Life is Life!

#008: How To: Never too Early to Invest in Real Estate with Logan Allec

June 10, 2019 Felipe Arevalo, Chase Peckham, Katie Utterback, Logan Allec Season 1 Episode 8
Life is Life!
#008: How To: Never too Early to Invest in Real Estate with Logan Allec
Show Notes Transcript

The crew of Talk Wealth To Me talks with Logan Allec, a CPA with a Masters in Taxation who began investing in real estate in his 20s. 

Logan is a frequent source on financial topics for news outlets including NBC News, MarketWatch, BankRate, HuffPost, USA Today, and U.S. News & World Report. Logan also has a website - MoneyDoneRight.com, where he helps people make better financial decisions by educating them on topics including making more money, saving more money, and growing their streams of passive income.

For many, real estate investments are uncharted territory. Unlike stocks and bonds — often called “standard assets” — real estate is considered an “alternative asset,” historically difficult to access and afford.

15% of Americans were investing in property outside their primary residence, according to a RealtyShares survey. What holds people back? The costs and skills needed to get started. Only 38% of those surveyed thought they’d actually be able to flip a house start to finish, and more than 80% of millennials wished that real estate investing was easier.

Comments, questions or suggestions for the show? Email us at talkwealthpodcast@gmail.com.

Want to learn more about Logan Allec? Visit his website MoneyDoneRight.com.

To learn more about DebtWave Credit Counseling, visit our website or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

To learn more about the San Diego Financial Literacy Center, visit our website or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

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Intro:

Welcome to Talk Wealth to Me. A safe space podcast where we chat about anything and everything related to personal finance.

Felipe:

The information contained in this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It does not constitute as accounting, legal, tax or other professional advice.

Chase:

Hello everybody. Welcome to another edition of Talk Wealth To Me. I'm Chase Peckham with the San Diego Financial Literacy Center. Today is really one of the coolest podcasts that Katie, Felipe and I have done. Uh, Logan Allec, uh, he's a CPA, uh, got a master's in taxation and he does none of that now. He has, he's a financial expert. He does a website called money done right.com. And he talks about even at a very young age, how he went through the process of making money and making a living by rental properties. And he really takes us through what it took and it really wasn't much, it was fascinating. So take a listen.

Katie:

Joining us today on the show is Logan Allen. Logan is a CPA with a masters in taxation. He's a frequent source on financial topics for news outlets, including NBC News Market Watch, Bank rate, huff post USA Today and US News and world report. Logan also has a website money done right.com where he helps people make better financial decisions by educating them on topics, including making more money, saving more money, and growing their streams of passive income. Logan, thank you so much for joining us on our show today.

Logan Allec:

Of course, it's wonderful to be here

Katie:

And we wanted to talk to you about investing in real estate. A couple of weeks ago we did a show on first time home buying, but this is a whole different beast.

Logan Allec:

Yeah, it really is. And I think, um, you can combine the two, you know, and then your, your first home can be your, your first real estate investment. And I think that's a smart move for a lot of folks. Um, you know, who are just starting out in their twenties to, to get started investing in real estate.

Katie:

And I mean, how did you kind of fall into this? Do you personally, are you investing in real estate?

Logan Allec:

Yeah, I, I do really enjoy investing in real estate. Um, how I got into it was just through my CPA background. I worked with a lot of real estate investors and, um, I entered the field, I graduated college back in 2009. And, um, you know, the economy wasn't doing so hot and a lot of house flippers and those kinds of folks, they were, they were losing their shirts. Um, you know, some of them. But, uh, I did notice that the ones that were, were doing okay or the folks, um, you know, who just invent, who were investing in and stable rental properties. Um, and so, you know, that piqued my interest then. Um, and that, that's what got me interested in, in real estate investing a bit earlier than I think other people get into it.

Chase :

So I, I think most people when they're listening to this, and I think when they think of investing in real estate, they're going to think what they watch for every half hour on HDTV, right? Like flip this house. Um, and the different shows that they have on that. If there's a variety of different ways to invest in real estate. Correct?

