SPEAKER_03 0:00

So we'll provide the cooler, we'll provide the ice. You know we gotta have the red cups. So we'll have those red cups, you know, and then we'll and and then and the napkins and then we'll have the uh the little koozie things that keep your your drinks cola. We provide everything except the liquor. So we provide everything except the liquor, so all they have to do is just run down to Walmart, we'll give them directions, grab the six-pack, 24 pack, whatever, and everything else is ready to go, and it's gonna be cheaper than them buying all of that stuff. Oh, yeah. So that's the key. So, and then because we can we can do it at a very affordable cost because we've doing it over and over and over, we've made our money, you know, several times over.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Welcome to Live Let Thrive, a podcast about the Airbnb life, the share economy, and everything in between. Here are your hosts, Micah and Steve.

SPEAKER_06 0:52

Hello, hello, hello. And welcome back to another exciting episode of Live Let Thrive. Oh Micah Man. What up, my man? How you been?

SPEAKER_08 1:08

Good, good, busy, busy, getting ready for the new baby to come, so it's all you know.

SPEAKER_06 1:12

Oh yeah, almost here, huh?

SPEAKER_08 1:14

Yeah, all chaotic over here, so it's all good though.

SPEAKER_06 1:17

Yeah, you look tired.

SPEAKER_08 1:19

Yeah, imagine when I have two running around.

SPEAKER_06 1:22

Yeah. Today we got what what episode number 102. 102. 102, episode 102, and today we got another great guest back for uh another great guest with us, Mr. Noble Crawford.

SPEAKER_08 1:36

Noble Crawford III. Noble third. Noble Crawford the third. Yes. NB3. I like that.

SPEAKER_06 1:44

Yes, sir, man. Actually, this dude, this is a good guy to have on. You're gonna learn a lot of stuff because this is the guy actually I had seen one of your folders on arbitraging. And I was like, man, if that ain't the most perfect pitch I ever seen in my life. And so ever since then I had created me one and started the business. So, matter of fact, I actually got it right here for everybody to see. The people that are watching the YouTube version, this is how you pitch an arbitrage right there.

SPEAKER_08 2:10

Oh, beautiful.

SPEAKER_06 2:13

Yeah, that's how you do it.

SPEAKER_08 2:14

That's his That's professional. That's like you walk into an apartment complex and um they have those folders ready and it has all the you know the layout and yeah, that's that's I love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_06 2:25

Yes, walking out with 10 units, you walk in with that. But yeah, so Noble man, how long how long have you been in the short-term rental market?

SPEAKER_03 2:34

Um really only uh only a couple of years. Um so we we actually formed the company back in Q4 of 2017. Okay um, but it wasn't until um 2018 we actually picked up our first units and uh and then just kind of took off from there.

SPEAKER_08 2:53

So you uh uh a hundred percent arbitrager?

SPEAKER_03 3:00

I am, I am. So we we use a little bit of a a hybrid approach in that um you know we'll do a a mix of of short-term uh and some some long-term stays, but uh I I uh we don't own any of the units, we're just controlling them.

SPEAKER_08 3:16

Okay, and what brought you into the arbitrage game?

SPEAKER_03 3:20

So actually, yeah, I back in the day uh I had a I had a podcast that I did. Oh and uh and so I had interviewed a gentleman uh on a podcast uh because I I ran a marketing agency for technology companies. I had interviewed a gentleman on a podcast, and fast forward to 2017, and I found out that uh you know he had got into the space and he was doing some uh arbitrage out in California, and I hooked up with him and he kind of kind of showed me the ropes and and you know kind of got us got us got us going and helped us get going and and uh we were like you know we can we can definitely make this work in Texas. Like, you know, this is a this is a this is a no-brainer. So uh so we we came back and went to work. Man. So are you doing it are you doing it full-time? Yes, myself and my wife, and uh, and now we have two uh we have two other business partners as well. So full-time, yes.

SPEAKER_06 4:20

Okay, man. So what what markets are you guys in?

SPEAKER_03 4:26

So so just in Texas, just in Texas, but we're in Arlington, uh, we're in Fort Worth, we're in Denton, uh, we're in Dallas. Um we open up one in in McKinney. Um, we're about to open in Waco, and we're trying to get into Austin. We're like that close. So how's that treating you getting into Austin? Oh man, that that's been a process. And so my my oldest son, he uh he works down in Austin, so he he stays down there. So he's been helping us lately with um you know a lot of the legwork and stuff, but um, it's a process, you know. They gotta, you know, it's you know you know, I mean, it's it's regulated and and you gotta you have to jump through several different hoops to be able to l legally do it, basically. So legally, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 5:16

Yeah, Austin's a different monster, man. Um, like okay.

SPEAKER_08 5:20

Go ahead. Oh, well, speaking of different monsters, um, Arlington and Fort Worth. Well, Fort Worth, it's um short-term rentals are pretty much banned, but Arlington's gonna go into effect, well, pretty much tomorrow. So, how is that affecting your business? How'd you prepare for that? And uh yeah, how you how are you dealing with that?

SPEAKER_03 5:37

Yeah, so um a couple of things. So, for so let me back up a little bit because you did mention Fort Worth. So, Fort Worth is banned, but here's the trick with Fort Worth. Fort Worth is banned if you're operating in sh a strictly residentially zoned neighborhood. So if you're in a mixed-use development kind of uh you know zoned neighborhood, kind of like we are, um, then you can certainly go ahead and get signed with the city and you can uh you can operate. So that's one little caveat there. But then at Arlington, of course, is is both you guys know, uh they they the city council went crazy and and and ruined everything for everyone. But fortunately for us, we were in a situation where we were operating already inside of that little radius, the entertainment zone area. So it didn't really impact our operation there, um, which we were fortunate to be able to just keep on trucking. Now we still have to, I think by January the 1st, we still have to go, you know, do the little $500 or whatever it is to be official and and that sort of thing. But um we just we've been just cruising right through that whole process. So we you know, we got involved a little bit. We attended some of the city council meetings, saw you guys out there and everything. And um, you know, and we're we're we're we're still opposed to it, you know, just like a lot of the other operators, but um but but outside of that, we're we're in a we're in a good place, uh pretty close to the stadium and walking distance, so it really hadn't hadn't impacted us too much. Yeah, until they get too good.

SPEAKER_06 7:06

It seems like you're in a lot of markets across the DFW. And I guess my my my question is for you, which market has been the most profitable?

SPEAKER_03 7:15

Ooh, good question. Um if you look at the profit margins, then based on you know, like what we spend, what our expenses are, and based on how full we stay, our occupancy rate, and what we charge, um, I would say Arlington. Nice. To be honest with you. Yeah, I would say Arlington. Compared to locations. Yeah, our Arlington locations, it's it stays pretty busy, it stays pretty booked.

SPEAKER_08 7:46

Walk to the stadiums.

SPEAKER_03 7:48

Yeah, and so what we did was we were real, we were intentional when we opened it. So it's a duplex property. Ohx property, yeah. It's so there there's two, there's uh two-bedroom, one bath on each side of the property. Okay, so we were very intentional when we picked up the property and when we opened it, um, we we have theme units. So one of the units is uh has a Dallas Cowboys thing, and the other one has a Texas Rangers thing. Oh, nice. And so the pitchers just sell them, you know, because people are coming mainly for those reasons, you know. And uh, and so so and then we we we we we we we spent a little bit of money on the front end, making so it's it's kind of like you're coming to America. Not so great on the outside, but the inside is on point, you know. So so there's no exterior pictures of the property. I'll put it like that. But by the time people come in and they open the door, they're just like, oh my gosh. And they don't even they don't even mark us down on the on the exterior.

SPEAKER_06 8:52

I I had that problem. I have one kind of in a you know, not so good neighborhood that I didn't think on the outside, you know. So when they come in and they're like, oh, you know, when they walk in, they're like, oh, this place is nice, you know. So we already know. So I I actually heard one lady on my ringing doorbell, she's like, whoa, this is nice.

SPEAKER_08 9:13

So, so when um when you said you you you did one theme cowboys, one theme rangers, I had thought about doing that also, you know, because I have a I have a spot in Arlington, I'm Airbnb. And um, the only thing that I was afraid of is because I have people coming in town that are like fans of the other squad, and I'm like, I wonder I always thought, would that detour them from staying at my place? You know, if they're a Redskins fan, staying at a place that's wall-to-wall cowboy stuff, you know, I wouldn't rent I wouldn't go to Redskins territory and rent something like that. But but I mean there's so many Cowboys fans and Rangers fans coming through, I guess it don't really matter.

SPEAKER_03 9:48

It's funny because um I would say that a lot of the people that are coming into that are staying there are Cowboys fans.

SPEAKER_04 9:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:56

And when they see it, you know, because Cowboys, it's it's Cowboys Nation, it seems like, you know, all across the nation. Like there are Cowboys fans everywhere. So um, you know, so when when people are scrolling and looking, you know, for different places to stay and they come across it, most of the time, more often than not, we have Cowboys fans staying there. And we've had a few uh a few people from opposing teams, um, but you know, it's never been an issue. Um and then and uh, you know, also the the college, the college games do well too, you know. Um but uh but yeah, I think people just like because it's it's not just like the star and stuff like that. Like we have some old like pictures of the original Irving Stadium and then the new stadium, and there the the you know, so we got some nostalgic stuff in there, and and and and it's and then we have like um you know, my my my kids used to play like uh like like like little Lily football, used to play like select football, and so I we have their old helmet in there and their shoulder pads and a football on a T. So just little touches like that. I like that to hook it up.

SPEAKER_08 10:57

That's what I love uh about Airbnb is you get to do um some creative stuff, you know. You get to put your own touch on it, make it different, and everything like that, instead of just going to cookie cutter hotels all over the country, the same stuff. I like I like how you could be creative with it.

SPEAKER_03 11:11

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_06 11:12

Absolutely I'm thinking about doing that too, making like a sports theme room and my next one. That's a good idea, man. I like that. Man. So like you go oh go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 11:21

No, I was just gonna say we we've just found that um we we have a a little bit better success when we're doing themed units for whatever reason. Um and so one of our units is uh is uh uh um coffee-based. So it's it's so yeah, so it's it's all about coffee. And now in this particular one, um we have like three or four different five different kinds of coffee press, you know, instant coffee, coffee pie. So it's all about the coffee connoisseur. And I'm kind of one myself, so you know, so I kind of knew what I already wanted to put in there, but then like the the it's oh, it's it's kind of set up uh almost like with um Starbucks style, uh, with the colors and the decor and the stuff like that. That one probably second to Arnton, that one performs really well. So so so those if if you're gonna if you do a coffee thing, I guarantee you it'll perform well. And then another one that performs well are when you have units that have pops of red as an accent color. Those perform exceptionally well. Um so these are just things that we've learned just you know from a design standpoint, and we don't actually we don't actually design our own units. So we bring in somebody um to help with that part of it. Um and but but these are just things that we've kind of learned over the past couple of years that make a significant difference.

