Replacing a 9-to-5 Corporate Job with STRs w/ Ryan Cushman

Ryan Cushman

[00:00:00] Ryan Cushman: It's outperformed what we thought we would do. We're trending toward grossing about $75,000 in a 12 month timeframe. And we were hoping that it would hit. 45. We are really happy with it. It's been a grand slam for us. 

[00:00:15] intro: You're listening to the real fi podcast where we discuss time, tested tricks, techniques, and strategies for pursuing financial independence today so that we can enjoy.

[00:00:29] A better tomorrow financial independence. Isn't about getting rich quick. It's about cultivating a foundation to grow financially, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Let's figure out how to kick the nine to five. Here are your hosts, Patrick and James. 

[00:00:45] Patrick McGrath: How's it going everybody. And welcome back to the real fi podcast.

[00:00:49] I'm your host Patrick McGrath with my co host James Ripon. How's it going, James? Good 

[00:00:56] James Rippeon: man. Good, good to be back. 

[00:00:59] Patrick McGrath: So today we got a [00:01:00] really exciting guest and we're gonna talk about short term rentals. It's a hot topic these days. Everyone's trying to get into it, and hopefully we're all gonna learn something from our guest today.

[00:01:11] Ryan Kushman. How's it going, Ryan? 

[00:01:13] Ryan Cushman: Great. Happy to be here. Thank you guys for hosting me excited to to talk about real. 

[00:01:20] James Rippeon: So Ryan, I was looking around on your Instagram page. You got a lot of interesting stuff going on before we dig into all the awesome deals that you have, that you're working.

[00:01:30] Why don't you give a little bit, your bit about your background, your story, tell us where you came from and what got you to where you are today. 

[00:01:39] Ryan Cushman: Sure. Yeah. Appreciate that, James. I'm 38 married for 15 years, my wife and I just barely hit our 15 year anniversary. We've got a few really awesome kids.

[00:01:49] I graduated my, with my undergrad in 2009. And that was a rather tricky time to be graduating and entering the workforce. Pretty terrible time, honestly, no work [00:02:00] experience under my belt. And so I was able to find a couple of low paying jobs fairly soon after I got outta school.

[00:02:07] And during that time pursued my MBA through university of Georgia go dogs. And. Since then I've mainly been working in the corporate space in a few different roles. I gravitated toward a financial, a corporate finance type role for several years in, in, in recent history last few years have been in a marketing product marketing SP role for a medical device company.

[00:02:30] And along that timeline I just realized that it was gonna be a while before I could really be financially free. But more or less that's my background. And I have been trying for a few years to get my footing in the real estate space and that's that's what kind of brings me to.

[00:02:48] James Rippeon: What were some of those things that you were looking around seeing that were telling you, it would be a long time to get where you wanted to be? Was it, the people you were working with, some of your boss, like just other [00:03:00] circumstances what was motivating that, that mind 

[00:03:02] Ryan Cushman: shift?

[00:03:03] Yeah. Mainly it was just I, even though, I continued to increase my salary and my income. I always just felt like I was behind the eight ball. Life gets more expensive. You had some kids into the mix and all of a sudden, your expenses are just through the roof.

[00:03:18] And I just felt like it working. That nine to five in, in the corporate space with the annual reviews and the few percentage points merit increase every now and then a nice promotion or a gear shift in, in your role. Maybe a little bit more than that as far as a array goes, but E even still it's just it's slow.

[00:03:40] And so that never, making a big splash or for myself, never finding a real way to, to make a big splash. It just seemed like it was gonna be a really, something needed to give something needed to change in the way I was operating in order to be able to not have to work until I'm in my sixties.

[00:03:57] And so that's really what motivated me to, to [00:04:00] pursue finding an alternate path and alternate channel to do that. 

[00:04:03] Patrick McGrath: Yeah, I think I think that kind of speaks volumes for everybody out there that that would be listening to this and looking for alternative ways to speed up Speed up that time horizon on working towards your goals. So that's great. When you got started, why you picked, short term rentals give us the background on that, tell us about your first deal and how that all 

[00:04:25] Ryan Cushman: worked out. Yeah. Yeah. Happy to. I, a number of years, a few years ago when I really started to think through how I was gonna get to my end goal someone turned me onto the bigger pockets podcast.

[00:04:38] I. A number of years ago listened a long time ago, listened or read the rich dad, poor dad book got inspired by it. Didn't really know how to take actionable steps to make that come, be real for me. And so was listening to the bigger podcast pockets podcasts was very inspired by, the hosts and the number of the guests and their stories, their paths [00:05:00] and the stories that kind of.

