money, and has $30,000 in student debt as well. Their previous property was a joint venture agreement. Now, they can get 80 percent of the equity on that property. Furthermore, he just started his new job, and his wife is about to leave hers, to work part-time. Quentin adds that they need to get onto their financing right away because they're need to get a letter from his wife’s current employer stating that she has been working there for two years so that they can use that for financing purposes. They may have trouble if his wife leaves her position, and him only starting a position to be able to qualify for another mortgage going forward.

Quentin suggests reaching out to a couple of brokers, and bank lender just to get an idea of their options. The member adds that he is looking to learn about how to raise finance, connect with people, have those conversations, and find the properties that they will be interested in. Quentin suggests that he should use a property analyzer to come up with the numbers, to be able to share with people so they understand and know what he is talking about. He adds that he really wants to come across as the expert, and to do that, he needs to invest some time like he did in his masters, in order to invest in his own education on this.

Quentin says that if he is looking at finding off market properties and also raising money, there are two main courses. One is called Raising Money for Real Estate System Joint Ventures, and the other one is Off Market Discounted Property System. Quentin continues “My thing is, do something with it, please. Like I'm providing it to you so that you can do something with it.” He suggests the member to go to the Q&A calls, that are done twice a month, hang out with other people, network with other people locally who are investing in your area, there's no better way in time to do this because we're so interconnected. If he has questions, he can bring them up at the call.

In conclusion, the member shares his long-term vision to help other immigrants putting their real estate plans in place. He has a show on CBC radio, focused on immigrants and they're looking to expand it over time. He wants to use it to build that platform, build himself, his brand, learn real estates, but also share it with a lot of immigrants. Quentin concludes it by saying that this is one of the great benefits of Canada. We do have a lot of opportunity here and we can do quite a bit.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00:00]
What Kind of Multifamily Complexes Does He Want? [00:02:44]
What is the Status of His Financing? [00:03:08]
Is He Looking to Raise Funds or is He Going to Purchase the Triplex Himself? [00:04:31]
How Long Has His Wife Been Working at Her Job? [00:06:20]
Who's on Mortgage on Their Property? [00:07:08]
Does He Have a Broker that He is Working with? [00:09:20]
Which Property Analyzer Did He Use to Show Returns to his Ex-Boss? [00:10:10]

Important Links and Resources

educationREI.ca
https://getrealwealthy.com/
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

20 - Why You Should Be Focused on Building a Portfolio

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member who is looking to leverage their primary residence in order to enter the real estate investing market. When looking for financing, we explore why you should approach it as building a portfolio and not just one property.

Talking about their background in real estate, the member shares that they own their house free and clear, and over the last year or two, he has been looking to leverage that. From a financial standpoint, they have been approved for a HELOC, and the funds have been there, up to $360,000 on this current house, as well as a mortgage of up to $700,000. Now, he’s looking to get into the investment property realm, and from the research that he has been doing, he has settled on the Peterborough area. His plan is to do the long-term strategy, and at least get one property and then see if it's for him, if he enjoys it, and if it makes sense.

Quentin starts off by saying that there's lots of ways to do, but you got to decide for yourself, and based on the HELOC that they already have, they may be able to get up to five properties based on their income and what they are doing, rather than just one. He adds “the thing you want to think about is how can I plan out more, if I wanted to have more and not get stuck.” Additionally, how you want to do financing is, you want to look at how can I get to wherever my goal is, you don't want to be put in a product that gets you stuck, so that you can't move forward for two years or three years. He suggests that you should also be talking to a couple other people, just to see what they have to say, and what that looks like to you. Your First Three Properties in Real Estate a good course to learn fundamentals, to help him decide in this area.

On the subject of strategies, Quentin says that the key that you want to ensure is that you're cashflow positive on your own. Don't worry about what the market is going to do. Think about buying a property that cash flows, that you can hold for a long period of time, that's going to be easy for you to manage as an asset or hire a property manager in the area to manage it for you. What you want to do is make sure that the cash flow covers the cost of a property manager maintenance repairs, that you can see all that's considered, and that's what you look at your property analyzer for. if you have a longer-term point of view, you can often ignore a lot of the gyrations of the market.

As for their house, they have a lot of equity, and Quentin says that it’s great that they have access to utilize the equity, he continues “the best possible way, don't think about the next property, think about how I can build a portfolio.” what you would look at is positioning yourself so that you could add some value. Once you do that, you refinance that rental property, use the money that you get from the refinance to pay back your initial investment, make sure that you can float the line of credit using the cash flow from the rental property included in your number. One of the things that people don't often tell us you can get a new mortgage on your rental property with a HELOC, and what the member is trying to do is something called the Smith Maneuver.

Quentin adds that the next piece for them would be, it depends on what they want to do, whether they manage it themselves or not, watch the five-hour course on property management, key policies and procedures. Furthermore, they also have a whole course around COVID and rental properties. In conclusion, Quentin mentions the Q&A calls, where members can ask their questions. As for his concerns about finding tenants, Quentin shares that due to rent control in Ontario, the byproduct of that is a lack of supply everywhere, there is a lack of supply across. This means that finding tenants should not be a problem.

Topics Discussed

· Introduction[00:00:00]

· WhichLender are they Getting 700K From?

[00:04:34]

· How You Should Get Your Financing

[00:06:08]

· What Strategy is He Thinking About Using for His Properties? [00:07:58]

· When Did He Get His House and How Much Has it Improved in Value?[00:09:41]

· What to Do After Using HELOC as the Down Payment? [00:13:10]

· Changes Brought About by COVID-19? [00:18:19]

· Is it Difficult to Find Tenants? [00:21:42]

Important Links and Resources

https://EducationREI.ca

https://GetRealWealthy.com

https://DurhamREI.ca

19 - Securing Your Retirement with Real Estate Investing

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member who is new to investing and wants to use it as a vehicle to set up her family's financial future and her retirement. They explore some options she can take during her growth phase of investing.

Talking about their background, the member shares that they are originally from Durham. They had been living in Toronto, in a single detached house. They decided to rent it, but the cash flow was not ideal compared to what they can get out here, for a lot less mortgage. In June, they bought duplex in Bowmanville, and rented the top floor, while they worked on the basement to rent it out as well. The renting arrangement for the upper floor came around to $1500 due to a family arrangement, and the basement for $1775 plus utilities.

Quentin adds that working with family is fine, as long as they have a proper lease in place, as sometimes there can be a little tension, especially in such cases. The member adds that both of the leases are short-term. Quentin says that as they are helping a family member out, they're doing them a favor, and hopefully that'll come back to them. On the subject of why they want to invest in real estate, they member shares that while both she and her husband do well financially, and have pension, they want to do this for their three kids. They want to do something like they didn't get help themselves, but to help them, like with a down payment, and then it would be nice if they had another one to help themselves.

