Brandi True

I am a Real Estate Agent, currently with Atlanta Communities and have been in and around this industry my entire life. I have also spent 18 years successfully navigating my way up and around the corporate ladder working first as a temp, then employee and now independently as a freelancer in the Advertising/ Marketing department for a national office supply wholesaler. My duties there are very much that of the traditional Marketing Analyst... but the pay, not so much. I stay because I love the people and know the work, plus I work from home and make my own schedule... mostly. My husband and I met in high school and have been married for 15 years. He works as the Import Supply Chain Manager for the company I freelance with. Like thousands of others, we turned our primary residence into our first investment property because we wanted to move into a better school district for our son, but the market crash had taken us from dry land to underwater virtually overnight. The condition of our home and the neighborhood combined with the strong rental market in the area has allowed us to easily fill a need within a growing niche market for executive home rentals. We are in our 3rd year and the property still looks almost as good as it did when we lived in the home, it has stayed 100% occupied and has been cash-flowing just over $300.00 per month. Not making us rich, but we are about to refinance that home which will increase the cash flow, adding an additional $200.00 per month... wow, we made lemonade! With our slow, but steadily successful transition into being landlords, my highly skeptical husband is now fully on board with making real estate our preferred investment strategy. Now, we are trashing the original "get rich slow" thinking that had us totally relying on our 401k's, IRA's and our ability to continue to work 13 hours a day for the next 33+ years. We are looking for our first, small multifamily property and hope to build a more passive income into our current plans AND our retirement plans.