← Action Academy | Millionaire Mentorship For Your Life & Business
Action Academy | Millionaire Mentorship For Your Life & Business
How a 28-Year-Old Went From 5 Rentals to 600 Storage Units and $8M AUM
00:48:23
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- [00:00]
A
I've literally presented to the board of a bank at, like, 26 years old. I'm like, y' all give me a couple million bucks. They're like, why? I said, because I'm the horse you want to battle. Recent appraisal, 1.1 million. We owe $562,500,000 in a year.
- [00:14]
B
Boom. 600k equity. Yeah, everything's hard. All of it's hard. So it's like, if we're all going to do hard stuff regardless, like, you can't get around it. So I'm like, how can I, like, bake the circumstances to have as much fun doing hard stuff as possible, so I could just do hard stuff more sustainably than anybody else. That reason I tell people to buy a bigger business, go buy a business that's like 3 million bucks, 4 million bucks is because, yes, maybe you don't have 100% equity. Maybe you've got a business partner and somebody else like me coming in on the cap table. But, like, dude, you've got so much more support, and the people that you're able to hire with that amount of money is so much better because that's all that matters to a certain level of the game. All right, all right. We got Hunter Frusche in the building. What's up, brother?
- [00:59]
A
What's up, my man?
- [01:00]
B
Dude, long time coming. Excited to have this conversation. Excited to have this podcast. And so before we get into you, your background, what you've accomplished in such a short time, and what you're building, because I really think that you're one of those guys that is just. You got it figured out. Over the next decade, you're going to be dangerous doing what you're doing. And so I'm excited to share kind of your game plan, how you think about investing, how you think about wealth, and what your kind of vision is. But first, I kind of want to go backwards a little bit, because in 2022, going into 2023, we founded Action Academy. And I had a small, select group of people because I just realized I couldn't do it on my own, and I didn't want to be the person that was in there talking about deals that I wasn't doing. And so I thought to myself, well, you know, my buddies are doing a lot of deals. I'm just going to throw them in there for free, and then everyone can just hang out and have a really good time. And I maybe added, I think, 30 to 50 guys into that Facebook group that became Action Academy. Now across 47 states with over 500 members. And out of all of them, you're maybe the one that actually did something with it. And everyone else kind of fizzled out. But now you're one of the most active people. So can you share your kind of story of all of that and what's kind of transpired over the last three years?
- [02:24]
A
Yeah. So, I mean, it goes all the way back to that small group me and you were in. It was about 30 guys or so. We'd meet up a couple times a year here in Austin, where we both live now. So we're neighbors. So crazy. We're not doing this in person, but we're never in town at the same time, it seems. But throwing it way back then. And then you had brought it up a couple times in that group and kind of mentioned your idea, but I felt like you didn't want to really share the whole vision of it with the entire group because it seemed like everyone wasn't going to have your back. Everyone was kind of doing their own things and in their own lane and trying to build their own. But at the same time, you shared with me a couple others. And we took it and was like, man, go for it. Do it. Do the idea. We'll help you out. We'll support however we can. We'll be a part of it. And I had no clue what you were working on behind the scenes. You're like me, like, in the shadows, in the darkness, building, building, building, and then come out with this freaking product. I couldn't even believe. I was like, man, I'm all about this. I want to be all in. I was relatively new to the whole Mastermind scene in general. And to me, it was just like a great awakening. I was like, I'm gonna take it full steam. I'm gonna get on new member calls. I'm gonna meet as many people. I have KPIs, literally now around how many new members I'm meeting per week in the group. So, like, I am literally trying to touch everyone at this point because I've just benefited so freaking much from it. So way back then, when you had kicked it off, had that initial idea, we all wanted to be on board, put us in the group. We started meeting new members. We go on the first event in Costa Rica there met some guys that were really doing some big shit there and sparked my interest. Like, okay, there's more to life than a couple single family houses. In me flipping a couple houses at that time, I had five single family rentals. That's it. Like, I Know some people might be still trying to buy their first, but now I look at it like how far we've come since then. Five, still a lot. And they were five paid off houses at that. So we're cash flowing like 5k a month essentially after taxes. So yeah, no debt. But I was like got exposed for the first time to cash out, refinance and leverage and other people's money and like really scaling and stuff like that. That excited me. And my goal was only ever to have like 20 paid off houses or 30. 30 is what I wanted because I wanted one for every day of the month. So that was like my life life, that was my life goal. I wanted to check essentially like a thousand plus dollar cash flow check every day of the month.
- [04:51]
B
And that was The Lake Charles, Louisiana 30 day rental property plan.
- [04:55]
A
And then I'm top dog of Lake Charles at that point. If I could get to there, then that's where I'm going to be. And that was life for me. So I thought until getting exposed to an environment like this where everyone's just doing bigger shit, doing cool things and got me really fired up about commercial real estate. Self storage in general where I' of shot out from and then got a small multi family now. Now we have about 40 doors of single family, small multifamily and then about to close on our next storage facility here in a couple weeks. All AAC cap table on that. So that's pumped shout out to the team there. But it's a $1.6 million deal and that's going to put us over 600 units of self storage here in the last couple years. So that's pretty badass. We've did deals with people in the group, we've injected capital into other people's deals within the group. We freaking bought deals from people in the group. So we have literally utilized this group. Now we have my potential partner and I wouldn't call her a hire, but someone who's coming in, joining the team right now. I'm gonna keep it there until we kind of drop it. But she's freaking helping us build out a machine for our acquisitions right now. She is extremely intelligent. We just met in person in Cancun and sparked flu there. Couldn't stop talking to her. And ever since we've gotten back we've just been building for like two months. What would have took me a year. Just finding the people that do what I don't have the bandwidth to or skill sets to. I'm not a very technical guy really. A bootstrapper. Really big on relationships and stuff like that, so always been great in that aspect, but when it comes to technical background and underwriting and all the things that kind of bog me down, she's just fit in that mold perfect. So, really excited there.
