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January 10, 2024 30 mins

The MOST Explosive Strategies for Real Estate Investment

There is more to real estate investing than making money, isn't there? 

Welcome back to the "Inspired to Invest" real estate podcast. This week, Jo Barrington and Ray Vozza from BV&Co are joining us to share their unique approach to real estate and why they believe that focusing on people, properties and profitable investments are all equally important when you're building your real estate business.

To watch rather than listen, click here

Like many other real estate investors, Ray and Jo decided it was time to leave the "rat race" after starting their family. They wanted more control over their time so they could better fulfill their new roles as parents to their two beautiful children. 

Find out how they educated themselves so they could take this leap into their new lives and careers - and some of the surprises that they encountered along the way.

Investing in real estate is a huge undertaking, especially when you're raising capital from other people for your acquisitions. Learn more about how Ray and Jo have gone about tackling this and why they've made it their priority to take care of their investors (aka, their "people") first. 

Ray and Jo share one golden nugget after another during our discussion, and they don't shy away from some of the struggles that they have experienced along the way either. 

This conversation is a gold mine for anyone out there who is thinking about taking charge of their future by becoming a full-time real estate investor. Ray and Jo reveal the roadmap they have followed to be where they are today, and why they have shifted their path a bit as this new chapter has unfolded for them.

Ray and Jo are a dynamic duo that you simply won't want to miss! 

To connect with them directly and to learn about opportunities they have available for passive real estate investors,, go to @bvco on social or https://bvco.ca online.

Thank you to the Canadian Real Estate Women Association for bringing us this month’s episodes of “Inspired To Invest”.  To learn more about them, go to @canadian.re.women.association on social or https://crewa.ca.

“Inspired to Invest” is proud to support the Beyond Success Program, a not-for-profit financial literacy program for students, launched by More To Give & MAK Investments. Find out more at https://more2give.ca/beyond.

Tune back in on Wed., Jan. 31 for Ep33 to hear from the owner of a real estate business with multifamily properties in 8 markets across Canada and plans to expand into the U.S.

Thanks again for tuning in & remember, "when you invest in yourself, the sky's the limit"

To connect with our host, Serena Holmes, go to https://www.linktr.ee/serenaholmesrealtor. 

To buy a copy of The Accidental Entrepreneur, go to https://www.linktr.ee/serenaholmesauthor.  

And, for everything related to real estate and real estate investing, please make sure you've subscribed to @serenaholmesrealtor on YouTube & other platforms. We also have a page dedicated to this podcast on Instagram and Facebook @inspiredtoinvestpodcast where we preview guests each week, highlight their episodes, top takeaways, tips, quotes and more.

Are you a full-time real estate investor with an inspiring story to share? Apply now - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1p6SfS8dePhLl6wMmSgdPpQ7xsJuEsBUbPDTJ0vgy9h8/  

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the "Inspire to Invest podcast,
where we're sharing stories fromreal estate investors and how
investing has changed theirlives.
This episode of Inspire toInvest has been brought to you
by the Canadian Real EstateWomen Association, also known as
CREWA.
Hey everybody, welcome to theInspire to Invest podcast.

(00:22):
I have Ray Bozette and JoanneJo Barrington, I should say,
here with us today.
We always want to extend thingson my end, but they're both
full-time real estate investors.
They run an amazing companycalled BB&Co.
They kicked off this chapter oftheir careers back in 2019 and
have roamed their portfolio tomore than 100 doors during that
time.
They specialize in conversions,multifamily development and

(00:45):
short-term rentals, and theyreally love to help others
benefit through real estate byjoint venturing with them,
private lending and alsooffering equity investments.
So thank you so much for beinghere today.
I know you're both very busy.
Thanks for having us.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Serena.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
Thanks for having us, Serena.
It is a pleasure.
We're super excited and honoredto be your guests.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yeah, of course.
So I know that you guys haven'tbeen investing for overly long
it's been about four years.
So what I really want to knowis what you guys were doing
before real estate investingcame into the picture.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Go ahead hon, okay, well, I was.
Yeah, we've got sort ofinteresting backgrounds, I guess
, compared to where we are now,but my degree was actually in
zoology.
I spent my whole career in thefundraising world in the
not-for-profit space and didcorporate fundraising there, so
I loved it.
It was a fabulous career.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
I didn't know this was a zoology program.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, oh that's weird .

