GI151: Passive Real Estate Investing as a Medical Professional with Dr. Jeff Anzalone

Jeff Anzalone is a full-time practicing doctor and author and founder of DebtFreeDr.com.

His focus is on helping doctors and other high-income professionals create passive income from real estate so that they can STOP trading their time for money.

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Transcript:

Announcer:
Welcome to another episode of the Global Investors Podcast; I’m your host Charles Carillo. Today we have Jeff Anzalone. He is a full-time practicing doctor and author and founder of DebtFreeDr.com. His focus is on helping doctors and other high-income professionals create passive income from real estate so that they can STOP trading their time for money.

Charles:
Welcome to another episode of the Global Investors Podcast; I’m your host Charles Carillo. Today we have Jeff Anzalone. He is a full-time practicing doctor and author and founder of DebtFreeDr.com. His focus is on helping doctors and other high-income professionals create passive income from real estate so that they can STOP trading their time for money.. So thanks so much for being on Dr. Jeff,

Jeff:
Thanks for having me Charles looking forward to it.

Charles:
So you have a very interesting story and that’s why I’d like to get on the show and kind of, uh, dissect kind of how you got started. So can you give us a little bit background of yourself, both, uh, personally and professionally prior to, uh, starting your real estate investing journey?

Jeff:
Yeah. I, um, had several friends, parents and relatives in the healthcare profession and got interested in it. I wound up choosing a dentistry because most of my friends, uh, dads that were dentists, they were at the ball games more. They were able to coach more than the physicians that were always on call. Um, so I, I went, I went that route and, uh, decided to do a residency. I did a surgery residency and then two weeks before I finished my training at LSU, the group that I was supposed to join in practice, they basically pulled the deal from out from under my wife and I, and, and left some problems. We had a two month old, I had amassed about $300,000 of student loan debt. We had already purchased our first home with an interest only loan because we, you know, thought we were gonna join that practice.

Jeff:
So it was based off of that, but the worst part of it was, I didn’t have a clue how to run a business, start a practice, anything like that. And that, that whole experience I went from having an abundant type mindset, because I knew I was gonna get out and make decent money and not too worried about my student loan debt to more of a, of a scarcity and a fear mindset that was just a survival mode. And it took me years to get over that and struggle with that. And I actually resorted to doing what I used to do in high school and college. And I was mowing yards, you know, even as a, a periodontist, you know, having to mow yards was very humbling, but you gotta do what you can, you know, gotta do to make ends meet, you know, so, uh, that that’s, uh, where I started and then, you know, eventually I moved on to other, um, things as well, but that, that’s kind of how I got my start.

Charles:
Interesting. Very interesting. So when you, when you started, uh, investing in real estate, what, um, what was kind of, what was one of the factors that, uh, that drew you to this, uh, this asset class?

Jeff:
Well, I had a, about seven years ago, I had, was skiing with my wife, snow skiing, and I had a minor accident. I got off the lift, I fell, I landed on my hands and it, it bent my wrist back, nothing major, but that started the, the, the thought process of what if it would’ve been major, how would I provide for my family? Never really thought about it until that point that I was re really only just relying on one income stream, you know, from active income, from earned income, which as you know, is the highest tax income too. But you, you know, you, you go to school for that long. You don’t think about doing anything else. Plus you’ve got all this debt. What else? That’s all I know how to do. So what else could I do with my degree? Uh, I, I couldn’t go to work at Starbucks, making 10 bucks an hour with $300,000 student loan debt.

Jeff:
So you, you’re kind of stuck. And, and that’s what we’re seeing these days. People in this position were stuck. And I knew that I had to do something at that moment, but I didn’t have a clue what to do. So I started researching it and started looking at other successful people, millionaires, that sort of thing. And there was two facts that I stumbled across that helped guide me in the direction of that. I chose number one, over 90% of millionaires have some sort of real estate in their portfolio. At that time I had zero and the average millionaire has anywhere from three to seven streams of income. And at that time I had one. And again, at that time, I didn’t have a clue what to do or how to do it. I just knew that that was the, the direction that I needed to take. And I started to educate myself. I mean, everything is literally free on line between YouTube videos, podcasts like yours, um, books. I started going to meetings, meeting with people, uh, figuring out what was best for us, but that’s how I got started.

Charles:
Interesting. And what was your first real estate investment when you actually pulled the trigger?

