The 5 Questions Podcast
Join us as we unlock real estate and business insights, one question at a time.
The 5 Questions Podcast
Transform Your Finances with Samantha Renaud’s Real Estate Insights
Can you imagine escaping the monotony of a nine-to-five job and achieving long-term wealth by the age of 21? Join us as we chat with Samantha Renaud, a dynamic real estate investor who did just that. Samantha opens up about her early foray into the real estate market and shares profound insights tailored for aspiring investors. She breaks down the common misconception of financial limitations, highlighting untapped resources such as RRSPs, home equity, and lines of credit. For those truly strapped for cash, she emphasizes leveraging transferable skills and the power of networking within the right circles to make your real estate dreams a reality.
In a world where strategic partnerships can elevate your business, Samantha discusses collaborating with experts in land development, short-term rentals, and deal finding. She underscores the importance of written agreements to maintain clarity and avoid conflicts. Embracing a philosophy that values time, fun, and freedom, Samantha advocates for investments that ensure consistent cash flow, allowing you to enjoy life and pursue your passions. The episode wraps up with a thrilling exploration into private island investments for short-term rentals and land development, showcasing the boundless opportunities available in real estate. Tune in to unlock these invaluable insights and take your investment journey to new heights!
So I have found there are two types of people in the world. There are people who actually have no money and people who just think they have no money.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the 5 Questions Podcast, where we unlock real estate and business insights one question at a time. Welcome to the 5 Questions Podcast. I am your host, mario Lamar, our guest today. She started investing in real estate since the age of 21. And, with her unique appreciation for the importance of time, she deeply is committed to empowering people to have more fun, more passion and freedom in their lives. Welcome, samantha, renaud. Samantha, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2:The concept of the podcast is five questions about real estate, investing or business, and we get straight to the point you ready.
Speaker 1:I love it, I'm ready.
Speaker 2:Okay, so, as I mentioned in the intro, at the age of 21, you made your first property purchase. What motivated you to dive into real estate investing at such a young age?
Speaker 1:So growing up I was surrounded by people who didn't like their jobs. Like I could see my dad going into the office. He didn't love what he was doing. All of the adults around me didn't like what they were doing. I noticed the same myself when I was going to school and I had to stay at school between you know, whatever nine and three or whatever and I hated that. I always hated those constraints and I was fortunate enough to grow up in a household that would support me, no matter what I chose to do. So it allowed me to kind of question that a little bit and it brought me to the conclusion that, you know, if the nine to five having a day job for the rest of my life is not what I want to do, maybe there's other options. So that kind of led me to kind of researching all of the millionaires, the wealthiest people in the world, and I found that most of them own real estate. So I knew that that was going to be sort of the course of action for me.
Speaker 1:It also helped that my dad was involved in a little bit of real estate growing up as well. So I had a bit of a sneak peek of like, okay, this is kind of what it can do for you long term. Then I went on to learn more about you know how you know multifamily buildings are great for cash flow how you can cash flow right Like I learned with single family homes and you don't really see a lot of cash flow with those. So I kind of went on to learn a lot about that kind of thing. And then I knew right away I was like, okay, I need to do whatever I need to do to get as many like to get involved in real estate right away so that I can even see even more of that long-term wealth over time. So that's really what prompted me to dive into into real estate right away well, that that's great.
Speaker 2:And and to be able to realize that at such a young age. Good on you, because everybody that's older wish they could go back and start over again at a younger age, you know. So good on you for that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I hear that all the time. People are like oh, you know, I wish. I had started when I was your age and like even I'm like I wish I started sooner somehow, so absolutely.
Speaker 2:That brings us to our second question. There's probably a lot of people looking up to you that are younger and people, like I said, that you know are older and are saying, oh, I wish I was at her place when I was her age. What advice would you give someone looking to get into real estate investing but with little or no money?
Speaker 1:So I have found there are two types of people in the world. There are people who actually have no money and people who just think they have no money. So I have a little piece of advice, I think, for both of those categories. So the people who think they have no money I would encourage them to look beyond just cash. There are a lot of different kinds of money out there that people don't really think about. So just because you don't have $50,000 sitting in your bank account, it doesn't mean that you don't have money to invest in real estate.
Speaker 1:It's important to consider things like RRSPs. Is there equity in your house? Maybe you do own another property. Maybe there's equity there. Do you have a line of credit? Different things like that can help you get into real estate. Different kinds of lines of credits, yeah. So that would be the first thing I would say to think about. Do some research, look into it and see how you can use these things, because you can use RSPs without necessarily having the penalty of pulling it out. There are ways that you can move it and you can invest it without penalties. So that's the first one, and then the second one okay, you actually have no money. That's okay too. That happens, and I mean, even if it's not, that you're just starting out, maybe you've invested all of your money, so what do you do now?
