Have a specific scenario you want run? Book a free call at www.chatwithjonah.com

Reach Zack directly at [email protected]

If you think you're stuck because you don't have 20% down for an investment property, that assumption might be costing you your next deal.

Most new investors either overestimate what they need and stay on the sidelines, or underestimate and get blindsided at closing. In this episode of the Keys and Capital Show, Zack Brittain and I break down exactly how much cash you actually need, using a real $700,000 duplex in Waterloo Region run through three different financing scenarios side by side.

Jonah Hoyos is a Smith Manoeuvre Certified Professional and mortgage agent Level 1 with Tango Financial, FSRA licence #13691.

Zack Brittain is a real estate sales representative with Flux Realty Brokerage in Kitchener, Ontario.

This content is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be taken as legal, financial, or tax advice. Always consult a professional for advice tailored to your circumstances.

Want to know what you can actually qualify for on your next investment property?

Book a free call at www.chatwithjonah.com

Reach Zack directly at [email protected]

Most people have one picture in their head when they hear "investment property." A single family home, or maybe a pre-construction condo downtown. But there's a whole menu, and the asset type you choose determines your down payment, your cash flow, and how far you can scale, before you even write the offer.

In this episode of the Keys and Capital Show, Zack Brittain and I walk the entire ladder from single family rentals all the way to infill development projects. Zack covers the pros and cons from a realtor, investor, and owner-operator perspective, and I break down what the financing actually looks like at each rung.

Most people think you need a big pile of cash to buy your first rental property. You don't, especially if you already own a home in Ontario.

Realtor Zack Brittain and mortgage agent Jonah Hoyas break down the baby steps to your first door: how to unlock your down payment with a HELOC, refinance, or readvanceable mortgage; how debt service ratios really work (and why $600/month in payments can cost you ~$80–100K in borrowing power); the "First Date" strategy for narrowing your property search; why a 7/10 property in a 10/10 location beats the shiny listing; and how to run the numbers so your first deal actually cash flows.

Plus: the properties lenders love (and the ones they won't touch), what happens between accepted offer and closing, and the three non-negotiable rules for your first investment property.

Questions about your first door? Book a call with Jonah at www.chatwithjonah.com or email Zack at [email protected].

Zack Brittain is a real estate sales representative with Flux Realty Brokerage in Kitchener, Ontario. Jonah Hoyas is a Smith Manoeuvre certified professional and mortgage agent (Level 1) with Tango Financial, FSRA licence #13691.

This content is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be taken as legal, financial, or tax advice. Always consult a professional for advice tailored to your unique circumstances.

Want to know if the Smith Manoeuvre works for your numbers? Book a free call at www.chatwithjonah.com

The basic Smith Manoeuvre works. But on its own it takes 15 to 20 years to fully convert your mortgage. In this video I show you how to compress that timeline dramatically, including one accelerator that can take a 25-year mortgage down to under 10.

I also cover the part that almost nobody explains correctly: the lender rules that decide whether this strategy even works for you. Get this wrong and the whole thing quietly stalls.

This is Part 2 of my three-part Smith Manoeuvre series. If you haven't seen Part 1, watch that first. Link is in the description.

Here's what we cover in this video:

• The debt swap: how to instantly convert dormant savings or a paid-up GIC into tax deductible investment debt without changing your budget
• Cash flow diversion: how to reroute existing monthly savings through your mortgage first so your deductions grow every month without spending an extra dollar
• Cash damming: how landlords and business owners can use rental income to vaporize a 25-year personal mortgage in under 10 years
• The DRIP accelerator: how to make your dividends do two jobs at once
• Prime the pump: the one true leverage move in this strategy and why it requires eyes wide open
• The OSFI 65% rule: the government-imposed cap that throttles your readvancing and why most people don't know it exists
• Why picking the right lender is not a detail, it is the strategy, and how different lenders handle readvancing above the threshold in completely different ways
• The traceability rule: why your Smith Manoeuvre investments need a dedicated account that does one thing and one thing only
• The registered account trap: why moving your Smith Manoeuvre portfolio into a TFSA or RRSP will cost you your deductions and trigger a deemed disposition
• Smith Manoeuvre Light: the decelerator for anyone who wants to ease into this without going all in
• The Fraser Finagle: the final move named after the man who created the strategy and why it keeps compounding at a lower cost of borrowing

In Part 3 I stop talking theory and run a real case study live in the Smith Manoeuvre calculator so you can see exactly how the timeline, the tax refunds, and the ending net worth play out.

I'm Jonah Hoyos, a Smith Manoeuvre Certified Professional and mortgage agent with Tango Financial in Ontario.

Want to know if the Smith Manoeuvre makes sense for your situation? Book a free call at www.chatwithjonah.com

Two neighbors. Same street. Same income. Same house. Same mortgage paid off at the same time.

At 65, one is sitting across from a bank rep talking about a reverse mortgage just to cover groceries. The other is sitting on an $840,000 investment portfolio. And the second neighbor never spent a single extra dollar a month to get there.

That gap is the Smith Manoeuvre. And this is Part 1 of a three-part series where I break the whole thing down, starting with the foundation, all the way to a live walkthrough of the Smith Manoeuvre calculator in Part 3.

