How Shane Seo Built a Real Estate Empire (400+ Homes)

Summary

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Escaping the Drift with John Gafford

Episode: How Shane Seo Built a Real Estate Empire (400+ Homes)

Date: April 7, 2026
Guest: Shane Seo, CEO of So Capital Group

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Episode Overview

In this feature-length conversation, John Gafford sits down with Shane Seo, an Atlanta-based real estate investor and CEO of So Capital Group. Shane shares his journey from humble beginnings in a taekwondo family business to amassing an empire of over 400 single-family homes and multifamily/commercial properties. The episode dives deep into real estate investing strategies, the critical role of mentorship, creative financing, scaling from single-family to multifamily, and key lessons learned along the way.

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Guest Backstory and Early Inspiration

• From Taekwondo to Real Estate
  Shane grew up running his family's taekwondo school in small-town Georgia, with little exposure to wealth creation beyond the martial arts world. His entry into real estate was sparked by meeting a successful local real estate investor—the owner of the neighboring pizza shop—whose advice planted the first seeds of Shane’s real estate ambitions.

  "I believe the next million dollar idea or opportunity is in someone else's mind. So it's best to go to the top, tip top, elite." – Shane (04:00)

• The Importance of Mentorship
  The conversation highlights how a single lunch meeting can change the course of someone's life, but the lack of ongoing support and community delayed Shane’s first real estate deal by five years.

  "[My mentor] planted a seed by telling me something that was completely different than other people...rich is really income, wealth is assets and net worth." – Shane (04:00)
  "I didn't get my first deal until five years later, to be honest with you...because I didn't have any peers around me." – Shane (05:24)

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Key Milestones and Lessons

First Deals and Hard-Earned Wisdom

• Five-Year Struggle to First Deal
  Shane faced repeated setbacks, putting 33 houses under contract and canceling every one due to lack of confidence and resources.

  "I got 33 houses under contract, and I canceled each time in due diligence. And I made every agent hate me." – Shane (07:57)

• Breakthrough and Mindset Shift
  An agent’s misleading claim about being unable to cancel a foreclosure contract pushed Shane into his first deal, leveraging a partnership with a friend for funding and maxing out his credit cards for renovations.

  "He changed my mindset to 'I can't do it' to 'How can I? I have to, I have to do it.' So I panicked." – Shane (09:32)

• Scaling Through Creative Finance
  Discovering seller financing and other creative acquisition strategies via a low-budget YouTube tutorial proved pivotal.

  "I found a YouTube video...this old guy with horrible audio had a tint of brown on the screen and a very country guy talking about buying properties seller finance. And you don't have to always go to an agent." – Shane (11:46)

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Leveraging Landlord Pain and Bulk Purchases

• Targeting Landlords in Pain
  Shane realized value in approaching landlords dealing with evictions, as they were often highly motivated to sell. He systematically pulled eviction records and networked at landlord meetings.

  "Now we still target landlords because, you know, they're the most highly motivated in the middle of an eviction." – Shane (15:05)

• Game-Changing Bulk Deals
  The breakthrough was acquiring 92 homes from one elderly seller, creatively combining traditional financing and seller finance by understanding the seller’s motivations and providing generational legacy solutions.

  "I said, well, here's another alternative. Why don't you let me buy them and God forbid you pass away, they get an equal check split between them and they think of you." – Shane (18:20)

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Scaling Up: From Single-Family to Multifamily & Commercial

• From Single-Family to Hundreds of Homes
  Shane rapidly grew from 60 homes in his first year to over 400, but realized the operational downsides—hundreds of insurance policies and parcels, and taxing complexity.

  "That's 400 insurance policies, 400 parcels. It has been horrible. So we have...My accountant hates me." – Shane (19:48, 20:05)

• Pivoting to Multifamily After Mentor Advice
  Inspired by Grant Cardone, Shane transitioned to multifamily assets. He detailed acquiring his first apartment building via seller financing and subsequently increasing rents and asset value.

  "I got that [apartment complex] with no money down for 2.5 million. Interest only, at 6%. My payment was $12,500 a month. Rents was 18. So I was still negative for a while...But now it's worth 5.7 million." – Shane (21:32)

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Strategies and Tactics

Deal Sourcing and Scaling Methods

• Landlord Meetings and Conferences
  Continually networking, speaking at, and hosting landlord meetings has generated deal flow and partnerships.

  "I love going to landlord meetings...some of the young people there or landlords bring us deals." – Shane (26:46)

• Three-Offer Approach
  Every seller is given three options: cash, seller financing ("payment for equity"), or a lease-option, while simultaneously sourcing both tenants and properties to maximize flexibility.

  "We always give three offers no matter what the deal. There's a cash offer, a seller finance, and a lease option." – Shane (37:04)

Lease Options, Master Leases, and Disclosures

• Navigating Legal and Lending Hurdles
  Shane advocates total transparency, using structured disclosures to handle risks (like due-on-sale clauses), leveraging professional servicers, and aligning with evolving legal requirements.

  "Rule number one, real estate, man: disclose, disclose, disclose everything." – John (44:07)

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Challenges in the 2020s Real Estate Market

• Difficulties Sourcing Multifamily
  Competition and high pricing in hot markets like Atlanta and Tampa make deals scarce and syndications risky, with some major packages being sold at significant losses.

  "We looked at 556 doors...and I was pushing to get it for the twenties. It's just he bought it tip top and then let the occupancy drop to like 40%." – Shane (25:14)

• Wholesaling and Legislation
  Shane addresses how new state laws targeting wholesaling (e.g., in South Carolina) are impacting marketing but maintains that careful structure (leasing with options, full disclosure) keeps his business model both ethical and legal.

  "We're not assigning. So what we're doing is...I sublease it and I can sell option higher. But I can't, no, I don't market it for sale. We can't do." – Shane (43:30)

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Mindset, Mentorship, and Advice for New Investors

• The Learning Investor
  Both Shane and John emphasize that perpetual learning and humility are key for lasting success, regardless of how big an investor becomes.

  "A good investor is always learning." – Shane (46:23)

• Actionable Blueprint for Beginners
  Shane outlines a week-by-week approach new investors can follow:

  • 7-Day Goal: Find would-be sellers on Facebook Marketplace, focus on for-rent listings, and propose lease options with potential future purchase.

    "Easy way...go on Facebook Marketplace. Not for sale but for rent...and then ask about an option to buy. Now I have a lease and an option." – Shane (33:37)

  • 30-Day/90-Day/6-Month Goals: Scale outreach, build relationships, accumulate options, and set funding targets using structured creative offers for each deal.
  • Multiple Income Streams: Structured deals to provide upfront payments, recurring cashflow, back-end profits, and tax benefits.

    "I would repeat those over and over again instead of just wholesaling all the time." – Shane (32:02)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Mentorship as the Fastest Path to Success

  "The fastest way to learn something new or to get successful, in my opinion...is to get a mentor." – John (03:36)

• On Regret and Missed Opportunities

  "There’s one specific house I could've got for 220 grand. Now it's like 750." – Shane (08:27)

• Building Legacy Through Creative Financing

  "Why don't you let me buy them and God forbid you pass away, they get an equal check split between them and they think of you." – Shane (19:12)

• Scaling Lessons

  "If I feel like I get close to a good spot where I'm feeling settled, like what settles goes to the bottom of the tank. So I guess, I don't know. I feel like a 2 or 3." – Shane, on never getting too comfortable (31:10)

• The Power of Transparency

  "I do everything we can to just make it easy. You know, in the Bible, my grandma told me, she says nothing's ever worth going to hell over. So I just live by that." – Shane (44:22)

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Key Timestamps

• Shane's Backstory & First Exposure to Real Estate: 02:14–05:20
• The Five-Year Gap & The Importance of Mentorship: 05:54–08:12
• First Deal, Mindset Shift, and Hard Lessons: 08:54–12:22
• Game-Changing 'Seller Pain' Strategy: 12:22–16:40
• 92-Home Bulk Purchase & Creative Financing: 16:40–19:19
• Scaling Single Family Portfolio / Major Pivots: 19:34–21:20
• Transition to Multifamily—First Big Apartment Acquisition: 21:32–22:41
• Networking, Conferences, and Sourcing Deals: 26:46–27:25
• Exiting Single Family, 1031 Exchanges, and Development: 27:28–29:33
• Mentors, Learning by Doing, and Disclosures: 44:52–46:47
• Advice for New Investors—Step-by-Step System: 31:30–37:14

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Final Thoughts & Contact Info

John and Shane wrap up by reinforcing that now is always the second-best time to start in real estate (after yesterday) and encourage listeners to embrace creative strategies and persistent learning.

Connect with Shane:

• Instagram/TikTok/Facebook: @shaneseo

  "It is hard to beat on Google my name because all the SEO people are beating me. So that's been my challenge, you know." – Shane (47:06)

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If you want to start your real estate journey or level up, take Shane's advice—get educated, get in the right rooms, and take action, even if it means 'failing forward' along the way.

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Transcript

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[Kiana - Shopify User]

I'm Kiana and I leveled up my business with Shopify. Once I figured out that Shopify was a thing, I never turned back. I can create a site with my eyes closed. Shopify thinks ahead of us, you know, and it thinks about the customer more than anything. Every day I'm thinking about some other new business, but Shopify is doing it to me because it's so easy to use views. It's like, I can't stop. I'm addicted.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Start your free [e-mail]. And now, escaping the Drift, the show designed to get you from where you are to where you want to be. I'm John Gafford and I have a knack for getting extraordinary achievers to drop their secrets to help you on a path to greatness. So stop drifting along, Escape the drift, and it's time to start right now. Back again. Back again for another episode of. Like it says in the opening, this the show that gets you from where you are to where you want to be. And today, live in studio all the way from Atlanta, Georgia. This guy is an elite real estate investor. He is the host of his own podcast. He is the CEO of the so Capital Group. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the program. This is Shane. So Shane, man.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Hey, thanks for having me.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

See, what you don't know if you're listening to this is. I called him Shane CEO in the other opening and I owed it to him to record it again. That's what we just did. So, dude, welcome, man. Glad to have you.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Hey, thanks for having me.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Obviously, real estate near and dear to my heart. It's something I love. And you live in Atlanta, which is a place that I spent a lot of my years as well. So I'm interested to hear kind of first, give us some color on the backstory of Shane.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, yeah. So I mean, I started off in taekwondo schools. My dad, you know, he came to America like 200 bucks, barely spoke any English, did taekwondo and then I grew up in it since I was three. I started mowing karate school at. When I was 22. And then how I got into real estate is this guy bought the pizza joint next to me. He had his hair slicked back. Him and his wife had matching Cadillacs. And you're from the South, So. Yeah, you know, I get rich, in my opinion. So I says, what do you do, sir? And he said, I do real estate. I went to lunch. He laid out what he did. He did fix and flips, rentals, multifamily, commercial. And I said, man, I want to try that. And.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Okay, hang on a second. So I'm going to back up and I'll ask you a couple of questions based on what you said. Number one, you operated a taekwondo studio.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yes.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

So I have to ask the first question, which is, have you ever seen the Foot Fist Away?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Is. Oh, is that the guy with Danny McBride?

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

With Danny McBride. No.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

No.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

You have not seen it?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

I haven't seen it.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Okay.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Is it great?

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

It's one of my favorite movies. It's Danny McBride that did, like, Eastbounded down and like, all those different shows that are kind of crazy like that on hbo. Yeah. One of his first movies is called. It's called the Foot Fist Away, which is one of my favorite movies. Yeah, it's. It's. Yeah, it's not safe for work kind of movie, but it's hilarious, so watch that.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

So. But you skipped right over something which I thought was a lot of people skip over, which was you saw somebody that had a level of success and then you wound up at lunch with him.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yes.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Right.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Okay. I don't want to skip over that too lightly because there was something in that interaction. Like, people don't just go, okay, yeah, sure, kid, let's go to lunch. Right. The fastest way to learn something new or to get successful, in my opinion, and I talk about it in my book, is to get a mentor.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

And in that moment, so what do you think in that quick interaction, in that, hey, what do you do? Led to him wanting to take you to lunch and pour into you. All right.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah. Actually, something you said was very important. I believe the next million dollar idea or opportunity is in someone else's mind. Right. So it's best to go to the top, tip, top, elite. That's what I know now, I didn't know that at that moment because I was from a small town. I was born in Albany, Georgia, moved to Rome, Georgia, which I'm sure you were smaller. Yeah. Even then Calhoun, Georgia. That's where I found this gentleman. And I don't know where I'd be if I never ran into him. And I met with him, and he really planted a seed by telling me something that was completely different than other people, because the top, like, wealthy people in the United states is the 1%. So 99% of the time, I was getting information from the wrong people, no matter how good they were. But thankfully, I ran into him, and he was part of that 1%. And. And just what he told me changed and had a big paradigm shift for me, really. He said he was telling me about how he managed debt, how debt was good, because that's something I never heard. He talked to me about, you know, not just doing fix and flipping all the time. He said, because that's technically not even real estate according to irs. He said, you want to buy and hold. You want to know the difference between, you know, rich is really income, wealth is really assets and net worth. So he explained those things to me.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

But why?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Why did he explain it to you?

