Ep24 Broker / Owner and Investing with Matthew Mauro

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm probably more transparent than most. I feel like I have to be for my own integrity, my own reputation, and my own license as a broker owner. I don't want anybody to say I ever took advantage of them.

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_00]: From cornfields to high rises, office to industrial, houses to hotels, and every other asset class in real estate, we cover the people, the projects, and the profit. Welcome to the Investing in Iowa Show. This show is for go-doers, action takers, and business owners.

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_00]: It's for people like you who are sick of Uncle Sam taking a huge bite of your apple. If you're looking to get ahead of what's taking place in Iowa, learn who is doing what and how you can get in on the action. You're in the right place.

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Hosted by Neil Timmins, an Iowa native who has been involved in over $300 million in real estate right here in Iowa. Recording in studio from West Des Moines, here's your host, Neil Timmins.

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_03]: I've got Matt Morrow here on the show. Matt, welcome.

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Thank you for having me.

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm excited you're here. Say, for the audience's sake, who are you? Where are you from? What do you do?

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, like you said, I'm Matt Morrow. I am one of the owner brokers of Remax Concepts. I'm still a full-time realtor, investor, father primarily, and native.

[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_03]: I grew up in Des Moines as well as my mom had a house in Norwalk where we live today. And yeah, I've been here my whole life.

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_03]: When did you get into real estate?

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I got into it as early as you could get into it. I graduated from Dowling in 95 and I was licensed October 5th, 1995.

[00:01:27] [SPEAKER_03]: So yeah, I got into it. It was kind of fortuitous. I just wanted to own property and that's all I knew. I wanted to own it, flip it, rent it.

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_03]: Where did that bug come from?

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_03]: That's crazy. I was dating this girl. Her family went to Myrtle Beach for spring break, I think. And when they came back, she brought a shopper. That's how old it is, you know, giving a shopper.

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_03]: And they had the places that they stayed and she said that they spent $1,500 to be there for a week. It's 95, it's probably like 4,000 now, right?

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_03]: But it's 1,500. And they were also for sale in that shopper. And believe it or not, they were for sale for $72,000, $73,000. God knows what that is 30 years later.

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_03]: So I called the mortgage people on it and what was the payment for $73,000. And of course, that was like 550 bucks a month or whatever plus association dues.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_03]: I called the people that were renting it out and acquired about what they charged and then found out that they were full 70% of the time of the year.

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_03]: So it was quick math to figure out, I'm like, okay, that's what I want to do. That's what I want to do.

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_03]: So she was very encouraging. My mother was very encouraging. I decided not to go to college and got into real estate.

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_03]: And then it took me about five years. I started buying homes when I was 23. It took me that long to build my credit, build enough income where I could qualify.

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_03]: I started with one, flipped it, went to another. I was single. I didn't have any kids. I was very flexible on moving. I'd move into it and be there for like 40 days and then move out.

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_03]: So I traveled really light. But it got to the point I was doing like four or five a year. I sell in real estate too. I never really anticipated focusing on trying to be a great real estate agent.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's amazing how good a real estate agent you can be when you're flipping houses and you learn, you learn so much about houses.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_03]: And then you get to pass that knowledge off to your clients as you become a really real estate agent.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. The clients are the benefactor of that.

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Your experience.

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Good or bad.

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Good or bad.

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_03]: I can look at something and tell them what it is.

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_03]: And not only that, but what it's going to take to remedy.

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, I think that's invaluable. That's made me really sticky as a real estate agent.

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_03]: So you were primarily flipping then? Did you retain any of those early ones?

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_03]: It got to be in about 25, 26. And I started cheaping like one or two a year.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_03]: And starting to build a rental portfolio.

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_03]: My whole goal was to try to get as much I could like on it from a long investment standpoint and do short-term investments to help pay those off.

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_03]: So pick a good house, keep it. Maybe I put too much money into it and I wasn't going to make as much on it.

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay, it's a nice house. Let's keep it. And we'll go on to the next and keep it and do that.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_03]: And I did that for a while. I really started focusing on one area that I grew up in and trying to buy.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_03]: That particular area. So I ended up selling all those with the exception of one.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Selling off some of the portfolio in areas that didn't perfectly align with really your goal.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. Well, my goal shifted. It became more ambitious.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_03]: It just felt right. I don't know.

