Austin Walker has been disrupting the real estate business, purchasing many properties and leasing them out. Today I had the pleasure to ask Austin the questions we’re all wondering.
Austin how are you today?
Awesome! Thanks for having me today. I’m stoked to answer the questions everyone is wondering.
Would you be able to clarify what it is you do?
Sure. I invest in purchasing properties, generally apartment units, and then I lease them out through Airbnb.
What caused you to get into the Airbnb space?
I was brainstorming ideas on how I could get more cash-flow and I concocted this. I needed a space I could win in and stumbled upon Airbnb.
What were your greatest obstacles you faced while starting this business?
I would say avoiding the leasing office as Airbnb was a breach of my lease agreement. I needed to weigh my choices and concluded this was a risk I was willing to take. I also had a former business partner who turned out to be bad news. Things with him got messy but I was able to get out of that situation.
What kept you moving forward when things got hard?
I believed in my vision and realized that my ideas could work, all I had to do was keep going. I was also tired of the life I was previously living and wanted to make something great of myself.
After how long did you reach your achievements?
One’s meaning of achievement is identified with how you were doing prior to taking on the challenge. Before doing Airbnb, I was recently out of jail living at my mom’s home. Achievement was felt immediately because of the fact that I hadn’t achieved anything this great ever. After a years time, I had 12 apartments and was making over 20k a month which was huge for me.
What advice would you give young entrepreneurs who are starting their first business?
Find something where you’re not having to trade time for money. There are only so many hours of the day and only so many hours you can spend working. Even if you’re making $50 an hour, ask yourself if $400 a day is good enough for you. If your answer is yes then business is not for you, working for someone is. But if your answer is no, then you’ll really have to start thinking outside the box.
Well Austin, thank you for setting aside the time to talk with me today. And thank you for answering these insightful questions for our readers!
