How Mid-Term Rentals Can Make You Financially Free | Jason & Jacky McClure DSH #1206

Summary

Digital Social Hour Episode Summary: "How Mid-Term Rentals Can Make You Financially Free | Jason & Jacky McClure DSH #1206"

Introduction to Guests

In episode #1206 of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly welcomes Jason and Jacky McClure from Dallas to discuss the transformative potential of mid-term rentals (IMTR) in achieving financial freedom. Jason and Jacky share their journey into the real estate market, the inception of their mid-term rental business, and how it has reshaped their lives both financially and personally.

Understanding Mid-Term Rentals

Sean begins by posing basic questions about mid-term rentals to ensure listeners grasp the concept. Jason elaborates:

Jason: "So midterm, everyone knows what a short term rental is, right? That's basically 30 days or less. A midterm is going to be anything that falls into 30 days or more." [01:18]

Jacky adds that IMTRs are typically furnished rentals that cater to individuals needing temporary housing for extended periods, often supported by insurance, allowing them to bypass restrictive HOA rules that prohibit short-term leases.

Benefits of Mid-Term Rentals

One of the primary advantages discussed is the reduction in operational headaches compared to short-term rentals. Jason emphasizes:

Jason: "They provide the margins of an STR without the constant turnover... You don't have to deal with cleaners, replacing broken items, or frequent tenant changes." [39:25]

Jason and Jacky highlight that IMTRs offer steady income streams with minimal disruptions, making them an attractive investment for those seeking passive income.

Personal Journey and Business Genesis

The McClures delve into their personal stories, revealing how unforeseen circumstances and strategic decisions led them to mid-term rentals. Jacky recounts:

Jacky: "We were disqualified from adoption for two counts and had to finagle the system... Adoption became a pivotal moment in our lives." [30:19]

Their move to Texas was both a personal and business decision, allowing them to establish roots and expand their IMTR operations across multiple states, including Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and California.

Real Estate Market Insights

Sean and the guests discuss current real estate trends, particularly focusing on interest rates and market stability. Jason mentions:

Jason: "Even though interest rates are high, we're still not scared to buy right now because I think we'll be able to refinance in the next year or two." [38:54]

They also touch upon the importance of having adequate insurance coverage (Category D for additional living expenses) to protect investments against unforeseen events like natural disasters, ensuring financial stability during property repairs or relocations.

Work-Life Balance and Family

A significant portion of the conversation centers on maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Jason shares his commitment to family:

Jason: "We're always very, very in-depth... What’s most important to us is family time, exposure to the world, building into people, and being a blessing." [46:19]

Both Jason and Jacky emphasize the importance of prioritizing family over relentless work schedules, highlighting how their IMTR business has afforded them the flexibility to spend quality time with their children and engage in meaningful community activities.

Parenting and Education Philosophies

The McClures discuss their approach to parenting and education, advocating for hands-on involvement rather than outsourcing child-rearing. Jacky states:

Jacky: "We're running this business and homeschooling our kids... It's about pouring into our family and being present." [43:44]

They critique the traditional education system, suggesting that personalized education and strong parental involvement foster better relationships and character development in children.

Philosophical Insights on Fulfillment and Relationships

The conversation takes a deeper turn as the guests reflect on the pursuit of material wealth versus meaningful relationships. Jacky shares a poignant anecdote:

Jacky: "When you can realize that you're not your job, you're not your accolades... you just need to learn to be the best self that you are." [50:24]

They argue that true fulfillment comes from building and nurturing relationships rather than accumulating finite possessions or wealth, emphasizing the importance of personal growth and community engagement.

Achieving Financial Freedom through IMTR

Jason and Jacky provide concrete examples of how IMTRs have enabled them to achieve financial independence. They discuss their experiences with insurance-backed mid-term rentals, detailing how early investments led to substantial passive income streams:

Jason: "If you have one or two rental houses that you want to do really well, take care of people really well, it could be a cool thing." [53:19]

Their success stories include instances where IMTR contracts significantly exceeded their financial goals, allowing them to cover personal expenses like adoption costs and supporting their family’s needs effortlessly.

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Throughout the episode, Sean, Jason, and Jacky underscore the potential of mid-term rentals as a viable pathway to financial freedom. Key takeaways include:

• Stability and Flexibility: IMTRs offer a balance between short-term and long-term rentals, providing steady income with fewer operational hassles.
• Strategic Investment: Understanding the importance of insurance and market trends is crucial for maximizing returns and safeguarding investments.
• Work-Life Harmony: Prioritizing family and personal well-being over relentless work pursuits leads to a more fulfilling and balanced life.
• Community and Relationships: Building strong relationships and contributing to the community enriches personal lives and fosters a sense of purpose.

Jason and Jacky conclude by promoting their educational platform, VettedHomes.com, which offers courses on insurance mid-term rentals, aiming to empower others to achieve financial freedom through informed real estate investments.

Jacky: "Our heart behind it is just like, this is what allows us to live a free life... it's really the freedom that it allows." [52:25]

Notable Quotes

• Jason: "Favorite part about it, Tenants, we've done short term. They're amazing. They're homeowners. So it's like we, we love the tenants. That's our favorite thing about IMTR. More than the money." [02:34]
• Jason: "Even though interest rates are high, we're still not scared to buy right now because I think we'll be able to refinance in the next year or two." [38:54]
• Jacky: "We're always very, very in-depth... What’s most important to us is family time, exposure to the world, building into people, and being a blessing." [46:19]
• Jacky: "When you can realize that you're not your job, you're not your accolades... you just need to learn to be the best self that you are." [50:24]
• Jacky: "Our heart behind it is just like, this is what allows us to live a free life... it's really the freedom that it allows." [52:25]

Final Thoughts

This episode of Digital Social Hour offers invaluable insights into the real estate market's mid-term rental niche, presenting it as a practical avenue for achieving financial autonomy. Jason and Jacky McClure's authentic dialogue, combined with their personal anecdotes, provides listeners with both inspiration and actionable strategies to explore within their own financial journeys.

For those interested in learning more about mid-term rentals and accessing Jason and Jacky's expertise, visit VettedHomes.com.

Transcript

[A]

You're pretty smart when people talk about you too. Smart comes up a lot. So why are you trying to prove them wrong? Why aren't you pushing the limits of science and powering the nuclear engines of the world's most powerful Navy? If you were born for it, isn't it time to make a smart choice? You can be smart or you can be nuke smart. Become a nuclear [e-mail] nukesmart America's Navy. Forged by the sea.

[B]

So fulfilling, so enjoyable. I remember this one time I was driving that Porsche and we were in, like, downtown la. There was a homeless guy and I got into my car and he's like, that is an awesome car. I'm like, you wanna go for a ride? He's like, no way. I'm like, yeah, hop in. He goes in, he's like, hey, can you go around the block? My girlfriend's over there. I wanna wave to her while we're driving by. I'm like, absolutely.

[C]

That's funny.

[B]

But at the end of the day, what's a thing to enjoy if you're just, you know, if you're just enjoying it for yourself and not. Not sharing it with anybody?

[C]

All right, guys, from Dallas, we got Jason and Jacqueline here. We're going to talk midterm rentals and life. Thanks for coming on, guys.

