The Personal Finance Podcast - The Bulletproof Scaling Method In Real Estate (And How to Evaluate Repairs!) With Andresa Guidell

Episode Date: April 5, 2023

In this episode of the Personal Finance Podcast, we're gonna talk about investing in real estate with Andresa Guidelli. How Andrew Can Help You:  Join The Master Money Newsletter where you will become smarter with your money in 5 minutes or less per week Here! Learn to invest by joining  Index Fund Pro! This is Andrew’s course teaching you how to invest!  Watch The Master Money Youtube Channel!  Ask Andrew a question on Instagram or TikTok.  Learn how to get out of Debt by joining our Free Course  Leave Feedback or Episode Requests here.  Thanks to Our Amazing Sponsors for supporting The Personal Finance Podcast. Chime: Start your credit journey with Chime. Sign-up takes only two minutes and doesn’t affect your credit score. Get started at chime.com/ Thanks to Ka’Chava For Sponsoring the show! Go to kachava.com/pfp and get 10% off on your first order.  Shopify: Shopify makes it so easy to sell. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at shopify.com/pfp Policygenius: This is where I got my term life insurance. Policygenius is made so easy. To get your term policy go to policygenius.com and make sure your loved ones are safe. Hello Fresh: Check out Hello Fresh www.hellofresh.com/pfp50 and use promo code PFP50 for 50% off your first order and free shipping!  Links Mentioned in This Episode:  Generational Wealth: You Come First Conference Connect with Andresa Guidelli Website Facebook Group Instagram Podcast  Connect With Andrew on Social Media:  Instagram  TikTok Twitter  Master Money Website  Master Money Youtube Channel   Free Guides:   The Stairway to Wealth: The Order of Operations for your Money  How to Negotiate Your Salary  The 75 Day Money Challenge  Get out Of Debt Fast  Take the Money Personality Quiz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Find your advisor at IG Private Wealth.com. On this episode of the Personal Finance Podcast, we're going to talk about investing in real estate with Andresa Gio Deli. What's up, everybody? Welcome to the personal finance podcast. I'm your host, Andrew, founder of MasterMoney.com. And today on the Personal Finance Podcast, we're going to be talking about real estate with Andresa G.U. If you guys have any questions, make sure you hit us up on Instagram or TikTok at Master Money Co. And follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or whatever podcast player.

you love listening to this podcast, too. And if you want to help with the show, leave a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. So today we are going to be talking to Andresa about how you can actually build wealth in real estate. And she is one of the co-founders of the InvestHer Network where they help women learn how to invest in real estate, how to build generational wealth with real estate as well.

And today we're going to be talking about the bulletproof scaling method. In addition, one of the core things that she is amazing at is learning how to manage contractors and how to manage rehab. She has done a ton of different rehabs within properties. So we're going to kind of deep dive into some of that stuff so that you can learn how can I manage contractors and how can I make sure that my rehabs go smoothly. In addition, we're going to talk about some different ways

that she likes to build wealth and how she thinks about generational wealth as well. So I'm really excited for you guys to check out this episode. Without further ado, let's welcome Andresa to the Personal Finance Podcast. Andresso, welcome to the personal finance podcast. Thank you so much. It's a pleasure of being here. So we are really excited to have you here because you are a real estate master. And you've been doing this for a long time.

And you have a really, really wealth of insight when it comes to investing in real estate. So I'm excited to dive into some of the stuff that we're going to be talking about today. And I think there's a lot of cool things that you've talked about in the past that I think are really, really helpful for a lot of our listeners as well. So tell us a little bit about yourself and your real estate investing journey. Sure, absolutely. All I can guarantee your listeners is that I'm going to share the good, the bad, and the ugly behind the scene. Right? Because I don't believe there's a journey that there's like, oh, you never made a mistake or anything like that. So that's what you guys can expect from my interview today. I was born in Raising Brazil and moved to the U.S. to get my master's degree, started investing in 2011.

