Love, Legacy & Real Estate: Dedric & Krystal Polite on Turning Hustle into Homeownership

Did you know that driving under the influence of marijuana is illegal? That's right, driving high could get you a DUI. And if you're wondering if law enforcement can tell when you're driving high, well, everyone else in your life can. Your friends can tell, your coworkers can tell, even your parents can tell. So what makes you think law enforcement can't tell? Well, they can. If you feel different, you drive different. Drive high, get a DUI. Paid for by NHTSA. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy. Just drop in some details about yourself and see if you're eligible to save money when you bundle your home and auto policies. The process only takes minutes, and it could mean hundreds more in your pocket. Visit progressive.com after this episode to see if you could save. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.

Welcome to the CJ Moneyway Show podcast, the podcast show where we unlock potential one dream at a time. Today we have another guest whose journey is truly worth hearing. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the Moneyway experience.

What's up, my good people? Welcome to the CJ Moneyway Show in association with Believe Network, the podcast that brings you stories behind the success Today I am excited to have this power duo on the show today, this powerhouse couple behind the reality hit show series 50/50 Flip, Dietrich and Crystal Polite. Hey, how you guys doing today?

We're doing great, CJ Moneyway Johnson, man. Thanks for having us.

Oh man, thank y'all for taking the time out y'all day, man. Like I say, coming on the show, I've been excited since the first day I saw y'all name pop up on my Oh, the thing I say, wow, hold up, a reality show. You know, I'm like, oh, that's pretty cool. So I went, because, you know, it's funny because my wife, we watch reality shows like the Millionaire that win the lottery tickets and Property Brothers and all, you know, saying and all that. We watched it with her. And it's amazing to me that that was her thing. I'm just watching it with her. That now today I'm sitting on the show today with a reality 50/50 flip couple, man. Hey, I really appreciate you guys for coming on. So let me ask you, Whose idea was it to start your business, your real estate business? Like, I know sometimes that it may be the man, it may be the woman, but was it something when you guys came together, this was an interest that you both had, or one of y'all pulled the other one into it?

Yeah, it was really my idea, CJ. Um, growing up in Boston, we've talked about that off camera, growing up in Roxbury, the home of New Edition, you know, I grew up on Section 8 housing, raised by a single mom. But back in the '90s, my mom worked for a property manager, right? And actually, I got one of the VHS tapes right here. She ordered one of these, man.

VHS, old school, right?

How to buy a house with no money down. So I was watching these tapes in the '90s because I always wanted to get into real estate. 2001, I read Rich Dad Poor Dad. That gave me the bug. Like, hey, I need to find a way to buy real estate. But I didn't come from money. So I went to school, graduated, got a job, and I bought my first property in 2007. Kind of caught the bug for real estate investing. Now I went back to corporate America because I was afraid of jumping out on a limb myself. But when I met Crystal, she was already a serial entrepreneur. She had 2 or 3 jobs, but she had 2 or 3 businesses on the side. So once we got together, she was like, look, we're going to do this real estate thing. And we started doing it together about 2017.

That sounds about right. You had the plan, she had the wisdom and the understanding to put the thing in motion. It's cool, man, because y'all doing great right now.

So let me ask you this.

This is the off-the-wall question, man.

I wanted to ask y'all something that you probably haven't heard before. Let's just say you had to renovate a home on Mars with only the tools you used during the first 50/50 Flip. What survival skill or hilarious hack from your earlier TV days would you count on to make it happen?

That is a first.

That is a first.

We like that type of question because we do a lot of interviews. So that's the first time we've been asking that.

Um, what would we rely on to make it happen? What tool or what?

What tools, skill sets, everything that y'all possess to make y'all show what it is. Well, you know what, from the very beginning, what would y'all use?

Okay, I would definitely say the first tip I would make sure we did that we didn't do on season 1 that came back to bite us in the butt every episode was getting home inspections. I would make sure we got a home inspection out the gate so that we know where the body is buried, so to speak, in the house, right? And that's something that we weren't doing season 1. So when we got into these houses and people saw us like finding out about termite damage, finding out floor joists was rotting, structural issues, that was us finding out for real.

