Each year in December my tradition is to reflect on the past year and plan for the next (see my Annual Review process). As part of this process, I review my progress and plans for everything in my business and personal life. In the article and podcast episode that follow, you’ll get the highlights from the 2020 version of my annual review for real estate investing, personal finance, and the Coach Carson business.
If you want to go way back, you can also check out the annual review posts from years past: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015.
This 2020 edition will include:
- Highlights and stats from 2020
- What’s next for me in 2021
- Top 10 podcast episodes from 2020
- Top 10 YouTube videos from 2020
Let’s start with my 2020 highlights and stats from my real estate investing, personal finance, and Coach Carson business.
Highlights and Stats from 2020
These are mainly for me to measure and review my own progress. But I thought some of you might also be interested. As you can see, it’s been a full year even during Covid-19!
Real Estate Investing Business
For those who don’t know much about me, a business partner and I have a portfolio of rentals in and around Clemson, SC. We’ve invested together for almost 20 years. We are much less active than we used to be when we flipped houses and bought a lot of units, but as you can see below there is always something to work on!
- Survived Covid-19:
- Back in March of 2020, I was nervous about what negative impact Covid-19 would have on my rental properties. We honestly dodged a big bullet, because Clemson University still held classes (mostly virtual). We still lost some income from non-payment by some tenants, but it could have been a lot worse. I was afraid students would just do virtual school from home, but it turns out many decided to still leave their parent’s home and stay in apartments of their own.
- I’ve always known theoretically about the risk of too much investment exposure to one geographic location, but this near-miss taught me the reality of it. We are accelerating our plans to diversify into other markets and/or asset classes.
- Sold 2 properties:
- Property #1 was a run down, older house that we bought for $2,000 in 2018 through redemption after a tax lien auction. The house was practically falling apart, so rather than do the remodel ourselves we sold it on owner financing to another new investor who was willing to put in the labor to fix it up. We included the cost of materials in the price we sold it for, so the price was ultimately over $33,000. We were happy to get rid of the property and now receive monthly interest income while the investor got a $700-$800/mo rental.
- Property #2 was a lot and mobile home in an older textile mill neighborhood. We bought the property in 2007, and it no longer fit into our plans. The title to the mobile home also had some title issues, so we sold it for a very low price of $12,500 to find someone willing to deal with the old mobile home and title issues.
- Why sell? These two sales follow a plan we’ve been implementing for almost 10 years now to sell off some of our less optimal rentals in order to free up our time, capital, and attention for better deals (and other things that matter!)
- Rental Property Fire
- In August of 2020, we had a kitchen fire in an apartment of a 4-plex building we own. Fortunately, no one was hurt. But it was not a pleasant experience getting the call and seeing the damaged property. The estimate to restore everything is over $70,000!
- We did have insurance, and as of this writing, we’re nearing the end of the remodeling process. Our property management company also has a general contracting division, and they have handled the restoration very well so far. I’m hoping we’ll be finished early in 2021 and get our final claim check (minus our $2,500 deductible).
- Of course, I’ll have a podcast in 2021 to share some lessons!
- Bought 1 New Rental:
- This was a light acquisition year for us (deliberately after buying a lot of units the last few years). But we did buy one single-family house on 2.7 acres in a good, strategic location for $125,000. We spent $25,000+ repairing rotted floor supports, treating for termites, replacing the roof, adding a new heat/air conditioner, and more. The house is now rented for $1,000/month. To make the numbers work, we have a contract to sell part of the land to a neighbor for $40,000.
- This is also a strategic property for some of my non-profit efforts to build a pedestrian/bicycle network around my hometown. If everything comes together as I hope, we’ll give the city an easement to build a trail on this property, and this will become a missing link to connect two big parks and residential areas in the city.
- TriPlex Remodel Stalled:
- If any of you followed my YouTube channel earlier in the year, you saw that we began remodeling a 100-year old triplex that needed a LOT of work. It started ok, but the project derailed mid-year as we had some problems with contractors (bad work on the foundation that had to be fixed and SLOW work from other contractors).
