#49 From W2 to Real Estate Investing with Ryan Rice
Ryan is an ex 14 year Fortune 30 where he spent most of his career in various operations roles leading large teams across multiple states. In his most recent role, him and his team were responsible for $4B+ in sales and well over $200M in expense management. Ryan jumped ship from his W2 career in November of 2020 and started investing in real estate full time in January of 2021. In his first year, Ryan closed 11 flips to add to his portfolio of a few rentals he previously acquired. In 2022, he’s looking to do 50+ deals and continue to expand his businesses and teams.
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Welcome to the Real Estate Masters podcast, where we interview the top names in the Real Estate game. If you want to grow your Real Estate business, see more podcasts, or get free resources – Go to www.REMmastermind.com. The only podcast that allows you to directly connect with the guests and many of the highest level names in the real estate game.
You are in for a treat with our next guest. Do me a favor, subscribe to the podcast, leave us a review, and don’t forget to go to www.REMmastermind.com to connect with some of the highest level Real Estate professionals in the United States through our community and through our high-level masterminds. Let’s go.
Itunes – www.TonyJavier.com/itunes
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Show Transcription:
Tony: (00:00)
Welcome to the real estate masters podcast, where we interview the top names in the real estate game. If you wanna grow your real estate business, see more podcast or get free resources, go to www.remcommunity.com. The only podcast that allows you to directly connect with the guests in many of the highest level names in real estate game, you are in for a treat with our next guest. Do me a favor, subscribe to the podcast, leave us a review. And don’t forget to go to REM community.com to connect with some of the highest level real estate professionals in United States through our community and through our high level masterminds. Let’s go
Tony: (00:40)
Welcome back everybody to real estate masters podcast. We have an awesome guest as usual. Uh, Mr. Ryan Rice, he is investing in multiple markets right now. Uh, not only that, but he recently last year left his job, uh, or actually may have been earlier this year and went full time into real estate investing. And then on top of that, he’s actually virtually rehabbing properties in another market, many, many miles away. So I thought Ryan would be great to come on and share his journey from being a, uh, an employee to going into real estate full time. And then also how he’s doing it virtually and doing something a lot of people, uh, aren’t able to do one rehab properties, two rehab them from, uh, far away. So welcome to the show, Ryan, glad to have you on man.
Ryan: (01:28)
Yeah, thanks so much for having me Tony excited to be on.
Tony: (01:31)
Yeah, absolutely. Man. So, uh, so let’s talk about how you got started. So first of all, tell us kind of how you learned about real estate and how you, um, got the itch to get into real estate.
Ryan: (01:43)
Yeah, that’s kinda where it all began for me. Um, for me, it started back in 2019, actually someone that I worked with, uh, her boyfriend was doing real estate full time and her and I were having a conversation about investing in real estate and she was like, wow, you actually seem pretty interested in this topic. Maybe you should have coffee with my boyfriend. And I, I, I didn’t know anything about the guy, but I was like, yeah, that sounds like a great idea. Um, long story short, we set up coffee had coffee for about four hours. If you can have coffee for that long. I had no idea when I set this up with him at the time, but, um, he owns hundreds of properties here and, uh, here in, in this area, he’s a, he’s a pretty big time investor and asked him a ton of questions. And I think he got me hooked. So he helped me with my first, uh, B R R R deal, um, that he sold me at the end of 2019. And then I, you know, rehabbed it and refind out in the first part of 2020. And that was my first, uh, you know, official real estate projects. That’s kind of what got me hooked. So that’s where it’s all began.
Tony: (02:46)
Sweet man. Very nice. That’s usually where it starts, right? Is you added the blue, you, you get information on real estate, you kind of learn about it. That’s how I got under real estate. I saw an info product on TV two years or 20 years ago rather. Uh, and that’s how I got into it. So, uh, you obviously saw the opportunity to real estate man, and you just jumped on it. So tell us about the transition. So you recently transitioned from your full-time job. So there’s a lot of people I’m I imagine that are listening in that are either wanting to get into real estate, uh, or in real estate, wanting to transition into it full time. Tell us how that transition went.
Ryan: (03:22)
Yeah, probably a little less conventional for me. Um, you know, I feel like when I’ve heard stories about people that have long careers and then leave real estate, they kind of, you know, wait till their renter rental income matches their previous income and then they’ll kind of leave, um, securely. But for me, you know, I’ve been at this job for almost 14 years. Um, and you know, I really enjoyed the job, had been promoted several times and was kind of working my way up the corporate ladder per se. And it was a great company that treated me really well. Um, and for the last five years prior to me leaving, I was in the same job, which was about two and a half years longer than I held any other job with the company. And, uh, my wife and I had kids, uh, back in 2017 and to continue to grow with this company, uh, we had to move and we had already moved four times with this company.
Ryan: (04:13)
Um, and I didn’t wanna move anymore. And you know, us settling down kind of limited growth and I was looking for a little more growth. And, um, you know, when I got turned on to real estate, obviously I saw a ton of opportunity. Um, so back in, gosh, it was probably 2019 when I first kind of started to financially plan to have some sort of transition. I didn’t know what the transition was gonna be. Um, but you know, I’m grateful my wife and I set our ourselves up pretty well financially to where we could make a jump, um, with quite a long runway. Uh, and so there was a lot of, um, I guess, fear of uncertainty, which for me was kind of interesting because, um, you know, having a secure paycheck every other week for 14 years almost, and jumping into a realm of uncertainty, uh, was something I was certainly not comfortable or used to.
Ryan: (05:05)
Um, but that, you know, I decided to jump into the deep end and that’s, that’s really kind of how it was. Um, I have a few rentals, you know, and I’m, I’m not to the point where the rental income was exceeding or, or even matching the previous income. I was getting paid pretty well at my previous job, but, you know, I was I’m, I was always looking for something that was a little bit more filling. Uh, I always had a dream of being an entrepreneur and doing something on my own. And, um, you know, I, I have outside of my previous career and I still currently, uh, continue with this person, but I have a coach that’s been kind of talking me through some things and I’ve been working with her since late 2019. And she was a big help in kind of helping me through the transition process, mainly with my mindset and my mentality. Um, and I’m grateful I did it, man. So I know that was kind of long, but just jumped into the deep end and, um, you know, I’m grateful for where I’m at now. So
Tony: (06:00)
Yeah, that’s awesome, man. Well, first of all, congrats on, on making that jump. That’s a, that’s a big jump. It took me, uh, about two years in real estate before I, I made the jump, uh, to get out of, uh, my previous job. I was just waiting tables and going to college at the time, but still it’s still, you know, one of those things where, like you said, you’re used to going to work and getting paid. And then all of a sudden it’s like, man, there’s, you know, months you get paid and get paid well there’s months that you don’t and you just have to ride that wave. And, uh, hopefully over the, uh, you know, the long haul, it, uh, ends up working out well. Um, one thing you mentioned was the coach, so that is impressive that even before you got into real estate or before you really kind of jumped into, into real estate, you had a coach.
Tony: (06:42)
I think that’s so important. I think that’s one thing that I mentioned, uh, I was on a podcast earlier today with, with someone and, um, they asked me what, what is one thing that I would do differently getting into real estate? And that would be getting support, um, a coach masterminds, good employees. So that’s really awesome that, uh, you were able to have a coach to help you with the transition, because like you said, the mindset behind it, you know, some people may, uh, may not, you know, be comfortable with doing that. And there may be some people that just struggle mentally doing that and having someone that can talk you through that and give you confide is super important. So that’s awesome. Is, is that a coach you hired yourself or was that like an executive coach that your previous company had for you?
Ryan: (07:25)
No, I hired him myself, you know, it was, it was kind of an interesting story of how it all transpired. Um, you know, my, my wife and I had been talking for probably a good three to four years before I left my job just about me wanting to do something different and I was kind of stuck. I didn’t really know where to go. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. I just, you know, I kind of had this gut feeling that my life was made for something bigger or, you know, I just wanted to do something more. Right. I felt like I had more to, to offer. Yeah. And, um, you know, I came across, I don’t even remember how I came across it, but I, I got introduced to Tony Robbins who I’m sure you’re familiar with. And, uh, you know, I read a couple of his books and started listening to some of his stuff.
