May 20, 2025 • 48 mins
Today, we delve into the intriguing realm of luxury tree house investments, guided by the expertise of distinguished guests who have successfully navigated this unique niche within the hospitality sector.
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Takeaways:
- The podcast emphasizes the importance of creative financing strategies in real estate investing, particularly with properties that offer unique experiences such as luxury tree houses.
- Listeners are encouraged to consider refinancing existing properties as a means to reduce monthly payments and overall interest costs, thus improving cash flow.
- The hosts discuss their journey in the hospitality niche, detailing how they successfully transitioned from traditional real estate to creating luxury accommodations in nature.
- The episode highlights the significance of mentorship and community in the real estate investment journey, advocating for learning from experienced individuals to avoid costly mistakes.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Master Passive Income
- Airbnb
- Bolt Farm Treehouse
financial independence, real estate investing, luxury tree houses, short term rentals, Airbnb strategies, creative financing, hospitality niche, investing business, refinancing properties, subject to purchasing, property acquisition, outdoor hospitality, investment loans, building treehouses, passive income, rental properties, scaling real estate business, land acquisition, mentorship in real estate, outdoor retreats
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Foreign.
You're listening to the MasterPassive Income Podcast Network.
Welcome to the Master PassiveIncome Show.
My name is Dustin Heiner andI'm here to help you get financial
independence.
Afford anything you want inlife by investing in real estate.
And in today's show, I amsuper pumped to bring on some fantastic
(00:22):
real estate investing expertswho are in the hospitality niche
where they build up luxurytree houses.
I kid you not.
Luxury.
And these are awesome tree houses.
Beautiful views and people paya lot of money to stay there.
And they have a fantasticinvesting business where they have
short term rentals in theirluxury tree houses and they're going
to show us how they did it andhow you can do it as well.
(00:44):
All right, let's start the show.
Welcome to the Master PassiveIncome podcast.
Where we talk about investingin real.
Estate with a special focus onon making enough money so you can
quit your job and live thedream life.
(01:05):
And now, here is your host,Dustin Heiner.
What's up?
What's up?
Super blessed as always tohave you here with me on the show.
Now, I love that right nowthis market is hard for other investors
(01:25):
who don't know what they'redoing to, to invest in real estate
because they see prices are so high.
How do I buy properties?
Interest rates are so high.
How do I buy properties?
A couple of things that I'mworking on right now.
Well, number one, I justrefinanced my primary residence.
If you guys remember, ifyou've been listening to me for a
while, last year I bought ahouse in Tennessee and I had it as
(01:47):
an Airbnb.
Eventually we moved into theproperty, but when I bought it, it
was an investment loan.
8% interest rate.
So high, 30 are fixed.
I just refinanced becausepeople maybe are telling me and you
might be thinking interestrates are still high.
No, I refinanced my primaryresidence because I'm living in it
now with a 4 1/2 percent, 15year loan.
(02:11):
Can you believe that?
And so my payments arebasically the same and I'm going
to pay it off in 15 yearsinstead of 30 years because of this
refinance.
Now, it did cost me about$10,000 to do the refinance, but
in the end I'm going to besaving like 150, $200,000 in interest.
So there are ways to actuallyget good and low interest rates.
(02:33):
In fact, I refinanced five ofmy properties, five or six properties,
and I took out $500,000 at asix and a half percent interest rate
and my payments about $3,000,but all six of those properties,
I bring in like seven grand.
And so the mortgage is so low,if you're thinking that interest
rates are stopping you, well,they shouldn't be.
(02:55):
Because I know many differentbrokers that I currently use and
in fact I just give them to my students.
I say, hey, use this company.
This is the company that I used.
And so any of my students, Igive them all that information.
And at the same time, I'mcurrently developing a brand new
course because I'm seeing thisas I invest, I share with all my
(03:18):
students how I'm investing,what I'm doing.
Well, I'm currently doingsubject to where I buy a house, take
over the mortgage.
Hopefully they have, when youtake over a mortgage, hopefully have
a low interest rate, they haveprobably a higher balance.
It's hard for them to sell.
And with that, you take overwithout having the mortgage in your
(03:40):
name.
So you can get theseproperties with literally no money
down.
And you might be thinking,well, Dustin, how in the world would
somebody want to give youtheir property and take over their
mortgage?
Well, we're not the first option.
In fact, when I'm callingthese people and offering to buy
their home, more than likelythey have already come off the mls,
(04:01):
which means they went on themultiple listing service to try to
sell their home.
They didn't have enough equityin the property so they couldn't
sell it.
And when you can't sell it,then it comes off.
Well, they still need to sellthe property.
We are a niche, niche, niche.
I don't know if that's thebest way to say it.
We're a niche buyer.
We're looking for the rightproperty, the right seller.
(04:24):
Maybe they're getting adivorce, maybe they got a job that
they're moving out of thestate or they work in the military
or they just lost their job.
You never know what situationthey have.
But they have this mortgageand, and they want to get rid of
this property, but they can'tsell it because they don't have enough
equity.
Well, you might be thinking,well, what if they have 20 or $30,000
(04:44):
in equity?
Well, when you have a houseand you try to sell it, it's probably
about 10% is the cost to sellthe house.
From paying the realtors toany title, closing fees and all that,
it's about 10%.
So if you're selling it for350,000, that's $35,000 that's going
to come out of your pocket.
People who are hurting, wherethey don't have much equity, but
(05:05):
they need to sell, they wouldactually have to come out of pocket
in order to sell the property.
If we find the right sellers,educate them on the process to actually
take over their mortgage,where if we are a great fit for them,
if we help them out of a bind,then it's going to be a great fit
for us as long as it fits our numbers.
Well right now I'm currentlydoing that subject to purchasing
(05:27):
and I thought, you know what,I need to teach you guys how to do
it.
So that's not this episode,but watch an episode in the future.
But I'm also creating a brandnew course, a creative financing
course because I'm seeing somany amazing opportunities for us
as real estate investors totake over properties.
It could be seller financing,it could be subject to, it could
(05:49):
be a lease option.
Lease option is where youlease the property with an option
to buy it.
There are great ways to buyproperties off of people.
Number one, you just need toknow how to find these properties.
Well, check in my course I'mfiguring out or showing and everybody
how to figure out to findthese sellers from lists, reach out
to them, talk to them andactually go through the process and
(06:11):
how to get all the paperworkright, how to make sure you, the
title company knows whatthey're doing.
So there's a good amount of steps.
But in the end a lot of peoplecome to me and say, hey Dustin, I
have very little money.
Or if they have scaled theirbusiness now, if they have very little
money to start, well, this isone way.
But let's say they've scaledtheir business where they have multiple
mortgages and now with thesemultiple mortgages it's hard for
(06:32):
them to get more mortgages.
Well, why not keep themortgage in the seller's name and
then put the property, yourname and you make the money and you
own the property.
That is what we're going to do.
A scale.
Now, you know, you need tostart thinking as a business owner
where you're now a scaler.
We need to get out of the momand pop phase where we're just at
one or two, three, four properties.
(06:53):
I want you to get into thescaler phase.
If you've been listening to memost a lot of people that listen
to the show have beenlistening to me for years.
Hopefully you got a fewproperties, now it's time for you
to scale.
And that's what we do atMaster Passive Income.
We now scale.
And this creative financingcourse is another fantastic way to
find properties.
In fact, Charles Rose Jr.
I'm working with him, helpinghim to buy hopefully his next primary
(07:16):
residence with subject to.
Because it is rather difficultto always raise up a brand new amount
of down payment to pay off ornot pay off to put as a down payment
to get a mortgage.
Well, what if somebody alreadyhad the mortgage and you just take
over the loan?
So this is exactly where I seethe market going.
If there is ever a crash or acorrection in the market, you can
(07:40):
get some people that have ahard time and let's say, sadly if
people start losing their job,I mean, it could happen.
If that does happen, you needto be ready to jump on these properties
to help these people out of a bind.
You're helping them.
In fact, a lot of people thatwe get subject to properties, they're
thankful that we are takingover these properties for them because
(08:01):
they can't do what we're goingto be doing.
They need to move on.
Well, we come in and we helpthem out.
So be watching out for thatcreative financing course.
I want you to be able to noteven use any of your own money to
buy real estate as well as tobe able to scale your business.
And this is what our expertshave done.
Our experts have come on.
Are coming on the show toshare with us how they started and
(08:23):
scaled their service orhospitality based Airbnb company.
How'd you guys first come upwith this idea to do tree houses?
What I think is really cooland unique about our story is we
didn't just say, hey, let'sstart this business.
The whole thing was inspiredby, by love.
Seth and his dad built atreehouse by hand.
(08:43):
His dad works in construction.
So Seth grew up learning allof that and they started doing that
together on Father's Day.
This is at Seth's family farmin South Carolina.
And we met in the process.
And so he says that inspiredby love, he decided to really elevate
the treehouse and not justmake it like an adventurous Swiss
(09:05):
Family Robinson treehouse, buta romantic, luxurious treehouse that'd
be worthy of our wedding day.
And so he pitched me on theidea of having our wedding there
and honeymooning there.
And I was thrilled.
I mean, who gets to do that?
Who, like, who has somebodybuild you a tree house for your wedding?
That's crazy.
And so we, we, we did that andit was so magical.
(09:25):
And what's really cool is thatwe just got to experience it firsthand.
The power of environments andthe environment really, it encouraged
us to put our phones down,disconnect from the busyness of life,
be together and as a newcouple, just start.
We had so much to think anddream about our lives, what we wanted
to look like, how we wanted tospend our time.
(09:45):
We knew that having jobs intotally different industries with
different schedules was not sustainable.
And we're both entrepreneurialand wanted to do something together
that had a lasting impact.
And everything was pointing totree houses and making more environments
like we were sitting in inthat moment for couples.
And so that was like the lightbulb moment.
And very soon after that Iquit my job and we went all in.
(10:09):
Haven't looked back since that.
Well, because Seth, I want youto jump in too.
And I, when you and I werechatting, Tori, we were chatting
about just investing in realestate and we were.
It was just terrific meetinganother real estate investor.
It's always great chatting andseeing how other people are investing.
And then one thing I just haveto share.
(10:29):
So when you told me you're asocial media handle for on Instagram
and I was okay, let me look it up.
And I looked at you have like500 plus thousand followers or you
know, I was like, but that'snot easy.
Like that is amazingly hard todo that.
That is so.
So if you guys.
You'd have to check out theirsocial media on Instagram, especially
on Instagram.
So many great videos ofshowing how amazing this can be,
(10:52):
how luxurious a quote unquotetree house.
But it's so much better than that.
And so it's so it's bolt farm treehouses.
So just look them up.
All one word.
You'll see all the amazing stuff.
But okay.
So Seth, how'd you come upwith doing a honeymoon in a treehouse?
And I want to pause for just aquick second and say thank you so
much for listening to the show.
If you've gotten anything outof the show, I would appreciate it
(11:14):
if you went to anywhere thatyou listen to say Apple or Spotify
or wherever and leave a fivestar review.
Honestly, I really appreciateyou leaving an honest review.
I just love giving all thisinformation out and I want to see
you succeed.
Also send this to one person.
Just tell one person and say,hey, Dustin wants to help a million
people to invest in real estate.
