197. Leaving Your 9-5 with Authority with Jesse Jay

Summary

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Real Estate Investing School Podcast Episode 197

“Leaving Your 9-5 with Authority with Jesse Ray”

Date: September 30, 2024
Host: Joe Jensen
Guest: Jesse Ray (Founder, Growth House – entrepreneur-focused, co-living rentals, Phoenix AZ)

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Episode Overview

In this high-energy episode, Joe Jensen interviews Jesse Ray, a former corporate sales rep who built freedom and career satisfaction through strategic real estate investing—with an emphasis on co-living houses for entrepreneurs. Jesse discusses his transformation from disenchanted salesperson to world-traveling community-builder, sharing his unique take on house-hacking, the power of intentional networks, and lessons learned building “Growth Houses” in Phoenix. They dive into Jesse’s story, strategies, notable stumbles, community-focused investing, and practical steps for listeners to follow his path out of the 9-5.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Jesse's Exit from Corporate and "Not Selling Himself Short"

• Story of Corporate Exit: Jesse shares the pivotal moment he chose not to take another corporate offer after realizing his rental income surpassed the salary on the table.
• Quote [00:21]:

  “I appreciate you guys, but I’m not going to sell myself to you because you can’t afford me.”
  – Jesse Ray ([00:20:44])

2. How Real Estate Set Him Free: The Journey

• Background: Couldn’t find a job post-college, went back to being a cabana boy. Realized a need for change, got into personal development—catalyzed by reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad ([00:03:01]).
• Sales Experience: Entered copier sales at Xerox—struggled with rejection, persistence became a key life lesson ([00:04:03]).
• Building Wealth: Lived far below means, saved aggressively, pushed through “fear” (not analysis paralysis) around his first deal ([00:08:07], [00:09:49]).

3. The Power of Environment and Intentional Networking

• Big Move: Left Portland for Phoenix to “transplant” himself into a thriving, entrepreneurial environment ([00:09:49]).

• Quote [00:10:55]:

  "Before I even landed in Phoenix, I looked up Phoenix entrepreneurs, Arizona entrepreneurs...I went to a networking meetup just so I get surrounded by like-minded people before I even set foot in my own house."
  – Jesse Ray

• Intentional Househacking: Chose roommates who were business professionals or entrepreneurs ([00:12:04]).

4. Building the Growth House Model

• Genesis: First house with ambitious roommates led to demand for more rooms. Missed deal across the street spurred Jesse to door-knock the neighborhood—a “door-to-door” hustle that paid off ([00:13:40]).
• Quote [00:13:40]:

  "Saturday morning, I put my hat on backwards so I don’t look like ADT or pest control, and...pitch: 'I actually am homeless now, ’cause someone rented my house—are you looking to sell?'"
  – Jesse Ray

• Creation of Entrepreneur Homes: Second house acquired, built out the “Growth House” concept—targeting entrepreneur tenants, fostering a culture of support and accountability ([00:15:59], [00:16:24]).

5. From Rental Income to Global Travel

• Financial Freedom: Rental income enabled Jesse to ditch his W2, travel extensively (Cabo, Europe, Brazil, Tulum), and fully focus on business & community ([00:01:21], [00:02:25]).
• Quote [00:07:41]:

  “…for me, the easiest way to start was house hack. That’s why I ended up buying a house out in Phoenix.”
  – Jesse Ray

6. Challenges and Realities of Co-Living

• Headaches: Higher tenant turnover, more personalities, individual leases per room, managing furnished rooms, the need for regular cleaning ([00:36:29]).
• Systems: Regular house cleaners, admin assistant, “house manager,” handyman on call. Strict vetting (“Glass half empty or half full?”) and intentional community-building ([00:37:16], [00:39:25]).
• Quote [00:37:16]:

  "We always have contingency plans...start at 6-12 months per room...”
  – Jesse Ray

7. How He Fills the Houses & Grows the Community

• Cohorts: Initial aim was all-entrepreneur houses; now a mix of professionals and entrepreneurs, with “cohort” periods for deep dives ([00:23:07]).
• Events & Content: Growth House Masterminds (rookies and 7-figure earners), podcasting, content creation, plans for a TV show chronicling the concept ([00:21:56]-[00:25:24]).
• Referral System: Bonuses for tenant referrals, which has become a significant source of new tenants ([00:37:16]).

8. Why Community is Everything

• Central Thesis: Environment is a multiplier. “You become who you surround yourself with” ([00:52:09]).
• Quote [00:27:53]:

  “If we're all matches and you're dim right now, maybe you lost a couple deals…but someone else in the house walks down the stairs that just closed a deal—you get close enough to their lit match, you're going to get lit as well.” – Jesse Ray

9. Growth House Vision & Expansion Plans

• Current State: Three houses in Arizona (Phoenix, Tempe); plans to expand to Dallas, Austin, and other entrepreneurship hubs after refining the model ([00:28:32]).
• Long-term Goal: “Two to three houses in every major entrepreneurial city” ([00:28:32]).

10. Real Numbers: Co-Living House Hack Example

• Breakdown Example:
  • $25K down payment (5%) on $500K house
  • $30K remodel to add a bed/bath, convert carport to casita/ADU
  • PITI ≈ $5,250/month
  • $1,000+/bedroom x 6 rooms + $1,200/casita Airbnb = $7,200/month gross
  • Living for free (as resident) + $1,000/month cash flow; after moving out, $2,000/month net.
• Quote [00:41:52]:

  “You can make at least a thousand to $2,500 a month cash flow…numbers are very conservative…I do more than this on some houses.”
  – Jesse Ray

11. Overcoming Fear: ACTION Over Analysis

• Advice: Five years of “analysis paralysis” is really just fear—shortcut your journey with community, mentors, and coaching ([00:47:01]).
• Quote:

  “Don’t be like me and take five years of analysis paralysis, AKA fear. Go get started.”
  – Jesse Ray

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Quitting Corporate for Good ([00:20:47]):

  “I appreciate you guys, but I’m not going to sell myself to you because you can’t afford me.”

• On Networking Intentionally ([00:10:55]):

  “Before seeing the house I just bought… I went to a networking meetup… just so I get surrounded by like-minded people before I even set foot in my own house.”

• On Building Community ([00:52:09]):

  "You become who you surround yourself with."

• Real Estate as a Time-Freedom Vehicle ([00:31:34]):

  “Financial freedom is actually when life starts... now you get to choose who you want to work with, who to partner with, what kind of business you want to run…”

• On Overcoming Hard Things ([00:06:13]):

  “If I do something that every day I wake up, I'm like, this sucks—but train that muscle every day…then everything else in the day is like, okay, I've done worse first thing in the morning.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:00:21] Jesse’s “I quit” moment and leaving the 9-5 “with authority”
• [00:01:21] Jesse’s post-corporate global travels & lifestyle
• [00:07:41] House-hacking as the entry into real estate
• [00:10:55] Intentionally building a new social/business environment in Phoenix
• [00:13:40] Door-knocking the neighborhood to land a second house
• [00:16:24] Launching “Growth House” and the impact of the first tenants
• [00:19:34] Comparison of corporate “prostituting yourself” vs. being your authentic self
• [00:23:07] House “cohorts” and evolving the model for scale
• [00:28:32] Current footprint and scaling strategy for Growth House
• [00:36:29] The logistics/headaches of co-living, systems, and tenant management
• [00:41:52] Detailed house-hack math and co-living numbers in today’s market
• [00:47:01] Overcoming “analysis paralysis” and importance of community & mentors

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Actionable Takeaways

• Don’t Wait for Perfection: Begin with house-hacking, even if it means moving cities. Action and environment are more important than endlessly researching.
• Be Intentional with Your Circle: Curate both your physical living space and your professional networks.
• Co-Living Is for More Than Just Income: It’s a multiplier for growth, mentorship, and opportunity—especially for young, hungry entrepreneurs.
• Optimize for Systems: Use professionals—cleaners, assistants, managers—to keep “freedom” actually free.
• Financial Freedom ≠ Retirement: Use freedom as a springboard for more impactful projects, not an exit from purpose.

