How to Build Wealth in Real Estate with Less Money Down - Episode 70
Today, we have a special guest, Rachel Hernandez. Rachel, a seasoned investor and author, shares her comprehensive journey from starting as a bird dog, scouting real estate deals for others, to mastering the art of mobile home investments. She provides insightful strategies on how to achieve significant cash flow without traditional bank loans, and discusses the advantages of owner financing in mobile homes. If you're curious about alternative pathways to real estate success and financial freedom, this episode is packed with valuable lessons and practical advice to help you navigate the complexities of the market and start building your investment portfolio.
About our guest:
Rachel Hernandez is a seasoned real estate investor with over a decade of experience, specializing in the unique niche of mobile home investing. Initially, she started her career by sourcing deals for other investors in the single-family home market before transitioning to handling her own transactions. Seeking a break from the demanding life of a traditional landlord, Rachel ventured into mobile home investing, finding it not only less strenuous but also more enjoyable. As an accomplished author and blogger, Rachel's books have achieved #1 status on Amazon, and her blog has been recognized among the "Top 20 Real Estate Investing Blogs." Renowned as the #1 Writer for Mobile Homes on Quora, her expertise has been showcased in notable publications such as MHVillage, Forbes, Motley Fool, Experian, and GoBankingRates, among others. Beyond writing, Rachel hosts a podcast and frequently shares her insights on various other podcasts, discussing her journey in mobile home investing. Her contributions to the field have also earned her recognition as one of 30 Asian American Podcasts to support.
Guest links:
More about Rachel: https://adventuresinmobilehomes.com/learn-with-rachel/
Free and other courses: https://courses.adventuresinmobilehomes.com/
More links: https://linktr.ee/mobilehomegurl
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TRANSCRIPT:
Naseema: [00:00:00] What's up, my financially intentional people, I am super happy to be joined by Rachel Hernandez and Rachel Hernandez is my donut buddy. And if you don't know, I don't know what she was on donut, buddy. We are part of a community based around personal finance creators conference called FinCon and as part of that conference they pair creators up to have just casual conversations on a monthly basis.
And I was paired with Rachel a few months back, a while ago and learned about her mobile home investing. And I was like, Rachel, you have got to come on the podcast and share all your knowledge. Cause she has so much experience. So not only is she a personal finance creator, but she is a mobile home investor.
So you guys are going to get a kick out of this show and learn a lot. Hey, Rachel, how are you?
Rachel Hernandez: I'm doing well. Thank you so much for [00:01:00] having me on the show, Nesima. I really appreciate it. Thank you for inviting me on.
Naseema: Of course, of course, and I invited you on, of course, because you just have a wealth of knowledge in this space and I have 0. I don't got to say 0. I have a little bit of knowledge around mobile home investing and I really thought it was something that I wanted to do in I would say in 2020, I really took a deep dive into it and I was just like, oh I wanted to wait until I had a certain amount of money in the bank.
And then like, All these other things happened and I bought a house and then I just never got to it. And I was just like, man, that was probably an opportunity that I missed out on. And it's coming full circle and so that's why I'm glad that you're here. So maybe it's something I can dive into next, but I wanna talk about your journey on how you became a mobile home investor.
Rachel Hernandez: Sure. No problem. It's funny that you talk about 2020 Nesima, because we also had COVID as well too, so it was really [00:02:00] hard to get out there during that time as an investor to meet people face to face. That was one of the challenges that I had being a local investor, but let me talk about how I got started as a mobile home investor.
So I basically started as a bird dog finding deals for other investors. After I read the book, rich dad, poor dad by Robert Kiyosaki. We all know what that book is. And I read that book, got inspired to, just go for it in real estate and, achieve passive income and cashflow through real estate investing.
So the first step was to actually just build up some cash. So I started like everyone else in single family homes, finding deals for other investors as a bird dog. So basically a bird dog, you basically get paid. Paid per lead. Once the investor closes on the deal, I did that for a while and then I took it a step further.
I became a [00:03:00] wholesaler. I took these leads that I got, and usually I would just give them to the investor. The investor would take it from there, talk to the seller. Close on the deal, I get paid. But one step further is I took those leads and then I did all the negotiating with the seller. Then I put it under contract for a certain amount because I knew the market.