She also shares that they do not have access to equity that they could repurpose into another property, and with the closing cost, the property cost them around $715k. Quentin adds that if they make it a legal duplex, then there should be value that's added to it, because if it's illegal duplex, they will be able to include both rents when you're applying for a mortgage. He mentions the related content on the subject in the vault, called The Phases of Real Estate Investing, Property Management, Key Policies and Procedures in the start area, as well as the course Your First Three Properties.

Quentin adds that they can rely on other property management services in the area to help them out, and some of them will just do tenant placement for them. In addition to this, the five-hour course on Property Management is helpful in this regard as well. The Getting Higher Appraisals course can help them get better appraisals for their property, and set themself apart from everybody else, as most people will never do this. He adds that there are a lot of times when we get paid in this business, we get paid in cash flow, and when we sell a property, but we try not to do that very often. What's better than selling a property is the appraisal; that's when we get paid.

Talking about another way to mixing the funds from one that's deductible to nondeductible, is The Smith Maneuver. It's a strategy that allows you to turn your nondeductible debt, which is the interest on your mortgage to make it tax deductible. He suggests that if they take from the refi, put it on their principal, and then access it again, they're basically converting their nondeductible debt to deductible debt. Then the next year, if they did it, bought a property and the same process, they're basically converting their principal residence into deductible debt. Once they've done the whole process, and it's all line of credit, then they go back and get a new mortgage, it's clean, because all of it has been deducted. Then the interest would be all tax deductible; the principal wouldn't, but the interest would.

In conclusion, Quentin suggests attending the Q&A calls, as they're great for networking to meet other people in the area who are investing. The other thing is to make sure to take advantage of the video materials. There's a lot of resources that are on there. If they want to do something specific, they can go through the roadmaps, as they are packed with enormous value, and can make a huge difference.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00:00]
How Much are They Renting Their Property For? [00:02:19]
Who are They Renting the Upper Floor to? [00:03:31]
What is their Next Step Once Their Property Has Stabilized? [00:05:10]
Do They Have Access to Equity That They Want to Repurpose into Another Property? [00:06:44]
What do They Think the Value of the Property is Right Now? [00:07:34]
What's the Current Mortgage Amount on Their Property? [00:10:50]
Writing it Off with Refinancing of the Rental Versus Wrapping It Into their Primary [00:18:03]
How Long Have They Been in the Mortgage For? [00:22:37]

Important Links and Resources

18 - Real Estate Wholesaling and Flipping Secrets with Aaron Moore

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with Aaron Moore, a multi award winning real estate investor who is best known for having one of the most established house-buying companies in Canada. Aaron takes us through what makes his real estate business successful.

Aaron Moore runs a company that is best known for house buying and wholesaling since 2008. He has flipped a lot of houses himself and built up a portfolio of rental properties over the year. Quentin adds that in the real estate space, people come and go all the time, there are people that they go to a workshop or the go to weekend boot camp, they come back they post signs, and then they disappear. Talking about what contributed to his longevity in the business, Aaron says that it boils down to work ethic and daily habits. He is a good longevity person, and when he makes goals, he sticks to them and achieves them.

On the subject of finding off market properties, Aaron says that he started offline, but since then, their methods have evolved. Being long term in this business, they've built a web presence, and now, online dominates their marketing. He adds that it acts like a credibility piece as well, and helps people find reviews from past sellers. There is always a trust component, as 95% of people are going to sell with a realtor or MLS. As a house buyer, people are going to be a little more skeptical, and we want to overcome that skepticism.

He adds that a unique thing for their company is that they have a strong seller focus, and they take care of their sellers, and treat them well. This sets you apart from everybody else. That is why they offer the biggest deposits and have the shortest conditions, because they are seller focused. Talking about the properties that they usually buy, he says that 80% of them are fixer uppers, with occasional beautiful houses. As investors, they can add value in different venues to the fixer uppers with their skills and renovations.

As for how to have a property assigned to you, Aaron says that you got to have that funding in place, and be confident like you got to put down a big deposit. He adds that when they buy, they put down a significant deposit. So, when they sell or wholesale a property, they are looking for a significant deposit that shows buyer’s seriousness and that they're not going to back out, and don't want to be closing late, as that can be a big deal. Talking about their ‘leads versus offers versus actual purchase’ statistics, Aaron shares that it's somewhere between 10 to 15, with slight ups and downs in numbers during different quarters.

Quentin adds that sometimes, just because you have a deal under contract doesn't mean that you're going to close on the deal. Aaron says that the reason behind this can be a case of buyer's remorse, where they change their mind offer signing the contract. Sometimes, there are also some deposit issues. They have made changes to their paperwork about deposits to deal with such issues. He says that you want to make sure everyone's happy. You don't want to be buying from someone who just does not want to sell to you and wants to make it difficult.

On the subject of the marketing costs, Quentin adds that new people to the space often mistake the amount of advertising and the amount of money that goes into this, because they only see the fee. They don't realize that the amount of other work that gets them to the point to have this opportunity. Aaron shares that advertising plays a crucial role in this business, and they have dedicated team for this job, with a six-figure budget to run the marketing campaigns.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
What Does He Attribute His Longevity in the Real Estate Business to? [02:47]
How Has He Been Able to Find Off Market Deals? [03:48]
Online Presence to Establish Trust as Homebuyers [04:55]
What Sets Them Apart from Everyone Else? [05:44]
Who are They Competing Against? [06:40]
What Type of Properties Do They Usually Pick Up? [07:17]
What to do if You Want to Get a Property Assigned to You? [08:46]
How Do They Deal with Someone if They Don’t Want to or Can't Close for Some Reason? [10:31]
What are Their Leads Versus Offers Versus Actual Purchase Statistics? [11:55]
Stories About Deals That Got Away and Then How They Dealt with Them [13:51]
Challenging Property Closing Experiences that He Has Faced [16:07]
The Cost of Advertising to get Deals [19:04]
How to Reach out and Connect with Aaron Moore [20:33]

Resources Mentioned

Important Links

17 - Real Estate Lessons from Former Teacher with Paul Punnoose

Quentin DSouza — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with Paul Punnoose, a former teacher takes us through some lessons that he learned along his journey into wholesaling to share some of his offline and online marketing strategies for finding off market deals.

Paul worked as a teacher 13 years, and he has been a full-time real estate investor for the past year. He has done a variety of strategies, from buy and holds, flipping, to now wholesaling. Talking about his strategies to get off market deals, Paul uses online marketing such as Google Pay Per Click ads, Facebook advertisements, and Kijiji ads. He says that each strategy has produced different types of results, and has different pros and cons. Furthermore, the cost for online lead generation is much higher than his cost per lead offline.