- Long story short, we switched to a great contractor midfall and the project is back on track and should be finished early in 2021 (but WAY over budget). I ran out of time to make good videos, but I’ll do at least a recap one to tell the story when it’s done.
- Hired a New 3rd Property Manager:
- Most of our rental properties are in a relatively small radius of several miles around Clemson, SC, and we have two property managers that help us to manage those units. But we do have a few properties in nearby towns like Easley, SC – which is about 15 miles away. So, we hired a new property manager to manage one of those that we plan to keep long-term. Other than a couple of hiccups with some record-keeping, it has been a good transition.
- Shut-Down our In-House Management Company (S-Corporation):
- Since we began renting houses in 2004, we’ve always managed at least some of our own properties using an S-Corporation. This year, however, we decided to shut this company down in order to simplify our operations and bookkeeping. We only have a handful of properties that we manage ourselves (mainly financed instead of rentals), so it made less sense to run an entire company just to manage those.
- This is the first time I’ve ever shut down a company! Both the bookkeeping and the paperwork have required some effort, but it’s been nice to have a trusted CPA on my team who we could ask for guidance.
- Continued Cash Management & Debt Pay Off:
- We still have a primary long-term goal of larger profit distributions (i.e. dividends) to my business partner and me from our real estate business. In the past, we have retained a lot of profits to reinvest in new properties and debt pay off. We still plan to follow that profit retention plan, but we’ll steadily increase the distributions as the excess cash flow warrants and as opportunities for reinvestment become less desirable.
- Strong Focus on Better Systems and Tracking:
- Our bookkeeper of many years retired early in 2020, so that left me and my business partner to fill the void of the day-to-day bookkeeping functions. To be truthful, I got behind! But we got in a groove by later in 2020, and we’re actually more on top of our bookkeeping than we’ve ever been.
- I’ve also focused a lot on spreadsheets that will help us be better asset managers. In other words, I want to better track the details of our overall cash flow and our property-by-property performance. This will allow us to make better strategic decisions (like refinancing, selling, buying more, etc).
- Increased Private Loan Investments:
- In 2019 we dabbled with a couple of private loans to other investors. We did a few more deals in 2020, and I think this could be a good fit for us in the future. It produces good returns more passively, and it allows us to contribute value to our borrower with our knowledge and expertise.
- I’m always a student and need to learn more, so I participated in a Hard Money Lending class with one of my mentors, Dyches Boddiford.
Personal Finance & Investing
- Paid Off Our Home!
- This was probably the highlight of my year in the finance arena. My wife had wanted to do this for a couple of years, and I finally came around. The 3% loan we paid off was my hang-up. But the peace of mind, financial resiliency, and low cost of living we now experience have been WELL worth the trade-off of growth.
- Stock Diversification:
- As you can imagine, my asset allocation is heavy in real estate. I’m ok with that, but over the long run, I’d like to diversify into other asset classes. In particular, I want broad exposure to the US and international stock markets.
- So to continue that trend, my wife and I allocated a big chunk of our retirement accounts from real-estate-focused assets to broad, low-cost index funds. The timing was lucky because we did a lot of that reallocation in March as the market tanked.
- HSA and IRA Contributions:
- Like years past, my wife and I contributed the max to an HSA (Health Savings Account) and to our respective Traditional IRAs. We also have Roth IRAs, but as our tax rates have increased over the years we’ve chosen to get the current deduction by contributing to a Traditional IRA.
- Continued Health Insurance on Public Exchanges:
- We get our health insurance through the ACA (aka Obamacare) exchanges. We only have one company (Blue Cross Blue Shield) available in our state, and in 2020 we paid $1,209/month for a high-deductible policy ($6,750/individual, $11,500/family). The 2021 rate will drop slightly to $1,185/mo. Our premium is unsubsidized since we make more than the income threshold for subsidies.
- We’ve explored other options like non-compliant, short-term plans or health sharing ministry plans, but neither of those options made us 100% comfortable. We can afford it, so we’re going with a more expensive but certain option.
Coach Carson Business
- Charitable Mision of Coach Carson, LLC:
- In 2019, I committed to giving away 50% of current and future profits from Coach Carson, LLC. Soon after, my wife and I set up a donor-advised fund at Vanguard Charitable.
