The REI Live Podcast is a real estate education podcast that focuses on interviewing the top real estate investors in markets all throughout the country. Our guest experts will provide you with the skills and tactics necessary to succeed at buying rental property, rehabbing, wholesaling, and any other creative form of real estate that exists.Read more »
The REI Live Podcast is a real estate education podcast that focuses on interviewing the top real estate investors in markets all throughout the country. Our guest experts will provide you with the skills and tactics necessary to succeed at buying rental property, rehabbing, wholesaling, and any other creative form of real estate that exists.Read Less
Markian Sich joins the show today to some specific things you can do to benefit yourself and your legacy as a member of the military. With VA loans, the government has put some things in place that many people may not know about. Markian talks about how he discovered real estate, the formation of his company, and the goals they’re trying to achieve for active service military members.
Key Takeaways:
[2:45] Markian is a third generation immigrant from Ukraine. While growing up in Ukraine, he always admired how cool America was, which planted the seeds for his return (so he could figure out why America was the way it was). He joined the Navy, commissioned as a Marine, and went to flight school.
[6:00] He actually found real estate during active duty when he was looking for an additional source of income to support his travel to France to visit his wife. He read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, listened to podcasts, and found real estate at the same time as online business.
[9:13] He wrote Military House Hacking as a manifesto for military guys on how to succeed. This was also to help military members transition successfully as well back into the real world.
[12:55] Markian doesn’t remember the exact set of circumstances that led to him being involved in real estate, but he did come across it while looking for something that was going to help him earn some passive income. His first property was a rental property in Georgia, that he bought with his parents. His parents’ financial strategy was actually a goal that he wanted to emulate.
[19:00] Markian shares the story of his and his parents hunting for their first property to purchase together. They partnered together — he was the brains, his mom was the people person, and his dad was the money guy. It was quite a doozy!
[23:45] He got one of his first big rentals (a multi-unit apartment complex) through a “support group” of people like him who went to meet-ups and helped each other find properties. He made a video and his parents wrote letters to the property owner explaining why they wanted the property. One of the biggest takeaways from the early deals is the importance of persistence.
[31:45] With this multi-unit apartment property, their cash flow was going to be about $8000-$10,000 per month. It was fully renovated, and the rent on each unit was about $650. All the numbers checked out, and this multi-unit property was going to help them establish their legacy.
[36:20] Markian talks about the financing of the property, and also future plans for this property.
[39:55] Active Duty Passive Income is a website that Markian started while he was going through the trials of his first few properties. It started as writings and videos, and now it’s turned into a social network that provides advice and mentorship.
[41:55] The strategy they teach is that while you’re in the military, you should be buying, selling, and refinancing homes (smartly!) at every duty station using your VA loan, because it’s a 0% down. A VA loan is a Veterans Affair loan that allows you to buy a house that you intend to live in for 0% out of pocket. There are many other benefits of using a VA loan.
[46:33] One of the biggest fears they’ve encountered is that service members are worried about falling into debt during a market downturn. When you’re getting into a property, you have to make sure the numbers make sense. Look both backward and forward to ensure that it will still provide cash flow if the market changes. If you don’t sell, you must be looking at cash flow numbers.
If you’d like to become part of the Active Duty Passive Income community, visit their website or Facebook page following the links below.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Meetings
Daily REIA Show
Facebook Page
Brian’s Book
Active Duty Passive Income
Facebook Group
Social Network
markian@activedutypassiveincome.com
Military House Hacking Book (text “House Hacking” to 345345