How Real Estate Agents Can Help Clients Optimize Their Finances: Brandon Newell’s Tax-Free Strategy Breakdown
How Real Estate Agents Can Help Clients Optimize Their Finances: Brandon Newell’s Tax-Free Strategy Breakdown
Helping clients buy or sell a home is just the beginning. According to Brandon Newell, a real estate professional who’s passionate about financial education, your real value lies in showing clients how to use real estate as a vehicle to build wealth and reduce taxes—especially using tax-free strategies that few homeowners know about.
Here are some actionable strategies Brandon shared for helping clients improve their long-term financial outcomes:
1. Leverage Real Estate to Create Tax-Free Growth
One of the key strategies Brandon discussed is helping clients understand how to use the equity in their home—not just sit on it. Many homeowners are “house-rich but cash-poor,” meaning they’ve accumulated value but don’t know how to use it.
🔹 Strategy: Encourage clients to refinance or access a HELOC (home equity line of credit) and use that capital to invest in cash-flowing assets like rental properties or RRSPs.
🔹 Bonus Tip: Position it as a “velocity of money” conversation—money sitting in a home earns 0% return, but when redirected, it can generate compound, tax-advantaged growth.
2. Utilize the Primary Residence Exemption
Brandon emphasizes the power of Canada’s Principal Residence Exemption, which allows homeowners to sell their primary residence without paying capital gains tax.
🔹 Strategy: Educate clients on when and how to sell their home to trigger tax-free profit. This is especially powerful for downsizers or those relocating from high-appreciation markets.
🔹 Conversation Angle: “If your home has gained $400K in equity, how can we unlock that growth without giving a big chunk to the CRA?”
3. Incorporate Intergenerational Planning
Brandon highlights how real estate can be used across generations to build family wealth—and reduce tax liabilities at each stage.
🔹 Strategy: Work with financial planners and accountants to help clients gift property, add children to title in strategic ways, or set up trusts that maximize tax sheltering and minimize probate costs.
🔹 Client Example: A parent refinances their home, uses that capital to help a child buy a pre-construction property, and both homes appreciate tax-free (as primary residences) over time.
4. Cash-Flow Focus vs. Traditional Retirement
Brandon challenges the outdated thinking that retirement should only come from pension or RRSP income. Instead, he recommends guiding clients toward real estate as a cash-flowing retirement plan.
🔹 Strategy: Help clients build a small portfolio of rental properties they can hold long-term, then refinance tax-free to extract income in retirement (since loans are not taxed like withdrawals from an RRSP).
🔹 Why It Matters: This creates passive income without triggering taxable events, especially powerful for clients with entrepreneurial mindsets.
5. Align Real Estate with Other Tax Shelters
Brandon and Shana also discussed how mortgage brokers and agents can work closely with tax professionals to help clients optimize their full financial picture—not just their mortgage.
🔹 Strategy: Pair real estate decisions with TFSA, RRSP, or corporate structures to reduce tax and increase long-term wealth.
🔹 Example: A self-employed client could refinance a property, invest the funds in their corporation, and use that capital to create tax-efficient income while continuing to write off interest.
Final Thoughts: Be More Than an Agent—Be a Wealth Partner
Brandon Newell’s approach is about moving beyond the transaction. As a real estate agent or mortgage broker, you’re in a unique position to help clients:
✅ Understand the tax advantages of real estate
✅ Use home equity to build wealth faster
✅ Create intergenerational plans that protect assets
✅ Maximize cash flow and minimize tax exposure
The goal isn’t just to close more deals—it’s to build long-term financial trust.
BOTTOM LINE
Helping clients optimize their finances through real estate means going beyond the sale—it's about showing them how to use tools like tax-free principal residence exemptions, strategic refinancing, and intergenerational planning to grow wealth, reduce taxes, and create long-term financial freedom.
Level Up Mortgages is a mortgage broker team focused on helping the self employed, new immigrants, non-residents, and investors, access best rate and alternative lending in Canada. We have been nominated for best up and coming broker in Canada in 2021 and have been on CTV News and various publications because of our education-first approach to helping you always stay a step ahead of the process. Reach out to us for access to our first-time buyer course or a mortgage strategy session.
See What You Qualify For Or Contact Paul To Get Your Pre-Approval.
Paul Davidescu (www.levelupmortgages.com)
Level Up Mortgages
604-809-3188
paul(at)levelupmortgages.com
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