He Lived in a Basement Bathroom… Now He Owns Apartments Across Canada

Welcome to the Painless Flipping Podcast, where our goal is to help you guys get into real estate investing. And we know it can be difficult to do anything for the first time. So if you're a brand new investor, we want to take the pain away. So welcome again to the Painless Flipping Podcast, where we bring on experts to help you take away that pain by learning from their experiences. So we have an expert today, Alex Powell. He's one of my pals from Canada, and we're going to get right into how he got into real estate investing. What's up, Alex?

How's it going, man? Thanks so much for having me.

Yeah, man, I bet you get that a lot, like pal.

Oh yeah, oh yeah.

I just thought about it.

My pal Alex Powell.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's conducive. It's good. You'd be surprised how many people still screwed up those 3 letters. It's funny enough.

Can you believe that? What do they say?

I got the P-O-W-E-L-L. It's just they overcomplicate it, I think.

Yeah, yeah, I got you. All right, man, well, tell us a little bit about who you are in less than 60 seconds and we'll dive into your journey and what you're up to now.

Yeah, yeah, awesome. So my background actually, I'm an engineer by study and I was working in project coordination, project management before I got into real estate. And that kind of helped me with construction management. I was always very interested in construction. So from there I started buying houses and flipping them on my own time, evenings, weekends, kind of putting in all the sweat equity. And Canada went through just a sensational real estate boom right in that time. So I had acquired a few properties at the time and things just skyrocketed. And it really helped position me for doing this as a full-time career. And I kind of also learned before things got completely chaotic. So I learned from these old-timer real estate investors. So, you know, a lot of the steps that I was taking was still very conservative, which actually served us super well right now where interest rates went through the roof and you saw a lot of people go belly up. And we're like, We managed to weather the storm. It was pretty cool. So yeah, we started off— I started buying a single-family house, living in it, house hacking it, then added an additional basement bedroom where I actually lived in the bathroom. Then I duplexed the place and I flipped one place, another, and another. And next thing you know, I quit my job. And then I met my wife, Kaylee. Actually, I got my real estate license and we met through real estate. And now we have 3 kids. We got a baby number 4 on the way actually in January. So we're really, really excited about that. And yeah, man, we've gotten into some pretty cool projects. Like we've done, you know, $700,000 major renovations on apartment buildings. We've jacked up and re-leveled out like 4-story buildings kind of thing. So we've done some really fun things. And that's the part I like about real estate is you can get into some pretty ugly deals. And if you can make it nice and beautiful, you can kind of— there's a lot of upside potential on some of these opportunities. So that's been a big thing. And that's what we're focused on. Focusing on now, we're actually going to be looking at value-add opportunities, but in larger scale buildings. We've been slowly scaling up into the apartment building world. So now we have a number of them under our belt all across not just Ontario, but we've done New Brunswick, we've done Alberta, we've also bought Columbus, Ohio. So, so yeah, it's really exciting stuff.

That is exciting. And I really like that. That's amazing. So you were being— you said you were an engineer. Or you were studying to be an engineer. I'm assuming you're already working as an engineer, right?

Yeah, yeah. I, I did mechanical engineering in university, and then straight out of university I worked in an engineering capacity for a large industrial contracting company.

So I'm assuming you're making great money. What made you want to flip on the side? I mean, you're probably doing fine.

