This week’s question comes from Xavier through Ashley’s Instagram direct messages . Xavier is asking: Can I use an FHA loan for a vacation rental? What’s the best way to scale without paying high down payments? Xavier brings up a great question that many rookies have been asking. We all know we can get a conventional loan with very low down payment requirements for an owner-occupied investment like a house hack, but what about a vacation rental? Before you bombard your mortgage lender with quest...
Feb 12, 2022•14 min•Ep. 156
Every investor wants all their properties to be loaded with high cash flow , but that’s usually not the case. Realistic expectations are essential to the longevity of your career and the maximization of your investments. Progress over perfection should always be the goal. As today’s guest, Ali Garced , stated, “progress is progress, and it will eventually add up”. Given that her dad is an investor, Ali has always been exposed to real estate , but it wasn’t until she was in the military that she ...
Feb 09, 2022•55 min•Ep. 155
We’re continuing the Rookie Reply Direct Message trend! This week’s question comes from Minnie through Tony’s Instagram DMs . Minnie is asking: Should you partner with family members when investing in real estate ? While this may not be the most fun question that Tony has received in his DMs, it’s a very necessary one to answer, as many real estate investors start their journey partnering with family . While at times it can be stressful, working with family can also be rewarding in more ways tha...
Feb 05, 2022•16 min•Ep. 154
Real estate requires a lot of self- motivation and discipline to succeed. Successful investors know that nothing happens overnight and nothing comes to you easily. Today’s guest, Terry Harris , had the perfect amount of drive and persistence when he began his real estate journey. He now owns five properties and has closed twenty wholesale deals. Terry started getting into real estate when he came to terms with his G League contract only lasting about six months . He wasn’t sure what to do with h...
Feb 02, 2022•56 min•Ep. 153
Ashley and Tony’s DMs are open for real estate Q&A business! Just like last week, this week’s question comes from Tony’s Instagram DMs . The question? How are you scaling your real estate portfolio so quickly? How do you finance your deals? For most rookie investors, real estate financing seems like a big hurdle to get over. With deals flying off the MLS so quickly nowadays, having your funding locked and loaded is as important as ever. Thankfully, even if you don’t qualify for bank financin...
Jan 29, 2022•19 min•Ep. 152
Most people assume they’ll achieve financial freedom after they make their dream salary, but what they don’t realize is you can’t out-earn your toxic money habits . Today’s guest, Daniel Shin , learned this quickly when he started making his full-time surgeon salary. As a child, Daniel was fortunate enough to live the ideal suburban lifestyle, but when his dad got laid off during a recession , things quickly changed for the worse. After seeing his parents struggle to put food on the table , youn...
Jan 26, 2022•54 min•Ep. 151
Ashley and Tony’s Instagram DMs have been blowing up! This week’s question comes from Collette through Tony’s Instagram direct messages. Collette is asking: Do you make offers based on pro forma or actual rent numbers? If you’re a real estate rookie or a residential-only investor, this may be the first time you’ve heard the term “ pro forma ” before. A real estate pro forma is simply a spreadsheet or document that projects the estimated financials on a property once capital expenditures , rent i...
Jan 22, 2022•17 min•Ep. 150
While leaving your W-2 to pursue real estate can be intimidating at first, it’s important to realize the skills you learned at your W-2 don’t all go to waste . Most of what you learned is transferable when it comes to the wonderful world of real estate investing . Instead of looking at your W-2 as a means to an end, think of it as an experience-based asset. This is exactly what today’s guest, Emily Fackler , did. As a former salesperson , Emily was no stranger to the word “no”. In fact, she had ...
Jan 19, 2022•58 min•Ep. 149
This week’s question comes from Brandon through Ashley’s Instagram direct messages (follow her @wealthfromrentals). Brandon is asking: I live in a great neighborhood where my rent is less than a potential mortgage. I’m looking to invest in a different town experiencing great growth, but I would live there myself. Is it a bad idea to purchase a rental property before purchasing my primary residence? Both Ashley and Tony had to ask themselves this same question as they started their real estate in...
Jan 15, 2022•11 min•Ep. 148
To be a successful entrepreneur and investor, you need to learn how to turn a no into a yes . Today’s guest, Anthony Michael , has earned his title as a successful entrepreneur from doing just that. Through determination, calculated risk, and finding ways to create value, Anthony has done thirteen flips while also becoming a trusted lender. Anthony’s real estate investing journey started when he realized he needed to gain control of his money. After his first flip, a live in flip on the house he...