Mm, had to find out from scratch, huh? Hey, you know what? And if y'all was to do this on Mars, I'm pretty sure that'd be a lot of bodies to bury up there and a lot of house cleaning to do as well.

There you go.

So let me ask you, Legacy and Living Colour, you know, because man, I, like I say, admired by you guys, what you're doing and the things that you're doing. I read your bio and everything and all, you know, we can talk about a little bit, but it won't talk about everything that you guys really are doing. But let me ask you, Fast forward 50 years from now, your grandkids, let's say that they binge watching 50/50 Flip. Beyond the hustle, what a— one unexpected lesson or moment from your journey would you hope to inspire them the most?

I think for me, it's really just the drive. When we started doing a TV show, we had never flipped a house before. What we were doing is we were buying rundown properties, we were renovating them, and we were keeping them as rental properties. We weren't selling them. When a TV show came calling, they're like, hey, we want to, you know, do a flip house flipping show. We was like, we don't flip houses, you got the wrong couple. They're like, no, we don't really care if you flip the house, we just want to document what you guys are doing, because we think it's really cool what y'all are doing. So we embarked on this journey never having actually sold one of our renovated properties. So we learned on national TV how to flip houses, right? So I would say, you know, teaching them the concept of you're not going to have everything figured out, you know, jumping off the ledge and figuring out on the way down, growing wings on the way down.

I would definitely say for me, one of the most important lessons I want them to understand and learn is you make a living by what you get, you make a life by what you give. And I would want them to take away from our TV show and just how we live our life, the people that we've been able to give and help to, right? Not so much about— and they know this because they hear it all the time from us. And it's true, you know, it's better to give than to receive. And I tell them, you have to be a blessing. To others when you've been blessed. So I want them to understand, one, the hard work that goes into anything you want to do. It doesn't matter how much money you have in the bank, how many properties you own. They still see Mommy and Daddy every single day. We get up, we work, we go out in these streets, we are still grinding, we're still building. And it's important for them to see that, right? And it's also important for them to see me doing it. And most people will be like, well, what do you mean? It's important for me as a woman, and especially a Black woman, for my sons to see what I do day in and day out. Because I want them to understand that any woman that comes into their life should not come into it expecting to be given anything, right? If you saw your mother, and I know for me, I saw my mother, a single mom, go out every single day working two jobs. I want them to see what their mom does. That— did she have to work? No. Did she choose to work? Yes. So to me, it's also important for them to be able to see what their mom does so that any woman that comes into their life only complements them, right? And it's not based off of what you can bring to the table, because you don't have to bring anything to the table or match what my child has. But you have to come to the table being able to hold your own. So when Dedrick and I got together, neither one of us were millionaires at the time, but we both had a very, very common understanding of, hey, this is where we are. So when we met, our first date was a business meeting, and our sons know the story. It was a business meeting. It wasn't no, hey, oh, what do you like to do for fun? Oh, what's your favorite food? I didn't care about any of that because I wasn't planning on cooking it.

I cared about—

Now, for the record, once we got married, my baby became an amazing cook.

Yeah.

She could step it up now. This is when we just dating. I ain't cooking all that when we dating.

Just like I told him I would, right? I wasn't going to play house with him, right? It was— we sat down. We got to business. We had a really great dinner. And it got to, what's your credit score? What are your 3-year goals, your 6-year goals? What is your— are you an entrepreneur? What have you done in the entrepreneurial realm? Like, we got down to the nitty-gritty, stuff that most people don't find out until a year in. We got all that out the way.

Hey hustlers, I'm CJ Moneyway. And if you're building a team to grow your business, let me introduce you to ZipRecruiter. Their AI-powered platform finds the right talent fast, posting your job to over 100 job sites with just one click. I've seen how their smart matching delivers quality candidates in 24 hours. Perfect for job seekers like you scaling brick by brick. Try it free at ziprecruiter.com/click. Use code CJ Moneyway Johnson for an exclusive deal. That's ziprecruiter.com/click. Hire your hustle today. Now back to the show.