[B]

Come on. Thanks for having us.

[C]

Yeah. This is a space I know nothing about. So you're going to have to start from the basics with me. What exactly is a midterm rental?

[B]

So midterm, everyone knows what a short term rental is, right? That's basically 30 days or less. A midterm is going to be any. Anything that falls into 30 days or more. So you get to furnished, all the.

[A]

Same stuff as like a short term, but 30 days or more.

[B]

And you get to avoid blocks like HOA saying, you know, we don't allow short term rental. We don't allow any rentals less than 30 days. Get past that. A lot of times there's some crazy HOAs that are trying to do something like nothing less than a year now, but it's really rare. But, yeah, basically we're providing housing and we specialize in the IMT mark IMTR market, which is insurance midterm rentals. So let's say, like, you take off, you're in New York for the weekend, you come back and you're like, my toilet. Just all the water's on the floor, the filler just leaked or whatever it is, and you have a potential mold problem. You're like, what do I do? You call your insurance. And they're like, okay, we're gonna move you to another place because there's mold hazard or there's just too much construction to do. You can't be living there. And wherever you go to. That's what we're trying to provide housing for.

[C]

Got it. Yeah. It sounds like it's less headaches, right?

[B]

A lot less headaches. Yeah. We've done long term.

[A]

Favorite part about it, Tenants, we've done short term. They're amazing. They're homeowners. So it's like we, we love the tenants. That's our favorite thing about imtr. More than the money.

[C]

Right. Because their homeowners are looking for an in between spot to stay while their new home's done. Basically.

[B]

They are. And they're, they're people that are nearby. They generally want to stay someplace that's near their kids school, near their work, whatever, and they just want to stay there until their home's done. So they're not trying to squat. No one's squatting. They're not even paying out of pocket because it's coming out of their insurance.

[C]

Oh, wow.

[B]

So they're just happy to be someplace. And we try to buy to provide the nicest place possible.

[C]

Yeah, that's legit. I didn't know insurance companies were covering this.

[B]

Oh, it's, yeah, absolutely. So it's, it's, we call it a win, win, win. The insurance company wants to get them taken care of and get them out of the house while repairs are done. Right. And then they themselves, they just want a nice place to land in while their, their home gets fixed up.

[C]

Right.

[B]

They want convenience. They want, you know, we want them to walk in and be like, wow, yeah, I'd love to stay here. And then us, we love taking care of them and then we make great money doing it.

[C]

Yeah, that's cool. You guys do this in Dallas?

[B]

We do, yeah. We've done it in, I think five or six states. We pulled back this last year and consolidated a little bit. We've done it in Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, California. California is where we started. We're originally from la, so that's, I.

[C]

Don'T get LA vibes from you guys at all.

[A]

That's why we're not there anymore.

[B]

It's down there. We got roots, but yeah, we've been in Fort Worth.

[A]

Let's grant Cardone in there and turn it around and we might just skip buy a place there again.

[C]

Half a year I was there during COVID and I Hated it.

[B]

Oh, that's when I moved. We moved, we moved in January 2020.

[C]

So right when it started, Just before, just before. Oh, before it started.

[A]

Two months before.

[B]

Because lockdowns dropped in March.

[C]

Yeah. Talk about good timing.

[B]

Oh, best timing.

[C]

Because you would have been screwed if you waited two months.

[B]

Done. And. And I traveled there a number of times just because we still had family there, we still had business there. And it was the worst, dude. I mean, couldn't even do anything.

[C]

I moved there at the worst time and I lasted five months and then I came to Vegas. It wasn't planned. I drove here, stayed at the MGM for a month looking for a house because everyone was leaving LA to move everywhere. So it's hard to find a house around that time. Super hard.

[A]

I remember my best friend visited from California to Texas in 2021 and she brought her new baby that was born in 2020. And she's like, oh my gosh, he has never seen people. He's never been out. Like, we went to a restaurant. He was like, it's his first time at church. It's his first time here. I'm like, dude, he's almost a year old.

[B]

How is this?

[A]

But it was, it was such a paradigm shift. Cuz Texas, we were like living pretty much normal.

[C]

Yeah. Texas and Florida handled it well.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

You guys could do whatever you wanted. Right?

[B]

I mean, I was honestly, I was a bit surprised on that. They still had restrictions that were as strong as they were. I was expecting Texas to be totally free.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And there was legit, like quarantine recommendations.

[A]

When the uncertainty was there, which, I mean, we all were like, what's going on?

[B]

It was a couple of months. Yeah, it was a couple of months. And I was reasonable kind of thinking like, this kind of feels like California. But when I went back to California, I was like, okay, this is not, that is not California. Yeah, this is California.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I remember her brother came out to visit in the middle. It was like a year and a half in or something.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And he came to visit from California and he's like, we took him to a restaurant, the barbecue spot. Spot. And it's filled with people.

[A]

No one's massive band is playing.

[B]

Employees aren't massive. Nobody. And he's like, I just, I, I, I don't know what to do right now. Like, this feels crazy.

[A]

And then he moved shortly thereafter.

[C]

Oh, he moved there. A lot of people moved to Texas.

[A]

Never thought he would, but my whole family moved slowly but surely. And his mom just moved last weekend.

[C]

Wow. Real estate went up a lot, right, In Dallas.

[B]

Too much.

[C]

Too much.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Well, you got in at 220s. You're probably chilling. Right.

[A]

But we keep buying, so.

[C]

Oh, yeah. Plus the interest rates.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. What is it, 7% now?

[B]

Yeah, it's around there.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

We do some sub 2 stuff to kind of avoid that.

[C]

But shout out to Pace.

[B]

Yes. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. That stuff is crazy.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Sub 2.

[B]

It's great right now.

[C]

So you were able to not know what's possible. Yeah. You guys were actually able to get a house using that strategy?

[B]

Got two last year, so.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Because I tried out here and I. I couldn't do it, man.

[B]

You got to stay on top.

[C]

Well, my price range is too high, I think.

[A]

Oh, you're trying to get it for your homestead?

[C]

For my home, yeah. Yeah. So when they're over a million, I feel like it's harder.

[A]

Yeah, it's harder to cherry pick. That's what I told him. I'm like, well, chair, like, we'll just take what we can find, the good stuff for rentals. And then when we want to find, like, whatever we're looking for, we're gonna have to just find it on mls. Yeah, it's too. You can't. You'll wait forever to find the. Right.

[B]

And if something does pop in, you gotta be in the first.

[C]

Be quick. Right?

[B]

Yeah. You gotta be on top of it.

[C]

Yeah. Because it's probably competitive now because Pace taught thousands of people that strategy.

[B]

There's so many people. I mean, she posts something in the group, and like, five of our friends are like, I saw you posted something.

[A]

I know. Right away.

[C]

Oh, the Facebook group.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

You guys got a group.

[A]

Oh, Pace's free group.

[C]

Oh, and Pace's group. Yeah.

[A]

I don't know if you follow that one.

[C]

I think I'm in there. Yeah.

[A]

Real estate with Pace Morbi.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Amazing group.

[C]

I'm actually going to his event next month in Dallas.

[A]

Yeah, we might be there, too.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

March 28th, Jordan Peterson.

