What happens when two real estate worlds collide… and both Podcast audiences win?

This episode is something we’ve never done before.

We sat down with Alfonso Cuadra — known to many as “The Godfather of Real Estate Investing” — for a true crossover episode between our show and Wealth Genius… and then flipped the script and joined his podcast too.
This isn’t just an interview — it’s a hybrid conversation between two investing mindsets.
We dive into:
How we each got started in real estate (and what we’d do differently today)
Why understanding your local market is EVERYTHING (including a mini Edmonton market snapshot)
The real power behind multifamily investing — beyond the hype
How everyday investors can build passive income and long-term security
And a few laughs and real-life moments that don’t usually make it into “educational” content
If you’ve ever wondered how top investors think… or how to take your next step with confidence — this episode delivers both strategy and perspective.
Because the truth is…
Success in real estate isn’t reserved for a select few — it’s learned.

You can also catch this crossover podcast on The Wealth Genius Podcast - Episode 92

This is Real Estate in Edmonton — where we talk real estate and real life.
Hosted by:
Devin Gray – Realtor with EXP Realty & Mogul Realty Group
Tracie Gray – Professional Broadcaster, Event Emcee & Real Estate Investor

Thinking about selling, renting, or investing in Real Estate?  Reach out anytime.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

This is real estate in Edmonton, helping you navigate buying, selling, investing, and living in Edmonton, hosted by realtor Devin Gray and professional broadcaster Tracy Gray.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Alright, so crossover episode. Oh my goodness. This is new initial. We have never done a crossover episode. We're your first Alfonso. I love it. Well, you know what? We can give him some context. So you have a podcast, we have a podcast, and we say, you know what? We're going to share this podcast on both uh podcasts so we can now spread the love.

SPEAKER_03 0:38

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

And so this is this is fantastic. And the name of your podcast.

SPEAKER_03 0:42

So ours is called Real Estate in Edmonton, where we talk real estate and real life. So we talk about not just the number, we we talk a lot about the numbers. Devin does the market report, but then also we like to talk about what it is in the community that attracts people here to live here and make Edmonton a great place to buy real estate and to live as well. So we we talk about all those aspects.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

And how do people how do people find it?

SPEAKER_03 1:07

What's uh uh right now we're just on YouTube because we're not very technologically advanced yet, and I'm our social media person, and yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Nice, nice.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

Um so we're on YouTube right now, and it's real estate in Edmonton. Uh but we are expanding soon.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

So hopefully coming to a this is your big expansion because that's right. Uh for those of you that are watching, uh, this is the Wealth Genius Podcast, and uh we are everywhere where you listen to your podcast. So Spotify, Apple, Audible, I mean I there's there's so many, right? There is so many platforms.

SPEAKER_04 1:45

Uh subscribed uh a year ago with Spotify when you when you uh told us to listen to many episodes.

SPEAKER_01 1:51

So we have a lot of uh like a big listener base, and uh you know the key, the key, if some people say what's the secret, you gotta be consistent. You gotta be consistent with content, and so we want to bring on interesting guests, and uh I like to bring people that I know. Uh we know each other for a long time uh yeah, before COVID. Yeah, 2017. Uh 2019, 2019. Yeah, 2019.

SPEAKER_03 2:16

Before you started, well, before you started Wealth Genius, we met you.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Yes, yes, yes. And uh all of a sudden, maybe I pop popped up in your feed, and I'm not I got this wealth genius thing, and you're like, what is what is this guy doing now? Uh and so you've come to some boot camps, and now you guys are members. So welcome, congratulations. Thank you. And and so what's going on in Alberta?

SPEAKER_03 2:39

Uh Devin's really good about answering that one. He's a real estate agent with uh Mogul Realty Group in EXP, and so he does a monthly market report at Mogul Mastermind. And so um I'll hand the microphone to you because he covers this better than I do.

SPEAKER_04 2:54

Thank you. So, what's going on in Alberta and Edmonton? So uh we're kind of past our our busy time. We had a very strong 2024, 2025, and um now we're into the words that they're using from the Realtors Association of Edmonton, uh a year of resilience, a real year of normalcy, a year of balance, and uh a lot of that is because of the fact that uh uh they've really turned the tap off with immigration. You talked about that a lot this weekend. Um the good news for Alberta is that we still have uh we're still growing, so we still have people coming here, especially from Ontario and BC. So um we're still going to have a uh decent year. It's just not gonna be the craziness that we've had for the last couple years.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

You don't want to be uh, you know, one of many putting in offers. You want to have, you know, kind of you kind of want to be able to, you know, look at a property, make decisions. You know, people lose their ability to rationalize uh when things are hot because most people are taught to chase the market. Uh people aren't taught to make money from any market. And these are my favorite markets when things start to slow down and everybody's a bit scared. That's the I'm all over that.

