Daily Inspiration: Meet Edgar Morales

Today we’d like to introduce you to Edgar Morales

Hi Edgar, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Both my parents immigrated to this country, I watched my parents work their entire lives to provide for our family and I knew growing up I didn’t want to struggle, work endless hours just to get food on the table. I wanted to be the change in my family. I become a firefighter at the age of 21, although this career wants easy to achieve, I knew this career would give me the opportunity to work as much as I wanted. I figured at 21 years old with no kids or marriage to come home to, I can work as much as I want to get ahead early. I worked over 1000 hours of OT every year, worked through Covid in 2020, responded to some of Californias biggest wildland fires. With all the OT I was working I was putting away all the extra money into the stock market and waiting for something to happen. In 2020 when Covid hit and the economy closed, my stock account lost over $30,000. At the time my family and friends through I was crazy for just leaving it in there. I was patient, I continued to work and put more into the account. Later that year when the economy opened back up, the stock market hit all time highs and my account skyrocketed. I was able to buy my first two rental properties. This introduced me into being a landlord and this is where my passion for real estate investing started.

After being a traditional landlord for a couple years I decided to start my own company after watching a video about mid term rentals. I took a risk and decided to furnish all my rental properties and try Airbnb. This is where my growth really started to take off. I now own 8 rentals, on air bnb housing travel nurses, insurance companies and working individuals.

My LLC company is named Emmidtermrentals, i offer 30 day minimum stays for all workers, travelers and people looking to stay in San Diego or Bakersfield CA.

I am currently still a firefighter, I do have a passion for real estate but as well as helping people and responding to emergencies to make horrible situations better.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Many ups and downs, including renovations, evictions and late payments. When purchasing my 1st rental property in 2020 the home was a duplex. One unit was empty, and the other unit had a tenant that I would be inheriting after two months of owning the rental property. Everything was going smoothly until the individual stopped paying rent I had never had to dealt with this situation, because it was my very first time ever and didn’t realize the headache process I was about to encounter after taking all the right steps into the eviction process. I didn’t realize how long it would actually take to get my unit back after months of back-and-forth. The tenant I had in there completely trashed my place broke every every window broke every door before finally grabbing their things and disappearing for good at the time. I thought maybe this isn’t for me. Maybe real estate is not as glamorous as people make it out to see, but I stuck with it and believed in the process after completely renovating the unit they left. I was able to get great tenants in there paid on time were respectful and took great care of my place.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I believe what has set me apart from others is that I am not afraid to take risks before starting my business, I had to max out credit cards and loans to furnish properties install utilities all before I had my first booking. My units could have easily been empty for months with furniture, utilities being paid, and all those mortgages would have had to come out of my pocket. I stayed the course. I contacted hospitals, letting them know that I had units available for their travel nurses. I reached out to recruiters, letting them know. I had multiple units available for them. I reached out to insurance companies to let them know I had housing for individuals who either lost their home in a flood or fire, I continuously posted on social media and right away the booking started.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I truely believe in order to become successful in life you MUST take risks. Every successful person I’ve ever met. Had to take some type of wrist to be where they’re at today. It’s very easy to be comfortable stay safe and take the easy route. There will always be excuses on why you should not take the risk, but that’s what makes it risky. It’s part of the journey. It’s part of the process. It’s not easy. There will be failures there will be many ups and downs, but that’s what makes it all worth it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/504401509
• Instagram: Emmidtermrentals