#14: John Hoich, Real Estate Investor - Building a real estate empire, overcoming adversity, and how to define success

When interest rates got to 22% in 2008-12 during the recession, the bankers. Chris Held, a friend of mine from Dial Realty took me to lunch and he said, how much do you owe? And I said, 60 million. I'm in debt. And he goes, said that very cavalier. And he goes, you know, if you owe a million dollars, you got a problem. When you owe 60 million to the bank, they got a problem.

Yeah.

And I never looked at it that way, that we're in this together.

Yeah, sure.

So I really paradigm shift my brain to go to the banks and say, let's work this out. And we did every one of them. We worked out, everybody won. No judgments.

On today's episode, Heading west, we have real estate investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist John Hoyt. Steve, talk about a guy who had all the cards stacked against him, not just a couple and little setbacks. Literally everything that could go wrong early on in your life did for John.

I can't imagine John being the head of the household at 16 after both parents parents died, becoming a ward of the state. And he had everything going against him and he has done phenomenal things in real estate and given money away. And this is a great inspirational story how he had it all and then he lost it.

Yeah, yeah.

And he got it back.

He's sort of a legend around Omaha and partly because of the setbacks he had early on and what he's overcome. I mean, we joked offline about it that if he had a normal upbringing and foundation to build off of, to see what he's done is incredible. But the fact that he had so much go wrong early on and has accomplished what he has and just the human he is, he gives so much away. He's present with his kids, he's all these amazing things. It's mind boggling how he ended up where he is today despite all the things that happened early on his life. So this could great one for people.

To listen to and it's a great testament that your past doesn't, doesn't define your future.

So true.

Well, let's head west. Stay tuned as we discuss building a real estate empire, losing it all and building it back and overcoming adversity with our guest, John Hoich. This episode is brought to you by Skyline Point Capital. If you're anything like me, you're always considering where to invest your money. Stocks, bonds, crypto and rental home. The list is literally endless. As we've all seen over the past year. The stock market is unstable. The housing market is just weird and inflation is on the rise. In times like these, the clear place to invest my money is in multifamily real estate, AKA apartment complexes.

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Well, John, you're sort of a well known person in these parts. If you live in Omaha long enough, you start to hear stories about John Hoytch. So I thought it'd be fun to start with a game. I'm going to read a couple stories that I've heard you tell me if they're true or false. You can elaborate on them, you can correct them. But let's start with is it true that you once own a mowing company? You realize that the apartment complex you were mowing was going to be sold. Instead of losing the contract, you bought the apartment and that's actually how you got started in real estate.

True, false, true.

Really? That's a heck of a way to get into real estate. I love that.

But I got in real estate before that. Okay, that did happen. That incident.

Kind of walk us through that. How did that.

Well, it was a property that was for sale and the guy was wanting to move on to building a new one in Kansas and said he was going to sell it. And I was like thinking two things. I've always wanted to own one that size, which was 100 units and he had it for sale. There was no broker involved at this point and I've got to know the resident manager there so that probably half the properties I bought was no broker involved. Sorry, brokers. But I was able to buy direct by mainly the property manager, the leasing agents or the resident manager.

Yeah.

Would always kind of get a builder relationship with the owner and when he was time to 10 years into it or whatever, he wanted to move on to his next deal. Then I bought at least five of them that way.

Wow. How did you. Okay, how did you do. How did you bypass the broker? Did you have the knowledge? You just read books? I mean, or did you take a gamble and it Worked out well.

Brokers surely don't give you the take away the gamble of a deal. They just, they, you know, brokers is finding a party A to party B, who's selling, who's buying. And I respect brokers. I have a degree in real estate and.

Okay.

You know, and I would have done that possibly, but never did do that. But you know, you know, brokers are investors. I mean there's a lot of people. There's insurance brokers, real estate brokers, there's all kinds of mortgage brokers. Every, there's. The banks are brokers. So I think that there's a. Every. Lots of people are brokers. But I guess the bottom line is they have to be paid, they have to feed their family. And, and so if they find a deal for you, definitely they're worth paying every penny to them.

Yeah.

And if you can find the seller or find a buyer without them, they'll never know about it. So they didn't miss anything. You know, I mean it wasn't. I didn't do it to just avoid a broker.

Yeah.

But by all means, definitely you can go direct to the. What I enjoy about it. With no brokers, I can interact with the seller and not have to feel like I got to go to a third party and talk and ask questions.

Yeah.

And then get the whole story.

Yeah.

And so my intuition then can tell my self whether the person is really, you know, tell them the truth or not.

Yeah, that makes sense. So you. Again, people around Omaha know you fairly well, but a lot of people know.

You for real estate.

You've bought and sold lots of, whether it's commercial or multifamily here in, in the Midwest, but particularly Omaha. Is that something you knew early on you wanted to get into? Sounds like you got a degree in real estate. So I imagine there was something planted in you early on that made you want to get into real estate. Right.

No, I mean I, it all just, it just happened.

Yeah.

Slowly, you know, it. The story didn't take it that way. I mean it did. I didn't grow up to be a real estate. My dad wasn't in real estate. I didn't know anybody in real estate. I just kind of learned as I was young. When I started my business. I, I don't even know if people think of me as real estate. You know, I kind of was kind of known as the guy with. That started with a lawnmower. Probably more than, than the great success stories of real estate people in Omaha. I'm definitely not one of Them.

Yeah.

