"Inspired to Invest" Real Estate Investing Podcast

STOP Living Pay Cheque To Pay Cheque & Start Building Wealth

• Serena Holmes • Episode 60

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STOP Living Pay Cheque To Pay Cheque & Start Building Wealth

Welcome back to the 60th episode of the "Inspired To Invest" podcast. This week, we are unlocking secrets about how to invest in real estate so you can stop relying on living pay cheque to pay cheque with Dave Knight.

To watch rather than listen, click here

Dave is a a full-time police officer turned savvy investor, in our latest episode of the Inspire to Invest podcast. Discover how Dave transformed an accidental landlord experience into a flourishing real estate portfolio, armed with strategies like house hacking and the BRRRR method. 

Learn about his journey from a financially strained property owner to a seasoned investor who leverages home equity and adapts to market shifts, even venturing into Section 8 housing and new development projects.

Explore the crucial role of financial literacy and strategic planning as Dave shares his insights on balancing a demanding career with a passion for real estate. 

Get inspired by his practical advice on navigating market changes, conducting thorough due diligence, and maintaining multiple exit strategies to safeguard investments. 

Through his experiences, Dave emphasizes the significance of staying educated and being prepared for any financial scenario, ensuring long-term security and growth.

Lastly, delve into the profound personal and financial transformations that real estate investing has brought to Dave's life. We discuss the importance of continuous personal growth and the necessity of proactive strategies in light of inflation and retirement planning. 

This episode is a treasure trove of wisdom for anyone looking to kickstart or enhance their real estate investment journey.

To connect with Dave, go to @daveknighter on social or 911wealthnetwork.com/overview on social.

Thank you to The Wealth Club for bringing us this month’s episodes of “Inspired To Invest”. To learn more about them, go to @thewealthclub on social or https://skool.com/thewealthclub to sign up online.

Need support underwriting potential property investments? Check out PropertyCast.io - https://propertycast.io?via=serena 

“Inspired to Invest” is proud to support the Beyond Success Program, a not-for-profit financial literacy program for students, launched by More To Give & MAK Investments. Find out more at @more2give.ca.

Join us again on Aug. 14 to learn how to invest in real estate so you can stop living pay cheque to pay cheque!

“Inspired to Invest” is proud to support the Beyond Success Program, a not-for-profit financial literacy program for students, launched by More To Give & MAK Investments. Find out more at 

https://instagram.com/more2give.ca & https://more2give.ca/beyond.

Thank you for tuning into “Inspired To Invest”, hosted by @serenaholmesrealtor & remember, "when you invest in yourself, the sky's the limit!"

Sign up so you never miss an episode! https://serenaholmes.exprealty.com/ask/896312e0f685fdd06401c1e53ca6fd17

And, for everything related to real estate and real estate investing, please make sure you've subscribed to @serenaholmesrealtor on YouTube & other platforms. We also have a page dedicated to this podcast on Instagram and Facebook @inspiredtoinvestpodcast where we preview guests each week, highlight their episodes, top takeaways, tips, quotes and more.




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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Inspire to Invest podcast, where we're sharing stories from real estate investors and how investing has changed their lives. This episode of the Inspire to Invest podcast has been brought to you by the Wealth Club. Hey everybody, welcome to the Inspire to Invest podcast. I've got Dave Knight here with me today and he is a full-time police officer. He's the founder of the 911wealthnetworkcom, he is the host of the First Responders Wealth Network REI podcast and, outside the workplace, he's been able to grow his rental income portfolio by utilizing various strategies in Canada as well as across the US, and he is on a mission to help others educate themselves and be inspired to invest in real estate, and he also offers training courses at the 911wealthnetworkcom. More importantly, he wants people to take action so that they can gain confidence investing passively and actively through real estate. So thank you so much for joining us today. How are you?

Speaker 2:

No problem, thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here and I know it's a long time coming, so I'm glad to get this going and have a good chat.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, I appreciate that. So obviously you've kind of gone down that path by being a police officer. Where did real estate really come into the picture for you?

