Victoria Cluney: And I lost a, a property not too long ago, that I spent a lot of money on and a lot of hard work on. And when I found out that that property fell apart, I cried. I cried. And I like said to my husband, I think we were out at a, a ball game or something and I went home and I was just like, I just need to just decompress, let it all out. But the next day, I mean, I'm back at it. Next day I'm I'm taking the lessons that I've learned from it. I'm, you know, we call them after action reports in the military.
Laurel Simmons: Welcome to the REITE club podcast. Francois is my co-host today. I'm Laurel Simmons, a co-founder of the REITE club. And we are thrilled to have Victoria Cluney as a guest.
Francois Lanthier: Yes. Gonna be amazing. You have to tune in. Uh, can't wait to, but anyway, share this episode.
We had a lot of fun, lots of laughs. So you'll have to tell us more once you've you're done listening to the interview.
Laurel Simmons: Yeah, Victoria's got so much experience. Although she's only been really seriously investing for two years and she has just exploded in terms of her, uh, her portfolio. And she started out just like everybody else.
Now just want one rental property. Not really sure what she's doing. Not really sure how to do it and look where she is now. So to anyone who thinks that they can't do it well, just think again, listen to Victoria. Yeah, exactly. Listen, and think again. So with that, we'll go onto the interview. But before we do, please rate us on whatever, uh, platform you're listening on that helps us reach more people and go to the REITE club.com and sign up it's free and you'll get access to all kinds of information.
Francois, shall we go to the interview?
Francois Lanthier: Let's get to it.
Laurel Simmons: Hi, Victoria. Welcome to the REITE club. We're happy to have you here. and we are gonna talk about psychology and real estate. Invest.
Victoria Cluney: Thank you. Thank you for having me Laurel.
Okay, you're studying psychology. You're going out your master's in psychology, correct?
Victoria Cluney: That's correct. Yes.
Laurel Simmons: And I've seen a lot of your posts on Instagram. Uh, and I know, I know how focused you are, which is why I thought it would, you would make a really good guest because you really just get right to the heart of the matter. It's about focusing and figuring out what you want and just taking certain specific steps.
Cuz I think one of the big problems with real estate investors and it can be any field, but we're focusing on real estate is that we think we have to know everything. We have to think we have to do everything. We think we have to be an expert. And, um, then of course the, uh, I don't know is bite you in the butt and.
I should do this and I should do that, like creep up. And then the little, the little devil on your shoulder says, well, who do you think you are doing this? Right? Like, this is all normal stuff.
Victoria Cluney: Absolutely. Absolutely. And like, when you, when you say things like everybody feels like they have to know everything and that you hit the nail on the, the head there, because that's a big stopper for people moving forward is because they don't think that they know enough. And I often like to talk about confidence and to explain to people that you don't have to be an expert in that area. You have to just have confidence in your ability to be able to manage the situation and be able to pivot and adapt.
And so when I can explain that to people, you can see that light bulb go off in their head like, oh, I don't have to know everything in order to invest and not at all. So really it's about simplifying this whole process for everybody so that they don't feel so overwhelmed to get started in real estate investing.
So yeah, I totally big proponent of that. Lots of people stop because of failure, fear of failure. And you know, even you mentioned it earlier, just before we started recording about like, what if, what if I couldn't make it. That's not the question we should be asking. The question should be, what if you can make it, what if you can do it?
And people just need to flip that switch a little bit and sometimes it just takes a little bit of a reminder.
Francois Lanthier: Yeah. And it's not that scary. I mean, and you start small. I mean, you don't start buying an entire shopping center or 600 unit apartment building. I mean, can you tell us maybe how you started your journey?
Without knowing everything and then kind of incremental. Now you're doing much bigger things, but.
Victoria Cluney: I knew absolutely nothing. I had no idea what I was doing and I wasn't intending to invest in real estate. When I got started, it was more out of just circumstances. So I'm in the military and I had bought a house and three months later I found out that I was being posted to the United States.
And this was a time. This was about 2005 at this time. And so. Interest rates were high and you know, it wasn't a seller's market. So I would've lost a lot of money on the sale. And so I just look back and I'm like, how? I think I was about 22 at the time. And just thinking, how did I figure out to even rent my house?
