Adulting Is Easy: Making Personal Finance & Real Estate Easy Lauren K Aumond

Jo has been in the short-term rental space for 8 years. He’s done both arbitrage (renting a unit from a landlord on a long-term basis and listing the unit as a short-term rental) and property management. Get this – Jo charges 20% of the NET INCOME for his PM services. The meat and potatoes of the conversation shifts to the “Airbnbust.” Jo goes into detail about his entrepreneurial ventures, including a dog resort, to guess what the future holds for the short-term rental space. He thinks it’s a bit of a trend that is slowing down, soon to plateau. But there are things hosts can do to prepare for this. Then, Lauren had to know more about the dog resort. Going through the hurdles associated with entrepreneurship will make you very resilient, and you’ll walk away from this conversation motivated to start if you haven’t already. And of course, short-term rental ownership means having properties you’re proud of and you can enjoy.



If you liked this episode, you will also like episode 128 about managing STRs from abroad and episode 141 about STR cleaners.



Sponsored by: https://touchstay.com/



About Jo:

Jo Chan and his team are property managers for short term rental at a handful condo hotels in Miami. They also clean/turnover properties for other hosts. As a licensed realtor, Jo also helps owners acquire and manage their dream vacation homes and when it’s time to move on he helps them sell to the next owner. 



Connect with Jo:

https://smartfindings.com/

https://joronapark.com/

https://mopwipe.com/



Connect with Lauren:⁠⁠https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/adultingiseasyreal/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠https://www.housemoneymedia.com/⁠

Lauren and Dave start by discussing some mistakes he made early on in his investing career. It started out OK. He was into the book The Wealthy Barber. He actually started investing religiously at 19 years old! Once he got out of college, he started raiding that investment account. So, that was the first big mistake. The second one was marrying the right person who encouraged Dave to draw down his retirement accounts for present wants. Then, the two discuss how to potentially not marry the wrong person. After that, they finally get into the meat and potatoes: dividend investing. Dave lays out the dividend investing strategy and some examples numbers. He explains what DRIP means. Lauren asks what Dave has in his portfolio: approx. 24 stocks (and a couple ETFs). Next, Lauren and Dave discuss his goals and retirement plans, given he’s 50 years old and has had to start over multiple times. His attitude is really good. Dave wraps up with some encouraging words that will motivate you to get started.


If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 115 with Dream Dividend or episode 64 with Dividend Hero (Ross).



About Dividend Dave:

After 30 years of making all the investing mistakes possible Dave is finally on a path to financial freedom. He is primarily focused on the dividend investing strategy but also trying to increase his streams of income thru monetization of The Passive Income Podcast. Since recently turning 50 he knows there are only a few good years left to get his financial house in order.



Connect with Dave:

https://twitter.com/Lovey1973

https://www.youtube.com/user/dlove5000


Connect with Lauren: 

⁠https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy⁠

⁠https://www.instagram.com/adultingiseasyreal/⁠⁠

https://www.housemoneymedia.com/

This week, Lauren interviews the Budgetdog himself, Brennan Schlagbaum. Brennan talks about parenthood and gets into what it’s like to parent a special needs child. Brennan and his wife Erin have an almost-2-year-old with Dravet syndrome. One theme woven throughout is the importance of having time, money, and health at the same time. Then, the two focus on the topic at hand: investing for your kids. The Schlagbaums started investing for their first child, Logan Lee, before she was even born. They’re currently utilizing a brokerage, 529, and Roth IRA for their kid (she does baby modeling). Guess what? They have a second baby on the way in September! They’ve started investing for her now too. Brennan also tells Lauren about ABLE accounts. Then, they jump into the WHY behind investing for your kids, and balancing helping your kids versus making them entitled. Brennan says, “Create trust fund babies in a good way.” They briefly touched on UTMA & UGMAs. Don’t forget, though, to take care of yourself and your retirement before investing for your kids. Brennan leaves us off with one more thing you can use to invest for your kids: real estate.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like 27, Teachable Moments for Kids and 129 with the Wealth Dad.

About Brennan:
Brennan Schlagbaum is a 31-year-old entrepreneur and personal finance influencer, but there’s more to the story than that. When Brennan and his then-fiancée Erin were “normal” 24-year-olds “building their life,” they couldn’t shake the oppressive feeling their mountain of debt gave them. Before they even said “I do” they had a mortgage, student loans, car debt, and consumer debt totaling over $300,000. As a numbers guy – Brennan is a CPA – he couldn’t live like this. Fast forward to today, the Schlagbaums have paid off all that debt and eclipsed $1,000,000 net worth. During their journey, it became clear to Brennan that he was meant to help others realize and achieve the same financial success that they had achieved, thus the Budgetdog empire was born. Currently, Brennan and his wife Erin live in Dallas, Texas, with their daughter Logan Lee, with another on the way.

