Latest / The Academy Presents podcast / Building Wealth Through Global Real Estate and Strategic Partnerships with Kevin Leonce

Transcript

Building Wealth Through Global Real Estate and Strategic Partnerships with Kevin Leonce · The Academy Presents podcast

• 0:01
  Did you know that 90 % of the world's millionaires
• 0:05
  invest in real estate? Well, I'm Angel with the
• 0:09
  Academy Presents Real Estate Investing Rocks,
• 0:11
  and I'm here to help you if you want to go for
• 0:15
  your piece of that pie. Are you new? Are you
• 0:19
  new to this and you just don't know where to
• 0:20
  start? It's okay. Are you someone that has invested,
• 0:25
  but you feel stuck, you feel like you've lost
• 0:27
  momentum, you don't know where to really head
• 0:30
  from here? Are you a seasoned real estate investor
• 0:33
  who is doing great but maybe you just want to
• 0:35
  hone a few skills here and there? This is the
• 0:38
  place for you. The Academy Presents Real Estate
• 0:41
  Investing Rocks podcast will connect you with
• 0:44
  industry experts so that you can save time, avoid
• 0:48
  costly mistakes, and begin living the life you've
• 0:52
  dreamed of all through real estate investing.
• 0:56
  You're already taking the first step. just by
• 1:00
  joining us here today. All right so then I'm
• 1:04
  kind of back on this idea of you being a net
• 1:06
  importer. It's not good or bad but so it sounds
• 1:11
  like everything has to be first converted into
• 1:16
  U .S. dollars but y 'all probably don't get all
• 1:20
  your imports from the U .S. so your dollars have
• 1:23
  to be or your currency has to be turned into
• 1:25
  dollars first which means that you're already
• 1:26
  going to lose some money on that bid ask spread
• 1:29
  and then they're going to exchange it again from
• 1:33
  the US dollar to the yuan or the pound or whatever
• 1:36
  it is that you're importing in from right no
• 1:40
  y 'all lose money twice um or you could potentially
• 1:46
  lose you could lose value twice potentially right
• 1:50
  but one of the things that has been happening
• 1:52
  is with all these silly petty conflicts across
• 1:56
  the world the and this is well this is my question
• 2:01
  right like let me just say that my question but
• 2:04
  all these petty conflicts across the world China
• 2:09
  has developed the digital one and as well they
• 2:13
  have invested in China so I know they are intending
• 2:19
  to move away if they have not already. I think
• 2:21
  they have moved away from the US dollar. So it
• 2:23
  would mean that we need to figure out a way to
• 2:26
  pay them as well, which is different from US
• 2:30
  dollars, right? So that creates another challenge
• 2:34
  and another issue. And I have heard that we are
• 2:37
  moving to e -currency as well sometime this year,
• 2:43
  2023. Yeah, this year. 2023 which would be quite
• 2:48
  interesting to see if you know how that works
• 2:52
  what is it pegged on I don't know if it is at
• 2:55
  all and I wonder I wonder how that will work
• 2:59
  as far as making it easier for you to be able
• 3:02
  to invest not just in the US but in other places
• 3:05
  in general because it would it would allow for
• 3:09
  a freer float because the digital you want free
• 3:11
  floats whereas the physical you want is pegged
• 3:14
  to the US dollar Oh, right. So which I have a
• 3:18
  hard time wrapping my head around. I'm assuming
• 3:20
  it's still that way. It was where because I talked
• 3:23
  to Dan Freidenberg about because he's familiar
• 3:25
  with some of the currencies and he said, really,
• 3:27
  there's still a lot of physical you want, especially
• 3:30
  in rural areas. I think that's what he was saying.
• 3:33
  And the physical is absolutely pegged to the
• 3:36
  US dollar, but the digital free floats. And so
• 3:39
  if you all move to a digital. That can free float.
• 3:44
  and China becomes a more, if the yuan becomes
• 3:47
  a more accepted and dominant currency, then that
• 3:53
  could make your currency more valuable as well.
• 3:58
  Well, I like your ambitious way of thinking,
• 4:03
  but I don't think anybody wants Trinidad dollars.
