Epic Real Estate Investing - Dave Ramsey Student Actually Succeeds in Real Estate + 10 LLC Secrets for Your Business | 1169

Episode Date: November 1, 2021

As a budding real estate investing entrepreneur, you will be faced, if not already, with the issue of whether to work as a sole proprietor or as a Limited Liability Company, aka LLC. There are pros and cons of both options and in today’s episode, Matt will help you decide which business structure is the best fit for YOU! BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! Stay tuned and you will find out why one of Dave Ramsey's students decided to reach out to Matt and what happened afterward! Ultimately, as always, you will hear the latest in the news and crypto updates that bring us together and set modern ideas on creating wealth!  Let’s go! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Terio Media. In today's show, a frustrated Dave Ramsey student came to me recently, having decided to ignore the famous financial guru's advice on investing in real estate. And you'll never guess what happened next. But first, as a budding real estate investing entrepreneur, you eventually, if you haven't already, will be faced with the issue of whether to work as a sole proprietor or as a limited liability company, an LLC. There's so much to consider.

There's pros and cons of both. And as we near the end of the year, you're going to want to make and be comfortable with the decision that you make and how you operate from this point moving forward. You know, once the year expires the benefits, and I'll go over the difference between the two and 10 potentially really good reasons for you to use an LLC structure. But if you wait too long, like past December 31st, many of the benefits that you may receive from doing this and setting your business up this way won't be felt until next year, like 2003. So before it's too late, let's take a look and decide what there is, if anything,

for you to do with your business structure. All right? Let's go. Welcome to the all-new, epic real estate investing show. The longest running real estate investing podcast on the interwebs, your source for housing market updates, creative investing strategies, and everything else you need to retire early. Some audio may be pulled from our weekly videos and may require visual support. To get the full premium experience, check out Epic Real Estate's YouTube channel, EpicRRII.TV. If you want to make money in real estate, sit tight and stay tuned. If you want to go far, share this with a friend.

If you want to go fast, go to reiase.com. Here's Matt. So there are three things to legally consider when running your real estate investing business. Should you operate as a social proprietor or an LLC? And ultimately, when should you make that decision? decision. So the first thing to consider would be the ease and the cost of your business formation. In the United States, a sole proprietorship is the most popular business entity because it's the easiest to form. And compared to an LLC, a sole proprietorship, it's less complex, it's less

expensive, and it demands less paperwork to get it started. I mean, you only really need to begin transacting business and you're essentially automatically a sole proprietor. Now, to establish an LLC, a limited liability company, you must form and register. And, you must form and register your LLC entity with the applicable state agency, often the secretary of state's office of where you're actually doing business. And you must draft and file articles or organization and pay a filing fee, which can be hundreds of dollars in some states. And if you have an attorney, do it for you, there would be thousands of dollars. And setting up an LLC requires more upfront time, requires more money, obviously, and effort than a sole proprietorship. So you'll have to factor that in

when deciding which route you are going to take. So that's the first thing. So that's the first thing. thing. Second thing to consider, the risks of personal liability. Under the sole proprietorship, you and your business are viewed as one in the same. Therefore, you have unlimited personal liability for all of the debts and all of the legal liabilities of your sole proprietorship. So I mean your personal assets, such as your home or your personal bank account, that could all be at risk to satisfy any unpaid debts, any legal judgments, and other legal obligations of your business. On the other hand, an LLC is a separate legal entity, and an LLC member is normally not personally liable for the LLC's debts or legal liabilities. So as an LLC owner, you're mainly putting your financial contribution to your

LLC, not your other personal assets on the line. However, as an LLC owner, you may still be personally liable for your own conduct or LLC loans in some cases. I mean, for example, you may still be responsible if you personally guaranteed repayment of an LLC loan or if your own acts cause harm to a third party or to your LLC. So I mean, you still got to stay within the law, right? Like any business person, though, it's important to consider appropriate liability and other forms of insurance to help protect your personal assets in your business. Right. So overall, the sole proprietorship, it tends to expose a business owner to greater risks of personal liability. Now, Assessing your comfort level with personal liability risk should be an important aspect of your

decision-making process. It seems like a no-brainer. But I flew by the seat of my pants for years before I ever got this all in order. And I really just kind of threw caution to the wind for much longer than I should have. And fortunately, I made it through unscathed, but in hindsight, probably not the best idea. I would definitely go about it very differently. So the third thing to consider would be the taxation of your business. and this one was really the biggest one for me, especially after my first real profitable year in business.