Yeah, I caught the real estate bug at a young age, actually. I was like 15 or 16. I used to go to at the time my cousin's husband's auto body shop. This is when I was in college, university, and he would let me use his like hoist so I could change my brakes or do whatever. And he was getting into real estate at the time. And I remember going upstairs and he would have a coffee as we're just shooting the breeze or whatever. And yeah, give me a book. He'd be like, you gotta read this book. And like I devour it. This is incredible. And then he'd give the next book. And then, you know, he'd be, he had bought a place at the time in Toronto and he, And he's like, yeah, we're going to be renovating it. And I was like, why don't I come help you paint? And so, you know, like we just got along really well. So I helped him out and then kind of hear things and you're kind of interpreting and internalizing what they did and how they did it. And you kind of get to see the numbers projected. And at the time I was like, I was working at my uncle's tool and die shop. So this is before university. But at the time I was like, I cannot imagine my life being like this. I was at the time, I was working just stupid hours and the guys around me were all miserable and I was like, this is crazy. So the idea that you can make money while you're sleeping was mind-blowing to me. And to this day I keep telling people like, you know, don't, you know, pay off this piece of debt or whatever. Why don't you buy an asset that can pay off this debt? Or just the second that transition of thinking takes place, your whole world goes upside down and next thing you know, you're making money.

So what book was that that he gave you?

First one was Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It's the old classic.

That's the classic, dude.

Yeah, for sure. There's another one. The next one. Yeah, it was Real Estate Investing in Canada Using the Acres System by Don Campbell. And Don Campbell is like, if I had a shrine at home with like a little golden statue of somebody and I could light a candle next to it, would probably be Don Campbell. I love the guy. He, he started a real estate investors network group called RAINN. Back in the day. This is—

I think I've heard of it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was really, really popular. He's since sold his, his stake in it, and I believe he's doing farming or something like that out in British Columbia right now and living it up. Love that, man. I honestly— the guy is like tried and true, like salt of the earth real estate investor who's not like— he's not about your like bling bling and your like fancy Ferraris, but he's about like practical and long-term. And he became very successful, and I think he bred a lot of successful real estate investors. And when I mentioned at the beginning, incredible The guys that, that kind of I learned from at the beginning, it was going to these events and learning from these old-timers that had been through market cycles. And they, you know, they weren't getting, uh, hypnotized by the sexiness of, of, you know, mark— you know, current market trends, right?

Yeah, they, they always stay conservative because they've, they've been through it all, so they know it can change at the drop of a hat, right? Just like what happened, right, when you, you said you saw the boom, but you also I saw the interest rates go up. So, but you were, you were protected. Um, man, that's so crazy. So you said you were 15 or 16 when you got this Rich Dad Poor Dad book, is that right?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Mad respect to you, man. I, I, um, when I was 15 or 16, if someone gave me a book, I wouldn't read it. Uh, just cause I was not like a reader, dude.

Honestly, I don't know what it was. I think, I think what it was is that my cousin kind of treated me eye to eye. Like, he didn't treat me as a kid, even though he was an adult and I was a kid. In fact, I don't know why, but he had 2 tickets to the real estate expo in Toronto. Yeah. And he called me up because he knew I was getting interested in what he was talking about. I was listening and I was like absorbing it. He's like, you should come with me to this real estate expo. And at that real estate expo, Donald Trump was the keynote speaker.

Oh man, incredible, right? And you're probably like, not really realizing how amazing, like, what experience you're taking in. Maybe you did, I don't know. But like, I know, like, what, what you did when you were younger, incredible experience for your growth and your learning. Like, I remember when I was 15 or 16, like, man, it's just— I love reading now, dude. I read nonstop. I love learning. But like, when I was young, dude, I just, I just, I wrestled in high school. I just like didn't— I was an idiot, you know? So Oh, don't kid yourself, man.

I had my moments.

You make it sound like you're— I'm just envisioning you young being like, man, I'm getting into this. Like, I'm like, dang, that's awesome.

No, dude, I was a shit disturber growing up and I partially still am. But it's for some reason it was the idea I had this entrepreneurial spirit. I think that's probably what you call it. My dad always said, like, I used to march to the sound of my own drum kind of thing, which are all these indications. You know, I got that sparkle in my eye when I had seen opportunity. Naturally competitive, that kind of thing.

But I love it.

Yeah, for real estate, I think it just clicked. You know, you see all these people who are just working, and the ideas in Robert Kiyosaki's kind of messages are pretty straightforward. It's like, you know, buy assets that produce cash flow. You know, it's like if you want to get out of the rat race, you have to either be an investor or a big business owner. You can't save yourself to financial freedom. So all these things is like, Shit, then how do you do that, right?

