How to Turn Your Home Equity Into Monthly Income (Without Selling)

You know, I saw a thing the other day on the guy who, you know, interviews billionaires or whatever on— Yeah, right. Yeah. And he talked to this lady. She's like the Forbes lady. And she's like, you know, I'm 66. He's asked her, she's like, you don't ask a lady your age. But she's like, I'm 66 and I'm just starting. Well, guess what? I'm 64 and I'm just starting. I love it. And I need to learn from you.

Today, my buddy Gus is here with me. We were just catching up the other day talking about moving some things around. And so Tammy coaxed him into coming in and hanging out on camera with me. So I thought we would go backwards to where we met and some of the fun stuff we've been through. I mean, started during COVID Yeah, your daughter stalked me through Facebook, like in Munds Park. And that's, that's where we met. But tell us about that journey in Munds. That was a That was a fun one that we got through.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, we always, we'd always, um, Darcy, my wife, she's, um, her parents had had a place up in Munds in those condominiums. And, you know, 30 years ago we said, well, we're going to have a place up here one day. Well, you know, a kid came around and was like, we better get a place sooner or later. So we wrote all on our cards, you know, we will have a place in Munds Park by, and we put the date down. Vision. Vision. So we wrote it down. We even drew a little picture. I drew a little picture. We still have it sitting up in in our cabin. That's so awesome. And so then we were looking around and we had poked around a little bit here and there, and then, um, we came across you, I think. You know, somehow Sierra was poking around, found a place.

Well, you didn't know at that time is I spent every night like in, in my bed in Facebook like trying to like, I'm doing this, I'm doing this, we're trying to find people in Munds Park during COVID because it was such a shit show.

Yeah, that was awesome. And then I remember, I remember doing a Zoom meeting with you and, you know, we just loved your energy and your spirit. And, and so then we found that place, got into the for sale by owner, for sale by owner, and we did a deal and it was not an easy deal. And that's where we came— I basically became brothers because what we went through and what— and, and really, at that point, I saw really what you were made of, kind of. You know, or what we were made of, kind of when you're doing stuff like that, you know, when you're in Band of Brothers, you know, when you're in a war together, kind of, or when you go through something like that, you learn about people and you learn about, you know, what they're about. And you were just amazing, man.

We got into some legal battles at the end trying to close on time, and you guys had a certain date you wanted to be there, and the seller wanted to do a tax thing. And I remember being in Salt Lake City or in Park City that during Thanksgiving, and we're skiing, and I remember like talking to Gus, talking to attorneys, going, what are we going to do? And I'm like, we're going to get this closed somehow. And it was just, we just kept working through it and talking through it. But what I always appreciate about you guys was it was never taken out on me. Right? We were trying to work through it together. But a lot of times we get in those conversations and the agent becomes the punching bag. Like, no, I'm on your team. Like, really don't shoot.

Right?

Right.

Yeah.

And, you know, and it's, it's so fun to see what you guys have done up there. And we've become friends and neighbors and harass each other on a regular basis.

Totally.

Man, what a blessing that cabin has been and what you guys did with the yard and all the things is just— So what's been the—

Thank you.

No, thank you. What's been the best part about getting there like that it was your vision? Like what did you guys experience after that? Like these last couple of years?

Yeah, you know, moving in, I was just thinking about moving in the other day, it was a blast. You know, little things like that, you know.

The Black Stallion cabin.

Yeah, and it's the Black Stallion cabin. It's cool and just redoing it.

It's cool like you.

And the neighbors trip out because it's black, you know? They're like, what color are you gonna paint it? I'm like, they're like, we told them black. And they're like, why would you do that?

You started a trend. Then we painted ours black.

Yeah, it's nice, man. It is. But we, you know, we are, if someone tells me what color they're gonna paint their house or whatever, I'm gonna be like, okay, cool. You know, I might be like, why do you wanna do that? You know? And so we were kind of thinking.

In Munds, I think anything goes.

So I told the guy.

You're gonna paint it pink? Cool.

That's what I said. I'll paint that thing pink, man.

But I don't wanna look at it every time I come home.