And I did, we didn't have K Gigi or anything. I, I think it was in the classified. So like I put ads out. I had my friends watch the property for me. I moved to the US and we are just a bunch of kids trying to figure this out. And then when I came back, I just didn't have the heart to ask that family to leave.
And so I use this as an example I actually used it today with somebody just saying, you know, if 22 year old Vicky can figure this out, You can figure this out with the skills that you have today and the whole life experience that you have. It's really not as complicated. If you can just break it down into those smaller steps and not think about buying a complex right off the gate, maybe that's your end goal. And, but you can work backwards into those manageable increments and think about it in that way. Just one property at a time or one phone call at a time. If even just a property feels daunting, break it down to go have a conversation with your lender.
Laurel Simmons: You know what I think you're right. It's really breaking it down to the smallest possible denominator. It's not what property can buy It's not how much money I have. It's about who can I talk to? Yeah. And not only that is who can I talk to? Who might know someone who can connect to me with someone who knows what they're doing. Right.
Victoria Cluney: Exactly. Exactly you think about the, uh, I, I do a lot of smart goal techniques with people, and so I walk them through that. And the very first one S is for specific. And if you can break that down into the who, what, when, where, how, and identify. So who, who are all the people that need to be involved to achieve that goal?
So thinking about realtors, lenders, brokers, home inspectors, appraisers, just break those bits down into the increments and then work through those. And then you've got a full outline of the steps that you need to take instead of having it ruminating in your head. And just like constantly, if people don't write down their thoughts then they're in overdrive trying to remember it. It's a big release from your brain to just write down your thoughts. I, if you looked around in my office, I have notes everywhere. I used the notepad in my phone. I'm always because I just can't stand having to try to remember something because it just, it stops me from being creative and being open to more opportunities.
Francois Lanthier: And don't they say we can only, I think retain seven items in our head. Like that's like the maximum, so I have way more than seven items I need to do every day. exactly.
Victoria Cluney: Exactly. And especially like, if you have trouble falling asleep. Yeah. Laurel's got her notebook right there. It's right. I mean, it's just like, yeah.
Francois Lanthier: I think there's more than seven on there.
Laurel Simmons: well, yeah, a couple of days, but actually this is one thing that I learned from a, um, An organizer business way, way, way back long before we had all these apps and everything. And she came into my office, which was like, oh my, I don't wanna talk about what a mess it was.
And she said, okay, where do you keep your notes? Well, I had sticky this and pages there and she said, just keep a notebook. You put everything in that notebook. And you will have a record, that's it. You don't need the sticky notes. You don't need the computer. You don't need this. You don't need that. Just have a notebook.
And this is with me constantly. It's in my purse. It's, you know, small enough to go to my purse and everything gets written down. So I don't have to remember even last night when Daniel and I came back from a trip away for four days were all kinds of ideas in my head. He was, he was snoring. Sorry, sweetheart.
I'm allow some secrets out, but , but I just sat there in the bed and I thought, okay, no, I gotta get some of my head. I wrote it down. I wrote it down, wrote it down this morning. I woke up and I went. Shake. I got like half of the list on like it's gone.
Victoria Cluney: Exactly. And people if, if they feel anxious. So if anybody listening, you know, suffers from anxiety and especially, you know, think about what time do you start feeling anxious?
A lot of people on Sunday night start feeling anxious. And so a big recommendation that I would say is to plan out your week. What tasks do you need to get accomplished? My family started doing that, where we sit down on Sunday night and we plan out our week from like what we need to get done. And, you know, if my husband's helping out with the business, what those tasks are, what the home tasks are, you know, with, we include our son.
I meet with my admin to go through the week for my business side. And then I do my own with any kind of responsibilities that I have. And then that just makes me feel ready to start the week fresh and good to.
Francois Lanthier: That's amazing. And just to, to continue with that incremental. So in 2005, you had that one house you left for the US.
Now you're working on something much, much bigger and very different and maybe scary to some people. And even maybe to you at first, uh, can you walk us through that? Maybe give us some insights as to what you're working on,
Victoria Cluney: and this is a great example, make a. It's a great example because I am scared and I'm okay to admit it, but I'm also confident in my abilities and I have enough life experience and experience in investing that I know when to pivot and I know I'm managing the risks along the way.
