Podcasts about eddie you

Eddie shares his trading journey and how to transitioned from a Startup CEO to full time trader. Allen: Hey passive traders, how you doing? This is Allen back with another episode today I have one of my good friends with me, Mr. Eddie So. He is an amazing Options Trader and he is 100% bought in, he loves what he's doing. And he's going to share with us some of what he is doing some of his results and his lessons that he's learned along the way. How are you doing any? Eddie: Doing pretty good. How are you, Allen? Allen: Good, good. Welcome to the show. Thank you for doing this. Eddie: Sure. Happy to. Allen: So Eddie, tell me tell me what do you do? Eddie, what do you do? Who is Eddie? Eddie: Yeah, so I started my career. pretty young. I think I've held a job since I was 15. And then I got into, I guess, my career job, if you call it when I was about 19, I was actually in financial services, I worked for Citi group for almost 10 years, I started as a bank teller and worked my way up. And you know, it was at one point a manager managing branches. And then just before I left, I actually I was on my way to becoming a stock broker, basically, I was getting my licenses, and actually had my series 663, I was going through and getting my series 7. And I live in the San Francisco Bay area, right in the heart of the Silicon Valley. And at that time, was right before the dotcom boom, and or bust, I should say, booming. And, and I was, you know, I noticed all these young guys around me, you know, making really good money in tech. So I decided at that point to make a career change after 10 years, and I got into tech. And so for the last 20 some odd you over 20 years, I've been in the tech industry here in the valley, I you know, always in some sort of sales capacity, whether it's business development, or partnership sales. And when I sort of got out of the working world, yeah, I had worked up to the executive ranks. And I was running in sales teams and partnership sales teams, for various tech companies. So I've worked for companies, small and large, you know, small startups all the way up to really large, you know, 100 billion dollar companies. Allen: Awesome Eddie: And then I left tech and I started my own startup that has been something I had wanted to do. And unfortunately, I started right at in 2020; and right before COVID hit. So we took a little bit of a hit, I knew we wouldn't be able to weather the storm. But I knew I had to wait, right? And so we're still in stealth mode. But one of the things that I realized is going through options, and this whole Option Genius thing. And trading just sort of came back around. Because I was actually a little bored during the pandemic and I was looking at, you know, what else can I do? And you know, maybe I could get some income I used to trade and and that's how I stumbled across Option Genius. And then I came to the realization of, well, why am I putting all this money into my startup, I could be putting all this money into investing. And so I made the decision earlier this year, having gone through your program for probably like six to nine months, I had seen enough and done enough and experienced enough to make a decision that you know what, as of January 1, 2022, so next year, I am going to basically live off of trading, meaning I won't be doing my startup anymore, because I think a lot of money into a timing wasn't the greatest and I'm thinking my returns are a lot better with trading. And I don't work, you know, even you know, it's a fraction of what I've done in terms of work versus a startup. So.. Allen: That's a pretty big move right there..you know? Eddie: Yeah, you know, I've been pretty fortunate in my career. I've worked hard, I've been pretty fortunate as well I've been part of some IPOs in Valley here and so it's you know, it helped me be able to sort of save up the startup right to fund the startup because in you know we were all have few partners and we're self funded where we were not at the stage where we're you know, looking for funding so it's actually early enough for me to get out still, and still have a decent amount to invest to make a living off of Allen: So are you going to get that money back that you put in or is that lost? Eddie: Yeah, so I'm you know, I'm going to continue as an investor but more on the silent sort of investor side versus you know, being an operations so I'll get that money back eventually. I may even invest more into it but I just will be sort of a silent investor non operational versus what I am today which I pretty much general you know, GM right now. Allen: So Okay, so let me see if I can recap that. So you were doing you've been doing well. Obviously, you're in you know, San Francisco, very expensive to live there probably one of the most expensive cities in the world to live. So obviously, your expenses are pretty high and your income has to be pretty high to match. You decide, hey, you know what, I'm going to start my own company. So you start that, doesn't go as as expected. And so while you are trying to get that off the ground, decide, hey, you know what, let me try something else, too and I learned this whole Option thing. And then you said, Okay, I'm doing better at the options, then at my job thing, so I'm gonna just switch. Eddie: Exactly, and it takes so much less time, right? I mean, if anybody's started a company, like yourself, right, you know, you're working, you know, 24/7. And so for, you know, for a larger return, and a lower amount of work and time of working, you know, it's a no brainer. Allen: Right, so how long have you been doing options, the way you've been doing it now? Eddie: Well, the way I've been doing it now with Option Genius, it's probably about a year or so like, you know, when I was like a city, city group, I did some trading and you know, but that was sort of small time, I was mostly buying options, and I wasn't very successful at it. And then now, you know, during the pandemic, as I was looking around, and searching, researching, I started swing trading a little bit. There was a service through Investor's Business Daily IBD, that they had a swing trading program, that they, you know, they basically just tell you when to get in and get out. And I did that I wasn't very successful, and you had to sit in front of the computer all day, as soon as you got one of the alerts, you got to run back and put in the trade or get out. And so that didn't work out too well. And I did just didn't really like the model. And I stumbled across Option Genius, I think you guys came up in one of my social media feeds, I don't, I can't remember his facebook or something, or through the web, it was online somewhere. And I looked at all your courses. And I thought, wow, this is, you know, this is exactly what I want to learn, right? Because I knew about Option just from my financial background, but I never really got deep into it to the point where I was really confident and having, you know, consistent success. And that's when I dove in. And, you know, I started with the oil program, as you know.. Allen: Right.. Eddie: And had some successes there, which then got me very interested in as credit spreads or layup spreads, yeah, lay up spreads. And then, so then I joined and subscribed to Simon says, and then I got, you know, I thought, Wait, I want to learn how to do this myself. And so I joined your credit, credit credit mastery course. And then after that, I read your passive trading book. And I wanted to get into passive trading, because then again, that means less work ahead, and I joined the passive trading group. And then most recently, you know, everything has been great. I just keep on wanting to learn more. And I most recently, I just completed your iron condor course, right? And in my mind, I want to have different strategies to execute depending on what the market does, right? Directional trades are great when you have a great bull market running like we have. But I also want to be able to trade successfully if the market is just going sideways or down and just have the sort of Arsenal to be able to handle whatever the market does your courses do that right? you enable people like myself, your students to be able to have that sort of all around education or knowledge. Allen: Yep. Yep. I mean, we try to have something for every single market you know, and, and you kind of did it the opposite way. We kind of tell people "hey, you start with passive you know, build up something there, learn the basics, and then you can move up to credit spread mastery, and then iron condors and then get into oil last" because it's probably the most advanced he just you went the opposite way. And he started with the toughest one first, and then you, you end down but you know, either way it works as long as it makes sense. Right? So.. Eddie: Yeah, it made sense to me. And maybe because I had my financial background, but yeah, you're you're absolutely ready for somebody. Yeah, that was probably the thing for me. I wouldn't call it a regret but I wish I had to do over I will probably have started with passive trading and work my way up in that sort of curriculum the way that you just described I think starting with oil was a was definitely a little backwards. Allen: Yeah, I think maybe though, that might have helped you to get it off the ground faster. Eddie: True Allen: You know, because with the passive trading, there's different strategies involved. And so it's like, oh, do I do this one, let me learn about this one. They learn we learn about this and they learn we learn about this one. Sometimes people get confused or they get you know, it just takes too long for them to get through it. Where oil options is just one strategy you know, just say, hey.. Eddie: True. You're right. Allen: This is it. This is what we're doing this way we're doing it Boom, boom, boom, it works. Here's money. Oh, yeah, a success, right? Eddie: Yeah, you're right. Because thinking back that's what sort of got me into it and more excited as I was having quick successes with what I was learning in oil, which is what got me interested to the next one, and so forth. So yeah, you're probably right. Allen: I think we might have to restructure.. Eddie: The curriculum Allen: Yeah. So you've been doing this for about a year now? And how have you been doing, how are your results? Eddie: Pretty good, I'm at for the year, the date right around 60 a little higher than 62 or 63% year to date. So somewhere around there, and you know I follow the rules, right? And I shoot for 10% every month. The interesting thing though, is that when I looked back at my trades, what I learned is that every time I lost, it was because I didn't follow something in the rules. And so had I followed the rules. I think I would probably be somewhere in the 70s.. Allen: Okay. All right. Eddie: So lesson learned for me yeah is is you know, you just got to follow the rules don't let the emotions or anything get to you you know you have to be very disciplined in how you invest and if you you know those rules came from years of your knowledge and experience right? And doing this so you know, you just gotta follow and don't let anything else get in the way and you'll be fine. Allen: That's probably the hardest part, following the rules.. and it used to be me, I don't follow them 100% of the time either and then we get burned.. Eddie: Right! I sometimes think oh, you know, I think one of my mistakes earlier on I was I was actually I believe too much in the market or I was too much of an I was too optimistic if you will, I would be down on some and I wouldn't get out at 25% right which is what the rules say. And so you know then I watched it and I just watch it kept watching it and it just went down down down also and I'm in the money so you know luckily I was saved a few times where you know came back up and I took you know less of a loss but in general again you know, it's I should have just followed the rules and everything would have been fine. Allen: Yep, I mean well said. I mean it's easier it's easier said than done right? I mean you've been there and it's like okay emotionally I want to do it but it's gonna come back it's gonna come back and then that I think that discipline part is is the thing that comes in last after years and years of like, you know, getting your butt kicked over and over again, I think that finally we finally get smart enough to be like okay, fine I'm gonna get out you know and then eventually you get to the point where like right now it's all fresh it's all interesting and it's all new so the money aspect and you know getting that return and be like oh man, you know I want to get up to 100% this year. Oh, you know if that's your goal, it's really motivating eventually after a while you get to the point where you know what I'm just gonna try not to lose money - that becomes a whole new ballgame it's like yeah, I'm gonna put it on and most of the time it's just gonna work but the month that it you know the month that he gets in trouble I just don't want to lose money. You know? And then if that's if that works then overall at the end of the year I'm going to have fine, so it's not like we don't want the roller coasters we just want steady steady steady a little bit dip okay and then steady steady dip and if they so, but you'll get there I mean, eventually it just yeah, I think it's a natural progression mental aspect as well you know, it's not eventually you'll get to the point where they okay another winning month, go home, you know, it's not that exciting anymore. But yeah, so I mean 60 some percent for the year would you say 63? Eddie: 63 Allen: 63% for the year to date and I mean, we've only been you know, eight months so that's freaking incredible. You know, very kudos to you, man. That's awesome.  