You need to listen to thisbecause it's going to change your
(11:35):
life.
Lastly, get my real estateinvestment course completely for
free.
Text the word rental R E N T AL rental to 33777 rental to 33777.
I'll literally give you mycourse showing you everything in
the business so that you canbecome financially independent.
I mean, I really did.
I grew up on a farm in SouthCarolina and like, I watched my grandpa
(11:59):
build dup apartments andcreate passive income that way.
My dad's had a constructioncompany now for 40 years.
My mom's one of the toprealtors in the state of South Carolina.
So, like, it was like a reallyhumble beginnings, like, bootstrap
story of a family that like,applied the powerful mindsets and
money principles to life andjust, you know, met that with, like,
(12:19):
consistency and hard work.
And it was a very richupbringing and maybe a rare one.
Like, I mean, how many 41 yearolds can say that they, like, you
know, went logging with theirgrandpa and took the logs to the
sawmill and then built duplexapartments out of it and, you know,
watched, you know, watch likegreat men, you know, take, you know,
(12:43):
a mess and make magic out ofit that, like, created generational
prosperity for their family.
And so just growing up,watching people build stuff and being
creative, you know, youmentioned my music.
Like, I've.
I've been in the musicindustry for 23 years with my band
need to Breathe.
And it's.
(13:03):
So I've got this creativeside, but then my dad's an engineer
and he thinks that way.
So I've kind of got both, bothof those minds and ultimately just
have a.
Have a, you know, just likethis strong drive to.
To do as much as I can withthe time that I have on earth to
help people and to create alegacy for our family.
(13:26):
And I know tree houses areprobably a weird thing to kind of
land on, but I, I've alwaysjust believed that if you play by
your own rules, it's a loteasier to win the game.
And, you know, I knew that wewere onto something because of, you
know, the.
Let's go back in time, right?
So this is about 2013 whenI've got this idea, like Treehouse
(13:50):
Masters is the most popularshow on tv.
So there's an educated market,but they're underserved because most
of these were like, built forcelebrities and they weren't, you
know, rentals.
Airbnb is emerging, so nowthere's a platform you can connect
with people and sell.
And Instagram was also comingon the scene, and so I was like,
okay, that can be how I canmarket this.
(14:11):
So now it's irrelevant that,that the farm I grew up on is in
a small town called Walhalla, S.C.
and like, no one goes therefor tourists, tourism, but, like,
I can actually inform theaudience have a way to get their
money and, you know, show themhow magical it can be.
And we experienced it for ourselves.
And so that was.
(14:32):
That was really.
That was the.
That was the first olive outof the jar and.
And the test case to see,like, okay, is there anything to
this?
And literally within the firstyear, we.
We were.
We were fully sold out, like,beyond six months.
Stayed that way, got 10,000saves on Airbnb, and just started
(14:52):
collecting hundreds of email addresses.
And then the stories we gotfrom people were such that they're
like, I rediscovered my bestfriend in this treehouse.
And this might have added 25years to our marriage.
So we're like, wow, so checkso many boxes for us.
Because not only is a greatbusiness, but wanted to recreate,
(15:14):
like, construction and development.
You know, it.
It's.
It's hard work, but it's a great.
I think it's a great thing forkids to grow up in.
Like, it.
It teaches you a lot ofvalues, like growing up on a farm
kind of.
And great way to combatentitlement and.
And also, like, build.
Build things that are.
That will endure the test oftime so that, you know, our grandkids
(15:37):
can think.
Like, thank God my grandpa,you know, decided to work really
hard and buy these mountainsand, like, build all these amazing
luxury tree houses on them.
That kind of thing, you know, I.
Love it, and I completely agree.
In fact, my kids, number one,teaching them how to build a fence,
you know, change, doelectrical work, like, basically
working around the house.
(15:58):
Because I've remodeled myhouse, actually multiple houses now,
whenever we move, I usuallyremodel it.
And recently, my kids havegotten older.
My boys have.
My wife said, hey, why don'tyou start teaching your boys how
to do all this stuff insteadof you doing it, like, teach them
how to do it.
And I said, that sounds like agreat idea, because we homeschool,
or at least let me take that back.
My wife has a hard job ofhomeschooling the kids.
(16:20):
I had the easy job making money.
So she said, hey, this will bea good homeschool project.
I said, that's great.
Let's go and do it.
So we remodeled my master bathroom.
Like, ripped out everything,remodeled it.
And they were with me all.
But I did most of the work.
Then once they got theexperience, they saw how it was done.
Then I went, and it was like,three months later.
I said, hey, boys, see theirhallway bathroom.
(16:40):
Have at it.
You guys are remodeling it.
They're like, are you sure, dad?
I'll be yes, go ahead and doit now.
It's not perfect at all.
I mean, I think at the timethey were 13 and 15.
And so it's not perfect, butit looks so much better.
But it's what they're learningnow that they might not remember
every little bit, but the factthat they were able to do it number
(17:00):
one and then push through,maybe I can't figure.
Well, let me figure it out.
And then now taking that towhere now they're buying their own
real estate.
My oldest daughter just boughther first rental property about a
month ago.
She's 16 years old, so she'sso excited.
She's making cash flow.
So I love that you guys havethat now with the, the tree house
idea.
Now, how many total units doyou guys have?
(17:22):
Because you still have the onein South Carolina and you have the
ones now in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
That's right.
Yeah.
There's the one on the familyfarm still.
But, you know, I asked myparents, I'm like, hey, we got a
line out the door.
You want to build some more?
And they're like, no, this islike our family farm.
I think we'll just keep it atthe 1.
This was special thing foryour wedding.
And so.
But no, we.
We own a mountaintop property,55 acres right outside Chattanooga.
(17:45):
I mean, we can see threestates from here.
And we've got a mile ofcliffside mountaintop.
So the views are unobstructed.
And, you know, the shortest,the shortest distance you can see
is like a six miles.
And then you can obviously seeinto Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee.
So I mean, it's.
It's epic.
Like, in terms of real estatelocations, like, we, you know, we
(18:07):
probably say no to a thousandproperties for everyone that we,
you know, agree to is probablyeven higher than that.
But there's.
You just can't beat it.
And then early on, I was justlike, you know what?
I, you know, like, remember glamping?
When, like, glamping firstshowed up on the scene, I was like,
okay, this is, this is goingto get really competitive.
(18:27):
I'm just going to go ahead andcreate the penthouse suite of glamping.
And now I think glamping theglamping work doesn't even fit what
we do because we're likeheated marble floors and, and toilet
like bidets and all the thingslike, you know, motorized shades
and like, it's like, it's likebeing in a super luxury.
Everybody is listening on the podcast.
You're not seeing this on YouTube.
(18:48):
So if you're on YouTube.
You could see the background.
They're inside one of theirluxury tree houses right now.
Looks awesome.
Is that a copper hot tub orlike bathtub behind you?
Hand hammered copper tub fortwo people.
Crazy.
And so, and so again, you haveto go to their Instagram Bolt Farm
Treehouse check out becauseyou can see the view.
(19:08):
I mean, it is spectacular.
They're on this plateau thatoverlooks everything and it like
just drops off.
It's so cool.
But then also you have boltfarm treehouse.com which then you
also show people how to do this.
You know that that's, that issuper neat because you know when
you look at, okay, let me buya single family home and then put
a tenant in there, short term,midterm, whatever it might be.
(19:30):
It's not as hard as, like, I'mgoing to buy land and then build
a tree house and make it sothat people want to stay there.
But now you coach people, youjust have a workshop.
Just, just had a workshop, gotpeople that came in and learned all
about this.
If somebody wants to getstarted in doing the treehouse, they
have to start with land.
(19:50):
Do I mean, they pro.
Should they rent land?
How does that work if somebodywants to get started doing something
like this?
Yeah, I mean, so I'll just usereal examples from the people that
we just helped.
You know, some of them, like,they're looking to acquire a property
where they can expand andothers are in the, in the discovery
stage for land.
(20:10):
And I guess a lot of times,like, because this is such a new
frontier, right?
All the development has beenpretty much in cities for hotels,
but now this like, outdoorhotel concept has emerged.
Kind of amazing that it tookthis long, you know, for it to become
a thing, but, but here we are.
And so a lot of, a lot of, alot of people don't know what they
don't know.
(20:31):
And there's a lot of ways youcan mess up.
And, and we learn that thehard way.
Like we look back at the last10 years, we were crashing into walls
like crazy our first sixbecause we were trying to go at it
alone.
We thought we couldn't afford mentorship.
And my goodness, like, we wereso wrong.
Right?
Once we flipped our mindset,invested in ourselves, brought coaches
(20:53):
and mentors in our lives, yousurrounded ourselves with other successful
people in mastermind groups.
Our success has taken off andwe're like, why did we not start
this sooner?
And so we made so many costly mistakes.
I mean, we bought land in,outside of Charleston, South Carolina
with this concept, but it wasthe wrong place.
We missed one thing on achecklist that we didn't have at
(21:13):
the time and it was a hugefailure earlier.
And so we want to help peoplefrom making that mistake.
And I love the people whohaven't even started yet because
buying property is what is so critical.
Finding that right property.
I think you and your, your,you and your audience will get a
kick out of this.
So the property where we areright now on Whitwell Mountain outside
of Chattanooga, we bought 18acres to start with.
(21:36):
Since then, we've expanded.
We paid less than 250k forthose 18 acres.
And now what was the latest valuation.
With 32 million appraisal?
Yeah.
What in the world?
Well, I mean, you look at theviews too.
I mean, that's just stunningand spectacular.
But you said 32 million.
(21:56):
Yes.
Oh, my goodness.
We've, we've already built 23units on here.
23 units now.
So I'm thinking like an investor.
How do you tap into thatequity so you can do it more?
Yeah, well, I mean, the, we'vegot great relationships with lenders
now.
Lenders are sending us, thepeople who are using our, our company
(22:17):
and their pitch decks, youknow, to, to raise 20, 30 million
dollars.
Because I had like one of thelargest lenders in the, in North
America called me the otherday and he was like, hey, I got,
I just saw your brand onanother pitch deck and like, he's
flown here and he's, he's seenour place and he's like, he's like,
I just don't.
He's like, I just, I don'tknow if they're you, you know, he's
(22:38):
like, you gu.
Michael Jordan of glamping andlike, you've been doing this for
a decade and I just feelbetter about it if, if they had,
you know, had more experienceor could spend time with you.
And I was like, well, I gotnews for you.
We got a workshop and amastermind now, so send them our
way.
So now, like, I think we're,he kind of use us as an insurance
plan, you know, because like,you know, a master.
(22:59):
The cost of a mastermind,while it's not cheap, is like still
a rounding error on a $20million loan.
And like, you can, you canmake half million dollar mistakes
in a heartbeat when you'respending that kind of money on construction,
especially if it's a, youknow, like we're on top of a mountain.
You know, there's bedrock likerunning utilities and like, there's
a lot of things That a lot ofsurprises that you get with any,
(23:20):
any kind of ground upconstruction project.
It sounds like you had some,some headaches or you learned from
experience that there arethings that most people wouldn't
even think about.
Yeah.
