Thank you to all our candidates for the 2020 OREIO Elections. As a reminder, check your email inboxes in the morning of June 17th for the election poll. You must be logged in, using the email associated with your account, and have an active membership, in order to vote. Voting will close at 11:59pm on June 17th, and results will be posted to the Forum and via Email on the morning of June 18th. If you have any questions, please reach out to executive@oreio.org.
President
Lena Guirguis - Video
Lena Guirguis is an asset management consultant, a serial entrepreneur, a public speaker, a wife, and a mom with businesses and brands spanning North America. Lena has co-founded numerous businesses including New Venture Management a Business and Real Estate Investment consulting firm established to provide business owners with proven organization structure and workflow. NV Property Management, a boutique-style firm founded to provide full asset management service offering its investors maximum returns, and tenants with quality, safe and, cost effective homes. Stilettos & Hammers™, an all-women's real estate investment network focused on education, providing tools, resources, and an ethical support network to help members make the right investment decisions based on their individual resources and risk tolerance. Lena began her real estate journey at the age of 21 with the purchase of a mismanaged triplex in Eastern Ontario to buy, fix and hold. By the age of 25, she had acquired a multi-million-dollar portfolio. While buy, fix and hold of multi-family residential properties has always been Lena’s preferred investing strategy, she has amassed multiple Rent-to-Own transactions over the last decade and developed a RECO approved RTO investment process as well as completed land severances and fix and flips both in Ontario and the US. With the expansion of her family, Lena’s focus shifted to commercial investments namely in the medical sector which resulted in the opening of her first Pharmacy. With a portfolio spanning Ontario and various States in the US, she has developed a solid management system that allows her to remotely oversee the successful management of her investments regardless of its location. Lena has always made time to given back to the community by serving on the board for several non-for-profit organizations in Ottawa and the GTA including 2 terms as the membership coordinator for the Ottawa Real Estate Investors Organization (OREIO). Lena’s philosophy is: “It doesn’t matter where you come from; it’s where you decide you want to go.”
Tony Miller - Video
I'm a very long time OREIO member and in the coming days I'll be sharing my views and platform as to how I will add value to the membership and organization. Please consider following me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram because I use those sites to post about all things related to real estate investing. I know many of you, but to ensure full transparency and accountability, I'll start off by sharing my bio. Please contact me directly tony@tonymiller.ca if you have any questions or concerns about my candidacy. I am a life-long city of Ottawa resident and a long-time investor. In early 2014, I retired from the federal government after 24 years of service at the Communications Security Establishment to become Ottawa's Investor Focused Realtor.
I've been an active voice for landlord advocacy at the city level since 2014 and I currently serve as the Director of Government Relations for Ontario Landlords Watch. I am the co-founder of the Ottawa Real Estate Investor Conference (OREIC) and a Real Estate Investing Meetup group with 850 members. I've planned, organized, and hosted numerous successful real estate investing events over the years including the popular Investment Property Bus Tour and the Saturday Morning Meetups at Local Heroes. The Mayor of Ottawa, some city councilors, and city staff have standing invitations to some of my events and they will be offered active participation at OREIO meetings and events if I'm elected as President. I was elected to the OREIO Executive as Membership Coordinator in 2014 and resigned shortly afterwards because new commitments came up and I knew that I wouldn't have been in a position to provide the level of service that the membership deserved. I am a former real estate investing writer and contributor for Postmedia/Ottawa Sun, and I have been interviewed on radio, television, podcasts, webinars, as well as in several magazines including Canadian Real Estate Wealth (CREW) and MoneySense. I am the Preferred Realtor and Service Provider in Ottawa for several investing organizations including Keyspire, Investor Life, and Clover Properties. I'm also a Focus Team member with Barry McGuire’s Focus Series that educates and assists investors with their creative real estate investing needs. I'm a 3-time winner of the Real Estate Investment Network's (REIN) Realtor of the Year Award and is an EXIT Realty Ambassador Award winner for professionalism, integrity, and ethics. As a real estate investor, I've focused on multi-family residential properties and private money lending. My realtor team has helped clients from across Canada successfully complete numerous secondary dwelling unit projects and build wealth right here in our city. I think that's all for now - I'm excited to have the opportunity to run for President and serve the membership!
