Is property part of your portfolio in order to reach FI?Maria and her husband own 9 rental properties, and have a net worth of over a million. They're aiming for a net worth of $3 million in order to reach FI, and have some pretty nifty real estate hacks to share with us.You'll love that story.We also chat about...Maria's personal finance journeyCanada's maternity leaveDealing with tenantsFuture FI goalsEnjoy this chat with Maria, and please subscribe to us in iTunes if you enjoyed it!Show notes and links from today's episodeBlog: Handful of ThoughtsMaria on InstagramFI after 50Camp MustacheKey takeaways from our chat with Maria1 - Canada's maternity leave is pretty sweetIn Canada, maternity leave can be 12 months or 18 months. Maria and her husband used up their maternity and were able to split it between the two quite evenly. This allows Maria as well as her husband to go back to work fully rested and with the right energy. Julie mentions she's able to get 8 month maternity leave.2 - How they're investing in real estate to reach FIMaria works as a teacher, and along with her husband they own 9 rental properties with a total net worth of $1.3 million. The first $1 million took them 8 years, and they're planning on the next one to take 5 years. They already have a pretty flexible lifestyle and plan in the future to homeschool their kids.3 - A few tenant hacksAs a landlady, Maria has had to deal with a few difficult cases - she had to take one tenant to court because of the state in which they left the flat when they moved out. But she was still able to get her money back thanks to one good hack: asking for an emergency contact before the tenant moves in. The mother of the tenant was then able to represent the tenant in court. Other hacks include trusting your gut, and sending a birthday card on the tenant's birthday.Questions? Like or dislike? Leave us a comment!Want to support the podcast? Here are three things you can do.1. Start tracking your net worth with Personal Capital using our link. It's free.2. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel and get one extra LIVE episode from us per week.3. Join our Facebook group and connect with other members of the FI community.