A financially independent real estate investor shares the book that changed his strategy and helped him build a profitable portfolio of rentals

Business Insider

2 days ago

When Manny Reyna struggled to find a tenant for one of his investment properties, he turned to a principle he learned from " Blue Ocean Strategy."
The book, co-authored by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, breaks down the market universe into two main categories: "red oceans" — the industries in existence today, or the known market space — and "blue oceans," the industries not in existence, or the unknown market space.
While "red ocean strategy" is all about competing in an existing market space, "blue ocean strategy" is about creating an uncontested market space and capturing new demand.
"One of my homes was not picking up on Airbnb," Reyna, who rents two single-family homes and two tiny homes in San Antonio, told Business Insider. "So, I shifted my strategy to something called mid-term rentals. I took the playbook right out of 'Blue Ocean Strategy': Everyone's looking at this shiny object — short-term rentals — but what about mid-term rentals?"
He listed the property on Furnished Finder, which specializes in 30-day plus stays and is geared toward traveling professionals. It's less mainstream than sites like Airbnb and VRBO, and Reyna had to spend time familiarizing himself with a new platform.
"Furnished Finder charges you to post your home, they bring in tenant leads, and then you have to engage them, so that's a whole other thing," he said. "I had to make templates and figure out the whole process, everything from screening tenants through a third-party app called KeyCheck to taking deposits and writing leases."
The upfront work paid off, he said: "When I went to mid-term rentals, I was able to pick up a lot more bookings. For whatever reason, in the area where the home is in San Antonio, there are a lot of medical professionals that go there, a lot of construction professionals, and a lot of business professionals."
Using books to get his foot in the real estate door
Reyna spent years working in the US Army before purchasing his first property.
"I was a medic, so we wouldn't really have too much to do unless somebody got hurt. With that downtime, I read so many books about business and real estate and finance," he said. "We didn't have a way to get internet a lot of the time, so I just read anything I could get my hands on."
When he was wrapping up his service in 2021, he had about $12,000 in savings, a family to support, and a career to figure out.
"I was super concerned about a lot of things," he said. But, as interest rates started to drop to historic lows in 2021, Reyna recognized an opportunity to buy property and start building equity.
The knowledge he'd acquired reading "Blue Ocean Strategy" and other books, including "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and "Profit First," helped him turn the idea of buying a home into reality relatively quickly.
"I won't say that I was an expert, but I had some confidence," he said. The mindset he developed in the Army also helped him act quickly. "They teach you to make a decision and act on it. I was just thinking, 'This is a now-or-never moment. The interest rates are super low. I know they're going to go back up soon.'"
He found a single-family home, financed it with a 0% down VA loan, and locked in a 3% interest rate. He and his family moved in in the spring of 2021. That property is now one of four rentals that he owns.
Self-education is one lever you can pull if you're cash-strapped or starting from scratch.
"I really just read anything I could get my hands on because I felt like I was so behind and needed to figure out a way to make money for my family," said Reyna. "So that was the fastest thing I could do — just read, read, read, read, read, and try to get caught up on everything."