{"id":108326,"date":"2019-03-07T00:02:34","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T07:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/?p=108326"},"modified":"2023-02-09T21:03:33","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T04:03:33","slug":"biggerpockets-podcast-320","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/biggerpockets-podcast-320","title":{"rendered":"Hands-On BRRRR Investing and DIY Secrets with Instagram Star Brittany Arnason"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Imagine building a business around work you\u2019d do for free. Sound pretty great?<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s guest has done just that, and her story may change the way you think about investing.\u00a0<strong>Brittany Arnason<\/strong> is a 26-year-old who\u2019s converted her talent for hands-on work into a cash-flowing, 10-unit rental portfolio.<\/p>\n<p>In this episode, Brittany shares how she learned the business of real estate and construction as a small child, bought her first property for $25,000, and worked on it herself to save money and learn the business.<\/p>\n<p>She goes on to reveal her DIY secrets for adding value at minimal cost, how she applied skills she learned at her 9 to 5 to make her a more successful investor, and how she operates as a woman in a male-dominated industry.<\/p>\n<p>Brittany has an incredible energy, spark, and passion for real estate, and it is infectious. Don&#8217;t miss how she uses creative strategies to finance her deals and <a href=\"\/renewsblog\/brrrr-strategy-real-estate-investing\/\" target=\"_blank\">the BRRRR method to fund<\/a> unlimited projects.<\/p>\n<p>This is an episode that will leave you pumped up and ready to go get your next (or first) deal. Download it today!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/biggerpockets-podcast-real\/id594419649\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here<\/a>\u00a0to listen on iTunes.<\/p>\n<h2>Listen to the Podcast Here<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm\/?e=BIGPOC7822019120\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Read the Transcript Here<\/h2>\n<div style=\"overflow-y: scroll; max-height: 400px; background: #eee; padding: 20px; border: 1px solid #ddd;\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b> Brandon: <\/b>This is the BiggerPockets podcast Show 320.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>\u201cI left it overnight, cooked them all the way through the next day, gave everyone extremely bad salmonella food poisoning. Like really, really bad. Like the craziest thing. So I ended up getting insurance payout and everyone who felt really sick did and so I saved that money until I was 18 and it paid for a portion of that house\u201d.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>You\u2019re listening to BiggerPockets Radio. Simplifying real estate for investors large and small. If you\u2019re here looking to learn about real estate investing without all the hype, you\u2019re in the right place. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Stay tuned and be sure to join the millions of others who have benefited from BiggerPockets.com. Your home for real estate investing online. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>What is going on, everyone? This is Brandon Turner, host of the BiggerPockets podcast, here in Denver, Colorado today, of all places. I actually flew into the BiggerPockets HQ, talking to my buddy, David Greene here, who is not here at the Denver office. But anyways, what\u2019s up, David?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Dude, I\u2019m doing great. I just got back from New Orleans where I was at the big Keller-Williams training event for the year called <i>Family Reunion<\/i> and they actually brought me in to speak and I guess to talk about how to take investing knowledge and apply it to servicing your real estate clients, which was a blast. We had a packed house. Tons of BiggerPockets fans within Keller-Williams. That was very exciting to here. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">And I have some news. I am hiring for someone who has experience building and running a real estate team. So I\u2019m taking the David Greene team and I\u2019m looking to hire someone who can help recruit and train agents to help get them into production so that I can focus more on the stuff that you and I are doing\u2014a little bit less on actually helping agents to join my team. So if anybody knows of anyone or has experience themselves doing that, I\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Cool. All right. Well, very cool. Yeah, I saw that video you posted. I think it was on your Instagram of like the millions of people watching you on stage. It was pretty cool.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Yeah, it was pretty cool. The downside is just everybody wanted to get to you through me. They were like, oh my gosh, it\u2019s David Greene. Can you introduce me to Brandon Turner?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>I\u2019m sure that\u2019s it. All right, so on that note\u2014you see how David does that? Turns around a compliment, threw it right back at my face. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>You have such a guy\u2019s face. I can\u2019t help it. Look at that thing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>See, there it is again. All right, let\u2019s get to today\u2019s <i>Quick Tip<\/i>. All right, today\u2019s <i>Quick Tip<\/i> is very simple and David Greene\u2019s got it. Go, David, go. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Okay, today\u2019s <i>Quick Tip<\/i> is, you should be posting what you are doing on social media for everybody to see because it will help you raise private money. Today\u2019s guest, Investor Girl Britt, has a very good Instagram. In fact, that\u2019s how we met. Because she had such a good Instagram, she reached out to me and I looked at it and I go, oh, she looks legit. We started talking and she got on the BiggerPockets podcast.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Now, she mentions she does not like to worry about the details of a deal. She likes to focus on the rehab and actually like making it look pretty. Which means she needs other people to worry about the details and the money. Now, I can tell you, if you are considering partnering with someone and you saw her Instagram and how good she is\u2014I mean, she\u2019s got live action video showing her working on the house herself. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">You could see all the deals she did. She put together like hashtags for every house. You know this person\u2019s really good so you feel comfortable investing money with that person. If you want to get started and you want to be partnering with people, put your knowledge out there for the world to see so that you look like the experts. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Very similar to what I taught at the Keller-Williams event where I showed people, look, I know how to invest in real estate. Therefore, you should let me sell your house or help you buy one. Because I know real estate, my business blew up. Same thing goes for her. If you know something, let people know that you know it and you should see your business start to scale. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>That\u2019s a good <i>Quick Tip<\/i>. I do it on the spot there. I don\u2019t know that you knew I did not have one planned so I just threw it on David and he on the top of his head right there, got it taken care of. So, nicely done. All right, let\u2019s move on. But before we get to today\u2019s show, David, pop quiz. You ready for this?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Okay?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>I want you to name the top deductions for real estate investors. Go.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Oh, God. Okay. Mortgage interest, expenses, maybe mileage driving in your car to check on the property. That\u2019s all I got. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>There\u2019s a bunch more. Those are good, right? But there\u2019s a bunch more. I know this because I\u2019m looking at Stessa\u2019s handy <i>Top 11 Tax Deductions for Real Estate Owners<\/i> list. If you\u2019re not using this list, you could be costing yourself money by not taking valuable writeoffs. Look, you owe it to yourself to have this cheat sheet. And guess what? It\u2019s free.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So here\u2019s the deal. Sign up for a free Stessa account today. Stessa makes it really easy to track, manage, and report on all of your rental properties in one place. It makes financial management simple and save you a ton of time. I really like this product. I play with it all the time. I love Stessa. I use it in my business. So again, get your copy of the top deductions by heading over to Stessa.com\/BiggerDeductions. Sign up for a free account. That\u2019s Stessa like Assets spelled backwards, which I did not know that until forever. But Stessa.com\/BiggerDeductions. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">All right, and now, it is time to introduce you to a friend of David and mine. This is Investor Girl Brittany\u2014let\u2019s see if I can say her last name correctly\u2014I butcher it every time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Have you ever gotten a last name right in all 320 shows?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Arnason? Look at that. So today, funny little story, I got Kevin, our podcast senior producer of the BiggerPockets podcast\u2014super awesome guy\u2014he\u2019s actually here in the studio with me. He is actually normally not in Denver. He is normally actually in Washington, D.C., right? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">But both of us converged on Denver today because there is a big meetup happening here tomorrow, which when you listen to this, it will already have happened but we\u2019re in town for that and to hang out at the office and do some podcasts and videos and all that stuff. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Anyway, say hi to Kevin sometime over on social. What\u2019s your Instagram? @KevinDLeahy. All right, say hi to Kevin over there. He\u2019s our producer. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>I love that you couldn\u2019t get his last name right either. You had to literally just spell it because you gave up on attempting to pronounce it. That\u2019s why you brought him up. You were trying to talk about how you can\u2019t pronounce last names.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>There you go. All right, with that, let\u2019s get to today\u2019s show with Brittany Arnason. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">What\u2019s going on, Britt? Welcome to the BiggerPockets podcast. Really good to have you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Hey, you guys. I\u2019m so excited to be here. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Good, good. All right, so let\u2019s jump into this and get your story. Anyway, I have been following your Instagram for forever. You have an amazing Instagram. What\u2019s your handle on this again? I\u2019m going to tell people right away to go follow you. It\u2019s @InvestorGirlBritt. All right, yeah. So go follow @InvestorGirlBritt.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>One of the best follows you\u2019re going to find in the real estate space. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>One of the best. Yeah, you do a really good job. So let\u2019s talk about your journey though because I\u2019ve always been curious because I\u2019ve been following you and I see like you doing work and you\u2019ve got like your toolbelt on and you\u2019re nailing things from the ceiling. I don\u2019t know. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">You\u2019re like very hands on. But I didn\u2019t know like how you got into real estate. So I told our producer, Kevin, I\u2019m like, Kevin\u2014you\u2019ve got to get Britt. And so, this is how we made this happen. So anyway, let\u2019s start at the beginning. How did you get started with real estate investing?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Well, I was always involved in real estate investing since I was really, really young. So I would work with my brother on some of my mom\u2019s rental properties. So she\u2019d get us to do everything from painting to sanding to flooring to really whatever she wanted us to do. So it was fun growing up, doing that kind of stuff. And she also paid us a wage of $1 every Friday. Pretty big deal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Wow, I need to get on that train.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Oh yeah, it was great.