In short
Jane Ng’s journey from a W2 hospitality/business career to real estate investing, driven by caregiving for her daughter with leukemia, and her pivot from long-term rentals to luxury short-term rentals that she manages like a hotel. She describes deal sourcing, wholesaling, BRRRR-style renovations, 1031 exchanges, and STR operations.
Guest backgrounds
Jane Ng has a hospitality and business background (worked for hotels including Caesars Entertainment; later helped launch Uber Eats cities). She became a full-time caregiver after her daughter’s leukemia diagnosis and later built her rental portfolio while raising three kids.
Key claims
She earned about $6K/month from one rental (luxury STR). Her first real estate move was an “accidental” $8K wholesale assignment. She bought a $722K STR in Atascadero, CA, using a 10% second-home loan at ~3% interest, and grossed about $14K in the first month. She treats STRs as “one-room hotels” and uses hotel-style operations.
Notable examples
UCSF parent donor bone marrow transplant; her daughter’s chemo-resistant leukemia and severe brain damage; first deal: $120K purchase offer to $60K, then double-close to $68K; long-term rentals in Louisiana sold after two hurricanes; STR setup in ~7 weeks (May 10 close, early July ready) and guest-focused labeling that appeared in multiple reviews.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOFacing Heartbreak: Jane's Daughter's Diagnosis
0:36 to 1:34
Jane shares the emotional impact of her daughter's leukemia diagnosis.
“And with that, let's give a big warm welcome to Jane.”
Life Before the Diagnosis: Juggling Careers and Family
1:35 to 2:26
Explore Jane's previous life managing demanding jobs and family responsibilities.
“Jane, first, thank you for sharing that with us, because I'm sure it was a difficult time.”
The Year of Struggle and Strength
2:27 to 3:46
Jane recounts her family's experience during her daughter's challenging medical treatments.
“We were both so busy, both climbing the corporate ladder.”
The Fight Against Leukemia: Recovery and Challenges
3:47 to 5:00
Learn about Jane's daughter's path through treatment and its lasting effects.
“So it's been 10 years since the diagnosis and she thankfully she is alive.”
The Realization of Long-Term Care Needs
5:01 to 8:06
Jane discusses the acceptance of her daughter's lifelong care requirements.
“And so UCSF, the hospital we were at, they were doing clinical trials that allowed a parent to be a donor because by definition, you are like half mom and half dad.”
Finding Strength in Faith During Trials
8:07 to 9:10
Jane reflects on how faith helped her and her husband cope with their challenges.
“And so that's just something that we had to realize and accept.”
Transitioning to Real Estate: A New Path
9:11 to 12:06
Discover how Jane shifted her focus from corporate life to pursuing real estate.
“How did the two of you just together have that dialogue to say, okay, here's how we're going to move past this?”
Discovering Real Estate Opportunities in New Orleans
12:07 to 14:02
Jane shares the serendipitous moment that led her to find a property listing.
“How did that even come about as you guys were going down this path of caring for your daughter?”
Discovering Real Estate in New Orleans
14:02 to 16:17
Learn how an unexpected medical trip sparked a real estate journey.
“And my daughter and I were in New Orleans for a two month medical treatment.”
First Deal: An Accidental Wholesale
19:08 to 22:32
Hear the story of how Jane's first real estate deal turned into a profitable wholesale.
“Thank you guys so much for taking the time to check out our show sponsors.”
Show all 24 chapters
Navigating Challenges and Expanding Investments
22:32 to 28:03
Understand the ups and downs of Jane's investment journey and property sales.
“So what happens after this 8K wholesale deal?”
Transition to Short-Term Rentals
28:03 to 28:36
Learn about the shift from traditional rentals to short-term rentals post-COVID.
“So now you've pivoted to short-term rentals and you said you bought one in California.”
Finding and Analyzing the Right Market
28:36 to 30:59
Discover how to identify promising markets for short-term rentals.
“And the more podcasts I listened to about it, I realized, oh, this is like running a hotel.”
Overcoming Hesitation in Investing
30:59 to 31:46
Understand how to make quick decisions in real estate investment.
“Although I asked it in a really nice way.”
The Importance of Location and Amenities
31:46 to 34:12
Explore the benefits of choosing the right location and amenities for success.
“What allowed you within seven days to be under contract on your first short-term rental?”
Leveraging Hospitality Experience
34:12 to 35:34
Learn how a background in hospitality can enhance short-term rental management.
“And what kind of debt did you use on that one?”
Getting Hands-On with Property Management
35:34 to 37:31
Understand the value of doing the work yourself in property management.
“And so when we bought this property, I had the mindset of, okay, I'm the general manager of this hotel and hotels have housekeeping, they have operations, you know, revenue management, sales and marketing.”
Efficient Renovation and Setup
37:31 to 40:02
Learn about the renovation process and coordinating with contractors effectively.
“We would go and take over one of the laundry rooms, fill up three washers, and then And we'd have to wait around to switch it over to the dryer.”
Setting Up a Standout Short-Term Rental
40:02 to 42:04
Discover unique strategies for preparing a rental property for guests.
“How did you find the potential contractors to interview?”
Setting Up the First Property
42:04 to 43:52
Learn about the importance of guest-focused labeling and setup in rental properties.
“I'm like, okay, if I'm, if I'm a guest coming in here for the first time, where do I go?”
Scaling Up: Luxury Short-Term Rental Investment
47:32 to 56:00
Explore the strategic decisions behind investing in a luxury rental property and the amenities that attract clients.
“There are two kinds of real estate investors, those who have reviewed their insurance and those who think that they have.”
The Impact of Real Estate on Family Life
56:00 to 57:20
Learn how real estate has transformed Jane's ability to prioritize family while generating income.
“maybe tack on like another, I don't know, just call it like maybe 250, right?”
Finding Freedom Through Short-Term Rentals
57:20 to 59:20
Discover the benefits of short-term rentals for managing family time and finances.
“It was, I mean, it's really been a dream.”
Gratitude for Family Time Enabled by Real Estate
59:20 to 1:00:00
Explore how real estate allows for precious moments with children and family appreciation.
