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Episode 61: Brick by Brick Path to Wealth and Financial Freedom
Corwyn:
Good morning. Good morning and great morning guys. Welcome to another fabulous episode of the EXIT Strategies Radio Show. Hey, I’m your host y’all know who I am, Corwyn J. Melette, Broker/Owner at EXIT Realty Lowcountry Group in beautiful North Charleston, South Carolina. Guys, we have a fantabulous show for us today. I’m super, super, super duper excited. Because in the current real estate climate, you know, everyone is kind of focusing on a very small segment of the market, but they’re missing the greater opportunity. And today, I have an extra special guest. Look here, we had to bring them, look here, we had to throw the rope across the country to California and work on trying to reel them back. Now we ain’t got them all the way to Charleston yet, but look here we got them to Tennessee, so I have none other than Casey Franchini with Brick by Brick Wealth. Casey, how are you doing today?
Casey:
I am doing so great. It’s fall, it’s beautiful out and I’m so happy to be on your show. Thank you so much Corwyn for having me.
Corwyn:
Awesome. You’re quite welcome. Quite welcome. So look, I’m just gonna, you know, kind of get in here and start asking a few questions. For our listeners, first of all, tell us a little bit about you, and what it is that you do?
Casey:
So I was born and raised in California, so you kind of almost got there, right? And so I moved now to Memphis, Tennessee. I am a Real Estate Investor, also a stay-at-home mom, and a Rental Property Coach. So I buy real estate rental properties and long-term rentals. That’s our retirement plan, we don’t have a pension. So that’s what we have going for us. And I also help aspiring real estate investors get into the real estate game by helping them personally with their first rental property. So anyone can do it. And I love helping people do that as well during my free time. So
Corwyn:
So the name of your company is Brick by Brick Wealth. Yep. So if you don’t mind, where did the name come from?
Casey:
You know, as I was thinking of something that would kind of encompass, you know, our mission and our goal and the philosophy behind investing in real estate, it really is, you know, brick by brick. You will get wealthy bricks, meaning brick homes, buying houses just one at a time. That’s the path to financial freedom. That’s the path to wealth. And that is the easiest, most surefire way that the average Joe can make it, can be a millionaire without a lot of extra work, without having some high degree, without being a millionaire first. Anyone can do it, just brick by brick.
Corwyn:
So you know, it’s interesting you say that. So one I’m gonna ask you is your mission. But you know, I want to share something as well because I just, as I was recently interviewed by you know, top agent magazine or something like that when you know when some publication that interviewed me and asked me how I got started and you know, we kind of came around to that why? And you know, my why in this business is kind of rooted similarly. You know, I realized a long time ago that people that have wealth in this country have real estate. I mean the person that hits the lottery or matter of fact the kid that comes out of you know out of high school or college and gets a pro you know, basketball or you know, football scholarship, you know, not scholarship, I’m sorry, contract, one first thing they do is go buy a house so that they start with like you said, one, but what is your mission, like what would define, what’s the mission of Brick by Brick is?
Casey:
So our mission of Brick by Brick Wealth is to help the everyday person find success and find financial freedom through real estate investments. That’s our mission to help the everyday person get through real estate slowly one at a time. But that’s it, one at a time. You only know one at a time.
Corwyn:
So let me ask you this and not to go too far on this tangent. I definitely want to keep us, you know, where you know where we are. But you know, do you guys do any, let’s say multifamily or you simply focus on single units?
Casey:
So there’s you know, that’s a loaded question because there are pros and cons in multifamily means a lot of different things. So there’s residential multifamily, one to four units. I’m all about that. My students buy those, they just aren’t anywhere I am. So I don’t need to do that. Now commercial multifamily, some people think of apartment buildings that are five units and up, it’s a different ballgame. And that’s the job you’re gonna have. I mean, there’s no getting out of that. I like passive investing. I want to be that passive investor. I want to be a room mom for my kids. I want to go to the baseball games. I don’t want to be, have to be involved in the day-to-day operations so much as you would need to be with commercial real estate. I manage my own property. So I am a landlord. But when you put in the right tenants into a small residential single family of up to four units, it really is super duper, duper, duper part-time. And with commercials, you’re talking about turnover and the whole building every 10 years and always constantly reinvesting. It gives me anxiety just thinking about it. It’s great. It’s just not for me.
