People in the military aren’t taught real estate or finance, especially the young ones. Did you know that there are about 19 million US veterans and only around 15% used their VA loan? There is so much that they are missing when it comes to generating an income, or even a passive one. Join your host Chris D. Roberts as he sits down with military veteran and CEO of All in Homes LLC, Aharon Goins. Listen in as Aharon gives some advice for military veterans when it comes to real estate. Learn how to properly use your VA loan to set up a multifamily fourplex. Find out the importance of education and the right environment for when you leave the military. Get educated on real estate today!

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Exposing The Military To Real Estate So They Can Earn Passive Income With Aharon Goins

We are with Aharon Goins. Aharon, what is the main driver behind your success?

Thank you, Chris, for having me. The main driver behind my success is my kids. I have two kids. They’re military kids. I aspire to spend more time with them especially as they get older. That’s my driving force.

That is an amazing reason to drive forward. Some people are motivated by money or success. The main driver behind your success is your family which is cool. They’re going to look up to you. You’re a mentor to them and you’re trying to teach them. It could be personal, professional or finances. There are all these things you could teach these little people as they grow. That’s cool. How old are your kids?

They are 15 and 14. The thing about them, they’re military kids. We spent some portions away from each other. My military commitments when I was in the military. They went overseas and now they’re back. I’m trying to spend as much time as possible with them as they grow older. Like you said, mentor them, help them out and be their dad. It can be trying because you’re not with your kids all the time especially being in the military but you form a bond with them.

I’ve come across an awful lot of military folks living in a state that’s got an awful lot of military population. The most important thing for those kids is that they have a mother and father figure in some way, shape or form. Even if you’re not around all the time, when you’re there, you’re spending that quality time with them, mentoring them, maybe teach them things they’re not learning in school so that little missing piece is not missing. It’s fulfilled. Even if you’re gone, it’s critically important for their growth and development.

Tell us a little bit about your history. It could be your personal or professional life. What brought you here and why we are going to talk about what you want to talk about which is how to help military folks maximize their benefits that they maybe don’t know that they have. Talk about real estate and things like that. Tell us a little bit about your history and what brought you here.

I was born in Baltimore, Maryland. I grew up and I decided I want to go to the military. My entire family is in the Army. I was the first person to ever go into the Air Force in my family. I had a great time. I spent sixteen years in. I got out in early retirement and got a W-2 job. Along the way, I learned many lessons by being in the military, by going through the things I went through, traveling the world. There are so many vast experiences that civilians wouldn’t know about. That shaped me into the person I am. I think outside of the box more. I want to see more cultures. It makes me want to travel more.

The reason why I’m here is that when I was in the military, no one in my circle was talked about real estate. A lot of times, we’re not taught finances in school and in the military. I’ve seen plenty of people, especially young people come into the military and I’m included too. You want to buy a car or truck because you see everybody else had these nice cars and trucks. A lot of people get into financial difficulties because of that because they’re spending a little bit too much money on cars and booze.

Also, another thing that you see in the military is that a lot of times when people deploy, go downrange, go overseas to different countries and come back, you see a lot more Dodge Charger and pickup trucks on the road. Why? It’s the flashy thing to do. Not a lot of people get into real estate. I’ll give you an interesting stat. There are about nineteen million US veterans and only about 15% used their VA loan.

There are about 19 million US veterans and only about 15% used their VA loan.

A VA loan is a mortgage option issued by private lenders. It’s partially backed or guaranteed by the Department of Veteran Affairs. It’s no downpayment required. It’s a great way to buy a house or buy multifamily, 1 to 4-unit property. There’s no need to have private mortgage insurance. It’s a lifetime benefit that veterans earn. It’s not taught in the military. It’s not talked about in the military.

That’s why a lot of people don’t use it or don’t have knowledge of it. When I was in, I didn’t use it. I did have no knowledge of it. No one in my circles talked about it. I didn’t know about it until I got out of the military and now, I’m house hacking. I have a duplex. I’ve got another property as well. The VA loan can be a great way to build wealth. I talk about it a lot.

