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What happens when an Ontario tenant stops paying rent, continues occupying the property, and allegedly collects rent from other occupants? For Erwin Szeto, the answer has involved 13 months of arrears, evidence gathering, legal preparation, and a long wait for an LTB hearing.  In this episode, Erwin speaks with Rose Marie, President of SOLO, the Small Ownership Landlords of Ontario. Rose Marie shares practical lessons on Ontario tenant screening, Landlord and Tenant Board procedures, rent arrears, collections, sheriff enforcement, bankruptcy, private investigators, fraud evidence, furnished rentals, and the professional team every rental property investor should build before an emergency.  Rose Marie also discusses SOLO’s vetted community of approximately 8,500 landlords, its advocacy work, its digital landlord guides, and the SOLO Landlord Conference scheduled for October 24, 2026, at Humber College. 📌Reserve your seat for the event: https://solo.ca/Use the code "ERWIN10" for 10% off 📅 UPCOMING FREE TRAINING — "The Strategy That Beat the Market by 28%" Tuesday, October 27, 2026 · 8:00pm ET · Online Reserve your spot: https://www.infinitywealth.ca/20260602Saturday, November 07, 2026 · 9:00am ET · Hybrid (iWIN Office, Oakville + Zoom). Reserve your spot (40 in-person seats): https://www.infinitywealth.ca/20260530

What are Canada's most experienced real estate investors seeing right now? In this episode, Erwin Szeto sits down with Nick Karadza to discuss the state of the Canadian economy, where investors are finding opportunities today, the future of real estate investing, student rentals, Toronto density projects, and how AI is changing business and investing. They also explore why the easy-money era is over, what it takes to adapt in uncertain times, and why building the right network may be more important than ever. Nick also previews the Your Life, Your Terms Event on Saturday, October 17, from 8:15 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in Mississauga, Ontario. Details are available at - www.yourlifeyourtermsevent.com If you’re looking for ways to build wealth more intentionally, create more passive income, and explore strategies beyond buying another rental property, join us at the next Zero Down Wealth Strategy event. We’re hosting two upcoming sessions:Tuesday, October 27th (Zoom only): https://wealthhacker.krtra.com/t/MWJBhX3QtFrKSaturday, November 7th (Oakville + hybrid): https://wealthhacker.krtra.com/t/UCtn7w6XdxlF Walking through the math, the loss scenarios, and how it fits alongside a real estate portfolio.

What if one $800,000 bungalow could become four homes worth $4.5 million, without dealing with tenants? In this episode, Erwin sits down with Daniel Zimberoff and Ming to explore condominiumization, missing middle housing, and how developers are creating more housing options in Toronto. They discuss turning a single property into multiple ownership units, the economics behind walk-up townhomes, development risks, financing, construction costs, and why this model could be part of the solution to Ontario's housing shortage. Whether you're a real estate investor, developer, or simply curious about innovative housing strategies, this episode offers a fascinating look at a growing trend in Canadian real estate. 📌 Connect with Daniel and Ming: Website: https://harvietownhomes.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harvietownhomes/ Email: [email protected]

Erwin Szeto sits down with Sadaf Chowdhury, Director of Investment Sales at Equitable, to discuss how Canadian investors are looking beyond rentals. They explain professionally managed stock funds with insurance features, estate planning, annuities, investment loans and how AI is changing professional fund management.  What a 25% down investment-loan strategy means  How professionally managed stock funds can include estate-planning features  Investment loans versus traditional margin accounts  Why Canadian investors are looking beyond rental properties  How AI is changing stock selection and portfolio management  📌 Connect with Sadaf: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sadaf-chowdhury-ca/ Free training: Join Erwin on Saturday, September 12 (Oakville + Zoom): ⁠⁠iWIN Integrated Wealth Planning⁠⁠ or Tuesday evening, September 15, (Zoom only): ⁠⁠iWIN Integrated Wealth Planning for a deeper dive into zero or 25% down investment-loan strategies for qualified Canadians. Learn how the strategy works, what the risks are, and how to decide whether it may fit your financial goals.  Educational purposes only. Investment loans and professionally managed stock funds involve risk and may not be suitable for everyone. Approval and performance are not guaranteed. Suitability depends on income, cash flow, risk tolerance and goals.

