Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Steve Seymour here with the Investor Agent Podcast. I have Greg Davis. Greg, thanks for being on today.
Speaker 1 00:00:06 Glad to be here.
Speaker 0 00:00:07 So this podcast is all about transforming the human mindset from scarcity and lack to abundance and wealth. And, uh, this is a very special, uh, interview that I have today because for me, getting into real estate and, uh, having that whole world of the investor opportunity open up, Greg was a huge influence. Uh, I believe it was 2007, came to an investor meetup and met Greg at Ryan's pub upstairs during his, upstairs in
Speaker 1 00:00:36 The back group. Yep,
Speaker 0 00:00:37 Exactly. And, uh, just want to thank him very much for not only being on today, but all the influence you've had on me and my career. So thank you, Greg.
Speaker 1 00:00:45 Well, I, it really goes back at you, Steve, because, uh, I wouldn't be where I'm at today too, without people like you and you in particular. You know, it, it's so cool to see where you've gone when you first came to that meeting to where you are now. And the incredible thing for me is I get to learn from you at this point, which is that, that's super exciting to me. Cuz that's how it should be, where the teacher becomes the student, the student becomes the master.
Speaker 0 00:01:14 Well, I appreciate that, but I think we're both still still learning and both learning from each other and helping each other out. So yeah, we just really wanted to kick it off. Um, you know, for anyone that's listening, why don't you start off kind of with your background about, you know, what were you doing before real estate and, you know, how did I know you, I know you've been involved in real estate in a long time in different capacities, so I'm just gonna hand it over to you and let you give them a little bit of your backstory. Wow.
Speaker 1 00:01:38 So, I mean, my family's been in real estate for 90 plus, 90 plus years. Um, my great-grandfather was a builder in Delaware County and, um, also owned rental properties. So, you know, that's kind of where things started from there. His, his one son, um, started, started a building supply company, which is well before the days of Home Depot, before Home Depot ever existed. Um, so in the town. So, you know, my great-grandfather had had, was a builder, had the building supplies with his one son, his other son then started a real estate company in, um, Ridley Park, Delaware County, and really just kind of had the vision to take things from there. Um, so my father and his uncle, uh, that owned the real estate company, uh, that started the brokerage in the 1960s. Um, I grew up around him, so I was always around real estate. It was part of things I was hearing about, things I was learning about. And, you know, my uncle was a great, my father's uncle. I called him my uncle because, you know, my father and my, my father and his uncle were very close in age. They were more like brothers. And I grew up around him and I just learned a lot from him. Um, so it was just, I had that immersion from a young
Speaker 0 00:02:54 Age. Yeah. The, your environment you, like you said, you grew up in
Speaker 1 00:02:56 It. Absolutely. Yeah. And, um, I just, just knew from a young age that I was supposed to be in real estate. I, I clearly remember it was middle school that I knew at some point I was gonna be in real estate. Wow. That's so's wild. So I took a, um, I took a little diversion <laugh>, uh, as you know. Yeah. Um, so I, I, you know, I mean, how it is when you're younger, you have ideas and thoughts and sometimes you figure out they're right and sometimes you figure out they're not. Right. Um, so I, I took a little detour. Um, I went to college and, uh, the, the major that I had, um, I started off in the school of business and there was some things in that that just weren't a fit for me. So, um, I took a year off from college and I moved, uh, to Ocean City, New Jersey and painted houses for a living and, and surfed and, uh, there you go. You know, kept doing that part of the lifestyle.
Speaker 0 00:03:49 That's like the retirement goal, right?
Speaker 1 00:03:50 Well, yes, in re in reverse, right? I, I did a little bit early <laugh>. Yeah. Um, so, uh, I came outta college with a degree. Um, you should probably be sitting down for this. Oh, okay. I actually have a degree from Penn State University that says leisure studies. <laugh>, it used to be recreation and parks. They changed it for one semester. So I have a leisure studies degree, <laugh>. Um, that's my technical degree. Uh, so I had this delusion that I was gonna go into beach resort management cause I was always entrepreneurial and move down to Florida, get into beach resort management down there, and then start a peripheral business, you know, running, um, charters or running jet skis or teaching surfing lessons. It's my
Speaker 0 00:04:32 Goals to just live on the beach and run out boogie boards,
Speaker 1 00:04:35 Of course. So I, so I had this, this goal and of course the financial side of that didn't really work out. And moving from here down there didn't really work. Um, so I, I, I tried to find a job in my career, really didn't find anything. And I took it, my detour, I took it, I got in involved with, uh, environmental consulting and remediation. And I got started in that in 1992. I guess it was, um, accidentally got into the business. Um, from there I worked for a couple different companies. I had my own environmental consulting and remediation company for a few years. Um, really didn't like the business was trying to get out. And then a company I worked for after I had sold the assets off of my business, um, asked me to come back on a part-time basis. I kind of fought it, um, ended up coming back on my part-time basis, which turned into full-time.