That's the only problem. So, you know, just thinking about that and the times we've had together, like you always said, you know, it's the memories that you're going to create from it, you know, and really doing it and doing it, you know, then and at the time and getting it done. And we've had so much fun up there and we have so much memories and everything else. And, you know, the snows and being snowed in and, you know, with the Jeep pulling the— or no, with the Terex, we were pulling, you know, a sled. We had the tow rope down the street. It was great.

It's all the stuff we did as kids, right, that we get to do as adults and nobody cares us there.

We did the K-Tel Funskis when I was a kid.

So you would agree that, you know, that second home purchase was not only a great investment, but it was a great return on life.

Yeah.

At the end of the day, memories. Well, those are the kids.

Yeah, that's exactly it, Steve. And that's what you always said. Yeah. And, you know, we believe it.

What was your background? I mean, you're, you're semi-retired now and now you're—

I'm doing stuff now. I'm trying to— I'm in M&A. Yeah, a little bit. I come from, you know, tech world. I, you know, I really wasn't a tech person at all, but I got into IT figuring back in 2000 when the housing bubble, 2009, I said, I need something that's not—

What were you doing before that?

I was doing corporate relocation. It was a commodity. It was really a commodity world. And I'm like, I don't want commodity. I need And I think, you know, what I learned from that is every salesperson really has to find out— if you're a salesperson, everyone is kind of in some way— you got to find that product that's going to be maximum return on, you know, what you're putting in and, you know, and what you believe in and what you believe in. Yeah. Yeah. What you believe in. And so I— it's funny, I got into Cisco Systems in 2010.

Okay.

6 months it took me to get in there. I leveraged so many I leveraged about 6 or 7 or 8 relationships. One of them, the number one relationship, and this is really a cool one, is that I found this guy who I had been in high school with. High school with. Now, I'm up there in the sauce. This was about, that time was about 30 years ago, you know? And I reached out to him. I said, I see you're in Cisco. I need to get into Cisco Systems. You know, would you help me get in there? He's like, you know what, Gus, let me just tell you this. You were always nice to me in high school, and so I will help you. And I'm like, that's cool, man. All right, Dave. So he helped me and he helped me a lot to get in there. Dave Goad. Thank you, Dave. And he, and, you know, there was other people that I had to leverage and that I made friends with, you know, in the process of, you know, and they would tell me things. And I have that always been like that in my life is people will tell me things about their life. Out of the blue and I'll come home. I met this guy and he's got done this and done that and done this.

Well, don't repeat any of the things I've told you.

No, they're, they're, they're well worth it. I see a lot of similarities in us and the things we've done and been through. You know, you're a little younger than me. Good for you. But, um, no, but in spirit, I'm, you know, I'm getting younger actually.

Well, you're, I think that's one of the things that attracted us in the business and the energy is that, you know, and you've said it, right? You went in, you tackled relationships to get into Cisco. You went back and you planted seeds with those people, even from being nice to the guy at high school. You ever see Billy Madison?

Yeah.

So, you know, it's like, hey, the one guy at the end, he's like, I didn't shoot you because you were nice to me in high school.

That's right.

You came back and apologized.

Yeah. Yeah.

You just— I mean, that's, that's where we've always been, right? It's been relational. It's never been transactional in the real estate world. For me, it's been, you know, how do we serve and get through it and walk through it rather than it being, you know, transactional? Because how many, how many emails do you get from me on a regular basis with bullshit?

For you? From you? Yeah.

That's my point, right? It's like so many people in my industry rely on the relationship to be, oh, did you get my emails, my text message? It's not the random calls that we have right here and there. And I think that you're very much the same way. It's, it's about keeping in touch and different conversations and where you can support other people. Because I've always seen you in that light as well with me. It's like, where can I support?

What's— Oh, it's always about that. It's like, how can you help others? You know, it's where, where can you connect? Right? Yeah, for sure.

So one of the things that we want to talk through, which I think is really fascinating, is we were talking about utilizing basically debt equity, right, in your properties and going, hey, how do we move some things around, um, in order to create some investment income and some runway? Because you're— what'd you— it's M&A?

Yeah, mergers and acquisitions.