Speaker 3 (01:37):
Joe always has interesting twists and turns
when she's telling stories.
For me, my background wasmarketing, so sponsorships,
events, doing experiential.
That was almost 15 years and itwas great, but at the same time
we kind of realized that wewanted a little bit more.
So making a shift was somethingthat was in the cards for us.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
So what did that shift look like?
So you guys were both working,Did one of you exit your careers
first?
Or like how did that jumpactually take place?

Speaker 3 (02:03):
So I think for us it was really all around the time
when we had our first child.
So we were living in Toronto,right, we had our first child,
our daughter, and all of asudden our costs of living just
like doubled, like childcare,diapers everything.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Childcare was more than a mortgage.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
We were paying more for childcare than we were
paying for a mortgage everysingle month, and it became
clear at that point in time thatwe needed to be able to develop
some additional streams ofrevenue right, some other
sources of income.
But it wasn't a really big goalLike we're going to make a huge
big shift, right.
It was like we're going to doone or two kind of you know,
either buy a property or do aninvestment and be able to kind
of augment what was going on inthe household.

(02:41):
But I'd say mid-2019, right, wereally kind of we saw the
potential and we saw theopportunity and we said you know
what, we're going to do thisfull time.
We can really go ahead and kindof change our trajectory.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah, so then what happened next?
Did you guys go about goinginto multifamily or like, how
did that growth path look andlike to take you to where you
are now today, with 100 doors?

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah, you.
Well, you tell the story.
I always.
I tell a longer story.
You're good at keeping itconcise.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
Yeah.
So I mean, I was doing a lot ofnetworking in 2019, kind of the
back half and I just wasn'tgetting the traction that I
really needed.
So we decided to, you know,invest in ourselves a little
more education, and that's wherewe really started to get
traction.
So the start of 2020, you know,if everyone remembers, that was
the start of the COVID periodand we caught fire.
So, as the world was shuttingdown, we were acquiring.

(03:31):
So we did our first jointventure in just to like kick off
the new year in January.
The next month of February, wedid our first multifamily 16
units and that was like justjumping right into kind of the
deep end, right.
So we had to flex.
And then, all of a sudden, wewent like right into like
multifamily and then, over theperiod of the next eight months

(03:53):
or 10 months, I think, we addedfive more properties to the
portfolio during that period oftime.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Yeah Well, I think that's a smart move because I
think, just from talking to allthe investors, like so many have
just said, they wish they wentbigger sooner.
Because the work that goes intoacquiring like a smaller
property is the same as if itwas, you know, 10, 10 doors or
20 doors or whatever that may be.
And it doesn't mean that, youknow, there aren't some
complexities that come with thatwhen it comes to structuring
your legal contracts and capitalraising and stuff like that.

(04:19):
But as a whole, there are alsosome other things that just make
sense from an economies ofscale perspective 100% agree
right and for us, right becausewe decided to really go at this
on a full time basis.

Speaker 3 (04:31):
So you know, now I've left my career, I've decided to
go at this right.
For us, being able to makethose acquisitions and be able
to get our portfolio up to alevel was a large goal and we
really went after it.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yeah, I don't think we could have grown as quickly
as we did if Ray hadn't been init full time, so I stayed in the
career.
I joined him full time in 2021.
So it's been two years now, butit was yeah.
We couldn't have done that bydoing it at our time, right and
having two small kids yeah.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, I mean, I think even looking back now I'm like,
oh, this would have been somuch easier if I did this in my
20s and my 30s.
I know I still had a busybusiness, but it's very
different when kids come intothe picture and you've got to
balance things a lot differently, right?
So I give you guys credit.
It had to be done Like you dowhat you got to do, right.

