Blue Gems Podcast

Welcome to today’s episode of Blue Gems with Brindy Jean, an STR investor and host. She started as a property manager at a tech startup and bought her first home in Phoenix, Arizona. With March Madness coming up, she decided to earn some extra cash by renting out her house and became hooked on the STR game. The biggest hurdle she faced was the gap between a solid, W-2 job to making an income full time in the STR field. From using TurnoverBnB to coaching tips to design and budget, Brindy is sharing blue gems from her experience. 

Brindy encourages STR investors everywhere to go beyond Airbnb and create short term rental businesses, not Airbnb businesses. If you start out on Airbnb like Brindy did, make a plan to add other platforms and direct booking because the STR space is going to shift to more direct bookings and retargeting prior customers. 

Blue Gems Management- https://bluegemsmgmt.co/

STR Meet Up- https://bluegemsgroup.com/

Connect with Brindy

Instagram- @airbrindy

Website- www.airbrindy.com

[00:00] Episode teaser

[00:29] Show intro 

[01:02] About Brindy and why she chose STRs 

[02:14] Transitioning from a W-2 to full time STRs for 2 years

[04:41] Brindy’s current portfolio: arbitrage, coaching, personal properties, etc. 

[07:33] The first step to getting an STR 

[10:14] What Brindy’s team looks like

[12:27] Automations and tech 

[15:29] TurnoverBnB

[18:26] Maintenance and handymen

[21:54] Blue Gems Management 

[22:22] Handymen cont. 

[23:46] Using VAs in the business 

[28:09] Budget for furniture and where to find it 

[37:21] Advice for new real estate investors 

[37:57] Future of STRs 

[38:55] One last blue gem

[40:03] Where to find Brindy 

[40:33] Wrapping it up 

Chris Senegal’s start into real estate came when he dreaded his 9-5 job and knew he needed to get out. Since then he’s acquired whole neighborhoods from distressed sellers who just want to be relieved of a “burden” that they inherited. Part of Chris’ portfolio is in Peerspace and he is getting into the details of renting out a space for events.

Getting a space ready for Peerspace is more expensive than it would be for an Airbnb, but the ROI has the potential to 10x what it would be as an STR. Chris is focusing on investing around a big development with Airbnb, Peerspace, and an apartment complex with a unique concept. As his last blue gem, Chris is sharing his triangle of success and is for sure to inspire you to diversify your STR game.

Blue Gems Management: https://bluegemsmgmt.co/

STR Meetup: https://bluegemsgroup.com/

[00:00] Episode teaser

[00:35] Show intro

[01:08] Chris’ story in the STR game

[04:23] Creative financing

[10:53] What is Chris most excited about?

[12:16] What is Peerspace and why is Chris excited about it?

[14:32] Handling parking for Peerspace

[15:25] Determining ROI for renting out to Peerspace

[17:12] Airbnb vs. Peerspace

[19:15] Arbitrage model with Peerspace

[21:08] Blue Gems Management

[21:36] Getting a property Peerspace ready

[24:06] Competitors in the area

[24:48] Peerspace from a marketing perspective

[25:44] Challenges when setting up on Peerspace

[27:39] What is Chris up to right now?

[30:28] Advice for real estate newbies

[32:37] A day in the life of Chris

[33:36] The last blue gem

[35:02] Closing it out

Sean Rakidzich is joining us on today’s episode of Blue Gems. Sean is a STR arbitrage guy who has built his business from the ground up by arbitraging. With this unique strategy, Sean has been able to make STRs truly passive without taking a profit cut. If you want to follow this strategy for your own STR portfolio, Sean is explaining the steps to take to get you from 0 doors to 150 or more.

Across almost every industry, people are having a hard time finding and keeping good employees. Sean is talking about how his company finds quality employees from cleaners to management. Content creation has been a big factor in Sean’s career. Through all his hard work and investments, Sean now lives for himself and doesn’t have to set an alarm clock in the morning.

Blue Gems Management- https://bluegemsmgmt.co

STR Meet Up- https://bluegemsgroup.com

[00:00] Episode teaser [00:30] Show intro [01:03] Sean’s background

[01:33] Why arbitrage and not purchasing?