Logan Allec:

Yeah, that's correct. And you know, in a sense, I, I almost think of flipping a house at flipping houses is more like a, like a job. Um, you know, you're to some degree you have to manage these different projects. Um, you know, perhaps at a certain level you can build a business and, and have people manage those projects for you. But, um, I don't personally consider that, uh, you know, some, so much investing. Um, although I did do a couple of house flips, um, you know, when I, when I talk about investing and things I'm, I think I'm most passionate about when it comes from real estate is longterm rental properties and get into those early in life. Um, and it's easier than you think. You know, I think a lot of people, they, uh, they think, oh man, you know, I need, you know,$1 million in the bank before I start investing in real estate. And that's just, that's just not true.

Chase:

So if you're a 20 something, let's say you're, you're, you're somewhat into the, your professional life, your 25 to 30, uh, you're thinking about doing these kinds of things, where would you start?

Logan Allec:

You know, what I recommend is looking into house hacking. Uh, my first deal was a four unit property. I and a, I got an FHA loan put three and a half percent down on it and um, you know, that's how I became a landlord early on in my twenties. I, you know, I think the, the big kind of hindrance for a lot of young people getting started in investing is, is the cash, right? They just, they think they don't have the cash, you know, they don't have the cash for a down payment on, you know, a small multifamily. Well, um, you know, there are programs out there like FHA loans and a couple other programs that you can, uh, take advantage of where you don't need that huge initial cash outlay out front. That being said, because you are so highly leveraged, you really got to make sure the numbers make sense. Or you can dig yourself into a, to a whole borrowing that much money. So it's a double edged sword. But, um, you know, if, if you've really done your due diligence and you've found a good deal, it can, it can be a great longterm investment.

Katie:

And is that a key, I guess, phrase that you just used right there? It's a long term investment.

Logan Allec:

Well that is my personal investment philosophy with real estate. Um, you know, I run my website full time and that occupies the, you know, the majority of my hours. So I view my real estate holdings as a passive income stream, um, things that are going to hold for the long term. So, um, that's, that's my personal investment philosophy.

Katie:

And maybe you could expand on that too, for people that maybe are not as familiar with a passive income, what that means and maybe what the benefit of that is

Logan Allec:

Right. So when I think of passive income, and I use the phrase passive income, I'm talking about, uh, you know, something where I get money every month or perhaps every quarter. And I don't even have to think about it. So that's like me, when I say passive income, you know, as opposed to active income, which is, you know, like a job or my website, which is, you know, my small business, you know, I'm working on that website, uh, you know, hours every single day. There's a sense in which that my blog is passive because, you know, even if I don't work on it, uh, it'll still make me money that day. But, um, you know, it's, it's, it because I'm invested in the longterm growth of it. I, I do spend a substantial amount of time on it every week as opposed to my real estate holdings where, um, you know, they, I, I don't spend hardly any time on them, but they still pay me every month.

Felipe:

So Logan, We're here in San Diego, so, you know, relatively expensive, uh, real estate area. Um, so you're saying is there's a way for a younger maybe getting started professional, uh, to get into real estate investment early in their career, even in an area like San Diego.

Logan Allec:

Yeah, I would say so. Uh, you might have to look out in the boonies a little bit though. Okay. And that, you know, that that was a mistake I made. Um, I live in Orange County at the time. Ooh. And Ah, you know, I wanted to, uh, you know, I was looking basically in Orange County. Uh, I was looking in the wrong places because you had to, uh, you know, the stuff is very expensive. There are similar to San Diego and, um, I didn't find a deal well up to Orange County. Uh, I moved to Los Angeles uh, just for personal reasons at that time. I was looking for a deal at that point as well. And again, I was kinda looking at the wrong places. I eventually found a deal where the numbers made sense and that I could afford, um, about 50 miles outside of downtown LA where I worked at the time. So it took a bit of sacrifice. Uh, you know, I didn't have a, a nice a 10 minute commute on the subway anymore. Um, you know, now I had to take a train from, you know, this, this four unit I bought and lived in, you have to live in it to get the low down payment financing by the way. Um, so, you know, there was, there were some sacrifices involved in that, but you know, you only have to live in it for a year. Um, so, and that's why I think it's so great for people to do while they're young because, uh, you know, with, with a family now, you know, it's, it's probably, it would probably be a lot more difficult to live in this, you know, this property and, you know, live among my tenants and then have this long commute. But I think if people, um, you know, make it a goal to accomplish this in their twenties, uh, you know, earlier on in life, it's, it's something they can, um, you know, something that will really benefit them longterm.

