Speaker 0 00:00:00 Welcome to the Investor Agent Podcast. I'm Steve Seymour, your host, where we help transform the human mindset from scarcity and lack to abundance of wealth, one conversation at a time. Hey guys. Steve Seymour here with the Investor Agents Podcast. I'm here today with Alex Martin. Alex, thanks for being on today.
Speaker 1 00:00:19 No problem, Steve. Glad to be here.
Speaker 0 00:00:21 So Alex, uh, you know, I, I like to typically dive into what got someone interested in real estate. Why would you take on being a landlord?
Speaker 1 00:00:30 Yeah. Uh, so, you know, initially I didn't know like what type of real estate like I wanted to do. Uh, so I don't have one of those like, interesting, like beginning stories. Pretty much. It's normal. Like the Rich Dad, poor Dad, you know, read that, that was the first book I read. Uh, actually my uh, college roommate who's now my partner, he was like, Hey man, you gotta read this book. Cuz we, we, we both talked like, you know, our senior year of college and we were just like, you know, yeah man, we, we don't wanna work for anyone. Like, we wanna start our own thing. Like, always just wanted to be a business owner, whatever, how that looked like, didn't know it was gonna look like real estate, didn't know if it was gonna be, you know, a different business. Just wanted to be a business owner. So I leveraged that poor dad, you know, that just obviously sparked a bunch of things in my head and I was like, wow, man. Like, you know. Yep. No idea. That was, you know, liabilities worked that way, you know, I assets worked that way, blah, blah, blah. And then after that I just read like 10 other books.
Speaker 0 00:01:25 Yeah. You know? So dive into that real quick, cuz you're like, as assets work this way, liabilities work this way. You know, just, just pinpoint a few things that you took away from that book.
Speaker 1 00:01:33 Yeah. So basically the, the things that are important in that book is obviously, um, you need to define exactly what a liability is in your life. Like, you know, you need to make sure that, you know, you're not looking at something in a way where it's actually like costing you money, but you think like it's not costing you money. Like, it's just really like a mental shift. And like, you know, obviously the big one in the book is like, you know, your personal residence. Like, people think that's like an asset because like, oh, like I got this equity in it, but it's taking money outta your pocket each month. So it's legit liability. So you need to make sure that like the things that are taking money outta your pocket each month, cars, you know, uh, credit cards, your house that you live in, those are liabilities and just, you know, you really just try to minimize those as much as possible in the beginning. So like you can start to gain, you know, assets that put money into your pocket each month, you know, whether those are stock dividends, real estate, you know, stuff like that.
Speaker 0 00:02:28 So. Yep,
Speaker 1 00:02:28 Yep. Um, that's the biggest thing that that book did is just basically like, define those attributes, like, you know, for me. So like I could be like, okay, like what are the assets I'm interested in?
Speaker 0 00:02:40 Funny how they don't, don't really teach that in school. I mean, I know like you go into finance, they do to a degree, but they don't break it down Yeah. In the way that you think like, oh, monthly, right? I have these, these checks going out and I have these checks coming in. That's
Speaker 1 00:02:53 A whole nother conversation. The schooling system. Yeah. We're not gonna go off, that won't
Speaker 0 00:02:56 On tangent,
Speaker 1 00:02:56 But <laugh>. Yeah. Um, school. So
Speaker 0 00:03:00 You read Rich Dad, poor Ad Sparks interest, kind of just got immersed in the information aspect. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:03:06 And I didn't even dive, I didn't even dive into real estate. Like in the beginning, like after I read that book, like, um, you know, again, I read other books, you know, about, you know, stocks, you know, stock trading, um, financing, general, you know, business ownership, um, mindset. So, um, I actually started like, you know, like currency trading and like penny stock trading, like initially. Okay, okay. You know, and all that stuff. And then like, you know, after, and I made like a little bit of money, like nothing crazy cause I was, I didn't have a lot of money at that time, but after I was like, dude, there was no way I could stare at a computer screen for like eight hours a day. Like, I didn't know, like, and obviously I know you could put like, you know, um, you know, ceilings and floors and stuff and, but like just staring at charts and everything and just I was
Speaker 0 00:03:48 Trying to understand
Speaker 1 00:03:49 About it. Yeah. Um, I'm not, I'm not like a very technical person. Like,
Speaker 0 00:03:53 So what shifted it to real estate?
