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Action Academy | Millionaire Mentorship For Your Life & Business
From Sleeping On A DIRT FLOOR In Africa To Owning 156 Units (Within 4 Years) w/ Yamundow Camara
01:08:16
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- [00:00]
A
What's up, everyone? It is rare that I do a podcast episode where I don't really talk very much. And that's the case in today's episode because today's show guest Yamu had such an amazing story of overcoming so many obstacles, so much adversity, that I just shut up and let her tell her story. So I want you guys to listen to this, share it with as many people as possible. Re listen to it if you need to. If you are in a bad spot, good listen to this. It'll get you out of it. It will get you through it. If you're in a good spot, good listen to this. It will give you gratitude and appreciation for where you are in your life. Yamu went from sleeping on a dirt floor as an orphan in a village in Africa, overcoming so much abuse to finally getting away to come to America, make something of herself, begin investing in real estate, and build up over 156 unit portfolio with over $1 million in passive cash flow per year. And she did all of this. She built her entire rental portfolio within the last four years, starting without a driver's license, without a car, without any money. She pulled it off. And so lastly, before we started this, Yamu was kind enough and brave enough to share her entire story with us unfiltered. So I did not edit this podcast at all. So there are some things in there that are quite difficult to hear. And she is just a very strong and resilient woman. And now I'm proud to call her my friend. So I hope that you guys get as much from today's episode as I did making it for you as I recorded it. Let's get to the show.
- [01:42]
B
Okay, that's good.
- [01:43]
A
Yeah. All right. All right, Yamu, welcome to the Action Academy podcast. How are you?
- [01:51]
B
I'm doing amazing. Thank you so much, Brian, for having me.
- [01:54]
A
I am so excited to share your story, to share your mindset, to share your journey overall with the listeners today because they will not only gain an intimate knowledge and understanding of real estate investing, but also just a mindset and a feelgood story to where whatever anybody's going through that's listening to this, if they're in their car, if they're on their way to work, they will feel so inspired by who you are and what you've accomplished that they will break through a freaking brick wall. Hopefully they don't damage themselves while they're doing it and. And then they can go make millions of dollars. So Yamu, walk us through. You know, where are we at today where we're starting this conversation in 2025.
- [02:39]
B
Okay. So 2025, for those of you listening, welcome and I'm so happy to be here. My name is yamunda. I'm at 156 rental units within four years.
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A
Woo. 156 in four years. And guys, I asked her, I was like, you know, I read an article that says that you cash flow $80,000 a month. And what was your response to that?
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B
Well, that's two years ago.
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A
Two years ago. So now we're fluctuating between 120 to $150,000 a month in cash flow.
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B
Right on a good month, about148.
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A
Boom. Love it. I love, I love knowing the numbers. So guys, if you're wondering how she did that, you started with obviously millions of dollars, trust fund parents that were giving you everything that they had, correct? I wish not so much. Walk us through your journey. Walk us through how we went from literally living in Africa, coming over to the United States and then building this portfolio across four years.
- [03:42]
B
Yes. Let's go. I hope you guys are ready. I'm going to try my therapy. Always tell me the more you cry, the more you tell your story, the better you feel. And usually it's like therapy session. So let's go. I hope I don't make people cry this time, but my name is make him.
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A
Make him sob. Yeah.
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B
I'm a cry myself, so I can't help myself. But. So I grew up in a small country called the Gambia in West Africa. It's called the Smiling coast of Africa. It's very tiny. And our cultural difference existed to America is way different, way totally different. So I grew up as an orphan. My mom passed away when I was 2 and my dad passed when I was 11. So for me in our culture, a girl child education is not for you. So by 14, it's time for you to get married. So usually when a girl child is born in my tribe, another person, another family will tie a rope on their hand and say, oh, we're going to, this baby is going to marry one of my sons or one of my grandsons. So they have this arrangement. So you grow up knowing who you're going to marry. Whether you like it or not, it's already been arranged. Bride price is paid. Bright price is like you know here when you get an engagement, you know, you engage your fiance. A bride price is paid from a family to a family, meaning that's the price of the bride. So it could be a goat, it could Be a piece of land, farmland. It could be a cow, it could be color, nut. For those of you who don't know, Colonna, you can Google it. We use it for transactions in Africa. So in my tribe, that's what we do, right? So I already grew up knowing who I was going to marry anyways. So my parents passed in early. My sister, it was time for her to get married, to take us with her. So she had to take me and my brother was five years older than me to her husband's extended family home. So in. In our. In our villages, we live in extended homes, extended families. Like, okay, so if you have, if your father has six, six kids, right? And we have one family can have 36. One man can have 36 kids. Because you have multiple wives, right? So in your household, you can have four wives. Because four wives can have 20, 20 sons or 15 sons. Each of those sons, when they grew up, they don't leave because they have the piece of land. So they just build, build, build. So it's like a whole family could have like 50 people or 60 people. So that's how it is. So I have to go with my sister, had to take me and my brother with her to her husband's extended family home. Does that make sense? So we went through, especially my brother went through a lot of physical abuse for me was physical and sexual emotion. I'm trying not to cry, but a lot of, especially physical abuse. But one thing that was always prominent in my life is God. Like, God, I cannot tell you how, like, he's everything to me. This makes sense. And as we go on, on my story, you will see what I mean by that and my faith in, in what God can do and what he has done and still continue to do for me. So for me, it was school, right? I was good in school. So a girl child. Yeah. School. School from the. My country was colonized by the British, so they will come and build school. So at least a level of education. So you gotta read a little bit or just get to go to school, right? So for me, I was good in school, right? So for a female child by middle school, it's time for you to get married. So you were just in school just because, Right? And then the male child will go on to go to high school, whatever. So for me, I was good in school. I started taking first in class and then first in whole school and then start taking force in the region. So they will start listing, putting the names of students that have done great in different villages in the City magazines or city News. There's just one radio, one TV station. So they will show. Oh, these are the kids that did well there. So my name is usually in the list, right? So my aunt, my mom's elder sister, she was older because she's an adult. Adults are called elders and they. They can make change. Like, they can lobby for you, even though the male adults are the one that make the decision. So when it was time for me to get married, like, the man is ready. Like, auntie was like, she's doing good in school. We're not paying for school fees. We can just let her continue. He can just go marry someone. We know she is gonna marry him anyways. Like, she belongs to him, literally. So he can go marry someone else. Let her finish. Like, we're not paying for school. The teachers help her with shoes. Sometimes I go. Not sometimes. 99.9% I go to school hungry, right? And for those of, you know, for a child that's been abused, excessively sexual is. They're usually bed wetters. Now, I understand that from my therapy, but I used to wet in bed, so they would not let me sleep on the beds. They will let me sleep on the floor. When I say floor, I mean like dirt floor. Like dirt floor. So what I would do is I'll go to the shopkeeper, like a stock keeper in the corner, and I'll get boxes. You know the boxes you use here when you're moving from Home Depot and you put your stuff. I'll just cut them into rectangular shapes and I'll just weave them together and that's what I'll sleep on, on the floor to get away from, you know, when it rains the. What's that little thing? That's not a snake. It's not a snake, but it's worms. Like the worms. Sometimes I wake up, the worm is like next to my ear. In Africa, we have a lot of mosquitoes, right? So I would get malaria. I remember one time I was laying down floor and they have a guest. Not that we don't have beds. They do have the beds now. My father was really poor, right? And he was sick. So before he passed away, we would go to visit him, me and my brother, until I was 11. Then he passed. But when we go to his house, like, he's poor, but this family is not well off. But my father's way poorer. So when I remember when I go to my father's house, like, it would rain and they would put buckets so the water would get in the bucket. So it doesn't wet the float. That's how bad it is. And sometimes it's a mud house. So the. Some side of the house will be melting because of the water coming in at a different angle. So we'll put plastic stuff on it or something like that. So when we go visit David, I'm so happy to be around him because it's happiness. Like I feel the love there. You just don't have the money. So we will go sometimes just breakfast or sometimes just dinner. It's always one meal or no meal. So but we. He has a lot of fruits in the house, like mango trees and stuff. So