Speaker 1 00:05:30 And, uh, I, I grew that company from two and a half million in revenue up to six. Um, I gave notice that I was gonna go into real estate cause this real estate thing was always in me. Uh, when, in 2003 I took, I took the licensing classes and got my real estate license in 2003, was gonna go into a traditional real estate. And, um, my youngest child was born, she came along a couple months early. Uh, so she was in the NICU for, you know, a couple months. And I wasn't sure whether it was gonna be some health issues. My company, the company I was working for was negotiating to keep me because I had built them to 6 million at that point. And, uh, so they threw some crazy number at me. And I just took the safe fallback position and stayed in the environmental consulting and remediation business for another number of years. But, uh, in 2004, I had my real estate license. I bought my first rental property, and that's kind of where it started.
Speaker 0 00:06:23 That's where it started back up.
Speaker 1 00:06:25 Yes, exactly.
Speaker 0 00:06:26 So you couldn't, you couldn't really, uh, run away from that, all that influence that you had at a younger age where it, uh, came back around. And now, now fast forward and 2022 coming into 2023, you finally, the, you know, I know you said the other day you finally like, feel like you're in the right field and it's a big thing for you to be able to say that where
Speaker 1 00:06:48 A
Speaker 0 00:06:48 Hundred percent where a lot of people don't feel that way.
Speaker 1 00:06:50 Well, I spent 20 years in a, in a, in a business that I couldn't stand. And I was great at it. I mean, I was really good at it. Yep. Um, I made a lot of money. I grew that, that company to, you know, 11 million and to a transfer to sale. Um, but I just couldn't stand the business. I tried to buy that company four or five times and, um, just didn't, you know, and actually I'm glad I didn't, you know, real estate is really, like I said, I knew from a young age that's where I belonged. And, and the investing side, I'm, I'm passionate about. And, you know, the, the traditional agency side I like as well. Um, there's so much, there's so much value you can bring to somebody's life in real estate. Uh, help them create wealth, help them find a house, make a generational change by, by doing any of those things. So, you know. Yeah. I'm super happy to be here.
Speaker 0 00:07:39 Yeah. Yeah. It's amazing because, and you have so much background tied to construction, environmental, you know, just housing in general, different local markets, and it's like, you can apply all those things. So even though they were a detour, they still bring a lot of knowledge to Of course, yeah. The business because, you know, everything, I don't wanna say everything's tied to real estate, but most things are in some way or another tied to real estate. And, uh, I just know, um, you know, you, I know the value of what br uh, what Greg brings to the table. When you walk a property with someone, you have a different set of eyes Yeah. That are trained to see things that most people will not see. Just for example, like in underground oil tank or, you know, something, not that you could see it, but you'd see a fill or something.
Speaker 0 00:08:24 Could you, the evidence could indicate it, right? Yeah. Evidence of it. Yeah. And then, you know, or asbestos or something like that. And I know you're not gonna <laugh>, you probably don't want to cross the line in terms of what you're professional license, you know, what you're representing there, but Correct. Just having that knowledge walking through with someone is very helpful. And then one thing I want to highlight, and I want to ask you, Valli back to you, is just your, you know, you really opened my eyes up to investing. And in the traditional real estate world, a lot of the, of the real estate brokerages don't teach the knowledge that you learn at the local Rio meetups. Right. You know, the, we, we used to be a part of dig diversified investor group mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, there's a ton of great organizations out there that really focus on this education. And one thing Greg always like, you know, kind of, I don't wanna say always, but you, you open my eyes up to it was all the, the creative world of wholesaling, creative financing, trusts, you know, all that, all that, that whole world that just, when you get in the real estate brokerage world, most agents, they have no idea about it. They don't even know it
Speaker 1 00:09:28 Exists. It's linear. It's, it's a linear thought process. And most brokerages, and that's one of the things that I love about Vanguard, is
Speaker 0 00:09:36 Well, you influence that <laugh> well. Right. It's pretty cool, isn't it?