[00:05:01] Seemed like they were the ones that were talked about the most, whether that be house hacking or burring a property seemed a little bit outta reach for me, the house hacking, I was a. A family of five in a home established that just didn't seem like I, I felt like I had missed the boat on that opportunity.

[00:05:20] The burring, you gotta really know, know your stuff as far as how much it costs to rehab a property, finding a property that you think is gonna be able to appraise for such and such ARV. All of these are things. I'm sure there's nuances and limiting beliefs in everything that I'm saying right now, as far as those strategies go, but those were the roadblocks for me.

[00:05:39] And I came across an episode on the BP podcast with guest Avery, Carl of the short term shop. And that that episode just lit a fire under me as I think it has many people and It was just like this light bulb that went off. Of course this works. Of course that's, an amazing way to have a huge [00:06:00] amounts of cash flow.

[00:06:01] My family went down to Destin all the time. We were, we looked around, we were like, man, these places must make so much money. We gotta get in this. How do we do that then? Nothing we didn't really act on, on those thoughts, but a after listening to her podcast, 10 times I I decided to give her a.

[00:06:17] She set me up, she answered a couple of my questions. This is a long advertisement for the short term shop and and her team. But she connected me with an agent there. We went up to pigeon forge, which is where a lot of the action has been for their realtor team.

[00:06:32] And we went, saw a bunch of cabins in the area. That was our first time being there. And it was just it, this was in August of 2020 mind you it, we were in the thick of the COVID pandemic. People were supposed to be staying home. There were people everywhere. And it was, it spoke volumes to me about how.

[00:06:49] Much demand for short term rentals, there, there is particularly in that area and there also are in many other areas. And so that [00:07:00] evening we made our first offer on a cabin and it didn't work. We got out bid and we also got out bid on two or three others even going as much as 30 K over asking.

[00:07:11] And. We finally found one probably a week or two later, that was a new build. And that was our first contract. And that's really how it got started for me. 

[00:07:22] James Rippeon: That's awesome. I wanna highlight a couple things that you're bringing up the, yeah. First thing is, in real estate generally, No matter what age or circumstance you're in, there's always a path.

[00:07:32] You can go down to find a strategy that will work for you. Absolutely. And you did that and you found that it's the short term rentals is where you getting started and finding a lot of success in that. And that's awesome. So people, people don't need to stress out too much about trying a little bit of everything.

[00:07:48] You just need to research enough and then go deep and take action, which you've clearly done. You found that one person who was a. Men mental model for you to emulate and you reached [00:08:00] out to them, you connected with them, followed in their footsteps and quickly took action and got the ball rolling.

[00:08:06] Absolutely. How did you end up finding? So you're just in pigeon forge. Is that where all your short term rentals are located? 

[00:08:12] Ryan Cushman: We have one in Destin, Florida as well. Okay. So two in pigeon forge area, one in Destin, Florida. Perfect. That's 

[00:08:18] James Rippeon: awesome. 

[00:08:21] Ryan Cushman: Yeah. That's great. Appreciate that. 

[00:08:22] Patrick McGrath: So you yeah alright, so walk us through this now.

[00:08:26] So yeah you go up there, you're looking at properties, you get out bid on a couple, you got this new build and you decided, Hey, let's pull the trigger. Offer accepted. Take us through what happens after that. And how did you run the numbers? Did, did they help you run the numbers and give you a projection on what your rents would be?

[00:08:44] Tell us a little bit about that process and then what's the, all in on that deal and what type of cash flow are you looking at? 

[00:08:52] Ryan Cushman: Yeah. Great questions. So the the steps AF thereafter is that it's a new build. So you gotta take into a [00:09:00] consideration that they're gonna tell you one thing, as far as when you think it's gonna be completed and then PR you pretty much need to assume it's gonna be 100% wrong.

[00:09:09] Which it was right. So they told us it would be done. That was. They told us it'd be done in December. Cause it was a small thousand square feet, two bedroom cabin. In theory, a builder could potentially build a cabin that quickly. But that was not to be, I don't think they even broke ground until beginning of December with permits and and a lot of things that they have to deal with.

[00:09:32] Admittedly we as far as running the numbers on it the short term shop and my agent did help make some assumptions, but and this is something they'll say they can't do. They can't do my pushups for me. It was up to me to to do some analysis about what I expected that property to do as far as short term rents.

[00:09:52] So that meant a little bit of market research some tools that are available online to to look. What other properties in the area do? There, 

[00:09:59] Patrick McGrath: could you[00:10:00] could you give us what are those tools that you use? 