I really saw the impact. I mean, for federal tax purposes, sole proprietor's net business income is taxed on his or her individual income tax return at the proprietor's individual tax rates. A single member LLC is a disregarded entity for tax purpose. That is, it's taxed the same as sole proprietorship. But sole proprietorship and single member LLCs, may claim the full array of tax deductions for businesses. They both may also qualify for the pass-through deduction of up to 20% of business income established by the tax cuts and the Jobs Act for 2018 through 2025.

And so since federal income tax treatment, it's very similar on the surface. This factor may not play a major role in choosing between a sole proprietorship and an LLC for you, but consulting a tax professional, a well-versed one in real estate, because they're not all created equal. there can be significant differences. And I've made arrangements actually in case you don't already have a legal and or tax professional to consult for a free consultation for you to help you navigate the best decision for you for your business and your family moving forward. So if you'd like to take advantage of that, you can go to free entity.com. Freeentity.com for your free legal and tax consultation. I set it all up for you.

They are there and just tell them that Epic sent you and they're not going to charge you a thing. All right? One thing most don't realize, though, about the tax code is it is drafted to encourage business and investing. And this is really important because there's very little that the average person can do to reduce their tax burden. There's very little. I mean, aside from having kids, deducting some debt like mortgage interest and maybe college loan interest. And then maybe, you know, you could use some low-level financial vehicles like a 401. or a health savings account, which are all really not just tax deferments. They're not even tax savings vehicles, contrary to popular belief. But by being a business owner of real estate investing, you have seemingly, I don't know,

countless means to reduce your tax burden thanks to the IRS code. In fact, the IRS codes are written to not only encourage, but monetarily incentivize business and investing activity. You know, the government knows that the best way to get people to do something is through their pocketbook in, and they've done this to the point where, you know, you could view that one of the more patriotic things you can do is not pay your taxes. You know, you wouldn't hear that for, or know that from watching the news today. That's for sure. But what the masses consider loopholes that the rich unfairly have access to, but no, that's not what's going on. Those

loopholes are incentives for taxpayers to start businesses and make investments. It's what keeps the economy moving. It's what keeps the economy growing. And here's the thing. Anyone can start a business and anyone can make an investment, regardless of their socioeconomic status. But sadly, most people just don't. And then tragically and sadly, they blame the system for giving unfair tax advantages and benefits to the rich. So don't listen to that godly gook. Every American has the same opportunity to start a business and get access to all of the benefits of owning a business provides, particularly when it comes to your tax liability. And that is actually the number one tax strategy available to the average person, aside from the things that I mentioned earlier,

which don't have much of an impact anyway, but that is to start a business, whether it be a full-time or a part-time business, doesn't matter. And like I mentioned, sole proprietorships and LLC aren't treated that differently when it comes to federal taxation, but they can be with the right guidance. They can be treated significantly different with the right guidance. And further, you have additional options in how to set up your business entity. Like maybe an LLC is not right for you. Maybe it's an S corp or maybe it's a C corp or some other suitable entity. Now, with that said, I know saving money on taxes, it's not the sexiest subject in the world. Like we all want, we want appreciation, we want equity, we want cash flow. But your biggest expense in life, it is going to be your taxes.

Most people don't realize that over their lifetime, they're going to get at least 50 percent. or approximately 50%, some a lot more, of their income, their total lifetime income, to pay a tax in some form or fashion. Because it's like doesn't happen until later, it doesn't have this sense of urgency around it. But it really, if you get this taken care of and you do it the right way with the right guidance, it can have a significant impact on your bottom line.

