Montreal City Weblog

Kate 21:42 on 2022-05-25 Permalink Reply  

• JaneyB 08:27 on 2022-05-26 Permalink

  That’s quite a story. The guy buys blocks with private loans at 25% interest, pays out tenants for about 4k each and goes from there. And he’s got a bunch of those simultaneously. He must have nerves of steel to juggle all that. Of course, renoviction is a problem but that’s one ballsy businessman.

• Kate 08:50 on 2022-05-26 Permalink

  Well, he’s a man with access to private loans, which suggests he hasn’t exactly bootstrapped himself out of nothing.

• JaneyB 09:05 on 2022-05-26 Permalink

  The world of private loans is easy for anyone to access – and anybody will lend to you if you’ll pay 25% interest on the loan. They take the bldg as collateral if you default, after all. All the risk is the borrowers.

  There are many immigrant groups here who have a community of lenders available btw, notably the Lebanese, Sikhs, and others. Many house purchases and business expansions are financed that way in Montreal because often immigrants can’t access bank loans without a credit history or perhaps because they are working partly or wholly in cash. Most private lenders are not lending at an extortionist rate of 25% though. He is very insane to borrow at that rate but I guess it’s has been working so far.

• Kevin 09:37 on 2022-05-26 Permalink

  “They’re not confessing. They’re bragging.”

• Blork 10:21 on 2022-05-26 Permalink

  For generations, the idea of the “self-made millionaire” was put forth as the pinnacle of success and achievement in our society. The entire U.S. national mythology is based on this. Everyone from the 19th century robber barons on to Howard Hughes, then the Silicon Valley moguls, and even Donald Trump rode those waves of mythology.

  In recent years we tend to take a closer look at exactly how these people made their millions, and at what cost, but don’t be fooled into thinking most people raise those questions just because they swirl around in popular culture and in progressive or leftish media.

  Your average schmuck out there is still big on the self-made millionaire mythology. This is how snakes like Peter Sergakis manage to stay popular despite the nefarious ways he runs his businesses. Even the monsters at Shiller-Lavy have their following among the ignorant populace who see no other value associated with getting rich off other people’s misery beyond the monetary value.

  This guy is just another in a long and unbroken line. He has his detractors, but he’s undoubtedly a hero to many.