Our meeting will start at 7:00 pm and doors will open at 6:45 pm and end by 10pm.

Next Meeting: December 9th, 2026 at 7:00 pm

Location: Virtual Meeting

Cost: $ 100 per person at the door for non-members, or choose a membership option.

Location Context: Our new meeting location is the Second-Floor Theatre Room overlooking the track at the Abilities Centre. If you go to the front desk of the Abilities Centre, they will walk you there. Or simply follow the ramp up, and you will walk past the Theatre. The parking lot is located on the West Side of the building along Gordon Street.

Before the meeting:
1. Bring business cards and prepare for networking at the end of the meeting.

2. Property deal sheet for 2 minutes for members with a gift to members.

Agenda for the Evening:

* Introductions and Durham Updates

* Keynote Speaker – Raising Capital The Right Way – Michael Ponte – Most new investors think raising money is about finding someone with cash. It’s really about trust, and that trust is built long before anyone writes a cheque. Michael Ponte, founder of Savvy Investor, has spent over 25 years building a Canadian portfolio with private money partners and the last 18 years teaching investors how to do the same. He’s bringing that experience to Durham REI to walk you through how to raise money properly from day one, what to share with potential partners, and how to look after them so they keep
reinvesting with you on future deals.

* Keynote Speaker – Taxes and Real Estate by Gerry Hogenhout – Year-End Items that will help you to save money

* Wrap-up and Burning Questions

* Networking and Developing Your Power Team

Speaker Showcase:

Gerry Hogenhout is a Chartered Professional Accountant, Certified Financial Planner as well as a long time real estate investor, currently owned a number of multi unit apartment buildings and currently working on a 56 unit development north of Toronto. In his early years, he spent 10 years working in the small business and tax department of Deloitte Touche, Chartered Accountants after which he pursued his entrepreneurial dream of not only opening his own public accounting tax practice, but continuing his pursuit of real estate investing. To facilitate his real estate investing, he created a company called Canadian Investment Services which has now morphed into a full service financial services platform, called CIS Financial Group, offering clients tax preparation services along with investment management, financial planning, estate planning, mortgages, insurance as well as many aspects of real estate investing and structuring. On a personal note, Gerry lives in Toronto, is married to his wife Junko, has 2 adult boys, is a level 4 Hockey Canada referee and is a professional drummer with many years of past live performances across Canada.

Michael Ponte has been investing in Canadian real estate since 2002 and today manages more than 275 residential and commercial units valued at over $30 million. Along the way he found that helping other investors succeed meant as much to him as growing his own portfolio. That led him to create Savvy Investor, now one of Canada's most active real estate investing platforms and communities, where thousands of investors connect and learn from each other. Through
Savvy Investor, Michael teaches new investors how to get started and raise capital the right way, and helps more experienced investors scale into multi-family. When he's not working on his own deals, he’s speaking at industry events and mentoring investors who want to build businesses that last.