November 19, 2019
Episode #75 – Nick Legault – Persistence and Irrevocable Commitment
“Look for opportunities to be challenged and practice persistence, because it is through this persistence that you push through and get to the result that you’re looking for. It’s not easy, nothing is given on a silver platter. You have to see yourself as a limitless opportunity. If you don’t quit, you’re going to get there.” – Nick Legault
Nick Legault, is the founder and CEO of Building Investments Inc. He’s also the REIN Canada award winner of Multi-Family Investor of the Year, Co-Venturer of the Year, and Leslie Cluff (Most Prominent Player) of the Year in Ottawa.
Nick holds an honours degree in Mechanical Engineering, and an honours certificate in Business Administration from the University of Ottawa. After school, Nick went to work as design engineer and project team leader for a start up waste-to-energy engineering company in Ottawa.
He started his investing career part-time in 2008, at 25 years old, immediately after graduating from university, with the purchase of a 2-bedroom condo. Now a full-time real estate investor and developer, Nick focuses on acquiring properties to build, renovate and owns multi-million-dollar apartment buildings in Ottawa, ON. His company, Building Investments, broadly specializes from land acquisition, to planning and design, to construction project management, and property management.
Nick is a speaker on multi-family investing, and most proud of his coaching students who have bought multi-family properties.
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- Show Notes
- [02:08] Patrick introduces his next guest in the REIN Member Series: Nick Legault
- [03:59] Keeping it simple and light, Nick lays out what it is he does.
- [05:26] Looking back to 10 years ago, Nick shares the catalyst that brought him to the world of real estate investing. A crash course on stocks and economic downturns.
- [08:16] Although Nick is an engineering graduate, a big influence in university was the only book he has ever read cover to cover – Rich Dad Poor Dad. Two major take-aways: buy real estate, own your own business.
- [09:31] Working in construction during high school gave Nick an inside look at what could be done with houses, while engineering provided him the know-how with numbers – two more critical pieces to his real estate investing.
- [11:20] Nick shares a bit about where he grew up in small town Ontario and his evolution into entrepreneurialism through childhood challenges and choosing to create his own path.
- [14:43] Nick opens up about the challenges he faced with family illness and divorce at a young age. These adversities forced him to mature quickly and caused him to do a lot of emotional and conscious reflection. Nick views these events as a blessing in his life.
- [16:46] Nick and Patrick discuss the paths that any emotional challenge can lead us down. For some, they find a way through to deal with it and come out the other side. For others the adversity becomes the reason they cannot move forward in life. For Nick, it was the former.
- [19:03] Nick takes us on a journey back to 2008 when he lost his first engineering job but invested in and embraced his own personal development through Millionaire Mind. He further shares his winning formula to get to his destiny.
- [23:05] Ten years later, is this formula still deeply embedded in Nick’s mindset?
- [24:11] Extreme ownership. Nick shares his belief in this concept and how it shows up for him.
- [27:19] Nobody said this ride called life would be easy. Practice persistence.
- [28:38] Reviewing an important perspective from former TEDM guest Alan Cahn. Limitless opportunity.
- [30:35] Success: how Nick defines this for his own full life experience.
- [32:05] Nick shares the resources and practices he applies to his growth and development.
- [33:43] Blending his real estate journey back into the conversation, Nick connects his steps from first condo, to rapidly procuring several more units including a block of townhouses that came close to bankrupting him. Then he made a decision. That decision with perseverance led him through.
- [38:30] Commit. Decide. Then release the fear, to allow what needs to show up next.
- [39:15] How did Nick raise capital to fund his investments? And another formula Nick believes in for real estate investing success.
- [42:34] Communities like REIN and reading the right real estate books brought Nick the opportunity to better understand the art of investing and immerse himself with people who had already forged a path of experience to learn from. [44:42] Nick imparts a nugget of wisdom from his townhouse block purchase experience. “Your willingness to fail will determine your ability to succeed.” The obstacle became the way.
- [47:36] Nick generously shares what he feels is a “good failure” through irrevocable commitment.
- [49:23] Decide. Then decide again; and put that cycle on repeat. You will either decide to move forward or decide it’s not right for you but commit to the decision.
- [51:55] Fast forward to the current state of his real estate investing business, Nick talks about what he’s working on in the world of multi-family and development in Ottawa along with a blessing in disguise.
- [55:46] As he examines the results of a deal gone south, Nick firmly states the ownership he takes in its outcome. In retrospect, would he have done anything different?
- [59:00] Further in the spirit of sharing experiences to learn from, Nick discusses why the seller in the deal gone south made the choices he did and Nick’s lessons within it.
- [62:10] In the context of coaching, a prominent barrier Nick observes in his clients is fear. Nick’s antidote: work the formula, find the right deal; the money will show up.
- [64:02] In Nick’s own experience, there are plenty of people with money, but no time or know-how to invest it on their own. This is a people business, period. Nurture authentic relationships; build confidence and mutual trust to become their solution.
- [69:30] What is Nick’s big why for pursuing this path?
- [71:14] Nick takes a moment to share final thoughts and methodologies from own perspective plus three levels of economics he learned in real estate investing.
- [76:17] Winding down to make way for some rapid-fire! Book he gifts the most and the powerful book he couldn’t put down for 4 days; favourite inspirational quote; wacky weirdness scale; room-desk-car; favourite swear words in English and French; music choices; favourite movies and the message he wants to hear at the pearly gates.
- [81:56] Nick’s abundant gratitude.
Connect with Nick Legault:
Selected Links and People Mentioned from this episode:
Robert Kiyosaki books: Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Fake
Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Ecker
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink
Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Power vs. Force by Dr. David R. Hawkins
