From Steel to Real Estate: Alex Ciotoli's Windsor Investing Journey

Introduction

Welcome to the Wisdom Lifestyle Money Show. I'm your host, Scott Dillingham. The show is designed to help Canadians invest better in Canada and the United States. We are the North America-based mortgage financing lender and provide education to both countries.

Discover how you can become a better investor and access the financing you need. Welcome to the Wisdom Lifestyle Money Show.

I'm your host, Scott Dillingham. And today I have Alex Ciotoli joining us. He is an investment-focused realtor from Windsor, part of Team Goran Remax.

Welcome. Thanks very much, Scott.

The Core Idea

Thanks for having me. Yeah, no worries. I'm so glad and so excited for this. Now, one of the things actually that I start off with every podcast is who our guest is, right?

So who is Alex Ciotoli? Tell us your story. I don't know where to start. I guess born and raised in Windsor, Ontario here.

Grew up. Went to high school.

University here. And then I was fortunate enough to go to law school in Michigan, Thomas Cooley. Came back and worked for my parents' structural steel business.

Deep Dive

I was born into that. So my parents were immigrants here to Windsor, right? My brothers were born in Brazil. I was the last of the three born.

And I was born here in Windsor. Okay. But I was born into a structural steel family.

Nice. My dad immigrated here, worked for Ford as a truck driver, and then got the opportunity to start making steel railings. And I don't know if you guys remember Becker's stores here in Windsor.

I remember Becker's. The convenience stores?

Practical Steps

Yeah, that's right. So he got a break from a contractor. He was asking my dad if he could make Becker's structural steel. He had no clue how to do it.

He was making railings, but he said yes. Forged through it and did well and ended up getting all the contracts in Ontario.

That's awesome. Yeah.

That's awesome. So Becker's, I'm pretty sure Becker's was bought out, is it Max Milk?

Key Takeaways

Yeah. Okay. He moved on to Max Milk as well after that. So that was sort of his story coming up and ended up growing the business to one of the biggest structural steel companies in Southwest Ontario.

Nice. So I was sort of forged by steel in that business.

Yeah. And, you know, learned from the ground up, you know, within the shop and office management and then progressed to project management and doing takeoffs in quotes, right?

Yeah. Which was a very, very essential tool in business, regardless whether you're doing, you know, manufacturing or if you're doing pricing for whatever it may be.

Resources

For instance, in real estate. That's right.

Especially for investors. That's it. And so, and I love that too, because you mentioned you grew up here, which I think is important because, you know, if you've just moved to a town, you've only been there a year or two, how do you really know the ins and outs, right? Where you've seen the city completely revamp, be rebuilt and everything.

So I love that. And I mean, you just touched on real estate. So what's here, what's your perspective on the real estate industry right now?

Phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal. I think Windsor, like you were saying, you know, the ups and downs through the decades here, like growing up here, you see like 2008, what happened. And, you know, before that, it's cyclical, right?

Introduction

Yeah. But with all of the investments coming into this area right now, it's just the growth is explosive. Whether it be, you know, industrial, commercial, or, you know, single family homes, all the way up to, you know, multimillion dollar homes.

There's growth. And there's, you know, Damore Construction, he's a gentleman that owned all the land from the expressway here. Back in the day, he was friends with my father and he told me, I was a little kid, but he's always, but never, you know, left by mind. Whenever you go into a city and you see craze in the air, invest in that city.

You know, there's growth and progress. Yeah. So Windsor, it's dynamic right now, right? So there's a lot of money coming into this area.

Yeah. Which ends up, you know, lending to a new house sales and building and all kinds of stuff.

The Core Idea

No, that's it. And that's awesome. And I heard that same quote too. And for the many years I was discouraged because I was not seeing any cranes in Windsor.

And I'm like, what's going on here? Yeah. But I got to say probably five or the past five, maybe six years, it's just really turned around and things are getting really strong.

It's great. You know, it's great for all sectors of business, whether it be manufacturing or real estate or, you know, the restaurant businesses in Windsor. And you see a lot of new ones popping up, which is great. You know, it's fantastic to see all that.

There's a lot of new Canadians coming here as well. Yeah. Which, you know, lends to money moving around and being spent.

Deep Dive

And that's progress. That's progress.

