Big Mike Fund Podcast

Today it is my pleasure and a privilege to welcome back economist and trader, Frances Newton Stacy. She works for Optimal Capital as the director of portfolio strategy. Frances is also a frequent guest on both CNBC, as well as Fox Business News as a commentator on Central Bank Policy. She also blogs about the trading community by helping to recognize key cycles and significant support and resistance levels. Today we’re talking about what the post-election market looks like from trends to market projections. We’re also talking about the cost of living increase, interest rates, and the commercial real estate space. It is always a pleasure to have Frances on the podcast. Minute Markers: 00:22 - Hello and Welcome 01:45 - The post-election market 03:50 - Market pricing projections, capital gains, and raising taxes during a pandemic 08:00 - Cost of living increase 13:47 - What’s going to happen with 18:30 - Interest rates and national debt 25:00 - Politics and neutrality and “being in the middle” 27:30 - Commercial real estate space 28:30 - Thanks to Frances 29:07 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “Because of its populism and people are getting left behind, and there's a lot of social angst, the country is moving to extremes in both directions—depending on who they follow or who their leaders are. For a lot of people, both sides were taking it a little too far for their comfort level, and markets like certainty.” - Frances Newton Stacy “We statistically still don't know how many Americans are falling through the cracks because you don't know how many Americans are going to actually starve to death. We have the eviction moratorium expiring in December. We have the extended unemployment benefits expiring in December.” - Frances Newton Stacy “We're not going to be able to service all of that debt if interest rates are moving higher, and that's the reason that the FED would come in with yield curve control is because they would foresee the deflationary challenge coming from defaults if interest rates went up too far, too fast.” - Frances Newton Stacy “I don't know if some of the more progressive parts of the Democratic Party—if they should come into power—what their spending will look like around that issue and how they think about that issue versus how the moderates think about that issue. But I'm hoping that common sense prevails.” - Frances Newton Stacy “It's just hard. It's just hard to not go from one room to the other and sound very political because that is what people understand, that's the language that they speak, and that's the culture that we're living in. It's tough.” - Frances Newton Stacy Resources: Frances Newton Stacy, Twitter Frances Newton Stacy, email: frances@optimalcapital.com Ray Dalio’s book “Big Debt Crisis”: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GLBHM48/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

On this episode of the Big Mike Fund, I’m happy to welcome a brother from theCollective Genius Mastermind and the Freedom Founders Mastermind, Marck De Lautour. He works in redevelopment projects, commercial deals, as well as turnkey properties. Today we’re focusing on various aspects of Marck’s specialities including his process in acquiring new products, his business practices, historic building conversions, and building new turnkey range affordable housing. Marck also introduces the topic of container homes and talks about his 7-14-300 method. Minute Markers: 00:20 - Hello and Welcome 00:37 - Marck Introduction 04:20 - Cash flow in appreciation, Marck’s business practices 12:00 - Specificities about the market: sales price and rent prices 16:07 - Real estate is still a business 18:20 - Where Marck finds his supply of product 21:22 - Building new turnkey range affordable housing 22:40 - Historic building conversion 24:35 - Container homes 27:10 - Contacting Marck 28:07 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “Then, I flipped my house in Kansas City while I was getting my MBA. Just flipped my first house and kind of stumbled into a decent profit. I thought, well, why go sit behind a desk making $40,000 or $50,000 a year when I could have some fun?” - Marck De Lautour “When the student is ready, the teacher appears. I believe that the same could be said for the marketplace. When the market is ready, the entrepreneur appears.” - Marck De Lautour “I joke that the best exit strategy for real estate is to never exit. Our investors value the fact that they have a high-quality asset in a better area. The caveat to that is you have to manage it effectively over time. The two big killers of cash flow, as you know, Mike, are vacancy and maintenance. Those are completely controlled by having dialed in property management.” - Marck De Lautour “We call it the 7-14-300. We have a 7% yield or cap rate, a 14% cash on cash return minimum, and a $300 per month minimum cash flow. We will not sell an asset if it doesn't clear those hurdles. That's kind of our minimum financial criteria for every asset.” - Marck De Lautour “The old container homes are getting repurposed. They are all steel. You can actually use that as a shell rather than building with wood and frame. You can actually cut the sides off and put them two together. You can get a thousand square foot home inside one of these container ships. It's quite amazing what the finished product and how amazingly homey it feels.” - Marck De Lautour Resources: Amazon: MISTAKE FREE REAL ESTATE: A passive investor's guide to winning with rentals Marck’s landing page: mistakefreerealestate.com

On this episode of the Big Mike Fund, I’m happy to welcome back Eric Goodman. Full disclosure, we invested with Eric from a couple of our funds—from Tempo Opportunity and Tempo Growth into Goodman Capital Fund too. We love working with Eric. He's a brilliant and intelligent guy and is a managing partner at Goodman Capital LLC. Today we’re talking about investments in the post-COVID world, specifically in New York. We go over interesting opportunities that have arisen because of COVID, risk assets, as well as glance at Eric’s crystal ball as he gives his predictions for future investment opportunities. Eric also talks about the effects of the CARES Act. Minute Markers: 00:20 - Hello and Welcome 01:45 - New York and investments during and post-COVID 07:11 - Difference between investments and risk assets (at risk of financial default) 13:50 - Eric’s crystal ball (his predictions for investment opportunities and his investments) 21:30 - Interesting opportunities because of the effects of COVID 25:37 - What’s happening at Goodman Capital LLC 28:15 - Reaching out to Eric 29:25 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “What you don't hear as much about is a lot of the big tech moving into the city—Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple, and all those big players. You look at just last month, Facebook took over the former US Post Office. A lot of 730,000 square feet. They took over the Farley Post Office. They now occupy over 2 million square feet.” - Eric Goodman “These periods of market uncertainty generally create limited periods of limited access of capital for two types of end-users. There are borrowers who have approaching loan maturities and they're in need of a refi, but then don't forget the other side of the coin.” - Eric Goodman “But there's good news and there's a silver lining to the story. That is, under the CARES Act, the TDR and non-accrual exemption lasts only until the earlier of 12/31 of this year, or 60 days after the designation of COVID is no longer a national emergency.” - Eric Goodman “There are many tax favorable treatments for leasing up and not executing a condo plan and providing that our loan basis is at the right investment's value threshold. That can be a very attractive investment to own as a rental refi and hold until the market turns.” - Eric Goodman Resources: Eric Goodman email: invest@goodmancapitalllc.com Goodman Capital LLC

On this episode of the Big Mike Fund, we’re talking with California-born and Oregon-native Matt Burk. Matt is the founder and CEO of Fairway America as well as Verivest, a fund administration company. Today we’re talking about the opportunities for the rest of Q4 2020 and beyond. Matt also gives us his expertise about terms in the industry (for example, fund versus syndication) in addition to defining what a good deal is and how it can become a great deal. He gives us a little insight on Fairway America and the Verivest platform as well. Matt founded Fairway Financial Services, Inc. in 1992 and has led Fairway’s investment team for more than 28 years. He began his career in real estate finance in 1986 after graduating from the University of California, Davis with a degree in economics. His extensive experience has provided him with wide-ranging exposure and deep expertise in a broad array of real estate asset classes, structured finance, distressed debt acquisition and disposition, and open- and closed-ended 506 Regulation D funds. Minute Markers: 00:20 - Hello and Welcome 00:37 - A little about Matt Burk 02:00 - The story of Fairway America 06:15 - The difference between investing in a fund versus syndication 09:50 - COVID and opportunities 14:26 - How can a good deal become a great deal? 20:00 - Other opportunities 27:00 - The Verivest platform 29:50 - The importance of verified sponsors 32:55 - Reaching out to Matt 33:45 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “I think repurposing is a big opportunity. I think there's opportunity in smaller deals that are below the typical institutional size. There's fewer players that are going to come in and bid up prices, so some of the middle market entrepreneurs can take advantage of some pretty attractive cap rates.” - Matt Burk “That's what we try to strive for in making good decisions—so that when things don't go well, you can live with it and move on. But it is nice when they do go well and you get to kind of a place, we're at least under LOI right now.” - Matt Burk “If you look across the board in storage, the amount of supply that's come on line the last few years has been significant. There is a, I call it, macro level supply issue that is putting downward pressure on rents. In the storage business, it's very much a microbusiness.” - Matt Burk “Since the shell is already there, if it's in good condition, your cost of build out is much less than building it from the ground up. The thesis is you get in at 60–70% of what you can get in from the ground up. You end up with a Class A facility on a major arterial with a lot of traffic count and an infill location with limited supply..” - Matt Burk “Once you start going through the process of verifying and monitoring your ongoing performance, it makes it that much easier for you to gain credibility with your investors on the front end. It's super inexpensive and affordable to be able to do..” - Matt Burk Resources: Matt Burk email: mark.burk@fairwayamerica.com

