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Ep 34: Real Estate Mogul Reveals How Women Can Retire in 3 Years | Ginger Faith on Building Generational Wealth
25 Plays6 months ago
From $0 to Multi-Million Dollar Real Estate Empire in 30 Years
Join host Laura Caroffino as she interviews real estate powerhouse Ginger Faith, who has flipped over 52 houses, been featured on HGTV, and built a multi-million dollar portfolio. Discover how Ginger helps women compress time to retire in under 3 years through strategic real estate investing.
What You'll Learn:
• How to start real estate investing with NO money down
• The #1 mistake women make in real estate (and how to avoid it)
• Why 97% of commercial real estate is owned by men - and how women can change this
• Ginger's "21 Ways to Stop Chasing Hustle" framework
• Airbnb arbitrage strategies that generate passive income
• How to underwrite deals like banks do to protect your investments
• The mindset shifts that led to Ginger's breakthrough success
Perfect for: Mompreneurs, women seeking financial independence, real estate beginners, anyone wanting to build generational wealth
Guest Bio: Ginger Faith is a real estate broker, builder, CEO of Golden Canyon Properties, and founder of Women's Wealth Network. She's been featured on Fox, CBS, NBC, and Yahoo Finance, and has been investing in real estate for over 30 years.
Connect with Ginger: Facebook - Ginger Crystal Faith | Website: womenswealthnetwork.net
#RealEstateInvesting #WomenInBusiness #PassiveIncome #FinancialFreedom #Mompreneurs #GenerationalWealth #RealEstate #WomenEmpowerment
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Transcript
Introduction to Mamas Who Lead Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Mamas Who Lead, the podcast where we celebrate the incredible women who are building empires while raising families, breaking barriers, and redefining what it means to lead with purpose. I'm your host, Laura Carafino, and today we have an absolute powerhouse joining us today.
Meet Ginger Faith: Real Estate Maven
00:00:18
Speaker
um She's a woman who has been crushing it in real estate for three decades. She's flipped over 52 houses, been featured featured on HGTV,
00:00:28
Speaker
and built a multi-million dollar empire. But here's what makes her story even more incredible is that she's doing all of this while paving the way for other women to build generational wealth.
00:00:41
Speaker
So ladies, let me introduce you to Ginger Faith. ah She is a real estate broker, builder, CEO of Golden Canyon Properties and the founder of both Your Wealth Network meetup group and the Women's Wealth Network in the San Francisco Bay Area.
00:00:58
Speaker
She's been seen on Fox, CBS, NBC, Yahoo Finance. I mean, what has she not done? And she's an Airbnb super host who bought her first large profitable commercial real estate investment back in 1994.
00:01:14
Speaker
But what I love most about Jinder is that she's not just building wealth. She is teaching other women how to compress time and retire in three and under three years and adapt to changing markets like Seriously, a true leader.
00:01:29
Speaker
So welcome, Ginger. I'm so glad you're here. um how are you doing? doing great. Thank you. Thank you. happy to be here. Well, you have um just an amazing background.
00:01:42
Speaker
And I would love for you to share like how you got started in real estate.
Ginger's Real Estate Journey Begins
00:01:49
Speaker
um Well, I got started in a real estate because I had a ministry and I wanted to, and it was a volunteer ministry, but it was very important to me.
00:01:58
Speaker
And I wanted passive income. So I started figuring out ways, how could I get passive income? And the first thing I needed to do is get income. So I was working these odd jobs. I was a little entrepreneur back when I was in my teenage years. so I had little businesses.
00:02:13
Speaker
And then i started a business. My goal was to have a part-time business and make a full-time income. And when you set your mind to something and you don't think that you could fail, you just go ahead manifest So I tried a few things that didn't work. And then I found a business that did work.
00:02:28
Speaker
I could work about 15 hours a week and make six figures back in 91, 1991, which you know, was phenomenal. And then I started to realizing, wow, I have all this money coming in. Uh, what am I going to do with it? So I started thinking I really wanted to ah have passive income.
00:02:47
Speaker
And so I, uh, bought my first six family, apartment house back when, interest rates were 15 half percent. And, and Yeah, 15 and a half percent with two points. And I thought I got a screaming deal. So, oh boy.
00:03:04
Speaker
yeah So that's how I started. it was an old dilapidated Victorian in a great neighborhood. And it was just really gut instinct. It wasn't, you know, there's so many podcasts that tell you what to do now, but I was basically cheap and I didn't want to lose money. And I thought, well, I could do something with this. And I could, you know i had a vision for design. I didn't even know it, but it was just there inherently. And I thought that I saw this a really cool building, like, oh, I could rent this out. And I was doing the numbers on a piece of paper. I'm like, okay, I can get this for rent. and The mortgage would be this. and And it's like, okay, let's go for it. and
00:03:40
Speaker
And then I just jumped in with the the money that i made with my my apartment business. And then I liked it because it was really cool. I moved into one of the buildings, one one of the apartments.
00:03:51
Speaker
And then ah very quickly it paid for itself and I got income and it felt like magic. ah So let me do this again. So um I'm a reader.
00:04:03
Speaker
So I kept reading books and I read a book by mar Robert Allen. One of them was Nothing Down. And one of the things that stood out to me was he said, if you buy one house every 10 years for 10 you know one hot home and then pay down the mortgage there's a retirement and I thought this is such a neat idea like why isn't everybody anybody doing this so I decided well what if I get six in one shot you know so it's just to kind of spread it up I love it just yeah I was just like it was just a whole raw instinct there was so you know tech I like
00:04:38
Speaker
like hundreds of thousands of dollars on my education.
Mindset and Overcoming Challenges
00:04:42
Speaker
But back in the day, information was not as available as it is now. It was you pay, you had to pay a lot of money for education.
00:04:50
Speaker
You know, books were pretty reasonable, but I was always learning, learning, learning, going to seminars, going to workshops and, you know, just trying to figure out what's the next best thing. What's what, what you know, what opportunities are out there.
00:05:01
Speaker
So it's that drive. It's that drive. I need to see, you know, what's around the next bend ah that drove me to, to get in and then to, to keep, keep pedaling along. Now, did anybody like guide you in this process or like, like what made you think real estate?
