Epic Real Estate Investing - A Leap of Faith - From Law Enforcement to Real Estate | 562

Episode Date: January 8, 2019

If you don't jump, today is going to be just like yesterday! Therefore, our guest, Josh Halverson took a leap of faith - from law enforcement to real estate. He shares his success stories and advises us on how to overcome the fear of investing to secure a safe and enjoyable future. Learn about his biggest real estate challenge, his property management experience, and listen to the advice he has for the new investors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Terrio Media. So you want to be a real estate investor, but you don't want to do the work. If there were only a way where someone else could do it for you, now there is. Tune in here each and every Tuesday on the epic real estate investing show for Turnkey Tuesdays with your host, Mercedes Torres. Hello and welcome. Welcome to the first episode of Turnkey Tuesdays. Turnkey Tuesdays is now replacing Turnkey Tuesdays.

Saturdays, and of course, it is still a part of epic real estate investing. My name is Mercedes Torres, and I am privileged enough to be partners in time with Mr. Matt Terrio, the guy who created the entire epic real estate empire. So, for those of you who are tuning in again, welcome back. And for those of you who are new to Turnkey Tuesdays, I created the show because I noticed a rising demand in a small niche in real estate called Turnkey. Keith, and that caters to busy professionals who understands the importance of real estate, but they either don't have the time to do it themselves, or they simply just don't want to learn

every single detail there is to learn about acquiring real estate investments, or they're simply flat out scared of investing in real estate despite the fact that they know how lucrative it can be for them. So on today's show, I'm interviewing a gentleman who not only served our country for many years, but he's now serving in law enforcement, and he realized that no matter how hard he works, retirement is looking super grim. Now, he's a total family man, and he just doesn't want to wait until retirement to start living his job. So his story is a little bit, different because he watched his father invest in real estate and he hated it. He saw his father having to deal with crazy tenants and having to deal with replacing air conditioning units and toilets and just

having to manage them themselves. And he said, I don't want to do that. And it wasn't until he turned on to the epic real estate investing podcast or so he shares that it opened something in his mind that kind of helped him realize I was, my dad was doing it wrong and I'm missing something. Anyway, I'm going to let Josh share his story. So without further ado, allow me to introduce Josh Halverson from Costa Mesa, California, who's an amazing gentleman and has become an awesome friend of the show. Josh, how the heck are you, bud? Oh, I'm good.

I'm good. I'm so nervous, but I'm good. Josh, I've said many times before, and I say it to all our listeners, hey, this is just a conversation between you and I and just a little bit of sharing about your journey with real estate. That's it. So take a deep breath and let's go. Josh, so why don't you introduce yourself and tell me a little bit about you? Okay, well, my name is Josh Howerson.

I'm from Coast-Basian, California, so I'm pretty close to you. I'm pretty much a family guy, a military, former military guy. and now a law enforcement guy. And now it's time to get out of the rat race. Oh, I love it. I love it. So you're jumping in from military to law enforcement and now to real estate. Like, why real estate?

And specifically, why now? Well, my dad owned a four flex of apartments growing up, and I saw how he did it and it totally turned me off in real estate. So I was like, no way. Am I going to, you know, swing a hammer all the time? but then getting into podcasts and listening to epic real estate and cash flow savvy and i was like i was totally excited i had read the book rich dad poor dad and i totally got it but just didn't click in my 20s but then i saw how my retirement was going and i'm like wow this isn't going to work

yeah even a million bucks is going to be nothing to live on you know in retirement so i'm like wow I need to do something different and I got totally excited with the podcast. So that was my go-to. I'm like, I got to jump in and it took a few years, but hey, I'm finally getting into it. It did take a few years, Josh. I remember speaking to you several years ago and you know what? It's perfectly normal. What made you, you know, you said it took a few years.

So you saw your dad do it and you didn't want to do it the way your dad did it. So what made you decide finally? okay, I'm going to try this, despite the fact that I didn't have the best viewing experience with my dad. I guess it's just connecting with either Matt or you through the podcast and finally taking a leap of faith because, man, I'm scared. I'm scared to getting into things new, you know, but I noticed that I'm scared of my future more than that, you know? So I just said, hey, I'm going to jump in and here I am. I just went for it. Yeah, you know, you do live in California and a million dollars in California is absolutely nothing. And, you know, I don't know, a million dollars is a lot of money. But when you look at the grand scheme of things, you know, you have a family. You have two girls and you have to think about college and you're still super young. So you're really lucky, Josh, that you had that realization early on. And I love that you said that what connected you was the podcast. So walk me through that. You know, you listen to the podcast. You know, you listen to the podcast. You had the experience with your dad not being the best experience.

