Latest / REL Freedom Podcast / Leo Young - Tesla Sales Star to Mobile Home Park Owner

Transcript

Leo Young - Tesla Sales Star to Mobile Home Park Owner · REL Freedom Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: The thing that a lot of people underestimate when they're starting something is how many repetitions it takes to get results.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I remember like, you know, it's the same thing as muscles, right?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: You have to build up your action-taking muscle, your underwriting muscle is the same thing as your physical muscle.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I remember when I first went to the gym, like, you know, in in high school, I was here to lifting weights and stuff.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: I thought I was gonna get ripped into summer, but no.
• 0:23
  Mike Swenson: Welcome to the Real Freedom Show.
• 0:25
  Mike Swenson: We inspire you to pursue your passion to gain time and financial freedom through opportunities and real estate.
• 0:30
  Mike Swenson: I'm your host, Mike Swenson.
• 0:32
  Mike Swenson: Let's get some real freedom together.
• 0:41
  Mike Swenson: Hello, everybody.
• 0:42
  Mike Swenson: Welcome to another episode of Real Freedom, where we talk about different ways that people are building time and financial freedom through opportunities and real estate.
• 0:50
  Mike Swenson: I'm your host, Mike Swenson.
• 0:52
  Mike Swenson: If you want to get started on your real estate investing journey, check out our website freedom through realestate.com.
• 0:58
  Mike Swenson: It's where we put all of our content materials episodes for you to be able to watch.
• 1:03
  Mike Swenson: Hopefully, there's a great story for you to connect with and get started on your journey.
• 1:07
  Mike Swenson: So today, super excited.
• 1:08
  Mike Swenson: We're gonna talk a little bit more about mobile home park investing.
• 1:11
  Mike Swenson: And excited to have Leo Young here.
• 1:13
  Mike Swenson: He is the founder and managing partner of Cornell Communities, where he's led over$75 million in real estate transactions, operated 500 units, former salesperson at Tesla.
• 1:24
  Mike Swenson: So excited to hear kind of how that transition happened.
• 1:26
  Mike Swenson: And two, would love to dive in more into this, talking about being a first generation immigrant, kind of growing up around financial scarcity, the culture, and talking about that and and taking on risks like real estate, because I knew I was raised as a W-2 safe, stable type mindset, and uh have certainly adapted in a different way.
• 1:44
  Mike Swenson: But uh Leo, super excited to have you on the show.
• 1:46
  Mike Swenson: Welcome.
• 1:46
  Mike Swenson: Thanks for having me on, Mike.
• 1:48
  Mike Swenson: Very excited to be here.
• 1:49
  Mike Swenson: Just give us a little bit of a background, those beginnings, and then talk a little bit about just kind of your journey into real estate and kind of how that started for you.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: For me, I I really so I studied finance in college.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: I really loved investments because, you know, me as a person, I'm a philosopher, and I love to always ask the why, why, why like why is this thing the way that it is?
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: And naturally I gravitated towards investments because I mean, investments is kind of just like you're you're betting on the future.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, okay, well, I think Tesla stock's gonna go up.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: Let me buy it, right?
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I I like finance for that reason.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: And after college, well, I actually during during college, I had this moment at an internship where I was sitting in a cubicle.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, do I want to be doing this for 40 years of my life from here?
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like, is this it?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: And and the answer was no.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I I took a hard pivot.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: I went into sales at Tesla.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, Tesla was my dream company.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: I would do anything for them.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I decided to go into sales to actively face my fears of public speaking, of communicating, and expressing myself, and you know, got better at doing that and like learning how to articulate my thoughts.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: So that was such an invaluable experience.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I joined at a really um pivotal time of the company's history, you know, they were almost going bankrupt, um, trying to put out the mass market car.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: And everyone was getting worked on both ends of the candle.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, A, it was like such a phenomenal working culture to be with.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's like a whole group of A players working their best, they're all like united under one mission, but also like you you would get burnt out easily.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's like, hey, give 120% every single day and give give more and like keep on giving, keep on giving.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, I can't do that, man.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that led me to look into um a way to generate cash um or like cash flow without me needing to clock in and clock out.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I was doing research at the time, just like looking up all the YouTube videos, blogs, and stuff.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Eventually, I mean, real estate was kind of a no-brainer because I'm like, well, rich people have real estate, right?