Jeff:
Um, I started doing some crowdfunding mm-hmm <affirmative> back when, uh, it just kinda started in like 20 16, 20 17 ish like that, and was doing just some real small debt deals, you know, like a thousand bucks or 2000 bucks online, didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I was just looking at looking for which one had the biggest returns and the, the, which property looked the best pictures, which, I mean, anybody could throw up a website, which I, I later learned and got burned from. But anyway, uh, that, that, that was how I got started.

Charles:
Interesting. Yeah. I was talking to one of my financial advisor buddies and he was telling me two things about doctors. He goes, each person, doctor, we have $200,000 plus in debt and the ones that really make their money, they’re making it not from actually doing doctor during practice, but owning the practice and having other doctors under own, which actually turns it more into a real business, not as much self-employed. So I thought that was kind of interesting when he told me that. But, um, so what is your company’s current investment strategy now? You’re on the other side, you’re not passively investing really. You’re really on the side raising money mainly. So what kind of properties are you guys looking at? What types of, uh, properties and, uh, uh, markets.

Jeff:
I, I got interested. Uh, luckily I came across, uh, passive investing because my, um, I’m just busy doing what I’m doing and I didn’t wanna take time away from my family and that sort of thing. And luckily stumbled across syndications. Didn’t have a clue what it was and, but it, and as you know, it acts very similar to a, um, putting your money into mutual fund. You just put your money in and you don’t have to worry about it anymore. And with the syndications, you don’t have to worry about tenants or having to deal with their issues or keeping the building occupied or maintenance or anything it’s somebody else takes care of. That takes care of that for you. And I, and I tell doctors all the time that and other professionals that your best wealth building tool is your income focus on what you trained the last 20 years to do.

Jeff:
Yeah. And you know, the more that you, uh, make, you know, the better that you get, the more that you make, the more you can invest and let somebody else, you know, do that. And luckily, um, and, and I started to write things down and, and started a blog and started to write things down that I thought that people out there that were in my position needed to know. And I, I was doing that for about three years and I had a couple groups reach out to me to, uh, see if I wanted to, uh, if, if I could come in with them as far as investor relations side investor education, to see if I could, uh, see if anybody wanted to invest in any of their deals. And, uh, I hadn’t done that before. And we, we got, we went through all the legal process and all that.

Jeff:
And then I, um, I emailed out to my group about a deal that I was gonna invest in, cuz people ask me all the time, Hey, Jeff, what are you investing in? Did my due diligence. I, I was investing in this deal and, and I, um, asked them, Hey, if, if I basically, I put it out, said, Hey, here’s the deal that I’m investing in. This is all about it. Here’s the links. They can look at it. And that was very successful. Uh, that was September, 2020. And that was the start of, of me starting to work with, uh, you know, different groups to, to help bring investors to their deals, but ones that I’m personally investing in myself.

Charles:
Right. Yeah. So that alignment of interest

Jeff:
And the majority of the ones that I’m in are multifamily. And then I got into a couple of hotel deal, syndication deals last year as well.

Charles:
Nice. Yeah. It’s uh, one, one important thing that I see is that a lot of people joining to be active real estate investors where we are now in this portion of the market cycle. And I think it sounds like everybody wants to be a real estate investor. And I tell people, well, you know, if you don’t really love real estate, passive investing, you know, you’re gonna make more money spending another three to five years in your profession. Like you said, 20 years, you’re doing it and invest that additional money into real estate passively. Um, I, I see that as a thing that people are trying to, like, they don’t like their job or they’re trying to get out of it really quickly and they wanna be active. And it’s, it sometimes is a little bit, you know, counterintuitive where you can kind of just focus, like you said, on something that you’ve been working on for 20 plus years and continue that and build it. Cause you’re probably gonna be able to scale that to a higher income faster than starting something from scratch. Cause I think most people, like you said, they want, they’ve been sold on passive in real estate and they feel that everything is passive and it’s, it’s definitely not. I mean, um, there’s a lot of work that goes into managing a property, even if you’re just taking care of the asset management on it.

Jeff:
Right. Um,

Charles:
But, um, so what types, I mean, investors that you’re really looking for, I take it, it’s mainly doctors and professionals. I would say the majority cuz doctors, cuz they can align and uh, understand your story. Um, how are you really reaching, uh, doctors? I mean, you’re going, you have your website, you’re going on a podcast, um, you know, after you’re reaching out to them initially. And um, how do you really prepare this, uh, this new group of people, potential investors to, uh, invest with you in the future?

