Introducing the Ask Andrew Podcast

Alexander Y.: In this episode, I interview Andrew la Fleur about a brand new podcast.

Speaker 2: Welcome to the True Condos podcast with Andrew la Fleur, the place to get the truth on the Toronto condo market and condo investing in Toronto.

Alexander Y.: Hi, everyone. I’m Alexander Yolevski. I’m part of the behind the scenes team at truecondos.com, and today, we’re going to do things a little differently. I’m interviewing Andrew la Fleur, and we’re going to talk about his brand new podcast, his brand new show called the Ask Andrew podcast. So Andrew, how does it feel to be on the other side of the table?

Andrew la Fleur: Hey, Alexander. How you doing? Great to be on the other side of the table, as you said, and to chat with you today. Looking forward to it.

Alexander Y.: Yeah, this is going to be great, because there’s no better person to talk about this brand new show other than you, really, because this is your show, but it really comes down to the condo investors. So why don’t you talk about … what is the brand new show? What’s it all about?

Andrew la Fleur: Yeah, so as you said in the intro, the show is simply called the Ask Andrew podcast, Andrew for short, and basically, it’s pretty much as it sounds. It’s a show where condo investors come and ask me questions and I answer them. That’s basically the format of the show.

Alexander Y.: So this is basically like a direct line between you and the condo investor in terms of getting questions answered?

Andrew la Fleur: Yeah, exactly. It’s real, raw, unscripted conversations with real people. These are not paid actors, and some of them are clients of mine that I’ve worked with for many years. Others are conversations with people … this is the first time that I’m talking to them ever, but the common theme throughout all the episodes will be, again, questions and answers, and it’s … yeah. That’s why we call it Ask Andrew. People asking me questions about condo investing. It could be anything they want to ask me whatsoever. I don’t know what the questions are ahead of time, and just … we hit the record button and we see what happens.

Alexander Y.: That’s awesome. That sounds great. So I mean, you’ve got the True Condos podcast. You’re about to hit 180 episodes, so why are you creating the Ask Andrew show? Why now? Why did you decide to create a brand new podcast?

Andrew la Fleur: Yeah, that’s a great question. I mean, I decided to create this as its own separate podcast rather than within the True Condos podcast. True Condos podcast has been going … for those who don’t know, if you’re listening, it’s been going for about three and a half years. As you said, 180 episodes. You probably know the numbers better than me, Alexander, but we’re hundreds of thousands of downloads of the show. It’s been great. People have really loved the show and got a lot out of it.

But the format of the show is mostly … a lot of the foundation of the show is really me talking to experts within the condominium industry and real estate industry and getting their opinions on the market and what’s happening and so on, and also me giving my own opinions and things on the market, as well. But I wanted to really give people a chance to hear from real people, so to speak, people on the street, so to speak, real condo investors.

And so I decided that this would be better for it to be its own show, a separate thing. And I think this … I’m really excited for this new format. I think it’s something that people are going to really enjoy. I think people are going to get a lot from it. Certainly, there’s nothing like it out there, and it’s just a great way for people to get to know me, as well, obviously, more as a real estate agent, as somebody who’s helping people invest in condos. And as you listen to me and as you hear from me and you hear from me talking to real people, you can decide for yourself if you want to work with me or not, obviously. But yeah. I think it’s going to be great, and I’m really excited for it.

Alexander Y.: I think the coolest thing about this concept is you’re going to have people that are getting questions that they probably have and have been asking themselves or just searching for the answer for a long time, and they’re going to have people that are in similar places like themselves asking you those questions. They can hear those answers directly right on the Ask Andrew show.

Andrew la Fleur: Yeah.

Alexander Y.: So yeah.

Andrew la Fleur: Yeah, I think … exactly. A lot of times, I mean, it’s … Especially if you’re new to condo investing, you sort of don’t know what you don’t know what you don’t know, right?

Alexander Y.: Right.

Andrew la Fleur: You don’t know the questions to ask in many cases. So I find it’s very helpful just to hear from other people who are in the same position as you, especially for if you’re starting out, to hear what they’re thinking about, the kinds of questions they’re asking, because it can be a very dangerous thing if you’re jumping into real estate investing and you haven’t asked the right questions. That’s one of the things I look for when people … when I first talk to them, is what kind of questions are they asking?