SPEAKER_08 12:42

See see what I instantly thought of when you were saying the red right away, I was like, I like going to Target and I and I just feel good when I'm there, and you know they got red all over the place, and it's just yeah, real comforting, real clean, got that redness, and then I like it's not like going to Walmart where you feel like you're gonna get stabbed at any moment, right?

SPEAKER_03 13:02

Right? Uh so so so so something like that.

SPEAKER_08 13:11

But but yeah, I never thought of that. That's pretty cool. And um, so you said you have design help. Who helps you design these spots?

SPEAKER_03 13:17

So we use a local company um out of actually we've used a couple different companies, but uh one of the primary ones we use is a local uh company out of Fort Worth. A gentleman by the name of Jerry, he's with uh uh mission accomplished design. So uh your listeners, if they're if they're local to the area, he can hook them up. But um, so we've used we've we've used him for um quite a few properties. And so what he does is once we get a space, we'll have him come in. Even before we get keys, a lot of times the um the property will let us in, and he he goes in, takes measurements and everything, takes photos, um, and he kind of does like a mini HGTV style, you know, um kind of design process. And so, you know, he'll put the color schemes together and send us pictures and stuff, and we'll we'll know kind of like what fabrics and furnishings and things like that are going in. And so we usually have a pretty good idea, the concept before it before he even goes in and and uh outfits the whole the whole property.

SPEAKER_08 14:16

That's cool. And how much how much does something like that cost, if you don't mind me asking?

SPEAKER_03 14:22

I almost choked on my water when you asked me that. So it ranges because it depends on how how big the property is. So you know, obviously the studio is gonna be quite a bit less expensive than a three-bedroom, you know, two and a half bath. Um, but just just to kind of give you an idea, so for we did a three-bedroom, two and a half bath townhouse. Um, we did a couple of them actually out in Denton. And those, I would say those were anywhere, I know one of them was close to 20 grand. I know that for a fact. The other one was probably around 12. It's probably around 12,000. Fully outfitted now. The one that was for 12, um, it has a game room upstairs with a pool table, with a dartboard, with a card table. Um, like it's kind of themed itself. So it's like a fun, a fun property, you know, and it has like uh a full full-out game room upstairs. Um, and then the one that the the more expensive one, it's it's it's decorated to the nine. So it it it was it was it was more pricey, but it has um it has three bedrooms upstairs and also has an office up there. So in the office up there is a dedicated workstation, desk, printer. Um, there's a glass whiteboard on the wall. Um, because this one's attracting more, but um, so there's a couple of different verticals that we go after, and we can get into that later, but this one attracts a different audience. Um, and so there's more business amenity type stuff in there, full-blown office setup that people take advantage of. So, yeah, so they're there they so here's here's how we determine like the way that a property will be outfitted. There's there's there's three ways we look at it. You know, you can look at the Walmart version, the Target version, or the Nordstrom's version. And so depending on where that property is located and type of property is and the the type of customer that we're going after, that'll determine you know where we fit in those three ranges. And so definitely those townhomes are more higher-end Nordstrom level products. Um, but I would say that the you know that the Arlington, even though it's as nice as it is, it's probably still a target level product. Um, and then the coffee one is probably a target level product, maybe a higher end target. Um, so so they range. Um, but we we we we don't skimp. That's one thing we don't do, is we don't skimp on the furniture. We go in, everything's brand new. Um, and uh so there's some ways to go about uh not paying full price. So it's it it you know, so for for the for the close to 20 that we spent on the one, it was probably well over $30,000, $35,000 worth of furniture. Damn. So so it so so it so it's high, yes, but it's also a bargain when you look at look at it comparatively of what you would have would have spent. And it it that product sells itself to that specific audience. Yeah. Um so yeah.

SPEAKER_06 17:24

So when you when you drop like 20 on that, what are you renting this place out for like to recoup that 20?

SPEAKER_03 17:32

Yeah, so it'll again it'll range because you know how in when when you're in the booking platforms, you can set uh like that place can sleep eight. That that specific place. Very good. Okay. Yeah, so but what we do is we set it for four, and then everyone over four is that additional nightly charge. So we set it to sleep four, and then every guest over four is twenty-five dollars a night per guest per night. So we set that up inside of the platforms. Um I've been hearing people having trouble out of that. How have you guys been handling it? The problem so it's less of an issue for our nicer units because people, those people know what they want and they're willing to pay for it. Okay. And so it's not uncommon in some of those nicer units for us to get six-figure earners in there. They want that, you know, they want that amenity, and still they're gonna come out paying less than the embassy down the street, you know, and have twice as to three times as much space. Um so it it it it averages itself out, and and uh it's been working well.

SPEAKER_06 18:37

Man, that's I was wondering, I like how you did the eight, and then you do you set it for four. That that's a nice little that's definitely a little trick for y'all. That's one I might start using myself.

SPEAKER_03 18:47

Yeah, because you get that bump because if you can, there's not, first of all, there's uh and I you I I think you we we were both at the ashawn's meetup not too long ago, and and I think you we we remember where he said that um you know those larger properties, um there's not as many of them. And so for those bigger groups, um, you know, there there's not a lot to choose from out there. And so we've certainly found that to be the case, um, even in secondary markets. So Denton would be considered like a secondary um tertiary market as opposed to like a Dallas or urban, you know, downtown environment. Um but even in those markets, the larger properties are performing because there's far fewer of those than the one bedroom, two bedrooms.

SPEAKER_08 19:29

See, see you kind of answered my question before I asked it because I guess the main problem that that uh Micah was referring to was that you could charge for extra guests, but people are gonna try to sneak them in anyways, and they're not gonna try to pay and all that. But then you then you said it well it's for the high end, they um you know that to them it's you know it's they have a little more money, that they're cool with paying and following the rules and stuff like that. It's it's when you start doing those limitations on the lower end, you know what I'm saying, and the more affordable spots, then that's when you get people trying to bend the rules, break the rules, because they you know the a dollar means a lot more to them, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 20:07

Right. And and so we have properties where we do deal with that. Uh we have that element where they'll specify a specific number, and then of course they come in and with an extra two, three, sometimes four people. Um, and so but we have some processes in place to deal with that on the front end. Um and so usually when we're as soon as we're aware of it and we bring it up, then the the manner in which we bring it up and also the uh the the points that we use to the the the things that we use to point out to the guests on why on why we don't allow it and why it's unacceptable, uh more often than not in result in them paying the additional fee to us prior to going into the second night. And so if it's a multi-night study. And so, and and then because of the processes that we have set up, we're able to, in instances where we need to, we're able to go to the platforms and recoup that that that lost revenue. Um, we have a pretty high success rate with with that.

SPEAKER_08 21:11

So, so like you have a ring camera and stuff, so you know how many people are coming in, right?

SPEAKER_03 21:16

So we have a few things going on. So we do have um a camera system. So all of our properties, um, we're using uh we're using Vivent, so we use a Vivent product, but all of our properties have uh both front exterior and the rear exterior if there's a rear door, a rear exterior exterior camera. Um, and we have a couple that even have a third camera, but most of them do have at least those two. Uh so we have we have that in place, and then we're heavy in the messaging on the front end, and we're we're heavy in the in the house rules and the terms and conditions on the front end, and so our our guests before they arrive, they have already heard from us probably three to four times on average, and so we're very specific about what we're doing. We do not allow. So we set the tone early on immediately during the guest booking process. You know, whether it's an inquiry, you know, whether it's uh you know an instant booking, whatever the case is, we set the tone on the front end through our messaging, and then we begin to monitor them, you know, at arrival. And so we're not monitoring that ourselves directly, but we have a we have a few people that monitor that, monitor the cameras for us, actually, uh, and and do it in real time as well. And so we're able to catch problems before they escalate into bigger issues, um, and that's been helpful.

SPEAKER_06 22:36

Man, so you said, and I noticed you were saying landlords. So are you mainly doing apartment complexes or are you going straight to landlords and doing houses and condos and things like that?

SPEAKER_03 22:47

So good so good question. So when we started out, so the the duplex that we have in Arlington, that's the only property like that, that is kind of like that standalone duplex type property. Um, but when we started out, we initially did, like most people, we initially started going into the properties, talking to property management, you know, trying trying to get a foot in, trying to really educate them because as you know, like most of the property managers are this is brand, this was a brand new business model for the longest, and they didn't really understand it that well, and their immediate gut instinct was no. So you had to, you know, we had educate them heavily, you know, just to try to get in the door. Um, and so we were meeting resistance initially when we first started of trying to even get in. And then when we did get in, we found situations where uh the property management would change because the ownership might change. And then when that happens, then the new property manager would come in, and then they would be like, okay, we don't we don't allow this, regardless of what your agreement was with the previous company. Um, and so we kept we were hitting some brick walls dealing directly with property management. And I now don't get me wrong, we still deal with property management today, um, but not nearly uh as much as we used to. So now we deal uh specifically with ownership. So we deal specifically with investors and with developers of these multifamily uh properties. And so so so so over the past a little over a year, I've been very intentional about um developing relationships with these investors, uh, these syndicators, um, and these developers of these multifamily projects. And so, and primarily in the class B and Class A space. So we can't deal in the Class C because our customer's not looking for a Class C product. But if it's a Class B, Class A, that's where we want to be at. And so uh so over the past year, we've spent time developing relationships and really educating that that community, that investor and developer community, on the benefits of you know, leveraging short-term accommodations in their property, you know, and and how they can uh increase their their NOI, how they increase their net operating income, you know, how how their cap rate can can improve, you know, at the end of the day, and and how we take care of the property better than anyone else. And so we just spend a lot of time educating them, and now we're starting to do business directly with the ownership. And when the decision is made at the ownership level, it it you know, and then not to sound trite, but it it doesn't really matter what the property management thinks. Um now we still want to be good neighbors and we still want to have a good working relationship with property management, but we're not dependent on their yes, whether or not we are doing business at that specific location.

SPEAKER_08 25:34

So nice, nice.

SPEAKER_06 25:37

Yeah, the first one I got, I went I went behind the property management and went to the owner. I I feel you, man. That's a good smart strategy to go about, man.

SPEAKER_08 25:46

So like so you you you say you're strictly arbitraged. Now, do you plan on on buying houses uh specifically to do short-term or long-term rentals to start accumulating some of those assets?

SPEAKER_03 26:02

So good, so great question. So the short answer is no. But uh, but let me explain why. So again, when we started um with this, with the with the with the whole short-term accommodation model, I'm I'm I'm I'm a lot kind of a long-term thinker. So I I try to look at the the long play. And so the long play for us, something that we've known that we wanted to be involved in is the multifamily space. And we want to be involved in the the ownership aspect of multifamily properties. And and and and so, but we want to be involved uh on in properties at the the 16 unit and up range, right? So you know a lot of people that get into the uh real estate investment space that may start out single family, get in a duplex, triplex, quads, and then kind of move up, and then maybe gradually get into multi, you know, bigger multifamily if they have a desire to. But we we've always wanted to start in the larger multifamily space. And so when we started this business, we started it knowing, you know, it just based on other operators that we knew that were doing it successfully out in the out west, um, that it was it it had the potential to be a very high cash flow business. And we found out pretty quickly that yes, it is. Um, and so we wanted to um you know develop that that cash flow and get it increase our monthly cash flow so it will put us in a position to go out and be a part of this and the multifamily investor community and invest in these multifamily deals. And as you know, when that cash flow increases and it starts to increase substantially, your your tax rate increases as well. You need to move that cash into a different type of investment, right? And so so we've we've been very intentional about how we've gone about it, but that's our long play. And I would say probably over the next year, we'll be in that position where we're investing in uh some of those multifamily uh projects.