Right, so mergers and acquisitions. Sorry, acronyms, right?

M&A.

But M&A, so talk a little bit more about what that is and maybe the runway and some of the stuff that you're doing there.

Yeah, so we're, we're, um, kind of origination. I do kind of a deal origination. Okay. We work with private equity firms in the lower middle market, $20 million companies to about $300, $250 million companies. And, and they— the private equity firm will either have a platform or they will be looking for a platform. And some are, you know, single family offices that are looking for platforms that we've been helping as well. And then what they want to have us do, we're an advisory firm, so we'll go out That's it. Well, tell us what their thesis is. We'll help them create a thesis, what they're looking for, what they have. And then we'll go out, you know, find those companies, reach out to the CEOs or the owners. A lot of them are foundational base, you know, people who started the business, you know, umpteen years ago. They're getting around 60, 70 years old and they're looking to, you know, see their dreams come to fruition, if you will. And so, um, we'll reach out to them, secure a meeting, make introductions, and then from there, if they like each other, they exchange more information, then they'll do a deal. Okay. So yeah, it's pretty, pretty simple.

Nice.

Nice.

That sounds like a lot of work.

It's really when it comes back to the relationship thing you were talking about, you know, it's just being able to relate to someone, um, you know, and, and, um, establish a credibility and a caring and understanding in that regard. And then once you do that, then you can really set the table and let them have their dinner. Hope they like each other. If they do, that's great. If they don't, they part as friends.

And so you're really trying to create the solution for somebody that may want to exit in their company in the next couple of years as a founder and kind of take their cash out and move on while it grows. Yeah. So it just depends on where somebody's at. So if somebody's like, I'm growing and I want an exit, this is where they would start with somebody like you is like in a 3 to 5 year exit out of the company because yeah, a lot of stuff, right? You're wanting the founder to stay in.

Yeah. And a lot of owners will No cash out. They'll actually a lot of times roll equity back into the business. Okay. Because it's the goal of the private equity firm to grow the business within a 5-year, 6-year span. Okay. And then they will recapitalize it to another private equity firm. So intriguing. Yeah. So they grow that, then their equity, the owner will roll back 25%, whatever, 30%, 10%. And then that will grow, you know, as the company grows through acquisition during that time. And then when they recapitalize and they can cash out again or continue to let that run.

So what are some of the similar style, like companies or businesses that you typically look at?

Yeah, I work with, you know, companies that are like, um, right now I'm helping some of our aerospace. I've done aerospace deals who are doing aerospace manufacturing. Right now I'm working with a systems integrator, um, that they, they're big into life sciences. Okay. So yeah, so what they're doing is automating a lot of that, that stuff is really interesting in that a lot of the world is going to that is automating manufacturing, things like that within an environment. So working with companies like that primarily.

So yeah, because some of those companies, I would imagine they get to a point to where they need the infusion to scale with the founder, right? In order to make it go bigger or else they just kind of get stuck.

That's exactly right. And a lot of companies can fit that, you you know, would, can add on to that. And, and Grille, I mean, they're looking at right now, they have like about 650 engineers and they're looking in the next 4 years to add, get up to 2,000 engineers. Listen to Grille and then they'll recapitalize then.

So, geez.

Yeah.

That's interesting. It's fascinating.

It's cool.

So how'd you start into that from going into the technology side? What, what relationship brought you back to M&A?

I actually started in that world before the technology side. I actually, yeah, I worked for an intermediary out of Kansas City. And, um, here's an older guy, Jerry Baker, such a dynamic guy. Um, he had, you know, had an office out of— his son came out and opened an office out at the Scottsdale Airpark. He had a couple planes. We'd fly up to Vegas and stuff. But we did on that side was a sell— was more of the sell side instead of the buy side. We worked—

now I work with the more of a business brokerage.