[A]

Oh, that's right. We're not going to be there because we're going to Turkey on that actual day.

[C]

Turkey. Whoa. Why are you going to Turkey?

[B]

And we're leading a missional trip to Turkey, so we're taking all of our crew, our family, so six of us. We have four kids, one on the way.

[C]

Congrats.

[B]

And then. Thank you. And then we're leading the team. Some of them coming over from our church, some just someone coming over from Australia. We got a team member from, like, North Carolina, California. Just Kind of a nice spread, Louisiana. And we're just gonna hit the ground out there. We're gonna land in Istanbul. Going to be out there about two weeks, something like that. Maybe just under. We're going to hit Cyprus and just pour into the local community, bless them as much as we can. Bring goods and just bring love. And then we're going to ultimately spend our last week in Hai region, the.

[A]

Southern region where the earthquake was, if you remember, a couple years ago.

[C]

Yeah. Okay.

[B]

And we're just. There's still a ton of refugees and still a lot of rebuilding, even from two years ago.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

And we're just going to help build Taiwan tiny homes and just love on. On the people there.

[C]

Man, you guys really give back. You know, it's impressive. Like, you don't have to do that.

[B]

You know, I think that's. I think that's what life's about, you.

[A]

Know, Part of our calling, for sure.

[B]

Yeah. But I think it's everybody. Because you see, you talk to enough people that are. That are really wealthy.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And at some point, nothing brings fulfillment anymore. And you see the. The only thing that they have left to turn to is, like, philanthropic, you know, exercises. And so, like, they're trying to find some way to give back. And I think that's just because there's. You're not really going to find fulfillment in. In finite items. You know, you have. You can be a car guy. I love driving. I love cars. But I mean, let me give an example. When we were first married, we were not well off at all. And. And we were looking for a car. I thought we were going to get a Volkswagen. And we found this car. It was a. It was this special Porsche Boxster. It was on ebay. It was way like. It was like a dream car, but it was like an hour drive away. And she's like, we should go drive out.

[A]

And it was the same price as.

[B]

Like, it was the same price.

[C]

He was the same.

[B]

The same price as the Volkswagen we were looking at. Right. So I'm like, let's go check it out. So we go out there and guys like, do you want to test drive it? It's like a boutique dealer. I'm like, yes, please. You know, So I jump in. I'm like, this thing's wild. So he tells me that. He's like, I don't know where this thing came from. I got it on auction. Nobody knows where it came from. I pulled some part numbers, and they're like German part numbers. I don't know if it was just some rich guy that sent the car over to there and brought it back after all the work was done or what.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But, you know, it is what it is, and nobody was bidding on ebay, and it was, like, pristine conditions. So we did a handshake deal. We didn't have funding. Nothing. I didn't even know how we were going to pay for it. Handshake deal. 23,000. Right. And we go back, and I'm like, okay, we got to find some sort of funding for this, some way to, like, pay for it. And sure enough, we got funding. But one night I was up late, and I'm like, if this car is something like, it's someone in the community's got to know something. So I'm like, pulling up Google search, like, looking for Porsche black Porsche Boxsters, you know, and. And I see a picture in Google Images, and I'm like, this is it. Click on it. Sure enough, it's it. It was the COVID car for European Car Magazine, June 2002 or something like that. And it said everything that was done to it. It was built by this guy who raced for Porsche in Le Mans one year, and it was his, like, kind of fun track car.

[A]

Fort Wagner.

[B]

Shout out. Never met him, but shout out. He built this great car.

[A]

Great car.

[B]

911 engine, trans GT3 suspension all around. We're talking about, like, 75 or $100,000 in upgrades. And we did a handshake deal for 23,000. What? And so the guy calls me the next day, and he's like, hey, I found the car. I know. I know where it's from. I'm like, really? He's like, yep, there's an article on it. I'm like, kidding me? He's like, european Car magazine. He's like, but because we made the deal, I'm going to honor it. And that's how we got it. But I have to say, I ended up with this car that I didn't deserve. You know, shout out to my wife who encouraged it. She's crazy like that, and I love her, but I used to drive. I was a trainer. At this point, I was working at a. An upscale gym in North LA county, and I would drive that car once or twice a week, but if I drove it, like, four or five times a week, like, it was just. It felt like overindulgence. I just didn't enjoy it the same amount.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And I think that's what it's like when you're just constantly trying to find fulfillment in things. Because you get to the. It's like, it's like you're climbing this ladder. You get to the top and like what's there? Like nothing. So you got to find something else. And you're continually climbing ladders. But you know, I think there's like this, this longing in our heart, or you can say like a hole in our heart. Something that's lacking and we're continually trying to fill it with finite items, but we never reach the, the true fulfillment. There's a temporal happiness, but not a long term. Yeah, and I think you only get that in relationships. I think horizontal relationships and then vertical relationship especially and then, and then pouring out and using these things. Just a lot of people, they think that these finite items that, that they're chasing after are like the end. But in reality it's a terrible end. It's like they make terrible master, but great servant. And so if you can use these things to build into other people, bless other people then, man, it's so, so fulfilling. So en. Enjoyable. I remember this one time I was driving that Porsche and we were in like downtown LA and there was a homeless guy and I got into my car and he's like, that is an awesome car. I'm like, you want to go for a ride? He's like, no way. I'm like, yeah, hop in. He goes in, he's like, hey, can you go around the block? My girlfriend's over there. I wanna, I wanna wave to her while we're driving by. I'm like, absolutely.

[C]

That's funny.

[B]

But at the end of the day, what's a thing to enjoy if you're just, you know, if you're just enjoying it for yourself and not. Not sharing it with anybody, It's. I think it's just leads nowhere.

[C]

I love that. Yeah. I used to have a phase of buying material goods, but I'm over it now. It's, it's not like sustainable.

[B]

It's not, it's not, you know, Yeah.

[C]

I bought watches, cars, and yeah, it didn't bring any long term happiness.

[B]

That's the thing. It's like you never arrive at a. Whether it's a car guy or a real estate guy or whatever. You never arrive at a point where you're just like, I have enough now. You know, it just.

[C]

Yeah, it never ends.

[B]

It's keeps going on and on and on. And then at some point you just got to realize purpose is not found here. Yeah, it's just a means.

[C]

That's why I'd rather spend money on Experiences.

[B]

Absolutely.

[C]

Over physical items.

[A]

Us too.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah. Nice little vacation or something out of town, you know.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

A little staycation sometimes in Vegas. Yeah, those are much better. Roi's.

[B]

I'm an introvert, too.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Social introvert. But nonetheless, I need that. That personal time. But I think also getting married, like.

[A]

You'Re about to get married.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Having kids, like, that's deeply meaningful.

[C]

For sure.

[A]

I think our society, our culture is coming back around to realizing that, because probably for the last, like, 50 years, it's been like, pursue, you know, your dreams and kids get in the way of that and all that. And we're kind of realizing, like, oh, wait, there actually is something deeply spiritual and meaningful in doing these, like, traditional things.

[C]

Yeah. I saw that a lot with my generation. A lot of guys I grew up with didn't want kids, but now they. I'm messaging them and they want kids.

[B]

Yep.