Jeff:
Uh, I also, I started a YouTube channel last year, which probably out of all the things that I’ve done I’ve it seems like I make more connection with people and that’s mainly because I started watching more YouTube videos and you know, you can read an article or listen to something, a podcast, but once you see somebody and you know, you just make that connection mm-hmm <affirmative>, and I’ve, I’ve had more comments in the last, less than a year from the YouTube videos. And I have like in four years from my blog, so I, I can really tell and I, and I enjoy, you know, making the videos and, and doing that thing, doing that sort of thing. But, um, I, I just, like I mentioned earlier, I just, what I think people should know, or maybe to not, not always about real estate, it’s about the, the, the different MI a different way.

Jeff:
You have to think about things, you know, a perfect example is we’re always taught about always focus on how much money you make, go after the job with the biggest income and, and that’s, that’s the, and that’s the only way that we’ve taught. So I like to tell people other ways to give them options if that’s what you wanna do, that’s fine. But you know, to me, that’s not as important as how you make your money, you know, would you rather work a hundred hours a week making $300,000 a year or work five hours a week making a hundred, hundred thousand dollars a year? You know, you, you, you can do that as a, as an investor, as a, as a passive investor. So it’s, I, I, so it’s stuff like that. So, you know, putting out material, putting out a video or an article about something like that. And, and again, that prepares people how to do that. And

Jeff:
Then the, the process somebody goes through, okay, if they’re ready to invest in something, well, what are the different steps they need in order to know what type of investment should they, uh, invest in? Who should they work with? What are the steps that are involved with that? So I just I’ll walk ’em through what I’ve done in the past, the mistakes I’ve made. And, uh, hopefully they won’t make the same mistakes, but, um, that’s, that’s the process that I go through. And, um, and I, and that’s how I reach people. And it’s just, it’s funny how, how many people I connect, you know, I guess people can relate to that, you know? Yeah. I’m not pitching or selling anything. I’m just basically just sharing my story and giving information out and, uh, making connections with people.

Charles:
Interesting. Uh, so what are common obstacles or objections that your potential investors, um, usually have because you’re coming from you’re highly educated. I imagine the majority of your investors are right alongside you, there myself being an entrepreneur first it’s I can usually compare and align myself more with entrepreneurs that are interested in investing. How do, what kind of obstacles would would doctors usually have, or for, I imagine other attorneys and other professionals that, uh, that come to you before they invest.

Jeff:
If I were to say that the top one, it would be analysis paralysis and, and it’s, and it’s, it’s not a lot of them, but the, but the ones that, I mean, they know more as much or more about real estate than I do, you know, they’ve been talking about, oh, you know, I’ve looked at this deal and that, and they know all of the lingo and terms and I’ll say, well, how many deals have you invested in? They said, well, none. And they’ve been doing this for three or four years. And, and you just can’t help people like that until you take action. You know, they’ll in 10 years from now, when I’m, I’m long gone, retired, enjoying myself, they’ll still be calling people, Hey, I’m still looking at stuff, not doing anything. So at some point you’ve, you’ve got to trust yourself, trust your knowledge, trust who you’re working with. And, and you gotta jump in at some point, I’m not saying, go all in, put all your life savings in something, but start to test the waters once you know, enough to where you’re comfortable to do that.

Charles:
That’s great advice. So what would you suggest to new real estate investors that are, or real estate investors that are new to raising funds? And I mean, you’ve, you know, you worked on your blog then YouTube really did it. What would you suggest to people that are looking to put out a platform maybe like yours or start, uh, growing reach? Like you have to build your investor base?

Jeff:
I, I think the, the key is finding a niche that you are most familiar with. You know, with me, it was easy. And, uh, there was a, uh, a mastermind group that I was in that, that they about, about the same thing. People wanted to start raising money and, and there was all new people and, and they had me on one of their mastermind groups and there was one lady that was, I kind of got in to it at the back end of her conversation. So I didn’t really hear much about what she was saying, but she was just asking all these questions. I don’t know where to go from here and this and that. And, and I asked the only thing that I asked her and I said, and I was looking at it at her website. Cause she had a lot of questions about her website.

Jeff:
She was starting. And I said, what? And she was, you know, an older lady when I say older, probably in her, in her probably mid to late fifties. She wasn’t like 20 years old. So I thought that maybe she had done something in the past as far as for, uh, work. And I asked her, I said, did you do any type of work before what you’re doing now? She’s like, yeah, I, um, I’m an attorney. And I said, well, well, from what I’m reading on here on your website, you you’re trying to be everything to everybody. I said, why don’t you just focus on attorneys? And it was almost like the light bulb came on was like, yeah. I said, you know, the language, you know, the lingo, you know, the pains, the struggles, the headaches they have. I mean, that’s, that’s the, the easiest way that, and I guess that people think that they, uh, again, it couldn’t be a scarcity mindset. You, you, you don’t wanna loo leave out anything. So, you know, there’s only so much to go around, but you know, with her trying to reach all these, everybody, she’s not gonna be near as successful as she just focuses on that. So that, that would be my, um, my main suggestion would be focus on what area that, you know, best.

