Ever wondered how a transient childhood could fuel a lifelong passion for real estate? Join me, Heather Ewing, as I uncover the extraordinary life of John Laine, a seasoned real estate investor who started his journey at just 19. John shares how his quest for stability amidst constant relocations as an army officer's son led him to pioneering house hacking before it even had a name. Gain insights into his 35-year career, marked by resilience and strategic decision-making, including surviving the 2008 financial crisis through sheer perseverance and preparation for when luck came knocking.
But that's not all. We also dive into a touching story of renewal and purpose, where a former real estate professional returns after a decade long hiatus with a powerful mission—compassionate capitalism. Discover how this individual, rejuvenated by counseling and the great outdoors, is now making waves by collaborating with nonprofits to open doors to homeownership for younger generations. The emotional reward of transforming renters into homeowners underscores the meaningful impact of this initiative. Plus, find out how you can connect with John Laine for further insights and inspiration.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Heather Ewing, the CRE Rundown.
I am your host, heather Ewing,from Madison, wisconsin, and
today I've got a great guest foryou.
It is none other than John Lane.
He is an investor out ofVancouver, washington, john,
welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Hi there.
How are you, Heather?
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Definitely my pleasure.
So I've known you for about ayear and a half or so on
LinkedIn.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
But for those of my guests that don't know you, yet
please share a little bit moreabout yourself and what you do.
The 30-second version is we are.
I've been in real estate for 35years, bought my first house
when I was 19,.
Right, I'm 57 now, so I've hadthis 30 plus years of
(00:55):
compounding interest in my life,so that's been really, really
cool.
Now we, because of thatdecision being able to buy young
, we help other families buytheir first home.
We buy old apartment buildings,convert them to condos and sell
them to first-time homebuyers.
(01:16):
So that's like the 32nd.
As quick as I could do itanswer.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Right, that's terrific.
So do you ever sell or finance?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
We don't.
We want to.
We're not quite big enough todo that yet.
We will probably do sellerfinancing, maybe on the fifth or
sixth or seventh one, but we'restill perfecting the business
model.
Once we get like our fifth one,I think we'll be doing seller
financing from that point on.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
That's terrific.
So 19, that's an early age.
Kudos to you, John, for theforesight.
What would you say?
Was there a person, was there abook?
Or what inspired you to be sosmart and begin investing at the
tender age of 19?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
My dad was an army officer and so we had moved over
and over and over and over andover and over again as a kid,
right from the age of 5 to 18,we were moving every couple of
months and I was just very tiredof being moved around, not
having control over my life.
(02:23):
Um, and I ironically gotteninto a pretty bad car wreck that
summer before and so I had alump of cash and and I had a
couple of really good friendsthat we we did house hacking
before, before that, the idea ofhouse hacking was even a term.
I just that the idea of househacking was even a term.
(02:44):
I just $2,500 down, got thehouse on contract, my two best
friends moved in with me andthat was it, like that was.
I mean, I had no idea howimportant that one decision
would be in my life.
I really honestly, looking backin hindsight you know like life
(03:06):
gives us forks and decisions atpoints in time I honestly had
no idea how important thatmoment would be in my life.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
It is intriguing, isn't it?
And it's kind of funny.
I had a conversation with alender just yesterday over
coffee and we were talking aboutthat too, of life presents
choice points, and sometimes yourealize it, sometimes you don't
, and one decision really canshift and change things to your
point.
So that's great.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
It's been foundational, like that one
house.
It forced me to think.
I mean, as a 19 year old, youdon't really think of adult
responsibilities, but it forcedme to think of adult
responsibilities.
At that same time, I bought myfirst business.
(03:58):
I was working as a carpetcleaner for this gentleman.
He got sick, he asked me to buyhis business and so
simultaneously I'm a first-timehomeowner and a first-time
business owner.
Go large, go large, john.
It was crazy how God theuniverse works to conspire to
(04:26):
just shift a person's life.
It really it still astounds mehow it all happened.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I love that, but I think too, you know you see more
signs coming out to back it andthings of that nature, of what
we focus on does grow, and thosedifferent you know the dreamers
as long as you're puttingaction behind it.