That, that was good. Uh, you know, I'm gonna go back to your point as far as where you said, Crystal, your sons and things watching you get up and go to work and do what you do. Because my mother tell me that all the time. She say that, um, like me and my brother, we watch them, her and my father, get up, go to work, a work ethic. And so it trickled down to us, you know, to me and my brother. I've been working since I was 16 years old, you know. And I get to work early every day. I don't call off, you know, often. I ain't say I never call off, but I don't call off often. But you get that from the foundation, from home, from what you see. Absolutely. I appreciate you guys putting it out there, being an example for your children, you know what I'm saying? You don't have to say a lot because they watch a lot of things that you do, and I believe that you guys are setting a great example for generations to come. And man, it's amazing too that you guys— let me ask you, Dietrich and Crystal, he brought it up earlier— how was it when the TV station came to you guys about bringing this, what you do, to the network?

Well, they had actually been reaching out to us in our DMs for like a year. And we had gotten reached out by a couple of different networks. And at the time, we— I wasn't interested. I'm a super private person. So for me, it wasn't even a question. I— we would see the inquiries come in, we would ignore them. And then A&E ended up getting our 1-800 number, called our office, contacted, got ahold of our secretary. And made her promise to pass the message along to me and make me call them back. So when I got in that office that day, she was like, "Hey, I got this call from this lady, Ali, from A&E Networks." And I was like, "Oh, okay." And she's like, "Could you please call her back?" I was like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." And I went to walk in and she's like, "No, please. I promised her I would make sure you called her back." So I said, okay. So I called her back and she told me, she's like, listen, off rip, I want to tell you, I am not a casting agent. I work for A&E exclusively. And we are looking for a couple for a reality show focusing on flipping houses. And I was like, oh, okay. And she was talking to Dedrick and I just about, you know, flipping and what it would entail. And we was just like, oh, okay. And she's like, you know, we're holding basically auditions for a bunch of different people. They were filling 3 slots, and they had looked at hundreds of people. So that's when I really had no intentions on doing the show. We were just like, oh, let's just see how far we can get. Could it be a cool story to be like, yeah, you know, we became one of the finalists, you know. And this is during COVID We didn't think they're gonna pick us. No. And it went from meeting to meeting to meeting to meeting to meeting. And then they said, hey, we would love to offer you guys one of the spots, but one of the 3 spots. We love you guys. We love your story. And me and Deji just looked at each other like, oh, okay, I guess we are having a show now. All of a sudden, I guess we're doing it. So then we ended up— everything moved at that point super fast. So from the moment we said yes, the slowest part was probably the contract negotiations.

Yeah.

And we had to let them know we ain't starving artists over here. So yeah, that contract negotiation lasted maybe 6 to 8 months or something. It was crazy. But then after we signed, we went— what is kind of— we heard later on, it's unprecedented. So we went straight to series.

So there was no sizzle reel, no pilot, no proof of concept, straight into production filming. And that like never happens in the business.

Man, you know, I'm listening to what she said. Everything started happening fast. And I've been told that when God has his hands in things, things just start moving faster than you can even imagine. You know what I'm saying? It's like once he got— once he starts throwing the pipe, you better be ready. So that's why I tell people now, myself personally, that it's better to start preparing yourself before the door open so that when the door open, you're ready to walk through it when it opens. Because if I'm just preparing once the door open, I'm not ready, so I'm still stuck at where I was at. So it's like that, you— like she say, we wouldn't know starving artists around here now. We already have it doing our thing. Although they from Boston, the home of— I would say New Edition. I like New Edition. Everything else Boston, but Mm, but, uh, so let me ask you, man. Let me ask you, if you were forced to switch roles for one flip, Crystal leads the budget, Derek, uh, D3, you handle the design, what's the hilarious disaster or surprise win that might go down?

So if I was doing the design, my thing is I love, uh, landscaping. So I always come up with these like creative plants that I pick out. They're like zigzag plants and she hates them, but I love them and they sell houses. So the first thing I would buy would would be 2 plants that are zigzag plants in front of the house and everything in the house.

