May 13, 2025 • 46 mins
Lindsay Barrientos shares her journey from Peruvian immigrant to real estate investor, showing how regular people can build wealth through property investment even without massive capital or experience. Her story proves that our community can overcome financial barriers and cultural money mindsets to create passive income streams and build generational wealth.
• Born in Peru and immigrated at 16, learning English and American financial systems simultaneously
• Used nursing career to build initial capital while educating herself through books and social media
• Purchased first investment property in Indiana for $135K while living in California
• Successfully executed a BRRRR strategy using HELOC funds despite setbacks including a property fire
• Emphasizes networking with other investors and learning from YouTube creators investing in target markets
• Advocates shifting perspectives on debt to understand the difference between good debt for assets versus bad debt for liabilities
Find Lindsay on YouTube and Instagram at "LINdoes investing" to follow her journey and learn more about real estate investing strategies for Latinas.
Download the free guide "What to Know Before Buying Your First Rental Property"
Sign Up for the MoneyChisme & Raíces Newsletter
Get a High Yields Savings Account with UPGRADE
Start Investing with M1Finance
Support/Apoya MoneyChisme
Be a Guest on the Podcast
Disclaimer:
I’m not a financial advisor. The information contained in this video is for entertainment purposes only. Please consult a licensed professional before making any financial decisions. I shall not be held liable for any losses you may incur for information provided in this video. Please be careful! This video is for general information purposes only and is not financial advice.
*Affiliate links: I may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. This helps me provide you with free content, like this podcast! You can read my full disclaimer here: MoneyChisme Affiliate Links and Paid Advertisers Disclosure.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Real estate investing is one of my big passions, but
I always find that in ourcommunity it's kind of
intimidating and we don't seeourselves as real estate
investors.
So today I have with me LindsayBarrientos to share her journey
and hopefully inspire othersand make real estate investing
(00:22):
feel more achievable by seeinghey, we're out here doing it.
So hola, lindsay, thank you somuch for being here today.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hi Violeta, how are you?
Thank you for inviting me onyour podcast.
I'm glad that you have aplatform for me to come on and
share my journey.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Yeah, I'm excited because I think one of the
things that I struggle withtrying to get our community to,
you know, get into real estateinvesting is that if it sounds
hard, it feels like it's notachievable, and that's why I'm
glad that I'm finding morepeople as I go through my own
(00:59):
journey.
I'm finding more of ourcommunity out here.
So I that's my mission is tobring them on here, so to share
their journey and make it seemlike, hey, you know, like we're
out here doing it like regularpeople it's.
You know, you don't have to belike a super millionaire or
whatever to be out here buyingproperties.
So I'm excited to get into yourjourney.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, so I'm actually Peruvian.
I was born and raised in Peru.
I immigrated to the UnitedStates in 2008 with my parents.
It's actually a crazy story.
My dad won the lottery of visas, so he won a green card.
Because we were underage therewas no separation of families,
so by default we also wereawarded a green card.
(01:42):
So I came here at the age of 16with family, didn't know any
English, was thrown into highschool and had to learn it the
hard way and ended up going tocollege.
I became a nurse and Icontinued to support my family
in many ways, because we onlyhave a few years here in this
(02:06):
country and there's a lot ofchallenges that come with that,
like immigration and gettingadjusted to the United States
culture, history and financialthings.
I had to learn about creditscores and all of that, so that
is where I come from.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Yeah, yeah, I can imagine that at 16, like I came
at three, so like I had to likekind of really easy right,
because I was little.
So I can imagine like as ateenager, coming in here and
having to learn a new languageand seeing that like the
differences from here and overthere.
(02:46):
You had to learn everythingabout finances kind of like on a
whim.
So what was your journey like?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
yeah.
So my parents well at least mymother since the beginning.
We grew up very humble, verypoor.
We did.
We were always housed, but myparents weren't unemployed many
times during when me growing up,so money was always like a
topic that was around in thehousehold, right like we knew
(03:15):
exactly what everything costed,since I have a memory of
everything like what milk costed, what x costed, what x costed,
so I definitely knew how tobudget, since I was like very,
very little and when we camehere, uh, the hold, we came here
with like one bag, one rollcarry on 16 pound bag, so we
(03:40):
didn't really have anything andthen if we wanted to buy things
like chairs and beds and things,we had to like work for it.
So since I was very little, Iseen my parents work really hard
to earn money and theirmentality, or like the mentality
that I had, was like you workharder to make more money.
(04:01):
When you work more hours, youstay over the time, you take
another job, basically to justsustain your family, and there
was no education passed of like,oh, this is how you become
financially stable, or it wasjust saving, like saving, saving
, saving.
It wasn't like how do youleverage that, or how do you
(04:22):
become financially independent?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
there was none of that how did you start learning
about, like, uh, managing moneyand you, you knew a little bit,
so that was good, because you atleast knew about budgeting,
because I didn't like reallybudget anything, I just like
paid everything and then it'slike everything else was like,
okay, I'm going to spend it.
When I was younger.
So at least you were ahead ofme, yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
So very young I had to learn that, since I had no
ways to sustain myself throughcollege, I had to work through
college.
So very young, I knew, likewhat earning minimum wage was,
like what earning minimum wagewas.
And so I always had thementality of like, if I'm gonna
(05:09):
have to work this hard, then Imust save for a rainy day,
because my parents were alsoworking minimum wage.
So when I started working, Istarted saving a lot of the
money that I was making.
And then I always have thementality I was like, okay, well
, we're going to go to college,we're going to get a career, and
once we get a career, then I'mnot going to struggle as much.
(05:31):
And it was during one of thejobs that I was having as a
nurse assistant that I learnedthat they were offering a 401k
401k, and so I didn't know whata 401k was and I, by default, my
(05:52):
paycheck was collected like 4%away into my 401k.
By the time I graduated college,at the age of like 22, and I
had my nursing degree, Irealized that I had well, I have
a few thousand dollars in thisaccount that I didn't know.
And so I went to communitycollege because I could not
afford a four-state university.
So I got my rent and then so Irealized oh, how did this money
(06:15):
came out to be?
I did not understand it at thattime and I used the money I
guess that's one of like one ofthe mistakes that I did early on
at age 22, to pay for mybachelor's degree.
Yeah, because I did not want totake loans, because I was under
the mentality that I cannot takeout loans or didn't know much
(06:36):
about that.
So I funded my bachelor's withthat 401k money, took the
penalty, but it didn't reallyhit me that much because I
wasn't really making that muchmoney as a minimum wage person.
So I was just like, okay, well,this money did give me my
(06:56):
bachelor's degree.
And then I was like I can dothat again.
I can build up the money againif I get a job that has another
401k.
So, working as a nurse, I likestarted to see the possibility
of like putting money aside,that it was giving me a tax
break, a tax deduction at theend of the year.
I was like okay well.
(07:17):
I'll just keep doing that.
And then so it was not so muchI have extra income, but I was
already using the 401k as a toolwhich at the time I didn't know
, I didn't know this was likefor retirement you shouldn't be
touching anything like that.
So I did a lot of years likethat.
(07:37):
I did know that from thebeginning I wanted to be a
homeowner, because my parentsstretched homeownership very
hard and on us, and I also grewup quite very independent and
very anti anti man, I guess inwhich, like, I wanted to be the
(07:59):
homeowner, I wanted to be theone that drives my future and
takes all of the financialquestions and decisions.
So I took it upon myself to usethe money again for a 401k that
I have been putting away yearsafter years, because in my mind
(08:20):
I was just like well, you know,the whole goal was to go to
university, get your degree andstart working.
And I was like did that?
So what do I want now?
So that was like the goal formy parents for me, but not like
what do I want?
So I want to be a homeowner.
Okay, I'm gonna use this moneyagain for this 401k that I
didn't know was supposed to befor my retirement to buy a house
(08:41):
.
So I that's what I did, and, uh, that would be one of the
things that I guess the FIREcommunity didn't prepare me,
because at the time I didn'tknow about the FIRE community,
but I used that as a downpayment for my home and I became
a homeowner.
Then I realized I was about toturn 30.
(09:05):
I realized I need to know moreabout financial security.
Like I'm getting older, likewhat do I do when I need to be
retired?
Like is social security goingto be even around?
I didn't know that and I didn'tknow how much money I'm going
to get.
And now I'm a homeowner, so Ihave bigger bills.
So I need to figure it out.
(09:27):
And I was 29.