00:05:20
Speaker
when you were thinking about, did any influence or any like family and real estate at all? No family, no family, no, nobody. Actually, i didn't know anybody who was investing. So I'm trying to think I, nothing comes to mind. I think I was just like, you know, I was into business books, like, Hey, what can I learn about business and real estate? Just kind of like one one of the many books, you know, I would read this one, that one, this one, that one, and just see what piqued my interest.
00:05:46
Speaker
Then I encourage everybody to do that. Now what, what, you know, kind of, you know, read and see what see what's out there, see what quality is out there and get rid of the stuff that doesn't interest you or is not not for you, but kind of tell see what's out there, see what opportunities out there. So yeah, no, I was the oddball in my whole sphere of influence. Everybody's like, what did she just do?
00:06:06
Speaker
But I was very comfortable with it. It was weird. I'm not even sure why. i think it's a God thing. It just pushes you to do stuff. And, you know, um I like to say I had more brawn than brains, you know,
00:06:18
Speaker
I had more guts. I had more guts. They're like, Oh, let me just try this. Let me see what's the worst that could happen. Right. And then you know you put your mind to something, you can do it. I'm a full believer, you know, if, yeah, well, when you don't have blocks, right. So the the problem is if you see somebody fail or if you failed and you've got that in your nervous system, now you're more reticent, but I was too innocent. I hadn't seen anybody who succeeded or failed. I was so,
00:06:46
Speaker
You know, so that innocence of that just like, oh, that's what happened. You know, and just it it can benefit you by being ah ignorantly blissful sometimes.
00:06:56
Speaker
and Sometimes, not always, but in this case, it worked out. But that is, ah you know, you said something really good about the mindset. You know, how did you, I'm sure you've had probably some struggles when you first started. Is there any roadblocks that you came across that you had to overcome to get to where you're at?
00:07:17
Speaker
Oh, no, I was just like smooth sailing the whole way. I was just, it was easy for me. No, actually, um the reality is, you know, I discovered Anthony Robbins, Tony Robbins back in 1991.
00:07:31
Speaker
And at the time, he was kind of an oddball. He was kind of like a weird weirdo, like, oh, he walks on fire. What's that? That's kind of weird, right? So I was a little bit odd. So I kind of like read him on the sly.
00:07:42
Speaker
but I loved his work. And I started listening to the power talk tapes voraciously. To me, he was like oxygen at the time. I really liked his message. And um the fact is I had a very, very limited environment.
00:07:55
Speaker
My you' very limited on so many ways. My mom got, God rest her soul. My mom was a, had schizophrenia and she medicated through alcoholism to kind you know,
00:08:10
Speaker
forget all of the the pain of the the schizophrenia my dad was was gone and so i didn't have much of a much of a role model and so mentally that just causes its own set of uh human challenges you know i it' like it's a world of things that that i could go into and you know She um brought us into a cult like religion very early in my age that I had to overcome.
00:08:38
Speaker
And that was very heavy into mind control. And so there were a lot of things I had to unearth and look at. And so the cool thing I like to say is that when I was 30 years old, I had accumulated quite it there was a very strange um situation because on one hand I was doing these really cool things, buying these apartment buildings.
00:08:59
Speaker
And on the other hand, I was mentally split in two. I was listening to Tony Robbins, rah, rah, rah, this is cool. And I was excited about that. And I would go back into the church, which felt like an emotional prison, a mental prison.
00:09:12
Speaker
But I felt like I had to be there for safety because my mom was so unstable. So I was like, I had a split psyche in my 20s, extremely painful.
00:09:22
Speaker
It was like very, like had this one part of me, it was go, go, go. accelerator, put the you know put put the pedal to the metal, and then I would go into this you know emotional dungeon and with mental vice clamps. and It was like this very intense time of just well depression and struggle.
00:09:45
Speaker
but um It came to a point where I became mature enough at around 30 years old, where I left my husband and I left the church. And it was painful because I had no friends. They excommunicated me and I had nobody because they didn't allow you to have friends outside the church because they were all from the devil.
00:10:02
Speaker
So um it was the real estate that allowed me a two-year sabbatical.
Achieving Financial Independence through Real Estate
00:10:09
Speaker
Yeah. I moved away 45 minutes away from all my everything. I come back for two days to work my business, tend to my real estate, like, you know, collect rent checks or whatever.
00:10:22
Speaker
And then I would run away up to the Cambridge area, Cambridge, Massachusetts, right around there. And I would stay and I would take classes and I would go to the gym and I would eat salads and I would,
00:10:37
Speaker
meditate and i learned what meditation was because they weren't allowed to to meditate. That was from a double. Everything everything was from the double. So I just started doing things that today is like all the vogue, you know, self-healing things, labyrinth walks and grounding. I would like walk on the grass for an hour and then I would take a nap and then I would read like things that I thought would propel me. And I would ask questions. I found some amazing mentors who are very worldly, but kind.
00:11:05
Speaker
And I was asking a million questions. I was literally like a little child at 30 years old, even though I had all this real estate and I was doing all these cool things in lot of ways because I was extracted from this cult-like vice clamp mental prison.
00:11:21
Speaker
I was like, it was like brand new. The world was brand new to me. And it was a powerful time. And it was, I like to say I was graced because the real estate kept pumping out those rent chicks.
00:11:33
Speaker
I'm sure. yeah Right. And ah and I, and was like, I didn't have to, if I had gone through that with a, uh, had to do a nine to five, I don't know how I would have done it.
00:11:44
Speaker
I literally don't know how I would have done it, but I didn't have to because my, my real estate pumped out money for me. And so I decided like, like like it was organic for me. And, you know, a lot of people ask about this.
00:11:55
Speaker
<unk>m I'm writing my book about 21 ways to stop chasing hustle and build the life that you love using real estate as a tool. And the fact is real estate's challenging and there's a lot of, lot of difficult things because you're dealing with people, you're dealing with things that break down. I mean, there's, there's all sorts of things. However, on the other hand, it's a very powerful tool.