“And like, that's just like something I've learned to appreciate over time is like, that's, that's an opportunity.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Ashley Kehr:Our guest today was navigating life as a full-time caregiver to her daughter battling leukemia. But when a Zillow listing popped up during a medical trip to New Orleans, she found a$60 ,000 house and a whole new future.
0:14Tony Robinson:And today's guest, Jane Ng, went from an accidental$8 ,000 wholesale to building luxury short-term rentals and now cash flows over$6 ,000 per month. And she did it all while raising not one, not two, but three kids and never stepping foot inside of her house.
0:34Ashley Kehr:This is the Real Estate Rookie Podcast. I'm Ashley Karram.
0:38Tony Robinson:And I'm Tony J. Robinson. And with that, let's give a big warm welcome to Jane. Jane, thank you so much for joining us on the Rookie Podcast today.
0:44Ashley Kehr:Thank you for having me. Jane, your real estate story really starts out with something heartbreaking. Your daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. Can you take us through that moment of when you got that news and how did that new shift everything for your family and for you personally? Yeah, it's a moment that as a parent, you could never prepare for, especially as a mother. It was the first time in my life I felt completely helpless. And I knew that in that moment, there's nothing I can do to change our reality. And there's no amount of money or education or knowledge or connections that we had that that would change what we just heard, right?
1:31She has leukemia, it is what it is. And yeah, I honestly, I've never felt so helpless in my life.
1:39Tony Robinson:Jane, first, thank you for sharing that with us, because I'm sure it was a difficult time. I'm sure it just kind of like makes you reassess everything when you get that kind of news. Because I guess before that diagnosis, what did life kind of look like for you? And what changes did you have to make afterwards as you guys navigated this new reality? So my husband and I were both working pretty demanding W2 jobs. At that time, we just had two kids. So Ashley, my daughter who was diagnosed, she was three and a half. My younger daughter was two. Our son wasn't born at that time. And because my husband and I were so busy, our girls were in daycare from 7 a.m.
2:17to 6 p.m. And in hindsight, I can't imagine them now that they're all much older. I can't imagine them being out of the house for 11 hours a day. But that was our reality. We were both so busy, both climbing the corporate ladder. And to be honest, we both enjoyed our W-2 jobs. And I know most people get into real estate because they want to leave their W-2. But we really enjoyed what we were doing. So I have a background in hospitality and in business. And so after grad school, I worked for different hotels. One of them was Caesars Entertainment, where I learned it was actually really fun because we learned everything about the hotel side, the gaming side, restaurants, spas, golf.
2:58Like you learn everything. And it's super, super exciting. And I worked for smaller boutique hotels. But right before my daughter was diagnosed, I was actually working for Uber. And my team was in charge of launching Uber Eats in different cities. And so we were working with the general managers of each different city and figuring out which restaurants we wanted to target and how the operations of all of that work. So it was really fun. So dynamic. But I had to give it up all in like a matter of seconds.
3:28Tony Robinson:So, Jane, as you're as you're climbing the corporate ladder and, you know, obviously it seems like you and your husband are both doing well. And this news comes in and kind of shifts everything for you. Obviously, the first priority is just like, you know, focusing on your daughter's health. And I guess give us an update, Jane, like how are things today before we even talk about the real estate further? Yeah. So it's been 10 years since the diagnosis and she thankfully she is alive. She's doing relatively well, but she she suffered a lot of complications during treatment. And this is one of those things where all the doctors we had, they're like, oh, you know, this stuff, it's not even in the medical books, like the stuff that she's going through.
4:10And when your child's diagnosed, they give you different sheets of paper that say, like, here are some of the potential side effects of the chemo that she's getting, right? Most likely, she might have, you know, fevers and rashes. And so they categorize it by most likely, likely, and here is like a, you know, less than 1 % chance she's going to have these symptoms. She had symptoms that were not on the paper. and a lot of what so it without going into all the details of her story she had leukemia but she had a very specific type that was resistant to chemo so not only did she have to go through like three times the amount of chemo most leukemia patients would go through but that wasn't enough they said chemo wouldn't kill the cancer so she needed a bone marrow transplant and thankfully that put her in remission and I was actually her donor because we couldn't find a perfect match and And so UCSF, the hospital we were at, they were doing clinical trials that allowed a parent to be a donor because by definition, you are like half mom and half dad.
5:11So we're both, my husband and I were both like a 50 % match and it put her in remission, but she was left without an immune system for maybe six months. And during that time, she caught a virus and, you know, most of us are able to, you know, you have a little cold or runny nose, her body just couldn't fight it. And that virus went straight to her brain and it just started causing all these issues. And we didn't know because there's no way of knowing that there's any brain damage other than, oh, this kid is acting a little weird. So she was sleeping 20 hours a day and it just didn't feel right.
5:48And so after all these tests, we did an MRI and they saw tumors, bleeding, so much pressure, like the amount of pressure her brain had. that time was already past the threshold of what a person could handle. And so they immediately put her in the PICU for safety. And I think my husband, like this happened so quickly, we didn't realize what this meant, but why are you putting her in the PICU? And they said, well, we fear for her safety. Like, well, what do you mean? Like, she's barely moving. She's not gonna, I thought they meant she's gonna, you know, fall off her bed or something like that type of safety.
6:28Like, no, we're not sure how many days she has left. And it was, it was a shock. We didn't know that's how bad it got and got there very, very quickly. So we had a couple options. We had one option to keep her comfortable, which is like, you know, a steady drip of morphine and just kind of wait till the last day comes. Or we could try, you know, a little bit of radiation to her brain and spine to see if that's going to kill the virus and at least stop everything from getting worse. And of course, that's the path that we chose. And they're like, this is not guaranteed at all. We're really just kind of trying whatever we can think of.
7:10But it worked. And so that was kind of when her recovery started. But the brain damage was so severe that even though they say, you know, kids' brains are plastic and you can relearn a lot of these things, basically the way they explained it to us was, you know, all the freeways in her brain where information passes, like the freeways are broken. And so information just can't pass from like one cell to another cell. It's hard to pass. And so today, she has basically every disability, you know, you can think of like physical, intellectual, social, developmental, everything. She goes to a special needs school, which is amazing.
