Walk 2 Wealth Ep 83 - 3:29:23, 2.08 PM

[00:00:00] This is Walk to Wealth, episode 83. The Journey to Wealth is a long walk and some may walk quicker than others, but what good is sprinting to the finish line if you pass out when you cross it? On Walk to Wealth, we enlighten and empower young adults to build wealthy, abundant lives. They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single.

[00:00:22] And your first step starts right now. This is Walk to Wealth with your host, John Mendez.

[00:00:37] Are you ready to be inspired by a true story of overcoming adversity and achieving success? Well, if so, I brought on the perfect guest. I'm Na Casey. He's a listed expert who I'm from living homeless in Hawaii to building a successful business, coaching hundreds of agents and investors, and growing a massive real estate portfolio and team.

[00:00:56] He's been in the real estate space now for over 20. [00:01:00] And over the last 10 years, he and his family has lived in Northern Virginia and have been very active in both growing the real estate investment portfolio and growing a top performing real estate team and office in London, Virginia County. He has a passion for building wealth and helping others achieve financial freedom.

[00:01:15] He has connected with some of these biggest names in the real estate investing space, but it wasn't always this way and amazing parents. I'm one of eight kids, so we have a big family, so just being a big family in general is. , being a big family in Hawaii is extremely expensive. And my, my parents had various levels of success, but by no means were we ever wealthy.

[00:01:37] You know, we had my, my, my dad had his own construction companies and, and businesses, and then he worked very, very hard. But there were absolutely years where we didn't have much. Right. So I, I've kind of seen the spectrum growing up of, you know, having to cut back and having, not having enough to be comfortable and, and thinking, Hey, I wanted to figure out what can I.

[00:01:58] so I didn't have to have [00:02:00] my kids worry about, or I didn't have to worry about where's the next meal coming from, or where we might lose our house cuz something happened in the business. Right? So there's mm-hmm , there's a lot of things that happen in life. Man, we probably went through all of that as a family and, and we probably are stronger for it, but that, that kind of molded who I was.

[00:02:16] And so I knew from an early age I wanted to control my destiny. I never wanted the ability to be laid off from a job. And so I'm unemployable. I, I cannot be an employee. I have to own my own businesses, and that's been the case for the last 20 years. Then I run multiple businesses and I still do. It just turns out real estate was the most amazing business and so.

[00:02:38] My, I started on the fixing and flip side, if you will, and, and I actually was in Hawaii working at a surf shop, and I used to fix and flip surfboards, so would take in surfboards on consignment. The store would sometimes, and sometimes they'd turned one down and I would go buy it from the person trying to sell it.

[00:02:55] And I'm like, I could fix this up and make, make a profit on that. It's, uh, it is [00:03:00] acquiring an asset and adding value to that asset, then finding an end buyer. That's the, the, that's the process, right? And at some point found out that real estate was a much better asset and something that you can add much more value to.

[00:03:12] And I start to get obsessed with real estate, right? The. The Rich Dad, poor Dad books just kind of changed my mindset and my life and understanding that's the path I wanted to go. I'm, I just kind of spoken into existence and just started to talk to everyone about real estate and that led to me finding my mentor and me mentors and, and giving me the opportunity to dive into and learn the real estate investing trade.

[00:03:36] Eventually got into the brokerage side as well, and. That's amazing. Another question I kind of wanted to ask you is, can you, if you reflect a little bit, what was your life like in your twenties? Right? Did you have everything all figured out? Is this where you seen yourself back when you were a, around my age?

[00:03:51] You know? What was that like? Navigating the world? You have a bunch of siblings, you guys, you said you have a bunch of brothers and sisters, right? So, uh, what was life like in your twenties at [00:04:00] that point? Did you kind of have your, your, your headset on like, oh yeah, I'm getting into real estate, I'm gonna do this, or were you still just trying to figure it out?

[00:04:06] Like what, what's the difference between you back then and you. Ooh. There's a lot of difference there. But I, I got into real estate in my early twenties, so I would say I started young. I was 2021 ish or so. When I first started as a real estate investor, my mindset was completely different, right? So it was more about stacking up cash and making as much money as possible.

[00:04:25] Man, I got really good at making money and then, then at some point I realized that wasn't what was most important. The active income did not matter as much. It helped, but I make more money. I spend more money, right? I, I, I. Big, whether it's a big commission or, or a big sale on, on a, on a fix and flip. I found the way to spend it, and so the passive income or learning how to buy assets for that passive income took me a couple years to really appreciate that and realize that that was my focus.

[00:04:51] But I would say I've always, in my twenties, my goal was to become financially free in my twenties and I kind of put a plan together. I called [00:05:00] my cash flow freedom equation. And just said, I knew I needed X amount of dollars every single month to be quote unquote, financially free. And to do that I needed X amount of rental properties, so X amount of doors, X amount of passive income streams.

[00:05:14] And if I did one per year or two per year, or three per year, I did did the math and, and found a way to get there and. I started in Hawaii, but Hawaii's very expensive. And so I quickly realized I needed to go cuz I didn't have anybody, right? So I didn't come from money. It was all about how do I find thing for something, for as little money as possible.

[00:05:32] Can I put my sweat equity into it? Can I bring on a partner? Can I work with a mentor, a wholesale, a deal? So I had enough money to put as a down payment, right? So whatever I, I could do, I did growing up, but it was. Only enough to buy smaller, less affordable le less costly rental properties. And that was, I turned to parts of the United States and I started to invest and learn how to be a remote investor.

[00:05:55] And that turned into the world of, you gotta be really good at like, interviewing and hiring a [00:06:00] team because I, I'd still lived in a Hawaii, right? So mm-hmm. for me to have rental properties, I need to understand who is my team. You need your rockstar real estate agents and your property managers and your contractors.

[00:06:10] and without being able to put systems in place to work with them and have those expectations understood and met, you can buy a great property in a great area that will do terrible if you just don't have the right team. Right. So, so got really good at, at finding the right team and, and, and maybe lucky in some cases as well.

[00:06:29] And, and that's kind of been my focus is. Pockets to invest in following principles on are this, this in the area that I want to invest in, that I think is, is on the upward swing, but does cash flow as well. But most importantly, Can I find the right team? So there's areas that I would love to invest in, but I don't because I just have not found the right team.