Victoria Suen bought her first investment property at 19 years old. She couldn't qualify for a mortgage on her own, so her sisters signed for it. Sixteen years later, she's a licensed architect and the founder of BuildEx Design, helping investors turn some of Toronto's tightest lots into 4 and 6 unit buildings.  This episode is a crossover. Erwin's wife and business partner, Cherry Chan, CPA, sat down with Victoria for her Real Estate Tax Tips channel, and the conversation covered ground worth sharing with the full TAFI audience.  Victoria walks through the missing middle: the duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and mid-rise buildings that used to be illegal to build on most Canadian lots, and why that's changing fast. She and Cherry get into the real numbers: lots as narrow as 22 feet fitting 5 units, development charges waived under CMHC's MLI Select program (worth $50,000 to $80,000 per unit), and why most investors are getting 80 to 85% loan-to-value rather than the 95% sometimes advertised.  In this conversation, we cover:  What the missing middle actually is, and why cities stopped allowing it for decades Why Toronto now allows up to 6 units on lots as narrow as 22 feet, with no parking requirement Why Ottawa is eliminating parking requirements entirely starting September 2026 The 3 moving parts investors need to line up: design, cost, and financing How CMHC's MLI Select program waives development charges and improves financing terms Why most investors leave around $100,000 in a project after refinancing, and pull the rest of their capital back out The most common mistake investors make when projecting rent What happens when a century-old Toronto home hides a crumbling foundation behind the walls Why Victoria started her own firm instead of staying inside a traditional architecture practice  🚨 Free live webinar: "The Strategy That Beat the Market by 28%" — Sat Sept 12 (Oakville + Zoom): iWIN Integrated Wealth Planning or Tue Sept 15 (Zoom only): iWIN Integrated Wealth Planning 👉Reserve your spot free

Andrew Hines spent 5 and a half years building one of Canada's top 3 real estate podcasts. Nearly 1.3 million downloads. Then, at its peak, he shut it down.  Andrew is the co-founder of multiple US-based real estate acquisition companies operating across Florida, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. His teams run house flips, land investments, creative finance deals, and direct-to-seller acquisitions. He also owns Grotto Getaway, a glamping and cottage resort near Tobermory, Ontario, that did $655,000 in sales last year.  In this conversation, we cover:  Why Andrew shut down one of Canada's top real estate podcasts at its peak  Why he sold his entire Ontario rental portfolio after the pandemic lockdowns  How his team finds motivated sellers in the US using public liens and tired landlord lists  How he made $163,000 on a 47-acre land flip without picking up a hammer  Why hard construction costs in Florida run a fraction of what they do in Ontario  Why Grotto Getaway, his glamping resort near Tobermory, hit $655,000 in sales last year  Why he believes Canadian real estate investors now need to think like business builders  What he'd tell an investor deciding whether to stay in Ontario rentals or move capital south  Andrew's arc is the arc TAFI exists to cover: someone who built real wealth in Canadian real estate, watched the rules change, and rebuilt his entire model instead of waiting for the old one to work again. 📅 UPCOMING FREE TRAINING — "The Strategy That Beat the Market by 28%" Saturday, September 12, 2026 · 9:00am ET · Hybrid (iWIN Office, Oakville + Zoom) 👉Reserve your spot (Limited seats): https://www.infinitywealth.ca/20260530