SPEAKER_06 27:57

I like that, man. You're using what you know to hop into the for the big long run deal. Got you. Okay.

SPEAKER_08 28:04

10x right away, right? Why why mess with the say like 16 different single families scattered all over town when you can have them all in the same spot?

SPEAKER_03 28:14

So, yeah, I mean, really, really, like um for us, I think it was just um we're just trying to really kind of develop a lifestyle that works for us. And so we didn't want to be landlords per se, and we didn't want to do fit and flips and wholesale or anything like that because we wanted to, you know, work more on our business and not directly in it and hands-on, you know, in the single family stuff. And like there's nothing wrong with that. And so, because I have a lot of friends that they do that and they're very successful with it, uh, but we just had kind of a different different goal, and the multi-family was was more appealing. Now I say that, uh, but I'll tell you, I do have my eyes on storage, and I do have my eyes on um on uh on on I'm looking kind of like it at the mobile home play. Um, so we're we're looking at some different things, and I think eventually we may end up in some commercial and retail type stuff, but our start and our immediate start over the next 12 months is gonna be to get into the the multi-factor.

SPEAKER_06 29:16

Definitely sounds like you've been listening to some beardy branded mobile homes and self-storage.

SPEAKER_03 29:21

So I I yeah, I I do check out the I do check out Bigger Pockets on occasion, listen to the podcasts, and and uh but it's funny when you when you get in these uh these meetings with these other investors um that do play in that space of multifamily, they're diversifying themselves and getting into storage and getting into um you know, senior living is becoming like a big thing. Developers get into the senior living space. Um so I know a gentleman that we actually do business with right now, and he I think he's on his second senior living, and those things are um you know, those are awesome investments to get involved in. So there, you know, it as you guys know, there's there's several different ways to make it work.

SPEAKER_06 30:04

Now, I don't know if you heard David Wings, but he he's on that. I think it cost he I just he just made a video, it's costing him like $35,000 to get set up. But the lady who's teaching them, man, she had two houses, made $800,000 in a year. Wow. I was like, that's insane, man.

SPEAKER_03 30:20

That's yeah, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_08 30:22

Now, now here's here's something that um that I that I was thinking about while you were saying you're making this, you know, your cash flow keeps increasing and increasing. And like you said, it pushes your tax bracket up. But I guess how I see it is if you go if you do go about it like buying you know single family homes and then starting to make the profit and stuff like that, and then when you get to the point where they're you know they're valued pretty good, paid down all right, you could sell all of them and do a uh what is it called, a exchange? What is that? 103131 exchange into your apartment comp you know, small apartment complex, whatever. But since you're not accumulating them right now, you're you're getting hit with them taxes every year, or or how are you trying to minimize your tax hit?

SPEAKER_03 31:06

So we have an awesome CPA. Okay, as well as an attorney that that has been very, very uh helpful with us in that regard. Um, but here's what I'll say. So because you're right about about the single family, one of the things that attracted, one of the other things that attracted us to multifamily, so with multifamily, um those are considered non-recourse, okay? So not non-recourse being that you're that you know they're they're not looking personally at your at your personal assets per se or your personal credit, they're looking at the asset itself, you know, and so they're financing on the banks are financing on the asset and not necessarily on the individual. Now you need to be involved with a team, uh, you know, a proven team, somebody's gone through syndication before, some general partners and things that have have a history if you're gonna get in, you know, on your first deal. But uh, you know, unlike unlike um single family, where those are recourse loans where they're very heavily dependent on your assets and and and you know and and your financials and your credit and all this and that, it's less so with multifamily. So that attracted us as as well. Um because I'm I'm the type of person who if I can put the majority of my assets under my businesses, that's where they're going to go. Um and so it's and so and and that's uh that's uh that's easier to do in a multifamily deal. And um I don't know, we just like it. And that and I'm not against single family, but I think the multifamily thing just works, it just works for us a little better.

SPEAKER_06 32:46

I like it. So, like one thing we always thought talked the last few guests about, like everyone's been talking about a recession. How do you feel like if a recession were to hit, how would it affect your business?

SPEAKER_03 33:00

So that's a good question. I you know what? Um I'm not that concerned about it, and here's why. The businesses that it historically, businesses that have started during recession or have weathered a recession, it came out stronger on the back end of a recession. Um, and so just knowing that that's it eventually is gonna happen, whether it's next year or 2021, is it's eventually gonna happen. And so, you know, so some people, yeah, I'm in the Facebook groups just like you guys are, and I I see people, you know, what's gonna happen to the travel industry, and you know, oh my gosh, what am I gonna do if the you know if people stop traveling and stop coming? Stop, stop. So you gotta, I'm I'm a glass half full type of dude, right? So I'm not in the I'm not in the worry mindset, right? I'm in the like, like what how are you gonna position your business to come out on top regardless of the economy? Okay, and so for us, the way we do that is, and again, it goes back to the type of customer that we're going after, right? And it goes back to the type of product that we're putting out there, and so um that customer, that that type of customer is traveling regardless, they're doing what they have to do regardless. Now, here's another thing. So, what we do is we we we operate in a couple of different verticals that we've got gotten pretty good at. Okay, so one of them is um higher education, one of them is um with insurance, okay, um, and then there's corporate. Um, and then I would say probably the fourth one, probably the least, but the fourth one would be like um uh healthcare. Okay, so with higher education, so the way these universities are set up, these professors that are teaching are not all uh do are not all from the area. A lot of these professors are brought in for a semester or for two semester or fall and a spring to teach courses, but they don't they don't live in the area, right? And similar to what students are doing that are coming coming in. And so these professors, they just like everyone else, they need a place to stay. Same for the international student. So the internet and there's a lot of those. So the international student is coming to the university regardless, regardless of the recession, regardless of what's going on, they're coming, they're traveling to come to the university. Okay, and some of them have different living needs, you know, that they're the different things they're accustomed to, you know, coming from a different culture. And and and so when you kind of when you have a good idea of who your customer is and the things that they're looking for and what's attractive to them, you can position yourself and position your business to up still operate, still effectively operate, regardless of what the economy's doing. So school's not gonna shut down. Colleges are not gonna shut down because of the economy. Higher education is not going anywhere. You know, people are still gonna be coming to universities and be coming from all over, right? Um, and then you have you have uh some universities, you have wealthy parents sending their kids to school, and the kid is adamant, he's not gonna stay in the dorm. He wants his own apartment as an incoming undergraduate freshman, and the parents will pay for it. It's crazy. I'm not doing that for my son, but their parents knew that, right? So, so so just understanding like who who who's your customer, who are you attracting, you know, with with your product or with your service. Yeah, and so and so that's for education. So insurance, okay? So you'll be surprised at the number of requests that we get from insurance companies for people whose properties are flooded, you know, there's damage, there's mold, there's whatever the case is, and they have to put these people up a lot of times for 30 plus days, sometimes 60. And so, you know, so so we've started to develop relationships with these companies. That's not gonna stop because of the recession or the economy falling out. There's always gonna be a how housing problems. Uh, people are always gonna have issues with their houses and they need another place to stay. You know, so that's an example. So corporate. Okay, so one of our properties is located, so the one the one that we're getting ready to open, actually. We were strategic about picking a location. It is literally across the street from Raytheon. Okay? So yes, so here's what we know. Here's what we the due diligence that we did to determine this that this is in fact going to work. So we contacted Raytheon, we found out that, you know, and and we we know that they bring employees into the area, into the North Dallas area, um, near their headquarters, to and they and they relocate to the area. And so we said, okay, instead of working with a relocation firm, because that's another play, but instead of doing that, we want to go direct to the employer. And so we found out going direct to the employer that they work with a third-party relocation agency, right? And so we got that information. So we contacted so now we're in communication with a third-party relocation agency to be one of the um to get um what's the word for it, to um uh to be part of their buying group. So when they go out and they cut a PO to somebody, you're you're in that list of of buyers that they use or list of properties that they would send some of their relocated employees to. So now we're in the process of getting that set up because we don't want to serve just you know one family at the one property. We want to serve ten families relocating across ten properties, right? That's not gonna be affected by a recession. You know, there's still gonna be, you know, there's still people are gonna relocate, you know, and a lot of times people are coming down south from the cold, you know. So they're coming our direction. I'm like I said, I'm a glass half full. We're gonna make it work, we're gonna make it do what it do.

SPEAKER_07 38:40

Man, after this broadcast, I'm about to go get about 10 arbitrages, man. You inspired the hell out of me, man. Forget a recession.

SPEAKER_08 38:49

And in a way, I know it's all the same, and when you think about it, it's all it's all arbitrage game, but you kind of separate it into three or four or five different things. And it reminds me of what um a guest of ours, Adam James, said on the show. He likes to have at all times uh about at least um seven streams of income. I know it's still it's all arbitraging, but you got but it's all niches, you know, it's all different things that you're that you're targeting. And so, yeah, okay, let's say one of one of them, you know, business slows down a little bit. You still got the teachers, you still got the students, you can still got the medical or the medical, you know, one of them slows down, you still got your other streams of income coming in, and that's uh yeah, that's how you protect yourself from uh a recession, you know.

SPEAKER_03 39:30

Absolutely, absolutely. We we we don't want to put all of our eggs in in one basket. We like to um kind of spread the wealth uh uh a little bit. It's funny because that that that that that episode with Adam James, that was epic. The first and the second one, really. Uh, you know, I listened to both of those. He dropped some he he he he dropped some some he he shared some stuff that was like like I'm listening to the episode. I'm like, dude, you're giving away all the this is like he's giving away all the information, right? The whole trade lines thing, like we we ran that play like a year and a half ago, works beautifully, beautifully, you know. And so, but he was he was dropping knowledge on that episode, so that's that's real talk. So um, but another thing that we do, and since since Steve brought it up, he's talking about multiple streams of income, you know, the um so all of the services that we put in our units, um, we get kicked back on those services. So we get paid on those services. So every time we put a vivid in, every time we set up electricity, every time we put in internet, um, anything like that. We're we're we're we're getting a piece of that. So we're paying that bill and we're getting a piece of it back. Okay. Every month for every property. Uh and we have other hosts that we've helped do that, but then we get a piece of what they, you know, we help them get their services set up, and we get a piece of that. Now, now that my wife manages all of that aspect of it, but uh it's a beautiful thing. Because that's a whole nother that's a whole nother stream of income right there. That's genius. And and it's it's beautiful because, you know, as you scale, you just it just increases, you know, it just increases. And so um, so yeah, so I I I'm a wholeheartedly believe in multiple streams.

SPEAKER_06 41:11

Yeah, yeah, I'll be talking to you after the podcast about all this, man.

