Losing $50K to Winning Big: Craig Eppler on Private Lending, Rental Portfolios, and Launching a Debt Fund
In this episode of From Adversity to Abundance, host Jamie Bateman sits down with Craig Eppler, founder and CEO of Eppler Capital Funds, for a conversation that is equal parts practical and inspiring. Craig comes from a rare background — having worked his way up from analyst to Chief Investment Officer at a financial advisory firm, with a stint at Vanguard along the way. That front-row seat to the world of alternative investing eventually led him to launch his own private debt fund, which has crossed the $10 million mark in just three and a half years. On top of that, Craig has quietly built a rental portfolio of 59 doors across Pennsylvania — all while running a fund that provides investors with consistent monthly income.
But this episode isn't just a highlight reel. Craig opens up about a $50,000 loss on a second lien deal that went to zero a painful but important lesson about property valuation, position risk, and the danger of trusting social proof over due diligence. Whether you're a passive investor, an aspiring fund manager, or a rental property owner, this episode delivers hard-earned wisdom and a refreshingly honest look at what building a private debt fund really takes.
Guest Introduction: Craig Eppler
Craig Eppler is the founder and CEO of Eppler Capital Funds, a Philadelphia-area private debt fund that crossed $10 million in capital under management after launching in March 2023. With a background as a derivatives trader at Vanguard and later as Chief Investment Officer at an investment advisory firm, Craig brings institutional-level thinking to private credit investing.
Episode Highlights:
- From Vanguard to Private Debt Fund: Craig shares how his background in institutional finance, managing alternative investments for high-net-worth clients, gave him the blueprint — and the conviction — to launch his own fund and serve investors seeking consistent monthly income.
- The $50,000 Loss: Craig breaks down a second lien deal in Texas that went to zero — a pastor-investor with attractive yield and trusted social proof that ultimately couldn't hold up under scrutiny of the actual property value.
- Building a $10M Fund in 3.5 Years: From personal outreach and chamber events to email newsletters and podcasts, Craig walks through exactly how he grew his investor base to 50 people and crossed the $10 million milestone.
- 59 Doors and a Debt Fund: Craig explains why he never abandoned his rental portfolio even as his fund took off — and why holding both equity and debt positions creates a more balanced and resilient investing strategy.
Key Takeaways:
- If you've been investing long enough, you're going to lose money on a deal — what matters is what you learn and how you adjust your criteria going forward.
- Second lien lending carries real risk; understanding property value and lien position isn't optional — it's the foundation of protecting investor capital.
- Raising capital is harder than it looks, even with an institutional background — relationships, consistency, and showing up are what actually move the needle.
Connect with Craig Eppler:
Website: eplercapital.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ceppler
Are you an accredited passive investor?
Learn more about the Integrity Income Fund:
labradorlending.com/investors/passive-investors
Purchase The From Adversity to Abundance Book: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGTWJY1D?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860
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Connect with Jamie:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jamie-bateman-5359a811
Twitter: twitter.com/batemanjames
WEBVTT
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Speaker 0: Today, we sit down with Craig Epler of Epler Capital Funds.
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Speaker 0: Craig has a pretty relatable story,
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Speaker 0: and
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Speaker 0: he's really grown in the last several years in real estate investing.
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Speaker 0: Interestingly, he comes from a financial services background.
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Speaker 0: He worked at Vanguard and then another financial firm.
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Speaker 0: Started out as an analyst, moved up the ranks,
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Speaker 0: and got exposed to alternative investing, you know, private market
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Speaker 0: investments outside of stocks and bonds,
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Speaker 0: and has really moved over to focus on on that side
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Speaker 0: of things.
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Speaker 0: He runs a private credit fund, a private debt fund where they,
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Speaker 0: take on investor capital providing consistent monthly income,
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Speaker 0: and he
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Speaker 0: invests inside of his fund, in different, into different
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Speaker 0: businesses, including real estate, HVAC companies, etcetera.
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Speaker 0: We we dive into a deal where he lost where, fifty thousand dollars,
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Speaker 0: and, we talk about the lessons he's learned from that.
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Speaker 0: And we provide lessons for you so that you don't make
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Speaker 0: that a similar mistake.
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Speaker 0: Craig also owns, I believe it's fifty nine rental properties at this point,
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Speaker 0: almost sixty rentals, which is really impressive
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Speaker 0: given the amount of time he's dedicated to this.
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Speaker 0: His fund has reached the ten million dollar mark as well
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Speaker 0: and has only been in operation for about three and a half years.
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Speaker 0: So I think you're gonna get a lot of practical value and some inspiration
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Speaker 0: from this this episode.
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Speaker 0: I hope you enjoy this episode with Craig Epler.
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Speaker 0: Thanks for tuning in.
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Speaker 1: From adversity to abundance, hosted by entrepreneur and
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Speaker 1: seasoned real estate investor, Jamie Bateman, is the ultimate guide
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Speaker 1: for active and passive investors seeking clarity, mental fitness,
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Speaker 1: and the confidence to make inspired decisions in the world of real estate.
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Speaker 1: With a decade plus of investing experience across various niches and
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Speaker 1: a background as a combat veteran, former army officer, and
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Speaker 1: multimillion dollar mortgage note company owner, Jamie brings a wealth
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Speaker 1: of knowledge and inspiring stories to each episode.
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Speaker 1: Through weekly episodes featuring insightful interviews with industry leaders
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Speaker 1: and solo explorations of mindset and strategy, listeners
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Speaker 1: will uncover actionable advice and tips to overcome challenges
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Speaker 1: and build lasting financial success.
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Speaker 1: Whether you're a seasoned investor or just starting, from adversity
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Speaker 1: to abundance is your road map to turning obstacles into opportunities
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Speaker 1: and achieving financial freedom.
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Speaker 0: Welcome everybody to another episode of the from adversity to abundance podcast.
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Speaker 0: I am your host, Jamie Bateman.
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Speaker 0: And today, we have with us Craig Epler.
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Speaker 0: Craig is the founder and CEO of Epler Capital Funds.
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Speaker 0: Craig, thanks for joining us.
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Speaker 0: How are you doing today?
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Speaker 2: I'm doing well, Jamie.
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Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.
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Speaker 2: I appreciate it.
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Speaker 0: Absolutely.
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Speaker 0: It's gonna be a fun and practical conversation, and we're gonna learn a little
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Speaker 0: bit about some, through,
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Speaker 0: learn about what you've learned through some adversity,
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Speaker 0: over the years and talk about, your current fund and
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Speaker 0: what you have going on today.
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Speaker 0: I know you have a good amount of experience in the financial world as
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Speaker 0: as well as, you've got a a lot of rental properties,
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Speaker 0: and then you manage a debt fund, we're gonna get more into.
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Speaker 0: But for the listener who may be unfamiliar with you, I know you're in
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Speaker 0: the Philadelphia area.
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Speaker 0: Tell us a little bit more about who you are and what you're up
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Speaker 0: to today and some of the abundance that you're living in right now.
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Speaker 2: For sure.
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Speaker 2: Again, thanks again, thanks for having me.
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Speaker 2: Today, I currently own a rental portfolio of
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Speaker 2: fifty nine units to be exact,
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Speaker 2: across, Central Pennsylvania and some in the local Philadelphia market
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Speaker 2: here.
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Speaker 2: And my main job is running a private debt fund.
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Speaker 2: We just crossed over the ten million dollar mark as of the end of
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Speaker 2: the month.
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Speaker 2: So that's a big milestone for us after starting three years ago.
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Speaker 2: Along with that debt fund, we have some other side projects that include a
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Speaker 2: medical office space, some different land deals.
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Speaker 2: But but my main job right now is finding good deals to lend
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Speaker 2: money to, and obviously raising that capital to find those deals.
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Speaker 0: That's awesome.
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Speaker 0: Yeah.
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Speaker 0: That's a that's a lot.
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Speaker 0: That's really good.
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Speaker 0: There's a lot I I would love to dive into.
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Speaker 0: It sounds like you've recently added to your rental portfolio.
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Speaker 0: I know your primary focus is your debt fund.
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Speaker 0: Yeah.
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Speaker 0: But, let's we'll we'll we'll just that'll be a little teaser, but, let's
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Speaker 0: jump back into your backstory.
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Speaker 0: I know,
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Speaker 0: not everything not every deal you've you've done has been amazing,
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Speaker 0: and I think if you're in in the real real estate investing space long
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Speaker 0: enough, you're gonna lose some money on a deal.
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Speaker 0: So I don't think you're alone in that.
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Speaker 0: But
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Speaker 0: before we get to that, I think you you used to work in the
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Speaker 0: financial sector.
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Speaker 0: Talk to us about your background and and kind of, you know, maybe getting
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Speaker 0: out of college, how things went from there.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: I think I think your point about if you've been investing long enough, you're
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Speaker 2: about to lose money.
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Speaker 2: So I think if you can get that out of the way and and
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Speaker 2: kinda get your mindset right there, then that's that's more helpful.
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Speaker 2: It still doesn't help when it actually happens.
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Speaker 2: It still it still hurts.
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Speaker 2: But, yeah, I think I think that's super important.
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Speaker 2: And, honestly, if someone came to me and said, hey.
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Speaker 2: I have this awesome fun and I've never lost money.
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Speaker 2: I would question whether
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Speaker 0: Sure.
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Speaker 2: Whether they've learned anything, during during the career.
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Speaker 2: But, anyway,
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Speaker 2: yeah.
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Speaker 2: So I I went to your college, small school out in central Pennsylvania, did
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Speaker 2: cross country and track there, which frankly, I think helped a lot in terms
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Speaker 2: of discipline and investing and Yeah.
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Speaker 2: The two are very closely correlated, I think.
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Speaker 2: Mhmm.
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Speaker 2: But I got a job offer.
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Speaker 2: I did a bunch of interest in college.
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Speaker 2: I had no idea what I want to do.
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Speaker 2: Mhmm.
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Speaker 2: But my final internship was at Vanguard, the large asset management
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Speaker 2: company in in the Atlanta Philly suburbs.
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Speaker 2: I was a derivatives trader there.
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Speaker 2: So I so I worked there for about two years.
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Speaker 2: Being a trader at a large company, like, that sounds super sexy.
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Speaker 2: Mhmm.
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Speaker 2: But in in reality, after the first few weeks of moving a lot of
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Speaker 2: money around, you you realize that it was a very kind of simple strategy
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Speaker 2: because, I mean, it's a great firm.
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Speaker 2: I'm not gonna talk crap on Vanguard.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: But they, you know, they you know, what what we were doing was very
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Speaker 2: much matched in the, index since there wasn't a lot of strategy involved with
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Speaker 2: what my job was.
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Speaker 2: So Mhmm.
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Speaker 2: I really wanted to get more on the strategy side and kinda understand how
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Speaker 2: the how the larger investment world works.
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Speaker 2: So I moved over to a investment advisory firm also in the, like, in
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Speaker 2: Philadelphia area.
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Speaker 2: And I said the Philadelphia area because I was living in downtown Philly and
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Speaker 2: coming out to Malvern.
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Speaker 2: I knew anyone who's, kinda local to my area knows that that's not far
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Speaker 2: mileage wise, but during rush hour traffic, it takes about an hour, to get
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Speaker 2: out there, which is pretty brutal.
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Speaker 2: So during that time, I started listening to a bunch of real estate podcasts
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: Investing podcasts.
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Speaker 2: And, I'm sure we can all go back to the, like, bigger pockets days
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Speaker 2: and and a lot of, inspiration came from that.
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Speaker 2: So Yeah.
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Speaker 0: I just had a similar thing.
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Speaker 0: I I I can totally relate to that.
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Speaker 0: I did a similar thing at an hour forty five minutes to an hour
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Speaker 0: and fifteen minute drive each way for years, and that's what I
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Speaker 0: did.
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Speaker 0: So, eventually, I started listening to podcasts, mostly BiggerPockets at the time,
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Speaker 0: and just started my mindset and got a lot more active in real estate
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Speaker 0: investing.
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Speaker 0: So totally Exactly.
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Speaker 0: Totally empathize with that.
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Speaker 0: So, alright.
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Speaker 0: So what happened during that period for you?
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: So I listen to these podcasts.
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Speaker 2: I was like, you know what?
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Speaker 2: These guys I mean, these guys know what they're doing, but they don't seem
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Speaker 2: like brain surgeons to figure this stuff out.
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Speaker 2: You know?
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Speaker 2: Like, I can figure this out.
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Speaker 2: Right.
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Speaker 2: So my so my first step was I was tired of my commute.
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Speaker 2: I had just gotten this racist new job.
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Speaker 2: I was kinda feeling myself.
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Speaker 2: I was a younger guy.
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Speaker 2: So I bought a house,
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Speaker 2: with the intent to live right next to where I work.
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Speaker 2: So I bought a house in Malvern, which is right down the street.
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Speaker 2: And right away, I was like, wow.
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Speaker 2: This mortgage is considerably more at the time.
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Speaker 2: I'm not most is in case in more of them.
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Speaker 2: This mortgage is way more than my rent was when I was in downtown
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Speaker 2: Philly.
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Speaker 2: So I was like, you know, I have a three bedroom townhouse.
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Speaker 2: Why don't I rent these other two bedrooms out?
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Speaker 2: So I did that.
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Speaker 2: At the time, my mortgage, I believe, was twenty one hundred including HOA.
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Speaker 2: And I rented each of the rooms out for, eight hundred bucks each,
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Speaker 2: all in.
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Speaker 2: So I know it's not a true house hack, but I was living on
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Speaker 2: five hundred bucks a month, which was a great way to stack cash.
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Speaker 2: That was kinda my first entree into, real estate.
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Speaker 2: Then from there, I kinda I I kinda get the courage to buy my
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Speaker 2: first rental, out in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.