Speaker 1 00:09:40 Okay. Like, like, but you gotta understand like, that's, that's my passion, right. If the most important thing to me in life, and one of my core values is legacy. And, and by legacy, I don't mean having a building named after me, a street named after me having billions of dollars in the bank, uh, or being the richest guy in the cemetery. It's, it's, that's not what it's about. For me. True legacy to me is to be that pebble that starts the ripple in somebody else's pond that goes out generationally and makes a difference in their life. Not only just right now, but in future generations as well. That, that to me, if you want to talk about a why, that's my why for anything that I do. And to be able to see somebody like you that, that came to a meeting, that I was able to share something with, no matter how small that you just took and ran with, and to see the passion that you had for it. I mean, that's huge to me. Like that, to me, that's legacy.
Speaker 0 00:10:47 I think it's a important message for everyone to understand, you know, myself included, is that we don't realize the impact we have. Like you had a conversation with me Yep. You didn't realize the impact of that conversation. And then that little shift in trajectory in my life and then that compounding effect over so many years. Right. Like 15 coming up on 20 years now. Yeah. And it's like, holy smokes, you know, you really impacted me. And then, you know, a lot of times I feel like, oh, I'm not really doing much. I'm not really making that much of a difference. But then you see all the, all the little changes that people are making now, and then you think about what that, what does that look like?
Speaker 1 00:11:22 This is a big ripple.
Speaker 0 00:11:23 So it is, it's a huge ripple. Right. And so it's just so cool to be able to say that was something that was important to you and that that happened. And now it's like continuing to happen and we're seeing it within our company. Um, but for any listeners too, just be aware that just the little things, the little conversations you have, the little things you do to help people. And, and for us it's, you know, we're talking about helping people with real estate in their business and their life. Um, but really it goes for anything, you know. Sure. So, um, so without going too deep, you know, and going down the rabbit hole, let's go back to, you know, some of the, some of the strategies that you, you kicked off initially that really got me interested was wholesaling. And that's something that, you know, I don't really, I don't press upon a lot because I think it's a fine line being a licensed agent Sure. And wholesaling. I think there's a right way and a wrong way. You know, it's my opinion, there's, it, it, but it's difficult thing to do ethically. But for anyone that you know is interested, why don't you just tell people the very basics of it? Because I think people may be listening for different reasons. Sure. And we we're saying, saying some of this real estate jargon, like wholesaling
Speaker 1 00:12:28 That we know and trust, and it's very normal to us that yeah. People might not know
Speaker 0 00:12:33 Trust real estate or wholesaling, uh, flipping even finding off market deals. Some of the things that you really helped educate me on, I'd just like to kind of touch on a few things. So what is wholesaling to you and what, like, in terms of, how would you describe that for most people?
Speaker 1 00:12:48 And it's simplest form wholesaling is finding an off market property and getting it under contract in some form, and then selling that contract to somebody else and making a profit in in that zone. Yeah. Um, in that transfer, um, the, a lot of people get involved in wholesaling in, when they've come into real estate investing, that's kind of their first step. I'm gonna become a wholesaler. And the reason I think for that is the barriers to entry are super low. It doesn't take a lot of money. Um,
Speaker 0 00:13:21 All you really need is a piece of paper that that's and a pen. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:13:24 <laugh>. But here's the problem with that. Right. And I think this is important for people to understand. It's really the highest level of skill set is needed to be a good wholesaler.
Speaker 0 00:13:35 Yeah. To do
Speaker 1 00:13:35 It well, you need to understand how to market really well. You need to understand how to value properties really well. To negotiate, you need to understand construction really well to know what the repair costs are for, for, for what the end use is. Is it gonna be a rental? Is it gonna be a flip? What's it gonna be? Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:13:52 Most wholesalers don't,
Speaker 1 00:13:53 They don't, they
Speaker 0 00:13:53 Don't No clue what they're doing. They
Speaker 1 00:13:54 Don't. And, and, and so invariably what happens is you get on wholesalers list and they send you deals. And to them a deal is when somebody says yes to whatever dumb number they put out there, <laugh>. And, and, and I'm saying that with one. No,
Speaker 0 00:14:06 I know, right?
