Unlock Financial Freedom: A Firefighters Journey to Real Estate Success

Stephen Schmidt (00:03.266)
Welcome to the show where we interview the nation’s leading real estate entrepreneurs Stephen Schmidt back at it again, and I got a super cool treat for you guys here in the studio today I got perhaps the scrappiest real estate investor who’s also a full-time firefighter realtor real estate investor and working towards Absolute freedom in his own time and his family’s life and we’re we’re grateful to have him in the studio today I got Ethan Board here

And we’re going to get into a great conversation for somebody that’s still working a full-time job, how they can be doing real estate on the side, maybe some of the creative things that he’s done to get them where they’ve gotten today. So just remember before we get into it, at Investor Fuel, we help real estate investors, service providers, and real estate entrepreneurs, 2 to 5X their businesses so they can build the businesses they’ve always wanted in order to live the lives they’ve always dreamed of. And with that being said, Ethan, welcome to the show.

Ethan Board (00:56.32)
Hey, nice to be here. Thanks for having me.

Stephen Schmidt (00:59.342)
You’re welcome my friend. great talking to you pre-show And i’m super excited for all the stuff that you’ve got going on some of which we might talk about here some of which we might we might keep as a little sacred for for later on but To get us kind of caught up to speed. for the audience Can you give us a little bit of your background? Like what got you into real estate originally? mean, I know you’re fighting fires doing all sorts of other side gigs like most firefighters do because the

get some pretty decent time off working there full time. But what got you into the business and how did get to where you’re at now?

Ethan Board (01:34.606)
Yeah, so, you know, I’m a firefighter full-time. We work one day off too. We worked the 24-48 schedule and so yeah, we do have some time off. You know, at first I was doing different side jobs, mowing grass, doing concrete with other people and tried to figure out something to do that would free up my time on my days off. And so I got into actually real estate investing first before I became a realtor. We had some family members talking to us about, you know, real estate and what…

you know, what it could do for us and you know, how it could supplement our W-2 income and kind of talking about the fire movement a little bit, the, know, financial independent retire early type of people. We’ve talked to other people in that, you know, situation to where like what we want to do is supplement our W-2 to basically retire early and whatever that is to you is what it is. Like, so anyway, we got into investing by selling our

primary home and buying a duplex. And so we, if anybody’s familiar with the term of house hacking, that’s what we did to initially get started in our real estate journey. We, and what that is, is in a quick scenario is we bought, you know, a property, whether it be a duplex or a single family home, you rent out a portion of that home and live in the other. And it, whenever that renter will pay for the mortgage on that property. essentially we’ve been living,

mortgage free since I think April of 2019. And we’ve just basically been stacking up rental properties by doing house hacking, not every time, but house hacking got us started and we just kept building on.

Stephen Schmidt (03:13.585)
That’s awesome. How many properties are you up to now?

Ethan Board (03:17.389)
eight properties since 2019.

Stephen Schmidt (03:20.529)
Do you still self-manage everything?

Ethan Board (03:22.837)
Yeah, everything’s still self-managed here. I hope to get to, you know, property management, know, having a property manager take care of those later down the road. But, you know, right now the numbers don’t work and I can self-manage right now. So it’s not a, you know, a big deal for me yet.

Stephen Schmidt (03:40.453)
Yeah, for sure. What, so now like when you, when you got started in it, I mean, what really attracted you to real estate at first? I mean, what was the, cause you know, there’s a hundred different things you could go do that all promise financial freedom eventually, insurance, real estate. Why, why real estate?

Ethan Board (03:56.821)
Well, the numbers seem to work best. seemed like, you know, at any time if something went wrong, the worst case scenario, real estate never really depreciates unless somebody forces that depreciation, like a tenant ruining the property, a landlord never taking care of it, something like that. So it’s always like the real estate seemed to have a more, you know, upward rise in value. And so it seemed like my money was protected.

It seemed like my assets are always kind of rising. So real estate was that for me, you know? And then if you look at it, know, time being the most valuable thing to me, it took the less time, took less time to deal with real estate than it did mowing grass or doing concrete or doing anything else that I’ve tried to do. Real estate always seems to be worth my time.

Stephen Schmidt (04:49.714)
And obviously it’s way less hard work too for a lot bigger check. I mean I come from mowing grass man my first business when I was 10 was

Ethan Board (04:55.148)
Correct. Yes.

