Podcasts about tom it

UpOnly with Cobie & Ledger

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2022 21:30

Investing $50,000 in real estate can go a long way toward creating a diversified rental property portfolio that generates strong cash flow, provided that you do it right. Today we are asking each other the question how we would invest this amount of cash. In this episode, Tom, Emil and Michael share how they would invest $50,000 in real estate if they were just starting out, and if they know what they know now. --- Transcript Before we jump into the episode, here's a quick disclaimer about our content. The Remote Real Estate Investor podcast is for informational purposes only, and is not intended as investment advice. The views, opinions and strategies of both the hosts and the guests are their own and should not be considered as guidance from Roofstock. Make sure to always run your own numbers, make your own independent decisions and seek investment advice from licensed professionals. Emil: Hey, everyone, welcome back for another episode of the Remote Real Estate Investor. My name is Emil Shour and today I'm joined by… Tom: Tom Schneider Michael: and Michael Albaum. Emil: And on today's episode, we're going to be talking about how each of us would invest $50,000 in real estate, and we're gonna frame it as what we would do with that 50k when we were first starting out, versus how we would approach it now, so let's hop into this episode. Well, I can't ask what's on your guys's mind? Because we just went through that so, huh… Hmm. You know, I used to have this boss that every every meeting every week, he would come in and just ask some random question to avoid the like, so how's everyone doing? That was like, it's a good way to kind of start a meeting, get like really random answers from people. Tom: You got an example of one? Emil: He would honestly as a really weird, he's like a weird dude. But like funny, weird. Yeah, probably not suitable for this show. The ones I remember. Michael: There was a my, my wife loves David Sedaris. And he does a masterclass and he talks about comedy. And one of the questions he loves asking people was, so when was the last time you touched a monkey? He asked him on this and they were like, oh my gosh, like, can you smell it on me, I was working with him earlier at the zoo today? And he was like, no way and it led to him like being able to go play with the monkeys at the zoo. Like and that's why you should always ask random questions. Emil: He had asked like 400 people, and they all I never spoke to him again, but that one person… Michael: The one was a big one. Emil: Then he finally got to meet a monkey at the zoo. Michael: Yeah… Tom: Bad news man, getting a baby monkey and then growing up a lot of sad stories about …like ripping arms off. Anyways, sorry… Michael: That's a… go hard left fast… Tom: Yeah. Emil: All right with that we're gonna hop in and talk about real estate. So the topic today is how do you invest 50k? I think this will be interesting. If Michael ever gets it together here. Michael: Oh man… Emil: How would you invest 50k If you know what you know, now, but you're just starting out. So take yourself back to you have your current mind, you're going back to when you first started. So how would you invest 50k? And then we'll talk about you're at where you're at currently, you're 50 grand, you want to invest in real estate? What do you guys? What are we all doing? So who wants to kick off? Going back to the past with 50k? Tom: So, Tom's gonna go first. I would… So me with real estate investing, I really enjoy real estate investing, but I also really enjoy the kind of passive nature of it, more probably more than Michael and Emil, I think they're like, way more active. So I think this is going to be a good diverse range of responses to this question. So what I would probably do so I'd say there's there's two options, right For me, as I also really like single family off of multifamily, just a little bit less to do plus less turns plus XYZ. What I, I would see this as two options, I can either go to, to pick buy two properties in more kind of class C markets, not not as in like, negative, but like smaller markets, right? Talking about like, maybe Birmingham or buy or like Memphis? Emil: We'll call it Tier 3, it's classy… Tom: Sure, sure. Sure. Sure. So the my options would be to that or to buy one property in like a Class B area, you know, maybe a, you know, Atlanta, Raleigh, you know, Dallas, one of those guys and where I am right now, if I had 50k, I'm still trying to deploy as much capital out there. I would get debt for sure. I would, I would max out my debt on it. You know, I … we know well, being conscious of not getting over my tips, making sure that my income could support my debt coverage. But I would probably, I'd probably got two properties in one of those smaller markets. But you know, I might have a old fishing pole in the water on some of those larger markets. If something were to come up, I'd cast a wider net, you know, it's a busier acquisition time. So that's why we deployed by SFR, I would look at those smaller markets max, loan to value most of it… That is what I would do, went a little bit long didn't it… Ehmm, yeah. Done… Michael: Love it. Would you buy… Would you buy both in the same market? Do you think it would use spread them out? Peanut butter spread, as they say… Tom: I would probably buy them in the same market. Again, like so important to that to develop a thesis when investing in me is a little bit less overhead. So just using a single property manager, you know, doing that work and finding the right property manager, maybe having them help me out on the acquisition side, as far as evaluating neighborhoods and whatnot. So yes, it's a market. Good question, Michael. Michael: Love it, love it, love it. Emil: So, Michael, what would you do? Michael: I think I'm taking that 50,000 and like Tom gonna go get some debt. But I am probably going to go buy a multifamily building, something a little bit bigger that I could, you know, really, really scale with. And it's probably going to be a little more turnkey, because having done the whole multifamily value, add thing, it can often be a lot more expensive than first anticipated. So something that's, you know, relatively easy, stable. That's why you may go to but in close second, what I'm also going to be considering is going and using a 15%, down DSCR loan and going to go purchase a short term rental, which would probably be a single family out in one of those vacation markets that are out there. But I think it can be a really, really, really great use of cash to generate quick income to then go to buy additional properties. Emil: Michael, for anyone who doesn't know, what is a stable multifamily property, what does that look like? Michael: Yeah, it's something that has, it's really good question. First off, it's something that has probably already been rehabbed, either extensively or lightly, doesn't have a whole lot of deferred maintenance, rent is probably going to be pretty close to at market rent. So I'm not going to feel the need to, to get new tenants in place when their leases are expiring, because they're already up at market rent. Just something that has been taken care of, or well maintained. Doesn't need a whole lot of CapEx. Tom: Short term rentals are interesting. How do you find your overhead as an owner relative to your multifamily single family versus long term versus short term rental? Do you find it pretty similar? I would imagine that there's obviously range like there's variants with each of them, but just general ality generally speaking… Michael: Yeah, it's a big range and it so depends on like my older vintage multifamily, it's gonna be a little bit even less than some of the expense ratio on that just because that has a lot more maintenance, regular, recurring maintenance type issues. On newer single families, comparing across the board to long term versus short term, short term is definitely more expensive from an expense ratio standpoint. But the income generated is still stronger. And so from a cash on cash return, it's it's still performing quite quite well. Tom: I bought this as a metric, number of times you as an owner, you have to like make a decision or get involved. Michael: Oh, see, short term versus long term? Tom: Yeah, yeah, I would think I mean, I would assume short term rental, like there's a little bit more overhead as an owner. Is that wrong? Michael: Yeah, I don't think that that's, I would say that there is more on the front end. So like we were involved in the decorations and decision making process around what amenities to include, but from a day to day… Tom: … FF&E and OS&E those are some acronyms, Michael… Michael: What's a OS&E? Tom: Oh, OS&E is operating supplies in equipment, and FF&E is furniture, fixtures and equipment. Michael: Ahhh! Tom: No big deal, just drop an acronym… Emil: A unit count into, what's going on here? Michael: Yeh, sounds like an accounting term. Tom: I know about luxury man. Michael: You're just steeped in luxury. But no, I would say other than that. It's pretty much about as hands off as as long term if not more. So. I've really I've made very few decisions, I've been involved in very few of the conversations, we're looking at converting the garage into additional space so that of course, there's a lot more involvement in but that would be the same as if I was doing some kind of rehab work on a long term rental. Tom: I heard a great story a description of short term rentals as comparing them to fire trucks and that they're constantly getting turned and washed like a fire truck has been around but oh, it gets it gets a fresh wash every time it goes out. So like while you might think it's a you know, getting beat up a lot it perhaps it is but it's it's getting a lot of Washington. It's like a fire truck. I don't know. I like that. Michael: Yeah, I think I mean, I think so and it's getting eyes in it every turn. So the festering kind of long term deferred maintenance stuff tends to not be again, for my experience as big of an issue because there's people constantly putting eyes on stuff. And if there's an issue you'll hear about it immediately. Like these tenants are going to tell you because they're paying good money to be in these places. Hey, this is an issue you need to fix it. Emil: Are you is your short term rental being professionally managed, do you have a property manager? Michael: Yes, yeah, I'm a full service property manager, I definitely pay for it. But I'm not. I'm not at the point where I can set, you know, neither myself or my wife or I are at the point where we have enough time to be able to learn how to do that remotely for this particular property. And you know, if anyone listening is interested in learning more about short term rentals, we did a podcast episode with Avery Carl, which was a phenomenal episode, in my opinion, where she talks all about the short term rental market, and short term rentals in general and things you need to be aware of, if you're going to get involved in this space. Tom: Did you pencil… Emil needs to give his answer, but just really last question I have on that… Did you pencil it as a longer term rental as well, just to like, see what… Michael: I did. And it doesn't work. And so I had to always take in the opinion that it has to work as both because if something changes, I don't want to be stuck holding the bag. And after extra chatting with Avery about the short term rental market, this is out in the Smokies. She was like yeah, but the thing of it is, is the regulations aren't going to change out there. Like it is such a through and through short term vacation rental market, that she is not concerned with it being the next Santa Monica or Santa Monica, city regulators come in and say I can't do Airbnb, because it's always been short term rentals. So that's given me a lot more comfort to say, okay, I'm okay, kind of taking that leap of having it only makes sense as a vacation rental? Emil: Well, I had one final question. I asked Michael about the third party property manager because I, what I really want to know is how does your time commitment with a third, like you have property management and on a long term and a short term? How does your monthly time commitment in terms of speaking with your property manager being involved? Like how, how much more time is it with the short term compared to long term, if any? Michael: You know, I have probably spent less time with the short term manager than I have with long term management. I was so impressed by this company, they've been awesome and they're just like really good at what they do. And I think that universally speaking, that's kind of what I would expect in the long term world as well, I have my that one of the best property managers I have is up in Alaska, I hear from him, like once a quarter, unless we're just calling to check, you know, checkup and chew the fact sort of thing. So if a property manager is good at their job, you really shouldn't hear from them, in order for you to make decisions, they could update you and tell you what's going on and this and that. But from a decision making standpoint, if I have to hear from you and talk to you regularly, like it's probably not going very well. Right Emil how would you spend in those 50 G's? Emil: For me, if I'm just starting out, and I want to invest in real estate, I'm, I like single family as a first starting point. And we can debate this later on a showdown. I think single family is a good way to get started, I think having one tenant, one unit to worry about just a lot less hectic. And so I'd start with a single family, I would want to do a tier two city, somewhere where the climate isn't so severe, right? Like I have properties in Indianapolis and every winter, I'm like, man, our pipes gonna freeze and explode. You know, you hear all those stories. Usually, if you have a tenant who's there, like they're running the water, and that doesn't happen. But you know, if you have a turn in the winner, always think that could happen. So I choose something with a little bit less harsh climate, just because it's going to keep everything solid for a little bit longer. And I'd probably just use it on one property to get something a little bit better, ewe just talked about on a different episode, six things we wouldn't do, again, six mistakes and for me it was buying a really cheap property on the… in the beginning, I get something a little bit nicer, less headache, you know, newer build, that's just going to be an easy learning process for me, because the first one isn't going to be the make or break. It's really you're just like learning how to deal with real estate how to deal with the property manager all this stuff. So having it be something that's going to be better long term is what I would prioritize. Michael: Are you okay, accepting less cash flow? Emil: I wasn't in the beginning and on the other end of it now, yes, you should like it's not going to be a huge difference. You think it will be and you know, excel math will tell you different but it's a different story. I think when you get into it. Michael: How much cash flow, how small of a cash flow are you willing to accept and still consider it cashflow positive? Emil: For me like even like if you're being conservative, right, like not going oh, best case scenario, right? You're ending up with like at least $50 of cash flow a month right? I think that's a good place to be at least obviously, I… Tom: Got to beat inflation, got to beat inflation. Michael: Beat it back with a stick… Emil: We don't, you know, we're just talking about cash flow and again, these this isn't going to be a make or break for you. You're trying to learn and you're trying to grow. You also have equity building right in a better property that's going to be more dollar like appreciation. 10% appreciation on something that's $250,000 Verse $100,000, you're gonna make more than that equity anyway, right? It's appreciating, it's a higher appreciation. Michael: So you're sticking to one, one property… One more expensive property? Emil: Yes, yeah. Michael: Alright. Emil: Not even just expensive to be expensive just better quote like a turnkey, nicely done property that I'm not going to have a ton of headache right out the gate. Michael: Well, there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Tom: It's been a few seconds on zero scape, just installed some fake turf on my backyard. It's killer man. Michael: Is it good? Tom: Yeah, yeah. And then like if leaves come on it you get the power washer. And just like my my own little zen… Michael: What about dog puppies? Tom: That's a thing. But you know, that's where the power washer. And also that's where gates like preventing the dog to go out there. Come in… Emil: Anyway, anyways, you could also have a dog like mine who we have we have turf in the backyard too. It's like turf in concrete. And he is afraid of it doesn't like walking on turf. So he makes us take him out in the front yard where there's real grass to go. So that's fun. Tom: He is natural… Michael: Some… double apply. Emil: He's a purist. He's got a good taste. Tom: Good for him. Michael: So Tom, are you saving some of that 50,000, so you can install zero scaping in this investment property? Tom: Yeah, probably. I mean, the right warranties are in place with the Zero Escape. You're like basically making money when you install it, so… Michael: Are you, are you working on zero escape installation side hustle? Tom: I am yeah, I got a, I got a, I got some, I got some hints. Michael: You need a guy, I got a guy… Emil: Probably not that awesome on a rental property. Like the ROI on that is, is not great. Tom: Nooo, problem. Michael: Depends on who is paying this utilities though… Emil: Yeah… Michael: If you include these utilities in your bill… Emil: It's your tenant. Tom: Oh…There could be markets Emil, before you jump the gun. There could be markets with it makes a ton of sense, Las Vegas, Arizona… Emil: I prefer talking generalities, we're not getting into nuance on this on this podcast, sorry… Michael: I thought you only spoken absolutes. Emil: That's it, that's it… Michael: Now you're speaking in generalities. Man pick one Emil. Tom: Yeah. Emil: Ehmm, absolute is what I met. It's not... Moving on. Alright, what do we do with $50,000 now? If $50,000 is now, in your investing career, what are you guys doing? You're not a beginner, you're at your stage now, so what's next? Tom: I am making the transition to getting some multifamily, you know, I don't know, I don't actually know short term, Michael's got me hyped up on some learn a lot more about short term, I don't know. I'm all over the place right now. This is what I'm gonna do, this is what I am gonna do actually, I'm going to set up a coaching session with Michael and we're going to go through some options and get to the root of it. I swear to God, that's like the real answer, right. Emil: That is actually a very solid strategy. Alright, Michael 50,000, I feel like I know where you're, where you're putting money, but if 50,000, where's it going? Michael: Yeah. Now in today's world, I'm probably splitting that. Truth be told I'm probably do you like for sure a short term rental 50% down DSCR loan, and then I'll probably wait half or two thirds and then I'm taking the other half and I'll probably park it in a syndication to be perfectly honest and just kind of enjoy the passivity that syndications provide. It's, we've been doing a lot of podcasts recently and had a lot of passive investment experts on talking about benefits, pros cons of passive investing, and I'm like, huh at this stage of my career, it's definitely sounds interesting. My back's already, you know, a little tired from from caring so much. So I'm ready to slow down a little bit and just kind of enjoy the fruits of the labor. Emil: Nice, yeah. I'm sagging into what I'd do, I'm right there with you. So I like that I have nowhere near the amount of units like you, right that I own directly, I have six units. I think that's perfect for me and where I'm at right now, I would put $50,000 honestly, either in a REIT or yeah, in a in a private deal or something like that. Something where I'm going to be completely passive. Just given we've got two little kids, we got the six units again, that we own directly and that takes off takes up enough time and you know, business I started a year ago that's taking up a lot of time as well and attention. So I'd be looking for something passive to pocket. Michael: I love the fact that Emil, you mentioned that you have like little kids and so you're kind of at this stage in your life where the active hands on direct investment isn't a great fit for you. But that could easily change and so you go park your money and one of these indications. Hopefully it doubles or better in a couple years' time and then you get it back and you get to decide okay, well what I want to do next I want to continue the passive route now maybe the kids a little bit older, you have more time on your hands to do something else. So I love it. I think it's, it's such a good point that there's like seasonality to this whole investing thing. Emil: Yeah, it's not like, I'm done direct investing. It's, I'm done direct investing right now. Like, we have what we have, we're good, we're not getting rid of those and it's time for a different strategy. But you know, life changes, maybe you have a windfall, whatever, and you're like, now I'm bored. And I want to go do something more challenging and I'm gonna go do some, some value add stuff myself, maybe even like, in a market closer to me, or what did you know there are just so many different ways you can take this and it's not like those strategies you start with is going to be the strategy you end with. Michael: Mike drop Emil out. Emil: Don't listen to me, I don't know what I'm talking about. Michael: That's great, man. I love it, I love it… Should we get out of here? Emil: Yeah, let's do it. So thanks, everybody, appreciate you tuning in for another episode, hope you got some value out of this one. And as always, please leave us a review or subscribe if you're watching on YouTube. We love seeing that number go up, it boosts your ego and it keeps us coming back every week. So we'll catch you all in the next one. Happy investing. Michael: Happy investing.

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Golgi-készülék, Kerecsényi László három napja, 36 igaz ember

gombapresszó

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2022 161:04

Kiss döcögősen indult az adás az új helyszínen (be kell még lakni), de aztán Csenge érkezte begyújtotta a rakettákat. Aki pedig neki állna Csengét sajnálni, hogy mennyire el lett nyomva, az bele se kezdjen, mert Csenge imádta az adásfelvételt. Ha szeretnél mindent (!!!) megtudni a Golgi-készülékről egy gyönyörű 3D animáció segítségével, akkor ezt kell megnézned. Ez az a tánc, ami lenyűgözte Tomit, és ez az a klip, amiben Bobby Farrell vénségére is elég meggyőző. A GEOGUESS oldal. Hátha van még Tomin kívül valaki, aki nem ismerte. A nagy zűrzavarban méltatlanul bántunk el Robert Redforddal és Almásy gróffal, ezért álljon itt egy-egy legendás jelenet a Butch Cassidy és a Sundance kölyök valamint az Angol beteg c. filmből. Az a bizonyos makett a gyulai várról, és rajta "fényfestés", ami - mint az most kiderült - csupán egy kék és egy piros lámpa ideges rángatásából áll. A Love is in the air dalszövegeket a tomi@gombapresszo.hu címre küldjétek. Ez itt a CSEREGOMBA. Adászene: Lou Rawls. ........ Ha szeretnél támogatni minket, a Patreon oldalunkon megteheted. A gombapresszó Twitter csatornája. Az élő adások helyszine, az MR4 csatorna. Az adászenéket tartalmazó Spotify lista.

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Tokenomics and Ecosystem Growth with Tom Schmidt of Dragonfly

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 12, 2021 128:14

LinksTwitterWebShow PartnerThis episode is presented by FTX. Trade on an awesome mobile interface fee-free, and still get all the great portfolio tracking features you know and love: https://uponly.tv/ftxShow NotesTom Intro ⁃ Partner at Dragonfly Capital (@dragonfly_cap) ⁃ Owner of elusive Gauntlet x Nike hoodie ⁃ Formerly product at 0x and PM at InstagramDragonfly Capital & Tokenomics ⁃ East/West focus. Crypto is very different from Web2 in that you can't really launch locally, you're global from day 1. Dragonfly help bridge the East/West gap for teams and products ⁃ 2019 was harder to do deals remotely, people would meet snd pitch in person. Not really a thing anymore – your reputation precedes you online ⁃ Day to day work is 25% team calls, 25% portfolio support, 20% research and staying on top of what's going on in the space ⁃ Cobie: How much of your previous product experience has helped in your VC Role? Tom: It was a bit of learning curve from IG to 0x. A lot translates over but the token aspect changes how you think about product, it can be the growth mechanic, the same product but with different tokenomics can have a huge difference in outcome ⁃ Cobie: Even having a token as a defence mechanism is a requirement now ⁃ Tom: Prefer the method of building a great and sticky product then adding the token on top of that otherwise you run into leaky bucket theory once the incentives run out ⁃ Dislikes revenue to token holders early on, ideally it should be used to make the product better and grow but treasuries have gotten so big that teams probably don't know how to spend itAirdrops & Sybil Attacks ⁃ Divergence Ventures farmed 10% of RBN airdrop ⁃ Returned following being found out and the following drama ⁃ Tom farmed it personally long before the airdrop email, continued to farm after that point and so has since voluntarily returned all farmed RBN from his account ⁃ An individual exploiting via sybil isn't as bad as an investor that then also dumps day one ⁃ Teams are experimenting with different ways to achieve fair distribution but there's still a lot to work out, it's a really interesting design space ⁃ Need to hold people to a high standard to self-regulate in the industryTrends in the next 6-18months? ⁃ Product structure ⁃ Derivative products ⁃ DAOs & DAO toolingEthereum Scaling ⁃ ZK-rollup maximalist ⁃ For some applications and purposes even the rollup won't be cheap enough and so maybe there will be room for other chains ⁃ You can also rollup a rollup e.g. Mina. Cobie: “Inception was a warning, don't go too many rollup's deep or you'll get stuck there forever” ⁃ Heterogeneous blockchain future but unsure what path it will take ⁃ Cobie: Should L2s have tokens? Tom: Decentralising the L2 could rely on having a token and also it's a case of trying to protect against forking or a competitor ⁃ There will be a fee for L2s but unsure who will pay it, token holders, users, maybe the L1? ⁃ Solana has been surprising with the amount of developer activity happening there ⁃ Cobie: When chains are EVM compatible you get a lot of copy-paste projects to grab money over and over. Potentially means that the teams are less sticky, opportunity over legitimate drive. Solana is more novel, the product designs maybe aren't all novel but there's a lot of work there being done to make things sticky. Those ecosystems that do that are much more likely to perform in the next cycleWhy won't my 0x go up? (– Ledger) ⁃ It's structured as a gas rebate which doesn't really scale proportionately to the size of a trade ⁃ Reworking a token is a sensitive topic ⁃ 0x we're extremely early on a lot of things like governanceBitcoin Projects? ⁃ Lightning network seems like a real path forward for Bitcoin, they're building a real developer network ⁃ It's not incentivised the demand to use it is natural either by need or by people who love BitcoinWorking in Crypto? ⁃ It's a great time to be a founder, raising funds is super competitive right now ⁃ Passion about the space and research is desired when hiring ⁃ Crypto is much more exciting and intellectually interesting than traditional tech jobs ⁃ Taipei is a solid place for crypto in Asia alongside Singapore⁃ 2017-2019 had SF as a central crypto hub but it's not really the case anymore and teams are becoming more geographically spread outFinal Alpha ⁃ Invest for strength, not for a lack of weakness ⁃ Focus on your sleep and getting high quality sleepNotes by LukeMusic by GiovanniPickle

309: Follow Your Passions and Build A Career Around The Things You Love with Tom Taulli

IT Career Energizer

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2021 29:38

In this week's show, Phil talks to Tom Taulli, an author, a speaker and an advisor to startups. He has co-founded a variety of companies including Hypermart.net, WebIPO and BizEquity. And his books include ‘Artificial Intelligence Basics: A Non-Technical Introduction' and ‘The Robotic Process Automation Handbook: A Guide To Implementing RPA Systems'. Tom talks about the importance of following your passions when it comes to your IT career. He also discusses how if you create a career based around the things you love, you'll never be short on inspiration. KEY TAKEAWAYS: TOP CAREER TIP Never be so set upon lofty goals that you miss the opportunities all around you. Follow your passions and do what you instincts tell you to do. WORST CAREER MOMENT Tom has experienced periods where he reached crossroads in his career and did not follow his passions. With age has come experience and maturity, which has led to a better understanding of what is around him. CAREER HIGHLIGHT Tom recognized a need and provided a revolutionary piece of software to fill that need. Building this system allowed him to spread his wings. THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T Robotic process animation, artificial intelligence and quantum computing are fascinating concepts that keep Tom's mind alive with possibilities. THE REVEAL What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – Tom was attracted to computers in school as he thought they were cool! What's the best career advice you received? – Bill Gates advised Tom to get a solid foundational education in mathematics before moving to programming. What's the worst career advice you received? – There is only really advice unsuitable for its receiver. What would you do if you started your career now? – Tom would go to Silicon Valley and meet as many people as possible. What are your current career objectives? – Tom is working on a book about mainframe, as well as courses on the same. What's your number one non-technical skill? – A business background in college has been very useful. How do you keep your own career energized? – What do you do away from technology? – Tom takes breaks, including walking and travelling FINAL CAREER TIP Focus on what lights your fire – the thing that gets your out of bed in the morning and inspires you to do better every day. BEST MOMENTS (5:08) – Tom - “It's not about setting lofty goals, but doing what you really what you're passionate about” (5:52) – Tom - “Ideas are a dime-a-dozen. It's the execution on the idea…” (13:00) – Tom – “Just because everyone says that's what you have to do, doesn't mean that that's the key” (19:15) – Tom – “We always think that we need to go through certain hurdles or paths to get where you want. Sometimes there are faster, more unconventional ways of getting there” ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organizations to design, develop, and implement software solutions. Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers. And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey. CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms: Twitter: https://twitter.com/_PhilBurgess LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess Instagram: https://instagram.com/_philburgess Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact Phil is also reachable by email at phil@itcareerenergizer.com and via the podcast's website, https://itcareerenergizer.com Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer ABOUT THE GUEST – TOM TAULLI Tom Taulli is an author, a speaker and an advisor to startups. He has co-founded a variety of companies including Hypermart.net, WebIPO and BizEquity. And his books include ‘Artificial Intelligence Basics: A Non-Technical Introduction' and ‘The Robotic Process Automation Handbook: A Guide To Implementing RPA Systems'. CONTACT THE GUEST – TOM TAULLI Tom Taulli can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms: Twitter: https://twitter.com/ttaulli LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomtaulli/ Website: http://www.tomtaulli.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUklLcIcf3hsxuALfmD_AYQ

social media ai career building silicon valley bill gates passions key takeaways burgess best moments rpa tom it

The 7 Dollar Millionaire's Guide to Personal Finances

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 19, 2021 49:56

Author of Happy Ever After, The 7 Dollar Millionaire, joins us again to shed light on the complex world of personal finances. He shares tips on getting started, saving money, and aligning your goals with your family to work your way to financial peace of mind one step at a time. --- Transcript Before we jump into the episode, here's a quick disclaimer about our content. The remote real estate investor podcast is for informational purposes only, and is not intended as investment advice. The views, opinions and strategies of both the hosts and the guests are their own and should not be considered as guidance from Roofstock. Make sure to always run your own numbers, make your own independent decisions and seek investment advice from licensed professionals. Michael: Hey, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the real estate investor. I'm Michael Albaum, and today I'm joined by my co host, Tom: Tom Schneider. Michael: And with us we have a very special repeat guests, the 7 Dollar Millionaire, if you recall, he wrote a book that we had him on chatting about Happy Ever After. And today, he's going to be talking to us again about personal finances, some things you can do to get started, as well as how to talk to your spouse or significant other or partner about personal finance. So let's get into it. Michael: Awesome. Mr.7 Dollar Millionaire, thank you for joining us again, we so looking forward to recording with you. 7 Dollar Millionaire: It's a pleasure. Thanks for having me back on that says, this is a first for me. No one's ever invited me. Michael: Well, hopefully the first of many. So how have you just curious how are things out in Singapore? 7 Dollar Millionaire: Things are just improved. Yesterday, we had like a mini re lockdown. So they call it circuit breaker here for about a month. Because there was a bit of a spike in cases. But that ended yesterday. The big change is very little apart from Oh, you're now allowed to go to restaurants, their restaurants are all closed. That's pretty much it. Gyms are kind of reopening slowly, that kind of stuff. But yeah, that was that was nice. It's nice to kind of go and get a meal somewhere, you know. But otherwise, it's you know, as with a lot of Asia, they're taking that kind of minimal risk approach to it. So I mean, even when there was a spike, it was like 100 cases a day. 5 million people, right? I mean, it's still a very low number. Michael: Yeah. But everybody in your world is healthy and safe. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Oh, yeah. Thanks. And you guys are on good. Michael: Yeah, we just chatted with some family friends of ours yesterday, and they are double vaccinated. But she and her daughter just got his tested positive. So she had a breakthrough case. So she's feeling pretty crummy at the moment. But I'm hoping that she's hoping she's not going to go to the hospital or anything like that. So the breakthrough cases don't seem to be as severe as the unvaccinated stuff. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Fingers crossed. Yeah, fingers crossed. touchwood. Right. That's that's the big hope. As long as it stays like that we can live with it. Right? Tom: I have a friend who had a breakthrough case who's also vaccinated. And he's got a wife and three little kids and his wife and three little kids didn't, didn't catch it. So he's hanging by himself. And you know, I feel much more for his wife, who's managing a house full of Toddlers and Babies versus him who's just hanging out at their their lake. Well, he's men. He's on the men. He's feeling much better. But it's Yeah, really. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Did she get did she get like a second opinion on that? Right. Yeah. Michael: Thank goodness. Tom: Yeah. Doing recovering. Well, good, good. Michael: Well, Tom, it's it's funny as the wrong word. But interesting. This kind of segues nicely into what we want to chat with the 7 Dollar Millionaire about today. Again, circling back and talking some more about personal finance. But a question that I have is, so often people have these target goals in mind, and whether that's net worth or cash flow monthly annual basis. But that's so often based on today's needs, for their whatever family is currently in the picture. And I've got to imagine that changes over time. And so as someone who doesn't have kids, I don't have a really good sense of what kids costs, it could be 20 bucks a day, it could be 100 bucks it you know, I don't have a good sense for that. So how do you recommend folks think about not only their cash flow needs for today, but also for their future selves, as they continue to age but also as additional family members may enter the picture? 7 Dollar Millionaire: Yeah, I mean, it's a it's a there's no right answer, right? Michael: I mean, I mean, oh, well, then we can we can we can cancel the show. We're done here. 7 Dollar Millionaire: There's just no single one right answer. I mean, the first step with the first answer to this is actually just taking the first step start actually doing some work, right. I think I was working recently with talking about how you make all the progress in personal finance. And a lot of people are discouraged because they think they can't come up with an answer. And it's like painting, right? The first blob of paint on the on the canvas doesn't look like the painting You can't expect it to you go put it on, put it on, put it on. Only after a long time does it actually start to get to the real picture, and it's the same, it's exactly the same with this. You just got to start doing the work. And starting doing the work is actually working out what you want your kids to be like, what kind of life you want to live with them where it's going to be, and the kinds of expenses you're going to have. So you can roll that stuff out pretty easily. I mean, so For me, because I was an expert, I had to put my kids in international school, there's some serious education expenses. You know, it's like the, for me, when my kids went to college, they got cheaper. I mean, that doesn't happen very often, right? My kids got a lot cheaper when I was paying for them to live in a foreign country, flying them backwards and forwards and paying college fees, they were cheaper than the local education costs for me. So that's how individually these things can be right? I mean, you just have to do that. So you have to look forward and you think, okay, and I'll give you perfect opposite example, really good friend of mine used to live like five floors below where I had seen the apartment block right here. He's got for various reasons, he ended up with like, kind of one of those joint families who so like, five kids under the age of five, you know, bizarrely, and really bonded, situated, Tom: Yeah, Brady Bunch situation. 7 Dollar Millionaire: And he's, he's like a, he's a fund manager, based in Singapore. And he worked out that he could actually, it made sense for him to quit his job and move back to California, because paying for five kids in local education system here, when you know, that, and everything else, it's cheaper to move to a place with a good free education system and have a normal job rather than trying to have a high paid job and pay those kinds of costs. So that's how individual all of these kinds of decisions get to be. The first thing is just to sit down and, and dream a little, right, exactly. Who do you want your kids to be? And how do you want to live with them. And because a lot of the costs, like your actual food costs, it's not a big deal, it's really not going to be an enormous deal. So the basic, you know, adding one bedroom to the house may or may not be a big deal, depending on on where you're at. And then after that is things like education and flying, holiday is right, they do cost literally an extra person on every single thing you do, when you start and that's times 20 years, right? So there's, there's some, there's a lot of extra costs on that kind of stuff. And it's really just sitting down and working out those kinds of things, and those kinds of budgets. And then as you move closer, closer towards the end, you'll realize exactly what is going on, you'll get a much closer impression. But as always, it's just start, just sit down with a piece of paper and just go, Okay, I think it could be this, and then find out the extra information that you'd actually need. Because it can be a scary amount, or it can be really, if someone for someone like me, that was having to pay man it was 15 years of 14 years of school fees. I don't want to think what that was, you know, really, I definitely don't want to, you know, PV it, I mean, that's just insane amount of money. But you know, had to be done for In my case, if you don't have that you don't need to put it in. Tom: I love that analogy of the paint, and it just kind of evolving a little bit over time. As far as, you know, practically getting the paint down, would you recommend a model where, say this is in Excel, and each row is like a year, and then, you know, perhaps there's some different sort of expenses within the different rows, or it's just like a really kind of basic form of that is that sort of a rough construct is, and I'm sure it's you know, could be a little unique for everyone. But that's immediately where my mind goes is seeing in that sort of a model. 7 Dollar Millionaire: That's definitely where I think you move it, I actually like to do a pen and paper to start with, I think there's a, there's kind of a free flow, when you're actually kind of sit down with pen and paper and just as scribble stuff out. I've even tried doing it on my iPad with you know, like the sketch but it doesn't work as well, there isn't that sort of connection, which sitting there with a piece of piece of paper and a pen for 10 minutes, and just sort of scribbling out the bunch of the cost because we're all prepared to be kind of messy on a piece of paper, right, and we can just draw in things and loop them around, that connects to that, scribble that out and need this. And then once you've got probably only 10 minutes in, you can move that to a spreadsheet, seven or eight lines, seven or eight lines is going to get you most of the way to the kind of things you're thinking about. Michael: And Tom, I'm curious not to put you on the spot here in the hot seat but having a young child is this an exercise that you went through with your wife and was this conversations that you had prior to the little one arriving? 7 Dollar Millionaire: You know, I was actually so I'm in my mid 30s now and when I was in my mid 20s and early 20s actually was way more active about kind of performing out like 20-30 years in advance so I actually had to pull back the old spreadsheets pain analogy I think it's probably time to have another round I love these interviews with you 7 Dollar Millionaire I literally after our last call that we had I went and totally redid all my you know auto deposit into my investing and I already have some immediate action items from from this one. So just to kind of go back I was I not not so much with these with with my current kid but I think it's an exercise to go revisit some work that I did in my mid 20s. 7 Dollar Millionaire: It's always good to know right? It's also good to know how good you are at modeling. Where you make mistakes and modeling, I mean, we we professionally we do that. And it's you know, you can be miles out. But if you actually, I mean, there's a company modeling, we're actually modeling like an investment will have various inputs that we can that we can change them to go back and you look and go, Oh my god, I was miles out, but then you realize that one of the inputs was x, y, zed, which turned out not to be remotely true. So you can, okay, then change that. And sometimes it kind of comes back to closer to reality. So all these things are really, really important to actually just understand how well you model because it's not like you have to stop modeling, or you never stop acts. And modeling is like, it sounds like it's too specific to what we do. But we're all forecasting all of the time. Now, my favorite analogy for forecasting and how we're all forecasting all the time, is we all pretty much expect chairs not to break when we sit in them, right? I mean, even some of my weight, I don't expect the chair to break when I sit in it. But I pretty certainly if you if you sat on three chair, three different chairs in a row, and they broke every time, that fourth chair, you'd be like pushing it scratching it thinking, Okay, is this thing solid, you'd have lost all your trust in chairs, that's just forecasting. It's just natural forecasting. We do it all the time. And so knowing if you're good or bad at it is a is an amazing life skill. Tom: Do you find that most people are overly optimistic when forecasting I guess you could apply this to business or to kind of personal? I'd love to hear your kind of thoughts on, I guess human nature and in applying forecasts and ways to beat yourself and be better at it. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Yeah, I honestly, unfortunately, it really it is really bad answer. But 50% of people are better than average. And there's no other way of looking at it. I think the key is most of us aren't doing it particularly consciously most of the time. And so sense of like actual aware forecasting and awareness of how optimistic or pessimistic we tend to be. Pessimists, I mean, pessimism is one of the reasons that overcaution is what keeps a lot of people out of the markets. Right. And because they think of it as markets, right, they don't think of it as I'm working. I'm living in this economy, and not being in it with my capital is essentially an enormous risk that this economy is going to crash and burn. I'm literally taking that investment option. And not seeing it that way keeps them out because they view it as being very, very high risk and pessimistic because they don't understand it enough. Let's throw some analogies around that's just like being in the dark, right? It's just being in the dark, you can walk out into your hallway with no light, and you can't find your way along the hallway anymore. Right? That's, it's it's still there. Everything's exactly where I was people without the education. I mean, we're moving back into financial education, right. It's what keeps people out. It's they're unsure, they're in the dark. And that's why I think creates most of the pessimism and overcaution around it. Yeah, there's a bunch of people who, too, you know, too optimistic, too. But that's what I mean. I tend not to mind it when when investing, I don't engage over optimism. But when I'm doing things like a little bit more entrepreneurial, then yeah, I shoot for the moon. There's just no point right? or shoot for the stars even then you get the moon there's no point not being no point starting an endeavor without thinking it's going to be amazing. Michael: Yeah, I love that analogy about being in the dark. I wonder though, your take on, when people have gotten out into the hallway realize that it's not that scary. Or maybe they've gotten a little flashlight, it a little bit of education, they understand. And now they think, Well, I know everything. And so how does that that little bit of education, a little bit of knowledge, not get overblown, and a bit turned into overconfidence, where now you are taking risks, well beyond your your light beam, so to speak. Tom: Great point, Michael. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Yeah, it, it's it's actually why I think it's so important. This gets taught in schools. And, you know, there's, there's a bunch of different sides on this. But it's, that's why, you know, why are we confident reading? Right, we're confident reading because we've been taught it at such a young age, right? This is this is how we have that kind of confidence. Why are we not confident in a foreign language? Because we weren't taught it. We don't know any of the words, we don't know how this thing's put together. And we need that it's, it's about having that broad underpinning to what we do, and it's why it needs to be taught in schools because any other way, you're coming in at some random entry point, right? So some friend tells you the you know, you should trade options on Robin Hood because I made x, y, zed and then you kind of get in there and you learn a little bit about it. Maybe you have like some Beginner's luck and you do quite well. That's now your little wheelhouse. It may just may be a good wheelhouse for you. It may be a terrible one. More likely the second option, right. So that becomes your think that's what you need that we need the education to make sure we get a little bit of light in all areas. I mean, I'll give you a perfect example for this. I so the CFA exams Chartered Financial Analyst. I'm not one I did level one.I got way too busy to do levels two and three, my first daughter was born like immediately after getting level one. And level one even just shows you the entire spectrum. So you kind of you get like a beginners entry level on everything. And that's like, you kind of you know where to come back to later. Right? If I need to calculate a bond price, I can't do it off the top of my head, but I know where to read. I know where to look. And then I'd know how to do it. And that, obviously, that's a little bit specific for most people. But that kind of general entry level stuff is I think, you know, what's needed otherwise, you do end up with the flashlight, or moving from analogies. Under the under the street lamp looking for their keys, right? You know, the stories like, you know, and the guy's looking for his keys under the street lamp and a piece of wedge, you lose them over there. So why are you looking here? Well, this is where the light is, right? That's it's so important to just have like a basic level of light. Tom: To know what you don't know. Definitely. Michael: Yeah, that's Yeah. I'm curious to know, in your opinion, if someone is looking to invest in the next 12 months, they're looking to get educated and wanting to get involved, whatever investment class they deem is in their wheelhouse, where should they be keeping those funds? Should that be something that they're investing the whole time labeling? And, you know, dollar cost averaging? Or should they kind of wait till they have enough funds to do something with curious to get your thoughts? 7 Dollar Millionaire: Okay, well, always dot dollar cost average, unless there's like a ticket price that, you know, makes that unavoidable that you have to go in single level, like, like some kinds of property, right, where you have to have a certain amount of downpayment, and that's the minimum you can get involved. The great thing about other asset classes is you can dollar cost average in the tiniest amounts. And you always should, I mean, cuz, you know, you can't predict the future, you don't know if it's gonna go up or down, right. So you should try and remove as much of that risk as possible. And dollar cost averaging is the is the free way of doing that. Michael: Right. 7 Dollar Millionaire: So right, so always dollar cost averaging, I think there's a one thing that I quite like is what I think of it in my head is like a reverse ladder. So you know how you have ladders on fixed deposits, time deposits, whatever they call them. In the US, you know, where you can get kind of get like a little bit more return, if you lock the money into a deposit account for longer, let's say three months, six months, whatever it is, and you stagger it in. So you put in like a sixth this month and a six the next month, and then you do that over six months. So you got the money, you got access to six of the money every single month, you can put it put it into those and then actually dollar cost into the thing you're putting it into. So you can sort of you're still making a little bit of money doesn't have to sit as pure cash. Right. Michael: So so go get six CDs. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Yeah, exactly. Michael: on six month intervals. And okay, gotcha. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Yeah, exactly right. And then you can just plug it straight in. And you might only be making like an extra, like a few bucks. But this is how you make money, right is by it's like that little extra, which for no risk, right? That's always the key a little bit extra, no risk is better than a lot extra for a lot of risk. So just that just that small, those small moves are always useful. But I think also one of the other things to do is depending on the asset class, if if what you're doing, if the cash you've got is a long way away from the asset class, then it does make sense to have some kind of hedge if it's possible. So I mean, I think one of the things often is say, like, being able to put some of the money into a REIT in advance of buying a property. So let's say if there's like, if you're going to buy property in New York for some reason, then there's a new york rate, if you can do enough analysis around that read to understand it's like, oh, this is, this is pretty similar, this should go up when my property goes up, it should go down when my property goes down, you can at least put some of the money as you're building towards that downpayment into the REIT and then hedge out a little bit of that extra risk. Because, I mean, the risk on property is nearly always, everywhere in the world, the government prints more money, right? I mean, properties actually don't… Micheal: Inflation. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Yeah, well, yeah, properties don't often go up in value, your money goes down in value in terms of property, right, that's what actually happens. So actually, removing that risk is is is useful. So I'd always think through these ways, rather than thinking, yeah, just chucking money in now. Just steady push it in steadily as it's just if you can, if you have the patience. Tom: That's a that's a good discipline. I mean, it kind of related as an act of discipline I can think of like going to a, like a kiss going to Las Vegas or something and playing blackjack and it's like, oh, do I push it all in on one hand or do I slowly and you're gonna have a better time to her a little bit slower. I guess that kind of really kind of relates to having fun at the casino versus having fun at. 7 Dollar Millionaire: It is a good point because I do the exact opposite. I really don't like being in casinos and when I'm forced to go to them, I put it all in on one hand and literally Michael: Walk away. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Just like get this over and done with either make a lot of money on one hand, or we are I'd leave and have a better time than I would do by sitting at a blackjack table, losing money steadily. Michael: I love how you knew kind of exactly where I was going with the question with regard to property investment. Because I mean, Tom you were in a similar situation with regard to you had some cash or cash out refinance, you were looking to deploy it. And in the meantime, you were thinking about putting it in the market, and I think you ultimately did. And then there was some fluctuation in the market. And you're like, Whoa, this is not this is not feeling good. So you pull back a little bit, right? Tom: Yeah, yeah, just, I think like within, there's more, like risky allocations, and then safer allocations. And I think, being cognizant of kind of which risk profile I was investing, versus the strategy I initially did was go running up to the blackjack table and throwing it all down. And, you know, thankfully, didn't get getting didn't get burned too bad. But, you know, stepped back away and left the casino and invested in a nice asset allocation that was comfortable for the time horizon at which I wanted to spend it. So.. 7 Dollar Millionaire: That's I mean, that's, that's, that's also the other point is actually nothing wrong with taking a second most important thing of investing is actually understanding your own psychological needs, because you can't invest against them. It's really, really hard to actually invest in a way that you don't think is correct for you. So taking too much risk. And just I mean, I don't have sleepless nights with what I do for a living. Because I don't invest in a way that is wrong. For me. I actually feel like I understand what I do. Whenever I hear people like they have sleepless nights like that's because your style investing does not match what you actually believe. I mean, that just can't be. That can be the only reason I think what you did, there was smart. So the only way I've done this in the past is that I buy I bought properties in the past in, in foreign countries I have bought in Singapore, once I buy in the UK, I bought in Japan, I bought in Australia, one of the things when I know I'm going to do that is I immediately switch the money into that currency. If I think it's cheap, I think it's expensive. I don't. But I try and you know, work because current currency, and I do sometimes take a view on the currencies. So you know, but that's it's that kind of move. So for example, I think I kept I think I kept just cash in a deposit in Sterling for about three years before I bought a property there because I wanted to take away because it was cheap. And I wanted to remove the currency risk, that it would get more expensive at that particular time. Basically, the moment Brexit happened and the pound and the pound collapsed, I put money into Sterling, because I knew I'd be thinking about buying a house not long after, Michael: I think I've mentioned this to you in the past, Michael, but I really took it on the nose with the currency exchange because I bought a place in Portugal. And it was right around February, January, when we were looking at doing a transaction and the dollar against the Euro was like 94 cents. And it has just continued to climb and climb and climb. And so this is going to be great. This is going to be an equal transaction, by the time I go to actually pull the trigger. And so I waited, waited, waited and then COVID hit and the dollar just tanked. And I really got taken to the carwash on that one. So I think that makes sense is if if you if you know what it is today, that's worth something and how you feel about it, I think is also important, but also a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Well, it's it's actually a lot of these things is understanding future liabilities, and not just your existing liabilities, but your future liabilities. And that's one of the ones like with kids, right? You're going to have these are future liabilities, you've got costs down the road. And if you know that you've got, you want to have a place in Portugal, then if you think the currencies pretty decent, and you know, you don't have a view either way, you can just put that money into into euros immediately and just remove that risk, right, there's no risk now. Right? If that money wa s just gonna sit, and you could have it in euros doing something else, I mean, you can still take another risk on top of that, but at least you've closed off that currency risk. And currencies, they move around a lot. I mean, there's, you know, within like a two or three year timeframe, they can really shift. And that's a risk that's nice not to have or even potentially gain you can make rather than, you know, taking that huge risk. Tom: So backtracking Just a minute, a little bit ago, you were talking about if you were to evaluating buying property in New York, and you know, parking it into a REIT in that space. I never and then you know, you can research that read I never thought of that, because they're sort of there's this is, you know, primarily single family rental investors. There are single family rental REITs out there. And is the idea to maybe to to learn more about that specific REITs that you're going into that asset class like to benchmark what kind of returns you what are my totally hearing this on a different? 7 Dollar Millionaire: I think you know more about the US property market than I do. So I'm, uh, yeah, you're probably hearing things I don't know, all I mean is is as close as you can remove risk, I'm not talking about actually Tom: Sure getting as close. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Yeah, the closer the asset thing, the asset class you're going to buy, you're removing as much risk as you possibly can. So if it's in similar geography, in a similar asset class in a similar geography, it still may not correlate, and there's nothing you can do about that there may be a problem with the REIT, and there may be a problem with a manager and maybe a problem with something else. But if you're going to buy commercial property in New York State, if you can find a commercial property right, in New York State, yeah, then maybe maybe there'll be reasonably correlated, and you're taking a risk there, that, you know, there's no reason for cash to be correlated to it, there's definitely no reason for any other asset class to be correlated to that thing. So just a little bit of work and probably find you, okay, what's the new what's the New York State REIT, which ones are similar? Bang, okay, that one might reduce my costs and reads tend to pay pretty good dividends as well. So you actually could get paid out while you're doing it. So the return could be stronger, while being more correlated. And that's kind of all you're aiming for. with that. But I mean, I'm gonna say as well, I don't know, if I mentioned on last couple of one of my it's a small family single, you know, real estate, is actually just such one of the best asset classes to be in as an individual. Just because it's not not something that big corporations do particularly well. And that's where it's sort of maybe steer clear of big corporations tend to do big properties very well, right. It's just like one guy making a decision pushes a button, and then the whole building does x, y, zed, right? Whereas when you look at what we all live in, so small fixer uppers, those single unit setup takes an enormous amount of management to run as a business. So that's one of the reasons I love real estate as an asset class is because the world's capital is not trying to jump into this, right, it's just individuals doing the thing they do. So we can have an advantage. But within the REIT, maybe less if you get too specific, too granular. And I just sort of aim, you know, and the other thing would be to not get into to smaller thing, right? You want it to be liquid, you want it to be well traded, you know, one reasonably well known Tom: That makes sense definitely. Michael: Makes a ton of sense. I'm curious, Michael, do you have generic guidelines or principles when you're teaching, you know, financial education to folks around how much of someone's paycheck or how much someone's net worth should be broken down and spent on the different typical categories? So housing, or transportation or food entertainment? Do you have a pie chart that you that you utilize? 7 Dollar Millionaire: No. I mean, there is one, right. There's the 50 30 20, that is commonly used. And it's a great starting point, I actually think the 50 30 20 is a great starting point. But I think there's just too many examples of people who do way better than that, than I do. You know, you don't want to set the goalposts too easy, right? You know, you just come across people who are saving half or even three quarters of their of their income, and you don't want to tell them, You should save 20 it's similarly right, you know, it's just like, but the only one I really use is like, never go above like a third of your income on property. And I think if you can keep it below that number, pretty much everything else starts to slide with it. Right? You start your cut, a lot of other costs are gonna be I mean, so in the book Happy Ever After I use 50 3020 as a starting point, but then say, Well, yeah, you know, but what if you could do 30 30 10? Right, you know, 30 30 30 30 30 40, because it would be, because 30 30 10 doesn't add up great. But if you can keep those costs down, all of those extra the 1530, way below those numbers, you're adding up to a much higher number on the 20. And that's the thing, I think, to use that 50 30 20 is a great thing to say to someone who's saving zero, or 5%. Tom: Sorry, just to clarify the 5030 is 50% is your needs housing, grocery grocery, all that 30% is the ones and 20% savings. Is that the? 7 Dollar Millionaire: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's, I mean, it's not that I didn't invent that. I think that's a standard financial personal finance tool. And, you know, as as with the glob of paint, right, it's a great job of paint, unfortunately, it's kind of it sounds to 20 20% is gonna have you if you did it from the age of 20 20% is going to have you retired somewhere in your 60s. It's not amazing, right? That it's it's, it's better than not, but it's it's not amazing, and that's where I wouldn't want to see it to see us as I try to use it just as a general this is dob of pain. 20 is great, but if you want to do better, you should aim for better. Michael: Yeah, that makes tons of sense. And I think that's great. I love I love that dob of paint analogy. I think it makes so much sense. I'm a very visual person. So that that resonates with me. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Cool. That's good. That's really good. Because it's because I wrote it for for a new book I'm working on. So I'm glad it works. I'm trying it out with you guys. Michael: Are you really writing a new book? 7 Dollar Millionaire: Yeah, yeah. This is actually the first morning in about three weeks I am, I've got up to talk to you guys instead of getting up to write. But I've been writing to non stop for last three weeks. Michael: Awesome. Can Can we get a little preview as to what it's about? 7 Dollar Millionaire: Yeah, it's it's an attempt to combine Zen mindfulness practice and personal finance. So I'm trying to map I'm trying to get that Venn diagram. I feel at the moment, those Venn diagrams are like, here, I'm just trying to merge them. But in many ways, I feel that they merge really easily. It's like, you know, it's what is tracking what is tracking your spending, if not being mindful of what you're doing? Right. I mean, you sit down and journal but journal your expenses, right actually know what you're doing in life, I actually think they they align quite neatly, I just haven't seen anyone do it before. And, and I, one of the things I've realized more and more about personal finance is that the SEC, the same five or six things, we all need to know how to do the basics. But we need to approach every person in a slightly different way to get those five or six things in. Once you're in, you'll learn them really fast, but you need to get in. And that's why I sort of just occurred to me will be a fun thing to do. So yeah, I need it to be fun. As well, I need to actually want to be able to, if I have to get up at six in the morning, I have to want to Tom: Yeah, big, big mindfulness fan, I try and do have a personal retreat every year. And man, I can just see how a lot of those concepts of just being present is so relevant. And you can basically apply it to anything and it's so natural into, you know, the currency that, that our resources that we live off of its camp can't wait for it to talk more about it and for it to come out. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Cool. Well it come at it. Well, if I finish it, it should come out next year. That's exactly what it is. I mean, it is this sense of in every place in our finances, if you're not aware, they take control of you rather than the other way around. And if you can be aware and mindful of what you're doing. So even to the standard market to you over emotional, are you under emotional, you know, how are you what's actually going on in you, that is making you do things that are not to your benefit and understanding those things are such important drivers and in the in the space. So addressing all those things. Equally, what's quite nice is I feel like I can recycle the some of the Happy Ever After book as well, because the middle of the middle bit of this book is a man being the same steps mission, money income saving, spending, investing, owning now those steps. And so rather than to using sort of like the fairy tale, we sort of really creating a path. And as with so many things on sort of mindfulness, this is a path, you have to understand the path and now you hear whether the dob of paint was coming in, right? Don't get upset that you don't know where you're at, you're just putting a dob of paint is just the first dollar painting this will build. And that's Yeah, that's why I'm so happy like the analogy cuz it's right up the front. Michael: Oh, this is great. I'm very excited to read the book. I want to shift gears here a little bit. And I'm curious to know if you have any tips or tricks or guidelines for folks to have these types of financial, personal financial conversations with a spouse partner significant other, because so often I hear in the Roofstock Academy is Hey, I'm all on board for real estate, but my husband isn't, or my wife isn't or my partner isn't interested? How do you bring them in in a productive way? 7 Dollar Millionaire: Yeah, it's hard. And you know, you, it's okay, we're gonna get back to the mindfulness, but just for a second, and I'll come back to this, right, because Tom: It's all part of everything 7 Dollar Millionaire: You have to know is that you, you can only affect yourself, you can't create change outside yourself, you can only create change inside yourself. So you, you can't force a partner to come up to your speed when you want them to. So that's the number one understanding. So you got to be ready for them to not be prepared to do this. The second thing is, it's why I wrote the book is for the original one happy ever after it was to outsource a lot of the conversation with this time, but that time with my daughter to paper, get her to read it. So I don't have to go through an enormous amount of the background of how this works, right? It I can just imagine it. When I realized my daughter didn't know anything about money. I was like, I've got a teach her this stuff. I don't want to spend every weekend for the next year having daddy daughter money lectures, because that's just you know, it's wrong. Right? So but if I write her book, she can read it in their own pace, and we can have those conversations and she's already up to speed. Right? So to get some level of outsourcing so to encourage, could you read this book, have a look at this, what do you think about this, and then let the person do it in their own time. So they'll come up to speak because again, we go back to that you can only change you they have to change themselves on on their timeframe. I think the other thing is too, sometimes it's useful just to have like a group budget as a track as a family exactly where all the money goes. Because that That, to me is like, is the starting point we're spending money on on these things. And you know, if there's any dispute, it's like, let's get the, let's get the receipts out, this is actually exactly where all our money went in the in this period. Because I think that's the, I think it's very difficult to jump from an investing mindset. Jump to it, without going through saving. And you have to warn you that that requires understanding your spending. So those two things combined to be like, okay, we understand that what we're saving and what we're spending, okay, now we can invest our asset class, we can we can move on to as you said, How do I get my spouse to think about real estate, they're probably not thinking about it, because they're not probably not thinking about the saving and spending, the moment you think about your, I'm going to give up this spending to save the money, you tend to get a lot more interested in how much money that money is going to make for you. So you tend to get a lot more interested in the asset class. So I that's why I do see these things as being a 1234. And then you can get them interested in the asset class. Tom: Maslow's hierarchy of conversations to have with your significant other. Yeah, it's, so this is a one would be, I guess, spending, saving, and then more offensive investing that I understand this kind of triangle correctly. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Okay, I will never allow spending to go in front of saving savings by okay. It's in the dictionary in the book in life saving comes first, right? Get the saving done first. And the saving is how you top up your yield. So the safe spending is cutting down on your spending is how you top up your savings. Right? Did you put the put the savings away first. But yeah, and then once you've got savings, you need to do something with them. And so the thing you do with them is what asset class and then you can have those conversations. But if the person isn't engaged in the saving, right, then they're probably saying I don't want to invest in real estate, because actually, I'd rather be spending the money on a car. And you've got to move the people have got to be with you on those steps. And it's, if then if they haven't got those fundamentals like Well, yeah, we could buy the car, but these savings will double in 10 years time and quadruple in 20, et cetera, et cetera. And then we'll be setting we can have as many cars as we want, if that's your thing. But let's just actually understand our priorities today, and where we want to be with that. But I do think it's really important not to make that a face to face conversation too often, unless you're both open to that and let that someone like me, let an author let a book, let a TV show, do the heavy lifting, right? I mean, and then then have the conversation subsequently. Michael: So for anybody listening, needing to broach this subject with a partner, spouse, you can either go get Happy Ever After by 7 Dollar Millionaire, that's great. 7 Dollar Millionaire: I couldn't have said it better myself. Love it, love it. Michael: I know you're not really familiar with the US system of Roth versus non Roth, but we can talk about it in a higher level discussion. And so in the US, we have Roth and non Roth retirement accounts. A Roth is simply you pay the tax on the dollars that you invest on the front end, and then you get tax free growth and distributions on the back end, versus a non Roth is you get a tax benefit of reducing your taxable income today, it grows tax deferred, and then when you go to remove those dollars, it gets taxed at that point in time. Do you have a sense for pros cons, how people might be thinking about this? 7 Dollar Millionaire: The only thing that go into there is I'm assuming there are some other sub clauses in terms of what your access to the money in the intervening periods? Right? So I'm guessing from what you've said, that the one where you get, like, you pay tax now and you'd be don't pay tax on on the eventual money. You can only take it out on a certain date. And if you take it out between those dates, I'm assuming there's some kind of penalty as the as the price of actually getting a tax tax, tax free later on, are tax exempt. Whereas the other one sounds more like well, if you know, you're actually if you're not being taxed on the money that goes in that's probably fairly similar. But I'm guessing it's probably a little bit freer money in terms of you can probably access it at any point in time. Tom: The big gating factor between the two is there's limitations on who has access to use a Roth, this one that's taxed up front, and that your income needs to be under a certain level. Michael: But the access to the funds are fairly similar in that you pay a penalty on both if you remove them before your retirement age. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think if you can afford it, you probably want to put the money away that you can take it out later tax free. That to me sounds like you know, because then you, hopefully if it's a long period of time, and it compounds reasonably well, that's a bigger number than the money you're putting in. And that's how the only thing I could think of that. Honestly, these things is weighing me up. I people make tax codes way too complicated. It's just like they make tax codes complicated. And then don't teach financial literacy in schools. The idea of this is beggars believe, right? The problem with making them complicated is very often, it tells people like, it's like, we go back to a dog with pain, right? We go back to our dob of pain, someone is telling you, I need you to paint the Mona Lisa, and you've never painted before, you're scared to put the first piece of paint on, you won't, you'll just, you know, you'll have you'll kind of you'll have like a punk rock moment, and you'll toss the canvas and break it on the wall and walk out the room. That's what everyone does. Everyone's just like, this is too hard. I'm not doing it. And so you stop people actually getting involved. So I am going again to run again, all of these systems are way too hard. The correct answer is save them money, one of those will be doing deep, it will be better than none of them and don't over stress it. Personally, I probably go to have the tax deferred later. Because I want the money to compound my age, that's probably wrong. Because I'm you know, I'm probably begin taking the money out in 10-15 years, so might not compound that much. And I might be better off actually having more money now. And I suspect that's where the differential is. That's probably where, you know, that's where the delta is on that. But God, I mean, that's just way too hard. Sorry, not telling you off it. But it's way too hard a question to put to someone who probably has very minimal financial literacy, I could probably work out what the right answer is with a spreadsheet. That means it's a really bad policy to be offering people. Sorry to criticize your country. Tom: I like it. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Okay, good. Tom: My wife's a tax attorney and keeps keeps busy. Yeah, moving tax code. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Oh man. It's actually it's actually also one of the reasons why, you know, the financial literacy thing is so important, because you can't trust governments with this stuff. In the we all think that everything we experience from childhood has been around forever. The reality is, before the Second World War, most people were dying around 65 70, they did not get a pension because they didn't need it. They were literally going to last maybe four or five years after they after they finished work, they would expect to work to death. And only after the Second World War, do we get this mass input of pension schemes? And which is why in lots of countries, they're just paid out of government revenues. And I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing. But it does. What it means is it's not necessarily going to be around forever. Tax codes aren't around forever. And it's one of the things that I worry too much about putting too much time into worrying about tax codes. Because by the time you take the money out, you'll have been through five different tax codes. It will all have changed so many times that if you try to think long range about tax, you're doing the wrong thing, because the risk on that is enormous. Michael: That's such a good point. I think so many people hear about Taxco changing scramble to do whatever they can. And then next president next administration comes around things change scramble to do what we can and then you know, over and over and over again. 7 Dollar Millionaire: The people that make the money are Tom's wife. They make all the money! Tom: She is just there, interpretating whatever, whatever comes out. Yeah, 7 Dollar Millionaire: Yeah, exactly. Tom: It's good for the Schneider family. It's good for them. Michael: That's great. Well, I think we just got to wrap this up, Tom, any other questions for the 7 Dollar Millionaire? Tom: No, I love it. I think of all of our podcast guests. I never have more like impactful like meaningful, like things that I go off and do after the episode. So I really appreciate you coming on super excited about the book coming out. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Yeah, thanks very much for that. It's, it's, um, I'm really excited about it, too. It was the publishers Wiley to appeal to published happy ever after. And they, they asked me when I kind of that they were actually publishing happily ever after they said, do you want to do a follow up? And I was like, No, no interest. The and it because I took that to mean that did they want me to write teaching my daughter how to invest properly, and not as a cop out? That's just too complex. You know, the reason I write what I write is I'm interested in getting people off the ground up to being able to understand other books. I'm not interested in the other books, those are all great. They've already been done, you know? And then, you know, while he was coaxing me and saying, Well, no, we have this book series called “The Little Book of“ Series, which like the Little Book of Common Sense investing is written by John Bogle. And I'm like, kidding, right? I get to write a book in series that that goes in. And actually the bigger one for me was actually The Little Book valuation is by Aswath Damodaran. Who, I don't know if you guys know him, but in my industry, he's a god. Aswath Damodaran book bbout this thick on on, it's just got damodaran valuation. And it's got every way of valuing everything ever. And it's the Bible for my industry. Everyone's got a copy everyone's read it cover to cover. It's literally and it I mean, it's dense. He's I think he's a, he's a professor at NYU stern. And just like, super clever guy. So he wrote the little book of value valuation. And they're asking me 7 Dollar Millionaire if I want to write one of those. So I thought I've got to think about it. So just like so thinking about it. And I was like, still didn't want to write a follow up on investing. Now, I did literally woke up one morning, I was like, the little book of Zen Money. And just that the title just runs so nice. I was like, Yeah, okay, what, what can I do with that, and I was like, then the subtitle came to my head was like, okay, a simple path to financial peace of mind. Okay. And literally, I'm writing the thing, first word to last word and like, not how you should write, you should break it up into bits. And Right, right, like the middle first, and then the end. And then the beginning. And I'm literally going from the title. And the last word, all right, will be the kind of the end. And just going that direction, because it just makes sense to me all the way through. Tom: Yeah, it's there already. just pulling back. Michael: Yeah, gotta get it onto paper. 7 Dollar Millionaire: I stay away from the other analogy. But the other analogy is chipping blocks off the stone, right to make a sculpture. That's what I'm doing with this one. It's there. It's already there. I've just got to find it. enough fun. Yeah, I wake up every morning and get at it part from today, when it's fun to talk to you guys instead. Tom: Yeah, I mean, one of the takeaways also for these conversations is like, you know, this 80-20 principle where, you know, you get 80% of your value from 20% of the work and that last 20%, like, that's where it gets, like overly complicated moving targets, you know, anxiety, all that stuff, but just getting up and getting that initial blob of paint? I mean, I feel like I'm probably repeating a lot of the conversation, but it's a really powerful one. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Exactly. I mean, you know, it's it really is that that first move separates you from everyone who's not investing, who's not saving. That's it, right that if you were the stat or last year, it was ended. 2019. Right there, 61% of Americans didn't have $1,000 in an emergency fund. Just having $1,000, that puts you already in the top 39% of the richest country in the world. That is already that that's the 80 20 rule right there. They're taking their money and opening an investing account, bang, you're probably in the top 10%. Right. And taking those actions is what moves you along these things all the time. That's why is is so important. Yeah. It's the problem, as you said is, someone tells you, you should invest. Oh, and you should invest in this. So what you know, that's just way too complex. It should just be you should save, you should invest, and probably, you know, VTI just go there. He can be a while before you find anything else. So you can overcomplicate it later when you're ready to overcomplicate it, but to start with just go there. Michael: Love it. Tom: Love it. And VTi is the vanguard index fund. That's just kind of just blankets. The economy beautiful. Yeah, big fan. 7 Dollar Millionaire: It's, it's the it's the biggest economy in the world. It's the top 500 companies in the biggest economy in the world. You know, when we if you live off grid, you're not involved in the global economy. Fine, right. But that's like naught point naught naught 1% of us that's discussing this properly off grid. The rest of us are buying stuff to live our off grid life anyway, we're in the economy. That's that the most natural hedge just by that. Michael: And the folks that do live off grid probably aren't gonna be listening to this podcast on their iPhone, in the middle of nowhere wherever they live off grid, so I don't think we have to worry about them. 7 Dollar Millionaire: They probably are. Michael: Living off grid with faster Wi Fi than any of us. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Exactly. Michael: Awesome. Well, $7 millionaire Always a pleasure to have you on thank you again for hanging out with us and bestowing some wisdom. And like I mentioned, and I mentioned very much looking forward to the book when it comes out. I know I'll be getting it. We will both be getting it I'm sure. 7 Dollar Millionaire: Excellent. Well, thank you very much. It really it's always a pleasure. Really good fun. Thanks, guys. Michael: Awesome. Take care. I'll talk to you soon. Alright, everybody, that was our episode a big big, big thank you to 7 Dollar Millionaire always such a pleasure chatting with him. Tom, I know you and I get so much value out of our talks with him and after all of our conversations, we have going making some changes to our own personal finance realm. So very excited to do that yet again. If you'd like the episode, please feel free to leave us a rating or review wherever it is just in your podcast. If you're checking this out on YouTube feel, feel free to hit that like and subscribe button. And as always, we look forward to seeing on the next one. Happy investing. Tom: Happy investing.

