Lessons From My First Condo Investment with Ryan Rabinovich from Freed Developments

Andrew la Fleur: Okay, it’s my pleasure to welcome to the show, Ryan Rabinovich. Ryan is the vice president of sales at Freed Developments. Ryan, welcome to the show.

Ryan Rabinovich: Thank you, Andrew. Great to be here.

Andrew la Fleur: Ryan, why don’t we start … just tell everybody about yourself and how you got your start in real estate.

Ryan Rabinovich: Sure. About a decade ago, I was working at the Bank of Montreal as a direct banking manager, and very quickly I realized that that typical corporate world and the structure that goes with it was just not a good fit for who I was. I was starting to look around and looking at other career options. I’ve decided to go and get my real estate license while I figure out the next steps. I got my real estate license relatively quickly and began trading in real estate shortly after that. I had a couple of great years. A lot of great learning experiences on that side of the business. About after that point, I started working for one of the more prominent developers in the city. I spent about 5 years with him, learned a lot. A lot of really great experiences with them. About a year later, my wife and I had a baby, and I decided that … I was hoping to advance my career to the next level. Freed came with a great opportunity to lead their sales team and help it grow.

There were so many exciting projects in the pipeline that I just thought, “What a great opportunity to be involved in something that I’m so passionate about,” and I took it. About 2-1/2 years later, here we are.

Andrew la Fleur: Take us back if you will like to when you first got started. Was there a moment or was there a deal, maybe one of your first deals or maybe your first purchase yourself or something … Was there a moment where you … sort of the light bulb went off, and you were like, “Whoa, like this … real estate is for me. This is what I’ve been looking for. This is the most exciting industry to be in”?

Ryan Rabinovich: Great question. Yes. Yeah. I had a few of those moments of realization where I really felt like I’m just in the right place in the right time doing something that I genuinely enjoyed and fully realizing that not many people get to be able to say that about what they do for a living. I remember when I first got licensed, I got a couple of listings of friends’ parents’ home and have done pretty well for them. I was very proud of myself for being able to sell a few homes and very freshly-licensed. Just started to dabble in real estate at that point, and I just thought, “You know what, if I could help people achieve both their family goals by going into the next family home or down-sizing, or if I can help investors potentially get into the market and make the right investment moves by investing in real estate, how great would that be?” 10 years later, it definitely feels like I’ve made the right choice, and I couldn’t be happier about that.

Andrew la Fleur: Can you take us back … I know you’re a condo investor yourself as well, and you’ve done very well on the personal side investing in real estate. What was your first purchase that you made, and how did that work out for you?

Ryan Rabinovich: The first purchase I’ve ever made was actually before I was licensed. I was about 21 years old. I had a part-time job at that point for about 4 years that I’ve worked at through school. I just had a feeling that I should get into the market. I’ve always been interested in real estate, always read real estate news and kept current, but I was young and wasn’t making a huge amount of income. I was still living at home, which afforded me the opportunity to still take some risks with the money that I did earn. I remember it was a condo in Vaughan.

A new building was coming out for sale. At this point, it was about 12 years ago or so. I remember kind of going over to the site and hearing what they had to say. They were launching the following week. I was living in the area. I drove by the site every day leading up to that day. About 2 days before, I saw a couple of people there at night as I drove by. When I stopped to ask what’s going on, they told me they’re waiting in line. Inexperienced an investor, but very eager … I stayed there for a few hours just chatting with them. They were much more seasoned than me. There were only about 3 of them there, but they were more seasoned investors than me. They’ve had quite a few properties in their portfolio. I said, “You know what, I’m going to wait with you guys here, and just kind of see what happens.” I spent the night with them there. Then the next day and the next night and the following morning after that was when the site launched.

