July 15, 2025 • 19 mins
RC was self-employed his whole life—so when it came time to retire, he wouldn't have a traditional pension to fall back on. Instead, he decided to create his own.
On this episode, RC shares how he started buying rentals in his 20s and built a personal pension plan with rental properties.
Today, his rentals pay for his entire lifestyle, including traveling the world and living life on his terms.
We talk about how he got started, where he found the money for his first properties, and what he’s learned from 50 years of being a landlord.
RC also shares what he would do differently if he were starting over, advice he’d give his younger self, and the secret to keeping a tenant happy for 30 years.
https://rentalincomepodcast.com/episode530
Thanks To Our Sponsors:
Ridge Lending Group - Making investment Mortgage process simple and stress-free.
MidSouth HomeBuyers – Turnkey Rentals In Memphis & Little Rock. Instant Cash Flow On Day One. (Priced between $100,000 to low $200's)
On this episode, RC shares how he started buying rentals in his 20s and built a personal pension plan with rental properties.
Today, his rentals pay for his entire lifestyle, including traveling the world and living life on his terms.
We talk about how he got started, where he found the money for his first properties, and what he’s learned from 50 years of being a landlord.
RC also shares what he would do differently if he were starting over, advice he’d give his younger self, and the secret to keeping a tenant happy for 30 years.
https://rentalincomepodcast.com/episode530
Thanks To Our Sponsors:
Ridge Lending Group - Making investment Mortgage process simple and stress-free.
MidSouth HomeBuyers – Turnkey Rentals In Memphis & Little Rock. Instant Cash Flow On Day One. (Priced between $100,000 to low $200's)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The inspiring interviews with Today is Top Landlords, This is
the Rental Income Podcast, and now Damnly.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
RC tell us how owning rental properties has improved your life.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Well, I've been self employed my whole life, and so
without having a pension, I had to create a way
of having income so that I could live at the
same level I lived while I was working. I'm able
to travel and see the world and do whatever i
want to do because I have rental properties.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
RC started buying rental properties in his twenties and today
he's retired and lives an incredible life, all paid for
by his rental properties. And on the show today, we're
going to figure out how he builds his own personal
pension by buying rental properties. Joining us on the show
today from Sunset Beach, California is RC hand. We'll take
(00:57):
a quick break to thank our sponsors. We'll come right
back and we'll talk to RC. Are you thinking about
investing in rental properties, but maybe you don't know where
to start. My friends at Mid South home Buyers make
it simple. For over twenty three years, they've been selling
fully renovated, turnkey rental properties in Memphis and Little Rock
(01:18):
We're talking new roofs, plumbing, electric, kitchens, bathrooms. Everything is
brand new and done right. And here's the best part.
Every property comes with a well qualified tenant in place
before you close. That means you get cash flow from
day one. Plus mid South continues to professionally manage the
property for you after the sale, and they back it
(01:41):
up with two powerful guarantees. You get a one year
total maintenance warranty and a lifetime occupancy guarantee. Personally, I've
bought five properties from them and I couldn't be happier.
If you want to talk to someone that's been through
the process, feel free to reach out to me. I'm
happy to answer any questions, or if you're ready to
(02:02):
get started, just go to midsouthhome Buyers dot com. That's
midsouthhome Buyers dot com. It's a lot of work to
find a really good rental property, and when you actually
find that property, you want to make sure you're working
with a lender that can get that loan closed. The
lender that I recommend is jay Ley Ridge from Ridge
Lending Group. She's a nationwide lender and her specialty is
(02:25):
helping investors finance rental properties. She has a ton of
loan programs and she can find something customized to you
for your situation. If you want to find out more
or you're ready to get started today, just go to
Ridge Lendinggroup dot com. That's our Idge Lendinggroup dot com
n MLS four two zero five six RC. Let's go
(02:47):
way back. Where did the idea come to start buying
rental properties?
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Well?