[C]

But in. In their young 20s, they definitely didn't.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And it's wild. Right. Because now they're older and now, you know, there could be complications or it could be hindrances or it's not as easy.

[C]

Right. Yeah. They waited too long, some of them. Because some of these women now are 35, 40. They can't really have kids as easy.

[B]

Right, Right. Totally. Yeah. When I met her, she didn't want kids.

[C]

Oh, really?

[A]

For sure.

[C]

What made you change your mind?

[A]

That same category. Because I was also very, like, already entrepreneur and, like, I want to start my own business and I want to do this and that, and I just. I don't know, I kind of bought into the whole thing. Like, the earth's overpopulated anyway. If we're gonna adopt, if we're gonna have a kid, we should just adopt one that's already in existence. Why do we need to make more? Probably a little bit of the. Like, I don't want to get pregnant and get big and, like, birth a baby and all that. Probably a little. But yeah, I just had a shift, I think one. One day, a friend of mine, when we were living abroad, we lived in Shanghai six years, and just on a walk with one of my girlfriends, and she's like, so when are you guys gonna have kids? And this and that. And I said, oh, I don't think we really want kids. We're just really content. We travel so much. We have so much fun together. And she said like, wow, have you prayed about that? Have you asked God about that? And I was just like, I'm a strong believer. I ask God about all kinds of Things. I'm not asking him about this. I was like, I've already made up my mind, what do I need his opinion for? And then so it kind of just led me to, I think, journal about it, think about it more, pray about it, and boom, heart shift. And then we adopted our son. Oh, wow.

[C]

So you adopted the first one.

[B]

Yeah, first one from China.

[C]

From China. Wow. I have an adopted cousin from China. Yeah.

[A]

You look like you could be like 1/4.

[C]

I'm half.

[A]

Half Chinese.

[C]

Yeah. I wish I could speak it. My mom's biggest regret is not teaching me Mandarin, actually. Yeah. But she was born there and she came here with 20 buc. Worked her way to become a self made millionaire. American dream on. Yeah. 20 bucks interviewed her.

[A]

We need to watch.

[C]

She's coming on. Yeah. She'll be my 1500th episode.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Dude, that is so cool.

[C]

Talk about how she raised me and why I am the way I am. And because she was a single parent household actually. So she. She did well, I think. Oh, yeah, you too?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah, my mom. Well, when I was. I was conceived non consensually.

[C]

Damn.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Holy crap.

[B]

And my mom was 17 years old when she had me. Jeez.

[C]

And.

[B]

And she's first generation, so her. Her mom was from Argentina, Buenos Aires. And her father was from Italy. And she was dating somebody kind of short term, not. Not for very long. And one night this thing went down. It was not consensual, you know, not necessarily violent or. But it just. It was a. No. And then that was her first time having any sort of, you know.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Sexual experience whatsoever.

[C]

Holy crap.

[B]

And all of a sudden she got pregnant. And when she found out her. Her dad was pretty livid with her.

[C]

With her.

[B]

She was like the black sheep at that point.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

Even though obviously it wasn't her choice, but they were kind of a traditional Catholic family and she was kind of looked at as like the outcast. And so she would go to school, come home, and then she'd be relegated to her room after school.

[C]

Damn.

[B]

And so she was thinking, you know, there's no way I can have this baby because if I don't have support, you know, from my own father, then what am I gonna do? And she was never. She told me she was never thinking abortion, but she was definitely thinking, like adoption.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Probably gonna be the answer. And then she said one day she was sitting in her room and she heard the audible voice of God, and she wasn't religious. And he said, I love your baby and if you keep it I'll take care of it. And so at that point, she decided, all right, I'm keeping this baby.

[C]

Holy crap.

[B]

And she was a great mom. And then, you know, he did. He's. He's taking care of me. He takes care of me. I mean, he. I've been blessed beyond belief. I think he takes care of everybody. But, you know, there's special themes on people's lives. And looking back in hindsight, like, I see it. I see times where I, you know, things should have been different. But, yeah, you know, I was spared. And she met my dad that raised me when I was about three. And that's who I call dad. That's. He ultimately adopted me, and I carry his name, and I love him. He taught me discipline, hard work, lots of things that I didn't have. And then I ended up meeting cars.

[C]

Yeah, that's a good skill. Hey, I can't replace that one, bro.

[B]

It's true. And then.

[C]

Beautiful.

[B]

Meeting my biological father when I was 30.

[C]

Oh, you met him?

[B]

Yeah, I did. And then I found out that I have another brother and sister.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

The brother and sister that I was raised with.

[C]

So you made amends with him, or. How was that?

[B]

I did. You know, I. I never had enmity, like, in my heart towards him. And I also never. I don't have, like, father problems. I don't have, like. I don't feel like. I never felt like, oh, man, who's my biological dad? You know, I need to find him and. And, like, fix something, you know, or, like, heal this. These wounds, I think. And it goes back to that promise that was spoken over me, like, I've always been taken care of. And. And I have so many people that have been spiritual fathers to me and functionally fathers to me, and they. They've even. So many people call. Have called me like a son. They called me their son or like a son. I mean, I'm talking about, you know, more than a handful of prominent people in my life over the years, in addition to my own dad that raised me, you know, so it. I think it wasn't hard for me to. To meet him. It's not hard for me to maintain a relationship with him. We're very different, but we're alike in some. In some ways, too. Which is kind of crazy. But. Yeah, I mean, I think. I think, you know, it's tough walking around with bitterness, and I don't think.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Any way to live.

[C]

No.

[B]

Some people say, like, I've heard it said, being bitter towards someone is like pouring A glass of poison for the person that you're bitter towards and then drinking it yourself. Mmm.

[A]

And expecting them to die?

[B]

Expecting.

[C]

No, I see that. That happened with my dad.

[A]

You with your dad? Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. So divorced at 10. But we were close. But his problem was with his parents. He got physically abused. He grew up on a farm and he never forgave. So this bitterness you're talking about, I saw it every day in him. He never forgave his parents. And the night his mother passed, she came to me in my dreams. Yeah. She's never been in my dream before that. And I was holding her hand, trying to find my father. She wanted to say goodbye, but because he was so closed off and never forgave them, they didn't get a proper goodbye.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

Which is super sad.

[A]

So, like, you still talk to him to this day?

[C]

He passed away now. Yeah. But I saw young. I know he was 64, but man, he had a lot of. A lot of damage from that childhood. Some people just never recover, I think.

[B]

Has that shifted something in you?

[C]

That experience made me want to become a really good parent. Hands on. And just a better like partner with my fiance, honestly. Because I saw the trauma. They fought a lot, my mom and my dad. So I have memories of them just screaming at each other. I got one vivid memory of them pulling on each arm of yours. Yeah. And making me pick who to hang out with that weekend. So that's a big one I have. So just being around that environment definitely stuck with me because that stuff doesn't leave you, you know, when you're a child. Yeah, yeah, it was tough.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

But I learned a lot from it.

[A]

Divorce sucks.

[B]

You will be. You'll be a good dad.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah. Divorce is tough.

[A]

You just need to reduce your hours a little bit when you get them.

[B]

In while you can.

[C]

Well, I know it's a full time job being a parent, so I'm going to definitely be prepared for that when the time comes.