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Why did he explain it?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Funny enough, when I went up to him, I said, sir, what do you do for a living? That's really what I asked.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

How old were you at this point?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

I was 25 years old.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Oh, you're a kid.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Okay. Yeah. I was still young. And he said, you should take me to lunch, young man. That's exactly what he said. And we went to the richest place in Calhoun, Longhorns. That was the biggest place. I went there. And that's where he laid it out. And sadly, he ghosted me after that, to be honest. I don't know. He never talked to me again. Uh, but at least he planted a seed. And I didn't get my first deal till five years later, to be honest with you. And looking back, I realized it's because. And it took me five years to get my first deals because I didn't have any peers around me. I didn't have any mentor or any other people.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

So. Yeah. So I definitely. Now that's why I'm doing these podcasts. That's why whenever you're doing my show, that's all the stuff. I'm gonna pick your brain.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah. I mean, it's so true that. That you are a product of the environment you're in. And if the Internet has done anything, man, it is. It's. It's. It's changed your ability to. To get in those.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

In those.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Those investment groups and do those things.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, yes. So, I mean. I mean, fast Forward, you know, to, like, now. Now we. I join all the masterminds I can. I try and be as many rooms as I can, and I'm naturally more of an introverted person, hence the reason I'm still new to the podcast game. With what you're doing, it's phenomenal Office, by the way.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Thank you.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

What you have here. So I. Yeah, I'm trying to just put myself in rooms with people like you, really.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

So what you said you joined all the masterminds you can. What masterminds are you on?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, I did so with Tai Lopez, Grant Cardone. You know, there's some in Atlanta. There's a Christian group that they have there. I did that one, and then I probably put about a million eight, and we counted about a million eight. And in the last three, four years and masterminds and just gatherings I went on Richard Branson's island, and I was 50 grand for the week to be around people, you know, I saw you did some stuff with Bradley and maybe friends with.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

I got to meet him there. Andy Elliott met a lot of great views. I'm trying to put myself out there. Yeah.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Cool. Well, let's talk about that first deal that you got at five years, right? Like, so what was. So this planted a seed at 25.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Why?

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

And you say it took. Why did it take five years to get.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

And like I said, my story is really a pathetic and, like, pitiful story. So when I was 25, he planted the seed. He goes to me literally the next week. Like, he texted me a few times, but then never responded again. So I was looking on YouTube and all I had as reference was HGTV stuff like, you just call an agent, buy a property, fix it up, try and sell. That's. That's my mentality of it, you know? And I said, and then one day, I'll be able to do rentals well for five years. I know that you own a brokerage here. I got 33 houses under contract, and I canceled each time in due diligence. And I made every agent hate me.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Oh, yeah, that'll do it. Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

They trust it because they waste a lot of that. And I feel bad. I look back on. Just feel awful. But I just. I didn't know how to get it across the finish line. I didn't either. Didn't have the money. I didn't have the credit or I didn't know how to do a loan or a mortgage or anything like that. So I canceled.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

What year was this?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

That was. Well, that was from 25 to. I was 25 years. It was, I was a month from turning 30. So it's 2017, January that I bought my first property. So five years after that and what,

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

man, that's what you should have been buying them?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Well, man, oh man, I look back, I went and looked at some of those properties I got under contract, I could have bought for 30 grand. Now there's one specific, specific house I could have got for 220 grand. Like 750. Oh, so yeah, so I mean, I mean that, that's what, that's the cost for not having a mentor, being around the right people. I look back now and I know. But what helped me get my first property was actually an agent who lied to me. Okay, it's technically, I think you can't lie like that.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

But what happened?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Okay, so I'll tell you. All right, so. So I got the property under contract. It was a foreclosure. I had, I had lowballed the heck out of it at 45,000 bucks for this three bedroom, two bath home, good area. It was like a three level kind of thing. And during due diligence, I called him like I did all the other agents to cancel it. That's awful, right? But he said, shane, you can't do it on this one because the blank and blank, they're going, they'll sue you. And I said, and it scared me. He lied. And I looked, I asked him later, and what it is, is he was trying to double dip. He wanted to sell me, get commission. And he knew I was going to try and sell.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah, yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

And he knew that. And he's a good friend of mine now, by the way. So I don't want to throw his name out there. But one thing that it did do, because this is kind of like a mentor in a sense, he changed my mindset to I can't do it to how can I? I have to, I have to do it. So I panicked. So I called a buddy from high school and I said, hey man, I got this house for 45 grand. I don't have the money. I'm, you know, basically get sued. It's worth maybe 90 grand in my mind, which ended up selling for 124 or 1 or 130, I forget, like right around that. But so he put up the money. We split 50, 50. I maxed out my credit cards to do all the repairs and maintenance, do the whole, you know, remodels. First time deal with contractors, first time stressing out over, man. I'm going to lose my buddy's money and I'm maxing out. Great. First time getting in debt actually. And it only costed 20 grand to, to do the. All the remodel and then we, we flip. I actually bought it. We bought it, flipped it, sold it. That was my first deal. So it's really a sad story. It's not.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

So your buddy to put up the money, how much of the deal did you give them? 50.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah, he was like, Shane, let's do 50, 50. And he put the 45 in a little bit of closing because it was a cash deal technically. But I don't know, I was worried. It's like, man, what if 2008, 2010 happens? Because I had no knowledge of real estate.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

And I was just worried like some kind of market shift. It wouldn't sell. Ended up selling. Okay. But I did have a. I learned a lot. I learned I didn't like fix and flips at that time. I didn't like doing a contract because one contract did bail on us after we paid him a little bit. It was like two grand but he still bailed.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah. That's an interesting concept something you just said though, because you were, you were like 17, 16, 17, 18 when the crash happened.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yes.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

So that's got to be like a really. Like you don't have any frame of reference and that's your first kind of where your brain sort of starts thinking like an adult. So that was probably pretty polarizing of a thought to you.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

I think that was the biggest fear because that added on it because any time, even though that initial investor told me what he did when I was 25.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Every time I mentioned real estate to people, trying to find people in my small little town, they always talk negative about real estate. But I knew I wanted to do it, but I was just afraid. But I didn't have enough knowledge and I was just terrified and afraid.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