Speaker 3 (05:21):
But thank you.
Well you know the balance right.
Yeah, working for yourself aswell as, you know, having kids
right to be able to raise.
So it's a challenge, but it's agreat challenge and it's a
rewarding life, that's for sure.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
No.
Now, when you look at yourportfolio and the way that it's
grown and stuff like that, isthere any one particular project
or acquisition or whatever itis that you would say you're
most proud of or you feel likeis your biggest success so far?

Speaker 2 (05:47):
It's funny, I don't think I can pick a project that
I can say is the thing thatwe're most proud of.
I'm, honestly, most proud of thegrowth that we've done as a
couple, as a business, as afamily you know, because it has
taken and I don't think Ianticipated that going into this

(06:07):
journey, I think I wasn't atall aware of sort of the mental
capacity and the mental growththat comes with being an
entrepreneur and the ups and thedowns and the pressure is on a
whole new level because the buckstops with you, right, and you

(06:27):
know it's.
I'm really.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
it hasn't not been easy, but we've done great and I
think that's the thing I'm mostproud of and I think it's not
easy, like I mean I was talkingto Diana and John earlier, for
example and when you are workingas a real estate entrepreneur
and investor, that's hard on itsown, let alone bringing that
into your marriage.
And I think, justcompartmentalizing certain

(06:52):
things and you know you don'tnecessarily be sitting there
talking at the breakfast tableabout everything so you got to
try to have some boundaries,like you know.

Speaker 3 (06:59):
I think just having those close proximity to
everything can can just be likea whole another layer of having
your marriage mixed in right100% 100% right, Like we can
talk about, like differentprojects and the things that
we've fallen in love, and Ithink on every particular
property and project there's,like you know, that kind of that
honeymoon romance period whereyou're, like you know, maybe it

(07:20):
was the tile that showed so theway the layout came together or
the way that we find it.
Oh yeah, certain projects that Ilove.
There's ones that were justlike oh, you know what, we love
the fact that we hit that home,but overall we really, you know,
our mindset still stays thesame, which is it's learning and
growing right.
So everyone has taught ussomething, everyone has
benefited us in some ways and,you know, for us it's hard to be

(07:40):
able to say like this is theone right, when there's like
everyone you pick a new skillset, something that's happened.
You've gotten a little bitsmarter, faster or better.

Speaker 2 (07:49):
Yeah, I think that's the other thing, too, that
sticks out to me In terms ofsomething that we're proud of is
being able to to offeropportunities for others to get
involved in real estate who arenot currently involved.
I mean, we've had a couple ofpeople reach out to us and say,
you know, they were able to goon this family trip that they've

(08:11):
always wanted to go on becausethey invested with us, and that
just that feels really, reallynice.

Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah, yeah no, I think that's huge and obviously
like to your point.
There are challenges with anyproject or acquisition.
Are there any particularchallenges or obstacles that you
face that you would want tohighlight and anything now
looking back, coming through iton the other end, that maybe you
would have done differentlywith the knowledge and
experience that you have now?

Speaker 3 (08:35):
I think yeah, I mean, you know we were talking about
this last night.
Actually, we're sort of likeprepping for today, going
through the questions and reallygiving some great thought to
that particular question.
And I think, as you know,investors that were aggressively
scaling our portfolio, right,one of the things that we've
really learned from is taking ona project in a market that is
changing and shifting, and itreally becomes about those

(08:58):
additional extra strategies thatyou thought about at the
beginning, but now it's time toemploy them.
So you know, you bought aproperty, you're working on it,
the interest rates have gone upand now the mortgage is two
times what you thought you'd bepaying at the start.
What do you do?
Right, how do you be able tocontinue to be successful?
How do you pivot, how do youmake those changes?
And I think for us, that wasprobably the biggest really
lesson or the biggest learningright that came out last year.

(09:21):
Right, it's eight interestrates, as we all know that
everything went up for all of us, right?
So costs went up and it's likehow do you see it be profitable,
be successful and continue tomove things forward?

