F.I.R.E.(Financially Independent, Retire Early) Panel

Hear from experienced real estate investors who have achieved F.I.R.E. - -Financially Independent, Retired Early.
Gary Hibbert, Sarah Larbi and Scott Zandbergen

Laurel: It's time for F.I.R.E. and it was my pleasure to introduce our three wonderful panelists. I'm going to start with Scott Zandbergen, who was frustrated with his poor performing investment portfolio of mutual funds and AFTs, and he decided to diversify into self-managed real estate investing, and that allowed him to move from working with a high tech company or with large technology companies to be a full-time multi-property real estate investor.

Welcome Scott. And next is Gary Hibbert, a Smart Home Choice investment realtor ninja, quite a title there, Gary. He has his own podcast channel and he's a multi award-winning full-time real estate investor and licensed real estate agent. And he purchased his first investment property in 2008 and became a full-time entrepreneur in 2014.

Welcome Gary. And Sarah, our own Sarah, retired. I don't think she's even had time yet to realize that she's retired. So, because he's just catching up with life and all the other stuff that she was doing her businesses. Her first rental was in 2013. She used the BRRRR strategy and she hosts, where should I invest in podcasts? She's a coach, a manager and a speaker.

She really does inspire, not just millennials and younger people to invest, but all of us. I get inspired by Sarah every day. Fact, sometimes Sarah, I'm a little bit envious because you've got so much energy and I'm thinking, okay, you got to wear out some time, but maybe the hell is fire. You will never run out. Let's go and let's find out what's going on here. So, I'm going to start with you, Gary. So, can you tell us just in two minutes or less, so why did you decide that REI was the way to go?

Gary: That's a good question. When I decided that real estate investing was going to be the path that I wanted to take, it was around 2007. And I remember I was working at TD bank. I was sitting by the water cooler and I wasn't liking my job anymore. And it was a couple of other coworkers that were there and were like, man, how do we get out of here? How do we have a better life? And we're trying to figure it all out.

Of course, none of us have the answers because we have no clue where we're on the same bucket. And I remember saying to myself I can't wait until I retire. And then it just hit me. And I was like, I really don't. I can't wait till I'm 65 years old. And I was like, okay, listen.

I've got to change my whole outlook. This is completely wrong. And it's you who can ask questions to the same crabs that are in the same bucket as you as to how do you get out of it? I had to try and find either a crab outside the bucket or the person that was holding the bucket that would have all the answers they needed to get me out of where I was.

That's what I started doing. I started researching, I started looking and eventually I found that a real estate investment was going to be the way that was going to get me out of it. Because when I took a look at what my own home had done for the last say, 10, 12 years, it had bailed me out three times. And then the simple question was, what if I had one more? How would that completely change my whole entire life? And that's when it all started. That was around 2008.

Laurel: You know what you're right. When you said that you were sitting around the world of the water cooler and wondering, why were you waiting until you're 65? I remember having conversations with people. When I lived in Ottawa and they would say I only have to put in, these are the exact words they use. I only have to put in another 18 years before I get my pension. And I remember looking at them and going, I'm thinking too much. That's the same language that someone used if they were in prison. I only have to put in another 18 years. Are you kidding me?

Gary: Yeah, you're right.

Laurel: It's your time. That's your year. It's just, wow. Scott, what about you? Why did you decide that REI was the way to go?

Scott: Similar, I think similar to Gary that epiphany hits you one day and you're like, I got to chart my own course here. I had some really great jobs and great opportunities. I would never want to put that down. Having that entrepreneurial drive, that entrepreneurial spirit, there was always something in you that I think is driving you towards what am I doing this for?

When you're working a corporate job and you're putting in 70, 80 hours a week I did that for 27 years. And so there's always that niggling feeling of like, how do I plan my way out of here at an early enough age where I can still, you know, do things that I want to do with my family, travel and things like that.

Real estate just became almost an obvious way once I started really researching it. So, for me, it was probably around 2013 that I, one night, was frustrated and really went down the Google rabbit hole and started reading all sorts of stuff and watching YouTube and whatever. And then next thing I know I'm taking some training classes for how to invest in real estate and within six months from that epiphany date, I would say I bought my first three properties in a span of three months. And then just snowballed from there.

