Airbnb Education

There I was - thinking that my wife, Christina, and I were both active duty Marines, part-time real estate investors, and new Airbnb hosts, but apparently, we were also exterminators! Saddle up for a few lessons that I learned when we started using Air BnB to house-hack our way one step closer to financial freedom.  

I am a huge fan of Airbnb. I have been a host for a year and a half now and love the business model. It takes the money out of the wealthy hotel owners’ pockets and puts it into the pockets of normal people wanting to earn some extra cash. As much as I would encourage anyone to try it out (if you have an extra room or unit), I must stress the fact that there is nothing passive about it.

Starting Out in Airbnb

When you first start as a host on Airbnb, you are a slave to the reviews. For the first few guests you host, a 5-star review is more important than the money. You need to build a good reputation so that you can earn Superhost...

Veterans Day

As my unit motto states, “Service…is a calling only a few will answer, and when the impossible has been accomplished, the only reward is another mission no one else will try.”

Today, Veterans Day, we honor veterans across the US – both alive and past. Why?

Their military service is a sacrifice; to family, friends and country. 

When you retire or separate, the sacrifice, or the fact that you and your family did sacrifice, continues…but it may look different now. 

Many of you know of Active Duty Passive Income (ADPI) and what we do with helping vets and service members create additional streams of income. But I wanted to introduce a newer effort we are getting off the ground, called ADPI HELPS (Helping Everyone Live Post Stress).

If you heard me talking with Grant Cardone on his show or on ours, you know we believe real estate investing is about more than making money. More than financial...

“Happiness is only real when shared.” 

-Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

You Want to What?

I never imagined I would be writing a post for a blog. Honestly, I don’t know if anyone out there will want to hear what I have to say. After receiving some encouragement from our friends, I hope to help others in our situation who believe diving into investing is an overwhelming experience. 

Best Laid Plans

Adulthood is a funny thing. When I was in high school, I had a very clear vision of how my life was going to go and who I was going to be. I was going to become a Navy nurse and do humanitarian missions. I would get married, see the world with my husband, and eventually have a ton of kids. I would also be an amazing photographer on the side and submit the occasional photo to National Geographic. Once I graduated college, I began to realize just how fluid everything is. I am married to a wonderful husband and we are slowly working on seeing the world. I am a Navy...

Life with Invisible Wounds

Invisible Wounds Are Undefined

More often than not, we go through life thinking that we have absolute control. Not many people believe that there is a way out when it comes to mental illness, especially when the stigma is out there loud and clear, almost like it is screaming at you. That stigma has many confused and blinded on the definition of mental illness. When we try and describe our “disability”, many automatically think that it has to do with our outer core. They start looking for a broken bone. They don’t realize that it is our inner core that is a little shattered; those invisible wounds. We did not choose what happened to us. We didn’t choose the nightmares, the out of control tears, the trigger. We did not choose this life. 

Be Careful With Your Words

I am here to tell you to always be cognizant of your words. You never know who you can hurt. Someone somewhere is going through something that we do not always...

Sell Your Home, Even in Winter

Selling your home is an exciting time, but it doesn't have to be stressful! There are easy and free ways to make sure that your home is appealing to both buyers and agents alike. Follow these "3 D's" to get your home sold fast!

De-Personalize

Why? When buyers enter your home and see your personal effects, they have a difficult time visualizing themselves living there. A clean, neutral space will serve as a blank canvas for buyers!

For example: Early in my career, I was showing homes on the upper east side of Salt Lake. The home showings were going well and I was having a great time with my clients. We were on the last showing and I thought this home was perfect for my clients. It had the right bedroom count, bathroom count, great lot, fenced-in yard, and so many more options. We walked in and one of my clients veered off to go upstairs to check out the master bedroom. I thought nothing of it, she has shown herself 12 homes before this one. Suddenly,...