Speaker 3 (02:53):
I work for my father. He was a plasterer, and
we repair to rental properties. All our clo aliens were
people who owned properties or were property management companies.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
And so you saw these people that they were making
money in real estate and thought, well, maybe I can
do that too.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Absolutely, I saw people with modern income build portfolios over
years and years and become wealthy over time.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
And was your family in that world too? Did you
come from a wealthy family?
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Just the opposite. My father was a union plaster.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
The last union job he did was Disneyland out here
in southern California, and we lived in a thirty five
foot trailer and we traveled to California. When a new
housing development started. My dad would show up with a
bunch of guys and aid lath and plaster these developments
and move on to the next one.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
So not having money, like coming from nothing, do you
think that actually was an advantage?
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Absolutely, I mean you've really got nothing to lose.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
My brother and I joke that we should either be
dead or in prison because my father had a restaurant.
We grew up in a restaurant business, waiting tables when
we were young guys, and our place was a little rough,
and so we saw a lot of interesting things and
learned how to behave and stay out of trouble.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
So fifty years ago you started buying rental properties. You
were twenty three at the time. What did you buy?
What was your first property?
Speaker 3 (04:28):
My fiance and I bought a three bedroom twin home,
which is like a duplex, but you actually own half
of it. And it was a beautiful neighborhood in southern California,
and it was a perfect size and very little maintenance,
and it fit our budget, to say the least.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
We didn't have much money to start out with.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Now that was a house you were living in.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
We lived in that house, yes, for a year, and
then I went and bought a home, a bigger home
the following year.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Okay, and then did you rent out the first house.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
No, I continued to sell and then use that money
to move on to my next house.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
And then I was able to borrow money from that
to buy some land in the high Desert with my
brother and my father, and we actually did some land
development and built four duplexes.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Okay. So it was the appreciation on your primary residence
that gave you the money to get started.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
And we had those skills to where we could do
the work ourselves. We pooled our financial resources and our
building skills and did everything except put the cabinets in.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Okay. So it was four duplexes that you built from scratch, yes.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
And then were you living in one of the units.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
No.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
I was driving from Orange County out to the desert
every three days and spending the night at my parents' house.
They had a house out there. So that was where
I started with my rental properties. And then I borrowed
money on those properties to start buying other rental properties.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
So you were never coming up with large amounts of money.
It was you would take appreciation and use that money
to buy more properties.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
That's right. That's right.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Now, tell me about your portfolio today.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
I have five condos and a house.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Okay, and so you've been investing now for fifty years.
Is everything paid off at this point?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yes, that was our plan.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
I've been retired twelve years and everything's been paid off
for eleven years.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Now. Did they get paid off by just naturally a
thirty year mortgage paying off or did you make extra payments?
Speaker 1 (06:46):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
I was I was just using the income from those
properties to pay down the mortgages, and of course, you
know that's kind of tough in the beginning.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yeah, So I mean that's that's really awesome. So you
your appreciation bought you the properties, and then the rents
from the tenants ended up paying off the properties.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Now. You mentioned that you were self employed and this
was your retirement plan. So was that the plan that
you had early on that you wanted to get six
properties eventually and have them paid off or did that
just kind of evolve as time went by?
Speaker 1 (07:26):
It evolved.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
All I ever wanted was to be able to own
my own home and take care of my family. But
my brother was a real estate investor and he kind
of nudged me into the first this first deal buying
this land and building these units. And of course all
my clients were proper owners and investors, and so I
watched them become wealthy, and it seemed like a simple
(07:48):
thing to do if you're willing to take that risk.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yeah. And so when you were working, did you did
you take any of the cash flow and live off
that or was that money going back into more investing.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Most of that covered the my mortgage loans. I cleared
a couple of hundred bucks every now and then. Over time,
of course, as the rents go up, you have more money.
But for the first few years it was pretty pretty
close to the.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
To the ribs.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
So you didn't have much cash flow at first. But
then over time as rents went up, and were you
making more money or with the rentals always kind of
close to break even?