And then I started reading booksabout financial stability,
about how to learn how toincrease your money, make money
smarter, investing, and Imentioned that earlier.
I started following accounts onInstagram that people that were
(09:50):
trying to do the same, I guess,and that's how I found
WellParaTodos, the Latino peoplethat were trying to figure it
out, because nobody was tellingus oh, put your money in a 401k
or a Roth IRA or save forretirement because you're going
to need it.
Nobody was telling that in myregular environment, day to day.
(10:12):
So I was like, okay, let me goon social media and then find
out who's doing it or who knowsmore answers than I do.
So I found Well, para Todos,and then she was going through
her journey of like from debt toinvesting and I reached out to
her and she sent me a book on aPDF called A Simple Path to
(10:32):
Wealth.
And I read the book in like twodays and I was like, oh my God,
I have to invest.
I just emptied my 401k twiceLike.
You're not supposed to do that.
You're supposed to save for thefuture twice like, but you're
not supposed to do that.
You're supposed to save for thefuture.
So I went into the deep, darkhole of the internet and I just
like looked up every singlething that I could do in order
(10:54):
for me to retire with some, somecash coming in, like some
passive income coming in.
So I started just followingmore accounts.
I.
I read way more books.
I will teach you how to be rich.
Poor dad, rich dad.
All of these books andmeanwhile the money that I kept
making I was putting aside andretirement accounts I got a Roth
(11:17):
.
IRA, a 401k.
I learned those little steps.
I was like okay, I'm good, andthen a pandemic hit those little
steps.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I was like, okay, I'm good, and then a pandemic hit.
Yeah, I feel like we can'tcatch a break, like like we do
things and then somethinghappens.
Like we go and get like the thejob, or we get our school,
school or education, and it'slike something always happens.
And you're like, for example,like our generation, like they
got stuck with like studentloans and so that set them
(11:49):
behind, and then, like you justsaid, like now the pandemic.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yeah, the pandemic hit and I did not mention.
Maybe I didn't mention, but I'ma nurse, so I was hit very hard
with the pandemic.
I became very depressed becauseI saw a lot of people die day
after day and I from I becamefrom loving nursing to hating
nursing, because it was justmaking my life.
(12:14):
I would just, I could not bearit right Seeing that many people
die, people like look like us,like my parents, brothers and
sisters.
So I said to myself what do Ido?
I don't know anything else, Ionly know nursing.
I don't know how to make moneyotherwise.
(12:36):
So I was just like I need tofind another plan.
Retirement is so far out.
Yes, I will continue to investin my 401k, my Roth IRA and my
brokerage account, but it wouldtake like 20 years for me or 30
years for me to get to thatpoint, and then meanwhile my
(12:56):
mental health is deteriorating.
So I decided we have plan A andplan B, which is plan A is go
back to school, major insomething else and start your
career again, because that's allI knew, like I was a good
student, so I knew how to study,so that was planning.
Plan B was like I'm going tofind something else that I can
(13:19):
invest that can bring me morecashflow.
So maybe I don't need to workas much.
I don't need to work full-hourshifts five days a week.
Maybe I need to work three ortwo or one.
So, I started looking up morebooks and I found real estate
investing and I realized that mepurchasing my home during the
(13:43):
pandemic.
The interest rates went down,house appreciated so much and I
was like there's money here,there's something that I haven't
tapped into it.
So I started looking for peopleagain on social media that were
investing and I didn't find,honestly, anybody that looked
like us like in 2020, 2021.
(14:04):
And so I just started talkingto people on YouTube or
Instagram and I found a coupleof investors.
They're investing out of state.
I live in Los Angeles,california, and the home prices
here are astronomical.
There's no way I can save a 20%down payment 20 to 25% down
(14:27):
payment for a rental here.
So I needed to do somethingelse and that's how I ended up
looking for out-of-state markets.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Yeah, that's what kind of stops a lot of people
Cause right now I'm in San Diego, um, so California as well, and
it's so expensive, so, andthere's other markets where, um,
the the house values are sohigh that it's like there's no
way I could get 20, 25%,whatever it is that I need for
an investment property, andpeople don't think to go out of
(15:03):
state, and also, if they do,it's scary.
So, like, how did like when youheard, like, OK, my only way to
buy a property is to find oneout of state?
Like, what was your, yourthoughts?
Like, because I know I wasscared at first.
I was like it sounds very scary.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Yeah, initially I was very, very scared and I took a
comparison to like what themarket does.
Right, when you invest in themarket your day to day, or like
even your year to year, you maybe up 20% one day and then minus
20% the other day.
You don't know, and that'sscary, right.
(15:49):
That's something that when youbuy a stock, it's not something
like you can touch and feel,it's something that you just
bought.
And then somebody told you likeyeah, you own the share.
And I equated to like buyingreal estate.
At least I'm buying somethingthat I can touch and feel.
That's something that's there,that's been there for years and
(16:09):
because I don't think I canafford new construction, but
that's been there for years andif everything fails, I can
always sell.
So but there there were.
There was a huge curve ofeducation for me, since I only
knew how to invest into the S&P500, vtc, vtsax, like I only
(16:33):
knew what stock investing was.
So I just poured myself morebooks and I started reading more
about out-of-state investing.
I I like looked up podcastslike the real estate rookie,
bigger pockets, other thingslike that.
So I learned what I needed tobe focusing on, like what
(16:54):
strategy I needed to be focusingon According to my risk
tolerance.
I found out how much cash andcash return I should be focusing
on too, because if I'minvesting in the stock market
and I'm looking for at least a7% return that's what I'm
(17:15):
getting from the last 100 years,so we know that it will average
too Then I need to make morethan that 7%, because now that
investing strategy was totallypassive, like you said, I didn't
forget it right.
But with real estate now you'regoing to have to do work.
You're going to have to learnhow to analyze a deal, learn
(17:36):
what your market average isbringing up and then learn what
a good cash on cash return is,and then so you had all these
factors.
so education is key.
But there's also somethingcalled as analysis paralysis, in
which you get so focused onwhat the numbers are going to be
(17:57):
, or like the spreadsheets, orall the properties you analyze,
and then you get like all thewhat ifs what if the roof casing
?
Speaker 1 (18:05):
What if?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
the switch clogs up.
What if all the bathrooms breakdown?
Speaker 1 (18:13):
I think the main one is always like they're always
scared that the tenant's notgonna pay us, like that's like
the, the lesser one, becauseyou're more than likely they're
gonna have to repair somethinglike the hvac it's always
plumbing for me and I know itstops a lot of people because
they're looking for the perfect.
I think that's the othermentality too is that we want
(18:34):
the perfect thing to invest ourmoney, and with real estate,
investing is not going to beperfect.
The main thing is that you'redoing like how you said, that
you're beating the stock market.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yeah, many books say many different things, but I do
want to point out that you needto find out what you're
comfortable with, becausethere's so many strategies with
real estate.
You can do short-term rentals,you can do mid-term rentals, you
can buy a whole, you can flip,you can burn, you can so many
(19:10):
things right.
There's rent by the room nowco-living, and all those things.
For me, because it's veryindividualized for me, it's like
I needed to invest in somethingthat was more passive and that
was going to be kind of off myhands.
So I knew from the beginningthat managing the rental was not
(19:31):
something that I could do in myregular life and then also do
my W-2.
So from the get-go I was like Ineed a property manager, I need
somebody to place the tenants,I need somebody to manage the
tenants, I need somebody torenew the leases, collect the
rent and everything.
So I already narrowed down whatI could do, because if you're
(19:53):
paying a property manager, thenyou need to include that in your
numbers.
So the next step would be topick a market.
So for me I knew out of stateright, because I could not
afford here and then.
(20:18):
So I wanted to be close to theout-of-state market in case that
if I needed to let's say, worstcase scenario fly in and fly
out, then I could.
At that time, when I startedlooking at markets, I was
looking at Florida.
You know Ohio Everybody kepttalking about Columbus, ohio or
Cleveland Ohio, your pocket,yeah Ohio.
Or Cleveland Ohio, your pocketship, yeah.
So but I was just like, okay,let me find out something that I
(20:38):
can go and fly too quickly.
At the time I was about to takea contract as a nursing
contract in Chicago, illinois,and I said, okay, let me.
It's 2022 at this time, like,let me go and house hack a house
in Chicago, since I'm going tobe a nurse there, I'm going to
stay for a few months.
(20:59):
I'm sure I can find anothertraveler nurse there and rent
the other room too, but 2022,nobody was paying rent in
Chicago because of the pandemic.