They're similar. We would work with, um, in consolidating industries. So that's back in the day, they had these things called oxygen concentrators. They still have them now, um, for people who, you know, were in their later stages of life and they needed the oxygen concentrator at home. And, um, these companies, Medicare was reimbursing them a high number for that. So what they would do is they would go out and we were buying oxygen concentrator companies because the company itself, the oxygen concentrator, you got, you pay X amount for once it's paid off. Then you're charging Medicare X amount of dollars every month for that as a cash cow. So we flip, we bought a bunch of those smaller companies, smaller deals, even like million dollar, $5 million deals, put those together to, and sell them to a larger entity that took those and capitalized on the Medicare thing. The Medicare thing went away, the reimbursement. So then we got out of that. So that's kind of how I started in the, in the world. From the sell side, and we'd go out and reach out to, you know, like reach out to you and say, hey, you know, we have some buyers who are moving aggressively in this industry. You know, we'd be open to, you know, taking a look at an offer for the business. We work on a, and at the time we would work on a non-exclusive contingency basis. At no cost to you. Now, if you do a deal with, you know, the people that we introduce you to, then we get paid, so.

But they also have the right to sell it to somebody else and you get nothing if, right?

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

And so it's interesting. It'd be like taking a listing in real estate and going, well, I might get paid if I can bring a buyer to this first. Yeah, right.

Yeah, that's exactly what it is.

So one of the things I'm hearing in the conversation is that you've evolved and transitioned to several different careers, but through relationships in your life. So were you nervous? Were things bad when it happened? Like when you talk about '09 transitioning?

Yeah.

Like, where were you at mentally? Like, what, what pulled you through those times? Because those were not easy times for a lot of us.

Yeah, you're right. I think a lot of that really comes down to just always knowing and having faith. And I've always had that. My mom gave me that, and it brings me to tears sometimes to talk about because, you know, it's important. You know, your parents teach you things and you don't realize what they are until later in life and you see them, you know, and you're like, wow, it's amazing. So I've always had faith that things will work out, you know, and as a man you should, you know, especially men, you know, I mean, we're the foundation of the relationship, you know, we are the mountain and the rock, you know, right. Things may be, may seem, you know, stormy, but the rock is always there, you know. So yeah, so I've always known that things always worked out for me. And so it's just a matter of having those relationships in place. And, you know, when you get older, you learn about why, you know, why, why did I meet Steve? You know, why?

Who knows?

You know, but there's something there, you know, and you can sense when you feel someone and have those relationships, you know, that there's something there. And then later on you figure out why.

So it's, it's interesting you say that, right? It's like, you know, talking about your mom, you know, same thing with my dad. We've had some of those conversations, right?

Yeah.

And you always realize things later. And I think sometimes in life depending on where we're at, right? My personal journey the last couple of years and different things, there's been a lot of realizations of things like that I was taught to do certain things, right?

Yeah.

But the big thing is realizing the seeds that we're sowing in people's lives now and where those go in a couple of years, right? So even sitting here at this table, right, it starts off like it met through a Facebook group. Right? And it weaved into the relationship that we wanted it to be. And it became friends and it became a relationship. Versus so many people, it's like, we want to sell somebody so fast, talk about the sales thing. Yeah, right. We want to sell somebody so fast because there's an income derivative.

Yeah.

And then once the sale is over, we try to go back and build a relationship so that we can hope to do more business with those people. But it's never truly like, I don't want to say never truly. But I think some people miss the point of how to build a genuine relationship after the process.

Yeah.

Rather than something that is just kind of like, I'm hoping to get more business out of you.

Right.

Right. But what you're saying, like, we both agree on is like, we're just planting seeds and you never know when that seed is going to sprout up and come back and produce a little bit of shade or some fruit or whatever that looks like. And I think it's so important that as we realize, like, some of the things I'm trying to teach my kids now is like, dude, the seed you planted with Gus today in the studio could be something that produces in 10 years.

Yeah.

And these guys are watching it because the people that my dad was friends with and invested with are all my clients, are all seeds that I planted years ago that now trust me to do these things. And now they're meeting him. So it's kind of a fascinating way of life when you look at that. But sometimes people just, it's hard for them to accept that that's part of the purpose and the plan.

Yeah.

Like, yeah, maybe I was supposed to meet you now, but I don't really want to know you till later. Right.

That's right, man. Right. Yeah. All right.