All right, so you got that first deal done. That's yes, sir. What happens next?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Okay, so I bought the house in January. We sold in August 1st of 2017, in May when I was in the middle of the stress from the contractor who bailed and me just like, oh man, what's going to happen? I found a YouTube video and this is the video that changed my life. This is a youtuber. This old guy with horrible audio had a tint of brown on this on the screen and very country guy talking about buying properties, seller, finance. And you don't have to always go to an agent And I said, because all the agents were mad at me at this time. Yeah, I mean, to be honest, how often, you know, if I got 33 properties under contract through you in Kansas,

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

nobody's looking at me.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

You're never to talk. Yeah. So I, I pissed them all off really. So. But he said, especially in a small,

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

small town like that.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah. And he said, you can go directly to the seller. And I said, you know what, I better try that. I mean, why not? So I looked on Craigslist at that time and I found a house for sale by owner. And I called that. And I'm an introvert, remember? So this is the first time I called a seller. I called the seller, I said, I'm going to try and get him to seller finance me met. So I told her, hey, you know, why are you selling? They said, hey, we have a tenant in there. Come by and take a look at it. I got to give 24 hour notice. I showed up at the house, looked at the property and I pitched her seller.

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[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Financing. She said no. So I left and I just kept following up. She kept saying, no, no, no. And I was like, man, that's awful. Well, let me at least try one more time. So I found another property. Was a for sale by owner sign in the front yard in a older part of our town called the lady. And she said, I'm going in the middle of an eviction right now. The tenants will be out by Friday, and you can come take a look Saturday. So I went out, talked to her Saturday, and when we got there, it was in horrible shape. And I have this whole story, which I don't want to bore you with it, but ended up she. She agreed to sell or finance me properties in August.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Okay. Because you caught her in what I call the HGTV moment of pain as motivation. Yeah. The people that think they want to be. They want to be. I want to be a real estate investor until they got to the first eviction and then they're like, I don't ever want to deal with this again.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

They want this passive income. Not as passive.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

As passive as they think.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

So, yeah, I think even now we still target landlords because, you know, they're the most highly motivated in the middle of an eviction is.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Oh yeah, one to one to one to two home, one to two doors, maybe one to three doors. Y middle of an eviction, you pull the eviction records and then call.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

We do, we do.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

That's really good.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah. So in Georgia, some of the counties, you can actually pull it up online. You don't have to go to the courthouse.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Oh, man.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

And it has the. They actually scan the document that the landlord fills out with their phone number.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Oh, man, that's really good.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah. So we call them and sometimes they have multiple. So anyway, like how you done yet?

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah, that's. You tired?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah. So it took me five years to get the first deal. You already heard that. And then from August to December, once I got the first One, I got 60 homes from that August to December. 60, 60. And it changed my life. I just got obsessed. I started reaching out with all the landlords that I could. I created my own in house presentation style. And there were a lot of motivated sellers I learned subject to during that time because I didn't know that existed. But then I had to figure that out. I also acquired with lease. I just lease it with an option to buy. File the memorandum at that courthouse. And it's no different than seller financing. It might be just you don't get depreciation, you know, at first. And then I started buying in bulk. So I reached, as I said, I targeted landlords and retired and that was it. The biggest thing that changed my life was I bought 92 homes from one older gentleman by going to Little Caesar's Pizza. I saw the little for sub owner sign and I don't have to bore the whole story, but he ended up selling me and that changed.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Okay, dude, you bought 92 homes from a dude because you saw a Little Caesar's, you got to talk.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Okay, okay, okay. Well, I went to Little Caesar's Pizza in Albany, Georgia visiting my grandma. And I went in the drive thru software sale by owner sign. I had a friend, I said hey, go get that number. He went and called it. I mean he went and got the number. I called the gentleman the next day and he talked about the house and I tried to buy it seller finance. He said no. And he said well actually I got two homes. I said oh, okay, well great. Well, well how about this? If I, you know, buy one, can you seller finance me the other one? He goes, I don't know. And he told me a personal reason he was getting you need it for legal fees for some. So I said okay. Well as I talked him to more and he's 80 years old at this, you know, this older gentleman, I found it has 92 homes. And I said how about this? You need two. Oh, he need 180 grand. These are cheaper homes in Albany by the way, you're familiar with Albany. And I said how about this? I'll buy two homes. Traditionally let that be the down payment, but then you sell or finance me the other 90. And he agreed. It was first I ever got a loan because I had already bought all seller financing at this time or acquired a lease option or subject to. And basically I, I put the 20% down on the $200,000 home, you know, which is 40 grand, got a loan for 160, bought it, he seller financed me the other 90. Then what I did is what terms,

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

if you don't mind me asking.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah, so I bought it was in two. He had three LLCs and he wanted each one of them. He was an old banker. I bought him at 4% interest over a 30 year term and he wanted a 7 year balloon. I mean, pretty good looking.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Pretty good, yeah, pretty good terms.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

And then what I asked him too is because he's older, he says well I'm not going to get paid, I'm going to be dead, you know, because he's 80. And I said well sir, and this is what I think helped also to add on to for nerdy talk. I said well, let me ask you a question. If you were to pass away today, what would happen to the properties? He says well I've got a son and a daughter. My son lives in Florida. My daughter is an event planner here in Albany. I said okay, well what would happen? He said well I guess they'd be, you know, trying to take them Over. I said, well, here's another alternative. And I just want to say this is usually, in my experience, if you pass away, your kids will liquidate it for dirt cheap or want to do more work than the other and expect more money, and it tends to cause a little issue. Here's another alternative. Why don't you let me buy them and God forbid you pass away, they get an equal check split between them and they think of you. And that's what. That's what really, I think help.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Equal check and think of you.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah, it's a think of you. Yeah, they don't have to. It helps a lot.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

So write that one down, people.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, yeah.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Damn, that's good.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Well, I got to say the story anyway. That's good.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

No, that's great.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

It's great.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah, it's really good. So 150 doors now, like lightning speed. That's really quick. So how many? So keep going.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, yeah. So we grew. I mean, I did 60 the first year, 180 the second year. We got right at 400 houses. And honestly, my biggest mistake now, and now going back to mentors is they were. Shane, you should have gotten out a single family a long time ago.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

And I said, you know, it makes sense because that's 400 insurance policies, 400 parcels. It has been horrible. So we have.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Taxes have got to be just.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, gosh. I mean, it's horrible. Property tax. And then I got.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

No, I'm just saying having to do your taxes has got to just be insane.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

My accountant hates me. Yeah. I just got the bill yesterday. Oh, yeah. But, you know, we've pivoted into apartments now. And the only reason I did it was a Grant Cardone video. This is before I met him. And he. He said on there, he said, you should do apartments. You should. And he talked about forced depreciation. And that made sense to me so much better. Apparently banks liked it. And what I learned, and I did learn later, that he says, well, if you can't buy, at least just be around us. I said, you know what? I'm. So I went to LoopNet, where deals go to die, basically, is what they say. This is the worst deals.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

And I had. I had seen this apartment complex on there for two years, never sold for like a million nine in Calhoun, Georgia. And now whenever I go look at it, they want 2.6. It's like, why?