Laurel: Okay. Great. Thank you. And Sarah, what's your answer to that question? Why did you choose real estate?

Sarah: I actually got really embarrassed one day when Matt and I went to the bank and we didn't even understand what an asset and a liability was. And we had been working for some time. And when you look at the salary that you make and you have nothing to show for it in the long term, for many years, it actually is a good wake up call. And so, I literally went back and I Googled what's an asset and liability, like really from scratch because I did not know much about finance and anything. And then how to become wealthy.

I always knew that, I had the one life I didn't want to be working for forever. So, in the back of my mind, even when I was young, I'm like, I'm going to figure something out, but I didn't know what it was going to be. And with research and Googling real estate kept coming back over and over.

And then I just started to listen to podcasts. Unfortunately, they were all American and I did not know how different it was from Canada. I learned some stuff. I learned some really cool things. And then, I had to convince Matt to go with our first property in our first heading. And that took a couple of years on its own. But I think it was back in 2010, when I got that wake up call, we bought our first place in 2013. That was seven years ago.

Alfonso: Awesome. And I love the interaction, the chat guys and really the three of you guys on this panel are inspiring so many people and people that need to hear it. See real people that are actually doing it. We had a live event a little while back. It was real people doing real shit. And this is what we're talking about is that people are going and doing it all the time and yeah. At any point in their lives. The next question, I'm gonna start with you, Scott. You said, you had that moment, you thought about it. I can't do this the rest of my life.

And you're having good experiences along the way. So, what was the moment, or how long did it take for you to say, okay, you know what, I'm going to go and make this my business, my lifestyle. So, how long was that progression?

Scott: Let's see. I started investing in 2014. But I think it was like the first two or three years after I started. I didn't get and make that decision that I'm going to go for it. It was more of, I'm going to diversify my investments. I'm going to be a little more hands-on with mine. Anybody that works in corporate jobs, corporate Canada, or corporate America, you take advantage of all the perks that your company provides you, like you put in $1 RRSP or company puts in an extra dollar, all that good matching stuff.

But what I always found with the majority of people that I talked to at work, I always had an interest in where my money was going. Most people just didn't care. Most people just pick the mutual fund that the company recommended you put your money in and then just trust that it's going to do.

I was a little bit more hands on. I was watching my investments and. Not really seeing much going on with performance, like in the right direction. I always noticed that the only increase I was getting in my portfolio was the contributions that I was putting into the bucket.

Like I wasn't in the market. Wasn't really helping me along all that much. Couple of years of investing in real estate. And then it was 2017 where I got really serious where I said, all right no, I had a job change there, went to another company. And so, it took my eye off the ball for a little bit and got focused on the job again.

And then I surfaced and said, you know what time to get back into real estate. And at that point in time, I changed my strategy. I started going after duplexes. Buying single family homes, adding a secondary suite. I did a few of those and I realized, wow, these things cashflow like crazy.

And I could suddenly see a vision towards cashflow getting close to replacing my T4 income. And once I saw that path, I realized I could get myself there. I was obsessed. From 2017 till 2020 it's I was spreadsheeting every day trying to figure out how many more dollars I need.

Alfonso: Analyze, looking at property deals.

Scott: All the time. All the time.

Alfonso: I want to go to Sarah next then, for a lot of you new to the REITE club. Maybe just getting to know Sarah as this person that just retired, Sarah is like one of the hardest workers. And I think it's like the 25th hour in the day to get things done. And I know I've heard Sarah's story a whole bunch of times, and I want for those newer investors out there that are getting wrapped up in numbers, like I need 10 properties or I gotta do this in three years, or I need to get 17 doors or whatever that is.

I know you started off like that. Having numbers and thoughts. Yeah. Putting yourself against pressure numbers and all that kind of stuff, but, walk us through like the terms and how many times you had to re guide that ship and make new goals along the way.

Sarah: It's funny. I probably made a lot of the rookie mistakes in the beginning because I did not have a networking group. I didn't have a team. I didn't have the right people in place to help guide me. Now I do. I'll tell you that. A big piece of it, but in the beginning, literally this is how much of a newbie I was. I went to a conference and someone's if you buy a house a year for 10 years, you'll be set.

I'm like, okay, cool. That's what I got to do. Not realizing that his income, his goals, his net worth would be different from mine. But I'll tell you that over time and having the right people in your team and having the right network around you and you actually develop proper processes and proper goals and all that stuff.

