January 16, 2024 • 35 mins
Welcome To The Real Estate Underground Show #102!
In today’s episode, we delve into the inspiring story of Brian O’Neill, the host of the W2 Prison Break Show. Brian shares his journey of breaking free from the corporate world after 25 years in sales, paving the way for a successful career in real estate.
In this episode,
- Brian reflects on his 25-year corporate career and the pivotal role his son played in finding the courage to break free.
- Dive into innovative financing methods employed by Brian's real estate team for property acquisitions.
- Brian discusses the creative financing methods used by his real estate team for property acquisitions.
- We will explore the structure of Brian's real estate team, offering a glimpse into the organizational dynamics that contribute to their success.
- Gain insights into the importance of early hiring and the pitfalls of being a solo entrepreneur.
If you're looking to break free from the corporate grind or delve into the world of real estate, Brian O’Neill's W2 Prison Break resources and coaching program await you at w2prisonbreak.com. Explore the free resources and connect with Brian for invaluable insights.
Resources:
- Website: https://www.w2prisonbreak.com/
Additional Resources:
- Website: https://www.clarkst.com
- Phone: (860) 675-5800
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clarkstcapital
- Podcast: https://bit.ly/3LzZdDx
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clark-st-capital
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/clarkstcapital1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClarkStCapital
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clarkstcapital
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ed Mathews (00:00):
Zen.
This his real estateunderground.
Greetings and salutations.
Real estate undergrounders.
It's Ed Matthews with the RealEstate Underground.
Thank you so much for joiningus today.
Today I am very excited tointroduce you all to Brian
O'Neill from W2 Prison Break.
I had the honor of appearing onhis amazing podcast a few weeks
(00:21):
back and the conversation wasso interesting that I begged him
and pleaded for him to join uson our podcast, and he has
graciously agreed.
So, brian, welcome to the showand thank you very much.
Brian O'Neill (00:34):
It's great to see you again and I got to say
that's probably the best introever.
Thanks so much.
My day has been made.
Ed Mathews (00:43):
Excellent.
Well, hey, we aim to please,right, hey?
So, brian, obviously I've beena fan of your podcast for coming
up on a year, right that you'vebeen doing this.
And so for those of us whohaven't discovered your podcast
and who you are and what you do,why don't you give them a
little bit of background andthen we'll dive?
Brian O'Neill (01:01):
Yeah, definitely.
The Name of Life podcast is theW2 Prison Break show, the one
that you were on.
We had a great conversation.
I would encourage everyone togo listen to that episode.
You really, we just had anawesome and we aligned in the
right ways, yeah it was a lot offun, and where the show really
got its motivation from was forme I mean, I'm talking to the
(01:22):
younger version of Brian O'Neillbecause I was like you.
I was in a corporate positionfor 25 years.
I was in corporate sales for 25years 17 years with the same
company and I was traveling100,000 miles a year not nearly
as much as you I know you arenorth of that but I was away
from my family.
I was gone every other week onan airplane and I always knew
(01:45):
that I had something else in me.
I had a business in me.
I was not meant for this.
I really was not meant for this.
And the older I got, the moremoney that I earned from my W2
position, the more that Itraveled, the more that I
started to really challenge whatI was taught as a child, which
was go to school, get a job, getgood grades, get into a good
management training program andwork there for 40 years and
(02:09):
retire at 62, and hopefully, ifyou want, we're not a money-
yeah, exactly.
Ed Mathews (02:13):
And then what?
Brian O'Neill (02:15):
happened.
Ed was.
I had a son and I was missinghim.
Grow up I'd come back.
He looked different.
He's talking different.
I would miss moments of hislife that I would have to catch
on, either FaceTime or my wifesent me a little five second
clips and that's already eataway at me.
And then one day he said to mehe said, dad, I don't like when
(02:40):
you leave the house, I don'tlike when you go.
And that was it for me.
I really I tell this throughall the time my son gave me the
courage to quit being afraid andto try, and it was from that
moment on where I startedbelieving in myself and saying
I've got one shot to watch thiskid grow up.
I'm not going to miss it.
And that's really what the showis about.
Like, hey, I went through allthis stuff.
(03:01):
You don't have to do it too.
It can be a much morecompressed timeline if you just
follow some simple steps.
Ed Mathews (03:06):
Right.
And so in terms of the yeah, Imean I totally hear you.
I vividly remember my wife,patricia, and I having a similar
conversation around.
You were missing so much goodstuff and you only get 18 years
and then they start their lives.
I mean, I'm experiencing thisnow with my older daughter,
who's 20.
And I mean, yeah, she's still aintegral part of the family and
(03:29):
it's awesome having her around,but she's not around that much
between work and boyfriend andschool and all the other stuff
that she does.
She's already starting her life.
So we only get her for a fewmonths a year now and that will
dwindle as she gets older andstarts her own career in her own
adult life and it's yeah, it'sreally interesting.
(03:50):
So let's talk about yourbusiness and how you broke free
from the corporate shackles thatyou and I both neither of us
miss yeah.
Brian O'Neill (04:00):
So I had been dabbling in real estate for a
long time.
It's ironic, before I actuallyopened up my real estate
business and went into business,I had named it seven years
prior to that.
The reason that I know that isbecause the note was saved in my
iPhone.
So there you go.
I had the name.
I never incorporated and, man,seven years go by really fast.
(04:21):
But again, my son helped mewith that.
So I would say that probably thebiggest thing that I did other
than have that moment where it'slike, okay, I'm no longer going
to let my self-limiting beliefsand my fears and my doubt run
my life, like I'm taking controlof my life and my son gave me
that boost.
Right, and I remember thatmoment vividly.
When I told my wife that andthe next day I hired a coach, I
(04:43):
said, okay, I've identified myexit from the W-2.
Like, this is going to be it.
But I'm not going to make thesame mistake I made for the last
15 to 20 years, which was, hey,I know everything, I'm good, I
don't need anybody's help, I canfigure it all out on my own.
Huge mistake.
That's why I stayed in the sameplace for so long, hired a
coach, I committed, Isurrendered and with those
(05:06):
there's a lot more that happenedin between there.
But with that mentality andhaving a coach, I was able to
leave that job in nine months.
Months I left my job.
I was able to do enough realestate deals where I quit the
W-2.
We're coming up on three yearsnow since that happened and I
mean it seems like it was justyesterday.
Yeah.
Ed Mathews (05:23):
Yeah, blinky, yeah, it goes fast.
I had that conversation with myold boss.
It was December of 2017, and Iwent full-time February, second
of 2018.
And it feels like it wasyesterday.
So it does go fast.
It does go fast, yeah, and it'swonderful, right.
So let's talk about your realestate business a little bit.
Brian O'Neill (05:43):
Yeah, definitely so.
I mean, I've always loved realestate.
From a little kid.
I used to beg my parents totake me to see model homes, so
that was something of passionfor me.
What I specialize in, what Ispecifically do at, is we buy
properties using creativefinancing strategies.
Right, so we don't go out andqualify for a bank debt, we
don't get loans.
(06:03):
I'm not saying that's bad, it'sjust.
This is the strategy that I useon a daily basis and we don't
pay cash for properties.
So, looking for motivatedsellers who maybe they got
divorced, they had a job loss,they're relocating, they can't
sell their house conventionally.
The conventional market doesn'tsolve their problem.
I go to them and I use avariety of different methods,
whether it's a lease optionsubject to their existing loan,
(06:26):
seller financing or ownerfinancing if they own it, free
and clear, and I acquire theirproperty.
Typically it's without anymoney down, it's always without
banks and you're typicallysolving a specific problem,
which is what real estate is allabout.
Is problem solving right?
Absolutely yeah, and you coulddo this on singles, multis,
whatever, as long as a seller isopen to it.
You could do seller fine, youcan do something creatively.
Ed Mathews (06:48):
That's amazing, and so it's one of the things that
I've always so I'm more of atraditionalist, right, I have
banking relationships andcommercial loan relationships
and a couple of really good hardmoney relationships, and that's
the way I had operated foryears and years and years, and
actually one of the reasons thatI got so interested in your
podcast was because I wanted tolearn.
(07:10):
There's a handful of peoplethat I've seen and paid
attention to and I've learned amassive amount.
I'm actually negotiating aseller financing deal right now
out in Indiana, so knock outwood that that will go well.
But the thing is is that I, youknow, I paid attention to you,
(07:31):
as well as a handful of otherfolks that I've met on LinkedIn
and Twitter, and it's amazinghow much you can acquire with.
You know able to mitigate yourrisk and also you know solve a
problem for someone.
So you get to, you know, youget to.
You get to acquire, you knowbuild your wealth by helping
other people out.
(07:51):
Right, but it's that problemsolvers mentality that is the
core of this 100%.
Brian O'Neill (07:55):
When I'm talking to I mean, I don't talk to as
many sellers as I used tobecause I have a team now, but
when I used to talk to sellersall day long and my team still
does, that's what we, that'swhat we coach them to do, which
is, hey, don't.