As far as a family history of the real estate success stories, but I've been one, one of the beginner ones that I then it started with the way I did and where I'm at today. And I've enjoyed it. It's been a journey and it's been ups and downs that had the good times and the bad.

Yeah. Well, let's. Let's jump into your story then. You said you it up perfectly. You said start with a lawnmower. Start with a lawnmower. And then where to go.

So the fast story, those that know me, please don't be bored. The ones that haven't heard the story. I started off with an alcoholic father who was a violent drunk. Would come home and from his bar off of 28th and Q Street and called the first and last chance. My mom met him in 58, found out that I. That she met him when I was about three months old, which was something I learned just the last three years.

Wow.

So that was an interesting thing to find out your dad wasn't your dad.

Wow.

But at the time that I thought I was, he came home drunk and beat me from 5 to 11 and continually told me I was a no good, rotten little bastard and would never amount to nothing as he bashed my head in drywall and beat up my mother. I had four sisters and a brother with a bad heart named Michael. Three holes in his heart upside down and reversed. And so he had a. He was sick from the time he was born, but we. I loved him with all my heart. And he passed away at 21 with heart disease, but was a big part of my life in each other's lives as long as he was alive. My mother died in front of me when I was 16 years old as a junior at Westside High School. And the greatest high school in the world, by the way, District 66. And because they're so great, because they were like family. District 66 and west side High School. The counselors, the guidance counselors, the administration and the students. But the school was very good to me and treated me like family. So when my mother died When I was 16, my dad left in and out of the house from 10 to 16, you know, kept breaking in and beating us up. He died four years later after my mother as a teenager at 70 pounds of cirrhosis of the liver. So I, you know, never smoked anything and hardly drank, mainly because my dad smoked three packs a day, my mom two packs back then. And I hated it. Yeah. And so I never smoked anything My life, kind of a wuss, but not even a cigar. Yeah, not interested. And. And I went to from Westside High school, but at 16 years old when my mom died, I had no money, no parents, and inherited a Sears Craftsman lawnmower.

Yeah.

This is the picture.

That one. Wow.

And so this is how it all started.

Oh, wow.

And that's the lawnmower. Yeah, and that's the suit I bought at Goodwill. But the bottom line is that lawnmower is actually being completely renovated, and I'm supposed to get it in the next week or so.

Holy smokes. You still have it?

The guy. Yeah.

That's so cool.

The guys from Ty's Lawn Lawn Mowing Co. Ties is rebuilding it. So I'm excited about getting it. It's all refurbished and trying to figure out, maybe I'll put it at Steve Navity's barn here, down with his tractor downstairs.

I think it'd be an honor to have your lawnmower.

Thank you.

You gotta keep it at your Valley place.

We gotta figure out something.

Yeah.

So with that lawnmower, I start mowing. One yard next door, the Geshwinder resident and went over and she's put me in our El Dorado Cadillac. And she says, come with me. And she had a big cigarette filter and a cigarette hanging on her mouth, which I hated cigarettes. But, you know, I got in her car, she took me over to her building, Geshwinder real estate off 114th and Center. So I said, you're going to mow my yard and you're going to mow my office. And I do real estate. I own Randall School of Real Estate. She was the founder, which almost everyone in real estate in Douglas County, Sarpy county, maybe Nebraska and Iowa.

Yeah.

Went to college of Randall, you know, went to school at Randall School of Real Estate before they took their broker's test. It was probably the best program there is. It's still in business today. And she said, you're going to mow my home. You're going to mow my office, and you're going to build my office for my home. I go, well, if I'm going to do your house, she goes, this is how you do it in real estate. Yeah, you know, you know, you're getting. This is business, you know, this way. I'll explain later.

Just.

Yeah, next. So then I went behind her house, knocked on the door to ask that guy, Bruce Steinfeld, if he wanted his yard mode, and he said, sure, get in my car. Gave me a ride to his, off to His. It's a restaurant he just bought called Cork and cleaver off of 72nd and Mercy. And now it's called the Drover, the great steakhouse.

Yeah.

You're going to mow my yard? You're going to mow my office? You're going to build my office. I went, man, you two know your neighbors, something. Got the same program here. And I didn't understand. I honestly didn't understand how to screw the government at that time. But I just, you know. But anyway, that was the beginning of my. My understanding. House mowing.

Yeah.

Go to your. Have a building and have your building. Pay for your house. And when I need a building someday. But it really kind of was my introduction to real estate, you know, and. And then Mrs. Geschwinder, I would ask her a lot of questions about real estate. And graduated from west side High School, thank God, at class of 76, and went to UNO. University of Nebraska at Omaha, the greatest college in the world. And. And I joined the fraternity with David Nabity. He was in my pledge class.

My ugly brother.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Former guest.

Yes. And it was a very big honor to be in a pledge class and PI Kappa Alpha, which Walt Navity was, I think, the.

One of the founders.

One of the founders of that.

Your father?

That's my dad.

Wow. All right.

So I got to know the Nabadees right out of. And then I joined Suburban Rotary, the greatest Rotary club in the world. And in Suburban Rotary, I joined in 1978. And Walton Abity was a Rotarian and Suburban Rotary. And so I, I. It was.

He can't get away from us.

And then I moved. So I bought my first house from P.J. morgan's father, Paul Morgan.

Wow.