And my main focus was in rehabbing projects. And then from there, moved, not moved, but migrated, I would say, to new construction and building a rental portfolio that includes also short-term rental. At that time, that short-term rental were like, oh, you're a weirdo. You have people coming and go away, right? At that time, there was no regulation, and it was something very, very new. And nowadays, we invest out of state. And we're looking actually now in luxury short-term rental. We can dive in if you guys want to. And, larger apartment complexes. So that's the niche. And meanwhile, my business partner and I build the real estate investor community, that it's a community to serve women in real estate to get the

support that they need to live life on their own terms. I think that's absolutely incredible how you support women throughout this journey. Because I think a lot of times when it comes to real estate, it's just so helpful to have that community in place and have people to surround you so that you can actually go through the process and have these mentors in place as well. I think it's so cool how you guys have that set up. And one of the hardest things to do in real estate is learning how to scale. I remember when I bought a couple of my first properties, I realized very quickly that scaling is very, very important when it comes to real estate. So what are some of the things that we can go through here is, you know, learning how to grow some of those properties and multiple properties

and stuff as well. But you have a system called the bulletproof scaling method. Can you explain what that is and how it works? Yeah, absolutely. And for many people, when you hear the word scaling, people are like hundreds of hundreds of houses, it might not be your case. right? Scaling might be from one to five houses. So how can you do that without losing your hair and also living a life that you want to live? So what I want to make sure people understand is that when you have that conversation with yourself, usually investors are having that conversation with themselves. They're like, there's no way I can do five times or ten times what I'm doing now. And you're right. You can duplicate chaos. So,

The number one thing is that's not the proposal to duplicate chaos and different niches all at the same time, right? So the goal is to really master what you have going on. If it is a flip, master that entire process before you start duplicating. And then when you start adding teams, for example, I went from giving step-by-step standard reporting procedures to my team members. where the more that I gave help, the more they ask for help. And then it was like that codependency that didn't allow me to scale. So I went from hiring note takers to hire thinkers, people that really know more than what I do and they pull me, they inspire me.

They do the SOPs now. They take it to the next level. I know my core genius, which is in systems and processes. I love that. But not necessarily I need to be working on that from a day-to-day operations. I can work on that from a strategic operations. But for all of you that are listening, like I hate systems and process, can even think about automation and all of that, this is great news because then you need to find somebody

to do that for you. And that is part of the scaling process. I believe many people struggle trying to be all things that they're not good at. And then they don't understand why they're stuck or unmotivated. That's why, because it really sucks the energy out of you when you are doing something that you really don't want to. Or it's sitting down right now, all of you, you can look at your procrastination list, which are those tasks that are sitting on your desk for the past six months, you know they need to be done, but you're not doing them.

So in order to scale, you got to look at what do I have in place in terms of problems, teams, who do I need? Not how. Don't worry about the how. Focus on the who do I need here. What am I good at? And what I'm not so good at, I'm going to hire somebody to do this because that's how you're going to scale. If you're trying to scale by yourself with the current chaos and trying to be a master across the board, that's a recipe for getting stuck. Absolutely. I couldn't I agree more. And I think a lot of times, a lot of early real estate investors, sometimes they try to do everything. Even if, you know, the property needs to be renovated, they try to do the renovations and they try to go in there and do that part of it. They try to go find the properties. They try to do every little

piece of real estate. But really, if you want to scale in real estate, you got to have to hand it off to some other people, just like you're talking about here, and have those standard operating procedures in place. If nobody's ever heard of standard operating procedures before, there are two books I can recommend on that. One is traction and the other one is called the E-Mith. And they kind of walk you through how you can set some of these up and some of the systems that you can put in place as well, because they are so incredibly important anytime you build a business, especially when it comes to real estate, because you have to have these in place because once people come into your business, they have to know exactly what they need to do next and how, for example, to order materials

or how they can do any of those other procedures as well. So I absolutely love that thought process in that system. So if you were starting from zero and you wanted to scale maybe to 20 units, because a lot of people who listen to this podcast are interested in things like financial independent. So they want enough units to be able to cover their living expenses every single month. And that is one cool way to do that is through real estate. So say, for example, you wanted to get from zero to 20 units. What systems would you put in place day one to try to get to that goal and achieve that goal? I would actually get very clear on the goals, right?

What is the lifestyle that you want to live in five years from now, right? Do you really need five units, 20 units, 100 units to live the lifestyle? And then you started working backwards, right? I wouldn't recommend somebody to put CRM in place or different tools to project management if you don't have projects to manage, right? And I'll give you a very clear example. I started doing one property and then I scaled to two properties. And then I started getting very overwhelmed and I said, no way I can handle a third property. But then a good deal came through and I couldn't say no to it.

