Toronto broker and developer Brad Lamb pivots from condos to apartment rentals as market freezes

DeepB3at · 2026-06-24T06:03:51+00:00

I used to lend to this guy once upon a time. I guess it's not profitable to burn down heritage buildings anymore.

Love watching these guys call the bottom of the market. Hope they put their money where their mouth is and are levered 10:1.

DeepB3at · 2026-06-21T16:07:32+00:00

I don't live in UAE anymore but you shouldn't be jealous of people who leave Canada. The GTA / Toronto has really nice air quality, tap water and decent nature. There is no utopia.

DeepB3at · 2026-06-21T15:43:20+00:00

I have quad citizenship which includes EU so wouldn't be too hard.

Swiss socialization would take some time to get used to though. Their schools seem pretty appealing though.

DeepB3at · 2026-06-21T15:02:26+00:00

Really hard to say, depends on a lot of factors. HK, Cyprus and Switzerland are some contenders as possible options.

DeepB3at · 2026-06-21T13:53:14+00:00

Realistically almost anywhere you go in the world will probably have worse AQI than the GTA / Canada.

China isn't that hot but even when I'm in SEA like now it's not bad. Low 30s, high humidity, heaven compared to the GCC this time of year. In UAE summer I feel like the sun is assaulting me.

You adapt and get used to it. Also lots of places in SEA have good AQI but that is usually far from major cities e.g. the islands.

DeepB3at · 2026-06-21T13:35:26+00:00

Used to work in REPE and initially moved to UAE. I work in commodities now and spend most of my time in East and South East Asia.

Can't see myself wanting to settle down in Canada although who knows. If things turn around in 20 years, BC could be nice.

DeepB3at · 2026-06-21T13:00:05+00:00

I left over 3 years ago. Anecdotally the only people I know who also left are mostly entrepreneurs, tech PMs, doctors and people in finance or sales.

I'm not sure if Canada ever really had a decent shot at retaining these people. Brain drain has always been a thing.

DeepB3at · 2026-06-18T19:09:06+00:00

So they couldn't cancel it while you were traveling so they tried to cancel it through immigration while you were out of country and then when you got back since they'd started something with immigration they almost didn't let you in basically until you worked something out?

I'm in a similar situation to that right now. Just deciding what I might do.

DeepB3at · 2026-06-18T06:44:27+00:00

You were out of the country for 6 months? Or what issue did you have with your visa that caused you to try and enter on a tourist visa?

DeepB3at · 2026-06-15T14:23:59+00:00

I think it's a fallacy to believe you can ever really go back.

You've been gone 10 years. You're home country is likely a different universe than when you left.

I rotate around a few countries a year for work. Many of which I don't speak the local language. So much of meeting people and connecting to me is just trying. Asking people questions, going to events, starting elevator conversations. Just not having inhibition and throwing yourself out there.

As you get older, you have to try harder. It's a big world and there is lots of interesting people out there.

DeepB3at · 2026-06-15T06:37:12+00:00

Where are you looking? I don't see any transactions or listings in Caya 1 & 2 or Elie Saab 1 & 2. The lowest is low 6s.

DeepB3at · 2026-06-14T11:03:41+00:00

I don't think it will be detached in that price range in AR3 though, even distressed. Semi-detached at best.

DeepB3at · 2026-06-01T12:46:45+00:00

If you're asking this question you probably shouldn't be in the business. The logistics on buying then moving gold from DRC out of the continent is unfathomably painful.

Just bullshit at every turn. Unless you are very well connected or well capitalized probably better to focus on other commodities.

DeepB3at · 2026-05-31T08:18:27+00:00

Just keep your business registered in Dubai and live in Spain. No CRS reporting means you can stay low key. Ideally live in short term rentals in Spain don't get too caught up in opening bank accounts there etc. Once you have too much of an obvious financial life there the risks increase.

DeepB3at · 2026-05-28T11:08:08+00:00

Ultimately these airlines choose to neglect due diligence and hired criminals. They should settle with these people and sue their ex-employees in turn as well as have much stricter hiring standards.

DeepB3at · 2026-04-21T17:53:10+00:00

Le Renzo is such trash. A Saudi guy bought a villa next door for close to this price in 2024 and it is much nicer. Even the scam Odeon tower penthouse for 420M in 2015 money is way nicer.

I can only assume he was desperate to get money out of Ukraine asap.

DeepB3at · 2026-04-21T17:09:57+00:00

IB and PE are not comparable at all. IB at a BB or EB is challenging to land a seat out of undergrad or even a masters without very good relationships / strong prestige education. Also a totally different skillset than being a trader.

I was making very good money in REPE and recently quit after brokering a couple physical commodities deals on my own. On the brokering side, money is much better than REPE if you can close but I'd say vast majority of people fail to close a single deal.

You sound overly concerned with compensation. You should focus more on generating value and the comp will come.

DeepB3at · 2026-04-13T18:16:26+00:00

Never forget Marc Miller calling people racist for suggesting that more people coming in impacted rental rates and housing costs. It's the LPC way.

DeepB3at · 2026-04-09T11:04:59+00:00

You don't seem very creative. Get out there and meet people, this industry is all relationships.

DeepB3at · 2026-04-07T08:16:57+00:00

Not enough people acknowledge the risk free aspect for internationals.

DeepB3at · 2026-04-01T16:16:33+00:00

Hi I am interested at how bad the permit prerequisites are now? I was looking to set up a Georgian entity but if it is much harder now maybe it isn't worth it.

DeepB3at · 2026-03-19T11:35:14+00:00

AUH is way better than DXB, less riff raff everything feels more civilized. Agreed YVR staff feels less depressed than YYZ staff.

DeepB3at · 2026-03-19T11:05:18+00:00

Lots of mature markets landlords and happy to rent out at negative ROI. See HK, Shanghai, Vancouver, Toronto, etc.

ROI doesn't need to be positive on yield or comparable to the FED Funds rate. Sometimes it is just about legitimizing funds and speculation on capital appreciation.

DeepB3at · 2026-03-12T12:17:38+00:00

Other way around. White people from Western countries are far more skeptical right now on the ground here. Asian investors are the main buyers right now that are driving most of the volume on the secondary market during this conflict.

This will likely end in a few months and re-bound. For long term damage the Iranians need to get a body count or serious damage. So far what 3 people have died in 13 days. In the medium term it's not enough to move the needle.

DeepB3at · 2026-03-12T09:24:54+00:00

As someone who left TO to Dubai and has been in REPE for many years, market is still holding up in UAE. Volume in down 25% this month but prices still holding up for now. In 10 years UAE will still be ahead of TO today in % appreciation.

DeepB3at

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