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, what I hear you saying is you invest in what you know.

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_03]: Geographically, in an asset class, just invest in what you know.

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. I'm not have 100% or 1,000 batting average. I've made mistakes.

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_03]: I was so fortunate to do it young to where you had time to learn from those mistakes.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_03]: So I feel like I'm the benefactor of those mistakes too. And now I don't make as many mistakes.

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_03]: And so now you've got a portfolio that's pretty good size.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm curious as to how you finance some of that portfolio as you went.

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, Fannie Freddie is an option, just a traditional mortgage, if you will, standard out of writing.

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_03]: And then, you know, at some point you crossed the threshold and ended up in some commercial finance interview cases. I'm curious about what you've done.

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. You know, this is kind of my strategy. It's not everybody's strategy, but when you know how to have the short game to pay off the long game, the long game, there's some properties I've owned for a very long time.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_03]: I have a commercial property up north that I bought in 2006 that is paid for. My prior house, my prior residential home, I bought 2005. It's very low bound and it's a very nice house.

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_03]: So I've used those things to leverage and have lines of credit so I can take that into a short term and investing, you know, with the flips, the buyouts, those things. And then I use the flips, profit from that to pay off the long game.

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_03]: So the more that I pay off the long game, the more leverage I have with lines of credits, the more aggressive I could be with the short game.

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Sure. But right now, my line of credit, I can do one, possibly two homes at a time without going to get a mortgage.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Right. And it's 20% down on your commercial, you know what I'm saying? You tap into the commercial portfolio.

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_03]: But that's how I started with the commercial portfolio is I sold all my other houses. I had a lot of equity in them, so it was very easy.

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_03]: And we had a million dollar line of credit.

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Yep.

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_03]: At this point, I've established myself with great credit and the track history of at least 12, 13, 14 years of that.

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_03]: So as my goals shifted down to that area. So yeah, that's how I financed them. So I had this little line of credit. And I like that, the leverage of things. I'm sure you do a lot of that too.

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_02]: Hey, Iowa investors, this is Ava Bauckamp, chief of staff at Legacy Impact Investors. Have you thought about adding real estate to your portfolio but don't have the time or desire to play landlord?

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_02]: At Legacy Impact Investors, we do the heavy lifting. Our team finds the deals, manages the properties, and handles all the day-to-day operations.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Our select group of qualified investors co-invest with us, gaining ownership equity without opening a tenant email or responding to a maintenance call. They just share in the income, appreciation, and tax benefits.

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_02]: These opportunities aren't for everyone. They are for qualified, accredited investors only. If you want to learn more, please visit LegacyImpactInvestors.com to apply.

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_03]: I like what you've done. Your ability to utilize your flipping, the short-term piece, which you've said. You got profit there. It just goes into paying down debt.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_03]: You're paying down debt so that the long-term rentals build a giant pile of equity, which you can leverage however you want to use that.

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_03]: But you have leverage, you have credibility, you have the ability to give you more freedom and flexibility to execute on whatever project comes down the pipeline next, whatever that happens, whatever that opportunity happens to be.

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_03]: And at the same time-

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_03]: And it's a retirement strategy.

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, you got a retirement strategy. You got a financial freedom strategy to be able to do that.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:07:23] Yeah.

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_03]: You kind of have an end goal. It's like, okay, well, if I can make this a year, when do I don't have to work anymore if I can just have this a year?

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Or, you know, flipping's where my true passion is though. It's kind of crazy. Like 18 years old, that's what I wanted to do.

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_03]: And even at 47, that's what I still love to do. That doesn't mean I love being an owner broker.

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_03]: I love helping agents with their business, helping them figure out scenarios, teach you how to negotiate.

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_03]: All the things I've learned, I love helping sellers and buyers. But my true passion, I love flipping homes.

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Why?

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_03]: What gets it going in you?

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_03]: I've always been a creative guy. Like when I was younger, I would draw. I was very creative and I always wanted to do things like that.

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_03]: For me, it's kind of a creative outlet. I really like to cook and that's another creative outlet.

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, it's like I see a house and I really can't get started on it until I see it.

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_03]: You got to see it.

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_03]: And sometimes I need help. Like my wife helped me with one.

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Like I was trying to figure out how this kitchen, because it was so small. When she came in, she's like, throw out the wall, put an island in and it just opened it. I'm like, perfect.

