This is a Guest Post by Wes Jones – Married to a Real Estate Investor
Two and half years ago my wife (girlfriend at the time) looked at me and said, “I want to buy a house.” I looked back at her with curiosity trying to figure out if she was kidding or being serious. In my head, I took it more as a joke and thought she might have just been returning from a “Zillow high.” What I mean is that she probably had just spent an hour looking at houses for sale on Zillow dreaming about the opportunity to buy one of her own.
Outwardly I nodded, signaling her to tell me more about her current infatuation. She delighted in this and talked about her dream of buying a house in Denver and renting it out to other roommates. Her voice was full of eagerness and excitement. “I could do it,” she said, “It just sounds like so much fun!” I’m thinking “Yes, it does sound fun… but maybe after we are married, have saved up some money, and are both able to live in the house at the same time.”
You see, the skeptic in me began to question the decision to invest in a house at such a young age. I was only 22 and she was 23 and we weren’t married yet or even engaged for that matter. People our age don’t do that, you wait until you’re older, married, and more experienced in life… right?
Wrong! Typically, the sooner you start investing the sooner you see the results. I had grown up thinking that you have to wait until you’re older to buy a house, but that was shattered by Katie.
Dodging a Bullet
As she continued to share in that conversation, she explained her dreams and purpose for buying a house – as you can read about in many of the other articles. In fact, there were many such conversations where we talked about pros, cons, obstacles, and of course finances.
One day she asked if I would be willing to go in on a house with her. Because I wouldn’t be living in the house and because I was scared to put forth a large chunk of money my response was no. I simply wasn’t ready, yet I was amazed that for such a young woman she was ready. I advised her to just wait a while before buying a house. Financially, me saying no made Katie’s ability to buy a house more difficult, but it didn’t deter her desire in any way. She still went forth and talked to several lenders and banks to see what kind of loan she could get.
Upon hearing the amount of the loan she was approved for and with the rising and expensive Colorado market, it became clear that buying a house would be rather difficult; at least buying a house that wasn’t a shack would be difficult. So, once again I repeated my advice to just wait a little while.
Eventually, Katie took that advice and came to the same conclusion to just wait. I thought to myself, “Phewww, I dodged a bullet there.”
Passions Do Not Stay Buried…
Let me tell you though, I didn’t dodge that bullet for long. A few months after reaching that conclusion, Katie and I got engaged. For the following 11 months, we were occupied with wedding planning, marriage counseling, and the craziness of life. But through it all, her itch didn’t go away. Conversations here and there, constant “Zillow highs,” and the increase in listening to real estate podcasts and books all hinted to the fact that investing was still on her mind. Katie had an itch to invest in real estate, whether it was her own house or not. She had just scratched the surface of it in this preliminary go around when trying to buy a house. Once we were married though, that is when the itch really began to gain traction.
Literally one month into our marriage Katie looked at me and said those same words she said two and a half years ago, “I want to buy a house.” Again, I looked back at her with curiosity trying to figure out if she was kidding or being serious. This time I knew she was dead serious.
She started getting coffee with old professors, real-estate agents, and real-estate investors. She started going to networking events and real-estate meetups. In fact, she dragged me along reluctantly to a few of them. At that point in time, I still was in an incredulous place with this whole “buying a house and investing thing.” I didn’t know anything about real estate or investing, and wasn’t super comfortable talking about it, especially with strangers. I went to those events though because I love my wife, I trust her fully, and I wanted to learn more about her interests. I wanted to support her.
Related: 6 Ways to Get a Free Education
A Pastor’s Wife
In our marriage and even while we were dating, she has done her fair share of supporting me in my line of work. She takes an interest in what I do and supports my dreams and passions for Jesus and youth. I can’t tell you how helpful that has been in my journey.
Because I am a youth pastor, which can be a difficult job to be a supporter/wife of, Katie often gets the question, “What’s it like to be married to a pastor?” I’m sure she can answer that better than I can, but I do know she would answer that it is challenging and that it is tough at church because I know so many people, especially those not our age (AKA crazy teenagers!).
