How did M.C. become involved in real estate?
In 2001 M.C. came from South Africa to the US with almost no money. He started playing rugby and earning enough money to live on. While playing rugby he learned about real estate and was actually able to buy his first investment property in 2001 as well. Shortly after buying that investment property he happened to meet a mentor in Chicago who was a big time investor. M.C. started out painting houses and learning how to do simple maintenance. Eventually he moved into the leasing aspect of real estate, and became a real estate broker. M.C. still loves real estate, but has shifted his focus to all things that provide cash flow and passive income.
Why does M.C. believe cash flow is so important?
M.C. and I share similar viewpoints on retirement. The traditional model tells us to save money, and invest it in the stock market. Hopefully at some point we save enough money that we can retire and start using that money to live on. The problem with traditional retirement models is that we have to guess when we are going to die so we do not run out of money. Swings in the stock market can also add years to how long you have to save before you can retire. Retiring using the stock market is very unpredictable, and that is why I started to invest in rental properties. Rentals were awesome, because it took less money to produce the same returns as the stock market and you never have to eat into your principal investment.
M.C. has the same ideas about retirement and loves real estate for the same reasons. In 2015 he started Shoreline Financial Services, which specializes in retirement planing and investments.
What are M.C.’s feelings on the current real estate market?
On this episode M.C. and I talk a lot about the current real estate market. Prices are extremely high in many areas of the country and M.C. has stopped buying rentals just as I have. The rents have not kept up with the prices and it has made it very hard to cash flow. He sees the same problems as I do with low inventory causing the house prices to rise. This is great for those of us who already own real estate, but it makes it tough for people trying to buy a house to live in or use as an investment. I think we are going to see a problem with home affordability soon as well. Wages have not kept up with housing prices either, and I think that will cause the real estate market to calm down a little bit.
What does M.C. specialize in now?
M.C. created Valhalla Wealth to help people manage their cash flow as efficiently as possible. He uses what is commonly called infinite banking, which is whole life insurance policies set up in a way that people can borrow from their own policy and grow retirement funds tax free. The nice thing about the policies is you get guaranteed returns, and know exactly how much money you will have based on how much you invest. There are some downfalls to the infinite banking system as well. You will not be able to borrow as much as you invest for a couple of years and you have to pay interest on the loans you take out. For me, I want to invest as much as I can right now, so I don’t use the system, but it may work great for others. You can learn more about it by emailing M.C. at [email protected] and he will send you a free book on the concept.