At 2301 South 23rd Street. It was a house, and I'm 18 years old. I met Uno in the Pikes, and it was 23rd and B for 6. $6,500. And it was old then, you know, I mean, it was. And I bought it. And then I made a deal with the pike brothers. I said, you guys helped me fix this up. You could party in it on the weekends.

Yeah.

You know, none of all of them still lived at home. So this was a hell of a deal. And that worked out really good. And I fixed it up. And then when I left Uno, I sold the house for 13,500. And I went.

There's a profit there.

I had to mow a lot of yards to make that kind of money. And so I. I moved into with Scott Cernick. Into the Boardwalk Apartments. And for two years. And I built a house in Walnut Grove at 144th and Queue. I bought two lots from Ray Kopecki, lived and built the duplex. Lived in half, rented out the other. And I learned that in the neighborhood, sued us because there was no duplexes allowed. Fun part about it was that we won the lawsuit because it was two single attached dwellings. So then I started to learn about chattel and real estate and you know, and zero lot line zoning.

Yeah.

And I went, boy, this is fascinating.

Yeah.

And so I was mowing subdivisions, apartment complexes. Now sids. Got into the nursery business and I lived in that duplex. Rented out the other side and within five years the other side paid my side. And so here I am like 24 years old within a sense a no mortgage payment.

That's great.

I did a 15 year fully loan amortization which I. Which taught me so much, you know, about real estate. And I stayed there Till I was 35 years old and went fast, you know, like life does.

Yeah, sure.

But. But from that point I was buying more rental properties and real estate and I bought a. With Chuck Lake and my very close friend from all my life like a brother. And we bought four rental houses and you know, off of the Med center area and sold those. And then I got into a six, a five plex off of Saddle Creek and then I ended up getting a 66 plex. 100, 144, 168. It just kept growing. And so the business kept growing and had its ups and downs with the interest rates getting to 22% in 1980. But Rotary was really, has been a great, great thing. This next week I get 44 years perfect attendance in suburban Rotary. I love Rotary and a lot of great real estate geniuses that I met through Rotary and mortgage people and bankers and lawyers and. And great investors. Some of the greatest. Nate Schwab, really gentlemen, Jerry Gordman, some, some Alan Simon with Omaha Stakes even. They owned all their buildings. And they made just as much in the real estate sometimes as their businesses. And so I started to see that real estate is a way to make money, but you can still have your operating business. So a lot of people, you know, would buy their building instead of renting, you know. And so I always. I bought a farm at 28 years old at 186 in Harrison. And years over the years, 18 years time, I ended up forming 535 acres of. Through a lot of help with Maury Udis that owned builder Supply. And, and we put it all together and Paul Brown was his attorney who sold it all. Maury bought it. Yeah, from me. And so that was a huge sale, netted a lot of money and, and ended up taking that. And I learned 1031 exchanges. So I moved about $12 million into about $100 million worth of deals by down payments of all kinds of projects everywhere. And so then I started to learn the power of, of the banks being part of the loans, you know, and, and then multiple multiplying, different. So I did retail. I15 shopping centers in my career that I was involved in with Jerry Slusky, the greatest real estate genius lawyer in the world. I love him with all my heart. We did several apartments, we did several strip malls over 20 years. Jerry taught me so much that forever I will love Jerry Slusky and all that he taught me. And that I learned. And I. Some days were good, some days were bad, but I went and did some strip malls. And then the interest.08 to 12 was, was a learning curve. Business in my mind was, you know, I felt like it was terrible. It was, it was, it was the worst time of my life, 2008-12. But it was the greatest learning experiences of what not to do.

Yeah.

And one of it was leverage. If you're over leveraged, it's not good. Net worth means nothing and cash flow means everything.

Yeah, that's. That's a great segue because I was. You had sort of alluded to that your path in business and real estate took off and it kind of built steam real quickly. And I was going to follow by asking, has it always. Has it been like that ever since or has there been some ups and downs along the way? But it sounds like there was a.

Couple years there where two times in my life which were the. Were both the greatest learning times in.

My life in loss, like.

So you.

Things came crumbling down, but you learned.

I had no bankruptcies.

Yeah.

No judgments or lawsuits with that. That, that. But that was only for two reasons. One, Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, and God that I prayed a lot to. I know that that helped because he helped me keep going.

Yeah.

And he helped me keep going by communication. So both times, when interest rates got to 22% in 2008-12 during the recession, the bankers. Chris Held a friend of mine from Dial Realty took me to lunch and he said, how much do you owe? And I said, 60 million. I'm in debt. And he goes, so that.

Very cavalier.

And he goes, you know, if you Owe a million dollars, you got a problem. When you owe 60 million to the bank, they got a problem.

Yeah.

And I never looked at it that way, that we're in this together.

Yeah, sure.

So I really helped paradigm shift my brain to go to the banks and say, let's work here. And we did every one of them. We worked out. Everybody won, no judgments, no lawsuits. And then. So it's going to happen again. I don't know when you know, but there's going to be the ups and downs. But I would my recommendation, anybody in life, and the two greatest things in my life are my twin boys, Jeremy and Justin. My twins are 25 and they didn't. And I've always told them, just communication is. Transparency is the key to success with your. With your bankers, your partners, your friends, your employees, anybody in life that. Your friends, whatever. Relationships, if you just be up, tell the truth, don't lie and, and be transparent. Everything works out.