[00:10:02] Ryan Cushman: Yeah, absolutely. There's a tool called data dot RA which allows you to plug in an address.

[00:10:07] And it will estimate based on scrape, rental scrape information, scrape data on what it. Potentially as an estimate on a high performing low performing average performing property due as far as renting as a short term rental, there's also the rental tool on aird.co. And I believe, and I haven't used it a whole lot.

[00:10:29] There's a, there's an application called price labs that also has a function that allows you to do some analysis on, on, scrape again, scrape information that allow you to analyze it. And then the last thing that you can do is just try to find similarly sized It's on Airbnb or VRBO and that are approximately, close to where yours is gonna be and see what their calendars look like, see what their rent rates look like.

[00:10:53] See if it's managed by a rental company or by like a a loan person that is renting out their property [00:11:00] and managing it themselves. And those are all data points that will really give you a great idea as far as what its potential. 

[00:11:06] James Rippeon: So one mental roadblock I always have with short term rentals.

[00:11:11] And I'm hoping maybe you can address this with me and resolve my own concerns is management. How do you work into the whole system of managing a short term rental from a distance I've bought some short term or some regular single family houses that I've owned from a distance?

[00:11:27] Didn't personally manage them, hired a manager, but how is that any different, maybe from a house, like from a regular rental to a short term rental from a distance, what kind of specific things should people be aware of when it comes to that management aspect? 

[00:11:42] Ryan Cushman: It's 100% about your team and your systems that you have in place.

[00:11:47] It's absolutely gonna be more high touched than a long term rental. I have to engage with my cleaner a couple times a week sometimes with the two that we have in the area, sometimes as much as every [00:12:00] day, every other day or so just to be engaged with her on how. Thing how the timing is working with guests in and guests out and that sort of thing.

[00:12:07] As far as other tools there are Great tools like I use a tool called Guesty, which syncs my calendars across VRBO and Airbnb. So that one does the same property. Doesn't get booked at the same time on two different platforms that, that application also. Sends my welcome messages and my, all the instructions for guests to check in and check out.

[00:12:31] And then there's a the price labs tool that I mentioned before sets with some inputs for me, sets all the pricing. And so there are certain aspects of this that you can absolutely automate so that you're not having to send every message as a new guest comes No doubt, it's more high touch than long term rentals.

[00:12:49] They'll send you a question that you don't have an automated response for and that you've gotta respond to that. Otherwise you get dinged in the rankings of Airbnb. But the and then going back to the team is just, [00:13:00] having a high, a great relationship and treating your team well namely your cleaner, she's gonna he, or she's gonna be your number one teammate in, in the area, your eyes and your boots on the ground.

[00:13:09] And then a good relationship with some handy. People so that in the event that your hot tub isn't working or, whatever you got some sort of leak coming through the shower above, the, in the upstairs or something like that which these things happen. So you gotta have a decent relationship with a handyman who's willing to be nimble and help you out in a pinch.

[00:13:30] And those situations can be a little stress. For sure, but man, the cash flow just, it makes all of this worthwhile 

[00:13:36] Patrick McGrath: that's right. So let's get down to brass tax on this first deal. So how much was it? How much did you spend on furnishing it? And then what's that cash flow looking like today?

[00:13:49] Ryan Cushman: Great. Yeah. Brass tax. All right. Again, I got under contract on this in August of 2020. Would really love to be able to find something like this in the market today, but good [00:14:00] luck. It, the, if I thought the market was hot back then it seems to be a little bit worse now. We got another contract for two 70 a thousand square feet, two bedroom.

[00:14:10] And it was probably undervalued then. And then, eight months later when we finally closed. It was certainly undervalued. We did a 10% down, second home loan on the property. And actually we raised the contract by $20,000. So the contract was actually for two 90 and that 20 K was directed to a furniture company to put some of those, not.

[00:14:34] Type wooden bed frames in in the property. So we came in addition to the 10% down on two 90, which is just, after closing costs we're looking at about probably a touch over 30 grand in monies at closing needed. We did probably another 5,000 just in, in TVs. Some other things that needed to nice decor to get the thing rent ready and ready to [00:15:00] go.

[00:15:00] As far as cash flow goes It costs us roughly $2,000 a month to, to own and operate out of the the mortgage and electricity and internet. And and all of those things, probably a touch under 2000. So I like to overestimate my expenses, but then in, from mid March we probably.

[00:15:23] Net about $3,500 a month on the place after expenses. And so it's outperformed what we thought we would do. We're trending toward grossing about $75,000 in a 12 month timeframe. And we were hoping that it would. 45. We are really happy with it. It's been a grand slam for us.

