Hello friends! Canadian here from St. John's, NL!

[Brandon Copeland]

Hi guys!

I'm eager to start browsing your community and picking away at your collective minds. I've been listening to the podcast for a long time, but have only just decided to take the plunge and join the community.

I'm a business graduate with a keen interest in real estate, and urban planning. I'm fascinated with the built environment, how city neighbourhoods form and flourish, and how I can invest in buildings that can contribute to building better places. I spent the first four years of my career managing the land development portfolio for one of my city's largest real estate developers, but have recently branched out on my own. Using my knowledge of real estate development, zoning, and project management, I'm hoping to do some consulting work in my city on impactful renewal and renovation projects. I'm also hoping to begin investing in mixed-use properties in my city's core.

St. John's is an interesting place. I don't know of many cities where downtown properties are significantly cheaper than suburban ones. I think there is a lot of opportunity in our city's core, and I'm hoping to contribute to its revitalisation through strategic investment and partnership with some of the small businesses that have emerged here. Right now I am working on a couple of contracts, the most notable one being the expansion of our city's primary coworking facility. 

I only own one property to date, the home my girlfriend and I own. We bought land downtown in an area where a building had been demolished, and built a very traditional townhouse. I didn't want to invest in property that didn't generate me any money, however, so we incorporated a very small "micro-apartment" into the unit that we rent on AirBnB. I love this style of living, and it has been incredibly lucrative for us to date. The apartment takes up about 18% of my building's square footage, yet it pays about 70% of all of the building's expenses. If we didn't live in the upstairs, this property would have an impressive return. And it is a very small building! I want to get my hands on another and run a few of these micro-apartment AirBnBs. I'm more than capable of coordinating construction, I just need to build up the money to invest.

Anyway, I'm excited to share ideas and learn from you all. Me registering has been a long time coming, but now that I'm here I'm looking forward to contributing.

Cheers!