Eddie: No thank you. Appreciate it. Allen: So I did want you to show me or show everybody your license plate. That was really cool. what you just did. Eddie: Oh, yeah. I don't know if this was a podcast or.. Allen: We're recording. We're gonna show the video too, we put up on YouTube but.. Eddie: Yeah, so I just got this license plate. This is Yeah, I wanted to surprise Allen during this during this video. It just sort of shows how committed I am. You know, I love it. I live this stuff every day now. And it's exciting. I think it's exciting and fun. Right? And I wish I actually would have found out about this sooner and had done this when I was you know, a little younger even. You know, never too late. Allen: No. I mean for those of you guys who are listening on the podcast, Eddie has a license plate OP TRADER oh no sorry OG TRADER no was it OP, no OP TRADER, yes, Options Trader.. Eddie: ..for option trader. Allen: I like it. I like it. And I love the colors too. Looks really nice. So is that gonna go on your Lamborghini? Eddie: No, another car. It's already on there. One day, I can do that. Yeah. So no like that. Hopefully that tells you I'm all in. Allen: Okay, so now you said you're all in and you're going to make the switch permanently or full time to trading in a few months from now. So what size account will you be playing with at that time? Eddie: Yeah. So I think in order to be totally comfortable, being able to make a living, and also keep in mind that, you know, I'm not always going to get the 10% every month, it's going to be about a million dollars. And so the look at, you know, even Of course, 10% is great a month, right? On a million bucks. Yeah, you can definitely, you know, live off that. But even if.. Allen: Yeah I think you can you live off that. 100,000 a year. Eddie: Right? And I'm thinking, Jesus, you know, I could be doing this or putting money in the startup, right, which that will come but it's gonna take a little bit more time. This is more immediate. Allen: Okay, so now how are you going to break that up? Because you've done you're doing oil options, you're doing layups, and then you're also doing stock? So how are you spreading that out? Eddie: Yeah, so actually, before I even get to, to that, let me just mention I was gonna say this earlier is, I spoke with my accountant and he actually said, Hey, Eddie, you know, I advise you to actually form a business, create an LLC, and trade in your LLC, because you'll have certain tax benefits, you can write off the Commission's and the and the fees, and you can write all the courses you're taking, of course, I'm not giving, you know, accounting or tax advise here, this is just what my, my accountant told me. So everybody's listening, maybe you ask your own attorneys. But so what I've actually done was just earlier this week, I formed a new company in California - an LLC, just to trade and I'm in the process of opening an account with TD Ameritrade. So I can move from my personal account to this business account, you know, to trade, and there's some liability stuff to there that permit protection from you get sued. You know, they don't go after your personal assets. But I just thought I'd throw it in there. Because you know, it's important if you're going to do this full time, I think. Allen: Yeah, for sure, for sure. And then especially, like you said, the liability thing, you know, when you get into the bigger numbers, you get into a car accident, or your wife gets into a car accident, or somebody slips and falls in front of your house, they can go after all of your personal assets. That includes your trading account. So you know, if that's what you're using to pay all the bills, you want that set off aside in a separate place where nobody can touch it, and if it's a totally separate thing, so I really like the fact that you you've gone ahead and done that. It's very important. Eddie: Yeah, no, I thought it was too and I have some real estate too. And I keep that separate from that. And it just makes sense all around. Allen: Hmm, yep, yep. Okay. Eddie: And then so in terms of sort of how I split it up, right now, I'm doing about 75 to 80% credit spreads. Allen: Okay. Eddie: In my mind, I think that's a little high. That's why I took your iron condor course, because I felt like, you know, I, you know, in a good bull market, the credit spreads, directional trades, you know, we'll be successful. But what if we go into a sideways market? What am I going to do then. And so that's where the iron condors would come into play. And I also moved my IRA from JP Morgan to TD Ameritrade without paying somebody, you know, a good amount of money to manage it. I was part of their private client program. And they were doing everything and I'll paint a bunch of fees, I got my statement, I looked at a bunch of fees. And I'm like, you know, I could do better than this. So I got rid of them. And I just transferred it over to my TD Ameritrade account, so I can manage it myself. And what I plan on doing there is selling covered calls, and maybe cash secured puts and, yes, I have a you know, more well diversified portfolio than, you know, just doing mostly credit spreads. Allen: That's awesome. Yeah, so I was I was gonna say that, you know, if you're doing that much, and it's if that's the whole size, but obviously you have your trading account, and then you have your retirement funds. So in the retirement funds, we want something a little bit more stable, maybe, you know, something that's gonna instead of like our options, who you know, they last a month or two things expire, the stocks if you're owning or ETFs. Like if you get an index ETF or something, you can just hold on to that for the next, you know, 10, 15, 20 years, however you need to and keep cash flowing that so that's what we talked about in the passive program. And then in the credit spread mastery, that's the one that you're talking about with the the credit spreads and the layups. So, I guess, you know, I guess depending on what your goals are, you know how much you need every month. You might even, you probably don't need the whole million depending If you, you know, if you get aggressive and you use all of it or most of it, then obviously you're probably gonna have a lot left over. But you know, thinking about Hey, making 5, 6, 7 percent a month, that's still gonna grow pretty much. So I think we get to the point where, okay, you know, like you were talking about the discipline issue where "Hey, I'm gonna let it go", well now it's like, "okay, I don't need a whole 10% You know, I'm fine with like four. So if I'm up a nice amount, you know, do I wait until the end of the week? Or do I wait till expiration? Do I wait till I'm up 10% on this trade spread?" Maybe I don't, you know, I'm up 7% "Hey, I'm taking my money, and I'm going to the beach". I'm up, I'm done. I'm done for the month, I don't need to worry about it. So I think that gives you when you have more money than you need, because a lot of people do that they do the opposite, especially when they're like, Oh, yeah, I want to I want to get into trading. I'll do it full time. But I need to make $10,000 a month. Okay, great. How much money do you have to trade with? Oh, I have 50,000. It's no, it's not gonna work. You know, there, even if you have 100,000, if you have to make that 10% every month, that stress level on you, it just rises exponentially much higher that pressure, and then you start making mistakes. Allen: So I mean, you know, I don't know how much you need every month to survive. I'm assuming it's not going to be 100,000. But, you know, if it's like, "Hey, I have more money than I need. So I don't have to hit that 10% goal". If you can hit it, that's great. That's awesome. Maybe that's enough for two months, you know, and if you like "Hey, you know, for some of these months that we've talked about in the past, you know, some months are really rocky in the stock market, September being one of them, October being one of them. So if you have, you know, if you're doing really well and you're up 60, 70 80%, like you are now, September, October, maybe you're like, you know what, I think I'm gonna take a break, I'm gonna go on vacation these two months, and I'm not even going to risk it. Right? It's like, what's the, what's the thing, I could lose 30%? or I can make 10%? Do I want to try it? You know, and then maybe just don't and obviously, you'll see that when you actually do it over time. And you'll see what are your tendencies and what months are good for you and not and, but I really like the way that you're thinking about it, you know, it's like, hey, in a bull market, I'm going to be doing these spreads. Sideways market, I'm gonna switch over to condors a little bit more, you know, in the down market, you can go back to spreads, but the spreads, they'll work even in a sideways market. It's just, if it's very volatile, then that's the one that we don't want to play in, because we don't know exactly which way it's going. So if it's going sideways, we can still play a layup or a credit spread, but it's not as.. It won't be as comfortable as we normally are. Eddie: Right. Allen: So then how much of it how much of the account will be in Oil Options? Eddie: Probably around 15. Okay, times 20 that's a good amount on depending on the month, but again, you know, I want to diversify even more, if I can right? You know, I may even you know, later on when things get are sort of more streamlined for me, and I've reached my goal. I need to look into other commodities too, right? Besides oil. Yeah, well, you have that again, a further level of diversification besides equities and just oil. Allen: Right now how much time are you spending on your trading? Eddie: Not too much I spend a little bit of time when I'm putting the trades on so I do my research, I look at the charts just like you taught us you know, I'll take a look at news to see if there's anything affecting it Look at you know, all the different things on the checklist and the rules you gave us that takes I don't know maybe an hour when I do that, but after that and I usually do monthlies right and after I put it in and the rest of the month I'm in the morning you're just sort of looking at it, right? Maybe I'll look at it once in the morning once usually around noon before the market closes in Pacific time my time to just make sure nothing you know happened and then that's about it. And you know, then I'll work in most of the time if I'm up in a certain amount really fast for one particular stock or trade, I'll just get out and take the game and then go back in if there's enough time for the month so then you're sort of double dipping and so I'll watch for that and then you know and then apply that accordingly. I don't even adjust that much to be honest with you because I you