- [06:41]
B
Every. You've been to every event we've thrown, right?
- [06:45]
A
Yeah. Since we were sharing beds in Costa Rica.
- [06:48]
B
Yeah.
- [06:48]
A
So luckily I knew the guy sharing a bed with.
- [06:51]
B
Yeah. So. So now it's a running joke or, like, every single event that we do. So for people listening, back when we first started, it's like, again, you just didn't know what you didn't know. And so before we were like, all right, two grand, all inclusive, Costa Rica weekend. For me, at the point. At that point, I was like, two grand is, like, a lot of money for. For us to do this. And so I was like, let's just have everybody to pay two grand and we'll figure it out. And so I just went on to Airbnb, and I was like, okay, well, we got like, 30 people coming. And so it's like, we got like, 60, $70,000. Like, let's book two big Airbnbs, and then, you know, we got some money and we can go book these massive, like, mansion Airbnbs in Costa Rica. And we just didn't know what we didn't know about transport, food, all this different stuff, man. We just had no idea. So we took a bath on that one. But the funniest thing was we didn't think anything of it. To just have two dudes in a bed.
- [07:44]
A
Yeah.
- [07:45]
B
And have. Have the girls sharing beds. So it's just. We had king beds and. Yeah, two. Two guys per bed. And I was like, yeah, of course. And in the back then, it was, you know, it was just funny to think about it because all of we.
- [07:58]
A
Still make jokes about it, too. We still make jokes like we slept back back. Like, little funny jokes like that. And a lot of people, a handful are still in the group. And that's some of the people in here I'm closest with. I mean, I can't shout you out enough in terms of what you built here. But another side note of that, like, byproduct, got a couple of guys in town this weekend. One's staying with me, Chris Munoz from Spain, flying over here and staying the weekend in Austin. Like, I'm close with these guys. Like, these are guys that'll be in my wedding probably one day.
- [08:29]
B
That's freaking.
- [08:29]
A
So that's what I love about it, too. More than anything. Like I had mentioned being in a couple different like groups and masterminds and stuff. This is a community. That's what I tell people when I do, like new member intro calls with people that just joined a lot of times just to get to network and meet them. I'm like, you are now part of a community. This is not a course. This is something that's going to change your life if you let it a thousand percent.
- [08:54]
B
And just for people that are listening, we don't do that no more. We don't. We don't share beds no more. More. But we do. We do the two queen beds. I actually recommend that for anybody because then you get to meet somebody. But the question I have from that man is I feel like you're better than anyone. Like every single event that you come to, you're like a freaking hawk. And so I know exactly who you're talking about. So we'll wait until you guys make that announcement. But we paired you guys up intentionally in Cancun because we're like, oh, they've got complimentary skill sets. Let's put them together for a couple hours in a small group breakout. And then you guys were able to take it from there. So that's freaking sick. But you have this. I think it's some. You have a system. You have the intentionality behind every room that you go into, whether it's like a local real estate meetup event or it's a mastermind in Costa Rica. What. How do you think about going into these rooms? Because you always come out of it with either a seven figure deal or an eight figure business partnership every time. So how do you go about it?
- [09:56]
A
I just live every day and it's kind of corny with like pure intention. So even when you're going to a room, like for the AAC events, for example, you do a great job of releasing bios on the hundred members that were just in Cancun or 100 plus. So I read through every single one of those bios personally. I'm not throwing it in ChatGPT and letting it do the work for me. Like I probably could at this point. But who would I match well with from there? I'm actually analyzing that myself. I'm going and looking at these people's social medias, seeing what their backgrounds are. We log touches in our CRM. I do multiple contacts a week with members in the group for potential capital. We do this with bankers, we do this with lenders. We do this with everything where I keep a log of all these touches in my CRM and like mark people on certain priority levels, certain follow up levels and stuff like that. So when I go to an event, I already have my list of people that I know and I know I want to delegate a certain amount of time with each of those. But we take it a step further with the new members we haven't met and put a lot of focus toward that because you don't know what you're going to change. Like you could change someone's whole perspective that quick in one of these events where they're a lifelong member now or they're a potential partner just from one quick conversation like, hey, I'm seeking you out. And you're like, well, haven't you been here since the beginning? You're one of the bigger guys OGs in the group and stuff. I'm like, yeah, but I want to talk to you. You didn't even have to come up to me. I'm approaching you with this intent. So just every day, every move we make is strategic. Everything's intentional when we go on these events. Even when I sit and have coffee like next door. We live by each other here downtown in Austin, but I go to these coffee shops and I'll kind of just look around for a few minutes and observe like who looks interesting or I'll be wearing a AAC shirt that has something interesting on it like quit your job and buy businesses where people will engage with me, which makes it easier when I do stuff like that. But just every little conversation, every little thing's intentional and then at the same time just be personable and fun. Nathan, who I love in the group Saints here, big time mentor of mine and in my pod, which we'll get on the pod kick later. I'm so freaking love the pods. But he said the term magnetic influence at this last event in Cancun and I quickly shifted from like someone that's taken everything in on these trips to being able to give. And I've seen it reciprocate so much lately to me, like being an influence to others and then not even doing it like self centered or out of ego, but just doing it because I love it. And then how it's all circling back to me, like people wanting to invest with me, people wanting to work with me, things like that. And it's like, damn, I'm just a normal guy. Maybe not, maybe not anymore.
