Table of Contents
Podcast Transcription
Erwin Szeto [00:00:08] Hello and welcome to another episode, The Truth About Real Estate Investing in show and unfortunately offers some negative news. Our community is rocked by another bankruptcy, Clydesdale Capital’s bankruptcy. And earlier this year, read Epic Alliance Clydesdales, significantly smaller. Thank goodness we were still early. Two of Clydesdales properties were in my market and my whole team was buzzing about them. We didn’t know it was theirs. Actually, it of the seller actually contacted us to potentially sell the properties for us, for them. For them. But anyways, both of them were in mid renovation with asking prices over 3000 below what they paid and those asking prices were well below market value. If you ever want to know what a professional wants to buy and what they offer on these, were it not what investors originally bought off market as they paid again, like I mentioned, they paid over $3,000 more than what they’re asking for and end up selling between about 100 or 200,000 less than what they paid for. But they had spent a lot already in terms of renovations. And I believe one of the properties, the deal was they would leave behind the kitchen cabinets that were already in the property anyways. So really unfortunate for the sellers, really fortunate for the best investors that did those deals. I’m jealous. I wish they were mine. I do believe there’ll be more deals as we go as speculative investors who speculated, who overleveraged in the supply chain challenged market with rising labor costs, they’re going to continue to struggle. I expect at least two more interest rate increases. The investment strategies going forward from here have completely changed based on economic fundamentals and everything else going out in the market. Bank of Canada recently pivoted on increasing rates. Doug Ford’s recent legislation for Triplexes By right now, the world is changing. The war in Ukraine still goes. There’s a struggle, pretty regular public struggle between the West and China, the crash of the stock market and crypto currency markets. The recession is here. We might be in it. We’re not in it. It’s coming. The real estate market to fear is high. From all indications, from all the people I talked to, I think it can go higher and I think it will go higher as interest rates continue to go up. Europe has yet to face its worse as it sinks into recession, but to tend to be greedy is really near possibly the best opportunities to be greedy since 2009. And every investor I know from those days regrets not taking more action. Don’t let these next 12 to 18 months be what you regret for the next ten years. You probably want to arm yourself with the best education as possible. Wealth Hacker Dossier for tickets and details November 12th at the Wealth Hacker Conference. I’ll be sharing my research. I’ve been working pretty hard on this because I have a lot of questions. I’m not an investor for the sake of investing. I am an investor because everything that I read and touch points towards the type of investments that I will be doing going forward. I think you all know my family’s well-being; financial well-being is almost completely reliant on my ability as an investor. So you better believe I give 110% so I know our own destiny will be pivoting based on the current environment, and I’ll be sharing about what we’re doing all about November 12th, on our 12th, at the conference on toast, we suggest, oh, yes, again, wealth hacker dossier. For more details onto this week’s show, we have Daniel Unsworth, who has simply caught fire attending our 2019 month hacker conference. Daniel took the whole taxing thing to heart. First thing she started doing after. Well, actually, first off, she took the bus. Being someone part of our community, she had no one to carpool with to the Wealth Hacker Conference, even though there was a massive contingent from Ottawa who attended the 2019 Wealth Hacker Conference, Daniel went solo again, taking the bus. It actually made her carsick, but she managed to push through. As he attended the conference, you’ll hear from herself that it changed her life. Start converting a basement apartments in her hometown of Ottawa, Ontario. And then she hired a coach. Someone she was introduced to from this podcast is in Livermore so the Susan she’s amazing. Danielson has now since then invested in vacation rentals in Turks and Caicos. She bought six townhouses, yeah, six townhouses in Edmonton, Alberta, each with basement suites using really cheap CMHC mill select money. You play one, one, write that down and Google it later. CMHC My life select. Now she’s also investing she’s invested in two apartment buildings in New Brunswick, and she’s actually bought a whole lot more since we last spoke. And to because I see her unit count just keeps going up on her social media. As I mentioned, she shot out of town cannon and she’s built a large Instagram following and she shares how on the show. And now, if you’re one of those quality investors out there or coaches looking to raise capital or build credibility, I suggest you give Danielle a follow. As the truth about real estate investing is there are bankrupt investors out there right now, both morally and financially. And they’re doing the same. They’re social media influencers and they can raise millions of dollars doing it. But again, they are morally and financially bankrupt now. So if you are good, if you are a good person and you are good investor with who can who has experience doing quality investments that will survive downturns like the ones where we’re in inflationary environments, high interest rate environments then? Well, at least that’s how I justify myself in all the content that I myself and Cherry put out. And there’ll be a lot more to come in 2023 for Terry and I, if nothing else are sharing the truth about reality investing, it’s a public service. So I give you. Danielle Unsworth. So, Danielle, you’re up to a lot.
Danielle Unsworth [00:05:46] Yes. Yes.
Erwin Szeto [00:05:47] So you’ve shared like going to the Wealth Hacker Conference was a big catalyst for yourself.
Danielle Unsworth [00:05:51] Yes. Oh, my gosh. Erwin. You know, I took a bus there, right?
Erwin Szeto [00:05:56] I did not know that.
Danielle Unsworth [00:05:57] Yeah, I have a fear of long distance driving. And at that time, I had a scarcity mindset, so I didn’t think to even fly there. I took a Greyhound.
Erwin Szeto [00:06:08] Bus to the airport.
Danielle Unsworth [00:06:09] I know, I know. But I bought a bus ticket and I got, like, sick tickets. But I went the night before and I got to a friend and I was so sick. I’m like, I got to get better. The conference is tomorrow and after a few hours it was fine. And then I went there and just like that was my first conference ever. I had never paid to go to anything like that. And so just listening to the speakers and how, you know, investing in stock options and real estate and networking changed your lives. It really gave me so much motivation and education to leave that conference and start really researching. I was like on a mission after that conference and it did end up flying back because I was like, I get take the bus back home. So my husband Michael was like, okay, I can’t. And it was like, just buy a plane ticket. It’s fine. And so I did, but now I know better. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with the bus, but I got sick, so I didn’t want to get sick coming back home. But I just knew I had to get there. And you know, it was from your podcast and you were promoting it and I said, You know what? I’m just going to do it. I’m just going to go and just spend the money and see what it’s all about. Because I was listening to your podcast on my walks to work thinking like, Oh my God, like, this is not enough. I need to do more. And so I went for it and it really, really was the catalyst to everything else because I was on this mission to change my life and get educated. It was crazy.
Erwin Szeto [00:07:47] Did it? Daniel, straight up like your story is exactly what we want from our people.
Danielle Unsworth [00:07:50] And that’s why I’m such a huge promoter of your event too, because I’m like, I’m the result of attending conferences like that, right? Like I’m not special. I literally was walking from my bus stop to my office listening to your podcast, which I’m sure tons of people do now, maybe just, you know, not on the bus, but maybe they’re at home listening to it on their way to running errands. But go to these conferences and then it’s going to be what you make of it when you leave, what are you prepared to do? What actions are you going to take? How inspired are you to change your life? And if you are, you know, all these resources are available. Every one of those speakers like you could reach out to them and they would provide.
Erwin Szeto [00:08:34] You reach out to.
