He's 31 and purchased 20 properties in 2 years. Here's how he did it

There's nothing secret about James Fernandez's business model.

In two years, the real estate investor from London, Ont., has purchased more than 20 homes using what people in the industry call the BRRRR model. That stands for buy, renovate, rent, refinance, repeat.

Housing advocates, however, worry the lack of government oversight that allows this model is squeezing many Canadians out of the market.

"There's many different ways to do this, and there's a thousand YouTube videos on how to buy properties with low money down or no money down," said Fernandez, 31.

Fernandez was living in his parents' basement in 2016, when he bought a home for himself with a down payment of $12,500. Four years later, he purchased his first income property in the city's east end, and since then he's been snapping up rundown properties at a meteoric pace.

For instance, last October, Fernandez bought a derelict home in east London for $220,000 and spent $150,000 renovating it, which he did with credit cards and lines of credit. Then he got the bank to reassess the house.

WATCH | James Fernandez showcases one of his houses. He's dubbed it 'The Machete House:'

"The value that was added was significantly more than that which allowed me to pay back that debt," he said.

When Fernandez bought the home, people living there weren't paying rent to the previous owner, he said. Fernandez said that before making upgrades, he found accommodations for the tenants in a more "structured environment."

"I'm not forcibly evicting pretty much anyone. I don't do that," said Fernandez. "You walk in and almost vomit right away. It's that bad. And people are living there. It's not humane at all."

In most cases, Fernandez finds existing tenants interim housing or provides them support in some other way, he said.

"Listening to them and solving their problem person to person. Just listening and figuring out from there."

Fernandez said the neighbours on the block seem to appreciate how he's able to transform a near-unlivable house into a rentable property. Some stop by to take a peek. Others even deliver food, he said.

"That's always been my target is to provide housing that's safe and livable," said Fernandez.