I found myself being in the position where I was the fourth person in a line of about 250 people waiting for this launch. The doors opened. I walked in with the number 4, an got to choose the unit that I loved. My mother came and supported me that morning. We chose the unit that I thought would be a good fit for me. At that time, it cost me $212,000 for a 2-bedroom that’s just under 1,000 square-feet including parking. I still own that unit today. It’s probably worth just over $400,000, and it just does incredibly well as a rental property. The building is really well-managed, with maintenance fees always staying within reason. I end up living there for 3 years between the time I was renting it, so it just ended up working out really well for me. That was my first venture into the real estate markets.

Andrew la Fleur: Wow, that’s amazing. Great story. It’s obviously worked out very well for you, and it speaks … You don’t really need to say anything else other than the fact you still have the property and it’s still doing great for you as a rental. I find that talking to first-time investors or people, I should say, looking back on their first investment, there’s usually some kind of a learning point or often a mistake that is made that you kind of learn the hard way kind of thing. Was there something that you did there that you … or what was a key learning experience you took from that first property or something that maybe you, knowing what you know now, you would do differently?

Ryan Rabinovich: What I’d say, one of the experience that I had with that specific property is I wasn’t represented by a knowledgeable realtor who really understood the market, understood what a typical agreement of purchase and sale with a developer looks like, and I ended up signing the agreement blindly because there was this big hype and a little bit mob mentality, which I was a victim to. When it came down to close, I got … I was at my lawyer’s office, and we were reviewing the closing statement, and I started seeing a lot of fees that I never knew were a part of the deal because I never really looked at the agreement of purchase and sale in that much detail. I feel that being represented by the right agent who would have raised those red flags for me would have probably saved me thousands of dollars in closing costs just on those items alone, outside of being able to guide me properly and make sure that all my t’s are crossed and my i’s are dotted.

Andrew la Fleur: Right, that’s a great point. It’s something that we talk about a lot obviously on the podcast and in my newsletters and everything, just the importance of whether it’s me or whether it’s somebody else is you need to be represented. You need to have proper representation, even if you’ve been an investor for a long time. It’s so important to have somebody on your side looking out for your best interests. It’s funny enough, my own story, my first purchase as well, which I talk a lot about was very similar. I did the same thing. I jumped in. It ended up working out very well for me as well financially, but I could have saved thousands of dollars if I had had representation. I could have done a lot better if I had had proper representation on my first purchase as well, which was made before I was an agent as well. Great story.

What do you like most? You’ve been in the business for a long time now. You’ve seen a lot of different things. What do you like most about real estate? What still excites you about it? What keeps you coming back every day?

Ryan Rabinovich: The people. The industry is very exciting. It’s very dynamic. We’re involved in a lot of really exciting projects that take a lot of work to bring to the market, and that’s a different discussion altogether and something that I’m very passionate about, but if I would have to say what’s the one thing that motivates and drives me and of course Freed Developments to always strive for more, would be the people we’re dealing with. We have a big following in the agents market. A lot of agents have great relationships with us because they really believe in what we’re doing and the product that we’re creating. There is a bit of a Freed twist to every one of our buildings that is our little flare that we add to the buildings, whether it’s in forms of incredible lifestyle amenities or in the form of exciting retail in the base of the buildings, so agents feel very comfortable dealing with us and our team when they’re representing buyers because they know the buyers will have the values there in dealing with agents and their buyers.

Of course, the buyers on their own, is very fulfilling for me because I know that we’re making … we’re taking a huge responsibility by getting someone to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for an investment or their next home. That carries a lot of weight for us. We take that seriously, and just dealing with those people day-to-day and seeing how they go through the process just is very exciting for me every time.

Andrew la Fleur: Why should anyone invest in a condo today?

Ryan Rabinovich: I think the stability there. I think the stability is definitely there. It’s definitely different than when I first started investing in the market just over 10 years ago. It’s much different because 10 years ago, you could have really picked almost any project, and you would have seen a great return on it. The city had gone through a huge real estate growth spurt in values over the last decade. I feel that today there are a lot of options. Not a lot of them are great. Some are. Some are not. Some are better. Some are worse. At the end of the day, the condo market voice you a lot of stability. Toronto is still a growing city, and all of the economic indicators are showing that there’s lots to be positive about. The condos are just a great way to be able to get into the market and my opinion is the easiest and safest way for the middle classes, the lower classes, to build wealth through real estate that they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to build for their families using other investment vehicles.