Speaker 1 (08:32):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
I was my income increased, and I did increase the
rents over time. I have my places are a very
nice and in very nice neighborhood, so I get a
premium rent off of them.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
So so today they make a ton of money because
the mortgages are all paid off.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Right, Now, tell me about your lifestyle today. I'm curious
to hear about this because we had a little bit
of a delay getting this interview scheduled because you were
traveling and you had a to fit me in between trips. Well,
what's your lifestyle like today?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I've traveled to one hundred countries, including North Korea, and
we've just returned home about three weeks ago from Central America,
and we're leaving in August for a cruise up to
Mississippi and next year we're going over to India again
and Sri Lanka. So I've had a wonderful life and
most of that has come from the money that my
(09:27):
wife and have been able to generate from rental income.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
I mean, that's really incredible. I mean, you think about it.
I mean, just to take a step back, you bought
properties that really didn't cash full of that great. It
wasn't like you were making a ton of money every
month on the properties. But over time those properties, the
rents went up, the mortgages got paid off, and now
you're living a really good lifestyle. Absolutely, that is really awesome. Now,
(09:55):
it seems like you were thinking long term when you
you started buying rental properties right that that you you
had a vision that over time this was going to
build you well, but it probably wasn't on day one
or year one or year five. Like it seems like
you were really thinking long term.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Absolutely, And we just have recently started selling off some
of our properties. We've we've sold off at duplex and
the condo in the last four years. And so we
were we had I had eight units at one time.
My brother had sixty, so he went into it a
little bigger style than I did. But yeah, we've We've
(10:37):
been very fortunate. I never expected to be where I
am today. I hope that I would be here, but
I would come home from work in my old beat
up truck and people would think I was lost. And
my neighbors drive rolls, Royces and Porsches and Stutch Bearcats
and all these custom cars. And I would come home
in my beat up Dodge truck with the paint peeling off,
(10:57):
and I say, no, I live right there.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Wow. And so these rents, these properties, they must have
very high rent It sounds like you're in a very
good area.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Yes, my properties are along the beach in southern California,
within a mile of the beach.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
So what's the average rent on your properties?
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Over two thousand dollars two.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Thousand a month. Okay, the properties that you have today,
were they fixer uppers or like? Were you buying properties
that were pretty much ready to go?
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Well, they all were.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Previously occupied, so they were fixer uppers in that sense.
The house that I have rented out as a beautiful house.
I'd lived there for two years. It was we bought
it as a fixer upper, and it was professionally landscaped,
so that made it look very nice from the street.
All of the other properties I have are a condos,
and because I didn't have a lot of cash, condos
(11:57):
worked out for me because I was paying for the
ex theory or upkeep on a monthly basis and wouldn't
get stuck with a large rent repair or some kind
of expense that I couldn't handle. And so I was
always paying for those type of future repairs through my
association due so I wouldn't get stuck with a big
bill at the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Yeah. Now, you mentioned a minute ago that you've sold
off a couple of properties. Why did you sell.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Well, I was seventy at the time, I believe, and
we decided we'd like.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
To have a little more cash on hand.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
The market was really hot, and we sold one of
our places in a day and made a very good
profit on that. And now we have that extra security
of having a couple of bucks of cash in the
bank and still have more income coming in from the
rental properties.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
That's good, okay. Yeah, so you're tapping into some of
that equity. I mean, over all these years, you've built
up all this equity, and I mean you might as
well enjoy it, that's right. Yeah, Now after investing for
all of these years, do you have any regrets? Is
there anything that maybe you wish you did or wish
you didn't do.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I probably would have been more I would have taken
more risks. You know, men generally are more interested in
taking risks than women. I'm married, so I have a
partner and we have to come to agreement on the
risk level that we take. Myself, I've probably I have
(13:32):
less common sense than a lot of people, and because
I grew up in a family that was self employed,
I always was maybe more comfortable with risk than other people,
and so taking risks were easy for me. And the
worst thing that can happen, of course, is you'd lose
a property, and that equity. But if you didn't, you're
(13:52):
moving forward and increasing your wealth. And that's what we're
trying to do here to have a nice retirement.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
So what advice would you give your younger self if
you were you could go back and talk to your
twenty year old self when you're just getting started, Like,
what advice would you give yourself?