00:12:15
Speaker
And if you learn how to use the tool properly, it can give you the lifestyle that you want, a lifestyle of less pressure, you know ah more ease.
00:12:27
Speaker
You can get your baseline covered. And I think everybody needs to think about getting their baseline covered without being on the hamster wheel. Because i don't but we're not in it but we're all living in a really exciting time now.
00:12:39
Speaker
Information is ubiquitous. We can do so much. But at the same time, our economy is We have these two two tracks, right? We've got inflation that's very challenging, and then we've got opportunity that's that's there.
00:12:52
Speaker
um But I really feel that women need to, and men too, we all need to think about, can we get our finances under control so that we can live our best lives?
00:13:04
Speaker
Define what our best lives are so we're not always like on a hamster wheel you know ah struggling. And real estate is a a really great tool to do that. Now, you started at a very young age in real estate.
Advice for New Real Estate Investors
00:13:18
Speaker
So what would you say to someone who is wanting, who would like to go into it now with everything that you know that is happening in the world today?
00:13:29
Speaker
Like how how would they start? Like, let's say I want to go and invest. And what would i do what do I need to do? but And what if I don't have money? What do you need to what do they what do you need to do Okay. Stop by reading my book that I haven't finished yet. How's that? That would be great.
00:13:44
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. No, it's, it's like, oh, manuscript. I got to get to it. Okay. 21 ways of stop chasing hustle and use real estate as a tool, right? So what does that mean?
00:13:55
Speaker
That means I have 21 different tools in the toolbox, right? What the first thing is, what are your goals? What do you really, really want? Visualize your life that you really want to want to have. Right.
00:14:05
Speaker
And, and really get, and and figure out your why. You know, asure why do it is your does your revolve around children? Does your why revolve around traveling? does you know What is your why? What's your driver?
00:14:17
Speaker
Is it about freedom? Is it just you're tired of waking up so early, having a two-hour commute, and then you're like, why am I doing this, right, over and over again? So what is your why? Really focus on that and focus on it daily. That's one thing about an entrepreneur.
00:14:31
Speaker
is you know you can't just wake up in the morning and and go go to your job. You've got to be focusing on your your life and and the direction of your life. And even though I've set a nice foundation for myself, I still wake up and I have i have bigger goals, right?
00:14:45
Speaker
So to answer your question, the editor of my book told me, was so excited after editing your book, I decided to start a company and I'm going to to do Airbnb arbitrage at Right. I was like, yeah. I'm like, okay, we're going to put that story. You better do well.
00:15:04
Speaker
Like you better do well. Cause your story is coming in my book. Right. Cause we need one of the things I need in the book is more stories. I've got a lot of ideas and, you know, and, and, and, and theory, but anything ah of here sir I'll be your guinea pig for it.
00:15:17
Speaker
Yeah. yeah Okay. All right. So, and but well, you have to read my manuscript, try one of the, try try one of the things. Right. So some people just want like, let me help pay my bill. So one of the things I laugh, I have an ADU in my back.
00:15:29
Speaker
yard okay I have my home's paid for and I'm very I feel very blessed for that and it's paid for in Silicon Valley which is is crazy here right but my ADU pays for all of the other bills it pays for the taxes it pays for the insurance it pays like because it's like that's just how it works right so I gave up so i created an ADU and then now the ADU pushes up income so that my expenses are paid. That's like a baseline. That's like a baseline.
00:16:01
Speaker
So find out what it is. What is your baseline and really commit to it. i you know, this is obviously wasn't always like this. I bought this house at the top of the market right before the crash.
00:16:12
Speaker
Oh yeah. Right. So obviously it wasn't always like, you know, really, really a simple thing. um So find out what it is you want. Some people just like, if you can just take some of these bills off my plate, you know, what can you do Maybe you can just hire yourself as a co-host for Airbnb people.
00:16:30
Speaker
um You'd hire yourself out. You can get like be a property or be a property manager, learn the skills of being a property manager. That's getting involved without getting your pocketbook involved.
00:16:41
Speaker
Mm hmm. On the other hand, it could be somebody else who has like a store of cash in their 401k. Now the laws are changing. And then you can take a lot of your 401ks, you can start investing in real estate.
00:16:54
Speaker
So you can take, let's just say 401k money. That's just like, it's kind of dawdling around and you say, well okay, I'm going to take a quarter percent, a quarter of that. And let me invest in something that's going to get a bigger return.
00:17:07
Speaker
Now, the biggest thing that I have to really say that we, we need to all learn. is how to underwrite. And the reason is, it's so easy to cut a check and lose money.
00:17:20
Speaker
It's very easy to cut a check. Anybody can cut a check and lose money if you have the money, if you have the money need to cut. But what happens when you want a mortgage? Most people, if you have ever applied for a mortgage, the bank wants to know everything about you.
00:17:35
Speaker
Right. They want your bank statements and your tax returns and they check your credit. And you had one bluff on your credit five years ago. They wanted a letter of explanation as to why you had that one.
00:17:46
Speaker
like You were 30 days late on your T-Mobile bill five years ago. Why? you Right. Right. So, so, but the bank banks have done very well for themselves over the years.
00:17:58
Speaker
oh ohha They have. Okay. why Because they know how to underwrite. They know they don't trust you. And they set up systems and they train their underwriters to make sure.
00:18:11
Speaker
And then they appraise the property. They make they sometimes go two appraisals. If the market is shifty, they'll do an appraisal at the last minute to make sure the property is still worth it.
00:18:22
Speaker
So there's so many ways. The bank's always like safeguard, safeguard, safeguard, safeguard. Richard Branson said, take care your underside and your upside will take care of itself. protect your downside.
00:18:34
Speaker
Right. And that's, I think not everybody does that. You have money and then you just spend it. Right. And there are some people who are very, very, they're great underwriters. They're very afraid, they not afraid, but they're very like picky and they, you know, they want to like dig in and make sure everything is safe.
00:18:51
Speaker
Yeah. But underwriting is a skill. You can look up how to do that, but you can use your bank as a model. And I would say that if someone's going to get started, you either, number one, don't use any of your own money and don't use anybody else's money.
