Episode Transcript
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(00:32):
Hey everyone.
Welcome back to the Suzanneand Sarah Real Estate Investing
podcast.
We are two passive income obsessedgals, building wealth in band Oregon
and beyond, and we are bringingall of you along for the ride.
Yeah, starting off with our quicklife update as we do, we've officially
(00:53):
hit the season where we are jugglingall the things, and for us, that
means listings and showings.
Investor calls, new primary homebuyer calls, and we're trying
to remember what day it is.
It's Wednesday.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The countdown to summer breakhas started in my household.
On the calendar.
(01:14):
We, when does it start?
Ugh.
Seven days from today.
You sound so excited toset the children free.
I don't know.
We're gonna do it all the
teachers in my workout classes arejust, I bet they're in a great movie.
They're so excited
now.
The parents are like
freaking out.
I
know.
We're like playing horror musicat our house, but it's fine.
We're gonna survive and, it's great.
(01:35):
It's regardless of being ourbusiest time of the year, I love
summer because it's my season.
I like hot weather and it's time tocarve out space for things like out
of office for me for the weekend.
This is when I do things like blockout weekends for camping trips and just
like more spontaneous time with my kidsand just really enjoying where we live.
(01:56):
And here's the deal, guys.
Now that.
The river is basically my backyard.
I have no excuses.
And my jeep is out, thepaddleboards are in rotation.
And my life is lookingpretty glorious in that way.
So there's that.
And then work-wise, it's go time.
We have built a selfmeeting feeding machine.
(02:18):
And I like this machine a lot.
It's definitely not a beast.
It's one we're friends with and newclient calls are coming in daily.
It's so awesome to watch and justreflect on how far we've come and it's
chaos for us in the best way possible.
For sure.
Yes.
And my life update is very much thesame as Sarah's, which is, really just
(02:39):
enjoying my favorite season as well.
I'm a summer girl Augustbaby we gotta love summer.
Even though you're March.
It's okay.
It's, yeah.
Yeah.
We can all love summer.
Yeah.
So yeah, we've been doing a lotof outdoor activities in La Pine,
so I went trail running in lapPine State Park a few times.
We paddle boarded on the little DeschutesRiver with some friends over the weekend.
(02:59):
Just got to enjoy some FreshCo.
Coney.
Bill got up yesterday morning at4:00 AM he put on the tra or what?
Went fishing with a friend.
He, yes, of course he smoked itbecause he is obsessed with his smoker.
Smoked FreshCo, Coney, I'lldo that from Crane Prairie.
So that was exciting.
And then, yeah, we're justfitting in the fun around the real
estate and the business growth.
(03:20):
That's.
And it's just so important for usboth to keep that balance in our lives
and it's about setting boundaries.
It's about leaning on each otherand other team members and folks
in our community to help us out.
But it's also like what Sarahsaid, it's about remembering why
we live in these beautiful places.
And Sarah also just keeps remindingme to get out and have some fun
(03:43):
since we are grinding hard these dayswhen we're in the office Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, like we go at itfrom eight 30 sometimes till, five.
In the office, you guys, I knowif you're listening, you're like
eight 30 to five, like whatever.
But yeah, we're on our phonesstarting at, who knows, six
until sometimes nine at night.
So it's a very full day.
Just because we're in the office foreight-ish hours doesn't mean we're
(04:05):
not working outside of those hours.
So yeah, fun times and.
Business building and expansion.
So we're like adding stuff ontop of existing stuff and making
even more fun funds and growth.
All right, in our market andbusiness update section today.
(04:27):
I will say we started the day withour TC talking about what we have
going on, and we have him working ondrafting four offers for us today.
And if that's any indicationof where the market is at and
how busy we are, we'll take it.
We are gonna make hay wall,that sun is shining and.
Says the former farmer it'scarried through, right?
(04:50):
Carried through with this industry too.
In the past two weeks we havetoured, I think, more homes than.
We ever have with clients I thinkwe closed three sides of two deals.
It was just two deals in the pasttwo weeks that we closed four sides.
Oh.
By, or seller by, or seller.
Copy that.
Okay.
Yeah.
Open a couple new escrowsand we're just continuing
(05:12):
to expand our reach.
If you don't know what openingnew escrows means, okay.
That just means we got someproperties pending and like
now they're, it's go time.
So yeah.
Yeah.
That's when the clientgets to do their diligence.
Yeah.
So we also had.
We love this.
We also had another buyer cometo us specifically to represent
us just for them as a buyer.
Again, it's like this keeps happening.
(05:32):
And I love it.
And it's just so interesting becauseso many agents have a hard time even
convincing buyers to, to sign up withthem when the seller's gonna pay them.
So we've got buyer people comingto us wanting to pay us our
full fee just to help them withcreative deals and that's great.
So for us, bottom lineright now referrals.
(05:53):
And our reputation are fueling our fire.
And that is, comes the combinationof past clients our industry partners
and out of area agents, people whojust know us and follow us, and
people who we've helped before.
And remember that.
