INVESTOR STORIES
SUCCESS STORY
Success Story: Arianne Lemire
A DREAM OF MAKING MINIMUM WAGE TRANSFORMED TO PHILANTHROPICAL WEALTH
oming from a background where homeownership and
unable to do what they really wanted to — be there for their loved ones especially when they needed them the most. They started looking for ways to have the time and financial freedom to see family and found real estate investing. They saw that with real estate investing, it was possible to have passive income to pay for their needs, wants, and more. They made a plan
C
wealth seemed out of reach, Arianne Lemire did not know that real estate investing would be a future for her. Fast forward to today, Arianne and her husband Chris are not only able to help support their families with their real estate portfolio and business- es, but are able to do something that seemed impossible to them just years ago. They’ve given over $100,000 to charities and causes that make a dif - ference in the US and internationally. Arianne was born in the Philip - pines and used to dream of being able to make minimum wage to help support her family. In college, her family moved to New Zealand, where she got a bachelor’s degree in Psy - chology and Education. Her younger sister has autism, which led to her completing a Master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology. After graduating college, she met her husband Chris and moved to the U.S. where they started their careers as a speech language pathologist and software developer, respectively. Then they realized that the life they had did not allow them to spend time with both sides of their families. Ari- anne’s family lived in New Zealand and the Philippines, while Chris’s family lived in Florida. They felt trapped in the nice “American Dream” they careful - ly built. It is what they thought they wanted. They had great jobs yet were
to achieve time and financial freedom in
five years. They focused heavily on paying their student loan debt off first and building a “war chest” so they could start investing in real estate.
In just two years, they paid off their debt and built a war chest. After six months of consistent - ly submitting offers, they bought their first real estate investment, a small townhouse for $55,000. They ran the numbers like it would be a rental and ended up “house hacking” it. They became their first tenants! They paid themselves as if they were their own renters for two years, to instill discipline and treat real estate like a business. In two years, they sold that rental for a
$40,000 profit. Plus, it was tax-free since it was technically their primary residence! That profit went straight into continuing to build their busi - ness and real estate portfolio. Today, Arianne and Chris have several arms of their real estate investment businesses. They have GH Houses, a residential real estate investment company that flips and wholesales 100+ houses a year. They also have Lighthalzen Cap - ital, a multifamily investment firm
10 | think realty magazine :: january 2021
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