And when these differentscenarios appear, that you did
take it.
You ran with it Because, if youthink about it, you could have
had this lucky break and youcould have spoiled it per se or
(04:56):
in the sense of not reinvestingand not being smart with your
money.
So you did have, if you want tosay, the hand of God, come in
for you.
But at the same time you made alot of right decisions.
I think that has put you towhere you are now.
So, in that sense, definitely aseries of good decisions.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
It's very much my perspective.
It's very much putting yourselfinto those positions where luck
, or whatever you want to callit, can smile upon you.
Right, I started working when Iwas really young, like really
really young, and just puttingyourself out there in an
(05:38):
opportunity where Providence canhave its hand in your life, can
have its hand in your life.
Right, I mean it's I can'tremember the luck and hard work
combined.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
And was it Jim Rohn?
Maybe you know that, or someonehad you know?
One of the greats of luckfavors the prepared, that's it.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
That's the quote I was looking for.
Thank you, yes, I've got yourback, john.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I've got your back, john, I've got your back, so
yeah it's one of those makesmart decisions, do the right
things.
Being consistent and I thinkthat's something I really
learned over the past severalyears is the power of
consistency, because you see alot of people that shine bright
and then they go to the waysidebecause they don't have the
dedication and that deep burningwhy to help propel them over
(06:29):
those challenging moments andhurdles.
So what would you say hasreally helped you to get over
some of those hurdles with youknow, your approximately 30
years of investing?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Well, I survived the great financial crash Like that
was a big deal.
I lost damn near $80 million inand whether that storm, that
was hard, that sucked, would not.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Right no.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, that was.
That was really tough.
But I mean mean perseverance,being willing to.
After 09, I basically took adozen years off.
I'm just like, okay, I'mchecked out.
I just didn't have the mentalor emotional strength to get
(07:27):
back into the real estate world.
I tried other businesses but Ijust they didn't, I didn't enjoy
them.
But it took a lot ofperseverance.
It took a lot of counseling.
This is why I like Chris somuch of um counseling.
(07:49):
Uh, this is why I like chris somuch.
I I did yes for almost threeyears to get my my head and my
heart to align again.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Um, yeah, it's it's integral to your point and you
know, with it being so manyyears in the past, before
meeting with chris, are you ableto identify one or two things
that helped you to, if you'regoing to say, continue on each
day towards the goal?
Speaker 2 (08:07):
so I, I do a lot of hiking and backpacking.
Um, nice, that gets that.
That that takes the focus offthe mental frustration losing
$77 million right, there's a lotof crap in your head, right,
(08:29):
I'm sure.
Just like taking a walk, goingclimbing a mountain, just
repetitively hiking.
It got me out of my depression.
That was able to lift a lot ofthe depression issues and it
(08:49):
started I'd interact with peopleon the trail and I'd be friends
and I did part of the PCT andI'd make some friends and they
were all struggling financially.
And here I was, mid-50s,relatively comfortable,
relatively financially solvent.
(09:10):
My wife worked through thatwhole time but I didn't.
For almost 12 years I didn'treally work and I was.
I gave myself some time to healbut I also, through the hiking,
gave myself time to think and Istarted looking at like the
macro of what are the problemsin the real estate world and if
(09:34):
I were to go back into it, whatcould I fix?
What impact could I leave?
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Right and kind of creating a new plan.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Very much a new plan.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yeah, that is great.
So what is your plan?
It's, you know, it's 2024.
What's your plan for next year,or even the next few?
What's what's pulling at theheartstrings?
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I, I am passionate.
So because of my kind of originstory, of being able to buy
when I was young, I realizedthat, like the average age of a
first-time homebuyer in Americais 38 years old Are you serious.
Yeah, true fact.
Wow, wow.
(10:21):
Median house price is like$385,000.
Median down payment is $71,000.
Like the American dream isbasically being ripped out from
underneath people.
And I just I look at my ownexperience and I said I think I
(10:43):
can solve this problem.
And so I grabbed a couple of myinvestor friends, turned them
into partners and we're slowlyhelping families buy their first
home.
Like we, we're partnered with anonprofit right, so that's
(11:04):
really impactful for me.