we eat from that. So I'm happy child, like when I'm there. But when I'm over there, the abuse and all of that. When I go to school, I feel better because the teachers are like, oh, there goes the smart girl. And they're lobbying for me to get scholarship. The principal, some parents will give used shoes, or they call it hand me down stuff here. I used to be very happy to have shoes. Sometimes I'll go wear slippers and the slippers will cut. I would take candle and stick up to the fire and then stick the slippers together because they will just come like no one. So those are the things that happen. So me sleeping on the floor, that was. That was something that. Oh, There's a lot of stuff that. That would happen during those times. And most of the times I will wake up like an 80 year old girl and I'll wake up and I'll just. The belks will be on bed with like bed bugs. I will have bed bugs with me. I have a lot of lice. So I'll just get up and kill them on the wall, you know. And most of the time when it rains especially, it's a lot of bugs, a lot of like snails and stuff that try to come into the house. So I would not. I would not be able to sleep. So I would get up and I always dream one day I'm gonna walk so hard. I'm gonna have a house and have a toilet or have a bed. I'm gonna get a mattress. So I've always been obsessed with my friends that always have house. Like always. Like when I visit them in the city, want to go to school, and they say, oh, let's go to a house to study. And I go with them and they have a bed and they have a mom. I mean, I can create a mom. The bed's always like, oh, you have a toilet, you have this because our toilet's different. You go to the back of the house to use the toilet, and it's like a load hold. You stand there. I know this will be so bizarre to most Americans because you never imagine it, but if you Google it, you will see what. What I'm talking about. You will see. Like, so that's how it started. So a lot of people ask me why in real estate. I would not say it's because of those moments, but when I was sleeping on the floor like that, and I wake up in the morning, I go throw the. The boxes that I. I peed on. And I'll repeat this circle. I'll go to the subcare, and sometimes I have the subkeeper's wife babysit, and in turn, he will give me those boxes. But that's how, like, for me, it started. Like, one day I'm gonna walk so hard, and I'm gonna get a house. I'm gonna get a mattress, and I'm gonna get a bed. I'm gonna get a toilet. But the abuse, the abuse kept continuing like it wasn't stopping. It was different. Like, I remember one time, one of the cousins of my husband, my sister's husband, he beats me. Anybody can beat us, right? But when he slapped me so hard that his was like, the print of his hand was on my face. And I remember one, I think it was my sister's husband who came and was like, oh, what happened to your face? I was like, oh. I was playing with the other kids. Like, oh, this person beat. Like, it's normal for anybody to beat me. And I don't ask questions. I don't even know what happened. Like, I'm 8 or 9 years old, and I remember him telling him, oh, she's a girl, so when you're beating her, don't beat her on the face, beat her anywhere else. Even as a child. I'm saying you're not going to even ask, like, what I did, because I didn't do anything.
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A
I'm with you.
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B
I remember because I used to pee in bed. Somebody told them the best way to get a kid to stop peeing is to embarrass them in public in the village center. So what they did is they call all the kids my age and older kids, and they shoot me naked. This is early in the morning. And they give each of the kids a broomstick. A broomstick is like what we used to sweep. It's from the palm tree so it goes on your skin if it hits you. And some adults will pour water on me and some of the. In the house and then in the compound. And the kids would. The kids will beat me. So I had to sit down for hours and try to take out the. The sticks from my skin. Like, my whole body was bloody. This is me around maybe. I probably was like, maybe 10, 11. So when I say I know, people say, oh, I got it out of the mud. When I said got it out from the mud, I mean, like, from nothing. Excuse me.
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A
Sorry. I'm with you. You're doing amazing.
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B
My mascara. Oh, my gosh.
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A
Oh, my gosh. Not the mascara. Oh, no. The people that are listening to the podcast are going to throw a fit. You're doing amazing.
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B
But fast forward to school. The scholarship helped. I. I remember this. This nonprofit organization in the uk, we're colonized by the British government, so we usually get, like, exchange program. People come and try to help out and stuff. So I remember there's this nonprofit organization called Muslim Hands United for the Needy. They help offering kids, you know, pay their school fees, like the ones that are doing great in school. So my school applied on my behalf, and I got it. So they would give me money to pay tuitions, school fees. They will pay everything up. And they would give me the leftover so I can use it for it, you know, lunch. Lunch meaning, like what I would take to school to eat or shoes and stuff like that. I remember one time they were like, oh, we got to take your money because we. We have to use it for something else. I almost did not go pay for my exam fees because of that. But I used to get a lot of help from the school, from the university, from the. The teachers and the principal. So fast forward. I made it to high school for the help of God. And also my aunt was like, oh, you can marry a second wife. Like, she could be tired. Unless you will have a wife that graduated from high school. Like, nobody's gonna have that. Just me. And by the way, I'm the only person from my village that graduated from college. So fast forward I made it to college. And in college, of course, everybody. My aunt's, like, proud. And everybody was like, you should be a doctor. You should be a lawyer. So I was like, okay, first of all, I don't like chemistry. I don't like blood, even though I'm good at chemistry. I'm like, this is that thing. So I was like, okay, let me do the first, you know, pre. You know, prerequisite courses that you would take. So I did that. And actually, the university is a new University, right, Because it's just established few years before I got to college. So with the university, we have exchange professors from university in Germany, UK to come and you know, do exchange program. So one of the exchange professor introduced computer science. So I'm already good in mathematics. I was taking math courses and I was like, I went to the first computer class, I think it's Introduction to Proof or Theory of Computing or something like that. And I was like, yeah, this is me. I'm not going to medical school, but I'm not going to tell my aunt or my sister or anything. When I was in that class, the professors loved me. I loved it like the class I was like, this is me. So I started. That's how I studied computer science. So I have a degree in mathematics and computer science, minor in mathematics and major in computer science in my final semester or I think two semesters before my final. But it was close to when I was completing college. I, I started a nonprofit organization that I want to teach girls how to code, like basic IT skills and stuff. This all started because I got so my country and you, you will hear that everybody's like, oh, the government is corrupt, the African government, in the way it is. Like you only get the best parts when you have a connection with somebody. Let's say your uncle knows a friend that they went to school with that works at the Ministry of Education, whatever, so you might get a scholarship, that kind of thing. I don't know anybody. First of all, I'm from the village, not the city. So it's hard for you to get those scholarships or connections or jobs and stuff like that. So I remember one of my friends, her family member was living in the US and came to the to Came back to Africa and started a software engineering company to help, you know, the government with, you know, building software and stuff like that. So recruited her. So I think he told her, do you know you're really good in this. Do you know somebody who, who can, you know, come and join us? I was like, yeah, well, my friend, she's. She's way better than like, she's really good. We, I can tell her to come. So she, she told me and I was like, okay, I'll come, but I don't have money to come back. Like, fair. I only have one fair. She was like, oh, he would give it to you. So when I went, he interviewed me and he was like, you're hired. You don't even have to go back to college today. You can go tomorrow. I was like, okay, fine. So I, I started internship. He hired me full time after I graduated. So I will ask them to give me the computer, the used computer that they're now using at the office. And I'll recruit my male colleagues and we'll go to different villages and we teach like basic it. Some of these girls never seen a computer before. So, like creating a folder and stuff like that, because that's the only way I could help that I felt like at that time. So it kind of blew up and it was in the news, it was in the newspaper, and it was around different regions. Started doing it in Africa and people keep sending me. This link is Young African Leaders. It's a Mandela Washington fellowship created by President Obama when he was president. It was for young African leaders that are doing amazing things in their different communities. These are for youth that are like fighting, you know, female genital mutilation, which I actually went under when I was young. They did perform that on me. So I feel like I was like, this is for like people that are fighting violence and FGM and big stuff. I don't think this was like my little IT thing. I was like, you know what, it's free. I'll apply when I go to work. Because at home we don't have electricity or Internet, of course. So I would, I go to work. I applied and I was like, it's free, so I'll just apply. But I didn't tell anybody because I didn't think it was going to go anywhere. So I applied and I got, I got the first interview to the U.S. embassy. I know this story is taking too long, but I'm trying to make sure.
