The stories we tell ourselves will either up-level our future, keep us on a comfortable plateau, or bring us down lower than we have been in the past.  This is one story from my life - my current life - and how I’m using it to create my future instead of being at the mercy of it.  

Before you read another word, I’d love to give you the chance to ask yourself to explore the story you are telling yourself about The Year 2020.  

Are you telling yourself that “it was hard”?  How many years have you reflected back and said those words?  I remember people saying that about 2019, 2018, 2017 and on and on.  “It’s just been a hard year,” they say, shaking their heads at the fact that they expected life to just be easy.  

Are you telling yourself that you’re just “getting through it” as if the clock striking midnight on Dec 31, 2020 will turn us all back to the way we were before the pandemic?  Personally, I wouldn’t want to be the way I was before the pandemic.  I’ve grown and evolved as a human way too much as a result of the pandemic, learned too many lessons, nurtured too many relationships for me to want to go back. 

Are you telling yourself that “this is just the beginning” of your growth, your learning and your success because 2020 was full of amazing opportunities despite hardships?

No matter which route you are aware that you’re on from the above examples, you can start telling yourself an improved story at this very moment, if you want.  Stories are just thoughts, after all.

The story you tell yourself about The Year 2020 (if you don’t catch yourself in the act and make a change to your mind management) will carry through to The Year 2021 and you will be potentially living in a stagnant loop or a spiral that has most likely already begun.  The interesting thing about a spiral is that it can either go up or go down.  We choose which direction our life goes with the power of our thoughts and what we choose to believe about ourselves and what is possible for us.

News Flash! Anything is possible for you.

Really.

The Story I Created

It was about 7:10am on some random workday in mid-November 2019.  I was putting on my mascara to get ready for another day as an elementary school educator.  I was calling down the hallway to my five year old to see if he had actually started to sit up in bed or if he went back to sleep. When he didn’t answer, I knew he was snuggled up in his blanket, just like I secretly wanted to be.

An idea whizzed through my brain that made me jump slightly, shake my head and blink three times fast.  I nearly poked my eye out with my mascara wand.  

Apartment Syndication + Short Term Rental Management = Exponential Success 

Now, the idea of rental arbitrage (leasing an apartment to turn around and list it as a short-term rental, AKA Airbnb) was not new.  People run this model successfully these days and probably always will.  The percentage of apartment property management companies or apartment owners who are satisfied or unsatisfied with this model remains to be discovered. 

My idea was, however, that the management of the short term rental units in the apartment would be in-house.  The strategies, management, guest communications, pricing, and finish-out would all be controlled by people the syndication team already trusted.  

Now, all I had to do was become that trusted person; the trusted short term rental manager inside an apartment syndication team.

My Humble Beginnings

Jump backwards about two years, my husband and I had been investing passively in apartment deals since 2017.  Our first passive deal had gone full-cycle within 18 short months and we had invested passively a second time.  This is when I met Elisa Zhang and invested in their Oak Tree/Rise on McDowell deal in Phoenix in August 2019.  

Before that, in January 2019, my husband and I purchased a log cabin house nestled in the pines of the Texas Hill Country from my mom and dad.  This was a family heirloom and I would stop at nothing to own it myself.  After we closed, we were quickly running it as a short term vacation rental/Airbnb and haven’t looked back since.  

As of this writing we have hosted approximately 275 guests over two years of operation from Dec 2018 to Dec 2020.  We love the STR model because we block the cabin off for ourselves when we want, for how long we want, and enjoy it as our own vacation rental as other people’s money pay the bills. 

And I am not ashamed to say it that way.  

Our beloved guests experience the magic of this place and they love it just as much as we do.  The exchange of value is not to be overlooked.  Our guests gladly pay the nightly rate to stay in our cabin and, in turn, we lovingly care for the property and provide tons of extra amenities so guests create five-star memories here. 

The Magic of Economic Shutdown

The economic shutdown in Texas stifled our rental revenue for only 2.5 months in 2020. We held fast in our commitment to keeping the cabin as a vacation rental. We didn’t waiver, even with $4500 in cancellations between March and April. We refunded everyone with love and respect.

The turnaround was quick, though. Since May 2020, 100% of weekends at the cabin have been occupied by either guests, co-workers or family.  At times, we’ve been 90% occupied, which is astounding.  Occasionally, we get a little chuckle out of gambling with the odds.  If there’s an open weekend on the Airbnb calendar, we will claim it for ourselves but leave it available to be booked.  Usually, a few days or even a week before our “big trip” to the cabin, someone grabs it up to have a girls weekend, couples retreat, or peaceful time alone. 