[00:06:48] Right. And so it's starting with the team first, and then once you find that rockstar team member or team members, then that gives you the confidence to buy a lot around that person or, or people. Yeah. And I just [00:07:00] wanted to ask you one more question before we really dive into real estate investing. Pick up all the jazz.

[00:07:04] What is the darkest point that you're most comfortable sharing in your. Right. And what was the first step? Cause this, the show is called Walk 12, right? What, what was the first step you take to get yourself out of that hole? Like, for a lot of my listeners, they're most likely just completely lost and don't know where to get started.

[00:07:20] But like, as you, this journey has a lot of bumps and a lot of little bumps usually are never, ever advertised, right? It's always, oh, fix the flip, get into real estate of investing. And, uh, me and you both know it, it's, it's a hard world out there and the, and the best excited thing, or, but just in entrepreneurship in general, it, it, it's a hard world, right?

[00:07:36] The most darkest point that you, you found yourself on your journey, that you were comfortable sharing, and what was that first step that you took to get outta that hole? To get yourself back on the right track and start finding success and start progressing. Getting the snowball rolling a little bit.

[00:07:49] Wow. I think I need a couch in here. I feel like this Yeah. Things we don't norm normally dig into. So for my, my younger days I was homeless. Right. So that it was, and I don't like saying [00:08:00] that because Yeah. Could I have gone home? Wouldn't live with my parents. Absolutely. So part of my stubbornness and want to be independent, but not having enough money to do so meant I lived in my car.

[00:08:09] Right. And so that, that, that's rough, right? And that's rough when you're trying to build your identity and understand who your identity is and have confide. And so definitely ups and downs like that lead to not just confidence issues, but like, even like realistically succeeding, right? If, if you are working outta your car and living outta your car, it's very, very tough to actually, you know, get ahead in life.

[00:08:32] And so figuring out how do you hustle? and also harder than anyone else that is not at that same disadvantage as you is, is very important. And for me it was, is learning skillsets and and am very achievement driven. So my self-worth. And I know this is, there's an issue with this, but like, I feel good when I achieve something, right?

[00:08:52] So people say, why do you wanna buy these rental properties? We don't need any more rental properties. But I like it because that's a check on the box, right? That is an achievement for you. [00:09:00] For me, why do I wanna sell so much real estate and, and sure. Money. I, I don't really actually care about money, right?

[00:09:05] So money doesn't do anything for me. It really is the achievement. I love building. And businesses are, are for something that I feel I'm good at building. The moment I stop building, I get depressed almost. I feel like, man, I've, I've quote unquote, retired a few times, um, from a few different things and just say, all right, maybe, maybe we're done.

[00:09:24] Maybe we're just gonna live off our rental properties. And man, I can go into like a hole, a deep hole of like depression. I'm like, man, I'm not meant to not build, I'm not meant to not grow. So I've just, you know, been okay with understanding I'm gonna. For the rest of my life and I'm gonna love it cuz that's what I love doing, right?

[00:09:41] I, I love building, I love working. I, I do my best to, I have three kids and, and, and be a good dad and be a good husband for them, but it's, it's involved with what I'm doing. So they're in the investing business as well. So we created our business and they're part of that investing business. My wife is part of that as well.

[00:09:58] And that's kind of like our family [00:10:00] activity because that's what I'm driven for. And now they're, they're getting excited about it, that as well. So, definit. Making sure that I always have something to build toward is important for, for at least my mental sanity at the, at the moment. No, I definitely, I love that you said that because I was on a pre show call to hop on somebody else's podcast and he had, he had asked me a question and one of the questions was, cuz I was trying to talk on how to find your purpose, cuz I've been reading a lot into Icky Guy and getting clarity around my life about what I wanna do and where I wanna take this podcast and where I wanna take my.

[00:10:33] And he had asked me, you know, so what would you say to the person who was, like, for example, for, he used him as an example, like, my sole purpose was to write this book. He wrote a book, he's an author. And, uh, so for like me, in my head, there's no actual answer to that question because I, I don't believe your purpose can be one action, one thing.

[00:10:52] It's like you, there's a overall mission and there's like an endless amount of ways that you could just [00:11:00] continue ke to keep. Serving that overall mission. That or, or that overall purpose. It's not just, I was put here, write this book or sell this house or sell No, I was put here. It's a never ending thing.

[00:11:12] It's a continual thing. And the moment we stop, we're we're pretty much, we might as well kick the bucket if, if we're gonna stop at any point in time. And I love that you said that you gotta keep on building and if, when you you're not in that state of building, you kind of get down because we're not complacent.

[00:11:27] even whether it's because we tie our, our our self-worth to achievement or whether it's just for whatever the reason may be. But we can't stay still. Right. We gotta keep on going. And I wanna ask you not to get into the real estate side of things, right. Though you were homeless and you managed to get your way outta that, and you said you started, which they flipping now, a lot of the time when people get into whole real estate, it's, it's through wholesaling, right?

[00:11:45] Especially when you don't get into real estate without any capital. It's usually wholesaling, but you want to fix and flip. I know you have experience flipping surfboards, but why fix and flip? Tell us about what was your, what was your decision making process there and what advice do you have for people that are looking to get [00:12:00] started in the fix and flipping space?

[00:12:02] Yeah, that's a great question. And then I did wholesale as well, and it is just the transition from adding value from something, a surfboard to adding value, something a. A a just made sense to me. That business model made sense. I was already doing it in terms of wholeselling early on, and, and you know what, what I did in my first few transactions, it was with a mentor, right?

[00:12:21] I found a mentor, and so I found deals and found my way into equity of deals that I had no money to be involved in because I found those deals, right? So it wasn't technically wholesaling, it was partners partnering to be able to get into. and then making money on that transaction, saving that up until I had enough to go do my own deal.

[00:12:39] Right? So it was the hustle. What am I, I grew up my, my dad owned a roofing company, construction company. Those were our summer jobs growing up. So I work mm-hmm. are not a work hard, right? So I said, Hey, what are you doing? What's, what are you ailing right now? And he's complaining about his contractor not showing up for this.

[00:12:54] I'm like, I'll be there tomorrow. I'll show up. I'll be there. And I didn't even give him an option. I'm, I'm just gonna help out. Right? [00:13:00] And I didn't ask him to hire me. I didn't ask him to be my mentor. I just said, I'm just gonna be there, right? I wanna solve your problem. And by doing that, I'm gonna learn what, what you're going through.