[A]

You know, it depends how you want to do it. But like with him, I was like, if you're gonna be at a 9 to 5 all day, every day. I do not want to have like kids. I just can't do all the things by myself.

[C]

Yeah, it's tough. And you guys have five, right? Four. Yeah, four plus one one on the way. Wow.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

All. How many were adopted?

[B]

Just.

[C]

Oh, just the first one, as a matter of fact.

[B]

How long after we. We committed to adopting him, do we.

[A]

Five days later.

[B]

Five days later?

[A]

Yes to adopting him. And he moved in and Then five days later, found out I was pregnant.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

So nine months later.

[C]

Holy crap.

[B]

In China.

[C]

Wow. You guys were there for six years, huh? What were you doing out there?

[B]

You know, it was just the answer to a prayer. A simple prayer. We got married in 2010 in. In Malibu, California. And when I proposed to her, she was living in China. She graduated Pepperdine, flew out there. Was living out there. She's crazy. She knew one person and she was just living. And we, we came off this crazy hard breakup and then we started talking again. We thought we'd never talk again. And then all of a sudden things were healing up and then I flew out there and I surprised proposed to her.

[C]

And she said, oh, wow. Yeah, right after a breakup, not right.

[B]

After breaking six months or something. We had five months. We didn't speak a word to each other.

[C]

Damn.

[B]

And. And I thought we would never speak again. It was heartbreaking for me because she. She was actually my first real only girlfriend. Yeah, I mean I had, I had, I just had extremely high standards and like never dated. I got close to dating two people in my entire life before that. And so when we broke up, I. I thought she was the one for sure. You know, and then I was just. Every morning I woke up, I'm like oh, like, oh, but, but God was, God was good. He was, he was nearby. He's. I think he's near the, the brokenhearted. That's a promise in scripture. And so anyway, things happened on both of our ends. And then right before she moved to China, she reached out to have an in person meeting. And at first I said no, and then I recanted. I said yes. And then at the end of that meeting, I remember it was supposed to be like a pretty short meeting. Half an hour or something. An hour. We talked for like three or four hours. Place Al Cove Cafe, right? And we had cheesecake.

[C]

I love cheesecake.

[B]

Back then. Oh, cheesecake. Our wedding cake was the cheesecake.

[C]

Oh, you got me thinking about my wedding cake now.

[B]

Come on.

[A]

Oh, you have to do it.

[C]

I love cheesecake.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah, it was the best. Nobody knew it too.

[C]

Cuz was, I'm going to tell my fiance after this, bro.

[B]

So at the end, man, we were talking like I said three, four hours. And then she's like, so, so can I stay in touch with you? And like, my mind's going, no, no more heartbreak. And then I just, I watched it come out of my mouth.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

I'm like, what did I just say? But that's how we started talking Again. And then. So after she moved out there, we talked for a good couple of months. And then after that, I was like, okay, she's the one. Like, we both kind of know that this is what's gonna go down. So I. I flew out there, no notice, didn't tell anybody except for our families. I asked her, her dad and her mom for her hand in marriage.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah. They both said yeah, and her brother and sister, so.

[C]

Wow. You asked four of her family?

[B]

Yeah. And then. And then I told my. My parents and then I flew out there. My clients were like, they showed up and I wasn't there. I had a replacement trainer working, training them those days. And I had this whole day planned out for her. And it was being filmed by a friend of ours. She thought it was a production for something in China.

[C]

Smooth.

[B]

Yeah. So she. The whole day, I sent her, like, I sent her things to do, this road map to follow and money and envelopes for her to spend at these places. And then it ended at this restaurant overlooking the Bun.

[A]

The Bun.

[B]

Bringing the Bund. And she's there and she's text messaging me and she's like, man, this is so nice. I just. It's kind of sad because it's the food. They're starting to serve me now. Food. It looks so good, but it's. I just wish you were here. And I'm like, oh, man, I wish I could be there. He walked in and then I walked.

[C]

Oh, my gosh.

[A]

So beautiful.

[C]

You were singing.

[B]

I. I was. And I'm not a singer.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

Never, ever sang to me. That was the first time.

[B]

And so she said yes. We moved back to la and then we just. We moved into my condo. That's kind of what started us on the IMTR gig ultimately. But we moved in there. We were working a job. She was teaching Mandarin Chinese at a private school. I was training and teaching pe. I had a really cush job set up with the best clients ever. And then she's like, all of a sudden, one day, she's tugging on my sleeve. She's like, I don't think our time in China is done. Like, I. I really don't.

[A]

Like, even, like, before we got married.

[B]

Oh, hinting at it. Yeah.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

And I'm like, oh, babe, that's. This is not something we can just try. Like, I got eight years worth of clients that I'm still with, you know, and, like, this really cush setup. And so I'm like, well, if we're going to do this, let's pray about it, we got to pray about this and let's just give it to God. So we just said simple prayer. Father, we'd like to go back to China. And we asked that if it would please you, you would open up a door for us. And if not, then we'll stay in la. And that was it. That was the prayer. And like we didn't have too much money back then. We put aside $500 a month just in case to be able to fund us to get out there if it were to go down. But we didn't know. And I don't know if it was three months or four months or five months. It was, it was pretty shortly thereafter, friends of ours from Shanghai reached out. The husband was Taiwanese, the, the wife was Indonesian Chinese, but from Toronto. And they're like, hey, we're going to go back to Toronto because we're pregnant. We're going to have our first child there. And we're just thinking about you guys and wondering if you guys would want a house sit for the summer. Like you just stay at our house.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

And they didn't know what our prayer was. We didn't tell anybody. They didn't have a clue. And I'm like, it's so obvious. People were like, were you scared? Like, how did you just leave everything? But like, we asked for it. A door opened wide up.

[A]

Literally.

[B]

They have tons of. They could ask anybody in Shanghai to house it for them. But they asked us in la.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

And so we just dropped everything and moved out there. And we thought it would be indefinitely, but we ended up staying there for six years. And then we came back with our son, our daughter who was born there, our first daughter. And then two dogs, two whippets.

[C]

Oh, what caused you guys to come back? Was it another prayer?

[B]

It was actually the adoption. It was the adoption. Yeah. It was a. It was a pretty tricky adoption that we had to do.

[C]

The one in China, the first one.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. The adoption of our son.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So we were disqualified from adoption for. On two counts. And so we had to like finagle the system. China's now closed adoptions, international adoptions now, so.

[C]

Oh, wow.

[A]

Such a bummer.

[C]

I wonder why they did that.

[B]

I don't know. But I'll tell you what, adoption is just a laundering scheme. It's crazy.

[C]

No way.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Oh, it's an industry.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

It's terrible. They would tell us, and I'm sure it's everywhere. It's this way across the globe. But they would tell us like, okay, so here are the steps that you're going to do. You're going to go to this place, make sure you bring crisp $100 bills and this, this amount of them. This person.

[C]

What the heck? That's weird.

[B]

I was like 30 or $40,000 at the end of what?

[C]

For one kid?

[B]

And you're taking, you're taking a kid off their payroll, Right?

[A]

Exactly.

[C]

Holy crap.

[A]

And he was special needs, brain injured, severe hydrocephalus.

