Joel's First Rental Property Strategy That Actually Works

0:00America leads the world in medicine development. It matters. We get new medicines first, nearly three years faster. Five million Americans go to work because we make medicines here at home, and not relying on other countries keeps us safe. But China is racing to overtake us. Will we let them? Or will we choose to stay ahead? When America leads, America cures. Let's tell Washington to keep us in the lead. Learn how at americancures.com. Pay for by Farma. This episode is brought to you by Indeed. Stop waiting around for the perfect candidate. Instead, use Indeed sponsor jobs to find the right people with the right skills fast. It's a simple way to make sure your listing is the first candidate see. According to Indeed data, sponsor jobs have four times more applicants than non-sponsored jobs. So go build your dream team today. With Indeed, get a $75 sponsor job credit at Indeed.com slash podcast terms and conditions apply. Alrighty, folks. One of the things I love to do Sunday morning is bring you new faces with

1:03new stories this morning. We've got Joel. Joel was following those nasty doomers and did find one rental out of time and successfully got his first property. So Joel, congratulations. How would you start this story? What would be the story of Joel? It's been a big and a journey. Of course, everyone says journey, but my story starts with kind of my parents providing everything that you could expect or want growing up. Right, had a household full of love, had a dad and a grandfather who had a very, very strong work ethic. So that embedded a lot into me, all the positive things. And my investing journey was kind of just a discovery on my own going from high school and then college and not knowing how to budget, not knowing how to manage my own finances. And little by little, you know, through trial and error.

2:03And I believe God bringing people into my life that have kind of helped to sow seeds. And then other people water those seeds. And you know, some falls along the way. But sometimes those costly mistakes are the the biggest learning opportunities and trying to just grow and find tune over time. I like it. I like it. Well, you did send me a note the other day saying that you were thankful for finding me because you were on the wrong path. You had you had started following some of the doomers who are, you know, sowing seeds of poison and doubt. Yeah, the that whole thing, the best way I could say it is the doomers were kind of a bit of a comfort blanket for in captivity. And it was it was one of those things. There's always going to be a reason that people will give you as to why you should wait and and not take action right now. And so the doomers gave me the impression that if I was to take action right now, I'd be missing out on

3:03a discount purchase right around the corner. And the problem is that discount purchase never came. Obviously, the government has, you know, jumped in and they're, you know, doing once QE started, I feel like fundamentals weren't the same as they used to be. However, all the the right around the corner, wait for wait for it, never materialized. And that would that kind of obviously cost me time in the market. And once I started listening to one rental at a time, kind of shed light on that I need to start this 30 year clock. I need to plant this tree as soon as I possibly can. And I think it's important to be aware of of the stuff that's out there, right? If there are threats, I want to be aware of them. But that takes balancing with all the positives that are there as well. And I think it just comes with the level of discernment and understanding and listening to the right people, one rental at a time. And yeah, if anyone's listening to those

4:05rumors, there's really no balancing to do. And you could kind of tell the real from the fake, you could tell people who are just putting real stuff that's happening in the market that does pose a problem versus people who that's all they breathe is just the bad stuff. And it's honestly harming people's financial future if it's causing you to stay on the sidelines longer than you should. I love what you said there about rumors being a comfort blanket. I actually wrote down the word snuggie. That's my daughter used to call her blanket that she slept with when like she's four or five. Where's my snuggie? But that's exactly what they are. They gave you permission to do nothing. Yeah. They just they tell you it's coming. It's around the corner. I'm the only person they can see it. There's nobody else they can see it. And what you really learn about most of these people is two things. One, they're broke. They rent. And two, they have PTSD. Somewhere in their life they lost a property. Some of them they lost it and some of them their parents lost it. And all they

5:08could see is the darkness in the downside. And yes, people lose properties. It happens all the time. But you know, that's part of the process. And also the other thing is for all the people that lost properties, which are, is course horrible. There's 99 people who bought properties in one. Yeah. So stop focusing on the one thing. Life does happen. Bad things do happen. And yeah, at the end of the day, what I hope one rental at a time is it's like, I promise nothing. I just suggest you get a buy box. You do the work. You look every day and then hey, you never know. Something might come across your buy box. That's a great deal. Right. I just promise work equals possibility. But if you don't work, if you watch the doomers and you just sit on your ass and do nothing, you're going to go broke. You're going to be broke just like them. Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah. If I could say one thing is, is something that you preach, which is so important and please continue to, to preach this message is create that disposable or discretionary income.