And, and the truth is like,man, if we could go, like, we've
been doing it for 10 years andwe didn't have mentorship, like,
and part of that was like amindset thing because, like, growing
(23:41):
up, growing up in like a, youknow, on a farm, it was like you
do everything yourself and ifsomebody gives you a, you know, a
big price for something,you're like, no, we're definitely
doing it ourselves, you know,so, like, it took me a while to shake
that to where, you know, now,you know, I will gladly exchange
money for years of my life back.
And I think we were just, wewere very, very new on the scene,
(24:04):
you know, for, for outdoorhospitality, and it just didn't exist.
Like, coaching wasn't really athing like it is today back then.
So for us, like, if we cansave people from pain, number one,
because, like, I wouldn't wantanyone to relive some of the trials
and tribulations we've gone through.
And then number two, you know,it's like, we want to grow through
(24:26):
acquisition because we'vebuilt this big brand.
We've got trust, we've gottraffic, we have like.
And I, these, this, I tookthis to a mastermind group we're
in.
I was like, okay, we have twoand a half million dollars in abandoned
carts on a weekly basis.
That's, that's like $125million a year, you know, because
we can't build fast enough.
And also with all the successmetrics, like selling direct, 100%
(24:50):
direct to customer, $800 ADR,93% occupancy.
You know, the response I gotfrom the group because I told him,
I was like, look, we want togrow through acquisition, but most
of the places that have beenbuilt are unbiable because they're
not professionally built.
It was just like somebody witha piece of land, an idea to do a
few cabins or something.
And like, they've already usedup the best part of the land.
(25:12):
We'd be fixing a bad haircut.
But, like, I'd rather buyproperties that are turnkey because
that's such a faster way to grow.
And he's like, well, why don'tyou just, you know, coach people
to your standard, tell themhow you would do it and then you
could partner with them, buythose properties in the future, help
them flip them, you know, orsell rooms for them because you've
(25:32):
got a big brand, like havethem be, you know, affiliate properties
of ours.
And so, I mean, as you know,with real estate, like there's just
a ton of different ways thatyou can, you can do deals with people
that make sense and grow muchfaster than like literally starting
from scratch each time.
So doing the workshops in theMastermind really give us a chance
to meet the all stars in thisarea who are going to go the distance
(25:55):
and we can help them get there faster.
And we can probably partnerwith them or buy their place one
day if they just want to, ifthey want to sell it.
And I like the idea that asyou're helping out your students,
number one, they're doing itright, which is they need to know
how to do it right.
But that is a brilliant ideawhere people go to Bolt Farm tree
(26:15):
houses and then they have awhole bunch of different cities and
states that they can go tobecause you've like, you've already
done all the work curating,helping these people to build these
up.
And then the owners overthere, let's say you either partner
or you just get like, let'ssay commission for sending them traffic.
That is just another way tohelp everybody out.
(26:36):
And that's something that I try.
It took me a while because I'mvery similar.
So when I first startedinvesting, I did it all myself.
I didn't want coaching, or Iwanted coaching, but I didn't want
to pay for it.
Like, I could figure this out,but then now I'm realizing how much
money I spent doing it wrongand then how much money I spent to
then redo it and do it right.
(26:57):
It's like, oh my goodness, itwould have been so much better.
But now I will say, like youwere saying like 10 years ago.
I started back 20 years ago.
There wasn't really any goodcoaching then.
In fact, they were like$80,000 and they delivered like $2,000
worth of value.
Was horrible.
So, you know, it's just, it'sa mindset that people have to get
over and realize, okay, you goto college, if you go to college
and spend 50, 60, 80 grand toget a piece of paper, then you could
(27:20):
spend a little bit of money tohelp you to become hopefully financially
independent if you're doing it right.
So what are some.
So we gotta, we gotta find theland now.
Is building a treehouse.
Do they literally need like a,like a 2000 year old oak or is it,
you know, to Build in as likea tree house or like, what is, what
is the idea of a tree housecompared to what I personally think?
Go to my backyard, build atreehouse room on my kids.
(27:43):
Yeah, great question.
So, you know, we first startedlooking for land that would have
the mature trees.
They've got to be spaced sofar apart.
And like, we looked and lookedand looked.
And Pete Nelson, the, youknow, the treehouse master, he, he's
a friend of ours and I calledhim and I was like, man, I am striking
out.
And he was like, don't feelbad about supporting these things
(28:04):
from, from the earth.
Like, you know, the, it helpsthe trees, it puts less stress on
the trees.
And so that, that's the,that's the model that we do.
So it's a treehouse style cabin.
And it like, I'm looking outoutside, like, and this, there's
a tree coming through the deck.
There's a, there's a big treeright outside the kitchen window.
So you're, you're really likenestled in the trees.
(28:25):
But you know that we're, we'resupported from the ground because
otherwise like, you just, youcouldn't, you couldn't get a highest
and best use on a piece of,you know, real estate.
Yeah, this really opens you upand it reduces the liability because
if the tree dies or somethinghappens, I mean, you're, you're,
you know, out of commissionright there.
I like it.
I like it.
Okay, so is it, it sounds likebuilding something.
(28:48):
Does it have, is it should belike a studio?
Should it be like multiple rooms?
Like, how does that play intothe business model?
So we are like, we set out tobuild like the perfect space that
was, that felt really grand.
But it wasn't, but not too big.
But I was like, I want peopleto be like, wow, I could really live
here, you know.
(29:09):
So like behind us there's a, Icall it a dream closet with like
hand carved furniture and justlike, you know, the, the dreamiest
of spaces.
And then an indoor bathroom.
There's also an outdoor showerfor two, a large stone circle hot
tub, a fire table where, youknow, you literally push a button.
You can get, get a nicepropane fire and have a, a nice stone
(29:32):
table to, to eat on, pizzaoven outside.
You name it.
Like it like everything,everything you, everything you need
and nothing that you don't.
All the, all the amenities.
That's, I love it.
Now if somebody were to getstarted, do they need a lot of capital
in order to do something like this?
Yeah, I mean, a lot ofcapital, I guess is, is relative.
(29:53):
Relative.
I mean, we spend a lot.
I mean, this is a $400,000treehouse, you know, and we've, we've,
we've, we've got it to where,you know, it's a kit, you know, I've
engineered it to where we canliterally assemble one of these in
a week's time once we have the deck.
And so I enjoy the sport ofspeed and seeing how fast we can
(30:16):
get heads in bed.
So, you know, when we go toour next property, it's literally
going to be lightning speed ofdevelopment to where we can build
out the entire retreat.
Have you guys found the next spot?
We're looking.
And we've, we've got a, we'vegot a website or on our website it's
called Gotland.
I kind of using the Got Milkkind of, kind of slogan where people
(30:39):
can, can like, literally sendus properties that they think would
be great for our business.
So, like, a lot of times, youknow, realtors will hit us up and
be like, I've got a placethat'd be great for you just to,
just to make that easy andbring that, bring that traffic to
us.
Like, we, we want to be, youknow, the magnetic epicenter of outdoor
hospitality where, like, all,all the best talent is coming to
(31:00):
us, the deals are coming to usthrough, through the workshops.
We are, you know, for 10years, we've kind of been building
in silence and we've honestlybeen, you know, apprehensive to like,
share our secret sauce forwhile this is working.
And then through talking tocoaches and mentors, they're like,
now's the time.
Like, just tell everyone everything.
(31:21):
Everyone will come to you.
And it's going to actuallymake growth and scale a lot easier.
So that's what we're doing.
And you guys haven't or haveyou raised money for any, any deals?
Is that something that you'relooking to do?
We are like, we've, you know,we've got the paperwork and everything
ready for a fund we're notactively raising, but like, we get
(31:41):
emails and probably onprobably a weekly basis and financial
toy.
I was like, we just need tostart taking a list of names.
Like, like, yes, we're goingto do a big raise.
We've been able to do thiswith, with cheap money from regional
banks, you know, 4 and 5%.
So, you know, it's, it's kindof hard to beat that.
But.
And, and now we have, youknow, the biggest banks in, in the
(32:02):
U.S.
sending U.S.
customers and like, I'm goingto speak at one of their summits.
So I'm like, I think we'regood on being able to get money at
a pretty, pretty low rate andmost, most investors want a lot more.
But we'll see.
I mean, there's no ceiling on,on our drive and ambition.
And I do like to go fasterthan those banks can go.
So I think, I think at theright price, we, we would love to.
(32:26):
We are going to have a fundand open that up.
So that's great.
So, Tori, with the socialmedia aspect of, I mean, does that.
It seems like that wouldreally help to get people to really
know about you, number one,sharing it out to other people.
But you've also had some, I, Imay be some fairly famous people,
but like that you utilizesocial media to really help you so
(32:48):
that, you know, they share itout and all that sort of stuff.
Talk to me about how that has helped.
Yeah, it's helped immensely.
People, they care about your story.
They don't buy what you have.
They, they buy who you are andwhy you exist.
And so we use social media totell that story, you know, what it's
done for us in our lives, whatit's done for our guests.
And those testimonials, weactually offer our guests free mini
(33:11):
photo shoots when they arrive,which is like a nice little, you
know, surprise and delight for them.
But it's also constant flow ofmarketing material for us that we
can now show.
Instead of them always justseeing us or the rooms, they see
people enjoying andexperiencing it.
So it's huge because socialmedia is the top of funnel.
That's how you're always justgrowing your audience.
And I always say it's, youknow, it's incredible to see that
(33:33):
we've grown such a hugeaudience of almost 600,000.
But it's not for ego or for aflex like those are eyeballs.
And people that can enter ourfunnel, join our email list, come
stay, you know, and so itreally is important to keep that
top of mind.
I think a lot of people, theyhave a presence on, on social, but
they're not fully utilizing itas they should.
(33:55):
A lot of it's a volume gamejust showing up consistently.
You want to be the loudestvoice in the room.
I definitely agree with that,especially seeing how social media
at first, I mean, I shied awayfrom it.
I ran away from it for a very,very long time.
I just didn't enjoy it.
I was just like, man, I justwant to do my work or, you know,
help People.
And.
And I didn't think socialmedia was actually that big of a
(34:17):
need necessity for number one,real estate investors, but number
two, me helping people how toinvest in real estate.
But then I really saw aspeople reaching out to me because
they found me on social mediaor something like that.
And for me, I started my podcast.
I think it was like 2016 ish, 2017.
And the podcast is by far oneof the best ways that people find
me.
Because you, as we shared whenwe hung out a couple months about
(34:41):
a month ago, I am so blessedthat I'm number one in real estate.
If you look up real estate and Apple.
Yeah.
I was just like, this is so awesome.
It's just more people to serve.
And then I'm like, oh, man, Igot to up my game.
Tori and Seth, they're at500,000 in Instagram.
I'm only like, what, 30something, 35,000 or something like
that.
I got to work harder.
But in the end, it's all abouthelping people.
(35:03):
That's why I love chattingwith you guys.
You guys help people with aretreat that they can go to, like,
personally get away and reallymake themselves better.
But at the same time, you'realso helping coaching people as well.
So definitely everybody, youneed to check out everything they're
doing.
Bolt Farm treehouses.
How else can they find you?
Other than we talked aboutsocial media, how else can they connect
with you?
And especially if they want tolearn how to do this, how do they
(35:25):
make sure that they startworking with you?
Yeah.
Thank you.
Our website's the best place.
Boltfarmtriost.com you'll seeon the homepage there's a tab for
our STR workshop, and that'swhere they can see if they qualify.