So in that world of your business, there's a longer runway, I would assume, of income, and it's probably big income in between. Right. So when we're talking about, you know, I have a lot of these conversations with my clients where it's like, hey, I have all this equity. How do I strategize to move things around and make sense? Yeah. So when I looked at just a couple of things, I think that there's a couple of different strategies that we kind of work through. That's kind of fun is looking at— so I think in months, we're a little less than 4 that we owe on it. Yeah, I think it's worth about 1.4.

Okay.

Okay. 1.3, 1.4 from what I can see. And then you go to the primary. I think you guys owed like 2.

Yeah, right. To something.

Right. So when I look at what's possible, if we— and I still have to work the numbers with Andrew, he's out of town this week. But I think what we do is establish primary residence because you can work from anywhere in Munds. Yep. Right. We refinance that as an owner occupant and we cash out as much as we can to the extent 80%.

Okay.

Right. Then we pay off the primary. Okay, so we have no mortgage there. But then we go in and we set up a HELOC for the value that's there. They give some ability for one, we don't have to use it unless we need it. Okay, but it does give you that free and clear asset with maybe a half million dollars of the leverage. So if there's some investments that we can do, because one of the reasons like taking this and figuring out, okay, now how do we build some structured, like, where do I put some money that's going to return and cover the payments so we can get in between? Does that sound like a plan? Yeah, because I think that if we do that, you're probably talking— what do you think income-wise you want monthly? Like, exclude if we take out new mortgage payments. I know you said you had some debt and some other things too that was like—

yeah, um, the bottom line would be $10,000.

$10,000 a month?

Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I think, um, yeah.

So we need to figure out how to create 10 grand worth of income on a monthly basis with the cash that we pull out over and above the expense of it.

Yeah. So I'm in the process right now too of taking on as, as we go, I'm creating some monthly income right now. Okay. So I'm hoping to be to that number already and then that will be the gravy on top of that. Okay. So that's really the goal is not to allow that be solely that.

Yeah.

That nut.

It's just an addition. Yeah. No, I mean, we want to grow it both ways.

Right now. Right now. You know, a lot of times we work on, so when we work for a private equity firm, we do work on a retainer.

Right.

Right. So we'll have that.

So you get some retainers.

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah. And then you get the big at the end, you know, once you close the deal, but you get some retainers.

Which is all great. And I want to see like, how do we find something that consistently is more of the consistency to where that's more of the bonus.

Yeah.

Right. So it's just kind of churning.

Yep.

Right. So I think that there's a possibility just to look at, because you'd end up with, let's call it an $800,000 mortgage at 5%, zero on the primary, the equity line can be utilized. So, you know, when I look at this, it's like taking things, um, when I sit down and we kind of have this moved around, like, hey, we have a half a million dollars that we can utilize. It's going to cost you 8% on the equity line. So that's a cost. But we can buy this house together and create a quick $50,000 of income that we split, right? Money, split it, right? It comes back in 60 days and they're like, cool, that's 2 and a half months, right? They don't always work out that way. But it's— if we know that's part of it, when something comes up, it's calling Gus, hey, we have this thing, we can partner on this.

Awesome.

Be done with it, put it back, it's going to cost you a little money. And we just keep moving that in order to try to create— so you said 10 grand a month. So my goal is to take the 8, right? And then move that so that we end up with basically $600 cash. And then you've got another $500,000 line. And then how do we create basically a 10% return annually on that and cover the expenses? Yep. Sound about right? Yep.

In all that confusion, you know, it takes me a while to learn it. I like when I typically meet someone, it takes me— I tell them right to their face, I'm gonna have to hear your name 8 times before I remember it. Now, it could be shorter than 8 times, but just so you know, I may ask you that a couple more times. So things like this, it takes me a little while, but I figure now is a— I'm just starting. Yeah. You know, I saw a thing the other day on the guy who, you know, interviews people, billionaires or whatever on— Yeah, right.

Yeah.

