The 5 Questions Podcast
Join us as we unlock real estate and business insights, one question at a time.
The 5 Questions Podcast
From Toxic Workplaces to Real Estate Triumphs with Luis Rivas
Discover the transformative power of real estate investing through the incredible journey of Luis Rivas, an expert in IT, project management, and property management. How did Luis and his wife escape their toxic work environments during the COVID-19 pandemic and successfully acquire a 21-unit building in Ontario? Learn the strategies that took the property's value from $66,000 per door to an impressive $180,000 per door within five years. Luis's commitment to a buy-and-hold strategy, coupled with his firsthand experiences, offers invaluable lessons for aspiring real estate investors.
We also delve into the immense value of coaching in the realm of real estate. As the head coach at WealthGenius, I emphasize the importance of servant leadership and genuine curiosity in helping others achieve success. Explore exciting real estate opportunities such as care homes and self-storage, especially relevant in today's aging society. Finally, Mario shares practical tips and motivational insights to elevate your real estate and business strategies. Don't miss this episode filled with transformative insights, and remember to subscribe for more valuable content from the 5 Questions Podcast.
I could not have done this by myself. I might have, but it may have taken me decades. Yeah, you know Absolutely.
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 on today's show, has over two decades of experience in the field of IT, project management, acquisitions, coaching and property management. He is the head coach with the WealthGenius real estate learning platform and taught hundreds of students to be successful. Welcome, luis Rivas. Luis, welcome to the podcast today.
Speaker 1:Thank you, Mariel, it's a really big. I've been looking forward to this all week. I've been looking forward to chatting with you. Man, You're one of my favorite peeps.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Thank you so much for this, but we're going to have lots of fun. The concept of the podcast is five questions, either about real estate investing or business, and we get straight to the point. You ready, I'm ready. You know in your past life, let's just say with the government what is a pivotal moment that inspired you to start your journey in real estate investing?
Speaker 1:I would say that COVID and the pandemic it almost forced me to get out of my comfort zone, to get out of my job, because I just noticed such a big change in my job, in my team there was a lot of toxicity already, but then, with I don't know, people changed during COVID. Like people were very upset, they were angry and a lot of us were under I'll call it house arrest. But we were under lockdown and life and job were like melting into one almost. You know, like people were working longer hours and it was just chaos.
Speaker 1:And my wife was on the verge of a mental breakdown and I told her first, I said you, you need to leave your job and you need to retire and uh, otherwise you're not going to be around. And uh, we had, we had two very young boys at the time. We still do and I said we, I need you to to do this. And she was like she thought it was crazy, yeah, yeah. But uh, I, I made her like I, I encouraged her to leave and uh, we haven't looked back.
Speaker 1:And so the year after that I decided to leave because I I had a proof that what we had accomplished between her and I was working and, of course, as you mentioned, I I'm the head coach of well genius. Well genius was a major and, of course, as you mentioned, I'm the head coach of WellGenius. Wellgenius was a major part of my of pulling me out of that situation because if I didn't have something like this opportunity with WellGenius, I I may not have taken the plunge, I may still be in that pool swimming, swimming around, you know, fooling myself.
Speaker 2:Basically, uh, around you know, fooling myself basically, uh, you know you had you surrounded yourself with people who who were successful in real estate and, with the situation that you were living in, that both together gave you the confidence to start your real estate journey absolutely I go absolutely.
Speaker 1:it goes hand in hand. I could not have done this by myself. I might have, but it may have taken me decades, yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2:That brings us to our second question. So now you're investing. You started investing a few years ago. You got a lot of deals. Is there a successful deal, or can you describe to us a successful deal that significantly impacted your real estate investing career and what made it so successful?
Speaker 1:We acquired a 21 unit building in Ontario. You know, with my partners Alfonso, his wife Helene and some other partners, we acquired this building in 2019 with an agreement for sale.
Speaker 1:If your viewers aren't used to the term. It means you take over the property and you don't close on it. You just start managing and you start trying to create a lift. So that's exactly what we did we went to work and we created a lift and then we closed on the property maybe six or seven months later, like right when COVID was just man. It was crazy times. It was like July 2020 and everything was upside down and we closed on that, and we closed on that and we we got that building um 66 000 a door and now now the the doors in that in that area of ontario are going for over 180. Wow so that's a lift.