7:57They take very, very good care of her. But my husband and I had to come to the realization that she'll never be an independent adult. And so we will always have to care for her in some form. And so that's just something that we had to realize and accept. And she's 13 now, so we'll just figure out kind of what happens next for her.
8:19Tony Robinson:Parents, and I'm like getting choked up listening to your story because I can only imagine the the emotions you guys felt as you went through that. But, you know, I mean, just just kudos to you guys for saying positive through through all of that. I think the question that I have for you is, and this isn't even necessarily about real estate investing, but so often, we find ourselves at moments in our life where it can feel maybe a little hopeless, or, you know, it's just like, why, why me? And we can kind of fall into that trap of feeding into those negative thoughts. How did you guys push past that?
8:58Tony Robinson:And this is just like a life lesson for everyone that's listening, because maybe not to the extent that you guys say, but we all have challenges that we end up facing in life. And I think how we respond in those moments is so indicative of what life looks like on the other side. How did the two of you just together have that dialogue to say, okay, here's how we're going to move past this? Yeah, it's a really good question, because we've certainly met a lot of parents in similar situations along the way. And everyone handles it a little bit differently. And we've kind of seen how if it's kind of not the glasses half full thought, it could be very, very detrimental.
9:35So my husband and I, we're both Christian. And for us, our faith was pivotal. And without it, I don't know where we would be today. And so as much as the situation sucked, like we truly believe there is, there's a reason. And that's like, you know, outside of our control, obviously, but also beyond our comprehension, like, I don't know why.
10:04That was basically, I think, trusting that and knowing that, okay, this is the child that God gave us. And no matter what happens to us, it's our job to be the best parents we can be for her. And if we are sad and angry and upset and depressed and going through all these negative emotions, we cannot show up for her the way she needs us. Because even the days where she couldn't speak in the hospital, she can very much sense our presence and she can read the room very well, right? If we're all having very serious conversations, her face changes a little bit. But if we're playing music and singing and dancing, and even though she can't participate, like her face looks a little bit different.
10:48There's a little bit of joy in her face. And so we knew that she was so, so young. We knew that we had to show up for her in a way that she needed. And also for our other daughter at that time, she was two. she has no clue what's going on. And Tony, I know your girls are really young, so they don't know exactly how old they are. Maybe they're roughly the same age, but so you can imagine, right? They're so young. They, they cannot comprehend what's happening. And so we just, we knew like for their sake, both of them, the one that's sick and the one that's not sick, we just have to show up for them in the best way that we can.
11:24Tony Robinson:Incredible. I think resilience and just like mindset from you and your husband. And I'm like, literally kind of holding back tears here as I hear you kind of talk through this, because it is really a moving story. And just, you know, I hope people can listen and find solace in their own challenges that if you approach it with the right mindset, it doesn't necessarily take away from how difficult the situation is. But it does, I think, allow you to move through it with the mindset of like, we can figure out a way to get through this. So I appreciate you sharing that story with us. Now, as you went through this journey, at some point, the corporate ladder wasn't as important to climb and you made the transition into real estate.
12:07Tony Robinson:How did that even come about as you guys were going down this path of caring for your daughter? Yeah. So I realized, as she was going through treatment and in this season of her life and also my life, my desires and my corporate dreams were just not important whatsoever. So that, that all went on, um, on, on the back burner. And, and all I, to be honest, all I had the emotional capacity for was my family. I just didn't have time to think about myself or anything else. It was just my daughter, my, my sick daughter, my healthy daughter, my husband. Like that's, that's all I had the capacity for.
12:45And I was okay with that. I accept like this is not going to be the rest of my life. This is a season of my life where they really need me and I will be the mother, the wife, whatever in the situation for this season. And as she started getting better, right, we were no longer in this hyper, you know, scary situation where it was life or death. Like we knew she was, she was going to survive and we were going to bring her home. And now we're just figuring out different therapies and treatments for her. In the back of my mind, I kind of thought, well, I would like to do something. I knew that I could never go back to the same type of corporate job because I would have to commute or I would have a boss.
13:26And because of all of her complications, she sees so many different doctors that I just can't ask for permission every time to take her to those appointments. And I also like those appointments have to come first over anything else. Like I can't reschedule because I have to work.
13:41Ashley Kehr:and you're not always given an option as to when your appointment can be either for a lot of those. Yes, exactly. And so I knew I had to be my own boss and have some kind of a job where I dictated all the terms, like I could work how much, you know, or as little as I want to. And my daughter and I were in New Orleans for a two month medical treatment. And, you know, this is one of those things where obviously in hindsight, had we, had she not gotten sick, we would not have been in New Orleans and none of this would have happened, but it all happened. So we were there for two months. The treatment made her super tired.
14:21And so during the day I would drive around, she'd take a nap in the car. I would just pull over wherever I was. I happened to pull over in like a decent neighborhood and right in front of a for sale sign. I looked it up on Zillow because I had nothing else to do. and it was a decent three-bed, two-bath house for$200 ,000. And coming from the Bay Area, I, to be honest, I just didn't know that those price points existed. I know people living in most other parts of America are like, no, it's pretty common. It's, you know,$200 ,000 is actually like not that cheap. But for the Bay Area, I mean, right now, even a fixer-upper is probably a million dollars.
15:04And so it was the first time I thought, oh, hey, we can afford real estate. We could afford an investment property in the Bay Area. We just couldn't. And so I went down this rabbit hole of learning as much information as I possibly could. And it was all through BiggerPockets. I mean, this was back in 2020. So podcasts, I don't think the Rookie Podcast existed at that time. But the main podcasts, books, blogs, I just absorbed myself in as much information as possible. And that's kind of how our journey started. But I didn't plan to get into real estate. It was just kind of an accident.
15:46Ashley Kehr:So was that the property you ended up buying? Or was that just the one that led you to? No, no. Because after I started doing my research, I realized, wait,$200 ,000 is expensive. This is actually not a good deal. So, Jane, you ended up taking on a rental in a new market. But what happens when this new market has some bad weather, bad tenants and burnouts all before your first short term rental? We'll dive into it right after this break. At some point, your little real estate side hustle stops feeling little. Rent's coming in. Maybe you've got a couple properties now and suddenly the money part gets real.