Real estate investors understand leverage. 25% down, 75%from the bank, let the asset grow. But what if you could apply that same principle to the stock market, with no tenants, no tribunals, and no 2 a.m. calls?  Mozzie Chleilat is an Account Manager Business Development at DUCA Specialized Lending, one of Canada's leading credit unions. He works with financial advisors and their clients to structure investment loans into professionally managed stock funds. The core product is the 3:1 loan: put 25% down, DUCA loans you 3 times that amount, and you're invested in a $100,000 portfolio from a $25,000 starting point.  In this conversation, Erwin and Mozzie cover:  ✅How the 3:1 investment loan works and why the 25% equity requirement exists  ✅The minimum loan ($50,000, requiring $16,667 client equity) and the path to $1 million with limited underwriting  ✅How DUCA counts 90% of gross rental income toward debt servicing (vs. 50% at the big banks)  ✅Why DUCA does not report this loan to credit bureaus as a trade line item  ✅The net worth qualification pathway for investors whose income on paper doesn't reflect their assets  ✅DUCA's soft margin breach program: why they give you 30 days and options, instead of calling your loan the moment you hit a threshold  ✅Erwin's own AMD margin call story during COVID: no phone call, no email, just liquidated overnight  ✅The right investor profile for this strategy: long-term horizon, comfortable with leverage, cash flow to service interest  ✅Why 80 to 90% of Mozzie's clients are overallocated in Canadian real estate and looking to diversify  ✅A real client case study: a doctor who exited a Cambridge rental (down 8%), deployed capital into the market, and stopped being a landlord  Chapters0:00 — Show Intro8:34 — Mozzie's background: RBC, Equitable Bank, specialized lending 11:44 — What is the 3:1 investment loan and how does it work 14:14 — The $25,000 example: what day one looks like 16:44 — Minimum loan $50,000, how it compares to buying a rental 18:50 — Interest-only structure, no prepayment penalties, interest may be deductible 21:41 — How to qualify: no income docs needed up to $1 million 23:44 — Corporate and personal loans available, up to $2 million combined 26:14 — TDSR 44%, net worth test: 1.5x the loan amount 29:14— DUCA counts 90% of gross rental income (banks count 50%) 36:44 — DUCA does not report this loan to credit bureaus 42:44 — Erwin's AMD margin call: bought at $45, liquidated without warning, stock went 10x 46:14 — Buy the dip, dollar cost averaging, Cherry's annual investment strategy 50:14 — 25% down in the stock market vs 25% down in real estate: the simple math 52:14— Why 80-90% of investors are overallocated in Ontario real estate 55:14— REIT funds vs S&P 500: why DUCA steers clients toward the index 58:44 — How to reach Mozzie Chleilat at DUCA Specialized Lending

Byron Darlison founded Rise Vision in 1992 in Toronto and ran it for 30 years without raising a dollar of outside equity. For 25 of those years, by his own admission, the business was unfocused, unpredictable, and running him. In year 25, he hired a Metronomics coach and installed a business operating system. In the 5 years that followed, profits went from break-even to 20% sustained net margins, his work week dropped from 60 hours to under 10, and the business grew to serve organizations in over 100 countries.  In year 30, he sold Rise Vision for an 8-figure exit to a Taiwanese industrial display manufacturer, with no earn-out and no employment clause. His team still runs and grows the business today.  He now coaches a small number of founders privately and serves as Mentorship Chair and Accelerator Coach at Entrepreneurs' Organization Toronto.  In this conversation, we cover:  Why 25 years of hard work without a system produced inconsistent results, and what changed in year 25  What a business operating system actually is, why most founders fail to self-implement one, and why a coach changes everything  How Byron's team internalized the system to the point where the business self-corrected without him  What made Rise Vision attractive enough to sell with no earn-out, no employment clause, and a premium multiple  The owner's outcome framework: why most founders never ask what they actually want from their business  Why the definition of strategy is the word no, and how narrowing to 1 core customer changed everything  The founder's dilemma: why founders who solve every problem are the biggest bottleneck in their business  What the great wealth transfer means for buyers and why many boomer-owned businesses are deeply undervalued  Why Byron says entrepreneurship is less risky than employment, not more, if you are willing to do the work  How AI has allowed Byron to run a 14-agent software development pipeline from his home, solo, at a fraction of traditional cost    Byron's arc is one of the clearest illustrations of what TAFI is now built around: multiple paths to financial independence, and the discipline to pick one and execute it properly.