- In 2019 we contributed $25,000 to the donor fund (some of this money was left-over profit from prior years)
- For 2020 we’ll be donating another $20,000 to the donor fund.
- We gave away about half of the funds from 2019 to charities, and we plan to give away more later in 2020.
- Team:
- I talk a lot about the importance of an all-star team in your real estate investing business. Well, the same applies to ANY business. I feel VERY fortunate to have grown my own Coach Carson team in 2020, and I want to thank them personally here:
- Megan Thompson has been an extraordinary addition to the team as my personal assistant behind the scenes helping with community management in courses, email management, social media, and more. I know I couldn’t accomplish everything this year without her help.
- Michael Nguyen is my podcast and YouTube video editor. Each week we work closely together to plan the content, and after I record it, he runs with all the editing and final production. I can confidently say we wouldn’t have a podcast or YouTube channel as it is without Michael’s expertise and enthusiasm.
- Lori Mercer has worked with me since 2018 as an adviser and virtual chief operations and marketing officer for Coach Carson. She’s helped me implement numerous systems and product campaigns. Plus her depth and breadth of experience has given me the confidence to expand and explore more with the Coach Carson brand. For others in the online business space, I highly recommend Lori’s services.
- Kari Carson (my wife!) is my business partner and confidant, plus she’s the bookkeeper!
- I talk a lot about the importance of an all-star team in your real estate investing business. Well, the same applies to ANY business. I feel VERY fortunate to have grown my own Coach Carson team in 2020, and I want to thank them personally here:
- Plutus Awards:
- I was a finalist for “Best Real Estate Content” at the 2020 Plutus Awards.
- My friend Paula Pant at Afford Anything was the deserving winner.
- Newsletter Email List:
- Each week I send out a Tuesday and Friday newsletter email.
- Subscribers for this list grew from around 14,500 to over 17,700 (thank you!!!)
- Podcast:
- The Real Estate & Financial Independence Podcast started sort of on whim (after surveying my newsletter readers), but it has become a central part of everything I do at Coach Carson.
- Published 51 episodes in 2020 with the help of my amazing editor Michael Nguyen
- Our amazing listeners downloaded episodes over 386,000 times in 2020 (and over 662,000 times since it began in January 2019)
- Received a 4.9 average rating with 339 reviews on Apple Podcasts
- Consistently in the top 200 investing podcasts (as rated by Chartable.com)
- Upgraded the Podcast page! Check it out here (thanks Erik from themastermindwithin.com for making it look great!)
- Blog:
- Published 53 new articles here on CoachCarson.com (see the archive here)
- 11 brand new articles from me
- 14 new Investor Profile Interviews featuring other awesome investors
- 1 guest posts from other bloggers (thanks to Sean McKay who wrote an awesome article on self-directed retirement accounts)
- 14 updated articles from that I thought were worthwhile to republish
- 13 show notes for podcast episodes
- Published 53 new articles here on CoachCarson.com (see the archive here)
- YouTube:
- With the help of my editor Michael Nguyen, we published 56 new videos in 2020! This was definitely the highest output for YouTube I’ve ever had.
- Coach Carson TV (my channel) got over 186,000 views, 22,000 hours of watch time, and 4,200 new subscribers in 2020!
- As of December 22, 2020 we have 10,064 subscribers (and growing!) – please subscribe HERE
- Online Courses:
- More than anything else, I see teaching as my professional calling these days. So, it’s a privilege to get the opportunity to teach hundreds of students each year in my online courses.
- My current courses include my premier course Real Estate Start School, which only opens for enrollment in March and September of each year
- In 2020 I began offering new courses Rental Property Analysis and Contract-to-Closing. You can see a full list of all my courses HERE. I’ll be offering some more new courses in 2021 (see below in the section on what’s next in 2021).
- 2020 Small Group Real Estate Mastermind
- This year I offered a small-group mastermind for investors looking to up their real estate game.
- We met in-person in Clemson JUST before the pandemic (in February), and then we met almost every week virtually
- I’m extremely proud of the 8 participants from this year. All of them made progress in their real estate investing, finances, and I hope in their overall life goals. Plus, I’ve certainly got some close friends for life!