Speaker 1 00:03:55 Uh, so what book was it? Uh, the Aire Real Estate Investor by, um, uh, Gary Keller. Nice. Yep. So that was kind of like what, um, initiated me, uh, to be like, all right, like this real estate thing sounds like really interesting. And then I, we started going to meetups, you know, this is after college now, uh, went to like a rich dad, poor dad, you know, seminar, went to, um, you know, local like, you know, Philadelphia meetups and stuff like that. Started just meeting people and um, you know, and then just kind of went from there. And then, um, after, so like, I had an initial drop outta college, a financial advisor at this firm. And then after eight months, I'm just like, you know what? Like, I got like no expenses, you know, I got, you know, like a little car payment and like, you know, health insurance and it's like, let's just try this thing and just
Speaker 0 00:04:41 See what happens. Good thing you did. So,
Speaker 1 00:04:43 Yeah, my parents were, uh, not ha well, they were just very skeptical. They were just like, you know, not as any parent would be,
Speaker 0 00:04:48 You know, how do they feel about it now? They're
Speaker 1 00:04:50 <laugh>. Just, I don't even ask 'em about it. Like, I'm, I'm
Speaker 0 00:04:53 Gonna ask, but if you had to guess would be like, they're very, you think I made the right move? You
Speaker 1 00:04:57 Know? Yeah. They, they're very proud of me. I know that. Yeah. Am And they were, even though that they were skeptical about it, they're skeptical. They're very supportive. Yeah. Like, I mean, I can't thank them the world enough for that because that's great. You know, that helped me definitely, you know, get to where I am today. So,
Speaker 0 00:05:11 So I like to pinpoint what made you take action, because this is the biggest thing. Most people just, they, they read the information, they read the books. Yeah. They get interested. And then I heard you say you started going to the, to meetups. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, was that, was that part of the, you know, the confidence take that gave you action? Or I'll tell you the one, what really was
Speaker 1 00:05:32 It? The one specific book was The Millionaire Fast Lane. Um, I, I can't remember the author's name right now. Uh, but that book definitely made me like, he literally had a specific exercise in that book that you do that like, pretty much made the decision in your head of like, if you should like, basically quit your job or not. And I literally did that exercise and like, you know, for verbatim,
Speaker 0 00:05:57 Like, damnit, why'd I do this exercise now? I gotta, yeah,
Speaker 1 00:06:00 Exactly. So like, you know, I did the exercise, wrote it on the piece, you know, piece of paper made the chart, you know, et cetera. And
Speaker 0 00:06:06 So you, you had the balls to quit your job before you even had some properties. Exactly. You just, you, I sweat you, you,
Speaker 1 00:06:11 Uh, I didn't have anything.
Speaker 0 00:06:12 You cut, you cut the cord, you, uh, burned the bridges, so to speak. And
Speaker 1 00:06:15 I was single, you know, I had a little bit of savings. I was living at home.