Speaker 1 00:14:07 I mean, it's, it's because they don't understand. They don't understand how to value the, the property, how to look at it and do comps, comp the property. They don't understand what the true repair costs are. And unfortunately it puts 'em in a situation where they're not gonna do well as a wholesaler. So if for anyone going into wholesaling, what I'd encourage is educate yourself. Spend some time with contractors, spend some time with other agents if you're not sure how to comp and, and understand how to properly value property properties, negotiation skills. Of course, marketing skills, marketing marketing's huge.
Speaker 0 00:14:42 Yep. Yep.
Speaker 1 00:14:43 So,
Speaker 0 00:14:44 And then, so you had, you have some experience from years ago in the wholesaling area, and then you also have experience in flipping. Yep. Right. Mostly in Jersey, I think, right?
Speaker 1 00:14:53 Yeah. Pri primarily, well, I mean, I, I, when I was home sailing, I was doing, I was doing a lot of stuff out in Lancaster area Okay. As well with, with flipping.
Speaker 0 00:15:00 So. And what would you say are some like, you know, key takeaways from, from being in the flipping business?
Speaker 1 00:15:08 The order of construction. Understanding the order of construction I think is huge. And, and luckily,
Speaker 0 00:15:13 So like the process,
Speaker 1 00:15:15 You have to under, you have to understand that demo comes before fixing something up, right? Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:15:22 Don't paint the house before the roof goes on and the roof is still leaking. And
Speaker 1 00:15:25 Where it really, where it really happens is, you know, order of construction is, you know, electrical rough in plumbing, rough in inspection sheet rock. You know, you have to have all these things in a certain order. And if, if you don't understand that and don't schedule properly, you're gonna have contractors on and subcontractors on top of each other and you're gonna mess up your schedule, then you're not gonna be able to get your contractors there when you need them because you've scheduled them too early and you have to send them away. So, I mean,
Speaker 0 00:15:53 You might have to redo things because you just did it too soon. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:15:56 Yeah. I, I think, I think understanding order of construction, if you're, if you're, unless you have a GC that's managing the, the project for you, I think that's huge. The other thing in flipping I think you really need to understand is costs, you know, what, what, what does it take to take down a wall and rebuild something else? Or what are the costs of the cabinets? What's the cost of the floor?
Speaker 0 00:16:19 Understand what does it really cost the
Speaker 1 00:16:21 Components? Yeah. Right.
Speaker 0 00:16:23 And it kind of goes back to what you're saying though, even with wholesaling. Cause you still have to find the deals. You still have to, so you still have to have all that, all
Speaker 1 00:16:31 That on top of
Speaker 0 00:16:32 All that. It's a lot. It's a big, big learning curve. It is. And you also have experience in buying rental properties. Yep. And what's your experience like that, in that, I mean, other than, other than the crazy landlord stories that everyone
Speaker 1 00:16:45 Has. Oh gosh. And I got some good ones. Um,
Speaker 0 00:16:47 And you can share some if you want, but, uh,
Speaker 1 00:16:49 I'll tell you the story later about how my tenants robbed a bank to try and paint me <laugh>. Um, that's, that's
Speaker 0 00:16:55 Always a form. That's for another episode.
Speaker 1 00:16:57 Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Um, some of those stories we used to discuss at the, at the subgroups. Yeah. I, I, when I was running the subgroup, I always used to do favorite land stor landlord story. And what did you learn from It was always an annual thing that I used to
Speaker 0 00:17:10 That's a good topic. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:17:11 It is a good topic because, and, and the stories are great, but there, if there's no learning in the room for, for it from it, oh yeah. There's no value. So, um, I don't know from buying rental properties, it's, you know, it's kind of the same as as anything else. You gotta know the value. You gotta know what the, what the market rents are. Um, screen knowing how to screen tenants is a, is a learned, is a learned skill. Um, and super important because that's really what's gonna help you protect it or not. And my, my preference when I rehabbed any type of rental that I bought was to, to repair it a little bit above what the level of a normal rental in the area would be, because I was always looking for a tenant that would stay longer and take better care of the place, you know? And did it work out a hundred percent of the time? No, um, but I did get, on average, I did get better tenants. I mean, I had a good run where I had my average tenancy was seven years across the
Speaker 0 00:18:09 Platform. Yeah, that's, that's really good.