Speaker 2 (09:32):
Yeah, and I would say also, you know, yes, we happen
to build and grow and scale abusiness during a global
pandemic, which you know ispretty crazy.
But I think that regularcommunication with your partners
, with your investors, witheverybody and being really
transparent and you know,calling us bait, us bait,

(09:54):
everyone as it was in the sameposition in terms of the rates
and being open and honest abouthow we were going to navigate
our way through this and we weregoing to try this strategy, see
if that worked and then trythis strategy, and I think that
communication and thattransparency was something that
I think has really helped usover the last few years for sure

(10:15):
.

Speaker 1 (10:16):
Yeah, no, and I can understand because, as you guys
know, I've been on the morepassive side for the last few
years and I think, just withsome of the people that I've
invested with now it's like thatmakes a huge difference.
Like, I think, if there isanything going on and there's
any possible chance of like adelay or whatever it may be, I
think, as the active partners,like you, have to be very
transparent and very proactivewith your communication, just so

(10:37):
that you can put yourinvestors' minds at ease, let
them know how you're handlingsomething, because, at the end
of the day, like your reputationis like couldn't be more
important in this kind of anindustry.
Now, when you look back, wouldyou say that there's anything
that's really surprised you overthe course of being a real
estate investor, in a way that,like when you started out, you
never would have thought you'dbe encountering something or

(10:58):
experiencing something?

Speaker 2 (11:01):
I mean, yeah, I've done as a prizes over the last
few years, but honestly, I thinkfor me it's been the personal
growth as an entrepreneur and Ithink one of the things that has
helped us tremendously in thathas been surrounding ourselves
with like-minded people, so indifferent groups and masterminds
and communities.
You know we're part of similarones and you know I didn't

(11:23):
anticipate that.
I didn't anticipate that sortof mental and personal journey
that we'd be going on as well asbuilding a business.

Speaker 1 (11:33):
I think there's anything that stands out to you
is probably like the biggestlesson that you've learned, like
for anyone that's watching thatmaybe hasn't gone down this
path yet, any like pearl ofwisdom that you'd pass along to
them that you wish someone couldhave helped you with earlier on
.

Speaker 3 (11:47):
Well, I think we did help ourselves, but I think
probably the biggest pearlwisdom we can pass on for anyone
that is considering or startingout, which is to be able to
surround yourself in a communitythat is going to be able to
give you the support, theeducation and the resources
necessary to be able to takethose first steps.
It can be daunting, it can beoverwhelming, but you know,
being able to really you knowlook after kind of your own

(12:10):
education is a huge factor andthat was one of the things that
we did that really helped usright.
We spent the time on education,mentorship, getting ourselves
in the communities and reallybeing able to understand what
we're up to before we jumpedinto it, because when you start.

Speaker 2 (12:25):
You don't, you know, when you start on a journey,
especially when you're workingthe nine to five and you're in
the grind and you're and youhave this kind of vision of what
real estate could do for you,and so you want to sort of dip
your feet in a little bit.
But you know, you hear all thethings in the news about all the
market and maybe it's not agood idea.
So when we started we didn'ttalk to anybody about what we

(12:46):
were doing, because we kept itjust between us for almost a
full year, you know, and so wehad to talk about it with the
people that were in thosecommunities with us, yeah, and
that built really strongfriendships and really strong
relationships and we have justlearned a ton from everybody

(13:07):
there and that has kind of seenus through a little bit, because
I think sometimes when you'renot in the space, you can get a
little bit overwhelmed by fear.