[00:13:08] And at the end of the day, we, we started off and we, he trusted me enough to bring me, me into a few deals. And I was lucky enough to do that. And just saved up my money. Saved up my money. . And you know, that sometimes meant I was homeless along the way, or a certain extent not having enough money to, to live it up like some of my friends were, but was able to stack that money and, and roll that into deals.

[00:13:29] Cause I was really obsessed with buying those rental properties along the way. So whether you start out as wholesaling, whether you start out as fixed and flip, whether you start out as buying rental properties or something else, it depends on where you are, depends on what your motivation is and what are you bringing to the table, right?

[00:13:44] So if you have a great job and a lot of money, then you probably, it might be easier for. And you can probably continue your great job and be a partner, a financial partner, where someone else is doing all the work or putting money down and hiring a team to do that. If you don't have the money, like I didn't, then you gotta bring the [00:14:00] hustle, right?

[00:14:00] You commit your time, or you gotta bring the deal, right? Without one of those, you just, there's no place for you in a deal, right? Someone brings the deal. Someone brings the money and someone brings the experience to knowhow the management, right? So those are the three roles in every single deal out there.

[00:14:15] Sometimes you can play all three. Like right now I usually play all three cuz I have the money, I have the experience and I have, I usually can can find those deals starting out. You gotta figure out, I can only bring one of those. I have no money, but I have time. So I'm gonna learn how to find. And although I wasn't trying to sell them or wholesale them, I didn't really even know what that meant at the time.

[00:14:34] I knew that if I brought this deal and I'm the only one with this deal, then there's value there. And I wanted to be a partner and at least learn through that pro. No, that's definitely an amazing thing to get started at. I was having a podcast somebody else the other day and he was like, if you don't know where to get started, Become a, a acquisition specialist, right?

[00:14:51] and just start, or, or a bird dog. You just call it a fancier term, but like, it just starts going out there and searching for deals. Right? And that's essentially what a bird dog is, is someone who you just find [00:15:00] the deals for the people. And, but let me ask you right, cuz it takes a certain level of discernment to realize who's a good partner, who's not.

[00:15:07] And now with social media and everything, it's, everyone's a is a, is a top shot, right? And so it's like, it's hard to f you find good people. So what advice would you. To anyone looking to get started, whether just in partnering in general for real estate investing. So they're not, they're not getting screwed over and they don't have someone that's gonna take advantage of the fact that they're not a Yeah, that's a great question.

[00:15:29] I, it is tough. I, I would say there, there's so much about what we are going through right now with social media that makes it easier because there's so many good resources. There's so many great mentors out there, there's so many great groups to be a. . But the, the other side of that is exactly it. There are so many just pros out there that don't know what they're doing, that I've never actually ever did it.

[00:15:47] Right. The only thing they know how to do is, is say that they've done it, which is unfortunate. Ultimately, one of the reasons why the education I event, I, I run, people ask why am I not doing it virtually? I only do it in person because I believe in the [00:16:00] relationship still, and, and for me, it's hard for me to.

[00:16:02] A, a long-term lasting relationship virtually, there's value in there. You can get value absolutely virtually. You can, you can build some level of relationship. But when you're talking about business transactions, like a lot of that still comfort level is face-to-face. So for so many people, not to say it's a requirement, but that that's what it is.

[00:16:18] So we build that in-person group. We get a hundred investors in the room about once a month, and we like stare each other in the face and we just talk like we, there's education, but it's more mastermind than anything. Like, let's talk about the economy, let's talk about this and, and as you. Sitting in these conversations and you hear how people answer those, their answer may not be that relevant, but how they answered it may be relevant.

[00:16:39] Right? You might understand who they are and, and hopefully you understanding who they are. Might say that's the one I want to partner with, or that's the one that I could partner with. Or maybe no good guy, but not the right philosophy for me, so I'm gonna Right. So I think being in as many of these groups that are not just superficial, but you get into like the [00:17:00] deep mastermind discussions.

[00:17:01] And that helps you understand who you're doing partnerships with. So I create this Mastermind for my personal growth level. I do everything that I can to be a part of high level Masterminds throughout the US as well. So I travel, I fly back to Hawaii, I fly to Arizona. I fly to as many places I can where these top level investors or top level business people or mindset people are.

[00:17:23] If they're willing to have me in their group, I'm in that group. Cuz I'm always trying to figure out how do I, how do I become better than I am right now? Right. I, I look back to who I was five years ago. Adam Embarrassed, who I was 10 years ago. I'm like, man, I was an idiot, right? Who I was even a year ago.

[00:17:39] And, and all that means is cuz if I went look back to who I was 10 years ago, I'm like, yeah, that was a good guy. Like, maybe I didn't grow enough. Right? So every year I'm trying to double who I am because I truly believe our level of success no matter what we're doing, I happen to be doing it in business, in real estate, but our level of success is really just proportionate to who we are, right?

[00:17:57] And, and we are. [00:18:00] We are who we are until someone shows us a different path or someone enlightens us of, you know, we can become something different or come become something more. And it usually takes outside forces or groups or people, for me at least, to understand internally what I should be changing or mindset shift moving forward.

[00:18:19] Yeah, definitely. It's a idea that the mastermind, right, the, when two or more minds meet it's, it's something. Just bigger than just one person trying to think or reflect and mastermind are something that has helped me a lot. And this podcast essentially is a little bit of a mastermind. Cause I get to talk to so many smart people such as yourself.

[00:18:38] And like the beauty of it, it's, you don't know what you don't know. Right? And you get in front of some of these people that are really doing the pig and it's like, That's even possible. Like what? , but it, it, it changes your perspective on things and it allows you to grow into a person that you wouldn't have the opportunities to grow into because you didn't know [00:19:00] that that even was impossible.

[00:19:01] Right. There's people that I've had in my, so I'm also a licensed realtor as well, but I'm not really focusing on that as much anymore, but in my office one day there I was on the call and a couple people went to a wealth building master. They said in order to attend the Mastermind you have to have a 50 million net worth plan so you don't have to have a, the 50 million net worth, but you have to have a plan to get there.

[00:19:23] I was like, there's a plan to get there. Like Geezes, you guys are thinking big. Cause I have some pretty big goals, but it's like, It wasn't until they came back and they started talking about that, that they shared, I kind of wanted to ask you. Right. They're starting off usually the, the high level mastermind.