Here's what we cover in this video:

• Why the average Canadian family pays 43.5% of their income in taxes and what that means for building wealth
• Why the traditional "pay off the house first, then save" approach quietly sets most Canadians up to fail in retirement
• The mindset shift the wealthy use: optimizing debt instead of running from it
• What a readvanceable mortgage is and why it is the required vehicle to make this strategy work
• The two bucket analogy: how you convert bad non-deductible mortgage debt into good tax-deductible investment debt without adding a single dollar of new debt
• Why this is debt conversion, not leverage, and why that distinction matters
• How the tax refund snowball works: refund, repay, reborrow, invest, repeat
• The real cost of borrowing math: why your investments only need to beat 2.4% to come out ahead when your marginal tax rate is 40% and your rate is 4%

In Part 2 I cover how to accelerate the strategy so it does not take 20 years, the lender rules that determine whether this even works for you, and the part almost nobody explains correctly.

I'm Jonah Hoyos, a Smith Manoeuvre Certified Professional and mortgage agent with Tango Financial in Ontario. This channel is about paying down your mortgage faster while building wealth at the same time, without sacrificing your lifestyle or choosing one over the other.

Erwin Szeto has been investing in real estate since 2005, transacted nearly $500 million worth of income properties as a realtor, and owned a personal stake in over 40 properties. And now he's telling his clients to stop adding to their real estate portfolios.

In this episode of the Keys and Capital Show, Erwin breaks down exactly why his investment thesis has shifted, and what he's recommending instead.

Here's what we get into:

• Why he calls Canadian landlording the "Blockbuster" of investing compared to the US "Netflix" model
• How he's buying rental properties remotely in Arizona, Texas, Florida, and the Carolinas without ever visiting them
• Why Republican-dominated states are his target market and how job market research drives his property picks
• The leveraged stock market strategy that he says beats real estate returns with zero tenants and zero stress
• Life Cycle Investing by two Yale professors and the math behind why leverage in the stock market is less risky than most people think
• Why 80 to 90 percent of his clients are dangerously overweighted in one currency and one country
• Who this is NOT for and why Dave Ramsey fans should probably skip this episode
• How to access pre-IPO private equity in companies like Anthropic, SpaceX, and Waymo through a fund structure

The closing line says it all: make more money, pay less tax, and go back to living your life.

If you want to figure out what financing options or equity you have available to build your own wealth strategy, book a free call at www.chatwithjonah.com

The conversation covers the introduction, flexibility, and origins of ManuLife One, as well as its role in wealth building, real-time benefits, and client experience. It delves into risk, responsibility, and the incorporation of mortgages into financial planning. The discussion also explores tax-deductible investments, creating a retirement portfolio, and interest costs in wealth creation. Additionally, it addresses interest rates, the banking system, and the Smith Maneuver for tax-deductible debt. The features and benefits of Manual Life One, as well as HELOC and term portion accounts, are also highlighted, along with misconceptions about interest rates and mortgages. The conversation covers a range of topics related to mortgages, investing, wealth building, and retirement planning. It emphasizes the importance of understanding mortgage costs, incorporating mortgages with investing, and the power of mortgages in accelerating wealth. It also discusses tax-deductible interest, cash damming, rental properties, and converting mortgages to tax-deductible. Additionally, it addresses misconceptions about mortgages and wealth building, the role of brokers in financial planning, and the importance of financial planning and budgeting. The conversation highlights the role of mortgage advisors in wealth building, building wealth and retirement planning, and the importance of mortgage payment strategies.

Takeaways

• Flexibility and freedom of ManuLife One
• Wealth building with tax-deductible debt Understanding the true cost of mortgages
• Incorporating mortgages with investing for wealth building

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to ManuLife One
• 07:12 Client Experience and Product Suitability
• 12:30 Creating a Retirement Portfolio
• 17:42 Interest Rates and Mortgage Payments
• 25:39 Manual Life One Features and Benefits
• 30:45 Understanding Mortgage Costs
• 37:20 Real Estate vs. Stocks for Wealth Building
• 45:04 The Importance of Financial Planning and Budgeting
• 50:12 The Role of Mortgage Advisors in Wealth Building
• 55:46 The Importance of Mortgage Payment Strategies

The conversation covers a range of topics related to financial services, including investing, inflation, compound growth, and the importance of coverage and insurance. It provides valuable insights into understanding these concepts and their impact on financial planning and decision-making.

Takeaways

• Investing for the future
• Understanding inflation and its impact
• Importance of financial planning

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to Financial Services
• 10:01 Understanding Inflation and Hedging Against It
• 20:12 Investing and Compound Growth
• 30:01 Importance of Coverage and Insurance

Zack Brittain built his Waterloo Region real estate portfolio from the ground up, starting with a live-in duplex and scaling all the way to a 34-unit apartment building. Jonah sits down with Zack to unpack his investment thesis, how he recycled capital through refinances instead of waiting to save, his take on property management, the evolution into running a construction company, and why simple buy-and-hold strategy still beats almost everything else. Plus, a story about the 2010 gold medal game you didn't expect to hear on a real estate podcast.

Mortgage arrears are climbing in Canada.

Toronto homeowners missing payments have quadrupled in three years.
Power-of-sale listings are rising across Ontario.
And millions of Canadians are renewing their mortgages at significantly higher rates.

So what’s really happening?

In this episode, I break down the actual data behind the headlines and explain where mortgage stress is building, why Toronto and Vancouver are showing the most pressure, and what would need to happen for this to turn into something more serious.

We’ll cover:

• Why arrears are rising
• How the renewal wave is already impacting households
• What power-of-sale listings really signal
• Where the real risk is concentrated
• What I’m watching next in the Canadian housing market

If you have a mortgage renewal coming up or want clarity on where the market stands, this episode will give you the full picture without panic or hype.

If you’d like a second opinion on your mortgage strategy, book a call here:
👉 https://chatwithjonah.com/