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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Michelle Kesil interviews Nathan Gray, a real estate investor specializing in midterm, long-term, and Airbnb rentals. Nathan shares his journey of using VA loans to acquire properties across multiple states, emphasizing the importance of having a solid support team, effective lead generation strategies, and the lessons learned from his investing experiences. He also discusses the challenges faced by veterans in utilizing their VA loans and his commitment to educating and empowering them in real estate investing.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Nathan Gray (00:00)
Buying too quick. Buying too much too quick.That was a really tough lesson that I had to learn during COVID. Like I said, I was very hungry during COVID, interest rates tanked, as we all know. And I just didn’t have the right systems or the right team in place during that time. And I ended up picking up six properties at once. And that’s not to brag or to impress you or anything, more so to impress upon you that I have made mistakes that have cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars.
and I’m not the perfect investor and I’m not this big time investor either. It’s just a strategy that I’ve used and that takes time.
Michelle Kesil (02:16)
Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil. Today I’m joined by someone I’m looking forward to chatting with, Nathan Gray, who is a real estate investor viewing midterm, longterm, and Airbnbs across multiple states, as well as helping active duty members understanding real estate and investing better. So excited to have you here today, Nathan.Nathan Gray (02:43)
Absolutely, thanks for having me. I’m excited to share.Michelle Kesil (02:46)
Great, let’s dive in. First off, for those who are not familiar with you and your work yet, can you share what your main focus is?Nathan Gray (02:53)
Yeah, my main focus for myself as the investor, so I use my VA loan, acquire a rental property or my primary residence. And then I lived there for about 12 months to 24 months. And then I refinance out of that VA loan to free up my entitlement. And then I rinse and repeat. just have kept doing that time and time again, to the point to where now I have investment properties in three different states ⁓ rangingfrom midterms to Airbnbs and long-term rentals. And that’s really what I’m here to hopefully share with other active duty service members to accomplish the same exact thing.
Michelle Kesil (03:34)
Awesome. And what markets do you operate in?Nathan Gray (03:38)
That’s a great question. So currently right now I’m in Minot, North Dakota, Dallas, Texas, and San Diego, California, or I would say Southern California. So upwards of Riverside out to Palm Springs and Palm Desert area.Michelle Kesil (03:54)
Great. And so what kind of investing strategies are you currently using?Nathan Gray (04:00)
Investing strategies. So it’s a, I don’t want to complicate it because it’s really not that difficult. It’s basically just using your VA loan to buy your primary residence. And then you’re converting that into a rental, to a hold situation. And then you’re refinancing out of that VA loan and, you know, collecting that passive income. So it’s a real simple three-step process. The strategy, use your VA loan with zero down, buy either a single family home or a two to fourunit and then you live there for 12 to 24 months underneath the VA guidelines of it being your primary residence for at least 12 months and then converting that into a rental, finding tenants. You can either do that yourself or you can hire a property manager to do that and then refinancing out of that VA loan so that way it frees up your entitlement. Pretty simple, three-step process.
Michelle Kesil (04:52)
Yeah, absolutely. And then you just do like, buy and hold type rentals.Nathan Gray (04:58)
Yeah, so a little bit of both. guess it kind of just depends on the situation, right? So if it’s a single family home and it would benefit more from an Airbnb type of situation where I know interest rates right now, they’re pretty high. So depending on where you’re buying across the country, again, I’m only in three different states. So those are really the only ones that I can speak to. But single family home, if the numbers work out, we’ve been finding that Airbnb is a better solution for that because thatmonthly payment with a higher interest rate with zero down on a VA loan is a lot more achievable of creating that positive passive income. so in other situations, if it’s a smaller unit or a multifamily, anywhere from two to four units that you can go up to using your VA loan, again, that’s zero down. Some of those might be more beneficial of being midterm rentals or renting it out on a website known as
Furnish finder, where you get a lot of your corporate rentals. Those are shorter term leases or midterm leases, anywhere from three to six months. And typically with those jobs, those individuals are getting paid stipends from their employers. they’re similar to BAH in the military, right? Basic Allowance for Housing. And so the midterm rentals work really well with your multifamily and then your, obviously,
so your long-term rental anywhere from 12 to 24 months as well. That’s slow, steady growth, but ⁓ also predictable income too.
Michelle Kesil (07:21)
What do you feel are some main keys that made the biggest difference in allowing your business to grow and run smoothly?Nathan Gray (07:28)
Yeah, I would probably say…really putting the information out there. I don’t think that there is a direct source that active duty service members or veterans that also want to be investors.
there’s not a direct source or a direct person that’s a part of the VA that really puts the information in a digestible kind of framework that we all kind of understand. It’s not a difficult process to understand, having the right people in place. So to answer that question, think having the right people in place has really allowed me the opportunity to kind of grow and scale my business personally.
taking
what I’ve learned and really helping other individuals implement that same exact thing, if that answers your question.