So I realized that anotherthing about my restaurant is I
need to be on a state that'sgoing to be more
landlord-friendly than.
Illinois, but something that wasclose to Illinois was Indiana
(21:24):
and that's the market thateventually ended up in.
I again went to social media,found creators YouTube
especially that were investingalready in the market that I was
looking at in Indiana, and Ireached out to them.
I don't really have much shameabout sending a message on
(21:45):
YouTube and be like hi, my nameis XoXo, this is my email, let
me know if you can connect, oranything.
And then, luckily to me, Ifound creators that were not as
big, that had the time to likereply and talk to me.
So I found at least two otherpeople that were investing in
the same area that I was lookingat and at the time I was Heming
(22:06):
Indiana and Gary Indiana.
That is like 30 to 40 minutesaway from downtown Chicago, so I
was going to be there.
I could drive back and forth tosee the area, to like analyze
the area, and so I found two men.
Both of them were cops.
One of them was in Florida, theother one was in Washington.
(22:28):
They had a YouTube channelMillennial Mike and Muskie
Finance.
So, like again, I like reachout to them, out to them, ask
them.
Hey, I see your numbers, I seethe content you're putting out
there.
I really like that you're beinghonest about your success and
your failures.
Um, how do you see this marketbecoming like, where?
Like, would you mind talking tome via other email or phone or
(22:53):
anything like that?
And then they were very, verynice, very helpful.
They were just like, yeah, thisis what I'm doing, this is what
the all I am on.
This is my realtor, this is myproperty manager.
So from the beginning I justfelt like, oh, wow, I just sent
a message to these people.
The beginning I just felt like,oh, wow, these, I just sent a
(23:15):
message to these people.
And then they're giving me allof this data and all of these
referrals that have beenseverely already used in the
past.
And I'm like, okay, I have likea shoe in in this market.
Then now, so that a little bitease my I guess my doubts of
going out of state.
And then the purchase price wasmy made it more cemented, I
(23:40):
guess the idea of, like thefirst house I invested on was
135k in Hammond, indiana, whichhad 20% down would be something
along the lines from 20 to$25,000.
So in my mind I'm like, okay, Iwas scared, yes, but if
(24:01):
anything goes badly, I canalways sell the property Right.
At the time it was 2022,interest rates were going up.
People were afraid of likebuying, like I remember this
thing when everybody else getsscared, you get greedy.
When everybody else is greedy,you get scared.
So I'm like, okay, everybody'sgetting scared.
(24:23):
We don't know what the marketis going for real estate.
Let me test my toes with thisand if it fails, I sell.
If it doesn't pan out, then Iknow this is not the investment
strategy for me and then I'll goback to the s&p 500, I'll go
back to 401k investing, I willgo, I'll go back to my passive,
(24:45):
my passive life.
So I did.
I jumped in in in 2022.
I found my lender.
I already had referrals forrealtors and property managers,
so I just interviewed them and Ifound who I ended up with and
that was my first deal.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
I'm glad that you brought up, because a lot of
people don't know where to start.
But you found people on YouTubeand that's another great
resource that you can reallyjust go on there and type the
market that you might beinterested in.
There's people that are makingYouTube videos.
There's also, like most of thetime, there's even like Facebook
(25:29):
, groups of investors that arein that area as well that you
could join, and a lot of times,most of them are going to be
willing to help.
Like you'll get like one or twosnooty people that are, like
you know, too booked or whatever, but most of the like the small
, you know, the regular ones aremore helpful and willing to
(25:52):
help and share their resources.
And that's one key thing is tonetwork and get out there and
just send out a message, justask, because you never know who
might say yes and then look atyou Now you had bought your
first property at that time.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Yeah, and I think it's very important to point out
what you said network, andthat's something that I've been
learning in the last two yearsthat it's so rewarding to
network Like the people that youconnect with that are doing
basically the same thing thatyou're doing investing in real
(26:31):
estate or investing in this,however you're investing.
Yeah, investing in real estateor investing in this a few
hundred, however you'reinvesting.
Yeah, the people, the communitythat you get by talking to
everybody that's doing the samething.
It's just like what's gonnapropel you into your journey for
sure so that was your first one.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
What happened after that, or what's next for you?
Speaker 2 (26:52):
yeah, so that was that was in 2022.
In 2023, I wanted to have proofof concept, so I left that
property.
I bought it, I got a propertymanager, I had it rented out For
one year.
I did not look at any otherreal estate.
I also was in graduate schoolso I was quite busy, but I had a
(27:14):
rental income coming everymonth for one year.
I it was just smooth.
So I was like I can do thisagain, I can buy another one.
So the next one, it was, uh, inthe same same state, just a
little bit further, in a city inwhich the purchase price was
(27:37):
even lower.
So I bought my second property.
It was a two bedroom, one bath.
It was listed for $65,000 and Igot it for $55,000.
And this is because theinterest rates were so high at
that point.
Nobody was buying in 2023.
I think my interest rate islike 7.5 on the house when I
bought it.
But that $55,000 house I couldrent it out for $1,100.
(28:04):
So that was where, like, I feltvery confident in going into
this, into this market.
So, yeah, from the get I wasjust like, oh, wow, this is just
moving a little bit off.
The city that I was investinginitially brought me great
return.
So I ended up renting out thehouse.
(28:28):
And after two houses I was justlike I'm out of cash, I don't
know what else to do.
And then so I'm like, okay,let's go to Beaver Cuckold, let
me see what else I can dowithout cash.
So I learned the concept ofleveraging debt.
So in my primary in Los Angeles, my house had appreciated
(28:50):
because I bought in 2019.
And I realized that there was alot of equity in my house that
I could tap into.
And so I opened up a HELOC lastyear and I learned what I could
do with the HELOC, which isBRRRR, by Rehab, rent, refinance
(29:11):
, repeat and by opening this newconcept.
I'm like like I don't know if Ican do that because I don't
know if I.
Now it's different.
Right like now rehabbing aproperty.
Now you have to talk tocontractors.
Now you have to invest in myestimate budget.
Now you have to do all of thesethings.
And again we're like, okay,well, if it fails, you can
(29:35):
always sell the house.
So I already had two housesincome producing, and now I'm
going into a different strategy.
It's still real estate, but adifferent strategy.
But in my mind I was just like,well, do it scare, let's see if
it works out.
Right now you have those incomeproducing properties, so at the
(29:58):
time you're not usingtechnically your own money
because I was using the HELOCmoney to do the property to
rehab it.
So it was way different thanthe first two, but it's hard and
it takes a long time.
It takes a long time because Ihaven't been lucky enough to
find a bank that would cash outrefinance sooner than six months
(30:23):
.
Yeah, so you have the.
When you buy something cash,which is I did, from a HELOC, I
bought something cash because Ineeded repairs.
They're not.
That house, particularly, wasnot going to be approved for
conventional financial or FHA,because they have their
standards the house has to belivable.
So I did not buy a livablehouse.
I bought a rehab that was moreextensive than that, and so I
(30:49):
had to buy a cash.
I bought a cash.
This is a crazy story.
I bought a cash, 35k cash.
I bought it cash.
This is a crazy story.
I bought it cash $35,000.
And I knew I was going to putat least $33,000 into the rehab
because at the time I had ahouse walked by contractors, I
had budget for the rehab but Iknew after all repairs were done
(31:11):
then the house was going toappreciate for at least $85,000.
It's like a brick house two,and want to buy it again, a
small house.
So I I was like, okay, I haveenough to to pay myself back, to
pay back my HELOC.
And I I was just like, okay,let's go in, let's, let's figure
(31:31):
it out, let's do it.
So bought it, repair it, almost, uh, ready for rental.
Something happens there's a firein the house.
My first bird, yes, yes.
So turns out it was anelectrical fire, the light on
(31:56):
top of the kitchen.
It wasn't really big, but thefire department did come on.
It was in the kitchen, thelight over the kitchen.
I guess the wiring was faultyover the light so that set up on
fire which burned a little bitof the ceiling.
It wasn't really bad, but thefire department did come because
of the alarm.
(32:16):
And then they came with the big, you know water hoses and
everything, and it was the waterdamage that did like did a
number on the house newly rehabhouse right, so like 35 am 33
rehab, so all together I was 68in trying to cash out rehab.
(32:36):
But the fire happened.
So I was just like let me notworry about the electrical.
Nobody was in the house.
Thankfully this was not rentedyet.
So that was that was.
That was the.
