← Rich Habits Podcast
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- [00:01]
Announcer
You're about to make a trade which.
- [00:02]
Austin Hankwitz
You do you listen to. Is it get optioning those options or let's do a little research?
- [00:11]
Announcer
Learn more@finra.org TradeSmart this episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast Smart move Being financially savvy Smart move Another smart move having State Farm help you create a competitive price when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state.
- [00:45]
Austin Hankwitz
Hey everyone, and welcome back to the Rich Habits podcast, a top 10 business podcast on Spotify. Brought to you by Public.com by the end of this episode, you'll know exactly how to navigate Black Friday and Cyber Monday without getting manipulated into buying stuff that you simply don't need. My name is Austin Hankwitz. I'm joined by my co host, Robert Croak. Robert is a seasoned entrepreneur with lifetime revenues of over 300 million. I'm a multimillionaire in my late 20s with a background in finance and economics. As the show name might suggest, every episode we talk about rich habits as they relate to business, finance and mindset. So Robert, what are we going to be talking about in today's episode?
- [01:25]
Robert Croak
In this episode of the Rich Habits podcast, we're talking about Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It's Thanksgiving week and I'm excited for the turkey for but like you all, I'm more excited to find the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. So we're going to be pulling back the curtain on why businesses push these specific shopping days so aggressively. Which deals are actually worth your time, and which deals are designed to separate you from your money and not in a good way? Black Friday isn't about helping you save money. It's about businesses hitting their quarterly numbers, clearing out old inventory, and using psychological tricks and to get you to spend money you weren't even planning to spend.
- [02:03]
Austin Hankwitz
So by the end of this episode, you will know the business strategy taking place behind the scenes on these shopping days, what's actually worth buying, what you should avoid, and some practical tools that you can use to make sure that you get real deals and not bogus ones.
- [02:19]
Robert Croak
The average American spends over $1,000 during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and most of that spending is on stuff they didn't even and weren't even planning to buy until they saw that 70% off and those giant red Letters.
- [02:33]
Austin Hankwitz
Now, there are legitimate deals during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. And if you're strategic, if you know what you're looking for, and if you don't fall for those tricks, you can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars. But the key is being intentional and not impulsive. Robert let's start this episode by sort of pulling back the curtain as to why businesses go so crazy during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, offering all of these different deals. Let's talk about the business stre strategy here.
- [03:02]
Robert Croak
Yeah, it's definitely wild right now in our timelines. You can't get away from it. Everywhere you look, there's a deal, deal, deal. All the crazy clickbait stuff happening. And the first real reason is quarterly earnings. For most retailers, Q4, which is October, November and December is the most important quarter of the year for their bottom line. This is when they make 30 to 40% of their annual revenue. So Black Friday kicks off the holiday shopping season. And if businesses can get that early momentum, they're more than likely to hit their business numbers and keep their shareholders happy throughout this period.
- [03:39]
Austin Hankwitz
Now, the second reason why businesses go so hard during Black Friday is because of their inventory cycles, right? So retailers need to clear out that old inventory to make room for new products. For example, you got the TV manufacturers who want to get rid of last year's models before those new ones come out in January. Black Friday is a perfect excuse to liquidate the that inventory at a discount.
- [04:00]
Robert Croak
And the third point here, it's all about psychology of scarcity and urgency. Businesses know if they can create a sense of urgency, people will make those impulse purchases. That's why you see all over everywhere limited time. Only 3 left in stock sale ends tonight. Plastered everywhere. And that is to get you to be nervous and scared and think that it's the end of the world if you don't click buy right now. So be careful out there.