So, but this is all like today, my brain is hurting from the amount of new information that I've received. So I guess I got the call last night that we now have a nine unit motel, which is on the waterfront in Nova Scotia. And it comes with two vacant lots. The difference with this property is that it's a share sale and not just a, an asset buy.
And so what I've had to do is have conversations with my lawyer and with my accountant and with the realtors to make sure that, you know, we have everything and all the document. That will be needed in order to do the due diligence, because it's a, it's different than what you would normally do for just purchasing a property.
I'm buying the business and the asset in the business and the land. So it's the land, the building, but the business itself. So I'm taking over the corporation and my lawyer gave a very, um, interesting analogy today to explain it to me.
I will repeat it here, but he basically said, so imagine you're marrying your husband, but now you have to date all of his ex. And that's how he explained this business, because anything that's owing from the business, any kind of arrears or issues in the past, you assume those issues. And so you have to do very, very thorough due diligence in order to make sure that this business isn't, uh, bringing baggage that you don't wanna take care of.
Francois Lanthier: Yeah, the credits rating the suppliers. I mean a motel. I mean, there's lots of people, snow removal, who knows what's involved, uh, potential lawsuits from guests six months ago that slipped and fell and, wow. Okay. That's, that's interesting, but what's the advantage? Why would you not just wanna buy the assets and why are you buying the business.
Victoria Cluney: My understanding the, there is an advantage for the seller to sell as a share rather than to absolve it. And my understanding from the accountant and, you know, I'm still digging into it is that the there's a capital gains exemption that can take place. And so right now I'm trying to decide if my corporation is going to be a shareholder in this share.
Or in this corporation, this company, or if Victoria Cluney is going to be a shareholder in the company, because the corporation from my understanding is that it does not apply the exemption. The capital gains one lifetime exemption does not apply. So yeah, it's, I'm still learning and going through all of that.
And that's even just a great example of, I know how it feels. You know, it reminds me, it humbles me to back to like when you're starting out and you're learning all of these new lingo and jargon and the risk associated with it. And so it's, it's a nice way to be able to relate again to newer investors.
And, uh, I brought that up with some people this morning and yeah, I'm right back there with them in this one.
Laurel Simmons: And you're exactly right, cuz it, as you were talking, I thought, wow, like I would be intimidated and you know, Daniel and I have lots of experience in investing in real estate, but it's also, it's also for specific areas of real estate.
I think people, people who are experienced investors know that there's many, many areas you can invest in real estate, but there's also many people who, who are just starting out and to them like real estate is just real estate investing is just a big, like blanket walk. It's like, this is real estate investing.
And so the first thing you learn is like, okay, that's the forest. But nobody invests in the forest. We invest in a tree or a grove of trees. Right. Like kind of a funny analogy, but it's true. Yeah. You never invest in the forest. I like that tree. I like that group of trees. I like that tree over there. Oh, that joke stay away from that log. Cause boy, does that ever rotten really? That's the way it is.
Victoria Cluney: And the more you get to know the forest, the more you understand, you know, which trees you want to invest in. And from like the mindset that I'm taking on right now is how much education this is going to be. And so, uh, I have conditions in place.
And so I make sure that I'm mitigating that risk and yes, I might, if the deal falls through, I might lose out on, you know, that appraisal, cuz that's more expensive at this stage, an environmental, a home inspection, but I'm mitigating that as we go along and I'm also accepting it because for me the education piece is so valuable and the experience of going through this process, I'm, I'm gonna come out with so much more knowledge and competence and confidence in that type of project, because I'm not gonna stop just at this one business.
It's not gonna be the only one if this, you know, um, there's so many opportunities out there. And just to have that in your tool belt, then yeah. It's gonna be great, but it's hard and it's not fun. You know.
Francois Lanthier: And like you said, this can open the door to many, many acquisitions. I met a gentleman. All he does is buy by businesses.
So he has a business that acquires engineering firms, uh, architectural firms, law firms, accounting firms, all across Canada. Cuz there is no succession. Usually there's no, no kids, no one wants to buy it. So he's buying them all keeping them and then kind of taking what's good. And I guess what's bad and moving on and, and taking the real estate, selling it off, just like acquisitions and mergers.
We've seen huge corporations do. Eventually you'll be equipped to do the same if that's something that appeals to you and yeah, you can really make the most, like you said, you have land with this one. Maybe you're gonna sell off the land, keep the motel or the opposite or food hotel shares.