And it's kind of tough to really recognize until that tax time comes around every year. And so everyone thinks they've got, you know, they've got time to do it because we don't have to do taxes for another year, taxes for another year. And that's kind of the mindset. And most just wait until it's too late to do anything about it. I mean, simply put, it works like this. When you don't have a business, then you'll get paid from your job. Then they'll automatically take taxes out before they give you your payment, before they give you your check. And then you pay for stuff with what's

left over. So you get the scraps to live on when you're an employee and you're not a business owner. So everybody gets their piece first and you gets what's left over. When you own a business, you get paid from your customers, then you get to go pay for all of your stuff, and then you're taxed on what's left over. So that's the big question. Do you want to give the government theirs while you live on leftovers as a non-business owner? Or do you want your share first and then give the government theirs based on what you have left over as a business owner? So the answer is pretty clear cut for most people. I mean, somewhat rhetorical, I guess.

But who knows? What I do know is there's not a real one-size-fits-all answer on how you go about it. So that's why consulting with a professional is really the best next step. But for now, here are 10 good reasons to form an LLC. Number one, LLCs are great for small businesses because they're adaptable to all situations. You know, no matter whether you have 100 silent investors or a one or two-person small business operation, And the LLC, it's so flexible that you can pretty much write the operating agreement to suit your needs. You can make your own rules.

You can tailor your entity to suit the interests of your business. You can really kind of do anything with it. I mean, if you can dream it up, you can write it into your operating agreement. So that's number one. Number two is to protect real estate assets. So the LLC is a perfect entity for real estate holdings. I mean, you just can't beat it. One advantage is that an LLC has dual liability protection that she has.

yields your investments from the frivolous lawsuits and that can be filed against people like us. And it happens every day, sadly. So if you, you know, if you, say you rear in someone in a parking lot and they sue you personally, they can't seize and liquidate your investment properties to settle the claim if they're held in an LLC. So really an important thing to do for your business, particularly as you start owning property in and building your portfolio, you want to protect those real estate assets. And that's how you can do it really easily with an LLC. built for that. Number three, to shield intellectual property. So, you know, unless you have a bunch of

important patents, placing all your intellectual property in separate LLCs, that's an overkill. I mean, you don't want your intellectual property. And in this, in our case, that might be your business brand, your business logo, your business name. That could be your intellectual property. But you don't want that to operate with the public. That's your operating company's job. So how do you link your intellectual property in your LLC to your operating company? Well, if you have the LLC that holds your intellectual property, lease the patents, the trademarks, or the copyrights, whatever it is that you hold, your operating company will lease that from your LLC for its use. Okay. So number four, to raise seed capital for your business.

So the LLC, it's quickly becoming the entity of choice for raising seed or angel capital, early stage investments under 500,000. thousand dollars or so. Whereas venture capital firms generally prefer to invest in corporations because they're most familiar with them. Smaller investors, they love limited liability companies. So the partnership passed through taxation allows investors to deduct their contributions. And if your little startup doesn't turn a profit, they can use the losses to offset other income. So that's a huge benefit to investors. And if the business fails, they may not get their investment back, but they'll still get a really nice deduction. applied to their taxes.

And that goes for your own personal losses as well, if any. I mean, this can really help with your startup costs, like your education, your marketing, maybe your business or office supplies, stuff like that. Because you kind of put a bunch of money up front. And, you know, if the company doesn't make a profit, then you can actually get that back via a tax credit. Number five, to plan your estate. So don't overlook the value of the LLC when you plan your estate.

You know, although it's a simple entity in comparison to some of the, the Uber complex trust that your attorney may recommend. The LLC provides powerful asset protection. LLC protects you not only from creditors, but also from probate lawyers and court costs. They allow you to avoid probate altogether, really, which means that your estate isn't subject to the nickel and diming that probate attorney siphon from estates as the court divvies up the assets.