And then I assigned my interest in that contract to a real estate investor, usually either a rehabber or a landlord. And so probably the question is why don't they find their own leads? A lot of times, Finding the lead is the hardest part of the job. And some investors, especially experienced investors, they just want to focus on what they do best.
So if they're a landlord, just put the tenant in there, get the home ready, do the make ready, and then start getting cashflow from day one. If they're the rehabber, they want to fix up the home, right? Get it on the market and [00:04:00] sell it cash out. And then get their paycheck. So a lot of times they just don't have the time to go out and find leads, but being a bird dog or a wholesaler is a great way, the overhead is low for a beginner investor to get in with very little money, most of the market money is in spent in marketing.
So I started that way. Once I built up enough cash, then I started buying and holding. Properties, single family homes as a real estate investor. So here's the thing, I had this portfolio, single family homes, and everyone was getting paid before me. So we're talking about the mortgage, the bank. We're talking about homeowners association.
We're talking about insurance. I'm like, I don't want to manage all this. I brought in property managers. The property managers were getting paid and then what's left up. Not that much. So at that point, the market was high and I decided to just go ahead and [00:05:00] cash out on everything.
This was super crazy. And I cashed out big time. So I made 200, 000. I had 200, 000 in cash in my bank account before I got into mobile home investing. I got into mobile home investing because I ran across a gentleman by the name of Lonnie Scruggs, who is the godfather of mobile home investing, who later became my personal mentor, and I learned how to buy mobile homes for cash without a bank, without a mortgage.
And then All that cashflow comes to me. If you rent it out, what Lonnie Scruggs taught was selling it on owner financing. So people would give a down payment and then you get monthly payments. So I did that. I decided to, start buying mobile homes. And I was like, this is amazing. All the cashflow was coming to me.
So it was amazing. So you're thinking like, Oh, [00:06:00] 500 cashflow, right? But what happens with vacancies, what happens when there are repairs and, but if you sell it on owner financing, they are supposed to take care of the home as if it, there were their home. So you really do get all the cashflow. To you doing the method that Lonnie Scruggs taught.
And that's what I teach my students today, so come full circle. I've been doing mobile home investing since 2007. It's 2024 as we record. So it's been a while. It's been a
minute.
Naseema: a minute.
Rachel Hernandez: And I think last year I decided to shift my focus and actually take advantage of the market. It's basically still a seller's market across, nationwide.
I know that's going to change with interest rates and all that. And I decided to get back into wholesaling, but as a mobile home investor. So now I actually wholesale mobile homes. I help mobile home sellers sell their mobile homes as a mobile home [00:07:00] investor. And on one deal, it was a referral. I made 2, 000 in one day.
Naseema: that is amazing. That's amazing. But I want to like dive into some pieces that you talked about there and you talked about being a wholesaler or a bird dog. And I often hear that. That's one of the best ways to get into real estate, especially if you don't have any money, because it gives you a good understanding of the market.
You don't have to put a lot of money down. If anything, like you said, the money is usually just spent on marketing and you're able to make commissions off of those deals with very little investment. What I wanted to know about that specifically was, were you doing that local to where you live? And if so, where is that?
Rachel Hernandez: Yeah, I'm local doing it. I'm in Texas. I'm based in San Antonio, Texas. So I am a local investor. I've had students ask me about doing virtual investing, but that is not [00:08:00] my forte. I always suggest that people just starting out invest on mobile homes. locally and actually look, you'd be surprised how many mobile home parks, mobile home communities are out there because it's actually part of American history.
So yes, mobile homes, manufactured homes, they used to call them trailers. They were actually for the wealthy at one point, so that the wealthy, they had these, I don't know if you've seen them, those big airstreams
so that they could travel and they would use that to travel across the country and then just park them in these mobile home parks and then pay a lot rent fast forward to today, the manufactured home, the trailer, mobile home, whatever you call it, has actually evolved.
to what it looks like today. And a lot of them, they don't even look like mobile homes anymore. They look like regular homes and they're energy efficient. So the basic difference between a single family home and a mobile home is a mobile [00:09:00] home is mobile. They may just not have the tires and the wheels and the axles on them.