Andrew la Fleur: What would you say to the skeptic out there that thinks that condos are not a good investment, that they’re building too many condos, we have a condo bubble? You hear it all the time obviously from different people. What would you say to that person?

Ryan Rabinovich: That’s a great question. Of course, being in these circuits for so long, I’ve heard it all. I’ve heard the skeptics being skeptical about the market for many years. All I’ve seen in that time is real estate values growing, and those skeptics are out of the market getting more and more priced out every day. I think the market has proven itself to be a great, healthy market, and I think that every day that if you’re contemplating in investing into the market, every day that passes, you’re doing yourself a disservice by being negative about a market that has shown so many reasons to be positive about. I would tell the skeptics that it’s time to believe in the market and believe in the Canadian economy, Toronto specifically. Get in there and see the results for yourself.

Andrew la Fleur: What kind of stuff do people say to you, again, going back in time to your first purchase? What did people say to you? Any time you tell someone you’re buying any kind of real estate whatsoever, everybody’s got an opinion. There’s always somebody who, especially if you’re buying for investment, there’s always somebody who says, “Oh, it’s a bad idea.” As investors, one of the skills we need to learn is just to look at the facts, look at the figures, and ignore everything else, but what were some of the things people said to you at the time when you bought? Like you said, you’ve been hearing this since day 1. Do you recall anything specifically that somebody said to you? You bought that condo for $212,000, and now it’s worth 400.

Ryan Rabinovich: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I recall exactly. When I bought the condo, it was on a Saturday morning. Saturday night, I went out with a few of my friends for dinner and a few drinks. I told them, very excited about my purchase. I told them, “Guys, you’re not going to believe it. I went for it. I just put some money into the market, and I bought a condo earlier today. So excited about it.” The guys were obviously excited about it, but they tried to talk me out of it, saying, “Will condos in Thornhill really work? Thornhill is not a condo market. It’s more of a house market. How are you going to find tenants? Most people in Thornhill don’t want to live in condos. They want to live in homes.” I think looking back now, those were valid comments, but I think they’re only valid if you’re not understanding exactly what lifestyle condos provide. For $212,000, even 10 years ago, I was never able to buy a home.

It was just a way for me and other young professionals or young families like me to get into the market. As soon as we start seeing growth on the value of the real estate which we invest in, we then have a lot of different options to play with those gains. We can draw some equity out and invest in another property or sell the property altogether and invest in another property or live in the property or rent in the property. You have so many different ways to treat your real estate, almost customize it exactly based on your a) investment goals or, b) your end-user goals. I think that I remember in a 10-day period, I was contemplating actually rescinding or cancelling my agreement because everyone was telling me this was crazy, and condos are never going to work in Thornhill, and ended up just sticking to my guns. I felt really good about it. Obviously, looking back now, it’s one of the best things that I’ve done.

Andrew la Fleur: Amazing. Amazing story. I just hear that story time and time again of people who did not listen to those voices, whether it’s in your head or whether it’s right in front of you with your friends and family. They stuck with it, and it always works out very well in the end when you do that, when you buy smart. You touched on something earlier about the fact that there’s so many projects in the market today. There’s some winners, some losers. I think you’re being very generous there. I always like to say 95% of the projects on the market are really a bad choice, a bad investment. They’re really not worth your time. It’s really hard to find the good projects that are priced well and that are built by reputable builders that are going to be great investments. They’re getting harder and harder to find. Where is the smart money going today, would you say? Obviously you’re going to plug your own projects, but more in a general sense, like what is it that you would look for as an investor in the market today?