We're qualifying peoplebecause we keep it a really intimate
group.
That's how we can really addthe most value to people in the room
and go deep.
And so we're very selective ofpeople who come because we want to
(35:47):
make sure that they're in itfor the right reasons and that they
have potential to be someonethat we want to work with on an ongoing
basis.
And like what Seth was sayingearlier, maybe partner with.
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's.
Sometimes you hear people say,like, it's lonely at the top, but
it's like, it's only lonelyuntil you're finding your.
Your people, you know, becausewhen you do, you're like, oh, my
gosh, I get so much life everytime we're around each other.
(36:08):
And like, we Don't, I don'tneed anything from you, Dustin.
In between the times we seeeach other, but when we do, we're
like, what's going on?
What have you bought?
Let's go, let's talk about it.
And that's, we're looking forthat community because honestly like,
you know, we're, we're, we'reon a mountaintop and I, I don't like,
I don't like to leave.
So it's awesome.
(36:30):
I mean one of the things weknew about this business that would
be so life giving is that ifyou, if you, you got a place like
this, like people want to bethere and like I, I love it when
the world comes to me.
So whether it's, you know,people coming to, to learn from us
about the, you know, shortterm rental industry or people just
looking to, to, to go likerefocus, you know, zoom out so you
(36:51):
know where to zoom back in.
We're big on helping peoplelike invest in their relationships
because obviously we have alot of high, high output business
owners and leaders and youknow, they're doing so much stuff
that you know, if they're notcareful, their relationship can be
neglected.
And we are like the, I don'tknow the way to kind of get like
(37:14):
you know, a week long vacationor it probably feels like a month
of quality time, you know, inthree days, you know, in a weekend.
So that's, that gives us lifeand it allows us to meet a lot of
really cool people.
I love it and you, you brieflyshared it.
But I want everybody to knowand I'm curious transitioning from
(37:35):
being in a band so need toBreathe is a, is a really fun, great
band to listen to.
I, I definitely listen to itto, to you guys.
So going from that, do youstill do things with the band or
is it like I'm gung ho with mybolt farm treehouses?
And how was that transitiongoing from band to this?
Yeah, I mean over that 23years like we built an amazing team.
(37:59):
And so let's see, 2024, webasically toured all year, toured
Europe, Canada, the US for asecond time.
And that was like the end ofan album cycle.
And so now 2025, we've gotlots of time off and, and we have
a 15 month year old daughterand it's awesome to you know, be
(38:21):
home for that.
Like I've, you sacrifice a lotwhen you're on the road for a long
time.
So it's great to, to have aplace that you love to be and with
the people you love and beingable to build your dreams every day.
And.
So because being a musicianyou have to be creative.
It seems like the tree housesand everything you've done, that's,
(38:42):
that's.
Is that, I guess, spring onyour creativity, is that helping
fuel that fire?
It is and it does.
I mean like we're, we'vecreated some things that like, you
just, you can't get anywhere else.
Like, we just finishedbuilding this wellness haven and
it's basically, it's a multiacre spa.
You know, cliffside mountaintop.
There's all these beautifulrocks and boulders everywhere.
(39:04):
View of three states.
It's you know, like mirroredsauna, hot springs, pools, steam
room and treatment rooms, andlike a rooftop yoga deck with a view
of three states.
So like, honestly like whatwe're doing, like when we, you know,
in the treehouse, we go allthe way back to day one for the honeymoon,
we just journaled about allthese dreams and things we wanted
(39:27):
to accomplish and we createdthis 25 year plan for our lives and
we have almost all of it andyou know, nine years and we, we made
it come true through the business.
And, and so it's, I'm, I'mhonestly like building things that
just absolutely thrill me.
(39:47):
And I learned that through music.
Like when you, if you want tomake a great album or you want to
make a great song, like dosomething that just lights your heart
on fire, that you love it somuch regardless of what you think,
other people are gonna like it.
Because when you start makingthings specifically with like an
something else in mind, like,okay, well, needs to be this way
for this person.
It needs to be this way for this.
(40:08):
And whatever you get toocalculated, like, it's easy to just
get lost in the middle, youknow, but, but do do something unique.
Play your own game, play by heart.
You know that I think you havethe ability to, to land on something
that's like a.
One of a kind and truly unique.
And that's a, you know, mucheasier way to stand out from.
(40:29):
I definitely, I 100 agree with that.
I like.
Well, I've always been thetype of person where, you know, I
marched to the beat of my own drummer.
Like, I, I don't likefollowing rules, but other people
impose on me.
I just like, you know what,I'm gonna do it my own way.
So.
But I gotta ask a question.
I probably should have lookedthis up.
I don't know what music orwhat musical instrument you play.
Like, what, what do you playinside the, the band, the bass Guitar,
(40:53):
basically.
Foundation guitar.
You bring.
Yeah, you bring the presence.
You make sure that everybodyfeels everything there.
That's right.
Love it.
So what is.
I.
I got.
I gotta know.
What is your favorite songthat you guys have made?
Maybe I might not have heardit, but, like, do you have a favorite
song that you guys that you've made?
Man, that's hard because we'retalking about so many 23 years and
(41:15):
10 albums and.
And all that kind of dependson the mood I'm in.
And we're the kind of bandthat, like, we've got.
There's so many differenttypes of songs across the board.
Like, you know, it's a rockand roll show live, but then we've
got some.
Some beautiful songs that havealso been used in weddings and, you
know, the.
The birth of child.
(41:35):
Like, there's a song calledBanks, and, you know, it says, I'll
be the banks of your river,meaning, like, I'm going to be here
to support you, you know, notcontrol you, just here to support
you.
And it's like, relational.
But, you know, some peoplethink about their kids when they
hear that song because, like,I'm gonna be the banks of your river
as you.
As you go through life and youcan crash into me and all that.
(41:56):
And I'm just going to be hereto support you.
And Jordan Davis, the countryartist, he used that for.
For, like the.
For the birthing song for, Ithink, his most recent son.
And then he.
He and I, we got a chance to.
He covered the song and weperformed it together on.
On one of the.
One of the.
One of the TV shows, AustinCity Limits or something like that.
(42:18):
And it was awesome, man.
It's been a rich thing to beable to see the world that way.
And, you know, I would nothave the perspective that I do.
Have I not seen so much andexperience, you know, the best and
the worst of.
Of hospitality and hotels andpenthouse suites and all that stuff.
So I'm definitely drawing froma deep well in terms of what I can
(42:41):
create here.
And we found a spot where wecan literally build anything we want.
Like, it's hard in a lot ofstates in America.
I won't necessarily specifythe color of those states, but I
think, you know, where.
It's just too many stupidrules and like, there's.
There's no room for creativityand architecture, real estate.
So it's just like, very basicand boring.
(43:02):
And I just think, like, youknow, I don't know why, why.
Why not take the opportunityin a beautiful country to Harness
the creativity, the talent ofpeople with fresh ideas about what
it can look like to go on vacation.
You know, like keep, keep allthat vacation talent here or that
money here in America insteadof having to go to Bali or Tulum,
(43:25):
Mexico or wherever.
Because, like, they actuallyget it and will allow people to be
creative and create one of akind experiences.
Like we found that place.
They're hard to find, but Imean, building things on, on cliffsides
and doing just incrediblycreative stuff.
Like right now we're building.
This is a, this is a.
(43:45):
You heard it first.
This mirrored cube that itwill be floating.
It'll look like it's floatingbetween two boulders suspended in
the air.
And like, that sounds amazing.
Yeah, right?
I mean, you just can't do that everywhere.
Well, being creative, likeyou're saying, like you, you know.
Yeah.
You say in other states, youknow, let's say, for instance, like,
(44:07):
it has to be X, Y and Z.
You have to go through allthese permits and all that sort of
stuff, which is rather bummer.
But that's, that's super.
I can't wait to see it.
So I'm, I'm assuming, Tori,you're going to make sure that it
gets on social media now youwere, you're in news like we on the
news and doing like a news anchor.
Is that what you were?
And does that help totransition to help you guys build
up the bolt farm Treehouse?
(44:28):
I was, yeah.
I mean, I produced the earlymorning news and I did some entertainment
reporting.
The best thing that happenedduring that career was meeting Seth.
I interviewed the band andthat's how we met, which is pretty
wild.
And I, I would say it stillhelps me in some ways today with
just the skills that have translated.
Knowing how to produce anevent or a deadline or a project
(44:51):
and, you know, communicateeffectively and clearly with the
people involved.
It's really helped me with theteam that we're growing here.
And I'd add to that, like, andbuilding a big brand that's opened
all kinds of doors for us.
Yeah.
You know, like, I mean, she got.
Got a text message from BrianChesky, CEO of Airbnb, just being
like, hey, I'm such a fan ofyour treehouse.
(45:12):
Like, can we zoom?
And we're like, sure.
And so like, you know, and ofcourse I'm like, you know, just jotting
down questions and things Iwant to ask him.
But one specifically aboutinvesting, I would offer, you know,
because this is straight fromBrian, you know, I was just saying,
hey, you know, we want to grow Fast.
We want to raise money.
And, you know, you have anyadvice on that?
And he just said, yeah.
(45:33):
He's like, you know, when wewere coming up with Airbnb, like,
you know, the.
The sentiment at the time waslike, get as much money as you can
from whoever you can.
Like, it doesn't matter.
He's like.
But I had a mentor who said,like, actually, you know, only, only,
only, only raise what you needand get it from really great sources
of people that can advise youand, and speak life and to you and.
(45:55):
And, you know, that kind of thing.
So I think that that is the,you know, I took that to heart and,
and that's why, really, like,I think our investors aren't people
who just want to get, like,the most money, the highest return.
Like, will the returns be great?
Absolutely.
(46:15):
Like, our margins are incredible.
But I think more than.
More than.
More than the mercenary sideof it, it's the missional mindset.
Like, I want to work withpeople who actually can get what
we're doing, which is, like,having an impact on relationships.
Like, yes, we'rerevolutionary, revolutionizing hospitality.
(46:35):
We're also, you know,providing a space where people can
reconnect and, like, leavewith a stronger relationship, and
that can have generational impacts.
Like, there's.
We've heard back that, like, the.
Their people's kids have said,like, you guys are different since
going to the treehouse.
And they called it thetreehouse effect.
So, you know, that.
That means.
That means more to me than thegobs of money that we can make.
(46:58):
You know, I just, you know, money's.
Money's a tool.
Money's a resource.
But it's.
It's not why I wake up in the morning.
I love it.
I love it.
I think that's why we say eyeto eye so well, it's because the
same thing, like, I make mymoney through real estate.
Everything that I do is like,how many people can I serve?
I want to serve more and morepeople because I realized the more
people I serve, the better mylife gets and the better their life
(47:19):
gets and everybody wins.
And so that's just the best,best way to go.
If you start thinking inabundance, as opposed to scarcity,
like, hey, there's somelimited everything.
No, if you think moreabundantly, like, instead of the
world's out to get, you thinkmaybe the world might be willing
to help you.
So if you just have thatmindset by you giving, in fact, you
know, the Lord says, do untoothers as you would have them do
(47:40):
unto you.
And so if you start takingthat really living it out, everything
just gets better and better.
Now, Tori said I could chatwith you guys forever, but I want
to keep everybody I want againone more time, everybody.