SPEAKER_04 4:11

Yeah, I 100% agree. Yeah, we have had uh some seasoned investors that we've worked with that have kind of disappeared the last couple years because the market was going up that are starting to come out again and recognizing the opportunities for sure. And so uh and and certainly uh there's uh there's great opportunity in so in uncertain markets for sure, and and we have that right now. I love that, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

And we have you used to do some television. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 4:37

Yeah, so back to me. Um, you want to talk about it?

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness. All right, Alfonso and those are those are uh news anchor words. Back to me.

SPEAKER_03 4:48

Did you see how fast I grabbed the microphone? It's like, oh, if I have to, I guess. Oh, here, it's me again. Yeah, hi Devin. Oh, Devin, you're still here. Yeah, so I'm definitely um a talker in the family. Um, and I've been doing broadcasting for over 30 years. My dad was a famous broadcaster here in Edmonton. So I grew up in Edmonton, I grew up in a radio station. I started doing um on-air cut-ins with my dad when I was about four years old. Yeah, I got my first job doing a TV commercial at three. Um, so I've been in the broadcast industry my entire life. It's everything that I've known. But I also have always liked real estate. And when I was 21, I bought my first property with my mom.

SPEAKER_02 5:28

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 5:28

She couldn't qualify for a mortgage because she was a real estate agent. And it's hard for them too because you don't have a set income coming in. Yeah, so I had a set income, but not a lot of the cash. So my mom and I went in on a house together. And knowing what I knew that what I know now, if I had known it then, $80,000 house in Lethbridge, brand new, new build. How many of those would you buy today?

SPEAKER_01 5:51

The whole block.

SPEAKER_03 5:52

The whole block, right? Yes, yeah. And then some. Yeah. So, you know, it it's really good to see such a variety of people here. I was talking to a guy who's 20 years old, and he brought his parents to come in and uh be a part of this too. And if, you know, if all of us had that mindset, it would um just just think of all the things that we could do, all the potential if if we knew your knowledge about real estate at 20, how amazing that would be. So I can't go back in time, but when's the next best time to buy real estate?

SPEAKER_02 6:23

Today.

SPEAKER_03 6:23

Today is the next best time, and we know that. So that's why we've been uh doing real estate investing for over 20 years together. Um and we started with Rain, and then we like so we we've known you for a long time as well, and now with Wealth Genius. And so there used to be a TV commercial that was uh I think it was Remington, was it the Razor Blades, where he said he liked the company so much he bought the company. So we didn't buy the company, but we bought the membership.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

We definitely signed up, signed up for it today. It was a long time coming, yeah, long time coming.

SPEAKER_02 6:55

Yeah, yeah, for yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

But but uh, you know, I love it that you're here and you guys, you know, we believe in the people are the asset, and you guys you guys are bringing in uh a lot of value to our community, so we're we're definitely uh excited about that. You have some questions here.

SPEAKER_03 7:13

Yeah, you got you got because um like I was mentioning, we have a podcast too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so uh this is very important right now. Well, yeah, that's right, and we're on your podcast.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Yeah, it's like it's a crossover, uh crossover.

SPEAKER_03 7:27

And it works out perfect because you said your podcast is very conversational, just what's happening, what's going on, you know, uh tell us the deal. And and that's what ours is too. Ours is called uh real estate in Edmonton, and it's where we talk real estate and real life. So Devin has all the knowledge on the market reports, what's happening in real estate, and then I like to focus community-based because it's not always about the numbers, it as you know, a lot of it is um what do you have for being able to get around the city? Like are you able to commute easily? What's happening in the communities? Are there playgrounds, are there schools? What's attracting people to live here, rent here, buy here? So we do a little bit of all of that for our podcast, and that's why it was perfect having you as our guest because Alfonso we, as you saw, Devin does a little market snapshot, what's happening in Alberta. But then also with Wealth Genius, you guys take a look at all of those factors too. What's causing the numbers, where are good places to buy? Yeah, like you take a look at all that stuff. So for our viewers slash um, and that was that was more than one. That was clear on that singular. For all our 11 viewers or listeners, um, can you give us just a a little information about what wealth genius is, how you started it, where you came from?