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Well, because a. Because none of the information on loop that is accurate. Number one, there's. Because there's no governing body. Well, there's all right, listen, that's like people don't understand this. If you're thinking I'm going to go look on LoopNet because you just heard this, understand this with like the mls. Anyway, like realtors are policed by realtors. So the data that goes in the MLS is accurate. And a house sells, you got a market sold and take it down. There's stuff on loop nut that sold three years ago that the commercial brokers will just leave on. There is. Is bait to try to catch somebody to get a phone call.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

That's right.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah. Which, which makes it terrible. I mean.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah. And sometimes commercial brokers are some of the worst. At least in Georgia, I bet. You know, not here. Right.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Well, we've got some good ones that work for our, our company. Outside of that, I can't vouch for it.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah. But yeah, but anyway, I called the seller directly. I went out and met him and he, his three brothers who owned it and they said all the same motivations as a single family. And I got that with no money down for 2.5 million. Interest only, at 6% interest only. My payment was 12.12,500amonth. Rents was 18. So I was still negative for a while, two, three months. We raised it to 28 grand, which is still way below market value. But then I, I bought new countertops, new air conditions, new flooring over the next year or two and I did asset based lending on some of it and I used business lines of credit and now it's worth 5.7 million. So I ended up pivoting into that and it's just so much easier. Everything's more condensed.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yes, sir.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

So, and you have, you have on premise, you have on premise leasing.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Well, we were trying to do third party, but it just didn't. So I made my own team, my own guys. And they do it to my standards and my policy. So we have some maintenance, two maintenance guys that are good friends of ours to helping me with all my properties local. And then I have a really a buddy that I call like a little brother and he manages it, does it to my standard. Yes, sir.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah, it's, you know, it's, it's easier to find big market. Well, I, I'm gonna ask, have you found any big market multifamily deals that have made sense over the last two years?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Not traditional sense, no. I did buy 59 units for $36,000 down 2014 builds. And it was the same kind of situation. Older Joe didn't want to do the day to Day. So I like that. But it's. But that was in Albany. But in Atlanta it's been tough. We found some stuff in Tampa that we almost tried to get but it was very difficult. I want to do something Panama City. But we haven't found it. It's hard. It's hard to find it. At least where I'm at.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

I was, I was literally. You know, it's hilarious. I swear to God I was on loop that last night. I swear. There's three place. Let me save you the loop. Debt trouble. There's literally three things that are all garbage.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah. Yeah. It's awful tough.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

I literally was looking there last night for that exact same reason. That's funny.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh no.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Oh, that's really funny. I was looking all down 30A all the way from Gulf Shores, Mississippi, all the way back. Oh, shoot to alligator Point. I just didn't loop. That's garbage anyway.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

But it is.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

But you never know. You never know.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah, I just, you know how they have connected with costar and you can look at it. So I've been just trying to contact some of the sellers directly. Directly if I can. Yeah. But it's. It's still tough.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Well, you know, over the last couple years, let's talk about multifamily a little more because you know what became in vogue four years ago was these syndicated deals. Oh, you know, everybody's running these performers on, you know, oh, when rates come, we're going to refi out of this deal when it gets back down to sub five and then all of those syndicated deals are flopping right now.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

They're all hurting. We've looked at a lot of syndicators are just. Are losing their investors money, sadly.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah. And it's just that it's just gonna go. So do you think that there's like how many of those syndicated deals do you think are actually going to wind up being reo or do you think

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

there's a lot of them? Yeah, we looked at 556 doors that was scattered amongst from Macon, which I don't like making, to be honest.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Who likes making?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Nobody likes Macon. But you know, I don't. I have family there. So I'm just joking with you. But like I just don't like to invest.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

If you're listening to this and you. And you know where Macon or Albany or those stuff is and we're sitting here making fun of that. Here's a fun fact. I'm actually from Lake City, Florida. So if you know that part of the world, you can Laugh at me all you want back. So, yeah, yeah, you pick it. Where I'm from is worse than where you're from.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

So there you go. Albany's pretty bottom of the barrel, but I have family there and I still visit, you know.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Sure.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

We're not picking at you.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

No, we're not picking on you.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah, yeah. But no, it was 556 doors there and. Well, there's three packages there and two in Albany actually. And the guy bought it for like 50, 60 million bucks. And we have a friend that got the stalking horse on at 39 million. And I was pushing to get it from the twenties. It's just he bought it tip top and then let the occupancy drop to like 40% or something. It was just horrible. But same thing, just syndication. And I feel bad for all the investors. And then we had another one that was 100 unit. Freddie Mac was doing a technical default because they just didn't. What is it like to do like the clubhouse or something for 150 grand? Then they came back, said, no, it's going to cost 600 grand. And then they're like, can't do it, you know, So a lot of that's kind of. They're kind of getting crunched pretty bad. Well, you know that.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

It's horrible right now.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

So where. I mean, obviously, you know, late at night. LoopNet is not the way to find deals. Where do you find. Where do you source your deals?

