Latest / Real Estate Investing with RealDealCrew / How Investors Qualify for Loans Without Tax Returns w/ Dante Royster

Transcript

How Investors Qualify for Loans Without Tax Returns w/ Dante Royster · Real Estate Investing with RealDealCrew

• 0:00
  Most real estate investors will tell you they know what they're doing.
• 0:03
  According to today's guest, that's usually a lie.
• 0:07
  They're not working off a strategy.
• 0:09
  They're working off luck, and they can't tell the difference.
• 0:13
  In this episode, you'll learn how lenders are now qualifying investors
• 0:18
  off rental income alone with no tax returns and no pay stubs required.
• 0:23
  what actually shifted
• 0:25
  In the lending world after the rates doubled in late 2022,
• 0:29
  and the one question every investor should be able to answer before they make
• 0:34
  an offer. Dante Royster has spent over 20 years in mortgage lending,
• 0:40
  and the last several years focused specifically on investor financing.
• 0:45
  And he's also the author of the Ultimate Mortgage Guide.
• 0:49
  If you want to build systems into your investing business,
• 0:53
  Head over to real deal crew dot com.
• 0:56
  Let's get started.
• 1:01
  Dante Royster joins me here today.
• 1:03
  I'm gonna point you to his YouTube channel.
• 1:05
  Head over and look for Epic Spotlight.
• 1:08
  that's gonna be the what you're looking for on YouTube.
• 1:11
  But also the book Ultimate Mortgage Guide.
• 1:15
  I'm gonna have that as a clickable link in the show notes.
• 1:17
  I'm guessing you can find that book on Amazon,
• 1:19
  Dante.
• 1:21
  Yes. Yeah, you can find it on Amazon.
• 1:23
  Yeah, I I always am always curious,
• 1:26
  like writing a book seems to be one of the most daunting and torturous things that
• 1:32
  I could possibly consider doing myself.
• 1:34
  What caused you to try decide to try to do that?
• 1:38
  You know, actually my my grandmother wrote a book,
• 1:41
  and i it's a shame I don't know the title of it,
• 1:43
  but she wrote a book probably back in the nineteen fifties.
• 1:46
  So it's it's in our family tree per se.
• 1:48
  So it was kind of one of those things that I wanted to do myself.
• 1:51
  I wanted to be able to write a book,
• 1:53
  and that was always kind of a bucket list.
• 1:55
  And I think you know, just having more and more time during the pandemic
• 2:00
  got my ideas, you know, now to paper and then I just had to put the time in.
• 2:05
  And you know, we got it done probably within six months.
• 2:08
  you know, but it w it was really you know,
• 2:10
  when w I was trying to decide on a topic,
• 2:12
  the topic really started coming from just,
• 2:15
  you know, I was still answering questions in the mortgage business,
• 2:19
  you know, questions that were being asked of me.
• 2:21
  I was getting back in two thousand two when I first started.
• 2:24
  So, you know, it just it showed me the fact that,
• 2:28
  you know, the education portion,
• 2:29
  just how lacking it is as far as when it comes to
• 2:33
  you know, buying, investing in homes.
• 2:35
  There's a lot of questions that people just don't know.
• 2:37
  They're leaning a lot on word of mouth and I was like,
• 2:40
  well at least if I could get some basics here,
• 2:42
  maybe this could be, you know,
• 2:44
  at least a baseline for most people as they get to understand mortgages
• 2:47
  and and how they can help.
• 2:48
  Mm. Two thousand two you started in in the mortgage industry.
• 2:52
  Like it seems to me that in my experience when it comes to banking as
• 2:58
  one of those occupations, it's kinda it's a bit accidental.
• 3:01
  Is that the situation here or did was it planned?
• 3:04
  No, it was accidental. I I wanted to be a financial advisor.
• 3:07
  You know, that was my true form.
• 3:09
  And it was funny, I was I I took a test,
• 3:12
  an exam through American Express and you know but you have to wait.
• 3:17
  you know, this is two thousand two so it's not lightning speed per se,
• 3:20
  but we had to wait about, you know,
• 3:23
  two to three weeks to get an answer and so it's just so random
• 3:27
  a mortgage company called and said,
• 3:29
  Yeah, we saw your resume and we'd like to hire you and
• 3:32
  And so I just took the first job,
• 3:34
  in sight and and you know, I'm off to the races.
• 3:37
  Well,
• 3:37
  it's kind of funny that you said that you always wanted to be a financial advisor.