[00:15:44] Patrick McGrath: That's absolutely amazing. So just for some perspective out there, I have. A building a 10 unit apartment building that I paid 850,000 for, and it cash flows about four [00:16:00] grand a month right now. So you are just blowing my mind that I could potentially spend half and get get just as much cash back.

[00:16:10] This 

[00:16:10] James Rippeon: that's amazing. This will probably blow your mind too. Ryan. How much do you think that place is worth now as well? From the 

[00:16:16] Ryan Cushman: time when you bought it? I don't think I can find that same that same size of a property for less than four 50 now. And I think it would get multiple bids at that price.

[00:16:27] I it could be more than that. Yeah. You're getting two 

[00:16:29] James Rippeon: times your down payment and net income and. Or, and then you got that much equity built in already, so you're ready to refinance. And then also just use that free cash by. More properties down the road. That's incredible. 

[00:16:44] Ryan Cushman: That's right.

[00:16:45] And that's a plan for later in the year. We're refining another property in the beginning part. And we're, yeah, we're gonna tap into that later for 

[00:16:52] Patrick McGrath: sure. And that is absolutely amazing for everyone out there. Who's looking to get started and, nervous [00:17:00] about their first deal. Brian went out there, took action.

[00:17:05] Flew, spent some money to go out there, fly out there. Look did some research and absolutely hit a grand slam on on his first deal. Just that one deal that 3,500 a month, what's that due, or what has that done to your financial independence journey and, towards your overall income that you were bringing in for your family.

[00:17:28] You don't need to get into specifics about how much you're making every year, on a percentage wise, how much has that boosted your. 

[00:17:35] Ryan Cushman: Yeah. It's been a big deal. We're talking not two X, what I was making, but a big chunk. And it's freed us up in, in a lot of ways.

[00:17:43] We like I said, as we've, as I've earned more money in my regular job life has just gotten. More expensive in, in, in kind, right? So this was a huge relief. My wife who for the better part of seven or eight years has been teaching piano lessons [00:18:00] out of our home was able to stop doing that this past fall.

[00:18:03] And That's been a huge relief just to our family, cuz she then is able to spend after school time helping our kids out with what they need, getting them to extracurriculars that we were running out of runway to be able to do all of those things at the same time. It's been huge and absolutely we're also trying to take portions chunks of that and set that aside for our next property.

[00:18:27] Ultimately we want Seven to 10 of these. And then I can look at exiting my w two nine to five job which is the goal for me. I'm looking to leave the rat race, so to speak and be financially independent work as much as I want to work. And that's what we're that's what this has really been helping us be able to work toward at a much faster clip.

[00:18:47] James Rippeon: Let's expand upon that a little bit. You've yeah. Let's put ourselves into the future a little bit. You've acquired maybe seven of these rentals your cash flowing incredibly. What does your life look like in that situation? How does [00:19:00] your management of the business fit into that? And what is your whole personal situation look like too, with your family and everything else?

[00:19:07] What does this financial independence opportunity present to you? 

[00:19:12] Ryan Cushman: Yeah. So last year and this year and potentially a little bit into next year are the grind time. This is a challenging time for us. I obviously still have my responsibilities of my, my w two. And I.

[00:19:26] Taken on, managing the short term rentals, figuring out how to acquire. My goal is for four more this year. I'm also pursuing my real estate license for the state of Georgia. And. What financial independence means for me is being able to step away from my nine to five, which occupies most of my stress or takes up most of my stress.

[00:19:46] It it contributes to most of the time I need to spend not doing things that I prefer to do. I don't. I'm not ungrateful for my career and my employers and all of that. But I've spent a huge chunk of my week [00:20:00] working for somebody else enriching shareholders or whatever.

[00:20:03] And and it that's just time that I'm losing that I can't do that I can't spend doing what I would much prefer to do, which are, which include, being more present with my family, being able to Do more things with them being able to travel, being able to join a soccer team or, all these things that I don't really have the time or the resources to do right now.

[00:20:25] And so that's what. That's what financial independence means for me is that I can then be my own boss. I can have these short term rentals. I can, even hire a virtual assistant to do a lot of the stuff that I will eventually not wanna do or not have my hands fully in later on and just be able to be free.

[00:20:45] And this can, won't always be, this will never be totally passive, but it'll be. Require a lot less of me than my, my nine to five requires of me now. And 

[00:20:56] James Rippeon: it sounds like you get a lot of enjoyment from it, too. You know this from doing [00:21:00] this whole investment and this what you're building right now.