- [04:26]
Austin Hankwitz
So now that we understand the strategy behind Black Friday and Cyber Monday, let's talk about real tactical advice on how to make sure that you're getting a good deal this weekend. So the first tool that you need to have in your tool belt is called Camel, Camel, Camel. Literally Camel, Camel, Camel. Just go type it in on Google. It's for Amazon. It's a free website that tracks Amazon price history. You paste in the Amazon product link and it shows you the price history over the last few months. Now, this is important because, because if something says Black Friday Cyber Monday, it's on sale for $50. But it was also $50 just two weeks ago. You now know that the sale is bogus and you're not really saving any money. It takes 30 seconds to go look up products on their websites. Definitely go do this to make sure that you're avoiding these bogus sales that are a little bit more rampant than you might think.
- [05:17]
Robert Croak
And our second tool today is Honey. This is a browser extension that automatically applies coupon codes at checkout. It works on thousands of websites. You can add something to your cart, go to checkout, click the Honey button, and it tries every coupon code in its database to get you the best deal. And the cool part about Honey is it's completely free. This one should be in your back pocket regardless of Black Friday or Cyber Monday, especially if you do as much online shopping as I do.
- [05:45]
Austin Hankwitz
Another tool slash resource to use this weekend when you're doing your Black Friday Cyber Monday shopping is Rakuten, which gives you cash back when you shop at specific retailers. So during Black Friday, that cash back percentage usually goes up. So you might be getting 10% cash back at Nike or 8% cash back at Best Buy or maybe 5% cash back at Amazon by going through Rakuten. It's literally free money. I've used Rakuten. It's a pretty cool website.
- [06:12]
Robert Croak
And the next one for me is Slick Deals. This is a website where people post deals that they find the community votes on them so the best deals rise to the top. So if you're looking for something specific, set up a deal alert with slick deals and they will notify you when it's on sale. We just signed up ourselves and it's actually very real and useful. I love Slick deals myself.
- [06:34]
Austin Hankwitz
Yeah, we just made a count on Slick Deals. We poked around a little bit, found some AirPods that were on sale for like 40% off. Some like Apple Watch stuff that was on sale depending on like the Costco checkout stuff. Like it's legit Slick Deals. I had my doubts in the beginning, but definitely go check that one out. Something else to remember here, kind of like a little pro tip, Robert, is most of these major retailers have price match policies, right? So if you buy something and the price drops with within seven to 30 days, they're going to refund you the difference. Think Best Buy, Target, Amazon, right? They're all doing this. So if you buy something on Black Friday and the price drops maybe for a Cyber Monday or a Tuesday deal, who knows, you can get that difference refunded to you, allowing you to ensure that there's no money left on the.
- [07:14]
Robert Croak
Table and Black Friday and Cyber Monday aside, something everyone needs to know and if you already know it, great, good for you. But over 40% of the websites in the United States have an abandoned cart sequence. So when you're going to go buy something, especially a high ticket item, and you're in no rush to get it, go in and add it to your cart and abandon the cart. Don't buy it right away and usually within 24 to 48 hours it will start you in their email sequence and you'll get a warm up email saying, hey, we noticed you stopped by, you didn't buy. Buy the second or third email. You'll get a 10 to 30% off coupon that you can apply to that same purchase. So be patient, use the abandoned cart sequence and save more money regardless of what time of year it is.
- [07:57]
Austin Hankwitz
I love that breakdown, Robert. I've not done that myself, but it's something I feel like I should have done when I bought my suitcases recently. Those things are like 600 bucks.
- [08:04]
Robert Croak
Yes.