You guys, check out bolt farmtree houses on social media as well
as their website, bolt farm treehouse.com.
but thank you so much, youguys, for being here.
I hope everybody got.
(48:00):
I know I got a ton out of it.
I know my listeners will, too.
But I hope you guys dotremendous success in all your guys's
success, you know, endeavorswith all these tree houses and helping
people.
Thank you, Justin.
Yeah.
Appreciate you, man.
Great to see you.
And that is it for today.
Go ahead and get my free realestate investing course, Texas word
rental, the 33777.
(48:21):
R E N T A L to 33777.
You can also join my realestate wealth builders group coaching.
Get all my courses.
All right, guys, we'll see youin the next show.
See ya.
Foreign.
You're listening to the MasterPassive Income Podcast Network.
Welcome to the Master PassiveIncome Show.
My name is Dustin Heiner andI'm here to help you get financial
independence.
Afford anything you want inlife by investing in real estate.
And in today's show, I amsuper pumped to bring on some fantastic
(00:22):
real estate investing expertswho are in the hospitality niche
where they build up luxurytree houses.
I kid you not.
Luxury.
And these are awesome tree houses.
Beautiful views and people paya lot of money to stay there.
And they have a fantasticinvesting business where they have
short term rentals in theirluxury tree houses and they're going
to show us how they did it andhow you can do it as well.
(00:44):
All right, let's start the show.
Welcome to the Master PassiveIncome podcast.
Where we talk about investingin real.
Estate with a special focus onon making enough money so you can
quit your job and live thedream life.
(01:05):
And now, here is your host,Dustin Heiner.
What's up?
What's up?
Super blessed as always tohave you here with me on the show.
Now, I love that right nowthis market is hard for other investors
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who don't know what they'redoing to, to invest in real estate
because they see prices are so high.
How do I buy properties?
Interest rates are so high.
How do I buy properties?
A couple of things that I'mworking on right now.
Well, number one, I justrefinanced my primary residence.
If you guys remember, ifyou've been listening to me for a
while, last year I bought ahouse in Tennessee and I had it as
(01:47):
an Airbnb.
Eventually we moved into theproperty, but when I bought it, it
was an investment loan.
8% interest rate.
So high, 30 are fixed.
I just refinanced becausepeople maybe are telling me and you
might be thinking interestrates are still high.
No, I refinanced my primaryresidence because I'm living in it
now with a 4 1/2 percent, 15year loan.
(02:11):
Can you believe that?
And so my payments arebasically the same and I'm going
to pay it off in 15 yearsinstead of 30 years because of this
refinance.
Now, it did cost me about$10,000 to do the refinance, but
in the end I'm going to besaving like 150, $200,000 in interest.
So there are ways to actuallyget good and low interest rates.
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In fact, I refinanced five ofmy properties, five or six properties,
and I took out $500,000 at asix and a half percent interest rate
and my payments about $3,000,but all six of those properties,
I bring in like seven grand.
And so the mortgage is so low,if you're thinking that interest
rates are stopping you, well,they shouldn't be.
(02:55):
Because I know many differentbrokers that I currently use and
in fact I just give them to my students.
I say, hey, use this company.
This is the company that I used.
And so any of my students, Igive them all that information.
And at the same time, I'mcurrently developing a brand new
course because I'm seeing thisas I invest, I share with all my
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students how I'm investing,what I'm doing.
Well, I'm currently doingsubject to where I buy a house, take
over the mortgage.
Hopefully they have, when youtake over a mortgage, hopefully have
a low interest rate, they haveprobably a higher balance.
It's hard for them to sell.
And with that, you take overwithout having the mortgage in your
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name.
So you can get theseproperties with literally no money
down.
And you might be thinking,well, Dustin, how in the world would
somebody want to give youtheir property and take over their
mortgage?
Well, we're not the first option.
In fact, when I'm callingthese people and offering to buy
their home, more than likelythey have already come off the mls,
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which means they went on themultiple listing service to try to
sell their home.
They didn't have enough equityin the property so they couldn't
sell it.
And when you can't sell it,then it comes off.
Well, they still need to sellthe property.
We are a niche, niche, niche.
I don't know if that's thebest way to say it.
We're a niche buyer.
We're looking for the rightproperty, the right seller.
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Maybe they're getting adivorce, maybe they got a job that
they're moving out of thestate or they work in the military
or they just lost their job.
You never know what situationthey have.
But they have this mortgageand, and they want to get rid of
this property, but they can'tsell it because they don't have enough
equity.
Well, you might be thinking,well, what if they have 20 or $30,000
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in equity?
Well, when you have a houseand you try to sell it, it's probably
about 10% is the cost to sellthe house.
From paying the realtors toany title, closing fees and all that,
it's about 10%.
So if you're selling it for350,000, that's $35,000 that's going
to come out of your pocket.
People who are hurting, wherethey don't have much equity, but
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they need to sell, they wouldactually have to come out of pocket
in order to sell the property.
If we find the right sellers,educate them on the process to actually
take over their mortgage,where if we are a great fit for them,
if we help them out of a bind,then it's going to be a great fit
for us as long as it fits our numbers.
Well right now I'm currentlydoing that subject to purchasing
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and I thought, you know what,I need to teach you guys how to do
it.
So that's not this episode,but watch an episode in the future.
But I'm also creating a brandnew course, a creative financing
course because I'm seeing somany amazing opportunities for us
as real estate investors totake over properties.
It could be seller financing,it could be subject to, it could
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be a lease option.
Lease option is where youlease the property with an option
to buy it.
There are great ways to buyproperties off of people.
Number one, you just need toknow how to find these properties.
Well, check in my course I'mfiguring out or showing and everybody
how to figure out to findthese sellers from lists, reach out
to them, talk to them andactually go through the process and
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how to get all the paperworkright, how to make sure you, the
title company knows whatthey're doing.
So there's a good amount of steps.
But in the end a lot of peoplecome to me and say, hey Dustin, I
have very little money.
Or if they have scaled theirbusiness now, if they have very little
money to start, well, this isone way.
But let's say they've scaledtheir business where they have multiple
mortgages and now with thesemultiple mortgages it's hard for
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them to get more mortgages.
Well, why not keep themortgage in the seller's name and
then put the property, yourname and you make the money and you
own the property.
That is what we're going to do.
A scale.
Now, you know, you need tostart thinking as a business owner
where you're now a scaler.
We need to get out of the momand pop phase where we're just at
one or two, three, four properties.
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I want you to get into thescaler phase.
If you've been listening to memost a lot of people that listen
to the show have beenlistening to me for years.
Hopefully you got a fewproperties, now it's time for you
to scale.
And that's what we do atMaster Passive Income.
We now scale.
And this creative financingcourse is another fantastic way to
find properties.
In fact, Charles Rose Jr.
I'm working with him, helpinghim to buy hopefully his next primary
(07:16):
residence with subject to.
Because it is rather difficultto always raise up a brand new amount
of down payment to pay off ornot pay off to put as a down payment
to get a mortgage.
Well, what if somebody alreadyhad the mortgage and you just take
over the loan?
So this is exactly where I seethe market going.
If there is ever a crash or acorrection in the market, you can
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get some people that have ahard time and let's say, sadly if
people start losing their job,I mean, it could happen.
If that does happen, you needto be ready to jump on these properties
to help these people out of a bind.
You're helping them.
In fact, a lot of people thatwe get subject to properties, they're
thankful that we are takingover these properties for them because
(08:01):
they can't do what we're goingto be doing.
They need to move on.
Well, we come in and we helpthem out.
So be watching out for thatcreative financing course.
I want you to be able to noteven use any of your own money to
buy real estate as well as tobe able to scale your business.
And this is what our expertshave done.
Our experts have come on.
Are coming on the show toshare with us how they started and
(08:23):
scaled their service orhospitality based Airbnb company.
How'd you guys first come upwith this idea to do tree houses?
What I think is really cooland unique about our story is we
didn't just say, hey, let'sstart this business.
The whole thing was inspiredby, by love.
Seth and his dad built atreehouse by hand.
(08:43):
His dad works in construction.
So Seth grew up learning allof that and they started doing that
together on Father's Day.
This is at Seth's family farmin South Carolina.
And we met in the process.
And so he says that inspiredby love, he decided to really elevate
the treehouse and not justmake it like an adventurous Swiss
(09:05):
Family Robinson treehouse, buta romantic, luxurious treehouse that'd
be worthy of our wedding day.
And so he pitched me on theidea of having our wedding there
and honeymooning there.
And I was thrilled.
I mean, who gets to do that?
Who, like, who has somebodybuild you a tree house for your wedding?
That's crazy.
And so we, we, we did that andit was so magical.
(09:25):
And what's really cool is thatwe just got to experience it firsthand.
The power of environments andthe environment really, it encouraged
us to put our phones down,disconnect from the busyness of life,
be together and as a newcouple, just start.
We had so much to think anddream about our lives, what we wanted
to look like, how we wanted tospend our time.
(09:45):
We knew that having jobs intotally different industries with
different schedules was not sustainable.
And we're both entrepreneurialand wanted to do something together
that had a lasting impact.
And everything was pointing totree houses and making more environments
like we were sitting in inthat moment for couples.
And so that was like the lightbulb moment.
And very soon after that Iquit my job and we went all in.
(10:09):
Haven't looked back since that.
Well, because Seth, I want youto jump in too.
And I, when you and I werechatting, Tori, we were chatting
about just investing in realestate and we were.
It was just terrific meetinganother real estate investor.
It's always great chatting andseeing how other people are investing.
And then one thing I just haveto share.
(10:29):
So when you told me you're asocial media handle for on Instagram
and I was okay, let me look it up.
And I looked at you have like500 plus thousand followers or you
know, I was like, but that'snot easy.
Like that is amazingly hard todo that.
That is so.
So if you guys.
You'd have to check out theirsocial media on Instagram, especially
on Instagram.
So many great videos ofshowing how amazing this can be,
(10:52):
how luxurious a quote unquotetree house.
But it's so much better than that.
And so it's so it's bolt farm treehouses.
So just look them up.
All one word.
You'll see all the amazing stuff.
But okay.
So Seth, how'd you come upwith doing a honeymoon in a treehouse?
And I want to pause for just aquick second and say thank you so
much for listening to the show.
If you've gotten anything outof the show, I would appreciate it
(11:14):
if you went to anywhere thatyou listen to say Apple or Spotify
or wherever and leave a fivestar review.
Honestly, I really appreciateyou leaving an honest review.
I just love giving all thisinformation out and I want to see
you succeed.
Also send this to one person.
Just tell one person and say,hey, Dustin wants to help a million
people to invest in real estate.
You need to listen to thisbecause it's going to change your
(11:35):
life.
Lastly, get my real estateinvestment course completely for
free.
Text the word rental R E N T AL rental to 33777 rental to 33777.
I'll literally give you mycourse showing you everything in
the business so that you canbecome financially independent.
I mean, I really did.
I grew up on a farm in SouthCarolina and like, I watched my grandpa
(11:59):
build dup apartments andcreate passive income that way.
My dad's had a constructioncompany now for 40 years.
My mom's one of the toprealtors in the state of South Carolina.
