From Green Beret to Real Estate Entrepreneur: Faith-Based Service with Quinn McArthur

00:00:00
It. Quinn McArthur joins us on this episode. He's a former Green Beret in the US Army West Point graduate, and spent ten years in the army and pivoted to focus on real estate development and raising capital for different real estate projects. He's now working with a friend of mine, Eric Sharag, on the legacy Land fund, and that's something you're definitely going to want to check out. What comes through for me in this episode is Quinn's devotion to his faith, his values, his family, adding value to others, and just his service.

00:00:44
He certainly had an outstanding military career and service there, but then it comes across and becomes very clear that Quinn is very much focused on serving others and adding value across the board. So not only are you going to receive practical value with regard to potentially investing with Quinn through his land node investing and real estate investing, but also just for anyone who's ever had to make a decision regarding should I leave my job, should I switch career paths, should I start a business, how do I balance family life with my professional career? We focus a lot on that and how that plays into identity, how to take the long term view, how to rely on others. Quinn talks about how he tends know rely on himself a little bit as far as just rolling up the sleeves and doing hard work, but realizing through the years that it's better to rely on your team members and your faith to help carry you through the hard times and that way you can impact as many people as possible. Just a fantastic guy, a fantastic interview.

00:01:59
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00:02:21
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00:02:50
Turn your adversity into From Adversity to Abundance Podcast. Welcome everybody, to another episode of the from Adversity to From Adversity to Abundance Podcast podcast. I am your host, Jamie Bateman, and I am pumped today to have with us Quinn McArthur. Quinn, how are you doing today? Doing well, Jamie, how are you?

00:03:07
I'm doing pretty well. It's sunny, it's cold here in Maryland, but I'm vertical. These are two good things it's sunny and I'm vertical. You're welcome anytime down here in Florida, man. Come on out.

00:03:22
There you go. What's the weather like down there? Oh, it's freezing today. It got below 60 today. It's freezing cold.

00:03:30
It's rough. I feel terrible for you. So Quinn is the founder of Apex Capital. And I know Quinn, you're also working a co founder of the Legacy Land Fund. We're going to get into some of the stuff you've got going on.

00:03:47
But for the listener, who are you and what are you up to today? Yeah, I appreciate it. Yeah. Like Jamie said, Quinn McArthur, married of twelve years, have three small children. I live in small beach town called Pontavidra beach.

00:04:02
It's right outside of Jacksonville, Florida. We're a christian family, so we try to stay focused on stewarding what God has given us and serving others. And one way that I've done that is through my vocation in full time real estate investing. So a bunch of investments going on in the commercial real estate space, but the one I'm most excited about is the Legacy land fund that we just launched earlier this year. That's awesome.

00:04:31
We're going to dive into some specifics as much as we can later in the show on that new fund that you have going on with Eric Sharaga. So Quinn, let's jump into your backstory. I know you are a west point grad and a former green Beret, which I think the listener is going to find fascinating. We were chatting a little bit before we hit record, and you've had some phases in your life and some life decisions to make as far as your professional, your vocation versus family life and kind of how you want to have things play out from a lifestyle standpoint and financial standpoint. Jump back into your backstory, if you would.

00:05:16
And why'd you join the military?

00:05:24
I wish I could say that it was because to serve my country and of course that was part of it, but it was really seeking adventure. I had some friends, some family friends that had went to West Point and had served. And I looked up to them. They were mentors of mine. So I think either from childhood I was taught christian conservative values.

00:05:51
And at an early age I was always taught to kind of serve. So that was always part of it. And so when I got the chance, when everyone was kind of graduating from high school and going to whatever university, when everyone was zigging, I zagged and found myself at West Point and then jumped into my army career. Yeah, that's awesome. Similarly, really, the reason I served was to try to be a part of something bigger than myself, and I definitely wanted some adventure as I can.

00:06:37
I can appreciate all of what you just said. So tell us a little bit about your experience at West Point and then your time in the army. Well, again, I wish I could say West Point was a blast. First years are pretty rough, and then you kind of come into your own in the latter years. I had a great army experience, though.

00:06:59
I mean, I served active duty, ten years in the infantry in the kind of the first half, and then later in special operations. And I had great units. I served with amazing soldiers, had great mentors, commanders, challenging deployments, certainly. But I felt like it was, as I mentioned, kind of growing up with strong values. It was almost like a training ground to kind of prove yourself and then kind of, like, hone your skills and kind of live out those values to.