And then a fourth deal came through and I couldn't say no to it. So I was forced to really create process and systems in place. I went from, I'll give you a very quick example that I should have done earlier, I went from ordering all the finishes at Home Depot or Lowe's going there or picking them in person and trying to carry a, imagine I'm five four, trying to carry a toilet to my contractor that was waiting outside. it's a waste of time, 100% right, all the time. And then I was like, people really like the finishes and the properties are in different locations. So why I just don't duplicate this?

So what I created was a finishes list, right, on my Home Depot business account. And then I just reorder everything. Ultimately, my GC went there to pick it up. And that was it. And I just duplicated everything. And then I went from not ordering anything. Now you guys order it because it's the same thing over and over again. The finishes of the properties that I was working with, it didn't require customization, right?

I wouldn't use the same thing in a million dollar house. Of course not. But I created a process. Okay, option one, option two, option three. You use that. So for those of you that are starting out, think about what is taking a lot of your time. Think about time. Time is your biggest asset, right?

So if it is like picking finishes, if it is time management with your contractor, right? How many times are you going during the week? And what can you do there in order to be always two weeks ahead? What type of planning you need to do it? What type of planning you need to do prior of higher contractor in terms of scheduling, payment plan, what expectations are, and everything else? So those are like the foundation, right? creating the expectations regarding your time and everything needs to be in the cloud.

100%. It doesn't matter if it is one property to 100. Everything needs to be in a cloud organized because you can be at the job site and be able to open up your architect drawings in a heartbeat or your payment plan in a heartbeat to really check what it is. You can't rely on your brain when you're scaling it because then you don't know. I was doing 15 projects at the same time. I don't know where we're at. I got to rely on my processing systems. Without that, if you don't have that in place when you're scaling it, the money and the time is going down the drain somewhere.

And that is the biggest problem I usually see. It's very true because from day one, if you start to put those into place, the more that you grow, it's already going to be in place for ease. You can save that time. You can actually grow so much faster that way because you really do waste a ton of time, like you said, running to Home Depot, looking for the right product. And you go through the thing, and all of a sudden half of your day is gone just by doing that piece of it. So that is definitely something that you want to start very early, especially if you want to scale very early. So I love

that. So one big question that we get a lot right now is people are looking to find properties and they're having a hard time to find properties, especially in a time where it's pretty competitive right now. So what is one of your favorite ways to increase deal flow, especially during times like this where it's pretty competitive? Absolutely. It's all legit, right? Right now we are in a, I would say a patient game. Yep. Right. And people who handle pressure well will do well.

Those that freak out because they didn't buy a property the past three months and just they quote unquote need to buy it to keep the status quo or to show off or whatever that might be will make harsh decisions over there. So for those of you that are listening, my favorite the hands down technique to find good deals is driving for dollars, walking for dollars. It doesn't cost a dime. If you walk, it doesn't cost a dime and save you at the gym, right? So walking for dollars in really like mapping out the territory that you are looking at and observing, observation, I have found the best home runs diving for dollars. Driving for dollars is just like my number one strategy. I don't do it

often. However, it is the most quality because I can see it. I can see the worst property in the block. The neighbors don't like that. It's empty. I can tell because of the grass or the snow. So there's a lot of cues that you need to observe when you're driving for dollars. Talk to people around what's going on. They know who's going to move. Who has passed away? What is the story about it? And it's a very, it will be a smaller list, but a more qualified list. I like that better. I love that too. And if anybody, we've talked about this in the past, but if anybody doesn't know what

driving for dollars is, it's where you go through a neighborhood and you look for properties that may be run down, maybe their grass is really long, the paint is chipping off the house. And you can just tell somebody's either not taking care of it or somebody doesn't live in that property. And once you find those properties, you write them down in your phone or something like that. And then you can go back and try to contact the sellers, look for the seller's information. A lot of people do it via mail. I'm not sure how you do it, but that's how most people do it.

