EP406 How to Escape Canadian Lending Limits and Scale in the U.S. Market with Ali Rostamee
Thu Feb 05 2026
In this episode of A Canadian Investing in the U.S., Glen sits down with Ali Rostamee to discuss his journey from immigrating to Canada in 2010 to ultimately becoming financially free through real estate. Ali shares how reading Rich Dad Poor Dad shaped his mindset early on, leading him to pursue cash-flowing duplexes in Edmonton before hitting lending limits. That forced him to expand his education through BiggerPockets and explore new strategies like BRRRR, multifamily, and flipping. After realizing Alberta’s long recession wasn’t supporting appreciation, Ali relocated to Toronto, caught the COVID appreciation wave with successful flips, and reinvested the profits into Hamilton triplexes and fourplexes—ultimately reaching financial independence.
Ali then explains why he moved from Canada to the U.S.: access to DSCR asset-based loans, dramatically lower prices, superior data transparency, and a more efficient permitting system. He highlights Cleveland, Charlotte, and Phoenix as his top markets for Canadians—Cleveland for cash flow and Charlotte/Phoenix for appreciation. Glen and Ali dive into the importance of diversification across markets (and countries), different strategies working better in different cities, and how balancing multiple markets helped Ali smooth out downturns. Ali also shares challenges of moving to the U.S. as an Iranian-Canadian—border issues, difficulty getting a phone number or bank account without an SSN, and long-distance property management. He now lives in Washington, D.C., placing him within a day’s drive of his key U.S. markets. Ali can be reached on Instagram at @AliRostamee (with two E’s).
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In this episode of A Canadian Investing in the U.S., Glen sits down with Ali Rostamee to discuss his journey from immigrating to Canada in 2010 to ultimately becoming financially free through real estate. Ali shares how reading Rich Dad Poor Dad shaped his mindset early on, leading him to pursue cash-flowing duplexes in Edmonton before hitting lending limits. That forced him to expand his education through BiggerPockets and explore new strategies like BRRRR, multifamily, and flipping. After realizing Alberta’s long recession wasn’t supporting appreciation, Ali relocated to Toronto, caught the COVID appreciation wave with successful flips, and reinvested the profits into Hamilton triplexes and fourplexes—ultimately reaching financial independence. Ali then explains why he moved from Canada to the U.S.: access to DSCR asset-based loans, dramatically lower prices, superior data transparency, and a more efficient permitting system. He highlights Cleveland, Charlotte, and Phoenix as his top markets for Canadians—Cleveland for cash flow and Charlotte/Phoenix for appreciation. Glen and Ali dive into the importance of diversification across markets (and countries), different strategies working better in different cities, and how balancing multiple markets helped Ali smooth out downturns. Ali also shares challenges of moving to the U.S. as an Iranian-Canadian—border issues, difficulty getting a phone number or bank account without an SSN, and long-distance property management. He now lives in Washington, D.C., placing him within a day’s drive of his key U.S. markets. Ali can be reached on Instagram at @AliRostamee (with two E’s).