That’s a great point. I’m a big proponent of teaching, not half glass full, not half empty but being the air outside the glass. Don’t be in the box or outside the box but be the air around the box. Think of things that nobody would think of, get crazy, keep working, keep hustling and you’ll figure it all out somehow. That’s the way you are. I’ve seen you out there hustling. I’ve seen you very active out there in the real estate Meetups.

Let me ask you this, why do you think, one, that nobody talks about money or benefits or wealth or real estate or any of that in general? Two, specifically our military, the people that most of us at least hold in such high regard and such respect for doing what they do is to serve our country. There are all these wonderful opportunities and benefits that they could be taking advantage of. Even military discounts are all over the place that most people don’t take advantage of. I get asked that all the time.

One is the financial piece. Why is this a taboo that nobody talks about it? Two, specifically military, do you think it’s similar in law enforcement? I was a reserve officer for five years. I found that it was a very tight-knit close group. It wasn’t that they were much different than other people. They have a very specific way of doing things and they are a closed circle. Only being an outsider coming in that I realized that. Whether it’d be their conversations, the people they hang out with, the habits they have places they go and things of that sort. Maybe it’s something to that effect but I would love for you to elaborate coming from a military background of which I do not. What do you think?

I’m going to expound it a little bit more. Only 22% of all veterans use their GI Bill. That’s to pay for college. That’s free. The benefits are not talked about especially to the younger service members. They’re not taught in high school and in the military. There’s no incentive for E-5 to E-6 to tell an E-2, E-3 to buy a house. They’re not told to do this. They’re not taught these things to talk to people about. Also, resources. The resources are not there. There are no brochures. Does it talk about a little bit? Yes but not widespread.

When you had the E-5, E-6 as your mentor and supervise the E-2, E-3, money is told, “Don’t screw it up. Don’t get in debt. I don’t want you to use your STAR Card. It’s a popular military credit card. Don’t overcharge your STAR.” That’s all you hear. “Don’t buy a car that you can’t pay the payments on,” but buying a house, buying a multifamily property is not talked about.

It’s one of those things where it’s not widespread. I know more general officers in the military who talk more about finances. They talk about these things more. They come from colleges. A lot of times they come from these colleges and then come to the military. Money is talked about more but a lot of times, for the enlisted, it’s not something that’s talked about a lot at all, unfortunately.

Do you think it’s an old-school way of thinking or maybe people being set in their ways or for example, a taboo? I recall early in my professional life, I would bring up, maybe wanting a raise from someone I worked for. They would almost get offended as though I was like out of place to ask. “I thought I feel like I’m worth it.” It was like, “Yes but you don’t understand all the expense.” I was like, “Then let’s talk about it. Explain it to me. Help me understand where you’re coming from.”

 

In my infancy being a young professional, I didn’t understand. I was a little bolder than most but my boss took offense to it. That perhaps could be that old-school way of thinking where it’s like, “We don’t talk about money, wealth and benefits. You do your job and don’t get yourself in debt,” for whatever that’s worth. It is interesting because if we talked about it more and we highlighted the opportunities that are out there. If you save, live below your means and take advantage of benefits, the world would be a better place. We’d be far less stressed.

People would be in a position to have some wealth when they retire. It’s astonishing to me because, as I said, I’ve heard that there are some amazing benefits. I’d love for you to elaborate a little bit more on how you’ve taken some of those nuggets of knowledge and started to share them with the military community. It’s amazing to me how many things there are out there for people but they’re not in the circles of influence where they can absorb that information.

I guess it’s intriguing because with this internet era and everyone sharing information, everything at your fingertips, it’s not like before we had to go to the library and open up a book that it’s still the same old way. Do you have an example of maybe somebody who has taken advantage of these benefits that you know or that you’ve talked to besides yourself?

Compliments to you for buying duplexes and getting into real estate. I hope other military folks are listening to you because it doesn’t take a whole lot to take that leap of faith and jump into your first single-family rental or duplex, except for maybe a little bit of courage and a little bit of knowledge. Can you give us an example of maybe anyone that you know that has utilized those benefits that didn’t know otherwise? That can be someone that you taught or it could be someone out there that you’re aware of that utilized those benefits.

