Real Estate Success: Matthew Lee

2035597695_a52a13ec25_o

My family came from humble beginnings. In Communist China, my father was sent away from his family to work and earn money at the age of 10 years old? first to Hong Kong, and then to the Fiji Islands, where he was eventually adopted by his aunt and uncle. Most of the money he earned he sent home to support his family, which he continues to do to this very day.

My mother, alongside six brothers and sisters, was raised by my grandmother in the small garage of a house in the Fiji Islands. My grandfather had passed away when she was just four years old so life was tough and money was scarce.

Immigrating to Canada for a better life, my parents persevered through hard work and self-sacrifice to give me and my sisters the safety net and opportunity they never had. My mother, for instance, forwent on her own dreams of post-secondary education and worked to support her family’s immigration costs, all the while raising three kids. Witnessing my parents overcome all hardship motivated my resolve to pursue a career that would not only afford me financial stability and autonomy, but would also enable it for the people I love. “To me, building wealth has and never will be about wearing designer clothes, driving fancy cars, or living a life of luxury; it is simply a means to create the choice.”

Having the choice to turn down a higher-paying job with longer hours away from your family; being able to work for yourself so you can be at home to raise your own kids; or providing home care services that will enable your ailing family members to live and age at home with dignity.

This is why I created my own business? to help others create these choices in their lives. My vision originated with my first purchase back in 2010? a fourplex in Toronto’s vibrant downtown “Annex” neighbourhood. My career in high-tech was starting to accelerate so I could now afford to purchase rather than rent.

After months of condo searching, I stumbled upon this multi-unit property that would allow me to live in one unit and rent out the three other units. Of course, I had to furnish the place a bit. Kitchen took the foremost importance. I was told to consult a natural gas fitter Kamloops and ensure availability of other basic kitchen essentials to make the house appeal well to potential tenants. This “grandma-style” house had been completely renovated: new hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, shiny countertops made with charming patterns of Granite Remnants, pot lights, dark hardwood cabinetry. All four units were vacant when I took possession. The sellers had astutely selected the modern style and finishes that would appeal to a professional tenant demographic but had grossly underestimated the rents on their prospectus sheet. Being a Systems Design Engineer (University of Waterloo) and a Senior Product Manager (Microsoft, RIM, TELUS), I coupled my analytical skills with my market research on the Annex to run the financials. Based on a conservative model, I calculated that I could acquire the property at 10% below market value (based on underestimated rents), use the rental income from the three units to cover the mortgage and expenses, live comfortably in the fourth unit… and earn a reasonable surplus every month!

After a few short months, I had come to realize the power of a well-qualified investment property, and the potential for such investments to afford me, my family, and my friends more financial freedom and choice of in their lives. Despite a recent promotion at my high-tech company, I elected to leave the industry, obtain my Realtor’s� license, and look for my next investment property while helping others do the same.

Serendipitously, my aunt had purchased a condo preconstruction in Toronto’s newest ?King West? the hotspot that was now nearing occupancy. Hoping to move to Vancouver with her son, she asked for my help in assigning the condo so she could get rid of it. Upon further analysis, I realized the area had yet to be fully developed; assigning or selling it now would forgo a potentially good return. Instead, we formed a partnership to hold this property until it was the right time to sell. After furnishing the unit to attract longer-term professional tenants, and covering the mortgage and all expenses, we were generating solid positive cash flow every month. Although I may not have realized it at the time, it was my first successful Joint Venture partnership. Two years later, demonstrating strong returns, we sold the condo to another investor and earned each of us a nice profit.

During my market research and analysis for my next property, my friend? also a savvy real estate investor? referred me to REIN and encouraged me to attend the 2013 ACRE event. I now look back on my decision to attend as the pivotal moment of my real estate career. REIN’s education and systematic best practices convinced me to diversify my investments beyond my own ? backyard? of Toronto. Within a few months of intensive market research and analysis, I acquired two additional properties: a Victorian duplex renovation project and an already-established fourplex in the up-and-coming trendy areas of Hamilton near Locke St.

My active REIN membership provided me the tools and know-how to feel confident about these investments. Through REIN, I quickly onboarded a REIN team of experts to complement my Realtor� expertise: mortgage brokers (Calum Ross & George Hilton), property manager (Jeff Varcoe of Cornerstone Select), accountant (George Dube & Peter Cuttini), bookkeeper (Kim Franz), insurance broker (Dan Tetzlaff of Hub Insurance), and lawyer (Shayle Rothman). I found it invaluable to have a team with experience working together and following the REIN system. This allowed me to simply plug in to the network for turnkey support.

Fast forward to today: I am currently living and managing my investments from Sweden with my wife, Amy. Leaving our properties in the good hands of my property manager, our investments have afforded me the flexibility to accompany Amy during the final year of her PhD in Alzheimer?s research at the Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm). Being in our first year of marriage, we otherwise may have faced the difficult decision (i.e., long-distance vs. missed opportunity) that many professional couples do. Grateful for having the choice to live together abroad, we were inspired to envision and create choice for others through our business. Getting into real estate can be a positive step on the investment ladder, you can do real estate investing anywhere in the world. You may want to look abroad to see if there are properties there worth your investment money, it is worth looking at if you are serious at investing.

Ultimately, we see real estate as such a powerful vehicle, through which we can continue to build futures of choice and empower our loved ones do the same. In a way, we feel it would be almost a disservice to the people we care about and the broader community not to evangelize the transformative freedom that real estate can offer. Real estate is leading us closer to our ?Belize? which, for us, is one and the same as helping the people around us reach theirs.

Matthew Lee is the principle in his company Volition Properties. He keeps up-to-date with the monthly REIN meetings via audio files and presentation slides and has been known to tune in to the occasional REIN webinar at 3:00AM Stockholm time. You can reach him at matthew@volitionprop.com.

{{cta(‘6e2c21ed-ae85-40ce-88b6-ead94cc39541’)}}

Keep up to date with the latest REIN news and events! Subscribe now:

Stay Connected

All Access

Twitter Feed