Speaker 1 (13:20):
Yeah, I mean, obviously the media really
sensationalizes things and, atthe end of the day, whether
you're an entrepreneur andanother type of business or an
investor, like it, can be veryisolating.
So I think it's nice to knowthat you've got resources and
people that you can talk to.
I mean, even for myself, likemy husband's not really involved
with it so I can't go to himasking certain questions because
he's not going to really knowor he cannot maybe relate to

(13:40):
certain things.
So it's nice to know you can goback out to other people you've
developed those relationshipswith, just to have the support
or get where you want to gofaster answer a question Totally
, totally.
So in that note, we're justgoing to take a really brief
break for a word from oursponsors and we'll be right back
.
Right, the Canadian Real EstateWomen Association, also known as

(14:01):
Krua, is a national not forprofit association of female
professionals working andinvesting in Canadian real
estate.
They believe that women have nolimits in the real estate world
.
They're looking to connect withleaders in the industry who
will share the strategies thatthey use in real estate, along
with exclusive details of theirlife experience, which are

(14:24):
important for consistentpersonal and professional growth
and happiness.
To learn more, go to Kruaca.
Thanks again for followingalong with this episode of
Inspired to Invest.
In addition to real estateinvesting and running my own
brand experience agency for 18years, I also published a book

(14:45):
called the AccidentalEntrepreneur in October of 2021.
This is my story and itchronicles how I turned tragedy
into triumph to embrace mydestiny in entrepreneurship.
If you're interested in pickingup a copy, you can find the
link at SerenaHomesRealtorcomand you can also find my link
tree with all of the retailersin the details below.

(15:06):
Thanks again for your support.
Inspired to Invest is proud tosupport the Beyond Success
program.
In today's complex world, it'sabsolutely crucial for our youth
to learn how to take charge oftheir financial future.
We believe that every youngperson deserves access to
accurate, practical financialinformation.
Designed to bridge the gap, theBeyond Success program

(15:28):
leverages a comprehensiveeducational bootcamp to equip
young minds with essentialfinancial literacy skills.
At Beyond Success, it's notjust about teaching financial
literacy.
It's also about fostering afoundation for a prosperous and
empowered future.
Join us Together, we can builda brighter financial future for
the next generations.
Hey everybody, welcome back tothe Inspired to Invest podcast.

(15:51):
I have Ray Voza and JoanneBarenton, here with me today
from Phoebe Co, and they'retalking about how they started
investing in real estate aboutfour years back and they've
grown their portfolio with theirjoint venture partners and
other resources to over 100doors.
So bringing everything back, Iguess.
One question that I have iswhat's the craziest thing that
you've ever done as a realestate investor so far?

(16:18):
Oh, my goodness, I mean, youknow.

Speaker 3 (16:22):
I'm not going to make it a start.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
There's been some crazy ones right, there's some
totally crazy ones, but I doremember one time we were, it
was our first multifamily and wewere up there and there was a
little bit of a dispute aboutsome ownership of property.

Speaker 3 (16:30):
right, there were some things out front that we
had said, hey, we got to clearout of here all that sort of
stuff.
Next thing, I know, right, acouple of phone calls are made
and I've got the OPP there andlike I'm over the cruiser and

(16:50):
like he's got the handcuffs outand I'm like, hold on a second,
we're actually, we're actuallypart of the solution right here.
So probably the craziest waslike telling Joe that I nearly
got arrested when I was workingon my property.
That was probably one of thecraziest.

Speaker 1 (17:03):
Yeah, no.
And for you, Joe, is thereanything that jumps out?

Speaker 2 (17:07):
I would say receiving that picture and over you know
getting arrested, I was likewhat is happening?
No, we've had some pretty crazystories in terms of you know
fires, floods, like you knoweverything you can think of.
We've kind of gone through itso yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:27):
Yeah, you came out on the other side and you're still
smiling, so I think that's thething that's right.
So I know you talked a lotabout educating yourself and
surrounding yourself withmentorship.
What's some of the best adviceyou've received?

Speaker 3 (17:40):
I think some of the best advice that we've received
is really to be able to go aheadand spend the time to define
your goals.
Everyone has got differentobjectives out there and it is
okay to like beat them as grandor as simple as you want them to
be, but without understandingwhat you're trying to achieve,
and you're like great, I want togo out and do this, but then
it's like the what is it thatyou want to get out of it and
why is it that you're doing it?

