Freedom is a focus here at The Freedom Formula, especially location and financial freedom. I understand the impact those freedoms have made on my life and hope to help others see their value and help them on their path toward these freedoms. So when I serendipitously met Sarah Weaver at a party in Thailand and realized that we both valued this outlook on life (while being fellow investors in the Kansas City area back in the States), I knew I wanted to know more about her path to financial and location freedom.
Learning more about Sarah’s travels and investment strategies helped me understand what drives her so strongly as a real estate investor and entrepreneur. While the desire to be free to travel and support the life you want to live is a common theme amongst the people I have interviewed on the podcast, learning more about why she started a business promoting travel for fellow real estate investors was eye-opening.
Our enlightening discussion helped me re-think my views on real estate investment.
Travel Was Always the Priority
Sarah knew early on that she wanted to travel. When her young peers dressed up as superheroes and sports stars as kids, she dreamed of being a journalist. She desired to travel the world outside of her Midwest upbringing, telling stories that inspired others to clear the dust from their passports and venture toward new destinations and experiences.
As she progressed into the working world, she ensured that her job allowed her the freedom to remain a traveler. She got her work done, but often in cafes or terraces in exotic locales where she felt inspired and free to live the life she wanted. That steadfastness in keeping travel as the focal point for her career progression also led her to look for ways to support her lifestyle. Real estate investment and the passive-ish income that resulted from it could allow her to continue to work her regular job, travel, and build additional income sources until she gained that financial freedom she dreamed of.
She documented most of this process and her adventures on her Instagram, or discussed them on podcasts like BiggerPockets, inspiring others to reach out to her and inquire about learning from her how to achieve their freedoms.
Taking the Leap
Since Sarah knew her priority was travel, the next step was to figure out how to fund it. Real estate fits the bill, but with a nomadic lifestyle, could she manage the properties from afar? Or would they become a tether to keep her close at home? Also, working a job that allows for freedom of travel doesn’t necessarily translate to a financial windfall to throw at investing. Sarah knew she would have to be smart and lean in her investment philosophy, which played to her love of analytics and data-driven decision-making.
Sarah looked at the life she wanted to live and the realistic costs of such a life and set a target for the recurring income she would need to receive. She knew the parameters she had to work within and kept herself contained in her investment approach. Starting slowly, one property at a time, she quickly learned how to leverage her available cash flow and the best property investments that fit her needs as a nomad. When she finally reached her financial independence threshold, she left employment behind and became a full-time entrepreneur and investor.
Within six months of focusing full-time on her portfolio, Sarah had replaced her former annual income in a single month through her real estate investments. She knew that she had found her niche and wasn't looking back.
Most Bang for the Buck
As a nomad, Sarah was sometimes forced to purchase a new property, sight unseen. While this isn’t necessarily the most recommended process, it worked for Sarah because she did her due diligence. Again, travel was the priority, and it informed her decisions as much as current trends or interest rates.
However, to help reduce the headaches that often come with being a landlord, Sarah needed to find ideal tenants. While traveling, Sarah met a fellow traveler who was a nurse back in the USA. She worked on short-term contracts for hospitals or medical facilities that were short-staffed, allowing her to make more money in a short span, and then spending the rest of her year backpacking around the world.
Most of these traveling nurses needed a rental to stay in during their contractual periods, but extended-stay hotels didn’t provide the comfort they desired during the few hours they were at home instead of work. Short-term rentals, like those offered on Airbnb, didn’t provide the sense of security important to women working odd hours in unfamiliar areas. They needed something that helped them feel at home while being away from home. An abode that provided all the creature comforts without the need to pack them up or purchase them again at the end or the start of their next contract. The mid-term rental model seemed to be the best fit, which guided Sarah’s next investments and multiplied her success as a real estate investor.
More Than Just Money
Success in real estate investment and coaching others to invest created more opportunities for Sarah to live the life she wanted on her terms. She also received queries on how to travel the way she did, while being a landlord. While being a travel agent wasn’t something she wanted to do, she quickly realized that planning travel for people who also invested in real estate was an opportunity to build more connections and help others build partnerships through shared experiences and goals.
She started Invested Adventures to help clients enjoy the type of life she had grown for herself. By curating once-in-a-lifetime trips for groups of real estate investors, she could put those people in a position to form bonds and partnerships through enduring difficult but rewarding experiences. This was her way to give back to the community she learned from.
Ultimately, Sarah is a success story because she knew what mattered most to her. She worked diligently and creatively to make her dreams come true. She earned her freedom and is now helping others learn how to achieve the same.
Photo by Jeremy Dorrough on Unsplash
This article was written by Neel from MaidThis Franchise, a remote-local franchise opportunity for people looking to escape the rat race and reach financial freedom. Learn more here.