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: They they always say buy real estate and wait.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what I looked into.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: Then I found passive investing.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: I looked into it.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: I invested into uh some apartment buildings as a limited partner and you know, started learning that way.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, once I got my distribution checks, I was like, this is pretty sweet because I don't have to do anything for it.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's just like this this whole like professional team, like they're doing their thing, they're making money for me.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: I have leverage on them, which is great.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I got my real estate license afterwards uh because I wanted to learn and earn.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: I really wanted to immerse myself in real estate, become competent and valuable in the marketplace.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I did that, you know, did a whole bunch of transactions across like residential, commercial real estate, um, and then worked for a fund on their acquisitions team, just understanding like how you know the institutions look at these um acquisitions.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then started uh Cornell Communities after a mutual friend kind of just sat me down.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: He walked me through the business plan.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought it made a lot of sense because, you know, mobile home parks, uh syndicating, you know, as like a kind of like a private equity model, it made a lot of sense because A, yes, there's money to be earned because like there's if it don't make dollars, it don't make sense, right?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like we we can all sit here and argue that, you know, we're we're feeling good and doing good stuff, but like if it don't make dollars, it don't make sense.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: So that was covered.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, B, that we're putting out a good service to the economy, that we're providing affordable housing to people.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: And and C, we're we're giving opportunities to tap into the private market that people wouldn't otherwise have.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because I I wanted to invest into mobile home parks.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: I couldn't find reputable people, I couldn't find someone that I could get behind.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: So that that's why we started it here.
• 5:44
  Mike Swenson: It's interesting to hear.
• 5:45
  Mike Swenson: Like, I just love everybody's journey and and kind of why they made that mindset shift or how that got started for people.
• 5:52
  Mike Swenson: And then at some point, yeah, you've you've got to jump in, you got your feet wet a little bit, which is great.
• 5:56
  Mike Swenson: Talk a little bit about your first deal, right?
• 5:59
  Mike Swenson: Or maybe your one of your first early deals, because I know it's it's tough because you've got this part of, you know, I I like to read articles, listen to podcasts, you know, take in the theory of everything.
• 6:10
  Mike Swenson: And then there's that point where I've got to take the leap and I've got to dive in and actually take action on it.
• 6:14
  Mike Swenson: And so would love to kind of hear your take on that of you know, one of those early moments for you where it's like, well, I'm going, I'm going in here, right?
• 6:22
  Mike Swenson: Like I've got to make that dive in.
• 6:23
  Mike Swenson: And and obviously you had the balance of the LP side where you could kind of see it from the sidelines versus being in it.
• 6:29
  Mike Swenson: Um, but would love to just kind of hear maybe some of your experience there.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, when when I first started investing, um I mean, it it wasn't an easy step.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like it was a lot of money at the time.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, for me, I did do a lot of research, but I think the benefit of me being in sales is that it kind of taught me to be an action taker.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, look, theory, theory creates professors, action creates millionaires.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, all right, I'm like, all right, let's just do it.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Let's take action before you're ready.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I I kind of just did it.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and fortunately, you know, because I was a limited partner, like I had a general partner who's actually running the whole thing.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's not like I just went up and out there, like got a loan to buy like a five unit, didn't know what I was doing.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I wanted to learn that way with kind of like minimal um operational obligation, because that that's super important.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, as you and I know, like the operations is what makes or breaks a business plan in real estate.
• 7:28
  Mike Swenson: You gotta figure it out.
• 7:29
  Mike Swenson: And I always, you know, use the example of like if you want to be good at a problem solving, you have to have problems to solve.
• 7:35
  Mike Swenson: Otherwise, like you can't get good at problem solving if everything just goes well and is simple.
• 7:40
  Mike Swenson: So you've got to flex that muscle a little bit and get into it.
• 7:43
  Mike Swenson: Okay, so so mobile home parks for you, you kind of decided that was gonna be the the path.
• 7:48
  Mike Swenson: So, in terms of you know, finding these deals or networking or kind of getting the pipeline started, how did you get started there?
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't easy to to find deals.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I mean, mobile home parks as an asset class is notoriously hard to get good data on, first off.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, because the the data aggregators out there, they can structure for like multifamily industrial retail and stuff.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: They usually don't have a separate designation for mobile home parks.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: And even if they do, the data is usually out of date because like they don't have, you know, the the people in Coast are kind of like co-calling owners being like, hey, you know, what did you sell for whatever?