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A
I think nobody, I think nobody minds. I think everyone is perfectly fine.
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B
Okay. So I went, I did the first interview and I got an email saying I made it to the second. I was like, okay. Then a third one. So I went to the U.S. embassy. In the final run, they're like, the fight. I was like, I might get this. So during that time, I was actually. The abuse was getting too hard because even though I was 20 something years old already, I'm the breadwinner. I don't keep any of the money. I just walk and give them. Literally. Like, I never even knew that when you walk, you should keep your own salary. I didn't know that. I just thought you should just give it away. So that's why even now I'm creating boundaries. Like I'm learning how to create boundaries because I don't. I'm a giver. But my way of giving is very, very crazy. Like, even now, when I'm teaching my students, it's supposed to be one hour. I go three hours. And my husband's like, you have great boundaries. I'm like, okay. It's easy to say it's not, but going back. So it finally came out. Out of 40,000 applicants, I was chosen to come and meet President Obama in the US And I was placed at Northwestern University. So when I was completed the program, I flew to meet him in D.C. and he gave me a certificate. But how. That's how I got to the US So during that time, I remember one time I came to work, I was beating so much. I don't know, I don't remember what happened, but I think one of the kids was trying to do something. I don't know what it was, but I was beaten so bad. I had. I was like blue and green or whatever blue and red, they call it. And my boss was like, what happened to your face? And I was so embarrassed. I was like, oh, I was in a fight. He said, no, that's not a fight. That's not a. That you did not fall down. That's. You fought with somebody. I just. I remember going to the bathroom and crying. So at that point, I'm a technical support manager.
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A
Wow.
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B
And I go to the security guard and I ask the security guy if they have food for. For me to eat. And I remember he used to say, you are our boss every time you're here jokingly, and every time you're asking me for money. And sometimes I'll be at work and I would get a call and they would tell me, before you come home, bring some money, because we don't have anything for tomorrow's feeding. And I was like, I don't have anything. I gave you guys my salary already. And I remember one time I was like, don't come home if you don't bring anything. And sometimes like, oh, borrow someone else. I was like, I've borrowed everybody money here. I owe everybody here. So I was like, yeah, this has to stop. Like, this has to. I have to do something. So I started applying for different universities in the UK and I'll get a partial scholarship. And I'm like, the scholarship is like, I only have to pay £5,000, but somebody else is 5,000 only to me. It's like, I've never seen $300 in my life. £5,000, when I'm gonna get that? So somebody told me, you should apply for universities in. In the US So I was applying for different universities. This is way before the, in the, the, the scholarship, the fellowship happened. So during that time when I applied for the, I got one of the universities so I would get admission in the universities. But then most of the scholarship is like, oh, you get to pay this amount and I don't have that. So I want a full scholarship. I don't have any money, say nothing. So I remember having University of Illinois give me admission and then I went to their website and I applied for all the application, all the scholarship on their website. Some of the scholarship, I don't even qualify. But I was like, hey, what the heck, I'll just apply. And I applied for all of them. I was like, no wonder they're not reaching out to you. When I went back to the website, it's for international students that are already in the university already probably taking two or three semesters, but for the grace of God. I got an email from the university. I said, we never do this, by the way. This is the first time because we have very qualified people in the university that we could take. But however, your application is so strong, we just want to give you a chance. Here's the Skype link. The Skype link is 12am in Africa. And I was like, first of all, we don't have Internet home or electricity where, what am I gonna do? So I was like, okay, let me ask my boss if I can spend the night at the office so I can get this interview. So he accepted. Fast forward, did the interview, I got a full ride scholarship the next day. They were like, you were so impressed. Impressive. We wanted to take you. So it happened during the same time. So I got the US Presidential visa to come for the fellowship. And then I, when I returned back two days later, I have to come and start the master's program. So that's how it all happened. And the scholarship was more of. They waived my tuition fees and I analyzed the student data for the university. So it's like a walk. Walk, yeah. Scholarship, yeah. Program, yeah. So with that scholarship, after I finished the fellowship, I left, came back, and then during that period, I will be given a thousand dollars stipend. Right. 20 hours a week is what I work. The thousand dollar stipend. International student insurance is expensive, so I have to pay that. Also my, my feeding, my transportation, housing, it's all on that. So I found a roommate. Most of the times I'm left with $40, $20. I'll go to different auditoriums and you know, you, they have events at universities like Crackers and Lemonades and stuff. I'll just wait around the corner and wait for the person who's like organized it when they're parking. And I was just come and help. And I was like, what are you gonna do with this cracker? So what are you gonna do with this lemon? It's like, oh, we throat. I'll just take them. That's what I will feed on. Right?
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A
How. How old were you at this point?
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B
So I think I was like 20. I'm in my late 20s, like maybe 26, 27. I don't.
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A
Wow.
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B
Yeah. So. So with the, with the money that's given to me, it's not enough. I was like, okay, my housing is the most important because I have one roommate. I was like, $300 or 350 is too much. I need to find something that's cheaper. So what I did is there's this website Facebook page for university students that go look for house. Like a roommate situation, right? So you go and it's like, oh, we're looking for two more roommates. This is the prize. So I found that somebody was looking for a roommate, they needed extra person. What I realized is parents will come close to the college and buy a house there. Like a three bedroom home, have their kid live in one bedroom and rent out a total two bedrooms, right? And then some will go further. I find a situation where I only have to rent a mattress. So in those two bedrooms, one bedroom can have four twin mattresses. So you just rent a mattress that's way cheaper. I was like, yep, that's me.
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A
Yes. Gave me the mattress.
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B
Like, give me the mattress. I bring my mattress. I don't have anything else. My whole life is at school. I go to class, I work the 20 hours at school, and I go home to eat, sleep, do repeat, right? So I was like, yeah, this is me. So I was like, first of all, my Matt's brain was like, okay, so if I am paying this amount, this person is this mat for each of them. I counted all the merchants and all the people and I was like, wow, they can making a lot of money on this. First of all, their parents own the home, so they're not definitely paying rent. How much is a house? Okay. How much is. Oh, something called mortgage. Okay. So you don't even have to buy the house for cash. You can actually put a small amount down. Then I started learning about mortgage. Oh, the expenses. Okay, how much is the expense? And I'm like, whoa. So they only pay this amount and this is how much they're getting. So how much are they getting in a year? How much are they getting in two years? After the kid graduate, the house is going to be paid off. Oh, my God. And I'm like, boom. I said, this is what I want to do when I have money. And that's how real estate started for me.