Speaker 0 00:06:20 Good for you for taking that leap. Yeah. So, so, and then, and then what did you do? You just get out there, what was kinda like your first deals? Like, how did you get into
Speaker 1 00:06:27 That? Okay. You wanna hear about my first deal? Yeah. Yeah. All right. So my first deal was, um, I met this, uh, gentleman, um, at, uh, Philadelphia Meetup, investor Meetup. Um, he won the most profitable flip award award in like, the members of like, of that meetup. Got it. So I was like, oh, well, this guy must know what he's talking. Yeah, yeah. He's doing, so basically I asked him, you know, take him out to dinner, like, you know, to, you know, just like, you know, connect, you know, introduce myself, all that stuff. So he agreed. Um, he lives up in like North Wales, so like, I went up there and like, we went to a restaurant up there. Um, and then I guess, you know, I impressed him a little bit, you know, enough to, you know, kind of, he was like, Hey, look, I need some help, like, on like the administrative type stuff, you know, for like my business, my flipping business and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 00:07:19 I'll give you a little bit, like a, a little bit, uh, monthly nut like a week to like cover your expenses and, you know, we can start collaborating and, you know, get you, you know, into real estate basically. I was like, done, like, you know. Great. Perfect. And, uh, so that's why that was my first kind of like, step into like a mentor basically. And, you know, the goal was to obviously get a flip, you know, do a flip with them, you know, stuff like that. Uh, so we found this flip in amr. Um, it was, you know, foreclosure auction. Um, he said, Hey, like, this is like our maximum allowable offer, you know, let's go up to there. So like, you know, we're betting on a bail on it, and, you know, we got it for, I think it was like, you know, like 1500, like two grand, like over our maximum allowable offer. And the one thing I did learn from him was, he's like, don't lose a deal over a couple
Speaker 0 00:08:05 Grand. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:08:06 So that's the one thing I did learn from him.
Speaker 0 00:08:08 It's a big, it's a big thing. Yeah. Especially for a rental, because
Speaker 1 00:08:11 Like everyone in the books and everyone, like on the podcast is like, have your maximum allowable offer.
Speaker 0 00:08:15 Yeah. Have your buy box. Don't go Right. Don't
Speaker 1 00:08:18 Break your rules, go over that. But you also gotta think of the long term. It's like, hey, like, is that two grand really gonna like, make or break the
Speaker 0 00:08:24 Deal? Well, especially on a rental that you're gonna keep for 20 years.
Speaker 1 00:08:27 Exactly. It's like you're gonna bite yourself. Yeah. You know, in 20 years if you didn't buy that property. Yeah. Probably. Yeah. It's gonna appreciate it's gonna, you know, obviously you're gonna have the equity into it. The rents are gonna go up, you know, over time.
Speaker 0 00:08:39 So don't be cheap. Don't
Speaker 1 00:08:40 Hear that. Don't be cheap guys. All right. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:08:42 Get in the game. All
Speaker 1 00:08:43 Right. I just helped my one f buy duplex and, you know, he's a little wary about the cost. I'm just like, don't lose it over this five grand man. I mean, you know, it's your first one, you know, you're not gonna look to make a ton of money off it, but it's gonna, gonna get you in the game and you're gonna learn a ton of a ton from the deal, and then you're gonna be able to get your next
Speaker 0 00:09:00 One. Yeah. What kind of education do you get for two Grant? Not much. Not
Speaker 1 00:09:02 Much. Not much. Not much. <laugh>. No. So, but long story short, uh, that flip, um, did not end well. Okay. So I ha so I, I borrowed some money from my parents. I brought my college roommate, who was like my partner esque at that time, like into the deal. So he invested some of his money and my money and all gone, all gone. And just basically what happened was, um, I was a little naive about like, you know, my mentor and everything. He was actually not in a good place at the time. He had a bunch of other like, projects going on that like, he was more focused on and like, you know, I'm a beginner. Yeah. I had no idea how to manage a flip. Like, you know, I was like, and I lived in media, so like, it was like a 50 minute drive. I'm driving up there every day, like trying to like manage these like subcontractors. No idea what I'm doing. So it just, like, that whole blew up. We had to bar like more hard money on the deal and like, it was just like a nightmare.
Speaker 0 00:09:57 So, so, so no profit and just got nothing. Everything got eaten up. Lost my money. Lost
Speaker 1 00:10:01 Your money. My partner's money and my parents
Speaker 0 00:10:03 Money. Oh, man. <laugh>. Well, I appreciate you sharing that. Oh, yeah. Because this is the thing where, you know, guess what? Are you glad you did that deal? Yeah. Why?
