How a New Mom Built a $3 Million Rental Portfolio in 7 Years

[@carrieljp]

This woman is so wise! Her advice is spanning across so many dynamics of life, even beyond real estate, and I loved listening to every word!

[@CoachChadCarson]

agree! Emily has some deep and broad wisdom!

[@BrittanyMonetMasters]

Proud to call her my friend! She’s a true inspiration and now my mentor!

[@CoachChadCarson]

Lucky you! Emily is awesome. Thanks for commenting.

[@police994]

Love your story!!! I stared out with 1, 3 years later, Just closed #10 last month. Some time you JUST HAVE TO DO IT!!!! Learn and fix things alone the way!!! Smile😊

[@CoachChadCarson]

congrats!! That's awesome. thank you for sharing.

[@emily.in.realestate]

agreed! Congrats on #10 - Amazing!

[@anthonybair7327]

You're so right with this thought process. You're going to make mistakes. You have to push through them and succeed. No regrets in life. Good luck with your journey.

[@Jsitun]

Alright, Chad. Been grinding it out between two jobs for 8 months. I've got 23K saved up. It's about time for me to find something and get started. I'll be on your show before long.

[@windhunter.89]

23k is not enough in this world. The woman in this story start in 2018 and they put down 45k with 20k buffer. 23k is not possible but super hard. Consider bringing partner for more capital.

[@Jsitun]

@@windhunter.89 I'm at 26k now. Still stacking with all the OT I can get. No partner to work with out here, unfortunately. Depending on which part of the country, that's absolutely enough for a down payment and repairs.

[@jordanmcdonald6306]

@Jsitun keep going man! If you’ve got a military background or an immediate family member like a grand parent, brother, sister etc you can join Navy Federal and put 0% down on a duplex and house hack. These’s no PMI either and it’s still a conventional loan. You could use your 26k to fix the place up if need be. Godspeed brother!

[@Jsitun]

@@jordanmcdonald6306 Still stackin', bro. Up to 29. Unfortunately, no military, and no family in it. Just a guy working two jobs lol. Love the encouraging words, though! Thank you.

[@dimerocks48]

I bought in 2023 alone with $36k. It’s possible but yes there was a time in which I wished I had an additional $10k savings for a sound mind. If the property is a fixer upper (like mine was) then I would definitely say try to get an additional $20k before moving forward or find a partner. I don’t have a partner.

[@02nupe]

This was a very good, detailed episode. The purpose of FIRE 🔥 is to give you the OPTION to walk away, pivot and as mentioned in the episode the OPTION to change. OPTIONS

[@nicolasargy7230]

If you are borrowing money to purchase property you have to understand the mortgage rates then rental income and market Then you count on tenants who pay their rent Lots of variables What fi your property value tanks... then you are underwater Not a simple exercise

[@georgenaranjo9252]

Great perspectives comparing the higher priced house vs several small ones/multi-family, on replacement cost of things vs the income that generates.

[@pbdmd3688]

Loved every bit of wisdom and nuggets from your guest Coach❤ their journey from W2 to a house hacker and having choices in current life is so inspiring. Really learned so many insights that I can take in my real estate journey. Many thanks to you both!

[@jamzempire]

How am I just coming across this video, such an inspiration!!

[@Taxpayeroftherepublic]

Please tell us about some of the mistakes that have been made during your adventure and how you would do things differently, listening to your story and your thoughts

[@emily.in.realestate]

Soooo many mistakes have been made! Maybe Coach and I can do a separate podcast on that one sometime, haha. A couple mistake highlights - 1 - Setting up my business structure on my own without local attorney advice 2 - Systemizing the day to day in year 3 instead of year 1 3 - Buying a house without checking for permit history 4 - Trusting a seller to "fix" things when negotiating a purchase. I'll always vote to get cash in hand and fix on my own instead. 5 - Buying a house with a finished basement and not having someone like aqua guard come in to check that it doesn't leak during storms. I thought of these in 1 minute. Many more could be added. You get the idea!

[@CoachChadCarson]

I think that's a good future episode Emily!! My list of mistakes would take me hours and hundreds or thousands of bullets to share here:)

[@ncmay1112]

@@emily.in.realestatedo you have a podcast?

[@mm3873]

Listening from abroad. Will connect Emily. Have over 100 doors but there is still a lot i can learn from you. Good job.

[@BrandonM556]

How did you do it man?

[@Ultima501]

Great story and information!!! Thank you both 😊

[@nancyguzman7887]

Great interview. Gave me something to think about and reinforced some of our own choices. Thank you!

[@CoachChadCarson]

Glad it was helpful! Good to hear from you Nancy!

[@lilibethvilella]

Reorganizing myself & healing from divorce. Strongly encourage you to read book “THE SUN ALWAYS PIERCES THROUGH”

[@Kingsley-kg9gw]

Very inspiring!