Victor Menasce - Video
I know many of you, and it’s been my distinct pleasure to get to know you over the past several years that I’ve been an OREIO member. But we also have a number of new members who may not know me. So here’s a bit of my background. I started my career as an electrical engineer working at Bell Northern Research here in Ottawa. I was in the microprocessor research group where I was responsible for developing high performance processors that could increase the call handling capacity of the phone network. If you made a phone call anywhere in North America after 1991, 52% of the phone calls were processed by a chip that I designed. I went on to develop processors that have been used in all kinds of applications all over the world. The seat back displays on Air Canada are the Thales 4400 system (designed in France) that use the PowerPC 405EP microprocessor that I was responsible for when I was VP of Engineering for the processor development team. I have chips in Pacinko machines in Japan that were designed by Sami/Sega in partnership with Nvidia, Apple Airport Express WiFi Access points, Cisco Enterprise WiFi Access points, HP disc storage arrays, Broccade Fiberchannel switches, the Raytheon Patriot Missile, Nokia wireless base stations, the list goes on and on. I’ve conducted business in over 15 countries and visited more than 50. In 2009 I took a hard left turn in my career and moved into the world of real estate investing full time. A little purple book played a role in that decision. I’m thrilled that we have Robert Kiyosaki as our speaker again this month. Over the past decade, I’ve learned a lot, and made a few mistakes. Today, I’m an active developer with an 80 bed assisted living and memory care facility under construction, I’m currently managing a 142 unit apartment complex about to enter construction in the next week, a 40 unit apartment building due to start construction in November, a 260 unit apartment complex, and I am extremely excited about a mid-rise project we’re developing in the heart of Westboro on Richmond Road. I’m also the host of the Real Estate Espresso Podcast, a daily show, 7 days a week. Now with over 800 episodes, listeners in 139 countries and closing in on 1 million downloads. For those of you who are regular listeners, thank you for your amazing comments and questions. I’m the author of the book “Magnetic Capital” which I wrote specifically because I saw a void in the marketplace for a book written from the perspective of a practitioner, rather than an academic, or a self help book. None of this would be possible without the love and support of my amazing wife Nataxja and my family. I truly believe that who you hang out with is who you become. It’s for that reason that I’ve made it a point to develop relationships with extraordinary people, some of whom have come to speak at OREIO. We’ve had amazing speakers like Dave Zook, Dr. Chris Martenson, Mayor Jim Watson, Francesca Lepine Willson from Group Lepine, Olympic medalist Megan Duhamel, Olympic medalist Mark McCoy, Tammy Mitchell, Sam Mizrahi, George Ross (former executive VP at The Trump Organization), Robert Kiyosaki, Josh McCallen from the Renault Winery, Russell Gray co-host of the Real Estate Guys Radio Show, Tom Burns from Presario Ventures, Stefan Aarnio (who sadly died a few weeks ago at age 33) and countless others. All of these folks are cherished relationships. I’m thrilled to hear about those of you who have connected with speakers who have come to speak at OREIO and have taken steps outside your own circle of comfort into the broader world to expand your own sphere. Benjamin Franklin said “Why curse the darkness when you can light a candle?” He also recognized that many people can light their candle from his. When they do, his candle is not diminished, and their light can be multiplied. That’s one of the beauties that we have at OREIO. The opportunity exists for all of us to expand our world, expand our knowledge, expand our relationships, and see opportunities that were hidden in plain sight, but only with the help of others do we compress those timeframes and accelerate our growth. I’m thrilled to share this journey with you.