Paul uses the inbound marketing, where people will call him, as he wants people to contact him versus him contacting people. He adds that “I know that when I pick up the phone, that person is interested in selling their property.” Talking about his lead versus offers versus actual sales statistics, he says that sometimes those numbers are difficult to track, but he keeps an eye on the key performance indicators. Paul adds that generally people like to hear cost per lead cost per deal metrics. He focuses more on his overall cost per deal.

Paul says that he thinks about what his cost per deal is, and then work backwards. It also varies from quarter to quarter, ranging between $3000 to $6000. Quentin adds that people get surprised by the cost of marketing that goes into finding a deal. Talking about his unique ability, Paul describes it as the ability to connect with people, and he prefers partnering up with people that are really good at marketing and advertising. He further adds “my ability is to connect with the seller and figure out, you know, what they're looking for, and why they're looking for it, and help them solve whatever issue they're going through.”

Listening, hearing what the sellers want, offering solutions to their problems, but also connecting with them has helped Paul secure off-market deals. Quentin adds that it's not always about getting the highest price. Sometimes, there are other things that people value. Paul says that when people have a lot of equity in their property, they don't mind giving some of that up for a convenience. Talking about the deals that got away, he says that newer investors should keep in mind that out of the deals that they put out, only 10 percent will find success. If you go in with that mentality, while it will still hurt, they will be able to handle the whole process a little bit better.

He says that in such cases, the best thing to do is to learn from what happened, so you can make adjustments for the next deal. In this industry, you need to really listen to the seller, listen to their problems, provide solutions, but allow the seller to really think about which solution is important to them and take it from there. In conclusion, Quentin says that sometimes, even when you get to the point where you have a signed offer, doesn't necessarily mean until the deal has closed. Paul says that the deal is not closed until the profits hit your bank account.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
What Strategies Does He Use to Find Off Market Properties? [02:06]
Why Does He Prefer Online Marketing Despite the Higher Costs? [03:48]
Does He Track The ‘Lead Versus Offers Versus Actual Sales’ Statistics? [05:33]
His Unique Ability to Find Off Market Deals [08:00]
How His Ability to Connect with People Helped Him Secure a Deal [09:21]
The Deals That Got Away and What He Could Have Done Differently [12:38]
Deals that Didn't Close Even After Signing Contracts [16:36]
How to Get in Touch with Paul Punnoose? [20:06]

Resources Mentioned

profitableproperty.ca

IG: Paul.punnoose

Important Links

16 - Real Estate Investing Tips from Lewis Brothers

Quentin DSouza — Wed, 04 Aug 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with Don Lewis and Rick Lewis, two brothers who started in the renovation field and made their way into real estate investing. They take us through some of their investing experience, and share some of their wins, losses, and some useful tips for new investors.

The Lewis Brothers have been in the real estate business for four years. They have a construction background, with15 years of experience in custom renovations. They fumbled into real estate investing by buying their first house privately and realized that buying and flipping houses was a lot easier. While they buy houses in different areas, they are primarily based in the Durham region.

Talking about marketing, they say that their marketing is always growing. They started with flyers and bandit signs. As for the philosophy behind their marketing, they say that usually they are looking for somebody who is in a situation where it's a little different than getting your house ready to sell on the market. Such as when there's a financial issue, distressed property, or something that just won't close with the bank. At the same time, they also tried to figure out how they can help the owners in the process as well, going as far as putting money up front to help them.

Doing so has helped them develop relationships with the sellers, adding “a lot of it really is just the relationship you've built with the seller in order to know what, how you can help them, and we've got a lot of people come back and give us very good reviews.” They want to build long term relationships and figure out how they can help sellers get out of scenario that they're in at that time. Talking about what has helped them succeed in finding off market deals, there that a lot of it has to do with the marketing, and just being in front of people with their flyers and bandit signs.

Quentin notes that being quick, being able to close with cash if needed, not caring about the condition of the property because of their construction background, has helped them succeed in finding such great deals. Talking about a property that got away, the Lewis brothers share that they noticed a lot of red flags from the financial perspective and the additional costs added at the end, so they decided to not go ahead with the deal. They add that “we have set up ourselves, our financing because we guarantee a close on every deal no matter what, whether we wholesale it, JV, if our partner, whoever purchased from us can't do it, we close on it, no matter what. So, we're set up to be able to close… within 24 hours if we need to.”

Talking about the mindset you need to succeed in this business, they add that you have to rifle through a lot in order to actually get that one deal. It's probably 20 to 25 phone calls or leads, before you get down to three people that are interested in talking to you, and then of those three, you might get two offers out and then one accepted. So you have to build a tough skin and not get too emotionally involved in each project. As for their advice for new investors who are looking to get started in finding off market properties, they add that you should know your market and don't go too broad. Specify what you're looking for and where you're looking for it, because the second you get that call, the jump on it, as the action has to be fast. Study and learn your market as much as you can and specialize in a certain area when you start, instead going too broad. You should also have a good realtor too, one that understands the market, and that is up to date with, then work with other investors as well.

In conclusion, they say that you have to let sellers know they have options, there's not only one option that they have to sell with a realtor. Let them discover what options they have in order to sell their home. A lot of times the houses that you are offering off market, are going to come back on market and you're going to get the opportunity to view and work with that house down the road anyway. You should not try to compete but work with everyone.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
The Deals they Get into and the Marketing that Goes Behind it [02:27]
Their Unique Ability in Finding Off Market Properties [04:19]
Deals that Got Away and What They Learnt from it [06:34]
Deals that Didn’t Go Through [09:38]
Have They Had a Property Come Back to Them After Being Ghosted? [10:56]
Challenging Closes That They Went Through and What They Learned from Them? [12:58]
Advice For New Investors Looking to Get Started in Finding Off Market Properties [16:10]
What Do they Do If They Get into Situation with Their Realtors, Signs and Marketing? [17:06]
Where to Connect with the Lewis Brothers? [18:19]

Resources Mentioned

https://www.lewisbp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/lewisbrothersproperties
Instagram: @lewisbrothersproperties
Follow along with their projects at www.tridium.ca

https://www.facebook.com/tridium.inc

Instagram: @tridiumcorp

Important Links

15 - Investing in Triplexes, Fourplexes for Better Cash Flow

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member, who started with house hacking his first property and he was looking to expand his portfolio. With the current housing market, we explore possibly going with a triplex or a fourplex instead of a single-family home or duplex.

