← WIN THE MORNING PODCAST
WIN THE MORNING PODCAST
253. Brody Fausett - How to create financial freedom, time freedom, through real estate
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- [00:01]
A
I been saying I was rich since I was broke yeah, yeah It's a state of mind, you gotta know yeah, yeah, that is gonna happen for sure had to take my time, take it slow yeah, I've been saying I was rich since I was broke yeah, yeah It's a state of mind, you gotta know yeah, yeah, that is gonna happen for sure had to take my time, take it slow.
- [00:28]
B
You're listening to the Win the morning podcast with your host, Skinner. Awesome. Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome to the Valid morning podcast. Today we have a very special guest. We have brief Brody Fawcett with us. Brody is a husband to Andrea and a father of two, correct?
- [01:07]
A
That's correct, yeah.
- [01:08]
B
Father of two. He's been in the door to door space working for Vivint for the past eight years, and he's built quite an amazing real estate empire, which is really what attracted me to. We've just been talking on Instagram. I don't know for how long, maybe a year or so. Just back and forth a little bit. And so I asked him to come on mainly because I was interested in his story and the way that he built. He built a real estate empire as using door to door as a launch pad. And so I'd like to welcome you to the show, man. We're grateful to have you on. I'm excited to talk for the next little bit with you.
- [01:43]
A
Yeah, thanks, man. No, thanks. Hey, I'm stoked to be here. It's cool, like, seeing people where you start to follow each other on Instagram and you kind of interact a little bit that way. And I've gotten a ton of value from you, and honestly, it's motivating. Right? That's why we're friends on Instagram. I try not to follow anybody. It doesn't add value to my life. And so I appreciate everything that you're doing. I'm stoked to actually talk face to face.
- [02:07]
B
Yeah, me too, man. So tell me, like, what. So you started in door to door, but tell me what, Like, I want to talk to you about your real estate story and what you're doing there, because I think that's super cool. Um, I see a lot of people that have, you know, they're indoor to door, but what they do is they take the money and they just spend it, Take it and spend, and it's. It leaves their bank account as fast as it comes in. What made you want to start investing? Like, what got your journey started in, you know, this endeavor of. Of, hey, I want to create something different with. With my life, you know?
- [02:39]
A
Yeah, yeah, no, I think that's great. I think that's a super deep question, too. But for me, like, I've always. I've loved the concept of, like, I'm not afraid of hard work, right? So if there's an opportunity for me to work really hard today to set myself up for an easier tomorrow, like, I'll choose the hard work today, like, all the time, right? And so you're going to have to pay the piper at some point in life, and you can pay it early on, and then you can enjoy the benefits of it after, or you can try and enjoy what's going on right now, and you're going to have to pay the piper later. And so for me, I'd always rather do that early on. And so just that. That mindset of, like, if I can be disciplined now, be smart with my money now, then it will pay me for the rest of my life and give me so much more freedom. And so I think just from an early age, like, I've always been attracted to that. And so early on, it's, how do I go build as much freedom as possible? Because I think when it comes down to it, like, that's what we're all chasing in life is this freedom and this fulfillment, right? This ability to go do what we want to do, where we want to do it, with who we want to do it, and not have to really answer to anybody and just have kind of control over our life. And so for me, like, building passive income and like, Warren Buffett talks about it, right? It's the money that when you go to bed, your bank account grows, right? Then he says, if you don't learn to make money while you sleep, you'll work until you die. And that's always resonated with me because I don't want to work until I die, right? I want to have the money that continues to grow, and I have to build that right now. So that's what attracted me to it in the beginning, I guess in real estate, obviously does that.
- [04:14]
B
Yeah, yeah, I think that's very wise. I mean, I've been in door to door since 2013, so almost the same time period as you. You're a lot farther ahead of me as far as your real estate and what you've built. But because I didn't have that mindset going into it, it's just like, the more money I made, the more money I spent until about, you know, a year ago is when I really got my first rental Property and started really diving deep and saying, river, like, you need to start taking this more seriously. So for you, it wasn't like a men or anything like that. It was more just from the very beginning, you always had that mindset of, like, I want to buy back freedom and I want to pay the piper now rather than paying the piper down the road.
- [04:54]
A
Yeah, yeah, I would say so. Like, obviously it's evolved and adapted over the years, you know, but just like, from an early age, like, I always think of back, like my first job ever, you know, before you're 16, you can't legally work. I don't even know if that's still a thing today. But my grandpa, he had a ranch, and so I go work for him in the summers. And it came down to he would pay me per hour. It was 12 bucks an hour at the time, which was a lot for me. And he wouldn't pay me during lunch. So if I took a lunch break, I obviously, I'm not making money, right. I'm eating lunch. But I was keeping track of my own hours, and there was a ton of work to do. So it just came down to as many hours as I could put in a day. Like, that's as much money as I was going to get paid. And so what happened was that early on, it ingrained in me, like, hey, I can get 12 hours of work in, you know, subtracting out lunch, that's $144 a day. That's this much, you know, six days a week. And if I can go do this, it's this much in a summer. And so for me, like, I'm like, okay, all I have to do is go work harder and go put in the time now, and it's going to pay off. And I think it's interesting because then you. You discover these other things, like commission and like, sales, right, That a lot of us are in. And. And all of a sudden, like, whoa, now I can go actually work harder. I'm not capped at $12, and there's even higher ceiling. And so I was attracted to that, right? And. And then you. You learn you can build a team and you can make overrides. And that's like the first little glimpse at, like, oh, I didn't do anything, and they sold an account and I made some money. Like, that was cool, you know, and then that just kind of snowballs into, like, to real estate and when you start to really understand that concept. And so I think it started at an early age and just kind of like, slowly Started getting bigger and bigger, and you start to grasp it. And, yeah, ultimately, like, yeah, I like the idea of freedom. My wife and I were talking a couple weeks ago, just, like, looking back at the last year, and out of 365 days out of the year, there wasn't a single day that we didn't have to be somewhere we didn't want to be, do something we didn't want to do, be with someone we didn't want to be with. Right. And to me, like, that, that's ultimate freedom. You know, you don't have to show up to anything that you don't want to show up to. And so just taking control of your life, it's like this addicting, I don't know, pursuit that's super fun. And I believe, like, passive income is what gets you there, you know?
