Latest / The Academy Presents podcast / From Full Time Careers to Financial Freedom with Hoa Nguyen

Transcript

From Full Time Careers to Financial Freedom with Hoa Nguyen · The Academy Presents podcast

• 0:03
  Did you know that 90 % of the world's millionaires
• 0:07
  invest in real estate? Well, I'm Angel with the
• 0:11
  Academy Presents Real Estate Investing Rocks
• 0:13
  and I'm here to help you if you want to go for
• 0:17
  your piece of that pie. Are you new? Are you
• 0:21
  new to this and you just don't know where to
• 0:22
  start? It's okay. Are you someone that has invested
• 0:27
  but you feel stuck? You feel like you've lost
• 0:29
  momentum? You don't know where to really head
• 0:32
  from here? Are you a seasoned real estate investor
• 0:35
  who is doing great but maybe you just want to
• 0:37
  hone a few skills here and there? This is the
• 0:40
  place for you. The Academy Presents Real Estate
• 0:43
  Investing Rocks podcast will connect you with
• 0:46
  industry experts so that you can save time, avoid
• 0:50
  costly mistakes, and begin living the life you've
• 0:54
  dreamed of all through real estate investing.
• 0:58
  You're already taking the first step. just by
• 1:02
  joining us here today. Hey guys, it's Angel with
• 1:06
  the Academy Presents Real Estate Investing Brock's.
• 1:08
  You are with us for the fall summit and this
• 1:11
  has been amazing. I say it I think every single
• 1:13
  time but these are my favorite six days of the
• 1:15
  year by far. I get to have amazing conversations
• 1:19
  with amazing experts in the space and then you
• 1:22
  get to hear all of their stories and all their
• 1:24
  experiences and all of their massive knowledge
• 1:26
  too and so that just makes this really amazing.
• 1:29
  So my friend here, Hua Wen, is going to be sharing
• 1:33
  a little bit about her story and we'll kind of
• 1:35
  chit chat about some other things, but I'm just
• 1:38
  excited to share her with y 'all. So, Hua, if
• 1:42
  you want to kind of give us a little bit about
• 1:43
  your background and maybe just how you got into
• 1:47
  real estate, maybe, and then we can move on to
• 1:49
  the other. Yeah. Hi, Angel. Thanks for having
• 1:52
  me on. So Jaime and I, our journey into real
• 1:57
  estate, you know, we're both eye doctors. So
• 2:00
  when we ventured into the world of real estate,
• 2:03
  we had zero experience. So the birth of our little
• 2:06
  baby girl, her name's Athena. That was eight
• 2:09
  years ago. She just had a birthday. And really,
• 2:12
  that was why we decided, you know, we really
• 2:15
  want to figure out how to be more flexible with
• 2:17
  our schedule. And that was really the vehicle
• 2:20
  of trying to buy back our time. I mean, at this
• 2:22
  time, we already had two practices, we were busy
• 2:26
  working about 60 to 70 hours a week. And so we
• 2:30
  were really, really grinding. And so we just
• 2:33
  wanted to figure out and we didn't have diversified
• 2:35
  passive income, aside from the 401k and IRA.
• 2:39
  That was really all we had and then our practice.
• 2:41
  And so when we ventured into real estate, you
• 2:44
  know, we learned different programs, I mean,
• 2:47
  different podcasts, different books, like meetups,
• 2:51
  you name it, we were there. And so we were just
• 2:53
  trying to figure out different vehicles of real
• 2:56
  estate. And so we started off buying land. And,
• 3:00
  you know, funny enough, our real estate journey
• 3:02
  was overseas. And so we bought land overseas
• 3:05
  in Belize, and then we bought into a resort syndication.
• 3:10
  in Belize, and then we did ground up construction,
• 3:14
  built our custom home, and we currently, and
• 3:18
  then we Airbnb'd it. And so that was kind of
• 3:20
  like a vacation home, but then we Airbnb'd when
• 3:22
  we weren't there. And then multifamily really
• 3:26
  started about five years ago. And so that was
• 3:29
  when we started multifamily syndication. And
• 3:31
  ever since we learned about that vehicle, that
• 3:34
  was what we honed in on and focused on. grew
• 3:37
  and started growing our portfolio in that avenue.
