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Why are we investing in real estate?

For me it is about three things: living a great life now, creating significant generational wealth, and giving back through both personal service and contributions to non-profit organizations. I long to make a difference and leave the world a little better than when I found it. And real estate has become my primary vehicle to bring my dreams to life.

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My journey from IT pro to real estate investor never was my plan. It’s been more like a discovery.

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When I think about it, my real estate education began a decade ago. Over that period, three people (only one of which was immediate family) trusted me to serve them one last time as the executrix of their estate. I’m still humbled and moved that they found me so trustworthy as to know that I would do what they asked in their wills and trusts so that those they loved most would be blessed with all they had worked so hard to build and amass financially. While settling someone’s estate is a very big deal and requires a lot of hard and emotional work, it is also a huge act of love and kindness.

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While it was an honor and great responsibility to serve them this way, it also turned into an amazing education. When you’re up close and intimate with someone’s financials and estate, it’s all there in black and white. What was done is done and what wasn’t done wasn’t there. In all three cases, I learned how real estate played a major role in building their wealth. In the first estate, a hardworking, wage earning couple inherited prime farmland near Austin in their midlife years. The farmland and their personal home were the two significant assets that created the million-dollar inheritance for their heirs. The second estate belonged to my parents. While my Dad had a successful executive career, the true wealth on his balance sheet was the real estate investments he and Mom had made late in life. That portfolio still provides for my Mom’s retirement income today. The third estate I settled was a dear friend who our family adopted as “aunt.” Although by profession she was a teacher, she worked hard investing in real estate for decades and amassed a large single-family real estate portfolio. Ultimately, she sold that portfolio with owner financing which provided her with an even more passive six-figure recurring annual retirement income.

 

In settling these three estates, I was provided a clear road map of the many ways that real estate creates generational wealth. Trying to put into practice all we learned from those who went before us, my husband and I began investing in single family real estate. We bought our first duplex and a single family rental (3 doors) in our first year and they still provide $1,000+ monthly profit. That same year, mom and I were in the car together after closing on the sale of one of her properties. As we drove by an apartment complex, she said, "I sure would like to know how to buy one or two of those." That blew my mind as I had no idea how to do that nor had I ever considered such an investment. It wasn't but a couple of months later that my nephew, Chad Sutton, called and said, "Hey, I have tickets to a multifamily real estate Boot Camp in San Diego. Want to go?" From that moment on, we have been focused on multifamily and acquired five apartment complexes in our first year.

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