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Building Wealth Quietly Through Real Estate and Purpose · The Academy Presents podcast

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Did you know that 90 % of the world's millionaires
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invest in real estate? Well, I'm Angel with the
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Academy Presents Real Estate Investing Rocks,
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and I'm here to help you if you want to go for
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your piece of that pie. Are you new? Are you
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new to this and you just don't know where to
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start? It's okay. Are you someone that has invested
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but you feel stuck, you feel like you've lost
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momentum, you don't know where to really head
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from here? Are you a seasoned real estate investor
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who is doing great, but maybe you just want to
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hone a few skills here and there? This is the
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place for you. The Academy Presents Real Estate
0:41
Investing Rocks podcast will connect you with
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industry experts so that you can save time, avoid
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costly mistakes, and begin living the life you've
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dreamed of all through real estate investing.
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You're already taking the first step. just by
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joining us here today. Hey guys, it's Angel with
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the Academy Presents Real Estate Investing Brocks.
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You are with us for the fall summit and this
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has been amazing. I say it I think every single
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time but these are my favorite six days of the
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year by far. I get to have amazing conversations
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with amazing experts in the space and then you
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get to hear all of their stories and all their
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experiences and all of their massive knowledge
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too and so that just makes this really amazing.
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So my friend here, Hua Wen, is going to be sharing
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a little bit about her story and we'll kind of
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chit chat about some other things, but I'm just
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excited to share her with y 'all. So, Hua, if
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you want to kind of give us a little bit about
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your background and maybe just how you got into
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real estate, maybe, and then we can move on to
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the other. Yeah. Hi, Angel. Thanks for having
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me on. So Jaime and I, our journey into real
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estate, you know, we're both eye doctors. So
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when we ventured into the world of real estate,
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we had a zero experience. So the birth of our
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little baby girl, her name's Athena. That was
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eight years ago. She just had a birthday. And
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really that was why we decided, you know, we
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really want to figure out how to be more flexible
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with our schedule. And that was really the vehicle
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of trying to buy back our time. I mean, at this
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time, we already had two practices. We were busy
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working about 60 to 70 hours a week. And so we
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were really, really grinding. And so we just
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wanted to figure out, and we didn't have diversified
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passive income, aside from the 401k and IRA.
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That was really all we had and then our practice.
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And so when we mentioned into real estate, you
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know, we learned different programs, I mean,
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different podcasts, different books. like meetups,
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you name it, we were there. And so we were just
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trying to figure out different vehicles of real
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estate. And so we started off buying land and,
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you know, funny enough, our real estate journey
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was overseas. And so we bought land overseas
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in Belize and then we bought into a resort syndication
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in Belize. And then we did ground up construction,
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built our Custom home and we currently and then
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we Airbnb'd it and so that was kind of like a
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vacation home But then we Airbnb'd when we weren't
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there and then multifamily really started about
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five years ago And so that was when we started
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multifamily syndication and ever since we learned
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about that vehicle That was what we honed in
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on and focused and grew and started growing our
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portfolio in that Avenue And it's been a game
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-changer and so now I practice twice a month,
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you know. So freedom of time has been the biggest
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thing and biggest reward ever since we started
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our real estate journey with multifamily. Now
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I hear you on that. But, and it's really funny
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to talk about the car. So I've got, we did get
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a Jeep. It is a two -door Jeep. It is our toy
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because we don't fly. We don't do a lot of traveling.
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So we do have a little Jeep that Jason and I
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take off -roading. It's fun. It's our toy. and
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it's in our driveway. Other than that, I've got
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an 03 Pilot with 250 ,000 miles on it. It sits
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in the front of the house because when Jason's
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sister and her husband went to Saudi, they needed
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to sell their van. So we also have a 2014 Honda
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Odyssey with 100 ,000 miles on it right now that
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fits all of our kids. And then Jason has an 01
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GMC pickup truck. We just Our house was built
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in 1982. I follow my son around with a like thing
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of spackle that if he accidentally puts a hole
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in the wall, I don't even use a trowel anymore.
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I push it in with my hands just to fill the hole
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back up so he didn't dig into the into the like
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the I can't even think fiberglass stuff in the
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wall. But I just don't want him digging into
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the walls, right? But it's just funny that the
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people that are really being successful. they
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don't look the way you think they're gonna look.
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And I think part of that is because of where
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they've come from. And that kind of leads me
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into this other question of how are you teaching
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that the importance of the struggle to your daughter?