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Once I saw it, it was go time. Like I knew exactly how to get it from A to Z. I get a lot of satisfaction seeing it like this, seeing it here and then making that happen.

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Like a painting.

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe.

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_03]: To a real artist.

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_03]: You know what I mean?

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, is it old saying that everything is seen twice? Once in a mind's eye and then in a man's hand.

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. Then that's it. And then doing good work, quality work.

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, being an owner broker, I feel like when I do go buy houses, a lot of times I just find them from somebody that wants to sell.

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_03]: But then after finding out the listing, you know, I bought homes that didn't have walls where you know no one can get financing for that.

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_03]: So it's an investment only.

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_03]: But being an owner broker and being someone that cares about the reputation, I'm very transparent when I go to buy someone's home.

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_03]: For whatever reason you think you want to cash out or whatever. Okay. I'm here on that. This is where I need to.

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_03]: Yep.

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_03]: I won't charge a commission as an agent.

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Process the whole thing. You can take what you want, leave what you don't because I'm probably tearing out stuff anyway.

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Try to make it very easy for. Here's where I think I can sell it on the market. Here would be my fees associated with that. So in the middle is your pain.

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_03]: This is what you're giving up.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Correct.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_03]: To walk away.

[00:09:23] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think I'm probably more transparent than most. I feel like I have to be for my own integrity, my own reputation, and my own license as a broker owner. I don't want anybody to say I ever took advantage of them.

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Sitting in similar shoes to you, right? Being a broker and buying homes direct from folks. And I've always said the same thing. If you want the absolute top dollar, go list it with an agent.

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes. And people ultimately will sell direct to somebody else. They will not go through that work, the effort of an agent. Primarily, my experience is because money is not the largest market.

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. No, there are other insinuating circumstances. I had an attorney over in like almost Waterbury area.

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Sure.

[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_03]: And she just wanted, she had to pay, she just wanted out.

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Correct.

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_03]: And then moved to Denver.

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_03]: And then, she wanted to pay, she wanted to beat the rate hike and get down to her grandkids. And I couldn't talk her. Like, she told me, she goes, if you don't buy it, someone else is coming over here to buy it. And I'm like, I won't give her name up. I'm like, but I'm telling you, you're giving too much up.

[00:10:18] Yeah.

[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Like, there's a difference between this and this.

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Nope. I don't want to deal. And there were issues with the home. Water stains on the ceiling. I mean, they were things.

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_03]: But she didn't want to deal with any. So, I'm in. Say less. I did my due diligence to try to tell you there's another way to make you more money and you're not having it. So, let's go.

[00:10:35] [SPEAKER_03]: What are some of the largest lessons you've learned over the years?

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Don't fall in love with it.

[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_03]: That's a big one.

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_03]: It's a real big one because I see a lot of fixing flippers, especially if they do their own work, that they will fall in love with it and they overinvest it. That's if they're going to move into it, which they don't. And then all of a sudden, they got to sell it and they call somebody.

[00:10:56] [SPEAKER_03]: You, so be at the brokerage and go, what do I have? And you're like, you should have called me before.

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_03]: You look at Airbnb for a few years.

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, correct.

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_03]: And I've done that. You look at, okay, I'm not going to make as much on this house. Let's Airbnb and get our money back. That only really works. It's cash.

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Only, you know, I mean, beverages or shit. You know what I mean? But we have those and it's been great. But yeah, I've learned that lesson. And then the thing about it is, is I'm stubborn to my vision. And sometimes getting that to real is not economically.

[00:11:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:11:24] [SPEAKER_03]: But it's hard for me to, once I have that, it's hard for me to shift my values. And sometimes I have to. So, you can't do everything. And something might have to be left for the other, the next buyer, the next owner. So, those are things you really have to look at closely.

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Then of course, whenever you're tearing anything out, you better have a miscellaneous or a, oh shit, I missed that type of buffer in that.

[00:11:45] [SPEAKER_03]: As soon as you open a wall, you really don't know what you're-

[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Don't know what you need.

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. You don't know what you can't see.

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Right. But we still, you know, I have two team members, Sidney Raghi and Nick McCarter, who's actually my cousin. They're on my team in real estate. They're fantastic. They work really hard. They keep me motivated in that aspect.

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, we still try to sell a hundred homes a year, residentially.

[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Not an easy feat.