6:14Because that lifestyle creep happens and you make more, you spend more, you make more, you spend more, and you never get ahead. And so we have to, you know, be diligent with cutting expenses, creating as much room in there as possible. And the only way to win this game is to get into assets. That's when inflation becomes your friend and not your enemy. And it's just, yeah, there's, there's so many, so many, you know, concrete slab foundational fundamentals preached here on one rental at a time. And I love it. It's so important. You're not, you're not painting a rosy picture of everything's going to be okay when you get on the other side of the fence. You are counting the costs for everybody. You're telling people what to expect. And then they have to make the decision if they can, if they can temper that, that, you know, temper getting into the pool. Yeah, I love that. I love the fact that that resonates with you because, you know, I created the three-step wealth formula probably only a year, maybe two years ago. And it's really the anchor of most of

7:15my presentations when I go around the country because I think most people do want to get wealthy. I just think most people think there's an easy button, there's a get rich quick or whatever, and there's not. You're right. It's just create disposable or discretionary income. Become a lead at something. I chose real estate, but it could be anything. And then do it for a decade. It's that third step where people fall down. That you've got to do it for a decade. You can't, you can't get five years in to a 10-year journey and think you've won. You're only halfway through the race. Finish the race, dude. And that decade part, I'm so glad you share that because that could be easily left out. And I feel like in a lot of other financial circles, they only give you the shiny object. They don't tell you what it takes and how long it takes to get there. And I want to know what I'm signing up for, right? If I'm getting into something, I have to know. I want the full disclaimer. I want to know the good and the bad. It's life-changing financial opportunity, but it's going to require something of you. And I want to know what that looks

8:18like so that no surprises. And oh, by the way, the other thing I tell you is the first five years will suck. Embrace the suck. Embrace the suck. You've got to get through it. It really, like getting wealthy is, you know, I think it's just like part of the game. It tries to kick you out. It's like, how bad do you want it? Yeah. Right? You buy a property and you run the numbers. I mean, you guys know my story. My very first property after spending over a year looking, the tenant moves in and then never pays me again. And then destroys the property. Talk about trying to kick me out of the game. Yeah. This stuff really happens. Yeah. And I think that's when the Y kicks in, right? Everybody has their Y. And for me, it's not just my own personal family, but it's the legacy behind me. And then everything that I'm learning, I have a big mouth for your podcast, but everything I'm learning here, I'm sharing with others and I'm trying to help them get on a good financial footing as well. For me, it was, I knew when it was time to take action

9:23when everything, I shouldn't say everything, but when things started to become repeat, right? So I knew I wanted to get in real estate. I was in other asset classes and this one was staring me in the face. And I just excluded myself forever because I felt like one, I live in Southern California and to get into a rental property, it's extremely expensive. And two, how can I make this cash flow? I had no clue about investing out of state. And that's where I ended up. And when I started listening to podcasts, there was terms that were over my head. There was so much that just, I didn't have a grid for it, but I kept listening. When you'd say something, I didn't understand I'd Google it. Okay, it's like whack a mole, right? All these things come up and I'm learning and I'm whacking the mole as we go. And then one day I remember listening and I was like, oh, yeah, I know that. Okay, yeah, I'm familiar with that. And then the epiphany hit was like, fool, there's one left, one thing left to do, take action. Once that, once that, that base layer of understanding is

10:25there, you need to now put it to use. That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, I know you came to this with some questions or some feedbacks and thoughts. Why don't you go ahead and take share, share your notes. Let's talk about that stuff. Yeah. One thing that you say a lot, which I think you should say, you should continue to say a lot, if not every podcast is the know that I self that you, you got from pace more because when I started, I'm like, okay, I have a W2 job. I feel purpose there. And I love what I do in that space. And I didn't feel like jumping out of that into flipping or wholesaler or anything else. So I first had to, and it was just kind of like when you would say that, it would wash over me, then know yourself, know that I self, know that I self. And I had to find my place in the entire ocean of real estate. And for me, that ended up being continuing to work my W2 job, creating that disposable income and letting my active fuel my passive. And so what I make there, let that be the fuel and, you know, the seeds and the soldiers

11:28that go into building out real estate portfolio. So that knowing yourself is so important because I don't want to be miscast. I don't want to jump into something that's not for me. And I won't thrive there. So being able to still do what I've done and, and do kind of like a turnkey out of state gives me what I need to still have time with my family, time when I'm serving it for all the other time demands that we have in life. I had to find how can I make this real estate thing work for my goals and my time availability. And that was it. Yeah, I'm glad you picked up on that because that's a relatively new thing I talk about pace. And I had that conversation probably three years ago, maybe even four years ago, time flies. But it was one of those days where even I asked myself questions, right? I still, you know, I'm no better than anyone else. I still look up to these guys going, why am I not doing more? You know, why are you at 200? You should be at 2000. You know, why do you not run ads or, you know, all this other stuff? And I'm like, I don't want their life.