- [12:44]
B
Yeah, yeah, normal, yeah, normal. You look like a normal dude. Like so for people that are listening or not watching, like Hunter's Got long hair, he's down to his past his shoulders. He's got a giant, you know, freaking contractor beard. Like, dude's got a Lake Charles accent. And you'd think, oh man, like this guy's, this guy's in construction, this guy's project manager and he's the one that's owning all the facilities. So it's been crazy. And it's, dude, it's really cool watching you take off and every single person in the group comes back and they're like, oh dude, like Hunter, Hunter is going to be something. Like I remember one guy came to me and he was like, hey, there's like a handful of people. Like I can count on one hand how many people are going to be like it. And Hunter is one of them. And I was like, yeah, I agree.
- [13:27]
A
And I can't, I can't deny that that like feeds and fuels my like energy levels and stuff too. So I can't sit here and act like.
- [13:34]
B
So yeah, yeah, we all got it.
- [13:38]
A
Definitely does and definitely keeps me, keeps me moving too and keeps me making sure I could put that impact on others, like especially in the community as well. Because that's what's going to make their time here for sure.
- [13:51]
B
Thousand percent. Let's double click on that CRM really quickly because I think that that's a huge thing. You know, people that are listening, that are realtors, may, may understand what you're talking about, about CRM for people. But then a lot of people may be listen this and they'll, they're saying, hey man, like I get, if you've got CRMs for brokers, you got CRMs for deal flow. But what you mean you got CRMs for like people like that you're just meeting and you have no expectation of return. You just got CRM. Like talk through how you kind of organize people, how you prioritize people. Because I think that we'll get into the self storage and all of that, but I think this is the one macro skill that will yield everything else for people listening.
- [14:33]
A
Yeah, so me, I mentioned earlier, I'm not a technical guide on. If you're watching the video, you could probably see that like Brian said jokingly, but the girl I had met in Cancun and Pre Cancun as well, but that we shared a lot of common interest just in different aspects of the self storage industry in particular and her background in AI and CRMs and software development and stuff kind of took what I had as just a master spreadsheet. It wasn't Built out well at all. But I had all these names and it would say friend, family, AAC member, broker, lender, potential capital partner. Then it would have little check boxes for like minimum investment, maximum investment, asset class. It would have 10, 31 or not. Like what they're trying to do, all these lenders, what states they would lend in, brokers, what states they broker in. And then have all these follow up sequences that tied into just our simple CRM Masonic. He came in and took this and was like, this is a great idea and built that out into Airtable is what it's called. It's a new CRM for me, but log that it's touches. So now I'm automatically getting a lot of this information like, hey, you need to follow up with him because he said he's got 100k disposable. And it blows my mind how many conversations I've had in the last month. Getting more intentional with this with people with capital. When capital used to feel like such a bottleneck to me, like it felt so freaking heavy. Two things that like run all deals for commercial real estate, as everyone knows, is deal flow and capital. And capital is what felt heavy to me as a relationship guy. With brokers and lenders and off market for wholesalers. Deals come and go, but capital is like, man, I've self funded every deal I've ever done until this deal we're doing right now. So this is the first time I've ever raised capital. And we raised it with two conversations. $300,000 each here in the group, two people. That's it. And I was like, holy shit. I reached out to literally like, didn't even reach out. Mentioned it naturally to like five people. And two were like, bro, I've been waiting on you to get a deal. I got you. And I was like, boom. I've been waiting on you to need money. I got you.
- [16:46]
B
I was like, dude, people, people don't get it. People don't get it. I mean it's the same, it's the same thing that I do. And it's just like at scale, it's like, dude, you go from me to we once you go from me to we and you just start serving people and you're like, dude, I don't need nothing from you. I'm just gonna help you out.
- [17:09]
A
Yeah.
- [17:10]
B
And then hopefully later down the road we'll do something like, I mean, you're coming to my birthday here in a little bit. Dude, I'll cover the birthday. I'm like, I want to Fly out all the homies and, like, let's all hang out. And what's super cool from that is then, like, it's like, I don't freaking expect anything from any of y'. All. I just want to be homies with y'. All. But what's. Yeah.
- [17:29]
A
And I loved your email, dude. Love the emails. I even showed my spouse. I was like, you got to read this. Like, this is how Holly Bryan thinks of. It's like what you had said about you are one of the people I see myself with 10 years from now or forever, like, beyond who I want to spend every birthday with, celebrating life. I was like, damn, dude, that meant so much. I was like, I can't not go. I'm literally moving this closing for this deal to go. 2 million dollar deal or go to ride with Brian on yachts in Cabo. I'm like, oh, yeah. With 30 other people like us. I'm like, yeah, I'll do that and push the deal forward or back a week.