As a fairly new immigrant to Canada, the member bought their principal home in December 2019. They moved to Oshawa in February 2020. They started with house hacking and rented their basement out. Now, they are looking for a rental property wherein they could start their journey. As for the financing for their next property, he plans on using some savings and a gift as down payment. He also has a few lines of credits as well. He adds that working with the bank that he has mortgage with, he wanted to get advantage of appreciation on his current house, remove the CMHC and be able to buy another one at 5%.

Quentin adds that it is possible that he could use one of those other avenues in order to get a lower down payment, but there are typically for principal residences, and a grey area. The member shares that while he is interested in Oshawa, it's either he could wait for some time and save more, or with whatever he has, he goes to a market where he can afford something and at least break, even if not positive cash flow. He adds that he has the affordability, and down payment is his only problem. Quentin adds that he may end up with negative cash flow unless he has a really strong cash flowing property.

Quentin suggests that he may want to look at Peterborough market, and something that is a little bit out of his comfort zone but may give more cash flow. That could be a different type of property like a student rental or maybe a triplex or fourplex. He could still get that type of financing that he is interested in, because it's still under the residential umbrella. It gives him the ability to have more units, so the one to four units still, even if divided as a duplex, he’d still have that that same kind of qualification room. He recommends checking out courses on Property Management, and Your First Three Properties in Real Estate to get a better idea of the fundamentals.

He further says that while Peterborough is a good option, as he goes further away, he will have to build property management costs into that as well. He also recommends getting on some wholesaler lists as well, just to see what's coming up on them, and to get a different sense of what's coming in and going out. Quentin says that if he can use the lower down payment in order to get into a property, he should take advantage of it. It is a good way to add some leverage, just make sure that the numbers all work out, and that he is still able to financially maintain that.

He adds that those rental properties are going to be assets that give wealth and income. The principal residence will give wealth because it will increase in value, and it can be leveraged differently. He recommends working with a mortgage broker that looks at more than just the next transaction, but helps plan out the next four or five transactions. In conclusion, he says that ultimately, the investment depends on his life situation. He adds that your personal residence is an emotional decision. It's not often an investment decision.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
Does He Have Funds for a Rental Property, and Has He Talked to Anyone About Financing? [02:26]
Has He Decided on an Area That He is Going to be Investing in? [04:47]
What Type of Property is He Looking to Invest In? [06:03]
How Does He Feel About a Triplex or a Fourplex? [09:10]

Resources Mentioned

Important Links

14 - Going Positive Cash Flow from Negative Cash Flow with Multifamily Properties

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 25 May 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member who has been investing close to home in single family properties. We explore different ways to convert his portfolio to multifamily properties with a positive cash flow.

The member shares that he started real estate investing in 2016, when he got occupancy of a pre-construction condo that he had bought in 2011. Unfortunately for him, his property is cashflow negative. The reason was mainly because he acquired the property with 10% down, so he had to go with the unconventional mortgage and get CMHC insurance which was only 25 years amortization. Now, they have 20 years left of the of the amortization. He adds that he has a full-time job as a construction project manager, and he had obtained his real estate license in 2017 mainly because that property was cashflow negative and he needed to supplement his income and that worked out fine.

Two years later and after the mortgage rate changed, the negative cash flow went from $200 to $800. He adds that he made the mistake of going with the fixed interest rate. In the meantime, he sold a condo in downtown Toronto, took the money and purchase a detached home in Etobicoke. Right before the pandemic he was thinking about refinancing his home, and managed to get a high appraisal. $250,000 in line of credit, he ended up purchasing a condo townhouse in Mississauga, and it came with a tenant who was paying market rent. After that, his net on his investment properties became positive by $50. Quinton notes that what he has essentially done is that he has created an income stream from his second mortgage, with his mortgage money in order to cover off the negative cash flow on the two assets.

The member adds that before joining the course, he wanted to stay in the bigger cities and his decision to invest in the property in Mississauga was short term. He was looking to flip it, take the money and purchase a detached home. Quinton notes that his yield is negative on the York Region property and his yield is negative on the condo townhouse by itself, but together by using the lending, he is able to come up positive on both of them. Talking about his next course of action, Quentin suggests that he should take a look at his property and do a return on equity calculation on both properties. Then, do the same thing on another property that is like a duplex that are cashflow positive while putting 20% down. So that could be looking in a little bit out further than the markets that he has been considering.

He adds that the member needs to do his own due diligence to see what makes sense for him. He also suggests looking at historical data and talking to the realtors in the area, adding “you can find appreciation and cash flow in lots of different markets, you just have to work harder, right, and you have to get out of your comfort zone from where you're, you're comfortable right now.” Quinton also says that most of the time a single-family home is not going to cash flow anymore in Ontario, it's very challenging. He should not get stuck by being a Toronto person, because there there's money to be made everywhere, further adding “you want to get the most yield that you can, so you can get a return on equity.”

On the subject of the member looking to use the Section 85 Rollover, Quentin says that “you won't be able to do that unless you find a lender that's willing to put the corporation on title, what you might consider doing is figuring out whether you can do it the day before you, like sell the property, like, but then you'll have to come up with cash or some other private loan in order to close on it maybe like a bridge loan for a day or two.” additionally he will have to pay land transfer tax, legal and accounting costs. So it adds up in Toronto, because you got the Ontario tax, and you get the Toronto land transfer tax. The member concludes that he may choose the option of instead of putting up the condo or townhouse for sake, He will do a refinance, take it to a private mortgage, sell it and save a lot more money, because they go pretty fast.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
His Background and How He Got Interested in Real Estate? [00:43]
When Did He Fix His Mortgage? [04:31]
What was the price of the condo townhouse? [09:09]
Why Did He Decide to Invest in Etobicoke and Mississauga? [11:10]
How Can He Get Section 85 Rollover on One of His Properties? [20:33]

Important Links

13 - Investing in Multifamily Properties for Experienced Real Estate Investors

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 18 May 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member, who is looking to pull equity out of his properties to reinvest, we explore how investing in larger multifamily properties might be the best strategy for achieving his goal of building wealth.

The member shares that he currently owns five properties in Oshawa, three singles, and two duplexes. His future goals are to set up lines of credits on all of his properties to give him access to around $1.5 million in equity. He says that as it hard to find cash flow in Oshawa now, he is looking at smaller, less competitive markets. He adds that he is looking for guidance and coaching mentorship, or someone to point him in the direction about whether he would be better off continuing to buy bungalows and legalized basement apartments or if he should try to get into multifamily. Quentin suggests that as his goal is to create additional net worth, the member should go for multifamily properties, as the numbers work well, especially if you purchase it correctly.

