You can retire with rental properties faster than you think. That’s right, toss out the “wait until I’m sixty-five and HOPE I have enough” mentality. That might be okay for most Americans, but it’s NOT okay for YOU. You want passive income flowing in so you can spend time with your family and friends and live a life you love. If you’re going to get there, you better take advice from Sam Dolciné.

A few years ago, Sam calculated his retirement savings and realized he wasn’t even CLOSE to what he would need in retirement. Even after the monthly contributions and employer match, Sam would run out of retirement savings in only ten years of retirement. So, he started looking up ways to boost his retirement income. Real estate investing popped up, and Sam began devouring all the investing content he could.

Now, he’s managing a portfolio of out-of-state rental properties that bring in some serious cash flow. The best part about Sam’s portfolio? It’s “turnkey,” meaning Sam was able to buy the properties and immediately rent them out, giving him cash flow within WEEKS of closing on his first couple of deals. Now, Sam is on the hunt for even more passive income. Repeat his steps, and you could be counting cash flow, too!

Ashley:This is Real Estate Rookie episode 325.

Sam:I pictured my retirement, working till I was sixty something, and living off my retirement. And I realized very quickly that that wouldn’t be the case. And so, I kind of had a moment of panic and I realized, “You know what? I think real estate will be a great way to supplement whatever I’m putting aside.” Turnkey provider, pretty much the easiest way to explain is that they flip properties to investors. So, pretty much, they’ll buy a property under market value, they’ll put work into it, and they’ll sell it to an investor who’s looking for a property that pretty much needs no work. It might need a little bit, and you can ask them to do things that come in the inspection. And they usually come with property management included as well.

Ashley:My name is Ashley Kehr and I’m here with my co-host, Tony J. Robinson.

Tony:And welcome to the Real Estate Rookie Podcast, where every week, twice a week, we bring you the inspiration, motivation, and stories you need to hear to kickstart your investing journey. And we’ve got a great episode today. We’ve got Samuel Dolciné on the podcast, and Sam actually runs a podcast of his own called the Black Real Estate Dialogue. And as soon as he came on, I could tell that he had a little bit of experience behind the mic because he was just so smooth and he delivered his story so well. And I was like, “Man, this guy’s got a great story.” All right. So, you guys are going to love this conversation with Sam. He’s going to talk about red flags to look out for in potential tenants and how he almost got scammed by someone who wanted to rent his property. You’ll also get to hear Sam talk about red flags in a property, and you’ll hear why he pulled out of two potential deals that he already had under contract.

Ashley:We start this podcast a little bit differently, talking about Sam’s idea of retirement. So, he actually went and pulled up his portfolio online for his 401(k) and played with the little tools and buttons they have on there to see what he would actually have at retirement. And to say it was not exactly what he wanted might be an understatement. But then, he makes one phone call, and this one phone call gets him his down payment on his first investment property. And one other thing I want to mention about Sam is this whole episode is you are going to learn all of the ways that he analyzed a market and did it so efficiently, and saved himself so much time during that process too.

Tony:So, before we kick it over to Sam, I just got to give a shout-out to our amazing Rookie audience. And guys, Ash and I mean this from the bottom of our hearts, the Rookie Podcast would be absolutely nothing without our listeners, and we’re so incredibly grateful and thankful for you guys when you take time out of your busy schedules to leave those reviews on Apple Podcasts, wherever it is you’re listening. So, I want to give a shout-out today by someone of the username JRschmitt2012. And JR says, “The best information out there. Thank you for providing so much useful information. I haven’t made the first purchase yet, but I’m in the middle of moving to a new market and I don’t think I would be as confident as I am without this podcast. Keep it coming, guys.”So, if you are a Rookie listener, if you’re a dedicated Rookie listener, or even a new one, and you found some value in our podcast episodes, please do take just a few minutes out of your day and leave that review. Because the more reviews we get, the more folks we can inspire to start their investing journey as well.

Ashley:And for today’s social media shadow, it goes to Drew Breneman, D-R-E-W B-R-E-N-E-M-A-N. You can find him on Instagram at his name. And he does a great job of showcasing different real estate strategies and methods. He also has a podcast called the Breneman Blueprint. So, go give him a follow and check out his page.I love that we do these social media shout-outs now, and it’s not to get the person followers, but it is for you to build your own network of like-minded investors. Being able to learn from them and also watch them grow. You will not believe that the motivation and inspiration and everything that you will learn just from filling your social media feed with actual real estate investors, especially Rookies, and being able to connect with them. Trust me, as entertaining as memes are, this will be way more beneficial to you. Okay, now let’s get into our show and we are going to bring Sam on.Sam, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Sam:It’s an honor, it’s a pleasure to have this opportunity and I’m excited to get into my story, and I really appreciate you two hosting me today.

Ashley:I want to start this podcast off a little bit different today. And the first question I want to throw at you is, what did you picture for yourself for retirement?

Sam:Yeah, so initially, I pictured my retirement working till I was 60 something and living off my retirement, my 401(k) primarily. At the time, I didn’t have any visions of owning real estate or using rental income. I just assumed that my putting away however much percentage at work would do the job. And I realized very quickly that that wouldn’t be the case. But initially, that’s what I thought.

Ashley:So, are you on track now to get that type of retirement? Is what you pictured actually happening to you right now?

Sam:What I pictured at that time? Absolutely not. I came to a realization at work, at my desk, that what I was saving, projecting out my raises and things of that nature, it wouldn’t last me that long based on the lifestyle that I envisioned living with my family in retirement. And so, I kind of had a moment of panic and I realized, “You know what? I think real estate will be a great way to supplement whatever I’m putting aside from my job or whatever it is I’m doing.” And honestly, I’m glad that I came to that realization because life is a lot more different now than it was five years ago when I came to that realization.

Ashley:Can you expand on that a little bit more of what that realization was for you, that moment in time?

Sam:Yeah, so I was at my desk at work, and for whatever reason I decided to go check my retirement account. And they have these calculators where you can project out, all right, if I put away, let’s say 5% and these are the raises I make over the next 30 years, how…