Danielle Unsworth [00:08:35] Them. Exactly. And a lot of people have that fear. And that’s what I had to. And they don’t know me. Why would they talk to me? That was my mentality. And you actually had Susan on one of your podcasts, and she really inspired me. She was doing exactly what I wanted to do, and that was my first time reaching out to someone on like from a podcast. And I was so nervous Erwin I was like, Oh my God, what am I going to say? The loveliest people. This is so nice. I went to her website; I filled out her form and then we had a Zoom meeting and that was sort of like the beginning of like coaching relationship. And she also changed like the way I looked at real estate. And even now, like I’m always saying thank you to her because I’ll go through issues and I’m like, What would Susan say to me? And I’ll work through that. So, you know, my message to people is like, it’s okay to reach out to all of these speakers and people on podcasts. It sounds scary, but that’s why we’re on podcast, is to educate and like share our journey and just not to just push past that fear because that’s where I was. And I’m sure lots of people are in this exact situation where they listen to podcasts, but they don’t take any action because they’re scared that, you know, they’re just this random person reaching out to a complete stranger. But that’s okay. That’s what we want you to do. Reach out and ask for help and get the resources. Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:09:57] So we offer like free trainings here.
Danielle Unsworth [00:09:59] Exactly. And meetups and I did. I went to your free training to. Do you remember I. She flew there. This is what I mean. Like, you guys have been such a huge part of my journey. And I remember after the whole bus ride thing, this time you had a free it was a basement conversion, free training that you had. And that’s exactly what I was looking to do with one of my properties. And I didn’t know how to do it. I just there wasn’t a lot of people in Ottawa who were doing it at the time or that I knew of that were doing it. And then when I saw your free training on a basement conversion, I’m like, Well, I have to go. And I’m like, This time I’m not taking the bus, I’m just going to fly. So I took the whole day off work. I booked a vacation day, I flew there and flew back the same day, and that’s when I was like, Okay, I’m doing it. The returns are there. It makes sense. I’m not the only one doing it. This is a huge thing in the GTA Hamilton area. I just didn’t know anyone everywhere in Ottawa.
Erwin Szeto [00:10:57] Yeah, it’s everywhere now.
Danielle Unsworth [00:10:58] At the time I didn’t know. Yes, exactly. After I did my first conversion, I started seeing the strategy everywhere. Yeah, so but that’s sort of what started my journey with the stu. That’s what we call them here. But yeah, that’s how I kind of got educated was from your free training. Fabulous. Crazy, right?
Erwin Szeto [00:11:18] Yeah. No, I’m unbelievably happy for you.
Danielle Unsworth [00:11:21] Thank you. Thank you so.
Erwin Szeto [00:11:23] Much. You actually chose a good time to get educated. And I’d argue now is incredibly important to be educated and yeah. And of course to take action at some point because it is scary out there. I think the stock market hit a hit a new one year low, 52 week low. So I’m sure people are scared.
Danielle Unsworth [00:11:39] Yes. Are you scared?
Erwin Szeto [00:11:41] Okay, let’s see. That’s actually talking about what you got going on. Do you have a lot going on?
Danielle Unsworth [00:11:44] Okay. Sure, sure.
Erwin Szeto [00:11:46] Let me just list off what I know.
Danielle Unsworth [00:11:48] Okay.
Erwin Szeto [00:11:48] Because you have vacation property that are investments.
Danielle Unsworth [00:11:51] Yes.
Erwin Szeto [00:11:52] In Curacao where they.
Danielle Unsworth [00:11:54] Caymans, Turks and Caicos Turks.
Erwin Szeto [00:11:56] Thank you, Turks. Okay. How many properties in Turks?
Danielle Unsworth [00:12:00] So it’s three condos, but they were sold as one package deal. So it’s three bachelor condos, but they’re all inside. But it was one huge unit and the previous owner had suffered into three bachelors.
Erwin Szeto [00:12:15] And those are vacation rentals.
Danielle Unsworth [00:12:17] Yes. So this one, we have an active partner and he he’s a Canadian and he moved there and he’s the one managing the day to day Airbnb operations. So we’re passive on this one, but it’s such a great learning opportunity just to have like boots on the ground going through the whole financing process. And yeah, so now I’m always promoting Turks and Caicos. I think it’s such a great place to invest and it’s not far. It’s like a three hour flight from Toronto. Super easy. Yes, you should come. Okay.
Erwin Szeto [00:12:49] Oh, crap. An hour more in Florida.
Danielle Unsworth [00:12:51] That’s right. That’s right. It’s super convenient. Like for me, I have to fly to Toronto, so it adds a couple of hours, but it’s super convenient and it’s beautiful. It’s no taxes. It’s a British dependent territory. It’s backed by the US dollar. So, so many, so many advantages. And that’s kind of why we chose the Turks and Caicos.
Erwin Szeto [00:13:14] No hurricanes, hurricane free.
Danielle Unsworth [00:13:16] Yes, there was. There was a hurricane that went by, but.
Erwin Szeto [00:13:20] Just one never. And I’ve know nothing about Turks and Caicos.
Danielle Unsworth [00:13:23] They do have hurricane season, but you just have to prepare like everywhere else. And the where we are situated, it’s pretty I want to say like a safer zone. It’s not right by, let’s say, the ocean. It’s, you know, a bit of a maybe five minute drive. So it’s kind of like sheltered in a little. I want to sit on Cove almost, but the one that just went by, we were our properties were fine. We went to check them out. So it was okay.
Erwin Szeto [00:13:51] Wait, wait. You went to check them out already?
Danielle Unsworth [00:13:53] Well, our active we went when it was for the we went for the closing in May because I just wanted to I thought it was really exciting if all the investors because the other investor was from Toronto as well and we all went there for the closing and it was amazing just getting to we got to stay at the condos, right? Because we took over the keys. We’re like, well, might as well stay, enjoy the property and then we can work out the kinks. So whatever needed to be fixed before we listed on Airbnb, we did that that week. So it was really good. We were like sort of the guinea pigs for the condos. Okay, yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:14:28] Are you able to share some of the high level numbers? What got you like what got you into the investment?
Danielle Unsworth [00:14:33] Yes, I know you like numbers. So I actually wrote out there, I wrote down a bunch of the numbers for you. So this one was about, well, what do you wonder? Like the price it was about? Sure. Yeah. I bought 500 USD for all three. For all three. Yeah, it’s good. Okay. It was an off market deal and that’s the beauty. So our partner, Murky, because he lives there, he has a lot of local connections. So he’s able to get off market deals from, like realtors, real estate law. For years, friends. So it’s been awesome. And so this one was 500,000 Wall Street. And we had to put because the financing is a bit different, we had to put 50% down and then we mortgage the rest. Interest rate was about 6%, which is not. Yes. So not too bad. And the fact that there’s no taxes is amazing as well. But you do have to pay a onetime tax. It’s called a stamp duty. So it’s just a one time. And then after that, there’s no annual property taxes. There’s no capital gains if you sell as well. So lots of benefits there. And the projections for this one at 70% occupancy, the total area is about 29.4%.
Erwin Szeto [00:15:51] Sorry, sorry to say 70% occupancy.
Danielle Unsworth [00:15:53] This is 70% projection.
Erwin Szeto [00:15:55] Context has been going so far really well.
Danielle Unsworth [00:15:58] We were, I think like 90% for the summer. Really? Yeah, it was a big time. It’s not supposed to be, but it was. I know. But now it’s started to decline a bit for September. October, which is normal, and then high season will start. But we had a really great summer. Right. Okay.
Erwin Szeto [00:16:18] Just for listeners benefit, it does feel like a bit of a revenge travel time. It may not last forever.
Danielle Unsworth [00:16:24] Yes.
Erwin Szeto [00:16:25] In terms of terms of vacation property demand, that’s strange. We’ve been locked up for so long. So just think they have saved up money to go travel.
Danielle Unsworth [00:16:33] Exactly.
Erwin Szeto [00:16:34] I don’t think it’ll last forever.
Danielle Unsworth [00:16:35] And that’s okay, because that was just we realized it could just be a fluke. Right. But our projections are still at the 70% occupancy and the fact that was like overnight. We just will take it as a bonus response. Exactly. Exactly.