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: So that's that's one challenge.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: I think um building up the data over time, refining it um is one thing that took some time.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we're we're still getting better every day.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then also the the second part is just networking in the industry.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think telling people what you do.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: And you want ideally people to think like, oh, Leo, okay, Leo does mobile home parks.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Let me reach out to him.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: And like that kind of mind saturation takes some time to come into play.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, telling a lot of brokers, telling a lot of other investors that you network with what you do, what you're looking for before deals start coming your way.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: But to wrap it up, I think it's important to take action before the perfect conditions are met.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, during that time, before like good deals were sent our way, like we we just underwrite, we kind of know what's out there, you know, how people look at things.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, never never be shy about throwing out an offer.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like people will laugh at you sometimes, which is fine.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're we're throwing out offers like 30% below their asking price, and whatever.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there there's no um no big repercussion that we thought of at the time.
• 9:31
  Mike Swenson: Yeah, I think the the underwriting piece is is really big because what I tell people is you you don't know what a good deal looks like until you maybe run across one.
• 9:41
  Mike Swenson: And that was the thing for us is we were looking at small multifamily, um, which grew into a little bit larger multifamily, and then we run across this 25-unit apartment building that we're like, oh, this looks a lot better than anything that we've seen before, at least on paper.
• 9:56
  Mike Swenson: And so what do we do?
• 9:57
  Mike Swenson: You know, and then that was kind of the moment for us where we decided to get into the apartment side.
• 10:02
  Mike Swenson: But it's tough to tell people, like, yeah, you've got to get comfortable at this because they're like, Well, what number do I put in here?
• 10:07
  Mike Swenson: How do I figure this?
• 10:08
  Mike Swenson: Like, you learn by doing, and once you've analyzed dozens and dozens or hundreds or thousands of deals, then you see, oh, this one separates itself a little bit, or hey, this has got an interesting opportunity that some of the other properties didn't have, whatever that might be, but you're gonna get better through doing it.
• 10:26
  Mike Swenson: And so to tell somebody you just got to do this and you don't know where the path is gonna lead, but it's gonna lead to you getting better and sharper at your craft.
• 10:33
  Mike Swenson: Um, it's a lot of people that's where you lose them because they get bored and they're like, oh, wait a second, I couldn't find anything in the first week.
• 10:39
  Mike Swenson: Uh, this is too much for me, and I'm gonna move on to something else.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: I I think the the thing that a lot of people underestimate when they're starting something is how many repetitions it takes to get results.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I remember like, you know, it's the same thing as muscles, right?
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: You have to build up your action-taking muscle, your underwriting muscle is the same thing as your physical muscle.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I remember when I first went to the gym, like, you know, in in high school, I was here to lifting weights and stuff.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: I thought I was gonna get ripped into summer, but no.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's now like, you know, 10, 15 years later, I'm still kind of like, I don't know, I'm not like Arnold or something.
• 11:14
  Mike Swenson: Yeah, you you definitely have to flex the muscle.
• 11:17
  Mike Swenson: Talk talk to I'm I'm curious to hear because you guys have properties in other states.
• 11:21
  Mike Swenson: Yeah.
• 11:21
  Mike Swenson: And so you live in New York City, in many ways, kind of one of the central parts of the United States, right?
• 11:27
  Mike Swenson: I live in the middle of nowhere where people are like, it's flyover country, right?
• 11:30
  Mike Swenson: So you're investing in places that you're maybe not as familiar with.
• 11:35
  Mike Swenson: So talk a little bit about, you know, hey, you run across something in a different state.
• 11:39
  Mike Swenson: Jeez, I have no idea where that is.
• 11:41
  Mike Swenson: How do I know if it's a good deal?
• 11:42
  Mike Swenson: How do I know if this strategy is gonna work in a place you've never seen or never been, to then feel comfortable with, yeah, we're gonna move forward on this.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: As operators ourselves, you know, because we we operate the the properties, there's two kind of really uh common playbooks.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, one is to get to know the market very well, you know, people like you, you know, you you kind of invest in Minnesota because you're like to my backyard.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: I know the the sub pockets, I know which ones are good, which ones are not.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: Versus for us, we we want to get the competence around the asset class and how to operate that.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, we don't necessarily um invest in our backyard, so to speak.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't think it makes sense to invest in our backyard.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but so we we are in very different states and like there's a process, you know, you have to understand the terrain that you're in.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, yes, it is more upfront work to figure out the regulations, you know, what people are saying, um, you know, what each market is like.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: So we kind of just do the the due diligence up front.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: That and that's also why we're generally um it if we were to enter in a new market for a deal, it would have to pass a higher hurdle than if there's one that we're already in.
