Live Let Thrive Podcast
Airbnb, PadSplit, Corporate Rentals, Arbitrage, and Live Let Thrive cover all the creative ways to rent out your properties to maximize profits. We also cover creative ways to buy properties. Come along for the ride and have some fun along the way!
Live Let Thrive Podcast
The $80,000 STR Tax Hack & The Michael Jordan Gamble
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Steve shares his 1996 story of flying standby to Utah on a whim, scoring a $50 ticket to Michael Jordan's final shot as a Bull in Game 6, and partying with Bulls players afterward - all while everyone said it couldn't be done. The story ties into the hosts' philosophy: when you know what you want and keep asking, opportunities appear. They also discuss the $80,000 tax write-off from combining a cost segregation study with the short-term rental tax loophole, and why they're pivoting some Arkansas midterms to long-term rentals during the slow season.
The episode covers PadSplit tenant turnover, cash-out refinancing at 7.35% to buy ten properties instead of one, the power of house hacking for first-time buyers in a high-rate market, and why documenting the journey matters more than polished advice. They reflect on building skills that make you unafraid of starting over, the value of adversity, and why passive income beats trading time for money.
Work with us. Interested in professional management or consulting?
Myka — Sharebnb: www.sharebnb.com
Steve — Argest Rentals: www.ArgestRentals.com
Sign up for PadSplit with Steve's link and get a free 1-on-1 PadSplit strategy call with Stevie Stacks: padsplit.com/hosts
Myka's other podcast, Entrepremarriage — building wealth without losing the marriage: youtube.com/@Entrepremarriage
All our links: linktr.ee/liveletthrive
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Cold open and PadSplit drama
SPEAKER_00Welcome to Live Let Thrive, a podcast about the Airbnb life, the shar economy, and everything in between. Here are your hosts, Micah and Steve.
SPEAKER_02Hello, hello, hello.
SPEAKER_03Welcome back to another exciting episode of Live Let Drive.
SPEAKER_02What is up, Micah the Man?
SPEAKER_03I'm chilling, man. How you doing, Stevie Stacks?
SPEAKER_02I'm doing pretty alright, man. On this uh, what's today? Wednesday. And this is Live Let Thrive, your favorite short-term, mid-term, long-term rental podcast in the world. Add a little pad split on there, too. Coming at you from Fort Worth in Arlington, Texas.
SPEAKER_03What's up, man? How's things been in that pad split world, man? Because you've had some exciting stories.
SPEAKER_02You know, it's just the pad split alone provides us with a lot of uh material for this show, man. Uh, I will say I went to uh my pad split today after work, uh, after the day job. I went by there because the one that's right here, you know, and that's the thing, it's close by, so I'm like, man, I'm gonna go over there. I'm not gonna send someone out to do something. That's right down the road, you know. I know you shouldn't think like that, but whatever. Save a few bucks. Save a few bucks. Yeah, so I went by there because I had to someone uh that lady moved out, the one I told you she was like the gossip queen, getting in everybody's business and trying to stir stuff up, and yeah, moved her, hopped around rooms a couple times because they couldn't be next to so-and-so, and just drama, right? Yeah, so she moved out. I had ordered a bed cover, because I had a cover on that bed already, right? And um, and just to update everybody, this this is a pad split over here close to me, uh, and close to where I'm at in Fort Worth, and it's a six-bedroom, so all bedrooms were full were full until now, so she moved out. Um, so there's a stain. Here's the thing there's a stain on that mattress cover. I'm glad I had a mattress cover, waterproof mattress cover on there. Always that would suck, you know. Always have mattress covers on all your mattresses, man. And um I'm glad I had it on there, but still there's like this the stain that's um, you know, looks like uh womanly stuff. So I went ahead and threw that one out, you know. Just just through the, you know, uh women, you know. Never mind. I'm not gonna go into detail. But anyways, y'all get it, y'all get it. And um, so I I I had ordered another one from Amazon and got there the next day, so I went by there to install that. And um I had uh Pablo go by the house to do a couple things that needed to be done, and um, that was yesterday. So I went in there, made sure the room was clean. I mean, I cleaned it already, but you know, I just needed she kept it, she left it clean, except for that stain on that on that mattress cover. Um I threw that out, got a new one, put it on there. And so I was by there today, and I changed the codes for the front door and back door with the keypad locks that I got on there, right? Um, and that's and you yeah, every time you got to turn do a turnover, you change the core the code to the door, you know, just in case. But yeah, so I did that today. I went and checked on the house. The house is looking good. Everybody, man, I like I said, both pad splits. Everybody just pretty much stays in their room, from what I've seen. They don't hang out in the common areas too much. Yeah, it hasn't been the case. Not that I make it, I mean, I make it okay. There's a couple of sofas or whatever, but I don't put a TV, I don't put any kind of you know stuff. I did, you know, I don't try to do it up like a place you want to hang out, but people just hang out in their room, they go to work, they do their thing. I guess maybe they eat in the the kitchen, and and that's pretty much it. I did see I did notice something. I was like, someone left the damn sink running when I got in there, and it was like, and I looked at the sink, and it's like a trickle, but a little bit more than a trickle, but they had like uh a package of like hamburger meat that they were trying to thaw out.
SPEAKER_03Oh the sink run. Oh man. How's that water bill looking?
SPEAKER_02You know, knock on wood, it ain't it ain't been too crazy. It ain't been too crazy for what I'm receiving in rent. It's it's not, it's not yeah, yeah. Yeah, like a hundred bucks a month for the water, you know, for six people living there doing showers and all that stuff.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's good. I'm looking at like a hundred with four people, man. Kids be flushing those toilets over and over again. Man letting them run.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, that was uh, and I I did go to the other passpit too the other day because um I was just checking on I it was in my original house. I I I I told the story before that my very first house I ever bought, you know. I ended up we moved out of it and turned it into a regular long-term rental, you know, had a few bad tenants because the area is not it's a C C plus area, it's not terrible, it's not a hood, but it's like it's not the best, best area. So I that's why that's what motivated me to try that one as a pad split.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you know, because it works, yeah. That sounds like it'd be perfect, you know.
SPEAKER_02It is, it's been good, it's been staying full. Um, but uh there's a giant pecan tree in the backyard, so I grabbed I was out there getting a whole bunch of pecans, man.
SPEAKER_04So oh, for real? Okay.
SPEAKER_02And we got those big giant soft shell ones you can crush with your hands, so it's pretty Yeah, it's pretty cool. I hook you up whenever I see you again.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, what you been up to, man?
SPEAKER_03Man, uh so I you know I did a Cossack, and then I did I'm doing the Cossack with the short-term
The $80,000 cost segregation write-off on a duplex
SPEAKER_03rental tax loophole on the duplex I bought.
SPEAKER_02So did you do the free one?
SPEAKER_03What do you mean?
SPEAKER_02You said there was a free one, right?
SPEAKER_03No, no, no, I got a free analysis. Oh, okay. He gave you a free analysis and then he'll because I did the 1031 with the company and they were partnering with a Cossac company. The Cossacks company's like, well, I'll give you a free analysis because you did the 1031. And so, no, I wasn't free. I wish. But yeah, it wasn't free.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that's two or three grand? Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Three, like 3300.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, okay. Well, it's a duplex, so it's like a double.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, two sides, two washing machines.
SPEAKER_02How much are they gonna how much are they gonna save you in taxes?
SPEAKER_03What's the uh I think it was 80 grand, 80 crate write-off right there off the bat. But we haven't even done but including the short-term tax loopholes stuff. We gotta calculate that in there. So I don't know everything yet, but uh um but what I was just gonna say was uh I think I'm gonna switch a couple of them to long terms. I may keep my duplex as a short term, but I'm like because my midterms are really struggling out in the uh Arkansas right now because it's just uh the slow season's been horrible, man. It's just been horrible. So we're gonna actually convert a couple of them to long terms and then keep a one or two as midterms, but we're gonna transition to that phase of doing long term because they have enough, we can cash flow those long term, like a good cash flow too, like six, seven hundred bucks a month. If I was turning it long term, maybe cash flow about twelve hundred, eleven hundred, twelve hundred. So I was like, I might just attend thirty one and get some more duplexes long-term in those and just cost egg like cost seg them and short-term rental, loophole them for like what that first year, and then get the tax return but buy another one. I'm trying to go that model and then turn the old one into a long term. So I'm kind of getting more passive, passive, you know. So I'm kind of looking at doing that to turn a couple of them into long term and then uh um something else we're working on. But yeah, that's my main thing right now. It's turn a few of them into long term, doing cost eggs and STR the cost benefit, get the money back on your taxes, buy another one. Instead of, you know, right now, it's the real estate market's hard, man. It's hard right now, bro. It's slow too, man. It's it's hard.