And then you can find a lot of really great properties this way, and you can find them off market this way, too. And that's what we're really looking for is finding these off market properties because you can get some great deals that way as well. So that is a fantastic way to look for properties, and it's a great way to beat out the competitors because a lot of people aren't willing to do the work. And I think that is one of the cool things that you can do when it comes to this as well. I remember when I needed to hire someone fast, but finding the right person quickly felt

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experience in managing rehabs. And I think managing contractors is a big, big thing for a lot of people. And so for each project, you've got to find a contract that's actually going to fit that scope and figure out exactly how to do that as well. But first, I want to talk about kind of how to evaluate these repairs. So the way you make all your money in real estate is obviously when you buy the property. It's up front and making sure that you actually assess the property correctly. So what tools do you use to run your numbers when you run the numbers on a property? Well, I think that there's different ways, right? If you're going through a house that is a shell, which was super scary at the beginning, right? You're like, oh my gosh, just had three walls, barely has three walls. But that's a good thing because everything

is open, right? When not everything is open and you're not looking to open all the walls, that's when the question marks starting going up, right? So my first walk through, I have a spreadsheet, where I go from the top to bottom or bottom to top, whatever you prefer. But I'm observing all the four corners. I don't care about the pain and the details. I'm caring about the mechanicals, the roof, the big items, right? The roof, the mechanicals, electric, HVC, plumbing, all of those big items that I'm looking for. The other item that I'm looking for is can I build up or can I build back?

can I add square footage to the properties? There are a way that I can do this here. And the layout, there are some layouts that are deal breakers for the style that I'm looking for. Position upstairs, for example, that cuts the property in half. That doesn't give a good flow. So I'm looking for deal breakers where I'm evaluating everything. Since I've done a lot before, I already get out with my number in my head.

However, for the folks that are starting out, I highly recommend to walk through with a GC. And you start building the relationship with a person there. That's not the first time you're going to be meeting the person. I just want to make sure that that's clear. The vetting process I'll share a little bit later. But if you don't feel confident about it, have a GC. There are properties that I need to have my GC because there is a crack on the foundation, let's say. Or there's something that I like, never seen this before at all.

What the hell is this system over here? My question is how much is going to cost to replace it or to repair it or to even take it out of the house? Can I keep it here? What's going on here? So I rely on my experience, but also on experience of others. And that has been the mantra the whole time, especially at the beginning. I don't know what I don't know. My eyes are not trying to see any.

anything. So walk through with a general contractor that you previously vatted. That makes complete sense. And has there been anything that you've really looked for when you walk through these properties? Is there something that you can utilize to like kind of minimize mistakes? I know you have the GC kind of walk through there, but are there very specific things and costs that you look for to make sure that you minimize those mistakes? Because I think a lot of people when they first start out, a lot of folks that I've talked to when they're starting out, they mess up the rehab costs. So either there's two things you can do here. You can either look for these very specific things or you can obviously add a cushion when you run your numbers as well.

Do you do like a combination of both of those things? Yes. Yes, absolutely. So if there are already a kitchen in place and the bathrooms in place, I don't care about the finishes, but I do care the location of the plumbing, right? Because I don't want to move that. But if there's something here, it's like, oh my gosh, why did they do this? Or that's not going to work. How to run plumbing the opposite side of the property. That is dollar signs. So what I'm looking at is don't worry about the cabinet, but worry about the position of the plumbing.

Are you going to have to move that or not? The desirable option is like, don't have to move any of the plumbing, don't have to rewire the entire place, HVC is in place, or any cooling and heating systems is already in place. The rest, I don't worry about any of that. but moving those big items, that is high cost for me. Not that is a big deal, right? If I have to, I need to take that in consideration, of course, and then we can go from there.

Do I lift the carpet to see if there is wood underneath? 100%. I'm looking for that because that's going to save beyond installing new hardwood floor instead of just refinishing what there is over there. So I'm looking to ways that I don't need to replace the whole thing. in case he's not a shell. Exactly. And I think that is one, I've moved plumbing and stuff like that as well. It's really not a big deal once you do it one time. I think a lot of people get scared of some of that

stuff. But once you do it one time and have, you know, you're not doing it, but somebody else is doing it for you. It's not a huge deal, but it's a very expensive deal. So that's the other side of it too. You just got to make sure, like you said, you're looking for these things so that you actually make sure that you have those costs up front when you're running the numbers on these properties. And depending on where you are, you got to get permits to it. Right. So it's not just the physical fact that somebody needs to go there and move it. You got to go through plumbing to the city in many cases, get the approval and they get inspection. So all of that, it's time. And time equals money. So don't think, don't look at that is only the cost of the plumbing,

right? Because there's much more around it that counts. And that's a great tip as well because that time can cost you a lot of money. So one of the best things to do is if you're new to this, you can also, talk to some of the permitting offices and see how long this process takes and then add time on top of that because usually they take longer than what they say. Yeah, right. It's kind of having that in play to make sure that you understand how much time this is actually going to take. So the best thing to do is a lot of times I'll call them and just kind of talk with them and they usually give you some decent information as well. So I want to also shift to kind of how to manage some of these rehabs because for each project, you obviously have to find a contractor that's going to work with that project.

