Ottawa

Cyndi Gould

Daniel: Good evening, Cindy. Cindy and I were part of a small group of people who met on Saturday morning in a restaurant and God that was in 2012. Nine years ago, and then I'm talking to somebody in front of me and Cindy is over there talking to somebody else. And I'm asking that person about a bridge. And that person said send me the information and then send the razor and I can do that. And then that was our first bridge and so back and forth. Now for nine years we have done a lot of stuff together. Hi, Cindy, nice to have you on.

Cyndi: Yes. Thank you for inviting me, Daniel. Yeah. We know each other.

Daniel: How long have you been investing in real estate?

Cyndi: First purchase was August, 2012. Almost nine years now.

Daniel: I was describing it in September, 2012. In other words, when we were having this conversation at the restaurant, you were just at the beginning.

Cyndi: That's right, yeah. I had got some education for this whole event, maybe five or six months prior, and then ended up buying a couple of duplexes that August and September right around the time we met. Yeah.

Daniel: When you got started, what was your "why" that got you started in real estate investing?

Cyndi: I think my daughter was barely a year old at the time. The stock market was not my friend still really isn't and I figured there had to be a better way to be able to get to a point where I want to work. Not that I have to work. I did a bit of research and knew that real estate could be that vehicle and be able to spend more time with my family and friends. And again, most importantly, work on my terms, not like I do now 70 hours a week. Like I need an end. I need to see an end. Real estate has been a great vehicle.

Daniel: Has that "why" changed since, or is it still the same "why"?

Cyndi: I think it's mostly the same. If anything, over the years I've accelerated the timeline with the success that we've had. I see a bit of a light now and the why is still the same. I'll never stop working, but I want to work based on what I want to do, my timeline and that's my goal.

Daniel: How many doors do you own currently?

Cyndi: Currently 38, nine buildings at a high point. We were at 45 doors. We'd sold a couple cents. But we've got seven out of town in Hamilton, Brantford and Simcoe, and then two larger ones in Carlin place, which are more local districts.

Daniel: What type of door? Is it a single condo? Multi? What do you buy?

Cyndi: Yeah, nothing single, all multis. Duplex is the smallest up to eight Plex. A lot of tri’s, four, sixes and an eight.

Daniel: Educate us here who are listening to you here? Why are you staying away from single family homes?

Cyndi: I think when I started, it was very successful, it's a great model, but in my opinion it's a little less risky. You've got a multi, you've got multiple tenants. If one was to leave, you're not left high and dry for months, you've got that other income still helping if it is months, generally it doesn't even take that long to get a new tenant in our places, but I think it was the security of that. And it's been great. You double the rent and especially, if you get with the utility separated, it's just a lot more cash flow.

Daniel: That means that a fair amount of your properties are commercial then?

Cyndi: Six and eight flexes are considered commercial, then that's it. I don't have anything bigger than that.

Daniel: Somebody is asking here about the vacancy rate in Ottawa. Do you think it has peaked?

Cyndi: In Ottawa? I don't have anything exactly in Ottawa. My stuff's in place and it's a fantastic market. Even in Stittsville there's just not a lot of rentals. There's no vacancies. As soon as something comes vacant, I can rent something in a week. It's fantastic.

Daniel: What about the other places that we're talking about there, Brantford?

Cyndi: Hamilton, and Stemco again very similar mind you a lot of tenants that I have my tenant profile is like a high C low B. They're probably renters forever. There is some turnover for sure, but these people will rent. If I have a vacancy, the properties are decent enough that it doesn't take me long. If I have a 60 day notice, I'll have a renter in there right away to take over. Yeah. It's low, very low vacancy.

Daniel: Cindy the theme for us for the month of March has been team. I'm guessing you're that because you live in Ottawa and you have a family and you have a job you just don't get on the road anytime you want to go buy properties and then maintain and then deal with them. You must have a team who's taking care of a lot of that stuff.

Cyndi: I think the main place to start for anybody new is in an organization just like yours here, Daniel, the REITE club. That network is so important. These people, when I first joined, I was in a different club, but everyone is genuinely interested in your success, like whether you do business with them directly or not, you have a problem. People are so willing to share their experiences, help you out right away. That is so invaluable. And just listening to the chat, what they've experienced and how you can translate it to your business.

The network to get references and then to be able to build your team through the network, right? You mean the broker, everyone has someone already mentioned. I think probably you, everyone in my team has always been an investor themselves or they understand investing. They know what cash flow means.

They don't value it. They know what rental, a tenant, like what all comes, the whole thing that comes with all that stuff. A good broker, a good realtor. I've dealt with a few. And both situations with the different areas that I've invested in. My lawyer has remained steady property management.

That sort of turns over as an owner and you have to have your pulse on the situation, manage your managers. I think that's important, especially when you don't live in the area to be able to stay on top of what the management company is doing to have that trust and have great handyman. Again, all this kind of stuff can come through the network that you're involved with. Those references are so important in my opinion.

Daniel: Right now in Ottawa, it's pretty hard to buy anything that will have cash flow. And it's the same thing here in the end, the GTA and where I lived in the Niagara area, which has got a number to the debt from January last year to January this year, the value of the properties in the Niagara area has gone up 28%.

But look at this guy earlier, he was talking about St. Catherine, Quebec. He was talking about since buyer Fastway is investing in New Brunswick, and then we hear a lot of good stories about what's happening in Alberta. The same though, is that for somebody like you or somebody like me, all of these places are awake. Like we've bought seven properties in Nova Scotia and we're able to do that because of the team. I guess what I'm trying to say here, and maybe you can, hopefully you'll agree with me. It's not really a bad thing to invest away, as long as you have a team that you can trust and they are looking after your interest.

Cyndi: Absolutely. 100%, I totally agree. And in some cases, and what I learned early on too, it depends on who you are. Sometimes it's better to invest in a way, because if I'm busy, I have my family, I have my job. I don't want to be driving by the property because I'm trying to micromanage or see it or whatever.

I cannot do that, it's six hours away, five hours away. In some instances it's beneficial that it is. You can't go there and you have to rely on your team and trust the people that you have in place. But again, maybe I'm a micromanager. I don't think I am, but I manage the managers, the communication between your team. What's going on? There's no giant surprise.

Daniel: I'm going to put words in your mouth, but outside of the fight that you were super smart and I know you are, and that you're very organized and that you're really wise with your money. Part of your success so far has been that you have to surround yourself with the right people in the right place.

Cyndi: 100%. Yes. And of course you're part of that company, Daniel through the last 9, 10 years. Like I said, everything I've done is through references. I trust someone, I have conversations right through this network.

If someone I know, I trust them. Then I'm going to talk to them. And if I look at the references or just get a sense of after talking to people, but then I'm a hundred percent and to work with that person, and then, you just develop that rapport. I think the key is, you gotta have that trust.

Daniel: Yep. Thank you very much for your time, Cindy. We really appreciate you now. One last thing, team. Now, do you work with joint ventures or do you do it all yourself?

Cyndi: Of the nine we've got left, I've got four that have one partner on each. But then the rules are all mine. Certainly I've done some joint ventures. I've had some investors as well, just more like a bridge sort of investor. And then they're out. But in my opinion, I just like to have one partner, again, just less hands in the pot, easier to deal with. And the two guys that I do have a couple of properties with, I've known them for 10 years or more. It's been good that way. Thank you very much, Cindy, for your time. That was really valuable, the information.