Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing

How do you become a full-time investor who owns more than 1,000 doors by the age of 27?According to Adrian Salazar, the secret is having the guts to go out and be different.Adrian started wholesaling SFHs as a freshman in college and closed on his first apartment building as a sophomore. Today, he is Managing Member at Two Ten Management, and he controls $8.8M in multifamily assets.On this episode of the podcast, Adrian joins Garrett and me to explain how the sales skills he developed early on help him succeed as a young real estate entrepreneur.Adrian shares the wholesaling strategies he uses to find off-market deals and describes his approach to building rapport with owners.Listen in for Adrian’s advice on putting yourself in the right rooms and learn to take action on YOUR real estate investing goals—no matter how young or old you are!For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session345/

Running a business is never just about the business. Being a successful entrepreneur means finding balance between your personal and professional life. But if you want your relationship to work, you need a partner who energizes you. Someone who helps you become the best version of yourself. So, how does a real estate investor build a fulfilling family life? How do you successfully navigate marriage, parenthood and business?On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Garrett sits down with me and my wife Vivian to find out what makes our 25-year marriage work.Vivian and I explain why we struggled with working on the business together and how we set boundaries around work and family time.Listen in to understand why we decided to homeschool our kids and learn how we set goals as a family to live intentionally, in alignment with our values!For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session345/

One of the beautiful things about investing in real estate is its tax benefits. And the 1031 exchange is a common strategy we use to avoid paying capital gains.But most of us haven’t studied IRC Section 1031 enough to know ALL the ways we can use the tax code to reinvest our real estate profits—rather than handing them over to Uncle Sam.Dave Foster is the 1031 exchange expert, qualified intermediary and tax strategist behind The 1031 Investor, a platform that helps investors build and preserve real estate wealth.Dave has supported thousands of investors in achieving financial freedom by maximizing their reinvestment opportunities.On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Dave joins Garrett to discuss the rules for doing a 1031 exchange in a syndication and describe what to look for in a qualified intermediary or QI.Dave shares his top strategies for buying time in a like-kind exchange and walks us through the tax benefits of converting an investment property into your primary residence.Listen in to understand the common mistakes investors make in a 1031 exchange and learn how to make the most of the tax code and accelerate your path to financial freedom with real estate!For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session344/

Owning class D properties in neighborhoods plagued by gang violence, prostitution and drug abuse is not easy. But it does give an owner-operator the street smarts to keep themselves, their employees and properties safe. And it makes for some pretty crazy stories!On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Garrett follows up on his previous solo episode with more stories from his experience as an investor in Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods.Garrett discusses what he did to prevent theft at vacant multifamily properties and describes how firing a maintenance worker nearly caused a gang war at one of his buildings.Listen in for the story of how Garrett’s maintenance team caught a killer and find out what it’s like to collect rent at night not too far from Chicago’s infamous O Block.For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session343/

All CPAs are not created equal. And if you’re working with an accountant who doesn’t understand real estate tax strategy, you may be leaving tens of thousands of dollars on the table.Thomas Castelli, CPA, CFP, is Partner at Hall CPA, an entrepreneurial accounting firm that helps real estate investors minimize tax and maximize profit.Out of college, Thomas landed a ‘dream job’ at a traditional accounting firm but soon realized he wasn’t on the path to the lifestyle he wanted. To achieve financial freedom, he built a portfolio of passive investments in apartment buildings before participating in his first deal as an active partner.On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Thomas joins Garrett and me to discuss why he chose to put his money in multifamily over other investments.Thomas offers a high-level overview of how the taxation of real estate works, explaining who benefits from bonus depreciation and why we can report a loss despite earning substantial cashflow.Listen in for Thomas’ top strategies for deferring capital gains and find out why tax planning is so important for real estate investors!For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session343/