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>I should get Rosie out there working now. I mean, two and a half so she should be able to hold a hammer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>I know, right? Get them started young.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>That would be much cheaper than any of my other contractors. Anyway, okay. So you started off doing slave labor and then\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, that\u2019s right. And then when I was 18, and I always was really interested in owning my own rental properties. I was always really excited about it so when I was 18, I bought my first rental property for $25,000. Which is pretty crazy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>That is crazy. We\u2019re going to walk through that. 18, first rental property for $25,000. Well, first off, let\u2019s clarify\u2014how long ago were you 18? Was this like two years ago?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>No. Well, I\u2019m 26 now.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Okay. So a few years ago. Now, you live in like Detroit, Michigan. Clearly, you can buy a house for $25,000. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Of course.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Where are you located?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>The middle of nowhere in Saskatchewan, Canada. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Canada. Like I didn\u2019t even know that\u2014I thought like every property in Canada was like $4 billion dollars. I didn\u2019t know that Canada had cheap properties. Is that just because I only know like Vancouver?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, probably. Don\u2019t go to Vancouver. It\u2019s too expensive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Yeah, it is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Come to the prairies. So where the cheap houses are.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Interesting. Good to know. Well, people\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Was this a little house on the prairie?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>It was. I mean, know what\u2019s hilarious? My first Instagram name, I started a blog kind of playing around with it a long time ago and I called it Little Investments on the Prairie. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>That\u2019s funny.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>And then I made my Instagram handle that and I was like, this is way too long. So it shortened it to Investor Girl Britt.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>That\u2019s funny. Okay, so $25K back eight years ago, if I\u2019m doing my math correctly, roughly. All right, what kind of property was this?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>So, a single-family house, and actually the story of how I got the money to get that first rental property was pretty crazy, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Yeah, please.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>So when I was six years old, I was at an office Christmas party and the restaurant we were at cooked the turkeys halfway through the night before and they thought they wouldn\u2019t have enough time until the next day to cook them all the way through. So left it overnight, cooked them all the way through the next day, gave everyone extremely bad salmonella food poisoning. Like really, really bad. Like the craziest thing. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So I ended up getting insurance payout and everyone who got really sick did. So I saved that money until I was 18 and it paid for a portion of that house, along with just being extremely frugal. Like I did not spend a penny on anything. So I was just saving everything, working tons of jobs and really wanting to get into real estate. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Why, at such a young age, did you think you were like that? Most 16-year-olds, 17-year-olds, or 18-year-olds are thinking, how do I get invited to the Friday night party and how do I impress that girl or guy? Why were you different, do you think?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Just with my parents. I saw my mom have rental properties and we worked for her a little bit and I kind of just understood that\u2014I didn\u2019t really grasp it fully at that age but I just knew that I wanted to put my money into something that would make me a return. So that\u2019s kind of what I was prioritizing. That and travelling. So I would just save all my money and put it into real estate and travel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Okay. So that first property, did you pay cash for it then or did you have to get a loan at 18?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, cash.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Nice. And it was in good condition, bad condition? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>It was in decent condition. Not bad, really. And we were lucky because our tenant we got at that time, he stayed for six years and he was super handy so if anything happened to break, he would just fix it. And we\u2019d take some money off his rent. So that was really nice to have. And he was great. Like, sometimes, he\u2019d be slow on payment and he paid every month. And I never had a problem. I was like, landlording is so easy. I think I was pretty lucky with that first house, honestly. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>You know what\u2019s funny, you actually bring up a good point. Sometimes that first deal, oftentimes on the BP podcast or other places, we\u2019ll say you\u2019ve got to get into real estate whatever you got to do. But at the same time, there\u2019s another part of it that if you start and have a really, really hard experience your first time as a landlord and it just sucks, like you might never do anything. It\u2019s great when that happens because you had a really good experience and you know that sometimes it does suck.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, exactly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>All right, so let\u2019s move on. What happened after that?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>So after that, I think my early twenties, I was kind of confused. Because I always had this idea in the back of my mind that I wanted to get into real estate but I wasn\u2019t sure how to do it. So in my mind, I was like, all right. I\u2019m just going to have to work really hard, get a high-paying job and then I\u2019ll get into real estate full-time. I mean, part-time, but you know, I could try more houses with that income.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So I spent a lot of time\u2014I worked as a server so I had like four serving jobs at once and eventually I got my ticket as a power engineer, so I ended up getting a job doing that. And that was when I really just thought, the 9 to 5 life is not for me. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>What does a power engineer do?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>It deals with steam generation. So I was working in a plant and I would just fix these like big machines. So that was fun. So I\u2019d just do service calls and honestly, I didn\u2019t mind the work. It was just that feeling of being so bored. Like it would be hours and then just sitting around to get a call to go fix something. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">And so fixing stuff was fun and kind of working with my hands, that part was fun and I enjoyed that. But sitting around and I didn\u2019t like the feeling of the hourly wage. Like I always really like serving because I could work for that kind of commission and the tips and everything, but with the 9 to 5, I just couldn\u2019t. I just felt like not very motivated. And kind of just not fulfilled, really. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Sure. I think I love what you\u2019re saying so far because you\u2019re painting a picture for exactly how you became what you ended up becoming, right? Like I can already see it forming together where you took what you learned working on machines because you were obviously very handy and you could operate in that arena and you applied it to real estate. You took what you saw your mom doing at a young age. That\u2019s what Brandon and I always say, that quote you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with is so important. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Because you were around your mom a lot, obviously, so you got an exposure into real estate that other people didn\u2019t get. And then you used the tried and true salmonella formula for building wealth, which I mean, I\u2019ve never heard anyone do that and didn\u2019t succeed. I don\u2019t know why more people don\u2019t do that. It\u2019s kind of like 100% success rate. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In Brandon\u2019s, the second edition on <i>How to Invest in Real Estate, <\/i>I think they\u2019re going to include that as one of the best methods for getting start. The salmonella method. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>I mean, I\u2019m going to write a book on that. It\u2019s going to be really good.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Hey, that\u2019s my book.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>There you go. We\u2019ll co-write it, all right? Let\u2019s compromise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Thanks, Brandon. I appreciate that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>All right, so let\u2019s go into kind of how you then\u2014did you quit your job right away? Do you still have the job? How did you build your portfolio? And then lead us to where you\u2019re at today with your portfolio. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Well, I worked in that job for six months so it didn\u2019t take long but I had a principal residence and I was always house-hacking. So with that principal residence, I was renting out all the rooms and stuff like that. So we were close to the airport, close to downtown. And we furnished it. My brother and I owned this place together. And so we furnished it and rented it out per week. So we were making $700 a week, way paying all the expenses. Like, we were making quite a bit of money on that. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So I felt\u2014and working a bunch of jobs as well. I was saving everything and then I\u2019d go on these like three-month travel experiences, just kind of travelling the world and kind of figuring out what I really wanted to do. But then when I got back and got that 9 to 5, I was definitely like, this is not what I want to do. Even if it is going to make me money and allow me to buy those houses, I still didn\u2019t want to put myself through that. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Like, I just wanted to start and I knew if I just worked hard enough, I would be able to do it. It took a lot of guts, I think, and I gained a lot of confidence, though. Like after the first kind of property, really getting my hands on it and it felt comfortable. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>I notice this a lot, that people tend to make rules in their head. Like these are beliefs of like, in order to get into real estate, I have to have a job. And then I can do real estate investing once I make good money, right? Yeah, there were these rules. Well yeah, a job can be really helpful. Sure, you have more money but it doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s the only way. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Like, I think one of the those powerful questions in the world is like how? How do I do it without a job? How do I get\u2014if I hate my job, how can I get into real estate? And that\u2019s where we tell people, if you have a job you don\u2019t like, yeah, you could quit that job even if it means having to go get another job if you have to pay the bills. Get a job serving or doing something you actually kind of enjoy and that\u2019s maybe more flexible. So all right. So what came next? Did you start just buying rental properties and then\u2014I\u2019m assuming what types? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, so mostly single-family homes at this point. We have a few duplexes. Right now, there\u2019s six single-family homes and two duplexes. And all managed by me. I\u2019m doing it full-time now. So it\u2019s like, just kind of transitioning at this point now. I feel like I\u2019ve learned a lot of the background and I\u2019ve done everything hands-on so far. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So now I\u2019m starting to be in that phase of wanting to hire a bit more out. I think I\u2019ve realized now that I\u2019m a little bit more of a control freak than I ever thought. I just kind of want control of everything but I know that the best thing to grow is going to be hiring out a bit more of the work. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Sure. Well, let\u2019s talk about that for a little bit, because this is something that we debate quite a bit in the real estate world. I think most of us know, if you want to grow really big and you want to scale, you should hire things out, yet most people I know, including myself got started doing the work. I think, even David, didn\u2019t you do most of the work in your first property? Or did you hire from the beginning?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Yeah, but I was so bad at it and it just wore me out. I quickly leveraged it but yeah, I tried.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Okay, so let\u2019s talk about the pros and cons a little bit of doing your own work, right? I mean, obviously, when you\u2019re doing your own work, you\u2019re slower, right? But what are some of the things, the benefits, to doing your own work?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Well yeah, like the DIY stuff and the renovation is my favorite. Like I was thinking of hiring out more of like the paperwork side, because that\u2019s what I hate doing. Yeah but like, I think I will always be doing a lot of the renovation work. It\u2019s my favorite thing to do. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">It\u2019s kind of what gets me up in the morning and gets me excited about real estate. And huge pros like, just that sweat equity created from working on your own stuff is insane. I think we saved probably like half the cost of hiring it all out. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Brandon, can you talk about your lifeonaire strategy here where you know like, she\u2019s doing this because this is the part she likes and that\u2019s the goal?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Yeah, so I\u2019ll say this. So there\u2019s a book called <i>Lifeonaire<\/i>, it\u2019s like millionaire, but with the word \u2018life\u2019 in front of it. It\u2019s one of my favorite books and it basically makes the point that life isn\u2019t about getting the highest ROI. We oftentimes will be like, no you should do this because it will make you more money. Well, that phrase only makes sense if the goal of life is to make as much money. It\u2019s like, well no, you should not pay off your house ever because you get a higher return if you do this. Well maybe the goal in life isn\u2019t to have the highest return. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Maybe it\u2019s to have the most security, in which case, maybe paying off your house is a good idea, right? So like, for your case, maybe the highest ROI, if you weren\u2019t up there telling all the contractors what to do every step of the day, you could do a few more flips every year or a few more rentals. But that\u2019s the goal of your life, it isn\u2019t to be as efficient as possible in every single moment, right? You love doing the work and I can see that when I watch your Instagram videos of you doing work. It\u2019s like you enjoy that stuff. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">And for a decade, I enjoyed that stuff, too, until I put like one, too, many nails through my hands. Then I didn\u2019t enjoy it quite as much. No, like I still enjoy it. I was out drywalling and putting insulation up just a couple of days ago in my new office shed. And yeah, I could have hired the whole thing out. I\u2019m sure it would have been probably done better but I just really enjoy this. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Something about working with your hands that humans are like, designed to do. So I love that idea of still working a little bit. Again, I don\u2019t do everything anymore but I still try to get some stuff done. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Well, if it keeps you motivated and it keeps it fun for you, it probably will help your business. It\u2019s doing the stuff that you hate doing that will really slow you down. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>So what are your favorite things to do on a project?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Well, pretty much everything. I love start to finish. Like doing the whole thing myself. I just feel so excited and it feels so accomplishing just to be able to see the work that you\u2019ve done. So really, a lot of these projects, I\u2019ve done everything. Not to say that it\u2019s been easy. It\u2019s really frustrating learning the new skills at the beginning but the more I tried and practiced and had some patience, the easier it got. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So I really love pretty much everything honestly. But the cosmetic stuff, I really like, because you can really transform a space. Like I love to do backsplashes and I did a cool project with like shiplap but instead of buying each individual piece, I just ripped it down into five inch pieces out of a big sheet of MDF. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So it ended up costing only $3 a piece instead of $11 a piece. So it\u2019s like, it saves a lot of money and I love being creative with it, too. I just find it so fun to go in and think of this design and then like bringing it to life myself. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Do you have any tips on people who want to do some of their own work? What are some things that were maybe overwhelming to think about doing at the beginning, like wow, that\u2019s a huge project. But once you did it you were like, that\u2019s way easier than I thought. Why do people spend that much money to hire that out?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, exactly. I think that\u2019s the problem. A lot of people get overwhelmed. Because when you look at a whole renovation, you\u2019re like, this is a lot of work. So you kind of have to just break it down. And I think getting something like painting, there\u2019s a lot you could do with paint. If you have a living room, all the walls are white but you decide to pay a dark, nice navy blue or something like that, that makes a big difference in a space. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So I like doing things like that and kind of just\u2014I learn a lot through Instagram, even, and through YouTube, and asking a ton of questions. So you gain that confidence and then just keep going back to it at every step. Keep doing that research and asking a lot of questions. There\u2019s a lot of helpful people online, too. Like you\u2019d be surprise what people\u2014people will answer any question you have. Just search up a hashtag and find a professional and a lot of the times, they will help you out with jobs that you want to do. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Yeah, that\u2019s a really good point. You mentioned backsplashes earlier, that you love to do backsplashes. That\u2019s one thing. It\u2019s like these little things that are actually really, really easy to do that makes such a dramatic impact on a property, especially rentals. Most landlords don\u2019t think, I\u2019m going to do a nice backsplash because it\u2019s just a rental. Who cares, right? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">When I do an extra little bit like painting an accent wall\u2014it takes no extra work. You\u2019ve got to paint it anyways. Paint an accent wall and add the backsplash up there. Little things like that make such an impact and drive higher rent. You get better quality tenants and you get all those things just for the same amount of work you\u2019re going to do anyways. It just takes a little bit of foresight. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>I totally agree. There\u2019s so many things that I see if I\u2019m looking at comparable rentals and properties online. It really could have like done a little bit of extra work or spent a little bit more money or a little bit more time that makes the biggest difference. That\u2019s my favorite part.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Since both of you two are creative minds, which I just want to say designers but that\u2019s mean. Just because I don\u2019t do that stuff\u2014why don\u2019t you share some of the things that you found for the smallest amount of money that you make the biggest difference when you\u2019re doing a remodel?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Well I think, like I say with paint, I think there\u2019s so much you could do and even like a kitchen with cabinets, you could paint the cabinets and change a really cool harbor, like a really cool handle and I think that little details like that make a really, really big difference. And I really do like the feature wall idea. And even just doing some board and bat and something like that. That doesn\u2019t take a lot of effort but it just makes it feel so much more homey and really like a place you want to move into. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Yeah, I would say on my side\u2014I mean, I\u2019ve said this before but anytime I can take a two-bedroom house or apartment and turn it into a three-bedroom is like the best return I will ever get on money spent ever. Like almost entirely. I can take a two-bedroom house that will rent for $550 in my area. I can bump that to a three-bedroom if it\u2019s got a large living room or whatever and add like $300 a month to the cash flow. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">It\u2019s crazy because like three-bedrooms in my area just rent more. That\u2019s not true everywhere but in my area, three-bedrooms rent way more than two-bedrooms. So that little tweak, I do a lot. I\u2019ll add a wall. Take a closet, move something around.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>I totally agree with that. And even doing basement suites? Do you guys do that?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>I haven\u2019t done it myself much.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>We don\u2019t have it. Where I live in California, there\u2019s not a lot of houses built with basements. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, I figured.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>You do that up in Canada, eh?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, so even the place we just recently bought\u2014so my boyfriend and I\u2014this is in Saskatoon. So it\u2019s kind of like the hub but most of my investment properties are outside of this city. So we bought this place for $160,000 and we\u2019re putting a basement suite in and we\u2019re probably going to do an Airbnb upstairs. We\u2019re going to make it a really cool like industrial farmhouse feel. I can\u2019t wait for it. I even just went antique shopping and I found the coolest stuff. I can\u2019t wait to just design it and have people come in and really want to visit Saskatoon and want to stay in this house. So I can\u2019t wait. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">And then there\u2019s going to be a suite downstairs or they can rent the whole five-bedroom altogether. And the comparables are crazy around here. It\u2019s kind of like an up and coming area. It\u2019s really close to downtown. So I think like it\u2019s going to be a really good one in the long-term. It\u2019s just starting to turn around like right now. They\u2019re just replacing all the sewers and everything. I think it was a perfect property. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>That\u2019s awesome.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>So you\u2019re clearly good with rehabbing. You have a very strong eye for design. I can tell you\u2019ve got an inner Joanna Gaines just busting out. That\u2019s probably why you and Brandon get along so well. So does he.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>But tell us a little as to how you\u2019ve applied this to your overall business model. I still don\u2019t really have a great idea of what you\u2019re doing. So are you flipping houses or are you buying rentals? How many rentals do you have? Let us know how you\u2019ve taken these skills and applied it to your business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Well, they\u2019re all rental properties. Now, it\u2019s six single-families, two duplexes, and my boyfriend and I have renovated completely start to finish and he\u2019s still working a full-time job right now. So these properties, some of them are up to four hours away from where we live. So we\u2019re buying these\u2014the first few, I actually bought on a personal line of credit, which is kind of a different way to do it, I think. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So unsecured. Interest rate was higher but because these properties are so cheap, that was the best way to do it because we couldn\u2019t get financing otherwise. The banks just weren\u2019t really interested in lending these lower cost properties. So I had to get that personal line of credit and this was back when I was still working. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So I got $75,000 and that allowed me to buy three properties. Which is pretty crazy. So we\u2019ve refinanced a few now, did a few BRRRRs, but mostly haven\u2019t sold any and haven\u2019t done any flips. They\u2019re all rental properties. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Let\u2019s dig in a little bit here on this personal line of credit thing. I actually think this is a great strategy that we don\u2019t talk about enough. So can you explain what that is? And obviously, the rules might be slightly different between Canada and the U.S. and that\u2019s fine. But give us a general idea. What was this loan like? What was your kind of interest payment or things like that?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, so interest at the time was 6.7% but it as variable. So I mean, it\u2019s gone up since then a little bit so I mean, it\u2019s good. But sometimes you just have to do whatever it takes to make it work. A lot of the time\u2014if I would have just got rejected by those banks for getting a mortgage, it just would have been the end of the road. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">But I was like, what else can I do? Could it be credit cards? Will I still be making enough rental income to cover all those expenses? And then eventually I just found someone at the bank who said they\u2019ll give me this $75,000 personal line of credit. So obviously, a higher interest but the rental income still covered all of the expenses. So it just made sense to me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Really, really cool.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah. So I still have that. It has saved me so many times.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Yeah. So you basically are buying properties with this and occasionally just refinancing those properties once they are fixed up so you can pay that back. It\u2019s the BRRRR strategy. When we talk about the BRRRR strategy, for people who don\u2019t know, we\u2019re talking about buying fixer-upper nasty properties and then rehabbing them, renting them out, and then refinancing to get your money back. Because you typically can\u2019t but a nasty, cheap, little property with a bank loan. Banks don\u2019t like to lend on nasty properties, right? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So you\u2019re using a short-term funding source like a personal line of credit, a home equity line of credit, a credit card\u2014I don\u2019t necessarily recommend that but people have done it. Cash, a partner\u2019s money, a parent\u2019s money, whatever. Hard money, private money. Whatever you need to do, you buy that and then you go and take that and you refinance it and pay that back. So you can go do it again. Repeat. That\u2019s the buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat. Very, very cool strategy. And again, a personal line of credit. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I actually did a couple of properties a couple of years ago where I had bought a fourplex for my daughter, Rosie. I talk a lot about that one, I love that property. I bought a fourplex and I got a private lender who was willing to fund $100,000 of it. But the whole project was going to cost me around $150,000. So we bought it for like $45,000 and he was going to fund like the purchase price and a good chunk of the rehab. But I think we came up with like $50,000. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So I went to my local US Bank and I went there. And I just got a line of credit for $45,000 that covered almost the entire thing. So at the end of the day, I maybe put in $5,000 or $10,000 into that project entirely. And then I went and refinanced it and paid everything off. So I love that. A personal line of credit if you can get that. Go to a bank. Go to several banks. Talk to them. See if you can get it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Hey, it\u2019s Brandon. I wanted to take <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Hey, it\u2019s Brandon. I want to take a quick break from this week\u2019s podcast to invite you to this week\u2019s webinar, which is like an online class. And this week is going to be something that\u2019s really, really popular around BiggerPockets. How to Buy Small Multi-family Properties. Because look, small multi-family properties changed my life and they can be one of the best real estate investment vehicles out there, especially those who are fairly new to real estate. There\u2019s so many benefits to buying small, multi-family properties, which is why this week, I\u2019m going to be dedicating like 90 minutes of just direct training on how to get started with this. You\u2019re going to learn how to find them, how to analyze them, how to finance them, as well as some of the dangers. There\u2019s like four specific dangers I call out that you should know before you even make an offer. So don\u2019t miss this. Just go to BiggerPockets.com\/multiwebinar. Again, multi. So BiggerPockets.com\/multiwebinar and I will see you there.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>All right, moving on. What else are you doing for financing? Now that we\u2019re talking about financing, do you typically get bank loans on most of these things, then?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, I mean that\u2019s pretty much been my strategy, buying it with a personal line of credit, whatever cash that I had saved up. And since my boyfriend, Scott, is still working, he is able to personally guarantee. So we do have a holding company now because it is a lot better for tax purposes. So we have all our properties there and then Scott was able to personally guarantee the refinance. So that\u2019s mostly what we\u2019ve been doing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>All right, good deal. So where do you see yourself going in the future with all this stuff? Do you want to keep buying these singles and duplexes? Do you want to buy larger thing?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Well yeah, I\u2019ve been thinking about that a lot because I love like the single-family houses. I love doing the renovations and all that but I am starting to think about the multi-family investing. I\u2019m really excited about that. I\u2019ve been looking at apartment complexes just because I think it makes sense. It\u2019s going to be hard after a while, having all these single-families kind of spread out all over the place. So I am looking to get a little bit more centralized, a little bit easier to manage and things like that. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So I think, eventually I am looking for a partner, if anyone out there listening\u2014someone who maybe has the money and the financing side of it covered but looking for someone who\u2019s willing to put all that hard work and sweat equity and finding the deals, negotiating a good deal. That\u2019s what I\u2019m good at, my strengths. So kind of looking now for the financial side of things to partner up with. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Cool. No, that\u2019s great. So are you doing anything with new builds or do you just Airbnb? Any other strategies you\u2019re working on besides rentals?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>We have done two new-builds as well. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Okay. Tell us about that. I\u2019ve never done one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>So we did two. Those were the duplexes so I guess this was hard money. So we have like that hard money lender and then after the build was complete\u2014and we did almost all of the work ourselves through that as well so that\u2019s how I gain a ton of my skills. So yeah, and then after we refinanced and we got a home equity line of credit, so as we pay that down, we are able to take that money out again, which is pretty cool. It\u2019s a step-down mortgage, or step-up mortgage? Do you guys have those?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>I have something called\u2014I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s exactly what you\u2019re talking about. Explain what that is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Yeah, describe what that is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, so we got it refinanced, this new bill. Paid our hard money lender back. So they gave us a loan for $272,000 and 65% of that can be a home equity line of credit. So as we pay this mortgage down, we will be able to take the money back out again. Which is pretty cool.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>I don\u2019t think we have that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, we\u2019ve done that twice now with two different places. So as we start to pay these places down, we\u2019re going to have that money available to us again to take out and buy more property.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>I\u2019ve heard they do that in Australia as well. Their mortgage almost becomes like a bank account and as you pay it down and that equity is available, you can take it right back out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>I know some people in the U.S. will actually buy real estate entirely with a home equity line of credit. I mean, not like to have a home equity on their property and they go and buy something else, but like, the actual house they\u2019re buying, instead of a mortgage, they have a line of credit instead. I mean, there\u2019s like a mathematical line of strategy where it has to do with the days and the month and all that kind of stuff but you can pay off a property like half the time by using this strategy, by putting the income in and using it as a checking account. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Anyway, kind of crazy stuff. I\u2019d give them a shout-out if I can think of their name but there\u2019s a guy who does this\u2014I\u2019ll see if I can find a link to it, I\u2019ll put a link in the Show Notes at BiggerPockets.com\/Show320 but there\u2019s a friend of mine that has a website that does this exact thing that teaches you how to do that. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Brandon, are you like me where every time you try to learn how this thing works, you jump into it determined and then you get lost and I just don\u2019t understand. I got lost. I can\u2019t figure this out. At a certain point, you\u2019re like, well they must be smarter than I am and it\u2019ll work. Like, it\u2019s like having faith. Okay.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Yeah, that\u2019s pretty much exactly what it is. So what happened with the new builds? Did you sell them? Did you turn them into rentals then, the ones that you built?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>They are rentals. We plan to sell them but didn\u2019t sell them for what we wanted and we did have a deal and it fell through kind of last minute and we were like, if we rent it, we\u2019re going to be making cash flow on it so we might as well just do that. That\u2019s kind of what I wanted anyway because we know how this mortgage, where we\u2019re going to be able to take out of it again. So it\u2019s been really great. And our tenants are awesome and you know, they love it. Maybe later on in the future, we\u2019ll sell some of these places but for now, we\u2019re just keeping that cash flow going. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Cool.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>I wanted to ask, for somebody who is like you, they\u2019re more inclined to the design element of stuff. I always know them because when they hear I\u2019m in real estate, they\u2019re like, oh I love real estate. I\u2019ve always wanted to be a home stager. There\u2019s like way too many people that want to be a home stager than there\u2019s actual like a need for home staging in real estate. But what I know is what they\u2019re saying is, I love design. Or maybe they love construction. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">They\u2019re really comfortable with their hands. That\u2019s where they feel good. They can go in there and rehab a house but they want to be an investor. They just don\u2019t know how to bridge that gap and get into it. What advice can you give to that person who knows they\u2019re good with their hands or good with design, but maybe they\u2019re not as good with numbers or they\u2019re not as good with details. They don\u2019t know how to analyze a property from like the mathematical side where a person like me tends to be more comfortable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Right. I mean, that\u2019s the trickiest part to all of it. You just have to\u2014I mean, that\u2019s great. If you have that skill, you already have something that\u2019s going to motivate you to want to keep going and know that you have something that\u2019s going to benefit you. So I think just really taking the time to learn but that\u2019s all you can really do. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">It\u2019s just like do all your research and the cool thing about it, too, when I\u2019m doing these properties or driving out to my properties, it\u2019s because they\u2019re four hours away or whatever it is, I\u2019m listening to all the books, all the podcasts. Discovering BiggerPockets was so awesome for me because it really helped me get through. Like learning a lot of that background stuff about the numbers, finding a great deal, and all that sort of thing. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So I felt like it felt comfortable because it just made sense. I\u2019m like, I could buy this house for $25,000. I could, if I fix it up, get $975 rent. Everything is covered. It just made sense so I think just\u2014or finding someone who could help you through it. Instagram\u2019s so cool with that because you can message the people who have those skills. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>You know, I\u2019m reading this book, one of Tony Robbins\u2019. I think it was the very first book. It\u2019s calld <i>Unlimited Power<\/i> and so in there, he talks about, I put this on my Instagram the other day. It talks about the idea of modeling. Like, if there\u2019s somebody you see that you want to be like, if you just model them. Do what they did. The actions they did. So I\u2019m a huge believer in this. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Again, I posted it on my Instagram. I\u2019m such a big believer. You don\u2019t have to make this stuff up. If you see somebody out there, and you\u2019re like, I really like what Investor Girl Britt is doing on Instagram, model what Investor Girl Britt is doing on Instagram. What\u2019s she doing? What kind of cool backsplash is she doing on her property? I steal every idea of every project from somebody else. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I am not Joanna Gaines. As much as I want to be Joanna Gaines, I am not. I look at what Joanna Gaines is doing and I just copy the exact same thing, or what\u2014Chip Gaines. We\u2019ll go with Chip. By the way, if anybody knows Chip or Joanna Gaines, I would just love to get them here on the podcast. Hook a brother up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>That\u2019s such a good idea because Brandon and Heather area Chip and Joanna. She is really, really good with design ideas. She has a really good idea and Brandon is like a complete hambone. I don\u2019t really know what skills he brings to this thing, and I just like having him around. You guys are them, just probably like three feet taller. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>That\u2019s funny. All right, so anyway, model people, look on Instagram. Reach out to them. Or on Pinterest or on whatever, you know, social network you like to follow. You don\u2019t have to make this stuff up. The same thing is true about investment strategies. We actually get a fair number of Canadians on this show and the thing I constantly hear is, yeah, I just can\u2019t do what you guys are doing in Canada. We can\u2019t find properties under a million dollars in Canada. Oh, okay. I didn\u2019t know differently until today. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Clearly, not in Vancouver. But that\u2019s just like somebody in San Francisco saying, yeah, I can\u2019t buy property either because I live in San Francisco or the Bay Area. And then David Greene is like, well, watch this. Hold my beer. And then he does it. David goes and buy 30something properties out of state. He\u2019s just like\u2014I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s all possible and you\u2019ve definitely proven that it\u2019s true. You kind of break the mold.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Last question I\u2019d like to ask this when we have women on the show. Have you\u2014how do you feel about being a woman in a generally male-oriented world of business? Contractors are usually male. Most real estate investors, I think 70% of our audience is male. Like, how do you approach business as a female? Anything you do differently or any advice you want to give the women who are listening? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Well, I think, I mean honestly, I don\u2019t give a f*ck what people think about me. Sorry, bleep that out. But it\u2019s true. It\u2019s like, honestly, you just have to go into it and prove that you\u2019re a hard worker. Honestly, I was thinking about that because on Instagram, I started doing the timelapses because I\u2019m like, I\u2019m actually doing the work. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Because people were commenting like, oh, your boyfriend is doing all the work. You\u2019re just like taking pictures with the tools and I\u2019m like, nope, I\u2019m not. I\u2019m just going to timelapse everything and here you go. I\u2019m actually doing the work. So maybe I feel like, some women probably feel like they have to prove themselves a little bit more, that they\u2019re actually like getting in there and getting it done. I don\u2019t know. I\u2019ve never really felt hindered by that at all. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Like I\u2019ve just always felt pretty confident in it. I just like do what I do. I know I\u2019m a hard worker. I know I\u2019m going to make the right decision. And do whatever it takes and I don\u2019t know, it\u2019s never really made a huge difference for me. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>That\u2019s why I think people respect you, because you\u2019re not out there trying to get people\u2019s approval. It\u2019s really easy to fall into this like harmful, negative cycle where you\u2019re trying to get other people\u2019s approval and then you look weak because you\u2019re trying to do that and then they don\u2019t approve of you and then you feel like you have to try even harder, whereas if you go the other route which is the, I don\u2019t give a bleep route\u2014I\u2019m just going to do a really good job here, people are like oh, she\u2019s good. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">That\u2019s why Brandon and I both started following on Instagram. I believe that\u2019s how you and I met was because we\u2019re both in the real estate space, and I saw your stuff and you come across as someone who knows what she\u2019s doing. I never once said, oh, she\u2019s a woman. How could she know what she\u2019s doing because you didn\u2019t come across like someone who\u2019s like, I\u2019m just a woman. Somebody please tell me that I\u2019m doing a good job. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">And I think that same attitude will make you successful no matter what you\u2019re doing, whether you\u2019re in stocks or you\u2019re a mechanic or you fly airplanes. It doesn\u2019t matter. If you just focus on being good at what you do and you don\u2019t worry about impressing people, the irony is that will impress people and you\u2019ll have what you wanted. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Exactly. I think that\u2019s a reason why I\u2019ve been working so hard like learning the background of everything because I like to know what I\u2019m talking about. I spend so much time learning and I just try so hard to learn the background of everything and I love being able to talk to contractors or if we\u2019re hiring a plumber. Because we hire out electrical and plumbing and that\u2019s pretty much it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">But I love if a plumber comes by, I know exactly what I\u2019m talking about. I feel like people can\u2019t take advantage of me that way. And so I think that attitude as well came from my mom. She just does not care. She\u2019ll just do anything. She has a lot of confidence. Not really a lot of fear around it. Because people will judge you, right? A young landlord, too. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>You survived salmonella poisoning at such a young age, right? Like you were a fighter right away. Your mom might have even planned that. I\u2019m going to make this girl into a boss. She\u2019s going to go through a possible death scenario at a young age and come out of it with confidence. How could you not be confident after that, right?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Exactly. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>All right, so we\u2019re going to move onto the next segment of our show, which we lovingly call our <i>Deep Dive<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yay. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>All right, you guys hear me talk about SimpliSafe a lot but don\u2019t take it just from me. Investors are singing its praises in the BiggerPockets forums. Jim, a contractor from Pittsburg, says he secures his vacant property using SimpliSafe. He likes how he can set it up at one property then easily take it down and move it to the next. And for 24\/7 professional monitoring, you pay just $15 a month. So try SimpliSafe today. It feels good to fear less about your property. Plus, there\u2019s a 60-day risk-free trial with free shipping and free returns if you\u2019re not 100% satisfied. You\u2019ve got nothing to lose so visit SimpliSafe.com\/Pockets today so they\u2019ll know that we sent you. That\u2019s SimpliSafe.com\/Pockets. Save today!<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">All right, let\u2019s get to the <i>Deep Dive<\/i>. This is the part of the show where we dive deep, obviously, into one particular deal that our guest has done. So Britt, we\u2019re going to go into one of your deals today and let\u2019s start with\u2014we\u2019ll just ask you a bunch of questions about it but we\u2019ll start with this. What kind of property is it that we\u2019re talking about today?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>So, it\u2019s a single-family house and this was the property that really got me posting a lot of the process on Instagram. So I think that\u2019s really cool because if you look up the hashtag #HumboldteHouse and then there\u2019s a little house emoji afterwards, and if you click on that hashtag, you\u2019ll be able to see the whole process, start to finish.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Okay, can you spell that? Humbled?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>HumboldteHouse and a little house emoji. And once this episode comes out, I\u2019ll post something on my feed just so you\u2019ll be able to click on it and see the whole thing. Which was cool. Yeah, I love this place.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Cool, okay<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>So this house is a hundred years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Wait, wait. A hundred years old? Wow, okay.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>It is very solid. I am really impressed with it. So I found this one just searching through Realtor.ca. So I made my settings into houses $50,000 and under within like a certain radius of my city, Saskatoon. So I found this place and I was like wow, this is actually such a great deal because it was a bigger city and I thought, oh, this $50,000 house. That\u2019s pretty impressive. I think I\u2019m going to look into this a little bit more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So it was listed for $49,900 and I put in an offer, I think it was under $40,000, I put an offer in. Because it was a lot of work. It was just disgusting but I could tell the bones were really good and they were really solid. It had a new roof, the foundation was great. There\u2019s a lot of bonuses to it. New electrical, things like that. And square footage, because that\u2019s something I look for. So it\u2019s a four-bedroom, two-bath house and it was about 1400 square feet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>What\u2019d you actually end up paying then? Final price, what did you end up paying?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, $40,000. So it was listed for $49,900. Paid $40,000 for it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>All right, cool. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Okay, next question. Tell me how you negotiated it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>I mean, the funny thing about the negotiating part is, like I really only have a certain amount of money and I can\u2019t go over it. So I\u2019m like, hey, this is my offer. Take it or leave it. Like it wasn\u2019t really hard for me to negotiate because I\u2019m like, this is all I have. If you don\u2019t take this, then I\u2019ll go find another place.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>That\u2019s actually a great negotiation strategy, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>I only have this much.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>You only have this much so when you\u2019re serious about that, you\u2019re not going to get emotionally sucked into paying more. Literally, this is not a joke. This is all I have. Okay, how did you fund that deal then? You just paid cash for it? What about repairs?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Well, it was on that personal line of credit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Oh, okay. Perfect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>So I paid for it on a personal line of credit and then I moved out there. So I do all the renovations live-in, which is super fun. And my boyfriend, Scott, would come. He is such a hard worker and he would come and work every weekend and drive just about two hours to the property every weekend. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Did you pay him $1 every Friday as well?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Exactly. That was his wage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>You learned a lot from your mom. This is awesome.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, I know, right? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Did he have to go through the salmonella trials as well? Is that how you initiated him into your business?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>If he hasn\u2019t got that yet, you might need to hook him up with that. Cook some chicken tonight.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>That\u2019s why I don\u2019t cook meat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Cook it halfway.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Scared. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>There you go. Okay. What did you do with this deal?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>So, we completely gutted. We did everything, including the exterior. So floors, I did a lot of cool feature walls, a lot of subway tile. It looks inspired by Joanna, of course. Some shiplap and it was kind of like a farmhouse feel. So I really, really like how the design came out. I was really excited about this place. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">And so we spent about $30,000 on the rehab and then we got appraised for $131,000 so we were able to get a mortgage, which again was that step-down. I can\u2019t remember if it was called a step-up or a step-down. Anyway, we got a mortgage on it. So we refinanced that and got 80% out of it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Perfect. That\u2019s a perfect BRRRR. That\u2019s what we talk about when we talk about a perfect BRRRR. So what lessons did you learn overall? Good or bad on this project? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>I learned a lot from this place. I think I really started feeling super confident in my DIY skills as well because I was alone at this property just like working super hard every day. And I started to feel very confident in it. Because when you\u2019re first starting these new skills, and you\u2019re not working in it every single day, like it takes a while. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So it took a lot of patience. Definitely a lot of patience and to be persistent with it and ask it a ton of questions online and you know, it really, really helped me out that way. Also, just by getting that mortgage, I went to three different banks and I think, two different mortgage brokers. It took me a lot of time to find someone who would refinance this property. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">And then we ended up finding a really great mortgage broker who wanted to work with us. But it took a lot of time and the first bank I went to, they were going to do it but only at 65% loan to value. So just like continuing to push and ask questions and like find the right person who\u2019s going to make whatever you\u2019re looking for come true. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>No, I\u2019m glad you mentioned that because it kind of amazes me sometimes when people come up to me and say, David, I don\u2019t know how to do the BRRRR strategy. I can only find a bank that will do 65% loan to value. And I\u2019ll say, how many banks did you talk to? And they\u2019re like, well the one that my agent said to talk to. You stopped at one and you\u2019re telling me I don\u2019t know how to do this? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Like, it\u2019s okay to have to work a little bit to try to find what you need but odds are, you\u2019re going to go to 20 or 30 banks and when you find one, you\u2019ll never have to look again, right? Because you can just use that bank. And if you did have to look again, now you know what worked and you can find the next bank in five to ten tries instead of 20 to 30. I love what you\u2019re saying because it\u2019s okay for it to be hard in the beginning and then as you get better at it, it\u2019ll get easier and easier.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, exactly. So I think I learned a lot of lessons through this house. And the really cool thing about this house, too, and I just when I was preparing for the podcast, I realized that the exact amount of equity that we were able to pull out of it was $34,000. So we refinanced it. It was $104,000 and so we got $34,000 out of it. The next property we bought for $28,000 and the rehab ended up being exactly $34,000. So it was like, that paid for the entire property and the entire rehab just with that equity we were able to pull out. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>That whole BRRRR strategy that we\u2019re talking about, I mean, there are some downsides, some things you\u2019ve got to be aware of and so it\u2019s not like you just go buy any property and fix it up, right? But this is why it\u2019s almost like a domino effect. One can lead to more equity and to go to the next and that\u2019s why the repeat part comes in, because you can do things over and over and over. One good deal and you can recycle that money and make a lot more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I know David Greene\u2019s got a new book coming out actually called <i>Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat<\/i> coming out this spring at some point. I\u2019m not sure the exact date but I just got my hands in\u2014actually, I\u2019m in the Denver office right now and got like to see the actual copy of what it looks like and it looks really pretty. So anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>I can\u2019t wait to read that one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Yeah, that\u2019s going to be a game-changer. So anyway, nice work, David Greene.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Well, I\u2019m glad the book itself is just as pretty as I am. That makes me feel good. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>All right, speaking of that, we\u2019re going to move onto the next segment of the show called the world famous <i>Fire Round<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>It\u2019s time for the Fire Round<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>All right, let\u2019s get to the <i>Fire Round<\/i>. These are the questions that come direct out of the BiggerPockets forums so we\u2019re going to fire them at you right now. Investor Girl Britt, you ready for this?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, I am. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>All right, number one. I love this question. This is fantastic. Okay so, Roger said, I do almost all of my own repair work. I\u2019m just curious, what are your three favorite tools in your tool arsenal? I love that. I\u2019m going to answer this after you do.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Three favorites. Okay. So of course, power tools. I love, I\u2019m going to say grinder. I love using the grinder. I use that all the time. So handy. And the multi-tool, that is a new discovery and it has helped me through so many projects now. It is awesome. And then I guess probably a chop saw. Gotta have one of those.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>I have a new chop saw as well. I love it. All right, so I\u2019m going to throw out one of my favorite tools ever. This costs me like $3.00 but my all-time favorite tool, all right? This is going to sound really funny. So when I\u2019m doing a project, my most annoying thing in the entire world is losing my carpenter\u2019s pencil. Like the little pencil that I carry around. I lose it all the time so I can\u2019t mark on stuff. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So I got this little thing at Home Depot where it clips onto my belt and it literally puts the pencil on a retractable little string so then I can pull it out and I can write on stuff and then I just let go and it goes, snaps back to my pocket. It is my favorite tool in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>I need one of those.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>It is so good. I don\u2019t know. This is my favorite thing ever. All right, anyway. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>It\u2019s value like this that makes BiggerPockets be the #1 real estate podcast in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>That\u2019s right.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Okay, next question. This is from Patrick Britton in Washington. Let\u2019s assume I have a fixer-upper that needs everything. Which areas could I do the best myself? My personal opinion is I can do a lot of the demo and I\u2019ve heard I can install my own cabinets to save some money. What are some of the best areas to DIY without a ton of experience?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Well, I definitely think demo is a huge one because that does cost a lot. So you can save a lot of money with that. And like I was kind of saying before with paint, you could do so much with paint, even painting like a cool design on a wall. Like there\u2019s so many things. Look into Pinterest and Instagram as well and get some cool ideas. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">But yeah, I think that\u2019s great. Like starting out with demo. I also think flooring is definitely possible. My best friend just did a renovation on her house and she did all the laminate flooring and I kind of guided her through a little bit, but she had never did it before. So that made a huge difference. So it saved a lot of money.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Yeah, you can watch a ten-minute video on YouTube on how to install laminate flooring and like do your own flooring and save a ton of money. I mean, it\u2019s really an easy job and it\u2019s time consuming. That\u2019s why people charge a lot, because it\u2019s kind of boring and time consuming but I actually kind of enjoy it because you just get into this groove and you just work and you put on music and you just work for like five hours and get a good workout and yeah. Anyways. Cool.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">All right, number three. Ben from Sandy Springs, Georgia says, does anybody have a quick method for rehab costs? I know, I know. I should read Jay Scott\u2019s book on the subject. I promise I will. But are there any quick formulas based on like square footage? I\u2019ve got no background in construction. I just need something to make a quick offer before I go more in-depth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>I mean, this one\u2019s tricky. I actually get asked this all the time on Instagram and I never have a great answer. I actually refer people to that book because I\u2019m like, I don\u2019t know. I think because we do all the work ourselves, it\u2019s so cheap. I know now, at this point, I just know how much the materials will be and how much the flooring\u2019s going to cost and I don\u2019t know. I think that comes with time. I don\u2019t really have a good answer for it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>That\u2019s all right. I\u2019ll tell you what I do. I was going to say, what I do, and this isn\u2019t always perfect, but I take my phone out and I walk through a property with my phone whenever I\u2019m planning a rehab. And I make a video and I talk out loud. I\u2019m like, now I\u2019m walking into the living room. It looks like it needs new paint. The flooring\u2019s pretty nasty. This is probably a 12&#215;12 room. Now I\u2019m walking into the kitchen. It looks like we\u2019re going to need new cabinets, do whatever. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Anyway, I walk through the whole house and make a 20-min long video, usually, and then I go home and I type the whole thing up in like a big list of all the things that have to get done and then on BiggerPockets now, we actually have a rehab estimation calculator that helps you. It\u2019s like fill-in-the-blank next to all the categories. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So I just go through and I fill in all the categories and do my best guess on what do I think the paint is going to cost? Well, it\u2019s probably going to be a few days\u2019 worth of work. So I kind of group it in terms of like paint and carpet. Anyways, that\u2019s how I do it. I usually get pretty close that way. I usually add 15% on at the end for overages and I\u2019m usually about right. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Again, it just comes from experience and getting out there and asking somebody, how long does it take to paint a whole house interior? Well, if you\u2019re going to spray, it\u2019s going to take about two days. Okay. Well, what does that cost for a contractor to come in and do that? It\u2019s just asking those questions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>And also expect that you\u2019re probably going to end up paying more than you thought. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Yeah, it\u2019s always more than that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Almost always. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Fixing a house is like budgeting for a trip to Disneyland. You\u2019re going to pay more than what you thought you were going to pay. Those $9 sodas add up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Last question from me of the <i>Fire Round<\/i>. It\u2019s two-fold. I\u2019m curious how many calls, showings, and applications you see before having a signed lease. This is for a rental. How many times should they show a property? And then second, do you have any suggestions for showing a home remotely?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, so we have a lockbox outside. If we\u2019re ever not around, we have a lockbox. People can go through and then we always have neighbors. Our neighbors are really awesome, too. Just to keep an eye and make sure everything\u2019s fine. But we kind of do the application a little bit ahead of time. And usually, they only view the property once. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Like I\u2019ve had a lot of long-term tenants, so it\u2019s not a ton of turnaround in these places. But yeah, that\u2019s usually what I do. And usually, with these smaller cities and towns, people are just pretty chill. I\u2019ve never had any problems with it so far. So that\u2019s what I\u2019ve done. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>All righty, I like it. So with that, it\u2019s time to move over to the next and last segment of our show called our <i>Famous Four<\/i>. Which are the same four questions we ask every guest every week.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Britt, number one, what is your favorite real estate related book?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>I\u2019m going to have to say your book, David. The <i>Book on Long Distance Real Estate Investing<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Look at that. I\u2019m so proud of her, David.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>I love that book. And you know, I recommend it to people all the time because even through Instagram, I get messages constantly like, I\u2019m in this crazy expensive market and I just can\u2019t get into real estate because how am I supposed to afford a rental property for $500,000? I\u2019m like well, the best thing to do is go outside. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Honestly, I didn\u2019t grow up in Saskatchewan. I grew up next province over and I pretty much moved here for family but also for real estate. So I kind of went to the extreme moving here to be closer to the cheaper properties. But you don\u2019t have to do that and David\u2019s book is so great for that. And gives some really, really solid advice. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Did David pay you to say that?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>He did not. Oh, and Brandon, your journal. I have to mention that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Thank you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>I love it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Thanks. We\u2019re actually coming out with another version of it, I think, July. So.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Another version?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Well like, an updated version. Version 2. I made some changes, made it a little better.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>So something I\u2019ve noticed about you, Britt, that I want to mention is you show extreme dedication to what you\u2019re doing. Like you mentioned earlier, every flip you do is like a live-in flip. That\u2019s crazy. A lot of people would just not do that. And that you moved to the area where it makes sense to invest in. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Like there\u2019s a reason you\u2019re succeeding at this and a lot of people who don\u2019t have your level of commitment or not, not everyone has to do that but man, if you want to get started, upping that level of commitment is a great way to make sure you will. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Okay, next question. What is your favorite business book?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>I think for people, if they are wanting to kind of bust this social media world, I\u2019d say Gary Vee\u2019s book, <i>Crushing It<\/i>. He\u2019s just the man when it comes to that kind of stuff, so. I would suggest looking into that. I also really like for mindset wise, <i>The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, <\/i>which is kind of what I said earlier, by Mark Manson. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>That\u2019s a really good book.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yeah, I love that book and I think that\u2019s a great attitude to have as well. Like, I posted recently on Instagram, we had a plumber come in who didn\u2019t end up finishing the job and it flooded all of our brand new floors, right? And like a few years ago, I would have been devastated by that, just so upset. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">And this time around, I was like, you know what? I\u2019m going to choose not to give a f*ck about this. I\u2019m just going to fix it and move along and just like, things happen. It happens all the time and you just have to kind of be prepared for it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Alrighty, awesome. Yeah, I took a lot of good gold nuggets from that book. So I definitely recommend it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Okay, Brittany, what about some of your hobbies?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>So I love travelling. That is my number one favorite thing to do. So I\u2019ve been to over 30 countries now, five continents. I spent a lot of time in my early 20s travelling, trying to figure out what to do. And well, it was cool, too. Because I was house-hacking. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">So renting it out as I was gone and pretty much breaking even because I\u2019m so incredibly frugal. Like I just did not spend money. Even when I was away, I was like, peanut butter sandwiches. Just not going out to eat and couchsurfing. There\u2019s a lot of ways you could travel for cheap, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Do you have a favorite location you\u2019ve been to?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>That\u2019s a really tough one. I would say the country that really was kind of life-changing for me and a huge eye-opener was South Africa. And I did that trip solo and did the five-day safari and did like shark-cage diving, so a lot of cool activities. So much fun but also just like, I gained a lot of independence through that trip as well. So yeah.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Were you a big <i>Four-Hour Work Week<\/i> fan when that came out? You read Tim Ferriss\u2019 book?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Yes, I love Tim Ferriss. And it\u2019s just mind-blowing to me, too, because all my favorite people\u2014well, of course you guys are my favorite and then all of Tim Ferriss has been on the podcast and Gary Vee and all these people that I\u2019ve just looked up to for so long. And now I\u2019m on the podcast, too. It\u2019s wild.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>You know, you\u2019re on equal standing with them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>I don\u2019t know about that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>I think you\u2019re cooler than Tim Ferriss. You win. All right, last question. Last question from me anyway. What do you believe sets apart successful real estate investors from those who give up, fail, or never get started?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>I think there\u2019s so many reasons but I also think having a really clear understanding of the reason why you\u2019re doing it and why you\u2019re working so hard, because I\u2019ve had some really, really bad days and weeks as a real estate investor and just feeling defeated and stressed out. But when I look back to having that 9 to 5 job, like there\u2019s nothing worse than having that unfulfilled and not feeling motivated in what I was doing. So I\u2019ll take those bad days as a real estate investor over that anytime.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Yeah, that\u2019s really good.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Awesome. If you guys want to hear the Tim Ferriss episode where we had him on BiggerPockets, it is Episode 254. Very good one. Tim\u2019s a smart guy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>He\u2019s a smart dude. All right.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>All right. Whoa. That was cool. We said it at the same time. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Jinx!<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Oh, you got me. All right, Britt, where can people find out more about you?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Britt: Pretty much Instagram is my main thing now. So @InvestorGirlBritt and I try to do a post about all of my properties and give some helpful tips and show what I\u2019m up to so that\u2019s probably the best place. And I am starting to look into getting this YouTube thing up and a few other projects on the go. But I\u2019ll let you know through Instagram.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Alrighty. Well, Britt, this has been fantastic. Really, really cool to just kind of dig in and learn more about you. Again, I see you on Instagram but it\u2019s cool to actually hear your story of how you got into it. And what I love about your story, too\u2014we\u2019ve been saying this a lot lately on the show. You don\u2019t have like some super power. You\u2019re not super rich. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">You weren\u2019t born with some super skill. You just work hard at something you\u2019re passionate about and you\u2019re finding good success. And when we have you back on the show in a couple of years, you\u2019re going to be even further along, I\u2019m sure. So it\u2019s just like, anybody can do this stuff. Anyway, I love hearing that. So thank you again so much for being on the show today.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brittany: <\/b>Thank you guys. You guys are really the best. I appreciate all you do.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Thanks, Britt.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>All right, that was our show with Investor Girl Britt. Brittany Arnason. That was awesome. I knew she was going to bring it. I knew she was going to have good advice and she did not fail to disappoint. Is that the word? She did not disappoint. Maybe she did not disappoint. Fail to disappoint would be the opposite, like a double negative, right? She did not disappoint.