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19:07Ashley Kehr:Okay, so we're back from our short break. Thank you guys so much for taking the time to check out our show sponsors. So, Jane, what did you do next after seeing that listing? What made it feel like it was time to pursue your first deal? So I just became obsessed and I was on Zillow all the time. And since I knew I was physically in New Orleans for the next two months, I wanted the opportunity to actually see some of these homes if I could. So my first deal was an unexpected wholesale deal. I saw a property on Zillow for$120 ,000 and everything I learned from BiggerPockets told me if it has been often on the market multiple times, or if it's been sitting on the market for a really long time, then you can negotiate.
19:55Then the seller's desperate. So I, you know, I didn't know anything about construction or renovating or anything. And I offered 60 ,000 and they accepted. And I was blown away. My realtor was blown away. But what happened next was because I tried to get a loan because it was going to be a, I had to, I was going to burn it. It was going to be a pretty big construction project. And I was trying to get a loan and none of the local lenders would lend to me for two reasons. One, I was out of state and they just went through Katrina. And so they were a little bit traumatized and burned by what happened with Katrina.
20:33And so they were very, very cautious working with new out-of-state investors. So I was and knew how to stay investor and I had no track record. So those two went against me like pretty, pretty hard and I couldn't get a loan. So I talked to my realtor and I, you know, I was in a position where I either had to move forward or get out of contract, but I knew it was such a good deal. I just couldn't let it go. So my realtor and I found another investor who was interested for$68 ,000. So we did a same day double close, which I didn't even know existed until that moment where I bought it from the seller for 60 and the investor bought it from me for 68.
21:16And then a few days later, I got a check in the mail for a little under$8 ,000.
21:20Tony Robinson:That is amazing that your very first deal was an 8K accidental wholesale transaction. And, you know, honestly, like shout out to your agent for helping you find a buyer on the back end, because there are a lot of agents who are like, you know, they kind of look down on wholesaling almost to the fact that she was or that he or she was open to that and educated you on how to actually do that, I think was great. Let me ask you, and this is like more of a technical question. Was it one closing where you just got like an assignment fee? Or did you actually have to somehow fund that initial 60k purchase?
21:59Tony Robinson:And then, you know, literally an hour later, fund the second transaction for 68k? Because in the first scenario, like you literally don't need any cash, because you're just like a line item on the closing statement. But in that second scenario, you've actually got to have the 60K to close in that first deal to then turn around and resell it for 68. So which of those two was it? It was the first scenario. So I didn't have to bring anything to the closing table. That is fantastic. Man, what a great first deal. So I think a lot of people maybe would have stopped there. They're like, you know, I jumped in, couldn't figure this out.
Read the full transcript
22:32Tony Robinson:But you didn't. So what happens after this 8K wholesale deal? So I was even more fired up to get a property because this was not planned. And I just made $8 ,000 from something I didn't really plan on doing. And so I was like, hey, there's a lot of things I can just figure out as I do it. Like I have bigger pockets has given me enough background and education and knowledge, maybe like 80%. And the 20%, I just have to learn from doing it, right? As I do it, and different roadblocks happen, I just need to figure it out. so now I knew what wholesaling was because I just did it so that same realtor introduced me to a local wholesaler whom I haven't I never met but she sent me a deal for$50 ,000 in a little suburb outside of New Orleans and that was because it was wholesale had to be all cash but it didn't need it could have been fixed up but it didn't have to be so we chose not to we did a cash out refi because I think it was worth like$75 ,000.
23:31So we got all of our money back. I had a tenant in for$800. Six months later, she stopped paying rent. So I had to evict her. And at that point, we did the renovation.
23:39Ashley Kehr:And how much did you have to spend on the renovation? I think$35 ,000. So we were all in about$85 ,000. And after the renovation, I rented it for$1 ,100. And a year and a half later, we sold it for$110 ,000. Wow. That's a pretty good deal. Yeah. And you were cash flowing? Yes, we were cash flowing. Yes. And we also bought the two homes right next to it from the same wholesaler and it was roughly the same numbers. Yeah. So our first handful of deals did pretty well. Were you self-managing those properties or did you hire a property manager in the area? I had a property manager because I didn't know about the self-managing thing.
24:25I just didn't know that was even possible. in hindsight I would probably self-manage but the property manager their office was maybe three minutes from the house and so it was just so convenient to hire them and they were great
24:38Ashley Kehr:yeah you know that's interesting that you say that that you didn't know that was an option and I think sometimes we forget about those things because like I didn't know when I bought my first property that you could get a loan I thought you had to pay cash or like borrow money from like a friend or someone. I did not think that you could go to the bank and get a loan unless you were living in the property. So Tony, maybe we need to do an episode on some of these things that you may not know. And that's a great point of you may not know that you can actually self-manage and there's rental property management software out there that helps you do a lot of it.
25:18Ashley Kehr:So now with these rentals, did you sell just one of them or did you end up selling all three of them? And why did you decide to sell? I did sell all three of them. So I owned them for about a year and a half. And in that year and a half, we went through two hurricanes. And that was two hurricanes too many. And the second hurricane, I don't remember what it was called, but it literally went through my street. And thankfully, it missed our homes by like 20 feet. But it was just, it was too scary. And so I just wasn't interested because I knew these weren't going to be the last hurricanes, right?
25:58It's Louisiana hurricanes are going to happen. So we decided to sell them. We did 1031s into two different assets. So we did, we invested in long-term rentals in Little Rock, Arkansas. So we still have three homes there. And then we also decided to buy our first short-term rental in California.
26:18Tony Robinson:Jana, I just want to ask a few follow-up questions. First, can you define for folks that don't know what a 1031 exchange is and why it's beneficial for real estate investors? Yeah. So a 1031 exchange is basically when you sell an investment property and you have a capital gain. Instead of paying taxes on the capital gain, you would basically roll it over into a like kind property. And there's some nuances there that you have to follow. but that allows you to defer the capital gains taxes from that first property until you kind of sell the second property. But the goal is to continue 1031-ing until, I guess.
