Episode #185: From Fortune 200 W2 to Full-Time Real Estate Investor with Steven Louie

Passive Income Through Multifamily Real Estate

Exiting your W2 job to pursue a real estate career can help you achieve financial freedom, and many of you might be striving to do what today’s guest has done: get out of the corporate rat race and get into full-time multifamily real estate investing. Steven Louie worked for 25 years in the benefits and consulting industry, where he held various executive and sales leadership roles at Mercer and MetLife. He is now a Managing Partner at Vertical Street Ventures, where he is responsible for acquisitions, sourcing capital, and building key strategic partnerships, and he has grown his multifamily portfolio to over 2,500 units across Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas. In this episode, Steve shares what drove him to exit his W2 job and the five-step plan he used to do so, how he made the transition from corporate America to self-employed, and his advice for expediting the process. You’ll also learn his secret to scaling rapidly, how he found and vetted his partners, and why he values relationships above all else, so tune in today!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Learn a bit more about Steve, his corporate background, and what he does now.
• How he found multifamily while looking into the many tax benefits of real estate.
• The driving factor for Steve to leave his W2 job was spending more time with his family.
• The five-step plan he used to exit his W2 job: network, hire a coach, self-educate, build a team, and take action.
• Having a mentor versus self-education: it depends on how much free time you have.
• What Steve learned while transitioning from corporate America to running his own business.
• Hear what he would do differently if he had to start again: become an investor sooner!
• Steve’s advice for expediting the process from W2 to full-time investor: do your job well and great things will happen.
• The secret to his rapid scaling success, starting with honing your people and sales skills.
• How Steve found his partners and the importance of focusing on finding the right ones.
• Find out how he met his brokers and the deal flow that has come from those relationships.
• Where Steve sees his company going in the next three to five years.
• The tool Steve can’t do without: a customer relationship management database.
• What he learned from his biggest mistake and what he needs to grow to the next level.

Tweetables:

“You’re chasing that corporate dream, you’re chasing money, and you sacrifice a lot of things. One of the things I did sacrifice is family. With the recent exit of corporate America, I have the freedom to work on my business as a business owner as well as spend time with the family.” — Steve Louie [0:05:29]

“Whatever you’re doing, do your corporate job extremely well and all those skillsets will lead right into what you do from a real estate professional standpoint as well.” — Steve Louie [0:12:23]

“A lot of people shy away from the word sales, but it’s all part of what you have to do in life. That’s a key aspect of what helped me grow my career across the board.” — Steve Louie [0:14:34]

“Hiring great people across the board is very important. I’m a big fan of hiring the right talent.” — Steve Louie [0:22:28]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Steven Louie on LinkedIn

Steven Louie Email

Vertical Street Ventures

Rich Dad Poor Dad

Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant
Garzella Group