In late 2016, Trevor had an intermission in his career before he started Pilot Training. He decided to invest the time off into developing a side business. Trevor has always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but being in the military doesn’t open up many opportunities for the time and research that goes into building a side business- not to mention the need for a portable side business that we can take with us, especially during times overseas. Thankfully, Trevor had the time and he was able to start researching what would be a good fit for his ever-changing lifestyle.
As the research continued, a consistent investment strategy of Real Estate Investing came up time and time again. Trevor pulled the trigger and started his own crash course in Real Estate. He checked out books from the library, including Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, Legacy Journey by Dave Ramsey, and Long Distance Real Estate Investing by David Greene. He checked out podcasts, especially the Bigger Pockets podcast, Bigger Pockets Money podcast, and the Kingdom REI podcast, and he subscribed to many others who had experience, including Rich Carey from Rich on Money and Andy Hill from Marriage Kids and Money.
After a month or so of dedicated research, he pulled the trigger and got under contract on his first property, a property in a suburb of Kansas City. He purchased it “turn-key”, which sounded like a good idea at the time, but in reality ended up being a learning lesson, not necessarily a financial win.
He then purchased another property during pilot training, and we purchased our first home together after we got married, although we didn’t live in it. Since 2018, we have done a full remodel on the Desert Getaway, started 4 Airbnbs, did a 1031 exchange on the house in Kansas City into a duplex in our hometown in central Missouri, and now are on our way to teaching others about real estate investing.
We love real estate. We love the flexibility it allows our family, we love being able to provide a home for our tenants and to be hospitable to our Airbnb guests. We have explored and have experience with short-term, mid-term, and long-term agreements, and we have found things we love about each. Most of all, we love that real estate investing is giving us an opportunity to steward our time, treasures, and talents to build a God-honoring portfolio of assets that cash-flow and build generational wealth.
For more info on real estate investing, be sure to check out our “Military Real Estate Investing 101” Online Course. Not ready to jump into investing quite yet? Check out our coaching sessions and our Finding Freedom Series for the basics of stewarding time, treasures, and talents. Also, please contact us with any questions/concerns/comments. We would love to get to hear from you!