Speaker 1 00:18:09 So it eliminates the turnover cost.
Speaker 0 00:18:11 Yeah. Because that's your, that's one of your busi biggest expenses is turnover. Absolutely. Yeah. And then how about on the management end? Did you do some of the management yourself? Do you
Speaker 1 00:18:19 Yeah. So I, if you're gonna go into the business, I definitely recommend that you self-manage at first, because that's the only way you're gonna learn it. But you have to understand enough about yourself to know where you're good and where you're not. And you know, I, I tend to try and avoid conflict. Um, so I'm more giving, I guess, than, than maybe I should be. Yeah. Um,
Speaker 0 00:18:43 Yeah, I see that a lot with landlords. They're like, oh, you know, cuz it's the human aspect and they sure feel bad and the tenants always, they've always got a good
Speaker 1 00:18:50 Story. But do you want the fix for that? What's that? So, so the fix that I learned from me and how I how I operate was I have a management company that I own Yeah. That my wife's a partner in. Okay. So when somebody would ask me, you know, can we paint the, the walls lime green with, you know, brown dots on it, I would go, man, I, I don't know. I let me go talk to, to the owners,
Speaker 0 00:19:16 <laugh>, let me go check with my partner. Right.
Speaker 1 00:19:18 And then, well, I wouldn't say my partner Oh, the owners. I didn't, I didn't, I don't want people to know that I go in the properties. Yeah. Um, just a per and
Speaker 0 00:19:24 Just the property manager,
Speaker 1 00:19:24 It's a personal preference. Right. So I would, I would say, you know, I, I don't know. And I'd go, I said, let me go make a phone call. And I'd go and I'd walk to the end of the sidewalk and get on the phone and talk to myself and come back and go, oh, um, I'm sorry. They're just, they really don't want that <laugh>. So, and
Speaker 0 00:19:43 It just, it gives you that little bit of space.
Speaker 1 00:19:44 It relieved me of that Right. Pressure of having to, if it was a difficult situation that I didn't really want to handle or didn't want to tell them no, it gave me a way to tell somebody no. To operate the business properly. Yeah. But not, you know,
Speaker 0 00:19:57 Not be the bad guy. Be the messenger.
Speaker 1 00:19:59 Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, that, that always worked out well. And the other one that I really, really loved was, um, because I worked for the, for the management company, I always just told my tenants that I'm an employee of the management company, which was true. You know, I'm, I'm an employee of my own llc. Um, so when somebody doesn't pay you rent, you know, you can always have the conversation, which works very well, you're gonna get me fired. And, and people can relate to that. Right. <laugh>, I mean, that's true. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:20:27 Yeah. I know. It's just funny listening to it.
Speaker 1 00:20:28 It's, it's absolutely true. But it's, but that, that's true. People don't wanna see somebody else get fired because of them, but if they think you own the property and they think that you're a Mr. Monopoly, right. And you, you have deep pockets and, and all that, now they're more apt to approach you differently. So that was a key learning from
Speaker 0 00:20:46 There. You go. Lot lots of little nuggets of wisdom for anyone out there, because there's one thing, you know what it looks like in a book or on tv, but when you get out there, it's different. These are the things that really make a difference. Yeah. There's nothing in little
Speaker 1 00:20:59 Tiny that I saw about robbing a bank to Yeah. I've never seen that one before.
Speaker 0 00:21:03 All right. So with your background in real estate sales mm-hmm. <affirmative>, wholesaling, flipping rental properties, renovations, environmental construction, there's a lot there. A few. Um, you know, one of the things that, you know, you, you kind of mentioned was being in the right place, like being in the right field. You've tried all these different things and for anyone listening that's, you know, kind of been on the fence about which direction do they want to go, just listening to someone that has had so many different things and tried so many different things, what would you recommend? For anyone that's like, they feel compelled that they want to be in real estate, but they don't know where to start and they're, they're maybe in that job, right? Because like, that was the Sure. In the j o b, in the safe world with you, that was a big thing for you to, to take that leap. So it's a, it's a multifaceted question, but which direction should they head? And then more importantly, how should they have that courage to take that step? Cuz that, that's, that's a big one. The courage is a
Speaker 1 00:22:14 Big piece. Great question. So let, let's start with where should they go? I think it's really skills inventory, right? What are you good at? What are you not good at? What are your, the SWAT analysis basically, right? What are your strengths, weaknesses? Um, opportunities.