All right, so that's number five to plan your estate. Number six, to do a short-term project. And what most people don't realize is LLCs were made for short-shunds. short-term projects. That's what they're made for. And when these entities were, when they were first introduced, they were never really supposed to live forever like they do now. That's why when you create your articles of incorporation, you're going to state a specific dissolution date or term the number of years that the LLC is to be in existence. Now, although most states allow you to extend the LLC beyond this term with a simple vote of the members, this scheduled termination of a company,

it's convenient for short-term projects, such as real estate development or fixing and flipping, something that has a, maybe you have a partner involved or partners, and there's just, there's a defined beginning and end of what this relationship is going to look like. The LLC is perfect for that, for those short-term projects. Number seven, to segregate assets. So segregating assets, it's vital in business. By segregating your business assets into individual LLCs, you put them out of the reach of your company's creditors or people who may want to sue you. And a lot of people incorrectly think that if they're operating as a corporation or an LLC, then their assets are safe. But that's not necessarily true. If you're like most entrepreneurs, your business is your

biggest asset. So if you lose the ability to operate, you are doomed. So your business may be protected from your personal creditors and you may be protected from your business as creditors. However, what protects your business from its own creditors? So if your LLC gets sued, everything inside it can be seized and liquidated. Even worse, the courts can put a lien on your company and then do an asset freeze, which means that you have zero access to your operating capital. You can't write checks. You can't receive funds from clients. You can't do anything.

So the best way to fully protect your assets and your access to them is to keep no assets in the operating company. Instead, the company uses leased assets, least assets. In this case, say, you own the leasing companies or your business does. And each asset is put into a different LLC. And then each LLC then leases these assets back to the operating. company. So that's how you segregate your assets for further protection. Number eight, to minimize your tax burden. We've talked about this a little bit, but when you first go into business, chances are your company won't be profitable right away. Building up a business it takes time. And in the first

year or two, you probably will incur thousands of dollars and losses, maybe tens of thousands of dollars depending on the business and the amount that you are committing to it. And so a lot of entrepreneurs that that they're eager to soften the financial blow of the startup phase. What they do is they decide to form an LLC. Because with an LLC and its default partnership taxation, the losses of the business flow through to the members so they can use them as deductions for other income. And so this is really helpful in the beginning,

particularly if you've kind of taken this on as part-time job and you are still working a full-time job and say your real estate investing business loses money, you may be able to take those losses and apply it to keep more of your day jobs money. Right. So definitely want to check that one out. There are some nuances to it. But for the most part, that does apply to everybody.

Number nine, to change the profit distributions. And the LLC's profits can, they can be paid out disproportionately to the actual ownership percentages. So you and your partners can set up the company so that you receive all the profits and losses, even if you own only say 10% of your company. And so why would you want to do that? Well, a common reason for changing the distributions is to provide an extra incentive for investors. For example, say if one investor contributes all the capital and they're going to get 50% of the company. And that's pretty common when we see that because we'll have one person be the money person

and another person will come and be the equity, the sweat, the management person. However, the profit distributions can be varied so that, say, your capital contributor receives 100% of the profits until their investment has been paid back. And then the profit distributions can so return back to what would be considered, like you say, a normal partnership. Say now you're 50-50. And like the profit, it's split equitably amongst all the members. All right.

So that's number nine. To change the profit distributions. Number 10, to protect your personal assets. And mentioned this a couple of times, but I just want to go a little bit deeper because it's really important because when you spend your entire life saving for retirement, I mean, your children's education. or even that second home that you've longed, you know, you've been dreaming about. Nothing is more crippling than losing it all in a lawsuit.

I mean, if you're like most people, you currently hold all your personal assets in your own name, your savings account, your cars, your mutual funds, your stocks and bonds. So start by forming an LLC, better yet, form a series of LLCs, maybe. Then contribute all your personal assets to those LLCs and make sure that they're isolated from one another. That way, if a debt arises pertaining to one of your assets, than all your other assets are safe. So there are many benefits to running a business inside of an LLC or using a number of LLCs.

But with that said, there may be an even better solution for you specifically. And given the time of the year, you're going to want to get that sorted out right away as if your time is running out. You likely will be able to retroactively recoup any losses or expenses that you had this year, even if you haven't set up your LLC yet. But those possibilities, they start to disappear pretty darn quick. almost the blink of an eye when the calendar year ends. And then you're going to have to wait until the next year to benefit.