Speaker 2:

I kind of fell, kind of accidentally, just naturally progressed. It was kind of a slow moving vehicle for me. Anyway, I graduated university and then had some capital saved up I was always working through school and whatnot so I was able to get a down payment on a townhouse in Burlington actually, but I wasn't really able to buy all my furniture and it was still going to be a lot for me. But somehow I was able to co-sign and get in there. So I rented it out right off the bat and then it was just the process of. You know, I was almost a landlord right from the beginning, so, and I didn't really know what the heck I was doing, but so so yeah, like I mean I can get into my whole story of how it transpired, but essentially it just started off, as you know, accidental, of I can't afford this, so I'm going to get someone in there, and now I'm a landlord.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, no. So then where did you accelerate things from there? So I think for everybody it starts with that first property, and sometimes people like that's all they do, but obviously you've expanded it to a lot of different things. So can you talk a little bit about that journey?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, sure. So I mean, I think it all started we're talking off air a little bit of you know how you could get educated and whatnot. But I just stumbled across it was a three-day bootcamp event in Ontario here. It was just like drinking from a fire hose, where they're throwing all these strategies and tactics and ways that you can invest and it was just like whoa, this is like crazy. There's a whole nother world out there.

Speaker 2:

You know, all I knew at the time was, you know, maybe save up 20 and put it down and you know, hopefully it cash flows and whatnot. So so that kind of started way back I don't know, 2016 or something, um. So at that time, um, I had my own business, I was a, I had a residential painting company, so I was in the transition of getting into the police police service. So, you know, my, my job got cut, so I was open. The transition of getting into the police police service. So, you know, my, my job got cut. So I was open to different ways to create income and whatnot. And then, you know, had people even live with me at some times. You know, it was a bit of a revolving door, so I was you know, house hacking, I guess, was the terminology.

Speaker 2:

I didn't even again, I didn't even know what the hell I was doing. But yeah, and then you start again learning about strategies, ways to invest, how to leverage properly, you know how to force appreciation, how to use private capital to get into these type of investments and whatnot. And the BRRRR strategy, that was a big one, so, you know, eventually devolved, just learning how to attack. Or, you know, tap into my equity of my home where you know. Tap into my equity of my home where you know, luckily, we had a good run. So, learning about that, and uh, so I was able to get my second property, uh, move into the new one and then rent out the old one.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And then after that, um started learning about the BRRRR strategies. So I started buying properties in Hamilton, um, converting them into, you know, two, three, four units, and so that's kind of where my bread and butter was for several years before pivoting, probably until about last year, two years ago, when obviously a lot of things changed and the same strategies weren't working. So, yeah, to fast track. Now I'm getting into newer, new development and some section eight stuff down in the U? S which we can talk about.

Speaker 2:

But, um, but yeah, so it's been a wild progression and and during that I was actually just, I genuinely loved real estate. I thought it was really, you know, something that I never grew up with, never talked about at the dinner table, kind of thing. So, um, I loved sharing what I was learning and had a passion for it. I was a big podcast guy. So I started my podcast and just sharing my information that I was learning, just like I'm having a conversation with you, I'd get people on and I'd ask them 101 questions and I'd just post it and share it. And you know I was getting almost free education all these years.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, that's kind of how I felt, too, with the guests that I've interviewed is like it's such a good learning experience for me as well. Right so to be able to share that for everybody else, but for someone that could be listening that doesn't know, can you talk a little bit about what the BRRRR strategy is and why it worked so well before and why it's not working as well now?

Speaker 2:

For sure. You know if you're paying attention to what's going on in the world. Obviously things have changed, so you know whether it be the, you know global economic, you know micro macro interest rates, which obviously have a direct correlation of, you know prices and people ability to qualify for loans and whatnot. So so basically, the burst strategy is buy, rent, renovate and repeat.

Speaker 1:

you can, um you forgot, oh, refinance oh yeah, refinance at the end that's the most important money under there that's the most, see, you can tell it's been a year or two.

Speaker 2:

So, uh, yeah, so the burr strategy, like probably one of the most powerful uh processes and like people threw an acronym on it to burr. But honestly it's been around forever. It's just that I think bigger pockets threw something on it, yeah, yeah, and then it does. It's. I mean, it was kind of a buzzword, right, but at the end of the day, you're you're buying an asset or a property, you're you're renovating it so you're fixing it up, so and you're adding value to it, whether it be you're adding units, whether you're you're you're adding, you know character or quality, and in the eyes of the bank, they obviously traditionally they'll see that, as you know, adding value or forcing appreciation.

Speaker 2:

And then you're refinancing that last R I forgot, which is most important and you're essentially hopefully, depending on your numbers right and you're dialed in, you can on a perfect burr you could actually take all that equity that you even put into the property and refinance so you could technically have none of your own dollars into the property. So that perfect burr was essentially what I was doing, plus I was also flipping, so I kind of had a double exit strategy.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, and I think those are two, two, two things to think in parallel, because when you're flipping, you're obviously selling the property, so there is a different tax implication on that. When you are doing the birth strategy, obviously when you refinance, you're able to take that money out tax-free. So I think that's really important for someone that is considering that strategy, especially if they are in a higher income career or something like that that you want to be very mindful of what those taxes could look like on yourself, depending on what your corporate structure is like or if it's in your personal name, for sure, and a lot of people you know.