covid-19 tv love new york california australia babies uk bible guide las vegas japan americans iphone world war ii portugal series jump singapore euro brexit beginners honestly ipads sec bang millionaires wifi dollar robin hood personally tax nyu zen excel gym cds toddlers schneider roth common sense new york state wiley mona lisa equally cfa little book venn brady bunch reits pv reit personal finances pessimists chartered financial analyst can can john bogle vti aswath damodaran roofstock taxco happy ever after michael oh tom it michael yeah michael love michael well michael so tom no michael thank tom yeah tom so michael hey michael awesome

The Showstopper Show

Oxide and Friends

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 17, 2021 86:21

Oxide and Friends Twitter Space: August 16th, 2021The Showstopper ShowWe've been holding a Twitter Space weekly on Mondays at 5p for about an hour. Even though it's not (yet?) a feature of Twitter Spaces, we have been recording them all; here is the recording for our Twitter Space for August 16th, 2021.In addition to Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal, speakers on August 16th included special guests G. Pascal Zachary (see gpascalzachary.com), and Jessamyn West (see jessamyn.medium.com), as well as Dan Cross, Tom Lyon, Josh Clulow, and others. (Did we miss your name and/or get it wrong? Drop a PR!)Some of the topics we hit on, in the order that we hit them: G. Pascal Zachary's “Showstopper! The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft” book Tracy Kidder's “The Soul of a New Machine” book [@0:46](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=46) “The endless debate of NT vs Unix.” Bryan: My whole career was kind of defined by going where Windows wasn't. I don't know what I was expecting, but what I found was a real time capsule from software development in the 90's. [@2:46](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=166) Jessamyn: There was some familial impact (from developing DG Eclipse) that wasn't mentioned in the book. “O, Engineers!” retrospective from wired [@6:30](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=390) What was Kidder's process? “He lived in my house!” [@8:32](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=512) Zachary interviewed family members extensively. > People couldn't leave, they were staying at the office all the time. [@14:23](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=863) I do feel this is a time capsule. A time before two mega-trends hit: the Internet and open source. [@17:33](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=1053) Microsoft was kind of a joke software company in the early 90's. > Dave Cutler was a force of nature. [@19:59](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=1199) No one understood why someone was good at coding. It was a mystery to everyone, why there was such a wide stratification of coders. > There were projects that never saw the light of day. Ashton-Tate, dBase > There was a sense from Cutler and Perazzoli, that leadership of the team, > that these guys at Microsoft really didn't get how serious the process > of building this battleship was. I think the level of anguish did surprise me. [@23:59](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=1439) In “Soul of the New Machine,” the machine was the star, and people served it. East Coast vs West Coast attitudes. > On the West Coast, the personal computer were supposed to help you > actualize your counter-cultural values. Ken Olsen of DEC > Computing is equivalent with IBM. There was no software industry > so long as IBM gave all the software away for free. [@26:09](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=1569) Crashes. > Wozniak dreamed of owning > his own PDP > computer, which cost as much as a house. So he was aware of the robustness > of the minicomputer, and by contrast, the puny power of a personal computer. Thirtysomething > Dave Cutler was not cuddly. He was menacing, he could lose his temper. > And I tried not to get to close to him physically for that reason. > There were two looming father figures in Cutler and Gates. > And I think it created a lot of anxiety. [@29:52](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=1792) The stakes for NT at Microsoft were high. Fred Brooks' “The Mythical Man-Month” book > It was a watershed moment in the history of computing. > It was more like the last battleship, rather than the next frontier. Bryan: I didn't realize this, that Gates was arguing against memory protection with Cutler. From our perspective, shipping an operating system without memory protection, in an era when microprocessors supported it, is malpractice. [@33:14](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=1994) Cutler's vendetta against Unix. > Conflict was at the heart of innovation at Microsoft at that time. Mitch Kapor of Lotus. > These early personal computer innovators were dismissed and sometimes > humiliated by mainstream big iron people of the 60's and 70's. Bill Gates' “The Road Ahead” book doesn't mention the internet. Zachary's “Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century” book > Computers on the West Coast were seen as extensions of your creativity, > and a tool for liberation. And for a long time that dominated the horizons. In 2005 Gates and Ballmer don't want to do cloud computing. “Who's gonna want to put their stuff in the cloud?” We've found that computing is a collective experience. [@38:28](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=2308) Email and personal messaging Sun Ray thin client computer Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson's “The UNIX time-sharing system” paper > Unix was an experiment in collaboration. RSX-11 for the PDP-11. And VMS for the VAX. > The attitude of looking down on Unix (as undesigned, academic) is > carried forward by Microsofties today. Tom: You can forgive Cutler's misgivings, because Unix pretty much stole the thunder out of VMS. [@42:24](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=2544) Interviews for the book. Family members perspective on workplace behavior. Betty Shanahan, Society of Women Engineers. Brief Q&A EAGLE (Eclipse Appreciation and Gratitude for Lonely Evenings) award > Betty's husband got an award for having to do his own laundry… Jessamyn's “Women in Early Tech” blog entry about Shanahan [@48:10](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=2890) Where did these engineers end up? They are broadly no longer engineers. This project burned people out. Short 1993 article by Zachary: “After two years in ship mode… a lot of people are angry, tired, and burned out.” Johanne Caron, linkedin Pascal: Kidder was like a fly on the wall. I was doing reconstruction as well as observation. I talked to family members to get the whole picture. [@53:20](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=3200) Cutler got to run his own show. > Ken Olsen was like the LBJ > of the computer industry: he's waist deep in the big money. Corporate culture. Hotshot coders. Renegades, rebels, hero programmers. > It's the majesty and mystery of code writing, that there's such a wide > range of performance. Pascal: I wasn't invited to the 25 year anniversary of the NT team.. [@1:01:47](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=3707) Journalists and companies. > Soul of a New Machine was very flattering to the company. Jobs backdated stock options, in violation of clear federal law. Gates repeatedly stole things. > The hobbyists were a small market, Microsoft needed to sell to corporations. Zachary's “Software, the Invisible Technology” 2016 essay > Where we used to relate to programs, we now relate to services. I think there needs to be a greater literature of software: the making of it, its purpose, its vulnerabilities, its values.Tom: It's because us practitioners are too embarrased about it all.. [@1:05:49](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=3949) Josh compares and contrasts. > Coders don't have to test their own stuff. The second stringers do that. Pascal: I would encourage people to write more about software and how it's created. Zachary's “Code Rush” film ~56mins about Netscape. [@1:08:58](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=4138) The rise of open source. Software as immutable artifact: once it's written, it's written. > Amazon, Google, Netflix are not possible without open source. [@1:10:50](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=4250) Jessamyn on helping people use tech. Accessibility > I'm a service oriented person. I work with > people who are struggling with technology. [@1:15:24](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=4524) Agency of users. > Bryan: Without memory protection, you would lose hours of work. > One bad application could cause the computer to reboot. Open source tools, and user accessible scripting/modding. Gary Larson's “The Far Side” comic “Blah blah blah Ginger” Tweet series about Internet Explorer's 25 year anniversary [@1:22:01](https://youtu.be/hlQuF75L4TE?t=4921) Pascal's parting thoughts. > The transformation of software from artifact into service, > is both fabulous and also scary. It changes all the time. > When NT was done, it was a fixed unchanging thing. Bryan: The darker side to services is people need to attend to it whenever it breaks. Adam: It's the death march with no end. > Pascal: Thanks everyone, I'd love to hear from you individually. > I'm interested in why people continue to turn to Showstopper > and find some value in it. Pascal: I encourage you to think about the literary aspects of software. I think it's valuable for society and civilization, for our culture, because there really is an artistic, artisanal side to software. Thanks again for including me. If we got something wrong or missed something, please file a PR! Our next Twitter space will likely be on Monday at 5p Pacific Time; stay tuned to our Twitter feeds for details. We'd love to have you join us, as we always love to hear from new speakers!

How Mindy Jensen Manages Her Personal Finances to Power Her Investing

Marketing BS with Edward Nevraumont

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 22, 2021 42:51

Mindy Jensen from BiggerPockets joins us to share personal finance and self-management tips, strategy considerations, side hustle ideas, and what it is like to be a female investor in a historically male-dominated industry. --- Transcript Michael: Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of The Remote Real Estate Investor. I'm Michael Albaum and today I'm joined by my co host, Tom: Tom Schneider. Michael: Mindy Jensen from BiggerPockets is joining us today. And she's going to be talking to us today about some personal finance tips for those of us who are just getting started, as well as what is it like to be a female investor in this space, and some tips and tricks and takeaways for all of our listeners. So let's jump into it. So Mindy Jensen, thank you so much for taking the time to hang out with us today. I was telling you before we start recording, I am a total fanboy. I'm all giggly today. So thank you, again, for hanging out with us. Mindy: Well, thank you for having me. I love talking about real estate. Michael: Awesome. Well, you are in the perfect place to do so. So I know all about you, because I'm a big fan of your podcast, the BiggerPockets Money Podcast that you and Scott host. But for all of our listeners that might not be familiar with you can you give us a little bit of background on kind of who you are, where you're from, and then how you got your start with real estate? Mindy I was born in a small town in Southern Illinois. And then I moved and moved and moved and moved and moved and moved and moved and moved. And I'm in my 28th or 29th house now, which is actually really relevant to the story. It sounds like a boring, I was born in a small town. And I have never lived in a house for more than six years in my whole life. And I just sold that house that I lived in for six years in January. So it's been like, we move all the time. And that is really key to my preferred method of investing in real estate, which is called the live & flip, you buy a very unattractive house, you move into it as your primary residence, you fix it up while you're living there. If you live there for at least two years as your primary residence, it is tax free growth, when you sell it, you pay no taxes up to $250,000. If you're single, and up to $500,000, if you're married, I now have a new goal to actually pay capital gains taxes on my flip, I want to get to the point where I have to pay because I've made so much money, which is a very real possibility given our current market, the fact that I got this for a steel and a half, and we're doing a lot of work to it. But in general, I live in flip. I love real estate. I love talking about real estate. And yeah, I'm a mom of two girls and I live in Colorado. Tom: Awesome. I love the live in flip strategy. I think I would like you know, with these types of strategies, you know, you have to be very much on the same page as your partner so and I don't think it would fly as much but I'm curious in you know doing this strategy like how big of a renovation Have you done with a live in flip flip Have you done like, you know, like basically camping in in in studs, the ground? Or do you like have some sort of limitation on how big of a project it is? Mindy: I have limitations now sold this is it's actually a really, really great example of like how big you can go, I have popped the top twice on houses. That means adding a second story, I will never do that again. Because I'm too old for that garbage. It is a lot of work. And when we were popping the top on our most recent house, my youngest was three years old, my oldest was six years old. We at one point had the washer and dryer in the kitchen with holes dug into the kitchen tile floor, which was gross anyway, we're gonna change it anyway. We we drilled holes in the floor so we could put the out pipes and the water supply pipes into the crawlspace. And the rest of the house was walled off, or it was plastic tarped off because we were building the the addition and the second story. So in the cold of Colorado, that's really not fun. And we were sleeping in a bedroom with our two children. And my father in law was sleeping in the other bedroom because he's an electrician, and he was helping us rewire the house. We took it from 60 amp service to 200 amp service and basically just rewired the whole thing. When you take it to the studs you can do that. So it was a big undertaking. We there's not a wall in that house that we didn't touch. But why would somebody choose to do this? Well, I bought it for $176,000 I sold it for $598,000 and I put about $100,000 into it so you do it for the money. Michael: Wow. Tom: That's incredible. And the two years so the the tax. Mindy: This match tax. I guess one more? Yeah, zero. It's incredible. My other specific to the live in strategy, or do you think back on some of the houses on the ones that got away like Oh man, I wish I was still in that? Or is the upside of kind of going through the process and getting those rewards does that, you know, just kind of smooth it over. You're like okay, I'm excited to be on the next one, you know, or do you ever like kind of fall in love I guess and you know, what's the name of the show? Love it or list it you know? Mindy: Oh Always list it, always list it. And this is actually so I am a real estate agent. And I don't understand the concept of falling in love with the house. There's what is there like 40 million houses in America or something that houses in America, there isn't just one perfect house for you. Michael: Yeah, totally legit. Mindy: There's not just one perfect house, there's always going to be another house, that's going to be great for you. So I have never fallen in love with a house. We did have one house that we brought our two children home from the hospital and after they were born, that's really sweet. But the taxes on that house when I sold it for $17,000 a year. Oh, Wisconsin, super high tax bracket. So that I don't miss that at all. I mean, my, my current mortgage payment was my monthly tax only payment on that house. That's ridiculous. Michael: That's crazy. I think that the saying goes the deal of a lifetime only comes around about once a week. So there I couldn't agree with you more Mindy. Mindy: You know what the house that I just told I pointed to where it is, it's it's on the other side of town, that house that I just sold was the deal of a lifetime, but the one I'm sitting in now is going to be even more the deal of the lifetime. So yeah, you can find a good deal anywhere. Michael: So I really want to dig in to two specific topics with you today, because I know that you're an expert in both. One, I would love to get some personal finance tips from you, for folks that are just starting their real estate investing journey I live in flip could absolutely be one of them. And then I also want to talk to you about what it's like being a female investor in the space. And I know that you've got experience again in both those areas. So if I am just starting out, and… Mindy: I do I have like a lifelong experience, lifelong experience as a woman. So just starting out in real estate, buy low and sell high is kind of the the Pat answer. But really, if you are looking to get started investing in real estate, you need to be educated, you need to know what it is that you're going to do with your investment. And it seems so easy to be a landlord. But there's a lot of things that you need to know if you want to be a landlord. And if you don't know those things, you are going to mess up and you are going to lose money. And you are going to, in some cases hate your life. I know when you don't know that you should screen a tenant. And you don't know that a 400 credit score is not indicative of a person who is going to be paying you on time every month, you might rent out to somebody who has a 400 credit score, you didn't know because you didn't even run it and you let them move into your house. And they trashed it because they are bad tenants. And you didn't know that because you didn't call it their past landlords and you know, their kids wreck the house and you didn't know they had kids because you didn't screen them. There's, there's a lot of things and not that you shouldn't rent to people who don't have kids. I'm not advocating against fair housing laws, you need to know who's living in the house. And when you rent it to Michael and Michael doesn't have doesn't say, hey, I've got 17 kids, you know, you come into occupancy, you had a bit against occupancy issues. And you know, or Michael brings his brother Tom, and Tom brings his friend Joe, and then there's 76 people living in your house and you're like, wait, why is it trashed? I'm not surprised at all. So, if you want to invest in any type of asset class, you need to do your research and if you cannot explain how you are going to invest and and how somebody should be investing in that particular asset class, you should not be investing in that asset class. I'm not in but Bitcoin. I'm not in crypto because I don't understand it. And this is not an invitation to send me an email to explain it to me. I don't want to know. Tom: Michael's a big, big ferret guy, I wouldn't rent to him because, like, Michael: Tom! Tom: It's cute, he's taught them to do these tricks that he showed us, but big… Michael: Tom, time out. It's chinchillas. Tom: I think we segued… Michael, I think we're okay. Chinchillas apologies. Mindy: I'm gonna jump in here and say, OMG , I would never read to somebody who had ferrets because ferrets stink. Tom: Michael apparently likes it. Sorry chinchillas. But okay, getting back on the rails. Mindy, you know what I love my like takeaway from what you're talking about is just having your eyes wide open of like going into risk. I think like with any type of investment that you're doing it be it crypto real estate. Successful investors, they are cognizant and intentional about the risks that they're taking, be it who you're renting to be it the property condition and like what your capacity is, so just love that as like a takeaway on this episode of of intention with risk and eyes wide open in education and filling that gap. Mindy: Well, that was a better way to say it. Michael: No I prefer the 76 circus family. Mindy, a question for you kind of in that same vein. And so we have the education side of things at the Rootstock Academy and I love that you brought up education totally unprompted. I just want everybody to know that we didn't prompt Mindy with that. But how do you draw the line between getting educated, and knowing when enough is enough to then jump in or dip your toes because I know that's something that I struggled with, I spent about two years self educating before ever doing a real estate deal. And even I'm still learning and I was 10 years ago, I'm still learning every single day. So how do you feel like you're you have enough to be dangerous to then go do something with without getting analysis paralysis? Mindy: Well, started young is really great. Because when you start young, you feel like you know everything, and you don't feel like you need to do all the research. And that's how I got started. I just knew everything when I was 26 years old. I do like that you said, you know, analysis paralysis. And at one point, do you do you stop educating? You need to be able to understand what you're doing? Hey, how do you invest in real estate? How do you rent out your house? Oh, you know, you just put it on Craigslist. That's not enough information. You need to learn how you rent out a house. How do you screen a tenant? How do you buy a house? How do you collect rent, like there's a lot of things that you need to think about? Before you just buy a house and throw some people in it. You're providing housing for somebody, you're giving somebody a place to live, you need to know that it's a safe place to live. It's a habitable place to live. And you need to know that they're going to pay you rent. I mean, once you can start explaining it to other people, I think you've done enough research. You'll always continue to learn, you will always continue to refine and hone in Hey, it turns out I don't want to rent to Mike that has 17 chinchillas. I want to read to Tom who has four little dogs because I know that big dogs cause disasters or I'm not going to rent to Tom anymore because his cats poo. That was not a pleasant experience. And you know, you will always, you will always continue to learn. Yeah, that's sometimes cat spray. But being involved in a community that continues to help each other out, is really the best way to go about it. I mean, BiggerPockets is a community of real estate investors helping other real estate investors learn how to do it explaining from experience that, you know, renting out to the chinchilla farm isn't the best choice. Or, you know, renting out to 17 guys who just turned 18 years old in your four bedroom house is probably not going to have the best results. Yeah, and you're not discriminating, you're just being smart about your your applicants. But even how you find applicants is going to be something that you learn through asking other people. Tom: Like synthesizing along with the education piece is like community is like such a huge piece about, you know, a really important aspect and feeling comfortable to make that jump, I think and Michael was was talking about just because investing in real estate can be difficult, right? You're right, you know, pop in the top and in Colorado in the winter, you know, having that community of people to one from the education standpoint, but to just as the either, you know, feedback loop or helping, you know, continuing to move forward. Kind of the combination of the two are is really important. And yeah, love BiggerPockets. This is a fantastic spot of that community aspect. Mindy: Yeah, it's my favorite website on the whole planet. Michael: I love that. You mentioned the community aspect of things. Because I think so many investors, especially those who are just starting out think that going from due diligence to then you're the first acquisition is that's it, I bought the property now I'm done. It's like, Well, no, now the work actually starts now you own the property. Now you really need that support for the ongoing stuff, not just from the due diligence acquisition. Mindy: Yes, and this support is really important because sometimes there's not really much you can do. But having somebody to commiserate with is really helpful. But as you're in there talking to other investors, you pick up little tips. One of the best tips I ever picked up for screening tenants is to after they have seen your home, you walk them to their car, you just walk them out and you know, chat, whatever. But while you're at their car, you give it a little peek. Oh, look at that. I can't even see anything in there because there's garbage and wrappers up to the tops of the windows. You don't want to rent to that person because they how they keep your their cars, how they're going to keep your house and you don't want to go into a completely trashed house. unless that's your thing. Michael: And teach the road, no judgment, no judgment. I've heard of another similar tip of doing a FaceTime interview with prospective tenants and having them give you a tour around their current living situation. Mindy: That's another really great tip, because then they're not really expecting to do a tour so you can see how they truly live. And this isn't to discriminate against people who might be slightly untidy, this is to prevent people who will not treat your property with respect from moving it. Tom: Canary in the coal mine. One thing I love about these episodes is they're there, they can be very self serving. So I have a very self serving question for you. And this is, I guess, for broader people, or as well, if let's say I'm saving up for downpayment on the next acquisition to buy an investment property. What are your thoughts around like, where to hold that money? You know, or I'm going through a cash out refi and going to have a big chunk of change coming in them and to be using for these acquisitions? What do you think about holding it in a cash cash position versus putting it into an ETF or a CD? Or I'd love to hear your your thoughts on that. I mean, a lot, a lot, a lot there. Mindy: A lot there. But it comes down to what is your risk tolerance, if you have just happen to have a big chunk of change from a cash out refi and you're looking for a property? How comfortable are you with that dollar amount dropping in value. So if you can't, if you need the $20,000 for your down payment, and you don't have a way to replenish that $20,000 easily, I wouldn't put it into an ETF, I wouldn't put it into the stock market at all, I would put it into a high yield savings account, which is only in air quotes, because they're currently at like point 5% or something. You could maybe put it into bonds, I wouldn't bother with that. If it was not going to be a super long term play like two or three years. If you're going to get it in like three or four months, I would just put it in the cash account, your job is not to grow that, you aren't going to grow that in any significant way. You're not going to put it I mean, you could put it in Bitcoin and watch it go up super a lot. But did you see what happened with Bitcoin? This week? Wasn't it like? Didn't it drop like $30,000? or something? I don't I don't invest in bitcoins. Tom: Crushed. Yeah, so I just put a very little amount and I've and I've lost, I've lost half of a very little amount. Mindy: So how would you feel about your $20,000 that you put in Bitcoin because it's a sure thing, and then all of a sudden, now it's $10,000. And you're like, Oh, my money's gone. I don't like to lose $1. So I don't like to be really in really volatile things. I'm mostly in index funds, I have a few tech stocks, and you know, real estate, but I wouldn't put it into anything that that is volatile when you're looking to use it within the next two or three years. And even then, with two or three years, I'd be in like bonds, which are fairly safe, they're not even really growing that much. Your job is to protect the money. Michael: That makes total sense. I guess that's a really great point in talking about like, your job is to protect that money and to go make that investment in the real estate. And don't worry about everything else. That's just noise if you're trying to grow it and grow it, but focus on the task at hand Don't get distracted. So no more Dogecoin betting Tom, enough is enough. Tom: I know. And also just a point I want to clarify. Michael is not a ferret guy. I was being silly. Yeah, yeah. The guy didn't realize he clarify. Michael: Yeah. So Mindy, you've got some really great insight into a lot of folks his financial purview, I'll call it and so in terms of side hustles, when people are just starting out or looking to grow some additional cash positions to invest in real estate, what have you seen be really effective in terms of side hustles? Mindy: There is this thing called a signing agent. And it is more towards the west coast of the country than the East Coast. It's four not attorney closing states but title company closing states and notary closing states, you are essentially walking somebody through the closing process and watching them as they sign their name on all the mortgage documents and all the closing papers. And this is an amazing side hustle because you get to if you have attention to detail, and if you don't, don't even bother, but you get to read mortgage documents over and over and over and over. Again, you're reading the contracts, you're seeing all these things, it's a great way to learn about the process in general. And you make 150 $200 a closing, a closing takes what an hour, you can do those all throughout the day, if you have time during the day, when people are working is not when they need you, it's when people are off work. So nights and weekends. If you're willing to work nights and weekends, you could make a good chunk of change. I've seen people making, you know, $2,000 a month, just on this little side hustle, and they're not even really spending that much time on it. The cost. The barrier to entry on this is a box of black ballpoint pens, a box of blue ballpoint pens, and a really good printer. And I think it has to be a laser jet, not an inkjet. It's like a less than $1,000. And you have to be a notary. So you have to go through your state's notary process. I'm not one. So I don't know. I don't know all the process about it. But we talked to a guy who runs a school that that teaches people how to do this and teaches them how to get the jobs to be signing agents. And if you're really good, if you don't make mistakes, people will continue to request you because you're really good. Tom: Gosh, I love that tip. I feel like I've seen so many like clickbait articles of like passive income. And this is like the one of the best ones I've ever, I've ever heard. I looked into the notary getting that I have a competition with a friend on who can get the most certifications. And this is one and it's not that I think it's like in the state of California where I live, it's like an afternoon of work. Or it's like a certain number of hours. And there might be a test and there's like a low oil, loyalty oath or something like that. So Mindy that's fantastic example of a great side hustle. Mindy: I got another one. Let's hear it. Yeah. Okay, another attention to detail. I am a real estate agent, I also have a full time job. So I do not have time to double check and triple check all the things in my contract. After we're, you know, I write up the contract for my clients, we get under contract. There's a lot of dates and deadlines, a lot of dates and deadlines. I would just be crushed if I ever allowed my client to miss a date or deadline. And yes, the buyer should be aware of all the dates and deadlines, they should have that upfront. So they're not missing it either. But I pay somebody who is called a transaction coordinator, I pay her to help me. Remember all the deadlines helped me keep all the deadlines helped me. She files my paperwork with my company so that I get paid, she submits it to the title company. So I get the check at closing. It's called the transaction coordinator, I pay her $400 per transaction. I did 15 transactions last year. And I'm not a busy agent. So you get in with a busy agent who's doing 40-50 transactions a year, you can make some big money. And it's like an hour of work. It's probably not an hour of work. Maybe she spends, I don't know, five or six hours on my entire transaction from start to finish. She's got it down. I sent her the information. I introduce her to the clients, and then she just sends us an email. Hey, just reminder. I mean, I'm helping people buy $500,000 houses. I'm not going to let you miss a deadline. I would much rather pay $400 to somebody who double checks that I'm not missing deadlines. Michael: That's such a good tip. Tom: How would you market yourself as a transaction coordinator in like getting that type of business? I'd love it. Yeah. Just reaching out to agents? Mindy: Yeah, I would absolutely reach out to agents go to every agency in the city and just say, Hey, I'm an agent, or I'm a transaction coordinator. I'll do your first transaction for free. This is how much I charge. This is how great I am I you know, I set it all up. I do all these things, whatever. It's not that hard. I want somebody as a backup because I am really good. But if I missed the deadline, I would just feel terrible forever. So I want somebody to help me do all the things. Yeah, if you want to go to like literally every agent, if you have one agent client, you will get a lot more because I'm going to tell everybody that I know how great Lacey is. Lacey is great. Tom: Shout out Lacey. Michael: That's fantastic. I love that. I love that tip. Because again, that's one of the things that's like in the real estate ecosystem. So you're getting exposed to the to the market to the industry, and you're making money. I think that's awesome. Mindy: You're learning contracts, you're learning lenders, you're talking to home inspectors and title companies and you're really touching every part of a transaction. She's involved in every part of the transaction, and she sees all the things. So she actually did used to be an agent and said that she prefers transaction coordination. Michael: So in flipping the narrative a little bit, so that those are some great side hustles that folks can do to help generate some additional cash for their savings for down payments or for investing. What are some of the pitfalls or traps that you've seen new investors fall into? Mindy: Not being well capitalized, when you buy a house, something will break, I guarantee you, there are very few guarantees in life, it is a guarantee that when you buy a house, something will break, the cost of that repair is inversely proportionate to how much money you have in your reserve fund. If you are very well funded, you get like a broken light switch cover or something. But if you don't have a lot of money, all of a sudden your AC goes out, and it's 105 degrees outside, or it's 30 Below and the furnace breaks. Something will break. And if you don't have money to pay for it, you shouldn't be buying a house. Tom: Do you have a rule of thumb on reserves? Mindy: I really like $10,000, To start off with, like per property rather than? Michael: 1 million dollars. Mindy: 1 million dollars. Yes per property. And that is, it's you know, it's a rule of thumb where rules of thumb are like give or take, I have a good paying job, and very low expenses, so I can cash flow, anything that comes my way, I don't have any reserve fund. But I also am able, you know, I have a great line of credit, I can just, if I need a roof, and for some reason my insurance company isn't going to pay for it, I can go and find the $15,000 to put a roof on my house, if you don't have any money in your reserves, you're going to really be hurting and you have to have a roof and you can't not have a roof. $10,000 is a good place to start. And then I would continue to add to it at a rate of approximately 1% of the purchase price of the house per year. Once you get to like $20,000 I'm trying to think what would cost more than $20,000 to repair on a house right now. And you know, prices have gone through the roof with COVID. And all of the crazy supply issues that that we're having right now. So maybe $20,000 is going to be a better bet. But you know, if you're replacing stuff, it's probably not going to all break at once. And it's probably not going to cost you more than $20,000. And yes, that is per property until you get to a certain point, like if you have four properties that are in relatively good condition. Oh, condition is another thing. Like if you have a brand new build, you probably don't need $10,000 in your reserve fund. But if you have, you know, a 1950s build, you should probably go $20,000 in your reserve fund unless it was just all you know, remodeled and everything's brand new. Tom: Yeah, one thing I love about that response in it as well as is there's you know, it's it's dynamic, right? If it's a newer house, or if you have a big line of credit, like it's not real estate and all this it's not one size fits all, there's, you know, strategic considerations on where you're at and, and the property, all of that good stuff. Mindy: Yeah. And it comes down to like, what kind of financial position Are you personally in? If you're well funded personally, you'll be probably okay. But you know, with COVID when they did them, eviction moratoriums that people stop paying rent, there were owners of four plexes and eight plexes that had 90% of their tenants not paying rent, I guess that doesn't work in a four Plex that would be 75% of their tenants not paying rent, how are you going to pay the mortgage on your house if your tenants aren't paying your rent? And if you don't have six months of all the payments in an account, you need to be getting six months of all the payments? I mean, how long has the eviction moratorium been going on? Like 10 months or something? And it's supposed to schedule through like, is it September? That's the student loan one. Maybe it's the end of June or July? I don't know… Michael: I think it is September? Mindy: Yeah, it's fluid with all the different states. But it's, that's a significant amount of time that your tenants may not be paying rent. Michael: Yeah, that's a great point. Tom: You touched on an item that I think is super relevant to current conditions, talking about price of materials talking about, you know, just kind of a dynamic market. I'd love to hear has your strategy evolved at all like with the cost of materials going crazy and with like appreciation going nuts on these houses? Or you know, is it as had been pretty consistent through the different market changes that we're seeing? Mindy: COVID changed my strategy in that we were going to turn our former primary residence into an Airbnb. And when that got shut down, we decided we would rent it out long term. And after we saw all the appreciation going on, we said you know what, I don't really have time right now to go and run an Airbnb. I'm really, really a control freak. So I'm not going to pass that off to somebody else. Let's just sell it be done with the house and move on. We were incredibly fortunate. We bought all the supplies for many of the projects around the house right before COVID hit. So all the wooden studs for the basement we bought at 2019 prices, not 2021 prices, which is four times as expensive. We've did a whole a big deck edition. And we bought those. They arrived on March, I think March 9, all that stuff arrived. So we like right before they shut down the entire country. We bought all these all of our supplies. We're building a shed, and my neighbor is doing a renovation, and it's throwing away studs from the 60s. Why would you do that? So I'm going through the dumpster and I'm grabbing those studs, and I'm putting them in my garage. And now I have a new goal. I'm going to scavenge all of the supplies for my shed. And my neighbor's fence got knocked over with the snowplow. So they're building him a new fence. And we're the weirdos that are always working on our house. So he asked us if we wanted his his old fencing materials and his old cedar two by fours and his old cedar four by fours like, Yeah, I do. Because even if I can't use them in the house, I can, you know, he's like, I just don't want them to get thrown away, like I can put them to use. Tom: What a win win that's brilliant. Mindy: But I'm not planning any more big projects right now because it's so expensive. And I mean, you can't even go into the store and find two by fours sometimes and plywood. And it's we're doing a lot of painting now, instead of building. And I'm not sure when we're going to change back to building. Michael: Smart. Tom: Writing the plan in pencil. That's awesome. I love that that response is cool, because there's like multiple zigs and zags just based on what's what's going on. Mindy: But if you're not dumpster diving, you need to start it's like construction dumpster diving, don't go to the back of like Whole Foods or something but or maybe. I mean, they throw away a lot of good stuff too. But if you're walking around your neighborhood, and you notice that your neighbor is doing some work peek inside, if you can skip buying 52 by fours because your neighbor just threw a bunch away. That's just that's just smart. Plus, they're from the 60s so they're straight. I mean, they were sitting outside on the deck and it got wet. And then they still didn't bend and now you get a two by four and it bends before you can get it home. Sorry, I digress. Michael: You look at it wrong. And it's a warped. Yeah. I was gonna say Tom and I were chatting the other day, and I'm doing a massive redevelopment project. And that budget has just got eviscerated because of the wood prices and other materials. And it's just it sucks. Like, I'm in the middle of it. And there's no way around it. Mindy: Yeah, I have seen new builds where the buyer put the deposit down and sign the contract. And okay, we're going to start building in March, April. And the builder comes back and says, Okay, now it's going to cost $30,000 more, because wood went up so much. And if you don't want to pay that we understand, we'll refund your money. I've got a line of people waiting to buy this house at the $30,000 additional price. So what do you do? Do you say yes? Or do you get your money back? I mean, the next house isn't going to be any cheaper. Tom: It's all just rising so quickly related on the materials costs. I had some read to replace a deck in my house, and we ended up using this bamboo composite and it actually turned out really great. I was a little concerned but our contractor said he had used it on a couple of projects, so shout out bamboo composite decking. Mindy: Oh, I haven't heard of that before. Tom: Yeah, it's I think Momo MooMoo booboo, I forgot the name of the exact the name of it. Mozu it might be. But anyways, waterproofs, warranty, all that good stuff. This episode is not brought to you by but we're going to market it anyway. Michael: Let's shift gears here, Mindy. And I would love to chat with you and get your thoughts, insights, opinions on being a female investor. And what that's like, in what seems to be often a male co opted space. Mindy: Yeah. So it makes it really easy to that people. It's really easy to decide who I want to work with and who I doubt and it's based on how they treat me. I am not necessarily the only woman in the room, but I'm frequently one of just a couple. And if you you know when you're dealing with contractors, if you call me honey, I'm not working with you, sweetie, baby. Tell me what you need. Tell me what color you want. I don't have a lot of self esteem issues. So if you don't want to work with me, because I'm a woman, I don't care. I know a lot of people who will work with me because they have this is 2021 Why is that even an issue? But it can be an issue for, you know, for people who aren't as obnoxious as I am. But I want to invest in real estate. So I'm going to and if you don't, if you don't want to deal with me, that's okay, I'll find somebody else who will. But what is it? Like? It's gotten a lot better. I think that there is a lot more understanding that women are investors. I mean, we're just investing we're not I don't have to lift up the house, I don't have to, you know, use my muscles to do things. So it's like, there shouldn't be any difference. But there are, and I got big muscles. So yeah, it used to be a lot different. But now it's changing. Tom: I guess, one kind of follow up. Final question related to that. Do you have any advice or recommendation for female listeners who want to become active involved in their area? Mindy: I am going to go back to the advice that I gave in the beginning and educate yourself. When you come in knowing what you're talking about. People will listen. And the you know, it's okay to ask questions, but ask them in an intelligent manner. And do research in advance to see if you can answer your own question. But there's, you know, there's a lot of nuances in real estate, you can absolutely ask questions based on the nuance. But hey, how do I get started? Is not the best question to answer to ask, what are the benefits of this strategy versus that strategy is a better way to go? doing a little bit of research, you know, understanding that there are differences and doing a little bit of work on the front end will get you better answers and more people who are willing to talk to you. But there's a lot of self education, you can do YouTube channels, podcasts, books, blog posts, people are talking about real estate investing right now. And it's like the cool thing to do. And if you want to be a real estate investor, why do you want to be a real estate investor? What do you hope to get out of it? You know, ask yourself all of those questions, and then just jump in. Tom: Love it. Michael, do you have any other questions? Or is it a good time to jump into some quickfire questions that we have? Michael: No, Let's jump right in the quickfire? That sounds great. Perfect. All right. All right, Monday, so I'm gonna ask you a series of 10 questions. These are either or questions. Just kind of like a quick, quick response. Are you ready for some quickfire questions? Mindy: Hit me. Tom: All right. Consolidation or diversification? Mindy: Oh, diversification. Tom: High property taxes, or high income taxes? Mindy: Oh, I don't like either of those. Um, I would say high income taxes, because there are ways to shield the income taxes. And there are ways to reduce your taxable income, whereas they're your property taxes, just your property tax. Tom: I was going to let you get away with neither are you going but your answer ended up being much more interesting. Good one. I like that. All right. High rent growth or low vacancy. Mindy; Ooh. Oh, right. Yeah. turnovers their profit killers. So yeah, low vacancy, I guess. No, I like these questions. Tom: I know. That's what that's why they that's what they call it the hot seat. All right. Next one. Cash Flow or appreciation? Mindy: Cash Flow always because you cannot predict appreciation unless it's forced appreciation. I like forced appreciation more than cash flow. But you didn't say force you just said regular. Tom: Yeah, I think you could take any flavor of that. Mindy: Oh, then forced appreciation. Tom: Excellent. Debt or equity? Mindy: Equity. No, well, no debt or equity?.... debt right now because it's so cheap. Yeah. Tom: Yeah. I love it. Love it. Love it. All right. Next one single family or multifamily? Mindy: I've always done single family, but I see the appeal of multifamily. Michael: Alright. Alright, so, right. Tom: All right. Yeah. local or remote investing? Mindy: Ooh, I prefer local but I've done both. I just like to be there. Tom: I think I know the answer to this next question, turnkey or massive project? Mindy: Massive project. Tom: All right, final three questions we're going to these are a little bit outside of the real estate box. The midnight oil or the early bird worm? Mindy: Oh, early bird worm. I go to bed super early but I get up early to early bird. Tom: Early bird worm, me too. Alright. text message or email? Mindy: Oh, email because it's illegal method of notification and text message is not. Tom: Good. And the final question here, all of your answers are like really thoughtful like good, really great responses we've had like, I've learned I usually it's like I'm not learning things on these hot seat but like this. Alright, mini the final one. Olive oil or butter? Mindy: Oh, wow, it depends on if you're doing high heat cooking. Butter will burn olive oil is a high heat oil. If I'm putting it on a muffin, it's butter. Tom: Alright, butter. Butter. It is Yeah. You not only survived the hot seat, you thrived. That was fantastic. Michael: I'm just picturing an olive oil soaked muffin. Tom: Dude, olive oil cake. It's a thing. It's a thing. Mindy: Oh, really? Yeah, I made brownies. Once I made it. I didn't have any oil. So I use olive oil and it did not taste good. I mean, they were brownies. They were still okay, but you could taste the olive oil with Yeah, that's really good to know. Tom: Thank you so much Mindy for coming on. I love these. I love these episodes, because it's kind of self serving and just learning a ton. Really appreciate your time coming on. Mindy: Well, thank you for having me. This is super fun. I like that hot seat. Actually. I just didn't like that one question. Tom: That was the best Hot Seat I think we've we've had like over 100 episodes and… Mindy: Oh, I was gonna say what is this episode two? Michael: That's great. No, that that was that was by far the best one. Really? Thank you so much for taking the time for hanging out with us and helping educate. This was great. Alright, everybody, that was our episode a big big, big thank you to Mindy. That was a lot of fun bar none best quickfire answers we've heard on the show to date. So for all of our future guests, that's a challenge to you to top Mindy's answers. Hope you enjoyed the episode today. If you would like please feel free to give us a rating review wherever it is. Listen your podcast. If you're checking this out on YouTube, please feel free to subscribe to the channel so you get all the most up to date episodes as they come out. Again, thanks for listening and happy investing. Tom; Happy investing