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[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, same thing. I love going to landlord meetings. We've been doing conferences, our own conferences in Atlanta. So we've done three now in the last two years. We had about four or five hundred people just weekend or two weekends ago. And then we kind of meet people and then they bring us deals. Just some of the young people there or landlords. What else do we do? Costar. I love costar. And making friends with as many brokers as I can without making them mad like I did.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Right.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

First began.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

I know you're a real buyer.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah. Now we really buy. You know, I just, you know, and I've apologized to all them guys.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah, I'm sure.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah. But that's how we're basically sort. It's pretty. Pretty simple right now.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Are you exiting the simple, the single family, or just recapital?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah. So I made a mistake. So maybe you can help me. Maybe we'll talk about it more afterwards. But. So I have 33. No, 35 right now under contract to sell with one group, nine under another one. And I just got two duplexes under contract to sell. So I'm trying to liquidate in 1031 either into commercial rentals or. Or multifamily. That's my 2 cents. And I haven't done development yet, but I've always wanted to try, but it's just scary.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

I've never done it before.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

You know, I was just talking to somebody else about. About the opportunity that's coming to. To redevelop some of the commercial stuff that's out there into residential. That'll solve some of that. That housing issue.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

There's actually, since you're from the south, there's a guy named Pace Burt. Have you ever heard of him? Oh, man. I'm going to show you some pictures in a moment. But he's taking all the old mills in, like, South Carolina and LaGrange, Georgia, and things like that. And they're like 500,000 square foot old mills, and he's converting them to multifamily.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

And he's all in for 30 to 40 grand a door.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah. That's crazy.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

It's amazing.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah, that's really good. And that's a cool project.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, and it looks fun. I. I'll try and show you while we're talking. But he's doing. Getting like, historic tax credits, which I've never. I'm not on that level yet.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

But I definitely want to learn just phenomenal stuff that he's doing. Let me see. I actually. I don't know if I should be doing this live while we're doing.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Oh, you're fine, dude. Hey, it's real life, buddy. That's what we do. This is real life.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah. I went with. To look at this, and this is actually when he did in Arkansas. I got to go. I think he's almost done with this one. He bought this for 2 million bucks. 500,000 square feet.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

What?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, man. And when I'll get on Facebook later and show you, like, how he's got it finished, I was like, that's a couple Years. It was old VA Hospital, Arkansas. He's a phenomenal developer. Yeah.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

And that's. This would be easy.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, and the police station was on the back running for 12,000amonth on the back part. So they're there. And then here's another.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

If you bought it for 2 million, the police station's financing almost the debt

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

that's in La Grange that he was doing. So seeing what he's doing just has me really intrigued. Of course, that talking about mentoring. I'm trying to find some really great mentors to follow or just do some deals together first to learn that game before I just try it on my own and mess it up. Well, I'm gonna.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

I'm gonna make a recommendation for you.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

I would love that.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Of the room you should be in.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Okay.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

And as soon as we get off this. This thing, I'm going to. We're going to go in there and I'm going to make call and connect you. I appreciate it, but you should be in boardroom, which is Kent Clothiers. It is. It is the real estate mastermind group. It is. It is the group and the guys. And the guys that are playing in there are playing at a very, very high level. That's the only one that I. That's the only one I'm associated with.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, no, that'd be on a scale one to ten. I'm like a two and a half, three. And I'm just trying to get to six or seven years.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Okay, listen, don' that, don't do that. Because there's somebody listening to this thing right now that's trying to get their. Their first property and they're thinking, if this dude just said he's a two and he's got, you know what. How many doors total now?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

400 homes.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

400 homes. And how many?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

50 multifamily. And then just like almost a dozen commercial.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Okay. Almost a dozen commercial. Yeah. You ain't a two, buddy. I mean, look, that's a long way from a two. I will give you a solid eight. Oh, no, I'm just going to say the last two, the nine and ten is, is. Is our big steps. We'll go with that.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Well, I think that's what entrepreneurs we tend to like really well. I feel like we're insecure sometimes. We got to keep growing and building. So, you know, if I feel like I get close to a good spot where I'm feeling settled, like what settles goes to the bottom of the tank. So I guess we. I don't know. I feel like at 2 or 3,

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

only 1 of coast is downhill.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I don't want to do that.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

I think it's about resetting your zero. Right. It's about just resetting the expectation for what success is. And, and I think that's where a lot of people struggle. So if you had to go back, like let's say that you had to start from zero right now, what would you do? Oh, in this market that we're in right now?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Well, number one, I would call all the landlords. I would do the same thing we're doing right now. It's very like, like in Calhoun, Georgia we did this. We found an 18 unit apartment complex off of the records, reached out to them, we got a three year term, no money down, $12,000 a month principal only payment. And I said, well I need some money on this and I don't really like these multifamily. So I found a group that they would. I master leased it to them with an option to buy. They paid $20,000 a door which is 360,000 bucks. And then we charged a little bit above what our payment is and they bought. So we bought it for 2, 3, they paid 2.7 and I still own it. So I get all the depreciation, all the tax benefits and I made the 360, which I can't 1030 want that. But when they cash me out on the back end, since it's past a year or two, I can 1031 the back end. I would repeat those over and over again instead of just wholesaling all the time. That way I'm still able to, number one, have some. I get paid up front, I get monthly residual and I have a back end pay and I get the tax benefits. So I'd repeat what we're doing right now. And it's funny you said that because the one of the team members that I have with me right now, so I'll give a shout to my buddy Tim Stone. Whenever he first came to work for me, not only did he get a 10 unit with no money down in Chattanooga, Tennessee, no money down and $4,000 a month principal payments. I was very proud of him. He just shocked me. He was 21 years old. We spun a wheel and it landed on a random city and I think his landed on Orlando. And I sent him there for seven days and I said you have to come back and have gotten a deal. So he did a wholesale deal though, and that's okay, but he did but $15,000 wholesale deal in one week. So I would just make a goal for me of here's the date that I need to have to have whatever I'm trying to accomplish done and be obsessed and go nuts over until you get it during that time. So I'd choose a seven day goal, a 30 day goal, a 90 day goal, and a six month goal. That's what I would do.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

All right, let's go to the seven day goal. So say you choose the seven day goal. What's the easiest, fastest way?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Okay, easy way. Without going to the courthouse or doing things to physically go on Facebook Marketplace. Not for sale but for rent. Those are, those are sellers or landlords who are willing to take a monthly payment for their property. So I would contact them and I would, I'd tell them I'm interested in the home and say, look, you know, what are you wanting for rent? And just build a relationship. Then I would say, well, hey, look, here's the thing. If I was to rent from you and let's just say three years, five years, seven years goes by and I, I want this to be my forever home, or I want to keep or I want to buy it. I, I don't want you to end up selling and giving to someone else. What would you be willing to sell it for? Then they give me a price. I said, well, do you mind if I have the option to buy it for that? Then in the five, seven years or however long, I just want to make sure that you don't give away the home that we're possibly going to. I may live in or I may, I may rent it. I don't know, I just. But I really love the home now I have a lease and an option. Okay. Okay. I lease it to control it, an option to have the price, and if it appreciates, I can fulfill that. If it goes down, I don't have to fulfill it, but I can still sublease up to a master lease, basically. Or sometime during that time I convert it over to seller finance and depending if it's paid off or so you take.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

