Husband and Wife Multifamily Team Crushing It First Year

Ep #597 – MFRS – Husband and Wife Multifamily Team Crushing It First Year

Full Transcript Below:

Rod: Welcome back to Multifamily Rock Stars. So as you know, this is where we interview people that are crushing it in this business. And we show you guys the insight scoop into how multi-family investors are creating massive success in their businesses, but also in their lives at home, especially on this particular episode. And as always, I’ve got my co-host, who’s the director of my massive action team for our Warrior Mentorship group, Mark Nagy on the call. Mark, what’s going on? What’s got you excited, lately brother?

Mark: Hey, Rod, we got the boot camp coming up. We got multiple warriors we’re interviewing today. Lots of good podcast coming out over the next few weeks, so I’m pumped. It’s gonna be a good Friday. Obviously, we’re recording this on Friday, but, yeah, just ready to learn some stuff. Let’s get into it.

Rod: Awesome. Awesome. Well, we’ve got Jon and Sam Wells on the show today, and they are warriors, and they currently own a $10,000,000 in assets, 172 doors are also limited partners and five other assets. And you know, Jon brings a background as a real estate salesperson. And they’ve got a couple of young kids, and they both work this business together, which is kind of cool. So we’re going to dig into that a little bit. But welcome to the show, guys.

Jon: Thank you.

Sam: Thanks Rod. Thrilled To be here.

Jon: Thanks for having us.

Rod: Absolutely. So why don’t you expand a little bit on you know, that pathetic inner bio that I gave you? So give us a little more background how you got into real estate you know, and maybe just a little more framework for the conversation.

Jon: Well, you mentioned the real estate sales I got into, and I got into that about five years ago with a company, and that really expanded my mind into possibilities of what’s possible in our lives, just with goal setting and really being the designer of our lives. And that opened up, as you know, there’s 32 different flavors in real estate. Right. And that opened the education piece up for me. And we started learning. I knew we had to go in the same direction. Sam was on board with learning, too. And you didn’t mention that she comes from a business development background. It really helps with I mean it’s basically sales, too. I’m in sales and she’s in business development. So combining those things brings us to where we are now.

Rod: Wow. So how old are your kids again? So I want to give everyone a framework of what you guys have in your lives.

Sam: We have a two and a half year old and an eight month old, and I still– I do business development, so I still have a full-time job in addition to what I do with multi- family.

Rod: Wow, that’s really impressive, Sam. So talk about for a minute, how you guys divide and conquer in this business. Talk about that and the different roles. I mean, maybe I’m getting a little ahead of him. I might be getting a little ahead of it. Hang on a second. I want to come back to that. Actually, let’s talk about how you got going in multi-family. Because you got all those 172 doors in the Warrior Program, right?

Sam: Yes.

Rod: Okay. And you aligned with other warriors that have helped shore up pieces where you guys needed help. Like, I think you said the analysis part, is that correct?

Sam: Yes. I would like to talk about how we got into the Warrior Program because Jonathan said I was aligned in growth and education initially. And I was. But he was a much bigger thinker. And he said, let’s go to this boot camp. So I signed up for that thinking that would quiet everything down, you know.

Rod: Shut him up, shut him up.

Sam: Yeah. And after we did the boot camp, I was like, what are we doing? We got to go forward. So we joined the Warrior Program as a result of that. And that’s really how we got involved in those two deals and we networked. Well, John then really did a bunch of the networking which pulled us into those two deals as a result of–

Rod: Did you go to a live event or was it a virtual?

Sam: Virtual.

Rod: Virtual. Okay. Well, so you know, we’re having a virtual event this August 28th and 29th, and it may be the last one. I have to decide. I really have enjoyed them because it’s so much easier on me than a three day live. But we’ve now got a three day live scheduled December 3rd, 4th and 5th as well. And we’re having a special guys, I probably, I’m going to screw up my team because I’m bringing this up live, but we’re having a special where you do both of them for, I think, like 297, which is just ridiculously reasonable. And we throw in some bonuses and stuff as well. So the code for those two events, the virtual and the live is just text “2 EVENTS”, the number two events, to “72345”. And it’s a phenomenal deal because you get both the virtual event and the live event for I’m pretty sure it’s 297. So again, that’s two the number “2 EVENTS”, to “72345”. Alright. So let me ask you guys a question as it relates to the roles that you play in Team Wells here. What are the roles?So talk about what you do, Jon, and then what you do, Sam, as it relates to building this multi-family business.

