Our Story

how it all came to be…

Colleen: My parents have always been entrepreneurs, so I grew up hearing about business and making a profit. I remember being a twelve year old sales person, selling anything I could get my little hands on! I was a hustler, already all about business at a very young age. Around that age, my mom heard of a seminar that was taking place and next thing I know I was at a real estate seminar hosted by Robert Kiyosaki himself! Being only twelve at that time, I was the youngest attendee. That led me to meet Mr. Kiyosaki in person and received a signed copy of his book. I read and was inspired by Rich Dad Poor Dad and feel it shaped my destiny and the steps I took moving forward in regards to business. However, it wasn’t until I was older and graduated from college that I started to think about investing in real estate.

Zeb: I also was very business-minded early on selling products to my fellow classmates while in high school. Growing up, I remember being a full time student in college, managing my logistics business all whilst working full-time at McDonalds overnight! I was eager to gain independence and start building my legacy. Upon graduation, I took the next necessary step and attended University! After moving to a new city and accumulating a couple thousand in student debt, I realized I hadn't found my passion! It didn’t make sense to go into debt just so I could study something I didn’t love and work a job I didn’t enjoy; so I started to look elsewhere for options to give me a better future and landed on real estate.

Colleen: Zeb and I dated from high school and were a part of each others lives through college and university. So when Zeb came to me one day and said that he wanted to drop out of university and move to Yellowknife to pursue real estate investment it took me by surprise. He was always a go-getter and focused, so I figured he was on to something. 

Zeb: I sold all my belongings, including my car, and just had enough money to purchase a plane ticket to Yellowknife. Due to not having enough money for rent, my first job was to convince my new landlord to provide accommodation with a promise to make payment once I received my first cheque. Within my first week, I had a number of jobs lined up starting where I had the most experience - McDonald’s! I was willing to do whatever it took to save the money I needed to get started.

Colleen: In May 2010 I graduated from college and moved to join the love of my life! Soon we started planning our lives and shortly a wedding followed. That was a busy year leading us to work about three jobs each with a goal to earn $8,000 a month. Our first year, we saved up $12,000 for a mortgage and couldn't wait to start living the dream! To our dismay, our application was DENIED! This was due to our collective student loans and credit card debts. As new immigrants we didn't understand the credit system and unfortunately no one took initiative to get educated on what it meant to receive a credit card. It took a couple of years to rebuild our credit and pay back all we owed prior to finally making our first purchase. With Zeb's driving instructor experience and my love for customer service, we took that $12,000 we had saved to buy a car and start our business. 

Zeb: We quickly realized that working three jobs each wouldn't suffice in order to achieve the real estate goals we had laid out! This was the beginning of our "serial entrepreneurship" journey! Colleen's knack for business came in handy to getting a few projects started that quickly had us saving more than we ever could working over 80hrs a week. We drew inspiration from Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad book and started our way around the equation from the E (Employee) quadrant to the S (Self-Employed). 

Colleen: By the end of 2012, our credit was in a better state and we had enough money saved for a down payment on our first home - a two-bedroom villa with a den. On November 16, 2012 we became property owners! Our condo was perfect - It felt like home! Maybe a little too much because for a few months we forgot all about our goals and got comfortable. We lived in the condo pictured on the right for a year, working hard and saving as much money as we could so we could travel! The dream was reawakened exactly a year later when I ordered the Cashflow Game online. The goal of the game was to generate enough passive income to replace your working income to escape the rat race. We played the game that same night (Sunday) and the next day our villa was up for sale! That was the reminder we needed that our home wasn't the asset we thought it was but a liability. 

Zeb: Our condo sold in the beginning of 2014 and we went on to purchase a four bedroom bungalow. This purchase was inspired after countless hours of watching income property during our time of listing. It wasn't' clear at the time how we would execute any renovations considering none of us had trade experience, but we had a plan that would lead to our financial freedom. On move in day, we brought in contractors who quoted on converting the basement into an income suite and adding an additional two rooms upstairs! We lived in the upstairs unit and rented out the basement, and it was not long before we started "Taking cheques to the bank!" This was our breakthrough moment - money was coming in and we weren’t actively working for it! Though this property generated descent cashflow, we were not quite ready to quit our day jobs. The plan was to keep working, generate more income, invest in real estate, repeat. We managed to purchase our second property prior to hitting a dead end. Not only had we run out of cash, we had also been fully leveraged. 