What made you decide, okay, I'm going to reach out to this, you know, Matt Terrio and Mercedes Torres and see what they're up to. See if they actually answer the phone. Yeah, that was true. Yeah, I was like, they were really going to talk to me? And then when I called, you answered. And I'm like, wow, you actually answer the phone? I'm talking to you.

You know? I find that so funny, Josh. I get that all the time. And they're like, you actually pick up the phone. Yeah, well, I do. That's what the phone is for, isn't it? I remember being on a trip for work, and you said, here's my number and everything, call me this and everything.

And I called you, and then you didn't answer first, and I think I was supposed to get back to you or something. And you answered the phone, and it was like 9 o'clock at night. I was like, what? No way, she answered the phone again. We do. So this is the communication, you know, the personal communication. that maybe come back and want to do this anymore.

Got it, got it. Okay, so I understand that you realized your retirement, and there's lots of way of creating passive income. What made you decide that real estate was the method for you, considering you had such a bad experience watching Dad? I knew the numbers with my mutual funds and my stocks, and I can see that it wasn't enough. I mean, that was it.

there's got to be something better. And as I listen to these podcasts and they broke it down on the different returns, you know, you got the multiple returns with like, gosh, what is it? The five returns of real estate, you know, with the taxes and the cash flow. I'm like, wow. And I saw these performers. And I'm like, this is so much better.

How could I lose? You know? I see how my dad's property is personal residence, you know, how it appreciated. And he didn't do anything. Oh, I did it. stay there and pay his mortgage. I'm like, how can I have multiple of these?

So that was it. I was like, this is it right here. Wow. Awesome. So tell me, you know, you talked about the pro forma. Let's talk about how many properties have you acquired through cash flow savvy so far? So through cash flow savvy, I only have one right now, but I'm getting two more in the next few months.

Yes, I know you're in the queue. And in fact, we need to talk about the property that we just sent you. But, okay, so you got that one. What was your experience like when you first called in? I know that you were like totally shocked that I answered a phone, but you first called in, you and I had a conversation. Then what happened? Walk us through that process.

Ah, let's see. It was so quick. It's hard to even remember, but it was so quick. It was a matter of just looking at the properties that you sent me and then having money ready to go. So I remember being like within a month, you're locked up, ready to go. And you're like, it's done. I'm like, that's all I got to do.

Yeah. Yeah, you forgot to mention that you got pre-qualified first with a lender, and then you started looking at properties. What was the pre-qualification process like? Oh, wow. Well, you got to get all that paperwork. Because I bought one house, my personal residence, prior to that. So that was a little shockery.

You know, you've got to get all this paperwork, all these statements. So, but that was. that's not it. You know, you get those statements, you send them off, and it's over. Yeah, it's over. You know, it's funny. We just had a couple of our fellow lenders on the show, and one of them made a joke about when you submit your loan information, or when you submit all of your paperwork to get approved for a loan, you submit everything short of your DNA. So is that what you're referring to? Yeah. And when they would come back and say, hey, we need a little bit more, you know, right before you're about to close.

You're like, man, I could have done this a week ago. I know what's going on? It's true. Actually, there's a method to our madness, Josh, and so you just mentioned yourself that all of this paperwork and then they need one item and then they need that statement.

And so one of the reasons we decided to have all of our buyers pre-qualify is because it is a lot of work. It is almost more work to get pre-qualified than it is to actually. find a property or choose a property. So you're right. It is a tedious task. But once you got approved, did you hop on the phone with the banker and talk about your approval process or what happened after you got approved? Yeah. They, gosh, it's so hard to remember that one. I can just pretty much,

I'm putting it into the one I'm doing now. Yeah. Yeah. They pretty much went over the loan details and they said, you know, because my credit was good. So they're like, wow, we're going to give you a great rate. So, uh, yeah, you did get a great rate and rates are climbing. So it's great that you're jumping in with, with picking up two more properties as we speak. So let me ask you this, Josh, did you interview other turnkey operations? I did. I did. I mean, I talked to them a little bit and I went with their service and I got a property through two other services. Awesome. But just, you know, just try things out because I don't know. I don't know what I don't know, I guess. Yeah. And I tried them out, got a couple properties,

so one through two different services. And I didn't notice much of a difference, but I noticed that the customer service was not there, you know? They weren't as personal. So I'm like, I'm going back to cash flow savvy. They're great. Oh, thank you. I do go out of my way, Josh, to make sure that our clients are handheld and taken care of.