00:07:36
Where were you deployed? Man, like everybody, we were all over the Middle east, and then my particular unit I was with in special operations, we were all over Central and South America. Got it. So I imagine you have taken some of those principles from the army and applied them to the rest of your life. Is there anything that comes to mind right now as far as just one or two principles or lessons you learned through your army experience that you've incorporated into your life?

00:08:06
Man, I think the biggest thing for me was the army is pretty regimented, obviously, and they give you your task and purpose, but you'd be surprised that. Well, you know how it is. But I think some people would be surprised at the ambiguity sometimes of your mission set. And so you're kind of given a task and purpose, but how do you accomplish it with limited resources. And so that kind of that gray area that you live through day in, day out, deployment after deployment, training cycle, after training cycle.

00:08:43
I didn't realize it at the time, obviously, but it was kind of a perfect training ground for entrepreneurship, kind of like, hey, I know where I want to go. I can set goals, and I have a vision, but how do I get there? What do I do right now? What do I do in this quarter, in this year? Yeah, I think the military, there's so much planning that does go on.

00:09:07
In some ways, it's like overkill, depending on what the whole MDMP process, I'm not even sure if that's still a thing. But there's so much planning that goes on, which is critical, but then the reality is nothing ever goes to.

00:09:27
I mean, there are a couple of quotes about that. One is from Mike Tyson. And the other is an actual military related.

00:09:37
So anything about planning? I mean, planning versus real life. Any insights there? No, I think you hit it, and I'm terrible with quotes, but I know what you mean, like when the bullets start flying or when you get punched in the mouth, like all your beautiful plans go out the window. And then as an officer, as you know, you're like, okay, this is how it should be.

00:09:57
We're going to plan this out. And in your mind it's great. And then, man, it never goes according to plan. And you just got to kind of pivot and be flexible. Luckily, had great ncos around me and other support that would kind of keep me on track.

00:10:18
Yeah. And I think it's critical that you do that planning and practice because then you still have sort of principles and I guess a North Star to go back to when things do go awry. Because, you know, it's the contingency planning. It's kind of like all the what ifs. And it's almost like the military teaches you, forces you to list them out, hey, what could happen?

00:10:43
And without deliberately doing that, half of them aren't going to happen. Most of them aren't going to happen. But the one that does, it's like you've at least brainstormed. You've just kind of molded over your head. I think it directly applies to investing and everything else.

00:11:05
So ten years, that's kind of the tipping point. Or typically ten or twelve years. Once you've got maybe twelve years in, most people are not getting out of the military. Right, because you're so close to that 20 year mark. So obviously there was some serious decision making going on at that point in your life.

00:11:25
Take us behind the curtain a little bit and let us know what was the context and why did you get out of the military? Well, yeah, you're right. First of all, ten years is kind of like, hey, you're kind of promotable to major and hold the carrot out for, hey, we'll send you back to school and you go to this cool school and go here and there. But for us, for us, my family, it was a very deliberate decision, one that we thought about and prayed about for quite some time. Obviously, you kind of know what's coming.

00:11:54
Because of my deployment cycle, I had missed, really, the first two years of my son's life. And so we learned that we were having twins. And so that was a fairly easy decision. Kind of hard in the sense that I invested so much time into what I was doing and I was doing well. And again, great units and great commanders.

00:12:18
I was like, man, I was on a good path, but family came first. Sure. So the primary reason was just focus on the family, stay close to home. I didn't want to miss any more of the important things. Yeah, well, I can say, I mean, I did eight years in the reserves.

00:12:36
I did about four years of active duty time within that eight years. And I never had any goals of retiring from the military. To me it was like there was some internal pressure from the military to stay in, but to me it's like, well, most people don't serve, so I feel like what I've done is good. The reserves are certainly different and I was not in SF by any means, but yeah, I felt like I was constantly missing birthdays. And the higher up you go, the more responsibility you have, just like anything else.

00:13:14
And one week in a month and two weeks per year is not really accurate in reality. So it's like there was a lot of just opportunity cost on the family side for me as well. And I mentioned to you before we hit record that I missed our first three wedding anniversaries due to the military, which it looked like I got scared and ran off. But that doesn't do a whole lot for your marriage if you're not home. So it's hard.

00:13:51
I don't have stats in front of me, but I'm sure the divorce rate in the military, certainly in SF, I would guess, is higher than across the board, outside of the military. Do you know if that's true? I don't know the stats, but I mean, those guys are studs. They sacrifice so much. And it's kind of interesting.

00:14:10
It's kind of like the guys who are single and without families. It's kind of like, well, shoot, you can do that training cycle. You can go on the appointment. It's like, well, there's a reason why. Because you keep pulling me, the men and women out there still serving.