Stephen Schmidt (05:01.658)
I went out and knocked on all the doors in my neighborhood and basically was like, you got a guy that cuts your grass? Yes, no? All right, cool. You want an estimate? And was in khakis in a purple button up shirt with a clipboard and a sheet of paper on it. And that was great when I was 10, tax free money, you know what I mean? Allegedly, right? Allegedly. So I allegedly had this business, right? Don’t come after me, Uncle Sam.

Ethan Board (05:20.235)
Thank you.

Ethan Board (05:28.076)
Correct.

Stephen Schmidt (05:30.679)
So anyways, it was good, but then like you graduate and you move towards it then you realize like, like mowing grass really, unless you have like a few properties and you’re just doing all the work yourself, like it’s a loss leader for every landscape company because the real money comes from the higher tickets of the hardscapes and the landscape, you know what I mean? So.

Ethan Board (05:48.789)
Right.

Stephen Schmidt (05:51.217)
So that’s interesting. So when you did this at first, at what point did you get your Realtors license and how would you say that that’s benefited you having that? Because I know some people, don’t want anything to do with it. Other people are like, I wouldn’t do it any other way other than having my actual license.

Ethan Board (06:06.251)
Yeah. So, you know, in 2019 we started our, you know, the house hacking and then we bought another one a year later and then bought another one. And I think it was 2022 of March, March, 2022 is when I decided to get my real estate license. Uh, I actually, uh, me and my buddy started the, you know, our real estate meetup and, um, we had a broker there and the broker is now my broker that I worked for. And he kind of was like, well, if you’re doing this, why don’t you

you know, have you ever thought about being a real estate agent? And I was like, actually it has been on my mind. It’s just been on the back burner and he kind of gave me that push. And as soon as I, you know, passed the class, I just signed up with him and it’s been, you know, three years, a little over three years now, um, being a realtor. And, uh, I would say it’s helped tremendously, you know, um, the value that I get and bring to people and then the value that I get from people just being a part of this real estate meetup, um, it’s just pretty much.

astronomical like people help like we’re all surrounding ourselves with this like minded people that want to better themselves. They want to do you know what’s best for them and their family and there’s all kinds of people that do a little bit of everything. Some people buy and hold some people flip some people are burning some people are just lending money because they’re just maybe older and don’t want to really deal with the real estate stuff anymore. Some people are short term leasing properties. So it’s just like

crazy the amount of networking we can help each other with. And then being a realtor is just helping me continue to grow that network and help people on finding deals and selling deals in a matter of days sometimes. I mean, for a quick example, I had a deal fall through just actually about a month ago, and it was two weeks before closing and the guy was backing out on me. And so I was rushing to help

I wasn’t even the seller agent, I was the buyer’s agent, but I knew I could find people within my network that this deal was good. And so I ran to them, they were cash buyers and they scooped it up and saved the deal within literally less than like 12 hours, I believe. And the deal was just that good. And I had people and I know people that have the cash ready for, you know, there to build their real estate portfolio. So being a realtor helps me in that way, just networking and knowing how to navigate contracts correctly.

Stephen Schmidt (08:19.346)
Mm.

Ethan Board (08:33.075)
and helping just keeping the deal together. Even whenever that seller is really not my priority, I still helped her out. She’s gonna get the same exact money that she did if it wasn’t for me. So I value having people around me with the same mindset and I hope that value spreads out to growing my business.

Stephen Schmidt (08:45.926)
Mm.

Stephen Schmidt (08:55.986)
Yeah, 100%. That’s real good. Now, what would you say for somebody that’s just getting started in even in networking? What is the best way to build long lasting relationships that you find? What are some of your secrets to building really long term relationships that turn into sometimes even these lifesavers?

Ethan Board (09:17.298)
Yeah. so the weird thing is something so simple, like answer the phone, answer a text. now like it’s so weird that, like I’ve had certain people around me that like, you send them a text or a call and it’s like, they don’t respond in two or three days. And I’m like, you just missed out on a crazy deal that could have happened. That could have made you a lot of money. Could have made this person a lot of money, whatever, just by answering your texts or answering your phone.

It’s crazy. I think for somebody new, just be available. Obviously we all have crazy lives or busy. So you don’t have to like answer immediately. But I think if you just like answer within a reasonable amount of time, like that’s huge. And I never would have thought that because I’m the type of person that like if I have a notification, I want it off my phone. So like I’m answering quick. So for me to like tell people like not even that fast.