The one-to-four-unit properties are more towards generating cash flow and appreciation, but if you're looking for wealth, apartment buildings will do it for you. He adds that “you can invest yourself; you can invest with somebody else, you can do what you know, different approaches.” Furthermore, the best thing about them is that you can refinance them. They also don’t have the same roadblocks as one-to-four-unit properties. He further recommends going through the presentations by Pierre-Paul Turgeon on the subject. Quentin adds that the member would need to find a realtor that actually does multifamily buildings. They require 30% down or 35% down depending on the purchase prices, and working in the six-to-12-unit range, it's pretty competitive. He can start by approaching people who have six to 12 units and see if they're interested in selling those. He can connect with realtors and find out whether they have anything available. He needs to look at who is listing properties in the area, and then contact them.

Quentin adds that he needs to make sure that he is getting a yield on his money, like if his interest rate is 2% and the cap rate is 4%, at least he has a spread there. Talking about the competitiveness in the six-to-12-unit properties, Quentin says that “you have to have your cash ready; you have to have your ability to close and you have to understand all the pieces. So, getting your team together is going to be really important.” Additionally, he would have to get commercial mortgage, a holding company, insurance, all ready to go. That way, when he puts an offer in, he has the cash, he has the financing, he knows how they'll evaluate the deal, and he can move ahead with it. Furthermore, Quentin suggests looking at an exercise called The Return of Equity Calculation, adding “it's a good way of evaluating a property's seeing and comparing your different assets based on your returns, it may give you a different insight. And then you could run the same calculation based on what you would buy an apartment building for and see what your return would be.”

He suggests that selling an asset and putting those funds into other assets that are easily re-financeable is a better option often and staying residential, as long as you're willing to grow. He also recommends checking the discount on setting up a holding company in the discount section on the website as well as going through the roadmaps on The Multifamily Phase. He adds that for the most part, most holding companies are the same, as there's not much different to them. But if you have high income, you may want to talk to your accountant just to make sure how they suggest you set it up. While having a paralegal set it up is a more economic option, if you haven't done it before, it is better to work with the professionals.

In response to whether the member should disregard the idea of triplexes, Quentin says that if the numbers make sense, the deal makes sense, then move forward with it. If he plans on buying outside of his area, he should make sure that he has a property manager. In conclusion, Quinton suggests attending the Q&A sessions, and networking and connecting with other members who are working in similar spaces.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
His Journey in Real Estate Investing and Where is He Looking to Go? [00:55]
Can He Convert Other Single Properties as well? [01:54]
What's His Goal Behind Real Estate Investing Right Now? [03:36]
Is He Trying to Create Additional Net Worth or Increase Cash Flow from His Investment Properties? [04:53]
How to Deal with Six to Twelve Unit Properties? [08:32]
The Steps of Setting Up a Holding Company [15:09]
Should He Dismiss the Possibility of Buying Triplexes and Fourplexes? [16:56]

Resources Mentioned

Important Links

12 - When You Should and Shouldn’t Consider Rent-to-Own Investing

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 11 May 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member, who is thinking about getting into rentals. We explore what his long-term goals are, and what might be the best strategy to start with.

The member shares that he has been involved in private mortgage investing, as a source of passive income. Now, he and his wife are interested in changing careers by leaving the corporate world and starting their own business in real estate investing. They are also working on their first rent-to-own deal. Currently, they are in the process of getting pre-approved with a mortgage broker. Quentin comments that the strategy that they're using is great for cash flow, but he likes rent-to-own as an exit strategy, and not a long term option, adding “what I found was that every time that I bought properties, like the value of the property was always much higher than when I was selling it to the tenant buyer on and I had a locked in purchase price.”

He adds that while this strategy is going to produce a higher cash flow, the member has to understand the tax consequences of what he is doing as well. He says “if your goal is to leave the corporate world, you're going to need to generate cash flow. So rent-to-owns are good for cash flow generation, [but] you would need to focus on getting multiple” Quentin adds that he also needs to add other properties in there, such as long-term rentals. Talking about the effectiveness of the BRRR method, Quentin says that it really supercharges the value of the property, and then you can refinance that out in 18 months to 24 months. He adds that when it comes to the BRRR strategy, the key is always purchasing a property where you can add value. It does require some expertise and work. So, you need to build a team of people around you to help like a good realtor, mortgage broker, and contractor on your team.

As for the areas, Quentin suggests looking in places like Bowmanville, Peterborough, or even Kingston, where the numbers still work, and they make more sense for the strategy. He adds that the member would have to find something that that needs a lot of work. Furthermore, he says that the member needs to maximize the amount of funds that he is able to access, and pull that together. He further adds “once you start the process and you get a couple properties under your belt, then you can actually talk to other people about what you're doing, and perhaps they can invest with you together and do, like a project together.”

On the subject of going with the inexpensive lending option, Quentin adds that it's not about price, it's about access to credit, and dollar bills and credit are the same thing in the current economy. If you have credit, you have dollar bills. He suggests not focusing on how much it costs, fees, and all of that and create relationships with the other banks to check if he can open some lines of credit with them, just so that he could have access to it, and have more flexibility. Quentin recommends attending the Q&A sessions, as well as going through the Property Management, Joint Venture Partners, and Finding Off Market Properties courses. In conclusion, he says “Use that Action Taker Program, look at the takeout, The Planning Guide, look at the weekly plan, and just put one thing for finding properties. One thing for funding properties, one thing for financing properties in the Planning Guide, and one thing a week.”

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
His Background and Experience in Real Estate Investing? [00:59]
Have They Owned Residential Rental Properties Before? [02:25]
The Areas He Wants to Invest in Using the BRRR Strategy? [08:03]
What Can the Member do to Learn More About Real Estate Investing? [14:59]

Resources Mentioned

Important Links

11 - Get More Flexibility in Real Estate Investing with Variable Rate Mortgage

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 04 May 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a couple who are just getting started in real estate investing. We explore the difference between getting a fixed or variable rate mortgage, and why variable rate might be a better option.

The couple shares that while both of them have corporate jobs, they are looking at real estate investing as a way to achieve some level of financial freedom. They purchased the property in Burlington four years ago. Quentin shares that he started real estate investing in a similar manner, and while it was a big step, it worked out well for him, adding “because I had rental properties that were paying every month, and it allowed me to do other things give us flexibility.” He recommends going through the “Your First Three Properties in Real Estate” course, to get a better idea of fundamentals of choosing an area with where to invest in.

He adds that if they've owned the property in Burlington for four years, they probably have some equity built up in the property. A lot of people who start off investing in real estate, and how Quentin and his wife and started as well, is by using the equity in their property to get started. Talking about the available credit Quentin suggests that they should go back and see if the lender will allow them to free up more of their home equity line of credit, so to reassess the property in order to access it, that will give them more funds to work with.

