Jessica Frasier is not only beautiful, talented, an IT Tech and oh so financially smart. The recently turned, 25, year old and her husband, John Frasier are real life monopoly gurus. With their ducks all lined up in a roll, as they plan to own every corner of the real estate board, including Park Ave.
Jessica, the creator of Young and the Wealthless: a financing blog, where she shares her journey to financial freedom and their goals to retire young. Impossible-not at all! This real estate couple has taken property owning to new heights, raising the roof (bar) on what it means to live debt free. As they continue to grow their wealth utilizing real estate, by buying up as many properties as feasible.
Where most people buy fixer upper homes and to flip for profit. She’s plans to hold on to the homes and make bank. When you think about it, it really makes cents (since). If you sell the home, you will always have to flip another one to make a buck. Like I said, she’s smart.
Jessica’s future goal is to retire around the age of 30; travel the world with family in tow, all while living off their property investments. Her passion and hard work will certainly bring her dreams to fruition.
See what advice Jessica shared with SLU readers. You are sure to come away little smarter about building wealth through real estate.
1. How did you develop an interest real estate? I love everything about real estate. Real estate is one of the most stable forms of building wealth and security. Its tangible- it’s something that I can see. I can buy properties, improve properties, and sell them if I need to. I love that I can leverage my investment properties to buy bigger, more expensive properties that I wouldn’t be able to save up for on my own. On a personal level, I’ve always loved real estate. In my spare time, I watch real estate shows and I go to open houses for fun. Contrary to popular belief, real estate is very easy to study and understand. When I decided to start my own investment company, I decided to follow my passion and concentrate on real estate.
2. What inspired you and your husband to start building wealth through real estate? My husband and I are big dreamers. We both graduated from college in 2014 and entered the workforce with dreams to making a lot of money. We wanted to have a big house and nice cars and live without debt. After a year of working in the corporate world, we were both exhausted. I had switched jobs three times, getting a higher salary each time. Although we were making three times the average household income in America, we weren’t happy. We were working 12+ hours a day and didn’t have time for hobbies or traveling. Unfortunately, people around me didn’t help. Co-workers and friends would tell me to stop complaining. I was told I was naive to complain about long hours because that is part of being an adult. I didn’t accept that answer. One day, I wrote out my dream life, without any restrictions. If money wasn’t a factor, how would I live my life? My list was pretty outrageous. In my dream life, I would be living in a penthouse in Manhattan, traveling the world and staying at 5-star hotels, pursuing my hobbies, and definitely NOT working. While most people would rip up that paper and say “time to get back to reality” I told myself that I will make this list my reality. I decided that I will take myself out of the rat race and pursue something better. Luckily, I have a husband that is just as crazy as me and together we decided to pursue something different. I read the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and it inspired me to find ways to create passive income. Right now, most people work for their money. If they stop working, the money stops coming in. Passive income is putting money into investments so our money can work for us. This means, no matter what I do- whether I am traveling, sleeping, or visiting friends, I will have money coming into my bank account every month. But would real estate investing get me my penthouse in New York City? I read books and studied billionaires. I saw that almost all of them invested in some form of real estate. That’s when I decided that real estate would be the path to my success.
3. What is your ultimate goal(s)I have a lot of big goals and a short amount of time to do them. I want to own 1 billion dollars in real estate in the next 5 years. It’s pretty outrageous, but you have to think big to do big. I plan on doing this by becoming a developer and pursue commercial real estate development. Instead of buying small properties, I want to buy land and build huge skyscrapers. I plan on building huge apartment buildings and living off the cash flow. I also want to focus on leasing to commercial businesses. I want to own whole communities, including apartments, retail stores, grocery stores, parking garages, gas stations, and more. By the time I turn 30, I plan on building a skyscraper in New York City and living in the penthouse. I want to be financially free so I can live the rest of my life the way I want. I don’t want to work. I want to travel for weeks or months at a time and see the world. When I have kids, they will be raised by two stay-at-home parents. I don’t plan on going to work every day for the rest of my life. I plan on investing and growing my passive income so I can live my dream life.
4. How many properties currently do you own? Right now, we are under contract for our first investment property! It is a 6-unit apartment building, 5 residential units and 1 retail unit. I am very excited and also very nervous. If all goes well, we will close by the end of this month. Luckily, the property is 100% occupied with long-term tenants and there is a property manager in place. We plan on purchased at least 3-5 more properties in the next month.
5. How do you handle all your properties and maintain them? The thing I value most is my time. So when I buy a property, I have plans to hire a property manager. I do not want to get phone calls in the middle of the night about a leaky faucet. I won’t fix toilets and I won’t perform maintenance. I want to be financially free; I don’t want to give myself another job. When I build my apartment complexes, I definitely won’t have the capacity to maintain them on my own. Property managers take the stress away. They find tenants, they collect rent every month, they perform maintenance, and they handle evictions, if necessary.