- [18:08]
B
Freaking love you, dude. But I mean, that's just one of the things. I mean, like, people could do that from a small perspective. It's just intention. So it's like, now that we got, like, some. Some capital, I'm like, yo, hey, like, the best investment I can make is in the homies, like, the friends. Like, and we don't sit there talking about how much money you got to invest in this, how much money you got. We just go hang out, we just have a good time and do fun stuff together. And then I sent this email that out that you're talking about, which was, you know, like, it all kind of started around my 30th birthday. So my 30th birthday, like, before this, I hated doing stuff for my birthday because it's December 1st, it always falls right after Thanksgiving. Everyone's busy. And so I always do, like, this little small stuff. But then for my 30th birthday, I was just like, well, why would I just like, I'll book these Airbnbs, then I'll cover it, and whoever comes, comes. Because the way that I thought about it, like, me and you are both Southern. And so I'm like, dude, if I'm having. I'm from Chattanooga, Tennessee. I'm like, dude, if I'm inviting somebody to get on a plane, fly across the country, go to a new country to come hang out with me for my birthday, why would I have them pay? Like, imma pay. And it was just like this switch flip for me. And I was like, yeah, I'm just gonna do that every year. So now for my 31st birthday, we doubled the amount of people coming. I was like, all right, we got 35 people coming, dude.
- [19:28]
A
What you just mentioned, too, when I explained to people a lot of times, like, about what the mastermind is and what AAC is and how I hone in all the time on the community aspect of it, I'm like, well, y' all are just talking business. I'm like, no, brother, it is so much more than that. Like, I've had these breakout groups in tears and shit, like, just giving advice or getting advice or just giving feedb on personal stuff, family matters. Like, just everything to, like, where I said earlier, like, some of these people probably be in my wedding for sure. And stuff like that mean that to where it's. It's brothers and sisters here. It's not just, like, talking business and networking and masterminding. It's. It's getting deep on all aspects of life. And I feel like that's what's not talked about enough. It's a primary focus of business, but it is everything under the sun, because.
- [20:17]
B
It doesn't matter if you just make a bunch of money. Like, who cares? Like, what matters is, like, what you're doing and who you're doing it with. Like, that's what matters is are you working on stuff that's super exciting for you? And then also, who. Who's on the journey with you is probably the most important thing. And so that's why I was like, I just. I just look out over the year because, dude, I mean, you're pro. You're like me, where you're more. A much more intentional. Because I get overwhelmed with connections, and I get overwhelmed with people that are reaching out. And it, like, we got a bunch of DMS and all this stuff. And so for me, I'm just like, there's got to be a group of people that I just am like, this group. I'm just gonna focus on a lot and ignore everyone else just because I can't do it. But for people listening to kind of put a pin on connection, so we'll actually go into the. The storage and stuff for people. But it's just like, even if you can't do all the stuff that I'm talking about, like, that's. That's out of the ordinary stuff. It's just taking time to, like, set dinners, set events, reach out, set timers and calendar alerts for you to call your friends. Just be intentional. There's this thing called even A.D. yeah.
- [21:35]
A
With what you're saying with being intentional too. It's like I don't have time. That's everyone's excuse for everything. But majority of these calls I'm doing, I'm like walking to the gym. We live here downtown. I walk 20 minutes to the gym. So I do a 15 minute quick connect call three times a week with a new member. So then I have 15 minutes to gauge if I like them or not and add them to the CRM personally. But 15 minute quick connect three times a week, boom. Got three right there. Got my pod call every week. Got a couple other two pod calls each week. Storage specific. And then the. The homies and then just book other calls up with every time we get a new member now. Only issue is I can't keep up. Like we got too many people getting added now. It's getting too big to where they're all do anymore. Yeah. And awesome.
- [22:20]
B
Yeah.
- [22:20]
A
I'm getting people reach out like, hey, we talked about you in my pod today. Will you come on our pod and do a like call with our pod? I was like, hell yeah. Then I can hit four or five people at once. I was like, I'd love to. That was really cool.
- [22:35]
B
Now you're hitting 4,000 so that this will do it.
- [22:38]
A
Yeah, yeah.
- [22:40]
B
But let's talk about the transition now. So now people get this. So for just to put a pin in it. So guys, pay attention to your. You need to have a CRM for your people flow as much as your deal flow. And then those people will turn into partners, potential capital. And then honestly just like mentors as well along along the way. So walk us through your first couple of deals because I think you've gotten a few deals specifically actually from the group two sourced to you. So talk about how all this went down and how you think about scaling storage and also why storage?
- [23:11]
A
Yeah, so why storage first? Because who likes changing leaking toilets forever what I've done? So my dad was a plumber, my grandpa was a plumber. I would have been a plumber. I saw how they come home from work every day and I said, I'm not going to be a plumber. I'm just going to deal with all the problems instead of just one. I'll just deal with all of them, but not plumbing.
- [23:30]
B
Yo, what's up guys? One sec. You're listening to a podcast right now and I freaking love that. But this is not making you more money. What makes you more money, more wealth, more equity is being in the room with the people that you're hearing on today's episode. If you want to be around hundreds of other people like you leaving corporate America, doing big deals in business, commercial real estate and land, check out actionacademy.com go in the show, link the show description and click the link to book a call with our membership director team. We'll give you the resources, the connections in the community to actually pull off the stuff that you're learning about on this podcast. And we'll hold you accountable to the actual implementation of the information that is actionacademy.com now let's get back to today's episode.
