🎉 Waltz reaches $50M💰 in funding to support LATAM growth 🎉 Read the full story here
Matt’s real estate journey began in his home country of Canada, where he invested in student housing and flipping projects. But over time, he found himself facing a market that felt increasingly restrictive and overpriced. That led to a bold decision: he sold his entire Canadian portfolio and in favor of U.S. real estate. Since then, he’s been investing exclusively in Tennessee with Waltz as his preferred lender in the U.S.
Matt is an experienced investor from Ontario, Canada, with over 40 deals under his belt. In recent years, he began to see the writing on the wall. Canada’s real estate, especially in Ontario, was becoming increasingly challenging for landlords. Tenant-friendly laws and long eviction processes created frustrating obstacles. Matt personally experienced tenants who stopped paying rent and caused property damage, with little immediate recourse.
Faced with these hurdles, Matt decided to liquidate his portfolio. His new mission was to explore landlord-friendly markets in the United States, where he could scale faster and manage risk more effectively. He hit the road, driving through multiple U.S. states in search of the right opportunity. After careful consideration, Tennessee emerged as the clear choice.
The state’s strong economy, landlord-friendly laws, and lack of state income tax made Tennessee particularly appealing. Coupled with housing prices that were significantly more affordable than in Canada, he found that he could acquire more properties for less. For Matt, it felt like Black Friday real estate shopping where he could snap up value-add properties at prices that enabled units to cash flow.
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Matt’s approach to real estate is all about finding undervalued properties where he can add value through renovation.”I work with local wholesalers to source off-market deals that others pass on, but that have upside if you’re willing to roll up your sleeves” he said. That’s exactly how he found a single-family house in Columbia, Tennessee. The 3-bedroom, 1-bath, 1,000-square-foot property needed slight updates which would make a big difference. He bought it in cash, then began renovations to improve both its livability and its market value.
From there, he followed the BRRRR (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat) strategy. First, he purchased the property and completed the rehab. Next, he rented it out to generate income. The final step was the refinance, which is where Waltz came in. Cash-out refinancing allowed Matt to tap into the equity he had created through the renovation. Because the property’s value had increased, the new loan amount was based on that higher value. This meant he could pull out a portion of that equity as cash while keeping the property as a rental.
The refinance essentially turned his locked-up renovation gains into liquid capital that he could immediately use to fund future projects without having to sell the Columbia, Tennessee property. “In this business, the goal is to keep your money working,” Matt noted. “The refinance gave me back the capital I put into the rehab, and now it’s already funding my next deal.”
Investing in Canadian real estate became increasingly more frustrating for Matt. In addition to rules and regulations, he grew frustrated with various elements of the loan application process. Several aspects of the Canadian system proved challenging for Matt:
When he began exploring U.S. real estate, Matt discovered a more straightforward financing system and, importantly, expert guidance from Waltz. That support helped him overcome the unfamiliar process and gave him the confidence to expand his portfolio south of the border. Now, “with Waltz, it’s easier to invest in real estate in the U.S. than Canada” he said.
Matt had heard of DSCR loans before, but getting approved in about 30 days with Waltz was a pleasant surprise. He discovered Waltz through a Google search, and it quickly became clear this platform was exactly what he needed. What stood out most to Matt about working with Waltz were three key things:
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Looking ahead, Matt is excited to continue working with Waltz. He plans to buy a mix of rental properties and flips using trusted local contractors. His next big project is a distressed four-plex, which he’ll renovate and refinance using the BRRRR strategy to keep growing his portfolio.