Speaker 2:

You got to figure out what you want to do, like you want to hold on to these assets or, and, like you said, you got to figure out what your tax situation is and if you want to be a landlord or not. You know, like there's a lot of people. At that time, what I was actually doing is I was flipping and then I was taking my capital and I was doing some private lending. Yeah, so, um, but yeah, you can do tax deferred, you refinance it and you defer that tax. You're not paying anything, especially if you're getting something in the pocket. There's nothing better than owning a million dollar asset or you know whatever, wherever your market is and with zero of your own money. It's cash flowing, you're holding onto it, it's appreciating over time and that's that true infinite returns that also you should be aware of.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, that's amazing. I mean, there's so many different things out there that you can consider. I think you just have to look at the bigger picture for yourself and also understand what your exit strategies are going to be like. Can you talk a little bit about some of the challenges that you?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think on a high level. I think it's important to realize that the market can change. I consider myself a newer investor compared to some of these guys I go in a room with who've been doing this for like 30, 50 years. They've seen a lot of transitions, they've seen a lot of market turns. So I think the biggest thing is what know? What I learned, anyway, is not not everything can last forever, or go at the same pace as forever, or just think everything always gradually goes up. I'm not saying it always has to go spike, like it won't be back in 22 or whatever 2020, but like just be aware that things can change.

Speaker 1:

So I think one of the and change very quickly.

Speaker 2:

And that can and depending how long your project is or your, your outlook is for whatever it is that you're doing, that could have an extreme impact on your bottom line or outcome. So so, yeah, that's just one aspect to it. For sure is just a large scale of things can shift. So I think multiple exit strategies was one thing that I really focused on early on. And then to just you know, you learn as you go, but you can hit a lot of hurdles during a renovation. So I think for that, definitely keep more contingency than you think that you will need.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, no, I think that's smart. I mean, there's definitely some people I spoke to about the projects that they had going on during the pandemic and there was labor shortages. The cost of lumber went through the roof. You know, there's all these budgetary needs and projects that you know skyrocketed, so what worked and what was going to be profitable they've had to go back to the drawing board and in some cases maybe that's completely revamping things just based on what's happened. So I think you've got to be very strategic and, you know, reach out for support, like, don't just wait till it's too late. And I think sometimes people are just kind of procrastinating, hoping things are going to turn around and and then it's yeah, insolvent or bankrupt. So you got to be very, very careful, especially if you've got other people's capital in the mix as well. But when you look back at some of the things that you've done, is there anything that stands out to you as something that you're most proud of?

Speaker 2:

um, I think well a things. I think I'm just proud that I've actually taken action. I think you know you always think you could take more. I'm definitely a consumer of info and podcasts, and probably too much to my default. But you know, at the end of the day, I've been taking action. I've learned a lot along the way, so I'm proud of the progress I've made, I think. But also I'm proud that I've been able to share, and you know, even at a smaller capacity, my niche is, you know, first responders. You know it's not a smaller niche compared to, you know, the whole net. I guess you could kind of look at it. So I'm happy and proud to like hear the feedback sometimes I get where. You know, thanks for you know your podcast, or thanks for coaching me. You know I've been able to get, take that first step, and that's really what it's all about.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, I think that makes sense. Now we're just going to take a really brief break for a word from our sponsors and we'll be right back. Welcome to the wealth club. Hustle smart for real wealth on the future. Join a thriving community of go-getters on the path to overall wealth. What's included? Live sessions with top coaches await you. Imagine having a virtual business mentor in your pocket, on the go for every aspect of your life. For just $30 a month, you'll get daily accountability sessions, monthly meetings and networking opportunities. And that's not all. You'll also get a community of coaches, monthly prizes and so much more. Become part of the 1%. Your journey has just begun. Join like-minded leaders and commit to the growth you need for your mind, body, bankroll and soul. Ready to get started, join the Wealth Club today to unleave your true potential. To sign up. Go to schoolcom forward. Slash the Wealth Club.

Speaker 1:

I value transparency, integrity and trust. If you choose to work with me, you can be assured that business will be conducted honestly and openly. Time is of the essence in this industry, so you can expect nothing short of quick, clear communication from me. I'll keep you informed every step of the way so you feel comfortable throughout this entire process. Our homes are where we eat, sleep, relax and play. My clients' best interests are at the heart of everything I do and, with this said, my service to you doesn't end when the transaction does. As your realtor, I'll not only help you buy and sell your property, I'll also educate and support you along the way. I want to help you fulfill your goal of home ownership and become your trusted real estate resource for life. I can't wait to share my passion for real estate with you. More importantly, find you the perfect house to turn into your home.