And really, ultimately it was when I started to do the BRRRR strategy that things started clicking in more versus oh, I have to wait a whole year or a year and a half or two to buy the next property. Just as a buy and hold out. I'll tell you that if you buy in the right market and you have the right team and you apply the right strategy for that market, it can exponentially get there.

You can get there a lot faster. I was literally on my dock at the cottage when I said, I think I'm good. I think I'm good at it. And it was crazy cause it was the middle of COVID. I worked my ass off and sorry for the swearing, but it was a lot and I hope that, looking back at it, I actually wish I enjoyed the journey and the process a little bit more because it was gone.

But I gotta do it in seven years and I'm always big on that, like freedom and I don't want to ever have to work for somebody else and make somebody else rich. Like it's okay, that's great. Thanks, pay me. It'll be good for the financing, but at some point, plan your exit, and I'll tell you the BRRRR strategy allowed me to do that.

Combining that with tenant turnovers, you don't want tenants in Ontario as an example, they're forever sending up back market rents. Once they move out. After two, three years is awesome. Utilizing different strategies, like bringing into an Airbnb or shorter term rentals in some markets, it works really well. Just applying some of those combo strategies helped me.

Alfonso: Yeah, fantastic points. And I love what you said that just because you heard somebody else's goals and how they're doing it necessarily doesn't matter. Take the best from everybody around you, see what you want to do, what you don't want to do and then make it your own.

I'll go to you next, Gary. And now, obviously you've made that FIRE move and you're on the boat in the summertime, got the shades on chilling back up in the add-on. And now you're helping a lot of other people as well to do it for themselves and get that financial independence. But how long was that timeframe and what was your thought process while you were exiting the employment world?

Gary: 2008 is when I started. From 2008 to 2010 I had no idea what I was doing. I was supposedly doing the bRRRR but I didn't know what I was doing. I had no clue completely messed it up. Had no idea how to screen tenants. And so 2010, I was like this close to exiting the real estate investing world because everything that everybody was telling me at work was coming true. Like it's too difficult. Tenants are going to destroy your home and all this. But then I started looking and found networking groups.

I found that there were people that were doing this successfully. And then, I started learning from them. And then from 2010 to 2014 is when I really did that push of buying investment properties. That's when I really started understanding the importance of having the whiteboard and changing your mindset.

That is what allowed me to then be able to purchase multiple properties on my own, but then also with other joint venture partners. And so what I did was I put it on my whiteboard behind me. If I was able to get an income or cash flow off of the properties that I was purchasing that would equals I think it was around like $1,600, $1,700 at the time that was going to cover my mortgage payments, my taxes and my insurance that I would then actually get out of that.

Remember that crab bucket I talked about earlier. I was going to actually get out of that crab bucket. Okay. And so when I hit that mark I was like, okay, cool. At least I know that I'll have a mortgage or like a place to live, but I might not have any food to eat or any money to buy any clothes, but it then allowed me to have more time, more freedom to then really give the business a push to really get into the entrepreneurial world. And essentially what I was doing was I was packing my backpack while I was at TD bank to then eventually jump and plan my escape to freedom. And that's essentially what I was able to do now, when I was going down, when I jumped off that cliff, I got some bruises, I got some scrapes, but because it was planned the shoot was eventually over.

Alfonso: Love that. Great analogy too. I love that. Yeah.

Gary: I'm a good analogy stuff. It helps to put things together.

Laurel: And you know, what's really interesting is you're saying, yeah, the shooting eventually opens and I know Daniel lives by one of his motto is where you go and you don't think it's ready, but yeah, you jump off the cliff and you build your wings as you're going down because the only two things you're going to have. You're going to fly or you're going to die?

Scott: Right.

Gary: What you gotta do, then you gotta go find a really high cliff. So, that gives you enough time for the shoots to open, right?

Laurel: There's a lot of things you can do right. To make it work. And I know that I've seen something that some in the comments, in the chat about people, you know, being terrified to over expand or not knowing how to start. And they were glad that basically, they were saying, they were really glad that you guys didn't know what you were doing when you started, because I think that's really the main point here is that, when we started, when Daniel and I started, but I have a clue what we were doing. We did not have a clue.