Jon: Yes. Sam really finds a lot of deals. She does an amazing job networking with brokers. The deal flow. I think we’ve looked at over 200 deals so far this year, and, you know, everything looks kind of like an opportunity. And I’m pretty good at put them down pretty fast and you know.

Sam: Too fast.

Rod: What do you mean, putting them down? You mean saying…

Jon and Sam: Yeah.

Rod: Okay. Got you. Okay.

Sam: Which is so helpful because I’ll get you know,locked in on like, no, I think this is and John say that– you know, he’s more like, no, this is what we’re looking for.

Rod: Okay.Okay.

Jon: Yeah. Maybe a little bit too much. So I could open my mind a little bit. But you know, as you know, Rod, you could spend a ton of time on one deal. That really is a waste of time, right.

Rod: Trying to put lipstick on a pig.

Jon: Yeah, that’s right. Yeah. So that’s kind of our strength there same time continuing to network and meet other warriors and do you know, network with them so they can help us. We’re a little bit more weak. We do initial underwriting really well. I think it’s always objective to get– are always helpful to get an objective view of someone else, which I mean, no matter how much we dig into something, always putting it on someone else and they’re getting their view. We always look at it. Go, man, I didn’t think of that. I didn’t think of that.

Sam: Yeah. And I’ll say too, one of the things I didn’t realize when you know, prior to the boot camp and then joining is I thought it was kind of an individual sport, and it’s taken me a little bit. You know, I had that little bit of a scarcity mindset of you know, I want to do this with us. And then John kept saying, no, we’re going to partner with people you know. So that’s really opened my eyes and created a lot more opportunity because other people can raise capital. And it just helped tremendously to kind of open my mind in that area.

Rod: Yeah. And that was tough for me, too. I’ll be honest. And then I looked in the mirror and I said, hey, do you want 50% of something or 100% or nothing you know? And I had to have that conversation with myself.

Mark: Yeah. So other– for other Realtors or sales people out there listening then, you know, who are thinking about getting into this. What sorts of skill sets do you guys think that they could bring to the table on a multi-family team that maybe you guys transferred over and brought to the table?

Sam: I think business development. What really happened is we had our second child and I had gotten off social media, and I started listening to just podcast. And so I was listening to Rod’s podcast and you know, talking about using your strengths and building relationships. And so I thought, man, I do that every day. Why wouldn’t I do that you know, in this scope? So I think not reinventing the wheel, but using what you’re good at. And you know, I don’t think I’m the most extroverted person, but I like being one on one, talking to brokers and being able to you know, use some of the longevity and history of our partners you know, in order to be a little bit more educated and a little bit more experienced has helped tremendously. So for someone just starting out, I think if you have an analytical background, you know, you can bring that into the underwriting piece. But the business development background has really help me with brokers.

Rod: And it’ll also help you with Ops. Frankly, with the asset management piece. I don’t know what role if any of you are playing in that, but you certainly could as well. That’s great framework for that. Do you agree?

Sam: Yes. We were– I’m not as involved on the ones we have in the asset management, but I am still learning that piece. And so we get on the calls. I guess–

Jon: Yeah.Yeah.

Rod: So did you align with other warriors that had doors? Is that how you took that down, or did you find– yes you’re nodding. Yeah. Okay. So you use their resume effectively to be able to take down a larger deal than be taken seriously by broker or seller or even investors, as it were to do those deals.

Jon: Yeah. 100%. We helped with the equity raise on a couple of deals, and it was so generous of the partners that brought us into the deal because it did. Like you said, Rod, they gave us so much clout when talking to those brokers and confidence on ourselves. Really. I mean just knowing we had that behind us just gave us– I mean so much fuel behind, you know.

Sam: Yeah.

Rod: It takes a lot of the fear out.

Jon and Sam: Yes.

