Carmen and Jordan meet with guest, Startup Advisor and Venture Acceleration Expert, Subhi Alsayed, to discuss the importance of sustainability in development. Subhi shares his vast amount of knowledge about using renewable energy resources in new construction, the newest technology being utilized in real estate called “Prop-Tech”, and how this can benefit developers, tenants and our planet. A true visionary, Subhi is gifted with an eye for future trends and a passion for sustainability that shine through brilliantly in today’s fascinating episode.   Episode Highlights:

• Subhi’s professional history
• Prop-Tech
• Government subsidization
• Geo-thermal energy and its cost effectiveness
• A geo-thermal community
• The advantages for builders/developers
• ‘Prosumers’
• NetZED and its costs
• Current and future trends
• What’s next for Subhi

Quotes:    “My goal is to be part of this movement to make every building green.”   “What’s changing is the technology to extract the energy source and deliver it to the end user.”   “Usually, these things are done by builders who have the foresight and the innovative steam, let’s call it, to go the extra mile and explore what’s coming around the corner.”   “Progressive developers are exploring ways of bringing in new models.”   “It’s no longer about the needs, it’s about the want.”   “Commercial buildings and office buildings are usually relatively easier to adopt these standards.”   “We’ve made big strides.”   “The challenge with technology is that when you start talking about it, by the time we’re done, it’s already dated.”   “Prop-tech is becoming a major area of focus for investors.”   “I think that it’s the way that we need to be going.”   Links:   30 Minutes to Wealth homepage: https://www.30minutestowealth.com/

Carmen and Jordan Campagnaro meet with real estate investor Sami Kahn to discuss how investors can maximize their income by investing in short term rentals. Sami shares the types of properties he looks for, what it means to be an Airbnb Superhost, his setup process, and a case study of one of his properties. He also offers some of his trade secrets and insights into his business as well as his advice for those thinking about following in his footsteps. As Carmen notes, Sami Kahn is destined for even greater success in this business, and in today’s episode, you have the valuable opportunity to learn precisely the steps he is taking to achieve this.   Episode Highlights:  

• Sami’s background and how he got into real estate
• His unique method of investing
• The types of properties he looks for
• Private rooms
• Airbnb Superhosts
• Sami’s setup process
• A case study of one of Sami’s properties
• His trade secret for getting his rentals filled
• Sami’s current portfolio
• His potential annual returns
• The new Airbnb rules and their impact
• Sami’s advice for those looking to follow his example

Quotes:    “I was working close to 80-90 hours a week.”   “The best thing that has worked for me the most is the track record.”   “Studio units are what I’ve been going after…you’re not going to party in a studio.”   “It all depends on the demographic or market you’re trying to hit.”   “I don’t go into an Airbnb if I don’t make the setup in the first month.”   “I want it to be cash flowing right away.”   “Do your market validation, do your market research, make sure you have enough capital to go in…find a mentor.”   “I think he’s going to be a future hotelier. He’s going to be huge.”   Links:   30 Minutes to Wealth homepage: https://www.30minutestowealth.com/

Carmen and Jordan Campagnaro welcome tax expert and Partner at BDO Canada, George Dube, to the show this week to discuss common Canadian real estate tax questions. George covers the benefits of different real estate ownership structures, how to approach renovations from a tax perspective, along with best tax structures for passive investments. He has been around for decades servicing real estate investors specifically and is an investor himself, so he has a unique understanding of all sides of the business, and he shares so much of it here today.   Episode Highlights:  

• How George got started in the real estate tax space
• George’s bowties
• The contrast between investing under personal or corporate entities
• Tax advice for ‘flipping’ properties, handling ownership of corporations,
• What family trusts are and how they work
• The tax perspective on owner occupied residences vs. rental properties, renovating properties,
• Passive vs. active investments

Quotes:    “The most common, if you will, is deciding between personal and corporate, although there is a host of other alternatives.”   “With a corporation properly created, I have a lot more flexibility.”   “There’s pros and cons in why I think it’s important to involve multiple people to the table – it’s not just a tax decision.”   “Instead of that ‘parent corporation’, we’re more frequently using a family trust now.”   “If I was personally owning all my assets, as an example, it’s possible I might be giving away roughly 25% of my estate to Revenue Canada – a family trust, potentially zero.”   “I involve my GST and HST Team here because they deal with this on a day in/day out basis.”   “By all means, I want to pay all I’m required to pay, I just don’t want to donate extra.”   “I don’t like the handcuffs.”   Links:   30 Minutes to Wealth homepage: https://www.30minutestowealth.com/

