Members
Jan 6, 2023

Wealth-Building, Cryptocurrency, and Short-Term Rental Ownership

Over the last ten years, Summer member Brian Harrington has worked across entertainment, politics, and tech. With his passion for wealth-building by way of real estate as an asset class, and having spoken at countless Bitcoin conferences throughout the years, we wanted to learn more from Brian about the intersection between cryptocurrency and the short-term rental business.

Why are you interested in second-home ownership?

I grew up learning a lot about budgeting, but not a lot about wealth-building. When my wife, Sherin, and I bought our first primary residence and saw our equity increase, that was the first time it really 'clicked' for me why a large number of folks are so passionate about real estate as an asset class. Since then, I've continued researching, trying to learn as much as I can about this tried-and-true way to help so many people build wealth over time. I really like how owning a second home and owning rental properties has the ability to generate income in multiple ways: tax savings, rental cash flow, equity-building, and more.

"We want to physically build our own real estate portfolio, not own shares of someone else's."
What attracted you to Summer's business model and product offerings?

Last year, I found myself watching lineup upon lineup of Youtube videos focused on ownership and management of short-term rentals. Sherin and I already own one long-term rental, but were interested in expanding our real estate portfolio by way of entering the short-term rental space. A recurring piece of advice that surfaced during my online research was to budget for– and never 'skimp' on– design, furnishing, or property photoshoots for your listing; oftentimes, folks use all their money and savings to get the house, and then they're out of gas to turn the listing into the premium property that they envisioned on the front-end. Summer solves all this. The other point of friction mitigated by Summer is that Summer gives people an alternative to more traditional pathways to second-home ownership; at one point or another, you've probably been hit with an advertisement for 'fractional ownership' or the chance to invest in other people's listings, and that is not interesting to us. We want to physically build our own real estate portfolio, not own shares of someone else's. Being able to put down a refundable deposit on an already-proven, cash-flowing property is what made us contact Summer and become members.

Who, in your opinion, does Summer make the most sense for?

Different people, at different points in their lives, are of course going to see different benefits in a Summer membership. My wife and I, for example, are at a point of risk-taking when it comes to investing and wealth-building. We're not big travelers, and prefer spending money on upgrading our primary residence and investing. Summer makes sense for anyone looking to grow their wealth fast and early, setting themselves up for the long term.

What is HELOC, and how can prospective homeowners use it for their own short-term rental investments?

HELOC stands for Home Equity Line of Credit. It's a way to borrow money secured by equity in a property that you own. In my opinion, it's a great way to make the Summer's refundable initial deposit if you don't want to pull money from your other investments.

"Summer makes sense for anyone looking to grow their wealth fast and early, setting themselves up for the long term."
Any suggestions for other prospective Summer members on how they can stay educated and up-to-speed on new developments in the personal finance space?

One suggestion I would throw out for people who are real estate investors and prospective Summer members is to not write off Bitcoin as an investment (or as an overall concept). We had been investors in Bitcoin for years before we began exploring real estate, and it has given us a good foundation of knowhow when it comes to the ups and downs of investments. Bitcoin and real estate actually are tied to similar fundamentals in that they both do well in weak-dollar and weak-fiat environments.

Over the last ten years, Brian has worked across entertainment, politics, and tech. Jobs have included everything from campaign management and fundraising for film production and coaching business professionals to speaking at Bitcoin conferences and managing software projects. Brian and Sherin have been married for five years after getting engaged midair on a Southwest flight, and eloping on a mountain in San Diego. The Harringtons, including their son Riot, love everything about California, and are enjoying managing a growingly complex set of family and life objectives.


Have more questions for Brian or the Summer team? Drop us a line anytime at hey@gosummer.com.