[C]

Oh, did you know that?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, we knew. We met him before we.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, we knew. We knew him beforehand.

[C]

Yeah, the one. My. My cousin was brain injured too, but they didn't tell my aunt. Yeah, they hit it.

[B]

That's the worst.

[C]

Yeah. I don't know if they knew, but yeah, she had a bunch of mental disorders and stuff.

[A]

But another little fun like financial aspect of it was literally, we got Mateo. That's our son. We got him into our house in December. We were like watching him in December, fostering. Like we hadn't decided to adopt him yet because we thought he was being adopted by somebody else. And it was January 1st that we got our first IMTR client. So we went from renting long term.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Getting like 1500 or maybe 2000amonth.

[B]

Negative cash flow.

[C]

Oh, it's negative.

[B]

Yeah, because we're upside down. It was right after the crash. I'd refinance at the, at the height of the market.

[C]

Oh, a crash, huh?

[B]

Exactly. In North LA County, a condo less than a thousand square foot. And then I refinanced at 333,000 and then it dumped and I was super underwater.

[C]

Damn.

[A]

Estimate was like 150 or something.

[B]

It was something crazy. Maybe, maybe it was 200.

[A]

No, it was in the ones. It was in the ones. Damn.

[B]

It was bad.

[A]

I mean, everyone was like bankruptcy or foreclosure, whatever. But so at the same time. So then our tenant, our long term tenants after of years wanted to break their lease early and leave by January 1st. And just so happened this crazy fluke. There was a gas leak in the valley over and Southern California gas was paying like billions of dollars to rehouse thousands of families in neighboring areas.

[C]

Oh, wow.

[A]

And so my mom found out about. It was like, you gotta get your condo on the list. Maybe one of these insurance companies will rent your house. And it just so happened, because his sister is one of the renters, we left that house like half furnished when we moved to China. We were like, is it cool if we just leave all the beds and you know, you can rent out the rooms, whatever. And so at the same time, we get this boy that we say yes to, whose name is Mateo, a gift from God. But then it's like a gift that you have to Pay, you know, $38 for. But then we got this IMTR contract that was supposed to be for one month. Two months to start.

[B]

Two months to start.

[A]

Two Months to start. And it was. They gave us 7,000amonth, and they ended up staying five and a half months.

[B]

Push it out to five and a half months. We made more money than the. All the years combined, you know, but.

[A]

Like, that amount also, just dollar for dollar, was like, oh, that covers the adoption. And I was thinking a gift from God.

[B]

And people were pouring in. People.

[A]

Yes. Oh, his foster family blessed us and. Yeah.

[C]

Wow. I wonder if Cali's doing that right now with the fires. Are they relocating people?

[B]

They are definitely part with some of.

[A]

It is when you have, like, well, the North Carolina stuff and the FEMA involvement with insurance, and then with, like, Southern California, it's hard because this section in your home insurance, and you could check if you own a home. It's called the additional living expense, or it's the category D. Category D. And that is how much you have to, like, should something happen to your house and you need to go somewhere else, that's how much you have to spend somewhere else, including anything that would be outside of your lifestyle. So.

[C]

Got it.

[A]

If you stay at a hotel, that's fine, but then it's like, you can expense dinners there. You can expense all these things because you don't have a kitchen.

[C]

Oh, wow.

[A]

You could have your laundry sent out because you don't have a laundry room or whatever. So that usually people are like, oh, 100 grand in there. That's fine. You know, like, when we first bought a house, we were like, 100,000 in ale. Great.

[C]

Sounds like a lot.

[A]

Because if something's gonna happen to your house, you're thinking, like, I'll be out for three, maybe six months. Could find a great Airbnb for eight grand, nine grand. No problem with the fires. Not so. Because if you had 100 grand in there, now you have to make that.

[B]

Last two years or however long your rebuild period is.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Which is going to be wild.

[C]

They might. They're saying three to five years. Right.

[A]

And you're in one of the most expensive counties. So, like, there's no airbnbs that you can get for seven grand in that area. So now it's. Yeah, it's. It's a little tougher of a Situation.

[C]

Wow. So that's a good thing to know. Can you raise that or is it set up?

[A]

Absolutely. And it's not much money to do.

[C]

It, so you might as well do it.

[A]

We know it. We're always like, how much is it to go to 200k? How much is it to go to 300k? And usually it's like $20 extra a month.

[C]

I need to look into that for my house. Wow.

[A]

Sure.

[C]

That's good to know.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

What's that called? Al aliving expense or category D. That's good to know. Wow. Yeah.

[A]

Everyone that owns a home, so everyone.

[B]

Thinks the tay day right now for imtrs in. In la, but it's actually not.

[C]

Oh, it's not?

[B]

No. Because their al budgets are, you know, 100,000 or 200,000 or whatever they are.

[A]

I would say like 10% of people had the coverage thing. Very, very. And then other people had second homes and third home. So they're like, okay, well that's fine. We're going to rebuild. We're going to go to Florida and then they'll just take every penny of their ali for themselves. Like, they'll pay themselves rent as much as they can.

[C]

That makes sense.

[A]

But you see a lot of people renting rooms and stuff because they just know their budgets can't last.

[C]

Yeah. Hotels are overbooked. Yeah. It's crazy to see what's happened. What happened in North Carolina? Did people have coverage there with the floods or. No.

[B]

Oh, bro. It was a bad sit. They. So many of them didn't have flood insurance.

[C]

Oh, wow.

[B]

Because there's no. There was no flooding, Right. You're in the mountains, right?

[C]

Yeah, good point.

[B]

This hurricane comes through and there's mudslides and. And crazy water everywhere. I mean, we went out there, I took a group out there probably a month or a month and a half after it happened.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And it was bad. Trees down everywhere onto houses, through houses, mud slides into houses. Like you're just mucking and it's nonstop. And this mud is like. It's like quicksand. It's crazy. And people are just like, insurance isn't doing anything because we didn't have insurance.

[A]

You would have to have like a specific. Is like, oh, we see there's like wind damage that caused this. So there would be like little loopholes.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

If your, you know, roof blew off due to the wind and that could be considered. But if it was flooding or if they consider act of God, it was like, oh, no, you're in FEMA's. Hands. And then we all know that Fema.

[C]

Gives you 700 bucks.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[C]

What's his name?

[A]

Matt Von Swell that we follow on X. He's been like the X guy that talks about North Carolina. It is just shocking. I mean there's some people that still haven't received their $700.

[C]

Have you guys been seeing all this Doge corruption?

[B]

It's.

[C]

Oh, the Social Security one was crazy to me. Did you see that one?

[B]

What was the specific on this?

[C]

It came out like two days ago. Basically.

[A]

There's like 200 years old.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. Millions of people though. It wasn't just like a couple people. There was one guy that was 350, I think, like, I want to meet that guy.

[A]

Those are the most vulnerable people in society. They deserve their money.

[B]

We just saw meet him yesterday. It was like, meet Fran. She's having a rough time right now. She survived the Titanic. She, her, her husband dumped tea into the Boston Harbor.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And now she lost two sons.

[A]

Social Security.

[B]

She lost two sons in the Civil War and now the administration is taking her Social Security away.