This week, Carmen and Jordan meet with Florida realtor, Alex King, to discuss why Canadians have been purchasing real estate in Florida, as well as how vacation rentals in Southwest Florida can make for an incredible investment vehicle. Our hosts have nothing but respect for this ‘King of real estate’, and today’s episode will make it crystal clear why!   Episode Highlights:  

• Alex’s background
• The market in Fort Myers Beach and the Canadians interested it
• What’s happening there
• The types of properties Canadians are buying in Fort Myers Beach
• What Fort Myers Beach is like
• The story behind Carmen’s Florida properties
• Sugar Beach Homes
• The challenges and options for Canadians when purchasing properties there
• Current and planned infrastructure improvements

Quotes:    “We love working with you.”   “I’m basically helping people understand how they can invest in Florida and rental property and live the dream, enjoy the lifestyle, and make money, too.”   “Buy the cheapest piece of real estate in the most expensive neighborhood.”   “Now’s the time to buy or you’re going to miss the boat on this one for sure.”   “The sand is different – it’s like sugar.”   “Fort Myers Beach has been voted the top place to vacation and buy a vacation home in 2020.”   “There’s a lot of Europeans that come in the summer months.”   “Family friendly and safe.”   “We have a real scarcity of high-end remodeled product.”   “We’re going to have a really beautiful portfolio there.”   “It is such an exciting and lucrative investment opportunity that investors should be aware of.”   Links:   30 Minutes to Wealth homepage: https://www.30minutestowealth.com/   Sugar Beach Homes homepage:  https://sugarbeachhomes.com/

This week Jennifer McCarthy from Teacup Tiny Homes, joins Carmen and Jordan to discuss investing in tiny homes, and how this can make for a very lucrative investment opportunity! This interesting industry has been growing in popularity in recent years, and today you’ll learn all you need to know from what they are to where they can be used to how to make money investing in them. Jennifer knows this business inside and out, and she shares it all with you here today.   Episode Highlights:  

• How Jennifer started Teacup Tiny Homes
• What are tiny homes?
• The demographic for them
• Designing, customizing and building tiny homes
• Where Teacup can ship them to
• The many options available with tiny homes
• Where you can put them
• Using them as rental investments
• The future of tiny homes
• Tiny home communities

Quotes:    “What you do see often is tiny homes on wheels, and that’s what we’ve started with at Teacup.”   “They want the beautiful design that we specialize in.”   “It’s getting harder and harder for millennials to get into the housing market.”   “That’s where a lot of the millennials are wanting that more nomadic lifestyle, so they really like the trailers.”   “If they’re on wheels…you can put them really anywhere you can put an RV.”   “We think in square inches instead of square feet.”   “It’s like playing Tetris.”   “We’re designing the whole system to meet their needs.”   “The easiest way to do it is to be fully hooked up to the grid.”   “They don’t use a lot of power.”   “I think the fantastic option would be as an investor to buy one of these and rent it out on Airbnb.”   “There’s fantastic potential there for sure.”   “Municipalities, they really do want to work with you.”   Links:   30 Minutes to Wealth homepage: https://www.30minutestowealth.com/

This week, special guest host Scott McGillivray interviews Carmen and Jordan about ‘The Power of Leveraging Real Estate’. This episode goes through how you can acquire real estate, and manage fund renovation costs, closing costs and interest expenses, through private financing. In addition to all this, you’ll also receive some valuable advice from Jordan about getting started in these types of deals, rendering this a truly fascinating and inspiring episode.   Episode Highlights:  

• Breaking down Jordan and Carmen’s ‘home run’ deal
• Working with family on this joint venture
• Instant equity
• Getting creative with private money, leveraging property and interest expenses
• The renovations and how they funded them
• What they are doing with the profits from this deal
• Jordan’s advice to others

Quotes:    “You guys just hit a home run with this deal…a lot of money in a short period of time using none of your own money.”   “Jordan saw the vision.”   “We have a lot of private money behind us, so that’s the key…my negotiating tool.”   “This is the short term strategy.”   “Basically, you baked the interest expense into the loan itself.”   “This is not something they teach you in school.”   “It’s addictive.”   “This is where private financing is such a huge asset.”   “This is called sweat equity.”   “It is important to start.”   Links:   30 Minutes to Wealth homepage: https://www.30minutestowealth.com/

On today’s episode, Carmen and Jordan welcome experienced realtors, Simeon Papailias and Jacob Campagnaro from the Real Estate Centre, to talk about the current trends in the Ontario real estate market, along with the benefits of investing in commercial real estate. They also review the importance of doing research when looking into investing, discuss how to screen a potential tenant, and offer a free gift to all listeners. Filled with knowledge and advice - not to mention the free gift - this is an episode you don’t want to miss!   Episode Highlights:  