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Book & Podcast Recommendations

• Book: Passive to Passionate by Brian Lubin
  (“…breaks down what to do when you start, and then after, once you hit that financial freedom.” [00:48:47])
• Podcast: Action Academy Podcast (hosted by Brian Lubin) [00:49:23]

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Memorable Stories

• Jesse Living in the Kitchen: “I was remodeling it and living in the kitchen—you know, I sometimes don’t think all the way through on things.” ([00:16:24])
• ‘Undercover Billionaire’ Moment: Door-knocking his own neighborhood led to another property (“I put my hat on backwards so I don’t look like ADT or pest control…” [00:13:40])
• Traveling the World post-FI: From hiking Madeira to running with the bulls and retreating in Tulum ([00:01:21], [00:02:17])

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Jesse’s One-Liner Motto

“You become who you surround yourself with.” ([00:52:09])

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For more or to connect with Jesse: @thejesseray on Instagram or LinkedIn.

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(Summary by Real Estate Investing School Podcast / For educational and reference use. Skip to timestamps for fast-forwarding to discussed segments.)

Transcript

[Jesse Ray]

So I take a meeting with the managers. I was just rubbed the wrong way. The last question they asked, Jesse, sell yourself to us. And for whatever reason at that moment, my bed is in the kitchen. So it's not even like. It's like I got everything under control. But in that moment, I'm like thinking about all the rental income that's about to come in from this house and the other house. And I pause and I look at him. I say, hey, can you remind me what the base salary is? They said, you know, around six figures. And I said, hey, I appreciate you guys, but I'm not going to sell myself to you because you can't afford me. And that's the way I left corporate. I'm like, I'm out.

[Joe Jensen]

Welcome to the Real Estate Investing School podcast. I'm your host, Joe Jensen. A guest today is Jesse Ray. Jesse climbed the corporate sales ladder to realize he hated conference calls and all things corporate. This led him to build a portfolio of single family co living rentals in Phoenix, Arizona. His unique strategy to maximize cash flow with each property by renting out individual furnished rooms led hit to his rental income, surpassing his six figure corporate salary. Once he achieved financial freedom, Jesse left his W2 to travel the world and start Growth House. All right, Jesse, let's dive right into it. I want to hear all about Growth House. I know it's multifaceted, got a lot of stuff going there. And also about your travels. You just got back from like three, a three month hiatus, like what, two days ago?

[Jesse Ray]

Yeah, man, like I got it at midnight and just got back. So I'm excited to be back here in Phoenix, Arizona. But yeah, man, I started in, let's see here. I started in Cabo and then went to Europe, went all over Portugal, I went to Spain, went to Italy and then, man, everywhere. And then I went to the Greek Islands and then Rio, Brazil and then back. I ended up in Tulum, Mexico with a huge retreat with one of my friends for his investor community. So it's been a journey, but. But oh man, I learned a lot and it was a lot of fun.

[Joe Jensen]

That's cool. Were you doing like solo travel or you with a group?

[Jesse Ray]

Yeah, it was a mix. So I went out there solo for about a week and then one of my best friends, Brian Lubin, who has a similar community to me but a lot bigger, he came out. We did some, you know, once in a lifetime experiences like hiked in Madeira where you was walking above the clouds. We ran with the bulls, which I did not realize like, what was going to be in store for that? That was wild.

[Joe Jensen]

That's crazy. That's way cool. You've done all that. Sounds like some big bucket list items you're finally checking off.

[Jesse Ray]

Oh, for sure. Yeah. That's the whole point of getting that rental income and investing in real estate for me, was that financial freedom and now actually able to enjoy the fruits of the labor.

[Joe Jensen]

Heck yeah, man. I love that, dude. Yeah. So let's talk about it. So what kind of sales did you do? How long were you in the corporate world before you made the pivot? And what kind of like, signaled to. To start making that move? Like, how did you know where to go? I mean, the unhappiness and the in content discontent and content uncont. I think that's pretty common. People are not stoked where they're at a lot, but they don't know where to go. Like, how did you know where to go with it?

[Jesse Ray]

But, yeah, 100%. Yeah, man. Well, I graduated college, and everyone says, go to college, get a good job after that, and you're going to be like, you know, set, and you have the American dream. But I got out of college and I couldn't find a job. So I went back to the one job I knew I could get, which was a cabana boy. So imagine someone with a colle degree going back to the same job they got when they're 14. So once that happened, I realized, like, all right, something in my life has to change. And so that's when I got into personal development and read which, you know, it's kind of cliche, but I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. That's kind of my. That's my gateway drug into entrepreneurship.

[Joe Jensen]

Papa Kiyosaki guiding us all, you know, Right.

[Jesse Ray]

So I read his book and I was like, oh, man, I don't have to wait till 65 to retire and, you know, actually live life. And so he was actually a Xerox rep. And so for me, I'm like, if someone already has a game plan or a blueprint, why don't I just follow it? So I literally did that. I got the same job that Robert Kiyosaki had.

[Joe Jensen]

No, you're like, wait, so if that's how it works, I'll just do what he said.

[Jesse Ray]

Exactly. Exactly. So I was like, let me follow this blueprint. So that's what I did, man. I hopped in the sales at Xerox through a family friend. And, you know, I'm pretty outgoing, and, you know, I thought sales was going to Come a little bit easier, but, man, I almost quit six times in the first three months. It was a grind. And selling copiers, no one wants to talk to you. If you go door to door, business to business, and people are like, oh, you're another copier rep. So that was kind of a struggle early on.

[Joe Jensen]

Sales sucks your soul, man. It is. It's. I did it for a decade door to door, and it just.

[Jesse Ray]

Oh, it's.

[Joe Jensen]

It's a rough life.

[Jesse Ray]

What were you selling?

[Joe Jensen]

I was selling home security systems.

[Jesse Ray]

Okay. Like ADT or a company like that.

[Joe Jensen]

Exactly. Yeah. Nice. But yeah, yeah, it's. It's a. You know that door to door that any sales. That direct sales is just, you know, cold contacting is. Is cold. That's the real deal. It's the cold contacting that's the hard part. The sales stuff that, you know, that. That's all cool. Talk to me was cool. It's just the cold contact and you just like bashing your head into bricks, you know, 100.

[Jesse Ray]

I mean, you. You learn how to deal with rejection really quick or you just leave. Like, you have to get thick skin. I actually encourage anyone who's, like, in college or even high school, like, go get an internship where you cold calls. Like, that's going to help you in life. Like, for, like, for sure.

[Joe Jensen]

Oh, for sure. When you. When you can go through things that you don't want to do that you're not enjoying, but, like, okay, there's a bigger purpose. Like, I'll just push through. It's just gonna feed everything in life. Like, this is the stupidest example, but I was remodeling my yard, and I just built this, like, playground for my kids. And I was, like, building this, like, border around the mulch. And just like, it was just. It was so boring. Like, the landscaper didn't do it. I was like, shoot, he should have done that. I'll just do it myself. And I'm like, there's just going ham on this thing for like, three hours yesterday. And I'm like, I hate this. I'm like, I've done a lot harder stuff than this. I can just finish. It's not a big deal. Like, and that's the best example, but it's just the most recent. But how many times in your head have you been like, dude, this sucks. I don't want to be doing this right now, but I've done a lot harder things. It's okay. I'll just get to the other side. Like, just being able to have that confidence is, like, huge.