So you take it. So what if the lease has something in it? Mostly?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, I, I give my lease. So. And I do tell them I'm very honest and transparent. I said, look, I may lease it. I may do you know, I may sublease. I may use it for corporate housing. I may use it for Airbnb. Just letting you know. Yeah, but at least you're dealing with a professional. I mean, not a random Joe.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah, kind of how professional investor?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yes.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Sir, you're always going to get your money.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah. Do good with me, you know, or the other way that I'd go about it. And this is how I have done it as a system is I say, I talk to the seller, say, look, I see that you have this property. You're trying to rent it out. Let me explain who I am. My name is Shane. So we're, we, we own a company where we build a pathway to homeownership. We have a group of families that are interested in a house exactly like yours. We're just curious. I know that you're wanting to rent it for now, but would you be open to selling it in the future? What we do is we have a family that want to put their family in it, live in it. They're quality people, just not qualified right now.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

We're going to guarantee the lease.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yep. And they're not qualified right now because they either have student debt, medical debt, they don't have job history or whatever. We're giving them time to fix what they need to get fixed. Fixed. So how it would work, whatever you want. For rent, we'd like to agree on a rental price, a purchase price. They'll come in, we'll do all the repairs and maintenance and we'll guarantee the lease as a company. And I don't get paid from you. Whatever you decide to sell it for, you will net that amount. There's no fees. We make our money off the buyers. And then I'm just being transparent that I'm putting someone in there. That one tends to work best as well. And it doesn't make you look like an investor coming to low ball either. I try and frame it a lot different and we really do that. We've helped a lot of people become homeowners. I have a system where they can start in my multi family.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Okay, sorry. See you have the master lease. I'm just, I don't want to skip over this. You have the master lease, you do this lease with them, they give you the option. Let's say the option is to buy it for 300, whatever. And then you go out now you take it and market it out again.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yes.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

And I'm guessing a cash flowing rent amount or, or a, or a seller seller financing. Now you go and market it as seller financing.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Okay. No, that's a great point. Okay, so here's how we do. We give a. Okay. Our system is we always give three offers no matter what the deal. There's a cash offer.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

A seller finance which we call Payment for equity program. Because there's a lot of gurus teaching seller and they're just ruining it, in my opinion, on the phone, because they aren't trained all the way yet.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

So we do payment for equity program and a lease option. I want to be respectful that we're given all the different types of offers at the same time. I'm sourcing properties, I'm sourcing tenant buyers. Okay. And basically imagine me knowing that I have three people, one with 40 grand, one with 50, one with 20, and I know what they can handle monthly. And I'm going to talk to a seller and let's just say you say yes to a lease option or yes to seller financing, but you want 20 grand down or 10 grand or whatever. Just because you want money doesn't mean I have to come out with, yeah, I have some people over here that are ready to go, that are ready to go. So it helps me with my confidence. So I would source both at the same time. I would take pictures in the middle of my apartment if I have to. So, yeah, so I'd master lease it with an option. And I always do a option to dispo at least a minimum of 50 grand or more, depending on. So if I'm buying it market here, I'm still putting above market here. And the reason why is I'm guessing, I'm trying to guess where that property be worth and three to five years. And I can always come down. If it doesn't appraise or if I feel like the market dropped, I can always come down, you know, and then as far as minimum cash flow, I always do at least a minimum of 500 more per property. If not, then I'll just cancel with the seller. I don't waste their time. One thing I did learn from my 33 properties in my pitiful story of 5 years is I can always cancel. I don't waste the seller's time. I always try to do it.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Because when you structure with the buyer, you're structuring a lease option where they're giving you the down now and then their, their payment. Are you putting some of it against your. Because you have an inflated price over what the seller gave you? Obviously, yes.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yes.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

All right. And so you're. Are you doing principal plus interest? Are you, are you packing some of that?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Well, if I'm leasing with the option from the seller, it's a lease and I try and get the credit, it's the, the payments credited toward purchase price if I fulfill. So it becomes a Principal only payment, right?

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

No, no, but I'm talking about with

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

the buyer and then with the buyer. No, it's straight up. A lease.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

They are, they're just straight.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

They still owe this. So if it's one. If it's 200,000, they still owe 200,000 even after three years.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Okay.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah. Just to make sure. Now, do I work with them? It depends. Case on case by the tenant. And I have come down. I have worked with them. Yes, sir. So. So case by case.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

So the only real risk in that scenario is if the original seller was to default in the middle of your deal.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

That's what. And we definitely do check that. So we either use a third party servicer company, we have some attorneys in Georgia that will kind of help me service it in a sense. But yeah, we always get a receipt from the seller or I pay it directly and I give them.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

You want to take his mortgage over and pay it direct?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Well, it's a lease. What's a lease? Yes, but I still want to make sure that it's paid because I don't want to get stuck in a scary. To me. Oh, 1,000%. Yeah. And same thing with subject to. Like, I don't like subject to, to be honest. But we, we've done it. If I do that, I'm making sure if I buy it for 200 grand, I have 200 grand here in case that comes due on sale.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Sorry about it, man. Yeah, it's.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah. So. And also, sometimes even when I buy subject to, I won't even do the lease option. I'll just only buy it subject to and lease it if I have to.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

So with the new fencer rules that just came out March 1st.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

I saw that. Yeah.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah. That's cute, huh?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, it's going to be cute. Yeah.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Well, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, there's a new rule that just came out on March 1st that essentially says if the story behind it is the US Government is trying to. Is trying to say they're trying to cut down on wire fraud and money laundering by. By like LLC is buying property. If you buy a property with any entity, you have to disclose the ownership of that llc.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

I think it's for one to four years. Or is it.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah, one to four years. I think. Yeah, I think the big stuff, you don't have to.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Yeah, I haven't, I haven't dealt with it yet. I haven't bought something in March. We've been selling, so.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah, yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

But I was Curious about that too.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

So it's interesting because like sub 2 now, I saw a video from some attorney the other day that was now talking about you can't buy sub 2 with an LLC or a trust anymore because now you have to disclose owners of the trust which is going to trigger the due on sale clause. And then now you're talking about like set up a land trust and then make the seller the beneficiary of the land trust and then they resign as the beneficiary and then you buy quickly. Quickly, yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Hear a lot of that.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah, it's just.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

But I think there's a lot of dancing, honestly.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