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Speaker 2: First, like, three months, everything that digger on or everything that could go wrong
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Speaker 2: digger on with that one.
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Speaker 2: Mhmm.
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Speaker 2: Looking back, it's kinda comical, the stuff that I stressed over then versus now.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: Kinda lick my wounds and then start buying more real so I did that
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Speaker 2: in twenty in twenty nineteen and didn't buy any more real estate for another
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Speaker 2: couple years where I really kinda load put it up at that point.
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Speaker 2: So I'll stop there.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: I know there was a lot of information.
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Speaker 0: It's funny because I I, also in our my first, like I I had
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Speaker 0: a rental in twenty ten.
00:09:09.615 --> 00:09:12.175
Speaker 0: It was a condo, but that one was super passive.
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Speaker 0: But after I decided to get really active a lot more active in the
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Speaker 0: real estate investing space, Our first tenant was
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Speaker 0: terrible.
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Speaker 0: She was an attorney.
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Speaker 0: She never really moved in, and she started threatening to sue us.
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Speaker 0: She was threatening to sue.
00:09:26.520 --> 00:09:27.560
Speaker 0: She lawyered up.
00:09:27.560 --> 00:09:31.320
Speaker 0: She made up all these claims that there were airborne contaminants and all this
00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:33.175
Speaker 0: stuff, which was not true at all.
00:09:33.175 --> 00:09:37.175
Speaker 0: This was in a nice area of, Lock Raven Village up in Baltimore
00:09:37.255 --> 00:09:37.495
Speaker 0: County.
00:09:37.495 --> 00:09:41.495
Speaker 0: But, anyway, it was I was so stressed, so
00:09:41.735 --> 00:09:43.015
Speaker 0: scared, so stressed.
00:09:43.015 --> 00:09:45.540
Speaker 0: And now I don't I don't think that would phase me.
00:09:45.540 --> 00:09:46.260
Speaker 0: I'd be like, okay.
00:09:46.260 --> 00:09:46.660
Speaker 0: Whatever.
00:09:46.660 --> 00:09:48.180
Speaker 0: And, you know, just move on.
00:09:48.180 --> 00:09:50.740
Speaker 0: But, anyway, it's funny you say that because we yeah.
00:09:50.740 --> 00:09:53.060
Speaker 0: We had a lot of things go wrong with that, and it it it
00:09:53.060 --> 00:09:54.180
Speaker 0: was very stressful.
00:09:54.180 --> 00:09:57.860
Speaker 0: But, it's not to say it wasn't real and I shouldn't take it seriously.
00:09:57.860 --> 00:10:01.395
Speaker 0: But once you've once you've been through some things, it's like, okay.
00:10:01.395 --> 00:10:02.675
Speaker 0: It's just par for the course
00:10:02.675 --> 00:10:03.235
Speaker 2: of the office.
00:10:03.235 --> 00:10:03.635
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:10:03.635 --> 00:10:05.235
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:10:05.235 --> 00:10:09.235
Speaker 0: So so I guess at that time, how many rentals
00:10:09.235 --> 00:10:10.595
Speaker 0: did you say you had?
00:10:10.595 --> 00:10:11.555
Speaker 0: That was just your first
00:10:11.555 --> 00:10:12.595
Speaker 2: So this is twenty nineteen.
00:10:12.595 --> 00:10:13.795
Speaker 2: I I just had the first one.
00:10:13.795 --> 00:10:14.195
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:10:14.195 --> 00:10:17.640
Speaker 2: So so for the first three months, the tenant moved out.
00:10:17.640 --> 00:10:19.800
Speaker 2: It was during the winter, so it was tough to refill.
00:10:19.800 --> 00:10:20.840
Speaker 2: I had to do a turn.
00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:23.320
Speaker 2: And like this at the time, it's all out of my, like, w two
00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:23.640
Speaker 2: income.
00:10:23.640 --> 00:10:25.720
Speaker 2: So I was like, these are, like, real real hits.
00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:26.120
Speaker 0: I didn't have
00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:27.880
Speaker 2: a huge cash reserve at the time.
00:10:27.880 --> 00:10:28.360
Speaker 2: Right.
00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:32.015
Speaker 2: So I was really feel this, you know, paying two mortgages and all the
00:10:32.015 --> 00:10:32.895
Speaker 2: other things that go on.
00:10:32.895 --> 00:10:36.175
Speaker 2: So licked my wounds a little bit there.
00:10:36.175 --> 00:10:40.015
Speaker 2: And then I don't know what what spurred the next moment, but,
00:10:40.015 --> 00:10:41.295
Speaker 2: I decided, you know what?
00:10:41.295 --> 00:10:44.470
Speaker 2: I kinda got interested in leverage and and and how that works.
00:10:44.470 --> 00:10:47.670
Speaker 2: So at the at the time, like, my, property in Malvern had gone up
00:10:47.670 --> 00:10:50.790
Speaker 2: in value, I found a local credit union that was able to give me
00:10:50.790 --> 00:10:54.310
Speaker 2: a line of credit or a HELOC on that house for one hundred percent
00:10:54.310 --> 00:10:56.710
Speaker 2: of the value, which I don't think you can find anymore, but at the
00:10:56.710 --> 00:10:58.605
Speaker 2: time, they were doing it.
00:10:58.605 --> 00:11:02.285
Speaker 2: Also, I probably wouldn't even advise my old self to do this, but I
00:11:02.285 --> 00:11:02.685
Speaker 2: No.
00:11:02.685 --> 00:11:06.525
Speaker 2: Kinda levered to the max, and I bought using that, HELOC, I bought another
00:11:06.525 --> 00:11:10.125
Speaker 2: sixteen units all with creative financing.
00:11:10.125 --> 00:11:13.645
Speaker 2: And then from there, I was at a a family function.
00:11:13.645 --> 00:11:15.460
Speaker 2: My dad was telling one of his friends, like, hey.
00:11:15.460 --> 00:11:16.660
Speaker 2: Craig's doing some real estate stuff.
00:11:16.660 --> 00:11:17.380
Speaker 2: It's kinda cool.
00:11:17.380 --> 00:11:19.940
Speaker 2: And the guy's like and this is the time when rates were, like, were,
00:11:19.940 --> 00:11:20.420
Speaker 2: like, zero.
00:11:20.420 --> 00:11:21.620
Speaker 2: You couldn't get yield anywhere.
00:11:21.620 --> 00:11:23.540
Speaker 2: My guy's like, I I got some cash in the round.
00:11:23.540 --> 00:11:24.660
Speaker 2: Like, do you wanna invest?
00:11:24.660 --> 00:11:26.420
Speaker 2: I was like, sure.
00:11:26.420 --> 00:11:30.420
Speaker 2: So his loan then spurred another thirty two unit
00:11:30.475 --> 00:11:33.115
Speaker 2: purchase, which brought me up to,
00:11:33.115 --> 00:11:33.915
Speaker 2: forty eight doors.
00:11:33.915 --> 00:11:36.955
Speaker 2: I sold a few and then just recently bought, sixteen.
00:11:36.955 --> 00:11:37.835
Speaker 2: So Wow.
00:11:37.835 --> 00:11:39.195
Speaker 2: I know it's a fast version, but
00:11:39.195 --> 00:11:39.515
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:11:39.515 --> 00:11:41.670
Speaker 0: But and so how leverage to get here.
00:11:41.670 --> 00:11:41.910
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:11:41.910 --> 00:11:43.910
Speaker 0: How many properties,
00:11:43.910 --> 00:11:45.990
Speaker 0: in total do you own right now?
00:11:45.990 --> 00:11:47.990
Speaker 2: I have fifty nine doors now.
00:11:47.990 --> 00:11:48.470
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:11:48.470 --> 00:11:51.510
Speaker 0: And it's, but several
00:11:51.510 --> 00:11:54.975
Speaker 0: are small to mid multifamily
00:11:54.975 --> 00:11:55.615
Speaker 0: properties?
00:11:55.615 --> 00:11:57.135
Speaker 2: Almost all of them are single family.
00:11:57.135 --> 00:11:58.895
Speaker 2: I have some small multifamily.
00:11:58.895 --> 00:11:59.295
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:11:59.295 --> 00:12:00.495
Speaker 2: And then yeah.
00:12:00.495 --> 00:12:01.135
Speaker 2: So that's
00:12:01.135 --> 00:12:03.215
Speaker 0: like, sixteen doors was not one property.
00:12:03.215 --> 00:12:04.895
Speaker 0: That was single family.
00:12:04.895 --> 00:12:07.860
Speaker 2: Sixteen doors was
00:12:07.860 --> 00:12:09.220
Speaker 2: twelve parcels.
00:12:09.220 --> 00:12:10.660
Speaker 0: Okay.
00:12:10.660 --> 00:12:11.140
Speaker 0: Alright.
00:12:11.140 --> 00:12:13.140
Speaker 0: So But, yeah, there's a quadrant.
00:12:13.140 --> 00:12:13.460
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:12:13.460 --> 00:12:14.820
Speaker 0: And how are you buying those?
00:12:14.820 --> 00:12:17.300
Speaker 0: How were you finding the deals to you have a guy who wants to
00:12:17.300 --> 00:12:18.020
Speaker 0: invest with you.
00:12:18.020 --> 00:12:21.540
Speaker 0: So you got the capital problem solved, but how are you finding the the
00:12:21.540 --> 00:12:23.380
Speaker 0: properties?
00:12:23.380 --> 00:12:26.415
Speaker 2: So I bought those forty eight doors all in twenty twenty and twenty twenty
00:12:26.415 --> 00:12:27.615
Speaker 2: one.
00:12:27.615 --> 00:12:29.615
Speaker 2: A lot of people were scared because of COVID.
00:12:29.615 --> 00:12:29.935
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:12:29.935 --> 00:12:32.975
Speaker 2: But in my head, I'm like, rates are next to nothing.
00:12:32.975 --> 00:12:33.295
Speaker 0: Right.
00:12:33.295 --> 00:12:36.335
Speaker 2: And stuff was sitting on the market that that that time for a little
00:12:36.335 --> 00:12:37.855
Speaker 2: bit a little bit longer.
00:12:37.855 --> 00:12:39.510
Speaker 2: At least the stuff that I was looking at.
00:12:39.510 --> 00:12:39.830
Speaker 2: Right.
00:12:39.830 --> 00:12:43.830
Speaker 2: So I frankly went on the MLS and lowballed a bunch of different
00:12:43.910 --> 00:12:44.390
Speaker 2: people.
00:12:44.390 --> 00:12:46.390
Speaker 2: I found all of it on on the on the on the MLS.
00:12:46.390 --> 00:12:48.150
Speaker 2: I was either mislabeled.
00:12:48.150 --> 00:12:50.950
Speaker 2: Like, for example, I bought a three unit portfolio.
00:12:50.950 --> 00:12:53.255
Speaker 2: That's three, single families.
00:12:53.255 --> 00:12:56.295
Speaker 2: They had it listed as a single family, but for but for at the
00:12:56.295 --> 00:12:58.455
Speaker 2: time, this I know it sounds crazy, but it was it was listed at
00:12:58.455 --> 00:13:02.455
Speaker 2: the time for one seventy five for three buildings or for
00:13:02.535 --> 00:13:04.295
Speaker 2: three townhouses.
00:13:04.295 --> 00:13:07.520
Speaker 2: But in that in that area back then, that was, like, really expensive for
00:13:07.520 --> 00:13:08.880
Speaker 2: one, you know, for one of them.
00:13:08.880 --> 00:13:09.120
Speaker 0: Right.
00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.200
Speaker 2: So I, like, looked at it and just, like, just, like, I read the
00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:14.000
Speaker 2: description and offered less.
00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:17.200
Speaker 2: I mean, it it sounds like so like, kinda like kinda like stupid simple,
00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:20.155
Speaker 2: but but that was really the strategy.
00:13:20.155 --> 00:13:20.715
Speaker 0: That's awesome.
00:13:20.715 --> 00:13:21.515
Speaker 0: So alright.
00:13:21.515 --> 00:13:22.955
Speaker 0: So I know you've okay.
00:13:22.955 --> 00:13:26.955
Speaker 0: So just the rental portfolio itself, what does that look like
00:13:27.035 --> 00:13:31.035
Speaker 0: if you're willing to share from maybe a cash flow standpoint today?
00:13:32.330 --> 00:13:32.650
Speaker 2: Sure.
00:13:32.650 --> 00:13:35.610
Speaker 2: So at the time, like, that that was that was, I thought, my key
00:13:35.610 --> 00:13:37.690
Speaker 2: to kinda getting out of the corporate world.
00:13:37.690 --> 00:13:39.050
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:13:39.050 --> 00:13:42.330
Speaker 2: But the cash flow, these are these are c class rentals.
00:13:42.330 --> 00:13:42.570
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:13:42.570 --> 00:13:46.570
Speaker 2: They had more ebbs and flows than, than than other
00:13:46.585 --> 00:13:47.385
Speaker 2: types of real estate.
00:13:47.385 --> 00:13:48.185
Speaker 2: So Mhmm.
00:13:48.185 --> 00:13:51.305
Speaker 2: I never act have actually taken a distribution from that.
00:13:51.305 --> 00:13:52.025
Speaker 0: Okay.
00:13:52.025 --> 00:13:52.505
Speaker 0: Gotcha.
00:13:52.505 --> 00:13:56.185
Speaker 2: Right now, my fifty nine doors, it's it's a little bit influx right now
00:13:56.185 --> 00:13:57.545
Speaker 2: because I just did a, like, refinance.
00:13:57.545 --> 00:14:01.545
Speaker 2: But I guess at a very high level, these properties have appreciated
00:14:01.850 --> 00:14:03.850
Speaker 2: way more than they've ever cash flowed.
00:14:03.850 --> 00:14:06.170
Speaker 2: So I was able to pull out a a a good chunk of cash
00:14:06.170 --> 00:14:06.890
Speaker 2: here Yeah.