- [07:21]
B
Yeah, absolutely. One thing, I was listening to a podcast with Bodie Gardner, and he's talked about, you know, he always wanted to buy back time, you know, and it feels like, in other words, you're saying the same thing. You wanted to pay the piper, and now you're in a position where you've bought back that time, you've bought back that freedom. And I think everybody intuitively knows that they want to be. They want to have financial freedom, they want to have time freedom. Right. But a lot of people don't think it's possible. And then maybe they don't see the avenue, they don't see how it could be done. Right. But I think it's cool that ever since you were 12, I think is what you said, you've just been working hard, and you finally just found a way to build your wealth to start buying back that time. One thing that I experienced was I always loved the idea of real estate, but I always never felt like I didn't know how to do it. I was like, yeah, that sounds great, but it was just in my mind, it was a way harder problem to solve than it was in reality until I actually went out and did it. So I want to ask you, like, what? I know you mentor a lot of people and you help a lot of people get into real estate. What are some of the first steps that you do in order to start looking at a rental property? And I know to you, it's like, this is the easiest process in the world. You've probably done it, done it multiple times. But to someone that's never bought a property, what would you be telling them to start?
- [08:45]
A
Yeah, Yeah, I love it. And it's. And it's Funny. Like, now it is easy, right? But at one time it wasn't. And I do remember that. Like, I have to think hard back, you know, but, like, I do remember it and getting over that. And then I got married, and then I had to help my wife get over that, right? And now, like. And now she's a rock star. And so, yeah, point being, like, I do remember that phase where you are scared. And, like, I'm like, oh, shoot. Because my first house, I bought my. I rented the rooms out to my friends, you know, and I'm like, well, dude, if they leave and they decide to, like, walk out and not pay rent, I'm screwed. I can't pay the mortgage. I don't have enough money to pay the mortgage or I don't have enough coming in. My job won't support that. I worked at a Golden Gym at the time, right? So. But I would say, like, the first step is honest, like, the education phase. So, like, there's so much information out there. Obviously, like, there's opportunities to cut a check to go a little bit faster, right? And you have mentors and things like that. Um, but even if you don't want to go, like, at that stage, there's so much free content that's available, and that's really how I got started. So, like, listening to podcasts, reading books, YouTube videos, like, just becoming a student of the game and, like, devouring the content, there's going to be some things that resonate with you and some things that don't. And I almost look at it as, like, learning by osmosis. Right? Like, you take in so much information, you're not going to retain all of it, but, like, it's a start. So, like, if you can just say, hey, I'm going to listen to, you know, a real estate investing podcast every morning, or, hey, I'm going to get through, you know, one real estate investing book per month, or I'm going to join, you know, this free Facebook group that's in my area, and they're all real estate investors. And I'm going to ask one question a week on there and try and learn or try and network that way. Like, that's where I'd start just getting the information. And that's definitely, like, the first phase, because now when you start looking for properties, you start understanding things, then you're able to recognize a good deal. You know, what they're talking about a little bit more because you started to consume that information. So that's step number one.
- [10:52]
B
Yeah, I love that and I. That. The way I first got into it is I bought a house for myself, and I was living in it. Me and my wife were living in it.
- [11:01]
A
And then when we decided to move.
- [11:02]
B
To Texas, which was just in January, we're like, well, instead of selling it, let's just rent this one out. And so we did. And I was like, okay. Getting a lease signed wasn't as difficult as I thought it was. And finding a rent wasn't as difficult as I thought it was in my mind. Then this whole year, I was like, I'm going to buy a property. I'm going to buy a property. But it was always like, I was going to. I was always going to. And then I never actually committed, like, hey, it wasn't like not having the money for the down payment. It was just like, oh, that just seems harder than it was. And so finally I was like, hey, look, this is the area that I want to buy one in. I'm going to find a real estate agent. I found a real estate agent. And then I just said, cool. And I got my funding, and then I got the house, and then I usually did. You know, it's a lot easier. Like, looking back, I'm like, that was so much easier than, like, what I was making it up in my mind. But I totally agree. I think it was also, I was listening to podcasts. I was listening, I was reading books. I was getting familiar with what I was actually looking for. And then now I'm starting to really understand, okay, this is. This is what I should be looking for, and this is how to do it now.