It’s my pleasure and privilege to have with me today Haley Gant an IRA Specialist at Quest IRA, Inc. As an IRA Specialist, it is Haley’s role to help educate investors on how they can use a Self-Directed IRA for their real estate investments, either passive or active, to earn tax-free returns into their retirement account. It is a phenomenal company and we love working with Quest. We’ve done a few webinars with Haley and love working with her as well. Today we’re talking about self-directed IRAs, UBIT, Roth IRAs, and prohibited transactions when it comes to IRAs. Haley shares her knowledge on these topics as well as a few others. We delve deep into what Quest can offer you and the perks of IRA investments. Minute Markers: 00:20 - Hello and Welcome 01:00 - A little about Haley Gant 02:24 - What are self-directed IRAs? 07:15 - The basics about UBIT (unrelated business income tax) 16:38 - Traditional IRA versus Roth IRA: Converting Investments 27:30 - What’s the process for converting? 33:00 - Prohibited transactions 39:00 - Final comments, Reaching out to Quest 41:38 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “There are certain types of investments, such as owning debt leverage property in the IRA, investing in a pass-through entity that is owning debt leverage property in the IRA, or if your IRA is investing in an ongoing trader business.” - Haley Gant “We see a lot of people do cash conversions because sometimes that can be a little bit simpler. You don’t have to nail down a hard value of that asset as if you’re converting the actual asset.” - Haley Gant “Once you know the smallest of things that you can’t do with your IRA, now there’s this whole other world of opportunity of the things that you can do with your IRA. You just can’t use your IRA, again, to invest in your own business.” - Haley Gant “You can’t benefit from your own IRA investments. You can certainly self-direct it and choose what type of investments go into that account. You just can’t personally be benefiting from those investments.” - Haley Gant “As much as I hate to say this, there’s very little predictability in the stock market. While in real estate, there’s a lot of predictability—not guaranteed, but you could see what’s happening.” - Mike Zlotnik Resources: Haley Gant, LinkedIn Podcast.Questtrust.com Quest Trust Company website

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. It’s my pleasure and privilege to welcome back to the show, Chris Miles who is an Infinite Banking expert. Today we’ll be talking about what life insurance is, the trends in the market, different forms of life insurance, and we’ll briefly touch on the stock market and other types of investments. Chris Miles, is the “Cash Flow Expert.” He is a leading authority on how to create cash flow and lasting wealth for thousands of his clients, entrepreneurs, and others internationally. After working as a traditional financial advisor and stock coach for several years, Chris came to a stark realization that the financial advising industry was not showing anyone how to quickly and safely become financially prosperous today. After leaving that industry, he was able to retire when he was 28, and has since worked to teach his effective, unique strategies, for companies like Freedom Fast Track and Garrett Gunderson, and now Money Ripples, while exposing the popular myths around money that have kept so many from enjoying financial freedom and peace of mind. Minute Markers: 00:22 - Hello and Welcome 01:00 - Current state of real estate and the stock market 02:00 - Chris’ background and family life 03:50 - Infinite banking 07:23 - Whole Life Insurance and Reinsurance 11:00 - Negative interest rates 12:40 - Trends of life insurance companies 13:50 - Reaching Chris 15:10 - Financial planning 20:00 - What’s wrong with the stock market 23:30 - Real estate, leverage, and IRAs 30:00 - Legacy and life insurance 32:40 - Walt Disney World and the misconception of life insurance 37:55 - Conclusion and final thoughts 39:48 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “Infinite banking is just a fancy term that people use to let your money flow in and out of life insurance, specifically whole life. What most people don't realize—most people all know what term is. It's death insurance. You pay into it, you die, and you finally get paid. Actually, you don't. Your heirs get paid. You get nothing. You're dead.” – Chris Miles “I would agree with the trend, that as rates are very low, life insurance companies can only pay lower returns. If they go into negative, it'll be a little bit less. The primary benefit is not just the 4.5%, 5%, or even 5.5% return, but it's access to the capital and ability to take action with that cash. You're basically self banking.” – Chris Miles “You might find a rapper. A little kid rapper that's named Chris Miles. That is not me, I promise.” – Chris Miles “Here's the thing I can promise you. There is no product offered by a financial adviser, including life insurance, that will make you financially free..” – Chris Miles “That's why I'm the anti because I'm against mutual funds, from the standpoint of trying to retire off of them and that sort of thing. If you want to have some in your portfolio, fine. But don't bank on that. You do need help, and that's where finding someone who can say, ‘Hey, let's look at your whole picture here. Where do we find money,’ and ‘How do we turn out a way to help you make more?’” – Chris Miles “That's one of the problems with the stock markets. One of the major problems, the Ps being so high th

On today’s episode, I’m talking with Steve Wible. Steve is a Marine Corps veteran with a deep background in real estate sales, flipping and property management, print manufacturing, and of course, building and obtaining business credit. He has founded and led multiple successful companies and had as many as 300+ rental properties in his portfolio. Our conversation today is about business credit, fundability factors, credit rate terminology, and about COVID and how it has affected lending and credit scores. Minute Markers: 00:20 - Hello and Welcome 01:06 - A little about Steve 03:00 - Fundability factors 06:30 - The process of how Steve works with clients 08:00 - Business versus Personal Credit Card 12:35 - Where do people get credit today? 15:35 - Cash flow financing 18:00 - Typical terms on introductory rate credit cards 21:50 - Where to find Steve’s services 24:00 - How does the government know how to run your business? 27:00 - Final comments, Final thoughts 30:43 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “Take advantage of [gas cards] and use it and build your business profile. First of all, you’re not using your personal credit. The utilization directly impacts your personal credit score. The less you use it, the stronger your score will be. So it’s there when you really need it.” - Steve WIble “Anyone who lived through ‘08, we’ve seen this before. We know what the end result is. In the end, [a lender’s] job is to lend money.” - Steve WIble “[CreditSuite] is not a sales company, we want to educate first. If you’re unsure, just reach out” - Steve WIble “It’s been very difficult to operate in a government mandated and regulated environment.” - Mike Zlotnik “COVID has differentiated between the winners and the losers in a very big way.” - Mike Zlotnik Resources: LinkedIn: Steve Wible Office phone: 1-877-600-2487 Website: CreditSuite

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today, it is my pleasure and a privilege to welcome Jake Vanderslice to the podcast. Jake is a specialist in self-storage and is also a brother from the Freedom Founders Mastermind as well as the Collective Genius Mastermind. In this episode Jake and I talk about the process, benefits, and the state of investing in self-storage, how Denver is holding up in the pandemic, and interest rates and cap rates. Minute Markers: 00:20 - Hello and Welcome 00:30 - Jake Vanderslice introduction and backstory 03:08 - The value in investing in existing self-storage facilities 04:00 - The length of time for the process of leasing a facility and getting it ready 05:00 - The benefits of self-storage 06:45 - Jake’s first and second fund 08:14 - Distributions on Jake’s first fund 11:54 - REITs and cap rates 14:50 - Rising interest rates 16:00 - Denver, COVID, and their status 19:30 - The risk of oversupply and the challenge of retail conversions 22:20 - Getting a hold of Jake 22:58 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “We got into the self storage business in 2015 with some institutional partners. We liked the space because it's scalable, repeatable, and predictable. The data at the time suggested that it was historically resistant to downturns.” – Jake Vanderslice “One of the main things we like about the asset classes, the granularity of the income streams, you're relying on (in our case) thousands of people to pay us tiny bits of rent every month. Versus in retail projects, for example, we have a brewery paying us $15,000 a month and they're going to pay or not.” – Jake Vanderslice “The old adage that cash is king is still important, but I think today cash flow is king, and people just really want predictable repeatable dividends. If you can create that that's compelling” – Jake Vanderslice “Commercial banks are still lending. We really haven't seen any other changes beyond just our maturity dates and that 4% on our interest rates.” – Jake Vanderslice “The thesis is this as the interest rates drop, the cap rates should match. Directionally, we have COVID which is terrible. It's a pandemic and we’re all suffering health-wise and economically, but on the other side, you've got drop rates. What the Fed has done is created an environment where investors are willing to take lower cap rates because the cost of capital is cheap.” – Mike Zlotnik “We're dealing with a yield-starved environment with rates having trouble to where they are. There are really no great alternatives to Wall Street. The fund yields are very low unless you're dealing with really junk bonds and you're buying into high-risk stuff, or if you are looking for conservative cash flow. It's hard to find..” – Mike Zlotnik Resources: Vanwest Partners Jake Vanderslice LinkedIn

