Brian and Lauren discuss college degrees, and whetherthey’re valuable or not, given Brian isn’t happy with his degrees. Spoiler, there’s inherent value in getting a degree. Lauren asks Brian to dive into what it was like to be in real estate during the bubble and leading up to the 2008 real estate crash. While he lost his job with a hard money lender, he was able to get another job in the real estate space, and that led to his current company, Spark Rental. Soon, the conversation transitions to lifestyle design. Brian and his family have lived outside of the country for years, starting in the UAE. He has borrowed the 5 freedoms framework to help with lifestyle design: 1) freedom from financial stress, 2) location freedom, 3) time freedom, 4) work freedom, and 5) financial independence. Interestingly, once you get the first 4 freedoms, you don’t usually need full financial independence. You are happy to do enough to cover any shortfalls. Brian brings it home by explaining why he likes real estate to achieve the 5 freedoms but notes it does not have to be everyone’s freedom vehicle of choice. He also dives into more detail about Spark Rental.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 44: All the Ways You Can FI or 77: FIRE in Your 20s.

About Brian:

Brian Davis is a real estate investor and personal finance writer. After graduating from University of Delaware in 2003 with two useless bachelor’s degrees and an even more useless minor in anthropology, he fell headfirst into real estate finance by accident. He promptly went on a property buying spree from 2005-2008. It was what you might call a “learning experience,” all of the lessons expensive. Eventually, Brian tired of land lording and unloaded his own portfolio of rental properties. Nowadays he only invests passively in real estate. Along with his wife and daughter, Brian spends most of the year abroad living by his own rules. He loves writing, hiking, cooking, pairing wine with said cooking, scuba diving, and occasionally surfing (badly). Most of all, Brian loves showing others how they too can create their ideal lives through real estate investing and lifestyle design.

Connect with Brian:⁠

https://sparkrental.com/

⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/sparkrental/

⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/sparkrental/

⁠⁠https://x.com/sparkrental/⁠

Connect with Lauren:

https://www.realadultingiseasy.com/

⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy

https://www.instagram.com/adultingiseasyreal/