0 to 54 units in 12 months

0 to 54 units in 12 months

Real Estate Investor & Marketing Specialist · Montreal, QC · Member since 2013 · 182 posts · 367 votes

Hey guys,

I am a full-time real estate investor from Montreal, Canada. Almost 3 years ago, I started flipping single-family houses and subdividing land on a part-time basis. One year later, I was able to go at it full-time along with my business partner. To date, we have completed over 20 transactions. 

In September 2016, my partner and I decided to keep flipping, but to focus most of our attention on buying rental properties in order to build sustainable long-term wealth.

Fast forward 12 months later, we went from 0 unit to 54 units with a little over 1.7 million dollars in equity (along with 3 million in mortgage).

The key is simple: You just have to do it. Take action! Nobody else will do it for you. Everything you buy should ideally be off market, and you have to be very careful with your calculations in order to buy properties that will surely yield great returns. If you analyze the right way, you will decrease your risk drastically. 

No we are not rich, and we used OPM (other people's money) to complete all of our purchases.

If we could do it at 28 years old, so can you!

Let's go!!

G

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Joshua ThompsonBusiness Member
Accountant · Melissa, TX (Remote) · Member since 2017 · 210 posts · 135 votes
9y

@Guillaume D.

You mentioned the best deals are the ones off the market. I would love to know how you're getting your deals?

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  • Residential Real Estate Broker · Hurst, TX · Member since 2015 · 40 posts · 22 votes
    9y

    @Guillaume D. Thanks for the reply, that's how I've done my single family rentals and it's worked out great.  Need to get some multi's done the same way.

  • Real Estate Investor & Marketing Specialist · Montreal, QC · Member since 2013 · 182 posts · 367 votes
    9y

    @Michelle Hood I love a good debate :)! Thanks for the nice words. Having a large amount of debt is actually part of our strategy since we refinance our properties strategically in order to acquire even more units. It's important to understand that banks in Canada will only finance up to 75% of the economic value of our income properties (not market value, but economic value is determined by revenues and expenses and is almost always lower than market value) through conventional financing. This concept is very country-specific and complicated to explain here unfortunately. It's basically what saved us from the US crash in 2008. 

    The fact that you are not comfortable with this strategy is perfectly fine! However, it doesn't mean that it is not smart investing. It's smart investing for us, but maybe it is way too risky for many others. We are all entitled to building our own investing strategies.

    Asking investors to put their mortgage line of credit money into our deals is not as risky as you mention given that our deals have so much equity in them when we make the initial purchase. But I have to agree with you, some people might have bad deals in their hands and convince others to invest when they shouldn't. Investors should always analyze deals very carefully before investing their money. I cannot be held responsible if somebody doesn't run the numbers correctly ;)! 

    Lastly, some people are building wealth very slowly and with minimal amounts of money as you are saying, but others are doing it another way. Doesn't make any of these two strategies right or wrong. 

    Thanks for sharing!!

  • Real Estate Investor & Marketing Specialist · Montreal, QC · Member since 2013 · 182 posts · 367 votes
    9y

    @Mike G. I knew this one was coming :)! I've bought houses that had, for instance, a large lot with unused land either on one side, or on either side of the existing house. By subdividing the land, I was able to sell the newly created lot to a general contractor to build a new construction on it, and then would re-sell the initial/existing house that now had a smaller lot. Does that make sense? I cannot say if this is do-able in the US though. I know we do a lot of these here in Quebec. 

  • Ewa RezaPro Member
    Real Estate Agent · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2009 · 146 posts · 75 votes
    9y

    @Guillaume D. how did you legally structure the deal? And is it a goal to refi and buy the "money partners" out?

  • Palo Alto, CA · Member since 2015 · 1 post · 0 votes
    9y

    How do you use other people's money? Hard money ?

  • Franklin, WI · Member since 2015 · 56 posts · 27 votes
    9y

    @Guillaume D. Wow, very inspiring story - thank you for sharing! 