12:32I don't want what they have. I am so happy in my own skin. What am I doing? And, you know, I went on a, I don't know, probably a five minute rant just all over the place and pace just stop me and said, Zuber, just, you got to know myself. And it was whatever that right timing, right person. I don't know what it was, but I just felt this, like uplifting freedom, like, god damn it. He's right. You know, I'm okay. I don't have to, you know, do all these other things. So yeah, no, that stuff is, so that way you don't get, you know, stuff for comparisons, you know, chase signing off. You just stay anchored in what works for you. So well done. Yeah. And I appreciate that you stand your ground on that because we have our own convictions. And, you know, I have two young girls and they're only going to be young twice. I'm sorry, only going to be young once. And I don't want to miss that. And there's things that you can

13:33always make more money, but you can't make more time. And so all of this stuff, I'm like, I don't want to let these things pass me by for building out my own kingdom for reasons that I, you know, are not the right reasons. So I know that I'm willing to, you know, put in the decade worth of work and beyond. And I still want to be present. And I don't want to miss memories, you know, so this is where it all took. I'm so happy. I'm so happy. I wish more dads would do this. Girl dads, you know, as a girl dad, myself, you know, shout out to that. But first two things, one is one of my largest regrets in life is not hugging my daughter more when she was, you know, five, six, seven, eight when you're everything to them. So don't make that mistake because you only get one go with that. So FYI. But second, I talk to so many men. And I'm sure this happens for women also, but I don't talk to enough women to say just I know it's men, but so many men say I'm doing it for my family, I'm doing it for my family. And then I say, okay, show me your phone.

14:38Like show me your calendar. Yes. There are families nowhere on there. I'm like, dude, what do you like? I don't even know how you see your kids. You're you're you're up and out of the house before they're awake and you probably come home after dinner. Where's the family in here, bud? Yeah, yeah, I always say and I ask myself this all the time, like, where do you spend your time? Because I've, you know, canceled people financially and spent time with them. And I'm a lot more strict on on the who now because you follow up six months later. And it's like, hey, so what are you going up to? And they're like, oh, yeah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it's just like excuses. And they act like they just can't get to it. But it's all it's not a time management, it's a prioritization thing. And if you don't budget for this, it's never going to happen. And the thing for me was, you know, until I got to this position, I was like one year looking towards the next. And then that next year, I was looking towards the next and it was like the years would go by and there was zero progress. And it's like, dude, you have to put the rubber on the road and drive

15:38that car. And it may not be the perfect time. But like you were talking about earlier, if the deal pencils and it works out for you, the future is not guaranteed. There might not be a perfect economic situation six months from now. So if it works now and you know that over this 30 year track, there's so much benefit and gains that are going to happen, it's okay. And we're on, we're on such a, oh, go ahead. Sorry. Yeah, it's just so well said. I mean, like the well formula we've already talked about, inflation's a feature, not a bug. Yeah. I mean, it's so clear to me, if you want to look any time in history, who wins? The answer is asset owners. So if the answer to the question is asset owners, what should you do? You should own assets. That's not hard. Yeah. Yeah. Well, especially in an inflationary environment, where we know that, you know, if you're in cash, you're losing every day. And the only thing that

16:40keeps up with cash are, you know, good assets. I shouldn't say all assets are non-performing, but good performing assets are the only way. And another thing on the financial discipline side, at a certain point, I felt like, you know, my front end was not matching my back end, meaning the image that I was portraying to people with the things that I would purchase wasn't matching the bank account behind me. And the front end has to match the back end. I saw, I saw a guy wearing a shirt the other day and he said, it said, stop, like quit. Oh, I forget what it was. It was something like quit acting rich, but or stop getting broke, being broke, trying to act rich. Yes. Wow. I was like, that is awesome. That says it all right there. You know, it's like, we need to be called out for our, you know, financial errors and stuff. Yeah, I think I heard Gary V say this for the first time, probably a decade ago. Basically, stop, stop acting rich to impress people you don't like. Yeah. I'm like, what are you doing? What are we doing people? It's crazy. Yeah,

17:43or the people we don't even know, or they never are going to be in our circle. So who cares, you know? Exactly. All right. What else do you got? This is fun. Let me see here. Well, definitely. Yeah, the know thyself and also all the other things that you say that might seem repetition, please keep up the repetition because I had to tune in for the first time at some point. And you know, sometimes I know we feel like it's a, it's a group and the whole group is always there, but every single show is going to be a possibility for a new commer to show up. And they're going to be just starting their financial journey. And I know there was things that you said that I'm glad you've said over and over because I don't want to miss it. If I tuned in after you dropped the revelation, you know, so all of those core fundamentals, I know I keep saying that, but all of those things that matter to the, to the foundation that we're building our financial house on keep saying those things. I love that you picked that up because again, you know, when I,