SPEAKER_02So it's hard out there for a pimp.
SPEAKER_03Man, it is pimping ain't easy. Straight up, man.
SPEAKER_02Sweating like a pimp with one hoe.
SPEAKER_03There you go.
Converting Arkansas midterms to long-term rentals
SPEAKER_03It's bad out there. So I'm like, man, let's do some long term.
SPEAKER_02So yeah. So so the um, I mean, even section eight, man, that's like the guaranteed money, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I I do I only have one section eight, you know, when it's in that one neighborhood. It's you know, not Dr. Like C D class neighborhood. It's definitely a Section Eight neighborhood. In the heart of Little Rock. So uh yeah, I'm I'm gonna try to do like a regular normal long term. I might do Section Eight. I'm gonna see how much they paying out. I think they were paying out like 13, but like the normal rent was like 15. But this economy right now, people get laid off. They're like, damn, do you want to take that risk? You know what I mean? It's like, damn, do you want to take that risk? So I don't know. I'm kind of playing it by planning out, weighing all my options.
SPEAKER_02So, real real quick, uh, if people don't know what a cost segregation study is, you want to explain that one?
SPEAKER_03Uh yeah, it's like a cost, like if you do you can do it on a burr property or a property, you buy turnkey, because I did it on a turnkey property. Basically, you cost seg the property, they just basically give you what 30 years worth of depreciation in one year, your full however much that is.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, almost, yeah, it is almost because you still get a little bit of depreciation every year afterwards. But they get yeah, the bulk of it you can write off on the first year. But not only that, it's it's let's just say, I don't know, I I'm gonna screw up the numbers, but you bought a house for 250 grand. Yep, they say 50 of the 50 of that's land, so you don't write off any of the land, but you can write off 200 grand, right? On a regular, if you're gonna write it off every year, you know, take off your depreciation every year, you could you could write off 200 grand. What these what the cost segregation people do, they'll see that house that you had you bought for 250 grand, and you know, like I said, you can't write off the land, so leave that 50 50 over there. But that 200 grand part, they'll go in there and they'll count every screw, every piece of wood, every window, every every shingle. You know, they like they'll make that write-off from 200 grand to like 300 grand magically, right? So you can write off, it makes it a bigger write-off for your taxes, and then you can take it, like I said, the bulk of it up front on your one.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So it's worth it. It's worth it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you can get, and then if you have a W-2, you know, you can offset that with the you know, the short-term rental stuff. So it gives you these huge tax breaks, and you get like a nice little tax return back, and you can go buy another property, you know, or the cash you got, you know, you don't have to pay taxes with it, you use that to go buy a property.
SPEAKER_02That's what's beautiful about because like let's say you made a hundred thousand in profit on your Airbnb's last year, right? Pure profit, and you got to write off a hundred thousand dollars for a cross-segregation study. That shows you made zero income. This is freaking nuts, dude.
SPEAKER_03Straight up.
SPEAKER_02But rich people have been doing this forever.
SPEAKER_03Straight up. They have. Um, so it's like one of them things that I'm doing, like doing the cost egg, and it's it's really beautiful. Look into it, get you get you a good CPA, especially if you're doing short-term rentals.
SPEAKER_02Hmm. We so we brought up we brought up um the World Cup last last um last episode. Yeah. I will I will touch on it a little bit.
FIFA World Cup lottery and the $3,200 suite tickets
SPEAKER_02Excuse me. Bless you. Thank you. I used to hit the hit the I couldn't have time to hit the the mute button. I didn't sneezing my ass off. Um I guess I'm in the air, man. This is it's unseasonably warm right now, so it's it's crazy. It's mid-December. Well, December, what, 18th? What 17th? And it's like warm outside. Yeah, yeah, it's nuts. So there's stuff in the air. Anyways, um, I'm not complaining. It could be like three degrees and all the pipes busting everywhere, so I'm not complaining.
SPEAKER_03Don't want that, man. Trust me. Don't want that.
SPEAKER_02So the the World Cup talk, uh I'll I'll I'll add this because we talked about tickets last time. And I actually I said, you know what? Just to see what's going on, and on December 11th, because the we did the podcast before before the the 11th, this the previous one. Uh, but on December 11th, they had uh the FIFA opened up a window where you could enter a lottery to buy World Cup tickets, right? And so yeah, so how that works, it was like uh on December 11th at like 10 a.m. You had to be by your computer or your phone or whatever, and then you like had to be in line to get in. And then then if you're waiting, then after that, you know, okay, they let you in, but you have to like wait in the waiting room for like another you know half hour or so, then they let you to where the tickets are, right? And so right away, I saw two options. You had the option to buy those 50-yard line down at the bottom, and you you have your whole um like it's kind of like a suite area, you know what I'm saying? Like, but down at the bottom, you've seen those fans that are like yeah coming and going from those seats down there in the on right the right on the right on the pitch. They call it the pitch in soccer, right on the field. But but um, so you have your your your your fan um like suite where you're sharing with other people when you're in there, you have food and drink included, right? Which is pretty cool. And wait till I get to the price. So yeah, the food and drink included, then you got a seat up front too. So you got like so it's a luxury thing, and those you could buy immediately, and those were three thousand two hundred dollars a ticket, right?
SPEAKER_033,000 for a hot dog, okay.
SPEAKER_02But you're right there behind behind Messi's ass, I guess. That's pretty cool. Or his bodyguard's ass. But um, so you had those tickets, $3,200. So that and I hit, you know, I grabbed two just to see what's going on, get to the next page, and then it was gonna let me buy them. It's gonna it was gonna be like $7,600 after all the fees and all that shit, right? And so I was like, man, I don't maybe I could make profit of this. And I'm saying maybe because I'm not a scalper, I'm not a professional scalper, it ain't my game, you know. So it ain't my game. There's a lot of variables involved if I did do something like that. I mean, and I say worst worst case scenario, because it was the Argentina versus um Jordan game, you know. And it was the worst case scenario. If I couldn't scalp them or I couldn't get my money back, you know, which I probably could have, and I probably could have made at least double, I'm thinking, you know what I'm saying? Then I worst case scenario, I'd go, I'd I'd have to go to the game. You know, but that's that's a cool that's a cool thing. And when it wasn't a lifetime deal, whatever. But um, but then I was like, you know what, let me just get go to this other part where you can get the regular tickets. And so I got into that section, and it pulled up, and what happens you go to another screen and it shows you like a list of games that you can buy.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_02And there was not all of them were here. It didn't have the Argentina games, it didn't have like the Brazil games, it had some Spain games, it had several different games. Not the ones I really wanted to go see if I was gonna go see them, you know. But they started out at like 200 and something dollars for nosebleeds, and then they went up to like eight. That's what everybody was online pissed off about the price of World Cup tickets, right? This is America, man. We're capitalists. Of course we're gonna of course we're gonna gouge you. Come on, and so they did it in Africa, it was a different story. They had cheaper tickets, you know, and they had the the what they had tick. It's funny because they they allotted a certain when they did the world cup in in South Africa, or or throughout Africa, right? And they that was about eight years ago, I think. And they allot or shit, 12 years ago, they did they allotted like tickets to locals.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And what'd they do? They sold them all to the the people coming in. They sold all their tickets to the people coming in. So hey, they're poor, you know. They they need the money. Uh and so turn up, people would do that here if they did it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, give us a seat. You you have to realize to us, our I mean, to America, soccer ain't as big to uh as to other countries, you know. Like it just not, it just isn't. I mean, I watch it, I mean I like Messi, Granaldo, all that, but to the I mean, America's a football basketball sport, mainly football. I mean, you know, arena. But yeah, I would have sold them too. Oh but yeah, go ahead, go ahead.
SPEAKER_02So, anyways, I I got in line as I was I was getting to looking at those and I was like, well, there's not really anything I want to grab here. Um so I just held off. I was like, man, you know, I'm gonna make the
Choosing family over scalping tickets
SPEAKER_02money on the Airbnbs, and that's cool. Yeah, I'm not a scalper. I could have dropped seven or eight grand to get those, you know, those primo tickets, maybe, but then you know, I don't know. I would I would have probably got I know probably at least got my money back. But then again, I don't know what the rule I didn't know the rules either. I didn't know if I could resell those. That was a major thing too, you know? Yeah, and so and so I mean probably you can, but I don't know. I so I didn't do it. I might kick myself later when I see them online for $20,000 a ticket.
SPEAKER_03Damn, 11,000 down the drain. Nah, it happens, man.
