Vinny Soni began investing in real estate in the year 2018. He now owns almost 10 properties in Canada.
Vinny Soni, 35, was born in Nadaun, a tiny village in Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur region, and is presently active in the real estate sector in Canada. His drive to earn wealth is to establish a consistent passive income so that he may follow his other hobbies without worrying about money.
“I want to return to India and work in the distant regions of Himachal Pradesh in the sectors of healthcare and youth development,” says Vinny, who now owns around ten homes in Canada valued at approximately CAD 6-8 million (or about Rs 30-40 crore).
In August of last year, he launched a real estate web for selling houses, and the business has already concluded deals worth over Rs 200 crore.
Vinny moved to Canada in 2009 to pursue a graduate certificate degree in Strategic Relationship Marketing at George Brown College in Toronto, and he began working in the nation after completing the course in 2010.
His first work was as a student intern at UAE Exchange Canada, a foreign exchange firm. When he first started at UAE Exchange Canada, he was paid CAD 9 per hour, but as he advanced in the company, his yearly earnings increased to CAD 25000.
Vinny says, “I was sent to branches in Vancouver and Calgary that were barely breaking even.”
However, in 2013, he left the firm and opened an ad agency from his residence, employing international students as freelancers. When they insisted on an interview, he agreed to meet with the individual over dinner and obtained a position at Tech Mahindra after departing his firm.
Between 2016 to 2021, Vinny had a senior role at Tech Mahindra, where he was in charge of enterprise sales. His time at Tech Mahindra provided him with insight into the corporate manner of operation.
He began to deposit his funds in India because he was living a nice life and earning a good living. Despite the fact that real estate was rising in Canada from 2015 to 2018, he never bothered to invest since he planned to return to India.
Only in 2018 did his focus move to real estate, and he began to invest in properties that he would purchase with a small down payment from his funds and then rent out.
Vinny says of his Canadian real estate holdings, “Today, I have roughly 10 homes, and some have risen 50-70 percent in value, while the average appreciation has been 25-30 percent. The market value of these assets is around CAD 6-8 million (approximately Rs 30-40 crore).”
While the buildings have bank debts that must be serviced, he also receives monthly rent on the majority of them.
In August of last year, he founded Houseeo.com, an internet marketplace where real estate brokers may offer houses for sale.
His firm receives a brokerage fee of roughly 2-4 percent on the sales, the total value of which has now surpassed CAD 35 million (or about Rs 200 crore).
“We’re aiming to construct an autonomous sales engine that will make it easier for customers to browse through the properties,” says Vinny, who wants to automate the entire firm so that his presence in Canada is no longer necessary and he can return to India.
He says, “In terms of gross income, my target is to reach about CAD 100 million. And I intend to return to India next year, where I intend to focus on healthcare and youth development. In Himachal, I want to implement regular health check-up initiatives for elderly as well as those over the age of 40, particularly in rural communities.”
Vinny grew up in a blended family in Nadaun. Sweety Soni, his mother, is a homemaker, and he has two sisters, all of whom live in India.
Vinny attended DAV Public School in Nadaun through Class 10 and DAV College in Kangra until Class 12.
He received his B.Tech in computer science from Punjab Technical University in Chandigarh (2003-2007).
Brij Mohan Soni (Bade Papa, as he affectionately refers to his father’s elder brother) has been Vinny’s role model since boyhood.
“I grew up in a rural town and had always spoken Pahadi. I would frequently go to Delhi (about 500 kilometers from his town) to visit my cousins,” Vinny explains, explaining how he learned English. When I watched the tiny children speaking good English, it inspired me to study the language.”
Vinny and Shubhangi married in 2018. In fact, it was the same year he began investing in properties.