In the spring of 2020, store shelves were empty. And supply chain issues have disrupted businesses of all kinds ever since—including real estate.But what, exactly, is causing these problems in the supply chain? And when will things get back to normal?Jeff Davis is both a supply chain expert and real estate investor, serving as a senior sales executive for a Fortune 100 global logistics firm and Managing Partner at Bridgestone Holdings, where he has built a portfolio of 952 units.On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Jeff joins Garrett and me to explain what is causing our ongoing supply chain issues and why things haven’t normalized since the pandemic.Jeff discusses how rising interest rates impact the supply chain and shares his take on when construction costs might return to pre-COVID levels.Listen in for Jeff’s insight on underwriting deals in the current economic environment and learn how to navigate supply chain concerns as a multifamily investor.For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session342/

When you’re a new real estate syndicator with a smaller network, you can keep track of investors with a spreadsheet and work through the process of raising money manually.But as you grow your investor database, it becomes more and more tedious to do things this way.The good news is, you can leverage investor management software to automate the process of drafting legal documents and wiring money, saving yourself and your investors a lot of time and trouble.So, how do you choose an investor portal that’s the right fit for you and your syndication business?Perry Zheng is Founder and CEO of Cash Flow Portal, a real estate syndication platform that helps syndicators streamline the process of raising equity, automate operations and attract more investors.Perry began his career as a software engineer, taking on roles at Twitter, Amazon and Lyft. He has also acted as lead sponsor on three apartment syndications, raising $20M to build a portfolio of 850 units.On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Perry joins Garrett and me to explain how his frustrations with the process of raising capital inspired the creation of Cash Flow Portal.Perry discusses how GPs and LPs alike benefit from using an investor management platform and describes what differentiates Cash Flow Portal from other syndication software on the market.Listen in for Perry’s insight on vetting investor management software and find out if Cash Flow Portal is the right long-term partner for you!For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session340/

Michael Flight used to be a crypto-skeptic. But as he learned more about the blockchain and its potential to make real estate more accessible to a wider audience, he became a crypto-innovator.Today, Michael is CEO of Liberty Real Estate Fund LLC, the world’s first net lease security token fund. With 34 years of investing experience, he is leveraging the blockchain to tokenize ownership of high-quality commercial real estate.On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Michael joins me to explain how his beliefs around freedom drew him to blockchain technology.Michael describes the connections between real estate and the blockchain, discussing how it makes syndications more accessible and solves the liquidity problem in multifamily investing.Listen in to understand how the SEC governs tokenized real estate deals and learn how to take the first steps in offering a multifamily syndication on the blockchain.For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session341/

No matter what asset class you want to invest in, creativity is key—especially if you don’t have a rich uncle to help you get started!You just have to stop asking yourself, ‘Can I do this?’ And start asking yourself, ‘How can I do this?’Christian Osgood left his sales job with CoStar Group to become a full-time investor at age 29. And in the last 18 months, he leveraged creative financing to build a portfolio of 95 units.Today, he is Cofounder of Multifamily Strategy, a platform that helps others achieve financial freedom with real estate and take back control of their lives.On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Christian joins Garrett and me to discuss his top creative strategies for buying property, challenging us to think beyond price when we negotiate a deal.Christian walks us through the fundamentals of seller financing, explaining how he introduces himself to property owners and why he focuses on understanding their goals to build a strong relationship.Listen in for Christian’s insight on using Google Maps to ‘drive for dollars’ and learn his formula for finding creative ways to close a real estate deal.For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session338/

When I got started in multifamily, I was much too hands-off with property managers. Yes, I reviewed the numbers, but otherwise, I stayed away and simply let them manage everything.Then I realized that experienced syndicators are much more actively involved with their property management companies, and we started to build more collaborative relationships.So, where is the sweet spot between too hands-off and too involved? What does a healthy relationship between property managers and ownership groups look like?Nathan Ridgeway is Regional Vice President at First Communities, one of the nation’s most successful property management companies.Founded in 1978, FCM has managed over 200K units in 100K communities, growing their market reach to include Washington DC, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte and Nashville.On this episode of Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, Nathan joins Garrett and me to discuss the relationship between property management companies and ownership groups.Nathan explains what differentiates FCM from other property management companies, describing his team’s approach to building a deep bench in a given market and managing expectations with ownership groups.Listen in for Nathan's advice on vetting a property manager and learn how to strike the right balance between trusting your management team and verifying their performance.For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session337/