And you're a difficult one because your hours are kind of crazy. So the reason we answer the phone at 9 o'clock at night, Josh, is because that's the only time we could get you. So, yeah, no, that's okay. But I appreciate that. So thanks for kind of words. And more importantly, thanks for coming back because I know you're picking up two more properties.

And that's a compliment. So thank you so much. So in the process of acquiring properties, turnkey properties, what would you say has been the biggest challenge in acquiring those assets? it's just getting over the fear mostly. The nervousness, the anxiety. Am I making the right choice? Is this property better than the next one?

You know, sometimes you see a few of them. And I'm like, I don't know the area as good as you do. So I want to ask you questions. Yeah. I'm like, you need to tell me everything. What would you do? I'm totally like trying to get your advice on everything because I'm too nervous.

I'm too nervous when I'm sitting there making my own decisions. You know, I will have to say, Josh, you are nervous, but it doesn't paralyze you. Maybe it paralyzed you for years, and I can't tell you how many people I speak to that call me and they're so nervous, don't do anything and call me three years later and still have not done anything. You're one of the few that are nervous, but you do something about it. And, I mean, just the simple fact that you bought one property from us, you went through other providers, you're back to buy two more.

I mean, nervousness aside, you're doing something huge for your future. So kudos to you, man. That is a big deal. Oh, thanks. Appreciate it. Awesome. Okay. So what was an eye-opening moment that you had with your first property that you decided to

come back and do property number two and three with us? Because something clicked or something's working. Because if it wasn't working, you wouldn't be coming back. for more. I guess to see, get that first check and you see how easy it is and that nothing's, nothing bad has happened. You might have a little maintenance here or there, or you maybe send an email off or call the property manager, but everything is so smooth and the money keeps coming in, I'm like, wow, this is great. I can keep going. There's no fear. There's not as much anxiety, I guess, as I made it out to be. So I roll with it now.

I love it. I love it. So tell me about property management. Tell me, because you live in California, not one of the properties that you've acquired from us and from other lenders or from other providers are in California. So tell me about your property management team. How do they work with you? And how do you get your checks? It's pretty much direct deposit. It comes in. And if I have a problem or an issue, I give them a call or send them an email. But mostly you're just looking at that statement, you know, you look at that statement, see what they've done, and you can talk to them anytime. It's great. Yeah. So rents are collected on the first day of the month, and in some states, they have until the fifth to pay their rent. What day do you get your direct deposit for

your rents? Usually comes in, I'd say, between the fifth and the 12th. Yeah, it hits my account, and I'm so surprised that it's usually the full amount. It's not a ton of maintenance. You know, I'm sitting there wondering, are they doing anything? Are they doing anything? It's what's going on. But yeah, it hits every once in a while with a, there's some maintenance taken out. But I'm like, wow, this covers everything. It really is building up so I can get my next property.

Exactly, exactly. It's so funny that you say that because, I mean, Matt and I have our share of properties. You know, we've been able to build a huge portfolio throughout the years. And the reality is, you know, you hear about the tenant calling at 3 o'clock in the morning or the toilet backing up and now you have to replace the floor because there was water all over the place. I mean, that's never happened to me. And in fact, it's never happened to any one of my clients. I'm sure it has happened. But the reality is it doesn't happen with every property. So, you know, you yourself said, I'm surprised it's the full amount. Well, that's kind of the norm. You know, the norm is a tenant lives in your

property, they pay your rent on the first, and it's forwarded to you. And yes, occasionally, you'll get a maintenance call, but it doesn't happen every month. So interesting that that was the eye-opening experience that made you come back for more. Sure, yeah. Because when my dad, when he managed his fourplex, there was always something. There was always some kind of leak or somebody's, you know, electrical problem, something the AC wasn't working. Man, it happened so much. I was scared. I was like, this is going to happen all the time. but I guess when you buy a turnkey property, everything is already top-notch when you start. Yes, because I don't want to get that call from you telling me, hey, the plumbing, the air conditioning.

So we make sure that everything is. I would only call you just to get some of things. It's true, very, very true. So that's interesting that you say that, Josh. What did your father do for a living that he decided to manage a fourplex? You is a computer guy. He worked out of Long Beach, but he inherited money. from his mother, you know, so he had to put it somewhere, so he ended up buying a porplex.