That's wild, man. You know, it's interesting. Like, I've gone straight to the dream life without like building all the passive income. Like, I wholesale, right? So there's active income. But I told you I moved here to Canada, so I went— we bought a farm out here, own the property outright, like no mortgage, and just like don't have— I have a rental. I sold another one. But anyway, just like went straight to the dream life. Now I'm just like chilling on my farm and working, right? But it's You know, sometimes people like, they want to, you know, get a bunch of properties or get a bunch, like wait till they get there. But I'm like, man, just go do it right now. There's nothing holding you back, you know? So that's awesome though. That's awesome that you learned. And that's awesome that you took the initiative to do that at a young age. Like that clicked with you. I wish I would have had that, but hey, you know, it's the journeys we go on, you know, it's awesome.

You know, you mentioned at the beginning too, like, you know, the purpose of your, podcasts is to help people get into real estate investing and to understand it. And I come from quite a conservative kind of background of parenting. My parents are awesome. I can't say a bad thing. They gave me a loving home and all that. However, they totally like, you go to school to get a job and you get a good job, you get the best job you can so you can work and make something. And you did that.

You did really good. You became—

Yeah. So I've kind of followed in my dad's footsteps. My old man's an engineer too, right? So, but the idea of breaking out of that and becoming more entrepreneurial, actually more so was my grandfather. But, you know, I remember when I bought my first house, my mother was so uncomfortable with the idea of me actually going and buying a house. Whereas you think you'd be like, this is fricking awesome. My son's finally buying it. Like, no, it was like, you cannot do this. This is the biggest mistake ever.

Wow. Yeah.

That first house that I bought, it was like a, like just a dinky little property on the Hamilton Mountain here in Ontario. That in itself funded the whole renovation for where we live now, which is like a dream house.

That's amazing. Yeah, exactly, dude. You like buying it, man. Now people are like, you got to get a house as soon as you can. Like, get in as you know. Yeah, you have to get in or you're going to be paying like crazy because I'm sure the house that you said you bought first, I'm sure appreciated a ton.

I bought it for $186,000 and it's now probably worth $700,000. How do you do that?

You know, that doesn't even make sense.

I know. And that's 12, 13 years, let's say.

Yeah. Like the house that I bought, I bought in the United States, I bought it at $270,000 and then I sold it like 7 or 6 years later for $650,000. So just crazy stuff like that. And that's how I was able to buy a house here cash, right? Because you know, you take the American money, which is worth, you know, a little bit more than the Canadian dollar.

And what is it, like $300 to the Canadian dollar at this point or something like that?

Yeah, yeah, something crazy. But, but yeah, so that's a— real estate is amazing. It really is. Like, even if like you dabble and you're like, well, let me get a W-2 and I'll, I'll own like 2 or 3 rentals throughout my life, like that alone is like an amazing nest egg. Like if you just did a simple— some simple—

yeah, actually it's a good segue from what you're bringing up too. I think you're right. If you're looking at like a small portfolio, something manageable, and you know, you want to buy 1 or 2 pieces of rental property, I think it's a really good idea. It's super smart because remember when property values go up by, like you might have, let's say, call it $100,000 home. You've got $20,000 as a 20% down payment. If that $100,000 home goes up by 20%, you know, like it's the value of the home that's gone up, but your return on investment has like skyrocketed from what you put in. But what we notice too, and this is our own thing, like this is kind of what transitions us into the bigger deals, is that single-family homes when you're renting them, or even duplexes, triplexes tend to be a little bit— you start to see more production from like multifamily in that scale. But for a single-family home, you know, the cash flow nowadays isn't great. Property values has just outpaced what the rents are going to be. So when you buy a single-family home, it's like, you know, you you start to think to yourself, okay, I'm accumulating this cash flow. I got $150 a month, $200 a month. So at the end of the year, I've got $2,400, and then furnace breaks.