Ryan: (08:05)
Um, but then I don’t, I don’t remember how I came across, you know, interacting with, uh, Tony Robbins coach or someone that, you know, I had an initial conversation with and, um, you know, it, wasn’t cheap. I’m sure as you know, and investing in, in your own personal develop meant through coaching can be expensive. Um, so that in and of itself was kind of uncomfortable when I made that decision, but I’m still grateful for her. I still do it to this day. You know, I think, uh, we’re, we’re probably coming up on two years working together and a lot’s changed in the two years and I give her a lot of credit for, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s interesting when you tell, talk to people that have a different realm of experience or awareness, even just cuz you know, they, they see things that you can’t and I think that’s the value of a coach, right? It’s like having a third party looking at your life and saying, Hey, have you thought about this? Or have you thought about this or introducing you to people that you might not, uh, have previously been aware of. But um, I, you know, I give a lot of credit to making that decision to where I am now for sure.
Tony: (09:04)
Fantastic. Yeah. Personal growth and development. Yeah. I’m very familiar with Tony Robbins. I actually went to a Tony Robbins seminar in 2012, uh, out of 4,000 people. Uh, my wife, well soon Tobe wife, uh, sat next to me out of 4,000 people. That’s how we met. So
Ryan: (09:20)
Oh too funny, man. Which, which event did you go to?
Tony: (09:23)
Uh, unleashed the power within.
Ryan: (09:24)
Yeah. Yeah. I did that virtually last year. It’s a good event.
Tony: (09:28)
Okay. Well, uh, if you did it virtually and you liked it in person, man, the energy there is amazing. It’s crazy. Crazy. So yeah. Tony Robb, Tony Robbins brings it. There’s no doubt about that.
Ryan: (09:40)
So, well that’s awesome man. Now you’re getting married.
Tony: (09:43)
Well, no, no, no. I’m sorry. I meant back then. She was soon to be, we got married in 2014. We’ve got a two and a half year old. We’ve been married a while now.
Ryan: (09:50)
Yeah. Okay. Well that worked out well for you then.
Tony: (09:52)
Yeah. Yeah, no, it’s been good. It’s been good. I met a, I met a lot at people through the Tony Robb seminars and really just any high level seminar I’ve been to, man. You, you just meet so many quality people when you go to those events and um, I’ve got private investors from those events. I’ve got friends from those events and actually I met my coach through one of those events. Um, five years ago, Brennan Bruce ARD. Who’s kind of like Tony Robbins. He’s you know, many Tony Robbins, some people, um, yeah,
Ryan: (10:17)
I know who
Tony: (10:17)
He’s but yeah, I met, I met, uh, my, my coach that I had for five years through, uh, through BR Biard. So that’s lots good, lots good people. Those events.
Ryan: (10:26)
Absolutely.
Tony: (10:28)
So let’s transition into what you’re doing now. So you’re, you’re on the east coast and you’re investing in another market. I don’t know if you wanna talk about your market. Some people like to and people don’t, uh, but you’re investing virtually you’re hundreds and hundreds of miles away from the properties you’re fixing, flipping mostly you’re doing some deals in your backyard. So tell us how you made that move, why you made that move and how it is managing properties from that far away.
Ryan: (10:52)
Yeah. You know, I’ll, I’ll talk first. Um, you know, you talk about coaches and not to give credit to another coach, but back in April, uh, you know, I’d already been kind of doing real estate full time for a few months. And I knew that if I wanted to scale to the point of where I had a vision to be, I needed to do something additional. Right. And so, uh, I invested in a real estate coach with Jake light who I think you’re familiar with. Um, and he kind of gave me, uh, he’s the, I gave him a lot of credit for knowing how to he teaches how to flip houses virtually. Um, so that’s kind of how I got into it. Um, in terms of the systems and processes. Yeah. I mean, you know, if I learned anything in my previous career, my previous job, uh, I managed a lot of large teams and when it comes to operat, our execution, everything comes down to the quality of your talent, the quality of your people.