(18:01):
If you don't have those twocomponents really figured out,
you're going to keep on doingthis thing but not really
getting to where you want to go.
So, being able to sit down andtruly define what it is you want
.
If it's money, do you want Xamount coming in?
If it is control of your time,if it is control of your
finances, if it is running abusiness, if it is being totally
passive, you really have toreally search within yourself to

(18:24):
be able to say what is it youwant, because it's ultimately
architecting your life by design.
Right?
You get to choose your path bythe work that you're about to
put in, so you don't want to doall this work to find yourself
down this other path and be kindof looking over at the other
pastor going geez, I thought I'dbe over there and here I am, or
?
anything.
So I think that's probably likea really big thing that started
off for us, which was findingthose goals and then refining

(18:47):
them as we go, keep looking atthem, keep looking at them and
making sure we're on the rightpath.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
Well, that's the thing.
Yeah, you do.
You're constantly refining yourgoals and you, through your
experiences, you realize, oh,maybe that's not.
Actually it's not reallyfeeling like that's for me.
Maybe I'm gonna do a little bitof this, but I think one of the
main things is, when you'redoing that exercise of trying to
define your goals, really behonest with yourself and don't

(19:14):
set goals based on what youthink you should want.
And I think that's really hard,because I think in this day and
age, a lot of the times wethink, especially when you're
going into entrepreneurship,there's a lot of like go, go, go
and acquire and be awesome andget all these doors and all of
this stuff.
And if you don't want that,that's okay.

(19:38):
If you just wanna do oneproperty here and get a little
portfolio of five doors, likethat's fine too.
And sometimes I think it's veryeasy to get caught up in that.

Speaker 1 (19:49):
So, really being honest with yourself, I think in
social media I can feel reallycompetitive, right.
I mean people put that in theirdescription, like how many
doors they have or what thevalue of their portfolio is like
, and it can feel reallyintimidating or competitive and
things like that, right.
But at the end of the day, weall have different seasons in
our life and if you've got twosmall kids, like, it may not
make sense to acquire maybe whatyou thought you would, because

(20:12):
you're giving up that time thatyou wanted to have with your
family in the first place, right.
So I think it's all abouthaving that balance and figuring
out what works best for yourlife, and I think that's exactly
where we are right now tooright.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
So we went all in and we kind of got we just got Full
tilt.
We went full tilt.
I mean, it's kind of how we domost things.
But, we went full tilt.
We, you know it took this past,you know, year for us to really
realize we work harder now thanwe ever did in the day jobs,

(20:44):
you know.
And yes, we've built alifestyle where we're not going
into the nine to five and thatkind of thing, which is amazing,
and we're able to pick up ourkids at the bus, which we love.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:55):
I can't.

Speaker 2 (20:56):
But it is.
You know, you have to take amoment and I think, as you say,
seasons, every season, do somereflection and say is this what
I want, you know?
And if not, what changes am Igoing to make to do that?

Speaker 1 (21:09):
Yeah, to do that Perfect sense.
Now, obviously you talked aboutjust you know the amount of
work that you're doing right now.
So my question is just inregards to how real estate
investing has changed your lifebut maybe not so much how it is
now, but like, how do you see itchanging as you move forward
and you've got property that arestabilizing and you're kind of,
you know, maybe more slowlyacquiring and stuff like that
Like what do you, how do you seewhat real estate investing is

(21:32):
going to do for you in the longterm?

Speaker 3 (21:35):
It's going to continue to like, you know,
ultimately it will be able toprovide that generational wealth
that we want to be able to have, right, that financial freedom
for ourselves as well as thepeople around us, right, so
that's friends, family,community, right, we're big
believers and we all wintogether.
It's not just about, you know,us, you know making it rich.
And then, you know, being onthe beach sipping the peanuts a

(21:56):
lot, that's nice, but, like,that's not the big, big, big
plan for it.
Right there, you know, realestate will continue to be that
machine that continues to workand build over time, right, and
that's what it is.
It's designed to be atime-based, you know investment
vehicle where, over years andyears and years, it just
continues to go ahead andprovide you great quality
returns.