[03:16] What about the passive income aspect?

[05:40] Software to make things passive

[07:24] Systemizing your business

[11:19] What are rule sets?

[13:33] Generating leads

[16:00] The process of furnishing all the new doors

[18:09] Hiring and finding cleaners

[19:59] Who handles all the guests?

[21:32] Blue Gems Management

[22:00] Is Sean doing anything different from competitors?

[24:12] How does Sean pick up co-host clients?

[24:56] Growing an audience through content creation

[27:21] How much time does Sean use for content

[29:40] Would Sean go back and change his channel?

[30:30] Sean’s hobbies

[32:54] Advice for real estate newbies

[33:11] What is a day in the life?

[34:11] The last blue gem

[37:38] Closing it out

Today on Blue Gems we have Julie George all the way from Australia. After selling her short term rental company Julie moved into the mentoring and coaching space and now meets with people all over the world in the STR community. Starting out, Julie did all the work herself. She was the guest experience manager, cleaner, business owner, and more. As her portfolio grew she hired co-hosts and eventually a property manager. When she scaled her business to 130 properties, she sold her portfolio to pursue her passion of traveling and speaks at real estate conferences around the globe.

Julie is predicting that short term rentals will explode even more and be the main form of accommodation for travelers. She’s talking about the markets she would buy in if she were to start buying properties again. For Julie the joy in life never ends and she is able to live out her dreams thanks to short term rentals. Julie’s philosophy is dream bigger then dream bigger. Accomplish your dreams by educating yourself and creating a solid business plan, and make sure to surround yourself with people who support you and enhance your energy.

Connect with Julie George

FB/Instagram/LinkedIn: @juliegeorge

Website: milliondollarhost.au

Blue Gems Management: https://bluegemsmgmt.co/

STR Meetup: https://bluegemsgroup.com/

[00:00] Episode teaser

[00:33] Show intro

[01:06] How did Julie get into short term rentals?

[03:31] What is Julie doing with her time now?

[05:06] How did Julie scale her short term rentals

[08:52] When did Julie add employees

[09:51] What is a co-host and what are they in charge of?

[11:21] The portfolio makeup

[13:21] Where did Julie find her clients?

[14:21] How did Julie go about selling the business?

[16:18] Julie’s book [18:05] Blue Gems Management

[18:32] Where is Airbnb going?

[20:04] Where would Julie look for new properties?

[22:00] Julie’s plan after the euphoria of selling

[23:00] Advice for someone just starting out

[24:06] One thing Julie would have done differently if she could go back

[25:19] The last blue gem

[26:06] Where to find Julie

[26:23] Closing it out

Today on Blue Gems is Eddie Garcia, credit specialist. He’s getting into the differences between personal and business credit and how it applies as an entrepreneur or investor. Learn what banks are actually looking when you’re trying to borrow on credit (hint: it’s not your credit score). Positive borrowing behaviors can help you get the bank’s trust and access to lower interest rates.

When the economy tightens up, so do banks. Knowing how to leverage your business credit can help you continue investing in leaner times. Communicating with your bank will build trust and allow you a greater deal of flexibility when it comes to future borrowing. But what happens when your credit tanks after a bad business move? Eddie specializes in helping clients get out of that hole.

You want relationships with the people who lend money so you can become partners and not be a consumer. Whatever you want to do in life, it takes courage. Just take the steps and go get your goals.

Blue Gems Management- https://bluegemsmgmt.coSTR

Meet Up- https://bluegemsgroup.com

Where to connect with EddieInsta- @eddiergarcia23

Phone number- (619) 259-3809

[00:00] Episode teaser

[00:29] Show intro

[01:02] Intro to Eddie

[02:06] How to reach Eddie if you need credit help

[03:19] Business vs. personal credit

[05:53] What are banks looking for in business loan?

[08:17] Which cards have the best perks?

[10:01] Good borrowing behaviors to do

[13:56] Typical interest rates Eddie is seeing

[18:45] What are Airbnb clients normally coming to Eddie for?

