Alfonso Salemi: Welcome back, REITE Club community. It's Alfonso Salemi here with my amazing co-host Laurel Simmons. Today we had a very interesting conversation with Mike and Lee Ann Nicholson. They're up in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario. For those of you who don't know, maybe an island close by there, right along the border of the US, is a really inspiring story. They both talk about how, they have business backgrounds, entrepreneurial spirit, they both got downsized or uninspected had career changes, right?
Some of us maybe can relate to that, where we have safe and secure jobs and. I don't know what global pandemic will happen and maybe that safe and secure job isn't as safe as secure as you can. And that's what we're all about here at the REITE Club. Putting that control in your own hands really gets deep down understanding why you are here on this earth?
Why do you want to do the things you do? Why do you want to invest? It's not about. Finding bricks and mortar and picking out floor tiles and backsplashes and all that kind of stuff. It's really about creating an amazing life for yourself, for your loved ones, for the families around you. And real estate has given Mike and me that opportunity to fulfill all their dreams and help others now along the way.
Really interesting podcast. They're active members of the REITE club.com. They talked a little bit about it on the podcast, how they've been able to find so many resources and helpful tools, and that's something that, I know Laurel tirelessly Works at, and and the whole team really putting together the Amazing REITE Club website.
So if you haven't checked it out, please definitely check it out. our reiteclub.com, rate and review this podcast as well. And don't keep us a secret. Share this with your friends and family.
Laurel Simmons: You know what I think what struck me with the interview, and you guys will be hearing it in a minute or two, is simply that they started out, they didn't know anything, right? They didn't know anything. That's where everybody starts. You're not born knowing how to be a real estate investor, and nobody is ever gonna know everything.
I should say, and we all learn. We make mistakes, but hopefully we connect with other people who've made most of the mistakes before us so that we can learn from them so that we don't make those same mistakes. As I say to my nearest and dearest, often, I don't mind making mistakes.
I just hope it's a new one. Rather than one that many people have done before, or even worse, one I've made before, because then I'm really good at kicking myself around the block, right?
Alfonso Salemi: Absolutely. You are the strength of your network, right? People say your network is your net worth or your net worth is your net at all, or they're interchangeable. But the network that we've assembled along with our amazing community, the amazing team that we've built at the REITE Club is right there to help you along the way.
Go ahead and make those mistakes. We're gonna support you along the way, but maybe learn from a whole bunch of mistakes that thousands of people have made along the way so that mistake isn't as lethal. Maybe along the way,
Laurel Simmons: I think people's goals should be to make mistakes that no one has made before . Maybe there's a science fiction show there. To travel to mistakes that no one has been to before.
Alfonso Salemi: Reach new frontiers and be the first to make that mistake. Definitely Mike and Lee Ann talk a little bit about that. They also shared some of their successes, so definitely tune in and hope you guys enjoy this episode. We'll see you next time on thereiteclub.com.
Laurel Simmons: Let's go to the episode. Hi, Mike. Hi Lee Ann. Welcome to the REITE Club Podcast. First of all, tell us where you are right now.
Mike Nicholson: We're in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario. Northern Ontario. Right on the border of Michigan.
Lee Ann Nicholson: It's hometown to both of us.
Laurel Simmons: Now at the time of recording we're in April. So do you still have winter up there?
Lee Ann Nicholson: It actually left just a couple weeks ago and I just made a comment actually to Mike that last weekend. We still had snow this weekend. So we're done.
Laurel Simmons: Good. Pass your fingers crossed Winter. Winter has a habit of coming back, doesn't it?
Mike Nicholson: We might get one more snowfall because today, I took the snow tires off our car and our truck and put on the summer tires. I think we might get one more snowfall.
Laurel Simmons: Just saying Marie, that it's Mike's fault. That always works. So tell us what got you into real estate? Why did you get into real estate investing?
Mike Nicholson: All right. So it probably goes way back. The initial thought was years ago I had an uncle who had quite a bit of real estate. He always did very well for himself. He was an accountant, a very smart man, and I always liked the lifestyle he lived. So I always, it was always in the back of my mind. And then of course, fast forward to modern day. When we were looking for a first house, I said, Hey, why don't we buy a house with a rental suite, something that we can afford and if we wanna rent, We will, but we couldn't quite find that place.