• 3:41
  And it's been a game changer. And so now I practice
• 3:44
  twice a month, you know? And so freedom of time
• 3:50
  has been the biggest thing and biggest reward
• 3:53
  ever since we started our real estate journey
• 3:56
  with multifamily. Wow. That's, that is really
• 4:00
  awesome. Yeah. I'm like, wow, twice. That is,
• 4:08
  wow. Yeah. I could work twice a week. Or twice
• 4:15
  a month or you said twice a month. That's even
• 4:17
  better. Yeah. No, that is wild. Well, I've seen
• 4:21
  like a little bit. We've been in this space for
• 4:23
  about four years and I've gotten to see a lot
• 4:26
  of people move up and move down with what they're
• 4:30
  doing. Really interesting to see friends, see
• 4:35
  others really move up in the space. And so that's
• 4:40
  been really neat. Yeah, it's been, you know,
• 4:43
  it's been it has its ups and downs, you know,
• 4:46
  obviously multifamily is a different animal of
• 4:49
  breaking in. And so we invested heavily in learning
• 4:53
  the ropes and getting out there. And so when
• 4:56
  we were doing multifamily, we were still working
• 4:59
  full time. And then, you know, trying to underwrite
• 5:03
  and tour properties and getting to know the brokers,
• 5:06
  building our investors. I mean, this was simultaneous,
• 5:08
  but still working full time. And so, you know,
• 5:11
  there were no weekend breaks, you know, but it
• 5:15
  was something that we really thoroughly enjoyed
• 5:17
  the process, but it's not easy peasy by any means.
• 5:22
  And it is a lot of hard work and commitment.
• 5:24
  But when Jaime and I decided we were fully committing
• 5:27
  into this journey, there was no giving up. And
• 5:31
  so every time we would get to best and final,
• 5:33
  we would lose out. And we spent so much time
• 5:35
  and dedication to that project. And we would
• 5:38
  just have to start all over. But we knew that
• 5:40
  was part of the journey. Yeah, no, that's a hard
• 5:44
  part. and we came from residential basically
• 5:47
  with residential it's like if you want the house
• 5:50
  and you've got a good realtor you get it yeah
• 5:53
  so we never really had to fight for that and
• 5:55
  then when we got our first multifamily across
• 5:56
  the finish line that was like a fight to the
• 5:59
  death it was more it's a work when it wasn't
• 6:04
  even like it wasn't even just the LOI it wasn't
• 6:07
  just making it the best and final it wasn't just
• 6:09
  you know the the capital raise it wasn't just
• 6:11
  finding a loan product it was like all of these
• 6:13
  things you put out one fire here comes the next
• 6:16
  and Wow, yeah, I know it's a whole different
• 6:19
  beast and I think that people I Mean people say
• 6:25
  anybody can do it Or but when you hear it, you
• 6:28
  think they're saying everybody can do it But
• 6:31
  nobody's saying everybody can do it They're saying
• 6:35
  Anybody can do it. But actually everybody can't
• 6:39
  because like you said it's like a don't give
• 6:41
  up. We're not giving up we're going through this
• 6:43
  to the end. That's the people that are really
• 6:47
  successful at this. That's their attitude. Right.
• 6:50
  And I think you have that attitude because sometimes
• 6:53
  you get discouraged. And I've seen people fall
• 6:55
  out of the multifamily space, you know, because
• 6:59
  they just like, no. They don't see the results,
• 7:03
  right? It's not linear. And so a lot of times,
• 7:06
  you think you invest a lot of money and time
• 7:08
  and dedication towards it. You expect a reward
• 7:11
  by a certain time frame. And so it doesn't work
• 7:15
  that way. I'm just sitting here and I'm thinking,
• 7:19
  with the property that we have, and it's doing
• 7:21
  fine. We're sending out distributions, but we
• 7:25
  haven't gotten an asset management fee yet. Yeah.
• 7:29
  Because it's just like, there's things that have
• 7:31
  to be given up to make sure that you're meeting
• 7:34
  your other you know fiduciary responsibilities
• 7:36
  and financial obligations first right and so
• 7:40
  you think man i'm pouring time and time into
• 7:43
  this and yeah you are pouring time into it but
• 7:47
  it will eventually be it'll It's going to come
• 7:50
  around. That's the key. It's the law. It's a
• 7:52
  long -term game. It's a long -term play, right?