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Because I'm having a hard time with that. Our
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14 year old knows that if she needs something
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for school, we'll just pay for it. But there's
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other kids that don't have that same option.
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Yeah, and that was one of the things Jaime and
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I had a big conversation about because I was
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like, you know, we are the way we are Because
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of our struggles when we were younger like Athena
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being born and she has no contrast, right? She
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she doesn't live that kind of struggle And so
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for us the way we wanted to implement that is
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to really get her out there and show her so you
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know we have kids that we sponsor from different
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countries and different orphanages and so she
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calls them her brother and sister and so you
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know so she has so she always tells the teachers
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oh yeah I have a brother and a sister from the
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Philippines and Ecuador but she you know you
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get these monthly updates and then we when we
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travel we want her to see contrast, right? And
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that's part of the beauty of traveling, too,
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is not just the touristy areas, but to see where
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the locals are and kind of that other side of
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how other families actually live. And so at a
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very young age, she's super sweet, but she donates.
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So the concept of giving back is something we
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taught her at a very young age. And so she...
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she you know so everything now anytime something
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she's outgrown something or she gets money for
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her birthday she's always like can you donate
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this you know and so she has charge of her own
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money but she'll give a small piece and so she
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has a lot of compassion you know for other kids
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or she sees others um who aren't and she's always
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like can we give them this or can we do this
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and donate this and so every that's part of the
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journey so even though she has everything she's
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not one of those that needs everything and she's
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like mommy you don't need to buy me a bunch of
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this and that I have everything already you know
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and so she's not very into material things she's
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very simple but it's a role model like she mirrors
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us because we're not into a lot of the things.
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And then so she enjoys that when we go out and
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we get to help others like she loves that process.
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If we go visit and she gives to other kids and
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she knows that that's what she's doing. At a
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young age, she understood that. and now she's
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eight so she she understands that concept even
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better but we made it intentional um because
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that was a conversation I was worried about because
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I was like man I don't want my child to be spoiled
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and like not understand how good she really has
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it you know and so we that that would that's
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truly super important for us that she understands
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and has that empathy for people that's that's
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been something that Jason and I have talked about
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a lot because it Like when we first had Julianne,
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no way. We had $200 ,000 in school loans. And
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Jason's the only doctor. I didn't make it that
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far, but we still had $200 ,000 in school loans.
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And he had just gotten a job. We had our first,
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and then we had our son two years later. And
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then there was a period of time where my youngest
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two siblings lived with us. And so it was. It
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was rougher in the beginning, but I don't think
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she's 14 now. I don't know that she really remembers
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it. And I don't think they noticed that we've
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got tubs of clothes in all different sizes because
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we're gonna keep on passing those bad boys down
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because clothes are expensive. So when somebody,
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when our five -year -old now finally outgrows
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something, we put it in a bin so that we can
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donate it. But it's been through four kids. I'm
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not sure how much life is left in it. You've
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maximized that. We've pretty much maximized everything
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out of that. And we have like stuff that can
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pass for girl or boy, like the t -shirts. Those
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are amazing. They can pass either way. And then
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really, girls can get away with anything a boy
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can wear. Yeah. It's a little bit harder to go
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the other direction. Maybe not quite as hard
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these days. But it's just funny that we've got
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all this stuff everywhere. And Jason's like,
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please don't buy any more clothes. I'm like,
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I'm not buying clothes. We've got more clothes
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than we could ever want. So it's um, but it's
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it's a it's just a I grew up with hand -me -downs
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And my grandparents they did. All right. I mean
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we had they had some rentals They had a quadplex
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and a little trailer park and they had a few
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singles here and there and I thought we were
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great but I mean there were times when I wore
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hand -me -downs or we'd buy used clothes and
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It was fine. So I think having my grandmother
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really teach that to me and I think part of it
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was the way she was brought up too because she
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was part of a migrant farming family and so my
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grandmother only made through eighth grade because
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she missed so much school because they would
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leave school and she'd go help pick cotton and
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I mean that's not even that far gone generation
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-wise like my grandparents raised me and to know
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that my grandmother only made through eighth
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grade she eventually got a GED but still that's
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not that far off and so a lot of I think what
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she learned in surviving as a Hispanic woman
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in the, you know, she was born in 33 during some
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of those times when it wasn't really good to
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be anything other than white. And I think she
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passed some of those things on to me. Now she
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got a little extravagant later on because she
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was like, wait, wait, what? We have money. But
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it was it wasn't even that much because like
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My husband, his family did an amazing job with
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not really letting the kids know what there was.