SPEAKER_08 41:16

We need to get your wife on the show to dive in deeper on that because yeah, because I I'm like three houses, I'm playing, you know, paying the the electric, like you said, electricity and the water, all the all the stuff, you know. I was like, if you there's a way you can make money off that, man, that's that's a game changer.

SPEAKER_06 41:32

Absolutely. Absolutely. So I was uh so you because one thing you shocked me. You said Arlington's your best performance, and I'm like, dang, and he got Dallas too. Do you feel like Dallas is saturated to a point where it's just kind of harder to make that larger profit?

SPEAKER_03 41:48

Um, so let me back up a little bit. So the reason the main reason I said Arlington is because I look because our expenses are so low in Arlington and what we do in profit, the profit margin is is so high. So from a just a ratio of expense to profit, that one performs better. Now it doesn't yield the most revenue on a monthly basis, but the margins are higher. Um so just to clarify that part. But as far as Dallas goes, um so I I do think that over the past couple of years, at least since since we've been in, we've we've seen the number of operators increase. Um and in especially in the studio one bedroom space, we've seen that increase. Um I'm not really worried about that, to be honest. Um because I think if you distinguish yourself in the market, you're gonna you're gonna stand out. You know, you're just going to. There's a lot of people that have, and both of y'all can attest to this, I'm sure. There's a lot of people in the last couple of years that have come into the space. Um but there's they're they they you know, they may get something up and running, um, but all all they're looking for is that that that one property. You know, we we just want our one whether it's their own or whether they picked up an additional. Because maybe they're trying to just, you know, put some extra money in their pocket or pay a car note or you know, you know, have something to go towards their mortgage. There's not a lot of people that are doing like five, six plus. There's really just not. And I mean, you can look, I mean, even when you go and you're just using if you use Airbnb as its own as its own tool, and you're kind of drilling down and looking at other hosts and how many properties they're managing, you you'll find a lot of three and four and a lot of singles and and and and two property folks. But getting beyond that, there's not really a a lot of those out there. So um yeah, it I don't know. I I I may may not have answered your question, but I do think it's getting saturated, but I'm not concerned with it.

SPEAKER_08 43:50

Yeah, the cream will rise to the top. Absolutely. Um the co do you do any co hosting or ever thought of doing co hosting?

SPEAKER_03 43:59

So I thought of it. I have thought of it because Eric Muller keeps popping out everywhere. And uh he's a great guy. And you know, of course, that's his model. And so it at one point I was like, hmm. Is that is that what he does? Mm-hmm. He that's what he that's his whole thing, is um well at least in the beginning. So now he's he's doing more. But in the beginning, he had co-host mastery. So that was like his big course. Co-host masteries, and that was what he was training everybody on. Uh, but now he's kind of reached into uh a few different areas, but um so I I don't think we're gonna go that route though, um, just because um it's just it's not as appealing to me um as I'm a control freak. I'm just gonna be straight up. So I'm a control freak. So, you know, if it's somebody else's property and they have a say anything, like I can't have that, you know. I need it to be like because we have we have the people, the systems, and the processes to do things the way that we need them done, when we need them done, and affect change in the way we need it to. And so we so operationally and from a logistics standpoint, we do things a certain way. That I don't want an owner of a property trying to push back against me or you know, you know, trying to interject his own way of doing things or his opinion. And so so I I don't think we'll dive into that, and uh, and like I said, our we're we're we're cruising ahead with the arbitrage, and at some point in the next 12 months or so we're gonna tackle this multi-family thing.

SPEAKER_08 45:39

It here's a funny thing that it reminds me of, because you know, I used to be in a band, do music back in the day. And so you go in there with your with your bandmates, y'all recorded all the tracks, everything, boom, boom, boom, hand it over to the producer. And I had a producer once, he said, Alright, this is how much I charge. I charge um 100 bucks an hour for me to go mix it and make the you know, make the record and everything. Or if y'all want to sit in the studio with me while I'm doing all that, I'm gonna charge 200 bucks an hour. And the reason he said that, because he didn't want, because if y'all you can be in the kitchen with him trying to help him cook, but he knows what to do, he knows how to cook. And and all these different you know, cooks in the kitchen is just gonna frustrate him and you know, whatever. He's gonna charge your ass to be in there trying to cook with him, you know what I'm saying? So um I don't know if that could be like a hey, you want to help me manage this, I'm gonna charge you 30%. If you want to let me do it and make the money I can make you, I'm gonna charge just the 20%. I don't know, just um something like that.

SPEAKER_03 46:37

So that that's interesting that you brought that up because um we do have one deal. We have one deal where so the 20, the whole 15 to 25 percent uh co-host property management fee, like that's not enough for me. Um so I'm I'm motivated by maximizing my my income and my revenue, right? And so that's like pittance to me because uh so so so we have an arrangement, we have an arrangement with a with a developer, and um this one's unique from all the other ones, and we set it up like this because we wanted to test it. So we're actually doing a revenue split with this guy, okay? But we don't pay any rent or any utilities, none. And so we're just splitting the revenue that the property generates. Okay. Okay. And we and and so we're doing a pretty fairly even split on that. And and so, um, and it's working beautifully because one of the things that um, you know, his concern was, well, I need to be able to at least make the rent amount, you know, that I would have normally made from a regular tenant. And we already knew that if you do the short-term accommodation model properly, it's gonna crush that by two to three times plus sometimes. Right? So once we kind of educated him and sold him on the idea, we went in. So in this particular properties, we don't pay rent, we don't pay utilities, we don't pay internet, we don't pay trash, gas, none of nothing. We simply operate the property, collect our half of the revenue, it's a beautiful thing. And so we're we're testing that still. Um, and we're gonna we're gonna go through a full 12 months. So in uh I think February next year will be a full 12 months doing this with him. And uh it he he's already asked us, do you want more properties? He's already asked us that. We haven't even got to the first full year yet. And so um, so we we may do this again, but I need to be at that 50% mark and not the 15 to 25 percent that other people are playing.

SPEAKER_05 48:49

Right, right.

SPEAKER_03 48:50

Um and uh so so so so yeah, so that's kind of where my head's at with that whole.

SPEAKER_06 48:55

Yeah, that's a that's actually a nice little gem if you want to start co-host, then do it that way. I like that. I like that model, man. That's a nice one. So you how you're talking, it sounds like you got all your systems in place. You got everything fully automated. What what tools or systems are are you using to automate everything? Are you in channel manager systems, whatever?

SPEAKER_03 49:18

Um, so our technology stack is deep. Um I mean, you know, all the big players in the space, you know, we've probably tried them or are using them currently. So one of the things we we're making a change right now, where um our excuse me, our our channel manager, we were we've we've tried we were a guestie in the beginning, they crapped out really quickly. We went to Toke, we left them, uh we went to Owner Res, which we actually love, but there was a few things that we needed that we couldn't get out of them just yet. Um and we've recently moved and then we we tried our own uh booking platform uh that we had a developer go in and customize some stuff, but the only problem is because Airbnb and booking and all these other ones keep changing, they're you know, and you have to reconnect, and the developer has to go in, rewrite scripts, do all of this other thing. API keep changing exactly, and so when he has to do that every time, like then I'm I'm just man, I'm just bleeding cash, right? So I was like, that's out. So now we're um so now we're using Logify. Um, and we moved to Logify for a specific reason, um, because we want to test this newer um technology, and I believe it's called AI host um or something like that. Jasper Rivers had a gentleman on his podcast probably a six weeks ago, maybe. And so this software, if I can pull it up, I'll let you know. This software actually helps with the betting of guests on the front end. Um, it'll do soft credit pools and soft, and it'll do a form of a background criminal check. Um, where as long as you let the guests know that this is the process that we use to vet, it will do that, and it will do it even under the Airbnb restricted platform. And so and so what it does is it allows you to better vet guests that um are coming, and so you might want to go to Booking.com and turn on instant booking. Well, you know, credit card fraud's heavy on booking.com, right? So, you know, that's one of those barriers where you're like, oh man, I don't know if I want to do that. Well, this software steps in the middle of that and it bets the guest, and it everything happens quickly. So it bets the guest and it spits out a criteria number of whether this guest, um, based on several different factors will make a good candidate for your be a good candidate for your property. Um, and then it'll red flag them if it thinks that they're gonna be a problem person for whatever reason after it's gone through all of these different checks. And so, but this software right now uh is the the gentleman who runs the uh software is only set up currently, as far as I know, with Guestie, but he's getting ready to open it up to Logify. Um, and so he's kind of I don't know why he started with Guesty, but that's where he started. But he's getting ready to open it up with Logify, and so that's why we made the switch recently, like very recently, to Logify, and we're trying to kind of get everything moved over so that we can implement this this software once this push comes. So um I'll uh I'll shoot it to you guys. I'm trying to think of it up. Uh it's called it's called it's not AI host, it's called auto host. It's auto-host.ai. That's the the website. And uh so yeah, dot AI, autohost dot AI.

SPEAKER_06 52:54

Intelligent guest screening for Airbnb, guest screening and background check. Man, that is dope.

SPEAKER_08 53:01

And uh how much do they charge?

SPEAKER_03 53:04

So um it's per, I want is well, there's pricing. Let me just look. I don't think the pricing is on there, but um I I I had to get I got on a conference call with a CEO because I was interested in this product and I wanted to know, like, so yeah, it's it's here pricing on here. So uh they have a guest verification portal from two dollars per reservation. So um, so you know, if a guest books and they stay, you know, two bucks. So I'll up my rates two bucks to cover that. I'm not gonna say but to to to know that I'm you know that the guest that I'm servicing is you know a little safer, a little better for my property, a little less, you know, troublesome potentially, um that's uh that that that carries a lot of weight for me. So so that's a new software that we're looking at. Um you know, we use this, we use the smart BNB like a lot of you your listeners do. Um you know, we use um we use um we use a company called Virtual Concierge because we have some smart properties. And so we have uh we have a couple of properties where you can go in because they're smart properties, you can go in and you can talk to the property. You're right. Now you're doing now you're not you're not going to do things like um you know you're not gonna go in and say, you know, make me dinner, but you are gonna go in and you're gonna say, you know, turn movie mode on and it sets the scene, turns on the TV, you know, goes to you know, Amazon Prime or Netflix or whatever. You know, or you are gonna be able to come in and say, you know, as long as you got some coffee filter in the coffee maker, you know, in the morning, make my coffee and just talk to it, and you're doing it through Alexa or Google or a product like that. And so this company, Virtual Concierge, um, when we got set up with them, we bought the product on our end. So we bought the Alexa product, but we use leverage their software. And then it's to the point to where when it's there's a couple properties, when a guest comes in, uh, we already have captured their Spotify uh user ID or their Pandora user ID, and it starts to play their um it starts to play their music selection.

SPEAKER_06 55:04

That's next level right there, man.

SPEAKER_03 55:06

So so so we you know, so our primary company is short-term residences, um, but we started uh another brand called Connected Stays um that is that smart play. Um and those properties under that brand, um, they they have that capability or that skill set.