Sam: Yeah. Very helpful.

Jon: And to go back to Mark’s question about real estate sales and how that’s been able to help me you know. Initially, when I learned everything went to the boot camp, I was like, you know, we can find these deals off market because that’s how I found residential deals, right. Just cold calling. And it’s a numbers game. Right. So we went after that. That’s initially how we found our very first deal, actually, that we ended up wholesaling. But you know, you’ve heard everything that we got going on in our lives. You know, two full time jobs, plus multi-family, plus two kids.

Rod: Right.

Jon: Really quick we learned, hey, we need to leverage up. Right. So what better way to leverage and people leverage and use brokers to do all that work. Than us try to do it on our own?

Mark: Let’s talk about that for a second I mean. Tell us some of the things you guys think that multi-family investing has brought to your life that you think you wouldn’t be able to get with just being a realtor or a sales person or whatever may be.

Jon: I mean, yeah, it’s taken the cap off of my brain. I think really, like the opportunity is amazing. When I first talked to Rod before joining the program, It was like, hey, we got this financial goal. This is what we want to hit. And it’s like, you know, now it’s like, I can totally see ten X and that goal and ten X and that goal. Just like Rod has, you know. That’s the major thing that’s happened to me since I’ve been in the business.

Sam: And you know, that has happened to me also. We’ve also– you know, a lot of our– some of our family kind of thinks we’re crazy you know.

Rod: They’re always there, love them, but don’t let them influence you.

Sam: Yes. And I’ve heard that, too, which has been so helpful. And you know, so we went on Secret X and got to go to Costa Rica. We’ve developed relationships as a result of this with people who are like minded you know. And so the caps taken off for them, too. And everybody is really excelling. And that has been a tremendous help.

Rod: Yeah. That was a mastermind that Tiffy and I went to as well that warriors in the group. There’s actually a group of warriors that put that mastermind together, which is a lot of fun. They’ve done Jamaica, Costa Rica, I think Aruba and I’ve gone to a couple of them. It was a real blast. And yeah, I’ve forgotten about that. When you meet a few thousand people a year, it gets a little too, especially when you’re old as I am. But anyway, yeah, that was an awesome time. That was an awesome, awesome time. But, yeah, those warriors put that together. And, you know, warriors actually put together the largest group of meet-ups in the country as well. That’s kind of proud of that. And I’ve got warriors that have award winning podcasts now. And it’s just kind of like the ripple you know. You drop a drop and it just ripples out. And it’s just such a cool thing. I think what I’d like to do is pivot to those people that are listening they are married, they have kids, that are thinking this would be something awesome to do with their spouse. And let’s talk about what’s great about that. And then let’s also talk about what you have to work through with that. So let’s start with what’s great about it.

Jon: I mean, just going the same direction, really. You know, once you get married and some of the best advice I got was like, you have to you know, consciously hold that person and by the hand and take them with you wherever you go. I mean, everywhere you go, but we’re going in the same direction. Our lives are married quite literally together now. So if we’re on the same– different pages, like I’m not going to hit my goals. She’s not going to hit her goals. So it’s just you know, a dance to make sure that we’re heading in the right direction.

Rod: That’s– what an awesome response. What are you going to say, Sam?

Sam: Well I’d say it’s so, and you know I can– I’m looking at something. And you know, my best friend I can say, you know, hey, this is what’s going on with this. Look what this could do you know. Also, I think it’s been really neat, you know, as a result of Jonathan networking is how we you know, got those two deals. And so you’re kind of watching your partner grow and expand and get out of their comfort zone, which is an attractive thing. So that part has been really awesome, too.

Rod: Okay. So what have you had to define some lanes? Are you there yet, or is that still in the works, or you know, are you playing to your strengths? Talk about that for a little bit, because, you know, I talk about play to your strengths. Hire a line or partner for your weaknesses. Talk about how that’s working for you.

Sam: I think it’s a work in progress. That’s one of our full disclosure, one of our pain points. I think right now is there’s you know, so much that we want to tackle. And so I’m more bada bing bada boom here’s this, and Jonathan, is more or less time block. You know, I’m doing this right now, so I’m focused on that. And so I think currently, right now in our lives, we’re both working so hard, we’re kind of pulling each other in a little bit of different direction.

