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The 5 Questions Podcast
Join us as we unlock real estate and business insights, one question at a time.
The 5 Questions Podcast
Cross-Border Real Estate: Navigating Global Changes with Lauren Cohen
Lauren Cohen returns to discuss the rapidly changing landscape of cross-border investing and immigration, highlighting how recent political shifts have created new challenges and opportunities for real estate investors across North America and beyond.
• Recent political changes in the US and Canada have prompted people on both sides of the border to consider relocating
• The US market remains exceptionally attractive for investors due to its size, stability, and landlord-friendly regulations in many states
• Immigration policies are changing almost daily, making it crucial to be proactive rather than fearful
• Having proper entity structures and visas in place works as an "insurance policy" in uncertain times
• Overlooked investment opportunities exist in Portugal, Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and even Israel
• Lauren's personal immigration challenges with her ex-husband's deportation inspired her career helping others navigate cross-border issues
• Traditional immigration lawyers offer limited services while Lauren provides a holistic, concierge approach to the entire process
• The sequence of steps in cross-border investing is often as important as the steps themselves
• Each investor's situation is unique, requiring customized strategies rather than following generic advice or copying what worked for others
• Working with experts who understand both sides of the border is essential for successful cross-border real estate investing
Connect with Lauren to learn more about her cross-border investment programs and how she can help you navigate the complexities of international real estate investing.
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, and today we have a returning guest on the show. I wanted to bring her back because there's been a lot of changes in the months that just occurred in international business and investing, so let me reintroduce you to our guest. She is an experienced professional in international law and cross-border investing. Nonetheless, none other, I should say, than Lauren Corwin. Lauren, welcome back to the show. I wanted to bring you back because lots have changed since we last spoke and a lot of people have questions.
Speaker 1:They have a lot of questions, but we're not going to break the format of the podcast.
Speaker 2:It's five questions no only five.
Speaker 1:So let me start with the first one, Since we last spoke. What major changes or trends have you noticed in immigration and in investment policies that real estate investors need to be aware?
Speaker 2:Well, there's so many changes we're certainly not going to get to all of them, but obviously the most significant one is the change in the presidency here in the US and the re-election, I guess, of the liberals in Canada, which has put some pressure on people that want to leave, that are frustrated with the Canadian side. And then there's also been a lot of people here in the US that wanted to move north. So, as a result, I opened a cross-full-scale cross-border law firm to help people go both ways. But investing in the US is still and always going to be that much more appealing and profitable than in Canada, because you just can't match the market, no matter what happens politically. You have a very strong, stable market in the US the largest in the world, 10 times the size of the Canadian market and most of the states that we help investors invest in are very landlord friendly, which is not the case in most Canadian provinces. So it's a very different landscape, certainly from an immigration perspective, the changes are daily, really daily.
Speaker 2:I wake up every day like, okay, what's today going to bring? What's in store for me today, for us as immigration lawyers? And the key is that you can't let fear stop you from taking advantage of opportunities and there are opportunities and they're going to continue to be opportunities and it really is time to be poised and ready to take advantage of those opportunities and have your entity set up, have your structure set up. Even if you don't want a visa, get it set up properly. So if you do decide at some point you want one, grab it. But I would recommend anybody that's even remotely thinking about potentially doing a lot of cross-border business. Get that visa in your pocket, because it's an insurance policy and things are changing rapidly and we don't know when they're going to impact most of the non-immigrant visas.
Speaker 1:You certainly have good points here and we're going to jump into the second question right away, because what you just said ties into what I wanted to talk next. And many investors focus, you know, in the US or Canada market, but you've worked globally and I want to ask you what are some maybe overlooked cross-border opportunities that investors might be missing out on?
Speaker 2:Well, absolutely, as you know, because I've introduced you to some of my colleagues, for example, that specialize in investing in Mexico, in Honduras, in Costa Rica.