However, she would also say that it is rewarding and encouraging to her. Finally, she would answer that it is her role in life. God has called her to support me through everything that this ministry throws at me. The schedule can be tough – I work weekends, nights, days, depart for many different trips throughout the year.
I’m often communicating with youth at home, thinking through some of my youth’s situations, and contemplating if I did/didn’t do or say something the way God wanted me to. It’s no small task to be a pastor’s wife.
What it is Like to be Married to a Real Estate Investor
You may be thinking to yourself, “What does this have to do with anything?” Just hold on, there’s a point trust me. I say all of this because for the year that we have been married I have never been asked the question, “Wes, what is it like to be married to a real estate investor?”
Just three months into our marriage and after a lot of research, podcasts, classes, reading, networking, and phone calls we ended up buying our first rental property in Indiana. When I say “we” I really mean “she.” To say that Katie did all of the work is putting it lightly. I signed some papers, gave input whenever I could, but I was mainly there to support/encourage her in whatever way possible.
In my opinion, it was a glaring success and opened my eyes to real-estate investing. Better yet, I started to get the real-estate itch too. It wasn’t as big as Katie’s, but it was there. Being married to a real estate investor can do that to you. In fact, being married to a real estate investor is many things.
“Being married to a real estate investor is many things.”
First, it is challenging.
It has challenged me to get out of my comfort zone, to take the time to learn, to listen to my wife’s desires, to support her in whatever way possible, and to break the stigma that “we are too young and inexperienced to be investing.”
It’s challenged me to educate myself so I can at least have a general idea on some of the lingo, deals, and information. It’s challenged me to trust God in and hearing his voice as he has guided us through this process.
Next, it is rewarding.
The reward is evident in the cash flow we receive each month from our property, but there is a greater reward. With this property and others like it in the future, we will be able to use the money to contribute towards God’s work in so many ways.
In addition, I am so encouraged because my wife is happy and pursuing her passions. Investing has pushed her to grow, trust, and learn beyond what I thought would happen. To be honest, it has done the same for me.
Related: Business as Missions
Lastly, it has helped me fulfill a role that God has called on my life. He has called me to be a “Real-Estate Husband” much in the same way that Katie is a “Pastor’s Wife.” I know that Katie could not have embarked on this adventure alone. As I reflect on what God has done in our lives the last few years, I think in many ways that is why he called her/us to be patient in buying our first house.
Two and a half years ago when Katie first looked at me and said, “I want to buy a house,” I was not in a place where I could fully support her. God was preparing me for the role I would have in helping Katie achieve her dreams.
God was instilling in Katie the patience to wait for the right moment. And with God’s grace, I will continue to encourage, support, and help her pursue her dreams and passions. Scratch that… OUR dreams and passions. It took me a while to get there, but I can tell you that I am fully on board with real estate investing.
If someone ever does ask me “What is it like to be married to a real estate investor?” I’ll tell them this: It’s an adventure! It’s an adventure that I never knew I would embark on, but I am glad that God brought me to it.
Now when Katie looks at me and says, “I want to buy a house,” I can reply “Me too sweetie. Me too!”
Check out our most recent life/investing update!
You May Also Like
My Experience as a Property Manager
How We Found Our First Rental Property
Tips to Building a Financially Strong Marriage
The Importance of Creating a Personal Brand
This is so funny because I was the first one in my relationship to want to buy a house. Our rent kept creeping up and it seemed like the housing prices were at all time lows (they were). I kept bugging my then boyfriend now husband that we should buy a house. It wasn’t until months later, when his sister mentioned it was a good market, that he said, “babe, we should think about buying a house.” I just laughed and said “yeah!” After that we started looking and a few months later we had our house.
Haha!! Sometimes it just takes one outside person to tell you to do something in order for us to make decisions. I’m glad it worked out for you guys! And it worked well so that you can save money in the long-run by not paying high rental rates.