Real Estate Investing While Working Full Time | Airbnb, Multifamily & Subject-To

San Diego Steve Adler (00:00)
And ⁓ I just, you know, kind of start working at worst case scenario and walk my way back. And so, you know, is this a dog? Is this a winner? Like, you know, what’s how how can I ruin everything, lose all my money, all my investors’ money, and then walk my way back from that. And then that gives me a good idea of where we can go with the property and and

what what the the pitfalls might be. And so because of that kind of mindset, I’m I’m pretty good at coming in with a certain plan. And you know, you know, in the real estate world things change, the environments change, neighborhoods change, and then you might have to pivot. And so that that has really helped me out so far in this in this game.

Issa Hanna (02:10)
Welcome back to another episode of the Real Estate Pros Show. I’m your host, Issa Hanna, and today I have San Diego Steve Adler here to share his knowledge with us. San Diego Steve, welcome to the show.

San Diego Steve Adler (02:19)
Thanks for having

Issa Hanna (02:20)
I appreciate having you. ⁓ we were talking earlier, man. You’re super charismatic guy. ⁓ you told me personality is part of your branding. People recognize you for that. you’re an investor. ⁓ you’re you’re starting to scale up. ⁓ and you’ve only been doing it for a few years. So for people at home, can you kind of run down what your business is, what you’re focused on nowadays?

San Diego Steve Adler (02:41)
Sure. Well, ⁓ I was a firefighter for the city of San Diego and still am for the past eighteen years about. and I had a pretty severe back injury a couple of years ago. And that put me off the job for about a year and that’s when I started investing. And my first property was a ⁓ big million dollar home in Destin, Florida, turned it into an Airbnb. ⁓ and and that was the the start of my journey. Since then I’ve acquired

two duplexes, two single families, two fourplexes all in Louisiana. I recently just bought a subject two property in Austin, Texas. And yeah, I have an ADU here at my home. And so I’ve got ⁓ nine properties across four states with 20 doors.

Issa Hanna (03:22)
Wow. ⁓ I mean, that’s amazing. And then you told me you, you know, your firefighter work, it really helped you transition into the real estate world because you can make quick judgments, on-the-spot calls, ⁓ think critically very quickly. So can you kind of elaborate a little bit more on that for them?

San Diego Steve Adler (03:39)
Yeah, ⁓ I’ve like I said, I’ve been a firefighter for a while. One of the ⁓ acronyms that we fire departments big with acronyms, and ⁓ one of the ones that really stuck with me is this acronym PACE. And it’s your your primary plan, your alternate plan, your contingency plan, your emergency plan. And so all the time on that job, you get incomplete information, you know, you don’t know all the facts immediately, but you need to act. and so I’ve taken that.

mindset into the real estate world. And so when I when I see these properties, I start, you know, doing my due diligence, my my pre due diligence, you know, before I ever pick up a phone.

And ⁓ I just, you know, kind of start working at worst case scenario and walk my way back. And so, you know, is this a dog? Is this a winner? Like, you know, what’s how how can I ruin everything, lose all my money, all my investors’ money, and then walk my way back from that. And then that gives me a good idea of where we can go with the property and and

what what the the pitfalls might be. And so because of that kind of mindset, I’m I’m pretty good at coming in with a certain plan. And you know, you know, in the real estate world things change, the environments change, neighborhoods change, and then you might have to pivot. And so that that has really helped me out so far in this in this game.

Issa Hanna (04:52)
A hundred percent. And some of the the best real estate investors in the world, and all real estate investors, including myself, we we do that. When when we speculate, when we’re underwriting, it’s worst case scenario, and then we walk it back. Is it still a good investment? my famous line I like to use on the show is if it makes dollars, it makes sense. So ⁓ I I mean very, very great information, very great advice.

⁓ and then I I wanted to ask you, can you give us an example of one of the times you might have had to pivot and roll with that punch?