You would just have to put them on and then they can be transported. from one place to another. So that's one thing I love about being a mobile home investor. You're just not tied to that one location. So if I buy a mobile home and a mobile home park, I can move that home maybe to a piece of land, to a lot.
And I've done that in the past. And I'm not tied to that. It's really hard to move a single family home or even an apartment building. I tell you but getting back to being a bird dog and a wholesaler. Yeah. It's a great way for someone. You do have to have the time. You have to put the time into it. Low overhead is very low.
I'm talking business cards, your phone. You can work off of that. If you are a go getter. One step further, if you want to do bandit signs, have signs out there, have flyers. I did it all. I did all kinds of things. Now I'm at the point where [00:10:00] I'm just networking. So like tomorrow I'm meeting with a mobile home dealership who called me up and said that, we've gotten these leads all the time of mobile home sellers.
We don't want to take their old used homes. How can we work together? If this is what you do, you help them sell, let's work out some kind of a referral fee, right? So I'm meeting with them tomorrow and they were actually a referral from a local mobile home supply, a store that actually gave me the referral for that deal, I told you where I made 2, 000 in one day, so yeah, it's a lot of networking.
I do have a sales background. So I was a business to business, corporate account executive. for fortune 500 corporations. So I have been formally trained just like Robert Kiyosaki, the author of rich dad, poor dad. And I think he's did say, if there's any skill you're going to learn that can help you in life to be wealthy, it's sales.[00:11:00]
So I've done it all. I've done it all.
Naseema: I love that. and then part of your journey, you're talking about transitioning out of single family homes into mobile homes, because you were saying that everybody is getting paid before you, and I know, and then you come out in 500 and oftentimes you would have to reinvest that. How did that relationship dynamic, like a being getting paid earlier or first change where you started investing in mobile homes?
Rachel Hernandez: It's basically. The money came to me, insurance, I did have insurance on these homes mostly fire hazard insurance, just in case anything else happened. But that's basically all I had to have. I would put money aside. For if I was holding it back for taxes and escrowing taxes, insurance, and then if any repairs came up, there was a certain amount that what, how I have it, if the small repairs, they'll take care of it, but say the [00:12:00] roof or anything like that, anything large, then I could help, the seller out with that. But most times the sellers, they just, the buyers, they just take care of everything. These are people who are just grateful to have a piece of affordable housing, a piece of America, because before that they were renting in a small, apartment or even a duplex.
And they're just so grateful to be having a home that they can call their own, With a yard as well, too So I have had it's funny nasima. I have had buyers who've actually fixed up everything. They've done new flooring everything They did a new porch. They put a walkway But then you know what? We went to the mobile home dealership and we were sold on a new home.
So we just want to give this home back to you because we're already got financing. Like all those years, I remember it. And I was actually out of town and the park manager [00:13:00] called me. I was in out of town in California, visiting family. I think it was during the holidays. And she's yeah, let's go through the home.
When you get back, they gave you the keys. I, the park manager, this is where it's relationship because she took care of everything. thing. They were just like, we're still paying on the home, right? They still owed me, but they're like, I just want to take it back.
So you will take back homes. You may have to take a back, but I got a home with new flooring, with a new porch, with new everything. And then I was able to fix and do it all over again. It was amazing. It was amazing. I think they stayed in it for two or three years. I think I only bought it for 8, 000.
And
it was
Naseema: getting how much, how much monthly for that?
Rachel Hernandez: That one, I was making 400 a month cashflow.
It was amazing for, I think it was for two or three years. Yes.
Naseema: And then, the whole thing about you doing seller financing is it's similar, like you said, to renting out a single family home, except that the owner then takes on a lot of [00:14:00] the costs. With mobile homes though how do you incorporate like the land cost in there?
Because I know that's an additional expense when you own a land home, correct? When you own a mobile home, correct? Yeah.
Rachel Hernandez: It basically so the park, I don't own the land. I own the home. The park owns the lot. So basically what I have my buyers do, they're responsible for the lot rent on the home. So if the lot rent is three, four or 500, they have to pay it directly to the park, to the park manager, the park owner.
If for some reason they fall behind on lot rent, then the park manager, I just have those types of relationships. They will call me and our deal is if they fall behind, once they're out, we have to do eviction and I've done eviction a million times, then I will just catch up the lot rent. But most times the Types of people that I choose, they are, and this is where screening comes in.