(22:16):
So for us, now that we've kindof built this great, you know,
stabilized portfolio, now it'sabout really picking, you know,
passion, projects, things thatwe really want to be able to
make impact and difference indoing where we can see real
benefits ethically, financiallyand socially.
So I think that's, you know,that's probably the best I can
give you in terms of where we'regoing to keep on going.

Speaker 2 (22:35):
Well, it can control our time I have no doubt about
that Like control of our time.
That's been the biggest giftit's given us, I'd say, Is the
freedom to work from home, thefreedom to be there for our kids
, take our kids to all thelessons, be there at the bus, do
all those things that you knowwe weren't able to do before,
and so I just think more of that.

Speaker 3 (22:56):
It's the tiny little intrinsic moments, right.
It's being able to like takeyour kids and you know, to that
after school event and not haveto worry about, you know,
talking to the boss and gettingtime off early and then working
later on and all that stuff.
Sure, you know the boss stillsays yes most of the time, but
you know you still got to putthe effort in.

Speaker 2 (23:13):
That's for sure Good one, annie, good one that makes
sense.

Speaker 1 (23:18):
Now, I guess, in terms of financial freedom, is
there anything that you guysdetermined, maybe early on, that
was like your financial freedomnumber, whether that's cash
flow coming in the value of theportfolio, like kind of to feel
like you've made it?

Speaker 3 (23:32):
Well, thank you, like that's always nice to hear,
right.
We feel like we're still, youknow, on the ascent kind of
thing.
But I think for us Serena right, there were some good things
kind of passed on in terms ofsome financial marks, and we
were very green when we started,so it was all new to us.
But the idea of being at theaccredited level right of an
investor so having a certainamount of liquidity, having a
certain amount of assets andthen having a certain net worth

(23:56):
right is what we really kind ofstrive for.
So we've been able to hit thosemarks, which is really really
great.

Speaker 1 (24:03):
Now for someone that's new and may not
understand.
Like what is the value of beingaccredited, like what do you
have to have?
Or like what level of income.

Speaker 3 (24:12):
So I guess, in the layman's terms, right, it's as
simple as you can invest in moreI don't want to say complicated
projects, but you can makelarger investments in projects,
right?
So if you wanted to be into adevelopment project or that sort
of thing, you're now going tohave the financial, you know
acumen to be able to say, yes, Iunderstand what I'm investing

(24:33):
in and I can participateSometimes, right, the you know
the person who's puttingtogether the investment package
of the developer.
They may not let someone who'snot accredited.

Speaker 1 (24:43):
So you might know For someone who doesn't know what
that is like what do you have tohave in terms of income or
assets to be consideredaccredited?

Speaker 3 (24:51):
Oh, now, you're going to put me on the spot right
here.
So yeah, you never know who'slistening right.
Like that may be a term thatthey've never heard of before.
I think the net worth is like2.5 is the net worth is where it
sits at, and then in terms ofliquidity, I believe that it is.
I think it's 300 is liquidityon there, and then I believe
your annual has to be in andaround 300 as well.
I'd have to go back and doublecheck on those, right?

Speaker 1 (25:13):
Yeah, I was just curious because, like I said,
whenever someone uses an acronymor a term that I think someone
may understand.
If they're listening for thefirst time, then it's always
helpful just to break it downfor them.
Yes, now, I guess, in terms ofinspiration.
Obviously the name of thepodcast is inspired to invest.
So are there any particularquotes that really resonate with
you?
Go ahead.

Speaker 2 (25:32):
An the one that I've always loved, which is not
necessarily connected to realestate, but it's reach for the
moon and the worst you can do isfall among the stars.

Speaker 1 (25:40):
I love that one.

Speaker 2 (25:43):
I love it because it does create that impetus and
that drive to just you know it,go for it.
Just go for it.
You know it's too short to sitaround and worry and wonder and
like, oh, what if I did this oryou know could?
How could real estate help me?
Oh, but I'm a little nervous.