Numbers are secondary, math issecondary.
In real estate, it's alwaysabout, hey, what are you trying
to accomplish?
Mystery misses, cell?
Yeah, okay, and how can I solvethat problem?
(08:16):
I might not be able to, but ifI don't understand what you're
trying to do, how, how I canhelp you get there, then the
math doesn't make any sense.
Great deal To talk about.
Ed Mathews (08:24):
It's irrelevant, right, if you can't solve the
problem.
Yeah, I mean, I always sold myteam, so I have a couple of
folks that do acquisitions forus or we get the ball rolling,
and you know I've always soldthem.
I said, if you feel like you'rein a position where you're
trying to convince somebody ofanything, stop thank them for
their time and hang up the phone, because that's not the
business we're in, right?
We're in the business of okay,where are you?
(08:45):
Where are you trying to get?
Okay, here's the things that wedo to help folks like you, and
here are your options One, two,three.
Do any of those make sense?
Yes, okay, then let's have aconversation about numbers,
right?
Well, I got a lot of it fromyou, so thank you.
Brian O'Neill (08:59):
People would do a lot more deals if they would
simply take that approach right,as opposed to just trying to
throw numbers that don't makeany sense to people.
Ed Mathews (09:08):
Yeah, I mean, so many people are in the habit of
either.
You know, here in the Northeastthey're overpaid for properties
, you know, good luck.
And I had a conversation thismorning with an agent, a broker
really who I have a lot ofrespect for, and we gave a
really I thought an aggressiveoffer and came back and said
(09:28):
you're 150k low to where youneed to be and I was asking like
how the heck are these folksmaking these things pencil?
And the honest answer he gaveme was they don't and they don't
care.
Okay, well, that's so beingable, and so I'm dealing with a
whole lot of competition.
When you get into the problemsolving business, almost
(09:51):
invariably you're it's a one onone situation, right?
You have found this person andI want to get into how you do
that and you're typically one of, if not the only, person who's
interacting with owner, thecouple, whatever and trying to
solve their problems.
Brian O'Neill (10:06):
Yeah, Absolutely 100%.
In most cases, when I'm workingwith sellers and we're talking
about doing or create afinancing transaction, like I
had mentioned, they're usuallyat the end of their rope, right
Like they've exhaustedeverything else.
They got to go, they got tomove.
Maybe they'll lose their houseand then it becomes okay.
That's how we start helpingthem and they just want to be
(10:27):
done with the house.
At that point, the house isblocking them from whatever it
is that they're trying to do.
Right, right, your job as areal estate investor, especially
when we're talking about singlefamily, is to remove that piece
from them so that they can godo what they really want to do.
Ed Mathews (10:41):
Yeah, and the thing is is that the techniques that
you talk about on your show andin your coaching program I use
that in multifamily world.
Like I don't buy single familyhomes anymore, I'm entirely
focused on multifamily and a lotof the things that you talk
strategies and taxes you talkabout are directly applicable to
multifamily.
Industrial, commercial office,retail, you name it right.
(11:04):
It's just because it comes downto human beings figuring out
how to solve a problem and thenworking out the math to do it
right, I agree, and in multi.
Brian O'Neill (11:11):
I'll just say this COVID, you know, this is to
be true.
Covid made a lot of peopletired of being landlords, and
that includes apartment buildingowners as well, so not just
single family, I mean it.
Just it became a hassle, becamea headache and they won out,
especially maybe some of thesemom and pop owners who have been
doing it for 20, 30 years andlike, hey, I just want to be
done with this.
Ed Mathews (11:32):
Those are people you can help, without a doubt, and
so I'm curious.
I want to kind of break downyour system and how you do this.
So how do you fill yourpipeline full of deals?
Because that's one of thethings I always, you know when
I'm talking with other activeinvestors.
You know we've got decent dealflow here and they're like how
can you do it?
And I was like buy me a cup ofcoffee or check out, buy you a
(11:54):
cup of coffee and we'll startabout it.
Curious how you do it, sure.
Brian O'Neill (11:57):
So I have a lot of different ways that we get
leads and a lot of differentleads.
Anyone starting new, I wouldalways recommend mastering one
or two and then adding right,because then you just get
distracted and then you donothing.
But it's just so.
When I first started and thisis one of the easiest ways to
get started for free is theinternet.
Like we call on properties thatare actively listed for sale by
(12:21):
owners, like you can go toZillow and just scan all of them
and call them the numbers thereand then you can have
conversations with them aboutwhat they're trying to
accomplish and then you know,see if they're open to creative
financing.
I have access to a expiredlisting, so homes come off the
market.
They're actively trying to sell.
We wait for them to expire orcancel a drawn.
We call them Like we're callingthem up.
(12:43):
Realtors are doing the samething, right, so we're calling
them up, but those are motivatedsellers because they're trying
to sell and they couldn't.
Then there's a bunch of targetedlists that you can pull.
I mean, I could do a whole showon targeted lists.
But pre-foreclosures, tiredlandlords, vacant houses, lean
you know there's leans on theproperties.
How to stay free and clear.
There's so many that you couldpull and grab those.
(13:05):
You could do mailers you coulddo, cold calling, you could do.
I have an SEO campaign that I'mdoing right now where I'm
trying to get organic leads orI'm trying to rank high on
Google.
Again, this is a colossaleffort.
I would not do this day one,but I'm three and a half, four
years into the business now wehave the bandwidth and the team
members to be able to do that,so we get the organic leads.
(13:25):
You can do Facebook ads.
I mean I got to say I could doa whole show, yeah.
Ed Mathews (13:29):
I mean, but your point is well taken and brought
on right.
I mean on focus matters.
When you're creating deal flow,when you're creating capital
flow, pick one thing, maybe two,get really good at it.
Direct mail, email, leadmagnets, content, social media
ads, whatever.
(13:50):
Pick one, and there are dozensand dozens of ways to do it.
Get really good at it and theninvent it.
Because even in my own life Ihave a profound case of
entrepreneurial ADD, so it'sshiny objects syndrome all over
the place.
And the times where I see folksthat I work with or friends in
(14:13):
the industry or me, when we'renot advancing the ball down the
field is when a human being istrying to do 14 things at once.
Be great at one or two and thenget those to the point where
your team can take over, likeyou were saying.
Then pick another one and thenanother.
Brian O'Neill (14:30):
We make it sound so simple, but you just alluded
to it.
It's not easy to pull that off,because you are distracted.
Our brains are looking fordistractions constantly and if
you allow it, you're going thebrain's going to win.
Ed Mathews (14:45):
Yeah, but it's also an abundance thing, right?
Because I think the reason thatpeople throw the net so wide,
or tend to on a marketing andother areas of the business, why
they throw it so wide, is theydon't want to miss a deal.
And the fact is that it is abig world out there and, as
Robert Kiyosaki I remembersaying, the deal of the century
(15:05):
comes along just about once amonth.
So everybody breathe, do whatyou focus and your deal of the
century will come soon enough,right?
Brian O'Neill (15:14):
The deal of the century is in your backyard.
You just don't look there andthat's I've.
Firmly, I got better, betterdeals, bigger deals and more
when I niched down, so I didn'tcast that.
The first time I heard that Isaid you guys are out of your
mind.
I'm not doing that.
Ed Mathews (15:27):
And then I did do it Right.
Brian O'Neill (15:30):
I started getting bigger deals and faster and
closer to me and the deals thatI wanted to yeah.
Ed Mathews (15:37):
I mean in the markets we're active,
Connecticut.
I'll use perfect examples.
There are 120 properties in thestate of Connecticut that I had
like to own someday.
That's it.
So that's my market, that'swhat we focus, that's it.
And you know, I don't own, Idon't know, I'd love to own 10%
of them, right, I don't know 1%,but you know, the fact is, by
niching that, niching down likeyou were saying it's, it is
(15:58):
really the only way to become.
Let me talk about it.
In previous shows I've talkedabout concentric circle
marketing and you know,basically you want to suck the
oxygen out of the market so thatby the time that owner is ready
to sell, you're the obviousphone call or the obvious email
right 100%.
Brian O'Neill (16:13):
I mean, be the authority, be the person, be the
one that they're going toremember when they're ready to
sell.
And you can't do that if you're, you know, covering the United
States, unless you have a hugeteam right.
So that's why I say just getsuper hyper focused.
I mean you could just you saidConnecticut, you could do a
county.
You've got to go to a county.
Ed Mathews (16:30):
I'm out of the insurance and cognitive.
Brian O'Neill (16:32):
I could do one county and get a bunch of deals
if I focused on that one county.
Ed Mathews (16:36):
Yeah, and you know that's that's what we started
with.
We started with one county andgot really good at it and grew
the team a little bit.
And you know land and expand,that's right.
Brian O'Neill (16:46):
I like that Land and expand.
There you go.
Ed Mathews (16:48):
So so, as far as your team goes, let's talk about
that.
So you but acquisitions team?
Yeah, I wonder what you tell meabout your team and how that's
constructed.
Brian O'Neill (16:57):
Exactly so.