Jan 12, 2022•59 min•Ep. 147
Getting fired usually isn’t a good thing. But in retrospect, it was arguably one of the best things to ever happen to Tony Robinson . Before being the internet’s poster boy for short-term rental investing, Tony Robinson spent his days working for someone else while climbing up the corporate ladder . When he unexpectedly got fired (2 days before Christmas) , he had to reimagine what his life would and could look like. Tony took a chance on himself and his real estate business , a chance that has ...
Jan 08, 2022•18 min•Ep. 146
Most people describe their start in real estate investing as a thought-through process. It usually includes a tedious plan with an incredible amount of time spent gaining background knowledge—but that’s not always the case. Today’s guest, Jan Trisler, stumbled into real estate investing by accident but hasn’t been able to look back after having four successful flips, while currently working on her fifth. Now, she has hopes of getting into rental properties in the upcoming year. Jan was already i...
Jan 05, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 145
From time to time, Ashley and Tony both have questions they need answering. And thankfully, they both host a show with a real estate investor in complementary niches. This week, Ashley is prepping to scale her short-term rental empire , so she wants to know from Tony what his six top tips for vacation rentals would be. Although Tony has only been hosting for a few years now, he has a sizable portfolio that was built fast and efficiently. He’s able to charge top dollar on his vacation rentals due...
Jan 01, 2022•26 min•Ep. 144
When you think about your ideal life in 5,10 or even 15 years, what do you see? When you think about your finances, what is it that you want your money to do for you? As today’s guest, Aaron Latal , so elegantly put it, when setting goals it is best to start backwards. After graduation, Aaron landed a high-paying job as an engineer and genuinely enjoyed the work he was doing, yet he felt like something was missing. Besides his job, he had nothing to fill his free time, so he turned to real estat...
Dec 29, 2021•52 min•Ep. 143
This week’s question comes from Mack through Ashley's Slack channel in the Real Estate Rookie Bootcamp . Mack is asking: How can I buy an investment property without putting 20% down? Mack has the question that many real estate investors do: how to buy with low or no money down ? Thankfully, the world of real estate has a plethora of financing options from low down payment conventional and FHA loans to zero percent down loans from certain providers. Granted, you do need to check a few boxes befo...
Dec 25, 2021•11 min•Ep. 142
We usually get to hear from our amazing guest speakers, but as the year comes to an end, it’s time to hear directly from our dynamic show hosts . Besides hosting rookie podcasts, Tony and Ashley are living proof of how lucrative real estate can be when done right. In this end of the year special we explore Tony and Ashley’s business goals, challenges, and motivations. While it might be hard to imagine, Tony and Ashley started exactly where everyone else did , at the beginning. Before they each h...
Dec 22, 2021•49 min•Ep. 141
Once again, Ashley’s DMs are open for questions! This week, Brendan direct messaged Ashley asking: I’m looking at a 10-unit property at $1.9M. The current owner only has 4/10 units rented, but banks require 75% occupancy to finance. The seller would be interested in owner financing . Where do I start? It’s good to note that no two seller financing deals are the same . Different sellers want different things out of a sale and it’s up to you, as the buyer, to find the things they really need to ge...
Dec 18, 2021•15 min•Ep. 140
What 2022 real estate tax strategies do you have prepared? Or maybe the better question is: have you even started to plan for taxes in 2022? If you’re a real estate rookie, you probably are just dipping your toe into the wonderful world of real estate tax deductions . But, without a good bookkeeper, accountant or CPA , you could be missing thousands (if not more) in tax savings. Joining us today for our end of year tax roundup is investor, lender, and CPA Ana Klein . Ana started her real estate ...
Dec 15, 2021•51 min•Ep. 139
This week’s question comes from Daniel , who reached out directly to Ashley through her Instagram ( @wealthfromrentals ). Aside from giving Ashley some more movie quotes to use, Daniel is also asking: How do I gather local rent numbers for my rental property? Landlords can struggle when trying to price a rental appropriately , that’s why rental comparable (comps) research can be so important when looking into a new area or when shopping for properties. Both Ashley and Tony use rental comps daily...
Dec 11, 2021•12 min•Ep. 138
Do you ever feel out of place as an employee ? The W2 route isn’t for everyone and maybe you’ve started to feel the entrepreneurial itch. So what steps do you take when it’s time to transition into working for yourself all while building wealth through real estate? After years of being in and out of the prison system , Sterling Shrout needed a change . His whole life he considered himself a “bad employee” until he finally realized he wasn’t meant to be an employee , so he turned to real estate. ...