(26:03):
Just go for it.
Go for it with people that youtrust.
Try it out, and the worstyou'll have is an experience,
you know, and you'll learn fromit and you'll grow from it.
And you know I think realestate is an incredible,
credible business and incredibleindustry that can help so many
people in so many different wayspassively, actively, all sorts

(26:26):
of things.
So I guess that would be myadvice is just go for it.

Speaker 3 (26:31):
I would say mine is live life by design and not by
necessity.
And that took me a long time tokind of wrap my head around
because I was like, well, Ialways need to do these things
in order to be able to kind oflive right, to be able to make
my weeks, make my months.
And it's really the idea of youknow, you have the opportunity
to get up and design your life.
And I know that might soundlike you know pedestrian kind of

(26:53):
advice where it's like oh, soeasy because they've made it
kind of thing and they can dowhatever they want.
That's not the case.
We can all get up and choosehow our days can be, choose
habits, choose productivity,choose to live an inspired life
and hopefully inspire thosearound us.
So we love your podcast name.
Part of our goal is always tobe able to inspire those around
us to live their best lives.
So try and do it by design thethings that you want to get the

(27:15):
best out of life right.
And yeah, there it is.

Speaker 1 (27:19):
Great Now for anyone that wants to get in touch with
you to learn more about youropportunities.
What's the best way for them toconnect?

Speaker 3 (27:24):
Awesome.
Well, we can be reached in somesimple ways.
We're on social media, so youcan find us on Instagram, you
can find us on Facebook and youcan also find us on LinkedIn.
So it's bvcoca.
That's who we are.
You can also go onto ourwebsite, which is wwwbbcoca, so
pretty easy to be able to locateus.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
We're right out there .
Yeah, and we'll obviouslyinclude all your details in the
show notes below.
Is there anything in particularthat you want to leave with
anyone that could be watching orlistening right now?

Speaker 2 (27:52):
I think, just if you're curious about real estate
, if it's something you've beentoying with or thinking about
exploring, I would say connectwith somebody that you know
who's in the space, connect withsomebody that you trust and
pick their brain.
Everybody who's in the realestate space loves talking about
real estate.
So, it can never hurt to, as wesaid earlier, just educate

(28:15):
yourself, get yourself informedand, when you're ready, take a
step with somebody that youtrust.
And the opportunities are there.
There are so many opportunitiesand we always have
opportunities.
I know you always connectpeople.
You always have your ownopportunities, so there's tons
of people out here who want tohelp and, yeah, just reach out.

Speaker 3 (28:39):
Yeah, so I would echo Joe's thoughts there.
We can help you in your realestate journey.
Please reach out.
We would love to have thatconversation, but at the same
time, I want to say thank youfor Serena for hosting us, but
also for all of this amazingpodcast.
Your platform is blown up andmy number one piece of advice to
lead people with which iscontinue to listen and follow,
because you're bringingunbelievable content and experts

(29:01):
, ready and available for peopleto be able to absorb and really
take action on.
So thanks for what you're doing.
It's awesome, thank you Awesome.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
Well, thanks, of course, for being here.
Now for anyone that has tunedin, please make sure that you
like, comment and subscribe Ifyou've liked what you've seen.
You want to pay attention tosome future episodes?
You can also follow along atInspire to Invest podcast on
Instagram and on Facebook.
And, above all else, pleasemake sure that you remember when
you invest in yourself, thisguy's the limit.
Thanks again.
Thank you again to the CanadianReal Estate Women Association

(29:33):
for bringing you this episode ofInspired to Invest.
The views represented on thispodcast are for general
information only and does notconstitute investment or other
professional advice or anoffering of securities.
The host and guest featured onInspired to Invest make no
representations as to theperformance of any particular

(29:53):
investment.
Should you decide to make aninvestment, you are responsible
for conducting your own reviewand analysis.
It is recommended that youobtain independent legal
accounting and tax advice fromlicensed professionals.
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