- [08:06]
Austin Hankwitz
All right, now let's talk about what you should be buying on Black Friday. Right? Things that are actually getting discounted in real quantifiable amounts and other things that you maybe should avoid because you might get a better deal later or it's just not really that popular of an item on Black Friday. So let's start with what you should be buying first. First up, electronics. Think TVs, laptops, tablets. Electronics are almost always cheaper during Black Friday. TVs especially, they're up to 40 or even 50% off. Appliances, washers, dryers, refrigerators. Right. These retailers are trying to clear out their older models and these discounts could be significant. Maybe 20 or 30% off. Also, don't forget about those small kitchen appliances like your air fryers, your coffee makers and your stand mixers. These are the classic Black Friday deals. Small kitchen appliances get heavily discounted because they're pretty popular gift items. So if you've been wanting that Instapod or maybe a new air fryer or you want a stand mixer like I do, maybe this is a good time to buy one. Up next are wireless headphones, Bluetooth speakers and other audio equipment there are consistently discounted during Black Friday. I actually bought a new Bose speaker. It was normally like 300 bucks. I bought it for like 180 or 200. Black Friday a couple years ago. Highly recommend doing something like that if you need a new speaker setup. And finally, think board games, video games and Lego sets. All of these will see real discounts during Black Friday, now that we know what to buy. Robert, walk us through what not to buy.
- [09:34]
Robert Croak
Yeah, first, I want to click back on that for anyone listening right now that's building a house, renovating a house that's thinking about buying a house moving forward. Maybe it's for an investment property. This is a really good time if you know what you're buying, to get ahead of it by saving tons of money on these appliances and some of the things that are really good deals with during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. So think ahead on those because that's a way to save maybe thousands of dollars putting things in your house or property you're buying that you're going to have in a couple months and getting ahead of it. So here are the things not to buy. And this is going to sound a little counterintuitive, but winter close. I know everyone thinks it's a good time to buy those, but they're much better deals if you don't need them right away in January or February, not November. So remember that because that's when the retailers give much better deals at the beginning of the year, not at the end of the year. Number two, furniture. It's always better in January, February and March around President's Day to buy that new couch, buy that new whatever you're buying, that's that big ticket item because it's just not going to be a real deal. One of those bogus deals if you buy it during Black Friday or Cyber Monday. And number three, of course, this is a big one, and that is gym memberships and gym equipment. Always January for this because that's when everyone is out there hawking to get new customers and get getting rid of old inventory because of all of those New Year's resolutions. Because everyone says they're going to do it this year and get in shape. So they go ahead and buy all those weights and buy the stair climbers and then a couple months later, they turn them into clothing racks. So just keep that in mind. Those are my three takeaways that aren't real deals. And I wouldn't worry about during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
- [11:15]
Austin Hankwitz
So if you are a Black Friday, Cyber Monday shopper, be sure to focus on those electronics, the big appliances, the small kitchen appliances, the audio equipment, those board games, video games, things like that. And be sure to avoid winter clothing, furniture, and gym memberships, not because they're bad per se, but because you can likely get a much better deal at a different time in the year. All right, Roberts, let's wrap up the episode With a step by step playbook on how to win on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, here is the game plan. Take out the notepad. It's time to lock in. Step one. I need you to make a list. Before Black Friday even starts, you need to write down exactly what you need or have been planning to buy. Don't just go in blind. Don't just go browse. You have to know what you want so you don't overspend. Right? Step two is research those regular prices using Camel, Camel, Camel or even Google Shopping to see if you're actually getting a deal or if it's bogus. Step three is to set a budget and actually stick to it. Decide how much you're willing to spend. Don't go over that number. So if you want to spend 500, actually spend 500, don't spend seven because you saw a cool deal, right? Step four is to use the tools we've talked about. Honey, Rakuten, slick deals, Camel, Camel, Camel, stuff like that. They're free and they always work. And Robert, the most important step, step number five. What is it?
- [12:38]
Robert Croak
Don't buy something just because it's on sale. This is the most important rule. Have a plan, stick to the plan. A deal is only a deal if you are already planning to buy it. If you weren't planning to buy it, it's not a sale. It's just you spending money that you didn't budget for. So our closing thoughts today is look at Black Friday and Cyber Monday and they can be great opportunities to save money on things you're already planning to buy. But they can also be traps that can get you to spend money on stuff you shouldn't spend money on and that you don't need. The key is to be intentional and having a budget. Don't get swept up in the hype and the fake urgency of the 70% off signs you're going to see everywhere. Because we don't want you to suffer the holiday blues in January, February, March, where you're playing catch up on all the credit card debt because you went wild on these sales and you couldn't control yourself.