So, like, it was like a reallyhumble beginnings, like, bootstrap
story of a family that like,applied the powerful mindsets and
money principles to life andjust, you know, met that with, like,
(12:19):
consistency and hard work.
And it was a very richupbringing and maybe a rare one.
Like, I mean, how many 41 yearolds can say that they, like, you
know, went logging with theirgrandpa and took the logs to the
sawmill and then built duplexapartments out of it and, you know,
watched, you know, watch likegreat men, you know, take, you know,
(12:43):
a mess and make magic out ofit that, like, created generational
prosperity for their family.
And so just growing up,watching people build stuff and being
creative, you know, youmentioned my music.
Like, I've.
I've been in the musicindustry for 23 years with my band
need to Breathe.
And it's.
(13:03):
So I've got this creativeside, but then my dad's an engineer
and he thinks that way.
So I've kind of got both, bothof those minds and ultimately just
have a.
Have a, you know, just likethis strong drive to.
To do as much as I can withthe time that I have on earth to
help people and to create alegacy for our family.
(13:26):
And I know tree houses areprobably a weird thing to kind of
land on, but I, I've alwaysjust believed that if you play by
your own rules, it's a loteasier to win the game.
And, you know, I knew that wewere onto something because of, you
know, the.
Let's go back in time, right?
So this is about 2013 whenI've got this idea, like Treehouse
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Masters is the most popularshow on tv.
So there's an educated market,but they're underserved because most
of these were like, built forcelebrities and they weren't, you
know, rentals.
Airbnb is emerging, so nowthere's a platform you can connect
with people and sell.
And Instagram was also comingon the scene, and so I was like,
okay, that can be how I canmarket this.
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So now it's irrelevant that,that the farm I grew up on is in
a small town called Walhalla, S.C.
and like, no one goes therefor tourists, tourism, but, like,
I can actually inform theaudience have a way to get their
money and, you know, show themhow magical it can be.
And we experienced it for ourselves.
And so that was.
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That was really.
That was the.
That was the first olive outof the jar and.
And the test case to see,like, okay, is there anything to
this?
And literally within the firstyear, we.
We were.
We were fully sold out, like,beyond six months.
Stayed that way, got 10,000saves on Airbnb, and just started
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collecting hundreds of email addresses.
And then the stories we gotfrom people were such that they're
like, I rediscovered my bestfriend in this treehouse.
And this might have added 25years to our marriage.
So we're like, wow, so checkso many boxes for us.
Because not only is a greatbusiness, but wanted to recreate,
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like, construction and development.
You know, it.
It's.
It's hard work, but it's a great.
I think it's a great thing forkids to grow up in.
Like, it.
It teaches you a lot ofvalues, like growing up on a farm
kind of.
And great way to combatentitlement and.
And also, like, build.
Build things that are.
That will endure the test oftime so that, you know, our grandkids
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can think.
Like, thank God my grandpa,you know, decided to work really
hard and buy these mountainsand, like, build all these amazing
luxury tree houses on them.
That kind of thing, you know, I.
Love it, and I completely agree.
In fact, my kids, number one,teaching them how to build a fence,
you know, change, doelectrical work, like, basically
working around the house.
(15:58):
Because I've remodeled myhouse, actually multiple houses now,
whenever we move, I usuallyremodel it.
And recently, my kids havegotten older.
My boys have.
My wife said, hey, why don'tyou start teaching your boys how
to do all this stuff insteadof you doing it, like, teach them
how to do it.
And I said, that sounds like agreat idea, because we homeschool,
or at least let me take that back.
My wife has a hard job ofhomeschooling the kids.
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I had the easy job making money.
So she said, hey, this will bea good homeschool project.
I said, that's great.
Let's go and do it.
So we remodeled my master bathroom.
Like, ripped out everything,remodeled it.
And they were with me all.
But I did most of the work.
Then once they got theexperience, they saw how it was done.
Then I went, and it was like,three months later.
I said, hey, boys, see theirhallway bathroom.
(16:40):
Have at it.
You guys are remodeling it.
They're like, are you sure, dad?
I'll be yes, go ahead and doit now.
It's not perfect at all.
I mean, I think at the timethey were 13 and 15.
And so it's not perfect, butit looks so much better.
But it's what they're learningnow that they might not remember
every little bit, but the factthat they were able to do it number
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one and then push through,maybe I can't figure.
Well, let me figure it out.
And then now taking that towhere now they're buying their own
real estate.
My oldest daughter just boughther first rental property about a
month ago.
She's 16 years old, so she'sso excited.
She's making cash flow.
So I love that you guys havethat now with the, the tree house
idea.
Now, how many total units doyou guys have?
(17:22):
Because you still have the onein South Carolina and you have the
ones now in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
That's right.
Yeah.
There's the one on the familyfarm still.
But, you know, I asked myparents, I'm like, hey, we got a
line out the door.
You want to build some more?
And they're like, no, this islike our family farm.
I think we'll just keep it atthe 1.
This was special thing foryour wedding.
And so.
But no, we.
We own a mountaintop property,55 acres right outside Chattanooga.
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I mean, we can see threestates from here.
And we've got a mile ofcliffside mountaintop.
So the views are unobstructed.
And, you know, the shortest,the shortest distance you can see
is like a six miles.
And then you can obviously seeinto Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee.
So I mean, it's.
It's epic.
Like, in terms of real estatelocations, like, we, you know, we
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probably say no to a thousandproperties for everyone that we,
you know, agree to is probablyeven higher than that.
But there's.
You just can't beat it.
And then early on, I was justlike, you know what?
I, you know, like, remember glamping?
When, like, glamping firstshowed up on the scene, I was like,
okay, this is, this is goingto get really competitive.
(18:27):
I'm just going to go ahead andcreate the penthouse suite of glamping.
And now I think glamping theglamping work doesn't even fit what
we do because we're likeheated marble floors and, and toilet
like bidets and all the thingslike, you know, motorized shades
and like, it's like, it's likebeing in a super luxury.
Everybody is listening on the podcast.
You're not seeing this on YouTube.
(18:48):
So if you're on YouTube.
You could see the background.
They're inside one of theirluxury tree houses right now.
Looks awesome.
Is that a copper hot tub orlike bathtub behind you?
Hand hammered copper tub fortwo people.
Crazy.
And so, and so again, you haveto go to their Instagram Bolt Farm
Treehouse check out becauseyou can see the view.
(19:08):
I mean, it is spectacular.
They're on this plateau thatoverlooks everything and it like
just drops off.
It's so cool.
But then also you have boltfarm treehouse.com which then you
also show people how to do this.
You know that that's, that issuper neat because you know when
you look at, okay, let me buya single family home and then put
a tenant in there, short term,midterm, whatever it might be.
(19:30):
It's not as hard as, like, I'mgoing to buy land and then build
a tree house and make it sothat people want to stay there.
But now you coach people, youjust have a workshop.
Just, just had a workshop, gotpeople that came in and learned all
about this.
If somebody wants to getstarted in doing the treehouse, they
have to start with land.
(19:50):
Do I mean, they pro.
Should they rent land?
How does that work if somebodywants to get started doing something
like this?
Yeah, I mean, so I'll just usereal examples from the people that
we just helped.
You know, some of them, like,they're looking to acquire a property
where they can expand andothers are in the, in the discovery
stage for land.
(20:10):
And I guess a lot of times,like, because this is such a new
frontier, right?
All the development has beenpretty much in cities for hotels,
but now this like, outdoorhotel concept has emerged.
Kind of amazing that it tookthis long, you know, for it to become
a thing, but, but here we are.
And so a lot of, a lot of, alot of people don't know what they
don't know.
(20:31):
And there's a lot of ways youcan mess up.
And, and we learn that thehard way.
Like we look back at the last10 years, we were crashing into walls
like crazy our first sixbecause we were trying to go at it
alone.
We thought we couldn't afford mentorship.
And my goodness, like, we wereso wrong.
Right?
Once we flipped our mindset,invested in ourselves, brought coaches
(20:53):
and mentors in our lives, yousurrounded ourselves with other successful
people in mastermind groups.
Our success has taken off andwe're like, why did we not start
this sooner?
And so we made so many costly mistakes.
I mean, we bought land in,outside of Charleston, South Carolina
with this concept, but it wasthe wrong place.
We missed one thing on achecklist that we didn't have at
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the time and it was a hugefailure earlier.
And so we want to help peoplefrom making that mistake.
And I love the people whohaven't even started yet because
buying property is what is so critical.
Finding that right property.
I think you and your, your,you and your audience will get a
kick out of this.
So the property where we areright now on Whitwell Mountain outside
of Chattanooga, we bought 18acres to start with.
(21:36):
Since then, we've expanded.
We paid less than 250k forthose 18 acres.
And now what was the latest valuation.
With 32 million appraisal?
Yeah.
What in the world?
Well, I mean, you look at theviews too.
I mean, that's just stunningand spectacular.
But you said 32 million.
(21:56):
Yes.
Oh, my goodness.
We've, we've already built 23units on here.
23 units now.
So I'm thinking like an investor.
How do you tap into thatequity so you can do it more?
Yeah, well, I mean, the, we'vegot great relationships with lenders
now.
Lenders are sending us, thepeople who are using our, our company
(22:17):
and their pitch decks, youknow, to, to raise 20, 30 million
dollars.
Because I had like one of thelargest lenders in the, in North
America called me the otherday and he was like, hey, I got,
I just saw your brand onanother pitch deck and like, he's
flown here and he's, he's seenour place and he's like, he's like,
I just don't.
He's like, I just, I don'tknow if they're you, you know, he's
(22:38):
like, you gu.
Michael Jordan of glamping andlike, you've been doing this for
a decade and I just feelbetter about it if, if they had,
you know, had more experienceor could spend time with you.
And I was like, well, I gotnews for you.
We got a workshop and amastermind now, so send them our
way.
So now, like, I think we're,he kind of use us as an insurance
plan, you know, because like,you know, a master.
(22:59):
The cost of a mastermind,while it's not cheap, is like still
a rounding error on a $20million loan.
And like, you can, you canmake half million dollar mistakes
in a heartbeat when you'respending that kind of money on construction,
especially if it's a, youknow, like we're on top of a mountain.
You know, there's bedrock likerunning utilities and like, there's
a lot of things That a lot ofsurprises that you get with any,
(23:20):
any kind of ground upconstruction project.
It sounds like you had some,some headaches or you learned from
experience that there arethings that most people wouldn't
even think about.
Yeah.
And, and the truth is like,man, if we could go, like, we've
been doing it for 10 years andwe didn't have mentorship, like,
and part of that was like amindset thing because, like, growing
(23:41):
up, growing up in like a, youknow, on a farm, it was like you
do everything yourself and ifsomebody gives you a, you know, a
big price for something,you're like, no, we're definitely
doing it ourselves, you know,so, like, it took me a while to shake
that to where, you know, now,you know, I will gladly exchange
money for years of my life back.
And I think we were just, wewere very, very new on the scene,
(24:04):
you know, for, for outdoorhospitality, and it just didn't exist.
Like, coaching wasn't really athing like it is today back then.
So for us, like, if we cansave people from pain, number one,
because, like, I wouldn't wantanyone to relive some of the trials
and tribulations we've gone through.
And then number two, you know,it's like, we want to grow through
(24:26):
acquisition because we'vebuilt this big brand.
We've got trust, we've gottraffic, we have like.