Vice President
Christian Szpilfogel - Video
Christian Szpilfogel, along with his wife and business partner Chaunei Chan, have been investing in Ottawa real-estate since 2005. Their company, Aliferous, invests primarily in commercial residential buildings as well as office and light industrial. In recent years they have also been building new apartments within Ottawa and surrounding towns. They have taken an ethical stance on rental creation and management with a “tenant as a customer” focused style. Christian also likes giving back to the investor community by helping new investors get started properly ensuring their financial security as well as taking an ethical approach to tenant management and all other aspects of real-estate investing.
Speaker Coordinator
Babette Turner
Babette Turner is a real estate investor, mother, real estate lawyer, gardener and member of OREIO for over 10 years. If you have been to meetings in the past few years, you would probably recognize her from the regular infomercials with the tag line “Turn to Turner for your real estate laywer”. She is passionate about real estate investing and about OREIO. As a past member of the executive, she has held the positions of Webmaster and Secretary. Babette would once again like to serve the members of OREIO as the Speaker Co-ordinator. If you are asking yourself “Why should I vote for Babette?”, then allow me to answer that question. As past executive member, I understand how speakers were selected. The executive finds the best speakers that they think would provide value to the members. I will continue to do this. However, I believe that we should also get input from the members on who they would like to have present
Secretary
Michael Chan - Video / Bio
Jacob Holmer - Video
My name is Jacob Holmer and I am an accomplished Professional Engineer, career project manager, real estate investor, and husband. I have been working in the industries of engineering and construction for over 10 years, having delivered projects involving building life cycle maintenance, custom outfitting of trucks and shipping containers, modernization of elevators, and duplex conversions. Today, I currently manage several multi-million dollar commercial construction projects on the Tunney’s Pasture campus in Ottawa. I have delivered projects for past clients such as BGIS, Manulife Financial, Carleton University, the Department of National Defense, and Public Works to name a few. In 2017, my wife immigrated to Canada from France, where we decided she would open her business in photograph conservation. I chose to serve an active role in support her business in two key ways: administratively as I have experience contributing to the business direction of two medium sized enterprises, and financially as we decided together that we would live off of one salary and reinvest her income into the company. In 2019, I founded Holmer Real Estate Investments, a firm who provides a hands-off real estate investment solution to help families who are unprepared financially for retirement. Inspired by my own parents’ struggle with retirement, I now help others who have been hurt by the volatility of mutual funds. I love to teach, hence why I am so passionate in OREIO’s mission to inspire and educate. OREIO has been good to me, and now I would like to give back by applying my project management experience to help moderate the board meetings, advocate the organization to the public, and deliver a modern OREIO. On a personal note, I love to exercise and strongly believe that success starts with taking care of one’s self. Before the lockdown, my wife and I were often found salsa dancing, rock climbing, and doing yoga, and I strive to maintain a reputation of being honest and accountable. Thank you for accepting my nomination for the role of Secretary. OREIO has embarked on the great task of evolving our beloved organization and I look forward contributing to this transition.