Because I don’t want people to be like, you got to answer immediately because I mean, everyone has a life. So but just answering in a reasonable amount of time, an hour or two would be a reasonable amount of time just to get that going. Now, some things require a little bit faster, but I feel like just answering, starting out, just answer your phone, talk to people. And then for brand new people, pick up a book, pick up, get on forums, get on bigger pockets, some kind of forum that is a real estate investing mindset.

and read all you can, be financial literate with certain numbers and words and formulas possibly. Just get out there and self-learn. You have to want to learn to grow. You have to do the work. No one’s gonna do it for you.

Stephen Schmidt (10:57.106)
100 % 100 % agree with that. What is your Mount Rushmore of real estate books for somebody getting started or what have you gotten the most value out of?

Ethan Board (11:06.537)
I know everyone’s going to say it, but it’s rich dad, poor dad for me. It was a game changer. was a, you know, we were stuck. Most people are stuck in the mindset of having to have a job. And yes, you do have to have a job to pay for bills. Trust me, I’ve had a bunch of jobs. But I also am an entrepreneur. Like you can be the job, I guess you can be the, you know, the work.

You don’t have to work for somebody. You can have people work for you. And so I’m always trying to figure out how I can change my systems up or change the way I do things to have other people do the job for me. Then that’s a job itself. So people are like, well, you don’t really work now. Yes, I work all the time. I have three kids and I work like multiple full-time jobs. Like I put in some work and I’m trying to get out of that rent race. Just like most people are.

And I have found that real estate seems to be that way to push me out of that rat race.

Stephen Schmidt (12:14.001)
What would you do different if you went back to 2019 and could change some things knowing what you know now?

Ethan Board (12:21.864)
Knowing what I know now and from when I got started in 2019, I would probably try to do more of it during that time. We were just getting started. So they always say, you know, the best time to start something was yesterday or, you know, back whenever you started that you should have started sooner. And that’s true. It really is. The market back then at the time, I think our interest rates were like three or 4%.

And we thought that we were freaking out. We’re like, this is crazy. And now they’re, you know, six and a half, seven. And we’re like, man, I wish it was three or four and I would, you know, bought twice as many or at least bought more if I could or figured out a way. so it’s always, if you can start now, start, you know, so I would definitely either try to do more or start sooner. Obviously if I had to redo it or do everything.

Stephen Schmidt (13:14.003)
That’s real good.

You do more. That is the number one thing that I hear people say outside of if they flip a lot, they would hold on to everything they ever bought. That’s the only other thing I hear consistently on everything is they’re like, I wish I would have just held on to every single property that I ever touched. That’s the big one. So what’s next for you? What is the next 12 to 18 months look like? What’s the big goal there?

Ethan Board (13:29.894)
Yep.

Ethan Board (13:43.292)
Well, the next year or so, obviously we have always tried to buy at least one property a year. I think we’ve actually exceeded that now since we started in 2019. So we’re on track for what our goal is, one property a year until infinity essentially. That’s kind of the goal. But if we don’t reach that…

That’s fine. You know, our rental properties are cash flowing enough to like essentially pay our bills. It’s at the least paying our mortgage for sure. So like I said earlier, we’ve been living mortgage free since 2019 just by simple decision, you know, of house hacking our first property and buying more from them. So from there, yeah, it’s just been amazing. The real estate journey that we’ve been on.

You know, we all kind of, me and my wife, both are on the same page. Now that’s another situation that a lot of people might have to deal with is like getting your wife on board or getting your significant other on board with real estate investing. But luckily, you know, we kind of got mentored a little bit by the same people. And so we were on board from day one. It was obviously we still have like, not arguments, but we discuss, we have discussions about, you know, our next real estate, you know,

know, investment, we going to flip a certain property or are we going to burry it where we, you know, cash out refi and buy another one? Like we always have these real estate discussions and sometimes they get a little heated, but like we both understand each other and she brings great insights and I bring great insights and we put them together and we figure out from there, you know, what we’re going to do with this certain property. So.

Stephen Schmidt (15:25.811)
Sure. What’s your wife’s background and how involved is she in the business?

Ethan Board (15:30.279)
So she is, so she’s a W-2 employee. She started out as a nurse. She’s now a nurse practitioner. She was working full-time for a couple of years. And, you know, with real estate, we’ve got her down to part-time nurse practitioner. So again, you know, we value time more than anything. yes, you need to have money to help, you know, figure, you know, figure out the time thing. Money does help, but you can also find other means of money. Like money doesn’t just come from jobs, you know, it comes from

know, sweat equity when you’re doing a property. comes from private lending from other people or maybe hard money lender from a certain type of company. You don’t have to have a job to get money. Now it’s easier to get money sometimes going through traditional bank financing and things like that if you have a W-2. But there are other ways out there. If you just get yourself around like-minded people, they will funnel people your way and other people will funnel people that way.

