19. Jon Simcoe –$32M+ Capital Raised, 150+ RTO projects, Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self Control and the Indomitable Will
Show Notes:
01m:20s – Jon’s bio: 150+ RTO projects, $32M+ private capital raised including RSPs. Jon is the President of the Canadian Association of Rent To Own Professionals.
03m:50s – Jon will work outside RTO framework when structuring deals if they look good. He customizes his approach to the situation.
05m:40s – Jon does everything in integrity due to martial arts background (double black belt). Jon’s experience starting and growing a martial arts gym.
08m:00s – Tenants of Taekwondo and Jon’s core values: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self control and indomitable spirit.
11m:30s – Real estate investing is not a passive business. More details about selecting a location for Taekwondo club.
13m:00s – Jon’s backgrounders growing up. Jon is very adverse to consumer debt, worked very hard, 3 jobs at a time. Jon took an architecture degree, and shortly after graduating did his first real estate deal as a JV in 2006.
17m:10s – Jon is lured to Fort McMurray by his friend Jeff with very high wages. Jon saved 80% of his wages.
19m:40s – Jon gets more education to replicate the success of his first deal. Download audios to listen to while driving truck, audio books, courses. Decides on Rent To Own as his primary strategy.
22m:55s – There are a lot of slime balls in the RTO sphere.
24m:30s – The origins of the Canadian Association of Rent To Own Professionals. Benefits of membership: credibility, support, ongoing learning, connections.
32m:40s – Jon’s parents and siblings. Jon and Sam talk about being the oldest child.
35m:40s – More detail about Jon’s architecture degree and how expensive it was to complete.
39m:40s – Jon is very adverse to bad debt and explains his mindset around that. Uses a car example to articulate the problem with bad debt, explains his strong background in math. Holidays as a child every summer would be on a line of credit, and then his dad would work hard after to pay for it which seems backward to Jon.
45m:30s – Advice from a “Rich Uncle” mentor was and is invaluable.
46m:45s – What Jon is working on now and how he spends his time. Just spent 3 months in Europe and just got back, he managed to do a couple deals while he was away.
48m:30s – Raising capital and making / growing your list as a deal maker. Get your newsletter going, stay in touch, build your investor list from your newsletter list (10% of readers will eventually invest with you). Jon had a hard time getting a deal funded. 50 people said no to Jon and he had the perseverance to keep going. He paid 6 investors 20% to get $140,000 total when he was just starting out. Jon then got serious about getting capital in place. He now has more money than deals.
56m:10s – Jon got invaluable advice and questions from “Rich Uncle” when he was pitching the first deal, and their relationship got a lot closer even though they didn’t do that deal together.
58m:05s – Even though all 50 people said “no”, they all knew Jon was seriously investing in real estate. Many of them now are investing with Jon now that he is full time as a real estate investor. Being full time adds credibility.
1h:04m:15s – Jon talks about how he manages his deals, and how he is scaling his business by bringing on help. Jon is now free to live away from his properties.
1h:10m:00s – Having the time to invest in real estate when you have a job and kids and a family.
1h:12m:00s – Sam talks about how he manages his time with a young family. Tools, mindset, cutting time wasters. The challenge of shift work and long hours at a job to building a business.
1h:15m:40s – The value of a mastermind group and an accountability partner. Letting yourself down vs letting an accountability partner down. Goal setting and vision boards to keep motivated.
1h:24m:20s – Rapid fire questions. What are you afraid of? How do you overcome that fear? What would you tell your younger self? How many trust companies...