00:14:27
And even though it doesn't look like there's not much going on in the world, there's so much activity for sure. So what was that like from an identity standpoint? You touched on it a little bit. You've put so much time and training to become this person. I know there's more to life than just your military career, but that's a big part of it at that point.

00:14:54
Right. So what's going through your mind from a personal standpoint? And I guess I'd say just relationship with yourself and your view of yourself and who you are. What was going through your mind when you got out of the military? Yeah, I think identity crisis would be too strong, but definitely struggles emotionally, mentally.

00:15:18
I'd invested so much time, effort, energy, and so did my wife and all of my family. Just the stress of it all. And then to just kind of just pivot and move was very tough. It's kind of like I made the decision all for good reasons, but then for the first several months, if not a year or more, you're kind of, like, second guessing. And it became really clear.

00:15:47
And actually, it surprised me how much my identity was tied to my job and what I had. I was a detachment commander. I was doing this and this, and it was kind of a wake up call. And so luckily, I have great mom and dad, great siblings who great friends surrounded me. That kind of pointed me back to, hey, your identity is not in those things.

00:16:19
It's bigger than that. Right? It's bigger than that. And my christian faith tells me that I'm more than that, and I'm a child of God's, and I'm loved. No matter what I do, I'm not tied to what I do.

00:16:36
It's who I am. No, it sounds like a real period of pain, but growth at the same time, usually that's what happens, is the growth comes out of that pain period for people, I guess. What would you say? There's no one size fits all, right? There's no one answer for everybody out there.

00:16:57
Everyone has a different situation. All those caveats aside, what would you say to someone who might be thinking of a career change or might be thinking of quitting their job and launching a business? How do you know when it's the right time to make that major move? Is there anything you can point to as far as knowing when the timing is right?

00:17:23
I mean, it's definitely something you think about and you pray about, and you don't make any rash decisions. How do you know when the time is right? I think for me, and I think could be applicable for others.

00:17:44
Again, it's just going back to your purpose, kind of just doing some soul searching and kind of figuring out, like, why you. Why you want to make that pivot. You know, if it's because things are just not how you prefer them, and. And it's. It's just kind of you're going through a phase, then maybe you stay.

00:18:01
But if it's. If it's. If you know that the reason why you want to move is achieved, like contributing towards your long term vision, then I think that might be the answer that you need to kind of make the decision. Sounds like you had surrounded yourself also with just a lot of supportive people in your world that may have given you wise counsel during that time. Is that true?

00:18:36
That's very true. I mean, starts with mine, my wife, Amanda. Like I mentioned, my, you know, church. Absolutely. Yeah.

00:18:48
So, okay. And the biggest reason that you got out, really, was the stress on the family was overwhelming or. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but is that what the main factor was? Yeah, it was really twofold. I don't feel like I was running away from anything, but more so, wanted to focus on the family, but also kind of had an itch to do my own thing.

00:19:15
I wanted some autonomy. You can imagine how the army is. They have a way of telling you what to do and when to do it. And so I was like, man, I'd love to kind of create my own schedule. Right.

00:19:33
Choose my own adventure. Absolutely. I think for me, one of the things that's surfaced on this show is asking yourself, even if. I don't know if this was helpful for you at the time, but I think for making big decisions like that, asking yourself even if. So, yeah, you can do all these what ifs and for planning, that's important.

00:19:54
But even if I quit the military and I start a business and that business fails, I'll still be okay because of my faith in God or support from my family or the greater purpose that you talked about. Right. So just asking yourself, even if this goes wrong, I'll be okay. Right. You probably could have joined the military again if you wanted to.

00:20:26
It's scary to make the jump, but to me, and the way I'm able to kind of maybe make the shift in my head is like, it's almost more scary to think, what if five years from now, ten years from now, you look back and you're so regretful that you didn't make the jump? That's even more scary. Absolutely. I know. I couldn't live.

00:20:48
Yeah. Well, I think that's an excellent point, actually. That gets glossed over too much. That's risky. Sometimes not doing anything is actually riskier than actually taking the jump.

00:21:01
Right. I'm not saying everyone out there listening, you should quit your job tomorrow. I don't know, but I absolutely had the same thing. I worked for 14 years for the Department of Defense, and my transition was a little slower because I worked seven years part time, and then I finally resigned. And it wasn't from the military in that case, but it was still hard to think through that.

00:21:35
Yeah, it just, you know, you've gotta. I think my regret would have been too big if I'd, you know, I. The regret would have been bigger had I not left and done my own thing. And so there's a lot of risk in trying to play it safe as well, if you will. And I think it's true for some people.