- [13:31]
Austin Hankwitz
Yeah, please don't do that. That's a terrible idea. No one go into credit card debt. Okay, let's just not do that for Black Friday. But if you are smart, use the right tools, you have a budget, you have a list, you stick to those things, you certainly can come out ahead. You can get some real deals on those electronics, those appliances and other big purchases. You got to play the game better than they expect you to play it. And that's why you listen to the Rich Habits podcast, because we're always here to help you take back control of your money to our listeners. Do us a favor. If you enjoyed this episode, if you learned something from this episode, please consider sharing it with a friend. We all know someone who's that Black Friday or Cyber Monday junkie and they're always trying to find those great deals. Send this episode to them. I think they're going to love it. And do not forget, because I remember growing up, my dad, when he was around would always say this, how disheartening it was that on Thanksgiving, right, All these people, they would leave their Thanksgiving dinner table early to go camp outside of a Best Buy to get a tv. Don't forget, Thanksgiving is the time to be with your friends and family and be thankful for the life you have and all the incredible things that you've been blessed with in this world. So despite the deals and the fun stuff that takes place in the chaos right of that late Thursday night, early Friday morning, don't forget to enjoy your Thanksgiving this week as well.
- [14:45]
Robert Croak
That's right. Thanksgiving is all about family. It's settling down. Put the phone down a little bit, unless you're watching the Rich Habits podcast and just really relax and enjoy yourself. With that being said, Austin, did you see this? The Wall Street Journal just reported the highest price ever paid for a work of modern art at auction. It just happened the other day. So guess the number. Fifty million? A hundred million? Not either. $236 million for one piece of work. And it matters for you more than you would think. Our partner, Masterworks makes investing in multi million dollar artwork practical by offering shares and iconic works like Banksy, Basquiat, Picasso and others. And we've been investing with them since 2021. While stocks have been all over the place lately, the art market has been unusually quiet. That's the thing about art, it often moves independently. Masterworks data shows contemporary and post war art has outpaced the S&P 500 by 15% with near zero correlation from 1995 to 2025 to the stock market.
- [15:53]
Austin Hankwitz
And today, nearly every major asset class is sitting at or maybe near those all time highs. Many are starting to move in the same direction. Right. So meanwhile, the art market may be emerging from this three year downturn, which is the longest bear market that's taken place since the 1990s. The record sale hopefully will signify a nice shift in the art market. And historically, art has actually had some compelling rebounds so after the dot com crash, the art market grew by 24% annually for a decade and after 2008 it grew 11 annually for 12 years per masterworks metrics here. So with tons of major firms now warning about a near term stock market pullback, which very well could impact most major asset classes and pull them down with it, art remains one of those few diversifiers in a portfolio that could be unaffected and still have equity like or better potential returns.
- [16:51]
Robert Croak
Usually diversifying can mean sacrificing higher returns like with bonds or CDs, but not necessarily with art. So it's not hard to understand why wealthy collectors use it as one bucket for their capital. Masterworks investors have already invested over $1.25 billion across 500 plus pieces of artwork and they've sold 25 so far, including two this month with annualized net returns of 14.6%, 17.6% and 17.8% on works held over a year, excluding unsold works. So skip the wait list at Masterworks Art Front slash Rich Habits Link in the show notes below.