I do have a team of four peoplecurrently on staff and then
again I have partnerships.
So I have somebody doing mytaxes and my bookkeeping, and
you know attorneys and all thatstuff.
You know the drill and whatwe're focusing on every single
day is lead flow, Like we'retrying to get, we're trying to
fill the funnel right, Likemotivation scale on a one to 10,
(17:18):
where I'm looking personally asthe closer to talk to people
who are like eight, nine and 10on the motivation scale the team
is just filling the funnel.
Like you know, even if it's a no, it's a lead.
Like my philosophy is you'reeither going to sell your house
to me or you're going to sell itto somebody else.
So that's a lead.
So I have a person that'scalling all day long, right, and
then I have an assistant yeah,I have an assistant who does all
(17:40):
the stuff that I shouldn't bedoing and that would be, you
know, if anyone who's going intothe real estate business and or
any type of business don't be aone person show, Hire somebody
from the jump, Otherwise you'rejust going to be go from W2
employee W2 employee in yourbusiness and you're not going to
have a good time at creatingyour own.
Ed Mathews (17:58):
Creating a business and then having a job within
that business is not the youbreak free.
Brian O'Neill (18:03):
No absolutely not .
And then I have I have a socialmedia person, so we do a lot of
content creation someonehelping with my podcast.
I outsource a lot of thepodcast stuff and you know we
work.
It's been the team's beentogether for a couple of years.
I've had one since thebeginning.
But you know I've been cycledout the back door as well.
You know people come and peoplecome and go, and then again I
(18:25):
have my coaches and my mentorsand my support group.
But there's a large circle ofpeople that I'm connected with
and that's the biggest lesson Ithink that I've really learned
in business versus when I was inmy W2 is like like hey, you
can't do this by yourself.
Like you've got to have a team,have to have a team, and I'm
always looking for like who'sthe next person that I can add?
(18:48):
Right, you got to managecapital, but you're cash flow,
but I'm always looking at likewho's the next person I can add
to drive the business forward.
Ed Mathews (18:54):
Totally, totally, yeah, and that's the thing you
know.
I had this, so I worked for it.
I've had the pleasure ofworking for several amazing CEOs
and one of them, rob Bernstein,had said to me once you know he
said look, every human beingthat I hire, there's a return on
investment.
Right, we're spending whateverwe're spending in salary and
benefits and all that overheadand we need that plus back with
(19:17):
each person that we hire.
It's a word.
There is a distinct, measurablereturn on investment and it
never and I was pretty young inmy career at that point it never
occurred to me that that's theway it worked, right, I just
thought you hired, you ran hard,you drove revenue and you know
it turns out.
You actually have to, you know,measure your progress and
figure out what your cashsituation is so that you can
(19:37):
invest in another role, so thatthey can return additional value
to the business, right?
Brian O'Neill (19:44):
Yeah, goodness for that.
Better, myself and I work witha lot of small business owners.
One, two person show and theyjust they can't see that right.
Right, they get nervous aboutinvesting the capital.
And it's like this is if you'regoing to invest anything, this
is what you need to invest in.
Systems are important,processes are important, but if
you don't have human capital,you're not investing in human
(20:05):
capital.
Your business is only going asfar as you are capable of taking
it, which is normally not whereyou want it to go right, and
you know, you're most pretty,pretty, pretty sure most human
beings require sleep.
Ed Mathews (20:17):
So there's six to eight hours a day that you're
not going to be working, right?
That's right, right.
So you got to create thatoperational leverage to be able
to scale and grow the business.
So so, in terms of the systemsthat you have in place now, when
you say virtual assistants, arethey US based or are they or
are they overseas?
Brian O'Neill (20:35):
They're overseas and they're awesome.
I mean, I love them.
Ed Mathews (20:39):
That's fantastic, and so how do you manage
communication with them?
Brian O'Neill (20:42):
Sure, so we do a couple of.
Now.
They work US hours, right, andthey're in the Philippines,
they're all in the Philippines,so they're working, you know,
regular eight to nine to fivehours.
And we communicate in a coupleof different ways.
We use WhatsApp, which is agreat communication tool, and
then we have systems for tasks,like we use Asana, we use Slack
(21:04):
and that kind of assigns rolesand tasks, so that we're not
constantly having to, you know,go through a WhatsApp because
it's hard to, you know, managethat.
Ed Mathews (21:12):
Yeah, it's hard to keep track of it, right.
Brian O'Neill (21:15):
Yeah, yeah, but there's the communication is is
dialed in and then we meetseveral times a week.
You know, I have.
One of the things that Ilearned again is why I have a
coach is you have to have weeklymeetings.
I have one.
We call them one to one.
I have a weekly meeting witheach member of my team and it's
their meeting, so they'resupposed to bring me the one,
you know, one, two or threethings that they need my help on
(21:35):
, like how can I help you?
And they've gotten accustomedto it.
Like they'll come in and belike what do you need, what do
you need help with?
And then they go right throughtheir list and then we're done,
and then the business drivesforward.
Ed Mathews (21:45):
Yeah, and it's hard, you know.
I'm so glad you're saying that,because working on your
business, helping you know,serving the people that work for
you so that they can do theirjob, is absolutely critical.
I was interviewing anotherinvestor, Nick Huber, and one of
the things he had said was andit really drove it home for me
he said look, I need to createsystems that any normal human
(22:06):
being can walk into, understandand be and succeed at.
Right, and I'm paraphrasing him.
You know he said it a littlemore eloquently than I did, but
the fact is is that you knowit's not always hey, I got to go
hire A plus players everywhere.
Right, the you can.
You know, as long as you havecreated systems and you spend
(22:28):
the time that you were justtalking about in terms of
driving home those systems, thevalues upon which you operate,
and then transition to problemsolving, you're able to, you're
able to work on your business,as opposed to having a job where
you're doing everything.
Having a job, Absolutely.
Brian O'Neill (22:43):
And I'll just lend one other, two other
comments there on the systemspieces I have my my staff make a
video library.
They record everything thatthey're doing Right.
So, whether it's you know howthey generate leads or whatever
tasks they're doing that they'rerepeating multiple times a week
, they get recorded into alibrary and that ultimately
becomes the SOP, standardoperating procedure, and if
(23:06):
somebody's out and they don'tknow how to do something, they
just go to this, they go to thevideo that's been, that's been
recorded.
It's also a training, training,onboarding device tool as well,
you bet.
And then I'll just to yourcomment, which was great at,
about, you know, working on yourbusiness.
My wife and I are going toMexico in a couple of months,
less than less than two months,and I'm going there for a week
and I'm telling you I will shuteverything off.
(23:29):
I will.
I will shut my email off, Iwill have on my phone that I
won't be answering phone callsand I'll all answer them on this
date.
I will not touch the businessand I will not miss a beat.
I'm proud.
I tell you and I said it to alot of business owners that I,
that I coached like what are you?
They think I'm crazy, butthat's what you're trying to get
to.
Right Is to be able to do that,and it's easy if you just let
(23:50):
go.
Most business owners are theblock in their business and I
was for a while and I realizedthat I said I got to get out of
this business so that it couldmove forward.
I'm the one holding it backbecause I have an ego.
Ed Mathews (24:00):
Absolutely yeah.
I mean, it comes down tohighest, best use.
Where do you add the most value?
And those are the things youshould do.
Everything else you should havesomebody else doing them or
stop doing whatever.
Those are right, completelyyeah.
And you know it's, it's, it's a.
It's an amazing realizationwhen you come to understand that
business.
Yes, they need you, right, butthe business will run.
(24:20):
You're gone for seven, 10, 15,30 days.
I have a friend of mine,stephanie Casarote.
She spends tons of timetraveling because she's done
such an exceptional job ofcreating her back office that
the folks that work for her muchlike the folks who work for you
and I think the folks who workfor me.
They're great at their jobs.
And so when you go to Mexico,the contractors get paid, the
(24:43):
taxes and mortgages get paid andall the utilities get paid and
work orders get responded to andcustomer service calls get
responded to and you come backand pick up ring where you left
off, because everything else washandled Absolutely.
Brian O'Neill (24:56):
Again.
I miss nothing and all getsdone, yeah magic, but not really
.
No.
Ed Mathews (25:01):
So so, Brian, now we've, I'm going to move on to
the final four, which is thefour questions, the four loaded
questions I like to askeverybody and so so, first off,
you know I am a.
I buy into having a coach ormentors, wholeheartedly.
In fact, I don't know how to doit any other way, because you
(25:21):
know you are basically, whenyou're dealing with a worker,
with a coach, you're takingtheir life experience of 10, 15,
20 years and compressing itinto you know bite-sized
portions that you can then turnaround and implement in your own
world, right.
And so I'm curious about thementors you've had in your life
and, specifically, you knowwhat's the best advice you ever
got and who gave it to you?
Brian O'Neill (25:41):
Okay, Best advice I ever got was from my current
coach.
His name is Chris P Fontaine.
I believe you've been on.
Ed Mathews (25:46):
Doing well yeah.