Speaker 0 00:22:30 Opportunities.
Speaker 1 00:22:30 Threats. Yeah. And threats. Yeah. What are you, and what are you good at? If you're, if you're really bad at construction, I don't know that diving right into flipping is the right thing for you. I agree. You know, um, however, if you're really interested in flipping and you know you're bad with construction, then pay a contractor to come with you. Mm-hmm. It's, that's worth every dime to understand. Because at that, after you do that, a number of times you're paying the contractor for his time, which contractors give a lot of time. So they need to be paid for their time first and foremost. But if you pay them for your time, for their time, you're gonna learn something and you're gonna be able to walk into a house with some level of comfort and go, I know this kitchen's gonna cost me 12 grand. I know this bathroom's gonna cost me six or eight grand. You know, just by having those conversations with the contractors, and you're gonna do better in in that, in you're estimating. So I guess that's, you know, take a skills inventory to figure out,
Speaker 0 00:23:27 Figure out what you're good at.
Speaker 1 00:23:28 Yeah. I mean, if you're good, if you're good at marketing, then maybe wholesaling's a good way to go. But if you're not, if you're weak in negotiation, then maybe you do the marketing and you have, you bring on a VA to do the
Speaker 0 00:23:40 Yeah. Yeah. So what I'm hearing is figure out what you're really good at, figure out what piece of the business that matches up with, and then maybe either partner with someone or find out ways to compliment your strengths, uh, with someone else, someone else's
Speaker 1 00:23:55 Strengths. I think, I think the local,
Speaker 0 00:23:57 And I'm not saying definitely partner, but maybe no, but maybe that's just working with someone or hiring someone or
Speaker 1 00:24:02 Hire somebody, partner with them or, or even just get education. I mean, go to the local Rs. I mean, they're out there. Um, the meetups, the Rs, I mean, that's where,
Speaker 0 00:24:14 It's how I got started, right. How
Speaker 1 00:24:15 That's how I got started. So that's how I really learned things that I didn't know and wasn't exposed
Speaker 0 00:24:19 To. And just surrounding yourself with people that are already doing it. That's
Speaker 1 00:24:22 Right. Ask the questions. Yeah. So,
Speaker 0 00:24:24 And then what about for someone that's like, they know they want to be in real estate, they have the nine to five and maybe they have kids, maybe they have, you know, a mortgage payment. Maybe they have all these fears around that. And it's like, cuz it takes a leap of faith.
Speaker 0 00:24:38 It does. You know, and you're gonna walk away from that, that steady W two. And I know it's not easy for anyone, um, but something came up inside you where it was like, I gotta take the leap because I've been in this for too long. When I say been in it, being in the field that you're really good at and you make really good money at. But it's not your passion. It's not what you love. Yeah. Not many people do that. Most people just stay put. So I'm trying to, you know, pinpoint what was it in you that that gave you that initial, uh, I don't even wanna say initial, but that, that it's really courage and, you know, taking action in the face of fear.
Speaker 1 00:25:19 So my initial was 20 years. I mean, really. Right? Yeah. I mean, I, I mean, a good friend of mine, a college roommate had an interesting comment. And he, every time I told him I wanted to get out of the environmental business, he said, you've been saying that for 20 years. I've heard that for 20 years. You've been telling me you're gonna get out. And when I finally made the move to get out and go into real estate as a full-time venture, he said, I'm glad I don't you really, you really did it. He said, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna call you a year from now and we're gonna talk about this. And I know that you're kind of freaked out about making the move and all that. I want to know how you feel. And he called me a year later and he said, okay, so it's been a year you made, you made that decision. Was it the best decision you've ever made in your life? And I said, absolutely, 100%. Um, it's been a struggle. It, it hasn't been easy. Um, it took me a long time to get through that. I mean, I was making very good money where I was. Um, and had some other opportunities too. Um, when you have a family, you make decisions very differently. I I absolutely would've gone into real estate full-time in 2004 had it not been for my daughter. Yeah. Coming along.
