We were lucky to catch up with Amy Sedgwick recently and have shared our conversation below.

Amy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

So there I am in my floating home in Portland Oregon in bed with my laptop watching YouTube videos on saving for retirement and it dawns on me, I’m 50 and I don’t have enough saved for retirement. Not even close actually. I had just dug myself back out of the hole of bankruptcy and foreclosure on my house in Seattle as a result of the real estate market crash. Then I was evicted from my pretty little apartment that I begged my way into. (The apartment building sold and they booted us out to remodel). So, I lost my house, and my apartment. I didn’t have a dog but if I did, I’m sure it would have run away. My response? Look at houseboats in Seattle. Surely someone would give this recently foreclosed upon woman a loan to get a houseboat. Nope. I found a dilapidated, tiny house barge for sale on Craigs List and so it began. I had just enough to pay for half of it and a combination of crossing my fingers and waiting for the next sale to close paid the other half. It was 240sf of living space bliss. And then it started to leak, badly. over the next year I would haul it out and couch surf with friends until it was repaired and put back in the water. I sold it at a profit and rolled that into my floating home purchase in Portland. Fast forward to YouTube in bed. After that light bulb was shone in my face I started thinking about seriously planning for retirement. I thought about living expenses as a senior in the US. I could pull it off but for what? To pinch pennies every month and not travel or enjoy outings with friends? Hence the plan to move to Mexico and own short term rental properties began! I wrote out what my life would look like in 5 years. I would own two rentals that generated enough income to live in Merida Mexico and I would own a third house, my own house, in Mérida to live in, all mortgage free. I wrote out the perfect day, drinking the organic coffee from Chiapas, going for a swim, stopping at the air bnb to leave the welcome goodies.. I still did not know how I was going to get there. Just having this ingrained in me helped me buckle down and save harder. The plan revealed itself to me over time. Each time there was a change, I wrote it down and revised my plan. Here are the cliff notes from 2019-2024: I bought rental number one with money I had saved from selling my Seattle house barge. I refinanced my big floating home in Portland Oregon and used the re-fi money to buy the second rental (a ruin that needed to be built out). With the re-fi came a whopping mortgage, so I took in a housemate named George to offset the increase in my mortgage payment. He was in is early 80s when he moved in and he stayed with me until he passed away two years later. During the room mate days I was able to set aside enough money to remodel the ruin (rental number two). After George passed away I sold the big floating home (2,000sf) and bought a tiny floating home to remodel (550sf) and with that I was able to buy house number three, my future home (which still needs a massive remodel and is not even habitable). So, the last leg of this plan is to sell my tiny floating home in Portland Oregon and use that money to remodel my third house in Mérida. Then, its wheel up!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am in the process of turning over my business, Floating Homes Portland, a niche market of selling floating homes in Portland Oregon. I have a 3 year exit strategy for a successful hand off to my colleagues.

I am currently re-inventing myself into a short term rental owner and YouTube creator in Merida Mexico. Having traveled a lot I have a feel for what makes a good guest experience at a short term rental. I am constantly thinking of the guest. For example I have some extremely cool bedside lamps but they don’t give off great reading light. Now all four nightstands have a clip on reading lamp in them. Little things like that and, local sulfate free shampoo, conditioner, and soap. A well stocked kitchen, sharp knives. Decor wise I know that a short term rental that feels more like someone’s house with real artwork, comfy couch and good beds will be what sets my Air bnbs apart. Have you hunted for an Air bnb only to find lackluster decor? I have.

How did you build your audience on social media?

One aspect of my five year plan to move to Mérida Mexcio is having a YouTube channel that earns income. My primary source of income will be the two rental properties but I am augmenting that with YouTube videos. My channel, Destination Retirement, has evolved over time. It started out following my process of buying the rentals and remodeling the ruin and it will morph into property and neighborhood tours, which have tested fabulously. I was in Merida last month and I toured a house for sale with the broker and tested it on my channel and the views were 10x what my other content was garnering. I have watched countless videos on the YT algorithm and what to do to have your video perform well. Each time I research I learn one new thing that I can implement. Simple things like naming the thumbnail using your keywords. For example instead of thumbnailtemplate2 I would rename it Mérida Mexico house tour. I only just learned that YT picks up on the name of the thumbnail. Every video launch, is a new learning opportunity.

Can you talk to us about your experience with selling businesses?

Selling a business is a tricky thing to do so successfully. Most real estate broker don’t create a brand and they work under their own name. Have a name that is saleable. Floating Homes Portland will be assumed by my protege and now business partner as well as one more broker I am brining in. Here comes the scary part. Stepping away. Next year I become a consultant and my two partners become the face of the company. I’ll stay active in the company and receive a percentage of the total commissions. The following year I’ll fade to more of a referral partner and take a teeny commission. The following year, poof-I’m gone, bring me a margarita.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://amyscasa.com
• Instagram: amyscasa_merida
• Facebook: Amyscasa
• Youtube: Destination Retirement

Image Credits

Chris Ryan Photo and Neil Youngson