It's better to have a vacant home than to put somebody [00:15:00] in there that you're not sure of. You really gotta be really sure of the people that you choose. And I tend to work more with families who are looking for that starter home, who have good employment, who have a good. Not just a current landlord, but also past landlord history.
And obviously, no criminal background. And the good thing about working in mobile home communities, mobile home parks is they have their own check as well, too. So they go through my background check and then I say, okay, they're good to go. So I'm not wasting the park's time. Then they go apply to the park, pay the fee, and then if they pass, then they're able to be approved for the home on both my end and also the parks end as well, too.
But in terms of your question, Naseema they are responsible for the lot rent. So that also includes all utilities, gas, electric. Water and any other fees with the park. And then our agreement is you have to [00:16:00] abide by the rules and the regulations of the park. The lot rent may increase. I have no control over the lot rent, but my payment's going to stay the same.
So that's the deal that we have.
Naseema: So what do you say about what do you say to people when they are like, Oh, you own mobile homes? Aren't those people all sketch and shady people, like outside of doing the screenings that you do there, aren't they just Ooh, isn't that kind of high risk? Because who wants to live in a mobile home?
What kind of people are those? What kind of prejudices or stereotypes do you typically hear around that? And what is the actual reality
Rachel Hernandez: sure. sure. There is the real and then there is the make believe and a lot of times people think the real is the make believe and the make believe is what i, a lot of it is about movies and TV like the best scenario I can think of is that movie called eight mile where, they call those trailer parks, but the thing is, they're like, just like single family homes, [00:17:00] just like apartment buildings.
Commercial residential real estate, there is, class A, B, and C. So there's low end, middle of the road, and high end manufactured mobile home parks communities. I have done it all. And, I know investors. They just go to their bread and butter is class B and C mobile home parks Right and that works with their personality But for me, I did a class c park.
I only bought the home for two thousand dollars But I call it my two thousand dollar nightmare Because it was so hard. It was so hard nasima to find A family that worked with my personality that I could, feel good about it. And the park manager didn't, help because he said if you put the wrong person in, then all you have to do is just take it back all over again.
And it's just the attitude of that park. And I [00:18:00] was still green. I was still new in the business. I didn't know until I got there. That experience. So that's what I tell people who are first starting out. Make sure that it really is the community. It is the neighborhood. We all know about that in real estate.
You are very comfortable with the neighborhood, but also the types of people that the neighborhood attracts. I cannot tell you Naseema, I was trying to get class a people. To live in this class C mobile home park, I actually called, my residents in a class a neighborhood, and they were looking for a home for their mother.
And they came and to the home and the class C park, and I said, do you have anything else in another community? And it was that over and over and over again. over again. So it really wasn't the home. It was more the community. So I ended up taking a loss. I sold it to an investor. He just did what he promised.
[00:19:00] He pulled that home out of the park and then moved it to his piece of land. And that is my 2, 000 nightmare.
Naseema: But how much did that actually end up costing you? Because people were like, $2,000. I gotta spend that on a purse.
Rachel Hernandez: Yes. Basically, I think, it's months of lot rent. It could have been almost a year of lot rent. And I think at this point, probably the lot rent was about, I want to say maybe 300, 350 a month. So I'm throwing money at lot rent every month, trying to find That person, so I think I had it sitting vacant almost a year and it was to the point where it was like, I need to do something
with it, but I was not willing to sacrifice putting someone in there like the park manager who told me, Oh, just put someone in there.
Then you just take it back. And then the home gets wrecked and then I'm in eviction court. That would have been a worse, if I did that. So I had the [00:20:00] initial 2000 and it was just basically paint and carpet. There wasn't really much I had to put into the home, but I had to pay lot rent every month.
So I think the lot run was about 300 a month. So I just sold it. To that investor who moved it to his piece of land and I just got out and I was like, you know what? This is a loss. That's it. And I think I sold it to him for 3, 000. So yeah, no, it was a loss, but cause I had to pay a lot rent.
But a lesson learned.
Naseema: Definitely a lesson learned and now you know, but I like your thorough like screening process and Like that you're not just gonna put somebody in your place just to make the money So that speaks to your integrity and just like your personality but I wanted to talk about what it's like the typical demographics of the people that Live in mobile homes in trailer parks or whatever you want to call it.