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Well, I came and I I'll take you back because I think you need some context. Um, you know, I'm a I'm a refugee here from El Salvador, so I came from a civil war in El Salvador. Uh my mom had her luggage, I had my luggage, I was nine years old, she had 30 bucks, and we arrived in Canada. And I grew up on social housing and uh around some negative people, and I kind of lost my way. So when I was 15, I left, I left home and uh dropped out of high school, and so now I find myself homeless at 15 years old, and I had some dark times, just like a lot of the people downtown here. I mean, we saw some people, and you're like, Well, these people are are gone. Uh, so that I was I you know I was one of those people, and so I had a life-changing moment at 17 when I became a dad, and uh that changed the trajectory of my life, being a teenage parent. I started a business, I grew that business to a multi-million dollar uh uh company across Canada, and ultimately, the reason I got into real estate because I realized how much of a consumer I was and how much I didn't know about business, and I had a you know, I had I was never taught financial literacy, and so I started to educate myself and ultimately learned about real estate and started investing in real estate and I realized that the the numbers work better with multifamily. So I started in my early 20s with multifamily. I got the opportunity to grow in 2009, I really expanded my portfolio, and again in 2020, I uh bought you know millions of dollars worth of real estate.

SPEAKER_03 10:37

What happened that year? That's nothing significant in 2020.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Well, it was massive opportunity. Some people call it COVID, I call it shopping. Shopping for real estate, and um, you know, I got I got the opportunity to grow during that time, and you know, I've I've always wanted to teach, so I'm 48, but when I was 30 years old, I started this whole journey on educating people, and when the opportunity came during COVID, I was doing training for other educational companies, and so you know the opportunity was was there, presented where I could do my own thing, and that's where Wealth Genius was born. And I mixed in my multifamily uh background and really did something very niche here where other other uh educational programs they they kind of focus on many different things and it confuses people and people don't really get anything done. Here is more focused, and we we started during those COVID uh days, and now we're at 1600 members across Canada.

SPEAKER_04 11:44

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

We're also gonna grow the community in the US in 2026. We're we're uh we have this big event planned in Los Angeles, and our members are happy, they're learning, they're growing. Last year we did about a billion dollars in transactions as a community as a community. So I'm proud of those things because I know that we've created a lot of time in people's lives.

SPEAKER_04 12:08

Yeah, and certainly we've had an opportunity. Uh there's still probably about 30 uh members here, and uh it's uh the Wealth Genius has been life-changing for them. I mean it's been unbelievable, especially for some that have only been members for less than a year and they've already talked about it makes me happy. Yeah, and not just about just obviously from the investing standpoint, but just in regards to them being able to grow as a person. So those are the things that also I'm looking forward to uh you know, having conversations with uh with the coaches uh and that because uh it it obviously is you've you you know you talked a lot this weekend about mindset, and that if you've got to have that proper mindset and do that change before you're able to to venture on with that. So um one thing I wanted to talk about because I certainly had that conversation a lot tonight was was your expand events. So you have uh expand in Ottawa this year. We missed the Edmonton one last year, it's May 1st to 3rd. Yes. What happens at that event?

SPEAKER_01 13:05

Because that seems to be a real uh the name is what happens, right? So we named it Expand for a reason because it's the launch pad to everything that you want. Um if you like these boot camps, if you like any of the events Well Genius puts together, expand is just takes it to the next level. 60 different presenters over a weekend, um, you know, about a hundred different vendors, uh, you know, almost a thousand people in attendance, and so it's the opportunity that it's a launch pad, right? So it's like we expand on everything, and so we hope that when people come there, they leave expanded. They they can now level up, and that's the that's the whole um uh mindset behind XPAN, especially this year. Expand is gonna be more important than ever because of all the opportunities that are available. Last year in Edmonton, uh when we did the expand in Edmonton, the biggest uh complaint that people had was like I'm putting in offers, and then there's like five other offers behind me or whatever. Now, across Canada, there's massive opportunities, prices are are softening, and this is the time to take action, and so expand becomes that launch pad where we're gonna give you all the the steps that you need to take in order to optimize and maximize all the opportunities that are available right now.

SPEAKER_04 14:29

And another uh um uh something else that Wealth Genius offers that a lot of members here have also talked about is the inner circle, the the Facebook page, and and uh uh people are doing deals together and meeting each other. And can you talk a little bit more about that?

SPEAKER_01 14:44

So the the the the secret sauce is the people. We've had uh you know, we've had people join and uh and then disappear, right? We've had a few people join and disappear. We were like, well, what's going on? And I feel it, I feel it's someone trying to figure out like the systems or something. I don't know. Well, I don't know what it is. Uh I can't put my finger around it, but I yeah, my finger on it, but I I I feel that you know that's that's that was that was some of the reason behind it, right? And so people are trying to figure out, hey, is it the modules, is this this, is it this and that? It's really the people. The people is our secret sauce, and and basically what we do better than any other educational company that exists in North America right now is we bring people together. And we we want to we want people to build those relationships, that camaraderie, because that's how deals happen, right? So we did a billion dollars in transactions last year, and the reason is because we we created the environment for people to come together. And uh to watch it happen is is it's you know magical. I could say that's the best word that I could use is magical. And so, you know, you have to give people that opportunity, and the inner circle is one of those uh you know, one of those places where there's a it's a touch point for a lot of people, and see people are connecting. Uh, you see people doing walkthroughs together, you see people working together, you see people offering deals, and you know, it it just becomes like this this uh this hub, right?