What does it actually look like to go all-in on AI? Mike Schwarz, founder and CEO of MyZone AI, negotiated a hall pass from his wife, adjusted his medication, and spent 3 to 4 months working until 2, 3, and 4 in the morning to find out. The result: 200 plus autonomous AI agents running across 7 divisions of his business.  Mike has 25 years in tech, from building nightlife social networks in 1999 before Friendster existed, to running a full AI solutions company out of Vancouver today. He coaches CEOs and speaks at Entrepreneurs' Organization and YPO events. And he says the window for getting ahead in AI is measured in months, not years.  In this episode, we go from first principles. What is AI. What is an agent. What is the difference between an agent and ChatGPT. Why legacy SaaS companies are down 50 to 60 percent. And what a non-developer can actually do right now to start automating their business.  Real examples from this conversation: Mike's agent replied to 183 unread LinkedIn messages in 30 minutes, starred the 19 personal ones, and left them for him. He built a custom math game for his son in an hour using an AI coding agent. And after a sales call, he can send a fully personalized 5-page proposal website to a prospect in 10 minutes.  Mike's one thing: master the art of learning. It's not about being technical. It's about being a sponge. Because the window is short and it's moving fast.  Mike teaches regular free monthly workshops at myzone.ai. Upcoming: June 18 — How to Secure Your Agents. July 9 — How to Become an Agentic Developer (no coding required).

Milena Simsic made $300,000 in commissions in her first year as a realtor, without any prior real estate connections, using nothing but TikTok and Instagram. She had no social media presence before she got her license. She figured it out in public.    Milena is the founder of WindSocial Realty in Windsor, Ontario, and the publisher of the Windsor Real Estate Insider, a newsletter and magazine that grew to 9,000 subscribers in under a year. She also runs Windsor REI Social, a 3,000-member community that fills events with 100 to 200 investors. She is currently switching brokerages from EXP to Real and building a community for realtors who want to learn AI-powered marketing.    In this conversation, we cover:  Why Windsor's single-family homes have held value while student rentals and investment properties have softened  What the Gordy Howe Bridge delay and the EV plant mean for Windsor's growth trajectory  How Milena made $300K her first year as a realtor off TikTok and Instagram alone  Why she replaced her virtual assistant with Claude AI and built her CRM systems in an afternoon  How the top agents implementing AI are going to absorb market share from those who are not  Why she left EXP for Real, and what Real is getting right that most online brokerages are not  The health crisis that doubled her business once she fixed it  Why business owners are particularly vulnerable to loneliness and what she did about it  How Windsor REI Social went from monthly to biannual events and why that made it bigger    Milena's arc is the arc TAFI was rebranded to celebrate: a factory worker and ICU nurse who saw where the highest-leverage play was, went all in, and built a media brand and a business that works without grinding 60 hours a week.  CONNECT WITH MILENA SIMSIC Windsor Real Estate Insider: https://www.windsorrealestateinsider.comInstagram / LinkedIn / Facebook / YouTube: search 'Milena Simsic' Chapters 00:00: Introduction and Cold Open  01:20: Milena's background: factory worker, nursing, COVID, Windsor  03:00: Breaking news: brokerage switch from EXP to Real  04:00: Windsor Real Estate Insider magazine, 9,000 subscribers  05:30: Windsor market conditions: what is holding and what is not  07:00: The Gordy Howe Bridge delay  08:30: EV plant, population growth, downtown development  09:30: What investors are doing in Windsor right now  13:00: $300K first year off TikTok and Instagram  17:00: Building Windsor REI Social to 3,000 members  22:00: AI adoption gap: top agents vs. everyone else  28:00: Replacing a virtual assistant with Claude  31:00: How many hours per week to run the business  33:30: Teaching other realtors AI-powered marketing  38:00: The Windsor pageant: why she entered, first runner up  41:00: The autoimmune condition, the health pivot, business doubling  45:00: Salsa dancing as the one thing that started everything  48:00: Business owner loneliness and why dance helps  51:00: EXP vs. Real: why the switch and what Real is doing differently  58:00: AI tools, Fiverr comparison, what Claude does that nobody else can match  01:01:00: Advice for young people: build your skill set, buy a business, zero excuses  01:03:00: Wrap up and where to find Milena

