How AI & China Can Save You Thousands in Real Estate Development

In this insightful clip from EYL, MG The Mortgage Guy joins hosts Troy Millings and Rashad Bilal to illuminate creative strategies for saving big on real estate development and home renovation. Are you paying too much for contractors? Wondering if there’s a smarter way to do your due diligence before diving into your next big project? This conversation is for you! MG The Mortgage Guy shares how getting multiple quotes and leveraging technology—especially AI tools like ChatGPT—can help you understand contractor pricing, break down labor and material costs, and even identify the top-rated local companies. He details his own methods for negotiating better deals, from uploading quotes for AI analysis to conducting deep market research before making any decision. Rashad Bilal dives into the trending “China play,” spotlighting his personal journey to source home furnishings and construction materials directly from Chinese manufacturers. Whether you’re furnishing a new home or developing multiple properties, Rashad explains how connecting with reputable suppliers overseas can lead to substantial savings—sometimes cutting costs by 30-50% or more, without sacrificing quality. If you’re a developer, imagine multiplying those savings across several homes or even commercial properties, and boosting your bottom line without lowering your property value. The conversation also touches on best practices for international sourcing, including the importance of local contacts abroad and understanding specialized vs. multi-line suppliers in manufacturing hubs like Foshan. Rashad and MG emphasize that you don’t always have to travel to China; having a trustworthy partner on the ground can help navigate the process to maximize benefits. Troy Millings rounds out the discussion by highlighting the scalability of these strategies—not just in residential construction but for commercial projects like hotels, where bulk manufacturing leads to huge upfront savings and greater long-term profits through nightly rates. Whether you’re a homeowner, an aspiring investor, or a seasoned developer, this clip is packed with actionable insights on harnessing both technology and global sourcing to work smarter, save more, and achieve maximum impact in today’s volatile market. ▶️ Hit play to learn how to:

• Compare and negotiate with contractors using AI
• Tap into international markets for bulk and custom deals
• Avoid common pitfalls when sourcing goods from China
• Scale your savings for larger developments or commercial properties

Don’t forget to comment if you want to see a full panel on the “China play” at Invest Fest! *#EYL #RealEstate #AI #ChinaSourcing #Construction #HomeImprovement #InvestFest #WealthBuilding #Innovation #Entrepreneurship* Subscribe for more wealth-building game from the Earn Your Leisure crew!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This episode is brought to you by P and C Bank.
A lot of people think podcasts about work are boring,
and sure they definitely can be, but understanding a professionals
routine shows us how they achieve their success little by little,
day after day. It's like banking with P and C Bank.
It might seem boring to save, plan and make calculated

(00:21):
decisions with your bank, but keeping your money boring is
what helps you live or more happily fulfilled life. P
and C Bank Brilliantly Boring since eighteen sixty five. Brilliantly
Boring since eighteen sixty five is a service mark of
the PNC Financial Service Group, Inc. P and C Bank
National Association Member FDIC.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
I don't know what the hell is going on with
some of these quotes that people will give you on
certain projects, but you really have to shop contractors right
now because some people are just adding tax on type
of tax on type of tax just because they think
Trump is going to add the tax, or they're adding
it right now before us even in play. So get
three or four quotes and do not be afraid to negotiate.

(01:05):
You have to negotiate everything, and you have to use
tools like AI, like, I know one thing that I
do when I get a quote, now, I upload that
quote into my chat EVT.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Yeah, I've done. I did that before I did that
the water water uh bacent thing and I detailed the
whole thing, and I said, I gave it the chant.
I'm like, how do you feeling that? It gave me
an estimate of what it should it should be on
the low end, on on average, yep, and on high.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
It tells you everything and if you're in the more
details you put into it, the better if you and
even if you put pictures like what I've done, I'll
put pictures of like what I'm looking to do and
really break it down, and then it will give you,
like Rashad said, low, high, middle, and then also asks hop, okay,

(01:55):
who are the companies in this area that I should
be talking to? And they will give you, give me
the top ten companies right that got the best reviews,
you know, et cetera, et cetera, and then it'll give
you all these companies right. So you have to use
the AI and the technology that's out here available to
help you do your due diligence, to help you research,
because let's face it, we don't know everything, like I

(02:16):
don't know everything about construction, So I got to use
the tools that's in front of me to get the information.
So now when I'm when I'm interviewing these contractors, I
can have an intelligent conversation because I already have my
questions already pre written, so to speak with that information.
So the due diligence process, especially in twenty twenty five

(02:36):
point into twenty twenty six, with all this volatility in
the market, you have to you have to really dig deep.
And that's why I'm really excited to hear you talk
about China because I've been speaking to the China people.
Rashad and I had a call last night, matter of fact,
with Blair, and the prices are just absolutely phenomenal. Some
of the shit that they are telling me right now,

(02:57):
I have deposit asap, like let's go right now because
this is incredible. So but that's later on the show.
But I had to do that in there. But you
have to do your due dealer jends and you might
have to do with y'all than to fly out the
country to go check out thanks for yourself to get
better pricing.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
Or maybe you could just watch what he's done.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
He did it for you.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
My notifications are on.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
I don't know about y'all, like community service.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Like this is like first of a kudos to you
with Sea, but that because when you told us about this,
like what was this like in the April, we had
that call, you say, yo, I'm going to China for this,
that and the third and I was like, all right,
this is gonna sound good. Time the tie he's gonna
document it.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
Shout out.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Y'all, shot the time.