When you think about businesses that are selling through the roof, like Alo or Skims, sure, you think about a great product, a cool brand, and brilliant marketing. But an often overlooked secret is actually the businesses behind the business making selling, and for shoppers, buying, simple. For millions of businesses, that business is Shopify. Nobody does selling better than Shopify with Shop Pay that boosts conversions up to 50%, meaning way less carts are going abandoned and way more sales happening. So if you're into growing your business, your commerce platform better be ready to sell whatever your customers are scrolling or strolling on the web, in your store, in their feed, and everywhere in between. Businesses that sell more sell on Shopify. Upgrade your business and get the same checkout Kins uses. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com/westwood1, all lowercase. Go to shopify.com/westwood1 to upgrade your selling today. shopify.com/westwood1.

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Fiscally responsible financial geniuses, monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds. Because Progressive offers discounts for paying in full, owning a home, and more. Plus, you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it, so your dollar goes a long way. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings Conditions will vary. Not available in all states or situations.

This Labor Day at Lowe's, shop member-only doorbuster deals for a limited time. Save $50 on an EGO string trimmer, now $169. Plus, get 50% off select Haaland pavers. Not a rewards member? Sign up for free today. But hurry, Labor Day doorbuster deals won't last long. Lowe's, we help, you save. Valid through 9/1, while supplies last. Program subject to terms and conditions. Details at lowes.com/terms.

Subject to change.

For Dedrick would be basic and the same, and whatever is the cheapest.

That's why you do design.

Whatever is the cheapest. I'm going to get the cheapest paint.

I'm the business mind.

The cheapest flooring.

You're the creative.

The cheapest tile. It don't have to match. None of that.

I like you guys.

No wonder Eddie likes y'all. Hey man, she said everything in that would be all jacked up. You have white, black tiles with a blue wall system and everything.

Whatever the discount aisle is, is what's gonna be in that house.

I like it. What it say? Uh, well, I'm weak at you strong again. Well, you weak at I'm strong at. So we, uh, everything and have us losing money.

I'm gonna be like, budget? Oh man, we have one of them.

She said she don't believe in budgets, man. I like it, I like it, I love it. So let me ask you, time capsule, uh, castle for hustlers. If you could have a time castle under one of your best flips with one object to represent your journey? What would you bury and what message would you leave for the dreamer who finds it?

Yeah, I mean, that's something we already do, CJ. So in our flips now, my mom passed away of cancer a few years ago. So we always put a message in the, behind the walls, we'll write on the wood, on the drywall, a message to a time capsule, right? Yeah, you know, don't stop pushing, keep your head up, you know, follow your dreams. So we always leave that in every single flip that we do behind the walls.

I like that, man. That's cool. Sorry about your mom's, man. So let me ask you, man, y'all been good, man. I only got a few more questions, but I do have this game that I've been playing on the CJ Moneyway Show, and it's called Quick Fire Round. I'm gonna ask you one question. I got 3 for both of you guys. One question, you just tell me the first thing that comes to your mind. Think y'all can do that? Okay, let's do it. No, no, man, I don't know. See, people from Boston, I think they kind of fail this test a lot of times, man. I just don't know about, about what it is about these Massachusetts people.

But, uh, he's from where my favorite artist is in the world.

But before I get there, let me ask you this. Turning trash into triumph. Have you ever walked into a property and thought there's no way this can work, but still pulled off a flip that even shocked you guys.

Yes.

Yes. Say unanimously.

Yes, absolutely. Hands down. Matter of fact, I would say our season finale of our second season, the season finale was the one that it was a house divided. The day before closing, he tried to get out of him and our GC was like, pull the plug on this flip. There was a limit.

The house was jacked, tore up from the floor up. Yeah, but somehow we pulled it off.

Yeah, because I made sure we did. I was like, uh, no, no ma'am, no sir.

So, so, Chris, let me ask you, so with this limit that y'all had, I would— I had to ask, was there a budget for you to get this thing up and running? Did you tell DJ, hey, let me do what I do and get this thing popping?

Yes. So he set the budget, which was, I think, about $100,000.