Ryan: (11:41)
Right. Um, and so, you know, the short answer to how I’m able to flip houses virtually is I got, I got a rockstar team. I got people that I feel like are, are irreplaceable. And, um, that are just doing a phenomenal job there. Um, you know, I’m working on closing on flip number eight in a market that’s about 500 miles away from where I live and never step foot in any of the properties. I have no intention of going to the properties, you know, maybe at some point, cuz my operation is getting so big there maybe I’ll go visit that the team in person, cause I’d never actually met anyone in person. Um, but it was a lot of trial and error at first. I actually got frustrated when I first went into the market because, um, I wasn’t getting the results as quickly as, as I would’ve liked to, but I probably talked to 20 plus realtors in that market.
Ryan: (12:28)
I probably talked to 20 plus contractors in that market. Um, and I found a couple relationships that stuck and that’s kind of where it’s at. You know, some people, some people tell me, man, you’re so lucky to have the team that you have there to flip houses virtually and you know, rely on that team. And I’m like, yeah, I guess part of it’s luck. But when you consistently put in the work, right, I, I talk to over 40 people in that market. Eventually luck’s gonna find you. So I’m grateful for that team. And um, you know, I think having the right people there is what’s enabled me to see some success.
Tony: (13:01)
Cool, awesome. Well, you’re growing pretty, pretty, uh, pretty quickly, um, and, and doing deals from, from very, very far away what, so team teams are very important. So that kind, like I mentioned earlier, having support, which again is employee is, um, coaches is masterminds, but also subcontractors and people that are working for you in your business, super important. Um, it’s been a lot of trial and error for me as well. Um, you know, with contractors, you know, contractors will tell you they can do something great. They look great on paper. They’ll give you good estimates. They’ll, they’ll show up to the first job, maybe the second job. And then eventually a lot of ’em fade out. So there’s a lot of trial and error there. Um, but after a while you kind of get that sniff test and you, you managed a lot of people over the years at your previous job, so I’m sure you, you got to sniff out a lot of people that, you know, you realize they were BSing and that kind of thing.
Tony: (13:51)
So you do have that experience, but having the right people is very crucial. I, I flip, um, you know, quite a few houses from, I think it’s like 1500 miles, 12 or 1500 miles. I can’t remember. So I live in San Diego and, and, and invest in Wichita. So I know how important it is to have people on the ground to, to make sure that everything is, is buttoned up. And I don’t know about you, but I really like not going into the houses, you know, because I used to visit houses once, uh, you know, go to pretty much every project once a week, sometimes multiple times in a week, every time I’d go, I’d get frustrated at something or I’d find something new. So it’s better to be updated, you know, get pictures and then see the high level progress of the, of the properties opposed to seeing every little, see no detail, which there’s positives to that too. Um, cuz there are some things that you’re gonna miss, but when it comes down to it, um, the opportunities and the time that you get not having to go to those properties is gonna come back and other opportunities, uh, down the road. Right?
Ryan: (14:53)
Yeah, absolutely. You know, it’s funny, you, you talk about that cuz I have some projects going on in my backyard here. Um, and we just sold one a couple weeks ago and I actually like doing projects in my market. That’s hundreds of miles away more than I like doing my backyard because it’s so easy to get sucked in, into the ones in my backyard from a time perspective. Right. So this one that we just sold, I probably visited it four or five times just cuz you know, it’s 40 minutes away. Right. It’s easy for me to get distracted or drive out. Just kind of see how things are going or you know, my contractor knows I’m local. My agent knows I’m local, so it’s just kind of a different feel. So yeah, it’s, it’s uh, it’s kind of funny from that regard. I, I enjoy flipping houses that are far away because it forces you to have good systems, uh, cuz you can’t physically be there, which frees you up more time to, to do more projects or whatever, you know, you wanna spend that time doing.
Tony: (15:44)
Yep. Awesome. Uh, what’s next for you? What, what do you see as your vision for the future? Like do you plan on just, you know, flipping in your ity and then other market, do you plan on opening other markets? Like what, what do you see happening for you, uh, in the next year to five years?
