Transitioning into Full Time Real Estate with Erwin Szeto

While some know him by his brand, Mr. Hamilton, we know him as REIN Member Erwin Szeto. Erwin is a very busy man. He is a Realtor, real estate investor, father, husband and philanthropist. With his company, he helps investors purchase roughly 60 properties per year. Erwin is a firm believer in only showing homes he would invest in himself, so when he shows properties that just aren’t being purchased, he will often purchase them himself.

Before investing in real estate, Erwin graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a business degree, and worked for IBM. Not long after starting his job, Erwin realized he would never get rich working a job like that; he was merely trading dollars for hours and not finding fulfillment – and he hated the commute.

“It kind of clicked in my head: I’ll never get rich working a job.”

He started real estate investing while he was still working full time, but soon discovered that his full time job was costing him money in the real estate world. Especially once he got his Realtor’s license and REIN Members began using his services, it became too much. Once you’re using your employer’s fax machine and printer for your business, you need to evaluate your priorities. Erwin took a month’s sabbatical, and dropped down to working two days a week once he returned.

Eventually, Erwin quit his job altogether to expand his real estate business. He joined REIN in 2008 and has attended every ACRE program since. Since having children, Erwin’s focus has changed from acquiring x number of properties to providing a great life for his kids. When each of his two children were born, they purchased a property and earmarked it to pay for their children’s expenses.

“There’s nothing more important in this world than my kids, and they are expensive.”

To fit everything into his very busy schedule, Erwin has the help of a great team. He has a full time assistant to support him in the paperwork aspect of his real estate business, and because he and his wife both have businesses, they also have a live-in nanny to make sure their kids are well taken care of. However, Erwin sets a hard deadline of 5:30PM for his work, and makes sure he spends his evenings, breakfasts, and any lunches he can spare with his children.

In addition to his work and home life, Erwin also runs a charity: the Hamilton Basket Brigade. They accept donations and then build baskets for families in need for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Last Christmas, they fed over 200 families, with the highlight for Erwin being delivering a Christmas dinner to a brand new Canadian family from Syria who had been in Canada for one week.

Listen to Erwin’s full interview here:

“Real estate… can be incredibly profitable, and rather easy if you’re very prepared.”

In this interview, you will learn:

• What Erwin considers to be the biggest obstacle in his investing career
• How he plans to support his kids in all of their future endeavors through real estate
• How he uses his network of clients to provide the best and most knowledgeable service possible
• And more! 

“I don’t want [my children] to have a burden. If they want to start a business, if they want to go to medical school, they can go do it. They don’t have to wait.”

Erwin Szeto is a real estate investor and Realtor in Hamilton, Ontario. He has been a REIN Member for eight years. Find out if Membership is right for you.

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