Brian O'Neill (25:47):
Yeah, you know, you've been on his podcast and
I'll never forget this and Itell him this all the time.
This is when I again, I wantedto leave my job, right, and I
remember what I had enough cashflow, like I felt about the
deals on my camera to leave thejob and I was still nervous
about it.
Like I said, man, is this theright move?
Yeah, we went back and forthand he said to me he said, brian
(26:09):
, the W2 is the risk.
And I stopped.
I thought about that's all hesaid.
And I thought about for asecond.
I said, yeah, he's so right,he's 100% right.
Like that's the risk, mestaying in the job is the risk.
And I had seen that because I'dbeen through all the 08 layoffs
.
Sure, I survived all threerounds.
Sales people usually are thelast to go.
And I said, hey, that easilycould have been me, and if this
happens again, I'm toast, youknow, and I can't replace my
(26:31):
income.
So he was right.
And then that was.
I think I had resigned, maybetwo days after that.
Ed Mathews (26:37):
Nope, didn't Wow yeah.
Brian O'Neill (26:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ed Mathews (26:39):
So, yeah, I haven't looked back.
I'd say conversations.
So my wife and I are wired very, very differently.
She grew up in a house like youwere talking about, where you
go to college.
You go to school, you get goodgrades, you go, get a good job,
you work there for 40 years andthen you retire.
They give you the gold watchand off you go, right.
I think that's so.
You know.
So risky.
(27:00):
It's because you're at the whimof, you know, in most cases, a
manager or an executive whodoesn't even know who you are.
You're just a number, and when2008 happens and Lehman Brothers
declares bankruptcy and they'vegot a cut third of their
workforce, if the numbers work,you're gone.
Brian O'Neill (27:14):
Completely.
I mean and to expand on therisk part is people think being
at your own business is morerisky and I just say, okay, well
, let's, let's, let's make ahypothetical here.
Let's just say you have abusiness, you have 100 customers
in your business.
You lose one.
Well, you still got 99 otherincome streams.
Well, what if you lose your job?
Now you have zero.
People don't look at it thatway.
(27:36):
They're just like hey, I gothealth benefits, I got which all
is nonsense, they don't can bereplaced.
That's, that is a and I don'tmean to offend anybody that is a
foolish reason to stay in a job, especially if you don't like
the job and you're missing yourkids grow up.
Is health benefits and aretirement account?
Yeah, sure, you could come upwith a different excuse.
Ed Mathews (27:56):
And in fact, I would submit that the health benefits
you can you can get exactlywhat you have today outside of
outside of your employer, andthe retirement accounts that you
have access to are far superior, as a self employed person,
than the traditional 401k, 403kright.
Brian O'Neill (28:12):
Without question, You're 100% right and then some
yeah.
Ed Mathews (28:15):
All right, so so let's move on to the next
question.
So I'm always looking at youknow, executives and leaders
like you, and how they pull ininformation and sharpen that saw
, so to speak.
So I'm curious, you know, firstoff, how do you consume
information?
You physical books, audio books, podcasts, you know whatever
(28:35):
and who you paying attention tothese days?
Brian O'Neill (28:37):
I can tell you I don't pay attention to, and
that's the news that doesn't goon in my house.
Ed Mathews (28:41):
Good, Makes you happier, I'll tell you.
Brian O'Neill (28:44):
It does and you can.
It makes you angry too, if you,if you watch it.
So I consume and I was an antireader for a long time.
Yeah, yeah, and one of thereasons I stayed stuck in my job
.
But I like audibles.
I like, I do like physicalbooks.
I typically read the physicalbooks.
I'm in like an environment.
Otherwise, I'm doing a lot ofaudibles.
Yep, I get the advice from mycoaches and mentors and people
(29:06):
I'm connected with, from mymastermind, higher level people.
I get their opinion.
Yeah, again, not the TV, and Ilove listening to podcasts as
well.
If I'm driving in the car likethis was a big shift for me.
Sure, I was traveling, uh, w2.
I used to sit in the airportlounge.
I'd watch Netflix.
You know I would just do stuffthat was, you know, mindless.
I started to replace that withpodcasts or books, or I would
(29:28):
call sellers or I would just dostuff.
I would make valuable use ofthat time.
So that's why I consumeinformation.
I think a lot of people do itthat way as well.
Ed Mathews (29:37):
Yeah, I'm one of them, for short.
Who are you paying attention to?
Brian O'Neill (29:39):
Right now I'm reading a really I keep saying
reading an audible.
You can't do that.
You can listen to an audible.
So I'm listening to the storyof Grubhub, chicago guy.
The book is called HangryH-A-N-G-R-Y and he's telling the
story of you know the ownerformer owner.
He sold it, but it's afascinating book about what it
(30:03):
takes to build something right.
And you mentioned shiny objectsyndrome earlier in the
conversation, ed, and one of thebiggest takeaway I think it was
two days ago, I was listeningto it he said hey look, any time
you're doing somethingdisruptive, making sales, asking
people for money, doingsomething difficult, self-doubt
will always be present and youcan't make it go away, right?
(30:24):
So he said.
And then he had a quote afterthat and he said he said the
voices in your head will alwaysbe present.
You just have to choose whetheror not you're gonna listen to
them, right?
Something I'll paraphrase, butthat was the message and I love
the audible I listen to probablyyou know one at a time, because
otherwise I get too distracted.
And then podcasts yeah,excellent, excellent.
Ed Mathews (30:45):
So that begs the question so, having been through
your life experience right, Imean you've done a lot of
different things in yourprofessional career.
If you had to start over, whatwould you do differently?
Brian O'Neill (30:55):
Okay, I'm sure everybody says they would have
started sooner.
And you know, I let go of thatregret, right, because at least
I started.
But I would say that if I hadto and I don't want to use that
answer I think that if I couldgo back to the younger version
of myself, I was filled up withanger and resentment and fear
(31:17):
and I just wish somebody wouldhave pulled me aside and just
said hey, hey, it's okay, man,it's okay if you mess up.
Right, you're supposed to, youknow, it's all right.
And that's probably my biggestregret is I just didn't believe
in myself, even though outwardlyI projected it right, but
inwardly I was just a scaredlittle eight-year-old kid in my
(31:38):
30s and 40s.
Ed Mathews (31:39):
And so many of us are right.
I was certainly that person aswell.
In some respects, I still amright, but you learned to battle
the negative talk and replaceit with positive talk and vision
for the future, and that's whatgets you out of bed on Monday
morning, even if that scaredlittle eight-year-old is
screaming, crying as you'refinishing your coffee and
(32:00):
getting in the car.
That's right.
That's right.
So, Brian, when you're nottalking about real estate or any
of the other things that you do, I'm curious about how you like
to spend your time with yourfamily.
Brian O'Neill (32:10):
Oh, I love this question and this is what it's
all about is, you know, justspending time with them and
creating memories, or what I'dlike to refer to as front row
moments.
And I have a wife, I have ayoung son.
He's 11 years old.
He plays again.
He's the one who gave me thecourage.
I tell him that all the time.
It's important to let them knowhe plays, travel baseball.
(32:32):
We're having a heck of a summerjust being consumed with that
and going all his games andwatching them and just watching
them thrive and just beingtogether and being with a good
group of people.
So that's what we're doingright now.
And you know, we asked for thatand we asked for it and it's
come to fruition.
So it's really I guess you usedthe word earlier it's just
(32:56):
magical.
Ed Mathews (32:56):
Yeah, I fundamentally believe that
having a child is the singlegreatest thing any human being
can ever do, right, and so, youknow, as you said, you signed up
for it.
You suck the marrow out of thatexperience, right, it's do
everything.
You know, I had my someonewho's close to me had asked you
know, hey, what are your hobbies?
And I'm like daughter one,daughter two, I follow that one
(33:17):
too, swim meets and all theother stuff that she does on the
side, and that one I follow toall the softball games and all
the stuff she does on the side,and choral concerts and dance
recitals, and you name it right,and it's the best.
I can't imagine anything else.
I'll build models and play golfand all that when they're off
(33:37):
in their lives, but right nowI'm, you know, like you.
I'm just happy to spend sometime with them and watch them
grow.
I love it.
Brian O'Neill (33:45):
You know, ed, that's the stuff they're going
to remember.
I can remember how manyapartment buildings you bought
my kids.
I can remember how many housesI own.
He's going to remember meplaying catch with them out in
the backyard.
That's what it's going to be.
Ed Mathews (33:55):
Yep.
Or standing on the pitcher'smound and look, you know, into
the, into the stands and seeingyou and your wife there, you
know cheering them on.
Right, that's right, that's thebest.
So, brian, as always this was Ialways enjoy having
conversations with you, so thankyou very much for your time
today.
If people want to learn moreabout your podcast, w2prison
Break, or your coaching programor you in general, what's the
(34:17):
best way for them to get intouch with you?
Brian O'Neill (34:18):
Yeah, Everything's on my.
The W2Prison Break show is mypodcast.
You can just go toW2PrisonBreakcom and
everything's there.