So we're we're partnered with acouple of nonprofits.
We're buying properties atreally really deep discounts,
doing the renovation ourselvesand then selling them first-time
home buyers at 80% AMI.
Like wow, it's really prettyawesome that is that is.
(11:26):
I mean to watch.
We just had a conversation, wejust bought a building and to
watch the residents their wholedemeanor changes when you say
you can stop paying rent andstart owning.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
And we're gonna like that's john, you're like the
modern day santa.
You need to put some of this.
I want to see videos.
So I am creating an action itemfor you all.
I'm creating some of thesevideos.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
That would be great it was, we did a pizza party.
So every time we buy a buildingwe have a pizza party and we
connect with our residents.
We have, hey guys, they comedownstairs and they're really
timid and they're really like,not sure there's a notification.
We just bought your building andevery resident in the world is
(12:16):
terrified of their new landlordright right and so the unknown
right first 20 minutes, firsthalf hour of the conversation,
we're saying you're not beingevicted and you're not getting a
rent increase.
You're not being evicted andyou're not getting an increase.
I mean we've said 15 times andall of a sudden there's this
(12:42):
collective sigh of relief.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Everybody's like right and then you get here's
some wild stories with otherpeople's experiences.
So it's nice that you addressthat right up front, because
otherwise you know that they'renot going to be listening
because there's going to be somany different ideas concerns
swarming their heads.
So I love your approach directand also put the fire out before
(13:07):
it begins right, so I know it'scheesy.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
We call this compassionate capitalism, right
I?
Speaker 1 (13:14):
like it, it's true, though.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Yeah, I mean, both words are important, right,
compassion first.
We, every conversation we have,leads with compassion.
There is a tonality ofcapitalism.
We want to make a profit.
You can't.
You can't do our business modelwithout creating a profit
Exactly.
But there is.
Our residents are buying housesassuming they follow through at
(13:43):
$1,000.
80% AMI.
So we're selling units in thisbuilding at $225,000.
The median comp in the area is260 for the exact same thing.
They're literally walking into$40,000 of equity and we're
working with either low incomeor modest means income, people
(14:08):
who would not normally have eventhe I mean seventy thousand
dollars for down payment rightright yeah, and we're giving
them the down payment, like it'spart of our mission is to we
give them three months ofpayment, right?
We just it's.
Yeah, sorry, I get a littleexcited.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Well, no, it's terrific, and you know that's
the thing you hear so much insociety about of like, well,
time freedom's okay, but to havemoney is bad, and to me, if you
didn't have, you know, the wiseinvestments that you made, you
wouldn't have the money to beable to give back in this way.
So I think people in generalreally need to take a hard look
(14:53):
and realize that money is agreat, great thing and it allows
people to do great things withit.
It's really a personificationof someone, whether they're
going to do good or if theychoose not to.
So kudos to you.
What a beautiful way to giveback and also to continue caring
for yourself and family andexpanding the goodness
(15:15):
throughout your community.
So here's another question foryou If you were to reflect back
on the last five to 10 years,what is a piece of advice that
you would give yourself?
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Go to therapy.
Thank God for Chris Holy smokes.
I wasted 12 years I had such.
When you create wealth, a lotof people in America, myself
included, we equate net worthwith self-worth.
(15:52):
Right, that's just how we'rewired as americans, right, net
worth, right self-worth.
When my net worth crashed, myself-worth crashed.
And I mean if I had said, ifyou had said like, hey, what
would you do different in thelast five to ten years?
I, I'd say, go to therapyearlier.
Right, I wouldn't have lost adecade.
(16:13):
That means helped a lot morepeople.
I, I, I've had this condoconversion roadmap in my brain
for 15 years, but I didn't.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, the beauty is you canprobably help such an even
larger group by going throughthat experience, because so many
people, to your point, don'tget help.
And you know, I've been thereat different times too.
And be like I look back I'mlike, oh my God, heather, you
could have made this a loteasier.
There was no reason, you know,for that level of pain.
Tony Robbins has a, you know, agreat quote and I don't
(16:52):
remember it exactly, but it'ssomething about there's
hardships in life, but theamount of pain you choose to put
yourself through is anotherstory and I was like, ah, yes,
exactly I.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Um, it was a hard, like the last five to 10 years
were tough, but helping.