00:19:04
Speaker
Do something like property management, become a real estate agent if that's the thing that you want to do, a mortgage broker, something like you're working for someone or with people, whatever. And you're not getting youre you're getting your time in exchange for knowledge, right?
00:19:19
Speaker
Apprentice under somebody who's phenomenal. That's a really smart thing to do. great to Get a great mentor. Just find the best you know, agent in the area that you like. And if they're an agent investor, even better, learn from them and then follow their lead, you know, and get, and just dive in, get kind of swimming, swim in the river.
00:19:38
Speaker
Right. And that's a great way to get involved. Go to real estate investment meetings. um That's another way to get involved. Learn, learn, learn. You've got to always be learning. um So don't use your money. Do something that's simple that you can just start. I would say that's probably the smartest thing to do.
00:19:57
Speaker
Don't use your money. Don't use someone else's money. Use your time in exchange for knowledge. Apprentice. Think of yourself as an apprentice in some way, shape, or form in the real estate market.
00:20:10
Speaker
orienting toward what you want to ultimately do, which you may not know in the beginning. In that case, you go to this real estate meetup and you say, oh, they're talking about flipping homes. That sounds interesting. Oh, this one's talking about buying notes.
00:20:21
Speaker
That sounds interesting, but don't do anything. Just learn. Get your general education, your liberal arts degree in real estate by learning. Go into bigger pockets. Listen to podcasts like this. Listen to other you know authorities who know what they're doing.
00:20:37
Speaker
And learn, learn, learn, and use your time in the beginning um for an exchange of information and money. And then once you start getting comfortable and set your targets and your goals, once you start getting comfortable or your goals start becoming bigger, you know, maybe in the beginning you're like, oh, I just want to build one ADU on my empty lot in the back of, I have, ah you know, I have a spot in my backyard.
00:21:02
Speaker
I'm going to build an ADU and I'm going to Airbnb it out. We'll go to the bank, see what the financing go to ADU companies. That's a simple way. If you have nothing, you know, become a property manager.
00:21:14
Speaker
So just. but I got to get my book written. I guess you do. 21 ways. I got to go. Okay. I'm going to go. working. I promise. I promise. it' It's the manuscript written. It's been edited first a draft. i So, but, but yeah, those are the reason why I wrote it because I think people ask me this question a lot, like, which, where do
Exploring Investment Strategies: Airbnb to Commercial
00:21:33
Speaker
I start? I'm like, I don't know. I don't know you, but, but there's the place for you. If you're, if you're called to towards this, right.
00:21:42
Speaker
right And it's so obviously it's not for everybody, but, um And I honestly, I don't think everybody has to be a career real estate person to be do very well. You know, um I know people who have had very successful businesses, and then they take the money and they park it in quality real estate.
00:22:00
Speaker
Beautiful. Beautiful. I mean, it happens even with the famous people have done that, right? they They get all this money and I go, now what, right? And then now they now now they're buying real estate, and but but they can afford the real estate in New York City and in Los Angeles and so on. So, yeah.
00:22:18
Speaker
You know, you mentioned something I was going to ask you about what your opinion is on the Airbnb arbitrage. um I've been looking into it, very interested in it. I know several people that um have about 58, around 50-ish properties that they arbitrage.
00:22:39
Speaker
And um it's pretty impressive what they bring in monthly. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. i it's It's very simple. You have to use MASH Pfizer, use AirDNA. I did a class on that in the beginning, how to actually make money doing it.
00:22:57
Speaker
i I've pivoted to commercial real estate right now. So I still have my Airbnbs, but I never grew it to the extent that I wanted to because I started growing it and then i pivoted to commercial real estate. So that's where at right now.
00:23:10
Speaker
However, MASH Pfizer, use AirDNA. look at the data points. Airbnb has like the hottest markets, um you know, or look in your backyard easier.
00:23:22
Speaker
um Look in your backyard. If your numbers work in your backyard, then by all means, you work your backyard. Silicon Valley, it's not that easy. You've got to really know your numbers and you've got to really get um a landlord who's willing to give you the property at a,
00:23:39
Speaker
Very fair, to you know, decent price. Plus you have to, if it's a condo, you got to absolutely connect, connect with the HOA, make sure they allow it. Cause you could go through all of the hassle of buying all the furniture, setting everything up.
00:23:53
Speaker
And you could be like, wow, look at, I'm making money and get a letter from the HOA saying, you know, you can't do this. So check that out first, um get licensed. I'm, I'm, I'm battling back and forth in one of my Airbnbs.
00:24:06
Speaker
They added an extra license during, i have two licenses. They added an extra license during COVID. I didn't even know about it. They never sent me an application. I didn't know know about it. I just kept my two other ones. And then they they started giving me all sorts of briefs. So I'm still working with that.
00:24:21
Speaker
you know, negotiating with that. So find out who, find out what all the licenses are, you know, um and some areas are pretty easy. It's like, oh give us 250 bucks and you're good. You know, just, they they just send a letter to the neighbors and they, you know, and that's it.
00:24:36
Speaker
Others there, you have to have a fire inspection. You've got to have, I mean, it's just very onerous. So know the area ah you want to go with places that have have traditionally, Pretty much they're they're comfortable with long short term rentals, even for the Airbnb boom.
00:24:54
Speaker
um There are areas that are always tourism oriented. So if you can go in those areas, that's great or diversify. So um if you're going to get 50, you're very I mean, it's awesome to have them in the same area, except what if it happens what happened in Texas where everything is shut down?
00:25:16
Speaker
oh right and you're all and you're all in the same you're right in the same place right then your your whole empire is shut down and you are bankrupted for a very very long time because there's no way you're going to be 50 that's a lot right so the the the larger the the volume the better but also the more opportunity for disaster if something goes wrong right so you can you know if 180 you you've got a problem with it. Okay. It's a pain, but you got 50 and you got ah a big shutdown. you got a big problem. You basically just hang, give back the keys to the bank and then go to Europe for to heal up for the next six months because you just got screwed.