[00:21:02] And think that's an important thing for people to grasp is you're gaining time for yourself because you're building equity in a business that you own through the short term business, rather than working somebody else, earning couple bucks. Probably earn more than a couple bucks an hour, but you know what I'm saying?

[00:21:21] Yeah. And everyone, your boss has equity in the time that you're providing, you're taking that time and you're building that equity for yourself. And that I think gives a lot of fulfillment to people once they realize that they have that option. 

[00:21:34] Ryan Cushman: Absolutely. Absolutely. 

[00:21:36] Patrick McGrath: Yeah. And what I love to hear is everything that you just said was all about.

[00:21:43] It wasn't about money. It wasn't about buying things. It was about having your time back, spend with your family to be able to create memories. And I think that's what most of us out here are all trying to do. We're trying to, we're trying to build a life and build a business [00:22:00] that we can.

[00:22:01] We can have time, freedom to do as we please. And like you said, last year, this year and next year are your grind years. You're still putting in those 40, 50 hours a week at your day job, plus your couple hours a day, figuring out everything else, working to spend time with your kids, your wife and managing all of that.

[00:22:20] But that, Hey if I put in three years, three solid years, The first one, is just the growing pains. Just getting that snowball going in three years you can create a life for yourself where you can do all those things. You just talked about it. It's not a, it's not a significant long term time.

[00:22:40] And that's the power of real estate. That's, what's so beautiful about it. That's what gets me so excited about. And yeah, I'm I love hearing that and I'm actually going to look for my first shortterm rental this weekend. That's awesome. Guys, like you have gotten me inspired a bunch of different people on Instagram.

[00:22:58] And I've wanted to do it for a while, but [00:23:00] I had all the same type of things that you were talking about with long term rental. All those limiting beliefs, with the bird method and everything else. I've done all of that. Yeah. The short term rentals is what scared me. So it's really nice to hear everything you're talking about and put it into, perspective.

[00:23:18] And that perspective is huge. Why don't you why don't you tell us where your business is at now? How many short term rentals do you have, how is that structured? How have you been able to fund them? Let's dive into a little 

[00:23:29] Ryan Cushman: bit of. Sure. Yeah, the first that first short term rental that I discussed I, I own on my own, my wife and I do.

[00:23:35] And we, like I said, it was a 10% down loan. We I wasn't even sure how I was gonna have the funds, even though that wasn't that much I wasn't sure how I was gonna come up with 30 or 40 grand to, to pay for that either. Luckily I talked to a great lender who introduced me to the idea of borrowing against your 401k, which doesn't affect your debt to income ratio when you're applying for a loan.

[00:23:57] So I took out a loan against my 401k [00:24:00] used that as the down punt the down payment money for our first cabin. And then we were off to the race. While I was twiddling my thumbs waiting for that property to, to get built. I, was obviously talking about how excited I was for this with my friends and family.

[00:24:13] My younger brother who has made a lot of money in Silicon valley, in, in the tech space wanted in but didn't want to do all the management. So he then made for the perfect partner. For me to be able to get into two more. And we shortly thereafter got under contract on a second new build cabin in pigeon forge that one a nicer, a bigger, nicer one that had an Ingra an in indoor pool.

[00:24:38] It's awesome. And. But again, we were twiddling our thumbs waiting for probably almost a year waiting for that one to come to fruition. So then while we were waiting for that to come along earlier, About a year ago. We got under contract on a, on an existing inventory property in Destin, Florida.

[00:24:56] And so our third property that we got under [00:25:00] contract was actually the first one to go live. Cuz just 30 days later we closed on it and and got it live and running in mid-March. And so those two properties were both in the 500 and 30 $40,000 range. And we, because my brother was on the loan.

[00:25:18] For both of those he qualified for and because they were also in two different markets, he qualified for 10% down loans on both of those. He's on the financing and we're both on title and then, he. He gets a check from our shared business bank accounts every month as I manage them and pay all the bills and then pay ourselves.

[00:25:39] And it's been a great working relationship and a couple of our the ones that I have as far as goals for this year will likely be partner deals with him again this year. 

[00:25:48] James Rippeon: Do you have any other family members that are looking at you two trying to get in on this cut or what. 

[00:25:53] Ryan Cushman: So I, I have two brothers one of, one of 'em like I said, my younger brother, that's a partner.

[00:25:58] And my youngest brother is actually a [00:26:00] realtor in Georgia already. He has just taken off with this. You may know him on social media as well. Kushman homes, Connor Kushman. He has part since partnered with his brother in. On one in the blue Ridge, Georgia area, and also has one up in Tennessee now.

