RG 069 – Side hustle kings part 1 developing your real estate side hustle with Andrew Campbell
About Andrew
- Andrew has been investing in real estate for 4 years
- Andrew works full time in advertising
- Andrew and his brother have built a portfolio of 72 units.
Nuts and Bolts
Andrew is a real estate investor from Texas and he’s been involved in the real estate world for 4 years. Since starting with his brother, they have grown a portfolio of 72 units, all while working full time jobs at the same time. They decided to get into real estate after coming back to their home town to look after their father and realising they didn’t want to be in his position; working for other people without flexibility or independence. When Andrew got married he kept his old condo and rented it out which created a small amount of cash flow. It wasn’t until their mother passed away that they both were sparked to take their side-hustle seriously and they invested in a duplex, 4-plex and some single-family homes.
Working 2 jobs
When Andrew started his investing side job he found it quite uncomfortable as he didn’t really know what he was doing, for example he didn’t know how to introduce himself as the new landlord to the tenants of the duplex he’d purchased. Andrew says that the first thing about being an investor is about being comfortable with being uncomfortable. His full-time job knows about his investing and he keeps everything open and honest. He’s lucky the have a day job that’s flexible with hours, so long as the work gets done. Andrew gets a lot of help from technology and he and his brother use Google Docs so that they can access their work anywhere. He recommends that you’re open with your bosses – don’t try to lie, explain that it’s not going to affect your work and if they see a problem then you can all have a conversation.
Investment strategy
Andrew’s investment strategy has remained the same for the last 4 years and he was trying to raise enough monthly cash flow to quit his day-job. He was looking for properties that would cash flow from day one and so wasn’t looking for appreciation. They started four years ago buying in Austin however they quickly got priced out of that market and now they invest in San Antonio which is an hours drive away. When they started investing in Austin prices were between $250-$300,000 and now it’s the same in San Antonio. Andrew and his brother always knew the process would take a while and that financial freedom doesn’t come overnight. They’ve committed to the process and taken on investing as a full time job, not a part time gig. This has meant that for a while it’s felt like working two jobs.
Advice and the future
Andrew has two children aged 6 and 3 so he has to juggle family life with his two jobs. He says that he tries to always be present around his children and set time aside for them. He has set up systems to get the smaller jobs done quickly, for example each property has it’s own bank account and each unit has a unique rent amount, this means he can log into the account and immediately see who has paid each month. In the future Andrew and his brother are moving further than the financial independence number and are now looking to grow the business. The next level will be syndication and bigger deals with a focus on Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin.
Top investing tips
- Most important habit – Being in the business and learning every day.
- Most influential person – His friend that gave him Gary Kellers’ book and got him into his first few units.
- Most important tool – His phone.
- Most important mistake – The mistake was his brothers – The contract was nearly through on a 4-plex property but all of a sudden the bank said no his brothers loan because of a low credit score. Andrew stepped in and took place the in the contract and the property is now a a cash-flowing property and it’s in his portfolio instead.