That's what we love. Absolutely. Now, I do have a question for you because I, you know, we obviously follow each other online.

Yep. And, uh, I see, you know, the insignia or the branding, you know, Esquire realtor.

So I'm actually curious. Is it how you dress?

Practical Steps

Like, what is that? And then what's the difference between that? And then listen, if we're talking about Esquire realtor, then I must answer by, you know, Esquire realtor.

Right. Fair enough. It's not prescription, but they're, they're a gradient lens, but you can't really tell.

Yeah. Right. Esquire is the whole package, right?

Okay. So it's, you know, your first meeting with the client, um, after you've, you know, progressively told them about yourself or what you could do for them. So you really want, you really want to, you know, show them what you could do. So Esquire is, you know, the elite of the elite with whatever it may be, whether you're an attorney, uh, or you've been bestowed Esquire by, by the queen.

Key Takeaways

Okay. Right.

Nice. So it's an experience that you have. Um, there's a lot of realtors, uh, and with whatever industry you're in, doctor, lawyer, there's, you know, there's good, uh, there's okay.

Uh, and then there's fantastic. So I want to be on the fantastic side. And I try to, you know, do that for all my clients.

That's awesome. I love it.

Resources

Cool. Yeah.

I saw that. I'm so curious about this.

That's her. Thanks for sharing.

So it's prompt responses. It's, you know, uh, uh, prompt, uh, correct answers, you know, not just, you know, shooting, uh, from the hip. You want to get proper analysis for your clients, whether it be an investor, um, at, you know, a commercial level, which, you know, they want to know about exit strategies and all that. They want cap rates to be at a certain level, or if it's the initial investor looking to buy, you know, their first, um, home to add to their portfolio.

Introduction

Yeah. So there's, there's different analytics that go into, you know, each sector, but I really try to, you know, um, talk to them, um, right. And, and answer any questions they may have. And that, that communication is key.

And that's mentioned always, uh, on Team Gord as well. I rate, uh, Team Gord as the number one team in Canada by far. I know that we're rated number three in residential home sale closings or whatnot. And number six, uh, in the world.

So listen, um, the best team to be part of, uh, especially if you're a new agent coming into the industry, the training, uh, and the focus on, on, um, communication and the agents is, is bar none. So I just want to give a shout out to, to Team Gord.

That's awesome. They're doing a fantastic job there.

The Core Idea

Go Team Gord. Absolutely. And I'm glad to be part of that.

No, that's awesome. That's so cool.

Now, um, you're right. You're right about the, the connection with the clients. Um, I had a realtor in the past tell me, you know, four years after he sold the home, the client called him and said, how do I get my washing machine fixed?

You know what I mean? So like having that connection with your client, I think is, is so important.

Deep Dive

Yeah. I'm definitely not answering that question. Fixing washing machines, but I would definitely, you know, refer them to a professional.

For sure. Yeah.

But it's true. It goes, it's the testament of you do a good job.

Of course. And you're going to always be there.

Practical Steps

Yeah. You end up, you know, these are, these are, um, expensive decisions.

Uh, to say the least. Right. So if a investor is going in, like I said, there's different, you know, levels of investing, but, um, you know, if you're a prudent, uh, pragmatic investor has been doing it for years, you want to know your cap rates, what your exit strategy is, the dynamics of that city or what you're investing in. So there's different, different levels of expertise.

And, um, you know, I try to focus on, on my lane, uh, which is, uh, you know, commercial industrial and, you know, even the entry level investor getting them if they want to do it, you know, a lot of new investors are coming in, uh, buying a civil family home and converting that. Right.

Absolutely. For a secondary, uh, income. So you want to make sure that they're in the right zoning, uh, because in Windsor right now, they're, uh, section one and two, uh, zoning of their, their, uh, the city's, uh, implementing, um, their, uh, inspectors to go through.

Key Takeaways

Right. So they want to make sure that you're abiding by all the codes and you've got your proper permits and that, uh, just went through that with a client of mine, uh, that bought a property and, um, the initial property owner was starting to do conversions to an ADU.

Didn't pull permits. Uh, didn't do any of that.

Ran out of money. Uh, ended up getting foreclosed on by the bank. And when we went in there, um, we saw the explosive potential of that property there.

