Ep 271 - Coffee Talk VI - How We are Pivoting in Uncertain Times

Hey everybody. Flip and Danny here and our special guest Ben is here. Welcome to another episode of our podcast.

And our podcast is called Freedom through Passive Income.

That's right. And boy, we're getting loopy here. This is, this is coffee talk number 19.

I think we're at six, right?

This is coffee talk number six where Ben's asking us questions. So again, Ben, take it away in a sentence.

How would you describe the mission of the Freedom Companies?

I believe in freedom through passive income. So I believe in freedom through passive income for us and for everybody that we are surrounded with in a sentence. That is our passion and it is our why.

Why would an investor, we have people that are just getting to know us. Why would an investor be more drawn to us at the Freedom companies as opposed to other companies in the real estate space?

I think the one thing that, and we hear this over and over, that we're just real people. We're not, you know, I made a joke in one of the other episodes that Danny used a five syllable word. You know, we're not, we're not, we're not pretentious. We're not. It's not, yes, we, we want to make sure that your investments are solid and yes, we want to make sure that, that you know, our companies are run like a fine, you know, fine machine. But we're just everyday normal people. You know, we, we, we laugh, we have fun. It's, it's, you know, we want to make sure that it's a family here and that that's, and we are, the investors are just an extension of the family. They're like first and second cousins. You know, we're all, we're all still family. So it's, that's what I mean, that's what I think.

Yeah, I think that was, that is absolutely 100% the right answer. I left brain it and I think business when you ask a question like that. And so for me, and what I've heard from many people is the vertically integrated operations, right, that we have so many arms that we can control things in an in house. And people have heard the story of why we did it because we did outsource it and it wasn't working and we weren't going to be able to build the business that we wanted by relying on somebody that we ultimately couldn't rely on. So we had to bring it in a house and then the next company we had to bring in house and then the next company and having it and people knowing that literally if there's a problem with property management now that we can walk down the hallway and knock on a door and say, kris, we get on the phone with Joe and we can solve problems that way. I think it gives people a lot more confidence and it really just kind of helps them know that these, this team, they have thought through the process of what needs to happen in an investment and they figured out how to keep their hands and put together a lot of people that just care about the end game because as you know, Ben, from being here, everybody cares about the property management team, cares about the renovations, the renovation team cares about the tenant experience once they get in the door. And they all work together and that matters. And that's what sets us apart from everybody else who might be relying on somebody who doesn't care as much.

What do you think is going to, I mean, nobody knows the future. What do you think is in store for real estate here in the coming weeks and months? And how will that affect your core business of turnkey and the multifamily type of work and the funds that we're doing?

That's a great question. I think that there's opportunity always doesn't matter what market we're in. Sometimes it means that you simply have to buy better. Sometimes it means that you focus on a different aspect of it. So maybe not value add, maybe just cash flow. You buy B or A class properties because you're in an inflationary environment and your goal is to raise rents and you know, in those types of asset classes, you are going to be more successful in raising rents. Maybe there's a different aspect of it, meaning if it's a down market, you switch your buying strategy and, and you start buying things via owner financing or subject to and doing wraps. And there's something to do in every single market and with enough experience, you know how to navigate it and pivot. And I remember posting something in Google chat and you responding going, I've been thinking about that a lot lately and it's nice that you're, you're going, okay, let's look three or four months ahead and what does that mean for us and how do we need to start considering possible pivots that we're going to make in order to ensure that we're just focused on the right thing at the right time?

How do the mastermind groups that you're in with people with long track records of experience, how does that help you pivot, to prepare to pivot and to actually pivot?

I think it's critical for everybody, most importantly people who haven't experienced a market cycle type. Right. If you haven't been in a down market, if you didn't live through 2008, you know, then you're gonna want to be surrounded by people who did. Because a lot of people thought this was or could have been 2008, you know, they started getting Covid and you know, now we're in this inflationary environment and we have rising interest rates and some people related it. But if you knew that environment and you lived through it, you know that this is completely different and you're not going to act the same as you did, then you're going to do some similar things, but it's not the same. And so having those people that have been through it, I think change the game for you. And even Covid, brand new, none of us could have predicted that was going to happen. None of us have lived through an event like that. And so we all banded together and said, what's happening in your market? What's happening in yours? What's happening in yours? And what are you each doing about it and how is it working? And we took that knowledge base and it was, it helped us get through it because everybody was experiencing the same thing and we were all helping each other and going, I just tried this. It worked. And so everybody now has the power to take that knowledge and you learn faster because you are surrounded with the right people.

When you watch news report media, bad news is a big seller, making horrific predictions and being right, there's somehow a good badge of honor for a lot of media people. The way to look at that, these very uncertain, very unpleasant scenarios that sometimes we hear on the media. Do you feel that with the mastermind that it's navigable no matter what happens, whatever turns we have in the economy, is there a way with experienced operators to be able to pivot and be able to work with investors money and be able to take us, all of us together through that. How do you feel about that?

100% because of what I just explained. We're all sharing and we're all talking through what's going on in the market, what's working, what's not working, and that type of free information back and forth with people who have experience and have been through different market cycles. That's what you want to tap into, right? And for those of you who aren't actively investors, you want to tap into the people that are tapping into all the active investors and who are talking and sharing, hey, this is what's happening in Massachusetts. This is what's happening in New York because markets can be different, too. Even as things started to slow down, right, and prices, you weren't getting above average offers here in the last few months. Every market was different in terms of how fast that happened. But we all got to see, okay, these types of markets, they're still in this stage, and this type of market is in this stage, and you can just make better decisions 100% of the time when you do that.

And I think this is our final question here for today as we're recording this podcast. New investors to the Freedom Companies, what should they be focused on? And for those of us who have been investing for years now, what should we remain focused on as investors?

I'm going to say new investors, just define your goals. You have to understand where you want to go before you start knowing what type of questions to ask. And I think you do a good job of that when you're talking to investors, right? You start asking them certain things if they don't know, if they can't, like, express to you what they want to do, you know, to ask certain questions so you can say, oh, okay, so. And then you give them a sentence and they say, yes, all right, now I understand. And I think some people go into those calls maybe not knowing, but they have a lot of clarity after they leave, right? And so I think that's really, really important for new investors, for experienced investors. It's continuing to be surrounded by people that you trust and that you can place your money with without thinking twice about it. Right? And that's what we talked about when people say, I have 50, and then suddenly they have 300, and then later they have 2 million. It's because they found where they want to be putting their money. They found the team that they trusted, and now they can go to work and be like, my money's working for me, and they feel confident and not scared. Right? And that is a process, but you have to start somewhere. And the first step is usually talking to somebody like you.

Well, thank you for sharing over this for all of us. It's always amazing to look into the minds of people. One of the things that I, and I've expressed this on previous podcasts, the two of you are people of action. And it's amazing to learn how you view the world and how you view challenges and how you view fear and be able to work through it or to be able to use the fear, even though it's not necessarily pleasant, all the time, to your advantage. So thank you for sharing that with all of us.

Thank you for the Coffee Talk episodes. They were fun. We have to do more in the future.

I think I said five words that.

Episode so that has to be the best episode out of the entire year.

Hey, you guys started off with jokes. Just saying keep it real.

Exactly. Well, we hope that you enjoyed this episode, especially because I didn't talk. Make sure you head on over to our website freedomcapitalinvestments.com and join the investor club and catch us in all the social medias. But we like to end all our all of our episodes with Invest Smart, Live Happy. Bye everybody.

Nothing on the show should be considered specific personal or professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions and information on the show are not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit and loss.

Sam.