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While virtual reality (VR) is what gets most people excited, augmented reality (AR) has a considerable advantage. AR doesn’t require expensive headsets. It can run on hardware almost everybody has – a smartphone.

Because of this, AR might present more immediate opportunities compared to its sister field. In this article, we’ll discuss three industries that have great potential for innovative AR startup projects.

1. AR In Shopping

Augmented reality is reshaping the retail industry, offering a compelling avenue for startups to explore. According to a survey by Retail Perceptions, 61% of shoppers prefer stores that offer AR experiences, underscoring the substantial market potential.

Augmented reality enhances customer engagement by allowing them to visualize products before making a purchase. Shoppers gain confidence in their choices when they can see how products fit into their real-world environment, reducing the likelihood of returns.

Successful examples in this space include IKEA Place, where the AR app lets customers visualize furniture in their homes, and Sephora Virtual Artist, which enables customers to try on makeup virtually.

Example Business Idea: an AR app that uses AI to suggest clothing and accessories based on the user’s body type, style preferences, and occasion. Users can virtually try on outfits before making a purchase.

2. AR In Education

Augmented reality has immense promise in the field of education. AR has the potential to make learning more engaging and interactive, ultimately enhancing knowledge retention.

It also bridges accessibility gaps, bringing educational content to students in remote or underserved areas. The great advantage of AR compared to physical learning aids is the lower overall cost due to having the low scalability costs of software compared to physical products.

An example of a project in this niche is Merge EDU, a provider of AR-based science and STEM learning tools for schools, and SketchAR, which artists to create accurate drawings through AR.

Example Business Idea: a platform that offers virtual science and chemistry labs through AR. Students can conduct experiments in a safe and interactive virtual environment without the need for expensive tools and ingredients.

3. AR In Architecture and Design

The architecture and design sectors are ripe for AR innovation, as AR visualization tech provides great opportunities to improve the experience of customers of architecture and interior design companies.

AR allows designers to display their projects in a real-world context, making collaboration between the designer or architect and the client much easier.

Moreover, AR can result in substantial cost savings by identifying design flaws early in the process, and by allowing designers to iterate and test concepts cheaper.

The philosophy of testing hypotheses cheaply is the bread and butter of early-stage startups and it has led to a plethora of innovations in tech. Any tool that helps designers test their concepts cheaply is bound to result in more innovation in the fields of architecture and interior design. Combined with innovative tech like AI and 3D printing, AR could be the beginning of a Cambrian explosion of new architectural design trends and movements.

Example Business Idea: an app that allows users to plan and visualize interior design changes in their homes. Users can experiment with different layouts, colors, and furniture arrangements.

Dave:
Hey, everyone. Welcome to On The Market. This is Dave Meyer, your host, joined by Henry Washington. Henry, you really went out of your way for this one to go all the way to Maui and post up in a short-term rental just to set the mood for the show about short-term rentals. It’s very nice of you.

Henry:
Look, that’s the extra mile that I’m willing to go for you, Dave. I am willing to get on a plane and fly to Hawaii just so that we can do a show on short… I did this just for you, Dave.

Dave:
That is the Henry Washington experience, everyone. What a standup gentleman.

Henry:
I will go to a tropical destination just so that you can get the inside information at that tropical destination.

Dave:
Well, for you, we’re going to do one of these shows once a month so you can start traveling around and go to a short-term rental. Well, we do have a great show for you all today. Honestly, I feel like it’s been way too long. We’ve been doing On The Market for what, 140 episodes?

Henry:
Yeah.

Dave:
We finally have a real bonafide expert on short-term rental data. We’ve had some fantastic operators on the show already, but we have Jamie Lane joining us today who runs the Research Department. He’s the Vice President of Research for AirDNA which, if you don’t know them, is one of the biggest short-term rental companies out there. I’m super excited to talk to Jamie about all the headlines out there about whether short-term rentals are declining or what’s really going on in the industry, and Jamie is definitely the person to tell us what’s truly going on.

Henry:
Yeah. The internet says the sky is falling out of the short-term rental market, and headlines are sometimes just headlines, and sometimes there’s some truth behind it, and I think what a great way to… Actually, let’s find out what the actual data says so that people can make informed decisions about growing or scaling a short-term rental business.

Dave:
All right. Well, with that said, let’s bring on Jamie Lane, the Vice President of Research for AirDNA.
Jamie Lane, welcome to On The Market. Thanks so much for being here.

Jamie:
Yeah. Thanks, Dave and Henry, for having me.

Dave:
Jamie, let’s just start by having you introduce yourself. Can you tell our audience what you do for AirDNA?

Jamie:
So I am the Chief Economist at AirDNA and SVP of Analytics. I’ve been with AirDNA now for three years.

Henry:
So for our audience who maybe hasn’t heard about AirDNA, tell us a little bit about what kind of data AirDNA helps with and what you guys track.

Jamie:
Yeah. So we are a short-term rental data and analytics company. We track the global performance of short-term rentals. So every listing that’s online and available for rent across Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com. We track the performance of that listing and then provide that data back to our customers. So, for investors, they can understand what the earning potential is of new investments, what markets and sub-markets make the most sense to invest in today, and what the future earning potential of those investments might be.

Dave:
Henry and I have a long list of questions that everyone else probably cares about, but I have to ask questions selfishly. How do you track all of that data? I’m just very curious how you get it because it seems like a very unique dataset.

Jamie:
It is a very unique dataset. So we actually started tracking it back in 2014, and we do it by collecting it from the OTA. So, Airbnb and Vrbo. We are looking at the calendars of every single listing every single day, and then tracking the movements in those calendars. So is a night available? When does it go unavailable? We then have a proprietary machine learning algorithm that can tell whether that’s a booked or a blocked night. We then take the last variable rate for that unit for that night as the revenue for that booking, and then we do that every single day across 10 million listings around the world, so it’s a massive data undertaking. We’ve got teams of engineers that manage the pipelines. We have to check the accuracy. There’s changes happening across the OTAs every day that we have to keep up with that makes it a… It’s makes it a serious endeavor.

Henry:
So what you’re saying is it’s no big deal, it’s just a couple of inputs, and you just throw it all together? Easy-peasy?

Jamie:
Yeah.

Henry:
I am also a data nerd. I did data analytics for my career before I went into the real estate business. So thanks, Dave, for asking that question because that’s… I always have an appreciation to hear about how this stuff is put together because it’s crazy difficult, and then I’m cool that you guys get to do it now, and I just get to sit back and be a person that looks at the aggregate.

Jamie:
Yeah. I spent 10 years as an economist covering the hotel industry before joining AirDNA, so that was… Actually, I was one of the, if not the first, customer of AirDNA getting the short-term rental performance data and actually incorporating it into our analysis of the hotel industry and trying to predict its future performance because obviously, the short-term rental industry and its massive growth that we’ve seen has impacted how hotels are able to perform and the rates they’re able to charge.

Henry:
So let’s talk about what everybody else is thinking about when they hear short-term rental or AirDNA because there’s been all kinds of crazy, scary, the world is falling apart, doomsday headlines about the short-term rental space. Every time you turn on your phone, you’re hearing somebody say, “Airbnb is dead,” or, “Short-term rentals are dead.” So going into the fall, what do you see demand looking like for short-term rentals in this current market?

Jamie:
You’re not talking about Twitter X and the doomsday scenarios that we’ve been seeing on that. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Yeah. There’s been a narrative out there around the collapse of the short-term rental industry. That is not what we’re seeing really at all. We’re seeing a normalization of performance. So back in 2018, 2019, short-term rentals averaged about 55% in terms of overall occupancy. Now, that accelerated massively in 2021. So for a full year, it averaged about 63%, so 800 basis points higher for occupancy. While it might not seem big, that’s a big change for an industry that was typically running in 55% year after year after year. Though 2018, 2019 was the historical peak. That was one of the best years ever for travel, for short-term rental performance. That was a really good year.
If you think about how we got to that 63% occupancy in 2021, it wasn’t because we saw a massive increase in demand for short-term rentals. So the narrative that everyone started traveling and staying in short-term rentals in 2021, demand was essentially flat compared to 2019 when it had been historically growing 10%, 15% per year. What happened was we saw a massive decrease in supply. So supply dropped 25% roughly in 2020, and it took a long time to crawl back. So, in 2021, demand started coming back, supply wasn’t there, and that pushed occupancies to those record levels. So, now, we’ve started to see a normalization coming back down. We only expect 2023 to end up at 58% occupancy. So, yes, down from the 63%, but not nearly what we were at pre-pandemic. So it’s, in our opinion, a very healthy market.

Dave:
Where does supply sit now, Jamie? You said that it took a little while to recover. In 2023, how does it compare to pre-pandemic levels?

Jamie:
Yeah. We’re sitting about 25% higher today than we were at in 2019, but as I said, the trajectory of what we are growing at pre-pandemic was growing 10%, 15% per year. So we’re now what? Four years past the onset of COVID and have only grown 25% over that past year. So we’re well below the trajectory that we are on. We’re getting back to it. Last year was a good year for growth. Supply was up about 20%, but now where it slowed in 2023, we’re running about 12%, 13% growth this year.

Henry:
So tell us a little bit about where you are seeing… Go both ways. So where are you seeing dips in occupancy, and then what parts of the country are you seeing STRs are really rocking it right now?

Jamie:
Yeah. Where we’re seeing the dips is more areas that we’re seeing the most normalization. So there’s markets like Joshua Tree or Phoenix, Coachella Valley that did really well in 2021 into 2022, and both on the demand side. So we had, in a lot of these markets, abnormal seasonality patterns like people traveling to Phoenix and Joshua Tree during the summer. I don’t know if you’ve been to Phoenix or Joshua Tree during the summer.

Henry:
Why?

Jamie:
They’re not markets that you typically want to travel to. When you look at the occupancies that those markets were generating pre-pandemic, those were the slow seasons. So now we’re getting back to normal, typical seasonality patterns in this market, which is causing it to look like occupancy is declining all the while, and it is declining, but it’s still a very healthy normal market. Then, there’s other areas like a market like Miami that has seen significant supply growth and is actually seeing overall weakness in demand, and that’s a market that’s interesting because of the impact of domestic and international travel. So that was a really popular market for people that wanted to travel to maybe an exotic city, but wanted to stay in the US, wanted to be able to go to the beach.
Now, we’re seeing a lot of people start to travel overseas again, and Miami is a market that has historically been really dependent on international travelers coming into it as tourists, and we’re not yet seeing the recovery of international travel to the US. So that’s a market where we’re seeing some overall occupancy weakness, but it really is a different story for each city on why we’re seeing the declines. Just about every market is seeing declines in occupancy in 2023, but still just about every market is above 2019 levels of occupancy.

Dave:
Jamie, what if you cut and look at the data a little bit differently rather than trying to segment by geography? Do you have any insights into other characteristics of the rentals that are seeing more occupancy or declines in revenue? I’m just thinking, is there anything about tenure of the operator or scale? Is it upscale, midscale, something like that?

Jamie:
So we do actually segment all properties into different price tiers, and this is one of the changes we’ve had since in the past couple of years that you can go on and see the performance of luxury properties, or budget properties, or mid-scale properties. Throughout history and even today, luxury properties typically generate the lowest overall occupancy, and it’s much higher ADR. A lot of homeowners have a much higher ADR threshold for which they’d be willing to rent out their home and wanting to control the type of renters that are coming in, making sure their property is not getting trashed on a party or something like that.
So 2019 luxury properties are generating less than 50% occupancy. They saw the biggest increase over the past four years. So they’re generating well over 50%, almost 60% occupancy in 2021 now running about 56%. So they saw the biggest overall increase, and a lot of that was the higher-end traveler that’s staying domestic that would’ve traveled overseas without the pandemic. That’s especially true in coastal and mountain markets, and that plays into maybe the narrative in an area like Destin or Panama City that did really well, especially at the higher end because someone like from Atlanta that’s going to do a drive-to-beach vacation, drive down there instead of traveling maybe to Nice, or Cahan, or somewhere in Europe.
Those locations now are seeing the biggest overall decline at the luxury side because of the changing travel patterns for those consumers. So that’s an area we’re seeing overall weakness. Where we’re actually seeing the best performance is in that mid-tier. So reasonably priced properties are still relatively competitive to hotels and a really good product. So has key amenities, well-located, on the beach. These are the type of things you’d actually want to rent, and they’re doing really well today. So going after that core travel segment that uses short-term rentals on their vacations.

Henry:
Well, I love hearing that because I have mid-tier short-term rentals, and they have been doing fairly well consistently, and so hearing that makes me happy. Real quick, define ADR for the people who don’t know what that is, and then I have another question for you.