And obviously with your apartment buildings, you maybe have a specific contractor. and then you have maybe have another one if you just buy a single family house that you rent out. So when you go through this process and maybe you find a property, how do you interview contractors and make sure you find the right one? I think that it's like a matchmaking, right? You got to find the contractor that match the scope of work. You don't want a sophisticated contractor that does new construction to do your turnaround on your rentals and vice versa.

So what I usually do is that I meet them at their current job, something that I am looking to do. So if it is new construction, I would like to meet them at their job site, new construction job site. And I usually do not meet at lunchtime because I want to see the workers. You're going to think about all the questions I ask, and I'll share a couple of them over here, but all the questions that I'm not going to ask, but I am observing it. I'm observing it the contractors arriving on time to meet me.

How are the crew over here behaving? Is there music? I like music. I like a good vibe. And I'm observing how clean is this space because that's going to be a picture of my job. Exactly. Right. And if I'm walking with a private money lender in the future, that's what the person is going to be seeing it.

Is that a good thing or not? But while I am there, I'm asking about that specific project. So how many people you have working over here? What does your schedule look like? How many other projects like this you have on your pipeline? How many projects can you manage at the same time? That is super important because they might be available now, but my project is going to be available to get started two months from now.

So how is the GC schedule then is different? So all of those questions are super important. I think that this pre-qualification or vetting process will determine how smooth is going to be the project management. And if you skip that, you bet. You're going to have to spend a lot of time managing that contractor. But if you spend time on the vetting process and getting the paperwork regarding contract, a very detailed contract, detail scope of work, payment plan, scheduling, waivers, all of that in place prior, you're setting yourself up for success managing the contractor because you're guys both on the same page regarding expectations. Absolutely. I think those are some great tips as well because I've gone through some of that process where you know, you just, sometimes you just find the wrong person for the job. And then I do that very early on. I remember doing that. And it just takes so much more of your time and your energy to actually manage that person instead of just finding the right person and doing the vetting process up front. And a lot of people are probably noticing a theme here. A lot of real estate is, you know, doing the right things up front so that you can have success later on so that you can save time, save energy, save money, all of those different things. So how do you actually, when you develop these standard operating procedures that we've been talking about, very

very early on. How do you actually kind of, you know, make sure that they implement those in rehabs as well? Well, I wish I could say to you was so easy, right? I created that and they implemented it and then we de-end. Like, that's the end of the story. It was not like that. I started creating it because a lot of miscommunication, a lot of miscommunication. I was robbed many times, right? I pay for upfront and they run with my money. I was like, what happened? We shook hands, right? And then my lawyer was like, well, but that was not on your contract over here that you were supposed to pay.

So we can't, we can't fight back to get that because you just gave it in good faith, right? So a lot of assumptions. I assumed that when I say, let's say hardware for the doors, they're not thinking, the round and gold ones, right? Wrong. Wrong. So, all wrong. Like hardware is for the kitchen cabinets. I had a conversation with one of them that says to me, I didn't know you wanted hardware to open your kitchen cabinets. I was like, how am I supposed to open them? Right. Unless it's a, what? So don't make any type of assumption. And I learned that. I had to create those SOPs because I made a ton of mistakes. And I was like, this is ridiculous, taking a lot of my time having to explain all over again and again and again.

So little by little, I started building, as I mentioned, the finishes list, like a clear scope of work that I still use it. So I created a master scope of work as if the property is a shell, right, and separate it in buckets. And then for every property, I use that and I take out everything that doesn't apply. and I improve every time because I was like, oh, that was not clear. Yeah, I was not clear with the GC, the type of grout that I want him or her to use in the bathroom. Or what are my standards there? And during my walkthrough, I am observing it, right? I am observing.

The most important thing, of course, safety and following the code. But the perceived value, you don't have to buy expensive times. You need to get that tile that the perceived value is there, that's timeless, that people can see themselves there. And I walk my open houses as if I am a buyer. And I hang out with the people that are looking to buy. And I make comments, oh, I like this paint. What do you think? It's like, oh, I like it.

