February 4, 2025 • 27 mins
In this episode, Scott Dillingham interviews Carmen Da Silva, a CPA and cofounder of Share, who brings over two decades of cross-border tax and investment expertise to the discussion. Drawing from her journey from PricewaterhouseCoopers to managing a significant U.S. real estate portfolio and co-founding Share, Carmen shares comprehensive insights on tax strategies, investment structures, and wealth building approaches for Canadians investing in U.S. real estate. Her unique perspective combines professional expertise with personal experience, having successfully navigated both markets while teaching the next generation about building wealth through real estate.
Key Timestamps:
[0:00] Professional Background
- PricewaterhouseCoopers experience
- Family office development
- Investment journey
- Share platform creation
[4:30] Tax Considerations
- Cross-border implications
- State-specific requirements
- Entity structure options
- Tax credit optimization
[8:45] Investment Strategy
- Holding company setup
- State registration
- Asset protection methods
- Portfolio management
[12:30] Entity Structures
- LLC considerations
- Cross-border implications
- Registration requirements
- State-specific needs
[16:45] Estate Planning
- Will considerations
- Cross-border issues
- Asset transfer strategies
- Administrative requirements
[20:30] Investment Education
- Next generation focus
- Early investment benefits
- Cash flow mindset
- Portfolio building strategies
Key Points:
- Tax Structure
- Cross-border considerations
- State-specific requirements
- Entity formation strategies
- Credit optimization
- Investment Planning
- Asset protection
- Estate planning
- Generational transfer
- Cash flow management
- Educational Approach
- Early investment start
- Portfolio building
- Cash flow focus
- Risk management
Contact Information:
Website: sharesfr.com
LinkedIn: Available for connections
Important Tips:
- Consider state taxation
- Review entity structures
- Plan estate transfers
- Monitor cash flow
- Evaluate property taxes
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Scott Dillingham (00:00):
Welcome back to the Wisdom Lifestyle Money
Show. I'm your host, ScottDillingham. And today, I have a
very special guest with ustoday, Carmen Da Silva. Welcome,
Carmen.
Carmen Da Silva (00:09):
Oh, thank you, Scott. Good to be here.
Scott Dillingham (00:11):
Yeah. So I'm really excited to have you on.
So for those that don't know,Carmen is a CPA working with
Canadians that, invest money inthe states. You're also a mom,
an investor. Like, you're doingall these awesome things.
So I'd love to hear your storyon how all this came to fruition
and how you got, you know, frombeing young and whatever to the
expert that you are today.
Carmen Da Silva (00:31):
Okay. Well, it's a long story. Been in the
business for quite a few years.
Originally started as a CPA atPricewaterhouse, did my
articling there, specialized intax programs. So with that in
hand, when I got married, Ijoined the family business and
really took our office to whatwe call, wealth management
centers or sometimes they'rereferred to as family office
structures.
(00:53):
You know, with the tax estateplanning, insurance license,
stock license, all of that. Sowe wrapped ourselves around the
top advisers across Canada andreally built a portal to,
integrate solutions is what Icall it. You know? So maybe when
the children were, I don't know,around 6, 7, 8, decided to focus
a little more on the family andmoved to Florida, and that's
(01:15):
back in 2003. You know?
So thought it'd be temporary.
Enjoyed it enough that we'restill back and forth or 20 odd
years later, and sold the blockof business.
Scott Dillingham (01:24):
So
Carmen Da Silva (01:24):
I would say that really I got lucky, you
know, because luck they say iswhat opportunity and
preparedness be. And so for me,with the sale of the business, I
don't know if you remember themortgage prices, 2008,
opportunity
Scott Dillingham (01:36):
That's when I started.
Carmen Da Silva (01:37):
Yeah. That's when I really got involved in
single family rentals. Prior tothat, dabbled in the one
property here or there in inCanada, but really bought a big
portfolio to replace the cashflow I needed from selling the
business. Right? And so teamedup with from there, you know,
although I was retired at thatpoint, you never stop when
you're an entrepreneur.
So introduced it to family andfriends and really worked with a
(02:00):
broker who was also a propertymanagement company. He wanted to
set that up for his clients. Sowe really bought in bulk 25
properties originally inFlorida, then another batch
during the COVID pandemic. I Ithink I can't remember the exact
time frame. Another batch of 50.
So managed quite a few singlefamily rentals. Started in
condos. Got out of that veryquickly understanding the
(02:23):
mortgage issues with owningcondos, and I guess, the the
play that some of the Canadianhedge funds had. Even in our
properties, 1 hedge fund boughtquite a bit there. We thought
we'll ride their coattails, butthey ended up selling in 2012
for just currency.
So sometimes, you know, whenthere's a big block controlling
it, it's really hard to sellsome of those properties because
of mortgages that the banksdidn't like the ownership of so
(02:45):
many properties by one entity.
Anyway, so I moved more tosingle family rentals. The issue
I had, it was great to buy, verydifficult to mortgage though.
Right? And banks at that timeweren't lending at all.
So fast forward, when I set upShare, I'm a cofounder at Share.
CFO is cofounder of Share. And,really, we started Share to
introduce the concept of buyingsingle family entities from end
(03:08):
to end, almost as easy as buyingit, a mutual fund, let's say.
Scott Dillingham (03:11):
Mhmm.
Carmen Da Silva (03:11):
Even how you how you reinvest your rentals,
that kind of thing. So withthat, we started to get more
into and and I'm sure that'swhat you focus on a lot in your
podcast. With that, we got intomore of the DSA loans, the idea
of borrowing against theproperty to buy more. So I
started to leverage. I took 6properties at one point, used
that as my down payment, and Ibought 2, $300,000 properties in
(03:34):
Texas.
So the idea of building now Idon't really have to use my own
cash anymore. Now I buildthrough the portfolio I have,
refinancing none to buy more.
Scott Dillingham (03:42):
Mhmm. So teaching those
Carmen Da Silva (03:43):
lessons yeah.
Teaching those lessons toothers.
Scott Dillingham (03:46):
Yeah. And it's pretty cool. And and so for
those that maybe are listeningto this before hearing the
previous one, so the previousone, we actually had one of your
customers on who who doesmortgages for us, Derek
Wurmspecker. So he he talkedabout his his journey. So that's
that's super cool.
So great. So I know your yourmain role. Right? You even
mentioned it as CFO. Right?
So you're dealing withfinancials and tax stuff. And
(04:07):
being a CPA, I know that's yourspecialties. What are some
things that a Canadian shouldlook at or consider even when
they want to invest from Canadato the states? What do you what
do you tell your clients thatyou talk to?
Carmen Da Silva (04:19):
Well, in general, I always say there's 3
things you should consider whenbuying, especially in the US,
but I think it's it's there forboth sides of the border. My
biggest go to is what's thetaxation. You know? So how much
tax do I pay? Each state isdifferent.
There's tax free states, butalso understanding the cross
border tax tax taxation. Right?
The fact that you pay in thestates, but you also pay to
Canada because that's who you'rea resident of. So with taxation,
(04:41):
I'm always saying look at whereyou're resident of and where the
property is resident. Those arethe two main factors.
So if I'm a resident in Canada,I pay my US tax, but then I also
file that same information, myCanadian tax return, and usually
getting a foreign tax credit forwhat I've paid in the US.
Scott Dillingham (04:59):
Right? Okay.
Carmen Da Silva (05:00):
But state wise, each state also wants to have
their taxes. So where youpurchase your property is gonna
be important. So as an example,if I buy in Texas, I have no
state tax return, but I stillhave the federal return to do.
Whereas in some of the otherstates, you might have to file a
federal and or and the state taxreturn. Right?