Corwyn:
Look, look here, because what I just saw Casey, I saw the builder, right? Like, oh, God, Oh, no. That is hilarious. That is awesome. So brick by brick, we start with one. So let’s go back to the basics. So let’s go back to like, okay, the introduction of a prospective investor, you know, to you, you know, what, what type of questions should an entry-level investor you know, want to, they ask, but number two, what questions are you asking them?
Casey:
The first question I ask them is, do you have money to invest? Because, you know, a lot of people, there’s a lot of gurus out there. You know, you can buy houses with no money and bad credit and buy my program this and that. And, you know, there’s a lot of pie in the sky, you know, people taking advantage of others with those types of programs and things like that. But for me, I work with people who have money to invest, so you have savings, you want to put it to use, and you want your money to work for you. Let’s find a solid property that has cash flows and appreciates somewhere safe, you can save your money from being eaten away by inflation. Let’s get some property tax, you know, some tax reductions from having a passive investment. And let’s put your money to good use. So the first question I ask people is, do you have money to invest? And I work with students all over the country who invest all over the country and I recommend having 30,000 to $50,000 in liquid cash, ready to invest in something you can get your cash from a HELOC, or you can borrow from your 401K. There are a lot of ways to get your liquid cash. You just have to know that you have it somewhere that we can access it. And then the next question I ask is, “Are you worthy of a loan? Are you, do you have decent credit? Is someone going to lend to you if not, you know, if you have a bad credit score, that’s going to inhibit your ability to get a great loan that’s going to cost you more money and points and higher interest rates to go with like a different type of loan a different type of lender?” So those are the first questions I asked right up front. How were they getting a loan? And do you have money to invest? And then these people think the hardest part is finding a market where to invest. I have a lot of students who live in expensive markets, California, and New York, and I go to, “No, I can’t buy anywhere. Texas now is really expensive.” So what are their options now for buying rentals at cash flow? Because they aren’t going to be buying in there. So people are mostly worried about where to invest. And I help with that as well. But that’s not the first question I asked. That’s usually the first question they ask me.
Corwyn:
Okay, all right. That’s interesting. And that’s interesting. That’s the first question they asked you. But, um, so let me come back around Casey to this. And thank you so much for sharing that. Because those are, like, you know, for our listeners, guys, you know, these are the basic fundamentals. You want to invest in real estate, well, you know, look, we gotta have the, you know, the ability and the opportunity to leverage and the ability is in your cash and your credit, you know, as well as the ability to leverage is tied in there as well. If you have a reasonable credit score, you can, um, trustfully you know, get financing that works better and best for you. So, how do you identify, like, where someone should invest and what type of properties? Because obviously, you know, you have a single family detached, you have a single family attached, condos, townhouses, those kinds of things. You know, what, what, what kind is your, okay, well, if you’re doing this then maybe because there’s no one size fits all. So listen, yeah, Casey yeah, thank you. There is no one size fits all. So you know what, what is kind of the indicator for you that someone needs to go a specific route.
Casey:
Depends on their goals, their real estate goals, and really their savings rate and how much they will have to invest in a certain period of time. Because some students, they’re scrapping all they can to get that $30,000 that I required to join my program. You need 30,000 because that’s how much you’re going to need to buy a decent house. They’re going to use all that they can. So they’re going to be in a certain market. Now I have students that have literally a million dollars cash, I’m like, What are you guys doing? I could choke you, you shouldn’t have that much cash, you know, but they have a million dollars cash. So look, their options are different. And the types of properties they’re gonna buy are different. They might be needing to mix in some short-term rentals, and maybe even have some properties that don’t have the cash flow to help with tax, you know, with their tax burden. There are a lot of different strategies for people. And it’s really, it’s like you said, Corwyn, it’s unique to the individual. What are your goals? What’s your savings rate? What’s your risk level? You know, how, how, we, you know, I have people that want to buy these really cheap properties in D class areas, because they say, Oh, I can buy a house for, you know, for $30,000. And I can make 30,000. And I can, you know, fix it up, and I can buy that all cash and it’s like, okay, well, you’re buying in a really bad area. It’s still going to be really bad. That’s why it only costs you $30,000. You know, so once we go over the risks, the risks, the pros, and cons of buying a house that cheap, all of a sudden now, to most people, it doesn’t seem so appealing anymore, you know, because we’re in this for long term investment. Now, again, I am. I’m in it for the long term. And we have to think long-term. Is the property that you’re investing in today going to be worth more tomorrow? Because yes, we can all, because yes, we can all make money, you know, monthly with cash flow, but no ones getting rich and retiring off $300 a month cash flow. That’s, you know, that’s great, we need that, we want that. And it’s definitely helped my life, you know, making money every month. But where are we going to get rich? Where’s that coming from? It’s coming from appreciation, it’s coming from the waiting game. It’s kind of, so you have to buy in areas that are going to appreciate with price and rent. We need, we need all the things. We need cash flow. We need appreciation. It’s not one or the other. Because if you want to be a safe investor, most of my students and including myself, we are parents, we have children, we work hard for our money, we are people who have real jobs, you know, and we can’t just throw away a downpayment in some area that’s cheap, because it’s gonna make a little bit of money every month. We have to make sure that it’s going to still be worthy of our investment 10,15, 20 years from now, because I would love to have my properties passed down to my children and be like, Oh, I remember, remember grandma Casey, you know, she’s a reason why we’re going to Hawaii on spring break, because we got rich from her, you know, like, I want that. I want to be the generational wealth starter, and I want my property to be passed down and down and down to where my kids and my grandkids don’t have to walk for anything.