And then of course, people fromour sphere and our past lives.
Oh yeah.
Keep, keep bringing peopleunder our world as well.
(06:13):
And we're just getting out.
We've got a pretty goodreputation and we're grateful.
We will keep it keep the doorsopen for it to keep on coming.
Oh
yeah.
Welcome it in those little cat paws,you know what I'm talking about?
No, I don't.
Yes, you do.
When you go into the Chinese restaurantand they have the little cat with
the little, that brings the money in.
I didn't know that.
Oh yeah, no, I know.
Now we need one of those inaddition to our little money tree.
(06:36):
Okay.
Now I know.
Keep it coming.
Yeah.
And then, talking about the marketcompetition is getting real out there on.
Some homes.
Unfortunately we don't like when thishappens, but we've had a couple of buyers
lose out to competing offers twice.
Yeah.
Already this season.
And it hits hard every time on everybody.
We put a lot of work into our offers.
(06:56):
It can be.
Disappointing to buyers, obviously,when they lose out, but the way that we
look at it is that there's gotta be, andthere always is a better home for those
folks that just hasn't found them yet.
But we know that it will because we'veseen it happen so many times and even the
ones that are buyers feel like got away.
(07:18):
Become long forgotten oncethey find the true right one
that they just had to wait for.
And it is all about timing.
That's how we approach it and,advise our clients to do the same.
It can be hard when you don't, whenyou're like doing it for the first
time and you're just like, what?
No, that was the one.
We're here to tell you thatthere's more out there.
Yeah, so competition is getting hotin some places but not everywhere.
(07:40):
And it depends on the price point.
So those are definitely, onewas over 1,000,001 was like
right around four 50 four 60.
So really does depend on the price point.
Sure.
But also just the situation.
And location.
Yeah, those were twovery unique properties.
One, like Suzanne said, wasin, the mid four hundreds.
That one had just had asignificant price decrease.
(08:01):
Our buyers escalated anddidn't escalate quite enough.
And then same thing with the other house.
What was interesting about that oneis that was just on the market for.
I don't know, a couple weeks.
And there weren't any other buyers.
And our buyers did dragtheir feet a little bit.
In getting their offer submitted.
And that unfortunately affectedit in a not positive way.
And we also, with that one,didn't escalate high enough.
(08:23):
And I would say that what I learnedfrom both of these experiences that.
We have not been seeing over asking offerprices for quite a while in our market.
And when they have been,it hasn't been significant.
And what I've learned from thesepast couple backup offer positions
is that I think we might needto be getting a little bit more
(08:46):
aggressive with our escalation caps.
Yeah.
And just remind, and not just us,but like also our buyers Yeah.
In their minds.
Sure.
And remind them that they'll alwaysbe protected by their appraisal.
Unless of course they waive that too, but
yeah, protected meaning you won'toverpay as long as the appraisal
comes in at the price that youhave landed at on your escalation.
(09:08):
Yeah, so it's interesting.
It's like a mixed bag right nowwhere some places are just sitting,
and other places are going.
Going fast.
But anyways, on other news, we aregearing up for our primo onboarding
session with our first two students.
So we're finalizing curriculum andgathering some really compelling
deals for them to invest in withsome pretty amazing returns.
(09:30):
So that's super exciting.
And yeah, we're connecting folks to.
People who are doing good dealsall across the country who are
looking for private money funds.
So there's opportunity onall sides and it's exciting.
We're excited and we'll have lots more toshare on this on Primo and the build out
and how it's going in coming episodes.
(09:52):
That'll
be another beast of abusiness before we know it.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah, for sure.
So our topic of the week, we think themain thread of our past couple weeks.
Has to do with how we've built ourbusiness in it being powered by referrals.
And it really is just thisbeautiful self-generating model
that, when I got into real estate,I understood the concept, but
(10:15):
it's a referral based business.
Referral based business and a business.
And self perpetuating business.
But it's just, it's been so funto just live and relish in it.
So it's not only, yeah, not only is it.
Good for our business, but it'salso really good for my ego.
It's just a really high compliment,like it means a lot to us,
(10:36):
especially when it comes from pastclients because that tells us.
They had a really good experience with us.
It's funny, like sometimes you just don'teven know what a good experience they
have until like they've conveyed it tothe next person and then you really get a
sense of what their experience was like.
Not only is it a compliment, butit's also it's also developed
into a strategy for us.
(10:56):
So when someone sends us a friend or aclient or a coworker or their mom like.
It's because they trust us to deliver.
So not only are we showing upand, doing our job it's, yeah.
I mean it's a full circlething and it, yeah, it's like
an investment.
It's like when you put your money intoan account with compounding interest.
That's how the referralbased business works, right?
Yes.
And essentially, we saidwe're writing four offers.
(11:20):
Three are for one client,which is super awesome.
But like nearly all of our active clientsright now, minus the one dude that just.
Randomly walked into our office yesterdayare all from referrals, so it's just
so fun like Sarah said, to hear fromthe person who was referred to us and
how great, the referring client thoughtwe were, we've got so many people
(11:42):
like buyers, sellers and even so our.
