Family Is Everything

Becoming a husband and father put my life in a new perspective.  I have come to realize that family is the most important thing to me.  Before I earned financial freedom, I was always put in the position to sacrificing time and being present with the ones that I love most.

I grew up as a below average.  I never won any awards.  I was basically mediocre at everything.  I thought that I was destined for a life of self resentment.

When I transformed my life and found real estate as my passion I realized my passion was in helping others achieve their dream, just like I did.

Here is my story...

About Matt Drouin

Matt grew up in Rochester, NY as the son of a dialysis nurse and general laborer at Genesee Brewery. After losing his parents to health issues in his 20s, Matt descended into an existential crisis. How could two hard working Americans doing everything the “right” way struggle financially their whole life and then die young with little to no savings? Matt looked around and found that his parents weren’t the only ones victim to this, and if he didn’t do something to drastically change his trajectory, he would wind up the same way. He wanted to be present for family. He never wanted money to be the reason why him and his family couldn’t act on their dreams or aspirations. He needed to find a way to “exit the Matrix.” He made it his life long goal to become “retired” by his 40th birthday. Building wealth in real estate was the way. After obsessively pursuing this lofty goal; thinking about it everyday over 10 years, he achieved financial freedom by his 33rd birthday. You might think that this moment was euphoric, however the moment Matt realized that he achieved his life long goal, he descended into depression. After spending weeks introspecting and reading, he was able to reinvent himself and develop a new vision beyond the confines of his life on Earth so that he would never have to go through the painful process of reinventing himself again.

Today, Matt is Partner at OakGrove Development, a real estate investment and development firm with a special focus on value-add commercial and residential properties in Rochester, NY. Over the last 15 years, Matt has been in real estate management, brokerage and development and grown his portfolio to 160 units of residential and commercial property. His company mission is in developing real estate projects that not only add value to their investors but also puts long term community interests front and center. Matt believes that you can do well and do good as a real estate developer and that ultimately community centric development boosts long term profits for investors.