Charles:
Right. So find that niche and then go deep in it to mm-hmm. <affirmative> awesome. Awesome. Um, so you look at a lot of deals. I imagine you are turning down a lot of deals from partners, um, until you find the ones that work that you can provide to your, you see real estate investors make, it could be in any part of the business.

Jeff:
I would, I would say it’s probably goes from them not having any type of, uh, goals to pursue, or they don’t have any type of guidelines or anything, or, uh, for me with two teenagers, I’m more risk averse. So if I, if I’m looking at 20 deals, well, then if I look at a bunch of newly developed higher risk, you know, I can automatically get rid of those instead of spending all. So I, I think you should figure out what, what works best for you first. And, uh, you know, for me, you know, I know exactly the, the types of deal I’m looking for. I know the kind of the types of returns I’m looking for. And then once I get those, then I can narrow them down a little bit better. So I think start with what you’re most start with setting some goals first and what your, uh, risk tolerance is before moving forward.

Charles:
Yeah. So really outline that criteria prior to, uh, pinpointing deals that you want to, uh, work on. Exactly. What do you think are the main factors that have contributed to your success

Jeff:
Being <affirmative> being a student of, of learning? You know, I, I think probably one of the bigger things that probably most professionals, when I say professionals, people that go through more education than just college, you, you go through so much training. It’s almost like, Hey, I I’m graduated now. I never have to pick up another book or study anymore. And, and I think that’s, uh, many people in that position, that’s their downfall because that’s when the learning starts. Right. And, and being a continuous student of the game, keep, keep learning, keep, you know, I loved, I’ve always loved to read, but you know, if you don’t like to read, you can listen to audio books, again, podcasts, uh, YouTube videos, but just, just being a constant reader, uh, curious, you know, networking with people, um, that, that would probably be, um, one of the things that I would definitely recommend.

Charles:
Okay, awesome. So how can our listeners learn more about you and your business, Jeff?

Jeff:
Uh, a couple ways they can go, well, the, the, the main hub I would say would be, uh, going to the, the website debt free Dr. Dot com. And there’d be a link there to subscribe to the, the YouTube channel as well. And, um, those are the two main ways for, uh, and or if they want to email me, they can Jeff debt free Dr. Dot com.

Charles:
Okay. Awesome. Well, I will take those links. I’ll put ’em into our show notes and, uh, when it goes live, people can click those and, uh, follow you and reach out to you. So thank you so much for coming on today. I really appreciate it. And, uh, have a great rest of your week.

Jeff:
All right. You too. Thank you.

Charles:
Bye bye.

Charles:
Hi guys! It’s Charles from the Global Investors Podcast. I hope you enjoyed the show. If you’re interested in get involved with real estate, but you don’t know where to begin, set up a free 30 minute strategy call with me at schedulecharles.com. That’s schedulecharles.com. Thank you.

Announcer:
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Announcer:
Nothing in this episode should be considered specific, personal or professional advice. Any investment opportunities mentioned on this podcast are limited to accredited investors. Any investments will only be made with proper disclosure, subscription documentation, and are subject to all applicable laws. Please consult an appropriate tax legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions of guests are their own information is not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. The host is operating on behalf of Syndication Superstar, LLC, exclusively.

Links and Contact Information Mentioned In The Episode:

Debt Free Doctor

About Jeff Anzalone

Dr. Jeff Anzalone is a full-time practicing periodontist in the great state of Louisiana, author and founder of DebtFreeDr.com.

His focus is on helping doctors and other high-income professionals create passive income from real estate so that they can STOP trading their time for money.

Dr. Jeff, like most people, dealt with many failures and setbacks along his path to success. Only two weeks before completing his surgical dental residency, his plans fell through to join a group practice which he was relying on to teach him how to run a business.

This left him with no job, an interest-only mortgage, a two-month-old and close to $300,000 in student loan debt.

After becoming debt-free, he shifted his focus to acquiring streams of passive income using real estate as he realized that his practice income was their only income stream at the time.

He now uses his blog, DebtFreeDr.com to educate doctors and other high-income professionals on how to passively invest in real estate so that they can stop trading their time for money.

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