• 7:54
  And you have to have that understanding upfront.
• 7:58
  It's not a get rich quick right now type of thing.
• 8:01
  And so, and we understand that and we want, and
• 8:04
  for us it's like long -term. And if we can build
• 8:07
  the ground foundation now to build long -term
• 8:10
  generation of wealth, we're willing to put in
• 8:12
  that work on the front end, however long that
• 8:16
  takes, you know? Yeah. And I think too like,
• 8:20
  everybody says have your why what's your why
• 8:22
  what's your why and you said something about
• 8:26
  creating that generational wealth that I think
• 8:27
  is a lot of people say it but they don't really
• 8:31
  understand what they're saying because like for
• 8:35
  us we have a special needs son and if he outlives
• 8:38
  us he's got real costs and so we're trying to
• 8:45
  create a trust for him so that If he outlives
• 8:49
  us, all his sisters have to do is love him. They
• 8:52
  don't have to worry about how much they're going
• 8:54
  to pay in his medical, how to take care of his
• 8:56
  medical, whether or not he needs 24 hour nurses.
• 8:58
  Like they're not going to worry about any of
• 8:59
  that. But the only way you do that is by truly
• 9:02
  creating generational wealth. And I think people,
• 9:06
  it's, it's cute to say, Oh yeah, I'm creating
• 9:08
  generational wealth. But until you feel it in
• 9:10
  your like soul and know that that's really what
• 9:13
  you're going after, I think it's easier to give
• 9:16
  up. Right. Absolutely. So, and it's, it's the
• 9:21
  people that I see that are really committed to
• 9:23
  it. They're the ones that are going to stick
• 9:26
  it out regardless of how hard it gets. And I
• 9:28
  feel like, like the still we've got and it's,
• 9:31
  you know, it's our first one, but it is so hard.
• 9:34
  And then I have to sit back and say, no, this
• 9:37
  one isn't any different from anybody else's.
• 9:39
  It's just that they've already been through this
• 9:41
  part of it and they already know how to deal
• 9:43
  with it. So it feels so hard, but I know that.
• 9:47
  this is really the way it goes. And I'm just
• 9:50
  learning how to deal with it up front. Right.
• 9:55
  So it's, yeah, it's fun stuff. But y 'all have
• 10:01
  a lot of properties now. Do you focus mostly
• 10:03
  in the DFW area? Are you still doing any overseas
• 10:06
  investment or? No, Houston, DFW are our two main.
• 10:12
  areas that we heavily invest in most of our portfolio
• 10:15
  is in. We do have San Antonio as a passive investment,
• 10:20
  but most of our GP deals are Houston, DFW, and
• 10:25
  then one in South Carolina that we're just now
• 10:27
  selling. It's been sold. Cool. Yeah, so you talk
• 10:34
  about your LP investments. That's another one
• 10:36
  that we were LP investors first. Us too. And
• 10:40
  I think that that it was good and not good. Um,
• 10:46
  it was good because we got to learn the process.
• 10:48
  We got to see what's going on. But I think part
• 10:50
  of the not good part was, you know, we come from
• 10:52
  residential, we thought that was passive and
• 10:53
  it's really not that passive, but LP investing
• 10:57
  is truly passive. And so I think in the back
• 11:01
  of my mind, I had this little, little thought
• 11:04
  of, man, if it's this easy for the past investors,
• 11:07
  how easy is it for the GPs? No, the GPs are taking
• 11:12
  on all the work and all the stress. That's why
• 11:14
  it's easy for the LP. Right. It's like I never
• 11:19
  said, I wonder how easy it is for the GPs. But
• 11:22
  after getting to some of the hard stuff, I was
• 11:25
  like, man, is that what I was thinking? What
• 11:27
  was I thinking? But it's a long. It's a long
• 11:34
  play, a long term play, but at least the GP with
• 11:37
  syndications and having other partners to divvy
• 11:40
  up the roles where you're not doing everything
• 11:42
  from A to Z. And, you know, is nice. And that's
• 11:46
  an easier vehicle to be able to scale, you know,
• 11:50
  is through this model. But the hardship is trying
• 11:54
  to figure out the right partnerships. the right,
• 11:57
  you know, the right teams and things like that
• 11:59
  and how to divvy up who exactly is doing what
• 12:02
  to make sure everything's actually being covered
• 12:05
  appropriately, right? Oh, absolutely. Um, one
• 12:08
  of the things that I learned early on is, um,
• 12:11
  like asset management meetings and being like
• 12:14
  the main voice in those meetings. That's not
• 12:16
  my calling. I love to talk, but that part of
• 12:22
  it, not my colleague. And I already knew underwriting
• 12:25
  was not my thing, but you know, my husband's
• 12:27
  chemical engineer and Dr. Williams could take
• 12:30
  care of that. That is all yours honey. I will
• 12:35
  not be in your lane. That's good that you figure
• 12:41
  out right as you go through the process you figure
• 12:44
  out like what is it that you're good at and what
• 12:46
  is it you actually enjoy? right? Because even
• 12:49
  if you're good at it, but you hate doing it,
• 12:51
  I mean, you know, that's not your lane, you know,
• 12:54
  pick one that you're really good at and stick
• 12:56
  with that lane and then kind of build from that,
• 12:59
  you know, and we don't know what we're really
• 13:02
  good at and what we enjoy until you kind of go
• 13:03
  through the process and do it. Yeah, no, absolutely.