00:25:59
Speaker
But if you've been diversified, you know, if you diversified in many different cities or if you just say, you know what, let me just get a hotel. yeah Let me just go let me buy a hotel because the hotel market's distressed now. And if you're talented enough to do 50 Airbnbs, you've got 50 roofs, you've got 50 mechanical systems, you've got 50 plumbing systems, you've got, yeah right, why not just convert it to a really nice hotel? Find something, find a deal on a hotel that's, you know, struggling and and take it over, you know, again, underwrite it.
00:26:35
Speaker
get your numbers and then do it that way. Then, you know, instead of like, for example, one one thing is you have to pay ah good amount of money for people. I've heard Airbnb people say, I pay my people $20 an hour to clean.
00:26:50
Speaker
Well, that's fine if you've got an Airbnb and an Airbnb and an airb in a hotel because you're okay. But if somebody is going out of their way and they're cleaning a four bedroom house, you've got to pay them 150 bucks, 150 bucks, depending on how big the house is, right?
00:27:05
Speaker
And now if you've consolidated to a hotel by by volume, you could save money. So those are just creative ways of playing with that. I hope I answered your question. I think it went up on a tangent.
00:27:23
Speaker
No, I'm very fascinated. um at the hotel, so where would someone find hotels? Where's the best place to find like real estate like that? I would go online and go and say distressed hotels and you'll probably end up with Crexie or CoStar or LoopNet.
00:27:44
Speaker
um RI Marketplace. um yeah Yeah, but just just Google, i you know, just go to ChatGPT. I want to buy a hotel. Where do I go, right? And you they'll give you some websites. But yeah, usually Crexie does places, and then you can even get on an alert system with Crexie and with CoStar.
00:28:03
Speaker
So when when something meeting your criteria, you say, hey, I want it to be 30% vacant. um i want it to be a b a C class that I can convert to a B class.
00:28:15
Speaker
I want a good neighborhood. want this or that. You know, whatever your criteria are, figure out what the criteria you want. And then set up an alert so that you get them and you get pinged when something comes up.
00:28:26
Speaker
that you're looking for. but Okay. That's good. I am and do that. Um, you know, why not? Why not? i know Why not? right now Why not?
00:28:36
Speaker
Um, now I do want to talk about something you've talked about. Um, you compress time to retire in under three years. That sounds like almost too good to be true. Can you tell me how that is possible?
00:28:49
Speaker
Yeah, so I want to tell you, my first disclosure is i'm ah I'm a career real estate person. So I never thought about compressing time ever. I was just like doing my thing. I'm like, oh, let me do this. Let me do that. Make money here, make money there.
00:29:01
Speaker
And then I had a friend about ah seven years, seven, eight years ago. i met her and she knew nothing about real estate. Very little, very little. She had done many other different things. She had sold two houses, and but she was very skilled. She was a good salesperson, very smart.
00:29:19
Speaker
Very strategic. um And she decided that she wanted financial independence and she wanted it quickly. win And then so she did this in three years and came to me for advice during the whole thing.
00:29:39
Speaker
That's amazing. So let me tell you what she did. And that's just one story. Because once this happened, I was like, well, what was dramatized for me was she lived with lived in my area. And we get together all the time.
00:29:50
Speaker
And she was picking my brain. do What about this? What about that? And I i turned around to a great lawyer. and Like, you know, handyman, like, you name it. It was all this stuff. And And then, and she would but make amazing food and we would just hang out we would talk to all of us at night and we had a great time.
00:30:07
Speaker
But then when she flipped this property, made multiple seven figures in three years, she moved away. She got tired of the the California politics and moved far, far away to a red state and, and started an organic garden and built her dream home. And now she has a YouTube cooking channel.
00:30:29
Speaker
and Oh my gosh, you'll have to sit. And so, yes, yes, it's Auntie Yum Yum's kitchen. but That was the funny thing is she was such a great cook. I'm like, she just caught me and going, lively I'll tell you everything. Just give me keep that food coming, right? let me Yeah, this baby she is an amazing cook. And I'm like, that's exactly what she should be doing. She farmed a table. She started this amazing garden. It became like this forest of a garden.
00:30:55
Speaker
thats man And then she takes it and then she makes it, you know. and so So basically she just, you know, now they're looking for another deal. Her and her partner are looking for another deal. But she's been like semi-retired for four years, i think, something like that. And, you know, planting her fruit trees and her dog and her 10 acres. and i So that piqued my interest. And that was, you know, five years ago and something like that.
00:31:19
Speaker
And then I started like, then I joined the group that she's in. which is the J. Scott Shield Commercial Academy, which I was that was go crazy. I saw him in 2010 when she told me she was thinking of going to see him. I'm like, oh, he's great.
00:31:33
Speaker
Go, go, you go, you go. And then I'm like, I didn't do it. like So I've been, you know, I've been, I'm fine. And that's part of why I'm just like a career person. But then I'm like, I need to step this up. Let me see if I could step it up. Right.
00:31:47
Speaker
So I started seeing all these people who are stepping it up and that got me excited. And then said, look at this, this is really cool. So I started meeting all these people with different stories, doing something similar. And so that background to answer your question.
00:32:02
Speaker
um First, i think that one of the most is' there's two important, important pieces. One of them is knowing your your natural genius. Okay, so you might be a natural people person. Another person is a natural underwriter.
00:32:14
Speaker
they They love to do the pro formas and analyze deals and crunch the numbers. Some people love digging in that. And other people are like builders. They love to build you know anything with their hands and mind together.
00:32:27
Speaker
They love that. And there are other skill sets, obviously, but finding ah finding your natural genius and because real estate is so comprehensive. There's room for you. There's room for you to focus on your natural genius as long as you have other people surrounding you that also have complimentary skillset that you can connect with and do like a mastermind group. I love that.
00:32:51
Speaker
One. Number two, and this is really important. Years ago, ah many years ago, I remember Donald Trump saying like in the 80s, like, if you got to think, think big. And I had no idea what that meant.
00:33:02
Speaker
He's like, what does that mean? He was like, Well, it's really simple. Think big. So instead of a flip, okay, think she flipped 56 units.