• 3:41
  Like that's another one of those occupations that I also find that's
• 3:45
  a bit accidental. So making the leap from that to mortgage it probably isn't
• 3:51
  a terrible stretch.
• 3:52
  No, I you know, I guess my background is in sports,
• 3:55
  so I I could start there. So l I played basketball in college and high school
• 4:00
  and stuff like that. And you know,
• 4:01
  so a lot of my friends did the same.
• 4:03
  And so I you know, some of my friends were able to,
• 4:07
  you know, land a a job in in, you know,
• 4:09
  playing professional basketball in various countries.
• 4:12
  So the kind of concept was like I wanted to stay with them and tag team.
• 4:16
  So, you know, my thought pattern was,
• 4:19
  Well, I'm good with numbers.
• 4:20
  You know, maybe I can, you know,
• 4:22
  w focus on their numbers and and protect their,
• 4:24
  you know, finances and their assets.
• 4:26
  You know, so that was kind of my mindset,
• 4:28
  you know, just on a on a friend level and wanting to,
• 4:30
  you know, basically you know, tag along and and go on the ride.
• 4:33
  It didn't it didn't work out like that,
• 4:35
  but you know, that at least that was the thought pattern.
• 4:37
  Well, let's you're on a real estate investing show,
• 4:40
  so let's talk a little bit about your experience there.
• 4:43
  How has that gone and and when it when you're working with real estate investors,
• 4:48
  what are some of the things that we might be missing when it comes
• 4:51
  to establishing mortgages?
• 4:54
  Yeah, you know, I I think you know,
• 4:56
  it's just understanding where we are as a lending,
• 4:59
  you know, environment right now.
• 5:01
  I think that you know, really a lot of stuff has changed since the
• 5:05
  end of the pandemic. And I would say,
• 5:07
  you know, let's say around the you know,
• 5:09
  fourth quarter, you know, Q four of two thousand twenty two,
• 5:13
  that's when we saw interest rates,
• 5:14
  you know, double. You know, so interest rates went,
• 5:17
  you know, roughly around three and a half all the way to seven.
• 5:20
  You know, at at time you know,
• 5:22
  I think the peak was at eight percent.
• 5:24
  And what what really happened right then and there was the fact that
• 5:27
  you know this buyer, this you know homeowner,
• 5:31
  you know, was in a situation where they had two,
• 5:34
  three, four percent interest rates and they didn't want to refinance.
• 5:38
  They didn't want to sell their house and get a six or seven percent interest rate,
• 5:43
  and we still see that today. And so
• 5:45
  the whole industry had a transition and pivot and focused now on this kind of wild,
• 5:51
  wild west of real estate investing.
• 5:54
  And so we have now created all these new products and programs catered
• 5:59
  to investors because we understand that investors are,
• 6:02
  you know, roughly about 24, 25% of the marketplace.
• 6:06
  So one out of one out of four transactions are real estate investors.
• 6:11
  So what we're trying to do now is provide
• 6:14
  products and programs that can really cater to investors.
• 6:18
  And now we're trying to make these relationships.
• 6:20
  So I kind of look at myself as a traditional lender who was doing first time home
• 6:25
  buyers for 20 plus years and now has entered the world of real estate investors,
• 6:30
  you know, because of attrition,
• 6:32
  a need, but now we have these products that,
• 6:35
  you know, investors, you know,
• 6:37
  if they haven't been, you know,
• 6:38
  active per se in the last, you know,
• 6:40
  three years or so, may not be familiar with.
• 6:43
  Like what what are some of those things that we might not be familiar with?
• 6:47
  So I mean obviously DSCR for one,
• 6:49
  debt service coverage ratios. basically,
• 6:52
  you know, no longer are we always checking for tax returns and pay stubs
• 6:56
  and income to verify on an investment program,
• 7:00
  what we like to call as alternative income programs,
• 7:03
  we can basically qualify investors just strictly off the rent that's coming
• 7:07
  in to the property. So if the rent covers the mortgage,
• 7:10
  that's an opportunity that we can do that deal.
• 7:13
  And we even have realms
• 7:15
  where if let's say the rent is eighteen hundred a month and the payment's gonna
• 7:20
  be you know nineteen fifty, we can still work around those types of situations.
• 7:24
  So as long as it's you know within,
• 7:26
  you know, close enough range, we can still make those types of loans happen without
• 7:31
  having to verify income. And that's a huge opportunity for real estate investors.
• 7:35
  another another thing is, you know,
• 7:37
  we're we're more open to short term rentals.
• 7:40
  We're more open to obviously fix and flips.
• 7:42
  We have fix and flip products now.