Erwin Szeto [00:16:50] Maybe squirrel it away.
Danielle Unsworth [00:16:51] Yeah, exactly.
Erwin Szeto [00:16:54] That’s amazing. Can you share how much it is to rent tonight?
Danielle Unsworth [00:16:56] So it depends. The average is about it could be around 200 to 250. That’s not bad. Yeah, it’s not bad. But this is in USD.
Erwin Szeto [00:17:04] Yes, it’s not bad.
Danielle Unsworth [00:17:05] Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:17:06] Like, you know, isn’t that good? The hotel around the same thing.
Danielle Unsworth [00:17:10] Yeah. So there is. There’s a shortage of supply just like everywhere else. So a lot of times people will go there and either the hotels are not available or it’s too expensive. So they’ll do Airbnb. And there’s also actually a shortage for long term rentals because all these hotels are being built and then the employees don’t really have anywhere to live. So that’s something that my partner Marc and I have also talked about, you know, maybe switching to finding or building long term rentals for hotel employees. Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:17:47] All right. Because you’re investing so many things. Anything, we need to move on.
Danielle Unsworth [00:17:51] Okay.
Erwin Szeto [00:17:51] You do apartment buildings, too?
Danielle Unsworth [00:17:53] Yes. Yes, I do. So that’s kind of where I shifted from single family homes to multifamily. And then the vacation rentals were sort of a bonus. But yes, apartment buildings, it’s more stable. It’s not super dependent on like comparables. It’s more so on the building itself. So that’s why we really like it as an asset class. And so we did close on quite a few this year. It’s been crazy. So we closed on a 15 unit I think back in April with another active partner, and then the most recent one is the 50 unit. But that one is actually it’s being led by my former business partner, Adriana Ostapenko, and she’s the lead on it. And she’s asked us to come and support in terms of like the capital raising. And because it’s such a huge project, you have 50 units, we’re turning them over. So we’ll be supporting her and her business partner Ben on any of the extra activities but the returns that once a full BR so two years for renovating all units and then the plan is to refinance with a CMHC mortgage.
Erwin Szeto [00:19:06] Two years. That’s it.
Danielle Unsworth [00:19:08] That’s the plan. We’ve already started working on it. So it’s like ready to go rock and roll.
Erwin Szeto [00:19:14] It takes three months to get that door done.
Danielle Unsworth [00:19:19] But are you doing it yourself?
Erwin Szeto [00:19:21] No, no. It’s because it needs permits, so it takes.
Danielle Unsworth [00:19:23] Oh, okay. Yes. Yes.
Erwin Szeto [00:19:25] So where are these properties?
Danielle Unsworth [00:19:26] This one is in St John’s. So most of the units have been in New Brunswick. We do have one triplex in Nova Scotia, so it’s been on the East Coast. Just because the prices made more sense then. I mean, we were looking at Ottawa for a long time and then we just kind of shifted our strategy over to the East Coast because it didn’t make any more sense to stay in Ottawa for us.
Erwin Szeto [00:19:51] Got it. And how is the apartment building space in terms of prices? Is it still because I keep hearing from people, principal and Dalia on the show just recently, it does not seem like there’s any more of. Sellers out there?
Danielle Unsworth [00:20:05] No, no. Everybody so far that I’ve spoken to in the apartment building space. They’re hanging on. They’re stabilizing their properties. I don’t see any, like, panic selling. It’s mostly unfortunately, it’s the 1 to 4 units. Those are the properties that are feeling the distress. Mostly single family homes, but even the two, 2 to 4, there’s a bit of stability there as well. As long as you’ve bought and is cash flowing. I don’t see the need to sell right now unless, you know, your strategy was to flip it or something like that. But in the larger apartment building space, from what I’ve seen and the investors I’ve talked to, everyone is stabilizing and just they’re hanging on and continuing their plans for their buyers.
Erwin Szeto [00:20:52] I keep all the apartment building friends I have across the country. They’re all like, even if this seller is motivated, there’s several offers.
Danielle Unsworth [00:21:01] Yes. Yeah, exactly. It’s not quite the same space. I feel like it’s a separate world compared to. What’s that? All that.
Erwin Szeto [00:21:09] That’s no way to put anything. I totally agree with that. Yeah, this is nothing like the single family home. Detached.
Danielle Unsworth [00:21:14] Exactly. Exactly like both of these apartment buildings. The appraisal was higher than our purchase price, so we have a huge buffer already. So we’re not too worried about it. And we’ve we have great rates. The 15 unit we have we have got a mortgage for it was 2.5% for two years. So we’re going to push through that. But yeah, I feel like it’s not the same world. I’m in a different bubble almost. Mm hmm. If that makes sense. Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:21:42] Why do you choose passive? So I think it’s an it’s a great question for our 17 listeners. Why? Yes.
Danielle Unsworth [00:21:49] Make it 18 after today.
Erwin Szeto [00:21:52] They will double with their popularity.
Danielle Unsworth [00:21:55] This is.
Erwin Szeto [00:21:57] Why, because I’m sure many people ask the question, because you’ve done you’ve done active with your own basement conversion properties, and generally those structures have done really well. So why the decision to go passive? And also, did you exit your existing properties in order to move it into more passive investments?
Danielle Unsworth [00:22:16] No. So I am still active and I am going into passive as well. But that’s because I love it. Yeah. Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:22:23] No diversification.
Danielle Unsworth [00:22:24] Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love both. Like I love being an active partner because I still have that fire in me right to like to find a deal and raise capital and stabilize the properties. So to me, I enjoy that. So I still for me need to be active. And then the passive component for me is just essentially maximizing my time and leveraging other people’s time and experience and their deals as well, like the Turks and Caicos deal. For me, I’m a passive investor in that because I don’t live in Turks and Caicos. I don’t have the local expertize, you know. So that’s why I leverage Mark’s experience and his time. So that’s why I go passive. But it’s also if I’m like, I refinanced everything in 2021, like at the beginning because all of my single family properties have gone up significantly. So I refinance and at that time I didn’t have my own active deals to invest. So I took that money and partnered up with other people who were active so that I could leverage their deal and their time. So that’s how my portfolio grew because I had this capital, I didn’t have deals for myself, but all the people came to me and had great deals and I said, Why not? You know, if you’re going to own 25% or 50% of a great deal and not have to do the work, I feel like I’ve already done the work. That’s how I got the capital to begin with. Right? So I feel like this is sort of like part two where I’m leveraging the money that I created with my single family properties and now leveraging them into passive deals. The only one that I sold, I sold one townhouse in Ottawa and I ended up using the capital for that one to invest with my sister on a pre-construction in its near Edmonton and that’s going really well. We just actually had it appraised and it’s 300,000 more than when we put it under contract for it. Isn’t that crazy?
Erwin Szeto [00:24:23] What is it about.
Danielle Unsworth [00:24:24] And it’s a three it’s three townhomes, but they all have lease.
Erwin Szeto [00:24:29] You sold one townhome to get three.
Danielle Unsworth [00:24:31] It’s six. Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:24:33] So you had you sold one to get three. Six.
Danielle Unsworth [00:24:35] Yes. That’s right. Two and.
Erwin Szeto [00:24:37] A half.
Danielle Unsworth [00:24:38] Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:24:38] So it’s kind of like you own three.
Danielle Unsworth [00:24:39] So I guess take three which is still amazing. Yeah, we so we sold it and then these three townhomes, we, we bought the block. So it’s three of them with three ground floor units which will make six total. And you’re not going to believe this. Erwin But we just got approved for a CMHC, you know, the new product. They have 5% down 50 year amortization because they’re brand new. So we’re keeping two of the smaller one bedroom units for affordable rent. And so that with the fact that it’s going to be like high efficiency units because they’re brand new, we met the other requirements to put 5% down and have a 50 year amortization.