18:45when I, you know, when I, I still look to grow and all of that, I have to ask myself, I still say the same stories. Well, I could, they're my stories. I don't have any new stories, right? But you're absolutely right. I got to remember that every day is an opportunity for someone's first time. Yeah. Yeah. And yes, I'm sure some people have heard my stories a hundred times, which I think. But also it's every, like you said, it's, it's going to be everybody's first time eventually. So you got to, you got to keep going. So I appreciate that. Thank you. Absolutely. And then ORAP for me has not just been an educator, but an encourager because I need to get, I needed to get over a certain level of self doubt. Real estate always seemed like something that, that bigger guys would take on, right? It didn't seem like like I could buy some stocks, I could buy some crypto, I could get in on, on smaller dollar numbers. But when you get into real estate, you're playing with bigger numbers. And that required a bigger level of confidence for me to jump into and feel comfortable. So it wasn't just the education component, but the,

19:48the encouragement side as well. I needed both of those to get, to get to the place of pull in the trigger. Nice. Well, let's talk about pulling the trigger. You did just do your first deal. I'd be remiss if we didn't hear what you got. Tell us about it. Yeah. So, um, realize that San Diego was not the place where I, I felt like I could successfully cash flow something. And given the time demands, I knew I needed property management. So I was, at first, I started looking at other markets. And then I got to the place of, you know what, I really need to find somebody, somebody with a good business model. So then I started looking at business models, which led me to a company that, um, they work out of, uh, Memphis, Tennessee. And, you know, I first, I was like, yeah, Memphis, they've got a lot of crime and that, but I'm not living there. And, and I'm using certain things to help me on, on, uh, finding the best place out there. However, it's a, it's a, a blue collar working class area, stable rants, right? FedEx has their hub out there. They've got the river, the road, the rail, and, uh, the runway. So they're America's

20:50distribution center. There's a lot of things that supported having a rental property out there. Um, and we, yeah, we bought our first one in December at the very end of December. And now, it, so the, the first one is the hardest one. I was so hesitant. I'm like, you know, I had my finger on the trigger. And when I saw things, I'm like, no, it's not the right time. And then I saw one in the morning that I woke up and I saw that on my feet. I'm like, that's it. I felt it inside of me. So I jumped in. And now the funny thing is on the, being on the other side of the fence, I can't wait to get to my next deal. That's literally all of our disposable. That's going towards investing. It's going towards this. And so I made a little calculator of how, how many months is it going to take me to get back into my next property at this price and this price and this price. Because I want to, I want to be ready and I want to, I want to build this thing out as quickly as possible. We're budgeting for one a year, but hoping to do more than that. I do. First and foremost, one of years, an amazing target, amazing goal. Don't beat yourself up on that. If you did one a year for five years, you'd be ahead of 99% of people. So, um, be, be okay

21:56with that. There's nothing wrong with one a year. You don't have to go faster. So, um, I just want to say congratulations. You started the first one's the hardest. You got the proof of concept. You're on, you're on pace to get a second one. And, um, I just want to thank you for reaching out and saying you wanted to share your story. Absolutely. Absolutely. And if there's one more thing I could encourage people to do too is, um, if you have somebody that you know, even if they're not in your close circle, they might be distant and they're further along than you in any area real estate in particular, take them out to lunch, take them out to dinner and learn from them. I had taken out a handful of people just felt like, you know, if I'm going to use their, if I'm going to have access to their time, I should honor them for it, right? Like they had to pay a price to get where they got. And why should I expect that for free? At the least I could do is honor them with a lunch or dinner. So I had taken people out that were further along than me took notes. I was taking notes the whole time came with my list of questions wanting to make the best use and be

22:58productive of that time. And, you know, those nuggets I kind of rolled those in on the, on the person to person level at at the same time listening to all rat and taking, taking in everything that all rat puts out. So learn from others, be humble, always be learning. And, uh, just get excited. I mean, there's so much in front of us to be excited about. And the past is the past can't change it. Just look towards the future. Awesome. I appreciate you, Joel. Thank you for doing that. You could also join school. It's right there on the screen, uh, school.com slash or at, uh, almost 700 people in there go in the same direction. So, uh, Joel, I appreciate you. Have a great Sunday. You too. God bless you, Michael. Thank you. Thank you, sir. At Blinds.com, it's not just about window treatments. It's about you. Your style, your space, your way. Whether you DIY or want the pros to handle it all, you'll have the confidence of knowing it's done right. From free expert design help to our 100% satisfaction guarantee, everything we do is made to fit your life and your windows. Because at Blinds.com, the only thing we treat better than

24:02windows is you. Visit Blinds.com now for up to 45% off site wide, plus a professional measure at no cost, rules and restrictions apply.