SPEAKER_06 55:23

So now those are those newer built properties or yes, so those are all either brand new or very new. Yeah. Yeah, you have to send me your link. I need to stay in one of those.

SPEAKER_03 55:32

Yeah, absolutely. So so we um so so that's something that we use that you know maybe maybe not a lot of people have heard of. Um and then um, you know, we we we we have uh some some marketing stuff that we've deployed lately. You know, I caught your episode with Facebook, so we were running some some things. That was that was a good episode for me to hear because I was always like in the back of my mind, like, am I doing this right? Like, I know Facebook pretty good because I came for marketing and some of the other marketing channels, but you know, just knowing like um I'm I'm coming from the technology space to this space, like what are the similarities or the differences? And I like I know how to do it over here, but I'm gonna do it right over here. After listening to that episode, I was like, okay, I'm on the right track. So I felt a lot better. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 56:19

He he a EJP, he dropped some game on that one. Yeah, that really helped me too. So, no, go ahead, Steve.

SPEAKER_08 56:26

So, do you use uh other platforms like VRBO, Home Away, stuff like that? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:31

Yes, so we do. Um, we all all of the above. Um, we were on booking for a while, we turned it off because of the issues.

SPEAKER_04 56:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:39

Um, we're gonna turn it back on. Um, you know, once we get the uh auto host stuff on you know up and working and running. Um, you know, like I said, and after talking to the CEO, and he has people on the booking platform who don't have those issues and don't have those credit card uh issues because they have a check for that. So they check checking like multiple things, and it's all um it's all AI driven, you know, so it's all artificial intelligence just running in the background. Um and so so once we get that set up, we will be back on booking. We've increased our direct bookings. Um and so our direct bookings, we've never put out a we've never given the guests the ability to just go to our website and book because of the credit card fraud thing. And we would didn't want to have a lot of stripe returns and you know and uh you know guests trying to, you know, um book and then you know capture that credit card money back. And so we've always on our website, we've always made it a process where they submit an inquiry and then we respond with a customized quote depending on what city they're looking for and what properties are available, and then we and and and and a lot of that's automated, but that's the process. So once we get the auto host built back, you know, get that set up, we're likely going to uh have our direct bookings increase even more because then we're gonna open up the page to where they can just book directly and we won't be as concerned with all the credit card issues. Nice.

SPEAKER_06 58:04

Makes sense, man, dude.

SPEAKER_08 58:06

All right. I got a few more questions. Getting down to the we're getting into the nitty-gritty. Um so cleaners, what are you using for your cleaners, turnovers?

SPEAKER_03 58:17

Well, you know, like you guys, I'm using turnover B and B. Yeah, I so I will say this. So um, not every property, but the majority of them, I am. Um so we were using, for a while, we were using, not we weren't using turnover. We started with turnover. We had our very here's what's happened. So when we opened up our very first unit, uh, which was the duplex one, the Arlington. So we opened up one side because the baseball side was ready before the football side. So we opened the baseball side. We were the the weekend that it opened, we were going to Florida on a trip. So we're in so we had lined up uh a cleaner through Turnover B. So we're in Florida. The cleaner shows up to clean after the guests had left, right? And this is our first one. So, you know, we're this is serious remote action we're talking here. You know, we're on the East Coast, the clean the guest is there. I have my my my my brother-in-law, he's he's in Arlington, so he was, you know, he was kind of just overseeing stuff for us. But the cleaner shows up after the guest leaves, and she steals one of our coolers.

SPEAKER_05 59:24

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 59:24

So we do an upsell at that property. So let me let me let me switch gears for a quick second. We do an upsell at the Arlington property where we do add-on stuff. One of them is we'll have it, we have a tailgate package that we offer for extra money. Oh, that thing's beautiful. So, but anyway, so long story short, we had put a brand new Igloo cooler in there, you know, for the tailgate package that the people upgraded to. And she, we caught her on the vivid camera leaving with our cooler. Like, we're in there. Yeah, so we're like, so we're like, what the hell? So we so so we contacted, um, we contacted her through to turnover BNBF, and and and we said, um, you know, how did everything go? Because we wanted our cooler back first and foremost. We're like, how did everything go? We're trying to be kind of nice. This is our first one. And she was like, Oh, it's clean, everything went well. Um, did you did, you know, is there anything that we need to know about? Oh no, we're you're fine, everything went well. And I said, Okay, well, um, we noticed that you had left with something. What was that? Oh, I didn't leave with anything. Now we got the vivid camera, the door camera. So, long story short, um, we we we we busted her, and she tried to say that uh she thought the previous guest left it and wasn't coming back for it. Are you kidding? Like, bring me back my cooler. So then she said, well, but it had a crack in it. It was brand new. You know the Walmart right down the street? Just scooped that bad boy up before we left out of town. So it was brand new, it was no crack. So, so so then we said, look here, the cooler was brand new. You obviously, you know, you obviously didn't know that, but we're gonna take the price of that cooler out of your pack. And at that time, turnover B wasn't set up to where you would pre-pay the cleaner. It wasn't set up like that at that time. Um, and so because we were paying her directly. And so we did. We backed it out and uh paid her the difference or whatever. But that was our first experience with turnover BNB. So we're like, oh, forget this. So we left for the longest. But now we're back, it's all good. She got you for your e-gloo, man. I didn't tell you, but that whole markup with the upsell thing, dude, get on that, man. That's beautiful.

SPEAKER_08 1:01:41

Okay, I really because I'm uh probably like uh thousands of um listeners are like, how does he do the upsell? And I've always talked about how to do something cool like that. And so um, so how how do you do a package like where do you put the stuff like let's say the cooler and some chairs, or I don't know, you could you could describe it, but where do you put it in case someone comes and they don't buy it, or they they're there, oh you know, we do need that stuff, and where do you how do you set it up?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:06

Yeah, so typically we'll upsell it um before the guests arrive, so we'll know that they're they're gonna want this specific um product. So we have varying degrees of that product, but the most simplest one is um it involves uh it the cooler. Well, so we'll so we'll provide the cooler, we'll provide the ice. You know we gotta have the red cups. So we'll have those red cups, you know, and then we'll and and then and the napkins, and then we'll have the uh the little koozie things that keep your your drinks cola. We provide everything except the liquor. We don't have a liquor license, I'm not trying to get soup. So we provide everything except the liquor. So all they have to do is just run down to Walmart, we'll give them directions, grab the six-pack, 24-pack, whatever, and everything else is ready to go, and it's gonna be cheaper than them buying all of that stuff. Oh, yeah. So that's the key. So, and then because we can we can do it at a very affordable cost because we're doing it over and over and over, we've made our money, you know, several times over. Um, but we keep it in a closet, so we have a locked closet that's specific for supplies. Um, we have two locked closets on each side, but in that property, um, we keep it in those extra items in a lock closet. We have a gaming console upsell um that we that we do. Um and you would think, man, I'm not putting my PS4 in there where we don't. We put our PS3 in there. Yeah, we can have that, you know, and we only we only bring it out. And and then we'll take a deposit. Believe that. And they'll put up the deposit. You know, we'll do like a hundred, you know, a hundred dollar deposit for the PS3, and we got a stack of games. We'll put the games in the PS3, we'll do the deposit. You know, and then we've got the you know, the flat panels on the wall and the HDMIs coming through the wall and at the bottom, so they can just pop it in and get to go.

SPEAKER_08 1:03:50

So if they paid for the package, then do you give them a code to that locked door or do you have the cleaner set it up for them?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:57

So because yeah, because we're pre-selling it, we'll pull that stuff out and make it available for them.

SPEAKER_08 1:04:02

Um or the cleaners will do it for you.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:05

But the cleaners will do it, yeah. So the cleaners will do it, or we have what's called the community manager. So our community manager, a lot of people that we know um in the space refer to them as kind of like a runner, but basically they do a couple of different things. They do spot checks on our cleaners. So some of our properties, we the cleaners work directly with us. And so in those properties, those cleaners know they're gonna get spot checked, random spot checks. So the community manager, she they they would handle refilling of supplies, restocking of consumables, things like that, um, laundry, because we get our laundry done offsite uh through a facility. And so they they do drop off and pick up some laundry, um, but then they also spot check the cleaners. And so uh, and and then on occasion they put they may put out some of those upsell items. So either they'll do it or the cleaners will do it.

SPEAKER_08 1:04:51

A runner, man. That's that's genius right there. I never thought of something like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:55

Yeah, I I don't, I'm not trying to do I'm trying to I'm trying to go buy get some more prop property, right? That that's where my time is best spent, you know. Um so we kind of we oversee the people and then we empower them to do what they do, but we also train them to be effective at their at their you know specific uh jobs.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:15

So I like them upsells, dog. I'm taking notes on that one.

SPEAKER_08 1:05:19

So this brings me to the next uh the other questions I had was uh who who refills like the supply cabinet and stuff, and I would assume the runner does that.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:27

Right. So of course, you know, we're real Amazon heavy, um that and Costco, and so depending on you know what the need is and how urgent it is, um, you know, we may have something uh delivered, um, or we may have uh the runner run and go grab some stuff at Costco, but usually the the the community manager is the person that's handling the restocking for the units. Um and so we have well we so we there's two, so because we're we're kind of spread out a little bit and we don't want one person just running all over the entire metro area, but but that's typically their role.

SPEAKER_08 1:05:58

And um they put the trash.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:01

So in Arlington, because it's a duplex and you know the hassle with you know Wednesday, Saturday trash, um, yes. So they'll they'll go go out there on Tuesday night after seven, because that's when you can put it out, and and then they'll put it out, and then the Saturday run where it's where there's no recycling, but it's just trash. Um take care of that too. And I now I will be honest, I've had to do that a few times too. It's not fun.

SPEAKER_08 1:06:25

Um I'm not I I no so but uh but yeah, that's typically something that they're that's a big um a big thing for me right now that I'm going through, and I'm I'm kind of getting better at it. And what Micah and Adam, you you heard the last episode, Matt and Adam James, they asked their guests to put it out for them. And I'm like, uh I I just thought that sounded a little weird, but I did do that on one of my last guests, and they they didn't have a problem with it. Of course, I haven't received a review from that guest yet. Maybe they're just thinking about hitting that button, you know. But um, yeah, they did it no problem. But um, I still uh if the cleaners, you know, flipping it out out the cleaner will put it out, you know, as soon as they're done cleaning. It might be a few hours before that seven o'clock mark, but whatever, you know, it's still yeah, not too bad.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:11

Yeah, I I hear you. So I um I'm I I used to work in I used to work in hospitality years ago. Um and so I'm so I I was really like really intentional on the hospitality piece. Um and so while I don't necessarily see a problem with asking the guests to do it, I'm I'm more pro-hospitality, like I'm gonna serve my guests to the nth degree. You know, and and it worked well for us because we'll get a lot of repeat guests, um, which you know in this business definitely helps. Um and so for for me it's more of a service thing. I'm trying to I'm trying to provide the best service for the guests because I know, you know, you know, like you said, Michael, there's other operators you're competing now, the space is getting more full. Um, but we're separating ourselves not just from the product, but also with through the service piece. Um and so so we we we've not to this point asked somebody to do that, but if they piss me off enough, you know, I might come up with y'all take that trash out while you're on your way out, man.