San Diego Steve Adler (06:13)
⁓ yeah, so it you know, my my first property ⁓ that I bought was a seven bedroom, six bath, on the water with this beautiful dock. You could find it on Airbnb. it it it’s beautiful, but ⁓ in my slow season I wasn’t getting the the rental, the ⁓ occupancy numbers that I was looking for. And so I started

renting them out individually, these suites, and then the small, you know, now you have a four-bedroom. Now you have three more suites and kind of just doing what I could for that. at this point in time, I actually have that property listed for sale. And so that’s you know the second pivot on that. I’m gonna take I have a lot of capital tied up in that property and I could use that ⁓ to further my my goals by shifting that money into a relocating it to a different asset.

And so that’s just kind of the simple down and dirty, you know, easy. And and the plan is to not have ⁓ emergency pivots, right? Like, you know, you want to see it’s coming and see you know how this is trending and how it’s been. And even though it’s successful, I’m making money on it, it’s just I could do better things with that equity than than have it all tied up in that property.

Issa Hanna (07:20)
Definitely a great plan of thinking. and that’s a great thing about real estate, you guys. like Steve said, he was a firefighter, had an injury, started thinking, like, you know, I’m not gonna be able to work 10, 20 years from now. You know, I I want to be able to retire, but I want something to retire to. Real estate can bring you cash flow monthly, and then over time build you that equity to where, you know, by the time you are in your 50s and 60s,

you know, seventies or golden years, you’ve got paid off properties, cash flowing, and then you can sell and move those that you know, that assets into whatever you want. So amazing. And, you know, I I always say another thing, I say real estate people, investors especially, we get to be experts at spotting a potential fire and putting out fires. So who better to transition themselves into the real estate world than a firefighter, man?

I wanted to kind of shift a little bit, ⁓ ’cause ’cause you did, you know, you touched on the Airbnb and you said it was kind of like a headache managing a short term rental. Then you said sometimes it’s better to leave the property managing to the professionals a and give you your free up your time, you know, and and your headspace. So can you give us a little bit more about why it’s better?

San Diego Steve Adler (08:31)
Yeah, you know what? ⁓ I I recently started my own ⁓ business Instagram for my San Diego Steve you know my my my my new campaign, I guess you’d say. ⁓ but I I’ve been posting a lot about ⁓ time versus money. And that’s something that I I learned for all my years in the fire department. I used to be a big overtime guy. you pick up a 24 hour shift, that’s like a thousand dollars in your in your extra in your paycheck, you know? And it’s

Twenty four who can who else can pick up twenty four hours of overtime? And so, ⁓ you know, but when when it gets to you and you’ve got that, taxes came out, you gotta pay extra for your pension, you gotta do all and now you know that thousand dollars is down to maybe like five, six hundred. And then so you just wasted a twenty four hour day to make five, six hundred. What else could you have done in that day? you traded all that time with your family, tr time with your loved ones,

And and after years of that, and I I was pretty good about the important dates, making sure I had off and stuff, but you know, when you bring that to things in the real estate world, like what else can you be doing? If if you if you spend that extra couple hundred dollars on a property manager that’s just taking care of everything that where you don’t get a phone call, you don’t get ⁓ the the midnight calls and the emergencies, you know, you get the this might be we’re we’re gonna need to do this eventually. The you know, those kind of Monday

conversations. it it frees up time for you to be looking at the next property, to be kind of more focused on the rehab, to to do these other things, to do podcasts and not have to answer a phone right now. So where it it frees up your time, but then it also frees up your free time. Yeah, I have more time with my family. What can that money buy you with time?

Issa Hanna (10:05)
Hundred percent. And ⁓ you know, like they say, you you can’t buy time, but with real estate, you can buy your time because you know, like we keep saying, you have cash flowing properties, you have equity. you know, you don’t have to work that twenty four hour shifts. If you have five, six rental properties that are cash flowing every month, you’re making that four or five hundred dollars every single day extra, regardless. So even if it’s one extra property, it’s it’s you know, it could be

Not just life changing, but generational type wealth. E even just a few properties.