I have a real estate Meetup every Thursday at 7:00 PM Eastern Time. It is called All In on Real Estate. We’ll have a Q&A session with different guest speakers talking about definitions in real estate. I have a guest speaker named Maurice Philogene. When he first came into the military, he brought condos. He uses a VA loan to buy condos. He said that when his friends were out partying, he was cleaning toilets. He was doing the maintenance. Fast forward years later, he has over $100,000 of passive income coming in every year. Now, he doesn’t worry about certain things because he has that passive income coming in.

What did he do? What should be done using the VA loan? Let’s say, you start off and use your VA loan. Look for a multifamily property. A lot of times we’re always been taught, “Go get the house with the white picket fence,” and things like that but if you want to build wealth, especially somebody young in the military, this is what you got to do. This is what you should do. Let’s say, you can find a fourplex around the military base. Use a VA loan because the VA loan is only for 1 to 4 units. If you could find a fourplex, get a fourplex.

You can have three tenants in there for each unit. Those three tenants are going to pay for their rent. That rent goes through your mortgage. Depending on how much they’re spending or paying for rent, you might be paying a minimum amount for your mortgage. The cool thing about a VA loan is you stay there for one year. After that one year, you can look for a new duplex or fourplex or whatever and move to that one. You refinance your VA loan into a simple conditional loan and use the VA loan again for another one.

Imagine, you do that three times. You’re at a base for four years. If you have three fourplexes, after you leave, you have twelve tenants paying your mortgage down every single month. You go to the next base. You rinse and repeat. After a year, you move out. If your family spans, you might move to a house or whatever but after a while, you can start having a passive income coming in because you used your VA loan the right way. You stay there for a year and you move out.

Military people are always moving a lot of times. I know somebody who was in the military for 22 years. He moved eighteen times. Is that common for everybody? No, but being in the military, you’re moving a lot. Use that VA loan and the benefits of it because if you use it right, once you retire from the military, you can retire for life. You can be like Maurice and have so much passive income coming in if you do it the right way.

First of all, these guys don’t know that they have this financial advantage and are well-earned. Let’s use an example of a $200,000 duplex. This $200,000 duplex tax, mortgage and insurance are going to run you $1,200 a month. These guys buy it with little to no money down, amazing interest rate and they’re bringing in a $1,000 per side. The cashflow is $800 a month after the tax, mortgage and insurance. They live on one side and their mortgage is paid or they rent out the whole thing. There are all these options.

Enlisted officers don’t talk about money. It’s not something that’s not talked about at all.

For a fourplex, for example, they live in one of them. The bottom line is instead of thinking small, which is the way we’re taught. Think a little bit bigger and house hack your way in using VA loan, taking full advantage. Something I didn’t know which was interesting is that unlike a traditional mortgage, let’s say, if I go buy a house, I have to stay in it for at least three years to avoid paying any of those capital gains up to $500,000. Whereas in this case, you’re staying within a year or so, you can move on to another property and then switch the original one into a traditional loan, which is pretty interesting.

Again, even if you have some knowledge on your benefits, you probably don’t have as much knowledge as Aharon does. All you military folks out in the Charging Forward Crew, I want you to take note of this because that’s the tip of the iceberg. There are many more benefits as it relates to your purchases and your larger purchases, insurance and alike that you could be taking full advantage of. I encourage you to reach out to Aharon to dig into that a little bit more.

I got another question for you. Give me one thing that you attribute to your success that maybe our audience could execute and push their professional or personal lives forward, with a little bit more success. It could be anything. It could be a personal habit that you developed something that you do in your regular life, business or real estate. You’ve got great Meetups and things you do. If you don’t mind, maybe share something with us that we can all take advantage of.

For your audience who are in the military, go to these Facebook groups like VA Home Loan Bootcamp, VA Home Loans for Veterans and VA Home Loans – Q&A. Go to these three different groups, join and learn all the nuances of the VA loan. As Chris said, there are other things you can learn about the VA loan but go to these groups. These are free Facebook groups you can go to that will give you a lot of knowledge on a VA loan. Another reason too is after you get that VA loan, you use it for a year, you refinance and you make it to a conventional loan, the money goes back up. You only have a certain limit that you can spend to buy a property.