Victoria Cluney: Yeah, it's all about that growth. And to be able to continue, because this is a world that I know that I want to be in and I want to grow in. And so to me, this is just part of that process. And if you're not challenging yourself, then you know, you become stagnant. And I think that it is important to just. Stay in a niche, but I'm also the type that will pivot or be able to take those extra steps. And that's always served me well in my life. And so I'll just continue to do that.
Laurel Simmons: And yes, I think it's important to specialize in a niche because you can really, you really dive deep and you, you get to learn. And though today I would say. You have to also diversify because it's just, that's just the way life is right.
The, the market right now. Like if you have all your eggs in one basket, I'm mixing metaphors here, forest eggs, whatever . Um, if you have all your eggs in one basket, you're at a higher risk than if you diversify, right. That's just the way it is. You, you sort of. Learn something, and then you can go to something else.
But I think the worst mistake people can make is to try to do all those, something else at the same time is to start with one and you learn it, then you can add something else. And then you can add something else. But I have a question for you, Victoria. So I'm a new investor here. I'm brand new and I'm listening to this podcast.
I'm going. Yeah, well, I, I still, I don't know what to do. I, I, I wanna get into real estate. I don't know what to do. And I'm really scared. Like, like I really think that this would help me and my family. I don't know what to do. What would you say to that person?
Victoria Cluney: I would say, find a network to join so that you can start those conversations with everyday investors.
And then once you start to, you know, assimilate into this network, you'll realize it almost becomes normalized this behavior. And so it's almost inadvertent that you will start to change how you feel and how you believe about real estate investing. So that would be my biggest piece of advice is to join a network and listening to these type of podcasts, start consuming that type of content, and then, you know, do that goal setting and break it down.
The who, what, when, where how, and just write down all the steps that you feel that you need to learn about and then break those steps down if you need to. And so that's always been the way that it's helped me the most, instead of going right after that big picture. But the network for me that has elevated my game, I, I was slow growth.
I've been investing for over 17 years now. And first 15 years slow growth because I was alone. I had no idea. I had no idea that this network existed. And once I got into this network, just explosion, because now all of a sudden I'm being introduced to creative financing. And I'm being introduced to people that are buying 15 plus units.
And these are my friends and it's like, so normal now that we've been around this, that I can do that too and it's crazy because we can all do it. We all have the ability. It's just, you need to find the, the resources that will support you based on what you bring to the table.
Francois Lanthier: And just as an example, Laurel is dealing in power plants. You're, , you're looking at motels. I mean that, that's quite a mix and, and you'd never like, no offense, Laurel, but I never know you're an energy mogul, but you are.
Laurel Simmons: So, sorry, when you said power plants. I really had to laugh because I, I had a friend who just left here and she was commenting on my violets.
I'm going. And she was saying, whoa, you have the biggest violets in the world. I'm going, you know, my power plants. How do you know that? I have power violet. Nevermind,
Victoria Cluney: Mr. Burns right now. Just like with the pack plant
Laurel Simmons: but yes. Yeah, we we're, we're invested in, um, uh, solar energy. A plant in Greece. And when we started out, I really, I would never have, have had any idea that this would happen.
And that's the thing. That's the really cool thing about real estate on anything else for that matter. When you dive in and you start really expanding your knowledge and your network, right? You never know where it's gonna go. You just, don't no idea. You start. Being open to it. I know, you know, a lot of people hire coaches and I'm not opposed to that.
I think that's a great idea if that's, because that's gonna get you quicker from that A to B, you're gonna learn from their experience, but it's not the be all and end all, I think just like immersing yourself in this community. It's going to get you ahead so much farther. Get a buddy, an accountability buddy.
There's so many people out there that feel alone that would love to have somebody else reach out to them.
Francois Lanthier: And I love what you said there about the coach. I love coaches. I coach people, but I believe you need to take action just like you did and not just hire someone cuz you want to be handheld. Like you need to go and just do it because.
Yeah, if not, you're never gonna do it. I meet people that go from coach to coach, to coach it's like, what have you done? Like, I don't, I don't want to add to this list. I don't wanna be next. oh,
Victoria Cluney: I talked to somebody lovely today. So I open up for phone calls on Monday and people can just come and, and ask me questions.