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Well? I work a lot.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
I went to work at about twelve, when I was
about twelve years old because we had a family business.
I went plastering with my father on weekends and mixing plaster.
I worked a lot. I worked six days through my
working career for thirty eight years, worked six days a week.
Maybe I would have worked a little bit less and
(14:34):
been a little bit more aggressive and investing, but I
have more money than i'll ever need, so I think
things worked out.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah, I think, yeah they really did. Now after investing
for fifty years. What do you think is the longest
amount of time that a tenant has stayed with you?
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Oh, that's easy. I have a tenant in my house.
He's lived there over thirty years.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Thirty years. Wow, Well, what's the secret to keeping a
tenant for that long?
Speaker 3 (15:04):
We're not real aggressive on our rent increases. I have
a property management company that takes care of the properties
for us. I used to do that myself when I
was working, and it got to be a bit of
a problem, and so I found a nice company that
does it for us, and they take care of all
the rent raises and all the maintenance, and when we're
on vacation, they just send us a print out over
(15:26):
my wife's cell phone the show's deposits made, and she's
very comfortable knowing there's money in the bank and we
don't have to get involved day to day with my tenants.
Although the gentleman who lives in my home and I
talk quite often and I consider him a friend.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
He's bought my house twice for me, right right over
thirty years.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Yeah, that's crazy. So over thirty years, Like, did you
just because you have to raise the rent over that
that long of a period. Did you just kind of
slowly raise rent a lit a little bit every year.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yes, And the company that we use is aware of
the ready increases and that are happening around us and
in California, of course, the rents are at a premium.
So I would rather you know, if you do the math,
you it takes a long time to make up the money.
And when you have to rehab a property, So if
(16:23):
you lose the tenant and have to go in and rehab,
you're going to spend six months of that year rehabbing
the money you spent to rehab. Right, So if you
can keep the tenants in the place, it really it
keeps your cost down. It's to your advantage to have
long term tenants.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yeah, now there's a lot of I guess like it's
not easy to invest today. I mean we have high
interest rates, prices are high, there's not a lot of
properties for sale. Like, I'm sure you've seen periods like
this before. Like, what do you think the best thing
to do or the best way to think about this
(17:00):
market is today.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Well, I was paying twenty three percent interest on a
home loan under Jimmy Carter back in the day, so
six to eight percent looks pretty good to me.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
And I always watched the interest rates.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
I didn't really care what the property cost at the
end of the day, that tennis are going to pay
for that. When the interest rates went down, I would
buy another property. So I would refinance one of my
properties and take some money out and use.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
That for a down payment buy another place.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
I have to tell you, when I bought my first home,
I had been divorced and I didn't have anything, and
so I borrowed ten thousand dollars from my father in law.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
I was married for a second time.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
My father in law gave me ten thousand dollars to
put in a bank account so that the ESTRO company
thought I had some money, And when they did the
credit review and approved my loan, I then borrowed fifteen
thousand dollars on a credit card for the down payment.
And people said, well, that's crazy. You're paying eighteen percent
on this money that you borrowed for the down payment.
(18:06):
I says, yeah, but I'm not paying rent I'm paying
a mortgage.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
What RC did is so simple, but it's so genius.
At the same time, he didn't have a lot of
money when he got started, but he had some equity
in his primary residence. He took that money bought some
rental properties. He wasn't making a ton of money on
a monthly basis, but over time those properties got paid
(18:29):
off and today he lives a really good lifestyle off
six rental properties. I mean, that is really just so
incredible and it really just a kind of story I
like hearing, just to keep me going and keep me motivated. Well,
if anybody wants to reach out to RC, I've got
(18:49):
his contact information on the website. RC also writes a
travel blog where he talks about some of his travels.