know I thought about you know what Simon Says does write on his layup spreads and you know, the fact that you've done back testing and you know sometimes even if you don't adjust you end up doing better than trying to adjust and save the trade. I've gotten to a point where I just get out you know if it if it's you know, it's gone to a certain amount I'll get out and I you know, maybe I'll get back into that stock maybe the next month. But most of the time I've been getting into something else, and not worrying about that one, that lost one. Allen: If you can get to that level emotionally, it just takes all the stress away. You know, yeah, you'll you'll know at the beginning of the month, you'll be like, you know what I'm putting on these. And I'm gonna ask you this question, you know, how many trades do you put on every month at the, you know, at one time how many trades you have, but like, let's say you have 10 trades on you're like, you know what, I'm gonna probably gonna lose on two or three of these, the other ones, they're gonna make money. So when I get one, like, Oh, that was a loser. Okay, I'm taking it off. Let me go find something else. And that just takes all the stress away, instead of Oh, my God, this one has to come back. Whoa, yeah. And then you're watching it every day, and you're worried about it, and you're checking the news, watching, you know, your business channels and all that. And it just, it's not how it's supposed to work out. And the cool thing about the Simon says, trades, I mean, we have nine years of real money, you know, it's not even back tests. It's like real money trades, that are that are the results. And it's like, okay, okay, I think that, you know, it's been through up markets down markets, bear bull, all of them is like, Okay, I think this is a little bit stable. Now, I think this actually worked. So I feel pretty confident being like, Hey, you know what? This stuff works, you know, to go out and say it, before the first few years, I was kind of hesitant, you know, it'd be like, yeah, hey, this is our track record. You know, you make up your mind, you think about it, you look at it, and if you want to do it, you do it. But now after nine years, I can I think I'm pretty confident in saying, "Yeah, you know, this stuff works". So if you wanted to do it just do it, right, so, so let me ask you, how many trades do you have on total? Eddie: Well, this month, I'm being cautious, like you said, you know, you sort of warned the class and I so I'm in less, but typically, I'm in about 10 to 12 a month. Allen: Okay Eddie: Usually what I do is I have, instead of a 10% goal, which I use as a sort of an overall metric, I typically have a goal for $1 amount goal for each trade I put my place in, so I'll know and I'll put the same amount of money, the exact same amount of money in every trade, right? So not gonna do little here. And then more on this one, everything's the same. So across the board, so I know exactly. "Okay, What's a 10%? gain, for example? And what's 25% gain? What's that dollar amount, I can get in or whatever. And so, I know from the odds that, you know, you need to be doing about 10, trades, you know, 10, 12 trades in order to, for me to hit that dollar goal every month. And so, you know, so that's typically about 10 to 12. And I think, you know, you're telling us too, you sort of taught us, hey, in terms of the number of trades, you know, get don't get to a point where it's, you know, difficult to track, right, and I think, you know, be beyond 10 or 12, would probably be hard for me, I'll lose sort of lose sight. I don't follow the news. I'll miss stuff and so that seems to be the sweet spot. Again, according to the rules of where I try to stay about 10 or 12 a month. Allen: Right. Okay. Sounds good. So now, while you've been doing this, what was the biggest challenge that you faced in terms of implementing or learning? Or what was the hardest thing that you had to overcome? Eddie: You know, I think for me, if it's a little bit different, I actually jumped in pretty quickly. I didn't do very many paper trades. I think my you know, regret as I think, in the beginning, I was sort of too optimistic. And I would do a trade and I'd be, it'd be down, I'd be like, Oh, no, I'll go back up. And also, the next day is really down, right. And so if I had to do over again, I would probably do a lot more paper trading, to the point where I would do it for probably three months. And until I have that sort of consistent return, then I would maybe switch over again, this is what you teach in the class, and I didn't listen. And so you know, I mentioned before, the time that I lose is when I don't follow the rules. And this is one of the first rules you taught us. I didn't follow it. And in the beginning this last year, right? In 2020, when I first started, you know, I had a couple of couple of losses there that hurt. And, you know, but I've definitely learned from it. Allen: Right? Yeah. So if I remember, if I remember the first couple months, you took some you took a big loss. And then after that, then he was on fire, and you were just doing 10%, 10%, 10% every month. Yeah. Eddie: Yeah. After I learned the lesson of following the rules, I decided I told myself, you know what, I'm not going to let any you know, emotion, good or bad, optimistic or pessimistic? I'm just gonna follow the rules. And so I did that. And so I was doing pretty good. I was hitting, I think there's three months in a row where I hit 10% like running, you know, one month, month after month, and so I ended up doing pretty good. Allen: So do you think that's, that's what it was that what clicked for you? Is like, Hey, I'm just gonna, I'm just trying it on my own. I'm trying to, you know, adapt on my own, but if I just, I had there's a road there, I just need to follow the road. Eddie: Exactly I came to this point where, you know, I took a big loss. And I thought to myself, shoot, should I be doing this? And I thought about a thought about a loss and, you know, lost sleep over a couple of nights. And I thought, you know what, you know, these rules were developed, you know, on purpose. And it's based on years and years of trading experience, right from you and the team. And so why am I not following these rules. And so I had to have sort of that heart to heart with myself to say, Eddie, stop being too optimistic or stop, you know, doing things that are, you know, that go against you. Just follow it, do it for a few months, and see what happens. And that's what I did. And that's when I had those three consecutive months of percent. And then I'm like, now I'm looking back, you know, so wanted to, you know, sort of smack smack myself in the back in the head, you'll want to just do that in the first place. Right? So, but it was a lesson learned. And that's, you know, one of the things going into this year that I told myself, is that, you know, I must, you know, just follow the rules. And you know, I think we've done pretty well there. Allen: Cool. So now the spread trades, how do you find them? Eddie: Yeah, so I'll go through the charts exactly, as you explained it in the training, look at the trends pretty much step by step, what you look at, you know, what you shared with us, what really helped me is that the credit mastery course that I took- that was different than your other courses, because your other courses were mostly videos, and maybe some homework here and there, which is good because it you know, reinforces the knowledge that the credit mastery course was good in that we did it for three months straight, every week for a couple hours, the same trade, you know, same looking for the trade staying, you know, how to look for the trade, how to, you know, evaluate one trade against another, and, and, you know, then placing the trade, choosing the trade and then actually placing the trade. And that helps so much, because after that three months, and we're just doing it over and over again, where now I can you know, I know all the math and everything of what I need to do, I don't have to look at a cheat sheet, I'll just figure out on calculator real quick, what's the, you know, what's the max loss? What's the max, you know, Max, gain -  a note, you know, I have all that ready to go. So I could be a little bit faster. And so, you know, getting back to your, I guess your your question about how I go through the Choose the trade, really just I followed your steps. Allen: Do you have any favorites? Eddie: Yeah, so I've, um, I just haven't been in the tech industry for a while, I tend to like the tech sector. I mean, it's been obviously it's been doing well. So, you know, your your typical Google Apple, Cisco for a while, you know, those types of companies again, you know, what he taught us? You know, I don't do any smaller companies, right. I, you know, I want big, strong companies that, you know, won't, you know, won't lose a significant price overnight. Allen: Right. Eddie: So the big strong guys that usually in the tech sector, right now, as I mentioned before, I'm in Google for this period, and then PayPal, but I also try, obviously, you know, I try to diversify, too, right? I don't want everything in tech. Right? I don't want everything in credit spreads to begin with, that I don't want everything in tech, I try to mix it up a little bit. And you know, how I usually go with the trend of what's in the news, too, right? You know, okay, it's reopening stocks, okay, which kind of, you know, is a Travelocity or, you know, airline stock, and you know, and then if it's a, you know, it could be a growth, it could be a growth period, and I will look for growth period stocks, and pretty much look at the look at what's going on. Allen: Awesome. Cool. Okay. Now, you said that you've made the decision to go ahead and go full time. What was the trigger? Like, how did you feel comfortable to the point where, hey, you know, I'm ready to do this. How did you know that? Because a lot of people, they have that same goal. But for whatever reason, they're afraid to quit the job or they're afraid to go in full time or put all their money into this. What was it for you that mentally had you prepare? Because obviously, you have a family? So you know, you probably talked to them about it, and they had their input as well. And they have to be comfortable? Because if the wife says no, then it's kind of like a no. How did you get to that point? Eddie: You know, when I saw consistent results, where month after month, I was not just in the positive but sort of healthy, right? I mean, not everyone was 10%, obviously, right? I and I mentioned my 63% year to date, but I saw it, as soon as I saw that consistency. I knew that you know, I You know, there's definitely something there and I didn't obviously overnight, think about, you know, just quitting the job, whatever. And doing this full time, it was sort of an evolution, right? Where the first light bulb went off well, you know, there's consistent results here. And and I can do it month after month, and then is you when you get consistent you start having these ideas of all what, you know, what's next, what else can I do, right? And you know, what's the, you know, it opens up your opportunities, I guess, and you start thinking about what, you know, everything else, and it got to a point there also to putting money and investing money in my startup, you know, I saw I didn't see the return right away, I know what's gonna come, there's no doubt about that, I believe in my partners, etc. But the results weren't coming month after month, right that you had, it's a long term investment, you sink a lot of money into it, and just don't see the results have passed. And so because of that consistency, and my ability to sort of do it myself, right, and produce those results. That's what got me thinking, hmm, why should I continue to put money in the startup when I can be putting it, you know, into trading and be able to, hopefully, right, earn a pretty good living right?  