Right, Everything's there.
I've got some free resources.
The podcast is there, If you,if you want to talk to me about
coaching or getting touch withme, it's all there.
That's why I would recommendeverybody go Awesome.
Ed Mathews (34:35):
So, brian O'Neill, with W2Prison Break, thank you
so much.
It's good to see you, my friend, and forward to catching up
again soon.
Brian O'Neill (34:43):
Definitely Thanks , Ed.
I appreciate the opportunity.
Ed Mathews (34:46):
This has been the Real Estate Underground Podcast.
Thank you so much for listening.
Don't forget to rate, reviewand subscribe.
It helps us grow.
Until next time, happyinvesting.
Zen.
This his real estateunderground.
Greetings and salutations.
Real estate undergrounders.
It's Ed Matthews with the RealEstate Underground.
Thank you so much for joiningus today.
Today I am very excited tointroduce you all to Brian
O'Neill from W2 Prison Break.
I had the honor of appearing onhis amazing podcast a few weeks
(00:21):
back and the conversation wasso interesting that I begged him
and pleaded for him to join uson our podcast, and he has
graciously agreed.
So, brian, welcome to the showand thank you very much.
Brian O'Neill (00:34):
It's great to see you again and I got to say
that's probably the best introever.
Thanks so much.
My day has been made.
Ed Mathews (00:43):
Excellent.
Well, hey, we aim to please,right, hey?
So, brian, obviously I've beena fan of your podcast for coming
up on a year, right that you'vebeen doing this.
And so for those of us whohaven't discovered your podcast
and who you are and what you do,why don't you give them a
little bit of background andthen we'll dive?
Brian O'Neill (01:01):
Yeah, definitely.
The Name of Life podcast is theW2 Prison Break show, the one
that you were on.
We had a great conversation.
I would encourage everyone togo listen to that episode.
You really, we just had anawesome and we aligned in the
right ways, yeah it was a lot offun, and where the show really
got its motivation from was forme I mean, I'm talking to the
(01:22):
younger version of Brian O'Neillbecause I was like you.
I was in a corporate positionfor 25 years.
I was in corporate sales for 25years 17 years with the same
company and I was traveling100,000 miles a year not nearly
as much as you I know you arenorth of that but I was away
from my family.
I was gone every other week onan airplane and I always knew
(01:45):
that I had something else in me.
I had a business in me.
I was not meant for this.
I really was not meant for this.
And the older I got, the moremoney that I earned from my W2
position, the more that Itraveled, the more that I
started to really challenge whatI was taught as a child, which
was go to school, get a job, getgood grades, get into a good
management training program andwork there for 40 years and
(02:09):
retire at 62, and hopefully, ifyou want, we're not a money-
yeah, exactly.
Ed Mathews (02:13):
And then what?
Brian O'Neill (02:15):
happened.
Ed was.
I had a son and I was missinghim.
Grow up I'd come back.
He looked different.
He's talking different.
I would miss moments of hislife that I would have to catch
on, either FaceTime or my wifesent me a little five second
clips and that's already eataway at me.
And then one day he said to mehe said, dad, I don't like when
(02:40):
you leave the house, I don'tlike when you go.
And that was it for me.
I really I tell this throughall the time my son gave me the
courage to quit being afraid andto try, and it was from that
moment on where I startedbelieving in myself and saying
I've got one shot to watch thiskid grow up.
I'm not going to miss it.
And that's really what the showis about.
Like, hey, I went through allthis stuff.
(03:01):
You don't have to do it too.
It can be a much morecompressed timeline if you just
follow some simple steps.
Ed Mathews (03:06):
Right.
And so in terms of the yeah, Imean I totally hear you.
I vividly remember my wife,patricia, and I having a similar
conversation around.
You were missing so much goodstuff and you only get 18 years
and then they start their lives.
I mean, I'm experiencing thisnow with my older daughter,
who's 20.
And I mean, yeah, she's still aintegral part of the family and
(03:29):
it's awesome having her around,but she's not around that much
between work and boyfriend andschool and all the other stuff
that she does.
She's already starting her life.
So we only get her for a fewmonths a year now and that will
dwindle as she gets older andstarts her own career in her own
adult life and it's yeah, it'sreally interesting.
(03:50):
So let's talk about yourbusiness and how you broke free
from the corporate shackles thatyou and I both neither of us
miss yeah.
Brian O'Neill (04:00):
So I had been dabbling in real estate for a
long time.
It's ironic, before I actuallyopened up my real estate
business and went into business,I had named it seven years
prior to that.
The reason that I know that isbecause the note was saved in my
iPhone.
So there you go.
I had the name.
I never incorporated and, man,seven years go by really fast.
(04:21):
But again, my son helped mewith that.
So I would say that probably thebiggest thing that I did other
than have that moment where it'slike, okay, I'm no longer going
to let my self-limiting beliefsand my fears and my doubt run
my life, like I'm taking controlof my life and my son gave me
that boost.
Right, and I remember thatmoment vividly.
When I told my wife that andthe next day I hired a coach, I
(04:43):
said, okay, I've identified myexit from the W-2.
Like, this is going to be it.
But I'm not going to make thesame mistake I made for the last
15 to 20 years, which was, hey,I know everything, I'm good, I
don't need anybody's help, I canfigure it all out on my own.
Huge mistake.
That's why I stayed in the sameplace for so long, hired a
coach, I committed, Isurrendered and with those
(05:06):
there's a lot more that happenedin between there.
But with that mentality andhaving a coach, I was able to
leave that job in nine months.
Months I left my job.
I was able to do enough realestate deals where I quit the
W-2.
We're coming up on three yearsnow since that happened and I
mean it seems like it was justyesterday.
Yeah.
Ed Mathews (05:23):
Yeah, blinky, yeah, it goes fast.
I had that conversation with myold boss.
It was December of 2017, and Iwent full-time February, second
of 2018.
And it feels like it wasyesterday.
So it does go fast.
It does go fast, yeah, and it'swonderful, right.
So let's talk about your realestate business a little bit.
Brian O'Neill (05:43):
Yeah, definitely so.
I mean, I've always loved realestate.
From a little kid.
I used to beg my parents totake me to see model homes, so
that was something of passionfor me.
What I specialize in, what Ispecifically do at, is we buy
properties using creativefinancing strategies.
Right, so we don't go out andqualify for a bank debt, we
don't get loans.
(06:03):
I'm not saying that's bad, it'sjust.
This is the strategy that I useon a daily basis and we don't
pay cash for properties.
So, looking for motivatedsellers who maybe they got
divorced, they had a job loss,they're relocating, they can't
sell their house conventionally.
The conventional market doesn'tsolve their problem.
I go to them and I use avariety of different methods,
whether it's a lease optionsubject to their existing loan,
(06:26):
seller financing or ownerfinancing if they own it, free
and clear, and I acquire theirproperty.
Typically it's without anymoney down, it's always without
banks and you're typicallysolving a specific problem,
which is what real estate is allabout.
Is problem solving right?
Absolutely yeah, and you coulddo this on singles, multis,
whatever, as long as a seller isopen to it.
You could do seller fine, youcan do something creatively.
Ed Mathews (06:48):
That's amazing, and so it's one of the things that
I've always so I'm more of atraditionalist, right, I have
banking relationships andcommercial loan relationships
and a couple of really good hardmoney relationships, and that's
the way I had operated foryears and years and years, and
actually one of the reasons thatI got so interested in your
podcast was because I wanted tolearn.
(07:10):
There's a handful of peoplethat I've seen and paid
attention to and I've learned amassive amount.
I'm actually negotiating aseller financing deal right now
out in Indiana, so knock outwood that that will go well.
But the thing is is that I, youknow, I paid attention to you,
(07:31):
as well as a handful of otherfolks that I've met on LinkedIn
and Twitter, and it's amazinghow much you can acquire with.
You know able to mitigate yourrisk and also you know solve a
problem for someone.
So you get to, you know, youget to.
You get to acquire, you knowbuild your wealth by helping
other people out.
(07:51):
Right, but it's that problemsolvers mentality that is the
core of this 100%.
Brian O'Neill (07:55):
When I'm talking to I mean, I don't talk to as
many sellers as I used tobecause I have a team now, but
when I used to talk to sellersall day long and my team still
does, that's what we, that'swhat we coach them to do, which
is, hey, don't.
Numbers are secondary, math issecondary.
In real estate, it's alwaysabout, hey, what are you trying
to accomplish?
Mystery misses, cell?
Yeah, okay, and how can I solvethat problem?
(08:16):
I might not be able to, but ifI don't understand what you're
trying to do, how, how I canhelp you get there, then the
math doesn't make any sense.
Great deal To talk about.
Ed Mathews (08:24):
It's irrelevant, right, if you can't solve the
problem.
Yeah, I mean, I always sold myteam, so I have a couple of
folks that do acquisitions forus or we get the ball rolling,
and you know I've always soldthem.
I said, if you feel like you'rein a position where you're
trying to convince somebody ofanything, stop thank them for
their time and hang up the phone, because that's not the
business we're in, right?