Speaker 1:That's a heck of a lift, brother, and you know, and, and and it's, and it really solidified for me, like my strategy, which was going to be like buy and hold, as passive as possible because I had two young kids at the time. And, uh, some of your viewers might say, well, you know, five years to create a lift and to do a refi is a long time. I would argue that it might not be a long time. You know, look, the last five years for me have flown by so fast. Yeah, time is doing some funky stuff and I don't know what it is, but I know it's happening and I I feel that just time, as time is going along, it's getting faster and faster. It's not just increasing at 80, 80, 88, uh miles an hour like back to the future. Yeah, it's like. It's like increasing into warp speeds and so I don't know what's going to happen. But five years is not that long.
Speaker 2:So you know, it makes me think if somebody is occupied right, you have projects, you're busy life goes by so fast. Yeah, some the people that are watching from the sidelines and and are just maybe watching or judging that can take a long time. So that's where the five years can seem very long for those people. But when you're in it, when you're in a project, you're busy, you're working, you're trying to, you know, create that lift. It's going to go by very fast. I agree with you there, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I would say to your viewers in those five years, there's a lot you can do. Don't just do one of those agreement for sale deals, do 10 of them in five years and then you're going to refi two buildings every year. Absolutely, that's intergenerational wealth.
Speaker 2:That brings us to our third question. If you could give us an advice to someone just starting in the real estate investing, but in today's market, what would it be?
Speaker 1:I would say get a coach or mentor and something and, and and in a capacity where it's something formal that you're working. If you can working towards a completion or a target or spare time, you need guidance, and getting guidance from the internet or from AI or from chat, gpt, it's okay, but if you can get a human that has gone through what you want to accomplish, I think that's the best, and if you can connect to a platform or a community of like-minded individuals. You know there's been instances when you and I I haven't known you for all that long, but I feel like I've known you for 100,000 years.
Speaker 1:And when we get together, it's like we're little kids frolicking in the playground talking about's, like we're little kids for all the king in the playground talking about what deals were doing and what kind of exciting initiatives. You know you've got your cruise next, next February, next year, and so I would say, connect yourself with a mentor, connect yourself with a coach, connect yourself with a group of people that are gonna to lift you up and encourage you to have fun, because if you have fun and you feel fulfilled, money's going to come.
Speaker 1:If you are searching for that money. It's going to be a bit of an uphill battle to feel fulfilled. You got to feel it to be it.
Speaker 2:You got to surround yourself with like-minded people, you know, and it's when you say about it makes me think. When you say about, talk about getting a coach, some people might see a ticket item. Or I value money wise for hiring a coach. Yes, it's true it could be expensive, but there's other ways you could surround yourself for free. Start going to networking events around people that are doing real estate. Get, like you said, part-time coach. You know, here and there ask for advice.
Speaker 1:That's a great point you know.
Speaker 2:Or if you have the budget and you really want to dive into it, then get a coach full time. That's going to hold your end and really take you to the next level. So 100% I agree, I did it myself. You need a coach to go to the next level. Now, what kind of coach or what you can afford?
Speaker 1:there's many options out there for you, I agree, and sometimes maybe you need to just partner up with someone you know that has done it before and say can I jump in on your deal and help you with some of the tasks, and this will help you learn the business from a managing partner, working partner position where you're really just learning on the job, so to speak.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that brings us to our fourth question. We mentioned that you're the head coach at WellGenius. How has your experience as a coach and mentor shaped your approach into real estate investing and what key lessons you strive to inculcate to your students, Well?
Speaker 1:being head coach here has helped me in every asset of my life, even in my personal, with my family, with my brothers, with people on the street. I always take a like a like, a servant leadership approach with my students and coaches. I have my own coaching students and I have, you know, I have, we have many coaches here at Well Genius and I mentor them as well, and I always take a position of being a servant leader, always take a position of being a servant leader serving the community, helping others become fulfilled, and that will in turn help fulfill me. But the biggest fulfillment comes from helping others get what they want and so ask a lot of questions. I've become a master at asking questions and I don't even realize it.
Speaker 1:I was in a car the other day with Deanna Boyden, who you know, who you had on your show, and then I started asking her questions and she said oh, you know, the coach is coming out, and I didn't even realize it that I'm just my best. My favorite way to basically keep the conversation going is just to ask a lot of questions. So I lead with curiosity and I encourage my students to do the same. You know to ask those questions like why are you selling the property? You know like how much. Is there a mortgage on the property? Can we assume the mortgage? Is there a mortgage on the property? Can we assume the mortgage? Just the worst thing that can happen is somebody can tell you to get lost or they might lie or they might skirt around the issue. But I always encourage my students and all the people around me just to ask a lot of questions.