Chase:

So I think that's interesting. And, and for, for people that are younger that are listening to this, that are thinking about doing something like this, kinda take us through your initial investment? What you did, what the thought process was, what you learned, what you would do differently or in have done differently. I think that that would be really, really important. And, and uh, eyeopening or ear opening, I guess in this case, uh, for our listeners.

Logan Allec:

Yeah. I think the number one thing, if, if you want to get started investing and you know, you're in your 20s and you might not have a lot of cash, is you have to be open to, to expanding your geographic search. And that's the mistake I made early on and I kind of touched on it. Um, you know, I just, you know, I was just getting outbid left and right, you know, and in LA Proper, um, you know, so you might have to look outside, uh, you know, where you think the hot market is at the time or to find deal. Um, you know, but if the numbers make sense, the numbers make sense. And that's kind of my second point here. Um, you, you, you really want to do your due diligence before you go out and borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars on your, on your first investment property. Uh, you want to make sure you're all disclosures from the seller are, um, you know, you've reviewed all of them and that any questions you have, you've asked them. You are working with an experienced agent, um, who has, uh, hopefully as an investor, him or herself. Um, so any want to make sure that, uh, you know, you're not just, um, just buying a property just for the sake of buying a property. I think a lot of new investors they get, they get antsy when they don't find their first deal within the first three days or three weeks or even three months. And so they just jump into something that, that actually turns out to be a real headache. So, um, you know, I would say taking your time and making sure that you've done your due diligence is important as well.

Chase:

So when you buy that duplex, so to speak, with the, with the four units, you live in one of them. So that means you're going to rent out three. So are you figuring, obviously at this point, this isn't just to make sure you cover your mortgage, you're hoping to pull in a lot more than that. And is that typically the case?

Logan Allec:

Yeah. So, um, you are hoping to, well there's actually a rule if you get an FHA loan called the self sufficiency role where, um, you know, the rents collected on all the units have to exceed. And I think they changed the rule recently, but when I was buying at least 75% of, uh, you know, your monthly payment, um, you know, your, your mortgage principle, your interest, property taxes and of course the mortgage insurance premium that you have to pay on a, on a low down payment, FHA loan. So, um, but then there's another, there's another way to look at this, which is, um, you know, okay, yeah, you're living in one unit, you're renting out three. Even if you're, hopefully this isn't the case, but it might be the case. It's an expensive area. Even if you're a little bit cat, you know, even if you're just breaking even or just a little, you know, a hundred bucks, 200 bucks, clash, flow negative on that, you know, while you're still living there, that can be viewed at, as you know, your housing costs are only 200 bucks, you know, when, when did you move out? Um, you know, you're eventually going to cashflow. So raw, I mean, as opposed to, um, you know, maybe being in a, in a situation where a, which is a typical thing, you're, you're, you buy that Nice House in the suburbs and you're, you know, now you have this$2,000 mortgage payment, um, that you may or not may not be able to afford. So, um, you know, people are up to it. I really recommend making a, you know, your first property, a at an investment property that you live in at possible.

Katie:

And do you, when you're looking at investment properties, do you always want to try and make sure that you're willing to live there if you're going to pour that much money into it?

Logan Allec:

Well for this particular one because you know, I was in my early twenties, I didn't have a lot of cash. I had a, I could, I had to put a low down payment down for those kinds of programs. You generally have to live in the property. Um, you know, too. But it, so I would say in that case, yeah, I mean it has to be a place you were willing to live. But you know, after that first investment, um, you know, I made other investments that in properties that were, I didn't live in and your, those are properties that I may not have wanted to live in, but still it was the type of property that was in demand for that area. And, uh, you know, that's what really matters. You know, it's, it's the question isn't do people, do you want to live there? It's, hey, does everyone who lives in that zip code or that city, is it the kind of property that, you know, those kinds of people with their demographic, you know, married with three kids. Is that the kind of, is that the kind of property they want to live it. And I think that's kind of a, a good rule of thumb.