I guess the only good thingthat it was empty the house was.
The fire was not significant.
The water damage, on the otherhand, that was significant.
(32:59):
But okay, the house is notlonger on fire.
So I was like, what is it goingto cost me to rehab it again?
So I didn't want to take anychances with the electrical, so
I just rewired the whole houseelectrical.
So I just rewire the wholehouse and I spent about 11,000
(33:20):
on top of my first rehab to getit um again.
Rental ready, so at this pointI'm like, okay, well, I'm not
gonna get all my money back, butlet's say I leave 11,000 in the
house, it's still.
It's still okay for me becauseit's like I got a whole house
for $11,000.
Not even a car, it's $11,000.
So I was like, okay, I justprepared myself mentally the
(33:43):
mindset of like, okay, you'rejust going to have to leave
money on the deal, that's fine,you're going to have to do that
and move on.
Anyways, the house got rehabbedfor a second time and, um, I
went to the bank.
I was like, give me a mortgagein this house.
And the house actuallyappreciated for 150k.
(34:05):
My estimation was 85 000, so itappreciated significantly more
for what I thought.
So immediately I'm like, okay,you need to work on your skills
to estimate how much this isgoing to be.
But anyways, it's a goodturnaround that, even though I
(34:29):
thought I went with the mindsetof like I'm going to left money
in this deal, I did not end upleaving money in the deal.
I took off all of the moneythat I put into the house.
But I just it was so hardhaving the house for six months,
having to rehab it, waiting for, you know, a mortgage company
(34:53):
to lend me in a cash out refi,having a high interest rate,
because it's 2024, still highinterest rates, and just all of
that mindset.
It was hard.
I would say that birds are hard, they're not easy, but I was
pleasantly surprised.
I was pleasantly surprisedafter Prezo came in.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
I was pleasantly surprised after Priso came in.
That's one of my goals is to doa burp, but I don't have the
time right now.
So I think maybe in anotheryear or so I'll be ready for it
once I get a little bitestablished, because I'm moving
and all that stuff.
So I'll probably try to see,try to do one then I have more
time, because right now I can'teven imagine having to like move
(35:38):
and do all this stuff and tryto do a BRRRR.
And, like you said, it takes alot and learning the
calculations and stuff, becauseI do the calculations for
regular long term rentals butthen to have an estimate, like
you know how much is the drywallgoing to cost, how much is you
know to do electrical, to renewthe plumbing and all that stuff,
(36:01):
that's all like extracalculations and work because
you got to talk to contractorsand stuff like that.
It's like I need a little bitmore time to be able to do that.
Things are going to happen but,like you said, the risk is
pretty low for you because youalready had like two other
properties that were like youknow that's the way I see it
(36:24):
Like okay, I already have thesetwo other properties that can
make up for this property.
If I take a little bit risk andthat's the important thing is to
know your risk tolerance.
That's the important thing isto know your risk tolerance.
And you know you were able togo do this bird and luckily it
worked out at the end.
But if it had failed, I mean,you could have just sold it and
(36:44):
then, you know, learned a fewlessons and probably maybe lost
a few bucks.
But like you know, you learn,you gain experience and that
knowledge for the next time.
Uh.
So I think, uh, one of thethings is to not really you know
see them as failures is likelearning experiences, cause now
you know more for the next one,if you do decide that.
(37:07):
So is that something you'regoing to do now again, or are
you just going to go back to umregular long-term?
Speaker 2 (37:14):
I'm going to do it again because I'm a sadistic
person.
I learned a lot during thosesix months that I had the birth
and I also learned that I need Icould do the same over and over
again with the same money thatI use for that particular
(37:36):
property.
So that is the beauty of likeleveraging debt.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
And.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
I no longer have to budget, like from house number
one and house number two.
I had to like save actively allthe time.
Right, you know, those $20,000,even though it's a very low
cost of entry, it's still twentythousand dollars.
Like you're still having havingto save it every time that
you're getting your paychecklike, okay, this is gonna go to
(38:03):
real estate, this is gonna go toreal estate.
Are you gonna get your nailsdone or are you gonna put it
down to real estate?
But are you gonna get thathaircut, or you're okay.
So there's always like thatdance so now, because I I'm
learning how to leverage debt,then there is the possibility of
growing and scaling so muchfaster and then, with the bank's
(38:25):
money, I'm glad you you broughtthat up, because it's true, I
think, um, it's hard to overcomethat.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
Initials like oh, I got to save up for this, the
20,000 or whatever.
But once you get the first two,like it starts like snowballing
.
Like you said, now I had tosave up with my own money, but
now I don't have to save up myown money, it's just, I'm just
reinvesting the cash flow frommy houses and it's like it gets
(38:59):
easier and faster to save upfrom the cash flow you know, to
save up for another down paymentand on top of that you know,
like you said, leveraging debt.
So then you start growing.
Because now the first rentalproperty it's ready to I think
I'm still going to wait anotheryear, but I think it's ready
already to do a cash out,refinance on it or maybe figure
(39:26):
out how to do something withthat, and then, probably the
year after that, probably thesecond.
But in the meantime I'm stillbuying another property because
of the cashflow.
Let's say, this year, right, andI just bought in December.
Now I have enough cash flow tosave up for another one this
year and then next year I couldprobably buy two, because I
(39:47):
would have saved up from thefour now and then be able to
leverage some debt from thefirst two properties.
So then it starts, you know,snowballing and it starts, like
you know, really compounding andgrowing.
So I'm glad you mentioned that.
And I think the last question Iwant to kind of like ask, or
(40:09):
you know, for your thoughts,because a lot of people in our
community we grow up avoidingdebt and all that.
So what are your words ofadvice or tips to help them
overcome this idea of like, ohman, I don't want to take debt
on my house or anything likethat?
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Yeah, there is a very complicated relationship with
debt in our mind and I reallyhad to overcome that too.
Like I don't like having a homeloan, having two mortgages,
having three mortgages, having ahome equity line of credit on
your primary, it's, it's.
It feels overwhelming.
And if you're the kind ofperson that's like, well, if
(40:50):
it's not, it's not mine, then Idon't own it, like the banks own
it.
But at the same time, this isnot something that's going to be
depreciating over time.
I mean, yes, we write off thepaper loss.
But if I look at it like let mebuy another car, and then let's
(41:18):
say you buy a $50,000 car,$30,000 car, whatever you drive
it off the lot, then it's worthwhat?
$20,000 less?
That's an, that's a liability.
I see that as a liability.
And then what you're investingon is an asset.
So when you invest on an assetthat is going to be appreciated
over time because housesappreciate like the general idea
(41:38):
of the whole market is that inthe United States, houses
appreciate 4% to 5% every year,regardless of you doing anything
, upgrading or anything likethat you have that.
And then you have a tenantthat's paying down your debt.
Like you're not paying it down,right A tenant that's paying
down your debt, like you're notpaying it down.
Right, a tenant that's payingdown your debt.
(42:00):
Then you have debt paid down.
Then you have appreciationnormal appreciation, then debt
paid down.
And then then if you, let's say, do some cosmetic work to the
house or some some kind ofupgrade to the house, then you
have appreciation.
So you're winning like threeways in that particular asset.
So just identify what are youinvesting on?
(42:21):
Are you investing on aliability?
Are you investing on an asset?
Is what you're putting moneyaway or saving money away is
going to bring you income?
Then you need to understandthat that's good debt, that's
not bad debt.
So leveraging and learning allof this it takes time.
(42:42):
And then I'm glad that you putthis platform for people like us
that don't have the education,don't have the people to ask
them around.
And if you know, I'm sure ifthey ask you a question, you'll
be like here you go.
And if you know, I'm sure ifthey ask you a question, you'll
be like here you go, like readthis book or listen to this
person, or look at this video orwhatever.
So that's how they educatethemselves.
(43:04):
And the education.
Then there is action.
The action is going to comefrom that mindset shift.
Mindset shift that's going tocome from, like, investing in
liabilities or investing inassets, and I want to also let
everybody know, like, if you dowant to contact me or ask me any
questions, I also have Istarted a YouTube channel and
(43:26):
I'm trying to get other peopleinvolved in real estate,
primarily women, primarilyLatino women, because it is time
to take ownership of ourfinances and our life, and with
this administration, everythingis just really up to you.
So take ownership of your life,and one way you can do that is
take ownership of your finances.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
Yeah, and what is your YouTube?
Speaker 2 (43:51):
Yeah, it's Lynn does investing.