SPEAKER_02I know so I almost did it, but I didn't. But like it always comes back to this, and and um, you know, you hear all these stories about you know, do what you know, right? Yep, do what you know, focus on that. There's always gonna be these shiny objects coming at you, and and um, but if you start trying this and trying that and trying this, and then you you're gonna get burned a lot of times. Yeah, right? You're gonna get burned a lot of times. Whereas just focus on on one thing and do that as good as you can, and you're gonna be successful.
SPEAKER_03I agree. Focus on that one thing, that shiny object syndrome. I mean, it comes back to bite you, man. I remember them arbitrages. I used to just pick up arbitrages, man. It just came back to bite me. You just oh, this two bedrooms available, we'll take it. So, yeah, you gotta focus on what you know. Like, I do the house thing, houses, cash flow long term, we make them short terms, and stick to that. When now we do we learn the cost eggs and the short-term rental tax loophole. We learn in that now, you know what I mean? So yeah, but I like how you said something though. You said something very important that a lot of people miss, and that's why a lot of people don't get started with anything that they do. You said if I buy these tickets, what's the worst case scenario?
The $6,000 Disney cruise vs. one soccer game
SPEAKER_03If you can live with the worst case scenario, you can always pull the trigger on whatever it is that you're looking to do, you know. Worst case scenario, because I know, like you said, worst case scenario. If I can't sell the tickets, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I go to see Messi, you know, playing for Argentina. But you know, and if I can sell the tickets, it's a win, you know, it's a win-win situation. You know, everything's a win-win situation.
SPEAKER_02So but then I was thinking too, man, I was like, so I'm gonna go drop, you know, seven or eight grand on these two tickets to go watch a soccer game, right?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, cool.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you get to hang out in the suite, eat and drink for free, and you watch the soccer game, which lasts about an hour, uh, an hour and a half, whatever. You know, that's yeah, and then it's done. You're gonna go home, you know, go fight traffic and go home. And I was like, that's more than uh, and I already priced it out, uh a five-day Disney cruise with me and my family. And I was like, easy. Speaking of that, how much was that Disney cruise? I think that one came out to like it came around to six grand. About six grand for five days. This one was uh it's in like December. Uh not in Christmas December, but like in around December. And it's leaving out of Galveston just coming up here.
SPEAKER_032026?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03That ain't bad, bro. I'll hop on that. It's not too bad.
SPEAKER_02And and because you can just drive down there.
SPEAKER_03You ain't got it.
SPEAKER_02And and um, yeah, I'll let you I'll send you the thing. I'll I like I hadn't bought I hadn't bought it yet, but our agent, our agent we use, shout out to Lucy, her and her family are going so y'all should grab tickets. It's like, all right, let me see about let me see it see about doing that, you know. And um, I'll send you the dates too if we if we do choose those dates. Um, but it's the first uh Disney Cruise leaving out of Texas, out of Galveston. Oh, that's what's up. Because all of them would all of them were going out of me and stuff, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So this is the first one that they're gonna have coming out of Texas. So that's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, let me know how those are. Um the tickets. I'm I I've been trying to go on one. Um, like my friends, they always say, Man, you gotta be prepared. It's straight kids, kid things. I hear I heard it. It ain't no beer and stuff on there.
SPEAKER_02No, they got all they got all you do stuff. Oh, yeah. They do. Okay, good, all the drinks, all the partying, all the stuff. There's actually there's like a front part of the boat. My friend's been on it.
SPEAKER_03Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_02Front part of the boat where it's adults only. Okay, so you can leave your kids at these, like I guess these kid zones where they watch them and all that stuff. It's all enclosed and stuff like that. So they have they have those areas that I hear about, but they do have an adults-only area part of it. Okay, cool. There's a lot of adults that are like Disney heads for some reason.
SPEAKER_03There are, bro. So they go on those Disney cruises, man. Yeah, they do. It is, it is a lot of people that are Disney heads. Yeah, I've noticed that. Like the kids, they just go in, yeah. They're still into princesses. Possibly pedophiles. That's just weird, bro. Like, nah, bro. I can't have you on the cruise ship.
SPEAKER_02You probably just pissed off a whole segment of our listeners.
SPEAKER_03I'm just saying, not saying all y'all, but y'all, it's the people that that's why Roblox is getting shut down.
SPEAKER_02Hell I mean I'm for real, man. Isn't that what those lawsuits I keep getting emails about? Roblox lawsuits.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, man. It's some weirdos out there, bro. If you're a Disney head, no offense to you, just the ones who are weird. But uh, yeah, yeah, but yeah, I for sure. I would definitely like to go on one. Like you said, you could Airbnb your property, you know, for the few days the FIFA's going on. Make your money because you know,
Steve's 1996 standby flight to see Jordan's last shot
SPEAKER_03I've I've I've been hearing a lot of people saying they're doing it. You know, I'm gonna set up an Airbnb, you know, during FIFA. Like you'll probably get five grand. One thing I
SPEAKER_02Wanted to touch on the FIFA the FIFA tickets thing that made me think of okay, you know, you're scalper scalping is not a hundred percent guaranteed, right? Not a hundred percent guaranteed. And why I say that back when I was I was twenty years old. So that's uh eighteen years ago. Wait a minute. Is that that's more than 18, right? No, tw I'm 48. So minus 10, 18. I can't even do math right now. 48 minus minus yeah minus 20.
SPEAKER_0128 yeah.
SPEAKER_0330 years ago. No, 30 years ago would have been 10. Not bad. No, you've been 18. I'm sorry, 18.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, 30 years ago I was eighteen. Yeah. So 31 years ago, I was 19. Okay. No, but okay, so 32 28 years ago. Sorry, I'm just bad at math right now. I could have just grabbed the calculator and put pause. Uh but or ask AI, hey, yeah. Uh, anyways, uh a crap load of time ago. I went I was uh I just started American Airlines, right? And so um, and I was watching, and I I'll get to the to the punch of the story, but I was watching uh game five of the Bulls versus Utah Jazz. Oh yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_03Did I tell you the story before? Yeah, because you the you told this story like on the first one, but go ahead, tell the story because it was a cool story, it was a cool story.
SPEAKER_02So we were at my uh our buddies' house, you know, drinking, watching the game, and this was that was see, people don't even talk about that. Game five was supposed to be Michael Jordan's, you know, final game as a bull. He's gonna win the championship at home, it's gonna be this huge deal, and they freaking lost the game. And I I was watching, and I told my buddies, I said, and it was getting down to the wire. I was like, man, it don't look good. I was like, if if the bulls lose this game, I'm gonna go hop on a plane and go to Utah and watch them in game six. And my buddies, yeah, right, yeah, right. No, for real, man. You know, it's not just the drink talking. I'm gonna go get on a plane and get over there. You don't have a ticket. Well, I'll find a ticket, and I just want to watch, I've never seen him live. I want to watch him live, you know. And this is my last chance, probably. And so, um, because I didn't know it was called the last dance, but you know, we found out that later. But everybody knew, I mean, it was like on the news, everybody kind of knew that Jordan wasn't gonna stay, you know, that they were gonna gut the team. That was the talk of the that was the talk of the of the town back then, and um, and so, anyways, the sure enough, the Bulls lost, and um, I told my buddies, all right, I'm gonna start researching. And um, so you know, the the game was a few days later on a Sunday in Utah. And I I have Mormon friends, right? And so it was in Salt Lake City. Oh I have Mormon friends, so I know that Sundays, I was like, well, that's good for me because on Sundays, they're not really allowed to do anything. They really take the Sabbath really, really seriously. Now, a lot of them still probably go to the a lot of them did go to the game, but there's probably gonna be a lot of them that are that are more strict about it that aren't gonna go. Okay, and so because it falls on a Sunday in Mormon in the in the heart of Mormon, you know, Bill. Um, and so which now it's funny because there's so many Mormon shows now, right? And Mormon wives and all this stuff. Oh yeah. It's like a it's like a big thing now. But anyways, so I knew that one fact. I knew that one fact. I called, I started calling um back then, open the yellow pages. I called Texas tickets. That's all I was like, well, there's I guess I'll call what okay, Texas tickets. Hey, you know, I'm I'm gonna go to the Chicago Bulls and um and um Utah Jazz game, uh the playoff game. How much can I get tickets for? He's like, okay, let me see. We do have some, they're in the very top uh $400 a ticket. And this is I'm 20 years old, I don't have $400. Back then you could rent a whole place for under $400, you know, for a bunch. It's like a whole apartment, anyways. Um, I didn't have it. I was like, man, that's that's that that's too much, you know. My brother, I told my brother about my idea, and he said, Oh, if you find some tickets, I might go with you. All right, cool. And I told him, man, it's not looking good. All they have is like $400 tickets everywhere on calling, their nose bleeds, you know. Yeah, and then dudes on the phone, you know, high pressure cell. Yeah, you gotta get them now, they're gonna go, man. You know, Jordan's last game, blah, blah. I was like, all right, man, I I can't I can't do it, man. It's like, so what I did, long story longer, I said, you know, I'm gonna just gonna fly standby. I'm gonna hop on a plane and get my ass to Salt Lake City. You know, that was my idea. I'm gonna go to fly to Salt Lake City and I'll see what happens. Maybe I'll buy one out there in the stadium. Yeah, and um, so I got to Salt Lake City. I didn't have any plan, dude. I just got a flight. Actually told the flight attendant on the plane. I was like, hey, um you know, I I hit my little bing, you know, they come into your city. Can I help you, sir? I was like, yeah, I just um is there any way you can make an announcement on the plane if anybody has an extra ticket to tonight's game? Hey man, I'm young and dumb trying whatever, right? That ain't young and dumb, that's young and ambitious. Ambitious. And so she kind of chuckled. She's like, she's like, oh, okay, yeah, let me go do that. And then and she and she um she went to the front of the plane. Hey, um, hey everybody. Uh a young gentleman in seat 21A, and everybody looking back at me and is wondering if anybody has an extra ticket to tonight's uh tonight's game, tonight's bulls and jazz game. And the whole plane just started laughing at me, man. They started, I was like, like, I didn't know. It's like a hot ticket, man. And so sorry, sir, and then she came back. Nobody, I guess nobody has one. It's like, all right, well, I'll see what I can find over there, you know. Yeah, so I get to Salt Lake City and um get off the plane, and I don't even know, I don't have a place to stay. I don't have nothing. I just gonna show up and try to watch the game. And I didn't know the airport was like way up here, and the city's like way down here. I didn't know how to get to the to the city.