And he typed this lady, she's like the full hard knocks Forbes, Forbes lady. And she, and she's like, You know, I'm 66. He's asked her, is 60. She's like, you don't ask a lady your age, but he's, she's like, I'm 66 and I'm just starting. Well, guess what? I'm 64 and I'm just starting and I love it and I need to learn from you. And so this is a part that, you know, my dad, one of the things you could have about your dad, my dad was a doctor. He was a radiologist and he never taught me. He never taught me finance. So I relied on, you know, did he know, did he know finance? He was pretty good at it, but he, um, The problem was, is we had, there were 3 boys in the family and my mom was a softie and spoiled us. Okay. And so he kind of, kind of got put behind us. So we got a lot of things that we really probably shouldn't have. We could have invested them and put them somewhere else and kind of, you know, just at least the thought process behind it.

Right. Challenge. Right, right.

Exactly.

How have you challenged your kids on that?

You know, I really haven't so much, you know, I'm just kind of having them learn a little bit and mostly my wife Darcy is the one who's the more pragmatic one, if that's okay, right word. You know, the reasonable one.

Reasonable one.

Like, Dad, get it, whatever, you know, have a— my dad would say half a dozen. Half a dozen. Everything. You want these shoes? Half a dozen, go get them. Right there. All right, be crazy. Except back in the day, you know, we had that back in when I was growing up, we had a rift with kind of Japan or whatever. My dad, if you brought anything, bought anything was made in Japan, oh, he did not like that. You couldn't buy— you could buy anything you wanted, but it was made in Japan, not He's a loyal American. Yeah. Loyal American.

I think that that's, that's an interesting generational thing that we go through. And it's, um, our parents taught us to do things that we should remember. And they also taught us things not to do that we learn lessons from. Right. It's like looking at finances. That's always been my big thing. My dad taught me how not to do finances. Right, how to do things better. My dad taught me, I mean, even for him, he didn't clean up enough stuff in his career so that he could have been the investor. He was always selling the investments and constantly trying to sell to somebody. And that caused a lot of not reputation issues, but he was a salesman. So it was always like the next investment, this will be great for you, right? He always had something but he never stopped to go, if I'm going to sell it to that guy, why am I not buying it and making money? Yeah, I have the knowledge. Yeah, that's so he would always sell, but he would never stop and clean up for his own self. So I learned not to do that when he passed, which was like, wait, you made all these guys money with all your knowledge, but you don't own anything and follow it yourself. What's wrong with this? I am like, cool. I want everybody to own something, but I also should own some things too. And it also is— it creates a better experience, like for you.

Yeah.

Because I've moved so many different things around, I couldn't sit here and give you that advice if I didn't do all the things that I've done over the last couple of years.

Good point.

I'd be blowing smoke up your ass. Yeah, right. Going, hey, just leverage the shit out of your properties and let's go invest in some more stuff and you'll do great at 64.

That's right. Good luck.

Right. And I'm like, okay, we got to do this slow and we got to make sure that things work. For everybody so nobody gets overleveraged and nobody dies. Right. And those are some of the things that I think are so different that I've learned in these, you know, God, I've had my license since '99.

Wow.

So all the different markets, the interest rates, the ups, the downs, it's learning that, you know, the investment principles are true all the way through, no matter what market.

That makes sense.

Right. And if we look at the houses as an investment tool, with an emotional piece, not an emotional piece with a financial aspect to it, then it changes our perspective and how we're able to move things. And it's, you know, it's like even your situation, if we strategize to pull the debt equity, it's where do we make the debt equity work rather than just sit? Because if you look, you're like, okay, well, the last couple of years, the equity hasn't appreciated. It's going to cost us more to get it out. So how do we get it to work? Because if the house isn't working anymore, then it's just sitting there actually depreciating. Oh, great, my house is worth so much. But what does that really mean at the end of the day?

Yeah, right.

If you're stressed out and doing things. And so it's a, it's a fun puzzle piece to get into and kind of work through.

Yeah, I like how you do— you like that. So yeah, it's something that I haven't done and tackled, and that's something I want to learn.

So here's the other thing. You ready for the big idea? Yeah. You know what I think you should do at 64 years old?

What?

You should get your real estate license.

Okay. Yeah.

You know why I agree? Because I think that not one, I think that you would love and be fascinated to learn it.

Yeah.

Two, I think you're a great relational person. So if you think about the amount of people you know and you had a real estate license and we talk about like, hey, we want to create some other sources of income without having to take more shit on.

