Byron Hutcheson recently achieved his goal of retiring by 40 years old. He had worked in corporate finance for a commercial real estate company since 2005 before deciding to “hang ’em up.”
Now he’s a full-time investor—primarily in commercial real estate. He also does some angel investing with your not-so-humble host. And was the best man at my wedding.
In this episode, we discuss his investment in Visiting Angels – a non-medical staffing company for seniors and others who need in-home assistance. Byron shares how he got started in franchise-investing and how lucrative it’s been.
We also discuss our philosophies when investing with friends. Byron says they need to be a good steward of friends’ money and 100% committed to the project they’re working on. He gives equal importance to the person’s character.
Also Byron & I share a passion for travel. Since we’ve both been to Eastern Europe, Kauai (Hawaii), and Nicaragua, we talk about why those are outstanding places to visit.
Great discussion with a great friend. My favorite part? Our chat about gaining total freedom over how you spend your day…as the ideal way of living. Enjoy!
Other topics discussed:
- Fracking boom in Houston
- Real estate values in Montrose (Houston)
- Byron’s opposition to “dead money”
- Investing in good people with high integrity
- Accredited investor requirements
- Importance of budgeting
- Systems vs goals
- Byron’s pursuit of goals made him unhappy
- Byron’s first real estate deal as a General Partner
- Getting money from investors
- “Roll tenants to market”
- The power of leverage
- Importance of communicating with tenants
- Not wasting mental energy in areas you’re not passionate about
- Power of compound interest
- How Byron’s life has more purpose now because of his children
- The fulfillment of raising a child
- Byron’s take on major corporations creating their own universities
- Accelerating costs of tuition vs the diminishing value of college
- Stocks: Netflix, ExxonMobil, Apple, Amazon
- Trump/Biden presidential debate
- Media & social media fostering division
- Obamacare
- People rarely seek to disconfirm what they already believe
- Accounting for different cultures & lifestyles in US
- USA is enormous country to be ruled by one government
- Presidential politics doesn’t improve your life
Other questions asked:
- Haven’t you tapped the equity in your house because it’s appreciated so much?
- Do you have a loan payment that you’re paying for that tapped equity?
- How did you know about Visiting Angels?
- What interested you most about Visiting Angels?
- What was the impetus for leaving the corporate world and becoming a full-time General Partner?
- Can you talk about investments that you and I have made together in the past?
- What is your philosophy when it comes to investing with friends?
- Can you tell me how your first real estate deal as a General Partner came together?
- What does a “10-year hold” mean?
- How much money did you raise for the small retail shopping center that you recently bought? What did you pay for the place and what kind of rents are you expecting initially?
- How many investors [are there] and how much did you seek from them?
- What does “kiss the note” mean?
- If your wife didn’t have such a successful career, do you think you’d be living the life that you’re living now?
- Are you taking advantage of commercial real estate right now because the prices are depressed and that [you’re thinking] they’ll eventually come back up?
- Did you feel like you had to do a sales job at home because your wife isn’t into investing?
- How long were you married before you had your first child?
- Were you thinking about not having kids at one point?
- What are your thoughts on God (as it pertains to the creation of new life)?
- Do you save for your daughters’ college?
- Are we too big of a country to have a sustainable government?
Fun questions:
- Social media – net negative or net positive for society?
- How do you think your life would be different if you’d been on social media?
- When is the first time you logged on to the Internet and what did you do?
- What’s the greatest joy of being a father of girls?
- If somebody dropped $1 million in your lap tomorrow, what would you do with it?
- If somebody gave you $100,000 and forced you to invest it in 3 companies: Apple, Amazon, and ExxonMobil — how would you allocate those funds?
- Same dollar amount, but you’re forced to allocate it toward gold or Bitcoin – how do you divide that up?
- What % chance do you think Donald Trump has of being re-elected?
- Do you have a favorite book?
- Do you have a favorite podcast?
- If you had to live somewhere for 6 months, pre-COVID, where would you go?
Listen here:
Books mentioned:
- Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden
- Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden
- Red Notice by Bill Browder
- City of Thieves by David Benioff
- The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- The Brothers Kamarazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Connect with Byron:
- Facebook: Man Overseas
- Twitter: @Man_Overseas
- Instagram: @man_overseas