• 12:50
  Mike Swenson: That makes a lot of sense.
• 12:51
  Mike Swenson: Talk about uh mobile home parks as as being a limited asset, right?
• 12:56
  Mike Swenson: People that love mobile home parks love mobile home parks because there's not any more being built.
• 13:01
  Mike Swenson: And so, in in terms of you know being able to have an asset that the demand's gonna continue to rise, because we know affordable housing is a huge problem that's gonna continue to grow, and yet you're kind of competing over the same batch of of supply here and and stock.
• 13:16
  Mike Swenson: What thoughts do you have as you guys continue to grow in terms of finding those deals, finding those efficiencies that you can continue to get good deals?
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that this is such a timely question because um, you know, in the past few weeks, I've been talking to a lot of different operators, uh, you know, some in at the institutional level, just to kind of see like what their investment thesis is, what their outlook is on the mobile home park market.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: And yes, I mean the the core is that the supply is very much so constrained because the municipalities, they're not really approving a lot more of these projects because I mean, it is more of a strain on a city's budget than it is a net positive, because it just costs too much to service it between like school, police, firework, like EM EMS or like what whatever systems compared to the tax revenue that they bring in.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: So they generally don't like these.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, hey, if we're able to offer housing at a a fraction of what it costs for like a single family in in the same municipality or same same city, like people like it.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, people once they come, they don't leave.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not like the vacancies go up and down.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of the the core thesis.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, now with like where things are in the current market, we're seeing a lot more um a like rent control bills passing is just like people are um like politicians, you know, they they want to serve their their people right, you know, they want to pass and like limit the upside.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the and and that this is just my my own perspective, and it could change, but like when you limit the free flowing of the economy, it it usually leads to more inefficiencies.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, part of that is like, hey, then you know, this incentivizes people to um operate their businesses differently.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe these properties don't sell.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Because there's one big enemy to mobile home parks is the deferred maintenance.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, these properties, like they're not approving anymore, these are grandfathered in, these are 50, 70 years old.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: So the infrastructure is really bad.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you need to budget a huge amount of money to replace it.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: And like if people aren't coming in with like fresh money, a good business plan to do that, then it just falls apart.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: It gets dilapidated and then you know it gets condemned.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: And like there are properties that get redeveloped into like shopping centers, apartment buildings.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Cities are happy with it because that 10x is their their tax revenue overnight.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: But um, you know, the the residents aren't because they're being uh displaced.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: So um that's kind of the nuances of it.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, generally though, like a lot of the institutions, they're they're still excited about the space because it's stable long-term cash flow.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's very recession resistant.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because, you know, like if the economy's good or bad, like people want cheap rent.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: So they're they're gonna stay.
• 16:00
  Mike Swenson: And you do have lots of different levers that you can pull within a community in terms of updates to the the facilities themselves, being able to rent out spaces or to lease units on the space or on the pads.
• 16:12
  Mike Swenson: So there's other kind of things that you guys can do to continue to drive revenue and drive profit on an existing community, right?
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's a lot of different ways to go about it.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: I think that the cleanest NOI is lot rent.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, the the model behind a lot of the institutional players, behind it, like the private equity model for mobile phone parks is like you want to be just the land operator.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you you maintain the land and everything else above it like is taken care of.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: So, yes, there are auxiliary ways.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like you can you could build back for internet, you can like get some like bulk discount or something, but um the NOY it it's it's valued differently.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and like banks don't lend on it, so it gets a little bit more nuanced.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, to to investors, it doesn't really mean much, especially if you're just buying your own mobile home park.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, hey, cash is cash, right?
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: You're you're not like answering to investors and stuff, so it doesn't really matter.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: So it depends on who you are.
• 17:08
  Mike Swenson: Now take us back a little bit because I do want to touch on your roots.
• 17:12
  Mike Swenson: You mentioned, you know, being first generation immigrant coming here, kind of touched on, you know, your past and sales.