Allen: Where you're getting paid by working at the startup. Eddie: We were in stealth mode for a little over a year, I wasn't getting paid regularly. But my partners and I had all been in tech before and you know, we had some IPO, money set aside and savings again, we were self funding this thing, right? That I wasn't paying myself regularly. So that was another thing is that and that's actually one of the reasons why I look to see during the pandemic, I was a little bored. Because you can only do so much when you start a company when you're in the pandemic. So that's one of the reasons I started looking out there to see what else was there and, you know, looking at options, etc, reminded me of my financial services days, and that's when I decided to take the plunge. Allen: Awesome. Okay, so yeah, and I mean, I know you're, you're a smart guy, so you probably do also have a backup plan. Right? I would assume that if you needed to, you could go back to working at the startup. Eddie: Oh, yeah, no question, right? I mean, I've got Yeah, absolutely. That was part of the consideration is that if all else fails, if the market tanks or whatever, I can always go out and get back into tech, I can, you know, go back into my startup, right in a more active role. So yeah, there's definitely you know, Plan B, Plan C, but you know, having a taste of this sort of lifestyle of the trading lifestyle I mean, once you have that experience for a couple of months you know.. Allen: It's hard to go back. Eddie: It's hard to go back. And so now you know, I'm at the point where and maybe this is mean with just daydreaming but you know, I always wanted to give back more than I am now, right? I mean, I volunteer at my church every Sunday and you know, I donate and etc. but I knew I could be doing more and so I thought you know what, after if I can really make this thing work I'm gonna have a lot more time and probably financially be able to contribute more than I am now. And so that's another way you know now that I'm sort of getting closer to that July 1 deadline I set for myself you know, I'm already picturing 6 months 12 months down the line of this thing successful. What am I going to do after that? And so I would love to volunteer more I would love to contribute more financially to different causes. And look how I can do more from that perspective. Allen: That's awesome i love it i love it i love the fact that you're giving back you know i mean that's the primary goals of me starting Option Genius was like hey, you know let me help people make more money so that they can then use that to go and make the world better cuz I can't do that myself so you know like I try but it's not I'm just one person but if we have a whole army of people that feel the same way and that they don't have that stress of you know, I gotta go get my money today, I gotta go get my paychec,k I gotta go cash this and there's not enough left at the end of the month where I can actually go out and help somebody else. I think if we have a whole army of people who are doing it this way it'll help definitely spread the good word and.. Eddie: Absolutely Allen: ..be better so what do you think the future holds for you now? Eddie: Well, I'm gonna continue working on the goal. Hopefully I'll report back you know maybe first second quarter next year and share with you know how I'm doing I mean we talk every week on our calls anyways but you know we could do a follow up then but  Allen: Yep would love to do that. Eddie: No, I you know, i'm well on my way now. I'm pretty prepared waiting for some last minute things like forming the business entity and waiting for that to come through and you know, just sort of logistical things like that before I actually start you know, going off in 100% so no I want to thank you and your team you know, I, gosh you know, I think about if I hadn't stumbled across right, you know all the great stuff that you guys are sharing and teaching you know I wouldn't have this you know, I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't be you know, have this opportunity by and I'd probably still be not that as a bad thing by be you know, still working a startup but the, again the return wouldn't come for you know, a number of years versus you know, almost a near instantaneous with trading the way you've taught us. So I thank you and you have a great staff on your team very responsive. You know, sometimes when I freak out and I have a question, you know, I'll send it over and Cory or yourself will, you know, send an answer right back so it makes me feel, you know, feel good that I have that sort of support, plus the you know, Facebook group, the weekly calls that we do All of that is you know it's very helpful because you can't do it alone. You have to, especially in something like this where you're, what you're taking on. If you do it yourself, it could take you ages but if you have a group, you have a leader that can share with you what they had done so you can learn from it and do it too and then you have that support network like I go back and forth on on chat with with Nelson in our group, you know, you make friends right and then you you know, you have that support network you know, and you encourage each other to to do better. Allen: Yep, I mean, you know, slowly slowly we're getting there where we're building up this whole system and I think you know, I mean it's been a pleasure to work with he's been a pleasure to to help you and to hang out with you and talk to you and I mean, you've done it you've done everything you know, when you've taken everything and you've you've used it you've learned it you've internalized it and then you've actually implemented it. There's a lot of people that get to that point but they don't implement or they get stuck somewhere along the way and it's you know, but you had a you had a dream you had a reason a goal and you were like okay, I'm gonna take this it makes sense to me I'm gonna try it and then it worked. And then you just kept going with it. So kudos to you and congratulations on all your support and it's been a it's been a wonderful No, it's been a wonderful experience to have you with us. Eddie: Thank you. Thank you But one thing I will mention though, Alan is that I think the key for you know, anybody that's thinking about doing this is just do it. Right? You can start small, right? You don't have to start you know, do paper trade you just start with a few grand and just do it and learn it and anybody can do it right? You don't have to have a big account you know, just getting started is much better than than doing nothing nothing at all. So that's what I would you know, say to encourage other people that are thinking about doing this is you really have nothing to lose you know by by doing this I mean, the tuition fees that I pay were made up probably within my first couple of things, right? So you know, there's absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain. Allen: Yep. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. One last piece. I don't know I mean, this doesn't have anything to do trading and this is for those of you guys who are listening. I'm not an accountant or an expert on this. But you said you were opening your company in California. Did you look at opening it in a different state? Eddie: Yeah, I actually.. It's a good question. I looked at Delaware Allen: Okay Eddie: And I actually opened my startup filed in Delaware because there are some laws there that again speak with your own attorney but that are more favorable to business owners over there. I didn't feel like I needed it here with with just a trading you know, because I'm not I won't have clients or anything with my trading account it's just me doing my my own trading that I didn't meet really need the Delaware protections Allen: Okay, but in a tax point of view, because I know, California does have state corporate tax, right? Eddie: They do in terms of there's a couple of things that my account was explaining to me like mark to market and things that we'll be able to do. I can't remember the specific but I can't tell you that the good outweighed the bad. Allen: Okay, as long as you looked at it, that's fine. You know, because I've heard a lot and you know, whenever we're opening a corporation in Texas, I don't have a problem because there's no corporate tax. But that's what people say that hey, there's no personal income tax here, or there's none in Florida. But even for opening a corporation. I've heard lately that hey, you know, Texas is okay, Florida is okay. Delaware is really great if you're going to go public because there are banks, you know, like banking, those guys, they have a lot of protections there. Nevada is a really good one for other things. So okay, but as long as you have a cover, that's cool. I just wanted to ask Eddie: Yeah, cool, cool.  Allen: Cool. Cool. Cool. Any final takeaways or bits of advice you got I mean, you shared a lot but if anything else that's.. Eddie: No, I think I'll report back in you know, next year but again, a big thank you I mean, I you know, this journey has been awesome. I mean, of course, I mentioned that, you know, in the beginning you know, it took some hits, and you know, I would say you know anybody thinking about doing this, do it - don't get discouraged, you're gonna have ups and downs, that's just you sort of built in, but there's definitely a lot more ups than downs. So, you know, doing stuff like this is a lot better than doing nothing at all. And so I would encourage everybody to, you know, jump right into it and learn. Allen: Awesome. Eddie: And again, a big thank you to you and your team as well. Allen: You're welcome. You're very welcome. But thank you so much for being here and helping us out. Of course, Eddie: Anytime

Cell Block H Podcast - Episode 4   Synopsis: Rosie has had a baby, time to celebrate! But Bill kind of kills the mood by being declared dead. Eddie isn’t scared by a bunch of women until he faces them. Marty and Donna is still boring, Bea gives Chrissie the latest hairdo in fashion, And Meg keeps crying.   First viewing: 2019-01-25 (this time around) Recorded: 2019-06-01   Episode Info:   First airing - March 6th in 1979.   Written - Ian Bradley - (Number of episodes 2) Produced - Ian Bradley - (Number of episodes 4) Directed - Graeme Arthur - (Number of episodes 3)   Clips From The Episode:   “If I thought a little bit about publicity” - 05:00, Erica “Bill Jackson’s dead” - 05:36, Vera “Do you think hat little crim is more important?” - 07:00, Meg “Somebody’s gotta look after the animals...” - 17:00, Meg “Bloody scary I tell you” - 22:59, Eddie “Pushed around by a bunch of women” - 23:53, Eddie “You little bitch” - 31:45, Franky “Go on love, tell them what happened” - 31:15, Bea “Obviously not good news” - 45:31, Vera   Newcomers:   Tim Robertson - Detective Sergeant Jack Allen Jan Friedl - Officer Joanne Barker - Donna   Exits:   Links:   Cell Block H Podcast On Youtube - Video updates regarding the podcast Who’s Who In Wentworth - Encyclopedia for everything Prisoner Cell Block H Prisoner Cell Block H - Imdb Lynne Hamilton - On The Inside - End credits music of the show Marty Mcfly - Main protagonist in “Back To The Future”-trilogy On A Call At Lunch... - Ministry - Ghouldiggers Captain Hindsight - South Park - Coon 2: Hindsight (Season 14, Episode 11) Jan Friedel - Prisoner: Cell Block H - Episode 4 You Silly Goose - South Park - Cripple Fight! (Season 5, Episode 3) Dissociative Identity Disorder - Wikipedia Prisoner Cell Block H: The Ultimate Prisoner Fan Group - Facebook group 5 Branded Women - IMDB Top 25 Core Cast - Who’s Who In Wentworth list The Core Cast - Who’s Who In Wentworth list   Intro / Outro:   Intro music - Graham De Wilde - Icescape   Intro clips:   Miss Ferguson threatens prisoner - Episode? (If you know which episode this is please let me know) Nola doesn’t want to go across the Nullarbor - Episode 340 Bea threatens prisoner - Episode? (If you know which episode this is please let me know) Lizzie's sentence - Episode 105   Outro music - Andrew Jackman - Underwater Beauty 1   Outro clip:   Frankie misses Doreen - Episode 1   Contact:   Email: cellblockhpodcast@gmail.com  Twitter: @cellpodcast  Facebook: www.facebook.com/cellblockhpodcast/   ***Spoilers*** * * * * * * * * * * * Most Roles Played Leaderboard:   Bill Bennett 10 Terry Trimble 7 Will Deumer 7   Characters:   Kerry Armstrong - Lynn (44 episodes, 1 -44)    Elspeth Ballantyne - Meg Jackson/Morris (669 episodes, 1-692)    Joy Westmore - Joyce Barry/Pringle (254 episodes, 29-692)   Carol Burns - Franky (20 episodes, 1-20)   Patsy King - Erica Davidsson (351 episodes, 1-454)   Margaret Laurence - Marilyn (16 episodes, 1-16)   Val Lehman - Bea Smith (375 episodes, 1-400)   Colette Mann - Doreen Anderson/Burns (286 episodes, 1-446) - Played Cheryl Stark in Neighbours between 1995-1996 - Plays Sheila Canning in Neighbours from 2012-present   Richard Moir - Eddie Cook (16 episodes, 1-16)   Barry Quin - Dr. Greg Miller (88 episodes, 1-110) - Played “News anchor #5” in Superman Returns (2006)   Peita Toppano - Karen Travers (79 episodes, 1-80)   Fiona Spence - Vera Bennet (222 episodes, 1-224)   Judith McGrath - Colleen Powell (263 episodes, 48-456)   Mary Ward - “Mum” Brooks (33 episodes, 1-204)   Joanne Barker - Donna (4) - Rene uncredited (94)   Jan Friedl - Officer(4) - Brenda Latham (6 episodes 285-296)   Joan Millar - Noeline's Sister uncredited (127) - Brenda Latham (197)   Val Jellay - Mrs. Gibson (4) - Mrs. Bessie (45) - Saleswoman (2 episodes, 252-255) - Mabel Morgan (8 episodes, 589-612) - Played Nancy Buckley on The Flying Doctors between 1986-1992    Tim Robertson - Detective Sergeant Allen (4) - Prosecutor (98) - C.E.S. Officer (180) - Ron Crosby (4 episodes, 261-270) - Les Brook (328) - David Malone (2 episodes, 563-564  - Plays “Dad” in the movie Holy Smokes   Bill Stevenson - Marty’s schoolmaster (4)   Sheila Florance - Lizzie Birdsworth (404 episodes, 1-418) - Plays May Swaisey in Mad Max (1979)