There goes all your cash flow.

And there goes all your cash flow. Now, you might make that massive spread, and that's why buying in the right location is super important with the right demographics. But when you get into the economies of scale of actually unit composition, that's where that cash flow tends to, like, become a little bit more stable, so that even if you have 1, 2, 3 vacancies, at one shot, it doesn't like, it doesn't erase you, right? So for example, we've got apartment buildings right now in Edmonton, and it's like, it's a big difference. It's like you're not cash flowing $100 or $200, you're cash flowing like $2,000 a month. And, and that if like one tenant doesn't pay or something like, it's not the end of the world. You can weather that storm and you can rebuild your coffers pretty quickly. Now obviously apartments have more money, more problems kind of thing. Or, sorry, more zeros. Big, you know, a boiler is a lot more expensive than a furnace, right? But anyway, that's, that's the, the whole theory there. And of course, people need a place to live. There's the shortage of housing is just unreal.

So are you looking to do investments in the United States, or are you mainly looking to stay in Canada?

Yeah, we're like, we're actively looking. As I said, we, we've bought and flipped in Columbus already. I'm looking at this, uh Ohio.

What is that, Ohio? Okay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, so we, uh, actually I was just there like 2 weeks ago just visiting some friends and actually met a bunch of people. I did completely virtual flips out there. So yeah, awesome. Like bought the property sight unseen except for like pictures and things like that. Um, you know, worked with the wholesaler, had only met virtually, kind of like you and I are talking right now.

Yeah.

Met with the contractor virtually, did follow-up virtual calls, make sure things were on pace and things were being on time, on schedule. And then yeah, sold it with a realtor who I'd only met virtually as well. It's like as well.

Yeah, that's all I do, bro. That's— I don't meet anybody really.

I just do everything virtually. The idea of that, it's so far-fetched until you do it and you're like—

And then you're like, that's no biggie.

Yeah, yeah. It's crazy. I'm very involved in the flipping that we do here locally. Right. And what I mean very involved, I don't touch the tools anymore, but from a coordination standpoint, I make sure I check out the sites, probably at least once a week, right? Make sure things are going. And I'm, I'm well-versed in construction. Partially I'm kind of a glutton for punishment. I like it. So like, I'm kind of nosy. I want to be in there and see what's going on. But it was awkward actually doing these kind of flips and stuff in Columbus. And you'd be sitting there, you're like, so, uh, how was it? It's about a, you know, 15-minute call this week. Is that it? Like, is that all I'm doing?

Yeah, yeah, no, totally.

The next thing you know, you know, sell, you make $25 grand net on one of them. And it's like, Actually, we netted almost the exact same on both, which collectively was about $50,000 for 2. And it was like a total of maybe like 7, 8 hours, like from start to finish.

I was like, that's mind-blowing.

Part of me has actually thought to like, screw everything else, man. Like, just do that. But just really virtually. Yeah, just like, you know, buying this stuff because you, if you have set up the right power team, your real effort is in setting up your network around you. That's where the real big task is. It's not in the nuts and bolts of it. I think if you do a couple flips locally and you kind of know what goes in— the house is a house, whether it's here or in Columbus, doesn't matter, right? Codes vary slightly. But, um, but I do really love the idea of like long-term passive appreciation, having something that is like, you know, is just churning, right?

Yeah, that is nice because that's the thing with flipping and wholesaling, it's active income, right? So it's not passive, it's not going to keep going. That's the issue, you got to always keep doing But it's good, right? It's good. I think you need both, right? You need some active and you need passive. So that's amazing, man. So where can people find you if they want to work with you? I know you say you're looking for investments and looking to raise capital to work with people and give them a return. Tell us a little bit about like where they can find you and how you can work together.

