Real estate investing has the power to change lives, and my guest, Giang Nguyen, is living proof. She went from working as a scientist to achieving financial freedom through multifamily real estate—replacing her W2 income in just six months. In this conversation, she shares her journey, the challenges she faced as an immigrant investor, and the strategies she used to scale fast. Whether you’re just getting started or looking for ways to accelerate your investing, this episode is packed with insights that can help you take action.
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Hello and welcome! I am so excited today. We have special guest Giang Nguyen, who is a great friend of mine through Go Abundance Women and an experienced multifamily investor. I’m so excited for her to be here and share her story. Thank you so much for joining me today, Giang.
Hey Adrienne, thank you so much for having me. I’m super excited to chat with your audience, and I know you are in my home country right now in Vietnam where you’re recording. So I’m also excited to share more with your audience about my life growing up there and my investing journey. Do you want me to go ahead?
I would love that.
Yeah, I’ll go ahead and introduce myself. My name is Giang Nguyen. I grew up in Vietnam, where Adrienne is currently traveling with her family. I came over to the U.S. for college, majored in biology, and worked full-time as a scientist for almost ten years. I started investing in real estate in 2015 with a single-family fix and flip. I stumbled into real estate investing completely accidentally, but since then, I’ve built a portfolio that replaced my income, allowing me to leave my W-2 job two and a half years ago to become a full-time investor.
I would love to chat more about how I built my portfolio while working full time, what systems and processes I put in place, and how I eventually left my W-2.
I am so excited because your story is what so many people I work with face—just like I did myself. So let’s start at the beginning. How did you fall into real estate investing? What were you doing initially? I’m guessing there weren’t a lot of systems in place yet, and that’s totally fine. But what did it look like at first?
Oh my God, yeah. Thank you so much for asking that. When I first started, I wouldn’t even say it was real estate investing. I was renting at that point, working as a scientist, about four to five years out of college. I saved some capital from my W-2. If you’re working a W-2 right now, consider it one of your biggest partners—the capital you can save from it.
I saved a chunk of cash, and there was a foreclosure property listed on the market just four blocks from where I was living. At that point, I knew nothing about real estate. Growing up in Vietnam, we didn’t have mortgages, so I didn’t know they existed. I didn’t know I could leverage the bank’s money or other people’s money. But I saved some cash and decided to purchase this foreclosure.
It made sense on a big-picture level—it was close to a park and a school. But I didn’t know how to run numbers, budget for construction, or anything like that. I just jumped in. My sister helped a lot with construction. Because I knew nothing, I wasn’t scared of anything. But this house had been vacant for over 20 years. A two-story tree had grown into the foundation wall. There was no electricity, no water, no HVAC. We had to redo the roof, change the sewer line, and remove that tree before anything else.
Wow.
Yeah, there was a lot of crying, a lot of Googling. I didn’t have a community like what you’re building now, Adrienne. I didn’t have someone to ask. I was finding contractors on Craigslist—pro tip, don’t do that. I lost money because the contractor took my deposit and never started the work.
Right?
So if you’re considering starting, definitely find a community. Find an experienced investor like Adrienne who can guide you. And then, take the first step. You just heard my story—I didn’t know anything, but I took the step and figured things out as I went along. That foundation helped me in my investing journey. Also, leverage other people’s experience, time, and money—it will help you grow so much faster.
Now, with all that craziness, how did it end up going with this house?
It was a great property as my first investment. I moved in and lived there for a while as my primary home, then refinanced and pulled out a lot of the cash and sweat equity I had put in, which propelled me into my next project. I learned a lot about construction and real estate investing. I didn’t know financial freedom was possible. Many of us go to school, get a job, and think that’s the formula. But I learned that leveraging cash flow from real estate could replace my income.
That is awesome. What I love is that you’re sharing some critical lessons. First, just jump in! A lot of investors want their first deal to be a home run, but you really just need to get on base. Even if it’s a single or a double, get in there and learn. So what was next?
Great question. After my first single-family property, I got bit by the real estate bug. I started learning from BiggerPockets, studying multifamily investing, and reading books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad and The Cashflow Quadrant. I wanted to focus on cash flow because I knew it could replace my income.
I moved into duplex conversion projects—single-family homes that could be legally converted into multifamily units. This allowed me to maximize returns. Then, I took a pause to pursue medical school. But when my father got sick in Vietnam, I realized I needed real freedom. Even with a flexible W-2 job, I couldn’t just leave for months. I decided to go all-in on real estate to have the freedom to be there for my family.
That propelled me to focus on how to leave my W-2 as quickly as possible. The answer? Small commercial multifamily. I had been in two-to-four-unit properties, but I realized that five-plus unit properties would give me the cash flow to replace my income. I laser-focused on that asset class and replaced my W-2 income within six months.
Wow. That’s incredible.
Yes, and the biggest lesson? Laser focus. I initially planned a slow five-year path—buy a duplex, then a quad, then two quads—but focusing on commercial multifamily accelerated everything. People often underestimate how much growth they can achieve when they focus on one strategy and market.
This conversation was packed with insights, and I hope it inspires you to take action in your investing journey. If you want to connect with Giang, follow her on Instagram @salsainvestor. And if you enjoyed this, make sure to subscribe—I share more real estate investing knowledge twice a week. Let’s keep learning and growing together!