John Roumanis
John wanted to invest in real estate since he was 22 years old. Growing up in Toronto, he watched as housing prices shot past all expectations, easily topping the stock-market’s single-digit gains.
However, things didn’t really start to happen until his mid-30’s, when he met Rock Star real estate agent Erwin Szeto in 2011. On a warm Saturday in April of that year, John bought the first property Erwin walked him through: a townhouse on the Hamilton mountain priced at $234,000. In 2017, that property is now worth $400,000.
Today, John has five rental properties.
A second single-family property, a student rental near Niagara College, a triplex in Hamilton’s city core and a second student rental near Mohawk College round out his portfolio. His portfolio approach has allowed him to gain new experiences across different types of properties and their respective challenges and opportunities.
John credits his success to the power of his team. Besides Erwin, John’s team includes trusted property managers, insurance agents, mortgage professionals and bankers who all share in his success. His team not only brings functional expertise, but also coaching, mentoring and encouragement.
Besides six-figure property value increases, John has enjoyed over $70,000 of mortgage pay down over the past six years. Moreover, he drives almost $10,000 of positive cash flow annually across his portfolio.
John has also invested his RRSPs in property development, which has helped diversity his real-estate portfolio.
Today, John is married to Freda who, along with their son Michael, live in downtown Burlington. He continues to hunt for new properties and will be engaged in his first property refinance in 2016.