Our lender partners and other agents indifferent parts of the state and even the
country that are bringing people to us.
So it just feels really good.
And it's like you never know what'sgonna pop into your like email or
into your text or your voicemailsevery day because people are coming
(12:06):
in from the woodwork and it's.
Yeah, it feels really good.
Like you said, it's good for the ego.
Yeah.
And I think for us, it'sbecause we continue to show up.
We continue to have our consistencyand our discipline and we're
not perfect by any means.
And we admit that we like cometo things in a humble way.
And like we know some things,but we don't know everything and
we're real, we actually care.
(12:26):
And I think that translates forpeople and people remember that.
And that's what gets shared and.
We continue to lead with value, right?
And authenticity.
At least try and show people whatwe offer, and then it's up to them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So our business is growingwithout as much grind, right?
Like we're in it and we're buildingit, and we're sustaining it, but like
(12:46):
we don't have to chase it anymore.
Yeah.
Real fun.
That feels good.
For sure.
So now we're moving on toour client and industry PSA.
Take it away, Sarah.
We had something come up recentlythat is a great reminder for anyone
that's just starting their homesearch, especially if you are using
(13:06):
Zillow to fuel your home search.
I get it.
I use Zillow too.
It's a super easy platform tonavigate, but something that happened
this week is a past client referredus to a friend who was excited
to start the home search process.
He, before we were connected, he hadalready reached out and connected to a
(13:29):
Zillow agent on Zillow who showed hima home that they were interested in.
And then his friend introduced us.
So I called, I had theconversation with him.
He wanted to tell me about whathad happened, and it was clear he
wanted guidance and some strategyand someone in his corner, but.
He had already clicked thepro with the other agent.
So like ethically for me, I can'tstep on that person's toes with
(13:52):
something that they've already started.
Regardless of the fact that agentdidn't ask them to sign a buyer
representation agreement, I still needto hold that boundary and show respect
for that other professional, right?
So they showed up with thisother agent, all they did really
was open the door for 'em.
They didn't give 'em advice.
They didn't talk to 'em abouttheir big picture thinking.
They just said, here's the house.
So that is common, but it's importantto understand the difference between
(14:16):
working with a Zillow agent who's touringfor you, and the equivalent to that, I
think a good analogy is like when you'reworking with a Zow agent, you're working.
With like DoorDash, right?
You just pick up the itemand they deliver it, right?
There's no questions asked.
Yeah.
They just drop it at your door.
It's quick, it's transactional.
It's the button
they show up.
Yeah it's surface level.
(14:37):
It's totally transactional.
Yes.
And when you work with somebody whois maybe a referral or someone, maybe
you do a little of a research onfirst or your friend connects you.
Yeah.
And says, I had a really greatexperience with this person.
You like, give them a try.
Talk to them.
That's more like havinga private chef, right?
They ask you about your taste,your goals, your budget and we.
(14:59):
Listen, and we think, and we builda plan that's based around you, it's
curated, it's thoughtful, and ultimatelylike it's more satisfying, right?
So we ended up deciding at the end ofthis conversation that the best way to
proceed would be he would finish out,the process with that Zillow agent
on this one particular home, becausetechnically they showed it to him first.
(15:21):
And if that doesn't work out, then.
The plan is for us to reconnect.
We're gonna hit the reset button.
Do one of our, more formal fullintake meetings help him create
his vision and strategy becausethis is the way it should be.
So if you have a private
chef
Yeah.
Don't we all deserve a private chef?
That's one of my life goals.
Oh yeah.
I'm not like,
I just want a private plan.
Yeah.
You can have the chef.
(15:42):
Oh yeah.
I want, I need the chef.
You're more I
something
to anyways.
Here we go.
What I wanna tell you clients for your PSAis like, listen, if you're just starting
out, before you get click happy andpress that Zillow button your experience
should be more than just a door delivery.
(16:04):
You deserve the private chef treatment.
So reach out to a friend that youknow that's purchased in the area.
Do a little Google search.
Have some conversations first.
Yeah, that's all I have to say.
Yeah, because.
I think a lot of buyers, people that areusing Zillow and Redfin, when they see
that little blue button that says contactagent, you think you're contacting the
(16:26):
listing agent for that property and thenyou think oh yeah, this person will know
all the detail on why they're sellingand all the behind the scenes stuff.
Not so my friends not, so you are callingthe highest bidder for the Zillow leads.
These are people thatpay for Zillow leads.
Totally fine.
It is the antithesis of our businessmodel, which is referral based.
(16:49):
This is paid lead based.
So we just want, we've talked aboutthis before, but I wanna reiterate
like you are not talking to the listingagent when you hit the contact agent
button on Zillow, redfin realtor.com.
Just heads up.
Okay, now moving on to our industry.
PSA.
This one is for all ofyou, our dear fellow agents
(17:11):
because we've all been there.
