all right welcome to a special new

podcast series the 20 minute investor

where my business partner Nathan and I

bring you actionable nuggets and

insights from our real estate investing

Journeys in bite-sized 20-minute

episodes I’m Aaron am me my wife and I

built a portfolio of eight cash flowing

rentals across three states while

working full-time and raising a young

family and I’m Nathan the tech executive

more importantly husband father and we

managed to build a portfolio of rental

properties across two states thousands

of miles away together we co-founded the

remote real estate Academy where we

coach investors on how to build their

own portfolios of cash flowing rentals

from anywhere in the world each week

we’re going to share what’s happening in

our real estate businesses including

inside the remote real estate Academy

and workshop the strategies that help

investors like you build wealth without

sacrificing your time now that that’s

out of the way let’s jump into

[Music]

it since this is our first episode we’re

still feeling out what order to go in

but we promise to keep things under 20

minutes CU that’s kind of our our

philosophy here is that our portfolios

and our strategy that we teach is how to

run your portfolio in 20 minutes a day

or less so we figur the 20- minute

episodes are a good touch here but why

don’t we like maybe look at um you know

what’s going on in our portfolios to

start I know you were working on a deal

can you share something about that uh I

am still working on a deal yeah I’ve had

a busy you and I talked about this but

I’ve had a busy let’s say January on the

W2 front pretty uh pretty hectic start

to the year which is not um unusual but

that’s just to say that kind of on the

real estate side on the real estate

portfolio side things had slowed down a

little bit for me and my wife and then

just recently late last week I think it

was actually an old a real estate

investor that I met an old friend sorry

the person is not old but an old friend

in my real estate uh investing Network

that you know I I met through networking

years ago and just kind of sporadically

stay in touch from time to I’m reached

out with a deal of theirs in the market

that or one of the markets that we’re

investing in and they’re looking to

offload it and they wanted to see if we

were interested and it’s particular or

we’re particularly interested in this

particular property because it’s um you

know fits our buy box it’s exactly what

we look for typically in the exact same

zip codes and areas but this person’s

also open to seller finance so today I

spent a bit of time just kind of um

working through details kind of

explaining what we need to be able to

take on this property in terms of

returns and things like that now they’re

they went back on their end to figure

out what they can do and we’re going to

try to work something out so even better

if we could do it on seller finance no

need to go through a bank or anything

like that add another property so uh

yeah hopefully it’ll pen out but we’re

still yeah still working on that one

awesome you hear all the time about

people who want to find properties that

are available for seller finance and

also people bringing you deals right I

think that’s one of the things we like

to teach quite a bit is how to build

relationships with other people and

share what your buy box is so that

instead of you having to go fish for

every single deal you get people that

they know you as the guy that has that

specific buy box in that specific area

can you just share a little more about

how you met this person and and like

what did you do to frame that

relationship that’s a great question I

can’t remember how we met I think if I

remember correctly and I’m going to go

out on a Lim here simply because how we

reconnected recently was over LinkedIn

and I think we might have met over

LinkedIn or through Linkedin where I had

must have posted something or I was

talking about real estate or I commented

on something real estate and then then

we we found each other and then started

exchanging a bit and then this person

and I if I remember correctly this

person at the time was looking to start

their real estate Journey um and they

needed a bit of help and I helped them

out for a bit in the early days this is

a few years ago hopefully I’m not

getting any of this wrong but I think

this is what happened and then uh um

they acquired one or more properties in

the same Market you know I kind of

helped them out with

some of our you know Network the people

we work with property manager lender you

know insurance broker that type of stuff

they closed on on this and I believe

other deals as well and now they want to

offload this one they’re starting to

Pivot their strategy a bit so they came

back and they said hey I know you buy

these types of properties in these zip

codes so would you be interested I was

like yeah of course I am let’s talk yeah

but it was all to I think to your point

or maybe where that question was going

it was like even you know when

especially when you get started you hear

a lot about these these experienced

investors bigger pocket stories that

type of stuff you know where people get

deals brought to them you know off

Market just this person brought me a

deal and I found this deal through that

person you he hear all those stories and

you’re like well that sounds great how

how the heck does that happen when is

that going to happen to me and whatnot

and I think what I came to to realize or

understand is it just takes time and

patience and over the years building

these relationships with other investors

people invest in your network you know

online offline all that type of stuff is

after a while it it pays de dividends

right it comes back and this is

literally what happened in this case um

and again the deal’s not closed yet but

it’s still a good example of what

happens as you kind of build your

network grow your network and meet

people and I also fundamentally believe

in karma right I I think our

relationships already started by helping

each other out in this case and now this

is coming back so yeah I feel jerk I

guess what I’m saying to be a ni be a

nice person yeah and look for ways to

add value right you hear that all the

time but I think you you spot on that it

takes a while to build these types of

relationships not every single person

that you contact is going to be a good

fit for you you you might not be

compatible or have uh the same interests