Jamie:
Yeah. So maybe I’ll go through the three main metrics. So occupancy and how many nights are you selling out of every night that you make your unit available. ADR is the average daily rate. So what is the rate that you’re actually selling that night for? Then, RevPAR. That’s one of the best ones. That combines occupancy and ADR. So what is the average revenue that you get for every night that you make available? Essentially, you just multiply your ADR times occupancy because you can manipulate your occupancy by either increasing or decreasing your rates. So if you want to drive up occupancy, you can lower your rates, fill your unit every night of the year. So RevPAR is that great mix. So you can really get to the overall health of how your units and how the industry is performing.

Henry:
Wonderful, and my next question, I’m asking for a friend. You said those mid-tier short-term rentals tend to do the best, especially if they have the right amenities with those mid-tiers. So what are you seeing? What are the right amenities or the best amenities for those mid-tier type properties? Again, this is for a friend. I’m just going to relay this information. No big deal.

Dave:
Such a nice guy.

Jamie:
It really depends on the market, and that’s where… In certain markets now, there are certain amenities where they’re considered table stakes. If you don’t have those amenities, then you just can’t compete for guests. If you’re investing in Gatlinburg right now, and you do not have a hot tub, you’re a budget property. You’re a property that’s going to… and 80% of properties, entire home properties in Gatlinburg have a hot tub. So it really depends on the market properties. Like in Joshua Tree, if you don’t have a pool in Joshua Tree, you’re seeing double the overall decrease in occupancy from the market average. So there are certain things like during the pandemic, maybe you would’ve got booked in Joshua Tree if you didn’t have a pool, but now you’re having to really compete to find guests if you don’t have those basic amenities.
There are amenities that can take you over and above like having game rooms, having pickleball courts, having just unique things that really make your property stand out, and those unique things are what’s driving outsized performance in those markets, and those are constantly evolving as like in 2018 in Gatlinburg, if you had a hot tub, you’re like, “Oh, yeah. I’ve got the new hot amenity,” and then everyone copies you. So you constantly have to be seeing what those top-performing properties are doing to make sure you’re staying competitive.

Henry:
So what you’re saying is that your answer is saying people should look at the data from the data company.

Jamie:
You caught me. Yeah.

Dave:
Well, I think the best business in all of real estate is being a hot tub repair company in a short-term rental market because the amount of money I pay the service company for a hot tub because you have to have it like you just said, Jamie, is ridiculous. In these small towns, there’s two of them, and they definitely collude on prices, and good for them they’re making a killing. Anyway, I digress. So we’ve talked a little bit about supply, demand, and occupancy. I’m just curious a little bit about average daily rate and how that compares not just to the short-term rental industry, but how it also compares to the hotel industry because I think… We talk about this a lot on the show, Jamie, is that short-term rentals, they’re, of course, real estate investments, but your competition is as a hotel, not a rental property or not a flip. So I’m just curious how that all stacks up in today’s climate.

Jamie:
Yeah. So one of the things that have made short-term rentals such an attractive investment over the past couple of years is the massive increase in ADRs that we’ve seen. So ADRs today are 40% higher than they were in 2019 overall for the short-term rental industry. That makes the returns on investment that much more attractive because it’s not like you’re having to turn over more units, pay more for cleaning, all those things. This is just the exact same home that you’re now being able to rent out for 20%, 30%, 40% more, and that comes essentially right down to the bottom line in terms of your profitability of operating these investments. What we are seeing though is the rate of increase is slowing substantially and even declining in a lot of markets around the country, and it plays into the overall inflation picture that we actually see in the economy.
So, last year, last summer, inflation was what? 9%. That was what caused the Fed’s reaction to start raising interest rates. Short-term rental ADRs were growing up 11%, so we were outpacing the rate of inflation. That was great for short-term rentals, not great for the Fed’s reaction to all the rising prices that we’re seeing across the overall economy. Now, we’re actually seeing ADRs decline slightly. So, last month, we saw about a 1% decline in overall ADRs for short-term rentals. We’ve seen a few months now of consistent year-over-year declines which means… and overall, you’re not getting as much. A lot of what’s playing into that is the declining occupancies.
So if you’re seeing your unit not being rented as much, you want to maintain the occupancy that you’re getting. You’re cutting your rate to stay competitive. Bring guests into your properties. That’s happening across the country. Not necessarily great for our industry, but great for the price pressures that are going to overall impact the real estate industry long-term of the Fed feeling comfortable that prices aren’t going to overall spiral. Then, how that competes with hotels is hotels had seen overall weaker performance coming out of the pandemic. So people were much more likely to stay in a short-term rental relative to a hotel.
Now, that’s largely flipping. Hotels have seen really strong performance in the past couple of years. A big part of that is the return of business travel or return of conferences, people going to these big events, and hotels now have significant pricing power. So they were growing rates 5%, 6% this summer which actually means hotels are starting to look a bit more attractive. Overall, hotels are still more expensive, comparable units in major cities. Short-term rentals is more expensive in coastal destination markets, and it’s not necessarily a fair comparison given that you get a kitchen, more amenities, and short-term rentals relative to hotels.

Henry:
Yeah. I mean, you do get more amenities, it seems like, in an Airbnb. I think what makes it attractive for myself in particular is when I travel… and I like to bring everybody. For example, I’m sitting in a short-term rental right now, and we chose short-term rental over a hotel because I can get multiple bedrooms because I brought my kids, I brought my two kids, and then we brought a nanny with us so that my wife and I can actually get some quality time in this vacation destination. So when you’re going to be stacking multiple rooms in a nicer luxury hotel, it gets super pricey compared to a short-term rental. But in that same vein, are there certain clients that you see that are more attracted to hotels or more attracted to Airbnbs? What’s that client base look like?

Jamie:
Yeah. So, overall, and this narrative that’s really held over the entire four years since the onset of COVID has been the larger the property, the better your performance. So people that are traveling with groups, traveling with families maybe started staying in short-term rentals for the first time and are continuing to choose short-term rentals for that type of travel. If you look at the hotel industry’s response, it’s been like Hilton saying, “We’re going to now let you confirm adjoining rooms, and that’s our response to all the demand for short-term rentals.” Over half the pipeline for new hotel investment is extended stay properties, so properties with kitchens, properties with additional bedrooms, suite-style hotels.
So they’re seeing what’s happening in terms of the popularity of the short-term rental product and trying to adapt to it. I think they’re going to have a hard time overall really competing, and we’ve actually done a lot of studies in terms of what’s happening in terms of short-term rental share of overall paid accommodation. So the total number of rooms being sold across hotels and short-term rentals. The short-term rental industry had been growing their share of overall travelers and pretty significantly. That obviously increased in 2020, came back down in 2021, and now we’re slowly pulling back share again from hotels. Still, 85% of overall travel is happening in a hotel room, so there’s still a much bigger slice of the overall pie of travel, but short-term rentals were 8% of overall demand in 2018, and now we’re up to almost 15%. So this industry is growing more and more. People are trying it for the first time, and seeing that for certain types of travel, it is a much better fit for how you want to interact and have accommodation when you go on vacation.

Henry:
Yeah. If hotels figure out how to compete with this multiple-room, large-family scenario, but in a hotel environment, I will be a sucker for it because I love a good hotel bar and delicious restaurant access by just walking downstairs. So I’m their huckleberry if they figure that out. That’s for sure. One more thing I wanted to ask about hotels and Airbnbs. So are you seeing certain markets where hotels are beating out Airbnbs particularly?

Jamie:
Absolutely, and it’s interesting the types of markets that are really beating out hotels. It’s not because of anything the short-term rental industry is doing. It’s what’s happening in terms of regulation. So we just saw new laws going to effect in New York which dropped the short-term rental supply by almost 80% overnight. We had regulation go into effect in Los Angeles, and Chicago, and Boston, and Dallas. So there is an impact there in terms of the short-term rental industry able to and just provide the accommodation that people want in the types of units that they’ve showed historically that they want to be able to stay in because of new laws and regulation going into these markets.
So if you look at the overall share of demand staying in short-term rentals in urban areas, we’re now essentially at 2018 levels of share. So all the growth that we’d seen in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 has essentially disappeared because of lack of supply in those markets to accommodate guests in the areas where short-term rental supply has been growing the most, so beach and mountain markets, small and mid-size cities. Short-term rental share in those areas is just going gangbusters and continues to grow at a great rate.

Dave:
What about international markets, Jamie? I’ve read a lot about US travelers going internationally a lot particularly this year. Are you seeing a lot of growth there?

Jamie:
Yeah. So I talked a little bit about areas that we’re seeing weakness in the US because of Americans now traveling overseas. That has been a real bright spot for the global short-term rental industry of Americans really coming back at an amazing rate of traveling overseas again. So we track the overall share of international travelers in these destinations. It’s now at record highs. There’s markets like Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, and over 15% of the demand for short-term rentals in those markets is coming just from Americans over the past year.

Dave:
Wow.

Jamie:
So a massive increase in demand there. There’s events really coming back now, so we are tracking… I had the team just look into what was going on in October Fest, and we’re seeing demand up 30% this year for stays in short-term rentals compared to last year. So, now, fully recovered back to pre-pandemic highs and seeing strong growth. So people traveling for these fun events in Europe, again, going back to the beach, going back to Greece, going back to south of France, and it’s really a healthy market where Europe… If you looked at the data in 2021 and 2022, it was really struggling. So lockdowns were much more stringent there. People were really reluctant to get on a plane for 10 hours. Now, that really shifted, and people are getting back to traveling, and it’s… The Americans are back.

Dave:
Yeah, man. Tell me about it. All my good deals on Airbnbs in Europe have evaporated over the last two years. Everyone stay away.

Jamie:
So a data point there for you, Dave, you laugh, but I had mentioned how ADRs were down in the US. ADRs this summer were up 15% in Europe year over year.

Dave:
Wow, wow.

Jamie:
Yeah.

Dave:
Yeah. I mean, you see it firsthand. Everywhere is just bustling right now.

Jamie:
Yeah.

Henry:
Okay. So, obviously, you have access to all this amazing data, and I’d imagine most people listening to this show are either current short-term rental operators who are wondering should they be growing and expanding their portfolio, or they’re aspiring short-term rental operators, and they want to get into this space. So what advice would you give to those people who are looking to either grow or get started in this space? What should they be looking for, not looking for, adding, or avoiding?

Jamie:
So this may sound self-serving, but you got to be looking at the data.

Dave:
You’re a good company here, Jamie. Our audience will be receptive to this idea.

Jamie:
Your audience is going to know that affordability of housing is at all time lows, and you’ve got interest rates over 77%. We’ve got housing values still at all time highs. So we had seen a little bit of dip. That’s now come back and reaching all time highs again in terms of housing values. Short-term rentals revenue peaked early last year. We’re not seeing an overall decline, but it’s essentially plateauing at the peak, which makes it where you’ve got to be really careful and really, I would say, intentional in where you’re going to make an investment today where if you were looking in maybe 2020 and 2021, you could throw a dart on a board, hit a market, and probably have found a great investment. That is much harder now. We’re seeing way more activity in small and mid-size markets today.
Essentially, the best investments for short-term rentals in a lot of ways the areas that haven’t seen significant upticks in housing values over the past three or four years. Those markets are becoming harder and harder to find, and you’ve got to find ones that still have the drivers of short-term rental demand. So maybe a state or national park nearby, maybe a hospital or a university that’s driving a demand to that destination, but there’s still great markets out there, and we’re trying to build new and innovative tools to help people find those diamonds in the rough. Not only the best markets to invest in, but I would say just about every market has got a sub-market that is investible today. It just might not have been the same market or sub-market that you would’ve invested in even just last year.

Henry:
Your advice does sound a little self-serving, but I appreciate it because we’ve been saying this, really, about all aspects of real estate investing when we talk about it on this show, right? This market is forcing people to be more fundamentally sound investors because it’s a much more unforgiving market. So education in any real estate investment industry is so much more important right now because you can’t make the mistakes you could make two or three years ago. Two or three years ago, you make a mistake, your value was going to go through the roof, and you’d be fine. Right? Two or three years ago, you make a mistake with a short-term rental, and you were still getting booked up. It didn’t matter. The market is just not allowing for that now, but it doesn’t mean that it’s falling apart. Right? You have to ignore the headlines, and dig into the data, and do the research. There are always opportunities in every market, and essentially, what you’re saying is you’ve got to do the research. Find the areas where there’s opportunity, and then capitalize on that opportunity. That’s investing fundamentals, so I really do appreciate that answer.

Jamie:
Yeah. When you’re looking at the data, and just to give a tangible example, if you’re looking at the current occupancy that your market is running, go back and look at what it was running in 2018 and 2019. If it’s still magnitude is higher, you’ve got to expect it to normalize back to those levels, and you can’t expect the highs that we’ve been running to continue. That’s, I think, unsafe, maybe conservative underwriting, but I think prudent in the type of environment we’re at.