Rod: Okay..

Jon: Yeah. Absolutely. There’s just so much opportunity. And for me, my only– where I get a little screwballed or frustrated is you know, the squirrel or the shiny object type.

Rod: Oh Yeah. Squirrels.

Jon: I have to stay focus. Once I believe in something, I bought into it, I’m going to go all in on that, and I’m going to go do deep work on it, and I just can’t be distracted. So we do– one solution we’ve done is time block. Hey, let’s put it on the calendar. Let’s find time to talk about that, make sure it makes sense and go after it.

Sam: Yeah.

Rod: It’s a continual work in progress. I mean, that goes without saying it sounds to me like based on what you said earlier, you already playing your strengths. You’re building relationships. Sam and Jon, you’re underwriting deals and reviewing deals and mixing deals that don’t warrant further looking. And that’s an awesome system right there you know. Right now, finding the deals is the biggest issue. So you know, if you’ve got that hammered and you’re building relationships with potential investors, I mean, forget it. It’s done. Success is inevitable, as evidenced by your success. So you know–

Sam: I think one of the hard parts, too, you know, is our kids are so young right now. And so you know, talk about what is it brought to our lives. I’m thinking long term for my kids and their kids, and they’re so young. We want to spend all this time with them. But sometimes it’s hard to kind of shut it off and you know, be completely present. And so that’s one of the things I love about you know, you write as you talk about the mindset and all, too, and you know, what’s your why. And so it really helps that it’s not just you know, looking at numbers or finances and all that. It’s much deeper than that than what are we really doing all this for.

Rod: What’s most important and I know I’ve had a conversation with you guys about my planning process and the time blocking and making sure that you’re focused on what’s most important. And you don’t have the regrets that I had with my kids where I’d be distracted when I was with them. And greatest regret to this day. And that’s why I spend so much time on that. Love it. By the way, guys, if you’re listening and you have an interest in our Warrior Program, interested in applying for it, text the word “CRUSH” to “72345” again that’s “CRUSH” to “72345”. And we– you know, have to see if it’s a fit. We see if you’re a fit, and you see if we’re a fit and we don’t take everybody. But it’s an incredible program. I think I can honestly say my warriors are approaching 46,000 door zone now, and I’ve only been teaching a little under four years, so I’m really, really freaking proud of that. Anyway. Yeah.

Mark: By the way, even if it’s not the right fit, my team and I will help some of these things that Jon and Sam are talking about. Help you and your wife, your spouse, whoever it is, get on the same page and accomplish all those things together.

Rod: Yeah. And if it’s not a fit, you’ll leave a call better than when you started that I can promise you. Okay. Yeah. Set up a call if you’re interested again “CRUSH” to “72345” for our Warrior Mentorship Program. We’ve got, I don’t know, 6-700 people across the country now, actually, more than that with people that have moved on, and really built some amazing things. So. Yeah. So let me ask you this, guys, if you could speak to a couple or a person that’s in a relationship or a single person, it doesn’t matter. Anybody, frankly, that’s thinking about this business that hasn’t taken action yet that knows they want more you know. They don’t wake up every morning thrilled to be alive. What might you say to them?

Jon: Do it. So you know, there’s a lot of coaching programs as you know out there, Rod. And there’s a ton of knowledge. There’s tons of podcasts, if not you know, and we don’t need more knowledge. It’s about, hey, we need motivation. We need– you know, one of your greatest things is your goal setting program. Yeah. That is phenomenal. I think you give it away free, don’t you?

Rod: I do.

Jon: Online somewhere, but I highly recommend it if you all haven’t taken that. But the why behind you doing these things and what you incorporate in the coaching program of the motivation is really the big thing. It’s like, hey, we once we made a decision in that program, it was like, all right, we’re burning the ships, and we’re doing this thing, and that was the biggest differentiator.

Sam: And that’s evolved, too. Just in the last you know, May 2020 is when we did the boot camp. And so it’s August 2021. But we you know, started just by sending out letters. That was the action that we could take. And that’s how we found that first wholesaling deal, then–

Rod: No kidding.