We're in the business of okay,where are you?
(08:45):
Where are you trying to get?
Okay, here's the things that wedo to help folks like you, and
here are your options One, two,three.
Do any of those make sense?
Yes, okay, then let's have aconversation about numbers,
right?
Well, I got a lot of it fromyou, so thank you.
Brian O'Neill (08:59):
People would do a lot more deals if they would
simply take that approach right,as opposed to just trying to
throw numbers that don't makeany sense to people.
Ed Mathews (09:08):
Yeah, I mean, so many people are in the habit of
either.
You know, here in the Northeastthey're overpaid for properties
, you know, good luck.
And I had a conversation thismorning with an agent, a broker
really who I have a lot ofrespect for, and we gave a
really I thought an aggressiveoffer and came back and said
(09:28):
you're 150k low to where youneed to be and I was asking like
how the heck are these folksmaking these things pencil?
And the honest answer he gaveme was they don't and they don't
care.
Okay, well, that's so beingable, and so I'm dealing with a
whole lot of competition.
When you get into the problemsolving business, almost
(09:51):
invariably you're it's a one onone situation, right?
You have found this person andI want to get into how you do
that and you're typically one of, if not the only, person who's
interacting with owner, thecouple, whatever and trying to
solve their problems.
Brian O'Neill (10:06):
Yeah, Absolutely 100%.
In most cases, when I'm workingwith sellers and we're talking
about doing or create afinancing transaction, like I
had mentioned, they're usuallyat the end of their rope, right
Like they've exhaustedeverything else.
They got to go, they got tomove.
Maybe they'll lose their houseand then it becomes okay.
That's how we start helpingthem and they just want to be
(10:27):
done with the house.
At that point, the house isblocking them from whatever it
is that they're trying to do.
Right, right, your job as areal estate investor, especially
when we're talking about singlefamily, is to remove that piece
from them so that they can godo what they really want to do.
Ed Mathews (10:41):
Yeah, and the thing is is that the techniques that
you talk about on your show andin your coaching program I use
that in multifamily world.
Like I don't buy single familyhomes anymore, I'm entirely
focused on multifamily and a lotof the things that you talk
strategies and taxes you talkabout are directly applicable to
multifamily.
Industrial, commercial office,retail, you name it right.
(11:04):
It's just because it comes downto human beings figuring out
how to solve a problem and thenworking out the math to do it
right, I agree, and in multi.
Brian O'Neill (11:11):
I'll just say this COVID, you know, this is to
be true.
Covid made a lot of peopletired of being landlords, and
that includes apartment buildingowners as well, so not just
single family, I mean it.
Just it became a hassle, becamea headache and they won out,
especially maybe some of thesemom and pop owners who have been
doing it for 20, 30 years andlike, hey, I just want to be
done with this.
Ed Mathews (11:32):
Those are people you can help, without a doubt, and
so I'm curious.
I want to kind of break downyour system and how you do this.
So how do you fill yourpipeline full of deals?
Because that's one of thethings I always, you know when
I'm talking with other activeinvestors.
You know we've got decent dealflow here and they're like how
can you do it?
And I was like buy me a cup ofcoffee or check out, buy you a
(11:54):
cup of coffee and we'll startabout it.
Curious how you do it, sure.
Brian O'Neill (11:57):
So I have a lot of different ways that we get
leads and a lot of differentleads.
Anyone starting new, I wouldalways recommend mastering one
or two and then adding right,because then you just get
distracted and then you donothing.
But it's just so.
When I first started and thisis one of the easiest ways to
get started for free is theinternet.
Like we call on properties thatare actively listed for sale by
(12:21):
owners, like you can go toZillow and just scan all of them
and call them the numbers thereand then you can have
conversations with them aboutwhat they're trying to
accomplish and then you know,see if they're open to creative
financing.
I have access to a expiredlisting, so homes come off the
market.
They're actively trying to sell.
We wait for them to expire orcancel a drawn.
We call them Like we're callingthem up.
(12:43):
Realtors are doing the samething, right, so we're calling
them up, but those are motivatedsellers because they're trying
to sell and they couldn't.
Then there's a bunch of targetedlists that you can pull.
I mean, I could do a whole showon targeted lists.
But pre-foreclosures, tiredlandlords, vacant houses, lean
you know there's leans on theproperties.
How to stay free and clear.
There's so many that you couldpull and grab those.
(13:05):
You could do mailers you coulddo, cold calling, you could do.
I have an SEO campaign that I'mdoing right now where I'm
trying to get organic leads orI'm trying to rank high on
Google.
Again, this is a colossaleffort.
I would not do this day one,but I'm three and a half, four
years into the business now wehave the bandwidth and the team
members to be able to do that,so we get the organic leads.
(13:25):
You can do Facebook ads.
I mean I got to say I could doa whole show, yeah.
Ed Mathews (13:29):
I mean, but your point is well taken and brought
on right.
I mean on focus matters.
When you're creating deal flow,when you're creating capital
flow, pick one thing, maybe two,get really good at it.
Direct mail, email, leadmagnets, content, social media
ads, whatever.
(13:50):
Pick one, and there are dozensand dozens of ways to do it.
Get really good at it and theninvent it.
Because even in my own life Ihave a profound case of
entrepreneurial ADD, so it'sshiny objects syndrome all over
the place.
And the times where I see folksthat I work with or friends in
(14:13):
the industry or me, when we'renot advancing the ball down the
field is when a human being istrying to do 14 things at once.
Be great at one or two and thenget those to the point where
your team can take over, likeyou were saying.
Then pick another one and thenanother.
Brian O'Neill (14:30):
We make it sound so simple, but you just alluded
to it.
It's not easy to pull that off,because you are distracted.
Our brains are looking fordistractions constantly and if
you allow it, you're going thebrain's going to win.
Ed Mathews (14:45):
Yeah, but it's also an abundance thing, right?
Because I think the reason thatpeople throw the net so wide,
or tend to on a marketing andother areas of the business, why
they throw it so wide, is theydon't want to miss a deal.
And the fact is that it is abig world out there and, as
Robert Kiyosaki I remembersaying, the deal of the century
(15:05):
comes along just about once amonth.
So everybody breathe, do whatyou focus and your deal of the
century will come soon enough,right?
Brian O'Neill (15:14):
The deal of the century is in your backyard.
You just don't look there andthat's I've.
Firmly, I got better, betterdeals, bigger deals and more
when I niched down, so I didn'tcast that.
The first time I heard that Isaid you guys are out of your
mind.
I'm not doing that.
Ed Mathews (15:27):
And then I did do it Right.
Brian O'Neill (15:30):
I started getting bigger deals and faster and
closer to me and the deals thatI wanted to yeah.
Ed Mathews (15:37):
I mean in the markets we're active,
Connecticut.
I'll use perfect examples.
There are 120 properties in thestate of Connecticut that I had
like to own someday.
That's it.
So that's my market, that'swhat we focus, that's it.
And you know, I don't own, Idon't know, I'd love to own 10%
of them, right, I don't know 1%,but you know, the fact is, by
niching that, niching down likeyou were saying it's, it is
(15:58):
really the only way to become.
Let me talk about it.
In previous shows I've talkedabout concentric circle
marketing and you know,basically you want to suck the
oxygen out of the market so thatby the time that owner is ready
to sell, you're the obviousphone call or the obvious email
right 100%.
Brian O'Neill (16:13):
I mean, be the authority, be the person, be the
one that they're going toremember when they're ready to
sell.
And you can't do that if you're, you know, covering the United
States, unless you have a hugeteam right.
So that's why I say just getsuper hyper focused.
I mean you could just you saidConnecticut, you could do a
county.
You've got to go to a county.
Ed Mathews (16:30):
I'm out of the insurance and cognitive.
Brian O'Neill (16:32):
I could do one county and get a bunch of deals
if I focused on that one county.
Ed Mathews (16:36):
Yeah, and you know that's that's what we started
with.
We started with one county andgot really good at it and grew
the team a little bit.
And you know land and expand,that's right.
Brian O'Neill (16:46):
I like that Land and expand.
There you go.
Ed Mathews (16:48):
So so, as far as your team goes, let's talk about
that.
So you but acquisitions team?
Yeah, I wonder what you tell meabout your team and how that's
constructed.
Brian O'Neill (16:57):
Exactly so.
I do have a team of four peoplecurrently on staff and then
again I have partnerships.
So I have somebody doing mytaxes and my bookkeeping, and
you know attorneys and all thatstuff.
You know the drill and whatwe're focusing on every single
day is lead flow, Like we'retrying to get, we're trying to
fill the funnel right, Likemotivation scale on a one to 10,
(17:18):
where I'm looking personally asthe closer to talk to people
who are like eight, nine and 10on the motivation scale the team
is just filling the funnel.
Like you know, even if it's a no, it's a lead.
Like my philosophy is you'reeither going to sell your house
to me or you're going to sell itto somebody else.
So that's a lead.