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A
Wow. Oh, my goodness. Like, what a. What a story. What a story. And, you know, thank you so much for sharing and going through my. Because I can tell, like, each time, you know, it. It gets. It gets easier and better.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And a good way, a good frame to think about it through for anybody that's sharing anything is when you share the pain. That's how you're able to connect with people across. Anywhere, across any country. And you have gone through so much that you have earned the ability to connect with anyone at any level. And what a blessing that is for you to become the woman that you are today and be able to do that. Right. Yeah. There's a. There's a quote that I really love, which is, the quality of the hero is directly determined by the quality of the villain. Right. And so you have been on a hero's journey. Like, you have gone through, like, your story, you have gone through so many twists and turns and villains and obstacles and challenges that you have developed this resilience and this ability to inspire people. And so you are a blessing.
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B
Thank you. Oh, my. I'm a mess. I'm sorry.
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A
We could talk about. We could talk about passive income instead, but I think this is. I think this. I think this will. This will do it. But no, it's. It's. It's so important, and it's so like you. You are just so amazing. And through everything that you've overcome and going through all the twists and turns and all the obstacles and just pushing forward, moving forward, when life kept beating you down, you kept going. And that. Another story that I really enjoy is we ask for all of these characteristics and qualities in life, right? And we ask for patience. We ask for, you know, optimism. We ask for love. We ask for discipline. We ask for perseverance. And we think that these just materialize out of thin air.
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B
Yeah.
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A
But it's like God in the universe gives you opportunities to become patient, gives you opportunities to become resilient, gives you opportunities to show unconditional love. And. And you've just done it for decades. Decades. And so everything that happens today is a pure result of the decades. And so even if there's, like, a part of you, like a little tiny voice inside of your head that still is questioning if you deserve it. Just know you do.
- [29:28]
B
Yeah, sometimes I do. I'm like, wow, this is. It's a blessing. Like, I look at my house, I look at my kids in private school and everything that I could afford, and I'm like, wow, God can literally change your life completely. Like, this is the same girl. I had no confidence, like, at all at the beginning. Now I can talk, you know, thousands of people. I can. I can. I just. It's. It's just. It's crazy. I have a team, I have employees. Like, what? Like, this is me. And sometimes I feel like the person that looks at me is seeing the little me because a little me inside me is so broken. Like, I'm still going to therapy. There's so much that I cannot speak, say, in this podcast or anywhere else that I'm not ready to say yet. Like, it's going to be too much, like, literally. But, yeah, that's how the real estate started for me. So fast forward, I graduated and as international student, when you graduate, you have one year to get a job or you have to go back, right? Okay. So for. Because I'm in the IT field, I studied information system. My master's data analyst. I was looking for data analysis job everywhere out. Sometimes I would get, I think. Remember my first job offer I had was with what's the tractor company in Illinois?
- [30:38]
A
It's called, what, John Deere.
- [30:40]
B
John Deere, yeah. And they have it full time. They're like, oh, it's the green card. And I was like, I don't have a green card. They were like, no, we can't. We're not swearing your visa. So you have to have a company that wants to sponsor walk so you can work. So it's literally saying the government, yes, she's a special person or he's a special person. You can stay, work here. And we will sponsor their visa. Not all companies want to do that because they have to pay their attorneys and all that to correct all that immigration stuff. So it's so hard actually to get, you know, those things. So I will apply on a day. I'll go on LinkedIn. Indeed. I'll just apply 50, 100 jobs. I just want a job. Okay. At this point, I'm reading everything. Real estate. I'm obsessed, right? Everything free. I'm reading, I'm watching it. Everything free. Stuff I can get my hands on, I'm watching it. So I'm doing interviews, different interviews. And I came across working with a recruiter and the Recruiter sent me this job that said classified or something like that. But I never read all of that because I'm like, how many jobs have you applied for? So I just applied like, apply, apply. And then I got the interview. The interview was like the. The. The instructions were kind of weird. Don't do this, don't do that. Make sure. I was like, okay, fine, whatever. I did the interview at the beginning was like, I was living in an apartment then, and they decided to cut the lawn that day. So the noise. All the instructions say no noise because our director is listening or whatever. It happened right there. So I was like, oh, I'm so sorry. Everybody was so quiet. I ran inside. I was like, I'm so sorry. This never happened before. It's usually the quietest place in the house. But they just happened to do this today. It was like, gone. I was like, oh, shoot, this. This is not going anywhere. I was like, let me do my best. So I did the technical part, I did the oral part, and then the neck at the same day, actually. Or maybe the next day. The recruiter was like, they loved you so much, they want you to start next week. I was like, wait, what? It was like, send me your green card. I was like, oh, hold on, I don't have a green card.
- [32:36]
A
Here we go again.
- [32:38]
B
Wait, what? I'll call you back. I was like, shoot, they got that job again. But then he was like, well, they said they love you so much they want to take you. So that was cdc. So I started working for CDC as a data scientist here in Georgia. At the beginning, when you're doing an IT job, they give you like a six months grace period to see if you can deliver on the deliverables. And then afterwards, because you know, anybody can go do an interview on path, so they want to see and then they will hire you, right? So I was doing that. And then you get paid less compared to what they would normally pay a data analyst. So I did that, and six months later, they hired me. But I have enough to save, I think in three months into it or something, they hired me. But I was able to save within few months, $8,000. That's all I have to my knee, right? And I was like, yeah, real estate rich.
- [33:23]
A
Rich, baby, rich.
- [33:26]
B
Look at me, $8,000. I was like, okay, you know what? So I can't afford properties over here in Atlanta. Where do I start? I was like, girl, go back to where you saw it happen. That's Illinois, right? And in smaller towns, like, okay, in all the Real estate podcasts, I listen to. To all the. And don't under. Don't underestimate the value that you get from podc. Listening to how people start and the struggles that they went through. It actually helps you. Like, I didn't know I learned so much. Like, I didn't even. I was like, book smart on real estate. No practical experience, but books. Everything I know, Section 8, everything I learned it. So I was like, okay, let me go start where I started where I saw this happen. So I was like, okay, let me go. To all the people say, oh, start with, you know, connecting with local banks. I was like, okay, I'm gonna go find a small town in Illinois, closed, far away, not far away from where I used to live, and I'll just find local banks there. So I made a list of all the local banks that I would just call, call, call, call. And some of them hang up on me because my accent, like, right now, my accent is thick. Imagine four years ago, five years ago was really bad. So they would just hang out. Like, maybe they think I'm a scam. I go, what are you saying? And sometimes I don't even understand what they're saying. So I understand. So some of them will hang up on me. Some will just take the call and say, hello, my name is. Hang on. So I got one lady to listen to me in this bank, and she was. She's the vice president of the bank right now. But before she was it. So we have built a great relationship. She was like, I hear you. Like, I feel the. I can never say this word. I. Accident. Can I never. And I have to say it slowly.
- [35:00]
A
Enthusiasm, enthusiasm, enthusiasm, enthusiasm. Bam. Killed it. Crushed.
