Podcast 160. The Magic of Real Estate with Logan Kohn

Average Joe Finances:
0:00

Hey, welcome back to the Average Joe Finances podcast. I'm your host Mike Cavaggioni and today's guest is a fellow Long Islander Logan Kohn. So Logan, super excited to have you on. I know we connected over social media and talked a little bit about what you're doing. It's really quite amazing. So I'm super excited to share your story. So thanks for joining me today.

Logan Kohn:
0:17

Thank you so much. Great to be here. I appreciate it.

Average Joe Finances:
0:20

Yeah, absolutely. First of all, and we talked about this offline you know. Being from Long Island, you know what good pizza tastes like. So I just wanna rub that in the face for everybody out there but.

Logan Kohn:
0:28

That's true.

Average Joe Finances:
0:28

I wanna get right into it, man, and ask you the same question I ask everybody that comes on this show when we start things off and we wanna know more about you. So if you could share a little bit about your story, tell us who is Logan Kohn?

Logan Kohn:
0:41

Absolutely. I would say I was bitten by the entrepreneur money bug pretty early and the first money I ever made was from doing magic. That was something I was always into when I was much younger. And the first few dollars I ever made was just doing street magic, performing on the street restaurants. And then eventually I started doing gigs and went from there. It was pretty consistent. I would get a gig here and.. And I certainly liked money and that was something that was, it was really a drug, I was addicted to doing something and being rewarded for it and getting something in return. But certainly having no, no financial literacy or how to manage it or what to do with that money from such a young age. And we're talking 10 to 12 years old. and then I think I got into stocks just naturally from online. So I got into the investing money world and that there's actually truly potential out there that you can actually do more than just, work a nine to five or a job, go to college the normal cycle and actually do more with your life. And I really saw what was possible just from seeing gurus and influencers online. And certainly I wanted to do the same. So the first introduction to investing I would say, was just trying to trade stocks. So I blew through many accounts, thousands of dollars that I had saved up, pretty much wiped out, and that was very frustrating. I think I wanted to make more money so to then put into stocks, but still not having the long-term investing mindset just yet.. And so I started doing online business drop shipping, affiliate marketing, which I still do to this day. I have a few businesses, and I think it was around, I would say probably like 17, 18 years old that I decided I wanna do long-term investing. So that's when I sort started actually putting money away and, a certain amount every single month. And trying to build up a Roth IRA or brokerage account and really having that long-term mindset is, that sometimes they're getting into that. I'm putting real estate just on the side, watching videos, courses, hours and hours. Books, anything I could find just on real estate. But that was just something in the back of my mind that I didn't think I would get into for many years down the road. But the Pandemic was really the impetus that was really the motivation to right into real estate because I took a big hit with my income, probably hundreds of thousands of dollars in projected income that I'll never get back and that I lost. And I said, now is a good time, interest rate to low. I had a ton of money saved up from long-term investing and it just felt like the right time. And now I have three properties, 1.1 million worth of real estate, all Long Island, New York, which is an impossible market for a lot of people that know the real estate market.

Average Joe Finances:
2:52

Obviously not too impossible because you're out there killing the game, man. So first off, I just wanna ask, how old are you, logan?

Logan Kohn:
2:59

Turning 22, in November. So a couple months from recording this.

Average Joe Finances:
3:02

You hear that guys? So by the time this episode comes out, he'll be 22. But right now we're talking, he's 21 years old. He owns 1.1 million dollars in real estate three properties on Long Island. And yes, I can tell you right now that market is bonkers. Logan, well done man. It seems like you've really because that entrepreneurial bug bit you so early in life, it really helped prepare you at a very young age to get out there and start crushing it. I literally just had a conversation with somebody else earlier today and some of the questions that I ask in my final round, I always ask what is something that you wish you would've known when you first started? And most people say that. I wish I would've started when I was younger, and that was the same answer I got today. Right now here we are, we got somebody that started very young. Right now. When the pandemic first hit you were 19, right?

Logan Kohn:
3:50

Yes. So December 19, yes. I was still 19. Yep. Still 19. Yeah.

Average Joe Finances:
3:54

So 19 years old pandemic hits and you're like, I wanna do real estate. I wanna get into this and make it happen. And you didn't go to college, right?

Logan Kohn:
4:01

Nope.

Average Joe Finances:
4:02

And you didn't have a nine to five, you were doing magic, right? So that's what you were doing. You were getting gigs and getting paid for that? Or did you wind up getting a job? At first?