Whatever this the term [00:21:00] is right now
Rachel Hernandez: That is going to depend on whether you do a low end, middle of the road, or high end park, and at this point in my career, I only deal with higher end parks, so my demographics, basically, they are working professionals, they could be teachers, they could work for the city, The county police officers, they're salaried employees.
And basically they're pre screened by the park and then they're screened by me as well, too. Most times in the higher end parks, they want no criminal history, no evictions. No foreclosures, so they're pre screened as well already. That's the thing for the higher end parks. Now, lower end and middle of the road, it's going to be a completely different demographic.
Some of these people may have had evictions in the past, they may have had foreclosures. Foreclosures they [00:22:00] could have been late . I'm not saying it's a bad thing because people come on across hard times. There's good people and bad people in all of these classes, whether it's low end mill road or high end, because in the high end, and I've had this issue, I've had, they look great on paper, but you put them in there.
They're very high maintenance
and that's the thing. So you really want to have. You know the best of both worlds you want people look good in paper, but they're low maintenance And sometimes you know Because if it's vacant you're paying lot rent you're in a higher end community you could be paying higher amounts in lot rent five six seven eight hundred dollars.
I heard in california I'm not in california. I'm in texas lot rent could be as high as two thousand dollars a month for lot rent.
Naseema: I gonna ask you about California too, because I know you talk about investing locally and like every time you say that [00:23:00] when someone is like, what about California? What about New York? It's so expensive here. I wanna invest in mobile homes, but I can't afford to do it locally.
What do you say to those people? Mm-Hmm.
Rachel Hernandez: I say, there's two things you can do. You can invest outside of the area, or you could actually look and see before you make that conclusion, what are the opportunities? What are the deals? And it may not be a buy and hold. It may be wholesaling. It may be rehabbing. I can really do see that in California.
Funny thing you asked me Naseema because I. A couple of years back, I had a student and he told me in California, specifically Los Angeles, him and his wife bought a mobile home for 4, 000. It was referred by a park manager, but here's the kicker lot rent was 1, 000 a month.
It took them a couple [00:24:00] months to find the right people, the right buyers, but they actually, it's interesting.
They found buyers who actually had gone into foreclosure on their single family home. this was a source of affordable housing for them, but it took him and his wife, a couple of months to fill it. So they were paying a thousand dollars a month in lot rent. every month, but they only bought that home for 4, 000.
So the deals are there, the deals are there. And I will tell you why, because the parks, they are the ones in the know, because before someone can even move out of the park, they have to give a 30, 60, 90 day notice to the park manager. So that's why I really emphasize having a relationship with the park manager.
the park owner. And if there's no investors in the park, the park's going to be taking back these homes,
Naseema: Mm hmm.
Rachel Hernandez: And they're going to be making money. So my answer [00:25:00] to that question about California, see what the opportunities are there. It may not be a buy and hold. It may be like what I'm doing a wholesaling.
It may be rehabbing, but you have to be comfortable with what you decide to do, because it depends on the investor.
Naseema: There's opportunities everywhere. I think people shortchange themselves before they even explore the different avenues and they like I can't do this. Then it's not for me. But did you look at these other areas that you can get into? I really, really like that. You mentioned.
Evictions though and that words is scary to a lot of people you said you've had to do multiple evictions Do evictions look differently in the mobile home space? And then how is that affected like your revenue generation and cash flow throughout the years?
Rachel Hernandez: Sure. It's not as scary as people think it is, but you've got to be a good observer. So basically what I recommend, this is what I would do back when I started. Now I know the lingo. I would actually [00:26:00] go in eviction court and I have a notebook and paper and I'd see how these attorneys, how these property managers.
And I will tell you, judges do not like evictions because they are so mundane. They're very cut and dry here in Texas. It's did you pay? Did you not pay? What does it say in the contract? And how they presented themselves. And I will tell you, the most important part When doing an eviction, of course, you want to have your paperwork together is how you present yourself in front of the judge.
So I did have a case where this lady, I call it the rat house. She went to eviction court three times. And every single time. I had filed notice to not pay rent, right? And she tried to change the subject and she accused me, actually Naseema, of actually selling her a home that had mold in it.