We were excited. We were buying our first house together. We bought a house. A couple years later we started having a family, a couple of kids, and then our next home was our fervor home. So of course we didn't want a rental apartment in that one. And then years went by, I kept bugging Lee Ann to buy a rental property.
Over the course of a couple of years, I had gone through a job transition where Had a fantastic job, fantastic. Everything, and you go to a meeting and then you leave and you no longer have a job. I get a little package in that he was able to find other work, but it gets that ball working right. Thinking, what if that happens again and then fast forward to 2017.
Lee Ann Nicholson: 2017 I decided to take a career move, which should have, it was an improvement in my career. It's an advancement up, but just and that was January, 2017. As I progressed through the months, I kept having this Pit, feeling in the gut of my stomach saying, I don't like how I feel here.
It's something's not right. The economy's kind of, wishy-washy. I don't feel comfortable. And I said to Mike, I said, okay, let's do it because if I lose my job, not that we couldn't live, but I didn't wanna go through that again to what we had to do with him to know me and I don't want that.
I want something that will help us along the way. So we started looking at properties and we looked and I said, fine. I said, but I wanna know in this community what can you get for a hundred thousand? What can you get for 200, 300, 400? I wanna understand what's going on here. So in one evening, our real estate agent set us up with $100,000, $200,000, $300,000, $400,000.
The $400,000 one was last, and I almost cried going through the first three . It was no, we're not gonna be those kind of landlords. And it ended up into the $400,000 range where that was our fourplex. And as soon as I walked into it, I said, I can live here and if I can live here, that's a good thing.
This is what we need to do. And we did, we put in the offer, we got the fourplex and we closed in October of 2017. In November of 2017. I lost my job. So it was, the timing was wild. And then the people around me are like, oh my God, you just bought a property. What are you gonna do when you lose your job? I said, no, that was the point. We needed something.
Laurel Simmons: Bought a fourplex, not just a single family home. Fourplex, which is a big thing. I'm sure when you ran the numbers and even.
Even if one of them wasn't rented for a while, it still was.
Lee Ann Nicholson: It would still, yeah. And that's what we looked at. Can it support itself even if one's unrented? Luckily within a month or so, I was back working again, but that's where it really started and I'll let you talk more about it.
Mike Nicholson: Then within a few months we realized the power of real estate and especially what happily. and we thought, hey, we wanted to get more real estate. But then we got into that tradition. We'd taken some equity out of our personal home and, but then it was, a few months later it was, okay, now what do we do? Because now we're, our mortgages are full up again. So we just decided that we would have to wait for our next property.
Lee Ann Nicholson: Then as we went into Covid, Mike got antsy and what else do you do? At the beginning of Covid last year, everybody's stuck in homes and we still are. But he started researching again, saying, there's gotta be a way. We need to get moving again. We need to get out of our nine to fives.
We need more freedom and real estate is the way, but we just gotta figure it out. So Mike started looking at different podcasts. Groups and mentorship groups. And we landed on Mike landed on Mellon Dave, and we thought that was the best that they had to offer and how they resembled us.
We ended up, we signed up and the knowledge and what we got out of them was 100% incredible. And that gave us that, that drive to go forward again. And then we purchased again, and last year we purchased two single family dwellings with OPM. So both of them are with OPM. So then we started that momentum back again. So I think that's our story.
Mike Nicholson: That's in seven and a half minutes.
Alfonso Salemi: That's incredible. The short, obviously the short form version of your story and definitely, you mentioned Mel and Dave, they are right partners. So if you're wondering who are they talking about? Get to thereiteclub.com. Visit our REITE partners. You'll find Mel and Dave there. And they've helped so many of our Community. Achieve their goals. But I wanna rewind just a little bit further back. Cause you had mentioned, Lee Ann, that just before you purchased, or sorry, just after you purchased, you had lost your job as well, Mike.
Walked into a meeting, walked out with another expectation. What are some of the skills? Because nobody is born a real estate investor and knows everything, what to do and how to close, and who to talk to, how to build the team and all. Maybe what you guys have, a pretty strong business background.
You have that entrepreneurial spirit that you know, that a lot of investors that you know, translates well. What are some of the skills that maybe that you brought to the table that innately, that you guys are doing? And now what are some of the things that you've incorporated by building your team around you through real estate? Let's first focus on you guys some of the skills that you have that maybe someone that's listening to this saying, Hey, yeah, I'm good at that. I know that a little bit too.