[@dustinbutzler1031]

“Thing shift” SO TRUE

[@leeroach3381]

Very helpful Thank you for sharing

[@AndrewAllenHomeExpert]

Amazing video!!!

[@laurenarington2431]

Did you pull money out through a HELOC? How did you come up with the down payment each time?

[@emily.in.realestate]

We saved up for the down payments each time. We put some money in a few aggressive stocks and compounded it fairly quickly. Lived well below our means with SF Bay Area salaries for 5-7 yrs. Always did 20-25% down payments. Or paid cash for a few smaller properties valued less than 100k. This isn’t a viable strategy for everyone, but it’s what worked for us.

[@FinancialFIRE-Fighter]

Another great episode and great guest

[@dropoutandretireearly1781]

Love how at 3:48 she mentions DAVE RAMSEY !!!! LOVE IT AND LOVE THAT DUDE !!!! HES THE BEST !!!!

[@omoyiwolaoluyemi9729]

Thanks for sharing .are new home /townhouse a good investment for yearly rent?

[@shana5300]

Great episode!!

[@mayraramirez8071]

Amazing, story I need a mentor like this is Seattle WA 😍

[@patskiepats3320]

What is BRRR? I heard it a lot many times!

[@JacobsNews]

Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, and Repeat, .. she must have had huge down posits if she was able to refinance him just a few months later🎉 sounds more like they got inheritance money and then invested it🎉 but nobody likes to say that

[@brianre6342]

What a great video! Thank you

[@24reyeser]

Isnt it replacing a 9-5 with property management?

[@CoachChadCarson]

good question. That has not been my experience. While there IS still work, it's been very part-time for me once I got my properties stabilized. Most retired landlords I know spend 1-2 hours per week on average. They DO spend a lot more time upfront, but then it becomes more passive over time.

[@24reyeser]

It’s getting tougher to do in chicago with taxes going up and up. Maybe flipping is still a thing.

[@emily.in.realestate]

@@CoachChadCarson I agree with you. It was some heavy lifting in the stabilization phase. STRs can also be a time suck unless you hire out the management and lose a chunk of cash flow. With systems in place I have found managing the LTRs (and even an MTR) can be smooth and done in that 1-2 hours Chad mentions. Maybe no time for weeks and weeks, then a solid chunk of time to deal with an issue or turnover a vacancy etc.

[@mike2959]

In my experience of 40 rentals. It can be whatever you want. My wife and I are very involved. No mgmt company. And we do 90% of the work. Neither of us have a 9-5, so what else are we going to do 😂? We do travel every month we have a trip planned. Obviously we have higher returns. Fixing a leaking sink plumber cost $100-$200. So yeah, I take care of it. Lol

[@rubayyatkhan]

Good story. Wonder how much million dollar house rents out for?

[@CoachChadCarson]

Emily could say for sure. But I believe one of her duplexes is a short-term or mid-term rental and produces about $5k/month per side.

[@emily.in.realestate]

It's a duplex! In the current set-up - side 1 rents for 3K and side 2 market rents around 5.5K-6K (Total around 8.5-9K). I owner occupy side 2 for now. PITI before the loan was recasted - $7,100 with 900K mortgage. Mortgage / PITI after loan recast - $385K / $4,100. Hope that helps!

[@CrisP1781]

Thanks for sharing Emily!

[@anthonybair7327]

Thanks for the numbers. Love to view #'s and issues. It makes it more realistic. Coach Carson is a down to earth kinda guy. Great interview CC !!!

[@stick7646]

And who's managing all these properties?

[@marlenecarvery4270]

She was just so lucky her husband was on the same page. I missed out on previous Real Estate investments that would have been very lucrative, but my husband hmmed and haaad and couldn't wrap his head around these things. Urrrrg. Plus she has a mom in Real Estate, plus plus plus....and how do you convince a bank to give you another mortgage when you decided to leave your job? There is a lot of privilege involved some how for this woman. She's a smart cookie though and makes a lot of sense.

[@havenpersonalcare7968]

Awesome story; wonder what's their net income?

[@CoachChadCarson]

I didn't ask in the interview. But I know she was working as a designer in the Bay Area and she replaced that salary. So, you can kind of make a guess from that.

[@emily.in.realestate]

Bay Area interior designer salary - 95K. After Tax was around 70K +/-

[@stillhopeful7048]

Did she rehab long distance?? How did she do it?

[@emily.in.realestate]

I did do 2 BRRR projects long distance. I had a trusted contractor who was willing to send me walk through video updates before each payment would be sent during the rehab process. I handed them exact lists of materials and which rooms to put them in, including sketches of floor tile layouts etc. I always managed building construction with very little boots on the ground time. So it was fairly straight forward when expectations were set up front with the folks there on the ground.