- [17:33]
Austin Hankwitz
And as with any investment, past performance is not indicative of future returns. Investing involves risk. Sell returns are not inclusive of unsold works. Important Regulation A disclosures can be found at masterworks.com forward/cd as you guys know, Robert and I both like Masterworks. We've used it for a while now. It's a great way to diversify your portfolio without having to worry too much about the crazy ups and downs that come with investing in the stock market and some of these high growth octane sectors that we're in. So seriously, go check out Masterworks. We really think you guys are going to enjoy using the platform. They are incredible. All right Robert, let's now jump to our Q and A section of this episode. As you guys know, every episode we like to answer some questions from our audience. If you have a question to ask us, DM us on Instagram at Rich Habits Podcast or email us at rich habits podcast gmail.com all right, our first question comes from Jessica. Jessica says thank you for all the valuable information you share. I'd love your take on a situation my husband and I are currently working through. We're in our late 30s and we're building a house in a subdivided lot with a $500,000 budget. Our annual income is 220,000. Right now we have 200,000 in a high yield cash account on public dot, 125,000 in a brokerage account, 15,000 in a checking account, 320,000 in retirement accounts. And we have a construction loan with $70,000 available and the ability to draw another 425,000 at about a 6% interest rate. Plus we have a $275,000 HELOC on our current home. So my question is, when we finish the construction of this new home and we sell our current home, we expect about $600,000 of proceeds after selling costs, leaving us around $325,000 after we pay off the HELOC. So should we use that money to one, pay down the construction loan, two, invest it in the markets or three, replenish our high yield Savings account? We'd love to get your thoughts on this situation. This is a pretty cool question, Robert. What do you think about Jessica and what she's doing with her husband here with building this after they sell it? Right. What do you think that she should do with this extra, let's call it 325 grand?
- [19:48]
Robert Croak
Yeah, I think it's a little complicated, but I'm going to take a shot at walking through it. I think they're doing a great job. I would say with these proceeds, once this is all said and done, I would definitely do what they described. I would get that money invested and not put all of it down towards paying off this new loan. Especially at six and a quarter percent, I think that's a great place to be. And I'm assuming this is an all in one mortgage, so you're going to be able to get it done one payment, super easy and in your budget. So I like that idea. And the other thing I would take on this is I wouldn't reload your emergency fund with so much cash. I don't see a world why you need over a hundred thousand dollars in a high yield savings account. Generally we're saying three to six months. And I don't think your expenses would be that high, $20,000 a month to need that much in your emergency fund. So I would dial that back some have more of the money going towards making sure that HELOC is paid down and invest the rest just like you described.
- [20:47]
Austin Hankwitz
I think it's a great breakdown. I'm right there with you. I think, you know, having that emergency fund of three to six months if you want to lean on the six months because you're a little bit more conservative. Cool, all good, no problem there. But once you have that sort of figured out, I do think that keeping the construction loan where it is, right, because it's at six and a quarter percent, which, yeah, it's, it's up there, right? My, my mortgage here is at a 6 and a half percent interest rate as well, but not really trying to pay it down too fast. So I'd keep the construction loan where it is and invest the rest, right? I would invest that couple hundred thousand here, call it 300 grand into the markets. Now the real question is Robert, where should they invest it? Right? So you know, we've got this sort of protocol. Match beats Roth, beats taxable. Which means invest up to the match in your 401k to get the free money. Max out your Roth IRA, both you and your spouse go back to that 401k and max it out. Out if and only if you have autonomy. If you do not have autonomy, which means you can pick your investments and they pick those investments for you, which nine times out of ten they're pretty crappy investments, then don't worry about it. Up to the match is all you got to do there. Put the rest in a bridge account on public.com. that's your normal taxable brokerage account. Now here's what I would do. I would honestly take that 2 or $300,000 and direct index it on public. So you're getting some automated tax loss harvesting behind the scenes. To my understanding, you should be able direct index most if not all this money pretty easily on public. And to my experience, direct indexing across the years here you should be able to expect about 11 to 15% of your original investment into the direct index to be returned to you as tax loss harvested capital losses. So if you direct index $300,000 here, assuming conservatively 10% of that, that over that, call it 18, 24 month period of time. So about 30,000 can be, you know, written off as a capital loss. So that's kind of how I would expect the numbers to shake out if I were in your situation.
- [22:50]
Robert Croak
That's a great breakdown. I love that for them and anyone else listening. Great question though.
