This article is transcribed from Episode 31 of The Accidental Landlord. Listen to the full episode here.
TODAY WE WELCOME AARON MILLEDGE, THE CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF TARGETED WEALTH SOLUTIONS. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF?
The abbreviated story of who I am is that I was in the Air Force and ended up with some colleagues that wanted to create their own wealth management company. Later on, that idea transformed into getting into financial planning. That’s how we created our company.
DID YOU INVEST IN REAL ESTATE WHILE YOU WERE IN THE SERVICE, OR WAS SOMETHING HAPPEN ONCE YOU WERE OUT?
Yes! The reality is that it would be hard to find someone who was in the military that did not acquire at least one property in a variety of locations. Every military person that acquires a property has the same learning curve as the rest. We have made the same mistakes and learned from them after some time. The good thing about this is that once you leave the military, you have learned from these real estate mistakes, and now you know how to make wise real esteem decisions.
WHAT WAS YOUR STRATEGY WHILE IN THE MILITARY? DID YOU BUY A PROPERTY EVERY TIME THEY CHANGED YOUR STATION?
Depending on where I was, when you are overseas, that can be difficult for various reasons. For example, the average length they changed your station was approximately 2-3 years, so whenever I needed to change locations, I entered a new market, which meant I needed to upgrade my investor knowledge every time.
HOW MUCH OF A HASSLE WAS IT TO BUY A PLACE VERSUS RENTING A PLACE?
It depends on your market dynamics. Sometimes the rental properties didn’t meet what you needed as a family, so it drove you by the nature of the assignment into buying. We have never looked at the question: is it easier to buy or rent? Our decision was always directed toward our needs. Maybe, it would’ve been easier to rent, but that’s out of the picture now.
you acquired your first property while in the military. HOW DID THAT INVESTMENT GIVE YOU THE POWER TO KEEP INVESTING IN OTHER PROPERTIES IN THE FUTURE?
The first thing to remember in this business is that you need to detach nostalgia from the properties you are going to rent. First, you must approach it as an asset on your family’s balance sheet that you need to leverage. By separating emotions, you are going to be able to see the house as an investment, and that way, you can move on to the next house (aka asset).
To listen to the full episode on Spotify, click the link here.