Corwyn:
That’s, that’s, that’s huge. And that’s interesting you used to say that. So this weekend, you know, kind of my, you know, miscellaneous thoughts and all that stuff, you know, I’m looking at, okay, well, you know, this property, you know, you know, is one that at some point in time, you know, is going to, you know, be under, you know, you know, our control. This property at some point in time is probably going to be in our control. And then, you know, what does that look like? And oftentimes, and Casey I’m very transparent. So I’m gonna say this, but oftentimes, you know, sometimes parents or as parents, and definitely this is prevalent in some communities more so than others. And in those situations, well, we don’t go ahead and let the children live in it, but we don’t establish it as an investment. We won’t reap the benefit of this being an investment. You know, you know, I know people right now that are, you know, real estate, you know, have, you know, multiple properties, but they let the children live in, they’re not making the cash flow from the children aren’t taking care of them. They’re still burdened with all this. And then subsequently, they’re struggling to try to make ends meet on their own, when their property could be leveraging them, could be helping them to take care of themselves. And then upon their passing, everything goes to their children, and they will have taught their children how to do the same thing to let the property take care of them, versus them trying to struggle to figure out how they’re gonna maintain and take care of the property. Does that make sense?
Casey:
It definitely does. And I don’t think I would let my kids live in it if they weren’t making money off it. I’d be like, “Okay, you can live in this house, but you’re gonna have to house hack, you’re gonna have to have roommates or someone to pay this property needs to be paid by somebody other than the family unit. So you can get a roommate to come and pay half.” But yeah, they’re not going to be living for free. I want them. My daughter, my oldest, she’s only 11. And she thinks real estate’s boring and like, you think it’s boring, but how do we buy that travel trailer this year? How do we buy our truck cash? It came from rental properties, Juliet, like, come on, you know. So it’s not gonna be boring when you realize the money that is making our family. And one day you’re going, you know, you come to the properties, you help us rehab, you know, you’re doing all these things with us, because one day, these houses are gonna be yours and your brothers, and you guys are gonna have to manage them, and learn how to make money. I don’t care if she never has a job. If she can do job managing properties, buying her own, or figuring things out. But she’s definitely not going to be getting freebies. She’s going to work for it, and then she’ll get out when I’m dead.
Corwyn:
So you know, what, so, you know, I had a client, unfortunately, you know, experiences to help, you know, these are, but, you know, he bought an investment property. So he, you know, accumulated a portfolio, you know, started putting, you know, started portfolio, you know, for his daughter. So, you know, you set the LLC up and distinguish the LLC, you know, you know, with as an acronym, you know, for her. And everything he bought in that in that company, was for her benefit. So, you know, it helped her through college, through school, through high school, through college. She’s graduated now, so I’m assuming that if he still even owns anything in it, you know, that there are still benefits, but he made work on the house during the summer. So when they need to be painted, they need to be cleaned up, trashed out because tenants vacated or whatever, if she was out of school, she was there over there working. And she understood that those were her properties, would be her properties to help her, to take care of herself. And I thought that was the neatest thing. You know, looking at that particular situation, that scenario, that, you know, they have a vested interest, like you say your daughter is seeing learning now. And now she’s able to associate the rental property with a lifestyle. Yeah, does that makes sense?