Edward “Eddie” Lorin founded Strategic Realty Holdings, LLC as a culmination of his years of experience in investment real estate and as an offshoot of Strategic Realty Capital (SRC), which he also co-founded. Since 2008, SRC has purchased over 15,000 units in more than 70 transactions valued at over $1 Billion, and has built a strong performing portfolio. All of SRC’s apartment assets were purchased opportunistically and successfully re-positioned into thriving communities. He is an affordable housing preservationist as co-founder of his venture Alliant Strategic to preserve and breathe new life into year 15 LIHTC (Low Income Housing Tax Credit) properties. He is also the founder of Impact Housing REIT, a Reg A+ Crowdfunded Platform to buy and transform neglected apartment buildings into thriving communities that are affordable. Title: Counting Pennies to Jack-in-the-Box to $1B in Transaction with Eddie Lorin  James:  Hi, audience, welcome to Achieve Wealth Podcast, the podcast where we focused on value-add commercial real estate investment. Today we have a really awesome guest. His name is Eddie Lorin. Eddie founded Strategic Realty Holdings, it's also an offshoot from Strategic Realty Capital, which was also cofounded by him. And since 2008, SRC, that's the acronym, has purchased over 15,000 units, over 70 transactions valued over 1 billion and they've built a very strong performing portfolio. Hey, Eddie, why don't you introduce yourself and tell our audience about things that I forgot to mention that I missed out.    Eddie: Hello audience. We have a very basic formula. We give people a clean, safe, affordable place to live. Treat them with respect and dignity, they stay, they pay, they refer their friends. That's it, very simple. But it's quite complicated as you know. There's a lot that goes into sourcing deals, diligencing deals, financing them, closing them, executing a business plan, getting them stabilized, refinancing and it's a whole big cycle that you'll do in your sleep if you've done enough of them. But it's not easy and that's not for the faint of heart as we know.    James: Yeah. So what do you think about people coming in new into the business and want to do this business? I mean, what advice do you have for them?   Eddie: You better have some really, really good capital behind you. Today, it's so hard, it's so competitive to get deals closed without the money raised. It's very difficult. It used to be you'd tie a deal up and any good deal would attract money, but it's not always the case anymore. That's the frustration. You gotta really be careful, you could get caught leaving deposits because you don't get the money in time. So number one is you gotta have a big pile of capital and capital that you can make money with. Otherwise, I wouldn't do it anymore. It's really a different market today.    James: So that's completely different from my understanding. I thought now we are at the market peak, capital is very easy to find if you find a good deal. Is that wrong?     Eddie: No, absolutely incorrect. What is happening is that a lot of this money that's supposedly on the sidelines raised money at 20 IRRs and they need to make a net of 15 to 17 so they say there's a lot of capital there, but they can't invest it in deals unless they can make money, which you don't blame them. So unless you raise money now in the new normal like we're doing a new fund and our pref is going to be 6% and we're going to have a promote over six, now you can make some money, but if your pref is 10, forget it. So these people out there with the equity that's sitting on the sidelines, they're still looking for returns that don't exist. So yes, there's a lot of money on the sidelines, but try to get him to go in unless there's blood on the streets, which there ain't no more blood left.    James: So are you saying that the investors who used to get like 18 20% IRR actually is missing the whole point? I mean there's no more deals like that anymore and you are going much lower returns.  Eddie: Yeah, you have to. And finding that capital, that's patient appreciative capital at a lower cost is the hard part.    James: Okay. So what do you advise for the people who are still waiting for that high investment return?    Eddie: Go find cheap capital.    James: How are you finding cheap capital?    Eddie: I do it every day and we talk to probably five, 10 people a day. We have CBREs or brokerage firm going out and talking to investors. We're just banging the doors every day. It's really hard; even for someone established like me.    James: So do you syndicate your deals? I mean from private investors or do you use private equity?    Eddie: Depends. I use institutional equity, I use private equity firms and we also syndicate individual deals, it just depends. Every deal has its own DNA and every deal has its own character and you have to decide per deal what you're going to do and what your business plan because it will affect how long you sell it or hold it, whether you're going to sell or refinance. The whole gamut needs to be taken into account and it's all based on the cost of capital and the investor temperament.    James: So why don't you take an approach of not doing deals right now since a lot of people expect a lot more returns right now?    Eddie: Well, like everyone, I have an engine to keep going and there's never a good time to do a bad deal or a bad time to do a good deal. Doesn't mean there are no opportunities, It's just the returns are lower. Doesn't mean they're bad deals. With interest rates, the 10-year treasury is still at two and a half, what should you expect as an investor? You shouldn't expect more current return than three or 400 bips with upside. So that means 6, 7%. But when people are looking for more, that means they're in the middle so you need to go around the middlemen and go straight to the investors and that's what is most important. And those investors have to be realistic and that's the challenge.    James: So when you're talking about middle man, you're talking about people who raise money from investors and come to you because they are taking a cut?    Eddie:  That's right.    James: Got it. So you're talking about the equity raises. Yeah. For me, we raise money directly from our investors.    Eddie: That's great.    James: We usually don't have a problem with the middle man taking a cut. But there are a lot of people who are doing equity raises, function nowadays, right?  Eddie: If they raise their money and it's too expensive so they can't do deals today and their money's going to go back in a year or two. And then these investors are going to say, oh, well, I better get real, meaning the institutional investors.    James: Got it. Got it. So let's go back to your business model, right? So you have done almost a billion dollars in transactions starting in 2008. Why was it starting in 2008? Is it because that was the bottom you identified and you started it?    Eddie: Well, I worked for another company that was part of the great recession and we all parted ways and scrambled and started over, that's why.    James: Okay, okay. But how are you adapting enough to start in 2008 because that was the time where everything was low?    Eddie: Well, 2008 actually was still slipping. It was a falling knife. 2009 and 10 were really the bottom and we bought and flipped houses in 2008 and 9 because the deals weren't making sense and the equity wasn't there. But eventually, our first deal in Vegas in 2010, we paid 22 a door. 28 a door for a property in San Antonio in your backyard.    James: Wow! Yeah. I remember San Antonio when I was starting to buy it was like 35 or 40 and it started growing quickly to 50 55 within six months. It's crazy.    Eddie:  Yes. That's right.  James: That's interesting. So tell me about your business model because I mean every time I talked to you, this second, I'm talking to you, you are very, very passionate about giving people a good, safe housing and that's it, right? Which is very, very important. And it's hard to find people who are passionate about that. Can you tell me about your passion about why do you believe that's an important objective for your business?    Eddie: Well, I grew up very poor and I know what it's like to not be able to rub two nickels together to figure it out. It was a treat to count out $2 and 12 cents to go to Jack in the box. I remember those days and the humiliation associated with it. And everybody deserves a good place to live and to be with respect and dignity. So I've always taken pride in trying to take blight and make light. I think there's value in creating thriving communities out of really dilapidated stuff. And to me, that's my challenge and that's how I create value. Any schmuck can buy a building and ride the market up. The real talent is buying something and seeing the value and the vision and executing a plan and taking that property from blight to light.    James: Got it. Got it. So how do you find that kind of deals nowadays? I mean, a lot of deals has been rehabbed multiple times.     Eddie: But some of them are still owned for 30 40 years. I'm looking at a deal in New Orleans, 37 years it's been owned by the same family. As I said, there's never a good time to do a bad deal or a bad time to do a good deal. You've got a nation full of a huge number of apartment complexes and there's a ton of older owners that have bled to death in terms of cash flow and there's 2- $300 in rent bumps potentially there and still remaining affordable. But getting that pop is only a result of them starving the property of capital. So when they're ready to sell, then you can go in and refresh, it's pretty simple. It's just you got to look at it a lot more deals to find that works. But again, you must not be looking for 20 IRRs anymore, it doesn't exist.    James: So you've been in that kind of deals where people own it for like 40 years, I mean, the sellers and the brokers are going to bump up the price. I mean even though there's a value-add for the buyer, but I think the seller still have that because the market is so good.     Eddie: Did you go mute? There you are.     James: Okay. Sorry about that. So what I'm saying is even though the property has been owned for a long time, I think the brokers and the seller do expect a high price I guess, right?    Eddie: Yes, but you're solving now to a six and a half or seven exit on your cap rate on cost versus we used to underwrite to an eight or a nine because there's so much demand, there's a certain amount of just appreciation that's going to happen with the shortage of housing that's affordable in this country. And the workforce housing is a BNC product is still going to be, you know, you're talking 30 40% of replacement cost and growing because replacement costs are so challenging. So the value will eventually go up as well.    