Today we’d like to introduce you to Sammy Lyon.
Hi Sammy, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m in real estate now, but for 11 years I was an educator. I guess I still am an educator, but instead of environmental justice and design thinking, I’m helping adults navigate the world of real estate, homeownership and investing. After a decade working in schools, I wasn’t sure what my next steps were going to be. Get a doctorate? Switch districts? By chance from a co-worker, I learned about “house hacking,” which means you buy a property where you either rent out units or rooms to make it more affordable to live there. I started listening to the real estate podcast she recommended, and something in me just clicked and I got completely and totally obsessed. It’s all I did when I got home from work! Learn more about real estate. So when the opportunity presented itself to switch up what I was doing career-wise, I took some time off and made the transition into real estate. I absolutely love running my own business now as a realtor!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s definitely been a winding road! I went from teaching after-school gardening to environmental justice to running teacher professional development to design thinking with education leaders to construction management to affordable housing to running my own real estate business. I had a lot of doubts along the way, though I also embraced the fact that each leg of the journey was just teaching me new skills to prepare me for the next part. I love where I’m at now, but also my ultimate goal is financial independence, which means I would have most of my living expenses covered by passive income. That would allow me to not work so many hours. I can imagine that my business will have several iterations over the next decade. For now, I am helping folks enter the real estate space through investing in their own property and rentals. I get nervous sometimes about being 100% my own boss and running my own business and where my next client will come from, but I think these skills are preparing me for whatever comes next also!
As you know, we’re big fans of Sammy Lyon Real Estate. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I’m just your average realtor! But what I think sets me apart is that 1) I actually practice what I preach and invest in rental property myself. 2) I came from the non-profit space, so I’d say my listening and facilitation skills are higher than average in the for-profit space. (jk ) But seriously, I just want people to know that it is possible to get into the real estate game, even if you don’t have family in the industry or you are first gen. I’m here to help break it down and make homeownership as accessible as possible for folks and share tools and strategies to make it happen! I also commit 5% of my gross income from real estate to social justice work.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I’m excited to connect with folks in Los Angeles who are looking to get into real estate investing, level up their home or condo, or just buy their very first home. I also work on commercial projects for investors. I’m born and raised in LA and just want to challenge the narrative that it’s impossible to buy here because my investment partners and clients are doing it every day!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lyonideas.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/lyonideas
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/lyonideas
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/lyonideas
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@lyonideas
- Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/sammy-lyon-real-estate-los-angeles
- Other: www.buyahouseinLA.com
Image Credits
Headshots by Levi Meir Clancy Property photos by Danny Farrell