Connect with Brennan:
https://www.instagram.com/budgetdog/

https://twitter.com/Budgetdog_

https://www.youtube.com/c/Budgetdog

https://www.tiktok.com/@budgetdog_

https://www.facebook.com/budgetdog/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brennan-schlagbaum-cpa-1b2b7338/

Connect with Lauren:
⁠https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy⁠
⁠https://www.instagram.com/adultingiseasyreal/⁠
⁠https://www.housemoneymedia.com/

According to Chris (and probably all STR hosts really), your cleaner is your most important team member. With a low performing cleaner, you’ll have a low performing property. Chris outlines 5 ways to find cleaners: 1) messaging other hosts on Airbnb, 2) searching online and reading through websites, 3) drive around at check out time and talk to cleaners, 4) local investor groups, like on social media, and 5) apps, like Turno. Both Lauren and Chris recommend having the same cleaner or small group of cleaners so they’re familiar with your properties and it isn’t different people in and out of there every day. Chris offered more advice. Don’t be afraid to ask for references. Interview multiple cleaners. Give them positive feedback. Pay them well. How to price your cleans? You can use the “enemy method,” online data sources, or getting quotes from cleaning companies. Lauren points out that short-term rental cleans are very different from typical cleans. The cleaners should think differently too. But make sure they know what their responsibilities are up front. Checklists help with this. Chris is open about some rubs he’s had with cleaners: propane tanks, missing TV, cornhole sets being misplaced, etc. Chris’s final thoughts: use data and educate yourself before you jump in.

Sponsored by: ⁠https://touchstay.com/

If you liked this episode, you will also like episode 128 about managing STRs from abroad.



About Chris Klingemann:

Chris became very curious about real estate and hospitality many
years back, as some of his family members were small hotel owners in Europe! He’s been an owner /host of short-term rentals for over 6 years, currently owns 4 STRs about to be 5 all in Florida, (3,4+ bedrooms). Chris is an out-of-state investor, but he visits the STRs often. He shares some of the realities of STR ownership on Twitter as he believes there is a lot of misinformation out there so his goal is to bring transparency and honesty!

Connect with Chris:

https://twitter.com/ChrisK_STRs

Connect with Lauren:

https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy

https://www.instagram.com/adultingiseasyreal/

https://www.housemoneymedia.com/

Eric started his first business at 19 years old. He tried a bunch of different jobs before that, like factory work and landscaping, so he knew what he wanted out of a job. Turns out, freedom really is the best part of being an entrepreneur. You can start working at 5:30 am, or even start the day off with a walk! Eric takes issue with the quick entrepreneurship tips he sees online. Does $10k per month really mean success? Business owners need to have goals that make sense for them. Entrepreneurs should pick their head up from the grind and think at a high level and reflect. It’s hard work to keep from becoming complacent. For Eric, having his own business is all about being fulfilled, not growing for the sake of growth or trying to make the most money possible. An underrated tip is to understand the business financials, especially your margins. Perhaps the best part of the whole interview comes when Eric speaks directly to early entrepreneurs. Interestingly, he suggests learning about investing OUTSIDE of your business too. He also recommends having a line of credit as soon as possible for peace of mind. Learning how to use debt is important. Finally, and this is perhaps the most obvious one, is to show up every day. Be consistent. Don’t forget that your path through life isn’t linear.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like 95, Entrepreneurship: Just Start.

About Eric:
Eric Bort is originally from Avon, Ohio, Eric started his company Clearly Trained in 1998 at the age of 19. Over the years, both the mindset and business grew to a bit of a tipping point where freelancers no longer worked, and he started hiring. Things happened, most of it magical, some of it stressful, and for 25 years word of mouth spread, jobs were completed, and customer service prioritized.

Connect with Eric:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericbort/www.clearlytrained.com

Connect with Lauren:
⁠https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy⁠

⁠https://www.instagram.com/adultingiseasyreal/⁠⁠

https://www.housemoneymedia.com/

Lauren and Paul talked about what it was like to work at Airbnb when the startup environment had so much money flowing through it. They touched on the short-term effects of Covid, as well as the longer-term ones. It seems like there’s more curiosity from the general public. Of course, they had to touch on the “Airbnbust” idea. Some areas are certainly becoming oversaturated. Paul gives great advice on underwriting your deals: think of the bear case and the bull case. In the last few years, it’s easy to wonder if people underwrote based on bull cases. Lauren and Paul discussed about tiers of homes: large/luxury homes, “comfort plus,” and “economy.” Paul believes that “comfort plus” place is where you want to be. Some economy-type travelers may treat themselves to a nicer stay. The usual luxury travelers may go to “comfort plus” when tightening belts. Overall, Paul recommends diversification to meet the demand where it is. Whether you’re in short- or long-term rentals, look at the annual returns. While none of us can predict the future, Paul believes their will be a culling of short-term rentals over the next few years, but that’s healthy. Paul and his company Summer overall are bullish on this industry and are excited to see what the future holds.

Sponsored by: https://gosummer.com/

If you liked this episode, you may also like episode 98, about a host turning an actual bank into a short-term rental.


About Paul Kromidas:

Paul is Co-Founder & CEO of Summer, pioneering a new approach to unlocking second and vacation home ownership. He is an accomplished operator and leader, with over 10 years of experience growing and scaling teams across technology, real estate, finance, and strategy at Airbnb, Deloitte, Alfred, and Moody’s. Prior to founding Summer, Paul was a Product and Strategy leader at Airbnb, where he led the integration of Luxury Retreats and the creation of the Airbnb Luxe product.


Connect with Summer:

www.gosummer.com

https://twitter.com/startsummering

https://www.instagram.com/startsummering/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/summer-inc/

Connect with Lauren:

https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy

https://www.instagram.com/adultingiseasyreal/

https://www.housemoneymedia.com/