By Guest Writer: Kristen Tejada

Disclaimer: Everything in this article is my own opinion based on my experiences and personal knowledge acquired. This is not intended to be financial advice.

“So, where do you live?” Before last year, this was one of the easiest questions to answer. “I have a house just north of Seattle.” I even felt a swell of pride when telling other people I bought myself a house as a single woman at 29 years old and seeing their surprised (and sometimes impressed) reactions. Today, my answer is very different though, and brings with it even more pride and a feeling of liberation. “I’m homebase-less. I live everywhere and nowhere.” Not only did I make a rent vs sell vs keep my house decision in the middle of a pandemic, but also went from not knowing what real estate investing was to being an LP (limited partner) in 5 multi family syndication deals totaling about 1,000 doors in less than a year. And I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life. How? Because I created a vision for my life that got me so excited, every decision I made and continue to make is driving towards making it a reality.

As I’m reflecting on how I got to this point, and how I might be able to help others who are struggling with what next move to make or what to invest in, I identified five steps that I believe were critical in helping me make this choice:

#1: Surround yourself with like minded people, preferably ones who have already gotten to where you’re trying to be. For me, that was joining EZ FI University once I learned what financial independence was and what people were doing in their FI lives. I heard Elisa’s story and knew I wanted to have that freedom. As part of the group, I was now meeting regularly with a group of people who were all striving for the same goal. Some had already achieved FI, most were way ahead of me (or at least it felt that way), but what mattered is that this concept became a constant in my life. Plus, having to share what I was doing to progress on my journey every two weeks made me actually have to start figuring out what I was going to DO to make progress. It spurred new thoughts and action.

#2: Get clear on what you want your FI life to look like. What’s your vision when you no longer have to focus on how to make money? Before last year, I never even asked myself that question. I never thought I would not work until I was 65. So I got a good corporate job, bought myself a house, and settled in. I won’t bore you with the details of what's on my vision board for my financially independent life, but I can tell you it doesn’t include a house that makes me feel guilty whenever I leave it because of how much I’m paying for it. I was only able to come to the conclusion that I should either sell or rent my house because I had such clarity on what my life could look like and how this decision actually helped me get closer to that. My point here is that you need to let yourself dream about that life, and then anchor yourself to that vision. It doesn’t have to stay static, but I guarantee it won't look anything like what your life is now (if you’re not already on the path to FI).

#3: Find a mentor who can be a neutral sounding board. Big decisions like whether to sell your house or how to invest a large sum of your hard earned money come wrapped up in a lot of emotion, with one of those being fear. What if I make the wrong decision, what if I lose everything, what will other people think if I do this? Having a mentor who has achieved what you want to achieve and can act as a sounding board helps you work through which parts of this are tied to emotions vs logic. I’m not saying every decision should be made solely on logic. Deciding to actually sell my house was also based on emotion; My mentor helped me realize that having this house was actually the biggest drain on me both emotionally, physically, and financially. Only then was I able to come to the conclusion that I should either rent it or sell it.

#4: Do your research and gather the data to aid in your decision. Once I knew I was going to try to turn my house from a financial burden into an asset, I had to make the rent vs sell decision. I did research on what rents were like in my area for similar houses, my expenses, and what it would cost to outsource property management vs self managing. After looking at that data and realizing I might barely break even plus I’d now have the additional job of landlord added to my plate, I decided to look at selling. I researched what comparable homes were selling for in my neighborhood and was put in touch with several local realtors to get their input on what I might be able to list for. COVID pricing definitely threw a wrench in this decision because prices were all over the place. I was fortunate enough to have my realtor best friends refer me to an amazing local agent who helped me get clarity on pricing after running more detailed analysis. Having this data in hand, the decision became a no brainer.

#5: Make the call and take action. Once I had all of the data plus my vision of wanting to travel to spend time with my friends and family across the country, I knew what I needed to do. Renting was not going to get me closer to my FI goals. I would be bogged down by landlord related fairs. Selling would help me get closer. So I listed the house and ended up doubling my equity after accounting for selling costs. Going through this process, I knew that I didn’t have a strong interest, the knowledge, or interest in getting the knowledge to actively invest in real estate and go purchase a duplex that could actually net me a profit. I wanted to focus my time on building other side hustles that aligned with my personal passions. That’s why I got educated on passive investing in multifamily via EZ FI U, leveraged my relationship with my mentor who was also an avid apartment investor, and took my profits from the sale of the house to invest passively in three deals. I went from spending $2,000+ per month on a mortgage to saving $4,000+ per month, plus making tax advantaged passive income, all while fulfilling my vision of being able to travel to spend more time with my family and close friends.

By no means am I advocating that everyone should go out and sell their house to get some cash. Everyone’s journey is going to be different, and everyone’s path to FI will require different actions and sacrifices. What I am advocating for is that you start with your vision first. Get grounded in what you want your life to look like so that the actions you take to get that life will be focused. I guarantee you will have less analysis paralysis and regrets on the decisions you make to drive towards that goal because they are rooted in purpose. It’s easier to make choices when you know exactly why you’re doing it and what role it will play in getting you closer to your vision. You might be surprised at what decisions you make once you have clarity on a vision of what you want your life to look like and let yourself dream a little bigger.

About Kristen Tejada

Kristen is a member of EZ FI University. She is an avid traveler and FI enthusiast that currently living her life to the fullest. Kristen has invested in over 1000 units passively and is passionately help to educate others to reach FI earlier than they imagined.