Retire Early with Real Estate with Chad Carson
I recently met with a client who listened to my financially naked episode and assumed I wouldn’t approve of a real estate purchase she made, because I declared in that episode that I was over real estate. Well, I am over real estate, but just in the sense of owning where you live. I actually love real estate as another stream of income for investment purposes, or, in the case of this client, owning a place that brings joy and makes the daily grind worth it.Today, I have back on the show Chad Carson, who is a firm believer that real estate is the way to financial independence. He should know, he is living proof. He is going to talk about his latest book, Retire Early with Real Estate.
What are we drinking?
Chad — New Belgium Voodoo Ranger
Shannon — Pinot Noir Irony
Podcast Notes
The last time Chad was on the podcast was two years ago, when he was planning his sabbatical to Ecuador. Click here to listen to the show.
His sabbatical was planned for a year but ended up lasting from January 2017 through May 2018. Chad and his wife love to travel, both speak Spanish, and wanted to live in another place and have their kids immersed in a different language and culture. After four or five months, their kids were speaking in Spanish. Their kids were ages 3 and 5.
Chad and his family lived in an urban area, and they enjoyed not having a car. They were happy without the traffic and walking everywhere. It gave them an opportunity to bump into people. Life was slower there. They learned to take it easy and slow it down a bit.
Boredom breeds creativity. Sometimes you need to unplug to figure out what is next.
Life in Ecuador is less expensive. The city Chad lived in was $600 a month for a furnished, two-bedroom, two-bath apartment. Monthly living expenses were $3,000 a month for his family.
Anything is possible if you have your finances in order.
Chad recently wrote a book called “Retire Early with Real Estate: How Smart Investing Can Help You Escape the 9-5 Grind and do More of What Matters”.
The framework is to use real estate investing to help you reach financial independence. He gives different options on how to use real estate. There are a lot of diagrams in the book to help explain the concepts. The bottom line is real estate doesn’t have to be complicated.
Main concept: Buy a property in a good, working class location, and make sure the income on the property meets a certain goal (rent, appreciation, etc.). The reason you like a neighborhood should be the same reason you buy a property.
Do an extra layer of due diligence up front when researching a property. If you do your homework, it can be very profitable down the road.
Chad has 90 rental units that he has other people managing. The most important team member is a local property manager. Put the most effort into vetting this person - check their references.
If you have good credit, sometimes you only need $10,000 to $20,000 down. You will need to budget the property manager into the income you expect to receive from the rental. If you have more than one unit, you can leverage the amount of units to get a better rate from the property manager.
Property managers typically work on commission based on what they perform. Often you pay 10% of the rent they collect and 50% or 100% of the lease when they rent it out.
It is important to have written qualifications on what a renter needs to have in order to rent your unit. This could include a certain credit score, income, references, time on the job, etc. If a renter doesn’t meet the qualifications, you move on to the next person.
If you have a mortgage, make sure you have some safeguards in place.
Big Shifts Ahead, written by John Burns and Chris Porter, is a book about real estate trends that Chad recommends. The long-term trend is that home ownership rates are not going to be as high as they were in the past. Being a landlord is filling a gap in the market. When looking for a property to buy, you need to follow big-picture trends.
If you have a location you like to visit, you can live in another place and purchase a rental. Airbnb has made it easier to rent out your investment property, if you don’t want to use a property manager.
BiggerPockets is the biggest online community of real estate investors.
Chad’s book can be found on Amazon and BiggerPockets.
TAKEAWAY: My biggest takeaway is to literally buy Chad’s book, if you are thinking about real estate as a part of your investment portfolio. I rarely to tell you to spend your money on things, because I want you to spend it wisely, but I really, honestly love this book. It is such a great all-around resource, and I appreciate all the work he put into it to provide a great real estate solution for just about everyone.
Random Three Questions
Would you take another sabbatical, and, if so, where would you go?
If you were on death row, what would be your last meal?
If you were to live anywhere in the U.S. other than the south, where would you live?
Connect with Chad
Website: www.CoachCarson.comBook: Retire EarlyInstagram: @coachcarson1Twitter: @coachchadcarsonFacebook: Coach CarsonIf you’d like help figuring out how real estate can lead you to financial independence, or attaining other financial goals, I hope you’ll reach out to my team at the Financial Gym. I believe so much in my team and our process, that we have recently implemented a money-back guarantee. I guarantee that you will be better off having worked with us. There is no excuse to not reach out! Go to, or send friends to, financialgym.com to sign up for a free warm up call to find out more.