Katie:

Oh sure. That makes sense. So I'm guessing then the real estate investments will vary throughout the country based on the demands that each city has that are unique to, I guess, the demographics or the desires of that population.

Logan Allec:

Sure. Yeah. And I think that's why he's important to, uh, you know, to take that into account. Um, you know, for example, uh, uh, in one thing that could keep to keep in mind is that over time, the demographics of a certain area change, right? So, you know, while 50 years ago, maybe there was some, some building, some properties, built, there are some houses built, uh, you know, that were three bed, two bath to accommodate kind of the, um, the quote unquote nuclear family. Right. You know, married with a couple of kids. Well, you know, now, um, you know, this, this community might just be a bunch of retirees, uh, you know, uh, single people or, or you know, just couples, you know, they might not need all that room anymore and they might actually be looking for something smaller. So maybe if you bought something smaller in that neighborhood that they don't necessarily want to, you know, uh, keep up a huge house anymore, you know, if they're hitting their golden years. So, um, you know, maybe the neighborhood like that you want to kind of look for, um, you know, a smaller houses actually that appealed more to that demographic if that's where the population is shifting. So you got to take you into account the demographics of an area, of course, in addition to just the round numbers.

Felipe:

So it sounds like you do, and we see this across lots of, uh, the financial topics. You do plenty of research before you go jumping into something.

Logan Allec:

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, especially with with, with real estate where you're, you're just borrowing, you know, in my case a hundred thousands of dollars, um, you don't want to, you don't want to go into that lightly. So, you know, I think with, with any investment, especially leveraged investments, um, you know, you really want to make sure that you've done your due diligence and that you're not walking into something that could instead of, you know, putting you ahead a decade investment wise that set you back, um, investment wise. So, um, yeah, definitely important to research any and all investment opportunities.

Chase:

So you would imagine in this is I would take longterm rentals, right? Because with the days of the VRBO and, and those new websites where we have short term rentals, would you ever recommend somebody buying a property typically just for that?

Logan Allec:

You know, when I was a CPA I had um, uh, or I was an active CPA. I had clients, you know, who they invested, um, in the Disneyland area. Um, and you know, you can't really make too much cashflow around there other than with short term rentals and, um, you know, they're, they're having a rough go right now or last time I, I was in touch with them because of, um, because of a regulation, zoning laws yeah. And forth. So, you know. Yeah. And that's another thing that might go to, right. Yeah. That, that might look good on paper. Right. It's like, Oh wow, okay. If I rented this thing along, you know, with a 12 month leases, I'd be in the red. Oh. But wait, you know, I can, I can charge, you know, one of them had this, this house than it had like a star wars room and a little mermaid rooms. You know, they really decked it out and put just a of, uh, you know, effort into it. And they were able to charge, gosh, I forget how much, but, you know, it was a large house and they were able to charge at least a thousand bucks a night, I believe. Um, you know, because it was just such a cool house. And, um, but, uh, you know, regulation and thing like that tightened up and, um, you know, I don't think, I think they're still on one of them, but they got de-listed from another one. And so, you know, there, there's a risk is what I'm trying to say. So, um, there's that regulation and risk as well. Um, you know, there are things like with HOAs, you know, if you're investing in a, in a property in an Hoa, you know, lots of HOA's now they, they, they don't let you, You know, uh, def most Hoa ways wouldn't let you do short term rentals. That's usually in there. They're a CCO there. They're the worst. Yeah. The rules and regulations. But, um, you know, there's even like longterm rentals as well. Uh, you know, usually Hoa is, aren't too strict about that, but you know, HOA, they can take and they can change at any time. You know, it's just because it's that way now. It's not guaranteed at, you know, that that's going to be the rules, you know, five, 10 years from now. So, um, yeah, you've got to kind of think of all these things when you're, uh, when you're, um, when you're pulling the trigger,

Chase:

let me ask you this. So are you at a point now where you have multiple properties that you do that with and have management companies handle those?