00:33:14
Speaker
oh If she had flipped one, she would have got 100 grand, maybe 200 grand in a really great market. I did a flip, but we, our team made 1.25. We we made like one and a half million, but that was like a unique market. you but yeah um so we And it wasn't just a flip, it was like ah a build.
00:33:36
Speaker
But even that was thinking big, because we're thinking of the big market, like big market, big, you know, high-end finishes, all that stuff. So thinking big. So the bigger, you know, the bigger you think,
00:33:48
Speaker
the more um potential for disaster, ah too but but the more potential for massive gain that amplifies the need to underwrite, amplifies the need to make sure you have people that you trust, right? Massive need for, you have to trust and you and then you have to hi you know hire fast fire quickly. If someone doesn't, you've gotta be management, it's management intensive.
00:34:12
Speaker
So for those three years, they were in lockdown, really focusing on getting all of these apartments you know So they raised the rent from $750 to like $1,550, $1,650 a month, but they renovated them and they they attracted a specific demographic.
00:34:29
Speaker
um It was farm workers, but they started pulling from Silicon Valley because of a route. there was ah There was a strategic connection between Silicon Valley, San Jose, and this area where they were.
00:34:41
Speaker
And they started pulling people from that and see seeing that they... made this apartment complex beautiful. And then they saw the beautiful model home, you know, then they started like quick, but they did it quick, quick, quick.
00:34:55
Speaker
So it's speed, it's thinking big, it's thinking, you know, volume. And when you do that, again, you need more people and you need more skillset, but it can happen.
00:35:06
Speaker
And she literally didn't know anything about realistic really. like Like I said, we were meeting. was eating her food, giving her you know guidance like two to three times a week where she'd call me. and But she wasn't just me. She was asking everybody about this. And and i was one of our key counselors.
00:35:23
Speaker
But, you know, brilliant move. and it And it was so inspiring. And I started saying, so so when you see one person do that, you know, like the four minute mile when Roger Bannister, nobody thought that anybody could run a mile in four minutes until run Roger Bannister did. And then everybody started doing it. Right. So so now we're in such and a cool place in our world. We're seeing many people do many things.
00:35:48
Speaker
in in in, you know, faster time. And so it's really a matter of, do you want it enough? if if If there's something that you want, then you develop a plan and you go for it, you know, and that's, that's what she did. And then many others that that was just the catalyst.
00:36:04
Speaker
And so that's, that's why I, after, after that happened, it made me think. And then very shortly after I actually joined the academy that I told her to join.
00:36:14
Speaker
And then I've met like just an extraordinary, level of people and I've learned so much in just a couple of years and now I'm making offers. I just made an offer on 88,000 square foot shopping center last week.
00:36:29
Speaker
Right. So, so, it right. So it's changed from the Airbnb, right. It's changed. Right. So, so, but it took me, took took me two years to even, get to the level where I was comfortable that with that. A year and a half ago, I saw a really good deal for about two and a half million dollars. And I was like, oh, I don't know, because I wasn't sure about commercial real estate, residential, two years before that, i bought a house for $2 million dollars and we sold it for 4.8 because that was in my comfort zone. I knew the area. I'm like, okay, this is fine. this you know And I was very comfortable with that.
00:37:04
Speaker
But to put down the same amount of money on a retail shopping center, that wasn't my comfort zone. That was something I had to. So I lowball the guy and he goes, you shouldn't lowball me because that was really worth it. And now I know it was really worth what i what it you know and Now I know it was worth it. Now i I laugh with the guy. I'm like, okay, well, find me another one. right so so Find me another one. He goes, let's don't come around all the time. Not with him anyway. but um so um yeah so It's a growth process and it's really just a matter of you know what it is you want. That's why I get me to 21 ways. What you want?
00:37:39
Speaker
What do you really want? right and that what What you might want today, you know, in five years, you'll like, ah, done that. I want to do something else, right? Growth. um If growth is important to you, which I believe that we all have a divine spark, that we want to grow in some way, in you know, in in in our own unique way.
00:37:58
Speaker
um But again, i just think that real estate is a tool that can help us get a baseline so that we can ah jump from that, like my friend did.
00:38:10
Speaker
Yeah, that is pretty amazing. and And just like being able to take not being in it and then she just went big, go big or go home. Right. And yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. and it That's an, and it paid off. That's incredible.
00:38:27
Speaker
You know, have you ever, what you know, being in this industry, you probably have seen some mistakes and stuff.
Avoiding Common Real Estate Mistakes
00:38:35
Speaker
What do you think is the biggest mistake you see that women make when they first get into real estate investing?
00:38:43
Speaker
Oh, there's probably a lot of them. um I think trusting too quickly and too easily. Yeah. Maybe that that could be that could be one of them. um um That's probably a big one.
00:38:55
Speaker
Trusting too easily. like Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think that women can be too trustworthy sometimes and or not knowing how to do their due diligence. um you know i You know, the whole burden, with it what happened with Brittany Madoff was like horrifying, right? and And I've dealt with people like that, scammers, okay?
00:39:14
Speaker
But there is a weakness. There are a weakness in all of us and that's wanting to trust and lazy, being like being mentally lazy, wanting to trust somebody because you don't want to do your own homework or you don't want a ruffle, you want to be agreeable.
00:39:26
Speaker
You don't want to ruffle any feathers. Okay. I'd probably say that's probably a really big mistake. Yeah. It's just being, yeah, being, being mentally lazy, not, not willing to dig in. One of my but dearest friends is a, an assassin for an underwriter. She's unbelievable.
00:39:44
Speaker
She rips things to shreds and she's been such a model for me. I'm like, Oh my God, she's amazing. And you know, her and her husband have bought eight large commercial buildings in about two shears like 135,000 square feet 40,000 square feet you know 25,000 square like big you know big like and they've gone through many more that they haven't bought why because she will detect problems and she'll rip it to shreds she'll like this is not a good deal and here's why and she just goes and
00:40:18
Speaker
You know, there's places where you can get due diligence checklists because obviously there's a lot of landmines. There's a lot of, I mean, just the other day I was evaluating a property and there was so many mis, there was so much misinformation in the operating memorandum.