And I had a woman show up this morning or online, and she has so much experience. Of running businesses and real estate and was asking about wanting to get into buying. And I asked her, well, what's holding you back. And she was like, that's a really good question. I don't know. And she left there like feeling okay, I can do this, but she had it all the, the whole time.
She didn't need me to tell her that she could do it. And so I always just say, if anybody who's listening, you don't need anybody to tell you that you can do it. You absolutely can do it. And the resources are available. You just have to take action. Like Francois saying.
Laurel Simmons: I mean, um, and one of my previous lives probably over the last, I dunno, 20 years, I was a professional business coach and one of the things that used to bug me a lot was I would get the same, same people or many people ask you the same questions. They'd come back with the same questions. Like, well, I'm not, I don't get ahead. I nothing's changed. And after like three or four sessions of this, it's like, okay, I'm not doing this anymore.
You either change what you're doing. Or I'm firing you, you're my client, but you're fired. Like, that's it, because at the end of the day, it's not about what, what, um, how many coaches you hire or how many people you talk to it's about the action you take. And even if it's something as simple as well, I should say simple, it's simple, but it's hard picking up the phone and asking someone for help.That's a really positive step forward.
Absolutely. It's being comfortable with the uncomfortable and we're designed like the, you know, back to with the psychology, we are designed not to push through discomfort. You know, we, we retract from it. We go in the opposite direction, but when you understand that your body is designed to do that, but to get to that next level, you have to go through it.
You can't go around it. You have to go through that discomfort. And I start to embrace the discomfort because I understand that it's gonna make me better, stronger, wiser, more experienced on the other side, I still don't enjoy it. I really don't enjoy it, but it, I tolerate it because I know what it's doing for me.
And people need to understand that, that you have to go through that discomfort to get to the other side.
Laurel Simmons: Uh, one of my really good friends, Nancy Morris, who's also been a, been guest on a podcast here. She and I are best friends and she's, she's, uh, a business psychologist and we have this, this agreement and it's, uh, we call it, we have a BMW session.
Okay. You what that stands for? I mean, Bitch moan and wine. Okay. We talk two minutes to bitch moan and wine. And then what are you gonna do about it?
Victoria Cluney: Love it, love it. Yeah. Get the bent out, get it out. It's important. It's important. But recognizing that that's what it is. You're having your BMW session and then you're gonna move on.
You're gonna pick it up and, and keep going. Because it's important. We like, we have emotions and we aren't robots. So we have to be able to, you know, go through our emotions and feel it, but it's being able to regulate it and know when the appropriate time is. And I lost a, a property not too long ago, that I spent a lot of money on and a lot of hard work on.
And when I found out that that property fell apart, I cried. I cried. And I like said to my husband, I think we were out at a, a ball game or something and I went home and I was just like, I just need to just decompress, let it all out. But the next day, I mean, I'm back at it. Next day I'm I'm taking the lessons that I've learned from it.
I'm, you know, we call them after action reports in the military. I'm going through my after action report, thinking about all the steps that I took, what my role was in that, even though, you know, it was something that was quite. It wasn't outta my control, but it was something that it was very hard to, to, to manage at that point.
But I still had to take my responsibility in that and what I would've done differently. Otherwise it's missed opportunity to learn from those lessons, such valuable lessons when we make mistakes or when things fail.
Laurel Simmons: And I think that's something that, especially new investors. Or people just starting out have to learn it's that we all make mistakes. Good heavens like nobody, but no one, uh, gets out of the gate and it hits like a hundred percent. What of the a hundred percent batting average. It just doesn't happen. You have. You lose money. Now, when you're starting out, you know, you gotta be cautious as you should be. You're gonna learn. And you think there's so many ways to invest just a little bit of money and, and learn from it.
And then you get a little bit bigger and you go your network and you, okay. I'll do this. Always understanding that there is risk there's risk with anything it's managed risk though, of what we do. And if you manage it properly, The chances are not 100%, the chances are you're going to have a really good return and maybe it's not money.
It's the return maybe like for you. It's it's about, okay. I learned an awful lot here. The next time I go for this kind of project, I'll know what to do, right.
Victoria Cluney: Yeah, I love that you said that that maybe it's not money. That's the return. You know, it's the, the lesson that you've learned is the return in that.