And I, these, this, I tookthis to a mastermind group we're
in.
I was like, okay, we have twoand a half million dollars in abandoned
carts on a weekly basis.
That's, that's like $125million a year, you know, because
we can't build fast enough.
And also with all the successmetrics, like selling direct, 100%
(24:50):
direct to customer, $800 ADR,93% occupancy.
You know, the response I gotfrom the group because I told him,
I was like, look, we want togrow through acquisition, but most
of the places that have beenbuilt are unbiable because they're
not professionally built.
It was just like somebody witha piece of land, an idea to do a
few cabins or something.
And like, they've already usedup the best part of the land.
(25:12):
We'd be fixing a bad haircut.
But, like, I'd rather buyproperties that are turnkey because
that's such a faster way to grow.
And he's like, well, why don'tyou just, you know, coach people
to your standard, tell themhow you would do it and then you
could partner with them, buythose properties in the future, help
them flip them, you know, orsell rooms for them because you've
(25:32):
got a big brand, like havethem be, you know, affiliate properties
of ours.
And so, I mean, as you know,with real estate, like there's just
a ton of different ways thatyou can, you can do deals with people
that make sense and grow muchfaster than like literally starting
from scratch each time.
So doing the workshops in theMastermind really give us a chance
to meet the all stars in thisarea who are going to go the distance
(25:55):
and we can help them get there faster.
And we can probably partnerwith them or buy their place one
day if they just want to, ifthey want to sell it.
And I like the idea that asyou're helping out your students,
number one, they're doing itright, which is they need to know
how to do it right.
But that is a brilliant ideawhere people go to Bolt Farm tree
(26:15):
houses and then they have awhole bunch of different cities and
states that they can go tobecause you've like, you've already
done all the work curating,helping these people to build these
up.
And then the owners overthere, let's say you either partner
or you just get like, let'ssay commission for sending them traffic.
That is just another way tohelp everybody out.
(26:36):
And that's something that I try.
It took me a while because I'mvery similar.
So when I first startedinvesting, I did it all myself.
I didn't want coaching, or Iwanted coaching, but I didn't want
to pay for it.
Like, I could figure this out,but then now I'm realizing how much
money I spent doing it wrongand then how much money I spent to
then redo it and do it right.
(26:57):
It's like, oh my goodness, itwould have been so much better.
But now I will say, like youwere saying like 10 years ago.
I started back 20 years ago.
There wasn't really any goodcoaching then.
In fact, they were like$80,000 and they delivered like $2,000
worth of value.
Was horrible.
So, you know, it's just, it'sa mindset that people have to get
over and realize, okay, you goto college, if you go to college
and spend 50, 60, 80 grand toget a piece of paper, then you could
(27:20):
spend a little bit of money tohelp you to become hopefully financially
independent if you're doing it right.
So what are some.
So we gotta, we gotta find theland now.
Is building a treehouse.
Do they literally need like a,like a 2000 year old oak or is it,
you know, to Build in as likea tree house or like, what is, what
is the idea of a tree housecompared to what I personally think?
Go to my backyard, build atreehouse room on my kids.
(27:43):
Yeah, great question.
So, you know, we first startedlooking for land that would have
the mature trees.
They've got to be spaced sofar apart.
And like, we looked and lookedand looked.
And Pete Nelson, the, youknow, the treehouse master, he, he's
a friend of ours and I calledhim and I was like, man, I am striking
out.
And he was like, don't feelbad about supporting these things
(28:04):
from, from the earth.
Like, you know, the, it helpsthe trees, it puts less stress on
the trees.
And so that, that's the,that's the model that we do.
So it's a treehouse style cabin.
And it like, I'm looking outoutside, like, and this, there's
a tree coming through the deck.
There's a, there's a big treeright outside the kitchen window.
So you're, you're really likenestled in the trees.
(28:25):
But you know that we're, we'resupported from the ground because
otherwise like, you just, youcouldn't, you couldn't get a highest
and best use on a piece of,you know, real estate.
Yeah, this really opens you upand it reduces the liability because
if the tree dies or somethinghappens, I mean, you're, you're,
you know, out of commissionright there.
I like it.
I like it.
Okay, so is it, it sounds likebuilding something.
(28:48):
Does it have, is it should belike a studio?
Should it be like multiple rooms?
Like, how does that play intothe business model?
So we are like, we set out tobuild like the perfect space that
was, that felt really grand.
But it wasn't, but not too big.
But I was like, I want peopleto be like, wow, I could really live
here, you know.
(29:09):
So like behind us there's a, Icall it a dream closet with like
hand carved furniture and justlike, you know, the, the dreamiest
of spaces.
And then an indoor bathroom.
There's also an outdoor showerfor two, a large stone circle hot
tub, a fire table where, youknow, you literally push a button.
You can get, get a nicepropane fire and have a, a nice stone
(29:32):
table to, to eat on, pizzaoven outside.
You name it.
Like it like everything,everything you, everything you need
and nothing that you don't.
All the, all the amenities.
That's, I love it.
Now if somebody were to getstarted, do they need a lot of capital
in order to do something like this?
Yeah, I mean, a lot ofcapital, I guess is, is relative.
(29:53):
Relative.
I mean, we spend a lot.
I mean, this is a $400,000treehouse, you know, and we've, we've,
we've, we've got it to where,you know, it's a kit, you know, I've
engineered it to where we canliterally assemble one of these in
a week's time once we have the deck.
And so I enjoy the sport ofspeed and seeing how fast we can
(30:16):
get heads in bed.
So, you know, when we go toour next property, it's literally
going to be lightning speed ofdevelopment to where we can build
out the entire retreat.
Have you guys found the next spot?
We're looking.
And we've, we've got a, we'vegot a website or on our website it's
called Gotland.
I kind of using the Got Milkkind of, kind of slogan where people
(30:39):
can, can like, literally sendus properties that they think would
be great for our business.
So, like, a lot of times, youknow, realtors will hit us up and
be like, I've got a placethat'd be great for you just to,
just to make that easy andbring that, bring that traffic to
us.
Like, we, we want to be, youknow, the magnetic epicenter of outdoor
hospitality where, like, all,all the best talent is coming to
(31:00):
us, the deals are coming to usthrough, through the workshops.
We are, you know, for 10years, we've kind of been building
in silence and we've honestlybeen, you know, apprehensive to like,
share our secret sauce forwhile this is working.
And then through talking tocoaches and mentors, they're like,
now's the time.
Like, just tell everyone everything.
(31:21):
Everyone will come to you.
And it's going to actuallymake growth and scale a lot easier.
So that's what we're doing.
And you guys haven't or haveyou raised money for any, any deals?
Is that something that you'relooking to do?
We are like, we've, you know,we've got the paperwork and everything
ready for a fund we're notactively raising, but like, we get
(31:41):
emails and probably onprobably a weekly basis and financial
toy.
I was like, we just need tostart taking a list of names.
Like, like, yes, we're goingto do a big raise.
We've been able to do thiswith, with cheap money from regional
banks, you know, 4 and 5%.
So, you know, it's, it's kindof hard to beat that.
But.
And, and now we have, youknow, the biggest banks in, in the
(32:02):
U.S.
sending U.S.
customers and like, I'm goingto speak at one of their summits.
So I'm like, I think we'regood on being able to get money at
a pretty, pretty low rate andmost, most investors want a lot more.
But we'll see.
I mean, there's no ceiling on,on our drive and ambition.
And I do like to go fasterthan those banks can go.
So I think, I think at theright price, we, we would love to.
(32:26):
We are going to have a fundand open that up.
So that's great.
So, Tori, with the socialmedia aspect of, I mean, does that.
It seems like that wouldreally help to get people to really
know about you, number one,sharing it out to other people.
But you've also had some, I, Imay be some fairly famous people,
but like that you utilizesocial media to really help you so
(32:48):
that, you know, they share itout and all that sort of stuff.
Talk to me about how that has helped.
Yeah, it's helped immensely.
People, they care about your story.
They don't buy what you have.
They, they buy who you are andwhy you exist.
And so we use social media totell that story, you know, what it's
done for us in our lives, whatit's done for our guests.
And those testimonials, weactually offer our guests free mini
(33:11):
photo shoots when they arrive,which is like a nice little, you
know, surprise and delight for them.
But it's also constant flow ofmarketing material for us that we
can now show.
Instead of them always justseeing us or the rooms, they see
people enjoying andexperiencing it.
So it's huge because socialmedia is the top of funnel.
That's how you're always justgrowing your audience.
And I always say it's, youknow, it's incredible to see that
(33:33):
we've grown such a hugeaudience of almost 600,000.
But it's not for ego or for aflex like those are eyeballs.
And people that can enter ourfunnel, join our email list, come
stay, you know, and so itreally is important to keep that
top of mind.
I think a lot of people, theyhave a presence on, on social, but
they're not fully utilizing itas they should.
(33:55):
A lot of it's a volume gamejust showing up consistently.
You want to be the loudestvoice in the room.
I definitely agree with that,especially seeing how social media
at first, I mean, I shied awayfrom it.
I ran away from it for a very,very long time.
I just didn't enjoy it.
I was just like, man, I justwant to do my work or, you know,
help People.
And.
And I didn't think socialmedia was actually that big of a
(34:17):
need necessity for number one,real estate investors, but number
two, me helping people how toinvest in real estate.
But then I really saw aspeople reaching out to me because
they found me on social mediaor something like that.
And for me, I started my podcast.
I think it was like 2016 ish, 2017.
And the podcast is by far oneof the best ways that people find
me.
Because you, as we shared whenwe hung out a couple months about
(34:41):
a month ago, I am so blessedthat I'm number one in real estate.
If you look up real estate and Apple.
Yeah.
I was just like, this is so awesome.
It's just more people to serve.
And then I'm like, oh, man, Igot to up my game.
Tori and Seth, they're at500,000 in Instagram.
I'm only like, what, 30something, 35,000 or something like
that.
I got to work harder.
But in the end, it's all abouthelping people.
(35:03):
That's why I love chattingwith you guys.
You guys help people with aretreat that they can go to, like,
personally get away and reallymake themselves better.
But at the same time, you'realso helping coaching people as well.
So definitely everybody, youneed to check out everything they're
doing.
Bolt Farm treehouses.
How else can they find you?
Other than we talked aboutsocial media, how else can they connect
with you?
And especially if they want tolearn how to do this, how do they
(35:25):
make sure that they startworking with you?
Yeah.
Thank you.
Our website's the best place.
Boltfarmtriost.com you'll seeon the homepage there's a tab for
our STR workshop, and that'swhere they can see if they qualify.
We're qualifying peoplebecause we keep it a really intimate
group.
That's how we can really addthe most value to people in the room
and go deep.
And so we're very selective ofpeople who come because we want to
(35:47):
make sure that they're in itfor the right reasons and that they
have potential to be someonethat we want to work with on an ongoing
basis.
And like what Seth was sayingearlier, maybe partner with.
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's.
Sometimes you hear people say,like, it's lonely at the top, but
it's like, it's only lonelyuntil you're finding your.
Your people, you know, becausewhen you do, you're like, oh, my
gosh, I get so much life everytime we're around each other.
(36:08):
And like, we Don't, I don'tneed anything from you, Dustin.
In between the times we seeeach other, but when we do, we're
like, what's going on?