Speaker 1:So my advice is to look to work with people who are more experienced in real estate. So, taking any transferable skills that you might have, whatever your job is, whatever you do, think about how those skills can be applied to helping other real estate investors. What I would caution is don't go to somebody else and be like, hey, I want to be a part of your deal. How can I help? I don't know how you can help. I haven't thought about it, I don't know. That's too hard, like that's not going to work. Go with solutions, not problems.
Speaker 1:So that's one of the biggest things that I feel like can help you get started in real estate. And, of course, you need to be around the right people to do that right. You can't just walk into a Walmart and hope to find some real estate investors. You need to be around the right people. So my advice for that I mean there's free communities, there's paid communities, like check out Facebook groups, go on meetups, look at the paid communities as well. Those are all great ways to get around those people and just to start collaborating. Start working together, exchange value, and then you'll grow from there.
Speaker 2:So start networking, surround yourself with the right people for what you're trying to achieve, and then bring value and that formula should get you started into real estate.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2:Wow, okay, thank you for this insight. So now you know. It brings us to our third question. You obviously work with partners. You obviously work with partners in, as you mentioned, different asset classes. Can you share with us some insights on how you choose and how you manage these partnerships?
Speaker 1:Sure, yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, I love to do a lot of partnerships. I find that partnerships are the best way to grow bigger and grow faster. So choosing is do our goals and values align? I don't want to do business with people who aren't on the same path as me Because, even if we might have an opportunity right now, most of the time in real estate, these partnerships are long-term, so if we're not going to the same place, it's not going to work. So I think that is the first key thing is just making sure that you're on the same page long-term, like goals and vision.
Speaker 1:The second part of it is well, they need to be an expert in whatever it is you're trying to do. It's very easy, I find, to end up in the same circles as people who are like you. Well, if you partner with somebody who has the same skill set as you, you're not really getting anywhere right. So, finding people who are experts in different things For example, I have partners in land development, in short-term rentals, so that's for my asset classes. And I also have partners in deal finding, so I have people who look for deals on my behalf so that I don't have to spend time doing that. So, all three of these groups. These are experts in what they do.
Speaker 1:That means that I don't have to spend the time learning land development learning, short-term rental, learning this learning that I can focus on my expertise, which is multifamily and creative financing strategies. I can spend all of my energy there and then I can become the best multifamily, best creative strategies investor I can be, while still having the diversity of being able to do line development, deals and all of these other types, and then I can also offer more variety to my investors as well. So it's really it's a win-win situation for everybody. So that's how I manage my partnerships, that's how I choose them and my biggest piece of advice for any partnership no matter what, get an agreement in writing. You know people say it, but I just I can't stress this enough. I've had experiences. It didn't go well and it's not even just you. You know, in case things go wrong, we need to have it in writing like yes, but more importantly, it's just so that everybody can have a good understanding of what's being agreed to you know we all come with different perspectives.
Speaker 1:We all understand things differently. So I would hate to get into a partnership where I understand things one way, you understand things one way. So I would hate to get into a partnership where I understand things one way, you understand things one way, and then that's not actually what we're trying to agree to. So just for clarity, and then you can sort it out right away. So that's my biggest piece of advice in that respect.
Speaker 2:Yeah, to make it clear, in a partnership there's no price on that, because you want to avoid every little hiccups that you can. And then, uh, I I like the fact when you mention about choosing your partners, that to bring different strengths, and it brought an image to my mind if, uh, if, you're in a canoe and you can only paddle on the right side, guess what? You're going in circles, absolutely. But if you have people on your team that have different strength, or you know, one paddle's on the right, the other one's on the left, then you move forward. So such a such a a great idea that or you know strategy, that you have to use different types of strength in your partnerships to move forward. This brings us to our fourth question. So in the intro we mentioned that you emphasize the importance of time and you want to empower people to have more fun, more passion and more freedom in their lives.