Yeah.

But I said, Gus, like, I want you to get a real estate license and if you know somebody up in Munds, would you refer them to me? And then you would get a referral fee. No, right, without having to do the work, right? So you have the real estate license and then use it to create reputation, conversations, all things, but you don't have to be the guy. Most people in conversation, I'm a realtor, I'll help you out, rather than going, no, but I know a guy, right? And creating income and impact. Because the other part is, it's really fascinating. We refer people to our friends. But then when we talk about, hey, is this referral the right person for that person, because one agent doesn't fit all.

Yeah, that's true.

Right. So it kind of gives you some help with your friends and going, hey, let me connect you with somebody that I really know and trust in that purpose. And I think that somebody like yourself in the connection world, and as much as Darcy's out and about and all the things, it's a connection piece that could increase another $50,000 to $100,000 income by just connecting the dots with people.

I love it. I love it. Yeah, send me the information on what I need to do. Where's the best place to get the license?

Done.

To get it.

I'm on. It's the same thing I'm trying to teach the younger kids. It's like, hey, I want you to have a real estate license for the purpose of connection and learning. If you want to do it, that's a different thing. But right now, it's where can you create a little income connecting the people, you know, like some of these kids at the bar, I'm like, how many people do you talk to? Go make connections, go connect them with somebody that can actually help them. You don't have to sell them on anything. Just connect the dots, do a group text. Okay, make it simple.

I'm down. There you go. I have been thinking about that and just thinking, why wouldn't I just have it? I think each family should at least have one. Why not?

You know what I mean? Why not?

So, yeah, because someone's going to— that family is going to buy a house sometime. And, you know, whether you go direct, it pays you off directly or indirectly, you get, you know, whatever.

Then in 3 years, I'll drive by Blackstone and go, yeah, whatever, Gus got your real estate license, got his own sign in the yard.

No, by then I would have referred like 20 people to you.

No, Gus, Gus would be on my team. Gus, hang out here in the office, man. Well, this has been fun.

Yeah, it's good. This is great.

What's, what's next? You said you're 64, not necessarily starting over, but you're just getting started.

Yeah.

So what are you excited most about right now? Even in a weird economy?

Grandkids making, you know, learning, learning stuff. You know, I, You know, I learned from everyone. I learned from a little kid. I, you know, I learned all the time and I want to learn from you and Christian will teach me some stuff and, you know, everyone will teach me things. So I just want to learn more things about life and be happy and make other people happy and keep smiling.

Yeah, we are so aligned. Just want to keep smiling. So on that note, we're going to get you, we're going to get you started on real estate.

Okay.

So tomorrow, I'll give you the link for it. So I've got a new call that I'm doing that I'm really excited about doing. I, I tried the coaching things and all the stuff.

Yeah.

And the journey I've been through is like, man, my legacy is I want to make sure that people really understand what's possible in the real estate business, no matter how you do it. And so I decided just to launch a once a week call. I don't care if you're real estate curious, you're a real estate agent, your consumer wanting to see things. It's $50 a month. It's one call a week where I'm just going to break down some of the strategies that I've done and open up my world to go, these are all the crazy shit that I've done in the last 27 years of my business. And here's the crazy shit we're still doing.

Yeah.

And just break things down to show people what's truly possible if they just understand how to connect the dots, what's possible in real estate. Because, man, it's like even listening to your stuff, I'm like, now I want to know more. Yeah, like, because all that is is vice versa. All that is is wholesaling on steroids, right? It's, it's businesses, bigger numbers. But I'm like, okay, cool. Who can I connect with? Gus? Who do I know in the business world? Who, who's looking for that type of thing? That's the fun part about just going through it. I'm really glad to know like a little bit more about what you do and where we get to go with that. And we're gonna make you into a realtard. I mean, a realtor. Dude, it's been fun. Actually have a gift for you. Hey, this is like my fun foundational gift. So, okay, there's a lot of reading, but you can open it up.

Oh, um, can we open it?

Yeah.

Oh yeah, The Four Agreements. I have actually read this. I bet you have.