We thought we did. No, we didn't. We did other reading and we'd done this and we'd done that. But then you try it. It doesn't work. Okay. The world in the end, you try something else, you tweak this, you fix that and you have the right team and you talk to people and you talk to more and more. That's how you learn. And sooner or later you're going to get it. Scott, what strategy did you utilize to get there? What's your favorite strategy? What was it?

Scott: I originally started doing single family homes. Because those were just the easiest to buy, but I'll put a tenant in. You don't hear from them for a year at a time, but then I realized that's a longer term equity play and not so much around cashflow.

I pivoted in 2017 and began buying six small bungalows and Hamilton and Niagara. And I have one in Oshawa and then out of the secondary suite to the basement and then rent the top and bottom and then do the burst strategy. So, refinance it when it's done. To redeploy or take a lot of capital back out and redeploy it into the next project.

I just did that, like rinse and repeat over and over for that period of time which then got me to the point of feeling confident enough. I just want to make one other point though. Just when Gary was talking about the parachute, it reminded me of a similar thing that I had for me and I was working with a career coach before I left my job.

At the time, we were plotting my escape a little bit. How was that, how was I going to make this move out of corporate life? And she used this analogy of headlights on a car. And when you're driving you basically can see at night and you can only see as far as your headlights are shining.

There's always this kind of interest or desire to know, like what's beyond the headlights. And sometimes you have to just take that jump and go around that next bend and see what it's going to be. And I was just almost obsessed with just taking that risk to a certain extent. Cause I'd been around the block enough with corporate life. And I thought, I'm going to take the risk and what's the worst that's going to happen. What's the worst thing that's going to happen to me if I leave, right? Maybe I'm going to be a colossal failure in the investing world.

I'm going to have to go find another job. That's not so bad. I'm still employable. So, that's the thought process that I was going through. So, what's beyond the beam of the headlights, what's around that next dark corner. And then once you start exploring it, it's actually pretty good. Opportunities start becoming available. Doors are opening up and it's all good.

Laurel: And I think he made a really good point there, Scott, that you know, that we often think of what's the worst that can happen. And we forget what's the best that can happen. If what you focus on is what happens 99 green nine times out of a hundred, what you focus on happens.

If you focus on the worst guess what you're going to get the worst, but if you focus on the best maybe it's not the absolute best, but it's going to be way better than what you've got now. And your intent and doing things to get there.

Scott: Yeah, it's knowing when to take that bold step. And not necessarily playing it safe forever.

Laurel: Exactly. And Gary, what's your strategy? What did you like and what are you doing?

Gary: When I started, I did the BRRRR strategy then when I was done with that, I hated it. They didn't call it the BRRRR back then. I think it was like a two unit conversion. I think the BRRRR was even discovered until several years later. And then I went to rent to own. Rent to own, was a strategy that I really fell in love with. It created a lot of cash flow for me and it allowed me to get to that destination quicker.

I mastered that for about four years then at the end of the fourth year, fifth year or so. I was still doing some rent to own. Then I went back and then I went back to the BRRRR strategy and then I mastered that. And so, I always say there isn't a right or wrong strategy. It's just what suits your lifestyle.

Sometimes that may change as you're going down that path of life, because you always have to have the destination in mind first where you're going to be, and then do that reverse engineering. And so I wasn't doing that in the beginning. And then once I figured that out, I'm like, okay, cool. This is where I want to be. Let me reverse engineer it. And then let me figure out the path to.

Laurel: Yeah. Okay. And Sarah, we know you're the BRRRR right? The BRRRR girl.

Gary: That wasn't a job that you said.

Sarah: No, that's all, you know what I think it's really important for everybody to see like the REITE club nation, that like you can do it, whatever the strategy is that you pick, you can be successful at it. And so you can have people that are able to financially retire early on rent to own, on BRRRR, on buy and hold, on multifamily, I like so many things, but I love the BRRRR strategy because it allows me to recycle my money.

Aside from that I'll tell you that I think by focusing on one market, when I was first starting to really understand that market and owning it on everything, I was able to find some really good things on the buyer. Just some really good deals. Some things I didn't even, I'm not saying that for you guys to do this, but some properties I didn't even see.