You get a referral from a great classclient only to find out that their
friend already clicked the Zillowbutton and scooped up, was scooped up by
whoever picked up their phone fastest.
And we actually had that happen recently.
So the client's friend reached out.
We had a great connection, alignment,he wanted to work with us because the
great things he heard, but the door hadalready been opened by this Zillow agent,
(17:34):
and even though she didn't lock him inwith a buyer rep agreement, which I.
Is now standard practice, but whatifs we're still gonna re respect that
private or respect that professionalboundary because, that's the kind of
reputation that we are trying to build.
We want to have good relationships withour fellow agents out there, and that's.
Really what matters is integrity.
(17:56):
We listened, we offered value, wegave clarity to this buyer and said
Hey, if it doesn't work out withthis agent, we will start fresh the
right way with a signed agreement.
Clear expectations set out.
I. With, an intake meeting, aligning ongoals, strategy, support, and we do a
lot of deal analysis and so much moreconnecting to resources in the community.
(18:19):
And that stuff makes for a greatclient experience and it builds trust.
So if you fellow agents are gettingthose Zillow leads, remember like
you're the DoorDash driver, you'renot the chef, and if you want more
than just a delivery gig, you.
Are gonna need to elevate the experiencein order to compete with people like Sarah
(18:39):
and I who are giving a lot more value.
Because buyers really can tell thedifference, and even if they don't
at first, even if they think oh, I'm,talking to listing agent, and then
two minutes later realize they'retalking to just some random realtor
that paid for the lead they will figureit out and probably make a switch.
Especially if they're notlocked into an agreement.
(19:01):
Yeah.
So our PSA summary for our clientsis don't just hire someone who will
open the door, hire someone who willhelp you find the right door to open.
Yeah.
But what I will say with the onecaveat I will say is I appreciate.
His loyalty.
I appreciate the conscientiousnessand I will say while this conversation
(19:22):
was a little awkward and is never agreat position, I think to be put in,
I did highlight that fact and I valuethat fact and that is the type of
client that I want to be working with,and that is why I gave that client
30 minutes of my time, regardless ofwhether that turns into anything for
us in the future, because he had theconsideration and the respect enough to
(19:44):
even think that through enough to bringthat up and have that conversation.
So yeah, kudos to him for that.
Regardless of.
Being naive enough to clickthe Zillow listing button.
Yes.
And then for agents, if you wanna bemore than a delivery driver in your
market, then bring the value, not justthe key, because buying Zillow leads
(20:05):
can be a great way to kickstart yourbusiness and get that flywheel turning.
But it doesn't give you the.
The experience.
You need to learn how to build a businessthat can have that self-generating
income from those referrals.
You're just like the highestbidder and it gets expensive.
(20:26):
Especially in this market.
We know people that are paying.
Seven, eight, $10,000 amonth just for Zillow leads.
And there's no guarantee thosepeople are gonna work with you.
And it's a really big monthly investment.
So our advice for all of our mentees ispaid leads is like a tertiary strategy.
First off, you should be learninghow to build a business with
(20:48):
your sphere of influence.
People who already know andtrust you, because that's
where you can really add value.
And then.
They send you out to all of their friendsand family and coworkers, and that's
how you just build this big business.
So don't be transactional.
Add the value and then yourbusiness will start working for you.
Yeah.
Last thing I wanna say about that toois just like ultimately what keeps
(21:12):
us in this, or at least I think.
The good ones in it for the long run.
And like where we really findour fulfillment in this is the
fact that these are like true andmeaningful relationships, right?
And so like how when it's justsomeone random who's clicking
the button, like there's, I thinkit's just a lot less likelihood
to build those meaningful lastingrelationships or could take longer, but
(21:32):
yes.
But we are also in a cultureof instant gratification.
Yeah.
You
know, yeah.
Someone's not picking up their phonefast enough or whatever, but Yeah.
Yeah.
Remember you get what you pay for.
That's right.
We keep having, I know.
We keep having this discussion.
Yes.
All right.
Let's move on to our highsand lows of the week, Sarah.
Yeah,
so I, Susan's gonna thisone, or maybe she won't.
(21:53):
I, no, I do.
I have finally figured out, I shouldsay, finally figured out I have
finally decided to utilize the Donot Disturb function on my phone
that turns on at six 30 at night and.
Turns off at six 30 in themorning and it's glorious.
Like it is a really amazing tool.
(22:14):
Like I love that you'rejust discovering this.
That turns on my plate.
Okay, so listen, like it'sreally wild how simple it can be.
Okay.
And makes such a big impact.
It's been a game teacher because.
Like the, it's all still comingin, but it's not like in my face.
I don't see that there's notices on my,like I don't see that there's messages,
(22:34):
I don't see that there's emails.
Like I can just pretendlike it doesn't exist.
And I only check it like when I want tothen, or like when I do it intentionally.
It, it's made my evenings so muchmore enjoyable is what I'll say.
We're always striving for this likework life balance, and it's not perfect.