Speaker 0 00:26:36 Yeah, I get it. I mean, a lot. It's, it's very normal to say, you know, safe to, I gotta take the Yeah. Safer route. Um, but I commend you for taking, you know, the, I don't wanna say the risky route, but the route that's more true to yourself, right. Because it's kinda like you sell out on yourself a little bit every time. Yeah. You don't do what you really want. And I think that, that, that is key. And just hearing you say like, I know I'm in the right business. No, it's not easy. Yes, there's struggles, but at least I feel right about it. You know, that's, at the end of the day, you have to look in the mirror and say, is this right for me? And it's not easy to answer,
Speaker 1 00:27:13 But I was there for 20 years. Yeah. I wasn't happy. I'm not getting any younger. I know that's where I've belonged since I was a kid. And I just had to, I had to finally just do it on faith, make, make a plan, and do it on faith. If, I guess if I'm gonna be logical about it, I would encourage anybody that's gonna make that switch. Um, if you're gonna go into real estate, have a year's worth of expenses put to the side. I mean, that's, that's your safety net. Yeah. Or two. Yeah. Um, that's really that the hard break for me was the level of money I was making, doing what I was doing and hating what I was doing, but also knowing I'm getting older and if I don't make this decision now, I'll probably never make it. And then the check that I'm gonna write to regret at the end of my life is gonna be much larger than I really wanted
Speaker 0 00:28:09 It to. And I think that's key right there. Just knowing that at the end, at the end of your life, you would've re regretted not doing it, not taking that leap of faith. And what I really heard was faith over fear. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, just having, just believing in yourself and that it's going to work out and taking that leap. So, you know, for anyone that's out there that's listening, that's in that job, that <laugh> really, they, they know there's something else out there. They've been pulled, they've been called to real estate, but they keep putting it down. You know, everyone around them's telling them, okay, when are you gonna do that? When are you gonna do that? And you just keep putting it off, you know, I wanted to pull this outta Greg because I think it can really transform what I just said at the beginning, transform the human mindset from a, you know, scarcity and lack, which is I'm not gonna have enough. I'm not gonna have enough. It's not gonna work out to abundance and wealth, which is taking that leap of faith and really trusting in yourself and knowing that this business creates more millionaires than any other business, you know, in the United States. Sure. Yeah. And if we can do it, you can do it <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:29:13 That, that was a big thing for me. Um, I knew I was gonna take a step back from, you know, financially, from an income standpoint, but I know it's temporarily. But that, that's my big point. Short term it, I knew that was short term little drop. I, I know that the, I know the possibility and the reality is that I'll up my game to another level where I'll just laugh at what I was
Speaker 0 00:29:35 Doing before. Yeah. And, and you said that with so much confidence that I could just feel it. Like he's like, I, like I know a hundred percent. I know it's gonna happen
Speaker 1 00:29:43 A hundred
Speaker 0 00:29:43 Percent. And, and it takes a while to build that up, you know, to get to that point. But again, we're not saying that real estate's easy and it's all <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:29:52 But
Speaker 0 00:29:52 The, the market, there's a lot of challenges.
Speaker 1 00:29:54 Marcus changing. I think there's more opportunity out there than there was. And that was part of it. For me, I'm passionate about the investing side and, and what the way the market was so crazy to try and step off and find those off market deals. And not to say it can't be done. There's plenty of people doing it. Yeah. There's plenty of people doing it. You can do it in any market. But for me personally, I sat on the curb for a while. I stopped, I stopped the investing stuff, I stopped buying flips, I stopped buying rentals. I just kind of sat and watched and market shifting. Now I think there's opportunity in traditional retail real estate, and I think there's opportunity in, in investing right now.
Speaker 0 00:30:31 I agree. I think there's gonna be more opportunity coming down the pike too.
Speaker 1 00:30:34 Agreed. I'm looking forward to it. I'm actually excited about it.
Speaker 0 00:30:37 So, Greg, for anyone out there listening that you know, might wanna work with you, what are some of the areas that you cover and how can you potentially help them?
Speaker 1 00:30:46 Chester and Delaware County, um, is really my, my home court, but I'm super familiar with New Jersey. Um,
Speaker 0 00:30:54 Where in New Jersey?