And the judge said we're not here for that. [00:27:00] And she said, but I have pictures. And the judge said where are the pictures? I don't have them with me. Never came. Never came I finally took back the house because after three times in eviction court The judge kept ruling in my favor and she kept paying it She kept paying it the third time the judge said if I see you again The fourth time you're out.
So the fourth time she moved out, which is good. I went in there, I did not see any mold anywhere, but there were rats in the home, so I had to get an exterminator out there, and he found 10 rats. She never told me about these rats and it was just a nightmare. I got them out and then I just had to, re drywall, the home and fix up the home and all that.
But that's what I call my rat house. So it's not as scary as people think. It's just, you have to be a good observer. You could totally DIY eviction court. Cause basically you just present your case. As long as you have the paperwork all in order, how [00:28:00] much is rent? How much is the deposit? When do they have to pay?
It's pretty cut and dry. I am in the state of Texas, so it's going to depend on
the area. It's going to depend on the judge. I do here in California, in New York, it is harder to, evict and, they will hear both sides of the, story, but there are certain rules in place where, they may be more lenient.
Towards the tenant. So it really depends, but in Texas and also Florida, I hear if you don't pay, you don't stay. So if you can observe, you don't have to hire someone, but if you feel more comfortable, you can hire a property manager. You can hire. A attorney, the best source of information is just talk to the park manager because they are in eviction all the time when people don't pay a lot rent.
And they will say, I have to file, there's this form you got to file, all this stuff that you got to do, how much it's going to cost, what do you tell the judge? They are your [00:29:00] source of information. There. So take advantage of it. It's not a big deal. I don't think it's a big deal. I've been in the mobile home investing business since 2007.
I've never been sued. I've had people threatened to sue me, but I've never been sued. I think I'm doing pretty good.
Naseema: No, I love that because it makes it less scary. And that's another barrier that people put up like around not wanting to be landlords or own property. So it's good to talk about that. California is just crazy around that too, but that's a whole nother story for another day. And that's just part of living in California.
But I wanted to talk about like right now where you're at with your portfolio, like how many mobile homes, homes do you own, or are you totally shifting into going back into this like powerhouse of a wholesaler role that you're in?
Rachel Hernandez: No, I am actually done acquiring at this point, at one point I had 40, 50 mobile homes and I'm done. I'm done [00:30:00] acquiring because it's a lot of management. And that's a question that I get. How do you scale? How do you scale? You can bring property managers, but I've been in that position.
I end up managing the managers. They end up calling me, all that. And also, it is a seller's market at this point. That game, Robert Kiyosaki, cash flow game. Right now, if you're a seller, you can completely cash out on these homes. So I am looking at just building up cash again.
I'm going in a different direction. Actually, I really believe in debt free investing. So I am building up cash just to pay off my own home and not have a mortgage on my own home. I do have, mobile homes and they can pay my mortgage, but it's just paying that off and then everything else is extra, And just enjoying life, I have so many opportunities that, come my [00:31:00] way, but do I really want to go through the stress of doing a partnership deal on, a couple million dollar mobile home park or, a commercial building?
I get those opportunities all the time. I had someone, Hey, give me a call. I need a partner for an RV park. It's. I think it was like a couple million dollars. I'm like, I'm not looking, I don't want the headache, I just want to enjoy life now. And that's one of the reasons I stopped purchasing the mobile homes because also in the communities.
One thing you don't have control of is the lot rent. So a lot of times my residents would be like, Oh, the lot runs and they would call me, I'm like, there's nothing I can do about the lot rent. And then also the managers, they change all the time. There's always, different managers, it's like with any business, people move on, they do something else.
So I was like, I wanted something where I had more control over it. It's good to have passive income, but I [00:32:00] think. Active income is also important as well to get those big chunks of cash so that, you can feel comfortable with your lifestyle and have a lifestyle that, you can do more with, I think it's important that, but have both.
I know Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad, Poor Dad really advocated for passive income, but I think active income is actually underrated. I think it's important. For a real estate investor to have both passive income and active income. And what's the most important thing is actually to get better at your skills.
Because if you can learn how to sell, if you can learn how to market, if you can learn how to talk to people, you can be wealthy for the rest of your life.