It's so tranquil and calm because I want to know their feedback right there. Because that is telling me, okay, good to go with the paint, which has been using since to 2011, never change. It's the same. We'll be the same. I don't want people to worry about, like, oh my gosh, if I don't have all of this, not going to be successful. One step at the time and start building your scope of work and improve as you go. Improve as you go. Little by little, you improve as you go. Everything that takes your time or irritates you, that's a sign that you should be putting a standard repairing procedure for that. And I love that. And I love that you talk about, you know, you use the same materials and all your rentals because one of the cool things about

that is, is there's a bunch of different reasons why you could do this. And I've heard you kind of talk about this too, where like you could think about something like McDonald's, for example. They use the same materials forever inside of their business. And that's kind of how you run that business. It's the same thing goes for real estate. And there's a number of reasons why you can do this. But one of which is, you know, if you're utilizing the same materials, everybody knows what material you're going to be using. But in addition, if you have leftovers, you can use it for the next property. There's a bunch of great benefits to that. And it just helps you streamline your business if you're using those same materials. So do you use, for example, I know you use the same

paint and every single one. Do you use the same flooring, everything else all the way through, say, for example, all your apartment buildings? Is that how you operate it? No, apartment buildings is completely different ballgame. But it really depends on the price point of the property, right? Rentals, we don't use hardwood floor, for example, right? And sometimes with the supply chain, I had to really pivot to not my preference, but what is, in stock right now, right from this brand and shift a little bit since 2020 because it's a completely different type of market. We couldn't wait to get certain things.

So we had to really adapt to what it's in stock. And I give my DCs really like the green light. Listen, if you don't see this faucet here, look for something similar. And usually they say they shoot me a tax or a boxer and say, hey, would this work? All right, cool. Just go for it. And they have their own suppliers as well.

So I'm not attached to it, but I'm preserving my energy. It's not where I want to put my energy in this state of my life. Picking finishes, picking a faucet, spending an hour to pick a faucet. The return on my investment there is very low. So I empower them to say, this is just a guide over here. But if it is not, if you don't have it, share with me what options do you see there that it's available. That's what we had to do with the pandemic.

And I love that shifting to, you know, just get something close enough where you don't have to keep making these decisions over and over again is a great way to kind of think through that as well. So I want to shift you here and ask you a couple of questions that we ask a lot of our guests because we get some cool answers out of this, some of these as well. So the first one is what part of your work or life makes you come alive? It's one of the hardest thing and the good thing, right? So when I decided to get a divorce and really reinvent myself, and I had to think about what is working or what is not working in my life and what do I want my life to be about.

And it's much more than being a real estate investor. And I think that real estate is a tool for me to live the life that I want to do. So my work with the real estate investor community is to do the same with other women. I get that real estate is your thing, is the tool. But what else is behind there? How can you build generational wealth and live that right now and set the next generation for success? And when I see the woman coming and say, listen, let me tell you, let me update you on our last conversation and what happened since then from a real estate perspective, from a business perspective and from like self-care perspective, too. So I love seeing that, that it's just not me.

it's not about me anymore. It's about, okay, how can we really shift how the real estate industry looks like for women specifically? That's incredible. Absolutely love that. I love what you guys are doing on that side of it as well because it's just a kind of watching how you guys are growing, especially your community, your conference, which we'll talk about in a second. But all those things are absolutely amazing. So I love that.

The second one is what is your biggest fear when it comes to money? I believe that it's when I think about the next generation, right, my son, he does not. need to be a real estate investor. He could be a tattoo artist or he can be something else, but he really needs to understand how the game of real estate works so he can leverage that. And my biggest fear is like, I just wanted to sell everything, just like I've got to travel the world, right? I don't believe I'm raising a child that it's nauseous like that or entitled like that. That's not what I want. I might put everything in for charity before I passed.

But that would be my biggest fear that my legacy ends when I die. I want him to really embrace what his life is all about and then leave it to his children if he decides to have children or making impact on other people's lives. So they can continue it. But my biggest fear will be if my legacy dies when I die. I can absolutely see that as well. I have two young boys and I can see that same thing.