So I have a person that'scalling all day long, right, and
then I have an assistant yeah,I have an assistant who does all
(17:40):
the stuff that I shouldn't bedoing and that would be, you
know, if anyone who's going intothe real estate business and or
any type of business don't be aone person show, Hire somebody
from the jump, Otherwise you'rejust going to be go from W2
employee W2 employee in yourbusiness and you're not going to
have a good time at creatingyour own.
Ed Mathews (17:58):
Creating a business and then having a job within
that business is not the youbreak free.
Brian O'Neill (18:03):
No absolutely not .
And then I have I have a socialmedia person, so we do a lot of
content creation someonehelping with my podcast.
I outsource a lot of thepodcast stuff and you know we
work.
It's been the team's beentogether for a couple of years.
I've had one since thebeginning.
But you know I've been cycledout the back door as well.
You know people come and peoplecome and go, and then again I
(18:25):
have my coaches and my mentorsand my support group.
But there's a large circle ofpeople that I'm connected with
and that's the biggest lesson Ithink that I've really learned
in business versus when I was inmy W2 is like like hey, you
can't do this by yourself.
Like you've got to have a team,have to have a team, and I'm
always looking for like who'sthe next person that I can add?
(18:48):
Right, you got to managecapital, but you're cash flow,
but I'm always looking at likewho's the next person I can add
to drive the business forward.
Ed Mathews (18:54):
Totally, totally, yeah, and that's the thing you
know.
I had this, so I worked for it.
I've had the pleasure ofworking for several amazing CEOs
and one of them, rob Bernstein,had said to me once you know he
said look, every human beingthat I hire, there's a return on
investment.
Right, we're spending whateverwe're spending in salary and
benefits and all that overheadand we need that plus back with
(19:17):
each person that we hire.
It's a word.
There is a distinct, measurablereturn on investment and it
never and I was pretty young inmy career at that point it never
occurred to me that that's theway it worked, right, I just
thought you hired, you ran hard,you drove revenue and you know
it turns out.
You actually have to, you know,measure your progress and
figure out what your cashsituation is so that you can
(19:37):
invest in another role, so thatthey can return additional value
to the business, right?
Brian O'Neill (19:44):
Yeah, goodness for that.
Better, myself and I work witha lot of small business owners.
One, two person show and theyjust they can't see that right.
Right, they get nervous aboutinvesting the capital.
And it's like this is if you'regoing to invest anything, this
is what you need to invest in.
Systems are important,processes are important, but if
you don't have human capital,you're not investing in human
(20:05):
capital.
Your business is only going asfar as you are capable of taking
it, which is normally not whereyou want it to go right, and
you know, you're most pretty,pretty, pretty sure most human
beings require sleep.
Ed Mathews (20:17):
So there's six to eight hours a day that you're
not going to be working, right?
That's right, right.
So you got to create thatoperational leverage to be able
to scale and grow the business.
So so, in terms of the systemsthat you have in place now, when
you say virtual assistants, arethey US based or are they or
are they overseas?
Brian O'Neill (20:35):
They're overseas and they're awesome.
I mean, I love them.
Ed Mathews (20:39):
That's fantastic, and so how do you manage
communication with them?
Brian O'Neill (20:42):
Sure, so we do a couple of.
Now.
They work US hours, right, andthey're in the Philippines,
they're all in the Philippines,so they're working, you know,
regular eight to nine to fivehours.
And we communicate in a coupleof different ways.
We use WhatsApp, which is agreat communication tool, and
then we have systems for tasks,like we use Asana, we use Slack
(21:04):
and that kind of assigns rolesand tasks, so that we're not
constantly having to, you know,go through a WhatsApp because
it's hard to, you know, managethat.
Ed Mathews (21:12):
Yeah, it's hard to keep track of it, right.
Brian O'Neill (21:15):
Yeah, yeah, but there's the communication is is
dialed in and then we meetseveral times a week.
You know, I have.
One of the things that Ilearned again is why I have a
coach is you have to have weeklymeetings.
I have one.
We call them one to one.
I have a weekly meeting witheach member of my team and it's
their meeting, so they'resupposed to bring me the one,
you know, one, two or threethings that they need my help on
(21:35):
, like how can I help you?
And they've gotten accustomedto it.
Like they'll come in and belike what do you need, what do
you need help with?
And then they go right throughtheir list and then we're done,
and then the business drivesforward.
Ed Mathews (21:45):
Yeah, and it's hard, you know.
I'm so glad you're saying that,because working on your
business, helping you know,serving the people that work for
you so that they can do theirjob, is absolutely critical.
I was interviewing anotherinvestor, Nick Huber, and one of
the things he had said was andit really drove it home for me
he said look, I need to createsystems that any normal human
(22:06):
being can walk into, understandand be and succeed at.
Right, and I'm paraphrasing him.
You know he said it a littlemore eloquently than I did, but
the fact is is that you knowit's not always hey, I got to go
hire A plus players everywhere.
Right, the you can.
You know, as long as you havecreated systems and you spend
(22:28):
the time that you were justtalking about in terms of
driving home those systems, thevalues upon which you operate,
and then transition to problemsolving, you're able to, you're
able to work on your business,as opposed to having a job where
you're doing everything.
Having a job, Absolutely.
Brian O'Neill (22:43):
And I'll just lend one other, two other
comments there on the systemspieces I have my my staff make a
video library.
They record everything thatthey're doing Right.
So, whether it's you know howthey generate leads or whatever
tasks they're doing that they'rerepeating multiple times a week
, they get recorded into alibrary and that ultimately
becomes the SOP, standardoperating procedure, and if
(23:06):
somebody's out and they don'tknow how to do something, they
just go to this, they go to thevideo that's been, that's been
recorded.
It's also a training, training,onboarding device tool as well,
you bet.
And then I'll just to yourcomment, which was great at,
about, you know, working on yourbusiness.
My wife and I are going toMexico in a couple of months,
less than less than two months,and I'm going there for a week
and I'm telling you I will shuteverything off.
(23:29):
I will.
I will shut my email off, Iwill have on my phone that I
won't be answering phone callsand I'll all answer them on this
date.
I will not touch the businessand I will not miss a beat.
I'm proud.
I tell you and I said it to alot of business owners that I,
that I coached like what are you?
They think I'm crazy, butthat's what you're trying to get
to.
Right Is to be able to do that,and it's easy if you just let
(23:50):
go.
Most business owners are theblock in their business and I
was for a while and I realizedthat I said I got to get out of
this business so that it couldmove forward.
I'm the one holding it backbecause I have an ego.
Ed Mathews (24:00):
Absolutely yeah.
I mean, it comes down tohighest, best use.
Where do you add the most value?
And those are the things youshould do.
Everything else you should havesomebody else doing them or
stop doing whatever.
Those are right, completelyyeah.
And you know it's, it's, it's a.
It's an amazing realizationwhen you come to understand that
business.
Yes, they need you, right, butthe business will run.
(24:20):
You're gone for seven, 10, 15,30 days.
I have a friend of mine,stephanie Casarote.
She spends tons of timetraveling because she's done
such an exceptional job ofcreating her back office that
the folks that work for her muchlike the folks who work for you
and I think the folks who workfor me.
They're great at their jobs.
And so when you go to Mexico,the contractors get paid, the
(24:43):
taxes and mortgages get paid andall the utilities get paid and
work orders get responded to andcustomer service calls get
responded to and you come backand pick up ring where you left
off, because everything else washandled Absolutely.
Brian O'Neill (24:56):
Again.
I miss nothing and all getsdone, yeah magic, but not really
.
No.
Ed Mathews (25:01):
So so, Brian, now we've, I'm going to move on to
the final four, which is thefour questions, the four loaded
questions I like to askeverybody and so so, first off,
you know I am a.
I buy into having a coach ormentors, wholeheartedly.
In fact, I don't know how to doit any other way, because you
(25:21):
know you are basically, whenyou're dealing with a worker,
with a coach, you're takingtheir life experience of 10, 15,
20 years and compressing itinto you know bite-sized
portions that you can then turnaround and implement in your own
world, right.
And so I'm curious about thementors you've had in your life
and, specifically, you knowwhat's the best advice you ever
got and who gave it to you?
Brian O'Neill (25:41):
Okay, Best advice I ever got was from my current
coach.
His name is Chris P Fontaine.
I believe you've been on.
Ed Mathews (25:46):
Doing well yeah.
Brian O'Neill (25:47):
Yeah, you know, you've been on his podcast and
I'll never forget this and Itell him this all the time.
This is when I again, I wantedto leave my job, right, and I
remember what I had enough cashflow, like I felt about the
deals on my camera to leave thejob and I was still nervous
about it.
Like I said, man, is this theright move?
Yeah, we went back and forthand he said to me he said, brian
(26:09):
, the W2 is the risk.
And I stopped.
I thought about that's all hesaid.
And I thought about for asecond.
I said, yeah, he's so right,he's 100% right.
Like that's the risk, mestaying in the job is the risk.
And I had seen that because I'dbeen through all the 08 layoffs
.