- [12:03]
A
Totally. And you probably too, like, you probably. I think you talked about earlier, like, you got to a point where you started valuing those things a little bit more, like, hey, I'm taking this serious now. I want to invest my money. Maybe this is off camera, you know, we're talking, but like, hey, I'm ready. Like, this is the time my career, I want to actually start, you know, making more passive income, being smarter with my income. And because of that, like, your why almost gets a little bit bigger and you're a little bit more committed, and so you actually, like, make things happen. Right, versus before. It's like, you know, you don't have as much of a holy cause, per se.
- [12:35]
B
Yeah, absolutely. So. So for you now, like, talk to us a little bit about, like, what's kind of been, you know, because I don't know exactly what you're doing now. I know you're working on doing, like, some mini Homes and you're working on some bigger project projects. Talk to us about like the journey over the past. How long have you been realist investing?
- [12:53]
A
Probably nine years. Nine years ago I bought my first house.
- [12:57]
B
So over the past nine years, talk to me about some of the progression that you've made from going to buying your first property till now and like some of the lessons that you've learned from the past nine years.
- [13:08]
A
Yeah, oh boy. Yeah, there's a lot there. Yeah, there is, there is. I've learned a lot of lessons, learned a lot about what not to do, that's for sure. But. But yeah. So I guess it first starts off with like my, my objective in investing in real estate has never changed, right. It's kind of what we started off talking about. Like I want freedom, right? So like what creates freedom? It's almost reverse engineering it. Cause I'm huge on like creating your dream life, right? And you guys probably, probably hear me talk about a lot on the wall right here. But just like this, these four things of dream it, write it, build it, live it, right? And so it all starts with like this dream. Like what is my ideal life look like? How do I go create that? And obviously a lot of that comes down to well, I need to have time. In order to have time to go do that, I need to have money. Because money buys you time. A lot of times it takes away stresses and so passive income does that. So how I go build this passive income up, how much of that do I need? So even the very first property I bought, which honestly was by accident, I shouldn't say I bought it by accident, but I still didn't understand the power of real estate. Once I bought my first property, it was kind of like I was getting ready to go to go to school. So I knew tell university. I was looking for housing. I couldn't find a place. Neither of my friends could find a place. It was just really busy, right? There weren't a lot of vacancies. And so my mom had kind of like dabbled in real estate. She had her license and so she'd sell a couple houses a year, but it wasn't her full time gig. And she's like, well, why don't you just buy a house? And obviously I knew nothing, right? Maybe like some people that are listening you might know nothing about real estate or how it works. And so I was like, mom, I don't have this house with 165 grand. And I was like, mom, you've seen my bank account. I don't have 165 grand sitting there. I thought you had it, like, go pay cash for this house, right? So later I learned, like, no, you get a loan, the bank gives you money. The only reason they give you money is because they get interest, right? There's something in it for them. But if you're collecting more money on that interest and you're making money on someone else's money. And so I didn't understand all that, but ultimately got the house, was living there, like I said, pretty scared because I'm like, dude, my job's not enough to even cover my mortgage. I'm going to school, doing all these other things. But ultimately, like, as my friends were paying me rent because they're renting each room, it's close to college campus. So it was a great, great property. I ended up like, realizing at the end of every month I didn't have to pay rent and I paid all the expenses on the property and I still had a few hundred dollars, like, from all my friends and me living there for free.
- [15:41]
B
Yeah, huge win.
- [15:43]
A
Yeah. What's that?
- [15:44]
B
They said that's a huge win.
- [15:45]
A
Huge win. Yeah. I mean, and I'm like, dude, and it was actually more than a few hundred bucks. Like, I still have this house today and it cash flows, I think $1,400 a month. So it's a pretty good one. But, like, what happened was I'm sitting here and then I'm comparing this to the check that I get from working at Gold's Gym, getting paid minimum wage. I remember someone came in and signed up for a membership. I got a five dollar bonus, and I was jacked out of my mind. I'm like, dude, if I could get one of these per hour, I would make in 13 an hour. Which was like, that didn't happen. It was like one a day, right? So. But I would seriously compare these two checks and I'm like, one, I worked my butt off for this, you know, Like, I spent so much time between school and class and going on dates and all these things, right? Hanging out with your friends. And then this other one, I did nothing for, like, absolutely nothing. I lived in the house, right? And they're pretty close to the same, to be honest. And so I'm like, dude, I want more of this type of money in my life and less of this type that I have to clock in and out and grind for, right? So that was like the light bulb moment. And then from there is when I really started diving into like real estate investing, content and learning more about it. And then I'm like, well, if I did this once, what happens if I do it again? You know, and again and again. And what's the process look like for that? And so started from there. So my first house, the key with that one was close to college campus, as many bedrooms as possible, right? Because I was doing the rent by the room stuff. And then I got married and we bought a duplex. And it was interesting because at the time been in sales for, I don't know, a couple years or a year, whatever. We bought our duplex and so making probably, I don't know, a quarter of a million bucks, right? Like, we bought this house for 150 grand. I think it was 155 grand, this duplex. And it needed some work. And all my friends at the time that were making, you know, the same amount of money, they're building these nice houses. And like, man, my wife, you know, and I were both like, should we do that? Like, that looks pretty cool. That looks good. That looks fun. Like, no, this is going to set us up for more. So we lived in the upstairs, remodeled it. There was a whole separate apartment in the basement. Same thing. Like, we still have that house to this day. It cash flows, I think $1,300 a month. So I another one, really good one. But so we got into that and then from there really just like started understanding, okay, there's passive income. I remember it clicked when we were living this duplex of like, well, our mortgage is super inexpensive, but we're