It is a lot of dancing.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

I'd rather just lease it with an option. Which, honest truth lease option in some mortgages. But it has nothing to do with FINRA though. But lease option is still, it's a technical default on some of them. It still triggers a due on sale.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

So that's what I'm saying is I like to have the capital ready if there's a loan. Most of my portfolio.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

How many properties are you acquiring through that lease option method versus just straight purchase?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Well, we lease my house. My personal lease option is on West Paces Ferry. Like we got a great deal on that. We probably have. I've cashed most of them out as far as single family, but my home is. I have another apartment complex that's technically a master lease with option. I did go to the bank and I made them waive the due on sale, understanding that I'm doing the master lease with options. I like to talk to the bank. I don't like. I send, I have three letters that we send them. One to let them know that we're doing it, two for insurance and the other one like, hey, what do we need? Is this permissible, you know, in the way of the due on sale? Right. I think that's the correct way to do it. Sometimes they don't like it. I said, well, how can we. I just like to have that communication, especially if I'm going to try and do the tenant buyer route. But I mean I don't have too many lease options now. I did a lot of, I'd probably say about 70, 80 of them was a lease option acquisition back in the day.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Because I know that in some states, like for example, South Carolina, well, South Carolina just made illegal Nevada, it's coming soon too. It just missed the legislation cut off for getting passed.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Or lease option.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

No, not lease option. No, no. They're trying to kill wholesaling.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh okay. Yeah.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Just like South Carolina did. Because I mean, if you look at it, most of the wholesale deals get done this. In this part of the world anyway. A lot of them get done where English is a second language and it's. They're predatory. Yes, they're predatory and they're trying to. The language in the South Carolina bill said essentially you cannot market a property for sale that you don't own.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Exactly.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Deeded 50% of. So how would that type of a law affect your system?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Well, we're not assigning. So what we're doing is. We're doing.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

But you can't market it for sale.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

No, we can't do it for sale. But we can put as a lease option. So I sublease it and I can sell option higher.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Okay, I got it.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

But I can't. No, I don't market us for sale. We can't do.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Not for sale.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

No. And honestly, I have actually. You remind me of so many different things. I do make both the seller sign a disclosure and the tenant. And if I. When I used to buy subject to which we still have, but if we do now we got the finish stuff is I even had the tenant buyer. If I did do that, sign a disc. Understand that there is a do on sale clause with you. I'm very transparent about it. I think it's the best way to

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

do rule number one, real estate, man.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Disclose, disclose, disclose everything.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah. And that way you don't get sued.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. 100%. Even me when I sell or find. If you were to sell or finance me a property, I leave a deed in l. An extended escrow with the closing in case I die. So you don't have to like stress out my family.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Like, I do everything we can to just make it easy. You know, in the Bible, my. My grandma told me, she says nothing's ever worth going to hell over.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

So I just live by that.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

And I. And it's fun. If I can't put the puzzle together, I can't do it, you know?

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah. So who. Who was. I mean, dude, you. You've talked about some pretty complex nerdy stuff. Yeah. Which I would. No, no, I. I dig it. I love it. So who would you say that you picked up most of this stuff from? Who are the people that you've lost, man? Just. If you had to call it. If he had name.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

There. There's a. There's a great guy in. In Georgia that he. His name's Lou Brown. He did some great stuff on seller financing. And stuff. There's some things I didn't like, but a lot of it I did. There's an old guy named Ron LeGrand in Jacksonville. There's the little things there. But honest truth, it was me just sitting down, looking at other deals and my deal saying, how can I do this? And then I would. I'd look it up. I'd talk to attorneys.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

And your attorneys were drafting your disclosures and all that?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, yes, sir. And some of them I would. I have some disclosures that I bring to. At the closing, too, depending on the deal. But, yeah, honestly, someone asked me that the other day, and I said, man, I don't know how I learned. So I think it's just because I looked at so many deals and I was like, how can I get it done? That. That. That agent who lied to me changed my life. In for the good.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

He didn't teach me how to do a deal. He taught me how to figure it out. Yeah. And how to figure it out. And I. I think that's it. I mean, just. And just talking to a lot of. There's a guy named Nick Fortunato, I think, out of Tampa. I went to one thing where he talks about. He didn't talk about a lot of creative stuff all the time, but he talked about his contract. I learned some little things there. I just learned a little bit from every. So I call myself almost like the Quilted Investor. I have a lot of.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

I just learned from a lot of

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

you and patched it together, made my own blanket.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

It's funny, man, because I think when people get a moniker of success to themselves, they start getting a big ego. And the people that I know that are the most successful are always looking to learn, always looking for that next thing to learn from. And I get that vibe just oozing off of you that you just want to learn stuff.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

I don't know if you know what our other. Like when we do our masterminds or free education. Our place is called Good Investor, and the slogan is a good investor is always learning.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah, okay. Yeah, I didn't know that, but yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

100. Because I'm going to learn from you. I've already learned a lot from you. I'll learn about the mark. I'm going to learn about development. I'm not going to sit and pretend like I know everything, you know?

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

A lot of time I can't figure out some deals I just didn't get because I couldn't figure it out, you know?

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah, probably.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

But you could have probably helped me get it. So the more people you meet, the

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

better I get it, dude. No, really impressive. Well, dude, if they want to find you, how do they find you? Where do they find you?

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

Oh, man, you can find me on my socials, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, which is what.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

What it were.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

It's at Shane. So S h A N e S E o. Yep.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

So it looks like you're selling marketing, but you're not.

[Shane - Real Estate Investor and CEO of So Capital Group]

I'm not. I'm not a search. I'm not a Google person. Okay. One thing I will say though, is it is hard to beat on Google my name because all the SEO people are meeting me. So that's been my challenge, you know.

[John Gafford - Host of Escaping the Drift]

Yeah, that's a challenge. You can't get there. All right, dude. Well, look, man, it was a pleasure having you. That was a great conversation. Listen, if you listen to this. Of course, of course, of course. The best time to buy your first property was 2012. The second best time is right now. And there are creative ways you can do it. If I would take exactly what he said and start getting on Facebook Marketplace and pick up the phone today. See you next time. What's up, everybody? Thanks for joining us for another episode of Escaping the Drift. Hope you got a bunch out of it, or at least as much as I did out of it. Anyway, if you want to learn more about the show, you can always go over to escapingthedrift.com you can join our mailing list. But do me a favor, if you wouldn't mind, throw up that five star review. Give us a share. Do something, man. We're here for you. Hopefully you'll be here for us. But anyway, in the meantime, we will see you at the next episode.

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