covid-19 america love california colorado investing wisconsin bitcoin airbnb debt cd falling in love east coast ac butter omg cashflow whole foods facetime craigslist etf dogecoin consolidation plex biggerpockets manages personal finances southern illinois chinchillas mindy jensen michael you michael yeah tom it michael so tom you tom michael biggerpockets money podcast tom how tom yeah remote real estate investor michael awesome

【绝望的主妇】“啊他一定是忘了！”

英语老师瑶瑶

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2021 6:16

【句子】-- Didn't Tom tell you?-- It must have slipped his mind. 【Desperate Housewives S1E20】【发音】/ˈdɪd.ənt/ /ˈtɒm/ /ˈtɑːm/ /tel/ /juː/ /ɪt/ /mʌst/ /hæv/ /slɪpt/ /hɪz/ /maɪnd/ 【发音技巧】didn't Tom失去爆破；It must have不完全爆破+击穿；slipped his失去爆破+击穿；【翻译】-- 难道Tom没有告诉你吗？-- 他肯定是忘记跟我说了。【适用场合】今天我们来复习一下之前学习过的一个表达：slip/escape someone's mind字面的意思：某个事情从某个人的脑子里溜走；引申为：某个人没有记住某件事；If something slips your mind, you forget it.eg: His name slips/escapes my mind at the moment.那会儿我没想起来他的名字。eg: I was going to mention it, but it slipped my mind.我本来要说那事儿的，但是我给忘记了。eg: I meant to invite him, but it completely slipped my mind.我原本打算邀请他的，但是我把那事儿给忘了。eg: I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It completely slipped my mind.抱歉我之前没告诉你。我彻底把那事儿忘到脑后去了。eg: How could she let something so important slip her mind?她怎么能把这么重要的事情给忘了呢？【尝试翻译以下句子，并留言在文章留言区】我去找他的目的，他显然是忘了了。

tom it

Éva, aki Down-szindrómás gyereket fogadott örökbe / a Friderikusz Podcast 2. adása

Friderikusz Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2021 40:35

Jásper Éva még fiatalon elhatározta, hogy egyszer Down-szindrómás gyereket fog örökbe fogadni. A nőnek ugyan voltak párkapcsolatai, de azok egyike sem nyújtotta azt, amire vágyott, ráadásul menet közben azt is felismerte, az anyaság fontosabb számára, mint az, hogy férje, élettársa legyen. Tomit hét hónapos korában fogadta örökbe, a kisfiú ma ötéves. Ugyan az elmúlt négy és fél év sem volt problémamentes, hiszen a gyerek átesett nem is egy életmentő műtéten, de Éva határtalanul boldognak érzi magát, amióta „szív szerinti” gyerekével megélheti az anyaság semmivel sem összehasonlítható érzését. #FriderikuszPodcast Kövessenek, vagy kövessetek itt is: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQAeX1_gw45xb3Cg-OwEFcw Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FriderikuszPodcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/friderikuszpodcast Anchor: https://anchor.fm/friderikuszpodcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TBImnF4bdNCvmhJwyOlRh Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy81N2IyYmIxYy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/hu/podcast/friderikusz-podcast/id1565769748?l=hu Jásper Éva a Facebook-on: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011018581881 Zene: Francemedia1- audiojungle.net

ugyan tom it friderikusz

Interview: Tom Seery, founder/chairman RealSelf, Part 2

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2021 19:17

My guest today is Tom Seery, founder and current Executive Chairman of RealSelf, the leading review site and marketplace for cosmetic surgery. This is Part 2 of the interview where Tom explains the tools he used to build and grow the RealSelf business into the largest site of its kind in the world. Subscribers also have access to yesterday's interview where we explored Tom's career path that set him up to found RealSelf.You can also listen to these interviews in your podcast player of choice: Apple, Sticher, TuneIn, Overcast , Spotify. Private Feed (for premium episodes).TranscriptEdward: This is Marketing BS. This is part two of my interview with Tom Seery. Today we're going to explore how he grew RealSelf from scratch into the leading cosmetic surgery marketplaces in the world. Tom, can you start by describing what RealSelf is. Tom: RealSelf is obviously a website. Maybe it's not obvious—realself.com. It is a resource that enables people to find information that is related to cosmetic procedures. Cosmetic treatments ranging from botox to cosmetic surgery, and to find bulk information about what those treatments are like and to find a doctor or a clinic near them or relevant to them and map that up to booking an appointment. Edward: You came from Expedia immediately before that. Was RealSelf pitched as a TripAdvisor for cosmetic surgery?Tom: Did you hear that from me before? Because that's pretty good. In my original pitch, I actually looked at the deck recently and I literally said it's a TripAdvisor for your body, face, and smile. That just seems to really help people get quickly to oh, okay, what does that mean? Then, it will lead to describing what you mean: body, face, and smile. What I mean by that, by the way, is millions of people in the US and hundreds of millions globally have explored, continued to be interested in whether they should move forward with a cosmetic procedure. Thankfully, they're very thoughtfully considered purchases because while the return policy stings in some of these things. It's pretty permanent in many cases. It's modifying your body, your appearances, it's taking some risks, and it's financially a big deal. I know you've had a background in big purchase decisions. This is up there with home buying, getting married, and having kids. It's that level of thought and consideration. Edward: The fact that it's a high priced point, permanent, and rare, is what makes it different from the hotel space and what TripAdvisor is doing? For many people, travel and hotels are also very expensive, but it's not as permanent or life altering. How is RealSelf different from TripAdvisor? Tom: TripAdvisor, travel is still a very important intimate experience. Where you go with your family or you personally where you stay, where you sleep, where you take off your clothes, where you take a shower, where you spend your limited time off or time away is a big deal. That's the magic of what TripAdvisor tapped into, is that people actually want to dispense of all the risks that go to making the wrong decisions associated with that. But it's still ephemeral. It's a transaction that you get over. You get a bad hotel experience, you can laugh about it. But when it comes to a cosmetic procedure, that's just not a really acceptable outcome. You don't want to be in a place where you've made a wrong decision and suddenly now, you're facing a consequence of looking “botched” or just an outcome that you just hadn't expected. You want your expectations delivered on. Edward: I guess it's much more risk averse when you go into cosmetic surgery than when you're booking a vacation. How does that risk aversion play into the design of the actual website and product?Tom: Yeah. It is absolutely. Risk aversion is a good way of thinking of it. Or wanting to have not just 5 answers to questions, but 500. When we talk to people who routinely use RealSelf and what our value proposition is, is that we want to have answers to all of your questions. The best way to get you answers is not just Q & A, in which we have millions of answers from doctors, but actually learning from others who've had these experiences in an authentic way. We have hundreds of thousands of stories told by real people with photos, with video of what it's like from start to finish. Including people who've decided not to do things. It's that kind of level of authenticity and trusted exchange of information that enables a person to make an informed decision. Edward: So it's very important for RealSelf then to collect not just reviews, but detailed intensive reviews that go into far more detail than a book review in Amazon. Tom: Yeah. The star rating is not the point. It's the story. Story telling associated with these procedures is what differentiates RealSelf from Google, Yelp, and others and that. People tell their stories overtime, updates, and like I mentioned, imagery and photos that shape the journey. The entire journey a person goes through from start, to recovery, to living their life, and what it's like afterwards. That created the concept of having people not just tell their story, but say, was it worth it or not? We created the Worth It index. That's people yes, it was worth it, or no, or I'm not sure. We count those up and now we have rankings of every procedure by its Worth It rating. That's become, in our industry, a very powerful vehicle for identifying patient's satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Edward: How do you get users to do that? How do you get a user to invest the time and effort to go and do that whole tracking process?Tom: The motivation for a person on a platform is perhaps different than others. When we've dug into that and listened to our audience, members, and community members, why are you doing this? Are you trying to get back at your doctor? What's the reason? You have extra time on your hand? The motivation in our audience is typically women who are posting. Women have this tendency to want the world to be a better place and help, have more of a community view. They said, because this person was doing it before me and helped me so much, I wanted to also contribute and make it easier for the next person. There's a lot of negativity in the internet and things like RealSelf and that motivation point to the beauty of the internet and just how incredible people can be in terms of trying to make the world a better place and its own place. Edward: How much time and effort are you guys spending internally to go and facilitate that, or do you make it possible then just let it flow in?Tom: Yeah. The [...] problem is a real issue when you're starting a community. Bill Gurley from Benchmark visited my office—and I say office because it's a room with three of us in it—when it first started. And he said what you're doing here to start a community is something that larger companies would never do. It's like building a fire when you're camping, he described it as. It takes a lot of discipline. You don't just throw a log on and say, okay, then pour some gas on and hope it just catches fire. You have to actually start with kindling and you get the right conditions. It has to be dry enough. You just have to be nurturing. In the early days, getting that early kindling required things like convincing people to share their stories on the platform. The way I found them was things like YouTube, and like who's willing to share already about their procedures and experiences on YouTube and say, hey, would you come over here and also post. That worked. But what moved from there and captivated more conversions and postings was controversy.That's why I created the word that writing is a binary yes or no. I don't know how to say this in a way that hopefully doesn't sound manipulative, but it does force people to pick a side. When you have two sides and when you have two sides and something it does usually create conversations. It was not worth it, it was worth it, and then people debating that led to more and more engagement.Edward: And then once it gets going, do you have to do very much at all? The team today, now that you're 14 years into the business, did you worry about other things and just let that part run?Tom: It certainly is not as intensive of effort. I don't know, flywheel. I know you're very science based in marketing. I hate to use the term flywheel. It certainly has some elements of network effect where you're saying more begets more and it self serves. But it does require nurturing and a lot of community guideline renforcement. There's no shortage of actors out there who want to post things or trolls who want to take away from whatever it is otherwise are great experiences online.Edward: That's the consumer side. What about the doctors? How do you build the marketplace on the doctor's side to get them engaged?Tom: Doctors are a really interesting group of professionals. I really didn't know how they thought and what was important to them until I started the company and started learning and talking to them. They're very much, as you would hope from your physician. You walk into your doctor, you don't want them to say, hey, I just got this new thing in yesterday, can I inject you with it? What do you think? You want to try it? You're like, woah, wait. They're cautious by nature, they're scientists. They want to see proof points, data, and research around something. As well as they are very much intrigued by their peer size. They tend to have what are called key opinion leaders who they look to whether it's a journal writer, people have written journal articles and authors or speakers at conferences. I centered on that. In the initial days, I really focused on getting myself on the podium as a starting point and also forging relationships with those key opinion leaders was another part of my strategy. Edward: Has that changed over time then too? At the beginning, you had to do those things the same way you needed to go and use the kindling on the fire on the user side. Now that you're 14 years into the business, has recruiting doctors changed? Or is it somewhat kicking into more podiums?Tom: Yeah, with the pandemic, definitely the podium has been collapsed to a digital experience and the digital conferences really aren't working for reaching to audiences. I would say that the environment whether I like it or not has changed and maybe forever changed, we don't know yet as of this recording. But it certainly comes to fruition where you realize that your target customer, they don't necessarily follow the same dynamics as the way the industry is structured. We find that we're most relevant to practices that are in growth mode, for instance. They really do want incremental patient acquisition in value that they tend to be a little bit more youthful, doctors who grow up with technology tend to adopt it more readily. Other factors like making it a typical customer acquisition where it's maybe not that individual is who is on the podium at the top of their career.Edward: Tom, how does RealSelf monetize? How does it actually take that two sides of traffic and turn it into cash?Tom: We sell advertising to our doctors and the subscription add product. We've tried to keep it as simple as possible after listening to doctors and realizing they have no time. One thing that doctors can say over and over no matter what specialty you speak to is they are time starved. They didn't go to school to learn how to be marketers. They want something that's simple. This idea of bidding on platforms like Google AdWords or Facebook, yeah they could outsource it. But generally, they needed something simple. So we created a pretty simple ad product that they could be for instance, featured for a procedure like say, surgeon here in Seattle could be featured on the platform for setting the number of impressions for rhinoplasty. And they would pay a flat monthly amount for that no matter what it did for performance. Though I think guarantee is the number of impressions. That model has been around with us for many years and we're looking at the next stage of the model moving to a more performance driven approach. Edward: It's interesting. There are some marketplaces out there like hotels, like Expedia, that monetize so well, where the aggregators monetize so well that the providers are basically pushed out on the search. Have you searched for hotels in Seattle? The paid results are Expedia, Booking.com, Hotels.com, followed by tiny little marketplaces you have never even heard of. Marriott and Westin aren't listed there at all.But if I searched for cosmetic surgery in Seattle, the results are all individual doctors. I don't see RealSelf or the paid results at all. Why the difference?Tom: We do some paid work in targeted ways. But there are certainly not inherently built transaction models that the industry doesn't have like a model by which, oh, if you deliver a patient to me, I will pay you X. In fact, in many cases, in many states, that's against the law. This idea of your doctor getting paid for referring you to a specialist would be seen as quite concerning. There's a lot of regulatory reasons for that and just an industry that's very cottage-y. We have individual practices that we work with small practices, small businesses and they just don't have a common standard way to either aggregate their supply of spaces of their schedule nor a common understanding of how to “sell” that or fill it. This idea of inventory is something that just doesn't exist in the market as well. It's a very challenging space to monetize because of both technology and limitations as well as a lack of precedence on how transactions should be monetized. Edward: Tom, what do you think is driving that? Because it's not just RealSelf. If I look at Avvo in the lawyers space or Yelp with restaurants, we see similar patterns where the restaurants or the lawyers or the cosmetic surgeons are fine paying a lot of money to Google. But then the individual websites aren't set up with the paper click model, aren't set up with these auction models. Why are these doctors willing to do the auction model on Google but not on RealSelf? Why is it too complicated on RealSelf, but simple enough on Google?Tom: Yeah. I think I'd take exception with your observation in that. Let's say if you've talked to most of our customers, very few of them actually advertise on Google and if they do it's through their web vendor and it's just a couple thousand dollars thrown at it. There's no sophistication put around it. Web vendors, it's easier for them because they can make a little bit of money with the markup and they can self manage the campaigns. In some ways, inadvertently, we have cut out their technology team, their web vendor, and they don't have an easy way to work with us and they do have an easy plugin for these other platforms. That may be an oversight on my part. I don't quite know over time, I'll maybe reflect and understand that. But generally, our customers don't, I say this without any disparagement because it's more from a place of empathy. They don't really know how to measure ROI and the customer's journey to them is a very convoluted one. If you want to look at complex purchase paths, boy, our space would probably be up there on the top 10. We would use real estate easily in terms of how many touch points it takes and information where it comes from and how long a person considers and what influences them. This idea of simply ranking better in a directory is pretty attractive to doctors. Okay, I want to be number one on Google. Why? Because I think a lot of people use Google. That's about as simple as it gets in terms of how those models appeal to doctors. Ours is more influence driven and influencing consumers with content and also rankings. But it's just more nuanced and requires them to pay more attention and take more time. Edward: What gets RealSelf to grow more? Do you need to sign up more doctors and get them more interested in advertising or do you need to get more consumers interested using RealSelf to make their decision?Tom: Yeah. We need people like you to help sell for that. No, it's a two side marketplace. You need a network to grow on the supply side and in our place, it's served like a three side marketplace. We need brands to help facilitate these brands. They are the ones who have most of the margin, like botoxes of the world who need to help support the ecosystem of consumer education and conversion. Certainly, a growing, engaged audience, and high quality intent. Getting marketplaces is a work as you have experience is really tricky because you got to get those all right. I think the most important strategy for us is where you and I have talked about years ago, so you'd probably shake your head like you're still doing this? It's like, we still need to think of how over time RealSelf moves what I would describe as a passive model where it's impressions driven to direct driven which is performance oriented. Where we're getting paid when something happens. Something closer to the transaction. That can be regulatorily supported and approved. Edward: It's tough though. As you described, when you're in a business where so much of the influence happens so early in the funnel, it's so the value you're creating as early in the funnel to get credit for the revenue it's generated at the end of the funnel. Tom: 49% of our audience members who found a doctor in our platform go to the doctor's website to book. According to our last survey. I mean, if that's not leakage, I don't know what it is. Edward: Tom, thank you so much for being here today. Before you go, tell me about your quake book and how it changed the way you think about the world.Tom: I really appreciate you having me on your show and I'm a huge fan of your postings and way of thinking, of course. It's kind of in line with your BS, of like let's look at things closer and let's look at it from a data driven view. Mine is not a book. I read many years ago, I should probably get a date on this, but it was probably ‘92 or something like that. I was very fearful of what was happening, at that time, the biggest health concern was HIV AIDS. It was very much seen as unknown, anybody could get it no matter what you did. I was very concerned, as I was single, college graduate, dating, very fearful of contracting AIDS. It wasn't until I read an article in the Wall Street Journal, it laid out in really clear terms the probabilities and the real data around the risk levels of a sexual male to contract HIV AIDS. It just really helped me understand, you have to go beyond the headlines, you have to dig into hype and really dig into the math to understand something as important as your own health and safety. Just like you do with your show here and your writings. I think I had an early experience with that that helped shape my approach to lots of things in life and business. Edward: Tom, thank you so much. I really appreciate your time today. Tom: It's fun to leave the show talking about AIDS. Edward: On that note.Tom: Thanks for letting me end with that. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marketingbs.substack.com

Interview: Tom Seery, Founder/Chairman RealSelf, Part 1

Marketing BS with Edward Nevraumont

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2021 17:00

My guest today is Tom Seery, founder and current Executive Chairman of RealSelf, the leading review site and marketplace for cosmetic surgery. This is Part 1 of the interview where we explore Tom's career and how he found himself founding RealSelf. Tomorrow we will explore how he grew the RealSelf business.You can also listen to these interviews in your podcast player of choice: Apple, Sticher, TuneIn, Overcast , Spotify. Private Feed (for premium episodes).TranscriptEdward: My guest today is Tom Seery. Today we cover Tom's path to founding RealSelf, Drexel, University of Washington, and Expedia. Tom is now Executive Chairman of RealSelf. I'm really looking forward to this conversation. Tom, you were only a Director at Expedia when you left to found RealSelf. How did that happen?Tom: I really appreciate being on your show. I'm laughing because I think you're already disparaging me saying I was only a director. Being a director at Amazon is a big deal, but in Expedia, it is probably not as significant of a hurdle.I left Expedia feeling like I had been there for a long enough time to be empowered to go do my own thing. I don't know where you went to college, but I was in college and there were always these individuals who never graduated. They were six-year students or five-year students. What's wrong with you? Why aren't you graduating? They're actually the smart ones. Why would you want to leave this little cocoon of wonderfulness, at least at my school? I kind of started feeling that way after six years at Expedia. I think I've got the learnings I need and the vision to go start my own thing. Filled with that and a lot of naivetés, I decided to forge my own startup and go down that path.Edward: How do you get other people to trust you with limited experience? You obviously raised a lot of money for RealSelf. How do you do that when you don't have a lot of experience? I guess you had more than a lot of those kids doing it straight out of college?Tom: The power of storytelling, my friend—vision, power of persuasion. Part of a startup is you're always selling. You're selling a vision, you're selling an idea that's bigger than yourself. You're trying to convince people to leave perfectly great jobs at companies that are in this region to do something crazy, join a startup, and get paid less than the market rate.Edward: What skills that you already have to go into that job as CEO? You did spend a lot of time at Expedia. What were the important skills you developed along the way that you had going into that job?Tom: When I'm asked this question of what was the enabling force that really got you to a place where you did this? I think it's this level of confidence that I had built in myself. I do say there's a little naiveté, as I say to that, which is maybe some blind ambition and mixed in. You do have to have a very confident perspective and feel really good about your ability to take something from nothing, to do something bigger than yourself. That confidence mixed with the ability to help people distill down specific things that need to be done and work through ambiguity is a soft set of skills, I guess.While there's a lot of amazingly intelligent people I've worked with and individuals who are much more talented than me in specific areas, I think having that range and that capacity to lead through uncertainty is perhaps one of my strengths that I've been able to tap into.Edward: What were the most important skills you were missing when you took that job that you had to develop quickly?Tom: Well, I could list all sorts of things I didn't have. I would center the most around how—it's sort of an order of operations in seeing things and never having seen these things before. I didn't know what to do, what order, and a lot of guesswork.Part of that was also, who do you hire at what stage? What is the skillset? The tendency of a startup is we should be selling something. Okay, Mary, over there. Why don't you pick up the phone and start selling? You just take somebody who's got maybe a little bit of extra time and say, why don't you go do this thing? Not recognizing their skills. There's talent, there's the discipline that's associated with driving sales. I think there's that lack of understanding of how to match the activities to the right people with the right talent and then doing things in the right order. I think there was a little bit of unnecessary chaos in the early period of trying to do a lot of things in a swirl as opposed to in a methodical way. Then, not raising enough money. That also accompanies all of that.Edward: Now, let's go back to the path that got you there. I'm a big believer that the experiences we have when we're 12-14 affect our entire lives. What were you passionate about at that age?Tom: My next-door neighbor, Heather, was one of my passions. She wasn't very interested in me, but I was very interested in her. In fact, I taught myself how to disco dance—that's how old I am—just so I could maybe catch her eye. It didn't work so much.My passions as a kid were across your typical youth of beyond the sports and all that kind of stuff, I was fascinated by commerce. My teacher was a coin collector and one day brought in part of his coin collection. I just became obsessed with coins. I would go to the bank and exchange $10 for a roll of quarters so I could look through every quarter to try to find one that was more valuable than $0.25.The bank teller got to know me because I would do this cycling of coins and building my collection. To this day, my little kids just found my coin collection the other night, actually. They're like, what's this? I'm like, it was some obsession I had, but it's pretty cool. It's all laid out there. There's a lot of stuff. It's still not very valuable, by the way.That desire to find a little bit of an edge or an unrealized value was something that must have been something that was more innate or inherent in my mind in the way I was built and designed by my family, my parents, or my DNA.Edward: What about relationships with people? How is that happening when you're at that age and how did that affect you?Tom: It's interesting. For me, there has been a lot of reflection on why I am who I am today, and what are those shaping factors? I'm reflecting on that because as a parent, as you realize how you are creating the world that your child sees in many ways and how they approach it, at least. I'm consciously trying to make sure my children approach life in a very kind and open-minded way. As a kid, I had very supportive parents, but they were busy. I was a latchkey kid, as they said in the 1970s. My mother worked, and I clearly needed more attention than I was getting at home. My old neighbor once told me that what was unique about me as a kid was I was always in somebody else's living room. I was constantly in somebody else's house. They said they believe that I was doing that because I was looking for additional nurturing. I went out, got it, and found it. I think this idea of connecting to people was just something—in an unknown way to me at the time—I did for sustenance and survival, if not development. Relationship building is something I actually love doing. It's been very important to my business at RealSelf, which is focused on doctors, and they're very relationship-driven, like in many industries. It's one of my superpowers.Edward: Let's jump ahead. You graduated college and how did you start your career?Tom: Well, my actual first thing out of college was to work for a congressman in D.C. where I drove him around to fundraisers. I learned that politics is really just more about raising money than anything else. It made me less interested in the world of politics. Plus, it was funny. Back then it was very polarized. There would be parties for the Democrats and parties for the Republicans. You didn't want to mix the two. It just turned me off. I ran across an individual from a company that was a computer company in Philadelphia called Unisys. That's still around. They were doing some weird stuff around environmental remediation of old manufacturing plants. Unisys was UNIVAC, Sperry, Sperry Rand. If you have seen a typewriter—for your audience members who know what that is—it's the Remington typewriters, as an example. This company goes way back to the 1800s. They had lots of facilities that were closed, shuttered, Superfund sites, and they needed help on assessing the risk associated with those but also managing them. That was my first job working for Unisys as an environmental administrator, consultant, project manager.Edward: What did you learn there? What did you pick up doing environmental science that you took later into your career?Tom: While I was there, I decided I needed to get more analytical rigor to the approach and that's something that probably, hopefully, has sat with me through business as well. You need frameworks and models for approaching complex problems like what to do with a massively contaminated facility. I learned—both by going to school at night and getting my master's in environmental science, but also in the role—how to use a science-based approach. And then use that science and data to persuade organizations like the EPA that we were doing the right things and that our approach was right. There's a lot of negotiations, working with lawyers through litigation with multiple parties. Also, just owning my own portfolio of problems that I got to manage pretty large budgets around what's pretty fulfilling as a pretty young professional.Edward: What about the soft side, Tom? Things like the corporate hierarchy, corporate vision, and mission statements. Did you take anything away from your time there? I heard you had a fancy office when you first started.Tom: Yeah. Unfortunately, this might say negative things about my personality type. I hope not. One of the things that my colleagues would tease me about was I just didn't like the idea of working in a cubicle. I noticed that the most powerful people in the company had offices, and I wanted one too, even though I didn't deserve one.I found an empty closet that was the janitor's closet—literally mop buckets, mops, brooms, and stuff like that. Somehow I got a desk and moved in there. My buddy helped me lift it. I ran a phone cord through the ceiling, so I had a phone, and I just set up shop. No one said anything. I even put my name on the door.I would say I'm the kind of employee you don't want to hire. I didn't follow the way things are supposed to be. I guess that was an early sign I needed to be an entrepreneur, write my own ruleset, and set up things so that I'm successful. As the company I was at was a huge corporation with something like 110,000 employees when I began. When I left, it was about 45,000. I went through this incredible amount of bloodletting of employee layoffs and depressing environmental situations. Meanwhile, you'd walk down the hallway. There'd be these signs and slogans saying, our company values and what we stand for. I got a jaundiced view of how those really meant. I'm really excited for our team today at RealSelf abiding by leadership principles that are similar to those you see in Amazon where they actually help individuals recognize these are what behaviors we encourage, evaluate, and reinforce in our day-to-day. That seems to be much more materially helpful and less check the box, we got it done for the required values, and so forth. That's been my approach.Edward: Tom, what made you move to Seattle? What was the driving factor that got you off the East Coast and came out here?Tom: The janitor took back his office. I'm sure the janitor was like, what the hell is going on around here? It's funny. Edward: Maybe he took a cubicle. Tom: Yeah. He's like, okay, these cubicles are way nicer than this little windowless room. In college, one of my friends grew up in Seattle. I was amazed by how he wanted to go back to Seattle after he graduated. For me, I grew up in a small town where everybody leaves and doesn't go back. I was just like, what's up with this Seattle thing? I had visited as well. What really triggered my desire to make a move west was I was reading The Wall Street Journal in the lunchroom wearing a tie, of course. You wear a tie to a computer company job. The article talked about admins or secretaries—as I recall in the past—at Microsoft who were retiring at age 30, 31, 34, and buying second homes at the San Juan Islands. I was just amazed. How is that possible?They talked about how they had stock options. I didn't know what that was, so I had to look that up. Once I read what a stock option was and what it meant in terms of a company really valuing you as an owner, not just a dispensable employee, I realized I was a sucker. I was in the wrong space. I was in the wrong industry, the wrong size company, stage, and region. I literally told my girlfriend—who is my wife now—I'm moving to Seattle, you want to come? We jumped in my Honda Civic, drove cross-country, and got here. I have been here for over 20 years. Edward: Tom, what were the biggest failure points in your career? Where did things not go as expected?Tom: The biggest failure—the one I can't get over—is when I worked for Expedia, I recognized an opportunity that exists in the market to create a private label business. I pitched my boss on this idea of creating a way to power, say Alaska Airlines could have Alaska Hotels that we power behind the scenes, powered by Expedia. I created the concept, I named it, and I worked with the team to get it launched. Then, our divisional heads said, well, would you like to lead it? I said, gosh, no. I'm just the idea guy. I'm just here to enable others and just to help things grow. I don't want to be the leader of that. I would say that was huge. He actually said to me later that it was a big mistake too that I didn't step up. I reflected on that, why didn't I seize on that? It goes back to that sort of janitor's office that I had where I really didn't play the game well. I didn't really understand how things worked inside corporations and how you move ahead (so to speak).I just didn't do well in that environment, as I probably could have if I really learned how to seize those opportunities, career growth, and so forth. I look at that as a big miss, but I'm not harboring any more than it's just learning in life.Edward: What did you learn from that? Did you learn basically that, hey, maybe I should work for a big company, I should go start my own thing? Or is there something you take away from that that helps you run a company better?Tom: Actually, I learned that I am an entrepreneur. I do have the ability to see things that others don't. I do have a way to galvanize individuals to go and create something from nothing. What I needed to prove was that I could actually then drive. That was what led me to start my own company.It was, okay, now I can take it to the next step, which is to do things and also not be encumbered by having to report to somebody, have to get a PowerPoint presentation done, and just actually have degrees of freedom to express things in my way. I learned over time the team's way, but initially, it's a pretty selfish endeavor to start up a company.Edward: Tom, what are your productivity tricks? What do you do to be productive that most people don't do?Tom: I should never write a book on that. When you read that productivity, I don't read the books but the blog post that you can see about, here's all the things you should and shouldn't do. I kind of do them the wrong way.I'm actually my most productive self when I'm under the gun when I have one minute left, and I need to get something in. Our CFO can attest to this, I'm not a very good longitudinally long-term planner. I respond well to pressure. An example of that which would drive, by the way, team members crazy, I would be doing a presentation at a major medical conference. Right before I was to go on, I would pull up my slides and change them as I was preparing to plug in my laptop and display.As of 15 seconds before I was to present in front of several hundred doctors, making adjustments on the fly. I loved it. It led to better outcomes.Edward: The number of conferences I speak at that I asked for the slides four or five days in advance, I just don't know how people do that. I do the same thing. It's very hard to not want to change them at the last second.Tom: I always say you don't know me then if you think I'm going to get slides done four or five days in advance. It's just not going to happen.Edward: Tom, this has been fantastic. We're going to pick this up with talk about RealSelf. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marketingbs.substack.com

Dave's Book Club: The Life You Are Meant to Lead with Tom Hammel

2-Per-Specht-ives

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 19, 2021 38:44

Leaders are readers and readers are leaders. It is time for this month's “Dave's Book Club” where I share interviews, lessons, and analysis from personal development and leadership authors. Today, I am interviewing my long-time friend, mentor, and now first-time author, Tom Hammel. His book, "The Life You are Meant to Lead" is available for order on Amazon. I talk with Tom about overcoming a rough upbringing, the process of transforming Tom's life, and how he learned to lead others along the path of self leadership. Show Notes: David: People only see you where you are now and have no idea how far you came. Tell the listener who you are. Tom: I grew up in the central valley of northern California in the town of Stockton. For the most part, it had the highest murder rate per capita in all of California. I grew up independent and had to make ends meet. I had to learn how to talk to people, manipulate and survive. I started doing drugs in elementary school, got really into partying all through junior high school, dealing and selling drugs. Around the age of 14, I had a direct encounter with Jesus and it changed the direction of my life. It didn't change my past, I brought all that knowledge of who I was. While my life took a transformation, my knowledge and experience stayed with me and when I started to minister to other people, I brought that knowledge of pain, disappointment and fear to the table and made it really relatable to people. David: There may be someone listening who had a difficult past. Can you talk about what it took to lead that life that you saw God had for you? Tom: It takes some self discipline, and it's hard. It's a mindset shift of saying “I'm not going to be ruled or controlled by my past and the people around me.” It meant a mindset shift of seeing the world differently and taking the courageous step of pursuing a different identity. It takes reading books, changing the people you are around, changing what you put into my mind. David: Who inspired you and continues to inspire you? Tom: I've been hungry to develop as a person so there's a long list. It's like climbing a mountain. My spiritual transformation was a 1-moment awakening, this journey of transforming has been progressive where new possibilities arise and new influences come into my life. There's so many voices in my life, I've been diligent to always have a mentor. My epiphany moment came one Sunday when I put on the Golf Channel. As Tiger Woods was hitting the ball, the commentators mentioned his swing coach and I realized the No. 1 golfer in the world wasn't in competition with everyone else, he was in competition with himself and his development. I realized I'm not the top in any area of my life and needed coaches. David: You're 20 years into this journey and you feel like you need to share what you're doing. Walk us through the vision and implementation of your vision. Tom: I was leading a large convention and I'm challenging people to change their lives and as I was walking the stage, I noticed a guy I didn't recognize anymore — it was me. I had allowed so many things in my life to get out of whack, I was so busy in the grind I wasn't taking care of myself. I felt like a hypocrite because I was failing to lead my own self. I started with my health, I lost 80 lbs., and in the process of leading myself, I realized there's not a lot of self-leadership. I realized we've got to do some things to awaken the possibility and set others on a journey to lead themselves. David: I have seen so many people using the pandemic as an excuse to not do things, so self leadership is needed now more than ever. So, let's talk about resources that are available in the form of books and their value. Tom: I love books. I try to mix it up a lot as far as what and who I'm reading. My current all-time favorite book is “The Atomic Habit” by James Clear. It's simple to understand and profound that these daily habits in my life determine my destiny. We're about to embark on Season 4 and that is tied to another project you're going to launch. Can you give us a hint about Season 4? Tom: I wrote a book, “The Life You're Meant to Lead” and it will come out in the fourth quarter of 2020. The book is about unpacking areas where we take the steps to lead ourselves and take responsibility and being intentional. Season 4 is about unpacking those things I didn't have enough room to unpack in the book. The podcast is going to be about the application of that book, seeing it come alive.

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The Oil & Gas Accounting Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2020 7:55

If you're a CPA, an accountant, a bookkeeper, an office manager, or if you're an oil and gas operator that's doing the accounting yourself, you are who our brand new podcast is for.We've partnered with Tom Wierman, Executive Director of COPAS (The Council of Petroleum Accounting Society) to bring you the Oil & Gas Accounting Podcast.We noticed that no one has the conversations that actually help oil and gas accounting professionals do their job better.So we decided to change that and start to discuss the things and common issues and questions we know our clients and partners ask, and that you may be wondering yourself.Here's what this podcast is about: Phil Sherwood: Welcome to the initial episode of the Oil and Gas Accounting Podcast. I'm your host, Phil Sherwood, along with my co host, Tom Wierman. Hey Tom, how's it going today?Tom Wierman: Great, Phil, how are you? It's good to hear from you.Phil: It's good to hear from you. It's weird that we can't get together these days. Everything seems to be virtual. But that works really good when you're recording a podcast, right?Tom: It does. It really does. You know, we have not really had this situation before. But I think we're adapting pretty well. It's been a few months now since we've had to go through this. And I think we've just like anything else, just make it work.Phil: Yeah, I agree. So as we get started, one of the questions you may be asking is why a podcast on oil and gas accounting? Well, first and foremost, we want to bring valuable accounting information to the folks who deal with oil and gas accounting on a daily basis. If you're a CPA, an accountant, bookkeeper, an office manager, or if you're an oil and gas operator that's doing the accounting yourself, you are who this podcast is for. There's so much happening in the world today, especially in oil and gas, that affects the accounting function and we want to be a place that you can come to for relevant and timely information on the different accounting issues that you're facing. The second question you may have is Who are you guys? Who is Phil Sherwood and Tom Wierman? And that's another great question. Tom, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?Tom: Sure. So I'm the current COPAS Executive Director. I started my role in March of 2012. And I've been executive director since then. So my day to day responsibility is really the Member Association. Managing the organization for the Council of Petroleum Accountant Societies. And so before that, I actually worked in industry, I was at Koch Industries for 30 years. I ended my career there. I have probably done the majority of my time in EMP, exploration and production; I was the controller. I served other functions in that particular company as well. I ended my career in financial reporting for Flint Hills Resources. But, you know, 30 years is a long time to see a lot of different issues. And, you know, things are certainly complex. They got more complex every day as we went through this, but I think, you know, just just the opportunity for me to have experienced what some of the people who we hope will hear this podcast are going through, you know, I actually had an opportunity to do some of those things. My role has changed certainly now, where I'm at, but I think I even as the executive director of COPAS I can bring some perspective to thisPhil: Okay, and I'm Phil Sherwood, and I've been involved in oil and gas accounting for 28 years now. I started out consulting with small companies and helping them set up their accounting systems. And around the same time, I helped a couple of oil and gas operators set up their offices with personal computers and accounting software. And after trying to get their work done with

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1. Key Elements of Cyber Security You Can't Ignore