Yeah. I love to spend some time on that season of your life where things might have not gone well, sort of. Two questions. One, what did you learn about loss during that time? But then two, how did you build back upon that? Like a better way of building, you know, if you took this dip, how do you make it stronger going forward?

You know, I was like Robert E. Lee, who was born January 19, same day I was okay when the pride of the south and he was losing the war and he realized that he had to save all that he could to go on with his life. And he pulled out his. His men and they took off, you know, and, you know, and tried to stop as much waste and losses as possible. And that's what I did. I looked at my whole portfolio. And the good news, I had a huge portfolio over that at that point in the recession period. And the World Herald did a. Came and did an article of rags to riches story. And they asked me at the wrong time in life because it was like in 2011.

Rags. Riches to rags.

Yeah, it was rags to riches to rags that year. And then they put it on the front page of the Sunday World Herald and like, wow, you know, the whole. And if, you know, I said one day I thought I was Warren Buffett, and the next day I didn't. I didn't think I had anything. You know, but then everybody goes, well, he don't have anything. No, it's. You know, people will read how they want to read something. But. But the good news, I had plenty. I just needed to work out everything. But it was a learning lesson that I'll never, ever stop thanking that period of my life that I went through it. I mean, you know, failure is not fatal. You know, and Warren Buffett says, you know, failure is not getting down, it's staying down. And I was not going to stay down. And I today, if it happened, I'd do it again. But what I did learn is that that over leverage was probably my biggest negative. I spread myself too thin and had too many deals and not enough cash flow and was focusing on the wrong thing. And as a child, as I grew up not having a dad and not. And my mom dying so young that I just read the paper and, you know, and magazines and articles about net worth and said how much Donald Trump's worth and Warren Buffett's wor and Steve Nabity. And so those three guys, you know, you'd follow their net worth, but the whole point was following people's net worth was, I thought, the key to success. That was the scorecard. That was when you know that you're successful, when you made more money, had net worth. And then I realized through 08 to 12, and it changed my life forever. I learned two things. Net worth means nothing. Nobody cares what you got. They want what you got in many cases. And cash flow is king. And what people think of you is none of your business.

Yeah. I love it. That's one of those as being a legend, so to speak, of Omaha. There's some hoichisms that are coined phrases that you're known for, which is one of them. What people think about me is none of my business. But the other one, which I think you sort of alluded to here, is to be rich is to know when you have enough.

I truly believe that.

Yeah.

And I. And I love. This is a quote I heard from Tom Osborne at a Bernay breath when I was 28. And he said to all these Jewish gentlemen and some Christian people in different there. And I was there. And it was probably one of the greatest things I ever heard. Because I think about it, even through all the ups and downs in life was I've never seen a hearse pull a U haul yet.

Yeah.

So no one's ever taken it with them. And it's just. It's just stuff.

Yeah.

And it depreciates like, you know, and so buy what appreciates least what depreciates. But when the game's over, you either leave it to charity or your family or the irs.

One of those three are less the latter.

Yeah. So it's. It's just so if you're. If you're God's first and family second and all the other stuff's third, then you live a. I think a good, normal life. And, yeah, we all struggle as deal junkies and entrepreneurs as you grow up to keep those straight. But the more times that I realign myself with God first, family second, and deals third, my life goes smoother.

Can you jump in, please, John? You said deal junkie back in the heyday, before 2008. And I even see it today with people I work with, they get so caught up in the next deal, I've got to do the next deal. It's like a drug. Did you have that when you were on steroids? On steroids?

Gary Slusky would call me and just wait. What? No. What? What? Yeah, just wait. No, like, no, tell me. Yeah, I found a deal. Where. When can we buy it?

Yeah.

How do we get in it? I mean, it was like. And he was right there with me, and I love him, and we had fun and we just. It was. It was kind of the biggest high. I've never did drugs and never.

Yeah.

So, I mean, it was my high. It was my. My addiction was workaholism. My sons will be the first to tell you that I never missed one of their activities in life. But when I wanted to sell the business three years ago, they both said they don't want my job. I go, what's my job? And they said, you're a workaholic and a deal junkie. You know, we don't want to be like. We want our own experiences and journey.

Yeah.

And, you know, and. But I'm no longer a deal junkie. I haven't been since 2012. And Jerry Slusky one day called me and he said, what time is it? And date. And time as it was ended up being December 12, 2012 at 12 noon. At that day, my life changed. I look at everything with calculated measure. Now I don't do anything unless it makes sense.

Yeah.

I look at something now and I want to know how I can get out of it tomorrow if I buy it today.

Oh, that's good.

What is my exit strategy before I do it? I never did that before, ever. I didn't care. I just wanted to get in the deal.

Yeah.

And I found that it gave me when I had anything materialistic or real estate or even. Even another weed eater or lawnmower. It was. It defined me because my dad always told me I was a no good rotten bastard, never amount to nothing. I wanted to prove him wrong. And in 2008-12, my biggest, hardest things I went through was feeling like I. That he won. Even though he had died when I was. Yeah, 20 years old, I thought that he had won and it really was tough on me to think that he had won. And, and, and yet it was mine. Your mind can do terrible things to you when you're down and depressed and upset.

Yeah.

And so. But you know, failure is not fatal, but suicide is. And I sure wasn't going there.

Yeah.

And I wasn't going to let stuff get me that depressed. We're unfortunately, we know some people that real estate deals. During 08 to 12, we lost a couple great leaders in Omaha, Nebraska through suicide and depression because they didn't. Their cloud got so dark they didn't know how to get out. But they had their priorities on stuff instead of God and their family and then stuff. And so that's, that's really important.