Speaker 1:So how does this philosophy influence your approach to real estate investing? So it changes the way that I look at the real estate deal. So it's not necessarily the deal itself, but I strive for more deals that earn more cash flow. So the reason that I do this is it kind of comes down to my why, the reason that I invest in real estate and the reason that I help other people invest in real estate is I want to pull people out of that kind of monotony of day-to-day life. You know how people just kind of. You know they go to work, they, you know, come home, make dinner, go to bed and they do that over and over and over for like 50 years.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I think that's insane and I want I don't want people to do that anymore. I want I want people to take a breath and really think about what they're doing and have more fun, have more time in their life and have more time for their passions as well. So the way that I do that through real estate is by investing in cash flowing deals. I'm able to pay my investors regular cash flow. This money I like to call fun money. I want people to use this money to do things that they love, even if that's just taking a little bit more time off work to spend with their kids or whatever that is. Whatever they love to do. I want them to do that. So that's why that's, that's why I do what I do. That's why I invest this way. That's why this is my philosophy. I mean, at the end of the day, I think it's not about how many hours you logged at your desk. It's how many of those moments that you had that you really truly cherished and enjoyed with the people that you love.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we have this more accessible to us now in the modern days. I find, then, you know, like you mentioned before, traditional days or some people it's just a mentality thing. Some people it's just a mentality uh thing. You know, you don't have to be at a job from nine to five or even longer because that's short hours. Now, uh, you know, you can actually enjoy life and make money from real estate good money if you do it right. So absolutely I agree, so absolutely I agree with you on that. Time freedom, more fun obviously, is accessible to everybody.
Speaker 1:It is. I mean, what's the point of all doing all of this if we're not having fun doing it?
Speaker 2:Right. So this brings us to our fifth question, and talking about having more time, we talked offline a little bit before and you told me that you're now in search of a private island for your future investment, either in Ontario, and then take that idea down to the Caribbean for short-term rentals and land development. You talked a little bit about it, but what excites you about these potential investment strategies?
Speaker 1:Sure, so much, so much. Where do I start? So the dream of having a private island in the Caribbean is a dream that I've always had and it started with, you know, growing up I was like, yeah, okay, I, you know, I was questioning the nine to five, I was questioning all of that. And then that brought me to think of, okay, so that means that I can do. Anything Like looking at these wealthy people like they've got some crazy stuff, they got yachts, they got private jets, they got all those things. And I'm like, okay, does that mean I can do that? And then, you know, my family, everybody around me, was like yeah, why not?
Speaker 2:And I was like okay you know what I want?
Speaker 1:a private island in the Caribbean. That's what I want and I like. All right, okay, go for it, so that you know. Originally kind of silly idea of you know what's the craziest thing has materialized into. No, this is actually something I'm trying to do now, like I'm I am, I'm working towards this, um, and part of the reason that the private island, specifically, it was attractive to me. Um, anybody who knows me well knows that um I, basically solar powered, um, I, I need the sun, I I, in the winters and the snow I do not do well, I need the sunshine.
Speaker 2:I'm the same way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's. I don't why. Why do we live here? It's not good, um. So I uh, uh, yeah.
Speaker 1:So the private island, it just, it just made sense for me. Like I, I can see, I have a whole vision of what it's going to look like. So all of that is super exciting to me. But, um, I want to start a little bit smaller.
Speaker 1:A private island in the caribbean is, you know, from my multi-family buildings, is a bit of a, is a bit of a jump there's. There's a learning gap here. So to fill that, we're going to do a private island in Ontario. So we have big plans for it. Essentially, what we're trying to do is find an island that has a cottage on it currently short-term rental it, and then, while we do that, on another part of the island, we're going to build essentially an event space slash boutique hotel. So it's going to be a place that people can go and host retreats, they can host small weddings, um, you know, family reunions, stuff like that. Um, so this whole thing is how we're going to earn income from this cool island idea and then we'll. This is kind of the trial everything's more affordable, everything is more accessible to do here. See how it goes um, and if it's uh as successful as you know, the numbers say it should be um.
Speaker 2:We'll take that idea to the caribbean and do it on a bigger scale that's, uh, that's that's a very exciting, very uh challenging, uh idea that you put in front of you. But you know there's the there's could be a very good potential of making first good money. And it's also about experiences. You're offering an experience to somebody that is, you know, different from inland kind of wedding space, like you mentioned, or vacation space. Imagine you doing it on on a small private Island, you know.
Speaker 1:I mean, I think that'd be awesome, I think it'd be super cool. So, yeah, I want to offer that to people.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. Well, sam, thank you so much for being on the podcast with us today. I really appreciate all the knowledge you shared and the experiences that you shared with us, and I hope that we can talk again very soon.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Thanks for having me. I love your show. This is awesome.
Speaker 2:Thank you, we'll talk soon, bye, bye.
Speaker 1:All right, bye, bye.
Speaker 2:Thanks for tuning into the five questions podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, like and hit the notification bell on our YouTube channel so you never miss an episode. Stay tuned for more insights and tips to transform your real estate and business game. See you next time.