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today it is my privilege and a pleasure to have Fuquan Bilal. Fuquan and I are good friends and are in a couple of masterminds together (The Collective Genius and The Freedom Founders). He has been doing fix and flips and rentals in New Jersey for the past 20 years. In this episode we’re talking about his experience in the real estate business, trends, what the post-COVID environments might look like, the stigma of Section 8, emotional equity, and so much more. Minute Markers: 00:20 – Welcome to the Big Mike Fund Podcast 01:00 - Fuquan’s background 02:00 - Notes, Impact Investing, and mixed strategy 04:00 - Buy and Hold 05:30 - Fuquan’s returns for investors 07:00 - The stigma of Section 8 and government checks 08:20 - Managers, management, and self-management 13:15 - Cap rates 16:00 - Post-COVID environment, city life, and shifts in trends 19:00 - Emotional equity 21:40 - Investing in small notes, how much sweat is worth 26:10 - How to get a hold of Fuquan 26:34 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “It is impact investing. You're able to help the owner stay in their house and essentially, you become the bank. That’s what I like about it. It’s another area where I was able to help people and make a profit.” – Fuquan Bilal “I think that the big stigma behind Section 8 and low-income housing and government-backed programs was that the quality of the people wasn’t good as the ideal tenant, but there are some good people working and getting assistance, and there are some people who only pay a portion of the rent, and then the government pays a portion. They actually work.” – Fuquan Bilal “When we set up systems and processes, it makes it easier to manage data than manage people.” – Fuquan Bilal “I'm a seconds guy. We buy a lot of seconds. We buy first also. We invest in seconds that started off with second mortgages. I think it's a really great investment if you know how to manage it.” – Fuquan Bilal “As the market matured and as the prices increased, the efficiency had to increase. If you don't get your automation efficiency, you die. You can't survive in there because the returns are lower unless you can better use your time, it’s not a profitable business.” – Mike Zlotnik Resources: Fuquan email: fbilal@nngcapitalfund.com Website: NNG Capital Fund

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today I’m chatting with Charles Dobens, a multi-family attorney. His personal mission statement is to help investors buy multi-family projects the right way. He talks about coaching, his views on the future of the market, his points of interaction in the process of multi-family property investments, and why this is his passion. Minute Markers: 00:20 – Hello and welcome 01:00 - A bit about Charles and his passion 05:00 - The points of interaction with multi-family acquisitions 07:30 - Coaching 12:30 - Examples of mistakes investors make with letters of intent 19:20 - Personal story about partnerships in business 22:00 - Politics 25:10 - How Charles coaches his students 28:30 - C-class properties and markets with good cash flow 31:30 - Workforce Housing 34:20 - Getting a hold of Charles 35:34 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund podcast Quotes: “After it happens, there’s not a whole lot I can do for you but before it happens, I can walk you through the minefield and make sure you’re protected and you do everything the right way.” – Charles Dobens “I love it so much because it’s so logical. Being in the multifamily business and being a lawyer, you just like logic..” – Charles Dobens “Multifamily investing is not about real estate. It’s about building a business that invests in multi-family property. You’ve got to build that business the right way, then that runs your life and provides you the lifestyle that you need.” – Charles Dobens “Plan the divorce before you get married with a partnership.” – Charles Dobens “Careful who you partner with. If you partner with an idiot, you’re stuck with an idiot.” – Mike Zlotnik Resources: Multifamily Investing Academy Dobens Law - Boutique Law Firm Specializing in Multi-Family Investing Twitter: @cdomebslaw Email: info@multifamilyinvestingacademy.com

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today it is my pleasure to have Robert Nickell here on the show with me. Rob is another brother from the Collective Genius Mastermind. He’s also known as the “Master Blaster of the Virtual Assistants.” While he is an expert in virtual staffing, it was his career in real estate that got him there. Today we’re talking about virtual staffing and virtual assistants, productivity, documenting processes, and Rob’s business, Rocket Station. Rob talks about how small businesses and large companies use virtual assistants and what sorts of things virtual assistants do. Minute Markers: 00:20 - Welcome 01:00 - A little bit about Robert Nickell 03:20 - Living in a modern world/the need for virtual assistants 11:00 - VA work is scripted work 12:35 - VA productivity with small companies 14:00 - Documenting processes 20:30 - Staffing at VA Services 25:15 - Near-shoring and Out-shoring (outsourcing) 28:40 - The best way to reach Rob 30:38 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “It’s so easy now, for everything to be interconnected, whether you’re a small business with just a couple of people working in the day-to-day or you’re a publicly traded company. We all operate very similarly today.” – Robert Nickell “Most companies, they hire people, you sit next to a colleague, you just kinda watch people, you absorb through osmosis I call it, through just, kind of, working in there. After 2, 3, 4 months, you’ve been around it enough and watched enough that you get it. Even big companies don’t do a good job documenting processes.” – Robert Nickell “For us it starts with that system mapping, that process documentation. That creates the road map.” – Robert Nickell “We leverage things like cultural index and other profiling resources that are a big investment for our company but our clients are ultimately the ones that get to benefit from that.” – Robert Nickell “80% to 90% of the real estate business can be outsourced, whether that’s somebody locally, in your market, or overseas. It’s really easy to take marketing transaction coordination, disposition management, all the day-to-day admin, bookkeeping and accounting, reconciliation (month over month), there’s not really anything in real estate that can’t be done.” – Robert Nickell Resources: Rocket Station Website Greg’s email address: Brooks@rocketstation.com

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today it is my pleasure and a privilege to talk to friend and mastermind brother, Fernando Angelucci, a real estate and self-storage guru. In this episode we talk about self-storage trends, numbers, “eviction” (or in this case, lien) laws, and Fernando’s process. We’ll also chat about the future of self-storage and Fernando’s future projects and opportunities. Minute Markers: 00:22 - Hello and Welcome 01:00 - Who is Fernando? 03:20 - Eviction and motivating renters to pay 05:25 - Absorption rate lease-up 07:00 - Self-Storage trends 09:00 - Fernando’s Self-storage “eviction” process 11:15 - Buying existing self-storage facilities 16:00 - Fernando’s new projects and opportunities 20:00 - Upcoming deals 23:50 - Bank loan interest rates 27:12 - Delinquencies and occupancy trends for self-storage 31:15 - The near future for self-storage and cap rates 33:00 - Getting in touch with Fernando 00:00 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “Since the COVID pandemic started and really hit the United States, our occupancies across all of our facilities have actually increased. In some of the facilities where we thought we were at an artificial ceiling on occupancy, we've actually exceeded those levels. We're getting a lot of people coming into the self storage facilities. I think the main reason is self storage serves people in transition.” – Fernando Angelucci “For maybe every 1 development we do, we'll buy 10 cash-flowing existing self storage facilities to balance it.” – Fernando Angelucci “What we've noticed is unfortunately for the investors that own assets in the B- and below grade areas—West Side of Chicago, South Side of Chicago—their April 1st delinquencies were massive. Over 60%.” – Fernando Angelucci “When you have your non-sophisticated sellers (what I call the mom and pops) that may own one or two facilities, those cap rates for us are going through the roof. We're starting to make blanket offers on any facility that comes in before we even look at it. We're doing 10% plus cap rate offers and they're getting accepted.” – Fernando Angelucci “People are going to step down. Everybody's stepping down, so the demand for the affordable stuff is increasing while the high-end upgrades people just not. They're delaying their decisions because of uncertainty.” – Mike Zlotnik Resources: LinkedIn: Fernando Angelucci Titan Wealth Group website Twitter: @TheStorageStud The Storage Stud website