It's far from it, but it really is so mucheasier when you genuinely love what you do
and when you've, when we've intentionallybuilt this life and this business around
(22:58):
growth and freedom and the ability to bepresent, but like we have to show up and
be accountable to ourselves for that too.
Yes.
And do not disturb function is.
That's pretty key.
I don't know.
It's pretty good.
I've got that 12 hours, the DND mode.
It's given me more space to just belike with my family, with my kids
and in those precious like postdinner and post cast moments I don't
know, it's just something I wannakeep protecting and try and keep up.
(23:20):
So I'm gonna So what motivatedyou to start doing this?
Yeah, that's a really, I don't.
I remember it.
I like did it like a week ago.
I was just like, I'm just gonnatry this and see what happens.
I think I've always been too afraidto like, I'm gonna miss something.
That's too urgent.
But I'm like, listen at six 30, Ithink it can wait until the next day.
For sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think I'm good.
Yeah.
(23:41):
So's Unlike some of our clients,we're not here to save lives.
Yeah that's been my high for the week.
I love that.
Let's keep that going, Sarah.
Yeah.
Keep
checking in on that for me, please.
Yes.
And yeah, my, the cry I am gonna talkabout is about boundaries, because I was
just on the phone yesterday with a formerAdidas colleague and he is like audibly
(24:03):
miserable in his job, like soul crushing.
This place has nearlysucked the soul out of me.
Miserable and like it actuallyliterally brings me to tears, like
when I think about it and talk aboutit and reflect on it, because like
I remember those days so vividly.
I remember feeling exactly howhe feels defeated and trapped and
(24:24):
caught in that endless hamster wheel.
Of just busyness with no end in sight.
And I just remember going on vacationlike didn't even help because I would,
the second I would come back, my inboxhad a thousand emails, like half of
them had the red exclamation pointnext to them, so they were urgent.
And it was just like, I never left.
And it was just like, I rememberfeeling like the tightness
(24:46):
in my chest and just like.
Packed calendar meetings you don'twanna go to and shouldn't really
even, be included in, and like you'reputting out fires left and right.
And it was just like, for what?
For shoes.
Seriously, there's deadlines andperformance reviews and, corporate
kudos and all these little fun, littlegolden handcuffs that keep us there,
(25:08):
but it never filled the hole and ugh.
Yeah, just like.
They're tears of
attitude is the way I see it.
Like I really think your reflection ismore like, wow, look how far I've come.
Look at and yeah.
Where I was.
And also feeling for people who arestill there and this is a true passion
of yours like it is, this is somethingyou were able to figure out for yourself.
(25:31):
And people have seen this and nowthey're coming to you to talk to you
about it and look how real It's, yeah.
Like I still feel it ugh.
I just listening to him and he wason speaker so my husband could hear
it and he was just like, oh my gosh.
I remember I. I rememberyou sounding like this.
And to be on the other side of it is ugh.
(25:52):
It just made me so grateful to havemade the leap that was so scary.
And the cool part about talkingto him is he called me because he
wanted to talk about real estateinvesting as an alternative.
To the corporate grind thatjust, like I said, never ends.
And he is connected with some otherfolks that I, connected with on a
(26:13):
deep level at Adidas, who all of uswere real estate investors and we're
building our plan B using every aspectof our W2, our corporate job to.
Build up a way out of there.
So that was what was really cool.
He is looking for a way to build incomeand long-term wealth that is not just
about trading his time for money.
(26:34):
And that's why we built Kick Corporate.
And Kick Corporate is likethe umbrella company over.
Our real estate business, even overprimo private money lending over a
bunch of other silos and essentiallyopportunities to get out of the grind.
Because there is another way, and you donot have to wait for your breaking point.
(26:57):
I was gonna say it sounds like he sh.
Everyone should be doingthis all along proactively.
Proactively.
Not at the point where you'recalling somebody and you sound like
you are at the end of your rope.
Yeah, he
was just
I only have a couple weeks leftin me there and he was like, but.
The reality is I don't haveenough saved and I gotta use my
W2 to figure out how to do this.
(27:18):
And so anyways, yeah.
Sorry, I'm getting really emotionalabout it, but like it's real.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
So anyways, onto the good newspart of this and yeah, this
is like the first literal cry.
So you get the real side of Susan, Sarah.
But whether it's real estate investing,which is where he's gonna start, or
(27:40):
private money lending where he absolutelycould start, but he just wants to get
his hands dirty, or getting licensedas an agent, like we did, diving into
one of the many real estate adjacentbusinesses like property management,
interior design, construction consulting.
STR management, like the list is endless.
There are so many options that give youthat flexibility to, take off on Tuesday
(28:05):
at noon or whatever, or, pick up yourkids after school or drop them off and not
have to worry about the meetings and thea IS ass and Cs from eight to five at your
corporate job, and they also not only giveyou flexibility, but they give you freedom
and the all important passive income.
It is not a fantasy.
It is a strategy and it is a totalgame changer for me, having come from
(28:30):
corporate and finally kick corporate.
