Reverse Engineering Short Term Rentals with TJ Tijani Episode #174

GUEST SUMMARY TJ steps into our lab while having multiple experiences in a lab of his own as a mechanical engineer turned rental-preneur. TJ’s short term rental journey started from working in the oil and gas industry as a mechanical engineer to real estate, using data, the numbers,  and other tactics to predict STR and arbitrage opportunities, and finding his niche in the industry before venturing out. While working in the oil and gas industry, TJ bought his first investment property in 2015. Between 2015 and 2017, TJ went on to complete several wholesale and fix & flip transactions. He also purchased several rental properties in the same period. In 2017, TJ discovered the short term rental strategy and hasn’t looked back. TJ bought and remodeled his first short term rental property in November 2017. His portfolio now exceeds 30 units of a mix of single and multi-family properties that he buys, remodels, furnishes, and turns into full-time short term rentals, 60% of which he owns and the rest of which he masters a unique scalable strategy called rental arbitrage. As of late TJ has acquired a boutique hotel, with all his experience, he uses his platform - The Short Term Rental Roadmap to teach others on how they can do the same thing. If you’re looking for ways to combine short term rental investing a.k.a airbnb homes that you but while also leveraging rental arbitrage as a way to acquire more in your portfolio, this episode is for you. HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EPISODE: 00:43 - Guest introduction 03:59 - TJ’s background 04:34 - What gets TJ out of bed 10:10 -TJ’s A-ha moment 12:20 - What made TJ realize he didn't want to be an employee for the rest of his life KEEPING IT REAL: 13:51 - How TJ found the Short Term Rental niche and who gave him permission to make that pivot 18:16 - TJ learns about arbitrage 29:07 - Deal first or lenders first? 32:53 - How TJ looks at arbitrage opportunities and using data to predict them. 36:39 - Additional tactics that can be used to predict arbitrage opportunities in addition to using the data 37:28 -Vacation vs. short term rentals 39:22 - Partnership with TJ 41:00 - Being in Houston, is it strategic for TJ or did it just happen? 42:47 - TJ’s vision for getting into multifamily deals 45:42 - Favorite app TJ uses day to day 46:19 - The best habit that serves TJ 46:34 - Book that TJ recommends right now NOTABLE QUOTES (KEY LESSONS): 06:04  “At the end of the day your why is what’s gonna allow you to keep pushing.” - TJ Tijani 07:12 “We have to wake up acting like somebody handed us a million dollars every single day.”  - TJ Tijani CONNECTING WITH THE GUEST IG: @TjTijani   Website: http://www.strroadmap.com/ TJ’s Masterclass: http://www.strroadmap.com/masterclass This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Guesty.com which is a property management software that Ruben and his team use as short term rental Superhosts to manage and streamline all communication with their guests and team to make it a memorable stay for each guest that books their property. Use our private unique link here https://hosts.guesty.com/?r=therealestateexperiment  to let Guesty know we sent you!