So Makes sense. You're residentof as a person and where you're
(05:21):
asset as a resident of are 2 keyfit considerations in taxation.
Right?
Scott Dillingham (05:26):
Interesting.
Carmen Da Silva (05:27):
Some of the things that's most people may
not realize is that each statealso wants you to be registered
in that state. So, usually,whatever entity that you create
I I usually suggest, like, aparent entity, if you will. I
like Wyoming because it's
Scott Dillingham (05:40):
I'm there.
Yeah. It's access to protection.
Carmen Da Silva (05:42):
It's privacy.
And so I use that more like aparent holding company, and then
I'll register that in each statethat I'm buying in, or sometimes
I'll set up a subsidiary in eachstate. So I might just do a
little, you know, entity undermy parent holding company to
hold all my Texas properties. Aseparate one maybe for North
Carolina, that type of thing.
Right?
Scott Dillingham (06:03):
That's interesting.
Carmen Da Silva (06:03):
Yeah. So, again, it's it's foreign
registering to do business inthe state you're in.
Scott Dillingham (06:08):
Yep. You know?
Carmen Da Silva (06:09):
No. No taxation.
Scott Dillingham (06:10):
Now this is I guess it's a bit unique because
Trump didn't get into too muchdetails. But I heard or I
watched a video last night. I'massuming it was from yesterday
where he said that we should getrid of income tax, and I don't
know if he's referring to corpor personal. Definitely
personal, but I don't know aboutcorp. And then have tariffs for
outsiders.
Right? And then that's how wecan generate our income base. So
(06:33):
let's just pretend that he doesthat for for corporations. So
does that mean then becausethere wouldn't be any flow
through. Right?
Because you're you're notgetting that tax credit because
you're not paying tax. So thenyou just pay the Canadian taxes,
whatever that would be overhere. Is that how that would
work?
Carmen Da Silva (06:47):
Well, the first thing is I would suggest that
he's probably looking at morecorporate tax and personal Okay.
Because he's really, all forbusinesses, entrepreneurship,
and it may be personal too forthe entrepreneurs. So first
thing first, if if it is flowingthrough the individual and lower
tax rates, that's be a greatdeal. Right? Because first of
all, most of the tax coming fromrental properties or the tax
(07:08):
planning, let's say, comes morefrom when this when you sell the
asset, the capital gains tax,than it is on the rental income.
Right? Rentals income, we candepreciate, we can borrow and
have interest expenses, we couldeven create losses against our
employment income or otherincome. So I'm never as worried
about the annual taxes. It'smore of the capital gains on the
sale of assets.
Scott Dillingham (07:29):
Okay.
Carmen Da Silva (07:29):
So with that said, personal capital gains is
gonna be better in Canada andthe US. So I like personally
held income for that purpose.
But if it were corporately held,as you said, the rates right now
are pretty decent in in America.
It's only at 21%, with the statetax, let's say, 25. Right?
The the problem though is evenif and this is where I this is
(07:51):
why I don't usually use acorporation. Even if Trump comes
in and says, oh, zero tax, it'sreally the Canadian government's
tax system that you have tofollow as a Canadian resident.
Right? And, unfortunately,Canada has gotten worse with the
I'll call it passive investmentcorporations. Mhmm.
Scott Dillingham (08:08):
So if
Carmen Da Silva (08:08):
you have a corporation in the US and it's
for passive investments, meaningyou've got someone else managing
the property that you are doingall this yourself, you're pretty
well paying the same tax rate asa Canadian investment holding
company, which is the top rate.
You may get the credit for whatyou pay in America, but you're
still at a high rate because ofthe Canadian tax code.
Scott Dillingham (08:27):
Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. It's just
it's really interesting to see.
Carmen Da Silva (08:31):
Yeah. Yeah. So myself, personally, whatever the
rules are, I would takeadvantage of it probably through
a personal tax system ratherthan a corporate one because we
have this, I'll call it FAPIforeign accrual property income.
It throws us off a little bit.
That doesn't mean that no oneshould set up a corporation.
A lot of people that have theirretained earnings built up in
Canada, may wanna deploy thatthrough a company in in Canada
(08:54):
to a US corporation. So there'sa there's a, you know, a
strategy for all types of entitystructures, but our main go to
for Canadians is more a flowthrough structure.
Scott Dillingham (09:04):
You know?
Understood. Yeah. Yeah. So thatmakes sense.
And then so let's say let's sayI'm Canadian. I'm just listening
to this for the first time, andI've decided, you know, I wanna
invest in the States. Do youthink that they should use their
current Canadian accountant, orshould they switch to one that
understands both countries? Canyou have a separate US and
Canadian and and and mesh welltogether, or should they get one
(09:27):
account that does both?
Carmen Da Silva (09:28):
Well, that's a trickier question because for
years, when seminars were doneby US, I guess, real estate
agents, various people that cometo Canada promoting the idea of
real estate, they never talkabout entity creation for not
just tax, but also for personalasset protection or probate or
state planning. Right? Andthat's gonna be critical when
you start to build assetsoutside your principal residence
(09:49):
in your home country. You know?
And so having the knowledge ofUS tax is gonna be important
because one of the things Inoticed is even when they do
talk to Canadians, they tend touse structures that they're used
to in America.
Mhmm. And those are wrongstructures because sometimes we
don't have them in Canada. SoI'll give you a good example.
The US, they use a lot thestructure called the limited
(10:09):
liability corporation, and itgives you the benefits of being
a corporation. If you want, youcan checkbox it to a corporation
or flow through so you got some,you know, flexibility.
But the idea of the protectionis why they do it. Now in
Canada, we have no such thing,so we call it a hybrid entity.
And because we have no suchthing, there's a mismatch in
timing, and so the flow throughof the credits don't work at the
(10:31):
same time. So you end up almostpaying a double tax if you're
using US structures that wedon't have in Canada. So
understanding it from if you'reusing a US accountant, they
should have some knowledge ofCanadian laws or vice versa.
If you use a Canadian account,make sure they have a US cross
border tax knowledge as well asyou know, because it is
important to understand the two
Scott Dillingham (10:51):
structures and two taxation systems.
Carmen Da Silva (10:51):
No. You're right. And I knew that answer
because I'm
Scott Dillingham (10:54):
taxation systems. No. You're right. And I
knew that answer because I'mactually dual citizen, and I've
had to file tax in the statesforever. So I needed a
professional that that did both.
Yes. Even things as simple as Iknow we're talking more advanced
as far as real estate, but even,like, it goes the other way too,
like, tax free savings accounts.
I can get that in Canada, but inthe states, they don't recognize
that. So it's not it's notallowed. It's forbidden.
Carmen Da Silva (11:17):
Right? They have similar things. You know?
So they do have, I mean, a RothIRA is like our our TFSA. Right?
Their IRA I mean, yeah, IRA islike RRSP. So there's
conceptually, there's similarassets. We just have to know
which ones are applicable forCanadians.
Scott Dillingham (11:32):
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Carmen Da Silva (11:33):
Yeah. Yeah. And the other side of it is it's
also it's not just about tax andasset protection. In the estate
planning side, you almost haveto know some rules too because,
yes, you may have a will inCanada, but if it gets probated
and it's stuck here, you may notbe able to do something on your
assets over there. So sometimesI like to have a local will in
the jurisdiction you bought theproperty.
It's very simple to structurethings, but knowing, I guess,
(11:54):
the administrative headaches,because it's not always about
costs. You know? Sometimesadministratively, it might hell
hold up your ability to dothings. So it can't be simple.
It doesn't have to becomplicated, but it's just like
you said, you need to have theknowledge or someone on your
team that's knowledgeable enoughto help you do it.
Scott Dillingham (12:11):
Mhmm. No.