Speaker 2:Just a week and a half ago I interviewed a lovely girl lady, woman I guess who moved to Costa Rica at the end of COVID and now they have a development company in Costa Rica. They were doing building development in Toronto and now they're doing that in Costa Rica and a lot of Central America. I'm doing a podcast next week, I think, with a colleague from Portugal because a lot of people Canadians and Americans are interested in Portugal, not just to visit and not just to invest, but even to move the Dominican. I'm speaking with the head of the Dominican real estate department on Thursday about bringing open, opening opportunities because, at the end of the day, I think what my ability has always been, especially, you know, during all the changes in the day, I think what, what my ability has always been, especially, you know, during all the changes in COVID my ex-husband being deported is the ability to respond to what people need and meet them where they are, and right now they want options besides North America, so we have to give them to them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and and you know you're right in networking and connecting with different people, not for not just even from Canada and the U? S, but there's a lot of opportunities Now a lot of investors focused in, for example, the Caribbean, but Europe is starting to have to be very attractive to some investors like you. Portugal is one of the markets, so we should open our vision to maybe more opportunities that are not really close to us. But you're certainly right and you're a good point of entry because you're a cross-border lawyer. You have many, many connections that people, if they have questions, they can reach out and ask you and maybe you can connect them.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. I'll tell you a very quick, funny, very quick story. Yeah, during, I think it was probably. Well, it was back in 2021, which is kind of at the. You know, in COVID I had a gentleman and his daughter reach out to me. They were realtors from Ottawa and the daughter was desperate to get out like a grown daughter and we didn't end up working together and they were just referred to me two days ago by one of our mutual colleagues that knows about what I'm doing and they're good friends with one of my clients, so now they're ready to do something. I mean, these are long-term relationships that I build, like Mario said, and it's not just North America, it's, you're right. I even help people like invest in Israel. Now people be like why would I invest in Israel? There's a war? Well, israeli real estate actually the increases year over year in Israeli real estate is second to none. So, even though it's a strong, strong economy and you'll have to invest where the opportunity is and that's the important thing.
Speaker 1:And that's why you need to talk to people who knows, because you don't want to make a mistake and invest in areas where you shouldn't be investing. Correct Leads us to our third question and obviously we spoke about your journey before, on the last episode, but I want to come back to this and your journey from experience you know personal immigration challenges to becoming an international law expert is inspiring. Can you share how your personal experience motivated you to help others with their immigration and investment pursuits?
Speaker 2:Sure. So back in. I don't even know if it was 2006 or 2007,. I got married to a gentleman from Montreal.
Speaker 1:And we, those guys, always get you.
Speaker 2:I wasn't going to say anything, but anyway he was not a French Canadian, but I met him here in Florida. We got married and we went on our honeymoon to Thailand and on the way back from our honeymoon, he was put in immigration jail, expeditiously removed, subsequently deported. And here I was like what in the world is going on? And it was a crazy, crazy thing. And I was in the process of getting my green card at the time and he did not get a green card. He was denied and at the end of the day we ended up getting divorced and probably it was a marriage that never should have happened, but had it not happened, I would not do what I do today.
Speaker 2:I wrote my book called Finding your Silver Lining in the business immigration process based on that, because through all of this adversity is always some type of prosperity and you just have to find it. And I found my why to help others avoid having a similar fate to what happened to me. And that's really what I do and why I do it, besides the fact that I want to create a better life for people that are trying to get away from anti-Semitism, from challenges, chasing their American dream. And instead of chasing it, let's find it, let's get it, let's get it under wraps and get you into a place where you feel confident, safe and secure and also successful.
Speaker 1:And I'm going to repeat myself. I say it all the time, but for our listeners, any dream that we have, no matter what it is, it's possible. You just have to connect yourself with the right people who will help you achieve whatever your dream is. It doesn't matter, and so you know if it has to go with cross border or law, well, lauren is one person you want to connect with because she can help you achieve many, many different. You know goals or dreams that you have, and this is the lesson here. So you know Lauren. Lauren, you you've had your challenges, but now you understand and you can help others. So it's it's really truly amazing.
Speaker 2:But isn't that how most people come to be who they are, because they've been faced with adversity. It's not like we just sail through life and we're like oh, everything is rosy.
Speaker 1:Well, here's the difference. A lot of people they try to do it on their own and that's where you know they hit the wall and they think they, and they start believing that their dreams is not possible. It's not that's not the truth. It's. The truth is is they're just not looking with the right help. You know you need to connect with people.