My husband and I celebrate and pout at the same time because the revenue is nice but we know its a fine line between the sweetness of additional income and the celebration of a weekend getaway.  But we’ll gladly share the cabin with others.  They may need it more than we do in that moment.

At the tail-end of the shutdown in Texas, it seemed like everyone wanted out of their houses, out of their cities, and into a secluded cabin in the woods as the pandemic stretched on through the summer.  It couldn’t be more perfect for our rental business.  And this trend is continuing into 2021. 

Because this is the story I’m choosing to tell myself about our cabin.  

Everyone wants to be here. 

They come from far and wide to experience the peace of this place.

They want to come back.

And they do. 

Year after year. 

You may be wondering why I’m talking about the cabin so much.  At this very moment in time, I’m here, gazing past my computer screen at the ripples of water and falling leaves on the lake.  The pine trees sway and the pine needles glow green in the sunlight.  Its Christmas Eve and we are on our family vacation at our little slice of heaven, The Blessed Cloud - Log Cabin on the Lake in La Grange, TX.

Connecting the Dots

Back to my “idea baby” of dedicated STR units within an apartment syndication; I knew I had to be the trusted team member for just one open-minded syndicator who understood the power and trajectory of the shared economy model.  Enter Elisa.

On New Year’s Day 2020, I called Elisa and talked with her briefly about this “idea baby” I had, waiting patiently in my mind to be born into reality.  She and I kept in contact and also saw each other for the first time, face to face, at a networking event in March 2020. 

It wasn’t until September 2020 when she and I connected again and really started talking about the value of educating others, growth goals she had for EZ FI University and how I could join her team.  We started consistently working together, day after day.  We would bounce ideas off one another and share in this creative synergy of making something from nothing.  It was, and still is, exhilarating.  For those of you who don’t know Elisa, this chick moves at a fast pace.  Better buckle in and do your part if you want to work alongside her.

Elisa closed on a 24-unit complex of efficiencies in Scottsdale, AZ in November 2020.  Several units were vacant and she asked if I was interested in running a few of them as STRs on Airbnb.  

Could this be?  Could this story actually be coming true?  Hell yes it was.  And I was not only “in,” I was all in!  My motto for 2020 (as a side note) was “Bring It On” and I powerfully choose to carry it into 2021.

How could I say no?  

So I said YES!

I said yes to this opportunity to be coached and mentored by one of the smartest people in the apartment syndication world.  I said yes to being stretched beyond my comfortable plateau.  I said yes to the story I had been telling myself for 12 solid months that…

Apartment Syndications + Short Term Rentals + Exponential Success!!!

And I said yes to me being a totally evolved version of myself through this process of growth.

Elisa and I are just getting started.  

This is just the beginning.

And I hope you stay tuned to see what else Elisa and I create.

For now, take a little look at our first GlamPad in Old Town Scottsdale, AZ. Open for business. Ready to provide an extraordinary short term rental experience.

A Glimpse from the Past into the Future, Which is the Present

Below are a few pictures from my personal journal that I was writing in 2019/2020 that I found particularly interesting.  All the projections that I wrote down were totally without knowing how to do it or who would help me make it real.  I just knew that it was going to happen, no matter what.

Little did I know that I would be solidifying my decision to end my 16-year teaching career because of my belief in my work in real estate.  We may not be traveling the country in an RV just yet, but I’ve already traveled out to AZ in my adventures in launching the STR units with Elisa.  My husband and son got to see the Grand Canyon for the first time and we spent Thanksgiving in the painted desert.  How much fun is that?  And I didn’t even know it would end up this way.  So perfect!

The highlighted projection to the left happened way faster than I thought it would and before all the other projections I wrote out.  Do you think I was upset by that?  Not in the least.

I shared the image to the right of my projections for Rise on McDowell with Elisa. Jokingly, I told her she’d better get busy. The clock is ticking. Secretly, I have a feeling this might become true as well. Oh! The wonder of passive investing with an experienced sponsor!

What About You?

I’ll ask you again.  What stories will you powerfully choose to carry with you into 2021? 

What stories will you put to rest? 

And what stories will you create? 

The future belongs to you.  You may not know how, exactly, but your commitments can become your reality.

We’ve all heard the saying “Thoughts Become Things” but I’d like to add, “Beliefs will Be your Life.”

With hard work, strong beliefs and the right education and relationships, you are unstoppable.

Ashley Wolfe is a full-time elementary school librarian, wife, mom, Real Estate Investor, short term rental owner/operator/manager, yarn dyer and Life Coach. She specializes in coaching other Real Estate Investors on mind management to improve their investing and personal lives.

Reach out to her at wolfepackproperties@gmail.com for questions about short term rentals or coachwithwolfe@gmail.com for questions about coaching.