It's L I N does investing onInstagram.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
I'll make sure to post that on there.
Make sure you know, go outthere and support her.
But yeah, other than that,again, thank you so much for
coming on here and sharing yourstory.
Like it was pretty interesting,especially, I mean, you know,
like it sucked at the time, I'msure, with the burr, but you
know.
So it's a good story and youlearned a lot from it.
(44:20):
I learned from it, you know,cause I never thought like, oh,
you know what you probablyshould check the electrical
wiring for all of it, you knowso cause it would have thought
from light bulb, but yeah.
Yeah, cause usually I, you, youthink about, about like outlets,
but not from the light fixtures.
So, um, you know, alwayslearning um, but again, you know
(44:43):
, make sure you, uh, you followher.
Her information will be downbelow and I will see everyone in
the next episode.
Bye, bye, everybody.
Real estate investing is one of my big passions, but
I always find that in ourcommunity it's kind of
intimidating and we don't seeourselves as real estate
investors.
So today I have with me LindsayBarrientos to share her journey
and hopefully inspire othersand make real estate investing
(00:22):
feel more achievable by seeinghey, we're out here doing it.
So hola, lindsay, thank you somuch for being here today.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hi Violeta, how are you?
Thank you for inviting me onyour podcast.
I'm glad that you have aplatform for me to come on and
share my journey.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Yeah, I'm excited because I think one of the
things that I struggle withtrying to get our community to,
you know, get into real estateinvesting is that if it sounds
hard, it feels like it's notachievable, and that's why I'm
glad that I'm finding morepeople as I go through my own
(00:59):
journey.
I'm finding more of ourcommunity out here.
So I that's my mission is tobring them on here, so to share
their journey and make it seemlike, hey, you know, like we're
out here doing it like regularpeople it's.
You know, you don't have to belike a super millionaire or
whatever to be out here buyingproperties.
So I'm excited to get into yourjourney.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, so I'm actually Peruvian.
I was born and raised in Peru.
I immigrated to the UnitedStates in 2008 with my parents.
It's actually a crazy story.
My dad won the lottery of visas, so he won a green card.
Because we were underage therewas no separation of families,
so by default we also wereawarded a green card.
(01:42):
So I came here at the age of 16with family, didn't know any
English, was thrown into highschool and had to learn it the
hard way and ended up going tocollege.
I became a nurse and Icontinued to support my family
in many ways, because we onlyhave a few years here in this
(02:06):
country and there's a lot ofchallenges that come with that,
like immigration and gettingadjusted to the United States
culture, history and financialthings.
I had to learn about creditscores and all of that, so that
is where I come from.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Yeah, yeah, I can imagine that at 16, like I came
at three, so like I had to likekind of really easy right,
because I was little.
So I can imagine like as ateenager, coming in here and
having to learn a new languageand seeing that like the
differences from here and overthere.
(02:46):
You had to learn everythingabout finances kind of like on a
whim.
So what was your journey like?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
yeah.
So my parents well at least mymother since the beginning.
We grew up very humble, verypoor.
We did.
We were always housed, but myparents weren't unemployed many
times during when me growing up,so money was always like a
topic that was around in thehousehold, right like we knew
(03:15):
exactly what everything costed,since I have a memory of
everything like what milk costed, what x costed, what x costed,
so I definitely knew how tobudget, since I was like very,
very little and when we camehere, uh, the hold, we came here
with like one bag, one rollcarry on 16 pound bag, so we
(03:40):
didn't really have anything andthen if we wanted to buy things
like chairs and beds and things,we had to like work for it.
So since I was very little, Iseen my parents work really hard
to earn money and theirmentality, or like the mentality
that I had, was like you workharder to make more money.
(04:01):
When you work more hours, youstay over the time, you take
another job, basically to justsustain your family, and there
was no education passed of like,oh, this is how you become
financially stable, or it wasjust saving, like saving, saving
, saving.
It wasn't like how do youleverage that, or how do you
(04:22):
become financially independent?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
there was none of that how did you start learning
about, like, uh, managing moneyand you, you knew a little bit,
so that was good, because you atleast knew about budgeting,
because I didn't like reallybudget anything, I just like
paid everything and then it'slike everything else was like,
okay, I'm going to spend it.
When I was younger.
So at least you were ahead ofme, yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
So very young I had to learn that, since I had no
ways to sustain myself throughcollege, I had to work through
college.
So very young, I knew, likewhat earning minimum wage was,
like what earning minimum wagewas.
And so I always had thementality of like, if I'm gonna
(05:09):
have to work this hard, then Imust save for a rainy day,
because my parents were alsoworking minimum wage.
So when I started working, Istarted saving a lot of the
money that I was making.
And then I always have thementality I was like, okay, well
, we're going to go to college,we're going to get a career, and
once we get a career, then I'mnot going to struggle as much.
(05:31):
And it was during one of thejobs that I was having as a
nurse assistant that I learnedthat they were offering a 401k
401k, and so I didn't know whata 401k was and I, by default, my
(05:52):
paycheck was collected like 4%away into my 401k.
By the time I graduated college,at the age of like 22, and I
had my nursing degree, Irealized that I had well, I have
a few thousand dollars in thisaccount that I didn't know.
And so I went to communitycollege because I could not
afford a four-state university.
So I got my rent and then so Irealized oh, how did this money
(06:15):
came out to be?
I did not understand it at thattime and I used the money I
guess that's one of like one ofthe mistakes that I did early on
at age 22, to pay for mybachelor's degree.
Yeah, because I did not want totake loans, because I was under
the mentality that I cannot takeout loans or didn't know much
(06:36):
about that.
So I funded my bachelor's withthat 401k money, took the
penalty, but it didn't reallyhit me that much because I
wasn't really making that muchmoney as a minimum wage person.
So I was just like, okay, well,this money did give me my
(06:56):
bachelor's degree.
And then I was like I can dothat again.
I can build up the money againif I get a job that has another
401k.
So, working as a nurse, I likestarted to see the possibility
of like putting money aside,that it was giving me a tax
break, a tax deduction at theend of the year.
I was like okay well.
(07:17):
I'll just keep doing that.
And then so it was not so muchI have extra income, but I was
already using the 401k as a toolwhich at the time I didn't know
, I didn't know this was likefor retirement you shouldn't be
touching anything like that.
So I did a lot of years likethat.
(07:37):
I did know that from thebeginning I wanted to be a
homeowner, because my parentsstretched homeownership very
hard and on us, and I also grewup quite very independent and
very anti anti man, I guess inwhich, like, I wanted to be the
(07:59):
homeowner, I wanted to be theone that drives my future and
takes all of the financialquestions and decisions.
So I took it upon myself to usethe money again for a 401k that
I have been putting away yearsafter years, because in my mind
(08:20):
I was just like well, you know,the whole goal was to go to
university, get your degree andstart working.
And I was like did that?
So what do I want now?
So that was like the goal formy parents for me, but not like
what do I want?
So I want to be a homeowner.
Okay, I'm gonna use this moneyagain for this 401k that I
didn't know was supposed to befor my retirement to buy a house
(08:41):
.
So I that's what I did, and, uh, that would be one of the
things that I guess the FIREcommunity didn't prepare me,
because at the time I didn'tknow about the FIRE community,
but I used that as a downpayment for my home and I became
a homeowner.
Then I realized I was about toturn 30.
(09:05):
I realized I need to know moreabout financial security.
Like I'm getting older, likewhat do I do when I need to be
retired?
Like is social security goingto be even around?
I didn't know that and I didn'tknow how much money I'm going
to get.
And now I'm a homeowner, so Ihave bigger bills.
So I need to figure it out.
(09:27):
And I was 29.
And then I started reading booksabout financial stability,
about how to learn how toincrease your money, make money
smarter, investing, and Imentioned that earlier.
I started following accounts onInstagram that people that were
(09:50):
trying to do the same, I guess,and that's how I found
WellParaTodos, the Latino peoplethat were trying to figure it
out, because nobody was tellingus oh, put your money in a 401k
or a Roth IRA or save forretirement because you're going
to need it.
Nobody was telling that in myregular environment, day to day.
(10:12):
So I was like, okay, let me goon social media and then find
out who's doing it or who knowsmore answers than I do.
So I found Well, para Todos,and then she was going through
her journey of like from debt toinvesting and I reached out to
her and she sent me a book on aPDF called A Simple Path to
(10:32):
Wealth.
And I read the book in like twodays and I was like, oh my God,
I have to invest.
I just emptied my 401k twiceLike.