[Jesse Ray]

You know, this is a little off topic, but that's almost the reason why I started doing these cold plunges. I'm like, okay, there's health benefits, but for me, it's more of a mental thing. Like, if I do something that every day I wake up, I'm like, this sucks. Like, I'm never excited to take a freezing cold shower, do a cold pledge, but if I do that, just train that muscle every day to do something I don't want to do, expand my comfort zone just a little bit, then everything else in the. In the day is like, okay, I've done worse first thing in the morning. So I can. I can handle this 100.

[Joe Jensen]

You see people that don't ever do anything hard, and they're like. The littlest thing is like, blows them away. They're like, oh, I don't enjoy this 100. This entire moment. You're like, well, yeah, that's okay.

[Jesse Ray]

Welcome to life works.

[Joe Jensen]

You know what I mean? And obviously, we love to enjoy our lives. Like. Like, you just did this amazing bucket list trip. And, like, we're not saying don't do things you enjoy. It's. It's a combo. And then they balance each other and they lead to each other. You wouldn't have the one without the other, at least not sustainably.

[Jesse Ray]

So true.

[Joe Jensen]

So, so you're in this. You're doing the Xerox, you read big, whatever, Rich Dad, Poor dad, and instead of going straight to the real estate, you're like, I'll do the shitty part also. So you go do the Xerox part. I'm not sure if that was the pitch of the book is like, work at Xerox. But, like, hey, you know, so you do that, and then at what point you realize, like, I gotta pivot out of this? Or was the whole. Did you have the get big game plan from the start where, like, I'm gonna do this to make some capital to buy the real estate? Like. Like the whole picture.

[Jesse Ray]

Yeah. It's actually funny because a couple of my friends had the same realization when they first read Rich Dad, Poor dad, which I was even thinking real estate. I still thought that was, like, all you need, hundreds of thousands of dollars. So I got into stocks first. So I read Rich Dad, Poor dad was like, all right, I'm going to, you know, delay gratification, live below my means, save up some money. So I actually hired a stock coach first. And then in my head, I was like, I need to save $100,000, which we both know, like, you don't have to save $100,000 to get to the game.

[Joe Jensen]

Real estate, right?

[Jesse Ray]

But that's what I ended up doing. So I just live, I lived off my base salary, you know, went from, what was it, like 40 to all I was making, you know, close to $200,000. But I was still living at $42,000. Like, I was living below my means to save up. So that was my journey, that was my story. And then I got to about five years into the job and I was like, you know what? Who am I surrounding myself with? Why am I stuck? I told everyone I want to get into real estate, but I wasn't taking any action. Like, you can say it's analysis paralysis, which I was at a conference this last week and really, like, stop saying that. That's basically just saying fear. Like, like say what it is you had fear. That's 100 true. So I had fear around this whole concept of actually getting my first house. And so long story short was I read a tweet that said, life hack. Move out of your hometown in your 20s. And I just, at that time, I'm like looking at my circle, I'm like, these are my best friends. But no one is elevating a life. They're not living the lives that I want to live. I'm not surrounded by like minded people, entrepreneurs that I want to become investors. So I made a. I made a decision. I'm like, hey, I'm living in Portland, Oregon. I'm gonna make this jump to Arizona, to Scottsdale, to Phoenix. And that's what I ended up doing. So right before I bought my house, actually five years was like trying to make offers but not really doing the thing. Like I said, had fear. I actually wrote it down. I was like, all right, I'm gonna take pen to pad. I've heard people talk about this. Kobe Bryant has this whole, you know, it's a contract with yourself, and within 30 days of actually writing it down, that's when I actually got closed on my first house. So that was like the journey in my whole thought process was let me go to Phoenix, let me surround myself with like minded people, and I'm gonna house hack. Because that was, for me, the easiest way to, you know, start. Start tipping my toes into real estate. So that's why I ended up doing buying a house out here in Phoenix.

[Joe Jensen]

Dude, that's cool. And it's funny. There's something about just changing your environment, right? It's like someone else could have done the exact same thing, moving from Phoenix to Portland, you know what I mean? But it's like because you changed your environment and you're now, your whole world is okay. Like, what am I going to do to succeed? How am I going to find success? Like, your, your view is different. There's not all the distractions of your comfort zones and, and what's normal to you, you know, so it's powerful. I think it's really powerful. I, when I was doing sales when I first started we, it was traveling sales. So I moved for the whole summer to go work. And it was that thing, it's like, okay, pick up, leave your home, leave your family, leave all your friends, leave all distractions and just go here and do that. And I think it was so good, like it, you know, for my, my mindset. And I just got married at the time. We always talked about how like that was so good for our relationship. Just like, okay, we only have each other, we don't have like all these other things, you know, and we got to go back after, you know, five or six months. But there's something about trans, transplanting yourself into a new environment.

[Jesse Ray]

100 man. And for me, it was also just being super intentional. Like I, before I even landed in Phoenix, I looked up Phoenix entrepreneurs, Arizona entrepreneurs. So I had communities I was already plugging into like a month before I landed. Instead, you know, had a foot in Arizona. And actually I got off the plane and before seeing the house I just bought, which I did it all through, like, you know, not Facebook Live, FaceTime. And before I even got to the house, I went to a networking meetup just so I get surrounded by like minded people before I even stepped foot in my own house. Because that was just me being super intentional and then realizing, okay, I get to choose who I want to live with. And I think this is also true with friendships. Like, you get to choose who you want as your close friends. You're the average of the five people you surround yourself with. You know, as adults, I think a lot of us still just stick to the same people that we grew up with. But if you want different, you know, outcomes in life, you gotta, you gotta change your circle, you gotta elevate and audit your circle. And so what I ended up doing was I surrounded myself in that house with five other people who were either, you know, business professionals and sales ambitious or aspiring or current entrepreneurs. So that's kind of where that whole thought process of let me, you know, make these houses with aspiring or current.

[Joe Jensen]

Entrepreneurs and that kind of led to your whole thing that you got now with the growth house. Right. So your house hack and renting to friends, not the most novel thing that anybody's ever done. Right. Like, it's kind of like that's a great way to start. Everybody should house hack, rent. Some roommates, they help you cover the rent. But you, you kind of like, hey, you vibed into this whole entrepreneurship and tell us where you went with it because you've built a whole business around it.

[Jesse Ray]

Yeah, for sure. So like six months in, I'm realizing like, I have now belief in myself. I'm watching my people in the houses, you know, start their businesses or already have them. So I get this concept of like, man, I want to be surrounded by growth minded people. At the same time, we were running out of bedrooms. We have people reaching out like, hey, Jesse, I want to live in one of these like cool houses. We didn't really have a brand yet. And so I was going to buy a house across the street, which is kind of an interesting story. And you'll like this because it's kind of a door to door tale here.