SPEAKER_04Oh, damn.
SPEAKER_02And so I I was just out there standing out front of the airport, you know, where people pick people up. And this is before the Uber times and all that stuff. This is olden days, man. I guess they had taxis, but I couldn't.
SPEAKER_03Actually, they had to talk to people.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Back then, taxes was 50 bucks a trip anywhere you wanted to go. Taxis were expensive back in the house. Hell yeah. Hell yeah, they were. Before Uber, man, they just they had a monopoly. You had that's all you could choose from.
SPEAKER_03You know what? Go ahead. I'm gonna talk about that too, about taxes.
SPEAKER_02Anyway, so I um I talked to one of those those bus, those um shuttle buses that goes to the hotels, right? And I and I asked one of the guys, I think it was the the Radisson or one of those hotels. I asked, Oh, I was standing there, he said, Oh sir, you you go into the hotel? Because I was standing there with my luggage, and I was like, no, well, I don't I don't really have a a room or nothing. I just he goes, Oh, okay. Where are you going? Are you, you know, what are you in town for? I was like, Well, I'm gonna I'm in town trying to get a ticket to tonight's game. I don't have any, I don't got a place to stay, I don't got anything. I just gonna I just wanna well I didn't I would I didn't have any bags because I you know I just I don't need a bags I'm not I'm not gonna stay there like for days, right? So I just showed up in my clothes and the guy's just talking to me. It's white dude, you know, it's Salt Lake, so it's all white people. Basically super nice, it was the nicest people I ever met, man. They say Texas are nice. I don't know. He ain't been to all the Texas cities. Um but but this guy's like I told him, yeah, I just I just wanted to show up and try to get a ticket to the nice game. He's like, really? That's that's pretty cool, man. He's like, you know what? You know, just hop in, man. I'll take you down there to downtown. And so I hopped in the shuttle, and and man, it's taking me back to like the days when I wasn't afraid to ask for shit, you know. And it's funny because once you when you ask for things, things kind of you know, people want to help you out, right? It's pretty cool. Uh yeah, like they say, ask the universe or whatever. But anyways, so the guy gives me a ride. There was a couple other passengers, I guess, but he gave me a ride downtown to the to you know where the Radisson or whatever. And um he's like, So what is your plan? How are you gonna get a ticket? I said, Oh, I don't know. I guess I was gonna hold up a sign. I need one ticket, you know, out there. It's like he's like, Well, do you have any do you have anything to ride on? I was like, I don't got nothing. He's like, okay, come in, hop in the hotel with me, hop in the hotel right here, the the lobby. He's like, I go get you some cardboard and I get you a marker and we'll you know we'll ride it out. Okay, cool. So hey, good. I wrote out I need one ticket. And uh thanks, bro. He's like, well, how where's the stadium? Oh, just go down, you know, this it's a downtown city, right? And so you just go down that way, and then you turn left, and it was a few blocks away from the hotels, right? All right, cool, man. Thanks for the oh yeah, good luck, man. I hope I hope you get the ticket. It's like cool. And so I went down and just walked there, and I'm like across the street from the stadium, and I'm just start holding my sign up. I got there like four hours before the game, right? Yeah, and so I didn't have a ticket or nothing as all the people started congregating and everything. And um, and it was uh it was a it was a bunch of brothers out there scalping, right? I guess they came in from LA and stuff. It was a bunch of brothers, sure as hell one from Utah. Yeah, yeah. You know the scalping game, you've been there, it's it's a bunch of brothers. Hey brother, I got you, man. What you need? What you know, because they're holding up signs, I need one ticket too. But they just their game is they want to buy up all the tickets and create a monopoly and then sell them to actual people that need them. So they're all they're out the the guy that holding up the ticket. That's this is back in the day. I don't even know how it works anymore. But back in the day, the guy holding up I need one ticket or I need two tickets, those are probably scalpers
The $50 ticket nobody thought he'd find
SPEAKER_02most of the time, right? Yeah, so to me, he's like, Hey, do you you really need a ticket? You know, one of the guys, I was like, Yeah, yeah, I actually I need a ticket to nice games. Okay, man, I got you, bro. I got you. I got you $400. I was like, I said, Man, I ain't got $400. Well, well, how much you want to spend? You know, trying to negotiate with me. I'm like, I'm like, I want to spend $50. He's like, ah, he just started laughing at me, right? He's like, this this guy wants to spend $50 for Michael George's last game, all this stuff, you know. I was like, come on, man. I it's $350, man. I got you. It's like, man, I said I want to spend $50. I was like, that's all I got. He's like, man, all right, what uh you ain't gonna get it, but whatever. And so they he walked away. Another guy hit me up, man. I'll get you one, you know, $300. I get you. I said, dude, I said, I want to spend $50. That's all I got, that's all I can spend. He's like, he's like, ah, man, you ain't gonna get it for that. Come on, man. This is Michael Jordan's last game, you know, same spill. Yeah, and so it just kept happening, you know, it just kept happening over and over. Finally, uh it was a white dude actually. He came up to me and said, Hey, you're the $50 man, right? I guess I gotta follow my I was like, yeah, he's like, All right, man, I got I got a I got a ticket for you. I was like, Oh, cool. He's like, um, okay, he's like, we we have to walk across the street to the stadium to and they had you know they they scan them there at the stadium to make sure they're real, yeah, and then we walk back across the street and make the the transaction, right? Gotcha, okay and so it's like a legal legal drug deal. Yeah, yeah. You can scalp on the other side, you can't scalp on the ground. So make sure the drugs are good, you know. Yeah, they stepped on. And so so we did that, went back, got fifty bucks, I got my ticket, man. I was like, oh shit. And so I didn't have um any bulls gear because I was on a chair for Jordan, of course, you know. Yeah, and so I was like, I was like, man, I got like I had like you know two and a half hours to spare before even the game was gonna start. I was like, I I started walking around, I gotta find me a mall or something. Like I said, this is before cell phone times where you could look where everything was. You had to start, you had to actually look for things back in the day. Put in some effort, yeah, some foot effort. And so I started walking around. I just walked up to this lady. I was like, excuse me, ma'am. You know, this is back, you know, I had my hair all painted like you know, freaking Rodman and shit. But back in the day, I you know, I had piercings all over, my tattoos showing. I was I was you know young punk. And so I asked this lady, I was like, hey ma'am, um, do you know where a mall, a shopping mall is? And she's like, Oh, yeah, yeah, you go this way. She's pushing a stroller too, the white lady, like I said, thought late. And then so she's like, she's like, it's yeah, you go this way. You know what? Just walk with me, I'll show you. It's like, damn, you know, this is weird. Nice ass people, weird Mexican asking this white lady, and it's like she trusting me, and yeah, and she just talking and just telling her about why I'm there and all that stuff. And I get there, and I bought I bought a Jordan, a Jordan jersey, yeah, and and um, and like a do-rag and shit, you know. So I got all you know ready for the to go to the game, and I walked to the to the to the stadium and I got in there and I and um actually I saw you know,
Jordan's final shot and partying with the Bulls
SPEAKER_02it's funny too. I'm I met some guys out the um where did I meet them? Oh, they they said, Oh, you're a Bulls fan. So I met some guys either on the grounds or in the in the stadium, and they're like, hey, come sit with us. Because mine were kind of high, you know, it was kind of high. But these guys said, hey, come sit with us, there's some extra seats with us. So I got like real low. Like, I mean, it was badass seats, you know. And so I was sitting with those dudes for most of the game until like um until like at like second half, um those same those same brothers, the scalpers, started showing up because those guys were what happened, those guys were eating a lot of tickets. They couldn't sell them, man. Because like I said, it was Mormon town, right? And so a lot of them, so a lot of Mormons were trying to go out there and sell their tickets. You know, you saw I saw them driving by and those, you know, they'd hover around them, and the scalpers would buy up all those tickets. Those those the people were like driving by and they stopped their car and they're selling their tickets to them because you know, a lot of them couldn't, they're not supposed to do nothing on Sundays, and and so and so um those guys had to go sit down and go to the game because they bought all these tickets, right? Even the flight attendants I met on the plane, they were sitting there, they had tickets too, man. They were all everybody was going to the game for the so it was just wow, it was just uh opportunity, man. Yeah, and so um after those guys arrived, hey, those are my those are my seats. I was all right, cool, man. And I just went up to my seat, right? And and just watched the rest of the game. I saw Jordan, you know, the last shot, and Jordan, you know, holding his hand up in the air and boom, they're hitting that last shot. Another part of the story, it was a long story, sorry. But this is good. Another part of the story that people don't talk about, Stockton came down after that, after Jordan's last shot, you know, to win the game, they still had the they still got the ball back.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And they drove down the court, and Stockton had a wide open three, man, and it went boom-boom, it bounced out. So they almost they almost lost it. That would have been Stockton's moment. And then they would have had, I think game seven was gonna be in Chicago. No, no, it was in Utah. It was gonna be in Utah. Game seven. So people were so people were saying, man, if it goes game seven, I think Utah's gonna take it. You know, like people were saying, yeah. So they really needed that game, and um, because the momentum was swinging the other way, because they would that would have won them two in a row and then going into game seven. Because I think they back then they did two two three-two format, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think they still do that. Is that right? I think yeah, it used to be. I thought it was one, one. Yeah, it may have been. I think so. Yeah, but I think they went back to three, two, two, three, two. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um I remember I would have had to sleep on the street and then get another ticket. Now, game seven, that'd have been a different story, probably. Because then all the Mormons can go to that one.
