Real Estate Investing

Real estate and property management have been a desire of mine going back to my college years, when I purchased my first house in South Tampa in November of 2000 as an undergrad at the University of Tampa (a home I still own, by the way). One thing I’ve noticed in nearly 20 years of watching the bubbles and bursts of the real estate market – there is always money to be made regardless of the cycles.

One house turned into two, which led to rental income and a new revenue stream. I learned early on that, as the landlord of my owner-occupied property, I could rent out my additional bedrooms and bring in even more money. One of the real benefits of owning in a college area is that you’ll always have new people looking for a place to rent. The adage location, location, location was now ingrained into my experience.

That rental income allowed me to buy even more property to rent, and I quickly learned the nuances of property management. These skills would benefit me after graduation when I moved back to New Hampshire in 2003 and purchased a home in Amherst. Now I had to juggle tenant issues across state lines, as I rented out the extra bedroom in my new home and turned that cash into another home purchase in Merrimack, NH. With properties in Amherst, Merrimack and Tampa, I became a property management disciple while operating multiple businesses.

Residential property ownership expanded into commercial property when I purchased my first commercial asset in Tampa in 2008. This is now the primary location of my online advertising business, BuyaTimeshare.com, which I also started while in college.

I saw the need to obtain my real estate license, which I did in 2008 so I could move more efficiently in the real estate space and better understand the regulatory environment. I started a brokerage firm in order to buy and sell properties without the need for an outside licensed agent, as I desired to manage all of my properties myself. It was the next logical step in the growth of my real estate career.

Fast forward to 2017 and the launch of my portable self-storage business, MI-BOX of Central New Hampshire. My real estate experience was invaluable here as I sourced and invested in five acres of land in a great location with a high traffic count to build the headquarters of my new business. My vision is to leverage my MI-BOX experience to potentially develop this into a permanent self-storage business.

One of my favorite quotes comes from the creator of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad personal finance series, Robert Kiyosake. He is a financial educator who has written numerous books that have sold over 27 million copies around the world. His advice is simple:

“Real estate investing, even on a very small scale, remains a tried and true means of building an individual’s cash flow and wealth” – Robert Kiyosake, financial educator and author.

As for the future, I’m looking to expand my property portfolio to include multiple-unit apartment buildings. I’m a big believer in creating wealth through the passive income generated from real estate ownership, if done correctly. As such, I am always learning the correctly part.