Logan Kohn:
4:11

I've never had a job, never had a normal nine to five. So it's always been magic online business.

Average Joe Finances:
4:15

Love it.

Logan Kohn:
4:16

And how YouTube is certainly a part of that as well.

Average Joe Finances:
4:18

That's right, yeah. So you said you were doing drop shipping and also you said what was the other thing.

Logan Kohn:
4:22

Affiliate Marketing.

Average Joe Finances:
4:23

Affiliate marketing. Yep. Okay. Perfect man. Yeah I tried my hand at drop shipping. I did okay with some of them and some of them not so much. And I wound up just giving all that up in the end. But yeah, I actually started a online, it was like outdoors like camping gear, fishing gear. It was called the What was called the outdoorangler.com or something like that. Yeah, I gave that up and then I built another website that I actually went up selling that actually turned out pretty well and I made a profit from selling it as well. So that was pretty cool. It was about pet poop scoopers but we would not get into all that. But that was like my taste with that piece, so I know It's hard, but it's not hard if you know what you're doing and you get yourself into it and you get into a good rhythm. So I'm glad to see that you were able to get some success there enough to get to the point where you can start investing in real estate, especially in such a tough market like Long Island, right? So if you could like, share a little bit about how you got started in real estate specifically. Like why was it real estate? Cause I know you invested in the stock market, you lost some money there, right? And then you opened up IRA, right? You started working on that side, but why did that shift to real estate?

Logan Kohn:
5:26

I think I realized that I can only work so much. I can only do so many things in so many hours. And I think, I think the original plan before the pandemic was just to work as much as I can and just put every nickel I could possibly save into an IRA or brokerage account. And maybe one day when I'm in my forties, fifties have seven, eight. Figures, to retire with. And that was really gonna be the plan before I even got into real estate. But I had been studying it on the side. It was really something that interested me, but it was very intimidating, even now it's so intimidating buying a house. But back then, especially when I was much younger that was just something I didn't even think was even fathomable to actually purchase a property. I just had no idea what to do. Didn't know how to get financing. I probably thought I would never be able to get a mortgage in my lifetime, especially being self-employed and not having a normal W-2 job. And I was reading books on it. So for example, I remember in school vividly, like I said, reading the English book during class I had Art of the Deal and other rental property books and I was reading instead. But it looked the same, the pages and watching hours and hours of videos, courses, and again, the pandemic really took a toll on income. So I realized that real estate is in fact a way to build up a consistent income pretty quickly. Granted there's a high barrier of entry especially in this market with the massive appreciation anywhere in the country, but let along Long Island there's a high barrier of entry, but certainly could develop consistent income pretty quickly. And that's really what I needed because, the pandemic really woke me up and saw that I truly. Unshakable. I could take a hit and you never know. You just never know what could happen, even if you're all working a normal job that job, it could be laid off tomorrow. So nothing certain. And I think real estate was interesting to me because a totally different kind of investment, a totally different asset class than stocks or mutual funds, index funds, and is something that you could really build wealth. And I saw the different ways to build wealth with it, whether it's cash flow, appreciation mortgage pay down, all that. I thought it was just right for me and I wanted to give it a try.

Average Joe Finances:
7:09

Yeah, that's fair, Logan. So actually I wanna ask you about something in particular, right? So very young never had a W-2 job working as an entrepreneur your entire life. How did you find a way to fund. Getting into real estate because not having that W-2 income, it is a lot more difficult as an entrepreneur to get approved for a mortgage. So what kind of challenges did you face with that?

Logan Kohn:
7:33

Absolutely, I had the money. That wasn't a problem, I definitely had the funds and resources I had. My peak as far as liquid money was probably a couple hundred thousand dollars in between my stock accounts. But I had no idea how I was gonna qualify for a mortgage with that. So what I actually did was, is I realized I had to file my tax returns, cause at the time I did not know about hard Money or DSCR loans that are asset based. I wish I knew about that sooner. I am, if we're gonna talk about a mistake or something that I wish I knew earlier on, that would certainly be it, but, So what I actually had to do was file two years of tax returns at once, take all the penalties and hits, and obviously New York State income tax is the highest in the nation and the federal taxes and all the penalties and fees that went along with it for filing so late. So two years where the tax returns and now I had my tax returns, but I it's probably 40, 50 grand out. That was, cut off for my liquid money. But I still had a decent amount left and those tax returns, ultimately I used to buy my first property, which was under a conventional mortgage, and that's, I went from there.

