273. From Lawyer to Hotelier: Build Your Portfolio with Diya Liu’s Real Estate Investing Strategies

We are thrilled to welcome former lawyer turned hotelier, Diya Liu, to the podcast. Diya is a true powerhouse in the real estate and hospitality industry. Drawing from her academic background in chemical engineering and biochemistry, she pursued a legal career in patent litigation. However, her incredible success in reaching $200,000 net rental income with short-term rentals led her to make the courageous decision to quit her job and fully immerse herself in the world of real estate investing. With her extensive portfolio, she owns four boutique hotels and around a dozen short-term rentals across the USA. As if that wasn't impressive enough, Diya is also the CEO of Welcome Capital, a remarkable $10 million STR and hotel fund.

What sets Diya apart is her ability to leverage her legal background to teach others not only how to achieve financial independence through short-term rentals but also advanced techniques such as off-market acquisitions, creative financing with zero down payments, and innovative exit strategies like wrapped note transactions. She is passionate about sharing her expertise and empowering experienced short-term rental operators and owners to scale into hotel investing.

We are honored to have Diya share her invaluable insights, experiences, and strategies with us on this podcast. Diya gives us the lowdown on where to find hotel acquisition opportunities in the best markets, unique marketing strategies for boutique hotels, optimizing operations with new technology, what’s in her buy box and why now is the golden era for boutique hotels. Get ready to be inspired and gain the knowledge you need to take your real estate and hospitality ventures to new heights.

Resources:

• Instagram: @DiyaESQ

• Event: Western NC Hotel Bootcamp & Market Tour August 22-26

• Facebook: Airbnb Professional Hosts: Short Term Rentals, Mid Term Rentals, and Hotels

• Website: diyaliu.com

• Twitter: @diyaesq

• Facebook: Diya ESQ

• Welcome Capital: thewelcomefund.com

• CoStar: costar.com

• Cloudbeds: cloudbeds.com

• LoopNet: loopnet.com

• Crexi: crexi.com