111: Retiring Early with Small Investments in Passive Assets with Ian Horowitz

While flashy real estate investors dominate the social media scene, the investors starting with limited assets are making waves in their communities.

On this episode of Zen and the Art of Real Estate Investing, former firefighter Ian Horowitz sits down with Jonathan to share how he went from $15,000 in the bank and bad credit to retiring before age 40. Ian and his partner Dan are the managing partners of Equity Warehouse based in the Baltimore, Maryland, area. Making just $65,000 as a firefighter and with a wife ready to start a family, Ian knew there had to be a better way to make extra money than side work on his days off. He discovered real estate, got his wife on board with the plan, and the rest is history.

Ian’s primary investments today are self-storage and multifamily assets, but he started with just one single-family home. Ian explains to Jonathan how he began, why he had to ignore the firefighters who thought he couldn’t make it in real estate, and the importance of the meetups and masterminds in his real estate education. He outlines why your household finances should be in order before investing, betting on yourself instead of going with the status quo, and identifying your tribe both online and in real life. Ian shares why he shifted into self-storage and multifamily properties, the competitive advantages knowing your local market provides, and the reason he purchased less desirable properties in the beginning.

Ian Horowitz didn’t have a large salary or even a college education. Still, his tenacity and desire to learn anything and everything he could about real estate are the elements in his story that stand out.

In this episode, you will hear:

Why wanting to leave a legacy for his family led Ian Horowitz to real estate
Side work as a firefighter, the reason it just wasn’t enough, and what led Ian to use his last $15,000 to invest in a house
Tuning out the noise from other firefighters who told him real estate investing was a bad idea
The meetups and masterminds that influenced Ian as he learned about real estate
The importance of education and knowing when to pounce on an opportunity
Ian’s advice to become financially sound and have stability in your own household before pursuing real estate investing
Getting your spouse on board with investing and understanding the goal
Betting on yourself to pursue success instead of going with the status quo
Identifying your tribe and hanging out with people who are more like you, who aren’t necessarily flashy
Why Ian concentrates on self-storage and multifamily properties at this point in his investing career
The competitive advantage knowing your real estate market gives you
Starting with less desirable assets to trade up in asset class later
The advantages of being able to defuse a bad situation
Ian’s thoughts on the benefits of self-storage
His advice for new investors

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