Here’s how I got started in real estate investing…
In my early career, I worked in the vacation rental industry managing and marketing short term rentals in the Florida panhandle. It was really interesting working with people with seemingly normal careers that were leveraging their investment portfolios with the best of both worlds. These people had a vacation home in a drool-worthy location, while generating passive income on the side.
That’s still a major goal of mine today: to own a rental property in a vacation destination.
What actually propelled me into rentals was a series of terrible events- because life has a funny way of sending you exactly what you need. As a single mom, my first home I purchased was infested with black mold. We had to move out immediately. Once mold remediation was complete, my dad came in and upgraded the kitchen. I’ll share more on that story later. From there, with a 10 year mold-free guarantee, I began renting my first property on a long-term basis.
Another unfortunate turn of events, divorce to be exact, lead to my success with other types of rentals. I was in debt up to my eyeballs, so I bought my dad out of a building we were partners in and began using it at max capacity. I created a co-working space in the downstairs commercial area so that I could continue to work in the space while generating a bit of income to help pay off debt.
The upstairs apartment is where my daughter and I lived, but we began renting the downstairs apartment on AirBnB. I learned a lot of lessons in my first 7 months renting that apartment on a short-term basis, which is why I’ve decided to share my knowledge at this point. Ironically, a lot of the lessons were reminiscent of conversations I had with owners at my old job, but I tend to learn best from first-hand failure.
Over the course of a year I found myself owning and self-managing a commercial space, a co-working space, 2 long term rentals, a short-term rental, and a lot of anxiety. It’s not for the faint of heart, let me tell you.
However, in this time I’ve learned SO many lessons, like:
- Always include mold testing in your home inspection
- Why last-minute one-night rentals are rarely worth it
- How to shop home insurance rates
- Lots more I’m not thinking of right now…
There’s a fine line between purchasing a rental investment that’s a blessing to your family tree, and purchasing a curse. The saying “you get what you pay for” will always ring true in real estate investment- even in today’s DIY house flipping era. I’ve been really lucky because my dad can do just about anything renovation-wise… and yet, I can honestly say that my first property taught me more hard lessons than I hoped to learn in a lifetime!
Those hard lessons learned bled into my personal life, my relationships, my financial situation, my overall health, and my daughter’s early childhood development. I don’t say any of this lightly, and I truly recommend working with advisors when hopping into real estate investment, as it can be detrimental in exponential ways when investments are handled improperly. Then again, if you’re like me and prefer to “fail first, fix later” you might be just fine in the end once you’ve endured a bit of what I like to call “embrace the suck.”
