108: Real Estate Investing as a Family Endeavor with Laura Sides

What happens when an extroverted stay-at-home mom needs an outlet for her creativity and intellectual pursuits? Sometimes, she becomes a real estate investor.

On this episode of Zen and the Art of Real Estate Investing, Laura Sides joins Jonathan to discuss how she maintains her role at home as a stay-at-home mom while succeeding as a real estate investor. Since the pandemic, Laura has been flipping homes and investing in short- and mid-term rentals. She’s a former teacher who loves what real estate offers her entire family.

Jonathan and Laura’s conversation starts with her introduction to real estate investing and what prompted her to begin learning how to do it. She explains that she came from a family with a “Poor Dad” mentality. When an opportunity from a neighbor presented itself, Laura dove in and didn’t look back. With her husband’s support and bringing her kids along for the ride, she purchased two flip homes in six months. She developed a presence as an investor on Instagram and formed a community on social media, providing her with an adult outlet outside her role as a stay-at-home mom. You’ll hear the story behind those first two investment properties, what she learned about working with contractors, and the moment she fell in love with real estate investing. Laura also shares how she discovers deals, learned by doing, and why buying with cash makes investing so much easier. Finally, she explains her long-term plans for her real estate career and the advice she would give to a brand-new home flipper.

Laura Sides’s story is an example of the success you can achieve as an investor even when you don’t come from a real estate background, and she’s adamant about sharing her journey online to help others.

In this episode, you will hear:

Why it was so important to Laura Sides to involve the whole family in her real estate investing venture
Her level of exposure to real estate when she started and how she intentionally began learning about real estate investing
Laura’s decision to be completely authentic about her journey on social media
The community she found on social media that gave her an outlet in the adult world as a stay-at-home mom
The importance of the support Laura receives from her husband and kids in this venture
Laura’s first investment property from an unlikely source and how she and her husband made it work
The most surprising thing she learned about working with contractors
How she fell in love with real estate and what makes it a win-win all around for her
Where Laura Sides finds her deals now after those first two property purchases and her reasoning for being picky
Figuring things out as she went along, and what she learned
The benefits of buying with cash
Her long-term plans and the constant reevaluation of properties
Laura’s advice for a brand new flipper based on her experience

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