Summary: The goal of our Investor Spotlight series is to provide you with stories of real physicians and professionals on their journey to financial freedom through cashflowing rentals. This month, we’re shining the light on a couple who had trouble getting started in real estate and finally got “unstuck” with our Zero to Freedom Course.
In our Investor Spotlight series, we interview a range of investors, from those who are just starting out to those who already own large portfolios.
Through this process, our goal is for you to gain applicable insights and inspiration that you can use on your own journey to Fast FIRE through real estate investing.
Today’s Investor Spotlight features Troy and Maria. Troy is an executive at a major entertainment company. Maria is a stay-at-home mom. They live in Seattle with their two children.
Their real estate investing story starts when we first talked to them about investing 4 years ago.
Although they wanted to get started, there was just too much going on at the time.
It wasn’t until two years later that we spoke about real estate again. By this time, they actually rented out their respective homes and had become accidental landlords. They saw the value of investing in real estate but they didn’t know what they were doing.
They both got really into it, they started to read books, listen to podcasts, and attend meet-ups. But despite all of the knowledge they had accumulated, they had trouble getting started. They didn’t know where to start.
They asked me questions like,
“What market should we invest in?
“How do you build a team?”
“Who should we have on our team?”
“What types of properties should we look for?”
It was clear that despite all of the reading and countless hours of listening to podcast episodes, they were overwhelmed with all of the decisions and options. They didn’t have a clear strategy or path forward.
At this point, we suggested that they enroll in our Zero to Freedom Course. Despite the fact that we were happy to help them for free, we felt that the Course would do more to get them “unstuck” than we could do with free advice.
How did the Zero to Freedom Course help you get “unstuck”?
One of the great things about the course is the step-by-step instruction and the focus on helping us make progress with each step. At first, it was the little things like setting up a real estate email or picking a name for our real estate business. Then we got to bigger decisions like choosing a market and important steps like building our team.
The other thing was the strategy. You guys gave us one strategy to focus on, whereas in all of the books, articles, and podcast episodes, we came across so many different strategies it was overwhelming. We just wanted to replicate your success and use the exact strategy you used. This singular focus really helped us get “unstuck.”
What else did you like about the course?
One of the best things about the course is the community. You guys have built such an amazing community within the course. We love that we can post a potential deal and get immediate feedback. We love that people are so generous with sharing their contractors, property managers, and other vendors.
We also appreciate how quickly you answer questions and provide your expert insights. The Q&A sessions are also very helpful and are a really great complement to the video content.
Tell us what you’ve done since the course ended?
Prior to signing up for the course, we had never put in an offer on an investment property. We got close several times but we just could never pull the trigger. Once we finished the course, we dove right in and started putting in offers. We put in multiple offers and finally got one accepted on a four-plex in Western Washington. We closed on the property about a month later and we are putting in place our plans to renovate the property and significantly raise rents.
We are also going to do a cost segregation study on our property. When combined with the renovations we’re doing, we estimate that we’ll be able to shelter about $200,000 of our income with Maria qualifying for Real Estate Professional Status. This will give us a tax refund of about $60,000, which we’ll be able to use for our next purchase.
How do feel about real estate investing going into 2020?
We are really excited to grow our portfolio significantly in 2020.
First, we have the tax refund we mentioned previously. We are also planning to sell one of our other two rentals and doing a 1031 exchange into a larger property.
We figure we’ll have the funds to buy a $600,000 property, which we’ll cost segregate and create another tax shelter for our 2020 income.
We may also pull out some money out of our other rental and buy another property.
We are also excited to go into the next phase of renovation with the four-plex we just purchased. We have never done a major renovation and we’re looking forward to experiencing that process.
I think the most important thing is that we are confident going into 2020. We know what we have to do and we know how to do it. If we don’t know something, we know we can figure it out – thanks to all of the mindset work in the course!!
What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about taking the Course?
Just do it. Take action.
One thing we learned (and one of the reasons we were stuck) is that you shouldn’t wait until you have a home run. You guys taught us that you buy something that makes sense, and then you make it a home run. You can’t always tell what’s going to be a home run from the beginning.
I think this is why people don’t take action. They are looking for the perfect deal. They don’t want to make a mistake.
How has it been taking the Course together as a couple?
If you are married, we would highly encourage you to take the course together. We would watch the videos together and frequently pause and talk about things as we went. It also helps to have both of us speaking the same language and being on the same page about our future plans. We both know where we want to go and how to get there and it’s in large part because we experienced everything together.
We are grateful to Troy and Maria for sharing their real estate investment story with us and their experience with Zero to Freedom.
Hopefully, this investor spotlight has shown you another aspect of the benefits of our Course and how it might help spur you on to take massive action!
Today is the last day to register for our Winter 2020 Zero to Freedom Course. Click here to register now before it’s too late!