Average Joe Finances:
8:24

Awesome. Yeah, because after you filed those tax returns it showed like, this higher income number. So that definitely helps. Yeah. For a lot of people out there, they find themselves, they decide to walk away from their nine to five, maybe a little too early, and they're like, okay, I got, I got a good gig going as an entrepreneur, they don't realize you need to have that two years of tax returns to actually make it happen to qualify for a loan. The fact that you were already doing this for a little while really helped you out, and that makes a lot of sense. When you went to go make those purchases. So if you could tell, share with us, like what was it like buying your first property? What did that first deal look like?

Logan Kohn:
8:58

Yeah. So that, that was definitely a new experience to me. I didn't know what I was gonna do. I first thought maybe I would get something just local, very close to me down the street and just put everything I had into it because I live in a very expensive market. Then I thought maybe I would do a commercial. Maybe I'll buy a two unit storefront retail. I didn't really know what I was gonna do, but then I started to understand that residential is really where it's at. And the cash flow there is definitely substantial and less risky because commercial you never know what's gonna happen with commercial space. You just don't know, especially with technology. And so many businesses shutting down, and especially during the pandemic, we saw that. So I just felt that residential would be more of a safe play, especially with the pandemic. So many people flocking towards outer out of the city into suburban areas. And I thought, okay, I'll do residential. Obviously Long Island is so expensive. So I had to look for a market in my area. that was the least expensive I could find just to accommodate what I had and what I could do. So there's an area in Suffolk County that's I'm in Nassau County. So Suffolk County is about an hour away from me, and it's called Mastic Beach, Mastic-Shirley area. And it's really considered the dumpster, the armpit of Long Island. It has a very bad reputation. If you ask other industrial Long Island, they probably would never touch an area in their entire life. And so I thought, you know what, though? Let me take the chance. Let me see what can happen. Cause I looked at sales history and I saw, the trend is definitely up and especially with the appreciation during 2020 and 2021, I said, okay, this may not be that much of a risk. And worst case scenario is that, maybe I'll just barely cover my mortgage or something, or make a little bit of cash flow instead of a large amount. So at the time I bought that property. The first one is a single family unit for $213,000, and I would do anything to get that kind of a price point back now. Especially at the time I thought I was actually overpaying for the property, but now I would do anything to get that deal again and those interest rates again. So $213,000, 20% down conventional loan and it ended up working out very good.

Average Joe Finances:
10:44

Yeah, absolutely. Now I know you said that area is like the the armpit. Have you ever been to Central Islip? Where I'm from.

Logan Kohn:
10:50

So Islip has a bad reputation. Yeah. But not as bad as Mastic but the Islip has been a lot of it's been on the up and up for sure.

Average Joe Finances:
10:56

No, I'm talking about central Islip, man. There's a difference central islip, and Islip. Okay. But anyway it's all good, man. That's what a great way to start. So you got this property at about 213 what's it worth today?

Logan Kohn:
11:06

Up a lot, probably up 30, 40% now. I could easily sell it right now today, easily for 270, 280.

Average Joe Finances:
11:11

Awesome, man. That's good stuff. Okay, so definitely you, you picked a good time to get started in real estate. I know it's a little bit crazy right now with interest rates just hitting over 7%, You got in at the right time. And the thing is, you had the right mindset, right? You already knew that you were gonna get yourself into this. I wanna point out a couple things. I know that you had mentioned like when you were going to school and stuff, you were reading a lot of real estate books. You were watching a lot of educational videos and just absorbing all of that. And I think that's one of the most important things is educating yourself and understanding what you're getting into before you actually do it. A lot of people say you get into it first, make the mistakes and deal with the pain afterwards. But a lot of times, you could save yourself a lot of trouble and headache if you learn about it. Learn what mistakes you could possibly make, learn mistakes that other people have made, and get a good idea about that stuff before you actually get into it. You're still gonna make your own mistakes, and I'm sure you have right.. Everybody does. But that's the piece of real estate that we call education, right? That's self-education, self-taught, when you make those kind of mistakes. I think that's huge. Now, I wanna ask you, so you graduated high school, right? And you decided not to go to college. And start, just be an entrepreneur. So what, what made that decision, or how'd you come up with making that decision? I don't wanna go to college, I wanna be an entrepreneur. And then what are your thoughts on how the education system is geared right now?