• 7:44
  So for real estate investors that are deciding to do fix and flips,
• 7:48
  they don't have to, you know, pay cash for the property and do
• 7:51
  all the work themselves. We have the capability now where we can,
• 7:56
  you know, offer a loan with 20% down.
• 7:59
  We can cover the whole hundred per you know the financing of
• 8:02
  the renovation a hundred percent.
• 8:04
  And that's a huge alleviation for the investor.
• 8:07
  And we found great success in that as well.
• 8:09
  Well, this all sounds really good to I'm sure a lot of people,
• 8:12
  you know, that especially when it comes to the fix and flipping aspect.
• 8:16
  Could you kind of break that down a little bit more for us?
• 8:19
  Like when you say like twenty percent down,
• 8:22
  is it twenty percent down on that initial per p purchase or they gotta have
• 8:27
  the skin in the game through the f some some financing of the
• 8:32
  of the flipping part? Like how does how does that whole package would would that
• 8:37
  typically plan out?
• 8:38
  Yeah, so let's break it down. you know,
• 8:40
  I've had a a recent client, she bought a property for a hundred
• 8:43
  and seventy thousand in Atlanta,
• 8:44
  Georgia. Okay? And so the twenty percent is based on the purchase price,
• 8:48
  just like you referenced. So twenty percent of one hundred seventy
• 8:53
  is one hundred-six. So base loan amount would be one hundred-six,
• 8:57
  and then we had to add on her renovation costs.
• 9:00
  So her renovation costs were ninety thousand.
• 9:03
  So we covered the whole ninety thousand.
• 9:06
  We'll pay that out in phases. So we usually you have to pay per phase because
• 9:10
  we have to have an inspection,
• 9:12
  knowing that hey, phase one has been completed.
• 9:14
  You know, most times the first phase is gonna be you know a demo of some sort.
• 9:19
  So, you know, we're gonna okay,
• 9:20
  that's been completed. It looks like twenty percent of the work has been done,
• 9:23
  and then we can release a check of twenty percent that's of the ninety thousand,
• 9:28
  which would be eighteen thousand.
• 9:29
  But in this reference, you take the one thirty six plus the ninety.
• 9:33
  And so she's into the property for 226.
• 9:36
  Now we're gonna do that deal based on the ARV.
• 9:39
  We're going to, you know, if you're a first-time investor,
• 9:41
  and this is huge, we're actually doing business for first-time investors.
• 9:46
  So you don't have to have you know,
• 9:48
  a lot of times lending institutions back in the day wanted a seasoned investor,
• 9:52
  someone that has had multiple flips,
• 9:54
  you know, over a course of time.
• 9:56
  Right now we are still working with people that are first-time investors.
• 10:01
  And so with a first-time investor,
• 10:02
  we'll lend about 70% of the ARV.
• 10:06
  So in this case, the ARV came back to be about 335.
• 10:11
  So 70% of 335 was 234.
• 10:15
  So even if the work would have been,
• 10:17
  you know, in theory 100,000, we still could have covered it for her.
• 10:21
  And that's how we, you know, set up these transactions.
• 10:24
  So we're looking at the ARV and we're using 70% of the ARV to say what's your max.
• 10:29
  can we do from a purchase price perspective along with the ri renovation work?
• 10:34
  You know, based on the way you're talking,
• 10:36
  you know, w there was we had kind of like a bit of a mortgage crash
• 10:41
  or or something like it. What was it in about two thousand seven where there
• 10:45
  was just a lot of money being lent where they didn't qualify.
• 10:49
  Like it's it sounds like we're kind of
• 10:53
  going back into swinging back into the pendulum where it got really restrictive
• 10:58
  and now they're kind of finding a common ground or taking into some more common
• 11:04
  sense approaches to to lending on the asset,
• 11:07
  not especially when you're dealing with a lot of entrepreneurs.
• 11:10
  I suppose that makes a lot of sense.
• 11:12
  It does. I I I think the risk factor back in two thousand seven,
• 11:15
  two thousand eight was just that they were willy nilly with no skin in the game.
• 11:20
  You know, there was instances where,
• 11:22
  you know, you could buy an investment property with five percent down.
• 11:25
  And truly with five percent down,
• 11:27
  even in a harsh situation, you might just simply just walk away from there.
• 11:31
  if if the tenant's not paying and things get a little rough.
• 11:34
  But when you're putting twenty percent down virtually on any situation
• 11:39
  and and and actually we're starting to expand now with seven forty credit score
• 11:44
  or higher, you can on a on these DSCR programs,
• 11:47
  you can put as little as fifteen percent down.