Mike Nicholson: I think mainly when we bought our first building, I won't wanna say a well known real estate agent, but a good real estate agent. He had a couple of rental properties himself, so we understood the rental market. So it was finding the right person to help us buy our first property. And then, Lee Ann has a business degree. Once we got that property, Lee Ann looked after all the books. Like her, I call her the Excel Wizard.
She has Excel spreadsheets, she tracks everything. She understands everything. I'm more the hands-on person, so you know, I'm not Mr. Fix it perfect, but I can do fairly good work. So I can look after, if it's a leaky tap, I can change the tap renovations. We can go in, we can do painting.
Sometimes if an issue comes up and a tenant calls it's Hey, you need me to come now? Or is it, need me to come later on? So it's identifying what your strengths are and what you can do.
Lee Ann Nicholson: I think a lot of it is and that we've learned along the ways too, keeping in your lanes. We have tasks that we do and like I said, I'm more the financial side. Mike's more the other side, but even so when we look at proper. I'm the go-to person for the real estate agent, cause it's like I don't want the real estate agent talking to me and then talking to him and then, all that kind of stuff. So it stays in your lane and then sometimes Mike tries to get in my lane. Get out .
Mike Nicholson: Same thing too. Interviewing all the tenants. I do all that I have Strong sales background, 26 years of sales. So I always learned you have two years in one month. So you know when people are calling.
It's asking those questions. And I've learned over the years not to be afraid to ask questions. It's our property, it's our investment. So it's, asking those people those questions and letting them talk, and they'll tell you both themselves and get an understanding for your tenants.
Laurel Simmons: It always amazes me what tenants will tell you if you just shut up and listen, right? Ask a question and just the power of silence. Because people hate silence and they will come . So that's probably a great tip for somebody who's thinking about getting into real estate investing and looking for tenants. How do I do it? Just ask a question and then be quiet.
Lee Ann Nicholson: And let them go.
Laurel Simmons: Let them go. You have to do. I wanna go back to something you said at the beginning too. You mentioned the term OPM and for people who are just listening who don't know that OPM means other people's money. And certainly in my business with my husband refinanced all our properties with other people's money. You're big into other people's money. So can you tell us a little bit about how you stumbled over that and what you thought about it when you were first looking and why you decided to go that way and what it's done for you?
Mike Nicholson: I finding, when we wanted to buy those next couple of properties. We figured it was gonna be like a seven year wait until we had enough equity in our house and our fourplex to pull money out again. Then we just, the ME day program and it specializes in OPM. We learned all about it.
It was all different ways to use OPM. I remember the first time we found a house, our first house, and I remember the first time we did pro-something and it was like, We covered it off, we practiced back and forth with each other what we were gonna say. And we had all the numbers in our cashflow matrix and our presentation, and I remember that first one.
It was, okay, like this is it, we're doing it. And we showed it to them. And they're like, yeah, that makes sense. And we're okay, now what? Okay, so let's go, let's do this, right? And then we've got the second one, and then we've just. Bought our third property actually in Michigan. And that was our biggest house.
That one was close to a hundred thousand dollars of OPM. Going back again, talking about the power of your network and meeting different people. I talked quite a bit with Francois and he was the one. Then we were talking, I said you know what, I'm looking for a hundred thousand.
He says you've asked for 30,000 before. You've asked for 5,000 before. What's he saying? It's 25,000, 30,000. It's a hundred thousand. It's either they're gonna say yes or no. He says, if you don't ask, it's gonna be no . So I remember it was, yeah. And that's why I said, I'm just, I'm gonna ask. And we did it. And they said yes. It's a powerful feeling once people start saying yes, but the first one is very scary.
Laurel Simmons: It for sure. It's really scary. And I remember the first time we'd asked for, and when you ask for money, you have to remember that it's not about asking for money, it's about positioning it so that you just say to people, if you want your money to grow, here's a great opportunity.
Now, do you wanna take advantage of it or not? And if it's not okay, next, right? It's not personal, it's just you wanna take advantage of this?. You do great. And that point is about$10,000, $25,000 or $35,000. Absolutely. $10,000 is hardly worth making, picking up the phone and talking to people.
For people listening to this it's when you're just starting out, it's oh, $10,000 . No it's not. No, it's really not. You quickly go to a hundred and then 250 and then 300 and then a half a million. It's just because as your confidence grows and like things expand.
Mike Nicholson: Then Lee Ann is really good. I'll let her talk about the exit strategy as well.