• 17:17
  Mike Swenson: But for people out there that kind of have this idea of good, solid, safe, stable job versus taking risks, being an entrepreneur, that sort of thing, talk about that mindset for you as you were growing and developing and then shifting into where you're at today.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I I grew up in Asia, um Hong Kong specifically, and you know, the the mindset in Asia is very different than than America.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you know, I I was I was raised, you know, kind of frugal and like had this limited mindset, you know.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I didn't think, at least the people around me, they they kind of just found their spot within the big machine and then they they just settle into it.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um I always had that innate desire to go for better.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I feel like America or like the the United States has really empowered me to do that.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think the the spirit of America, the American Dream, is very much so alive because the economic mobility is there so long as you yes, hard work is the ticket to entry, but it doesn't determine what you win.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's like how smart you are, how persistent, how you adapt, how you seize opportunities and put yourself out there, et cetera.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of this stuff, like none of this was given to me.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: I I wasn't given any playbooks coming here, like I didn't have an older sibling or like any mentors who really took an interest in my success.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of this was just through like many, many nights of like thinking to myself, okay, like how can I get better?
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what can I do?
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: And just like constantly like journaling and like figuring this stuff out.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean, it really is like step by step.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like my personal development journey was like 15 plus years.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, I I think to the the people listening, it is just like just no, it doesn't take overnight.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: It literally can take 10 years of like no results.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: But once you hit it, like you will you'll never go hungry.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, once you develop yourself, your mindset on the right way, and you and you learn the money game because like that, that's just the economy, right?
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: You just learn how to make money here, learn how to keep it, and you'll be good.
• 19:23
  Mike Swenson: I have to laugh because I uh so I was an entrepreneurship major in college and had zero desire to start my own business afterwards because kind of what I talked about, right?
• 19:32
  Mike Swenson: I grew up W-2, safe, stable, all that.
• 19:34
  Mike Swenson: And then I realized as I was in the middle of college that nobody's gonna hire an entrepreneurship major because this is 20 years ago, so it's a lot less cool than it is now.
• 19:43
  Mike Swenson: And and I just viewed it as more of like a general business education, but I ended up then having a uh adding finance as a major because I was like, oh, well, I can get a job in finance and then eventually sometime down the road, you know, do do something on my own.
• 19:56
  Mike Swenson: And it took 20 years before I finally quit my W-2 job and and started in full time for myself.
• 20:03
  Mike Swenson: And and uh it's so incredibly hard, you know, there's there's not an easy path to do it, and yet I look back and it's like, man, why wouldn't why didn't I start sooner?
• 20:13
  Mike Swenson: And so you see all this opportunity out there.
• 20:15
  Mike Swenson: But kind of going back to your point is the folks that I've had on the podcast, they're either like first generation or second generation immigrants.
• 20:24
  Mike Swenson: I feel like you see the American dream for what it can be, right?
• 20:27
  Mike Swenson: In a lot of ways, of like somebody who who grew up here, it's like you don't necessarily see all the opportunity in those same ways because we were raised by our parents, raised with those beliefs that our parents had.
• 20:38
  Mike Swenson: And so, in some ways, like I didn't really look out elsewhere because I was like, Oh, there's lots of good jobs, I can get a good job.
• 20:44
  Mike Swenson: And you know, I feel like somebody in your shoes, it's like, dang, I'm coming to America.
• 20:48
  Mike Swenson: There's a lot of cool things that I can do that, you know, there's there's this land of opportunity, and I'm gonna do everything that I can to grab a hold of it.
• 20:55
  Mike Swenson: And somebody like me is just sitting there, like, oh, I'm just waiting for a good job.
• 20:58
  Mike Swenson: And then it's like, wait a second, I see how that didn't work out in the end for my parents, so I better do something different.
• 21:04
  Mike Swenson: And that's kind of how I changed my path.
• 21:06
  Mike Swenson: But uh, yeah, you you don't realize how much that upbringing shaped kind of your your initial thoughts, and I had to reprogram myself to think differently.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I I wish like we we all got handed a a playbook of like how to how to win in life and like how to get the the rewards and results that we want.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: But no, I mean a lot of this is just built on yourself.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: So like you have to have that internal motivation.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I mean, you're you're absolutely right.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like coming from a different perspective, like your your life is how you perceive it.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I I I've seen like a lot of people, like they come here, you know, they're like immigrants like me.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, look, man, I I don't speak English as good as you.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm truly blessed that like I can speak without an accent like this.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: But like some other people have more accents, they they don't feel like they're marketable.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: So they're like, okay, man, this is my place in society.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I I'm just gonna serve food and like open up a little restaurant or something.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: But like, you know.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: The beauty of America is that like you can really do anything that you want to.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, for me, I learned early on, well, eventually, I I learned eventually that I'm like unemployable.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: I I just I don't do well in like a work environment as an employee under someone.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, okay, well, how do I do it?