also missing out on all the rent we could be collecting if we were to move out. And so we moved out, moved into like a house that same exact story, right? Like, we were disciplined in buying it. We knew we could fix it up, sell that made a hundred grand on that house. So that's kind of like just everything with the whole mindset of how do I go build this long term passive income? And then it just kind of got to a point where, like, doing things bigger and bigger and bigger. Like, we got a bunch of Airbnbs, right? Just how can we build this passive income, have a few projects going on right now. One of them's like a big eight. It's like eight townhomes, basically. They're all rentals, right. Another one is apartment complex. That's. I bought one property, bought the house next to it. And the reason I bought those is because the backyard was huge and I needed both of the backyards to be able to put an apartment complex because that's what it's actually zoned for. It's right by campus. So working on that. And then you mentioned the tiny home stuff. Super excited about that project. We're building a bunch of just Airbnb nightly rental, cool looking like tiny home houses, cabins in a, in a ski resort. So it's gonna be like a, like a resort. We have like a sauna and yeah, be really cool experience for people. Total, we'll have around like 20, 22 units. All said and done. And so yeah, the whole thing. And like there's different strategies I've got into and, and ultimately the objective is always the same like how do I build passive even on the houses we've flipped and we've made a lot of money flipping homes. But it doesn't get me nearly as excited is because it's a one time hit. Right. You can spend that money, it can disappear. But like what's exciting is the money that comes in every single month. And so if we flip a house, it's just to trade up to something that can be passive and keep on coming. Yeah. So same thing with like partnering, like started getting into partnering on deals this last year and so where I'll bring in like a capital partner and they want some equity where they're getting a good return, but I ultimately don't bring in very much money at all. Right. So I'm putting the deal together, structuring it and taking at least half of the deal. And so different things like that were always like the goal is to build that passive income up. So that's kind of like where I'm at now still. Same same objective I've always had. Right. Just build, build more freedom in my life. And it's worked well so far. So just keep doing it.
- [20:42]
B
I like that. I think it's cool that you're to the point where you're building these deals for other people because you've built a name for yourself and people trust like, hey, look, I'll give you my money. You don't have to put any money into this. But you're good at this and you're good at making passive income. So here's my money. Just go make it. Go make me money. And then you get some as well. That's pretty cool. That's like the journey over the past nine years, right. From just buying a house on accident, having your, you know, and then all of a sudden, nine years later, this is where you're at. One of the things that like, you know, I look for, I mean like I Said I'm, I'm like your year one, right? So, but I'm always looking for a 10% cash on cash return is really what I'm trying to look like. I'm looking for another property right now, and that's what I'm looking for. Do you have any guiding principles or some rules that you abide by when you're buying a home? When you're looking at this like, hey, this does seem attractive, but I'm not going to do it for x, Y or z reason. Do you have any principles or anything like that that you live by?
- [21:40]
A
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think the main one is what I always tell people is never buy a house, emotional least from an investment standpoint, right? Never buy an investment property emotionally, always buy logically. And so I think what ends up happening, especially like our younger generation, they're getting into their first home, right? Because this is such a huge opportunity where if you can be smart and disciplined and buy something first, logically saying, like, hey, this is going to be a good investment, you know, later on you have that foresight rather than, I'm going to buy this because I'm emotionally attached to it, right? You know, it's not, it doesn't need that much work or whatever. It's in the neighborhood that we want, whatever, whatever. And then second logic is what happens is a lot of people, later on they'll take their house and they want to get into investing, right? Kind of same that you're talking about happens to a lot of people. You already own a house, but then they'll go to maybe rent that one out and they realize, like, wait, this isn't a very good deal, right? I'm not really making that much money on this. And it's because they didn't buy it first as an investment. And so that's the first thing. If you can buy it, buy it logically. And second, emotionally, like you're going to be set. So what happens is if you're going to own or occupy a home, you qualify what's called like a primary residence loan, right? Where if it's going to be your primary residence, you can put way less down. So typically in that case, you're looking at like three to three and a half percent down of the purchase price rather than what happens later on. When people want to get into real estate, they go to buy an investment property, right? And they buy that investment property, but they're required to get an investment loan because they're not going to go live there. And that gets Harder and harder to do. The older you get, you don't want to go move into a house and then later move out and rent it out. And so you end up putting 20 or 25% down. And so it's just a huge difference in when you're talking about amount of cash and making it last and getting into these investments. And so that's something I always tell people to do. Like, if you're willing to do it, like, do it as long as you can, you know, like, for me, my first house was, you know, a house with more bedrooms. When I was single, I lived in one bedroom, rent out the other ones, right? And then it was getting into a duplex. And that was even, like, up until this last house. I'm like, hey, let's move into a fourplex. Like, we'll rent out one unit, you know, and we're good. We can do that, right? Or like, I'm like, let's go like luxury house, hack a house, you know, where it's just. It's a little bit more intentional. But now you can, you know, live in the casita, or not even live in the casita. You know, maybe you live in the house, but there's a kitchen in the basement and there's a casita, right? And you rent those out and it's covering your mortgage and you have a pool in a nice place. Like, there's so many options that way. But I think in the building phase, like, you just have to go at it from, like, what's going to set me up for the future and not now. And I think that's the other thing is just never trade what you want most for what you want in the moment. And that's where people mess up, right?