Logan Allec:

Um, I, I, yes, I, I still have multiple properties. Um, and over the past few years though, I have sold properties and now I'm investing in a, a lot of syndication deals, which means, you know, I own a small percentage of a, of a larger, you know, like apartment building in Phoenix or, um, I own a small percentage of the development deal and in Newport beach, et Cetera, et cetera. So in the commercial, yeah, more and more into that kind of thing, commercial and where, um, yeah, just to kind of diversify the portfolio and you know, syndications are even more passive, right? Cause you just had to make your investment and um, and get the check.

Chase:

So where are you on REITs? I know that those are kind of, that you hear them on the radio now, you, you'll have CPA or not CPA, you'll have CFPs kind of discuss those kinds of opportunities with people. Do you know, have or are familiar with, with REITs?

Logan Allec:

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, REITs, I don't, I don't own any REIT, you know, individual REIT shares. I invested in REITs through, um, you know, various funds that I'm invested through through, you know, like a vanguard or fidelity account. Okay. Um, I know there's popped up a lot of these, uh, you know, kind of so called private REITs recently. Um, you know, there's one around here. Uh, you know, and I, I do, um, I, I do promote some of these on my website, so I'm not sure how much I can really, um, talk about

Chase:

divulge into it.

Logan Allec:

Yeah

Chase:

yeah, that makes, I know that it can be, they can be pretty confusing, but they also can be very opportunistic as well.

Logan Allec:

Yeah, exactly. You know, I'm not speaking about private REITs in general, but any real real estate fund, um, you know, on the perspectives and things, they'll typically give you. You know, and you should, you got to take this with all with a grain of salt. But they'll give you like a time horizon and kind of their investment strategy, you know, some uh, funds or some REITs. They're very, um, you know, their, their strategy is short term. You know, there's a, you know, an example is there's an apartment building, uh, and you're of these apartment buildings that are owned by these mom and pop investors who are in over their head. We're going to go in and make them a, an offer, you know, uh, get a real cheap, you know, evict all the tenants. Uh, do a rehab, a raise the rents, refi or sell it wherever the market is where it's a little more of an aggressive strategy. And, uh, you know, on the other end there's more kind of core funds, um, which, uh, which means that, uh, you know, these are, these are more longer term assets. So, you know, there's an array of investment strategies as well, even in the syndication space.

Chase:

So what would you say that you learned? What was, what's the mistake that you made early that you wouldn't make again?

Logan Allec:

Um, well I bemoan the fact that I waited so long to, uh, to actually do the first deal. Um, I was, I was a a, what's the phrase? A tire kicker. Um, you know, I, I enjoyed reading about it online and kind of have this analysis by paralysis by analysis type of thing. And, um, you know, it, it relatively speaking, it took me, um, it took me a few years before I eventually pulled the trigger. And I guess if there's one, one thing I would have done differently, uh, you know, I would have just, um, you know, not, uh, not lolly gag I guess is how I'd put it.

Chase:

I like that, that we find that a lot. Um, I think when we even talking about investing or, and, and not even investing directly, but when people are trying to, you know, put away for retirement and they get introduced to their 401ks for the first time and they'll go three, four years without putting in any of their paycheck to it because they think, oh, there's, I got lots of time and in reality, every month, every year that goes by, right, you're, that, that's income that you are wasting. And the younger you are, the more it builds up, the more you're going to have an opportunity, uh, to build that retirement. And I think that same thing goes with different decisions that we make. Not that you want to jump into something right away, but at the same time you probably knew exactly what you needed to know months, maybe even years before you made the leap.

Logan Allec:

Yeah, exactly. I, you know, I think that's kind of the, uh, you know, a negative two. I'm kind of my kind of my background as a, as a CPA and kind of that really wanting to dot all the i's, cross all the t's is, you know, what I. Dot. I. Dot. All the i's and crossed all the t's two years ago, but I still haven't done anything, you know, so, um, but yeah, in to your point, you know, time is really the investors best friend. Um, you know, I, I, you know, you, even if even if you have soccer, what, you know, if your soccer, what if your sock away a certain amount of month, you know, every month when you're 25 until you're 65 versus starting at 35 to 65 at, you know, an average 7% return. Um, you know, if you're doing well, yeah, you're going to have double, you know, the, the, the, the, the, the nest egg is 65. had you started at 25 instead of 35. Um, so, you know, but to that point though, and I know we're talking about real estate a lot here, and he brought up 401k is I would say, you know, before people start jumping into real estate, you know, if your employer's 401k has a match, you know, do that first. Uh, that's just, that's just free money. And I think that's kind of just low hanging fruit that a lot of folks, you know, early on in life and maybe even later on in life do this. They just don't take advantage of.