[C]

Crazy. That's where our textiles.

[A]

Like the dead people voting too.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

That's like several elections. There's a lot of.

[C]

Yeah. And no one did anything about that.

[A]

I'm like, it has to be well.

[B]

Funded and we see that. We see that it's been well funded.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I think everybody kind of knew that there's stuff going on.

[C]

We knew, but not this bad. And to see actual numbers now is like we're no longer conspiracy theorists. Like there's facts and data out there now.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

So it kind of feels good in a way too that it's finally being.

[A]

Exposed and more coming.

[C]

Shout out to Elon though. Trump's probably going to help your guys real estate market out too, right?

[B]

I think so.

[A]

We do think so.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's why we kind of. Even though interest rates are high, we're still not scared to buy right now because I'm like, I think we'll be able to refinance in the next year or two, like.

[C]

Right.

[A]

And then cost segregation I'm sure is going to come back 100%. I mean. Yeah, I'm sure he's going to make it, what, more lucrative for.

[C]

Yeah. So you guys are still buying.

[B]

Absolutely. Well, our margins are pretty strong. IMTRs provide a pretty, a pretty healthy margin.

[C]

Right.

[B]

You know, so the things you're getting basically the margins of an STR without the constant turnover. So you don't have the headache. But you also don't have the turnover costs because every time you turn over an sdr, an Airbnb or whatever, you got to pay the cleaners. You got to replace things that were broken. You got, you know, even sheets, towels, stains.

[C]

It's a lot more work. A lot more work.

[B]

And you're dealing with people that are in there for just a few days, and so they might be, you know, cranking up the AC or the heater or whatever.

[A]

Smoking pot in the garage.

[C]

Yeah. I hear horror stories from every Airbnb guy I have on the show.

[B]

It can be bad. It can be bad. I mean, not everyone. We've done it. We've done it quite a bit.

[C]

It works in the right markets, right?

[B]

Yeah, it does. And if you have safeguards in place. Yeah, you know, it's great.

[C]

Like, I heard the vacation markets are good.

[B]

They're great.

[A]

I was gonna say, if you have a really nice home and then if you, like, pour luxury amenities into it, you're gonna be really.

[C]

Oh, yeah. You should see the one I'm staying at tomorrow in Sedona. It's beautiful.

[B]

Is it? Yeah, it's a great place.

[C]

Yeah, I can't wait. Need some time off, man. I've been grinding, you know, hard. Yeah, that's always been my issue. I get so focused on work, you know, it's. It actually, like, ruins my relationships and friendship sometimes. So I make sure to take vacations every year now because the first five years I worked, I didn't take a single vacation. And it destroyed all my friendships, my relationships with my parents. So now I'm, like, very aware of that.

[A]

That's great.

[B]

You know, that's awesome because it gives you a glimpse into what parenthood's gonna be like, because so many parents run into the same problem, but it's too late. That, like, they don't get the. The pre. Glimpse of it. Right. So they're making money. You always asking, what. What are they sacrificing all their life for? Oh, for my family, for my kids. Right. But in hindsight, like, they. You're losing that precious time that's irreplaceable with your kids just grinding. And then all of a sudden, your kids are 1012, all sudden, 18, 21, and you're not even close with them. You don't even know what they love. They don't know you because you've done so much for them, or at least in name, you've done it for them. But the reality is, like, they'd rather.

[A]

Have time than anything else.

[C]

Wow, that's deep.

[B]

It's. But it's true, you know? I mean, you. You ask people. One of. One of the main regrets that people have is just not savoring those early moments of childhood, right. With their. With their kids, you know? And it's crazy because, again, you ask them why they're doing it. I'm doing it for my kids, for my family. But in reality, their family are the ones that suffer the most.

[C]

Damn. Yeah.

[A]

I can't even say how many people come up to us, like older people. They see us out and about with our kids, and they come to. They go, this is so precious. Cherish this time. It goes by so fast. We're like, yep, we know one of y'all find us every day and tell us that, so we have to believe it, you know? But I think that also, that generation really was like, a night they mom and dad were both working and the kids were in public school, and they maybe met up for dinner, if that. So they do look back and go, man, I regret it, but I'm so grateful to be in this, like, era where we both are home. Like, we don't even, really like, work from home. It's like, we hardly work, but we're home. But it's just. It's so sweet. We. We know our kids. Like, we're teaching them how to read. Like, we're teaching them manners.

[C]

Oh, you homeschool them?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah, I'm gonna do that with mine. I think either homeschool or private, there's.

[B]

No other way to go, I think, because what. What ends up happening is the relationship is so special, and you're farming out your kid. I mean, I don't mean to be offended. Offended.

[C]

Cancel culture.

[B]

But. But really, what's going on is you're having someone else raise your kids, right? And then all of a sudden, you're like, I can't believe, you know, my daughter did such and such to me. Can't believe the way that he spoke to me, or. So disrespectful. But the fact is, they're learning. They're taking cues from other people, and you're expecting them to be on the same page as you, you know, with the same standards.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Behaviors. It's just not feasible. How can you expect. How can you farm out your kid to be mentored in. In. In life and how to act, you know, mind your fees and Q's and then. But you're not investing at all, so you're. You're not pouring into them what your values Are they come back with someone else's values and then what happens? Like, you're not just not on the same page.

[C]

Conflict. Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah.

[A]

I hope it gets revamped. I think the education is going to get revamped because it's so bad right now. America's like, we spend by far the most money. We're so far below all the other developed nations in our education. So I feel like it will, but it's like, imagine if we could have something like this where we go. We feel like we know Sean because we get to see him every day. We know his values, we know. Blah, blah, blah. I would hire someone like Sean to teach my kids how to. Whatever. You know what I mean? Kind of like Ryan. I think Ryan Panetta is saying he's trying to develop something for us, for kids that are. You pick your teachers based on their values and based on, like, their success in life. You're not picking people, just, like, pick the school. And then whatever you get for your kids, you meet your teacher on that day. Thanks for raising my kids. See you later. But it would be so cool to, you know, pick. Wow, this guy is so good at AI and all this. I want him to teach my kids 100%.

[C]

I remember ratemyprofessors.com. did you guys. That was a good one.

[A]

That was so good. Does that still exist?

[C]

I don't know if it does. I used it for sure.

[A]

Oh, I used it too.

[C]

Yeah. I mean, that. That was important because There were some Fs and some bad grades on that.

[A]

Site, and sometimes you use it for the wrong reason. Like, he's super easy. Never.

[C]

I. Yeah, but there should be a site like that for. For teachers, not just, like, professors in college, because.

[A]

And teachers should get paid more if they're really good.

[C]

If they're good. Yeah. It should be results driven.

[A]

Totally.

[C]

Yeah. Because right now it's backwards thinking. All. All of them are on the same salaries and they get paid for longevity but no results.

[B]

Right.

[C]

Like, why. Why does longevity matter if the results are the same or worse. Right.

[A]

Or worse? Yes.

[C]

Yeah. Because we're grading, like, the worst in math and reading that we've ever graded.

[A]

And they say most 8th graders are functionally illiterate.

[C]

Yeah. That's crazy.

[A]

Crazy.

[C]

Yeah, it's wild.