27:01Tony Robinson:Swap till you drop. Swap till you drop. Yeah, that's the goal. So you guys were able to unlock some of that equity that you built up through these renovations in the BRRRRs to then go buy some other properties. And then, you know, it sounds like the other part of the reason that you guys sold was maybe more the emotional component, like you mentioned the hurricanes. Was there anything else aside from the weather that was kind of like gnawing at you from holding that portfolio? Was it really just like the risk of, you know, are these properties going to stand the next hurricane? Yeah, I think hurricanes was probably 80, 90 percent of it.
27:34The other 10 or 20 percent was maybe the neighborhood. So it was, I initially thought it was maybe B minus class. It was more C class. And I knew with my first tenant who stopped paying in six months and she was doing things in the house she wasn't supposed to be doing. And I just didn't want to deal with those tenants. And it just, you know, what, what comes, there's, there's certain risks that come with that. And I wasn't interested in, in that.
28:05Ashley Kehr:So now you've pivoted to short-term rentals and you said you bought one in California. Walk us through this deal. How did you find it? How much was it? Yeah. So this is, it's interesting because if I were to buy a short-term rental today, I would not follow the same process, but this was 2021 and all the podcasts I was listening to, everyone talked about STRs. I think no one even called it STRs back then. It was just Airbnbs, right? Everyone was buying an Airbnb. It was cash flowing so much. And the more podcasts I listened to about it, I realized, oh, this is like running a hotel. And no one was talking about it that way.
28:48But because I have a background in hospitality and in business, for me, I was like, oh, I just be a general manager of this, this one room hotel, even though it's like four bedrooms or five bedrooms, like this is this is my one room hotel. And the way we decided on this market and we found this place, you know, we're in the Bay Area. My brother and his wife were in LA. And for my kids spring break in April, we wanted to meet in the middle. And this was it was 2021. So people are still a little bit weary of travel after COVID. And so we didn't want to get on a plane anywhere. We wanted to drive.
29:21And so we were looking at places that's kind of in the middle. So three and a half hour drive for both of us is central california it's near paso robles san luis obispo pismo beach that area and i was looking for airbnbs and they were all really ugly like not like not just the design and the home but the the photos were really bad it's almost like they purposely closed the curtains before taking pictures um the listing description was bad the price was like 200 every night 365 65 days of the week. And so just by looking at what was available, I knew most operators were not treating it like a business.
30:00Most operators were not doing this professionally. And so if I were to enter this market, I would do better than almost anybody else. Not because I have so much experience because I had none, but I would just take it more seriously. You can tell these people are not taking it seriously. Things have changed a lot since then, but this was back in 2021. And And so the next thing I did was try to understand the licensing requirements in all the cities in that county. And I picked, I think, two cities where licensing was, you know, relatively easy, easy to get or the STR permit. And I reached, you know, AirDNA, I don't even know if it exists.
30:37Actually, I think it did exist. But I found a realtor by reaching out to other hosts on Airbnb. So I reached out to three people just to be like, hey, I'm interested in buying in this market. And you guys know, because you guys have Airbnbs as well. When you get this inquiry, it looks like someone's booking your place, right? So you get really excited. But then they're asking a question that's like, hey, I want to be your competition. Can you help me out? Although I asked it in a really nice way. And so of the three people I messaged, two never wrote back to me. And then the third person happened to be a realtor.
31:12And so she was like, hey, yeah, I'll help you. and so she just told me her name she said google my name so i did and i got her phone number and i talked to her and within a week we were under contract wow that's incredibly fast so
31:30Tony Robinson:jane let me let me ask a couple questions here right because i i think a lot of folks now granted you already had some experience in the long-term rental space but a lot of folks i think uh are hesitant to pull the trigger and get second analysis paralysis, how did you move so quickly? What allowed you within seven days to be under contract on your first short-term rental? So a couple things. I felt like we were not the only ones with this mindset of, hey, I want to see friends and family, but I don't want to get on an airplane and I don't want to stay in a hotel. Like I want to be, I want to drive there.
32:08And so where are some popular driving destinations from the Bay area and from Southern California where people can meet in central California was just so easy. There's beaches nearby. There's so many things to do. I also know it gets super hot there and this property had a really large pool. And so even though the house itself was kind of ugly and we had to do some renovations, the pool and it also had an it has a really big in-ground hot tub and you normally don't see in-ground hot tubs. You see like the above ground hot tubs, but this in-ground hot tub can very comfortably have 12 people in there.
32:45Like it's like a mini pool. And so those two things, if I were to put in myself, would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and it was already there. And so that was the biggest thing. But this wasn't a market where other Airbnb investors were looking because it's a city that most people haven't heard of. and to be honest it didn't look very nice like I bought it from two people who had lived there for 40 years so it kind of looks like they had been living there for 40 years they were like three different colors of carpet um so yeah I I felt like the pool and just the the demand at that time of people really wanting a drive market um would make it successful what in what city did you say it was in Jane this is Atascadero Atascadero but you said it's near San Luis Obispo Yeah.
33:31So it's right in between SLO and Paso Robles. It's like 20 minutes from each.
33:36Tony Robinson:Got it. So I just looked at that city on Airbnb while you were talking here. And I know San Luis Obispo, but I've never heard of Atascadero. And even still to this day, I'm looking for larger properties. And a lot of them still kind of suck. So maybe there's an opportunity there for a lot of people that are looking for kind of a coastal town to go by near San Luis Obispo. Um, so the, the property itself, what was the purchase price on it? The purchase price was 722 ,000. 722. That's a big swing for your first one. Um, yeah. Yeah. And what kind of debt did you use on that one? Did you use a second down or second home loan to put it down or what was the debt?
34:18Yeah, we did a 10 % second home loan.
34:21Tony Robinson:In 2021. I mean, rates were starting to creep up. So what was your rate at that point? 3%. Okay. So you got, you got, you got a, you got a sweetheart deal. All right. There you go. That one worked out well. So now you've got this background, Jane, in hospitality. You worked for boutique hotels, some of the biggest hotel chains, literally, probably on the planet with Caesars. How did that shape how you approached this short-term rental versus someone who maybe didn't have that experience? Yeah. So I thought of what I learned in grad school. So at Cornell, the hotel program they have, there's a hotel there.
