A simple gift from his father opened up the world of real estate investing for Andy Cason. Since 1998, Andy has been a full-time respiratory therapist making a comfortable living. But upon the realization that he needed to have a financial plan in place to afford college for his two sons, he remembered the book his father had given him: The Real Book of Real Estate: Real Experts. Real Stories. Real Life.by Robert Kiyosaki.
One chapter into the book, Andy decided that the entire real estate concept wasn’t for him as it felt vastly complicated. But he continued to hear about the substantial financial gains real estate investing could offer from the radio and friends. The continuous discussion made the concept more attainable for Andy.
“The way we were operating was just over broke. It wasn’t sustainable if we wanted to have a nice vacation or two every year and afford college without any worries,” Andy said. “I knew I was going to have to start taking this real estate stuff seriously, and that’s when I started looking into it more, but I never dreamed of syndications or apartments until a few years later.”
Like many investors, Andy began his real estate education with single-family homes. He acquired his first single-family property at the beginning of 2017, and his portfolio soon began to grow substantially as he acquired an additional four single-family properties.
As he started to feel comfortable with active investments, Andy grew interested in finding other investment opportunities to expand his portfolio beyond single-family homes.
“I kept wanting to get a duplex here and there, but people scooped them up before I could get to them. So, I just sat with the single-family homes and continued to learn. I started to listen to various podcasts and use Bigger Pockets.”
Starting with the resources he had, Andy started investing in 506(c) syndication deals at an unaccredited level. With his equity mainly tied to his single-family properties, Andy closely managed his newly diversified portfolio to move closer to the accredited investor status. To fully maximize his earning potential with multifamily syndications, he sold some of his single-family properties.
As Andy continues to balance the different needs of active and passive real estate investments, he is still learning which asset type he prefers. However, he firmly believes that syndications are a vital component of his real estate success.
“I don’t know if I prefer one type of investment over the other. I think I might prefer syndications better in the future, but the jury is still out. The first syndication I had didn’t cash flow as well, but the appreciation is looking good,” Andy said. “I think going into single-family homes was perfect to start, but as I get older, I can see all of my investments turning into syndications.”
An often overlooked component of success for any real estate investor is their ability to keep themselves organized and focused. Throughout his time investing, Andy learned that staying organized is critical to success and reaching his wealth generation goals.
“It’s probably a basic thing, but I’ve learned over time how to be better organized,” Andy reflected. “I think the paperwork and the tax preparation with my CPA are what I’m still learning the most about.”
The overall purpose of Andy’s real estate journey began as a way to fund the traditional expense of college. Due to Andy’s due diligence and forward-thinking with his real estate investments, his sons will not only be positioned to have college tuition covered, but they’ll also have the option of attending private preparatory education.
“It’s not clear how easy it’s going to be, but there’s a statement that says you overestimate what you can accomplish in one year but underestimate what you can accomplish in 10 years. I think that’s going to hold true,” Andy shared. “I think I can see being ahead of the game as far as getting into college and making it easier since I started going into syndications.”
About the Author:
Leslie Chunta is a marketing consultant with nearly 15 years of experience in creating dynamic marketing programs and building brands for startups to enterprise organizations. She has worked agency- and client-side with high-growth companies that include Silicon Valley Bank, JPMorgan Chase, SailPoint, EMC, Spanning Cloud Apps, Ashcroft Capital, Netspend, and Universal Studios. www.thelabcollective.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as an offer to buy or sell any securities or to make or consider any investment or course of action.