Speaker 1 00:30:56 Burlington County. Camden County, Gloucester County, uh, and the coastal areas. So Atlantic County, Cape May County, um, I mean,
Speaker 0 00:31:04 All your surfing days. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:31:06 I,
Speaker 0 00:31:07 Greg's really a surfer and he just happens to have his real estate license
Speaker 1 00:31:11 And it's not, it's not days. It's, it's still current. So I've, I've been surfing since I was six years old and I'm not stopping until I die.
Speaker 0 00:31:18 There you go. I love that. Um,
Speaker 1 00:31:20 So yes, the coastal areas, New Jersey,
Speaker 0 00:31:22 That's definitely faith over fear. Oh yeah. Getting out
Speaker 1 00:31:25 There. I am super familiar with the coastal areas and, and, um, I'll take any excuse to be down there. So, you know, and I'll always do a wave check when I'm down
Speaker 0 00:31:35 There too. And do you, do you work mainly with, um, you know, home buyers, home sellers? Or do you work with investors? Both.
Speaker 1 00:31:43 I'll, I'll work with anybody that is a fit. Uh, you know, and I know that sounds kind of odd, um, but we all have our, our specialties. I mean, if somebody, some who I appreciate working with is somebody that appreciates, appreciates what I bring to the table. We talked about, I'm not your typical agent. I, I have, I build houses ground up, I walk into a house, I see things that other people don't see. I see things sometimes that home inspectors don't see. Um, first rental property I bought, the home inspector missed the fact the, the heat exchanger and the gas fired forced air hot air hot, hot air heater was cracked. I caught it. Thankfully I did because I could have had a situation where I had carbon monoxide, carbon monoxide going in carbon with tenants in the
Speaker 0 00:32:31 Property. That's a big environmental issue. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:32:33 Um, it's a safety health issue. Health hazard. Yeah. So and so in any case, um, you know, I, I appreciate working with people that, that appreciate somebody that has those skills and can give them honest answers on a property and, and I'm not,
Speaker 0 00:32:46 Yeah, if you want someone that's gonna sugarcoat stuff, then yeah, I'm not, I'm not, not <laugh> make you feel good. Not the guy. No. But if you want some real practical knowledge and understanding construction, understanding how to evaluate properties in terms of comping them correctly, you know, valuations. I would say Greg, Greg's more on the analytical side than the the touchy feely side.
Speaker 1 00:33:09 Oh yeah. I'm, I'm definitely more, um, analytical than I am. Um, emotional. Yeah. Emotional thought process is not one of my strong suits.
Speaker 0 00:33:17 And that's okay. Like you said, you took the skills, you know, you, you know, your skills now where a lot of people try to be something they're not, and you just focus on what you're good at and you'll track the right clients for that reason.
Speaker 1 00:33:29 I think you find in this business, there's a lot of agents out there because the barriers to entry to becoming an agent are relatively low. Um, there's not a ton of practitioners out there. Um, and that's not really, I'm not trying to knock anybody. It's just that there's a lot of people, I think, in this business that get into this business with this false pretense and it's work. And you have to understand things that'll, it's, it's no different than stepping into wholesaling. Right. It it, on the agent side of the business, there's a lot of things you gotta know.
Speaker 0 00:34:00 Yep. There is. Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 00:34:03 To be good at it.
Speaker 0 00:34:04 Yeah. All right. Well, Greg, thanks for being on any, thanks for having any last words of wisdom for anyone out there looking to invest or get into real estate.
Speaker 1 00:34:13 Yeah. Uh, if you think you're going to get into, to real estate, uh, as an agent or investment, my advice would be not to take 20 years to figure it out. I might, my advice to you would be to come up with a plan and do it. Um, you know, I've been passionate about real estate since a young age, and it took me that long to really make the move and do it. Um, so I encourage you not to waste that time. If you, if you want to do it, get involved. Get involved, find the resources, talk to the people, talk to you,
Speaker 0 00:34:43 Talk. Yeah. Reach out to either one of us or absolutely. We're at least happy to point you in the right direction.
Speaker 1 00:34:47 100%.
Speaker 0 00:34:49 Greg, thank you so much. Thank you for everything you've done for me. And thank you for, thank you for everything for today. Me being on here. Hopefully you guys found this to be valuable and take some information, but what he said at the end, don't wait. Yeah. If you're gonna do this, do it now. Do it now. Money.
Speaker 1 00:35:04 Love. Speed.
Speaker 0 00:35:05 Love it. Okay. All right. Farewell. Happy New Year. We'll see you next year.