Well, that's a mistake. Computer guys probably aren't too savvy replacing an air conditioning unit or plumbing, so that probably was the problem, right? He was a mechanic in the past, too, but he was ultimately the do-it-yourselfer, and everything was stressful, everything was anxiety. Yeah. And I'm like, wow, I could not deal with that. What did I do to the family? I don't know it made me anxiety you know all the time you know yeah I'm like I can't do this to my kids I can't use this kid I need something more passive so I stuck with mutual funds most of the time mutual funds and etiups yeah and that wasn't cutting it no yeah I understand I understand so Josh what would you say has been

the biggest lesson that you've taken from this entire experience gosh I'd say you just have to have a leap of faith. You know, you have to find somebody that you can relate to and trust that's going to walk you through situations. And then you just got to jump. If you don't jump, today's going to be just like yesterday. You know, you need some variety in life. You need to jump into things and you have a little bit of faith. You got to go for it. Yeah. What would you do different from this point on now that you have several properties that you acquired? Anything that you would do different? I guess I would. I ask more questions because I tend to be a little more reserved. Yeah.

You know, educate yourself by more questions. Yeah. Because nobody can read your mind. So you got to jump in there with a lot of questions and don't be afraid to pick up the phone. This is. Make an email. Whatever it is, no matter how little, you got to ask. You got to go for it.

Yeah. That's great advice, man. That's my problem. Yeah. I just can't open up enough. I can't talk enough. I won't ask enough. questions. Makes me nervous. So I got to really, I got to work on that. Josh, that's interesting

that you say that because, I mean, I have personally worked with you. And I know that you've worked with, you know, once you go through the process, you get assigned a transactional coordinator that works closely with you as well. And you ask a lot of great questions. What makes you ask these great questions? Are you continuing to educate yourself? Do you constantly read about real estate, are you listening to podcasts? Like, where do these questions come from? Because you do ask them a lot. You know what? I don't listen to radio at all. I commute to work and there's no radio. It's all podcasts. If I'm not bettering myself, I feel like I'm wasting time. So whether I'm at work, you know, I got downtime, whatever, it's always on the podcast. I'm listening to everything you guys say.

Awesome. Awesome. All right. I'm always like, why didn't you talk about this? Tell me something. I'm talking to you guys. the podcast. You know, you can hear me, of course. That's so funny. Well, you know, Josh, you can always email us and we will address the question, as you already know. Awesome. You're busy, you're busy. We are. We are. And sometimes it takes us a few days to answer an email, but we always get back to you, even if it takes us a few days. So, all right, what advice would you give to a new investor that's considering buying and holding a turnkey property? I'd say, take those baby steps. Take those baby steps. If you have to, just pick up the phone.

Pick up the phone and talk to you. If you can't do anything, make that phone call because you're going to answer the phone. You know? And talk to you and ask you those couple questions. Write them down, ask some questions and get that feeling of a little more, I don't know, being more comfortable because it's all nervous energy. It's all fear. If you just sit there, it's too big of a leap just to jump in.

Make the phone call real quick. Talk to somebody. that's some great advice actually you just mentioned you know write your questions down and call or email that's like great advice because you know when you're on the phone i speak to so many people and they don't write anything down so when we're on the phone they're like oh i had so many questions and now i can't think of one so great advice great advice very cool okay so um we are just um just celebrated the new year and so what were part of your estate resolutions for this year. It's mostly just to get these next two properties. I can't see

anything past that. That is my first thing right there. So look too far in the future. It's too hard for me. You know, it's too much. So I got to get what is right in front of me. And those two properties, I can see, I have the money for those down payments. And I'm like, all right, I got this. I'll see as far as I can see right now. Maybe I'll go further a little bit later as I get there, you know? I love it. Yeah. That's all I could see. right now. Travel as far as you can see, and when you get there, you will see further. Absolutely.

Josh, you've inspired me. I love it. See, you said you were so nervous, and all you did was share a little bit of you, and I'm sure, Josh, that you resonated or someone resonated with you because you are not the only person that is feeling exactly the way you are feeling, and you felt to make a change. So Josh, thank you so much for sharing so much of you,

because you did share a lot, candidly, and I so appreciate that. And just thank you for giving Cashful Savvy a second chance or third chance, because I think we're acquiring two more. So thank you so much, Josh. Is there anything else you want to say

to our listeners? Oh, just jump in and go for it. Have a little faith. Make a phone call. Send an email. Do something, because Today is just going to be just like yesterday if you don't try something. Just go for it. You know, make that phone call, make that email. Do it.

I love it. Thank you so much, Josh. Have a great rest of your day. And I look forward to seeing you real soon. I actually look forward to helping you choose those two amazing properties. Great. Me too. Thank you so much.

Can wait to meet you guys and do it again. Awesome. Take care, buddy. Thanks. All right. Thank you. Bye-bye. Do you have doubts about your current plan for retirement?

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