Finance

A 27-year-old drew down half of her stock portfolio to buy real estate. It’s part of her plan to hit financial independence.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 1, 2026

A 27-year-old drew down half of her stock portfolio to buy real estate. It’s part of her plan to hit financial independence.

A few years into her accounting career, Carolyn Yu began thinking seriously about financial independence.

“I’d feel very stressed and tired,” Yu, who was working at a Big Four firm at the time, told Business Insider. “I thought, maybe someday I could have more freedom and not spend 24/7 working at a very demanding job.”

She picked up “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and started listening to the popular real estate podcast, BiggerPockets. One takeaway stood out: focus on buying assets that can grow in value.

Yu, who’d been consistently investing in the stock market since college, felt compelled to make a move. In late 2024, she drained about half her stock portfolio in order to pay cash for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Bay Area-based Gen Zer had been eyeing Texas in part for its tax advantages, including the absence of state income tax. She considered other Texas markets, but Fort Worth stood out for its affordability and growth potential.

“The population growth, the crime rate, the property value growth — they all looked good to me,” she said.

She flew to Fort Worth, toured the condo, signed a contract the next day, and closed within a month. Yu intentionally kept her first purchase under $100,000, unsure whether she had the capital or experience to take on something larger.

“Pretty much 50% of my stock portfolio was gone,” she said. But the drawdown didn’t faze her. “I knew that $80,000 transitioned into another investment.”

Scaling to 5 properties in 2 years by recycling capital

Yu grew her portfolio by reinvesting equity from one property into the next.

Her strategy centers on buying below market value, improving the property, allowing it to appreciate, and then tapping into the built-up equity to help finance another purchase.

As her portfolio expanded, her financing evolved. She moved from paying all cash for her first condo to using conventional loans and later DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) loans, which are designed for investors and rely heavily on a property’s cash flow.

Her second purchase was a two-bedroom, one-bath single-family home. She bought it in June 2025 for about $105,000, putting down 25%. After investing about $50,000 in renovations, she said the home appraised at $195,000 and rented for $1,500 a month.

“This property allowed me to execute the BRRRR strategy successfully,” she said, referring to buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat. She said she was able to pull out about 70% of the appraised value to help fund her next purchases.

Within about two years of buying her first condo, Yu had a five-property portfolio. Her first three are cash-flowing, while her fourth is currently listed for rent, and her fifth is being prepared for tenants. Business Insider reviewed mortgage documents to confirm ownership and lease agreements to verify rental rates.

Yu resides in the Bay Area, but invests in real estate in Fort Worth.

Courtesy of Carolyn Yu

One of the challenges she’s faced since buying property has been vacancy.

She purchased her first condo in late 2024 — “probably the worst time to rent because of winter vacancy,” she said — and it sat empty for six months. She eventually lowered the asking rent by about $100 a month before securing a tenant.

The vacancy was stressful, but manageable because she had paid cash and didn’t carry a mortgage. Still, she owed about $600 a month in HOA dues.

Her advice to other investors: keep at least six months of reserves, know your numbers inside and out, and expect vacancies and repairs.

Why she prefers real estate to stocks

Yu still invests in stocks, but said she prefers real estate because it feels more controllable and scalable. In addition to generating a few thousand dollars a month in rental income, she’s also building equity in her properties.

“Real estate gave me more control, more tangible assets, more tax efficiency,” she said, pointing to depreciation, mortgage interest deductions, and the ability to refinance without selling. She also enjoys negotiating deals.

She funnels most of her rental income back into her stock portfolio. Her end goal is financial independence and work flexibility.

Yu wants to own at least eight properties by 2027 and have her portfolio appraised at roughly $2 million. By then, she hopes rental income will cover her expenses and provide enough cushion to leave her W-2 job, so she can focus solely on her real estate business.

She’s also changed how she thinks about spending. Early in her career, she said she coped with work stress by traveling frequently. Now, she prioritizes investing over lifestyle upgrades.

“I would rather put my money into investments right now in exchange for vacations in the future,” she said. “I think it’s totally worth it because I think in two years, I could be financially free.”

Finance

Downtown Cincinnati hotel gets final public approval, but private financing still in flux

Published

60 minutes ago

March 12, 2026

Press Room

Downtown Cincinnati hotel gets final public approval, but private financing still in flux

CINCINNATI (Cincinnati Business Courier) – The plan to build a new $540 million, 700-room Marriott convention center hotel downtown got its final public approval Wednesday, with the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority agreeing to sell $130 million in tax-exempt bonds to finance the project.

The closing on the financing, however, is not expected for another 60 to 90 days. The private financing is still being finalized, although good progress is being made, said Greg Hahn, vice president of public finance for the Port.

“It’s a tough project to finance,” Hahn said, adding that the city, county, state, the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. and Atlanta-based private developer Portman Holdings have been working “to bring this to life.”

Read the full story from the Cincinnati Business Courier.

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Finance

How to make your offer stand out in a competitive housing market

Published

13 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

How to make your offer stand out in a competitive housing market

With the weather finally thawed and kids out of school, spring and summer are the busiest seasons for homebuying. This can mean more options to choose from on the market — but it can also mean more competition.

Going through the work of putting together an offer on a house you are excited about, only to get beat out by other buyers, can feel like a major letdown. So, how can you make your home offer stand out if you are wading into a hot housing market? From having your own affairs in order to being flexible and savvy in the offer you craft, here are some tricks you can implement to improve your odds of winning out.

Have everything in order before bidding

If you are trying to buy in a fast-moving, competitive market, it is vital that you have all your ducks in a row before you get to the point of submitting an offer on a home. This means working with an experienced, knowledgeable real estate agent you can trust, and already having mortgage preapproval in hand, so you have a ballpark idea of how much you will actually be able to borrow.

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The former will help you ensure you are putting your best (and most strategic) foot forward when you make an offer, and the latter will provide peace of mind for the seller, given that “in a competitive market, sellers will likely have multiple offers to choose from and will look for a buyer who is able to close on the sale,” said Zillow.

Understand the market, the property and the seller

When it comes to this, the real estate agent you work with can make all the difference. “Their deep market knowledge allows agents to identify accurate comparable listings and help buyers price offers more strategically,” said USA Today. They will also “know how quickly homes are selling in a given area and can communicate quickly and effectively with listing agents.”

An agent can often get insight into what is most important to a particular seller — whether that is a quick closing timeline, the security of a cash offer or an above-listing price — and help ensure your offer checks those boxes.

Consider ways to sweeten your offer

Depending on what feels reasonable and is doable for you, there are a number of steps you can take to make your offer more enticing, including:

Increase your earnest money deposit. This is a deposit made upfront to demonstrate your seriousness about and ability to purchase the home. Typically, it is “around 1% to 3% of the purchase price,” but “in a competitive market, you may choose to increase this to 5% or higher to stand out and prove your commitment,” said Investopedia.

Add in an escalation clause. With an escalation clause, your offer automatically increases, up to a specified maximum, if another buyer in the running outbids you. This can “help you stay in the running if another offer comes in for slightly more than yours,” said Rocket Mortgage, though it is not always necessary or even allowed in certain markets.

Offer concessions. Offering the seller concessions can “make your offer more attractive,” said Rocket Mortgage, though it is also vital here to ensure what you offer is workable for you. Common examples of concessions include offering to pay certain fees, such as the agents’ commission or the seller’s real estate attorney fees, or purchasing the property as-is.

Finance

By the Numbers: Financial report reveals scale of financial costs, growth

Published

1 day ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

By the Numbers: Financial report reveals scale of financial costs, growth

Following a year marked by financial turbulence, Northwestern’s financial report for fiscal year 2025 revealed the University’s struggles and growth as they navigated a tumultuous landscape in higher education.

The latest report detailed fiscal year 2025, which began Sept. 1, 2024 and ended Aug. 31, 2025. It did not include the University’s stipulated $75 million payment to the federal government, which was part of the agreement struck in November 2025.

According to the University’s 2025 financial report, net assets sit at $16.2 billion, up from 2024’s $15.6 billion. However, the University spent almost $148 million more than it brought in during fiscal year 2025.

In the last five fiscal years, the University has increased steadily in operating costs for assets without donor restrictions.

Year-to-year increases in operating costs hovered around 10% in the past five fiscal years. Simultaneously, revenue growth has decreased year to year, from 12.8% between 2021 to 2022 to only 3.9% between 2024 to 2025.

Amanda Distel, NU’s chief financial officer, identified “rising benefits expenses, litigation, new labor contracts, and rapidly unfolding federal actions” as key challenges in fiscal year 2025 in the report.

Before the deal, NU invested between $30 to $40 million each month to sustain research impacted by the federal freeze, interim President Henry Bienen confirmed in an Oct. 24 interview with The Daily.

In an attempt to reduce costs, the University announced a switch in July to UnitedHealthcare from Blue Cross Blue Shield as the University’s employee health care administrator, effective Jan. 1. However, faculty and staff have reported increased out-of-pocket costs for certain services like mental health care.

Financial aid increased from $618.3 million in fiscal 2024 to $638.3 million in fiscal year 2025. Among undergraduate students in the 2024-25 school year, 15% are first-generation college students and 22% receive federal Pell Grants. According to the report, most families earning less than $70,000 per year attend at no cost, and most families earning less than $150,000 per year attend tuition-free.

Tuition is the second largest source of revenue behind grants and contracts. By the end of the fiscal year, the University held $778 million in outstanding conditional awards, an increase from fiscal 2024’s $713.5 million, according to the report.

Distel wrote that the number of gift commitments above $100,000 reached its highest in University history, calling it a “strong year of philanthropic support.”

Donor funds are categorized by whether or not restrictions were imposed on the time, use or nature of the donation. In fiscal 2025, University net assets without donor restrictions totaled $9.59 billion, or 59.1%, while net assets with donor restrictions totaled $6.65 billion, or 40.9%, of total net assets.

The University’s investment in construction efforts saw an immense uptick from $275.2 million in fiscal 2024 to $750.5 million in fiscal 2025.

This cost is spread across multiple projects, such as Ryan Field, which started construction in 2024 and is slated to open October 2026. The project operates with a $862 million budget, including a $480 million contribution from the Ryan family.

The Ann McIlrath Drake Executive Center, Cohen Lawn and Jacobs Center renovations also continued during the fiscal year.

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