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today I’m talking to Mike Fitzgerald, who lives in (and owns a large portion of) a small town just outside of DC. In this episode we talk about his town of Hagerstown, preparations for the future of the market, what a credibility site is, and we even have a short political discussion on voting for people and not just on party lines. Minute Markers: 00:20 - Welcome to the Big Mike Fund Podcast 00:40 - A bit about Mike Fitzgerald and Hagerstown, MD 04:57 - Mike’s formula for success in real estate 06:35 - “Rehab” projects 08:08 - Preparations for economic downturn 11:30 - Mike’s thoughts on the future of the market 12:25 - The connection of legalizing marijuana to the recession and the market 13:50 - The basics and value of investing 14:20 - Hagerstown investments 18:45 - Credibility site 20:00 - Political discussion: voting for the people, not the party 22:14 - Advice for real estate investors or people interested in real estate 24:00 - How to get in contact with Mike Fitzgerald 24:46 - Thank you for listening to The Big Mike Fund podcast Quotes: “Taking action. Moving forward and taking action and not accepting ‘No’ as an answer.” – Mike Fitzgerald, on his formula for success “I think we’re due for a recession but I don’t think we’re going to get one for another two years.” – Mike Fitzgerald “Although I vote (a lot of times) republican, I don’t always vote party line.” – Mike Fitzgerald “It’s not about what makes you happy for a minute, it’s about what makes you fulfilled for a lifetime.” – Mike Fitzgerald “That’s actually a great point. The person matters, especially if they are sufficiently independent and if they have great individual thoughts.” – Mike Zlotnik “Yeah, it’s a difficult time for middle-of-the-road people. They don’t seem to appeal to the extremes and the extremes on both sides seem to be dominating each party.” – Mike Zlotnik Resources: Gideon Properties Michael T. Fitzgerald credibility site (Password: abc) Article referred in show: “City developer wants to make downtown Hagerstown 'great again'”

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today it is my pleasure and a privilege to have Caleb Pearson behind the mic. He is another brother from the Mastermind group. On this episode, Caleb and I talk about Zoom Offers (Caleb’s web-based real estate software), the future of the market, contractors, interest rates, and the prevalence of remote work in the suburbs even before the pandemic. Minute Markers: 00:22 - Welcome 01:40 - About Caleb 03:00 - What is Zoom Offer? 05:25 - Zoom Offers’ two main features 10:30 - Zoom Offers details 11:55 - The future of the market 14:40 - Political climates, news, and how it affects the market 16:30 - Caleb’s pulse on the market 17:15 - Contractors, vendors, and labor issues 20:20 - Interest rates 22:30 - People living in the suburbs and working in the city or remotely 24:34 - Getting in contact with Caleb 25:49 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “The market here is changing. It’s not as easy as it was to sell homes. You can’t just list anything at any price and it gets showings and gets contracts. It’s niche-y to where certain price points in affordable housing.” – Caleb Pearson “You get to a project where [contractors] try to either to you or you try to push them too hard to where they start to resent you and it hurts us.” – Caleb Pearson “One interesting thing is the interest rates. One of the big variables is where we’re going with the interest rates. [...] It’s the same theory that I had, that the long term interest rates in the long run had nowhere to go but down. We may not hit the absolute zero, but there’s just no way for the US economy in general to afford higher interest rates.” – Mike Zlotnik “Whatever economic change and individual situations, people can always scale down, can’t scale up.” – Mike Zlotnik Resources: ZoomOffersNow.com Caleb email: calebcpteam@gmail.com

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today it is a pleasure and a privilege to welcome Tim Bratz. Tim is a multi-family real estate investor from the Cleveland, Ohio area. He buys, develops, and holds apartment buildings, vacation rentals, & other commercial real estate properties throughout Ohio, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, & Texas. Today we’re talking about the impact that COVID-19 has had on one of his biggest projects: Georgia Plains. We’ll talk a little bit about the background of Georgia Plains and the mechanics behind it. Tim and I also go over his plans for the rest of 2020 as well as his view on the future of multi-family real estate investments. Minute Markers: 00:29 – Welcome Tim Bratz 04:15 - The courage it takes to trust a sponsor and operator 08:00 - A little about Georgia Plains 14:13 - The mechanics behind Georgia Plains 17:00 - How Tim pays an overfunded project 18:00 - Rent per door on average 21:12 - How did the virus affect the overall project? 28:00 - What are Tim’s plans for the rest of 2020 36:25 - How to get a hold of Tim 37:25 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund podcast Resources: Tim Bratz, Facebook Tim Bratz, Instagram Tim Bratz, LinkedIn Quotes: “I buy pretty heavy value-add deals like the one that you're involved in. There is a lot more work but there's a lot more upside to those.” – Tim Bratz “When you have that distressed of a property and the property has that bad for reputation, you got to go in and you got to clean up everything before you start rebranding, marketing, and bringing in new tenants because otherwise, you're just going to track the same type of tenant who's not respecting the property, not respecting their neighbors..” – Tim Bratz “When I invest, I want a predictable rate of return. At the same time, I want some equity upside. If I'm going to help somebody make a million dollars. Isn't that only fair that I get $100,000 or $200,000 also?.” – Tim Bratz “All this money goes back into the property to reinvest into the property to make sure that we're providing a clean, safe, functional, cosmetically improved housing for you as the tenant. We explain that. We said, that being said, if you are facing hardship, please reach out to us. Proactively, reach out to us. We're not going to chase you down, but if you reach out to us, we will put some workout plan together on a case-by-case basis to help you through these difficult times.” – Tim Bratz “It’s hard to find deals but we do have one deal and it's a decent deal. It's the same thing. You can give the deals in the middle of a COVID situation. It's the right value-add plan. You feel comfortable based on all the numbers you look at, but the uncertainty is still out there. It's possible that there could be better deals in the future. On the other hand, it does appear. Who knows, right?” – Mike Zlotnik

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today I have the pleasure of chatting with Frances Newton Stacy. She works for Optimal Capital as the director of portfolio strategies. Frances is also a frequent guest on both CBS, CNBC, as well as Fox Business News as a commentator on Central Bank Policy. She also blogs about the trading community by helping to recognize key cycles and significant support and resistance levels. Today we’re talking about her thoughts on the future of the economy: jobs, the stock market, real estate, and the general overview of what we may see in the upcoming year. Minute Markers: 00:50 – A bit about Frances Newton Stacy 04:50 - Frances’ thoughts on the current state of joblessness 07:10 - Things to look out for in the near future 12:00 - Incentive programs for people to go back to work 13:36 - Things happening in real estate 15:20 - Frances’ proposals and thoughts on how to prevent rates from going negative 18:25 - Stocks, the markets, and trading 29:00 - Economist market projections 31:45 - Airlines stocks as an example of cyclical recovery 34:45 - Parting thoughts on what people should or could do with their money 41:55 - What’s the best way to get ahold of Frances? 43:30 - Thanks for listening to the Big Mike Fund podcast. Quotes: “Lower rates usually support the real estate market but in a situation where you don’t have banks willing to lend, then that kind of restrains that area. So you may not see that traditional reaction to the rates falling.” – Frances Newton Stacy “In New York City, 30% of restaurants will never open their doors again. And how many of those 30% actually default somewhere in credit-land?.” – Frances Newton Stacy “In real estate, you have to wait. We don’t know what the data is going to do but I personally wouldn’t pay pre-COVID prices until I saw what the defaults look like.” – Frances Newton Stacy, on what to do with your money in the near future. “It would be so much better to give employers and employees incentives to go back to work.” – Mike Zlotnik Resources: Previous episode with Frances Newton Stacy Optimal Capital

Welcome back to the Big Mike Fund podcast. Today I’m talking with my good friend, Jimmy Shiels. We’ve known each other for many years. He’s a humble and genuine guy who classifies himself as a speaker, consultant, and the crazy glue that can help keep families together. The mission for his company, 18 Summers, is to help create relationships between entrepreneurs and their families, which can get strained due to the lifestyle and professional pressures of being an entrepreneur. With this new reality, situations at home are changing and families are being impacted. Today, Jimmy shares his thoughts on what families can do while they’re at home, in order to take advantage of the time that we have together. Minute Markers: 00:35 - A little bit about Jimmy 01:15 - 18 Summers 02:00 - How the quarantine is affecting families 04:45 - The story behind 18 Summers 06:35 - One-on-one time and having conversations with your spouse or SO 08:30 - “You should have known better.” 09:15 - Too much technology 10:30 - Family dinners 11:50 - Keeping work and family life separated/multitasking 14:00 - Being separated from family 16:15 - Family retreats/Virtual events 19:50 - Reaching out to Jimmy 20:36 - Parting thoughts 21:44 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “The average person will spend 85% of the time they ever have with their children by the end of their 18th summer because the amount of opportunities starts to delineate because they’re off to college, they’re going into their own life.” - Jimmy Shiels “The average person--the average family 60 years ago, dinner was about 90 minutes. Now, the average time length for dinner now? 12 minutes.” - Jimmy Shiels “The days are long but the years are short.” - Jimmy Shiels “[This quarantine] is a crisis but also an opportunity.” - Mike Zlotnik “Be present; that’s the most important thing.” - Mike Zlotnik Resources: Jim Sheils Official Website The Family Board Meeting: You Have 18 Summers to Create Lasting Connection with Your Children by Jim Sheils