Yeah. Uh, we knew that there was permits that had to be pulled, but after working the numbers, uh, it works fantastically and we pulled the trigger and he got the property.

Resources

That's so cool. Yeah.

That's awesome. And, you know, this is a bit random because I know I didn't ask you this before, but I'm curious just from our conversation. So you touched on, you know, staying in your lane, right. And industrial and commercial style properties is sort of your niche.

Um, but then you also mentioned at the start, like your parents, you were involved in all these commercial projects and stuff. So do you think that growing up with your parents into that stuff, like that's what naturally allowed you to get into this?

110%. You know, I've been doing takeoffs ever since I was 14 years old. Takeoffs, if you don't understand what that is, folks, is, uh, it's, it's a quotation method, right? Uh, and just breaking down your cost of materials, your, your, uh, your labor, um, your contingencies, all that going forward.

Introduction

Yeah. And, and laying out, uh, you know, the amount of time that it's going to take, which is essential depending on the season that you're in. And sometimes it'll take more time in the winter time moving forward or, or the labor force may not be up to, uh, you know, your standards and going that quickly. But you've got to, those are a lot of analytics that have to be worked out.

Yeah. And you want to, you want to win.

Yeah. You want to win for your client, you want to win for yourself. Uh, and at the end of the day, if you're not winning, uh, you're not working.

That's it. And winning is essential.

The Core Idea

Yeah. That's the objective all the time. And, uh, I've yet to lose.

Absolutely. That's awesome.

That's awesome. So no, that's great. And so I want to, I want to add some value to the listeners now.

Right. So we, we talked about you and how you are and, uh, just kind of your niches in that, but let's talk about the market a little bit. So ideally my vision is somebody who's listening to this, whether they're in Windsor or outside of Windsor, who would consider investing in Windsor.

Deep Dive

Let's talk about Windsor. So what's the market doing? Is it, is it trending up or trending down?

Right. It's in Canada. Everywhere is up and down depending on the location.

So let's talk about Windsor. What's, what's Windsor doing?

Hottest market in Canada. Nice. I don't know what the actual number is. There's a million new Canadians coming in every year.

Practical Steps

Um, the majority of them are coming to Ontario because of the, you know, uh, industrial growth. Right. There's a lot of industry here. Um, and there's, uh, a lot of potential.

So I don't know, uh, the exact numbers on, uh, what the growth is. Like you have to look that up. But I know that, uh, every sector that, you know, uh, in real estate has been growing, whether it be, uh, you know, commercial building leases or, um, single family residential homes. Uh, a lot of them are being converted to ADUs.

Like I said, there's, uh, you know, um, Mr. Mayor here in Windsor has, uh, allowed, uh, you know, that to happen, which is essential. There's a, there's a housing shortage here in Windsor, right.

And I think throughout Ontario. Yeah. So, uh, growth wise, I think, you know, if you're an initial investor coming in here or, uh, you know, you're looking to buy and grow. I think the city here is fantastic for that.

Key Takeaways

Okay. Um, I think there's potential in, uh, in moving forward. The next 10 year trajectory I foresee in Windsor, uh, Essex County to be explosive. So the market right now, yeah, it was trendy.

So it, uh, you know how it works, Scott. Interest rates, uh, correlate to housing, uh, pricing, right. Uh, not to, not to mention, uh, bonds, right.

So these are all correlated factors. Yeah. Uh, we don't want to get too technical here, I think, but, uh, growth is like this right now. Um, I think it's plateaued a little bit in late April.

Uh, just because I think a lot of people are waiting for interest rates to see what's going to be happening with that. You're very well aware with that.

Resources

For sure. They are.

They're waiting on the sidelines. I have so many buyers that say, as soon as the rates lower, like I'm hopping in.

So it's going to be pretty crazy. Which is, which is best if you think of it, right. Because everybody's waiting for the rates to come down. So everybody's holding off to get into the market.

And then when the rates come down, what happens? Everybody gets in the market.

Introduction

Yeah. Which is.

And then bidding wars. Yeah. Like, so if you have the cash folks, uh, or if you're, you know, approved with, uh, Len City, um, uh, or your bank for that matter, get on to a good realtor and get in the market because your chances of getting the home that you want, uh, or your dreams are fantastic right now. And you'll pay, you know, a considerable amount less.