Publicity
Rob Lachapelle - Video
I've been investing in real estate for over 10 yrs now and have been an Oreio member for almost as long. After joining the club I was inspired to take some chances and take action to steer my life towards where I wanted it to be. Some examples of inspired action are starting a small property management company (which I have since handed off to another Oreio member) and getting my real estate license so I could leave my Federal Government job and be self-employed in the field of real estate full-time. I can say it hasn't been easy at times but it is very rewarding. who doesn't love buying and selling multi-family and commercial investment properties! During some of those difficult stretches coming to our monthly meetings gave me energy and encouragement. Not just the great guest speakers but all of you with your smiles and excitement about investing and personal growth in general helped keep me focused on my goals and gave me strength to push forward.....thank you! I am grateful to have spent the last year volunteering on the Executive as your Publicity Coordinator and have learned a lot about how we function and what it takes to manage an organization of this size that is run solely by volunteers. I had some ideas that I wanted to implement as part of the Publicity role but didn't get to see them all through. The uncertainty we had with the "Future of Oreio" as well as the Covid pandemic sort of left us in a holding pattern. We did however see more engagement on the Facebook group and also started and are growing an Instagram page as well. I have been sharing Oreio with my own network as well as others on social media with success and have recruited many new members this year, easy to be a cheerleader when you're "selling" something you love! The Executive worked hard to grow our membership and I am happy I was able to be a small part of that. Moving forward I am excited to see the potential we have to grow and strengthen Oreio and in seeing how engaged our membership is. I believe most of us want the club to become even better without compromising what made it so great to begin with. As Publicity Coordinator I would like to see a small budget for advertising (with support of members and Exec) as we don't currently have one. I would like to see some targeted promotions not just for Ottawa residents but Gatineau as well as. There are also members and guests coming in from the outskirts and also cities like Montreal and Kingston. I would like to further develop relationships with groups in other cities to collaborate for the benefit of our members as this could attract possible investors and JV partners who are looking to invest in Ottawa due to our strong real estate market. I think we should also grow our stature in the community, not just the investor community but in general to local governments, charities etc, as well as to become more known as an authority on the subject of real estate investing and housing in Ottawa. We have a great amount of diversity and talent already in our membership and it would be great to attract more successful people and be more of a destination for high end guest speakers if that were to be the case. I think attending related trade shows to promote Oreio would be another positive step. I was in talks with a contact at Canadian Real Estate Wealth (CREW) Magazine about writing an article on the club or having members submit content but things at the magazine have been put on ice and although my contact is no longer there it is something to look at again in the future. I have many more ideas and of course these all depend on what you the membership wants and what direction we go in but just know I am positive, excited, and like to THINK BIG! My loyalty lies with the club and it's members and I am dedicated 100% to my duties as Publicity Coordinator and also being part of a strong, cohesive Executive Team.
Francois Lanthier - Video
Although I am a recent member, I have been investing in real estate for the past 15 years and much more intensely in the past 5 years. I currently own a few multi-family properties in eastern Ontario, am working on adding basement suites and invest in Joint Venture partnerships both locally and in New Brunswick. I currently work full-time as the Marketing Manager at Riverpath Retirement Community – a Riverstone Retirement Community. I plan on leaving my job in the next few months to focus full-time on my growing my real estate portfolio. I have also been the Marketing and Communications Manager at Lépine Apartments, a local high-end apartment developer. I also possess a degree in Communications and previously had my own marketing firm. As well, I volunteered at the Québec City Chamber of Commerce within the recruitment committee. I was in charge of welcoming new members, ensuring retention and recruiting new members. I feel that I could bring my expertise in sales and marketing to the publicity department at OREIO. I am also a member of numerous small local Meetup groups and online communities where I could spread the word about OREIO. I have many creative ideas for advertising and am an excellent networker. I thoroughly enjoy meeting new people and feel that OREIO is poised for further growth.
Informational Technology
Brad Cartier
10 years of experience investing in the Ottawa and Montreal markets, primarily in new condo construction but now small multi-family development in secondary markets around the Ottawa area. Brad is also a startup angel investor specializing in the property technology niche, with 6 angel placements to-date. Brad works as a digital marketing consultant with a range of proptech startups in Silicon Valley and across Europe.
Membership Coordinator
Jessica Roche
Jessica was born and raised in the Greater Montreal Area. She relocated to Ottawa in 2009 to pursue her post secondary education. Ms. Roche holds a Bachelor Degree in Social Service with a minor in public administration and a Master’s in public administration - all from the University of Ottawa. She is a dedicated public servant who developed a strong interest for financial freedom. She is an active Real Estate investor who is looking to expand her portfolio in the Ottawa and in the Greater Montreal region. Finally, Jessica is an avid fitness professional who loves to travel.