Speaker 3 (03:47):
He did a great job. Well you know the thing
about it too, because you brought it up. I think people, okay,
there's two people that can benefit from this China play.
People that are building a home, furnishing a home, but
then also real estate developers like if you if you're
in the if you are a real estate developer. One
of our friends that's actually developing real estate, he's going

(04:08):
out there today. I think if you're a real estate developer,
I think you really need to tie in with this
because depending on what type of development you're doing, you
can you can get mass items for cheaper like and
that's important because you got to figure if you if
you're developing let's say a sub unit and you're building

(04:32):
you know, six homes, right, and you got to put
in six kitchens into those homes. So you might want
to just do the basic kitchen like you know from
home depot. But depending on what neighborhood you you're building
a home, and that might not necessarily fly or that
might lower the value of the home. Right, you might
have to go a little bit higher in on your
on your kitchen. But if you go you know, like

(04:53):
the kitchen is probably going to be one of the
most expensive items in the house, kitchen in the bathroom. Right,
So you've saved let's say you save thirty forty fifty
percent times that times five, you're going to have a
substantial savings. What does that do? That adds more profit
to you? The more money you say, because you can
still charge the same amount of money for the house. Right,

(05:15):
It's like you haven't compromised the quality of the home.
So if you if you're like, I probably saved three
hundred thousand dollars, right, but I'm I'm a home I'm
just a home owner. If I'm a home developer, now
times that times six seven, But then I'm still selling
at market rate. So now you just made yourself two

(05:37):
million dollars by executing smartly right, So and it's maybe
it's something that we can talk about and invest fest.
Let us know in chat, let us know and chat
if you're interested in it and having a panel about
the whole China player in its entirety, and invest fast

(05:59):
because I being a lot of d MS and a
lot of people you know, been following the journey. So
you know, maybe that's something that we can really add
to the investments portfolio per se. But I do think
that you can death and you don't have to go
out there like even you like you know what I'm saying,
Like you you're talking to like that's the good thing,
but you got to know you gotta work with somebody
already there because they're not all the same. That's important

(06:24):
for people to know, Like you just can't show up
in China and just be like I'm here. You can
you technically can because it's like you know, the area
of Foolshrong that that's manufacturing heaven and they do everything
from clothes to hair bundles, press on nails, anything that

(06:47):
you think of they manufacture. So you can go electronics,
you can go and just Stumble and you can get
still probably a better price than you're paying in America.
But if you really really want to get like because
each like, for instance, my kitchen and in closet, I
want to restore that specializes in just kitchens and closets, right,

(07:11):
and the prices was so good. I asked them if
they could do everything, but they're like, we really can't
because we only specialize in kitchens and closets. So I
went to like six different stores to put it all together.
But it's worth it, but you got to have somebody
to kind of walk you through that process, right, Like
you can't just do that on your own because you

(07:33):
it's kind of hard logistically to go to six different places, I.

Speaker 1 (07:37):
Think even from the standpoint and you kind of mentioned
it in the video, but you start to think when
you're building commercial spaces or you're building hotels, like they've
been doing it all the time, and the difference is
that they get to charge you every night. Yeah, so
the long term pay obviously if you're building a subdivision,
those are those are homes, but at the hotel, play like,

(07:57):
that's a nightly income that's coming in, especially if you've
gotten the things manufactured in bolt. Whether it's the night
stand or it's the headboard for the beds, every room
pretty much is the same unless you get a specialized suite.
These things come in bulk and now you're looking at
it like, wait, they've made savings on the actual building

(08:17):
of the hotel or wherever the commercial space is, and
now they charging you every night. So the long term
income comes back from it as well. Erners, what's up?
You ever walk into a small business and everything just
works like the checkout is fast, or seats are digital,
tipping is a breeze and you're out the door before
the line even builds. Odds are they're using Square. We

(08:38):
love supporting businesses that run on Square because it just
feels seamless. Whether it's a local coffee shop, a vendor
at a pop up market, or even one of our
merch partners. Square makes it easy for them to take payments,
manage inventory, and run their business with confidence, all from
one simple system. One of the things we love most
is seeing neighborhood businesses level up. This this West Indian

(09:01):
Spire writing our community that started with a small takeout counter.
Now with Square they've been able to expand into a
full sit down restaurant and even started catering events across
the city. That's the kind of growth that inspires us,
and it's powered by Square. Square is built for all
types of businesses, from the corner bagel shop that turned
into a local chain, to the specialty market with thousands

(09:24):
of unique items, to the stylists who's been holding you
down for years. If you're a business owner or even
just thinking about launching something soon, Square is hands down
one of the best tools out there to help you start,
run and grow. It's not just about payments, it's about
giving you time back so you can focus on what
matters most Ready. To see how Square can transform your business,

(09:46):
visit Square dot com backslash, go backslash eyl to learn
more that Square dot com backslash, go backslash eyl. Don't wait,
don't hesitate. Let Square handle the back end so you
can keep pushing your vision forward.