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Anyway, yeah. Good advice. I like when people come on the show and do their own work. I mean, I know a lot of people who we talk to are like, I own millions and millions of dollars of real estate. I would never touch anything with a hammer but I like people who are like, you know what? I like doing work. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The reason why is because, as Gary Vaynerchuk says a lot\u2014I\u2019m a big Gary Vaynerchuk fan. He says things like self-awareness is the most important thing. Stop listening to what other people say you should do and what do you want to do? What do you want out of life? What do you want to be when you grow up? Follow that. Follow who you are and she knows who she is. She knows what she likes to do and what she doesn\u2019t like to do and she\u2019s working on that stuff. I just think that\u2019s powerful and more people can learn from that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Amen to that. And now you have something to throw in my face when I try to talk mess to you when you\u2019re putting in your own floors or something like that. Your own chairs or doing your own work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>I got self-awareness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>Yes, yes you do. All right. Britt is doing awesome and she\u2019s like such an example of the average every-day person who is doing well with real estate investing and building wealth without having to scale at massive levels. There\u2019s nothing intimidating about her. She\u2019s actually having fun doing it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">If you guys who check out her Instagram at Investor Girl Britt, you\u2019ll see a lot of what she does and when you\u2019re there, check out Brandon at @BeardyBrandon and I\u2019m @DavidGreene24 but you can learn a lot about real estate just from looking at people\u2019s social media if you find the right people. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Brandon: <\/b>Yep, that\u2019s true. All right, well, David, time to get out of here. I\u2019m going to go have some lunch with the BiggerPockets crew and yeah. You want to take us out? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>David: <\/b>All right. This was great. Thank you very much. This is David Greene for Brandon \u2018Pencil on a Leash\u2019 Turner, signing off. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>You\u2019re listening to BiggerPockets Radio. Simplifying real estate for investors large and small. If you\u2019re here looking to learn about real estate investing without all the hype, you\u2019re in the right place. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Be sure to join the millions of others who have benefited from BiggerPockets.com. Your home for real estate investing online. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"podcast-youtube-video\">Watch the Podcast Here<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Hands-On BRRRR Investing and DIY Secrets with Instagram Star Brittany Arnason | BP Podcast 320\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gvJZE8dNcxU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Help Us Out!<\/h2>\n<p>Help us reach new listeners on iTunes by leaving us a rating and review! It takes just 30 seconds and instructions can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/forums\/25\/topics\/161423-do-you-listen-to-the-bp-podcast\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>. Thanks! We really appreciate it!<\/p>\n<h2>This Show Sponsored By<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-101944 no-display appear\" src=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/stessa-logo-300x67.png\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/stessa-logo-300x67.png 300w, https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/stessa-logo.png 330w\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"67\" title=\"\">Stessa makes it easy for both novice and sophisticated investors to drive operational efficiencies, maximize revenue, and improve overall portfolio performance.\u00a0Just take a few minutes, add your properties, link your accounts, and everything updates in real-time. Stessa brings the institutional tools used by the pros to the everyday investor for free<\/p>\n<p>Get your free tax guide here:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.stessa.com\/biggerreturns\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.stessa.com\/biggerdeductions<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Deep Dive Sponsor<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-77567 alignright no-display appear\" src=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/simplisafe.png\" alt=\"simplisafe\" width=\"271\" height=\"58\" title=\"\">Check out <strong>SimpliSafe<\/strong> Security\u2019s DIY home security systems; an affordable, wireless, cellular, and customizable system that doesn\u2019t require a contract!<\/p>\n<p>If you go to <a href=\"http:\/\/simplisafe.com\/biggerpockets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SimpliSafe.com\/biggerpockets<\/a>\u00a0you\u2019ll get 25% off any new system. That\u2019s an amazing deal.<br \/>\nThey rarely do anything like this but they\u2019re doing it just for us!<\/p>\n<h2>In This Episode We Cover:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>How Britt got her <strong>first rental property<\/strong> at the age of 18!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Quitting her job<\/strong> as a power engineer<\/li>\n<li>Pros and cons of <strong>doing your own work<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Lifeonaire Strategy<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Things that make a <strong>huge impact<\/strong> in a property<\/li>\n<li>Using <strong>personal line of credit<\/strong> to fund deals<\/li>\n<li>What is a <strong>Step Up mortgage<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Doing <strong>BRRRR strategy<\/strong> with her boyfriend<\/li>\n<li>Finding deals through <strong>realtors and MLS<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>How she learned <strong>DIY skills<\/strong> from the internet<\/li>\n<li><strong>And SO much more!<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Links from the Show<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/forums\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BiggerPockets Forums<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/webinars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BiggerPockets Webinar<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beardybrandon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon&#8217;s Instagram<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/davidgreene24\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David&#8217;s Instagram<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/chipgaines\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chip Gaines<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/joannagaines\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joanna Gaines<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/explore\/tags\/humboldthouse%F0%9F%8F%A1\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#HumboldtHouse<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/realtor.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Realtor.ca<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pinterest<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/calc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BiggerPockets Calculator<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/rehab-estimator\/new\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rehab Estimator Calculator<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/biggerpockets-podcast-254-tim-ferriss-real-estate-top-performer-his-tribe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BiggerPockets Podcast 254: Tim Ferriss on Real Estate, Becoming a Top Performer and His Tribe of Mentors<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/biggerpockets-podcast-264-gary-vanyerchuk-finding-deals-social-media-crushing-entrepreneur\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gary Vaynerchuk on Finding Deals Through Social Media &amp; Crushing It as an Entrepreneur<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Books Mentioned in this Show<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/rentalbook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Book on Rental Property Investing<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by Brandon Turner<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2SO0NDI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Lifeonaire<\/em><\/a> by Steve Cook<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2HjehFb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Unlimited Power<\/em><\/a> by Tony Robbins<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/store\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>BRRRR Book<\/em><\/a> by David Greene (coming soon!)<\/li>\n<li>J. Scott&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/flipping-estimating\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Book on Estimating Rehab Cost<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/longdistancebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Long-Distance Real Estate Investing<\/em><\/a> by David Greene<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/store\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>90 Days Journal<\/em><\/a> by Brandon Turner (coming soon!)<\/li>\n<li>Gary Vaynerchuk&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2H7d5Wi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Crushing It!<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2SJj5py\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck<\/em><\/a> by Mark Manson<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0307465357\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biggerpocke0a-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=0307465357&amp;linkId=7407615e0dbc9873e1d0f8b8a5e5bf1d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>4-Hour Work Week<\/em><\/a> by Tim Ferriss<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Fire Round Questions<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/forums\/52\/topics\/514064-for-you-who-diy-your-maintenance-your-3-favorite-tools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">I wonder what your 3 favorite tools are<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/forums\/52\/topics\/443608-how-many-showing-to-rent-on-average\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How many calls, showings, and applications you see before having a signed lease?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Tweetable Topics:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;New builds can be easier and more straightforward than rehabs!&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/home?status=%22New%20builds%20can%20be%20easier%20and%20more%20straightforward%20than%20rehabs!%22%20BP%20Podcast%20320%20biggerpockets.com\/show320%20%40biggerpockets\" target=\"_blank\">Tweet This!<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;If it keeps you motivated and it keeps it fun for you, it probably will help your business.&#8221;\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/home?status=%22If%20it%20keeps%20you%20motivated%20and%20it%20keeps%20it%20fun%20for%20you,%20it%20probably%20will%20help%20your%20business.%22%20BP%20Podcast%20320%20biggerpockets.com\/show320%20%40biggerpockets\" target=\"_blank\">Tweet This!<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;You have to do whatever it takes to make it work.&#8221;\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/home?status=%22You%20have%20to%20do%20whatever%20it%20takes%20to%20make%20it%20work.%22%20BP%20Podcast%20320%20biggerpockets.com\/show320%20%40biggerpockets\" target=\"_blank\">Tweet This!<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Connect with Britt<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/investorgirlbritt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Britt&#8217;s Instagram<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Imagine building a business around work you\u2019d do for free. Today\u2019s guest has done just that, and her story may change the way you think about investing.\u00a0Brittany Arnason is a 26-year-old investor who\u2019s converted her talent for hands-on work into a cash-flowing, 10-unit rental portfolio. Here&#8217;s her story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17340,"featured_media":108349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4565],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biggerpockets-podcast"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17340"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}