00:14:06.890 --> 00:14:08.330
Speaker 2: Recently.
00:14:08.330 --> 00:14:08.730
Speaker 2: Nice.
00:14:08.730 --> 00:14:11.290
Speaker 2: And and the cash flow kinda pays for it in a little bit, but
00:14:11.290 --> 00:14:12.010
Speaker 2: it's not Right.
00:14:12.010 --> 00:14:14.205
Speaker 2: It's honestly not enough to to live off of
00:14:14.205 --> 00:14:15.005
Speaker 0: or something like that.
00:14:15.005 --> 00:14:15.485
Speaker 0: Right?
00:14:15.485 --> 00:14:15.805
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:14:15.805 --> 00:14:19.805
Speaker 0: I mean, I I like your approach in the in for several reasons.
00:14:19.805 --> 00:14:23.245
Speaker 0: I mean, one, you're willing to take action, obviously, and when other people are
00:14:23.245 --> 00:14:26.900
Speaker 0: scared, you know, takes take action.
00:14:26.900 --> 00:14:29.700
Speaker 0: And two, I you know, I'm I'm a mortgage note investor.
00:14:29.700 --> 00:14:31.460
Speaker 0: I have a a debt fund like you do.
00:14:31.460 --> 00:14:32.740
Speaker 0: I have a mortgage note fund.
00:14:32.740 --> 00:14:36.340
Speaker 0: It's it may be slightly more narrowly focused as far as the the assets
00:14:36.340 --> 00:14:40.340
Speaker 0: that we buy, and I wanna get into how you got into that, obviously.
00:14:42.085 --> 00:14:46.085
Speaker 0: But I don't pretend like the debt side is is just
00:14:46.245 --> 00:14:48.565
Speaker 0: hands down better than the equity side.
00:14:48.565 --> 00:14:48.885
Speaker 0: You know?
00:14:48.885 --> 00:14:52.885
Speaker 0: So, like, I've sold one or two rentals, but I generally
00:14:52.965 --> 00:14:55.950
Speaker 0: wanna hold them, because they do appreciate.
00:14:55.950 --> 00:14:59.710
Speaker 0: Whereas if you I know you originate loans, you you lend.
00:14:59.710 --> 00:15:02.270
Speaker 0: We buy notes at a discount, typically.
00:15:02.270 --> 00:15:05.790
Speaker 0: But either way, when you're holding a note, you know, that the value of
00:15:05.790 --> 00:15:07.230
Speaker 0: that note does not go up.
00:15:07.230 --> 00:15:08.910
Speaker 0: It doesn't appreciate, really.
00:15:08.910 --> 00:15:12.625
Speaker 0: So, I mean, there there are some factors that could drive the value of
00:15:12.625 --> 00:15:15.105
Speaker 0: a note to go up, but it's very minimal.
00:15:15.105 --> 00:15:19.105
Speaker 0: Whereas real estate in the long haul will appreciate, you know, over time.
00:15:19.985 --> 00:15:20.865
Speaker 2: Right.
00:15:20.865 --> 00:15:24.385
Speaker 0: And so and there obviously are tax benefits to holding real estate that you
00:15:24.385 --> 00:15:25.425
Speaker 0: don't get on the debt side.
00:15:25.425 --> 00:15:28.650
Speaker 0: And so I just it's you know, there are there are different approaches.
00:15:28.650 --> 00:15:29.850
Speaker 0: There are different asset classes.
00:15:29.850 --> 00:15:32.010
Speaker 0: There are different strategies.
00:15:32.010 --> 00:15:34.490
Speaker 0: They each have pros and cons.
00:15:34.490 --> 00:15:37.290
Speaker 0: And but I like the the fact that you it doesn't sound like you've
00:15:37.290 --> 00:15:40.495
Speaker 0: sold all your rentals and got into, you know, the debt side, you know,
00:15:40.495 --> 00:15:43.935
Speaker 0: whereas I I think a lot of people, especially in my space, a lot
00:15:43.935 --> 00:15:47.935
Speaker 0: of the gurus will talk about rentals are terrible and, you know,
00:15:48.575 --> 00:15:51.695
Speaker 0: you don't want to deal with tenants' toilets and trash and, you know, look
00:15:51.695 --> 00:15:52.495
Speaker 0: at the look.
00:15:52.495 --> 00:15:56.495
Speaker 0: Your property is appreciated so much that your, you know, return on
00:15:56.660 --> 00:15:59.460
Speaker 0: equity is negligible at this point, and that may be true, and you should
00:15:59.460 --> 00:16:01.780
Speaker 0: look at that.
00:16:01.780 --> 00:16:05.780
Speaker 0: But that doesn't mean you need to just one eighty abandon ship
00:16:05.940 --> 00:16:07.700
Speaker 0: and, you know, pivot entirely.
00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:10.435
Speaker 0: So I like that you're you're you've you did the rental thing, and you're
00:16:10.435 --> 00:16:11.955
Speaker 0: still continuing to grow that side.
00:16:11.955 --> 00:16:15.235
Speaker 0: But then you've also transitioned over, and you have your fund that you've just
00:16:15.235 --> 00:16:18.435
Speaker 0: crossed ten million dollars of capital under management.
00:16:18.435 --> 00:16:19.955
Speaker 0: So,
00:16:19.955 --> 00:16:22.995
Speaker 0: obviously, talk about, you know, what with the the debt side, and how did
00:16:22.995 --> 00:16:26.995
Speaker 0: you get interested in that side, and and what what was your first,
00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:29.800
Speaker 0: exposure to lending?
00:16:29.800 --> 00:16:30.120
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:34.120
Speaker 2: So so I guess I guess, like, to kind of go more to
00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:35.960
Speaker 2: the background of, like, why I started the fund.
00:16:35.960 --> 00:16:38.685
Speaker 2: So I was at a investment advisory firm.
00:16:38.685 --> 00:16:40.765
Speaker 2: I was in the guy that you talked to when you go in to
00:16:40.765 --> 00:16:43.645
Speaker 2: kind of put, like, pitch you, like, your sixty forty portfolio.
00:16:43.645 --> 00:16:45.965
Speaker 2: I was the guy behind the scene that did all the trading investing.
00:16:45.965 --> 00:16:48.285
Speaker 2: So I started as an analyst there and moved my way after the by
00:16:48.285 --> 00:16:52.285
Speaker 2: the time I left, I was the co chief, the chief,
00:16:52.690 --> 00:16:53.730
Speaker 2: investment officer.
00:16:53.730 --> 00:16:55.010
Speaker 2: So I kinda moved up the ranks there.
00:16:55.010 --> 00:16:58.370
Speaker 2: And as I got more tenured there, I I I I honestly pushed to
00:16:58.370 --> 00:16:59.650
Speaker 2: have more, like, alternatives in.
00:16:59.650 --> 00:17:03.650
Speaker 2: And I consider alternatives anything from private debt, real estate, infrastructure,
00:17:04.130 --> 00:17:08.130
Speaker 2: private equity, things that aren't stocks or bonds, which at the time a lot
00:17:08.305 --> 00:17:11.025
Speaker 2: of those clients didn't really have access to or didn't really know about.
00:17:11.025 --> 00:17:11.985
Speaker 2: They knew, hey.
00:17:11.985 --> 00:17:13.985
Speaker 2: I'm gonna put forty percent of my portfolio in bonds.
00:17:13.985 --> 00:17:15.745
Speaker 2: I'm gonna put sixty percent in stocks.
00:17:15.745 --> 00:17:17.265
Speaker 2: And over the course of the long term, it'll go up.
00:17:17.265 --> 00:17:18.890
Speaker 2: And I still think that's true.
00:17:18.890 --> 00:17:19.090
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:17:19.050 --> 00:17:21.050
Speaker 2: But I also think it comes with a different type of risk than it
00:17:21.050 --> 00:17:22.570
Speaker 2: did maybe twenty years ago.
00:17:22.570 --> 00:17:23.690
Speaker 2: Mhmm.
00:17:23.690 --> 00:17:27.610
Speaker 2: So I pushed to about twenty five percent of our whole book was in
00:17:27.610 --> 00:17:29.130
Speaker 2: these,
00:17:29.130 --> 00:17:30.170
Speaker 2: these, alternatives.
00:17:30.170 --> 00:17:34.170
Speaker 2: And, honestly, I think they performed a lot better, and had a lower risk
00:17:34.255 --> 00:17:37.055
Speaker 2: characteristics than, like, the, public market.
00:17:37.055 --> 00:17:37.615
Speaker 2: So Right.
00:17:37.615 --> 00:17:38.095
Speaker 2: Right.
00:17:38.095 --> 00:17:39.935
Speaker 2: I guess I guess I guess I can fast forward.
00:17:39.935 --> 00:17:43.295
Speaker 2: That firm that I was with got bought up by a privately backed group,
00:17:43.295 --> 00:17:45.950
Speaker 2: and and we went from a firm of twenty people to a firm of
00:17:45.950 --> 00:17:46.910
Speaker 2: two thousand people.
00:17:46.910 --> 00:17:48.030
Speaker 0: Wow.
00:17:48.030 --> 00:17:49.630
Speaker 2: And the field changed a little bit.
00:17:49.630 --> 00:17:52.990
Speaker 2: I wasn't able to invest as creatively as I as I was before.
00:17:52.990 --> 00:17:53.630
Speaker 2: Mhmm.
00:17:53.630 --> 00:17:55.790
Speaker 2: And I was kind of at the at the point where I'm like, hey.
00:17:55.790 --> 00:17:56.750
Speaker 2: I've I've always had these dreams.
00:17:56.750 --> 00:17:58.590
Speaker 2: I've start I've start I've started my own fund.
00:17:58.590 --> 00:17:58.990
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:17:58.990 --> 00:18:02.455
Speaker 2: I think I think I think this is the time to do it.
00:18:02.455 --> 00:18:05.415
Speaker 2: And and also they also our, like, founders had sold, so there wasn't a
00:18:05.415 --> 00:18:09.175
Speaker 2: lot of equity to be had either, which in my opinion in, like, corporate
00:18:09.175 --> 00:18:11.415
Speaker 2: America is a big kind of wealth generator.
00:18:11.415 --> 00:18:13.495
Speaker 2: If you wanna stay in your w two, if you can get stock options,
00:18:13.495 --> 00:18:14.375
Speaker 2: things like that, like, that's
00:18:14.375 --> 00:18:14.575
Speaker 0: Right.
00:18:14.535 --> 00:18:14.775
Speaker 0: Right.
00:18:14.775 --> 00:18:15.790
Speaker 2: Really good way to do it.
00:18:15.790 --> 00:18:16.030
Speaker 2: Sure.
00:18:16.030 --> 00:18:18.430
Speaker 2: And that really wasn't as much on the on the table anymore.
00:18:18.430 --> 00:18:20.910
Speaker 2: And I kinda thought back to my client base there is, like, look.
00:18:20.910 --> 00:18:24.910
Speaker 2: The average client that we had was sixty years old with a net worth
00:18:24.910 --> 00:18:26.830
Speaker 2: of two to ten million bucks.
00:18:26.830 --> 00:18:27.230
Speaker 2: Mhmm.
00:18:27.230 --> 00:18:30.885
Speaker 2: Didn't really have a lot of knowledge about investing like we do, but really
00:18:30.885 --> 00:18:34.885
Speaker 2: love the aspect of having a consistent income stream just like they did
00:18:34.965 --> 00:18:35.925
Speaker 2: when they when they were working.
00:18:35.925 --> 00:18:39.925
Speaker 2: So I'm like, if I could create a a a product for them
00:18:40.725 --> 00:18:43.925
Speaker 2: that pay them every every single month that had a reasonable level of of
00:18:43.925 --> 00:18:46.780
Speaker 2: returns, like, similar to the stock market long term, I think that might be
00:18:46.780 --> 00:18:48.300
Speaker 2: something that they would find of interest.
00:18:48.300 --> 00:18:48.860
Speaker 2: Sure.
00:18:48.860 --> 00:18:50.380
Speaker 2: And at the time, I was looking in different deals.
00:18:50.380 --> 00:18:52.540
Speaker 2: I was doing real estate stuff, and I was also investing in some other
00:18:52.540 --> 00:18:55.740
Speaker 2: deals as well, which which I'll I'll I'll get in here too, which I'm
00:18:55.740 --> 00:18:59.740
Speaker 2: like you know, the terms you can get are really advantageous from a
00:18:59.785 --> 00:19:00.345
Speaker 2: risk perspective.
00:19:00.345 --> 00:19:02.505
Speaker 2: Like, a lot of stuff has to go wrong for us not to get
00:19:02.505 --> 00:19:03.305
Speaker 2: paid back.
00:19:03.305 --> 00:19:04.105
Speaker 2: Right.
00:19:04.105 --> 00:19:06.985
Speaker 2: So that was kind of the that was kind of the origin of the
00:19:06.985 --> 00:19:07.225
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:19:07.225 --> 00:19:09.785
Speaker 2: And and I launched that in in March of twenty three.
00:19:09.785 --> 00:19:10.265
Speaker 2: So
00:19:10.265 --> 00:19:10.760
Speaker 0: Okay.
00:19:10.760 --> 00:19:11.000
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:14.120
Speaker 0: And I love the fact that I I was actually just, talking about this
00:19:14.120 --> 00:19:18.120
Speaker 0: on a different different podcast a little bit ago earlier today, but
00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:21.720
Speaker 0: it is like we in the mortgage note space, we get people from we
00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:22.520
Speaker 0: get engineers.
00:19:22.520 --> 00:19:25.375
Speaker 0: We get people from commercial, you know, construction.
00:19:25.375 --> 00:19:29.375
Speaker 0: We get people from we get just if they wanna start
00:19:29.535 --> 00:19:32.175
Speaker 0: becoming an investor because they you don't have to launch a fund.