Quentin continues by saying that the numbers have to work, adding “so, if you're buying a single-family home, it's not going to work because you're the mortgage, your property taxes, your insurance, like the rent that you collect is not going to be not going to pay for that. So oftentimes, you'll have to look at different areas that make more sense for you in order to purchase them so that the rent is higher than the property taxes, insurance and mortgage payment.”

Talking about the investing in smaller markets he adds that oftentimes, they'll go up, and then they'll go flat for a while, as well as other challenges. They can also buy single family homes, which are easier to manage so they can offset each other. He also adds that they will have to be a little bit more creative to access funds, such as unsecured lines of credit. Those lines of credit can be used for renovations, where you can refinance, and then pay back the high lines of credit, and then hopefully pay back some of the lower line of credit to like their HELOC.

On the subject of fixed and variable mortgage, Quentin suggests that they should try to see if they will flip it to a variable rate mortgage. This will give them more flexibility and will allow them to able to access more funds on from the home equity line of credit when they do the refinance. He adds “educate yourself on what is a good real estate investment, and how to work with those three team members, and when you do that, it'll make it a lot easier for you when you're talking to them about picking the right property.”

In conclusion, Quentin says that investing in real estate can really change your life, and he encourages them to continue down this path, as it's well worth it. It can be life changing because it can create a stream of income each month, and then there are big chunks of net worth increases, because of the properties that owned. He adds that real estate is not about houses, it's about relationships, you create a good relationship with other people, then they're willing to help you and what goes around, comes around.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
Their Background and Experience in Real Estate Investing? [01:08]
How Much Equity Do They Have in Their Property and Do They Have Any Funds Set Aside for Investing? [05:24]
What is the Current Value of Their Property? [06:30]
Have They Thought About Investing in Any Particular Area? [10:03]
Do They Have Any Unsecured Lines of Credit? [11:50]
Why They Should Switch from Variable Rate to Fixed Rate Mortgage [15:16]
Virtual Tours of Properties [23:38]

Resources Mentioned

Important Links

10 - Best Strategies for Getting Started

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 09:00:00 -0500

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member who is looking to get into his first property. We explore some strategies and some locations that might fit his budget.

The member shares that he has been a member of DurhamREI Facebook group for the last two years. He became a mortgage broker in 2019. As for his real estate career, he is looking to do private lending. Following COVID, he was forced to work in retail full time, but he aims to pursue both real estate investing and his mortgage brokering career. He shares his experience of losing insurance and having to refinance his house twice when he owned a restaurant. He wants to build his net worth and get more into the real estate investing side and be the managing partner of joint ventures.

Quentin adds that if he has the funds available, and wants to partner with somebody, he should focus on partnering with a flipper. He adds “you always have to see how you can add value to like what somebody is doing, in order to make it more valuable than just what it is that you have.” Furthermore, he says that if he can’t qualify in Durham, he might want to look a little bit further out from Durham for properties.

Quentin says that high cash flow requires a bit more work, and he suggests hiring a property manager. He recommends looking at Peterborough student rentals, or even Peterborough rentals, as they produce better numbers. Apart from Peterborough, areas like Kingston, Bellville and Cobourg also have the potential to produce good cash flow. He adds “If you can get a duplex, have two rents and hire a property manager and still cashflow four or 500 bucks, that's what you're looking at.”

He further says that once you get one or two under your belt, then it's easier for you to go to the next person and say, look, this is what I'm doing. Do you want to do it together? And then we can, you know, we can do a partnership. As an investor, the focus should be on putting in quality property management. Quentin also says that knowing the fundamentals of what makes an area a good area is crucial, because and cheap doesn't always mean good.

In conclusion, he suggests going through the First Three Rental Properties and Joint Venture Partnerships courses, and then start talking about what he is learning as he goes along. He adds that “you need to find and talk to the people who have been successful, and then you listen to those people because they'll help you to get to where you want to go.”

Topics Discussed

• Introduction [00:00]

• His Background and Experience in Real Estate Investing [01:25]

• What are His Future Goals in Real Estate Investing? [04:40]

Resources Mentioned

Important Links

9 - Real Estate Investing Through a Corporation or Your Personal Name?

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 10:25:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member who wants to know whether he should start putting properties under his personal name, or under a corporation. We explore the pros and cons of each option.

The member shares that he is a fairly new investor, who started just a year ago after reading the quote “If you have only one job, you're this close to a poverty line…” He shares that he has closed on a property in Hamilton and is about to close on a second property in April as well. He says that he is looking for niche properties where he can find big lands and use the BRRR strategy. He is currently converting it to a second suite while also preemptively working for the third unit.

As for his second property, he says that he could do two or more dwelling units. He could build a triplex and go up to six units if needed. Quentin says that focusing on one area, in the beginning, is a great way to build geographic expertise, he adds “don't invest too much money in the pre-planning phase, do the stuff that's behind the walls, but don't do the stuff that's expensive…”

On the subject of having a bare trust agreement and a corporation, Quentin adds that having a corporation is quite beneficial, but when you're working in the one-to-four-unit range, you really limit your financing options, if you are already going with a lender that will allow corporations, you might as well use it. He suggests putting it in a corporation if you are intending on growing the portfolio. Quentin also suggests him to talk to his mortgage broker to plan that process.

As for leases, Quentin says that he could have it as a property management company. Additionally, moving from personal to a corporation can have tax consequences. He adds “you may want to send your accountant the trust agreement, before you close on the property so that you show them that the intent was always to have it in that bare trust agreement.” He says that he is also recommending people to move to corporations because of potential tax implications in the near future.

In conclusion, Quentin says that he can do a Section 85 Rollover to include the first property. He also adds that that in BRRR, avoid going into a fixed-rate mortgage, and go into a variable rate product.

Topics Discussed

• Introduction [00:00]

• His Background and Experience in Real Estate Investing [01:03]

• What is the Cashflow on Both of the Properties? [05:27]

• Is a Bare Trust Agreement Good Approach for Him? [09:22]

• Whose Name Should Be on the Bare Trust? [12:54]

Important Links

8 - Should You Quit Your Profession To Move Into Real Estate Investing Fulltime?

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 18:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member who is looking to quit her profession, and move into real estate investing full time. We explore flipping and discuss other strategies as she wants to get started.

The member shares that she has been working as a secondary teacher for the last 12 years, but she has always been business-minded. She learned about the foundations of real estate investing from her father. Now, she wants to start a new career in real estate investing and even interior design at the same time. Now, she wants to learn about the best options that would allow her to quit her teaching career and move into real estate full-time.

She shares that they have an increasing line of credit so that they can use it towards investing and purchasing an investment property. She also bought a small condo in Calgary, which was zero money down. Now, they have around 250k available in the home equity line of credit as well as some savings. Quentin adds that strategy is really important, but it's also important to figure out timelines.