San Diego Steve Adler (11:11)
Totally. And that’s that’s really my goal. I’m not looking to be the five six property owner. I I wanna I wanna grow. I wanna be huge. And and really I’ve kind of realized I it’s I wanna make a difference. I wanna provide something to people and and have a good reputation and good name. People want to live in my properties. you know, it’s something that kind of I’ve always had. Yeah, why did I join the fire service? I want to make a difference.

Issa Hanna (11:36)
Mm-hmm. And and exactly and and and having that type of golden name is super important in our business because people will want to rent with you, do business with you, all that stuff. You even told me that, you know, you you’ve picked up some investors and you treat their money like it’s your money, you know. So can you give us a little bit more about that?

San Diego Steve Adler (11:56)
Yeah, you know, ⁓ I I like I said, I I didn’t wanna be those kind of recreational investors that I I’ve I’ve seen a lot of ⁓ people in my years. My dad was a mortgage broker growing up and so growing up in a in a little community outside of LA in Riverside, we I I got to see like, you know, the neighbor’s house went for sale and and they bought it and they got a good deal on it, but it’s it was always a headache. And they never treated it like a business. And so,

the ability for me to kind of ⁓ take these investors’ money and operate it fully this is my business. This isn’t some ⁓ you know hobby. This is this is their money but it’s my butt and money as well. It’s my reputation. ⁓ you know, if something goes wrong, like I I feel fully indebted to these people. They’re tied to my to these properties. I I make sure that they’re taken care of first because it it’s it’s our money. You know, we’re all in this together.

Issa Hanna (12:50)
Definitely, man. ⁓ you know, and that’s why your investors you’ve been able to build that circle. You guys are all trusting now of each other and and and you know, come can come together and have done multiple deals. So you know, it you’re their guy now. And when you make people money, guess what, guys? They love you. So, and when you deal with them honestly, you know, you’re just gonna plant seeds. I mean, you’re gonna pick up investors just by that philosophy alone.

You could pick up tons of investors and you said you’re being selective too, which I like. I want to shift gears and and I wanna talk about the future a little bit. Five years down the line, you said you want to scale, you want to grow. do we have a number five years from now?

San Diego Steve Adler (13:28)
I I don’t have my five year number. I have my one year number, which I’m not gonna say right now. That’s for me only. I don’t I don’t want to give away too much, but ⁓ you know, the the five year it’s funny, I woke up early this morning and ⁓ I asked Chat GPT. I I I I literally said, give me a day in my life five years from today. And it was it was beautiful. It was, you know, waking up on on my time, my my

Issa Hanna (13:33)
Okay, okay.

San Diego Steve Adler (13:52)
I have things in the calendar, but it’s not ⁓ jam packed full. You know, it’s it’s the the highlights, the important stuff. It’s you know, I I assume millions and millions of dollars five years from now is is I’m already at about four million dollars in property already. So ⁓ you know, I I I know that’s a fully achievable number. I’ve been scaling every year, I’ve been doing it. And so ⁓

you know, two Xing, two Xing, two Xing, compounding money, compounding time. and and so I I see myself in the ⁓ in in the low seven figures or if or you know something like that, eight figures. I don’t know. I live in one of the most expensive cities in the United States right now. So

Issa Hanna (14:33)
You’re gonna need all that.

San Diego Steve Adler (14:34)
See how far it goes.

Issa Hanna (14:36)
That’s hilarious. Yeah, definitely. San Diego is is expensive, but beautiful, beautiful city. definitely worth the money you spend on it. so if you could afford to live there, why the heck not? You know, just make that seven figures and and live a better life.

San Diego Steve Adler (14:49)
That’s right. That’s right.