Michelle Kesil (08:18)
Sure, what does having, like, are you talking about having the right team members? What does that look like for you?Nathan Gray (08:24)
Yeah, having the right team members. because we are investing in other states, I think it’s really important that you have a support team in like boots on the ground is what I refer to it as. And that goes from contractors, handymen, cleaners, depending on what type of rental it is, people that are on the ground that can actually support you while you’re not there. Most of us in the military, we have PCS orders anywhere from two to three,maybe four years. And so when we are using our VA loan and we’re buying, it has to be a primary residence. So you can’t buy out of state with it unless you’re moving to that state. A big concern that a lot of individuals have is, you know, what do I do with it after I leave? Well, having the right team in place once you PCS out of that city is crucial to being successful and, you know, the operations running smoothly. So for me, yes, it was having
the right team in place that can really support me whenever I’m not there.
Michelle Kesil (09:25)
Yeah, absolutely. That’s important. And so what does your kind of day to day look like as an investor? Is it more of like a passive thing for you now?Nathan Gray (09:37)
I’m in my early 30s right now, so I’m just hungry. I ⁓ feel like I’m always working. So of course I do love my family and my friends, but I think at the end of the day I’m very passionate about this. I’ve been there myself. I’ve been the active duty service member. And now being where I’m at right now, I’ve seen how it’s changed my life and I’ve seen how it’s changed clients’ lives in the past.Michelle Kesil (09:41)
Yeah.Nathan Gray (10:01)
Like my day-to-day activities that I would say, yeah, I’m typically searching for deals for myself, you know, typically out of state. Not necessarily now using my VA loan only just because I have gotten to a place where I can do other type of creative financing for deals. But I would say my day-to-day is really supporting the active duty community here in San Diego, you know, achieving those same exact things, buying, holding, and redoing it after they PCS.rinse and repeat.
Yeah, so for myself, I’m just deal hunting. I’m just looking for the next opportunity for myself, but also for my current clients that I’m working with in San Diego. So I think a lot of my time goes into preparing the clients and educating them. And so I’m very passionate about it, but my day-to-day is just always real estate. Whether or not it’s investing in myself or investing, helping another client invest or buy their first home, then kind of
taking it from there. So it’s really the boring life of real estate. That’s it. Eat, breathe, and sleep it.
Michelle Kesil (11:02)
Yeah, totally.What does your like lead gen process look like?
Nathan Gray (11:41)
Lee Jen, great question. So one of the reasons again, I feel like it’s…me coming on to podcasts and just sharing my story, sharing what I’m trying to accomplish out there. LeadGen for me is really social media. It is beating the pavements, door knocking. Literally the house down the street’s overgrown. It looks like it’s gotten deferred maintenance. And so I’m the individual that’s walking up to that house and seeing if they have any interest in
and if they don’t, I’ve had a lot of doors slammed in my face too. So I think the biggest lead gen that I have right now is we did just start up a monthly, quarterly webinar. It’s called VHCodes and that’s something I’m also really passionate about this year on putting more effort into that one and resources into that to really grow and scale that side of things.
again, a wider audience to again help that 13 % go up closer to 50 and maybe 100%. So webinar right now is a big lead gen for me, but and then of course referrals, referrals from past clients, from friends, from family members. They all know me as real estate Nate. And so I think, you know, referrals are my favorite ones because they, those are past clients that know, like, and trust me.
And so to have a referral from someone that they know, like, and trust is what I have found to be the best type of client to work with. So yeah, three kind of sources. Just beating the pavement every single day, the webinar that we just launched in January, and then referral, just word of mouth.
Michelle Kesil (13:22)
Yeah, amazing. And what are you most focusing on solving or scaling to next?Nathan Gray (13:30)
solving or scaling to next. Solving that the 13 % of 20 million veterans have not used their VA loan. So I think that’s a global kind of view on it, that there are just…so few individuals that have actually used their VA loan. So I think that is a huge problem that I’m trying to solve, reaching that wider audience.