00:21:58
I mean, I feel like we're both kind of saying, hey, do it. You'll regret it if you don't. But I think it's true also for people who are like, there was people that stayed in the army that I. Was like, hey, they should have stayed. Correct.

00:22:11
They were made for this. 100% lifers. Right. And then some people who are, like, great employees, they love the projects that they're managing. They like to.

00:22:23
Couldn't agree more. So it's like. Absolutely, entrepreneurship is not for everyone. We're not saying everyone should make this drastic leap, but I still think it's important to know that there are a lot of people out there who might. Maybe it's just switching jobs.

00:22:41
Right. Or something that's maybe not quite as drastic as getting out of the military, but you don't want to look back and regret not taking a chance or not living your higher purpose because you were scared or you didn't think beyond the day to day. Okay, leaving the military is one thing, but how did you know which direction you were going to go after that? Gosh. So a lot of my counterparts, most people just kind of, for lack of better options, hey, go back and get your MBA.

00:23:18
Kind of like, don't know what to do. I'm going to go into I banking or go into consulting. For me, I just didn't know. I knew I didn't want to be a consultant and travel from be gone most of the week. I knew I kind of wanted to do something with.

00:23:36
My father in law was in real estate, and some of my friends and family were in real estate. So I'm kind of like. I kind of knew a little bit about that. And for me, it wasn't like I was called to real estate, but it was more like I felt like God was kind of closing doors in other areas of my life. Well, that got closed.

00:23:54
That got closed. And for me, I was living in Destin at the time, and I had a great opportunity to kind of do, like, an internship at a real estate development company and definitely sought it out, but jumped on an opportunity to like, hey, low risk, let's try it for six months. Let's put some time and effort into this and kind of, let's see. And I saw, for me, it validated what I kind of knew about real estate, and that was that a lot of impact can be made with a small team.

00:24:31
It's rewarding financially, it's impactful in the community. It's impactful personally. And I saw that firsthand close up. Close up and personal throughout internship. And so I was like, man, this is it.

00:24:43
And so I just closed all the rest of the doors and just started kind of running in that direction. So again, where people were kind of zigging to the NBA route, I was like, I don't know, for some reason, almost like a contrarian in that way, kind of like, well, I want to do something different. So I didn't know many other people doing, like, just jumping into real estate, but for me, it made sense. Well, I mean, I still hear the common thread, the thread through your story of service and making an impact.

00:25:17
Yeah, you said it's financially rewarding, which is awesome, right, for you, but that's also for your family. But it sounds like really more what you're focused on is making an impact and taking your faith and your experience and your background and parlaying that into your future and making an impact and still serving and still being a part of something bigger than yourself. So I think that thread is from the military through into your real estate and investing career seems to be consistent. Okay, so the internship, what did that turn into then? It turned into a full time gig for about a year.

00:26:00
And, I mean, cut my teeth as kind of a project manager. So, I mean, just budgeting and scheduling, and it was managing people, which I had already kind of done in the army, and then leveraged that experience to a degree to jump into a bigger commercial real estate development shop in Orlando, where just a tremendous exposure to the world of real estate. I feel like most people jump into commercial real estate as an analyst or in the brokerage side. Through a couple of connections, I was able to kind of get a pretty good seat in a development role where I can see the full lifecycle of a deal, from acquisitions through project management, asset management, and then all the way to investor relations and the financial modeling and everything else. Everything in between.

00:26:56
To answer your question, internship to full time at that same place, and then to a larger development shop doing larger deals, more complex deals. Well, it sounds like that first after the internship or the full time job. First full time job was with a smaller team, right? You said smaller team, smaller market, more hands on closer to the deal. Closer to the.

00:27:22
Sure. Yeah, it makes sense why, when you're with a smaller team, you're having to do everything. You're at least involved in each step of the process. Yeah, I think that's one thing I was really intentional about not doing, was getting pigeonholed. I saw some of my colleagues, I guess you could say, kind of go down a route, and it's kind of like they know one thing really well.

00:27:51
But that, to me, was a mistake, at least for me. I kind of want to see all the different things.

00:28:04
The leadership lessons and experience that you and I both have from the military, I think, are transferable across pretty much any industry. Not saying it's easy to lead people. I'm not suggesting teamwork is a breeze and managing people is super easy, but I think your background and mine is pretty well transferable across multiple industries, which is nice. So got into commercial development, and then talk about Apex capital. What was the impetus there?