- [24:16]
A
So single family to me was easy. With a contracting background. It was just what was safe and what was comfortable and what I thought I liked. Until the problems came. Remodeling the houses. Who doesn't love the HGTV fix and flip? That's not what it is. It's that after stabilization, like after the property is rented is where the not fun part sets in. So with only five properties, it was at a small scale sale. I was back home doing maintenance work myself, but it just started to consume and weigh on me and I was like, man, this is all I really know. And then in comes Action Academy, Costa Rica. First trip I had the five doors. I'm a contractor by trade, so we didn't mention that necessarily. He alluded to it a few times, but general contractor by trade, bought, sold and flip well over 100 properties. So been there, done all that, did some development, doing some development here in Austin now, which has got me excited again, which you had mentioned, like finding stuff that excites you. I moved over here, got really passive and then was like, I'm fucking bored. Like I want to go build some shit again, even if it's not the best market or whatever excuses there are out there. It's like I want to go feel important and manage people again and be on job sites and do stuff I like. So that's what led me to there. But that first trip in Costa Rica, I'd met Ben Call, who's been on your show a couple times. He's a close friend of mine. I'll see him here in the next couple days. We stay in touch all the time. Love him to death, but he had set self storage on my mind. Before we got to Costa Rica, a couple of us, you included, were there a couple days early and he was like, anybody scuba dive? I was like, I've been once before. I went like 10 foot deep water in Florida. Like an instruction Class. We ride a boat 15 miles offshore in Costa Rica and drop in the middle of the ocean with a bunch of sharks. I'm like, this isn't what I expected, but I'm game. So we're. We're out in the middle of the ocean, freaking shark dive, and we start talking storage. And then I just got a knack for it with his presentation on the trip. I started to like it a lot. We had a guy, me and your small group of those 30 guys before AAC that was in storage, and I really liked him a lot. Steven and Stephen May.
- [26:29]
B
Yeah.
- [26:29]
A
Yeah. So I really like storage a lot and just the concept of it, but I was like, okay, I'm gonna go all in. So I'm like you. When I get on an idea or a thought or a book or something revolutionary, I go all in on it. So I start listening to all the storage podcasts, reading all the storage books. But none of that matters. You literally have to just go buy a deal. Like, that's what's not talked about enough. Like the overanalyzation of education and all of that. Eventually you just got to go buy something. So I was like, let me start small. And went and bought a 41 unit deal, 150k, 20% down, small facility back home. Found it on Facebook, Marketplace. I wish it was that easy. Still now storage has started to become a sexier asset where other people in REITs are starting to get attracted to them, making it a little more competitive. But bought that small deal and fell in love. I was like, man, I'm cash flowing a grand a month. That's about three to four single family rentals from one property that was valued the same, so around 150k. And I'm spending about two to three hours per month worrying about this asset and worrying over. There's like stuff that excites me, like revenue management, like stuff like that to where you're in control of the revenue and the income and force and appreciation. I can't really do that with my single family, although that's what's easy. And we still buy them here and there because they fall in our lap. We have a lot of equity because we get jobs done at cost things, things like that. But I was like, man, this storage really excites me. And it's like something I could relate to. And I'm an operations guy, so I love operations and automating things and streamlining and storage. Just the last couple of years, it's got so much more intelligent with smart locks that's control. All of these different things we've learned and now implemented on our bigger deals. But that we got a good foundation and starting point with just a 41 unit, a small deal. We didn't bite off more than we could chew. We learned our systems, we learned how we wanted to operate and run things and then just got from there. The second deal we bought was from an AAC member. B. Hicks, my dog. Your operations manager, operations director. Sorry, but they had a deal. They had a deal in Louisiana and I don't know what exactly the circumstances were. I think they had another big deal going on at the time. So they're like, man, we wouldn't mind just passing this one off to you. It might have been hard finding a lender in Louisiana because it's a lot of relationship based here. I always tell people that was.
- [28:59]
B
That was the first one. It was a good old relationship. Yeah, they couldn't find a lender.
- [29:06]
A
Yeah, good old boys club down here where people want to like do business with people they know. So our lender was like, man, that I have 90% of my business with and my personal banker is like man, we don't really have a good beat on stores. Like we haven't done much of it. I said, well let me prove you wrong. Let me show you what storage is and how it can be operated. And I'm talking out of my ass like just knowing I can improve operations at this facility. It was a dumpster fire, tonic Apex, which lit me up. I love remodeling. So remodeling a storage is a lot cooler than remodeling a house. So we went in and just freaking complete overhaul, rebranding, paint, roof, new doors, everything. This facility, we bought it at 550, it was 168 units, is doing about 8k a month. November of last year. So we just hit November 1st. So we've owned it a year. Recent appraisal 1.1 million. We owe $562,500,000. 600k equity. Yeah, in a year. So I was like, okay, I like this. How can I get more? So then we just bought a three pack back in May. Seller finance million dollar deal for $10,000 just because we had to put something down. And that was more of like a deposit saying what we were going to do like capex wise. And it just came from an ask. So that's something I love too. And I've never been one to be shy to ask. Like I'm at the airport. It's not too Busy. I'm flying on a weekday. I'm going up asking for first flights, I'm going up asking for an upgrade. I'm in any situation, I'm asking for something. So for me, with storage, that was easy. And we just reached out to the seller that was seller financing or had a deal listed and we're like, man, we could give you a million for it. He was at a million two. And he was like, man, I really need to get 1.2. And I was like, well, you can get 1.2 over five years at 5%. And I've showed him the math. So that's another big thing. Just show people a different way of like doing something. Present them an alternative offer that yields the same result instead of just the app. So it's a little deeper, it's a second layer of that. So we presented that to the seller, took it, snagged that one up. So that was a couple hundred units. First million dollar acquisition. Now it seems normal, and now here we are buying another 1.6 to wrap the year up. That'll put me personally around 8 million in assets under management and creeping up on 20k a month personally in net cash flow, which was the goal for the year. The goal was 10 million acquisitions and 20k in cash flow. And we're right there with a couple months left. I'm pretty.