Logan Kohn:
12:31

Yep. So entering into high school, I thought I was absolutely gonna go to college. That was definitely the plan. I didn't think anything else. But I really started to build my business in like sophomore, junior year, and I really started to see results and see some big numbers that I was really shocked by I didn't even think was possible. So I started really bringing in quite a bit of money and trying to save and hoard as much of it as possible. I didn't really know what I was gonna do with that money, but I was just saving it and being pretty financially responsible. So as far as not going to college I just thought it would be a waste of time for me. I thought I could probably just put all this time that I would've put into more education, which I really didn't need. I didn't like school whatsoever. I thought I just put it into my business and I didn't really know exactly where I was gonna be, in 5, 10 years from then. I didn't have an exact plan step by step, but I just knew that I'd be much better off not wasting my time with college and furthering education. And I thought I could just invest that time into building my business and trying to be financially free and secure. As far as my thoughts on college certainly I might be ha might have some polarizing views, but the fact is that when you look at it, millions and millions of people are in massive debt right now. I don't even know what they're I ask my friends that are in business school and I say, how much did you pay for this degree? They say it costs six figures and they don't even have a possible business. That's rule number one in business, don't take out that much money unless you have, plus you have some steady cash flow. And when you look at it, if you look at school and the university system as designer brands and maybe the Ivy League schools being the Louis Vuitton and the Gucci of schools. And schools are really as our marketing ploy. It's really just a business that's profitable and it's not really churn out results now is a solution to just cancel student debt and make college free. I don't know. I think you gotta get down to the root cause. I don't think that's really gonna solve it. I think the root cause is the education system and you really have to revamp it and frankly abolish it because it's just not working and I think it's only gonna get worse and worse. You see as far as affordability and where we are right now with this economy. I think it's gonna get worse by the generation. So millennials have it terrible. Gen Z's gonna have it worse, and who knows what's gonna happen with the next generation?

Average Joe Finances:
14:24

Yeah. That is definitely a polarizing view, but a very realistic view of the challenges of the way the education system is built right now. And the way, you spend so much money to get this piece of paper saying that, you're an expert in whatever, where, you turn around and get a bachelor's degree or a master's degree and you're looking at, you're starting salary of like $46,000 and it's like, how do you even survive? Especially on like long Island, you cannot survive on that kind of salary at all. It's just not even an option. Most schools have become it's sickening, but they've all become for-profit. If you look at the actual percentage of how much goes into a student's education versus how much of that money goes to, Just profit itself for the school, it's really sickening. Whereas, my parents, they could have, first of all they could just graduate high school and go get a job and be able to afford a house on Long Island where if I wanted to do that, there was no freaking way that was happening, right? I was gonna have to go to school, get my degree, and then hope that I can get a decent paying job. But it's even worse now, and that this was 20 years ago for me, I wound up joining the Navy and, retiring from the Navy. But, it's not everybody has that as an option, right? And when you think about like how much you're gonna spend versus the actual return on that investment you're gonna get. It's nothing really, it's peanuts. So yeah, there has to be some type of major education reform. I don't wanna get into politics or anything like that, but it's something for every young person out there to consider. Especially as you're, graduating high school or if you're in college right now, maybe reevaluate what it is that you're doing. Is this gonna really be the right path for you to follow if financial independence is your goal? I would hope it's everybody's goal. But at the same time, some people really enjoy their career fields that they're in, and that's great. We need that, right? Society needs that, but at the same time, there's no reason why you can't. Do something that you really love and still invest and make a good, healthy life for yourself and to be able to walk away from it when you want to. That's probably the most important thing. One of the things I love about what you're doing is you've started off as an entrepreneur. You started off like saying, Hey, I wanna be financially independent. I know I wanna have this freedom in my life, and this is what I'm gonna do to attack that and make it happen. So I think that's really awesome. And I don't see too many people your age really thinking that way, that are more worried about, how many likes they're gonna get on Instagram or TikTok, to validate themselves socially versus, trying to find themselves true happiness, right? So I really commend you for being disciplined in your goals and your aspirations because it's obviously paying off with some serious dividends here, Logan. So I think that's really awesome, man. So first of all, congratulations to you and all of your successes so far, man. This is really a treat.

Logan Kohn:
17:10

I appreciate that. No, thank you so much. And there's definitely a societal pressure. I think many people just go for the fact that their friends are going and they don't actually look. What they're doing, and they're gonna make the next four, in some cases, eight years of potentially time down the drain and the debt they're getting it to, and that, that financial ramification that it'll have down the road.

Average Joe Finances:
17:28

Yeah. You know, so Logan what are your thoughts of your generation right? Gen Z about the current economy and why some of them are so apprehensive to. Think about financial literacy as a goal in life.