34:58it's called the Statler Hotel and it's mostly for undergrad students to do all the grunt work they do housekeeping they do like operations they do everything as a grad student we weren't able to do that but I was able to talk to a lot of the undergrad students who did that and kind of pick their brains on like hey you know what why did you sign up to do this I'm like what did you learn and things like that and I realized like you have to do all the work of a hotel to be a really good general manager. We don't have to, but that experience is super, super helpful and important in understanding what your team eventually does.
35:34And so when we bought this property, I had the mindset of, okay, I'm the general manager of this hotel and hotels have housekeeping, they have operations, you know, revenue management, sales and marketing. So I was thinking of all the different aspects of renting a hotel. And this home is three and a half hours from my house. So I I couldn't go for every check-in and neither I didn't want to go for every check-in, but I wanted to know, like when I was getting quotes from cleaners, I wanted to know why they were quoting me a certain price. Like it's going to be three people and it's going to take three to four hours to clean.
36:06I'm like, why, why is it taking nine to 12 hours to clean a four bedroom house? Like that doesn't make sense to me. But what I wasn't incorporating was I have seven beds there and to do the laundry for seven beds and all the towels and the bath mats. And we have separate pool towels, that takes a lot of time. And oftentimes, if we have a same day turnover, they need to take it off site to do it. And so one of the things I did early on is I did the laundry myself. So I was like, I want to know how long this really takes. And not only does it take a lot of time, it's exhausting. And I don't do it very well.
36:42Like it takes so long to make the beds. I fold towels a certain way in my own house, because no one cares whether or not it's pretty. It just needs to be folded. But I was trying to figure out how do I fold these towels in my Airbnb? So I had to YouTube it. And then I had to pick the type of folding that I liked best. And then I had to learn how to do it and how to set it up. And I was like, okay, now I know why I pay my cleaner as a premium. Like I understand the job of a cleaner, but I wouldn't have understood that if I didn't do the work myself. And so that the first property was a lot of like DIY, not necessarily to save money, but just so I understood what my team was doing and to make sure that I'm also properly compensating them for their work.
37:26Ashley Kehr:I also did the laundry when I first started my short-term rental. It was an Airbnb arbitrage and it was in an apartment complex, so they had laundry rooms. We would go and take over one of the laundry rooms, fill up three washers, and then And we'd have to wait around to switch it over to the dryer. And yeah, it was awful. Making the beds, we had bunk beds, doing the top bunk. And oh God, yeah, it was awful. And we'd always have to make sure we had quarters too, because they were coin operated too. And you forgot your quarters, you're back out to your car, digging through the cup holder.
38:05Tony Robinson:I unfortunately have never done laundry in my short-term rental. Shout out to my cleaner for holding it down that way. um jane how fast did you get the property up and running so i know it took you seven days to find it you know another 30 days or so for closing how long after closing did you actually get get it up and running and welcome in that first guess yeah so i in hindsight i did it pretty quickly so we had to do a big renovation um we redid all the flooring paint redid the kitchen um redid some landscaping. And my contractor, he's incredible. Not only did he finish on budget, but also on time.
38:43I think he was off by a couple days. So we closed on May 10th and the property was done by early July.
38:52Ashley Kehr:Let me ask you something about that real quick with the contractor and the timeline and lining it up. So your contractor was able to start right when you closed. How did you get your prop your contractor into the property to actually get you all the estimates and to understand did you do that during your due diligence period did you ask to have permission for him to come through yeah so during our one month period where we were under contract I think as soon as we were okay with inspections I asked the seller if I could just have a day at the house to interview contractors and just to figure out what I needed to do.
39:35And they were very gracious and allowed me, you know, like, I don't know, eight to five or something. And my realtor had to sit with me the entire time because I couldn't be there by myself. And we had maybe five contractors come through, gardeners come through, I interviewed pool guys, they did all that stuff in that day. And that's, they, you know, they gave me a scope of work. And then I chose my guy from there. So he literally started the day after we closed.
40:00Ashley Kehr:Think about how efficient that is. And all you did was ask. And they said, yes. Yes, absolutely.
40:06Tony Robinson:How did you find the potential contractors to interview? Like, was it just Yelp? Were you in Facebook groups? Was it your agent? How did you get those folks to even line up to come give you the potential scope? Yeah, I used Yelp and Google. And I've learned that in some markets, more people use Yelp. And in some markets, more people use Google and you don't really know until you start searching in both. But that's how we found every night. I did ask my agent for referrals, but those referrals ended up not not paying out.
40:38Ashley Kehr:So now that you've got the renovation done, what were some of the things that you did during the setup process that maybe would stand out compared to other short term rental hosts when setting up the property? Yeah. So I also so I knew with Airbnbs, especially because now we're in summer, right? I knew time was money and even getting it ready one day sooner would probably make me an extra 500 or a thousand dollars. So I was in a race for time to get this property ready as soon as possible. And we were actually, um, now that I think about it, 4th of July weekend, we were in New York visiting family and that's not something that we could have changed.
41:12And so I was gone for a week, which drove me crazy, but, um, we were gone for that time. So So towards the end of construction, I started having things sent to the house, the furniture we were going to do, like, you know, the, the linens, all that stuff. I had it sent to the house because there were people there and they would just put it in the shed until I got there. Um, a few things that I did at the, now it's a little more common back than not so much. Um, I like to label everything. and I know this doesn't seem like a big deal, but maybe a third of our five-star reviews mentioned the labels.
41:53And this is also because it's a process that I go through after a home is ready. I close the front door from the outside and I literally walk in, I close my eyes. I open them. I'm like, okay, if I'm, if I'm a guest coming in here for the first time, where do I go? What do I look at first? Where's the light switch? And if I turn that light switch on, what does it actually turn on. And a lot of that stuff is pretty confusing. And sometimes you see a light switchboard where there's four or five light switches together and you just kind of turn all of them on. And so every light switch in the house is labeled.
42:25All the kitchen cabinets and drawers are labeled. And this is also because I've had an experience where I went to a pretty large Airbnb and I was literally looking for a cup. I just wanted a cup of water. And I think I opened 12 cabinets before I found the cup. And this is not the host fault at all. But after that 12 cabinet, I was a little bit annoyed, like why have to open 12 cabinets to find my cup? Again, nobody's fault. And I don't want my guests to just even feel annoyed for any reason, right, if I can control that. So that's something I do at all of my properties that I think stands out.