00:19:32.175 --> 00:19:34.415
Speaker 0: You can buy a mortgage note and become an investor.
00:19:34.415 --> 00:19:34.895
Speaker 0: Sure.
00:19:34.895 --> 00:19:38.130
Speaker 0: But, you know, we get people from the mortgage space.
00:19:38.130 --> 00:19:39.810
Speaker 0: We get people from real estate investing.
00:19:39.810 --> 00:19:43.330
Speaker 0: We get people from, you know, all over.
00:19:43.330 --> 00:19:47.330
Speaker 0: And so you you brought, you know, a good chunk of
00:19:47.330 --> 00:19:51.330
Speaker 0: knowledge from residential real estate investing as well as the financial
00:19:51.975 --> 00:19:55.975
Speaker 0: markets, which, I mean, yeah, you you were mostly, for a good
00:19:55.975 --> 00:19:59.975
Speaker 0: bit, focused on the public markets, but you obviously went into the private market
00:20:00.135 --> 00:20:00.455
Speaker 0: space.
00:20:00.455 --> 00:20:04.455
Speaker 0: And, I mean, that that is valuable for sure for sure, especially
00:20:04.770 --> 00:20:07.570
Speaker 0: I always like to say that when you're running a note fund or a
00:20:07.570 --> 00:20:10.370
Speaker 0: private debt fund, it's really comes down to three things.
00:20:10.370 --> 00:20:12.690
Speaker 0: One is finding the deals.
00:20:12.690 --> 00:20:13.250
Speaker 0: You know?
00:20:13.250 --> 00:20:15.570
Speaker 0: Two is finding the capital, the investors.
00:20:15.570 --> 00:20:15.810
Speaker 2: Mhmm.
00:20:15.810 --> 00:20:19.570
Speaker 0: And three is managing those two, which is managing the deals of the capital.
00:20:19.570 --> 00:20:22.185
Speaker 0: That's how we break it down with three legs of the stool.
00:20:22.185 --> 00:20:26.185
Speaker 0: And, you know, you understood really
00:20:26.345 --> 00:20:28.665
Speaker 0: a a good bit of all of that, so it makes sense to me
00:20:28.665 --> 00:20:32.585
Speaker 0: that that you would from a knowledge standpoint, you were ready to go to
00:20:32.585 --> 00:20:34.050
Speaker 0: to launch a fund.
00:20:34.050 --> 00:20:37.410
Speaker 0: That said, people might be listening to this or watching this and saying, like,
00:20:37.410 --> 00:20:41.410
Speaker 0: so everything went smoothly through Craig's background.
00:20:41.490 --> 00:20:43.090
Speaker 0: He's never had any challenges.
00:20:43.090 --> 00:20:46.210
Speaker 0: This was he just got a job and got promoted and then started a
00:20:46.210 --> 00:20:48.205
Speaker 0: fund, and it was ten million dollars.
00:20:48.205 --> 00:20:50.845
Speaker 0: Super easy.
00:20:50.845 --> 00:20:51.725
Speaker 0: I wish.
00:20:51.725 --> 00:20:52.445
Speaker 0: I don't think so.
00:20:52.445 --> 00:20:52.685
Speaker 0: Right?
00:20:52.685 --> 00:20:54.845
Speaker 0: I I know it comes with a lot of stress, a lot of headaches,
00:20:54.845 --> 00:20:56.685
Speaker 0: a lot of work.
00:20:56.685 --> 00:20:59.725
Speaker 0: We don't have to focus on, you know, your day to day, but talk
00:20:59.725 --> 00:21:03.725
Speaker 0: to us about a deal that didn't go so well for you personally.
00:21:05.050 --> 00:21:05.370
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:21:05.370 --> 00:21:09.370
Speaker 2: So so I guess for me I mean, like, like we said at at
00:21:09.450 --> 00:21:12.330
Speaker 2: at, like, kind of the top of the hour here is is if you've
00:21:12.330 --> 00:21:15.610
Speaker 2: been investing long enough in enough different deals, there's gonna be something that doesn't
00:21:15.610 --> 00:21:17.395
Speaker 2: work out in your favor.
00:21:17.395 --> 00:21:19.315
Speaker 2: I'll give a a quick story here.
00:21:19.315 --> 00:21:21.315
Speaker 2: This is prior to the fund.
00:21:21.315 --> 00:21:25.315
Speaker 2: So, you know, four four or five years ago, I was introduced
00:21:25.395 --> 00:21:28.755
Speaker 2: to someone down in Texas,
00:21:28.755 --> 00:21:30.595
Speaker 2: and it was an investor.
00:21:30.595 --> 00:21:33.200
Speaker 2: It had come to me from a
00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:33.840
Speaker 2: investor friend.
00:21:33.840 --> 00:21:34.400
Speaker 2: He said, hey.
00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:35.680
Speaker 2: This guy needs some money.
00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:38.871
Speaker 2: Would would you be interested in, you know, lo lo lo lo lo lo
00:21:38.871 --> 00:21:40.560
Speaker 2: lo lo loaning him some money on his portfolio.
00:21:40.560 --> 00:21:42.480
Speaker 2: He needs to do some repairs, whatever.
00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:43.120
Speaker 2: Mhmm.
00:21:43.120 --> 00:21:47.120
Speaker 2: The the yield was pretty attractive, and I trusted that
00:21:47.120 --> 00:21:50.325
Speaker 2: if it came from this guy that this other guy was kind of pre
00:21:50.325 --> 00:21:50.885
Speaker 2: vetted.
00:21:50.885 --> 00:21:51.845
Speaker 2: Mhmm.
00:21:51.845 --> 00:21:55.765
Speaker 2: Also to add add, like, icing on the cake is is the guy that
00:21:55.765 --> 00:21:59.045
Speaker 2: I had that the guy that I was going to lend money to was
00:21:59.045 --> 00:22:00.805
Speaker 2: also a pastor at a church down there.
00:22:00.805 --> 00:22:02.325
Speaker 2: So for me, the social proof was there.
00:22:02.325 --> 00:22:06.040
Speaker 2: Like, you know, like, if after really not gonna pay me back.
00:22:06.040 --> 00:22:06.520
Speaker 2: Right.
00:22:06.520 --> 00:22:06.720
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:09.640
Speaker 0: So you had double it's like you knew that you you trusted the person
00:22:09.640 --> 00:22:10.840
Speaker 0: who approached you about this.
00:22:10.840 --> 00:22:14.600
Speaker 0: And then although you didn't know the person you were lending money to, he
00:22:14.600 --> 00:22:15.320
Speaker 0: was a pastor.
00:22:15.320 --> 00:22:19.320
Speaker 0: And so there's multiple reasons why this was attractive, and the yield was
00:22:19.385 --> 00:22:20.825
Speaker 0: attractive as well.
00:22:20.825 --> 00:22:23.225
Speaker 2: A pastor and a, experienced real estate investor.
00:22:23.225 --> 00:22:25.625
Speaker 2: He had done many deals before, so it wasn't like this was his first
00:22:25.625 --> 00:22:26.345
Speaker 2: time doing this.
00:22:26.345 --> 00:22:26.665
Speaker 0: Right.
00:22:26.665 --> 00:22:26.905
Speaker 0: Right.
00:22:26.905 --> 00:22:29.785
Speaker 2: Because pastor and real estate investor usually don't go in
00:22:29.785 --> 00:22:32.390
Speaker 0: the That's true.
00:22:32.390 --> 00:22:36.390
Speaker 2: But but, anyway, so so I lent him fifty thousand dollars, eighteen percent
00:22:36.550 --> 00:22:39.190
Speaker 2: note, interest only, which is a pretty attractive note.
00:22:39.190 --> 00:22:39.750
Speaker 2: Right?
00:22:39.750 --> 00:22:40.870
Speaker 2: Right.
00:22:40.870 --> 00:22:43.830
Speaker 2: But the but but what got me into trouble here was it was a
00:22:43.830 --> 00:22:44.950
Speaker 2: second position loan.
00:22:44.950 --> 00:22:46.795
Speaker 0: K.
00:22:46.795 --> 00:22:48.315
Speaker 2: He he had claimed he's like, hey.
00:22:48.315 --> 00:22:50.635
Speaker 2: I've I've a first position loan with the bank.
00:22:50.635 --> 00:22:54.475
Speaker 2: It's for about seven hundred thousand dollars, but this portfolio is easily, quote, unquote,
00:22:54.475 --> 00:22:57.195
Speaker 2: easily worth one point two, one point five all day.
00:22:57.195 --> 00:22:57.835
Speaker 2: Mhmm.
00:22:57.835 --> 00:23:01.835
Speaker 2: Well, when the no interest payment stopped getting paid, which is, like,
00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:03.120
Speaker 2: month four Mhmm.
00:23:03.120 --> 00:23:07.120
Speaker 2: I quickly realized that this property was was not worth anywhere
00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:08.560
Speaker 2: near.
00:23:08.560 --> 00:23:08.880
Speaker 2: Wow.
00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:10.640
Speaker 2: What what I I went I went I went to the I went to
00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:11.120
Speaker 2: the what
00:23:11.120 --> 00:23:15.120
Speaker 0: was the term of the the note originally that that you provided?
00:23:15.255 --> 00:23:17.415
Speaker 2: Twelve months, interest only.
00:23:17.415 --> 00:23:17.975
Speaker 2: K.
00:23:17.975 --> 00:23:19.415
Speaker 2: And his whole plan was just to flip it.
00:23:19.415 --> 00:23:19.615
Speaker 2: Right?
00:23:19.495 --> 00:23:21.175
Speaker 2: He was gonna he was he was gonna, sell
00:23:21.175 --> 00:23:21.655
Speaker 0: it.
00:23:21.655 --> 00:23:22.135
Speaker 0: Gotcha.
00:23:22.135 --> 00:23:24.295
Speaker 2: So I didn't get that either twelve months or yeah.
00:23:24.295 --> 00:23:24.615
Speaker 2: Good.
00:23:24.615 --> 00:23:28.615
Speaker 0: Was this your first, first deal or as far as lending
00:23:28.695 --> 00:23:30.350
Speaker 0: yourself?
00:23:30.350 --> 00:23:32.270
Speaker 2: First second lien deal.
00:23:32.270 --> 00:23:36.030
Speaker 2: I had I had lent on a personally position before, and it went went
00:23:36.030 --> 00:23:36.350
Speaker 2: fine.
00:23:36.350 --> 00:23:37.950
Speaker 2: But I reached for yield.
00:23:37.950 --> 00:23:38.190
Speaker 2: Right.
00:23:38.190 --> 00:23:40.110
Speaker 2: But I I had lent at, like, twelve percent.
00:23:40.110 --> 00:23:41.070
Speaker 2: But eighteen hey.
00:23:41.070 --> 00:23:42.510
Speaker 2: I mean, eighteen thousand twelve.
00:23:42.510 --> 00:23:42.830
Speaker 2: Right?
00:23:42.830 --> 00:23:44.825
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
00:23:44.825 --> 00:23:46.985
Speaker 0: One point five times as good.
00:23:46.985 --> 00:23:47.625
Speaker 0: Exactly.
00:23:47.625 --> 00:23:49.785
Speaker 0: So so okay.
00:23:49.785 --> 00:23:52.985
Speaker 0: And and, you know, I've bought a bunch of and especially recently, we bought
00:23:52.985 --> 00:23:55.945
Speaker 0: a bunch of second liens.
00:23:55.945 --> 00:23:57.400
Speaker 0: And they they are different.
00:23:57.400 --> 00:24:01.400
Speaker 0: And, you know, they're it's just we're not gonna get into all the
00:24:01.400 --> 00:24:02.120
Speaker 0: details on that.
00:24:02.120 --> 00:24:03.800
Speaker 0: But,
00:24:03.800 --> 00:24:07.560
Speaker 0: you know, from a note buying standpoint, you've gotta be a bit more patient.
00:24:07.560 --> 00:24:10.920
Speaker 0: They're more a little bit more borrower centric.
00:24:10.920 --> 00:24:14.285
Speaker 0: They can be as far as trying to, you're not you're not as close
00:24:14.285 --> 00:24:16.845
Speaker 0: to the property, you know, in first lien position.
00:24:16.845 --> 00:24:19.565
Speaker 0: But that property value is still critical.
00:24:19.565 --> 00:24:20.525
Speaker 0: I mean, it's it's
00:24:20.525 --> 00:24:21.005
Speaker 2: Oh my god.
00:24:21.005 --> 00:24:21.205
Speaker 2: I
00:24:21.165 --> 00:24:25.165
Speaker 0: mean, I I I say just across the board, the biggest way to lose
00:24:25.245 --> 00:24:29.245
Speaker 0: money in lending or note buying doesn't matter is misunderstanding
00:24:29.830 --> 00:24:33.830
Speaker 0: the property value or miss or not putting enough time or effort
00:24:33.990 --> 00:24:35.830
Speaker 0: into assessing that property value.
00:24:35.830 --> 00:24:39.830
Speaker 0: You can never know for sure how much it's actually worth until the property
00:24:39.910 --> 00:24:40.390
Speaker 0: is sold.
00:24:40.390 --> 00:24:43.675
Speaker 0: The market will tell you what it's what it's actually worth.
00:24:43.675 --> 00:24:47.675
Speaker 0: But that's how you lose money in this business is is not
00:24:47.675 --> 00:24:49.675
Speaker 0: is is under you know?
00:24:49.675 --> 00:24:53.675
Speaker 0: Lending money to somebody you don't know, obviously, or you haven't vetted, but also
00:24:53.915 --> 00:24:55.590
Speaker 0: misunderstanding the property value.
00:24:55.590 --> 00:24:56.870
Speaker 0: And I'm not here to lecture you.
00:24:56.870 --> 00:24:59.510
Speaker 0: I'm talking about from personal experience myself.