Lee Ann Nicholson: That was a big when we do talk to people, the first question is like, what happens? And if you don't get the pull out of that property and you don't have that equity drawn outta the property, how are you paying us back?
What we really learned with Mel and Dave, is you have to exit before you enter. So you have to have that strategy of how are we gonna come out of these. And you have to have different options because if option A doesn't pan out for whatever reason, you have to have other options to make sure those investors are getting paid on time when they have to get paid or even before, right?
It's instilling. And a few times we had to instill that confidence in them that no, this is our exit strategy. We're exiting before we enter. And it did, it made a world of difference when we did ask them and their confidence came up with us.
Alfonso Salemi: Absolutely. And that story that you're sharing, you know that first joint venture partner or investor that you're working with, and you got the yes. And you're like, okay, what do we do now? I remember that feeling as well too, with an investor. And I remember, I was great at networking, making lots of contact. But I'd only send opportunities out to like people that I knew or remembered or had conversations. So I was limiting myself.
Then finally I sent out an email to I think over a hundred people and I got multiple people answering back and I'm like, oh my God, I might be onto something here. It's like I just found the electricity or plutonium or something. And it's such a great way and because you are right there, you are the ones that are actually gonna be managing this project, making sure that it's going and I often get the question, maybe if you've gotten this question like how come you're not putting your money in? If I had all the money I would, but you can only limit yourself. And you want, and I love our joint venture partners. I love our investors and giving that opportunity as well too.
Maybe walk us through maybe some of the toughest questions. Now, obviously that first one was a home run. They're like, Hey, let's do it. Let's go for it. But maybe some of the ones that haven't gone according to plan or haven't invested with you yet but maybe some of the tough questions or, obviously exit strategies is one of them, but what other questions do you often get for potential partners that maybe are hesitant or not sure about, investing in real estate? The big scary thing right?
Lee Ann Nicholson: I think the big one right now because we want to enter the US market is what our strategy is going forward now. P and it's Detroit, Michigan is where it is. So right away so many people say, where are you investing? Detroit, Michigan. Are you like, it's like the whole of Detroit, Michigan is eight miles. Like it's eight miles.
To try to tell them that No, it's revitalization, it's, there's a lot of positive happening in Detroit right now. And it really takes a lot of convincing that Detroit isn't this big hole that's gonna suck your money away from you, and people are gonna shoot you.
Mike Nicholson: One of the other ones that'll come up sometimes is people will be like House prices are crazy right now. It can't continue. And, but I'm, if you go back in time, if you go back into the forties, it's I'm sure somebody was saying house prices are crazy.
They've never been side, in 1950, somebody's I can't believe the price of a house. Have you seen them? They're crazy. 1960, it doesn't matter. Like real estate continues to grow. People who aren't in real estate, maybe they don't understand, they get worried that how can price prices keep going up? So that's sometimes one of the objections we'll get too.
Lee Ann Nicholson: What we always say is, everybody always needs a house. Like the housing market is never gonna go away. Somebody always needs a shelter to live under. So it's one of those things where the economy's gonna adapt and we're gonna go.
Laurel Simmons: Absolutely right. I was talking to one of the chief economists of Royalle Bank a couple weeks ago, and he is talking about just immigration, right? And yes, during covid immigration has stopped, but the plans of the government has for immigration. Just that alone, tens of thousands of people come into this country every year and just that alone will drive the market. There's only so much land. There's only so many places to put buildings and we're gonna go through an intensification process and Canada still has a wonderful reputation worldwide.
People wanna come here. And that's the bottom line. People wanna come to this country. And so we're going to have like I'm, a lot of people know that I'm in the wine business too. I say I'm covered. People like to drink when the economy is good and they need a place to live no matter what. Right?
Alfonso Salemi: If I could come at it from a little bit of a different approach. So now you've guys taken, some time now you've taken your courses. You had some life occurrences where jobs that you had were secure or weren't there anymore, and now you're well into your real estate investing career, has there been any point or points that throughout the journey where maybe you guys are looking at each other and going, oh my God, why did we do this? Or maybe an obstacle that was presented to you from a property, a tenant, an investor, a professional anywhere along the way.
How did you deal with that objection or that obstacle and overcoming and essentially get better from it? Ultimately the goal is to learn from those mistakes. But maybe something that you can share, we're talking rainbows and butterflies and everything's great and how it's gonna go up.