Sam: Yes.

Jon: One of your letters.

Sam: Yeah, exactly. A template you know. And then that’s evolved to then, like, okay, we’re making phone calls. We’re networking with brokers. I mean, it just kind of evolved as a part of the process, but I think the biggest thing is just doing something to take action.

Rod: Yeah. Just take an action. And action mitigates fear. And you spoke to why. You know, we’re doing something cool this weekend. We’re doing a thousand backpacks filled with school supplies this Saturday here in Sarasota. We’re up to tens of thousands of those. And that’s one of my whys. And so what are your whys?

Jon: The kids, the family. Yeah. I mean, it’s time freedom, right. That’s the whole goal is to really– I know it’s your biggest regret. We don’t want to have that regret. And we’re right in the middle of it, too, and almost a year old, and now is the time. You know, and you take it so much for granted. And we’re just trying to take your experience and other folks experience that, hey we know, hey don’t blink is what someone said, because next thing you know, they’re all grown, and you can’t get that time back. So that’s my biggest spot.

Sam: Yeah. Mine, too. The time freedom. And just to create something kind of– I heard the other day we were doing a workshop together, and they said, you know, when someone the last person to say your name after you’ve passed you know. How long the legacy goes on? And I thought, well, I never thought of that. And I want to give our kids the opportunity to learn about time freedom and finances, but to leave something for their kids and really to make their life as best as possible. And the other thing, too, you know, we have a background of you know, we can’t have what we have unless we help somebody else. And that’s so much of just what we’re being taught to is you have to give it away, help someone else.

Rod: Love it.

Mark: So out of just pure curiosity, guys, what do you think would have happened if we didn’t do that? If we didn’t have the mindset, the pushing, the motivation? What do you guys think if we left that out and we just did teaching, you know, what do you guys think would have happened?

Jon: Nothing.

Sam: Yeah. I think I would have given up by now. You know. I mean I’ll speak to that about giving up you know. We’ve looked at 201 deals, I think since January, you know, about deal 197. I was like, I’m not doing this anymore you know. That’s one thing. I think that’s really helped us having us on the same page you know, and also having that why is you just push past that.
Rod: Yeah. You know, and I want to say this to those of you listening. Yeah. And I got this complaint from one of my warriors yesterday. You know, I looked at 200 deals and I said, are you better at it now? Yes. Because let me say this. Stuff’s coming, right. And I mean, real estate goes through cycles, and there’s gonna be– there’s deals now. We’ve got a deal under contract. If you’re accredited for God’s sakes, text “PARTNER” to “72345”. We’ve still got some slots left in our awesome San Antonio deal. But the point is they’re out there, but you have to kiss a lot of frogs. But don’t let that stifle you or stop you, because when there is a contraction and a pullback, if you’ve already built up these systems and you’re good at it and you’ve built relationships and you’ve got access to investors and money, you are going to exponentially grow. I mean, you can grow right now, and you know, I get that all the time. Should I wait to buy? No. But you should be looking for deals hard and you’ll find them. But don’t get frustrated. So I’m really glad you brought that up, because it’s such a critical piece of this. There’s no better time than right now to learn this business because real estate goes through cycles. I’ve been through three of them, big ones, you know, big contractions. And, of course, ‘08 was my biggest seminar. But there was one in the 80’s and the SNL thing happened. And so you know, it’s just the way real estate works. It’s like seasons of life. And so it is a you know, perfect time to get into this business and learn it to be, you know, again, if you’re poised when that happens, watch out. So anyway, listen, it was very much a pleasure to have you guys on the show and see you. And you know, we’ve got the events coming up. I hope to see you guys if you can make it to our warrior only event. We got a warrior only event in September you know. That’s where we do the two day event just for warriors and deep dive on stuff. And then we’ve got the three day boot camp coming up December 3rd, 4th and 5th in Orlando. So a lot of cool stuff. Thank God the world is opening up. So anyway, look forward to giving you a hug then. And thank you for coming on. And we’ll see you soon, guys.

Jon and Sam: Thanks Rod. Thanks Mark..

Sam: Thank you.

Jon: Bye.