- Because of time constraints and other projects I’m working on, I won’t be offering the small group mastermind in 2021. But be sure to get on the waiting list (mastermind link above) to be notified of future groups.
- Book – Retire Early With Real Estate:
- My book Retire Early With Real Estate was published by Bigger Pockets in 2018, but unbelievably it’s sold over 21,000 copies in print, Kindle, and audiobook formats (through Qtr 2, 2020). This still blows my mind!
But more importantly than all of these stats, I hope at least some of my efforts this year have helped you in some way. Because that’s why I do this!
Now I’d like to share a little of what you can expect with me in 2021.
What to Expect in 2021
Real Estate Investing:
On the investing front, I plan to keep things relatively boring. As my mentor John Schaub says, boring investments are good! Get your excitement in some other area of your life.
We’re going to continue selling off a few properties as we’ve done in years past, and we may replace a couple of those with new construction rentals (via a 1031 tax-free exchange). I’ll let you know in future articles/podcasts how that goes!
I will be interested to see the after-affects of the Covid-19 pandemic and whether we’ll see any lasting economic effects. There has certainly been a lot of government stimulus with trillions of dollars spent. I’m not a good predictor, but it’s not a bad idea to hedge for inflation by fixing long-term mortgages and owning quality rental properties (a core strategy I follow and teach anyway!).
Coach Carson:
I plan to continue offering all my free content with a new podcast and blog post each Monday and a new YouTube video each Friday. I also share unique content, snippets, and behind the scenes pictures and stories on my social channels on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
I also will continue offering my premier course and community, Real Estate Start School, twice per year (March and September). In addition to my current course offerings, I hope to release a few new courses, including:
- Contract-to-Closing (the full version in 2021; the beta version was released in December 2020)
- Creative Financing For Real Estate Investors (in partnership with Dyches Boddiford)
- Rental Property Mastery to share my systems, processes, and best practices as a rental property owner.
I’m also excited to have a new blog & podcast sponsor partnership in 2021 with American IRA, LLC. I’ve been very reluctant to allow advertising on my site until I know and believe in the product. American IRA is a perfect fit as I’ve personally used their self-directed retirement account service for many years, and I know and believe in the people who own and run the company. I highly recommend them if you want to open a self-directed IRA or 401k to invest in real estate or other alternative assets.
Behind the scenes over the last year, I’ve recruited an awesome support team of an operations expert, virtual assistant, podcast & video editors, & my wife (bookkeeping). With their help, you can expect even more (and I hope better!) content in 2020. So, thank you to those team members – Lori Mercer, Megan Thompson, Michael Nguyen, Mason Synder, & Kari Carson.
Now let’s move on to my top podcast episodes and videos from 2020.
The Top 10 Podcast Episodes of 2020
I published a total of 51 new podcast episodes in 2020, which was my second year of the Real Estate & Financial Independence Podcast. The episodes below were the 10 most popular new episodes based on the total number of downloads.
Did you have a personal favorite?
You can find all of these episodes at coachcarson.com/podcast or just search for “Real Estate & Financial Independence” on your favorite podcast player.
- Ep #126 – How to Successfully Invest in Real Estate While Working a Full-Time Job (7,286 downloads)
- Ep #101 – An Early Retirement Blueprint with Erion Shehaj (6,959 downloads)
- Ep #109 – Building Wealth One House at a Time by John Schaub (6,378 downloads)
- Ep #97 – How to Retire Early & Confidently Using Real Estate Investing (6,226 downloads)
- Ep #111 – Investing in Rental Properties With No Debt – Interview With Rich Carey (6,222 downloads)
- Ep #116 – Old School Real Estate – 21 Timeless Lessons From Experienced Investors (6,133 downloads)
- Ep #96 – Mr. Money Mustache on Purposeful Work & Life After Financial Independence (5,795 downloads)
- Ep #121 – How to Be An Expert Real Estate Deal Finder (5,794 downloads)
- Ep #129 – How to Apply Warren Buffet’s Investing Principles to Real Estate – Interview With Robert Leonard (5,721 downloads)
- Ep #123 – How to Achieve Financial Freedom With Affordable Rental Properties (5,676 downloads)
Now let’s take a look at the top 10 most popular new videos on my channel from 2020.