Dave:
Well said. Well, Jamie, thank you so much for joining us. You don’t know this yet, but you will be appearing on this show again. Well, if you’ll have us, but we would love to have you back. This was super helpful. If people want to follow you and AirDNA, where should they learn more?

Jamie:
Yeah. So, AirDNA. Our website is airdna.co. Me? I’m active on Twitter, @jamie_lane, or on LinkedIn. Please follow me. I talk about short-term rental data all the time, and we also, if you like the podcast format, have a data podcast on short-term rentals called the STR Data Lab, and you can hear me every week talking about this sort of stuff.

Dave:
Awesome. Great. Thanks again, Jamie.

Jamie:
Thank you.

Dave:
So it sounds like even though we are both short-term rental investors, we both prefer hotels. Is that why?

Henry:
It’s 100% accurate. If I have a choice, price excluded, I’m going to stay at a hotel 10 out of 10 times.

Dave:
Dude, I’m exactly the same way. I find going to cool hotels to be one of the most fun things to do about traveling. I love checking out new hotels.

Henry:
For me, too. It’s nostalgic for me. My parents used to take us on all these trips. They didn’t believe in taking vacations without the kids, and this was back when you could just let kids wander. So we’d check into a hotel, and then the only rule we had was we couldn’t leave the hotel grounds. We would just wander around exploring the hotels, and I still have that sense. So when I walk into a new hotel, I feel childlike. I don’t get that same feeling with an Airbnb.

Dave:
Totally. I’m with you. You mentioned the bar and restaurant, which I love. It’s like a fun place to socialize, but I mean, a hotel breakfast… I walk into a hotel, and I’m like, “I am going to make sure this hotel loses money on me based on how much I’m going to consume at the hotel buffet. I will get them,” and I make it my mission.

Henry:
I think that’s a fair mission in life.

Dave:
But there is something true about the group travel. When I go on a ski trip with friends or for example, we’re planning a family reunion for next summer, I think Airbnbs are great for that, having nieces, and nephews, and cousins running around, that kind of stuff. It’s really fun for group travel, but if it’s just me and Jane alone, it’s definitely going to be a hotel.

Henry:
Agreed. 100%. I’m with you, bud.

Dave:
But that’s it. I learned a lot. I did not realize that demand continues to just grow. You see these headlines that occupancy is down, and it is a normalization, but what he said was that supply was up 25%, but occupancy is still up relative to 2019 over the same time period. So, clearly, there’s still plenty of demand, and he also told us that hotels still make up 85%. So it’s not like Airbnb at this moment in the summer is capturing some huge portion of market share. It’s still just a fraction. So it doesn’t feel to me anymore like there’s some risk that all of a sudden, demand might evaporate.

Henry:
I mean, what I heard was that there is still plenty of opportunity all across the country to be a successful short-term rental operator, and I think what I hope people are seeing and hearing from shows like this is that you just have to learn how to find the opportunity. You have to learn how to research the markets, and then interpret that data, and yeah, you’re going to take some risk, but you’ve got tons of data at your fingertips. Think about investors who were doing vacation rentals before. They didn’t have this level of data to use to make their decisions, and so you really have a superpower with access to this information. If you spend a decent amount of time researching your market, and then understanding what you need to provide to that market and where you need to provide it, I think you can be successful. It’s just not like it was two years ago when you could throw anything out there, and you’re going to get a booking. I mean, you’re operating a business, which means you have to figure out a way to set yourself apart, and then solve a problem.

Dave:
Totally. I’ve been saying this for a while, and I think it’s still true is that in a lot of new industries or new asset classes, when it first comes on, there are these pioneers, and there’s a gold rush. I think that happened in short-term rentals, and it’s before the market becomes efficient. It’s relatively easy to make money. There’s not great systems. You just get in there and figure it out. Over time, if it proves to be a profitable asset, you can sure as hell bet that sophisticated investors are going to start moving into the space, software companies… It’s going to become an efficient market just like the stock market is efficient, just like the rental and the multifamily market is efficient. That doesn’t mean they are bad investments. They’re still investments. It just means that they are more driven by the same fundamentals and need for good operations and good decision-making as every other asset class.

Henry:
100%.

Dave:
All right, man. Well, enjoy your short-term rental. We were just talking about hotels. Go sneak into a hotel breakfast and find yourself a buffet.

Henry:
If you think I already haven’t gone next door to the Four Seasons and acted like I was staying there, you, sir, are mistaken.

Dave:
You get the best of both worlds.

Henry:
Absolutely, absolutely.

Dave:
You got your whole family in one spot. You got all the amenities at the Four Seasons.

Henry:
100%.

Dave:
You’re living the dream, right? All right, man. Well, thank you for joining us from your vacation, and thank you all for listening. If you appreciate this episode, make sure to leave us a review on Spotify or Apple. We’ll see you next time for On The Market.
On The Market is created by me, Dave Meyer, and Caitlin Bennett, produced by Caitlin Bennett, editing by Joel Esparza and Onyx Media, research by Pooja Jindal, copywriting by Nate Weintraub, and a very special thanks to the entire BiggerPockets team. The content on the show, On The Market, are opinions only. All listeners should independently verify data points, opinions, and investment strategies.

Libraries aren’t just repositories of books. They’re also a great place to inspire your business’s content curation efforts. After all, the library system is based on finding exactly what you need when you need it most.

Whether I walk into a library searching for a genre or a fellow entrepreneur’s book, I can locate it fairly easily. (Thank you, Dewey Decimal System.) All I have to do is type some information into the library’s database and I’m rewarded with an answer. It’s efficient, convenient, and accurate.

How does all this relate to curated content? Simply put, the content your team curates serves as a sort of library for everyone in your company. When you or your colleagues need a whitepaper, case study, article, or related asset, you should be able to count on your content library as a trustworthy resource.

Having a wealth of curated content at your fingertips isn’t just nice to have, either. In today’s fast-paced marketplace, it’s essential. It can take days or even weeks to pull together useful, high-quality content pieces. Rather than waiting — and potentially losing a sale, budding investor, employee, or new partner — you need your content to be ready to go.

The good news is that you probably already have the beginnings of a curated content library in the form of existing collateral such as blog posts. However, to give your people the tools they deserve, you’ll need to begin building out your content collection. Try these techniques to keep your unique content flowing and leverage it in your branding, marketing, selling, and support efforts.

1. Add a content curation element to your existing content development strategy.

Search Engine Journal reports that around seven out of 10 marketers rely on content. Accordingly, the chances are very high that you have a content development strategy in the works. That’s great, but you need to make certain you’re actively curating content that will be useful later.

For instance, you might want to add a task like “write one client case study per month” to your existing content development strategy. Even if you’re not sure how you’ll use the case study beyond publishing it on your site, that’s okay. For instance, case studies can be extraordinarily helpful as educational pieces and call-to-action triggers. A case study you write this quarter may not seem pertinent immediately. But a salesperson could depend on it next year to move a lead through the sales pipeline.

Remember: Your curated content is basically bulking out your corporation’s private library. To ensure that your library grows, you need to add curated content generation into your strategic marketing mix.

2. Teach your team members how to use your curated content.

Once you begin to increase your available content, be sure to store it in a centralized place. That way, it’s accessible to all employees. However, never assume that your team members will begin using your curated content just because it’s available. On the contrary, you’ll have to train them on how it can assist them in their jobs.

For instance, let’s say you’ve assigned one of your marketers to keep your business’s social media presence strong and consistent. That’s important because letting your social media engagement wane will hurt your brand’s perception. Ideally, posting two to three times weekly can help you stay in front of your target audiences.

Of course, it can be tough to add variety to posts. One way to be more versatile is to pull some quotes or snippets from curated content, which is something your employee might not know how to do without a little prompting. Most longer content like pillars and studies contain compelling blurbs. A quick quote could drive readers to click on a link to find out more or share your insights with their followers. The result is more interaction for your brand thanks to the clever use of curated content.

3. Think outside the text-only box when engaging in content curation.

There’s little doubt that traditional digital marketing items like blogs, whitepapers, and even transcripts are essential elements of your content library. They’re hardly the only types of content that belong there, though. Other types of media can be just as valuable.

Take videos. Did you know that Oberlo statistics suggest 91% of consumers are eager to get their hands and eyes on more branded video content? If you’re not producing video content as part of your curated collection, you’re missing out on a golden opportunity. The same goes for content in the form of imagery, such as infographics, slideshows, and charts.

If you’re worried that you’ll be spending too much time producing all this extra content, think again. It’s often simpler to get more mileage out of a single piece of content than you might assume. One blog post containing statistics could be spun into an informative graph, a topic-adjacent video “teaser”, or a bulleted PowerPoint presentation. Rather than reinventing the wheel, you just squeeze a little more juice from content you’ve previously invested in.

4. Add some outsider media to your curated content.

There’s nothing that says your organization’s content has to all come from internal sources. Outsider pieces like recently published journalistic writings, industry-related deep dives, and YouTube or Vimeo videos can be included as resources. Truth be told, they can help motivate leads by providing objective, third-party viewpoints.

Pretend you’re trying to close a deal with a qualified prospect. You’re not having much luck, so you go to your centralized repository of curated content. After a little searching, you discover a recently published piece from The New York Times that you believe would nudge your prospect closer to conversion. You compose an email, send the link to the article, and ask to schedule a follow-up meeting.

The point here is that you don’t have to depend only on your staffers to produce all your curated content. In fact, having content from diverse places can sometimes be the best way to add credibility to your company’s position. Even content like user-generated reviews that talk about your competition can have a positive impact depending on the situation.

Does it take time to aggregate a library of curated content? Sure. You’ll never regret making it part of your overall marketing strategy, though. The first time you’re able to move the needle on a sale or educate a new hire with curated content, you’ll be glad you added “librarian” to your title.

Andrew Eweka is a prominent figure in the consultancy field with over 20 years of experience. He also has over a decade of experience in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. His journey has culminated in roles as CEO, chairman, founder and board member, in a range of industries including healthcare and e-commerce.

His main aim in business is bridging the gap between Africa and the rest of the world. This article will uncover the powerful mindset and tactics that have helped Andrew Eweka to achieve his ongoing professional mission.

Dr Byron Cole: Could you tell us about your journey in the consultancy field and how it has shaped your approach as the CEO & Chairman of 1stMan Global and CEO of Brompton AGI FZ LLE?

Andrew Eweka: My journey in the consultancy field has been marked by a deep commitment to problem-solving and strategic thinking. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with diverse organizations, helping them navigate complex challenges and seize opportunities. This experience has reinforced the importance of innovation, adaptability, and a global perspective. As the CEO & Chairman of 1stMan Global and CEO of Brompton AGI FZ LLE, this consultancy background has shaped my approach in two key ways. Firstly, it has instilled in me a keen sense of client-centricity, focusing on delivering tailored solutions that align with the unique needs of each organization. Secondly, it has emphasized the value of fostering a culture of collaboration, where diverse talents and perspectives come together to drive growth and transformation.

Cole: With your extensive experience in various corporate roles and board memberships, how do you balance the diverse interests of different companies you are involved with?

Eweka: Balancing the diverse interests of multiple companies requires a delicate blend of strategic alignment and effective communication. Drawing on my experience, I prioritize open dialogue and transparent communication across all entities. This helps ensure that overarching goals are shared, and potential conflicts are addressed proactively. Furthermore, I encourage cross-pollination of ideas and practices among the companies I’m involved with. By identifying common challenges and best practices, we can streamline processes, maximize efficiency, and create synergies that benefit all stakeholders.

Cole: As someone who has brought global businesses into Nigeria and West Africa, what challenges and opportunities do you see in expanding international companies into these regions?

Eweka: Expanding international companies into Nigeria and West Africa presents a unique blend of challenges and opportunities. On one hand, these regions offer immense growth potential due to their large consumer base and emerging markets. However, navigating regulatory complexities, cultural differences, and infrastructural limitations can be daunting. By focusing on localized strategies, investing in building strong local partnerships, and conducting thorough market research, we can mitigate risks and capitalize on the enormous opportunities these regions offer.

Cole: Could you share your vision for bridging the gap between Africa and the rest of the world in terms of business? What strategies are you employing to achieve this?

Eweka: My vision revolves around fostering mutually beneficial partnerships between Africa and the global business community. This involves facilitating knowledge exchange, technology transfer, and investment that can drive sustainable development across the continent. To achieve this, I emphasize the importance of education and capacity building, nurturing a new generation of African entrepreneurs who can compete on a global stage. By promoting cultural understanding, facilitating trade agreements, and leveraging technology, we can establish a more level playing field that benefits both African economies and the broader international business landscape.

Cole: Apart from your business ventures, you’re also a co-founder of Wazima Health and a non-profit football academy. How do these initiatives contribute to your goal of harnessing youth potential and bridging gaps?