You're not supposed to do that.
You're supposed to save for thefuture twice like, but you're
not supposed to do that.
You're supposed to save for thefuture.
So I went into the deep, darkhole of the internet and I just
like looked up every singlething that I could do in order
(10:54):
for me to retire with some, somecash coming in, like some
passive income coming in.
So I started just followingmore accounts.
I.
I read way more books.
I will teach you how to be rich.
Poor dad, rich dad.
All of these books andmeanwhile the money that I kept
making I was putting aside andretirement accounts I got a Roth
(11:17):
.
IRA, a 401k.
I learned those little steps.
I was like okay, I'm good, andthen a pandemic hit those little
steps.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I was like, okay, I'm good, and then a pandemic hit.
Yeah, I feel like we can'tcatch a break, like like we do
things and then somethinghappens.
Like we go and get like the thejob, or we get our school,
school or education, and it'slike something always happens.
And you're like, for example,like our generation, like they
got stuck with like studentloans and so that set them
(11:49):
behind, and then, like you justsaid, like now the pandemic.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yeah, the pandemic hit and I did not mention.
Maybe I didn't mention, but I'ma nurse, so I was hit very hard
with the pandemic.
I became very depressed becauseI saw a lot of people die day
after day and I from I becamefrom loving nursing to hating
nursing, because it was justmaking my life.
(12:14):
I would just, I could not bearit right Seeing that many people
die, people like look like us,like my parents, brothers and
sisters.
So I said to myself what do Ido?
I don't know anything else, Ionly know nursing.
I don't know how to make moneyotherwise.
(12:36):
So I was just like I need tofind another plan.
Retirement is so far out.
Yes, I will continue to investin my 401k, my Roth IRA and my
brokerage account, but it wouldtake like 20 years for me or 30
years for me to get to thatpoint, and then meanwhile my
(12:56):
mental health is deteriorating.
So I decided we have plan A andplan B, which is plan A is go
back to school, major insomething else and start your
career again, because that's allI knew, like I was a good
student, so I knew how to study,so that was planning.
Plan B was like I'm going tofind something else that I can
(13:19):
invest that can bring me morecashflow.
So maybe I don't need to workas much.
I don't need to work full-hourshifts five days a week.
Maybe I need to work three ortwo or one.
So, I started looking up morebooks and I found real estate
investing and I realized that mepurchasing my home during the
(13:43):
pandemic.
The interest rates went down,house appreciated so much and I
was like there's money here,there's something that I haven't
tapped into it.
So I started looking for peopleagain on social media that were
investing and I didn't find,honestly, anybody that looked
like us like in 2020, 2021.
(14:04):
And so I just started talkingto people on YouTube or
Instagram and I found a coupleof investors.
They're investing out of state.
I live in Los Angeles,california, and the home prices
here are astronomical.
There's no way I can save a 20%down payment 20 to 25% down
(14:27):
payment for a rental here.
So I needed to do somethingelse and that's how I ended up
looking for out-of-state markets.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Yeah, that's what kind of stops a lot of people
Cause right now I'm in San Diego, um, so California as well, and
it's so expensive, so, andthere's other markets where, um,
the the house values are sohigh that it's like there's no
way I could get 20, 25%,whatever it is that I need for
an investment property, andpeople don't think to go out of
(15:03):
state, and also, if they do,it's scary.
So, like, how did like when youheard, like, OK, my only way to
buy a property is to find oneout of state?
Like, what was your, yourthoughts?
Like, because I know I wasscared at first.
I was like it sounds very scary.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Yeah, initially I was very, very scared and I took a
comparison to like what themarket does.
Right, when you invest in themarket your day to day, or like
even your year to year, you maybe up 20% one day and then minus
20% the other day.
You don't know, and that'sscary, right.
(15:49):
That's something that when youbuy a stock, it's not something
like you can touch and feel,it's something that you just
bought.
And then somebody told you likeyeah, you own the share.
And I equated to like buyingreal estate.
At least I'm buying somethingthat I can touch and feel.
That's something that's there,that's been there for years and
(16:09):
because I don't think I canafford new construction, but
that's been there for years andif everything fails, I can
always sell.
So but there there were.
There was a huge curve ofeducation for me, since I only
knew how to invest into the S&P500, vtc, vtsax, like I only
(16:33):
knew what stock investing was.
So I just poured myself morebooks and I started reading more
about out-of-state investing.
I I like looked up podcastslike the real estate rookie,
bigger pockets, other thingslike that.
So I learned what I needed tobe focusing on, like what
(16:54):
strategy I needed to be focusingon According to my risk
tolerance.
I found out how much cash andcash return I should be focusing
on too, because if I'minvesting in the stock market
and I'm looking for at least a7% return that's what I'm
(17:15):
getting from the last 100 years,so we know that it will average
too Then I need to make morethan that 7%, because now that
investing strategy was totallypassive, like you said, I didn't
forget it right.
But with real estate now you'regoing to have to do work.
You're going to have to learnhow to analyze a deal, learn
(17:36):
what your market average isbringing up and then learn what
a good cash on cash return is,and then so you had all these
factors.
so education is key.
But there's also somethingcalled as analysis paralysis, in
which you get so focused onwhat the numbers are going to be
(17:57):
, or like the spreadsheets, orall the properties you analyze,
and then you get like all thewhat ifs what if the roof casing
?
Speaker 1 (18:05):
What if?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
the switch clogs up.
What if all the bathrooms breakdown?
Speaker 1 (18:13):
I think the main one is always like they're always
scared that the tenant's notgonna pay us, like that's like
the, the lesser one, becauseyou're more than likely they're
gonna have to repair somethinglike the hvac it's always
plumbing for me and I know itstops a lot of people because
they're looking for the perfect.
I think that's the othermentality too is that we want
(18:34):
the perfect thing to invest ourmoney, and with real estate,
investing is not going to beperfect.
The main thing is that you'redoing like how you said, that
you're beating the stock market.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yeah, many books say many different things, but I do
want to point out that you needto find out what you're
comfortable with, becausethere's so many strategies with
real estate.
You can do short-term rentals,you can do mid-term rentals, you
can buy a whole, you can flip,you can burn, you can so many
(19:10):
things right.
There's rent by the room nowco-living, and all those things.
For me, because it's veryindividualized for me, it's like
I needed to invest in somethingthat was more passive and that
was going to be kind of off myhands.
So I knew from the beginningthat managing the rental was not
(19:31):
something that I could do in myregular life and then also do
my W-2.
So from the get-go I was like Ineed a property manager, I need
somebody to place the tenants,I need somebody to manage the
tenants, I need somebody torenew the leases, collect the
rent and everything.
So I already narrowed down whatI could do, because if you're
(19:53):
paying a property manager, thenyou need to include that in your
numbers.
So the next step would be topick a market.
So for me I knew out of stateright, because I could not
afford here and then.
(20:18):
So I wanted to be close to theout-of-state market in case that
if I needed to let's say, worstcase scenario fly in and fly
out, then I could.
At that time, when I startedlooking at markets, I was
looking at Florida.
You know Ohio Everybody kepttalking about Columbus, ohio or
Cleveland Ohio, your pocket,yeah Ohio.
Or Cleveland Ohio, your pocketship, yeah.
So but I was just like, okay,let me find out something that I
(20:38):
can go and fly too quickly.
At the time I was about to takea contract as a nursing
contract in Chicago, illinois,and I said, okay, let me.
It's 2022 at this time, like,let me go and house hack a house
in Chicago, since I'm going tobe a nurse there, I'm going to
stay for a few months.
(20:59):
I'm sure I can find anothertraveler nurse there and rent
the other room too, but 2022,nobody was paying rent in
Chicago because of the pandemic.
So I realized that anotherthing about my restaurant is I
need to be on a state that'sgoing to be more
landlord-friendly than.
Illinois, but something that wasclose to Illinois was Indiana
(21:24):
and that's the market thateventually ended up in.
I again went to social media,found creators YouTube
especially that were investingalready in the market that I was
looking at in Indiana, and Ireached out to them.
I don't really have much shameabout sending a message on
(21:45):
YouTube and be like hi, my nameis XoXo, this is my email, let
me know if you can connect, oranything.
And then, luckily to me, Ifound creators that were not as
big, that had the time to likereply and talk to me.
So I found at least two otherpeople that were investing in
the same area that I was lookingat and at the time I was Heming
(22:06):
Indiana and Gary Indiana.
That is like 30 to 40 minutesaway from downtown Chicago, so I
was going to be there.