Speaker 1:

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Speaker 1:

In today's complex world, it's absolutely crucial for our youth to learn how to take charge of their financial future. We believe that every young person deserves access to accurate, practical financial information. Designed to bridge the gap, the Beyond Success program leverages a comprehensive educational boot camp to equip young minds with essential financial literacy skills. At Beyond Success, it's not just about teaching financial literacy. It's also about fostering a foundation for a prosperous and empowered future. Join us Together, we can build a brighter financial future for the next generations. Join us together, we can build a brighter financial future for the next generations. Hey, everybody, welcome back to inspire to invest. We've got dave knight here with us today. He's a full-time police officer. He's also a real estate investor, podcast host and coach. I don't know if that made any sense.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it did.

Speaker 1:

I think you hit them all, so he's joining us to talk about his experience, how he started investing in real estate. Now he's helping others do the same. I guess one of the questions that I always like to ask is what's the craziest thing that's happened to you as a real estate investor so far?

Speaker 2:

Oh, the craziest. I mean, I think just being a part of the last couple of years, I think it's been a real eye opener, I think, uh, like I mentioned that just there before the break, where things can change on a dime, so I think being a part of that change on the dime, like really and I was deep into it at the time so you know we had, you had to, you had to move quick, you had to make some fast decisions. You know the writing was on the wall a little bit, but sometimes you get a little naive, thinking that things are okay. So I think that I think that would definitely be the biggest one for sure.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, that's big. Now you talked a little bit about some of the real estate education that you had invested in. What would you say? Some of the best advice that?

Speaker 2:

Oh man, there's so many. I think early on I think it was having multiple exit strategies, so going in, I mean there's so many variables that I could talk about, but I think that was the biggest one where I was and I'll give you a perfect example of where I didn't follow that rule towards the end. So I got in. I was always doing multifamily you know burrs and flips, so I had that second exit strategy where I could. I was aiming to flip it. However, if things turned, I was able to refinance and hold on the property and it was cashflow. Toward the end. I had a couple of single family flips and that was when things changed real quick and I didn't have that second exit strategy where I could. Even Airbnb was always an option. But then again things change. The city started cracking down. They didn't want Airbnbs. It became very saturated. So you know there's everything I know what the heck.

Speaker 2:

So anyway, just I think you know, just brutally honest, it's just you got to hedge your risk and I think just being smart at the beginning before you even make your first steps. And part of that is actually getting coached and getting mentored and like paying for education and paying for that other people's experience, so you don't make those stupid mistakes early.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I think that's something really important and something I've thought a lot about, reflecting on some of the challenges that I've had in the last little while. It's just, you know, you kind of have to set your boundaries for yourself and stick with them, cause I feel like anytime compromised on those like those have been the ones that have kind of, as of late, had some issues and just not get too comfortable with any particular strategy. Like never let up on, don't think you know somebody, don't think that you need to ease up on your due diligence. Like there's a lot of things I've learned now, even just in terms of like how I can really evaluate things more appropriately maybe compared to how I would have before, and you kind of learn all those through the challenges that may come up. But I think that's very, very sound advice just never to to ease up on those things right, like don't get too comfortable, because you've got to be ready for when things change, right, and you've got to protect yourself and manage that risk appropriately.

Speaker 2:

I just want to add to that, if you don't mind, it's just like I you know the, the golden rule of that. You know comfort creates discomfort. In time and you can become very comfortable in the process that you're doing yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and discipline, and even in your process and your procedures, you know, you kind of become it just like. You know and I always relate it back to health too you can go through a good stretch of like dietary working out, eating right, and you start leaning up, you feel great, and then you start getting a little bit comfortable. Summer comes, you start drinking more, eating more, you know, having fun more, maybe not sleeping as much, and then your body starts wearing down and you're like have I just stuck to my principles or I stuck to my discipline?

Speaker 2:

yeah, you know, even you know, that doesn't have to be extreme, yeah yeah, you stay consistent and it's those up and downs that kind of hurt you.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, absolutely. Now how would you say real estate investing has changed your life.

Speaker 2:

Oh man, it's changed everything. I think my financial awareness, I think my personal development through, you know, my journey of real estate, getting exposed to people who think differently, I think just having this type of conversation I never had before being able. You know, there's there's like the mentality side of things, the financial awareness, but there's also like the fiscal side of things. You know, I can do things that I normally can't do on a normal paycheck. You know the ability to have a peace of mind down the road where I'm not relying on a pension and I know that might sound crazy to some people because they don't have pensions, but you know, for I know a lot of people who that's all they rely on. And then, you know, I got buddies in the States that had to come out of retirement because their their pension has gone insolvent or they have cutbacks. So it's just like it's a reality. So I think sharing that message is important. But, um, yeah, I think those, those for sure yeah, I think that's to add to that point.