Erwin Szeto [00:25:31] Not crazy if we get this in Ontario.
Danielle Unsworth [00:25:35] I don’t know. Maybe. I think you could if you have the right property.
Erwin Szeto [00:25:41] You know the name of the program?
Danielle Unsworth [00:25:42] Yes, I had it here, I think eml. I see. If you go to the CMHC website. It has a really great. Oh, yeah, it’s called MLA Select and they do a really great job of explaining all the different points, the breakdown, how much you need, everything. It’s super easy to read. You can even download to the PDF fact sheet. So I actually recommend anybody that has multifamily that’s either a pre-construction or they’re about to do like a full BR kind of what we’re doing with the 50 unit to look into this program. Because you’ll maximize your leverage, right? Get as much money out. Mm hmm. You know, have the longest amortization in the world. And, you know, this is a game changer for apartment building owners and investors.
Erwin Szeto [00:26:34] For listeners benefit. I just googled CMHC, MLA, and it finished it for me. Select exactly the downloads sheets right there.
Danielle Unsworth [00:26:41] It’s super easy to read and understand and it’s all based on point systems and there’s believe the categories of affordable rents, accessibility and efficiency like energy efficiency. Exactly. It is super cool. So when we close in December, we’re actually going to get money back because we had put 10% down when we put it under contract. Isn’t that crazy?
Erwin Szeto [00:27:07] So sorry. Are you leveraging all the way to 5%, down 5% on the mortgage?
Danielle Unsworth [00:27:13] Yes. And it’s still going to cash flow. So we’re good.
Erwin Szeto [00:27:17] This is wild.
Danielle Unsworth [00:27:18] It is wild.
Erwin Szeto [00:27:20] So tell me about the Edmonton Townhomes. Sorry, you said so. There’s a six townhouses and they each have a suite.
Danielle Unsworth [00:27:26] It’s three townhomes and then they each have one round unit. So it’s six total, six dwellings total, and they also come with detached garage. So in the back it’s really nice. I’ll post two more pictures on my Instagram page for the listeners if they want to check it out. It’s beautiful.
Erwin Szeto [00:27:46] What’s your answer? Just I was looking.
Danielle Unsworth [00:27:49] At super easy to remember. It’s Danielle Unsworth, you and S.W. Art.
Erwin Szeto [00:27:55] You show pretty quickly when I say.
Danielle Unsworth [00:27:57] That’s good. I’m actually hosting a workshop next week to help active real estate investors learn to use social media to grow their portfolio, which is essentially what happened to me. And I’m just going to be sharing all the tips and tricks that I learned in the last year and a half to make their journey easier, because I had to do a lot of like trial and error. I had to ask my niece for tips because she knows what to do. You know, there are 15. They’re much more. They’re much better with the iPhones and all the tech talking Instagram pictures. So, yeah, so I’ll be doing that as well. And I feel like I don’t really see anybody else doing that. So I thought, you know, it’d be really nice if I could put that together for all of our active investors in the community.
Erwin Szeto [00:28:50] Okay. I don’t want to ask next this, but this finish off this tell home example. So back to social media issue, how much townhouses cost?
Danielle Unsworth [00:28:57] Well, for this one, because we bought all three, the total was about 1.25 million for all three, and it was just appraised at just over 1.5.
Erwin Szeto [00:29:07] And so you bought new construction. What was the down payment structure on the new construction?
Danielle Unsworth [00:29:11] It was 10% all there.
Erwin Szeto [00:29:13] All right, away on site.
Danielle Unsworth [00:29:16] I think it was like within 60 days it had to be transferred.
Erwin Szeto [00:29:21] Right. Did you fly out? You went to Hamilton, too?
Danielle Unsworth [00:29:24] No, no. We’re going to December eight is the first inspection. We’ve been getting like videos and pictures and things and just updates from our agent, but we haven’t physically gone there. But we will be going in December because I want to I want to check it out and meet some other investors that are there as well.
Erwin Szeto [00:29:47] Fabulous.
Danielle Unsworth [00:29:48] Yeah, it’s amazing because again, it goes back to social media. We were able to connect with local investors there and we actually ended up meeting another investor that bought the lot across from us. So when she went to visit. Her property. She took pictures of ours and sent it to us. Super nice. Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:30:07] Community so important. I think it’s a lot. I mean, the whole are in this together and I can see it in this deal.
Danielle Unsworth [00:30:14] It’s like, whatever.
Erwin Szeto [00:30:15] Like we need to support one another because the tent tenants aren’t going to support us.
Danielle Unsworth [00:30:20] I know.
Erwin Szeto [00:30:21] I know that groups are going to support us. That’s right. We landlords we investors need to support one another.
Danielle Unsworth [00:30:26] That’s right. Just one person.
Erwin Szeto [00:30:27] The torches come out because they coming for.
Danielle Unsworth [00:30:29] So that’s why.
Erwin Szeto [00:30:32] I’m overexaggerating this, obviously. But we need to, you know, look out for one another as investors. Right. Really? There’s no competition among one another?
Danielle Unsworth [00:30:41] No. I feel like everybody, you know, has their own strategies, their own markets, their own like me. So it’s really there’s so much I live in the abundance world now. Like when we started this podcast, I was telling you how I was in scarcity mode a couple of years ago, and so now I’ve shifted to the abundance mindset. So I just feel like there’s so much for everybody all the time. There’s no need to compete with anybody because, you know, even with clients or deals, a deal will resonate more with you or a client will resonate with you more than the other person. And that’s how people find each other. Right. So there’s no competition. People will come to you because they can relate to you. Same thing with deals. That deal is better suited for this investor versus another investor. So there’s no need to compete. Right.
Erwin Szeto [00:31:28] I will just add that like you made the comment about how you reached out to people. For anyone listening, you’re going to reach out to people. Be nice.
Danielle Unsworth [00:31:35] Yes.
Erwin Szeto [00:31:36] Don’t expect anything from anyone. Offer value.
Danielle Unsworth [00:31:39] Yes. I’ve had people offer their time like they wanted to learn from me. And I remember what are my Instagram followers or friends now? She was on mat leave and she’s like, I just want to help you. One, I could do it one hour a week, one hour a day. Like whatever you need. I’m happy to help. And when people do things like that, you take notice, right? And so if an opportunity comes, you’re going to reach out to them first because they sort of they made an impression. They went above and beyond someone that’s just going to do me with a question and nothing else versus someone who is offering their time because they want to learn and they’re willing to do it. So just so that they can learn. And if they’re if they eventually come to me and say, I’m looking for this property, I’m going to put them on top of my, you know, my mental list when a deal like that comes out. Right. So I just feel like if you offer value, whether it’s your time or your knowledge or anything, people will take notice and you might not know it, but you know, it’s getting it like it’s being placed somewhere in their minds and they’ll come back to you. Whether it’s an opportunity, a deal or a partnership, you just never know, right?
Erwin Szeto [00:32:56] At a minimum, like share and comment on Danielle’s stuff on her Instagram.
Danielle Unsworth [00:33:00] Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:33:00] Yeah, I’m sure you can appreciate that. Yes.
Danielle Unsworth [00:33:03] And I love sharing other people’s posts. Like if I see something that has really great value that I think other people will benefit, I share it. Whether it’s a course or an event, like a conference, anything. I feel like, oh my gosh, this would really help somebody I share because why not? It doesn’t really does it take away from us. Right. It just adds. It just adds to the community.
Erwin Szeto [00:33:26] Mm hmm. Okay. You speak of a community. I know that you’re part of several. Can you name which ones?