Logan Kohn:
17:41

I think unfortunately a lot of kids my age and millennials it's a pretty large group. It is actually a large chunk of the country. I think in fact, millennials make up the largest demographic of the nation if I'm not mistaken. And I think a lot of them, unfortunately, have just given up and just don't see the hope, and they just say, this is just what I'm destined to do. This is just gonna be my, my. I'm gonna be working nine to five or whatever it is for the next 40 years, and I won't be able to ever buy a home. I'll just probably be renting for the rest of my life and I won't really have any higher aspirations. So I think there is a level of hopelessness that I think we should try to rekindle that I think we should try to, Ensure and embed into people my age and our generation that the American dream is not dead. And that there is possibility there is opportunity out there. It is gonna take discipline. It is gonna take hard work. It is gonna take education. There is gonna be risk involved, but I think there is opportunity out there. A lot of people just don't see it, unfortunately. And I think other people are just surrounded by their friends that maybe grew up in similar situations and, they don't really see. A higher aspiration or I have higher thought. And so I think social media though, is actually doing more of a positive than a negative because it actually is exposing people to what's possible. So fifty, a hundred years ago, or at least any year before, 20 years ago the only people that you could really look up to are your friends, your people, your brother, your sister, your uncle, people that lived in the same a neighborhood on your block. And that was really the only. Realm of opportunity that you really saw. But I think I social media as bad of a reputation, it's getting, I think it's actually exposing people to what is possible. And that's certainly what it done, what it's done for me. And that doesn't have to be necessarily with fitness, or sorry, finance. It could be with fitness goals. It could be with taking on a new hobby. It's really, it really is doing a lot of good, more than bad.

Average Joe Finances:
19:18

Yeah, absolutely. I think that is a hundred percent true. It's the exposure that people get to the environment besides just their local surroundings, that exposure that the internet itself gives somebody. But a lot of times, some, people just get stuck in that mental state of, this is my life. This is how I need to focus. And they don't really think outside of the box. They'll look at some of these other folks doing stuff on social media saying, oh, oh, this person's investing in real estate and they're doing really well. Must be nice. I'd never be that lucky. And they don't realize that luck has nothing to do with it. Sure, you might get a really great deal and luck out on something, but man, that you don't see all the bumps and scrapes and bruises that person went through to get there. And that's the other piece about social media that kind of bothers me a little bit. There's some influencers out there that are very transparent and they'll show like, Hey, here's the process and it hurts. But then there's others out here that just show they're 30 seconds of, Hey, look what I did here, and, oh, I got this deal and this flip happened and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They didn't show that when they did the demolition, they found black mold and they wound up having to, it cost, 50,000 more to renovate that property than they originally had hoped for, right? You don't see that side. So sometimes it is a double-edged sword. But then there's a lot of other really good influences out there that say, Hey here's some of the good stuff. Here's some of the bad stuff. And that's why I like to talk about that on the podcast as well. It can't just be all rainbows and unicorns, right? Sometimes you have to see that there, there are little gremlins running around out there that you gotta squash and you have to overcome and beat. And it's those people that realize that there is there is challenges you have to overcome, right? They're the ones that break out of the mold. They're the ones that say, okay, I want to take on these challenges. I want to change my path. I don't want it to just be this straight path until I'm 60 years old and then I retire and live for a couple years and then die with, probably still in debt. Where they're like, you know what? I want to go off the beaten path and see what's over here. And if I like that, cool, we'll keep going. If not, maybe try something else. So the thing is there's so many different opportunities. It doesn't necessarily have to be real estate. You could start a business and it turns out that's something that's your niche, right? And it works out perfect for you. But you have to break out of that mold of quote unquote normalcy. And you have to be abnormal, right? You have to break that, you have to change your mindset. That's the biggest thing, I think. And for you, you change your mindset at a very young age and you realize Hey I like money. I want more money. How do I get more money? And you. Geared your life and your career choices into how you can make more money for yourself. Because your ultimate goal to me from this conversation sounds like freedom, right? You wanna be able to do what you want, when you want and just enjoy life and at a very young age. Here you are, man. Just stepping it up. You're probably very close to your financial freedom number. If not, I know you'll be there before 30. So that's absolutely amazing, man. And then you've got your whole life ahead of you. You can go travel the world, go do whatever the hell you want, right? Keep doing magic cause you enjoy it. And that's one of the things that's beautiful about it is you're giving yourself that freedom to enjoy your life and not be a slave to a job. And and just society in general. So I just, I know I'm going off on a tangent here and rambling a bit, but I think it's super important for people to understand that, dude, you're 21 years old, you're about to be 22, and this game of life, like you're doing really well. You're ahead on that board and you're winning. That's good stuff. Yeah. Absolutely. So I wanted to ask you though, as you're going on now, you got three properties right now, right? So what are the plans let's say over the next five years for you? Let's where is Logan at the age of 26 going on 27?