Speaker 1:That's how you become successful in life and in in. You know, putting your dreams forward. You're just not doing it on your own. That's. That's the thing. Right brings us to our fourth question. You have programs. We briefly touched on them last time, but I want to repeat myself because I think these are important points where people should know how to emigrate through. Real estate is one, and the seven-figure invest to immigrate program. Obviously they became more popular. We've been talking about them. You've been helping people. Can you explain again how these program works and the benefits they have to your clients?
Speaker 2:So one of the big misnomers out there is that people compare me and my company to an immigration lawyer. And an immigration lawyer gets you papers, gets you a visa, gets the job done. You know, usually they're good at what they do, but it's a finite scope of work, of work is not finite. I am your partner throughout the process. I take clients through the whole journey of what in the world do you want to do? Where do you want to invest? How do you want to invest? And the key is that most lawyers will not help a real estate investor access a visa because it's very complicated.
Speaker 2:But I created a streamlined program, so my programs are streamlined. But I created a streamlined program, so my programs are streamlined. Concierge holistic it's an ecosystem of service providers that are all under my kind of guise, under my roof, like a general contractor that's managing the process of fixing your house so you can flip it. Clients, because I'm taking them through that whole journey, they're never left with questions. You know, if they need an estate, a state's attorney, I'm going to get that for them. If they need somebody to help them build a trust, I'm going to get that for them. If they need somebody to do tax planning. I'm going to help them with that. So what? What I do is oversee that whole process to make sure that they are looked after and their needs are met throughout the process, and that is something that is super unique and avoids piecemealing and struggling and making mistakes, because one mistake could cost you lots of money, lots of time and your visa.
Speaker 1:And sometimes it's not even mistakes, it's doing things out of order. Correct, you try to go get a lawyer, try to go get this person, this person, but you're doing it in the wrong order could cost you thousands of dollars. So the benefit from working with a person like you is you know the order of where it should be done and that's where it brings success. Okay, so already our last and fifth questions for today. Lauren, it goes fast, but we go straight to the point Now. We talked about how complicated it is for someone to looking to start with their cross-border investments and starting their journey into the real estate world cross-border. What would it be?
Speaker 2:The most important piece of advice I can give anybody is don't try to do it without the right help and don't try to do it with just help on one side of the border, because getting help on the USS side is not going to help you in Canada.
Speaker 2:Getting guidance on the Canadian side about what to do in the US is not going to help you. Getting guidance from somebody in the US about what to do in Portugal is not going to help you. You need guidance from experts on both sides of whatever the border is or whatever the sea is or the ocean or whatever, and working with somebody that can oversee and manage that process for you rather than you trying to jump through heaps to figure it out. The most important thing that you can do for yourself is not try to do it yourself and really go to people. Don't say, oh well, mario's friend Joe did it this way, or this person in this group did it that way. You can't do that. You have to manage the process and make sure that you get things done the right way, with the right guidance and the right structure and the right people.
Speaker 1:And people need to really understand that each situation is different. Even the slightest difference could cause big impact. Know big impact or big, big changes in the outcome of the way you do things. So you know, like you said, it's not because your friend did it a certain way that you can do it the same way. You need someone to look at your situation and tell you listen, given those circumstances, this is the way we have to proceed.
Speaker 2:If I had a dollar for every time. Somebody asked me what are your fees for this? And I'm like, well, I don't even know what you need. What are your fees for that? I don't know what you need and I can't just give you a blanket answer. What's the best structure to set up? I don't know. Generally, it's this, but what if you have something that we don't know about? What if you already own property? What if you? Whatever the case is? So everything we do goes through all of our steps and it's custom, customized for each client, and that's really important, because you don't want to do what your friend joe did, or mario, because what mario did is right for mario and mario situation. Maybe mario is planning to move and maybe you're not. There's so many variables, so don't guess at it. There's too much at stake.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely Lauren. It's always a pleasure to talk with you and to get your insights on things, because you can save although lawyers cost a lot of money but you can also save a lot of money to people.
Speaker 2:Yes, ultimately, it's about saving money by doing things right the first time and not struggling through it. So thank you, mario, for having me again, and I look forward to seeing you soon and good luck with your launch.
Speaker 1:Thank you and we'll talk very soon. Take care Bye for now. 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.