Introducing Quentin D'Souza, Host of the EducationREI podcast. Get insight into his background and experiences in Real Estate Investing.

Show Notes:

Getting Started in EducationREI series is an opportunity for you to be a fly on the wall of some of the conversations that I have with different members who are part of EducationREI and DurhamREI. I wanted you to get a sense of some of those conversations, as well as how I'm helping them in their real estate business, and how sometimes they're helping me in my real estate business.

Just so you know who I am. My name is Quentin D'Souza,

• I'm an award winning real estate investor,
• trusted authority of investing.
• I'm certified teacher, I hold two university degrees, which includes Master's in education.

I quit my job in 2014 as a as a teacher with the Toronto school board, I was there for about 20 years, I quit at 40 years old. And I haven't looked back since. It's been a really interesting and gratifying experience to move away from the public system where I was in on the sunshine list, which was, it's basically public sector employees who earn over $100,000 was on my way to be an administrator or principal in the system, and decided to focus all my time on my own business.

I've appeared on local and national television and radio. I've been interviewed in national publications. I've been a keynote speaker to large audiences of real estate investors. I'm a proud member of the entrepreneurs organisation which has certain criteria to be accepted. I have been accepted in Tiger 21. Again, which is an organisation that has a certain net worth that is required to be accepted. You could look both of those up.

In my company Appleridge Homes, I use the buy, renovate, refinance, rent (BRRR) long term rental properties since 2008, started off with single family homes moved, over to apartment buildings, where I focus now. Im investing both in Ontario and in the US.

My Portfolio really focuses on Win Win relationships between myself and the people I work with. We currently have over 75 million+ in assets under management.

I'm the author of multiple books The Property Management Toolbox: A How-To Guide for Ontario Real Estate Investors and Landlords, The Filling Vacancies Toolbox: A Step-By-Step Guide for Ontario Real Estate Investors and Landlords for Renting Out Residential Real Estate. I co-wrote a book with two friends of mine The Ultimate Wealth Strategy: Your Complete Guide to Buying, Fixing, Refinancing, and Renting Real Estate.

And my last and latest book,The Action Taker's Real Estate Investing Planner, which is half book and half planner that helps you to achieve your real estate goals. You can find any of those books on Amazon.

I no longer offer coaching but I mentor real estate investors through the club and you can listen to those conversations or at least some of those conversations through this podcast. I hope you enjoy your listen and if you'd like to learn more about the club, you can visit DurhamREI or EducationREI enjoy the podcast

In this episode, I'm talking to a new member of EducationREI.ca, where we get them familiar with the material, find their goals and direct them on where they can get started working toward those goals.

Quentin talks with a new member, who moved to Canada in 2006 as a first-generation migrant from India. He became interested in real estate in Canada while working at one of the top five banks in Canada. Meanwhile, he used the buy and hold strategy in India. After marriage, he and his wife decided that they wanted to become homeowners, which they were able to achieve. Now, they want to achieve financial freedom, and want to start with some cash flowing properties. To sustain their lifestyle, they are looking at an income of 100k. Talking about what the financial freedom looks like for him, he says that it has more to do with the time, what they could do, and the location they could be at.

Quentin shares a complete blueprint to help them get started with real estate investing. He says that if you've got 500k and you want to create $8,000 a month for cash flow, as you're investing in property, you’ll end up with cash flow that starts off smaller but increases over time. At the same time, you need to be careful. He adds that cash flow helps you to hold on to an asset, but what is really going to make you money is the mortgage paid down and the capital appreciation with that product. Over time, as you own that asset, let's say five to 10 years, then you can refinance the property. You can also use the cash flow to help support your income. He says that you have to have a longer-term mindset, there's too much of a day trading mentality when it comes to a lot of things, which is as true for real estate as it is for the stock market.

He adds that the way that you do well is, you have to invest in markets that are both appreciating and give you some cash flow. You can find cash flow by doing different strategies; working privately, networking with other investors to find opportunities, looking at areas along the 401 Corridor, etc. He recommends the courses to start off with is ‘Your First Million in Real Estate’, to learn some of the fundamentals that you want to be looking for when you're looking at all these markets. He further adds that you need to stay away from some of the smaller communities, because they can have these big rushes of appreciation, that can go on for 5, 10 years, but then they'll have flat periods. People don't see the flat periods because they don't have a long enough memory to be able to see it.

Quentin says that you've got to keep that in mind when you're looking at different types of investment property, not just cash flow. He suggests him to do his own research first. With regards to accessing funds, he recommends financing at this point. At the very least, a line of credit; home equity line of credit as a component of the mortgage, so that the mortgage payment amount doesn't change but you have access to the funds, as a secured line of credit. Then as you go along, you're going to look at the joint venture course. Quentin then suggests that he should go back to the meeting and listen to the meeting recordings because that is where we talk about what's happening right now, what areas and what strategies are working, where people are buying – those are the things that you really want to go in and listen to. Rather than the reports, he says that the videos would be more helpful.

In conclusion Quentin says that EducationREI.ca is essentially an education platform for people who are investing in other places, it's more about the fundamentals of real estate investing, the Q&A calls, the meetings and the connections that you make.

Topics Discussed

·        Introduction [00:00:00]

·        What Was His Experience Like and What Were...

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]

Important Links

• https://EducationREI.ca

• https://GetRealWealthy.com

• https://DurhamREI.ca