#150: Chad Carson's friends called him a "nerdjock." When former college football linebacker Chad Carson graduated from Clemson University, he decided to start a business. But he didn't have any money. He was a 235-pound athlete who attended college on a football scholarship. He graduated debt-free with $1,000 in savings from various odd jobs. He wanted to become an entrepreneur, and he knew he was starting from zero. As Chad viewed it, starting from zero meant he had nothing to lose. He started jogging around local neighborhoods near the university. Whenever he noticed a property in disrepair, he'd ask if it was for sale. If he noticed a 'For Sale by Owner' sign in the yard, for example, he'd dial the number. If he noticed a home with an overgrown lawn and no curtains in the windows, he'd leave a note on the door, or he'd knock on the neighbor's doors to get the owner's phone number. By doing this, Chad started a real estate wholesaling business. He'd find off-market properties, enter into a sales contract with the owner, and then 'flip' the contract to an investor. He earned around $5,000 for each deal. The benefit to a wholesaling business, Chad discovered, is that he could get a foothold inside the real estate industry without much access to capital. He was a recent college graduate without any official employment, so most banks weren't interested in offering him loans. Wholesaling gave him a start in the industry. But after awhile, he wanted to chase bigger deals. He and a business partner decided to start flipping houses themselves. They earned profits of around $20,000 to $30,000 for each deal. While this was great, Chad wanted to transition into something that would provide a steady, stable income stream. He was running an active business; he wasn't accumulating a portfolio of passive investments. He and his business partner stopped flipping homes and began accumulating buy-and-hold rental properties. Today they have 90 units between the two of them. A few years ago, Chad realized that the passive income from his investments made him financially independent. He and his wife decided to enjoy their newfound freedom by moving to Ecuador with their two children, ages 3 and 5. They spent 17 months living in Ecuador, learning Spanish and enjoying a slower pace of life. They recently returned to the U.S. and are considering moving to either Spain or Germany -- or maybe Colorado? -- for their next adventure. In today's episode, Chad and I discuss real estate, financial independence, and international travel with children. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#148: Welcome to a special episode of Ask Paula! Today I’m answering questions about real estate investing, and I’ve brought a special guest on the show to join me. His name is Lucas Hall, and he’s a landlord with 5 properties in three locations (D.C., Virginia and Colorado). He’s also the founder of Landlordology and head of investor relations with Cozy. We met about five or six years ago through blogging about rental properties, and I invited him on the show today to answer questions alongside me. Anonymous asks: If you have significant equity in a home due to market appreciation, what’s the best way to leverage the value of this equity? Should you sell? Refinance? Something else? Here’s a quick snapshot of the answer: You have three options: sell, cash-out refinance, or take out a HELOC. If you’re unhappy with the property, sell it. There’s no reason to hang onto an undesirable or underperforming property. If you choose to sell, use a 1031 exchange to defer taxes on the capital gains and use the proceeds to purchase another property. Be aware, however, that the rules regarding a 1031 exchange are onerous, and there’s a chance that you might either miss the cutoff or you may be forced into trading one mediocre property for another. That said, wanting to tap equity is not a sufficient reason to sell. If you’re happy with the property, keep it and either use a cash-out refi or HELOC to tap the equity. On today’s episode, Lucas and I discuss the pro’s and con’s of both of these strategies, and explain which one is our favorite. (Lucas prefers the HELOC and I prefer the cash-out refi; on the episode you’ll hear each of us explain why.) Richard from Massachusetts asks: I’ve been listening to this podcast regularly, and thanks to this podcast I’ve opened a Roth IRA. I’ve saved $54,000 and I’m interested in investing in a Class B or Class C neighborhood in an out-of-state location. How can I find out if a neighborhood is Class B/C without visiting it? Catherine asks: I’m 27 and need investing advice. I make $75,000 per year and I have $60,000 in retirement savings. I max out an HSA. I have $12,000 in an emergency fund. I live in Los Angeles and I’d like to invest in real estate, but I don’t want to travel to another state. I’ve been thinking about Roofstock; what are your thoughts? Anonymous in Atlanta asks: My wife and I have $500,000 in savings, in addition to our 401k. We keep $130,000 of this in the market. We had an advisor that was charging a 1.6% fee, and we recently fired him. What should we do with the remainder of the cash in our savings accounts? Should we put this in Vanguard funds? I’d also like to get into real estate, but many homes in Atlanta don’t meet the one percent rule. Should we look at foreclosure auctions? Should we look further outside the city? We’re in our early 30’s and would like to retire in around 15 years. We answer these questions in today’s episode. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices