Purchase a Car Wash!! The Passive Income Playbook with Hannah Ingram

Discover the blueprint to financial freedom with Hannah Ingram, a 25-year-old entrepreneur who turned car washes and laundromats into a gold mine for passive income. In this episode, we explore Hannah's journey, driven by determination and smart investment strategies. Gain exclusive insights into acquiring and optimizing car washes for peak profitability, creative financing methods, and maximizing returns through operational tweaks. We also examine essential due diligence for business investments, understanding financial statements, and commercial real estate valuations. Hannah's story is not just inspiring; it's a roadmap to achieving your financial goals with everyday businesses.

📺 You can watch this episode on Moses The Mentor's YouTube page and don't forget to subscribe: https://youtu.be/IWyUZyVZ9lo

🎯Connect with Hannah Ingram @thehannahingram on Instagram and visit her website www.buyoneinstead.com/bio?sl=instagrambio

🎯Connect with Moses The Mentor: https://mtr.bio/moses-the-mentor

☕If you value my content consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mosesthementor

📢Support Money Focused Podcast for as low as $3 a month: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2261865/support

🔔Subscribe to my channel for Real Estate & Personal Finance tips https://www.youtube.com/@mosesthementor?sub_confirmation=1

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:46

Welcome back to the Money Focus Podcast. I'm your host, moses Dementor, and on this episode I have the pleasure of bringing you guys Hannah Ingram. She's a savvy passive income investor who's mastered the art of acquiring businesses like car washes with little to no money down. Businesses like car washes with little to no money down, transforming challenges into opportunities. So join us as she shares her journey from a fledgling real estate agent to a successful entrepreneur. The first thing I would love to ask you is to really walk us through your career journey, your professional journey, ultimately, what led you to start your business. So the floor is yours.

Speaker 2: 1:25

Yeah, so my name's Hannah. I'm 25 currently, and it all started when I read Rich Dad, poor Dad and had never really given real estate a thought. My family wasn't involved in real estate, didn't have any influences, other than when I started reading Rich Dad, poor Dad, real estate, investment books, self-help books, stuff like that, and then I was like, wow, okay, real estate is truly the way to wealth. Honestly, so many benefits. Real estate makes more millionaires than any other industry in the US. And so that's where I went full force into real estate and so out of high school, I started emailing appraisers and brokers begging for them to just let me come work for them for free for the summer.

Speaker 2: 2:12

Fresh out of high school, as soon as I graduated and I was working at a glass factory, 12 hour shifts. Whenever I graduated a couple years after and finally someone gave me an opportunity to come work for them for free, I didn't hesitate. I started working with the secretary, answering the phone, putting listings in the MLS, job shadowing agents, and I was learning a lot about the back end of the real estate business. So I learned a ton there. I got my real estate license as soon as I turned 18. There I got my real estate license as soon as I turned 18.

Speaker 2: 2:50

And from there I started working with buyers and sellers, started doing trying to find ways to invest, and I always had this assumption that I'm going to have to save up 40, $50,000 to invest and get my first property. I'm going to have to have a ton of capital to do that, and I was like that's going to take me forever, but I'm going to do it. I'm going to save up and five, six, seven, eight years I can invest in something. So that's what I was doing. I was putting money away. I used to sell wasp spray in the summertime and I would cut a split and cut firewood, deliver it in the wintertime. I was just grinding, I would mow yards, anything and everything to make a dollar. I was doing it.

Speaker 2: 3:27

And so eventually I kept reading books, kept watching you know videos, studying millionaires and billionaires, and I was like it occurred to me that I need to make my money work for me, not me work for my money, and so that's exactly what I started looking at doing, and so I was like, ok, well, what business models are there where I don't have to be physically there clocked in to earn a paycheck, that where my money can work for me, and I was like OK, car washes and laundromats are perfect.

Speaker 2: 3:57

They're open 24-7. I can literally be making money in my sleep and they require little, minimal effort and time to maintain, which that's the whole definition of passive income Income that requires little to no time, little to minimal effort and time to maintain. And so, once I found that out, that's where the whole pursuit of these specific businesses started, and if I could go back to my 18 year old self, I would tell myself to stop trying to do drop shipping, stop trying to do Amazon, fba, all these get rich quick overnight schemes that are out there and focus on buying a passive income producing property.

Speaker 1: 4:35

I mean that's, that's a great breakdown. I do have a question, because I mean you're so young, 25, doing your thing. But what I like to hear is that at 18, you know you were, you were hungry. You know most people at 18, they're, you know, going into being a freshman in college and you know they kind of feel like this is high school squared. You know what I'm saying? It's like they're still thinking like a kid for the most part, thinking like a kid for the most part. What was it about you that really kind of made you think about? You know, really, money and just your future at such a early age where most people are kind of struggling with adulthood, how did you transition so quickly to make that decision?

Speaker 2: 5:20

Yeah. So I just knew like working a nine to five was not for me. I did go to college for a couple of years. I dropped out because I was just like, no, this is just not what I want to do. I want to be my own boss and, honest to goodness, I want to enjoy the luxuries of life. Like all the luxuries life has to offer, I want them. So I don't want to not be able to afford anything or be limited to only one vacation a year. And who can tell me, when I can take time off, how much money I can make? I wanted that freedom.

Speaker 2: 5:50

And I didn't really start from the bottom, like so many people say they do. You know, I wasn't in poverty or anything. Thankfully, I came from a middle class family. But I also didn't have any handouts. I didn't have a big inheritance or anything. So, yeah, like you said, I was very hungry, but that came really from just wanting true financial freedom for myself and be able to travel where I want, when I want, with who I want, live where I want, have as many Lamborghinis as I want, and so that was the big motivator behind that hunger and my drive.

Speaker 1: 6:22

It's cool. That's cool. You know I never I don't knock people with education. I have a college degree, my wife is a PhD. But I do feel like a plan is more important than a degree, and you're a perfect example of that, because your plan didn't require you to have a degree. Your plan requires you to get education in a different way. You know mentors. You know because you were willing to work for free, so you know what that taught you was so much more than what you would have learned in college, because that wasn't your future. Now, if you want to be a physician, you have to go to college. Is that what I'm saying? But you, you wanted to be a hungry entrepreneur. That's passive income streams, so you can drive your lamborghinis and, uh, go on your vacations.

Speaker 2: 7:11

That does not require college exactly, and, like my sister, my sister just graduated college. I could not be more happier for her, honestly, um, because you know she's gonna be a teacher and everything that's awesome. It's not for me. It's not for me. So, like you said, very good for those that want it, but for those that don't, if you have a plan, go for it.

Speaker 1: 7:32

I know you mentioned, you know you know passive income streams. Was there anything else about the car wash industry? The car wash business that you know made you want to, you know, pursue that as one of the businesses that you targeted.

Speaker 2: 7:46

Yeah, I mean, pursue that as one of the businesses that you targeted. Yeah, I mean, that was. That was pretty much it was the passive income aspect of it. I don't have to be managing people. You know employees.

Speaker 2: 7:54

I don't have a big firm that I'm over and it's a lot of fun to own a business and rebrand and make your own logo logo and have your own color scheme, and I've made so many friends with the customers down there and so it's just been a lot of fun honestly doing it, making it my own and having like a tangible piece of real estate that I could actually pass down to my kids one day, and so on and so forth. This isn't just a drop shipping store that's going to phase out in six months or whatever. This is an actual business and an actual piece of real estate. So and you know I like to always have the aspect of you know I could sell it at any time if I wanted to borrow against it, cash out equity. So real estate is honestly just one of the best investments all the way around.

Speaker 1: 9:03

And you mentioned. You know on your breakdown you know saying that you thought you had to save 50, $60,000, which is no drop in the bucket. You know, maybe for you know in your breakdown you know saying that you thought you had to save $50,000, $60,000, which is no drop in the bucket. You know, maybe for you now, but back then and for most of my listeners you know $50,000, $60,000 is a lot. Is that truly what it takes to actually purchase a car wash or are there some other alternative options that you know? Someone listening can say, hey, I can buy a car wash today. Like, realistically, what do you need to actually purchase a car wash?

Speaker 2: 9:35

Yeah, so if you go the traditional route where you go to the bank and you get a loan, they're going to want you to put at least at least 20 to 25 percent of the total purchase price down liquid cash. So that's pretty big. A lot of people don't have that, and so that is what. Exactly what stopped me as well, and that's what stops most people. That's what would probably stop 98% of people listening right now is the perfect credit needed in that big down payment. And so whenever I went to buy this car wash, that's where my problem lied was not having the down payment, and I did have good credit, but I didn't have good credit history because I was like 21, 22.

Speaker 2: 10:15

And so that is where the creative financing method comes in and, in a nutshell, that is where the seller already has a loan on the property. You come in and you assume that loan, or you make their loan yours essentially. So you promote the seller from business owner to investor. They can make money by letting you take over their loan. They don't have to deal with the business anymore. You now become the business owner. It's your business, you're collecting the money and you're keeping what's left over after paying the seller's loan, the seller and any expenses of the business. So great way to get started when you don't have that down payment or you don't have credit to actually make this happen with a traditional loan from a commercial lender or a bank.

Speaker 1: 11:01

Is there a particular route that you recommend over the other? Like, if someone does have the credit and the down payment, does it make sense to go the bank route, or would you always suggest, you know, doing off market and creative?

Speaker 2: 11:15

Yeah, I would always do any time of the day I can do. Seller finance, or subject to is really the technical term for this I would do it and I would also sell that way too, if I can find a buyer to. Where I can sell something to someone sub two or seller finance, I'm doing it all day long. It's just better. Closing times way faster cuts out a lot of those third parties that get in the way appraisers, underwriters, lenders, real estate agents, all that stuff. It's just easier overall and you can make a lot more money in a big win-win deal for not only the buyer but the seller as well.

Speaker 1: 11:50

You know what's the best way to find a car wash Like are you driving around? You know, is there a certain list you should look for? How would someone go about finding a car wash that might be a good candidate for creative finance.

Speaker 2: 12:04

Yeah. So I teach three methods. The first one is just pretty self-explanatory using commercial search engines such as loopnetcom, crexiecom. The driving for dollars method also works extremely well. That's where you just get in your car, go around to different businesses and slide a handwritten note underneath the door Very general that just says hey, my name's Hannah, I live close to your car wash or your laundromat.

Speaker 2: 12:28

I was wondering if you'd be interested in selling, if you could get a price for it that you'd be happy with, and slide that under the door, leave your name and number. You'd be amazed at the callbacks you get from that. I just had a student literally buy his first laundromat using this method and he's got four more leads from. He just littered his whole town with these letters. Works very well. And then also the cold calling method, which is where you just simply call up businesses in your area, just literally cold calling them, ask them if they'd be interested in selling much like the letter, if they'd be interested in selling, if they could get a price for it that they'd be happy with. So those are the three methods I teach kind of in a nutshell there, without going into major, major detail.

Speaker 1: 13:13

And, like you said, most people would be surprised at the amount of responses that they would get, Right? So I mean, is there, are there particular reasons? Why are these? You know, older people that are looking to retire, kids that inherited a business that they don't want, like what? What kind of persona per se like do you run into that are more attractive, like motivated sellers? Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2: 13:42

So there are 75 million baby boomers, with 10,000 of them retiring every single day. So there is an influx right now of people retiring. You know we we've not seen a population influx like the baby boomers since you know the baby boomer generation. So there has never been a better time to go out there and get a car wash or laundromat. The opportunities are endless right now and I'm trying. I'm always like hey guys, like get on this now, like stop waiting because this is going to be saturated in 2027, 2028. So do this now, before it is, and take advantage of all these people retiring that we're doing deals with Now.

Speaker 2: 14:22

It's not always retirees. You've got people maybe going through a divorce, moving out of state. They've taken on a new job. Deals happen every single day, closings happen every day, but we're seeing such an influx of the 65 and plus community. They're physically unable to do it anymore. They're just looking to retire and hang it up. Their kids don't want it, grandkids aren't old enough to pass it down to what have you? There's so many opportunities right now for these deals.

Speaker 1: 14:49

Yeah, I've heard that. I've heard that a lot, and I mean the data shows that, which everything you're saying is absolutely correct. So, and you know, and a lot of times you know if you have a business say you have a car wash and you've been running it for 40 years your kids may not want to do that. That might not be their passion. So don't just assume that. You know everyone wants to hand down a business to their children. They might want the cash to live on, they might want the cash to you know, disperse the family or something like that. So it could be a good opportunity to get in with those motivated sellers, exactly For sure.

Speaker 1: 15:29

One thing I do want to make sure I don't gloss over for the audience because I have a little bit of experience with commercial real estate, but more from housing. When you say that, from a seller finance perspective, that you're able to reach out to a potential seller and work with them directly, you said, hey, you know you can get them the price that they want directly. You said, hey, you know you can get them the price that they want. Can you talk a little bit more about that, just to make sure people have a clear understanding why it's beneficial sometime for the seller to do seller financing versus traditional financing. Yeah, if you can share that. Because what is your selling points to a seller to say, oh, because what is your selling points to a seller to say, oh, who's this 25 year old trying to buy my business? Yeah, why should they, you know, allow you to purchase versus someone who might come in with a, you know, a bank preapproval letter Like what are the benefits for a seller to work with you Right?

Speaker 2: 16:32

Really, the main thing is how much more money that they're going to be able to make by doing owner finance sub two. So they're going to be making interest off of letting you take over their loan, which is why I said earlier, you're promoting them from business owner to investor. They're sitting back, they don't have to do a thing. You can take this business off their hands. They don't have to show up and take the trash out anymore. They're completely hands off and they're collecting a check every single month. Not only that, but normally we can get them the purchase price that they want. So we're trading them their purchase price that they want and they're giving us the terms that we want. So we meet in the middle. We make a win-win deal. Our terms are we're doing seller finance with maybe a two, three year balloon, something like that, and then they're getting the purchase price that they want as well. But you've got other things, like how quick the turnaround time is. You know most commercial closings are anywhere from 60 to 90 days super long. We can come in with a contract for deed and have that thing close in 14 days, maybe sooner. And then also you've got some different tax benefits, like they don't get hit with that huge capital gains tax right up front there as you like you would with a traditional loan. So mainly the big thing is is making sure my students are educated to where they can sit down with someone and show them the benefits, Because a lot of people maybe don't know about creative finance or don't know how this is.

Speaker 2: 17:56

But you also want to show the seller from a safety standpoint that hey, if I default on my payment, you get to take the business back, sell it, you can keep it if you want, do whatever you want and you get to keep any payment I made you. Any part of your loan I paid down and you get to keep that. Any improvements I made to the property, they're now your improvements as well. So, very like you know, not much risk involved in your part because, just like the banks, if we quit paying, the bank's going to come take our car back or they're going to come take our house back. So it's really truly a huge win for the seller in any aspect you look at this and so making sure people are educated enough to sit down and tell sellers that is really very important whenever you're meeting with someone.

Speaker 1: 19:32

Yeah, thanks for breaking that down. You know it's in a nutshell it's you know your price, my terms, and when you do that, you know it can be a truly a win win. So you know, I great way you broken down, you broken down much better than I could have, absolutely, and that's the thing with the sellers, Sometimes with the purchase price, they think that you're going to come in and lowball them.

Speaker 2: 19:56

They think that you're like, oh, this is my baby, You're not going to want to give me what it's worth. Usually we can, unless you're just like $300,000 over what it truly is worth. Then you're going to have to be more realistic. But usually we can come in and give them the purchase price they want. We don't have to come in and undercut someone $150,000 and insult them. We can usually work that out. So that's why it's so important. On that note where I said I was wondering if you'd be interested in selling, if you can get a price for it that you'd be happy with, because usually we can work that out and if the price is right, anything is for sale. So that's a big pointer there.

Speaker 1: 20:31

When you first started the process of you know, acquiring car washes and laundries, what was the biggest obstacle that you faced and how did you overcome?

Speaker 2: 20:47

you faced and how did you overcome? Yeah, so the biggest obstacle was mainly just making sure that I knew the material backwards and forwards, to where I was absolutely bulletproof when I could approach someone any objection they gave me. Like nowadays you can throw any objection at me and I can answer it and find a workaround for it. There's nothing that anyone couldn't throw at me that I wouldn't know how to handle. So that really just comes with repetition getting out there shaking hands with people A lot of times. These business owners are super friendly, they're very nice, they're easy to deal with, so it's really not that bad.

Speaker 2: 21:16

But just learning the ins and outs of the business and stuff like that. Like I had to go through a lot of trial and error, a lot of ups and downs and stuff like that. Like I had to go through a lot of trial and error, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of failures, and really learn the game of real estate on my own, which now of course I've condensed that and I teach that but just getting through those ups and downs and I love the quote by Winston Churchill that says true success is going from failure to failure with no lack of enthusiasm, because I tried to make everything work Drop shipping I've said that like four times, but I put so much money into drop shipping and all these different things Forex, cryptocurrency, you name it. I've tried it all. And to still be hungry and not give up on the lifestyle that I wanted after all those failures and thousands of dollars wasted, time wasted, and to be able to make something like this work and now help others, it really means a lot.

Speaker 1: 22:10

Great story of resilience. So good job as far as day to day operations. So let's walk through the process. So you kind of talked us through. You know, acquiring a laundry, the closing can go a whole lot faster if it's creative. You know, you have the laundry, how do you? You know, what do you teach as far as day to day operations? Do you need to get a manager or truly, is it one of those things? You can set it? Yeah.

Speaker 2: 22:40

Yeah, so for the first couple of years I did all the work myself. Just last August I hired it out. So I hardly ever go there anymore. But you know you're looking at about 20 to 30 minutes a day. The only time I was ever there more than that was when I had to restock my vending machines. I had six vending machines on site. That would take a little bit longer vending machines. I had six vending machines on site. That would take a little bit longer. But I mean, it's really not that bad and if you do decide to hire someone it's not going to cost you a lot because again, they're only spending 20 and 30 minutes a day. They're not even spending a whole hour a day at your property. So that's really a big plus in this for sure.

Speaker 1: 23:20

So what about like the actual like materials and stuff like that? Is that kind of included that 20, 30 minutes, I'm sure, like the soaps and all that type of stuff Like it's like how does that work? Are there certain vendors that you need to engage with People to clean the facility? Walk us through some of like your costs.

Speaker 2: 23:39

Yeah for sure. So I mean the daily aspects of it. You may go there and fill up the change machine, pull the dollar bills out of the machine, hang the vacuum hoses back up they're always throwing them down sweep the parking lot, take the trash out just different things like that, and so stuff that's not very time consuming. Maybe someone washed out grass or mud in a bay. You got to hose that down and sometimes it'll rain and it won't be a very busy day. You'll be there five minutes and you're gone.

Speaker 2: 24:07

But a lot of people ask me they're like well, how much does a utility bill run for that? That's. My biggest fear is the utility bill. You know that, water running and everything. And I tell them I'm like well, I love when my utility bills are high. Like, I want a $600 utility bill because the more power that's pulled and water used and electricity to my vacuums, the more money I've made. So the only time power is getting pulled is when someone's put money in the meter to start up something. So I love, love, love a high utility bill. If I get a $600 utility bill in May and I had a $400 one in April I made more money in May at the end of the day. So that just comes from.

Speaker 2: 24:49

You know, being a business, your income needs to exceed your expenses. So when I started, when I bought the car wash, it was $1.25 to start and I was like, ok, all the other car washes around me are $2. So I need to get it up to market value. But in the condition that the car wash was in, it wasn't worth a dollar twenty five. There was soaps not working stuff like that. The brushes need to be replaced. It just wasn't worth two dollars.

Speaker 2: 25:17

So when I came in there I started fixing stuff, making stuff better, set aside a little bit of money every month and would always put about 10% back into the business. So if I made $3,000, I would take 300. I'd put new brush heads on, get new signs made. It looks really good. Now, because of how consistent I've been in doing that. And now, you know, just recently, I've got it to the point where it is worth $2. It's actually worth more $2, but I'm going to stay at market value. But I'm over delivering. Now Everything works good. I always have good customer service. If someone lost a dollar in a machine, I give them five back and an air freshener. So you know just things like that. Your income needs to exceed your expenses. At the end of the day, that's business 101 for sure.

Speaker 1: 26:02

I mean that kind of rolls into my next question I was going to ask you about. You know how do you, you know, make your car washes more profitable? So it sounds like you know just really you know making the place look better Number one in great customer service, improving your equipment. You said you had vendor machines on site. Is there anything else that you do? That kind of you know increases profitability?

Speaker 2: 26:26

Yeah, so biggest thing with a car wash or laundromat is keeping the place clean. When they walk into a laundromat or they pull up at your car wash, you want to make sure that it's a good impression, that you know the trash is overflowing into the parking lot, that the parking lot just looks terrible, there's stuff strewn everywhere, that the bays aren't super muddy, you know, and you do it the best you can, but that is really the main thing. And also, like I said, good customer service. They lose a dollar. I give them five, so they made four bucks, if something, if you know something's going wrong or something like that.

Speaker 2: 26:59

And then, yes, the vending machines are huge. Not only is that a convenience for them, but the markups on vending machines are usually pretty good. So I still sell stuff like glass cleaner, tire shine, armor, all wipes, air fresheners, just things that all these little things that are a convenience to them make me a lot of money as well. And then, like I said, I rebranded. I got a brand new logo. It looks really good Got new signs I mean those signs were there from the 90s, so new signage. And just recently last year I added credit card readers, which have been great because people are carrying cash less and less nowadays, so having those credit card readers in there have definitely boosted sales for sure.

Speaker 1: 27:43

You mentioned, you know from the 90s and things like that. Like what's the typical life cycle of car wash equipment? Like how often should someone you know expect to refresh their equipment? It's like a five, 10 year cycle.

Speaker 2: 27:57

It really just depends, like I think a lot of it's based on how well you take care of it. So you know, instead of letting the oil in the air compressor go five years without being changed and your air compressor blows up, change it once a year, you know, do some preventative maintenance on it every once in a while and, you know, let the long prolong the life of your air compressor or stuff like that. So you know, have pride in your business, take care of your stuff and do preventative maintenance and it'll save you a lot of money in the long run. Take care of your stuff and do preventative maintenance and it'll save you a lot of money in the long run. So that's, that's really uh. It just it just really depends on how well you're taking care of your stuff.

Speaker 1: 28:33

Makes sense. What? What would you say? I know you mentioned um the utility bill. Are there any other? You know misconceptions about owning a car wash that you'll be more than willing to share and help clean up for the audience.

Speaker 2: 28:48

Yeah. So a lot of people are like, well, nobody goes to a car wash in the wintertime. And I've got a video on my Instagram or maybe my TikTok it's got like I think a combined total across all my platforms it's got like maybe 15 million views but it's me pulling out a huge pail of coins in like February, it's like 30 degrees outside, and it says in like the joking tone car washes don't make money in the winter. And it's all these coins up and out that I've made in the wintertime. And so people think they're not going to come using the winter. But let me tell you, when I get a snow day think, oh, they're not going to come using the winter. But let me tell you, when I get a snow day, it is like it's better than a hot summer day when it snows.

Speaker 2: 29:31

So you know, people in the north, they may make more in the wintertime than they make in the summer, whereas I'm in the south, I usually bring in more in the summer than the winter. But, yes, they do use businesses less in the winter, like car washes and laundromats. However, I'm still making money. People are still using the business. So, whereas maybe I made $5,000 net in July, I may make $3,000 net in December, right. So yeah, I didn't make five grand, but I'm not crying because I still made three grand, right. So the margins may get a little slimmer, I'm still just as profitable and, like I said, those people up north kill it in the wintertime because there's constantly salt on the roads.

Speaker 1: 30:14

Very true, very true. I got a question. So I'm into real estate. A typical property, like a rental property, you know, a few hundred dollars a month in net cash flow is considered pretty good, you know, and I invest in Cleveland. I typically get on the higher end, probably about four or five hundred for each unit that I invest in. What can someone realistically expect to make from a car wash? Is it like, oh, could you essentially have one car wash and, you know, not have to work? Or do you need a, you know combined two or three, maybe, for you to say, hey, I might need to quit my job or whatever?

Speaker 2: 30:55

Yeah. So it really honestly just comes down to how busy the location is, how much, how much money it's making. If you get, if you make 40 grand a year and you can get one business that's making $45,000 a year, congratulations, you've just replaced your income from your job, right. But then you may get one that's making $20,000 a year, another one that's making $15,000 a year. So just different things like that where some may be more profitable than others. So you always want to base your purchase price of the business based on the net income of what the business is producing. And I've gotten really good at being able to take some financials, analyze those and see how I can double, triple, even quadruple the income, seeing what they're spending on. That maybe isn't needed, things like that. So it's really nice with these businesses.

Speaker 2: 31:45

You know if you, if you have a rental property that you're kind of, have a ceiling on how much you can make, right? So you rent that one rental property out, it's rented and you can only go so high before you price yourself out of a tenant. You know you can't be charging two grand a month for something that's bringing in eight hundred dollars in your area. But with the car washer laundromat. I don't have a ceiling to how many customers can use those businesses. I don't have a ceiling.

Speaker 2: 32:12

I mean, of course I could price myself out, but I can raise prices. I can always make things better around the property. I can always add stuff to make money, like even ice vending machines I could rent out, let a food truck sit there. I've done that before to make extra money. So you can start a detailing business and a car wash or a wash and fold service at a laundromat. So having these businesses gives you so many more opportunities to maximize your cashflow. You could get a laundromat or a car wash making 20 grand a year. Add a detailing business in there if you wanted to, and double that and then quit your job. You know what I mean. So there's so much potential with what you can do with a business.

Speaker 1: 32:52

Sounds right. I mean, I need to get me a car wash.

Speaker 2: 32:56

Come on.

Speaker 1: 32:57

Yeah, yeah, we need to. You know, as far as like location, what best practices would you give to people as far as a location, are you for a car wash, self-serve car wash? Should you be in a more, you know, high end neighborhood, or does it make sense to be in more of a working class neighborhood, like what? What advice would you give someone as far as location?

Speaker 2: 33:22

Yeah. So I mean, location is very important. You want to be, of course, on a heavily traveled road if you can. The easier it is to get in and out, the better. But at the end of the day, I always like to base my decisions off of what the business is producing and you know any potential that I see it producing as well. So a lot of people are like well, I'm looking at this car wash, but there's a car wash that's like five minutes down the road too. That's too close, like I don't know if I should buy it. There's a car wash two minutes down there. I can almost see that car wash from my car wash. But the money, if it makes money, it makes sense. So there may be enough business to sustain both Like it. You know you've got to look at the numbers with this stuff. Yes, location is important. What's the potential of the business? Can I improve prices? Is there something I can come in here and do better than the current owners? And what do the finances look like at the end of the day?

Speaker 1: 34:13

That's information you would have to, you know, get from the seller Right. So, you know, once you put an offer in and, I guess, your due diligence period, you're able to see the financials and you can, you know, kind of make a firm price based off what they're making.

Speaker 2: 34:31

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And when you ask the seller for financials a little little tip for you guys they may make you want to sign what's called an NDA, a nondisclosure agreement. That just means that you're going to go out there and you're not going to post their business on Facebook or or tell your friends and your family what all the local car wash is making. If they don't, if they're kind of sketchy about giving you financials, then you offer the NDA. Be like hey, I'll sign an NDA, I'm not gonna tell your business. This is solely just so that I can come in and make a good decision based on what your business is making. So that's the best way to do that. The best way to do that.

Speaker 2: 35:03

And a lot of people will send you their financials in a spreadsheet, sometimes even written out, and a good way to verify is through bank statements. So you know once you get towards the end of the road, you've got a deal worked out. You've seen the financials ask them for bank statements to confirm what it is they sent you on the spreadsheet that they gave you. So you know, because anybody can make up numbers on a spreadsheet, but bank statements are a great way to verify that. Just to give yourself peace of mind.

Speaker 1: 35:32

You know I'm assuming people do like they might have some pushback here and there, but I mean it's, it's not one of those things you get that far in the process If they're really serious about selling. If it was me I would just go ahead and provide it, and if I do have to lower the price, it just is what it is.

Speaker 2: 35:48

Yeah, exactly Like you know the people that come back and they're like I'm not showing my financials. Well, what is there to hide? Like, what are you hiding? Then you know, if you sign an NDA, you can't go out there and tell it. So why aren't you providing financials? You either want to sell it the traditional way anyways, the bank's going to want to see the financials, the buyers going to want to see the financials. So you're not going to ever be able to sell a business without coughing up your financials. So either do it now or do it later, but it's going to happen.

Speaker 1: 36:18

With commercial real estate it's all about how you operate the business. It's not based off comps like with you know, residential real estate traditional side. So if you buy, you know a business and it's making 20,000, you know a year but you see the potential for it to make a hundred thousand a year. Your value of your business is not based off the car wash down the street. You know it's not top base. It's based on truly what you can do to improve the income for that operation. So that's why, when you said things like vending machines and renting out space for a food truck, I mean these are all additional income streams that will help grow the value of your business. That's great for sure. Aside from car washes, you mentioned laundry. Are there any other passive income streams, businesses that you specialize in to teach your students?

Speaker 2: 37:17

Yeah, so my big three is really car washes, laundromats and vending machines. Vending machines are also a great way to get passive income. You know a friend of mine's making a little over $200 a day from his vending machine. So that's awesome. And vending machines are extremely easy to find and you know like find a location for one. Like you know you could watch this on a Monday and by Saturday have a location and a vending machine set up. You know very, very quick turnaround time with vending machine. So that's why I really like those two. I've learned something. I've learned how to do it very well and I replicate it. I just rinse and repeat and I don't stray from that. I don't try to start 10 things at once. I don't dabble in other thing. I rinse and repeat what I know works and what is tried and true. And yeah, that's really my method.

Speaker 1: 38:09

What I like about all three that you listed, those are all things that I aspire to do, so I'm definitely probably going to be a student of yours. I like it because, even though I have a YouTube channel and I hope it blows up and does well, but it's one of those things that can be, you know, it was really. It can happen or it might not happen, right, but with a rental property, I'm always going to have somebody that needs housing. If you have a car wash, it's a great chance people are going to need to wash their car. You have a laundry, it's a great chance people need to wash their clothes. And you know, with your vending machine operation, the way you do it, you do it very strategic and with your existing businesses. So if I'm there washing my car, hey, let me get some armor off. If I'm in the laundry and I forgot to buy some washing detergent, there it goes, it's right there. So it's.

Speaker 1: 39:08

All of those things are really like part of your day-to-day life, and it doesn't matter if you like me personally or anything like that. You think I'm talented or creative or anything like that. It's really about empowering people to do the things that they would do anyway, you know, and that's why I like these businesses. And then you add on to the fact that they're passive and you really don't need a thousand employees to make money. I think these businesses that you specialize in are great, and anybody that's listening. You definitely need to tap into, hannah, which leads into my next question. If someone was ready today to start acquiring the knowledge that you have, what are some steps that they need to take to tap into?

Speaker 2: 39:54

Yeah, absolutely so. First things first. They need to go look me up on YouTube, instagram, tiktok any of those and click the link that's in my bio. That's going to take them straight to a free training. That I do. I get on there and I teach people the creative financing method very in depth. I go through the three property hunting methods I told you very in depth. People are. They'll send me pictures after they get off my free training of just pages and pages of notes that they've taken, value, value after value after value. So that is really the best place to start, and I also have a ton of free content on my YouTube, on my Instagram and on my TikTok, so soak up all that as well. There's so many free resources for you out there that I've given away, so One of the videos I've seen from you.

Speaker 1: 40:40

I was like man, when I seen all that, all those quarters and that where you were emptying the machines out, that was motivation in itself. I said that's nice to just show up to work, pull my cash out, and I haven't done anything. But just, you know, stand up a business. I think that's pretty cool. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 41:01

And a lot of people want to argue with me online. They're like oh, that's not passive income, that's a job. Well, no, a job is like I'm clocked in, have to be trading my time for money. I have to be physically at a job to collect a paycheck at the end of the week. I'm sitting here, right here with you. There could be eight or nine cars down at the car wash right now making me money, and my employees will go there around five o'clock when they get off work and take care of everything, and then I'll go there and collect the money. So it really is like I cannot think of a better investment, hands off that's not going to take much of your time, than a car wash or a laundromat.

Speaker 1: 41:38

Truly, All right. Well, I appreciate you breaking that down. What? What final thoughts or advice would you like to give the audience? What final thoughts or advice would you like to give the audience? And also, just, you know, make sure to shout out your website or the best way to contact you over social media. Shout that out again. And you know, I just really appreciate your time, yeah.

Speaker 2: 41:56

So my Instagram is at the Hannah Ingram. My TikTok is just Hannah underscore Ingram. You can just search Hannah Ingram on YouTube I'll pop right up and you can also go to buyoneinsteadcom and that's a great place to start. But again, once you get to my social medias, click the link in my bio. That'll take you straight to the free training and I do those live as well. So I'm on there answering questions, engaging with you guys, like I'll usually stay an hour after the training and answer questions. I bring on live testimonials of past students, stuff like that. We really just have one big conversation. It's a lot of fun, honestly. Come ask me your questions and yeah, it's a lot of fun, and so I hope to see you guys watching on one of those free trainings soon.

Speaker 1: 42:41

Perfect. Make sure you check out Hannah so you can learn all about car washes, laundromats and just passive income in general. So thank you again for joining Money Focus.

Speaker 2: 42:51

Yeah, thanks for having me Appreciate it.