but if you’re investing in a market

especially if it’s out of state and you

take the time to build you could even do

something like one try and make one new

contact per week in the industry whether

it’s I had that as an actual goal for a

few years when I was getting started in

my goal tracker I had meet two new

people a week that I was tracking and I

did that for many many years exactly and

it can be stuff like even just

commenting on posts in a local Facebook

group you could use Bigger Pockets I

know we both have um mixed feelings

about the signal to noise ratio there

but there are lots of good people that

post on there but there’s a number of

different ways you can go about it but

yeah this is just such a good example of

that early effort to meet people paying

off with at a minimum a lead and

potentially close deal if all goes 100%

yeah yeah

yeah it’s also about it’s also about you

know creating these

networks or creating these Network

opportunities and and connections with

people without expecting anything in

return right I wasn’t actively going

into you know I talked about my goals of

meeting two new people a week and I

wasn’t going into those hoping that I

would get something out of it it really

was just let me start connecting with

people let me start meeting people and I

never you know went into this particular

relationship thinking or wanting

something from it I was just you know

trying to help tring to give you know

being a good guy and and talking to this

person and now it’s coming back to pay

in a sense yeah I think the second moral

of that story though is to be open about

what it is you’re looking for not from a

transactional standpoint not hey I’ll

only talk to you if you bring me leads

that fit this buy box but I think when

you talk openly about the type of

properties you buy where you buy them

then you become known as the person who

has that specific criteria right that’s

that’s why we spend a lot of time like

refining a buybox I know one of the

things I love on your your website you

have your buybox posted to where it’s

just a URL so people can click on it and

if somebody asks like what’s your buybox

you can just direct them to the URL and

it clear as day like with all the

parameters and even some pictures I

thought that was a really cool cool

approach yeah I have a it’s it’s a page

on our site that is just that just

describes our buy box and I think I link

to that page in my uh email signature

for example so that’s the first thing

people see if they ever want to click on

a link that’s you know tied to me

somehow it’s my buy box yeah so if I

hear you talking about how you can’t

find any deals my my question to you is

going to be what are you doing to

explain what it is that you’re looking

for and how many people have you reached

out to recently that are in that area so

that’s a good example let’s see in my

world I think most people listening to

this may be aware that we’re my wife and

I are doing a ground up development

project we’re building a assisted living

home here in Houston area that is a very

involved process much different than our

background buying single family rentals

we’re deep in the process of the due

diligence for land that we’re under

contract for so we have seven acres

under contract and we have we’re about

seven days into a 120-day due diligence

period but we might meet every day of it

because you got to take raw land which

currently has a bunch of trees on it and

we have to map out all the site work

right all the infrastructure how we’re

going to run utilities we got to get

bids from all the different Builders and

you know those are pretty big

fluctuations we’re talking about

building either one or possibly two

10,000 foot homes and they’re meant to

be luxury homes so these are not cheap

so there’s a ton of components that go

into that the financing probably being

the biggest Mak or break uh and then of

and then finding the right you know

reputable vendors who can help us

actualize that Vision I’ve never done a

transaction like this obviously well you

know this because you know I’ve talked

but I’m curious do you have any skin in

the game at this point so you said you

have 120 days to go through kind of the

due diligence process and and you’re

under contract and on land what happens

if I mean can you pull out at any point

or what happens do you have any skin in

the game at this point any risk I guess

yeah so we put

$25,000 down as earnest money the

majority of which is currently

refundable there is like a a small fee

if you pull out our due diligence clause

and our feasibility period is is pretty

Broad in nature so for the most part at

our discretion if we find something that

makes the deal not viable we can pull

out and we just forfeit that small

portion that’s non-refundable but there

will be probably in the next week or so

Pursuit costs right we got to do

Environmental Studies we probably need

to get a new survey you have to start

paying for the site plans the appraisal

a commercial appraisal is going to be

needed to get the SBA loan that we’re

going to use and those are upwards of

$10,000 and you know if you go down that

road and start getting all these things

and paying for them and you end up

pulling out of this plot of land like

those are sunk costs yeah yeah yeah so

the risk as of right the time of this

recording we’re not in a huge risk

position but we by the next time we

record one of these we will be you know

starting to Shell out for sure and

everything’s going good so far I mean I

know it’s early stages but you guys on

track is everything good it is and you

know we are working with a mentor who

has built this exact building in another

part of Texas not too far from here

similar demographics similar like costs

for material Sim regulatory environment

so we have a Playbook that we really

need to just execute but but these big

moving variables with the construction

costs and the infrastructure that’s kind

of like that’s what’s occupying most of

our head space right now is just trying

to make the numbers work but we feel

very good and confident about where

we’re at thus

far and what’s next after the 120 days

fall goes well you have another 45 days

to close the transaction from there so

that I think is just giving some wiggle

room to the lender to make sure they

process everything and and that we are

on track to you because the moment that

loan funds your shovels in the ground

