Keep each prior home as a rental when the numbers work.
MY STORY
From poverty in Haiti to building a portfolio of rental
properties—without quitting my day job.
From poverty in Haiti to building a portfolio of rental properties—without quitting my day job.
MY JOURNEY · THE BEGINNING
My story began in Haiti, where I experienced poverty in a way that is hard to understand from a distance. My mother and grandmother did their best with what they had. We lived in a small, one-room home, and there were times when food and shelter were uncertain. When it rained, even the place we called home could not always keep the water out. Those early years taught me what it feels like to need stability long before I knew anything about real estate.
Coming to the United States did not make the hard parts disappear. At 17, I experienced homelessness. I know what it is like to wonder where you will sleep and to feel that your circumstances are bigger than your options. But I also learned that where you start does not have to decide where you finish.
— Guy Francois
A NEW CHAPTER · 2009
I worked. I learned. I made mistakes. And little by little, I began to see a different future for myself and the family I hoped to build.
In 2009, my wife, Tammy, and I bought our first home. Our first daughter was born that same week. We did not move into a picture-perfect life. We moved into a home that needed work, with a new baby and a lot to figure out. To me, owning that home meant more than a set of keys. After knowing what it felt like to have no place to call my own, I wanted my family to have a foundation.
That first purchase also changed the way I thought about wealth. With guidance from a mentor, I learned that a home could be more than a place to live. If I bought carefully, lived in it, improved it, and kept it as a rental when we moved, one home could become the beginning of a portfolio. That is the idea behind house hacking: using the home you live in as part of a plan to build long-term wealth.
I did not quit my day job to do it. I built my career in IT and cybersecurity while learning real estate after work and on weekends. That is where the 5 to 9 Millionaire was born.
16 YEARS OF GROWTH
The journey was not a straight line. One of our early homes was bigger than our investment plan could comfortably support, and I had to admit that I had let appearances influence a financial decision. We dealt with repairs, difficult rentals, renovations, and the strain that repeated moves can place on a family. Tammy and our daughters lived through those choices with me. I learned to look beyond a property’s appearance, run the numbers, prepare for things to go wrong, and make sure a plan works for the people who have to live with it.
Over 16 years, I completed seven house hacks. Along the way, I became a millionaire through real estate while continuing to work a full-time job. I became a licensed real estate agent and property manager, an author, an entrepreneur, and a coach. My experience spans buying and renovating homes, renting by the room, managing properties, and finding creative ways to make real estate serve a family’s goals.
But the achievement I care about most is not a number on a balance sheet. It is knowing that I helped create more choices for my family.
MY APPROACH
That is why I share the real story, including the decisions I would make again and the ones I would change. I created the 2-10-5 framework to help people understand the approach that guided my early investing: aim to buy a home to live in about every two years, keep the prior home as a rental when the numbers make sense, and work toward five rental properties over ten years.
That is why I share the real story, including the decisions I would make again and the ones I would
change. I created the 2-10-5 framework to help people understand the approach that guided my
early investing: aim to buy a home to live in about every two years, keep the prior home as a rental
when the numbers make sense, and work toward five rental properties over ten years.
Aim to buy a home to live in about every two years.
Keep each prior home as a rental when the numbers work.
Work toward five rental properties.
COMPANIES I’VE BUILT
A boutique bed-and-breakfast in historic Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
Property management services.
Part of Guy’s entrepreneurial journey.
MY MISSION
Today, my mission is to help working professionals and everyday people see a practical path into real estate. I especially want to reach people who have been told they need a lot of money, a perfect background, or the freedom to leave their jobs before they can begin. I also want immigrants, single parents, and families facing difficult starting points to see that their story is still being written.
If you see something of yourself in the kid I was in Haiti, or in the young man trying to find a safe place to sleep in Newark, I want you to hear this: you can learn new skills, make a plan, and take the next step from where you are. It will require preparation, patience, and work. It may look different from my journey. But your beginning does not put a limit on what you can build.
My goal is to teach you what I learned so you can make informed decisions for your own life, your family, and the future you want to create.
Today, my mission is to help working professionals and everyday people see a practical path into real
estate. I especially want to reach people who have been told they need a lot of money, a perfect
background, or the freedom to leave their jobs before they can begin. I also want immigrants, single
parents, and families facing difficult starting points to see that their story is still being written.
If you see something of yourself in the kid I was in Haiti, or in the young man trying to find a safe
place to sleep in Newark, I want you to hear this: you can learn new skills, make a plan, and take the
next step from where you are. It will require preparation, patience, and work. It may look different
from my journey. But your beginning does not put a limit on what you can build.
My goal is to teach you what I learned so you can make informed decisions for your own life, your family,
and the future you want to create.
— Guy Francois