For me, it's about helpingother people, right?
I don't need more zeros, Idon't need more commas in my
bank account.
They're helpful, they're nice,but I don't need them Right?
For me, it is a legacy oftrying to serve others.
(17:29):
It is a legacy of trying toserve others.
When I lost my portfolio, I hadroughly 1,000, 1,500, 1,200
people relying on me for theirshelter.
Right when I lost my portfolio,let's say, 1,500 people went
(17:53):
homeless.
I lost my properties, they losttheir homes, and that's a
burden that I will carry for therest of my life.
Some of these residents hadbeen in those homes for 5, 10,
25 years and, because I lost myportfolio, those people suffered
consequences that were nottheir fault, and so I feel a
(18:15):
sense of compassion to try towrite that for other people, I
don't know.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
I want to give residents more control over
their lives, and it starts withhome ownership residents more
control over their lives, and itstarts with home ownership,
right, and I think it's one ofthose, when you are a caring and
compassionate person, that whatyou know no one could have
planned 2008, nine right, andit's one of those.
No one would have ever wishedthat upon anyone, and so, in
(18:44):
that sense, I think it is youknow us a type personalities is
easy to accept ownership of thatwhen it's like, no, we're not
omnipotent, we can't controlthese things, otherwise there
wouldn't be, you know, half ofthe bad things that happen in
the world.
So I love that you're reallyutilizing that energy, though,
and to propel forward improvingpeople's lives, and with that,
(19:07):
my last question for you is whatwould you say living fully
means to you, john?
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Hiking with my wife in the Redwoods, like there's no
bigger like my.
We got married in the Redwoods,we go to the Redwoods all the
time.
Like it's like living fully isquality time with the person I
love the most in the place Ilove the most, and not worrying
(19:38):
about money, not worrying aboutare the bills paid, not worrying
about, uh, the normal financialstrains of life Quality time
with my wife in the Redwoods.
Final answer I love that.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
And that is perfectly said.
So with that, john, thank youso much for joining me.
And before we end this podcast,share with my audience.
How can they reach you?
What's the best method for that?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
So easiest, john J-O-H-N at condo C-O-N-D-O dot
fund F-U-N-D.
Super easy, nocom, just John atcondofund yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Perfect.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, excellent.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Well, john.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
I really enjoyed it.
Thank you for your, for yourkindness and compassion as well.
Yeah, bye, bye.
Welcome to Heather Ewing, the CRE Rundown.
I am your host, heather Ewing,from Madison, wisconsin, and
today I've got a great guest foryou.
It is none other than John Lane.
He is an investor out ofVancouver, washington, john,
welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Hi there.
How are you, Heather?
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Definitely my pleasure.
So I've known you for about ayear and a half or so on
LinkedIn.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
But for those of my guests that don't know you, yet
please share a little bit moreabout yourself and what you do.
The 30-second version is we are.
I've been in real estate for 35years, bought my first house
when I was 19,.
Right, I'm 57 now, so I've hadthis 30 plus years of
(00:55):
compounding interest in my life,so that's been really, really
cool.
Now we, because of thatdecision being able to buy young
, we help other families buytheir first home.
We buy old apartment buildings,convert them to condos and sell
them to first-time homebuyers.
(01:16):
So that's like the 32nd.
As quick as I could do itanswer.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Right, that's terrific.
So do you ever sell or finance?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
We don't.
We want to.
We're not quite big enough todo that yet.
We will probably do sellerfinancing, maybe on the fifth or
sixth or seventh one, but we'restill perfecting the business
model.
Once we get like our fifth one,I think we'll be doing seller
financing from that point on.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
That's terrific.
So 19, that's an early age.
Kudos to you, John, for theforesight.
What would you say?
Was there a person, was there abook?
Or what inspired you to be sosmart and begin investing at the
tender age of 19?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
My dad was an army officer and so we had moved over
and over and over and over andover and over again as a kid,
right from the age of 5 to 18,we were moving every couple of
months and I was just very tiredof being moved around, not
having control over my life.