Eweka: Wazima Health and the non-profit football academy reflect my commitment to harnessing youth potential and bridging socioeconomic gaps. Wazima Health addresses healthcare disparities by providing accessible medical services to under served communities, improving overall well-being. The football academy, on the other hand, offers a platform for youth talent development, instilling values of teamwork, discipline, and ambition. These initiatives align with my belief that empowering the youth is crucial for sustainable development. By investing in education, health, and skills development, we create a foundation for brighter futures and contribute to narrowing societal disparities.

Cole: In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, how do you stay ahead of the curve and adapt your strategies to new challenges and trends?

Eweka: Staying ahead of the curve requires a commitment to continuous learning and a proactive approach to change. I emphasize the importance of staying well-informed about industry trends, technological advancements, and market shifts. Regularly engaging in research, attending conferences, and seeking diverse perspectives helps me anticipate challenges and identify emerging opportunities. Agility is key. I encourage my teams to embrace innovation, experiment with new approaches, and be willing to pivot when necessary. This adaptability allows us to respond effectively to evolving customer needs and market dynamics.

Cole: The concept of global business can be complex and intricate. How do you simplify this concept and make it accessible to a wide audience, especially those who might not have a background in business?

Eweka: Global business, at its core, is about connecting people, products, and ideas across borders. I often use relatable metaphors to illustrate this concept. Just as individuals can learn from different cultures and experiences, businesses can thrive by collaborating with diverse markets and leveraging each other’s strengths. I also emphasize the tangible impacts of global business, such as job creation, improved access to products, and enhanced quality of life. By highlighting these real-world outcomes, I make the concept more relatable and accessible to audiences without a business background.

Cole: Collaboration and networking are crucial in the business world. How do you approach building and maintaining meaningful connections within your extensive network?

Eweka: Building and maintaining connections is about authenticity and value creation. I prioritize meaningful interactions over transactional exchanges. This involves actively seeking opportunities to collaborate, share insights, and offer support to others in my network. I also value diversity within my network, seeking out voices from different industries, backgrounds, and regions. Regular communication through platforms like industry events, social media, and even personalized emails helps nurture these relationships over time.

Cole: Could you share a memorable success story from your career that highlights the impact of your efforts in bringing global businesses to Africa?

Eweka: One standout success story involved bringing a tech startup specializing in renewable energy solutions to Africa. By identifying the need for sustainable power sources across the continent, we positioned the company to provide affordable and eco-friendly energy solutions. Through strategic partnerships with local governments and businesses, we successfully implemented these solutions in various regions, positively impacting both the environment and local economies. This success demonstrated the transformative power of aligning global expertise with local needs, driving positive change and illustrating the potential of international collaborations in Africa.

Andrew Eweka’s Tips For Aspiring Entrepreneurs And Leaders

1. Lead with purpose. Understand the core values that drive you and the impact you want to make. Combine this with a hunger for continuous learning and a willingness to step out of your comfort zone.
2. Embrace failure as a stepping stone to success. Every setback is a chance to learn, pivot, and grow stronger.
3. Surround yourself with a diverse and supportive network. Collaboration and mentorship can provide invaluable insights and accelerate your growth.

