Are you curious about investing in real estate and need some inspiration? Here are six real estate investing success stories from real investors. Many of them started with little or no money and are now making as much as $13,000 per month in passive income. Below, we share how they did it!
California Real Estate Market Bubble in 2006
Back in 2006, we knew that California real estate was in a bubble. That’s why we advised our members at RealWealth to SELL California property and exchange it for properties in more affordable markets.
How did we know it was a bubble? Simple: Affordability.
The average person could not afford the average property in California in 2006 without the help of crazy stated income or negative amortization loans. Of course, those loans would inevitably adjust, and the borrower wouldn’t be able to afford the higher payment.
At that time, I advised a woman who owned three properties in Stockton to sell and exchange those homes for properties in Dallas, Texas. Dallas real estate was actually undervalued by 26% at the time, and salaries were increasing much faster than home prices, unlike California.
She listened to me and sold each Stockton property for about $420,000 and was able to exchange them for 9 cash-flow homes in Dallas.
She had been receiving $1200 rent on the California properties and was elated to discover she could get the same rent on her new properties and effectively triple her monthly income! This gave her the extra income she needed to retire.
Keep in mind that the California properties were old, in high-crime areas, and in need of repair. The Dallas properties were brand new, in middle-class neighborhoods near high-paying jobs and good schools.
Just a few years later, when the credit crisis hit, the Stockton properties she sold were worth about $100,000 each. Instead of losing a quarter of her net worth, she tripled her monthly income and saved her nest egg!
Since our founding in 2003, RealWealth has been helping thousands of investors just like you understand market cycles to avert disaster and build sustainable wealth.
Her story is just one of many. Below are six more real estate investing success stories from RealWealth members we’ve helped.
Success Story #1
Claudia: How I went from $0 to making $20,000 per month in just 6 months
One of our members, Claudia, inherited a home in San Francisco that was in poor condition and needed lots of work. It was a teardown, essentially, but it was still worth $800,000 (yes, San Francisco prices.)
Claudia decided to list it this past summer for $1.3M to see if she’d get an offer. Sure enough, she and her husband received an ALL-CASH offer for $1.45M, and they closed in 10 days!
While this was exciting, it also meant they had 45 days to identify new properties, or they would face enormous capital gains. Fortunately, they had been attending RealWealth events and listening to weekly market updates. We referred Claudia and her husband to our favorite turn-key property providers in Indianapolis, Houston, Cincinnati and Jacksonville (Florida).
They couldn’t believe they could exchange their ONE San Francisco property for TWENTY cash flow properties. Their monthly passive income went from zero to $20,000 per month!
How Does RealWealth Help Members Find the Best Markets?
At this point, you might be wondering how we help RealWealth find the best places to buy rental property. We spend a good part of the year searching the country for affordable markets for investors based on 1) job growth, 2) population growth, and 3) affordability. Once we identify these locations, we go into these locations to find the best property providers who rehab and sell professionally managed turnkey properties. If you are unfamiliar with the word turnkey, we define it as a real estate company that purchases a property for a discount, renovates it to like-new condition, places a qualified tenant in the property and offers ongoing property management. Some team locations also sell newly built construction properties. Click here to learn how the RealWealth process works.
Success Story #2
Kim Bosler: How I invested in 13 properties that pay me $7,236 every month
“About a year ago, I met with our financial planner, and she asked about our goals. I said, “You know, we’ve raised a large family in California. We love to travel, and we love to do fun things. I’d like to continue doing that, but I’m just not quite sure how we can once we stop working. In fact, we don’t know if we’ll ever be able to retire!”
She sat down with all of our charts and said, “My suggestion is investing in annuities and safe bonds.”
I looked at how much money our financial advisor wanted upfront and how little we’d actually receive in return. And we wouldn’t receive it until we were 90! This was not a workable plan.
Three weeks later, I was at the gym jogging on the treadmill next to a friend who had done a lot of real estate investing. I asked him how many properties he had now, and he said, “Fourteen.”
I said, “Are you kidding? How have you been so bullish in doing this? I mean, aren’t you afraid that it might not be the right timing or location or price or whatever?”
“No, I’m really not,” he replied. “I’ve been really successful at it with the help of RealWealth and Kathy Fettke’s podcast, The Real Wealth Show.”
When I got home, I went straight to the computer and joined RealWealth. I immediately started learning so much and just loved it. It felt like exactly what I’d been waiting for.
Since then, I’ve made lots of friends through the RealWealth network. I was introduced to top-notch investment property providers, builders, lenders, and property managers – the very cream of the crop. I have not met one person that I just haven’t loved, and the numbers all made sense.
The biggest problem was who to choose because there were so many good teams—really, really good people and good prices.
We now have several properties and are still purchasing more. I can sleep at night now, knowing that we have done our due diligence.
My husband and I feel really good about the properties that we’ve purchased and our financial future.”
Success Story #3
Wayne & Danielle Brice: How we bought 16 properties that pay us $8,700 per month
Wayne: I retired from the Navy after 20 years. When I received my retirement check, I learned that if I died, my wife wouldn’t get access to those funds! I literally couldn’t sleep at night knowing this.
We got busy and searched online for solutions, and my wife discovered RealWealth. After doing some due diligence, we went to some of their events. We met the property providers, and it all looked good, so we purchased some of the rentals.
Danielle: We followed the plan we developed with their investment counselors, and sure enough, I was able to accelerate the growth of my own retirement. In fact, a month ago, I was actually able to retire before Wayne! This has freed up my time so that now I can focus on everything that’s important to us.