[26:42] Blue Gems Management

[27:09] Establishing 250k of business credit

[31:21] A day in the life for Eddie

[34:01] The last blue gem

[35:26] Where to find Eddie Garcia

[36:13] Closing out

Bridget Brick, a short and long term real estate investor, is joining Blue Gems today to change your perspective on money. Go from thinking about the move in front of you like in checkers, to thinking strategy like in chess. As an investor, knowing the cycle of trigger points in the market will allow you to play the game on a whole different level.

Supply and demand are constantly in play, and we are getting into supply vs. demand in the context of this real estate cycle. If you’re looking to tap into the equity of your homes, Bridget is talking about the specific loan she does to help real estate investors scale quickly.

Did you know you could arbitrage money? Bridget is taking listener’s deep into this strategy for investors. Every dollar you have is a foot soldier you can use for your gain, whether you choose to utilize it or not. A great way to learn how to move your foot soldiers is to learn from others who have done what you want to do and are in the market.

Blue Gems Management- https://bluegemsmgmt.co

STR Meet Up- https://bluegemsgroup.com

Connecting with Bridget

Instagram- @bridget_brix

trustcapitol.com

[00:00] Episode teaser

[00:27] Show intro

[01:00] A little bit about Bridget Brick

[02:03] Reframing your thinking about money

[05:16] Why you should care about trigger points as an investor

[07:58] Where are we at in the cycle right now?

[09:15] Demand vs. supply

[10:27] Different ways to tap into home equity

[15:08] Where does the money come from if not the government?

[16:09] Blue Gems Management

[16:37] Purchasing at high value/low rate vs. low value/high rate

[19:05] Arbitraging money

[22:44] Some expenses associated with a loan/the time value of money

[25:09] How does a new investor learn where to put their money?

[27:11] A day in the life of Bridget

[29:06] The last blue gem

[30:12] Where you can find Bridget

[30:33] Closing it out

If you don’t have a plan how do you know what to invest in? Bill Faeth, a self proclaimed serial entrepreneur, gets into how to architect your life before you invest in a short term rental. One strategy Bill uses to build his portfolio is investing by following the pod system. He buys large cash flow rentals to support the smaller rentals he and his wife will eventually retire in.

Bill co-hosts a small portfolio, and focuses on marketing each one of the rentals he works with. His goal is to make clients more money so he is able to raise his rates. If you want to self-manage and learn how to market off platform, Bill is getting into strategies he uses for his own properties. Now that demand is coming down, marketing yourself well is a need in today’s world.

Insurance, contracts, signs, and LLCs are an important topic not many people talk about in the STR world. Being properly insured is a back up for you as the owner if something bad happens at one of your rentals (like someone slipping on icy steps). Planning for everything will give you a clear path to follow on your STR journey. Your plan may change again and again, but don’t leave anything up to chance.

Blue Gems Management- https://bluegemsmgmt.co

STR Meet Up- https://bluegemsgroup.com

Where to connect with Bill

Instagram- @billfaeth73

Tik Tok- @bfaeth

[00:00] Episode teaser

[00:35] Show intro

[01:08] Bill’s background

[02:27] Current portfolio and how he adds to it

[07:26] Bill’s responsibility as a co-host

[11:48] Marketing off platform and the logistics behind it

[19:31] Blue Gems Management

[19:59] Current split on bookings between platforms

[23:56] Direct booking from a legal standpoint

[30:41] Advice for new STR investors

[31:45] A day in the life of Bill Faeth

[33:44] The last blue gem

[36:59] Where to find Bill Faeth

[38:01] Wrapping it up

Robert Montana is talking to us about his business, Jaunt Direct, a booking platform creating wins for hosts and guests of STRs. Most of the time there are barriers to entry for a product like this, but Robert eliminates that all together with a simple and streamlined approach. The bulk of the work in setting up on Jaunt Direct is uploading all the information.

Robert himself was an avid traveler who lived out of his backpack. He started out as an STR investor because he fell in love with snowboarding in Telluride, CO. He bought a second house to rent out on Airbnb when he wasn’t using it and hasn’t looked back since. He’s encouraging STR investors to run numbers as a long term rental, and is getting into more detail about this in the episode.