Casey:
It does. And one thing that, you know, I’m trying to ingrain in my children that I wasn’t really taught. My dad was great, an entrepreneur, but never quite made it, you know. But my mom was a nurse her whole life. So she quit, making money while working. Working hard equals money. And through all the books that I’m reading, and the people that I listened to, I want my children to think differently. I want them to equate, making a lot of money with this is gonna, I don’t have anyone to take us, but not a lot of work. So you don’t have to work really hard all day long to make a lot of money. You can make smart choices. Invest wisely. And you can make a lot of money without working hard. You know, so I want them, I want them to learn that like, “Hey, you don’t have to do the grind to make money, you’ve got, definitely got to put in the work, you definitely got to earn your dues, learn your stuff. But it’s not for 60 years, you don’t have to work like my mom did, until she is in her 60s every single day.” You know, there are other choices.
Corwyn:
And you know, and it’s interesting so, you know, as I sit here, you know, with my mom in the next room, she’s 60 something, and you know, she’s still you know, trying, you know, trying to work some and things of that nature, you know, there, it is a lifestyle and it’s also a mindset, and that’s what you’re really talking about, about teaching them a different mindset. It requires you to do things that others won’t do. So it requires you to, you know, educate yourself and practice principles that are typically outside of what a lot of people will say is the norm. You know, that means that maybe you know instead of you, you know, going to the concert this month, it’s a rock concert or whatever concert it is, but you’re going to this investment seminar so you can learn some tips and tricks on how to leverage and get to the next level. Maybe it means, going on vacation to save up money to go towards the money for the down payment for the next property, things of that nature. That’s something, that’s a sacrifice a lot of people you know, Casey, just really don’t want to make.
Casey:
We made a lot of sacrifices. We really did when we moved to Memphis, we bought a fixer. We moved here because I wouldn’t have to work, I could stay home with my kids and be a stay-at-home mom, and all that. But with only living on one income. You know, we weren’t living the life like our neighbors. They were going on large vacations every you know every break, every school break. Over the summer they would take these lavish, and go to Disney World we’ve never been to Disney World Disneyland because we’re from California. Yes, but not Disney world but $10,000 vacation no I’m done with that, you know, there are a lot of things that we put off. We learned how to fix everything ourselves because we couldn’t afford to hire people to fix our own house for us. So we learned how to do it. We didn’t, you know, pay for all those luxuries. We had old cars, we barely bought a new car. And it was still used this year. But we haven’t bought new cars in forever. And it sacrifices because in our kitchen, oh, my gosh, Corwyn, our kitchen was a gutter. I mean, we bought it. We lived here for almost 10 years. 9, 10 years. And it was a gut job from the beginning. We just now did our kitchen this past year. Took us a year to do it, because we did ourselves and we did a lot of things. But every single year, I told my husband I said, So Blake, do we want to buy another rental house? Or do we want to fix our kitchen because it’s gonna cost $30,000? So every year we chose a rental house instead. We sacrifice. I never had, I don’t have friends over, no parties. Our kitchen was terrible, you know, nasty. But look. We’ve got some houses now. And I’m making a full-time income from my rentals. And I don’t really work hard for them, you know, anymore. So it was a sacrifice. And yes, I feel like everyone needs to learn and feel that sacrifice. There’s no reward without something, giving something up, you know. But you don’t have to give something up for life. Just make the right decisions.
Corwyn:
That’s interesting. Uhm, again, part of the mindset, people don’t want to sacrifice, they don’t want to give up in order to have, they want to give up anything, even for a time period. And you just made it plain and clear there that, hey, you know, I made the sacrifice, I didn’t have a decent kitchen, or what I would, you know, you know, referred to as a decent kitchen for a while in order to be able to do this. So now that I’m at this position, you know, now that’s not a concern or worry, you know, per se anymore. You know, I made the sacrifice for that time period. Casey, that is awesome! That is awesome! So look, I don’t want to be remiss. If you could, please tell our listeners, I mean, you know, where they can reach you, your website, you know, so we can make sure that you know, guys, I want you all to shut cases website down, I want you all to run a mock, I want you all to go search, I want you to reach out and contact so she can help you take the steps that, you know she is helping so many others on to do to create financial freedom and to build wealth. So Casey, how can people reach you?