Cyber Security Inside

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2020 24:35

In today's podcast we're going to explore the key elements of cyber security that you just can't ignore. And for that topic, we've got a guest I'm really excited about: Maribel Lopez. She is a founder and Principal Analyst at Lopez Research focused on digital transformation. In this podcast, we aim to dig into important aspects of cyber security, which can often be highly complex and intimidating and break them down to make them more understandable. We aim to avoid jargon and instead use plain language for thought provoking discussions. Every two weeks, a new podcast will air. We invite you to reach out to us with your questions and ideas for future podcast topics. I'd like to introduce my cohost, Camille Morhardt, Technical Assistant, and Chief of Staff at Intel's Product Assurance and Security Division. She's a co-director of Intel's Compute Lifecycle Assurance, an industry initiative to increase supply chain transparency. Camille's conducted hundreds of interviews with leaders in technology and engineering, including many in the C suite of the Fortune 500. Camille, welcome today. Camille: Hello, Tom, how are you doing? Tom: I am doing well. So for those of the audience here, our first segment in each podcast is called Security Matters, where we discuss items that have caught our eye or peaked our interest in some way. So Camille in our very first podcast, what's on your mind for today's Security Matters segment. Camille: What I'm interested in is really what is a security mindset and is it something that can be developed? So just to explain that a little bit, I'm thinking, I hear terms like, “Hey, this company has security in the DNA of its organization.” Um, and then I hear, “and that company really treats security, like a check the box exercise.” So what I'm wondering is if a company hasn't organically developed this sense of security in the DNA, is it possible for them to get there? Tom: Interesting. So what do you mean by “security in the DNA?” I think that seems like a, one of those buzz terms that might mean something different to whoever you talk to? Camille: Yeah. To me “security in the DNA” means that there's no question in anybody's mind within the organization or anybody who encounters the organization that security is always at the forefront of anything anybody's doing. And it's always something that is held in high regard. So it's never something to be dismissed. So for example, like I can tell Intel, uh, to choose a slightly different topic: safety. There's never a question. Safety is always top of mind for everybody to the point where it borders on the ridiculous, right? You can walk up a stairwell at Intel and it says “Are your hands free? Be sure you can grab the railing,” you know, “get a cup holder for yourself.” Or even “it's summer time, but sure you've got sunscreen on. It overflows to beyond what's even reasonable, right? There's no question that matters. Tom: No, I laugh. Because I've seen those signs. So it is absolutely built into the culture. Camille: And I think beyond that, there's no question that say any executive you might happen to find in the stairwell is also following that behavior. Tom: That’s right. Camille: So it's not something that people preach and then it only grassroots; it's really embedded top to bottom in an organization. And anybody new who comes in, you know, quickly realizes that it's not a joke. Tom: Right. And I think that's true on a safety sense, but we started off with security. So what would that look like? If security were to the same extent that safety was built into the way everybody thinks, what would that look like? Camille: I'm not sure that you can guarantee security in the same way that you can guarantee safety. So in other words, you have a controlled environment in many safety situations. Let's say not probably if you're driving down the road or something, but if you're operating a manufacturing facility, you've got a pretty controlled environment. You can make sure that people are never walking where a robotic arm is swinging or something like that, right? When you talk about security, particularly in the compute space, you're by definition, you're releasing that product out into the ethers and then one step worse, you're connecting it to the internet. And if you're not doing that, you're probably not leading on the sophisticated end of things anyway, right? So if you want to be, you know, internet of things, or even just generally operational these days, you're connected to the internet to some degree. Well, how do you guarantee that? Because there's no perimeter security, right? You can't lock the door and everything's safe. You are accessing the outside world. So how did you go and do that? Tom: It's a bit, not almost, non-deterministic like it's a never ending and journey with regards to security in that sense, like how paranoid do you need to be? What are the threats that you are concerned about? And it seems like that list would be at least always evolving, if not, never ending. Camille: So how, how do you get your organization to put security first if it's not doing it already? Tom: Well, I think, you know, you're raising a good question. There's no single answer for sure, but I think first and foremost, people have to realize security is everybody's business. It's not the security team's job to keep the product safe. It's everybody's job. It starts from initial product inception all the way through manufacturing and even out into the customer real world. And then the other element I think is, yeah, maybe, you know, the stick approach, you know, the keratin stick, the stick approach is just, dollarize what happens when you're not secure and what happens to your brand reputation and what happens to, you know, the costs that you incur as a company they're significant. Camille: I like it. So submit your, your budget of “I'm going to need this much money because we've had a breach.” Tom: Yeah. Camille: As opposed to… Tom: Yeah, write the headline the day after the breach, and that might motivate people. This is a good topic. We should talk about security and what people should be thinking about and maybe what isn't so obvious. I think that's the podcast for today. Let's, let's go with that as a podcast. Camille: Sounds good. Tom: In today's podcast we're going to explore the key elements of cyber security that you just can't ignore. And for that topic, we've got a guest I'm really excited about: Maribel Lopez. She is a founder and Principal Analyst at Lopez Research focused on digital transformation. Maribel Lopez founded the Emerging Technology Research Council, which is a community of business and technical leaders in Fortune 1000 companies focused on driving innovation and business value with mobile and other emerging technologies. So welcome Maribel. Maribel: Thanks, Tom, excited to be here. Tom: Could you tell us more about this research council? Maribel: The research council is a group of technology leaders. They come together to talk about best practices and deploying technology. Some of it's emerging tech, but some of it's tech we've talked about a long time that just continues to change. Tom: That's interesting. So, you know, in today's topic, I mentioned earlier, we wanted to talk about the items about security that people just can't ignore. I wonder if you could talk a bit about the overall security landscape. Maribel: I think one of the things that's really interesting about security is that I look at it as a layer cake. There are multiple layers of security that you need in an organization. And sadly, there's no one-size-fits-all. You have to basically block and tackle every single layer of that. And we hear that from the customer base. They're continually asking us, “Hey, do I need to deploy this? Should I be looking at that? There are all these new tools. I don't know which ones I should really be diving into. What do you think.” Tom: Can you say more about how customers view just standard security? Maribel: I think they want what everybody wants. They want a silver bullet. They want to just throw in one tool, it'd be one and done maybe two and done. But if you look at the average corporation, there's somewhere between 40 and 80 security tools. There's definitely a sense of fatigue, particularly as we continue to get more and more new threats that seem to have an never ending set of tools. It's like how many security widgets is enough already? Tom: Uh-huh. No, I, I definitely myself, in talking to customers, run into all the time, the, just the complexity of how one security tool impacts and influences another security tool. And just keeping that as you call it, the layer cake upright is a huge challenge. Camille: Hey Maribel, it’s Camille here. So is it just networks that we need to be concerned about or also in points? Maribel: Actually, that's a great point, Camille, because you know, the, one of the other real security challenges we've seen--particularly as people have gone to remote work--is this concept of aging PCs devices that don't have a trusted security stacks on them. They could be tablets, they could be PCs, it could be mobile phones. So really the end point has become very wide open and open for attack and compromise. Camille: Do you have advice for companies now everybody's working from home, how they can boost security in those home environments? Maribel: Yeah. So the first thing I think we have to figure out is are they using personal hardware or not? Is that hardware compromised? Because let's just say you give somebody a VPN and they're tunneling into your network, but their actual machine is compromised. You've just let somebody into the network inadvertently. So. finding ways that you can test the health of the device, finding ways to manage devices that are personally owned, but in a way that you can separate the corporate data from the personal data, I think is one of the low hanging fruits. And then hopefully getting to the point where you actually have hardware that you provided to your employees that you know, is safe and secure and that you can manage and having that ability to manage. But I think the other thing we have to think about as patching in general, Just making sure that everybody's machines are passionate up to date. And then finally, I'd say we forgot about security training. A lot of people were sent home very quickly and they just didn't have that set of best practices of knowing not to click on links or other things. Particularly a lot of people are getting caught in the early days with the concept of, you know, click on this link to hear more about COVID and what it means for you. A lot of machines were compromised that way. Camille: So there's depth, right? And then there's also breadth, which we may not have considered so much in hardware until recently. True? I don't know, Tom, are you seeing product portfolios starting to address system health after manufacturer, after we ship? Tom: We have. Actually, what we're seeing is a realization that a device has multiple phases over its existence. It has really the build phase, which there's a lot of focus on the build phase. And then there is a transfer phase when a device moves from its manufacturing location to ultimately to the user of the device; then there's the operate phase; and then finally the retirement phase. And security means something different in each of those phases. And so we're starting to see customers. Paying attention to what kinds of capabilities does the platform you need to be able to support in order to stay safe in these various ranges? Like for example, understanding has the device been tampered with before you provision it and put it on your network? And increasingly we're seeing companies work in this case with Intel to do that. Another area is around IOT. The devices don't have users attached to them. So they sit on a telephone pole or in a factory somewhere; they don't have a human sort of managing them and looking for anomalous behavior. And so IOT is a whole category of use cases that is very much concerned about physical security, because somebody can tamper with the device physically and just making sure that the device is operating the way we would expect it to be. So Maribel, I wonder what kinds of protections are you seeing customers implement on IOT besides the ability to update? Maribel: Yeah, so the first thing I think we have to actually do very basic things, like change the names, change the passwords. Well, let's just assume you did that. What would you be looking for next? You'd be looking for, you'd be looking for encryption. What's the behavior of that device intrusion detection and make sure that that bias hasn't been compromised and taken over and being used to send traffic that it shouldn't be sending. So those are a few of the things that we've been talking to people about is like go the first mile, but then go the second and the third to make sure that you’re really assessing the behavior of those devices and understand what they should be doing and then understand what they are doing. And if there's a difference between those two, make sure that you're turning on the right kinds of security stacks to make sure that those devices don't get compromised or remediate them if they have. Camille: What risks should companies be looking at in their supply chains that they might not be tuned into right now? Maribel: Great point, Camille. I mean, the supply chain is sort of the initial thread factor before it's even at the person. So when we talk to people about the supply chain, it's important that you understand several things. First is like, what are the components within that supply chain? And can we verify that those are actually the right components--that they've been signed by those individuals saying, yes, this is the component. It's the right component. The second one that we need to think about is your suppliers themselves. They could be compromised. And if they have your data, then that compromises you. The third we should be looking at is I know, particularly now--while there might be hardware shortages or where there might be some sensitivity to budgets--we see organizations starting to buy in different channels that they might not have purchased in before. And they in fact might be getting counterfeit hardware. You know, there have been examples, many examples of, for example, networking equipment that people saw that they were buying a specific brand of networking equipment, but it turns out that they were buying a very compelling fake. And imagine that, you know, in the deep part of your network, you have hardware that is not the right product. What could that do if somebody put software that to take over your network, steal all of your data? So you really have to think on a component level. Or if you're purchasing who you're purchasing from and being able to validate that that whole system is the whole system that you bought or validating specific components of it. So there's a lot in the supply chain that I think we have to think about that we didn't necessarily consider before. Tom: So I, I wonder if maybe we transition just a little bit here and look now into the future over the next several years. I wonder if you could talk, maybe a little bit about some of the major shifts you expect to see over the next year or two. Maribel: Well, I think the big shift that we've been talking about for a while now, but has not really permeated into organizations is around this concept of “zero trust.” And so this is where you're doing a user behavior analytics or in the user could be a person or it could be devices, but think about creating a profile of what your known behavior is and then being able to say--using machine learning and deep learning--saying that behavior we're seeing now, it doesn't look like normal behavior for that user, for that entity. What should I do now? Well, usually you want to quarantine that person or thing, and then do some security checks to see if she'll allow them back into the network. That concept of what normal user behavior is, is a bit topsy-turvy in a world where people are working remotely or even worse they're going back and forth between work and home, some other place. So when that happens, predicting what “normal behavior” looks like can be difficult, but that zero trust concept seems to be where we're going right now. Camille: What are some of the issues that IT departments might be facing right now, as people are struggling to figure out how to get things set up in a kind of unusual environment quickly? Maribel: So they've had a couple of challenges. One is obviously figuring out how to support remote work, you know, how do we get devices into hands? How do we VPN clients scale? Do we want to do things like virtual desktop so that we can have better security? How do we think about that whole portfolio then? Then I think we're going into a secondary layer of when we're starting to think about zero trust or when we're starting to think about connecting more devices, how do we construct roles? How do we construct policies around those roles? What looks like normal behavior? And then I think we're also looking at, I need intelligent hardware that has intelligent software so I'm not drowning in alerts. You can see a world where people are drowning in alerts continually, particularly with more tiny devices, sending lots of information. So we're now being tasked with finding solutions that will be more predictive and prescriptive on behalf of us and say, “Hey, I think there's a problem that might be happening here. And here's what you should go look at to see if there's an actual problem.” So we talk about automation, but we're not necessarily automating the human. What we're trying to automate is getting the right information to individuals so that they can act accordingly. Tom: Yeah, I think there's also the other element on top of that, which is the experience from the user standpoint has to still be good because if it isn't good, we've known for years and years now that employees will go around the IT solution and effectively sort of create their own platform, their own set of how they get things done maybe as like a shadow IT problem. Maribel: Yeah, we're seeing shadow IT. Shadow IT is real. And what I think it really gets to is that user experience part that you talked about. So now I think the imperative for business leaders is to say, “Hey, we know that people are going to be using a set of their own solutions. Let's make sure we know what they're using. Let's make sure that we protect the data that shouldn't be in. Say some. Third party documents, storage that shouldn't be in some third party, email client.” Really, it's also one of the things that I think is so important about the postcode world work. We have an understanding and a need now to say, “we have to support multiple platforms. How do we do that in a secure way?” Because we also have the data imperative where we have to make sure that we've secured the data because. There are penalties around that there's regulation around that. And we have to be able to marry the user experience and the regulation and the security Tom: To me, this seems like we're just at the beginning of a fairly significant transition when you think about security forced into it in the near term and COVID, but we'll likely in my opinion, at least continue on behind that. Tom: Let's, let's try to have some fun now and talk a little bit about what do you think are some of the things that you just cannot wait to get away from now in this current COVID-19 scenario? And then I'm going to follow it up--I'll just tell you right now--I'm going to follow it up by what are the things that you hope to preserve that were maybe some surprises from having to work from home or all the other things that we're doing with COVID? Maribel: I think we need to have a more balanced meeting where it's some video audio, and sometimes it just might be some messaging cause you don't need to see anybody that day (laughs). So that’s one. You know, on the security side, one of the things. I don't think we'll get away from that we're sort of forced into, but maybe it was a good force. And that's the concept of, he's got to check the settings on everything. So things like we saw in the video conferencing area, where we had, you know, video bombing, so to speak, where people were coming in and where it's supposed to be coming in. There's a lot more sensitivity now of making sure that you have your settings. Right. And then when things update, your settings are still there. So things don't turn on automatically or you've put in the right security so that people can stay out of your meetings. Things of that nature, I think are good. Tom: That's a good list. I have a couple of things, myself. One thing I can't wait to be done with at some point is the fact that every time I dial into either a video meeting or now audio meeting or whatever, my computer cannot remember what audio and video device, it thinks it's talking to, it just drives me crazy. Like, why can't we solve this problem? It seems like such a solvable problem. And then the thing that I really, really love about this time is I don't have to drive to work. I love that video for me is, yeah, it's a substitute for actual face to face contact, but I have a hellacious commute and I love the fact that I don't have to do it. So Camille, you have anything? Camille: I think we're going to see more and more communications or interaction, style apps emerging--both for fun. Um, and also education and also work related. Everybody's got this issue with video. So what kinds of interesting things are we going to see emerge? So I'm very much looking forward to that. And I'm also concerned as Maribel said that we are able to make sure we have, we maintain privacy and appropriate security and confidentiality with those new emerging apps. Tom: The one thing's for sure is that we won't be going back to the way it was pre. COVID-19 there's definitely going to be changes. So with that, I think we can draw this podcast to a close I'd like to thank Maribel for joining us. Your insight today was great. I think it gave us a perspective on customers and, and in particular, some of the things that people aren't necessarily thinking of when they think about security. So Maribel, thank you again for joining us. Maribel: Thank you. Tom: We invite people to please subscribe to our podcast. It is going to be published on an every two-week basis. So we'll have topics that are relevant for cyber security coming to you every two weeks, a subscribe, wherever you get your podcasts, and we will see you next time.

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How to Grow Your Contracting Business in a Downturn – In Just 7 Minutes with Tom Reber

Marketing The Invisible

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2020 8:24

Discover how you can increase your sales as a contractor without overworking Know more on how to avoid unwanted mistakes in your business as a contractor Learn how to avoid “Feast or Famine” through recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of your business Resources/Links: Check out Tom's Worksheet: http://www.thecontractorfight.com/50 Summary Is it difficult for you to take your business as a contractor to the next level? Do you want to steady and widen your sales? Are you ready to avoid “feast and famine”? Tom Reber is the creator of The Contractor Fight, a movement of Home Improvement Contractors who are taking back control of their businesses and fattening their wallets. In this episode, Tom talks about how it's possible for you to increase your sales as a contactor without overworking. He also shares his insights on what you should do and what you should avoid as a contractor. Check out these episode highlights: 1:25 - Tom's ideal client: “Our ideal client is the already successful Home Improvement Contractor. The guy, or the girl, that person who they know they have another gear. They've proven they can make some money; they can sell some jobs; they can get the phone to ring. But they just can't seem to get to that next level, whatever that next level means for them.” 1:53 - Problem Tom helps solve: “Well, contrary to popular belief, the average Home Improvement Contractor in the United States only makes about 55 to 60 grand a year. And so, with all the risks they take, and this and that, most of them like, you know, most entrepreneurs, you're good at the craft, right? You know the thing, but nobody ever taught you how to run a business, how to lead people, how to sell, what it means to really know your numbers, marketing, and all those things. And so, that's really the big problem. At the end of the day time these guys are, they're broke, they've worked 10, 20 years in a career that they have nothing to show for it.” 2:58 - Typical symptoms that clients do before reaching out to Tom: “It's feast or famine. You know, the phone's ringing 40 times a day or it's not ringing at all. I've got a crazy amount of work and I don't know how I'm going to do it all. Or I've got nothing on the calendar for the next, you know, three weeks. So, feast or famine.” 3:55 - Common mistakes that people make before they find Tom's solution: “Well, they try it out to work the problem. They just think putting in more hours, more time, taking on more projects, more clients more jobs, that's a big mistake people make. They also, try to do it all instead of what we say hit one nail in at a time. You know, if I'm a carpenter and I'm tapping a nail in over here and one in over here, at the end of the day, if I never finished a nail, I got upset nails, I accomplished nothing. Exactly. And so that's a big thing.” 5:03 - Tom's Valuable Free Action (VFA): “So, this is the game-changer. Seriously. Like, we've seen this happen with thousands of people over the years. If you simply figure out exactly what it's going to cost you to produce the job, so, say labor's going to be 300 bucks, the material's going to be 100 bucks, it's 400 bucks. At least double it and sell it there so that you'll have after you produce the work, you have what we call a 50% gross profit.” 6:01 - Tom's Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Check out Tom's Worksheet: thecontractorfight.com/50 7:13 - Q: Why do I do this? A: It really comes down to the fact that my mission with The Contractor Fight and our company is to bring respect and dignity back to the t...

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How to Grow Your Contracting Business in a Downturn – In Just 7 Minutes with Tom Reber

Marketing The Invisible

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2020 8:24

Discover how you can increase your sales as a contractor without overworking Know more on how to avoid unwanted mistakes in your business as a contractor Learn how to avoid “Feast or Famine” through recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of your business Resources/Links: Check out Tom’s Worksheet: http://www.thecontractorfight.com/50 Summary Is it difficult for you to take your business as a contractor to the next level? Do you want to steady and widen your sales? Are you ready to avoid “feast and famine”? Tom Reber is the creator of The Contractor Fight, a movement of Home Improvement Contractors who are taking back control of their businesses and fattening their wallets. In this episode, Tom talks about how it’s possible for you to increase your sales as a contactor without overworking. He also shares his insights on what you should do and what you should avoid as a contractor. Check out these episode highlights: 1:25 - Tom’s ideal client: “Our ideal client is the already successful Home Improvement Contractor. The guy, or the girl, that person who they know they have another gear. They've proven they can make some money; they can sell some jobs; they can get the phone to ring. But they just can't seem to get to that next level, whatever that next level means for them.” 1:53 - Problem Tom helps solve: “Well, contrary to popular belief, the average Home Improvement Contractor in the United States only makes about 55 to 60 grand a year. And so, with all the risks they take, and this and that, most of them like, you know, most entrepreneurs, you're good at the craft, right? You know the thing, but nobody ever taught you how to run a business, how to lead people, how to sell, what it means to really know your numbers, marketing, and all those things. And so, that's really the big problem. At the end of the day time these guys are, they're broke, they've worked 10, 20 years in a career that they have nothing to show for it.” 2:58 - Typical symptoms that clients do before reaching out to Tom: “It's feast or famine. You know, the phone's ringing 40 times a day or it's not ringing at all. I've got a crazy amount of work and I don't know how I'm going to do it all. Or I've got nothing on the calendar for the next, you know, three weeks. So, feast or famine.” 3:55 - Common mistakes that people make before they find Tom’s solution: “Well, they try it out to work the problem. They just think putting in more hours, more time, taking on more projects, more clients more jobs, that's a big mistake people make. They also, try to do it all instead of what we say hit one nail in at a time. You know, if I'm a carpenter and I'm tapping a nail in over here and one in over here, at the end of the day, if I never finished a nail, I got upset nails, I accomplished nothing. Exactly. And so that's a big thing.” 5:03 - Tom’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): “So, this is the game-changer. Seriously. Like, we've seen this happen with thousands of people over the years. If you simply figure out exactly what it's going to cost you to produce the job, so, say labor’s going to be 300 bucks, the material's going to be 100 bucks, it's 400 bucks. At least double it and sell it there so that you'll have after you produce the work, you have what we call a 50% gross profit.” 6:01 - Tom’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Check out Tom’s Worksheet: thecontractorfight.com/50 7:13 - Q: Why do I do this? A: It really comes down to the fact that my mission with The Contractor Fight and our company is to bring respect and dignity back to the trades. For years, decades, people have been telling us, "If you don't go to college, you're a loser." You know, "The trades are a good fallback option," and stuff like that. Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “ If you simply figure out exactly what it's go...

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Tom Ferry - CEO of Ferry International & #1 Real Estate Coach

Accelerate OC

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2020 66:14

It's been a true pleasure to get to know Tom Ferry over the last year. We both have a passion for entrepreneurs and startups and interviewed each other for perspective and stories. If you don't know Tom, he's a force of nature and #1 coach for real estate professionals. He's also CEO of Ferry International, and a markeing and social media maven.We did a podcast crossover and talked about what entrepreneurial traits and skills entrepreneurs need to succeed, the difference between a side hustle and a business, having an open mind to create new plays that work for your business and the necessary steps you have to take to promote and encourage entrepreneurship in the community.6:47 – What makes a good founder? Listen to find out!10:06 – These are the mistakes to avoid when giving your business pitch 21:22 – Maybe you should start a side hustle that can ultimately create a breakthrough in the long run!24:55 – It’s going to be really hard if you just start with $0 when starting a full-time business29:20 – Are you clear in your customer needs and does your business have legal help? 32:30 – Always be on the lookout for new plays to implement in your business35:53 – How the financial crisis of 2008 impacted startups still to this day37:55 – “I see a renaissance on the horizon.”40:44 – Why the next big wave will be created by the collective intelligence of people42:26 – “The education system of today is built on a manufacturing economy… we’ve been pushing manufacturing out of this country for decades.”45:28 – Why imagining “the complete opposite” might help you resolve a challenge53:45 – Steps being taken to promote and encourage entrepreneurship56:44 – The importance of seeking mentors who are further down the path you want to travel58:30 – A valuable reality Mike Vance taught Tom: It’s hard to get the lesson from an experience you’re not having1:03:07 – “Give a huge amount of value to the world, and you’ll live a great life.”

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The Showdown of The Century (Round 3): Remote vs. Local Investing

The Business of Open Source

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 4, 2020 40:06

In this episode Tom and Emil go head to head to debate which investing strategy is superior, local or remote investing. --- Transcript Michael: Hey, everybody. Welcome to another episode of their moat real estate investor. I'm Michael album. And today I'm joined by my usual hosts, Tom: Tom Schneider Emil: And Emil, The Real Deal, Shour. Michael: Ooh, I love that self-proclaimed nickname. Love it. And today we're going to be doing another show down. We've got a lot of feedback from our listeners that showed on episodes were well received. So today we are going to be debating the pros and cons of remote investing versus local investing dunked on done. Well, guys, let's jump into it. Emil: That was actually a nickname that someone I went to college with gave me. Michael: Okay. So it wasn't self-proclaimed. Tom: Emil, The Real Deal. Emil: We were in the same frat and we had like boxing night and… Michael: that's so good. Emil: He introduced me as Emil, The Real Deal! Michael: I would never go on a boxing match with anybody that had that intense of a nickname. Emil: Those people went down. Went down hard. Michael: Okay. So for any of our new listeners out there, my name is Michael Albaum and I'm the head coach with the Roofstock Academy, Roofstock's education arm, and Emil, do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself and who you are? Emil: Yes. My name is Emil Shour. I work on the marketing team here at Roofstock, which if anyone's not familiar, it's a marketplace where investors come to buy and sell single family rental homes. And so I work on the marketing team. I actually invested through Roofstock's marketplace before I was employed here. And now I have the joy of getting to spread the word. Michael: So you're drinking the Koolaid. Emil: That's right. Tom: An evangelist! Michael: That's right. And Tom, who are you my friend? Tom: That is a deep question. Michael: Start at birth! Tom: Start at birth. So I am an investor. I'm a California broker. I work here at Roofstock on the investor education team. I initially worked at one of the very first publicly traded REITs, doing single family rental, kind of in the wild West of 2009. And then our CEO went and was a co founder and starting Roofstock. So I jumped over and joined him at Roofstock on the product side and the operations. And now, as I mentioned on the investor education side. Michael: Awesome. Love it. Tom: Before we get into the meat of the episode, a quick announcement as usual, this episode was brought to you by Roofstock Academy. Roofstock Academy is Roofstock's education program to get you to the next level. We include over $2,500 worth of marketplace credits on demand lectures, one-on-one coaching group coaching, all kinds of benefits. And we have this new benefit that we put together that Michael is leading it's our book club. Michael: Within the Roofstock Academy, we actually do a monthly book club. We get together and read the same book over the course of the month that has some takeaway, some motif, some applicable things to real estate investing. And we get together at the end of the month and we have a chat about it. And cause now it's COVID, we're doing that all virtually, but hope to be able to do that in person at some point down the road. And this upcoming months book club book is Michael Uber's, one rental at a time. And as an added bonus for this month book club, we're actually going to have Michael Zuber on that call with us as kind of a fireside chat. And as we're going to be discussing his books, we get to hear it from the source himself about some of the reasons he wrote the book and some of the takeaways from the book as well. So now is the opportune time to join the Roofstock Academy roofstockacademy.com. So you can join us for that monthly book club and take advantage of all of the other advantages the Roofstock Academy has to offer as well. Emil: For people who aren't familiar with Michael Zuber, he's been on the podcast twice. Good friend of the podcast episode 11 was the first one we had with him, the power of four rental properties and how it can change your life. And most recently, I think we, we dropped an episode with him this past week called how Michael Zuber Quit His Job On a Whim After Achieving Financial Independence. So if you're not familiar with who he is, go back and listen to those episodes. He's a super, super smart guy he's been investing for. I think 20 plus years. Now he knows a lot and has a really, really awesome message for other investors. Michael: So today for our shutter and episode, we're going to be taking two sides of this argument and splitting it up a meal. Why don't we give you remote? We'll give you a remote and Tom, you're going to have to defend local investing. Tom: Yeah. A classic episode, a classic discussion for the remote real estate. We're going to, you know, try not to be too biased… Michael: But it is called The Remote Real Estate Investor, Tom: But it'll be fun. It'll be fun. I don't know. Yeah. It's fun going to the other side of the table. So.. Michael: I think it's important to address and acknowledge both sides of any topic of any discussion because it's two sides to every coin and there is no one size fits all approach, even though remote real estate investing is far superior, but we're going to get to that in the episode. So a meal, would you like to go first or second Emil: I'm game for either Michael? Michael: Okay. Emil: You're the moderator. Tom: Go first Emil. That way I'm giving you a heads up. I'm handicapping you alright, Michael: Emil, the floor is yours. Emil: All right. So I have three points I want to hit here. That Tom is going to have a very hard time rebutting. So the first one is that with remote investing, you buy where it makes sense. So if you're a local investor, you're looking around at your local market, you're geographically constrained to just the deals around you. So if you live in Los Angeles or the Bay area, like we do, prices have gone out of control. Prices have gone up a lot and rent has not been able to keep up with that. So in certain markets, it's very hard to find cash flowing properties, unless you have a lot of money, put a lot of money down. It's very, very hard to make those work. There's still good markets. It's just harder to make the cash flow work. So when you're a remote investor, you buy where it makes sense. You look at different markets, you look at where deals are, where the fundamentals are good and you invest there. You're not geographically constrained to only where you live. You go to where the deal is. Makes sense. The second point I want to touch on is you get to build a team instead of doing everything yourself. I know personally, if I was investing locally, I would want to do a lot of things myself, instead of relying on other people, finding the right team. And I think that's an advantage in building a team because these people are professionals. I'm not, I'm not a professional property manager or inspector any of these things, but being the person I am and liking control, I feel like I would try to get my hand into too many of those things. Whereas when you're remote again, you have to rely on the fuel. You have to build a team. And so I think that's one of the advantages of going remote is you're required to build that team of professionals. The last one I want to touch on before I get on the floor is I think with remote investing, it's a lot less emotional and more about the numbers. I think when you go and view properties all the time in person, it's hard to ignore some of the blemishes that you bring to the property, right? You have some bias. You're like, Oh, would I live here? And with rental properties, especially for cashflow, that's not what matters. It's do the numbers make sense in a market that I like. And is this an area that I'm comfortable with? The risk it's not about is this somewhere I could see myself living. And I think if you're doing the local investing, you bring a lot of that emotion in looking at a lot of the properties you look at. Michael: Wow. Tom, come back from those man. Tom: I like it. I'm so confident. I'm going to slow roll a little bit. I'm actually just going to compliment a couple of your points before I stepped back and do the fade away three while kicking my leg out for you to run into it for me to get an extra free throw. So yeah. Emil: Okay. James harden. Tom: Okay. So to honor my comment there, I love the point about how it allows you to not kind of get in your own head and just be super data-driven about it, but okay. Onto the good stuff, I'm a good stuff. So investing local is definitely the way that you want to do it. So I think the first point that I'm going to make, which could be the most relevant is you're never going to know a market better than your own market. And me personally, I've been studying the market since I was about eight years old. I'd go to Safeway, I'd get the homes and land magazine. And I would just study comps. And I had this long trend of analysis. I know the different markets, different property types, how they're trending. Heck I even know the agents, right? The Kerses family out here, great agents. So you're going to know a market a lot better just from, you know, kind of hounding your local Zillow or Redfin or whatever. Basically the adult version of the homes and land magazine from the Safeway. All right. The next point is, man, what value is it to be able to touch and feel the house, you know, to go up to the house and touch the walls and kind of like smell it. You can't do that remotely. And one of the reasons people like investing in real estate is because it's a tangible asset. It's, it's something, you know, you're not buying some future of gasoline because the price of crude is low. You know, it's an actual asset that some people actually use using by doing it remotely. You're kind of getting away from that. You're getting away from that touchy, feely wonderfulness of buying a house that you can actually see and walk into. And you know, you get out of the ethereal, if I steal a word from Michael here, it's a nice to the realleal, so, you know, you're being there. So that's number two is the tangibility of it, of actually being there, getting to go see it. It's pretty awesome. And lastly is you're not going to get taken advantage of, you know, doing things over the phone. You're going to have these quick talking sharks, selling you snake oil and all kinds of trouble. So I like to shake somebody's hand or I guess nowadays is you do an elbow bump of, you know, getting, if I'm going to do business with somebody, I'm going to want to get to know them. I'm going to want to look them in the eye and touch elbows or whatever we do now with COVID and you can't do that in zoom. It's just super awkward. So there you go. That's why you want to invest locally. Michael: So, Tom, what would you have to say to some of the meals points that he brought up? Tom: All right. Let's do it so well, I, I quite agree with a lot of appeals points. I totally agree. I mean, I don't want to waste my, you know, momentum for when we switched sides of the argument, but there is a lot of limitations on only looking into your own area, but you know, just when we say local, that doesn't mean you have to do everything, you know, within five miles of your house, roll it out a little bit further, you know, go 30 miles go a couple hours. So we were talking before the episode where we were talking about our experience with local investing and I have done some stuff working for fun, not with my own money, doing local investing, but Michael has invested locally. I would consider, you know, within that three hour range that kind of counts as local. So to address that point about, you know, not being specific things in your area, you know, rollout the distance, the radius, spread it out a little bit further. You can still do things locally. You know, if you're uncomfortable going 2000 miles away go 200 miles away like within striking distance. So that would be my point number one. The point number two, about being comfortable about using other folks is, you know, it's a muscle and if you're uncomfortable, you know, going a hundred percent building a team, that's okay. Just kind of pick points and spots and build that muscle of getting trust in getting good at letting go of things. And honestly, that's a big problem. I know for a lot of people, especially investors who are pretty generally pretty type a kind of go getters is to consciously make an effort of letting go of certain aspects of the business. So you can focus on where you have higher ROI. Michael: I've got a question for you, both that you both kind of touched on Amelia, you mentioned that if you're going to invest remotely, that you can't go see the property and that that's difficult to do. And Tom, you mentioned, you know, being local, you're able to go touch and feel and see the property, but couldn't someone who's investing remotely still go touch and feel, see, and smell and taste. I think you included in there, the property, Tom: If you're good, you will. Emil: That's right. Always want to lick the walls before you sign those docs. Michael: Check the lead based paint disclosure before licking the walls. Emil: Correct. Actually, I think the right thing to do is to lick it, to make sure that there isn't lead. Michael: That's right. Tom: It's your tongue turns blue then… Emil: Trust the verify. Tom: No, you're totally right, Michael. I mean I've for some of the house that I've bought, I've seen them, but for most of them might have nod and what the ticket is, is having an inspector because honestly, if I go to the house and my ability to assess, you know, issues is not going to be better than an inspector who like does this professionally. So, you know, having the idea that, Oh, me going out there, I'm going to be able to do a better job than some inspector is a little bit of a stretch. So, you know, having confidence in the credentials and you know, where these inspectors are coming from, and then also looking at their homework. So like when an inspector goes and does an inspection on a house, they're filling out a super thorough report on what was identified. And that is including pictures and descriptions and as well as adding any followup items that are on there. So I'm not really sure where I'm arguing on this. I got, I got going, but you know, to the point, like I think it's, yo u know, going to see the property before buying it, you could totally do that. Even if it is remote, you know, there's no reason why you couldn't do it. And it makes you get comfortable to be able to get in the game. You know, that's an expense that you can use as a writeup. I'm not a tax professional, but for that in there, Emil: Thank you, Tom, for further arguing my remote point but no, I think you're right. I think you can, like, let's say you put an offer on a property you're in escrow. You can go visit that property, put some eyes on it, make sure everything looks good. Yes. You know, I rely on pictures and video and things like that to like before the offer process. But I actually want to make that part of how I operate going forward. Obviously with COVID, it makes it a lot tougher, but the markets I invest in, I want to be visiting those more regularly. I haven't at all, but I want to be. And I think it makes a lot of sense if that makes you more comfortable go visit the property before you finish escrow. Tom: Yeah. I think I personally kind of like Seesawed a little bit on like, you know, needing to be in the market where kind of when I was in it, I think it was really important to go and check it out, to go in the other way of seeing like, nah, you don't need to see it at all. I think it's been to find a happy balance. Like if you buy a property and it hits those check boxes that you're looking for with regards to population and schools and other kind of local dynamic economy, like great. I think it's some people need to be comfortable by taking a look at the market. Great. Go be comfortable and do that. Just know that, you know, there isn't necessarily a one size fits all answer. Emil: Yep. And one last thing you mentioned being local, you know, your market way better than being a remote investor. I think that's true. I think that that'll always be the case you live there, you just, you know, what's happening. One thing I really trying to do though in the markets that I invest in is like get more ingrained in local news outside of just real estate. So I'll set up Google alerts and get the top things happening in that city to just like better understand what's going on. And I think this is where talking to your property manager regularly, again, visiting those markets regularly doing drive-through of different neighborhoods. It's just going to get you better and better at these different markets. Michael: That's a really great point Emil. I'm going to piggyback off what Tom said. I always talk in the Academy with members about if going to the market is what's stopping you from investing then by all means go, but you'll have to kind of face the reality of everybody has personal biases and you're not going to be able to unsee undue, unexperienced, the things that you see and do and feel, and experience in that market for better or for worse. And so the ideal scenario is you pick a market that has good numbers, has good metrics and you go see the property and you love the property and you love the market, but that's not always the case. Just like you said Emil is that it doesn't necessarily matter how it makes you feel because you might not be living there. If the numbers make sense and the facts are there to support the market, it could still be a great investment independent of the fact of whether or not you enjoy it. And so if you go somewhere and think, wow, I would never live here. I don't want to invest here. Now we're mixing emotion into the decision making process, which can really be dangerous. And so if we can go with the guys of understanding that it doesn't really matter how I feel, if I feel great, that's kind of a cherry on top, but I should still be willing to invest. Even if it doesn't make me feel good. That's something to think about. Tom: That's a great point. I mean, so much of this is an introspective exercise where it's like, okay, what do I need to do to know that, you know, I feel good about investing in this area. And I think it's a great point, Michael, that it comes to a point where you need to be a little bit just focused on the numbers. But if you know that you're going to need to kind of touch it and take a look just at the market in general, then there's no reason that you can't do that. And I like the happy balance of, you know, if there's a market, you know, going to take a look at the market and not necessarily, if there is a property to look at great, go look at a property, but you don't necessarily have to look at the one that you are investing in, but you have like a general kind of taste of the area. If that's something that's important to you, there's no reason why you can't do that. But to Michael's point, like at the end of the day, the numbers are really what carry the day trust in the process. Emil: All of us kind of agree that the numbers, aren't the only thing that drive us, right? If it's like awesome cabaret cash on cash, but it's in a really rough neighborhood where we don't see that neighborhood turning around or whatever it is. I don't think any of us would invest there just because the numbers on paper look really good. There's a lot of other factors that we also take into account as well. Michael: Yup, absolutely. Alright. This was really great. And I want you guys to flip flop, Tom, why is remote investing far superior than local investing in meal? You've got to defend because you got to go first, last time. So now Tom's on the offensive. Fight! Tom: Emil, welcome to 2020. The world is your oyster. Get out of your little hole, get your head out of the sand, you Flamingo is that the animal does the… Michael: Ostrich. Tom: You're, you're being an ostrich. And you know, there's been some advents in technology that has allowed us to invest remotely. One of them is cloud computing that allows for you to have access to incredible amounts of data outside of your backyard. So cloud computing, that's one, the other is, uh, mobile phones. Uh, there's all kinds of cool technology that didn't exist before that Roofstock leverages and other, you know, potentially brokerages. Um, have you guys seen, have you heard of the 3d walkthrough? Right? So inside maps, Matterport, very cool companies that allow you to basically walk through the house as if you are there. Not only are you being more psychogenic, you're just working smarter, not harder. So you're able to check these houses out at a really in depth level without needing to go there. You're saving gas mileage. Think of, you know, you're being green, okay. Cloud computing, tons of data, cheap data on markets and evaluating other markets. Number two, mobile applications, mobile devices. And with that is the ability to have these really cool 3D walkthroughs to have a proliferation of inspections available. I know at Roofstock we use some cool mobile phones in using for our inspection capture leading to my third point, this ecosystem, right, that has developed around companies. So one such as Roofstock that basically does all the work ahead of time. All the benefits you would get from local investing in that, you know, being able to find these local partners, you can do really easily through platforms like Roofstock, which will connect you to all the partners that you need. Be it insurance, be it in lenders. Now I'm not saying you can't use that same grit that you would be using locally, remotely. You should still apply that and apply it in a very diligent way, but all the drawbacks of doing it remotely that used to exist no longer exist, just because of the way the technology has advanced the way the cool companies like Roofstock has advanced. And the proof is in the pudding. I know just off the top of my head, I think there's been, you know, over over $10 million of transaction within the Roofstock Academy community, over $2 billion worth of transactions on the Roofstock community. So the proof is in the pudding. It's, you know, if you're not doing it right now, Emil, remotely investing you're behind. So, so get on the train. Michael: Tom, what do you have to say about the interwebs, the online, the www online's making remote real estate investing easier? Tom: Uh, you mean the connected tubes? Michael: Yeah, Tom: It honestly it shrinks the world. It's fantastic. And the big value points I think in there is just access to data. So being a data driven investor, I want to know what are some reputable sources for evaluating the local schools. I want to do a walk around on that block. Oh, wait a minute. I, can I go to Google maps and do a little walk around? That's fantastic. And honestly, again, you get a pretty good taste of, of being able to do it that way and getting the curb appeal and all of that good stuff. So the internet, I mean, it, it honestly would not be possible without it, but just as we've, since we've come so far since AOL and 56K modems or whatever, it's like, you know, on my phone, I could do a diligence on a property that honestly, the top private equity or top real estate investment companies could do it, it would cost them thousands and thousands of dollars to do on an individual property that I could do for free, just on my mobile phone while I am walking in my living room, in a local area. So the cost of doing the kind of diligence at an incredibly thorough level has gotten so cheap and so accessible. That there's just no question that remote investing is here and jump on board toot toot. Get on the train toot toot. Michael: Alright Emil, you need some ice. Are you feeling okay? Are you ready to start swinging back? Emil: I'm ready. You know what? I think Tom just convinced me to become a remote real estate investor. You opened my eyes. Michael: You didn't know this other world existed. Emil: I had no idea about this, what podcast are we on? Michael: Someone get this guy, a mobile phone. Tom: Yeah get him a mobile device connected to the internet. Michael: To the interwebs. Emil: All right. I'm going to try not to rehash too much of what Tom mentioned. Hold on. Let me get my dog to shut up, one second. Zeke!! Tom: So Mr. Michael Album, I hear you are doing some remote investing to the extreme. I've been following you on the Twitter world and yeah. Michael: That's… No one should do that. That's a scary thing to hear. Tom: Yeah. Doing remote in the United States is one thing, doing remote on the, across the Atlantic? Emil: Portugal! Michael: Going very far East, stopping once I hit Europe, I'm actually currently investing in some properties in Portugal. There is something called the golden visa that I'm looking to take advantage of. And one of the ways to get a golden visa, which is basically permanent resident status, and then ultimately a passport after a five year period is by investment in the country. And so that can take the form of a few different ways. And so one of the options is investing in property. And so I'm looking to actually flip a property right now and then purchase a property for a long term buy and hold to get me access to that golden visa. Emil: [sings] You go the golden visa, you got the golden visa. It's made up, it's fairy dust that someone sold Michael Michael: And so you, Oh, that's right. That's right. Yeah. Speaking of buying snake oil. Tom: Was this specifically for the golden visa. Michael: It is, it is. So the returns are not anywhere near as attractive as what you can get in the States. And so the fact that you can buy an investment property and have it generate some kind of return is really a cherry on top. The real premise and the real Genesis is to get a golden visa and ultimately a second passport. Tom: Wow. Michael: So just being able to travel work, live, receive healthcare in the EU, any of the EU countries essentially for free. And so having the benefits of an, of an EU citizen and potentially be an EU citizen after five years. Tom: Wow. So you would be a Portuguese and an American citizen. Yes. Very cool. Yup. Nobody knows any Portuguese out there that wouldn't mind tutoring me a little bit. I would love the help because I am pretty useless. Tom: Portuguese is a difficult language. I went to Brazil for a little bit and Holy moly. I do not. Yeah. It was a… Michael: It's so foreign and it's so fast. Tom: Obrigado! Michael: Yeah. Yeah. That's right. That's thank you for anybody listening. Nobody got it. Alright. Emil you're ready to punch back? Emil: Alright. Knowing your market. I think that's a big advantage. If you're local, when things happen, you can go visit. That's another big one. The other three I wanted to mention are I think it's a lot easier to project manager rehabs. A lot of times when you're, you're doing a rehab or any type of any type of rehab from distance, you're trusting a lot of people project managing it. Isn't the easiest. Sometimes property managers will do it for you. It's a service they will provide. Sometimes they don't, but you're relying on pictures to kind of make sure each interval of the rehab process is happening. And a lot of times the little details are harder to see through pictures or anything, right. You want to make sure that it work is done right. And I think when you're local to be able to go and see the work that's being done, it's a huge advantage to make sure the little things weren't skipped or things that show up in picture that look okay, but you actually view it in person. You know, the paint is splotchy or things like that. You can verify those things in person, much easier to do when you're local. The other one is this kind of ties into knowing your market, but where you live and where you are locally, you, you probably believe in that area. You probably believe in that economy. That's probably why you're there. You have a job, whatever it is when you're local, you probably have a sense that this area is going to do well for years to come. And you're trying to ride that wave of appreciation. Whereas when you're going remote harder to know all those things, you don't live there. You're not living and breathing and in that place and knowing what the local economy's doing. So I think when you're a local, you just have a better sense of is this place on the rise? I think most people live somewhere where you think things are going well. So that's another advantage to local, I would say. The last thing I talked about building a team, when you're remote, you have to build a team. I think when you're local, you build a team too. People will find your deals, property management, all those things. But the advantage of when you're local is you can actually go meet those people face to face, interview them a lot easier than when you're remote and you're just calling people. There's less of that personal connection. And I don't know when you meet people in person, you take them more seriously. They take you a little more seriously, not always, but I think it's actually easier to build a team when you're local. You do it for remote and local. And I think it's just easier to local. And that's it. Tom, go ahead. Tom: Alright. Last couple of points I'll make on yours. You know, talking about investing in a market that you kind of believe in, you live in something we've learned over the last, I don't know, 30, 30, 40 years of investing is diversification is key. And a lot of people, their biggest investment that they make is going to be the house that they own and live in. And if you're making your biggest investment, obviously in an area that you live in, cause you live in it, why would you, you know, basically just double down on that same area, when you can diversify a little bit and put that money to work in an area that, you know, there might be some correlations with the economy because there generally is, but is subject to other upside and other kind of benefits. So being able to place your chips around. So instead of owning multiple houses in the same area that you live in already, where you have your biggest investment, the benefits of mixing it up and putting it into a different area, there's lots of value to diversifying that play. Michael: Would you say Tom, that you would peanut butter spread the risk? Tom: I love peanut butter spread. So my wife has started getting groceries from this place called Thrive Market and they have peanut butter in a spreadable packet. Pretty sweet. Michael: Different than Justin's? Tom: I don't know if it's Justin's I don't think it is, but anyways, it's not in a jar. It's like toothpaste packets. It's like toothpaste Michael: Just on the go packs. Those things are great. Yeah. Tom: I think I'm kind of violent about it. Cause I like burst a hole, like in the side. So peanut butter spread the risk, right? Just like spreadable peanut butter. You spread it apart. I guess the last kind of general point that isn't necessarily arguing to one way or the other remote or local investing is with all of this. It's not a one size fits all. I think all of us agree that, you know, while there is a little bit of unique requirements for investing remotely, ultimately the different types of returns it gives you access to and the diversification it gives you access to is it's worth that little bit of overhead. And as we mentioned before, then this episode, there's, there's different ways that people can get comfortable in different areas. For some people, they just get it right away and they can jump right in and invest. And that's awesome. That's great. For some people they want to be a little bit more hands on and go and visit the area, perhaps even talk to property managers and that's okay too. Just kind of know where you sit and know what you need to do to get there either to move forward with an investment or to move on to some other type of investment. So I'd say as a theme in this podcast and real estate investing in general, have a bias for action of getting yourself into a position to either make the investments or to move on. Let's see the last little recurring theme that I think probably talk about every other episode is, as a remote investor, there really is no one as important as your property manager. So even if you're doing it locally too, and using professional property manager, your investment is gonna live and die by how well someone's going to be able to manage that for you and get, at least if you're not self managing and using professional property manager. So, you know, it doesn't matter if you're doing remotely or locally, but you know, especially if you're doing remotely, since you're not going to be able to visit the property that often do not sleep on the work that it takes to assess and qualify a property manager because you know, buying right can take you so far, but ultimately, you know, winning the operational metrics and keeping your overhead low is going to be on getting a good property manager. Who's going to keep that property occupied. So those are my final tidbits on it. Emil: Well done. I know I don't get a rebuttal, but I thought those were all very strong. Michael: I thought you both had strong points nicely done to you both. I'll share a little bit. Tom: I'm excited for the Michael tidbits. Michael: I was just going to share that I've done some, you alluded to it previously, Tom, but some quote unquote local investing. It was really, my first investment was down in Southern California, which we talked about on a previous episode, but I couldn't fathom investing remotely or out of state or really at much of a distance just because I was so green. So new to this space, you know, Roofstock wasn't around this whole education piece for a, Roofstock Academy wasn't around. And so that's all I knew. And so it was about three hour drive away from my grub. So it was semi local and I went and touched and toured a bunch of properties and met with my local agent who is a family friend who is also my property manager. So to Neil's point, we could touch a shake, hands, have visual rapport, physical rapport, which I'm kind of old school in that regard. I would always prefer that. I think it's much more meaningful than the remote over zoom or over the telephone. And so I was able to be very hands on with that investment. And it's gone really well, given a long enough time horizon for anyone who listened to that first episode where it just like that property has been through several road bumps, several hiccups and speed. So the fact that it was local did not have any bearing on how difficult it was as a first property. It did not have any bearing on how bad or how sideways things could go. And that's been by far probably the worst experience I've had with any of my other investments. And so you can have good people and bad neighborhoods and bad people in good neighborhoods in local markets and at distance markets. So it's, you know, again, I think we said it before, it's not a one size fits all. You just, every investor has to figure out what makes the most sense for them and Tom, you were just touching on it. I think if you need to baby, step your way into investing and start local or semi local, do it. If that's what it's going to take for you to start getting into the real estate investing arena, you know, start where it makes sense for you. Some people have no problem letting go of control and just doing it at a distance and setting up a team and kind of taking a back seat so to speak. But if that's not, you figure out how you operate as a person and figure out what's going to make the most sense for you. And then just go do it. Emil: So for anyone who was curious about Michael's first deal, we covered that in episode 12, Here's What Our First Deal Looked Like and How They're Doing Today. That was the name of that episode. But I think, you know, the, the main theme, I'm glad you touched on that is there's people who are successful doing both right. There's people who are just local investors in expensive markets who are doing really well. People who just do remote investing, who are doing really, really well. And there's some people who do both, right. They do some local, some distance. And I think that's like the main thing we want to highlight. I don't think one is necessarily better than the other. It kind of just depends on your situation. And I think there's people doing well and doing both, Michael: I think I want to just double down on that statement Emil. It is so dependent on who you are as a person and where you live. Because if someone's living in the Midwest right now, listening to this, so like I'm surrounded by deals. Why would I ever go remote when there's tons in my backyard, us being all Californians were, you know, semi-forced to go remote and you know, forced to go invest at a distance. So if that's not, you don't think that, Oh, I have to go invest remotely because of everything they talked about in the podcast, maybe, you know, our remote is your local, Oh, that's a trademark, Michael Albaum, July 28, 2020. Emil: Our remote is your local. Michael: Yeah. So just go find where the deals make sense. I think is the one of the biggest takeaways because they could be read under your nose and you might not even know it because you're so focused on remote. I absolutely looked at local as a first opportunity semi found it and then how to go remote after the fact. Michael: All right guys, I think that was a great rap battle for remote versus local investing. And before I let you guys go, I've got the question of the episode for you. Are you ready? Tom: Let's do it. Emil: Always. I'm rabbit, baby. I'm winning this rat battle. Michael: What's your favorite breakfast cereal and why? Tom: I'm ready. Michael: Tom go. It's called Magic Spoon. It's not made with normal sugar. It's made from the sugar of raisins. So it's actually being promoted on a lot of podcasts. We're not being paid to promote magic spoon here. We have no affiliation with any royalties, but we're not opposed to it. And so magic spoon is basically children's cereal for adults. It is delicious. It doesn't have carbs. It's full of protein. What's great about not being, you know, I could just kind of say, say the good things about it and not necessarily have a check, a reference check on it, but it's, it's really good. Magic spoon, peanut butter. It's great raisin sugar. Michael: So if it doesn't have carbs, like what is it like, what is it made of? Emil: Fairy dust. Tom: Magic spoon. Emil: I've heard of that. It's expensive. It's not cheap. Tom: I can't believe how expensive it is. Don't get me going on that. Michael: There was this like frozen yogurt place that came out. I don't know. Maybe this is like going back 15, 20 years and kind of dating myself. But it's got like golden spoon, in Southern California, but I like the name gives you no indication of what the thing is. Like you would never think that's an ice cream place because it's called the golden spoon. Am I the only one that thinks that, sorry, golden spoon… If… Tom: Spoons got range. Alright Emil, how about you, favorite cereal? Emil: Does granola. It's like a granola cereal kind of thing. It's called Autumn's gold. I found it recently a Costco and it's like all nuts and cinnamon. So kind of same deal. It's paleo. No carb. I try to eat paleo during the week, at least. So that's probably like the only cereal these days I eat. But if we're, if we're aligning the clock, favorite cereal growing up, it's gotta be them Lucky charms, man. Michael: They're always after me Lucky charms. Tom: Are you a guy who eats non marshmallows until the very end? And then you just go all marshmallow. Emil: Is there any other way to eat Lucky Charms? Michael: I don't trust anybody that eats Lucky Charms any other way? Emil: Yeah. Tom: Yeah. And remember that like promotion. They are like, oops, we made a mistake and just marshmallows, man, that person on the factory line. What a moron! Emil: Or a genius dude. He sold so many Lucky Charms boxes and he was promoted to like vice president. Tom: VP of product. Michael: That was like Playdo. Wasn't that? A mistake invented by mistake. So many of the greatest things. Pierre: Sticky notes. Tom: Sticky notes. Michael: Yeah. There you go. Alright, Pierre, what's your favorite breakfast cereal? And please don't say like the last pizza episode. I don't like breakfast cereal. Pierre: Well, okay. I don't eat breakfast cereal for breakfast. It's more of a dessert. If I'm going to eat cereal, it's going to be before bed. Michael: I don't always eat breakfast cereal, but when I do it before bed. Emil: I'm with Pierre man. Tom: I like that tip. I like that take, unless it's magic spoon. Go ahead. Pierre: Hmm. Chocolate granola, chocolate hazelnut granola. Michael: Nice, particular brand? Pierre: Oh man. It doesn't matter, really. I was raised on coupons, so whatever's on sale. Tom: Michael, you got one? Michael: You guys are all healthy. I'm like cocoa puffs fan. I like my milk, but I prefer it to be chocolate. So that's really all it is. It's just a vehicle to get more chocolate milk. I don't really care how it tastes. Emil: That is true. Just gives you chocolate milk at the end. Michael: That's right. Tom: I had a roommate, shout out to Carson Mobly. His, uh, he had this quote about food is just a vehicle for sauce. Michael: I've always felt that way about carrots and celery. It's just like, how do I get bar ranch into my mouth in a faster, more efficient way. Tom: It's just a vehicle for sauce. MIchael: That's great. All right, everybody. That was our episode. Thank you so much for listening. If you liked the episode, feel free to give us a rating or review wherever it is you listen to podcasts. Also feel free to subscribe so that you get the most up to date episodes automatically downloaded to your listening device. We look forward to seeing you on the next one. Happy investing! Tom: Happy investing. Emil: Very formal, happy investing.