So like I said, the first launch of theKick corporate ecosystem is our private
money academy, but we've got so muchmore coming under this holistic umbrella.
And If you're burned out and you'rewatching your soul drip endlessly
between slack messages or teamsmessages and Zoom calls, we are
(28:51):
building this for you because.
We have been there.
And for my friend, we connected him witha Portland, a really trusted Portland area
agent who is going to get him started.
And the advice I gave him is theadvice I will give you too, and
that is use your corporate jobas a tool, drain that W2 dry.
(29:14):
Use your steady incometo get the bank loans.
Use your bonuses for downpayments or rehab funds.
Use your 401k.
Borrow against it legally with nopenalty to become a private lender.
Find a side project like a live-in flipto get you out of bed in the morning
and give you a reason to look forwardto leading the office at 5:00 PM because
(29:36):
that is a spirit of kick corporate.
That is what your W2 can do for you.
You have to.
Shift your mindset abouthow you think about it.
Don't let it suck the life outta you.
You suck the life out of that W2.
Get everything you can and
get the hell out of there.
That's exactly what Iwas gonna say, Suzanne.
At the very end, like ultimatelyit is a mindset shift.
Yeah.
Like it go it's going from a negativeperspective to flipping it on its back and
(30:00):
turning it into a positive perspective.
And also just, I think alot of people come from.
Living inside of this box solong that they think that is
the only way to do things.
Yes.
Yeah.
And I think one thing that ourindustry and the types of clients
and the types of deals we do havetaught us is that real estate is as
creative as you can possibly make it.
There are so many ways to do thisoutside of the conventional loan process.
(30:25):
Yes.
So I would say.
Don't wait to get started.
Like this should be a tool that youalign yourself with from the very
beginning of your W2 income career.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
And his biggest regret was like,why didn't I do this five years ago?
Start now.
I was making good money.
Interest rates were lower, priceswere lower, blah, blah, blah.
(30:45):
We can all have regrets, but thething is like in five years from now,
you would wish you had started now.
Correct.
So just start.
Yeah.
Now, and don't let yourself getcaught in analysis paralysis.
That was the other thingthat I warned him about.
Because, he was like I'mgonna do some research.
And I was like, all right, dosome research, but get going.
Do not give yourself like more reasonsto procrastinate and wait and feel.
(31:10):
Like your soul is being sucked.
Don't,
don't hold yourself to perfection.
Yes.
It's just like good enough, like it's mabase, base your decisions on the numbers,
your first deal might not be perfect.
Yeah.
And that's okay because you'rejust getting started and
you have lose, you have the
protection of your corporate,income that comes in every two
weeks, so use that cushion.
Yep.
So moving on.
(31:30):
I did have a laugh this week.
Now you need to laugh.
I know.
This is so funny you guys.
So some friends of ours reached outand they were like, Hey, can we take
you guys to breakfast on Sunday?
And I was like, sure, yeah.
Why?
Oh, we wanna talk real estate.
And I'm like, okay.
And.
So I didn't really know what to expect,wasn't surprised when they told us
that they're thinking about movingback to the Midwest because they
(31:52):
are just craving a stronger sense ofcommunity and really hoping to give
their daughter a better education thanthey feel like she's getting in South
County, which is essentially lap pine.
But the hard part was that thehusband doesn't wanna sell the house.
And I totally get it because the houseis on a golf course, it's next door
to family, and it's locked in at a2.25% interest rate, which is like a
(32:14):
once in a lifetime kind of mortgage.
And letting go of that is noteasy, and I totally get it.
But he's a devoted dad and theirdaughter's future is important and
it's taking priority and he's willingto consider the move because his
wife has wanted to literally moveback to Nebraska since the moment
that they moved to La Pine duringCOVID, like we met them on the river.
(32:35):
She was wearing a Nebraska hat, and Iwas like, Hey, I have family in Nebraska.
What's your deal?
So anyways, like she justloves the Midwest and she.
Wants to move back.
They've got this like push pullof they live on a golf course.
They're, connected intothis whole ecosystem.
And they invited us out tobreakfast to, what they thought
was gonna be talk selling strategy.
(32:57):
But instead they got two seasonedinvestors that looked at them and said,
you should absolutely not sell your house.
And they were just like, what?
I thought you were a realtor.
I was like, I'm a realtor,second investor first.
And the reason I told them not tosell their house is number one.
That 2.25% interest rate is absolute gold.
(33:19):
They will never see it again.
That alone is a massive assetbecause they have a mortgage payment
on a house that's probably worth$800,000 for two grand a month.
So affordable.
Half
of what it would be today.
Oh yeah, absolutely.
Or less.
Yeah.
And then, secondly, like what if theMidwest is not how they remember it.
Did it change in the lastfive years since COVID?
(33:41):
I don't know.
But if they sell this houseand it doesn't work out and.
Where are they gonna move back to wherethey get to live on a golf course next
to family, in a part of a communitythat, ultimately, like they do enjoy.
I just didn't want them to haveany regrets because that's a
pretty expensive emotion that youcan't, it's hard to get through.