• 11:50
  So that's fifteen thousand for every hundred thousand.
• 11:53
  And so even on a three hundred thousand dollar DSCR,
• 11:57
  you know, that that is a greater opportunity with only forty five thousand that
• 12:01
  you would have to put down. And I think with skin in the game that has kind of
• 12:06
  detracted some of the foreclosures and and some of the instances where things
• 12:10
  got a little tough, I think it it gave a little bit more of a comfort level
• 12:15
  for people to know that from a lending institution perspective,
• 12:20
  that hey, they're putting this amount of money down,
• 12:23
  they're serious entrepreneurs and we're gonna move forward with them.
• 12:26
  You know, when when somebody comes to you with an opportunity like this,
• 12:30
  whether it's a rental property or a fix and flip,
• 12:33
  I'm sure you've seen seen it all at this point when it comes to what
• 12:37
  how prepared they are. Like what what should people come prepared with
• 12:42
  to make sure that the the process is as smooth as possible?
• 12:46
  Well, let's make sure we know you know,
• 12:49
  and that's a great question because most times right now I'm still working with
• 12:52
  a lot of first time investors.
• 12:53
  And first time investors, you know,
• 12:56
  you know, let's make sure our credit is good.
• 12:58
  You know, this I I was trying to explain this the other day to a client,
• 13:03
  you know, they he said, Is this hard money?
• 13:05
  You know, that that's a famous,
• 13:07
  you know, term within the industry,
• 13:09
  right? Is this hard money? And the answer really is no.
• 13:12
  I said, It's not hard money, it's soft money.
• 13:14
  And
• 13:15
  You know, hard money to me is more private investing,
• 13:18
  you know, where soft money is,
• 13:21
  you know, these traditional lenders that have now entered entered the the door,
• 13:25
  into the world of real estate investing.
• 13:27
  So we still have parameters and guidelines that we're gonna hold strong to.
• 13:31
  So we're looking at your credit score.
• 13:33
  So the first thing you can do is make sure your credit score is is adequate.
• 13:37
  You know, we we we can go as you know,
• 13:39
  I have some flexibility, I got some great programs for unique situations.
• 13:43
  I can work some with some people that are in the 500s,
• 13:46
  but that's 50% down. You know,
• 13:49
  if you're 600 credit score, that's 40% down.
• 13:51
  So that might be a big chunk, you know,
• 13:54
  it might help on a refinance, but not necessarily a purchase.
• 13:56
  So ideally you want to be at least,
• 13:58
  you know, 680 or higher. You know,
• 14:01
  and that's where you're starting to get the 20% down.
• 14:03
  And like I said, at 740 you can have 15% down.
• 14:06
  So credit score is the first thing.
• 14:07
  Let's second thing would be the money.
• 14:09
  Let's see where we're going to get the money from.
• 14:12
  A lot of people have a lot of diverse situations.
• 14:14
  well, the money's in my my wife's account.
• 14:17
  Or you know, 'cause I I can't have it in my bank account 'cause I'm gonna spend it.
• 14:21
  Right. So, you know, that's deemed as a gift in this new world that I'm
• 14:26
  in and you know, so I have to know well how much money can I verify
• 14:30
  is truly yours versus how much is actually gonna be a gift.
• 14:33
  So there are some nuances that we have to kind of figure out in that regard.
• 14:36
  So credit
• 14:37
  Money is important. And then just the structure of the deal.
• 14:40
  Are we going to close in your LLC?
• 14:42
  You know, when did you open up your LLC?
• 14:45
  you know, because seasoning at times can be a factor.
• 14:48
  So knowing, you know, how is the deal going to be structured is very important.
• 14:52
  And so these are just a couple of things that you know obviously we look
• 14:55
  at on every transaction.
• 14:57
  Just to remind everybody, we're talking to Dante Royster and you
• 15:00
  can learn and follow him along when if you want to learn more of this,
• 15:04
  head over to his YouTube channel,
• 15:05
  Epics Spotlight. Check out his book,
• 15:08
  Ultimate Mortgage Guide, and I'll have those as clickable link in the show notes.
• 15:12
  But I I I think you're on every social network as well,
• 15:16
  right, Dante? So they could even probably hit you up there.
• 15:20
  Yes, definitely.
• 15:21
  With that being said, if you
• 15:22
  found some value in what we're chatting about so far,
• 15:24
  do us a favor, share this with one of your friends.
• 15:26
  If you're watching us on YouTube,
• 15:28
  give us a like and subscribe.
