Todd's interest in real estate began reading books by Robert Kiyosaki and grew when he stopped watching TV and gave up other interests to study with all of his free time

He started rehabbing houses during the summers as a teacher. He bought and rehabbed rentals but quickly ran out of money so he started flipping

Todd's Big Breakthrough wasn't sudden - it was more of a snowball

After hearing David Lindahl, Todd was interested in multifamily investing, but didn't get into that asset class for years

After running the numbers, Todd's rentals were producing better returns on investment than his flips. So he started buying 10- and 20-unit buildings before "graduating" to the bigger properties

Real estate is a "Get Rich Slow" game

When considering markets to invest in, consider your own market first

Also, think about what's going on in the market: cap rates, rent / affordability trends, population growth, job growth (and what kind of jobs)

Todd looks for markets with 2 things: 1) cap rates can be compressed, but can't be crazy 2) affordability - tenants must pay less than 1/3 of their income for rent

Look for cities with few rental regulations that allow for the opportunity to find value add properties

Everyone gets the same amount of time in a day - you need to figure out how to use that time most efficiently to achieve your goals

Todd was motivated to get out of his job, to create financial freedom, and to give back