Logan Kohn:
22:44

Yep. Yep. If you don't mind, just to make one more point on the previous topic, if that's okay. Sure. For sure. Absolutely. So I think, part of the problem also is that especially my generation in millennials, is that there's a semblance of tall poppy syndrome and this vilification of the rich and the wealthy. And I think it's a big problem that I don't think we've ever seen it as a widespread as we're seeing it right now with my generation I think there's an absolute sentiment that money is evil and that anyone that has it, is despicable and deplorable. And so I think that is part of the problem. And people just look at money as something now that if you hoard it, you're evil. Whereas it's, it's really totally the opposite. And so I think if we also change that mindset, I think that would also sort a, a lot of people sort again into the investing having that long-term mindset and then, changing their views and money. I think it is happening with the democratization of investing. I think it's more accessible than ever. You can just open up the Robinhood app right in your phone. And certainly there is a vilification there and I think we're seeing it more than ever with my generation. But again, on social media though, I think it isn't that positive, even though people might not show everything, even though you just see the highlight reel and you see the sound bites and the clips. I think even just flashing at Lamborghini for 30 seconds online is totally okay. I think it really isn't a positive, and if that's what it takes to get, wake someone up. Change their mindset. I think that's all right. But yep. So as far as my five year goal?

Average Joe Finances:
24:01

Yeah. Where are you at the coming onto the age of 27?

Logan Kohn:
24:03

So I think, just doing what I'm doing right now, but at scale. So hopefully growing my YouTube channel, growing that audience, building my brand more and obviously acquiring more properties and renting and repeating. I think I am going to get into apartment buildings and on larger complexes down the road. Do some 1031 exchanges there and start actually scaling my portfolio from single and duplexes to much larger complexes. That was something that is something that will definitely be down the road, perhaps also doing other markets, maybe going out of Long Island. But for me it's tough because I don't even drive. So I'm pretty limited and get restricted to where I am. And perhaps getting into other business ventures and investing and, maybe taking on other projects, writing a book, who knows, we will see what happens. I don't have. every little step planned out. But that's what's great about life, some of it is unpredictable.

Average Joe Finances:
24:45

Yeah, absolutely, man. I love that. I love that. And I love how, you you talk about how you're restricted to where you're at right now, but you're still thinking bigger about how can I look to outside of Long Island, look at different areas that I can do this. First step will probably be getting your license, right? that's great, man. Look, dude. You don't have a driver's license, right?

Logan Kohn:
25:04

Nope. No permit, nothing.

Average Joe Finances:
25:05

So no permit, no driver's license. And look at what you're freaking doing right now. It's insane. Yeah, dude that's awesome, man. Just again, kudos man. I wanna transition this into something that we call the final round. I'm gonna ask you the same four questions that I ask everybody that comes on this show. Some of them I think I already know the answer to cause we already alluded to it. But I just want dig down deeper on that. So if you're ready to go, we'll get this party started.

Logan Kohn:
25:26

I think so.

Average Joe Finances:
25:28

All right, Logan. Awesome. So actually this first one I'm gonna ask you this for two different sections because because of the way you started things off as an entrepreneur. So what's the biggest mistake you've ever made in business and what's the biggest mistake you've ever made in real estate?

Logan Kohn:
25:41

So I think as far as a business, I don't think I could have started earlier. Real estate, I always regret if I just started just a couple years, even just one year before I would've seen.

Average Joe Finances:
25:49

Oh come on.

Logan Kohn:
25:49

Massive appreciation.

Average Joe Finances:
25:50

You're killing me with that.