You strike me as a guy when your hair was longer that you definitely read it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Vivid Vision. Interesting.

So Vivid Vision is really good, like where you're at right now in the learning. Yeah, Vivid Vision was something that I read 4 months after rehab that I needed, I needed a new— the two words, I needed a vivid vision for my future without alcohol. And so that book has just stuck with me. I give it to everybody. I tell everyone, like, if you're stuck, start here. You need a vision.

Okay. Yeah, vision is the key. You gotta have alignment of vision, right? That's why I always tell my people too. Yeah, let's have a meeting. Yep. If there's an alignment of vision, then we can move forward. If there's not alignment of vision, then we just be friends. Yep. Atomic Habits. James Clear. You read that one? No, I have not heard of this one.

Habit Stacking.

Really? Yep. Okay. I like it. Um, the one I'm reading right now is, um, The Only Way to Win by Jim Lauer.

Okay.

And it was recommended by, uh, Novak Djokovic. Okay. If you know him, he's the, the GOAT of tennis. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Maxwell Leadership Bible. Interesting. John Maxwell.

John Maxwell is one of my favorite authors, but contextually, Bible-believing or not, it just contextualizes leadership out of the stories of the Bible. So it's a lot of just cool stories. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just thumb through it and John Maxwell puts a spin on different Bible stories that pulls out leadership and different things. So that's been fun. And then, uh, you got a couple of Liquid Deaths because everybody should know about Liquid Death.

I've never had that.

Oh. Make you a fan out of those.

Stoked. Gumby. Everybody loves Gumby.

Gumby's just a reminder to be flexible as you start to change.

Okay. Yep. Yep. Flexibility is the key. You know, my philosophy in life actually stemmed— it's very Taoist— stemmed because one of my heroes was Bruce Lee. If you know Bruce Lee. Be water, my friend, because you can pour water into a cup, it becomes a cup. You can, you know, you can— water can crash, it can flow. It can, it always finds a way. It always finds a way. It's kind of like sales. You can, if you think yourself as selling like water, you always find a way. If you put it into a container here, it can evaporate even and come back. Sometimes it can, it can corrode the metal if it's that, and it'll get through, you know, but it always is persistent. There's always water and it always continues to—

Fascinating.

So very flexible, very flexible. Yeah. And then You gotta have this, man. Gotta have it, man. Gotta have it because you gotta be able to say it. Yep. Much as you want to say it. Don't be afraid to say it. Just meant to be.

And then some mala beads.

Oh, oh yeah. I love mala beads. Let me see that.

How do you open it?

This is so cool. I'm so stoked. Yeah. Thanks, man.

I know, right?

Come on.

You get the gift, gift of whatever guest is in there.

I love them. Thank you.

You ever heard the story behind the mala beads?

No.

So what I was taught about the mala beads is it's 108 beads and it starts with a tassel. And it was something that I learned in rehab. That's 108 I am affirmations. Oh, so you spin it around your left hand between your finger and your thumb. Your left hand is for receiving.

Okay.

And you spin it around 108 times. So when you get to the tassel, you've confirmed with yourself, I am blessed. I am a great father. Right. And so it was something that I've habitually done since rehab, which is you walk around in the grass, your bare feet, and my mala beads are always on my wrist so that I have a reason to either be grateful or create the, the I am confirmation.

What a great gift, man. Thank you. Thank you so much.

I love it.

I love it. I can't wait.

Don't drink too much of that Liquid Death, put you over the edge.

No, I'll turn it into Liquid Life. There you go. That's what it is.

There you go, man. This has been fun. Thank you so much.

Thank you. All right. Time.

We got money to earn, impact to have, and some fun to have.

And some learning. Yeah.

Pickleball this summer.

Pickleball.

Pickleball this summer.

Rush it.

That was an amazing episode with Gus. So a couple of things I want to remind you of is, one, if you're looking for a real estate curious real estate agent, dive into Course Correction. We are here every Wednesday just sharing my heart, opening you up to my world and how we do it with people like Gus. And two, if you're looking for a real estate strategy, you're unsure of where you're going, dive into the rig. Let's create a strategy for you and let's keep you moving in the direction you want to go.