6. Do either of you have a financial back ground? No. I have an IT background and my husband has a background in law enforcement and sales. We have a drive to be successful and learned everything by ourselves. There are so many free resources online. We are learning every aspect of investing on our own. That’s what I love about real estate. It doesn’t matter what your background it. It doesn’t matter if you have a college degree or not. Anyone can do it. If you have the drive, you can do it.
7. What tips could you share on building wealth at an early age? If someone wants to start building wealth at a young age, I recommend that they fully commit to the idea. First, when picking a career, follow the money. If your goal is to be wealthy and financially free, you won’t be working very long. Follow the money and make as much as you can. After that, live below your means. That is the biggest mistake I see a lot of young people make. I’ve seen friends get higher salaries and instead of saving their money, they add to their expenses. They buy a more expensive car or move into a more expensive apartment to “reward” themselves. At a young age, people should be saving for investments. Did you know that the Bible mentions money more times than faith and love? We were meant to take control our money and build wealth! Don’t give in to the idea of instant gratification. It requires a few years of sacrifice, but it’s all worth it. Live below your means and put money away toward investments.
8. Do you have a set monthly budget? Yes. My husband and I track every penny of our money. We have no credit card debt and we are almost done paying off our student loans. When we get our paychecks, we take a large percentage out toward our investments and we live off the rest. We live off of a fraction of our monthly income. We could buy a bigger house and newer cars, but we are willing to sacrifice those things for now so we can have all that in the future.
9. How do you stay on budget? We track our purchases. We budget everything: bills, transportation, emergency fund, groceries, take-out, shopping, etc. Everything is budgeted. Budgeting has always been easy for me. I have a goal to be wealthy so I’m not tempted by instant gratification.
10. Name some ways a person could live debt free? The best advice I can give is to spend less than you make. It’s obvious but so many people struggle with that. Don’t rack up credit card debt. Don’t even start the habit. Pay your bills on time and if your bills are too overwhelming, lower your expenses. This could mean moving somewhere cheaper or selling your car. If you are struggling to get through the month, it’s time to reevaluate your lifestyle. You are living above your means.
11. What does your retirement look like? I turned 25 in November and I plan to retire before I turn 30. My husband and I have our next year planned and it includes both of us quitting our jobs by this time next year. We plan on living off of our investments. Once we are financially free and out of the rat race, we will focus the next 2-5 years developing commercial buildings. By the time I reach my early-30s, my husband and I plan on slowing down and just enjoying life. We will be young, retired, and living in our.
12. What is a good percentage of income to start saving in your twenties? As much as you can save! Ideally, anywhere between 50-70%. If you can live at home, do it and save most of your money. If you have to live on your own, get a roommate. It requires sacrifice, but if you do it right a few years of sacrifice will mean a lifestyle of luxury.
13. What are you most passionate about? I am passionate about teaching people to think big and take control of their lives. When I achieve my goals, I plan to write a few books about investing- particularly focused toward women and millennials. I also want to do seminars and motivational speaking. I hope to start my own scholarship for students with an entrepreneurial mindset. Not enough people are thinking big. I want to challenge people to think beyond the status quo. Anyone can find a decent-paying job and work for the rest of their life. But we are all capable of so much more! I want to show people that there is an alternative way to live. Everyone has a different goal in life, but most people are too afraid to even think about. I want to shake things up and tell people to never limit themselves.
14. How can some boost their income? There are several ways to boost ones income. First, live below your means, as I mentioned before. Also, follow the money. Choose careers that are high-paying and are in demand.
15. How long have you been a licensed Real Estate Agent? I am not a licensed real estate agent. You don’t have to be an agent to be a real estate investor. You can come from any background and achieve great things. I don’t plan on being a licensed agent. It’s not required to be an investor. I have met some people who think otherwise. It’s a personal choice, but my goal is to not have a job.
16. What are some near future buying goals? After closing on our first property, we plan on buying 3-5 more properties in the next month. We will be rehabbing these properties and learning the basics of development. My husband and I started taking online construction management classes. We plan on learning and making mistakes on smaller properties. Once we have a standardized process that is easy and repeatable, we plan on going bigger and bigger. By the end of 2017, we plan on breaking ground on our first 100+ unit development project.
17. List some properties that are best for a first time buyer on a strict budget? There are many different paths that someone can take when investing in real estate. I recommend all beginners educate themselves on the basics of real estate investing. There are a lot of books and free resources online. You should never pay thousands of dollars for a guru to tell you how to invest. Once you read more about investing, you’ll learn that there are numerous ways to begin investing without using your own money. One example, a beginner can learn the wholesale process and make thousands of dollars in a short amount of time. I’m not a wholesaling expert, but essentially, it means putting an offer on a house that is very below market value. Before purchasing the house, the wholesaler will sell their contract to a new buyer. This means a wholesaler can make tens of thousands of dollars in as little as a few hours. Another way to invest without using your own money is to establish connections and find investors or private lenders.
18. Is there a particular style of home you prefer to sell? I prefer multi-family residential properties that are close universities. I don’t particularly care for a style. Cash flow is my number one priority.