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And so my father -in -law has passed away now,
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but I always wanted to know how he did it. Like,
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how did he keep it under wraps? Because they
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had about 60 -ish units of residential multifamily.
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And they're all within two or three streets of
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one another. And I don't know if he didn't...
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Don't know. I think I would have understood.
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Hey, we've got all the stuff. Yeah, but Jason
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never really He said he never really knew But
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he knew his parents were very frugal Yeah, and
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it was the craziest thing like his dad wanted
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us to find these the things that go under the
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doors They've got like the tubes on either side.
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So there's not a draft under the doors Because
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he would like play this game with how low can
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I get my electric bill? I hated the house in
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the summer because it was like 800 degrees inside
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the house. Not really. But it was probably 82
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or 83. It was hot. I like my house cold. And
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it was because he was seeing how low he could
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get in the winter. He'd have like a sweater on,
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had blankets on him. But how low can I get that
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electric bill? And then later on, finding out
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that that wasn't even something he had to worry
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about, I was like, are we serious? But I think
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it just comes from it comes from how you grow
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up, I guess. I mean, his his family, they had
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farms in West Texas. And even though the farming
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community is wealthy, it's not cash wealthy,
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land wealthy, crop wealthy, but they don't always
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have the cash wealthy part of it. And so he grew
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up in more of that environment. And so he he
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probably had some of the same things that we're
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talking about here, where you know maybe grandma
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made some of their clothes or maybe they had
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hand -me -down shoes I don't really know because
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I don't remember a lot of those conversations
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but it was um I think having those struggles
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and those hardships really forms who you are
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It does. I wore hand -me -downs. I mean, we shopped
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at Red, White, and Blue in New Orleans, and my
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mom would make us some of the clothes, but then
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when she got busy working, she didn't have time,
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so we didn't even get new Kmart clothes. I mean,
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it was used clothes, and I was the only girl,
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so I didn't have hand -me -downs, you know? I
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didn't have to have hand -me -downs. So I got
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used clothes, and my brothers, of course, they
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got hand -me -downs from each other, but... Yeah.
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And we weren't really, we didn't, you know, I
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got teased a lot. Like when I was young, um,
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I got made it fun of because I was like, my teeth
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were really messed up when I was little. And
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so I couldn't even close my mouth. It was that
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bad. And like, it was cause it was protruding
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up. And so my mom was just like, Oh my God, I
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need to get this girl braces as poor as we are.
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We like, we really can't afford braces, but if
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I don't fix her mouth and teeth, like That's
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going to be an issue in her future. So she got
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me braces. But here I am braces. And, you know,
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of course, when I was moving around, I was the
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only Asian in a lot of the schools. And so and
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I was super shy, super introverted. And so I
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got made fun of and bullied all the time, you
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know, and it was horrible. It was horrible, you
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know, and then I didn't really I stayed that
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way, like, for a long time. Like, the Hua you
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know now, who talks a lot, is not the Hua growing
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up. Even in optometry school, I was really timid.
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And, like, nobody knew me. Like, I would come
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in and take my tests, do my clinical rotations,
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and leave. Like, I was not very sociable at the
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time until, like, Jaime, over the years, has
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kind of helped, you know, break me out of my
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shell and get more comfortable. But it really
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wasn't until about four or five years ago, getting
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into the real estate space where I started kind
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of, you know, breaking out a little bit and getting
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more comfortable and confident. But that journey
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took a long time because, you know, I don't know.
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So yeah, the hand me downs and then the braces
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and then like just being, you know, shy and everything.
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I was just like, and I look back and I'm like,
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man, that poor little girl, if I can only talk
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to her now. Wow. No, that's yeah. I mean, I don't
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understand, like, the real shy part of it, but
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I can remember, like, do you remember those notes
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that would go around, hey, do you like so -and
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-so check yes or no? I remember having those
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notes passed around about me when I was in fifth
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grade, and I remember, and it hurt. I think some
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of those things, if you get past them, they make
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you a lot stronger. And so, like, when you get
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those questions of what would you change about
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your past, well, I mean, there's been some really
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hard things. but I don't think I would change
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anything because it made me who I need to be
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today. Yeah, I would agree. So yeah, so I'm gonna
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kind of turn a little bit again. You talked about
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like basically getting prepared and learning
16:22
to enter this space. You know, we have coaches
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because we like having coaches. It makes things
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easier. Did y 'all seek out coaches or did you
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do it on your own or how did y 'all really go
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about that? No, we seek. coaching and you know
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we we joined different groups to learn multifamily
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and so you know but we we wound up entering during
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a mentorship program and having coaching and
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um but i think the biggest um the biggest learning
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is when you're actually in a deal you know i
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think you can learn all the gist of everything
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and modules and have coaching calls all you want
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But the real learning happens when you actively
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are in the deal. No, I will 100 % support that
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statement. 1000 % support that statement. Yeah.
