Show Notes

On this segment of HyperFast Wealth, host Dan Lesniak speaks with George Gipson, a former mailman who was able to quit his job after building his real estate investment portfolio to 12 properties. Listen to hear how George was able to make the transition in only a few short years!

Episode Highlights: 

  • After college, George was not able to find the job that he wanted, so he took a job as a mailman.
  • While working as a mailman, George discovered real estate podcasts and began to self-educate on the market.
  • Though he went to school for accounting, George’s dad’s side of the family was already in the real estate game.
  • George and his wife decided that they wanted a piece of the American dream and started buying rental properties.
  • In his 4th year as a mailman, George was able to purchase his first property on his mail route.
  • George was able to win an auction for his first property for $52,000 in 2017 while he was on his route.
  • There is always a story behind the price, and those stories are behind the deals that George looks for.
  • Because he didn’t have the money to pay for the house, George and his wife flipped their first house for a $20,000+ profit.
  • Whether the market is going up or down, there is always a good deal hiding somewhere.
  • George used the profits from his first deal to open up a beauty supply store, but he did not like it.
  • After a year of running his beauty supply store, George decided to get back into real estate with cash-flow rentals.
  • George became fed up with his job as a mailman and decided to dive-in head first into real estate investing.
  • Through word-of-mouth referrals, George was able to find great deals without a large marketing campaign.
  • While he was on maternity leave after his wife had their first child, George decided to get his real estate license.
  • Once George obtained his real estate license, he was able to expand his network exponentially.
  • Right now, George owns 2 duplexes and 10 single-family properties.
  • Now that George has been able to replace his income with the rental properties, George is looking to flip more properties.
  • Buyers are willing to pay higher prices for homes than investors, and that was a lesson that George had to learn.
  • As a mailman, George was stuck in the same endless cycle of working, YouTube, and dinner.
  • New real estate investors need to learn to control what they can control and accept that they don’t know the future.
  • George gets anxious when he sees that his tenants are not treating his properties with respect.
  • After COVID wiped out the Airbnb market, George converted his properties into long-term rentals.
  • George hopes to share his real estate knowledge with other people who need help.

3 Key Points:

  1. George spent his time as a mailman using podcasts to educate himself on the real estate game and eventually began buying properties that were on his route.
  2. After having big success on the first deal, it can be hard for investors to continue in the game out of a fear that the next hit won’t be as big.
  3. George had to start listening to the buyers when it came to putting an offer on a property. He learned the hard way that buyers have a different price point than investors.

Tweetable Quotes:

  • “Passive income. Financial freedom. That’s the new American dream.” - George Gipson
  • “You’re going to have good luck or bad luck, but you’ve got to get in the game.” - George Gipson
  • “If you put two feet in real estate, that’s when you’ll see more success.” - George Gipson
  • “When things line up for people, you can’t ask your mom, your dad, or your brother. When the light turns green for you, go!” - George Gipson
  • “People need alternative ways to create wealth without necessarily being in that trap of always trading time for money.” - Dan Lesniak

Resources Mentioned: