Graham Stephan has been a millionaire for a couple of years now. However till not too long ago, he wasn’t dwelling like one.
The true property agent-turned-YouTuber, who has greater than 3.4 million followers on his fundamental channel and is on track to earn $6 million this year, majorly upgraded his dwelling scenario when he moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in December of final yr.
Stephan, a born-and-raised Angelino, determined to depart California throughout the starting of the Covid pandemic lockdowns final yr. Whereas caught at dwelling, he had doubled down on his YouTube channel as a result of he could not do actual property work anymore and determined that he needed more room than his 700-square-foot duplex might give him.
Whereas on a visit to Las Vegas to go to a buddy who had simply moved into a brand new housing improvement 20 minutes from the strip, Stephan realized {that a} yet-to-be-completed dwelling subsequent door was on the market.
Graham Stephan spent an estimated $100,000 furnishing his Las Vegas dwelling, together with $16,000 on a grand piano.
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“We’re actually good mates and we do a variety of work collectively,” Stephan tells CNBC Make It of the attraction of shifting to the identical advanced. “And I might purchase this home and we might stay subsequent to one another.”
He closed on the four-bedroom, 3,900-square-foot dwelling in summer time 2020 for $1.44 million with a 15% down fee. Nevertheless, as a result of Stephan acted as his personal agent and picked up a 3% payment, he ended up laying out simply $172,000 out of pocket. His month-to-month fee is $5,075 on a 30-year mounted price mortgage.
As a result of the home was in a model new improvement and was nonetheless beneath development, Stephan made his choice based mostly off of digital renderings, saying he “took a leap of religion that it was going to prove properly.”
“I actually had no concept what the ground was going to appear to be, what the kitchen was going to appear to be or something like that,” he says.
What he did know was that the structure of the home was “good” for his rising workforce and had loads of room for an workplace and podcast studio, in addition to an additional bed room that will permit his assistant to maneuver in with him and assist him run his 5 YouTube channels. Beforehand, Stephan had created his YouTube movies out of a storage workplace with no air conditioning.
Graham Stephan purchased his $1.4 million dwelling with out realizing what his completed kitchen would appear to be.
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And regardless of the seven-figure price ticket, Stephan looks like he “received a very whole lot” on the house.
“Since [closing on the house], property values on this neighborhood have gone up 15 to twenty%,” he says. “Lots of people are shifting to Las Vegas, and I do not see that demand stopping any time quickly.”
When it got here to furnishing his dwelling, Stephan did not minimize any corners. He spent about $100,000 on furnishings and art work, together with a large neon signal together with his “Smash The Like Button” slogan, in addition to an $80,000 piano that he purchased used for $16,000.
The centerpiece of the home is the 310-gallon aquarium that sits within the entryway. Stephan has thus far invested $45,000 in the tank, equipping it with high-end water filters and lighting gear and filling it with fish, shrimp and coral. It is also dwelling to round 50 hermit crabs and 70 snails.
Whereas he as soon as labored on movies in his storage, Stephan now has a devoted workplace that features an actual reproduction of his authentic set that also sits in Los Angeles. So as to maintain full continuity between his movies throughout the transfer, he even received one other aviator wing desk and T-Rex cranium.
Stephan working together with his editor, Jack, who additionally lives with him.
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Stephan additionally spent a further $115,000 on an outside pool and sizzling tub, in addition to landscaping his yard.
In Las Vegas, he’s having fun with extra than simply the additional area. He says that escaping L.A.’s notorious gridlock has been a large quality-of-life enchancment.
“I like the truth that there’s completely no visitors in Las Vegas and that I can go away someplace on a Friday at 5 p.m. and it does not take me two hours to go 5 – 6 miles,” Stephan says. “And the tradition right here is unbelievable. The meals is wonderful. Something you need is inside a 20-minute drive.”
When most individuals consider Las Vegas, their minds instantly go to the playing and exhibits on the strip, Stephan says, however he has discovered peace within the desert.
“Las Vegas has actually become such a pleasant, supportive, pleasant neighborhood,” he says. “Once you go off the strip you notice it is a completely totally different way of life than folks conceptualize.”
Nevada’s lack of a state earnings tax does not damage both.
“I am saving 13.3% [on taxes] by dwelling right here,” Stephan says. “That leaves me more cash left over that I can reinvest elsewhere.”
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Do not miss: Why millionaire Graham Stephan spent over $45,000 on an aquarium