The scaling part, again, the webinar, right? And my own portfolio. So I try my best at least two units a year or two doors a year for myself. But then, you know, on the client-facing side of things, I really do help to try my best to help them accomplish one unit a year. And it’s even more important that they do it
sooner rather than later unlike I did when I was you know six months out of getting of the milk getting out of the military is whenever I first learned and really took the time to understand the VA loan and by that time once I bought my first house I was already getting out and so you know that comes up with its own you know challenges in and of itself but so yeah I think that’s the the scaling part
Michelle Kesil (14:43)
What is a challenge or obstacle that you’ve overcome on your investing journey and like, what did you learn through it?Nathan Gray (14:52)
a challenge that I’ve overcome.Buying too quick. Buying too much too quick.
That was a really tough lesson that I had to learn during COVID. Like I said, I was very hungry during COVID, interest rates tanked, as we all know. And I just didn’t have the right systems or the right team in place during that time. And I ended up picking up six properties at once. And that’s not to brag or to impress you or anything, more so to impress upon you that I have made mistakes that have cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars.
and I’m not the perfect investor and I’m not this big time investor either. It’s just a strategy that I’ve used and that takes time.
So yeah, that’s probably one of the biggest challenges that I’ve faced and biggest lesson that I’ve learned is to take your time. You’re on nobody else’s timeline but your own and really
make sure that you’re doing it on your own timeline. No one else is.
Michelle Kesil (16:39)
Yeah, definitely. think often we want results quick.Nathan Gray (16:45)
Yeah, exactly. Most of us.Michelle Kesil (16:47)
Yeah,it’s the instant gratification programming that we’re all working to, you know, overcome. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. What advice would you give to a newer investor?
Nathan Gray (16:53)
It’s that scroll. It’s that flick of the scroll. ⁓Don’t start too late. The advice that I would give to a new investor,
There’s never going to be a perfect time. Don’t wait too long to start. I think as long as you have the right people around you, again, going back to the support and the team, or at least a good mentor that has done it in the past and is kind of on the path that you would like to go on or you kind of see yourself in the next couple of years, having that right mentor in place is extremely beneficial to your success.
So that would be my own little two cents.
Michelle Kesil (17:35)
Yeah, definitely mentorship is so important.So what else are you kind of like looking forward to when it comes to investing? Is there anything that you’re wanting to expand into or try out that you haven’t yet before?
Nathan Gray (17:52)
No, I think I not really expand into, I mean, maybe teaching classes, but I feel like the systems and processes that blueprint that I was talking about that I’ve worked on for almost 10 years, that’s my lane. And I know what I’m really good at. know what has made me successful. And so I don’t really want to stray too far from that.by just implementing some of the new like kind of lead generations that we were talking about and building that community of teaching those individuals like that. That is kind of where my my head is at of kind of expansion of just reaching a wider audience. And but as far as the the three step blueprint that I have, I don’t want to stray too far from that. I know that works and ⁓ I’ve had clients in the past
too. Saba, a single woman, all active duty, bought her first house and second house and now she’s on her third house and she’s not even married. Single income. She was the first one that started that a few years ago. And other clients in the past like…
the system is working for the individual and they’re from individuals that never thought it was possible, you know, coming from, you know, their background or coming from the military or their financial situation that they were currently in. So yeah, there’s not much that I want to venture away from that. There’s not much else. It’s working.
Michelle Kesil (19:05)
Yeah.Yeah, amazing.
Sounds like, yeah, sounds perfect that you have your system in place. That’s awesome.
Nathan Gray (19:29)
It definitely hasn’t disappointed yet. But, you know, probably just a lack of time in. know, everything can’t be perfect. And, not saying that it is perfect or anything, but, you know, we all make mistakes.Michelle Kesil (19:37)
short.Of course, yeah, it’s part of the process.
Nathan Gray (19:46)
Exactly. Part of the growing process and there’s always pain.Michelle Kesil (19:48)
Yeah, yeah,exactly. Awesome. Well, before we wrap up here, if someone wants to reach out, connect, learn more, where can people find you and connect with you?
Nathan Gray (19:59)
Yeah, so if I can share a link with you, the first one follow me on real estatenate_sd on Instagram. But I also do have a link for our school community platform that we just launched last year, slowly growing it. But like I said, that is the intention of 2026 is to help grow that community. So that way we are, you know, sharing the word, teaching everybody, active duty service members and veterans what they did.didn’t know about their VA loan. So school.com ⁓ under the community page VA cheat codes and then on Instagram, realestatenate_sd.
Michelle Kesil (20:36)
Perfect. Well, appreciate your time and your story. Thank you for being here.Nathan Gray (20:40)
of course, yeah, thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure and yeah, thank you.Michelle Kesil (20:46)
You’re welcome. And for the listeners tuning in, if you got value, make sure you have subscribed. We’ve got more conversations with operators like Nathan who are building real businesses. We’ll see you on the next episode.
