MoneyChisme Founder Violeta Sandoval
My Personal Finance Education Journey
My personal finance journey was a long and bumpy journey. I am a First Generation Mexican immigrant, the eldest daughter, of course! This meant I was in charge of helping my family assimilate into the United States.
As a result, my parents did not teach me much about how to deal with my finances. The little that they did offer was, to study hard, save up and avoid debt! Needless to say, I had little knowledge of credit score, credit card usage, investing or even how to buy a home. No sabia nada!
I hit rock bottom…
On top of that, I lived undocumented for over 20 years. After a failed marriage, running out of money to finish college and stuck at a low-wage job, I felt like I hit rock bottom. I felt stuck at my crappy job and saw no way out.
Took a Huge Leap
Eventually, I decided that I would join the United States Navy, and it put me on a path to financial stability.
After four years, I was able to make enough to qualify for the VA Home loan and purchased my first home in 2014. I rented out a few rooms, which I found out later was real estate investing (house hacking)! Unknowingly, I had started my real estate investing journey!
My Real Estate Investing Journey Begins
Eventually, I moved to another duty station and turned my first home into a rental property. I purchased another home at my next duty station, and house hacked it. This property was also turned into a rental property when I moved to another duty station.
Afterwards, I used a cash-out refinance on my first home, to purchase my first duplex, in 2021. I then sold my second home to purchase a 2nd duplex. I am now looking for my 3rd and plan to scale to larger multi-unit afterwards.
Additionally, with my real estate investing income, I was able to purchase a 10 acre lot in 2023. This is part of my ultimate goal of building my dream home. Not to mention, I was able to help my parents purchase the 10 acre lot next to me!
Entrepreneur Journey
I began my entrepreneurship journey when I stumbled upon reselling, in 2018. I then decided to go all in as an e-commerce business, in 2020. It has been a struggle with COVID-19 but am now on the path to scale the business.
I also started MoneyChisme to teach personal finance and real estate investing to the Latinx and People of Color community. As a First Gen, I know how hard it was to navigate finances, especially how to build wealth. This is why, I am so passionate in teaching others how to gain financial stability and freedom, and how to build generational wealth through real estate investing and other avenues.