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: Because like bills still have to get paid.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: So you learn to be valuable in the marketplace.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: And the marketplace is very fair.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: Money is blind.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: They don't care if you're black, white, whatever.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like they just care if you bring value.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: And like if your value that you bring is more than the is worth more than the dollar in their hands, they will give that to you and they'll be happy.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: So that's you know what took me a long time to develop.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I mean, entrepreneurship, it's not for the faint of heart.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: It takes a long time and uh the the price of success is is paid in full up front.
• 22:52
  Mike Swenson: Are you looking to get started or scale in real estate investing but don't know your next step?
• 22:57
  Mike Swenson: Are you overwhelmed thinking about finding deals, analyzing deals, doing due diligence, and managing properties on top of it?
• 23:03
  Mike Swenson: Go ahead and push the easy button and invest with us.
• 23:07
  Mike Swenson: Real estate investing is what we do full time.
• 23:09
  Mike Swenson: We've done dozens of deals with hundreds of doors.
• 23:11
  Mike Swenson: We have the knowledge and experience to handpick the best deals that most investors can't find.
• 23:16
  Mike Swenson: We've at large off-market deals all the time where you can hopefully find returns and economies of scale that you just can't find on your own.
• 23:23
  Mike Swenson: The best thing is it's 100% passive to you for less capital than you put down trying to acquire a property on your own.
• 23:30
  Mike Swenson: Don't let this year go by where you don't make the leap, add to your portfolio, or you just did an analysis by paralysis.
• 23:37
  Mike Swenson: To find out more, visit freedomthroughrealestate.com and click on invest.
• 23:41
  Mike Swenson: You can book a call and learn more there.
• 23:43
  Mike Swenson: So get to scaling your portfolio now with us by your side.
• 23:47
  Mike Swenson: That's freedomthroughrealestate.com and click on invest.
• 23:50
  Mike Swenson: Talk a little bit about Cornell Communities, how that got started, and how you found the relationships that you did or the other people that you did that are all kind of working together.
• 24:00
  Mike Swenson: Because that's the other cool thing that I love about real estate and kind of real estate syndication is it's just you know, people on different paths, and you kind of like, hey, this looks good, let's do this deal together, or let's partner up for a couple of deals together, or hey, this didn't work out, we'll find some new partners.
• 24:13
  Mike Swenson: So there's a little bit of like shifting and shaking that happens um on the syndication side.
• 24:18
  Mike Swenson: But talk a little bit kind of how you guys were able to, you know, find some folks and and decide to work together.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and um that's the beauty of you know real estate and syndication and like the real estate section of private equity.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's like you're you're doing deals, and it's not necessarily that you have to pick the the kind of overarching partners from the get-go.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's like you could do a couple deals, like it might work well, it might not.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: You you kind of, I mean, look, leading up to closing, everyone's on their best behavior, they're telling you what you want to hear, but then afterwards, like, hey man, like when when things don't go according to plan, when you have to like roll up your sleeves and like really like bust your tail to like bring the the property back around, like who's there, who's not?
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: So you you learn these things, and um you know, having the kind of system give you an out that's super valuable.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if you look at the the people who run like venture-backed startups, like they're stuck with those guys.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: There is no like deal-by-deal basis.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, I mean, for me, like how I was able to expand the network, it was it was through putting myself out there and you know, being being introverted myself, like I I'm not much of a networker.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: I've learned how to socialize through kind of forcing myself to learn skills, uh sales skills at Tesla.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, I mean, look, I'm naturally introverted, so I choose to post on social media, which is great.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, hey, I I just post about what I'm doing.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: People get to know me.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'll go to conferences and people are like, oh my God, I see your stuff all the time on LinkedIn.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, that, yeah, that's me.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not as impressive as you think I am.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, I think putting yourself out there, being that one person that comes to mind when they're thinking, like, oh, mobile home parks, I gotta call Leo Young.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's like what it's gotta take.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just gotta take repetition.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: You have to like beat your own drum and like the number of times that you tell your story, I mean, never get tired of it yourself because then you'll deliver it differently.
• 26:14
  Mike Swenson: Yeah, it's interesting to hear you talk about uh, you know, being an introvert because I am as well.
