For many people, college is not the way to find financial freedom. Though we are pressured from a young age to attend college and get a good education to help get a better job in life, for some it is not the only pathway to success. This is what Andrew Ragusa discovered, perhaps a bit too late, when beginning his business career.
“I went to college because my parents and everyone else told me that was the right thing to do, and $60k in debt later as well as a bunch of promises by the college recruiter that they will help me get a job, I was a secretary in a physician’s office with a Master Degree in Health Care Administration making about 30k annually and was passed up on every job transfer I applied for.” Andrew recounts.
Soon after this, Andrew realized that his path had led him to a career he was not interested in, with few opportunities to increase his lot in life and use his degree to its fullest potential. He wanted to try and do something new so he decided to try real estate. He did not think that it would become much more than a side gig, but he soon realized that he could really make a living off of doing it.
“Once I got started in real estate and saw the potential; I never looked back. Throughout the growing pains of starting a business I had people supporting me and pushing me while I tried to find my place in the world.”Andrew explains.
Since beginning his career in real estate, Andrew has taken off. He now owns a real estate brokerage and a large fund that invests in real estate flips. He has been recognized in numerous ways for his success in the real estate industry.
“When I was working as a Realtor, I was having great success from my ability to sell property higher than most agents for sellers who hired me. On the buyer side, I was being so aggressive with the listing agent that my buyer clients were first in line all the time and were getting the homes they loved. At one point, my past clients and many of the doctors I used to work with started to reach out to me asking for me to find them investment properties. One day I woke up earlier than usual and I was laying in bed while an idea was forming, I realised instead of trying to find investments for everyone, I should just create a great investment!”Andrew states.
And create a great investment he did. Andrew’s fund has secured returns for his investors on an average of 20%, surpassing most other passive income investments. Because Andrew has achieved such massive success and recognition for his work, he plans on giving it back to others to help them achieve their own success.
“The fund has had an incredible unintended result for the people involved, not only was the investor benefiting remarkably but the contractors involved in the property renovations grew their businesses by a lot. My partner and I ended up employing over 25 families to get the work done to these houses.”
What inspired him to help people was his own success, but he also wanted to pay forward the kind of mentality and financial support that was provided to him when he wanted to begin his career.
“My goal is to provide over 1000 families with work and opportunity by 2025 after seeing the impact we had on the lives of these workers. I want to share the love that was given to me by so many loving people and create an abundant life for my circle and all those who become a part of this growing movement!” Andrew exclaims.
For his next project, Andrew hopes to grow both his real estate brokerage and the investment fund. The more properties he is able to acquire, the more work he can provide for people and share the wealth that he creates with everyone involved. His goal is to flip more than 25 houses a year, using the assets given to him to create more opportunities for both the people working on the homes and the families that trust him to grow their investments.
“The next big thing I am working on right now is the investment fund and growing the brokerage. The fund took some time to get started because what I am doing is pretty unique and hasn’t been done before as far as I know but we are ready to start. Normally when people invest in a RE fund they would receive monthly dividends from rent collections and a lump sum when the building is sold down the road. My fund is going to buy properties and renovate them to be resold on the market at a higher value and I want to pay the investors lump sums everytime a property sells. My goal is for the fund to be flipping so many houses that I am able to pay investors on a quarterly basis, all while providing work for more families with my businesses and all the other businesses we collaborate with.”Andrew says.
If you would like to learn more about Andrew’s goal to help 1000 families and his real estate businesses, you can check out his Instagram page here. Andrew was recently featured on Yahoo! Finance Top Entrepreneurs to Follow During COVID-19.