Okay. But there is the day to day and I see the board behind you. The to do and done. And it's not just as easy as moving the post-its across. What are some of the obstacles or hurdles that you've had to overcome along the way that you can share with the community?
Mike Nicholson: Probably some, we have had some tenant issues. There was one day, I got a text on my phone and I looked at my phone and it said, oh, hey when I was moving out, I took some stuff outta the crawlspace. It's soaking wet in there, there's a pipe off, right? And I'm reading this text and I'm like, call this book as I can. I'm like what do you want? I dunno, this pipe comes off and there's water coming out.
It's kinda like a fountain and my stuff's all we like, that's your fault, hold on. Of course you rushed over there and it was an issue with the sump pump and we got it fixed, but it had been off for quite a while.
The tenant's stuff, which had been on top of it, knocked the pipe off. There's quite a bit of water damage there. And you scratch your head and you call your insurance broker and say, Hey what's the, hey you start reviewing while you're deductible. I forget if it's 2,500 or 5,000.
I hope it's not that bad. So it's called the restoration company and they came and they were just swamped. There was heavy rainfall and they said we can't even get here for a month. You know what I mean? So it. Okay so I called a friend of mine, we came in and we had to clean it up and we were able to do it for only a couple thousand dollars.
Stuff like that makes you think sometimes man, you have a couple of good months and then you get this, $2,000 bill or $2,200 bill, that way. You know a good portion of that positive cash flow that you had. We always build a maintenance project. But a project like that takes a good portion of your maintenance budget.
Lee Ann Nicholson: I think a different roadblock that we encountered was when we, after the four o'clock we bought single family dwellings cuz there was a big niche that we found in that and the rents were extremely good in it. Because we weren't incorporated at that time, So we had our home, our primary residence. We had the fourplex, and then we had two other single family dwellings. So we had four mortgages going, and we were at the point that we hadn't incorporated. So it's oh God, like what are, we need to do something.
Our mortgage agent at the time said you're topped out. Your ratios don't make sense. You're topped out. There's nothing we can do. And that's where. We both looked at each other and. No, there's gotta be something, there's gotta be a way and corporation's gonna take a little bit of time, but there's gotta be something in the meantime.
That's before we can start moving properties over, which we, in hindsight, we should have really done earlier in the game. And then in the network that we've developed with. Mel and Dave again Mike started reaching out to people and saying, Hey, are there solutions? And sure enough, there were different mortgage people and said, Hey, no, we can do this, and this. You're still okay? Go. If you wanna buy
Mike Nicholson: Their mortgage broker, we had specialized in just residential, People buying a family home where when we got in touch with a, mortgage broker specialized in rental properties that I have companies that'll accept, 80% of your rental income versus a traditional bank that might only take 50%. So that opened up our eyes too.
Laurel Simmons: It's just like you were saying at the beginning when you worked, you worked with a real estate agent who understood the rental market. And just like with mortgage brokers you need mortgage brokers who understand what it is to work with investors because as a transactional mortgage agent or broker who just works with People who wanna buy one or two properties.
There's the people who actually work with investors and they know they get it.
Alfonso Salemi: We call them the right partners.
Laurel Simmons: Yes, we do. we do. Exactly. So what would you say If you had to give one piece of advice to people starting out what would that one thing be? I know that's a broad question, but what would it be? What would you say? Someone just starting out who's just thinking about doing it?
Mike Nicholson: Make the right connections, find a mentor, find somebody who's actually doing it, and who is currently doing it. Learn from somebody who's already, who started out, they can progress you so much further ahead.
Lee Ann Nicholson: I think don't quit making excuses and don't be afraid to take that risk. Obviously the calculated risk, that makes sense. But don't be afraid, cause you know, time and time again, people are like, oh I wish I could, be like you guys and buy properties, but we just don't have time or we don't have this and we don't have. We had excuses too. We overcame them. And now it's like, why didn't we do this years and years ago? So stop with the excuses, just, take action now.
Alfonso Salemi: I love that. Great comment cause I think that's, we're so good at visualizing all the things that could go wrong and all the things and negative things and the impacts and like you said, oh it's Detroit and it's gonna suck my money and all those experiences.
There's a question that, I've been asking to, a bunch of people lately, but if there was somebody, whether it's in your area or remotely and with technology it's a lot easier. But that someone that's brand new. And maybe listening to this podcast, getting into real estate investing.