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today, I have my friend, John Martinez, from the Collective Genius Mastermind. He is an expert when it comes to training salespeople. That’s what we’re going to talk about today: sales techniques and what it takes to mold or train a successful salesperson. Even if you don’t classify yourself as a salesperson, the information that he shares in this episode can us used in other, related fields (like real estate agents, for example). Minute Markers: 01:52 - A little bit about John 03:00 - John’s bread & butter training 06:00 - Seller motivation 08:15 - “Reframing of the whole question” 13:15 - Summary of the technique 15:40 - Problem-impacting picture-perfect questions 17:35 - The REI sales economy 19:35 - How does this information apply to agents? 21:50 - Midwest Rev 23:00 - Outbound calling and cold calling 26:37 - REI Sales Academy and Branding/Names 27:59 - Final thoughts 30:26 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “The question that the top acquisition agents or investors ask is not how much do you think your house is worth because then you run into that conversation you talked about.” - John Martinez “[Salespeople] need to discover, through whatever questions, then you can ask why questions and get them to give the seller or house owner to start talking about their problems rather than what they want for the property.” - John Martinez “Sales isn't about pressuring anyone to do anything, sales is just about uncovering the reasons why someone would do something. The only way to get there is to remove the pressure, so people feel safe opening up and then asking questions.” - John Martinez “If you can't find the motivation, it's a useless conversation, but once you find it and you explore it, stress the key points, that's the path to success.” - Mike Zlotnik “Is it free will or predeterminism? But if they’re already talking to you, if they're spending the time, if you just help them a little bit to really see why, why they're doing this and then the decision is just so much easier.” - Mike Zlotnik Resources: Midwest Rev REI Academy

Today, I’m once again talking with Whitney Sewell, the Director at Lifebridge Capital. Whitney and I talk about the Coronavirus crisis, and its present and future impact on the multifamily space. These are difficult times for the country and world. Some of you may be losing sleep, or feeling grateful for a reserve budget and conservative underwriting. Stay healthy, keep your distance, and keep washing your hands. Minute Markers: 01:00 - Whitney’s background 01:56 - COVID-19’s effects on multifamily space now 03:20 - COVID-19’s future impact on multifamily space 04:12 - CMBS freeze and next steps with tenants 06:28 - Proactive about possible job loss and vacancy rates 08:20 - Predicted and projected health perspective on economy 11:00 - Fear, fluctuating numbers, and looking forward to future opportunities 12:15 - Are deals going to be re-priced or re-traded? 15:23 - Marketing and always looking for more deals 18:53 - Distressed sellers, distressed situations, and big enough discounts 25:40 - Rent’s due: Who will or won’t pay, and why? 32:24 - Reaching out to Whitney Sewell 33:19 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “We had such a hefty reserve budget before we ever planned, before we ever knew anything, obviously, like this was going to happen. I'm so grateful that we did. Now, we can even hit something like this and we're okay. We're not losing sleep over it because of that.” - Whitney Sewell “Is it going to affect us? It's going to. I think it's going to affect us all in some way. No doubt about it. Already is. We're working with our management company. We're taking strides to be proactive.” - Whitney Sewell “I think there's going to be some opportunities for operators that are prepared. I think there's going to be some opportunities. I think there's going to be deals too that some operators have to sell and that are going to be discounted. I think we're prepared for that.” - Whitney Sewell “People who got properties, unless they have extreme distress, they're not selling. The people who are buying, I guess they want to get a good enough deal. I think that the business now just broadened quite a bit because of uncertainty.” - Mike Zlotnik “There's going to be tenants that are going to still pay their rent because they know they should and they're supposed to. There's going to be tenants that can't pay their rent legitimately, they lost their job, they live paycheck to paycheck, they cannot make it happen. There's still going to be some that just take advantage of the situation, no doubt about it.” - Whitney Sewell Resources: Whitney Sewell Lifebr

On today’s episode, I’m once again talking with Chris Miles, an expert in infinite banking, like insurance, and being a housekeeper (and zookeeper) for his own personal Brady Bunch at home. When he’s not being a family man, Chris works with life insurance and runs his own podcast about money called the “Chris Miles Money Show”. Chris and I are talking about the volatile stock market and insurance, life insurance policies (and Chris’ specific designs), using life insurance like extra liquid reserves, and our policies on financial planning and advice. Minute Markers: 00:23 - Introduction 00:54 - A little about Chris 02:20 - CoronaVirus and the volatile stock market vs insurance 03:05 - Infinite banking and the Internal Rate of Return 07:38 - Timing the market 09:00 - Investment quadrants 11:11 - How Chris designs policies 12:40 - Needing money from life insurance policies 15:05 - Balloon payments 16:25 - Extra liquid reserves and investing 22:30 - Life insurance and porfolios 26:00 - Financial planning and advice 31:30 - Contacting and following Chris 33:05 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “If you were to compare apples to apples in a savings account, it's essentially like a tax-free supercharged savings account. But instead of earning point nothing percent, you're actually earning about at least 4.5% to 5% average per year tax-free” – Chris “I never tell people you should absolutely do this recommendation of this investment. But I will say let's look at the different options that are available out there.” – Chris “Most people are smart. They don't even realize how smart they are. Given the right coaching and the right education, they can make these decisions without anybody pushing them into anything.” – Mike “The good old well-known fact is that 80% of the funds can be the index. The active managers don't necessarily, I don't know what they get paid for in essence, in the stock market.” – Mike Resources: Money Ripples Website Chris Miles Money Show, apple podcast page

Today, I have the pleasure of talking with fellow mastermind, Cory Boatright. We talk about the COVID-19 pandemic and what it means to the health of the world and to the economy as a whole. Cory talks about some important practical things you can do with your company and your team whether they are in the office panicking or if they are working from home and panicking. We are in the midst of a storm but we can weather it together if we remember to be safe, be healthy, and take this seriously. Minute Markers: 00:23 - Introduction 01:10 - Cory on COVID-19 and the economy 05:51 - How do we lead in the midst of a storm 08:10 - Practical things you can do with your organization 13:58 - Summary of important key points 15:45 - Assets and opportunities 24:45 - COVID-19, a regular flu or worse? 30:00 - Shelter in place 32:09 - This is a humanity issue first 34:00 - Finishing on a positive note 35:41 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “My mentor told me a long time ago that whenever you have a headache, it sucks for you, but fantastic for Tylenol.” – Cory Boatright “You need to overcommunicate right now. If you think that talking to them one time a day is enough, it’s not. You need to overcommunicate with your folks.” – Cory Boatright “It’s a humanity issue first. And it certainly affects our businesses and our pocketbooks and all these things. Do your part in using sanitizer and taking this seriously.” – Cory Boatright “TV can be dangerous--the news can be dangerous--just to hear the bad news. At this point, we should all be thinking about what we can do to make a difference, to prepare. I like to call it ‘observing, analyzing, and preparing.” – Mike Zlotnik “I agree that the only solution right now is this extreme ‘shelter in place’, very-very aggressive, on all fronts, all states, you know?” – Mike Zlotnik “This is a time of unity too. We need to forgo all of our political differences, and stop political bickering and focus on the health of the nation and the health of the world.” – Mike Zlotnik Resources: Cory Boatright, website Cory Boatright, LinkedIn Cory Boatright, Twitter Cory Boatright, Instagram

On today’s episode, I’m talking with Gene Guarino from The Collective Genius Mastermind group. He’s a new member to the group but not new to the real estate market. He’s an expert and a specialist in converting residential properties to assisted living. Today we’re talking about the assisted living market and what makes it tick: the in’s and out’s of the market, the success rates, the break-even points, and all of the nuances. Minute Markers: 00:23 - Introduction 01:30 - Who is Gene? 02:48 - An example of assisted living real estate 04:53 - The typical monthly cost 07:08 - The operating cost for an average facility 08:21 - A break-even point 11:13 - Three-pack 12:14 - Gene’s educational program 14:36 - The average time a given customer stays in a home 16:39 - Comparison to bigger senior living facilities 17:48 - Home environments versus larger Class A facilities 20:03 - What kind of time investment is required? 23:25 - Passive investment options for folks who want a return 25:00 - Success rates 27:56 - Gene’s BHAG’s 29:30 - Reaching out to Gene 31:19 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes “Yes, the economy of scale is a very different environment. Certainly, the home feels cozier as long as they like it. Also, it depends on the type of market.” - Mike Zlotnik “That is the miracle of technology. It accelerates and continues to accelerate. I don’t think it will ever stop.” - Mike Zlotnik “The lower your activity or involved in, the lower your rate of return. If you just want to own the real estate and lease it to the operator, you can get twice the market rent and have a nice cash flow in the real estate they couldn’t cash flow otherwise.” - Gene Guarino “The key to this whole thing is location, location, location. The people that live in the house in the assisted living is all about the demographics of those people..” - Gene Guarino Resources: RAL101.com