That's awesome. Now I'm alsocurious. Right?
Because somebody somebodylistening to this might be like,
hey. I wanna work with Carmen.
How does that work? Can, like,people reach out to you for this
type of service, or do you onlydo it through share? Like, how
how's that set up?
Carmen Da Silva (12:24):
So, basically, we're an end to end, you know,
really for real estate in theUS, single family rentals in the
US. So we've partnered up fromentity creation to so we've got,
like, contracts with, you know,specialized areas from entity
all the way to taxation. Right?
Scott Dillingham (12:40):
Okay.
Carmen Da Silva (12:40):
So at the beginning, we help based on the
buy box or where you're whereyou wanna purchase, what state
you wanna buy in. Maybe we wannaknow, you know, do you want cash
flow appreciation? Is it the 1stor the only property? Are you
building a portfolio? So likeany good professional, we kinda
wanna know the high timehorizon, the rate of return, the
the objective of what you'rebuying.
(13:00):
Right? Mhmm. So once we havethat, we set help you set up an
entity. After that, ourinvestment team then helps you
with the buy box. You know?
So it's so we have anacquisition team, and we also
have the software to then, youknow, score the market to see
where's the best place to buybased on your selection of cap
rates as well as the state youmight wanna buy in. From there,
once that's done, due diligenceis done, budgets come in. If the
(13:22):
numbers still work, we go aheadwith the purchase. We go into
leasing mode. So we have a teamof property managers that we
work with across America.
So after all that's done, ourrole at CHER is really an active
participation in assetmanagement. So why do people
need an asset manager over aproperty manager? We've got
people after they bought. Ithink there was a client who had
40 properties, but variousproperty managers. So how do you
(13:44):
pull it all into one portalorganized so that you could not
you could see all the assets,but also make decisions in a
more integrated fashion.
Right? So once a year, we kindalook at people the investors'
portfolio, help them decide, isit time to refinance? Do we
increase the rents? So we'reworking on every line item on a
real estate portfolio. Andbecause we have institutional
(14:06):
grade property managers, evenwith our asset management fee,
you can be a much lower ratethan at the retail level going
to a property manager yourself.
Scott Dillingham (14:14):
Mhmm.
Carmen Da Silva (14:15):
Same thing on the insurance. We have a master
policy contract, so you get 40%discount on insurance. So when
it comes to taxation, becausethat's the question you asked
me, we've also teamed up withtax advisers, tax accountants,
in Canada and the US so that ifyou don't have someone, we can
refer you to one of ourpartners.
Scott Dillingham (14:34):
Super cool.
Carmen Da Silva (14:35):
And and what's good about that is with consent,
we share the file. So we'vealready got the folder of the
entity. We've already got theyou know, your settlement
statements. We've actually notonly got the documents, we
prepare all of the financialsevery month, so we really just
feed that into a schedule e,which is what you have to file
the US with the, you know, yourre returns, whether it's
(14:55):
corporate or personal. And thatsame schedule is what you're
gonna convert to Canadiandollars to file in Canada.
So most documents are alreadypre prepared for your
accountants anyways.
Scott Dillingham (15:04):
Mhmm. No. I love it. I've seen the back end
of your portal, and it's supercool how you can track literally
everything. That alone, right,just not having a necessarily
having a bookkeeper.
Right? Because you guys kinda doall of that stuff.
Carmen Da Silva (15:17):
Exactly. It's bookkeeping. It's organizing the
documents, making sure theinvoices are there if you're
audited. All of that needs weeven even on our property tax,
just to give you one more areathat we've kind of reduced
costs, if you will, we've teamedup with a property tax team that
not only tells us where on thecalendar to pay off the taxes
and everything, they actually doreassessment on property taxes
(15:38):
to see if they can get yourproperty tax low. That's a very
time consuming project, so mostpeople don't take it on.
But because we could go on afees only basis, why not? Let
them research all our clients.
If they find something and weget a discount, they get their
share. Nice. Yeah.
So do
Scott Dillingham (15:53):
they do that annually? Like, will they review
a property annually?
Carmen Da Silva (15:56):
Sure how often because I think with with data
science today, we give them ourdata tapes. We update. They
update. We're always looking atwhere the possibilities are. So
I don't even think it's annual.
It's anytime that something'sindicated, you know, because it
could be midstream whensomeone's gone from one type of
ownership to another. Right?
Because you've got homeownershipversus investment ownership. It
does trigger certain tax ratesthat change for property tax. So
(16:18):
they know all the nuances, andthey know how to fight the
battle.
You know? So I I really like theidea that from all angles, it's
not just income tax becauseremember the states that have no
income tax are probably thehigher in the property tax. They
gotta make up for it somewhere.
Scott Dillingham (16:36):
Yep. Yep.
Absolutely.
Carmen Da Silva (16:37):
Look at all angles of taxation.
Scott Dillingham (16:39):
And you're right. There are some states,
and we don't have to dive intoit here, but there are some
states that when they discoverthat it's an investment
property, they're gonna increaseyour property taxes.
Carmen Da Silva (16:48):
Well and that's the thing because, remember, we
are also helping with proformas. And so in our pro
formas, part of that team thatwe've got, they will give us a
pro form a once it switches sothat we're using the right,
valuations as well as the right,property tax when we're
projecting out, when we'reescrowing for you know, because
I like to smooth out income, sowe tend to collect a monthly
(17:09):
escrow for repairs as well astax and insurance so that we can
then pay the tax on behalf ofthe investor. Yeah. So we wanna
get as close as we can to thereal numbers, and so we have
some of those based on theinstitutional partners we have.
Scott Dillingham (17:22):
Mhmm. No. It's super cool. It's super cool. And
one thing that I discoveredabout you just from being at
different events when you werethere or or being online and
hearing you speak, but this issomething that not only you're
doing for yourself or you'reinvesting, you're building the
portfolio, and doing all thesethings, but you're very avid
about teaching your kids how todo it.
Can you tell me more about that?
Like, obviously, parents
Carmen Da Silva (17:40):
find it inspiring. I love I love when
the next generation getsinvolved. I think, you know,
when I look at myself and my ownpersonal history, my parents
were immigrant parents, and Ithink we grew up wanting things.
You know? The house, the car,the TVs.
Never wanted to lack anything.
You know? So our children see uswith everything, and so they are
not I like the new generationthinking. They're not into
things. They are okay to rentand not buy their first home and
(18:03):
have this a big mortgage tiethem down.
And so my education for theyoung, you know, these if if
that's the mentality, is toreally buy real estate, buy it
early, because that earlyplanning then can help you focus
on children and marriage andhouse later. You know? Mhmm.
Otherwise, you get caught up ina mortgage, and then you can't
get out into anything else in inthe investment world because
(18:25):
everything is gone. That's thetrap sometimes.
So investing for cash flow andin tax deductible because,
again, remember, Mitchel is anall university graduate, so
their incomes are high. They'relooking for tax breaks. Yes.
RSPs are there, but I like thetax breaks that real estate
brings too. Oh, my son, as anexample, his first internship,
he bought his first property.
(18:46):
Because in the states and that'sthe beauty of it. I didn't
realize that till I entered thestates and bought my first
properties. The price points orentry level properties are,
like, fabulous. You can't Mhmm.
Something like we're in Toronto.
My nephew, I remember, he wasbuying a $750,000 condo, 1
bedroom, really small, you know,1 bedroom for himself. I said to
him, why do you need the condoyet? Take that money, 500,000.
(19:09):
You can buy 5 properties at a100,000 US, like, with 10th with
exchange and everything else.
And now you've got 5 propertiesearning a 1,000 a month.
You know? So you've got $5,000.
You can live wherever you wantdowntown Toronto for that.