In January 2026, Ming Lim and Bryan Ma closed on AccounTrain, a 25-year-old bookkeeping firm based in Ottawa with clients across Canada. They beat out five other offers. They paid 1.3 times annual revenue. They spent almost two years searching for the right deal.  Ming is the managing partner of Volition Properties, where his team has helped Canadians transact on more than $300 million of Toronto investment real estate. Bryan spent 20 years in Canadian financial services. He's a CPA, a CFA, and holds an MBA. He worked at three of the biggest professional services firms in the country and most recently at Intact Insurance in mergers and acquisitions.  In this conversation, we cover:  Why these two real estate operators are buying a business instead of more rentals  How they sourced AccounTrain through Poe Group and a buy-side community called Village Wealth  The difference between bookkeeping and full accounting firms, and why the simpler business won  How multiples in this industry actually work (1.2 to 2.5 times revenue depending on quality)  Why vendor take-back mortgages are standard in business sales, even though they're rare in Canadian real estate  The seller's 25 years of institutional knowledge that was kept entirely in one person's head  How Bryan and Ming approached due diligence with Bryan's M&A background as the advantage  The lifestyle case for a business over a rental portfolio  What they're modernizing now that they own it (CRM, workflow management, AI tools)  Practical advice for small business owners with messy books  This episode is part of TAFI's coverage of the great wealth transfer from retiring boomers to the next generation of Canadian operators. If you're an active real estate investor looking at what's next, this is the playbook. 📩Connect with Ming and Bryan AccounTrain: https://accountrain.com/ (Their bookkeeping firm) Volition Properties: https://www.volitionprop.com/ (Ming's real estate brokerage) Reach them through LinkedIn or via the AccounTrain website 📌 Free training on the investment loan strategy: Saturday, June 27th (Oakville hybrid):https://wealthhacker.krtra.com/t/x5X1OCIDrAXc and Tuesday, July 7th (Zoom only): https://wealthhacker.krtra.com/t/n98gpqD3cVoQ Walking through the math, the loss scenarios, and how it fits alongside a real estate portfolio. 📌 Timestamps00:00 – Welcome & Tesla update01:30 – Investment club math ($35K → $140K)07:12 – Introducing Ming Lim & Bryan Ma09:30 – Why buy a business when you already own real estate 13:00 – How Ming and Bryan met and decided to partner up 17:00 – Two years of searching, joining Village Wealth 21:00 – Bookkeeping vs full accounting, why the simpler business won 26:00 – Deals closing in 24 to 48 hours, the competitive reality 31:00 – Multiples in the industry, 1.2 to 2.5 times revenue 41:00 – Vendor take-back mortgages, standard in business sales 46:00 – Maintaining the seller relationship after closing 52:00 – AI in the accounting industry, where it is and isn't useful 63:00 – Cash flow management as the real value of bookkeeping 67:00 – Toronto market check-in, May 2026 72:00 – Final thoughts on buying a business

Carlos Rodrigues spent 20 years in Canadian financial services. Mutual funds, life insurance both levels, and a full mortgage broker with five agents under him. He tried to start his own fund. Canadian compliance costs killed it.  Now he drives 4.5 hours each way from Hamilton to Cleveland, Ohio to buy duplexes for $70,000 that appraise at $170,000 after renovation.  In this episode, we get into:  The $70,000 duplex near the Cleveland Clinic with a toilet falling through the floor  How Section 8 rentals pay 20 to 30% above market, with one tenant paying $14 of her $1,400 rent  Why 100% loan-to-cost financing is back, and why this isn't 2008  The joint venture partner who added $30,000 to $40,000 in renovation scope while Carlos was at Home Depot  The contractor who ghosted him a week before closing  How ICE enforcement is hitting the US construction labor pool  Cleveland's side yard program: buy a vacant lot next to your house for $100  Why Carlos won't invest in Hamilton anymore, even though he lives there  Plus my own update: my Hamilton duplex tenant has been non-paying for 7 months, $12,000 deep, and we're still waiting on the LTB. This is the world we're operating in.  Want the investment loan strategy that produced a 40.6% return since September 2025?  I'm hosting a free training on Saturday May 30 (Oakville hybrid) and Tuesday June 2 (Zoom only). Walking through the complete strategy, the math, every loss scenario, and how it fits alongside a real estate portfolio.  Register at: ⁠https://wealthhacker.krtra.com/t/uqyHFbipnPrK⁠ Connect with Carlos:  Website: cashflowcarlos.com, Instagram & TikTok: @cashflowcarlos  Connect with Erwin:  Podcast: tafipod.ca Free Wealth Freedom Blueprint: infinitywealth.ca/freereport  Book a Wealth Planning Call: linked at ⁠www.infinitywealth.ca⁠