Quentin shares that anything is possible, and it's always dependent on your commitment to be able to do anything. There are lots of great investing strategies, some require you to be more active and other ones are more passive. He adds that the properties should be cash flow positive and gain appreciation. It takes time to build up properties and especially if you are doing it the first time, it'll probably take you a little bit longer.

As for flipping properties, the timeline is shorter, but it requires more work. It requires you to either find properties off market or work with wholesalers. Rent to own is also a strategy that helps you to create income. While the member is interested in flipping, Quentin adds that every strategy has its pros and cons, and he recommends joining the bi-monthly Q&A calls sessions to learn more about which strategy suits her the best. She shares that she plans on acquiring a property to flip, but if it doesn’t work, she would use BRRR as an exit strategy.

Quentin adds that it is great to have multiple exit strategies. He says that in order to do to be successful at a flip, you need to actually buy the property with some equity in it or solve a problem, and not off the MLS. He suggests going through the Negotiating With Private Sellers and Off Market Deals courses. He adds that in real estate, you need to know your numbers more than everybody else. He also suggests getting on some of the buyers lists by people who post We Buy Houses signs, as they're looking to most likely assign some of those deals, and those are the opportunities for potential flips.

Quentin also suggests finding somebody who's already done flips, and partnering up with them. That way, you can see the ins and outs of how the process works, what they do, even if you're a money partner. He adds that “a lot of people think that real estate is about bricks and mortar, it really isn't. It's really about the relationships that you build with people.” In conclusion, he recommends getting on wholesale lists, so that she doesn’t have to pay commission to the realtor, and partner up with somebody who has successfully done flip projects.

Topics Discussed

• Introduction [00:00]

• Her Background and Experience in Real Estate Investing [01:04]

• Does She Have Any Equity in Her Primary Residence? [03:05]

• How Much Equity Does She Have in Her Primary Residence? [03:50]

• When Does She Want to Leave Her Teaching Job [04:31]

• Which Strategy Does She Want to Focus On? [07:50]

Resources Mentioned

• Negotiating With Private Sellers

Important Links

7 - Moving Properties From Personal Name into a Corporation

Quentin DSouza — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 13:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member who is who is upgrading to a larger principal residence, they need to move their properties from their personal name into a corporation in order to create qualification room.

The member shares that he started his real estate journey after attending a real estate conference. He started with student rentals, and over the years, he managed to build a portfolio of fifteen properties that includes student rentals, duplexes, single family homes and some condos as well. He says that as he purchased properties in his personal name, with a trust agreement to the corporation, now he is unable to qualify for a bigger mortgage when he wants to get a bigger house. Now, he wants to move some of his properties from his personal name into his corp.

He shares that when he was building his portfolio, he used his personal residence for my personal residence. So, now he has a huge credit line on his personal residence that as he moves this over, he is going to take those proceeds and pay himself back and free up debt on his personal name, so that he could buy a larger personal home. He adds that his primary objective is qualifying for a larger home, secondary is paying off his debt, refinancing and freeing up equity in those properties.

Quentin says that the member needs to look for a portfolio lender, that's going to take on all of those residential properties and bring them over. He suggests that the member should approach the commercial lending department versus the residential lending, and ask them to give a portfolio loan against all four at the same time. They have the same payment structures as a variable rate mortgage. The rates are higher, but they have the same of flexibility for selling one out of the portfolio. He adds that with the B lenders, the rates will be even higher.

He also adds that the challenge that the member will have is the student rental component, because that's not favourably looked on by the lenders. He says that another option for him would be credit unions, and they may be able to offer him different options as well. Quentin adds that his joint venture partners are going to have to qualify on those mortgages as well when he is bringing them over. If those are personally owned and not JV properties, then there shouldn't be an issue. In conclusion, Quentin suggest doing it in stages. Stage one is flip it over from personal to corporate, and then stage two, access equity later on.

Topics Discussed

• Introduction [00:00]

• His Background and Experience in Real Estate Investing [00:50]

• What is the LTV on the Properties He Wants to Move? [07:03]

• Is He Using the Smith Maneuver? [08:22]

• Does He Have a Bear Trust on the Properties He Wants to Move? [09:45]

• What are the Paperwork Requirements For the Process? [16:08]

Important Links

6- Living Off Your Investment Properties and Flipping for Profits ( BONUS: Converting RRSPs to TFSAs Tax-Free)

Quentin DSouza — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 10:15:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member who shares his journey in real estate investing, some of the strategies that he's used to build a portfolio of properties, and how he's flipped properties in the last year.

The member shares that he became interested in real estate investing following the 2008 recession, as a safe investment, while working at Bell. He purchased a condo townhouse for $96,000 as his first property. He went on to acquire 17 properties, which helped him retire after he was laid off from his job. He adds that he does things differently than a lot of other people in DurhamREI, as he manages all the properties himself, and does his own renovations and fixes. It gives him a chance to interact with his tenants. He also adds that he hasn’t remortgaged his properties. This has helped the properties go up substantially over time. As he has a low loan to value ratio, the income that he generates from the properties is really good.

Talking about his house flipping experience, he says that following the first, the lesson that he learned was “the kind of flips I want to do in the future are kind of easy cosmetic flips on relatively small houses or condos.” His second experience was much more pleasant. He says that if you're going to flip, stage it just to the nines, and make it so unbelievably nice in terms of staging. After that, he managed to flip a few other properties, where he made decent profits, while getting to work on the properties with his son.

There are two categories of MICs, one that pays about 3%, and one that pays about 15%. Then, you have to have equity in a property, and you have to take a mortgage out against this property. And the mortgage is taken out, the lender is the same company that runs these Mortgage Investment Corporations. All of the cash from step one is now lent out to be invested personally in non-registered investments. This can then be re-invested in exactly the same holdings as before or put into something entirely different. These mortgage investment corporations then pay money every month back into the RIF and back into the TFSA. As for the monthly mortgage payments, an equivalent amount is pulled out from the RIF every month for the mortgage payment, and this loop continues until all of the money from RRSP is transferred to TFSA, which you can pull out on tax-free basis.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
His Background and Experience in Real Estate Investing [01:24]
How Was He Able to Retire After Losing His Job [04:02]
How He Does Things Differently On His Investment Properties [05:52]
How Much Time Does He Spend Managing His Properties [09:55]
His Experience of Flipping Properties Over the Last Year [10:53]
What is a TFSA Maximizer and How Does it Work? [22:37]

Important Links

5 - How to Use Your Home Equity to Buy an Investment Property

Quentin DSouza — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 10:00:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member, and they talk about leveraging the equity in your property to buy more investment properties.