SPEAKER_03 16:21

Yeah, yeah. Actually, I'll take this. It's funny because talking about that, we just learned the term tonight, holding a place for someone. Because Patrick Francie, who's with Wealth Genius, um, he was telling us his wife's at the Olympics right now, and she's there holding a place for the athletes, for the Canadian athletes. And I'm like, oh, is that you know, like the Oscars, where when someone goes to get their award, they have someone hold their seat. So when they're taking pictures of the audience, there are an empty spot. So that's what in my mind. Um so I said, Patrick, you have to tell me what this is, it it can't be that. So he said holding a place for the athletes is just being there for them, yeah, yeah. Cheering them on so that they can actually physically see someone in their corner, but he said also the energy is really incredible.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

Yes, right?

SPEAKER_03 17:07

You can feel that energy, and energy attracts energy. Right? And it's a healing thing and it's a powerful thing, and um yeah, we really get that sense being around you and um being around wealth genius, and like you said, this whole network of people. It really feels like there's a lot of people here that are holding a place for everyone who's interested in real estate investing.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

I love that. That's a really good idea. Isn't that nice? Yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_03 17:31

Yeah, we just learned that one tonight, and I'm like, check this out, we can do this in our hybrid podcast that we're putting together.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

So the the way we uh we always close our podcast is with leaving the audience with something inspirational. Nice. Okay, so a quote, a mantra, something that you live by. So I'll have you guys I'll have you guys uh think about that, but how do you close your podcast?

SPEAKER_03 17:56

Well, I'd I'd like to say that the holding the place is the one for tonight. That's kind of our new go-to, and then we don't have to think of something that quickly off the top of our head this late in the in the evening. Um so if we can leave them with that one, with the holding the place, and right, and think about it too, because who in your life is holding your place? That uh guy that I was saying was at the meeting here tonight, he brought his mom and they signed up together, so they're holding each other's place, right? And then um her uh her partner came, he didn't sign up, but he just wanted to be here for them, so he was holding a place for them too. So are we good with that one, or did you have one that you wanted to?

SPEAKER_04 18:32

Very good.

SPEAKER_01 18:32

No, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 18:34

So you have something. Yeah, no, we're one of those. Why don't you wrap up your so how we wrap it up is um we talk about what's happening in Edmonton, and Devin mentioned a couple of your events, but you have lots of events going on all the time. Do you want to mention some more that are coming up?

SPEAKER_01 18:49

The best way to find our up-and-coming events is wealthgenious.ai forward slash events. So we have uh in March, we have Calgary and Red Deer coming up uh as three-day boot camps. We also have expos and cash flow summits that are happening uh you know across the country. Also, expand. So wherever you live in Canada, you have to come to expand. This year it's gonna be in Ottawa at the Chateau Laurier. It's a property that's 114 years old. Dignitaries have gone there, uh royalty, presidents, and now wealth genius. In that order. In that order, in that order. And so uh I'm excited about that, and we'll put some information down below. But get your tickets right away. Expand, investor conference. That is uh one of our uh I will say um biggest events of the year.

SPEAKER_03 19:52

Okay, and then you had mentioned a takeaway or a motto or a life lesson. Was there any just I know you have a million of them?

SPEAKER_01 19:58

Yeah, so my my my favorite quote is success is what you attract by the person you become. That's my that's my favorite quote.

SPEAKER_02 20:05

Oh, I like that. I like that a lot. Yeah, okay. Great, and anything else?

SPEAKER_04 20:10

Just uh thank you for a wonderful weekend. It was great to connect and uh we're looking forward to the journey and um yeah, super excited. So thank you.

SPEAKER_01 20:20

And thank you for having me on your podcast.

SPEAKER_03 20:23

Look at this. Two two for the first time.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

On YouTube. On YouTube, what's the what's the handling of it?

SPEAKER_03 20:30

Yeah, it's called uh real estate in Edmonton, and hopefully coming to a podcast site near you. Yeah, uh yeah, and where we talk real estate and real life.

SPEAKER_01 20:39

And uh the Wealth Genius podcast. Find us, find us anywhere where you listen to your podcast.

SPEAKER_03 20:47

And hopefully us too soon.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

We will see you at the top.