Yeah. Having that foundation, I imagine helped you rebound from those sorts of things. But how did you. You had a rough childhood. I mean those are formative years. Parents have a. Have a large impact on their children. How were you able to, to not have that define you? Not only, not only that, your childhood, but also 2008, 2012, that's a defining moment and it can be something that defines you. How did you work past that or maybe break that? That.

I think that's what my book about.

Yeah.

Overcoming adversity. I overcame it being in a. Being at west side High School in Class of 1976, to the best of my knowledge, I was like one of the only people from the. From 10 years old when my mom and dad divorced. I think in, in the whole District 66, we were the only divorced family. Nobody got divorced.

Yeah.

They, they're happy or not. They stayed together.

Yeah.

And so that was my first. Overcoming adversities, having a. Being in a divorce family. Then we went on welfare and ADC as a child of what they call a ward of the state from 10 years old to 19. So the state was my parents and I went to Baker's in Westgate Plaza with, with food stamps. Why? You know, on my bicycle while my 16 year old friends were in Trans Ams, you know, and I rode that to school. It was tough, you know, it was very. It was, you know, was I jealous? Yes. Was I sad? Yes. Was I. Did I feel like I got the bad deck of cards? Yes. You know, but I was gonna prove them wrong. And my mother's casket. I told her when I looked at her when I was 16, she was 39. I told her I'd be a millionaire to age 30 and that I'll help my sisters and my brother forever. And I still committed to that. Unfortunately. Lost my brother. And then I went to west side High School when I was 30 and made first million. I made my goal.

Yeah.

And I said I want to help. And this. This year I gave 34 scholarships. Every year now at Westside, at the Hoyt alumni house at 90th and Pacific of boys and girls who write a 300 word essay. How they didn't give up, how they overcame their adversity and what can I do to give them a hand up? Not a handout.

Yeah.

And tore down that bar at. With the Stevens Center. We got rid of the first and last chance on 28th in Q& built the John L. Hoyt center for recovery. 32 rooms for women, 32 for men to give people a hand up. Not a handout. And in my will, I'm leaving a lot of money to the Hoytz Recovery center and to the Westside alumni and Rotary to continue to help people after my death to give that hand up perpetually.

That's funny you bring up that story because that was actually one of my true or false stories that we led with. So I'll read it here. I once read that you knocked down your. Your father or was your uncle's bar, Dad's bar, First and Last chance bar, in order to set up a recovery center. Essentially, it's kind of poet justice, essentially offering second chances to people who have struggled. So it sounds like that's true.

That's true. And so as I said, yeah, you know, that my dad inherited the bar from my uncle George Hoyt, who died in a car wreck in 1957. And my dad inherited it and $500,000.

Wow.

And from 57 to 68, he lost all the money and bankrupt the bar. So he did worse than anybody I knew almost. You know, and. But alcoholism is a terrible disease drug and alcoholism is a terrible thing that can really ruin your lives, you know. And in any addiction.

Yeah.

But of course he. So he was the maximum. And the beautiful thing is I was honored to be on the Omaha planning board for the city of Omaha. I believe the longest serving 18 years of my life. And I was on one of the meetings where the Stevens center had came in and said, we want to acquire this bar. Or they already did and they want to knock it down and wanted zoning for it. And I start crying in front of all My colleagues saying, I can't believe this. And. And I was crying of. Of the hurt from what I went through. I was also crying of the joy.

Yeah.

That the Sharon and the McNeil family. The Sharon McNeil, I believe, was her and her husband Dick, built the first Stephen center homeless shelter. And then they were able to grow it, and then they were now wanting to expand to build a recovery center.

Yeah.

And they picked my dad's bar, of all places, to tear it down next to it. It was just like a story that God had planned. And so I walked out after the vote and explained to my colleagues why I was being a baby and crying so much.

I caught him off guard a little bit.

Yeah. And said, I don't know how I'm going to be part of this, but I want to be part of it. And the rest is history. That I got to be part of it. And it's a great story to say that if I can do it, anybody can do it. Never give up. And I go. And I'm honored to go talk to the clients. We don't call them patients because they're heroes, and we don't call it the John L. Hoyt center for Recovery. It's on the building. But the program is called Hero Program. They're heroes for transitioning their lives.

That's excellent.

So what was the first and last chance Forever gives now people a second chance?

That's how cool.

Yeah. Only divine can that be set up that way.

Yes. So what the. So I just believe relationships are so important. The accountability of your life is important. Doing the right thing and giving back and have a purpose and passion about everything in life is the biggest thing that I've learned through all the mentors in my life. Joe McDermott of Loveland Lawn, Alan Simon from Omaha Stakes, Howard Hawks. Some great people who just gave me time in their life to teach me impact. The years with Jerry Slesky were some of the greatest years because of all the mistakes we made, but all the great things we did. You know that the key to success is finding it and fill it. If you do something wrong, learn from it. Don't do it again. You know, it's. So many people do it again. Yeah.

Yeah, right.

They just don't learn, you know, and it's like, hello, you know, and I don't like the word stupid because it's. To me, it's a big negative. But learn from. If I. When I meet somebody successful, I don't ask them, tell me how rich you are.

How'd you do it.

I say, what did you do wrong? And what would you have done different? I've always done that and it's helped me try to avoid that problem.