That’s why it’s important for you to refinance. Get out of the VA loan and make it to a conventional loan so then that money goes right back to where it’s at before. For my duplex, I had like $600,000 that I can spend. After a year, I get out. I refinanced and now that $600,000 goes back up. That’s one of the reasons why. For me, Chris, it’s education, learning from others and having a coach. Those three things are important and have that work ethic too.

Reach out to people. I’ve reached out to you. You’ve been very essential in helping me out with the knowledge you had brought to me. The person who connected us, Julianne Pearson, I thank her. I’ve been on too many Meetups. I had my own Clubhouse room called the Military Real Estate Investing Hour. It happens every Wednesday at 5:30 Eastern Time. It’s not just for the military but I have a lot of military people in there. We talk about all things real estate. You learn so much from other people’s experiences. You had to learn before you start doing it.

Learn, network and then look for a coach or somebody to help you out. Maybe they made mistakes that you’re going to avoid. A lot of people don’t have that adversity or resilience after they fail. A lot of times, if they fail one thing, they’re gone. “I can’t do this anymore.” You got to build resilience. Find somebody who can help you and guide you along your way.

Thanks for the shout-out. When you reached out to me, I thought, “This guy’s got a lot of positive energy.” I wasn’t sure if I’d hear from you again and I started seeing you popping up in all these real estate Meetups and doing your own. Kudos to you for taking that massive action and not calling people and saying, “How are you having success?” but taking these little pieces that they’re giving you and going out and developing your own form of success in a space that you were not very knowledgeable in. That’s what it’s all about.

Whether it’s a mentor, coach, books, podcasts or Meetups, you name it. You have to take action and have an open mind so that you can absorb. Out of all of that information and data, you’re going to extrapolate. You’re going to draw out the things that resonate with you. If you implement those things into a basic business model, you can have some tremendous success. I’m a student of absorbing all the knowledge, Meetups and networking. I can as well. I’ve learned a ton over the years. I didn’t have success overnight. It was through tons of relationships and hiring mentors, speech coaches and all kinds of things. Being humble enough to say, “What can I learn next?” not, “I have it all figured out.”

 

I’m going to add one thing. I went to a real estate conference here in the Seattle area. I would talk to many investors. What got me was that people didn’t think big and what I mean was they felt like they had to go do steps. You had to be a wholesaler then you got to fix and flip then you got to go to multifamily and then maybe 50 units and then maybe while after deals, I can go to 100-plus. I was telling people, “Think big. Don’t limit yourself.” I’m not saying nothing is wrong with anything you’re doing but think big, believe in yourself and find something that will draw people to you.

You might be a great underwriter, capital raiser or deal finder. Know what you are and your strengths. People will be attracted to you. You can see that people are like, “I can do it.” Think big. Nothing is holding you back except for yourself. I’m not saying that for wholesale or anything like that. I’m not saying there is nothing wrong with that but don’t limit yourself. Don’t have self-doubt beliefs of yourself.

It’s funny you say that because when I first started in the multifamily space, I had single-families, duplexes, land for years and other businesses that I built. I had a good business background base but it’s funny because I remember telling people when they would ask me, “What property you’re going to buy? What are you doing with this?” I said, “I want to buy 100-plus units.”

They looked at me like I was from another planet like, “Yeah, right.” This was years ago but it’s funny because I remember. This is part of being one of those folks that absorbs all the information and truly believes in my ability. You got to go, hustle and put the hours in. When you do that, things tend to work out for you. I know you’ve probably heard this before and I’m sure our readers had heard it as well. You have to start with a belief, with something on your wall, a support system of some sort, even if it’s in your own head and then eventually you get there. Believe it or not, in some cases, it happens before you believe it will happen because you willed yourself to get there.

Maybe in this instance, utilizing the VA, you start with some duplexes but very quickly you might partner with the right folks and get yourself on a deal where there are 40, 50, 100 units. It’s not to say you have to do it overnight but if you don’t believe that you can, you definitely never will. Thank you for sharing that. I hope the crew got that loud and clear. No limiting beliefs. Put it on the whiteboard. Maybe you baby steps the way up there but don’t think you’re never going to get there.

The question of the day is, of all of this stuff you’re doing all of the success, all of the Meetups and the things you’re out there achieving, what one individual do you look up to? It could be as a mentor or someone that truly inspired you. Not a motivating thing or temporary. I’m talking like inspires you. I know I have mine. One person in your life and maybe tell us about that person or elaborate a little bit on why they motivate you or inspire you.