[00:19:35] Obviously sometimes they're way too pricey and sometimes the, the local meetups might be very far. You started your own, you got that to a hundred people in person, which is a very big feat. We were talking about this before you hit hit record. What was it like starting, uh, your own investor meetup, right?

[00:19:51] If you can't go to the places where people are gathering, what advice would you give to someone so they can kind of start their own? Yeah, no, that's exactly it. And there's so many great events [00:20:00] out there that I benefited from and want to take as much from each of those and figure out locally, cuz they weren't local.

[00:20:04] Like I, I, mm-hmm. , like I said, I'm back to Hawaii a couple times a year. I fly to other places and I feel blessed that I can do that. But I know that there's like friends, family, like agents that I work with, clients and, and just our community. That would benefit from that. They just don't have that opportunity.

[00:20:19] Right. And so started out small and just really it like within our, our real estate office as well, like just agents like, Hey, you guys need to learn how to personally invest because you're making money as a real estate agent and you're successful. But at some point, like, what's the retirement? , there is no retirement land, right?

[00:20:33] And so you have the biggest advantage in terms of understanding real estate if you want to become a real estate investor. And so I gave them that knowledge and the threshold, the minimum requirement to be a part of that group, I I, I called it the, the Breakfast Club. The Cashflow Breakfast Club minimum requirement is they need to be committed to be financially free in five, from five years from that time.

[00:20:55] and so and so, same thing, it's a plan. They didn't know what the plan was. I was gonna help [00:21:00] them with the plan, but you needed to be committed. No matter what it took to become financially fee, we're gonna put a plan in place of you buying enough properties, which meant that you might need to like scale up your real estate business to go make some more money so that you can go buy more, some more properties.

[00:21:13] But it wasn't just sit in, sit in the room and and learn. Right? So I think the reason our group has. To what it is right now, because there's other meetups that are great, but I attend them. There's 10 people that show up. There's five people that show up. There's 15 people that show up, and there's inconsistency where we, we put our group out and within a few hours, sometimes it's at max capacity, we have to turn people away.

[00:21:36] We have waiting lists of people that wanna get in and because we have exclusivity, we have this expectation of people in the room. And it's, if you're showing up here, you're part of a group and we all understand, collect. Our goal is to become financially free, and it's beyond that. So our goal is not really just financial freedom.

[00:21:55] So I, I use the analogy actually, I'm our, we have a meetup tonight we're gonna be [00:22:00] doing. And so I, I get into Star Wars all the time again to like superhero stuff all the time. So, but the Spider-Man quote, great, great, great power comes very responsibility, right? Mm-hmm. , I'll put that. So that's, that's really what it is, right?

[00:22:11] So if you have great power, we gotta figure out what is your great power. We don't know what it is. Is it you as a real estate investor? Maybe, maybe not. So, but figuring out what your great power is, I believe every one of us has a great power to do something and then you have a great responsibility to use some use, use that power for, for something good, right?

[00:22:30] So, I, I'm famous for saying like, everyone in this room is meant to change the world. Like if I, if I was teaching a high school class as a guest presenter just a few weeks ago, and I said that to, to them, everyone in this room is meant to change the world. So just think about it. Look at the person next to you.

[00:22:44] Look at you. What are you meant to change the world? We don't know what it is and we don't know how big it is. It's changed the world for your family, maybe your community, or maybe just like you're gonna change the world. But I always ask the question, knowing that you're meant to change the world, and 10 years from now we have a discussion and we [00:23:00] decide you didn't change the world, what would be the reason?

[00:23:02] What was you, what was the excuse as why you could not change the world? And it always comes back to I didn't have the, I didn't have the money, I didn't have the resources, or I didn't have the time. Right? And so you kind of put those together and say, one. I believe we're all meant to change the world, and it may not be in real estate, but real estate is probably the easiest music vehicle to help you become financially free so that you can have the time to focus on changing the world, right?

[00:23:25] If you are meant to be the best artist, the best basketball player, the best business person that open up the next Amazon, whatever it is, you probably need the time to figure that out, and you probably need to make sure that you have. The financial wherewithal to focus on that. Right. And so, although many of our, the people in our group are obsessed with real estate and love real estate, we have a lot of people in the room.

[00:23:46] They, they could care less. They don't love real estate, but they understand that if they understood real estate and they bought enough properties, they would be financially free. And then that gives them the space to go do something that they're passionate about that just might take it to the next. [00:24:00] Yeah.

[00:24:00] And so you're, you're creating something much more than a place for people to meet up. You're creating a movement, right? It's bigger than just a couple houses. It's bigger than mailbox money. It's bigger than just fixed in the house, putting a nice roof on it, slapping some paint, and then putting it on the market, right?

[00:24:15] It's so much bigger than that. And so let me ask you then, How do you turn the group that you're creating right into a movement, right? Because as you said, even with my Rio, right? They have a local Rio that's over in like more north in Connecticut, where they, they'll get over a hundred people in a room easy.

[00:24:32] But like the one where I'm at, which is a lot further, so I go to the local one, is that just so happen to be in my hometown. They barely get like 30 people, right? And sometimes it's less, sometimes it's a little bit more, right? Sometimes it's new people. So it's like, how do you create something that people, you know, like they just, they're just raving fans, right?

[00:24:48] They just, yeah. Wanna get into, into, they wanna be there, they wanna support, they wanna be a part of the movement, not just something that, Hey, I got some time this evening, I'll, I'll drive by. Yeah, it, it, it, I will say [00:25:00] it is tough. You need the right leader. You need the right person willing to put in the work.

[00:25:03] It's work to, to get the message out. It's work to build a team to get that message out and to fill that, that event from, from day one. Right? Because if you have one bad week and people show up that week, those people are probably not showing up again. Like, man, there's only 10 people here. I'm not showing up for this.

[00:25:17] It's not worth my time. And it's just making sure that you are very vocal about how different this group is and what your expectations are and what everyone should be getting out of this, right? There's no sales in this group, so it's not like the goal is come here and find a partner. Goal is come here and be a partner for someone.

[00:25:32] Come here, bring a deal to the group. Buy a deal from, from the group. So we, we want to encourage actually doing deals. And I, every single time we meet, I say, if you're here just to learn, you're not gonna be welcome back. Like you're you, you're making a commitment to go do real estate right on your own.