Danielle Unsworth [00:33:32] House? Yes, I actually I would love to talk about Wink, which is the Women Investors Network Canada. This is a community that myself and two other investors here in Ottawa we co-founded. So it’s Esther and I key. So we felt like there was a need for women to come together, support each other and be inspired to take action to invest in real estate or other investments. So we actually grew. We only so we co-founded this community last December, so it hasn’t even been one year yet. And we have grown to like so many chapters across Canada. So we have one in Vancouver, Halifax, one in the GTA. We have a chapter in Kitchener, Waterloo, Ottawa here, and then Calgary, and we’re working on another one in another major city. And so all these women are now coming together and talking about real estate, life, motherhood, like everything. And I feel really grateful that we were able to do that because there was such a need for like our first event. We had 50 women show up in December and they were all just like so happy to be there because we all feel like we’re the only ones in her circle and we feel like, you know, we’re crazy to talk about real estate and investing all the time when our friends and family sometimes are not interested. Right. In listening to. Talk about that all the time. But when you find your circle, you’re trying you don’t feel so crazy. Exactly. And we were able to do that. And so weight has really grown, you know, across Canada. We have from Vancouver all the way to the East Coast in Halifax. It’s been amazing.
Erwin Szeto [00:35:21] All your wing friends coming for November 12th.
Danielle Unsworth [00:35:23] Well, I’m promoting.
Erwin Szeto [00:35:26] Do you need your own wink discount code then? Because then that way we can set you all together, for example.
Danielle Unsworth [00:35:30] Oh, okay. Yeah, that would be great. We could definitely talk about that because if it’s something that we can promote because there’s women across Canada who would love the opportunity for sure.
Erwin Szeto [00:35:42] Where are you sitting? Because people want to buy. You probably want to sit with you.
Danielle Unsworth [00:35:45] Oh, I don’t know. Publicly. Okay. We’ll discuss after.
Erwin Szeto [00:35:51] But yeah, the point is, like, we can give you a discount code again and then we can reserve seats for your tribe. Okay, Lisa, obviously, let’s sit it together.
Danielle Unsworth [00:35:59] Okay. Amazing.
Erwin Szeto [00:36:01] Well, because you’re going to be in Toronto. You’re not always in Toronto, right?
Danielle Unsworth [00:36:04] That’s right. Yes. I want to come more often for sure, because last time I went to was for a mastermind and I didn’t have enough time to meet with other investors to network. And I.
Erwin Szeto [00:36:15] Like Corey.
Danielle Unsworth [00:36:15] Too. Yes, yes, yes. That was that was the reason I went. It was for his mastermind I think it was two weekends ago. Yeah. Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:36:24] Do weekends.
Danielle Unsworth [00:36:25] Ago. Yeah. Yeah. It was two weekends ago. That’s right. It was so awesome. So many new faces too at the event. So I feel like the real estate community is growing all the time, which I love.
Erwin Szeto [00:36:37] It’s growing. It’s shrinking because a lot of people got hurt in this environment. You and I both know people or organizations that were really aggressive in the strikes taught. Yes. Or just people naturally are aggressive and just over leveraged. I was talking to Dalia. She was telling me how people are asking her for help deal with their investment situations.
Danielle Unsworth [00:36:57] Really, they.
Erwin Szeto [00:36:57] Folks are 100% leverage paying like over 10%. And then they also borrowed the money for the renovations and they’re paying like 15% or more.
Danielle Unsworth [00:37:05] Yeah, yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:37:06] Renovation money. And now they’re caught in this downturn.
Danielle Unsworth [00:37:10] Yes. Especially flippers, right.
Erwin Szeto [00:37:12] Like even BR investors who didn’t have a capital, they didn’t have enough cash. They were debt heavy, overleveraged, expensive debt. Anyone could get caught.
Danielle Unsworth [00:37:21] But yeah, yeah, it is scary when you think about it. I mean, this is like could be a whole other topic, but it’s also about planning, right? And, and preparing and, you know, having that huge buffer like we run our numbers super conservatively. And so I know, like, it wasn’t something that people could have predicted because, you know, if you were in that growth phase and a lot of the money was leveraged, you know, it’s hard to know, like, okay, like, when do we slow down or like, you know, the supply chain? That was a huge problem for people who were doing renovations, too. So it’s hard to know. And there’s you.
Erwin Szeto [00:37:57] Know, it wasn’t just as we we’ve been living through supply chain issues for the last over two years. So like, you know, that we have these supply chain issues, budget based on these supply chain issues, budget double the time.
Danielle Unsworth [00:38:08] Exactly. Exactly. So I think it’s about preparation as well and then, you know, having that huge buffer. But yes, you’re right. I do know a few organizations and individuals who, you know, got really hurt during this. And hopefully, like, you know, I’m sending them recovery vibes because it’s really hard to shift after something like that right now.
Erwin Szeto [00:38:31] To hang on. Right. Oh, and Dell, you mentioned like this one person with all this money borrowed at three of these.
Danielle Unsworth [00:38:38] Oh, okay. Yeah. So suddenly.
Erwin Szeto [00:38:40] Being overleveraged on one property, they have three properties.
Danielle Unsworth [00:38:42] Now. Yes, that’s a lot. That’s a lot. Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:38:48] One is a lot. I can’t believe three.
Danielle Unsworth [00:38:51] Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:38:52] Yeah, totally. Well yeah. So we can folks find more information on link.
Danielle Unsworth [00:38:56] Yes. So we are on Instagram at wink. So I NC dot investors and people can find us there. We also have a Facebook page and it’s the same name, Women Investors Network Canada and that’s where we post our monthly events. So we have online events and in-person events and then all of the other chapters they will be posting their own events as well, but it always will show up on the main page, which is on the Instagram page. Hmm. Yeah. So there’s going to be events every month across Canada for our investors, which is super cool.
Erwin Szeto [00:39:38] And then sorry, we touched on Clarice Corey’s group you’re part of Corey’s the surname for there is a name for Infinity, something.
Danielle Unsworth [00:39:44] Infinite real estate results program. Yes. So I joined Corey’s program last year and it’s been amazing because I’ve been in real estate for a long time, but I’ve kind of been on my own, you know, just winging it, learning from my own mistakes because I didn’t have that education or that community. When I started 14, 15 years ago. So by joining Corey’s program, I was able to have that community. And he is super. He’s just so knowledgeable and so experienced. He’s able to help me set up like behind the scenes and set up systems for my business because before I was, you know, I didn’t think of myself as an investor. I just thought of myself as a landlord. You know, I was a landlord and I had a couple of properties. But when I shifted my mindset to, I’m a real estate investor, this is a business. I need systems so that I’m prepared and I can scale. And without those systems, it’s very difficult to scale when you’re doing everything yourself. Like I was the bookkeeper, the property manager, the marketing agent, the tenant screening department. So I was every day at all. I did it all right. But now I have, you know, teams in place. It’s great. All my paperwork’s up today. I just love it. Like, mortgage brokers love me because whenever they ask for paperwork, I send it to them within 30 seconds. I know exactly where it is because my books are super organized. It’s amazing.
Erwin Szeto [00:41:15] Mortgage brokers hit me. Well, actually, I in because I refer them to cherry as you get them answers.
Danielle Unsworth [00:41:21] Yeah. Yeah. No, Cherry’s been amazing too. Like, she was actually one of her speakers for a week. And the women love just listening to her presentation and just answering all tax questions because some of us are beginners, so we’re not sure how to set it up properly. And she was able to give like a lot of great guidance. So thank you for that, too. Awesome. Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:41:42] So you met her as a speaker. Hopefully you invite me to the golf outing.