- [22:55]
Austin Hankwitz
Now our next question comes from Daniel S. Daniel says. Hey guys, I'm in a bit of a pickle and could really use your help. I'm currently $75,000 in debt, which happened after losing a high paying job without an emergency fund in place. Over the last nine months, I've saving aggressively and putting every extra dollar I save into cryptocurrency, mainly XRP, Ethereum and Bitcoin. I have $24,000 now invested into these three cryptocurrencies. The more I listen to your podcast, the more I realize I probably need to shift my focus toward paying down my debt and building a stronger financial base instead of putting everything into crypto. My question is, should I rebalance the crypto I've built built and use some of it to pay off my debt, or should I redirect it into index funds instead? I'm trying to figure out the smartest, most stable way forward. Thank you for all the value you provide. Oh, man. Oh man. All right, Robert, we gotta give our friend Daniel s here some, some, some tough love. So, Daniel, what we like to encourage people to say and do and always think about here is the slogan of you can't out invest high interest debt. I would argue your $75,000 is high interest debt debt, consumer debt of some sort. If it could be a personal loan, it could be your credit card at 0% APR. I don't care what it is, it's probably high interest debt. I really wish over this last nine months you instead took that 24,000, set 5,000 of it aside, as in a little starter emergency fund so you don't have to go more into debt and the other 19,000 would then be used to pay off the 75,000 and you just sort of like, you know, attack it with a vengeance there. But man, this is tough because what sucks here is the crypto markets are currently in the pooper and that's not good either. So here's what I would do if I were in your shoes. One, stop going into debt. Like full stop, which I think you probably have. So like full stop, make sure you're making money. Make sure like you can actually like sustain a lifestyle here where you don't have to perpetually go more into debt. Two, I'm optimistic we'll see some sort of short term bounce in crypto. Right now it seems like we're headed toward the 85,000 range with Bitcoin. If we're not already there by the time this episode comes out, I think we'll see some sort of short term bounce back closer to a hundred, maybe even above a hundred thousand before a real flush out in 2026. I am hoping that that short term bounce gives you a little bit better leverage to get out of your crypto position. Take as much as you can here, even if it's at a loss, right? Use that to pay off your debt. Have your emergency fund and do not ever do anything like this again. And then after you've paid off your debt, because again, it's high interest debt to our assumption here because you can't out invest High interest debt. Take all that extra money that you've saved here the last nine months and actually invest it into the ETFs and index funds we talk about. Build that strong financial base in The S P 500, in the NASDAQ 100, the Dow Jones Industrial Average for all I care there. But not these XRP, Ethereum, Bitcoin crazy cryptos while you're in $75,000 of debt.
- [25:59]
Robert Croak
Daniel, Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. I don't think you're in a pickle. I think you're in a bushel of cucumbers because you are in a bad spot. But here's how you're going to fix it. And I love your take, Austin, on the crypto. Initially I would say take 19,000 of the crypto, pay down the high interest debt. But, but because crypto is in a temporary lull, I agree with Austin. We got to do a little bit of a YOLO here right now and wait it out a little bit. But in that waiting, maybe it's a week, maybe it's two weeks, maybe it's three weeks for crypto to pump back up a little bit so you can make a bigger chunk away at your high interest debt. I want you to stop thinking about anything in life. I don't want you watching another movie, another sporting event, going to another bar, going to another concert. I don't want you to go anywhere with anyone because you're going to sit down and you're going to figure out how you can make as much money as possible over the next 90 days. I don't care if you have to take four jobs and work 16 hours a day and every dollar is going to go towards getting you out of this mess so you can start investing. The whole reason Austin and I talk at the top of our lungs and the top of the mountains is to get people to build a base first, not yolo their money into cryptocurrency. Get the base built first, then diversify into these other asset categories. That's what I'd like to see you do to get back on track. Because if you don't and you let this seventy some thousand dollars in high interest debt ride, you're going to be in really bad shape in the coming months and years because you're never going to make a dent in it. So please take this advice. And for anyone else out there that's working eight hours a day at your nine to five and you think that's good enough and you have high interest debt, yet it's not go use your nights and weekends to build the life you want instead of escape the life you have.