[00:25:48] But we want you to use this knowledge to become financially free. That's your obligation, cuz I want you to become the next person that might lead one of these groups in your neighborhood so that you can get your friends and your family [00:26:00] to the next level as well. So we kind of hold them mentally to that accountability and, and it's a lot for some people.

[00:26:05] We have, some people have come that like, man, that's a, that's, that's a lot. I just wanted to learn. And they don't come back. Right. And that's, that's fine. They, those are not the people that we want. We want the ones that need the knowledge, but need that the team and the culture as. and if you are always just like beating that mantra people, you'll attract the right people.

[00:26:23] That's really what it comes down to. Yeah, definitely. So right now we contact a little bit about your journey So far. We talked about starting a group now in the real estate investing side of things, right? What are the most common pitfalls that most people don't talk about That you're here, whether it's fixed and flipping, or whether it's, you know, wholesaling or.

[00:26:41] Buying rental properties. What are some of like the most uncommon things that people fail with that aren't really mentioned too often? Because we know it's hard, right? We know it's gonna take a lot of time, we know it, right? But what are some of the uncommon things that people normally don't plan for that kind of hits them unexpectedly when getting into real estate invest?

[00:26:56] Yeah. So if you are in the value add space, and most of what I do is [00:27:00] value add. So if you, which means almost everything needs a renovation, rarely am I buying a renovated proper. So you're adding value and, and there's a strategy as to why you're doing that. You, you need to understand the markets. You need to understand not just the team and the contractors, but the municipality that city and county, the permitting process and.

[00:27:20] If I ever had any big mistakes or holdups, it was usually related to delays because of permits and not understanding the inspection process in the city versus the county before you move forward, right? Because that could be a two or three month mistake and two or three months of delays. That's thousands of dollars, right?

[00:27:39] That that cuts your margins down drastically just for waiting. And time is money, especially when you are. The fix and flip side, when you're on the rental property side, typically you, and one of the reasons why I like rental properties buying old more is I, I focus on multi-family. And often I'm buying a property that has, let's say it's a four unit and two of them [00:28:00] are, are rented out already.

[00:28:01] So the renovations that we're doing are on one or two units and we still have cashflow coming in, maybe enough to break even. And then our profit comes once we get those, those units online. But rarely are you sitting with a vacant property completely, which is hemorrhaging money. Along the way, you could still run into those same delays, but hopefully you have at least one or two renters that are paying to cover your, your care costs until you overcome those delays.

[00:28:24] So that's probably the, the bane of my existence is understanding the, making sure your contractor is understanding. Cuz you might have a great contractor and you bring them in across state lines and they just are unfamiliar, right? They do great work, but they're unfamiliar with that process and that can definitely hold.

[00:28:39] Yeah, definitely. That's a great point. And let me ask you, right, because you mentioned too, you were in a whole center and you got into fixing and flipping, and then you realized like, Hey, this is great money, but I know if I stop one day and I wanna go out, this is not gonna be feeding me, right? Because it, as I said, fixing and flipping is more so on the job, right?

[00:28:55] You might as well. Consider that a job more so than investing, but then you realize at some point that's [00:29:00] like, Hey, I need something coming in. Even if I'm not putting in work actively. Right. Of course it's gonna take a little bit of work, but like once it's set, it's kind of just flowing. Right. At what point did you get to that point and how did you start, right, because I'm So you already have some real estate experience.

[00:29:13] How do you start in, what if people wanted to just go the route where they just go to rental properties from day one, you know, what advice would you kind of give? Yeah. I think if I could encourage anyone, I would say focus on rental properties. Not to say there's no place for fixed and flip, but you're exactly right.

[00:29:28] It is a job. It's a great job. It's a fun job. And every once in a while, we still do a handful a year. There's kind of a creative outlet of it, right? And from someone that was young growing up, it was hard for me to understand that because you, you have a really good fixed and flip project. Or as a realtor, you have a, a good commission.

[00:29:43] Let's say you make 20, 30, 40 grand on this one deal, right? Mm-hmm. , this one project, this one deal that's. And you're comparing it with a rental property that you might make 500 bucks profit, right? I'm month. And you're like, man, that's not fun at all. I don't, I don't understand that, but it's [00:30:00] understanding the passive income versus active income, that there's a term that I like.

[00:30:03] It's called horizontal income versus vertical. I'm part of a group called GoBundance, and that's a term that they use all the time, and so horizon. It's, it's going this way, is, is, and your vertical is, is upwards. But if you think vertical, vertical, anything, you go vertical, it always comes back down, right?

[00:30:19] Gravity brings it down, back down. And so that's your active effort. What am I, am I, what am I doing with my time? Right now, my vertical income is based on my effort of pushing something up that hill or lifting a rock over my head or whatever it may be. But at some point I get tired for the day, for the week, for the month for.

[00:30:35] I put it back down and I stop earning that money, right? The horizontal is can, let's say, roll a rock and just keeps going, right? And that symbolizes this passive income. The problem is that passive income is rarely enough to match that vertical in vertical income, right? That $50,000 commission or fixed to fixed $50,000 profit on a fixed and flip versus a $500 a.

[00:30:59] Profit on a [00:31:00] rental. You just gotta understand. You just gotta stack them. So it's stacking passive income is probably the best, best term you could understand. So don't get discouraged because two of those is a thousand, three of those is 1500, and then soon you're, you're up to 5, 10, 15, 20 gram a month passively.

[00:31:16] And then you understand if it's truly passive, passive income probably has 10 times the value of active income. Like a a dollar passively is not the same as a dollar actively, because actively I had to put in my time and effort for that passively I didn't. And I can stack as many of those as possible.

[00:31:33] So I say, think of it as. 10 times the value. So $1,000 a month is like $10,000 a month actively. And then because you still have the time to go build another business, buy another property, or whatever you want to do, stack it, walk away from it as long as you have the right, right team or right systems in place.

[00:31:51] And now go focus on your next thing that you wanna build. Yeah. One of the points I kind of, I'm curious about just cuz at this point in time, like I've been hearing a lot about GoBundance, right? I [00:32:00] interviewed a guy literally two days ago who I've known from Keller Williams, uh, he's in New Hampshire and me and him were having a conversation.

[00:32:07] He's also a real estate investor and does like syndications. So like for a while I wanted to reach out and then we finally got this fi the time to actually schedule an interview and me and him are talking and he does a lot of giving back a lot of charity work, a lot of helping out. And um, he was talking about GoBundance as well.