00:28:42
Yeah, so I launched Apex Capital, and the impetus was really, again, at the commercial real estate shop that I was at. I mean, just a great place to learn, great exposure, great boss and mentor and friends around me surrounded me. But again, it was just I wanted to choose my own strategy, wanted to choose my own deals, wanted to choose my own partners. I wanted to kind of impact communities and have impact in my own way. That was really the impetus.

00:29:18
Again, it wasn't really running away from that, but I guess another thing would be, we were living in Orlando at the time, and, you know, I felt a little bit stuck, you know, because we didn't. We didn't love the area. We were. It just wasn't for us. And, you know, so that we didn't have the freedom to kind of be where we wanted to.

00:29:41
We moved from Destin to Orlando, and it's kind of like, hey, man, if I'm going to be in Florida, I kind of want to be by the beach. So we were trying to get back to closer to family and closer to the coast, and I didn't have that ability. So I was like, look, I got to. Right? Okay, so launching Apex capital is when you went from a w two employee to an entrepreneur.

00:30:08
Is that true? Yes. Okay. Talk about that transition, because we have a lot of budding entrepreneurs or solo entrepreneurs, newly someone who just started a business, maybe they have a side hustle. What was that like?

00:30:22
The military transition was a big one away from the military. What was it like to leave your w two and start a business? What's going through your mind at that point, besides the lifestyle stuff you just talked about. Yeah, another kind of scary transition. I, too, had kind of a side hustle that I was leaning into on weeknights and weekends.

00:30:44
And then I feel like I was fortunate enough to be at a place in my w two that it was pretty entrepreneurial as it was. So I kind of got to make my own moves there, to a degree. But again, it was a step of faith, and I felt some open doors and kind of took the leap. Yeah, well, again, go ahead. No, to me, it's like if apex failed or your next venture failed, I think you could find another job.

00:31:23
So I'm not saying it's easy to make that transition or just everyone should throw caution to the wind. But even if you tried and failed, quote unquote failed, you can likely go get another w two. So the risk. And if you zoom out enough and take the long term view, the risk is usually a lot lower than it might seem. Like in the moment, this is me just projecting a little bit.

00:31:50
But any thoughts there? No, you're right. And I feel like maybe I'm painting the picture that is like, oh, yeah, I decided it, and I made the leap, and it's worked out. There was tears in the making. I'm reminded of a deal I did with a gentleman, that he made a lot of money on this one transaction, and one transaction.

00:32:14
And, I mean, we did well. We executed the business plan, but he quit his job, and he took this long vacation to Europe. He took his mom with him, and he was gone for a month. And I'm like, hey. And he's like, I'm quitting.

00:32:31
It's over. I'm like, hey, hold on. This was one deal.

00:32:38
I don't know. I'm always praying for wisdom and discernment, so I think it's awesome. You never really arrive at that, but you kind of have to just take steps and plan contingency plan. Yeah, well, and like you've said about just, you do have to pivot based on what doors are open and which ones are closed. And there's a lot more.

00:33:04
Like you mentioned, you glossed right over, but it was long term in the making. We love to look at everybody who's successful as an overnight success or, oh, he's an entrepreneur and he's just killing it now. And he never put in any work beforehand. And no, for me, I was working part time for seven years while I was building my businesses, but I was still holding that w two and didn't really necessarily want to be, but it was the furthest thing from an overnight success. But I think a lot of the listeners can relate to the fact that they want that control and that lifestyle that you've been able to create, it sounds like, and I think the military will do that to you in some senses.

00:33:57
So I guess. Now, what does your day to day look like today?

00:34:05
Again, it's different every day. A lot of phone calls, a lot of partnership calls with the different ventures I'm a part of a lot of due diligence, scanning through a lot of potential deals that turn out to be duds or just things you choose to pass on. Sure. I usually try to spend my morning hours in kind of deep work, if you will. Kind of just head down, focused on long term stuff and try to ignore the inbox, try to ignore the.

00:34:33
Try to not schedule too many calls unless I have to.

00:34:38
And then the afternoon is kind of like, all right, put out some fires. That's when is what's apex capital. So is there a typical deal or typical client that you work with? You don't have to necessarily do a case study for us, but what does a deal look like that you've worked on before? Yeah, sure.

00:35:04
Well, I'll just talk about. Our latest one is we partnered with a developer in Atlanta, so we raised the capital for out parcel development. So it's a build suit, Starbucks, a ground lease on a gas station. So just developing the out parcels in front of a mixed use community there. Okay.

00:35:26
So it was a market that I knew a developer that kind of was acquainted with. So I felt comfortable. And then with my development background, I felt comfortable underwriting the deal. And kind of just, to me, it's less about what's the strategy and more about who's executing the strategy, especially in real estate, when it's a complex type deal. And having sat in the seat of a developer and on the GP side and as a deal sponsor, it's kind of like, hey, I know how crucial it is to get the execution right.