David:
Welcome to the BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast. I am the host of the biggest, the best and the Baddest Real Estate podcast where we arm you with the information that you need to start building long-term wealth through real estate today. It doesn’t take that many properties to achieve financial freedom. It just takes the right ones, and that’s what we’re talking about is how you can identify the right property so that you can get to the same place that Brandon and I and tens of thousands of other people have got to. We’re going to call this the Real Estate Investor Master Journey. This is your step-by-step guide to mastering real estate investing and it’s going to be so much more simple than you think. So glad to have everybody today. We have a bonus episode. It is the 90 Day Challenge.
In today’s episode, you’re going to be listening to me walking you through a webinar where we will go over how to achieve your goals with a 90 day plan of action, how to determine cashflow potential quickly and efficiently so you don’t waste your time. How to fund deals even with little money available and how to come up with a long-term strategy for wealth that you can execute over a shorter period of time. It’s all about building momentum and I’m going to share with you some strategies for how you can do just that.
We are heading into the last quarter of the year, as crazy as that sounds. And if you set a goal to purchase property this year, there is still time to get that done. So if you’re somebody who’s been struggling with taking action, you need a little more direction, you need a framework that you can use, you should really like today’s show because we are going to be getting into the brass tacks. Now as a little FYI, I originally recorded this earlier in the year when rates were lower, so they are a little bit higher now, but the principles, the analysis that you’re going to be learning, the way to look at real estate has not changed, but because rates are a little higher, you might just want to write lower offers or chase different deals than you would have before.
If you’re someone who struggled with taking action because you didn’t feel confident, you’re going to love today’s show. We talk about how analyzing deal after deal after deal can get you comfortable with knowing what’s going to make money and what’s going to lose money. And with that comfortability comes confidence, and with confidence comes action. And we all know what happens if you take consistent action. Now, at the end of the show today, you’re going to have an opportunity to sign up for a BiggerPockets Pro membership, if that’s something that you’d like and because you’re listening to this now I’d like to offer you a discount. So if you use the following code, you could get 20% off your BiggerPockets Pro membership. The code is YTChallenge23. Use that when you’re signing up for a BiggerPockets Pro membership and get yourself 20% off courtesy of yours truly, David Greene.
Now the code is podchallenge23. That’s PODchallenge23. If you use that code when you’re checking out, you can get yourself 20% off courtesy of yours truly, David Greene, because I appreciate you listening to my podcast. All right, let’s get into it.
All right, let’s get started with today’s webinar. Yep, my pleasure. Thank you for asking the question. The 90 Day Challenge, how to get your first or next property in the next 90 days, hosted by yours truly, David Greene, host of the BiggerPockets podcast. Please feel free to follow me on Instagram or anywhere else, @DavidGreene24. There’s a good chance that you’ll be listening to this and I have a question that I won’t be able to get to. So you can DM me or even better, you can send me a message on the BiggerPockets platform and I can get to you there.
So as you’re listening, go ahead and take your phone out because there’s going to be several times throughout this slideshow where I’m going to ask you to take a picture of, like a screenshot because you’re going to want to remember that stuff, so you’re going to want to have your phone handy when you do that. All right, thanks for coming. This should be fun. Here’s our goal. It’s very simple. I want help you build a step-by-step plan to buy your first or next property in the next 90 days, no matter how much experience, time or money that you currently have. Let’s talk a little bit about us, a BiggerPockets. Basically it’s a website that has a blog, a forum, podcasts, webinars, webinar replays, analysis tools, networking opportunities, books, videos and more that are all designed to help you use real estate investing to achieve your goals. There’s a free membership that includes education, networking, Q&A, forums and confidence to take action.
There’s a pro membership, expert education and data investment calculators, landlord legal forums and tools to take action because at BiggerPockets, we believe that real estate is the greatest wealth building tool in the world. It’s not quick and easy, but simply a business that can be learned. Anyone can invest regardless of past or current position. I, David Greene, I’m a real estate investor myself. I live in the Bay Area in California.
I own rental property, I flip houses, I invest in commercial real estate, I invest in short-term rentals. I hold some notes, basically people that pay me like I’m the bank on their mortgage. I am the host of the BiggerPockets podcast, formerly with Brandon Turner and a new co-host is going to be revealed pretty soon here. I’ve written a couple books for BiggerPockets, the BRRRR, Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat, Long-Distance Real Estate Investing, as well as SOLD: Every Real Estate Agent’s Guide to Building a Profitable Business. And there’s two more books coming out after SOLD that are written towards agents to help them be better at their job and to understand how to serve clients at a higher level. I’ve been featured in Forbes, HGTV, CNN and more. And like you, I was once a newbie to real estate.
And here’s why I put all this in there. I just want you to understand that you’re listening to someone coming from my perspective because the advice I’m going to give you today, it’s good that you understand what I’m doing so you understand why I’m giving you the advice I am. But it doesn’t matter where I’m right now. At one point I was sitting right where you are. I just kept going on this journey of real estate investing. I really liked it and I ended up getting able to do all that cool stuff. And that’s what’s awesome about real estate because the more you give to it, the more it gives back to you. Succeeding in real estate is similar to succeeding in anything, and this is what I really want to highlight. There is no magic or secret to becoming an amazing real estate investor. It’s probably in my opinion, one of or the easiest ways to succeed at building wealth. I don’t think there’s a better way than real estate, at least not that what I’ve ever found.
So you shouldn’t be surprised that investing in real estate success is just like success in anything else you do. And what do I mean? Well, what do people do to succeed in general? They have a strong reason or a why for getting into shape. People have to know why they’re doing something if they’re going to stay committed to it. They then think about it, read about it, talk about it, and in other ways obsess about getting into shape. They focus on a particular set of workouts. They don’t just do anything. It’s very purposeful and intentional, what they’re going to do when they go workout, they educate themselves on the proper form so they don’t get injured. They surround themselves with others who are trying to improve their physique. They don’t fall for get ripped quick schemes or programs, but they do pay for equipment tools and gym memberships.
This one’s so important is you’re going to spend some money if you want to get into shape, but it doesn’t have to be a get ripped quick scheme, or a get rich quick scheme. You see what we did there? It’s just finding the right equipment, the right tools and the right gym to put their time into. And then this is what’s super important. They show up consistently despite not seeing immediate progress. They just keep pushing play. This is so, so big. Anything you do, like right now I’m trying to undertake juujitsu and it is super hard. I’m not seeing a lot of progress. But I have to keep going. Every single person I talk to says the secret is you just keep showing up. If you’re tired and you don’t want to actually roll or spar, then don’t. Just come to the class and learn the techniques, watch other people doing it, get in the community of people, have fun, build relationships here, but you have to keep coming. Every single person is saying the same thing and it just makes me think about all the other things I’ve been successful at.
How did I become successful? I kept going when other people stopped. This is a fourplex that my buddy Brandon bought. That’s his little daughter Rosie that he’s holding in the front door. This thing makes him $1,432 a month. This is a triplex that he owns. This makes him a little over $1,000 a month. This is a fourplex that he turned into a fiveplex. This one makes them almost $1,600 a month. It doesn’t take that many properties to achieve financial freedom. It just takes the right ones and that’s what we’re talking about is how you can identify the right property so that you can get to the same place that Brandon and I and tens of thousands of other people have got to. We’re going to call this the real estate investor master journey. This is your step-by-step guide to mastering real estate investing and it’s going to be going to be so much more simple than you think.
So go ahead, get yourself ready. We’re going to get started at the meat and potatoes of our presentation today and I hope you guys are excited because I’m not blowing smoke. This is all stuff that I’ve done and I was just a police officer that didn’t want to have to be a police officer anymore, and I worked my way right out of it. And whatever situation you’re at in life, you can do it too. Step number one, your purpose. This is the why that we talked about in the workout analogy. Why do you want to invest in real estate in the first place?
Let’s go over a couple of reasons why some people do it. They want wealth, they want flashiness, they want nice cars. They want to feel like they’re a somebody. They want to show off. They want to go to conferences and be able to say, “I have 700 units,” and use fancy phrases like cap rate and say finance instead of finance and talk about their door count, which is hilarious to me because I know quite a few investors that end up including the garage door, the front door, the side door, the back door, the bathroom door, the closet door. There’s a lot of doors that get worked into these accounts. Is that why you want to do it or are you looking for a different motive? Here’s why I say that. If your motive for working out is because you want to look good to find a romantic partner, it will usually be enough to get you in the gym and eating better and in shape. But when you find your partner, you’ll probably stop.
Your why was just to get to that point and that was all. If your reason for working out was that you wanted to be healthy so you could live longer or you wanted to find a partner and make them proud of who they’re with, you wanted to really, really serve them by being fit. When you find that partner, you’ll continue to work out. The why really, really matters. A lot of people are in a situation in life where they’re not happy. They have a lack of security. Maybe they’re insecure as a person, they’re watching other people around them doing better or they don’t like their job, they just want to get out of their job right now. Well, if that’s your reason, you’ll probably pursue real estate until you get out of that pain and then you’ll stop. And the thing that sucks about that is that real estate is designed to get better and better and better over time.
It’s like the compound interest theory. To me, real estate investing is much, much more like planting a tree. The reason this works so well but that so few people do it is the delayed gratification component of it. Every time I buy a house right now, I am serving future David. All the money that I make in real estate right now came from decisions I made in my past. You don’t get the immediate gratification of it. And so I’m bringing this up right now to just sort of make clarity to you that the reason to get into this is for the longterm. It’s just like when you first start going to the gym. You don’t see progress, you just feel sore. It just hurts all the time. And the worst thing ever is when you start going and you get in some progress and then you stop and then you got to start all over again. And you’re always in that just agony of getting started, but you never see the results.
The only reason that you should get into fitness is you’re going to consistently stick with it. You’re going to keep going to the gym, you’re going to keep eating healthy, you’re going to build good habits and then it’s impossible to not be in shape, but then you get all the benefits of being in shape. Well, we’re talking about financial fitness today. Real estate works just the same way. You’re looking at what this property is going to be doing for you in five years, in 10 years, in 30 years, not what it’s going to be doing for you immediately. So this is a good question for you to ask yourself. I think you guys should all take a picture of this. I’m going to give you a minute to take a picture of this screen here. As you ask yourself this question, why do you want to invest in real estate?
I want you to consider writing down your answer. Come up with a list of all the reasons why you want to do it. Brandon bought that house where he was holding his daughter in the picture to give to her. It’s one of the coolest things he’s going to do. He’s buying this house. He put it on a loan that the property will be paid off in 18 years. He’s going to live off the cashflow for those 18 years and when Rosie turns 18, she gets that house. At that time with the loan being paid off and the appreciation that’s happened, she should be able to pay for her college, her car, her first property, a vacation anywhere she wants to go and more, just from that one house. She will be set for life if she makes good decisions. Brandon made a decision and in 18 years after he made it, his kid will have incredible benefit which will then benefit him.
That’s a wonderful story of how real estate can work and when it works well. When it doesn’t work well is when you’re in a financial bind and you’re trying to get out of it using real estate right away. So if you guys write down all the reasons why you want to invest in real estate, you’ll start to see it’s because you want to leave a legacy for your kids because you want to put your money in a good, safe place where it’s going to grow over time, because you want something to focus on other than the stuff in life that you’re staring at right now that isn’t doing anything for you. And those are powerful whys and you will need them to get through this long-term commitment that we’re talking about.
Step number two is plan. How are you going to invest in real estate? You’ve got a lot of different what we call niches or if you want to be fancy, you could call them niches. Single family homes, small multifamily, large multifamily, office space, retail space, mobile homes, mobile home parks or raw land. Those are examples of different ways you can invest in real estate. Then you’ve got these strategies, buy and hold. I use that one all the time. Fix and flip, I use that one occasionally. Now here’s the cool thing is all of these strategies can work in most cases for any niche. Wholesaling, that’s where you put a property under contract and then you sell the contract to someone else for a profit. Development, buying turnkey properties using the BRRRR method, house hacking, student rentals, vacation rentals. There’s a lot of strategies you can use with each niche and all you got to do, it’s not important which one you pick, it’s just important that you pick one and that you start making progress on it. Pick a niche and one strategy to begin with. You don’t need to learn at all.
So where will you invest in real estate? Well, you’ve got options. You’ve got local versus long distance. And then once you pick one of those two, you’ve got neighborhood. That’s really where you got to be asking, do I want to start my own backyard and make a niche and a strategy work here or do I want to go somewhere else where I like the market better? And then once you pick the overall area, which neighborhood do you want to be in? And then study your market. You want to know the ins and outs of what type of people buy houses there, what an average house is worth, what part of town is where the best deals are going to be, where the demand for tenants is going to be, where the best school districts are.
This is why most people start where they live because they already know the market, but it’s not about where you live, it’s about what you know. So pick the market you want to know and then study it so well that it’s like you know it as if you live there. Step number three, you got to find the deals. Now, a lot of people start off with step number three as step number one, and that’s the problem. They didn’t start off with their why. What’s the reason I’m doing this? And then they didn’t come up with a plan. So every deal looks like a good deal or a bad deal. They don’t know because they don’t know what they’re looking for. That’s why you shouldn’t be doing this until step three. How are you going to find these real estate deals?
Well, here’s a few different ways. The simple way, go to realtor.com or zillow.com, sort by your criteria and then look for hidden potential. And I’m going to describe hidden potential in a second here, but I can give you an even easier way than this. Find a real estate agent that you like and have them start looking for you. Tell them what your criteria are and have them start sending you deals and then you can supplement that with Realtor or Zillow. If you live in California, you should be hitting me up because we can do this for you. If you don’t live in California, you should be trying to see if I know a realtor that I can refer you to or if you can use the BiggerPockets agent finder to find one. But going on Realtor and Zillow is only as good as what’s in the MLS. And then you’re going to have to find a realtor to ask your questions to once you find a house anyway.
So starting with the real estate agent in my opinion is the best way to go. Then supplement your search with stuff like Realtor Zillow. When I say look for hidden potential, here’s what guys like me look for in a property. There was a time 2010, ’11, ’12 where what I was looking for was the most motivated seller. There was a ton of houses on the market, nobody was really trying to buy them a deal was getting at below market value. So I would look for the seller that needed to get rid of a house and I would make the most aggressive offer I could, and that’s how I made money in real estate. We are now in a market where there’s hardly any motivated sellers. Everybody wants to own the asset. That’s why you’re here right now. You want to own real estate. Back when there were deals everywhere, there weren’t people showing up to webinars asking how to buy them.
Nobody wanted to buy them. That was why there were deals. Well, we’ve done a 180. We’re now in a position where everybody wants to buy this stuff. So instead of trying to find a motivated seller, which is isn’t going to happen because they’re not motivated if everyone wants to buy their house, I look for things that other investors are missing. So I’m looking at a house right now in Moraga, California and I wrote an offer on it and actually, you know what? I’m going to text my agent right now. I say my agent, he’s one of the agents on my team, and ask where we are with it. Just remembered.