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Not an easy feat. I still love it. I still love taking the listings and getting the buyers. For whatever reason, I love buyers, even though that's the hardest part.

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_03]: I think it's because my knowledge of homes and being able to add that value add.

[00:12:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:12:17] [SPEAKER_03]: But yeah, we're fortunate enough to have a few investor builders that put their brand with us. You know, Kimberly and Benchmark being number one there in Carlisle.

[00:12:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Sure.

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_03]: They still have the five-year tax statement with entry-level homes at 300 to 325,000, which is amazing. You know, single family homes with full five-year tax statements out there. You had Adam Searin on with Premier.

[00:12:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:12:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Not long ago. Adam's a great dude. I've known him since we were in our early 20s. I used to play basketball against Adam.

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, Adam. Adam.

[00:12:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:12:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, he was – you get him on your back. You're in trouble.

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_03]: He was just a moose, man. He's still a strong guy.

[00:12:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:12:52] [SPEAKER_03]: But at 25-year-olds old, Adam was a moose.

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_03]: You know what? Speaking of Adam, he was on the show. We were talking about his projects. And you and I touched on it before when we hit record here. It seems like downtown has really jumped the river.

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_03]: It's jumped the river.

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_03]: That's it. People that are looking to make their investments that listen to this show, I would pay attention to where that's going.

[00:13:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Be ahead of it. Adam was bold.

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_03]: He's brought something to Des Moines then. And I've always said those hills going up.

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Up the outside.

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_03]: And they call it Little Italy, you know. And it looks like almost Italy, those hills going up. But always, man, they could do some cool things with that hill.

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_03]: They even tried to get city council to give up McCray Park.

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh.

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Make a gated community come in with those hills. But they did a wonderful job.

[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_03]: This city's done a wonderful job making McCray Park a hikeable. The views of the city are amazing. But Adam has those views on Elevate.

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_03]: And he's got his first phase is almost sold out. He's got one unit left there. His second phase is up and he got units available from what, $4.49, I think, to $4.75 in phase two.

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_03]: We still have one that's left over from phase one for 20. And those carry a nine-year tax payment.

[00:14:02] [SPEAKER_03]: So, it's amazing when there's some products to get your rate down and the low fides, if you qualify, the views. And in particular, you've seen it at night where the downtowns lit up and the capitals lit up and principal parks humming with the fireworks.

[00:14:16] [SPEAKER_03]: And then the rivers glowing off them. I mean, it is incredible. He's got superior views than anybody else of what they're doing down there.

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_03]: It's going to be fun to see the whole corridor continue to ship and shape and really progress forward. It's going to be fun.

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. The city's got really big plans for that, actually, that are already designed with the soccer field, but also going down Bell. They're redoing that whole street there. And I forget what family, Kranz or some other family like that's doing something really big where Confluence is, you know, right through there, the walk abilities for the river walks and stuff.

[00:14:51] [SPEAKER_03]: And then, of course, you got Caliber doing Brick Top there on Bell. And then we got Kimberly doing a really good project on Fleur called Pinnacle.

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Now, those are from 615 to 635, carry the nine-year tax abatement. And I'm excited about those, but the ones that I'm really excited about aren't even built yet.

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_03]: There's eight of them that are going to be about a million and a half with private elevators, private rooftops with kitchenettes and walkables.

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_03]: And of course, Adam's got the Oaks right down the street.

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Correct.

[00:15:21] [SPEAKER_03]: The very similar price point, 600 plus with an elevator option.

[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_03]: So, I'm just really excited about the whole area between Adam, Caliber.

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_03]: There's a lot taking place there.

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_03]: You got some really good people doing some really good things down there.

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_03]: You absolutely do.

[00:15:35] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, I think some of that South Side, it probably due to its age, just because there's not a lot of land to go do any of this.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_03]: So, you got to come back and you got to rethink.

[00:15:44] [SPEAKER_03]: But what I know of the South Side, I mean, there's tremendous, there's wealth on the South Side.

[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_03]: There's people who love, take tremendous pride in the South Side.

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_03]: They want to be there and I think some of these projects you just went through are tremendous options for somebody to move or ultimately, you know, have that product, have that home they've always wanted but just never had an option for it.

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, and there's a lot.

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, in a need in the market.

[00:16:08] [SPEAKER_03]: There is.