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Vodafone's Cloud Native Journey with Tom Kivlin

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 29, 2020 27:22

Some of the highlights include: Why Vodafone moved to a cloud native architecture. As Tom explains, the company was struggling to manage operations across more than 20 markets. They also needed to improve the customer experience, and foster customer loyalty. Why their business and engineering teams were both in favor of cloud native. The benefits of deploying daily operational activities around a single cloud native platform. An overview of where Vodavone currently is in their overall cloud native journey. Tom also explains how cloud native conversations have changed inside of the company throughout their journey, as various business units have caught on to the benefits of the cloud. Vodafaone's transition from outsourcing roughly 97 percent of their operations, to bringing 95 percent in house. Tom explains how this has improved efficiency and expedited time to market. The challenge that Vodafone faced in trying to apply legacy network security solutions to distributed and dynamic systems. Tom's thoughts on why Vodafone's cloud native transition and modernization efforts have been crucial to their success over the last five years. Links: Vodafone Group: https://www.vodafone.com/ Connect with Tom on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tom-kivlin-5b469321 The Business of Cloud Native: http://thebusinessofcloudnative.com Tom's Twitter: https://twitter.com/tomkivlin CNCF GitHub: https://github.com/cncf CNCF Slack: https://slack.cncf.io/ Kubernetes Slack: http://slack.kubernetes.io/ TranscriptAnnouncer: Welcome to The Business of Cloud Native podcast, where we explore how end users talk and think about the transition to Kubernetes and cloud-native architectures.Emily: Welcome to The Business of Cloud Native. I'm Emily Omier, your host, and today I am chatting with Tom Kivlin. Tom, thank you so much for joining us.Tom: You're welcome. No problem.Emily: Let's just start out with having you introduce yourself. What do you do? Where do you work, and what do you actually do during your workday?Tom: Sure. So, I'm a principal cloud orchestration architect at Vodafone Group. I work in the UK. And my day job consists of providing guidance and strategy and architectural blueprints for cloud-native platforms within Vodafone. So, that's around providing guidance to the software domains that are looking to adopt cloud-native architectures and methodologies and also to the more traditional infrastructure domains to try and help them provide their services in a more cloud-native manner to those modern teams.Emily: And what does that mean when you go into the office—or your home office, go into your dining room where your laptop is, I don't know—what do you actually do? What does an average day look like?Tom: It can vary. So, depending on the activity at the time, it could be anything from preparing a global policy that needs to go through the senior technology leadership team, to preparing some extremely detailed requirements for selection process or creating some infrastructures code, or the code artifacts for the deployment of cloud-native services, whether that's in our lab, or to help our services teams within Vodafone.Emily: Tell me a little bit more about what pain made Vodafone think about moving to cloud-native and Kubernetes.Tom: Primarily, it was the challenge of having 25 different markets, or 23 now. We launched a digital strategy to—so back in 2015, we launched a five-year strategy, which we wanted to massively increase the rollout of 4G, of converged network offerings, of improved customer experience. And we found that the traditional way of managing software was not supportive enough in our ambition. And so, having to choose cloud-native technologies, things like Kubernetes, but also the modern operating models, that was the driver: it was to improve our customer experience, and our customer-affecting KPIs, really.Emily: And when you say it wasn't supportive enough, what do you mean specifically?Tom: So, things like time to market, for example. So, if we wanted to offer a new service—so one of the things that 4G started the drive towards was a more granulated service offering to consumers, and so lots of different things could be offered. And if it took you six months to think of an idea and then have to go through—or even longer than six months to get to the point where that could be offered to customers, even if it was just a very minor feature within an existing product, then that's not going to engender customer loyalty. And so, things like the cloud-native mindset, where there's a much closer link between the engineering teams and the customer, there are much shorter periods of time between ideas coming in from the customers and then being delivered back to the customers as product features, that sort of time to market was really enabled by cloud-native technologies and mindsets.Emily: And how does having two dozen, more or less, different markets, how does that play into the decision A) to move to cloud-native in general, and managing the IT infrastructure?Tom: So, one of the things that's really driven it is trying to simplify and reuse artifacts. So, if you've got 23 markets all doing a different thing, then there's obviously a lot of duplication happening across the group, whereas if everyone's using the same technology in the same platforms—take Kubernetes as the example—everyone can write their software for that platform. Everyone can write their operational ecosystem around that platform. So, the deployment artifacts, the pipelines, the day two operational activities, they can all be based around that single cloud-native platform. And so, that enables a huge amount of efficiency from the operational side. And that in turn allows those engineering teams to focus on things that are adding value to the business and the customer instead of having to focus on fairly low-level tasks that are just keeping the lights on, if you like.Emily: What's different for each one of those markets?Tom: So, it might be something like language, it might be something as simple as that. It may be that the offerings are slightly tweaked. So, rather than, I don't know, as an example, rather than Spotify being included as a kind of add on, it might be some other service that's more relevant to that market. It may be that there are particular regulatory requirements that are specific to a market that needs to be considered within the product design and the engineering of it. And so, having a cloud-native response allows sharing and reuse of artifacts where we can, but still allows for that customization where it's required.Emily: Where would you say Vodafone is in the cloud-native journey? Do you feel like you've, mission accomplished?Tom: So, mission accomplished, as in the first step, yeah. So, we set out a goal in 2015, to get a certain number of our applications to the Cloud, and that's largely been reached, I think, especially with our customer channels, so that the kind of points of interaction with the customer, the huge number of those are cloud-native today. And things like automated customer interaction with chatbots, and the like, that's all added to the cloud-nativeness of the interaction. As part of our next iteration, we'll be looking for more cloud-native software and cloud-native platforms, and that will start extending into the network systems themselves, as well as the more digital and easily modernizable layers, if you like.Emily: What sort of business value do you feel like you're looking for as you move to the next step?Tom: So, primarily, it's going to be driven by customer satisfaction and customer affecting KPIs, like I said before. That's always what's driven the business metrics anyway. So, things like being able to support the demand of the customer. So, whether that's the new 5G services, for increased bandwidth. So, obviously, if our network systems themselves are cloud-native, then taking advantage of the auto-scaling, and the auto-healing, and the autonomic nature, then the customer experience, and the customer satisfaction will increase. Improving time to market, so again, part of 5G is that the whole notion of creating more differentiating services, and so if we can do that through the cloud-native mindset with product owners being much more closely engaged with customers, then that improves our product offerings. And we can optimize our network profitability by using cloud-native features like modern big data analytics, and even AI and automation to improve the operations of the network. At the end of the day, the business value is improved customer satisfaction, which improves our financial performance, obviously.Emily: And when you started out in 2015, who was pushing for moving to cloud-native? Was this the business saying, “Hey, how do we improve customer satisfaction?” Was it engineering saying, “Hey, here's an idea for something that could help us move faster?” Who was behind that?Tom: That's a good question. I think it's probably an element of both. It was the opposite of the push me, pull you, I guess. So, there was engineering pushing on an open door, I suppose you could say. So, Cloud was a bit of a buzzword around that time anyway, but I think it's fair to say the concepts of improved time to market, improved stability, the potential for improved security, improved automation, and repeatability, they were all relatively easy sells to product teams who want to be able to sell products to customers. And once you're able to explain what problems those concepts solve, I think it became a bit of a, like I say, pushing on an open door.Emily: Can you tell me a little bit about the process of explaining what problems these things solve? Was there anything that was getting lost in translation?Tom: Yeah. I think the biggest thing that I can recall—obviously, it's a company-wide thing. I'm never going to be aware of everything that happens—certainly, it's critical to try and understand what the target operating model is before trying to say, “Here's the technology solution to it.” So, I think some of the lessons that were learnt in the early stages were, rather than trying to say, “Here's the technology answer to a modern way of working that hasn't been agreed or adopted or even understood yet,” let's do that part first, so people understand how they need to work in this modern kind of culture. And then the technology answers then make a bit more sense to people because they're able to say, “Okay, I understand the problems that's solving now because I'm now working in that way of working.” So, that's probably the biggest learning point I would take from the previous five years.Emily: Do you feel like the conversation, how did it evolve from the first conversations over the course of the past five years, and then what's it like now?Tom: It's very different now. The concept of Cloud and cloud-native has become a given and very well understood across the business, even outside of technology. So, we talked to other business units, and they're quite comfortable in understanding the benefits of Cloud. And it's now about when they mature into cloud-native, and when they mature operating models, rather than if. And it's now talking and giving guidance about how to do it, rather than trying to sell the concept itself. So, it just feels like you're at that next stage of not having to sell the idea anymore, and more into the detail of how to implement that idea.Emily: What would you say were some of the biggest surprises? And let's start with thinking about some of the biggest surprises, not necessarily technically but organizationally, in how engineering was talking with the business, how people were working together. Was there anything about this journey that was unexpected?Tom: Not particularly. I think the biggest change that happened, which was possibly unexpected when we started, was the level of insourcing that we have undertaken to support the cloud-native operating models, the time to market, and the modern engineering teams. So, we used to be around 97 percent outsourced or something like that, in terms of building software that wasn't just vendor supplied. And for all that software now, we're more like 95 percent in-house. And so, that's quite a big change, and I think that probably surprised people that A) we needed to do it, and B) that we have done it, and relatively successfully got pretty wide-scale digital engineering functions across many markets now.Emily: And why do you think that matters?Tom: Because it gives us control of the roadmap, it gives us control of that time to market cadence, and it allows us to use the data that our teams understand and know about, and to share that with other markets. So, as I say, even though an engineering team might be in the UK, they can share what they've done, they can share the artifacts, they can share the data that's driven decisions and software activity with other markets within Vodafone. And that just improves that efficiency, again.Emily: Do you think insourcing also improves customer satisfaction KPIs?Tom: Certainly we've seen that. So, whether that's a correlation or causation is kind of for someone with more access to more data than I've got. But certainly, we've seen an increase in online sales, and our digital marketing is more data-driven. And that has happened in correlation with the in-sourcing of software engineering skillset, yeah.Emily: Do you have any specific examples that come to mind in, maybe you are able to react in a way that wouldn't have been possible if you'd been using the old system?Tom: I'm not aware of any specific examples, unfortunately.Emily: Was there anything about the move to Kubernetes, to cloud-native, that you expected to be difficult, and wasn't. So, that was easier than you expected?Tom: That's a good question. I suspect the provision of multiple clusters. Kubernetes is difficult. It's a complex system, hence why there are so many cluster management vendor offerings available. And I think we chose a couple of partners early on in the journey to help us with that, and I think that really helped, and it made Kubernetes a little less scary for the software teams who were using it. So certainly, I've heard feedback—this is anecdotal, rather than anything that's evidence-driven—actually, just being able to create clusters and deploy into them was easier than people had thought when they were learning about Kubernetes through the quick start tutorials and the like.Emily: Was there anything that sticks out as being far more difficult than expected? The more unpleasant surprises?Tom: I wouldn't necessarily call them unpleasant, but obviously there's going to be a transition period—which we're in—between the traditional data-center-centric networking and network security policies and concepts, and those that work with Cloud and cloud-native platforms like Kubernetes. And there have definitely been challenges in trying to apply the legacy approach to network security with a distributed and dynamic system like Kubernetes, where you can't give everything a static IP address or even have separate subnets within a cluster for segregation, for example. It has to be done in a different way. You can still apply the same controls, they just have to be done in a different way. So, I think that's one of a few challenges that we found that we've had to work through with different vendors, with engineering teams, and with our internal teams to try and update our guidance on how to apply those controls.Emily: And to what extent have there been organizational challenges, and how have you gotten over those?Tom: That's a tricky one to answer, really. I think it all comes down to the balance between understanding and buying into a strategy, but then applying that to application lifecycle and investment lifecycles. So, I think this is probably true for any company: just because a strategy says this is the thing to do, you got a roadmap for your portfolio of applications and services that you need to balance a limited budget. And so, that's been the biggest challenge, is to try and identify how much of each budget at various levels can be spent on strategic activity, and then for which services, and trying to keep that balance, and bearing in mind that there are lots of different things pulling on that same pot of money.Emily: And what have you learned about managing that?Tom: I think primarily that there needs to be a holistic view of strategic projects. It's quite difficult to put the onus on a local budget, to spend the money to do something strategic when the benefits are probably—and the business case is probably seen more widely than the individual budget area. But I think it differs between situations, and between markets, and what's happening. I think the primary thing is to understand the costs of the strategy upfront, and try and work those costs into whatever needs doing over the period.Emily: A slightly different question, which is, is there anything you feel like in the cloud-native journey that you're still working on solving, that you haven't really figured out yet?Tom: I'm not sure whether we haven't figured this out yet, but one of the things we're putting a lot of effort in at the moment, is the use of advanced data and analytics platforms to try and drive even more network automation, and network planning efficiencies. So, I think it was last year at Google Next, we announced a partnership with Google to make use of their data services. And there's a few projects ongoing within Vodafone to try and drive the amount of knowledge and useful information we can gather from the vast quantities of data we have about our services and the customers that use them because the more we can use that data, the more we can respond to customer need in a timely manner, whether that's reactively in terms of operational response or whether that's proactively in seeing trends that we can then meet a need that may be unsaid yet.Emily: And if you were to talk to another engineering leader who was trying to push through the open door as you were saying, what advice would you give them?Tom: The biggest bit of advice is to understand the current way of working for whichever area you're—is on the other side of the door, and understand their pain points because it's not always the same answer. So, generalizing, it may be that one area is more than happy to have a centralized global platform offering, whether that's within our data centers, or public cloud, or both. Another area, just the way it's managed, may require a more distributed model, where the services are offered on a more market specific level. And so, I think that that's the main thing, is to understand the specifics of that area that you're talking to because it will affect how you want to architect and onwardly deploy and manage that technology.Emily: It would affect not just how you want to architect the technology, but also how you want to communicate what your plan is, right?Tom: Absolutely. Yeah. So, in the first of the examples I gave, where an area might be happy with a centralized service, that probably means they're already using one. The way you would communicate that would be via that existing channel, if you like. Whereas on the flip side, that kind of channel may not exist, and therefore running the project or projects and communicating with stakeholders would be much more distributed.Emily: At Vodafone was there ever any challenge selling it, not just over to the business side, but also selling internally inside engineering teams? Or was everyone pretty gung ho to do this?Tom: No, there's always challenges. I think again, it goes back to understanding the pain points of an area and understanding why things are the kind of as they are today, which I guess is general for things outside of technology and outside of Vodafone generally is. If you understand the position of the person you're debating with, then you're more likely to reach a common understanding than if you go into it with your own point of view and being unwilling to listen. So, I think that's the main thing is just being willing to listen, to understand pain points, and to be able to react to those within a strategy. You'd hope that it's flexible enough to be able to meet a wide range of needs without needing to necessarily change the overall vision.Emily: How important do you think this cloud-native transition has been for Vodafone?Tom: I think it's been crucial. I think we couldn't have done what we've done in the last five years without it. So, there's a video that our group CTO has posted on LinkedIn recently which highlighted a few things around improved mobile KPIs, we've got 4G in 21 markets, we've got the largest 5G in Europe, and all of those improvements from time to market I've already mentioned, we simply couldn't have done that without a modernization program to move to cloud-native across a number of our systems. So, yes, that's partly a technology thing, but also, it is such a cultural thing, and having that modern way of working where you have your modern engineering teams who are closer to the customer, but they're also—the different mindset of a modern engineering company where you're not afraid to try new things, and if you fail, you learn from them. And I think that's all part of what I would class as cloud-native, and that has been, like I say, it's been crucial for us to be able to get where we have been.Emily: It's interesting to think cloud-native means if you fail, you learn from it. That's a fairly basic concept, and yet true. I can see how that is, sort of, part of being cloud-native.Tom: Yeah, it's one of those things is quite a basic thing, but I think in traditional ways of working, the focus on the availability of systems and the performance of systems can blind everyone to the possibilities outside of that particular area of focus. And it puts pressure on people at all levels to try and minimize periods of downtime or periods of low performance. And over time, people become less and less willing to be able to try new things, through fear of failing because just the way people work it's difficult to learn from those failings because it affects customers. And so, what cloud-native technologies enable because of the way things are orchestrated—things are dynamic, things are repeatable—it's very easy to try new things, and not affect all customers. Now, obviously, good software engineering practices help as well. But I think the cloud-native technologies and the ways of working really do support the whole “learn by failing” premise.Emily: Do you think it would have been possible to get the customer satisfaction KPIs that you did, without moving to cloud-native, in any other way?Tom: I think the only way you could have done is by a huge investment in people and the traditional technologies. It would have been a much more expensive and slower journey, in my opinion.Emily: Anything else that you want to add about your experience moving to cloud-native?Tom: No, I don't think so. I think one of the things—like I said before, the increase in automation, the increase in the modern technologies is just really helped with those customer affecting KPIs, and that has to be the drive for why you're doing it.Emily: All right, just a couple more questions, then. What is your can't-live-without engineering tool?Tom: Oh, that's a good question. Probably Python. I think so many people use it either as a cross-platform scripting tool to be able to automate things and get on the first step towards cloud-native, or it's such a key part of many cloud-native tools like things like Ansible and other tools, and it's used hugely within our data analytics domain to try and drive the usefulness of the data. So, yeah, that's probably the one I'd choose.Emily: And then this actually is the last question which is, how can listeners follow you or connect with you?Tom: So, I'm on Twitter at @tomkivlin. I'm also on LinkedIn. So, I'm Tom Kivlin, working for Vodafone Group. I am a member of the telecom user group within the CNCF. So, you can find them on GitHub and also in the… I think it's the CNCF or the Kubernetes Slack. And yeah, happy to share experiences and keep learning.Emily: Well, thank you so much. Again, this is Tom Kivlin, and we'll go ahead and wrap it up there. Thank you so much, Tom.Announcer: Thank you for listening to The Business of Cloud Native podcast. Keep up with the latest on the podcast at thebusinessofcloudnative.com and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever fine podcasts are distributed. We'll see you next time.This has been HumblePod production. Stay humble.

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Sorozatok VS. Filmek - Hatásszünet 16. rész

Hatásszünet

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2020 43:45

"A filmek vagy a sorozatok a jobbak?"- Kérdezhetné az átlagos hallgató a Hatásszünet podcast műsorvezetőit, Mátét és Tomit, akik ebben az adásban megpróbálnak reagálni erre a kérdésre. Érdemes-e egyáltalán összehasonlítani a kettő, egymástól egyébként távol álló műfajt. Mindezek mellett sor kerül az általunk kedvelt filmekre/sorozatokra, melyeket meleg szívvel ajánlunk Nektek! Tartsatok velünk!

filmek nektek tartsatok mindezek tom it sorozatok

3 Simple Systems Every Investor Should Use to Efficiently Scale Their Portfolio

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2020 34:40

In this Episode Tom, Michael and Emil share their systems that take the headache out of acquisitions and ownership to effectively scale up. --- Transcript: Tom: Greetings and welcome to the remote real estate investor. My name is Tom Schneider, and I'm here with Emil Shour and Michael Albaum. And today we're going to be talking about something that is near and dear to my heart. We're talking about building systems. We're talking about automation. We're talking about scaling. We're going to touch on these topics and a couple of specific strategies as it relates to acquisitions and ownership. All right, let's do it. Tom: All right. Welcome back to The Remote Real Estate Investor. Before we get going today, we're going to do a quick introduction from the host a little bit about ourselves and our experience and background and all that good stuff. So, Michael, why don't you go ahead and lead us off? Michael: Sure. So I'm Michael Albaum. I used to work in my past life as a professional fire protection engineer in the commercial property insurance industry. So everyone has to bear with me if I speak in math terms, cause I'm a reformed engineer. I've been an investor for the better part of a decade and started very traditionally with single families. And now I've found a, found my stride and niche with multifamily value, add projects out in the Midwest. And I'm also the head coach of the Roofstock Academy program and meal. Can you introduce us to yourself and your mustache? Emil: Hey everybody. My name is Emil Shour. I work on the marketing team here at Roofstock. My fun fact is I actually bought a couple properties through Roofstock before I was ever working here. It was a big fan of what the company was doing and now lucky enough to get to help spread the word. And I own a couple single family rentals across the Southeast and Midwest. Tom: And my name is Tom Schneider. I am the director of investor education here at Roofstock. My career has been focusing on putting technology process to scale and build systems. So this episode is particularly exciting for me is how I do this personally, with my investing. I've been in real estate investing for over the past 10 years, and I'm also a California broker. Michael: Nice. Emil: The only one of us who's licensed. Where do you have your license hung somewhere as a broker? Tom: You can just hang it right around here. Michael: Yeah. Hang it on yourself. Tom: Hang it on myself. Michael: The broker test. Isn't so much more work than just the agent test, right? Tom: It is. They've made it harder when I got my broker's license, it wasn't quite as difficult, but they made the experience requirements a lot more difficult. It was kind of funny. I initially worked in acquisitions for one of the publicly traded rates and literally the day that I passed the broker test, the person who was leading our technology says, Hey Tom, we need a can-do guy to help build out a bunch of systems. And I was like, okay, cool. Let's do it. So I got my broker's license and then proceeded to never use it until I did use it when I bought my own house. So I guess it paid for itself there. Emil: What is the difference between an agent and a broker? Tom: I'll tell you, I should kind of have an idea on this. So an agent needs their license to be hung underneath the broker. The idea is a broker understands the business a little more and folks who are agents can eventually become a broker. If they wish to, they basically can operate on their own. So within California, you can apply for an agent or a broker. And the broker aspect of the test is a little bit harder and the requirements to get it is a little bit more difficult. Emil: Got it. So a broker can do everything an agent can do, but an agent can't do everything a broker can do. Tom: Yes. Yes, that's correct. That's a good way to put it. Michael: Getting ready for my broker tests. Emil: Awesome. I've already learned something on this episode! Tom: Early and often, baby early and often. All right. We'll jump into some system stuff. So we have a variety of different things and we're going to have a different one of the hosts take the lead in talking about. So we're going to start with acquisitions. And Emil, why don't you lead us off on some systems, some practical systems that folks can do on their own. Emil: It might be a little obvious, but I still think it's worth stating. Set up automated filters and alerts on the places you look for properties. If you're on Roofstock. If you guys are familiar with stock is our marketplace where people can buy and sell single family rental properties. You can go and filter by whatever meets your criteria and save that filter. So you get notifications when new properties hit the site that meet that filter requirement, same thing on other sites like Zillow or Redfin or realtor.com, wherever you're, once you've figured out your buy box. And I'll talk about that in a second. Defining it, plugging it in as a filter so you get automatic notifications cause you want to be on top of those listings, right? When they hit the site, right? It's a lot more effective than just constantly going on them and checking your listings. Even though I do that all the time anyways, Michael: I don't know about you guys, but I constantly get notifications from Zillow and Redfin about new properties that have hit the market, but I didn't save a filter even, you know, I searched there twice or three times and now I was like, Oh great. You're super hungry for properties in that market. So I'm just getting blasted by these emails. Yeah. Emil: Every time I look@realtor.com, like I was curious the other day about like, what do multifamily in Bakersfield sell for? And now I've just, I've been getting Bakersfield filter notifications from realtor.com. It's like, man, Tom: What's cool about these websites and the filters, a little pro tip is you can get really granular with your filters and set up multiple filters. So what I'll do is on my inbox that I have all set up multiple inboxes and I'll set up a filter within my I'm gonna, we're gonna do filters on filters. This is a very layered, Michael: Filter-ception Tom: Yeah. Very meta. So within my inbox, shout out Gmail, just kidding Emil: @Gmail, let us know if you want to sponsor us. Michael: Yeah. I've never heard of this Gmail, but this Tom Schneider guy talked about it. Tom: Anywho, I set up like a master folder for like incoming property leads. Right. Then within that I'll set up additional folders for each different type of either region or property type. So as new listings that meet my criteria are hitting. I have them in a nice clean folder, so, Oh, great. A new Florida property. That's a duplex in this area and I have a special folder for that. What I'll also do is oftentimes timing can be pretty important and moving quickly, instead of setting up a filter that comes just once a week or once a month, since I have this infrastructure within my Google Gmail, shout out again, I'll have it actually doing real time. So I'm not getting pinged in my main inbox if I'm working on some other stuff, but I have a way to see immediately based on whatever that criteria it's hitting that inbox. So again, the super simple paraphrase, but this isn't that complicated. I have a bunch of different inboxes within my Gmail. And then within the, my buying platforms, I'll set up many filters and many alerts and many immediate alerts. So it'll hit right into my Gmail and I'll know at that time, all right, this one looks pretty good and I can move pretty quickly. And I don't have that issue of, Oh, Property. It's already pending. Like I'm not passively looking for it. It's proactively hitting me as soon as it hits the market and I can act and jumped on it. So that was my extra tidbit on that piece of mill, Michael: That description Tom was amazing. It gave me such a visual of kind of how you operate. And it made me reflect about how I operate. And you, I'm picturing this nice, neat cubby with nice section organizers. And mind's like just a fricking melted pizza, but it's just crap everywhere. It's, I'm so jealous. I want to be like you and I grow up and have these systems, but in place, I love that. Tom: That's why we make a great team, Michael. That's why we make great team Michael: Coffee-man, and melted pizza. Emil: Oh yeah. I'm not surprised Tom is like the most organized out of all of us internally. And I'm not surprised when it comes to acquisitions. You're equally as organized with the pick and choose you pick and choose. There's definitely lots of messages. So one thing, if you're going to one of the sites we mentioned, and you're not sure how you should set your criteria, just know that it's okay to start a little wider. And then as you've looked at more and more listings, I think you'll get better at defining your buy box. I know we talk about it a lot and we say, okay, build your buy box. And sometimes it's hard to just like, know what to choose. Right. I kind of started larger. For example, I chose a couple of different markets, couple of different properties, size, like a bigger property size. Tom: I like it. You feel that you need to shoot with a sniper. I keep using these weapon analogies, but it's okay if you're not sure to start with like a broader spray and then work your way down as you refine what you're looking for. But I'd say it's better to keep it an open, an open range, and then, then shrink that down. Michael: Nick it down. Emil: Yup, exactly. And also because sometimes whoever uploaded the listing, sometimes they don't include that information. Right? So if you have like really, really specific defined criteria, you may miss something where whoever listed at the seller or the agent or whatever, just didn't submit that information. It doesn't hit the filter. I've noticed that on a couple of things. Michael: And just a pro tip for everybody listening to, if your budget is a hundred grand on the high end, set your filter up to one 20 to include properties that are listed above that because you might offer a 100K and get it. Versus if you set your filter criteria right at your end budget, you might never have seen those properties. Emil: Yeah great tip, go like 10, 20% above what you are actually planning on spending. Michael: It also gives you an idea of what the next tier of property looks like. So if you did want to ultimately spend more, no. What would that buy you? Tom: One last piece of advice on building a bike box is to think about how many properties do you practically want to evaluate at a given time? And yeah, you can control this with your buybacks by how targeted it is. So if I have a lot of time and I want to look at a lot of product properties, I'm going to have a really wide buy box. If I don't have a lot of time right now to evaluate properties, I'm going to tighten my buybacks down a little bit. So one way to think about it is to work backwards about what your kind of capacity is for evaluating effectively. Emil: It's also, I think when you're first starting out, I think it's okay to, again, to nail this point of going a little broader, I think with time and experience and having different property types, you'll start to get an idea of like, this is the exact property I want in this exact area. Tom: Awesome. Michael, do you wanna jump on your next acquisition system? Michael: Yeah, absolutely. So, so much of this, in addition to searching, can be done socially kind of quote unquote. And so just talking to everybody who's willing to listen and maybe even some of those who aren't, about what it is that you're looking for. So just in everyday conversations, talk to friends, family members, people in your network about what it is you're doing and what it is you're looking to do because so many eyes are going to be better than, than just one set. So if someone then comes across a property just in their everyday life and thinks, Oh, well, I remember Tom mentioning that he was kind of looking for something like this. That can be a great deal funnel for you as well. Property managers can also be a fantastic, fantastic source of deals for you, which is pretty automatic. You just tell them, Hey, this is what I'm looking for. You, you set your filter, so to speak with them and any property that comes across their radar. Oh, Hey. Yeah. I remember, you know, Emil, I kind of managed this property for him. And he's looking for something like this. It becomes so easy. And so automatic that it's one of those things you can just kind of say it and continue saying it and then forget it. There's not a whole lot of nurturing that has to be done with those types of things, other than some, you know, reminders. And don't be the person that, Hey, have you found any properties yet? Have you found any properties? Just put it out into the universe and just kind of let it, let it bake for a bit and see. Tom: It's like The Secret. You guys remember that book? Pierre: I'm still waiting for that check in the mail. Tom: It's coming! Wasn't it The Secret and then The Answer as a followup or something. Emil: Yeah. Tom: Incredible. Incredible marketing. Michael: I didn't read that one. What's The Secret about? Pierre: It's the laws attraction. Michael: Uh, okay. Okay. Pierre: It's when you focus on something for long enough and eventually it comes to you, essentially. Emil: That's right. You don't have to actually do anything. Just think about it every day. Hope for it every morning, but no action required. Just think about it. Michael: Million dollars, Million dollars! So it's interesting. So for the Academy book club, we just did Think and Grow Rich. And I thought that, you know, that was such a great title by Napoleon Hill and we read it and I thought it was really awesome and talked about a lot of kind of high level things, mindset type stuff. And it was talked about very similar type stuff. And it was, it was interesting. They're all talking about, you know, if we stand around here and talk about blue cars, we'll probably go out and see a bunch more blue cars. And it's not so much that there are more blue cars on the road. It's just that now we're cognizant of that thing. It's kind of front of mind. So it appears more often for us. Tom: Yeah. I love that example, Michael, cause not all systems are digital or not all systems are technology, but it's, it's leveraging the people side of your network of funneling in deals through that. So at the end of the day, like a lot of real estate is a people business and nurturing that and building a system that you want and funneling them in deals is excellent. Michael: All the real estate meetups that I went to, um, pre COVID, they all talk about they'll usually start or end with the needs and wants section. So people talk about, okay, this is what I need or is it “have and wants” Tom: Maybe it's a “give and a take”, I think I know what you are talking about. Michael: Yeah. You announced to the group, what it is that you have to offer to the group and then what it is that you're looking for from the group or from in general, until people say I have money and I'm looking for a deal or whatever. And so it's that those are great opportunities as well. And so again, just kind of reiterating, put it out to the world, don't be embarrassed by it. Don't be shy about it. Just make it known what it is you're looking for. Cause it's tough to help people if they haven't told you what it is that they're looking for. Tom: Awesome. Great example. All right. So I'll touch on the last acquisition related systems slash tip slash ways to scale. And this is a special perk that we have within Roofstock Academy is that members can actually export the listings on Roofstock into Excel. And whenever you can do things evaluating a lot of deals at once, like doing it in Excel, that's a great way to do it. So I guess that the main theme is, you know, try to batch processes together. And in this particular example of being able to download all the listings in Excel, batch that whole evaluation of the whole inventory, you know, in one run where, okay, I'm filtering down to these particular property types or, Oh, I'm filtering down for this particular return. So being able to, if you can get a spreadsheet of what you're evaluating or any kind of way, being able to batch it together, do it saves time. Michael: And for anybody that's really intimidated by Excel because I know it can often seem very intimidating. There are some really great free courses on YouTube and there are also paid courses. If you want to get more in depth with it, about how to use Excel and maybe how to do some of that batch sorting because it's a really powerful tool. So I guess we're plugging Excel and Gmail in this episode. Emil: Shout to Google and Microsoft! Tom: Let's continue on. We're going to go into ownership now and Emil why don't you lead us off. Emil: Cool. All right. So the first one we're gonna be talking about is cash flow automation. So the first thing I do and you guys let me know if you do this as well. I set up auto pay on all my mortgages. I don't want to think about, did I pay this mortgage? I have to mail a check. I auto pay everything just to make it super easy. Especially when you have multiple properties automating. It is like, step number one. You guys do that as well. Michael: Yeah, definitely. Absolutely. Tom: Do you also impound your insurance and property taxes when you pay your mortgage payment? Emil: I do. I know a lot of people won't because they want that capital and would rather use it throughout the year versus giving it to your lender, to hold it to whatever you like to be able to use that capital. I just don't want to have to think about like, okay, I need to come up with X amount to pay my property tax and insurance. It's kind of like duping yourself into thinking you're richer than you are. Michael: I don't, I don't use the impound accounts. I will, if they'll give me a better rate for the mortgage. And then as soon as the loan closes, I cancel the escrow account and just pay it myself. Tom: Sneaky move Michael. Michael: It's something I'm considering doing just from like a meal mentioned ease of operations. It's just one less thing to think about. So it can be great either way. Emil: Why do you not impound it? Michael: For the exact reason you mentioned there are significant funds that are going to be paid to property taxes and insurance on an annual basis. And so I'd rather have that kind of, well, that one time hit is kind of a bummer. I'm able to use that cash. I mean, it's a significant amount such that it's usable on a monthly basis to do other stuff with. And so I just know in the back of my mind that, okay, come this time of year, I've got this big, big property tax bill that's going to be due. Emil: Yeah. I wonder if there is something there in terms of like at a certain scale, it's a lot more money to be working with versus like, let's say you have one to five properties just for ease and it's not that much extra capital that you'd be able to do something with. Michael: Yeah, no, that's a good point. I mean, I think everyone should think about it for themselves because even at that five property level, one to five, your property tax bill could be, you know, $25,000 if we're talking about. Emil: Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Good point. Tom: Just to clarify impounding your taxes insurance is if you haven't deduced this or don't already know this, it's when you pay your mortgage payment, the mortgage company will also collect a percentage of the annual taxes. Michael: They'll take one 12th of the annual tax bill, one 12th of the annual insurance bill with your mortgage payment on a monthly basis. So that you're paying equal payments every month. You're not getting hit with your tax bill or insurance bill just at one time. Tom: And then the mortgage company will just pay it for you. So you don't have to think about it. So, boom, that's another system. So that's a good question about, you know, do you use that money in the meantime, if you don't have to pay it for 12 months, but that could be another potential system. Alright. Emil, I broke your flow. Emil: Finishing up there. My favorite thing is when they audit your account and you have an excess balance and they send you like a check for a couple of hundred bucks and you're like, Ooh, it's like a Christmas bonus or something. Hanukkah bonus baby. For me, Tom: I think I might've mentioned this on another podcast. I like it, but it pisses me off. Cause I'm like, oh geez, what check am I missing? Yeah, it makes me think like, okay, this is great having this check. But I'm like, like honestly concerned that like I may have missed something in the mail because man, there's just so much junk mail as a real estate investor. The wholesalers that email you all kinds of things and like just general, getting a lot of mail. I just get really concerned that I see a check here. That's awesome. But what checks am I not seeing? Because they're buried in between a Serina and Lilly or whatever, a catalog, that's like five pounds and 500 pages. Anyways, go ahead, please continue your answer. Emil: No, please continue your rant. I want to hear that. Tom: I got to build it up a little bit. I got to build it up a little bit. Michael: Tell us more about what other junk mail you received. Tom: We Buy Ugly Houses Houses. So many of those. Yeah. If there's any wholesalers listening, I want off your mailing lists. Emil: Okay. So the next one, this one's probably obvious a lot of people, setting up ACH auto payment from your property manager. So they collect your rent checks. I don't even know if any property managers do this, but like sending you a check in the mail. I imagine most people already set up you raising your hand, Michael. Cause do you do that? Michael: I used to get paper checks because my property manager was pretty old school and I said, okay, please, please, please, please, please, please, please. Can we do this and other way? Yeah, this is just not awesome anymore. Emil: I mean, so that should be like, even part of your PM property management vetting, right? Like, do you do, do you have an online portal where you ACH payments to me? So just make sure you set that up. If it's an option, most property managers in 2020, you will have that. Emil: Maybe Michael went to one that was established in 1925 or something. Michael: 1833 Tom: Is this is the one in Alaska? Michael: No, it's actually properties that I've since sold, but out in Missouri kind, of rural Missouri. And so just to expand upon this a little bit is I think we've talked about in another episode, but my property manager, there was only willing to use a certain bank or the local bank branch wasn't anything that we had locally or that I use. So they would go to this bank deposit, the rent check and then would cut me a check to my bank. It was just a whole pain in the butt kind of thing. So what we've automated is now they'll deposit the rent check and then those rent checks we'll get bill paid from that bank to my local bank where I actually do my banking and then from there and get distributed. And so if you can automate as many of those processes as possible, it becomes much easier. So ACH transfer a potentially from multiple bank accounts to multiple bank accounts, Tom: Are you're hiding something Michael? I'm just kidding. Michael: I don't know. You ever been to the Cayman islands? Tom: That's interesting that a local property manager had a preferred bank that they worked with and yeah, yeah. Michael: They're just like no Wells Fargo or B of A or union bank out there. So they're like, this is what we use. It's like cool, pony express it over to me. Emil: Carrier pigeon that's right. So the last one in this section, we recommend I do this. I have a separate bank account for all real estate stuff. It just makes things easier, especially come tax time. I also just like having it separate cause I try to treat real estate investing like a business to have its own checking account checking account. I use Chase, it's free to set up another checking account and it's just much easier to track things going in and out and it'll make your CPA's life easier. Do you guys do that as well? Michael: I was going to ask if you guys have separate accounts for every property? Tom: You know, it's funny, I just got off a Roofstock Academy coaching session before we started recording this episode and we were just jumping into it with a member exactly on this topic. I don't, I use just one account for all properties. It's just, I don't know, easier. And I don't understand necessarily see the value. Not that it's a lot of overhead to have different bank accounts because you can set them up for free on so many different banks, but I just use one for all the rental properties and yourself, Michael, Tom: I have one account per LLC. And so I've got LLCs that own multiple properties. So all that was kind of funnel into that one. Yeah. What about you, Emil? Emil? I'm just one checking account where everything funnels into nice. Just for ease. Makes it easy. Pierre: What would be one of the benefits of setting up an individual bank account for each property? Tom: The benefit of setting up, if you were to set up a different bank account for each property, you know, what I like about it at a portfolio level is I just have a really tight grip on cashflow within that portfolio. If I was to do it at an individual property, man, it would be just so clear if I'm making money or losing money. You know, we have these assumptions that we use when we are acquiring properties, but ultimately, you know, when the rubber hits the road, you hope to hit those or even exceed them. But you know, by having an individual bank account for that property, you have a really immediate, transparent view into, is this property performing to how I was projecting it with the cashflow. Michael: I was going to say, it's a really good question Pierre. I'm glad you asked it. So because I only have the one bank account set up, I think I'm echoing Tom's viewpoints and opinions that, yeah, it's very easy to see what the actual numbers are, but I found that I just keep an Excel file, very detailed document of, Hey, anytime there's an expense on a given property, I log it the date, the expense, and then the dollar amount. And so that for me, suffices as a very similar type of scenario without the headache, I would argue of having 10 different property accounts searching through which one has what I've got it all in a file for me, that's worked really, really well over the years. Emil: And your property manager, a lot of them you'll have a portal where you'll be able to see all your rent, all the management fees they've taken, they handle a lot of the smaller maintenance. So you'll see those expenses as well. So you also have your property manager, you can lean on, that's going to keep track off a lot of this stuff. The only other thing to track outside of that would be your payments to your lender and then property taxes and insurance. Michael: There's all kinds of miscellaneous stuff that you'll likely have to pay outside of that. So like business licenses, if you're required in that state or LLC fees, franchise tax fees in, you know, wherever you live and wherever it's registered, just misc miscellaneous stuff. And I just attach that to each property and whatever it's paid for, you know, even might have to pay a contractor, something if they're that's outside the scope of what your property manager is doing. And so having a place to document all of that, I find it to be very, very, helpful. Emil: Yup. I also keep a detailed Excel. I don't do it every month. I do it like bi-annually. Michael: Do you do it when you incur the expense or you do it as a reconciliation, every, you know, twice a year, Emil: The latter I do reconciliation. It's probably not the best, but I don't know. Pierre: Yeah. I mean, we're talking about automation, Emil: We're telling you what to aim for. We're not necessarily saying we all do this all the time. Michael: Do, as I say, not as I do. Emil: Exactly. And you know, you don't have to be perfect in all these areas. We're giving people just different ideas, you know, what makes sense to automate. Pierre: Cool Michael: It's one of those too like, we all have bad habits that we've fallen into over the years. And now in hindsight, we'd say, man, I wish I had formed this better habit. So here's what I would do differently. And it's so hard to break those bad habits. Like it's so hard. Tom: Getting the grove for sure. Michael: Yup. Very true. Emil: One other thing, we don't have it here, but I want to talk about it as well. This kind of goes back to acquisition automation, but, it goes back to the concept of paying yourself first. So a lot of us, you know, we have a full time job or we have W2, whatever it is, make sure you set up like an automatic percentage that every paycheck coming in is going towards your investing. So right now, like my process is 20% of every paycheck automatically gets taken out of my checking, put into a separate investing account. And I highly recommend people who are listening, check out a website called I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Satie he has this awesome guide. If you look up, I will teach you to be rich, personal finance guide. It shows you how to automate all this stuff, like having separate accounts for different things you're saving up for. I found that super easy and like a really good way to separate your money and like have kind of different categories and use them for separate things. So I have a separate investing savings account that automatically, you know, income coming in goes into that. So that's another automation thing I do. Michael: Piggybacking off that a meal I've also automated paying myself first from the rental amount every month. So when we do our analyses, we see, okay, we've got the mortgage payment, property taxes, all these other expenses that may or may not actually occur on a monthly basis, but we modeled them that way. So it makes the cash flow easier to understand. And so your property is going to collect rent. They're going to take their fee and are going to give you the rest. Well, now that's a huge chunk of change, but we've still got to pay some of these other expenses. And so we all have calculated on a monthly basis what our cash flow should be. And so I will automatically set up that deduction amount from my property bank account, going to my personal bank account, if I'm planning on using that cashflow for everyday life stuff. So if it's a hundred bucks a month, I just receive rent on the 10th or whatever of the month. And then I automatically have a hundred dollars transfer into my personal account. Everything else stays in the property account to then pay all those other expenses for. And at the end of the year, you had a good year. You might have some extra dollars left over and you can pay yourself again. Or if you had a bad year, you might need to put some additional money back into that. But it's a really easy way to just start collecting money from your properties without overdoing it. Tom: I like it. So the next operational system I'll jump on, has to do with documentation. So if you're an active investor, you will be regularly buying new properties. You will be regularly refinancing had a good episode, I guess it would be two weeks ago. Once this episode is launched on ways to take out equity, anywho, when you are going through that exercise, you're going to need the same documents again and again and again, you're going to need a copy of the current lease. You're gonna need a certificate of insurance. You're gonna need a sample mortgage payment. And what I like to do with this is to streamline this process is set up a folder structure that is secure. There's a couple of different platforms out there, Dropbox, maybe even Google drive, but you know, in a secure folder online, I'll have my relevant documents in there.And then I can use sharing functionality to give it specifically to my lender or specifically to my CPA. That way I'm not needing to constantly track down these documents that I'm going to need again and again and again, and I can safely share it with whoever needs it. So the main takeaway for this system, I guess you can call it that is, you know, don't sleep on it, just have that document structure set up a do it once and do it right and do it early and then have that available for whenever you go through one of these maneuvers, be it refinancing or taking on a new loan or going through tax time. Michael: It's so valuable. I know for my first property, I didn't have these systems really set up in place. I thought I did and then came tax time and I was like, Oh my God. So this is going to take so long to figure this out and go back and collect all these things. So, you know, it's one of those things. It's tough to know what you're looking for until you know what to look for. So ask somebody, ask, you know, ask your CPA, ask your tax professional. Hey, I'm investing in real estate. What things you're going to need from you at the end of the year, they're going to tell you, okay, we need your 1098. We're gonna need all your expenses, property tax, receipts, all these types of things. So that way you can start that ahead of time developing and building these good habits and systems. It makes it so much easier. Come tax time. Emil: I don't have anything else that neither does my mustache. Good job guys. Excellent. Tom: I actually thought of this while you were talking about it. So I love the concept of paying yourself first, right? And with paying yourself first, when you get your paycheck, it's pretty straight forward, right? You take the first 10%, 20%, whatever, and either save it or spend it. However, I like to think about this with your day. So paying yourself first, the first 10% of your day, how are you guys going to pay yourself first with the first 10% of your day? And you're not allowed to say surfing, Emil: I'll go one level up then and just say exercising. I think exercising for me has become as equally as important for my mental wellbeing for the day as it is physical. So for me, that's how I pay myself first to start the day, right? Tom: What are you doing for exercise? Michael: Surfing! Emil: I wish more surfing. Having a small child will put a dent in your surfing ability and it's summer, so the waves were a little slower. I will do. I'll either go for a run or I will do a combination of like pushups pull ups. Or I also use this thing called the seven minute workout app. It's literally a seven minute workout. I don't do long workouts. I don't like, I don't know. I used to spend more time working out, but for me, it's just a matter of like doing it almost daily to just start the day right. Whether it's seven minutes or 30 minutes. Michael: Classic Emil fashion, he stole my answer. But that's why I went first because you're going to try to take that out. So not surfing, but I like to do kite surfing and I also work out. Do you exercise in the morning? I find that getting my blood pumping helps kind of burn off that haziness in the morning. But since the meal took that already, I really liked journaling in the morning. Just even for a few minutes, a few paragraphs, just kind of what I'm thinking about. What's going on personally in my life and what my goals are. I read that book think and grow rich. And that reaffirm that journaling is a super powerful tool. I've always known it, but again, it's one of those bad habits that it's hard to break into if you're not used to doing it. So starting slow and just trying to get my thoughts out on paper outside of myself, I find it to be helpful and worthwhile. What about you Tom? Tom: So the first 10% of my day has gotten a lot earlier with a small child. So, you know, it's, it's now like the, you know, late five's early 6:00 AM is the first 10% of my day, but excellent partnership with my wife helping out. Well, she has the lion's share for sure, but on the extra early days, all right. I'm digressing. Okay. Going on a walk. So, I mean, I guess this is exercise. Sure. Why not? So getting the baby early morning, throwing him in a little jogger or the stroller walking around the street in the morning when like everything's still quiet and the sun's just creeping up over the Hills and the fog is kind of lifting journal in my head. I dunno. So like walking around in the early morning when nothing else is going on, I know that's a fine first 10% of the day way to pay yourself first. Michael: As the only person without a baby, just a PSA, you know, you probably shouldn't throw babies into or at anything whether it be a jogger or cribs. Tom: Oh, they're, they're pretty durable, but yeah, for sure, Emil: They are very durable. Pierre: Antifragile. Emil: Antifragile. Tom: Antifragile! Yes, they get stronger with it. Yeah. How about yourself Pierre? Your first 10% of the day? Pierre: I like to save my working out for the end of the day so I can have a break between my work day and the evening. So the morning is a good time for me to read. Emil: I used to read a lot in the morning, baby killed that. Tom: Got anything good? Any good books going? Pierre: I'm a little bit behind with the book club, but I'm reading the book that Michael chose for the RSA book club, Never Split the Difference. Emil: Great book. Pierre: And this morning I read the ebook that email sent me and the article on how to write better titles for the podcast. Emil: Got to keep the audience clicking. Michael: Yeah, that's great. Speaking of our audience, if anybody has any thoughts, suggestions, insights, hot topics they want to hear about. Please feel free to let us know at eshour@roofstock.com, malbaum@roofstoo.com, or tom@roofstock.com. Emil: Or hit us up on Twitter. I'm @emilshour, Michael you're @albaummichael. and Tom you are. Tom: I am not positive… I'm @tscnheido Michael: Freaky deaky Tom Tom: Yea, created like whatever, 15 years ago, something like that. Emil: I like it. Michael: Skater dude, 27 with an eight. Tom: Exactly. Awesome guys. Well, thank you so much for listening today. To our episode, we hope that you got some value out of it. If you liked it, please don't be shy. Please rate us. Please subscribe as a meal set. And like Michael and Emil said, reach out to us. We love to hear your feedback on future content to do and to keep driving. So, alright, happy investing. Emil: Happy, investing. Michael: Happy investing.