If you want to check that out, I've got a
link to it also on the web site. You can
find it at Rental Incomepodcast dot com. Slash episode five thirty.
I'd like to thank jay Ley Ridge from Ridge Lending
(19:09):
Group for sponsoring today's episode. If you're looking to buy
a rental property, whether you're just getting started or you
want to add to your portfolio, reach out to Chailey.
She has a ton of loan programs and she can
find something that works for you. You can track her
down at Ridge Lendinggroup dot com. NMLS four two zero
(19:31):
five six. Thank you so much for checking out the
podcast today. Make sure you hit the follow button. I
put out a new episode every single Tuesday, and if
you're following the show, you'll get notified when the next
episode comes out. My name is Dan Lane and this
has been the Rental Income Podcast
The inspiring interviews with Today is Top Landlords, This is
the Rental Income Podcast, and now Damnly.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
RC tell us how owning rental properties has improved your life.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Well, I've been self employed my whole life, and so
without having a pension, I had to create a way
of having income so that I could live at the
same level I lived while I was working. I'm able
to travel and see the world and do whatever i
want to do because I have rental properties.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
RC started buying rental properties in his twenties and today
he's retired and lives an incredible life, all paid for
by his rental properties. And on the show today, we're
going to figure out how he builds his own personal
pension by buying rental properties. Joining us on the show
today from Sunset Beach, California is RC hand. We'll take
(00:57):
a quick break to thank our sponsors. We'll come right
back and we'll talk to RC. Are you thinking about
investing in rental properties, but maybe you don't know where
to start. My friends at Mid South home Buyers make
it simple. For over twenty three years, they've been selling
fully renovated, turnkey rental properties in Memphis and Little Rock
(01:18):
We're talking new roofs, plumbing, electric, kitchens, bathrooms. Everything is
brand new and done right. And here's the best part.
Every property comes with a well qualified tenant in place
before you close. That means you get cash flow from
day one. Plus mid South continues to professionally manage the
property for you after the sale, and they back it
(01:41):
up with two powerful guarantees. You get a one year
total maintenance warranty and a lifetime occupancy guarantee. Personally, I've
bought five properties from them and I couldn't be happier.
If you want to talk to someone that's been through
the process, feel free to reach out to me. I'm
happy to answer any questions, or if you're ready to
(02:02):
get started, just go to midsouthhome Buyers dot com. That's
midsouthhome Buyers dot com. It's a lot of work to
find a really good rental property, and when you actually
find that property, you want to make sure you're working
with a lender that can get that loan closed. The
lender that I recommend is jay Ley Ridge from Ridge
Lending Group. She's a nationwide lender and her specialty is
(02:25):
helping investors finance rental properties. She has a ton of
loan programs and she can find something customized to you
for your situation. If you want to find out more
or you're ready to get started today, just go to
Ridge Lendinggroup dot com. That's our Idge Lendinggroup dot com
n MLS four two zero five six RC. Let's go
(02:47):
way back. Where did the idea come to start buying
rental properties?
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Well?
Speaker 3 (02:53):
I work for my father. He was a plasterer, and
we repair to rental properties. All our clo aliens were
people who owned properties or were property management companies.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
And so you saw these people that they were making
money in real estate and thought, well, maybe I can
do that too.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Absolutely, I saw people with modern income build portfolios over
years and years and become wealthy over time.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
And was your family in that world too? Did you
come from a wealthy family?
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Just the opposite. My father was a union plaster.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
The last union job he did was Disneyland out here
in southern California, and we lived in a thirty five
foot trailer and we traveled to California. When a new
housing development started. My dad would show up with a
bunch of guys and aid lath and plaster these developments
and move on to the next one.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
So not having money, like coming from nothing, do you
think that actually was an advantage?
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Absolutely, I mean you've really got nothing to lose.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
My brother and I joke that we should either be
dead or in prison because my father had a restaurant.
