FEATURED STORY
Master Investor
many of whom were successful inves- tors and, in the process, got a crash course in the real estate industry. The broker’s segments became her favorite part of the show. She also noticed that a lack of money was one of the main reasons the people on her show, “Dream,” had difficulty actually achieving their dreams, and the more she learned about real estate, the more it looked like it might be the answer to their— and her—financial concerns. GETTING STARTED The mortgage broker’s segments were so successful for him, Kathy says, that he soon had more work than he could handle, and he asked her if she would be interested in get- ting her mortgage broker’s license to help him out. Seeing an opportunity to earn a good income and learn more about an industry she found fascinat- ing, she accepted the offer. “It was the height of the real estate boom, and you could make $10,000 off one loan,” she says. “That solved our immediate financial problems.” As Rich improved and outlived his six-month prognosis, the Fettkes began to accumulate enough mon- ey to start investing, but Kathy sensed something wasn’t right with the market when she saw mortgage companies change applicants’ salaries so they could qualify for loans. They decided to proceed with caution, especially when it came to investing in California real estate. Everyone at the time was invest- ing in California, Kathy says, but the investors and experts she interviewed for the mortgage broker’s segments all advised against it. In fact, they were actually selling their California prop- erties and buying in Texas. Had the Fettkes followed common wisdom, they would have lost money. Instead, they listened to the experienced investors, bought properties in Dallas
in 2004 and 2005, and made money. Kathy says it opened their eyes to the importance of market timing and cycles. It also taught them that where you get your information matters. GATHERING INFORMATION From the beginning, Kathy recog- nized how important it was to educate herself on every aspect of real estate investing, including the markets and cycles, and how important it was to keep current on what’s happening in the industry on a daily basis. “I was just fascinated by a whole world I didn’t understand,” she says. Today, Kathy is considered an expert in the field and is a frequent guest on CNN, CNBC, Fox News, NPR, CBS MarketWatch and The Wall Street Jour- nal. She’s also the author of “Retire Rich with Rentals.” Rich immersed himself in real estate investing as well and is now a licensed real estate broker. But not everyone has the time to sift through all the information out there or even has access to the successful investors the Fettkes did when they got started. As Kathy continued to educate herself, she noticed a lot of people were jumping into investments they didn’t understand or were relying on information peddled by people who were not actively investing themselves. “There were a lot of gurus out there that had never done a deal,” she ex- plains. “You would ask them what they owned, and they didn’t own anything.” It reminded Kathy of the agencies she had encountered years earlier that sold those expensive but essentially worth- less classes to aspiring models and actors. The real estate gurus and boot camp instructors were more concerned about making money than providing quality information, and Kathy saw an opportunity to create a place where people could learn how to invest in real estate and find reliable information on the industry. What’s more, Kathy decid- ed to provide the information for free.
Kathy co-founded Real Wealth Network with her husband, Rich Fettke, in 2003.
with proceeds from the sales of his book, “Extreme Success,” which ap- plies the principles of extreme sports to business, as well as from seminars and speaking engagements. “Everything was going great,” Kathy says. Then the unexpected happened. Rich found out he had melanoma and was given six months to live. As the family quickly burned through their savings to pay medical bills, Kathy real- ized she was going to have to find a way to earn an income without spending too much time away from the family. TURNING TO REAL ESTATE Her thoughts quickly turned to their 4,000-square-foot, six-bedroom home. It was more space than they needed and, with its private entranc- es, could easily be turned into a four- plex. After moving into one section of
the house, they were able to rent the remaining space to tenants, includ- ing international students who were willing to pay for a shared room with bunk beds. The rental income was enough to pay their mortgage. “I became a landlord without realiz- ing it,” she says. But she may not have become an investor if she hadn’t resurrected her “Oprah-style” radio show on pursuing dreams. (Kathy is also a certified per- sonal coach.) While producing the show would allow her to spend more time with Rich than a full-time job, she need- ed a show sponsor to earn an income. That sponsor turned out to be a mortgage broker who was willing to pay “a lot of money” in return for segments on her show. At first, Kathy wasn’t sure how to make the segments appeal to her audience, but eventually, she decided to interview his clients,
INVESTING IN REAL ESTATE can change your life. Just ask Kathy Fettke, who started by renting out rooms in her own home when her husband, Rich Fettke, was diagnosed with cancer. She now has a diversified portfolio of single-family homes and commercial real estate throughout the country. Most people would have stopped there. Not Kathy. As she studied the industry and researched specific markets, she real- ized just how much misinformation was out there and how many people who didn’t invest were nonetheless trying to sell how-to programs to others. Kathy decided to take action, and in 2003, she co-founded the Real Wealth Network with Rich. Today, the California-based investment group offers daily podcasts, educational events and investment opportunities to roughly 24,000 members.
AN UNEXPECTED CRISIS Kathy has always been passionate about researching and sharing infor- mation, skills that served her well in the newsrooms of CNN, FOX, CTV and ABC. They also came in handy when, as a young model, she noticed agencies charged extravagant fees for subpar modeling and acting classes. She reached out to casting directors to find out what skills models and actors needed to be successful, started her own agency and offered classes to her clients taught by those same casting directors at a reasonable price. Although the agency was suc- cessful, the business was extremely demanding—try finding 100 people to audition for a casting director the next day—and she left when she had children, becoming a full-time, stay- at-home mom. Rich, a former ESPN X Games competitor, supported them
20 | think realty magazine november :: december 2016
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