43:01And it's a little bit more guest focused. But going back to, you know, setting up this first property. So Once the furniture got there, my husband and I spent various amounts of time getting it set up. We listed it end of July. We closed May 10th. We listed it end of July because I remember I had a full month of revenue in August. That first month, we grossed$14 ,000.
43:28Ashley Kehr:What's your mortgage payment on this property? $3 ,000? That's P-I-T-I. It includes taxes and insurance,$3 ,000.
43:34Tony Robinson:Yeah, those 3 % interest rates. If we go back to those days - Um, so Jane, I mean, obviously you guys crushed it with this first one and I know you continue to kind of scale up from there. Um, and I know that your next deal did significantly more revenue, uh, than this first one. So I want to get into that deal after quick word from today's show sponsors. Most investors spend more time chasing deals than reviewing their insurance, but a quick coverage check can be fast, easy, and one of the smartest ways to protect and even improve your property's cashflow. As the months get colder, frozen pipes, icy walkways, and seasonal wear and tear can increase the likelihood of claims.
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48:22Tony Robinson:So even a bigger step up in purchase price. What made you decide to go so big with this one? So with this property, it's located about an hour and a half east of San Francisco, maybe almost two hours, I think. and I was really looking for something that something that was different so I feel like in some markets Airbnbs are getting a little bit saturated you can't kind of have the same cookie cutter you know four-bedroom home with fancy designs like there has to be something that you have to have something that most people don't have and so this property had two things one it it's it's big it's 4 ,000 square feet and you can comfortably sleep 16 and not a lot of homes can they don't have beds for 16 people.
49:11And it had four acres and only about half of that was being used, maybe less than half of that. And so we had space to put in a pickleball court, bocce ball, fire pit, barbecue, all that stuff. But at that time, there were not a lot of properties, if any, around the area that had a private pickleball court. And this is when pickleball was going crazy, right a couple years ago so those two so there's three things one proximity to where a lot of people live who have the capital to spend on a nice vacation right so within a one or two hour drive um two it could sleep a large comfortably sleep a large number of people and three there's amenities that a lot of other um airbnbs don't have yeah we can touch on the amenities here in
49:57Tony Robinson:a moment, but I think just from a strategic business decision perspective, you know, once you get above like a million bucks, you can also start buying like smaller boutique hotels. And given the experience that you already had in your W2 life of living and being a part of those boutique hotels, what made you decide to go for luxury single family versus maybe just buy like a smaller boutique hotel somewhere else? I think because I'm already familiar with short-term rentals, this was an easier way to try luxury Airbnb because I haven't tried it before. I think eventually I will buy some sort of a hotel.
50:43Even though I do have a background in it and experience, as you know, Tony, underwriting is still very different, right? The process of buying a hotel is very, very different. So I wasn't ready for it at that moment. And I think that's what's made you successful is that you're not getting shiny object syndrome
51:05Ashley Kehr:because of what a lot of other investors are doing or seeing that, that you're sticking to what you know and you're building that solid foundation and sticking to your strategy, even though a hotel would be a shiny object and, you know, something new to learn about and exciting is you're sticking to what you know and building that foundation before you actually make that pivot into doing a hotel. I mean, Tony, how many short-term rentals did you do before you built that solid foundation to pivot to doing a hotel? A lot, right?
51:37Tony Robinson:Yeah, absolutely. And yeah, I think for us, because we were at that similar point where our hotel that we bought was a million bucks. And I was personally going back and forth between, okay, do we just buy a luxury single family short-term rental or do we go to the hotel and we opted for the hotel but i do think that there's there's benefits to to both right and just trying to weigh where what makes the most sense i think is what i was trying to get out from you but um going back to the amenities piece because you touched on that you added a lot um right you said bocce ball uh pickleball before he's even cool um how did you how did you decide which ones to add and i think more important how do you make sure that you don't over amenitize.
52:17Tony Robinson:I mean, you could add everything, but at a certain point, it doesn't necessarily add additional money to the return that you're getting. So how did you make that determination of how much to add and which ones to add? That's a good question. And to be honest, I don't know if I have the best answer for that. I think the thought around pickleball is because everybody was talking about it. Like it was almost overwhelming. Too many people were talking about pickleballs. And one day my husband and I were like, oh my gosh, what if an Airbnb had a pickleball? Like it just kind of, the thought just popped up out of nowhere.
52:56And when we saw this house, there's like a perfect rectangle for the pickleball court. And so it was just a matter of ROI, right? Like, is this actually good? And obviously you can't, There isn't a precise way to figure out like dollar for dollar, how much more am I going to make with the pickleball? All you know is that there were very close to San Francisco. There's a lot of people with money. A lot of people play pickleball. Would they pay a slight premium for a private pickleball court? I think everybody would have said yes. And this is a property we're planning on holding for a very long time.
53:31And so we were confident that the ROI was there. And we've had people do pickleball tournaments. It's only one court and it's nothing fancy. It is an official size pickleball court, but it's really nothing fancy. But people, they're like, there's not because there just isn't enough space in the Bay Area to have a pickleball court where it doesn't feel like it's cramped in somebody's backyard.
53:51Ashley Kehr:Now, with this property, did you get the same 3 % interest rate? It was this different? And how did the numbers turn out on this? What are you cash flowing? Yeah. So this was not only our most expensive purchase price, but it was by far the highest interest rate we've ever had. So our interest rate is 7.75%. And so this is, you know, for everyone listening, don't be worried about the interest rate because there's still opportunity. This property on average, we cash flow about$6 ,000 a month. We just recorded a rookie reply where that was like one of the questions, should we wait until interest rates lower?
54:28Ashley Kehr:And here's like a perfect example of like you can make a deal still work even with a high interest rate. Cash flowing$6 ,000 a month.
54:36Tony Robinson:Six grand a month, right? So we're talking about 72 grand a year in cash flow. What did you guys actually spend to acquire the property? And what do you think you invested in total to actually get it set up? Design, furniture, amenities, and so on. Yeah. So this one, because it was a jumbo loan, we had to do, I think we had to do 20%. I don't remember. It was 20 or 25 % down payment. So this one, we had to have a little bit more cash up front. We did do some renovations. We added two bathrooms and did paint and just some light fixtures. The bigger renovation was adding the two bathrooms and then we turned the garage into a game room.