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ray]

So someone across the street said, hey, I'm looking to sell my house. It was perfect. I was like, perfect. This is going to be easy because I wrote down I want two houses in the same year. And so I'm like, I'm going to hit my goal and then we're also going to expand these this portfolio. So I go across the street. Verbal, you know about a sign. But the day before I sign, the guy calls me and said, hey man, I just sold this house to open door for $20,000 more. So now I'm like, damn. Like, I thought like, this is going to be easy. And so I like how to get bummed because I'm like, I have two more months in order to hit my Target to buy two houses in the same. I only have two more months. You know, it takes 30 days just to even close on a house. So I don't know how it's going to happen. And so what I ended up doing was that Saturday I kind of got inspired by watching this TV show. I don't know if you've heard of it, it's called Undercover Billionaire.

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah, yeah, bro.

[Jesse Ray]

Fire show definitely recorded. And so I watched that show. I'm like, you know what? I've heard of people wholesaling and going door to door in their neighborhood or just anywhere and trying to like, you know, find deals. So I don't really have, you know, that much Knowledge about surrounding areas. Why don't I just door knock every single door in my neighborhood? So Saturday morning, I put my hat on backwards so I don't look like ADT or like a pest control salesperson. I'm, like, doing this little jog to every single door in my neighborhood. This is my pitch. I said, hey, guys, I'm Jesse. I live down the street, love the neighborhood, but I'm actually homeless now because someone ended up renting my house. So I'm wondering if you are looking to sell your house anytime soon. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy, but they're like, no, but, you know, good meeting a neighbor. And so the last house was across the street from a park that had great parking. Went in there and said, hey, guys. Did my little pitch, and they said, hey, Jesse. Sorry, but we're renters. However, we just bought a house, so I'm like, oh, can I talk to the owner of the house? Long story short, 30 days later, after I made an offer, that same day, I owned another house in the neighborhood.

[Joe Jensen]

Heck, yeah, dude. That's sick. Yeah. Because they bought a house, so they're moving. So the landlord, like, I don't want to be another landlord and have to turn it. You're like, I'll just buy it and. Yeah, exactly. Was he, like, pretty ready, or did you have to kind of sell them on selling it?

[Jesse Ray]

Honestly, they were ready. They were looking to probably sell it in the next, you know, few months after they moved out, But I just beat everyone to it.

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah. And they were stoked. They're like, cool. We don't have to have, like, three months of vacancy while this thing's empty and we're paying the mortgage. Like, you know, a tired landlord, like, when they hear their tenants leaving, I mean, it's like, gosh dang it. Like. Like, I. I mean, I. I manage a lot of my properties, and it's like when I get that text like, hey, we're looking for a new place. It's like.

[Jesse Ray]

You'Re thinking about getting in the house. You're like, oh, yeah.

[Joe Jensen]

It's like you just. It's. It's the biggest headache of. Of. Of landlording. Like, most times just turnkey. They just pay the rent. You know, fix a toilet once in a while. You don't care. But then when they have to have. You have to turn the unit, it's like, gosh dang it. So it was like, perfect timing.

[Jesse Ray]

Oh, 100% knocking you.

[Joe Jensen]

And. No, no, you didn't find this on a list. You just were like knocking the neighborhood.

[Jesse Ray]

I was literally going for a jog in my neighborhood and knocking on doors and meeting neighbors and found one that was willing to sell me their house.

[Joe Jensen]

Dude, I love that. I love that. So then you turned it into another. I'm gonna almost call it like an incubator is what you're doing, right? Like you're like, you're not just renting it to random individuals. You've actually said, hey, let's make this like an entrepreneur house, the growth house where people can get, be around like minded people, like working professionals and, and you kind of create that whole vibe. Is that right?

[Jesse Ray]

That's absolutely correct. Yeah. So after I got that second house, I was remodeling it and I was living in the kitchen and. Because every, you know, room in the house was getting remodeled and I don't know, for me, I. I sometimes don't think all the way through on things. And so we had someone that was going to want to live in the house and like saw my ad on Facebook saying, hey, we're going to do these entrepreneur houses. His name is Derek. And Derek came over to the house. I'm excited. I'm painting the vision of what it's going to be. He goes, bro, like, this house is a mess. Why is there a bed in the kitchen? And I'm like, but no, no, no, like, look at what it's going to be.

[Joe Jensen]

And he.

[Jesse Ray]

I just remember, I remember this like, like it was yesterday, man put his hands on his hips. He was looking around and he's like, I see it, let's do it. And all I needed was that one person to believe in me. And now we're best friends. He was literally living on someone's couch. Now he's making over half a million dollars in his business, which is an Airbnb property management. Like, the stories that just have come out of these houses are incredible. We went skydiving in Puerto Rico together. Like, it's just so cool seeing people like really transform their lives by just being around like minded people.

[Joe Jensen]

Dude, that's cool. Yeah, that energy is contagious. And you've got it. Like, it's exciting me. I'm just like, yeah. So is that kind of what you stuck with then? You just keep building the, the co living stuff or what? What direction did you go with?

[Jesse Ray]

Yeah, so what ended up happening once I had that second house? At the same time, I'm working a sales job, right? So I was working a sales job in Portland and kind of commuting back and forth. But I realized I can't do that forever. So I got a new sales job. And I was in month three, which is our last month of training. I was in software sales. And right when I'm doing all these, you know, getting this house completely full, have all the rental income coming, one of my guys on the team mentioned, hey, HR needs to talk to you. And so for me, I was a top sales guy, so I never thought, like, HR was bad. But I get a message from hr, I'm excited. I'm like, hey, guys, like, am I getting a promotion? They're like, yes, no. Your team is getting cut in half because you're in trading. We have to cut you. So this was like really the main thing that made me realize, damn, there is no such thing as job security. You can be number one three months ago and then be cut. And so I'm going through this process and basically they say, hey, you know, we have another opening. You're going to make, you know, just about as much money. Six figure salary, plus another, probably a hundred. You want to take a meeting with these managers? And I said, sure. So I take a meeting with the managers. I was just rubbed the wrong way. But here's the thing, Joe. The last question they asked Jesse, sell yourself to us. And for whatever reason at that moment, and my bed is in the kitchen, so it's not even like. It's like I got everything under control. But in that moment, I'm like thinking about all the rental income that's about to come in from this house and the other house. And I pause and I look at him, I say, hey, can you remind me what the base salary is? They said, you know, around six figures. And I said, hey, I appreciate you guys, but I'm not going to sell myself to you because you can't afford me. And that's the way I left corporate. I'm like, I'm out.

[Joe Jensen]

Oh, yeah, dude. Dude, I love that. That. It's like you just hit that mo. It's like the way they say, I don't need to sell myself to you. It just almost feels like prostitution. You're just like. There's this. You ever watch the show Peaky Blinders?

[Jesse Ray]

I haven't. I've heard about it, but I've never watched it.

[Joe Jensen]

Pretty good, but it's pretty violent. It's crazy. But there's this one line in where he says, like, we're all prostitutes. We just prostitute different parts of ourselves. And that's kind of how I felt in the corporate World. And I wasn't even really. I mean, I was in sales, you know, but I felt like it was just like, man, like, yeah, I have to sell myself. I have to, like, get you to want me. Like, I have to, like, do this thing. Like, I'm like, that's not what I want to do. Like, I'm prospering. My hours, my. My time, my. Even your image, you know, when you're in sales, you gotta look a certain way because you gotta, you know, give us. You know, it's like it's all just kind of fake in a way, until you're in control of your own world. And then you can do your hair the way you want, wear your beard the way. Like, it's just like. And people don't even realize it. They're so used to just conforming to whatever they need to do to, you know, pitch themselves in the right way. As the CEO or as the doctor, as the attorney or as the salesman, you got to have a certain look and a certain vibe, and it plays into, like, so many decisions. Like, would you make that decision otherwise? Then? If not, like, are you really being as genuine as you could? You know, and. And you get it, man.

