SPRING LAKE MANOR

Born and raised in Kitchener-Waterloo, I was introduced to the financial services industry in my early twenties, where I became and independent financial advisor. While working with clients with a more “traditional” financial planning approach I started to look for alternative investment strategies that would help myself and others reach retirement goals at a much younger age. At the age of 23 I bought my first pre-construction condo, a year later a single family rental, and the following year another single family rental. Fast forward to 2018 I sold my book of business as a financial advisor to focus on my real estate investing business. It was at this time that I also grew my career and started as an independent mortgage agent. I finished my first year in the top 20% at Mortgage Alliance and my second year in the top 10%. I take a real estate investing approach to my mortgage business. My years of experience as a financial advisor have also helped me to develop a balanced approach to real estate investing. On a personal note, I still live in Kitchener with my family and enjoy playing golf and hockey. Spending time with my family at my Grand Bend cottage is my favourite summer pastime.

Elizabeth Kelly bought her first investment property in 2005 – a 2-bedroom condo in Newmarket, Ontario. It seemed really easy, so she bought another one. Next, she and her husband Emmett started buying run-down single-family homes and converting them to duplexes because they found the cash flow was even better. Their next purchase was an 8-bedroom licensed student rooming house in Barrie, Ontario. They now owned and managed 19 doors! Like many new investors, she thought, “The cash flow is amazing, how could things go wrong?!” In 2008, Elizabeth took the Rich Dad Poor Dad real estate courses with Emmett; it was then they realized they had made a grave error. They now owned some properties that were no longer cash flowing (thanks to a special assessment on their condo properties) and they had no exit strategy planned for any of these properties. Determined to turn things around, Elizabeth and Emmett began talking to their current tenants about the prospect of renting to own the property they lived in. This further increased cash flow on some of the properties, allowing them to cover the losses on the others until they slowly sold them off. But by then it was too late, they were hooked! Emmett was on a mission to find apartment buildings and Elizabeth loved the way she could help families buy homes using the Rent to Own strategy.