Speaker 1 00:10:12 Because you took action. You learned from it. Exactly. And it,
Speaker 0 00:10:16 This, this is, this it tough to say that is so key. Yeah. You know, it's hard to say it, right? Yeah. Yeah. Because in the moment, in the time you were not feeling, you were like, this is the worst idea. I should have never done this. Yep.
Speaker 1 00:10:25 And you could easily have quit there. I could have easily quit there. Got, and I did go get another job after that. I went to go get another job. Cause I, I, now, I have no money. You had,
Speaker 0 00:10:33 I clearly had
Speaker 1 00:10:33 Zero fricking dollars. So like, I still had some expenses I had to pay. So I got another job for a, um, you know, a little time, you know, after that. But I still told myself, I was like, I'm gonna figure I'm, I'm gonna figure this out. Like, I, I know I can figure it out. So that's the biggest thing is just like, you just need to, I mean, me personally, you need to have grit. Like you just need to have grit in this business. You need to just have that mentality of just like, I'm gonna figure it out. Shit's gonna happen. And, you know, just kind of like buckle down. Yeah. I mean the, that's the biggest thing, you know? Um, and that's not the only failure I've had too. Like, I've had failures along the way, you know, just of like, whatever a contractor's like, you know, stealing money from me. You know this, that it's
Speaker 0 00:11:16 Part of it. You just, part of it. You learn, you get better, you learn from your mistakes and you keep rolling.
Speaker 1 00:11:20 Exactly. But that's, I think the biggest thing of like, why people either stop or don't go into initially is the mind that mindset. And just like, you know, they think they need to like know everything. Like before, you know, they start. Yeah. And you're just not going to, you need to dive in and just do it. Right. You know?
Speaker 0 00:11:41 And now, fast forward to today, thank God you had the grit and you stuck into it. Yeah. Because what, share a little bit about what you're into now. What does your portfolio look like? Where are you heading? Yep.
Speaker 1 00:11:51 So, um, my, you know, I have a portfolio with a partner. Um, and I, I own some myself. So, you know, basically we have about 40 units out in like Coatesville and Chester County that we manage. And we have like, uh, five other units kind of like scattered. Like some in Delco and some in Delaware. Cause that's like where he lives. And then we have an Airbnb in Florida that we
Speaker 0 00:12:11 Bought last year. It's a nice little portfolio. Yeah. It's, and if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?
Speaker 1 00:12:15 29.
Speaker 0 00:12:16 29. Yeah. So 30 years old. Yeah. You got, you know, you got approximately say 45 different assets they're paying you Yep. Every month. Yep.
Speaker 1 00:12:26 So
Speaker 0 00:12:26 It's, it's, and you've managed to limit those liabilities mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And has that passive income exceeded your active expenses? Yep. Yep. Yep. So that's technically, yep.
Speaker 1 00:12:37 Technically, technically I'm financial free right now. I mean, like, I, I is the, is the residual income from the rentals complete passive? No, no. But at the same time, I'm here today, what is it, Thursday? Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:12:50 At
Speaker 1 00:12:50 1130, you know, shooting a podcast with Steve
Speaker 0 00:12:53 Because you want to, and because
Speaker 1 00:12:55 I can,
Speaker 0 00:12:55 I
Speaker 1 00:12:56 Have the time too. And I have the time because I built that portfolio up that, you know, basically
Speaker 0 00:13:01 It gives you some freedom,
Speaker 1 00:13:02 Gives you some freedom. I mean, you know, later today, you know,
Speaker 0 00:13:05 So you're in that millionaire fast lane, in my opinion now. Yeah. You know, and it gives you some freedom to make some bigger swings. Yep. Uh, you know, take down some bigger deals. Yep.