00:36:05
Well, absolutely. And there's no question if you're investing as a passive investor, this is not financial advice. Neither of us are giving out financial advice, but the operator is number one. I mean, it's just the GP, the experience, and the track record of that person managing the deal, I think, is number one. That's my personal opinion.

00:36:29
And then obviously, there are a lot of other important factors, such as the market, the actual, you mentioned Atlanta, but the market itself, the geographic location, and the economic factors that play into that. But then thirdly, it's the deal. Know, those are all really important. But I couldn't agree more that the actual people that you're investing with, that's number one. Because when you're investing passively, you're giving up control because you don't want to spend the time or you don't have the experience.

00:37:03
That's not your wheelhouse. So there's always a trade off. Right. Maybe you're too busy, but you've got capital you want to put to work. You've got to do due diligence on that GP or that operator.

00:37:16
So, any tips for passive investors with regard to who to place capital with? Yeah, I mean, I agree with you that after a while, the deal fundamentals start to look the same. It's like I've seen that business model before. It's like deja vu. Those returns look exactly the same.

00:37:36
It's kind of like. Well, like I mentioned in my morning hours, they're spent a lot of try to get some face to face time, meet people locally. That's where really rubber meets the road is like kind of. Who are these deal sponsors?

00:37:54
I think your time is well spent really digging in on what are their values and trying to get some references. What's their. Why? Why are they even doing this?

00:38:08
Do they care about the community that they're building in? Do they live next door? Those are kind of the nuanced things that I don't think gets talked about a lot, right? Absolutely. And so your primary role is to, with apex is to raise capital and find gps to work with on specific deals, right?

00:38:37
That's right. Primarily. And then across a bunch of asset classes, whether it's multifamily or rv parks, mobile home parks, this one's a ground up development deal. Again, it's less about strategy and more about who is that operator. Sure.

00:38:54
I like that. I can kind of pivot between asset classes, geographies. Yeah. And to me, it all comes down to alignment and transparency.

00:39:08
When you're analyzing a deal, again, you can kind of run through the numbers. Hey, that looks great. Okay, where in this structure is there alignment? And will, I have, like you said, you're kind of giving up some control, but I still at least need some transparency into what are the underlying assets. How is this being executed?

00:39:25
Where's the schedule? Just all the little things. Yeah, because every pro forma is going to be wrong, but once it's actually executed, because no one can predict every variable and how it's going to go. But that's why the operator and getting the. I love that.

00:39:42
What you mentioned about the values of the operator, that's critical. And their track record, I think is really important. So talk about legacy land fund that you're working with Eric Shiraga. Eric and I are friends. He's a fantastic individual.

00:39:57
Talk about values. I have the utmost respect for Eric and his know as a person, but also as a professional investor with mortgage notes and land investing. So talk about what your role with Eric is and what's going on with the legacy Land fund. Yeah, super excited about that. And I share your sentiments with Eric.

00:40:22
Been enjoyed getting to know him over the past several months. And he's got a great book called lienboard that kind of goes into detail on the specifics of mortgage note investing. I've been investing in land ever since I was back in the army, actually. Okay. That's kind of been my stable, reliable income stream is investing in land and land flips and land notes, performing notes.

00:40:49
And it just made sense to, like, I think going back to quotes, like, I think Warren Buffett said something like, don't invest in a business. You can't just, it just makes sense. The fundamentals make sense. And then couple that with mean, again, being on the commercial mean, you see the issues with tenants. You see the issues with the improved structure on the land.

00:41:15
And so that goes away and you don't have the tenants termites and trash. Tenants termites and trash, toilets. Yeah, and all that. It's like, man, that's kind of a beautiful thing. Absolutely.

00:41:30
So, yeah, the fund is, it's really just a continuation of what Eric and I have been doing for years. It's just now allowing others access to the deals that we're, I brought in friends and family on deals, but the compliance gets very challenging once you start to scale. So the fund was really. I didn't intend to do a fund, but it was really the best option to kind of bring in folks who want some exposure to real estate but don't want to own it. They don't want to manage it.

00:42:10
They're trying to buy their time. They're trying to buy time. They're not trying to buy another job. And so the fund is investing in land notes and lending on land. Is it a debt fund or can you talk about the actual underlying asset a little bit more?

00:42:29
Yeah, I mean, exclusively focused on land. So absolutely no improvements. So again, no management, no tenants. Just mitigate all that liability. But how do you monetize land unless you're leasing it out and you have a tenant on there.