Danielle Unsworth [00:41:45] Yeah, yeah. We want to definitely do more golf events. So next year, like in the summer, maybe we will have a couple more because it was just. It was a huge hit. Mm hmm. Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:41:56] We’d actually like to come all the way in the winter as well. It’s on. And as both of our bucket list to get there were no.
Danielle Unsworth [00:42:02] We’ve never been with oh you have to come we’re not for a lot of all right yeah so you have to come. It’s amazing how.
Erwin Szeto [00:42:09] Many games haven’t skated it. I would say a lot.
Danielle Unsworth [00:42:11] A lot. Yeah, I know. You have to come and you have to make sure you get a beavertail and hot chocolate with the marshmallows because that’s like the whole experience.
Erwin Szeto [00:42:20] Amazing.
Danielle Unsworth [00:42:21] Yeah. We for that.
Erwin Szeto [00:42:22] Yeah, yeah. We’re not sure. It’s just partly the weather dependent. But, you know, there’s something Westerners don’t want to hear about that.
Danielle Unsworth [00:42:29] 1818 after today.
Erwin Szeto [00:42:32] What can you tell us about Ottawa investing what’s going on Ottawa.
Danielle Unsworth [00:42:36] Auto up. So although I think it’s being affected just like everywhere else because I’m talking in terms of like the single family homes, because there’s a house on my street and, you know, it would have I think it would have sold for over a million back in January or February. And now it’s asking for about 850,000. And this week I saw a price reduction sign and now they’re having open house, an open house again. So I definitely see a shift here in Ottawa. But because I’m not in the singles and the 2 to 4 unit, my focus is on the larger multifamily or vacation rentals. It hasn’t really impacted me per say, but I do see a shift just even like around me talking to homebuyers. But I feel like it’s a different world. It’s like the end user world, right? People are buying to live versus the investor world. From the investor side. I do know of some flippers who are having a hard time selling at their projections. So they will be getting you know, they’ll be taking a loss on some of those flips, which is unfortunate. Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:43:47] I know some flippers, too, but they have a plan for plan B, which be to rent it out to property.
Danielle Unsworth [00:43:53] Yes. Yes. So that’s kind of the only issue with that is if you didn’t plan well for plan B, let’s say your finishes were, you know, higher. Oh, you know what I mean? And they kind of flip.
Erwin Szeto [00:44:05] Or got.
Danielle Unsworth [00:44:05] It. Yeah. So it could be an issue if you’re choosing really high end finishes because your plan was not really to keep it and rent it out. So now you have this beautiful home that was not really meant to be a rental, but you’re going to be renting it and you won’t be able to ask for like that high of a rent to offset the mortgage rate. So hopefully they budgeted for that. I hope so. Or blankets. Yes, exactly.
Erwin Szeto [00:44:31] Every property needs multiple exits.
Danielle Unsworth [00:44:33] Yes. And but that’s what comes with experience and education, right? If you have like a coach or you’ve been doing it for a long time, you would have had plan A, B and C, because when I look at a property, that’s what I do. Like, can I do short term rentals with this? Can I do a long term rentals? What happens if I need to sell it or you know what I mean? Like, you have to be able to have different exit options.
Erwin Szeto [00:44:55] Right? We work with clients like we know. Exactly, exactly. But we have a pretty good idea of the temp profile, what they’re going to pay you rent. We can fill it.
Danielle Unsworth [00:45:04] Exactly.
Erwin Szeto [00:45:05] Our system is very boring and repeatable.
Danielle Unsworth [00:45:08] But that’s. Those are the best clients. Boring is good. You know, you want to have boring, boring strategy because then you know exactly what to do. Like, you know, these are your tenants. These are going to be the rents; this is how much they make. So, you know, this is how much they’re going to afford. So for me, I usually buy in like a neighborhoods for the single family homes because we’re most of us are government employees here and we all like government employees, makes on average 60 to 80000, you know, and that’s not management level. So if you’re a manager, you’re talking 90 plus, right?
Erwin Szeto [00:45:44] Yeah. I’m hoping to get one of those jobs as a side hustle and just, like, do it for sure and not show up.
Danielle Unsworth [00:45:50] No, you have to show up.
Erwin Szeto [00:45:53] I to see if I get an answer. I’m totally joking. And just such a jaded government worker.
Danielle Unsworth [00:45:59] I know that that’s another topic, but I’ll pass on that one.
Erwin Szeto [00:46:03] It’s all jealousy for any of our listeners or government workers. I’m just jealous.
Danielle Unsworth [00:46:08] This is it.
Erwin Szeto [00:46:10] I wish I had that kind of situation where I can just turn off my mind at 5:00.
Danielle Unsworth [00:46:15] Yeah, well, that’s a different. But that’s kind of like that different lifestyle mindset, right? Because you do leave, you know, your work at five versus being an investor is always, always, yeah it’s always on your mind is always on weekends and things like that. Which actually I’m trying to take back some of that. Like I stopped going to walkthroughs on the weekends. Like I remember I used to drive to Cornwall on the weekends to look at properties, and after a while when you get to the point where like, okay, like I have a great portfolio already, I’m not doing that anymore. Now I’m going to be delegating that time. So I’ve been doing more virtual walkthroughs and things like that, which is super awesome. It saves me so much time and I just told myself like, I’m not I’m not doing that anymore. It takes away so much time with my kids on the weekends.
Erwin Szeto [00:47:06] Right now it seems our clients, especially people, be more comfortable, virtual reality, more virtual. And also because of the way the market is, we can get conditions for inspection.
Danielle Unsworth [00:47:15] Exactly. Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:47:16] So then our client can come then or they can still stay at home and just wait to see the inspection reports.
Danielle Unsworth [00:47:21] Exactly. Yes, exactly.
Erwin Szeto [00:47:24] Because the real estate is boring. It’s so cookie cutter and.
Danielle Unsworth [00:47:27] Yeah. And you know what to look for already, right. In the inspection report. So no red flags. Yeah. Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:47:34] And the day it doesn’t matter what my opinion is or if I like the kitchen or not, it’s all about what my tenant wants.
Danielle Unsworth [00:47:40] And what’s likely to.
Erwin Szeto [00:47:41] Pay for rent in it.
Danielle Unsworth [00:47:42] Yes. And I think that’s the difference between like an experienced investor and someone starting new. They still are putting themselves, you know, in the apartment versus thinking like, no, you have to look at it through your tenant perspective. You might want this kind of kitchen, but does it really matter? Will your tenant care? No. So you have to look at it like that, right?
Erwin Szeto [00:48:04] Not in this market because. Tenants. Users.
Danielle Unsworth [00:48:07] Yeah, exactly. There’s nothing.
Erwin Szeto [00:48:08] To rent. Is that the same non Ottawa is warehouse vacancy.
Danielle Unsworth [00:48:11] Yeah, vacancy is low. It’s always been low here. I’ve never even had one month of vacant units in any of my properties.
Erwin Szeto [00:48:19] So financial hardship or anything.
Danielle Unsworth [00:48:22] You know, I know I’m very blessed. I’m very blessed because we have never had an empty unit, not even for a month. So when our tenant gives us notice, we market the property and it’s filled right away most of the time within weeks. But because we have really great properties, they’re all in really great neighborhoods. And so because I know who I’m renting to, right? So I know there’s that demand. But for other investors, I, I feel like it’s probably the same maybe one month of live, but I feel like the vacancy rates are low. It’s definitely below 3%, so.
Erwin Szeto [00:48:57] It’s just even lower.
Danielle Unsworth [00:48:58] Yeah, I bet you. Yeah, I probably I haven’t checked recently because like, we.