You work so hard to build up all this wealth. and you want to make sure that it's preserved for their life and to give to others and all those different things as well. So I like that one as well. What the third one is, and we asked this one, because a lot of people just like to get new ideas and stuff. So how do you plan to level up your finances this year? Oh my gosh. Every time that you level up, right, you got to face your demons. Yeah, exactly. It is not a joke. And I don't think a lot of entrepreneurs talk about it because you can see different things and I'm like, oh, it's going so well, well, but there's a lot of things not going well, right? So we are actually in the process right now. We have been working with

a bookkeeper and CPA for many, many years. And we're going to have an integrator right now really creating very robust, beyond QuickBooks projections for us. So we can really start planning two, three years ahead, really strategic. And it's, even though I like systems and process, it gets to a point that you're like, I need a break, like, so I can think, right? But it's a good thing because it means that I'm getting out of my comfort zone here, and we're committing to really elevate this company if we want to really take it to the next level. So it requires us to really get out of our comfort zone, level up our leadership, and hire people that know more about what we do. So that's it that we are right now there.

That's a great one. So you're living out exactly what we're talking about here, which I absolutely love it, putting people into place to kind of do some of the things that you don't want to do to help you grow, which I absolutely love that. So the next one is what is the best money advice you've ever received? Let me pull my crystal ball over here. Because listen, as I evolve as an investor, as a business owner, as a human being, I like contradictory approaches. So what worked for me in the past, well, first of all, I had no money advice before until I was in my second master's degree that I was like, well, am I paying for my entire master's degree, $75,000 cash? Why didn't get a credit card and start leveraging that? Can I answer that? Because I didn't have the tools for it. And then you start, okay, emergency fund and then really building a business that runs on its own. And then recently came across this book called Die with Zero. That's a great book. Shifting a little bit in terms of of how can you live your legacy now and have experiences? So I wouldn't say I exitate to give money advice because as I'm growing,

I am shifting around and testing out so many different contradictory advice about money. All I can tell you is that you have to have a pulse. You have to have a pulse on what comes in and what goes out, 100% no matter what strategy you're looking to do, if you're looking to save or spend everything in experiences or really devote to charity, whatever that is, you got to have a pulse. And you got to look, looking at your bank account balance is not enough. You got to really dig a little bit deeper. And I highly recommend the book, Profit First for that matter. Profit First is one of the best books out there as well. And so is Di was Zero. You mentioned two great books there. And what you're doing there

is you're looking at two different perspectives, which is really important for a lot of other people to do as well, that's how you learn and you grow and you can see both sides, which I love that. The last one is my favorite one. So what does wealth mean to you? Well, I've been in a lot of conferences, right? And I was thought that wealth means the number of doors that I own and the checks that I waived on Instagram and the pictures in front of the cars. And I couldn't relate to that, right?

wealth to me is doing what I want, whenever I want, with whomever I want, as often as I want, being in charge of my time. I'm here right now talking to somebody because I have that freedom of time to do that. And that is what I love to do instead of being somewhere in a cubicle where people are telling me how much am I worth, how much my time is worth. Nothing wrong with that because I did that in order for me to get where I am right now. But I am living what success looks like to me, being able to pick up my son at school if I desire, take him to soccer practice, swimming or whatever I want, whenever I want. That's what wealth looks like to me.

I love that. I love that. I love that. It has nothing to do with my real estate assets. Exactly. That's the biggest thing is it allows you the time, the freedom to do whatever you want in life. so I absolutely love that as well. Well,

and Dressa, this has been absolutely amazing. Where can people learn more about you, your conference, podcast, everything else, let us know everything where people can learn more about you. Absolutely. You guys can find more information about us and Instagram at the Real estate invest her.

And we are hosting our second annual conference in Scottsdale, Arizona on May 18 and 19. And the theme for this year is generational wealth. We're going to talk about A to Z. They're investing internationally, but setting up the key. for success in the future. Sharon Lecter is going to come to talk about how can you build a company and exit rich.

If you decide to sell the company, what do you need to put in place? So it's going to be 500 people at an Omni resort. We rent an entire resort for ourselves. So everybody that's going to be there is an investor looking to live a big life. So I invite you guys to join us. That's absolutely incredible. We will link it all up in the show notes down below as well. and that conference sounds amazing because generational wealth is what this podcast is all about.

So that's absolutely amazing as well. Well, thank you so much for coming on. This has been absolutely great. Thank you. I really appreciate. I hear it serve. Rosen lasagna, medium power, 15 minutes. Sounds like Ojo time.

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