• 15:29
  So, Dante, one of the things that I I noticed about you is that you also talk
• 15:33
  a little bit about entrepreneurship,
• 15:35
  building a business, maybe more importantly,
• 15:38
  like a scalable, sustainable business.
• 15:41
  Could you talk a little bit about that,
• 15:44
  what you've been what you've been doing there and some advice you might have
• 15:47
  for people, especially when they're real estate investors trying to scale?
• 15:51
  Sure. Yeah, I I I would say I would say overall,
• 15:54
  you know, I'm the owner of Epic Mortgage.
• 15:56
  you know, I established Epic Mortgage back in twenty nineteen.
• 15:59
  So, you know, we're basically in our seventh year of business.
• 16:02
  We're a regional mortgage broker,
• 16:04
  we're licensed in multiple states.
• 16:05
  And one thing I've noticed is that relationships compound faster than money.
• 16:10
  You know, relationships are really the the backbone of a small business.
• 16:16
  And building relationships and and and building out a network
• 16:20
  you know, can really help overall increase your net worth and it can open
• 16:25
  up doors and opportunities that you didn't see fit.
• 16:28
  or that you may not have just seen.
• 16:29
  Sometimes we have those horse blinders on,
• 16:31
  right? When we're just working every day as entrepreneurs trying to make it happen.
• 16:35
  And we don't recognize that the relationships and the conversations that we have,
• 16:40
  you know, creating that new friend,
• 16:42
  you know, and that new friend just opens up an opportunity and opens up
• 16:46
  a door and so
• 16:47
  You know, that's that's one of the things that I would hope that
• 16:49
  all entrepreneurs out there know.
• 16:51
  you know, re referrals are trust transfers,
• 16:56
  you know, and you only are gonna build trust in time and making new friends.
• 17:02
  So networking and building relationships i is is vital for any business to grow.
• 17:08
  Yeah, this is especially more and more important in in our day and age
• 17:12
  of AI taking over a lot of things.
• 17:14
  I I'm finding that we're having that those personal relationships
• 17:19
  and those personal referrals are going to be increasingly important.
• 17:23
  Agreed. You know, it it's it's one of those situations where you can't even believe
• 17:29
  what you see any anymore if you're not there.
• 17:31
  You know, i if you're not present,
• 17:34
  you know, how do you know it's real?
• 17:35
  How do you know did it really happen?
• 17:36
  So really having those relationships are going to lean and and are really gonna help
• 17:42
  us moving forward, especially with all this AI that is entering.
• 17:46
  I think AI can be a tool for assistance.
• 17:49
  I think you can have AI is definitely important when you're,
• 17:52
  you know, trying to determine w if this is a good deal or not as
• 17:55
  a real estate investor, right?
• 17:56
  You can use Claude or Chat GPT and and you know if they understand your personality
• 18:02
  and and know what's a you know s what's your strategy per se,
• 18:05
  they can give you some of the numbers,
• 18:07
  but at the end of the day you still need people,
• 18:10
  experiences. that that matters.
• 18:12
  That matters indeed.
• 18:13
  So when you were scaling now you've been in business for seven years,
• 18:17
  like what was the first thing that y kept you up at night?
• 18:22
  What was the things that had you spinning your wheels or or trying to find traction?
• 18:27
  Well, you know, it it's kinda comes down to the the three Ps,
• 18:31
  right? It's you gotta find good people to work with in any business.
• 18:36
  profit is is important, you know.
• 18:39
  Profit is the fuel for any business.
• 18:41
  And you have to have a process,
• 18:44
  you know, aka a system. So developing a system really kept me up up late night,
• 18:50
  trying to figure out what's the system,
• 18:52
  who does what, what's the job description,
• 18:55
  you know, as you
• 18:56
  Find good people that you can work with and relate to,
• 18:59
  you know, because you don't really want a,
• 19:01
  you know, toxic environment. You want to kind of find like minded people that
• 19:07
  all kind of have the same type of ideology,
• 19:09
  because that that's what work well.
• 19:12
  It doesn't matter, you know, color,
• 19:13
  gender, race or skin or anything like that.
• 19:15
  But what matters is really the ideology,
• 19:18
  you know, how they were raised,
• 19:19
  how were they brought up, what is their work ethic like.
• 19:22
  You know, a lot of what we do is remote.
• 19:24
  We have a lot of remote workers.
• 19:26
  You know, we have people in Tennessee,
• 19:28
  people in Kansas, at times, you know,
• 19:30
  we have people, you know, all all around the country.
• 19:33
  And so, you know, there has to be a level of trust.
• 19:35
  And how do you trust somebody because you know they got good roots?