Zeb: Since getting stuck and receiving the news that we were expecting our first child, we decided to slow things down and use the funds we had leftover to create a ensuite bathroom in our bedroom. Turns out dust and pregnancy don't work well together that being anywhere near it was causing concerns for Colleen - so we moved in with the in-laws. Upon construction completion all rooms were rented leading to a massive monthly passive income -  our real estate income was making more for us than two of our jobs combined!

Colleen: After a few months of living with mom & dad, we purchased what we thought was our third and final home. Our intention was to move in prior to the birth of our son, but ended up finding tenants for that house as well. One night we reviewed our goals and were trying to figure out how to grow our portfolio from owning a couple of properties to possibly owning more than ten. On our way back from vacation, we happened to see an ad on Facebook with an invite to a free course offered by a Canadian real estate investor and businessman. This was on how he used real estate investing to make millions and own multiple properties. This was a Scott Mcgillivray meet up we just couldn't pass up. We flew to Calgary to attend the intro event and later attended a three day training seminar in Edmonton that provided us with the insights we needed. Hearing the cost of the mentorship package was discouraging considering we didn't have the investment funds. We contemplated taking the knowledge we had obtained and walking away. It wasn’t until hearing from a member and now friend on how she was able to complete her sixth purchase within the year that we decided the money would be worth it. We took the plunge and charged the amount to our credit card! Nothing gives you a push like knowing you are paying the bank 19.99% interest on a $20,000 investment. We had no choice but to recoup our investment prior to renewal.  Mission Accomplished!

Colleen: In 2016, I got to quit my day job!

Zeb: Now that was done we challenged ourselves yet again, but this time our goal was to buy a property out-of-province. After some research we landed on investing in Edmonton! Fast forward to today, a few properties have now been added to our portfolio! Our expertise and team have grown encompassing the Edmonton region and we continue to grow our business in that market. After attending a number of Real Estate Investing Meet-ups and sharing our story, we felt inspired to educate others on the possibilities available once you invest in Real Estate. We then launched our Real Estate Training Course - The 16weekinvestor! Check it out using the link below.  

Colleen: In September 2017 we welcomed a beautiful baby girl - Zoe. She was everything I dreamed she would be. Over the next few months I fully embraced the mom role! That is what I wanted to be. I felt I was done chasing real estate and just wanted to be Chef mom. Ethan would come from daycare and be welcomed home to the smell of fresh baked goods and Zeb and I would sleep in and enjoy the fruits of our labour. Zoe would be nestled in between us and share lots of hugs and kisses. During this time, we pulled Ethan out of daycare and took several vacations, enjoyed the beaches and life on the road! All this was fun but we quickly felt unfulfilled. Surely there must be more to life than sleeping in, eating, going to the gym and repeat. Thats when we figured we needed to think big and create a new challenge for ourselves. 

Zeb: What was the one thing that stopped most from investing in Real Estate? Location! Either they couldn't find a property they could walk to, the prices within their area where above reach or lack of cash flowing opportunities. We had an idea. We would take our students fears and tackle them head on as our next challenge. We were already invested out of province so we needed to take it up a notch! After several hours of research and consulting with our accountant, we decided - WE ARE GOING INTERNATIONAL! Join us as and partake in our journey as we share the joys and challenges in investing where returns are best on YouTube and by following us on our social media sites. 

Colleen: Join us on our journey on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. We will be featuring family, lifestyle and real estate. Our goal is to inspire others and show what is possible to hopefully jumpstart a few peoples journeys. 

Zeb: At the present moment, we are Property Millionaires and are financially free! Thanks to the investment we first made in ourselves, it only took three years for us to achieve financial freedom through real estate investing. Colleen was able to quit her full time government job, we were able to retire my parents and I purchased my dream car - The Range Rover Sport Supercharged! We now spend our days growing our businesses, travelling the world and nurturing our "Why's". None of these things would’ve been possible if we hadn’t taken the necessary steps towards investing in ourselves. Real estate isn't the best investment you can make. the best investment you can make is in yourself. 

We’re working hard to create a legacy for our kids and future generations. We don’t know what the future holds, but we’re going to keep pushing our boundaries and we encourage our students to do the same.