(02:23):
Um, and I ironically gotteninto a pretty bad car wreck that
summer before and so I had alump of cash and and I had a
couple of really good friendsthat we we did house hacking
before, before that, the idea ofhouse hacking was even a term.
I just that the idea of househacking was even a term.
(02:44):
I just $2,500 down, got thehouse on contract, my two best
friends moved in with me andthat was it, like that was.
I mean, I had no idea howimportant that one decision
would be in my life.
I really honestly, looking backin hindsight you know like life
(03:06):
gives us forks and decisions atpoints in time I honestly had
no idea how important thatmoment would be in my life.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
It is intriguing, isn't it?
And it's kind of funny.
I had a conversation with alender just yesterday over
coffee and we were talking aboutthat too, of life presents
choice points, and sometimes yourealize it, sometimes you don't
, and one decision really canshift and change things to your
point.
So that's great.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
It's been foundational, like that one
house.
It forced me to think.
I mean, as a 19 year old, youdon't really think of adult
responsibilities, but it forcedme to think of adult
responsibilities.
At that same time, I bought myfirst business.
(03:58):
I was working as a carpetcleaner for this gentleman.
He got sick, he asked me to buyhis business and so
simultaneously I'm a first-timehomeowner and a first-time
business owner.
Go large, go large, john.
It was crazy how God theuniverse works to conspire to
(04:26):
just shift a person's life.
It really it still astounds mehow it all happened.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I love that, but I think too, you know you see more
signs coming out to back it andthings of that nature, of what
we focus on does grow, and thosedifferent you know the dreamers
as long as you're puttingaction behind it.
And when these differentscenarios appear, that you did
take it.
You ran with it Because, if youthink about it, you could have
had this lucky break and youcould have spoiled it per se or
(04:56):
in the sense of not reinvestingand not being smart with your
money.
So you did have, if you want tosay, the hand of God, come in
for you.
But at the same time you made alot of right decisions.
I think that has put you towhere you are now.
So, in that sense, definitely aseries of good decisions.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
It's very much my perspective.
It's very much putting yourselfinto those positions where luck
, or whatever you want to callit, can smile upon you.
Right, I started working when Iwas really young, like really
really young, and just puttingyourself out there in an
(05:38):
opportunity where Providence canhave its hand in your life, can
have its hand in your life.
Right, I mean it's I can'tremember the luck and hard work
combined.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
And was it Jim Rohn?
Maybe you know that, or someonehad you know?
One of the greats of luckfavors the prepared, that's it.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
That's the quote I was looking for.
Thank you, yes, I've got yourback, john.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I've got your back, john, I've got your back, so
yeah it's one of those makesmart decisions, do the right
things.
Being consistent and I thinkthat's something I really
learned over the past severalyears is the power of
consistency, because you see alot of people that shine bright
and then they go to the waysidebecause they don't have the
dedication and that deep burningwhy to help propel them over
(06:29):
those challenging moments andhurdles.
So what would you say hasreally helped you to get over
some of those hurdles with youknow, your approximately 30
years of investing?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Well, I survived the great financial crash Like that
was a big deal.
I lost damn near $80 million inand whether that storm, that
was hard, that sucked, would not.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Right no.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, that was.
That was really tough.
But I mean mean perseverance,being willing to.
After 09, I basically took adozen years off.
I'm just like, okay, I'mchecked out.
I just didn't have the mentalor emotional strength to get
(07:27):
back into the real estate world.
I tried other businesses but Ijust they didn't, I didn't enjoy
them.
But it took a lot ofperseverance.
It took a lot of counseling.
This is why I like Chris somuch of um counseling.
(07:49):
Uh, this is why I like chris somuch.
I I did yes for almost threeyears to get my my head and my
heart to align again.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Um, yeah, it's it's integral to your point and you
know, with it being so manyyears in the past, before
meeting with chris, are you ableto identify one or two things
that helped you to, if you'regoing to say, continue on each
day towards the goal?
Speaker 2 (08:07):
so I, I do a lot of hiking and backpacking.
Um, nice, that gets that.