[Jesse Ray]

Dude, you nailed on the head there. You said two things. That's so funny because immediately when I quit, I'm growing my beard out, I'm growing my hair out.

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah, right. Which is like, it doesn't matter, but it somehow does. You know what I mean?

[Jesse Ray]

It's a perception. And you look, you're looked at differently, which is, you know, it is what it is. You do have to realize, like, everyone's going to judge you. Like, there's no such thing as people not judging you. But if you want to be in sales, you do have to, you know, have a certain look. Look to you and talk a certain way. And I just realized, like, I'd rather just be my authentic self and have fun, smile and create this community that we're creating now. Like, I'm way more happy than when I was working in corporate.

[Joe Jensen]

So let's talk about the community. So, you know, because you're buying these houses, you're doing the co living, renting rooms, individually furnished, like, cool. It's a good way to get higher cash flow, higher rents on it, a little more work, a little more, like, turns and things like that potentially. But you're not just doing that. You've actually created a community around that concept as well. So maybe talk to us about that.

[Jesse Ray]

Yeah, so during this process we have, we're Hosting these like master classes, right? So people are coming to the house, like 50, 60 people on a random Wednesday are pulling up. And it's amazing, but at the same time it's like, okay, this is not really sustainable. How do we scale this? And so that's where we shifted focus and that's where I got into, you know, starting a podcast and really creating more content. And that's where we really made it made a community happen. And a lot of it was through in person events. And so what we ended up doing was hosting these masterminds where we have two masterminds every single year. And what we do is we have two days where it's specifically for people who are doing seven figures and above. And then two days focus on real estate and the rookies who want to get into house hacking or co living. So those are two of the ways that we've really been able to grow and expand the community. Just through, you know, the network. We have a, we have circle, which is kind of like a platform, like school. And so it's another way that we have people, you know, join the community. So it's, it's been, it's been amazing journey this, you know, remembering that my bed was in the kitchen and the first guy was like, what the heck are you doing?

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah. Did the community. Is that kind of how you helped find the right people to fill your units?

[Jesse Ray]

Not even because a lot of people from out of state. And so what we ended up deciding to do in 2022, it was definitely full. Like every single room was entrepreneur or aspiring entrepreneur. And then what we realized is, okay, this is cool to have these houses that are like more long term for entrepreneurs, but we want to be more of a cohort. So we ended up doing was we took a pause on just the entrepreneur homes and have a mix being business, professional and entrepreneur. And then we have a cohort, which we're probably going to start again in probably Q2 of next year, where it's a cohort of entrepreneurs coming in, living for three months. Because we realized that's kind of more of the time frame that makes the most sense. Just because there's so many variables to people living in the same house together.

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah, that's cool. Was it, was it hard to find the right people and get it filled? Like, because, you know, sometimes it's hard to find tenants in general, but then you're like, we don't want any tenant. We want tenants that qualified, have money and have the right attitude. You know, it's like, yeah, A little more niche was that difficult to find?

[Jesse Ray]

100%. And that's why we ended up having the more pivot. We're like, okay, this scalable. It's not really scalable to have this right now. And that's where I went, you know, more all in on the content. And the podcast was, let's build this community to be as big as we can. So as we, like, our main goal is to be, like, two to three houses in every single major entrepreneurial city. Okay. If that's the goal, you need a bigger audience. And so that's kind of where we shifted focus. We're like, okay, this is a great concept. People love it. But we also need to cash flow these homes. So let's do more business professionals. Let's add another house in Tempe, which is near the university. And then at the same time, build that audience, build that community online. And in the meantime, which it was kind of crazy, but one of my friends connected me with a producer in Hollywood, like, six months into all this, and they're like, this should be a TV show. And I'm like, it really could be. But they were trying to turn it into, like, Jersey Shore for entrepreneurs. I'm like, I don't need that. Like, so I decided to put a pause on that. But now that I'm so connected and, like, networked with so many amazing, you know, business influencers, like a David Meltzer and Bill Allen I was just hanging out with the other day, he has a TV show on flipping. And so now we're like, okay, now let's do this TV show the right way. So that's something we're relooking at probably Q3, Q4 of next year, where this cohort will also be documenting the entire journey.

[Joe Jensen]

Nice. Yeah, yeah. TV is a funny one, because it's like, what agenda do they have? What angle do they want? Like, all reality shows are not reality. Right?

[Jesse Ray]

So true. I didn't know that. I had a peek behind the curtain. I was like, oh, dang, It's a lot more. More, you know, not real. That happens behind the scenes.

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah, it's funny. I'm actually in interviews with a TV show right now, and so I've never really thought about it much, but it's on my mind. And I'm like, like what? Like, do I want to do this? Do I not? Like, how are they gonna. What's the final product gonna look like? There's all these, like, you know, it sounds cool. Oh, be on a TV show. But it's like, is that really what you want to do and the direction you want to go and how are they gonna make you look and, and how's that going to pivot things? So anyway, bring that up. So. So is that the golden. Is that kind of what it is? That what's exciting you right now, man, is like, hey, just to keep building what you just described, having a couple of these growth houses and all the major entrepreneur cities is, is that still the push?

[Jesse Ray]

Absolutely. And for me it was like, that's what changed my life. Because it's, it is hard to, you know, find the right network, find the right connection. Especially when you're coming out of college and you're living with all the people that you previously lived with that probably don't have the same, you know, ambitions as you do. Where do you go next? There is no real built in community. So if there's a plug and play for an aspiring entrepreneur coming out of college or, you know, in their 20s or 30s, that's pretty much our demographic because a lot of people, once they're past about 33, 34, that's when they start, you know, having relationships, kids. So that's kind of our, our target market right now.

[Joe Jensen]

Hey, after the podcast, there's something I need to connect you with that does these founders groups I think you would really love. You guys might be able to, you know, synergize a little bit for sure. But I love it, man, because it's like, because of the Internet, there's so many resources, right? We have these podcasts, we have these online communities, we have like the books and like, oh, you can kind of get into whatever you want to get into, but it's really hard. Like I said, like, but what about like day to day, who you're waking up next to, who you're having breakfast with and dinner with and like the actual in person community is the hardest aspect, you know? You know, because it's like, yeah, you're in Arizona, I'm, I mean, I'm in Utah. Like, that's cool. We seem like we'd want to hang out, but you know, we're not in the same city, so it's just not going to happen, you know, but when you can have that actual physical community, like, I just think that's so cool, you know, and, and so needed and like, you'll feel like people want that, they need that right now for sure.

[Jesse Ray]

Especially coming out of COVID when we're all, you know, not allowed to talk to anyone or be around people so yeah, it's like that in real life connection. And also I tell people like if you're, if you're, if we're all matches and you're dim right now, maybe you lost a couple deals, you're going through some struggles, but there's someone else in the house walks down the stairs that just close a deal, you get close enough to their lit match, you're going to get lit as well. And that's the power and that's the beauty of being surrounded by like minded people.

[Joe Jensen]

100%. That's cool. So like how many cities you have the growth houses going in now and, and do you have like a goal? Like I want this many by this date or, or what. What's kind of, what's the trajectory?

[Jesse Ray]

Yeah, so right now we have three in Arizona, so we have one in Tempe and two in Phoenix. And then we're looking to probably go to Dallas and Austin since that's a large part of our network in our community right now. And that'll probably be, I would say end of next year. And that will be also tied in with the TV show. So we have the TV show going and that's going to obviously expand our reach and the community. And then really it's probably two to three years from branching out to more cities. We want to really make sure the model is intact. I've seen a lot of my franchise scale too quickly and especially if it's super niche, then we just kind of want to take our time and make sure we're doing the right way.