Today, it is my pleasure and privilege to talk with, fellow mastermind group member (and fellow “phone book celebrity”), Nick Aalerud. Nick talks candidly about his reset stories, the lessons he learned from them, turnkey real estate deals, and the importance of stress-testing the deal. He also talks about his book, Don’t Quit: Stories of Persistence, Courage, and Faith; all of the profits from which go to charity. Minute Markers: 00:23 - Introduction 02:16 - A little about Nick and his background in real estate 05:37 - Nick’s first hard reset button 08:38 - Where to find cash flow deals/cap rates 12:00 - Multi-family flip/bird strategy 15:09 - Nick’s second hard reset and the lesson learned after 17:11 - Nick’s other real estate investments and business 18:12 - Nick on bigger assets 24:15 - Don’t believe the hype 26:42 - “Don’t Quit: Stories of Persistence, Courage, and Faith” book 28:34 - How to get in contact with Nick 29:28 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: "I certainly agree with you to do the due diligence learning, to do the due diligence is the absolute key. And owning your own failures or successes is important. An indomitable spirit, you fall, you get up. That's another key lesson so, it makes a lot of sense. I appreciate your sharing. It’s not easy to share, but it shows you're not afraid to share even failures, which is a sign of strength.“.- Mike Zlotnik “And small assets. They're not necessarily bad assets at all. In fact, they're great assets. It’s much easier to manage a small renovation than a big project. The exit happens to take place a whole lot faster.” - Mike Zlotnik “Learning to do my own due diligence with partnerships, learning that also taking ownership. I spent 6–9 months being just angry at this other person, other individual. I really couldn't let it go until someone told me. It was actually Marshall Sylver, the national hypnotist, you might know him. He basically just said, "Own it. This was your failure. No matter what he did, you went through with it. You didn't do enough due diligence. Why buy out of state your first five deals. Just own it, you made this mistake." Once I own that for myself, it really helped propel me forward to sharpen my pencil.” - Nick Aalerud “Stress test the deal. I'm sure, I know you do that too. Stress test every deal, 100%.” - Nick Aalerud Resources: Nick Aalerud, Facebook AA Real Estate Group, website Nick Aalerud, LinkedIn

On today’s episode of the Big Mike Fund Podcast, I had the pleasure and privilege of having Al Beahn from Detroit, Michigan. Al is a real estate investing expert, a lifelong entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Pioneer Homes, the leading source for cash flow rental properties in Detroit. We talk about the multi-family vs. single-family market, best practices with contractors, and future plans in the real estate market and in the Detroit real estate market in particular. Minute Markers: 01:19 - Who is Al? What does he do and what is his background? 04:20 - The Detroit market for turnkeys 07:52 - Average, typical cost of rent generated today (for a $60,000 home) 09:19 - The multi-family market vs. single-family market 15:09 - What is driving the Detroit market? 18:34 - What does the future hold for Al? 19:00 - How Al manages his crew 21:29 - Al’s best productivity tools and advice 28:35 - Getting a hold of Al 29:17 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “It has been, I guess, margin compression issue in many markets. It has happened and is happening today, all over the country.” “To me, it starts with the construction. Every deal we've ever done that had any construction, our success and/or failure, came from the construction side of the deal, always.” “It’s the key to success. You're measuring and monitoring progress daily.” “When it comes to contractors, I have always found that trying to find the cheapest guys, you always, always end up spending more money in the end.” Resources: Al Beahn, email: al@pioneerhomesus.com Al Beahn, LinkedIn Al Beahn, Facebook Pioneer Homes, website

It is my pleasure and privilege to have a minister, private lender, and real estate broker, Lee Arnold, with me on the podcast today. He is coming to us from beautiful Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. In this episode, we’re talking about hard money lending, real estate trends, and our best real estate advice. Minute Markers: 01:32 - Who is Lee? What does he do and what is his background? 03:35 - Lee’s hard money lending business and the “Circle of Wealth” 05:57 - Why Reg A+? 10:35 - Modern real estate trends 16:45 - How to deal with the more aggressive loans and compressing yields 22:07 - Mike’s opinion of where the economy is heading, as a whole 29:59 - Lee’s best investment advice 33:30 - Lee’s reading recommendation 36:05 - Where to find Lee 36:23 - Lee’s best piece of advice 40:23 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes: “We have something here what we call the circle of wealth. The circle of wealth is where we want to educate people first. That's what my info marketing business is. It's about educating people in the right ways to invest in real estate, the right types of real estate to invest in.” - Lee “I do predict that we’re going to start seeing real estate values dropping. I’m seeing more and more realtors sending out these $10,000 price drop emails. This is happening all over the nation from what I’m seeing.” - Lee “The job of fund managers is not to foresee the future but to prepare for different conditions. If you can prepare for the good, the bad, and the ugly, that helps you quite a bit, no matter what happens.” - Mike Resources: Lee Arnold, Website The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement Kindle Edition by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Amazon

Today it is my pleasure to have Lance Peterson on the show. He has quite a unique platform in real estate since he comes from a background in technology. Because of both of those passions, he also has his own software for investors called Marko. We talk about what he does as admin for a real estate administration as well as who his typical clients are. Minute Markers: 01:14 - Who is Lance? What does he do and what is his background? 03:12 - Who are Lance’s typical clients? 06:14 - What capital do you have in the administration? 06:58 - In-house versus Outsource funding 10:50 - Lance’s software, Marko 15:00 - The difference between administering funds versus syndications 17:54 - The annual audit process 22:00 - Lance’s best practices 26:00 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Quotes “Humans come in wholes. You can’t buy fractions of humans; it doesn’t work very well.” - Lance, on hiring additional headcount. “It’s a lot of work to get a rubber stamp that says that you have good financials.” - Mike, on annual audits. “Third-party administrators like Redwood [Real Estate Administration] saves you a lot of time and are well-organized. [...] It’s a time saver and a money saver to work with an organization like that.” - Mike, on annual audits Resources: Lance Pederson, LinkedIn Redwood Real Estate Administration, Website Audible, website Capital Attraction: The Small Balance Real Estate Entrepreneur's Essential Guide to Raising Capital by Matthew Burke, Amazon

Today I have the pleasure of talking with Cory Boatright, a marketer, negotiator, and member of Collective Genius Mastermind. Cory’s wisdom, experience, and friendship is greatly appreciated. Cory and I talk about the ups and downs in the world of investing, business, and entrepreneurship by maximizing your genius zone and strengths and teaming up with the right people. The multifamily space is not a one-man show. It takes a team to get a deal. Minute Markers: 01:00 - What’s new in the world of Cory on the personal side? 03:30 - What’s new in the world of Cory on the business side? 04:00 - Making more in the multifamily and commercial space through mastermind partnerships 06:54 - The key to finding deals is to find a distressed property or distressed seller 09:35 - Boots on the Ground: Is a good strategy to go local and befriend brokers? 13:15 - Understand the game by building a team with people who have done deals 15:09 - Multifamily Motivation: Lawsuits and lifestyle 16:49 - Property management company will make or break your asset 19:16 - Ignorant Money: Financing makes a difference with low interest rates, high sales price 22:27 - “You never want to over pay just to get the deal.” 24:35 - Million-dollar Difference: Price you agree on via LOI will likely change before closing 25:43 - How to value assets 26:33 - Increase Rents, Decrease Expenses: Two ways to make money in multifamily game 29:30 - Multifamily advantages include cash flow and minimal tax liabilities 33:40 - Reaching out to Cory Boatright 36:40 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Resources: Cory Boatright, Website Cory Boatright on Facebook Cory Boatright on Instagram Investing Capital Group Apartment Evaluator Collective Genius Mastermind

Today I have the pleasure of talking with Rob Levy, who has been in the Real Estate business for 30 years. While some people think of it as a going down sector, Rob and I think of it as a land of opportunity. It’s a little bit of all contrarian play in the space retail and America’s going through a transformation in that sector. Today Rob and I talk about how we can take advantage of great pricing and market, balance in the market. Minute Markers: 00:45 - Who is Rob and what is his background? 04:24 - Why the good old shopping centers are still interesting and why they provide a great investment opportunity 08:00 - What kind of cap rates are you able to get today in retail 11:30 - Value: buying significant reductions to replace the cost 12:42 - The typical value add strategies in the retail sector 15:21 - Other strategic angles 20:00 - How Traffic and Population Growth plays a part in the retail sector 24:49 - Opportunities in the retail sector and possible future shifts 28:30 - Reaching out to Rob Levy 31:16 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Resources: Rob Levy, Website