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Yeah. Yeah, we really thought we knew what we
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were doing. No. Oh, it's very humbling. It's
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very humbling. but I know there's a lot of people
17:31
who think out there think that it's too much
17:33
to spend or they can do it on their own and I
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mean you can there's people that do but if you
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if you think it's hard with a coach I can't imagine
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what it must be like without one no especially
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multifamily I would highly And it's not just
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the coaching and the mentorship program. Obviously,
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a lot of our partnerships have come through the
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ecosystem. And I think the friendships and partnerships,
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you know, and collaboration and leveraging each
18:06
other's experience and resources to bounce ideas
18:09
and, you know, because you're going to have the
18:12
time where you're like, man. What do I do now,
18:15
right? And to have that direct access, you can
18:17
pick up a phone call, whether it's your coach
18:19
or a friend or your partner or whatever. I mean,
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that's invaluable, right? And so I don't believe
18:25
in the, just learn and do it all by yourself.
18:28
Yes, you can get a lot of free resources, but
18:30
I believe in investing in yourself and learning
18:33
the ropes properly, kind of collapsing. They
18:35
always talk about collapsing that timeframe,
18:37
because if I can leverage someone who has 20
18:40
years of experience and I can, you know, pick
18:43
up the phone and like, I have this problem right
18:45
now. Like, what do I need to do? Who do I need
18:47
to call? I mean, that's very valuable for us,
18:50
you know? Yeah, no, it's like, we have a meetup
18:53
that we run every Monday. It's the Marvelous
18:56
Mondays Meetup. But there's, we've really grown
19:00
a pretty good group. And one of the people that's
19:03
a part of the group, strictly a passive investor,
19:06
and has been in, what is it now, 75 or 76 deals.
19:10
And A lot of times, oh yeah, when I have an issue,
19:14
I'll reach out to him. Yeah, he probably knows
19:16
well more, way more. Oh my gosh, because even
19:19
as an LP he's like, well, you know, one time.
19:22
Yeah. And I'm like, yes. Because I have zero
19:27
times to go off of. Yeah. That's great. And that's
19:32
true, especially those who are been in that many
19:35
deals in different markets, different sponsors,
19:38
and different management companies. They know
19:40
the ins and outs of what's going on. And they're
19:41
like, hey, this is what happened. And this is
19:43
what they did. And this was a good resolution.
19:46
Because they see what's behind the scenes. Those
19:51
relationships are invaluable. So I just want
19:54
to thank you for being here. We talked about
19:56
a lot of different things. And I think that that's
19:58
important that people see that when you're in
20:01
the space, it's not just one hat. You're really
20:04
in a lot of different you with a lot of different
20:07
hats, not necessarily a lot of different lanes,
20:09
because I think that we should really focus on
20:11
our superpowers and stay in that lane. But it's
20:15
OK to drift a little bit. Because sometimes you
20:19
won't learn people or you won't meet people or
20:21
learn new things if you're not drifting a little
20:23
bit. but you can always fall back on your strengths
20:28
when you need to. But again, just thank you for
20:32
being here and for being so willing to share
20:33
information and tell your story and just let
20:36
people know that you don't have to have been
20:39
born into this to do it. You can work your way
20:42
in. You can get in with a good group of people,
20:44
good coaches, mentors, and you can rock this
20:47
stuff. You can build the life of your dreams.
20:51
Absolutely. Thank you so much, Angel, for having
20:55
me on. Really appreciate it. Really enjoyed it.
20:58
Thank you. And for those of you out there, if
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you want to stay on this side, this side has
21:02
a ton of information, but we would love to have
21:04
you join us on the live side where you can be
21:06
a part of the interactive piece of it. There
21:09
should be logos. There should be links. There
21:12
should be QR codes. There should be stuff everywhere
21:14
that you can click on to get you over there.
21:17
So I hope to see you there.