038: Retiring in Your 30’s From Rental Properties with Chad Carson

On this episode of the InvestFourMore Real Estate Podcast I interview Chad Carson. Chad is an incredibly nice guy, who I have met in person, and an incredible investor as well. Chad was a starting linebacker for Clemson University, which is a pretty big deal, but couldn’t quite make it in the NFL. His father had been a real estate investor and he decided to give it a shot after college. Chad loved real estate and became successful very quickly, even though he started with about $1,000. Chad figured out ways to get started in the business without much money and built an incredible business, that is allowing him to spend a year in Argentina with his family. Chad and I are similar age and he is at a point now where he has enough income from his rentals to retire.

How did Chad get started in real estate with $1,000?

Chad graduated from college with little money, but knew he wanted to be involved in real estate. Chad started by trying to locate deals for his father. Chad started out by driving for dollars. He would drive around neighborhoods looking for run down or vacant houses, try to find the owners, and then try to convince them to sell. It took Chad a couple of months to get the first deal for his father, but found one and earned his first check from real estate. From that point on, Chad was hooked and ramped up his real estate business.

How did Chad Carson’s real estate career progress?

Chad learned how to find deals and he started to make a decent living. He knew there was more to real estate than finding deals so he expanded to fix and flipping. Chad worked with a partner and at one time they were buying 5o houses a year to flip and hold as rentals.  Chad now has 55 units with his partner and has built a business that provides enough income to retire.

How did Chad survive the housing crisis?

Chad Carson started investing in real estate in the early 2000’s. He was flipping houses before and after the housing crisis, much like myself. Chad attributes surviving the crisis to being lucky and in a steady market. When Chad and his partner, bought over 50 houses in one year they decided they had to slow down and make sure all their properties were stabilized before buying many more. That happened to be right before the housing crisis happened. Chad also says that the towns in South Carolina where he was investing in were not hit too hard by the housing crisis. They invested for cash flow with long-term loans in place and that also helped them make it through the down-turn unscathed.

What is Chad’s favorite way to find deals?

Chad finds deals a number of ways, but loves direct marketing. He learned how to find deals driving for dollars and still loves that tactic 15 years later. He has combined driving for dollars with direct mail to get the best results. This is something that Bob Couture from Podcast 37 does as well. Chad warns that direct marketing and direct mail is not easy or cheap. They have to send out thousands of letters to to get deals and sending out that much mail gets expensive.

How has Chad financed his flips and rentals?

Chad has used private money to finance most of his real estate deals. Over the years he has built many connections and got his first private money from one of his old college professors. Chad has structured the private money into long-term loans of ten years or more. Chad attributes his success in finding lenders to proving he can find great deals, proving he can make money with his deals and building great relationships with people.

How can you contact Chad Carson?

Chad has his own blog with a lot of great information. You can find it at Coachcarson.com. Chad is called “coach”, because of his very successful football background and his love to share what he has learned. Chad not only teaches how he has become successful in real estate, but also loves to teach about positive thinking and why he has becomes so successful.