Casey:
Sure, so they can find me on my website, it’s brickbybrickwealth.com. And I’m fine if you want to email me personally, it’s Casey casey@brickbybrickwealth.com. And I am on Instagram. That’s my social media of choice every single day, and that’s Brick by Brick Wealth.
Corwyn:
That is awesome! That is awesome! So look, I want you all to do this. Because, you know, a banner on Casey’s website says a free class. All right, how to retire from your 9 to 5 with rental properties, right? Yes, y’all need to go and check out Casey’s website and click on that banner. So you guys can get signed up for that class. Again, you know, how to retire from your 9-5 you know, with rental properties. That is awesome. That’s awesome. So Casey, your clients, they invest, you said, all over the country? Am I correct? All right, any particular market. So go ahead.
Casey:
Correct! Yes. There’s you know, there’s a lot of markets and again, depends upon your strategy, because I have seen steady long-term rentals and a short term. But an easy way to knock out like, you know, 70% of the potential areas is that you really want to be in a landlord-friendly state. So that’s a red-state injustice. There’s a quick question, quick answer. That’s fair. Yeah. Because you know, what we’re looking for is equality. We want things to be fair. That’s all. When squatters have rights, that’s not quite fair. So we’re not looking for I want to evict everyone because I’m a meanie. No, we just want to be equal, just fair, you know, just fairness. And so you’ll find that you know, with the red states. With landlord-friendly states, low property taxes are really important because they directly affect your bottom line. I love Texas, it’s well it’s kind of purple now but the red state is great. But as you know, property taxes are some of the highest in the country. So that’s going to directly affect your bottom line. So really those two are the top two ways. The first one is property taxes. You want low property tax rates, and you want landlord friendly. Just for fairness. Those two things will really help you narrow down your areas but I’m really liking Oklahoma, Alabama, Tennessee, and Ohio. I’m sure there’s more. Those right now are the top ones my students are investing in at the moment.
Corwyn:
That is awesome. That’s awesome. And you said something that people sometimes miss, you know, Casey, the implication of politics and things such as this, they miss, you know, the fact that you know, certain types of states of certain leadership types and the phrase that is more friendly to these type of things because, and I say friendly, but that they understand it differently, and they don’t create a situation where it’s going to be of a negative impact or consequence to someone who is aspiring to create and build wealth. You know, someone who is, you know, a first-time investor, you don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you’re unable to, you know, to remove a tenant from a property, because they have more rights than you do for your property that you’re paying the mortgage payment on every month. You know, those kinds of things, guys, is what Casey is alluding to. And we have to make sure that we’re having a real and fair conversation in regard to what we have to do. So Casey Look, we’ve had an awesome show. Thank you so much for spending some time with me today. Brick by brick wealth guys .com. I need y’all to go there. I need y’all to shut it down. I need y’all to overwhelm Casey with these classes that she’s giving you for free on how to retire from your nine-to-five with rental properties. Casey one more time, how can our listeners get in contact with you? How can they reach you?
Casey:
They can reach me at my website, brickbybrickwealth.com. And if you guys want some, you know even more free information, I don’t like the word free, but just complementary. Because of this stuff guys, I’ve been in the industry for 15 years, and honestly, I hate social media, I hate it. So when I put stuff out, it’s not to show you what I had for lunch. It’s not pictures of my dogs, it’s not to show you my toes on the beach. It’s to give you information that you actually need. So if you’re considering investments in real estate, every single day, I post knockout information on my Instagram. So every week if you’re a part of my newsletter, which you can sign up for on my website, I provide amazing, detailed, helpful information every single week that I write personally. So you can be a part of my VIP newsletter. Those really are the best places to really get good information if you’re thinking about becoming an investor.
Corwyn:
Awesome, awesome. Well, Casey, again, thank you so much for taking the time to listen to me, to ask you some questions, and most importantly, to respond wonderfully to them. Our listeners, guys, hopefully, y’all got some great information today. Again, y’all please reach out to Casey, y’all please visit brickbybrickwealth.com. Y’all please get this information. And let her know how she can help you. Always remember that we are here as a resource and that we are engaged and involved not only in our community at the local level but also at the state and national levels as well. We’re everywhere. And that’s for a very particular reason. Because our mission here is to empower our community with financial literacy and real estate education guys. We’re a legacy building. As always, thank y’all so much for tuning in. And you know what I say? I love you. I love you. I love you. And we gotta see you guys out there in those streets.