Real Deals. Real Numbers. What Canadian Real Estate Investing Can Actually Look Like There's no shortage of hypothetical real estate investing content. Buy this property. Renovate it. Refinance it. It could appreciate. You could make this much money. Today's episode is different. Wayne and Gabby open up the books and share real examples from their own portfolio and from REI Masters students who have actually completed these deals. Some produced huge short-term profits. Others created equity. Some generate hundreds of dollars every month in cash flow. Others were acquired with virtually none of the investor's own money. But they all illustrate the same principle: look for upside while building the investment so it can succeed without depending on that upside. Risk Before Return Wayne explains that the goal isn't simply to find the investment with the largest theoretical return. The question is: How much return can we generate while controlling as much of the downside as possible? Appreciation isn't controllable. Market conditions aren't controllable. Buyers aren't controllable. What investors can control is what they buy, the price they pay, the cash flow they require, their financing and the systems surrounding the investment. That's why an investment generating a steady 20% or 25% return without requiring appreciation can sometimes be more attractive than a deal promising enormous upside while exposing the investor to considerably more risk. A $10,000 Assignment in Less Than Two Weeks REI Masters students Kyla and Fabian built an off-market lead-generation system to find properties directly from sellers. A recent opportunity came through their system that initially looked like a potential renovation project. Instead of completing the entire project themselves, they assigned the opportunity to another buyer and earned approximately $10,000. From receiving the lead to completing the assignment, the process took less than two weeks. It's an example of what happens when the difficult work of building a system has already been completed. Once the lead-generation machine exists, individual opportunities can be evaluated and monetized in different ways. Building a Wholesaling Business Wayne and Gabby also discuss longtime REI Masters student Matt and the growth of his wholesaling business. The bigger lesson isn't simply the number of transactions. It's what can happen when someone learns a strategy, develops the systems around it and consistently executes over several years. Wayne also stresses the importance of ethics in wholesaling. Making an assignment fee isn't enough. Reputation, integrity and making sure buyers understand what they're purchasing matter. An $80,000 Edmonton Fix and Flip Samuel completed an Edmonton fix and flip that generated approximately $80,000. Wayne uses the deal to make an important distinction. Fix and flips can produce significant profits, but they're also one of the strategies Wayne considers higher risk because the investor ultimately needs someone else to purchase the finished product. The deal worked because Samuel bought appropriately, created a strong finished product and successfully exited the investment. The profit was real. So was the risk. The $125,000 Edmonton Townhouse One of the strongest examples comes from 2022. REI Masters students Annette and Bradley purchased a West Edmonton townhouse for approximately $125,000. They renovated it, refinanced it and recovered almost all of the capital they had invested. After the refinance, Wayne estimates they had created approximately $40,000 in equity. Today, Wayne estimates the property is worth more than $250,000 and generates approximately $600 per month in cash flow. The important detail is timing. That opportunity existed in that particular market cycle. Buying the same type of property today at today's price wouldn't necessarily produce the same result. Strategies have to change when markets change. A Leduc House That Gained $75,000 In 2024, Wally purchased a single-family home in Leduc for approximately $325,000. Wayne had originally planned to purchase the property himself before his joint-venture partner backed out. Wally moved quickly. Two years later, Wayne estimates the property is worth approximately $400,000, representing roughly $75,000 in appreciation. It also generates more than $500 per month in cash flow. The appreciation is fantastic, but that's not why the property worked. It was purchased because the numbers worked without appreciation. The Slow BRRRR Amanda's Red Deer property demonstrates another version of the BRRRR strategy. She purchased a suited property in what Wayne considered an undervalued market and initially house-hacked it. Instead of forcing appreciation through a major renovation, she simply held the property while its value increased. Within approximately two years, she refinanced it and recovered all of her original capital and more. Today, Gabby says the property generates approximately $665 per month in cash flow. Sometimes the best strategy is simply buying the right property and giving it time. Six Properties in the First Year Dennis and Andrea started as new investors and have now purchased six rental properties during their first year. According to Wayne and Gabby, those properties collectively generate more than $2,800 per month in cash flow. Josh has purchased three properties during the past year producing more than $1,500 per month in combined cash flow. Chung purchased three cash-flowing rental properties this year while simultaneously operating a business and raising a family. Different investors. Different circumstances. The common denominator is buying properties where the economics work today rather than requiring future appreciation to rescue the investment. Two Edmonton Townhouses Jazz and Rupinder joined REI Masters in January 2026 and have since purchased two Edmonton rental properties. Their first was a South Edmonton townhouse purchased below asking price. They used Purchase Plus Improvements to finance renovations into the mortgage, created significant equity and ended with a property generating approximately $500 per month in cash flow. Their second townhouse was purchased for approximately $160,000. After relatively minor improvements, Wayne expects it to generate more than $700 per month in cash flow. Wayne and Gabby's Long-Term Deals Wayne also shares several investments from his own portfolio. One house purchased in 2017 for approximately $250,000 is now worth approximately $400,000 and generates roughly $1,000 per month in cash flow. Importantly, the property barely appreciated for years. It continued producing returns anyway. That's exactly the point. Another investment was refinanced after approximately one year, allowing Wayne and Gabby to recover their original investment plus approximately $25,000. Because the property didn't cash flow well enough after refinancing, they didn't simply keep it and accept the negative economics. Instead, Wayne structured seller financing for another buyer. That buyer has paid Wayne approximately $500 per month since 2018, with several years still remaining on the arrangement. $200,000 From a Zero-Down Property Another property was purchased roughly a decade ago using seller financing. The seller financed the entire transaction, allowing Wayne and Gabby to acquire the property without putting their own capital into the purchase. Wayne estimates the investment has generated more than $200,000 over approximately 10 years while continuing to produce cash flow. It's one of the examples that shaped Wayne's belief in mastering creative financing strategies early in an investor's career. The Opportunity Wayne Is Pursuing Today Markets change. The $125,000 Edmonton townhouse opportunity from 2022 doesn't exist in exactly the same form today. That's why investors have to understand what is working now. One of Wayne's biggest current investment theses is multi-unit garden suites. Wayne and Gabby purchased an Edmonton property for approximately $400,000 and are building a four-unit garden suite in the backyard. Wayne estimates the construction will cost approximately $650,000, with the completed property expected to be worth approximately $1.3 million. That would create approximately $250,000 in equity through the development strategy. This isn't a hypothetical strategy Wayne is discussing from the sidelines. It's one he's actively executing. The Bigger Lesson The purpose of today's episode isn't to suggest every investor should wholesale, flip houses, BRRRR properties, use seller financing or build garden suites. Different strategies work during different market cycles. The real skill is understanding why an investment works. Buy properties that produce returns today. Look for opportunities with additional upside. Don't depend on appreciation. Control the risks you can control. And give good investments enough time to work. REI Masters Mentorship Special The current REI Masters promotion ends October 3, 2026. Join before the deadline and receive 24 months of mentorship for the price of 12, including coaching from Wayne and Gabby, courses, resources, contracts, deal analysis and ongoing support. New members also receive entry to the REI Masters Retreat in Edmonton, October 16–17, 2026. www.reimasters.ca Sponsors Calvin Realty – Edmonton Investor-Focused Realtor Team www.calvinrealty.ca Finngo Bookkeeping & Tax www.finngo.com/rei Kirkwood & Brennan Mortgage Group www.kbmortgages.ca keaton@kbmortgages.ca