- [24:39]
B
Yeah, that discipline comes in. You gotta pay the piper principle, like, pay the piper now so that down the road you can have what you want. I think people, at the beginning, I think a lot of times it's hard to really start because you don't know where to start. And the. You don't necessarily have the money to do so. So what's kind of your philosophy on, like, money? Like, I know a lot of people talk about, I've heard people saying, like, hey, you should 70. 70% of your money can be discretionary. You spend it how you want. 20% of your money that you. That you earn is for investing. And then 10% is going to go towards some sort of tithing or some sort of charitable donation. Do you have any thoughts on that? Like, I think some people just don't know how to manage the money. And so they're just like, no, I don't understand money. So I'm just going to spend it because what else am I going to do? So what are your thoughts on that? Oh yeah, personal finance.
- [25:37]
A
Yeah, it's great. Super important, right? So I do think it's important to pay yourself and things like that. So for me, it's funny, this is probably like four or five or six years ago maybe we were in this room and everyone was talking about how much of their money they spend versus invest, right? And I remember the person that was speaking was like, yeah, if you can Invest, you know, 20% of your earnings, like you're doing really, really well, you know. And everyone in the group was kind of talking like, yeah, I invest this much and save this much. And obviously very, very weighted on like the amount of money they spend and live off of compared to ratio wise compared to what they actually invested. And for us it's like the exact opposite, right? So I think the answer to that, I do pay 10% tithing. I do think you should have an emergency fund enough to cover at least six months of your living expenses and you should put that aside and that should be aside. And you should never touch that in case you're in that situation where it actually is an emergency and then you go build from there, right? But I think the answer is invest as much as possible, as much as possible. Live off of, especially in the beginning, the least amount. And I'm not talking for like 10 years. I'm not talking for, you know, I'm just talking like the building phase, like getting it built up. And one thing that my wife and I always kind of live by is like, we're fine. Like I love toys, right? I like nice things, like expensive things. Like we bought a brand new boat a couple years ago. You know, I have a razor, I have a lot of toys that are fun, expensive vehicles and stuff. But like our rule has always been this, if our passive income can pay for it from our assets, then we're okay buying that liability. And so I think what happens is people get mixed up and that's why it's hard to save more of their money because they spend a lot of it on a liability rather than invest it in an asset. And so I think that the money that we make and we work for that money should be used. We call that our active income. So I think as much as possible, your active income should be used for your investments. Your investments pay you passive income and your passive income is what should fund your lifestyle, not your active income.
- [28:04]
B
So the answer to your question is, how much do you invest out of 100% if you have 100% of your income and your answer is more, I love it.
- [28:14]
A
There you go.
- [28:15]
B
Possibly can.
- [28:17]
A
Easier said than done, for sure. I get, especially in the beginning when you're starting out, like, it's tough, you know, and for some people it is like, it. Like, if you need a number to keep you disciplined and that's going to be doing, you know, putting 20% aside is better than putting nothing aside, then for sure do that, you know. But I think, yeah, I think the principle is the same.
- [28:37]
B
Yeah, I like that. So I see a bunch of books, like, I kind of want to shift gears here, and I want to learn a little bit more about, like, you and, like, your daily habits and stuff like that. I see you have. Ego is the enemy. You have, you know, a bunch of books behind you. Things I know about you is you're an ultra marathon runner. Is that correct?
- [28:55]
A
Yeah.
- [28:55]
B
You do ultra marathons. You're doing things like I always see you doing, like, just crazy stuff and running all. Running all over the mountains. Talk to me about, like, your, like, what kind of. What kind of lifestyle are you living? What do you. What are you doing to develop yourself continually and grow? And not just grow financially and on the business side, but, you know, you have, you're doing a lot of things that are really impressive. You know, you're. You're growing your business. Seems like you have a great marriage, you have two happy and healthy kids, you have a body that's in shape and you're challenging yourself there. Talk to us about, like, how do you. How do you do that and how are you winning, not just financially, but on all areas?
- [29:32]
A
Yeah, Yeah, I love that. To me, like, that's the only way to win, right? Like, there's no such thing as, like, winning in one area of your life and not winning in the other, Right. Or not. Not at least, like, trying to be the best version of yourself in those other areas. And so, yeah, I think that's all part of, like, building my dream life, right? Like, when I say, like, hey, I want to get intentional and I want to, you know, dream about what does my life look like an ideal lifestyle? That's not just money, you know, it's not just, I want this much passive income coming in each month because, like, money in and of itself, it does absolutely nothing, Right? Like, it's a tool to use to help you Live your best life. I think so. And so just one part of it. But I think for me, like, I made a list a couple years ago. What's fulfilling? For me, like, one of my most fulfilled in my life, you know? And it was a lot of things, like when I'm growing, right. And developing. And so I think on all aspects of my life, like, spiritually growing and pushing myself.