(34:01):
And the other part isthis house can cash flow.
When you have a $2,000 a month mortgage ona brand new house, on a golf course across
the street from the little Deschutes riverlike that is rare and that is worth a lot.
Yeah, and when I just gave someballpark numbers, like I think that
they'll make at least $1,200 a monthand passive income on this place
thanks to their little mortgage.
(34:22):
So they got a lot more than listingadvice for their breakfast treat.
And at the end of it all, wewere in the parking lot and they
looked at me and they were like.
Are you a marriage counselor?
And I was like, whatare you talking about?
And they were like becausewe both got what we wanted.
Like he doesn't have to sell the house.
I get to move and likeeverybody wins here.
(34:42):
And I was like, oh.
So that was when I was really, that wasthe last part was like, oh, we're part
marriage counselors and our lives too.
And the cool part was by the end,like we could see their mindset.
Spinning of oh, if we can make $1,200 onthis house, and then if we can buy another
one and then make some money on that one.
Like they were already thinking 3, 4,5 steps down the road and, starting
to think about, appreciating assetsand tax write-offs and passive income
(35:06):
stacking up into a retirement plan thatthey just didn't know anything about.
So that was a win.
And just a PSA out to all of you.
Sometimes the best realtoris the one who tells you.
Don't sell your house.
It's not the first time you've tolda client that, and usually those
clients come right back around.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's a good thing.
(35:27):
So we're not all aboutthe sale at all costs.
We want what's best for you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Cool.
You're such a good storyteller.
Ah, it's such a good story.
Moving on to our personalinvesting and portfolio updates.
One of my units in St. Louis thathas been sitting vacant for the past
six months because I don't care.
Finally got it rented.
(35:48):
Hallelujah.
Really, the challenge has beenfinding reliable and affordable
contractors in St. Louis.
It's crazy.
The income levels or the medianhome income level there is real
low, but the contractors stillcharge Ben prices, which is not.
Not great.
Yeah.
So the fun twist on this one is that Ididn't actually even have to advertise
(36:10):
this one on Zillow or go through thewhole application process because one of
the tenants from the building that I justsold told me that she wanted to follow
us here and and move into this unit.
And so she moved in yesterdayand she's so happy and.
It just made everything easy,so we've got all, we've got no
vacancies and it's really just agreat reminder that a good landlord,
(36:33):
relationship matters with your tenants,
Oh yeah.
So having someone follow you is huge.
And then your building is gonnabe worth more when you go to sell
it because it's fully occupied.
Yep.
That's on the list for this week.
Oh, nice.
Getting that up on sale.
Gotta rent it, now I gotta sell it.
Then I gotta sift through allthe wholesalers for a few weeks
before we find real people.
Of course.
It's all good.
So what's interesting aboutthis, I think, is that this
(36:56):
whole process has inspired a new.
Product of ours.
We've rolled out this rental conciconcierge service for our clients.
We've always helped investorsobviously, and we've got lots
of investors that buy rentals.
And we had a client come to uswho's about to pop out a baby
and both of 'em work any day now.
Yeah, both of 'em work fullW2 jobs and they're like, can
you help us find a tenant?
And we're like.
(37:17):
Oh yeah, I bet we can.
We're not property managers, wewon't rent manage it for you, but
we'll provide you with this service.
So this has been really fun andI think really helpful for them.
We've supported them by listing andmarketing their property on Zillow.
Right now we are in the, as a rental.
As a rental.
Yep.
Right now we're in the processof receiving their applications
(37:38):
and screening their tenants.
We will then have, an open houseto finalize the tenant process
and help them get to the point ofgetting a tenant to sign a lease.
And.
Before this we helped them withpricing strategy and market analysis.
We've helped them, getprofessional listing photography
when the home is vacant.
So they'll have that to use forever.
Forever, because that will minimizetheir turnover time when they do have,
(38:01):
turnover they can start advertising it.
When they get noticed from their tenants,they don't have to wait for it to be
out and clean and take new photos.
That's so important.
We've advised them on documentationand lease support and that's super easy
here in Orum 'cause we've got great.
Attorney drafted rental forms, andthen the bonus is like we're, we
have this investor lens that, we'rethinking about how this decision
(38:22):
overall impacts their long-term goals.
Like it's.
We're not just coming in andperforming a task like we are helping
them with the big picture in mind.
So the deal here is if you're aninvestor or an aspiring one, and you
want your rental property to performlike a pro, even if you're not using
a full service property manager,like you plan to manage it yourself.
(38:45):
Like these folks like.
We can still help you.
It's gonna, it's gonnacost you some money.
We've gotta put some hours intoit, but it's a great service that
we provide and we can help you.
We are, we're really experiencedin placing good tenants and going
through the process and Yeah.
We can help you get a child.
So
that's else we can.
Yeah.
And not just an orient,it's something we could do.
Yeah.
Anywhere, technically, anywhere.
You're right.
(39:05):
Yeah.
So high five for that.
Just more things that we do.