No, I don't even— the original budget was probably like $70,000. We went way over that. But our saving grace, CJ, was we bought it for only $85,000. Okay, but we got this house so cheap. It was a duplex that we turned back into a single-family home in a historic neighborhood.

So that was where I came in. And I said, I'm going to do something that most investors would never do. And I told him, I was like, I want to change this, convert it from a duplex to a single family. And he was like, why would we do that? Like, it's two single families. And I had to give him the whole, my whole vision for this neighborhood in this house to make it make sense for him to say, okay, we're gonna, he's on board with us changing this from a duplex into a single family. And then give him my design of making this a forever home for a really large family in the historic district. So it was right on the cusp of the historic district in our town. So the house came out. That's why it's a season finale. It was definitely our biggest renovation to date.

We spent over $100,000 in repairs, but we sold it for way more than we ever thought. So we made a great profit. Gold it. So make sure y'all check that out, season finale episode of season 2, 50/50 Flip.

Season 2 episode finale, turning lemon into gold. So let me ask D, she said she had to convince you about, uh, renovating. She had to give you her vision and everything. How long, man, did it actually take you for her to convince you?

Uh, you don't know my wife. Uh, she had a very strong personality, so it, it took all of like A 2-minute conversation.

Oh, okay. Wasn't long, huh? Yeah. Okay, okay, that's cool. So let me ask y'all, drop mic moment. What's one misconception about being a Black couple in real estate and reality TV that you proudly crushed over and over again?

I would say one is that a couple can't work together. So a lot of people think a couple in general is hard. And then they're looking at a lot of other reality shows where so many of them end up in divorce after the show is over. So a lot of people— so just a couple in general, and then when you Black on top of that, you think like Housewives type franchises where you're like, OK, they about to get to arguing and fighting. And I made it very clear—

Growing Up Hip Hop.

Right.

You know, shout out to those shows, but we are not with the drama.

Right. We love them because, you know, we watch them too. But I made it very clear to producers, I said, look, this ain't a housewife of a nothing, and no hip-hopping, and no basketball wibbing, and none of that. We came into it married, we gonna leave married, and we gonna stay married. So at the end of the day, we had the final say. But that was what was great about our network with A&E, and then Hulu when they bought the rights to our second season. Was they're just there to document us. That's it. They was like, listen, we're here to document your journey. Your story is your story.

It's not scripted.

We just want to tell it because they found us so entertaining and what we did just so amazing that they was like, look, we're gonna follow y'all lead. But I think working together as a couple is a huge misconception. And then they see you on reality TV and everybody automatically think that you are multi-million billionaires. Like, everywhere you go, I've never had so many people hit us DM, writing letters, emailing, um, for money. And it's like, y'all do know we still work, right?

They don't ask me. You gotta come with a business plan, with a whole 100-page business plan.

Gotta come correct.

With people who, what do you call them, people who vouch for you.

Co-signers.

Co-signers. You got to have everybody to get $100 out of Magic to be like, uh. Me, it's different. So I get hit with it all the time. And then people see the show and see that that's who we really are. We do believe in giving back and helping our community. So we get it a lot where it's like, oh, y'all got it?

Like—

Y'all got the Shaq plan out there where Shaq had to tell his kids, hey, I need a bed. Business plan, man. Before we— you know, I was kind of confused in the beginning. I guess it kind of, uh, opened up now because in the beginning you told me when y'all had y'all business meeting when you first met that, uh, y'all sat at the table and you asked for what's your credit score, what's this like. I thought it was you asking him that, Crystal. Now that I see, that was Dietrich asking you.

It was a two-way conversation, right? I knew she was fine and all, but what type of substance do you bring, right? She was grilling me and I grilled her right back.

Yeah, it was a meeting of the minds.