The member shares that the first property that he got, he stayed there for five years. Then, he took the equity and went to the second property, which is a principal residence now. Now, he is using the first one as a rental property. While the property is cash flowing negatively as he is in the early stages of real estate investing, Quentin says that it is good to start somewhere. The member shares that the property is being rented for $2500 and it has a negative cash flow of $200 to $300. As for the interest, it is around 1.85 variable, with a 30-year amortization.

Quentin adds that the reason behind negative cash flow is the size of the mortgage. He adds “You want to make sure that you talk to your accountant, and make sure that you cap when it turned from a principal residence to a rental property. Otherwise, you're going to lose that tax advantage.” He further says that sometimes it makes more sense to sell a property as a principal residence, take the funds, put it into the new principal residence, and use the balance of the funds to invest. Talking about the available lines of credit, the member shares that he has access to some funds.

Quentin adds that having good credit is the key, saying “if you can access credit in different ways, you can structure things a little differently, especially if you have, good income that can support it. So you can take, pay down secured, and if that is okay with the bank to use a secured line of credit, you increase your room, and then you're able to access, perhaps a third property doing it yourself.” While leverage can help when you’re starting out, Quentin suggests that he should avoid over-leveraging.

In conclusion, he suggests the member consider selling the first property, seeking multiple options for lending, talk to a mobile mortgage specialist, and explore all of his options.

Topics Discussed

Introduction [00:00]
His Background and Experience in Real Estate Investing [01:02]
How Much Does He Have Available in HELOC, and Other Lines of Credit? [07:41]

Important Links

4 – Turning Negative to Positive Cashflow using BRRRR Method

Quentin DSouza — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 17:37:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin talks with a member, who understands the importance of continually investing in their own education, and the significant returns that it can bring learning from his past. We find out how he managed to go from a negative cash flow of $3,000 a month to a positive cash flow.

The member shares that he was looking at appreciation and capital gains when he started investing in properties. He found that it was not working out very well after a couple of years, and it became hard to keep those properties. This is where joining the program greatly helped him turn the tide. He says that the key takeaway for him was that you should always be learning as that is the only way to improve, and that's how you build wealth.

Talking about the investment property that he now has in Oshawa, the member shares that he is in the process of duplex conversion, where he will be able to get a gross rent of around $4,000 a month. He adds that the property will be cash flow positive once he does the refinancing. Quentin adds that the key at this point is not to put himself in the position that he was before. He suggests working on the numbers better, include repairs, maintenance, property management costs, as well as insurance, property, property taxes, and mortgage payment.

He further says, "my encouragement for you is, don't just do it once. You've learned the process, you understand, you know how to do this now. Take it and do it again, and again, and again, rinse and repeat. That is the key for this strategy, and you are doing a buy, fix, refinance and rent." The member says that while it is more work, you get a better price when you buy from a wholesaler. Quentin says that if you're buying in the right area, at the right price, you're going to get appreciation, and you're going to get cash flow, further saying, "with a lots of people looking for the same thing, it becomes more challenging, what you have to do is differentiate yourself."

Topics Discussed

• Introduction [00:00]

• How He was Able to Turn Cashflow Negative to Positive [01:02]

• His Key Takeaways After Joining the Program? [02:34]

• The Investment Property that He Now Has in Oshawa [04:12]

• What is the Expected Cashflow for that Property? [06:35]

• What is the Refinancing Rate for the Property? [07:40]

• Why Did He Decide to Buy From a Wholesaler? [12:05]

Important Links

3 – Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing

Quentin DSouza — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 17:36:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin takes the mystery out of real estate investing with this new member who is just beginning her journey, and we cover some of the basics, some of the lingo, and where to start the learning process, as well as the best place to start building the network.

The member shares that she became interested in real estate investing as a means to achieve financial freedom, and that is how she discovered EducationREI. Quentin suggests going through The Action Taker Goal Attainment Program first, as well as The Action Taker Wealth Pyramid. The Wealth Pyramid gives you the background on how to structure the direction of where you want to go. He also suggests her to start with the materials that are available and then join the calls, especially the ones for the beginners. After that, she should go through the courses Your First Three Properties and Your First Million in Real Estate. He further says, "Right now, the most important thing for you is to listen for the language and understand the concepts."

Quentin goes on to explain some of the lingo such as ROI (Return on Investment), Rent to Owns, Wholesaling, Joint Venture, etc. He adds, "As you start to learn and you go through the materials, you'll start to listen and hear different strategies that people use. And every strategy is different, and you're going to find ones that work for you and ones that you're not interested in." He also adds that being around other people who are doing the same thing is like who are interested in the same thing, that's going to help a lot.

As for whether this is a good time to invest in a property, Quentin says that it is more about finding something that works well for you. When you're looking at doing renovations, you have to know who you're dealing with contractor-wise because it will affect your overall costs. Talking about, The Ultimate Wealth Strategy book, he says that it really is about purchasing well, keeping your renovation costs under control and then refinancing to that the highest amount possible, while your property still cash flows.

Topics Discussed

• Introduction [00:00]

• Her Background and Experience in Real Estate Investing [01:24]

Important Links

• The Ultimate Wealth Strategy: Your Complete Guide to Buying, Fixing, Refinancing, and Renting Real Estate

• The Action Taker Goal Attainment Program

• The Action Taker Wealth Pyramid

• Your First Three Properties: Your First Million in Real Estate.

• Rent to Owns

2 – Switching Careers with Real Estate Investing

Quentin DSouza — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 23:07:00 -0500

Episode Summary

In this episode, Quentin takes the mystery out of real estate investing with a new member who has owned a business for 15 years and is looking for a career change. We go over the best way to get started in real estate investing, and why you should start now and not wait for later.

The member shares that he has worked in the masonry business for the last 15 years, but now he is looking to change from a career in stone masonry. Quentin adds that in real estate, it's about figuring out what works and what doesn't work for you, what you like, and what strategy you want to focus on. The member shares that he has renovated a couple of his properties, planning to sell one later. Quentin suggests that he should focus on both getting his license and buying a property. He says "See what you qualify for, then you can go and figure out what you want to do."

Quentin suggests starting with the financing piece, and then just finding something where numbers make sense. He adds, "If you're looking for numbers that make sense, I would say focus on Barry. Barry right now has the ability to do garden suites, which is not really well known. And so if you can buy a house put, like put a basement suite in and then add a garden suite, you're basically creating a triplex, which would be a good strategy." In conclusion, Quentin suggests starting right away once numbers make sense and he has a good deal.

Topics Discussed

• Introduction [00:00]

• His Masonry Business and How Does it Work? [01:45]

• What is He Doing in Order to Get His First Project Started? [05:18]

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