So consult your legal and tax professional. And if you don't have one and you want to get some answers before you start writing a bunch of checks to them, I arranged a free consultation for you at free entity.com. And if you like what they have to say, they'll even set up your first LLC for you, essentially for free. After state filing fees and a small fee for the lawyer, it amounts to far less than what you'd expect to pay elsewhere for an entity like this. So if you're ready to get this part of your business resolved to separate your personal assets from your professional ones and maximize your tax savings, take the first step.

That first step, it's free at free entity.com. Because you're the captain of your own ship. You should know the top 10 tax and legal strategies that you should be implementing. And if your accountant and your lawyer, they can't talk about them on the fly. right, you've got the wrong team. Not all of these professionals are created equal, particularly if you are going to specialize in real estate. There are some nuances there.

There's some amazing advantage that you're going to want to take advantage of that are available to real estate investors and real estate business owners that aren't available to your everyday investor and business owner. And so you need a team that's specialized in real estate. So if your team can't talk about this intelligently and just kind of like rip off little little strategies and they, basically if you're not feeling that they're competent in what they're talking about, because our BS detectors will go off, right? And if there's doubt or there's, there's explaining of this is why you can't do it, you want a team that's going to explain to you

why you can. All right. So you want that team. And you should not know more than your legal team. That's what I'm trying to say. And so if you want to start fresh or get a, get pointed in the right direction and get that free consultation, then go to free and Entity.com. Thanks for sitting tight while we pay our light bill. We'll be back. Right after this. Boarding from flight 246 to Toronto is delayed 50 minutes.

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Play Ojo. Boating will begin when passenger Fisher is done celebrating. Plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Concerned by your gambling or that if someone close to you, call 1-8665331-2-6000 or visitcomnetonterio.ca. Ever hear someone say, I have too much money? Me neither. Let's get you some more. Back to the show. Dave Ramsey, financial guru, will do nothing to help you retire early. But he's got a good story. You see, he battled his way out of bankruptcy and millions of dollars. of debt and built a career around changing the toxic money culture for good. And he's helped a lot of people over the years, I can imagine.

But here's the problem. Some of his cornerstone tenants are to eliminate all debt, save money, invest 15% of your household income and qualified retirement accounts, and pay off your home early, all of which are sound, time-honored financial advice. But the cost is far greater than most consider. Here's what I mean. I received this message from Ryan, a private client of mine. This came to me a year after we were working together.

And it reads, Hi, Matt. Just wanted to take a moment to say thank you. While we haven't yet attained our passive income goal to where I think it will make sense for me to leave my corporate job, we are well on our way thanks to you and your help and coaching, yada, yada. We have an actual functioning business that is growing and profitable. You see, Ryan is a former Dave Ramsey student who, after following Ramsey's advice for a couple of years

and very successfully at that, was simply left wanting more. Exercising great discipline in living below his means, making sacrifices to save for retirement and pay off his home early. And living a life of no real luxury, though, while his wife, Emily, homeschooled their five children. You know, he was left wondering, is this how life is going to be from here on out? You know, Ryan's a good guy.

He's not one to complain, but he does have ambition to live a greater than mediocre life and provide comforts and nice things for his family. And this traditional advice had him feeling a little frustrated and dismayed. If that sounds familiar to you, you're not alone. I mean, how could you not feel discouraged when you're following the steps of a seemingly prudent financial plan and you still can't take time off from work and give the life you really want to give to your family?

So when he reached out to us here at Epic, I told him, you know, one thing that always works in accelerating a financial plan, particularly this traditional. is to reorder the sequence of the plan. And that's easily fixed by just simply shifting your mindset from saving piles of cash to creating streams of cash. And the easiest way for the average person to do this is to incorporate income producing real estate into their plan and making a priority. And I'll let you see how it turned out for Ryan in just a minute. But Ramsey recommends investing in real estate be the last thing you do and then do it the wrong way at that. But I don't know, you tell me. These are Ramsey's six steps to real estate investing.

Step one, pay and cash. Step two, diversify. Step three, stay local. Step four, be prepared for risks. Step five, start small. And step six, hire a real estate agent. Step one, pay in cash. He says there's no such thing as good debt.