Speaker 1:

Um, not even so much, uh, pension, that would go insolvent.

Speaker 1:

But I think just the pace of inflation right now like what people probably expected they could rely on in their retirement has really changed Like I mean, nobody expected I never thought about food prices. Now I'm like what the you know? Like I really never thought about it too much and in this last year I'm just like floored at the cost of some of those things. So if you think about what it is now, what's it going to be like in five years or 10 years or 20 years, right? So I think that having a portfolio of real estate investments, in whatever capacity that is it suits your lifestyle, is very important, just because you may not be able to depend on things if you are an employee, and I think there's value to having that active income and having that as well and having the benefits and all the things that go along with it. But I think it's very smart in today's climate to be thinking outside of that and just be planning to hedge inflation in a different kind of way.

Speaker 2:

I actually think it's a necessity and, to be honest, I, I'm, I'm, I'm of the opinion that it's actually neglectful to not seek out other means of of income and security, because, you're right, it's, it's outpacing our income, it's outpacing our, our increases, you know, or just cost of of living, let alone inflation in general.

Speaker 1:

Um, is at least here in canada, because then you see some things in the states or in europe and you're like what? It's everywhere it could just be here.

Speaker 2:

I don't know I mean, I think, home prices. You know, if you look in the g7, I think we're we're the most expensive or the highest right now yeah um, and I think it's even greater list, but everyone always defaults to the G7.

Speaker 2:

But you know, and, but it's the same way down down the US right now. I mean, everyone's feeling it and at the end of the day, cost of living is out pacing our increase in salary or income. So when you said, you nailed it on the head, it doesn't. The pensions or your retirement plan doesn't have to go insolvent. Those are extreme examples. However, at the end of the day, just do the math. I think it's back in 70 something. If you made a hundred grand, that's like 350 now. So you know, people at the police department or wherever are saying, oh, we make a hundred grand.

Speaker 2:

We make a hundred grand. But yeah, yes, with 60 cents a liter walking hill up both ways.

Speaker 1:

Yeah I know, I know, I agree completely.

Speaker 2:

Now, obviously, the name of this podcast is inspired to invest, so I always like to ask people if they have a quote that really motivates or inspires them oh um, I think know you can make a living or you can design a life, and I think that's that's one that's always stuck with me at the Jim Rohn quote, and I just always liked that because it's so true. It's like I could go to work and I could punch in, punch out and just live within my means, and there's nothing wrong with that, except I want to experience more, I want to do more and, to be honest, to be more free and experience more often is going to cost more money. So if you want to learn and do more, unfortunately you're going to have to crush overtime or work up the corporate ladder.

Speaker 2:

And at the end of the day, we all go to work for a reason, so why not just pay a little more attention to how money works and how the financial system works, and leverage that?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, for sure, Now is there anything else that you want to leave the audience with. I think just take some time and invest in yourself. I mean, at the end of the day, I think you just got to take action and I know I feel like everyone says that, but like you just got to commit, you do. You just have to commit and take chances, and sometimes that chance is just dedicating yourself to an hour a day or a couple hours a week, or paying for that coach. That might seem too expensive, but that might be the accountability you need to take that first step and it's just the first step. It's not you're not going to get from A to Z on the first coach or your first book or whatever. It's just so, yeah, I think, just taking action and, you know, taking responsibility for it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Now, for anyone that does want to get in touch with you and learn more about your coaching or your network, what's the best way for them to reach you?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you can go on my website 911wealthnetworkcom, or you can just email me, dave, at 911wealthnetworkcom.

Speaker 1:

Perfect, so we'll include that in the show notes below. First, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be with us today. For anybody that is watching or listening, thank you for your time as well. Make sure that you have followed along on social at Inspired to Invest podcast and you've subscribed to this YouTube channel. And remember when you invest in yourself, the sky's the limit and remember when you invest in yourself, the sky's the limit. Thanks again, thank you to the Wealth Club for bringing you this episode of Inspired to Invest. The views represented on this podcast are for general information only and does not constitute investment or other professional advice or an offering of securities. The host and guests featured on Inspired to Invest make no representations as to the performance of any particular investment. Should you decide to make an investment, you are responsible for conducting your own review and analysis. It is recommended that you obtain independent legal accounting and tax advice from licensed professionals.