It's their first foray into it and they called you and said, Hey, you know what I really want? I really like what you're learning. Can I help you somehow? Can I bring value to you somehow? And in exchange, can I learn from you? Is that something that you guys would be open to?
Mike Nicholson: Absolutely. Actually, I just spent yesterday, we spent about an hour and a half. It was actually my cousin, she lives out in Vancouver. She lives in Victoria on the island of BC and she's looking at buying an income property like a duplex because her daughter, her one daughter, is paying $3,500 a month rent for a tiny little place.
She said, if the two of them can buy a property together, she said with the rent that they're paying, she was, I can help save her a whole bunch of money. She can contribute to the mortgage, I can contribute to the mortgage. and it can be a retirement piece for her. And we spent a lot of time on the phone and I've had so many people in the group help me out that I just love returning their favors. So it's a real win-win, right? When you can help somebody else open. I've been helped out by quite a bit of people.
Lee Ann Nicholson: I think, and It makes you feel good in the end that you help somebody succeed. And I think there, that's a good feeling in the end as well. and I said if there were people out there when we were going through it that offered the help, we would've jumped at it too.
I quite enjoy talking about it. And if we didn't, we wouldn't be in the situation. doing what we're doing. But helping others and making people succeed around you as well is just great.
Mike Nicholson: We're always open to joint ventures. Everything we've done so far isn't, hasn't been a joint venture. But that's something that we might eventually explore. And then also if somebody wanted to invest with us, we'd be willing to, show them the process, show them how it works in return as well as, pay them a fair interest rate.
Alfonso Salemi: I love that. And it goes perfectly what the REITE club is all about. Towards the end of this podcast, we're gonna ask you how the community can get in touch with you and reach out. And it's not just to just say an email or a phone number. We really do want the community to reach out, get in contact with each other on our thereiteclub.com community website.
There's the connections that are going on. Even right now as we're speaking and as this airs or as you're listening to this podcast, maybe that's where you're listening. On the wright clubb.com and the communication and the conversations, something that you picked up might be the last piece of a puzzle that someone needs.
You might be able to pick up another piece of information for you to go start a whole nother puzzle right? To start on the whole route. So make those connections, make those calls. And this is a great example, Mike and Lee Ann. They're saying, yeah, pick up the phone, get in touch, gimme a call. We love that. And I think it embodies exactly what the REITE club is all about, sharing that information and experience with you, with each other.
Laurel Simmons: I think, you know what, the other thing too is that none of us knows everything, right? Like it's impossible. And there's still stuff that I don't know. And I go to my grave not knowing everything, and I don't expect to know everything.
Yet I do know that within one or two phone calls, I can find the person who will help. I may not know, but they'll know somebody who can help, right? It's so easy. All you have to do is ask for help. And people are out there. Francois, should we get to our lightning round?
Alfonso Salemi: Yes, let's do it lightly. Are you ready for the lightning round?
Lee Ann Nicholson: How many points do we get?
Alfonso Salemi: Bonus points.
Laurel Simmons: Okay. I'm going to ask the first question, and it's really not a hard question, but we just want your first answer. Don't think about it, just, question number one. What's the best advice you've ever received from another investor or at a networking event?
Mike Nicholson: Ask for advice. Ask for money. Ask for tips. Ask. If you don't ask, the answer's always no.
Alfonso Salemi: Nice. Lee Ann, how about yourself? Anything to add there?
Lee Ann Nicholson: I think, don't take no for an answer. There's a way.
Alfonso Salemi: Absolutely. Don't let those walls, it's not a wall. You can go through it, around it, over it.
Lee Ann Nicholson: There's a way.
Mike Nicholson: Kool-aid, man. Just go through the wall.
Alfonso Salemi: That's kool-Aid, man. Yeah, I like that. Alright. Question number two. What is your favorite resource for real estate investing? And that could be anything, a book, a training, anything, a resource that you guys find valuable for real estate investing.
Lee Ann Nicholson: In all honesty, I'm gonna go back to the mentorship group of Mell and Dave. The resources of all of the people that are in that group. Like you said, we can at any time find somebody like Francois and Jennifer who have been fabulous with us and they're all different, or they can point us in different directions and there's so many resources that we pulled out of that group that we wouldn't be where we are today. Investing in the states now and doing what we're.
Mike Nicholson: Mine would probably be shameless plug the REITE Club. We've had really good success with you guys. I probably haven't even mentioned it, but from watching some of the podcasts I've read, I reached out to Ella at the Hub. We just did some insurance. She saved us $700 on our two of our properties.