• 4:05
  But they want, they want your oil. Yeah, but
• 4:09
  here's the thing, right? Here's the challenge
• 4:12
  with that. we have oil and gas, more gas than
• 4:15
  oil and oil because most of these reservoirs
• 4:18
  are run and dry and the other undeveloped reservoirs
• 4:23
  are probably too expensive. It's not commercially
• 4:26
  viable at this point in time so they're definitely
• 4:29
  not going to do that unless the government provides
• 4:31
  some sort of incentive to get these multinationals
• 4:36
  to drill and explore but I don't think Yeah,
• 4:43
  I don't think it's gonna help anyway because
• 4:47
  we have Yeah, I can't see it help because we
• 4:54
  have limited resources respected at and even
• 4:58
  It was like two weeks ago Imagine this two weeks
• 5:05
  ago. We got permission from the US to broker
• 5:11
  a deal with Venezuela to get gas. Right? Well,
• 5:17
  you know, you know why, right? Because Venezuela
• 5:20
  is not going to do it. No, it's not that Venezuela
• 5:24
  is one of these countries that, you know, communists
• 5:28
  and they have all these issues plus they tied
• 5:30
  to Russia, all that sort of political nonsense.
• 5:34
  But they have been they have these sanctions
• 5:36
  on them. So But we in our state right now, when
• 5:40
  we need gas, we definitely need gas. So that's
• 5:43
  how that came about. So unless we create some
• 5:50
  incentives where the multinationals could win
• 5:53
  and the country could win, so that we could develop
• 5:56
  these deep water reserves primarily, I don't
• 5:59
  think it will make any difference. I'm trying
• 6:06
  to think of how you can invest more. Well, here's
• 6:10
  the thing. So that's why I am creating these
• 6:13
  relationships. So I partnered up with another
• 6:16
  guy with the private equity fund. So he is more
• 6:21
  focused on the capital raising side. I'm more
• 6:24
  focused on the on the right turn at the analysis
• 6:27
  side. So I sort of look for the deals, find the
• 6:30
  deals, and he then gets the capital to put into
• 6:34
  the deals. So that will start the wheel turning.
• 6:42
  It will be slow, but it'll start the wheel turning
• 6:45
  because I will get a percentage of whatever is
• 6:50
  invested in. And slowly and surely, one drop
• 6:56
  by one drop, it will build up. Then you go and
• 6:59
  investigate. And then eventually at some point
• 7:02
  that we will start spinning. you know a lot faster
• 7:05
  and you know you'll get there and I just continue
• 7:08
  to build relationships build partnerships because
• 7:11
  I am partnering up with others in other deals
• 7:14
  as well and I'm working on something right now
• 7:17
  as well which I haven't told anyone about but
• 7:20
  that is yeah that is that is something that could
• 7:25
  prove very fruitful in a shorter space of time
• 7:29
  but that is very time consuming as well too so
• 7:33
  yeah I mean, I would just like, I would say and
• 7:37
  just support you in the fact that I feel like
• 7:39
  relationships are, they're not the fastest way
• 7:43
  because it's a very slow at the beginning. But
• 7:48
  once you get to a certain point, they take off
• 7:52
  because I would just say like, maybe your partner
• 7:56
  can raise capital. I don't know because I've
• 7:59
  never seen them around, but I see you around.
• 8:02
  And I know you and in this virtual landscape
• 8:05
  that we're in, there are a whole lot of deals.
• 8:08
  And you've got the relationships that are going
• 8:10
  to bring in the deals. So and then you, you,
• 8:15
  you have the opportunity to go through them and
• 8:17
  really only choose the best ones. Yeah. Or choose
• 8:21
  the people you like the best. Yeah. Cause that's
• 8:24
  how we ended up in another deal at JV Deal. So
• 8:28
  on our view, that's yeah. Wow, no, that is awesome.
• 8:33
  And, you know, I just think it's, it's so important
• 8:36
  to just dispel some of the fears because like
• 8:39
  what you were saying, you know, risk can be countered
• 8:43
  with knowledge. And I, when the first time I
• 8:47
  heard you say it, I was like, well, not a risk.
• 8:51
  But a whole lot of it can be, especially when
• 8:56
  you're talking about like tangible assets. Cause
• 9:00
  like when we, when we got our first single family
• 9:03
  home, I mean, we never discussed it because we
• 9:05
  grew up in families that invested in real estate.