- [31:44]
B
Dude, that is. That's freaking crazy. And then that includes. So that last one is the one because Brandon gave you another one, didn't he?
- [31:52]
A
Yeah, that's.
- [31:53]
B
There's another one.
- [31:54]
A
Yeah, that's this one. 1.6. Yeah. So they had a huge ass deal that they just closed. Phenomenal deal. And this is why I love aac. Not just the relationships, but the bartering here. So the last deal paid them an assignment fee and then a couple beers in Tulum or wherever the next trip was. So this deal, they bought a huge deal in Texas. That is an amazing deal. Very jealous there. But they bought a big deal over in Texas near us between Austin and Houston, and they have a development piece and I'm like, hey, I could help with that development. Like I could send some guys from back home to erect that structure and build yalls covered parking. And they're like, yeah, we'd love you to like consult, consult us on it and stuff like that. And then they had that deal pop up and they were like, we can't close both at once just because this one's taken so much of our time and it's requiring a lot of capital and stuff. I said, okay, well, pass me that deal. Y' all know I'll close. We have a track record, something I take a lot of pride in actually closing and doing what we say. And we'll close this, and I'll help you all with the development, but no wholesale fee. And they're like, okay, so we're about to do a $200,000 development for them. It's actually started. We're in engineering and planning, about to pour concrete, I think next week, a week and a half from now. But doing that, something that already excites me and, like, something I'm going to be doing here in the future when it comes to developing storage for myself, getting to do that for some friends, and they pass me a deal along. So it's like, what's better when it's all in house? Like, it's all getting reciprocated between really close friends now that I talk to every single week. And we're just passing each other stuff left and right. And same with our systems and processes. We're hiring VAs. We're optimizing and automating storage. We're all using a lot of the same concepts. Revolutionary software this week, insurance. My pod, save me 3K. They were like, hey, we have an insurance provider that just started quoting storage insurance. I know this sounds boring, but it could help some people out there, especially in storage. They were like, man, we're getting close, like, 13, 14k from all our carriers. And they were like, go shop. And we just use them. Go shop them. And our premium's, like, 9, 800 bucks for more coverage than what we were getting. So my pod saved me three cakes. That's why your memberships are worth it. Like, boom, 3K. 3K right there from the pod, dude.
- [34:18]
B
It's funny because it's. It's like, man, you're pulling out, like, millions and millions and millions of dollars where you can, like, point to it on the balance sheet and say, like, hey, here's the value. But then, man, why is it that you got so many other people that are, like, struggling to find value? I guess it's just they're not connected with that. They're just not being intentional, even with the connections that they're making, man.
- [34:40]
A
I think after doing all these courses and all the events and stuff like that. It's the mindset. That's it. And fortunately for me, I've never been one to, like, let myself get too deep in a rut, is what I like to call it. I always like to keep moving Forward, good, bad, no matter what that situation looks like, and just finding a way out, like getting my back against a wall, getting back centered up and figuring out my next move. So mindset for me has been everything all the way back from that first trip. I tell people in Costa Rica all the time, we had the perfect set. Like, it's all about the set and the setting and all that you talk about, talk about a lot. But we had Joe Moffat out there with the sunset and our multi million dollar crib overlooking the ocean in Costa Rica, and that was new to me, man. That was a lifestyle change to me. That trip was growing up where I grew up and how I grew up especially. I was like, this is me now. Like, this is the new me. And he's unlocking this group's already unlocked a different part of me. But this in particular keynote had me really believing I could jump off that balcony and fly is how confident I was. And I have not lost that confidence since. Like, just been on an all time high now for three years straight, like every day just excited, bulletproof mindset. We all have good days, bad days, whatever, but like end. It ended on a high end. It was something positive. And just keep moving.
- [36:02]
B
Let's go, dude.
- [36:04]
A
Yeah, I got a brick wall every day.
- [36:06]
B
Yeah, I'm about to, I'm about to, I'm about to jump off this balcony, but I don't think I'd fly. I think that that'd probably be the end of the podcast. But man, so what's, so we talked about where we're at now. So what's next? Like, what's, what's the next plan for you? What's the vision? What's the next three to 10 years?