Right? And you still got assets.
You still got performance andappreciation. So we teach our
children, our nephews, ournieces very early. So his my
(19:31):
son's first property bought onhis own. The second one, he
bought with his sister. Thislast year, he bought with his
roommate.
So they're they're continuallybuying, whether it's single or
sometimes shared with a familymember. We structured so each
owns their own unit so one canbuy and sell, do their own
thing. They're not tied to the
Scott Dillingham (19:47):
Awesome.
Carmen Da Silva (19:47):
Each other. So, yeah, so they start early. The
the downside, and I'm trying tochange that, is sometimes they
don't even realize they've gotthis income stream because the
other day, they said to me, youknow what? I have to set up a 3
to 6 month, emergency fund. I'mthinking, oh, great.
You're getting to planningbecause he set up a bank
account. He's got so much cashin there. He's trying to decide,
do I put the RSP, first timehomebuyers plan, TFSA. And so he
(20:10):
talked about this, you know,emergency fund. And I said to
him, why do you think you needan emergency fund?
You know, because the the kidsare already retired the day they
get their 1st job, meaningthey're making as much as their
paycheck from cash flow assets.
Scott Dillingham (20:25):
Yeah.
Carmen Da Silva (20:25):
Right? And that gives them the ability to leave
jobs and think about housemoves. There's no restrictions
for them. But if he's not seeingthat going into his account,
it's out of sight, out of mind.
Yeah.
You know? His focus is on thethe account that his paycheck's
going into. So one of the thingsthat we want a chair is to
notify them. Ping them everytime a deposit goes in, every
time their assets appreciate invalue because then they can see
(20:48):
and feel that cash flow comingin.
Scott Dillingham (20:50):
Mhmm. I love it.
Carmen Da Silva (20:52):
Really important. Yeah. Because once
you you have that sense of cashflow because, really, that cash
flow mentality helps you create.
It gives you a creation mindset.
Right?
Whereas if you don't have a cashflow mind you have a money
mindset, it's it's always lack.
You're always spending, andyou're you know, this lack of
money is always there at theback of your mind. And so if we
can shift to cash flow man cashflow mindset, it's huge. You
(21:13):
know?
Scott Dillingham (21:16):
I love it.
That reminded me of I don't knowif you ever played it probably,
but Robert Kiyosaki's, cash flow101 game.
Carmen Da Silva (21:22):
Yes.
Scott Dillingham (21:23):
Getting out of the rat race. Yeah. You're
helping them literally out ofthe rat race Yeah. By the time
they have their job.
Carmen Da Silva (21:29):
You say that, and I hadn't played it. I heard
so much about it. So a few yearsago, someone in one of the
investment groups I was with, hehad the game. So we put 6 people
together. We actually played it.
And what I learned from it wasawesome. Like, it was just
amazing because the I got thislousy card of I can't remember.
Auto I don't know what kind ofmechanic. I was a mechanic, And
(21:49):
I was making a very low salary,and I'm thinking, man, how am I
I know all the rules. I knowwhat I wanna do, but how am I
gonna do this with loose littlemoney?
Right? The person beside me wasa teacher, no different. And the
one on the right of me, this guywas a pilot making a ton of
money. So I'm thinking, oh, thisis doesn't seem fair to me what
I thought.
Scott Dillingham (22:04):
Gonna win.
Carmen Da Silva (22:05):
Yeah. He's gonna win. That was my thoughts.
Right? And so as we pick upthese cards, the one on the left
of me got a market card and,actually, not a market card.
I can't remember what the othercard's called. He he gave her
the ability to buy these stocksat a penny, and she bought the
stocks. Right? A few roundslater, the auction came up. A
market card came up that,obviously, this penny stock went
(22:25):
to a 1,000 of stock, and she gotso much money that she ended up
buying assets and and developingyou know, going from house to
multis, and she won the
Scott Dillingham (22:35):
game. That's awesome.
Carmen Da Silva (22:36):
She won the game, and I thought to myself,
that is so interesting becauseto me, remember earlier, I said
luck is when opportunityprepared us to meet? She was one
of those because it's not onlyseeing these opportunities,
being prepared to take them.
Right?
Scott Dillingham (22:48):
Because a
Carmen Da Silva (22:49):
lot of us see opportunities that just flies by
us. Yeah. Right? So we gottatake action in what we see. So
that's what I learned from her.
But the more interesting partwas learning with the pilot.
Right? The pilot on the right ofme, who I thought would win, he
fell on some you know, whetherit was he was having children,
so, obviously, his expenses wentup. As he ran around the corner,
he got unemployed, so he didn'tget paychecks. And you know what
(23:11):
he started to do?
He was so out of the game. Hestarted looking at his phone. He
didn't wanna play the gameanymore. And I'm thinking to
myself, that's reality too.
Sometimes we check out, and wedon't see those opportunities
because we're we're so down onourselves.
And so both sides gave me such agood reflection on real world
problems. And it's not justabout real estate itself. It's
behavioral. You know? And soit's a great game to play.
(23:34):
Nice to learn, you know, someyou may learn things like I did
from the game.
Scott Dillingham (23:38):
Yeah. If you if you want, if you send me your
address after, I'll mail youone. I I bought like, this was
years ago when they werefinishing, like, making them.
Like, I think they said, youknow, we're not producing them
anymore. Oh.
And I got them on sale for,like, a really good price, but I
bought, like, 20 of them. I lovethat. I
Carmen Da Silva (23:54):
love that offer.
Scott Dillingham (23:55):
Brand new, wrapped up, ready to go. Oh. But
it's a great game for anybodywho has not played it. It really
does. Even if you're aninvestor, it doesn't matter
because I played it when I wasan investor.
And like you said, you alwayslearn something, but I agree.
Right? Those higher end cushyjobs, it's always harder to get
out of that than somethingsmall, and people don't think
that. Right? They think, oh, Iwork at McDonald's or, like, I
(24:18):
can't do this, but, actually,it's easier for you too once you
just kinda get going.
So
Carmen Da Silva (24:23):
Well and and then you know what? I I've
worked across Canada, and I justcame back from Banff, Alberta.
And I just find mindset is verydifferent from Ontario, we have
a lot of employed t four type oftax returns, so very little
planning is done. Right?
Everyone thinks, oh, I've put mymoney away from RSPs, and I'll
get this pension down the road,and that's all.
Whereas with out west, you'refinding a lot of entrepreneurial
(24:47):
or accountants around these farmowned. Estate planning is going
on. They're buying more cattleto reduce their taxes because
the inventory is gonna reducetaxes. Right? So they're like we
do in real estate, we'rerefinancing to get more
properties to bring down ourtax.
They're using a lot more taxplanning in their models every
every year. They'recommunicating between families
because of estate planning. Allof that's gonna help them grow.
(25:09):
It's this lack of communicationbetween intergenerational, the
lack of planning in generalthat's gonna they say the bulk
of the federal deficit in awhite paper for the Canadian
government is the death of ataxpayer. Mhmm.
Right? Because they've got a lotof money built up with the
seniors and RRSPs and capitalgains tax because we've got this
deemed dis disposition on death.
And so planning around thattransition is gonna be critical.
Scott Dillingham (25:34):
Yeah. I agree.
I agree. No. That's reallyinteresting.
But we have to wrap up. So doyou do you produce content
online or anything for people tofollow you, or do you allow
clients to contact you directly?
Carmen Da Silva (25:46):
So, I mean, if anything, LinkedIn, but we have
a a wealth like, I would suggestif you go to share dot, share
sfr.com, we do have sessionsthat you can learn monthly and
understand real estate, a USguide even, just to understand
any of the nuances from being aCanadian investor in the US. So
take advantage of theinformation that's available. We
(26:08):
do have certain calls that arepart of that so that, you know,
you can understand for yourself,your position, and any planning
opportunities that you mightwanna talk about.