[00:32:21] And I've been on the. Recently, and I've just been, I was seeing a lot of stuff tied back to GoBundance. I haven't had the time to look into it. So like outta curiosity, what is GoBundance? I know they have a great like mission. It's about, you know, living abundantly and giving back and stuff like that. But what, what exactly is Go Bun?

[00:32:36] Yeah. GoBundance is, is a great group. It's, it's, it's been around for, for a while. I think bigger pockets, Bretton and. And David Green probably blew it up because they talked about it a lot on, on that show. And so a lot of people in real estate space, state space decide to, to join it. But it's, it's a, it's a group of people that just want to think differently, that want to have like-minded conversations.

[00:32:58] And it is around wealth, it is around [00:33:00] understanding the value of wealth. So there's a wealth requirement. I think everyone needs to be at least a millionaire net worth or, or, or hire something along those lines. . What that allows you to do is, is be in a safe space with other brothers in this common group, and there's pillars and it's wealth building.

[00:33:16] It's understanding what we just talked about. The horizontal income is way more important than the vertical income, the passive income, way more important than that active income. And so how do we encourage people to do more? And how do we slowly get our horizontal income, three clicks, eclipse active income, so that you're financially free or you're financially free two or three times through the.

[00:33:36] and then now you, now you're there. What can you do? What good can you do? Right? Can you be a better husband? Can you be a better father? Can you be a better community leader? And one of the pillars is, is genuine contribution, right? And so it is holding us accountable to go good, be good stewards in the community and give back, right?

[00:33:53] Whether it's charities or like, like what we're trying to do, provide value and education to hopefully change [00:34:00] lives out there. And, and so there's weekly accountability calls. There's, there's small, like 2, 3, 4, 5 person. That meet up regularly, which I consider them brothers. Now there's local groups as well.

[00:34:11] And then on a national level, several times a year we go have vacations together and, and do some, we're gonna go to Tahoe in about a month and ski together. So we get to do some fun, adventurous stuff as well. But it's, it's like a really cool exclusive club. And, and they mix. And they mix in education.

[00:34:27] They mix in some like no BS accountability. They'll call you out if you're like surface level trying to pretend. They'll spot it, right? Because everyone in that room is at a high level. Everyone in that room is financially free or, or close to that and has businesses. So you get to have different conversations that you might have than, than, than you might have with your, your regular.

[00:34:49] Yeah. No, I love the point that you just mentioned about conversations, cuz a lot of these conversations aren't being had, especially when you grow up in humble beginnings. It's like money is like, can't talk. [00:35:00] Eh, don't wanna talk about that. Eh, it's always something, something touchy when money is tight and, and I, that really like paralyzes us.

[00:35:08] Not really paralyzes, but it, it's like a, it holds us back. It cripples us a little bit and stunts our growth because it's like the thing that. We are all in search of and trying to get more of, right? It's, it's the same thing that we can't talk about and we can't think about, and it's like that ends up not serving us at all whatsoever.

[00:35:26] And not until you have conversations like this with people that are, even if they're on the same level, but they have that same mindset. I just wanna break free from this cycle, right? It's just having these conversations that you really get in depth. And so I wanted to kind of act you right with abundance.

[00:35:41] It went from being. You said, mentioned it, it was kind of, uh, ego thing, but homeless nevertheless. Right. A, a group filled with super high level people doing very big things and making a massive impact, you know? Was that even like that idea, even fathomable, [00:36:00] like when you were at that point where you were back low, like did you even think like million dollar net worth, like what would advice would you give to the person that's just like never even seen like a thousand bucks in cash, right.

[00:36:10] Or 10,000 bucks cash. Because a million dollars is a number that some people will never even make in their entire lifetime. Right. And to have that as a net worth, just like actively, it's like it, it's pretty big. Especially when you're coming from humble beginning. So it's like what kind of mindset shifts do you have to be to become a person that has money, time, everything, just abundance, right.

[00:36:33] Yeah. I, I think, no, if I had to go back to where I was, one, I didn't know what abundance was, where these groups were, and, and I, I don't know if I would've thought I would be in those groups, right? Because I exactly the same thing. The, the, the discussion of money, the talk about money, even when I was making money and, and we still didn't talk about it, we're private people.

[00:36:51] My wife and I, we just literally just. Put our head down, invested and did our thing, and we didn't talk about it because we, that's how we grew up. We're taught not to talk about money. Right. It's, [00:37:00] it's rude. It's, it's, it's almost evil to, to go after money. That was in my mind at least. And so for 20 years, I not maybe somewhere in the realm of 16, 17 years down the road, and I still haven't really helped many people in the, in the real estate investing space.

[00:37:15] I've found this level of. and, and the occasional person that came to me and asked, I, I helped them, but I didn't post about it. I didn't tell most people I was an an. And there's so many friends, family, people I grew up with that could have benefited along the way. So I have this guilt, right? And that's really what kind of got me to come out and, and, and, and be on more, more, more podcasts and, and share on more groups.

[00:37:37] And I published my book, the Castle Breakfast Breakfast Club earlier of the year, solely for the purpose of, I have this guilt of not sharing and I feel like I need to share as much as possible because it starts with one of these convers. Because we, there's no way I could have changed from who I was at 21 years old to Ham, who I am now at 41 years old.

[00:37:55] In, in one year. Right. That was year after year after year [00:38:00] after year of drastic changes. I've reinvented myself so many times and I've grown so many times, and so it, it is gotta start somewhere. Right? So that mindset shift, I think is whether or not it's goal of getting in a group like that or, or being at a certain.

[00:38:14] Or it's just, I, I just gotta be better at who I am. Like if I become a better person or, or more open-minded or whatever it is, understand the possibilities and understand that most limitations are really just in our head. If I can get to that level, then, all right, let's see how far that takes me. And then you're gonna get to a point and you're gonna hit a plateau, and then you either hit that plateau in business and in life, and that's where you are, the rest of your.

[00:38:38] Or you realize I gotta become a different person. I gotta figure out what group, what person, what conversations do I need to have to completely reinvent myself? So almost every 10 years is my goal. To become a different person. My twenties were about financial freedom. My, my thirties was about generational wealth and the businesses that I grew and the focuses I had were different than in my twenties, and now that I just hit for [00:39:00] 40, it's about legacy, like trying to figure out what's the meaning of all this, right?