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The Top 4 Strategies to Convert Your Trapped Equity Into More Rental Properties

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 23, 2020 40:08

In this Episode Emil, Michael and Tom discuss the pros and cons of the HELOC, cash-out-refi, 1031 exchange and buy and sell strategies. --- Transcript: Emil: Hey everyone. Welcome back to another episode of The Remote Real Estate Investor. My name is Emil Shour, and today I am joined by my lovely co-hosts Michael Albaum and Tom Schneider. And today we're going to be talking about how you can use trapped equity to actually help you scale your portfolio. So let's dive into this one. Tom: Before we get into it, I want to give you a heads up on a promotion that we're running right now. So with Roofstock Academy, we have always benefits coaching on demand lectures, the tools, our SFR playbook, on and on, but the Roofstock marketplace credit's just got that much sweeter. So initially it was a $750 credit when you buy now it's a $2,500 credit. So you buy Roofstock Academy and for your next five transactions with no time limit, you're going to get $500 back at the close of your transaction. Michael: That's right, Tom. Thanks so much for sharing. And for all of our listeners, we're actually giving out a hundred dollar off coupon for an enrollment into the Rootstock Academy. So go ahead and use JULY4 at checkout and that's JULY and the number 4, at check out for a hundred dollars off every sock Academy enrollment. And that coupon code is good through July 4th of 2020. Tom: Take advantage of today. Happy investing. Awesome. Emil: Thanks Tom. All right, guys. So we're going to be talking about how to tap into trap equity to help you scale your portfolio before we get into the different ways. Why do you guys even think this is an important topic for investors to know about? Tom: This is gasoline to growing your portfolio? You know, buying a rental property is expensive, right? You know, it's not as expensive of buying an apartment complex, but once you start appreciating, having these properties appreciate and building equity, to being able to flip that appreciation into new rentals, honestly like that's really like a catalyst for growing your portfolio so much faster than needing to, you know, come up with all the new cash all at once. Michael: Totally, totally agree, Tom, just to echo and piggyback off that if you're taking a hundred dollars a month cashflow, just for sake of discussion from a property that's 1200 bucks a year, that's several years of saving that cash flow before you're ready for your next down payment.So being able to tap into the appreciation side of things, which tends to grow a lot faster and appreciating markets than the cashflow does, can be a really great way to just leverage into additional rentals. Just like Tom said. So hopefully I added some value there and didn't just say the same thing in different words, but I totally agree. Emil: It's funny because we're all I think in the same boat of we're all cashflow investors and we don't want to bank on appreciation, but when it does happen, there's all these benefits you can take advantage of to help you grow, right? Like most people probably think, Oh, I have to keep saving from my W2 or whatever you're doing to save up for properties. But there's actually a lot of different ways you can come up with the funds to keep acquiring new rental properties. Michael: Absolutely. It can come from a number of different buckets. Emil: Yep. Tom: Something that's, similar to us three is where we're not necessarily need to use the returns we're making on our investment properties right now where I think we both think of it, of the cashflow reinvest that dividends into new properties, as well as the appreciation reinvest that appreciation is new properties. And today's episode is just about that ladder of return and how to actually actualize that to investing in new properties with the appreciation. Emil: Yep. All right. So now let's get into the specifics of how you can actually tap into that trapped equity. And we're going to be highlighting four different strategies. You can use first one being HELOC or home equity line of credit. Second one is a cash out refinance. Third is a 10 31 exchange and the last one is selling a property and using those funds to buy a new property. Michael: Yeah, absolutely Emil. So, a HELOC, like you said, as a home equity line of credit and it's something that I'm super excited about. It's something I've used a lot. It's a very, very powerful tool in the real estate arena. So basically what it is is it's a line of credit. Think of it like a credit card that gets established on the equity in your home. So if you've got a primary mortgage, call it a hundred thousand dollars and you've got a hundred thousand dollars of equity in the property, a lender might give you 80% or 70% of the equity in a line of credit, which means they might give you a 70,000 or an $80,000 line of credit. And what it is, it's basically just like I said, a credit card. And so you actually get a check book in the mail and if you need access to that $70,000, you can write yourself a check and you'll have $70,000 as soon as that check, clears your bank. So this can be really great. That can be used as a down payment that can be used to go buy a new car that can be used for home improvements. I definitely wouldn't recommend the car thing because that's a depreciating asset. It doesn't give you any kind of return on your money, but it's just a really, really, really flexible way to have access to quick cash. And then really nice thing about a HELOC is that you're only paying on the balance if it's outstanding. So let's say I set up this HELOC for $70,000 day one. I don't use any, I just have the line sitting there. There's a closing cost associated with setting that lineup, but it's usually pretty minimal, but so now I have access to that $70,000 and I can use it in any increment that I'd like. So let's say next week I want to buy a property. And $20,000 is my down payment. I'll write myself a self, a check for 20 grand close on that new property. Now I'm off to the races. And now let's say a month from now, I get a bonus for $20,000 at my job. And I decide that I want to pay back that line of credit. I can make a $20,000 payment back to the line of credit. And now my outstanding balance is zero, which means I have no monthly payments on that line of credit. The other nice thing about HELOCs is that they're typically interest only payments. So on that $20,000 example, I just gave that I had outstanding. I'd be making interest only payments, which as we all know are going to be significantly smaller than a fully amortized principle and interest payments, some important things to note about HELOCs and their interest only payments, typically they are going to be variable interest rates, which means they're going to fluctuate from month to month. So if I have a 5% interest rate this month, I might be at five and a half or six or 7% month next month. So we just need to be aware of that. But again, if we look at the math and just go back to our $20,000 example, the difference between a 5% interest rate and a 7% interest rate in terms of interest, only payments on a monthly basis is pretty negligible. So I, you know, when I first started using a HELOC and I'll get into it at the end, I thought, wow, the interest rate is 6%. That's crazy. I can go borrow money at 4%. Why would anyone use this, this HELOC thing at 6%? But again, as it comes back to the interest only payment, it's a so much, it's often a much more affordable and digestible payment amount to be allowing you to do things with that money that you might not ordinarily be able to do. So that was a super long winded answer. I know Tom thoughts, feedbacks opinion, additions? Tom : Love a HELOC. It's like basically a bazooka in your back pocket. Like if you need to like a bunch of cash real quick, like let's say a great deal comes up and you're like cash of like actual, you know, liquid position is low. If you have an open HELOC, you can quickly tap into that and use it. Like for opportunistically, the rates that are available now are pretty incredible. I have one through right now from third federal. Yep. That's the name of it? And it is like hovering like mid two per two point somewhere in the middle. Holy smokes. I'm looking at my app right now and it's unreal and it's, you know, I jumped into it without knowing a little bit about it, but kind of just Guinea pig my way through and setting the line of credit up on my personal residence. And it's as wonderful as it sounds, but just having this huge cash, I'm using the capital right now, doing some improvements to the house that I live at, but what's, what's great is there is no HELOC police. You can use the funds to on whatever you want to use it on. You can use it for buying rental property. You can use it for buying a car. As Michael said, I think you said it was a good investment to get a car. Anyways. I don't remember. Michael: Yeah a Lamborghini is the best. Tom: Yeah, HELOC really powerful way to dip into your appreciation that you have. Something that I'm thinking about on the risk side is I don't, who knows what's going to happen with rates? I think into 2021, it could potentially go either way, but I don't want to leave. Myself on the hook for if there is a spike up, just because like Michael said, they are variable rates. I don't want to leave too big of a balance that I can't get out of, but it's a really great resource to have. If you're able to set one up. Michael: Such a great point, talking about risk Tom. One thing that's really important to note is that a locked is actually a second position mortgage. And so if you've got an outstanding balance that you don't pay on your house or the property that the HELOC is established on could be foreclosed on via that he locked. Even if your primary mortgage or your first mortgage is up to date. So it's gotta be treated with respect. It's it's still a mortgage. It has all the ramifications of a mortgage. So just be aware of that, but they are such, such a flexible tool. Emil: Nice job guys. You guys covered this one. Well, I have a couple questions for you as someone who's never done a HELOC, never used a HELOC, Michael, you mentioned there's some closing costs. How do those compare to a cash out refinance or just, you know, when you're regular, when you're getting financing, those closing costs, how do they compare to that? Michael: Super, super minimal? I think I set up my line for like 500 bucks. It was the cost of the appraisal. And then like some miscellaneous minor fees. It was super, super cheap. Tom: That's right. And on the appraisal, they didn't even send someone out to appraise the property. Michael: Someone did a desktop appraisal. Tom: I think they may have even waive that fee on that one, the one that I did, but yeah, it's marginal costs. Emil: Okay. I was going to ask you guys about appraisals as well. How do they do that? Do they send somebody out? Do they do desktop? Michael: So depending on the size of the property, they might send somebody out. But yeah, for mine, it was just as on a single family home. Emil: Got it. Tom: Another piece about HELOCs is, as Michael said, you know, it's a delta between the value of the home and the, your first mortgage, different companies. That issue HELOCs may have a different percentage that they go up to, to the value. So the one that I'm in right now, it's the balance of my mortgage, excuse me, 80% of the value of my home that the appraiser comes up with minus the balance of my mortgage. So the point that I'm making is for this particular lender, it's 80%, but I've seen HELOC companies, I believe the San Francisco Fireman's credit union or something, they go up to 90%. Don't quote me on that. But there are some HELOCs that go up to 90% of the value of the home, which, you know, if you're trying to build a, a big arsenal of having HELOC funds, going up to 90% of the value is pretty, pretty incredible. But this was a while ago when I looked at this. So I'm not sure if it's still available, but the point is it's not a one size fits all. Just like mortgages are not one size fits all. Emil: Nice, good job guys. Well covered. Alright. So any, anything else before we move on to cash out, refinance? Tom: Might as well do it, go get a HELOC Michael: Yeah, I was gonna say one last point is it's one of those things that there is very little consequence to doing it and not using it. So I would so much rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. And so for the $500 expense, I mean, these typically have a five to 10 year drought period. So they'll reevaluate in five or 10 years. If they still want to grant you this line, if you don't use it for five years, okay. Not a big deal. It cost you 500 bucks, but if you do use it, you are going to be so, so, so thankful. I promise you that you establish your future self will thank your past self for having set this up on a property, especially when values seem to be quite high at this moment in time, kind of throughout the markets. Tom: I'll come in with one last question. Michael, do you have. On your rental property? Cause I know a lot of lenders don't like doing HELOCs on rental properties, Tom: Like I have it on my personal house. What I'd love to, for you to riff on that real quick. Michael: Yeah. I've got it on a rental property that I own free and clear. So it was much easier to do because most lenders don't like to come in and a second position lien. Uh, so if you have a free and clear property, you have a primary with some equity in it. Those can both be really great candidates for, although I was talking with a student within the Academy and they were saying that they found a headlock provider that would come in and second position behind a mortgage company on an investment property. So those, you know, everything exists under the sun. So you've just got to go out and find it. Emil: I don't know if you guys answered this or mentioned it, what's the period on a HELOC usually when is that payment due? Is it five years, 10 years down the road. Michael: So typically it's it's between five and 10 years, depending on what the HELOC stipulates, but it's, again, it's an interest only payment. And so if you're paying it back slowly over 10 years, and then you still have a balance, usually it'll just convert to a standard mortgage at that point, whatever interest rate is, and that all be stipulated by the lender specifically. Emil: Got it. Okay. Thanks for clarifying. All right. Let's move on to the cash out refinance now. So basically a cash out refinance replaces your current home loan with a new mortgage that's higher than your outstanding loan balance. And what you're doing is that difference. You're pulling that back out as cash. And what's awesome about this. Just like the HELOC is that this is money you're getting and it's not taxed your, your home appreciates. You're redoing the loan and taking out that difference. And it's untaxed, which is really, really nice as an investor. Michael: Can you give us some like math, some, some number of breakdowns in meal about what that might look like for an investor? Emil: Yeah. So let's say you let's make it simple. You purchase a property at a hundred thousand dollars and you put 20% down. So you have a outstanding loan of 80,000, your home appreciates to 150,000. So your equity has gone up 50K. So now you basically redo the loan at an 80%. Some lenders only can go up to 75% loan to value. So you're making, what is that? What does that difference? The 50 K times 75%, Michael's doing the math 112. Okay. So your original loan was 80 and now your new loan is for 112. So the difference is $32,000. So minus some closing costs, let's call it 3000 bucks. You're able to pull out around $29,000 in your cash out refinance. And now your new mortgage is for 112,000 instead of that original 80,000. So some of the things to be conscious of here, you might, let's say you, your home appreciates like the example we just gave. And before you had a cash flowing property, you may, you want to be careful to not over leverage yourself. So now you have a property that's not cash flowing. Maybe you were making a hundred, $150 of cashflow a month before with very conservative estimates. Now your new loan you're basically breaking even each month or maybe even paying into the property. So that's when I think of some of the cons with a cash out refinance, I think some people may over leverage themselves to get that extra cash, create, turn a cash flowing property into one that's negative cash flow. Tom: An alligator Emil: An alligator as our friend Michael Zuber a likes to call it. Michael: So I've, I've got an opinion on this. And so I always say, especially within the Academy with a lot of people I coach consult with that, we have to look at cash out refi is as really a two step process. Step one is getting the cash. And step two is what are you doing with that cash? Because if we can go then buy a second property that will yield us $250 in cashflow a month, as opposed to are just single at one 50, as long as our cumulative sum is greater than its parts. I think that's a good move. Even if I have to have a negative cash flowing property in order to obtain a better one, I'm willing to do that. Tom, what do you think? Whose side are you on? Tom: It really depends on what your situation is. If you are not needing the cash flow. Now, you know the scale I would advise if you build your portfolio, there's a lot of value in that. As long as you're cognizant of your LTV as a whole, cause you know, with doing a cash out refi, your loan to value is going to go up. So being conservative with that, but if you have the opportunity to scale your portfolio and you don't need the cashflow now, I think you're going to have two lines in the pond with multiple properties of doing that cash out refi and buying another unit with that would be what I would recommend. Does that answer it? Michael: Yeah, totally. You're on team Michael. That's awesome. Team michael for the win. Emil: You guys are being silly, don't have negative cash flow on properties. Come on, rule number 1. Michael: But if your cumulative cashflow is now greater than your single positive cashflow, does that carry any water for you? Emil: Okay. In our example, what do we pull out? Like 30 K you'd have to use that 30 K as a new down-payment. Michael: Correct. Emil: Let's say your, your old property was cashflowing a hundred bucks and now it's at zero. So your 30 K would have to go find a new property. That's going to cashflow. I mean, yeah, at least a hundred bucks, 150 to make it worth it. Michael: I would argue that it would need, yeah, we need to need to cash flow significantly more than what you were previously making because you could have done nothing and ended up with the same cashflow. So I need, in my opinion, should cash out at least 200. Yeah. Emil: I mean, it sounds good on paper. Is that possible? Can you take that and go steamroll into more cashflow? Michael: Watch me, challenge accepted. No, I have, of course I think the numbers have to work and we're, we're just using examples numbers for the sake of discussion to illustrate a point. But I guess the point that that I would take is that if I'm comfortable and again, like Tom said, it's a very personal decision and you've got to evaluate everyone at their own specific point in life and what their, what their properties look like and what their business looks like. But I'm comfortable killing the cashflow on property a to have a increased cashflow on property B that is cumulatively greater than just a alone. Emil: Yeah. You're more of a risk taker than me. I'm a little more conservative, but to each their own. Michael: To each his own! Emil: All right. Cool. Anything else on cash out refinance we should cover. When do you guys think the cash out refinance is better than the HELOC and vice versa? Tom: Well, the nice thing about the cash out refinance is if rates, as they are now are at a very low number. When you do a cash out refinance, you're going to lock that rate in for 30 years or, or whatever the terms are versus the HELOC. You know, you're still on the rollercoaster on where rates are going. So for me right now, just basically cash out refi the majority of my portfolio to tap into these super low rates that we have. So thinking longterm, looking at the rate. Michael: I totally agree. I think it all comes back down to what your plan or what the individual's plan is for that cash. If they know that they're going to be buying something in the next three to six months, you know, cash out refi could be a great way to go if they don't know what they're going to do with the cash, but they know that they want cash, HELOC can be a great way to go because you're not paying on that cash to just sit in your bank account, like you are with it with a cash out refi. So, and there's nothing to say that you can't do a hybrid approach, take a little bit of cash out and also set up a HELOC for that remaining equity balance. That can be a really, really great way to go and a really powerful tool. It's something else that just keep in mind is that your rate is going to change from your original mortgage when you do a cash out refi. So you're basically wiping that first mortgage clean and getting a brand new, totally new mortgage. So whatever the rates in terms are of that new one, that's what you've got to come to terms with. And then the last thing to think about is I've heard this said from a number of different people, is that if you're a, towards the end of your mortgage, when go do a refinance that resets the clock back to year one on a 30 year payback for a single family home conventional mortgage. So if you're at the end of your mortgage cycle, you're paying this significant balance towards the principal. You are just gobbling away at that principal balance, which is really, really nice. Versus if you resetting the clock. Now we're paying the vast majority of that payment is going to the interest. So the balance is going to be decreasing at a slower rate than if we're towards the end of our, of the life of our mortgage. So again, just something to consider, to keep in mind, to be cognizant of, as you're looking at considering doing our cash out refi, Tom: Great point. Hybrid, and it's not a one size fits all you can, if you could use both, have both guns and missiles.But that example, I would say that the HELOC would be the gun and the cashout refi would be the missile, like the kind of a bigger, you know, locked in. Michael: I thought that HELOC was the bazooka man. Now you're changing it up Emil: So destructive today Tom. Michael: Someone played command and conquer as a kid. Tom: Too much coffee. Emil: Man, you guys are making my job easy. Like I don't have anything to add on top of like your final notes. Cool. Let's let's move on to the next one, 1031 exchange. Tom, you want to take the lead on this one? Tom: Yeah. So we'll hit this one pretty quickly. We had an episode earlier episode, I think four or five somewhere in there. Anyway. So at 1031 exchange is deferral. So it is selling a property, not paying any taxes on the proceeds from that sale and rolling all of those proceeds into buying a new property. So with a 1031, there are some rules that you need to adhere to. And a high level example of those rules is you need to identify properties within a specific period. There is rules around the value that you're selling to what you can buy. And we recommend talking to a 10 31 professional company to understand those rules, but the big shtick for a 10 31 exchange is you're selling your property. You're making a bunch of money and you're not paying any taxes on those. You're deferring those now eventually when you do sell and do not use the proceeds to buy another property, which we'll talk about. Michael: The thing that you're getting at Tom, is that you can continue rolling that deferment via 1031 exchanging every property that you then buy and then subsequently sell. So if you sell property via 10 31 exchange to buy property B, when you're ready to sell property, be 10 31, exchange that into property C and so on and so forth, such that you're deferring, deferring, deferring your capital gains tax until the point at which you might not be around anymore. And then whoever you leave that building to gets a step up in basis. And that basically wipes away the capital gains tax that they would have to pay. So, yeah, echoing what you said, go talk to a 1031 professional before attempting this go to the episode that we did on 1031 exchanges, it's really, really informative, but it's a really, really great way to sell properties and not have to worry about paying the capital gains tax. Emil: Yeah. And I looked it up. It was episode 15 was a 1031 episode. Tom: Awesome, reasons that you would want to do a 10 31 is perhaps you're moving your portfolio, moving geographies. Perhaps you're changing to more of an appreciation asset to more of a cash flowing assets. Perhaps you want to take one property and use the proceeds to buy multiple properties or the other way around. There's so many different use cases for doing a 1031 exchange and the mechanics of it, of deferring the tax payment are available for all of them. Emil: Yeah. Michael: So what would be a con, why wouldn't you want to do it today? Tom: You wouldn't want to do a 1031. I mean, you're, you're selling the property. So if it's an asset that you like, like, you know, you are changing assets, you know what other ones cons are? Emil: Oh, the, the timeline you have, right? So sometimes I think it's like a 45 day or 60 day timeline to identify the next property that you're going to re 1031 into. And so sometimes I think you could feel like it's forcing your hand into maybe a so so deal versus something where you wait, you know, maybe you pay the capital gains on it, but you finding a better property cause you, you're not restricted to this short time window. Michael: Mhm Tom: Other con I would put is versus those initial two with the HELOC and the cash out refinance, you have a very good idea on how much money you're going to have available from that maneuver. But with a 1031 exchange, you're selling the property. So there are just a lot more variables on what you're going to get when you for when you sell the property versus like knowing what the, what the rates are and whatnot with a, with a HELOC and a cash out refi. Michael: Yep. And one additional point to add on top of that time, I always seem to be picking piggybacking off you cause you've got such great points. Is your back tired yet from carrying me? Tom: I'll call you Jansport. Go ahead Michael: Is, you know, in the first that we talked about, we're tapping into the equity and now have a usable cash. In addition to still controlling the asset. When we go to sell as with the 10 31 and selling a property straight up as we're going to talk on in a minute, we now no longer own the asset. And in the example of a 1031, we don't have the cash because we need to use all of that cash to buy a new property. Now, of course, if we don't use all the cash, that's called boot and that can be taxed at capital gains rate, whatever. But if the idea is to pay as little capital gains possible, we want to be using all of that gain into a new property. There's going to be nothing left over for us and usable cash. Emil: Talk about boot a little bit. You mentioned it briefly. Michael, do you know that? I think it's the boot is, let's say you sold your property at 200,000. You go and find another property for 150 K you still have $50,000 that isn't used in the 1031 exchange. And so if you don't use that within your 1031 timeline, you're still taxed on that $50,000 capital gain or whatever. Michael: Exactly whatever that Delta is, whatever is not used up is leftover and that's called boot, Tom: Yeah. And that's a con example, you know, you're, you're fitting a little bit more of a piece of a puzzle and you can't fit it just right. You're going to have some taxes. Sorry Emil, go ahead. Emil: All right. Michael, do you want to close us out on selling a property straight up without a 1031 exchange? Michael: Yeah. So last and final way to tap into the trapped equity is just sell a property straight up. So instead of doing a HELOC or a cash out refi or temporary one, just sell the property. If you bought it for a hundred, now you can sell it for 120, sell it for 120. You'll walk away with 20 K and you'll have to pay uncle Sam, the capital gains on that. And depending on what your personal financial situation looks like, that's going to dictate what that game might look like. So if we call it a cool and easy 25%, you'll walk away with 15 grand in your pocket, not a bad payday at the end of the day. So I think a lot of people get hung up in, Oh, I've got to do 10 31. So I've got to do cash. Every fire, I've got to do a HELOC. If you just need the cash quick and you just want to be done with the property, for whatever reason, you just want the cash, you don't want to have to worry about it. Just sell the property. It can be a really, really great option. And again, depending on your personal financial situation, that's going to dictate how much tax you may or may not have to pay on that gain. So Emil, do you have any pros cons to this type of thing? Okay. Emil: Yeah. So I have a personal example of this recently. So I bought a property about two years ago and recently decided to sell it, ended up selling it for the same price I bought it for, for me. So I didn't have to worry about a 1031. I didn't have any capital gains to worry about. I basically ended up a little bit below break even. I lost $1,200 you factor in cashflow and selling and all that stuff. But for me, I wanted, I wanted this down payment back, right. I put 25% down on this property. I wanted my down payment back to be able to go use it on something better that that property was okay. Cashflow property, but I'm pursuing a little bit different of a strategy right now. And there's, again, there's all these different ways you can tap into money. This, this property hadn't appreciated. So cash out refi hayloft weren't really options for me, but I wanted to get a nice chunk of cash right now. And so I just decided to sell this property at basically no gain. So this is something I used recently. Michael: So that's a massive pro. Okay. Emil: Right, exactly. Tom: I like that example because you know, you got you, you dipped your toe and you know, maybe it wasn't like the property you wanted, but I think that the takeaway that I hear from it is, you know, when you do these maneuvers and nothing is locked in stone and you know, these are all, some excellent tools that you have in your back when you are investing in real estate. And there is some appreciation, some extra equity, but ultimately, you know, doing, you have a lot more options within this type of investment and to have these options available, you got to get in, you know? Yeah, Michael: Absolutely. And Emil is something too that I don't think we touched on yet is, is the tax advantages that you've had for the last two years as a result of owning that property. So if we looked at the total total, total return factoring in loan, pay down appreciation, tax benefits, all this kind of thing, my guess is you're, you're gonna end, you're still gonna end up in net positive. So even though you didn't see any true dollars gained in your pocket, if we turn the clock back and look, two years in reverse, you probably did better on this than you would have had otherwise. Emil: Right. And, and to echo Tom's point, it's a learning experience. I didn't lose that much. Right? Like obviously there's an opportunity cost of that money making money over the last two years versus losing. But I think that's part of it, right? I think a lot of real estate investors only talk about the big wins and sometimes it's not always rosy, there are some things that happen that were isn't what you expected. But the important thing is you learn something from each, each maneuver each step Michael: Nicely said, Tom, do you have any good examples of any instances where you've maybe used one or multiple of these strategies to grab some tap equity, some trapped equity? Tom: Yep. So HELOC on my personal house, have that line of credit, uh, did a cash out refinance. It was two years ago on some properties and actually going through a couple of them right now getting a lot of dry powder available if using a lot of, yeah. Of a weapon analogies, Michael: A lot of pirate puns today, Tom: A lot of pirate puns, dry powder anyway, and then did a 1031, a couple of years ago, getting out of a specific geography or I guess a better way to say it is concentrating into a different market than that current, that property was in. And just like we were talking about earlier in doing these exercises, you get experience and kind of understand them that much better Michael: Love that. Emil: How about you, Michael? Any stories you want to call out on using these strategies? Michael: Yeah, sure. So I bought a property, all cash awhile back and then day one cash out refi, 80% of the sale price, which the lender was gracious enough to give me and then basically took all of that cash and put it into the rehabbing of that property. And now that property is worth a whole lot more. And so I intend to go cash out refi again. Now at the higher value after the rehabs all said and done, everything's leased up. So some important things to think about are the refinance costs that I incurred now twice. Thankfully the lender that I work with, the refinance costs, it's the same lender I use for my, HELOC their refinance costs are pretty minimal. So it's not a big deal as far as the costs are concerned, but it's a really great way recycle that cash and only needing to have that initial chunk of change to buy the property, all cash. Obviously we have to make sure that the rehab costs aren't going to exceed the, the 80% refinance of the initial purchase, but that's a really, really, really great tool that I like to use a really great strategy is buying all cash, turning around, refinancing, getting that cash out and then go, go doing it again somewhere else. So then again, I've already spoken about the HELOC I've used. So using those two things in conjunction has been a really, really great way for me to be able to scale pretty rapidly and take advantage of some killer deals that have popped up on the radar over, over the last couple of years. Tom: So one more thing I'll add real quick is knowing what your loan to value is. Um, that's just really important with any of these tools. You want to just make sure that you have an appropriate balance between the total mortgages or HELOC value or whatever out on the property versus the value of the property. And I think, you know, at a minimum, you know, 75%, 80% loan devalue, more conservatively, you can get down to 60%. Well, I'd love to hear what you guys think is an appropriate loan to value ratio. Emil: I'm probably personally pushing it to like the 75 80% cause I'm in growth mode right now. I think later on at some point, just for peace of mind, it's going to switch to, okay, how do I increase my equity on these properties? Maybe sell properties to own certain other properties free and clear, but right now it's kind of just grow. And then I think it will be switching to how do we make this more efficient. Michael: Yeah, anytime I get this question, I think of that song, push it to the limit, push it to them. Cause I totally echoing Emil. I levered up as much as I could when I was in growth mode. And I've talked about this in other episodes. Now I'm looking to really streamline and become super, super lean, super efficient and reduce my loan to value and just being able to do more with less. I also think that depending on the deal itself, I mean, if the, if the value isn't there, but you've got a high loan because it just, the property isn't super valuable, but it cashflows really well. So your debt service coverage ratio, the amount of income that you're bringing in compared to the debt on the property is, is really powerful. Then I'm more okay with that. You know, if I've got the cashflow to cover the debt, even though it might be a very high debt ratio, I'm, I'm comfortable with that. And so everybody's got to reconcile that for themselves and determine what their risk appetite looks like and how comfortable they are with the values that they're working with. But no, I like him he'll have, have levered up as much as I possibly can. What about you, Tom? Tom: Yeah. Growth, growth mode. I mean, debt is cheap right now. So keeping it at, you know, 70% I think is a number that I keep in a keep in the back of my head, and not getting, getting beyond that. Cause once you start getting involved that you risk where if there is like a downturn in the, in the market, getting under water where the value of the loan is greater than the cost of the house, I think it's pretty unlikely, but that's how a lot of people got in trouble in that 2008 crisis is the value of the loans greatly exceeded the value of the houses. And that's not a position that you want to get in. So that's why you want to build that buffer. It's kind of, it's similar to the alligator expression, a property that cashflow is negative. The version of that for value is a property that's underwater. So the worst animal in the real estate investing zoo is the underwater alligator. Emil: Yes. Don't be an underwater alligator finishing strong. Michael: Yeah. Emil: I have a question for you guys. Let's say you have a rental property and does go underwater, right? As long as you have a tenant, who's covering rent, your mortgage, all that stuff. Does it matter? Like as you know, real estate goes in, cycles goes up and down. Let's say you temporarily go underwater, but you're still cash flowing. You're still able to pay everything off. Do you guys think that matters? Tom: It really depends on your situation. Like if you are an ultra growth mode and you are not at risk of not servicing your debt payments, even if you do have a vacancy or something, I think that's fine, but it's pretty situational. So if you have good other sources of income to be able to cover those shortcomings, I think that's fine, but you need to have a, an end game plan as well as some contingencies, if things go sideways, which sometimes they do. Michael: Yeah. You know, it's a great question Emil one that comes up a lot within the Academy. And it's something that I don't pay a whole lot of attention to as far as the value, because I agree that it doesn't really matter. Nothing about that. Snapshot in time has changed. If you have a rental renter paying the rent, your income has not changed. It's totally independent of the value. So as long as you don't need to do anything with that property, either sell it or refinance it or try to get a heat lock on it. It has no impact on the financial picture. In that snapshot of time, of course it'll affect your net worth and all that kind of a thing. But again, it doesn't affect the property's performance. And it's kind of like a stock. If a stock has gone down in value, we don't automatically say, okay, we now we're going to sell it. It's an unrealized gain or loss until we do something with it. Buy, sell refinance. Emil: Yeah. Yeah. I think the same thing I think about it a lot, I guess it's just the unknown of will you need to sell for some unknown life events, right? And then it's, you're putting yourself at risk in that way. Michael: Exactly. Exactly. But that gets into the bigger discussion of having reserves and not, not ever being in that position because you never want to have to fire sale something. Emil: Sure. Cool. I always think about that one. I was curious to get your guys' thoughts on it too. Michael: What's your guys's spirit animal and the real estate investing zoo? Tom: An Eagle. No. Michael: Why? Tom: Agile. Peregrine. Falcon. Fastest animal. Next question. Michael: Yeah, but you're at the zoo. So you've got your wings clipped. Same answer? Tom: I'd fix them. I'm like a lizard. Michael: Grow new wigs that are better faster stronger. Emil, what's your real estate spirit animal? Emil: Oh man. My monkey swinging from property to property. I don't know, man. Michael: That's a good one. Eating bananas the whole time, right? Emil: Exactly. Yourself. Michael? Michael: I'm a duck man. I said it before. I'll say it again. I'm floating. Looking calm on the surface underwater. I'm paddling hardest. Emil: Well, thank you as always everybody for tuning into this episode, make sure you go and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, you get new episodes. And if you enjoy the show, please leave us a review. We want to know what you think and we'll catch you on the next episode. Happy investing. Michael: Happy investing Tom: Happy investing

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The Secret Sauce Behind Roofstock's Valuation Reports

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2020 23:46

In this episode, Emil and Tom talk with Leandra Figueroa, the Valuations Manager at Roofstock, about what goes into our valuation reports. --- Transcript: Emil: Hey everyone. Welcome back to another episode of The Remote Real Estate Investor. My name is Emil Shour, and today I got my co-host Tom Schneider, and we're going to be talking to our valuations manager here at Roofstock. Her name is Leandra Figueroa. We're going to be learning all about what goes into our valuation reports, how Leandra and her team compiled those and what it means for investors. So let's hop in Emil: Leandra. Thanks for coming on the show. We're excited to have you guided to be here. So like we do before any episode, anytime we have a guest on I go and I scour their LinkedIn, creep on their LinkedIn just to get a background on them. And I noticed that you've been appraising and running valuations for over a decade now, but can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and what you do here at Roofstock? Leandra: So here at Roofstock, I started as a pricing analyst, basically looking at the properties that the sellers are looking to list on Roofstock and looking at the sales comps for that specific property, you know, the same size similar condition, and actually seeing what the property could sell for in our marketplace. Emil: Nice. And how long have you been at Roofstock Leandra: Just made three years last month. Thank you. Tom: 21 years in dog years as a startup, Leandra: It feels that way. Emil: So run me through kind of just, you and your team day to day. What are you guys really focusing on? Leandra: So we have a couple of variations of tasks that come through their valuation tasks. They could be initial pricing tasks. This is where the sellers first engaging with our account managers and kind of just feeling out to see what we feel the price range could be, what they could sell this property for. And then we have another set of tasks where right before a property gets published, you know, the inspection is completed through the certification team, and then we're actually able to give a more accurate opinion of value because we have an inspection report. So that's another step. Those are another bunch of tasks that we do prior to publishing. And then another one that we look at, I guess, similar to the initial pricing is the seller self service. This is where the seller actually requests the valuations themselves and kind of just try to flow through the roof, that process. And so that's another way that we also value the properties that come through. Tom: That's really interesting. How you talking about this funnel? You're talking about, you know, you do this initial pricing and then you get more information with condition. How big of swings do you see? And I'd love to learn a little bit from an appraiser. Like what is the ways that an appraiser thinks about condition? Because I understand there are categories, right? Leandra: Correct. Correct. So there's a C1 through C5 and C5 being new construction, never lived in. Though funny enough, some of our sellers, they have a 1960s home and they'll select C1 as the condition. Tom: But it's beautiful. It's beautiful. Just kidding. Leandra: What do you mean it's not C1? Tom: That's literally brand new build, right? Leandra: Yes. It's absolutely only for new builds and this is in the appraisal world and then C2, maybe more high end rehab renovation. C3 is average, maybe some updates here and there. C4 no updates like normal wear and tear. C5 and C6 is almost like uninhabitable and, and needs major repairs. So yeah, Tom: How big of a swing do you get in valuation based on condition? You know, if you had to do it like… Leandra: From our initial pricing? Tom: Yeah, just kind of a curious question Leandra: I wouldn't say there's too much of a difference. I think if anything, like I said, some sellers will say, it's the one and then the inspection report comes back and it's more like C3. So we know when sellers say C1, it's just, it's just telling us that they've done some rehab work. And so we kind of try to value it as a C3. And then if it turns out that, you know, after reviewing the inspection report that they did do these high end upgrades, then we're actually going to look for the right comparable and not just stick it at C3. We're going to look for the C2 comps. So it's rare that there's a large variance, I would say maybe five to 7% of the time. It's completely out of range from where we were initially Tom (04:47): Trust, but verify, trust, but verify. I got it. Leandra: Yep. Emil: Some people who are listening, they're not even sure where, so we publish these valuation reports with each listing that goes on our site. Can you tell the listeners where they can access that with each property? Leandra: In the analysis tab for each listing, you'll be able to see the valuation report. Initially when you first look at the listing, you'll see the range, you'll see the value range, you'll see the rent range, but clicking on the analysis tab would actually show you the PDF of the report. Tom: And in that PDF, it's pretty much all the homework, right? You can see the actual comps and the sale date and the square footage. Leandra: Correct. And if you wanted to see photos of the comparable to kind of just for your own knowledge and how we're comparing it to the subject, you know, just a quick Google search on those comps would be able to show you some photos of the comps we use. Emil: Got it. Yeah. I was going to ask what's in there besides, I mean, valuation range, obviously you guys pull comps as well. I think neighborhood score is in there. Is there anything else that we add in there? Leandra: I believe just the subjects data, just your bill bed back, count footage, lot size neighborhood score. I believe school score that's in that as well. And sales comps are going to be in there. Perfect. Emil: Awesome. Okay. Can you run us through someone who's never done evaluation? Just what does that even look like? Where do you start? What are the processes you go through to get all these comps and come up with the evaluation report? Leandra: Well, at Roofstock, I mean, the first thing is like, that's verify the data. You know, the seller comes to us with a three bedroom, two bath with 700 square feet and it's like, Ooh, something seems off here. So then we want to look at County records. We want to just see what other data we can find. Funny enough, I have a situation that I ran into this morning where it's a 900 square foot triplex with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. What we found was there was a finished basement that actually has two units. And so what you want to do in those situations, so first verify the data. You want to make sure that we are going to value this properly and you wouldn't be able to use in that situation that I had this morning, priplex comps were all the square footage is above grade. You really want to find one where, you know, there's a main floor and then there's a finished basement with a unit down there. Like that's going to be your best comparable sales. So going back to just the process itself, it's verifying the data before you actually can find what you're looking for, find the right comps, because you want to make sure that you're looking at sales that are recent, especially with market changes. And you want to look at sales that are similar in size, similar in bed bath, count your build location and condition. Emil: Where are you looking for those comps? Is it Zillow? Is it somewhere else? Leandra: So we actually have a couple of third party vendors that we use that generate data, sales data, probably from the local MLS or just County record data for prior sales. And so we're taking all that data and actually looking at the ones closest in proximity to the subject. That's really going to define the neighborhood and what that property could sell for. Cause like we know values can differ from one block to another. You see that a lot in Chicago or neighborhoods that are vastly different from blocks of blocks. So we look at third party sources sometimes we'll look at Zillow, but for the most part to sales, we see on Zillow, we've also seen from the data that we pull. Tom: I think there's this interesting art and science to an appraisal. And you know, you're talking about finding properties that are close in proximity and recent sale. And ideally, you know, you find something that was sold right next door, exact make model. At what point do you put, you know that, Oh, that's too old of a sale that, that shouldn't count in my analysis or, Oh, that's too much square footage. I'd be curious. It's just some general that you, as a longtime appraiser, think about as not valid in comparing. Leandra: I mean, if the house right next door sold within 12 months, I would still use that as a comp because you have to do this side by side comparison to even see if there was an adjustment in value for that market, for that property. So you have to take more than one comp to figure out what the adjustment is for size, what the adjustment is, if any, for bed bath count and what it is for time, you know, if any, from what the value is today versus where it was last year. So you have to do that analysis with at least three properties. And that's why appraisals tend to have at least three sold comps. So you can really dial it down and figure out what the adjustments are for the different features of the subject. Tom: Yeah. So that makes sense in that appraisal, it will be much more difficult in areas or more subjective if there isn't a lot of sales. Am I understanding that right? Leandra: Yeah, that is correct. It's really just based on, and lenders tend to give the most weight to sales comps just because it's kind of like insurance for them. We know we can sell it for this price, should the borrower default or you know, something along those lines. So in areas where there's less sales happening within 12 months, it tends to be difficult. Sometimes we'll have to expand further, go back 18 months and actually apply a time adjustment for those comps that we're using. And even then, it's kind of still just hard to figure out we're having to expand outside the subjects, immediate neighborhood to try to find at least three solid comparables. Emil: That makes sense. I wrote down a question, I forgot to ask you, as you were going through how we do the evaluations, you mentioned there was a finished basement in that triplex, I'm curious are finished basements included in square footage on a home, or it has to be above ground or whatever you would call it. Leandra: Correct. On the standard appraisal form. Basements are separated from the above grade square footage. So although this property has two units that are clearly generating income for the owner, that value would be in line on the sales comp grid with the basement and not that above grade level. So it's super important that we find a comp with a similar unit in the basement, which can sometimes be a needle in a haystack, but, but we'll keep expanding and we'll keep doing those time adjustments. If we need to just to find that one, that's really going to help us figure out what this could sell for. So, yeah, you're right. It's not included in the above grade square footage Tom: Leandra. I know a lot of investors both on the buy and the sell side. They look at Zillow, right? It's super easy. It's kind of tasty, just a single number. What would you have to say to investors who are really banking on that number either as a seller, as a buyer, as that is the truth about what the valuation is on the property? Leandra: I would say, don't. No, I mean on the surface, it's nice to see, but I wouldn't just stick with one, right? Like look@realtor.com. Look at Redfin, look at Zillow. And more importantly, Zillow has a really nice tool where you can actually dial it down to properties that are more similar in size, kind of how we look for comparable properties when we're valuing our listings, you could do the same thing in Zillow. There's a filter section where you can filter out the small stuff, the big stuff, the stuff different in size. I mean, I'm different in age, different in size and kind of like narrow your search radius to really get a good idea of what your property could be worth. But definitely don't be fixated on that zestimate or that Redfin estimate. Do your own research and do your own comp polls super easy. Zillow has that nifty tool. And I would definitely start there. Tom: That's great. So get into it. Look at the actual sales comps before leaning so heavily just on that one number they pull up. That's great. Emil: I want to second that actually. So I track my Zestimate pretty regularly and the first property I bought, it's been about three years since I bought it. And it looked like on paper, according to the Zestimate that it had appreciated like $40,000. So I went to do a cash out refi and it was significantly less just because I think this is just not knowing any better. You really, really have to take into account the quality, like you mentioned, right? Like they're just probably doing it more so based off size, square footage and the surrounding area, but off all the homes in the area where they're coming up with that, or the kitchens are brand new, the bathrooms are brand new in your home. It's a little more dated. You're not going to get in that range. Leandra: Right. You're right. Tom: You think you're a C2 Emil, you're a C3 Emil. Emil: I'm a total C3. Leandra: No, you hit it right on the nose with that. I mean, Zillow takes all the sales and Zillow doesn't know what the condition is of your property or the property, the other properties that have sold. So that's where really takes that human touch to really figure out and dig deeper. Like, you know, is this actually a good comp. Emil: Right Tom: My other question that I have is, so you look at tons of comps all the time. I'd be interested if you've noticed any trends we're roughly, I don't know, two, three months going into a pandemic. Have you noticed any things with the sales price or do you think it's still too early to notice any adjustments and I'd love your thoughts on it? Leandra: Yeah. I mean, still valuing properties today. Honestly, I have not seen yet any big price drops to where it's significant. What I have seen is a slowdown in actual sales. So a lot of sales data is more from like March, December, January. There's really not too many recent transactions. And then rightly so, right. People may are a little nervous, but I haven't seen a decline in crisis yet. Tom: It's the function of doing transactions have been stalled up with shelter in place and not being able to go out and do appraisals and counties shutting down. That makes a lot of sense. Leandra: Yeah, definitely. Emil: One of the last things I wanted to ask you, so these valuation ranges we have on our reports, what percent of the time is the appraisal coming back in that range? How often are we basically missing? Do we have any data around that Leandra: we do. It's a small percentage that we're missing. I would say less than 10% of the time. We might have an appraisal that comes in below our value range, but nine times out of 10, almost the appraisal or the actual sell price is within our value range. Emil: I'm curious, have there been any scenarios where the appraisal comes in lower and someone uses our valuation report to go back to the bank or the appraiser to actually rebut it and it comes in higher? Leandra: Yes. Whenever that happens, the transaction team reaches out to my team and we review the appraisal report. We review our report and the sales comps we use versus the comps the appraiser used and just see what type of adjustments the appraiser will used in their reports. I had one recently where the appraiser didn't even review the purchase contract. So they don't even know how much this property is being purchased for. And a lot of people just see this as a non MLS sale. So they think there's a discount applied to our properties when there's not. So in those cases, him, I will prepare a rebuttal and send it to the lender. And then the lender would send it back to the appraiser just to kind of review. We might give them additional comps to consider or comment on why it wasn't used in their report. Emil: Nice. Okay. That's awesome. I didn't even know he provided that. That's great. Tom: Another question into the crystal ball of appraisals and valuations. So I know right now for originating loans, right? You'd get your appraisal done. And they've always been very particular about doing the full shebang, like an appraiser going to the site. And my understanding is they're getting a little bit looser, at least on the refinance where they're allowing what's called a desktop appraisal. I'd love for you to touch on your thoughts on, you know, where this is going and maybe touch on a little bit about kind of like a desktop appraisal. Like how is that different? And then also, where do you think the, uh, the crystal ball going? I like it, how my voice gets higher as I'm at the end of my sentence. It's like aggressively like full off. Okay, go ahead. Leandra: You know, even pre COVID Fannie Mae was already working on some sort of desktop reports to help lenders kind of speed up the appraisal process. There's markets today where it takes two weeks to get an appraisal done, maybe even longer, because there's not a lot of appraisers in that area. So in an effort to try to speed up the process, that transaction process or the processing of alone, they were already working on what the industry calls a 1004 P and it's basically a desktop report for appraisers, but an inspector goes and does the inspection. And somehow this was supposed to speed up the process because then appraisers are not having to go out and do the inspection themselves. There's someone else doing it, doing that part of the work, and then giving that information to the appraiser. And the appraiser is just sitting at home, cranking out these desktop reports. Leandra: So now with COVID-19, I've seen a lot of lenders lean towards, and this is great for everyone's safety is using desktop reports. The only setback to a desktop report is if you had like a brand new remodel done on your house and you're refinancing the, appraiser's not going to know that, um, the appraiser's going to do just based on exterior or what I've seen. There's a company that a couple colleagues work for where they're doing this inspection report. Having the owners actually take photos of their interior and send that to the appraiser. So there's ways around it without, you know, having to expose anyone to anything, you know, for the safety of inspectors and appraisers and for the safety of the homeowners and the people that live there. I have seen more desktops being ordered right now, which is great. I think we could still do an accurate appraisal without having to go inside the property. Tom: That's great. Yeah. I want to get credit for that C2. Leandra: You really do. I'm seeing like a $500,000 difference. One of my colleagues did an appraisal in Montclair and it was valued at 1.2 million. And then the borrower's like, hold on. I did all this work. Like I know my house is worth more. And then my friend went back and actually was like, Oh my gosh, this is nothing like the prior MLS photos. Like I was completely wrong. And the value came back at 1.7M. So it's important to actually see if you've done any remodeling for an interior, some sort of interior inspection to be done, whether it's the borrower taking the photos or, or the appraiser just doing the inspection. Tom: Makes sense. All right. Time for some quick fire questions. Hope you're ready. I hope you're ready. So we do this with some guests. It's a quick either or decision some real estate related some not really real estate related, but all right. So are you ready for this Leandra? Leandra: Okay. Tom: High rent growth or low vacancy. Leandra: Wow. That's tough. No vacancy. Tom: Good choice. Safe play. I liked that one too. Yeah. Leandra: Yeah. Slow and steady wins the race. I mean, at least it's consistent. Tom: Yeah. Flow or appreciation cash flow. Leandra: Cash flow Tom: Ooh. Is surprising from an appraiser. Not thinking about that appreciation, but yeah. Debt or equity? Leandra: Equity Tom: Equity, love it. Local or remote investing? Leandra: Ooh. I mean, if I was local in Memphis, then I might say local, but remote. Definitely Tom: Single family or multifamily? Leandra: Ooh, that's a good one. I actually have a lot of people ask me about that. Multifamily. Tom: Ooh. Do you notice a big difference in appreciation between the two, like over the last several years? Leandra: No. No, not at all. Not really. I think why I would choose multifamily is just a higher cash flow. You know, more rents coming in and again, with the low vacancy, you know, it just sounds like a win for me. Tom: Turnkey or massive project? Leandra: Turn key. Tom: All right. My last three questions, midnight oil or early bird worm? Leandra: Early bird worm. Tom: Love it. Text message or email? Leandra: Text Tom: And the last question. Olive oil or butter? Leandra: Olive oil Tom: Love it. All right. You did it. You made it through. Excellent. Emil: Well done. Leandra: Oh my God. That was so fun. Tom: Well, thank you so much for coming on Leandra. This was enlightening. I love to talk about valuations with you and always learning a little bit. This is fantastic. Leandra: Thanks for having me. This is great. Emil: Thanks again to Leandra for coming on our show. This week learned a lot. I hope you did as well before you guys go, wanted to tell you about some new we have going on at Roofstock. It is our referral program. So if you invite your friends and they buy or sell a rental property on Roofstock, you get $250. And so does your friends. So just head over to [inaudible] dot com slash my dash referrals, and you'll be able to invite your friends with a simple link. And again, if they end up buying a property or selling a property through the Roofstock marketplace, they'll get $250 and you'll get $250 for every friend. You refer to check that out and we'll check you out on next week's episode. See you later. Happy investing. Tom: Happy investing

covid-19 god time trust chicago google local safe funny debt honestly reports mls correct valuations secret sauce emil zillow multifamily c4 7m redfin c2 montclair c5 basements c6 zestimates roofstock tom schneider tom it tom you tom how tom yeah remote real estate investor