SPEAKER_03It's like that'd have been expensive tickets straight up. Because yeah, that uh that game six, that last that last like three possessions. I think people they remember the shot, but like the last three possessions of that game, Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman were like on a streak. Because remember, Jordan hit the layup, and then they came down, Stockton passed the ball to Malone in the paint, and Jordan acted like he was gonna follow Hornack, and he passes to Malone. Jordan turned back around, hit the ball out of the tank. Yeah, yeah, he stole the ball. He was like, Yeah, that was it was a that was like a legendary segment, man. Then Jordan dribbled the ball down, and then the announcer, he's like, this could be the moment. This is gonna be uh, what is it? Are we going to game seven or is it gonna be championship number six? And Jordan pushed off on Russell, hit the three. It was like, man, I remember that game. I was in Tacoma watching that game. I was like seven years old. I was in Tacoma, Washington, watching that game, bro.
SPEAKER_02He didn't push off, he guided him. He just let it he just let his momentum take him, and then he had the open shot.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, man. It was that was good.
SPEAKER_02I was interviewed by the Chicago News too, because they saw me all, yeah, because I went down to the lower bowl after they won the the Champions. And uh because you know, a lot of there was it was just all Bulls fans after that, just in the lower bowl, just watching them do the trophy presentation and stuff. And Chicago News interviewed me and stuff. And I said, What do you think you think of the game? I was like, Jordan, is Jordan all Jordan? Yeah, I just that's all I remember saying. I was just all this is a crazy experience, man. And so I partied with those guys that that were there from Chicago. Yeah, he went to the double tree where the bulls were staying, and and uh and I met um ah darn it, what's his name? Uh he played for the Bulls. What position? Uh um geez, I'm trying to think. He's he was bald, big nose. What's his name? Von Harper. Harper, I met Harper, yeah. He went down to the bar and he brought the trophy down. And see, I don't know, because I don't they had all trophies with them, but he had one of the trophies, like the championship trophy, and we got to take pictures, and I put my arm around the trophy, I'm holding it up, and I got Harper there, and he had a big old black bodyguard, man, with him too, you know. And we were just all it's like, I don't know what happened to those photos because like it wasn't on phones, man. So I know and I tell my friends, I got to hold the Jordan's trophy, man. He's like, nah, you didn't, man. You don't have proof. No, that's the thing, man. Nobody has proof, man. So me and Harper, yeah, we're chilling at the bar and he's smoking a big old cigar and stuff. And it was it was cool, man. And then we saw all the before that, we saw all the bulls coming through the like right in the middle, there's where all the elevators are. So they go through the they enter the double tree, and in the middle, so we we're all hovering around where the elevators are. If you watch the the last dance, the very last segment, it shows them going in and going up those elevators. Yeah, I'm on the other side. I couldn't make I was oh I couldn't make myself up because it's kind of blurry in the background, but I'm there. I'm one of those fans in the back watching them all go up the elevator. So I'm I'm in the last dance.
SPEAKER_03Dang, man. That's a but that's like a cool moment to tell people. Like right now, like, hey, I was there Jordan's last shot. I was in the building because it's only what a few thousand people that can say they were in there in that moment because that's a legendary moment, man. Straight up.
SPEAKER_02Man, it was uh it was cool. I have a story for all my life, you know. It was pretty neat, man.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, man. That was what's up. That's what's up.
SPEAKER_02I made it back to the airport somehow that night after drinking and partying with those guys because I didn't have a place to stay. So made it back to the to the airport. I just slept in the airport and then took a flight out the next the next morning or so.
SPEAKER_03Oh man, that's a cool that's a cool experience, bro. To do that when you were 18, 19, hop up on a flight.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I was 20 years. Uh it was in 19 or 20. Yeah, somewhere around. Yeah, one of those two ages. I was I was young, I was too young to to drink, but I was just, you know, kind of with the crowd and just the crowd.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the crowd. That's that's all you gotta be sometimes is with the crowd, blend in, do what you gotta do, man.
SPEAKER_02But see, is it I guess you know, the moral to this story, and what I was saying about the scalping thing, I just remember that experience. Those scalpers must have lost a lot of money that night. It's not a hundred percent guaranteed, you know, because they ate all those tickets. But I'm not saying that's gonna happen in the World Cup if I would have got those $3,000 tickets, but I mean, anything
Why scalpers aren't guaranteed to win
SPEAKER_02can happen, right? Yeah, anything can happen. I mean Um Trump might start arresting everybody at the stadiums and nobody goes to the game.
SPEAKER_03Man, I've been talking to uh I was talking to my co-workers because we have to prepare for the World Cup, you know, make sure everything's ready and prepared and everybody's like worried about like they started talking about the political side, like what if something happens? I'm like, I don't know, I'm not worried about it. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. You know, I mean be on alert, but don't make that your main thing, you know. Because it it's gonna be it's been a while since we had a World Cup over here. 90s 90s something in the 90s?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was like 96 or so. Yeah, something like that.
SPEAKER_03And I don't think we're near I don't think we're we would we're gonna and I don't think the 96 crowd is gonna be like this crowd, because I think we're I think I'm pretty sure DFW is probably gonna get the largest crowd. Just simply be you get messy for two games, bro. You get crowd's gonna be crazy.
SPEAKER_02His last, yeah, his last World Cup too, man. His last World Cup. So you get it.
SPEAKER_03Oh you might want Steve might want to go scalp, bro. Like I was there for Jordan's last one, I was there for Messi's last one.
SPEAKER_02I know, right? That would have been something. That's a legendary life right there, man.
SPEAKER_03For real.
SPEAKER_02But I guess that you know, the moral of that story just goes to show, I mean, there's always a way. I mean, I didn't know I didn't have a plan, but I knew what I wanted, and I got it. You know, it's pretty neat.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that it see, you knew what you wanted and you didn't have a plan. If you know what you want, bro, the world is yours, man. That's what's up, man. That's what's up.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, build build the parachute on the way down, right?
SPEAKER_03Yep. There you go. Sometimes you gotta do it.
SPEAKER_02So how do we how do we segue from that story to to something else? You got something good?
SPEAKER_03Oh no, I think you had a bunch of stuff on your no, you talked about the scalpers right here.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Oh, you were talking about cash out refines? You're doing a cash out.