00:24:59.510 --> 00:24:59.830
Speaker 0: Okay.
00:24:59.830 --> 00:25:00.390
Speaker 0: You know?
00:25:00.390 --> 00:25:04.390
Speaker 0: And we're trying to educate the the listener.
00:25:04.790 --> 00:25:08.790
Speaker 0: And so I'm I'm assuming there wasn't much, you know,
00:25:08.955 --> 00:25:12.395
Speaker 0: effort put in or or research put in on the property value initially.
00:25:12.395 --> 00:25:14.955
Speaker 0: Is that fair to say?
00:25:14.955 --> 00:25:15.835
Speaker 2: That's fair to say.
00:25:15.835 --> 00:25:16.075
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:25:16.075 --> 00:25:17.675
Speaker 2: I mean, I mean, you can do a little bit of research, but I
00:25:17.675 --> 00:25:18.795
Speaker 2: didn't know the neighborhood.
00:25:18.795 --> 00:25:19.275
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:25:19.275 --> 00:25:21.430
Speaker 2: These were more rural properties.
00:25:21.430 --> 00:25:23.590
Speaker 2: I mean, not to get into the details, but it wasn't even worth anywhere.
00:25:23.590 --> 00:25:25.110
Speaker 2: You had a big headlint on it.
00:25:25.110 --> 00:25:27.750
Speaker 2: So I actually had like, this guy just stopped paying.
00:25:27.750 --> 00:25:29.910
Speaker 2: I actually worked with the bank to set up ownership.
00:25:29.910 --> 00:25:33.475
Speaker 2: And after looking in and talking with a local real estate agent down there
00:25:33.475 --> 00:25:36.755
Speaker 2: I deemed it was just better to let the fifty go because the amount
00:25:36.755 --> 00:25:39.475
Speaker 2: of money I would have to invest to make it even worth the bank
00:25:39.475 --> 00:25:39.955
Speaker 2: note.
00:25:39.955 --> 00:25:40.275
Speaker 2: Right.
00:25:40.275 --> 00:25:42.515
Speaker 2: It was it was just doing bad money at the deal.
00:25:42.515 --> 00:25:42.835
Speaker 2: Sure.
00:25:42.835 --> 00:25:44.355
Speaker 2: So, Got it.
00:25:44.355 --> 00:25:47.875
Speaker 2: That was a deal that went to zero and definitely was a painful moment
00:25:47.875 --> 00:25:48.515
Speaker 2: for sure.
00:25:48.515 --> 00:25:49.420
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:25:49.420 --> 00:25:49.660
Speaker 0: Alright.
00:25:49.660 --> 00:25:52.700
Speaker 0: So you've already touched on it, but what would you what did you learn
00:25:52.700 --> 00:25:56.700
Speaker 0: from that that you've applied to your investing in the future?
00:25:57.180 --> 00:25:57.500
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:25:57.500 --> 00:26:01.500
Speaker 2: So so to be honest, in our fund, we don't provide any loans for
00:26:01.925 --> 00:26:03.525
Speaker 2: a, like, a second lien position anymore.
00:26:03.525 --> 00:26:03.725
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:26:03.685 --> 00:26:07.125
Speaker 2: So all of our notes are backed by some sort of hard asset that
00:26:07.125 --> 00:26:08.645
Speaker 2: has a first lien position on it.
00:26:08.645 --> 00:26:09.285
Speaker 0: Makes sense.
00:26:09.285 --> 00:26:11.285
Speaker 2: That's a, like, nonnegotiable now for us.
00:26:11.285 --> 00:26:11.525
Speaker 0: Right.
00:26:11.525 --> 00:26:15.525
Speaker 0: I mean, I know some hard money lenders, private, you know, debt funds, people
00:26:15.690 --> 00:26:17.770
Speaker 0: who do the lending,
00:26:17.770 --> 00:26:21.690
Speaker 0: will have that rule, but then maybe they'll they might entertain a second position
00:26:21.690 --> 00:26:23.210
Speaker 0: if they already own the first.
00:26:23.210 --> 00:26:26.170
Speaker 0: You know, maybe maybe they're doing a first and a second, something like that.
00:26:26.170 --> 00:26:26.490
Speaker 0: Right.
00:26:26.490 --> 00:26:30.490
Speaker 0: Because then you have control and visibility over the entire, you know, both both
00:26:30.815 --> 00:26:31.375
Speaker 0: the liens.
00:26:31.375 --> 00:26:32.175
Speaker 2: That's
00:26:32.175 --> 00:26:33.855
Speaker 0: right.
00:26:33.855 --> 00:26:34.735
Speaker 0: But, no.
00:26:34.735 --> 00:26:38.735
Speaker 0: It's definitely I've I've been in the mortgage note space for
00:26:38.815 --> 00:26:42.815
Speaker 0: eight years, and we really didn't we didn't buy our first
00:26:43.050 --> 00:26:44.570
Speaker 0: second mortgage until this year.
00:26:44.570 --> 00:26:48.170
Speaker 0: So it wasn't something I was just jumping into.
00:26:48.170 --> 00:26:48.650
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:26:48.650 --> 00:26:52.570
Speaker 0: And I've only bought from, you know, from people who I know, like, and
00:26:52.570 --> 00:26:56.570
Speaker 0: trust and who are very experienced investors.
00:26:56.715 --> 00:26:58.155
Speaker 0: Doesn't mean there's not risk there.
00:26:58.155 --> 00:27:00.075
Speaker 0: To be clear, there's always risk.
00:27:00.075 --> 00:27:04.075
Speaker 0: And there is, I would say, more risk with seconds than first, and
00:27:04.075 --> 00:27:05.515
Speaker 0: that's why the yields are higher.
00:27:05.515 --> 00:27:07.835
Speaker 2: The risk and how much equity there is in the property.
00:27:07.835 --> 00:27:10.400
Speaker 2: If you if you don't understand what you're buying, I'm not saying it's a
00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:11.040
Speaker 2: bad investment.
00:27:11.040 --> 00:27:11.840
Speaker 2: It's just a higher risk.
00:27:11.840 --> 00:27:14.000
Speaker 2: And if if you understand what the risk is and if and if you
00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:16.960
Speaker 2: can get compensated for that risk, then it might be a good investment.
00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:17.760
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:27:17.760 --> 00:27:20.640
Speaker 0: So let's get a a little bit personal, if you will.
00:27:20.640 --> 00:27:23.600
Speaker 0: What was your, you know, your family situation at that time?
00:27:23.600 --> 00:27:27.025
Speaker 0: Did the fifty k affect you personally?
00:27:27.025 --> 00:27:30.705
Speaker 0: You know, how did things how did it go go for you personally after
00:27:30.705 --> 00:27:32.305
Speaker 0: that?
00:27:32.305 --> 00:27:32.505
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:27:32.465 --> 00:27:34.865
Speaker 2: So to be honest with you, I was at a point where the fifty
00:27:34.865 --> 00:27:37.265
Speaker 2: k, it didn't change my life at all Gotcha.
00:27:37.265 --> 00:27:37.905
Speaker 2: Which is good.
00:27:37.905 --> 00:27:40.990
Speaker 2: I I I wouldn't have let him the money if that was the case.
00:27:40.990 --> 00:27:42.750
Speaker 2: Smart.
00:27:42.750 --> 00:27:46.750
Speaker 2: I, I mean, I just learned this from over time, like, kind of,
00:27:47.150 --> 00:27:50.270
Speaker 2: constructing portfolios, but I was never gonna put more than five to ten percent
00:27:50.270 --> 00:27:52.190
Speaker 2: of my net worth into into one asset.
00:27:52.190 --> 00:27:53.375
Speaker 2: Sure.
00:27:53.375 --> 00:27:54.335
Speaker 0: So Makes sense.
00:27:54.335 --> 00:27:57.615
Speaker 2: It hurt, but, yeah, it didn't it it didn't hurt my relationship with my
00:27:57.615 --> 00:27:57.815
Speaker 2: wife.
00:27:57.775 --> 00:28:00.975
Speaker 2: It didn't hurt it didn't hurt anything like that, which which is that was
00:28:00.975 --> 00:28:01.455
Speaker 2: good.
00:28:01.455 --> 00:28:01.855
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:28:01.855 --> 00:28:02.055
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:28:02.015 --> 00:28:04.175
Speaker 2: That is good.
00:28:04.175 --> 00:28:07.215
Speaker 0: And, again, I and we don't want to make these mistakes.
00:28:07.215 --> 00:28:10.850
Speaker 0: Like, you know, obviously, we're not we're not looking, you know, with my show,
00:28:10.850 --> 00:28:13.050
Speaker 0: we from adversity to abundance.
00:28:13.050 --> 00:28:16.490
Speaker 0: I joke with people that I'm always looking I'm so super excited when they
00:28:16.490 --> 00:28:19.370
Speaker 0: have adversity because there's some content for my show.
00:28:19.370 --> 00:28:20.265
Speaker 0: You know?
00:28:20.265 --> 00:28:22.905
Speaker 0: Obviously, I'm not happy that you lost fifty k.
00:28:22.905 --> 00:28:25.625
Speaker 0: I'm I'm not happy when that anybody has to go through adversity.
00:28:25.625 --> 00:28:27.225
Speaker 0: But,
00:28:27.225 --> 00:28:30.985
Speaker 0: you know, but the reality is it happens, and and you can learn from
00:28:30.985 --> 00:28:31.185
Speaker 0: it.
00:28:31.065 --> 00:28:35.040
Speaker 0: And I think you're a better investor now because of because you made some
00:28:35.040 --> 00:28:35.520
Speaker 0: mistakes
00:28:35.520 --> 00:28:35.720
Speaker 2: with
00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:36.000
Speaker 0: that deal.
00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:40.000
Speaker 0: So what it so you you don't do second lien,
00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:44.240
Speaker 0: lending at this point, and I'm assuming that you do a pretty
00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:48.320
Speaker 0: credit pretty decent check on the property value as well and the borrower.
00:28:48.320 --> 00:28:48.865
Speaker 0: Is that pretty
00:28:48.865 --> 00:28:49.745
Speaker 2: Oh, a thousand percent.
00:28:49.745 --> 00:28:53.345
Speaker 2: I mean, a very small percentage of our fund is in real estate, but
00:28:53.345 --> 00:28:56.065
Speaker 2: to your point, the only real estate deals we do in the fund are
00:28:56.065 --> 00:29:00.065
Speaker 2: with people that I could honestly drive the property or I know incredibly
00:29:00.065 --> 00:29:02.145
Speaker 2: well, like, close close connections.
00:29:02.145 --> 00:29:02.345
Speaker 2: Right.
00:29:02.305 --> 00:29:05.020
Speaker 2: Even then, I'm getting a position on it.
00:29:05.020 --> 00:29:07.820
Speaker 2: I'll I'm gonna start I'll start a little, like, a tidbit as I was
00:29:07.820 --> 00:29:08.700
Speaker 2: going through that
00:29:08.700 --> 00:29:09.100
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:29:09.100 --> 00:29:12.620
Speaker 2: Fifty dollars loss is is I had a mentor at the time, which I
00:29:12.620 --> 00:29:16.220
Speaker 2: don't think he knew that he was a he was my, like, mentor, but
00:29:16.220 --> 00:29:16.780
Speaker 2: but he's Yeah.
00:29:16.780 --> 00:29:17.020
Speaker 0: Told I
00:29:17.020 --> 00:29:19.340
Speaker 2: told me this, and I honestly still hold this to this day when I
00:29:19.340 --> 00:29:20.835
Speaker 2: look at deals with the fund.
00:29:20.835 --> 00:29:24.115
Speaker 2: As he said, he's like like, going into deals that I do, he's like
00:29:24.115 --> 00:29:28.115
Speaker 2: he's like, you have to make it more painful for them not
00:29:28.115 --> 00:29:31.315
Speaker 2: to pay you back than if they were just kinda execute on your, like,
00:29:31.315 --> 00:29:33.290
Speaker 2: debt payment, which sounds harsh.
00:29:33.290 --> 00:29:35.690
Speaker 2: But, really, what he meant by that is, like, the term should be written
00:29:35.690 --> 00:29:38.170
Speaker 2: in in, like, in such a way that if they stop paying you, you
00:29:38.170 --> 00:29:40.410
Speaker 2: would actually end up better.
00:29:40.410 --> 00:29:40.730
Speaker 2: Right?
00:29:40.730 --> 00:29:41.050
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:29:41.050 --> 00:29:42.490
Speaker 2: So for for example, if
00:29:42.490 --> 00:29:42.690
Speaker 0: you have
00:29:42.650 --> 00:29:43.930
Speaker 2: if you have an example.
00:29:43.930 --> 00:29:46.655
Speaker 2: If you have a, two hundred thousand dollar property.
00:29:46.655 --> 00:29:47.455
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:29:47.455 --> 00:29:51.375
Speaker 2: And and you loan them, like, one hundred thousand dollars and they stop paying,
00:29:51.375 --> 00:29:55.135
Speaker 2: you then take ownership of of that that that that the actual property.
00:29:55.135 --> 00:29:55.615
Speaker 2: You Right.
00:29:55.615 --> 00:29:59.015
Speaker 2: Then own it to a you then own a, like, do you then own
00:29:59.015 --> 00:30:01.070
Speaker 2: a, like, do you then own a, like, two a a two hundred thousand
00:30:01.070 --> 00:30:01.950
Speaker 2: dollar asset, which
00:30:01.950 --> 00:30:02.150
Speaker 0: Right.
00:30:02.110 --> 00:30:02.310
Speaker 0: Is
00:30:02.270 --> 00:30:04.830
Speaker 2: not obviously way better than having eight hundred thousand dollar note.
00:30:04.830 --> 00:30:05.950
Speaker 2: Sure.