Sure, I survived all threerounds.
Sales people usually are thelast to go.
And I said, hey, that easilycould have been me, and if this
happens again, I'm toast, youknow, and I can't replace my
(26:31):
income.
So he was right.
And then that was.
I think I had resigned, maybetwo days after that.
Ed Mathews (26:37):
Nope, didn't Wow yeah.
Brian O'Neill (26:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ed Mathews (26:39):
So, yeah, I haven't looked back.
I'd say conversations.
So my wife and I are wired very, very differently.
She grew up in a house like youwere talking about, where you
go to college.
You go to school, you get goodgrades, you go, get a good job,
you work there for 40 years andthen you retire.
They give you the gold watchand off you go, right.
I think that's so.
You know.
So risky.
(27:00):
It's because you're at the whimof, you know, in most cases, a
manager or an executive whodoesn't even know who you are.
You're just a number, and when2008 happens and Lehman Brothers
declares bankruptcy and they'vegot a cut third of their
workforce, if the numbers work,you're gone.
Brian O'Neill (27:14):
Completely.
I mean and to expand on therisk part is people think being
at your own business is morerisky and I just say, okay, well
, let's, let's, let's make ahypothetical here.
Let's just say you have abusiness, you have 100 customers
in your business.
You lose one.
Well, you still got 99 otherincome streams.
Well, what if you lose your job?
Now you have zero.
People don't look at it thatway.
(27:36):
They're just like hey, I gothealth benefits, I got which all
is nonsense, they don't can bereplaced.
That's, that is a and I don'tmean to offend anybody that is a
foolish reason to stay in a job, especially if you don't like
the job and you're missing yourkids grow up.
Is health benefits and aretirement account?
Yeah, sure, you could come upwith a different excuse.
Ed Mathews (27:56):
And in fact, I would submit that the health benefits
you can you can get exactlywhat you have today outside of
outside of your employer, andthe retirement accounts that you
have access to are far superior, as a self employed person,
than the traditional 401k, 403kright.
Brian O'Neill (28:12):
Without question, You're 100% right and then some
yeah.
Ed Mathews (28:15):
All right, so so let's move on to the next
question.
So I'm always looking at youknow, executives and leaders
like you, and how they pull ininformation and sharpen that saw
, so to speak.
So I'm curious, you know, firstoff, how do you consume
information?
You physical books, audio books, podcasts, you know whatever
(28:35):
and who you paying attention tothese days?
Brian O'Neill (28:37):
I can tell you I don't pay attention to, and
that's the news that doesn't goon in my house.
Ed Mathews (28:41):
Good, Makes you happier, I'll tell you.
Brian O'Neill (28:44):
It does and you can.
It makes you angry too, if you,if you watch it.
So I consume and I was an antireader for a long time.
Yeah, yeah, and one of thereasons I stayed stuck in my job
.
But I like audibles.
I like, I do like physicalbooks.
I typically read the physicalbooks.
I'm in like an environment.
Otherwise, I'm doing a lot ofaudibles.
Yep, I get the advice from mycoaches and mentors and people
(29:06):
I'm connected with, from mymastermind, higher level people.
I get their opinion.
Yeah, again, not the TV, and Ilove listening to podcasts as
well.
If I'm driving in the car likethis was a big shift for me.
Sure, I was traveling, uh, w2.
I used to sit in the airportlounge.
I'd watch Netflix.
You know I would just do stuffthat was, you know, mindless.
I started to replace that withpodcasts or books, or I would
(29:28):
call sellers or I would just dostuff.
I would make valuable use ofthat time.
So that's why I consumeinformation.
I think a lot of people do itthat way as well.
Ed Mathews (29:37):
Yeah, I'm one of them, for short.
Who are you paying attention to?
Brian O'Neill (29:39):
Right now I'm reading a really I keep saying
reading an audible.
You can't do that.
You can listen to an audible.
So I'm listening to the storyof Grubhub, chicago guy.
The book is called HangryH-A-N-G-R-Y and he's telling the
story of you know the ownerformer owner.
He sold it, but it's afascinating book about what it
(30:03):
takes to build something right.
And you mentioned shiny objectsyndrome earlier in the
conversation, ed, and one of thebiggest takeaway I think it was
two days ago, I was listeningto it he said hey look, any time
you're doing somethingdisruptive, making sales, asking
people for money, doingsomething difficult, self-doubt
will always be present and youcan't make it go away, right?
(30:24):
So he said.
And then he had a quote afterthat and he said he said the
voices in your head will alwaysbe present.
You just have to choose whetheror not you're gonna listen to
them, right?
Something I'll paraphrase, butthat was the message and I love
the audible I listen to probablyyou know one at a time, because
otherwise I get too distracted.
And then podcasts yeah,excellent, excellent.
Ed Mathews (30:45):
So that begs the question so, having been through
your life experience right, Imean you've done a lot of
different things in yourprofessional career.
If you had to start over, whatwould you do differently?
Brian O'Neill (30:55):
Okay, I'm sure everybody says they would have
started sooner.
And you know, I let go of thatregret, right, because at least
I started.
But I would say that if I hadto and I don't want to use that
answer I think that if I couldgo back to the younger version
of myself, I was filled up withanger and resentment and fear
(31:17):
and I just wish somebody wouldhave pulled me aside and just
said hey, hey, it's okay, man,it's okay if you mess up.
Right, you're supposed to, youknow, it's all right.
And that's probably my biggestregret is I just didn't believe
in myself, even though outwardlyI projected it right, but
inwardly I was just a scaredlittle eight-year-old kid in my
(31:38):
30s and 40s.
Ed Mathews (31:39):
And so many of us are right.
I was certainly that person aswell.
In some respects, I still amright, but you learned to battle
the negative talk and replaceit with positive talk and vision
for the future, and that's whatgets you out of bed on Monday
morning, even if that scaredlittle eight-year-old is
screaming, crying as you'refinishing your coffee and
(32:00):
getting in the car.
That's right.
That's right.
So, Brian, when you're nottalking about real estate or any
of the other things that you do, I'm curious about how you like
to spend your time with yourfamily.
Brian O'Neill (32:10):
Oh, I love this question and this is what it's
all about is, you know, justspending time with them and
creating memories, or what I'dlike to refer to as front row
moments.
And I have a wife, I have ayoung son.
He's 11 years old.
He plays again.
He's the one who gave me thecourage.
I tell him that all the time.
It's important to let them knowhe plays, travel baseball.
(32:32):
We're having a heck of a summerjust being consumed with that
and going all his games andwatching them and just watching
them thrive and just beingtogether and being with a good
group of people.
So that's what we're doingright now.
And you know, we asked for thatand we asked for it and it's
come to fruition.
So it's really I guess you usedthe word earlier it's just
(32:56):
magical.
Ed Mathews (32:56):
Yeah, I fundamentally believe that
having a child is the singlegreatest thing any human being
can ever do, right, and so, youknow, as you said, you signed up
for it.
You suck the marrow out of thatexperience, right, it's do
everything.
You know, I had my someonewho's close to me had asked you
know, hey, what are your hobbies?
And I'm like daughter one,daughter two, I follow that one
(33:17):
too, swim meets and all theother stuff that she does on the
side, and that one I follow toall the softball games and all
the stuff she does on the side,and choral concerts and dance
recitals, and you name it right,and it's the best.
I can't imagine anything else.
I'll build models and play golfand all that when they're off
(33:37):
in their lives, but right nowI'm, you know, like you.
I'm just happy to spend sometime with them and watch them
grow.
I love it.
Brian O'Neill (33:45):
You know, ed, that's the stuff they're going
to remember.
I can remember how manyapartment buildings you bought
my kids.
I can remember how many housesI own.
He's going to remember meplaying catch with them out in
the backyard.
That's what it's going to be.
Ed Mathews (33:55):
Yep.
Or standing on the pitcher'smound and look, you know, into
the, into the stands and seeingyou and your wife there, you
know cheering them on.
Right, that's right, that's thebest.
So, brian, as always this was Ialways enjoy having
conversations with you, so thankyou very much for your time
today.
If people want to learn moreabout your podcast, w2prison
Break, or your coaching programor you in general, what's the
(34:17):
best way for them to get intouch with you?
Brian O'Neill (34:18):
Yeah, Everything's on my.
The W2Prison Break show is mypodcast.
You can just go toW2PrisonBreakcom and
everything's there.
Right, Everything's there.
I've got some free resources.
The podcast is there, If you,if you want to talk to me about
coaching or getting touch withme, it's all there.
That's why I would recommendeverybody go Awesome.
Ed Mathews (34:35):
So, brian O'Neill, with W2Prison Break, thank you
so much.
It's good to see you, my friend, and forward to catching up
again soon.
Brian O'Neill (34:43):
Definitely Thanks , Ed.
I appreciate the opportunity.
Ed Mathews (34:46):
This has been the Real Estate Underground Podcast.
Thank you so much for listening.
Don't forget to rate, reviewand subscribe.
It helps us grow.
Until next time, happyinvesting.
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