The Science of Flipping

Host: Justin Colby
Episode: How This Engineer Quit His Job and Closed His First Real Estate Deal | Stacio
Guest: Stasio (Castasio)
Date: November 20, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Justin Colby sits down with his student and new full-time investor, Stasio, to break down the real story of leaving a secure engineering job to pursue a real estate investing career. The discussion is a candid, practical look at the entrepreneurial journey: facing fear, building momentum, and getting those first deals done. Stasio shares actionable advice on mindset, daily routines, deal sourcing, and the value of community and mentorship. The episode is full of tactical nuggets for aspiring investors eager to make the leap from a W2 job to real estate entrepreneurship.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Stasio’s Origin Story (02:07–05:26)

• Background: Born and raised in San Diego, Stasio followed the conventional route—college (civil engineering at SDSU), W2 job (government, real estate-related).
• Early Investing: Started with real estate education 10 years ago and acquired four properties (including rentals and a triplex Airbnb), but struggled to scale.
• Turning Point: "I got stuck a lot and trying to figure out how to scale, how to get to the next level ... finally, more recently in the last year, I said that's enough." (03:47, Stasio)
• Going All-In: Quit his W2 job nine months ago to focus full time on real estate investing, driven by the desire for growth and freedom for his young family.

2. Making the Leap—Breaking Point & Mindset (05:26–09:42)

• Limited Growth in W2: Despite enjoying his job, multiple denied promotions and capped salary increases made him reevaluate. "You kind of hit a point where you can only, you know, make another 10 grand a year ... I had to do something." (06:25, Stasio)
• Motivation: Wanting more for himself and his family—growth, financial freedom, and impact.
• Host’s Validation of the Decision: “Being an entrepreneur is not easy. But what's really not easy is being dissatisfied with where you're at in life.” (08:28, Justin)

3. The First Wholesale Deal—Persistence, Relationships, and Learning (11:07–14:56)

• Deal Breakdown:
  • Lead sourced via a Facebook ad.
  • Built rapport, followed up for months, eventually got the contract and closed with help from the REI Live Co community.
  • First out-of-state wholesale deal—a big mental breakthrough.
• Lessons Learned:
  • Importance of follow-up, relationship-building, resilience through numerous “no’s”.
  • “...after so many contracts that I had ... and all the no's, ... really made it ... an accomplishment. If I can go and buy a property across the country, so can anybody else." (13:13, Stasio)

4. The Power of Mindset—Letting Go of Time Expectations (14:56–20:44)

• The Fifth Pillar of Success: Remove time expectations from your results.
  • "The last pillar, the fifth pillar, is removing your time expectation on the results." (15:00, Justin)
  • Stasio embodies this by focusing on consistent action rather than quick wins.
• Fear & Growth:
  • “You get this fear ... when you're doing everything you're supposed to do, you know you're growing.” (17:41, Stasio)
  • Three months after quitting, the fear faded, replaced by fulfillment.
  • "It's the best decision I've made ... just the feeling of being able to free your mind." (19:54, Stasio)

5. Taking Massive & Imperfect Action—Practical Steps (22:44–27:48)

• Justin’s Five Pillars:
  1. Decide what you want and who to be.
  2. Commit to it (quitting the job!).
  3. Take massive, imperfect action.
  4. (Implied in the conversation) Track & measure.
  5. Remove time expectations.
• Consistency & Structure:
  • Daily routines: exercise, planning, intentionality with work and family.
  • Show up every day: “Just being consistent at the things ... time, health, family.” (24:07, Stasio)
  • Keeping track of KPIs and metrics for continual improvement.
  • Community support and mentorship as key accelerators.