00:30:05.950 --> 00:30:08.830
Speaker 2: It's a super simple example, but, like, you know, I think that's what he
00:30:08.830 --> 00:30:11.390
Speaker 2: was talking about, and it it's still like, every time I I kinda look
00:30:11.390 --> 00:30:14.435
Speaker 2: at a deal now and look at the terms, I'm like, is this painful
00:30:14.435 --> 00:30:14.995
Speaker 2: enough for them?
00:30:14.995 --> 00:30:17.795
Speaker 2: Again, sounds super harsh, but, you know, these these are people's money that I
00:30:17.795 --> 00:30:19.795
Speaker 2: have access to and that I Right.
00:30:19.795 --> 00:30:21.475
Speaker 2: Actually treat treat that very seriously.
00:30:21.475 --> 00:30:21.955
Speaker 2: So Yeah.
00:30:21.955 --> 00:30:22.595
Speaker 0: For sure.
00:30:22.595 --> 00:30:26.515
Speaker 0: And and, yeah, I mean, the truth is, like, in especially in the on
00:30:26.515 --> 00:30:29.820
Speaker 0: the commercial side or, you know, it's business.
00:30:29.820 --> 00:30:33.340
Speaker 0: I mean, it's it's, you're not trying to take you're not trying to foreclose
00:30:33.340 --> 00:30:34.220
Speaker 0: or get a deed in lieu.
00:30:34.220 --> 00:30:34.620
Speaker 0: That's not your
00:30:34.620 --> 00:30:35.100
Speaker 2: goal.
00:30:35.100 --> 00:30:35.820
Speaker 2: To.
00:30:35.820 --> 00:30:36.380
Speaker 0: Right.
00:30:36.380 --> 00:30:39.660
Speaker 0: But, I mean, you will if you have to, and that's the point of
00:30:39.660 --> 00:30:40.700
Speaker 0: having collateral.
00:30:40.700 --> 00:30:41.020
Speaker 0: Right?
00:30:41.020 --> 00:30:42.300
Speaker 0: So Mhmm.
00:30:42.300 --> 00:30:45.675
Speaker 0: And like you said, you've got
00:30:45.675 --> 00:30:49.675
Speaker 0: you've got people's capital that, you know, people have entrusted you with, and
00:30:49.755 --> 00:30:51.755
Speaker 0: you need to be a good steward of of that.
00:30:51.755 --> 00:30:53.195
Speaker 0: So that comes first.
00:30:53.195 --> 00:30:56.820
Speaker 0: I mean, with our our fund, the Integrity Income Fund, that's that's first is
00:30:56.820 --> 00:30:59.460
Speaker 0: our protection of our investor capital.
00:30:59.460 --> 00:31:00.180
Speaker 0: Right.
00:31:00.180 --> 00:31:04.020
Speaker 0: Everything else is secondary, and I'm not just I'm not just saying that.
00:31:04.020 --> 00:31:04.500
Speaker 0: Right.
00:31:04.500 --> 00:31:06.660
Speaker 0: I take it very seriously.
00:31:06.660 --> 00:31:09.860
Speaker 0: So talk to us about how you created the fund, and and we don't
00:31:09.860 --> 00:31:13.715
Speaker 0: have too much more time, but talk to us about, you know, what what
00:31:13.715 --> 00:31:17.715
Speaker 0: you buy in the fund, what an investor can expect if they, you
00:31:17.715 --> 00:31:21.715
Speaker 0: know, reach out to you, regarding your fund.
00:31:21.715 --> 00:31:21.955
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:31:21.955 --> 00:31:24.595
Speaker 2: So so so I started this in March of twenty three.
00:31:24.595 --> 00:31:28.030
Speaker 2: We offer our investors a fixed rate return of of eight to ten percent
00:31:28.030 --> 00:31:30.270
Speaker 2: depending on how much money they put in.
00:31:30.270 --> 00:31:32.270
Speaker 2: That payment starts day one.
00:31:32.270 --> 00:31:34.990
Speaker 2: So if they put their money in today, they get paid the next month
00:31:34.990 --> 00:31:36.590
Speaker 2: and every month thereafter.
00:31:36.590 --> 00:31:38.590
Speaker 2: The investor gets to customize the term.
00:31:38.590 --> 00:31:41.975
Speaker 2: So so we do anything from three to seven years.
00:31:41.975 --> 00:31:45.975
Speaker 2: The investor can choose anything they want in between that.
00:31:45.975 --> 00:31:49.975
Speaker 2: And on the back end, we're investing in old school cash cow businesses.
00:31:49.975 --> 00:31:52.375
Speaker 2: So this can be HVAC.
00:31:52.375 --> 00:31:53.815
Speaker 2: We have some oil and gas in there.
00:31:53.815 --> 00:31:55.655
Speaker 2: We have some insurance companies.
00:31:55.655 --> 00:31:57.530
Speaker 2: We have
00:31:57.530 --> 00:31:58.090
Speaker 2: franchises.
00:31:58.090 --> 00:32:00.250
Speaker 2: We have an ecommerce brand.
00:32:00.250 --> 00:32:04.250
Speaker 2: So things that I can tie hard assets to, again, as a kinda
00:32:04.330 --> 00:32:05.770
Speaker 2: asset backed loan.
00:32:05.770 --> 00:32:09.290
Speaker 2: And what I'm really liking to do now is do a debt plus a
00:32:09.290 --> 00:32:10.815
Speaker 2: little bit of the, upside.
00:32:10.815 --> 00:32:13.455
Speaker 2: So I'll lend someone a little bit lower rate and go a little bit
00:32:13.455 --> 00:32:17.455
Speaker 2: more upside on the back end via a profitability kicker.
00:32:17.455 --> 00:32:17.855
Speaker 0: Mhmm.
00:32:17.855 --> 00:32:19.295
Speaker 2: I think that's better for both.
00:32:19.295 --> 00:32:22.575
Speaker 2: They get a little bit lower debt, so it kinda lowers, like, their cash
00:32:22.575 --> 00:32:22.815
Speaker 2: burn.
00:32:22.815 --> 00:32:24.815
Speaker 2: They can go out there and get other debt if they need to, or
00:32:24.815 --> 00:32:26.480
Speaker 2: they can kind of restructure things.
00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:28.551
Speaker 0: And just to be clear to look for outside.
00:32:28.551 --> 00:32:32.160
Speaker 0: I think it was clear, but just to be even more clear, you're talking
00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:35.200
Speaker 0: about debt and equity for the the operator of that business.
00:32:35.200 --> 00:32:39.200
Speaker 0: You're not talking about an equity position for your passive investor in your Exactly.
00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:40.035
Speaker 2: A thousand percent.
00:32:40.035 --> 00:32:40.755
Speaker 2: I'm sorry.
00:32:40.755 --> 00:32:44.035
Speaker 0: Mix rate of return, eight to ten percent for the passive investor.
00:32:44.035 --> 00:32:48.035
Speaker 0: But for these businesses that you're investing in, real estate that you're investing in,
00:32:49.555 --> 00:32:52.995
Speaker 0: you you've started to do more of a little bit of an equity split
00:32:52.995 --> 00:32:56.410
Speaker 0: where the fund gets an equity position in that So not
00:32:56.410 --> 00:32:57.130
Speaker 2: an equity position.
00:32:57.130 --> 00:32:59.690
Speaker 2: It's a profitability kick, I don't know.
00:32:59.690 --> 00:33:00.170
Speaker 2: Kicker.
00:33:00.170 --> 00:33:00.650
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:33:00.650 --> 00:33:01.450
Speaker 2: Alright.
00:33:01.450 --> 00:33:05.450
Speaker 0: But some of the upside depend depending on the business's performance,
00:33:06.730 --> 00:33:08.970
Speaker 0: versus just a fixed note.
00:33:08.970 --> 00:33:09.530
Speaker 0: Right?
00:33:09.530 --> 00:33:10.170
Speaker 0: Exactly.
00:33:10.170 --> 00:33:10.975
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:33:10.975 --> 00:33:13.455
Speaker 2: So so we have the we have the core fund there, and that's and
00:33:13.455 --> 00:33:16.575
Speaker 2: that's and that's and that's really driven all the all the all the all
00:33:16.575 --> 00:33:17.055
Speaker 2: the growth.
00:33:17.055 --> 00:33:18.335
Speaker 2: But we do have, like, these side deals.
00:33:18.335 --> 00:33:20.255
Speaker 2: I I I call also.
00:33:20.255 --> 00:33:23.455
Speaker 2: So right now, we're raising money for a, like, a medical office space, which
00:33:23.455 --> 00:33:25.740
Speaker 2: will probably be filled by the time this airs.
00:33:25.740 --> 00:33:28.700
Speaker 2: But just to give a little taste, and then we have, some land deals
00:33:28.700 --> 00:33:30.780
Speaker 2: that are going on right now also where we Okay.
00:33:30.780 --> 00:33:33.900
Speaker 2: Partner with the group that that honestly flips land.
00:33:33.900 --> 00:33:34.460
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:33:34.460 --> 00:33:34.700
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:33:34.700 --> 00:33:38.700
Speaker 2: That that that that return is higher, but it's also riskier
00:33:38.715 --> 00:33:42.715
Speaker 2: because your capital is tied to one deal versus a pool of of different
00:33:43.035 --> 00:33:44.155
Speaker 2: investments.
00:33:44.155 --> 00:33:44.635
Speaker 2: And land
00:33:44.635 --> 00:33:47.675
Speaker 0: land comes with its own landmine, so to speak, but it comes with its
00:33:47.675 --> 00:33:48.875
Speaker 0: own That's for sure.
00:33:48.875 --> 00:33:52.875
Speaker 0: It's tough to evaluate land, you know, or or value land,
00:33:53.290 --> 00:33:55.290
Speaker 0: as far as the property value.
00:33:55.290 --> 00:33:55.850
Speaker 0: Right.
00:33:55.850 --> 00:33:59.530
Speaker 0: You know, compared to, you know, comps on a on a residential, you know,
00:33:59.530 --> 00:34:01.130
Speaker 0: townhouse, that's fairly easy.
00:34:01.130 --> 00:34:04.650
Speaker 0: There's a pretty small range of the what the property value is gonna be.
00:34:04.650 --> 00:34:04.890
Speaker 0: Right?
00:34:04.890 --> 00:34:06.490
Speaker 0: Whereas land can be Right.
00:34:06.490 --> 00:34:06.730
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:34:06.730 --> 00:34:08.515
Speaker 0: A little bit of a different beast.
00:34:08.515 --> 00:34:12.515
Speaker 0: But, there are also are, you know, benefits to it as
00:34:12.515 --> 00:34:13.715
Speaker 0: well.
00:34:13.715 --> 00:34:17.395
Speaker 0: So those side deals are those are attached to your fund, or are those
00:34:17.395 --> 00:34:19.075
Speaker 0: completely separate from your fund?
00:34:19.075 --> 00:34:19.275
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:34:19.235 --> 00:34:20.355
Speaker 2: Those are completely separate.
00:34:20.355 --> 00:34:20.835
Speaker 2: Gotcha.
00:34:20.835 --> 00:34:22.115
Speaker 2: They they all roll into the fund.
00:34:22.115 --> 00:34:25.780
Speaker 2: It's under the same different I mean, legally, not to go into the jargon,
00:34:25.780 --> 00:34:26.020
Speaker 2: but Yeah.
00:34:26.020 --> 00:34:27.700
Speaker 2: Different set up for each each of the deals.
00:34:27.700 --> 00:34:28.500
Speaker 2: So Okay.
00:34:28.500 --> 00:34:29.220
Speaker 0: Got it.
00:34:29.220 --> 00:34:32.500
Speaker 0: And you just crossed ten million dollars in capital under management.
00:34:32.500 --> 00:34:36.180
Speaker 0: How did you do that in the last three years, basically?
00:34:36.180 --> 00:34:37.220
Speaker 0: A little over three years.
00:34:37.220 --> 00:34:38.535
Speaker 0: I mean, that that's pretty impressive.
00:34:38.535 --> 00:34:40.215
Speaker 0: How'd you do that?
00:34:40.215 --> 00:34:42.775
Speaker 2: So a lot of it is just getting out there and talking to people
00:34:42.775 --> 00:34:43.815
Speaker 2: and networking.
00:34:43.815 --> 00:34:46.215
Speaker 2: I thought it was gonna be way easier.
00:34:46.215 --> 00:34:48.935
Speaker 2: Because if you think about my career, right, I started at Vanguard, and Vanguard
00:34:48.935 --> 00:34:51.815
Speaker 2: manages something like eight trillion dollars today or something insane.
00:34:51.815 --> 00:34:52.055
Speaker 2: Right?
00:34:52.055 --> 00:34:52.800
Speaker 2: So So So
00:34:52.800 --> 00:34:54.080
Speaker 0: ten million is a joke.
00:34:54.080 --> 00:34:56.480
Speaker 0: Right?
00:34:56.480 --> 00:34:57.520
Speaker 2: I wasn't raising that money.
00:34:57.520 --> 00:35:00.400
Speaker 2: But, anyway, so then I went down to the, advisory shop, and we were
00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:03.280
Speaker 2: managing one point five billion, still way more than ten million.
00:35:03.280 --> 00:35:03.520
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:35:03.520 --> 00:35:06.240
Speaker 2: So I thought in my head, I would be able to leave that group
00:35:06.240 --> 00:35:08.515
Speaker 2: and raise this money super easy.
00:35:08.515 --> 00:35:12.515
Speaker 2: It's a different kind of raise just because we're one individual asset
00:35:12.595 --> 00:35:15.235
Speaker 2: while an adviser looks over the whole portfolio.
00:35:15.235 --> 00:35:17.155
Speaker 2: So it is a slightly different thing.
00:35:17.155 --> 00:35:17.715
Speaker 2: Sure.