The Top 10 New YouTube Videos of 2020
**I based the video ranking on total views in 2020 (i.e. the number of times someone opened the video). This means the videos from earlier in the year have an advantage with more time to accumulate views. And I did not include any older videos, which actually get a lot more views than these.
1. Mr. Money Mustache on Purposeful Work & Life After Financial Independence [7,458 views]
2. How to Pay Off Your Rental Property Mortgage Early – The Rental Debt Snowball [4,983 views]
3. Time-Lapse of a 100-Year-Old Roof Replacement [3,555 views]
4. Interview With John Schaub – Making it Big on Little Deals [2,757 views]
5. (Book Review) Building Wealth One House at a Time, by John Schaub [2,535 views]
6. Section 8 Rental Property Success Story For a First-Time Investor [2,522 views]
7. The One Percent Rule – Quick Math For Positive Cash Flow Rental Properties [2,291 views]
8. Should You Keep a Mortgage For the “Tax Benefits”? [1,720 views]
9. We’ll Spend over $100,000 to Remodel This Rental Property [1,642 views]
10. How Rental Properties Can Pay For Your Lifestyle [1,479 page views]
To be notified of my latest YouTube video each Friday morning, subscribe HERE.
Until 2021!
Thank you for being a part of coachcarson.com in 2020! It’s a privilege to be able to share with you. I hope you’ll stick around for more in 2021!
Did you have a favorite article, podcast, or video from 2020? What would you like to see more (or less of) next year?
Get My Free Real Estate Investing Toolkit!
Enter your email address and click "Get Toolkit"
Matt Jones says
That’s awesome that you are working on that bike path in Clemson. Many accomplishments for you and your team in 2020!
Chad Carson says
Thanks Matt! It’s been a LONG path to make even a little progress, but hopefully we’ll see more fruits soon on the Green Crescent Trail.
Eric Hughes says
What a great summary — you’re a busy man, Chad! I’m also doing an end-of-year check-in on my rental property portfolio, and will publish it on my blog later in January. Here’s to an even better year in 2021!
Chad Carson says
I’ll check it out! The blog looks great. Thanks for visiting and commenting, Eric.
Lorenzo says
Thanks Chad, this was great to see your thinking and actions holistically around consolidating your portfolio to free up time and increase cash flows. I would love to hear your thought process around paying off your home mortgage. It seems like a simplification move, even though the interest rate was low.
Chad Carson says
Yes, paying off the mortgages was primarily a simplification, cash flow, and risk-reduction move. We could reinvest this money in more properties with leverage and make high returns, but we’ve grown plenty at this point. So, balancing growth with safety and increased cash flow and less hassle is our priority. It’s honestly a tough shift to make after years of growing, but I’ve been happy with the results so far.
Norma Rosa says
Hi Coach, I can’t figure out how to leave a feedback on the podcast but I love your podcast. I wish you were around when I was making all of my mistakes, LOL I do want to see more of 2020. You had amazing guest. Also for training you mentioned you would do something with bookkeeping and Quickbooks, can’t wait to see when that will come out. I have done things never thought was possible, thank you!
Chad Carson says
Thank you for your feedback on the podcast, Norma! I don’t think all podcasting apps allow reviews, so I appreciate you leaving that review here.
I’ve done my homework on the Quickbooks course and it’s likely not going to happen in 2021 just because I have some other courses that I want to get out first. But perhaps 2022 I’ll create it or perhaps partner with someone else to provide it. Quickbooks or bookkeeping in general is critical!
Lorenzo says
I finally listened to the whole podcast and it was rewarding to hear all the thinking and color commentary behind your decisions. I liked your comment about creating systems to become a better “asset manager” as that is an area I am trying to improve myself to become a better business operator. I was also inspired to hear how you take classes yourself to learn new skills and techniques.
Chad Carson says
Thanks for your feedback, Lorenzo. Glad to hear you’re also in the stage of improving as an asset manager. My plan is to keep learning, taking classes, and trying to improve for the rest of my life!