- [30:35]
B
Right.
- [30:35]
A
Physically growing and pushing myself. And a lot of that comes from doing things that, like, that cause you to grow. Right. Same concept of, like, our muscles grow and they're under tension and they're. They're put in situations they don't want to be in, you know? And so I think a lot of that, it's just. I thrive off of it because it's fulfilling to me because I'm growing and I'm developing. And so some of it, like, I would like to say, like, don't get me wrong, there's things that I do that suck and I don't want to do, and I do them intentionally because I get better from doing it. Um, I've seen, like, you've. You've gotten into CrossFit lately, right? Yeah.
- [31:11]
B
I probably haven't told you. I should tell you because I guess part of, like, the duty of being a crossfitter.
- [31:16]
A
Yeah.
- [31:17]
B
That you're doing it. So.
- [31:19]
A
Yeah. You're not wearing, like, a shirt or something.
- [31:23]
B
Just joking.
- [31:24]
A
No, no, it's good. I love it. It's hilarious. Um, and I actually haven't. I've been. I mean, I have a CrossFit gym in my garage. Right. But I'm. I've been on and off for CrossFit the last, like, four years. Just finally started going back, actually. But the reason I'm going back is because I'm like, dude, I. Part of me does not want to go back. I don't want to go back because I'm like, I know I could be in more shape, and I did more workouts that, like, sucked and I didn't look forward to. And so for that exact reason, like, I need to go back. Right. But you feel so much better, and you get better results, not just from CrossFit, but just in general from pushing yourself. And so I think a part of me, like, I don't view it as something that I don't look forward to. It's something I actually do look forward to. Like. Like reading. I absolutely love it. I thrive off of it. Right. Like, becoming a better husband, becoming a better dad. Like, I thrive off of that stuff, like, to Me, it's so fun because I think, by default, I think, like, God created us this way, right? Because, like, God wants us to be the best version of ourselves, right? Above average. Like, the best that you can be. Like, I don't. I don't think that, like, he sent all of us down here to be like, hey, go. Go be like a mediocre version of yourself. You know, like, go. Go just, like, go through the motions. Go down there and, like, don't. Don't expound on every aspect of your life and be the best that you can be. Like, I just don't think that that's the way that we were created. And so by default, and it just ironically happens to work out this way when we're doing these things that actually cause us to grow, even though they are hard and uncomfortable, like, we feel better. For whatever crazy reason, we actually feel better. And so I just seek out those. Those opportunities almost, like, selfishly sometimes, too. Right. It's just fun and it's enjoyable. And what would it be if you created something and built something, you didn't have a good family life to enjoy it with, you know?
- [33:19]
B
Right. Yeah, I totally agree. Like, winning really is winning across all areas, and I totally believe that. Talk to me about, like, getting clarity, because I think, you know, one thing that I've. I've always, like, wanted to get better at was how do I get more clear on what I want? And you've mentioned multiple times that you've got this list. You had a question. You've had, you know, the beginning of what you wanted to create. You had your. I forgot what you call it, like, your holy cause. Or maybe it was like a vision board. Talk to us, like, maybe a little bit more or talk to me a little bit more about, like, the process of, like. Okay, like, how do you get clarity on what you're actually looking to create?
- [33:55]
A
Yeah, that's great. Yeah. No, it makes sense. For sure. I think a lot of people struggle with this, right? Like, trying to, like, find yourself and, like, what I actually want, what I want to do. And I think. I also think that, you know, it's an evolving process as well. Like, you're. You've never, like, quote, unquote, made it, right. You're always kind of constantly, like, is this part of me? Do I take this or add this in? And there's a good book right here. It's called Vivid Vision. I'm not sure if you've heard of it or read it, but super easy to read. Not. Not very Long at all. But I mean, I feel like that was really good for me because what I did is I went through and actually created this vision for my business and then also for my life. And so in the book, it's by Cameron Harold, but they have you go through the next three to five years, like, ideally, what you want things to look like. And it doesn't have you do them for your life. But I did one for my life just because I think it's. It's just as important, you know, the person I want to be, all those things. But you kind of have these main categories. You know, that's what I did, like, spiritually, you know, mentally, like relationships. What type of, you know, family life do I want, type of friendships do I want, even down to, like, lifestyle, you know, and what time do I wake up every morning? And, like, it stresses some people out to, like, go through and do all of that. But I think it's an important step because if we don't know exactly what we want and we don't have that clarity, like you're saying, it's hard to go and chase it. And it's hard to recognize the opportunities when they come up because we just. We're not sure of them because we don't know exactly what we want. So I think the first thing is just, like, setting aside the time to actually do it and to think what you want and to understand what you want. And, like, I'm huge on top 10, which is basically, it's just, I don't know, an exercise where every single morning, like, every single morning, I'll write down 1 through 10 on my paper. What are the top 10 goals I want to accomplish? Right. Usually within the next 12 months. But what happens is, like, beginning. Sorry, all good.
- [36:05]
B
Someone just called me. What were you saying?