[00:16:08] [SPEAKER_03]: I think there's with a lot of people that are moving in from out of state to make Des Moines their home, they're more comfortable being closer to downtown.

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_03]: Now, being closer to parks, being closer to the airport, that's their more comfortability than maybe the suburban sprawl.

[00:16:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Correct.

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_03]: That we see a lot of people that grew up here are coming out to, you know, the Rockies.

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Nothing wrong with that.

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Great areas.

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER_03]: I think they have a different mindset of what a home could look like.

[00:16:31] [SPEAKER_03]: So, we're fulfilling that need as well.

[00:16:33] [SPEAKER_03]: We're very excited about all products and being able to cross-sell those type of things.

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_03]: What are you most excited about 2024?

[00:16:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe, you know, right now the challenges, it seems like everything's challenging.

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_03]: I think most real estate agents wouldn't say they're excited for the change that NAR has brought down.

[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_03]: But I'm excited for it and I'm going to tell you why.

[00:16:50] [SPEAKER_03]: I think it gives the real estate agents a chance to raise the bar of our profession.

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_03]: No doubt.

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's what we should be excited about.

[00:16:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Is there going to be more paperwork?

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Sure.

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Is there going to be more explaining stuff that what happened and how it affects?

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Sure.

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Is it more complicated?

[00:17:05] [SPEAKER_03]: The complication part to me is they want us to have something signed by a buyer before we even show them a house.

[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_03]: I think they need to really look at that and maybe have a one-time showing form or something.

[00:17:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Because, you know, you wouldn't walk into an attorney's office and sign that I'm hiring you before.

[00:17:20] [SPEAKER_03]: And neither would the attorney.

[00:17:21] [SPEAKER_03]: The attorney may not want you as a client.

[00:17:23] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's the same thing with DOS.

[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_01]: If you're a house clipper, execute the burst strategy or do double closings and are in need of money.

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Little Guy Loans is your go-to lender here in the Des Moines area.

[00:17:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Time is money.

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Loan approvals in 24 hours.

[00:17:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Closings in five days.

[00:17:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Little Guy Loans was founded by Neil Timmons, an investor just like you.

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Since he has been in over 10,000 homes in Des Moines, there's never an appraisal.

[00:17:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Houses, multifamily and commercial property loans up to $1 million.

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Check out www.littleguyloans.com.

[00:17:58] [SPEAKER_03]: I think a lot of people don't think about that from that realtor's perspective.

[00:18:02] [SPEAKER_03]: A lot of them think, oh, a realtor would take any client.

[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_03]: That's not me.

[00:18:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Not the case.

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER_03]: No.

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Absolutely not the case.

[00:18:08] [SPEAKER_03]: The most talented realtors that you and I know have been around this a long time.

[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_03]: I think we echo it.

[00:18:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Not the case.

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:18:15] [SPEAKER_03]: And listen, that doesn't always make somebody a bad person.

[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Nope.

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_03]: That just, sometimes people's personalities just don't shine.

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Personalities, but also if you don't do certain people, certain agents and brokers specialize

[00:18:25] [SPEAKER_03]: in certain things.

[00:18:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER_03]: It's entirely possible just like a doctor, right?

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_03]: If you're dealing with a specialty, you may be better off with somebody else and there's

[00:18:34] [SPEAKER_03]: nothing wrong with that.

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_03]: In fact, it's totally right.

[00:18:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Something I won't touch is retail.

[00:18:38] [SPEAKER_03]: There you go.

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_03]: I just won't do it.

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_03]: I have commercial agents that are friends that specialize in that.

[00:18:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Correct.

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_03]: And I would never want to take that on and mess something up.

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_03]: And I don't have a desire to learn it.

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, if it's commercial, it's a warehouse.

[00:18:50] [SPEAKER_03]: We know it's just an address, a legal description, a parcel number.

[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_03]: It's as easy as selling anything or even a multifamily.

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_03]: That's more my wheelhouse.

[00:18:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_03]: When it comes to retails and the money that goes into it and how it works, I just don't

[00:19:02] [SPEAKER_03]: have a desire to do that.

[00:19:03] [SPEAKER_03]: You're right.

[00:19:03] [SPEAKER_03]: You get outside of my area, I'm giving it to somebody.

[00:19:06] [SPEAKER_03]: I can't give you.