So this is a property that sat vacant for a long time and eventually came off the market because the owners were unhappy with the lack of offers they got, and they blamed their agent for it. So I went and looked at this house and I saw it’s a weird floor plan. I can see why people weren’t wanting the home. That was the obvious answer. But then I also saw it has a huge basement that already has plumbing and electrical run to it but isn’t finished. It also has an area in the upper floor to build a loft that would massively increase the square footage of the home, and then it has a setup that it can be split up into different units and rented out individually. When I look at that house, I see the ability to create a lot of rent potential in an amazing area and add square footage.
What everyone else saw was a weird floor plan on a house that was in a gray area but they didn’t like. That’s what we mean by looking for hidden potential. If you can develop these creative eyes and see angles that other people missed, you can find deals in plain view basically where other people are looking at them but not seeing what you’re seeing. Then there’s the medium method. Get in your car and drive. Find a vacant or a rundown property and add it to your CRM, that stands for customer relationship manager. This is basically a database to attract things with. Mail letters or postcards to the prospect so you can actually say, hey, that house right there looks run down. I’m going to send a letter or a postcard to the owner of that house and tell them I want to buy it.
Continue to repeat those first three steps over and over and over and over. And then once you actually get people that are saying, Yeah, you can buy my house. What you want to pay for it?” You can start to spend your time negotiating with those people that are calling and hiring other people to drive for you. Then they go find the addresses, they tell them, and then you look them up and then you call the owners and you just spend your time negotiating. You could download a large list of prospects from Listsource, PropStream or other places. You can mail letters or postcards to thousands of people a month and then just answer your phone. We call this direct mail. So the medium method will be driving and looking for the houses yourself. The advanced method is sending out letters and letting those people come to you.
These are all ways that you’re basically just filling up a funnel of leads that you can then start to pursue, and we’re going to talk about that pretty soon. But you got to get leads however you can, whether your agent’s helping you find them on the MLS, which is my preferred method, or you’re going after them yourself, which is what a lot of people do, like wholesalers typically do that. That’s where it all starts is you start with leads. And remember that I said success in one thing is usually the same way that you’re successful at a lot of other stuff. It’s true. If I want to run a successful real estate business, I start off by looking for leads. How many people want to buy a house or sell a house that I can get to come to me?
I have a mortgage company. How many people want to get a loan that I can talk to and I can say, “Hey, you should use my company.” That’s where every single business starts, so you shouldn’t be surprised that that’s where we start now. But how do I get these leads to analyze? Well, here’s one way you go to biggerpockets.com/blogs/provideos, and why don’t you guys go ahead and take a picture here. Here’s the thing to understand about a property. Every property has a home run number. This is a price you can get it for that makes it a home run. Now, here’s a caveat I’ll add to that. Real estate markets change and shift just like economies change and shift. And what are the mistakes that I see people make when it comes to building wealth or making money… how do I want to say this? I’m about to use a sports analogy because we’re looking at a ballpark.
So if you’re not into sports, hang with me. The way you build wealth is very similar to the way you win at sports. And the thing that makes it similar is you are competing with other people who are also trying to get what you want, right? You want money, so does other people. You want the best job, so do other people. You want these best properties, so do other people, right? Sports is I’m trying to get the ball in the basket or the football in the end zone or I’m trying to get the baseball into an open space that I can hit it and the other team has a whole bunch of people that are trying to stop me. All the strategy of sports has to do with how do we do what we want and stop them from doing what they want? And that’s why I can use those analogies when we’re talking about building wealth.
So we’re talking about a home run number, because there’s other people that are trying to stop you. The thing about sports is that the rules of the game change the way the game is played, change and evolve over time, and so do economies. What worked to make money in different aspects in 2002 is different than what works to make money in 2010, which is different than 2020. And I give you examples of this. In 2001, ’02, having a website or being able to code and make websites gave you a huge advantage. At that time, computer networking was massively popular. If you could take two computers, connect them to each other and make them communicate, you could make a buttload of money. That sounds crazy right now, but technology hadn’t increased to where it’s at. So you had to have really good problem solving skills to connect two computers together in the same office.
We didn’t have just a cloud that everything would connect to. Well, at a certain point, the technology improved to where that could be done automatically, you didn’t have to manually do it. And then computer networkers were kind of out of business. Just like people that could create a webpage became much less needed when you could just go to Wix or Squarespace and have a template to make your own page. You see how that talks? Well, let’s fast forward to 2010. There’s tons of real estate out there. Nobody has the money to buy it and nobody wants to own it because we think we’re going into a depression. And buying real estate felt like buying an anchor, is going to pull you down. You’re basically just signing up for a mortgage. You’re going to have to pay. You don’t know if you’re going to have tenants that are going to want to live there because none of those people had jobs.
The way you won in that area or in that market I should say, would be to get a house way below what you thought it would appraise for. That would be your home run number. In 2020, 2022, in the future, you don’t win that. Same way. It’s not like there’s nobody that wants to buy a house. The government’s printing money, they’re handing it out to everybody. The economy’s doing relatively well. Most people have jobs and are not afraid of not having a job. In fact, a lot of them are working from home. There’s a shortage in housing. So now that your home run number has to be calculated differently, now you have to look at it more like, what is this house going to be worth in five years or 10 years and where else can I spend my money?
And in that case, real estate almost always ends up looking like the home run when you compare it to other asset classes. Step number four, analyze the deals. So you’ve got leads, now you’ve got to analyze them. This is what we call the lapse system. Guys, take a picture of this screen. This is the easiest, simplest way to understand what you’re trying to do as a real estate investor. It’s four steps. Really, it’s only three steps. The fourth step is just a result. You start with leads, we talked about that. You can get them from a realtor, you can get them from zillow.com. You can get them from telling all your friends, I’m looking to buy houses. You can get them from driving around and looking for properties that need help. You can get them from sending letters. All these things, they’re just ways to get leads.
When the leads come in, you analyze them. That’s how you look to see would this be the right property for me? And we’re going to talk about how BiggerPockets can help you do that in a little bit here. When you see one that makes it through your analysis and looks good, you pursue it. And then once you’ve pursued it, you either have success or you don’t. So it’s finding leads, analyzing them and pursuing them that we’re just doing over and over and over and over as real estate investors. And then when you do it enough times you find success. So here’s an example. You send out 300 direct mail letters.
You get back 40 people that said, “Hey, I might want to sell you my house.” So you know how 40 leads to analyze. Out of those 40, you make 12 offers. Those are the ones you pursue. So we started off by sending out 300 letters. That gave us 40 leads. We analyzed those 40 leads out of those 40, we like 12. We wrote offers on 12, and then one of them was accepted. That ends up with 1432 a month in cashflow and $100,000 in equity.
This is how simple it is. This is why I told you in the beginning you’re not a rocket scientist. But it’s not easy. You still have to send letters, you still have to find leads. Then you got to know how to analyze them. And that’s not rocket science either, but it does take some time. And then you got to pursue the ones you like and you have to be able to make that decision and pursue them correctly. So it’s not complicated, but it’s not easy, which is the best thing. It’s just like fitness. Getting fit is really not complicated. It’s eating good foods and burning calories, which is hard. That’s the thing, is we don’t like doing it. We don’t want to commit to it. So what does your process look like. As we’re talking about this, are things coming to mind that you think you could do?
How will you generate leads? Right now, what is the next actionable step that you can commit to doing that will get you leads? How many leads or how many deals will you analyze out of those leads? How many are you going to analyze in a month or a week or a day? Can you commit to that? If you were going to get in shape, you’d say how many times a week you’re going to work out, you’d plan out your workout session, right? Mine typically looks like Monday is chest and triceps, Tuesday is shoulders and biceps, Wednesday is back and usually a little bit of abs. And then Thursday or Friday would be legs, and then weekend is some form of cardio or whatever I missed during the week, that muscle group’s ready to go. And then I supplement that with juujitsu training and trail running.
So I know if I want to be in shape where I need to be. It’s in my calendar and I know what I’m working out, I have a plan. And I’m not in the best shape, but that just shows I don’t commit to this the best and I don’t eat the best. I’m slowly eating better, but I still don’t eat great. Real estate will work the exact same way. I put way more time into business and real estate, which is why I’m more financially fit than I’m physically fit. And I want you to be that way too. I want you to get financially fit. But the process of getting there is exactly the same as getting fit in anything else that you do. How many offers will you make in a month, in a week, in a day?
So let’s do one together right now, so that you can see how incredibly easy BiggerPockets makes it to do what I’m talking about, right? We’re going to analyze this deal right here. This is 185 Landings Drive in Frankfurt, Kentucky. Let me show you how easy it is to analyze a deal. You’re going to hover over tools and then you are going to go to Rent Estimator. Now we’re going to put in the address of the property we’re looking at. 185 landings Drive in, I think it was Frankfurt. Yes. Got to click on this. Don’t hit search address until you’ve clicked on the button because it won’t know what it’s searching for. Now, this property was a two bedroom, one bathroom, and I realize you guys probably didn’t see it. I just took it right off of the screen. It showed that it was eight bedrooms and it was four bathrooms and it was four units.
So we know that if it’s eight bedrooms and four bathrooms, every unit has two bedrooms and one bathroom. So we are going to tell the BiggerPockets software to look up properties near this one, 185 Landings Drive, that have two bedrooms and one bathroom. And this is what it tells us. The confidence is high that this property will generate $630 a month. That’s what those are renting for right now. Now let’s say you’re skeptical and you go, “Oh, I don’t know. How can I trust this?” Well, that’s actually good, you should be that way. You scroll down here and you can see all these other comparable areas or properties and you can see what they’re renting for. Now, I do this all the time. So I see this one here is renting for 925. That’s significantly more. It’s also a two, one, right? Well, it might have more square footage than mine, so maybe that’s why it’s renting for more. But let’s say it doesn’t.
Well, what I would do is I would Google 112 Lee Court in Frankfurt and I would look at the pictures of it and I would see, ooh, my property has dingy carpet and oak cabinets and outdated appliances. The only difference between this one is it has hardwood floors, an updated kitchen and tile shower bathrooms. So the question would be how much money would I have to spend and make mine look like Lee Court, because then I am more likely to get 925 a month instead of 630, which would significantly improve my cashflow. Now that’s assuming that it’s in the same neighborhood. You see how a lot of these properties here, I think this one’s ours right there. These are in a similar area, probably all multifamily housing. These ones are kind of spread out. These three look like they’re in the same spot, but these are kind of spread out.
This might be a better area. Maybe because it’s closer to Kentucky State University, it’s a little bit nicer. Maybe these aren’t quite as nice. And so that 930 comp is one of the properties that’s down here. If you see this one right, 902, whereas these ones don’t quite go for as much. These are more in the 600s, but this is how we real estate investors value properties. And I’m kind of better at doing this maybe than an average person because I’ve run a real estate team for a while now and I look at real estate and I understand how it’s valued, but you don’t have to be an expert to be able to understand the basics I’m going over right now. I’m really hoping that as you’re listening to this, you’re learning something and you’re seeing how you could do the same thing. And if you have any questions about this I didn’t get to, just send me a DM or send me a message on BiggerPockets, I’ll do my best to get back to you there.
So now that we can see that, we believe we would get 630 a month per unit, and we know there’s four units. I just went in my calculator and I did 630 times four, and that told me 2520. So I can expect to get a gross rents of about 2520 on this property. Now that I know what it would rent for, I’m going to go back to tools and I’m going to click on calculators, rental property, start a new report. I’m going to let software do all the work for me, and you guys are going to be amazed at how easy and how accurate analyzing deals can be once you have leads. So our lead is 180 Landings Drive, I hope it was Drive, in Frankfurt. Yep, there it is. Click on it if you want.
You can add a photo of the property. You can put it in here because you’re going to save this. You can go back to it later. We’re going to put a purchase price. What was the purchase price? 240. Put that in here. 240,000. It’s asking me for the closing costs. Well, David, I don’t know that I’m not an agent like you that buys a bunch of properties and writes books and I have better hair than you, but that’s about all. Okay, don’t worry. If you click right here on calculating closing costs, BiggerPockets has it set up so you can see what number you should put in there. Typical closing costs are 1 to 2% of the purchase price of the property, but can differ depending on location of financing. If unsure, one point a half percent of the purchase prices is a good number to begin with.
Now, when you get closer to actually buying this deal, your realtor and your title company can tell you what they’re going to be. But in the beginning, we don’t need exact numbers, we need ballparks. So we’re going to go with five grand, which is a little closer to 2% than 1%, just to be a little conservative. Then you click next and it takes you to loan details. Now, if you’re buying the house as a house hack, you might put in 10% down, maybe 0% down if it’s a VA loan. We’re going to assume that we’re buying this as investment property, which means we’re going to need to put 20% down. And because that’s what we chose, if you click on 25, this number goes up, 20 goes back down, it knows at the purchase price we said you don’t have to do the math. It’s telling you right now your down payment is going to be 48,000.
Let’s say the interest rate on an investment property I’d say is right around 4% right now on a primary residence, it’s a little closer to three and a half, but investment properties are a little more. And no points. Points would just be money that you would pay to buy your rate lower. And then for the loan term, you always want to put in 30 years because what most loans are, 30 year. And you want to go for a fixed rate, not an adjustable rate in most cases. Click on next for income. Gross monthly income, remember I said it was 2520. That was the 630 per unit times four. Now we’re going to talk about expenses.
What are the property taxes going to be? Well, you’ve got a button right here if you want to figure out how you can determine your property taxes. I know in most cases it’s about less than 1.5% a year. So I’m going to multiply 240 times 0.015, which is 1.5%. That’s 3,600 in a year. It will most likely be less than that. We’re going with a higher number here. So we have 3,600 and we’re going to click annual. That’s how much you’re going to pay for property taxes. The insurance on this thing is, I’m going to guess just based on my experience, it’s going to be about $75 a month. Now, when you actually put it in contract, if you’re pursuing this deal, you can call an insurance company and get a quote. You’re going to have to, the lender is probably going to make you do that. So if it ends up being $500 a month, you just back out of the deal, but it’s never going to be $500 a month.
It’ll probably be less than the 75. But when we’re initially analyzing a property, this is what we want. We want ballpark figures because the time it takes to go get exact numbers for every property that you haven’t even bought yet is usually not a good investment. We’re going to budget for repairs and maintenance. 5%. We’re going to budget for vacancy, 5% of the gross rent. Same for capital expenditures, and we’re going to put 8% in there for management. Now, the tenants are going to pay their own electricity and gas and their own water and sewer, and let’s say we’re going to pay the garbage. So in that case, let’s say that’s going to be $50 a month.
Click finish analysis. Here is the awesome, get ready for it. This calculator is going to do all of this for us. We don’t have to be good at math. So with the numbers that we’ve put in here, it’s telling us that we can expect a cash flow $604 a month. It’s getting that from the 2520 of income that we put in and the expenses of 1915 that it calculated for us giving us a cash on cash return of a little over 13.5%.