Felipe:

Yeah. We always tell people it's a, like for example, let's say they were going to do a 4% match, you know, we like to ask, well, would you pass up a 4% raise? Well, no. Why would I do that? That's kind of what you're doing by not contributing at least 4%.

Logan Allec:

Yeah, exactly. So, um, you know, I think it's kind of sad just the state of, um, you know, financial education in, um, Eh, you know, in, in most for most people, they just, it's even just the basics. They don't understand it. That's one thing I'm trying to do, you know, through my, through my website money done right, is to um, you know, help bridge that gap. Just like many, just like, you know, you folks are doing with this financial literacy center, just like so many other people in this space are doing, uh, throughout the country on the world.

Chase:

So this the website for you as a full time job. And so I guess, you know, where some people may be Uber drivers and some people may do, you know, what they would call side hustle, that maybe touching in and getting into real estate as far as rental units in those kinds of things is your own version of, of side hustle just, and you're not really working.

Logan Allec:

Are you, sorry, you're talking, sorry. Sorry, I missed you a little bit there. You're talking about the real estate as a side hustle.

Chase:

Yes.

Logan Allec:

Yeah, I would say that, um, it's uh, you know, it's not really a something that I do full time and you know, honestly, my website was a side hustle at first. Um, you know, I used to be a CPA and I doing tax, you know, tax consulting and things like that. And um, you know, eventually that side hustle became a full time hustle. But you know, I definitely keep onto that passive income real estate, um, side hustle, if you want to call it that. Although, you know, I don't feel it so much as a hustle because, uh, I do view it as more of a passive thing, the real estate. But um, you know, we'll see. We'll see how things go on and how things go. A, you know, market wise in the, in the near future I might, I might start hustling for some real estate deals again.

Chase:

That's awesome. Thank you very, very much for being with us today. I, I, I learned a ton. I did. In fact, now I'm thinking I need to go, my wife and I had to go put months, some money somewhere else. That might not be a bad way to do it.

Logan Allec:

Yeah. I mean, it's a, you know, that that is out there. It's just, um, you know, I don't think a lot of people take advantage of, of the programs that are out there to get started. I'm investing in a small unit, multi unit early on.

Chase:

I think my biggest thing, one, one thing before you go, what was your experiences of being a landlord? Because you do, you know, you are taking on that responsibility by living around, in your case, three other tenants that, you know, could, you know, be great tenants, could be not so great tenants. What were the headaches? I mean, did the gain in the income completely outweigh the headaches?

Logan Allec:

You know, I've, I've been blessed with good tenants. I think, uh, but, uh, the thing I want to say about that is, especially if you're doing this, start doing the same thing and you're starting young in your 20s. And you know, in my case, my tenants, they were all significantly, you know, decades older than me. And, uh, you know, they didn't try to feel me out at first. Um, you know, trying to ask for things that weren't the lease, trying to look for little favors and things like that. And you just have got to be firm and earn their respect, especially if you live around them, you know, it, it's one thing where, you know, you own this property and, you know, I didn't have a property manager then, you know, just me. I was just, I, I live there. So, you know, I manage them obviously. So, um, you know, as in my first deal, but you really, what you really got to kind of take control of the situation at the beginning. Um, you know, especially if you're young investor, you know, they're going to kind of size you up and kind of think they might be able to take advantage of your youth and experience and you know, this being our first property and they've lived there for 15 years, but um, you know, you just gotta be stern and you know, make sure everything is in the lease. Um, so you can kind of preemptively deal with these situations. But I think after I had earned their respect as a landlord, you know, that made things a, they magically became better tenants after that. So.

Katie:

Well, it sounds like it's a good thing. You were a CPA who knew how to dot his i's and cross his t's.

Logan Allec:

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, with the least, there's, there's, you know, apartments, associations around and things like that who have standard leases. Um, you know, I'm not a lawyer, but uh, you know, some people do like to have a lawyer look over their lease especially, you know, but the property, you know, with a pool or you know, you just for unique situations, um, yeah, it's definitely important to make sure that you have all your, uh, all your ducks in a row in case you need them.