Robert is also getting into how Airbnb is a tool, not a business. Airbnb started out as a way to invite strangers into your home, and that’s part of what drew Robert to STRs. Having multiple platforms, and multiple streams of income, can give you peace of mind. As an emergency medical doctor, Robert has been around the world and met amazing people and is sharing a glimpse of what that looked like and how it eventually influenced him to join the STR game.

Blue Gems Management- https://bluegemsmgmt.co

STR Meet Up- https://bluegemsgroup.com

Connect with Robert

JauntDirect.com

FB- Robert Montana

[00:00] Episode teaser

[00:35] Show intro

[01:08] What’s going on with Robert Montana?

[05:03] Why wouldn’t everyone sign up for a free site that advertises for them?

[13:36] What does Robert’s platform look like today and why did he start this website?

[17:50] Blue Gems Management

[18:17] Advice for someone just getting started in STRs

[21:59] What is a day in the life of Robert?

[23:28] The last blue gem

[26:54] Robert’s top 3 countries

[29:31] Where to connect with Robert

[30:41] Wrapping it up

From a pro dancing career to a transition to videography, Brandon Esparza used his knowledge to build out a studio to rent by the hour to make hundreds in a day. Brandon is talking about the platform he uses, Pure Space, to make his money on the side.

As opposed to Airbnb, renting on Peer Space is done hourly. Brandon is getting into detail about how to transform a traditional STR to a Pure Space rental. He’s also talking about regulations you may have to watch out for and giving details about the potential profit for renting out on Pure Space.

Brandon is sharing some of the challenges he’s learned from his time in the commercial real estate space. He’s also giving tips for people who want to rent out spaces hourly, whether on Pure Space or other platforms.

Blue Gems Management- https://bluegemsmgmt.co

STR Meet Up- https://bluegemsgroup.com

Where to connect with Brandon Esparza

Instagram- @brandonesparza

Youtube- Brandon Esparza

[00:00] Episode teaser

[00:35] Show intro

[01:05] Brandon’s background and intro to Pure Space

[03:45] What is Pure Space?

[04:28] The clientele and layout of the spaces

[05:26] How do you talk to your landlord about renting out on Pure Space

[07:13] The nuances of Pure Space vs. Airbnb

[09:01] Permits or regulations to watch out for

[10:24] Crunching the numbers

[12:03] Maintenance on Pure Space rentals

[13:07] Where is Brandon marketing his studios?

[14:46] Does Brandon use his own studios?

[15:42] Blue Gems Management

[16:09] Where did Brandon find spaces for his studios?

[19:20] Advice for someone who wants to start a studio to rent out

[20:55] What separates the doers and the wishers?

[22:00] A day in the life of Brandon

[23:05] The last blue gem

[24:29] Where to find Brandon

[24:54] Outro

If you could go back to your early 20s and do it all over again what would you do? This question is what inspired Matt Porcaro and ultimately made him the founder of the 203k Way. Hitting right out of the gate, Matt is sharing his first home purchase using a 203k loan. Take a deep dive into what a 203k loan is, how it benefits investors, and how Matt used it to build his real estate portfolio. Learn all about how contractors play into a 203k loan and how this loan can be used specifically for STR investments. We’re even going into how a seller might see an offer that is a 203k or homestyle loan. Matt is giving practical advice on scheduling your time and prioritizing exercise, and encouraging those suffering from analysis paralysis. All things in life require a massive action, so listen in to be inspired to get busy.

Blue Gems Management- https://bluegemsmgmt.co

STR Meet Up- https://bluegemsgroup.com

Connect with Matt

Instagram- @the203kway

Youtube- The 203k Way

[00:00] Episode teaser

[00:36] Show intro

[01:09] Welcome to Matt

[01:24] Matt’s background and his area of expertise

[11:14] The nuances of using a 203k loan

[17:27] How to utilize a 203k loan for STR investors

[22:33] Blue Gems Management

[23:00] How is a seller looking at a homestyle loan offer?

[26:35] Ways Matt is investing his money outside of the 203k loan

[32:02] Advice for a real estate newbie

[34:26] A day in the life of Matt

[37:21] The last blue gem

[39:17] Where to find Matt

[40:07] Wrapping it up