Why I Am Not Just Focused on Real Estate Investing

_{After our meeting last night, I went out for some after-meeting drinks and snacks with some of the DurhamREI members. One interesting conversation I had afterwards was with a member who was surprised that I didn’t just focus on real estate.}

_{My response was simple: If I could get better returns doing something else, I would definitely be sharing it with everyone. What I’ve found is that unless you own a business, real estate—because of the leveraged returns—offers the best way for Canadians to build wealth faster and more reliably.
​I’ve been coached, mentored by many different gurus on many different topics – crypto, passive investing, option trading, lending and the list goes on. What happens is that people are often focused on strategies that create active income but not necessarily wealth. That’s really what real estate offers, without huge daily volatility.
​The Power of Leverage in Real Estate
​What makes real estate particularly powerful as a wealth-building vehicle is leverage. Unlike most other investments where you need to pay the full price upfront, real estate allows you to control a significant asset with a relatively small down payment. This means your returns are calculated on the total value of the property, not just your initial investment.
​For example, if you purchase a $500,000 property with a 20% down payment ($100,000) and it appreciates by 5% in a year, you’ve made $25,000 on a $100,000 investment—a 25% return. This doesn’t even account for the additional equity you build through mortgage payments or the potential rental income.
​Creating Income from Equity
I’m always happy to discuss ways real estate investors have taken their equity and created additional income from it. This is particularly relevant in areas like Ontario, where historically, we’ve been able to create substantial equity.
​If you take some of the equity you’ve created and convert it to an income stream of, let’s say, 10+ percent, you can really change your life. When done in a tax-efficient way, it becomes remarkably effective.
​Equity Extraction Strategies
​There are several ways to extract and repurpose equity from your properties:}

1. _{Refinancing: Taking out a new mortgage on a property that has appreciated in value, allowing you to pull out the difference tax-deferred}
2. _{HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit): Opening a line of credit secured by your property’s equity that you can use for other investments}
3. _{Cash-Out : Selling your property}

_{Upcoming Meetings
At upcoming meetings, I’ll be sharing different strategies real estate investors can use to create income from their equity. I’ll feature experienced investors who are already successfully implementing these approaches.
I’ll also cover how experienced investors got started, which I think will surprise many people. Sometimes, you see where people have ended up, but you don’t see the work, challenges, or sacrifices they made to get there. The more we can share these stories, the more people will understand how they can achieve success and the trade-offs required.
These challenges aren’t insurmountable, but they’re rarely discussed in socialmedia put out by investment gurus. At our meetings, we aim to provide a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed, not just the end results.
If I’ve learned anything from my years in real estate investing, it’s that there are few other vehicles that offer the same combination of leverage, tax advantages, and control. While it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme, real estate investing provides a proven path to building significant wealth over time.
It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. The journey requires patience, education, and sometimes making difficult choices. But for those willing to put in the work, real estate continues to be one of the most reliable paths to financial freedom.
I look forward to diving deeper into these topics at our upcoming meetings and helping more investors understand how they can use real estate to create both wealth and ongoing income streams.}