[00:39:03] What do we want to be when we grow up, and what's the impact that we're leaving? Like, did anything I do really matter. I don't know. Yeah. And, and, and I would love for it to matter. And so now every decision I make is around does this really matter? Like does it really matter in the long run? If I die tomorrow, is someone better?

[00:39:20] Is the community better? My family better for this. So I'm having more of those thoughts and those decisions. My 21 year old self didn't care about that and neither should he have, right? And so I think who you are evolves and you'll become a different person. And the quicker you become different people along the way, you should be able to dominate and achieve whatever you're working at at different levels and hopefully move on to the next thing.

[00:39:43] Now that's some super amazing right? Why am I doing any of any of this? Does any of this matter? That's a question that really gets you to think and just sit there. It's like a hundred years from now, am am I one of the names in the books or am I just another person that just kicked some rocks and lived the life and [00:40:00] passed away after hopefully a long life, but you know who, who a hundred years from now, what did the work that I.

[00:40:07] Like, did it provide a level of value? For example, like for the most part, I think everyone knows Napoleon Hill in this space of self-improvement, health development. It's like he is living beyond his life because he just provided so much value, so much impact in people's lives. It just continues to, to help people across their generations.

[00:40:27] Right. Can we get to that level where it's just like we're just impacting. and sharing at such a high level. And you mentioned too that it took you a little while to get into sharing. For me, I kind of was like, Hey, I, I know I'm not really anywhere right now in, in life. I, I, I just happen to be pretty good at social media.

[00:40:43] I happen to be good at talking, you know, and I know I wanted to help other people like me. I, I didn't know the most in the world and I didn't know that I even start really am my am I'm far from financially free. But I was like, I'm gonna start this podcast in hopes that I can help someone out in my shoes a year ago, two years.[00:41:00]

[00:41:00] Right. And at the very least it's just starting that now and I didn't really have much to share. So what advice kind of, would you give, uh, for people who think that as if they have not much right, to start sharing right. To start to find their voice, to start giving back, even if it's just maybe a motivational quote that they find on the internet, but like what kind of advice you give to, you know, help us become more servant leaders, help us become from contribution.

[00:41:25] Help us. , always think about that grander purpose, even if it sounds a little grandiose or woo woo or whatever it may be. Like how can we kind of start even like just get into that thought process of thinking about those things. It's something that usually passes people like way over their head. Yeah.

[00:41:40] Yeah. That's great. And, and I would say, If you're having that thought and that, that you're thinking through that you're already in a growth mindset. You're already in an, hopefully an abundance mindset there because you are trying to make an impact. You are trying to help people no matter where you are, right?

[00:41:53] Mm-hmm. , and, and, and no matter what level you get to, you're always gonna feel that, that way, right? Like, you're gonna get to a point and, all right, you're a millionaire [00:42:00] and you feel like, I, I don't, I, there's no way I should be talking to these people cuz they're 10 millionaires and then you're a 10 millionaire.

[00:42:05] And then they're like, man, I, I'm in this room with these billionaires and I feel inadequate now and. So no matter what, it never stops, right? Yeah. The reality is it never stops. And you mentioned this earlier, are you one or two steps ahead of somebody? You have value, right? Like you have value to somebody.

[00:42:20] And if you've grown in the last year and you think about where you were the year, a year ago, or two years ago, three years ago, what motivated you? What helped you? Or what would've helped you, right? Is it those motivational quotes? Is it the right podcast? Is it the right YouTube channel? Whatever it is, is it the right, the right mentor?

[00:42:37] From, not like the best business person or investor in the world, but a friend that you know that just happens to be right ahead of you. And if that's the case, then, then, all right, that's who you gotta be, right? That's who you gotta be. Understand what helped you a year ago or two years ago, because who you are able to help is that person, right?

[00:42:53] You're not helping someone ahead of you. You're looking for, all right, who am I gonna be next year and the year after that? And maybe [00:43:00] you can find a model of, of someone that's actually in that space right now. And that might be who you're looking towards for advice, mentorship, or just following them to get inspiration.

[00:43:10] And the funny thing about mentors, I've passed almost every single mentor I've had in my life. Like I, I got to the point where I've exceeded them in terms of business and growth cuz they weren't comfortable where they are. And, and, and that was, And they're still great friends, but all right. I need to figure out who my next inspiration my next mentor is, right?

[00:43:28] If you are a growth and you want to continue to grow, you will find multiple people to pull for inspiration. And you just may be one of those for someone along their past. So just get out there. And with social media and with these, these platforms that we have now, we have the ability to have a bigger voice and as long as we're willing to talk and share and, and really be, be authentic and and vulnerable, in many cases you'll resonate with people.

[00:43:51] That's amazing advice. And you've been dropping amazing his entire conversation. And I know we're kind of supposed to talk about real estate, but something within me just, I don't know, it's. It [00:44:00] just pulled me to talk about something so much more deeper. So much bigger than just real estate alone. I don't know why I was getting that feeling, but you know.

[00:44:06] Where could we connect with you? Where could we find you at? I know you have big plans in store, so tell us about what you got working on and for the future with the Breakfast Club and everything you got going. Yeah, I appreciate that. No, this, this is fun. And you're exactly right. Real estate's my passion or, or the vehicle that leads me to my passion.

[00:44:22] But really, it's so much more than real estate, right? It is, it is the freedom. And what are you gonna do with that freedom and what's that impact that you can make? Well, I'm on social media. I'm not, not, I'm still figuring it out, but I'm, I'm not the invista guy in most channels. I have a website, omni the investor guy.com, and specifically for the Cashflow Breakfast Club.

[00:44:39] We just, I was pushed to kind of think bigger at one of my last masterminds. And so rather than the few local meetups that we have, figuring out how to package this education that we have package this, this unique format that we have. And make it available across the us And so we are expanding to a hundred locations over the next three years and partnering with [00:45:00] other investors that want to start their own group and say, all right, you don't have to start it from scratch.

[00:45:03] You can run your own Cashflow Breakfast Club. Here's the content, here's the video training, here's the next steps and help them promote it so that hopefully they could. Build their own community that they benefit from, and more importantly, a community that will benefit from, from them and from the content as well.

[00:45:18] So that's at the website, cashflow breakfast club.com. Find locations near you and or look to start up your own look. Amazing. And so now it's time for, I'm thinking of a new name, right? Cause I used to ask four questions, but there's this fifth question that I've been asking people as of the last two podcast interviews I've done.