- [35:09]
B
Was like. I can feel it. And I know you're very passionate. You. You did tell me some information. Like, you just started work, but this is what you do. It's like, literally, you're like a baby. In this country, your credit score is like your newborn baby. So most people will not even listen to. First of all, I don't know what credit score was. Like, I'm in a college environment. I am in school class mode. Like, I don't know nothing else. I was like, what is that? I was like, I have a debit card. The. The. The. The bank that my university opened for me was like, no, that's different. That's your debit. I was like, it was like, you need to get a credit card. Go to discover.com. do this. Go to Capital, whatever. Do this. Open. Use it to pay your utilities. I know you don't have any debt, you don't have no car. First of all, I can't drive. Never even sit in the driver's seat. Then I was like, you don't have any bills, you don't have student loans. So you can do this faster. If you like build your credit, you can come back like in two years, in one year, I think you should be ready. Then I was like, okay. So I went and did everything. Is it. And she was like, you work for cdc, Go, go to CDC credit union. Open up line of secure line of credit or something like that and just use that, you know, build up the credit. I said, okay, I'll do that. I went and did all of that. I was like, I'm not waiting two years. Like at this point I'm like, I'm rich. $8,000, come on now, I can do this. So I was like, okay, fine. I went and did everything that she did. I was like, what can I do? That's gonn make them listen to me because at least I have them to listen. I have a phone number at this point, I have an email. I was like, go find a deal. Because I'm a numbers person. So I'll be analyzing deals that I can't afford. You know how you've been looking at 05 million dollar home that you can't afford? 50 million dollar homes. That was me looking at rental properties I can't afford. But I'll be analyzing the deals like how much does this. And I'm getting like, oh, that's a good cash holder. So before, before I go to bed, I'll be analyzing. I work when I have a break, I'll be analyzing. So I'm really good at this point. This point. Like I feel like I was good at the time, okay. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna find a deal that they cannot reject. So I was like, okay, find a property that they. The numbers look so great and they're gonna not, they're not gonna be able to, you know, forget. So I put everything down, I found this deal, they went at 65,000. They're going through a divorce. I negotiate, mind you. I don't have any money. I negotiated to 50,000. They just want to settle at a loss. They're going through a divorce. So I negotiated 52,000. It's a triplex in the Midwest, right? Close. It's a college town. And Section 8 is great. So I analyze what Section 8 is bringing in from the rental that was given to me and that rental turn out to be wrong after all. But at the beginning the rental was showing that all of them are cash flowing like all of the units are rented and just how much each unit bring. So I calculate how much my mortgage would be If I take a 15, 15 year loan or 30 year loan. I put all of that down and I call her and I submit it. I was like, I found this deal, just take a look at it, let me know. She was like, I'm not promising you. It looks great but I'm not promising you. I'm gonna send it to the underwriting team. I'll let you know. The underwriting team came back and said. She was like, well they said they would do it. I have 500 something credit score at the time. And they gave me a chance because I showed everything like, okay. I said worst case scenario, the mortgage, 300, 350 something dollars. Worst case scenario, one unit is going to pay the mortgage times two. So what could go wrong? And I have my nine to five job right now. I just got the full time job. If worst case or not, I could pay $300. I don't have any other bills. I don't pay car. I take the bus. I take Uber to go to the bus station. From the bus station, Sandy Spring as I live in Alpharetta bus station.
- [38:40]
A
Uber Uber to the bus station.
- [38:43]
B
Yeah. For $6 from the bus station I take the tr. The. The bus to the Sandy Spring train station. Sandy Spring train station to Limburg in Atlanta. And the CDC boss comes and gets me from Lindbergh to the campus inside CDC every day, two, three hours. So I don't have no bills, I can't drive, I don't know anything. I don't have anything. Right. So that's, that was, that was my. That was, that's how it started. So the first property after I closed on it Covid happened right. I closed shutdown happened right before I we closed on the property. We were under contract around February and mass shutdown happened and of course I work for the department that's in charge of the COVID infectious disease.
- [39:22]
A
Oh wow.
- [39:23]
B
Yeah, super busy. So I'll be coding all way to 4am in the morning and I have my laptop for work, my laptop for, for. For real estate. So that was me like I'll be listening to podcasts, I'll be. That was me listening to Bigger Pockets and all the other podcasts like your podcast, like real estate podcast that are doing amazing things. So that was me then. But yeah, I bought the property, closed on the Property. Fast forward the property supposed to cash flow. But I realized that the property manager lied and the agent lied. They fabricated the numbers, right? One of the tenants actually already left. One was about to leave and one hasn't paid for months, so it owes the previous landlord. But what I did was I took the one unit that was vacant since the person just left and you know, Covid time, you can't evict anybody, right? So I've read about section 8 at this point already because it's recession proof, right? So I was like, okay, I'm going to take this unit that's like at least rent ready, clean it out, pay maybe $200. Cleaned out, put a tenant, section 8 tenant. We did that. And then the other unit, the tenant was about to leave, but doesn't want to leave because there's no where else to go. So offered cash for keys. And then she left with the cash for keys. And I ran up, I took the money from the basement unit. There was the tenant that was there that was behind rent. There was a nonprofit organization that was helping people, including landlords, tenants, including landlords that are behind rent. So but you have to apply with the landlord and it goes to the landlord's bank account. So I was able to get like I think 8,700 something, almost $9,000. And I used that to finish up the other units and clear everything, rent out the whole place. Cash flow 2000, something, or 901 1976.24 something like that. So almost $2,000. So. And I have the bank set up with the same bank. So they're seeing the cash flow coming in, you know, they're happy and stuff up. But then the property manager started stealing, right? So yeah, because now it's crashable. I'm out of state. I'm like, this is great. Every time there's rent, there's time for him to send me my rent. It's like, oh, Chester said this Chester had to do his maintenance. And I'm like, chester, Chester. Every time what help? Like, so I would take those receipts and all those labor hours she he's charging me. I'll just go to the real estate networking events or real estate platform and I'll just talk to other, other contractors or the real estate. And I was like, does this make sense for a thousand square apartment? They're like, no, that's too much. I was like, yeah, but I can't prove it. And I'm out of state. So I was like, I need to figure out how to do this. So I was like, okay, how bad is it to find a Chester in a small town, right? How many Chesters can be in a town? My digging research all the Chesters in the area and I found two of them that could, could have a relationship with him. Like Facebook and all the other relationship, like social media stuff. And I realized there's these two Chesters. So one of them was obviously I had to cancel it because not the one Chester that I suspected was. I messaged him on Facebook was like, well, I'm on the roof, roof job right now. I get off late. If you don't mind, I can call you if you need your number and stuff. I was like, yeah, call me. I work all the way till late night. So he called me, he was like, oh yeah. So I got your message, whatever. And I was like, well, my name is so and so. I'm the owner of address. So and so. I know you worked on the property. He said, yeah, I did work on the property actually. Beautiful property. And I said, yeah. So we got into talking. I was like, I just want to send you some receipts so you can tell me if they were for this property. It was like, yeah, sure. Older guy, very honest, has been doing this for years, more than I before I was born. So I sent it to. He's like, oh, this is for property so and so. This one is for property so and so. This other one is for yours, but the rest are all for this other properties that I don't own.
- [43:00]
A
Wow.
- [43:00]
B
Well, he will go to, let's say Home Depot or low receipt and send it to me and say it's mine. Like, I can't prove it, right? So I realized I was like, okay, I, I fired him and I went to chest and I was like, if I find another property, would you be willing to walk with me? He said, yeah, sure. And even during the time, he was like, I don't mind doing a three way to clear my name. I'm not that kind of person. I've been doing this for long. My father taught me. My father had been doing construction his whole life. I learned from him. We're honest family, we don't do the stuff like that. So I was like, this guy is honest. So when I reached out to him afterward, he's like, yeah, sure. He's been working with me, made millions with me since now he's a full time contractor for me for that around the city.
- [43:38]
A
No, let's go.
- [43:41]
B
That's my chest.
- [43:42]
A
Let's go. Chester.