• 9:07
  So we just knew it was going to be our first
• 9:08
  rental. Jason and I have talked multiple times
• 9:10
  about, did we have a conversation about whether
• 9:13
  or not we should sell the house? No, I don't
• 9:15
  think we did. We just started talking about getting
• 9:17
  it ready for the renters. Um, but like we didn't
• 9:21
  see risk in that. And why didn't we see risk
• 9:24
  in that? Because we both grew up in that type
• 9:26
  of family. And so was it risky? Of course it
• 9:30
  was risky. Holy night. I mean, this was in 2003
• 9:33
  when we bought the house. We financed 100 % of
• 9:36
  that house. 100%. We were doing that extra payment
• 9:42
  until you have 20 % down. It was so expensive.
• 9:46
  But the first person that got placed in the house,
• 9:50
  horrendous. Left all their stuff behind, and
• 9:52
  we had to start over. I don't even think we got...
• 9:56
  We would have gotten the first month in a security
• 9:58
  security deposit, but We did not come out ahead.
• 10:02
  We paid the mortgage for that month and then
• 10:04
  we had to pay to get all their stuff moved out
• 10:06
  and Things had to be repainted carpets had to
• 10:09
  be we have carpets in any market with the tiles
• 10:11
  and but the floors needed to be like redone and
• 10:14
  wax and all that stuff and It was horrible but
• 10:18
  we just went ahead and we're like, okay, where's
• 10:21
  the next one and we never looked back and I have
• 10:25
  a friend here that when they moved, because their
• 10:29
  PCS husband was military, they rented their house.
• 10:32
  And they came back and it was basically destroyed.
• 10:34
  And she was like, we will never again be landlords.
• 10:38
  Why? That's the first one. Yeah, that's just
• 10:42
  the first one. Because it's like, yeah, I said
• 10:47
  risk and knowledge, right? I did see that, but
• 10:50
  if you look at it another way, it's a learning
• 10:52
  curve. And as you reach a certain point, then
• 10:55
  you sort of plateau. You are wiser, more knowledgeable,
• 11:00
  and you start to eliminate those mistakes that
• 11:04
  you would have made earlier on. So just take
• 11:06
  some time. And as some people say, a lot of people
• 11:10
  say, if you're persistent, then eventually it
• 11:13
  will just start to work for you and everything
• 11:15
  will be in your favor. I couldn't, even though
• 11:21
  we've got experience in residential, we've been
• 11:23
  in residential 20 years, we grew up in families
• 11:24
  and invest in residential real estate. Like I
• 11:27
  would think that someone could ask me for advice
• 11:29
  and I could give them very good advice in residential
• 11:31
  real estate investing. And I tried to tell her,
• 11:35
  I was like, just get another house and keep that
• 11:37
  one and try again. No, we're never gonna, then
• 11:39
  they've got a really big family. I want to say,
• 11:42
  let's see, five kids, maybe six. And their house
• 11:48
  is little, like say 1400 square foot. So there's
• 11:52
  like, there's three bedrooms, but other than
• 11:55
  the master bedroom, they are very, very small.
• 11:57
  And I was like, keep it, keep it as a rental
• 12:00
  and get another house. You fixed it up. You made
• 12:02
  it beautiful. He's like, yeah, do you know how
• 12:03
  much money we had to spend to fix it back up?
• 12:04
  I'm like, I hear you. I really hear you, but
• 12:08
  I'm telling you, get you a house that fits your
• 12:10
  family and rent that one out. And she refused.