- [36:25]
A
Yeah, so a lot of that I have all mapped out, really clean cut. And the bad thing for me, bad or good, however you want to look at it, changes so much. So I go through these different stages where we have a good buddy, Matt Amabil, he's living in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica right now, surfing every day. And he's like, man, come out here a couple months back, he's like, man, come out here and surf with me. And I go out there and surf for a week, cut my phone off, literally, and have my people handle everything for me. And I'm like, this is the life. Then I get bored and then I get back home and grinding. I'm like, this is what I like. So for me, it's always shifting in terms of like really, really long term. I just really want to be able to do what I want to do, when I want to do it, that's my big thing. So if I want to go into a season where I go spend six months surfing, I could do that because the cash flow in the businesses are ran properly. To be able to do that or if I want to go build the water line next door to us, the tallest building in Texas, I could do that too because I have that repertoire of skills to be able to do that. So for me, yeah, it changes a lot. Like business goals. Right now we really want to scale up on the storage front. We want to grow. I'm only 28 years old, believe it or not, by the looks of me, I know I look 40 probably. But we want to grow, we want to grow from 10, by the end of this year, around 10 million to 100 million on our storage portfolio over the next three years. So by age 30 I want 100 million dollar portfolio of commercial real estate.
- [37:53]
B
I think, and I think, I think.
- [37:55]
A
I think it's going to be easy, especially with the systems we're putting in place. This new partnership that I'm working on right now and getting buttoned up. Our skill set with the acquisitions and the automations and AI for the, on the acquisition side of things I think is going to be crazy. What we're working on in the off market space, different things that we've picked from other successful storage operators and what they've done to get leads and what we're kind of building behind the scenes right now, I think it's all going to come to light pretty quick and going to blow the up in the nicest way possible.
- [38:30]
B
Dude, I like that you say that. And what I'd probably invite you to do is, I mean you can test it out how I do it. I mean I just, I do it. I call Sprint and Rest, so I do navigation and acceleration. So I mean you, I mean, you know, you've been around since the first summer. It's like what I do is every single summer I just piss off and go have a bunch of fun. So I just go to Europe and there's, there's only, there's, there's two rules of Euro summer. There's only two rules. Rule number one is money isn't real. And rule number two is that I gotta be around some sunshine and some in some surf. I gotta be around some water and I gotta get some sunshine. That's all, that's all that matters. And so what I do is for the rest of my life I just want to Work really hard. But what I do is I'm like, okay, I'm going to work really hard for like the first half of the year and I call it earn your summer. So I set, I go ahead and set the big ass goals that we have. And then I'm like, all right, cool. Like, this is going to be the reward. Here's what I'm going to do before to hit the reward. And so that's what I first do. And then after that, then I go do Euro Summer. And I just stay out there for as long as I feel like until I'm like, man, I really just need to get back to work. Then I come back and then it's good Q3, Q4 and I, I ride that wave. So now I'm finishing this Q4 wave. So we got big goals to hit. Then we go into Q1, Q2 again, and it's back to, okay, now what are we doing again to earn the summer? And then we go celebrate again. And so I just want to do that for the rest of my life.
- [40:01]
A
Yeah. Yeah. Never grow up. Just never grow up.
- [40:04]
B
Yeah. I mean, that's. That sounds like fun to me. Like.
- [40:08]
A
Yeah, same.
- [40:10]
B
Yeah, so, because, because here's the thing that I realized, what's the point? You know, like, because here's the thing, everything's hard. All of it's hard. There's not an easy asset class. There's not an easy business to run. It's all hard. So it's like, if we're all going to do hard stuff regardless, like, you can't get around it. So I'm like, well, how can I have as much, much fun? How can I, like, bake the circumstances to have as much fun doing hard stuff as possible? So I could just do hard stuff more sustainably than anybody else. And if I just build the environment where I can do hard stuff more sustainably for a longer period of time, then I'll just be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Exactly.
- [40:53]
A
Yeah. And one thing, we can't beat Tom. I mean, Tom and like, no paying down these properties, like, that's my favorite thing. And I know we hate single family here in aac. That's our little inside joke. Not really, but that's our inside joke. But all my properties are mortgaged on 15, 20 years and I'm like two, three, four years deep. And I'll update my personal financial statement. People's like, that's how I know I'm getting old. People are like, what excites you? I'm like, Updating my PFS for a new loan. I'm like, that's what sounds sexy to me.
- [41:27]
B
Yeah, but you guys get that because you're in real estate. I don't get to see that as much because we buy, we buy businesses.
- [41:33]
A
Yeah. You get your big multiples, though, which are even more exciting later. That's why we like to, yeah. Inject capital into SBA deals and stuff too. But it's like, yeah, with real estate, the debt, pay downs, what really excites me is no matter what, at the end of the day, someone else is paying my bills. And that's what's not talked about enough. It's like, even if it hits the fan and we have all these repairs and we're not cash flowing, someone's still paying down my debt. Yeah. Which is a hat.
- [42:00]
B
Correct.
- [42:01]
A
Of all hats. So that's what fires me up.
- [42:05]
B
I, I used, I, I used to do it too. I mean, we're still going to do it, but I mean, just the idea of being able to go and just add half a million dollars of equity to that property is sick. And then, you know, eventually, like, you're just going to be in the rooms. Like, I mean, because, heck, every room I get into, I just bring Hunter for people listening. I'm like, okay, come on with me, Hunter. Like, come check this person out. And then, so we go, we go do all this stuff and then it's like, eventually, like, you're going to be doing the same deal, same process. But I mean, like, I think by the time you're 30, you're going to be like, all right, I'm going to go buy a 10 million dollar deal. And then the value adds 2 million bucks.