How to Stack The Odds in Your Favor and Become The “Lucky Duck” Investor

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 16, 2020 32:03

In this Episode, Tom, Michael and Emil talk about the element of luck in real estate investing and how to put in the work to be ready to move when opportunity arises. --- Transcript: Tom: Greetings and welcome to the remote real estate investor. In today's episode, we're going to be talking about the concept of chance luck. It goes by many names. And how does it apply to real estate investing? How can you tip the scales in your favor and what are the hosts thoughts on the different aspects of luck? All right, let's do it. Tom: All right, guys. So today's episode, as we alluded to in the intro, we're going to be talking about the elements of luck and how it applies to real estate investing. And before we get into any specific, I'd love to hear from both you guys, a meal and Michael, are you guys lucky? What are your thoughts on luck and real estate investing at a high level and lucky that's, you know, I ask that questions in your life. And it's a interview question that a lot of companies use where they ask if an applicant is lucky and they take luck, which I think might be a theme, at least for me, in this episode of, by putting a lot of little things in your favor, it can generate luck in your favor. So anyways, Michael, you go first, go ahead and spiels your kind of thoughts on luck. Michael: And yeah, so, you know, I thought for a long time that I was a very lucky person, things kind of seemed to go well for me overall. And then I think it was my dad who first told me that luck is just preparation, meeting opportunity. And I wholeheartedly believe in that. I think that people who are lucky or who appear lucky from the outside are probably doing a lot of things that go unnoticed. And an analogy is like a duck treading water on the surface of like super calm. But underneath there is so much going on and the surface wouldn't look the way it did, if what was going on beneath the surface wasn't happening. So I do consider myself a lucky person, but I also think that I spend a ton of time, energy and effort preparing for the opportunities that I seem to encounter. Tom: I love the visual, the visual just got me. Michael: Yeah Emil, what about you? Emil: Michael, you're such an optimist. Every time I talk to you, I'm like, I need to be more like Michael and just be just super optimistic. I'm kind of, it depends on the day you ask me, I was chatting with somebody the other day and it feels like the moments you're unlucky things just pile on, right? You have a tenant issue or things that feel like headaches and make you feel unlucky. A lot of times in real estate investing for whatever reason it is, they pile on top of each other at the same time. And then you have these mud like months go by and you're seeing your property value go up. You haven't had any tenant issues, no big maintenance costs. And you're like, man, I'm so lucky. I'm collecting passive income, not doing anything. So for me, I'm kinda, there's times where I feel super lucky and times where I feel unlucky. So I don't know. Tom: I like that for you. Emil: Straight answer for you. Tom: It comes in bunches. Michael: Yeah. When it rains, it pours. Yeah. Who's got any more platitudes to pile on. Emil: We're getting real basic on this episode. Michael: What about you Tom? Do you consider yourself lucky? Tom: Yeah. I consider myself a lucky person. For sure. I think it's similar to, like you were saying, Michael it's where preparation meets opportunity. There definitely are things outside of your control where no matter what you do, like things can go up or things can go down. But as a whole, I'd say the arc tends to go towards, you know, taking care of the little things and all that stuff adds up or not taking care of the little things and all that stuff adds up and tends to bend towards whatever. I don't know how you would put it either your work ethic or just taking care of knowing where to put the work in is really important. So I, you know, yes, there is definitely some elements of chance and luck that are real, but generally speaking, I think a lot of times people create their own luck. So how I want to apply this to remote real estate investing is I've broken down categories where I think chance exists and we're going to go through all of them and talk about them. The ways that we can tip the scale in our favor and the categories I have selected. And you guys, we can add some other ones, but we're going to jump into each one is property value. So appreciation kind of like neighborhood related stuff, the tenant. So either evictions or renewing leases or the rent going up, the property condition, repairs and maintenance and acquisitions, those are going to be our four key categories. And we're just going to spend time in each category, knocking them down and onto the next one. So it makes sense, guys, let's do it. Let's do it. Alright. Property value, Emil. Why don't you lead us on this one? So let's talk about the different aspects of luck in property value. Emil: So for me, the big one here, the luck part of it is choosing an area that appreciates, well, I think it's probably two things choosing a market that appreciates well and choosing an area within that market that seems to be appreciating is more desirable than the other parts of town. Those I would say are probably the two luck aspects. Do you guys have anything else to add on property value? Tom: Yeah, I'd say there's, you know, with property value, a way to get above the fold of the luck is just looking at all those variables that go into appreciation and there are several of them. So crime population growth, different major economic centers. So I mean, my thought with property value is, you know, it's not throwing a dart at a board, there's doing your homework and looking at some of those key contributing factors to appreciation. You can get ahead of the curve with that. Emil: So I have some examples of good luck and bad luck I'm gonna lead with the bad luck story. So a property I bought about two years ago out in Memphis, bought it for around 63,500 has a one, a half or two star neighborhood rating on Roofstock. I ended up holding it for about two years, decent cash flowing property, but I ended up just selling it last month, took me a couple months to sell it. And I ended up selling it for basically what I paid for. So even after two years, the market's been great across the country, took me several months to sell it and it didn't appreciate at all. And we had just made some repairs to the property. So that was an instance where I probably bought, I lean too hard on cashflow, right. And bought in a one and a half star neighborhood, so lower quality neighborhood and the property, it didn't end up appreciating as much as some of the properties I have in other markets where the neighborhood is just better and the market better as well. One of the other things I probably could have accounted for is Memphis. I learned this later, Memphis has a lot of great cash flowing properties, but there's a lot of rental properties. And it's just one of those markets that you're not going to see a lot of appreciation here. So my goal wasn't when I bought this, I didn't think I'd be selling it two years down the road and my goal wasn't appreciation. But… Michael: Did you anticipate to see some appreciation from the property in addition to cashflow? Emil: I mean, I think we all do, right. I think we're all cashflow and we've talked about what do we want cashflow or appreciation? We're all cashflow investors, but you start to realize that appreciation is really an amazing cherry on top. And it allows like if you hold for a small period of time, your property appreciates, you can just steam roll that, snowball that into another property. That's maybe bringing you more cashflow. So it's, I've realized it's a little shortsighted to just think about cashflow. Tom: I think that's a good example. You know, in thinking about appreciation is it's in property value. It's luck if you close your eyes and just kind of throw a dart at the board, but if you're proactive in evaluating, what are the different underpinnings that make for appreciation, it becomes less of a luck thing. Right? So talk about an example where you would say you were lucky with appreciation and how maybe it wasn't so much luck looking at it in hindsight. Michael: So my very first property I bought in Southern California, I had no idea what I was doing. And we talked about it in a prior episode, or we talk about our first deals. And so I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew the market a little bit just anecdotally, because I had spent time there as a kid. So I thought of my first investment, I'll just buy into their California, great, whatever I bought that house. And it's since appreciated North of a hundred thousand dollars since I've owned it, which is super, super exciting. And that was dumb luck, some would say, but that was also a little bit, a little bit of preparation meeting opportunity. And in hindsight, looking at that market, it has, it would be a five star neighborhood if was on Roofstock, the schools are all 10, 10 tens. It constantly gets rated amongst some of the best schools in the state. And it's in a small HOA association. So the neighborhood around it is maintained really well because everybody is subject to the same HOA rules, looking at that whole picture. It's obvious that that house is likely to appreciate, but I didn't have the whole picture going into it because I didn't know to look and zoom out at all these things. I just thought, Oh, here's a neighborhood that I know, and here's a house that I can afford. So I think that's a kind of prime example of luck mixed with a little bit of preparation. Tom: I like that story in that, you know, in going through it, you were fortunate to be in that neighborhood and just to buy it, but over time it seems like that would, I think that the big arc of the story is what started as a luck thing, turned into less of a luck thing, as you have learned more about the different elements that go into appreciation like your school scores. Michael: Absolutely. Absolutely. And I know for me that I'm able to then convert that luck into now more of a science, because I understand what's going into that. As you say, what's going into the sausage making right understand at school scores play a role that neighborhood's scores play a role that physical property attributes play a role. So those all things have been a tip in my favor and this one particular example. But now that I understand that I can go take those lessons learned and make the process repeatable in any other market. Tom: That's great. I'm going to go ahead and flip us to the next category of tenant. And what I mean by this is vacancy is, you know, touching into evictions a little bit. And I would say that at a high level, a lucky situation with a tenant is a tenant that never moves out that always pays rent on time. That is always renewing right? Continuing the lease to keep vacancy down. And I think there is a lot of things you can do upfront to tip these scales in your favor. And I think thinking about either buying occupied or vacant, there's different things that you can do to help you out here. Michael: Tom, what would you say are some of those things? Tom: So let's talk about an occupied property first. So if I buy a property that is occupied and the next day I find out that the tenant is an eviction and wants to leave and whatnot. I know now knowing what I know there are some things I could have done to put the odds in my favor that that wouldn't be an issue. So you could say I'm on, I'm unlucky. Some of the things that I could do with a property that has occupied is no. What was the screening criteria for that tenant, with the seller? So was there a debt to income ratio? How was that tenant vetted before the seller brought them in? Did they talk to previous landlords? If I go into buying an occupied property without knowing some of this stuff? I think then yeah, this is definitely you're rolling the dice and getting lucky, but as an investor who wants to push the luck in their favor, getting to know what is that criteria of the occupied owner I think is really important. Emil: I have a couple of things we can add here in terms of tipping luck in your favor. So you can find a lot of us lean on property managers to handle finding tenants, dealing with tenants. So there's some property managers who put some skin in the game when it comes to tenants, they'll do things like if the tenant requires an eviction, they will handle replacing the tenant for free. So usually most property managers charge you a new lease fee like half of a first month's rent or full month's rent. And some of them will just waive that and find you a new tenant. And they won't also take their management fee from that first month to replace them. So I think one thing you can do to tip the scales in your favor is make sure your PM has some type of skin in the game when it comes to tenant quality. So that's something I've learned over time. And I like property managers who offer that another one I'll quickly mention is it kinda has to do with the tenant it's every year lease will come up for renewal. And a lot of times people will just always want to go and get the market rate. And so I talked about an example today on Twitter, and I'll just kind of read off what it was. So let's say you want to increase your rent from a thousand dollars to 1,050, and you're not willing to be flexible. And the tenant decides to leave. So let's say you have to pay $1,500 to get the place rent ready, and you lose a month of rent finding a new tenant. So $2,500 you have to make up. Now, if you're generous and assume you'll be able to get $1,100 per month from the new tenant, that's a hundred dollars more than you were bringing in before. Right? So stick with me. I'm gonna try to bring all this together. So it'll take you 25 months to make up that $2,500 difference, right? So $1,500 for making it rent ready. And the thousand dollars of one month of lost rent. So 2,500 divided by a hundred, you have 25, takes you 25 months, more than two years to make up that small increase in rent. So another thing you can do to tip things in your favor is having some type of flexibility in making sure you don't lose tenants, right? Don't just say I'm a hundred dollars under market rent. I'm going to get 50 to $100 more per month. And if they leave, they leave, it's actually theirs. When you do the math, it's better to be a little bit under marketing. Keep that tenant in for longer. At least for me. Tom: What I love about that example, Emil is, another element of luck is, you could say at the end of the year, you're looking at your cashflow and you're like, Oh, I was, you know, up X amount or down X amount by that exercise that you just went through in calculating out the difference of what your return would be on driving up market rent and maybe dealing with vacancy or, you know, well maybe a less market rent growth. You're being super proactive at what those end of the year cash flow is. And having that information as a tool in your arsenal when going to the table with the tenant on what the rent renewal is. So I think that's a great idea of at the end of the day, this is maximizing your cashflow. And you're doing that by being data driven and looking at the numbers on making that type of decision. So another great example, Michael: related to that point a meal, I think that not enough people talk to their tenants and whether that's themselves personally, or through their property manager. And so when a tenant moves out, owners are often like, Oh, bummer, the tenant moved out. Now have to go through that exercise. And Neil just mentioned of turning the unit and getting the market rent if they so desire. But there's so much that you can do proactively before that tenant moves out by asking them questions, Hey, what would you like to see done to the property? Are there things that I could do as an owner or the manager can ask on your behalf to do to the property, to incentivize them to stay? And so that's really, again, some opportunity and some preparation that are meeting. And so if someone has a tenure tenant, someone might look at them and say, Oh, they're so lucky. They haven't had a vacancy in 10 years. Well, really that owner might've been talking to that tenant the whole time. Emil: That's a great example. I like that a lot. Tom: Be the duck legs, the duck legs, Michael: Swim, swim stroke stroke. Tom: The last thing I'll say on tenant before we move on to property condition and RNM is it puts yourself in the position of a tenant. So instead of just sort of blindly looking at an address and a bed count, bath count, do the Google street view, is this property on a thoroughfare? Is it going to be a place that you would want to live? I love the golden rule of putting yourself on the other side of the tenant and saying like, Oh, is this some place I'd want to live at? And one of our new and all that good stuff. And if it checks those boxes, chances are you're going to probably going to be luckier and have tenants that stay longer and renew longer and all of that good stuff. All right. Let's jump into property conditions. So this is about RNM. How can you be lucky when it comes to repairs and maintenance and costs of turn Michael, you want to lead the way? Michael: Yeah, sure. So I think the biggest thing that you can do to be proactive and get lucky is just set expectations on the front end, give the tenant a very clean place to move into, keep it well maintained, keep it safe. There are more likely to feel a pride of ownership or rentership rather in a nice, clean, safe environment. And if you make it very clear that look, we are giving you this safe, clean place to live. We expect it to be safe and clean when, when it gets returned to us. And if you don't, these are the consequences. It's not threatening. It's just very level setting. This is what we expect of you. This is what you can expect of us. And again, someone who has a tenant move out and has a sparkling clean unit, someone might say, wow, you're so lucky. You're so lucky right at that happened. When in reality, no, you spent the time, energy and effort on the front end to set the expectation and make it very clear. Who's responsible for what. Speaker 4: Yeah. Love it. It's building trust and being the duck legs under the water. Michael: That's right. Emil: Lots of duck legs, lots of duck legs. Tom: Well, how about yourself? Any thoughts with regards to property condition and repairs and maintenance and turn costs and how do you tip luck scale into your favor? Emil: Yes. One thing it's going, gonna kind of go off what Michael mentioned, but I think when you take over a property to set a, a good example or a new precedent, right? When you take over, let's say there's a couple of things in the inspection report that you could maybe defer, just taking care of them up front, especially if they're on the inside where the tenant they're in front of the tenant's face, right? Like holes in the wall, broken things, right. Fix those things and just clean up the place, make it more of that pride of ownership. When you take over, I think that kind of helps set the precedent for your tenants to know that this is under new management, you care, and you want this place taken care of. So it kind of goes along the lines of what, what Michael mentioned. Michael: I just wrote down that note too, that I wanted follow up on. I'm so glad you touched on it. That it's showing, being responsive when it comes to repair requests or maintenance requests really shows that you as the owner care and thus will often incentivize the tenant to care because if you don't care as the owner, why should they care being a tenant in your property? Emil: Yup. Tom, anything else? Tom: So getting, building luck on property condition stuff, I would say quality is going to go a long way. And what I mean by that is you could, you know, there's always a decision when things come up repair versus replace with costs. There's a third element. I think of the quality of the work that is done. And it doesn't matter as much if you choose to repair or replace, if you do it with really bad quality. So when you're thinking about the vendors that you're using, making sure that they have a track record and a history and are reputable by sometimes you may pay a little bit more upfront to do work versus other options in doing the work. But if it's by a vendor that is reputable and does good work, a lot of times it's gonna end up being a lot cheaper because it's, you're not gonna need to go back, redo the type of work. And I know for myself, I lean on third party, property management, pretty so instilling, you know, my expectations with that, with the property managers and having a relationship and being the Duck's legs under the water and saying like, okay, Laura, who's my property manager. You know, if you're in my position, this is what I'm thinking about. I'd much rather have the quality work done. I'm willing to pay a little bit extra. What are your history of work with this vendor versus that vendor? If they're bringing me multiple bids. So really making sure that if you're going to spend money, which stinks on like repairs and maintenance, but it's really important, right? Because we need to have safe habital spots getting the work done by a, that has a really good track record of doing work. So I can measure twice cut once and just get it done with, Michael: To piggyback on that. Tom, I also think that doing proactive steps physically to improve the property and making it more tenant proof can also tip the luck scales in our favor, such as you know, instead of cleaning the carpet or replacing the carpet, tearing it out and putting in hardwood or laminate flooring. And so that's going to reduce our costs in the long run, likely to have that stuff clean at every tenant turn, it makes the property more durable. It can often make the property more attractive. And so again, the Duck's legs being proactive on the front end, doing things that are going to increase our likelihood of success, I think is huge. When it comes to the physical property itself. Tom: Regular inspections. That's a good one, too. Michael: Absolutely. Tom: Sometimes stuff can fester and it just gets way worse over time. It's if you pay for it right now and deal with it, it can be significantly cheaper versus letting it fester, especially anything that has anything to do with water, water. If it's wet, you're going to pay a lot I bet. Michael: Did you just come up with that? Tom: I did. Trademark. Michael: That's really good. Emil: What do you guys think about potential? Where can you set yourself up for bad luck with property condition? One thing I wrote down, let me know if you guys agree with this is let's say you buy a property. That's not in the best part of town. And you know, you're probably not going to get the type of tenant that takes pride in ownership and where they live. I think one thing that can set you up for failure is over renovating or making it too nice. Right? Getting stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, like making it look like a five-star neighborhood property would have when it's actually an, a one and a half or two star neighborhood. What do you guys think? Do you think there's a, that sets you up for bad luck if you over renovate or make things too nice if you're maybe not in the best part of town. Tom: Yeah, I would say so. I would say being really cognizant of keeping it consistent with the neighborhood. I mean, there could be a situation, you know, it's not a one size fits all with everything. There could be a situation where you might be able to get a little extra boost on the rent by putting in the granite countertops in an area that's maybe a two star, but I'd say generally speaking is knowing that neighborhood and keeping it consistent, right? Cause you could be just dumping money into, you know, getting the fancy gold toilets may not be necessary. So, and this is being the duck legs, knowing the neighborhoods that you're in Michael: I think to echo Tom's point, chatting with property, local property management and getting an idea and understanding of what's neighborhood. By that same token though, you could be the spark that ignites the dynamite, so to speak of a neighborhood changing, it's got to start somewhere. So if you're going to be that person that over rehabs, the property that could get everyone's attention and saying, wow, look at what's going on in this neighborhood money coming in, let's start also rehabbing our properties because clearly this neighborhood is changing. So that's kind of the opposite end of the spectrum is you could be the change investor. Emil: That's a good point. Tom: I like it. Let's jump into this next aspect of luck, which is on the acquisition side. So finding deals, buying deals who wants to start us off here talking about acquisitions and getting lucky with acquisition. Michael: Why don't you start us off Tom? Tom: I like it. I had some stuff in my back pocket. So I.. Michael: Always. Tom: The biggest thing about acquisitions is always having the lights on always being up to evaluate a deal and to just beat this into the ground as being the duck underwater. I know, sorry, but here's the thing though. Like the machine doesn't turn off, right? So there's always deals coming up. That's available. And the people who are lucky are the people who are constantly looking through what is available. Now I understand life gets busy and there's times where you can put in a little bit more time or you're in more of an acquisition cycle. But even if you're not an acquisition cycle, still be constantly having your finger on the pulse and having enough dry powder available where if that screaming deal does come along, good news, you're going to be lucky and then you to buy it. And the reason you gotta be lucky is because you're constantly looking at stuff. And I feel pretty adamant about that is how you get lucky with acquisitions. It's just always knowing your market, always seeing stuff coming through, being persistent. Michael: Yeah. To echo that. I think having your head on a swivel, even if you're not in a buying cycle, we've talked about this a lot on other episodes about kind of where we are in our own personal business, what cycle we're in. And many of us are not in a buying cycle, but absolutely keeping our eyes open our ears peeled, listening, looking for those great deals. I think in addition to knowing the market, being able to foreshadow a little bit and forecast a little bit above and beyond what you're seeing today and looking at trends and interpreting those trends to see where things are going to end up can be a huge, huge, huge advantage, and can often make people appear lucky. I bought in a neighborhood like I share with you guys numerous times in the Midwest and Northern Kentucky that has some really amazing government, local government incentives. And so I saw that and I understood the writing on the wall to mean that this area is really up and coming. And I did the homework to understand what's going on historically. And what's happening currently to then project on, where do I see this place? I'm going to go. I'm going to bet big on it. And that's seemingly proving to pay off. And so again, being the Duck's legs, you know, doing all that stuff on the front end to understand where this is going to end up. Emil: I like that. Other things I would add here is if you are in a buying cycle, maybe you have multiple deal finders, right? So either have a couple of agents out there. You tell your PM, you're looking for a property you're on, Roofstock sending filters, get notifications. And also, I, you mentioned keeping your eye on the market, even when you're not in a buy cycle. I think that's so important because let's say you're buying a property once a year. If you buy a property, don't keep your eye on listings. Aren't keeping a temperature read on the market. You take a year off, you come back, you may have the bias you did a year ago and the market has changed the bunch. So I think keeping your eye on the market and looking at listings, seeing how quickly things are selling, how much are they selling for? I think that that just always pays whether you're buying or not. Michael: One other thing to mention is we talk about, again, the opportunity for success and where preparation meets opportunity. I think the greatest deal of the century could come around, but if we're not prepared to execute on it, we're never gonna get it. We're never gonna seem lucky. And so being educated above and beyond understanding your market, I think is so, so, so hypercritical. And I know for me, if I had been educated prior to when I started investing, I would have been able to have invested sooner and hit even more home runs even more grand slams. So getting educated on how to purchase real estate, what that looks like, how to evaluate markets is so, so critical. I really can't stress that enough. And that's something I talk a lot about with people inside the Academy of, you know, the fact that you're here, getting educated is going to put you in such an advantageous position to be able to execute on things when they present themselves. Emil: Well said. All right. So transitioning away from real estate investing, I'm curious to hear what you guys think is the luckiest thing that's happened to you in your life. So outside of real estate investing, what do you guys think is the luckiest thing that's happened to you? Michael: I am going to force my wife to listen to this because meeting her is far and away, the luckiest thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life. You're welcome Claire. And thank you. Tom: Oh, and we cannot repeat any of these ones that we have. So Emil, I'm going to leave you with a bunch of scraps. Emil: Don't you, don't you say your kid! Tom: Was definitely going to, I mean, people talk about the lights from the sky, getting a little bit brighter when you meet your offspring, your first child and it's real, man. I'm just love struck such a crazy life experience of meeting a child that is related to you. I'd say. And thank goodness, yeah, mom as well. But Michael already took that one and my beautiful wife. Gosh, I'm trying to think of, I could go on any other stuff. I mean, just generally speaking, I think I'm pretty lucky. Gosh, luckiest thing, luckiest thing. Michael: I I've never heard anyone. Tom, I think say that they met their offspring, but it makes sense. Did you shake their hand? Tom: Yes. I shook his hand, formally. Nice to meet you, sir. Tom Schneider pleasure is mine. Pleasure is mine damn glad to meet you. So yeah, I'm going to go son, meeting son, really crazy mind blowing stuff. Emil: So awesome. So I get to be the direct that doesn't get to mention his wife or, or his baby daughter. I love them both. They are the luckiest things that have happened to me outside of those two. I'd probably say learning marketing. I mean, that is my profession and it's not what I started doing out of college. It was my third job out of college that I got into marketing. And to me, I see it as a skill that will always be there. I don't see robots or automation overtaking that I think they help marketers, but I don't see those types of things overtaking the marketer. And so for me to just have found something that I really enjoy doing that creates a good livelihood and that I think will be in demand. And I think it also just teaches you a lot about human psychology. You know, a lot of people look at marketing like ads and tools and all these things, but really it's learning how it's understanding people and how people work and what motivates them. So outside of my daughter and my wife, I'd say the luckiest thing that happened to me is learning about marketing and taking that on as a profession. Michael: Emil, did you find marketing or did marketing find marketing find you? Emil: Marketing found me. You know, I was, I was lost and I found my way through marketing. Michael: That's awesome. Emil: I was face down in a ditch somewhere. Yeah. Michael: Marketing's like, Hey, are you okay? I can help Emil: Marketing parted the clouds and shined its light on me. Michael: That is lucky. Tom: Alright. What else? Anything else? Alrighty then. Alright, thanks for listening to today's episode, we hope you found it valuable. If you found this lucky duck episode to be valuable, please rate us on your podcast platform that you're using and feel free to reach out to us. You can reach out to us on Twitter or on Instagram. If there's any content you would like to hear, we would like to hear from you any questions, comment, and happy investing. Michael: Happy investing Emil: Happy investing.

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Tom Kayser, Former Texas League President, Baseball Historian, and Author

The Alamo Hour

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 22, 2020 73:42

Tom Kayser was the president of the Texas League for 25 years. The San Antonio Missions were members of the Texas League during that time. He has authored books on the Texas League and baseball's Texas history. He is revered for his success as the president and his love of the game. Listen to him share his stories and thoughts on the game that defined his life. Transcript: Justin Hill: Hello and Bienvenidos, San Antonio. Welcome to The Alamo Hour discussing the people, places and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonian, and keeper of chickens and bees. On The Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great and unique and the best kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. All right, welcome to episode 10 of The Alamo Hour. Today's guest is Tom Kayser. Tom is a baseball man. He was the president of the Texas League for 25 years. It's one of three double-A minor leagues. That's a yes, I got a head nod. Tom Kayser: Sorry. [laughter] Justin: He wrote Baseball in The Lone Star State, the Texas Leagues greatest hits. He wrote The Texas League Almanac. In 2016, he was inducted into the Texas League Hall of Fame. We've asked him on here today to talk about Texas, Texas baseball, the Missions. The Missions were part of the Texas League and I think, Tom's got a lot to add on. Anybody who's interested in baseball, anybody who's followed the city's quest to get a baseball team and sort of the considerations there. Tom, thank you for being here. Tom: I'm happy to do it. Justin: I always start these with kind of a top 10 list. Get to know a little bit more about you, get to know sort of your connection to our city. You do live in San Antonio, right? Tom: Absolutely. Justin: How long have you lived here and sort of what part of town have you lived in? Tom: Bought a house inside of 1604, in the East of 281 back in October of '93 and I still live in that house. Justin: Is that right? Tom: Yes. Justin: A lot's changed there. Tom: Yes. There wasn't anything on the other side of 1604. As a matter of fact, Gold Canyon wasn't even there back then. You could go across 281 on a bridge, on the Henderson Pass, it used to cross over there and can't do that anymore, but too many people. Justin: You've been here a long time. Tom: I have. Justin: Straight the whole time, '93 on. Tom: Absolutely. Justin: We're in COVID shutdown. This is kind of a strange question, but I think it works. Any favorite place to eat right now? We're doing a bunch of takeout. We're trying to support our old favorites, but is there any spot you're going to or are you shut down? Tom: I'm a pretty good cook, HEB basically. I buy my supplies, but we're coming out of the soup season. I'm just finishing a barley mushroom soup which is fabulous. Having had my office in my house, it's really what I tended to do is eat at home a lot. I wish I could come up with a top. Justin: I need to learn. Tom: Pericos on Saturday morning on 1604 because we've had a group, go on a breakfast on Saturday for tacos forever. Justin: That's great. Tom: It's down to a very slimmed-down group of four. Justin: Right now? Tom: No. We really miss it too, boy. Justin: We'll be there again soon. I had Commissioner [unintelligible 00:03:13] here and I said, we'll get back to normal soon and he was not very encouraging to my optimism. I'm hoping he's wrong because I think we all need to. You've lived here long enough and you have been involved in baseball on the side of town that I really haven't spent much time where the Missions play in that part of town. Are there any things in San Antonio that you think are hidden gems, is what I call them? You've got somebody coming into town and you go, ''Yes, but this isn't in the guidebook, you really need to go see this or do this thing.'' Tom: I tend to take people to the Pearl for sure, but there are so many things that are on the top 10 that it's like, if...

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LTGL2003-Vibrant Living Series-ThomasWessel- Understanding Chiropractic Care

Living the Good Life

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2020 25:25

Guest: Dr. Thomas WesselTrailhead Chiropracticwww.trailheadchiro.comwww.ampednow.comHost: Kimberly Henrie, www.kimberlyhenrie.com Special thanks to Fruition Studio www.fruitionstudio.com This is living the good life podcast episode 2003, I’m Kimberly Henrie. Today, in our Vibrant Living series, we’ll be talking about the benefits of chiropractic, how to choose the appropriate professional technique and professional for you, why chiropractic may be beneficial and what to do if you can’t get to your chiropractor right now. We’ve got a lot to talk about, so let’s get started.Kimberly: Our Guest today is the owner of Trailhead Chiropractic, a graduate of the Palmer College of Chiropractic, and specializes in pregnancy and pediatrics with a certification in the Webster technique, and practices Torque Release Technique in his offices at Trailhead Chiropractic, where he is the owner and I think Smoke (dog) is the manager. Welcome. Dr. Tom Wessel. Dr. Tom: Hi, Kim. You so much for having me. I really appreciate it. Kimberly: We appreciate you jumping on here and helping us learn a little bit more about how we can take control of our situation, our circumstances, and create the best life possible. That's what it's all about. Right? Dr. Tom: That's the goal. Kimberly: Exactly. Yeah. So, how are you spending this time during the quarantine this the stay-at-home order. Dr. Tom: We are spending our time just getting outside as much as possible. Just enjoying the sunshine. We live in a rural area and so get outside enjoying the sunshine staying active, you know, just not let trying not to let that boredom take over.Kimberly: Right. Well, we live in a beautiful place. We both live here in Colorado. So we're very fortunate. There's a lot of things to get out and do and a lot of space to do it. That's awesome. And I know you're looking forward to getting back into the office very much. So what do you think folks should be doing right now if they can't and we want to talk about Chiropractic and why that's a benefit but there's a lot of folks who can't get in to see their chiropractor right now. So what kind of recommendations do you have for them? Dr. Tom: Yeah. So Chiropractic is all about adapting the body to deal with stress and so in a time where you cannot further adapt your body to deal with those stressors in your life, what you want to do is limit your stress even more than you normally would now stress comes down to three things and that's thoughts traumas and toxins. Okay, those are all types of stress and so keeping your mind active not letting those negative thoughts take over would be one part of that staying active staying healthy exercising eating correctly. So you're not putting toxins in your body. Basically just living a healthy lifestyle as best as you possibly can will not only increase your body's ability to adapt to stress. It will also increase your body's ability to adapt to other things such as what's going on right now currently with this virus pandemic. Kimberly: Right. I love practicing daily breathwork. Breath work for me is a total stress reliever along with the exercise and getting outside just brings everything down to a nice calm gentle level. Tell me, let's kind of go back to your journey here. Why are you a chiropractor? What drew you into the profession? And what do you find helpful and beneficial about offering that service? Dr. Tom: It's interesting. I think I think you and I have talked about this before. I don't remember but I was drawn into Chiropractic at a very young age. I grew up in northern Wisconsin and my father was a Forester. So instead of paying for daycare, I would just go to work with him every day....Thanks again to Dr. Thomas Wessel for educating us today. You can reach out to Dr. Tom at trailheadchiro.com. As always, special thanks to Fruition Studio for supporting us. Fruition Studio specializes in heart-centered marketing and content creation. Learn more at Fruition Studio.com. And to hear more episodes of this show or to reach out to me, visit kimberlyhenrie.com. That’s it for this week and this episode of Living the Good Life. Thank you for joining us!

031 - Direkktermő trubadúrok adás

Biznisz Boyz: A magyar vállalkozói podcast show

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2019 66:24

Hangosítottunk, fényképeztünk és ökörködtünk a héten. Semmi érdekes. Vagy mégis? Tomit megérintett egy operaénekest, Laci lelőtt egy archeológust. Boltba mentünk, hogy kelletlenséggel találkozzunk, és telefonáltunk, hogy meglepődjünk. Néhány linket is szolgáltatunk, mert mostanában leszoktunk róla: Hidden Folks - a játék, ahol rejtett részleteket kell keresni egy jó nagy képen, száj alapú zörejekkel, és van benne puki hang is. Ha már száj alapú zörej, akkor Neverhood. Remélem senkinek sem kell bemutatni, ha mégis, akkor nézzétek végig, vagy még inkább szerezzetek valami emulátort, és játsszátok végig magatok. Klasszikus. A koncertvideó, amit adás közben is elővettünk És hát keressetek bennünket, mindenfelé, de itt vagyunk leginkább megtalálhatóak: Laci instán, Tomi twitteren, van hashtagünk is mindkét helyen, sőt email címünk is: vegtelensegfiai@gmail.com, ahova várjuk szeretettel a hozzászólásokat, meglátásokat, meg amit csak ki tudtok találni.

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31. Fókusz vs. több lábon állás - Egyszerre egy vagy több vállalkozás? | Biznisz Boyz Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2019 62:05

ONEpreneur vs. MULTIpreneur? Mindkét iskolának híres szószólói vannak, így nagyon nehéz látni vállalkozóként, hogy az egy vagy több vállalkozás mellett jó letenni a voksot. A két oldal képviselői vitatják meg ezt a témát, azaz hogy mi a jobb: egy vagy több vállalkozást működtetni egyszerre? Mester Tomi kitart a fókuszált vállalkozás mellett, azaz minden idejét a Data36-ra fordítja, ezzel szemben Virág Attila és Sándorfy Adi halmozzák az élvezeteket és több vállalkozást is működtetnek egyszerre. Most körüljárjuk ennek a világnak az általunk ismert összes aspektusát. Hallgasd meg, mire jutottunk! Kiegészítés az adáshoz Tomitól: "Az adásban nem mondtam, de az ábrázoló geometria oktatásban nem az órabérrel volt a gond, hanem azzal, hogy havi max 8-10 órányi munka volt. Ez volt a valódi növekedési limit és így a 10e HUF-os már nem olyan erős." Kövesd a BB-t mindenhol és dolgozz velünk: Zárt csoport: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bizniszboyzpodcast/ Insta: https://www.instagram.com/bizniszboyz/ Cikkek és kontakt: https://bizniszboyz.hu/ Bizniszfejlesztési tanácsadás és coaching: https://bizniszboyz.hu/coaching/

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Ep. 98: "Camplifying" the World with Tom Rosenberg

Sunshine Parenting

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2019 39:34

In Episode 98, I'm chatting with Tom Rosenberg, CEO of the American Camp Association. Last year, in Episode 46, we talked about summer camp, accreditation, and #CampKindnessDay (July 23, 2019). In this episode, we talk about the research about the positive impact of camp, our joint passion for partnering with parents to bring camp to schools and homes. Tom uses my new favorite word, "camplify," to describe this spreading of the camp message to other venues outside of camp. Big Ideas There are an estimated 14 million kids going to camps in the U.S. this summer. Ninety-three percent of American Camp Association camps offer financial aid and scholarships for campers. Parents need to work well in advance to apply for those resources. Parents can use the 'Find A Camp' tool on the American Camp Association's website to search for the ACA accredited camps. This is a parent's best assurance that a camp has met the foundational standards of a safe and healthy camp experience for their child. There are many different kinds of camps. There are camps for specific cultural groups, for kids with a particular medical disorder, for kids with a specific area of interest, and many, many more. It's important for parents to visit a summer camp before sending their child to one so that they can see what camp is all about. At camp, kids have the opportunity to learn to be themselves, make mistakes, learn from those mistakes, and try again. The American Camp Association website provides wonderful videos and other resources for parents. Camp helps kids build relationship skills and learn from people with different backgrounds and experiences. Camp is about positive risk. The more kids put into their camp experience, the more they get out of it. People who been camp counselors before becoming teachers or parents really have an advantage when it comes to relating to kids. Camp techniques work at home too. On Tuesday, July 23rd, we will be celebrating Camp Kindness Day across America. Quotes Tom: "All different kinds of camp experiences are more accessible than ever before and we're working hard to provide more equity around the affordability of camp, and the accessibility of experiences. Ninety-three percent of American Camp Association camps offer financial aid and scholarships. The trick is that parents have to work well in advance of the summer to apply for those resources." Audrey: "This is the time to start thinking about next summer. If there's a camp that you're really interested in, you can tour the camp while it is in session to see if its a good match for your family, meet some of the staff and campers." Tom: "I'm a former camp director and I'm the CEO of the American Camp Association but I still, as a dad, find myself trying to help my child not make mistakes. I find myself trying to protect him and camp is a place where kids have the opportunity to learn to be themselves and make mistakes. And learn from those mistakes and try again." Tom: "It's hard for a parent that hasn't been to camp before to have the experience, and to understand the experience, and to know how professional camp directors build a physically and emotionally safe place where young adult mentors and camp professionals create these opportunities for kids in ways that we, parents, can't do by ourselves." Tom: "At camp kids learn different ideas, like learning to accept that you and I might agree to disagree about something. At camp kids have the freedom to listen and communicate better with their friends about what they believe in. And even if they don't agree on everything, they learn to disagree amicably." Audrey: "In the world today, those communication skills, resolving conflicts and 'agreeing to disagree' are so important and many adults aren't modeling that. One of the great things about camp is that there are going to be conflicts in the group and that's what we want to happen. That's how kids learn to work through things and communicate." Tom: "Part of growing up and getting to go to camp is to have an opportunity to take some positive risks on a progressive basis, in a structured way, so that you take risks that you're ready for." Tom: "The Pure Research Center's study on teens, technology, and friendship found that just one out of four teens in the study were having daily out-of-school social contact time with a friend, in person. And that a great number of the new friendships that they were forming were digital. Only one out of five of those digital relationships were finding their way into the in-person realm." Audrey: "I'm finding that kids at camp really enjoy being off their technology when they're at camp. Just hanging out and making these really close friendships at camp is intense face-to-face time for them. It's very different now from their life outside of camp." Tom: "The Knowledge Works Foundation predicts that the most sought-after competencies for the best jobs for kids and young people in 2030-2040 are going to be those that, quite frankly, have camp skills. We're talking about problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, coordinating with others, emotional intelligence. So camp is positioned to help kids develop a strong inner self that will allow them to be resilient and reflective. And build strong relationships." Tom: "If we do our jobs right, as parents, teachers, and camp directors, this generation will be, I hope, a generation of inventors, innovators, design thinkers, and creatives." Tom: "Here at the American Camp Association, we are looking to help provide camp and camp-like out-of-school-time experiences for every young person in our country." Tom: "What we're really trying to do is help young people and their parents bring those camp values like empathy, kindness, generosity, and compassion from camp home, from home to school, and from school and afterschool activities back to camp." Audrey: "We need to just continue to go out and 'camplify' the world. That's the basis of what we do. We want to bring the magic of connection, relationships, nature and appreciation of differences to the whole rest of the world." Topics We Discuss, Links, & Resources American Camp Association (ACA) Videos for Camp Parents (ACA) Accreditation (ACA Standards) Camp Kindness Day On July 23, the camp community will participate in Camp Kindness Day – an event highlighting the practice of intentional kindness that happens every day at American camps. This is an opportunity to raise awareness of the great work that camps are doing to teach kindness in engaging, simple, repeatable, and high impact ways that live on in the daily lives of campers and staff members when they return home. Focusing on our youth and young adults, Camp Kindness Day will help showcase the commitment of the camp community to fostering the core values of kindness, compassion, generosity, and care, and integrating those values more fully into every aspect of our society. These values are already part of the fabric of the camp experience. We share the mission for our youth to be nurtured, taught, supported, and inspired to grow into our new generation of kind, compassionate, socially-minded, community-oriented citizens. Camp Kindness Day will allow camps to incorporate into their July 23 programming fun theme-based activities and cooperative games, cool projects, and memorable moments which will celebrate the value and impact of kindness. About Tom Rosenberg, CEO of the American Camp Association Tom Rosenberg has a distinguished career in the camp profession and a long resume of service to ACA. He most recently served as the executive director of Camp Judaea in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Prior to Camp Judaea, Tom spent more than two decades with Blue Star Camps in North Carolina, most of those years as a director. Tom is a past national treasurer and board member of the ACA as well as a past board president and treasurer of ACA Southeastern. A founding board member of the North Carolina Youth Camp Association, Tom was awarded the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural Camp Industry Leadership Award as well as the American Camp Association’s National Honor Award and ACA Southeastern’s Distinguished Service Award. With an educational focus in business, Tom graduated with distinction from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California with an MBA and from the AB Freeman School of Business at Tulane University with a BS in Management. He is also a graduate of ACA’s Camp Director Institute. Tom melds his experience in the camp profession with business expertise, inspirational vision, successful fundraising experience, professional agility, organizational skills, and strategic focus — attributes that are essential to achieving success as ACA’s President/CEO. We are indeed fortunate to have such a thoughtful, dedicated, and experienced leader who is willing to take his commitment to camp, youth development, and ACA to a greater level. Tom, his wife Pam Sugarman, and their son Daniel live in Atlanta, Georgia. Links & Resources American Camp Association (ACA) Parent Blog (ACA) Find a Camp (ACA's searchable database) Accreditation (ACA Standards) Kindness Evolution Related Posts Ep. 87: The Impact of Camp Experiences Ep. 46: Camp Kindness Day (2018) Research Finds Children Learn Social Skills at Camp 5 Reasons Not to Worry While Your Kids are at Camp The Power of Kindness Too Much Screen Time? 4 Ways Summer Camp Can Help Happy Campers, 9 Summer Camp Secrets for Raising Kids Who Become Thriving Adults If you're interested in joining a group conversation, seeing videos and additional resources related to Happy Campers, visit the Book Hub.

Mailbag #1 - Spidey Rankings, Marvel + DC Villains, Adam Driver and More

Watching Comics Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2019 62:21

You asked, we answered!That's right, Jake + Mitch opened the mailbag to dish on questions submitted by the best listeners in the podverse. The conversation got interesting while circulating questions like:- Top 3 non-MCU/DCEU comic book movies?- Which MCU villain do we want to see in the DCEU?- What comic book role would we give to Adam Driver?- Who would win in a Spidey throw-down: Tobey, Andrew, and Tom?It got real super fast. And, of course, it wouldn't be complete without a bold forecasting of what's to come. Jake gives his pitch for the Thor 4 story line.Dive-in and give a listen!https://www.watchingcomics.com/HOSTS: @thatjakeowens + @MitchRoush* WCP is a member of the GeekDad Podcast Network *

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Mailbag #1 - Spidey Rankings, Marvel + DC Villains, Adam Driver and More

Watching Comics Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2019 62:21

tv movies dive spider man iron man nerds hosts mcu thor pop culture comic books dceu mailbag spidey adam driver marvel dc mcu dceu dc villains tom it which mcu dceu what

Ep. 91: 1% Better Excellence w/ Tom Peters

The One Percent Better Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2019 56:14

This week I share my conversation with Tom Peters! The exclamation point is there to signify three things: My excitement in what I was able to learn from Tom My excitement from what you are about to learn from Tom It's his logo (Really. Check out his website) In 1982 Tom and a colleague wrote a book entitled In Search of Excellence, and he has never looked back. This one is quotable, shareable, and a whole heck of a lot of fun. Enjoy. --JF

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018 - Tűz adás

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2019 83:46

A teljesség igényével, de sikere nélkül beszélgetünk az elmúlt hetünkről, ami tele volt érdekes, ugyanakkor furcsa dolgokkal is. Élőben unboxolunk, egymás területéről beszélgetünk, és egyházi perceink rovatunkat is folytatjuk. Szamárvezető (nem csak szamaraknak, hanem ökröknek is (mi senkit nem ökrözünk le természetesen, (az adásból viszont kiderül, hogy ki igen (többszörös zárójel a zárójelben (lassan úgy írok mint Kertész Imre))))) Messzelátó mikrofon Messzelátó telefon Eheti ajánlatunk: Kanada Banda, a kanadai magyar podcast, Kanadából magyarul. A többi epizódjukat is ajánljuk, mert amellett hogy informatív, szórakoztató is. Honlapjuk egyben blog is, amiről biztos szemezgetünk még, szóval nézzetek rá. Ha még ez sem elég, keressetek bennünket: Lacit instán, Tomit twitteren, van hashtagünk is mindkét helyen, sőt email címünk is: vegtelensegfiai@gmail.com, ahova várjuk szeretettel a hozzászólásokat, meglátásokat, meg amit csak ki tudtok találni.

la cit kert kanad tom it

017 - Kötött adás

Biznisz Boyz: A magyar vállalkozói podcast show

Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2019 83:23

Eheti szócséplésünk során még több szavas téma akadt horogra, melyek mintegy Ariadne fonalaként kötődnek az előző adásokhoz, és egyben hozzánk is. Északi rokonainktól egészen a Távol-Keletről az Óperencián túlra szakadt őseink leszármazottaiig mindenkire rápirítunk, aki csak az utunkba kerül. Szokás szerint perifériákkal kötekedünk, egyrészt mert Tomit egyik gyártó se szereti (hüpp hüpp), másrészt mert Laci olyan titkokat rejteget, amiről az előző adásban álmodni sem mertetek.Lazításként Laci múltheti munkáiból szemezgetünk, amit Tomi podcast ajánlója szegélyez. Az adásminta magyarázata: sor: szójáték magyarázattal, és anélkül. A műsorban felhívás és feladvány is szerepel, de azt nem írom ide sor: Finnországban van egy úgynevezett dolog, hogy sor: Finnországban van egy verseny, ami összeköt velük sor: Kígyós kenyér mindenkinek sor: tanuljatok meg gépelni Műsorajánló, ha már az összes adásunkat végighallgattátok, és még csak csütörtök este van: Hack és Lángos - egy podcast az IT biztonságáról lehetőség szerint olyan nyelven is, amit nem csak szakemberek értenek. (Saját megfogalmazásuk) Az élet meg minden - Tóth Szabolcs Töhötöm a Magyar Nemzet volt főzserkesztő-helyettese podcastja portréinterjúkkal. Ha ez még mind nem elég, keressetek bennünket a vegtelensegfiai@gmail.com címen, Lacit az instán, Tomit a Twitteren, és a megosztás gombot mindenütt, ahol megtalálhatóak vagyunk.

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Extra - Az Ideális Podcast Felszerelés (Mikrofon Demóval) | Tomitól | Biznisz Boyz Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2019 20:40

Sokak kérésére itt egy rövid rész az általunk ideálisnak tartott podcast felszerelésről. Több mikrofont is kipróbálok az adásban, így meg tudod hallgatni köztük a különbséget. (Megjegyzés: Direkt nem tettem rá semmi utólagos zaj-eltávolítást a vágás során egyik hangsávra sem. Így könnyebb összehasonlítani a "nyers" hangminőséget. De ezt utómunkával még lehet javítani minden mikrofonnál, amit hallani fogsz.) HIVATKOZÁSOK: >> A konkrét eszközlistát leírva (cikk formátumban) itt találod: https://bizniszboyz.hu/felszereles >> A hivatkozott Dallos Zoli videót pedig itt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xyuAxuRKv0 ESZKÖZÖK, AMIKET BEMUTATOK (a mi podcast felszerelésünk): >> Audio-Technica BPHS1 Headset ($199) + Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Audio Interface ($149) >> Blue Yeti mikrofon ($129) >> Apple füles (10.000 HUF) >> Számítógép beépített mikrofon -- na ezt ne használd! *** Csatlakozz a zárt csoportunkhoz: www.facebook.com/groups/bizniszboyzpodcast/

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Babe: Pig In The City (feat. Phil Iscove)

You're Missing Out

Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2019 125:52

Mickey & Tom are thrilled to be joined by Phil Iscove, co-host of* Podcast Like It's 1999*. They talk the TV industry, the films of 1999, and plenty of the random off-shoots you'd expect when your two diatribe-prone hosts are joined by an equally pop-culture obsessed guest. Then they get into a truly wild movie, Phil's beloved Babe: Pig In The City (1998). Can Phil make the case for the oft-dismissed film? Is a talking pig a bridge too far for Tom? It's time to see if you're missing out. Featuring: Mickey Natale Tom Lorenzo (@ragingbull1990) Phil Iscove (@pmiscove) Check out Podcast Like It's 1999: https://podcastlikeits1999.libsyn.com/ Support the show, and download a free audiobook, by visiting audiblietrial.com/missingout for your 30 free trial Find the show: @YMOPodcast facebook.com/youremissingout And don't forget to check out The Backlog, every other week, at @TheBackl0g on Twitter.

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012 - Megmar adás

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Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2019 62:45

Már semmi sem lesz olyan, mint régen. Bizonyos esetekben örülünk is ennek, másrészt van ami nagyon rég óta nem változott. A sokat emlegetett 13-as cikkely például nem ilyen, hiszen már a neve sem ugyanaz mint két hete. Ami viszont változatlan, az a G**gle humora. A jövőből egészen nagyanyáink koráig ásunk ma le, tartsatok velünk, iratkozzatok fel, és írjatok nekünk, alig várjuk. Kezdésnek mindenképpen reagálnunk kellett az aktuális időkre, és ha már április 1-jén készült a felvétel, ajánljuk figyelmetekbe az Andr**dos telefonok hamarosan érkező újítását, ami végre tisztába teszi az eszközünket, mielőtt kicsúsznának kezünkből a dolgok. (Badumtss) Ha már annyi évfordulót emlegetünk az elmúlt hetekben, itt egy újabb, 15 éves a Gm**l, és ennek örömére számos (vagy számtalan?) új funkciót vetnek be. Ennek már a fele sem tréfa. Lesz mindenféle integrálás, meg minden. Sőt jövőre lesz egy éves a rettegett 13. cikkely, ha megérjük, vagy ő megéri. Tomi már most is szeret a posztapokaliptikus időkre készülni, de azt nem gondoltuk volna, hogy tartalmi téren is rákényszerülünk, hogy rögtönzött, innen-onnan szerzett alkatrészekkel operáljunk. Mindenesetre az intró zenénket köszönjétek az E****** Uniónak, és persze B**thoven-nek. Kíváncsiak vagyunk természetesen, hogy fizetik-e a licenszdíjat, hogy ezt a remek művet használják himnuszként, vagy a kipusztulás szélése sodort W**ipédiáról szerezték be ők is. Ahogy mi is tettük volna múlt héten, de most már nem merjük. Esetleg írjátok meg, mit énekeljünk nektek jövő héten, vagy mit ne. Kicsit fáradtan haladunk tovább, mert a múlt hetünk csak 167 órából állt, de az E****** U*** ezen is segít, jövőre már egyáltalán nem alszunk, és még az órát sem kell majd átállítani évente egyszer. Helyette minden tagállam határán fog kelleni, amennyiben jól szavaznak az országok. (És nem úgy mint egyes svéd képviselők.) Ha szeretnétek őket elkerülni, akkor vegyetek legális szoftvert, mi is ezt tesszük, ráadásul szuper áron. O**ce még ilyen olcsó nem volt, ráadásul Profe**ional verzió. És még A**ess is van benne. És csak egyszer kell megvenni. Periféria történeti vonalunkon is tovább haladtunk, ezúttal a billentyűzetet vettük elő, és jól megnéztük. Aztán rájöttünk, hogy már rég nem láttuk, hiszen rá sem nézünk úgy gépelünk, pedig akadnak rajta érdekes gombocskák, amelyekről az emberiség nagy része már azt sem tudja mire valók. A hosszú fejlődés, amelynek eredménye, hogy most még mindig nincs minden billentyűzeten dedikált Ű (vagy Í), nem is olyan egyszerű mint gondoltuk. Ha pedig már úgyis a telegráfok háza táján szaglásztunk, kitértünk egy kicsit a telefonok kőkorára is, hiszen az hang, tehát Tomit érdekli, Laci viszont az új telefonokkal van elfoglalva, mert azok megkönnyítik majd a munkáját. A S**sung új modellje például már olyan jól fényképez, mint egy ember. Legalábbis egy óvodás. Többnyire önellátó, vannak saját gondolatai, lehet hogy jól is sikerül, de azért még mindig kell egy felnőtt aki ide-oda viszi magával. Eheti ajánlatunk: Jó ajánlat, Y**Tube ajánlat! Keressetek, osszatok és kommenteljetek bennünket minden platformon, de legalábbis azon, amelyiken hallgattok bennünket. Köszönjük szépen!