SPEAKER_02I did a cash out refi. So I got I got some money in the bank. But but with that, I uh you know, I could get another whatever house, another regular schmegular house that's uh
The 7.35% cash-out refi to buy ten houses, not one
SPEAKER_02uh on market, you know, paying market price for it. But I I I I told my strategy to my agent, I don't want to buy one house with this money, I want to buy ten houses with this money. You know, I want to I want to go find some owner finance deals, put as little down as possible, and buy and buy as many houses as possible. You know, that's the new now.
SPEAKER_03You you this is really good stuff because like right now you said you did a cash out refi. So like what kind of rate did you get on the cash out?
SPEAKER_02Well, you know the rates are not the best right now, but I got like 7.35.
SPEAKER_037.35. Okay. You can still cash flow on a 7.3?
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. I still cash flow. It's one of the past split houses. Oh one of the pass split houses. So my my um yeah, my mortgage is gonna be 2100 bucks, but I'm making like um uh about 4,000 a month on that house. So it's still cash flowing, and I can use that money to get another cash flowing property.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, you you're doing the right thing because I think right now you have to kind of you have to get into different rental strategies, and I think Pat sold at one of them. And I think that type of, you know, doing a cash out refi on that, you know, because like right now, I have a 7.125 on one of them and it cash flows even long term because that's the one I was like, man, I could turn some of these into long term, because that's like my I got two seven percent right now. So one of them I have I'm about to put up for sale and then no, it is for sale right now, but then I'm trying to I'm considering like maybe doing a 1031 because if I I'm maybe get bigger units, so yeah, man. I didn't know you did a cash out, man. But yeah, and also rates like DSCR rates, like I was listening to Brandon.
SPEAKER_02That was D S C R That was D S Cr.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, like DSCR rates are coming down pretty low. Like uh some people are starting to see them at like better than the regular traditional conventional loans right now.
SPEAKER_02I'm like, damn, yeah, it's a lot easier, it's a lot easier.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so it's interesting, interesting.
SPEAKER_02Because this was a DSCR um cash out cash out refi. So I didn't have to go to the banks and you know, that whole process. My buddy's doing uh a HELOC on his house, my buddy Warren, and he's like, Man, this is taking forever. I've been doing this for months, and it's like they're but he's going through a traditional bank.
SPEAKER_03They're uh yeah, they're they're making HELOCs a little harder right now because I tried to get an increase on mine, they denied it. Oh shit. Yeah, they denied my increase. I was like, damn, are you real? They're like, Yeah, we're just kind of holding back, pulling back right now. That's why I was kind of I was a little bit worried about the housing market in 2026 because it's real slow right now, and then it's like people really just can't afford to buy and own right now. So I was I was even telling like uh I was talking to one of my co-workers the other day that she said she was trying to buy a house. I was like, you might want to look at getting a duplex and house hacking, getting something like that for your starter home. That's what I would do, or a four-plex so you can house hack and then move on because it's hard to buying a house right now is expensive and stuff sitting a long time.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, this opportunity for us, exactly. You know, you know, and that and that's the thing. People talk about well, I I'll say I'll say regular people, people that aren't investors. They'll talk about oh, the rates, oh, they're they're too high, I can't buy a house. And we look at it as opportunity. We're like, that's keeping all the competition away. So this house that they want to sell for 300 grand, we're gonna try to get for 250, you know, because it ain't selling. Now, if rates, if rates drop back down to three and four percent again, everybody's gonna try that buy that house. It's gonna be for go from you know, yeah, 300 to 400, 400,000. Right straight up. So it's it's it's always it's all relative.
SPEAKER_03And it goes back to it, like in a market like this, you just gotta be educated, bro. You just have to educate yourself on what's going on. That's why I was like, like first-time home buyers right now. I think y'all have a really good opportunity when it comes to like small multifamily. This is a perfect time to house hack. Like, that's the thing about real estate. You just gotta change with it, change with the game. Um, but yeah, we're talking about like how you're talking about those taxis back in the day. I was talking to I was talking to a friend of mine, and he was like, How he doesn't he doesn't really like Uber because it put taxis out of business. I'm like, Taxis were expensive as hell, man. Like, you were like they monopolized it, and then they charge these outrageous prices. I'm like, Uber, the everyday dude, can go start up his own Uber business, have an Uber, and then charge you three-quarters of the price. I'm like, man, I'm I'm not glad taxis went out of business, but shit.
SPEAKER_02It was a racket, man. Because I'll tell you this. I remember when I had to take one, you know, and just if you remember taking taxi back in the day, probably still today, I don't haven't been in taxi forever. But you you just see that freaking meter going up and up and up, three dollars, four dollars, ten dollars, so god dang it, man. When is it gonna stop? You know, he stops at a red light. That fucking meter's still going up. I'm like, what is going on? You know, and who knows if those meters are on the up and up, you know, back in the day. If they hit a little button, make it pat it a little faster, you know what I'm saying? You get where you're going and it's 40, 50 bucks, and it's like, damn, you know, it's not even that far. But that's how it was back in the day. And see, so you had to, you know, hopefully you could split it with a buddy or something like that, but it was expensive. Whereas Uber, as everybody probably knows, it tells you the price up front. I'm gonna take you here, it's gonna be 12 bucks, and you know the price. You're not gonna get a surprise at the end, you know, that it's gonna be a $50 trip going down the road to to Win Dixie because that is still a straight up, man.
SPEAKER_03It was a racket, bro. Like, I think a lot of these, like the the share economy thing, it stopped a lot of it. A lot of people just don't like it. I'm like, man, I mean, you know me, I'm not a huge Airbnb person, but I see what it, you know, it it did create like a little extra thing for like outside of hotels. If you got a whole family traveling, man, we ain't trying to stay in no damn hotel. We got to get six different rooms playing the same price for every room, you know. Hey, we can go get a big Airbnb. Let's do it, you know. And then that market, you know, that market before Airbnb came around, that market was tapped by the like um like timeshare resorts. They used to, because they were the ones that started the hotels with the kitchens that sleep six, eight people, and now you know you get Airbnb. So I do see the value in like the whole Airbnb process or whatever. I I do love that value, you know what I mean? Because I personally only stay with stay in them when I have like huge family, like we're about to go to San Diego in 2027, and it's gonna be a bunch of us. I'm like, let's get like one or two big ass Airbnbs and go, you know.
SPEAKER_02You know what I like about this show? What I know uh we might not be the most technical and giving you all the exact numbers and all that stuff. We're not you know okay, we're not that, you know. But we have fun. We we talk, we we talk, we talk shop, and we and people say they like it. Okay, cool. We like that. Um but it's not that show. But what I love about the show, besides that
Documenting the journey vs. journaling regret later
SPEAKER_02we're we're trying to give people some information, is that um we're documenting our journey. Straight up. That's what I miss about we're doing it every week or you know, sometimes twice a week, is like we can look back and it's like, oh, I listened to the whole episode. Oh yeah, I remember when that that happened and I was going through that, you know, that eviction or whatever that was going on, you know. Otherwise, and and I see a lot of you know, I'm listening to a lot of uh uh podcast about the founders of these companies, and and a lot of them, the the regret is they you know they write their books later and stuff. They went through all this muck, they went to to build this this crazy multi-billion dollar company, but all the stuff that they they started and doing. He goes, that was the you know, that was the funnest part, you know, building something from scratch and all these, you know, these these emergencies or all these stressful situations that we figured out and this and that. He goes, I just wish I would have journaled, or I wish I would have, you know, you know, recorded it more of it to remember exactly what happened when it happened, you know. And that's what is cool about this show, what we get out of it, you know. We're we're remembering these these experiences that we're having along this um you know, short-term, midterm, corporate whatever journey that we're going on, business journey.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I I actually like that too. It's like because like when you're going like you're going through the eviction thing, and I remember when I was going through those five units that were just giving me a headache, it's like it seems like it's the end of the world, but you learn how to adjust and go through it during that time, man. I'm actually reading this really good book called Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. And she's like, don't ever just focus too much on the future, you know. If you know something, something's gonna come up, you know, something's gonna come up with your business. She goes, just have the mindset of I'll handle it. It's like repeat that to yourself. I'll handle it. You know, when it comes up, I'll handle it. And I'm like, dang, you know, and I think that's what this journey is, man. It's just how much, how, how willing, how much are you willing to step up and handle it? You know, because it's always gonna be changes. The when the when I left my job and the interest rates shot up like 7%, and I'm like, damn. So, you know, it's it's and then now I'm like, dang, I gotta get a dang freaking DSCR loan at 11% to stick with my butt, you know. So I'm like, dang, you know, but you know, I had to figure out, figure it out. Like, okay, maybe I gotta go back to my job. I gotta go sit so I can get some more doors. You know, you just learn how to adapt, and that's what I'm loving. That yeah, we we definitely gotta make sure we're recording every week because man, we got a lot of good stories. We need to like maybe for like episode 350 or 330 or something, we just have like a recap episode of where we started and then where we are now, and then like recap everything we went through to get to where we are.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that would be cool, man. Started from the bottom, now we're here. We're here, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Because yeah, I think people like people like forget that the beauty is in the journey, man. It really is.