Ryan: (15:59)
Yeah. So, you know, I think I’ll just start with next year. Um, you know, as you know, I’m getting into TV, right? So, um, we’ll be doing some more off market marketing, all the projects that I’ve acquired this year of all been on the off of MLS, believe it or not. Uh, and so next year I’d like to scale and do anywhere from three to five, maybe more projects per month. Uh, and that’s, you know, this year I’ll probably close around 10 projects. Um, whereas next year, you know, if I wanna get to anywhere from 35 to 60, that’s gonna be quite the, the scale of operation. So, um, right now what I’m working on is drastically ramping up my marketing so I can have a good influx of leads setting up my infrastructure so I can handle all those leads and then getting all the ducks in a row, uh, for production and being able to execute all the stuff that’s gonna come our way. So it’s kind of the immediate future. Um, you know, I, I wanna push hard this next year and just kind of see what I can can accomplish. It’ll be my second year, um, in the business and I’m, I’m looking forward to what that’ll bring, but yeah, it’s gonna be a, a busy year of acquisitions and getting some projects done. Hopefully
Tony: (17:09)
That’s awesome, man. Well, you’re doing things when I was two years into business, which has been eight to years ago, a long time ago. Uh, you’re doing things that it took me a long time to do and that’s, you know, finding good people, that’s hiring coaches. Um, you know, you hired me to help you with your, uh, with your TV and get you guys, get you guys launched. That’s something that back then I probably would’ve achieved out and maybe tried to do it myself and gone through a huge learning curve and maybe F fail just like I, you know, have on a lot of things. But, um, so it seems like you’re doing a lot of the right things. And uh, the fact that you worked for the same company, you said was it for 14 years, um, shows you have consistency and discipline, and obviously you were doing great things there cuz you, you know, moved up and, and uh, and that kind of thing.
Tony: (17:53)
I just hired someone that’s been with the company for 15 years. Um, and he did the same thing. He started, you know, entry level and just moved his way up. And um, you know, he didn’t go off as an entrepreneur. He came over and, and moved over to my company so he could get to that next opportunity. That next thing, uh, for you obviously it’s real estate and, and uh, in investing. So no, no doubt in my mind that you’re gonna continue to be a success. You’re doing the right things. You’re, you know, hiring the right people and, and surrounding yourself with the right people and, and, and that kind of thing. So, um, what else would you like to share? I mean, you know, I, you know, as you know, so I have a lending business, right? So when someone comes to me and they say, I want, I want you to lend me money for rehab.
Tony: (18:36)
So we lend down payment money to real estate investors. If someone says, they’ve never done a project before, and they’re like, oh, this is an easy one. We’re gonna go in and we’re gonna be done in three weeks. I know it’s gonna be three months. If not six, I know that budget’s gonna be higher. I mean, there’s so many different things you can learn. No doubt from the first project, two projects, three projects. Now you’re about eight rehabs in, in your other market. What are some big things that you learned through the, the rehab process?
Ryan: (19:06)
Everything that you just said for sure. Um, you know, I think the, the first project I did this year, my original vision was to spend about 40 grand. Uh, when it was all said and done, I spent 65, right. And that’s just kind of the nature of the beast and also had a little bit to do with the type of contractor, um, that, that I chose. But, you know, the, the rehab process is, um, uh, as you know, it, there’s a, there’s a lot of unknown, right. You know, a lot of contractors that people are gonna, uh, try and bring in, they’re gonna do the best they can to, to come up with a, a good bid. But, you know, when you start taking off flooring and, uh, you know, it’s when you uncover stuff, there’s gonna be more issues. Right. Um, something, another coach has taught me is OB obviously the, uh, the earlier the year built the more to, just to kinda, uh, factor in for stuff like that.
Ryan: (19:57)
And coincidentally, all the projects that I’ve been doing have been built, you know, before 1920. So they’re incredibly old projects and, um, we’re demoing all of them down to the studs and completely redoing everything. Um, but yeah, you, you know, I don’t know. I think if I’ve learned anything for someone that’s just wanting to get in the game, I think one of the best investments that we can make is in a good coach. Right. And, uh, I think a lot of people don’t think about that. I think a lot of people wanna just get in and get their hand, their hands dirty, which is good. I think taking action and get your first project under your belt is, is probably the biggest step, but there’s nothing more valuable than getting a coach like you, or, um, just someone that’s been doing it for, you said, you’ve been doing it for 20 years, right.