- [27:50]
Austin Hankwitz
Boom. Mic drop. I'll leave it at that. Couldn't agree more. And I think what's so interesting too Robert, is the realization that the only way we're ever going to build that financial future that we desire, the only way we'll ever be able to retire one day and stop trading time for money. And our 9 to 5 job or that hourly job is to have a nest day gig that is growing for you over time.
- [28:13]
Robert Croak
And the easiest way anyone can begin investing towards their Future is on public.com they make it incredibly simple to build a multi asset portfolio including ETFs, stocks, crypto bonds, options and more. They also offer access to industry leading yields of up to 3.8% APY for your emergency fund.
- [28:34]
Austin Hankwitz
And none of y' all better be buying crypto on public.com if you have high interest debt debt, don't be doing it now. Don't be like Daniel here. But for a limited time you can earn a 1% match on all those IRA deposits, IRA transfers and 401k rollovers, which is a thousand dollars of free money for every hundred grand you roll over into their platform. So get off that old 401k broker you haven't touched in a while or that stinky broker you hate using. Roll over those funds. Get that 1% match fund your account.
- [28:59]
Robert Croak
In 5 minutes or less by heading to public.com rich habits to claim your 1% match today. Paid for by Public Investing. Full disclosures in the podcast description and Daniel, I hope you don't mind the tough love because we got to tell you the truth and read it to you straight.
- [29:16]
Austin Hankwitz
Now our final question comes from another Daniel, but this is Daniel G. Daniel G says hey, my name is Daniel and I am a huge fan of the podcast and your advice has already helped me correct several bad financial habits I've been making. I share podcasts to all my friends and colleagues that struggle or are willing to just make a change in their life. And from time to time I even play it in the car so my kids can listen and hopefully learn from y'.
- [29:38]
Announcer
All.
- [29:38]
Austin Hankwitz
Now I'm working toward building my base, but that doesn't stop me from following one of my dreams of owning commercial real estate space and renting it out. Can you all please guide me over the common pitfalls for buying and operating commercial real estate? Really appreciate your answer. Thank you again for all the work you put into this podcast. Robert this is a question for you.
- [29:59]
Robert Croak
I would say the number one pitfall given the question is you don't have a specific reason for doing this other than you want to own real estate. And I think that's a mistake. Now, I agree the time to buy right now is very good. It is a buyer's market. Interest rates are a little high. But you might be in a situation with a commercial property where you can do some owner financing with a low down payment. So that could be helpful. But I would hate to see you do all of this if you don't have a specified tenant. Because at the end of the day, you have to remember, you go in and buy this building, let's say it's $300,000, you get it all dialed in, you put your 10% down, down, you've got a $2,500 a month payment. What if you don't find a tenant for six months or a year and you're paying the insurance, the property taxes, the $2,500 a month payment, all while looking for a tenant and seeking a tenant and you don't find one? So that's the biggest pitfall I would say, is be careful. Now if you know somebody looking for a space and you find a building and they say, we would love it, and they commit to a lease before you buy the building. Building love, love, love that idea. But just be careful buying it without a plan ahead, because I don't want you depleting what you have put towards your base, towards a building that may not have a big upside without knowing how it's going to make you money.