And that's a big part of our, our ego really is that, you know, we don't wanna make mistakes. I give so much more respect to somebody who can own their mistakes. Rather than the ones that are trying to like sweep it under the carpet or, you know, are deflecting or defending or blaming somebody else. It's really, really important for that trust to be able to say, you know what, I messed up, but this is what I'm gonna do about it.
Or this is what I've learned from this experience. You will get so much more respect for me to do that. And it's a major red flag. If I see somebody that is. Putting that off or blaming something else when there is a role to be played.
Laurel Simmons: You know what, I also think it's about respect for yourself. Yeah. Because if you make a mistake and you own it and you could, I, I would say can almost be proud of it. It's not that like the mistake itself. Well, whatever, like it's okay. I made a mistake. I know what I did wrong and yeah, good for me because I recognize what I did wrong. Like what I could have done differently.
I don't wanna use the word wrong, what I could have done differently next time. I'll watch for those warning signs, whatever it is. Right. Absolutely. That's that's, what's worth it.
Victoria Cluney: Because when you don't, it, it shows that, you know, you're just gonna make that mistake again. Cuz if you can't recognize the part that you're playing, then it tells me you're gonna do it again. and then what's the point of that mistake. It's that we learn and we grow from it. So a lot of people don't move forward cuz of that fear of failure.
Laurel Simmons: Oh, I, I cannot tell you how many times I'll wake up. Um, and I'll go, okay dear God. Um, I made a lot of mistakes the last week or two. Um, and you know, really, could I just have a little bit, just a little bit of a break from making mistakes. I really, really appreciated that, but you know, if you make mistakes can they at least be new mistakes I hate making the same mistakes over and over again. Yes.
Victoria Cluney: Well, for sure. There's things I call it, uh, recommitting, you know, if I'm, I, I try to do intentions every morning. That's something that I've implemented the past couple of months, where before I even open my eyes, I wake up and I think about, okay, how do I wanna show up today?
What's important to me, you know, what kind of mother do I wanna be today? And what kind of wife am I gonna be today? What am I committing to? Especially with health and nutrition, that's such a, a big part of my life. but I have to be very active in making sure that I stay on track because I, you know, love a glass of wine. Like the next one. I love chocolate and good food and just lazing around. But. I have to commit to it every day. So if I've made mistakes or, you know, haven't been on track, like I'd like to be, then I'm, you know, recommitting every single morning and it's setting me up on the right track rather than just, you know, putting it to chance.
Laurel Simmons: Yeah, exactly. So, like I said, new mistakes are okay. Same mistakes? No, not so much repeat exactly. We track. Yeah.
Victoria Cluney: Figure something out. Get somebody else to do it.
Laurel Simmons: Exactly. Okay, Victoria, we're gonna go on to the REITE lightning round now. Okay. And, um, these are four questions. Um, I'm gonna change it off a little bit, Francois so I'll just so you know, um, I'm gonna ask, uh, normally we have some questions that we sort of are standard questions, but I'm gonna ask Victoria question number one. Okay. What's the first mistake you made in real estate investing,
Victoria Cluney: selling my first home. That was my rental. I feel that was a big mistake. I sold it. I mean, it would've been worth so much. It was, I held that for 10 years and it's been like my biggest regret. I sentimentally wish I would've kept it. But then also when you watch the market, it was a great sturdy house. I could have refinanced it. I could have used that money in order to, to go and invested again in other properties.
But, uh, and then just like re re refinanced it over the years. Cause I would've owned it now for about 18 years.
Francois Lanthier: Excellent. Yeah, it's so hard when you sell a property. It's. Almost like getting rid of children. cause all the possibilities, not quite as bad.
Victoria Cluney: Yeah, that's right. I do have some properties that I've I'm, you know, ready to for them, let them go the co, but that was a good little sturdy house and it, uh, it felt like a monkey on my back, cuz at the time I didn't want to be an investor.
I didn't know. So, I mean, in one sense it was one of my biggest regrets, but if I didn't do it, I don't know if I really would have been jumping in like I did today.
Francois Lanthier: Yeah. You might not be on this recording right now. So since we're changing it up, question number two, I'd love to hear about cuz you said it was very slow.
Then you joined a network. What's the biggest kind of kick in the butt that you got that got you going in the past two years.