Yeah. Right.

No, that's awesome. Um, now for those that don't know the area or even those that do, you know, are from Windsor, but maybe they just don't read the news. Uh, can we touch on some of the major infrastructure projects that are happening in and around Windsor right now?

The Core Idea

Sure. Well, the major one is a battery plant, right?

Yeah. Um, over 350,000 square feet of building there, which is incredible.

Yeah. Uh, I think it's, uh, 10,000 new employees going to be operating in that facility there, which, uh, is explosive. That alone right there, that money that's going to be generated just with the, you know, the, the labor force.

Yeah. Is, uh, is explosive. You know, these people need to eat, they need to live, they need to, you know, buy clothes, they need to shop and travel.

Deep Dive

Absolutely. Absolutely.

So there's a lot of growth there. The new hospital that's going to be, uh, up here, the mega hospital, uh, off of 42 there. Uh, I think the, uh, projections are for the end of 2025.

Yeah. Amazon plant, the new Gordie Howe bridge.

Yeah. Uh, all kinds of, all kinds of development and the plethora of new Canadians coming in.

Practical Steps

Right. I see, I noticed, sorry, I noticed that the streets are a lot, uh, more crowded, whether it be Monday to Friday with traffic, which is fantastic.

Yeah. We were, we were talking about that and I'll add another piece of value here, but we were just talking about that literally today. So ever since, so Lens City has been opened as a location for four years and, you know, we went through COVID and all that. So there's been very little foot traffic of people coming in off the street, but that has absolutely increased.

And so like, now we're like, okay, we need like our sales team in the building. Cause our, our team is very like remote because they can work from home or they're out at Tim Horton's meeting a client or after work.

You know what I mean? But now we, we literally need people in the office cause it's just, yeah, the foot traffic.

Key Takeaways

So you're right there. The other thing I want to say too, is if you look at Detroit. So for those that are not from the area or again, those that are, but just don't know Windsor and Detroit, because it's a border city, they very much mimic each other. So if Detroit has, you know, downtime with business, Windsor tends to have downtime as well.

And you wouldn't think that cause it's different countries, but they're so connected that they do. But if you look at Detroit right now, just like Alex said, there's cranes, right?

They're building buildings. They're making moves. There's things going on, they're revitalizing the community there. And it's, uh, it's really impressive when you go over there compared to seeing it a few years ago, it's night and day difference.

So. Not to mention the real estate market in the United States is booming as well, right?

Resources

Yeah. So Canada tends to mimic that.

Um, we're a little behind. Our population is a lot less obviously, but, um, very correlated.

Yeah. Which is, is great.

Yeah. Um, exciting times coming.

Introduction

Yep. So just a little bit of, uh, FYI for the investors listening here.

So, okay. So let's, let's talk about the out of town investors. So what is the best advice that you would give to somebody who's not from Windsor who wants to buy in Windsor? What would you, what would you?

Well, um, for one, if they're not part of an investment, uh, group, uh, whether it be Ontario or, or wherever, uh, get in contact with, um, myself, uh, or a fantastic mortgage broker that, that does those dynamics, for instance, London City, you guys have a lot of different groups that investors are a part of, right? Absolutely. Um, that would be, you know, that your start of the vetting process there.

Yeah. Do your due diligence, uh, ladies and gentlemen, do your due diligence with whomever you're going to be involved with. That's going to be spending your money, uh, on investments and grill them, you know, give them the gears, make sure that they know as much as you do, if not more, uh, moving forward, right? Because, uh, it's, uh, you know, it's a process.

The Core Idea

A lot of people, you know, I, I see, you know, this industry is crazy, uh, you know, getting into it. Um, you know, there's a lot of realtors that have just come from, you know, selling t-shirts and now they're selling houses and they think it's the same thing. Uh, and they're supposed to be professional. Uh, it's, it's just mind blowing on, on the level of professionalism that you can find.

But the key factor here is, uh, grill them, do your due diligence and, um, vet them for yourself. If not, uh, get someone that you trust or, um, like, give me a call. I'll vet them or, or grill them for you, or you can use me.

I'd love to help out. Absolutely.

No, that's awesome. And I know just from the clients, the mutual clients we had together, the reviews on you were, were very high.