00:35:17.715 --> 00:35:19.635
Speaker 2: But but, honestly, how I was able to do it is just getting out
00:35:19.635 --> 00:35:20.355
Speaker 2: there talking to people.
00:35:20.355 --> 00:35:22.380
Speaker 2: I've tried a bunch of different marketing techniques.
00:35:22.380 --> 00:35:22.700
Speaker 0: Mhmm.
00:35:22.700 --> 00:35:24.780
Speaker 2: Some have worked, some haven't.
00:35:24.780 --> 00:35:28.780
Speaker 2: But I found, frankly, what what works best is just, you know,
00:35:28.780 --> 00:35:30.780
Speaker 2: getting out there, talking to people.
00:35:30.780 --> 00:35:34.060
Speaker 2: And I'm finally to the point now, three and a half years in where
00:35:34.060 --> 00:35:36.775
Speaker 2: my clients are starting to refer other people.
00:35:36.775 --> 00:35:37.575
Speaker 0: That's true.
00:35:37.575 --> 00:35:39.815
Speaker 2: It takes a little bit of time to get there, obviously.
00:35:39.815 --> 00:35:41.335
Speaker 2: But once the ball is rolling
00:35:41.335 --> 00:35:42.375
Speaker 0: No.
00:35:42.375 --> 00:35:43.815
Speaker 0: And we've seen the most this year.
00:35:43.815 --> 00:35:44.215
Speaker 2: Sorry.
00:35:44.215 --> 00:35:44.615
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:35:44.615 --> 00:35:44.855
Speaker 0: No.
00:35:44.855 --> 00:35:48.855
Speaker 0: I'm just curious because, you know, they're like I said, there's we we don't
00:35:49.015 --> 00:35:52.220
Speaker 0: have much time, but it's a critical piece if you're gonna run a fund
00:35:52.220 --> 00:35:55.900
Speaker 0: or any kind of if you're gonna scale any kind of investment business, you're
00:35:55.900 --> 00:35:59.900
Speaker 0: gonna want access to other people's capital to put that to work to scale
00:35:59.980 --> 00:36:03.095
Speaker 0: your business, whether it's a fund or not.
00:36:03.095 --> 00:36:05.975
Speaker 0: Getting getting out there talking to people, you're just going to the grocery store
00:36:05.975 --> 00:36:06.855
Speaker 0: and approaching people?
00:36:06.855 --> 00:36:10.855
Speaker 0: Or, you know, like, specifically, what do you mean by that?
00:36:11.415 --> 00:36:15.415
Speaker 2: So I I I was going to a lot of, like,
00:36:15.530 --> 00:36:17.130
Speaker 2: like, real estate networking events.
00:36:17.130 --> 00:36:17.770
Speaker 2: I Yep.
00:36:17.770 --> 00:36:20.250
Speaker 2: Started a an email newsletter.
00:36:20.250 --> 00:36:22.250
Speaker 2: I would go to, like, chamber events.
00:36:22.250 --> 00:36:22.650
Speaker 0: Mhmm.
00:36:22.650 --> 00:36:26.650
Speaker 2: I literally went through every person I'd ever talked to, my old firm,
00:36:26.650 --> 00:36:29.575
Speaker 2: which is a lot of people, and just, like like, email them personally.
00:36:29.575 --> 00:36:29.895
Speaker 2: Like, hey.
00:36:29.895 --> 00:36:30.695
Speaker 2: I started this.
00:36:30.695 --> 00:36:33.335
Speaker 2: Like, would you be interested in having a conversation or just sitting out for
00:36:33.335 --> 00:36:33.975
Speaker 2: coffee?
00:36:33.975 --> 00:36:34.935
Speaker 2: Mhmm.
00:36:34.935 --> 00:36:36.455
Speaker 2: Or anyone who might be interested.
00:36:36.455 --> 00:36:37.095
Speaker 2: And, like Right.
00:36:37.095 --> 00:36:40.420
Speaker 2: After enough times like that, I mean Yeah.
00:36:40.420 --> 00:36:41.260
Speaker 2: You just Gotcha.
00:36:41.260 --> 00:36:43.420
Speaker 2: If you just keep it in the work and, like, you get lucky sometimes.
00:36:43.420 --> 00:36:43.620
Speaker 2: Right.
00:36:43.580 --> 00:36:44.300
Speaker 2: Right?
00:36:44.300 --> 00:36:47.020
Speaker 0: And then second part, I'm glad I remembered that I said there were two
00:36:47.020 --> 00:36:47.260
Speaker 0: parts.
00:36:47.260 --> 00:36:51.260
Speaker 0: But, how intentional are you about asking your current investors
00:36:51.660 --> 00:36:55.660
Speaker 0: for referrals, or does it kinda just happen naturally?
00:36:56.325 --> 00:36:58.485
Speaker 2: I should be more, intentional.
00:36:58.485 --> 00:37:00.565
Speaker 2: So I just went for the first time.
00:37:00.565 --> 00:37:02.805
Speaker 2: I needed to raise some more money for this.
00:37:02.805 --> 00:37:05.525
Speaker 2: I'm at a go off the space, and I just called everyone on my
00:37:05.525 --> 00:37:06.485
Speaker 2: on my on my list.
00:37:06.485 --> 00:37:09.740
Speaker 2: Right now, we have, fifty investors.
00:37:09.740 --> 00:37:10.620
Speaker 2: I just went down the list.
00:37:10.620 --> 00:37:12.220
Speaker 2: It took me a day, and I just called everyone.
00:37:12.220 --> 00:37:14.860
Speaker 2: Some people picked up, some people didn't or call me back.
00:37:14.860 --> 00:37:17.900
Speaker 2: But just by doing that, that was able to raise some money.
00:37:17.900 --> 00:37:18.540
Speaker 2: So K.
00:37:18.540 --> 00:37:21.775
Speaker 2: I don't have a regular cadence where I'm talking to them on the phone,
00:37:21.775 --> 00:37:24.815
Speaker 2: but they do my, like, a they do my kind of fun updates to
00:37:24.815 --> 00:37:28.255
Speaker 2: get the, like, the get the, like, like, a like, a weekly newsletter.
00:37:28.255 --> 00:37:29.855
Speaker 2: I'm on podcast like this every so often.
00:37:29.855 --> 00:37:30.575
Speaker 2: So I do Yeah.
00:37:30.575 --> 00:37:33.055
Speaker 2: Try to get content out there and make sure that I'm visible.
00:37:33.055 --> 00:37:34.575
Speaker 2: I'm not hiding in my little office here.
00:37:34.575 --> 00:37:35.670
Speaker 2: Right.
00:37:35.670 --> 00:37:39.270
Speaker 0: And speaking of that, what do you have a team, or is it just
00:37:39.270 --> 00:37:40.870
Speaker 0: you?
00:37:40.870 --> 00:37:41.190
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:37:41.190 --> 00:37:42.710
Speaker 2: So right now, it's myself.
00:37:42.710 --> 00:37:45.030
Speaker 2: I have four guys working for me.
00:37:45.030 --> 00:37:49.030
Speaker 2: They do a kinda combination of deal flow plus sales.
00:37:49.075 --> 00:37:51.875
Speaker 2: And I have three interns, that do kind of a sales tax for me
00:37:51.875 --> 00:37:52.275
Speaker 2: as well.
00:37:52.275 --> 00:37:52.475
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:37:52.435 --> 00:37:53.475
Speaker 0: You mentioned that to me before.
00:37:53.475 --> 00:37:55.395
Speaker 0: I think that's genius.
00:37:55.395 --> 00:37:56.675
Speaker 0: I wish we had more time here.
00:37:56.675 --> 00:37:58.275
Speaker 2: They're they're awesome, honestly.
00:37:58.275 --> 00:37:58.515
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:37:58.515 --> 00:38:01.715
Speaker 0: I mean, I I guess it's a you know, going in, it's not a
00:38:01.715 --> 00:38:04.035
Speaker 0: long term commitment, but I guess it could turn into one.
00:38:04.035 --> 00:38:05.450
Speaker 0: Right?
00:38:05.450 --> 00:38:05.690
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:38:05.690 --> 00:38:07.290
Speaker 2: They they they are they kinda on the onset?
00:38:07.290 --> 00:38:08.570
Speaker 2: This is not a long term commitment.
00:38:08.570 --> 00:38:10.250
Speaker 2: This is usually three months.
00:38:10.250 --> 00:38:12.730
Speaker 2: If if it's a little bit longer, it could turn into six months.
00:38:12.730 --> 00:38:13.850
Speaker 0: Mhmm.
00:38:13.850 --> 00:38:14.090
Speaker 0: Right.
00:38:14.090 --> 00:38:14.330
Speaker 0: But I
00:38:14.330 --> 00:38:16.810
Speaker 2: have kinda SOPs written out for all of them right now, so it's a
00:38:16.810 --> 00:38:17.690
Speaker 2: very easy plug and play.
00:38:17.690 --> 00:38:21.585
Speaker 2: And I don't have them doing crazy detailed work that's going to affect the
00:38:21.585 --> 00:38:23.585
Speaker 2: business, but it is stuff that I need to get done.
00:38:23.585 --> 00:38:25.345
Speaker 2: I'm not doing them fluff work.
00:38:25.345 --> 00:38:25.905
Speaker 0: Sure.
00:38:25.905 --> 00:38:26.545
Speaker 0: Alright.
00:38:26.545 --> 00:38:27.665
Speaker 0: We're almost out of time.
00:38:27.665 --> 00:38:29.745
Speaker 0: I've got some rapid fire questions for you.
00:38:29.745 --> 00:38:30.625
Speaker 0: You ready?
00:38:30.625 --> 00:38:31.265
Speaker 2: Let's do it.
00:38:31.265 --> 00:38:32.065
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:38:32.065 --> 00:38:36.065
Speaker 0: How has financial abundance made your life better?
00:38:36.910 --> 00:38:40.830
Speaker 2: How has financial abundance made my life better?
00:38:40.830 --> 00:38:43.870
Speaker 2: I was able to buy a bigger house than my wife.
00:38:43.870 --> 00:38:47.870
Speaker 2: I had bigger plans for my daughter who's now fifteen months old to, send
00:38:47.870 --> 00:38:51.870
Speaker 2: her to kind of the best schools that I can afford in the area.
00:38:52.095 --> 00:38:53.535
Speaker 2: We've taken awesome trips.
00:38:53.535 --> 00:38:56.015
Speaker 2: I mean, I'll think of those are kinda my top area.
00:38:56.015 --> 00:39:00.015
Speaker 0: What's a book or two that you could recommend for our listener?
00:39:00.095 --> 00:39:04.095
Speaker 2: Book or two.
00:39:04.510 --> 00:39:05.470
Speaker 2: I'm reading a book right now.
00:39:05.470 --> 00:39:08.510
Speaker 2: It's not real estate related, but it's good kind of mindset book.
00:39:08.510 --> 00:39:08.990
Speaker 2: Mhmm.
00:39:08.990 --> 00:39:11.630
Speaker 2: It's called the twelve hour walk by Colin O'Brady, I think it is.
00:39:11.630 --> 00:39:12.190
Speaker 2: I'm not sure if
00:39:12.190 --> 00:39:12.830
Speaker 0: you've heard of that.
00:39:12.830 --> 00:39:13.150
Speaker 0: No.
00:39:13.150 --> 00:39:13.790
Speaker 0: I'm super
00:39:13.790 --> 00:39:17.295
Speaker 2: I'm inspirational about a guy who set the world record.
00:39:17.295 --> 00:39:21.295
Speaker 2: He's the first one to walk across Antarctica with that
00:39:21.375 --> 00:39:23.135
Speaker 2: without any help.
00:39:23.135 --> 00:39:26.975
Speaker 2: So he's like he's like like, I'm dredging with this with this massive thing.
00:39:26.975 --> 00:39:27.855
Speaker 2: Anyway Yeah.
00:39:27.855 --> 00:39:28.095
Speaker 2: That's a
00:39:28.095 --> 00:39:28.820
Speaker 0: good thing.
00:39:28.820 --> 00:39:29.140
Speaker 0: Okay.
00:39:29.140 --> 00:39:32.660
Speaker 2: I'm gonna look at my bookshelf right now.
00:39:32.660 --> 00:39:34.980
Speaker 2: What's another good one that that I can recommend?
00:39:34.980 --> 00:39:36.020
Speaker 2: Well, I'll stick with that one.
00:39:36.020 --> 00:39:37.380
Speaker 2: I don't wanna just come up with something.
00:39:37.380 --> 00:39:40.980
Speaker 0: How about if you were given ten million dollars tomorrow, no strings attached, what
00:39:40.980 --> 00:39:43.895
Speaker 0: would you do with it?
00:39:43.895 --> 00:39:46.615
Speaker 2: Ten million dollars, no strings attached?
00:39:46.615 --> 00:39:48.535
Speaker 2: I would invest it.
00:39:48.535 --> 00:39:49.975
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:39:49.975 --> 00:39:53.975
Speaker 2: I would invest it well, first, I I would take my time investing it.
00:39:53.975 --> 00:39:56.055
Speaker 2: I found a lot of people, once they get cash, they put it to
00:39:56.055 --> 00:39:58.160
Speaker 2: work too fast, including myself in the past.
00:39:58.160 --> 00:39:58.880
Speaker 0: That's that's smart.
00:39:58.880 --> 00:39:59.760
Speaker 2: So Yeah.
00:39:59.760 --> 00:40:02.720
Speaker 2: I would either put it in a treasury bond just to kinda hold it
00:40:02.720 --> 00:40:05.840
Speaker 2: for a little bit and make sure I make the right decisions, or just
00:40:05.840 --> 00:40:08.400
Speaker 2: put it in the, S and P and then take out a line of
00:40:08.400 --> 00:40:11.225
Speaker 2: credit to invest off of off of the off of that line.