I just had a good team that had built in place that knew exactly what I was looking for. And I was able to get some like just on the buy, some really good equity from the start that's helped. I'll tell you the other thing is just keeping, if you have that one market, keep your pulse on that. Watch for comparable sales, watch for comparable rents, plan your current property strategy.

I think that's just as important as planning your next one. What does your portfolio look like today? How can you make its cash flow better? What are some things you can do to increase the income and decrease the expenses as a portfolio as a whole. So, when you're doing that and you're acquiring more, just keep in mind, you've got a current portfolio.

In the beginning, when you're buying something, you're like, oh, 2, 3, 4, $500. Cashflow may not be great, but have a plan. And I'll tell you, it's a slow start. It's a slow start. And maybe Gary and Scott can say the same. You're like, wow, I'm only doing this. How much? Like, how can I, at one point retire, it feels so slow in the beginning.

It's like the snowball, because if you really are owning in, on a market, on a strategy, you're going to become the expert and you're gonna be able to buy some really good discounted properties. You're going to have a good pulse so that you can refinance and re-strategize. And one of the things that has helped me is having those annual conversations with your mortgage broker, with your accountant, with all of your team members to figure out, okay, what are what's the plan for next year? How do you keep going for next year? What is your current pole portfolio now? Can it be better? Because you might see that you've got some really low hanging fruit and stuff that you already owned.

Scott: I actually totally agree with that. Like always optimizing your existing properties. Now, there's a lot of talk around some of these properties that we all own that are duplexes. Cities are now looking to allow a coach house, for example, in the backyard. There's going to be ways in the future of adding third units to some of these properties, which is going to put the cash flow through the roof. The other thing I wanted to just point out just going back to strategy is one of the things I found is as I refinanced my properties and just a quick tip, if you are on the edge of maybe leaving your job, and you're thinking about making a go at this full time, make sure you refinanced before you quit your job because after you quit, it's going to be a lot harder to refi.

Get as much cash out of those properties. As you can get as much, get as many lines of credit opened as you can and get the increases on every limit, as high as you can. But what I did is I took, because I refinanced several in a row and I suddenly ended up with a cap.

I didn't necessarily have another property to deploy that cash into right away. I did some short-term private lending, to help augment more cash flow. There were other investors out there that are looking for maybe a first or second mortgage. Maybe they're looking for some renovation dollars and you can become a lender to them.

You can be the bank and earn additional cash flow that way, that's another trick I use to help close the gap in terms of getting more cash flow in to help close the gap towards that where I needed to be to get closer to my job income.

Gary: I'm going to just share one quick little story in regards to my blueprint, from what I did from beginning to end. And so, back in 2008, one of the things that I did was I knew that I was gonna get into real estate investing. I reamortized my home. I've only had like maybe seven or eight years left to pay it off. I will refund or re-amortize it 40 years from now. I didn't even know what I was doing, but in hindsight, that was one of the best things that I ever did because what it did, it allowed me to look a lot better on paper to the banks.

Then my expenses were a lot lower. That's what allowed me to be able to qualify for more homes, buy more homes. And then what I ended up doing afterwards was that someone, some of those rental homes close. I then use that, put it down towards paying off my mortgage now is debt-free at least not got rid of that liability. That I'm a big key lock on my home. Then I continued purchasing properties with some of my funds and some of my joint ventures and then to where I am today, I knew that I didn't want to continue buying investment properties.

I've sold off a couple. I still have my nest egg and now what I'm doing is I am using that money to invest in lending. So, now that allows me to now have some passive income. Yes, it's not giving me appreciation. Yes, it's not getting a mortgage paid down, but I have that over here in this pile, but then it allows me to do what I'm doing here with you guys. It allows me to do my podcasts, allows me to do the things that I want to do in my life. That's a quick blueprint of what I've done with my journey.

Sarah: Absolutely. And so can I just jump in? I want to point out because Scott said something really important is plan your exit, right? This is not something that you decide overnight. Like refinancing before you leave your job is going to be so important because it's going to be very difficult to do it with those eight lenders once they are gone. So, before you do it, I would say plan like three to four months out and talk to your mortgage broker about it, because that's going to be a big piece in how you're going to keep going and where you're, setting yourself up.

That you're not stuck and there's always going to be other opportunities. Like we can still buy a deal. Going to be with different lender types, but unlock what you can with the best lenders. Before you go ahead and you pull the trigger on your T4 income.