• 19:39
  So people are very important, and then developing right processes.
• 19:42
  So they have an expectation of what they need to do on a daily basis.
• 19:46
  They know what to expect from me on a daily basis.
• 19:49
  And then obviously, you know, finding ways to,
• 19:51
  you know, really as an entrepreneur,
• 19:53
  as you're starting a business,
• 19:55
  you're ultimately a professional problem solver.
• 19:57
  You found a a void in the system that might need to have a solution.
• 20:02
  And when you're solving the problem,
• 20:04
  it becomes that win win relationship where you're solving their problem
• 20:08
  and you get you know obviously profit.
• 20:10
  What was that first hire that you made to try to make your life easier?
• 20:13
  a processor. A processor is the that was like the number one hire,
• 20:17
  you know, is someone, you know,
• 20:19
  that's a you know, t for for those out there,
• 20:21
  like a loan officer assistant,
• 20:23
  someone that's gonna help you deal with the lenders,
• 20:25
  you know, get you know, get files moving,
• 20:28
  you know, kind of fight those battles with underwriters.
• 20:31
  You know, that's so important to have that tag team.
• 20:33
  And I'm I'm just so fortunate.
• 20:35
  I've been working with this this lady for,
• 20:37
  you know, over ten, thirteen years and so it's
• 20:41
  It's you know, it becomes a work wife,
• 20:43
  you know, someone that you just rely on,
• 20:45
  you trust, and that's got your back and that's you know,
• 20:48
  that's the name that's the most important thing.
• 20:50
  You mentioned the importance of of establishing processes and systems,
• 20:55
  but I find some, you know, and this could be,
• 20:58
  you know, you're you're in the bottle,
• 21:00
  you can't read the label, you know,
• 21:01
  you're so close to to the situation that you don't even realize what's consuming
• 21:05
  your time. What caused you or maybe this was something baked
• 21:10
  in organically that that caused you to stop document
• 21:15
  and establish the necessary body.
• 21:18
  processes and systems like that,
• 21:20
  making that investment.
• 21:21
  You know, I I have a personal story of two thousand five as a branch manager
• 21:26
  and we hit a record in sales for my branch,
• 21:30
  you know, for the state of Illinois at the time.
• 21:33
  And I was so excited about, you know,
• 21:36
  hitting the number and it was such a yay,
• 21:38
  you did it. And I remember, you know,
• 21:41
  you know, my my boss at the time saying,
• 21:43
  Okay, what did you do? You know,
• 21:45
  how did you get there? Can we do it again?
• 21:47
  And it was that stress on my face of like I didn't document anything.
• 21:52
  I didn't really write anything down.
• 21:54
  I was young and just excited and just going with the flow and it just you know,
• 21:58
  it just happened, you know, and and but how did it happen?
• 22:01
  And and so that has always stuck with me and that was two thousand five,
• 22:04
  so you know, fast forward twenty years,
• 22:06
  that's just one of those memories that I know that success if you don't mark
• 22:10
  it is like h you know, it's almost like you got lucky.
• 22:14
  You know, maybe you're Christopher Columbus or something,
• 22:16
  right? You know, it's like, how did you actually get there?
• 22:18
  Where you know, where's the roadmap?
• 22:20
  Are there things, you know, and and you could take this with real estate investing
• 22:24
  too. You know, writing down the strategy and just documenting step by step
• 22:28
  how did you get there? Can you do it again?
• 22:31
  You know, because in business everything is about duplication.
• 22:34
  You know, just 'cause you do it once doesn't mean you can stay
• 22:37
  in business for seven, ten, fifteen,
• 22:40
  twenty, you know, thirty years.
• 22:42
  You know, is it's that
• 22:43
  you know, consistency that you're trying to develop and those are habits
• 22:48
  on a daily basis to weekly, to monthly,
• 22:50
  to yearly. So, you know, it's just one of those stories that really stuck with
• 22:54
  me because I really didn't know how to answer my boss at the time that,
• 22:58
  you know, really, you know, helped me today to understand,
• 23:00
  no, we have to document how did we get there and how are we successful.
• 23:04
  Do
• 23:04
  you mind me asking like with with that what what have like currently what
• 23:10
  are you working on to make your your processes better today that you wish
• 23:16
  you would have implemented sooner?