Oh.
And in addition to morethings that we do yeah.
Onto my real estate portfolio updates,gearing up for a new STR vacation rental
that we just closed on in Hood River.
So I am this week getting the, myAirbnb listing, VRBO listing and my
(39:26):
own direct booking site set up andoptimized with the support of my.
STR Divas, I have told them theyneed to come up with a better name.
So once they do, I will be gladto share who they are, what they
do, and how amazing they are.
Because they have helped meboost my revenues on my Lapine
STR in less than a month.
I can't tell you, itjust was night and day.
(39:48):
They, it was a completeturnaround on a property that
was already doing pretty well.
Much better than any ofthe competition in La Pine.
Yeah, and this cool part about the HoodRiver, STR is I've already got a cleaner
in place for a very reasonable price.
Handy person set up landscaping, metthe neighbors, talked to them on the
phone yesterday, like we already justhave a lot in common and it's super fun.
(40:12):
Got invited to be on the HOA board.
Which is decisions still pending,but I think maybe Bill can do that.
I'm about joining mine.
Really?
Yeah.
I don't know.
I don't need another thing todo, but I, no Bill, like quasi
volunteered and I was like, oh, sweet.
Alright.
So yeah, I'm getting excited to getthis place up and running and achieving
its true potential because it's beenmanaged by a. Very corporate STR
(40:36):
manager, that's national and the onlybad reviews on the these properties is
the management and the customer service.
So we're gonna change that and adda few things and make it even more
appealing to guests and just improvethat overall guest experience.
With the things I'velearned with my STR divas.
Yeah.
All the coaching.
I know I pay for all the coaching.
(40:58):
Yeah.
So we're finally at that sweettime where we can talk about
our actual takeaways and final
thoughts.
Yeah.
Okay.
Back to my breakfast realtor story.
If you are sitting on an amazing interestrate and thinking about making a move.
I would say press pause before you list.
Run the numbers.
Zoom out, look at the full picture.
(41:20):
Talk to somebody who is not just goingto say, yes, I can sell your home.
'cause of course we can sell homes,but like someone who looks at your
full picture and what is best foryou, because that low interest rate
mortgage might just be one of thebest financial tools you'll ever have.
And I can tell you right now,you're never gonna get it back.
(41:41):
So if you are not sure whatyour right move is, then.
That's what we're here for.
We do not just tell people to buy or sellbecause that's our job, because really
our job is to look at the full chessboard and help you make the decision
that is actually right for you and yoursituation and your goals and your future.
Even if that means holding tight for now.
(42:02):
Yeah.
And our real life example from thatthis week is we have a great investor
client who there's a whole notherstory behind that finally came back
to us and is so grateful to be workingwith us and sees our value now.
And he went head, head first into buyinghis first investment property with us.
We're through theinspection period on that.
He's plugging away at that andhe's also been actively looking
for our primary residence withthe same kind of investor mindset.
(42:26):
But I think having an internalstruggle about the difference between.
The emotions tied up with that beingyour primary residence versus it being
a more logical decision, which is whatour investment properties tend to be.
And he we've given him the advice toalso take, the step back and start with
this investment property and take a pauselike, again, we're not here to push you.
(42:47):
We're here to just align with whattiming works for you and how you feel.
So that's just anotherreal life example of us.
Us being here for you when you're ready.
Yes, exactly.
And it's not just, we're notjust slinging houses over here.
We're slinging strategy.
Yeah.
And that's what I think ismost important for sure.
All
(43:07):
day long, that's how we make our money,is buying and selling houses shirt.
But we do it with grace and integrityand, people keep coming back to
us for all the right reasons.
Yes.
So if you wanna come back to us forall the right reasons, ways you can
stay in touch with us on The Daily Areon Instagram, I'm at Best Life, Ben
and Suzanne is at Suzanne Rosemore.
(43:29):
Of course, you can tune in on our YouTubechannel for watching our podcast or bonus
content on Bend, lifestyle topics orinvestor real estate investing topics.
Then of course we've got our investornewsletter that we send out every
week, which is our top picks where wecollect all the best deals from around
Central Oregon and in the greatestreal estate investing categories.
(43:50):
And give you our candid commentary.
Yes.
And then every month we host.
In person and online investormeetups the third Thursday of every
month from noon to 1:00 PM PacificTime starting June 24th, 2025.
We will be hosting our Summer PowerHour series here at our office in Bend.
If you are local, you are welcometo come join us here for some.
(44:13):
Theory and practice in getting creativewith real estate investments and just
getting connected to a community of activeinvestors here in the central Oregon area.
So it's really fun.
We see a lot of synergies and alot of the folks that attended
last year are partnering togetherand doing deals together.
So that's been super exciting.
That is it for us for today.
(44:33):
Thank you so much for listeningto the Suzanne and Sarah Real
Estate Investing podcast.
We'll see you next time with more behindthe scenes stories, real laughs, real
cries and actionable tips to help youbuild your best life through real estate.
Thank you so much.
See you next time.