Katie:

All right. So anybody that wants to learn more about you or maybe investing, they can just go to money.money done right.com.

Logan Allec:

Yes, my done right.com and say a personal financial website that I started as a side hustle back in 2017 and um, you know, the income from it eventually eclipse my job as a CPA. And so I'm now I do it full time.

Chase:

Now That's that'll be another podcast. We'll be calling you back. Okay. We'll be talking about how that experience was, because we do get a lot of people, we work with quite a few people who are interested in taking, you know, their business ideas and making them come to light. Uh, and, but they want it so fast and they want it so quickly, uh, that it doesn't always come to fruition. So we'd love to talk to you about your experience with, with, uh, the site as well if you're up for that.

Logan Allec:

Yeah, sure. I'd, I'd love to come back on and talk about that, uh, that, that experience. Um, cause it, it definitely changed my life.

Felipe:

You're still in your 20s

Katie:

I am still in my 20s.

Chase:

She is in her twenties, I'm in, I'm 47 years old. And it was a very interesting interview in the fact that, you know, I'm in a completely different phase of life and I kept thinking while he was talking about, Dang it, I wish, you know, if I could have gone back, if I could go back and I could, you know, even contemplate, I'd love to say I was smart enough to even think about that at a young age. But I didn't

Felipe:

Right, I like to say I did the research and, and weighed the pros and the cons, but I didn't think of that.

Chase:

Yeah. Or did you probably just like he said, probably never thought that that was doable by somebody like me at that stage of my life when in actuality it really was cause I was just looking for a place to live. Yeah. And then thinking about making money on something that you're, where you're actually living. That just didn't, that wasn't in my purview at the time in my mid to late twenties and, and even even into my thirties when I started to have kids and my career was full going full store, full steam ahead. And that it's really interesting and how some people just, they have, you know, but he happened to be working with money and money and that situation, so he was thinking about that stuff where not all of us think that way. I wish somebody would have tapped me on the shoulder a little earlier and said, hey, I checked. This might be a good idea. Yeah, right.

Katie:

There is a benefit when you're comfortable with money and numbers, like you're almost ahead of the game on a lot of different things because I know for me personally, I had to overcome my dislike and fear of money. I liked what money could give me, but I didn't really know or like want to talk about it. But if I would have invested, I mean I'd be sitting pretty right now.

Chase:

Again, I think a lot of people we run into this a lot that they just feel like that they're not very smart with money or they don't really understand money because either they didn't, they've never had it. Right. They didn't. They don't know how to really use it. It's a means to an end. It's, I get paid by my job and then I pay for this stuff that I need to live on. And then things that buy, things that make me happy, go do things that make me happy and the money pays for that. But they honestly don't ever think about the way that money can actually work for them. That's tricky. Yeah.

Felipe:

It's the lack of the, uh, longterm, a foresight to look and say, you know, if I put this money away, it's more rewarding to go drink my coffee now. But if I were to invest in the coffee store, for example, I was, uh, when I'm presenting, I like to, uh, do the example. What if I, instead of all the money I spent drinking coffee in college, I'd invested in Starbucks.

Chase:

Yeah. Without a doubt. You've been doing a lot better. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And you can get into those kinds of things a little by little and build it up. But like anything else you're going to have to do and make educated decisions in everything you do, whether it's budgeting and buying shoes and or you know, the, whether you need a bigger apartment or I want to live near the beach versus living out in suburbia. There's good and bad and give and take with all of it and it's making educated decisions on what are best for you. But most people just are scared to make the leap. Like you mentioned at the end of the uh the end of the discussion that he had, he wishes he would have done it earlier and that he didn't take so much time analysis pipe, a paralysis by analysis. He said, and that is so true on so many levels, but at the same time you don't want to just go jumping into things.

Katie:

No

Felipe:

Because that can get you into more trouble. Right?

Chase:

Yeah, definitely.