- [36:06]
A
It's all good in the beginning. It's hard, right? Because it's like. It takes some time. Like, oh, what are the 10 things I want to do? And you might get the first three or four really fast, and then it's like the last six. I'm not exactly sure. But what happens is you're not supposed to look at what you wrote down the day before, and you just start fresh every single day. And so eventually it starts to get ingrained in your mind of, like, what exactly is you want? So to the point where someone will wake you up in the middle of night, be like, river, what do you want? What's your top 10? You'd be like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. You can say them off, and you have dates and times, and, like, just. You've done it every single day, and you know exactly what you want. You're so crystal clear on what it is. Now what happens is you start to recognize these opportunities. And I have so many just crazy stories of, like, things that I've written down for so long that, like, just kind of like, oh, pop up or someone calls me or this opportunity here or here. Right. And, like, it just. It's cool. Like, see all that. That start to happen, and it all starts from, like, writing it down and getting clear on it and intentional about it.
- [37:09]
B
I like that.
- [37:10]
A
Yeah.
- [37:10]
B
I think. I think one thing that's really true is if you're vague about what you want, you'll get vague results. So there's a story that Tony Robbins talks about where this guy comes up to him, and I don't know if this is a true story or not, but he just said, hey, you know, sir, just a random homeless guy and said, hey, I want some more money. Do you have any money for me? And Tony Robbins pulls out his money clip, and he has a bunch of hundreds in there. And he's like. And the guy's like, I just want a dollar. I just want a dollar. And he's like, that's all you want is just a dollar? He's like, yep. And so he gives him a dollar, and he's like, thank you, sir. And Tony Robbins responds, you'll get whatever you ask for. And so I think sometimes we. I guess that guy was clear on he just wanted $1. But sometimes we. Since we don't ask for more, or maybe we're not dreaming big enough, we don't get more.
- [37:56]
A
Right.
- [37:57]
B
If we're not asking God for more and more, he's like, hey, you just want this. There you go. But if he would have asked Tony Robbins in that example, hey, I want $100, maybe he could have gotten it if he was willing to ask for more. But I think that's super powerful. What's. What's the thing that you're most excited about on your top 10 list right now?
- [38:19]
A
Most excited about? I mean, like, the tiny home resort. I've been right down for a long time, and I just, like, right now, it's finished. Tiny home resort. Right? So, like, I'm excited to finish that just because that's been, like, this ongoing process and something I want to do for so long. Something I'm checking off the list next month. We rented, like, this beach house in Virgin Islands for a Month. So, like, just taking my family down there and like, yeah, it's. It's cool. It's literally on the beach. I think, like, the. I think what I'm paying for the month is like, more than my mortgage for the whole year, you know, but, like, it's fun. Like, I'm stoked to do it. Just kind of like unplug a little bit. Still. Still work. Because, like, work's part of my life and I love that. I say work, but it's like, it's the fun stuff, right? But yeah, we want to do that. Just go somewhere for like one month consistently. We travel a lot, but stay somewhere one month with the kids, like every single year. And it's still in the US I guess. But that's what we're doing.
- [39:22]
B
That just makes me happy. I'm like, smiling just like, that's so cool that you have the freedom just to be like, I have the money, I have the time, and I have work, quote, unquote, that I can work from where I want, when I want, with who I want. Like, that is. That's what I'm looking to create too. And I just. I just think it's super inspiring. Like, it just makes me happy seeing you do that.
- [39:48]
A
It's funny to me interrupt you. I just got back from Hawaii a couple weeks ago, right? It's pretty recent. Anyhow, got back and I was there for like, mastermind types, like, real estate event type thing that I went to and I took my wife with me and she mostly just hung out and stuff. But I got back and someone said to me, like, hey, like, welcome back to reality, you know, and it was funny because I get it because we say that to people all the time, you know? And I'm like. And then my response was like, like, every day's reality, you know, like, there's no, like, welcome back or leave or vacation from my life. Like, like, no, dude, every day is a vacation. Every day is not. Every day is a vacation in the standpoint of like, oh, I can do whatever I want, but just the point of, like, I'm living my life. There's no reality and not reality. There's. There is only reality, you know, like, like, it doesn't make sense to me. I don't comprehend that. Go on vacation, then come back to real life. Like, welcome back to reality, you know.
- [40:52]
B
And you don't want to. And I think people that say that, it's because they want to escape their reality, you know, like, you enjoyed escaping. Now welcome back to what they enjoy.
- [41:03]
A
Yeah, 100%.
- [41:04]
B
I like that. So for. For people that want to connect with you, what's the. What's the best way to connect with. With you?
- [41:12]
A
Good question, dude. So probably through. Probably through Instagram. Honestly, Brody Fossa, first and last name. If I know you have a lot of your audience, a lot of sales reps and people in door to door, like, because I am so passionate about that, I have an Instagram page that's just for, like, door to door salespeople that want to get into real estate or they want to turn more of their, like, active sales income into passive real estate income. Right. And that's real estate investing school. So Instagram real estate investing school.
- [41:46]
B
Cool. And so you're actually. People can pay you to learn how to invest. Right. I think we were talking earlier, like, you're teaching other people how to do it, but not only teaching them, but they can be handheld by you and help you will help them buy a property. Talk to us a little bit about that and like, that school that you're talking about.