In this episode, Erwin sits down with Greg—an engineer turned real estate investor and e-commerce entrepreneur who scaled his business to $700K/month and is now leveraging AI to build apps, automate workflows, and save tens of thousands of dollars. From buying his first property with no experience to renovating duplexes across Ontario, Greg shares the real ups and downs of real estate investing—along with how he expanded into e-commerce and built multiple income streams. But the biggest shift? AI. Greg breaks down how he’s using tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini to: Build apps without codingReplace $50K–$70K development costsCreate product images without expensive photoshootsAutomate business processes and marketingTo follow Greg: https://www.gregkowalczyk.com/ https://www.bronteharbourclassic.com/ (Discount code: Erwin) This episode is packed with insights for anyone looking to stay ahead in real estate, business, and the AI revolution.

What would you do if you had to sell your entire real estate portfolio… and start over? In this episode, we sit down with investor Sarah Copeland, who went from managing over 60 doors to liquidating everything—and now rebuilding from scratch in today’s market. She shares the real, behind-the-scenes story of navigating divorce, selling cash-flowing properties, and resetting her entire strategy. We break down how she transformed a distressed 12-plex into a high-performing asset, the lessons from a $1M+ renovation, and why she’s shifting back to joint ventures and simpler deals. This is a raw and honest conversation about what actually happens in real estate investing—when things don’t go as planned. If you're an investor trying to make sense of today’s market or wondering how to move forward in uncertain times, this episode will give you clarity, perspective, and practical takeaways. 📩 Want to connect with Sarah? website: SarahCopeland.ca / tagproperties.caor, email: [email protected] Also, don't miss the 🔥 Free Live Training: The $100,000 Zero‑Down Strategy. I’m walking through the full math, risks, and real use cases live.📍 Saturday, May 30 (Hybrid – Oakville + Zoom)📍 Tuesday, June 2 (Zoom Only – 8pm ET) 👉 Register here:⁠ https://wealthhacker.krtra.com/t/uqyHFbipnPrK⁠ 🎧 Subscribe to The Truth About Financial Independence for Canadians (TAFI) 🌐 https://tafipod.ca

Passive real estate investing in Canada has changed — and for many investors, the math no longer works. In this episode, Erwin Szeto explains why he’s been telling investors to diversify out of Ontario real estate since 2023 and what he’s personally doing instead to build wealth without turning investing into a second job. You’ll learn: Why passive real estate in Ontario is effectively goneHow rent control, LTB delays, and rising costs changed the landscapeWhy U.S. real estate, business ownership, and leveraged investing matterThe real‑estate‑style leverage strategy applied to the stock marketThis episode marks the evolution of the show into The Truth About Financial Independence for Canadians (TAFI) — focused on multiple paths to wealth, time freedom, and peace of mind. Also, don't miss the 🔥 Free Live Training: The $100,000 Zero‑Down Strategy. I’m walking through the full math, risks, and real use cases live.📍 Saturday, May 30 (Hybrid – Oakville + Zoom)📍 Tuesday, June 2 (Zoom Only – 8pm ET) 👉 Register here: https://wealthhacker.krtra.com/t/uqyHFbipnPrK 🎧 Subscribe to The Truth About Financial Independence for Canadians (TAFI) 🌐 https://tafipod.ca