No ifs, ands or buts. Taking on debt always equals taking on risk. So avoid it no matter what. That's his advice, verbatim. And step two, diversify. He doesn't want your real estate investments to comprise more than 5% of your liquid net worth. So in order to pick up a $200,000 income property, very middle of the road for these days, Dave says you need to have $4 million of liquid funds from which to pull your cash for your

all-cash property purchase. Now, I got it. Dave doesn't like that. But his advice for investing in real estate eliminates real estate's strongest wealth-creating quality, leverage. And his advice essentially limits the asset class to people who are already wealthy. Per his signature seven baby steps, the ones that Ryan was following, Most, and I mean most people, will never get there, of which keeps the average person away from the safest investment that has produced more wealth for more people than anything else. All right, step three, that one doesn't bother me, but it's certainly not a deal breaker, not by any means. Step four, there's some wisdom there. Step five, I don't mind that one either. Now, step six,

that's not necessary at all. In fact, most real estate agents don't know diddley about investing in real estate. It could be potentially riskier to rely on one. You know, for the short time when I was an agent, I was shocked by how many agents didn't own any real estate at all, not even their own home. Now, I'm sure Dave includes this one, the sixth step, due to the money real estate agents pay him to promote them. But that's a big part of Ramsey's business,

so that makes sense and it doesn't bother me that much. Now, Dave frequently refers to his own bankruptcy in his financial advice. He's got experience in doing it all wrong, which I think is, valuable as a consultant. But he blames using debt to invest in real estate for his going broke. And I don't know why he would say that if he didn't think it were true, but from what I've read and what I've heard, I would challenge that by suggesting that that ain't the reason. But rather, it was the type of debt he was using combined with his approach to investing. Now, I put

investing in air quotes because Dave participated in highly risky speculative flipping practices. using short and expensive 90-day loans. I would never recommend this approach. That doesn't count as investing in my book. It's speculation. It's gambling. Ramsey bit off more than he could chew and this debt it caught up with him. He's not a bad guy for this, by the way.

I've made my mistakes too, and I'm a better investor because of them, and likely he is as well. The loans he was using were so risky that you'd be hard-pressed to find a bank these days that would give you such a loan. Even the banks realized this was a losing proposition for most of their customers, so they themselves stopped issuing them.

It's tragic that Dave walked away from real estate with the wrong lesson and that he collapses his speculation approach into actual real estate investing. So when Ryan decided to just ignore Ramsey's real estate advice and do it the right way, here's what he shared with me after his first year. Number one, added five rental units to my portfolio, estimated $1, $1,475,000. per month and extra monthly cash flow. Number two, bought a single family home needing renovations for $40,000 and sold it on land contract for $90,000 with $6,000 down and $1,000 per month for 16 years without doing any repairs. Number three, bought a single family home on 10 plus acres that

needed a complete overhaul and sold it on land contract. Purchase price of $39,000. I borrowed $42,000 from a friend at 8% interest for the purchase. I then sold the property. for $92,000 with a $30,000 down payment and $800 per month for 10 years. Number four, bought and sold a house on land contract where I made my investment back, plus a few grand, and then the buyers owe me another $15,000 within 12 months. Number five, wholesale four properties for $60,000 in assignment fees. Number six, between flipping and just plain old buying low and selling higher, turned over four properties for a profit of $90,000.

Number seven, two flips were underway at the end of 2020. One is now listed and estimated profit will be $40,000. And I bought the other with creative financing and plan to list that flip next week for an estimated $20,000 in profit. Number eight, I acquired two additional properties at really low prices that are still waiting for me to either rehab, rent, and refinance, or just flat out flip. So summed up, Ryan's first full year investing in real estate, 19 transactions completed. No silver bullet with regard to. to marketing style. Some deals came through pay-per-click, others through text messaging, and others through direct mail. He increased his passive income by $3,200 per month. His net worth increased by $500,000,

