Real estate and financing expert Jeniece Sampson, known for her global insights, offers a strategic roadmap for 2025, addressing market volatility, investor approaches, and the critical balance between profitability and social responsibility.
Forbes’ 2025 real estate outlook highlights several key trends: virtual tours will become standard, and property prices and costs for new and existing properties will continue to climb. Virtual reality tours, for instance, are set to revolutionize initial investment decisions, conserving time and resources. This shift promises to boost market accessibility and efficiency, empowering investors with quicker, more informed choices.
We spoke with Jeniece Sampson, an award-winning realtor specializing in complex and international deals, to understand investment strategies for this volatile market. Our discussion covered rental property investments, navigating oversaturated markets, effective flipping tactics, non-traditional financing avenues, common buyer anxieties, and pinpointing ideal deals.
Sampson reveals, “I closely watch Asian, European, and Caribbean markets.”
Addressing the pressing question of profitable opportunities in 2025, Sampson, who manages her Ontario-based business across commercial and residential properties and financing, acknowledges the “frozen” market sentiment due to high interest rates. She offers crucial advice for buyers and investors. While U.S. mortgage rates hover around 6.8%, impacting activity, opportunities persist for seasoned investors. Sampson points to the Bank of Canada’s rate cut to 3.25%, which aims to stimulate the market. Her immediate tips for prospective buyers include aggressive negotiation for concessions, exploring adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) if rate drops are anticipated, and considering seller financing as a viable alternative to traditional bank lenders.
Regarding oversaturated markets and inventory shortages, Sampson identifies suburban U.S. markets like Charlotte, Raleigh, and Tampa as prime for growth due to their affordability and infrastructure development, despite prices not yet peaking. In Canada, she steers investors toward Calgary and Edmonton, where prices are significantly lower than Toronto’s, yet rental demand remains robust. She advises caution in Toronto and Vancouver due to slower growth. As she expands her own company internationally, Sampson expresses keen interest in Asian, European, and Caribbean markets, citing their burgeoning economies and strong real estate demand.
Sampson confirms the strong potential of rental properties as investments, particularly in Canada, where high housing prices and shortages fuel consistent demand. Multi-family properties in well-developed areas represent a stable choice. While U.S. rentals also see high demand, investors must factor in rising taxes and insurance costs.
“Investors increasingly turn to creative financing,” Sampson observes. She notes significant shifts in financing strategies over the past two years, with investors embracing innovative solutions. Private mortgages, quick property-secured loans, gain traction. “Subject-to” deals, where buyers assume existing loans without refinancing, offer another avenue. Some investors also effectively pool capital through joint ventures.
For flipping properties in 2025, Sampson advises targeting properties with cost-effective renovation potential, aligning perfectly with the BRRRR strategy (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat). She also emphasizes focusing on areas with strong growth potential by monitoring neighborhood development and prioritizing locations with robust rental demand, which serves as a crucial safety net if sales take longer.
Sampson shares insights on unconventional financing for beginners. Beyond obvious options, her firm utilizes private loans secured by property at 8–12% interest. Joint ventures, where her team sources deals and investors provide capital for a 50/50 profit split, are common. Seller financing, with the seller acting as the lender, also presents an opportunity. For newcomers with lower capital, Home Equity Investments (HEIs) allow homeowners to access cash without monthly payments, with investors sharing in future appreciation. Real estate crowdfunding offers another avenue, pooling resources and risks with experienced investors, ideal for smaller projects.
“Adaptability was the key lesson,” Sampson states, reflecting on her transition from auto financing, where she excelled as a lead financial manager by boosting sales through strategic marketing and lender relationships. Her auto industry experience in creditworthiness assessment, objection handling, and marketing proved invaluable in real estate. She immediately prioritized customized financing solutions and forged partnerships with a wide range of lenders, from prime banks to private entities.
Despite the economic turbulence of 2021–24 and the impact of COVID, Sampson’s company maintained remarkable resilience, earning her Awards in Commission Sales in 2022 for record-breaking performance. She attributes this success to three critical factors: intentionally cultivating a reliable pool of investor partners willing to invest even during high inflation; emphasizing renovations, acquiring properties at low prices, refurbishing them, and selling with a 20–30% margin; and targeting niche markets while offering flexible terms for first-time buyers. Digital tools were indispensable, with virtual tours and online document signing enabling remote deal closures. The overarching lesson, she underscores, was adaptability, quickly shifting 90% of operations online and mastering no-contact transactions.
Persistent challenges in her field, regardless of current trends, include oversaturated markets, inflation, and inventory shortages. However, Sampson explains that relying on a stable team of investors, generating residual income from rentals, adapting to market conditions, understanding market fluctuations, deeply knowing client needs, and developing an almost intuitive sense of when to buy low and sell high can mitigate these issues.
Sampson champions the balance between profit and social responsibility, citing her support for local charities. She advises colleagues that such endeavors are an investment in the future. Businesses addressing social issues like accessible healthcare build client trust and motivate teams. Options range from personal donations and volunteering (e.g., donating 5% of each deal to a hospital fund) to investing in eco-friendly housing or backing affordable mortgage programs for teachers and medical workers, as her company does. It transcends mere image or long-term client relationships; it’s about viewing one’s work as something far greater than just business.
To illustrate practical solutions, Sampson offers a case study of selling a challenging property at 20% above market value. Her team successfully rebranded an “unpopular” Ontario mall, highlighting its proximity to a new college campus. They secured an anchor tenant, a fitness chain, reducing buyer risk. Using seller financing, they received 30% upfront, with the remainder in installments at 5% interest, ultimately selling a property appraised at $4 million for $4.8 million. Another example involves a house in a “less prestigious” area with potential. They created a virtual tour emphasizing the park view, targeted quiet-seeking buyers through ads, and arranged private financing, leading to a $1.2 million sale in a $1 million-average area.
These examples offer universal takeaways: innovative solutions for tough sales today blend digital tools with targeted marketing. Implementing flexible financing or restructuring deals to accommodate investors’ changing circumstances leads to success even in crises. Real estate success isn’t solely about prices; it hinges on understanding people. Knowing what clients and banks fear and desire empowers professionals to offer mutually beneficial solutions.
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Source: Ceoworld.Biz