[00:26:15] So he's he's running faster than I am even at this. And it's been really fun to, to work with him and work both with both of them as we've gotten these short term rentals up and running, helping each other out. It's been a lot of fun. 

[00:26:28] Patrick McGrath: That's amazing. It's it's so cool to see an entire family, all involved in this real estate game and it changing everybody's life.

[00:26:36] So that's really awesome. I do have a question though. Yeah. If you know the details to this, I haven't heard that you're able to get to. To buy two vacation homes at 10% down. So you said something about it being a different market? I don't know if you could, expand on that. Just a smidge 

[00:26:53] Ryan Cushman: for us.

[00:26:53] Absolutely. Sure. Yeah. So second home loan, 10% down. You're technically only [00:27:00] allowed to acquire or have one of those types of loans. In one market at a time. I don't know the exact rules on how far apart they need to be, but my brother has one in, in pigeon forge and then also one in Destin, Florida.

[00:27:14] Those are obviously two completely different markets, certainly far enough away from each other. Not a big deal. If you're looking to buy one in pigeon forge and one in Gatlinburg I don't think that qualifies to probably way too close to each other to, to be consider. Be considered for two, 10% down loans.

[00:27:29] The other options are investment loans, which I think you can get as low as 15%. And then obviously I think, most people can do 20% all day long, everywhere all the 

[00:27:38] Patrick McGrath: time. So exactly are is there any other markets that you're looking at besides pigeon forge, Destin, Florida that you currently have your eyes.

[00:27:49] Ryan Cushman: Yeah, great question. We are thinking through a lot of those types of questions, whether that's the islands off of Georgia. We're trying to see if there are opportunities [00:28:00] where short term rental Buyers have not completely blown up the market to where prices are, have just skyrocketed in the last year and a half, two years.

[00:28:08] We are considering other parts of the Florida coast both in the Gulf side. And on the Atlantic side to see if things make sense in those areas. And like I said the Georgia coastal islands are consideration also the South Carolina, coastal islands are are some considerations as well.

[00:28:28] So very well established short term markets in all of those areas. And so we're taking those things into consideration. My brother. Who's my partner lives in, in Utah. And a lot of people go down to St. George, Utah which is most of the way down south. Right before you cross over into getting close to Las Vegas, a lot of people go down there and that's another market we're considering 

[00:28:51] Patrick McGrath: That's that's great.

[00:28:52] I, what, I've what I've run into and I don't know if you have run into this as well, but I know in Florida and I also know [00:29:00] in Myrtle beach, South Carolina, where I'm looking at there's these condo tells basically it's a hotel that was converted into condos or a giant condo building that has a front desk.

[00:29:12] Yeah. And they can manage your property for you, or you can VRBO O or Airbnb it yourself, but there's onsite management. They typically have pools and lazy rivers and all of that kind of stuff. The problem. Is that you have to get specific financing from a certain lender to be able to acquire those.

[00:29:29] And they want between 25 and 30% down. And to me that just, that really limits what you can do. And I think that puts it into that. that owner that is going to just go to the beach twice a year with their family, and then they're gonna have, them take care of everything else. So it's a wash So I don't know if you've run into that as well. 

[00:29:51] Ryan Cushman: I have typically stayed away from condo tells mainly at the advice of my, our realtors that we've are [00:30:00] particularly in Florida, our realtor we've used there. Just with. The concerns around it was stopped at the door just because we were looking for 10% down opportunities and that wasn't an option for us.

[00:30:12] There, there are higher barriers to entry as far as financing goes for those properties. And that's, that was a door stopper for us in that regard. So beyond that, I. Thought too much about it, to be honest. And but not to say that we wouldn't consider one in, in the future when we have some additional capital to to lay out, but it hasn't been something that I've looked at too deeply beyond that.

[00:30:34] James Rippeon: Do any of your current short term rentals have any HOAs on them for any of those properties? Cause I know when I'm looking for regular rentals, That's one of the biggest things I'm trying to avoid are HOA fees. Yeah. But that's because the margins are way smaller. On a traditional rental. But with the short term rental couple hundred bucks a month is almost nothing when you're pulling in as much as you can in a really desirable [00:31:00] area.

[00:31:00] So do you have any HOAs on your current properties or, and if not, or if you do, how do you kinda think about that? 

[00:31:08] Ryan Cushman: Yeah the one that we the property in Florida is a town home and we do pay a quarterly HOA on that property. It comes to, I think it just increased like 50 bucks per quarter to 6 75 or something like that.