00:42:45
You monetize it with these seller finance notes. And so we have pretty tremendous deal flow opportunities because of our connections within the network, to buy these notes at a discount and really scale it and build up a note portfolio. I've worked with Eric on some deals myself, and he always follows through, and he does have very good deal flow for sure. And he's established himself in the land space specifically in the last few. Mean, there's always risk.

00:43:25
Right. But as far as the asset class goes, I would say that this is on the lower side of the risk spectrum. You're not doing ground up development on some speculative hotel or something. Not saying that's always risky, but I think this model point, the underlying asset is on the lower side of the risk spectrum. This is for accredited investors or who can invest in the fund.

00:43:55
Right. It's a 506 c credit. Investors. Got it. Yeah.

00:44:00
Okay, awesome. Anything else you want to add about the fund?

00:44:10
Maybe I'll talk about the name. We named it legacy. And kind of tying back to kind of what we were talking about is, I think it's important to when you're talking about the financial returns of providing for your family and leaving next generation with income streams and that wealth generation, and maybe even more importantly, leaving a legacy of quality values and stewardship and generosity. And so when Eric and I met again through kind of a mutual friend in the land community, we hit home on all those kind of on those values. And so legacy, it was just screaming out to, like, that's what it has to be called.

00:44:53
But it's more than just the financial returns. It's really just kind of thinking through, it's the stewardship and the service piece as well. Yeah, I love that because let's face it, there are a lot of investment options out there that promise whatever returns. And I think for a lot of us, it's important to know that we're actually working with good people who want to serve and create a positive impact on the world and the communities versus just, oh, I need that 8% to 12% return. And it's all about money.

00:45:30
Money. It's important, like you said, from a stewardship standpoint. But I love the fact that you keep returning to values. Stewardship, service impact, it's something I got. Wrong early on, is why I keep coming back to it.

00:45:48
I chased you. I chased the return.

00:45:53
Well, talk about that. What did you do wrong? That we can learn picking the wrong investments.

00:46:03
The partner was secondary. It was like, what's the deal? And what's the return. How quick can I have the velocity of cap, and how quick can I turn this and move on and stuff? And I got caught in some bad investments, or I took too much time.

00:46:18
It took too much time to kind of put out fires, and I was just too time involved. So, I mean, when I mentioned that I prioritize the alignment piece, I don't prioritize control. That's one of the things, because I'm solely focused these days on the passive investments. And then again, it goes back to who, not how. I mean, it's the strategy.

00:46:47
Second, it's who's operating. Who do I want to do business with long term, not just for this deal, but for future partnerships? Yeah, I've got caught in some of that. When a lot of the crowdfunding came out, I was throwing some capital at these deals because the numbers looked amazing. This was years ago, but I didn't know who I was investing with.

00:47:11
I'd like to think I'm a little bit smarter now, and I've learned from those mistakes, but it's easy to do. It's easy to get greedy, basically. It's like, oh, this has 22% irr I'm in. Didn't turn out that way. It's easy to do.

00:47:30
And then not only that, but what you invest in, that's more or less you're endorsing. That's true. Not only the asset, but, like, that person you're supporting. That person. That's right.

00:47:43
Be careful there. When you're talking about impact. Investments have impact in so many different ways on the community, on you, on them. And so it's like, man, I don't know. Kind of just slow down a little.

00:47:55
I've learned to slow down. Just said no a lot more lately. Yeah. Smart. It's really good.

00:48:03
All right, you ready for some rapid fire questions before we get out of here? Sure, man. All right. Quinn, what is one thing that people misunderstand about you?

00:48:17
They misunderstand. I think I might come across, like, serious or maybe uptight or something. I don't feel that way, but I think sometimes I can kind of come across like, oh, man. It's like, calm down, serious. Can you joke around a little bit or something?

00:48:38
Yeah. What's one of your biggest failures that you learned from?

00:48:47
I think my biggest failure, and I definitely haven't completely overcome this, but just kind of relying on my. My own abilities, you know, I feel like I can do it, you know, if I just try harder, and it's like, man, you've got to surround yourself with good people, good partners. Just slow down. Try to just have a little more discernment there. But I feel like I just, you know, like, hey, I can do this.

00:49:15
You know, it's. It's me. Right? Yeah. Teamwork.

00:49:19
And I know you've talked a lot about faith. Sounds like those are two big factors for you. If you could go back and give your 18 year old self some advice, what would that be?

00:49:34
Um, 18, I would say. Yeah, I think longer term, I felt like maybe back then, I felt like maybe I was thinking long term by thinking, like, three or four years out. But that happened so fast. So I think I'd look at the next phase of life like, hey, here's my next step. Plan it out, contingency plan, all that good stuff.