SPEAKER_08 1:08:14

Damn. Uh yeah, yeah, those are like the big things. I mean, that's the I mean, you know, we we we give we go pretty um in-depth about Airbnb and stuff like this on this show, and then the business aspect and um you know even Facebook, you know, trying to get it out there and trying to to raise your to raise your listing up. But but I mean those are the questions we get all the time is the you know the trash and the turnovers, that's the hardest part of it. If you can automate those two things, man, you're set.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:41

Yep, yeah, absolutely. That and the cleaning. You get all of those going like clockwork, you're you're in good shape.

SPEAKER_08 1:08:48

Oh, the laundry thing. I didn't even think about that. See that a lot of times my you know my cleaners want to go in there, boom, boom, boom, bust it out, do the laundry, and they'll leave with like some towels and the dryer still drying. And they'll and I mean I'll have enough towels for the rest of the guests, but I guess her logic, and I I can see it. I don't want you know, I don't if I don't want them to have to be there three or four hours if they don't have to be, they got other things to do. And um, but they do a great job. But they said, well, you know, I just figured if the if they needed extra towels, you know, you could tell them they're in the dryer, but we'll have enough towels as it is. But anyways, the the laundry thing, that's that's cool. How do you set that up?

SPEAKER_03 1:09:24

So we actually um have a service do all of our laundry for all of our properties, um, and so uh so the runner or typically community manager, whatever, typically would pick pick up that laundry uh from from those different checkouts um and take them to the uh you know to the place that does them. Um and usually they'll turn them around if uh most of the time the next day pretty quickly. Um on occasion, if we have a rush, we might even get it the same day, depending on what time it gets dropped off. Um but we're negotiating with this company right now to actually pick up our laundry at all of our locations. Uh so we're like right there. Um, and uh that's going to be a game changer too, uh, once that happens. But we started out doing laundry, we immediately gave that to the cleaners. Uh my my you know, you I I I know that I'm I'm I'm picky and I'm kind of anal about different things, uh, but my wife is a clean freak. Like I like like a germaphobe too. So uh so the the the I'm telling like the first cleaner we had, this this lady, uh I'm not gonna say her name because she she's very cool actually, but she my wife has this thing about mixing colors with whites, right? Like that's like the cardinal rule, you don't do that. And so this cleaner, the cleaner she keeps doing the launch, she kept doing that. And it just like my wife was like, I had it. Like, we need to let her go, you know. She wasn't doing anything else wrong, but uh that was like a pet peeve. And so so now we have a service doing it. Um, everything's smooth, everything comes out great. We don't deal with lint, we don't deal with hair, you know, that's left on a sheet where you had to get a lint roller and get it on none of that stuff. We don't have to iron anything. We never did, but this service they pull stuff straight out of the heat and fold them, so we don't have to iron everything. Um I'll put you guys up on this because they're in Ireland. Um they're off of um Cooper. I get Cooper and Carl is confused all the time. But they're off of one of them. Um, but it's called O Laundry. So you can Google it. OH like OH or just the O. Like O, like the letter O. Just O laundry. Um, and uh and they do a great job. Um and uh so we drew all of our laundry goes to them. Uh from all over the Metropolitan, it goes to them. Um and so uh so that's that's how we handle it.

SPEAKER_08 1:11:48

And then you keep everything, all the sheets and everything the same color, so it'll be easier, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:11:52

Or is that so not only do they do the cleaning and the folding like spot on, but they separate everything. So my wife was real anal about like why are they mixing the twin fitted sheet with the queen, you know, pillowcase with the king, this and that. So the laundry place, they separate everything by bed size. So that when you get it back, like our closet in the in our different units, our lock closet that has all our extra linens. Like, like my wife, she she got it down to the point to where like the cleaners know, like there's a label up there and it says queen fitted sheets, and that's the only thing that goes there. Don't put a king there, you know. That's a problem. And so, and but the but the the the the laundry company they separate everything by size and by item, and then what they'll do is they'll shrink wrap it. So then they separate it and then they shrink wrap it. So you get it back in this nice, organized, clean, like you you would be surprised. Here's one one more thing before we cut out of here. We had a bed bug issue. If you haven't had one, it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when it's gonna happen. Okay? So that's no joke. That the bed bug thing is serious. We had a bed bug issue, um, so we had to, you know, we had to call in the exterminator and do the whole thing. And but the person that spotted it was the laundry company, the one in there in Arlington. So they noticed um that there were uh these little like look like little spots, spits, spots of blood on a couple of the sheets. Well, what happens, I learned a lot about bed bugs over this whole ordeal, but what happens, bed bugs are so tiny and some of them you can't even see, especially the little baby ones, that as you sleep, you just roll over on one and they crush, they they just you crush them because their bodies are so fragile and they create these little dot-looking blood stains. And you might see like three or four of them and not think nothing of it. And it wasn't because the person had a bloody nose that was there, it's because you you they may have brought bed bugs with them. So we had someone bring in, uh we had a guest bring in bed bugs to a brand new listing. The first guest there. Yeah. So um, but the the the laundry place is great. They caught that, we were able to get the exterminator out before it became a big infestation problem. Um, they cleaned all the linens, you know, to the everything was good to go. And we we we didn't lose any downtime. Um, we had contacted proper insurance. We're like, look, we got bed bugs about to file a claim. They say, come on, we got you, but we didn't have to file it because so you do use proper? Mm-hmm. We use proper for primarily just, you know, just just for the security of having the insurance, but also the uh the business downtime that they that they cover too. Um so they'll cover any downtime that your business has, loss of revenue is is what I'm thinking. They'll cover loss of revenue for you. And so that's why we call them because we've we've known the people to go be down for two, three, four weeks because of a bedwork issue. And so we, you know, we had all those bookings stacked up. That could be quite a bit of money, and and proper will cover that, that loss for you. Um and so, yeah, but uh little tidbit there.

SPEAKER_08 1:15:03

Does proper go by what you average at that house or what?

SPEAKER_03 1:15:07

So typically, um when you get set up with them, they'll ask you um they'll ask you a series of questions, property size, they'll ask you expected revenue, um, and uh and then they they got some algorithm they use, and they'll they I I think it's like 70% of of like what you would normally anticipate getting. But there's rarely, there's not any other uh STR insured companies that will do that, that will cover business loss like that, and especially not at that high percentage. So for us, it was kind of like a no-brainer.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:45

What what is proper charge?

SPEAKER_03 1:15:47

So um it ranges again based on size and and everything like that, but a two-bedroom uh let me think. So so for like for what for the duplex, right? The audiences we've been talking about that one. So there's a two-bedroom, one bath on each side. I want to say that it's each side is like right around 40 something, $50 a month for each side. So it's it's it's nothing. It's nothing compared to the I mean when you look at the revenue that you're doing and and the security, because they they cover everything. Like um, it's a million dollar coverage. It is one million dollars per door. Yeah, so that's said per door. So when you're in a multifamily and you're doing multiple doors, and a lot of these property management companies say come to the table with with your hundred thousand dollars renters insurance. I just come back with, oh, I got you times ten. I'm gonna give you a million dollar insurance. So it helps you sell too. It helps you sell to properties too. And then you you always want to name the the property owner as additionally insured because then that coverage extends over to them. Um so it's it's a it's a beautiful thing. I know Sean doesn't do it. He's talked about how he doesn't do it, but um we it's just we feel we it I like the peace of mind uh and I like the the opportunity to recoup lost revenue. You know, but Lord forbid something happened, uh uh, you know, there's a catastrophic problem in a property. You know, not only is the owner covered, we're covered. And we're and and and and and and we'll be covered for the rest of the year. You know, if if we're out of business for the rest of that year. So that's that's a big thing.

SPEAKER_08 1:17:26

Nice covering all your bases. I and I know you uh you like to be unique when you set up your spots, your places. Do you put like um catchy unique names and how do you come up with your names for your places?

SPEAKER_03 1:17:39

Uh I don't, and I'm terrible at that. And uh we we would probably do a little bit better marketing-wise if I did, but like so. This one we're opening in McKinney, this will be the first one where we're allowing pets, right? And so, um, because all of our other properties we don't allow any pets. So this one we're gonna allow pets because the community as a whole allows the residents to have up to three pets per door. So we're like, this is crazy. So, you know, everybody and their moms got a pet over there, so we were like, you know, we might as well and then just doing some some, you know, just pulling some data. I found that properties to allow pets seem to perform they perform a little bit higher because there's so many that don't. And so this is a pet-friendly community. So we're gonna allow pets there. We're gonna allow two small dogs up to 15 pounds with breed restrictions. So we get all of that's gonna be in the terms and stuff that they agree to. Uh, but um, but no, I don't have a catchy name. I think that was gonna be like um new pet-friendly, uh new new pet-friendly family space near Dallas. I mean, how boring is that? But you know what? Says it up for SEO it might work because it speaks to exactly what it is.

SPEAKER_06 1:18:52

So I'm really I'm really interested to let me know how that works out for you, that pet friendly. Um, I might turn one of mine pet friendly and then do the restrictions. I've heard they do better as well.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:03

We we already so here's what we do when real quick. When we when we get a new listing, when we know we're getting keys, we go ahead and we put that listing up on the on the on the platforms. With with one picture. Here's the trick. That picture says coming soon. And it has so it's it's it's a it's a picture of a unit that's faded out, but then in bold white letters it says coming soon. And in the faint background, you can see a slight bit of a what would be an apartment or something. And that's the only picture we put up we put up, never fails. We pre-sale more nights with that strategy than you would you would believe. Yeah, so so this this one we we just got keys for the McKinney one. I already listed it, and we already got our first inquiry. We got that yesterday, actually. Lady wanted to bring a third dog. So and and have you thought about have you thought about charging for an extra dog? I told her that. I said we would we would potentially consider that for an additional fee. Let me know what breed the dog is. You know.

SPEAKER_08 1:20:07

So now now, um, and where do you put the coming soon at? Do you put it on the Airbnb or you put it uh where do you put it at?

SPEAKER_03 1:20:14

Yeah, so just you know, where you where you open up your photos, it's just a a photo that says coming soon. And in the background you can see like a faint picture of like a living room of an apartment. But in bold letters it says coming soon. And that's that's the only photo that we put up. So this is a little hack that we learned out of our from our friends out in California. Um, but it works.

SPEAKER_08 1:20:33

And do you open it up to be booked already before the pictures are up?

SPEAKER_03 1:20:37

Yeah, so so right. So we know what the the go live date is based on when the furniture will be installed and when it'll be ready. And so we block everything up to that date, but we start pre-selling from that date full.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:48

You know what? That is actually the beauty of using somebody else to furnish it because you have a deb uh go live date. And then you you write on time, man. That that's actually really your strategy. I like that.

SPEAKER_08 1:21:00

Man, I love it.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:01

Yeah, so like like we know for this one, October, October 4th, I believe it is, which is this this Friday, maybe. It's our go live day. And so and that's when she was made the inquiry for, which is coming weekend. And so, so yeah, it's beautiful.