Wayne: The amount of hours I’ve spent listening to information has been like getting a college education. Just recently, we attended RealWealth’s asset protection seminar. There were many experienced investors in the room, and I could tell by their questions that they were learning things they hadn’t known before. They were taking lots of notes!
Life is messy, right? Stuff happens that you don’t expect, but every time, without exception, the property manager has done what has been actually to our benefit. Sure, it’s our capital that we’re putting down, but we’re getting more back than we’re giving.
Danielle: If we went and did this on our own, we’d have to make many mistakes, which would have cost us our cash flow.
Success Story #4
Paul & Cheryl Choate: How we invested in 7 properties that pay us $3,008 per month
Paul: We run an appliance repair business, and it makes us a living, but we don’t have a retirement. So I thought, “I’ve got to get some money saved. I can’t rely on my kids putting me up.”
So I went on the Internet and started looking for investment groups. I had invested on my own and made some money, but I lost some money. So, I made myself a promise. I wasn’t going to just buy the first thing I saw. I was going to do my homework.
I came across RealWealth and discovered it was just what I was looking for. Their motto is “No Back of the Room Bootcamp Seminars!”
They want people investing in real estate, not spending money on expensive, outdated programs. They make education very affordable, yet the quality is far better than those $20,000 boot camps!
During our strategy session with one of their investment counselors, we examined the performance of our beach house in North Carolina. We loved it, but we were losing about $1,200 a month. We decided to sell that home—even at a loss—at the worst possible time, but we still ended up with a chunk of money—about $100,000.
That money helped us buy four homes in Ohio. It went so well that we bought two more the next year.
Cheryl: One of the things about RealWealth is that they actually do the research on companies that they bring in. For me, the key thing was property management. That was key.
Paul: We learned to use all the money we were making to pay off that first home loan. And we actually paid off that house in two years! Ohio may not be sexy, but the cash flow is!
If we keep paying off loans, we’ll have six homes free and clear in seven years and can retire with the same lifestyle we have now.
Success Story #5
Claudia & Julian Fraser: How we found 13 properties that make $12,841 every month
Claudia: It’s been a lifesaver to find Kathy and her team at RealWealth. Some say it’s all about location, location, location, but Kathy says it’s really about timing, timing, timing. She keeps her finger on the pulse and finds markets opening up before anyone else does.
Julian: We had a house in San Francisco. It was a rental property, and we knew we wanted to sell it, but we would have had to pay hefty capital gains tax.
If we deferred the taxes through a 1031 exchange, we’d have to find $1.5M in replacement property. We had no idea how to do that, and there was no way to get the returns we wanted in California, where we live.
We heard Kathy on the radio, and her message sounded too good to be true, so we were cautious. We took our time and joined Real Wealth Investor to learn. We learned so much!
Claudia: We went out and looked at properties with their teams in three different states they recommended. We loved what we saw, so it was just paperwork after that. We were able to sell that one San Francisco property and exchange it tax-deferred into 20 properties. We increased our income six-fold!
I know the old rule of thumb was, “You should live within 30 miles of your rentals.” Thanks to modern technology, that’s not really necessary anymore.
I also didn’t want to become a landlord, so I needed great property management teams to take care of all the maintenance. They are great, and we don’t do a thing. We basically accept e-mails and direct deposits in a bank account. It can’t be any easier than that!
Julian: We’ve tried to tell our friends, but they just can’t believe it’s that easy.
Success Story #6
Rich & Kathy Fettke: Why we created RealWealth, so no one else has to go through what we did.
Kathy: I know what it’s like to have a financial plan that doesn’t make sense. I know what it’s like to lose everything you’ve worked so hard to build. I know what it’s like to miss out on important family moments because work doesn’t allow it.
How do I know?
Thirteen years ago, my husband, Rich, was diagnosed with melanoma and was told by the doctor that he had six months to live. While I refused to believe it, I was determined to take over the finances so that he could get better. I was the host of a radio show then and immediately shifted the focus to wealth building.
I interviewed self-made millionaires weekly to learn their secrets. I quickly discovered why real estate was their #1 passive investment of choice: tax benefits, asset protection, leverage, and overall wealth creation. Their real estate investing success stories had such an impact on me that this show became the Real Wealth Show with Kathy Fettke.
Rich and I learned the power of leverage, so we refinanced our home and bought 14-income properties. We soon discovered the thrill of owning hard assets that don’t disappear overnight, can be insured and protected, are paid off by someone else, and provide ongoing cash flow for life.
The Real Wealth Show listenership grew rapidly, and we soon realized we were not the only people desperate for this information. That inspired us to create a safe place for people to learn without the pressure of buying outdated boot camps and expensive “guru” programs, so we founded RealWealth. We have grown to over 77,000 members and continue to share savvy investor secrets so we can help our members continue to create real estate investing success stories. Membership is 100% free.
We now know what it’s like to be able to take a month off and travel to Europe with the family, to go surfing whenever the waves are good, to attend our kid’s most important events and to give back to charities we care about.
We truly love to inspire and teach others how they can acquire cash machines that produce double-digit returns that will pay them for the rest of their lives. And anyone can do it! You can use IRAs, 401ks, bank money, private money and 1031 exchanges. There are unlimited ways to reach your financial goals. The key is getting the right education.
Oh, and by the way, the doctor was wrong. Rich is as healthy as ever and thoroughly enjoying living a life of real wealth.
How RealWealth Can Help You Build Wealth
Whether new to real estate investing or a more seasoned investor, a RealWealth membership can help you get started and build a portfolio. As a member, you have access to education and the connections you need to trusted property teams in top markets selling single-family and multi-family investment properties with professional management in place. Membership is 100% free, yes, free, and there is no obligation to purchase. If you want to build wealth with real estate, join RealWealth today!