• 13:06
  And I think that that's another really important
• 13:08
  distinction is that you might be good at something
• 13:11
  or pretty decent at something, but hate it. And
• 13:15
  I mean like could I have eventually been more
• 13:18
  successful with the asset management meetings
• 13:20
  and running those maybe probably but I I don't
• 13:26
  like it yeah it's it's you know I taught middle
• 13:29
  school for a few years and it literally felt
• 13:30
  like I was back in the classroom I was getting
• 13:33
  on to a student and everybody else was averting
• 13:35
  their eyes that was the feeling that I have and
• 13:39
  I was like oh I don't like this But we were fortunate
• 13:44
  enough that we've got a we've got a PMP on our
• 13:47
  team. So he's a trained project management professional
• 13:49
  and he's a newbie too. But I called him and he
• 13:53
  called me and we were talking and I was like,
• 13:55
  hey, I think you'd be really good at taking on
• 13:58
  the asset management part, like running the meetings
• 14:00
  and keeping up with the KPIs and doing those
• 14:02
  things because you're a project manager and asset
• 14:05
  management is like another project. And it turned
• 14:09
  out really, really well. He does an amazing job
• 14:11
  with it. Oh good. And so that one, that, that
• 14:15
  worked out really well. And it was like the whole
• 14:19
  world was lifted off my shoulders. That's good.
• 14:23
  Yeah. But it's, you just don't know. Like you
• 14:25
  said, you, you don't know. Cause a lot of people
• 14:28
  think, Oh, asset management, you're just managing
• 14:29
  the managers because that's what everybody says.
• 14:32
  But Oh, it's more so much. Oh yeah. There's,
• 14:35
  there's more to it than that. Like we had a point
• 14:38
  where we got a lot of it's like insurance like
• 14:40
  hey we're canceling you 24 hours if you don't
• 14:42
  figure out how to reduce the spacing on your
• 14:44
  railings for the stairs because they're five
• 14:47
  inches and they can only be four or less and
• 14:50
  I was like 24 hours what so you know thank goodness
• 14:54
  the property is like 15 minutes from our house
• 14:56
  so I drive over there and we're looking at it
• 14:59
  and the maintenance guy walks by with his piece
• 15:01
  of rebar and I was like wait And we looked at
• 15:06
  it and I'm like, this is what we're doing. And
• 15:09
  there just happened to be enough rebar at the
• 15:12
  lows of the Home Depot. And the welder came out
• 15:15
  and we started cutting them and putting them
• 15:16
  in. We got one stairway done for that first day.
• 15:20
  And I'm taking pictures and sending them to insurance.
• 15:22
  And they're like, OK, so are you all going to
• 15:24
  be done by tomorrow? We had 16 stairwells. And
• 15:28
  I was like, oh, yeah, we're not going to be done.
• 15:32
  But hey, we're starting. And I promise you it's
• 15:34
  going to get done. Yeah. So they, they let it
• 15:37
  go with that, but those are the pieces that you
• 15:40
  don't think about happening. Right. So yeah,
• 15:44
  it was, um, it was crazy. And then you have like
• 15:46
  the pool was having issues and it's, it's all
• 15:51
  these things. You just think things are going
• 15:52
  to work out.