SPEAKER_02It is, dude. It is and um that's why I love listening to these these podcasts about these founders because they went through some stuff, man. I mean, we think we've gone through some stuff, but they they've been gone through like on the border of the verge of bankruptcy, you know, and lawsuits left and right, and all this fighting with their partner, you know, business partners at the time, and just stuff that most people give up, man. Most people give up. But the ones that stick around and just and just fight through it, you know, yeah, you're gonna make it. It's just it's just sometimes it's really hard and you're just stressed, man. You probably got some gray hairs because of it.
SPEAKER_03But uh my beard, man. Like, damn, gray's coming.
SPEAKER_02I got mine's white, man. But um, yeah, that's what I was just thinking of that. I'm glad we're we're documenting the journey.
SPEAKER_03Straight up, man. I love I love that we're doing it, man. I love it. I love it.
SPEAKER_02I and and I wrote that down to you. I said every time you grow in business, you become less afraid of things, especially our business. You know, you become less afraid of like we mentioned, uh, evictions, bad guests, and stuff like that. I I kind of laugh when I talk to newbies, right? They're like, oh man, but aren't you afraid uh you're someone's gonna squat? I said, nah, man, not anymore. I guess I was in the beginning, but I I've been through that and I know how to handle it now. So it's like it's like I'm not afraid of it. You know, if it happens, oh well, it sucks, but I know how to get through it. It's not gonna stop me from from taking chances and moving forward, right? But um, but we just we just learn how to deal with situations. Like, I mean, I learned about the the private security through Mike Brown, you know, for for handling most of the situations. And just every time it's like there's what do they say? The uh I should quote Shakespeare. My favorite Shakespeare quote: sweet are the uses of adversity. And so every time something bad happens, something good comes out of it.
SPEAKER_03Right up, and it you only find that good by the way you're looking at the situation, too. If you're looking at the situation, oh, it's all bad. But if you look at the situation like, okay, what can I learn from this? Man, that that's where the power comes from, bro. That's why I don't that's why I tell people don't live life with regrets. Find out what you learned in the process, and that gives you your power. Because if you just want to live in regret, it makes you powerless.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, man, that is for real. And I think there was times going through that stuff, you know, um, when when I would be like, man, why didn't
Why clocking out means the money stops
SPEAKER_02I just why didn't I even get into this? I should just quit. You know, I see people at work, all they do is clock in, do their 40 or a little overtime if they want more money, and then they don't have to worry about none of this stuff. But then you look behind the the veil of a lot of those people that are doing that, there's no end inside. Because the whole time they're doing that 40 hours, you know, work week, or maybe adding a little bit overtime to pay for stuff, they're just buying more stuff and getting deeper into debt. And there's and and they're not saving for retirement properly, they're not investing a lot, you know. I'm saying it's just that's how most people are.
SPEAKER_03And I I've I I've been to that journey too. Like, where you like, oh, I don't want to do this anymore. Then I thought about it. I just like really thought about deeply of who I am. I'm like, if I were to just clock in and come home to my kids, I wouldn't be able to give my family my all because I wouldn't be fulfilled. Like, that ain't what I want. So, like, I want more. You know, I want like I'm not more like I want to be doing more. I want to actually show my kids because then I have more to give to my kids because now I can be like, hey, this is how I did it. This is how you can invest in real estate. I have something to give them. You can't pass them no damn job. Like, come on. I mean, you can get a degree. I I I want them to go get a degree or whatever, but we can't pass them a job, bro. You know what I mean? But you can I can pass you my know-how, I can pass you my intellectual property all day, you know. So I that that's what I always thought about too. I'm like, would I even be satisfied if I were to quit? I wouldn't. I'd probably probably be depressed, you know?
SPEAKER_02Right, right. That yeah, that's true. Cause it's I mean and I've been in that situation too where that was it. Is it is this it? The nine to five, this is it? There's nothing else to this. I you don't make and and I of course I don't really I don't rub it in my friends' faces or nothing like that. But if they start asking me about the business and stuff like that, about why I'm doing it and everything, I'm like, well check, I just tell them, check it out. You can make good money at this job. Then if you want to make a little extra money, you work overtime. But when you're not here clocked in, you're not making one penny from this job. The only way you're gonna make any money in life is by clocking in. And while you're clocked in. And then you clock out, you're that clock stops, you're not making one penny. I said, that's I'm making money right now while I'm at the job. I'm making money from my business. When I go home, clock out, I'm still making money. When I go to sleep, I'm still making money. I said, that's my motivation. Passive income, which ain't passive, but it's still you're still making money. I go, I could take a month off work, I'm still making money. You know, and that's that's my motivation.
SPEAKER_03I tell people passive that right there, like I you know, I remember I left my job and I came back. I left for like a year. A lot of people can't do that. I'm like, damn. Like 365 days, you just can't do that. Like, they can't do it because it's like if you Robert Kiyosaki said it best. If you don't know how to make money in your sleep, you're gonna work till you die. And that right there, I'm like, damn. If you got a trade time for money, you're gonna work till you die. Like, bro, I I ain't about to live like that. I'm like, man, I'm setting up retirements, I got retirement accounts, I got real estate investments, you know, and then like the even like it's not passive income, but the appreciation's passive, it's going up in value, you know? And I still got my nine to five retirement over there, you know. So people don't understand the power in that and like what it set you up for in later generations, you know. Like, I'm 36, about to be 37.
Real estate gains show up after ten years
SPEAKER_03I'm like, in 10 years, if you hold, you don't really see the effect of real estate until you hold it for 10 years. Once you hit that 10-year mark, you start looking like, damn, I accumulated that. Real. You start seeing it, you like, damn, I accumulated that in 10 years, you know. So you just gotta, it's it's a slow, it's a it ain't no get rich quick. And I don't think there isn't such things as get rich quick. Everything, every I think anything that's hard requires hard work. So, you know, I think it's that patience, but I'm like, hell, like you said, if you're willing to sit here and clock in for somebody every day, but not willing to build something of your own, bro, I'd be depressed living like that. You know, it looks when when we get like all tense and anxiety comes over, oh, can I make my mortgage and I make my rent? That seems like it's hard. But then we like, oh, we want to quit and go to that, but you like really, like you say, you peel it back, peel back the air layers of that onion. You're like, nah, bro, this ain't for me. I gotta keep on doing this, man.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you're not living to your uh potential.
SPEAKER_03I agree, and I I would say, and we can have a whole episode on this. I would say the biggest thing I would say everyone should own like a little bit of a business is because it stretches your mind out. It stretches the elastic elasticity of your mind to see how much you what's to see what you're truly capable of. And I think a lot of times a nine to five can do it. You can like I do have challenges in my line to five, and I love you know going through those challenges, thinking of solutions. But like with business, and when you have to hire employees, maybe let an employee go, maybe cut an employee's hours, you have to become a different person and see things from other people's perspective. You have to take care of other people, and it just makes you well, if you're trying to be a good human being, it makes you a better human being. For me, it has anyway.
SPEAKER_02Right, right. One thought that came to my mind the other day, and it kind of made me, I kind of like kind of giggled a little bit. I kind of got a little happy, right? Just thinking to myself. And I was thinking, because I I listened to these these podcasts about you know these guys on the verge of bankruptcy or this and I was like, and I thought to myself, I was like, what would happen, you know, heaven forbid. I I went bankrupt or I lost it all, right? That's just I just I had that thought in my head, and I kind of laughed because I was like, you know, if I had to sell the houses and then just liquidate and bankrupt or whatever, I was like, uh I'd be alright. I said I just thought that I was like, I know how to go do it again and make some money. And I just I just I just kind I just kind of giggled. I was like, that's pretty cool. A good feeling to have.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I I it's funny. That's what I was thinking too. Like, damn, what if I went bankrupt? Because as I was uh reading, what was I reading? I was reading uh that that book I was telling you about, Feel the Fair and Do It Anyway. It's like what's the worst case scenario?