• 23:18
  Probably business coaches. Business coaches,
• 23:20
  mentors, you know, would be definitely an avenue that I wish I would have known what
• 23:25
  I know now. It's funny, we have coaches when we're growing up as as kids,
• 23:30
  right? You know, you're playing a sport,
• 23:32
  whether it's hockey, basketball,
• 23:34
  lacrosse, whatever, you have a coach and then all of a sudden
• 23:38
  you graduate college and then you go into the workforce and you recognize
• 23:43
  you don't have a coach. And you know,
• 23:44
  how do you expect
• 23:45
  to reach some of the high achievements,
• 23:47
  not having that same coach. So,
• 23:49
  you know, recognizing in an early age of having a coach,
• 23:53
  having a mentor, having someone that can look at you,
• 23:56
  they know what you're trying to accomplish.
• 23:59
  Maybe they've walked in your shoes,
• 24:01
  or at least they can give you an idea of,
• 24:02
  hey, this is what you're missing.
• 24:04
  This is these are the voids that you can't see.
• 24:07
  You know, like you said, sometimes you're focused so much on the daily task at hand,
• 24:12
  you can't see the macro version of it.
• 24:14
  So a coaching and mentorship is very important.
• 24:17
  That's an interesting way of putting it.
• 24:19
  You know, the the concept that,
• 24:21
  you know, as a kid we're playing around,
• 24:23
  we're we're having a good time in our high school sports.
• 24:26
  We have coaches in that, but when we actually playing this game
• 24:30
  of life or entrepreneurship or when we actually have skin in the game,
• 24:35
  it doesn't even occur to us in some cases to to have a coach to help us with some
• 24:41
  of that.
• 24:41
  Scary, right?
• 24:43
  Yeah, it is. You know, it's it's it's one of those it's it's just
• 24:46
  one of those things. Like I I don't know.
• 24:49
  It it goes back to that skin in the game,
• 24:51
  right? The the concept of putting putting a little money up or not seeing
• 24:57
  it as an actual it's I actually think it's probably one of the biggest
• 25:02
  and best investments somebody can make.
• 25:04
  But most people see it more of as just another expense or another obligation.
• 25:10
  I you know, the the thing that at least in my experience,
• 25:14
  y you might have to go through multiple coaches.
• 25:16
  You know, you may not stick with one coach.
• 25:19
  I mean it it it's it really if you think of it as a sport,
• 25:23
  you know, you you'll go through hey,
• 25:25
  you know, the devil, was it Detroit Red Wings,
• 25:28
  you know, just fired their head coach,
• 25:30
  you know. That that's that might be because y they can maybe only get you so far.
• 25:35
  You might need a new
• 25:36
  set of eyes, a new different point of view,
• 25:39
  something that sparks you, something that,
• 25:41
  you know, that okay. So, you know,
• 25:43
  the transition is is a little bit different.
• 25:46
  It's not necessarily I almost say like a cousin,
• 25:48
  not necessarily a family member.
• 25:50
  You know, it's not gonna be somebody that you you're gonna be with
• 25:54
  for the next fifty years. This might be just a time,
• 25:57
  hey, six months. I needed this person.
• 26:00
  And you know what?
• 26:01
  I got what I needed from them and then you move on and then maybe you're
• 26:04
  by yourself for a little bit and then you grab onto somebody else
• 26:08
  and you're with them for three years.
• 26:09
  You know, they they come they're they're so useful and they're so important,
• 26:14
  but I do I do think that people need to get different points of view.
• 26:19
  Mm-hmm. Well, Dante, this has been really an interesting conversation.
• 26:24
  I I don't know if you thought it was going to end where it where it did,
• 26:27
  you know, where we were traversing a few topics here,
• 26:30
  but before we jump into s and start closing out this episode with
• 26:34
  the rapid fire questions, is there anything else we should have tried to hit on?
• 26:37
  Especially around the mortgages.
• 26:39
  I'm sure we could have gone down any number of rabbit holes,
• 26:42
  including some where you see the market going,
• 26:45
  where you think
• 26:47
  That's always a fun question, right?
• 26:48
  Like I'm sure you get that question all the time.
• 26:51
  Or maybe some misconceptions
• 26:52
  Of course.
• 26:53
  that you want to squash.
• 26:54
  I'll say that mortgage rates are the price of money while home prices
• 26:59
  are the price of real estate and let people chew on that.
• 27:03
  Well, that's that's something to definitely chew on.
• 27:05
  Well, if you're ready, Dante, we'll jump into the rapid fire and start closing
• 27:09
  out this episode.
• 27:11
  Let's do it.
• 27:13
  I didn't I this one I kind of spring in this one on you.
• 27:15
  I don't know if you saw these questions in advance,
• 27:17
  but we're gonna maybe it maybe this will be fun.