I could drive back and forth tosee the area, to like analyze
the area, and so I found two men.
Both of them were cops.
One of them was in Florida, theother one was in Washington.
(22:28):
They had a YouTube channelMillennial Mike and Muskie
Finance.
So, like again, I like reachout to them, out to them, ask
them.
Hey, I see your numbers, I seethe content you're putting out
there.
I really like that you're beinghonest about your success and
your failures.
Um, how do you see this marketbecoming like, where?
Like, would you mind talking tome via other email or phone or
(22:53):
anything like that?
And then they were very, verynice, very helpful.
They were just like, yeah, thisis what I'm doing, this is what
the all I am on.
This is my realtor, this is myproperty manager.
So from the beginning I justfelt like, oh, wow, I just sent
a message to these people.
The beginning I just felt like,oh, wow, these, I just sent a
(23:15):
message to these people.
And then they're giving me allof this data and all of these
referrals that have beenseverely already used in the
past.
And I'm like, okay, I have likea shoe in in this market.
Then now, so that a little bitease my I guess my doubts of
going out of state.
And then the purchase price wasmy made it more cemented, I
(23:40):
guess the idea of, like thefirst house I invested on was
135k in Hammond, indiana, whichhad 20% down would be something
along the lines from 20 to$25,000.
So in my mind I'm like, okay, Iwas scared, yes, but if
(24:01):
anything goes badly, I canalways sell the property Right.
At the time it was 2022,interest rates were going up.
People were afraid of likebuying, like I remember this
thing when everybody else getsscared, you get greedy.
When everybody else is greedy,you get scared.
So I'm like, okay, everybody'sgetting scared.
(24:23):
We don't know what the marketis going for real estate.
Let me test my toes with thisand if it fails, I sell.
If it doesn't pan out, then Iknow this is not the investment
strategy for me and then I'll goback to the s&p 500, I'll go
back to 401k investing, I willgo, I'll go back to my passive,
(24:45):
my passive life.
So I did.
I jumped in in in 2022.
I found my lender.
I already had referrals forrealtors and property managers,
so I just interviewed them and Ifound who I ended up with and
that was my first deal.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
I'm glad that you brought up, because a lot of
people don't know where to start.
But you found people on YouTubeand that's another great
resource that you can reallyjust go on there and type the
market that you might beinterested in.
There's people that are makingYouTube videos.
There's also, like most of thetime, there's even like Facebook
(25:29):
, groups of investors that arein that area as well that you
could join, and a lot of times,most of them are going to be
willing to help.
Like you'll get like one or twosnooty people that are, like
you know, too booked or whatever, but most of the like the small
, you know, the regular ones aremore helpful and willing to
(25:52):
help and share their resources.
And that's one key thing is tonetwork and get out there and
just send out a message, justask, because you never know who
might say yes and then look atyou Now you had bought your
first property at that time.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Yeah, and I think it's very important to point out
what you said network, andthat's something that I've been
learning in the last two yearsthat it's so rewarding to
network Like the people that youconnect with that are doing
basically the same thing thatyou're doing investing in real
(26:31):
estate or investing in this,however you're investing.
Yeah, investing in real estateor investing in this a few
hundred, however you'reinvesting.
Yeah, the people, the communitythat you get by talking to
everybody that's doing the samething.
It's just like what's gonnapropel you into your journey for
sure so that was your first one.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
What happened after that, or what's next for you?
Speaker 2 (26:52):
yeah, so that was that was in 2022.
In 2023, I wanted to have proofof concept, so I left that
property.
I bought it, I got a propertymanager, I had it rented out For
one year.
I did not look at any otherreal estate.
I also was in graduate schoolso I was quite busy, but I had a
(27:14):
rental income coming everymonth for one year.
I it was just smooth.
So I was like I can do thisagain, I can buy another one.
So the next one, it was, uh, inthe same same state, just a
little bit further, in a city inwhich the purchase price was
(27:37):
even lower.
So I bought my second property.
It was a two bedroom, one bath.
It was listed for $65,000 and Igot it for $55,000.
And this is because theinterest rates were so high at
that point.
Nobody was buying in 2023.
I think my interest rate islike 7.5 on the house when I
bought it.
But that $55,000 house I couldrent it out for $1,100.
(28:04):
So that was where, like, I feltvery confident in going into
this, into this market.
So, yeah, from the get I wasjust like, oh, wow, this is just
moving a little bit off.
The city that I was investinginitially brought me great
return.
So I ended up renting out thehouse.
(28:28):
And after two houses I was justlike I'm out of cash, I don't
know what else to do.
And then so I'm like, okay,let's go to Beaver Cuckold, let
me see what else I can dowithout cash.
So I learned the concept ofleveraging debt.
So in my primary in Los Angeles, my house had appreciated
(28:50):
because I bought in 2019.
And I realized that there was alot of equity in my house that
I could tap into.
And so I opened up a HELOC lastyear and I learned what I could
do with the HELOC, which isBRRRR, by Rehab, rent, refinance
(29:11):
, repeat and by opening this newconcept.
I'm like like I don't know if Ican do that because I don't
know if I.
Now it's different.
Right like now rehabbing aproperty.
Now you have to talk tocontractors.
Now you have to invest in myestimate budget.
Now you have to do all of thesethings.
And again we're like, okay,well, if it fails, you can
(29:35):
always sell the house.
So I already had two housesincome producing, and now I'm
going into a different strategy.
It's still real estate, but adifferent strategy.
But in my mind I was just like,well, do it scare, let's see if
it works out.
Right now you have those incomeproducing properties, so at the
(29:58):
time you're not usingtechnically your own money
because I was using the HELOCmoney to do the property to
rehab it.
So it was way different thanthe first two, but it's hard and
it takes a long time.
It takes a long time because Ihaven't been lucky enough to
find a bank that would cash outrefinance sooner than six months
(30:23):
.
Yeah, so you have the.
When you buy something cash,which is I did, from a HELOC, I
bought something cash because Ineeded repairs.
They're not.
That house, particularly, wasnot going to be approved for
conventional financial or FHA,because they have their
standards the house has to belivable.
So I did not buy a livablehouse.
I bought a rehab that was moreextensive than that, and so I
(30:49):
had to buy a cash.
I bought a cash.
This is a crazy story.
I bought a cash, 35k cash.
I bought it cash.
This is a crazy story.
I bought it cash $35,000.
And I knew I was going to putat least $33,000 into the rehab
because at the time I had ahouse walked by contractors, I
had budget for the rehab but Iknew after all repairs were done
(31:11):
then the house was going toappreciate for at least $85,000.
It's like a brick house two,and want to buy it again, a
small house.
So I I was like, okay, I haveenough to to pay myself back, to
pay back my HELOC.
And I I was just like, okay,let's go in, let's, let's figure
(31:31):
it out, let's do it.
So bought it, repair it, almost, uh, ready for rental.
Something happens there's a firein the house.
My first bird, yes, yes.
So turns out it was anelectrical fire, the light on
(31:56):
top of the kitchen.
It wasn't really big, but thefire department did come on.
It was in the kitchen, thelight over the kitchen.
I guess the wiring was faultyover the light so that set up on
fire which burned a little bitof the ceiling.
It wasn't really bad, but thefire department did come because
of the alarm.
(32:16):
And then they came with the big, you know water hoses and
everything, and it was the waterdamage that did like did a
number on the house newly rehabhouse right, so like 35 am 33
rehab, so all together I was 68in trying to cash out rehab.
(32:36):
But the fire happened.
So I was just like let me notworry about the electrical.
Nobody was in the house.
Thankfully this was not rentedyet.
So that was that was.
That was the.
I guess the only good thingthat it was empty the house was.
The fire was not significant.
The water damage, on the otherhand, that was significant.
(32:59):
But okay, the house is notlonger on fire.
So I was like, what is it goingto cost me to rehab it again?
So I didn't want to take anychances with the electrical, so
I just rewired the whole houseelectrical.
So I just rewire the wholehouse and I spent about 11,000
(33:20):
on top of my first rehab to getit um again.
Rental ready, so at this pointI'm like, okay, well, I'm not
gonna get all my money back, butlet's say I leave 11,000 in the
house, it's still.
It's still okay for me becauseit's like I got a whole house
for $11,000.
Not even a car, it's $11,000.
So I was like, okay, I justprepared myself mentally the
(33:43):
mindset of like, okay, you'rejust going to have to leave
money on the deal, that's fine,you're going to have to do that
and move on.