- [43:44]
B
Yeah. So Chester Is my. Every day we talk. So when I say I'm gonna turn off my phone, it was him because he's gonna call me every. We're like family now, so. But yeah. So I was like, okay, where else can I do this again? I was like, okay, right now, I'm not finding any deals like this one. Like, these are deals that you have to look for, right? Especially a lot of people in different real estate platform are talking about, oh, Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland, Ohio. I was like, yeah, I. I need to check out Cleveland, Ohio. So I introduced myself to all real estate groups in Cleveland, Ohio. And I was like, hey, my name is so. And so I'm a new real estate investor. I want to invest in Cleveland, But I want to know, like, what areas to invest and what to avoid and all of that. Like, I need your feedback because you guys. So some people say, don't invest here. This is the a area. This is a b area. This is a c area. So the areas they're sending me, I was like, I can't afford that. I need properties under a hundred thousand. Okay? So, like, okay, let me find a gem property. Like, the worst house in a good neighborhood. So I found this property that actually just went through renovation. It was on a demolition list. Person bought it, renovated it, put tenants in it, but because of COVID couldn't get the inspection done. So I later found out that was the issue. But this property is 68,000. The same bank. They were like, yeah, sure, it's already. I was like, yeah, let's do it again. So I got that out of the unit. It's a duplex brick house, all brick house, beautifully done. Tenants are already in place. 68,000. I put, like, 20% down and my mortgage, like, $254 or something like $258. Like, literally less than 300. Like, what could go wrong? But the cash flow is, like, 1350 at the time now it's more. But that just tells you, like, how great of a cash flow it is. Like, no bank is going to say no to that. So that's how I scale. And I kept going. And this actually, I'm right now in Cleveland. You can see from outside, you see.
- [45:32]
A
Oh, wow.
- [45:33]
B
I've never been to Cleveland. This is the first time you built.
- [45:37]
A
This entire portfolio in Cleveland.
- [45:40]
B
This is the first time in five years I've been to Cleveland. I just came to pull permits. I pulled some permits yesterday, so I'm leaving today. Yeah, I'm actually in Cleveland right now. Yeah.
- [45:50]
A
Wow.
- [45:51]
B
Yeah.
- [45:52]
A
How did you make that pivot from doing these one off properties to start to do in the multi units.
- [45:58]
B
Yeah. So the multi unit started. So I've kept going with a single family, section 8, like recession proof landlords are struggling getting their rent. I'm getting my rent paid by the government every month. So I went crazy. I started buying 30,000 homes, put 20,000 in it. I pressed for 80, 90,000. I kept going. I just kept going, keep going. And then I started buying package deals, like five, five houses, right? Six houses. Seller financing. I got this seller financer that goes to auctions, right. Buy a bunch of properties and resell it to investors like us, like seller financing. They just want the cash flow. They don't have a team renovate anything. So I'll just buy five properties, 10 properties. So Chester and the team will just keep renovating, keep running. And most of the time when they're renovating, they're like, if it's a duplex, one unit is, is not badly done. They will just move in there and do the work. Like that's how amazing he is. And God has blessed me with him. Like, he's a gem. But when I started multifamily, it's in because I live in Georgia, right. My property's in Illinois, Ohio and all. So I was like, okay, in 2021, because everybody wants to get out. The Airbnb became so popular and I see a lot of people say, oh, you can actually go and rent a house or a unit from a landlord and sublease it and rent it out on Airbnb. I was like, oh, that's great, that's a great idea. And I was like, okay, what can I do? Since I'm already alarm. I was like, I can do this in a small town. Let me figure out how it's done. So I took a bunch of courses, you know, 100, 200 courses on Airbnb subletting and all of that. And I was like, yeah, I'm gonna do, actually I'm going to do it with my own property because I love ownership, right. So I was like, let me go. It's been, it's happening in bigger cities, but I bet smaller cities also have hospitals that the nurses will go to and business professionals.
- [47:40]
A
Yeah, the travel nurses.
- [47:41]
B
Yeah, yeah. I was like, already I have this, this, this properties all over central Illinois. I could do that. So I went, did the research, learned how to analyze everything. I'm a numbers person. That's quick to me. I want to know my return on investment if I put this down. How much am I getting back? I'm already getting so much cash flow from section 8. I could just repeat this. So I found this 12, 8 unit apartment complex that was abandoned. There was a fire incident that happened, and the landlord's wife was like, when we're done with the city. Because of course there was a violation. One of the tenants started fire in the basement, one of the units. So the city shut it down. The wife was like, this is not for us. Let it go. Sell it. So it was listed for 145. I got it under contract for 120. It's one mile from the hospital. When people walk in, they just walk out. Like, ugh. There was nothing here for me. What I saw is like, okay, I'm gonna be doing the midterm rentals here. This is perfect location for me. Amazing deal. And I got Chester to give me a scope of work for 10,000 each unit renovation. And I went to the bank and they were like, yamu, you know, you're over ambitious and you, you, you know, you like your numbers and everything, but this is not gonna work out, but okay, if you want it, okay. I was like, like, I'll do it still. They were like, this works in the biggest cities. It's not going to work in a small town like this. I was like, I know for sure because I've checked my competition, I checked the calendars. I've seen what they're getting on. Funniest Finder. I've seen the calendar's been booked. And I noticed I see the kind of listings that are there. Like an old lady or a family have kids and the kids have gone to college and they're running out the basement, and it's like a grandmother's bed sheet and everything. And the place is still booked. What makes you think I'm not gonna do better? So I'm like, okay, I. I'm gonna do it anyways. Mind you, the mor is 1200, right? What's the worst that could happen? I can pay that from my other section properties anyways, so I was like, okay, Chester, you got to help me out here. We need to get the renovation so fast. The bank was so not confident in the deal to the point that they were like taking me a three months grace period. I was like, it's game. Three months grace period on. Just lonely. I was like, okay, all right, let's do it. I just moved in and one of the units, the two bedroom unit that was like, like, like didn't catch on fire or there Was no damages got a fridge stuck the fridge with food and everything. So they will stay there from Monday to Friday and they will go home on Friday and come back on Monday. Their. Their. Their city is like one hour from that city right. So I'll provide feeding gas, all of that. They lived in one unit and they keep renovating from up going down. So when they finished like two units upstairs there's a front entrance and a back entrance I was bringing the nurses from the back watchesters and them they're using the front. I renovated flowers everything at the back put like I'm. I go on Amazon I go under stores and buy stuff online and ship it back there. So at night just. And then we'll fix the beds hang the tears and everything and I'll fly down for a weekend right. Go to Michael's go to Hobby lobby get the pillows and all the extra decorating stuff and I'll be decorate while I'm decorating I'm listing the properties, getting books. By the time the three month period was done I was already 40000 in already by the time the three so by the bank was like we gotta come and see it. Like how is this. Because they see the bank the money coming to the bank account like I'm not gonna. Yeah. So they were like the vice president of the bank came was another vice president came and was like him with her family. His family was like my family actually live close to the property so we come and see it. The wife was like this girl is genius. Like you gave her three months grace fear she's already made so much money the place was already booked at that point I think we have like the left the few units that were not done so the property order rented. But now the property I rented I rent the properties on on for companies like transportation. Right now I have a solar company that. That. That rents it from me. Sure of like 20 something guys staying there. So each bedroom. So it's a mixture of one bedroom, two bedroom, three bedroom. Right. So I started I was like this is game on. So all I wanted to do is 12 units. 10 units 12 unit 10 unit close to the hospital and I just went crazy. And each property one property. That property alone used to bring me like 20 to 22,000 but now it's more because the company has more people so they will book. They book the whole place for one year. Actually it's going to be 24 months this year right this next April. April or May is going to be 24 months since they Booked it. It. Right. It's like they pay me about oh my God, day alone in one year has bought me the property twice, literally. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. So I signed a contract. So if you look at it, it's a profit for them, actually the transportation company, because if they have to give, if you're the guys, a hotel room, it's going to be super expensive. Whereas in my, in my 12 bedroom they can have three or four people there and sometimes they can have two people at the same time there. Right. So they're working in the solar in the central area. So they central Illinois area. So they want their guys to stay there. So maybe in one property it can have 20 people, but not 20 people at the same time. Like in one. In a two bedroom they can have three guys stay there for three weeks and then another three guys replace them because they stationed somewhere else. So another three guys. So you see how it's profitable for them as well. Right?