Alfonso: Great.

Scott: Including applying for credit card limit, increases like go for the gold, go and get everything you can before you leave, because it's a lot easier when you're making a good income in.

Alfonso: I love that. And that's like real tactical advice that you're not getting from your financial advisor at the bank or something like that. We're going to wrap up the panel. I got one quick question for all of you guys who have given her a lot of that tactical advice, create that path. Leverage everything that you can while you're using that income while you have that T4, that last tax year.

What would you recommend to others that are looking to achieve that same result? Maybe from a mindset? What was the hardest thing from a mindset standpoint that you're like, I'm leaving Laurel talked about years of jail time, and people love the safe and secure jobs and what else is safe and secure jails. What was the one thing that shifted in your mindset to get through that? So, I'll start off with you Gary.

Gary: What it was for me, was understanding that. So, in 2010, that year I bought two investment properties. Then I got big on the whiteboard. And then I wrote down that I wanted four investment properties the next year. And that at the end of that year, I had four investment properties. And then I was like, It has nothing to do with money.

See, people think that you actually have to have the physical money and it's not true. If you learn how to attract it, you learn how to track what you want in your life. Then it's limitless. And that was when I understood it, because one of my favorite quotes was from Jim Rowan who met the goal to become a millionaire, not for the money, but for the person you'll become to achieve.

Meaning that it's not about the money. It's about the person that you have to become when you do become successful, because the person on the other end is one say, now if I lost everything, I can get back like that. So, I'm no longer ever scared or fearful of losing it all, because I know that I can regain it again because I've got the mindset. So, it's a mindset that is 80%, 90% of what's more important than the actual money in the skillsets. And so, once I understood that, It's limitless.

Alfonso: I love that. And that's why I asked that question, Gary, you do so much for the real estate community. You have an amazing podcast that helps so many investors. Guys, if you don't already follow her and consume Gary's stuff, find him and he's in the REITE club community as well too. You can get all that info. Scott, I'll wrap it up to you for your last question on the mindset. What was the shift for you that maybe you can share with the REITE club community that you could put themselves in your shoes.

Scott: I think like a lot of people, the mindset shifts started when I read, rich dad, poor dad probably in 2012, 2013, it sparked something in my mind. And then I continued to grow. And I think for me, the big shift was just not being afraid to take on the debt, like good debt that's going to help you earn income.

And because I found that in my final, several years, working in corporate, I would always have water cooler conversations because I became known as the guy around the office that, oh, this is the guy that has real estate. And so, you talk to people and it just seems so many folks that were working are just definitely afraid of mortgages, right? They can't sleep at night because they have one mortgage, either primary residence.

They're just obsessing with paying that off, let alone adding 5, 6, 7, 12, 15 more mortgages on top of that. They can't wrap their head around it.
When I started to realize that mortgages are right, that's a good thing. Like leveraging debt to generate. I want to do this all day long, right? I don't care how much debt I have when I look at my balance sheet, because I know that it's generating income. That was a mindset shift for me, because that is not the way a lot of us are raised or we're raised to get clean off the debt. You want to be debt-free. You buy a house, pay it down as quickly as he can. But that's not the right mindset if you want to be a full-time active investor. So, that was a big aha for me.

Alfonso: I love that, the first ever weekend event about real estate that I ever took the presenter in the first, 30 seconds minute set in front of the stage, my goal is to leave my children $1 billion in debt. And everybody was like, what? And then he obviously explained what you're talking about and leveraging and all that kind of stuff. Sarah and I saw the mind shift with yourself. What was the mindset for you?

Sarah: I'm going to switch it up and talk to you guys about the mindset when I'm like, I can quit my job, because I agree with Scott and I agree with Gary and I'll tell you, mindset is going to be 95% of your success is your mindset. But I was drinking wine on my cottage dock and I was just like, this is a sweet life because of course COVID sucks, but I got to live at the cottage from March to probably July and it helped me slow down. Because I was always going for those of you that know me. I used to work some insane hours with my full-time job and doing the REITE club and doing the podcast.