Erwin Szeto [00:49:02] May have like a one month vacancy because we need to fix stuff up. But yeah, rent rental supply is like nonexistent and no.
Danielle Unsworth [00:49:10] And the thing is sometimes I’ll even like sometimes I want that one month to, you know, like you said, fix things up, you know, give it like, you know, just a fresh look, right? But the demand is so high, people will be like, no, like, I’ll take care of it. I’ve had tenants say, like, don’t worry, like all pays. I just want to get in because I have to get out of my other unit. I have nowhere to go. So they’ll ask me, can we go? You know, like a couple of days early? You don’t even have to clean it. Like we’ll clean it like it’s. The demand is definitely there.
Erwin Szeto [00:49:39] Mm hmm. Is the same in New Brunswick.
Danielle Unsworth [00:49:41] New Brunswick. It’s just. I feel like it’s the same, too. Like the vacancy. No kidding? Yeah, it’s. I mean, immigration. Like, that’s a whole other topic as well. But, like, immigration levels are high and they’re going to continue, right. So there’s a demand for housing everywhere. What does that say.
Erwin Szeto [00:50:00] Generally speaking to ours. Clients. They’re not scared of this of this market. A lot of them are waiting and waiting. A lot of them are actually getting in.
Danielle Unsworth [00:50:07] This is a great time to get in if you know what you’re doing. Right. Like if you’ve been putting your money aside for this opportunity, which I know a lot of people were in the last six months to nine months, they were not buying anything because they were waiting for these opportunities. Those people, this is a great time to come in. Maybe you can buy something to house talk, right? This is a perfect opportunity to do that. So yeah, I would only be scared if I was selling my home that I bought in January and now I need to sell. That’s not a good situation. But if you were strategic, I think you would be in a really good spot right now.
Erwin Szeto [00:50:46] All right. Any path for cash flow? You can rent it out and cover your costs.
Danielle Unsworth [00:50:50] Exactly.
Erwin Szeto [00:50:51] You didn’t quit your job?
Danielle Unsworth [00:50:52] No. Yeah. Because, you know, I heard somewhere I don’t remember. But with real estate, if, you know, if you have tenants paying on your mortgage, the principal paydown is really the guaranteed return. Right? Because the cash flow comes and goes depending on what the payments that month. Exactly. But your principal pay down is always there, you know for sure. Every year that X amount will be paid down. So to me, that’s a huge plus. So if you can get in now, do some house stacking, which is my biggest regret. I never got to house. I would love to house back now, but it’s like my house is a Gong Show, right? So I can’t it’s not possible. I would be so noisy. But if your 1718 listeners are at the beginning of their journey, honestly, my biggest regret is not how I was talking. So if you can do it now, go for it. It’s going to be such a game changer and it’s going to accelerate your real estate investing journey so much like you have no idea.
Erwin Szeto [00:51:53] So buy a house hacking. You mean renting out parts of your home?
Danielle Unsworth [00:51:56] Oh, yeah. Yeah. Or buying a duplex and living in one or buy. I mean, if you could afford it and it makes sense, I would go all the way up to a four plex, live in one, rent the other three. If for some reason that’s not possible, then buy the single family home and then rent out rooms or the basement or something like that. Just because if you’re single, this is the best time to do it right? You’re a single individual. Go for it. You’re going to save so much money, you going to start building wealth. It’s like the best option.
Erwin Szeto [00:52:28] The last three houses I’ve owned all had income, property potential.
Danielle Unsworth [00:52:31] Yeah, right. Like that’s the way to go. I wish I had done that. And like you said, to be cheap like me.
Erwin Szeto [00:52:37] And then you’ll find ways to save money. Yeah, I’m. I ain’t that proud. I’ll gladly live in my basement and rent at the main floor and collect rent.
Danielle Unsworth [00:52:48] I would totally do it. But I don’t think my kids, our pets or my husband will come with me. They’re just going to be like Google. Right. Right.
Erwin Szeto [00:52:56] I was actually reading I think RBC came out with a report recently. I think something like 40 or 50 years ago, the average household was like 4.2 people.
Danielle Unsworth [00:53:04] Okay?
Erwin Szeto [00:53:05] And now we’re like too low to or low to now. Yeah.
Danielle Unsworth [00:53:08] Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:53:08] It’s part of the reason why we need so much housing because so fewer people are in one property. Which is funny because I thought households were getting bigger. But anyway, my point is that a lot of people’s homes are very empty. It’s very valuable space to rent out.
Danielle Unsworth [00:53:23] This is very true because people think they need more space than they actually do. So that’s something to think about, too. And I mean, I know people like the privacy in their own personal space, but I think sometimes you have to sacrifice a little bit at the beginning, right. You know, you got to rent out those rooms because they’re sitting empty. You’re not maximizing your home and you’re not leveraging what you have. So, yeah, that’s what I wish I could go back in time and do. So your biggest regret?
Erwin Szeto [00:53:56] So just to feed the FOMO, I actually have a client. Katie’s coming on soon. They rent out rooms to international students from China, and they pay a lot of money.
Danielle Unsworth [00:54:08] Yeah, okay. I’ve actually looked into that. Yeah. Yeah, to be like a homestay, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But that didn’t work out what I really wanted to like. If I get helps out, I want to be a homestay family. But yeah, it was the whole process and then it didn’t work out for us. But yeah, that’s another option for sure.
Erwin Szeto [00:54:29] Because a side benefit for my family, we want our kids to learn Chinese, right?
Danielle Unsworth [00:54:33] So yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:54:33] Right. Because if anyone doesn’t think China is going to be a world economic power more than they are already, right. So yeah, you know, again, diversification, just hedging my risks. I guess learning Chinese is not a bad idea.
Danielle Unsworth [00:54:46] No, it’s a great idea. They have China. Do they have Chinese Saturday school in Toronto? Cause they have them here. It’s free. It’s true.
Erwin Szeto [00:54:53] Yeah. I think we better fit students in our house.
Danielle Unsworth [00:54:56] Oh, yes. That’s even better. Yes, that’s. That’s even better for sure.
Erwin Szeto [00:54:59] I think they both appreciate. Because then the Chinese students can learn some English and my kids can in a very, you know, get a lot of exposure to Chinese.
Danielle Unsworth [00:55:08] Yes. And my husband’s family did that. They were homestay families for Japanese students for like 20 years. And a lot of the students became like family friends over the years. And I think it’s an amazing experience. So it’s going to be so.
Erwin Szeto [00:55:24] I need a bigger house.
Danielle Unsworth [00:55:26] More space.
Erwin Szeto [00:55:29] Danielle, we’re running out of time. Do you have a couple moments to talk about social media?
Danielle Unsworth [00:55:33] Of course. I love social media now. I was honestly so afraid of social media. I was I didn’t have any. Yes, I had so much because I forced myself to do it. I only had Facebook from like whatever Facebook came out. And then I kind of just stopped after I had my first son. So for ten years, I was not on Facebook or Instagram work or anything. It wasn’t until like the pandemic hit my friends, she kind of forced me to create an Instagram account. And she said, you know, you have to be part of, like, the world to get like you have to join the joy in the world. So I did. And at that time, I was just posting, you know, kid stuff and I don’t know what happened, but something shifted in me. And January 20, 21. So last year was when I decided, I’m like, I’m going to take social media seriously. I’m going to share my journey. I, I felt like I had a lot to offer and I was keeping it all to myself, which I felt like, okay, if one person can benefit from my real estate investing journey, that will be more than enough to make me happy and to push through that fear. So that’s kind of how my journey started. I just forced myself to make posts to go online and figure it out. But I didn’t know. I didn’t I literally didn’t know how to create a post on Instagram. I had to ask my friend and we did it together. I remember at the restaurant and I just kept doing it and I felt like people resonated with my content and I started getting a really great following and then I became more confident and I just kept sharing it. And then that my, my community started growing. And that’s how I ended up making so many incredible friendships. Even like the way co-founders, like we met through social media and now like I can’t even imagine how I didn’t know them before. It’s crazy. And a lot of my investors and a lot of my partnerships were all through social media. We became friends because we resonated with each other’s content and just took off from there.