Scott Dillingham (26:17):
That's awesome. No. Thanks for sharing
that. And I'll I'll make sure toput those those links in the
show notes. Yeah.
But thanks so much, Carmen. Itwas really fun to to get to know
you a little better and to tohear your story. So thank you
for sharing.
Carmen Da Silva (26:27):
Thanks, God.
Looking forward to our sessionstogether when we do them live.
Scott Dillingham (26:31):
Absolutely.
Sounds good.
Carmen Da Silva (26:32):
Okay. Bye for now.
Scott Dillingham (26:34):
Bye.
Carmen Da Silva (26:34):
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't I'm like, so I
maybe what you have to do issend me it. Right? So that I can
kinda listen to it and see whatit was like.
My problem, I'm
Welcome back to the Wisdom Lifestyle Money
Show. I'm your host, ScottDillingham. And today, I have a
very special guest with ustoday, Carmen Da Silva. Welcome,
Carmen.
Carmen Da Silva (00:09):
Oh, thank you, Scott. Good to be here.
Scott Dillingham (00:11):
Yeah. So I'm really excited to have you on.
So for those that don't know,Carmen is a CPA working with
Canadians that, invest money inthe states. You're also a mom,
an investor. Like, you're doingall these awesome things.
So I'd love to hear your storyon how all this came to fruition
and how you got, you know, frombeing young and whatever to the
expert that you are today.
Carmen Da Silva (00:31):
Okay. Well, it's a long story. Been in the
business for quite a few years.
Originally started as a CPA atPricewaterhouse, did my
articling there, specialized intax programs. So with that in
hand, when I got married, Ijoined the family business and
really took our office to whatwe call, wealth management
centers or sometimes they'rereferred to as family office
structures.
(00:53):
You know, with the tax estateplanning, insurance license,
stock license, all of that. Sowe wrapped ourselves around the
top advisers across Canada andreally built a portal to,
integrate solutions is what Icall it. You know? So maybe when
the children were, I don't know,around 6, 7, 8, decided to focus
a little more on the family andmoved to Florida, and that's
(01:15):
back in 2003. You know?
So thought it'd be temporary.
Enjoyed it enough that we'restill back and forth or 20 odd
years later, and sold the blockof business.
Scott Dillingham (01:24):
So
Carmen Da Silva (01:24):
I would say that really I got lucky, you
know, because luck they say iswhat opportunity and
preparedness be. And so for me,with the sale of the business, I
don't know if you remember themortgage prices, 2008,
opportunity
Scott Dillingham (01:36):
That's when I started.
Carmen Da Silva (01:37):
Yeah. That's when I really got involved in
single family rentals. Prior tothat, dabbled in the one
property here or there in inCanada, but really bought a big
portfolio to replace the cashflow I needed from selling the
business. Right? And so teamedup with from there, you know,
although I was retired at thatpoint, you never stop when
you're an entrepreneur.
So introduced it to family andfriends and really worked with a
(02:00):
broker who was also a propertymanagement company. He wanted to
set that up for his clients. Sowe really bought in bulk 25
properties originally inFlorida, then another batch
during the COVID pandemic. I Ithink I can't remember the exact
time frame. Another batch of 50.
So managed quite a few singlefamily rentals. Started in
condos. Got out of that veryquickly understanding the
(02:23):
mortgage issues with owningcondos, and I guess, the the
play that some of the Canadianhedge funds had. Even in our
properties, 1 hedge fund boughtquite a bit there. We thought
we'll ride their coattails, butthey ended up selling in 2012
for just currency.
So sometimes, you know, whenthere's a big block controlling
it, it's really hard to sellsome of those properties because
of mortgages that the banksdidn't like the ownership of so
(02:45):
many properties by one entity.
Anyway, so I moved more tosingle family rentals. The issue
I had, it was great to buy, verydifficult to mortgage though.
Right? And banks at that timeweren't lending at all.
So fast forward, when I set upShare, I'm a cofounder at Share.
CFO is cofounder of Share. And,really, we started Share to
introduce the concept of buyingsingle family entities from end
(03:08):
to end, almost as easy as buyingit, a mutual fund, let's say.
Scott Dillingham (03:11):
Mhmm.
Carmen Da Silva (03:11):
Even how you how you reinvest your rentals,
that kind of thing. So withthat, we started to get more
into and and I'm sure that'swhat you focus on a lot in your
podcast. With that, we got intomore of the DSA loans, the idea
of borrowing against theproperty to buy more. So I
started to leverage. I took 6properties at one point, used
that as my down payment, and Ibought 2, $300,000 properties in
(03:34):
Texas.
So the idea of building now Idon't really have to use my own
cash anymore. Now I buildthrough the portfolio I have,
refinancing none to buy more.
Scott Dillingham (03:42):
Mhmm. So teaching those
Carmen Da Silva (03:43):
lessons yeah.
Teaching those lessons toothers.
Scott Dillingham (03:46):
Yeah. And it's pretty cool. And and so for
those that maybe are listeningto this before hearing the
previous one, so the previousone, we actually had one of your
customers on who who doesmortgages for us, Derek
Wurmspecker. So he he talkedabout his his journey. So that's
that's super cool.
So great. So I know your yourmain role. Right? You even
mentioned it as CFO. Right?
So you're dealing withfinancials and tax stuff. And
(04:07):
being a CPA, I know that's yourspecialties. What are some
things that a Canadian shouldlook at or consider even when
they want to invest from Canadato the states? What do you what
do you tell your clients thatyou talk to?
Carmen Da Silva (04:19):
Well, in general, I always say there's 3
things you should consider whenbuying, especially in the US,
but I think it's it's there forboth sides of the border. My
biggest go to is what's thetaxation. You know? So how much
tax do I pay? Each state isdifferent.
There's tax free states, butalso understanding the cross
border tax tax taxation. Right?
The fact that you pay in thestates, but you also pay to
Canada because that's who you'rea resident of. So with taxation,
(04:41):
I'm always saying look at whereyou're resident of and where the
property is resident. Those arethe two main factors.
So if I'm a resident in Canada,I pay my US tax, but then I also
file that same information, myCanadian tax return, and usually
getting a foreign tax credit forwhat I've paid in the US.
Scott Dillingham (04:59):
Right? Okay.
Carmen Da Silva (05:00):
But state wise, each state also wants to have
their taxes. So where youpurchase your property is gonna
be important. So as an example,if I buy in Texas, I have no
state tax return, but I stillhave the federal return to do.
Whereas in some of the otherstates, you might have to file a
federal and or and the state taxreturn. Right?
So Makes sense. You're residentof as a person and where you're
(05:21):
asset as a resident of are 2 keyfit considerations in taxation.
Right?
Scott Dillingham (05:26):
Interesting.
Carmen Da Silva (05:27):
Some of the things that's most people may
not realize is that each statealso wants you to be registered
in that state. So, usually,whatever entity that you create
I I usually suggest, like, aparent entity, if you will. I
like Wyoming because it's
Scott Dillingham (05:40):
I'm there.
Yeah. It's access to protection.
Carmen Da Silva (05:42):
It's privacy.
And so I use that more like aparent holding company, and then
I'll register that in each statethat I'm buying in, or sometimes
I'll set up a subsidiary in eachstate. So I might just do a
little, you know, entity undermy parent holding company to
hold all my Texas properties. Aseparate one maybe for North
Carolina, that type of thing.
Right?
Scott Dillingham (06:03):
That's interesting.