[00:19:06] [SPEAKER_03]: So I don't want to work with everybody and they may not want to work with me.

[00:19:10] [SPEAKER_03]: So to have that sign before we meet, it'd be a contract of service and obligation.

[00:19:14] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't like that.

[00:19:15] [SPEAKER_03]: But I don't like that.

[00:19:17] [SPEAKER_03]: We'll deal with it because we have to.

[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_03]: I didn't know we were going down this path.

[00:19:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, let's go down this path.

[00:19:21] [SPEAKER_03]: From your perspective, it should be there a higher threshold to become licensed to sell

[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_03]: real estate.

[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, you're free to buy.

[00:19:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, I got it in my head when I want it.

[00:19:29] [SPEAKER_03]: It takes 60 hours in the state along with a few other things, but 60 hours pre-licensed

[00:19:33] [SPEAKER_03]: among a couple of things in a test to become licensed to sell real estate.

[00:19:37] [SPEAKER_03]: It takes nearly 2,000 hours to cut hair in the state of mind.

[00:19:42] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know about you, but I've had a bad haircut or two.

[00:19:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:19:45] [SPEAKER_03]: So I can only imagine when you're talking about what takes 3% of the time to cut hair that

[00:19:52] [SPEAKER_03]: now all of a sudden you sell real estate.

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_03]: How many challenging, bad, misguided information?

[00:19:58] [SPEAKER_03]: How many things that just don't go the way they should?

[00:20:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:20:01] [SPEAKER_03]: And even from an appraiser standpoint, you have to have an equivalent of a two-year, maybe

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_03]: four-year degree.

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_03]: I might be wrong.

[00:20:07] [SPEAKER_03]: It's something like that.

[00:20:08] [SPEAKER_03]: You have to have an apprenticeship under somebody for a couple of years.

[00:20:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Then you can start doing reports.

[00:20:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_03]: But here we are dealing with people's number one asset.

[00:20:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Correct.

[00:20:17] [SPEAKER_03]: And I want to have some empathy because I was that asshole.

[00:20:20] [SPEAKER_03]: I was 18 years old.

[00:20:21] [SPEAKER_03]: I didn't know he went shit from Shioa.

[00:20:23] [SPEAKER_03]: Sure.

[00:20:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Now, the one thing that was different back then is I had a field agent, Joanne Lutz, God

[00:20:28] [SPEAKER_03]: rest her soul.

[00:20:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, she'd been in business for 35 years and I was at her hip at 18 everywhere she went.

[00:20:34] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, and she was wonderful.

[00:20:36] [SPEAKER_03]: And she was the wise old owl that I could go to for anything.

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_03]: I wasn't let loose.

[00:20:40] [SPEAKER_03]: It was almost an apprenticeship back then.

[00:20:43] [SPEAKER_03]: But to your point, I think it should be a hell of a lot more expensive to get into.

[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_03]: It should be a hell of a lot more expensive to stay in yearly.

[00:20:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Our dues should be more.

[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Probably people against me on that.

[00:20:52] [SPEAKER_03]: But I also believe that you should have an apprenticeship under somebody.

[00:20:55] [SPEAKER_03]: I think it creates some of those structural changes and certainly allows the opportunity

[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_03]: to elevate the profession at the state level to a level that would stand above itself across

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_03]: all 50 states.

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_03]: I wish we could do that and make it more expensive because the public may know, your listeners

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_03]: may know this may not, but 70% of our profession is they don't last in three years.

[00:21:16] [SPEAKER_03]: They'll cycle out.

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER_03]: And as long as that's the case, as long as it's only, what is it now?

[00:21:22] [SPEAKER_03]: If I made $3,500 investment, $2,500 investment, long as it's that, you can afford to fail.

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_03]: Make it more expensive to get into.

[00:21:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Make education requirements more.

[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Make an apprenticeship for two years under a broker that's had 10 years experience or more.

[00:21:37] [SPEAKER_03]: And you have to be under that.

[00:21:38] [SPEAKER_03]: And if you can do that, we can elevate our profession.

[00:21:41] [SPEAKER_03]: I do believe that every profession has a little bit of that 20% does 80% of the business or the

[00:21:47] [SPEAKER_03]: high level people that are focused and very intentional and serious about what they do.

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's across the board, no matter what.

[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't think you'll get rid of that, but I think we would elevate the profession.