Speaker 1 00:13:12 Because that's like my monthly nut that I have. I know. Like that portfolio is gonna spit out at least enough, like for more than I need for expenses.
Speaker 0 00:13:21 Yeah. It's such a great spot to get to. Yeah. And, uh, you know, so why don't you talk about a little bit about where, where you're going with this, where, you know, what are you, what are your next steps? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 1 00:13:31 So we've built a pretty good t l in Coatsville. You know, we have, uh, a property manager out there, um, that is doing a good job. Um, we have, you know, couple contracting crews that, you know, do great jobs for us. So our bread and butters coatsville to buy, you know, whether it's single family, multi-family, you know, all that good stuff. Uh, what we're looking to do right now. And we're just solely focused on Coatsville, you know, where we try to be, you know, hyper-focused in our area because that just ma, you know, whenever we buy a property, not in Coatsville, it just takes up a lot of our time because we don't have our team out there in at those other locations. So what we're trying to do right now is just do less deals at higher price points. Um, and then basically, um, we will, uh, try to just JV with people that, you know, have those bigger buildings, um, and then just try to work with the city and just say like, Hey, like, what do you guys wanna see, you know, here? Like, what makes sense for us? And try to make like a win-win situation. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:14:29 So like really getting involved in the community too.
Speaker 1 00:14:31 Yeah. Get way more involved in community. So like, we're looking at an ideal right now, it's like an older school in Coatesville looking, you know, I, we know the city wants multi-family market rate, rent, you know, apartments. So we're looking to possibly convert that, um, into, you know, uh, market rate apartments and then, you know, a daycare on the bottom. So
Speaker 0 00:14:51 That's awesome.
Speaker 1 00:14:52 Um, so yeah, that's what we're looking to do this year is just, you know, yeah. Get into, you know, bigger assets, uh, you know, make more of a difference, you know, in the city of Coatesville and, uh, you know, and then go from there. Um, and possibly, you know, if the Airbnb in Florida does good as well, we have a good team out in there that manages it. And then if that goes well, we, you know,
Speaker 0 00:15:13 Continue, continue to buy them,
Speaker 1 00:15:14 Continue by them too. Nice.
Speaker 0 00:15:16 So, so, you know, what, what would you say, you know, when you talk about grit <laugh>, how do you know if you have grit?
Speaker 1 00:15:23 You got, you gotta test yourself. Yeah. You gotta put yourself in those situations. I mean, like, don't, like, you know, basically you gotta just kind of sit back and see like, hey, like, do I really have what it takes like to like, go through like a hardship like that? Like I bet you if I went to a bunch of my friends, like, hey, like tell them my first flip story. What would you have done after that?
Speaker 0 00:15:46 Most of 'em be like,
Speaker 1 00:15:47 The buzz have been like, why
Speaker 0 00:15:48 Would I do that? Would've
Speaker 1 00:15:49 I would have run for the hills. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:15:50 <laugh>, that's like your ta your tasteless ice cream. It's terrible. It's the worst ice cream I've ever had. Exactly. You know what I mean? It's, it's like who the
Speaker 1 00:15:56 Hell would like, who, like what sane human being actually would though. Right. But it's like, if you're passionate about it and like, you're just like, you have just like the no give up mentality, like I'm not gonna give up. Yeah. Just like wet, like
Speaker 0 00:16:08 Regardless you have, did you have like a vision for the bigger picture to keep you Yeah. You know? Yeah. So
Speaker 1 00:16:14 You're able to hold that the, when I got a taste of like, meaning people that like, had kind of like, you know, the finer things in life or like had that freedom, I'm just like, dude, if this guy can do it, like, there is no freaking reason, like, why I can't, like, there is no reason why I can't have like that, like, you know, better lifestyle or like that freedom, you know, to be able to, you know, do what I want, you know, on certain days and, you know, take time out for myself and my family and you know, not have to, you know, uh, ask someone if I need to go on vacation or whatever. Just all those scenarios. It's just when I like got a taste of that and I saw like people like actually had that life, I was like, done. Like, there's no way. Like I'm, I, I need to have that. Yeah. Like, you know, I need to have that type