I would say my mom is my biggest motivator factor because she’s always supported me. As I was getting into an entrepreneur, she’s been one person saying, “You can do it. Keep trying.” When I started my Meetup, she was the person on it. She was cheering me on. My mom has always been my biggest supporter continuously as I go on in my career. I can’t say anybody else. She’s always been there for me, regardless of whatever I say. “Mom, I’m going to do this.” “Okay. Cool.” She’s always encouraged me when others have been hesitant about it. There is nothing wrong with that. People have instincts but she’s always been supportive.

I got a mom very similar to that. I was on my own at a young age. She was a single parent and inspired me. Especially now, I realize how much she inspired me. If you don’t mind and I hope I’m not putting you on the spot but can you give me an example of a time mom has told you something that like, “No way,” or, “I don’t believe it,” or she slapped you back into reality figuratively. You could have been a young person or whatever but any instance in your life where you’re like, “Mom, many years ago when you did that, it made sense and I get it now,” or anything.

For me, the sacrifice that she did when I was young. She always stood up for me. I was a kid who was very out there. I wasn’t like the other kids were. My mother always supported me even when I was in trouble or something like that. I don’t know one instance but she’s been so supportive. She’s been through a lot of her life but she’s always supported and loved me. Even now I say, “I love you, mom.” “I love you more.” She always says that to me now. She always makes me feel special throughout. I don’t have one instance but the whole journey, she’s always been my biggest supporter. I’ve always allowed my mother to talk to me. If I’m doing wrong, she’ll get on me about it. I love that too because you can’t be around all yes people. You’re going to fail if you be around yes people because you’re not always going to be in a straight line.

Let’s use mom, grandpa, anyone in your life, that’s older and wiser than you. We all hear these folks say these things to us. When we’re young, we don’t have the experience or the wisdom so we don’t listen most of the time. To your point, you can’t pinpoint but I’m sure if I didn’t put you on the spot, there’d be twenty of them you’d come up with. I know there are many with my mom but the bottom line is the point which you’re trying to make is like, “Whether it’s grandpa, mom, uncle, whoever, when someone’s telling you something, they have wisdom and experience.

Education is learning from others and having a coach.

If they’re supporting you and they’re sharing that knowledge and wisdom with you, take the time to absorb it. Maybe take a little bit of advice because it will probably benefit you substantially down the road even though, maybe for right now, you can’t see it.” That could be in the military too. There are things you don’t agree with but at the end of the day, they’re there for a reason with those stripes and stars and things of that sort.

Let me say this about the military too. I’m not saying this as the cure-all but there’s a lot of people who when they get out of the military, they have problems. Some of it is they don’t have the structure anymore. When you’re in the military, you know what you’re going to do, you had your brothers and sisters in arms. You have a structured environment that you go to. When you get out of the military, it’s the Wild Wild West. You don’t have that structure anymore.

I’m still struggling with this myself. Make sure you have a structured environment around you because if you’re not used to it when you’re out of the military. Make sure you have a structured environment, people close to you, a foundational piece that you can always rely on or people around or surrounding you to help you out along your process. I do a How’s Home with the Vets Call every month. That’s a consistent thing is that when people get out of the military, they don’t have that structure anymore and some people will go downhill for whatever reason.

Some people don’t want help and some do but they don’t know where to go but make sure you have a structured environment around you. Not only for the military but for everybody. Make sure you have that support system for you and we all do. “Closed mouths don’t get fed.” You got to ask questions. You got to ask for help when you need it.

Thank you much for doing that. There are not enough folks in this world that feel they have the time or the wherewithal to go out and make a difference and take some time to help somebody in need. It could be a conversation, an understanding from another brother in arms. It’s like in law enforcement. It was like, “You’re my brother. You’re my family,” because you go into some danger together and things like that.

They’re more likely to open up and listen to you. You might change someone’s life in one conversation. It’s no different than talking to older folks who are lonely. It’s like take a minute. Say hi. Ask them some questions about life. They’ve been around for 70, 80, 90 years. You will gain so much out of that versus the reruns on TV, the video games or whatever it may be. Take a deep breath and give a little. You’ll get a lot more than you could ever imagine.