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_03]: It's going to be an interesting year to see how the rules and now and are changing on

[00:22:02] [SPEAKER_03]: ultimately how it plays out.

[00:22:04] [SPEAKER_03]: And where the rubber meets the road is really where you find out how's it feel out of the

[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_03]: transaction deck.

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think there's going to be a little bit of some trial and error.

[00:22:13] [SPEAKER_03]: And hopefully if you're a real estate agent listening to this, you're at a brokerage

[00:22:17] [SPEAKER_03]: that shares ideas and shares their successes and their failures because that's how we're

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_03]: going to get better and get to more where we're uniformed in doing things the right way.

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Things may shift too.

[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_03]: Things don't work out the way they thought, like the showing, things like that.

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe there's some amendments or some changes where lead to that down the road, I can only hope.

[00:22:36] [SPEAKER_03]: For you, why Iowa?

[00:22:37] [SPEAKER_03]: If you're a skilled professional, you can go anywhere and do just about anything.

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_03]: You've chosen to set your roots here, to buy here, to put your money here, your time and

[00:22:45] [SPEAKER_03]: your effort.

[00:22:46] [SPEAKER_03]: What keeps you here?

[00:22:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Probably originally family.

[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_03]: I have a huge family.

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_03]: The morals are, and then even my mom's side is big and it's a great place to raise your

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_03]: kids.

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Obviously, once you start having kids.

[00:22:56] [SPEAKER_03]: I love Des Moines.

[00:22:56] [SPEAKER_03]: I love the four seasons of Des Moines.

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_03]: There's not a ton of traffic in Des Moines.

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_03]: I love the culinary has gone up.

[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_03]: From when we were kids, when we're nearly the same age, there was nothing.

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Correct.

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_03]: I remember Court Avenue in the late 90s.

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_03]: I was like, what it is now, just downtown with the Western options and the East and then

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_03]: everything.

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_03]: I love everything about it.

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_03]: Even when I travel and I love to travel.

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_03]: That's one of my favorite things to do.

[00:23:18] [SPEAKER_03]: If I'm gone so long, I look forward to coming home.

[00:23:21] [SPEAKER_03]: So I hope I always have a place in Des Moines because it feels like home.

[00:23:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Matt, are you ready for the final three questions?

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_03]: If you had one piece of advice to give to your 20-year-old self, what would it be?

[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Be more focused.

[00:23:33] [SPEAKER_03]: I had ambition, but I messed around too much.

[00:23:35] [SPEAKER_03]: I could have been a better agent.

[00:23:36] [SPEAKER_03]: I could have made more money and invested even more if I focused on being more in my business

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_03]: or becoming a better buyer and salary.

[00:23:43] [SPEAKER_03]: I had no focus in that.

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_03]: I had no interest in that.

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_03]: It was all investments, all how to flip.

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_03]: I would have told myself, no, no, you're not too young.

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Don't sell yourself short.

[00:23:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Focus on this.

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_03]: You'll make more money and be able to invest more.

[00:23:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Two books that changed your life.

[00:23:55] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh God, in sales, I really liked How to Win and Influence Friends and I really like

[00:24:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Never Split the Difference.

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh yeah?

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_03]: I thought, and even though this is so inherent, the fear of loss is so much more than the

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_03]: joy of gain.

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Joy of gain.

[00:24:08] [SPEAKER_03]: That's really helped me tremendously.

[00:24:09] [SPEAKER_03]: I've also, you know, How to Win and Influence Friends, you know, becoming interested instead

[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_03]: of being interesting was a light bulb moment.

[00:24:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Not getting aggressive with somebody, showing them how to bring them into the problem with

[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_03]: you and figure out how to solution.

[00:24:23] [SPEAKER_03]: That has helped me so much with, I want to be the agent that everybody wants to work with.

[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_03]: And that means curbing your emotions.

[00:24:29] [SPEAKER_03]: We're on the same team.

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_03]: We're going the same way.

[00:24:33] [SPEAKER_03]: How are you and I, Neil, going to figure this out together?

[00:24:35] [SPEAKER_03]: We're at an impasse.

[00:24:36] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't pretend to know the answer, but we're going to figure it out.

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_03]: That was big for me in that book and how to, you know, almost manipulate the situation

[00:24:44] [SPEAKER_03]: to where we're not against each other.

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_03]: We're not opposing forces.

