EPISODE 013: Investor Interview: Bryan and Erin Waits
Categories: Strategy & Tips, Investor Interview
Description & Show Notes: In this episode, I interview my friends and local investors, Bryan and Erin Waits of The Backyard. We talk about how they got started, how they run their properties from day to day, what their big picture strategy is. I was Bryan's Real Estate broker for many years, until his wife got her license, but we've known each other for almost 20 years, since I was selling Mobile Homes at Ridgewood Village trailer park in Auburn. Now his business, The Backyard is the best place in town to go for an awesome outdoor kitchen, firepit, patio, or any other type of outdoor living space. Somewhere in the middle of those 20 years, we all hit some tough times during the recession, and those scars have shaped our moves going forward. For us, that wasn't a reason to get out of Real Estate, but it has definitely influenced our moves since then.
The conversation was great, and frankly, it is conversations like this that Bryan and I have all the time that led me to start recording them in a more formal way, which eventually evolved into this podcast series. A few years ago, we were on 2 completely different investing paths, and we kept debating both strategies, trying to poke holes in the other guy's plan. Those debates with Bryan are the origin of the question I often ask my clients: "All things considered, would you rather have 20 units paid for, or 100 units with a 20% down payment on each of them?" I'm curious as to your thoughts on that, but whatever the answer is, you can make it work for you. Also, I thought it was interesting how they both answered the "Are you playing Offense or Defense" question. Take a listen, I think you'll enjoy this one a lot!