Yeah.

I love reading books and you can get them on Amazon of people, their failures as compared to their successes. I find them more interesting, the stories are greater and usually there is a learning from the failure that you don't get when there's a story about success.

Yeah.

And I'd love that.

More relatable too.

Yeah, it is. And the humbler the better. The humbler the better, the more, you know, I. I never thought myself as arrogant or cocky or egotistical because I didn't have enough money or enough knew anybody or have any reason to do anything.

Yeah.

I wasn't an iron man or anything, but. But never ends. Never ends. But bottom line, I did find myself at a point in my life and telling people my net worth because I thought that was. You were supposed to do that.

Yeah.

And then finally and I joined YPO and everybody in there had lots of net worth.

Yeah, sure.

So I just kind of started to think that, you know, being in articles, I probably have had 500 articles written in my, in my lifetime and my book and went to 38 states through Rotary telling it and, and you know, in my beginning stories were talking about getting to my goals of net worth.

Yeah.

And then I found out that maybe as I got even more counsel from certain humbler people saying, you know, telling what you got is, you know, why I told. It wasn't meant to be for arrogance or bragging. It was, you know, that I finally amounted to something. But when I found out that that wasn't what amounted me. When I found out, you know, that people like me because of me, finally I found that I had self worth.

Oh yeah.

And I never had it until I got older and older and older and now I'm so old and thank God I learned it now. But it's just that it's interesting how most people with. With don't realize their self worth and they, and they think that it's got to be by a. By net. By net worth and by stuff.

Yeah. And I feel like that's just things you learn over time. Like you. I'd like to believe that we are in tune enough to. To take people's mistakes and learn from them, but that's almost. Sometimes you just have to go through it yourself. Like I imagine your twin boys, you brought them up. I imagine if they came to you and used you as sort of a Litmus. Litmus test. They'd see, oh, I see all the things I should do and should not do. Do you find that they're receptive to or do they need to do it themselves and fail?

They go to bed at night saying the Hoichisms, which I've got a few.

Of them we can go through.

But they, you know, I, I preach to them all the time. I'm sure they get tired of it.

Yeah.

Oh, Dad, I heard that.

Every one of them.

Yeah. But it, you know, and I say stuff, I swear, since they were born.

Yeah.

For. Till they're 25 now. And I play this stupid game and they hate it and I'll start it and they have to finish it or they don't get whatever they want.

Yeah.

So I'll just say do on, duh. And then they finish do on others as you want them to do on to you. It's the first one I learned in life, but to this day it's the most important one.

Yeah.

You know, and buy low, sell high.

Yeah.

You know, and, you know, some of these silly things, but they all really make a big difference. And, you know, trusting God, all others, pay cash.

Yeah, I love that one. That's great.

And I learned that one just because, you know, it's. You want to trust everybody, but sometimes people will let you down, you know, that you felt like you could trust. And some people don't tell the truth. And it's hard. I think that was the hardest things. When I learned that the people I counted on did let me down.

Sure.

You know, one of them was my own. Dad.

Yeah. What do you. So if net worth no longer is the definition of success for you, what is at this point?

Health. My walk with God. Being the best dad I can be for my sons. Being the best person I can for my friends. Staying active in charities. I'm very fortunate to be part of a foundation called the Charles E. Lakin foundation. And I have the John L. Hoyt Foundations. I still have that, but on a full time basis. Now I'm the vice president of the Charles E. Lakin Foundation. That was a guy that I mowed his yard when I was 16, of course. Called me the Orphan Moboy.

Yeah.

His son became Orphan Moboy. I started my lawn business with my very close friend Joe Smith, who's county attorney in Madison county for 38 years. And he went on to Creighton. In law school. I bought him out for $400. And then I met Mr. Lakin when I was 16 and he called me the orphan Moboy brought me an iced tea and brought me in his house and said, these are all my holdings. And he was the largest citrus fruit grower in Yuma, Arizona, the largest continuous landowner in the state of Iowa for farms.

Wow.

And then 45 years later, I am now managing all those assets for the foundation. He died and left it all to charity. And his son and I are very close. We're like brothers and very considerate. My brother and his name is Charles Lakin III and he lives in Yuma, Arizona. So we manage it and give away to 8 to 10 million dollars in Southwest Iowa communities.

That's great.

It's just people giving families and resilience with a hand up.

Yeah. Why do you, what motivates you to keep doing so much? I mean, you're, you're buying real estate, you're investing in businesses, you're giving away scholarships, you're running foundations.

Why do so much in rotary? Over the 44 years that I've been and loved being in it, I'd watch executives or just average Joes, women and men, and they retire. And I'd watch the ones that just went home and start using the remote at the tv. Maybe went to Panera Bread in the morning for coffee and then went home the rest of the day and watched a lot of football. And I, sadly they died within a year or two after they retired. And I like, what's that all for? If you spent your whole life for what we think is now paradise in heaven, to retire, not after work.

So true.

And I don't want my sons to win that I'm a workaholic. So I've told them that I am in detox and I'm no longer a workaholic. And so I, I, I enjoy the journey like they do and what they're doing and that they do. I bought an assistant living in Cape Coral, Florida. Our foundation just bought 154 units in Tampa, Florida. We're doing deals in Casa Grande and Coolidge, Arizona. We're just having fun with experiences.

Yeah.