Speaker 0 00:16:59 Of, would you say that surrounding yourself with the right people helped to keep that vision
Speaker 1 00:17:03 Alive? A hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah. That, I would say my biggest attribute is just developing relationships in my, you know, in my opinion to myself. Um, I think that's the biggest thing in this business is relationships. I mean, like, just going off that like Coatesville deal that we're looking at, I would, that would've never came across my desks if I didn't like, develop that relationship with, you know, pretty much my mentor. I own Coatesville that owns like, you know, 300 whatever units. So I mean, I've correlated that relationship over the last five years. So, I mean, he's seen me grow, you know, into what we're doing now. And like now he's like, all right, like, let's actually like collaborate and like, you know,
Speaker 0 00:17:42 So is this as simple as finding someone that's doing that you want to, what, what you want to do? It's
Speaker 1 00:17:47 Like literally finding someone, like watching who do I exactly want to become? Yeah. Like, and he's pretty much the epiphany, like literally the epiphany of like, who do you want to become and who's doing it? And just take that person out. I mean, most of those people are more genuine than you think that are gonna, you know, like take the time to, you know, go to breakfast or go lunch with you and just like, you know, have a conversation. Um, they want to give their time back. They want to, you know, see, you know, someone succeed, but you also gotta have the, you know, you gotta provide value too to them. So what we're providing value to him is like, he has like his projects that are like, you know, massive progress going on out there. And he doesn't have the time, like the, the things that count come across his desk. He's like, I just don't have the bandwidth. Yeah. I don't have the male capacity to like do this, but I know it's a good deal. Right. So like, why don't we just, you know, make something happen that works for both of us and take it down. So that's the value that we're bringing. We can invest the time equity now.
Speaker 0 00:18:44 So you can, you didn't come to him with like, how can you help me? You kind of came, how can I help you? How can I learn from you? What, what can I do to help you? Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:18:53 Yeah. So I mean, in the beginning he like, you know, when we bought our first rental out there, like, he toured it with me. I mean, I mean, this guy, I mean, yeah, he's a very genuine guy. Like, I can't thank him enough. Um, you know, shout out Crosby if you watch this. Um, but, uh, yeah, I mean he helped me, you know, in the beginning just to walk through like the first rental property and everything. Um, but yeah, later on, like when I started to buy more properties out there and I obviously kept seeing like the projects like he was doing, I was just like, you know, kept in contact, like, yeah. Like, you know, let me know if I, if you need help with anything, like, let me know, you know? Yeah. And I did a little bit
Speaker 0 00:19:28 Thing. It's a big thing just to be genuine and just, you know, be grateful when someone does share their time. Right. Because a hundred percent what, what's someone's like, like him, what's his time worth? You know? It's like Yeah. His dollar per hour is so high. Yeah. And he's doing it because he's just, you know, wants to give back. He's trying to Exactly. Help help other people. You know, not everyone's a crab in a bucket. Yeah. There are people that are looking to lift people up.
Speaker 1 00:19:48 I really do think real estate's a team sport. I mean, it really is. It is. It's, um, if you try to do everything yourself, like you're just gonna bury yourself in a hole, honestly, in my opinion. Um, because I tried to do that, uh, you know, kind of just like throughout the years. And I just think, like, it was just, I couldn't even imagine like even not having my partner, like having that whole portfolio like myself, like, cuz he, he does a lot of like, the backend stuff, like accounting and like, you know mm-hmm. <affirmative> and stuff like that. It's like, dude, if I had to do like all that stuff, I was like, dude, I, I, I wouldn't be able to be here. I'd be like, you know, like engulfed in like my, you know, bills and like, you know, all that stuff. And like the management and, you know, having a property manager, I'd be self-managing the whole thing and probably at the end of the day, wouldn't even put any more money in my pocket. Right. So it's just like really just finding those valuable people that are gonna Yeah. Basically like, make your life easier, but like, also you're helping them out too.