This is just a breakdown of how it came up with the numbers, if you like to see information presented this way, and it’s telling us the total cash needed would be 53,000. The monthly expenses breakdown looks like this. This orange part is going to be the variable expenses. That’s going to be the vacancy, the CapEx, the maintenance. This blue part, the biggest part of it, is going to be the mortgage. It’s just showing you of your expenses, this is how they’re broken down. The net operating income, that’s how much money we can expect to make this property to make in a year. And then again, we see the cash on cash return. Now, here’s my favorite part. I love this graph. This graph shows me over a extended period of time, like 20 years, what I can expect the property to do. Now, personally, I think us at BiggerPockets, we are very conservative.
We’re assuming a 3% growth rate. Most parts of the country are seeing way more than a 3%. So it should be much better than this in real terms than it is theoretically. But you can see we brought the property for 240 and the value of it is slowly going up over time. You can also see right here, this purple line, this is the loan, this is the money that we borrowed in order to get the property, is slowly going down over time. And the difference between what it’s worth and what we owe is the equity we have. You see that it really grows. And if you come down here and you look at the cashflow, the year one cashflow is going to be around $7,613. Well, that grows, it grows and grows as rents go up every single year. And so in year 30, it’s more like 22,000. I bet you it’s going to be three or four times that with the way things are going right now. But this is a conservative estimate.
Same thing for the equity, right? You see your equity that’s growing, growing, growing, growing, growing over time. Who wouldn’t want to make a decision right now that would be worth $435,000 in 30 years? What if you made 30 decisions like that, where all of them were worth 435,000? Do you think there’s any way real estate won’t make you a multimillionaire if you take action today and wait, and then take more action and wait, and you keep taking action so that your future, you becomes massively wealthy because of things that present day you did right now. So here’s what the experts know. It’s not about timing the market. This is what everybody wants to do is, “I want to wait to buy the dip.” It’s about time in the market. I, David Greene, don’t wait to buy the dip. I buy all the time.
Now, what I will say is I am more aggressive at dips. But that doesn’t mean I do nothing In the meantime. Sometimes in life I need to focus on fitness or health, and I put way more effort into it. Sometimes in life you’re going through a hard time. You’re going through a breakup, you’re having a hard time with your family, you got some bad news, and you actually got to be in the gym a lot more to work some of that out. Other times, I’m super busy and I just have to find a way to get in there sometimes. That’s how I look at real estate. When there’s a dip in the market, I’m in the gym all the time. I’m looking at deals constantly, I’m writing way more offers, I’m being way more aggressive. I think it’s a great market to buy. I really ramp up what I’m doing.
But when it’s not a dip, it’s not like I just don’t go to the gym at all. That would be crazy. I still buy, I’m just a little more careful or I use a different type of strategy or I adjust the way that I’m planning on doing this so that it’s not going to be immediate gratification, maybe it’s longer term. You guys want an example? Let me know in the chat if you want me to give an example of what this would look like in real life, what I’m describing here. If not, I can move on with the rest of the presentation. We don’t have to get into a real life analysis of time in the market versus timing the market. Anybody else want me to share what that would look like from practical terms? Okay, you want an example? There we go.
In 2010, it was… maybe I shouldn’t say that. In a market like 2010 when there’s tons of deals out there. So there was a time where I was investing in North Florida and there weren’t a lot of other investors there, and there was a ton of depressed properties. They were just distressed and depressed and they needed a lot of work. I was buying three to five properties a month at that time. I wasn’t competing with anyone else. I hadn’t been foolish, and talked about it on the podcast, to where everybody started doing what I was doing. Properties were sitting on the market for six months at a time. I had a really good contractor that was doing all the work. I was scooping them up left and I really wasn’t focusing much on real estate sales.
I didn’t have a mortgage company. I wasn’t hiring agents and training them on my teams. I was like, man, I got a great opportunity, I’m going to buy as much real estate as I can. And I went hard. And then at a certain point, because I talked about it too much, other people started investing in that same area. And then the contractors got harder and harder to use, and then the deals started to dry up, other people were going after them. And then it just got harder and harder to do, right? So when I recognized, okay, I can’t get as many deals here as I was before, I shifted my focus and I started hiring new agents and growing my team and training them and selling houses for clients and making money and building wealth in other ways. But I never stopped buying there. I just put less time towards that exercise in the gym, right? I’m not working on my biceps as much. Maybe I’m doing leg day more would be a good way to look at it.
And when I did buy, I shifted into different things. So what I would do then is I started to move into where I am now, where I’m buying luxury properties in really good markets that are very expensive because I know that if we do have a crash, those markets don’t get hit as hard. I also know my cash on cash return is going to be way lower when I first buy them. Those are long-term plays. In 10 years, they’re going to make me hundreds and hundreds, if not millions of dollars per property. In short term, it’s going to be kind of lean. That’s the way that it works. So I’ve shifted my strategy to that because it’s so competitive right now. If we get to a point where for whatever reason we hit another depression, no one wants to buy real estate, I’ll go back to the other way.
What I’m trying to highlight is it would be foolish to say, I’m not going to buy any real estate right now. There’s people that are making really good money in short-term rentals. I’ve moved into that myself a little bit, but it’s more work. You actually have to manage a short-term rental. It’s not like it used to be where it was set it and forget it. I just bought it and gave it to a property manager. Maybe you have to do the same thing. To get time in this market, you might have to go to a more active source of income where it’s not quite as passive. But then once the market shifts, maybe that house becomes just a long-term rental, you don’t have to worry about it anymore. You’ve got all kinds of options. But what I don’t want you to do is say, it’s hard to get a deal, so I shouldn’t buy right now. I’m making more money in the deals I’m buying right now in a hard market than I was when it was easy, and I don’t want you guys to miss out.
And then number two, focus on what your portfolio will look like 10 years from now. Cannot stress this enough. Everyone who, three or four years ago was telling me, maybe two to three years ago would be a better example, “David, there’s a pandemic. We have shelter in place. The economy is going to be crippled. We’re never going to recover from this. I’m selling everything. I’m not buying anything right now and I’m going to hold onto my cash.” I said, “Okay, well, I don’t think you should. I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think you’re thinking very shortsighted. This is actually a great opportunity to buy.” And a lot of people said, “Nope, I’m getting out of the game.” And they sold properties or they dropped out of escrows, or they just stopped looking. Those same people, those have lost out on over six figures of equity minimum at the market that I’m in the Bay Area.
So the houses that we had under contract for clients that backed out were over $200,000 cheaper than what they are right now. And the reason is that we didn’t go into a recession. We printed a bunch of money, we caused a lot of inflation. And so the number one thing that I see that stops people from buying is when they feel like it’s too hot, prices are going too high, and they don’t realize that it’s not just the prices are going high, it’s that the value of money is going down. A million dollars is not what it used to be. $100,000 is not what it used to be. Used to be, if you made $100,000 a year, you were set. That’s like middle income in the Bay Area right now. I don’t mean to sound, it’s just so expensive to live here, but that’s not really that much money.
And in the future, $100,000 won’t be considered hardly anything with the way inflation is going. You can’t make decisions based on the snapshot of right now because you’re not buying real estate for one year, you’re buying it for 30 years, 40 years, 50 years. So what I do is I say, in 10 years, what will this property look like? So let’s take for example, the one that I described that I just texted my agent to see if we have it under contract yet, in Moraga. I wrote an offer for 2.25 million on that property. It’s going to have an extensive rehab. In 10 years, I think that property is probably going to be more like five to $6 million. And I can say that because the rate of inflation that we’re seeing, that is not ridiculous to think about. This is even before I fix it up and before that area takes off, just off standard rates of inflation, that’s what I would think we’re going to see.
So what I’m saying is in 10 years, this will be worth five or 6 million. Now what do I have to do to make it 10 years? Well, I have to increase the cash flow. I’m going to do that by adding square footage so I can rent those areas out. All right, how do I get my money back out of this deal? So it’s not like I can’t buy more real estate. All right, well, I also have to upgrade the house, make it look nicer so that I can increase the value so I can refinance it and get my money back out. So I need a remodel that makes the house nicer, adds square footage, which makes it worth more and increases the cashflow. I can do that. Let’s move on it. So now what’s going to end up happening is I’m going to have this place, fix it up, refinance it.
I’ll probably leave 100 or $200,000 in this deal, but I’ll get most of the money back out. And then in 10 years, it’s worth five or six million. And I’ve made three to $4 million from this one property. And what if I do that three or four times a year? It’s not like I’m running around with my hair on fire. It’s funny, hair on fire because I don’t have hair. But these are examples. Now, maybe you don’t live in a market where there’s $2 million houses. I get that, but you might be where they have four or $500,000 houses and in 10 years those are going to be million dollar properties, probably more. So what are you doing right now so that you 10 years from now has 10 to 20 properties that have all gained $500,000 in equity? There’s not a lot of these assets going around.
Either you’re one of the people who get them and benefits from it or you’re one of the people who doesn’t and says, “I wish I would have,” like all the people 10 years ago from today that are saying this, “I wish I would’ve bought back then.” This is why you’re here today at this webinar. This is why God, the universe, whatever you believe has you here because it’s telling you real estate is the safest, most dependable, delayed gratification. It’s just like fitness. It takes a long time to get going, but no one ever says, “Oh, I really worked out a little too much. It was too healthy. I wish I wouldn’t have done that.” Everybody says, “I wish I would’ve built better habits for working out.” And I’m sharing with you how I did it and how I’m still doing it because I’m still into it.
I’m not trying to take your money. I’m not saying, “Hey, I want all your money. Give it to me so I can go build wealth.” I can invest your money for you. I do that and I do pay people, but I’m telling you that you need to go do this. If you’re here today, you need to get these tools that I’m showing you. You need to get into the game now so that the 10 year version of you in the future is thanking you for what you did.
Step number five, get funding. You know what? Take a picture of this one. I want you guys to really dwell on this. Did that example of how I shift strategies help you guys? Looks like most of you’re saying yes, or at least you’re sending emojis that would indicate so. Awesome, I’m glad I could help there. All right, step number five, you got to get funding. So how will you fund your real estate deals? Well, you’ve got several options. Conventional loans, partnerships, hard money lenders or house hacking. They’re similar, but these are the ways that people typically borrow money to buy their real estate. The key to financing real estate is to get a great deal. If you get a really good deal, it’s going to appraise for what you’re paying for it. You’re going to be able to raise the money easy.
Now, I have a company that can help you with this and you guys can reach out to me and I’ll connect you with them. Basically, we have loans where if your property makes enough money, it would cashflow enough, which most of them will, you can use that income to get the loan. So as long as you’re getting a good deal, as long as you’re getting a property that brings in more income than it’s going to cost to own it, the lender will let you borrow on it and then you can go to somebody else that might have more money than you and say, “Hey, do you want to cover the down payment? I’ll take care of the deal, the loan and the management. We can split it.”
The point here is if you get a good enough deal, the money will find you. The people that have trouble with financing are usually not getting very good deals. But what if I don’t have any money? Well, BiggerPockets has something for you too. The pro videos page. It includes a workshop run by Brandon Turner and me, how to Invest with No or Low Money Down. It’s this guy right up here. This is probably the best work that Brandon and I ever did together. It was magical. It was like The Beatles, what’s the best Beatles album, the white album, the black album, I’m not really a big Beatles fan. But when you know you’re in that zone and you’re just doing some great, great work, that’s how it was. And the whole thing was about how to invest in real estate when you don’t have a lot of money. And if you’re a BiggerPockets Pro member, you get access to all of these workshops, lease options, house hacking partnerships, the one I did with Brandon, you get it all if you’re a pro member, for free.
And then step number six, motivation. How long will you stay persistent for the long haul? Nobody got fit in two months of intense work. They were already fit if two months of intense work helped them. This is the long haul you’re signing up for. Are you going to get involved in a mastermind group? I run one for this exact purpose. A lot of other people do the same thing. It’s a way that you can hold people accountable, teach them, get them excited, is kind of the difference between if you have to go to the gym yourself or if you’ve got a workout partner. Man, I’ll tell you what, if I got a time in life where somebody’s working out with me, I am like 90% more likely to go and more likely to enjoy it and I get a better workout in because now I have a spotter.
What about daily journaling or tracking? Are you daily reminding yourself of what your goals are? How about performance coaching? I have performance coaches, and let me tell you, they are expensive. I spend $6,000 a month and more sometimes just on coaching for the various businesses that we have. Okay? Now that $6,000 that I spend earns me way more because of the way that they improve how well me and my team perform. But you got to spend a little bit of money sometimes to get a much bigger return, just like investing. And that’s it. That is the real estate investor master journey. It’s six steps. It’s purpose, finding your purpose, having a plan, finding the deals, analyzing the deals, getting your funding and staying motivated.
You do these six things and you’ll be successful. Why don’t you go ahead and take a picture of the wheel here so you can remind yourself of how simple this is. The 90 day challenge, plan, prepare, purchase. Complete all six phases of the master journey in the next 90 days by working on your business 15 minutes a day, five days a week for 90 days in a row.
Life doesn’t get better by chance, it gets better by change. Great, great quote by Jim Rohn. There’s two kinds of people, all right. And if you’ve ever dated somebody who’s the wrong type, you know the frustration I’m talking about, if you’ve ever had a partner with somebody like a business partner, that was the wrong type. If you’ve ever had a friend, whatever it is, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. There are people who wait for life to come to them and change things for them. These are often people that live by their feelings. If they’re in a bad mood or a depressed mood, they just don’t do anything. If they’re in a good mood, they’re really excited. But they wait for life to bow to them. And I know this is a deep thing, but it’s so true.
There’s people that are just waiting for their boss to come say, “You know what? We’re going to give you a promotion. Will you try harder?” They’re waiting for Prince Charming to come out of the woodwork and say, “I’ve been waiting my whole life for you.” Now is when you should actually start trying to be a better person. They’re waiting for that amazing deal to drop in their lap and then their phone to ring with a lender who says, “I’ve got a bunch of money. Do you want to use it?” And a contractor that’s like, I need work so bad, I’ll do it for cheap, and they just keep waiting for that for chance and it doesn’t happen because life doesn’t get better that way. It gets better by change. It rewards the people that go seek, right? I want a partner. I’m going to become the kind of person that a partner would want to be with. I want a business partner. I’m going to learn skills a business partner would want. I want that raise. I’m going to do a great job right now and make sure my boss sees it.
Those are the people that are rewarded and that’s what I mean by the two kind of people. If you’re attending a webinar like this, it does not matter how much information I share with you. It does not matter how much I talk about what I’m doing or I give you strategy. If you’re waiting for life to do something for you, it will never ever happen. You will dance around the dance floor but never actually find a partner. You’ll orbit the planet but never touch down. You’ll get close, but you won’t get to where you’re actually benefiting. That happens when you make a choice to change and you make it your responsibility to go get the things that you want.
Real estate investing often feels like this. This is so good. I know this because as an agent, I’ve had more people than I can count, come in my office and sit down and when we really, really, really get to what’s behind their fear, it’s, “I don’t want to end up with a house that I don’t like. I don’t want to end up with a property that I don’t realize everything is going to go wrong.” What they think is they pick a property, they jump off the cliff and they hope that they like where they land and the property that they get is where they land. That is not how it should feel. If you’re feeling that you’re doing it wrong, you have the wrong agent, you have the wrong strategy, you have the wrong mindset. It is not like this. I’ve never bought a deal that felt like this right here.