Today David Phelps from the Freedom Founders and I will be talking about real estate funds. We will do a quick overview, talk about what the big picture is (in investing in real estate), and where we’re going today with funds. Minute Markers: 01:30 - Disclaimer 02:00 - Who is David? 03:43 - Freedom Fighters 04:30 - David’s book, “From High Income To High Net Worth” 05:25 - All about Mike 06:35 - A little bit about different types of investing 08:41 - “What should I invest in first?” 10:40 - Public versus Private Funds 13:06 - Security as trade and exchanges 14:05 - Fund Objective and Investment Philosophy 19:00 - Risk-adjusted return 21:08 - Does the given fund live in quadrant one 22:58 - Diversified versus focused funds 24:20 - Open-ended versus closed-ended funds 27:19 - Equity versus debt versus debt and equity funds 31:12 - Income versus growth versus growth and income funds 37:27 - Who determines what the value is of the various assets in a fund 41:30 - “How do investors receive unrealized gains?” 43:30 - Long term gains and short term gains 46:58 - Income and growth investing 49:54 - Summary of the Tempo Opportunity Fund 54:48 - Freedom Founders 56:42 - Final Thoughts and Thank yous 57:18 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

Today I’m talking to Ryan Parson who is out on the road on the Motorhome and Money Tour for Mile Marker Club. We’re chatting about what the Mile Marker Club is, how to invest your money, learning along the way, and about what you need to consider when you are investing for the first time. Ryan is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of the Mile Marker Club as well as its parent company, Heritage Capital USA. As well as providing its members with a larger pool of dollars with which to invest, attracting bigger, better deals and opportunities, the Mile Marker Club also provides its members with a curriculum of wealth education materials. Minute Markers: 00:39 – Hi Ryan 00:56 - What’s new in the world of Ryan? 02:44 - Why Ryan started the Mile Marker Club 06:04 - What is the Mile Marker Club? 09:53 - Portfolio and Investment Goals 15:57 - The First Steps to Investments 16:52 - How the MMC Helps You Build Your Portfolio 20:00 - Continuously Learning 21:45 - Preach a lot of change, Change one thing at a time 22:06 - Mile Marker Symposium Event Review 22:42 - People need to learn together 22:57 - Are you investing to learn or learning to invest? 23:40 - “It’s lonely at the top.” 26:01 - Build the policy and constantly update 29:28 - Loss Reserves 30:29 - Infinite Return 33:06 - Common Equity 35:26 - When will you be done with the deal? 37:32 - Open-ended funds 37:57 - Final Thoughts and reaching out to Ryan 39:15 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Resources: Ryan Parson, Heritage Mile Marker Club

On today’s episode, I’m talking with economist and trader, Frances Newton Stacy. She works for Optimal Capital as the director of portfolio strategy. Frances is also a frequent guest on both CNBC, as well as Fox Business News as a commentator on Central Bank Policy. She also blogs about the trading community by helping to recognize key cycles and significant support and resistance levels. We’re talking about economic policy and what’s going on in the stock market. Minute Markers: 00:32 - Introductions 01:50 - Frances’ background 03:36 - Where the stock market is now 04:07 - What is inflation? 04:33 - Late cycle 06:43 - Repo operation 08:00 - The P is historically high 09:18 - The valuation stretch 09:49 - The mechanisms of debt 11:35 - The big reversion 13:00 - Defining inflation 14:37 - Deflation 16:33 - Raising rates too much too fast 21:49 - Why debt? What is debt? 23:35 - Technical recession 26:50 - Real estate investments and the future 30:10 - Reaching out to Frances Newton Stacy 31:11 - Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Resources: Frances Newton Stacy, Twitter Frances Newton Stacy, email: frances@optimalcapital.com

Today I talk with the energetic #1 Wholesaler in the US last year, Tom Krol. We talk about family and Wholesaling. Not wholesaling furniture, tomatoes, or pajamas, but wholesaling real estate. Tom explains his views on business, what wholesaling is (it’s all about marketing and less about real estate), and coaching. Minute Markers: 00:32 – Hi Tom 00:59 – Tom’s backstory 03:59 - How Real Estate Wholesaling Works 05:08 - Every wholesaling business should do three things 05:55 - Wholesaling real estate should be like a pawnshop 06:49 - Tom’s definition of a business 07:49 - Wholesaling definition summary 09:54 - What marketing strategies Tom uses for his Wholesaling business 12:37 - The major mistakes that struggling wholesalers make 15:55 - How do people figure out what works? 18:18 - How do you get started & how do you find out the perfect marketing strategy? 20:34 - Constantly be in a mentorship 25:45 - Trust and Verify, know the numbers. 27:22 - Finding the right coach 29:13 - Where to find Tom 30:30 - Final Thoughts 32:20 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Resources: Wholesaling Inc

Today I am talking with Chris Miles, the “cash flow expert” on the craziness of a full household, how he creates cash flow for thousands of his clients, his definition of infinite banking, and creating acceleration in your finances. Minute Markers: 00:28 – Welcome Chris Miles 02:25 – The Business Side of Chris Miles 03:41 – Retirement versus Financial Independence 05:33 - Infinite banking 09:21 - What infinite banking does 11:40 - How Chris helps folks build cash flow 14:50 - How do you tap into equity? 17:39 - Mutual Funds 19:15 - How do we create acceleration? 22:18 - The cost of money versus what you are collecting on the money 23:00 - How Chris works with his clients/where to find Chris 24:13 - Final Thoughts: Infinite Banking 26:12 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Resources: Chris Miles Money Ripples The Chris Miles Money Show

Today we talked with long-time guest Matt Larson about why Quad Cities is a great place to live and do real estate; the process and statistics for turn-key starter homes; and the ins and outs of working with contractors. Minute Markers: 00:28 – Welcome Matt Larson 01:05 – About Matt 03:51 – Why Matt Does Turn-Key Real Estate 04:55 – Why Quad Cities Does So Well 05:26 – What You Won’t Get with Quad Cities 06:18 – Home, Sweet Home & The Steady Eddy Market 07:33 – Will Quad Cities Do Well in The Down Market? 09:05 – The “Teeter-Totter” to Determine the Economy 10:22 – What to Do During A Market Crash 11:15 – Advice for Buyers 12:20 – Typical Stats for Turn-Key Starter Homes 16:45 – The Value Growth 19:12 – Executing a 3-4 Month Cycle 23:30 – Work Blueprint with Contractors 25:30 – Project Plan and Budget 28:35 – Working with Contractors 31:00 – Giving Matt Credit 31:45 – Praise for Mike 33:28 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast Resources: Matt Larson LinkedIn Easy Street Properties (Property Investment) Matt Larson: mlarson@easystreetprops.com

My guest today is Jay Conner from Moorhead City, North Carolina. A big, kind shark in a small pond, he works in small-town real estate investments. Today we talk about raising “small money, ‘mom-and-pop’ style money” for real estate deals. MINUTE MARKERS: 00:30 -- Introduce Jay Conner to the show 00:53 -- Moorhead City, North Carolina 01:41 -- Small city with private funds “Mom and pop money for real estate deals” 02:05 -- Why “mom-and-pop money” is great for businesses who need investments 04:17 -- Giving Jay Connor credit for his amazing accomplishment 05:11 -- How do you go from $0.00 to $2 million in 90 days? 05:37 -- Develop a program to offer people 06:18 -- “Warm market” 06:57 -- Jay’s program 08:34 -- Why Jay’s program is perfect for “soft money” lenders 09:09 -- How do you bridge the trust between you and a “soft money” lender? 09:40 -- “Positioning” 12:15 -- Focus on the program 13:46 -- The bottom line answer 14:18 -- How does a brand new real estate investor do this program? 15:20 -- Recap of Jay’s answer 15:28 -- One of the best ways-these days-to deliver a message and why 17:13 -- The three types of partners 18:07 -- How to break through on your warm leads 18:51 -- How to host a successful private lender luncheon 19:15 -- Who do you invite to a private lender luncheon 20:37 -- How to have credibility at private luncheons 21:21 -- The good ol’ traditional way to build investor trust in small towns 23:14 -- Jay’s free online class 24:00 -- Thank you, Jay! 24:16 -- Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast RESOURCES: Tempo Management Group LLC: https://tempofunding.com/ Jay’s Free Online Class: https://www.jayconner.com/training/wtgtmn-webinar-rev2/