Anyways, the house got rehabbedfor a second time and, um, I
went to the bank.
I was like, give me a mortgagein this house.
And the house actuallyappreciated for 150k.
(34:05):
My estimation was 85 000, so itappreciated significantly more
for what I thought.
So immediately I'm like, okay,you need to work on your skills
to estimate how much this isgoing to be.
But anyways, it's a goodturnaround that, even though I
(34:29):
thought I went with the mindsetof like I'm going to left money
in this deal, I did not end upleaving money in the deal.
I took off all of the moneythat I put into the house.
But I just it was so hardhaving the house for six months,
having to rehab it, waiting for, you know, a mortgage company
(34:53):
to lend me in a cash out refi,having a high interest rate,
because it's 2024, still highinterest rates, and just all of
that mindset.
It was hard.
I would say that birds are hard, they're not easy, but I was
pleasantly surprised.
I was pleasantly surprisedafter Prezo came in.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
I was pleasantly surprised after Priso came in.
That's one of my goals is to doa burp, but I don't have the
time right now.
So I think maybe in anotheryear or so I'll be ready for it
once I get a little bitestablished, because I'm moving
and all that stuff.
So I'll probably try to see,try to do one then I have more
time, because right now I can'teven imagine having to like move
(35:38):
and do all this stuff and tryto do a BRRRR.
And, like you said, it takes alot and learning the
calculations and stuff, becauseI do the calculations for
regular long term rentals butthen to have an estimate, like
you know how much is the drywallgoing to cost, how much is you
know to do electrical, to renewthe plumbing and all that stuff,
(36:01):
that's all like extracalculations and work because
you got to talk to contractorsand stuff like that.
It's like I need a little bitmore time to be able to do that.
Things are going to happen but,like you said, the risk is
pretty low for you because youalready had like two other
properties that were like youknow that's the way I see it
(36:24):
Like okay, I already have thesetwo other properties that can
make up for this property.
If I take a little bit risk andthat's the important thing is to
know your risk tolerance.
That's the important thing isto know your risk tolerance.
And you know you were able togo do this bird and luckily it
worked out at the end.
But if it had failed, I mean,you could have just sold it and
(36:44):
then, you know, learned a fewlessons and probably maybe lost
a few bucks.
But like you know, you learn,you gain experience and that
knowledge for the next time.
Uh.
So I think, uh, one of thethings is to not really you know
see them as failures is likelearning experiences, cause now
you know more for the next one,if you do decide that.
(37:07):
So is that something you'regoing to do now again, or are
you just going to go back to umregular long-term?
Speaker 2 (37:14):
I'm going to do it again because I'm a sadistic
person.
I learned a lot during thosesix months that I had the birth
and I also learned that I need Icould do the same over and over
again with the same money thatI use for that particular
(37:36):
property.
So that is the beauty of likeleveraging debt.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
And.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
I no longer have to budget, like from house number
one and house number two.
I had to like save actively allthe time.
Right, you know, those $20,000,even though it's a very low
cost of entry, it's still twentythousand dollars.
Like you're still having havingto save it every time that
you're getting your paychecklike, okay, this is gonna go to
(38:03):
real estate, this is gonna go toreal estate.
Are you gonna get your nailsdone or are you gonna put it
down to real estate?
But are you gonna get thathaircut, or you're okay.
So there's always like thatdance so now, because I I'm
learning how to leverage debt,then there is the possibility of
growing and scaling so muchfaster and then, with the bank's
(38:25):
money, I'm glad you you broughtthat up, because it's true, I
think, um, it's hard to overcomethat.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
Initials like oh, I got to save up for this, the
20,000 or whatever.
But once you get the first two,like it starts like snowballing
.
Like you said, now I had tosave up with my own money, but
now I don't have to save up myown money, it's just, I'm just
reinvesting the cash flow frommy houses and it's like it gets
(38:59):
easier and faster to save upfrom the cash flow you know, to
save up for another down paymentand on top of that you know,
like you said, leveraging debt.
So then you start growing.
Because now the first rentalproperty it's ready to I think
I'm still going to wait anotheryear, but I think it's ready
already to do a cash out,refinance on it or maybe figure
(39:26):
out how to do something withthat, and then, probably the
year after that, probably thesecond.
But in the meantime I'm stillbuying another property because
of the cashflow.
Let's say, this year, right, andI just bought in December.
Now I have enough cash flow tosave up for another one this
year and then next year I couldprobably buy two, because I
(39:47):
would have saved up from thefour now and then be able to
leverage some debt from thefirst two properties.
So then it starts, you know,snowballing and it starts, like
you know, really compounding andgrowing.
So I'm glad you mentioned that.
And I think the last question Iwant to kind of like ask, or
(40:09):
you know, for your thoughts,because a lot of people in our
community we grow up avoidingdebt and all that.
So what are your words ofadvice or tips to help them
overcome this idea of like, ohman, I don't want to take debt
on my house or anything likethat?
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Yeah, there is a very complicated relationship with
debt in our mind and I reallyhad to overcome that too.
Like I don't like having a homeloan, having two mortgages,
having three mortgages, having ahome equity line of credit on
your primary, it's, it's.
It feels overwhelming.
And if you're the kind ofperson that's like, well, if
(40:50):
it's not, it's not mine, then Idon't own it, like the banks own
it.
But at the same time, this isnot something that's going to be
depreciating over time.
I mean, yes, we write off thepaper loss.
But if I look at it like let mebuy another car, and then let's
(41:18):
say you buy a $50,000 car,$30,000 car, whatever you drive
it off the lot, then it's worthwhat?
$20,000 less?
That's an, that's a liability.
I see that as a liability.
And then what you're investingon is an asset.
So when you invest on an assetthat is going to be appreciated
over time because housesappreciate like the general idea
(41:38):
of the whole market is that inthe United States, houses
appreciate 4% to 5% every year,regardless of you doing anything
, upgrading or anything likethat you have that.
And then you have a tenantthat's paying down your debt.
Like you're not paying it down,right A tenant that's paying
down your debt, like you're notpaying it down.
Right, a tenant that's payingdown your debt.
(42:00):
Then you have debt paid down.
Then you have appreciationnormal appreciation, then debt
paid down.
And then then if you, let's say, do some cosmetic work to the
house or some some kind ofupgrade to the house, then you
have appreciation.
So you're winning like threeways in that particular asset.
So just identify what are youinvesting on?
(42:21):
Are you investing on aliability?
Are you investing on an asset?
Is what you're putting moneyaway or saving money away is
going to bring you income?
Then you need to understandthat that's good debt, that's
not bad debt.
So leveraging and learning allof this it takes time.
(42:42):
And then I'm glad that you putthis platform for people like us
that don't have the education,don't have the people to ask
them around.
And if you know, I'm sure ifthey ask you a question, you'll
be like here you go.
And if you know, I'm sure ifthey ask you a question, you'll
be like here you go, like readthis book or listen to this
person, or look at this video orwhatever.
So that's how they educatethemselves.
(43:04):
And the education.
Then there is action.
The action is going to comefrom that mindset shift.
Mindset shift that's going tocome from, like, investing in
liabilities or investing inassets, and I want to also let
everybody know, like, if you dowant to contact me or ask me any
questions, I also have Istarted a YouTube channel and
(43:26):
I'm trying to get other peopleinvolved in real estate,
primarily women, primarilyLatino women, because it is time
to take ownership of ourfinances and our life, and with
this administration, everythingis just really up to you.
So take ownership of your life,and one way you can do that is
take ownership of your finances.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
Yeah, and what is your YouTube?
Speaker 2 (43:51):
Yeah, it's Lynn does investing.
It's L I N does investing onInstagram.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
I'll make sure to post that on there.
Make sure you know, go outthere and support her.
But yeah, other than that,again, thank you so much for
coming on here and sharing yourstory.
Like it was pretty interesting,especially, I mean, you know,
like it sucked at the time, I'msure, with the burr, but you
know.
So it's a good story and youlearned a lot from it.
(44:20):
I learned from it, you know,cause I never thought like, oh,
you know what you probablyshould check the electrical
wiring for all of it, you knowso cause it would have thought
from light bulb, but yeah.
Yeah, cause usually I, you, youthink about, about like outlets,
but not from the light fixtures.
So, um, you know, alwayslearning um, but again, you know
(44:43):
, make sure you, uh, you followher.
Her information will be downbelow and I will see everyone in
the next episode.
Bye, bye, everybody.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.