Yeah, for sure. So of course, you know, we're getting into bigger apartment buildings. If you want to see or set up a call and kind of ask some questions or whatever, we have our websites. Www.palpropertiesolutions.com. And there you can kind of see some examples of projects that we've done. You can kind of see some videos and things like that. We also have a podcast as well called the Real Estate Leadership Legacy Podcast, which we're going to be on together. I know that. We also, we also have a full, like, part one of our active income streams is actually we have a property management company here in Hamilton, Ontario. So for anybody local that has local properties and needs good management, We set up a property called— a company called Solutions Property Management. We always felt like property management was just a ripoff. And if you felt that way and you're like, oh my God, what am I paying for? Give us a call because that's kind of why we set up this business the way we did, because we're just—

that's awesome.

Yeah, it was bred from frustration. So yeah, palpropertiesolutions.com.

Yeah, the best businesses usually are, right? Bred from frustration trying to solve a problem. So that's awesome.

You got it.

So palpropertiesolutions.com is where they can watch some videos and reach out to you? Is that what you're saying?

You got it. You got it.

I love that, man. Well, it's been a pleasure chatting with you, and I honestly think we'll probably do some deals together, whether that's here in Canada or in the States. I come across deals all the time because I teach people how to get their first or next wholesale deal and how to do deals consistently from doing zero to 2 to 3 deals consistently a month. So we run across deals all the time. And if you're interested, we can always send you, send you kind of—

for sure, 100%. Put me on that buyers list.

Let's do it. Let's do it. All right, man. Well, is there anything else, any nuggets you want to leave the audience with before we take off? Yeah.

I mean, like, you'll hear it till nauseam, but take action. You know, it's funny when you sit there and you absorb all this information. And for those of you listening in your cars and maybe you're not seeing the videos as much, but you're just internalizing this. When was the last time you blinked and 5 years went by? And it's sad because in 5 more years from now, you could be like a multimillionaire and it just requires you to pull up the pants and just do it. So it's so—

life is— you have to be so intentional in life on like what you want to do. Or like you said, you're going to be 60 years old and be like, I tried, I worked, I worked. Yeah, you're just going to be like, I did. I think I did a good job. It's like, no, you can actually create the life of your dream. Like, I'm in Canada right now from the United States. Like, that's insane for me because I'm like, never thought I'd live in Canada, but, uh, I wanted to and we freaking got it done. Now I'm living. So anyway, it's just a lot of people be like, why are you moving to Canada? That's just what I wanted. I wanted to live closer to my wife's family and build an ice skating rink back here in my, um, backyard on my farm. And waiting for it to get cold enough, I'm gonna be skating in the winter, man. That's cool, cool with me.

Love it, love it. Well, I'll bring the kids over and we can, uh Have a few beers while they skate around.

You might be— how far is it from where I'm at in Lindsay? It's got to be like maybe 2 or 3 hours, right?

Maybe longer.

I see about 2 hours. It's not bad. Maybe a little bit more. Yeah.

Do you ever, do you ever go to the Durham RIA? Um, because that's like in Oshawa, and I've— I think that's where it is.

Do you ever go there?

Is that too far?

I haven't been there personally, but I actually grew up in Whitby, which is in Durham. Um, so yeah, very familiar with the area, man.

It's nuts. My wife, uh, her grandpa, um, sold his house in Whitby. He bought it for like $18,000 or like $30,000 and sold it without rehabbing, without doing anything. It was like old, not nice at all, like not updated. He sold for like $1.3 million. Isn't that crazy?

Yeah, yeah. Imagine that. Bought the place for like $300,000 and something and the place is probably worth $1.5 million now. Durham's really exploded.

Yeah, it has. It really has. So anyway, All right, man. Well, I appreciate you, and let's stay in touch. I'm definitely gonna have to, you know, note down your info so we can, we can do some deals together. Everybody else, have a good time, and like, subscribe, hit the bell icon, check out his website, and thanks for supporting us, and we're here to support you. Later. Hey everybody, what's up?

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