00:40:11.225 --> 00:40:12.345
Speaker 0: So you can do that.
00:40:12.345 --> 00:40:14.265
Speaker 0: What is there a max?
00:40:14.265 --> 00:40:16.345
Speaker 0: Is it fifty percent, or how does that work?
00:40:16.345 --> 00:40:17.145
Speaker 0: A line of credit on It
00:40:17.145 --> 00:40:18.185
Speaker 2: depends what asset you're in.
00:40:18.185 --> 00:40:20.745
Speaker 2: But if you're in the S and P five hundred, you can usually depending
00:40:20.745 --> 00:40:23.785
Speaker 2: on your, brokerage, you can usually leverage about seventy percent of that.
00:40:23.785 --> 00:40:25.945
Speaker 2: So if you have ten million bucks, you can write a check to yourself
00:40:25.945 --> 00:40:27.090
Speaker 2: for seven million.
00:40:27.090 --> 00:40:28.850
Speaker 2: You have to pay interest on that, obviously.
00:40:28.850 --> 00:40:29.090
Speaker 0: Right.
00:40:29.090 --> 00:40:31.970
Speaker 0: And you just go to your brokerage to do that?
00:40:31.970 --> 00:40:32.290
Speaker 0: Or
00:40:32.290 --> 00:40:32.530
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:40:32.530 --> 00:40:34.530
Speaker 2: So Schwab or Fidelity or really anyone.
00:40:34.530 --> 00:40:36.850
Speaker 0: They're the ones that issue the line of credit.
00:40:36.850 --> 00:40:37.050
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:40:37.010 --> 00:40:39.570
Speaker 2: You you deposit the money, and then they have a direct line.
00:40:39.570 --> 00:40:40.450
Speaker 2: You call and say, hey.
00:40:40.450 --> 00:40:43.065
Speaker 2: I wanna open up a pledged asset line.
00:40:43.065 --> 00:40:43.945
Speaker 2: And then they say, okay.
00:40:43.945 --> 00:40:44.985
Speaker 2: We I I know it
00:40:44.985 --> 00:40:47.225
Speaker 0: I knew it existed, but I've just never entertained that.
00:40:47.225 --> 00:40:47.425
Speaker 0: So
00:40:47.385 --> 00:40:48.185
Speaker 2: It's the HELOC.
00:40:48.185 --> 00:40:48.385
Speaker 2: Right?
00:40:48.345 --> 00:40:50.665
Speaker 2: If you think about the same thing, you're just leveraging an asset.
00:40:50.665 --> 00:40:50.985
Speaker 2: Right?
00:40:50.985 --> 00:40:52.905
Speaker 0: Fair.
00:40:52.905 --> 00:40:53.625
Speaker 0: Alright.
00:40:53.625 --> 00:40:56.905
Speaker 0: What's one piece of advice you would give to someone starting out in real
00:40:56.905 --> 00:40:59.020
Speaker 0: estate investing?
00:40:59.020 --> 00:40:59.260
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:40:59.260 --> 00:41:01.100
Speaker 2: And we talked about this a little bit prior to the call, but I
00:41:01.100 --> 00:41:05.100
Speaker 2: think I think the biggest hack that used to be super popular on BiggerPockets
00:41:05.580 --> 00:41:08.060
Speaker 2: and all the other shows, which I haven't heard much since, maybe I'm just
00:41:08.060 --> 00:41:09.020
Speaker 2: not listening to these podcasts.
00:41:09.020 --> 00:41:12.775
Speaker 2: But if I could if I could house hack again, I think that's the
00:41:12.775 --> 00:41:13.495
Speaker 2: biggest unlock.
00:41:13.495 --> 00:41:17.495
Speaker 2: If you're if you're someone who's younger, single, once again, real estate
00:41:17.495 --> 00:41:20.375
Speaker 2: and doesn't have a lot a, like, a super high paying job, I would
00:41:20.375 --> 00:41:24.375
Speaker 2: try to find a piece of real estate that's moderately priced,
00:41:24.375 --> 00:41:28.375
Speaker 2: put down three to five percent, and rent the other two
00:41:28.420 --> 00:41:28.660
Speaker 2: rooms.
00:41:28.660 --> 00:41:30.820
Speaker 2: You can still make it I mean, it might not be one for one
00:41:30.820 --> 00:41:32.820
Speaker 2: where you don't we can live for free, but at least give you the
00:41:32.820 --> 00:41:36.740
Speaker 2: freedom to use the money you make to put into other things or stack
00:41:36.740 --> 00:41:38.260
Speaker 2: cash for your next real estate property or
00:41:38.260 --> 00:41:39.620
Speaker 0: what what what whatever
00:41:39.620 --> 00:41:40.580
Speaker 2: you're kind of saving for.
00:41:40.580 --> 00:41:42.285
Speaker 0: I couldn't agree more.
00:41:42.285 --> 00:41:43.165
Speaker 2: To you again.
00:41:43.165 --> 00:41:45.885
Speaker 0: I think it's really smart.
00:41:45.885 --> 00:41:47.485
Speaker 0: And I do think you were house hacking.
00:41:47.485 --> 00:41:49.805
Speaker 0: I mean, I don't know what the technical definition is.
00:41:49.805 --> 00:41:53.805
Speaker 0: I know Brandon Turner used to take credit for for that term, but I
00:41:53.965 --> 00:41:55.760
Speaker 0: it's been done for years.
00:41:55.760 --> 00:41:56.880
Speaker 0: And I you know?
00:41:56.880 --> 00:41:57.200
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:41:57.200 --> 00:41:57.920
Speaker 0: Just because you
00:41:57.920 --> 00:41:59.680
Speaker 2: were breaking no expertise.
00:41:59.680 --> 00:42:00.240
Speaker 0: What's that?
00:42:00.240 --> 00:42:00.640
Speaker 0: Yeah.
00:42:00.640 --> 00:42:01.120
Speaker 2: Right.
00:42:01.120 --> 00:42:02.480
Speaker 2: It also requires no expertise.
00:42:02.480 --> 00:42:03.840
Speaker 2: Like, it's not like a flip where, like, hey.
00:42:03.840 --> 00:42:04.960
Speaker 2: Should know the right contractor.
00:42:04.960 --> 00:42:06.720
Speaker 2: You should know a little bit about how this works.
00:42:06.720 --> 00:42:07.200
Speaker 0: Right.
00:42:07.200 --> 00:42:09.835
Speaker 2: All you need to do is know how to buy the house and then
00:42:09.835 --> 00:42:10.875
Speaker 2: find people Yeah.
00:42:10.875 --> 00:42:12.635
Speaker 2: And obviously vet them properly.
00:42:12.635 --> 00:42:14.875
Speaker 2: But you can just get your buddies moving.
00:42:14.875 --> 00:42:16.075
Speaker 0: Absolutely.
00:42:16.075 --> 00:42:16.635
Speaker 0: Alright, Craig.
00:42:16.635 --> 00:42:18.155
Speaker 0: Two more questions.
00:42:18.155 --> 00:42:22.155
Speaker 0: First one is, what's one question that I have not asked you that you
00:42:22.315 --> 00:42:24.200
Speaker 0: wish I had?
00:42:24.200 --> 00:42:25.080
Speaker 2: Oh, boy.
00:42:25.080 --> 00:42:26.120
Speaker 2: Put me on the spot on that one.
00:42:26.120 --> 00:42:29.800
Speaker 2: That was that's that's a tough one.
00:42:29.800 --> 00:42:33.560
Speaker 0: That's what you're, that's what a lot of, investors
00:42:33.560 --> 00:42:34.680
Speaker 2: Plans for the future.
00:42:34.680 --> 00:42:35.320
Speaker 0: Like to ask.
00:42:35.320 --> 00:42:36.440
Speaker 0: Plans for the future.
00:42:36.440 --> 00:42:36.920
Speaker 0: Alright.
00:42:36.920 --> 00:42:40.920
Speaker 0: Well, I thought about asking where things gonna go in the market, but,
00:42:41.195 --> 00:42:41.435
Speaker 0: yeah.
00:42:41.435 --> 00:42:43.995
Speaker 0: So what are your plans for with the fund or anything else in the
00:42:43.995 --> 00:42:46.235
Speaker 0: future?
00:42:46.235 --> 00:42:46.475
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:42:46.475 --> 00:42:48.795
Speaker 2: So I don't I guess, for for me, for the fund for the future,
00:42:48.795 --> 00:42:51.930
Speaker 2: I don't see this being a billion dollar strategy.
00:42:51.930 --> 00:42:52.490
Speaker 2: Mhmm.
00:42:52.490 --> 00:42:55.050
Speaker 2: My goal is to get this to about two hundred million dollars, to be
00:42:55.050 --> 00:42:55.450
Speaker 2: honest with you.
00:42:55.450 --> 00:42:58.170
Speaker 2: I think I think we can do that over the next
00:42:58.170 --> 00:42:59.370
Speaker 2: five to ten years.
00:42:59.370 --> 00:43:01.130
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:43:01.130 --> 00:43:03.690
Speaker 2: And and I think I think at that point, like, I can make the
00:43:03.690 --> 00:43:07.115
Speaker 2: decision then to to hire more analysts and make this a really big thing
00:43:07.115 --> 00:43:07.835
Speaker 2: or or Mhmm.
00:43:07.835 --> 00:43:11.035
Speaker 2: I think we can scale it with how we are currently structured up to
00:43:11.035 --> 00:43:14.955
Speaker 2: about a hundred before we before we start hiring real personnel.
00:43:14.955 --> 00:43:15.355
Speaker 2: Mhmm.
00:43:15.355 --> 00:43:17.595
Speaker 2: So that's kind of the vision for the fund.
00:43:17.595 --> 00:43:18.540
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:43:18.540 --> 00:43:18.780
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:43:18.780 --> 00:43:18.980
Speaker 2: So
00:43:18.940 --> 00:43:21.100
Speaker 0: you're just getting started, sounds like.
00:43:21.100 --> 00:43:21.660
Speaker 2: That's right.
00:43:21.660 --> 00:43:22.620
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:43:22.620 --> 00:43:22.860
Speaker 0: Alright.
00:43:22.860 --> 00:43:26.060
Speaker 0: So, technically, I already I asked two, but here's the third.
00:43:26.060 --> 00:43:29.420
Speaker 0: Where can our our listeners find you online?
00:43:29.420 --> 00:43:29.620
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:43:29.580 --> 00:43:30.460
Speaker 2: So I'm on LinkedIn.
00:43:30.460 --> 00:43:32.935
Speaker 2: You can find me there at Craig Epler.
00:43:32.935 --> 00:43:36.615
Speaker 2: Our website is Epler Capital dot com.
00:43:36.615 --> 00:43:39.575
Speaker 2: And I would say those are the two, two best ways.
00:43:39.575 --> 00:43:42.215
Speaker 2: I'm not very much on Twitter or anything like that, but I'm on Instagram
00:43:42.215 --> 00:43:45.495
Speaker 2: and and and Facebook, but you'll find all that stuff on LinkedIn also.
00:43:45.495 --> 00:43:46.520
Speaker 2: Perfect.
00:43:46.520 --> 00:43:46.720
Speaker 0: Alright.
00:43:46.680 --> 00:43:48.360
Speaker 0: We'll put all that in the show notes as well.
00:43:48.360 --> 00:43:49.160
Speaker 0: So Awesome.
00:43:49.160 --> 00:43:53.000
Speaker 0: Craig Guffler, thanks so much for having or for spending your time with us
00:43:53.000 --> 00:43:54.440
Speaker 0: and for sharing your story.
00:43:54.440 --> 00:43:58.440
Speaker 0: And, it's pretty cool what you've been able to accomplish, and it sounds
00:43:58.440 --> 00:44:01.385
Speaker 0: like you're, you know, you'd like I said, you're just getting started.
00:44:01.385 --> 00:44:03.945
Speaker 0: So appreciate the time, Craig.
00:44:03.945 --> 00:44:04.185
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:44:04.185 --> 00:44:04.865
Speaker 2: Thanks so much, Jimmy.
00:44:04.865 --> 00:44:05.785
Speaker 2: I appreciate it.
00:44:05.785 --> 00:44:07.065
Speaker 0: And thank you to the listener.
00:44:07.065 --> 00:44:11.065
Speaker 0: Thanks for spending your most valuable resource with us, and that is your time.
00:44:11.145 --> 00:44:12.105
Speaker 0: Thanks, everyone.
00:44:12.105 --> 00:44:16.105
Speaker 0: Take care.
00:44:18.760 --> 00:44:21.960
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us on From Adversity to Abundance.
00:44:21.960 --> 00:44:25.960
Speaker 1: We hope today's episode has equipped you with valuable insights and practical advice
00:44:26.280 --> 00:44:28.725
Speaker 1: to elevate your real estate journey.
00:44:28.725 --> 00:44:32.725
Speaker 1: For more inspiring stories and resources, visit us at w w w
00:44:32.965 --> 00:44:35.765
Speaker 1: dot adversity to abundance dot com.
00:44:35.765 --> 00:44:39.445
Speaker 1: If this episode has inspired you, please share it with a friend who could
00:44:39.445 --> 00:44:41.780
Speaker 1: also benefit from our conversation.
00:44:41.780 --> 00:44:44.740
Speaker 1: Together, let's turn adversity into abundance.
00:44:44.740 --> 00:44:46.740
Speaker 1: Until next time, keep building your mental fitness and your real estate empire.
Founder and CEO
Craig Eppler is the founder and CEO of Eppler Capital Funds, a private credit and alternative investment manager. He began his career at Vanguard as a Derivatives Analyst, later becoming a Senior Portfolio Manager at Wealth Enhancement Group. Craig has personally invested in more than 40 rental properties and several private companies. He now runs a fund focused on promissory notes that include jet fuel infrastructure, insurance reserves, subscription box companies, plus real estate.
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