How I went from a white lie to 300+ units in 1.5 years

[Jason Baik]

Hello all,

I’m a former corporate data scientist turned full-time investor. I’ve had a tough but rewarding journey these past few years and I’d like to share my personal experience to hopefully help others in the early stages of their investing journeys.

I want to give you what I wanted myself – an honest understanding of what it takes to get over that initial hurdle. While I love listening to the Brandon Turners of the world, their success always felt so far away. I prefer to learn from those who are just a step or two ahead of me so... if I'm a step ahead of you, hopefully there's value in this post.

My start:

In 2020, I decided to quit my six-figure career in data to pursue real estate full-time in arguably the worst housing market of the last decade. The day before I left my 9-to-5, my managing partner conducted an exit interview during which she asked, “I hear you’re going to be a real estate investor… so, how many houses do you own now?”.

The moment lingers in my memory because I remember so very vividly the wave of nausea that overtook me. I managed to choke out, “oh, just a few rentals…”. The truth? I had zero investment properties and I hadn’t even bought my own house before.

It wasn’t a malicious lie but one born out of fear. I was about to throw away a decade-long career and I was too embarrassed to admit to anyone that I had no idea what I was doing.

My reason:

The first question most people ask then: why’d I do it?

My answer is simple but two-fold.

1) I needed to take care of my family at a level that my career couldn’t provide. Data scientists make a great living but my family is dirt poor: blue collar workers who have lived paycheck-to-paycheck their entire lives. If I had any hope of providing my parents with a remotely stable retirement, I had to generate some wealth.

2) Equally as important, I wanted to prove to myself that I could. As the child of immigrant parents, I spent most of my life believing that there was only one way to live life: go to a good school, get a good job, work until I retire. I was great at following directions from others but I never took a chance on following what I wanted out of life: freedom to enjoy time with my loved ones and not worry about finances. It wasn’t until I was 30 that I mustered the courage to try to follow my own path.

My progress:

Year 0: I'm not as reckless as my intro may imply... I spent 3 years reducing my expenses by over 50%, paying off all of my debts and growing a small nest egg. I decided that if I was going to invest in myself for the first time in my life, I was going to go at it 100%. There's nothing wrong with straddling a full-time job and investing on the side like most people do - I just knew I had to do it differently.

Year 1: I liquidated my meager life savings and bought 7 single-family homes. I stabilized those in 9 months, refinanced by the end of month 12 and moved onto multifamily. I met my current business partner during that first year through organic networking. A mutual colleague put us in touch, I met him at a real estate event, and eventually spent a week with him in Cincinnati, looking at properties and enjoying some casual time together.

Year 2: My partner and I bought 60+ units as a lead sponsor and co-sponsored 260+ units. Today, we’ve got a few deals in the pipeline, a 25 unit owner-financing deal, a 50 unit portfolio, and a 100 unit complex.

Year 3: I’m aiming for larger, more profitable deals and growing into a scalable business.

My advice:

I know the pain of getting started since I was just there not long ago. I’ve made a ton of mistakes so based on my personal experiences here are my recommendations to getting traction.

1) Focus on yourself. Real estate investing is a personal journey that requires a high EQ (at least in my opinion). Learn to meditate, exercise, eat well, spend time with friends and family, read, watch TV, whatever it takes to not burnout and keep going.

2) Leverage your existing skills and find a niche. For me, I knew nothing about real estate but I knew numbers. I think like an engineer / an economist / a statistician. My ability to create spreadsheets and track everything helped me find partners who filled my gaps and to who I could provide concrete value. Saying you "can do everything" is an open invitation to be ignored or to find other partners who have no idea what they're doing.

3) Push yourself beyond limitations. Investing in real estate is similar to losing weight. You already know exactly how to succeed, it's just a matter of pushing yourself there. If you want to lose weight, eat less and exercise more; if you want to buy properties, make relationships, analyze deals, and take risks. Learn to enjoy the burn.

4) Attend events. There is a plethora of online resources – courses, webinars, YouTube videos, podcasts but the one thing that cannot be “taught” digitally is a genuine human connection. As a hard introvert, I hate events as much as the next INFP but they're a necessity.

5) Take (calculated) risks with your money. Being a real estate investor means never being 100% sure. It’s not just about buying houses… joining masterminds cost $40k, and even events cost thousands of dollars. Do your research to mitigate and hedge but ultimately, know that you have to spend money to learn with no guarantee of success. Losing $10k to learn a lifelong lesson is worth it, I promise you.

6) Respect the probability. One lucky occurrence does not = skill, and one failure does not = stupidity. Sometimes you get caught in a storm without an umbrella when it was a 10% chance of rain and sometimes you hit a jackpot on the slots. Basing decisions on logic and numbers is the ONLY way you maximize your chances of success.

7) Be patient. Finding a property can take 6 months and closing can take 3. Accept that success will take a while and enjoy the process.

8) Stay true to yourself. I’m a data nerd, an introvert, and a frugal nitpicker. My first “mastermind” in multifamily was with a group that touted yachts and brightly colored cars. While I don’t judge people who fit that persona (too much), boats and country clubs are just not me. You’ll meet fellow investors with a wide variety of personalities – your particular tribe may be hard to find but this is a long, patient game. Stay genuine and eventually you’ll found some great mentors, friends and colleagues who click with you.

9) Figure out what you want out of life. I've met so many investors who follow Grant Cardone religiously who also want a quiet, humble life. Don't fall prey to the glamor and remember why you do this. If you want to be the next Warren Buffet, go for it. For me, I'd much rather be taking a walk with my wife or laughing with friends so I work towards building that life for myself. I spent my corporate career collecting fancy titles and aggressively pursuing salary bumps - trust me when I say that the sigma grind for 30 seconds of an endorphin rush is not a good ROI.

10) Decide if this is right for you. Real estate is years of blood, sweat, and tears before the "passive income" phase kicks in. Be prepared to devote lose tens of thousands of dollars, fight with loved ones, lie awake at night, and miss important life events. If you simply want to DIVERSIFY your portfolio, find another full-time investor with whom to invest passively. You can enjoy great returns comparable to stocks, have limited liability, and avoid the struggles. Decide if you want some returns or potentially the hardest challenge of your life.

My parting thoughts:

It’s easy to write about all of this as I look back on my journey but during month 1, month 3, month 9, there were some incredible lows. This past year has been a whirlwind of uncertainty, fear, and exhaustion but also of elation and relief.

If it gives you any hope in your own journey, I literally knew nothing about real estate, and I had no connections when I jumped in. Real estate investing is hard but it’s not particularly difficult. Do your homework, put in the time + effort, and you’ll find success with enough patience.