  • Montréal , Québec · Member since 2017 · 1 post · 0 votes
    9y
    Great post! Really inspiring! I was wondering.. what are your criteria’s to put a address on your list when you drive for dollars, and once you have the owners number.. what kind of approach on the phone has worked to most for you? What do you exactly tell them! I would love to talk in pm to get more details on your experience!
  • Norfolk, VA · Member since 2017 · 6 posts · 0 votes
    9y

    Thank you so much for sharing. We just bought our first triplex in Norfolk, VA and are looking for another property.

  • Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2017 · 3 posts · 0 votes
    9y
    great story and good job! more to come!
  • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2016 · 61 posts · 58 votes
    9y
    Guillaume D. so awesome, congrats on your success! definitely noting that action is what it takes (along with careful conservative analysis!) i'm 26, and looking for a 40+ unit commercial multifamily right now. planning to be in your position very soon!!
  • Puyallup, WA · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 17 votes
    9y

    @Guillaume D. Love your story!  Thanks for sharing!  

  • Rental Property Investor · Hamilton, Ontario · Member since 2016 · 285 posts · 181 votes
    9y

    @Guillaume D. nailed it when he said "The key is simple: You just have to do it. Take action! Nobody else will do it for you". 

    This is the biggest tidbit I give rookie investors. Don't get bogged down in all the research, reading, and blogs. Execution Trumps Education - period.

    By no means go in blind but get started, go look at properties before you're ready, start running numbers etc. 

  • Real Estate Broker · Watertown, NY · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    Very impressive!  Did you guys target a portfolio of small 1-4's?  Or a couple small complex's?

  • Detroit, MI · Member since 2017 · 19 posts · 1 vote
    9y
    I'm loving it ,Let's go!
  • Abita Springs , LA · Member since 2017 · 80 posts · 43 votes
    9y

    Awesome! What will 2018 bring for you two? wow 

  • Flipper · Cary, NC · Member since 2016 · 19 posts · 4 votes
    9y
    Great job ! And great tips ! It’s always refreshing to read people with successful stories that want to give some tips to others
  • Investor · West Hartford, CT · Member since 2014 · 18 posts · 3 votes
    9y

    Great job @Guillaume D.! Your story is inspiring- the kind of push I need to ramp up my investing!

  • Eric BurchPro Member
    Investor · Jonesboro, AR · Member since 2017 · 24 posts · 10 votes
    9y
    Awesome Job! Keep it Up!
  • Real Estate Agent · Merritt Island, FL · Member since 2017 · 986 posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    Great job @Guillame D.!

    Are you doing this in Montreal or in the US?

  • Rental Property Investor · hamilton, Ontario · Member since 2015 · 66 posts · 15 votes
    9y

    awesome story, motivates me to work harder for off market deals 

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Riverside, CA · Member since 2016 · 130 posts · 105 votes
    9y
    Great work....are all your units sfr?? Or you got multi fam in there as well ???
  • Seattle , WA · Member since 2017 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    9y

    Appreciate the in-depth response. I respect your investment strategy and business model. Here in the states usually you can mortgage 80% on your first four properties and anything above that or multifamily require 75%. 

    You are correct about comfort level with risk, and I personally leverage no more than four at a time with an 80% mortgage at minimum on each. Indeed that's the beauty of real estate, different strokes for different folks ;).

    Keep rocking it out and best wishes in your continued endeavors :).

  • Real Estate Agent · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2016 · 589 posts · 275 votes
    9y

    @Guillaume D.  ok excellent. I've never heard of that strategy and im not a developer so maybe that is a more niche technique in the land developers world. Im not one to get bogged down on a technique, but still pretty cool if thats something that you can do north of the border. But overall your story fuels me to really get cranking on finding off market deals.... harder and more relentless than ever!!!!  thanks for the kick in the behind lol

  • Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    Being a landlord is a business.  And it takes experience and wisdom to run it.   Impressive start, but I would not run too fast.   The knowledge accumulated over years makes you a better investor.   I'd start smaller, especially for those in their 20s.

  • Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 7 votes
    9y

    @Guillaume D. Congrats! Very inspiring words. Thank you for sharing. If you guys are ever working on projects in Los Angeles, I'd love to collaborate.

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