- [31:20]
Austin Hankwitz
I'm just thinking now, it's like, okay, if I were in their shoes and I wanted to buy some commercial real estate to rent it out to a business owner of some sort, it's like, so a couple things I'm thinking about, of course, your location. I'm also thinking about comparable rent and lease, right? So it's like, what are other, you know, commercial places close to me charging their customers, AKA business owners to lease that space? Then I'm also thinking about, like, probably what I'm thinking about most is the liquidity of the small business that is renting from me. Right? Like, I know, for example, it was funny, I was talking to my Uber driver when I was coming home from the airport once and she told me the reason she's driving Uber is to help pay for the lease for a failed business that she had. And it was, it was one of these, like, cosmetology businesses where they do like, your eyebrows and like, nails and stuff like that. But long story short, she's like, yeah, my, my business unfortunately failed, but I'm in this lease for another like eight months and so I have to pay it. And she's like, I'm already a couple months behind, like, I'm trying to do what I can. And, and so it's just like be very careful about who in the type of business, right, that you lease your commercial space to. Robert, maybe you've got some like, anecdote stories or something to share more specifically there, but that would be like the first thing that kind of pops out to me as like a big please make sure you take the right time to figure this part out when it comes to commercial real estate.
- [32:35]
Robert Croak
Yeah, that's a great call out. Let me elaborate on that. So, so from the leaseholder side, the company that's going to lease from you, I always tell people, do not sign for a lease personally because then they can come after you for the totality of the lease. You want it in an llc, so you have that protection from your personal finances. But in this instance, we're talking to you who's going to be the building owner. So you want to make sure that you encumber the person and the LLC in case they default on the lease. Because most states laws state that you would be able to go after them for the rest of the lease unless you make an effort, a meaningful effort, to lease it to someone else. So let's say this person defaults on the lease and you don't want to get stuck with the payment if you advertise and they have a year left in this lease, but you market it and advertise it and you find a new tenant in three months and they move in, they pay the deposit and you're good to go. You can only go after the old leaseholder in most states for the three months it sat empty because you can't double dip and get paid for both leases. So that's another thing for both sides of you to know and learn. For anyone listening, if you're going to lease a property, be careful with the personal liability so you don't end up like the person in Austin's story who is paying long after the business failed on a lease that they probably can't afford.
- [33:56]
Austin Hankwitz
Everybody, thank you so much for tuning into this week's episode of the Rich Habits podcast. Be sure to come back on Thanksgiving. We're still going to be publishing our Thursday Q and A episode and of course, Friday, Black Friday. We'll be coming out with our weekly episode of the Rich Habits Radar. The biggest headlines impacting you and your money is what we'll be talking about in that episode. Thank you all so much for showing the continued support of the Rich Habits podcast. We are so, so grateful to receive all these five star reviews. It's unbelievable. Over 7,000 five star reviews have been shared so far on Spotify. We just. It's awesome. It truly is.
- [34:33]
Robert Croak
And we love that so many of you reach out and tell us you're sharing the episode with family and friends. It means the world to us. You guys keep us at the top of the charts and we are here to help and bring as much value as possible. So always engage with us. And don't forget, we have that seven day free trial right now in the Rich Habits Network. I think it's an incredible, incredible journey for you guys to check out. You can get in there for free. If you don't like it, kick the tires, check out all the information, join alive. You can just leave and be on your way, but we'd love to have you.
- [35:04]
Austin Hankwitz
With that being said, we'll see you on Thursday. Happy Thanksgiving. And then we'll see you again on Friday, Black Friday. It'll be great. So we'll see you guys then.
- [35:38]
Robert Croak
And Doug, here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally. Duh.
- [35:53]
Austin Hankwitz
Uh, Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us?
- [35:56]
Robert Croak
Cut the camera. They see us.
- [35:57]
Austin Hankwitz
Only pay for what you need@liberty mutual.com Liberty Liberty, Liberty. Liberty Savings Ferry underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates, excludes Massachusetts. Hey, Ryan Reynolds here wishing you a very happy half off holiday because right now Mint Mobile is offering you the gift of 50% off unlimited. To be clear, that's half price, not half the service. Mint is still premium unlimited wireless for a great price. So that means a half day.
- [36:25]
Robert Croak
Yeah.
- [36:25]
Austin Hankwitz
Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment.
- [36:29]
Announcer
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