Carmen Da Silva (06:03):
Yeah. So, again, it's it's foreign
registering to do business inthe state you're in.
Scott Dillingham (06:08):
Yep. You know?
Carmen Da Silva (06:09):
No. No taxation.
Scott Dillingham (06:10):
Now this is I guess it's a bit unique because
Trump didn't get into too muchdetails. But I heard or I
watched a video last night. I'massuming it was from yesterday
where he said that we should getrid of income tax, and I don't
know if he's referring to corpor personal. Definitely
personal, but I don't know aboutcorp. And then have tariffs for
outsiders.
Right? And then that's how wecan generate our income base. So
(06:33):
let's just pretend that he doesthat for for corporations. So
does that mean then becausethere wouldn't be any flow
through. Right?
Because you're you're notgetting that tax credit because
you're not paying tax. So thenyou just pay the Canadian taxes,
whatever that would be overhere. Is that how that would
work?
Carmen Da Silva (06:47):
Well, the first thing is I would suggest that
he's probably looking at morecorporate tax and personal Okay.
Because he's really, all forbusinesses, entrepreneurship,
and it may be personal too forthe entrepreneurs. So first
thing first, if if it is flowingthrough the individual and lower
tax rates, that's be a greatdeal. Right? Because first of
all, most of the tax coming fromrental properties or the tax
(07:08):
planning, let's say, comes morefrom when this when you sell the
asset, the capital gains tax,than it is on the rental income.
Right? Rentals income, we candepreciate, we can borrow and
have interest expenses, we couldeven create losses against our
employment income or otherincome. So I'm never as worried
about the annual taxes. It'smore of the capital gains on the
sale of assets.
Scott Dillingham (07:29):
Okay.
Carmen Da Silva (07:29):
So with that said, personal capital gains is
gonna be better in Canada andthe US. So I like personally
held income for that purpose.
But if it were corporately held,as you said, the rates right now
are pretty decent in in America.
It's only at 21%, with the statetax, let's say, 25. Right?
The the problem though is evenif and this is where I this is
(07:51):
why I don't usually use acorporation. Even if Trump comes
in and says, oh, zero tax, it'sreally the Canadian government's
tax system that you have tofollow as a Canadian resident.
Right? And, unfortunately,Canada has gotten worse with the
I'll call it passive investmentcorporations. Mhmm.
Scott Dillingham (08:08):
So if
Carmen Da Silva (08:08):
you have a corporation in the US and it's
for passive investments, meaningyou've got someone else managing
the property that you are doingall this yourself, you're pretty
well paying the same tax rate asa Canadian investment holding
company, which is the top rate.
You may get the credit for whatyou pay in America, but you're
still at a high rate because ofthe Canadian tax code.
Scott Dillingham (08:27):
Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. It's just
it's really interesting to see.
Carmen Da Silva (08:31):
Yeah. Yeah. So myself, personally, whatever the
rules are, I would takeadvantage of it probably through
a personal tax system ratherthan a corporate one because we
have this, I'll call it FAPIforeign accrual property income.
It throws us off a little bit.
That doesn't mean that no oneshould set up a corporation.
A lot of people that have theirretained earnings built up in
Canada, may wanna deploy thatthrough a company in in Canada
(08:54):
to a US corporation. So there'sa there's a, you know, a
strategy for all types of entitystructures, but our main go to
for Canadians is more a flowthrough structure.
Scott Dillingham (09:04):
You know?
Understood. Yeah. Yeah. So thatmakes sense.
And then so let's say let's sayI'm Canadian. I'm just listening
to this for the first time, andI've decided, you know, I wanna
invest in the States. Do youthink that they should use their
current Canadian accountant, orshould they switch to one that
understands both countries? Canyou have a separate US and
Canadian and and and mesh welltogether, or should they get one
(09:27):
account that does both?
Carmen Da Silva (09:28):
Well, that's a trickier question because for
years, when seminars were doneby US, I guess, real estate
agents, various people that cometo Canada promoting the idea of
real estate, they never talkabout entity creation for not
just tax, but also for personalasset protection or probate or
state planning. Right? Andthat's gonna be critical when
you start to build assetsoutside your principal residence
(09:49):
in your home country. You know?
And so having the knowledge ofUS tax is gonna be important
because one of the things Inoticed is even when they do
talk to Canadians, they tend touse structures that they're used
to in America.
Mhmm. And those are wrongstructures because sometimes we
don't have them in Canada. SoI'll give you a good example.
The US, they use a lot thestructure called the limited
(10:09):
liability corporation, and itgives you the benefits of being
a corporation. If you want, youcan checkbox it to a corporation
or flow through so you got some,you know, flexibility.
But the idea of the protectionis why they do it. Now in
Canada, we have no such thing,so we call it a hybrid entity.
And because we have no suchthing, there's a mismatch in
timing, and so the flow throughof the credits don't work at the
(10:31):
same time. So you end up almostpaying a double tax if you're
using US structures that wedon't have in Canada. So
understanding it from if you'reusing a US accountant, they
should have some knowledge ofCanadian laws or vice versa.
If you use a Canadian account,make sure they have a US cross
border tax knowledge as well asyou know, because it is
important to understand the two
Scott Dillingham (10:51):
structures and two taxation systems.
Carmen Da Silva (10:51):
No. You're right. And I knew that answer
because I'm
Scott Dillingham (10:54):
taxation systems. No. You're right. And I
knew that answer because I'mactually dual citizen, and I've
had to file tax in the statesforever. So I needed a
professional that that did both.
Yes. Even things as simple as Iknow we're talking more advanced
as far as real estate, but even,like, it goes the other way too,
like, tax free savings accounts.
I can get that in Canada, but inthe states, they don't recognize
that. So it's not it's notallowed. It's forbidden.
Carmen Da Silva (11:17):
Right? They have similar things. You know?
So they do have, I mean, a RothIRA is like our our TFSA. Right?
Their IRA I mean, yeah, IRA islike RRSP. So there's
conceptually, there's similarassets. We just have to know
which ones are applicable forCanadians.
Scott Dillingham (11:32):
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Carmen Da Silva (11:33):
Yeah. Yeah. And the other side of it is it's
also it's not just about tax andasset protection. In the estate
planning side, you almost haveto know some rules too because,
yes, you may have a will inCanada, but if it gets probated
and it's stuck here, you may notbe able to do something on your
assets over there. So sometimesI like to have a local will in
the jurisdiction you bought theproperty.
It's very simple to structurethings, but knowing, I guess,
(11:54):
the administrative headaches,because it's not always about
costs. You know? Sometimesadministratively, it might hell
hold up your ability to dothings. So it can't be simple.
It doesn't have to becomplicated, but it's just like
you said, you need to have theknowledge or someone on your
team that's knowledgeable enoughto help you do it.
Scott Dillingham (12:11):
Mhmm. No.
That's awesome. Now I'm alsocurious. Right?
Because somebody somebodylistening to this might be like,
hey. I wanna work with Carmen.
How does that work? Can, like,people reach out to you for this
type of service, or do you onlydo it through share? Like, how
how's that set up?
Carmen Da Silva (12:24):
So, basically, we're an end to end, you know,
really for real estate in theUS, single family rentals in the
US. So we've partnered up fromentity creation to so we've got,
like, contracts with, you know,specialized areas from entity
all the way to taxation. Right?
Scott Dillingham (12:40):
Okay.
Carmen Da Silva (12:40):
So at the beginning, we help based on the
buy box or where you're whereyou wanna purchase, what state
you wanna buy in. Maybe we wannaknow, you know, do you want cash
flow appreciation? Is it the 1stor the only property? Are you
building a portfolio? So likeany good professional, we kinda
wanna know the high timehorizon, the rate of return, the
the objective of what you'rebuying.