- [42:39]
A
And the big thing is what's weird. And I tell people this a lot now too, that we just have started doing bigger deals. Like when you hear people say the cliche shit, like adding zeros, that really all it is when there's no emotion tied to it. So someone like me who just doesn't have much fear or emotion, it's like, that's all it is. It's like going into a room. We deal with a lot of small local banks where I've literally presented to the board of a bank at like 26 years old. I'm like, y' all give me a couple million bucks. They're like, why? I said, because I'm the horse you want to bet on. And I sit there and tell them on, look them dead in the eyes at 50, 60, 70 years old. And I'm like, give me your money and you won't regret it. And here we are, and they didn't regret it. And that lender in particular is wanting to do all of our storage in Louisiana. They're like, now we have a whole different perspective. Because of your confidence and your ability to execute.
- [43:33]
B
Yeah. I mean, it's something that people don't think about is. Is literally that process. And doing bigger deals is. Is fun in storage and also in. In small business because you just have better people that you're working with. So a. It's like certain example of this is we're doing the. The 14.2 million for Baya, right? So, I mean, there's enough room in that deal for a bunch of big ass players to come in and play that are really good at what they do. Like, you need to meet my GC Banks. Dude, you and Banks would get along like, he's the home. He's freaking.
- [44:07]
A
I love the creative stuff. It really, dude, if I stayed on the contractor, that's probably what it would have been. Because once you make the money, it's what I tell a lot of people too. Like, the money's gonna come naturally through what you built. Now it's like doing the stuff that excites you. And as a contractor, I could see that whole realm of things with the boutique hotels and creative development just being so much fun. And if you could have fun contracting, you could have fun doing anything. If you could find a way to really enjoy that.
- [44:37]
B
It's freaking fun. It's all talent. It's all talented. And the bigger the deal, bigger deal you do, the more talent's gonna come work with you. And the only reason I tell people to buy a bigger business and not buy like $800,000 business, go buy a business that's like 3 million bucks, 4 million bucks is because, dude, you have. Yes, Maybe you don't have 100% equity. Maybe you've got a business partner and somebody else like me coming in on the cap table. But like, dude, you've got so much more support. And the people that you're able to hire with that amount of money is so much better because that's the. That's all that matters to a certain level of the game. Who are you hiring? Because if you're hiring a subcontractor for like pennies on the dollar, they're gonna leave you for whoever's paying $0.04 more per hour. But if you hire the, like, if you could afford to get the gc, that's like the Best gc and you're like, dude, I want you to come work with me. Then everything else works. It's freaking sick. Heck yeah, man. So where if people are listening to this, you know, because obviously most of the AAC is going to listen to this and you know, thousands of other people. How, how can they add value to you? What do you need help with right now and how can they reach out.
- [45:47]
A
To you need help with a lot. I mean what I could say the most help with is not my technical background. So the whole AI automations and anything tech related, I feel like my partner I'm bringing in now has got me covered there a lot of. But with the limited time she has right now, still with the W2 as well, that I could still use some people to come in and help with skills on that. I mean we could always use more capital. I think I've got a good bankroll starting to stack up in cash. And then, I mean I feel like I could help with anything. To anyone, whether it's something they're dealing with mentally, something they're dealing with business wise, something relationship. I just love to help and solve problems. And then what was the last thing? Where to reach me?
- [46:30]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [46:31]
A
Have you ever had someone just give their phone number? Is it always like reach me on Facebook or would you not advise this minute?
- [46:38]
B
You can do it. You can do whatever you want. I mean.
- [46:42]
A
Yeah, you can hit me on Facebook at my name Hunter H U N T R for J F R U S H A or just straight up shoot me a call 337-485-6250 because I will answer and that's definitely going to be the quickest way to get me. And you'll probably catch me at a good time because I'm pretty solid at multitasking shop while I'm working on stuff 90% of the time.
- [47:08]
B
Let's. Let's see who takes you up on it. So this far in the podcast. So. Hell yeah, dude, this has been freaking, freaking awesome. Long time coming. Excited to see you here soon. And dude, man, it's been awesome watching you grow, dude. It's been freaking fun to have front row.
- [47:24]
A
It's fun to do it.
- [47:25]
B
Thanks for everything you do, man.
- [47:26]
A
Yeah, it's a pleasure, brother.
- [47:28]
B
All right, see you, buddy. And that's the pod. Boom. Thank you guys so much for listening to another episode of the Action Academy podcast. My one ask real quick before you go, if you enjoy this episode, if it brought value to you, please share this episode with one to three friends that you think could get value from it. This is how we grow the show. And at minimum, if you could leave us a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or whatever platform you listen to, that would mean the world to us is how we get in front of other entrepreneurs. If you're done sitting on the sidelines, you're done listening to the podcast. You want to be the freaking guest on the podcast? Go into actionacademy.com Go in the show description, the show link, and book a call to speak with our Action Academy community. We have hundreds and hundreds of people just like you buying businesses and commercial real estate with full coaches, full mentors, full support, full capital. Everything. ActionAcademy.com is where you'll find us.