Hi there, I’m Luke. 3 years ago I invested in my 1st rental. Now, I’m closing on my 30th as a millionaire with enough passive income to quit my W2 job. I’ve grown my portfolio with modest savings on an average W2 salary and I want to help others to the same.
Over the last 3 years my W2 has given me the ability to experiment with short and long term rentals, creative financing, townhomes, single and multi-family properties. I’ve also closed residential and commercial loans alone and with partners. Phew, that’s a mouth full and yes, it took A LOT of blood, sweat, and tears. But I didn’t do it alone. I’ve been fortunate enough to get help from a team of mentors, real estate agents, a bookkeeper, accountant, property manager, lawyer, friends, and partners (in business and life). All this experience has taught me incredible lessons in wealth creation, time management, and lifestyle design and it’s time to start sharing that with the world.
Every wantrepreneur social media influencer out there is going to tell you that you need to quit your 9-5 to build a business. I disagree. I’ve done the “burn your boats” thing and raised venture capital to found a startup, I’ve also worked full time while building additional revenue streams. You can build life-changing passive income streams while working full time without burning out or hating your life. Building as a W2 also has so many business benefits that aren’t talked about enough 1. The safety net to experiment and learn from your our customers. The pressure that comes from needing to pay for basic needs or get XYZ return for investors right off the bat can cause you to make poor business decisions and optimize for short term gains vs long term success 2. Capital to grow your business. One of the great paradoxes in business is the more you need capital, the harder it is to get. Funding your business with your own paycheck will help you gain enough momentum to attract healthy debt and equity partners. 3. Thinking like an owner vs founder. Founder mindset is a growth-at-all-costs startup mentality where profitability takes a back seat as you play with other peoples money. Owners focus on profitability and building a sustainable business with the right fundamental principles and incentives to help them achieve their goals.
At every point in my career, I found the “me from 2-3 years ago” and helped them. During my time at LinkedIn I got over 30 people jobs by referring and coaching them. I later built and sold a company with the sole purpose of helping diverse and non-traditional job seekers land jobs at top tech companies. As an entrepreneur, I helped 4 friends start tech companies and raise capital. I love this stuff, helping others is what life is about! I’m currently a W2 employee at Amazon and choose to invest in real estate instead of dumping money into stocks or my 401k - vehicles I know very little about controlled by market forces way outside of my influence. This approach is certainly not for everyone, but if you want to create a path to wealth and living intentionally (me 3 years ago), this is for you.
See you next week!