3 Tips to Reach Financial Freedom & My 10 Week European Vacation

I'll admit it, this is my first blog post EVER. It reminds me of the feeling right before I put my first offer in on a house in December of 2015 with my partner, Greg. It was a combination of both fear and excitement with a little bit of awesome sprinkled on top. I started as just a normal 22 year old guy with $30K in student loan debt and a few pennies to my name. 

In less than a year, I have over $1K/mo in passive real estate income, I'm planning to take the leap into full-time real estate in 2017 and I'm about to book a flight to Europe for a 10 week vacation with my girlfriend, Kendal. 

Here are my 3 biggest tips that propelled me on my path towards financial freedom. 

Tip #1: Learn, learn and then learn some more

You're probably thinking to yourself, "really, that's his big tip to lead off the post??". I'll admit, it's not flashy or a new idea but it's what I attribute to laying the foundation for my success. I didn't know anything about real estate when I first started. Honestly, I thought it was like HGTV - boy was I wrong. If it wasn't for discovering BiggerPockets, particularly the Podcasts, I wouldn't be where I am today. 

A little back story - my girlfriend was finishing up her last year at the University of Nebraska and I lived 650 miles away in Indianapolis, IN. In total, I drove to Lincoln a little over 20 times - I know, young love right? If you were wondering.. that's enough miles to drive around the world on the equator! 

During these trips, I was able to listen to every BP podcast at least once, and many, two or even three times. Without this foundational knowledge, I would have never taken the plunge into my first deal, not to mention have access to the financial resources to make it happen in the first place. 

Side note - if you've never experienced a game at Memorial Stadium, it's pretty spectacular. 

Tip #2: Mold is Your Friend 

The picture below is of the property near Butler University that my partner and I executed the BRRR strategy (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance) from December '15 to July '16. You're probably thinking at least two things at this point - how did he find his partner Greg and how did he have the money to execute the deal? Hold on, I'll get to both - it's my first blog post remember? Cut me some slack. 

Through my reading and research, I was able to hone in on my target purchasing location near Butler University, which is an ideal area with loads of college and young professional renters. At this point, I also knew I wanted to find a dilapidated house in need of some love in order to force value. I had two problems - I didn't have enough money to execute a deal and more importantly, no deal to execute. 

One day, I was talking to my friend Greg about real estate. I simply told him about my interest, and to my surprise, he was interested in it too. Long story short, we met 2-3 more times and I found out that he had an investment account worth several hundred thousand dollars. He had expressed interest in taking the leap into his first real estate deal but didn't have the knowledge to feel confident in moving forward. I had to jump on this opportunity!

By luck, I found a foreclosure near campus and with even more luck my cash offer was accepted contingent upon the ability to close a cash deal. I pitched the deal to Greg, and BOOM - he had our first deal. But boy did it have some (moldy) issues.. 

Tip #3: Shoot for the stars and land on the moon (and have fun too)

This saying is something I heard in elementary school and it really stuck with me. For me I've always been a dreamer, who at times, would bite off more than I could chew. At first, I felt a little overwhelmed. I had a property, a plan to fix it up and eventually rent it out, but I had no idea what I was doing. I had to find a contractor, agree on a scope of work (I didn't even know what a scope of work was at the time), find renters willing to pay $500+/room and then find a bank willing to refinance the property at 75% loan to value. What did I get myself into? I felt like I shot for the stars and forgot my oxygen tank.. 

 Then I remembered why I was doing this in the first place. It wasn't necessarily because I wanted to become rich and live on an island collecting money each month while sipping a fruity drink - it was because I wanted to challenge myself and have fun while I was doing it. That's the real dream to me. 

With that in mind, I took it one day at a time and never lost sight of Tip #1. I continued to learn and made mistakes too, but at the end of the day I reached all of our goals. In April of 2016, we agreed to a lease with 4 young professionals and in August of 2016 we received approval for a refinance for over $125K, getting all of (plus some) my partner's skin out of the game. 

In addition to this deal, I was able to close on another single family home and a personal residence in which I plan to execute the live-and-flip strategy. With my day job income, my passive real estate income and equity forced in my value add real estate investment strategy, I have a clear roadmap to financial freedom within 2 years of ever listening to my first BP Podcast. 

Also, I can't forget about the 10 week trip I have planned for Europe in 2017. If it weren't for these opportunities a trip like this would be out of the realm of possibility. If I told my 22 year old self a trip like this would be possible in less than 2 short years, I would have been mad I hadn't started sooner. 

This is how I feel after my first blog post - also a great example of "shooting for the stars and having fun too".