Dec 08, 2021•54 min•Ep. 137
If you’re wondering how to buy your first rental property , there is arguably no better place on the internet to learn than BiggerPockets. Ashley Kehr should know, she tripled her portfolio after she found the BiggerPockets forums . But, in order for Ashley to triple her portfolio, she had to make the leap and buy her first deal. Today, she’ll teach you how to do the same, so you can reach financial freedom. Ashley wasn’t born into a real estate family. She worked a nine-to-five job as an accoun...
Dec 04, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 136
Real estate is a relationship-based business . As you establish more relationships within the industry, your job continues to get easier and today’s guest, Jay Simpson , is a prime example of that. With the help of his mentor , he has successfully flipped two houses and already turned one into a rental property . The primary reason he got into real estate was because he wanted the time to be actively part of his daughter’s life — a freedom his W-2 didn’t allow. His ability to cultivate meaningfu...
Dec 01, 2021•54 min•Ep. 135
This week’s question comes from Neil on the Real Estate Rookie Facebook Group . Neil is asking: I’m reading a book on financing strategies — if a loan is amortized over thirty years, how is there a balloon payment at fifteen years? What’s the difference between the two? Most real estate investors don’t run into things like balloon payments until they’ve started taking loans from private lenders or use seller financing . Balloon payments allow investors the chance to refinance earlier or pay off ...
Nov 27, 2021•9 min•Ep. 134
What if you knew you could be fresh out of college and already owning property ? Why wait for a “stable career” to start building wealth when you can dive into real estate investing, whether that be in or out-of-state? Would you start looking into investing earlier if you knew it was without age limitation? Today’s guest Karina Mejia , a 24-year-old investor , goes over her house hacking journey that helped her go from a server to a landlord . From managing tenants to investing in out-of-state p...
Nov 24, 2021•50 min•Ep. 133
We often hear entrepreneurs talk about how they want to “be the best” in their field . It’s the same with many real estate investors. They want to be the best wholesaler, flipper, short-term rental host, or landlord. But, does “being the best” really matter much to your customer if they can’t tell the difference between you and your competition ? Probably not. Mike Michalowicz , author of Profit First , is on the show today to discuss his new book, Get Different , and why so many entrepreneurs a...
Nov 20, 2021•48 min•Ep. 132
The more “traditional path” encourages a lot of waiting : waiting to get into the right school, waiting to get the right degree, the right internship, and the right job, but what about the right now ? As every current and aspiring entrepreneur knows, time is money so capitalizing on the right now is essential. How do you do that? Real estate investing ! Today’s guest, Rachel Morrow , knew the importance of capitalizing on the right now . At merely 20 years old she was on her way to med school wh...
Nov 17, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 131
This week’s question comes from Rob on the Real Estate Rookie Facebook Group . Rob is asking: How do I make sure a wholesaler that is sending me deals is not a scam? With wholesaling, as with any other sector of real estate, you’re always going to have your good and bad actors. Many wholesalers are running professional businesses, but some are simply inexperienced, while others have malicious intent. Here are some suggestions on weeding out wholesalers: Have your attorney look over the assignmen...
Nov 13, 2021•10 min•Ep. 130
What if you treated the lowest point in your life as a beginning instead of an end? What if you were told real estate investing could be the second chance you’re looking for? Why give up when you could level up? Today’s guest, Jason Peterson , took back control of his life by doing exactly that. Instead of giving into adversity and strife, Jason found a way to turn his life around, through real estate investing. After eight years of incarceration , Jason went from a zero credit score to buying h...
Nov 10, 2021•58 min•Ep. 129
Ashley and Tony have been on a tear this year, buying up more homes than ever before. They’ve also been branching out into bigger commercial deals , like RV parks , campgrounds , hotels, motels, and more. While every real estate rookie knows the thrill of finding a new deal, many don’t understand the struggles that go with it . Today, Ashley and Tony walk through the biggest hurdles they’ve been facing when trying to chase bigger, better deals. One of the biggest struggles when getting into a la...
Nov 06, 2021•28 min•Ep. 128
Military members in the real estate community love to preach about how great the VA loans are for financing primary residences. They also love the fact that these primary residences can be turned into rentals , quite easily, when the military decides to station you elsewhere. This is exactly how Angel Garcia got his start; accidentally investing in real estate, all while stationed overseas. Angel bought his first house as a way to ensure financial security for his wife and daughter , but when he...
Nov 03, 2021•58 min•Ep. 127