Building Efficiencies

Why are real estate investors called investors in the first place? What's the difference between folks like us who buy low and sell high and John Smith who buys a nice home for his family and sells for appreciation 30 years down the road? On the surface, the concept is the same. Most investors eventually taste the sweet nectar of appreciation when they execute their exit strategy. Similarly, John Smith will pay down the debt on his house and be sitting on a fat stack of equity which he can leverage.

According to Investopedia.com, an investor is "any person or entity who commits capital with the expectation of receiving financial returns". John Smith may end up with some financial returns, but his primary concern is to provide shelter for his family. As investors, though we are also providing shelter for people and/or businesses, we are primarily concerned with our financial return. Risk is everywhere. Returns mitigate risk and provide opportunities. With...

Fast Foundations

I decided to actively pursue passive income (ironic, right?) in September 2018, when the ADPI Founding Five released the Military Real Estate Investing Academy, Rapid Deploy, and #StartTheSpark programs.  As a 2011 minted Robert Kyosaki/Rich Dad Poor Dad truther, I KNEW that this was what I wanted to do, but the call to action was delivered by ADPI. These new offerings were a direct line to the education I was looking for to get moving! 

Throughout a 7-week work trip, I plowed through the MREIA. I woke up early to squeeze in a 30-minute course, recap and digest it over lunch, then try to push for a second lesson in the evening – MREIA two-a-days. Would I recommend force-feeding yourself like that? No.  Am I glad I did it? ABSOLUTELY! 

My situation required MASSIVE action, and this was how I was going to stake my claim to financial freedom.  There were books, websites, and other publications that were consumed before the course and all...

Parental Traumatic Stress Syndrome

Hello, ADPI family. This is Eric’s Mom, Pam Watts, and I’m here to talk about what I call P-TSS (Parental Traumatic Stress Syndrome), or

"That Time Your Mom Thought She Might Be Crazy"

Unlike the traumatic stress a soldier may experience upon returning stateside, their parents may suffer from what I call P-TSS. I could not explain the disconnected feelings, yet when Eric returned home and described some of the challenges of his integration from military life, it struck me I had some issues of my own.

While Eric was deployed overseas, I sometimes felt invisible, as if I trod a parallel path that only sometimes merged with the one traveled by those around me. I worked; I had a full life. But, as a military mom, in the back of my mind was a persistent fear I felt might come true if I spoke it aloud; so I did not.

A Parent's Battle

In the beginning, I read about basic training and found a detailed description of SERE on the internet (bad,...

VA Loan Facts

Did you know there are over 21 million veterans and nearly 1.35 million active-duty military who could be eligible to purchase a home with a VA loan? However, many do not understand how it works which prevents them from trying to obtain homeownership. Here are a few facts to help:

 1. No down payment or mortgage insurance

One of the biggest advantages! You don’t need a down payment. Most mortgage programs require at least 3.5 percent to five percent down. A huge savings for our veterans!

With a VA loan, you also avoid steep mortgage insurance fees. At 5 percent down, private mortgage insurance (PMI) costs can be $150 per month or more on a $250,000 home, depending on the buyer’s credit score. This buyer could afford a home worth $30,000 more with the same monthly payment - simply by eliminating PMI. Using a VA loan saves you money upfront and increases your buying power.

2. Use your benefit more than once

You have a total entitlement of $484,350 in El...

Top 12 Need-To-Know REI Acronyms Explained

Kevin Brenner, ADPI Hero, Capt, USAF / @investorkev

“Education is the  foundation upon which we build our future.”

- Christine Gregoire

It’s 3 PM and you are sitting in your underwear on the weird wax paper that drapes the patient benches of nearly every doctor’s office in the country.  It’s been a solid 30 minutes and you’ve pretty much got the informational poster on heart disease memorized.  

Finally, your doctor, clipboard in hand, swings the door open and hits you with a cheesy greeting.  It’s just a routine physical, nothing to be worried about. You run through all the basic tests and answer the standard family history questions.  Before you leave you run a few medical questions by your physician.  Normal right. I think so too. Well, what if, your doctor had trouble explaining, oh I don’t know, anything at all relating to your health questions?...