Speaker 0 00:20:42 So, you know, I got a lot out of this today. I appreciate you sharing all this. Yeah. Um, just to kind of recap a few things that I heard in here was I heard three books that were really instrumental, which was Rich Dad, poor Dad. Yeah. The Millionaire Real Estate Agent.
Speaker 1 00:20:56 Yeah. Investor.
Speaker 0 00:20:58 Investor. If
Speaker 1 00:20:58 You wanna Be an Investor. Yeah. I'm sorry.
Speaker 0 00:21:00 The
Speaker 1 00:21:00 Agent, the Millionaire Estate agent is very good too. Yeah. If you wanna become as an agent
Speaker 0 00:21:03 And then Millionaire Fastline. Yeah. The
Speaker 1 00:21:05 Fast
Speaker 0 00:21:06 Lane. So three great books. Yep. And then I heard get involved in a meetup. Yeah. Because how do you know, how do you find a mentor? Right, exactly. And then, um, once you identify someone who's doing what you want to do mm-hmm. <affirmative>, then make an initiative to get to know this person and build a relationship with them, A genuine relationship where you can help them. They can help you. Yeah. Win-win. Any other tips or tricks that you think was important? I don't even wanna say tricks, because, you know, more so principles, truths that you've learned through this business to, to help anyone that's listening out there, you know, to get started and then also to continue with that grit.
Speaker 1 00:21:42 For sure. Yeah. Uh, so go going back on like, you know, relationships and stuff like that. Yeah. Just having like a circle of people. Like, and they don't even like, have to be like, in your industry, just like, you know, friends in general that like, have like the same mindset as you and like, are like, you know, obviously like positive people. Like that's what helped me, you know, through, you know, whatever times I was going at. Like, you know, that flip, you know, whatever the, you know, contractor stole money from me or, you know, et cetera. I had a great circle of people that I could go to that would keep me in the game. Like, you know, and like get me out from like the hole that like, I dug myself, you know, and be like, okay. Like it's a bump on the road. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:22:23 This is a painful business if you try to do it alone. Yeah. Right.
Speaker 1 00:22:26 Yeah. So like that circle is huge. And, you know, I'm so thankful for my circle that like, you know, I, I've been blessed the circle that I've been able to create, um, for myself because without them, you know, I would, there would be a lot more bad days than good days I would think <laugh>. Yeah. So, um, so I think that's huge. You know, obviously you've heard your network is your net worth. Like it's true. Like just, you know, the power of just, um, being around those people are just going to emulate you to like, you know, become, you know, who they are and their positivity and just, it's just gonna help you like, you know, throughout the, you know, throughout the journey basically. So that's huge. Um,
Speaker 0 00:23:05 A lot of wisdom for 29. Oh, thanks. And, and, and I'll have to just,
Speaker 1 00:23:09 I'm still learning all every day, man. We
Speaker 0 00:23:11 All are every day. But, you know, the, the key is what I heard too in there that I wanna highlight is that, you know, you're grateful to be in this circle mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So if you were just, imagine if you were, if you had a circle friends and someone wanted to come in, right. Would you want someone that's grateful to be a part of that? Or would you want someone that just wants to take, take, take?
Speaker 1 00:23:32 No, exactly.
Speaker 0 00:23:33 Yeah. And like, so just think about the mindset shift. It's like, you know, if you, if you get an opportunity, experience that gratitude because people can sense that Yeah. And, and express it, right. When someone helps you with things like, yeah. Be grateful for these opportunities. My mentors have changed my life. Same, same story as yours. My story's almost identical. Different people, different things, different assets. Right? Yep. But still, uh, you know, rich Dad, poor dad mindset. Yep. You know, take an action, search for knowledge, surround myself in a group of people for sure. Finding mentors and then having a, you know, a tight-knit, uh, circle around me for when times get tough. Yeah. Right. To pull me up.