• 26:19
  Mike Swenson: And when I talk to people, they're like, Oh, I would have never thought you had been introverted.
• 26:22
  Mike Swenson: And I remember when I first got into real estate, we took a disc profile, and I feel like I almost had to apologize for my incredibly low eye because it was like uh 20 or something like that um out of a hundred.
• 26:35
  Mike Swenson: And I'm like, hey, I just want to let you know that doesn't mean I don't like people, it just means I don't draw energy from people.
• 26:41
  Mike Swenson: Like, you know, after a long conversation with somebody or long phone call, like I'll go walk around outside or you know, go take five minutes to reset because it's draining.
• 26:51
  Mike Swenson: That doesn't mean I don't like people, it just means I draw energy from being by myself more than being with a bunch of people.
• 26:57
  Mike Swenson: And so um that part is challenging.
• 26:59
  Mike Swenson: But yeah, great to hear your story of you know, posting on social media and and doing those videos.
• 27:03
  Mike Swenson: And you find a lot of people out there are introverted in the same way.
• 27:06
  Mike Swenson: That's just how they're they're putting themselves out there.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I will add one thing that um, you know, there is no one size fits all answer.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: I think, you know, what you should do is what comes naturally to you the most.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: Because, you know, for me, like posting on social media, that's fine.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like I love marketing, I love content, I love putting value out there because that that's what comes naturally to me.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: So then I pick a partner who's the exact opposite.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: He hates social media, he doesn't know how to do any of this, but he's a killer on the phone.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: He could develop rapport with sellers like no other.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, he's able to build his portfolio largely on seller finance deals because he's just able to like negotiate these crazy deals with them.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, find people that complement your skill set and figure out a way to make the the pie bigger together.
• 27:52
  Mike Swenson: That's great.
• 27:53
  Mike Swenson: So talk a little bit about your future then.
• 27:54
  Mike Swenson: Um, as you've, you know, in the past now put together a bunch of deals, built a nice little portfolio.
• 28:00
  Mike Swenson: Where are you guys uh continuing to expand or what are you guys thinking about as you grow?
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I think right now we're at the stage where we kind of prove the product market fit that like we can we can run with this asset class, we can deliver results consistently, and our our investors are happy because like we're ahead of our business plan for a lot of it.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, what's really next for us?
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, ultimately we want to be able to provide 10,000 units of affordable housing to families.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's kind of our our stretch goal.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, to get there, like who must you become?
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's like what I ask myself all the time.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's like leveling up yourself, not just buying more properties, but like, hey, like learning how to do HR, learning this, learning that, become a better, well-rounded leader for your team.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you know, we're hiring people that way we can bring more properties on and service them better and deliver results and like provide affordable housing.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it kind of uh spins up from there.
• 28:53
  Mike Swenson: Awesome.
• 28:54
  Mike Swenson: Well, Leo, thank you so much for coming on and uh, you know, sharing your background, your story.
• 28:58
  Mike Swenson: For people that want to reach out to you and learn more about what you're doing, how can they do that?
• 29:02
  Mike Swenson: Sure.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: And and thanks for having me on, Mike.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so two ways if you want to reach out.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, a, you know, if you want to learn more about mobile home parks, our company, and how you can potentially invest with us, you can go to Cornell Communities.com.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's C-O-R-N-E-L-L, C O M M-U-N-I-T-I-E-S dot com.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: Or if you have general questions, I'm happy to be a resource where I can.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: You can find me on LinkedIn at LeoYoung, so it's L-E-O-Y-O-U-N-G, or Instagram at LeoYoung Real Estate.
• 29:29
  Mike Swenson: Awesome.
• 29:30
  Mike Swenson: Well, thank you so much for coming on and sharing.
• 29:32
  Mike Swenson: Excited to hear about your journey and best of luck to you as you continue to grow in the future.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: And and one last word to the listener.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: I would say, yes, it takes it's easy to listen, but it's hard to take action.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: If you can just do one thing today from what you learned here, your future self will thank you.
• 29:50
  Mike Swenson: Podcasts are great, but at the same time, we look we love putting out great content, but you gotta take action on it.
• 29:56
  Mike Swenson: Yeah, absolutely.
• 29:57
  Mike Swenson: Awesome.
• 29:57
  Mike Swenson: Well, thank you, Leo.
• 29:58
  Mike Swenson: Appreciate it.