- [52:54]
A
Yeah. People, people don't think about that. So it's the same thing my friend Rachel does in Atlanta too, with midterm rentals and insurance.
- [53:01]
B
Yeah.
- [53:01]
A
Like whenever they have fire damage or something, like the same exact thing on furnished finders. She goes, well, you know, I'm going to raise the rates because it's still profitable for them and people aren't accurately pricing their, their units.
- [53:14]
B
Yeah, I have a, I have a, I have a property that I bought 30, 135. It's a lake house and I bought it for 135 renovation. I was like, like 48 or 68. Right. But all in the property appraised for like 300 and something. That property, every two weeks I get 10,500 from a windmill company, a robotic windmill company. I don't care how many guys they put in the house. Okay. That house alone has paid for itself twice. So like every two weeks.
- [53:42]
A
Wow.
- [53:42]
B
Yeah, every two weeks.
- [53:44]
A
So you're just like nothing else. I'm scaling this. Give me more.
- [53:48]
B
I was like, it's game on. All I do is just buy, buy, buy and get more contracts. And then the companies are like, oh, installation company manager is going to reach out to you. They want to house 20 something guys for the next 7 months until the contract's finished. Sometimes the contract finish and they're like, oh, can we renew it? I was like, yes, sir. Even if somebody booked, I will cancel them and have you. I don't care. Airbnb can cancel me. Like 60 grand. Come on now, now. So I just keep going, keep going. So that's why when I say, when I tell people like, oh, I made a hundred thousand on just rental is like how. And like okay, so I have the section 8, but this is more like profitable. And sometimes even if I get booked like eight, I remember I got booked by, what's it called, a movie crew, like a camera crew. And they wanted their camera guys to say because they don't want to stay in a hotel for that season at all. So they book a whole five bedroom home and they will pay. The manager was taken from their salary to pay me, so I just get the bulk payment. And they stayed for eight months. They literally paid me over a hundred thousand.
- [54:54]
A
Wow. So I'm curious today, you know, so you go from. So how I like to describe it is like you have growth, right? So it's like you got this graph and you have, have time and then you have like growth. And so a lot of people like grow like really low and slow. And the way that you grow is through like overcoming problems. So it's just like if you want to make a hundred thousand dollars a year, you have to overcome a hundred thousand dollar a year problems. And then a million dollars a year, you have to overcome a million dollar a year problems. And when you make that really fast and you like pop that up really quickly, you have to integrate a million dollars worth of problems really quickly. So I'm curious like how you've, how you've made that pivot and like integrated that.
- [55:35]
B
That's a good question for those of you listening. You know I'm cheap, like from the sound of how I I'm talking, you know I'm very cheap.
- [55:41]
A
Yes. I'm wondering where this money's going now. I'm wondering like that's what I'm saying. I'm like, have you, have you become the million dollar a year version of YAMU yet?
- [55:49]
B
Yeah, so I mentally I have but like nothing changed with my expenses. Like my car that I drive. I bought my car in 2020. Ending of 2023 is a mitzv. 2022. Yeah. It has 9, 000 miles in it. And I bought it for like 16 000. I'm still paying like 300 in it. Like I'm not gonna go buy it. I'll buy a nice house for my family and like we live in a nice house in Alvaret. A million dollar home. However, like everything else expenditure is the same. I still shop at Zara because that's what I like. I still shop at Amazon. So nothing changes my Cheaper. I think that the problem that I had that was letting go because of the problem with the property manager and all that stuff, you know, contract and stuff. I was very like, oh, I started managing all my properties for my 9 to 5 plus. Now I have a list. So I was like, okay, what I need to let go. But saying let go is easy. But I never do the time that I knew I really. If you really want to scale yamo, you have to like delegate. I remember I started sending the wrong. Wrong. The guest to the wrong place, wrong unit, wrong. And it was like, yeah, just you're losing money doing this. You can't. So I started hiring a property manager full time in the Pro. I actually trained my agent to become a property manager and I made her create a real estate, a property management company so she can do it. So I have for each city. So. So like if three cities are like 30 minutes, one hour away, one manager will manage all the short term rentals there. And mostly it's like multiple doors because it's like 12 units, 24 units, 10 units. So it's like multiple because it's like all these people coming in and the guys are like, oh, I lost my key, I locked myself out, somebody's parking in front of me. Like I can't handle all of that. So the property manager does that. And of course I have maintenance team as well. So Chester's guys will go do little maintenance and Chester will focus on big construction. And I started scaling to other cities and I'll get if I have to do a rehab job, depending on the type of job, like a full gut rehab app, a sitting contractor will do that. So a smaller contractor will do like a medium moderate kind of renovation. And I have the maintenance guy just take care of, you know, plumbing issues, you know, things and stuff like that. So I made it that way. So it's automated. And it went from me traveling to go set up the unit to having a team set it up. Like they set it up fast. I was like, this is great. Like I don't have to go. And then having, you know, the property manager set up Comcast, like Internet service and all of that so I don't have to travel. Like I don't have to travel to do most things. Things. And then it went into. Now I don't even have to be insurance. My agents knows exactly what I want, right. I look at a property, analyze it. It's great. This is what I want. Chester goes or my other contractor goes. And I can hear from the videos they send me that is a. Oh, she's not gonna like this. Oh she's gonna love this. Because they know exactly what I want for each type of invest investment property. So they were like for Section 8 is what she likes for midterm rental, this is what she like for high end Airbnbs this is what she like position wise and stuff. So. So I've built up a team with the grace of God to a point that I don't really have to go. Like you see I just literally came.
- [58:54]
A
To Cleveland for the first time in five years.
- [58:56]
B
First time in five years. I met my property manager yesterday at the city hall and it was like it's nice to put to actually hug you and actually see you. I was like I know right?
- [59:06]
A
Wow.
- [59:06]
B
So I went to pull some permits because I wanted it to do faster in my name and one of my friends lives here and she it's her birthday. So I was like I'll just come. Yeah, I needed a break from the kids anyways. But yeah that's how, that's how how it all like went down. So now I started branching. Last year I bought my first self storage facility. Nine to five units. So I've been always wanted to get in the self storage but every time I see a deal somebody, somebody, somebody who has more money goes and buy them for cash and I'm like like this was off market like for so long like why would there somebody else like what's for me is going to be for me. So eventually I got this one. It's actually perfect for me because I wanted something distressed, something I can learn from. So actually I manage it for like the whole like. Like the since I bought it I managed it until this year I handed over to my team but I had to go through thieves and install cameras and figure out things. I've called the police multiple times with the break ins because that's the, that was the issue that the previous owner was having. So I had to solve that. Install 16 or 17 cameras like Motion detector. I did everything so now it's like stable now. So I hand it over to my team. But I learned for like two, three years I've been reading about story facility just listening and reading about them and I'm looking but I never find anything. But yeah, so I finally found this one and I put everything that I learned. Usually sometimes the best way to learn. Not sometimes most of the time or actually the time to learn is actually doing it when you're reading the book. Sounds very easy. Like that's somebody's experience. But when you're doing in real life, like, oh, my God, that's a lot. I caught a tiff on camera. I put it on social media. People like, you're still buying. I was like, I'm gonna buy tomorrow if I see another story facility. What you talking about? That first of the month automatic payment. That's everything.