I truly appreciate you doing that for our community because it may not get as noticed but I can tell you that from my experience in doing some things like that, it makes a significant difference in people’s lives. You may be the one person that made a significant change in their life. I got a question for you. It’s a fun one. If you don’t mind, share with our audience one thing that we would never guess about you. It could be anything. Maybe something funny or something you did when you were younger. Maybe you used to wear some funky clothes. We want to know something fun about Aharon.

I’m a pretty tall guy, I’m 6’4. When I was in high school, I didn’t play basketball. I didn’t make the team. I liked basketball but I was one of those guys. I want to play ball but then I won’t play football because I won’t get cut from the team. I wasn’t good at it. What happened was I didn’t play. I got cut from the high school basketball team. I got into the military. I wasn’t that good but I saw a pamphlet that said, “You can join the Air Force team.” That’s one of the top players in the military.

They play against all the service teams. I was determined to make that team. I worked on my basketball skills throughout. Years later, I tried out for the team and got cut. I was the last person to be cut. The next year, I tried out. I didn’t do so good. I got cut again. Two years later, I was in Korea and I was doing good. I won a tournament MVP. My coach said, “Aharon, you should try again.” I said, “I don’t know, coach.” I tried out and I made the team. We won a gold medal. We beat the other three service teams. That was probably one of the highlights of my career because of where I came from to where I went to.

 

I love that because there are so many lessons learned through the failures and challenges. Anyone that’s achieving anything, I don’t mean wealth I mean, achieving anything, putting your shoes on, whatever. From being a little child all the way up into adulthood. It’s about adversity, failure, challenge, strife and all of that stuff that carves us into who we are.

It’s amazing that you’re 6’4 and not that all tall people could play basketball but that you tried and you didn’t make it. You’re thinking but it’s not because I’m tall or short or anything else. It’s because I haven’t practiced hard enough. I haven’t given enough. I haven’t put in the time or whatever it may be but you did it. You had the right mentors around you that talk you into sticking it out. You then went on to win a medal. That’s incredible.

The funny thing is when I was younger, when I first came in, people asked me, “Do you want to work out?” I said, “No. I’m going to do my own thing.” I could have shortened that timeframe if I had opened up and listened to other people asking me questions. I was, “I want to do on my own.” I’ll be much better if I listened but it’s a learning lesson. I hope people can take that in but I didn’t give up. I wanted to make my goal and get there but it took a little bit longer because I didn’t listen to two people when I first came in.

We’ve got one more little segment in the show here and then we’re going to go in and exit. It’s called the This or That segment. All we do is ask you a handful of silly questions to let the audience get to know you a little bit. Don’t think about these questions. Answer the first thing that comes to mind. Rainy days or sunny skies, which one do you prefer?

You’re going to fail eventually if you’re always around yes people. You’re not always going to be on a straight line.

Sunny skies, all day.

Mac or PC?

Mac.

Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos?

Jeff Bezos.

Weights or cardio?

Cardio.

Active income or passive income?

Passive income.

Whiteboard strategy sessions or in-person in the ditches digging in?

 

In-person in the ditches digging in.

We appreciate you much. Thank you for what you’re doing for the veterans. We love you. We salute you. Keep up the good work out there. Are there any last parting words for our audience?

You guys can reach me, email me any time. I’m here for you. I want to be a resource for anybody. I’m part of the Charging Forward Crew as well. I want to say, thank you, Chris, for having me on here. Keep digging in. We got to be resilient. Being an entrepreneur can be a lonely thing so make sure you’re around like-minded individuals. Do not try to do everything on your own. Find like-minded individuals that are doing the same things you are because it can be a lonely life if you do not.

Thank you, Aharon. It’s great.

Thanks.

Important Links:

• Aharon Goins
• All In on Real Estate
• VA Home Loan Bootcamp
• VA Home Loans for Veterans
• VA Home Loans – Q&A

About Aharon Goins

Aharon Goins is an active real estate investor and retired military veteran. Aharon hosts the weekly All in on real estate meetup every Thursday at 7:00 pm EST. The mission of the meetup is to teach the attendees the benefits of real estate investing.