Him immediately. And then he was like, okay, what's your credit score? And okay, what do you— what's your plans in life and stuff? And I, I welcomed it because that's where I was in life. I was at a different wavelength. I was definitely headed in a different direction. So when we met, I understood that, and I knew he wasn't ready for me when we first met. I was like, uh, you know, when somebody— you attracted to somebody. So I knew, you know, he looked good, he could hit, you know, you know, all that stuff in the beginning when you meet somebody, you're like, oh, okay, all right. But I was at a different part of my life where it was like, really, who can I build with? Yeah, at this point. So I knew he wasn't ready. So I told him, I said, listen, go off for a year, live your life. Travel the world, ride your motorcycle, do any and everything you want. I said, go.

She said, sow your royal oats.

I said, sow your royal oats.

Coming to America, huh?

Coming to America.

For real? You know, you see my face, TJ. You like, you know when women give you that test and that is really a trick? You like, if I answer this the wrong way, I'm gonna lose, right? So I thought I was being tricked. So I'm like, you really want me to do that? But she was serious, right?

Oh, for real?

Because I was still living my best life.

I'm like 28.

Had a house, a car, motorcycle, you know, living my best life. She was like, you're not ready to settle down. And I wasn't at the time. I knew she was the one, but I needed to grow some more and mature some more.

Yeah. So I told him to go off and he's like, no, no, I want to be with you. And I said, that may be so, but I need you to do this for me for a year. If we have any chance of being together, if we're going to have any chance of being together, you need to do this. Because I knew he still needed to get some stuff out of his system. And I knew if we would have forced trying to be together, we would have crashed and burned. So he went off kicking and screaming. But he later will tell people that best thing ever done, because he realized at that time, he wasn't ready for a serious relationship. He knew he wanted to be with me.

And I realized there was nothing out there in them streets. Been there, done that, you know. Yeah. I'm going back on home.

Hey CJ Moneyway Show fans, coming up I'm spilling the secret to hiring top talent with ZipRecruiter, AI that works as hard as you do. Stick around for details at ziprecruiter.com/click. Use code CJ Money for a free trial. Let's get to it. Try it free at ziprecruiter.com/click. Use code CJ Money for an exclusive deal. That's ziprecruiter.com/click. Hire your hustle today.

Now back to Yeah, we get to that point, D, you know, because I'm listening to Crystal talk, man. And, uh, you know, I met my wife in 1992, and like you, D, I was nowhere ready to get married. And boy, did I sow some of my royal oats everywhere. And so, uh, we didn't get married to, uh, 2009. We got married 2009. And I remember our first anniversary, we went out and ate and everything. So we talking 17, 18 years later. So she said, she said, um, she stayed there. She was a good one. I knew she was the one. Yeah, I knew she was the one, but I was, I was nowhere near ready. I was, I was all over the place. I was everywhere. And she asked me a question, Crystal. She said, what if we had got married when we first met back in the '90s? I said, we would have been divorced. Yeah, we would have been divorced in the '90s because I wasn't ready. And like Dee say, man, I've been out there, I did this, I did that, I'm mature now, and I was ready to build with the woman that God had set aside for me. So, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, it's everything, man. It's everything. And I commend you for working— for you guys working together, not only as a Black couple but as a couple in general, because a lot of people can't do that, as you alluded to earlier, Crystal. Talking about some of the shows. And I know in the beginning you said that y'all was kind of weary on getting on TV because you're real personal and everything, you know, because the TV shows, it exploits a lot of things, you know what I'm saying, or whatever. And, and I'm not gonna say no names, but it's one reality doing the houses where they was married and, um, they got divorced and she married his friend and, uh, yeah, and he married somebody else, and now they doing a reality show together. I can't believe it. I'm like, I couldn't That is not gonna happen. So true Black love right here, you all, at Flipping Houses on 50/50. Hey, so let me ask y'all, man, before we go any further, where can we find your show and where can we find, uh, Dedrick and Crystal at on social media?

Yeah, so everything Be Polite. So you can go to our website, which is dedrickandcrystal.com. And on there, you'll find all of our social media channels, you'll find our education portal, which is politewealthportal.com. So Dedrick and Crystal literally points you and gives you kind of a look into our entire hemisphere, everything that we have going on.

Yeah, we do a lot of free education, CJ, and free training and paid mentorship. So anyone who's looking to learn and do what we do on TV, we literally have a whole curriculum teaching anyone with no background in real estate, no experience, how to get into the game. Not just flip houses, but how to build true wealth through real estate.