• 27:20
  What lie do real estate investors often
• 27:22
  ~ okay.
• 27:23
  tell themselves?
• 27:24
  Ooh, what lie do real estate investors tell themselves?
• 27:28
  that they know what they're doing.
• 27:29
  I I I I f I feel like
• 27:31
  This
• 27:31
  at times they don't they like they don't really most of them don't have
• 27:35
  a a concrete strategy. A lot of people are leaning off someone else's what they've
• 27:40
  seen, you know, obviously with social media,
• 27:43
  with the H G T V, they kind of lean on these concepts but they don't really have
• 27:48
  they're probably more lucky than not.
• 27:50
  Maybe to keep it basic, they're more lucky than what they really are.
• 27:53
  They didn't really look at this deal and break it down.
• 27:56
  think I think that I think it's so important to look at a property,
• 28:00
  look at a piece of land and break down the vision.
• 28:04
  What are you looking for? What are your objectives?
• 28:07
  Not just, I got I gotta buy something because you know Joe just bought something
• 28:10
  and he and he flipped a house and he made this money.
• 28:12
  I gotta do the same. You know,
• 28:14
  really have some principles that you stand on and you are more of
• 28:18
  an investor that walks away from a deal than someone that just goes on every deal.
• 28:22
  If you could go back in time and give your younger self one piece of advice,
• 28:26
  what would it be?
• 28:27
  Don't stop learning. I there was a period of time in my twenties after graduating
• 28:33
  college, I stopped reading. I stopped doing all the things that I was doing
• 28:37
  as a child, you know, 'cause I'm like,
• 28:38
  I'm free. I don't need to stop,
• 28:40
  you know, I don't need to do all these things.
• 28:42
  And there was that period of time where,
• 28:44
  you know, time is what we you know,
• 28:47
  that's the most sacred thing that we have.
• 28:48
  And you just w always want to be a constant learner,
• 28:52
  you know, and
• 28:54
  And so I would I would tell my younger self to keep learning and keep,
• 28:58
  you know, keep churning through books and and and just soak up as much knowledge
• 29:02
  as possible. Never stop.
• 29:04
  If you had to go on a vacation,
• 29:05
  what was the it and left the business to run on its own,
• 29:09
  what's the first thing that would break today?
• 29:11
  Vacation. The first thing gonna break.
• 29:13
  Well, you don't want anything to break,
• 29:15
  but if it's gonna break,
• 29:17
  mean, would that be communication probably?
• 29:19
  If I'm on vacation, I might not be picking up the phone.
• 29:21
  So, you know, relationships are fickle at times,
• 29:24
  right? You deal with people and you know,
• 29:26
  sometimes the reality is, I always say this is I say,
• 29:29
  in my personal life I have a monogamous relationship,
• 29:32
  but in real estate, you know, I do believe in polygamy.
• 29:35
  And I and I say that because you have multiple relationships and sometimes
• 29:39
  you have to have plan A's and plan Bs.
• 29:40
  And so when I'm on vacation I understand that I
• 29:43
  You know, I've passed the baton to someone else that might take my seat
• 29:47
  on a transaction or two because I won't be around and and I have to
• 29:50
  be okay with that, but communication is usually something that w would break down
• 29:54
  if I'm on vacation.
• 29:55
  And finally, what single tool or process have you implemented that
• 29:59
  has had the biggest time saving impact?
• 30:01
  You know, I really have developed the AI.
• 30:02
  AI has been you know, I've developed a a Claude,
• 30:05
  you know, and and it's really kind of you know,
• 30:08
  quote unquote, I've duplicated my personality and I can get tasks done.
• 30:12
  I can have you know, some ideas for events,
• 30:16
  for you know, presentations. it really has become a new personal assistant
• 30:20
  for me that has been has just been amazing.
• 30:23
  So, you know, I I definitely encourage people out there
• 30:26
  doesn't matter what industry that you're in,
• 30:28
  you know, use it as a tool as far as,
• 30:31
  you know, just helping you sort out your day and get it more organized.
• 30:34
  Well, Dante, I really appreciate your time.
• 30:37
  This was a fantastic to chat with you and meet you.
• 30:40
  Again, you can learn more by heading over to Dante's YouTube channel,
• 30:44
  Epics Spotlight. Check out the book,
• 30:46
  Ultimate Mortgage Guide. I'll have that clickable links in the show notes.
• 30:51
  But really appreciate your time,
• 30:53
  Dante. It was great to meet you.
• 30:54
  Hope you'll consider coming back again real soon.
• 30:56
  Definitely, Jack. Thank you so much.