(13:00):
Right? Mhmm. So once we havethat, we set help you set up an
entity. After that, ourinvestment team then helps you
with the buy box. You know?
So it's so we have anacquisition team, and we also
have the software to then, youknow, score the market to see
where's the best place to buybased on your selection of cap
rates as well as the state youmight wanna buy in. From there,
once that's done, due diligenceis done, budgets come in. If the
(13:22):
numbers still work, we go aheadwith the purchase. We go into
leasing mode. So we have a teamof property managers that we
work with across America.
So after all that's done, ourrole at CHER is really an active
participation in assetmanagement. So why do people
need an asset manager over aproperty manager? We've got
people after they bought. Ithink there was a client who had
40 properties, but variousproperty managers. So how do you
(13:44):
pull it all into one portalorganized so that you could not
you could see all the assets,but also make decisions in a
more integrated fashion.
Right? So once a year, we kindalook at people the investors'
portfolio, help them decide, isit time to refinance? Do we
increase the rents? So we'reworking on every line item on a
real estate portfolio. Andbecause we have institutional
(14:06):
grade property managers, evenwith our asset management fee,
you can be a much lower ratethan at the retail level going
to a property manager yourself.
Scott Dillingham (14:14):
Mhmm.
Carmen Da Silva (14:15):
Same thing on the insurance. We have a master
policy contract, so you get 40%discount on insurance. So when
it comes to taxation, becausethat's the question you asked
me, we've also teamed up withtax advisers, tax accountants,
in Canada and the US so that ifyou don't have someone, we can
refer you to one of ourpartners.
Scott Dillingham (14:34):
Super cool.
Carmen Da Silva (14:35):
And and what's good about that is with consent,
we share the file. So we'vealready got the folder of the
entity. We've already got theyou know, your settlement
statements. We've actually notonly got the documents, we
prepare all of the financialsevery month, so we really just
feed that into a schedule e,which is what you have to file
the US with the, you know, yourre returns, whether it's
(14:55):
corporate or personal. And thatsame schedule is what you're
gonna convert to Canadiandollars to file in Canada.
So most documents are alreadypre prepared for your
accountants anyways.
Scott Dillingham (15:04):
Mhmm. No. I love it. I've seen the back end
of your portal, and it's supercool how you can track literally
everything. That alone, right,just not having a necessarily
having a bookkeeper.
Right? Because you guys kinda doall of that stuff.
Carmen Da Silva (15:17):
Exactly. It's bookkeeping. It's organizing the
documents, making sure theinvoices are there if you're
audited. All of that needs weeven even on our property tax,
just to give you one more areathat we've kind of reduced
costs, if you will, we've teamedup with a property tax team that
not only tells us where on thecalendar to pay off the taxes
and everything, they actually doreassessment on property taxes
(15:38):
to see if they can get yourproperty tax low. That's a very
time consuming project, so mostpeople don't take it on.
But because we could go on afees only basis, why not? Let
them research all our clients.
If they find something and weget a discount, they get their
share. Nice. Yeah.
So do
Scott Dillingham (15:53):
they do that annually? Like, will they review
a property annually?
Carmen Da Silva (15:56):
Sure how often because I think with with data
science today, we give them ourdata tapes. We update. They
update. We're always looking atwhere the possibilities are. So
I don't even think it's annual.
It's anytime that something'sindicated, you know, because it
could be midstream whensomeone's gone from one type of
ownership to another. Right?
Because you've got homeownershipversus investment ownership. It
does trigger certain tax ratesthat change for property tax. So
(16:18):
they know all the nuances, andthey know how to fight the
battle.
You know? So I I really like theidea that from all angles, it's
not just income tax becauseremember the states that have no
income tax are probably thehigher in the property tax. They
gotta make up for it somewhere.
Scott Dillingham (16:36):
Yep. Yep.
Absolutely.
Carmen Da Silva (16:37):
Look at all angles of taxation.
Scott Dillingham (16:39):
And you're right. There are some states,
and we don't have to dive intoit here, but there are some
states that when they discoverthat it's an investment
property, they're gonna increaseyour property taxes.
Carmen Da Silva (16:48):
Well and that's the thing because, remember, we
are also helping with proformas. And so in our pro
formas, part of that team thatwe've got, they will give us a
pro form a once it switches sothat we're using the right,
valuations as well as the right,property tax when we're
projecting out, when we'reescrowing for you know, because
I like to smooth out income, sowe tend to collect a monthly
(17:09):
escrow for repairs as well astax and insurance so that we can
then pay the tax on behalf ofthe investor. Yeah. So we wanna
get as close as we can to thereal numbers, and so we have
some of those based on theinstitutional partners we have.
Scott Dillingham (17:22):
Mhmm. No. It's super cool. It's super cool. And
one thing that I discoveredabout you just from being at
different events when you werethere or or being online and
hearing you speak, but this issomething that not only you're
doing for yourself or you'reinvesting, you're building the
portfolio, and doing all thesethings, but you're very avid
about teaching your kids how todo it.
Can you tell me more about that?
Like, obviously, parents
Carmen Da Silva (17:40):
find it inspiring. I love I love when
the next generation getsinvolved. I think, you know,
when I look at myself and my ownpersonal history, my parents
were immigrant parents, and Ithink we grew up wanting things.
You know? The house, the car,the TVs.
Never wanted to lack anything.
You know? So our children see uswith everything, and so they are
not I like the new generationthinking. They're not into
things. They are okay to rentand not buy their first home and
(18:03):
have this a big mortgage tiethem down.
And so my education for theyoung, you know, these if if
that's the mentality, is toreally buy real estate, buy it
early, because that earlyplanning then can help you focus
on children and marriage andhouse later. You know? Mhmm.
Otherwise, you get caught up ina mortgage, and then you can't
get out into anything else in inthe investment world because
(18:25):
everything is gone. That's thetrap sometimes.
So investing for cash flow andin tax deductible because,
again, remember, Mitchel is anall university graduate, so
their incomes are high. They'relooking for tax breaks. Yes.
RSPs are there, but I like thetax breaks that real estate
brings too. Oh, my son, as anexample, his first internship,
he bought his first property.
(18:46):
Because in the states and that'sthe beauty of it. I didn't
realize that till I entered thestates and bought my first
properties. The price points orentry level properties are,
like, fabulous. You can't Mhmm.
Something like we're in Toronto.
My nephew, I remember, he wasbuying a $750,000 condo, 1
bedroom, really small, you know,1 bedroom for himself. I said to
him, why do you need the condoyet? Take that money, 500,000.
(19:09):
You can buy 5 properties at a100,000 US, like, with 10th with
exchange and everything else.
And now you've got 5 propertiesearning a 1,000 a month.
You know? So you've got $5,000.
You can live wherever you wantdowntown Toronto for that.
Right? And you still got assets.
You still got performance andappreciation. So we teach our
children, our nephews, ournieces very early. So his my
(19:31):
son's first property bought onhis own. The second one, he
bought with his sister. Thislast year, he bought with his
roommate.
So they're they're continuallybuying, whether it's single or
sometimes shared with a familymember. We structured so each
owns their own unit so one canbuy and sell, do their own
thing. They're not tied to the
Scott Dillingham (19:47):
Awesome.
Carmen Da Silva (19:47):
Each other. So, yeah, so they start early. The
the downside, and I'm trying tochange that, is sometimes they
don't even realize they've gotthis income stream because the
other day, they said to me, youknow what? I have to set up a 3
to 6 month, emergency fund. I'mthinking, oh, great.
You're getting to planningbecause he set up a bank
account. He's got so much cashin there. He's trying to decide,
do I put the RSP, first timehomebuyers plan, TFSA. And so he
(20:10):
talked about this, you know,emergency fund. And I said to
him, why do you think you needan emergency fund?