- [60:52]
A
That's everything. I've got a really important question.
- [60:56]
B
Okay.
- [60:57]
A
I don't know if you got it before. I don't know if you thought about it before.
- [61:01]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [61:01]
A
No one ever talks about it.
- [61:03]
B
Oh, boy.
- [61:04]
A
What have you done to celebrate?
- [61:07]
B
Oh, my gosh. Now you sound like my therapist.
- [61:11]
A
Oh, man. Oh, man. I got her. I got her.
- [61:17]
B
Yeah.
- [61:17]
A
What have you done to celebrate? Because I'm gonna tell you. I. I know you. I can. I know you well now, and I know that you're just gonna go. It's gonna be a decade from now, and you're gonna be like, I just bought unit number 4000 is 74. And now I'm on number unit 5000. And then you're gonna be like, wait a second, second. Hold on a sec. Like, what did I do to celebrate each one of these milestones?
- [61:38]
B
I didn't do nothing. I did not.
- [61:40]
A
So what are you gonna do?
- [61:41]
B
I need to do something that I like. I think I need to take a vacation. Like, okay. I wanna. I wanna do a solo trip.
- [61:47]
A
Okay.
- [61:49]
B
Oh, my God.
- [61:50]
A
So when's the solo trip?
- [61:51]
B
I. I need to do a solo trip. Okay, how about this? Let me. Let me do the solo trip. My birthday month. Like, March.
- [61:58]
A
Okay, March. You're gonna do it? March this year?
- [62:01]
B
Yeah, I want to do it. You're writing it. You're gonna hold me accountable.
- [62:05]
A
March, 20, 25. You're going to a solo trip? Where are you going?
- [62:08]
B
I want to go somewhere with water. I love water. It reminds me of home. So anyway, water. What is next?
- [62:15]
A
Water, Sunshine. Let's go.
- [62:21]
B
And far away from the kids.
- [62:22]
A
Far away from the kids. Water, sunshine, no kids. And make it. And make it expensive.
- [62:27]
B
Yeah.
- [62:28]
A
Oh, yeah, make it expensive. Don't be. Don't be. Don't be going cheap on it.
- [62:32]
B
You know what?
- [62:32]
A
You deserved it.
- [62:33]
B
My turnaround right now. You sound just like that.
- [62:37]
A
Oh, my God. It's okay. You can Venmo me later. Well, look, it's just like. But I know you, and you're just locked in. You're locked in now because you're coming out. Like, you're like, this got me out. Literally out the mud and you're like, I'm gonna go a million miles an hour.
- [62:57]
B
Yeah.
- [62:58]
A
But then all of a sudden you're gonna look up and you're freaking 62 years old and you still never actually.
- [63:03]
B
That's true. Did anything for myself. Yeah. Yeah. I. The thing is, what my therapy asked me. Yes, I get it, right? You, when you give, you get happy. Like it's future. But what about you? So I started as well. Since I started investing, I've been sponsoring offerings. Right. So back home I have 17 offerings that I'm like taking care of. Right. That feeds my soul when I send like, you know, $500, but it's going to feed them for like three months, six months. That's like. That makes me so happy. And they send me videos of what they bought. The school stuff. The school is paid off. The shoes that they bought. It makes me so happy because it takes me back to the kid. Like, I remember when a parent will give me used shoes or shoes that are tied, tied. The kids that cannot wear. They've overgrown them. Like, how many used to make me so happy and more confident and stuff. So giving back, it makes me so happy. But I need to do stuff for me, as in, like physically me. Not just, you know, feed my soul kind of stuff. So I get what you mean.
- [63:59]
A
You can do both.
- [64:00]
B
My therapist says this all the time. Yeah.
- [64:02]
A
So, yeah, it's okay. Don't listen to them. I'm just a random guy with a podcast. Mike, though, like, no, you're. You're amazing. I. And I don't even think that you'd burn out. I just think. And again, just an opinion. But I just watched so many people. I know so many people that have done it for 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, and then they're. Now they're worth a hundred million dollars and they got a nice house, maybe, and then they've got like a lot of money in the bank and they're. I'm like, well, you know, let's go on a trip. And they're like, ah, nah, I don't want to do that. I'm like, what was it for when it was for.
- [64:37]
B
Yeah.
- [64:38]
A
And then I'm like, like, give. Give something away. And they're like, ah, I can't do. So you're good with that part though.
- [64:44]
B
Yeah, give me. I can.
- [64:45]
A
Yeah, you could do that all day. You'll give it all away.
- [64:48]
B
That makes me happy. But for me, for me, for you.
- [64:51]
A
Yeah. I freaking love that. What's advice that you can give to Somebody that's listening to this and they've made it all the way through, and they're like, I'm inspired. I'm gonna do something. You know, what can you tell them, no matter where they're at in their investing career, to make sure that they take that energy and they take that inspiration and they actually do something with it?
- [65:10]
B
Yeah, that's a good question. So I know they probably heard people say, oh, just keep going, da, da, da. Sometimes it's not easy because everybody has their financial huddle or family or personal relationships or whatever you're going through. The thing with. With momentum is find somebody that you can look at and say, this person did it. Why can I not do it? So for me, inspiration. So for me, I'm an execution person. So whether if. If it was real estate or anything, I like to execute. And I love solving problems because of my background in computer science and all and mathematics. But. But for me, it was more like, I never want to go back to where I came from or what happened to me. I don't want my kids to ever go through that. So I used that fear to just keep going. And the advice that I'll give somebody, sometimes you're a real estate investor. You probably have two property that you're stuck. You're like, I don't know what to do. Just know this. There's so many millions of homes out there that are waiting for you. If you lose one, maybe you're making offers and you're not getting it and you just give up there. Like, yeah, there's no. Any property. I'll wait till next year. I'm not gonna find deal. There are deals there that you can find. If you can't invest in your city or your state because you outgrow it, look for another city in your state somewhere else, right? Like, don't be, don't, don't. So you live in Atlanta. You say, oh, Atlanta is saturated now. I can't afford those homes. I'll just keep saving more money. Next year. The. The house prices are going to keep going up. Even if they come down, the interest rate might go up or the interest rate, vice versa. So don't wait to buy real estate. Buy real estate and wait. And guess what? It's mine now. I trademarked it.
- [66:50]
A
You trademarked it?
- [66:52]
B
Yeah.
- [66:54]
A
Yeah. Take that, everyone. Let's freaking go. Boom. Oh, my goodness. If people want to find out more about you, if they want to follow the journey, if they want to partner with you, where can they go?
- [67:07]
B
So my Instagram is building wealth from rental. And I also have a TikTok page. I'm not that active on TikTok because there's so many people that copy your page and make it and they're like, oh, bitcoin. I get people like, oh, you sell bitcoin? I was like, I don't even know. I don't.
- [67:21]
A
Yeah, same.
- [67:21]
B
I'm not serious about that. So be careful on TikTok. But Instagram, I already have the checkout, so it's building wealth from rentals. Facebook also building wealth from rentals. And yeah, you can email me@yamilethgroup.com beautiful.
- [67:34]
A
And we'll have all that in the show description. Yamu, thank you so much for sharing your story, for being who you are. I'm so excited to see what how you celebrate you and how you have so much fun and how you impact the world. The world is a better place for you being in it. So thank you for being you.
- [67:55]
B
Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
- [67:57]
A
Guys, this has been Yamu and Brian with the Action Academy podcast. Go follow Yamu every single place. We've got her in the show description. If you got value from this, share the episode with other people that you think could use a pick me up and we'll go from there. Thanks so much.
- [68:12]
B
Thank you so much for having me.
- [68:14]
A
All right, see y' all later.