My guest today is Whitney Sewell, the Director at Lifebridge Capital. He’s involved in real estate syndications. We discuss the basics of syndications and what kinds of deals Whitney is seeing in the course of his work. Blaine has some helpful suggestions about how to get started in syndications. MINUTES MARKERS 00:00 -- Introduction to the Big Mike Fund Podcast. 00:29 – Welcome Whitney Sewell to the podcast 00:41 -- Who is Whitney 03:39 – What Whitney is doing in real estate syndications 05:10 – Whitney’s podcast 05:58 – How someone gets started in syndication 06:34 – How to find sponsors for syndication 12:18 – What kind of syndication deals Whitney is seeing today 17:32 – Examples of interesting deals coming through the syndication pipeline 21:28 – Best practices to find multi-family deals off-market 25:21 – Thoughts and suggestions from Whitney 28:45 – How to contact Whitney 30:00 -- Outro to the Big Mike Fund Podcast. RESOURCES Whitney Sewell Lifebridge Capital The Real Estate Syndication Show The Road Less Stupid Whitney@LifebridgeCapital.com

My guest today is Blaine Oelkers, the Chief Results Officer at Freedom Founders Mastermind Group. He has a successful method that helps his clients achieve their financial goals. We discuss his approach to helping his clients and how Masterminds are the perfect tool to do that. Blaine has some useful reading recommendations and a personal approach that makes him great to work with. MINUTES MARKERS 00:00 -- Introduction to the Big Mike Fund Podcast. 00:22 -- Welcome Blaine Oelkers to the show. 01:40 -- Who is Blaine? 02:50 -- Why Blaine chooses to work from home. 05:14 -- How to encourage a desire for wealth and leadership thinking. 07:11 -- How the book, Think and Grow Rich helped Blaine. 10:46 -- The power of mastermind groups. 11:57 -- The differences between Freedom Founders and Collective Genius. 14:42 -- The concept of masterminding with God. 17:35 -- How to achieve results in your financial goals. 19:30 -- Celebrating weekly wins. 19:59 -- How to focus your clarity. 20:29 -- Staying accountable to your goals and results. 23:16 -- Blaine’s contact information. 25:02 -- Thank you to Blaine for joining the podcast. 26:11 -- Outro to the Big Mike Fund Podcast. RESOURCES Blaine on LinkedIn Blaine’s Tedx Talk Forced Clarity Freedom Founders TF Management Group Real Estate Investment Fund: How to Choose a SMART Real Estate Investing Fund: Top 10 Biggest Mistakes To Avoid Before Investing Into a Real Estate Fund (Private Money, REITs, Equity, Structure, Tax) by Mike Zlotnik Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Today, I offer you a presentation about risk-adjusted returns. Listeners have been asking me, “how do I calculate my risk-adjusted return?” Well, I will do my best to answer that question and cover how variables like investment quadrants, market conditions, and sponsors affect the calculation. MINUTES MARKERS 00:00 -- Introduction to the Big Mike Fund Podcast. 00:22 -- Welcome to the show. 00:58 -- How to calculate risk-adjusted returns. 01:43 -- A little bit about me. 02:44 -- How to learn more about my business and contact me. 03:33 -- Why do we care about risk adjustment returns? 05:26 -- A project must fit your portfolio. 06:32 -- Understanding and identifying speculative investments. 07:30 -- The pros and cons of the 4 investment quadrants. 08:57 -- Quadrant one -- cash flow focus. 10:05 -- Quadrant two -- growth focus. 10:56 -- Quadrant three -- Speculative grade projects. 11:30 -- Quadrant four -- ground-up projects. 12:00 -- All projects have risk, remember that. 12:33 -- The types of risk you can expect. 13:28 -- How do you compute risk-adjusted return? 14:17 -- The risk-versus-reward side of the capital stack. 14:53 -- The pros and cons of Senior Debt. 15:43 -- What are Junior Debt and preferred equity? 16:09 -- The joint venture equity and common equity option. 16:48 -- How do you compute loss reserves? 19:15 -- Why market conditions are important. 20:37 -- The stress test you can use to help your calculation. 24:39 -- My opinion about losses in a normal market. 28:37 -- Loss reserves for investment grade projects versus speculative projects. 30:01 -- The risk level of Speculative grade projects. 31:18 -- ROI expectations regarding investment quadrants. 34:22 -- Cash flow expectations regarding the investment quadrants. 37:16 -- What is a quality cash flow syndication or a similar fund focused on the cash flow? 41:00 -- The role of a good sponsor. 42:45 -- Should you invest in individual deals or funds? 45:05 -- Thank you for joining me for today’s episode. 45:42 -- Outro to the Big Mike Fund Podcast. RESOURCES The Big Mike Fund

Today, I welcome a very close friend and associate of mine, Jason Medley. Jason is the CEO and founder of the Collective Genius Mastermind. He has 19 years of experience in real estate and is a dedicated family man. He has built a warm and inviting group for entrepreneurs who want to go someplace where they are understood and valued. The group has been thriving and growing for 9 years. During this episode, Jason tells me about the atmosphere he is trying to maintain in CG and who he feels is the best fit for the organization. He shares his hopes for the future and encourages entrepreneurs to reach out and see if CG is a good fit for them. MINUTES MARKERS 00:00 -- Introduction to the Big Mike Fund Podcast. 00:21 -- Welcome Jason Medley to the show. 01:43 -- Who is Jason Medley? 04:28 -- The benefits Collective Genius brings to its members. 10:25 -- How the board of directors is involved in CG’s process. 13:30 -- “It’s lonely at the top,” and how CG eases that feeling. 15:21 -- The future of the Collective Genius Mastermind. 23:05 -- The importance of communication within the group. 24:10 -- Jason’s contact information. 25:28 -- What Jason is looking for in a member. 25:45 -- Jason’s experience with me and my fund. 29:25 -- How to apply for membership. 31:06 -- Outro to the Big Mike Fund Podcast. RESOURCES Big Mike Fund Collective Genius Mastermind

Mike Jordan is the President of Strategy Properties. He is a property manager who specializes in turn-key properties in Detroit. Today he tells me how he likes to conduct business and the reason he does what he does. He has a variety of real estate experience to share and has some wonderful insights on the state of Detroit's economy and real estate market. MINUTES MARKERS 00:00 -- Introduction to the Big Mike Fund Podcast. 00:22 -- Welcome Mike Jordan to the show. 00:55 -- Who is Mike Jordan and what does he do? 06:00 -- Why you need a “why” in your business model and life. 07:20 -- What a standard turn-key operation looks like in Detroit. 11:19 -- How to identify a rehab property. 13:00 -- The trouble with the data on websites like Zillow and Trulia. 14:08 -- How Mike conducts business and why. 18:25 -- Happy customer, happy business. 19:40 -- Mike’s contact information. 20:18 -- The current state of Detroit's real estate market and economy. 22:40 -- Why May is the best time for a property tour in Detroit. 24:32 -- Mike’s podcast and why you should educate yourself. 25:40 -- Outro to the Big Mike Fund Podcast. RESOURCES Strategy Properties Unique Wealth Education Podcast Big Mike Fund

Fuquan Bilal is the CEO of the National Note Group (NNG) Capital Fund. He is based in New Jersey and is known for rehabilitating homes in lower class areas. Fuquan shares how he got involved in real estate and how riding through the market crash made him a stronger realtor. He specializes in non-performing home loans (notes.) We discuss the differences between the various notes and how Fuquan approaches them. MINUTES MARKERS 00:00 -- Introduction to the Big Mike Fund Podcast. 00:22 -- Welcome Fuquan Bilal. 01:23 -- Who is Fuquan and how did he get into real estate? 04:01 -- How the market crash affected Fuquan and his business model. 05:00 -- What he likes about real estate. 06:44 -- The difference between the various notes. 11:00 -- The strategies Fuquan uses when he gets involved with a home loan issue. 17:36 -- Fuquan’s opinion on the return on time and the tricks he has learned. 18:43 -- How to leverage your vendors. 20:35 -- Typical closing costs in Fuquan’s market. 21:05 -- Cost-cutting strategies that help Fuquan and his team. 24:11 -- Fuquan’s final thoughts. 24:18 -- Fuquan’s contact information. 24:40 -- Outro to the Big Mike Fund Podcast. RESOURCES Big Mike Fund NNG Capital Fund Fuquan Bilal’s email