We grew up in a restaurant business, waiting tables when
we were young guys, and our place was a little rough,
and so we saw a lot of interesting things and
learned how to behave and stay out of trouble.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
So fifty years ago you started buying rental properties. You
were twenty three at the time. What did you buy?
What was your first property?
Speaker 3 (04:28):
My fiance and I bought a three bedroom twin home,
which is like a duplex, but you actually own half
of it. And it was a beautiful neighborhood in southern California,
and it was a perfect size and very little maintenance,
and it fit our budget, to say the least.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
We didn't have much money to start out with.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Now that was a house you were living in.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
We lived in that house, yes, for a year, and
then I went and bought a home, a bigger home
the following year.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Okay, and then did you rent out the first house.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
No, I continued to sell and then use that money
to move on to my next house.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
And then I was able to borrow money from that
to buy some land in the high Desert with my
brother and my father, and we actually did some land
development and built four duplexes.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Okay. So it was the appreciation on your primary residence
that gave you the money to get started.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
And we had those skills to where we could do
the work ourselves. We pooled our financial resources and our
building skills and did everything except put the cabinets in.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Okay. So it was four duplexes that you built from scratch, yes.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
And then were you living in one of the units.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
No.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
I was driving from Orange County out to the desert
every three days and spending the night at my parents' house.
They had a house out there. So that was where
I started with my rental properties. And then I borrowed
money on those properties to start buying other rental properties.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
So you were never coming up with large amounts of money.
It was you would take appreciation and use that money
to buy more properties.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
That's right. That's right.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Now, tell me about your portfolio today.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
I have five condos and a house.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Okay, and so you've been investing now for fifty years.
Is everything paid off at this point?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yes, that was our plan.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
I've been retired twelve years and everything's been paid off
for eleven years.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Now. Did they get paid off by just naturally a
thirty year mortgage paying off or did you make extra payments?
Speaker 1 (06:46):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
I was I was just using the income from those
properties to pay down the mortgages, and of course, you
know that's kind of tough in the beginning.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yeah, So I mean that's that's really awesome. So you
your appreciation bought you the properties, and then the rents
from the tenants ended up paying off the properties.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Now. You mentioned that you were self employed and this
was your retirement plan. So was that the plan that
you had early on that you wanted to get six
properties eventually and have them paid off or did that
just kind of evolve as time went by?
Speaker 1 (07:26):
It evolved.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
All I ever wanted was to be able to own
my own home and take care of my family. But
my brother was a real estate investor and he kind
of nudged me into the first this first deal buying
this land and building these units. And of course all
my clients were proper owners and investors, and so I
watched them become wealthy, and it seemed like a simple
(07:48):
thing to do if you're willing to take that risk.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yeah. And so when you were working, did you did
you take any of the cash flow and live off
that or was that money going back into more investing.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Most of that covered the my mortgage loans. I cleared
a couple of hundred bucks every now and then. Over time,
of course, as the rents go up, you have more money.
But for the first few years it was pretty pretty
close to the.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
To the ribs.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
So you didn't have much cash flow at first. But
then over time as rents went up, and were you
making more money or with the rentals always kind of
close to break even?
Speaker 1 (08:32):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
I was my income increased, and I did increase the
rents over time. I have my places are a very
nice and in very nice neighborhood, so I get a
premium rent off of them.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
So so today they make a ton of money because
the mortgages are all paid off.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Right, Now, tell me about your lifestyle today. I'm curious
to hear about this because we had a little bit
of a delay getting this interview scheduled because you were
traveling and you had a to fit me in between trips. Well,
what's your lifestyle like today?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I've traveled to one hundred countries, including North Korea, and
we've just returned home about three weeks ago from Central America,
and we're leaving in August for a cruise up to
Mississippi and next year we're going over to India again
and Sri Lanka. So I've had a wonderful life and
most of that has come from the money that my
(09:27):
wife and have been able to generate from rental income.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
I mean, that's really incredible. I mean, you think about it.