Feeling safe even if you lost it all
SPEAKER_03Okay, you have to sell your properties, pay off the debt. Could I live with that? Yeah, and I'm like, I have more equity than I do debt, so I'm in a good position. You know what I mean? So you have to kind of look at that too, like, okay, could I live with that? I walk out with my money, I'll I would still have my credit now. If I was underwater, well, I'd have to live with that too. But at least I tried. And I have the ability to try again because I know things, I know how to, you know, look at books now. I've been using Chat GBT to be my CFO in my business now, and it's helping me cut things. So I just have a lot of know-how that I could, you know, you you have value now. You know what I mean? You have a lot of value.
SPEAKER_02Who is who is that guy that lives here? Um, I think Cedar Hill. The he he he's the one that buys these these these big multifamilies and stuff. Uh, what's his name? Um black dude. Uh he you said he had like a hundred million dollars in real estate. What was that guy we we had on our show? He talked about he goes to the church where the preacher's jacked and stuff. I remember he was on our show. What's his name? Is it Hope something? No, not Hope. Uh Faith Hope Johnson? Was that him? I mean Hope Hope Johnson. Uh uh Hope He was a great inspiration.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know you're talking about the he had the monopoly sign behind him.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Go ahead. Because what uh and I asked him that question, and I said, you know, what would happen if you know you didn't have any money, you lost it all, and it just dropped you off in the city. Would you be a millionaire again? He goes, Oh yeah. He had no hesitation. He knew he was gonna be a millionaire. I said, What would you do? What would you do with money? Well, first I would go and find out, I start painting houses again, you know, and then I start forming a team to go buy a house and fix it up and then you know, sell, you know, sell that one and get another one. He he already knew the game plan, you know, and it but he just you know just start where he started before. And to him, it was not even a hesitation. I was like, that's that's some cool feeling to have. You know, most people go through life, like I said, the nine to fives and the worry if the job's gonna lay off or what all that stuff, right? But to go through life where you know you don't have to rely on a job, where you know you can make that money, and you know you can you can form a business and you know you can find people to help you, and like I said, build a whole house out. You know, he know he knows how to find people to do all that stuff, or he could do it all himself, but he could find people to help. And and you're not reliant on a job or the government or what Trump's gonna do or what whatever president's gonna do or this and that. That's man, that's the ultimate freedom feeling.
SPEAKER_03That's power right there, man. Straight up. You need to have a skill that you can you need to know, have a skill that can get you a nine to five, a skill that can pay you outside of that nine to five. I tell people that all the time. You need to have some sort of like I was talking to my coworker, he's a young dude, right? And he's like, I just don't want to do anything extra outside of work. But he like came to me and he was like, Man, I just really want to raise here, you know. I'm like, well, just be patient. I'm like, you work hard, bro, and I'll be out for you because I know you work hard. And I was like telling him, you know, no kids. I was like, man, I think he's 26.
House hacking roadmap for the reluctant 26-year-old
SPEAKER_03I said, bro, and he doesn't want kids, right? And he's married already. I'm like, bro, if I was your age with your mindset that I don't want kids, I could be a million, I could have. You be a millionaire in 10 years.
SPEAKER_04I'm like, straight up.
SPEAKER_03Like, you're you, you don't have kids, you don't want kids. I'm like, bro, if you don't want kids, you don't have kids, you own a house. I was like, I already have a roadmap in my head that I could give you in 10 years, you'd be like, probably never have to work again. But he can't see it because it's just like, nah, I don't really want to do anything extra, but I want this raise. I'm like, bro, you can give yourself a raise. I'm like, you could sell your house, your single family home, move into a duplex, rent out one side. No, matter of fact, move into a quad, rent out, live in one, rent out the other three, that's your raise right there. You ain't gotta pay no mortgage, bro. You already, that right there, you're already probably ahead of 90% of Americans if you don't have to pay for housing. Wait a year, do it again. Wait a year, do it three times. You got 12 doors by the time you're 30. I was like, but it it's it's a mindset thing, like bro, it's a mindset thing, you know. So you know, I tell people all the time, you know, and and I don't talk too much. One person asked me about the business the other day at my job because the guy I was telling you about, I just told you about it, he had told this other person about it, this other person about it, this other girl about it, and she was like, Oh, how did you get into it? And I told her the backstory and stuff, but you know, it's like a true mindset thing, you know.
SPEAKER_02So think about oh go ahead.
SPEAKER_03Go ahead. No, go ahead.
SPEAKER_02Well, think about I'll I I'll play devil's advocate a little bit because you're saying, you know, that young dude, here's the roadmap to be a millionaire, right? The other side of that is the young dude's probably making pretty good money, they don't got no kids, him and his wife, so they're probably enjoying some comforts, I would assume. They're going out, having nice dinners, they got the nice cars, they got the nice house, whatever. That's a lot of money on all that stuff, right? And not just because you got kids don't mean that you're saving a lot of money. Now, I'll say this too, and I'll I'll bring up a favorite uh of uh of ours, is the Detroit investor, that girl um Oh, yeah, yeah. Uh-huh. She was single mom with two kids, and she but she had that hustle because she wanted to take care of them, right? And she became a millionaire probably faster than that dude's gonna be a millionaire.
SPEAKER_03Because she had a why.
SPEAKER_02She had a why, she didn't want her kids to grow up in poverty. That's a that's a strong mom hustling her ass off, buying these houses, fixing them up, doing all that stuff, putting them on you know, rent and section eight, and just in Detroit, of all places where it said everybody laughed on bigger pockets, you can't invest in Detroit, it's a war zone, and she became a millionaire, yeah. And she and and um yeah, man, it's just like just because you have all the advantages of being young and and you don't got kids or whatever, but you get you get complacent.
SPEAKER_03That's what I'm saying. You know what I mean? You can't complain about wanting a raise when you
Government takes half when you have no tax strategy
SPEAKER_03got everything in your hand, and I'm telling you, but you're like, I don't want to do that. I'm like, cool. But that mindset is the reason why you're also not getting a raise.
SPEAKER_02Plus, tell them you ain't making a hundred thousand a year, you're making fifty thousand a year. Government's taking half that and all the taxes that you don't have any tax advantages at all going on.
SPEAKER_03So that right there is that, and that's the deeper part. I don't even, I don't even like un let them unlike it. I won't that's the deeper part they don't even get. I'm like, bro, yeah, they because I was like, with this cost segment, I'm like, if I told them I'm barely paying, matter of fact, I'm probably not paying any taxes at all this year, they wouldn't understand it. I'm like, bro, I'm not even paying taxes this year. But that mindset, bro, and that's what I tell people, you know. But I I think you're right, though, you have to have a strong why. You know, like you said, you you're living in comfort.
SPEAKER_02The government's gonna like that 10% raise you're getting because they're gonna take 5% of that raise. Work your way to the top.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I hear pimping, man.
SPEAKER_02Pimping ain't easy, unless you're the government. Unless you're the government, yeah. It's easy to pimp ourselves. Oh man, this is a long episode.
SPEAKER_03Um, it is, but it's been good, man. Like, I really like that because one of those mindset episodes. Yeah, I love mindset episodes, bro. I love them.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, man. So so I'm I'm excited again. I love I love checking in, doing this stuff. So yeah, we'll try to do one. Well, uh, are you going on a trip this week coming up or no?
SPEAKER_03Nah, man, I'm at home. I did my big trip for uh Thanksgiving, and I was uh at Blipp back home for a week and a half. It was a good trip back home, you know. So I'm not I'm not I don't travel for Christmas, I always stay home, so I'll be home for the rest of the year.
SPEAKER_02Nice, man. We're headed to Mexico.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you doing Christmas in Mexico?
SPEAKER_02Oh, that's what's up, man. Christmas and New Year's, so we're excited about that. That's what's up, man. So I'll holler at you over there. We might get an episode in.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I also want to let me know what uh New Year's is like in Mexico because I want to hear what that's like. Okay, cool, man.
SPEAKER_02It's gonna be fun, man. A lot of fireworks and tequila. So be a fun mix. The best part. There you go. Well, cool, man. So everybody out there, you know, keep hustling. Don't get discouraged, just keep fighting through it, and you're gonna make it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, man. When something hard comes up, just repeat it to yourself. I'll handle it. That's all you can do. I'll handle it.
SPEAKER_02Ain't nothing but a thing. Ain't nothing but a thing. Where can people find us, Micah Man?
SPEAKER_03Remember, find us on Instagram, TikTok, all that good stuff. Email us, livelethrive at gmail.com, and thank y'all for continuing to listen to this podcast. We 300 plus episodes in. We're gonna try to definitely get back to doing them weekly. But yeah, we're about to probably be out for this winter break. And uh we will probably be if we don't record one while Steve's out, we will holler at y'all in 2026. Sir Out. Peace. Later.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of Live Let Thrive. Be sure to tune in next week for all the latest in the world of Airbnb and all that entails. Bye-bye.
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