• Simeon and Jacob’s background
• Current trends in Ontario real estate
• The importance of doing your homework when looking to invest
• Commercial real estate investing, how it works and the benefits it provides
• Screening a tenant
• Simeon and Jacob’s gift for listeners

Quotes:    “Buying and selling real estate and relocating is part of my life’s fabric.”   “With the appropriate support and the appropriate understanding, commercial is actually a lot simpler than people think.”   “The market from a residential, multi-residential perspective – very hot.”   “It seems a bit daunting.”   “The banks look at the building’s ability to service the debt, it’s not you personally.”   “We look for holes and cracks in the marketplace that we can, obviously, leverage to our advantage.”   “We could talk about this all day.”   Links:   30 Minutes to Wealth homepage:  https://www.30minutestowealth.com/   Download the Real Estate Intelligence Book Here

HGTV television personality, Paul Lafrance, joins Carmen and Jordan to talk about adding value to your backyard. In this episode, Paul dives into the significance of having a backyard retreat, and what you can do to create a special outdoor space that will stand out whether it’s for an investment property or your home. Paul is an expert with a unique approach who has so many great ideas and he shares so many of them with listeners here today.   Episode Highlights:  

• How Paul got started with HGTV
• His new show, ‘Backyard Revolution’
• Why he loves working with backyards
• Paul’s tips for adding value to homes and properties
• His suggestions for investors
• Outdoor kitchens
• Being away from the property

Quotes:    “I’ve been able to do what I love to do.”   “I’ve never really followed the path of the typical professional.”   “My greatest fear in life is being bored.”   “The need to have a place of rest has never been more paramount.”   “It’s either the computer or peace.”   “Sometimes you can have too much deck.”   “They want to be able to go into that backyard space without looking around thinking about all the maintenance they have to do.”   “A deck that is so boring that it makes my eyes bleed, a square box, will still get you 90% return on investment.”   “The most important part is that the minute you are in that home, you can see it from the most highly trafficked areas of the house…now you’re creating that emotional response.”   Links:   30 Minutes to Wealth homepage: https://www.30minutestowealth.com/

John Mehlenbacher, Founder and COO of The Condo Store Canada, joins Carmen and Jordan to talk about investing in pre-construction condominiums. This episode covers everything from how the process works to the risks and returns involved, as well as some interesting projects that John is looking into for the future. As Carmen notes, John possesses an absolute wealth of knowledge on today’s topic, and he shares so much of it here today along with the valuable advice which he has gained during his many years in the business.   Episode Highlights:  

• How John got started in real estate
• The Condo Store and how it operates
• Investing in pre-construction condos
• The process and stages involved in these investments
• Liberty Village and The Stockyards
• A case study of an average investment
• Typical returns on these investments
• The potential risks involved
• Assignments and how they work
• Interesting projects on the horizon for John

Quotes:    “Our job is to find up and coming neighborhoods, up and coming projects, that will give you a better return on investment than the typical return.”   “We try to find the right condo investment for our clients.”   “I’ve seen so many people make so much money in this industry that way.”   “We cannot build housing fast enough for people to live in.”   “There’s no fear of losing your deposit.”   “Over time everything goes up.”   “There’s a tremendous amount of people that make all of their money on just assignments.”   “The best time to assign is usually after 3 years anyway.”   “Burlington feels like Toronto did 20 years ago.”   “Real estate has always been a strong investment and over time you will never go wrong.”   Links:   30 Minutes to Wealth homepage:   https://www.30minutestowealth.com/

Real estate investor and land developer, Charles Wah, joins Carmen and Jordan to discuss investing in infill land development, a strategy which is all about the process of developing vacant or under-used parcels within existing urban areas that are already largely developed. In addition to learning about Charles’ start in real estate investment, you will find out about the criteria he uses when looking for land, the due diligence in which he engages, the difference between bank financing and private money, and, of course, the many benefits of this investing strategy along with how lucrative the returns can be! This is an episode you do not want to miss!   Episode Highlights:

• Charles’ start in real estate
• His start in development
• Infill land development
• The main benefits of this strategy
• The criteria used when looking for appropriate land 
• The due diligence involved
• A case study of one of Charles’ investments
• The reports involved
• Bank financing vs private money
• Charles’ advice for those starting out

Quotes:    “We got to see the opportunities that real estate can provide for families.”   “I love to be able to create and have impacts on communities.”   “That was a totally ‘meant to be’ project.”   “This is also a provincial mandate through their growth plan. They want intensification.”   “Land is very valuable.”   “It’s best to start small.”   “Limited risk to high potential reward.”   “As long as we know that what we’re proposing is really going to benefit the neighborhood, that’s what helps me to sleep at night.”   “It’s an amazing investment.”   Links:   30 Minutes to Wealth homepage:   https://www.30minutestowealth.com/