83: One and a Half Year Updates and Risk Mitigation with Diego Corzo

Times of uncertainty and market volatility always raise concern in people’s financial lives, no surprise there. Real estate investing is no different. However, what sets apart pros is their ability to mitigate risk, plan ahead, and continue to win even when they are losing.    In this episode, we welcome back Diego Corzo to fill us in on his one and a half year update since we last spoke to him (see Episode 6). We talked about how his portfolio has grown in the past year and a half, touched on his strategy regarding short term rentals, and discussed ways he and others mitigate risk in times of uncertainty.    As of today, Diego has properties in Austin (where he resides in), Florida, and Tennessee. His properties include both short term AirBNB rentals, as well as long term residential rentals. Diego has taken up a partnership with a previous guest, Felipe Mejia (see Show 77) and is at the point in his life where his passive income generated from his rental properties are allowing him to acquire even more properties which generate even more rental income!   Some key takeaways from our conversation with Diego is that: 1) During times of difficulty, work together with your tenants and weather out the storm together. Get proof they need help and figure out a plan together. If your tenants don’t need assistance, business continues as usual. 2) Buying right is key. Just because times are good, doesn’t mean you can rest on your laurels. Instead enforce your buying criteria and increase your requirements for tenants. 3) On that note, don’t buy with little to no margin of error. Times aren’t always going to be good. 4) Pay attention to local markets and what specific activities are happening in your niche, as opposed to listening to major national news and trends. The more specific you are in your business, the better off you will be during market downturns.   If Diego could go back and talk to his 16 year old self, he’d tell him, “Tell your parents to buy you a house in college and rent it out to your friends.” An unexpected benefit of real estate investing, Diego said, was being able to buy future properties with current passive income. Two pieces of advice Diego would tell his friends looking to get started in real estate would be make sure you have the proper mindset and know your “why.” And before you actually go out investing in properties, get your financial life in order.  Diego uses Trulia to help in his real estate agent business because it allows him to track homes, buyers, sellers, etc.  He recommends reading The Richest Man in Babylon to help you get set with your money.   If you’d like to get in touch with Diego, find him at: ratracetofi.com, email him at [email protected], or follow him on Instagram @realdiegocorzo   Thank you to everyone that has reached out to us to connect them with our trusted real estate agents in their area! And congratulations to those who have even closed deals using our referrals! For those that didn’t know, we can help connect you with real estate investor friendly agents in your area to help you get started investing in real estate. We recently made some changes to our website that we believe will better suit you in your real estate investing needs. For more information, visit www.millennial-realestate.com and head over to the “Start Investing” Tab. Best wishes and see you in the next one!