SPEAKER_08 1:21:17

Man, that that that's why I love this podcast. I mean, it is our podcast, but because man, I mean, something like that, we always learn something new. We're we're not really making money off this thing, not yet, hopefully, maybe in the future. But um, but man, the the the millions of dollars of knowledge we're getting from this podcast is and and the the listeners are getting for free. It's just uh mind blowing, dude. And so, because like when you said that coming soon thing, I just there's a house down the road, and you know, the housing market cooled off just a little. It might have plateaued because right now it's actually a little slow. But I remember people would put that um put those coming soon signs out in front of a house, you know, people can't even go and look at it yet, nothing. Next thing you know, they're taking that down and putting sold. I mean, it's just insane. And I never ever thought of using it for like short-term rentals. So, y'all out there listening to this are getting like a wealth of knowledge. So, yeah, you're welcome.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:10

Yeah, and we, you know, as a as a listener myself, you know, I I appreciate you guys because you know, we've we've learned stuff from some of the guests that you guys have brought on that we've been able to implement um in our business, and it helps as well. So, you know, I'm I'm I'm I'm a little old school. I'm you know, I'm of the position that um, you know, I I I needed a lot of help when I got started, and so I'm willing to to I'm I'm willing to help other people in in any way I can. And uh so so yeah, if they get anything from this, then then that's all good.

SPEAKER_08 1:22:43

Well, see, you said you had your own podcast. What kind of podcast was that?

SPEAKER_03 1:22:47

So I've had um two. So when I first um left my job, um, and I thought I was gone for good, I uh I started a podcast because that's when John Lee Doomas was doing his thing. He was making money, he was podcasting, so I was like, oh, I'm big, I'm I'm gonna be the black John Lee Doomas, you know. And so I started a podcast, and it was called, I don't even remember, oh, it was called Adapt and Grow. And I was talking about the entrepreneurial journey, and I was excited because I was a new entrepreneur, and I and I and I knew the stat. If you get to seven episodes, you consider successful, you know, like that's the breaking point, like five years in business, the breaking point. Well, seven episodes in a podcast, and you considered like a successful podcast. So I got to seven before I stopped. So that was my first one. And then the second one, uh, actually, I just finished that one a couple years ago. So I ran a marketing agency in the technology space, and so we did uh me and a co-host, we did a podcast specific to that industry um that uh actually did really, really, really well. Um, and then once I started getting into this, um, I phased that out and I kind of went full full on into this. And so uh so we're getting ready to launch another one since you asked.

SPEAKER_08 1:24:02

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:02

I'm gonna just do a quick plug here. But we're we're we're launching one um in the coming weeks. It's called Hospitality Cash Flow for Multifamily Communities. And basically what it is, is just what it sounds like. So we're gonna be showing investors, developers, syndicators, uh multifamily community owners how they can leverage short-term accommodations to, like I said before, increase their NOI, um, increase their property value, um, you know, and and just improve the overall experience of the community, the department community. And so it's specific to that crowd. But as you know, we'll probably have the the I Wanna Start of STR people listening to the show. So we'll have some episodes that we sprinkle in where we're just kind of throwing out some helpful stuff, but for the most part, it's specific to that um that space that we're we're trying to attract, the ownership level space.

SPEAKER_08 1:24:53

Say that title again. Sorry.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:55

Uh it's called it's gonna be called Hospitality Cash Flow for Multifamily Communities.

SPEAKER_08 1:25:00

Okay. You're right about you creating titles. You're pretty a matter-of-fact about that.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:09

Sorry.

SPEAKER_06 1:25:10

So would you arbitrage in some of these carbon companies? I know you said you invest in some of them or multi-families. Have you had success of actually just like like that duplex or whatever? Have you had sex to success of actually getting one of your own and like making that your own?

SPEAKER_03 1:25:25

So we we we haven't tried yet. Um and we've specified we we haven't tried specifically for a reason. Um, because again, when we go in, we wanna we really want to go in on a on a hundred plus unit deal um with with an with a team of investors to take down a sizable multi-level property. We want to be involved at that level. Um and so um so we know that there's multiple ways you can get involved. You know, you can you can do deal analysis and get involved that way, bringing deals to the table. You know, you can bring uh anytime that you have the ability to uh bring the uh other people's money, bring other um investors in on a deal, that's a very work uh uh useful asset that uh teams like. And then of course you can bring money to a deal where you're investing hard money into it. And so um, so we we haven't dabbled in anything else yet because we're we're pretty laser focused on this is what we're gonna do and this is the time frame we're gonna do.

SPEAKER_08 1:26:26

Well, let me know because I got five on it.

SPEAKER_06 1:26:30

All right, I remember that. I ain't gonna lie, you you blown my mind tonight. I got some I got some upgrading to do. So I I had a question because you said you had somebody actively monitoring your cameras. One question I did have. Have you had any troubled guests?

SPEAKER_03 1:26:49

Yes. So um not a lot, but I would say one of the to the point that I think I think it maybe it was you, Steve, earlier you were making about um people trying to list for a certain amount and then bring in sneak in guests, you know. So we've had a couple of issues with that where we've had to put guests out. Um, you know, dealing depending on which platform you're dealing with, that could be a process. Um and then we've had uh, you know, we've had a couple of instances of like parties beginning to start. Not they didn't come to fruition because we put us we were able to get in and get involved before they did, but people coming to the Arlington location thinking they were gonna throw a pregame party or something. Um and and then we've had like a couple of you know, just like a couple of like, you know, marijuana issues, stuff like that, where we've had to step in. But nothing like catastrophic. Um fortunately.

SPEAKER_06 1:27:50

Not gonna work. So question you said you said some platforms make it easier, some platforms make it harder. Which platform have you seen, like you said, as far as removing A guest, which platforms are harder and which ones are easier to deal with.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:04

Well, you already know Airbnb is the most difficult when it comes to when it comes to trying to remove a guest. Because of course, they say if the guest is still in the unit, then we won't cancel the reservation. And if you cancel it, you're going to lose your superhost status along with a litany of other things, you know, and then there's a negative impact on those types of things. And so we've kind of learned how to play the game with them. And we accumulate so much evidence that we overwhelm them with evidence of rule violations and violations of their actual terms and conditions. And as you know, not every person employee of Airbnb that you get on the phone with has the same knowledge base. Because a lot of times we find ourselves educating their people on their terms and conditions. I'm like, are you serious? Why am I having to show you the page and paragraph where it says this? You should you should already know this. Now give me my money. Give me my money. But yeah, uh but I mean we I I I will say with with with the problem does does come the um you know, does does come a nice little revenue stream. So um so you know, you take the baby with the bathwater. I mean, uh I it's a pain in some instances dealing with them, but we've made a lot of money from that.

SPEAKER_06 1:29:30

And so that's always my love-hate relationship with them. I know what you mean.

SPEAKER_08 1:29:34

Now speaking of getting getting guests out, though, if I mean if you're in Cali, you might not let ever get them out, right? They might just stay there forever and you gotta pay the and you gotta pay the note.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:44

So you could could good point, because it's you know, every each state has their own little you know rules about you know tenants or guests and things like that. And so um, you know, my my Cali family, I got love for them, but I um I yeah, that's on them. Like they gotta figure that out. Like, if I was there, I would figure out like, okay, what does this what does the state law say? You know, about what are the tenant laws for the state of California? Because I don't know them. And you know, and then how do I need to draft my contract to make it favorable for me and not for the guest of the tenant? Because here in Texas, uh our attorney, so a couple of things. So we we have an attorney that we use, he drafts all of our contracts, he even drafts our lease contracts with the communities. So rarely do we sign a TAA, a Texas Department Association standard lease where that paragraph 37 kills you. Rarely do we sign that. And if we do sign it, we get an addendum put in to get that paragraph removed or an addendum to allow us to operate our business model. What is that 37?

SPEAKER_08 1:30:50

What is that paragraph 37?

SPEAKER_03 1:30:52

So that's the restrictive one that says you can't list on OTAs, you can't sublet, you can't do all this and that. It's a very restrictive paragraph. So if you're signing the traditional TAA, just be mindful of that. We have uh we write in an addendum for that, and then we have them sign the addendum. Um, and because once we've educated them to the benefits of us partnering together, and that's how we we phrase it, us partnering together, then the light bulb goes off for them, and then like, oh, you are better than an average tenant. You know, you do do you do take care of the property a lot better because it has to be picture perfect because that's how you make money. You know, there is less wear and tear because there are periods where it actually does sit vacant and it's not used 24-7, 365 like a normal tenant. You know, you do handle some light maintenance, so if a doorknob breaks off, you got somebody that can take care of and you're not bugging our team at three in the morning. You know, so they understand after we educate them like the benefits of doing business with us, um, and and and and then it's less of an issue.

SPEAKER_08 1:31:52

Hey, dropping some knowledge today.

SPEAKER_06 1:31:55

Yes, sir. Man, so I guess this is usually Steve's question, but I'm gonna go ahead and ask it. What's one tip you would give to listeners if they're looking to get started?

SPEAKER_03 1:32:06

Whoo, that's a good one. So here's a tip. And it's nothing new because I think one of your guests have said it before. It may have been Adam James or one of the other ones. Um, but if you want to make a business out of it, um what we found out, um, and not that we didn't know, but we didn't know how how very important it was, um, is the business credit. A lot of people preach this. Sean preaches this, you know, um, you know, a lot of a lot of just trainers, future go ahead and start, get the entity set up, whether it's the LLC, the escort, or whatever, get it set up, go ahead and get those uh, you know, those easy lines of credit out the way, you know, the easy stuff, the Grangers, the U-lines, the Home Depot, the Chevron Gas car. Get that stuff out, you know, get get make sure you're done in Brad Street's reporting and your experience business and and all of that is reporting um early on with those easy lines because at some point you're going to need to tap a higher line of credit, right? So so now we're into where we we we tapped into six figures plus worth of credit, you know, that we can that we can reach out and utilize. Okay. So now we're at a point to where we are actually looking at getting our furniture wholesale license so we can go direct to the manufacturer to get furniture and get that buy. That's one of the things I was talking about earlier. And so, so but you but you gotta have your business uh credit needs to be in place and kind of set up and and running so you can go make these moves like this, you know, when when when you get the six month, nine months, twelve months into the business. Um, and so so that's that's what I that's my one one little tidbit.

SPEAKER_06 1:33:47

Business credit. Man, man, that that furniture wholesale license, man. I'm telling you, Noble, you you you're about to be the favorite guest up in here, man. Adam James, he's coming for your number one spot.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:02

Man! Oh man. Yeah, I I can talk about this stuff all night, guys. I mean, I I I like it. I I have a passion for it. I like listening to you guys. Um, y'all keep me motivated and excited and and laughing and and and whatnot. And so so I appreciate you guys for doing the show. And uh, you know, we're just gonna go out here and do this thing and crush this thing.

SPEAKER_04 1:34:22

Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:34:23

Yes, sir, man.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:24

That's cool. Good having you on.