• 12:13
  She was listening to other people around her
• 12:16
  who do not own real estate who were telling her
• 12:18
  that she was making the right decision And so
• 12:21
  that kind of like brings me to this big just
• 12:24
  even what we were talking about earlier. It's
• 12:26
  like Be careful who you're taking advice from
• 12:29
  Make sure you're taking advice from people that
• 12:33
  are where you want to be That are doing what
• 12:37
  you eventually want to be doing or are an expert
• 12:40
  in what you're looking at Absolutely. People
• 12:48
  that aren't doing what you're doing or what you
• 12:49
  want to do, I don't want to say they're irrelevant,
• 12:51
  but their advice kind of is. Yeah, I agree with
• 12:56
  you. You have to you have to find somebody who
• 12:59
  is ahead of you, way ahead of you, or they have
• 13:02
  done what you did before or something to that
• 13:05
  effect to really understand what's taking place
• 13:08
  because cultural differences are a factor as
• 13:12
  well. And most people I talk to over here about
• 13:17
  investing in real estate abroad, they are like,
• 13:22
  we are gaining money to do that. It's like, it
• 13:25
  doesn't have to be your money. You could figure
• 13:29
  out different ways to add value, bring something
• 13:32
  else to the table besides money. And I always
• 13:36
  use the analogy that if you look at all these
• 13:41
  billion dollar corporations, you'll always see
• 13:44
  that they have an accounting department, HR operations
• 13:47
  department, they have IT department, they have
• 13:51
  a marketing department. How come these billion
• 13:53
  dollar corporations have all these different
• 13:56
  separate skill sets, but you want to do everything
• 14:00
  yourself, you know, because you want to do it
• 14:02
  all by your own, you want everything for yourself,
• 14:04
  you know, you need to work with a team, you need
• 14:07
  to partner up, you need to utilize other people's
• 14:10
  skills, other people's expertise. bring your
• 14:13
  value to the table and by combining it that's
• 14:16
  how you get the synergistic effects and you don't
• 14:19
  know where it will go from there. Now I think
• 14:22
  it's really neat that you talk about like coming
• 14:25
  to the table with something that like a skill
• 14:28
  that people need and after hearing what you were
• 14:31
  saying about like all those other kinds of financial
• 14:33
  statements and all that magic because again I
• 14:35
  say magic when I don't understand it. It almost
• 14:39
  to me it sounds like you could bring more to
• 14:41
  the table than like a CPA in the U .S. because
• 14:44
  you're more familiar with like lots of different
• 14:48
  forms and lots of different principles. I kept
• 14:52
  thinking it was procedures but principles. I
• 14:57
  think there's you can, you bring a lot of knowledge
• 15:01
  to the table that your average person isn't going
• 15:03
  to have. And I mean, is that how, um, was that
• 15:08
  one of the ways that you were able to get on
• 15:09
  the team for the, for that multifamily, for that
• 15:13
  multifamily purchase you did like six months
• 15:15
  ago? Last month. It was last month? Why are all
• 15:21
  my days mushing together? We closed last month.
• 15:25
  It did take a while. It did start to, it did
• 15:27
  start a long time. Okay so I don't feel like
• 15:29
  such a yeah no but um yeah definitely I brought
• 15:35
  a different perspective for sure because a lot
• 15:39
  of a lot of what was being done I would have
• 15:46
  critiqued and brought my spin set and everybody
• 15:49
  were like okay they didn't see it that way you
• 15:52
  know but yes having another a perspective that
• 15:56
  is different from what everyone else is accustomed
• 15:59
  to does add some value. And it's one of the things
• 16:03
  that I learned as well, because we tend to argue
• 16:07
  as human beings with each other rather than listen.
• 16:14
  And we have to understand that an argument is
• 16:18
  just somebody is ignorant to some aspect of what
• 16:25
  is being discussed. Either me, either the other
• 16:27
  person, or even both of us. So it makes no sense
• 16:32
  getting angry, getting vexed, and arguing. It's
• 16:36
  just about trying to understand where that person
• 16:38
  is coming from, understand where you're coming
• 16:40
  from. You bring your perspective, they bring
• 16:42
  their perspective, and we both could end up a
• 16:47
  lot wiser than we entered that conversation.
• 16:50
  So it's just about letting everybody know what
• 16:53
  your perspective is, how you see things from
• 16:55
  your side, and understanding their perspective
• 16:59
  and everybody just agreeing on which is the best
• 17:02
  of which. Wow. Well, you know, I'm so glad you're
• 17:06
  my friend and that you're a speaker here for
• 17:10
  this event and just that you share like your
• 17:13
  thought process. And so just so people can see,
• 17:17
  I mean, it's different for everybody. And we
• 17:21
  all come from a different point of view. We all
• 17:25
  come from a different place. And that doesn't
• 17:27
  mean that we can't all be successful in this
• 17:29
  place together. So just thank you. And guys,
• 17:33
  for those of you out there, if you wanted to
• 17:35
  stay over here, there's tons of information.
• 17:38
  It's all open for you for these three days. But
• 17:41
  if you'd like to come join us on the live side,
• 17:43
  we would love to have you there. There are QR
• 17:45
  codes and links in all sorts of places. So you
• 17:48
  can take care of that. And I heard that there
• 17:51
  might be a way to enter in on the subscription
• 17:53
  and get a free upgrade. So you might want to
• 17:56
  be kind of looking out for that one, too. So
• 17:58
  other than that, until next time, Kevin, again,
• 18:01
  thank you and I'll see you guys later.