Ryan Rabinovich: Another great question. I mean, obviously, we as a company believe that Yonge and Eglinton has a lot of amazing potential for growth, and there are a few other nodes in the city that we’ve identified as having those reasons for growth, but from a macro perspective, as an investor, puts my position aside as a savvy investor, which at this point, I’d like to think that I am … probably [crosstalk 00:19:16].

Andrew la Fleur: We’ll give you that. We’ll give you that title.

Ryan Rabinovich: Yeah. I always like to be close to transit. I think that’s very important, especially in a city like Toronto. Toronto is truly becoming a world-class city, but unfortunately, in terms of transit, we’re far from where we need to be when you compare us to the top cities in the world, be it New York or London or Paris, our transit is simply not quite where it needs to be just yet. Transit is very important for me. I also try to identify where infrastructure investments are being made, be it from a corporate perspective, from the private sector, from the government sector, and-

Andrew la Fleur: Why is that? What’s so important? I mean, I know where you’re going with it, but what’s so important about infrastructure?

Ryan Rabinovich: I think when government starts to invest in certain neighborhoods in infrastructure, in developing neighborhoods or building new schools or building new roads or building a new transit line, if the private sector is investing in building new retail … Those are all kind of factors for me that identify that growth is coming to those neighborhoods. To me, those are all the things that happen just before population growth. Population growth in specific nodes is what drives real estate values up. If you don’t have the population growth, but you keep developing real estate, values will not increase because the population is not there to support it. If you’re starting to develop the infrastructure, and if you’re starting to create jobs in certain neighborhoods, naturally, the people will follow. People will follow. They’ll start buying up real estate around those areas, and values will begin to increase.

Rentals are going to come in and start commanding premiums. To me, that is probably the biggest factor to consider is where is the smart money going from the government and the private sectors.

Andrew la Fleur: Talking about Yonge and Eglinton now, in some ways, everybody knows Yonge and Eglinton, but I find that it’s sort of often overlooked by, particularly people who are used to investing in downtown Toronto. Would you say that Yonge and Eglinton is the most underrated neighborhood in Toronto in a way?

Ryan Rabinovich: I think when it comes to high-rises, I really believe that it is. I think that it’s overlooked. Traditionally, investors are simply looking to invest in “downtown Toronto,” and they don’t consider Yonge and Eglinton to be downtown Toronto. The investors that are fixated on investing in the downtown will find great projects, but there’s a lot of projects that are happening in the downtown core that have seen no increase in real estate values in years. In Yonge and Eglinton, the growth has been pretty amazing. There’s many factors that make Yonge and Eglinton as great as it is. I would say that just having a restricted area for density is going to be a huge driver for the real estate values there because unlike downtown, in Yonge and Eglinton, you can only develop high-rise buildings in about a 6 or 7 block radius, which is very low. It tools you that the amount of land available for that type of re-development is limited. When land is limited, and you begin to develop, the inventory of land becomes lower and lower, and then the land values go up. For developers to only be able to make their margins, they have to charge more for the real estate.

That’s going to continue to drive prices in that neighborhood. Being in the geographical center of the city, and of course having all the transit line and the upcoming LRT that’s going to be just a total game-changer for transporting yourself through Toronto via subway and LRT line. I think that it’s time for Yonge and Eglinton to get noticed. I believe that this year I think was a real breakthrough year for Yonge and Eglinton. Selfishly, I think we had quite a bit to do with it with a very successful project. I think now people are starting to look at Yonge and Eglinton and say, “Wait a minute. There’s a lot of really great things happening in this neighborhood, from an infrastructure perspective, from a population growth perspective, and it’s time for us to really consider it.” Then when they start looking into it a little bit more, they understand that Yonge and Eglinton is probably one of the best if not the absolute best rental submarket in the city, which is probably one of the things that are most important for investors these days.