and you get to work fun exciting very

different from a three bit two bath uh

home rental in uh St Louis which is what

I know the the

most yeah but you know that we talked

about this with our students all the

time but it’s like your the time Horizon

for your goals and the like specific

circumstances in your life can always

evolve and change and of we I still

firmly believe that single family long

distance Buy and Hold real estate is and

rental properties are the best

foundational strategy we we plan to hold

the majority of our portfolio and once

we get this up and running um we plan to

continue to invest in single family most

likely out ofate uh rentals so I think

this um this project and the reason we

took it on was largely because we have

three young kids you know my wife had to

choose kind of after you taking breaks

for both of our kids of course all three

of our kids when they were born she took

some time off work we had to decide is

she going to go back into a traditional

corporate job or are we going to try out

some of these skills and experience that

we’ve got and put it to a different use

and so we decided to shoot our shot

which we’re really excited about so well

we have only a few minutes go ahead yeah

I was just curious how open was your W

what was the process like I guess to get

your wife in you know to this point

right going from I had a job corporate

job then I had kids you know mother

raising kids to not going back to

corporate going all in and in real

estate how was that Journey was she

always all in with you and you guys were

kind of aligned from the start or did it

take some

convincing she’s always been interested

in our business and like particularly

the impact that it can have for our

family right both of us worked we’re

very underpaid overworked positions she

was in nonprofit which doesn’t sound

like it would be that grueling but the

one she was at was pretty intense and I

was in the conerts industry and so we we

kind of know what it feels like to put a

ton of energy into something and not be

able to extract a ton of value out of it

we got a lot of skills and experience

but financially it was really capped

like what we could do and so when we

started investing in real estate we saw

like the the potential Financial benefit

for our family I I like the phrase you

own your upside right like we’re

investing in a business has ultimately

we can raise the ceiling as high as we

want it’s not capped by an employer so

that idea has always sat well with her

but I think this project ignited a

passion because of experience she had

with her family members you know it’s

Assisted Living it’s senior care it’s

end of life care and it’s specifically

memory care and she had some experience

with uh her father and her grandparents

they really spoke to her to where this

is now not only you know tapping into

the real estate that we already know has

the potential we want but it has that

kind of personal meaning and is her way

of kind of giving back and providing a

better experience than what her family

members went through so I think that was

the that was the Tipping Point to get

you know hey this full-time

dedication yeah and there’s an aspect to

um you know assisted care that just is

yes it’s a business of course but I feel

like there’s still an aspect of it that

is you know giv back and helping right

those in need in a sense and again I

know it’s a business I understand that

I’m going to get roasted for saying this

because it’s still going to be operated

as a business but I I just think it’s a

good Mission personally yeah no I

appreciate that and I think what you

said is important know there’s a

distinction right like we’re we’re

building we’re building on Raw land

we’re taking that we’re developing it

and creating a structure that’s the real

estate but it is really important to

realize that the the business is a very

very active Endeavor and you know the

the stakes are very high it’s a ton of

responsibility and ultimately it’s going

to be a lot of effort to get it to where

we want it to be so it is not in any way

shape or form a passive activity and you

know we’re well aware of that so you

know I get a lot of people asking me

like oh you guys going into residential

Assisted Living you know what’s the

process like transitioning it’s really

not the same thing right like there’s

the way we’re choosing to do it is

extremely Hands-On and involved um but

again the upside is um enormous both

from a financial standpoint and impact

standpoint yeah of course no it’s

awesome well you good luck congrats I

don’t know both because I know the the

road ahead still pretty long to get this

up and running but you’re making awesome

progress so kudos to both of you yeah

thank thank you man I appreciate it well

to keep in advertising with our

20-minute episodes we might have to try

and like cap this this first topic here

um and then I know we’re going to come

back and and give some fun updates on

how things are going inside the academy

and some and some changes we’ve made so

maybe that’ll be a little tease for um

for what we do next time but uh any

anything else you want to add on on the

topic of our our portfolios no not right

now I would say that was a good tease

come uh come join us next time and we’ll

talk about what’s happening in the

academy bit more awesome let’s do it and

uh in keeping with the name the

20-minute investor Nathan and I did put

together a workshop where it’s kind of

the core Foundation of our Academy and

what we teach uh and it’s called the

20-minute investor Workshop we show

different examples of how we spend our

20 minute a day that we set aside for

Real Estate including workflows and

here’s what we do if we’re in an active

buying phase here’s what we do if we’re

in a maintenance phase and we have just

kind of library of Sops of how we

approach app if you guys want to check

that out you can go to 20min

investor.com that’s the number 20min

investor.com and we will send it to you

for free so thank you for tuning in to

episode one and uh we will look forward

to doing this

again awesome thanks Aaron thank you for

making it to the end of today’s episode

as you may know podcasts are very

difficult to grow organically if you’re

getting value from today’s episode I’d

deeply appreciate if you can take 30

seconds to leave my show five star

rating and review this will go a long

way to helping me reach more listeners

just like you thank you so much in

advance