In the real estate field, who doesn't remember the famous saga of Charron Island in Boucherville? It was while going on a bike ride that he saw the potential of this location and decided to buy it with a view to developing a housing project. To do so, he had to use $3 million, that is, all the money he had at the time.

Unfortunately, before he had a chance to resell Charron Island to another developer, the government issued a notice of reserve, preventing him from selling, leasing or even developing the land. Having invested all his funds in this project, he now had to pay $50,000 a month, just to pay off the interest.

It was by performing several flips that Luc Poirier managed to generate the cash needed to not lose his investment and meet his needs: "You should never be afraid to fight against injustice, even if all the experts around you say you're unlucky. Those who give up never win."

Luc Poirier's work is very different from my professional reality. For my part, as a real estate investor, I mainly supervise house flips. This is a branch of real estate that allows you to generate cash quickly. Wanting to know more in order to improve my knowledge as an investor, I asked him to detail some of the transactions he carried out over the course of his career.

SOME OF HIS GOOD SHOTS

One of the flips he did during the Charron Island saga was a duplex on a large lot. He later divided the lot in two and sold the two lots separately. This allowed him to quickly rake in $70,000. It's also a business principle he learned in his youth when he bought candy in bulk and resold it at school: buy wholesale and resell retail.

Luc Poirier prioritizes buying land as an investment because it allows for large profit margins. For example, with the purchase and resale in two separate lots of the Owens Corning plant in Candiac, he managed to pocket a profit of $28 million. One piece of advice he shared with me is to always focus on the “bottom line.” This is a lesson that has stuck with me, since in the superficial society we live in, we often attribute success (including me) to the number of employees or sales figures.

"There are entrepreneurs who make $40 million in sales, but they only keep $200,000 at the end of the year. What matters is the bottom line, or in other words, what we have left at the end as profit," explains Luc Poirier.

According to Jean-Yves Bélisle, a seasoned real estate developer, land development is an immense privilege that must be treated with respect. Of course, it brings its share of challenges. It is an art to obtain the collaboration of all and thus respect a vision that, at times, may seem audacious.

WHERE OTHERS ARE NOT LOOKING

The most significant element of Mr. Poirier's career is undoubtedly the purchase of the former La Prairie brickyard quarry. In 2019, he acquired a large piece of land that was once used as a quarry for $25 million, with the aim of developing a housing project.

When the brickyard was put up for sale, the City had prohibited future owners from backfilling the quarry. Consequently, this made a large portion of the land unusable. This major inconvenience discouraged investors from making an offer to purchase. However, it was after consulting his lawyer that he realized that the city could not impose this ban. Finally, after purchasing it, Luc Poirier challenged the municipal ban on backfilling the land.

After several years of dispute with the City of La Prairie, the court ruled in his favor. In about ten years, the backfilling of this former quarry will be completed and will serve as land to develop a housing project.

In life as in business, it often “pays” to think differently from others and to question things that seem inadequate or ineffective.

Luc Poirier has obviously demonstrated a lot of audacity throughout his career. This has allowed him to succeed in real estate. While most people would say that he was lucky, Luc prefers to say that "he often found his deals by chance, but by worked out chances."