James: So what's your strategy buying deals at this peak of a market? I mean what about loan strategy, investor expectation? I think you talked a bit more about the [13:32inaudible] investor, but what about the loan strategy or Rehab Strategy? You know, how long you're going to hold date, what's your strategy like? Because we believe we are at the peak of the market.    Eddie: I don't think we're at the peak of the market. I think we're at a plateau. I don't see us going back down, there's too much demand for housing period. Not for the new stuff, but for our stuff, the NC product, will continue to have a demand, especially a good quality product that's affordable because more and more people are coming off the couch. I remember that when they all doubled up and the kids were living at home, they're all starting to start their lives and it's going to continue and a lot of the older people are selling their houses and they all want to rent as well. They don't want the responsibility, they don't want to take care of anything. So you see the demand is still tremendous and I don't see any sign of a liquidity problem, which is what causes, well, 9/11 cause the recession in 2001 people got spooked after the DOTCOM bust. Seems like PE ratios are still reasonable in terms of the global markets. And of course, the great recession was about the housing over leveraged. Well, I don't see overleverage, I still think there are condo buildings that still won't sell until 50% are sold so you can't even get a loan on condo development. So you don't have a de-glut of condos out there and houses are all gobbled up by the Blackstones of the world and they're on a rental scenario and that's a different person who rents a house versus an apartment. I just don't see, I just think it we're plateauing, we're not at a peak. As long as there's demand, this world is about supply and demand, period, no matter what it is. Whether they're tulips or apartments, and as long as there's tremendous demand, especially at the low end, we'll be fine. So you got to find the niche,    James: Find a niche. Yeah. Yeah. So let's go to the market. So you are in California and you are buying nationwide, is that right?    Eddie: Yeah, we're buying in the beltway. I love the Maryland area with Amazon coming by and we own in Florida. I love Texas, Dallas mainly. Las Vegas, Colorado. And I'm finding stuff that's distressed still. Now, it's not economic distress, it's just distressed. It's not keeping up with the market and the capital, people bleed their properties. So there's always meat on the bone if you can find it. I've been doing this a long time.    James: I can see that now. Absolutely. There are so many things to learn from you. How's your team being set up right now? I'm sure you're not one person doing this. Can you describe how your team is set up in terms of asset management, acquisition analyst, transaction and all that?    Eddie: Yeah. We have probably four in the acquisition team to analysts and two guys going out. I have two construction managers to execute the business plan. We use outside contractors to do our work. It still takes work to ride herd on them and then, we have two asset managers and accounting, but based on that, you know what, 10 or 12 something like that. You know, it fluctuates. Some people work from home and they're busy and they are traveling and so you don't always think of them and they're not in the office, but they're out working. I don't care as long as you do your job,  James: How do you split your time managing them? Do you have someone who's assisting you managing the whole operation or do you manage your whole operation yourself?    Eddie: Well, my head of asset management primarily deals with all the operations and I only talk to him once a day and make decisions. Like he just popped in and I said, I want a podcast so I'll talk to him after. But I spend more of my time on acquisitions, analysis, and investors, you know, dealing with them and the lenders.    James: Okay. Yeah. Because like right now, I think I'm at 1300 units and I'm trying to see how do I grow to your level. And I'm trying to figure out how do people with 15,000 units manage their whole team?    Eddie:  I'm down to 7,000 now.    James: That's still a huge amount. But you have an acquisition head, I mean, asset management head, which has acquisition and then you have accountants. Okay, got it.     Eddie: And construction is really important.     James: Got It, got it. Does construction mean that you're talking about remodeling and Rehab and all that?    Eddie: Yeah. Rehab, getting the bids together, putting the business plan, dealing with the draws from the lenders, all that stuff.    James: That's a lot of work, especially draws from the lenders. Have you ever thought about other asset class other than multifamily or you just focused on multifamily?    Eddie: I don't feel, especially now as we talked about in the beginning, the credibility to raise money today for anything other than what you do. You get pigeonholed and I'm fine with that. They don't want to take a flyer. Wait, I thought you'd do apartments so you want to do a retail deal? I didn't even try. It's hard enough to raise money staying in your lane. Switching lanes, I just think as suicide, my personal opinion.    James: Yeah. I mean everybody would be doubting you, right? What does this guy know about something else, especially after you built so many skills and credibility in one asset class? So got it. Let's talk about value-add because I'm sure you are an expert in value-add, right? Because you have been doing a lot of units and all have value-add. So what's the most important value that you see whenever you take a project, what's the most, not most of but most valuable value-add?    Eddie: Well, it's really just whatever the marketing walk, as we call it. What do they see as they go from the leasing office, the amenities there? Is it a nice clubhouse and then you want them to see outdoor fitness, social areas with barbecues, outdoor kitchens, state of the art fitness center even though they'll never use it, they want to see it. They dream of using, honestly, they don't. And then just general dog parks and then you go inside the units and as long as they're clean and safe and feel like they're well done, that's it. And then plenty of units that don't even have that still. The old strappy pool furniture and ugly coping and shitty rod iron that's rusting. That kind of stuff is what turns people off.    James: So how do you standardize this process in terms of implementation across your property?    Eddie: Well, I rely on my head of construction who basically knows what we do. And you have a certain bucket for if you're buying a high rise, it's a different feel. And we bought a high rise in Vegas and it's like Vegas. We have a really cool downstairs, we took an Italian restaurant, a 3000 square feet and transformed it into a club room and Yoga Studio, fitness center, all that. I mean, it's really high end. That's one thing. Or it's more of a lower income area. I mean, but those are the average rents are 1400 bucks. If your average rents are 800 bucks, you're going to be doing lower end stuff, but you still want to give them the fake Gucci bag, so to speak.    James: Got it, got it, got it. So one thing I read in your website is you would like to internalize older mentality, operations management and I think that's important, but I find it just so hard to implement that to our property management, even though we own our own property management company. And how do you do it in your operation?    Eddie: Well, I do not do property management because I'm all over the country and I don't want to make a decision on an asset based on the fact that I have employees there. So, I have different crews. I'm the client, I get a lot of respect as a result of that. We have good relationships and I just try to instill that mentality with all my people and it just works, I don't know. There's art and science and business. That's the art, I can't describe it. The science you can underwrite, you can do all these things, but how does the property smell when you walk in, is it friendly? That's the art of it. Do people feel comfortable and appreciated? Again, that's the art of the business that you can't make it science, it's art and you need both. You asked the question but I can't answer it.    James: Yeah. Yeah. Because it's always hard whenever you have third-party management managing your property.    Eddie: No it isn't it.     James: It's not? Okay.     Eddie: Because you fire them if don't do what you need them to do. And they wouldn't be in the business if they didn't want to serve people. And you just got to inspire in them and give them the tools so they feel comfortable that you're giving everything they need to do to do their job, no matter if they work for you or not. And I feel like it's better than they don't work for me because I always have the threat. Oh, Eddie's coming. They're not like, Oh, I [23:40inaudible] because he's got employee issues.    James: Okay. So that's interesting. And you also mentioned something about high touch investor relation culture. So how do you do that with your investor base?  Eddie:  Oh, it's just about communication and contact. Anybody calls me, I answer the phone and call them back within a day. That's it. It's a really simple formula. If they don't need you, they don't want you to bother them unless you got another deal. But if they got a problem, they got a K1 issue if they call you, you better call him back and say, hey, we screwed up. We're doing this. Our accountants behind, there are new tax laws, whatever it is, communication is the only way. And not to dodge or duck someone like a wuss, you screw up, you face the facts and say, hey, I screwed up, but we're doing the best we can. I promise you that's it. It's really basic.     James: Do you delegate your investigation or you are direct to the investment?    Eddie: Absolutely not.     James: Okay.     Eddie: I mean the reporting I don't do, accounting does, but if someone has a problem, it's me. We're trying to do a deal, it's me.    James: Yes. Yes. I think that's important too. So coming back to the low-income housing tax credit, I think you own like 15 of those or you have owned it in the past. How does the whole low-income housing tax credit business work?    Eddie: That's a whole podcast.    James: At a high level. At a very high level.  Eddie: The government gives incentives to banks and insurance companies to invest in affordable housing. That's how affordable housing gets built. Okay? In essence, free money. So it's free equity, but they're getting a tax loss as a result. So let's say it costs $100,000 a unit to build something, for simple math. It's more now, but whatever. And you get a loan, bonds for $50,000 and there are tax credits that size up to about 35,000 and that leaves $15,000 left to build it. So that $15,000 usually, comes up with from the government, they give you subsidy loans and all kinds of low-interest loans. It's a very complicated business, but that $35,000 of equity disappears after 10 15 years. So now your basis in the property is only the $15 and 50 on the loan, which is amortized. So now you're able to offer lower rents because you're not paying a return. You're paying a tax loss on that 35 bucks if that makes sense. And we buy those properties. My affiliate partner, they supply the tax credits, My business with them, I've been a joint venture, we buy those deals after they're done, after year 15 and reinvigorate them and bring them up to maximum allowable rents because the rents do move up based on area median income. And again, it's very complicated but those bases and that's a business that's a unique niche and we're good at it.    James: Okay, got it. Got it. So it looks like 10 to 15 years, you have some kind of assistance from the government and after that, you can bring it up to your market value and that    Eddie: No, you bring it up to max allowable rents as decided. It extends beyond. The tax credits go away, but the rent restrictions go from 30 to 55 years and you have to live within those means. And that's how they remain affordable.   James: Got it, go it.  You also have a REIT, I'm my right?    Eddie: No.    James: Because I say something on REIT. So is that right?    