If you catch yourself hoping that you like where you land, you need to get off the hopium. Hopium is not a good strategy. It doesn’t help you. It’s a lie. What it should feel like is this… let me give you a practical example. Do you guys like that? Tell me, in the chat, if you want me to give you a practical example of how real estate should feel like walking on a trail, on a path with other people. I don’t want to belabor the point if you guys are already kind of seeing what I’m saying. But tell me if you want me to give you an example of how real estate investing should look like this. I’m seeing the yes. It should be step-by-step. Every step on this path at the end of this path is the property that you’re trying to get or the goal that you’re trying to achieve, all right?
The first thing that you should notice is you’re not doing it alone. There are other people with you, that will help you teach you be there for you when you fall. Maybe they’ve walked this path before. Like me, I’m a guide. I do this constantly. I’m up and down this path all the time. So I can tell you, here’s where you avoid the poison ivy. Here’s where the water’s going to be. Here’s where the shade is. This is where we’re going to stop. Oh, we don’t want to go that way. Oh, this time of day shouldn’t go that way. This is not the right market for that. We’re a guide, we know what to expect. But even more practical than that, it is one step at a time. You look at leads, you get leads, you analyze them. 60% of them won’t work. On those leads, you stop moving forward, you’re okay, you’re safe. You didn’t jump off the cliff on the 40% that worked. You pursue them. Out of those, maybe 10% of them get back to you.
The other 90% of those leads, you throw them away. You’re okay, you didn’t jump off the cliff. Out of the 10% that got back to you, you maybe put it in contract. That still isn’t the end of the journey. That’s just one step. After you go into contract, you order an inspection, you look at the inspection report. If it looks bad, you stop going down the path. You don’t buy it, you didn’t jump off the cliff. If the inspection report looks good, you negotiate with the other side to see if you can get a little extra money. You take another step. Now comes the appraisal. Oh, the appraisal came in low and the seller won’t come down on their price.
Okay, we stopped moving forward. I didn’t jump off the cliff. I’m okay. Right? Then we agree on the appraisal or the appraisal comes back well. You look up what the rents would be for the area. Rents are way lower than I thought. I talked to a property manager, they said, we’re not going to get that much. You’re okay. You stop. You quit walking. It is a little step after a little step, after a little step with very little actual commitment on your part to that deal. Now you have to be committed to the process of walking this path. But you don’t have to be committed to the process of every single deal taking that path. That’s why you shouldn’t be scared, it’s why I’m not scared. I routinely will have a person come to me and say, “David, here’s this amazing deal. I think you should buy it.” And I will say, “Great, write up the offer right now, put it in contract.” I’m known for this. We call it the five minute offer.
I will just wrap something up and put it in contract right away, but I will have contingencies in that contract that I can back out if I don’t like something and I know exactly what I’m looking for. And then if I move forward with it and I get the inspection report done and, oh man, it’s got some terrible termites or horrible foundations, it’s going to be $50,000 to fix, I go to the seller and I say, “I need you to give me a 50,000 credit or I need you to fix these things or I need you to drop the price. You don’t want to do it, okay, I’m just backing out of the deal. No harm, no foul.” Get my money back. I’m not scared to take this journey because I realize I’m not just jumping off a cliff and hoping that I like where I land, and that’s the same way that it should feel for you.
It’s only scary when you feel like you don’t know the path. But when you’ve got a guide with you or other people walk in the journey with you, your risk is significantly decreased and it’s not scary anymore. At BP, we build tools to help investors on their journey toward their life goals. This is not just theory. This is how thousands of real estate investors, including myself, have found financial freedom.
So here are two big questions. Are you fired up and truly committed to using real estate to obtain financial freedom? And I’m not just saying, are you interested in it? Okay, do you feel some emotion? Do you feel some passion? Are you excited? Are you like, “This is where I’m supposed to be, this feels right”? This is one of the only times in my life where I’ve been like, that’s it, I know that’s what I need to do. I just don’t know how to get there. And number two, will you take on the 90-day challenge and commit to working 15 minutes a day, five days a week for 90 days, pursuing the lapse funnel, looking for leads, analyzing them and pursuing them?
Here’s another great quote. If more information was the answer, we would all be billionaires with perfect abs. I’ve given you a lot of information. You can get a lot of information on our podcasts, on our YouTube channel. You get a lot of information anywhere. It won’t be what you need. We all know what it takes to get abs. And it’s discipline, it’s accountability, it’s passion, it’s action. It’s not information.
So what’s the key to success, if we want to get a financial six pack? It’s action. There’s no way around it. This is the only way that you get abs is you eat really, really good and you work them out. And not only action, but daily consistent action, right? You can’t get abs by eating really healthy for half the day and then the rest of the time you don’t. It has to be consistent with what you’re doing. Here is a line from Ethan, who’s a pro member in Washington. “I just put my first investment property under contract today. You’re a webinar challenged me from the planning stages to taking action. Thank you for the motivation and valuable information the BP team provides.”
This is from Dawn. “Congrats on your book. Great information as always. I wouldn’t expect anything less from BP. I did the 90 day challenge last year, which led me to my first rental property after analyzing dozens or even a hundred and placing offers on several to land the best one for me. I love BP and I love the BP books and other products. Still waiting on t-shirts.”
I don’t know why you came here today. Are you tired of working your full-time job? It could be draining if you don’t like it. Do you need to start preparing for your future retirement? Are you tired of being a wantrepreneur instead of an entrepreneur? Well, here’s what I do know. Real estate investing works If you work it. It’s just like saying exercise works, if you exercise. Our goal at BiggerPockets is to help you reach your financial goals through real estate, and that’s why we created incredible tools to help you get there faster and with less pain.
BiggerPockets Pro is the way that I recommend you go about doing that. BiggerPockets Pro helps you analyze properties and get your next deal faster. You can analyze properties in minutes, like we just did together and determine which ones are worth pursuing with unlimited access to deal analysis calculators. Those are what I walked you guys through when you saw how easy it is to work this lapse funnel. You can become a better investor with curated article and video content, webinar replays and exclusive articles covering everything you need to make smart investments and avoid bad markets. This is all the content that’s available to BiggerPockets Pro members. We’ve got multifamily investing tips with Brandon Turner and Brian Murray, investing in today’s market economic trends and the impact of the real estate landscape. You’ve got videos on how to use SEO to grow your business, finding and funding great deals with Anson Young who wrote the book of the same name for BiggerPockets. Canadian Investing, how a newbie can start building wealth through real estate, all of this cool stuff available only to pro members.
You could show the community that you mean business with your pro badge. Blaine Alger here has a pro badge. So if Blaine messages me or anyone else we know, he’s not just a lookie Lou, he’s not a wantrepreneur. He’s committed to this process. That’s a person I know that really, really, really wants to be a real estate investor. You can save time and money and minimize risk with lawyer approved lease documents for all 50 states. So BiggerPockets that’s had their lawyers put together standard lease agreements for all 50 states if you want to manage your own properties, available to you for free, if you’re a pro member. And then you get thousands of dollars on loans and other tools that you can use in your real estate business with BiggerPockets perks, you can save that money.
Plus, you can gain access to our discounted educational bootcamps. So these are all companies that have partnered with BiggerPockets to give discounts to their members. Foreclosure.com, where you find foreclosures, AirDNA where you analyze deals for short-term rentals. Open Letter Marketing, a company where you can send letters to people to find leads, all kinds of cool stuff. And then you can accurately estimate rental rates based on local property comparables, listing recency at proximity to your location using the BiggerPockets Rent Estimator tool. This is the one that I walked through with you guys where we figured out how much that property would rent for. That’s available for pro members as well, for free. Very, very powerful tool in your real estate investing world. But what’s the biggest reason to go pro? Because it works.
The BiggerPockets calculators are my go-to for analyzing potential properties. There’s no way I could analyze the volume properties I do without being a pro member. I locked up my first three unit almost a year ago that I’m now selling for a almost $70,000 profit that will go to towards something larger. The BiggerPockets calculators were a huge factor in making sure my numbers were right. This is from Aaron Caraho. Is there any of you here who don’t want an extra $70,000 just because they got a deal? I know that sounds crazy, but in many markets that’s actually not even that much. There’s bigger amounts. I bought one in Pleasant Hill, California in October, so that’s about four months, and that one’s gone up $200,000 in four months, right? There’s just so much money floating around right now that there’s so much inflation that if you’re not taking action, you’re falling behind. Back in June, I intended one of your webinars right afterwards, I signed up for Pro in the next couple of weeks.
I analyzed a bunch of deals. Eventually I found a fourplex. I got it under contract three weeks after signing up for Pro and a week later I closed on another property that was six units. Big thank you to you and the entire team. Final quick tip, sign up for Pro. I made my money back at the closing table. This is from Patrick Menifee. Now, because you sat through this webinar, I have the authorization to give you 20% off of a pro membership should you desire to do one using the code on the screen. So please take a minute to grab your phone and take a picture of the screen so you can get that code.
And there’s more. I can give you more than just 20% off. All right, so you’re going to need that code there. You have to make sure you spell it correctly. If you want a BiggerPockets Pro membership, it’s $390 a year. Now for a premium one, that’s what I have, it’s actually $1,200 a year. That’s for agents and other people that are trying to get leads out of BiggerPockets. But if you’re pro, it’s way cheaper. It’s only $390 a year. It’s not that much. But if you sign up now with that 20% off code, it’s only 312. This is a incredibly low expense for the year for your real estate investing journey. This is less than one home inspection, right? This is less than one home warranty. You’re going to spend way more than this just looking at properties that you put in contract doing your due diligence. This is less than a roof inspection in many cases. But you’re going to need this to find the properties that you even want to put into contract in the first place because it has its tools to help you figure it out.
Okay. You are also going to get the intention journal. This is proven accountability tool to keep you on track towards your next investment goal. There is weekly battle planning pages for goal review, habit tracking, taking notes and more, and a daily action pages for your morning routine, time blocking, goal review, evening reflection and more. Because this is the 90-day plan, we’re giving away the intention journal, which normally costs $40, for free. You’re going to get this workshop that I told you was the best thing that Brandon and I have ever done, a $200 value, for free. This is the Investing with No or Low Money Down Workshop. You’re going to get the Finding Great Deals Masterclass. This is where Brandon Turner sat down with four experts in four different niches, door knocking, direct mail marketing, building relationships, and driving for dollars. He interviewed people that crush it at these things, and we’re going to give them to you so that you can watch how you could do the same. A $990 value, for free.
You’re also going to get Brandon’s free ebook, The Best Ways to Find Real Estate Deals for Investing Success, for free. Now, you’re going to get access to bootcamps as well. So if you’re pro, you get exclusive access to BiggerPockets Real Estate Investing bootcamps. If you’re not pro, you cannot go to these. Pro annual members can join a la carte at a discounted price. Every week, you get access to on-demand videos from Ashley Kehr, live Q&A sessions with real estate investing experts, homework assignments to apply your knowledge and an accountability group based on your investing interest locations and more. $1,000 value if you sign up now.
So let’s talk about everything you’re going to get. It’s over $2,000 value in bonuses. You get 20% off your Pro Annual membership. You get the $40 Intention Journal. You get the workshop with Brandon and I together. You get the How to Find Great Deals Class. You get the online bootcamp access, and all you have to do is take the code I gave you and go to biggerpockets.com/proupgrade. So if this is something you guys are interested in, I’m going to give you a second to go to biggerpockets.com/proupgrade and put that code in. Biggerpockets.com/proupgrade.
Now, you have to choose the annual option if you want all the perks. You can still sign up for Pro if you want to go monthly, but annual is the one that you need to pick if you want those free perks that we talked about. Now, what if you’re already pro? Well, you’re going to get access to all the same things. If you want to watch the videos, you go to biggerpockets.com/pro/videos and you can find the online bootcamp information at biggerpockets.com/bootcamp.
And here’s our guarantee at BiggerPockets. Give Pro a try for up to 30 days. If you don’t love it, just email [email protected] and get a 100% refund just for trying it out. You’re going to go to biggerpockets.com/proupgrade, and you’re going to put in the code that was on the screen. I want to make sure that it works. So anybody here that signs up, please tell me if that code is working or if we have some kind of glitch so I can make sure you don’t miss out on the discount and you don’t miss out on the perks.
And this is a great quote that every successful person I know believes. If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way, and if you don’t, you’ll find an excuse. Very true words. If you want to become a millionaire, you will. Everyone else… not everyone, a lot of other people have done it. You can do it too. If you don’t want to do it, you’ll find a way to make an excuse not to. That’s it. That just tells you what’s in your heart. There’s people that really want for it to happen, they make a way. And there’s people that wish that it would happen, and they make an excuse.
Okay. What questions do you guys have? I’m going to see if anybody here was able to sign up. Dean, “Is a membership like this tax-deductible?” Yes, you’d have to check with your CPA, but I deduct mine. It is a business expense for your real estate investing business. Absolutely. Do the tools work for Canada? Yes, there are many Canadian members that are pro members and they use the same tools. Good question there too.
All right, what questions do you guys have for me? It looks like I’ve given you guys a lot to go on. I would highly encourage you, if you’re on the fence, to go ahead and do it, especially because there’s a guarantee that if you don’t like it, you can get your money back. And relatively speaking, it’s not that much money compared to what you are going to be spending money on as a real estate investor and what you’ll get out of it. The $312 a year when you consider how much money you’re going to make in real estate, you’re going to make more than that in one month, and you’re going to have these properties for many months, right?
12 months in a year times 30 years, you could do the math, and that’s only for one property. I would highly recommend it. Let’s see. Ian says, “That was a really motivating webinar.” Thank you so much. That is my pleasure. Dean says, “I’ve become an accidental landlord through military moves and have a good chunk of equity in two properties. Would you recommend selling to use the equity or more aggressive investing or just keeping them long-term?” Dean, you’re going to need to message me about that on BiggerPockets and let me know what area they’re in and I can give you a better idea of what to do. What it’s going to come down to is we’re going to analyze how much of a return you’re making on the equity that is in them, and then see if we can get a higher return if we invested somewhere else.
Bilal, “Pro, for sure.” Congratulations, Bilal. I love that you just took your first step towards being a real estate millionaire. That is awesome. All right, I’m going to let you guys get out of here. Thank you very much for your time. Again, if you’re in California, make sure you reach out to me because I want to meet you. If you are not in California, that’s okay. Follow me on social media, @David Greene24. Send me a message through the BiggerPockets platform. Let me know how I can help you. I have lots of different ways. You can also check out my website, DavidGreene24.com. That’s got a little bit of all the stuff I’m involved in, so go through that, see which of those things might be interesting to you, and then send me a message and I’ll see how me and my team can help you.
Really appreciate you guys. Thank you so much. Love that you’re in the BiggerPockets community now. You’re on a journey with over 2 million other people that are all searching and seeking for the same thing as you and all want to help you get there so you’re in the right place. I will see all of you on the next one, and God bless you.
And that was our show. Thank you so much for joining. If you’re not a Pro member yet, I hope that you’ll sign up with that 20% discount that I offered earlier. Again, that’s YTChallenge23. And if you’re not a pro member yet, but you want to be one, please remember you’ve got a discount code waiting for you. That is PodChallenge23. Thanks again for listening. I’ve enjoyed being able to teach you. You can find me at DavidGreene24 on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, whatever your fancy, or you can check out my entire website at DavidGreene24.com and see all the ways that I can help you build your wealth through real estate. If you’ve got time, check out another BiggerPockets video. And if not, I will see you on the next one.