[@stillhopeful7048]

@@emily.in.realestate wow! Sounds like you have good screening/hiring skills as well! It is so hard to find a reliable contractor even in one's own town! Congrats on tackling such a challenge rehabbing far away. 👏

[@janitoronfire]

43:30 I remember suggesting that someone should do a video about the benefits of recasting a couple of years ago. 😜

[@emily.in.realestate]

Seriously my mind was blown when I discovered that it was a possibility! Not talked about enough.

[@janitoronfire]

@@emily.in.realestate I agree. I will be recasting one of my properties soon. 👌

[@CoachChadCarson]

I remember that! So glad Emily could share her situation.

[@gregorysampson8759]

Imagine taking a salary cut to move to Atlanta! LOL

[@stick7646]

What's a house hack? Discussing all kinds of things I don't know what you're talking about.

[@stick7646]

What's a burr?

[@jstncheney]

BRRR buy, rehab, rent, refinance, and repeat

[@balancedbody1]

What is “phi or fie”?

[@CoachChadCarson]

Financial Independence or FI ... it's a movement of people using real estate and other investments to become work optional earlier in their lives.

[@balancedbody1]

@@CoachChadCarson I would like to know more about this but I am in the mist of a flip investment that won’t sell without me loosing lots so I can’t afford to learn about it yet. However, I just started listening to you yesterday and can’t wait to become more knowledgeable about “FI” thank you for your response.

[@CoachChadCarson]

If you hear people refer to the "FIRE" movement too, that's Financial Independence, Retire Early. Glad to have you here!

[@gregorysampson8759]

Concerned these stories happened during the value explosion. Whats to come?

[@geraldlofton]

No one likes talking about REAL STUFF w REI , so what 3M in so called value what is the cash flow (show the Math)

[@CoachChadCarson]

I talk about real stuff all the time on this channel - including cash flow.

[@geraldlofton]

@@CoachChadCarson 3M = Should equal 300k yr in cashflow / was that stated? Not just me questioning this read ur comments

[@emily.in.realestate]

​@@geraldlofton It's a valid point / question to ask. There's MANY reason for that which would probably require an additional podcast episode. One being that we switched to an equity play portfolio more recently. A win in real estate for me is more about ROI than cash flow. Which is typically gratified at property sale, not during the day to day.

[@emily.in.realestate]

@@geraldlofton ​It's a valid point / question to ask. There's MANY reason for that which would probably require an additional podcast episode. One being that we switched to an equity play portfolio for the last 1M. A win in real estate for me is more about ROI than cash flow. Which is typically gratified at property sale, not during the day to day. For example - I just sold 1M in real estate in Feb 2024. That 1M was purchased for 650K over the last 5 yrs and it did have great cash flow. The ROI on that sale was 40% on the original cash investment + expenses to repair over that time. ROI allll the way for me :)

[@geraldlofton]

@@emily.in.realestate okay now its starting to make sense, thank you❤️🙏

[@William14094]

She benefited from the ridiculous run in housing prices. Don’t think you can start now and be her.

[@CoachChadCarson]

She got in the game, therefore she benefited. Can't benefit from the sidelines - now or 7 years ago.

[@youarehere1251]

What if all tenants stop paying rent and don't leave, home insurance going skyrocket, natural disaster.

[@emily.in.realestate]

There are ways to give yourself cushion for the “worst case scenario”. Some of it involves location strategy, knowing the law, understanding your rights. Theres certainly risks to navigate.

[@grumpyschnauzer]

People could use buying those homes that she is hoarding. I have no sympathy or tolerance for investment owners. Unless she has apartment complexes... that's different.

[@CoachChadCarson]

Why is owning an apartment as an investment different than a duplex or single family?

[@curtisbonds5379]

Sounds like she worked hard and is very knowledgeable

[@dropoutandretireearly1781]

You had a $13,000 HVAC Bill ??? WOW !!!! THATS CRAZY !!!!!

[@CoachChadCarson]

I did! I'll be publishing an episode in 2 weeks where I share more details and get feedback from Lumberjack Landlord.

[@dropoutandretireearly1781]

COACH !!!! I love the theory of what you say "SMALL AND MIGHTY" sounds like me being 100% debt free on 6 houses now !!!! Yoohoo Small and might is the way to go. Massive "FRONT DOORS" is just bragging rights that produce really nothing !!!! LOL !!!!

[@CoachChadCarson]

you got it! small and mighty, simple portfolio that's conservatively financed. It works well and gives you peace of mind!

[@dropoutandretireearly1781]

At 5:00 into the video she didnt make much of any cashflow because she didnt even own the property. The bank still did !!!! I always laugh when people wonder why they dont make money on rentals. You need to actually buy the house from the bank to actually own it and obviously once your payment is gone you will yes actually cashflow like a madman !!!! LOL !!!!