[Joe Jensen]

Cool. I love that man. I love that. As far as real estate goes, do you have other avenues you're pursuing or is it just kind of just focus on the co living thing, you know, synergizing that with your growth entrepreneur group and, and that's the whole focus.

[Jesse Ray]

Yeah. What's cool about it is that now that the network is so huge, other people are like within our masterminds, our community are looking to do other deals deals. So that's kind of where I come in and as the connector. So hey, you want to, you know, raise money for, you know, multi family cool. Come do a deal showcase that we have at one of our masterminds. Our next one is end of October. And so we do deal showcases where people in our communities can kind of pitch what they're working on. And so that's where I get my most of my joy right now. Like I realized do one thing in my one thing can be real estate. I can keep expanding these physical Houses. But my one thing right now is really serving the community. How can I connect these people? How do I get them jump started with their careers in investing? So that's. That's the main focus right now is how do I help these other people within our community kind of achieve and accomplish their goals with real estate. So we had someone else that's looking to do, you know, commercial all kinds of different, you know, plays with real estate. Which is. That's why I like it. Because I feel like so many people, especially early on, they only know residential, single family, go rent a house for 300 bucks a month cash flow, and let's look at other ways. Like, let's look creatively.

[Joe Jensen]

Dude, I love it. And, like, it just speaks to the whole concept of, like, the freedom of real estate. Like, and that. That's really, like, I think, you know, rich dad, poor dad, for sure. But the heart of it for a lot of us that got into are like, whoa. So if I can get money from my real estate, then that frees up all my time. And that's really cool. But then the thing is, like, cool, now what do you want to do with your time? You know what I mean? Now you have the freedom to not be knocking doors or, you know, chasing down this next Xerox sale where it's like, how much ban width does that job take? It's like, if all your bands with open, what do you want to do with it? And it's cool. It's not about real estate. It's about freeing your time and your energy and your mind to go pursue the things that you enjoy. And. And that's what you're doing with it. You know, it's like, okay, yeah, you love real estate. It sets you free. And now you get to go chase down these communities and build that and impact people. And whether it's real estate related or not, it's like, like, who cares? That was just the foundation. That was the. The. That's what made it possible.

[Jesse Ray]

A hundred percent. I think that's something that's a little misconception. This is what I thought. I was like, okay, once I hit, you know, 10k a month through passive income through real estate, I'm gonna go just retire and chill on a beach. Well, let's say I did that, and I lasted about three weeks, and I was like, this is boring. Like, I want to get back out there. Like, I want to provide value. I want to do stuff still. And so I think that was kind of like something that was a misconception I learned like, no, financial freedom is actually when life starts. Like you said, now you get to choose who you want to work with, who do you want to partner with, what kind of business do you want to run? And I think that's the beauty of, you know, real estate. It's a, it's a easier vehicle to be able to accomplish that. Especially you know, starting out house hacking. Get creative with co living, can make a couple thousand dollars a month through these homes. And I was, I'm wondering, Joe, did you have a similar thing where you're like, okay, once I hit something X amount of passive income, then I'm just gonna chill?

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah, I'm a little different though, man. Like I, I really like my chilling. So. Because most people I talk to are like that, they're just like, they're chomping at the bit to go to the next thing and, and I'm a little different. I've got two kids and so that fills up a lot of my time. But yeah, I'm kind of just still enjoying the, the not having to do much of what I don't want to do.

[Jesse Ray]

But gives you options. That's really what it does.

[Joe Jensen]

It gives you options. And it's cool because it's like. And that's where I'm at right now. But next. And maybe I'll be like wanting to build something. Sometimes I get the itch a little bit, you know. But yeah, I've got a five and a seven year old and that, that actually takes up a lot of my focus half the time. Then the other half I'm, I'm playing and traveling and, and so there's a, there's a season for everybody. It's whatever you want. That's what I love about is it's so customizable to where you're at, you know what I mean? And you're obviously still in that like hungry face, you know what I mean? And it's like, yeah, chase that down. And now you have the ability and the time to do it. People don't realize how much of their life is committed to a job that they really wouldn't be doing if they had the choice. It's funny, you ever get this, people will talk about real estate and they're like, oh, I don't wanna, I don't wanna like deal with like tenants or like leaky toilets or take these phone calls. Seems like such a headache. And I'm like, dude, you're going to a job 9 to 5 dealing with headaches like 40 hours a week. Like, I can take a call every month. Like. Like. Like, the headache is not as big of a headache as I'm like, just. The equity you could build off your home in the next two to three years would be more than you made in your job. And you're. You don't want to have to deal with, like, finding a renter. Like. Like, are you. People just don't see because it is a headache. I mean, real estate's not sexy as. As it seems on the outside. You know what I mean? You're dealing with stupid stuff. You know what I mean? But it's like, I don't know. To me, compared to, like, how much effort and headache a job is, it's like, I think. I think it's worth it, guys, but.

[Jesse Ray]

Oh, 100. Yeah. I remember my first, like, kind of big thing that went wrong with one of my houses. I'm in Puerto Rico for, like, a whole month, right, with. With Derek skydiving and just having fun. And I get a text, and they're like, hey, the ceiling collapsed. I'm like, oh, nice.

[Joe Jensen]

Thing just happened to me. I was on a houseboat in Lake Powell, like, right on the Arizona Utah border, and. And literally, like, hey, my roof just collapsed in from a leak upstairs. I'm, like, sitting on this houseboat, like. Like, I don't want to worry about this right now, but. But the thing is, like. But did you go fix the roof?

[Jesse Ray]

No, not at all.

[Joe Jensen]

You know what I mean? Like, you're like, okay, call a repair man. You facilitate a few things, send a few emails and texts, and then you go back to skydiving.

[Jesse Ray]

Yeah, that's actually such a good point, because people are just getting started. They're like, like you said, I want to flick toilets. I don't want to fix all this. Like, all right, we'll get a system in place. And also, you shouldn't be the one fixing it anyways. Like, that's why we delegate it higher out. Remember I saw that video? I was like, are you guys all good? Perfect. All right, well, we'll get it taken care of. And that was that. Like, it does. It's not as crazy as, you know, people think. And I wouldn't. People get scared because they think of the worst case that probably is one of the worst cases. And guess what? It's fixable. And also, you know, I'm gonna highlight co living again. If that was a house that only made 200 bucks a month. Cash flow. Okay. Yeah, probably two years of your cash flow is wiped out. But for me it was only like two months of my cash flow. So I was like, it's all good.

[Joe Jensen]

So let's talk about co living a little bit and then we'll wrap into some of our rollout questions. But it's more involved than just putting a tenant in there and they're in there for three years and you never talk to them. Right. Like you've got multiple contracts, you do mass releases or each person you're working with individually. Like let's talk about the headache of it and why it's worth the upside.

[Jesse Ray]

Yeah. Where do you want to start? The headache or the upside?

[Joe Jensen]

Let's start with the headache. We'll end on the good stuff.

[Jesse Ray]

Okay, sounds good.

[Joe Jensen]

What's the extra lifting that's involved with co living?