Naseema: I love that. I love that. And what stands out the most to me is that Everything is in flux, right? Things change what worked for you 10 years ago isn't going to work for you today And I think that people get fixated on that [00:33:00] one thing like and they just keep on doing that forever But typically it's not those things.
That's not how things work like things change like your appetite For what makes you happy changes Kids come along what's important to you then what are important to you now? I love the debt free investing aspect like a lot of people especially in real estate will talk to you about OPM other people's money leveraging assets like those are the things that you hear all the time and Not everybody is comfortable with debt.
That is something to me that get like I feel tangibly I Stress over, so a lot of times wow, you may be able to generate more money by leveraging all these assets. Sometimes it's not worth your internal peace and it doesn't fit in with how you want, to experience your relationship with money long term or in [00:34:00] the, in the present time.
I just feel like we want to like grasp onto these popular concepts and think that that's the way that we have to do things but really Like the way that you approach things it seems like it's to fit your lifestyle and that is a privilege right? to be able to Take on your revenue generating experiences in a way that is going to fit into what works for you.
And that's just counter cultural, because we're taught to work, work, work, work, work, work, work. Then you can save and retire, but you're just like, I'll do this because it feels good. This doesn't feel good. I'm going to take advantage of the market right now. Sell these things and only focus on things that bring me joy every day.
I have done the work. I don't have to do that. I understand. And, and, and the thing is, you have years in the game, so you understand things on so many different levels. But overall it's fitting into your lifestyle and not the other way [00:35:00] around. So I just, I wanted to give you props on that.
Rachel Hernandez: Exactly. Thank you, Nassima. I think the reason I made that decision because I've met those investors, most times they are men and they are stressed out. They have mental health issues. They are divorced or on the verge of getting divorced and it is just. A different lifestyle. And I don't want to have that kind of lifestyle.
And one thing that really influenced my decision was actually talking to Lonnie Scruggs himself. And I had talked to him about, scaling up, going into a mobile home park. He never bought a mobile home park when he was alive. Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago. Why? Because he wanted to travel across country.
With him and his wife and he said, what is the whole point of doing this? If you can't even enjoy life, he wants to have time. And if he scaled up and bought a mobile home park, he got into these [00:36:00] million dollar deals because I've met these investors who are in it. You just don't have the time because you're focused so much on the deal.
You're focused so much on turning it around, but at the same time, life goes on your family, birthday parties are happening, family vacations, family trips, and you're, you can't be there because you're dealing with this mobile home park that needs to be turned around. And Lonnie told me that he just.
Didn't want that kind of life for him and his wife. And that's one thing that really clicked with me in this EMA, having these mentors like Lonnie Scruggs, who valued family, who valued life over money, because, we've all heard that cliche, it's not always about money, because I've met those people and they were stressed out.
They have a completely different lifestyle than what I want. So my advice to anyone out there. It doesn't matter if you're going to be going into mobile home investing, real estate investing, or even starting your own [00:37:00] business. What kind of lifestyle do you want? Build your business around yourself and the type of lifestyle that you want.
Not how everyone is telling you what to do. We talked about other people's money leverage. Yeah, that's great. But do you want the stress of leverage? Do you want to have mental health issues? Do you want to be going in and out of the hospital because of your mental health issues? Because it's a lot of stress.
I can't stress the importance of lifestyle. over money and creating the kind of life. This has always been my mantra, creating the kind of life that gives me the time to do the things that I want to do, not have to do. And I've been saying that since I started writing, since I started podcasting, since I've been in the business since 2007.
Naseema: Yes, I love that. Creating the life that you get to do the things that you want to do, not what you have to do. Incredible. And I live by that mantra too, because listen, I'm an opt out. I'm an opt out to those [00:38:00] things that I don't want to do. But I know that you've accumulated like all the years of experience that you've had, and you've put together a framework.
For people to get started investing in mobile homes. Can you speak to us about your courses and your offerings that you have to get people through over that hump. And so they don't have to make some of the mistakes that you've made.
Rachel Hernandez: Sure. Yes. I've got some courses available and I'm sure Nesima will put a link to it. I've actually also got a book and I'm sure you'll put the link to it. It's called Adventures in Mobile Homes, How I Got Started in Mobile Home Investing and How You Can Too, which is a great starter book to learn about mobile home investing, the ins and outs, but it's also my experience.