Victoria Cluney: Moving. So I was put in a position because I was, I was in my comfort zone, living in Nova Scotia. I had my team there. I knew the area, all my properties were there. I was managing.
And then when I found out that I was getting posted to Ottawa, all of a sudden. Uh, my world was rocked upside down because I didn't have any network, any connection, but I still wanted to keep investing. And so for me, I had to, I had to be resourceful. And so I created an Instagram account. That was kind of how it all started.
And I remember, you know, thinking back to like mindset and fear of failure. I remember sitting in my empty living room because my house was packed up by this time. And we're ready to go to Ottawa and thinking now, am I gonna start this account and being petrified because I was not big on social media, I was very private.
I didn't know what I was doing. And I just felt that fear of judgment. And I remember that. What if moment? And so thinking like, well, what if it works out? And I'm just so grateful that I did it, because again, I've just met an incredible network and an incredible community, but had I not been forced out of my comfort zone, I would've never taken those next steps and then had my eyes open to this type of real estate investing.
I'm not making this very lightning, sorry with my answers.
Laurel Simmons: No, those are really, really good answers. I, I like I'm fascinated by this. So what would you say then is the one attribute that has made you successful? If you had to pick one?
My ability, my interpersonal skills. I was gonna say understanding human behavior, but that's all kind of connected.
I think that my ability to, you know, relate and have those skills and connections with people and real estate is such a, a people-centric. Uh, business that that has really served me well. And, and I'm, I'm genuine. I really do care and I'm very interested in, in people. So it's not something that I'm doing because I know, but I'm very aware that it's effective.
Francois Lanthier: Amazing. Last question. I'm really gonna change things up. What's your favorite item at Costco? OK.
Victoria Cluney: Funnily enough. The whole reason they're going is to get me blueberries. That is why they have to go tonight. And you know, they're going to make a, a, a trip of it. But blueberries right now from Costco are just my all time favorite.
I'm on a pretty strict nutrition program and these blueberries are like candy. And so they have them with this it's called casein, which is a, a slow release protein. So I make this chocolate casein in pudding and I put peanut butter and blueberries on top. And. That's it that's that's the day.
Laurel Simmons: Okay. Now, when you said they, you made your husband and your son, right? He has son.
Victoria Cluney: Oh, that's right. Yeah, no context there. Sorry. Yeah. So I am lucky to get to stay and hang out with you guys while my husband and son go shopping for me.
Laurel Simmons: Oh, right. Well, you know what? My husband is out shopping for me right now. I think, you know what that's, that's the way the world should be.
Francois Lanthier: I'm doing it wrong. I'm at home and my wife is having a bath or something. I Don
Laurel Simmons: she's doing it right. That's she's doing all right. all right. Thank you so very much, Victoria.
Victoria Cluney: My pleasure,
Laurel Simmons: And, uh, it was. I learned a lot and I hope our audience did too. I know they did. Thank you.
Victoria Cluney: Thank you. Thank you for having me.Nice seeing everybody.
Francois Lanthier: Thank you. Take care.
Francois Lanthier: Laurel, what did you think about this interview? I mean, it was great. We're talking about communities and, and networking as well, which is what the REITE club is all about. And why did you create the REITE club.com Laurel?
Laurel Simmons: Well, I mean, we wanted people to learn about and, and educate themselves in real estate, but ultimately at the end, it's about customizing your life.
And that's what our, our, our sort of our tagline is customizing your life, cuz investing in real estate in and of itself. Like, so what, it's the results you get from that? Right. It's what you can do with the results. So you wanna customize your life. You can invest in real estate. Yes, you can invest in other things, but we believe that real estate is the way to go.
So invest in real estate, learn, educate, join our club, uh, network with people and, or, and join other organizations too. There's many, many out there. The more people, you know, the, the more you're gonna learn, the more contacts you're gonna make and ultimately, um, the more money and the more wealth you're gonna create.
Francois Lanthier: That's it. So make sure to visit the REITE club.com to connect with other investors and build your community right now, you can start virtually in person and there's all kinds of great things there and it's yeah, you don't wanna miss out and it's free. Yeah, exactly.
Laurel Simmons: It's free. So until then, please customize your life with the right club.com and we'll see you next time.
Francois Lanthier: Take care.
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