Issa Hanna (14:51)
⁓ I want to ask you now for our young people that, you know, just getting into the game. and and like I keep saying, one of the most important things in our world is building business relationships, growing your network, whether it’s investors, clients, ⁓ the whole nine yards, you you know you had a a parent in the mortgage game, so you know the importance of that that aspect as well. So if you could give them one piece of advice on where to start building these relationships, what would it be?

San Diego Steve Adler (15:57)
I okay, so for the younger generation, Facebook is not their deal. But let me tell you, I have found so much positive things on these Facebook groups that it’s it’s the LinkedIn right now of what that was 10, 20 years ago. you know, that that and meetup groups are good, but I I find that if you f you find people on these Facebook groups, you know

multifamily properties for sale, you know, things in your area, in your market. You know, you just type in search terms and you could find something. and then there’s meetup groups in there. ⁓ but you know, for me, I have a busy schedule. I have three children. I have a a a wacky fire department schedule. and so it’s I can’t always make it to to all these meetup groups that I that I want to. But with Facebook and online I’m able to have these these ⁓ Zoom meetings. I’m able to ⁓

connect with people that shared the same similar i interests and and you know I I just got a ⁓ a message from somebody that I I was working with maybe a year ago and out of the blue he messages me and he goes, I just did ⁓ he bird dogged a nine million dollar property for somebody and he’s gonna make ten percent on it for the length of their ownership. And ⁓ he he just found the property and and so he hits me up and he’s like hey I just did this

Let’s get together and and he’s in in New Jersey. And so let let’s connect. I’m gonna show you how to do it. You can you know, follow on the next one and and you know, it’s just from a ⁓ communication from from having that networking and ⁓

All of a sudden that, you know, that’s another opportunity down the route down the road. Maybe that’s not today or tomorrow, but a week from now, a month from now, you know, that’s somebody I can call. And when I have questions, I have people that I can call and give me good advice. you know, one of the other things is ⁓ spend your money, you know. This it sounds crazy. Go to a conference, you know. you don’t know anything. Find the closest conference to you that’s starting next week and go. Like it’ll be

Two, three, five hundred, maybe it’s a thousand bucks for the the whole go. you’re gonna meet so many good pay people, learn so much good information and ⁓ you know, get get get in there.

Issa Hanna (17:58)
Unbelievable advice. Definitely unbelievable advice, guys. Get your feet wet, get in there. learn. Learn, learn, read. unbelievable advice from you, Steve. ⁓ and then now, ⁓ if people wanted to find you on on your Instagram page or you know, you got anything you want to plug, I’m gonna give you the floor and you can take it from here.

San Diego Steve Adler (18:17)
Yeah, right now like I’m in a growth phase. I haven’t really had too much of an online presence. We’re building our website right now, but you could find me at on Instagram @sandiegosteve.2026

Issa Hanna (18:29)
@sandiegosteve.2026. make sure to check him out, you guys. Very knowledgeable, personable ⁓ guy. ⁓ shared a lot of golden knowledge with us today. Unbelievable. ⁓ I’d like to thank you so much for coming on the show today. It was a true honor to host you.

San Diego Steve Adler (18:45)
thank you. ⁓ it’s been a pleasure to be here. This is my first one, my first time being interviewed for this, and so it it’s amazing. ⁓ I look forward to coming back with, you know, ten more properties and and I could tell you how I did all that.

Issa Hanna (18:56)
Definitely. Well, I mean, hey, you did great for for your first time. You would never be able to tell. And we would love to have you back on the show maybe next year. ⁓ come tell us about your progress and then more knowledge that you that you could share with us.

San Diego Steve Adler (19:09)
Awesome, awesome, thank you.

Issa Hanna (19:10)
Problem and to my viewers at home. ⁓ if you enjoyed my conversation with Steve and want to see more just like it, make sure to hit like and subscribe. I talk to people every day that can bring us different knowledge on every aspect of the real estate industry. Until next time, the Real Estate Pros are out.