And then next thing you know, you’re networking with a group of people and all you gotta do is ask a simple question, man, I need $50,000 for this awesome deal. And they’re like, well, I got some money. If you go do the deal, I’ll just finance it for you. And the next thing you know, you don’t even need a job or anything to get $50,000 to go get a deal done or whatever it may be. So you just gotta find ways and get out of the mindset of I have to have a W-2, I have to have a job for everything.

I mean, starting out, would definitely say, yeah, know, jobs are kind of a must for a lot of people and that’s kind of what most people do. I mean, I even still do it myself. I’m a W-2 employee, but I’m also an entrepreneur and work for myself.

Stephen Schmidt (17:10.739)
Yeah, mean to your point unless you have the entrepreneurial like deep entrepreneurial sickness of you just can’t work for anybody else like we all have a job at some point and and even our Job as entrepreneurs a lot of times are in customer, you know what I mean? So we all we all have jobs, but it’s a matter of using your knowledge and your growth and everything along the way to

Elevate and get something different and obviously raise your own your own value in the marketplace. So Agree without a ton. So You’re obviously going to acquire more properties. Do you ever have intentions of like when you buy your Properties, I know we talked about the burr method a little bit Do you ever have intentions of like just flipping or is your is your game plan? Just always 100 % going to be buy and hold

Ethan Board (18:03.695)
So right now, I would say my mindset is to buy and hold as much as I can. You never know when those interest rates are gonna go up and then how much more expensive money is to lend. And also it’s kind of like a retirement plan for me. Most people bank on a pension, most people bank on a 401k, and those numbers are great and a lot of people do great with that. That’s fine, but you’re also waiting till you’re 60.

to 65 or whatever to retire. Some people don’t even live till they’re 65. So I’m always trying to figure out a way to reduce that retirement age, figure out how I can not work till I’m 65 and die when I’m 70. I don’t want five years of freedom. I want 35 years of freedom with my life. I don’t wanna do what everyone else is doing, so I’m trying to do something else. So I try to use basically a buy and hold technique where I’m holding all my properties

until I can, know, or unless I have to sell them to pull out cash. I don’t see a reason unless I can’t cash flow for some reason. But I’m always definitely looking to hold them long term right now.

Stephen Schmidt (19:13.587)
Well Ethan, we appreciate you coming and sharing some knowledge with us. What would be one last piece of advice for anybody that’s wanting to get started? What would be the greatest advice that you wish you could have gotten in the beginning?

Ethan Board (19:27.213)
I would say just teach yourself, try to learn as much about real estate as you can, but don’t learn so much to where you’re learning and learning and learning and not doing and not acting. So for the longest time when I was in the first beginning stages, you know, I was reading all kinds of books. I was reading all kinds of listening to all kinds of podcasts, doing whatever I could to learn, learn, learn.

And I was just like, man, nothing’s really happening. And then it was like, it’s because I’m not really doing what I’m hearing because all these podcasts and books, once you read them and listen to them for about a year or two, they’re all kind of the same. don’t want to say they’re all the same, but they get the same, you know, you get the same information, I guess. And you just, and with everybody’s little different spin on it or whatever. But I remember actually hearing in a podcast at one point that, you know, the same thing that I’m telling you guys right now is like, you have to do.

And sometimes that’s, know, life itself is the best lesson that you can get. So the best lesson you can get is about doing it and taking action.

Stephen Schmidt (20:32.307)
100%. That’s great. Well, tell these fine folks where they can go connect with you for more, Ethan, in case somebody wants to learn more about what you’re working on and what you got going on.

Ethan Board (20:41.058)
Okay. Yeah. You can just check me out at, I think it’s Ethan dot board on Facebook and then on Instagram it is the number three and then, Ethan and then lower, whatever the, the lower hash is and then board on Instagram. So it’s three thin and then lower the line and then board on Instagram.

But you can just Google me and I’m all over with my real estate. So you can find my number if you ever want to reach out, feel free.

Stephen Schmidt (21:06.228)
There you go.

Stephen Schmidt (21:11.88)
There you go folks. We’ll go drop a follow too of Trump’s beloved real estate pros in the investor fuel community and we appreciate you being here, Ethan. We’ll see you in the next episode.

Ethan Board (21:22.208)
All right, thank you, man.

Stephen Schmidt (21:26.206)
Great show, man.

Ethan Board (21:27.875)
Awesome.