And not leveraged, highly leveraged debt. You know, I mean, we're doing them with where there's an exit strategy. But to me, if you quit, you die. And it's a good motivation. I do not want to die. I want, now that I've learned all this, finally got to this point in my life, it's, it's time to, to, to learn from those mistakes and enjoy the journey, enjoy the experiences. And now my biggest goal in life is to serve God, to Be great acquaintances and friends. Enjoy people. I love people. I'm a people person. Obviously, I'm a major introvert.

That's surprising.

Doesn't say much, does he? No, it doesn't.

No, I. I guess there's. Everyone knows me as an extrovert, but bottom line is I love the. I love life.

Yeah.

And I heard the other day, and I've heard it before, you know, like, you got to get eight hours of sleep. It's important, you know, just as much as your exercise and diet. And one guy said to me in the gym, well, I can sleep when I die, so I'm gonna. I hardly sleep.

Yeah.

So, you know, we go to heaven. And your diets, you're not, you know, you're done here. But at this point, I want to stay here a long time and enjoy this world and reap the harvest that I've worked hard for.

John, you've invested in Jeremy and Justin and you've led them over the years and you've wanted them to be in real estate with you, but they've taken different paths. Can you elaborate? How are you doing with that?

They both came to me and they didn't want to buy my business. Aaron Gunderson, a wonderful young man who folks on Gunderson Jewelry. Him and his brothers bought my lawn. US Grounds military mowing business. We went to nine states, hundreds and hundreds of employees. It was a great career. And all my corporate accounts in Omaha. So Hoytch Enterprises and US Grounds is now still in business by Aaron Gunnerson and Matthew Morgan as part of it. And then I got out of Nebraska Scientific, which I bought for my sons, a dissection business for biology classes. And Jeremy and Justin just didn't want anything of that sort. They wanted their own experiences, they wanted their own journey. And so I don't have to worry about where the fathers and daughters or mothers, whatever, family members fighting over the business and where it turns turmoil.

Yeah.

And I've seen some sad situations in Omaha and throughout the nation to where the kids quit the dead or they get thrown out of the will and terrible things happen and who needs that crap? So I'm letting my boys do what they want to do. One's a glass blower. Jeremy's got scales. Glass you can look on, you know, the Internet for us. Instagram scales Glass by Jeremy Hoyt is going to become the next Chihuly. Or in fact, Chihuly will have to be try to be like Jaren. And Justin is a rock climber and just graduated from Uno and Getting a master's degree that they're giving him at UNL and to run their rock climbing wall and outdoor education program. And he wants to be an environmental scientist and a community planner for environmental.

Oh, that's great.

But they both like real estate. They both got. Part of their degrees was real estate and business. And so I feel comfortable that they've learned enough from me and probably forced to learn enough from me. But. But I've explained to them enough, you know, to. To understand what they're going to inherit someday.

Yeah.

Are they coming up with their own hoichisms?

Yeah. Experiences and. And their own journey.

Yeah.

You know, they want to live in the moment, and so they're teaching me. So you never stop learning. And what's neat when you can learn from your own children.

I love that.

So I am now living in the moment. New experiences and new journeys. And Steve Naby and I are even. We have a company called Groovy. Yeah. Capital G R E W Capital V Ventures Ventures llc.

I know.

Groovy Ventures.

We're going to do some deals with his children and my children, and we're going to have them teach us.

Yeah, I love that.

Teach the old goats, right?

Yeah.

You said your sons are. They're. They're in real estate, so they're learning about it, so they must like it. What is it that you've always loved about real estate?

I. I love. I love it. And I'm highly invested in the stock market or it's invested in me or own. Not sure. Yeah. But, you know, with real. With stocks, I feel like I can't control anything. If somebody farts wrong, the market goes up or down.

Right.

And in real estate, you can like business. It's. It's something that you can own and, and give a good product and, you know, and a service just like my lawn business, only it's an apartments or a strip mall or a warehouse or flexed buildings. I've done all the above farms. But. But it's neat to just see the outcome and take care of your tenants like a client.

Yeah.

And make them happy. And at the same time, they're paying rent. That pays off the mortgage. That gives you an asset for passive income and cash flow. I had my almost first heart attack when I asked my son, Justin, what do you want to do? He goes, well, I want to, you know, be an environmental scientist and, you know, and. But on the real estate side, I want to help and learn and. And be part of it. And Jeremy said, well, dad, I really like the passive Income. I'm like, what? Somebody was on us?

Yeah.

Got a degree in passive income?

Yeah, yeah. There should be a new one for that.

Hey John, I got a question for you with the people today in the 30s and 40s. They're out there buying new apartment complexes. They're trying to do the next deal. If you had to go back and you talked to the John Hoytch Before 2008 in the 4, 5 and 6, what would you say to the John Hoyt of that age about real estate, cash flow, the next deal, if you could do it again?

Well, a lot of people are scientists called opm, other people's money. I've not been that type of person. I feel like, you know, I don't mind partnering with someone or owned by myself, but I think if you can't get in the deal by yourself, I would rather own the duplex that Ray Kopeck, he built me in Walnut Grove where I owned all of it, than own 5% owners of a hundred million dollar real estate venture just because I can control my journey and destiny.

Sure.