Ryan: (20:39)
There’s nothing more valuable than having guidance or just advice or access to someone that’s been doing it over and over. And, you know, I’m grateful for you. I’m grateful for, uh, the other real estate coach that I hired. And, um, even the, the gentleman who I shared earlier, who I had coffee with, who kind of got me into this whole thing, he’s been a mentor to me as well. So without all of those pieces of the puzzle, you know, regardless of how easy or difficult a rehab process or whatever that might be, you know, uh, I don’t think I’d be where I am now. So that’s, that’s probably the best thing I could say to someone looking and get into the game is find someone that’s been doing it for a while, and that can, that can teach you even if it costs money. You know, a lot of people, um, I don’t know, a lot of people will, won’t bat an eye at spending over a thousand dollars a year on an iPhone or something like that. But when it comes, when it comes to spending like five grand on a good coach or something, they’re like, oh my gosh, that’s so much money. So, you know, I think it’s a kind of a different perspective, but
Tony: (21:43)
Really what you’re doing is you’re paying for speed. You’re paying for accuracy and you’re paying not to make mistakes, you know? Yeah. Uh, I think there’s a quote that says, either you pay now or you pay later, so you pay now for education and coaching and potentially, you know, not have so many mistakes or you pay for it later because you make those mistakes. Um, because you didn’t get guidance and you didn’t get, um, someone else’s experience. Right. So love it, man. Love it, love it. So, uh, I’m glad we met, I’m looking forward to launching you on TV next year. That’s something that I think is gonna really propel, uh, you and your vision and, and what you’re doing. Um, any last thoughts before we kind of start wrapping this up?
Ryan: (22:25)
No, I, I really appreciate having me on it was fun. Um, definitely looking forward to the TV piece and kind of seeing what that’s, what that’s gonna do to my business. I’m sure it’s gonna give quite a bit of influx of incoming, uh, incoming deals, but no, I appreciate, appreciate the time. And, um, just looking forward to getting to know you more and interacting with what you’ve been going on and learning from what you’ve been doing for the past 20 years. So
Tony: (22:48)
Absolutely your client of mine now. So when you think I can do to help, I would love to do that. Um, I know you just came on really to add value to, uh, to our, uh, to our community. Is there anywhere someone could reach out to you or anything, uh, you know, anywhere you wanna send someone to, uh, follow you or, or, uh, you know, just connect with you if they’d like to.
Ryan: (23:08)
Yeah, that’s a good question. Check out my Instagram. Uh, I’ve been putting a lot of stuff out there from a real estate perspective there. So, uh, I’m at the Ryan Rice on Instagram, I guess there’s a lot of Ryan Rice is out there. So I had to pick some sort of name, but at the Ryan Rice is where he can find me, um, put out pretty regularly real estate, pretty regular real estate content there. And, uh, try to add as much value to I as I can to the real estate can community there and just kind of sharing my journey. Um, so that’d be a good place to connect. I’ve had a lot of people that, you know, might have a similar background to me that are in a, in a corporate job where they might want something different. They come and chat with me there, or just kind of have an interest in real estate investing and they’ll connect with me there. So that’s a good spot.
Tony: (23:52)
Awesome. Yeah. As I told you, I have two Ryan Rice clients that are in my TV program. I have, I have you guys separated somehow in my phone, so I know who too, uh, so it can be a little confusing. So appreciate your time or Ryan man, hopefully everyone got great value out of this. Invest in yourself, invest in, um, you know, invest in coaches. Um, really just take the right steps to, to, to grow in yourself and, and grow in your business and, um, uh, appreciate it, man. Best of luck to you. And we’ll talk to you again soon.
Ryan: (24:21)
Yeah, that sounds great. Thanks, Tony.
Tony: (24:22)
All right. See you, buddy. Bye.
Tony: (24:24)
Thanks for now. Go to www.remcommunity.com to connect with today’s guest. See your high level masterminds and to get free resources. Don’t forget to share this with a friend and Levi us a five star review we’ll see ya on the next episode.