On the personal side, they're actually quoting out our personal insurance and they think they're gonna save us some money. We're used to going into the states, we're using US properties.ca James and Vo Tech again, we met those, through Francois, through, through the REITE club. So just, an organization, there's so much knowledge there to lean on those resources.
Lee Ann Nicholson: I think he just said club, just to get bonus points.
Laurel Simmons: I should mention when people are gonna say who's Francois and Jennifer? But there's people that actually work with us at the REITE club to help, Francois is our community advocate and he does all kinds of things and Jennifer's helping too.
That's where that comes in. And they're both investors, so that really helps. Question number three. What is the attribute that has made you most successful? Lee Ann, let's start with you. What would you say is.
Lee Ann Nicholson: Makes me more everybody around me would say that I'm stubborn. Don't take no for an answer. Stubborn.
Alfonso Salemi: I noticed Mike is not nodding and he's saying no comment because I will have dinner with you after. So how about you, Mike? What's your greatest attribute?
Mike Nicholson: Probably. I'm a knowledge seeker. You know what, if we're gonna invest in a market, I'll research it. I'll look into it. I'll reach out to people, I'll talk to them. I really like networking. So it's when I wanna research something I do my Google research, but then I'll reach out to people who are doing it and ask them the questions. So it's like a combination.
Alfonso Salemi: Love that. Don't take no for an answer. The stubbornness on one side, getting all the information. Love that. What a great team. The last question number four of the lightning round. On a typical Sunday morning, what are you guys up to? What are you doing?
Lee Ann Nicholson: We're well aside from sleeping in , let's be honest. There's always we're, even if we're not in the office doing and doing board. We're always talking about different real estate, different strategies. What do we have to do? What are we doing with our rentals?
What are we, there's always talk. It's not necessarily in this office, but it's always on the brain and, what are, even Friday evening around the campfire and having a drink and saying, Hey, what's our goals? What's, what are we doing and how are we mapping this out?
It's always there. It's always been talk to both, but, and that's what I love. It's because we're such on the same page. It's like, how are we gonna succeed and how are we gonna. Say Booyah at all those people that said you couldn't do it.
Alfonso Salemi: I love that. So for those that are listening to the podcast, listening to the Today show, how can they get out? How can they get in touch with you and reach out? To you guys.
Mike Nicholson: My email is pretty simple, MikeB.Nicholson@yahoo.com. Feel free to email me there and then I'm on Facebook. Instagram. Also with Facebook we have our Nicholson Property Investments on Facebook and also on Instagram.
Laurel Simmons: That's great. Thank you very much and it was a great conversation and listen to you guys. Happy spring. No snow on your, lots of more deals coming in. All that other people's OPM is just gonna flow in so have a great time and we'll see the REITE club.
Mike Nicholson: Thank you.
Laurel Simmons: Alfonso, there you have it. They were pretty new investors not that long ago, right? What, four short years ago. And look at what they've done now. They've got all kinds of properties. They've got four properties, seven doors.
They brought up their first purchase of a fourplex. Most people when they start out only do they go the more traditional route like they do. A single family home, but they jumped right in to a fourplex cause they were looking at it. And as Lee Ann said, she just had this feeling that something wasn't right with the job. So they did it. And when she left that job, then they were covered. They had the cash flow to carry it.
Alfonso Salemi: Absolutely. A great husband and wife team that are working together, really leading on their own strengths, knowing where their weaknesses are, knowing who to bring in, when to bring in those power team members to help them along the way in the journey and dealing with those things.
That is the strength of, being part of the REITE club, being a real estate investor, and being an entrepreneur. The problem is not, They're gonna come when and how you deal with them and how your perception, how you view, and I know Laurel, you're a big proponent of this, of making sure that why is strong enough so that when you do get that first or second or third obstacle or that hurdle to overcome.
Your why is strong enough to propel you through that and push through and really enjoy the benefits of the hard work that you do put in. Amazing members of the community. Really interesting conversation with Mike and Lee Ann.
Laurel Simmons: I think we'll wrap it up with that. Alfonso , my last words to everyone is go to thereiteclub.com, sign up. Membership is free. Get in there, look at the forums. There's all kinds of stuff to watch and read and listen to. So we'd love to see you. And until next time, what we say, Alfonso.
Alfonso Salemi: Come grow with us.
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