all in one year, his first year. Can you imagine how long it would take following Dave Ramsey's baby steps? Increase your net worth by $500,000 and receive $3,200,000 in monthly passive income? Well, let's take a look. Per CNBC, Nerd Wallet, Business Insider, and Forbes, the average net worth of today's retiree at the age of retirement is $1,175,900. So for the average, it'd take half of a lifetime to accomplish what Ryan did in his first year. If you were to look at the median net worth, $212,500, it would amount to your entire working life to accomplish what Ryan did in his first year in investing in real estate. You see, when you do it right, real estate works and everyone deserves a chance to know that it does and how to make it happen for themselves. Once you know, it's then your choice of which plan to follow. I mean, if you are happy with the path that you are on,

then don't change the thing. Don't listen to me. But if you're not happy, like Ryan, you've got options. But before you make that decision, consider this. You know, when I asked earlier, following that time-honored financial advice of eliminating all debt, saving money, investing 15% of your household income and qualified retirement accounts, and paying off your home early, I mean, that's nothing you've likely never heard, and you may even be subscribing to some or all of that wisdom yourself. But what's the cost? Your life. Or at the very least, half of it.

Please stand by. We've got overhead to pay. We'll be right back. Canada can be a global leader in reducing the harm caused by smoking, but it requires actionable steps. Now is the time to modernize Canadian laws so that adult smokers have information and access to better alternatives. By doing so, we can create lasting change.

If you don't smoke, don't start. If you smoke, quit. If you don't quit, change. Visit unsmoke.ca. Mainstream media is ripping us apart. is news to bring us together and make some money in the process. Contracts to buy U.S. previously owned homes unexpectedly fell in September, likely as some potential buyers delayed purchases amid higher prices.

The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday, its pending home sales index based on signed contracts decreased 2.3% last month to 116.7. Pending home sales fell in all four regions. And for the largest generation in U.S. history, the American dream of owning a home could fall short due to lack of supply, according to Century 21 CEO Mike Meadler. Meadler appeared on Fox Business Mornings with Maria on Monday and said millennials are storming the housing market and Generation Z is not far behind. However, a supply pinch could stand in their way. They're all looking for this piece of the American dream, he said. We would literally have to double the pace of our development in the world.

in order to keep, you know, the supply that we need for these big generations coming into the market. Despite medium home prices spiking, Meadler also pointed out that home ownership remains more affordable than it was, and lower interest rates have also helped younger buyers with their first big purchase. We're at a place where interest rates are putting affordability in people's pockets. And in fact, folks don't recognize this even when the prices where they are today, they're still more affordable than they were literally in the last decade. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say Meadler is a subscriber to the show. I mean, how else would he know all that?

And what he didn't even say, and he's absolutely right. The interest rates have come down despite how expensive the houses seem with the interest rates, they are more affordable today. And then when you factor in inflation, it's a no-brainer. They could potentially be the cheapest they've ever been. We've talked about that a lot here. But anyway, a historic Tennessee town could be all your. for the price of just $725,000.

The town named Water Valley is about an hour south of Nashville near the famed Neches Trace Parkway. At just seven acres, much of the town was incorporated into neighboring William Sport. Nashville-based real estate broker Krista Swartz, who's handling the sale, told Fox television stations on Saturday that Water Valley ceased being recognized as a town after its post offices closed. The purchase would include a few buildings, including general hardware and sporting goods stores. There's also a creek and a barn on the property. Prospective buyers could potentially be their own mayor, their own barkeeper, and their own antique store owner. County officials, meanwhile, would handle all of the roads and the water. So you get to make the decisions and make the rules for your own little town if you get Water Valley, she said.