Eddie: I tried to raise a reggae plus I broke my pic, lost a ton of money and you just got to move on. But I thought I thought the world or the country was ready for the ability to invest as low as a thousand dollars into housing, but I didn't raise enough and I had to raise enough for the SCC. So I scrapped.    James: Yeah, I didn't know RAGA, you have a minimum to raise and you have to raise it to that amount.    Eddie: Yeah. You're spending $800,00, you got to have some minimum to make it work. Otherwise, you'll never be sustainable. That's what happened. I lost lots of money. Your first loss is your best loss. Maybe in five years, it'll change, but...    James: interesting. Interesting. So can you give us some advice on what is your secret sauce to success? I mean, like one to three things, why do you think you are successful so that people can learn from it?    Eddie: Creativity, tenacity and grit. I'm sorry to be so vague, but it's really 30 years of experience. That's the art of the business. Anybody can learn the science, the art comes from your gut and breaking your pick and getting your teeth knocked down. There's no other way to describe it. It's a very tough business. It's a great business, but it's a very tough business. That's why people burn out. There are so many things to juggle and so much risk you take that investors have no idea what you go through. That's the funny thing. And they all want their returns and they want this when you take the risk, and it's a funny formula, but it works. You got to do it but there's no secret sauce other than grit.    James: Have you ever thought about, I'm just going to give up all of these and go passive, invest in someone else?    Eddie:  No, because I don't think they can do it like I can. That's why I have built up 30 years of experience. I'm getting better at what I do. Why would I jump ship now?     James: Yeah, because sometimes as you mentioned, it can be very tiring, right? I mean, sometimes we do a lot of hard work and sometimes it just feels sad that some passive investors don't see how much we do in value-add.    Eddie: They have no idea and it's a shame because they really think they know and they have no idea because it's our job to make it turnkey and easy for them. But that's a blessing and a curse. Because the blessing is they have a good investment and don't have to think about it. But if they only knew what goes into it, they would help us as advisors. And there's nothing you can do about it. It's just the way the world works.     James: Yeah. Yeah, that's true.   Eddie: The more you live, the more you know, the less you know, the more blissful you can be.    James: Especially on the mortgage side of it and the multifamily lending. If you know a lot of details about how that whole industry works, you will feel sad and say, oh my God, I should have done this. But it's all part of learning.    Eddie: Yeah, it's all saw dust. You can only move forward and learn from what your mistakes are. But people that are looking for silver bullet and perfection doesn't exist, it really doesn't.    James: Got it. Got it. Got it. So do you have any proud moment in your life that you can think about it when in your later part of your life and really be proud of it? Is there anything that you want to share?    Eddie: Well I think I'm really good at that staying with things. I had a deal in Maryland that the county exercise the right of first refusal. So I went through all this effort, due diligence and then all of a sudden, the county had the right to buy it out from under me. And I'm like, what? Are you kidding? And I pulled it out on my gut and I went to fight, I hired a lawyer and I hired some politicians to help me out. And long story short, we won the deal and we own it today. And that's what keeps me going is that I can win. I don't always win when I do, then it's glorious because I beat the system. And that's fun.    James: Yeah, that's crazy. How can a county have the first right of refusal, right?     Eddie: It's the law.    James: In some places, I guess. So what about looking at your daily habits, what do you think is some of the more important habit that you think makes you very successful in your day to day life?    Eddie: I wake up every day and be thankful for what I have. And try not to compare myself to others because everybody you look at, has their own story and you've got to remind yourself this is my story. I'm doing the best I can and accept the crap that you're dealt. And you can fight it and piss and moan or you can just deal with it. The day you accept reality and accept what's happening that's where happiness comes from, plus thankfulness. Just emotionally staying positive and realistic. That's to me. And then you've got to exercise and you got to be kind to people and do the right thing. And I'm just very straightforward. I tell people like it is, some people don't like it, I don't care, that's who I am. I'm not gonna apologize for who I am. But sometimes, you've got to be more politically correct, but then you look at our president and you say, really? Do you? How'd that happen?    James: Awesome. Awesome. So last question. So can you give three to five advice for newbies who are trying to get started in this business, in multifamily rehab and value-add?    Eddie: Number one, go to work as a property manager. Learn what it's like to collect the rent, lease an apartment, turning unit, and deal with all the day to day action. That's the most important thing. If you've never run a property, you don't understand where the revenue comes from. There are people who need to be happy and pay their bills. So that's number one, be a property manager, be a leasing assistant, be a marketing director at a property. Learn the business that way, then work for someone who actually owns property like us and then hopefully, go learn how to be a lender. Take finance courses, do everything you can in your life to understand all aspects of the business. Then nobody can snow you.     And number four would be in construction. Learn construction costs. Learn what it takes to turn a unit, what materials costs. All these things. Learn, learn, learn, learn, learn. Because most of the people that come out of school, they go straight into a big private equity company and they don't have any clue how to turn a unit or what the essence of this business is. And that's your competitive advantage because people can't take advantage of you because you know more than they do and they smell it.    James: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, Eddie, it was nice and awesome having you on the podcast. Do you want to let the audience know how to get hold of you? If you want people to reach out to you.    Eddie: Sure. Strategicrh.com, Strategic Realty Holdings, Alliance Strategic, alliantstrategic.com. We're also there too; working on opportunities, zones and affordable housing and workforce housing. Always happy to be of service. This is what we have to do. We have to pay it forward. We all had help when our lives and we have to help others. That's my goal.     James:  That's awesome. Awesome. Very happy to have you here. And I think that's it. Audience if you guys want to join us on Facebook, you can go to Multifamily Investor's Group on Facebook and join us over there. And that's it. Thanks for being here. Thanks, Eddie.    Eddie: Thank you.   

Turnip Greens & TortillasA Mexican Chef Spices Up The Southern KitchenBy Eddie Hernandez and Susan Puckett Suzy Chase: Welcome to the Cookery by the Book Podcast, with me, Suzy Chase.Eddie: My name is Eddie Hernandez and I just wrote a wonderful book called Turnip Greens & Tortillas. I'm the executive chef and partner for Taqueria del Sol.Suzy Chase: You call yourself a Southern boy who never worries about food correct. What exactly does that mean?Eddie: I don't know where the Southern boy got started. It was something that I said to a customer and I got stuck with the name. What I mean when I say I'm not food correct is because I think people emphasize too many rules on cooking and doesn't allow the home cook to really become what they can be, because you have to cook a certain way or another way, or you have to do things this way or their way. Well, I grew up in a house where there was no rules on cooking. It was he who cooks cook whatever he wanted to cook, and the other ones, they were welcome to it. If they didn't want to eat, well, then they're going to have to cook their own food. What I meant by that is that you should cook any way you like. I want to empower the home cook. Do your thing. Cook whatever you got. It doesn't really need to make sense, it needs to taste good. That's the bottom line.Suzy Chase: That's how it used to be, though, I thought growing up. Somewhere in the past I'd say 30 years that changed. Everything had to be completely correct and perfect.Eddie: You're absolutely right. I've been cooking for 30 years. It's many examples of how people where so dramatically about doing things one way. I had said before, "Listen, eggs are not just for breakfast. A steak is not just for dinner. A steak is for whenever I want to eat a steak and eggs are for whenever I want to eat eggs." There was a very well-known chef here in town, and he came to my restaurant. I knew him really well. I had a steak with a white sauce on the menu, and he went ballistic on me. That was a sin, a no-no. White sauces were just only for fish. I'd say, "Well, you bring me a book that says that I'm not supposed to do that. An etiquette book on cooking, and then I might think about it. But now this is the way I cook." He ordered the steak with the white sauce. After he got through eating, he came to me and he goes, "You know what? I really admire that you really don't care so much about what people think and you cook good food. That steak unbelievable."Suzy Chase: That's great.Eddie: Then he came to work for me. But people live in this world where they have to go by the rules all the time. Cooking should be a time to enjoy. It needs to be good because you think it's good.Suzy Chase: Nearly 30 years ago there was a guy named Mike Klank who hired you for your first waiter job at a Tex-Mex restaurant. Little did he know you were the best thing to happen to that restaurant. Describe how and where it all started with a bag full of turnip greens.Eddie: Well, in 1987, I came to Georgia to visit a friend. I was already living in Waco, Texas, at the time. I just wanted to spend some time away from everything. From the music, my friends, just get away. I came over here to take some time off away from everybody. There was a restaurant that was about to open, and my friend said, "Why don't you get a job? I know you can cook. Stay here." I said, "Man, I don't think I really want to get a job in the kitchen." He bet me a case of beer that I was just afraid to ask for a job because I wasn't going to get hired and I said, "Oh no, I will definitely get hired. I know." So I took him up on the bet and we pull up and we went inside. Of course my hair was all the way to my shoulders, I had the earrings, the bracelet, typical rocking wannabe individual. Mike was there, and I went to talk to him and I said, "Are you hiring?" He goes, "What are you looking for?" I told, "Well, I'd like to be a waiter." He goes, "Okay. When can you start?" I said, "Anytime." He says, "Tomorrow?" So it is. The next day I showed up and I became a waiter. Three days later I don't know why I went and told him, I said, "All these people are not coming back." He says, "Why?" I says, "Because of the food the bad and the service is worse, and I'm one of the waiters." He look at me like ... But in those three days, he and the kitchen staff saw me that I would go to the kitchen and make my own food, because they were so slow. I make my own dishes. I would cook something for me to eat so they already had a sense that I knew what I was doing. Mike said, "Can you cook?" I said, "I can do better than what you're doing right now." And he says, "Okay. Tell me what do we need to do?" So we work up a deal. One of things is that I really like Mike as a person. I thought that he was a straight shooter and that he was going to treat me with respect, somebody that I wanted to work with. He went to the kitchen and fired the chef, I took over the kitchen. I said, "I'll get this thing straight in three