[00:31:24] And I don't love that. I have to pay that between the two partnership properties. That one makes less money. And it costs a little bit more to operate. But in the grand scheme of things, 200 something bucks a month, where in the particularly the summer months, Slaying and it's wall to wall booked.

[00:31:43] It's, it doesn't feel too painful. With the other cabin property that my brother and I partnered. It's still a new development and I think there is gonna be an HOA, but they haven't fully built it out yet. And I think the HOA is pretty small. In general, like you said with the short term rentals where the margins are a [00:32:00] little thicker it's really not too scary once pencil out how much you're gonna be making off of the proper.

[00:32:07] Patrick McGrath: Yeah all right. So give us the overview right now of these three properties. So you've got two in Tennessee, one in Florida. What's your average that you're bringing in? Every month gross. And then what's it look like? Cashflow wise? 

[00:32:24] Ryan Cushman: That's a great question. And it's not super straightforward to meed answer just yet because we I haven't had 'em a full year.

[00:32:30] The two. Cabins we had, or I'm sorry, the beach house we Acqua. We got, we launched in March. Of last year cabin in April 2nd cabin, not till September. So we really didn't have that much of the year for the big pool cabin. But that said between those. Those three properties and those spaces in time we grossed just to touch under $200,000.

[00:32:53] It was like 1 95 K for the year. We're really hoping to at least two X that and we [00:33:00] think the the big cabin, the three bedroom that we launched September is really gonna really do well. I don't know what the, I really don't know what the total gross is gonna be for a full 12 months across all three of those.

[00:33:11] But I think it could do, three to 400 K in, in a year. And then as far as what we are netting off of those. The beach house obviously is super it fluctuates a lot. We have been mostly empty for the better part of two months down there. We made a lot of money in the warmer months.

[00:33:29] And so when the beach house stopped making money, we brought the CA the big cabin online, and that, that was making the money for us. All that said Between all three of them at a given point in time. We're bringing in. Net probably $7,000 a month. 

[00:33:48] Patrick McGrath: That's just amazing that I have 17 units, long term rental, and we're doing about 7,500.

[00:33:54] 17 different tenants. Long term, you've got three properties, a little bit more hands [00:34:00] on. But that's just, that's absolutely amazing. And to think that you haven't even had 'em on online that long and just, you're just getting started to say you've built a $400,000 a year business in a year and a half.

[00:34:15] Two years is mind blowing to think about it. Bravo to you, sir. Bravo. Wow. And that's thank you. And to everybody out there, you haven't been doing this that long, you're a no really you just you want out self-proclaimed NOBE so that, that's just amazing.

[00:34:30] It's stories like these that get me jazzed up. I'm like kind of goosebumps here cause I'm, I've been working on my business for five years. To get to where we're at and you come out swinging, with these three short term rentals, which I've been nervous about. Cuz I, I was looking a couple years ago too.

[00:34:45] I almost pulled the trigger a couple times and didn't, I mean there's beach houses that I was looking at, new builds 3 24 bedrooms, three bass, huge that are worth like 550 grand right now. And everybody's got those stories, but it was just that I was nervous [00:35:00] too. So I mean you've inspired me for sure.

[00:35:02] I might even have to start looking at properties that are a little bit more expensive. Just because it's slim pickings down there in the in the 300 zone. So I might have to up my game up and and step up and get something real nice cuz cuz that, that sounds like that's what it's gonna book for.

[00:35:18] So that's amazing offline. You should you should definitely tell me where they're still building those new builds. If they haven't sold out yet, I might have to buy one of those. 

[00:35:25] Ryan Cushman: All right, man. Yeah, absolutely. I will. If I can find who that is. 

[00:35:29] Patrick McGrath: That's right. That's right. All right, James, I think it might be time.

[00:35:35] James Rippeon: For the big 

[00:35:35] Patrick McGrath: picture. for the big picture. Let's go. Let's do 

[00:35:40] James Rippeon: it. So we're gonna, we're gonna ask you three questions and just answer 'em as you see fit. So the first one will be for the beginner investor. What do you say to the person starting their financial independence journey? What does one of the most important first things that they can do to get started and moving?

[00:35:57] Ryan Cushman: Yeah. I think this is probably [00:36:00] a cliche answer. But it's all about getting educated, listening to a lot of perspectives to, to find out what speaks to you and what you're passionate about. What inspires you, what what is gonna Get you excited to go full force at and and really make a difference in your own life.