And dating back to at least the 1890s, the town was once known for its apple orchards and has been sold at least four times over the decades. Shaquille O'Neill's Windermere, Florida, mega mansion has sold for $11 million after more than three years on the market, several real estate agents and an array of price tags. That final sale price is solidly below the $16.5 million the home was most recently asking and a whopping 60% less than the $28 million asked that the 15-time NBA All-Star first tried to net for the property when he first hoisted it onto the market in

2018. The home of the future might look a lot like toothpaste. 100 3D printed homes are set to be squeezed out of a nozzle in the Austin area in early 2022, forming the largest 3D printed neighborhood in the United States. The development, a partnership between the home construction and real estate company Lennar and 3D printing company Icon will be a test for the technology. If the neighborhood attracts residents, it could suggest that 3D printing is a viable solution to the home construction industry's labor shortage and supply chain issues. So here's how a goop, a big pile of goop, becomes a home. Icons 15 and a half foot tall printers,

they squeeze out layers of concrete-like soft-serve ice cream. And in a week's time, they can print the exterior and interior walls of a one-story 2,000 square foot home. But don't expect a big discount. According to Lenarth, the 3D printed homes will be priced similarly to a other homes in the Austin area, a city recently described as the capital of homes selling at super premiums. And if we zoom out just a little bit, supporters of 3D printed homes, hope the technology's cheaper building methods and more environmentally friendly assembly can offer solutions to the

housing crisis and traditional construction's carbon footprint. Hertz, fresh outfits purchase of 100,000 Tesla's will offer 50,000 of those electric vehicles as rentals to Uber drivers. Holiday sales in the U.S. could boom as much as 10.5% over last year, according to a forecast by the National Retail Federation. And the Winter Olympics countdown is down to 100 days. And if you have your eye on the calendar, then you know it's that time of year again when people put away their Halloween decorations and everyone starts getting ready for Christmas. Also, it is the season that the McRib makes its return to the McDonald's menu. On Twitter, the company announced that the sandwich will return to McDonald's menus starting November 1st. And speaking of gluttony,

We are about 30 days out from Thanksgiving and given higher prices for everything from turkey to cranberry sauce. It could be the most expensive meal in the history of the holiday. But on the bright side, we will all be united complaining about the same thing for once. It's not a passing fad. It's the future of money. What happened this week in cryptocurrency? Payments giant MasterCard to allow all merchants and banks to integrate crypto into their services.

MasterCard is massively expanding crypto access for businesses as well as consumers. The FDIC chairman just stated that regulators are looking at how U.S. banks could hold Bitcoin. Jelana McWilliams, the chairperson of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, has said the agency is working with other regulators in the United States to explore under what circumstances banks can engage in activities involving crypto assets. The New York Stock Exchange continues listing Bitcoin, BTC, linked exchange traded funds, ETFs, with Bolt Equity becoming the latest company to debut such a product on the exchange. The American retail behemoth, Walmart, has begun a crypto pilot program

that involves installing Bitcoin ATM machines at 200 of its outlets in the United States. The pilot program involves the firm CoinStar, which operates the machines and is rolling out 8,000 devices across the country in partnership with the crypto exchange, CoinMe. Now, I've been reporting on this show for a year now, talking about cryptocurrencies, talking about how it's going mainstream, and these household names like a Walmart or a MasterCard and these big institutions, like now we've got exchange traded funds on the New York Stock Exchange. The whole world is preparing for commerce that is going to involve cryptocurrencies. That's buying and selling goods. That's making these investments. Cryptocurrencies are taking over. Every day there's a brand new

name involved. You do not want to get left behind. I mean, it For example, today, Matt Damon is going to be the face of crypto.com as the cryptocurrency platform is seeking to lure new users to its service and bring the industry into the mainstream. Because it's happening. I mean, this week, crypto exchange operator, Coinbase, their mobile app hit the number one spot on Apple's U.S. App Store, making it the most downloaded app in the United States over the last few days. overtaking TikTok, bigger than YouTube, bigger than Instagram. So if it's not sinking in yet, I'm going to keep reminding you. And that wraps up the epic show. And if you found this episode valuable, who else do you know that might do?

There's a really good chance that you do know someone else who would. And when their name comes to mind, please share it with them and ask them to click the subscribe button when they get here. And I'll take great care of them. God loves you. And so do I. Health, peace, blessings, and success to you. I'm Matt Terrio. Living the dream.

Yeah, yeah, we got the cash flow. You didn't know home boy, we got the cash flow. This podcast. is a part of the C-suite Radio Network. For more top business podcasts, visit c-sweetradio.com.