days," and he goes, "Okay." I'm glad I said three days, because I would have said four, I'd be looking at 10 more years. Those three days became 30 years so far. I'm still in the kitchen. I didn't want to do it at the beginning but now I love it.Suzy Chase: Wow. It's crazy how moments like that change your whole life.Eddie: I'm telling you. Sometimes it's unreal. I just can't believe that him and I, we've been working for so long.Suzy Chase: As an example of your creativity, tell us the story about the bag of turnip greens.Eddie: There was a man named Bobby Avery and his wife, Jaunita in the very late 80’s like '88, '89. He was a regular customer already by then. He showed up with a bag of turnip greens one day on a plastic bag. He gave them to me and he said, "Eddie, if anybody can make this thing famous, it'll be you." I said, "Thank you," and I took them to the kitchen and they went bad because I really didn't know what to do with them. The next Friday Bobby showed up again with another bag and I felt bad, so I went to Mike and I said, "Mike, what is this?" He says, "A turnip green." I said, "What do you do with it?" He goes, "Well, you cook it and we eat it." I said, "Well, how do they cook it?" He says, "Oh my god. Get in the car." We went out to eat lunch at a couple of restaurants over the next week or so, so I see what people did with them. It made no sense. They were bitter. I went back to the restaurant and I changed everything. I did it differently than the Southern people were doing it at the time. I got a lot of grief because I didn't cook them the way everybody else did and I said, "Well, I don't care. If you don't like them, you don't have to eat it. But this is how I do it." I had refused to make cornbread. I said, "No, because we eat them with tortillas in Mexico." That's a true story. We're talking 1989 and in my dreams did I ever thought that turnips greens and tortillas would be the title of a book. I was not the one that named the book. I never thought that those two little words become a title of a book. I just said, "In Mexico we eat the turnip greens with tortillas. Tortolitos." I said, "So I'm not going to give you cornbread." People used to sneak cornbread into the restaurant. It was funny because I catch him and I go, "What are you doing?" He goes, "But you won't make cornbread," and I said, "It's a Mexican restaurant for God's sake. You eat with tortillas." Eventually I give in and I started making cornbread. Now I make it all the time. As I grew as a cook, and I learned more about the ingredients available in the South and all this and that, now I make blue cornbread. I do popcorn cornbread. I do all kinds of cornbreads now, and I really like it. I learned to assimilate the culture that I was in, which it was the South. I learned to love it. I love the fact that people still says, "Good morning," and, "Hi," and, "God bless you," and, "Have a good day." I grew up in that culture in Mexico where people always say, "Good morning." Even if they didn't like you, they will still good morning to you because that's the way we grew up. Here we are 30 years later, that recipe has never left the restaurant. It's been our menu ever since.Suzy Chase: What's your favorite type of avocado and what do you look for when you're buying avocados?Eddie: Well, we always try to use Hass. We always have. Because I love Mexican avocados, but they're a little bit more buttery. The pulp, it's a little bit thicker, it's less fluid and less oily, so it looks different. The flavor is a milder not as sweet flavor, it has more of an avocado flavor to it. But if I had to use a different avocado, I will go to Mexican avocados. You want a firm avocado. You don't want it mushy. If you look at the picture on the book, you'll see that you can see chucks of avocado. That's how we like our guacamole to be. I want to be able to taste the avocado when I take a bit into it. I want to run into a piece of onion or a jalapeno, and that gives me another burst of favor in it. That the jalapenos are roasted. Not roasted, but warm. You put them in a pan with a little oil and you cook them a little bit, it takes the green flavor of the jalapeno away but it retains the heat and the taste. But it doesn't taste green so it doesn't conflict with the flavor of the avocado. We use lemon rather than lime because it doesn't cook the pulp of the avocado. It maintains the flavor of the avocado there's a reason for everything when I cook. I try to think about what the ingredients will do to each other throughout the cooking or throughout this and that. That's why it's different.Suzy Chase: Food is history. Food has a story. What does this cookbook represent to you?Eddie: I wanted a cookbook that people can actually cook better. I like to read a cookbook that has a story. Each dish on any cookbook should have a story on why the dish came alive. We tried to do that in Turnip Greens and Tortillas.Suzy Chase: Over the weekend I made your recipe for Pico de Gallo on page 202, your Salsa Frita on page 204. I could literally eat salsa every day. One thing that struck me was how different these two salsas tasted, but they had almost the same basic ingredients. The only difference was that the diced tomatoes were cooked in oil for the Salsa Frita. Can you talk a little bit about that?Eddie: If you go through the book and you see we got a good selection of salsa. They're basically the same ingredients all the time. It's the time that you manipulate the ingredients that make the salsas different. Even if all the other ingredients are the same ingredients, the fact that the jalapeno is cooked differently will affect the flavor of the salsa. But then you take the tomato. You keep everything else the same but now you're going to fry the tomato or you're going to boil it, or you're going to steam it, you're going to warm it, and that changes the flavor of the salsa. With five ingredients you can actually create 25 different salsas that will not look or taste the same based on what you do to the ingredients. In the book, I hope the people will get that idea, that everybody can make a green salsa, but why is this salsa different than the other one? Well, it's because what we do to the ingredients. For the salsa frita, it's one of the simplest salsas you will ever find, but you cannot argue that it's a really good salsa. Tomatoes, jalapenos, and salt, and a little oil and you get this wonderful salsa that goes so well on top of fried egg or mixed with potatoes and sausage or put on top of a cheese enchilada. You can do amazing things with everything in the book and that's what I want people to be able to go, "Okay, this is a wonderful salsa, I'm making me burritos tomorrow with that," or, "I'm going to make me chicken enchiladas," or, "I'm going to make me a fried egg," or, "I'm going [inaudible 00:14:05]." That's the beauty of cooking, when you learn to use what you have in ways that are different than the one before. Then you start growing as a cook and eventually you become really good at it.Suzy Chase: I also made your recipe for Poblano Corn Chowder with Shrimp on page 121.Eddie: Holy cow.Suzy Chase: That was amazing too-Suzy Chase: It was my whole Sunday and I had such a blast making all of these recipes. They were all incredible. But describe this chowder, how it's basically a modified lobster corn chowder.Eddie: I did a plate-off with a classical French ... I went over there and he was going to tell me how to do the ducks in sauces, and reduction sauces and demi glazes, and really neat stock. In return, I was going to teach him how to implement peppers into his cooking so he can modernize his French cooking ways. I saw a lobster chowder in there and I really like it. Lucky for me or I don't know why, I go, "This could be really good if ... It needs texture." That was the first thing I said, "It needs texture." I added the poblanos, I added the onions, I added the different types of corns to it, then used all heavy cream instead of end up using half-and-half and modernized it on a way that he actually have never seen. I added shrimp to make it affordable rather than the lobster, because not all of us can afford lobster every day. But you can always get some shrimp. That way you can do the soup and I it won't cost an arm and a leg. I just took the chowder idea and make another idea out of what I thought that I can do by using what I had, which is a variety of peppers and vegetables, to recreate the chowder on the way that I envision it.Suzy Chase: This is one of those cook books that you could leave out on the kitchen counter and make something different every night of the week. That's why I love it.Eddie: That's probably the biggest compliment I got so far. I said this to Susan Puckett, I said, "Susan, I want a cookbook for the kitchen. I don't want a cookbook for the coffee table."Suzy Chase: Before we wrap up, can you talk just a little bit about Susan Puckett and what she had to do with this cookbook, and how you know her?Eddie: First of all, she should be lucky that I didn't kill her when we got started. We clashed big time. She's a food editor, she knows all about correct food and politically correct recipe, and I am not. She was going, "Well, you have to do it this way," and I go, "No. I don't have to do it that way." We had a hard time from the get-go, until I said, "Let's do this something. I want you to try making the recipes. I want you to test them." She's quiet, and I said, "That way you can get in my head and you can really see how I think. Because the way you think the way to cook is not the way I see it. Let's get started with a little something simple, and then we'll progress from there on." I got her to start cooking the recipes. When she did one not the way I said so, I caught her and I got so mad at her. I said, "You cannot change food without even knowing what it's supposed to taste like. Make it the way [inaudible 00:18:00] this time, then you can change it. You have the power to do it the way you like it later, but you have to trust me." I said, "Because I trust you. I know you're going to write a good book, but you have to let me write the recipes." She started cooking and eventually she became a fan. But her way through the process, she was already going, "Oh, we need to put that recipe on the menu. Oh, we need to put that other recipe on the menu." Finally one day I said, "Susan we are not writing the bible. Come on. You gotta stop it. This is what we want to put in the book, this is what everything thinks that we should do, and I agree with some of them." Then we started working really good. We got into it, we really want to work hard on it. We worked really hard for the last year, and then we got through and it was a let-down. There's nothing else to do with the book. It was like, "I really want to keep on cooking." We still eat breakfast together. We became really good friends. We're really good foodies, the two of us. We enjoy trying new things and I think she learned a lot about cooking by working with this book. Since I write it, I don't think she needs any help. As a cook, yes, she needs divine intervention. But nevertheless, she can cook out of Turnip Greens and Tortillas.Suzy Chase: Where can we find your restaurants?Eddie: We have four in Atlanta. In the City of Atlanta we have four. We have one in Athens. We have two in Nashville. If you go to taqueriadelsol.com all the locations are listed there with the hours of operations for all the restaurants.Suzy Chase: Where can we find you on social media?Eddie: You can find me on Eddie Hernandez on Facebook or chefeddie1@taqueriadelsol, on Instagram and on Twitter @chef135.Suzy Chase: As your grandmother said, if you want to eat it, then learn how to make it for yourself because I'm not going to be here one day and who's going to cook it for you?Eddie: Exactly.Suzy Chase: With that, I thank you for learning and writing this cookbook and coming on Cookery by the Book Podcast.Eddie: Thank you so much.Suzy Chase: Follow me on Instagram at Cookery by the Book, Twitter is @IAmSuzyChase and download your Kitchen Mix Tapes, music to cook by, on Spotify at Cookery by the Book. As always, subscribe in Apple Podcasts.

Join Tommy & Eddie as they discuss and argue about tv shows, secrets, & viewer mail. Caution: Tommy was in a bad mood...or was it Eddie? You decide!