I mean, just to take a step back, you bought
properties that really didn't cash full of that great. It
wasn't like you were making a ton of money every
month on the properties. But over time those properties, the
rents went up, the mortgages got paid off, and now
you're living a really good lifestyle. Absolutely, that is really awesome. Now,
(09:55):
it seems like you were thinking long term when you
you started buying rental properties right that that you you
had a vision that over time this was going to
build you well, but it probably wasn't on day one
or year one or year five. Like it seems like
you were really thinking long term.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Absolutely, And we just have recently started selling off some
of our properties. We've we've sold off at duplex and
the condo in the last four years. And so we
were we had I had eight units at one time.
My brother had sixty, so he went into it a
little bigger style than I did. But yeah, we've We've
(10:37):
been very fortunate. I never expected to be where I
am today. I hope that I would be here, but
I would come home from work in my old beat
up truck and people would think I was lost. And
my neighbors drive rolls, Royces and Porsches and Stutch Bearcats
and all these custom cars. And I would come home
in my beat up Dodge truck with the paint peeling off,
(10:57):
and I say, no, I live right there.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Wow. And so these rents, these properties, they must have
very high rent It sounds like you're in a very
good area.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Yes, my properties are along the beach in southern California,
within a mile of the beach.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
So what's the average rent on your properties?
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Over two thousand dollars two.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Thousand a month. Okay, the properties that you have today,
were they fixer uppers or like? Were you buying properties
that were pretty much ready to go?
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Well, they all were.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Previously occupied, so they were fixer uppers in that sense.
The house that I have rented out as a beautiful house.
I'd lived there for two years. It was we bought
it as a fixer upper, and it was professionally landscaped,
so that made it look very nice from the street.
All of the other properties I have are a condos,
and because I didn't have a lot of cash, condos
(11:57):
worked out for me because I was paying for the
ex theory or upkeep on a monthly basis and wouldn't
get stuck with a large rent repair or some kind
of expense that I couldn't handle. And so I was
always paying for those type of future repairs through my
association due so I wouldn't get stuck with a big
bill at the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Yeah. Now, you mentioned a minute ago that you've sold
off a couple of properties. Why did you sell.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Well, I was seventy at the time, I believe, and
we decided we'd like.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
To have a little more cash on hand.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
The market was really hot, and we sold one of
our places in a day and made a very good
profit on that. And now we have that extra security
of having a couple of bucks of cash in the
bank and still have more income coming in from the
rental properties.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
That's good, okay. Yeah, so you're tapping into some of
that equity. I mean, over all these years, you've built
up all this equity, and I mean you might as
well enjoy it, that's right. Yeah, Now after investing for
all of these years, do you have any regrets? Is
there anything that maybe you wish you did or wish
you didn't do.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I probably would have been more I would have taken
more risks. You know, men generally are more interested in
taking risks than women. I'm married, so I have a
partner and we have to come to agreement on the
risk level that we take. Myself, I've probably I have
(13:32):
less common sense than a lot of people, and because
I grew up in a family that was self employed,
I always was maybe more comfortable with risk than other people,
and so taking risks were easy for me. And the
worst thing that can happen, of course, is you'd lose
a property, and that equity. But if you didn't, you're
(13:52):
moving forward and increasing your wealth. And that's what we're
trying to do here to have a nice retirement.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
So what advice would you give your younger self if
you were you could go back and talk to your
twenty year old self when you're just getting started, Like,
what advice would you give yourself?
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Well? I work a lot.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
I went to work at about twelve, when I was
about twelve years old because we had a family business.
I went plastering with my father on weekends and mixing plaster.
I worked a lot. I worked six days through my
working career for thirty eight years, worked six days a week.
Maybe I would have worked a little bit less and
(14:34):
been a little bit more aggressive and investing, but I
have more money than i'll ever need, so I think
things worked out.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah, I think, yeah they really did. Now after investing
for fifty years. What do you think is the longest
amount of time that a tenant has stayed with you?