That that takes the focus offthe mental frustration losing
$77 million right, there's a lotof crap in your head, right,
(08:29):
I'm sure.
Just like taking a walk, goingclimbing a mountain, just
repetitively hiking.
It got me out of my depression.
That was able to lift a lot ofthe depression issues and it
(08:49):
started I'd interact with peopleon the trail and I'd be friends
and I did part of the PCT andI'd make some friends and they
were all struggling financially.
And here I was, mid-50s,relatively comfortable,
relatively financially solvent.
(09:10):
My wife worked through thatwhole time but I didn't.
For almost 12 years I didn'treally work and I was.
I gave myself some time to healbut I also, through the hiking,
gave myself time to think and Istarted looking at like the
macro of what are the problemsin the real estate world and if
(09:34):
I were to go back into it, whatcould I fix?
What impact could I leave?
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Right and kind of creating a new plan.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Very much a new plan.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yeah, that is great.
So what is your plan?
It's, you know, it's 2024.
What's your plan for next year,or even the next few?
What's what's pulling at theheartstrings?
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I, I am passionate.
So because of my kind of originstory, of being able to buy
when I was young, I realizedthat, like the average age of a
first-time homebuyer in Americais 38 years old Are you serious.
Yeah, true fact.
Wow, wow.
(10:21):
Median house price is like$385,000.
Median down payment is $71,000.
Like the American dream isbasically being ripped out from
underneath people.
And I just I look at my ownexperience and I said I think I
(10:43):
can solve this problem.
And so I grabbed a couple of myinvestor friends, turned them
into partners and we're slowlyhelping families buy their first
home.
Like we, we're partnered with anonprofit right, so that's
(11:04):
really impactful for me.
So we're we're partnered with acouple of nonprofits.
We're buying properties atreally really deep discounts,
doing the renovation ourselvesand then selling them first-time
home buyers at 80% AMI.
Like wow, it's really prettyawesome that is that is.
(11:26):
I mean to watch.
We just had a conversation, wejust bought a building and to
watch the residents their wholedemeanor changes when you say
you can stop paying rent andstart owning.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
And we're gonna like that's john, you're like the
modern day santa.
You need to put some of this.
I want to see videos.
So I am creating an action itemfor you all.
I'm creating some of thesevideos.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
That would be great it was, we did a pizza party.
So every time we buy a buildingwe have a pizza party and we
connect with our residents.
We have, hey guys, they comedownstairs and they're really
timid and they're really like,not sure there's a notification.
We just bought your building andevery resident in the world is
(12:16):
terrified of their new landlordright right and so the unknown
right first 20 minutes, firsthalf hour of the conversation,
we're saying you're not beingevicted and you're not getting a
rent increase.
You're not being evicted andyou're not getting an increase.
I mean we've said 15 times andall of a sudden there's this
(12:42):
collective sigh of relief.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Everybody's like right and then you get here's
some wild stories with otherpeople's experiences.
So it's nice that you addressthat right up front, because
otherwise you know that they'renot going to be listening
because there's going to be somany different ideas concerns
swarming their heads.
So I love your approach directand also put the fire out before
(13:07):
it begins right, so I know it'scheesy.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
We call this compassionate capitalism, right
I?
Speaker 1 (13:14):
like it, it's true, though.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Yeah, I mean, both words are important, right,
compassion first.
We, every conversation we have,leads with compassion.
There is a tonality ofcapitalism.
We want to make a profit.
You can't.
You can't do our business modelwithout creating a profit
Exactly.
But there is.
Our residents are buying housesassuming they follow through at
(13:43):
$1,000.
80% AMI.
So we're selling units in thisbuilding at $225,000.
The median comp in the area is260 for the exact same thing.
They're literally walking into$40,000 of equity and we're
working with either low incomeor modest means income, people
(14:08):
who would not normally have eventhe I mean seventy thousand
dollars for down payment rightright yeah, and we're giving
them the down payment, like it'spart of our mission is to we
give them three months ofpayment, right?
We just it's.
Yeah, sorry, I get a littleexcited.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Well, no, it's terrific, and you know that's
the thing you hear so much insociety about of like, well,
time freedom's okay, but to havemoney is bad, and to me, if you
didn't have, you know, the wiseinvestments that you made, you
wouldn't have the money to beable to give back in this way.