You know, because the the kidsare already retired the day they
get their 1st job, meaningthey're making as much as their
paycheck from cash flow assets.
Scott Dillingham (20:25):
Yeah.
Carmen Da Silva (20:25):
Right? And that gives them the ability to leave
jobs and think about housemoves. There's no restrictions
for them. But if he's not seeingthat going into his account,
it's out of sight, out of mind.
Yeah.
You know? His focus is on thethe account that his paycheck's
going into. So one of the thingsthat we want a chair is to
notify them. Ping them everytime a deposit goes in, every
time their assets appreciate invalue because then they can see
(20:48):
and feel that cash flow comingin.
Scott Dillingham (20:50):
Mhmm. I love it.
Carmen Da Silva (20:52):
Really important. Yeah. Because once
you you have that sense of cashflow because, really, that cash
flow mentality helps you create.
It gives you a creation mindset.
Right?
Whereas if you don't have a cashflow mind you have a money
mindset, it's it's always lack.
You're always spending, andyou're you know, this lack of
money is always there at theback of your mind. And so if we
can shift to cash flow man cashflow mindset, it's huge. You
(21:13):
know?
Scott Dillingham (21:16):
I love it.
That reminded me of I don't knowif you ever played it probably,
but Robert Kiyosaki's, cash flow101 game.
Carmen Da Silva (21:22):
Yes.
Scott Dillingham (21:23):
Getting out of the rat race. Yeah. You're
helping them literally out ofthe rat race Yeah. By the time
they have their job.
Carmen Da Silva (21:29):
You say that, and I hadn't played it. I heard
so much about it. So a few yearsago, someone in one of the
investment groups I was with, hehad the game. So we put 6 people
together. We actually played it.
And what I learned from it wasawesome. Like, it was just
amazing because the I got thislousy card of I can't remember.
Auto I don't know what kind ofmechanic. I was a mechanic, And
(21:49):
I was making a very low salary,and I'm thinking, man, how am I
I know all the rules. I knowwhat I wanna do, but how am I
gonna do this with loose littlemoney?
Right? The person beside me wasa teacher, no different. And the
one on the right of me, this guywas a pilot making a ton of
money. So I'm thinking, oh, thisis doesn't seem fair to me what
I thought.
Scott Dillingham (22:04):
Gonna win.
Carmen Da Silva (22:05):
Yeah. He's gonna win. That was my thoughts.
Right? And so as we pick upthese cards, the one on the left
of me got a market card and,actually, not a market card.
I can't remember what the othercard's called. He he gave her
the ability to buy these stocksat a penny, and she bought the
stocks. Right? A few roundslater, the auction came up. A
market card came up that,obviously, this penny stock went
(22:25):
to a 1,000 of stock, and she gotso much money that she ended up
buying assets and and developingyou know, going from house to
multis, and she won the
Scott Dillingham (22:35):
game. That's awesome.
Carmen Da Silva (22:36):
She won the game, and I thought to myself,
that is so interesting becauseto me, remember earlier, I said
luck is when opportunityprepared us to meet? She was one
of those because it's not onlyseeing these opportunities,
being prepared to take them.
Right?
Scott Dillingham (22:48):
Because a
Carmen Da Silva (22:49):
lot of us see opportunities that just flies by
us. Yeah. Right? So we gottatake action in what we see. So
that's what I learned from her.
But the more interesting partwas learning with the pilot.
Right? The pilot on the right ofme, who I thought would win, he
fell on some you know, whetherit was he was having children,
so, obviously, his expenses wentup. As he ran around the corner,
he got unemployed, so he didn'tget paychecks. And you know what
(23:11):
he started to do?
He was so out of the game. Hestarted looking at his phone. He
didn't wanna play the gameanymore. And I'm thinking to
myself, that's reality too.
Sometimes we check out, and wedon't see those opportunities
because we're we're so down onourselves.
And so both sides gave me such agood reflection on real world
problems. And it's not justabout real estate itself. It's
behavioral. You know? And soit's a great game to play.
(23:34):
Nice to learn, you know, someyou may learn things like I did
from the game.
Scott Dillingham (23:38):
Yeah. If you if you want, if you send me your
address after, I'll mail youone. I I bought like, this was
years ago when they werefinishing, like, making them.
Like, I think they said, youknow, we're not producing them
anymore. Oh.
And I got them on sale for,like, a really good price, but I
bought, like, 20 of them. I lovethat. I
Carmen Da Silva (23:54):
love that offer.
Scott Dillingham (23:55):
Brand new, wrapped up, ready to go. Oh. But
it's a great game for anybodywho has not played it. It really
does. Even if you're aninvestor, it doesn't matter
because I played it when I wasan investor.
And like you said, you alwayslearn something, but I agree.
Right? Those higher end cushyjobs, it's always harder to get
out of that than somethingsmall, and people don't think
that. Right? They think, oh, Iwork at McDonald's or, like, I
(24:18):
can't do this, but, actually,it's easier for you too once you
just kinda get going.
So
Carmen Da Silva (24:23):
Well and and then you know what? I I've
worked across Canada, and I justcame back from Banff, Alberta.
And I just find mindset is verydifferent from Ontario, we have
a lot of employed t four type oftax returns, so very little
planning is done. Right?
Everyone thinks, oh, I've put mymoney away from RSPs, and I'll
get this pension down the road,and that's all.
Whereas with out west, you'refinding a lot of entrepreneurial
(24:47):
or accountants around these farmowned. Estate planning is going
on. They're buying more cattleto reduce their taxes because
the inventory is gonna reducetaxes. Right? So they're like we
do in real estate, we'rerefinancing to get more
properties to bring down ourtax.
They're using a lot more taxplanning in their models every
every year. They'recommunicating between families
because of estate planning. Allof that's gonna help them grow.
(25:09):
It's this lack of communicationbetween intergenerational, the
lack of planning in generalthat's gonna they say the bulk
of the federal deficit in awhite paper for the Canadian
government is the death of ataxpayer. Mhmm.
Right? Because they've got a lotof money built up with the
seniors and RRSPs and capitalgains tax because we've got this
deemed dis disposition on death.
And so planning around thattransition is gonna be critical.
Scott Dillingham (25:34):
Yeah. I agree.
I agree. No. That's reallyinteresting.
But we have to wrap up. So doyou do you produce content
online or anything for people tofollow you, or do you allow
clients to contact you directly?
Carmen Da Silva (25:46):
So, I mean, if anything, LinkedIn, but we have
a a wealth like, I would suggestif you go to share dot, share
sfr.com, we do have sessionsthat you can learn monthly and
understand real estate, a USguide even, just to understand
any of the nuances from being aCanadian investor in the US. So
take advantage of theinformation that's available. We
(26:08):
do have certain calls that arepart of that so that, you know,
you can understand for yourself,your position, and any planning
opportunities that you mightwanna talk about.
Scott Dillingham (26:17):
That's awesome. No. Thanks for sharing
that. And I'll I'll make sure toput those those links in the
show notes. Yeah.
But thanks so much, Carmen. Itwas really fun to to get to know
you a little better and to tohear your story. So thank you
for sharing.
Carmen Da Silva (26:27):
Thanks, God.
Looking forward to our sessionstogether when we do them live.
Scott Dillingham (26:31):
Absolutely.
Sounds good.
Carmen Da Silva (26:32):
Okay. Bye for now.
Scott Dillingham (26:34):
Bye.
Carmen Da Silva (26:34):
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't I'm like, so I
maybe what you have to do issend me it. Right? So that I can
kinda listen to it and see whatit was like.
My problem, I'm
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