Andrew la Fleur: Yeah, absolutely. We could have a whole podcast just on the rental submarket of Yonge and Eglinton and how unique and how strong it is. Let’s talk about Art Shoppe. Maybe you could give us a little update what’s happening with Art Shoppe. Obviously, the project was probably the most successful or one of the top 2 or 3 most successful condo launches of the entire year. It’s approaching a sell-out now. What can you tell us about that, and what’s happening with Karl Lagerfeld’s involvement?

Ryan Rabinovich: Art Shoppe was just an anomaly, a total anomaly I think for the market as a whole. It doesn’t happen often where you work on a project for so long, and you’re hoping you’re doing … As a developer, you’re hoping you’re doing all the right things and making the right product and the right product mix and the great amenities and trying to make it as unique as you can. You just kind of hope for the best when you put it out there, hoping that the people of Toronto, the residents in Yonge and Eglinton-

Andrew la Fleur: Like at the end of the day, you don’t know how it’s going to turn out, even if you do everything right, but you really don’t know until you put it out there.

Ryan Rabinovich: Exactly. With Art Shoppe, we’ve just tried to do everything right. We were quite of who the buyers are, Yonge and Eglinton, and we’ve created a lot of large units at Art Shoppe, which were incredibly popular. We were looking for the x-factor there, and going back and forth with a team, of course our partners on the project, Capital Developments as well … We were just trying to find a way to really make it special and actively seeking a way, an out of the box way to really make it stand out. When we came up with … when the opportunity came up to potentially partner with Karl Lagerfeld, for him to design the interiors of the lobbies, we just thought, “You know what, how amazing would it be to have one of the most iconic figures in the history of fashion work on the Art Shoppe as his first project in North America?”

We started working with him. He’s brilliant. He came for a session in Toronto, of course, and we threw a big party for him. That was his first time in Canada. Peter and Jordan from both Freed and Capital Developments have went to Paris for a design session as well, and now we’re very, very close to finalizing the lobby designs, which I’ve seen a sneak peek of. They look absolutely incredible, as you would expect from Karl Lagerfeld. We’re close to unveiling those hopefully in the next couple of months. Also, because sales have gone so well, we’re hoping to get to construction right away as well and get that going. We’re just very, very excited about the result of all the work that we have put into it, and we were humbled by the fact that it was so well-received by so many people within the community and outside.

Andrew la Fleur: That’s amazing. Yeah, I think everybody’s very excited to see what Karl’s come up with for the lobbies. Obviously, the project is pretty much sold out, so it’s interesting. Everybody really just bought based on the location, based on the reputation of the development team, and I’m sure the Karl Lagerfeld was just involved with it … people were just so excited. Now, very soon, they’re going to get to see what the result of what that was. Now, as you’re getting ready to officially launch 150 Redpath coming up soon, what did you sort of learn from Art Shoppe, and what did you take to Redpath a few blocks away to sort of step up the game on the newest building at Redpath?

Ryan Rabinovich: Right. Great question. Off the bat, I’ll tell you that it will be always very, very tough to top the Art Shoppe. As a developer, just looking back at our history, both with Freed and with the company that I was employed with before, whenever you do a project, just like anything in life … when you do anything in life … when you do it the second time or the third time, you just naturally get better because you pick up on your mistakes or find ways to improve what you’ve done the previous time. You implement that into the next time you do it. Every project for us is a big learning experience. We always try to find ways to make every single condo that we build and that we’re involved with exciting for many reasons. I think that 150 Redpath will be unique for many different reasons, but the one that really stands out is it’s going to be a 24-hour lifestyle building. First of its kind in Yonge and Eglinton with a 24-hour diner in the building that will serve all of the residents of the building 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The amenities there are going to be unbelievable. We’ve gone out, and we’ve looked at some of the best amenities of all the buildings in the world. We wanted to make it feel really, really special for the people who are going to live at 150 Redpath, so we have the amazing spa and game rooms and dining areas. When I recite them, they sound like amenities that are available in every building, but again, we put our own twist on it to make sure that they really stand out. When the building hits in the market in the next few weeks, I hope that buyers and agents will come down to our sale center and really get a feel for what we’re creating because it’s just going to be so special for Yonge and Eglinton. It’s going to really change what the product offering has been at Yonge and Eglinton to-date.