I'll tell you, managing the portfolio is not what takes time. It's everything else I was doing, but COVID allowed me to take that time to actually sit back and look at what I had properly. And I'm like, this is a pretty sweet life. And then when I was actually really reanalyzing things, I'm like, I'm there. So, it was, I think it was in June and then I started talking to my mortgage broker and as we put a plan together, and then I told my boss in July, I'm like, look I've got to where I need to be. And he was awesome. I'll tell you the hardest part for me was to leave probably the most amazing company.

It's still a job, the most amazing company and team that is hard because you're leaving something great versus you're leaving a toxic environment. I was not in a toxic environment. I was leaving something great. So, that was a shift that I needed to do. And then I've done real estate for freedom, and I've been going and going, and I need to just stop.
And I'm like, I made it, I do not need a whole other 40 to 50 to 60 hours. And when I looked at the financials and you planned it, Like I was there.

Sometimes it's hard to stop when you're in the midst of it and you're just going and going, but stop once in a while and I'll tell you, you may already be there closer than you think.

I gave them a very long time. I have three months as an exit strategy, I've left on great terms. But I'll tell you, I think it was the mindset of like I'm doing real estate for freedom and then realizing that holy shit, man, I have it. I have freedom and I just need to take it back. And so, that's what I did. And October 1st was my last day. I'm super excited for the next chapter.

Alfonso: Awesome. Gary, Scott, Sarah, amazing inspiration. You need a little inspiration, but don't forget about the perspiration. You gotta sweat and do the work as well, too. Take some great words of advice or from these three panelists and these three amazing people.
Let's get some ones. It's one up in the chat box and the virtual applause for these guys. gary@smarthomechoice.ca, sarah@sarahlarbi.com or @thereiteclub.com or szandbergen@gmail.com. So, thank you guys so much. And that was the FIRE panel.

Laurel: That's great and there's all their other contact information up there for you. Yeah, feel free to contact him, but hey, Alfonso we have a few more things to talk about, but don't go, we don't want people to go because we're going to have the networking event afterwards.

Alfonso: Absolutely. And not only was the panel on FIRE, like the chat box was on fire. There was so many questions, inspiration, and amazing stuff. All those questions that we didn't get to guess where they're going, see that big round blue circle there with an "f" in it.. Most people know what that is. It's Facebook. It's a Facebook group. We're getting on there. Just go on to the REITE club. The REITE Club and it's a public group, get on there. We're almost 500 members in the group.

If we can get over 500 tonight, I'm going to make a promise. I will personally do a giveaway. If we get to over 500 by midnight tonight, I will personally do a giveaway. Make sure you get on the Facebook group tonight, if you haven't already we're going to all the questions that we couldn't answer, that we couldn't get through. They're so amazing. Just so little time out there and yeah, we have a whole bunch of stuff coming at you guys. Sarah, I'll give it off to you to walk through.

Sarah: Sure, absolutely. And if you guys are podcasts listeners, don't forget to register for our podcasts, download it, leave a rating and review, please if you do. That's awesome. That is my fun everyday. I'm like, can we get any new reviews? And I'm really sad when we don't. So, please leave a rating and review. We've got Sandy MacKay, October 23rd. We have Kayla Andrade, October 30th for the upcoming podcasts, some really great stuff there. And also don't forget the Saturday, Claret on St. Paul, exclusive open house for the REITE club community.

This is strictly for us, for our members. It's from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM in Niagara Falls. Also the Saturday Elevation Realty Street Tour in Hamilton. We've got the REITE club community virtual events on October 28th with Francois Lanthier and Daniel with some virtual networking. On November 4th, we've got the investor forum. On the 5th we've got our next one hour REITE club event with George Dube and Tim Tsai. So, lots of things. And guys, there's lots of dates here, but check out our calendar of events and don't forget to check our emails when we send them, cause you'll be able to see all of our events and what's coming up next. All right, Laurel, we'll talk about the REITE club community.

Laurel: Don't forget. Go on over if you have joined, get over to thereiteclub.com, sign up, become a member, it's free. We have forums. You can connect with people. You'll see lots of new stuff and we're unrolling over the next few weeks. Come the end of October. You don't want to miss it. Get in there now. Talk, chat, learn things. Even some of the questions I've seen here about, oh, I don't know how to who do I lend my money to? You just go into that site and you'll find people who are looking for deals, who have deals, who have money, who want money. There's all kinds of things going on. Go on over to thereiteclub.com and we'd love to see you there.