In my Money Makers interview series, I interview notable professionals and entrepreneurs. Generally, my interviewees have created a successful business or are leaders in their field. In this article I interviewed Shadow, a successful real estate investor and creator of the ShadowRents Twitter account. I personally appreciate his tips on investing in real estate and have found them to be worthwhile. Without further ado, let’s get into the interview!
For my readers who may not be familiar with you, would you please introduce yourself? Who are you? What do you do?
My name is Shadow, @ShadowRents on Twitter. I’m from Kentucky. I’m a nurse, who gave it up to pursue entrepreneurship and real estate investing. I’m married with 2 kids and I am in my early 30s (33 is early, right?)
Is there anything you want people to know about what you do for a living? For example, what sets you apart from others in that industry?
Well, I do a few things for a living. Let me tell you about the others quickly before we hit real estate.
I own a non-medical home care agency. We send caregivers into seniors homes to help them remain independent and in their homes longer. Picture us being the middle man between true independence and long term care. I also own a small local news website.
But my first and main love is real estate. I’m mainly involved in purchasing property for residential rentals, but I also do some residential “flips” as well.
How did you get your start? Knowing what you know now, would you have done anything differently?
Well, my love for real estate started in college when I read “Rich Dad Poor Dad”. I knew there was more to life than working the 9-5 (or three 12 hour shifts for us nurses). In my early to mid 20s, I found a mentor in real estate. I asked him questions for a couple of years and we worked on examining deals to purchase for rentals together. Finally, after a couple of years, we found what he thought was a great first deal for me. So, I jumped in head first and haven’t looked back!
Is there anyone who has really inspired you – authors, coworkers, or managers?
My mentor was a huge inspiration. As was my father – he is an entrepreneur. I always saw the value in being your own boss and building your own business. As for authors, I’m a fan of Tim Ferriss and am very thankful for Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad Poor Dad”- it was the spark that ignited my flame.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far, both in your field and in personal finance?
I’m going to wrap this all into one. My biggest challenge has always been myself. My lack of trust in myself- my intuition. I’ve also always been slow to act. Analysis paralysis, if you will. This has gotten much better over the years, but still creeps up on me once in a while.
Time for a bit of a loaded question – what is your favorite thing about your profession?
The income! There’s no other good answer here. And at this point, it’s semi-passive. I have a great team who I can trust – property manager, maintenance guy, realtor, etc.
At the end of the day, what is the main thing you hope you achieve?
Freedom for myself, my wife, my parents, and my kids. And freedom for myself at an early age. I’m 33 now, and I want to be done by 40 and know that my parents and kids both will have nothing to worry about ever again financially.
What’s the best piece of advice you received growing up? How did it shape you into the person you are today?
I can’t think of one thing that stands out, but a lot of wisdom and advice came from Godly people in my life. If I’m thinking about advice that stands out the most, but maybe not the “best advice” I’ve ever received, there are two that stand out. One is in regards to real estate and my mentor said to “never buy a house below the road”. This is in regards to the first floor’s actual floor sitting below the level of the road in front of it. It’s just a way to make sure you buy a place that doesn’t flood easily.
The second piece of advice was from another business mentor (he was on the board of a few publicly traded companies, an older gentleman). This advice was in regards to employees. He said “sometimes public hangings of the bad guys isn’t a bad thing”. And what he meant by this is when you have a bad employee, and you let them get away with things (always clocking in late), it demoralizes the good employees. If you OCCASIONALLY TO RARELY let the whole staff know you let a troublesome employee go for not following the rules, it makes the good ones know you appreciate them and also straightens the line of those who are dancing on the edge of being fired. I thought it was genius and it has worked well.
Everyone views success differently, what personal metric do you use to define your own success?
Freedom of time and also not worrying about purchases.
People tend to struggle with finding a good work-life balance, especially these days. How do you manage? In other words, what’s an average weekday like for you?
As of early June, I stepped out of the daily operation of my home care agency. I also have a great team for my real estate. So, currently life is pretty slow. I’m putting in 8-12 hours a week of true work. The rest of the time is spent figuring out what my next move/business will be and also time learning from coaches (I currently have a coach for fitness, stock market, and internet sales).
What’s something you’re interested in – outside of work?
I LOVE community work. I’m the president of our local Rotary Club and I am on the board of our Chamber of Commerce. I’m raising my wonderful kids in my small town and I want them to have a reason to stay. So, us older folks need to step up and make it a better place!
If you had to give one central piece of advice to someone who is just starting to invest in rental properties, what would it be?
Start early. You’re not ever going to feel comfortable or like you know everything. Just get started. Also, a mentor or coach is so valuable!
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed learning about Shadow and his views on personal finance, life, and real estate as much as I did! He has a course on Gumroad, which you can find at rentingruralamerica.com. It’s a compilation of what he has learned over years in real estate. So, if you can’t afford a coach or a mentor and you’re interested in getting involved in real estate investing – you may get a lot out of it! It’s been up for sale since May and has sold over 100 copies – with feedback of nothing but praise. In my opinion, it’s definitely work checking out.
As always, if you have any thoughts you’d like to contribute, add a comment.