Andrew la Fleur: Like you said, it sounds like it’s sort of the same as other buildings, but it really comes down to the Freed factor, as a lot of people like to call it. Freed is … himself, but your whole company, you guys have built just a very recognizable and unique brand in the condo world over the last 10, 15 years. You just go into a Freed building, and right away, you understand what it’s all about and how it is different from other projects and just the uniqueness of it, the cool factor. It feels amazing. It just feels like a great place to live and to spend time, but it’s also looking at … Like you said, the retail component in the building as well is so important to the whole package, so it’s really … Yeah, like I said, it’s hard to sort of explain without just seeing it for yourself, but the Freed factor is definitely there, and buyers in the resale market definitely pay a premium for that.

Ryan Rabinovich: Right. Thank you for saying that. It’s kind of you.

Andrew la Fleur: Moving forward, Freed sort of started out himself and the company was sort of humble beginnings in King West there, one building at a time, and now it just seems like you guys are … your horizons are just shooting through the stratosphere, and you’re growing like crazy. I don’t know. I guess you can … I think it’s public now. You can tell us about the latest acquisition, the latest big news from Freed, the site that’s going to be coming up in the future. Why don’t you tell us about that and any other sites that you’ve got sort of in the pipeline you can tease us with?

Ryan Rabinovich: Sure. First off, you’re right. The reason for the last 10 years have been so successful for us, and the next 10 years are projected to be probably our best 10 years yet-

Andrew la Fleur: By far, yeah. It’s like exponential growth.

Ryan Rabinovich: It’s pretty unbelievable. It’s very, very exciting. Before we jump into that, I really want to take a quick moment to thank … there are just so many people to thank for the growth and the kind of year that we’ve had so far. We’re currently ranked on RealNet as the number one developer in the GTA in terms of year-to-date sales, and that is just because of so many amazing buyers who believe in who we are and what we do. You’ve alluded to the Freed factor. That’s definitely one of the reasons people believe in us. I want to thank a lot of our broker and agent partners who have just shown amazing support and again belief in our way of doing things. The growth that is expected for us in the next few years is only afforded to us because of so many agents and brokers and buyers who really believe in Freed. I want to thank everyone for really giving us the best year yet so far. We’re hoping that the next 5 and 10 and beyond are going to be just be record-breaking just as much as this year has been for us.

Andrew la Fleur: Great.

Ryan Rabinovich: You’ve touched on a recent acquisition. We’ve just closed and are very excited about picking up we think is one of the greatest large plots of land still available in Toronto. We’ve partnered up with [Alad 00:35:26], who is another large developer. They’ve done some great work locally, and of course, internationally. We’ve purchased and closed on the Galleria Mall-

Andrew la Fleur: For those who aren’t familiar with that, just remind everybody where that is exactly and how big that site is.

Ryan Rabinovich: It’s on the corner of Dufferin and Dupont. It’s a pretty tired mall right now. There’s some great stores there and some great history behind it, but in a city that’s growing like Toronto has, I think that it’d be great to really spruce up that neighborhood. I think it’s going to have a huge effect on everything that happens in that neighborhood after that. The site itself is about 12 acres, and it abuts an 8-acre park and community center, so it’s just a great location that just needs some love. That’s what we do so well. We find great pockets, great nodes, that have a lot of potential, and we go in there. We just try to transform the neighborhood in the best way possible to the best that that neighborhood could be. We feel that the Galleria Mall development would just be an amazing opportunity to really change that neighborhood top to bottom.

Andrew la Fleur: Yeah, absolutely. That’s a great point. You’ve got the large property of the mall itself, but it’s also attached to a park, a great green space. Your imagination is already starting to go into what you could sort of build there in terms of a master planned community. What’s sort of the … Is there any early-stage sort of vision of what we’re talking about or broad strokes? What kind of projects or buildings or what are we talking about here? Condos, rental buildings, high-rise, low-rise, like what?

Ryan Rabinovich: We’ve started by just taking a step back and conceptualizing on where we think along with our partners that that neighborhood needs and what is the best fit for the neighborhood’s needs. I think it’s still premature, but we are obviously thinking about making a big retail play there, potentially an office component. Obviously, the residential component is going to be massive. Having the park there is going to be a pretty remarkable feature to have as you mentioned. I believe it’s too early for us to get into the details simply because we don’t know them, but think large-scale development on all fronts. All was the goal of benefiting the neighborhood and its residents.

Andrew la Fleur: Awesome. Very exciting. I know you got some other sites that are coming in the pipeline. What else can you tell us about what you have coming up at Freed?

Ryan Rabinovich: We have a site that I’m personally very excited about it, in the Annex on Dupont. It’s at Dupont and just east of Bathurst there. It’s very, very close to the subway line. It’s just a couple subway stops from University of Toronto. It’s walking distance away from the George Brown campus. It’s just a quick, short walk away to Casa Loma and of course the neighborhood of Forest Hill there. I think that that stretch is going to be very different in 10 years. Again, that’s just us recognizing an opportunity for our buyers to be able to get into a neighborhood that will change. That stretch has actually been designated by the city as a regentrification area, which means that the city will encourage development so that the neighborhood could really live up to its full potential because the location is just so great. I think that that’s going to be an amazing project that we’re hoping to introduce in the next year or so.

Early next year, we will have a project at Avenue Road in Davenport, just west of Avenue Road. It’s going to be a boutique building with 35 units, all very large, very high-end, kind of going back to our roots in a sense. When Peter started Freed, it was more about the boutique small buildings, and this is an opportunity for us to do that again in a great neighborhood in the city. Beyond that, we’re just working on a couple of big land deals that unfortunately I can’t share the details with you, but I can tell you that they’re going to be very, very exciting, in amazing locations, which is what we kind of specialize in and still in areas with opportunity for investors to see great returns on their purchases, as well as end-users who will be able to purchase units in areas that are rapidly changing.

Andrew la Fleur: Wow. Just a few things on the go.

Ryan Rabinovich: Just a few.

Andrew la Fleur: Yeah. That’s very interesting. I think that’s definitely worth everyone … every condo investor should definitely, or any real estate investor, should take note of what’s happening on Dupont. There’s so much going to be in that corridor transitioning, and it’s certainly overdue. You go along that stretch any time in the last 5-10 years, and you realize how close you are to everything in downtown Toronto, Yorkville, Annex, U of T, as well as Forest Hill and transit and everything else. It’s so strategically-located in the very center of the city, and yet it’s so under-developed really compared to its surroundings. Definitely is a corridor to watch and consider investing in over the next few years, Dupont Street there. We’ll definitely be excited to see what you guys come up with on your sites there.

Ryan, thank you very much for your time today. Is there anything else you want to add? Is there anything else you want people to know about yourself or about Freed Developments or about just real estate market in general in Toronto?

Ryan Rabinovich: I’d like to add and just for the listeners to know, we really feel that Toronto is one of the greatest cities to live in the world. We get the opportunity and are fortunate enough to be able to travel through many different cities all over the globe, and we’re just so excited about Toronto, its development, its growth, and what it has to offer to its residents. We just couldn’t be happier and more fortunate to be working in the city with the amazing people that live here and just having, experiencing the best growth and the best life quality that, in our opinion, we’ve seen in any of the big cities in the world. Thank you to really everyone, again, just for making this an amazing year for us and making Toronto what it is, just a great city to live in.

Andrew la Fleur: Great. Thanks a lot, Ryan.

Ryan Rabinovich: Thank you, Andrew.

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