Erwin Szeto [00:57:50] So the message just get started, just post to start posting.
Danielle Unsworth [00:57:54] Yes.
Erwin Szeto [00:57:54] So because anyone who looks at your stuff, baby, feel intimidated.
Danielle Unsworth [00:57:58] That’s crazy to me. Because if you if you had followed me from the beginning, you could see that I you know, I would stutter. I was nervous. My face would be read. Me too, actually. But yeah, like I didn’t know how to do any of that stuff. When I got frustrated, I decided to get help, which is when I started paying for someone to help me create content. And now I have a virtual assistant and she helps me. And it’s been such a blessing because now I’m able to do even more content, create more content because she’s able to take it and you know, at the captions and put my logo and do my branding for me, which takes a lot of time. And so she’s able to do that. And I’m just going to focus on creating the actual content. Mm hmm. Yeah. I mean, so, yes, I think my advice is, if you want to grow your real estate business, you have to be on social media and you have to share your journey. And you just have to push through that fear of being uncomfortable or being judged or you think, you know, your friends are going to like to think you know, you’re crazy or whatever. Just who cares? Just be yourself, be authentic. And somebody is going to resonate to your message. Because I find a lot of people reach out to me and they say, like, you’re so relatable, you know, you’re not using crazy fancy words. You’re a mom. You know, you go to the gym, you’re like an everyday person. And if you can do it, it makes me feel like I can do it too. And my message is, Yes, you can, because I’m not special. I literally like you. You heard my story. I got sick taking the bus to go see you. And then I didn’t know how to create a post. And now I have an amazing community. So everything is, like, teachable. Just teach yourself these skills and push to that fear and you will see the results.
Erwin Szeto [00:59:53] Amazing.
Danielle Unsworth [00:59:53] Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [00:59:55] All right, Daniela, I usually ask a lot of questions, so I hug a lot of the air, sort of in a way. Any final thoughts? You’re already over time.
Danielle Unsworth [01:00:02] Oh, no, that’s okay. I honestly thank you so much, Irwin, for asking me to be a guest. I feel super honored. I remember you’re going to laugh again, but I remember thinking I was listening to your podcast. I was like, one day I’m going to be a guest because I would have I’m going to do like great big things. I’m going to help people and then I’ll be able to share it. And here I am. So thank you so much for, you know, giving me this opportunity. And my message to people is, if you are serious about changing your finances and you’re serious about helping your family create wealth and just be more comfortable. You don’t have to be, you know, super rich and own yachts and things like that. But just adding that extra comfort in your life, which is super important to me because I have two kids and I know it’s super expensive to have all those extra activities. So if you are ready to change your finances and create more income for yourself and you want to invest in real estate, reach out to either a coach, get into a program, just take action. And if people are not nice to you and don’t want to help you, just go to the next person because somebody will want to help you and that’s how you’re going to grow and you can reach out to me. I’m happy to help you as well because I know how scary it is. I was there too, and I always tell people the easiest way to reach out to somebody without being scared is if you give them like a keyword. So for people who are listening to this and they want to reach out to me, they can just do me on Instagram. Let’s think of a cool word for them.
Erwin Szeto [01:01:42] I thought range, but I guess that’s too generic.
Danielle Unsworth [01:01:44] Where you can just say.
Erwin Szeto [01:01:48] Let’s get on the bus.
Danielle Unsworth [01:01:49] Yeah, okay, let’s do a bus. Just drive me the word bus ride because I know you would a listen to this story and that you know, it’s from this podcast. So if someone wants to reach out to me and they want to do me the word bus ride, I’m going to know that they listen to this podcast and they want me to reach out and just help them get started. And so I’m totally happy to do that.
Erwin Szeto [01:02:12] Amazing. Danielle, something I’ve been working on just I don’t know my mind. My, my mind has always been weird, but actually Turks and Caicos is a good example. I think. I think of Caribbean people in general. They work to live and they live a lot, especially you live somewhere so beautiful. You’re going to want to spend more time living there working. I don’t believe that’s a reality for most Canadians. Unless you were born rich and no one wants to live to work. It’s pretty much the opposite of I think what our purposes. Yeah. So I’m, I’m leaning towards we work to invest.
Danielle Unsworth [01:02:47] And.
Erwin Szeto [01:02:47] We invest to live.
Danielle Unsworth [01:02:49] I love it. I think if people can understand what you just said, their lives will change. Like if you just think about working so you can have that capital to invest and then that investment is going to be able to create the life that you want to live. If people understand that cycle, everything else will change because I was raised to save money, not to invest. No matter how much money you save, you will never be able to create any kind of wealth or freedom because it takes forever to save. And then the money that you’re saving is actually losing value over time. So to me, I no longer save, so I will create money. So it’s either through equity or cash flow, I will create that income and then I will invest that income in that income. That investment is what’s going to change my life and make things just more enjoyable. Like I’m creating money to enjoy life, not the other way around, you know? So I think if people can understand that concept, like don’t save, invest instead, if they can just understand that I think everything else will fall into place, right? Or might the biggest thing I tried to like change people’s mindset is the whole like I’m waiting to invest because I don’t have any money, but you will never have money if you don’t invest. It’s like it’s a cycle, right? So even if you start off with something small, like $50, it’s something, at least you’ll get that habit. And once you get that habit, understand how it works, then you’re going to start to actually try to create more money so that you can invest. Do you know, like all these side hustles are available to people, you can create money from anything. Now, you know, you can create a course, you can host webinars, you can sell like my son was selling E comic books for $3 and he made 70 bucks. It’s pretty good.
Erwin Szeto [01:04:44] It’s fantastic.
Danielle Unsworth [01:04:45] Right? Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [01:04:47] One of our clients drives DoorDash. Okay. Yeah, $500 a week.
Danielle Unsworth [01:04:52] That’s amazing, right? Yeah. So imagine he took that and that’s his side hustle, right? So, like, get a side hustle. To take that side hustle and invested. And that’s how you’re going to create and build momentum. Yeah.
Erwin Szeto [01:05:08] Thank you so much for your time. Thank you so much for your support. Before you go, if you’re interested in learning more about an alternative means of cash flowing like hundreds of other real estate investors have already and sign up for my newsletter and you’ll learn of the next free demonstration webinar I’ll be delivering on the subject of stock hacking. It’s a much improved demonstration over the one that I gave to my cousin Chubby at Thanksgiving dinner in 2019. He now averages 1% cash flow per week, and he’s a musician by trade. As a real estate investor myself, I got into real estate for the cash flow. But with the rising costs to operate a rental business, it’s just not the same as it was 5 to 10 years ago when I started. Never forget that cash flow reduces your risk. The more you have, the more limbs you can absorb. And if you have none or limited cash flow, you’re going to be paying out of your pocket like I did on a recent basement flood at my rental in St Catherine’s, Ontario. If you’re interested in learning more, register for free for my newsletter at WWW. Truth about Real Estate Investing dot CA into your name and email address on the right side will include in the newsletter when we announce our next free stock demonstration. Find out for yourself with so many real estate investors are doing to diversify and increase our cash flow. And if you can’t tell, I love teaching and sharing the stuff.
Danielle Unsworth [01:06:32] Mm hmm.