19. What is a sellers or buyers worst nightmare? I think it varies for each person, but I think a buyer’s worst nightmare is purchasing a property without proper due diligence (home inspection, roof inspection, repair estimates) and finding out the home requires a lot more money than initially estimated. These extra repair costs can destroy any cash flow for an investor.
20. What is the difference between a foreclose home and a quick sell home? In a foreclosure, the home owner consistently fails to make their mortgage payments and the lender (the bank) takes ownership of the property and evicts the owner. Foreclosed homes can be sold by auction or through real estate agents. Foreclosing a home will hurt the home owner’s credit score severely. A quick sale, or a short sale, is an alternative to foreclosing a home. Home owners may opt for a short sale to avoid foreclosing their home. A short sale is when the home owner owes more on a property than it is worth. Many times, a short sale or foreclosure may require an all-cash offer. It can be risky purchasing a foreclosed home or short sale home if they are sold “as-is”. Sometimes, properties are auctioned off “sight-unseen”. That is very dangerous because you don’t know what’s wrong with the house. There could be mold, fire damage, or anything.
21. Are buying homes at auctions a good idea? It depends on someone’s risk appetite. Personally, I’m not interested in auctions because I want time to inspect the home before putting in an offer.
22. How would a buyer handle a bidding war for a property? In terms of investing, the buyer would have created their analysis on cash flow and know the maximum they can bid before they lose money. If the bidding war becomes intense, the buyer has to know when to walk away. As an investor, you can’t get emotionally attached to a house. It doesn’t matter how “pretty” or “perfect” it is. If it won’t make you money, don’t waste your time. The property of a lifetime comes on the market every week. Know when to move on.
23. Have you and your spouse ever flipped a home for profit? If so, how did you go? We have not flipped and we are not interested in flipping in terms of fixing a house and selling it. When you sell the property, you get the cash flow and then what? Now you have to flip another home to make more money. Flipping is a job and requires someone to work for their money. Our goal is to have our money work for us. We are buying a row of townhomes in a college town and plan on rehabbing them. However, instead of selling the properties when we are done, we will rent them out to college students and collect the rent every month. Again, we will hire a property manager so we won’t have to take care of finding tenants, maintenance, and collecting checks. This way, these townhomes can give me cash flow every month for years, decades, even for generations.
24. What percentage of a down payment is usually recurred for someone with a fair credit score? There are a lot of financial options for people who want to invest. I know someone who was eligible for a VA loan and that requires no down payment. I’ve met people who have used a FHA loan, which only requires a 3.5% down payment. Others opt for the traditional lending method which usually requires 20% down payment. It is also very possible to invest with other people’s money too. Networking with experienced investors can teach you how to find investors that will invest in you. There are crowdfunding platforms focusing on real estate investing. My recommendation to someone trying to become a serious investor is to not use their own money. Go to investment meetings, reach out to experts, and read books about private lending.
25. Is staging a home to sell really more money in the bank? This is relevant for selling a flipped house. I’ve heard it was helpful but I haven’t experienced it personally. Since we focus on rental properties, it usually doesn’t require staging.
26. What questions should a potential home buyer ask a Real Estate Agent before working with them? Before purchasing a home? If an investor plans on using an agent, they should always ask about the agent’s investment experience. Always choose an agent that specializes in investment properties. They should understand your goals and objectives.
27. What should someone look for in an agent? As mentioned before, look for an agent that was experience buying and selling investment properties.
28. What other ways do you grow your wealth besides real estate? Right now, our main focus is real estate development, but, of course, we plan to diversify our wealth. I don’t have concrete plans yet, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out soon enough.
29. What is next for you? With the help of our business partner, my husband and I have an aggressive 12-month plan. We plan on purchasing 3-5 properties for rehab and development to get experience in the development realm. By next fall, we plan on developing our own 100+ unit, luxury apartment complex. We are also aggressively working to increase our net worth to seven-figures by the end of next year. We’re doing all this while working full-time jobs right now. Ideally, we will generate enough cash flow so we can quit our jobs in the next 9-10 months.
30. Where do you see yourself in the next five years? In the next five years, I see my husband and I living in our penthouse and taking vacations several times a year. I see myself owning 1 billion dollars in development properties. I also would have written several books. I would love to be featured in Forbes too.
31. Where can we contact you or find more about the great things you are achieving? If you are interested in becoming an investor for our future development plans, you can reach out to me at Jessica.Frasier@FrasierInvestmentGroup.com or at FrasierInvestmentGroup.com
You may also follow Jessica on Twitter at @Jess_Frasier_
Thank you Jessica Frasier for sharing your amazing and inspiring story with SisterslikeUs.com! You are doing BIG things.
Sincerely,
Dawn M. Dean
Founder and Creative Director
l I felt brave enough to apply makeup for client events. Before hand, I started by attending a lot of celebrity makeup artist classes and got the training I needed to go out on my own. I was confident after the first couple classes and booked my first wedding. The experience was surreal seeing my client face light up and how beautiful they looked on her special day. It brought me joy and gave me the encouragement to continue to put smiles on my client faces. Weather it be for a graduation, a birthday party, or wedding. I love what I do, and hope to continue to put smiles on my client faces.