[00:36:20] For me, that was reading. A bunch of real estate books and listening to a bunch of podcasts learning from those who have have done amazing things for their own investment and real estate journey. And that's the, that is it. That is the thing you just need to learn what you need to learn about a bunch of different paths and figure out which one speaks to you the most.

[00:36:41] And then run at that.

[00:36:45] Patrick McGrath: That's great. Now you mentioned some books, you mentioned some podcast, some people other than rich dad, poor dad, because we all know that's the that's the Bible to real estate investors. And 

[00:36:59] James Rippeon: I, can you [00:37:00] give us that one as an answer to this question? 

[00:37:02] Patrick McGrath: Yes. We refuse to accept that one as an answer to this question.

[00:37:05] So could you give us one book One podcast and then one person you follow that has changed changed your perspective 

[00:37:12] Ryan Cushman: on things. Yeah. So a book that in, in pretty, in the last six months or so that I read that I really loved and then probably due to, to reread just so that I can give myself a refresher on is set for life by Scott trench.

[00:37:26] I thought he outlined just beautifully Really sound strategies in making next moves, making life changing adjustments in your life that, that set you up for life. No pun intended. PO and podcast was the other part of your question. 

[00:37:40] Patrick McGrath: Yep. Podcast and person. 

[00:37:43] Ryan Cushman: Yeah.

[00:37:48] I would say BP, but I've already talked about that a lot. The, it 

[00:37:51] Patrick McGrath: doesn't have to be real estate related, just okay. A podcast that, sure. You listen to that you think people can find some value out of, 

[00:37:58] Ryan Cushman: yeah. I'll have to, I'll [00:38:00] have to give a shout out to the short term shop, Avery, Carl.

[00:38:02] She has a podcast now that's specific to short term rentals. If you're interested in learning more about the short term rental game, I arguably she's the best in the business. And so she brings on guests every week that speak to their short term shop journey and lots of amazing content in there.

[00:38:19] And then as far as who I follow I think someone that has really been inspirational to me and has really made a name for himself is my youngest brother Connor Kushman. You can follow him at Kushman homes. He's a realtor in Georgia and he just puts out.

[00:38:35] Really great con he's new in the game in short term rentals. And but he knows his stuff about real estate and he's really just blazing the trail and he's he puts out really amazing content. So check him out. 

[00:38:49] Patrick McGrath: I'm gonna be checking out every one of those. All right, James, take it away.

[00:38:54] Last question. I know you dived into this a little bit, but let's rehash it real quick. 

[00:38:58] James Rippeon: Yeah, absolutely. So [00:39:00] you definitely give us a good roadmap for, what you've been doing and where you're planning to take this into the future. But why don't you just summarize for us once more, where you're gonna be on your financial independence journey in about five years?

[00:39:13] What does that look like for you and your 

[00:39:14] Ryan Cushman: family? Yeah. In five years I will ha not have a nine to five job. I'm gonna have a lot more free time. I'm gonna spend a couple hours a day doing my short term. And by then I anticipate long term rental business management in five years, I plan to have between 10 and 15 short term rentals.

[00:39:36] I haven't really penciled out how many long term rentals, but it's, it is my goal to get into long term rental just for diversification sake. And and by that time that, I see myself being able to take my family around the world see really cool places do traveling, do a lot more traveling than we have the opportunity to do now.

[00:39:55] And I, you That time freedom is so important to me and in what I'm really [00:40:00] after as far as being able to just do more of the things that I want to and love to do. And so that's where I see myself in five years, 

[00:40:08] Patrick McGrath: man. Great answer to all those questions to finish it out. Ryan.

[00:40:14] Where can people find you? How's the best way to get in touch. If anyone listens to this and has questions for you, where do they reach out to speak with you? 

[00:40:24] Ryan Cushman: Might as well just be through my Instagram handle Kush dot REI, or is it Kushman dot REI? I can't even remember. Kush dot REI. That's my Kushman real estate investing handle.

[00:40:36] And I can be reached there. Check me out there. I'm I love talk and shop with with anyone who wants to. That's 

[00:40:44] James Rippeon: from you. We definitely appreciate you coming onto the podcast, Ryan. It, I know that both Patrick and I have been super motivated and we look forward to keeping in touch and talking with you again in the future.

[00:40:55] Ryan Cushman: James Patrick, it's been an honor. Thank you so much for having me. And we'll talk again soon. [00:41:00] 

[00:41:01] outro: Thank you for listening to the real fi podcast where you learn from the investors that have lived, the hard lessons for you to connect with us during your pursuit of financial independence. Be sure to join our community by following us on Instagram or emailing us@infoattherealfi.com.

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