- [42:10]
A
Yeah, yeah, no, thanks for. Thanks for asking. So obviously I'm passionate about teaching real estate because I think one of the greatest gifts you can give someone is the ability to create more freedom in their life. You know, like, that's something that if you can. If you can give someone resources and help them buy back years and years and years of their time that they would have spent, you know, nine to five, working, like, I think that's one of the most fulfilling things that you can do for somebody else. Right. It's one of the greatest gifts that I could receive from anybody. Right. So the purpose of the school is, what I've realized is, like, there's a lot of places to go get education. And we talked about a lot of them, right? Podcasts and YouTube and stuff like that. But one of my favorite quotes is knowledge is not power. Right? The application of knowledge is power. And so the problem is, is like, we get all this knowledge and information, but we have trouble, like, acting on it, right? Or where to go, or like, what do I do next? Or what's the next step? Or like, a lot of times it's trial and error. Like, you explain with your first property, you know, it was like, okay, what do I do? Okay? And I want to buy in this area. Okay. Like, I need a lender. Okay. You know, what am I looking for? What's a good cash on cash return? Or like, Right. All of these things. And so the purpose of the school is like, we have A group of coaches where all they've done is door to door sales. And then they've basically done really, really well at being disciplined and learning the real estate side of things. And they've built a ton of passive income and created more freedom. Really like more passive income than active income and kind of like replace that. And so it's just a program where we actually coach you one on one. We have weekly live classes. You get access to, to like my real estate investing course, which there's over a hundred videos, 16 hours of just like really, really good real estate value. Yeah, the main thing is like, we just want to help people. Like, it's actually the point where if you're in the program and you apply you to accept it. Like, no matter what, we make sure you get a deal. So we walk you through every process, making sure you find not just a deal, but like something that cash flows really, really well. You're getting a high return. All the things that people just probably won't do on their own, they just need a little bit of help doing it.
- [44:19]
B
So I love that. I love that. And what's that called again?
- [44:23]
A
So that's just real estate investing school. So the school itself actually launches next month. So yeah, if someone's interested in, they can just follow us on Instagram ealestateinvestingschool and there'll be plenty of info to come on that.
- [44:38]
B
Cool. Awesome. Well, I appreciate you taking the time to hop on and jam and I'm excited for everybody to listen to this. I'm like, I'm just sitting here like, I can't wait to share this with people because I think there is so much value that you, that you brought. And so I really appreciate that. Guys, you want to go and follow him because you'll learn a lot from him. You'll see the, like. When I see him posting the stories of him doing those tiny homes, I'm like, I don't know what this guy is doing, but it's freaking cool. You know, it's inspiring to watch people do things that are, that are big. And that to me seemed challenging. You know, maybe, maybe it's not to you, but to me it seems like, wow, this is super challenging. So go follow him because you'll, you'll feel inspired and you'll feel like, I want to be better because of him. So anyway, thank you for your time as there. Any last closing thoughts that you want to add?
- [45:29]
A
No, I just think that, like, it's interesting you saying that because, like, for me it's it's the same way. Right? And that's something, I think that's just in general, so cool is like, when it starts from, like, the. That pipe dream phase, you know, and like, when you do get intentional about, like, hey, this is what would be my ideal life. Or like, hey, this is on my top 10. I've wrote this down, you know, every single day for a year, two years, three years, and then it starts to, like, come into reality. And it's crazy. Like, just seeing stuff like that happen is so cool. And so just when you were saying that, it's like, yeah, like, I thought the exact same thing, you know, not very long ago, it was just like, man, it would be so cool if I could do this or so cool if I could do this. And so it just. It's cool, like, when you start to get intentional. And obviously I have a long, long ways to go and there's a lot more ahead, but it's cool to see some of those things that I've been chasing for so long and been intentional about start to start to come into reality.
- [46:26]
B
Right. And I'm going to read one of your posts because I. My mic just cut out. Can you still hear me?
- [46:36]
A
I can hear you. Yeah.
- [46:38]
B
Okay, cool. But one of the posts that you.
- [46:41]
A
That you.
- [46:41]
B
I'm going to read it and it's going to take a second, but it's a great post. He said, one thing I've realized over the last year is that life gives you what you expect from it. I don't mean a dream list or hoping to achieve something. I'm talking about what you expect from it. Going from one day. When I live that type of lifestyle, to quote, I deserve to live that lifestyle right now. And I am more than capable of achieving that right now. In fact, I deserve it right now. It seems like each time Andrea. Andrea, his wife and I quote, level up in business and in life, it goes something like this. See big goal or next goal. Next step would be that would be cool to accomplish that one day. Third question, what would that look and feel like? Fourth, what would that look and feel like to accomplish that now? Fifth step. Holy crap, that is actually possible. Sixth step. Go after it. Don't take no for an answer. Seventh step is the result. Accomplish goal or next level. That is now the new way of thinking and the new level we operate from. And then, I don't know, I lost count. But next step is. Then comes momentum to roll into the next level. Bottom line is that as I change my level of thinking it has directly correlated to my level of success. Understanding this has completely changed my life. Have you experienced this in your life? Anyway, I just. I thought that was just the coolest freaking post ever.
- [47:59]
A
Thanks, dude.
- [48:01]
B
Getting wrapped up in my mic. So anyway, seriously, there's a lot of value, guys. Go shoot them a follow. Thank you for spending the time, man, and I appreciate it, dude.
- [48:11]
A
Thanks, brother. We got plenty more conversations to come.
- [48:15]
B
I love it.