SPEAKER_08 1:34:26

We can't wait to hop on your podcast, by the way.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:28

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, we we we're gonna be launching soon, probably in the next few weeks, and uh, and you know, we'll we'll be doing the the the the call out for guests and stuff, so I'll definitely reach out to you guys. We'll love to have you on and and have you drop some some knowledge on on the listeners and things like that, and and on the developer market too. Um, because there's a lot that they just don't know, you know, that that you guys know because you've been in the space and you could, you know, and uh, you know, you you you you you are considered the um the thought leader and the and the influencer in your space for every single person out there who knows less than you. Everybody so so that's a large group when you think about it, you know, for for for us that are in the space, and there's a ton of people who haven't learned what we learn, you know. Yeah, and and a lot of new people that are getting started, you know, and so so yeah, for the developers too, like y'all y'all could crush it, like just educating them on things that you know help them come on board. And the more people that come on board in this space, the more it'll have an impact um with local ordinances and local, local, local jurisdictions, you know, because our Waco project that we're working on, and this is a little bit of NDA type stuff that I can't talk too much about, but basically, um like the the the ownership there's there's there's an existing property and there's a development piece. So without getting into too much, the ownership is going to go to the city because Waco has an ordinance that is that limits the percentage of uh STR3s or basically multifamilies. So if you have a multifamily of 100 units, they have a limit of 5%. Well, that would be five, right? So the the developers of this multi-million dollar property are gonna go to the city and ask for a variance. Why? Because they can't, and the city will listen to them because they're spending millions of dollars developing land next to Magnolia. Yep. So so so that's why the more people that understand the benefits of this model and can get on board with it, and then that operate correctly, so they're not out there doing you know a bunch of illegal stuff necessarily, but you know, they're not allowing, you know, the you know, everybody says party houses or whatever, you know, which is a cuss word to me. But you know, they're they're not allowing that element, and they're actually setting up their units right and running them right and that sort of thing, and helping to give the the industry a good name. Like that that's gonna eventually impact the it have an impact at the city level. Um and it it just it's just a matter of time. Um but this this whole business model is not going anywhere. Um, you know, I think more restrictions are coming, but I think restrictions can be good as long as there's smart restrictions. And they're and and and the the restrictions were made, the restrictions are made based on them being educated on the facts and not neighborhoods saying we've got 40 houses. You know. So yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:37:26

It's just like, I mean, the cat's out of the bag, right? Just like with Uber and Lyft. I mean, okay, you can oh the taxis can say, please ban them so we can still have j sorry, it's too late. I mean, it's I mean, it's just you can't just ban something that just grew exponentially like that. Same thing with Airbnb. I mean, how are you just gonna solve it? Okay, we're just gonna ban it everywhere. Nah, sorry, the cat's out of the bag. People figured out how to make money with their houses, with their rooms, with that whatever. You can't just say, okay, y'all gotta stop doing that now. Sorry, I mean, it's too late. It's too late.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:55

Yeah, it it you know, is uh it the the the the the hotel industry is now the new taxi industry, you know, and uh real tall you know, grease and palms and whatever we gotta be done. And uh you know, I get it, I get it, but uh, you know, we can all play in the space together. That's just a simple fact.

SPEAKER_08 1:38:13

Cool, man. Well, we appreciate you hopping on and dropping all these um knowledge bombs on us. And uh how can people reach out to you, man?

SPEAKER_03 1:38:22

Sure, so I'm on Facebook, I'm pretty heavy on Facebook uh when I have time, but um they can they can uh see reach me on Facebook. Um at Noble Crawford on Instagram, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, uh you know, also through Short Term Residences on Facebook, on LinkedIn. Um the the podcast is getting ready to drop hospitality cash flow. There's a uh Facebook group called Hospitality Cash Flow. Um go ahead and join now because we are going to be giving away some stuff. Um, I know Micah doesn't like to lose any money at all, not a penny. Uh but we're about to run this marketing play that we're gonna 10x it, and so we're gonna give away some stuff that's gonna return to us tenfold. So uh go ahead and join the Facebook group, Hospitality Cash Flow, and uh you'll you'll find out there.

SPEAKER_08 1:39:15

Uh one quick question. Because I was talking about the streams of income. You ever considered doing Turo?

SPEAKER_03 1:39:23

Yes. Um and it kind of ended up like co-hosting did for me. Um I I I want a lot more money than I'm than Turo's gonna pay pay me out. Uh so when I look at the the the time versus income ratio and and and that sort of thing, um it it it's it may not be something that I get into, but the the concept of it definitely interested me. Um and when I was thinking of it, here here's another thing, real quick before we go. So we we were in on this failed deal, uh, or I was I was uh associated with a gentleman who was part of a failed opportunity, um, and it's not really a failed opportunity, but he's no longer part of it, um, that is a fleet of Teslas Um that are uh rent rented out, basically leased out with the driver, okay, kind of like an Uber model, but they're only electric cars, Teslas and BMW electric cars, um, and they serve the business executive community. And here's another thing. So you hear about the Saunders, the Stay Alfreds, the Stay Lyrics, those big guys that are operating in the space that come in urban cities and take down like a whole floor, two or three floors. So another player that's not as known, but they've been in the business for a while is called RealPage. So RealPage also does STRs in downtown Dallas. I think they're in a building that they have three or four floors. Well, their residents get to access this Tesla driver service as part of their little package deal. So that's a beautiful thing because they the the residents that are already making coin, but then that they have this add-on and this benefit, and they have a personal driver uh that goes down to playing their personal music list, kind of like we do with the some of the properties in the vehicle while they're right. Um and unlike an Uber, they'll when they go take you somewhere, they'll wait. You know, you don't have to call another when you come back. You can have a driver for the whole day. I can't remember the name of the service off the top of my head, but they're based in Dallas. And now they're kind of sprinkling around the comp the country. So I I'll give it to you offline and you can drop it in some notes or whatever. But yeah. So so that that type of thing interests me. So the Toro piqued my interest, and that like took it to another level.

SPEAKER_08 1:41:47

Yeah. And see how I how I I've been researching it since Adam James said he's doing it now. And he said, um, I I will not do anything unless I could um outsource it, you know, unless I can unless I could uh yeah, if I don't have to do anything, you know, that because and that's true, because he wants that he wants it to run itself. And and um that's what I was thinking. And and the more I research, you know, you if you get a lower-end car, you're gonna charge, you know, 20, 30 bucks a day for it, you're gonna be busting your hump to get that thing to and fro and washed and all that stuff, and at the end of the day, maybe hopefully make a hundred bucks for the month. I mean, the only way it's making sense to me if I get a high-end car and I'm charging two hundred bucks a day. So um that's because and also and not only because you get the people that are um you know, you know, you know, lower income and they might abuse your you abuse your ride more. Well, you you're charging 200 bucks a day, you're getting a different clientele, and um, yeah, less wear and tear and um paint and making more profit. So that's that's how I'm starting to see it right now.

SPEAKER_03 1:42:51

If you do do it, let me know how it works. Okay. Because I I was I you know, I I need a little bit more money to make it work for me, but if you get wildly successful, then hit me up because then I'm gonna pick your brain. And then the last thing for both of you guys, y'all didn't know this, but I used to work at American Steve.

SPEAKER_01 1:43:08

Oh, what's up?

SPEAKER_03 1:43:09

So I I yeah, so I did a little small stint there because here's why I did it. I left my left the industry I was in for 20 years in technology. I started my own podcast, I thought it was gonna be John Lee Doom's, right? So I had I I was sitting on some cash when I left because I was in sales, I had finished this big deal or whatever. So I kind of cashed out and left the industry. So I started the whole podcast. I thought I'm gonna make money, right? So then when that didn't happen for like three months, I started getting fear. The fear set in. Oh my god, am I like a fake entrepreneur? You know, like is this gonna work, right? And so I got scared. So I went out and I got on, you know, I got on with American. If I did a stint with them, and uh I was only part-time, but like you, I got those those flight benefits, you know. So those D1s are beautiful and stuff, right? So, but while I was there, um before before I left, that's I I got introduced to this before I left. Here's the play. So the flight attendance union, they determine where they put their flight attendance up in the different cities, and they vote on that either yearly or every other year. I was working an angle before I left to try to get properties put into that boat. Okay, and so um, so that that that's a play there that you might want to look into before you retire next year, if you leave. Yeah, because um, and I've got some contacts I can send your way, but um they determine do we want to book, do we want to get blocks at the Holiday Inn? Do we want to get blocks at Marriott, and like the the room blocks and the properties. So if you have a collect, yep, you Michael see where I'm going. If you have a collection of properties, um, and there's even a way to get it, so grapevine's in that ordinance, right? But there's a legal workaround for that based on this business model. So we're looking at a we're looking at one right now, Oklahoma City. I can't talk about it, but it is exactly the same way. Exactly the same way. Okay, and so so that we need to talk offline about that.

SPEAKER_06 1:45:06

Oh, yes, sir, yes, sir.

SPEAKER_03 1:45:08

We'll end with that. But but yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:45:12

Big tip. Hey, hey, you you probably ain't the black John Lee Dumas, but you you the black Grant Cardone, and I gave you that one, man.

SPEAKER_06 1:45:23

Oh, that's funny.

SPEAKER_08 1:45:24

Man MB3. Thank you so much for hopping on, man. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:45:29

I'll send you a message off one. We can talk. Awesome, awesome. I appreciate it, guys. But yeah, man, uh, thank you for coming on, uh, giving us your time. You definitely, man, I'm I'm about to be advertising this one everywhere. Because this this is gonna be this is gonna be a mind blow uh uh this a game changer right here.

SPEAKER_03 1:45:47

Awesome. I had fun, I appreciate it. I appreciate you guys having me on and y'all have a good rest of the week. You too, man. Have a blessed week. Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 1:45:56

All right. Later. Later. Alright, man. Um oh yeah, so we have a few closing advertisements before we go. Ladies, if you're ready to get your health in check, be sure to reach out to Mahogany at MahoganyArtist on IG. She has all your meal plans and workout routines that you need. And remember to follow Live Let Thrive on IG, Facebook, subscribe to us on YouTube. We live every Wednesday, baby. Hit us up.

SPEAKER_08 1:46:23

Patreon, Patreon, Patreon. Yes, sir, hit us up on the speaker hit us up on the Patreon. We're gonna have um you get access to the the new apps as they drop. And um, yeah, access to stuff that the uh we don't put on the regular podcast. So yeah, and you get to help us out. I mean, you know, we gotta pay for the the microphones, the mixers, we gotta pay for the space to put our podcasts up, and and if we you know, it helps. A few bucks helps here and there, you know. You you love us, you love us, you want to make us happy and keep us happy and keep us employed. So, yeah, I mean, whatever. Do it if you want. I suggest you do it. Yeah, definitely check us out on patreon.com slash patreon.com slash live let thrive.

SPEAKER_06 1:47:06

Yeah, we are out. Remember, keep sending the emails. We didn't do questions this week, we'll do questions next week with the questions popped off the ground. And yeah, man, keep living. We are out, ladies.

SPEAKER_00 1:47:21

Thank 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.