[Jesse Ray]

The extra lifting is you're dealing with multiple personalities, multiple people in one house. Right. And so yes, it is higher turnover, but if you vet well then that's where you know, you're able to not have to deal with constant turnover. Let's just say that. But yes, we do individual leases per room and this is kind of when we focus back and switched it back to like a business professional. So yeah, there is kind of a theme to the house house where most of the people are like minded. They end up, you know, we don't say this is the age that you have to be, but they kind of end up being similar ages then becoming friends and hanging out together, which is really cool. But yeah, kind of some of the headaches would be, I'm trying to think what would be like the worst thing that's happened.

[Joe Jensen]

So you got to go furnish all of these.

[Jesse Ray]

Yeah.

[Joe Jensen]

And then you, you got to find leases. Are you doing like year long, six month, month to month? Are these short term? Like how, how long are these leases is.

[Jesse Ray]

So we always have contingency plans. So we've never had a, a vacancy in like three plus years. And that's because we start at six to 12 months per room. And we market on Facebook, Craigslist. Really just all the platforms. And then also referrals. Referrals have been huge. So if you have good people that you know, know other people. Perfect. They refer people and then we give them pretty good bonus, like a referral bonus. And then as far as furnishing. Yeah, we furnish the rooms. We do bedrooms or beds and then nightstand lamp. So nothing crazy. And the reason we do that because some co living people say, hey Jesse, why do you furnish rooms? It's unnecessary. Well, I want to Have a backup plan. I don't ever want a vacancy. So worst case scenario, we throw a room on Airbnb for 30 days. That's a way to basically never have a vacancy. And most of those people are all, you know, working professionals coming out here to start a new job before they go find an apartment. So they've all been great.

[Joe Jensen]

So do you manage these or do you have like house managers that, you know, take care of the Airbnb turns and the tenant turns and all that?

[Jesse Ray]

Yeah. What does my team look like? I have an assistant that kind of deals with all of the back and forth email stuff and then more admin. And then we have house cleaners. And this is a little hack. Yes, it will cost you a little bit more money, but have cleaners that come weekly because that's the number one thing for these co living homes. I hear people say, oh my gosh, this house is dirty. We've never had that because every single week we have professional people come and clean the common areas. So that's one. And then we also have like a on call handyman which actually don't even have him like, you know, on salary or anything like that for these three homes. He's just, you know, available. And then we have a couple backup. So that's really key to have that person that you count on. And then recently we have a house manager, shout out Amy. I think she's probably, you know, around here somewhere because actually built a studio in one of the houses. So we have someone that can really help facilitate some of the things that that, you know, happened. Like the other day we had AC unit go out. Cool. While I'm in Rio, Brazil, she's helping handle that, you know, situation.

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah. And that's the thing. I love the console, like say a lot of my properties are out of state, so I don't live in the same state as most my properties. And I like that because it forces me to not do it myself. Like I can't run down and show the place. I can't run down and fix the ac. Like I can't do it because I'm not there. Which means you have to find ways to delegate these, which gives you your freedom. Because then I can do it from Lake Powell, I can do it from a houseboat, I can do it from Rio, I can do it from anywhere I'm at. And that's what keeps your freedom alive is delegation and finding people to do the things and they're probably going to do a better job than I would anyway. Like maybe it cost me a little more, but it keeps my freedom and it actually probably can be a better experience for the tenant, 100%.

[Jesse Ray]

I still don't know how to hang a picture. Like I'm probably the least handy person that anyone's ever met.

[Joe Jensen]

Right. And you don't need to be, which is awesome.

[Jesse Ray]

Exactly. I love that concept though. Like if you're out of state, like you don't. It almost forces you to learn how to delegate and learn how to build systems in a team.

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah. It's funny because it wasn't until like I was buying out of state that I realized I don't have to do that for my in state ones either. I was like, wait, I'm not. I kind of just set a rule. I'm like, I'm not going to go over there. I'm not going to meet them in person, even though I could. It'd be easier, but it's just like I had to like trade a standard for myself so that I wouldn't get caught into the, the that the rhythm of that stuff. Jesse, if people want to follow what you're doing, if they want to like keep an eye on you for when the show comes out, if they want to copy what you're doing, be a part of the entrepreneur stuff, what's the best way for people to follow you and be involved?

[Jesse Ray]

Yeah, Instagram. I'm probably the most active. So at the Jesse Ray T H E J E S S E R A Y and then also pretty active on LinkedIn as well, trying to help these, you know, corporate people get out of their jobs.

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah, I love that, man. All right, so check it out. The Jesse Ray on Instagram. Well, cool. Before I roll into our final four questions, do you have any other thoughts or anything you want to share with the listeners?

[Jesse Ray]

Well, you know, what I do is pretty niche with the whole entrepreneur houses and that's why I like to also talk about just co living in general. People always say, Jesse, like how do I make this more, you know, tangible and is this possible still to make, you know, a couple thousand bucks a month cash flow right now? So I always like to kind of do a quick breakdown with, you know, today's market example.

[Joe Jensen]

I would love.

[Jesse Ray]

Wanna do that?

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah, for sure. Cool.

[Jesse Ray]

All right guys, you ready? So today's market example, you can do what I'm doing. You can make at least a thousand to 2,500 bucks a month. Month cash flow. Here is an example. If you are house hacking, you're able to get down with, you know, 3 to 5%. So we're looking in Tempe or South Mountain, Phoenix. These are available right now. So down payment you're looking at 25 grand and that's at 5% down if you live in it for one year as a house hack. And then we're looking at doing like a 30k remodel. So all in, you're $55,000. And either this is all your money or you can, you know, partner find private money lenders. And this actually I did this a couple months ago. So the rates were like 7.75, which I think they probably dropped since then. I don't know. I've been out of the country, so I don't even know what the rates are.

[Joe Jensen]

No, they have. You're probably closer to just seven now.

[Jesse Ray]

Oh, there you go. So these numbers are very conservative. So looking at like a 30 year fix, your PITI would be about 40, 54,050 bucks. Conservatively. Doing the co living expenses, which what we do is have the housekeepers come weekly. We also provide some like toiletries so people don't have to worry about who bought the dish soap. Like all that's included.

[Joe Jensen]

I'd love that. Like just, you just fix all the headache issues. So they're not all. Exactly. It just like diffuses. Like I have some friends that. And you know, they're like, oh, this person didn't clean the kitchen again. They're like all pissed about stupid stuff. It's like I was just thinking, dude, that's what they need to do. They just need to have a make come in once a week. Like the common space is just, it just diffuse. And these are like friends that get along, but if you weren't friends. I just love that it's such a simple thing that will diffuse so many little things that could end up being big headaches down the road for sure.

[Jesse Ray]

And then people stay longer and then people refer people. So do do upfront vetting as best as possible, make sure they're optimistic. One of the questions I asked in our question questionnaire is glass half empty or glass half full. And the people who like, like are optimistic and positive love that they're like, oh, you know, glass half full. And then those are the people we try to attract. And this is not even for the entrepreneur houses. This is just for all of our houses.

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ray]

So utilities are also included. Like just make it as easy as possible. You come in, you have a bed, you already have everything ready to go. So we're looking at 5250. Those are the monthly expenses. And I mentioned the 30k remodel. What does that include? Include? So 30k remodel includes adding at least a bedroom and then probably a bath and turning like a carport into a studio or guest house. That's been one of my hacks. I don't buy any properties unless I know I can put or it has already an adu. So a guest house, a casita, a mother in law suite. Because what I do is actually put those on Airbnb. So the Airbnb usually goes for 1500 to 3500amonth.

[Joe Jensen]

Month.