55:19And so that was about$100 ,000, but we actually didn't have the cash, but we knew we had to do the renovation. And so we opened a few 0 % APR credit cards and we put all the renovation on the credit cards. And so two of them had, two of them was 0 % interest for a whole year. And one of them was 0 % for nine months. But in that time period, we cashflowed enough where we can pay that off. And so essentially we were, it wasn't for free, but we didn't have to have the capital upfront. We let the cashflow from the property pay for those credit cards and the renovation.
55:58Tony Robinson:So you guys were all in for, you know, 200K, give or take on the down payment, maybe tack on like another, I don't know, just call it like maybe 250, right? Closing costs and whatever else maybe went into it, another 100K. So 350 all in. So we're still looking at even with a 7.75 % interest rate, about 20 % cash on cash return. That is phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal with an interest rate of almost 8%. Thank you.
56:25Ashley Kehr:Now, Jane, before we wrap up here, I just want to ask, how has real estate changed your life? How have you been able to be there for your daughter to make every appointment, to do everything you need to do with your family and everything and be present in your life and enjoy it, but also be able to fulfill that career almost. As you said, you had loved your job, but you did what a lot of mothers would want to do and be able to leave that job, leave their career whenever their child needed them. And you did that, but there had to be some part of you that missed that creative outlet, that missed that dream, that goal, that desire that you had, you know, all through your career to reach.
57:11Ashley Kehr:So tell us how real estate was able to make that happen for you, where you could still be there for your daughter, and you could still live some part of the life that that you wanted. It was, I mean, it's really been a dream. And I don't just I know a lot of people say that, but the flexibility that comes from managing short-term rentals. And I know it's not passive income, but you know, as you guys know, you can have systems and automations in place where you can do everything from your phone. So if I'm waiting at, for a doctor's appointment with my daughter, or I'm waiting in car line to pick up my kids or in between sports practices, and I have to respond to something.
57:52You need to be in front of my computer. And the cashflow is more than what we could have imagined. Like I initially started it kind of as like a little side hustle hobby, and it's really, it replaces most people's full-time income and so much more, right? It's become such a powerful cashflow tool and wealth building tool for our family. And I think, especially for moms, whether you work full-time, part-time, stay at home, and you want more time, right? Whether it's time with your family or maybe just time for yourself, right? Time to go to the gym during the day without being interrupted. Time to meet a friend for coffee.
58:31Moms always are craving more time, right? This is such a perfect way to have more time and also support your family. And with short-term rentals, there's also co-hosting. There's so many different things you can do within short-term rentals that are super, super powerful and also just really fit the mom's schedule really well.
58:53Ashley Kehr:When my kids switched to a different school, like during COVID, they went to the school because it was still in person and we switched them to that. And I remember saying to a friend, oh, but I have to drive them to school every day. And that person said to me, that's awesome. You get to drive your kids to school every day. Not everybody has that choice. Not everybody gets that time with their kids in the car. And I always think about that, how real estate has like allowed me to be able to get to drive my kids to the millions of places they need to be. And like, that's just like something I've learned to appreciate over time is like, that's, that's an opportunity.
59:35Ashley Kehr:That's something I should be so grateful and thankful for that real estate has provided for me is the things I get to do with my kids as much as I'd rather do other things like that is, you know, time that I won't get back. So I think real estate really, as much as you said, everyone says it's a dream and it doesn't seem real. Like it really can do these powerful things for you with money and with time and just with your family in general, too. Well, Jane, thank you so much for coming on to share your story, to tell us all about your real estate investing journey. And congratulations on your success as an investor.
1:00:14Thank you so much.
1:00:15Ashley Kehr:Where can people reach out to you and find out more information about your investing journey? So I'm primarily on Instagram. You can find me at The Investing Mom and just send me a note. We can connect. Great handle to have. No, thank you. I'm Ashley. He's Tony. And thanks so much for listening to this episode of Real Estate Rookie. If you like this episode and you like others, make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel at Real Estate Rookie. Thank you guys so much for listening. We'll see you next time.
1:00:45Tony Robinson:Hey, rookies, if you're watching this, we want you to apply to be a guest on the Real Estate Rookie Podcast. That's right. Ashley and I are looking for amazing stories just like yours to be a part of our Real Estate Rookie Podcast. Now look, you don't need to be an expert. You don't need to have done thousands of deals. Even if you've done one deal, your story could help inspire the next listener.
1:01:03Ashley Kehr:As a rookie investor, especially if you just got your first deal, it is all fresh in your minds and you are the best person to tell your story, give your experience on how you got it done to help someone else get their first deal.
1:01:16Tony Robinson:So head over to biggerpockets.com slash guest if you want to be a part of our show. Again, that's biggerpockets.com slash guest, and we'd love to have you on.
From the publisher
“Cancer.” One word would change this mom’s life forever, requiring her to drop her career and become a full-time caregiver. But little did she know that real estate investing would bring her more time, flexibility, and freedom than she had at any W2 job. Today, she owns several rentals, including one that brings in over $6,000 in monthly cash flow!
Welcome back to the Real Estate Rookie podcast! Jane Ng and her husband had been climbing the corporate ladder when a family medical crisis turned their lives upside down. Following her daughter’s leukemia diagnosis, battle, and long recovery, Jane knew her next job would need to accommodate their new normal. Real estate has provided that and more, allowing her to spend more time with her children, work without being chained to a desk, and bring in more than enough money to help support her family.
After dabbling in wholesaling, long-term rentals, and other investing strategies, Jane has since pivoted to short-term rentals, leveraging her hospitality background to craft memorable getaway experiences. Stick around and she’ll show YOU how to copy her success, whether you’re a stay-at-home mom or a nine-to-fiver!
In This Episode We Cover
How Jane turned a medical crisis into a launchpad for financial freedom
The luxury rental property that nets Jane over $6,000 a month
How to find more affordable real estate deals (beyond your backyard)
How to (legally) avoid paying capital gains tax when selling an investment property
Maximizing your monthly cash flow with short-term rental investing
Planning and completing a successful renovation project (step by step)
And So Much More!
Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-662
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