Logan Kohn:
25:51

I know it's tough, but if I just started just months or one year before I could have gotten much better value and much more appreciation to where I am now. But that's all right, that's perfectly okay. As far as business I definitely made mistakes with trying out different ways of marketing and, wasting money on advertising, whether it was social media or Google ads, things like that. But that's all part of the game, I don't think I've ever had too much of a devastating blow where I would say I truly regretted that, even the pandemic, which obviously caused so much hardship and pain for so many people. And myself included. I think it was all part of the lesson and I really don't think I would be where I am today if it wasn't for the pandemic. I really think it, it actually did help me a lot and I gained a lot of wisdom from it. So I truly do not have, too many regrets. Obviously, I could have sold a stock later or earlier. I could have bought to a stock here and there, but this cryptocurrency. But all that is behind me. And we're just on our own paths and I can't compare, my chapter one to someone else's chapter.

Average Joe Finances:
26:41

Hundred percent. Oh, man, love that. And one of the biggest things that you just mentioned there too, that, it was the lessons that you learned while doing this. It's one of the beautiful things that, we can take what we call quote unquote mistakes and say yeah, it was a mistake, but it was also a very educational piece of who I am today and I learned from it. It's something I won't do again because I know that if I do A, B, C, or D this is gonna happen. This will be the results. Absolutely love that, Logan. So I appreciate that. Alright, so I know it, it hasn't been that long ago since you started, but this next question is, what is something that you've learned that you wish you knew when you first started?

Logan Kohn:
27:13

So I would say definitely looking into other types of financing and exploring your options. Obviously there's many notions. I've already dispelled that you can't buy a property for self-employed. That's not true. You can't buy a property in New York. That's not true and you need this, that, the other thing. But obviously I've pretty much done it all and dispelled all those notions. As far as mistakes, Or as far as which, what I wish I knew earlier. So yeah, definitely knowing about other types of financing, not just knowing about the conventional Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac mortgage, and knowing that there's actually other types of financing out there and not to be afraid of it, it's not necessarily something taboo. People do it all day long, and so I wish I knew about that earlier. So I did use a DSCR loan on my second property, and I'll probably be doing it. Conventional is my third one. The next property will be a DSCR loan, though. And then also that there's other types to do, other ways to do real estate. It's not necessarily just buying and holding, perhaps if I wanted to, I probably could have done a flip earlier on cause I had enough money in reserves to do and, probably could have made a nice profit and cashed out probably would've known about helocs and taking out your equity and then using that towards other properties. If I knew that earlier on too, that certainly could have made a difference. But overall, I've gained so much knowledge and experience and one of the big things is that you can read all the books, you can watch all the videos, you can watch all the courses, but you won't actually know until you do it. And so it's all about the execution. And obviously going in, I had so many lumen questions and fears above my head that I just didn't know the answer to but once you actually do it and get your feet wet and actually dive right in I think the process would be a lot smoother and easier for you.

Average Joe Finances:
28:35

Yeah, man, that, that is perfect answer to that question. in just a short period the stuff that you've learned and. Now, just, two years later, the tools that you have in your tool belt now have expanded so much that, you could put Batman to shame with that utility belt, you know what I'm saying? So you've got everything you need, you know what you need to do. Now you know about these programs that you wish you would've known about, but now you know how to tap into that. You know how to tap into your equity of your properties to acquire more assets, and that's absolutely awesome, man. So definitely appreciate your transparency there in sharing that with us now do you have, Logan this is the third question of it. Do you have any tips or tricks that you would recommend to someone that is just getting started today?

Logan Kohn:
29:15

Yep. So especially for kids my age, that, that are probably graduating college or probably already have a steady job. Whether it's just their entry level position or something they're gonna build up to, or whatever it is. They have nine to five, so they actually have income on papers. That's good. Obviously building a credit is huge, so if you haven't already, obviously start building a credit, I opened up my first credit card. Secured credit card shortly after I turned 18. So that's huge. You definitely need credit. It's really hard to do anything without it. So if you have that income on paper and you have a study nine to five, that's great. So what, try to utilize that. And so definitely try to do an FHA try to house hack, maybe try to look into a duplex or a three family in your area, close to you. It doesn't have to be in other state. And try to put as much down as you possibly can, but you could with an FHA alone, put as little as three and a half percent, 5% down, and you'll be able to use the projected income from the other rental units towards the debts income ratio as well as your W-2 job. So especially for someone that may not have a lot of money, but they have a job that is definitely an option for you and is something that I would definitely look into.