[00:45:34] So I, I'm still thinking a name of, a name for it. I'll ask you these questions nevertheless, how I finish every episode. Question number one is, what is the most impactful lesson that you've learned in life? Yeah, and it depends on, when you ask me this question, it would always be different, right? And because what was most impactful for me in my twenties or my thirties are different than what it is right now.

[00:45:57] So in the moment, understanding where I am and the [00:46:00] legacy I want to build, the build, I understand what I want to build is so much bigger than who I am and what I'm able to do on my own. And. I'm, I'm very good at just figuring it out and like rolling up my sleeves and I'm not afraid of work, but that's to my detriment sometimes.

[00:46:15] And because there are so many people out there that do whatever I was trying to do better than I would, that might even have more fun doing it. And maybe I need to be a leader and hire them or bring them onto the team. So the book Who Not How over the last year has completely changed my life multiple times over and understanding it's not how am I gonna do something right?

[00:46:33] I wanna build this big business or this. Development or whatever it is, it's who do I need to partner with? Who do I need to bring on the team? And so that who not how is my mantra in life for everything right now? Because I know I'm not the who, I'm not the right person for most jobs that I'm trying to do.

[00:46:50] And, and once I come to grips with that, it usually goes much. And to add one more to that, who do I need to become, right? Yeah. Do I need to be the guy that's working every day in on the [00:47:00] roof and doing the constructing or am I the visionary? Right? Who do I need to become in order to get there? What is the most admirable trait a person can have?

[00:47:08] Ooh, yeah, that's a, that's a great one. I don't know if I've ever asked that, but I, I like grit. You know, grit is, it doesn't mean you know everything, it just means that you don't give up, right? Because you, you ultimately have the grit to just keep going through. So if I think of like, what do I try to teach my kids?

[00:47:25] I try give them skills. I, they want them to be honest. I want them. Respectful. I want them to be dynamic if possible, but more than anything, I want them to be someone comfortable failing and getting up and starting all over. Right. So the grit to not give up at whatever you're doing is probably the most important trait that I could see.

[00:47:43] Amazing. And so if you had to change someone's life, or one book you mentioned who not have right now, but if you had to change someone's life, one book, regardless of whatever, whatever place they were in life, what, what book would that be? Yeah, so my, my default. For people that are not in the real estate space and if they've ever read the [00:48:00] book is Rich Dad Port and because that's a mindset shift for, for almost anyone, right?

[00:48:04] That has got into this, this space. So if you're not in the space, rich Dad Port ad is just completely just changing your mindset. If you're already in the space and there's so many books, my Brennan Turner has some really good books, some multi-family investing that will completely change your life in understanding what you can do in that space.

[00:48:20] If I had to choose one, it's, it's still rich to port it. Yeah. Amazing. What is the legacy that you're trying to leave behind? You mentioned it a little bit throughout the episode already, but like if you had to like make it as clear and concise as spots, but what is the legacy that neither investor guy wants to be remembered for?

[00:48:36] A hundred, 200, maybe even a thousand years down the road? Right. Man, that's a. Question first and foremost. I, I'm hoping my kids would, would think I was a great dad, right? Yeah. I'm hoping my, my wife thinks that I'm, I'm a great husband, great, great family man. Probably first and foremost, me trying to build all these things makes me happy.

[00:48:56] And I think if I'm happy that I'm a better dad, I'm a better husband and things like [00:49:00] that, but ultimately we don't need me to go build those things, right? So that's, that's what I really want. But in terms of like the, the community legacy, I, I really want to. I want to be known as a guy that not just talked about helping people become financially free, but actually did help them become financially free.

[00:49:16] I don't want to like the, the actual plan, the mentorship, helping them through, through transactions and getting there. So I actually have an actual goal of 10,000 people over the next five years. I would love to help 10,000 people to become financially free, and I came up with that number. We have a hundred people at every one of our locations and we're trying to open up a hundred locations, and so that's 10,000 people.

[00:49:38] And if everyone's committed to be financially free, even though I'm not helping them individually, hopefully through the network, they're helping each other. And they have this commitment holding each other accountable. Just think of the good that you could do. Think of the good that that community could do if they truly were financially free and they want to tackle some big project here together.

[00:49:57] They wanted to do something good, whatever was to [00:50:00] them. So I think that the, the possibilities are endless of what, what might come from that. But I want to be, I don't know, the, the godfather of cash flow that helped people to become financially free. Amazing. What is the first step that anyone can take that hasn't started a.

[00:50:16] To start their walk to, well, today, right after, listen to this podcast and they can get up, turn their phone off, put it in their pocket, and they can start their, what's the first step? Yeah. So depends on where they are, right? If they're just starting from scratch, then it's from scratch. It's obviously, yeah.

[00:50:30] Finding, finding the plan. So the reason I wrote the book, the Castle Breakfast Club, I'm not trying to plug this by any means, but. Upside down. Literally, it's, it's my story, right? It's my story of what I did to become financially free. And step one that I followed was figuring out how to get rid of my housing expenses.

[00:50:45] So it's, it's a house hack, right? But it's more of a life hack and a mine hack, and it's understanding how to control that and be disciplined for a period of time. So setting up a plan and just making sure that you know what step one and step two are. You don't need to know all 10 steps, [00:51:00] but you dominate step one till you get to step two.

[00:51:02] Then you dominate step two till you get to step. and, and it should be along the way of saving up money so that you have enough to invest. And so you can go buy properties, whether it's one property a year, whether it's 10 properties a year or one every few years. Just be consistent because most people get lost in those gaps, right?

[00:51:20] The gaps of, I bought a property and maybe I'm gonna buy one next year, and then I got distracted and I need to buy that new car so I don't have the money anymore. So it's, it's being disciplined and not having those gaps in between and just saying, I'm gonna put my head down for five years until I'm financially free, or six years or seven years or whatever it.

[00:51:36] After that, I'm gonna look up and then I'm gonna figure out what's next, and then I'm gonna figure out and move on to the next thing in life. You've now finished taking the first step. Now let us help you take the next one. Subscribe to our newsletter@walktowealth.com. That's walk the number two wealth.com so we can keep you moving on your journey.

[00:51:56] We'll see you on the next episode of Walk to Wealth with [00:52:00] John Mend.