I like that, man. So could y'all please have Leanne send me out the links and everything so I can put them in the show notes? Because I'm so excited to have you guys. And I know some, some of my guests may get mad about this because I'm pushing you guys up the list to come out next month. Sorry for those that's gonna have to get pushed out a little bit, but I gotta bring— I gotta be polite. Hey, so, uh, Let me ask y'all one more question, man. The genius you didn't see coming. What's one idea, big or small, that Crystal or Dietrich brought to a flip that you totally doubted but ended up being pure genius? Besides the lemon from season finale of season 2, give me another.

Okay, wait, say that question one more time.

Okay, what's one idea, big or small, that you or Dietrich brought to a flip that you totally doubted, but it ended up being pure genius.

Okay. I would say for me, one of them, one, besides the fact that I converted a duplex into a single family, I would say for me, it was adding a metal roof to a property where Dedrick and I went back and forth over this roof. He was like, this roof is a good roof. We don't need to replace this roof.

These shingles are just fine.

They needed a new roof. And then I said, um, I don't want just any roof because the property was literally in the historic district. It was an all-brick home, um, built in the early 1900s, um, and had amazing bones, amazing structure.

I was like, um, I know you're gonna kill me, the metal roof was like 3 times the price of a regular roof. Yeah, that's why I don't need this metal roof.

But then everyone We had so many offers on this house and everyone complimented that metal roof. They was like, oh my God, that is so beautiful. And then the neighbors started saying, man, I think I'm gonna switch mine and add a metal roof onto my house. Because just the aesthetically, it just—

I told him, overrated metal roof.

But it wind up being go Hey, Deidre, man, you lost again, huh, man? Hey, hey, it's good to have a strong one on your side, man.

That's smart. So usually her decisions are spot on.

Hey, I feel the same way about my wife too, man. Best thing that ever happened to me. I'm not gonna sit here and lie to you because she's way smarter than me as far as doing things, you know what I'm saying? Like, that ain't me. Just tell me what to do, or, you know, just say I need to do this. And I go do it. But as far as just planning vacations and things of that nature, I leave that to the wayside, man. I leave that to the wayside. So, but I really enjoyed you guys coming on. So let me ask you one question, one last question before we leave. Dream flip, unlimited budget. Dietrich, just let her do whatever she want to do, man. No budget, no nothing. This is your dream flip. If money and location wasn't an issue, what would be your dream property to flip? And how would you leave your mark on it?

I would say Miami, Florida, Star Island, take one of those older mansions that's right on the water with the jet skis and the yachts and bring it into 2026. That would be my dream flip, dream house.

Hmm, mine. Which I know is going to sound crazy. But what I've been really wanting to do for years now is, you know what I'm gonna say?

No, I'm trying to figure it out.

What kind of flip have I been wanting to do for years now? Every time I see one of these houses, I'm like, man, if I could just get one of these and flip it.

There's a few different types of cribs.

That means he don't know, ladies. That means he don't know. And I pass these houses all the time. And I tell him, I just need to get one. So, and it's not like, Dedrick's like, I would love to do one in the mountains. For me, I definitely would love to do a home. So we've been looking for one in the mountains in Tennessee, because we go there every year. But my dream flip that I really want to do is a group home.

Oh, yeah. See, you see, I said, oh, something like that.

Okay, really, like, either, but If I can convert like an old motel into like housing for the homeless, housing for homeless families, that is literally my dream flip. So I've been trying to acquire— find a location, find a building for years now, because that's kind of what my dream flip would be if I could just convert some housing into like housing for the homeless and veterans and families. That, that to me is ideal.

Mm, I like that. And I hope that you keep looking, and I hope that it come to pass and you get your dream flip. I like the fact that, you know, for homeless people and things of that nature, it shows you guys character and integrity. And I pray that you guys keep doing what you're doing and inspire people like myself. So let me ask y'all, man, before we get out of here, just give us one last nugget for anybody that's trying to do what you guys doing on the level that you're doing it right now.