Average Joe Finances:
30:10

Yeah. Perfect. Hey, there you guys go. If you're just getting started out, look at what Logan did just just a few years ago and where he's at today. This is a perfect example of, somebody that's taking the odds that are stacked against them and using it to his advantage, right? So people that have a lot of those limiting beliefs like you had mentioned earlier with the last question about, you're dispelling a couple of them. Like, I can invest on Long Island. Hey, I can invest at this young age. Hey, I can invest without a W-2 job without that income, right? And you're proving all of these things that people would normally use as an excuse. You're proving that wrong. You're dispelling all of that. I think that's absolutely fantastic, man, because I think it's important for people to hear this, especially young people, your age and in Gen Z. You still have so much ahead of you. There's so much that you could do right now in your twenties to really set yourself up that you could live an enjoyable life in your late twenties, early thirties, and just just. Chill out and live that financial freedom life. Dude I love this man. This conversation's been fantastic. I have one more question for you for the final round. And that's gonna be, and I'll, I'm gonna say this beside your own because I know you have a YouTube channel. We'll talk about that in a second. But do you have a favorite business investing or real estate related book or podcast or both?

Logan Kohn:
31:21

Yep. So definitely a big fan of BiggerPockets. There's tons and tons of information on there. Obviously I'm a big Grand Cardone guy, so I love Grant Cardone. I love watching him and listening to him and what he has to say that granted, what you're able to do now may not line up with his specific what he preaches his dogma, but that's okay. You can always say golden nuggets and these little pieces of information from anyone and everyone. So I like BiggerPockets like Grant Cardone and there's so many books out there on rental property and investing that is truly limitless. And to add on the last one as well is, a big thing is just reaching out. We're so connected now. We have so many resources at our fingertips. Our phones are more powerful than a rocket ship scientific fact. And so join the Facebook groups. Maybe there's local meetups and groups in your area. Reach out to people on social media. In your position and are in your shoes, and learn from them and try to learn from people that are already doing what you want to do and try to avoid some of those mistakes. And I try to take some shortcuts and I not necessarily try to get rich quick overnight, but learning from other people's experience and their mistakes and it's just so helpful and, you could be paralyzed with all the information, knowledge. It's definitely information overload in this digital age. But take what you can and it's all about the execution again. You won't really know until you actually do it.

Average Joe Finances:
32:25

Yeah, I love that man. I BiggerPockets has been such a big part of my investing as well. It's one of the things that's inspired me probably more than anything else out there was the BiggerPockets podcast. So I'm glad that, you brought that up as well. But also to touch on the other things you were saying it is very important to get out there and meet people and not only educate yourself, but network with others. Find like-minded people. Find your tribe, right? Find your tribe and fully invest yourself in that. Because when you surround yourself with people doing what you wanna do, you're eventually gonna do it right? You're gonna get yourself into it. If you hang out in a room of five millionaires right, and you're hanging out with them all the time, you're gonna be the sixth one. So it's very important that you insert yourself into that into those groups, into those situations, ask questions, build relationships, and just get out there and crush it, man. So I definitely appreciate that. Now I have one more question for you, Logan. That's it for the final round. But this question is the most important question of all, because the people you know, that, that are sitting here listening to this episode are like, man, this guy. 21 years old, he's doing this, he's doing that. Absolutely amazing stuff as an entrepreneur at such a young age. And I wanna know more about him. I wanna know, so I know he has a YouTube channel, so what's that? How can I find it? So do you have a website, social media or anything like that you could share with us and get these listeners pumped up?

Logan Kohn:
33:40

Yep. So I have YouTube, so that's just my name, Logan Kohn, and then on Instagram as well, Logan Kohn. And then I take all my videos from YouTube and I post them to Facebook. And I also post some short clips as well on TikTok. So I'm really all over the place. We talk about everything from business to real estate, to investing to politics and news. So I really try to cover.

Average Joe Finances:
33:59

All right, fantastic. It's like a one-stop shop over there with Logan. Go check out his stuff. I'm gonna get his links and put'em in the show notes for you guys. Make it easy for you. Go check out his YouTube channel, check him out on social media. And if you are gonna go click on those links, get ahead and click 'em or copy and paste and get into it. Just don't do it while you're driving folks. But hey, I, Logan, I really appreciate this, man. This conversation was awesome. What you're doing is awesome. I wish you continued success and I will be following your adventures as you, you continue on your path reaching financial freedom and just crushing it in life, man. So well done, and thank you for coming on the show.

Logan Kohn:
34:31

Thank you so much. I appreciate the kind words. It was great to be on.

Average Joe Finances:
34:34

Yeah, absolutely. And hey, to my listeners, thank you so much for joining me and our special guest, Logan Kohn on the Average Joe Finances podcast. Go leave us a five star review and tell us what you liked about today's episode with Logan. Aloha from Hawaii and have a fantastic rest of your day.