And based on the questions they ask me, I can tell right away whether they are sort of ready or not to get into investing, because you certainly don’t want to jump into something as significant as buying real estate if you really don’t know the fundamentals and the basics and the basic pros and cons of what you’re about to do, and the risks and the rewards that you’re potentially about to enter. So yeah, I think it’s going to be great for people like that.

Alexander Y.: And obviously, you don’t know … I mean, you don’t know what kind of questions are going to be coming in until those questions actually come in to you, whether it’s through a phone call or through an email. But for all the people that have followed your True Condos podcasts that’s out already, to seasoned condo investors to people just trying to dip their toes into the market or just learn about it … I mean, who is this podcast going to be for? Is it for everyone, or is it dependent on where you are at the stage of investing in the Toronto condo market?

Andrew la Fleur: Yeah, no, it’s a great question. Who’s it for? I think it’s really … there’s going to be, really, something for everyone on the whole spectrum, whether you are just starting to think about investing in condos and you haven’t taken any steps at all. You’re just … it’s just an idea that you thought about, and you’re starting to wonder what questions you need to ask, to somebody who’s been doing it for a decade or more and who’s got 10 or 15 condos in their portfolio, and they’re looking to really refine their strategies, because those are the type of people that are going to be on the show.

We’re going to have the full spectrum of people asking questions, and obviously, whether you’re somebody who’s starting out and somebody who’s been doing it for a decade, they ask different types of question. But the answers to those questions are useful to you wherever you are on the spectrum, so I think people are … yeah. People are really going to enjoy it for that reason.

Alexander Y.: All right. So where can people listen to the Ask Andrew podcast? Where can they listen to it, download it, subscribe to it?

Andrew la Fleur: Yeah. So again, it is a separate show from this one, so True Condos podcast is going to continue. We’ll keep this format going as it’s been going for the past three and a half years. This is a new and separate show that you’ll want to subscribe to separately if you’re already subscribed to the True Condos podcast. And of course, you can always find everything at truecondos.com, but more specifically, if you type in askandrewpodcast.com, it’s going to take you directly to the show itself, askandrewpodcast.com. And of course, it’s going to be on iTunes and Stitcher and anywhere else you’re downloading your podcast from. You can just search for the Ask Andrew podcast, and it will come up in those apps that you have, as well.

Alexander Y.: Perfect, askandrewpodcast.com. Now, the show is running on questions. It’s running on the questions of condo investors or people interested in the market. So if you want to become a guest on the show, if you want to get your question answered, how do you do that?

Andrew la Fleur: Yeah, exactly. And that’s … you’ve said exactly right. I mean, the show will only be as successful as the questions that I get asked, but I really don’t think that’s going to be a problem at all, because every single week, every single day, I get questions from people all around the world about investing in condos, whether it’s through phone, email, texts, Facebook, carrier pigeon … you name it, I’m getting questions every day. And a lot of the questions are similar, so again, that’s one of the reasons why I thought it would be great to have this resource for people to look at and to be able to come back to and listen to on a weekly basis.

So yeah, anybody who wants to ask me questions and be part of the show and have a conversation with me, it’s absolutely free. There’s no charge to it, and you can just, again, go to askandrewpodcast.com and click on the … there’ll be a button there, which will be something like, “Ask a question.” Just look for the button. It’ll be very clear. And there, you can find out how you can have a conversation with me and be part of the show.

Alexander Y.: Awesome. Perfect. I can’t wait to get started on this project, because obviously, I will be working on it. So I’m pretty excited for the Ask Andrew podcast.

Andrew la Fleur: Well, yeah, and everybody who’s listening out there who doesn’t know, Alexander’s a very important member of the team here. He’s the one who makes me look good week after week and publishes all my content out there, amongst many other things that he does. But he’s really the engine behind the True Condos podcast and all the other things that we do, videos and everything else. So yeah, Alexander. Looking forward to your magic touch on the show, and I’m sure people are really going to enjoy it.

Alexander Y.: Thanks a lot, Andrew. I appreciate that. So askandrewpodcast.com. Go to that website if you want to listen, download, or subscribe to the new show. And if you want to get your questions answered and you have a question of your own that you’d like to be featured on the show, you can do that right there by clicking the “Ask a question” button. Thanks a lot, Andrew, for going through this. I’m pretty excited to get this podcast started.

Andrew la Fleur: Awesome. Great. Looking forward to it too.

Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to the True Condos podcast. Remember, your positive reviews make a big difference to the show. To learn more about condo investing, become a True Condos subscriber by visiting truecondos.com.