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Oh, that's easy. I have a tenant in my house.
He's lived there over thirty years.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Thirty years. Wow, Well, what's the secret to keeping a
tenant for that long?
Speaker 3 (15:04):
We're not real aggressive on our rent increases. I have
a property management company that takes care of the properties
for us. I used to do that myself when I
was working, and it got to be a bit of
a problem, and so I found a nice company that
does it for us, and they take care of all
the rent raises and all the maintenance, and when we're
on vacation, they just send us a print out over
(15:26):
my wife's cell phone the show's deposits made, and she's
very comfortable knowing there's money in the bank and we
don't have to get involved day to day with my tenants.
Although the gentleman who lives in my home and I
talk quite often and I consider him a friend.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
He's bought my house twice for me, right right over
thirty years.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Yeah, that's crazy. So over thirty years, Like, did you
just because you have to raise the rent over that
that long of a period. Did you just kind of
slowly raise rent a lit a little bit every year.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yes, And the company that we use is aware of
the ready increases and that are happening around us and
in California, of course, the rents are at a premium.
So I would rather you know, if you do the math,
you it takes a long time to make up the money.
And when you have to rehab a property, So if
(16:23):
you lose the tenant and have to go in and rehab,
you're going to spend six months of that year rehabbing
the money you spent to rehab. Right, So if you
can keep the tenants in the place, it really it
keeps your cost down. It's to your advantage to have
long term tenants.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yeah, now there's a lot of I guess like it's
not easy to invest today. I mean we have high
interest rates, prices are high, there's not a lot of
properties for sale. Like, I'm sure you've seen periods like
this before. Like, what do you think the best thing
to do or the best way to think about this
(17:00):
market is today.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Well, I was paying twenty three percent interest on a
home loan under Jimmy Carter back in the day, so
six to eight percent looks pretty good to me.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
And I always watched the interest rates.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
I didn't really care what the property cost at the
end of the day, that tennis are going to pay
for that. When the interest rates went down, I would
buy another property. So I would refinance one of my
properties and take some money out and use.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
That for a down payment buy another place.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
I have to tell you, when I bought my first home,
I had been divorced and I didn't have anything, and
so I borrowed ten thousand dollars from my father in law.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
I was married for a second time.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
My father in law gave me ten thousand dollars to
put in a bank account so that the ESTRO company
thought I had some money, And when they did the
credit review and approved my loan, I then borrowed fifteen
thousand dollars on a credit card for the down payment.
And people said, well, that's crazy. You're paying eighteen percent
on this money that you borrowed for the down payment.
(18:06):
I says, yeah, but I'm not paying rent I'm paying
a mortgage.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
What RC did is so simple, but it's so genius.
At the same time, he didn't have a lot of
money when he got started, but he had some equity
in his primary residence. He took that money bought some
rental properties. He wasn't making a ton of money on
a monthly basis, but over time those properties got paid
(18:29):
off and today he lives a really good lifestyle off
six rental properties. I mean, that is really just so
incredible and it really just a kind of story I
like hearing, just to keep me going and keep me motivated. Well,
if anybody wants to reach out to RC, I've got
(18:49):
his contact information on the website. RC also writes a
travel blog where he talks about some of his travels.
If you want to check that out, I've got a
link to it also on the web site. You can
find it at Rental Incomepodcast dot com. Slash episode five thirty.
I'd like to thank jay Ley Ridge from Ridge Lending
(19:09):
Group for sponsoring today's episode. If you're looking to buy
a rental property, whether you're just getting started or you
want to add to your portfolio, reach out to Chailey.
She has a ton of loan programs and she can
find something that works for you. You can track her
down at Ridge Lendinggroup dot com. NMLS four two zero
(19:31):
five six. Thank you so much for checking out the
podcast today. Make sure you hit the follow button. I
put out a new episode every single Tuesday, and if
you're following the show, you'll get notified when the next
episode comes out. My name is Dan Lane and this
has been the Rental Income Podcast
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