Deep Dive

So I can, I can say that. Um, now I know you, we kind of touched on a bunch of things here, but I just want to make sure there's nothing that we're leaving out. So we talked about many of the good reasons of why someone would want to invest.

In Windsor over another town. Was there anything that we might've missed or do you think we, we kind of don't? Um, I think there's a lot to talk about. I don't think we could cover this one segment or podcast here, but, um, you know, it depends on how much, if you, if you have an exit strategy, if you're looking to get into a, uh, you know, commercial building or, you know, uh, a multi-unit building and have an exit strategy in five years and have, you know, a certain rate that you want to, you know, clear out.

If you have investors that are part of your group that are going into this, um, I can work that out for you. We can work it out together, you know, uh, provided that, you know, your, your, uh, your goals are, uh, realistic.

Right. Typically a lot of, uh, of the investors that I'm dealing with that are, um, from, uh, the GTA, they like to see a 10% cap rate. You know, they want to see a strong number because there's always contingencies that pop up with properties, whether it be commercial or multi-units, um, roof needs fixing, or, uh, all of a sudden, you know, something goes, uh, hard left and it has to be tended to.

Practical Steps

So they want to see cashflow, right? They want to see cashflow and, um, you know, having, uh, um, a realtor that knows the ins and also look for, uh, and pricing those, uh, schematics moving forward. It makes the investor feel a lot more comfortable.

Yeah. Um, and when you deliver on that, they're yours.

That's it. That's awesome.

I love it. I love it. Um, now again, I, I don't want to like ask the same questions, but I know like we're, we're getting to the, the end of, of the segment here. And, um, I know we touched on many of the benefits of, of working with you, but I'd like you to, uh, talk a little more about yourself if there's any other benefits.

Key Takeaways

And then lastly, how do people get in touch with you to move forward if they're interested? Yeah.

Sure. Um, listen, I've been involved in big business, uh, whether it be with, through a family business or moving forward with, uh, the things that I've, I've worked, uh, abroad with, uh, a senator and a doctor in the Caribbean, uh, with, you know, professional, uh, professional, uh, the medical, professional medical field.

Let's say that. Yeah. Um, so I've got contacts that I've dealt with all over, um, whether it be Europe, Caribbean, here in North America, uh, business that I've started and sold, uh, which is always a great thing when you're looking to, um, find someone that's going to be doing your investments, right? They, they understand the ins, they understand the ins and outs of, uh, what it, what it takes to, uh, grow a portfolio or even what a portfolio is.

You know, you're not going to just, uh, pass over, you know, uh, you know, your hard-earned money or your group's money to someone that you haven't vetted. Right. So this is a process and it's, uh, a matter of getting to know someone, uh, initial meetings, you know how it goes.

Resources

Yeah. Um, to, uh, uh, testing your, you know, testing your first project and see how it moves forward because talk is cheap and, uh, delivery is everything on that. So, uh, the objective is to, to win, uh, and I don't like learning. So you don't have to have that saying, uh, either you're, uh, winning or you're learning.

Yeah. No, I just want to win.

That's it. That's it.

That's awesome. I've learned enough. How do they, how does everybody contact you so then everyone else can win too?

Introduction

Sure. Absolutely. You can contact me through, uh, you can call me on my, on my, uh, business line or my personal line. You can reach me at 226-350-5165, um, or 226-773-0060.

Or you can email me as well. com. Uh, or call the office at C-B-O-R-D.

That's awesome. Well, again, I appreciate you.

Thanks so much for coming on. And it's nice to see an interview and have people here that I do see working with investors in the, in the neighborhood and community. And, uh, we hadn't talked about Windsor for a long time.

The Core Idea

So I'm glad to have you on. So we could.

Thank you very much. I look forward to doing more of these, you know, and I think there's a dynamic here that we can, uh, educate and pass on some great knowledge. You've got a plethora of things to talk about.

I'm sure. As do I.

Yeah. Sounds great.

Deep Dive

We'll do it. So from, uh, Scott, myself, Mr.

Esquire Realtor, we're out. See you later. Thank you so much for tuning into the show today. If you found value, please follow the show and read it five stars.

It would mean the world to me. And lastly, all the resources that we spoke about are at the bottom of the show notes. Looking forward to seeing you in the next episode.