Andrew Sallee is an entrepreneur, a philanthropist, and a real estate investor whose current portfolio is approximately 175 million dollars. Even more impressive is that he built his first 100 million dollars in assets without partners, and without raising capital. We’ll chat about how he came from nothing, and used grit, determination, and resilience to achieve boundless personal and professional success.
Robert Kiyosaki’s book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” got Andrew into real estate:
“I was living in Iowa at the age of 27 years old. Making a good six-figure income. (The book I was reading, ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’) asked, ‘How much money do you make while you sleep?’ And I was a salesperson, working 30 hours a week making income but, obviously, if I didn’t make sales I had no income. So, it wasn’t until I read that book that I got into real estate. And I started with just a single-family home, and then a four-plex, a six-plex, a 12-plex, a 35-plex, a 50-plex, a 100-plex, stuff like that.”
Why real estate is a long game:
“Real estate is amazing. It’s my 100% passion but let’s be honest, it’s slow and boring. It takes a massive amount of time and moves to make the needle really move.”
Wealth generation vs annual income:
“If you go from January to the end of the year, people always ask, ‘What did you earn, income-wise?’ I started asking a different question about a decade ago. My question was, ‘Not how much did you earn in the past 12 months, how much did your net worth grow?’ And that’s the wealth generation question that doesn’t get asked as much. I always think (the income question) is such a short snapshot in time. You could have a killer year and that could erase a few bad years, but what you really need is the longevity and the stability of that net worth portion.”
Why Andrew likes to buy “problems”:
“My unique ability is finding something that’s a problem. I do have several Walgreens and Starbucks and Buffalo Wild Wings and grocery stores. I have some sexy assets, but you’re going to pay top dollar on those, and the return on investment is a sliver compared to if you give me a craphole that I have to really get in and get my hands dirty, those I see as an opportunity.”
Andrew is largely self-made in real estate:
“My first $100 million in assets was 100% myself. No partners, no syndication, no raised capital. When you can take whatever dollar amount you make and 60% of that income is going towards down payments on properties, and do that several years in a row, that really adds up considerably.”
Andrew’s very difficult upbringing:
“I was very, very poor. I grew up in a trailer park, I went to four high schools, six junior highs. I became a legally emancipated adult at the age of 15. I never saw my parents from the age of 15 to my sophomore year of college. They moved four states away. … My parents believed that you could
not get into heaven. And they believed that forever. … And I thought of that as a very nice bonus. Tell me that I can’t do something and I’m going to do it.”
Andrew’s perspective on gratitude:
“I’ve been through a lot of stuff. I mean a lot of stuff. But I feel with that foundation there’s always something bigger and better out there. And life changes once you decide that.”