So I think people in generalreally need to take a hard look
(14:53):
and realize that money is agreat, great thing and it allows
people to do great things withit.
It's really a personificationof someone, whether they're
going to do good or if theychoose not to.
So kudos to you.
What a beautiful way to giveback and also to continue caring
for yourself and family andexpanding the goodness
(15:15):
throughout your community.
So here's another question foryou If you were to reflect back
on the last five to 10 years,what is a piece of advice that
you would give yourself?
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Go to therapy.
Thank God for Chris Holy smokes.
I wasted 12 years I had such.
When you create wealth, a lotof people in America, myself
included, we equate net worthwith self-worth.
(15:52):
Right, that's just how we'rewired as americans, right, net
worth, right self-worth.
When my net worth crashed, myself-worth crashed.
And I mean if I had said, ifyou had said like, hey, what
would you do different in thelast five to ten years?
I, I'd say, go to therapyearlier.
Right, I wouldn't have lost adecade.
(16:13):
That means helped a lot morepeople.
I, I, I've had this condoconversion roadmap in my brain
for 15 years, but I didn't.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, the beauty is you canprobably help such an even
larger group by going throughthat experience, because so many
people, to your point, don'tget help.
And you know, I've been thereat different times too.
And be like I look back I'mlike, oh my God, heather, you
could have made this a loteasier.
There was no reason, you know,for that level of pain.
Tony Robbins has a, you know, agreat quote and I don't
(16:52):
remember it exactly, but it'ssomething about there's
hardships in life, but theamount of pain you choose to put
yourself through is anotherstory and I was like, ah, yes,
exactly I.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Um, it was a hard, like the last five to 10 years
were tough, but helping.
For me, it's about helpingother people, right?
I don't need more zeros, Idon't need more commas in my
bank account.
They're helpful, they're nice,but I don't need them Right?
For me, it is a legacy oftrying to serve others.
(17:29):
It is a legacy of trying toserve others.
When I lost my portfolio, I hadroughly 1,000, 1,500, 1,200
people relying on me for theirshelter.
Right when I lost my portfolio,let's say, 1,500 people went
(17:53):
homeless.
I lost my properties, they losttheir homes, and that's a
burden that I will carry for therest of my life.
Some of these residents hadbeen in those homes for 5, 10,
25 years and, because I lost myportfolio, those people suffered
consequences that were nottheir fault, and so I feel a
(18:15):
sense of compassion to try towrite that for other people, I
don't know.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
I want to give residents more control over
their lives, and it starts withhome ownership residents more
control over their lives, and itstarts with home ownership,
right, and I think it's one ofthose, when you are a caring and
compassionate person, that whatyou know no one could have
planned 2008, nine right, andit's one of those.
No one would have ever wishedthat upon anyone, and so, in
(18:44):
that sense, I think it is youknow us a type personalities is
easy to accept ownership of thatwhen it's like, no, we're not
omnipotent, we can't controlthese things, otherwise there
wouldn't be, you know, half ofthe bad things that happen in
the world.
So I love that you're reallyutilizing that energy, though,
and to propel forward improvingpeople's lives, and with that,
(19:07):
my last question for you is whatwould you say living fully
means to you, john?
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Hiking with my wife in the Redwoods, like there's no
bigger like my.
We got married in the Redwoods,we go to the Redwoods all the
time.
Like it's like living fully isquality time with the person I
love the most in the place Ilove the most, and not worrying
(19:38):
about money, not worrying aboutare the bills paid, not worrying
about, uh, the normal financialstrains of life Quality time
with my wife in the Redwoods.
Final answer I love that.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
And that is perfectly said.
So with that, john, thank youso much for joining me.
And before we end this podcast,share with my audience.
How can they reach you?
What's the best method for that?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
So easiest, john J-O-H-N at condo C-O-N-D-O dot
fund F-U-N-D.
Super easy, nocom, just John atcondofund yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Perfect.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, excellent.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Well, john.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
I really enjoyed it.
Thank you for your, for yourkindness and compassion as well.
Yeah, bye, bye.
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