I would say, CJ, is you don't have to be born with money. You don't have to have a lot of cash or credit. You do need to find a mentor, right? You need to learn that specialized knowledge, right? It was when we got to the business, it wasn't many people that look like us that we can look to for information. Luckily, we did find a mentor that looked like us. He owned hundreds of properties, he flipped hundreds of properties. We invested in paying him to mentor us. And that's what got us in the game. So I would say find a mentor and you can start with from zero and make it happen.

Mm-hmm. For me, I would definitely say start early. A lot of people will say, hey, I'm going to wait until I save up some money. I'm going to wait until this. I'm going to wait until I am 25. If I would have known what I know now, even at 18 with my mindset, because I was all about having my first business at 18. So think about all of us who started working at 16, 17, 18. If we would have known then what we know now— I tell people all the time, that's why we mentor and coach so many 18-year-olds, and so many of them own 2, 3, 4 properties now, because we want them to start sooner, right? And understanding that you either quit or you keep going. Both of them are going to hurt. So I tell my sons that all the time. Even when it comes to sports, school, you either quit or you keep going.

Painful either way.

Either way is gonna hurt.

Might as well keep going.

So I think those two are definitely the biggest things I would tell anyone who's really trying to get into business or real estate. Either way, just start today. Don't wait until you got enough money in the bank because that ain't never gonna happen. Because when we started, We definitely didn't have it, but made a way.

God started moving things fast in your life. Now what the guy tell me, he say all money ain't good money, but this next money is gonna be the abundance that you need. Hey, so I'm gonna send my son y'all way. He's only 14, but you know, he's been talking about getting in real estate. But you know, the problem is, D-Man, he don't like to read, so I don't know how he really gonna do that. But he said that's interested. Me and his mother been talking about certain things, like where we stand at now. Maybe, you know, we find something else and how this be his first rental property, you know what I'm saying? Something like that. We've been talking.

We got a lot of classes, audio. If you don't like to read, he can listen and learn. And visual learner, send them my way.

Yeah, hey, he surprised me too because he does things we don't think he's really paying attention to certain stuff, but then he's getting good grades in school. Like, how you getting good grades in school, man? We don't see you doing no homework. But you know, so he fooling us some way.

We know, we know.

That's because we got no interest in what y'all trying to get.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, my boy, he finna be 15, uh, in October. So yeah, so I'mma sit him and look at some of y'all taste, man. I really appreciate you guys. So to my listeners, from flipping homes to flipping legacy, Dietrich and Crystal Polite are more than reality stars. They're visionaries building wealth and wisdom one property at a time. If you're not watching 50/50 Flip or taking notes from this dynamic duo, You're missing the blueprint. And don't forget to check out the second season finale where they turn a lemon into a gold mine. Thank you both for sharing your insight, your laughs, and your blueprint with us today on the CJ Moneyway Show. We'll be watching and learning. And I'm sorry that I didn't add my quick fire round questions on here, man. I really apologize for that, but I thank you guys for coming on anyway. Hey, you have been listening to the CJ Moneyway Show with your boy CJ Moneyway and my 50/50 Flip brother and sister from Boston. And, and, hey, till next time, peace.

Ditch the other hiring sites and let ZipRecruiter find what you're looking for, the needle in the haystack. 4 out of 5 employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Try it for free at this exclusive web address: ziprecruiter.com work. Again, that's ziprecruiter.com/work. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. Thank you for listening to the CJ Moneyway Show.

Don't forget to share this episode with your friends, leave a comment, and drop a review. Be sure to tune in every Tuesday and Friday for more inspiring journeys.

Who knows, your story might be next.

Mm-hmm.

Lowe's has the Labor Day deals you need to give your home a new look. Buy one, get one free select interior paint via Visa gift card rebate. Then add the final touch with 2 for $8 on select 2.5 or 3-quart Mums. Refresh your home and save big while doing it.

Lowe's.

We help, you save. Valid through 9/3. Mom's offer in-store only. Selection varies by location. While supplies last. More terms and restrictions apply. See lowes.com/rebates for details.