00:40:36
Speaker
And I'll give you an example. And this was just one of many like that I saw and it was exciting to see it for me. That's exciting to see it. Cause in i beginning two years ago, i'm like, what, what is this? Like that I didn't know.
00:40:47
Speaker
Um, Tesla charging stations are really cool and they're a nice source of revenue. If you have a shopping center that has a Tesla charging station, you're going to make money every month. That's cool. That adds the value. You're adding an extra service for your clients. and Now the clients are sitting there charging their car and they're going into Safeway or they're going into the store right in there.
00:41:05
Speaker
get you know getting gas, I mean, getting gas, they're getting, getting, you know, other things. So the um operating memorandum said that in January of 2026, there was going to be a Tesla charging station. They're going to make $32,000 a year.
00:41:19
Speaker
And I said to the broker, do you have a contract? Does the seller have a contract? Well, no. Okay. Well, Tesla stopped doing those charging stations right now.
00:41:31
Speaker
And if you don't have a contract, there is no charging stations. That was sitting there right there. telling They're telling me that they have $32,000 in revenue that they want me to underwrite as accurate.
00:41:43
Speaker
But you know they say trust but verify. but Would a bank trust that? No, a bank would not trust that. A bank would say, where's the contract? Right. How do we know? They would cross they would caught probably call Tesla company and out if it's a country, right? right So when I went and I drove the property, I found out that there was actually a Tesla charging station right across the street at another shopping center that's brand new built.
00:42:09
Speaker
So not only does, so so again, this is just one example, right? of it But depending on what you're doing, you can't you can't ever afford to trust anything, but just if you go back to a bank What does the bank do?
00:42:23
Speaker
They don't trust anybody. Why have they done so well financially? Because they don't trust anybody. but So, you know, trust but verify, trust but verify, you know. um And I think that's probably, I would i would go go with that.
00:42:37
Speaker
And the whole Bernie Madoff thing, nobody was verifying. Everybody was just writing checks, right? They were just saying, oh, this sounds good. So-and-so is someone so doing well. it You know, and and and that's, obviously it's human nature because it happens over and over again.
00:42:49
Speaker
And scammers know that. They you know that they they can get whoever gives you the best dog and pony show. If they can get you to be emotionally connected, they tweak your greed and fear lens.
00:43:01
Speaker
Yeah. and then then they walk off with the loot and they go to Hawaii and then you get left with a bill. So you go.
00:43:13
Speaker
Yes. I mean, I've fallen victim to scammers, unfortunately. Yeah. um It's a lesson, a hard lesson to learn. It's important to unpack your own weaknesses and your own vulnerabilities. That's the important thing because otherwise you're just going to walk around like a victim forever. If you you say, look, I take responsibility. What did I do? What did I not see? Why was I? you know That's the important thing because then you can empower yourself for next time.
00:43:42
Speaker
Because next time when you walk away, you're going to feel good about yourself. You're like, I learned my lesson and i and then I can warn other people, watch out for this. And don't be, you know, don't don't be, you know, the fear of missing out or the greed.
00:43:55
Speaker
We have to look at ourselves. that' That's where the point of power is, right? Looking at ourselves. Other than that, we're just like, that like, you. It just keeps you running around in a circle, right? And chasing the, you know, it's fine if you want to try to chase them, but ah Only if it makes sense because most of the time Those people know exactly what they're doing. They're collapsing LLCs, like, you know, that they're throwing out their old underwear.
00:44:21
Speaker
You know, they're like, you know, and there they have all sorts of tricks and and and you gotta be aware of that, so. Oh my goodness. Okay, um I know you've gotta hop off here here in a few minutes. I have ah one more question I really would love to chat with you about if you have the moment. And it was, you know, you founded the Women's Wealth Network.
Empowering Women in Real Estate
00:44:42
Speaker
Why is it important to you to create a space specifically for women the um in the real estate invest in investing?
00:44:51
Speaker
um Well, let's just look at commercial real estate, for example. 97% of all commercial real estate is owned by men, 3% by women. It is by far the best way to get yourself into financial orbit is owning commercial real estate.
00:45:08
Speaker
but only 3% are women. Okay. Now of the 3% that are women, one and a half have inherited the property from a man.
00:45:19
Speaker
Okay. okay So that's an example, right? yeah um so um So I do think it's important. There are women who women are just as capable, but we have to be trained in certain ways. Right. So I just think it's important it is important for for women to look at, especially now, okay. i you know hey i do i i think it's beautiful when a man and woman can work together and then build their dreams together. That is the the gold standard. It's wonderful, right? If you can have like a beautiful team, you know our ah people, partnerships, whatever that is, right?
00:45:55
Speaker
um But for many reasons, women find themselves alone and they're not finding the quality of partners around them um And I'm speaking only you know about the heterosexual world because they I guess no no no discrimination about that at all. It's just that, right, they look around and they don't have a partner. So, well, until you find it in until and unless you find a partner, you need to be now be your own Shiro.
00:46:19
Speaker
And I've had that experience in my life. And so I think, you know what, be your own strength and Shiro and and create your own strength.
00:46:32
Speaker
security, because that's a big deal. Women want security. Men want glory a lot of times and women want security. it' It's like a a thing I've seen over the years.
00:46:43
Speaker
It's been my experience that women want that security. You know, it has to do with, but by you know, having children and protection and, you know, growth and all of that. So that's just a thing. So I think it's important for women to to get this get this money thing handled, you know, and and address this. And if you can find, and you don't have to have, your partner does not have to be umm a male romantic lover partner husband. It doesn't have to be that way. You can have other partners.
00:47:13
Speaker
I'm not saying it's ideal or not ideal or whatever. it it doesn't It's not relevant at all. um What is relevant is that you you don't wait to take care of yourself financially until you find that partner.
00:47:27
Speaker
um If you want to, you're what you're free to do that. But we have options. We have options. we can We can work on our own financial independence while we're you know deciding if we want to have a family or have a partner, or if a woman wants to stay single for a while, they have the options today.
00:47:46
Speaker
We have options that we didn't have before.
00:47:50
Speaker
I that now. And it's so true. we we didn't We have options now and we need to. um So many women I speak with, they're trying to find their way, trying to build that own their own income so they have that stability that they need. A sound mind, I guess.