Speaker 1 00:24:12 Absolutely. And on the other end too is that, you know, with your circle, it's like sometimes you got, you know, move away from some circles.
Speaker 0 00:24:20 It's true
Speaker 1 00:24:20 That we're in their past. So like, you know, for me, like, I don't hang out with some people that were in my past just because, not because that they're bad people.
Speaker 0 00:24:29 No.
Speaker 1 00:24:29 It's
Speaker 0 00:24:30 Just like, they're just focused on different things.
Speaker 1 00:24:31 They're just focused on different things and they just have a different mindset. Yeah. So it's just like, I have to limit my time that I'm gonna spend with you and then, you know, I'm gonna spend more time on the people that are, you know, have the same mindset as me, want to go to the same direction as me. Absolutely. And then that's what's gonna correlate more things that are gonna happen for you in your life that you're trying to, you know, move towards, you know, whatever that vision is for you, whatever that perfect day looks like, you know, five, 10 years from now. Like, what do you want that day to look like? Hang out with those people that are moving towards that, you know, type of lifestyle. So that's all I can say.
Speaker 0 00:25:07 I appreciate you, uh, coming on today and sharing all that. No problem. I, I hope you guys as listeners found some value in it and more importantly, take action from something Yeah. Of this podcast, whether it be get a book, whether it be join a Meetup, whether it be evaluate your circle, you know, um, who you're around, search for a mentor, um, Alex who who could potentially work with you in some capacity who could help you out in terms of, you know, and then who, who can you help out in terms of, you know, whether investing together, bringing deals to the table. Yeah. Money. You know what, because there's money management deals. Yeah, exactly. Construction. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:25:46 We're, we're always looking for deals. So obviously if you have any good coast filled deals, you know, send 'em my way. Um,
Speaker 0 00:25:52 You guys close quickly for cash. Yeah. <laugh> make it easy as possible.
Speaker 1 00:25:56 Yeah. Money's not, yeah. Money's not a huge issue at this point for us. We have a pretty good like, uh, private lending network, so, um, yeah, for us it's, you know, deal flow, you know, as always.
Speaker 0 00:26:06 And you don't mind if an agent gets a commission, right?
Speaker 1 00:26:08 Absolutely not. Yeah. Yeah. No, either I
Speaker 0 00:26:10 Have, or if a wholesaler,
Speaker 1 00:26:11 A couple agents in Coatesville just send me, you know, pocket listings. It's
Speaker 0 00:26:14 Like, or if a wholesaler has, you know, a big, I'll tell you as on there, you don't care, I'll
Speaker 1 00:26:18 Pay you as much as long as it makes sense on my end, as
Speaker 0 00:26:20 Long as it pencils out.
Speaker 1 00:26:21 Yeah. Um, so definitely that. But you know, for me, you know, I'm more than happy to help anyone out that's looking to learn. Um, I just, you know, yeah. You just gotta show me that like, you know, you're ready to take action and, you know, you have the willingness and, you know, grit to do it. You know, if you got those things then you know, I can help you out. Cool. So
Speaker 0 00:26:39 How can people reach out to you?
Speaker 1 00:26:41 Honestly, just my phone number. I don't have any like, uh, social media presence really. <laugh>. I've been trying for years, but it's just like, not my personality, but that's all right. Uh, 6 1 0 5 8 5 8 0 2 7. Please don't call, just text. If you call me, I won't answer. Um, and you can leave me a voicemail and I'll give you a call back, but I won't answer the initial phone call. So text (610) 585-8027.
Speaker 0 00:27:06 All right. Thanks again, Alex.
Speaker 1 00:27:07 Appreciate it. No, thank you Steve. Appreciate it, man.
Speaker 0 00:27:09 Thank you for tuning in to the Investor Agent podcast today. We hope you found it valuable. Please tune in
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