6. The Value of Community & Mentorship (27:48–30:25)

• Guidance:
  • Justin emphasizes the necessity of mentorship to bypass mistakes and grow quickly.
  • REI Live Co: Provides real-time, hands-on coaching and support.
  • “You are a prime example ... you embody what it really means to be a student of the game.” (29:15, Justin)

7. Day-to-Day Reality—What Actually Moves the Needle (30:25–41:46)

• Lead Generation:
  • Reluctance for cold-calling, but recognizes its necessity. “You have to get the conversations going ... you have to daily make those calls.” (30:25, Stasio)
  • Makes 50+ calls/day, leverages a VA for some operations, but does a lot himself.
  • Emphasizes building a personal brand on social media: “Getting out there, doing those things where ... you're showing everyone else your journey ... the problems you’re solving.” (34:19, Stasio)
• Deal-Sourcing Tactics:
  • Heavy focus on foreclosure leads, using county auction sites, REI Lead Machine, Zillow, Redfin, and database management in Google Sheets/Excel.
  • “I’ve always been pretty resourceful ... I’ve been able to learn and find the niches, find out what software.” (37:17, Stasio)
  • Simplicity and action over complexity: “I was just making it complicated ... every day I still have to tell myself, how do I simplify it?” (40:59, Stasio)

8. The Importance of Building a Personal Brand (41:46–43:49)

• Visibility:
  • Justin: "It is very hard to get everything you deserve without allowing people to know what you're doing."
  • You don’t need to be an influencer, but people need to know that you are in real estate for deals, referrals, and raising capital.
  • “If you don’t allow people to know what you do on social media, they don’t have the opportunity to give you value.” (42:06, Justin)
• Branding Advice:
  • Stasio: Alta Homes is his business brand, but learns from Justin to build his personal brand (CA Stasio on Facebook/Instagram).

9. Reflections on REI Live Co Community (44:04–44:49)

• Stasio: "Oh, man, amazing ... everybody that's on there is here to do the same thing and I'm glad to be a part of it." (44:22, Stasio)
• Group structure facilitating smaller, focused groups and deal collaboration.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Breaking Free:
  • “Year after year, ... I need to re-strategize this plan ... 10, 20 grand more a year wasn't going to cut it.” (07:34, Stasio)
• On Action Over Perfection:
  • “Now I need to go, I need to run, I need to take massive action, imperfect action. I don't know if it's right or wrong, but I'm going.” (23:32, Justin)
• On Growth Mindset:
  • “Once you make that decision to go all in, you won't regret it if you stick with it. For me ... I basically rewired my mindset ... now, not to think like a 9 to 5 person anymore ... but, you know, a real entrepreneur.” (19:41, Stasio)
• On Simplicity:
  • “How do I simplify it? How do I make this easier? ... It does come down to simplicity ... it's as simple as just making the call and the next call and the call after that.” (40:59, Stasio)
• On Visibility:
  • “No one here listening needs to become an influencer … What you do need to do is let people know what you're doing.” (41:46, Justin)
• On Community:
  • "You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with." (26:44, Stasio)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Stasio’s Origin Story: 02:07–05:26
• The Breaking Point—Quitting the W2: 05:26–09:42
• First Wholesale Deal Details: 11:07–14:56
• Mindset—Letting Go of Your Timeline: 14:56–20:44
• Taking Consistent Action: 22:44–27:48
• Mentorship and Community Value: 27:48–30:25
• Day-to-Day Routines and Lead Sourcing: 30:25–41:46
• Building Your Personal Brand: 41:46–43:49
• Community Reflections: 44:04–44:49

Final Takeaways

The episode provides both motivational insight and tactical guidance for anyone considering leaving their job for real estate investing—especially those with technical or analytical backgrounds (like engineers). Major themes:

• The leap rarely feels safe, but community, mentorship, and daily consistency make it doable.
• Remove artificial time constraints on your success; focus on persistence.
• Relationships and follow-up trump fancy tools and over-planning.
• Build your personal brand alongside your business through authentic sharing.
• Simplify, show up, take imperfect action.

Connect with Stasio:

• Business: Alta Homes (@altahomes on all platforms)
• Personal: CA Stasio (Facebook/Instagram)

For more episodes and real-time coaching, visit: [REI Live Co]