Speaker 2:There's something to be said about when you ask questions, do it with a pure motive. Yes, we're in business and we're there to make money. But if you do it with a pure motive, money is going to come to you. So you know, try to find out, like you said, all the different questions in a humane matter instead of how can I squeeze in the most amount of dollars out of that person Because that's going to bring you fulfillment for the, maybe for one or two deals, but then life just going to make it in the, in a way where it's going to stop. It's going to stop coming to you. But if you do it in a humane way, in a pure motive, you're there to, yes, fulfill your goals in your pockets, but help people on the way. I think you go much further.
Speaker 1:I agree, if you can do both at the same time, it's just going to be symbiotic, and by asking a lot of questions you find out what it is that people's needs and wants are.
Speaker 1:And then you can see maybe you can see if you can help them. Maybe you could refer them to somebody. You know what? I don't have experience in that, but my friend Mario does, and I love connecting people. If I don't know the answer to something, I don't try to BS my way in and out of an answer. I'll just say you know what? Why don't you talk to so-and-so? He has experience, or she's got a building, or you know. Whatever the situation is. And I love connecting people because that could be the best thing you could do. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it brings us to our last question already Already.
Speaker 1:Already, we're moving too fast.
Speaker 2:It's a fast podcast, so looking forward, what kind of opportunities in the real estate investing world gets you excited and why?
Speaker 1:I am really excited about a new to me asset class and that is the care homes. The care homes, it's got the multifamily component to it. Actually it's not even multifamily, it's almost like multi-individual. Yeah, but you're fulfilling a huge need for urgent, I would say, need for elderly care in our country and providing housing for our growing population, our aging population Aging, I should say, not growing. We are growing, but we're aging much more rapidly. That excites me.
Speaker 1:And, um, the self-storage really intrigues me and I think those two go hand in hand. Because you know, as as people are becoming older, the hate to pick on the baby boomers. But the boomers have accumulated a lot of stuff over the years and when they downsize their homes, a lot of them have a hard time letting go of that stuff, and so the self-storage is really an opportunity to own another type of. It's not multifamily but it's multi-unit and in a much more automated way. So that really excites me. Traditionally I've been, like I said earlier, a buy and hold, you know, long term, as passive as possible investor, very boring with a slow speed of money. In the past it's been working for me. So these two new asset classes that I just mentioned to you. It's a different type of spin on what I've already been doing, but maybe with a little bit more speed in terms of return on investment.
Speaker 2:Right and I like the fact that you know, with the care homes, you're actually fulfilling a need and you're helping people. And, in a different way, you're also helping people with the self-storage. I was actually talking to another investor and you know, self-storage a lot of us have the idea of okay, it's just like garage doors and you open them and you put your stuff in there. But then you have the aspect now that you can have land as self-storage for companies, construction companies that have trailers, and then you can have also, let's say, a container that needs space for his tools and shovels and his trailers, a container that he needs space for his tools and shovels and his trailers. So now you start implementing self-storage, but in three different ways on the same piece of land. So you're offering a lot more to your customers than than, uh, just a closet, just a closet, you know. So it's it, it. I find it really interesting, when people get their brains going, how many solutions we can find to help people.
Speaker 1:Isn't that something? Now you're talking about something that's really close to my heart and that's masterminding. You know, people always ask well, what goes on at the mastermind events? For, like, well, genius, we have these. We call them retreats overseas. The next ones are going to be in Greece and it's going to be in El Salvador. And do you talk about real estate? And we could.
Speaker 1:But generally, people bring other types of issues in their lives mindset related issues that they need help with. And when you have a room full of people vibrating and resonating at the same high vibration, the solutions that pour out are biblical. Yeah, like, like, nothing is impossible and it's it. You know that book, the, the book called uh, who, not how. I would say that with these masterminds, it becomes who and how, and, and, and and, surrounding yourself with like a group of really fired up people working and resonating in the same frequency. It's unstoppable. Things are meant to happen and yeah, things are meant to happen. And, uh, if there's a will, there's a way, and when you have more people with more will, there's more ways lewis, it was a pleasure having you on the podcast today, uh, thank you so much not enough time, we'll probably have you on a second episode at some hey, I'd love to'd love to.
Speaker 2:You know so much insights and it was really fun to talk to you today and I hope our listeners will take a piece of your wisdom with them on their journey.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, mario, and I wish you and your viewers a great weekend and a great week ahead. Thank you, we'll talk soon, okay.
Speaker 2:Take care. Thanks for tuning in to the 5 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.