[B]

Makes no sense.

[C]

I'm impressed you guys have time to Homeschool4Kids and run this business.

[B]

Well, you know, people have this idea of what homeschooling is like. Oh, it's so hard.

[A]

And what Running a business is. Because our business is not really like that. Hands on. We hired somebody to do the management.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

So really, you do the financials? Yeah, and what. I mean, I do take bookings.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

I like, check my email a few times a day and stuff like that. But it's not.

[C]

We're not hands on.

[B]

We live. I mean, we're hands on to an extent, but we have boundaries in place. Because what's most important to us is family time, Exposure to the world, building into people, you know, pouring out resources, being a blessing. Yeah, really. You know, so pouring into our family and then pouring into people outside of our family is. Is what we're here for.

[C]

I love that. Yeah. And real estate is pretty. I don't like the word passive, but, you know, it's almost there, right?

[B]

It. It is. It largely is. If you compare it to any nine to five.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, it's very passive. Nothing's passive.

[C]

Yeah, nothing's truly passive.

[A]

Like, we could get a text from our manager and say, hey, this house needs this. Is it cool if I send the plumbers? Like, yes, go ahead.

[C]

Right.

[A]

To me, that's like, pretty passive. I still.

[C]

Yeah. Compared to most businesses. Yeah. You're not trading your time for money, basically.

[B]

And that's it. And most people are absolutely trading their time for money.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And the killer is, you know, money comes and goes, but time only goes. I mean, you're left trading your only your most finite resource, the most valuable resource you have. Money.

[A]

But wouldn't you also say, like, a lot of your friends or people you know that are like multi millionaires, they're still always asking you, like, bro, I want to live. You're so free. So much. And he's like, dude, you could be that way too. You have more money, you make more money than I do. Like, what's the hold up? Even real estate people, it's a boundary issue.

[B]

It's that people won't protect what's most important. That's what it comes down to. So they're just squeaky. Oil gets squeaky, wheel gets the oil. That's what's happening. So whatever's pulling on them the hardest, that's what they're giving. Giving themselves to. So work. Oh, I gotta do this for work. Deadline this, deadline that. But the fact is your kids have a deadline every day.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, or like, then you're on the brink of divorce. So then you're like, now it's like, exactly. Shift focus.

[C]

Yeah. I used to work seven days a week, but I had to give up weekends to save my relationship.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I used to work seven days a week, 15 to 18 hours a day. And, yeah, the fact she stuck with me through that for five years is crazy.

[B]

This must be a good girl.

[C]

Yeah, she really has my back. So, yeah, it was tough for me because I love working, but I had to do it to save our relationship. Yeah.

[B]

So how do you view life now compared to back then?

[C]

I'm happier. My health is way better. Back then I couldn't even probably run like a mile. Like, I was a twig. I was super unhealthy mentally. Wasn't even healthy there too. So I'm way better overall and happier. Yeah. So I gave up making a little less money, but I think overall I'm way, way happier and healthier.

[B]

I think that's what you find. We were. It's just our Uber driver this morning, right. You went to the Philippines and He said, like, 80% of the people over there are poor but happy over here.

[A]

Percent of the people here are rich and unhappy.

[C]

Wow, that's deep. Yeah. Because if you zoom out, even if you only make 50k a year in America, you're top 1% in the world.

[B]

Absolutely.

[C]

So it's pretty interesting. But we're one of the unhappiest, Right?

[B]

And I think that's. That's a picture of what we were talking about earlier, that everyone's chasing after these finite things and these theoretical, like, points of value, but once you get there, there's nothing.

[C]

Nothing, Nothing. And comparison is dangerous. My end, social media makes it easy, but it's dangerous.

[B]

Yeah, comparisons, it. It's a big killer. And everyone's doing it. I mean, I struggled with it for a long time. I still find myself, like, you know, looking over my shoulder or even subconsciously, like, comparing myself to something or someone.

[C]

Right.

[B]

But it is killer. Like, you gotta break out of that. It's. It's just once people can realize that they have a. They have a certain gifting that's just theirs. They have, you know, they have a destiny on their life. I believe that. I believe that God created each person individually and with purpose, with individual purpose. You know, And I think when. When someone can grasp that and understand that they're not their job, they're not their accolades, they're not their car or their house or their business. Whether those things are great, like, whether it's a Lambo or a Pinto, whether it's a failing business or, you know, top 1% in the world, BlackRock, whatever.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

When you can realize that you're not that then you can truly be free from yourself and understand like I was made for relationship and I'm special. I'm unique. There's only one of me and I don't have to compare myself. I. I just need to learn to be the best self that I am. Take the gifts and stop squandering them. Because when I'm chasing after somebody else and comparing myself to them, I'm leaving my gifts and my unique offerings to the world behind.

[C]

Right.

[B]

I'm neglecting them, you know, and the world needs those things. That's. That's why I'm here. That's why you're here. You're offering something that I can't offer, that she can't offer. And if you don't offer it, then it's not going to be offered.

[C]

Right? Yeah. You can't copy your way to the top. It doesn't work.

[B]

Long term, you can try, but in the end it's not going to be fulfilled.

[C]

Yeah, long term, it never works because I used to try to do that, but now I'm on my own path, you know, Word, guys, it's been awesome. Where can people learn from you, Keep up with you, figure out where to find you.

[B]

Yeah. So we got vetted homes.com now where we're teaching people how to do insurance midterm rentals. So we've got this course. It's our third iteration now. We're working with two partners of ours, Kelly and Jason. They're amazing people. They're the first person, first people that we taught how to do this to. And they came back to us about a year and a half ago and they're like, too many people need us and want us and we don't have enough time. Do you think we can put something together to like get it out to more people? And so we're like, yeah, let's do it. So we put together this course and we got this community. I think we got like around 80 people now in the community.

[C]

Nice.

[B]

Around school. And it's awesome.

[A]

We're just very, very in depth. Like everything related to insurance midterm rental, start to finish.

[B]

Nice. Yep. So we're teaching people how to do it there. So if anyone's interested in learning about insurance midterm rentals, it's vettedhomes.com our. Our heart behind it is just like, this is what allows us to live a free life. It's not even money's great, but it's really. It's the freedom that it allows.

[A]

And really there's some people in our community that have just one and it's changed their life. Like they left their primary house, they rented it out, insurance midterm and like say their mortgage is four grand and they're getting 12. So they're using that extra money to travel the world, like do whatever.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And it's life changing. So it's.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

That's eight grand a month. Yeah. That's six figures a year.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

I mean, it's just like that for how we got into it with our condo. That was life changing for sure. And it shifted our mindset.

[A]

That's why I love Vetted. I feel like that's my heart is like if we could just set people free themselves one at one at a time, like one house or two houses. It's not about being a billionaire and like buying a whole city, but just like if you have like one or two rental houses that you want to do really well, take care of people really well, could be a cool thing.

[C]

I love it.

[B]

I love inning number one in imtr. So now's the time to get in.

[C]

Let's go.

[A]

We're at the beginning of mtrs. It's. It's a fun sector.

[C]

Beautiful. We'll link everything below. Thanks for coming on, guys. That was fun. Thank you, bro. Yeah, check them out, guys. See you next time.

[D]

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