So, my real estate journey started in 2024 for real. Back in February, I attended a live webinar about Buying a House with Sweat Equity, and it was awesome – I was pumped up because like so many people I didn’t have much of a down-payment to secure the house I wanted to. This would entail me buying a course and going through it only to find out that I could make money flipping houses. Important to note that the Buying a House with Sweat Equity course wasn’t completed but we were assured that it would be soon.

Flipping Houses – now that was a separate course and later I took the Earn Profits Flipping Houses. Both involve buying a house that is undervalued and. needs updating or repairs. Needless to say, it was very difficult to find a house that met the criteria for the awesome coaches that held weekly calls. Some houses were good options, but often got snapped up right away by a cash buyer who wanted to do the same.

I went several rounds trying to find a house that I could buy with other people’s money (OPM) and it was even harder because in order to find an investor to help me purchase and increase the value, I needed a good 90 days per my program so I could make the case, get the investors and then proceed. That was the hard part because most buyers won’t agree to sell to you with a 90-day timeline, particularly if they know you might not have an investor with the money. You have to have the investor partner involved in advance as it turns out. This was something they left out in the course.

There are many other ways to make money in real estate and I also explored Wholesaling. Did you know you can wholesale a house? I didn’t and it can result in some very good returns with very little skin in the game. This meant another course, so I signed up and completed what I could – not all the modules were able to be heard some had issues with the audio. Those signs you see around your hometown telling you that they buy houses in any condition – that is a wholesaler. They will buy your house for the fair market value based on it’s condition and what work might be needed. They will then offer the property to a buyers list – people who are looking to renovate and sell for a profit. This is a simpler way to sell your house, as there are no real estate commissions, or multiple showings and closing can be super quick. But don’t think you’re getting top dollar for your house – the catch is “fair market value” – if repairs are needed, that’s coming out of the price, if it’s not updated, that is coming out of the price. The funny part is the market currently allows you to sell your house without updates – pretty much at a top dollar situation, but some people are not happy to sell their home in less than top condition.

In the end, as I sorted through the various options available to me, I decided to simply buy a house that was close to turnkey to rent. After looking for several months – May thru August, I found a suitable home that am moving forward to purchase and it will close soon on Sept 27.

House # 1

This 1950’s gem is located in Sarnia, Ontario and is close to many amenities. It’s a 1.5 story house with 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms and a partially finished basement. It requires some renovation, but my primary residence will have a new kitchen and 2 new bathrooms by the time I move in. I estimate that doing the renovations myself will take some time, but anticipate that I will have it completed in Spring of 2026. Once that is complete, I’ll re-assess and either move in or see what kind of rent it could get. Currently, rents for this seem like they would be between $1,900-$2,300/month depending on time of year and market fluctuation. It should be able to cash flow at these rents going forward.

Conclusion…

That’s how I ended up being a real estate investor. It’s exciting, I enjoy looking at the numbers and figuring out how I could make that better. I’m interested mostly in the following markets but open to discussion in others…

  • Southwestern Ontario, including Windsor, Chatham, Sarnia and London and anywhere within 20-30 minutes of those areas.
  • Most of Ohio, West and South sides of Cleveland in particular.
  • Eastern Canada, looking for recommendations on areas to explore or get to know.