... and Landlord! Rental Real Estate Investing Podcast

In this episode (#5) of the [... and Landlord] Podcast, I expand on something I touched on briefly in the prior episode (#4) related to Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant, which is a book by Robert T. Kiyosaki. I relate my own positioning within the Cashflow Quadrant and what you may wish to make your goals for the same - and why. I highly recommend that you read this 2nd book in the Rich Dad series (after reading the 1st, Rich Dad Poor Dad) - as together, they are greatly helpful in setting the ideal mindset and providing a guide for financial success. When I first read these books (I've since listened to each 3 times), they were exactly what I needed. They focused my thoughts and efforts on a path that I was previously stumbling to find. I knew what I had been taught about finances and investing was somehow "off", but these books made it clear as to exactly what was wrong and what I needed to change. I cannot stress more strongly how valuable these books were for me; and I've found that most Real Estate Investors mention one or both of these books as foundational to their success. ---------- Read more in the Episode #5 [... and Landlord] Podcast Blog

Financial Freedom... Yes, it is a buzzword, but it is also a most precious thing to be sought-after with all your effort. But are you really giving it ALL your effort? Are you even giving it SOME effort? Most people think they are, when they really are NOT - or worse, don't even think about it at all. Which is sad, because you're not likely to stumble into financial freedom. Sure, I buy a lottery ticket here and there, but that's not my plan for financial freedom. I've learned that to obtain financial freedom, I had to be willing to make certain sacrifices. In this episode of the [... and Landlord] Podcast, I relate my personal sacrifices made as part of my plan to achieve financial freedom. My sacrifices included: Entertainment (Sports / TV / Movies); Fast Food & Dining Out - each of these things consumed too much of my time and money, so they had to be figuratively crossed-out on my daily to-do list and largely eliminated from my day-to-day routine. But that was just half of what needed to change. The other side was to replace these time wasters with productivity and learning, plus saving money for investing so that my money could begin working for me. Read more about this on the [... and Landlord] Blog - and this episode also briefly speaks about the Cashflow Quadrant, which I'll got into further detail on in another episode.

Rental Real Estate Investing is simple, but its not necessarily easy... And making your first purchase can be downright scary. I've already related in the prior episode that my journey into being a Landlord started with reading the book, Rich Dad / Poor Dad. This episode relates more of this story focusing on what I had to learn how to do in order to make that first purchase happen. Hint... It all relates to evaluating properties and what goes into that process, so that you will know if you will make (or lose) money if purchasing a particular property at a certain price. What will your loan terms be? Down-payment amount required? Interest rate? Points? Closing costs? What will the property rent for? How much rehab will be required to make it rental ready? And how do you compile all of these details into an evaluation that tells you what your Return on Investment (ROI) will be on the cash invested? In this episode, I go into how I answered these questions for myself and the tools I used to do so. For more details on this, checkout the Blog for this Episode #3 | The First 3 Things I Had To Learn How To Do For Purchasing My First Rental Property - along with other articles and resources on the [... and Landlord] Podcast Website.

This episode of the [... and Landlord] Podcast tells my story of being on a cruise, reading the book Rich Dad / Poor Dad, and finding my first property a few months later, to add... and Landlord - to my other titles of Husband, Father and Entrepreneur (Realtor would come later that same year). It was March / April of 2015 and I was on a 7 day cruise to Bonaire, Grand Turk (and other destinations) with my wife and son (at the time age 7), along with two other couples who are close friends and their 2 young children each (11 people in all). To read, I brought along the book Rich Dad / Poor Dad... It changed my life! Despite having a great time with my family and great friends, this book had me really wanting the cruise to be over sooner than later, so that I could get off the boat and start looking for my first rental property - as the book (along with my prior interest in being a Landlord) had me passionately wanting to do. Finally, I had found something that put into words what I had somehow felt all along - that going to school, getting a job and working for someone else (to make them rich), buying stocks / mutual funds and saving for retirement in a IRA / 401K was NOT going to give me the life (or retirement) that I desired. You see, I had been self-employed by my own Web Hosting business (also offering Domain Names & SSL Certificates) for almost 13 years (since 2002) when I came across this book. And while I first had the mind to do so, I had long since decided that I was not meant for college, instead getting a degree in Electronic Engineering Technology from ITT Tech, as it seemed the cheapest and fastest way of getting a decent job that I would only need for long enough to start my own business and quit. ---------- Read the full blog post on how my Landlord Story began at: https://www.andlandlord.com/blog

Husband, Father, Entrepreneur, Realtor... a long list of other titles and descriptions... and Landlord! Welcome to the "... and Landlord" Podcast - with Jonathan Taylor ("J.T.") Smith... Following a Roadmap to Financial Freedom Through Residential Rental Real Estate. Here you'll learn how adding "... and Landlord" to the litany of titles and descriptions that speak to who you are and what you do may be the greatest opportunity to achieve financial freedom available to the average person today. Where someone else pays the bills (the Tenant) and someone else provides 80% or more of the money (the Bank) and where you get 100% of the cash-flow, all future appreciation and the tax benefits. All on an asset that's insured against loss, and that cannot be worth ZERO short of an Alien Invasion or the Zombie Apocalypse, ultimately resulting in a FREE HOUSE for YOU (the Landlord) - that will kick out cash-flow for the rest of your life and beyond! You try getting any of that from the stock market or your 401K. So be all that you are... and Landlord! No? Scared? Name for me another asset where you can get a low interest 30-year loan for 80% (or more) of the purchase price of that asset, but still get the benefits of being 100% owner. And for which you can get cheap insurance on that asset protecting against losses, including fire, theft, natural disasters, etc... Yet you get 100% of future value appreciation and all of the tax benefits, including mortgage interest deduction, and deduction of rehab / repair and operating expenses, plus phantom deductions like depreciation. All while having everything paid by the Tenant!? But when many people think of Landlords, they may think "Slum-Lord", so it seems Landlords have an image problem. Worse still, many who have considered becoming a Landlord think they'll get calls from Tenants at 2AM reporting their toilet overflowing; or they'll have to fight to collect rent each month... Well, if you're getting calls from Tenants at 2AM or you're fighting to collect rent - YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG! So I'm here to tell you WHY you should be and HOW to become and SUCCEED as a Landlord - how to do it right, so that it builds your wealth and enhances your life (not the other way around). Done right, you'll avoid the stereotypes and problem Tenants while acquiring great cash-flow positive / appreciating properties and have systems, policies and a team in place that will make it all run smoothly - as a business. Real Estate has made more millionaires than any other asset class (by far), and especially in the USA, it provides an opportunity to build wealth and create passive income that should not be dismissed because of misinformation, doubts and fears. I remember when I first started telling people that I wanted to be a Landlord (I would joke saying I wanted to be a "Slum-Lord", but that's just my warped sense of humor) - and inevitably the person would vomit their Landlord Horror Story all over me (or that of a friend or family member). But in listening to such stories for only a few minutes, I would quickly hear the thing that person did wrong (or failed to do right) that was a critical mistake I was convinced I wouldn't have made... I could do it better. And I was right! Being a Landlord is simple, if done right... If operated as a business, with rules and policies never broken, procedures always followed with systems properly utilized and when surrounded by a reliable team. Listening to the "... and Landlord" Podcast will give you insight into these things, and so much more regarding WHY and HOW to become a Landlord running a rental property business that builds your wealth now and for generations to come, while greatly enriching your life with passive income that allows you to pursue your dreams. So again, be all that you are... and Landlord!