Katie:

But you know another angle, I was just thinking about this. I have a friend from college, she and her wife just bought a house in Seattle. And when they first put up the pictures of their house on Facebook, I thought it looked really ugly and they have poured so much sweat equity into this house. It is stunning now. And that's another part of I think real estate or like an investment. I never really thought about. The house maybe I can afford to invest in or fix up or something may not look like I want it to when I buy it. But once I pour that energy in, I mean the value of it could skyrocket.

Felipe:

Right. Uh, it's, it's, it's always win if you're looking around. And you know, we talked to Daniel and, uh, he mentioned getting in in a previous episode, the first time home buying and he said, get in early, uh, and get in where you can. And that's definitely something where maybe you make up for, um, like you're mentioning with sweat equity and put some, uh, elbow grease in it and make it what you want. Maybe a year down the road, maybe a little more down the road. But you slowly kind of chip away and make it yours and add value that way.

Chase:

There's no doubt about it. I think the idea that the word investment is Kinda carries different meanings for different people. I mean, the home that Carrie and I bought 10 years ago is, is a great investment. It's, it's appreciated dramatically, but it's still that, that's not physical cash we're holding on to. That's just a value, right? That's equity that we have. Um, but it's also our home and it's something that we think about and it could give us the opportunity to buy a bigger home at some point. And over those 10 years, our house doesn't look anything like it did when we bought it 10 years ago. I mean, and it hasn't been, and it wasn't overnight either. I think that the one smart thing that Keri and I did through that whole thing was we slowly brought the house along. We didn't just throw ourselves into, throw down the credit cards and put thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars into the house at one time to make it something I had to have right now in the living room of all the kitchen of all the outdoors evolved to where when Keri and I walked in literally just last week and she said, you know, this is my home now. We've lived there for 10 years and yet now she's really comfortable because it's like hers and it's everything that she wanted. Are there other things she could fix up? Yeah, but it's really not that important right now to put that kind of money in it. And so that in turn is an investment. But if you are turning around and saying, you know, Keri and I are not going to go live in a four bedroom or a four a condo unit, you know, and as an investment right now. So we would be in a completely different space being in that we're both in our forties, kids that are going into middle school and finishing up elementary school, in the middle of all their sports. I don't know if we would just pick up and go, well this is a good investment for us right now, but for somebody younger it really might. Felipe.

Felipe:

I have two kids I think maybe a few years ago in my twenties um, it would,

Chase:

But if you're making an investment like by buying something,

Felipe:

well he said 50 miles from, he had to go 50 miles from La. If I had to go 50 miles from San Diego, now it becomes something where, what school district are we in and how long of a commute to and from for school, sporting event for kids, sporting events after work and dropping off a kid at daycare and

Chase:

Well it's not like you're living at the beach now on

Felipe:

Well no, But I'm two exits from work.

Chase:

That is true, but I mean Santee is a nice area and it's not overly expensive.

Felipe:

It's gotten up there.

Chase:

It's gotten more popular.

Felipe:

Yeah, It's gained popularity, way different from way different from like a 10 years ago when I used to go out.

Chase:

You know, it's really funny how. Yeah. Certain areas have reputations of being way out there and Felipe is actually a lot closer to work to work than I am, which is really funny to me cause I always go, man, you lived so far out there and I really,

Felipe:

I'm really two exits let's, it's a long stretch on the 52, but it's really just two exits from work.

Chase:

Yeah, there's a lot of truth to that. I was really, he was good. I was really interested in what he had to say and I would recommend for anybody that has the opportunity to check out money done. Right. I mean, he, his art, those articles in there are, uh, are very interesting and they're, they're wide ranging and the different types of money information, uh, out there because it's really kind of on a higher level than even the SDFLC and DebtWave websites, uh, where ours are, you know, more functional money. You know, understanding credit, understanding the different investment types of things isn't exactly our forte. And there is a, there is a place for that.

Katie:

Yeah. He dives into the nitty gritty,

Chase:

uh, and it, yeah, like how to make money on Youtube 50 k a month, it says, that's pretty impressive. I would sign me up. I'm going to read that article as soon as you stop. That's true. You got Katie. What do we got on deck

Katie:

next week? We're talking about how single parents can deal with the price tag of summer

Chase:

the price tag of summer. Oh. And then we'll be doing back to school shopping before you know it. it's very timely.

Outro:

Music