AIE 135: NFL Player to House Hacker to Short-Term Rental Airbnb Host

<p>CJ “walked on” to the NFL when he went undrafted, so Lauren of course had to ask him about that experience. They quickly transition to talking real estate. He house hacked twice to start, once with a duplex and once with a triplex. As a reminder, house hacking is when you buy a property, live in part of it and rent the rest out. He dipped his toe into short-term rentals with the triplex because it was a small studio. With that proof of concept in hand, he started thinking bigger: a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom lake house a couple of hours away. CJ and his wife loved the idea of having their own lake house, as they had seen many people with second homes growing up. CJ goes into his tech stack as well: PMS, pricing software, etc. The two also talk about the types of guests he gets in the studio vs the lake house. It’s HUGELY important to keep the types of guests in mind. CJ also talks about his experience with pets. Pro tip from Lauren: when you’re setting up your first STR, document everything as if you’re going to have a second. Finally, CJ gives advice on what you can do TODAY to get started in real estate.</p> <p>If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 124: NFL Players Side Hustle too.</p> <p><strong>Sponsored by: </strong>https://touchstay.com/</p> <p><strong>About CJ:</strong> CJ Smith and his wife own 6 units, including 1 short term rental. Played 2.5 years in the NFL. I work in sales and is from Minnesota.  <strong>Connect with CJ:</strong></p> <p><a href="https://twitter.com/Cjsmith_6">https://twitter.com/Cjsmith_6</a></p> <p><br></p> <p><strong>Connect with Lauren:</strong></p> <p><a href="https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/adultingiseasyreal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.instagram.com/adultingiseasyreal/</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.housemoneymedia.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.housemoneymedia.com/</a></p>