00:50:02
But then what's the next step after that? And then also just the why behind it. I think I always had good intentions. But you make goals. But why?

00:50:11
What's the underlying motive? And even go deeper, like, why a couple more times below that initial why? But if you could have coffee with any historical figure, who would that be?

00:50:27
They could still be alive today.

00:50:32
Man. I'm a big c. S. Lewis fan. Sure.

00:50:39
Just his story, and then just. I just love to pick his brain. If you were given $10 million tomorrow, what would you do with it?

00:50:50
It?

00:50:55
Buy some more notes, man.

00:50:59
Well, I kind of said that jokingly, but honestly, I feel like that's why I love the investment space so. Well, it's kind of like, that's a big chunk of principle that you wouldn't want to just give. Hate to say it that way, but, man, if you invested that and multiplied it, I mean, you go back to kind of the parable of the talents. I don't know how much a talent was. Maybe it was a million dollars.

00:51:26
But the two gentlemen that multiplied it, they were good and faithful servants. And so I would do my best to kind of discern how to best multiply that. One guy buried it, right? And the other, he buried it, and he saved. He thought he was doing a good thing, but he was wicked, right?

00:51:44
One five xed and 110 xed, I think, if I remember correctly, but might be wrong. What's a challenge that you're facing in your business today? There's always a challenge.

00:51:59
For me, it's just being selective on deals, as I mentioned, kind of analyzing a lot of deals, going through due diligence, and it's just tough because there's a lot of gray area and there's a lot of nuanced. Stuff. Sure. And so it's just taking the time to be patient and work through it all and say no to a lot. It's very challenging.

00:52:24
Sure. What is a book or two that you could recommend for my listener?

00:52:34
I mentioned Lean Lord. Yes, it's a good one. Can I plug that again? Lean lord. Eric.

00:52:40
Sharon.

00:52:44
Let's see, man. One thing I read kind of you mentioned, when I was 18, a book was given to me. It was called the Celebration of discipline Foster. And I think that probably didn't capture all the wisdom from it back in the day, but I read it again recently. Really took my time, took notes.

00:53:08
Celebration of discipline is a must read, I think, especially for the Richard Foster. I just looked that up. Nice. Well, I know Jocko Willink has a book about discipline. Discipline equals freedom or something like that.

00:53:25
Haven't done yet. My list of books to read is pretty long. I read his extreme ownership, which was good.

00:53:36
Awesome. What have we not covered that you want to touch on?

00:53:42
Um, I don't know, man. I mean, I just. I think that the just trying to. I think in the financial space, in the investing world, it's really easy to get caught up in the day to day and the specific investment strategy. But I'd say I just encourage listeners maybe to just take a big step back, just try to.

00:54:20
Why are we doing this in the first place? Sure. And just really analyze kind of the holistic approach to what we're doing and let that guide your specific strategy. It's so easy to kind of jump right into a specific thing. Absolutely.

00:54:40
And it's also easy to kind of get direct. Like, you hear about all the, hey, this looks good. This looks good. It's like, well, based on your resources, based on your skills, based on what your goals are, your specific goals, like what is best. It's different for everybody.

00:54:56
Yeah. And there's always going to be another deal that comes across your desk. Have patience. Take the long term view. Yeah, this has been really good, Quinn.

00:55:05
There's been a bunch of things that I think are inspiring and practical and just very relatable. I would say as far as. Not that everyone's been in special forces, but I think we all have phases in our life and big decisions from a professional standpoint and vocation standpoint and weighing that with lifestyle and family.

00:55:29
I just love the service and impact and being a part of something bigger than yourself that comes through in your story. So this has been awesome. Where can our listeners reach out to you.

00:55:44
If you want to follow the fund? It's legacylandfund.com. You can go there, check everything out. You can subscribe to our email there and then my email is info info@legacylandfund.com awesome. Is the fund open now for investors?

00:56:05
It is, yep. Open earlier this year and off to a pretty good start. Great. Fantastic. Well, Quinn McArthur, this has been really good.

00:56:14
I've thoroughly enjoyed this. So thanks for taking the time. Appreciate, pleasure, Jamie. Appreciate it. You and to the listener out there, thank you for spending your most valuable resource with us.

00:56:24
And that is your time. Thanks, everyone. Take care. Thank you for spending your most valuable resource with us. Your time.

00:56:33
If you like the show, please share it with your friends and fellow podcast listeners. One entrepreneur at a time. We can change the world. See you next time.