00:48:07
Speaker
um A peace of mind, I should say, for financial wellness. What would three books would you recommend for someone wanting to get started in real estate investing?
Resources and Continued Learning
00:48:20
Speaker
um I haven't haven't read a real estate book ah in a long time other than my Commercial Academy manuals. Okay, 21 Ways of stuff to stop of Stop Chasing Hustle and Use Real Estate to Fund Your Dream Life, which I have to publish.
00:48:35
Speaker
I really do think that that it's a powerful book. Apparently, it it really inspired my editor and you're inspiring me to keep keep on it. You mean to. get that thing out there i know i know i know i've been i've been i've writing offers on 88 000 square foot shopping centers you know i've been distracted i mean in order to that order to do that i had to go through a bunch of what you know and it is what it is right so but um Yeah, but it um no, that that actually will be a great one.
00:49:03
Speaker
um Really, truthfully, I would just go on Amazon and just start looking at books that, because we all have orientation, right? Go into BiggerPockets, listen to podcasts like this one.
00:49:14
Speaker
Get yourself, you know, just... kind of figure it out because everybody's got their own orientation. Mine was nothing down, and but that was years ago. And and that really inspired me.
00:49:25
Speaker
The book I'm reading right now is um commercial real estate for dummies. And I love it because it's just like basic, but it's good. It's good. And it's solid. Right. So that's, that's another one. Yeah.
00:49:38
Speaker
yeah I don't think there's enough women who write books on commercial real estate or on real estate. So I think there's a space for my book. There here is a space for my book.
00:49:49
Speaker
But just you know follow follow your your orientations and get educated. Now we have so much information available. um it's such a It's an awesome thing to have this much information available so quickly.
00:50:01
Speaker
It really is. It's a, I, I'm going to chat GBT so much stuff after we get off here that you've shared. but um Well, ah you know, this has been and absolutely incredible. Your wisdom, your experience and passion.
00:50:18
Speaker
um empowering other women is just truly inspiring, inspiring. And um just, you know, thank you so much for being here today. And before we really wrap up, I would, I want to make sure that our listeners know how to connect with you and even potentially work with you.
00:50:34
Speaker
What's the best way for them to do that? I'm on Facebook. A private message me on Facebook. I'm on Facebook. Ginger Crystal Faith. um I don't have a business page anymore. i Actually, I opened a brand new one.
00:50:47
Speaker
um But my they shut down my old one. You know how it happens. Sometimes you randomly get shut down. But I'm pretty much all over um social media. I also, this podcast will end up on my YouTube channel.
00:50:59
Speaker
Right. So and when I, when I get the the transcript, so I have a YouTube channel with like 170 videos, you know, we just talk about all sorts of things having to do with real estate and also the last 30 podcasts I've been in. So um yeah, if you just ginger crystal faith, real estate broker, I am not ah hard to find at all.
00:51:20
Speaker
Women's wealth network.net is my, ah my current website. And, um But I am developing another one, ah which will be more oriented. um It's called Real Estate is the Remedy.
00:51:33
Speaker
and And it's going to be more oriented to passive income. and And it's going to be dovetailing with my book specifically. Wow. me to We need to get your book out there because so many. I am. I am. I promise I will get it. Okay. When you do when you get it ready, let's have you back on too, so we can do Okay. Okay. I'll make it. I'll make a PR announcement to all my podcasters. Let's talk about your book. Yeah.
00:51:57
Speaker
Yeah. It is good. It inspired me when I read it. The only thing I was like, you know, I need more stories. So I got to get stories in there. so like I think that's probably what I need to do. So, you know, chunk it down when you got a task that's daunting, right? Just chunk it down. All I need to do, if I can get like 20 great stories and then give them to my editor and say, here, throw these in where they, where they make sense. Right. Cause Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure you have them. I do.
00:52:23
Speaker
I do. Let's get it done. Let's get it done. All right. All right. That's what I do. I'm going to get my editor 20 stories. I throw these in here. Throw it in. That's what they get paid to do. So that's right. That's right.
00:52:36
Speaker
All right. If you've been sitting on the sidelines thinking about real estate investing, let Ginger's story be your wake up call. And this is if you've been waiting for a sign, this is it.
00:52:48
Speaker
So Ginger, is it just proof that women can build wealth? She's proof that we can build it on our own terms, in our own lane and with other women beside us. This is a woman who has not only built incredible wealth over 30 years, but is actively teaching other women how to do the same.
00:53:06
Speaker
And so when she gets her book published and has that ready, go out and buy that book too. You know, she is proof that with the right knowledge, strategy, mindset, you can build generational wealth and retire on your own terms. I know that's our goal.
00:53:22
Speaker
That's my goal. So Ginger, just thank you so much. for sharing your incredible journey with us today, your commitment to helping women build wealth, avoid pitfalls, exactly what our Mamas Who Lead community needs to hear.
00:53:35
Speaker
and so to all of our amazing listeners, remember you don't have to choose between being just a great mom and being a successful investor investor. You can actually be both and you can lead in every area of your life. So until next time, keep leading, keep growing and keep believing in what's possible.
00:53:54
Speaker
You've been listening to Mamas Who Lead with Laura Carafino. Thank you for joining us on this journey today. Each episode, each story, and every piece of advice we share is a step towards building a community of empowered, resilient, and inspiring Mama leaders, just like you.
00:54:13
Speaker
Remember leadership isn't just about the title or the workplace. It's about how we navigate our lives, uplift those around us and pave the way for future generations. As we close today's episode, I encourage you to carry forward the insights and inspiration you've gained, apply them to your life, share them with your tribe and continue to lead with heart and purpose.
00:54:34
Speaker
For more empowering stories, strategies, and support, make sure you subscribe to Mamas Who Lead on your favorite podcast platform. And don't forget to follow us on social media for behind the scenes content, community discussions, and much more.
00:54:49
Speaker
Until we meet again, keep embracing your unique journey of leadership and motherhood. You are capable, you are powerful, and you are exactly where you're meant to be.
00:55:00
Speaker
Lead on Mamas.