Teaching you how to get started in mobile home investing. I do have consulting. I do have courses available, but I also have a free course, a free mobile home investing course on how to get started in mobile home investing. Like we're talking ground zero. If you really want to [00:39:00] know what it is that you have to do to get started in mobile home investing, it's a free course.
And Naseema will put a link here. Into the podcast, into the show notes, if you'd like to, check it out. It's free. It's a hundred percent free. And after you take the course, you, you click on the link, you sign up for it, if you have any questions, you can always contact me, send me an email through the course as a student who took a free course on mobile home investing, and you can ask me questions and I'll do my best to answer your questions as well, too.
Naseema: Awesome. Awesome. And yes, I will have all those links in the show notes, so make sure you check them out, but I want to know what's next for you, Rachel? I know you have your own platform. So just like I have financially into jail, you have your own platform. You have a podcast, like what's going on.
You're a personal finance creator, like share about that space. And then what you have going on next with that. Cool.
Rachel Hernandez: [00:40:00] Cause I'm doing. A couple things. I have my own mobile home investing business. Like I said, my focus this year and last year was wholesaling. I do still have a mobile home properties, but my focus is on wholesaling because of the market, because there are so many mobile home sellers who want to sell their homes, whatever situation they're in.
But a lot of these people, they want to upgrade to a new home. And that's why I'm meeting with the mobile home dealership tomorrow, because he's we can give you the leads on these used homes. We just want them to buy our new homes, cause we don't want to take their used homes and try to sell.
That's not what we do. So if you can help. Them sell their homes. Let's work out a referral fee, here. So basically I'm taking advantage of the market, just like that game cashflow with Robert Kiyosaki. I've got my wholesaling business, then I've got my courses. I'm just about to launch a coaching program and Nesima [00:41:00] know for everyone here, once the coaching program is out and she can all send you the link.
For the coaching program, but it's going to be a six month coaching program, a one on one coaching program where you get my full attention. I am also going to include some training videos as well, too, and a workbook for the coaching program and direct access to me, but it is a one on one coaching program.
We will, you will get calls specifically. You and me, and I can help you craft a plan on what you want to get out of being a mobile home investor and help you along the way. It is also, I'm including a mastermind with that coaching program, which is a lifetime access as well too. So that'll be out in a couple of months.
And once that comes out, I can let Nesima know. on that. So that coaching program, it's very exciting. A lot of people have been asking me for a coaching program. It's just, I've had, had it in the [00:42:00] works. But I would just suggest try out that free course. And that if you're interested in the coaching program, then the CMO will probably send you the link once it's out.
Out. She'll probably send everyone who her listeners once it's out. If you want to check that out and then also check out my book. She'll put a link adventures in mobile homes, how I got started in mobile home investing and how you can too. And if you're just interested in learning about mobile home investing, I do have a podcast called adventures in mobile homes.
My website is adventures on mobile homes. com. Check out the podcast. There's a lot of information there as well, too. So those are pretty much the, how you can, learn more about mobile home investing. And if you'd like to follow me on social media, my handle is At mobile home girl, I'm on Twitter.
I'm on Twitter and Instagram. And then I do have a YouTube channel adventures in mobile.
Naseema: [00:43:00] Thank you so much, Rachel. You summed it up pretty well, but you get so much good information and this is another avenue to invest in especially if you're not really keen on single family rentals and you're just like, what is another way I can get into real estate that's not just the typical run of the mill way.
I think you gave people an opportunity and it seems like it's a super low barrier to entry. When you're not coming up with 200, 000 for a down payment, you can own a mobile home for under 10, 000, which is incredible. Thank you so much for sharing that. I know I'm interested and I know my listeners will be, but thank you for sharing your story and being so open and honest, but most importantly, I just love how you are shaping this around the life that you want to live and are exemplifying that for people, because I want that to be everybody's goal.
So I definitely appreciate you, Rachel. I will share all of those resources in the show notes and [00:44:00] when the court coaching program. Does go live. I will send a separate email out to my list. So make sure you are on that list and signed up there so you can get more information, but thank you again, Rachel.
This has been incredible.
Rachel Hernandez: Thank you so much to see my, it was fun. Had a good time.
Hey there I’m Naseema
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