[00:24:48] [SPEAKER_03]: We're moving the same direction.

[00:24:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Tell me.

[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_03]: If you were cast away on an island for a year, you can only get three pieces of data every

[00:24:55] [SPEAKER_03]: month about your business.

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_03]: What three things must you know every month to know how your business is doing?

[00:25:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, we'd have to know how many sales are coming in and how much is being made off

[00:25:05] [SPEAKER_03]: that and the expenses that are going out for it.

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_03]: It's about it.

[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_03]: It's about profit and loss.

[00:25:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Matt, I've asked lots of questions.

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_03]: I know we could talk for hours on end, but we will not.

[00:25:15] [SPEAKER_03]: What's one question I did not ask, but I should have asked?

[00:25:18] [SPEAKER_03]: Probably the end goal.

[00:25:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, yeah.

[00:25:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Let's cover it.

[00:25:21] [SPEAKER_03]: The end goal is to leave Remax concepts maybe 10 or some years through.

[00:25:26] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know when, but to leave it much bigger and better than we found it.

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't think we've done that already, but we have such big goals with it ahead.

[00:25:33] [SPEAKER_03]: I would like to create a district in Des Moines like a little Italy.

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_03]: That's my goal.

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_03]: I want to create a commercial district and bring all the Italians that I grew up with

[00:25:43] [SPEAKER_03]: that own their own businesses like Georgie Famaro and the Tamias and the Marat, Joey Gatto's

[00:25:47] [SPEAKER_03]: and all the Terseys and everybody.

[00:25:49] [SPEAKER_03]: All my buddies that own all these restaurants and bring it down and bring our families back

[00:25:53] [SPEAKER_03]: to where they immigrated to.

[00:25:54] [SPEAKER_03]: That's my goal.

[00:25:55] [SPEAKER_03]: That's my end goal.

[00:25:56] [SPEAKER_03]: And then of course, to have a beach house somewhere where I leave for three or four months

[00:26:00] [SPEAKER_03]: and get away when my kids are older and stuff.

[00:26:03] [SPEAKER_03]: But I'm simple that way.

[00:26:04] [SPEAKER_03]: My end goal is a little ambitious, but it's close to my heart.

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER_03]: I think that's the legacy I want to leave.

[00:26:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Matt, it's been a fun conversation.

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_03]: For people, they want to find you, they want to follow you, they want to connect with you.

[00:26:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Where can they go?

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_03]: What should they do?

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I'm easy to find on all social media, whether it be Instagram, Facebook.

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't do Twitter.

[00:26:18] [SPEAKER_03]: I think I just kind of missed that age-wise.

[00:26:21] [SPEAKER_03]: But we're on TikTok, even though they don't use it a whole lot, but I'm trying.

[00:26:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:26:24] [SPEAKER_03]: But those are the three major things, LinkedIn, of course, and I'm easy to find out on Google

[00:26:28] [SPEAKER_03]: and stuff.

[00:26:29] [SPEAKER_03]: If anybody has a residential real estate need, I'd be honored to help you out.

[00:26:32] [SPEAKER_03]: We'll put links below in the show notes, everybody.

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_03]: I appreciate you having me.

[00:26:35] [SPEAKER_03]: Thanks for being here, bud.

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Thank you.

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Thanks for listening.

[00:26:38] [SPEAKER_03]: If you're enjoying the show, may I ask a favor of you?

[00:26:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Naturally, subscribe so you never miss an episode.

[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_03]: But would you rate and leave an honest written review on Apple Podcasts?

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_03]: It does a lot for us here at the show, and I appreciate reading your thoughts.

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Great guests make for a great show.

[00:26:53] [SPEAKER_03]: So if you know of another Iowan who would be a great guest, or you yourself have interest

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_03]: in being a guest, well, get on our radar.

[00:27:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Visit Investing in Iowa to fill out an application or recommend a guest.

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_03]: And if you want to connect with me one-on-one, go to LegacyImpactInvestors.com.

[00:27:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Click on the Invest With Us button in the top right corner, and there you can pick a time

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_03]: for the two of us to get on the calendar and connect.

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Until next time, keep investing in Iowa.

[00:27:24] Thank you.

[00:27:24] Thank you.

[00:27:24] Thank you.

[00:27:24] Thank you.

[00:27:24] Thank you.

[00:27:24] .