J Martin on Building a Location Independent Lifestyle with Short-Term Rentals

Building a Location Independent Lifestyle using Short-Term Rentals with J Martin

J Martin – Founder and Host of SF Bay Summit Real Estate Networking and Founder/Owner/Operator of JTM Real Estate Group, talks to Neil Henderson and Brittany Henderson, the hosts of The Road to Family Freedom podcast. J Martin talks about building a location-independent lifestyle, primarily using a portfolio of short-term rentals. J also discusses how he is able to travel year-round and operate his business, why he doesn’t use HOAs, how he manages communication, and how he funds his ventures.

Post-Interview Analysis

  • Key Lessons Learned: Systems are the things that make businesses successful. Ask yourself how you would run your business if you were out of the area.
  • How did they acquire their knowledge or what knowledge did they need to acquire? He used BiggerPockets.com, networking, books, and meetups.
  • How much money did it take to get started? $12,500 is what it took J Martin to get started. Subleasing requires a deposit and for furnishing, he spends about $7,000 for a one-bedroom, including the fee for people to do it.
  • How much time does it take now? He spends 3-4 hours a week.
  • Could they do this strategy from anywhere in the world? Yes, he can and he does.

What you’ll learn about in this episode

  • J Martin talks about traveling 100% of the year. 
  • What was J Martin’s a-ha moment about getting into real estate? 
  • What was the first piece of real estate that J Martin bought? 
  • What were the numbers involved in J Martin’s first real estate venture?  
  • When did he get involved in short-term rentals? 
  • If you believe you can, you are right. If you believe you can’t, you are right. 
  • J talks about giving up a portion of his cash flow to pay back a loan to his partner.  
  • How many units is he subletting?  
  • Over ⅓ of hotel and AirBNB stays are over 30 days. 
  • J Martin stays away from HOAs. 
  • What are the typical sizes of his real estate purchases?  
  • How does J Martin go about furnishing?  
  • What does it cost on average per room?  
  • How does he manage the communication? 
  • Look carefully at your lease terms. 
  • How did J Martin find his VAs? 
  • What are some places J Martin has enjoyed traveling to?    
  • Are there any places J Martin would not go back to? 
  • How much time is he required to spend on this? 
  • When he was getting started with short-term rentals, what are the things he had to learn that made him successful? 

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About the author, Neil

Neil Henderson is the co-host of The Road to Family Freedom, a self-storage investor, and avowed proponent of short-term rental house hacking. He founded The Road to Family Freedom to guide busy parents to financial freedom through passive real estate investing.