What have you bought?
Let's go, let's talk about it.
And that's, we're looking forthat community because honestly like,
you know, we're, we're, we'reon a mountaintop and I, I don't like,
I don't like to leave.
So it's awesome.
(36:30):
I mean one of the things weknew about this business that would
be so life giving is that ifyou, if you, you got a place like
this, like people want to bethere and like I, I love it when
the world comes to me.
So whether it's, you know,people coming to, to learn from us
about the, you know, shortterm rental industry or people just
looking to, to, to go likerefocus, you know, zoom out so you
(36:51):
know where to zoom back in.
We're big on helping peoplelike invest in their relationships
because obviously we have alot of high, high output business
owners and leaders and youknow, they're doing so much stuff
that you know, if they're notcareful, their relationship can be
neglected.
And we are like the, I don'tknow the way to kind of get like
(37:14):
you know, a week long vacationor it probably feels like a month
of quality time, you know, inthree days, you know, in a weekend.
So that's, that gives us lifeand it allows us to meet a lot of
really cool people.
I love it and you, you brieflyshared it.
But I want everybody to knowand I'm curious transitioning from
(37:35):
being in a band so need toBreathe is a, is a really fun, great
band to listen to.
I, I definitely listen to itto, to you guys.
So going from that, do youstill do things with the band or
is it like I'm gung ho with mybolt farm treehouses?
And how was that transitiongoing from band to this?
Yeah, I mean over that 23years like we built an amazing team.
(37:59):
And so let's see, 2024, webasically toured all year, toured
Europe, Canada, the US for asecond time.
And that was like the end ofan album cycle.
And so now 2025, we've gotlots of time off and, and we have
a 15 month year old daughterand it's awesome to you know, be
(38:21):
home for that.
Like I've, you sacrifice a lotwhen you're on the road for a long
time.
So it's great to, to have aplace that you love to be and with
the people you love and beingable to build your dreams every day.
And.
So because being a musicianyou have to be creative.
It seems like the tree housesand everything you've done, that's,
(38:42):
that's.
Is that, I guess, spring onyour creativity, is that helping
fuel that fire?
It is and it does.
I mean like we're, we'vecreated some things that like, you
just, you can't get anywhere else.
Like, we just finishedbuilding this wellness haven and
it's basically, it's a multiacre spa.
You know, cliffside mountaintop.
There's all these beautifulrocks and boulders everywhere.
(39:04):
View of three states.
It's you know, like mirroredsauna, hot springs, pools, steam
room and treatment rooms, andlike a rooftop yoga deck with a view
of three states.
So like, honestly like whatwe're doing, like when we, you know,
in the treehouse, we go allthe way back to day one for the honeymoon,
we just journaled about allthese dreams and things we wanted
(39:27):
to accomplish and we createdthis 25 year plan for our lives and
we have almost all of it andyou know, nine years and we, we made
it come true through the business.
And, and so it's, I'm, I'mhonestly like building things that
just absolutely thrill me.
(39:47):
And I learned that through music.
Like when you, if you want tomake a great album or you want to
make a great song, like dosomething that just lights your heart
on fire, that you love it somuch regardless of what you think,
other people are gonna like it.
Because when you start makingthings specifically with like an
something else in mind, like,okay, well, needs to be this way
for this person.
It needs to be this way for this.
(40:08):
And whatever you get toocalculated, like, it's easy to just
get lost in the middle, youknow, but, but do do something unique.
Play your own game, play by heart.
You know that I think you havethe ability to, to land on something
that's like a.
One of a kind and truly unique.
And that's a, you know, mucheasier way to stand out from.
(40:29):
I definitely, I 100 agree with that.
I like.
Well, I've always been thetype of person where, you know, I
marched to the beat of my own drummer.
Like, I, I don't likefollowing rules, but other people
impose on me.
I just like, you know what,I'm gonna do it my own way.
So.
But I gotta ask a question.
I probably should have lookedthis up.
I don't know what music orwhat musical instrument you play.
Like, what, what do you playinside the, the band, the bass Guitar,
(40:53):
basically.
Foundation guitar.
You bring.
Yeah, you bring the presence.
You make sure that everybodyfeels everything there.
That's right.
Love it.
So what is.
I.
I got.
I gotta know.
What is your favorite songthat you guys have made?
Maybe I might not have heardit, but, like, do you have a favorite
song that you guys that you've made?
Man, that's hard because we'retalking about so many 23 years and
(41:15):
10 albums and.
And all that kind of dependson the mood I'm in.
And we're the kind of bandthat, like, we've got.
There's so many differenttypes of songs across the board.
Like, you know, it's a rockand roll show live, but then we've
got some.
Some beautiful songs that havealso been used in weddings and, you
know, the.
The birth of child.
(41:35):
Like, there's a song calledBanks, and, you know, it says, I'll
be the banks of your river,meaning, like, I'm going to be here
to support you, you know, notcontrol you, just here to support
you.
And it's like, relational.
But, you know, some peoplethink about their kids when they
hear that song because, like,I'm gonna be the banks of your river
as you.
As you go through life and youcan crash into me and all that.
(41:56):
And I'm just going to be hereto support you.
And Jordan Davis, the countryartist, he used that for.
For, like the.
For the birthing song for, Ithink, his most recent son.
And then he.
He and I, we got a chance to.
He covered the song and weperformed it together on.
On one of the.
One of the.
One of the TV shows, AustinCity Limits or something like that.
(42:18):
And it was awesome, man.
It's been a rich thing to beable to see the world that way.
And, you know, I would nothave the perspective that I do.
Have I not seen so much andexperience, you know, the best and
the worst of.
Of hospitality and hotels andpenthouse suites and all that stuff.
So I'm definitely drawing froma deep well in terms of what I can
(42:41):
create here.
And we found a spot where wecan literally build anything we want.
Like, it's hard in a lot ofstates in America.
I won't necessarily specifythe color of those states, but I
think, you know, where.
It's just too many stupidrules and like, there's.
There's no room for creativityand architecture, real estate.
So it's just like, very basicand boring.
(43:02):
And I just think, like, youknow, I don't know why, why.
Why not take the opportunityin a beautiful country to Harness
the creativity, the talent ofpeople with fresh ideas about what
it can look like to go on vacation.
You know, like keep, keep allthat vacation talent here or that
money here in America insteadof having to go to Bali or Tulum,
(43:25):
Mexico or wherever.
Because, like, they actuallyget it and will allow people to be
creative and create one of akind experiences.
Like we found that place.
They're hard to find, but Imean, building things on, on cliffsides
and doing just incrediblycreative stuff.
Like right now we're building.
This is a, this is a.
(43:45):
You heard it first.
This mirrored cube that itwill be floating.
It'll look like it's floatingbetween two boulders suspended in
the air.
And like, that sounds amazing.
Yeah, right?
I mean, you just can't do that everywhere.
Well, being creative, likeyou're saying, like you, you know.
Yeah.
You say in other states, youknow, let's say, for instance, like,
(44:07):
it has to be X, Y and Z.
You have to go through allthese permits and all that sort of
stuff, which is rather bummer.
But that's, that's super.
I can't wait to see it.
So I'm, I'm assuming, Tori,you're going to make sure that it
gets on social media now youwere, you're in news like we on the
news and doing like a news anchor.
Is that what you were?
And does that help totransition to help you guys build
up the bolt farm Treehouse?
(44:28):
I was, yeah.
I mean, I produced the earlymorning news and I did some entertainment
reporting.
The best thing that happenedduring that career was meeting Seth.
I interviewed the band andthat's how we met, which is pretty
wild.
And I, I would say it stillhelps me in some ways today with
just the skills that have translated.
Knowing how to produce anevent or a deadline or a project
(44:51):
and, you know, communicateeffectively and clearly with the
people involved.
It's really helped me with theteam that we're growing here.
And I'd add to that, like, andbuilding a big brand that's opened
all kinds of doors for us.
Yeah.
You know, like, I mean, she got.
Got a text message from BrianChesky, CEO of Airbnb, just being
like, hey, I'm such a fan ofyour treehouse.
(45:12):
Like, can we zoom?
And we're like, sure.
And so like, you know, and ofcourse I'm like, you know, just jotting
down questions and things Iwant to ask him.
But one specifically aboutinvesting, I would offer, you know,
because this is straight fromBrian, you know, I was just saying,
hey, you know, we want to grow Fast.
We want to raise money.
And, you know, you have anyadvice on that?
And he just said, yeah.
(45:33):
He's like, you know, when wewere coming up with Airbnb, like,
you know, the.
The sentiment at the time waslike, get as much money as you can
from whoever you can.
Like, it doesn't matter.
He's like.
But I had a mentor who said,like, actually, you know, only, only,
only, only raise what you needand get it from really great sources
of people that can advise youand, and speak life and to you and.
(45:55):
And, you know, that kind of thing.
So I think that that is the,you know, I took that to heart and,
and that's why, really, like,I think our investors aren't people
who just want to get, like,the most money, the highest return.
Like, will the returns be great?
Absolutely.
(46:15):
Like, our margins are incredible.
But I think more than.
More than.
More than the mercenary sideof it, it's the missional mindset.
Like, I want to work withpeople who actually can get what
we're doing, which is, like,having an impact on relationships.
Like, yes, we'rerevolutionary, revolutionizing hospitality.
(46:35):
We're also, you know,providing a space where people can
reconnect and, like, leavewith a stronger relationship, and
that can have generational impacts.
Like, there's.
We've heard back that, like, the.
Their people's kids have said,like, you guys are different since
going to the treehouse.
And they called it thetreehouse effect.
So, you know, that.
That means.
That means more to me than thegobs of money that we can make.
(46:58):
You know, I just, you know, money's.
Money's a tool.
Money's a resource.
But it's.
It's not why I wake up in the morning.
I love it.
I love it.
I think that's why we say eyeto eye so well, it's because the
same thing, like, I make mymoney through real estate.
Everything that I do is like,how many people can I serve?
I want to serve more and morepeople because I realized the more
people I serve, the better mylife gets and the better their life
(47:19):
gets and everybody wins.
And so that's just the best,best way to go.
If you start thinking inabundance, as opposed to scarcity,
like, hey, there's somelimited everything.
No, if you think moreabundantly, like, instead of the
world's out to get, you thinkmaybe the world might be willing
to help you.
So if you just have thatmindset by you giving, in fact, you
know, the Lord says, do untoothers as you would have them do
(47:40):
unto you.
And so if you start takingthat really living it out, everything
just gets better and better.
Now, Tori said I could chatwith you guys forever, but I want
to keep everybody I want againone more time, everybody.
You guys, check out bolt farmtree houses on social media as well
as their website, bolt farm treehouse.com.
but thank you so much, youguys, for being here.
I hope everybody got.
(48:00):
I know I got a ton out of it.
I know my listeners will, too.
But I hope you guys dotremendous success in all your guys's
success, you know, endeavorswith all these tree houses and helping
people.
Thank you, Justin.
Yeah.
Appreciate you, man.
Great to see you.
And that is it for today.
Go ahead and get my free realestate investing course, Texas word
rental, the 33777.
(48:21):
R E N T A L to 33777.
You can also join my realestate wealth builders group coaching.
Get all my courses.
All right, guys, we'll see youin the next show.
See ya.
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