[Jesse Ray]

You're looking at some like, big chunk of the mortgage payment. Yeah, actually my two casitas pay for my mortgage on two of my houses, so always look for that. So you're looking at 5,250 for monthly expenses. This now turns into a 6, 3 plus a casita. So you're looking at 6,000 bucks. Thousand dollars a room. Because all this is also included, plus 1200, which is very conservative for the casita. $7200 of revenue you bringing in. And I do more than this on houses. So this is very doable. Minus the 5250, you live in one of the rooms. For house hacking, you're making a thousand bucks cash flow. Plus you're living for free. Year two, you move out, you're making 2,000 bucks net cash flow with one property.

[Joe Jensen]

Guys, like, listen to that. If you're like, literally. And here's what's cool. It's like, well, that's cool for Jesse. Like, that's cool for somebody else. Like, that's no dude. If you're a single dude who has any, like, drive at all, move to Tempe and do it like.

[Jesse Ray]

Like, why not?

[Joe Jensen]

You did, like, that's like, you literally read the book, got the Xerox job, you moved to Arizona. Like, you just did it. Like, if someone's listening, oh, that'd be cool for him. But that doesn't work for me. I mean, that was my thing. When I first got into sales, I remember seeing other people make money, other people do real estate. I was like, oh, that's cool for them. But like, me, nah. Like, it just didn't seem realistic. But it's like, guys, it's real. The numbers are real, the potential is real. Like, be willing to just do it.

[Jesse Ray]

You know what I mean?

[Joe Jensen]

And this is the perfect fit for that. Like I say that young entrepreneur kid, like, you're not. I don't have a lot of Ties yet. It's like, just go give it a shot, dude. And if it works in your city, don't move. But if it doesn't, just go do it somewhere else, you know?

[Jesse Ray]

Exactly. No excuses, guys. I just broke down the numbers. You can do it too.

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah, and it's going to be less work than, than. And especially once you compound that you do that a couple years in a row. Like, you just set yourself up with a foundation that like most people would kill to have. You know what I mean? Or they'll sit there and dream about it for the next five to 15 years at the nine to five being like, oh, I should have just done that for a few years in a row.

[Jesse Ray]

Don't be like me. And take five years of analysis, paralysis, AKA fear. Go get started. Another thing I'll say is join a community with other people, whether it's online or hire a coach or mentor. Like, those are my, I hate to say shortcuts, but those consolidated my time like I would have had. It's either mistakes or mentors. And so for me, I was just listening to podcasts like this like crazy. I was attaching myself to people who already done it. And that's what also gave me the belief that, okay, literally, I'm just following a blueprint.

[Joe Jensen]

I love that, man. I love it. All right, we're gonna roll into our final four and we'll let you go. First question, if you did have to start your estate journey over, knowing what you know now, what would be your first, second or third move?

[Jesse Ray]

Bro, I, I think I really nailed it, which was house hacking. So if I started over, I would 100 say, go find a house that has a couple extra bedrooms, you're living for free and rent to people who are motivating you. Like ambitious, like minded. And then from there kind of just scale like I did, because that will then give you the initial freedom to then can accomplish and do whatever you want after that.

[Joe Jensen]

I love it, man. And I love the, the niche that you've added to it is like who let. Who you let live there, you know, and that's your whole community. I know we've, we've hit on that a bit, but I just, I just love that aspects. I've heard that you know the house hacking concept a lot. Yeah, rent to some roommates, whatever. But it's like be picky and make it this cool environment because that's what's going to push you for the next thing. And the next thing and the next thing is the people you're around. So I don't think you can emphasize that enough. All right, question number two. Book or podcast recommendation. Obviously, you've got the Growth House, we've got the school we mentioned, Rich Dad, Poor Dab. So besides those, what's a good book or podcast recommendation?

[Jesse Ray]

I got both by one person, man. One of my best friends, Brian Lubin. From Passive to Passionate. And then the Action Academy podcasts. Those are, I listen to daily. And one of the best books is kind of like, I know this is big to say this, but it's like the. The new version of the Rich Dad, Poor dad, where it breaks down. What do you do when you start and then after, what do you do once you kind of hit that financial freedom? So shout out my guy, Brian Lubin.

[Joe Jensen]

And the book is the Passive to Passion.

[Jesse Ray]

Yep. Passive to Passionate.

[Joe Jensen]

Passionate. Passive to Passion. That's the name of the book. And what's the name of his podcast?

[Jesse Ray]

Action Academy Podcast. And I just spent a week with his community, which was over a hundred investors in Tulum, and This guy spent $400,000 for four days renting out 10 mansions, nine yachts, and just, like, incredible experience.

[Joe Jensen]

That sounds sick, man. I love it. All right. Yeah, I recommend everybody checking those out. Okay, question number three. What is one of the most expensive or interesting mistakes you've made in real estate investing?

[Jesse Ray]

You know, this is kind of a combination of real estate and also our community. So there's a. There's a phrase out there that says, if you build it, they will come. So we're creating this on this. This community, right? And so for me, I'm like, wouldn't it be cool to spend 21 days in a mansion? Because 21 days. Change your habits will change your life. I didn't ask anyone if they wanted this. And also, I did this about 20 days before we launched it. And it was going live, so zero marketing. So what I ended up doing was like, okay, everyone's going to want to do this. Let me just put 40 to $50,000 on a credit card, book an Airbnb that costs, you know, $30,000, get all this merch, hire all the. Or fly out all these people to come speak. And I realized, well, I probably should have asked my community if they even wanted this. So I think that's something that I've really learned was, okay, ask your community. Ask people what they want before you just go build something and expect people to show up and Pay, you know, 5,000, $2,500, whatever your product or price is. So that's that's one of my biggest mistakes, for sure. Having that, you know, 40K just rolling on a card.

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah. And it's like, it could have been awesome if you'd done a few things differently. Like I said, vetted out, built it up for a few six months a year. So it's like, the idea could be right, but maybe just vet it out a little bit more.

[Jesse Ray]

Yeah. Execution's got to be there too.

[Joe Jensen]

For sure. We don't need a fire festival, right?

[Jesse Ray]

Exactly. It's so funny because when I put it out there, they're like, man, this seems like a fire festival. Like, no, it's not. I'm stuck with 50k. Ended up being awesome. It ended up becoming what now is our immersion masterminds, which happen twice a year. It's just not 21 days. It's, you know, three days and super cool and impactful.

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah. I love it, man. All right, last question, then. What's one word or short phrase to encapsulate what you love about real estate investing?

[Jesse Ray]

Well, one word or one phrase, because what I do is a lot about community. In the houses that we have are all about community. It's really our motto. You become who you surround yourself with. And I think that's kind of like the mic drop on this whole episode, what we're talking about.

[Joe Jensen]

Yeah, it really has been the thread, man. It's interesting because it's like, people talk about that a lot, but you've really encapsulated that in a way, from. From your original house hack to the whole business you've built. And it's. It's really cool. I think it's something, you know, like, say we. I don't think we can hit enough, so I appreciate you mentioning it again. Well, dude, this has been awesome. Thanks so much for your time and your energy and your excitement. Like, I want to be more a part of your community already. I'm just like, yeah, like, we. That energy's. It's. It's contagious, dude. So thank you for sharing.

[Jesse Ray]

I appreciate it. I want to ask you before we get off, so you have to give me an answer right now. Joe, are you down to be on the Growth House podcast? Podcast?

[Joe Jensen]

I would love to, man. Anytime you say jump, I say how high? Let's go.

[Jesse Ray]

I love it.

[Joe Jensen]

Awesome. Mel, this is Joe Jensen signing off for the Real Estate Investing School podcast, reminding you, no excuses.