Nothing wrong with it. It works for some who have no knowledge of real estate and just want to look at it as a stock. Yeah, it's no different like a stock. It's reit. But if you want to do your own thing, I just encourage young people and older people because I get asked at least a dozen times a day, how do I get into real estate? You know, and, and I just say that over and over, you know, be able to get into something you can control, enjoy, learn, you know, and, and as you grow it. I literally went from the one house to a duplex to a five plex. I literally went up the ladder. It was just kind of funny. And now I'm actually, you know, getting into my biggest one Next that I'll be a major owner in is 180 units. And so it's, you know, it's, it's interesting how I climbed up, you know, but I have no goal anymore to have a lot more. I just want. I love cash flow and I love the journey and the excitement of it, but I sure don't want it at this point in my life to take me down.

Yeah.

So why risk what you have to gain something? You don't need to lose all that.

You have another Hoichism right there.

I got another question for John about partners. Yeah, every business there's usually a partner. Could be a small partner, but you're working with somebody. What have you learned over the years about partners? And if you're going to start a business or grow a business, can you tell us about what the partners should bring together so they have a successful business?

When I was eight years old, I never told you this one, Steve, but I was eight years old, I will never forget, I was watching a movie, which I had said, I'd like to find that movies. I've never watched it since, but I remember watching and retaining Howard Hughes, saying about somebody was asking him to partner up with Hughes Aviation and Hughes Tools and all that. And he said, my daddy always said, a partner's nothing but dead weight.

Sounds like a Howard Hughes statement.

And I always remembered that. And I had some of those kind of partners where they just piggybacked off of me, used me, lied to me, hurt me, and offended me throughout the journey until I was out of that partnership. And I'm like, why did I have them? But when I was growing, when I was younger and I had no money and I was learning and I was building net worth and the ability to do things on my own, you sometimes need a partner, or sometimes my mind just said, I do. I was scared, I was afraid. I was insecure, and I was scared to do it by myself. And even if I had someone that I didn't think was a good partner, it helped me with my insecurity of doing it on my own. Finally, I got over that, but took a long time. Now I'm not afraid to do anything on my own anymore. But I think that was why I needed a partner. But it's great when they can bring value, they can bring knowledge, they can bring capital or connections. Yeah, all those are great when they can.

I think it's absolutely critical when you bring a partner together that you're aligned, think the same, know where the vision and goal is going. I see today in the real estate arena where people are partnering as just a partner, and there are totally two different goals, different alignment, and it doesn't turn out well. Doesn't turn out well at all.

Like the story you said on that strip mall, you helped a guy get in it, and then he wanted out for no reason, you know, and he wasn't grateful at all. Yeah, you know, so it's people, you know, big part of when I can help somebody, and I've helped several friends become millionaires, and I'm proud of that. And they also thank me, you know, so appreciation and gratitude is really beautiful.

Well, as we wrap up our episode.

John.

I'd love to just ask you, what's the end goal at the end of this you obviously said you're not going to stop because to stop is to die. But what's the end goal for you these days?

Wake up every morning, go to the YMCA in Valley greatest. Why in the world.

I'm picking up a trend. Yeah.

I live at Timbershore Lake and Valley. I love it with my neighbors and my friends. It's beautiful to see the Canadian geese. Wake my butt up in the morning and and just to get up, have my go work out at the Y, come home, have my coffee and go at the day for the lake and foundation or my charities and my properties and my stocks and talk to my sons as often and my friends and family and just live life to the fullest. It's just my day. Every day is a new venture. Something different happens every day and I'm just. But I'm excited about it. And there's not one second now that I dread where there was times in my earlier life that I did not to ever dread a second again to until I go home to heaven. That's to me what I'm living for.

Yeah. That's a good way to end it. We end every episode with a speed round of questions just to get to know you a little bit better. Quick questions, quick answers. So I'll jump into them. Do you have any daily rituals you swear by?

Do unto others as you want them to do onto you every day I want to make sure that I. When I say something that. That what I want that said to me.

What's one business you wish you could go back and start or invest in?

Mr. Connector. I'd like to before I die or still I would love to start a business called Mr. Connector because all my life I've connected people together.

Oh sure.

And if I could get LinkedIn, if I could, I could have created LinkedIn.

Yeah.

And I didn't.

Yeah.

But if I really thought that my company would be called Mr. Connector LLC because I still think there's a need because every day somebody's saying do you know buddy? Do you know where I can get? Can you introduce me to. And if I got a fee for every one of those Warren Buffet and I would be fighting for first place on the richest.

I don't doubt that you're well connected. What's one piece of real estate advice that you'd give to others?

Understand what you're buying, building, getting into and how to get out of it.

Yeah. Which situations do you find yourself most happy or fulfilled.

With my sons having brunch on Sunday after church.

That's good. Alright. You know the title of this show is Heading west, which is just get going. Get going. In life, in business, you'll head in a certain direction, you'll change the path along the way and you'll learn as you go. But with that in mind, as you head west, where do you hope to end up?

In heaven.

Amen.

Stairway to Stairway to Heaven.

I love that.

But I hope to end up while I'm on earth. I am fighting my intuition and my heart and head to get a home in Florida, do some golfing more and some boating more and beach time. Yeah. Finally it's time.

Yeah. Well, Joe, where can people find you if they want to get in contact with you, if they want to read your book, if they want to go to your website, where can they find you?

Jhoichoich.com Easy peasy.

Love it. John, thank you so much for joining us today. That was a blast hearing your story and getting to learn a little bit about your about your journey here in Omaha.

Thanks for having me. Heading west, Jake, Steve, God bless you.

God bless you, man.