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MAG 06: Walking Autonomously Doesn't Work w/ Tom + Heidi Celaya

Marriage After God

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 20, 2019 32:52

Join the marriage after God movement today. https://marriageaftergod.com Quote from Marriage After God chapter 6 "Walking in autonomy is not only dangerous for your marriage, it is also rebellious. Our relationship with Christ cannot be separate from our relationship with other believers." In this chapter of marriage after God we end with this encouragement: “Don’t wait to be pursued; be the pursuers. Don’t wait to be served; be the faithful servants. Don’t wait to be loved and invited. Love and invite. Be transparent with your marriage, be honest, and love well. We are all connected. We are all one in Jesus Christ, and He is our head, leading us and guiding us to do His will in this world.” Dear Lord, Thank you for the gift of your body. Thank you for the gift of fellowship and friendship. May we be people who are motivated by love to reach out and be a friend to others. We pray we would have the courage and confidence to be people who welcome others in, who are transparent, who are there for others, who lift others up and who pray for others. Use our marriages to be an encouragement to other marriages. Use us as a team to bring you glory, Lord. Help us to never live in isolation. Help us never to be divided. We pray the enemy and we pray our own flesh wouldn’t get in the way of fellowship. May our desire to participate in your body increase even more! May the way we treat one another be a light and an example to the rest of this world. In Jesus’ name, amen! READ: [Aaron] Hey, we're Aaron and Jennifer Smith with Marriage After God. [Jennifer] Helping you cultivate an extraordinary marriage. [Aaron] And today we're on part six of the Marriage After God series and we're gonna be talking with Tom and Heidi Celaya about the importance of Christian fellowship. Welcome to the Marriage After God podcast where we believe that marriage was meant for more than just happily ever after. [Jennifer] I'm Jennifer, also known as Unveiled Wife. [Aaron] And I'm Aaron, also known as Husband Revolution. [Jennifer] We had been married for over a decade. [Aaron] And so far, we have four young children. [Jennifer] We have been doing marriage ministry online for over seven years through blogging and social media. [Aaron] With the desire to inspire couples to keep God at the center of their marriage, encouraging them to walk in faith every day. [Jennifer] We believe that Christian marriage should be an extraordinary one, full of life. [Aaron] Love. [Jennifer] And power. [Aaron] That can only be found by chasing after God. [Jennifer] Together. [Aaron] Thank you for joining us in this journey as we chase boldly after God's will for our life together. [Jennifer] This is Marriage After God. [Aaron] We just want to invite everyone that's listening to leave a review. That helps other people find the podcast. It's how iTunes works, it's how all the podcast apps work. A review helps us get reach. And also if you would like to support this podcast, we'd love to invite you to go to our store, shop.MarriageAfterGod.com, and pick up a copy of our new book, Marriage After God. It's what this whole series is about. It's our newest book and we're excited to get it into your hands. And yeah. [Jennifer] Okay. So Tom and Heidi, thank you so much for being with us today. [Heidi] Thanks for having us guys. [Jennifer] People don't know this, but we've been friends for a really long time. What is it like nine or 10 years? [Heidi] Nine years, actually this month. [Jennifer] Crazy. Okay, so why don't you just share a little bit about who you guys are, how long you've been married, and how many kids you have, what you do for work, that kind of thing. [Tom] Yeah, I guess this is my part, she said. So, we're Tom and Heidi. We've been married 11 years and three months, four months, October of '07. So we just yesterday passed our 14th dating anniversary, which she made me feel like garbage 'cause I didn't get her anything and she got me a couple things. [Heidi] I did not. [Aaron] You're like, I didn't know we were celebrating our dating anniversary-- [Heidi] I was at Sam's Club and got him a pair of shorts. [Tom] Yeah, I didn't know we were celebrating. And you got me cookies as well. But anyways, we have two kids, a nine-year-old daughter, eight-year-old son. And yeah, we've been living in our home currently for five years, and I'm in medical sales for a job and Heidi runs the house here and handles our crazy kids. So yeah, we're kind of a normal, somewhat normal family I think. [Jennifer] Awesome. Okay you guys, we're gonna go into our icebreaker question, which, Aaron, you want to ... [Aaron] Yeah. What is one of your favorite memories of us from our friendship over the years? [Heidi] Oh man. Favorite memory. [Tom] I don't know. [Jennifer] 'Cause there's so many. [Aaron] 'Cause all of your memories are your favorite of us. [Tom] Right, that's the whole-- [Woman] Yes. [Tom] I've got a few. I don't know exactly which one I would say my favorite is. Gosh. [Jennifer] I feel like when we think about this question, I was telling Aaron, all the late nights, all the late nights we spent at your guys' island eating ice cream and just chatting and laughing. [Aaron] They don't own an island. Their kitchen island. [Heidi] Yep. Thank you. I didn't understand what she was-- [Tom] I was gonna say, one of my, one of the ones I think of and laugh about, because I think it's disgusting, is the fact that we would go get ice cream and you would get a shake or a malt with half and half instead of, like, low fatter. I remember just thinking just, oh my gosh, that's disgusting, I can't believe he's drinking that. And we would probably-- [Aaron] Yeah, what was it? Circus animal ice cream? [Tom] Yes. [Heidi] Yes, with half and half. [Aaron] With half and half. Half and half cream-- [Tom] In Clairemont, yeah. And you would just, you loved it and you would feel a little sick afterwards, but it was, we were always just laughing about it for a long time. [Aaron] It was so worth it though. [Jennifer] I think that's really abnormal. I don't think a lot of people would relate to you on that, Aaron. [Tom] No. [Heidi] No. [Aaron] You're making me, I want one right now. [Heidi] I think my most-- [Aaron] That's a good memory-- [Heidi] Story of you two is how we were kind of desperate for friends, married couple friends, and when we met you at Fuse kind of offering, hey, if you guys ever want, we are about 20 minutes away, but we'd love to have you over for dinner. And you actually took us up on the offer and I think-- [Tom] A lot-- [Heidi] What was it, three to four times a week over at my house, and I loved it. I think when you throw out that, hey, we should have you guys over sometime, it never really ever happens and you kind of feel a little bit hurt that they didn't take you up on the offer, but to have you guys take us up on the offer and for us to get so close and dive so deep into both of our marriages was definitely my favorite because I mean, we both put ourselves out there and opened up so much that-- [Aaron] Yeah, we loved that-- [Heidi] It couldn't have happened otherwise. [Jennifer] And I think we were in a place in our marriage where we really needed it too. So I think that's really cool. [Aaron] We definitely were, yeah. That's what this episode's about, actually. [Jennifer] Yeah, this episode is all about friendship and fellowship and so we're gonna dive into a quote from Marriage After God from this chapter. [Aaron] And it's walking in autonomy is not only dangerous for your marriage, it is also rebellious. Our relationship with Christ cannot be separate from our relationship with other believers. [Heidi] So true. [Aaron] Yeah, so that's from chapter six of our book, Marriage After God, and the chapter title's called Walking Autonomously Doesn't Work. And when we thought about who we can interview for this episode, you guys were the first people that we thought of because in our life when we needed fellowship the most and when we were afraid of it the most, we found you guys and you found us. [Jennifer] Well, yeah, I was gonna say, it was that you guys wrapping your arms around us and inviting us to your table at that marriage bible study, which Heidi mentioned earlier, it's called Fuse. That was a turning point in our relationship and our marriage, and it just stands out to us and I think it forever will. And I'm just really excited about this because other people listening will be able to hear your guys' side of the story because if they read Unveiled Wife or if they're gonna read Marriage After God, we mention you guys and we mention your impact in our lives surrounding fellowship with other believers. And yeah-- [Aaron] Have they read what we wrote about them yet? [Jennifer] No. But now you're here and they get to hear from you guys. So I love that. [Aaron] Awesome. And you guys haven't read the chapter yet, right? [Tom] No. [Heidi] No. [Aaron] Okay, good. It's all good stuff, I promise. Yeah. [Jennifer] Okay, so speaking of that night at Fuse where we showed up, our marriage was in turmoil and we were just looking for that last ditch effort, kind of like, what are we doing? We step into this bible study, there's a lot of marriages and people there greeting one another and we're like freaking out on the inside. Kind of look at each other like, let's get out of here. [Aaron] It was terrifying. Walking into that big old, a huge open room, and how many people were there when we came? It was like probably-- [Heidi] Probably 600. [Tom] No, no. Probably about 350. [Heidi] You think so? [Tom] Yeah. [Aaron] Yeah, 350 people. It was a lot. It wasn't as full as it got, but it was pretty full when we came. [Tom] Yeah. [Jennifer] And anyways, we were trying to sneak out. We were trying to find a way to just walk back out the doors and Tom comes up and sticks his arms around Aaron and I and he's like, hey, you guys new? [Aaron] I remember getting startled by it actually. 'Cause we were walking backwards, which I know is-- [Heidi] And he's not a small guy either, so, big old mitts on your shoulders. [Jennifer] So you guys brought us to your table and that was kind of the beginning of our friendship together. So Tom, you've mentioned that Aaron's appearance at the time, he had plugs in his ears, he had a beard and-- [Aaron] Yeah, tattoos on my wrist. [Jennifer] Not the typical guy you would have been friends with back then. But can you just share, what was going through your mind at that moment? [Tom] Yeah, let's state for the record, clearly I'm not a very judgmental person. At least I don't think though, but yeah, at the time, just, here's ... I am the non-talkative one of Heidi and I's relationship. To be very clear, Heidi loves the talking and doesn't stop. So, and that's just not my style. And so God has placed us in this marriage, which is a story in and of itself or in this marriage ministry where we took over this table at this marriage group, and he just blessed it. It became a huge group of probably around 30 people, so about 15 couples, and they really, what they wanted was 10 couples or 10 people at each table, five couples. And so we were big and it was, it's something I loved. Most of those people are still friends to this day, but it was a lot for me and just how I like to operate, so yeah, I look up that night and see these two. And we are also one of the younger tables there at the time. [Aaron] Yeah, I remember that. [Tom] Seeing you guys walk in, I was like, oh gosh, they're our age group. They're probably our life experiences as of right now, whether it's young kids or no kids and some are looking over there and thinking, uh, no thanks. I don't know this girl who is an all American gal is standing next to this guy who's got plugs in his ear-- [Aaron] A little weird-- [Tom] Short hair, a beard, all these things, I'm looking. Like I am 100% as I said a minute ago, I'm not judgmental, I was 100% judging and thinking, I would never hang out with that guy. That gal looks like a great friend for my wife, but I would never hang out with that dude, we've got enough people at our table, I'm good. And there's those times that God whispers and you're not sure it's God, and there's other times where you just kind of move. You're like, what the heck is happening, because I don't really want to be doing this and perfectly honest, that's what was happening. Is I just felt the nudge and the pull, and so I got up and walked over and yeah, and you guys were ready to move out. You actually were on the way out. [Aaron] You saw it. [Tom] I remember Jen's face was one of sheer terror, of, oh God, we almost got out of here and this guy just ruined it. And Aaron's was more of a, okay, okay, good. This, okay, we'll do it. [Aaron] I needed it. I was, I needed someone to hold my hand in that moment because like, I wanted it, but I didn't know-- [Tom] Yeah, so we moved towards the table and that was literally one of those, it changed our life, changed our marriage, and it was one of those things, I'm darn glad I got out of my seat and went and did it. Because not only was that good for us, but I can also speak to others who have zero desire to include other people or you know, you hear a comment a lot like, I have enough friends or whatnot, which I think is a bad comment to make. One I've probably made my own, but it moved me out of my comfort zone and changed our lives for the better. [Jennifer] I love that you shared all of that. And so much of this book is about saying yes to God in moments like that where he nudges you or he pulls you out of your chair and you say yes to him and you do it anyways. And I'm just so you guys know, we still really appreciate that you did that for us. [Aaron] Yeah, and we not only have written about it extensively, but we share the story often and we, a part of the, what we talk about in this chapter, specifically with what you guys did in our life is when you, Tom and Heidi, said Yes to God in that one little moment, which was a series of yeses, becoming the leaders of that table and wherever God had led you before that, you wouldn't have known back then what kind of effect, lasting effect it would have in the fact that that one moment would not only turn into a lifetime friendship and relationship with us, but would also impact thousands and thousands of other marriages and people through your one act of obedience. [Tom] Yeah, there's-- [Aaron] So I, go ahead-- [Tom] We've met people, or not met, I shouldn't say that. Actually, we have. People we've met and then also people we knew that years later we talk to or run into or Heidi meets randomly in a grocery store and like I said, she talks to everybody. We're mentioned right, as you helped our marriage or you were instrumental and perfectly honest, we did nothing. We were fools, of sorts, used by God because we didn't even know we had any impact on these people, let alone strangers, but then people we knew years later say, you have no clue what you did for us. It's just, it's humbling, it's neat, and just to understand that if you allow God to use you, you have no clue what he's gonna do. And probably by the time Heidi and I are in graves, we'll have no clue what impact we had. But that's what we're supposed to do, we're supposed to be used by God for his greater good. [Aaron] Yeah, and I hope those that are listening right now, and that's exactly why I wanted to interview these people like you is because people don't know. They may think, what can I do? How can God use me? And you simply got up and said hi to us. Now, it's lots of laughter and tears after that, but still just that one act of obedience, the fruit from that is exactly what God's looking for from all of us and that's, I just love that you highlighted that. So, man, I'm loving this interview so far. Is this the one we want to go with? Okay. So what kind of barriers do you think keep believers from close fellowship with other believers? Because that's what we had. We grew in close fellowship with each other. What do you think it is that stops believers from making that deep connection and walking in obedience with fellowship with other believers? [Heidi] Oh, man. Honestly, I'd have to say pride. A lot of times, especially with social media age, you want to give your best face, you want to show pictures of your kids perfectly dressed and their hair perfectly done and you'll move things out of the background of the picture just so that way the background looks nice. But I think, unfortunately, I think people don't want to share their stink. They don't want to say, we're going through this issue or I have this deep seated issue or they just don't want their stuff out there for people to judge or question how perfect they thought their life was. And I think it's uncomfortable for people to let down that wall and share who they really are and share what their marriage is really going through. [Jennifer] Yeah, you guys have been really good at being an example of how to live transparently with other people, 'cause you guys were open with us and that opened the flood gates for us to be open with you guys because of that example. And I think it's so important for people to hear, how would you encourage someone to walk transparently with one another? How do you do that? [Tom] I think there's another aspect to it too, is from a good friend who joined the group as well that said he was tired of bible studies with people that weren't like him. And not necessarily weren't like him as in same exact life experiences, but as I kind of said with Aaron, looked at him and thought I'd never hang out with that guy. He was always turned off by, well, I tried this group, I tried that group, it didn't work. All those guys were nerds or none of those guys played sports or things of that nature. And there's a constant, I get that part, but if you're open to it, you might find that, as I tell my kids, right now in school, you may, there may be differences and clicks or different things like that, but as you get older, those things really do melt away. And especially if it's a brother or sister in Christ, you have a really deep bond that many don't understand. But there's a part to it too, when you hang out with those who aren't like you. For instance, Aaron, when you and I were in the men's fellowship group together, gosh, you were obviously younger than me, but we were both vastly younger than anyone else in that room and just-- [Aaron] Yeah, I remember that. [Tom] Stuff that we picked up from those guys who one was divorced, one was married, he was married but they were both from divorced families and kind of had a Brady Bunch type of union now. The things that I learned from that group, including on how not to talk to my wife and ended up actually causing some stress in my marriage when I told her how I shouldn't be talking to you, even though I have been, then all of a sudden she picked up on what a jerk I had been. [Aaron] She's like, yeah, you shouldn't talk to me like that. [Tom] Yeah, it was a total backfire move on my part. But it just, the things you learn from people when you continue to give it a shot and be open to it. If you go in with walls, you're gonna come out with walls. If you go in-- [Aaron] That's good-- [Tom] Being willing to hear or listen, I think everybody can find that community and like Heidi said, if you're willing to lower your walls and lower your pride, you'll find out everybody's just as jacked up as you are. It's just different levels, 'cause no marriage is perfect. [Aaron] Oh, I love that. And it's like the, it's this idea that recognizing what we do have in common, which is Christ, and being okay with that being the thing that we connect on because that's what God wants anyway and being able to throw out those preferences of like, well, I only want to spend time with this kind of person, which is hard to find the right person. It's rare that we have that kind of relationship, right. So I love that. How have you two navigated being a part of fellowship with the body of Christ? [Jennifer] And maybe how are you currently fellowshipping with other believers? [Tom] I got nudged, so this one's mine. So we no longer attend a church where it's facilitated by the church. So we met via a group that was facilitated by the church. And to be honest, thank God for them, they made it easy, right. Childcare and a building and all those things. So that doesn't exist where we live anymore, and so, and we don't attend a church that really has that. So now it's become harder work. It's no longer the ease of high school, seeing your friends every day and then you become an adult and go to different colleges or go to different jobs. It takes work for those relationships, and so that's where we are now. It's a lot of work to continue this. And so there's an aspect of that that's more rewarding. There's also an aspect that's more frustrating. So we totally get the part where continuing in this type of ministry or this type of group is not easy, but it's so important. When we take breaks from it, I don't want to call it a toll because it sounds negative or like it's destructive, but the toll it takes on our marriage is seen. It's very easily seen in that we just don't vibe as well. A marriage becomes more difficult than it has to be when we're not in fellowship with others. [Aaron] So even if it's not as easy as it was, you guys recognize that it's still a necessity and a vital part of your Christian faith is that you must be in fellowship, whatever that looks like. [Tom] Yeah, there's something to it when people ask, I work with so many people who will ask like, how often do you and Heidi fight or what do you do this, or how do you handle this? And yeah, and I explain that to them. There's a part where you share life with others and these can be people who are non Christians. Just when you share life with others and share your experiences, your victories, your struggles, that's what we were created for. And again, if I'm talking to a non Christian, I don't have, I throw God in there, but there's an aspect for them too, that even if you're not a believer in Christ, if you're not fellowshipping with people who help you get better or can take some of the load off or even just share life with, you're missing something. And so, yeah, there's a definite need for us every day, if not at least once a week, like a marriage group that we have now, we have to do it or else there's just a hole and there's a window that-- [Aaron] So you're saying is it's just a basic, it's the way God created us as humans is we need deep human connection, we need deep human relationships and that we can't just walk autonomously. And then especially for the believer, we need Christian fellowship to be around other Christians to sharpen us, to grow us. That's what I'm hearing you say. [Tom] Exactly what I'm saying-- [Aaron] Is that it's not something we can just, we can't just throw it out. Right, that's what, which is what a lot of Christians do. I use this word autonomous. A lot of believers are totally fine with autonomy because that seems easier. Like, oh, just, you can have what Heidi said. You can have this facade and long as you, let's be cordial and we'll be nice and all, we'll hug on Sundays, but then you're not allowed to know who I am, you're not allowed to see the dirt in my life, you're not allowed to call me out on anything, you're not allowed to know that the dark parts of me. [Jennifer] How do we grow and mature if we're not letting people see who we are? [Aaron] Well, we can't. [Heidi] We don't. [Aaron] That's the point is, I don't want to grow and therefore I don't tell anyone or show anyone who I am. [Jennifer] But a marriage after God wants to grow. [Aaron] Exactly. [Jennifer] So a marriage after God's going to be doing this. You touched on a point about your church not facilitating that easy fellowship time currently. And so for people who are listening right now, what would you say is an action step for them to be an initiator in this, so that they're not waiting around, waiting for an invitation or waiting for it to be easy. What can someone do today? What can a couple do today to-- [Aaron] Be the starters-- [Jennifer] To be the starters of-- [Aaron] Be the initiator. [Jennifer] Yeah. [Aaron] Do what Tom did and get up and walk over and put his arm around us. [Jennifer] Yeah. [Tom] Yeah, I think the first and easy start for me would be at a church you're at, you obviously, if you don't, if you go in and out of that building and don't connect or talk to anybody, you're doing yourself and that body a disservice. So it'd be just connecting very simply with people at the church. Again, maybe somebody that you have, when you pick up your kids from childcare, obviously there's somewhere you can connect. There's so many spots to just start there. The other might be just friends in general. And Aaron, you brought up a point, the autonomy. There's something to it, right, where there's a couple of good friends of mine who I'm not as extreme as this, but literally don't like to talk to somebody. And it's funny though when you ask the question, well, what happens when you're out in public and there's a Christian connection of sorts, like somebody mentions something or you see somebody praying and somebody mentions it to you. There's an instant spark, there's an instant connection because out in the world when you find somebody who has that fearlessness of being able to say, yeah, I'm a Christian, or lives it out in front of you, there's a spark that you automatically have a bond. And so at your church, I think it's the easiest spot to have where it's reached out, somebody needs somebody or friends that you have now that you know are believers. Talk to them about getting together in a marriage study, whether it be one of your guys' books, whether it be something on DVD where there's a series going on, just starting somewhere or getting together on a bi-weekly basis just to hang, to chat. Because from that, as you guys know we used to do, we used to have dinners at the house, from that just hanging out, will spur those conversations and start something that you can then morph into, hey, why don't we start getting together on a weekly basis or bi-weekly basis. [Aaron] So true. I'm gonna take one of your guys' strategies. You guys had an open invitation to us to come over to eat with you guys. And not everyone is gonna, like you said, not everyone takes you up, but you said, hey, come over. And we said yes. So there was times that we went over and you didn't even know we were coming over. We just, we just texted you when we were around the corner. Was like, hey, hope dinner's ready. [Tom] You guys make it sound like that's the exception. That might've been the rule, that it was, you guys popped in a lot, and again, we loved it. It was not, we do it to people now. We'll just show up at their house with ice cream or something. [Aaron] They're like, uh-- [Tom] Yeah, their faces, they're not happy to see us. And then it ends up being a half hour, hour visit and laughing and fun and then we leave, and we'll get a, hey, thanks for stopping by, even though we showed up at the door. There's been many wives who looked at me like, what are you doing here? So yeah, it's-- [Aaron] Yeah. I think it's just the, it's not common for people 'cause we think like, oh no, you don't want to bother, you don't want to invade someone's privacy. You don't want to. But I think that's what we're supposed to do as brothers and sisters. Now, we don't want to step over boundaries and be rude and be, but like actually go into, hey, I'm in the neighborhood, would you love, I'd love to bring you a coffee. Hey, I'm grabbing a doughnut, you want one? Or a breakfast sandwich or whatever it is, just to spark that. You guys were a great example of that, opening up your home to us, giving us an invitation to be over and actually following through with it and making a meal with us and making it a night. Like we would stay at your house until two o'clock in the morning sometimes. [Woman] Sometimes we-- [Aaron] This was before kids. [Woman] Yeah. [Aaron] But yeah, I think that's a great idea. Just starting where you're at, looking around at you and saying, hey, there's a bunch of believers around me. I should not be hiding. There should be no reason that I can't go spark up a conversation and say, who are you? How can we know each other more? [Jennifer] And in this chapter of the book, I share a story of when Heidi invited me over to her house for one of the first times that we would actually spend girl time together-- [Aaron] This is a good story, yeah. [Jennifer] And I don't want to give too much away because I want them to read it, but I basically said I was busy and felt the conviction of the Lord prompt my heart to call you back, Heidi, and I had to apologize for lying and I did go over there. And so I just want to share that briefly because I think so many times, we do excuse ourselves or justify why we can't hang out or maybe we're afraid or maybe it's too uncomfortable. But I just want the people listening right now to know it is so worth it. It's worth it to get out of your comfort zone and it's worth it to build these friendships and these relationships with other believers because they will impact our lives for the better. [Aaron] Yeah, just like you guys have impacted our life. And in what you're saying, Jennifer, it makes me think of this. How many times have I said, hey, why don't you call so and so and see if they want to hang out, and you say, no, they're doing this thing today or they have this-- [Jennifer] I give other people excuses. [Aaron] And I tell them, I'm like, did they say that? And she's like, well, no. And I'm like, so they didn't tell you no? So I think sometimes when we feel that nudge, that Holy Spirit draw to reach out and to call or to connect with, and we say, no, they're probably this or they're probably that, and we say no for people before they say no. And to avoid that, to let the person say no. [Tom] To this day, that's me and Heidi. I think one of the better compliments she was given, whether it was a compliment or not, was you're a spiritual nuisance, because she doesn't let, she won't let you off the hook. [Jennifer] That's true. [Tom] She'll keep coming-- [Aaron] It's true, Heidi's got a gift. [Tom] It's truly a gift of God to her. It annoys the heck out of me sometimes. But especially when we're trying to be somewhere. [Aaron] But look at the fruit in your life because of it. [Tom] Yeah, exactly. So I have to balance that when I do get annoyed and remember how it's blessed me. But yeah, I mean, she's very good at this and doesn't, kind of tracks people down. [Aaron] So cool. [Jennifer] Awesome. Okay you guys, well, as we wrap up this awesome interview, in your own words, what is a marriage after God? [Heidi] Honestly, I think a marriage after God is putting God first and not your spouse and not other people, not celebrities, not your own image, but putting God first in your marriage to bless yourself, bless your marriage, bless other people. Just really living for God and not for the world. [Tom] What does that look like? I had a conversation with our daughter two days ago. We were driving back from somewhere and she says, so you love God first and then mommy and then us. And I said, yeah, it doesn't make sense, does it. And she says, no, it doesn't. Because one time I was a stupid dad and I answered the question honestly when she said, well, who's your favorite girl? And I answered mommy immediately. To an eight year old at the time, that was a really stupid answer on my part. But I mean, it was just not smart because it broke her heart and I had to try to come back and explain that to her because she's eight, she's not supposed to completely grasp that yet-- [Aaron] I don't have faith like that yet-- [Tom] But yes, sure, and a couple of days ago in the car, I said, it doesn't make sense and here's why. It's because God wants your focus on him. But in doing that, he opens you up to everything else and gives you a greater appreciation, gives you a greater understanding and gives you a greater love for other things. And so by mommy and daddy focusing on God first, it allows us to be better husband and wife to each other and allows us to be a better mommy and daddy to you. Even though a lot of times you probably don't think we're that great, that's what it does. And I said, and it's hard for you understand, I understand that, and you won't until you are married or have kids, but in the end, people have asked, why have we had such a great marriage. And it hasn't been perfect, but it's been the best decision I ever made in my life. And for a male to say that to another male, in our day and age is, Aaron, I'm sure you see it on people's faces when you do it. They look at you like you're crazy. And yeah, it's the absolute best thing I ever did in my life, and we just, if we focus on God first, right, though Sunday mornings you don't feel like getting up and going to church and you do and you walk into a sermon that's on marriage and you get, and God just talks to you there. It's putting him first whether you want to or not on that particular day. None of us are perfect. And then it just, everything else unlocks. Churches, I know I'm rambling. Churches know this fact. If they want to grow their church, they can get the wife, that's fine, and you'll get the kids maybe. But if you get the husband, you get the entire family and that's how you grow your church number, and that's a different topic, but again, if as a husband-- [Aaron] No, what you're saying is husbands need to be leading spiritually and setting the tone in their home. That's good. [Tom] Yeah. Before you rudely cut me off, what I was saying is, if we as husbands lead, it's infectious. It doesn't always happen, but it's infectious. The wife then follows, then the kids then follow and it's a beautiful thing. And I've noticed for me, if I slip and I'm not focusing on God, my house slips. So long winded answer to your question is both of you focusing on God, it's funny how the rest just seems to, not easily sometimes, but it does, it falls into place. [Aaron] Good. Thank you, that was really good. [Jennifer] That's so good. Thank you guys so much for sharing with us today. We just want to invite everyone to take a moment to join us in prayer. Dear Lord, thank you for the gift of your body. Thank you for the gift of fellowship and friendship. May we be people who are motivated by love to reach out and be a friend to others. We pray we would have the courage and confidence to be people who welcome others in, who are transparent, who are there for others, who lift others up and who pray for others. Use our marriages to be an encouragement to other marriages. Use us as a team to bring you glory. Help us to never live in isolation. Help us to never be divided. We pray the enemy and we pray our own flesh wouldn't get it in the way of fellowship. May our desire to participate in your body increase even more. May the way we treat one another be a light and an example to the rest of the world. In Jesus' name. Amen. [Aaron] Amen. So Tom and Heidi, we love you guys. We miss you guys. [Tom] Thanks for having us. [Aaron] We need to see you soon. [Tom] Sincerely. [Woman] Miss you guys. [Aaron] And thank you so much for giving us some time today and in blessing everyone that's listening. So hey everyone that's listening, thank you so much for joining us on this sixth week of the series, and we look forward to having you next week. Did you enjoy today's show? If you did, it would mean the world to us if you could leave us a review on iTunes. Also, if you're interested, you can find many more encouraging stories and resources at MarriageAfterGod.com, and let us help you cultivate an extraordinary marriage.

god love jesus christ american church lord marriage talk christians holy spirit walking fellowship dvd honestly amen churches circus childcare in jesus fuse brady bunch jennifer smith dear lord celaya sam's club tom it aaron good tom short marriage after god aaron you tom you aaron it tom no unveiled wife aaron yeah tom yeah aaron no jennifer yeah husband revolution aaron well jennifer how jennifer so jennifer well aaron so aaron is aaron thank aaron do heidi you aaron they aaron you're

出国旅游:预定酒店万用英语情景对话,赶紧学起来!

出国必备旅游英语口语

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 30, 2018 4:01

今天我们学习出国旅游:预定酒店万用英语情景对话!在学习之前我先给大家送一波福利，大家听好啦！手机下载阿里巴巴官方返利“一淘”app，在搜索框输入口令“笨笨口语”，点击搜索，就可以领取我为大家准备的8元购物红包，红包在淘宝天猫购物车都能用，大家一定要去领取喔，下面进入我们今天的学习内容。预定酒店万用英语情景对话Front Desk: Royal Hotel, can I help you?皇家酒店，我能为您服务吗？Tom: Yes. I urgently need a room for tomorrow night, and do you have any vacancies?我急需一个房间要明晚住，请问你们还有空房吗？urgently：['ɜ:(r)-dʒənt-lɪ] 紧急地，急迫地vacancy：[ˈveɪ-kən-si] 空房Front Desk: Yes, we have. What kind of room would you like?还有空房。您需要什么样的房间？Tom: I'd like a suite with an ocean view, please.我想要一个可以看到海景的套房。suite: [swi:t]套房 ocean：[ˈəʊ-ʃn]海洋Front Desk: No problem, sir.没问题，先生。Tom: What is the price of the suite?价格如何？Front Desk: It is 280 US$ per night.每晚280美元。Tom: It is a little high. I'm told that your hotel is offering discount now.价格有点高。我听说你们酒店正在打折。discount：[ˈdɪs-kaʊnt] 折扣Front Desk: Yes, but the offer ended yesterday. I'm sorry.是的，但打折期昨天就结束了。很抱歉Tom:Oh, I see. Then do you have anything less expensive?我明白了。那么你们是否还有其他便宜一点的套房？Front Desk: No, sir. So far it is the least expensive suite for tomorrow night.没有了，先生。到目前为止，这是能为明晚提供的最便宜的套房。Tom:OK, I will take it. By the way, does the price include breakfast?那好吧，我就预定它了。顺便问一下，房价是否包括早餐？include：[ɪn-ˈklu:d]包括，包含Front Desk: Yes, it does. Now could I have your name, please?是的，包括早餐。现在我能请问您的尊姓大名了吗？Tom:My name is Tom Zhang.我叫汤姆，张。Front Desk: Would you kindly spell it for me?您能拼读一下吗？Tom:That is T-O-M, Z-H-A-N-G.T-O-M，Z-H-A-N-G。Front Desk: Thank you, I got it. And how long do you expect to stay?谢谢，我记下了。另外您预计在此停留多久？Tom: About three days.大约三天。Front Desk: OK. Our check-in time is after 1:00pm. And see you tomorrow.好的。我们的登记时间是在下午一点钟之后。明天见。Tom: Thank you. See you.谢谢。明天见。

tom it tom oh

1027-出国旅游_预定酒店万用英语情景对话,赶紧学起来!【练就完美英语口语】

听力口语全突破 | 零基础英语口语必备

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 30, 2018 4:01

tom it tom oh

Separating Fact from Fiction on the Birth of Christ (Part 1)

Gospel Tangents Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2018 18:41

I'm excited to have Dr. Thomas Wayment discuss fact and fiction surrounding stories of the birth of Christ. Dr. Wayment is a New Testament scholar at BYU. You may want to bookmark this page as later in the week we will compare notes with fellow scholar Dr. Jeffrey Chadwick, who think Jesus was born in December. Is there such clarity in the New Testament? Tom and co-author Lincoln Blumell wrote an article in BYU Studies on the dating of Christ's birth. https://youtu.be/K74TTz-RpXs Tom: Our intent wasn't to say, "It's not really December, it's April." Our intent was to say "We can't know within that kind of time frame, especially not a month." A year, we might get within a year or two is about the best we can do. What is the span of years that we can pinpoint the birth of Jesus? Tom: It seems that everyone agrees that Herod was alive when Jesus was born. That gives us a pretty good point after which we can start talking. Herod dies in 4 B.C. That's a date there is not a lot of dispute about. I've seen a recent monograph and some are saying maybe spring of 5 B.C. ... One real monkey-wrench here is that Luke says that there was a census by a man named Quirinius or Cyrenius in translation that a lot of Latter-day Saints use, and he is governor in Syria in 6 A.D. So there is no possible way that Herod is alive and Cyrenius does a census. So there is a decade gap between these two dates. What does Tom think is the best date? Check out our conversation.... Is it true that estimate range from 5 B.C. to 6 A.D for the birth of Jesus?

jesus christ saints fiction new testament syria herod separating byu christ part birth of christ quirinius wayment tom it byu studies thomas wayment

DE194 Tom Nelson | Driving The Band Heathcote Hill To New Heights

dHarmic Evolution

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 7, 2018 61:12

Quotes from Tom: “It was a personal test to see if I had any skill as a songwriter, I just wanted to give it a try and see what happened, friends were so helpful and it just became a labor of love, and people like the songs and they like the music, so it's been great.” “People ask me if my songs are personal, or documentaries or portraits, every song is its own thing, it becomes its own thing, like a child the minute it leaves you, you have to kind of follow your song and find out what it's trying to be.” “I try to push a song around the playground to see if it will work if it's just a lick, it's really easy to lie with a guitar in your hand, you can tell anybody anything.” The Ingredients to Heathcote Hill: “It was kind of building everything around Megan's voice, I would come up with some words and some chords, and we started to work it out with Megan, and kind of built everything around it and a lot of my friends were surprised that our first record was not what they expected. Cory was our drummer, Bruce was our Bass player, Megan was our singer, and I played guitars and that's how it all became something.” A pivotal moment for Heathcote Hill: “For me as the “trying to be a songwriter person,” the first time I heard Megan,Tori, and Bruce and I play a song and it became something outside my head, and I said that sound really interesting, it wasn't what I expected, it was it's own thing, and I thought that's really neat, to, from heard only here, to, heard there, every time it's a surprise.” Songwriting in your blood: “I was a writer and director in advertising, that was my career, I've always been in a creative community and worked with some great directors, great actors, and great musicians, it was a really talented group, and a really fun world to be in, then I got back into music later in life and found a lot of the same creative challenges. So I wanted to see if I could go from commercial writing to songwriting.” Real Artists Ship: “You have to send it away at a certain point, I just have to let it be. The one song that has been tortured to within an inch of its life is called “Don't Even Wave Goodbye”, it has three different passes of drums, different vocalists, I did countless guitar tracks, and we just kept trying it and trying it, and we finally got it to were we all liked it. I could have kept tinkering, and we finally had to just send it away.” NY Clubs: “Bowery Electric, The Bitter End, Rockwood Music Hall, there is something about the Bitter End, we always sound really good there, and all my friends sound better there, maybe it's the horizontal room, or maybe its the vibe of the room, but we always sound good there.” Megan: “Megan has always been a singer, her sisters sing, they sing at every baptism, wedding, and first communion, and everything in the family. Megan and I were in a band a few years ago, that's how we got to know each other, it's something she does in her spare time. The last band took two 3 month leaves when Megan had her last two children. She is a Mom and works in Education and her husband is an Annapolis Grad and one night a week we try to rehearse and do music.” Tim Hatfield CTS Studios: “Tim Hatfield at CTS studios in Brooklyn thought that the song “Some Things In Life” will sound great with a keyboard part, what do you think? he asked. I said I'm homeless I'm looking for help, who do you know? I'll send it to my friend Rob Arthur, and maybe he can do a neat thing for us. Rob Arthur has been touring with Peter Frampton for the last 15 years as his keyboard and guitar player, he is an astonishing musician, and a week later thanks to the miracle of the internet, Rob's piece comes back and its the opening of “Some things in Life” Featured Songs: Some things in Life Rain all Night Oxford Depot Blue Love me a Little Bit More You can follow Tom here: Website www.heathcotehill.net ReverbNation www.reverbnation.com/heathcotehill Facebook @heathcotehill Instagram @heathcote_hill Youtube www.youtube.com/channel/UCq396f_9NqCnfFNBU6MYPbA Subscribe rate & review the Dharmic Evolution podcast! Get early access to Dharmic Evolution on Pandora here! Visit the store and check out the Gratitude album here! For coaching help, reach out the james@thejamesoconnoragency.com Please sign up on www.dharmicevolution.com/guest-invite/ for artist opportunities. Join the Dharmic Evolution Community Facebook page! You can post your content on there for the whole world to see. Also, check out www.thejamesoconnoragency.com and find out how we can broadcast your global career!

education gratitude mom band driving bass ingredients quotes songwriting new heights peter frampton cts bitter end reverbnation tom nelson heathcote rockwood music hall tom it rob arthur megan megan

San Marino Motor Classic – aka Los Angeles Concours d’Elegance

iDriveSoCal

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2018 15:55

San Marino Motor Classic The San Marino Motor Classic is formerly known as the Los Angeles Concours d'Elegance. And if you're looking to check out fancy cars while also doing some people watching then this is a good show for you. Because the show attracts many of Hollywood's top car guys and gals. Details on the upcoming San Marino Motor Classic HERE. Plus the San Marino Motor Classic takes place in June. And iDriveSoCal contributor, Clinton "The Professor" Quan, refers it as Southern California's "Awesome Auto Show June." Due to the plethora of great auto shows before summer kicks in and it gets too hot! So here's the Professor's complete report on a recent San Marino Motor Classic - which remails a Concours d'Elegance even though it's no longer part of the name. ***Transcript*** Recorded June 12, 2018 - Los Angeles, CA San Marino Motor Classic Clinton: This is considered one of the premier shows in Southern California, and definitely the biggest show in the San Gabriel Valley. It is the successor to the Los Angeles Concours d'Elegance, which was held at Brookside Golf Course, adjacent to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. These cars, they're easily valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions. Tom: Welcome to iDriveSoCal, the podcast all about mobility from the automotive capital of the United States, Southern California. Tom Smith here with "The Professor," Mr. Clinton Quan. Say hello, Clinton. Clinton Quan: Hi Tom. Tom: Hello. Thank you for coming back yet again my friend. Today's topic is... It's actually our third installment of the second weekend of the Professor's Awesome Auto Show June. Last time, I didn't actually put a sound effect in there. I just kept the dumb sound effect that I make verbally. Maybe we'll do that again. I'm not sure. Clinton: Okay. Tom: Was that a pretty good one? I don't know. Clinton: I think that was better. Tom: All right. Yeah, thanks. So, at any rate, this was the San Marino Motor Classic, and it's the eighth annual. And being the San Marino Motor Classic, I guess, they have that down where? In Marina del Rey? Clinton: This is at Lacy Park in San Marino. Formerly Los Angeles Concours d'Elegance Tom: Take it away, Professor. Tell us all about it. Clinton: Well, this is considered one of the premier shows in Southern California, and definitely the biggest show in the San Gabriel Valley. It is the successor to the Los Angeles Concours d'Elegance, which was held at Brookside Golf Course, adjacent to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. And as you mentioned, this is the eighth year for the event. Tom: Okay. So, hold on. The Los Angeles Concours d'Elegance. Did we cover that? Clinton: Well, that show doesn't take place any more. It's the successor. That show ran for about ... I think it was about five years. Tom: Kind of a short run for one of those... Tom: Okay. But now, this San Marino Motor Classic is not a Concours? San Marino Motor Classic Is A Concours d'Elegance Clinton: It is a Concours. Tom: It is. Clinton: It just has a different name. They don't use the traditional Concours d'Elegance name. But it is definitely a Concours level type event. There are about 40 different classes of vehicles for this event. And that's a lot in about 15 specialty awards on top of that. Tom: Okay. And just scrolled through the pictures, which will be on iDriveSoCal.com. So, check out this podcast post on iDriveSoCal.com. You'll be able to see the pictures. Clinton and I are going to talk about some of the vehicles, but it is always a wildly impressive display of automotive artistry on wheels, history on wheels, and cash in the form of huge value on wheels as well. Clinton: Yes. These cars, they're easily valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions, I'm sure. Cars Are Not Referred To As 'Whips' At Concours (Apparently) Tom: And so, tell us about what we're going to post, some of those vehicles,

Friends Of Steve McQueen Car Show | Annual Boys Republic Benefit

iDriveSoCal

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 8, 2018 10:37

Friends of Steve McQueen Car And Motorcycle Show The Friends of Steve McQueen Car and Motorcycle Show is an annual fundraiser. And the event is both hosted at and a benefit for, The Boys Republic in Chino Hills. So, the Boys Republic is a school for troubled and at-risk youngsters. Since it's founding in 1907 it's helped more than 30,000 teenage boys and girls. Additionally, the late movie star Steve McQueen is an alumnus. Upcoming Friends of Steve McQueen Car And Motorcycle Show details HERE. And this car show is one of iDriveSoCal's favorites. Because our contributor, Clinton Quan, never misses it! So here's his report from the show commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Steve McQueen's famous movie Bullitt. -->Continue reading or click play below to hear the report.

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2019 VW Jetta Review – Real Test-Driver From Riverside, CA

iDriveSoCal

Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2018 3:44

Jetta Review - Real Test-Driver from Riverside, California Ian Duarte came from Riverside, CA to test drive the all-new 2019 VW Jetta at Ontario Volkswagen. And he was so impressed, that after doing so, he sat down to share his thoughts on the iDriveSoCal Podcast. Technically, Ian rode along with his friend Michelle Bentley. And, the two diehard Volkswagen fans had nothing but high marks for the latest innovation from their favorite automaker. Continue reading or click play below to hear Ian's Jetta review - from a Riverside commuter. ***Transcript*** Recorded @ Ontario Volkswagen More Real-Driver Jetta Reviews: Riverside Driver Loma Linda Driver Family from Corona Inland Empire Driver 2019 Volkswagen Jetta Review From Riverside, California Ian: I think the MQB platform has actually given the interior of the car more space, basically, without making the car bigger. Virtual cockpit, really cool. A lot of nice little things to mess with. Center Stack Angled Toward the Driver I definitely love the taillights and the headlights on these cars. Riverside VW Enthusiast Ian Duarte at Ontario Volkswagen Tom: Welcome to iDriveSoCal, a podcast all about mobility from the automotive capital of the United States, southern California. I'm Tom Smith and we're at the Ontario Volkswagen 2019 Jetta launch party, and joining me is Ian Duarte from- Ian: Riverside, California. Tom: Okay, Ian's Jetta Review from Riverside, California. Ian just got back with Michelle from a 2019 Jetta test drive. So, tell me what you thought. 2019 VW Jetta Ian: Well I can give you a different point of view over here, 'cause I was sitting in the back seat as she was driving, yeah. Tom: So Michelle, did she let you drive? Ian: I let her drive, yeah. Tom: Ah. Ian: You'll see you get a different perspective here. Tom: Absolutely. We need that perspective. I'm just putting the relationship together. Like, all right, Michelle's the driver, Ian's in the backseat. The all-new VW Jetta has gotten bigger! Ian: Back seat driver. Tom: So, how was the trunk, Ian? Ian: The trunk is actually pretty roomy. Luxurious And Spacious Jetta Interior Tom: It is. I was just kidding. How was the back seat? Tell me about the ride. Ian: It was actually pretty roomy, honestly, because like I've said, I've sat in the back of her GLI. And, I think the MQB platform has actually given the interior of the car more space, basically, without making the car bigger. Smoother All-New 2019 Jetta Tom: I love all the technology, innovation, including how they're innovating with engineering the interior of the car. What else do you think? Ian: I really like the virtual cockpit. Tom: So, did you get to drive, or you just got to see the virtual cockpit? Ian: I just got to see it. Tom: All right, yeah. It is pretty cool. What else? Ian: Well, I like the way the leather felt. Jetta Digital Cockpit Tom: Yeah. Ian: Because hers, SEL, being leather seats as well, I feel like they did a little nice update on their leather, as well. Tom: Very high quality. Ian: Yeah. "...I think the MQB platform has actually given the interior of the car more space, basically, without making the car bigger." Tom: With the pinhole and everything. Ian: Oh, yeah. Tom: It was like, all right, I'm getting into a quality car. To me, it felt like a lot more car than the price point. Riverside Commuter Jetta Review - Better Interior, Exterior And Performance Ian: Oh, yeah, of course. If you're gonna look at the competitors, obviously, you have a way nice interior, exterior, and performance, versus the competitors. Tom: Okay. All right, so, it sounds like you're a bit of a car guy, as well as Michelle's car girl. "...you have a way nice interior, exterior, and performance, versus the competitors." Ian: Oh, yeah, of course, oh yeah. Tom: All right, so then,

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Relationships Before Progress | A Conversation with Tom Christofferson, President David Checketts, and Bishop Bruce Larson

Leading Saints Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2018 58:57

Interview Transcript Available Below Tom Christofferson is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who experiences same sex attraction. He is also the brother of Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Tom grew up in the church as a member, served a mission and married in the temple. His short marriage ended and he came out as gay and lived that lifestyle for many years. He started coming back to church with Bruce Larson as a bishop and David Checketts as his stake president. Tom's story is told in his book, That We May Be One: A Gay Mormon’s Perspective on Faith and Family. As leaders we can learn a lot from his experience of coming back to church and being rebaptized. Episode Highlights 6:30 Tom's story from the beginning 9:30 His story of excommunication 10:50 How his family wanted their love to be perfect as they accepted him 13:20 Bishop Bruce Larson's side of the story 16:00 Stake President David Checkett's side of the story 18:00 Bishop Larson and President Checketts did not know at first that he was related to Elder Christofferson 20:30 Sharing with the ward coucnil how to make feel Tom welcome 22:30 Response of the ward council 24:00 Tom was welcomed and loved unconditionally 29:00 Tom attended the ward for 5 years before wanting to come back to live the commandments 31:45 During the 5 years how Tom felt welcome in the ward 33:20 Everyone focused on the the relationship with Tom and not his progress 34:30 Study sessions with Tom and President Checketts 38:00 Meeting with Tom's partner 42:00 President Checketts meets with Elder Christofferson about Tom 45:00 Tom Christofferson's rebaptism 48:00 How this experience has helped Bishop Larson to be a better disciple of Jesus Christ 50:00 How this experience has helped President Checketts to be a better disciple of Jesus Christ Links That We May Be One: A Gay Mormon’s Perspective on Faith and Family Register for the North Star Leadership Session President David Checketts (far left) and the Christofferson brothers Interview Transcript LS: [00:02:30] Welcome back to the leading LDS podcast. My name is Kurt Francom and today I have the opportunity to be in beautiful downtown Salt Lake City with and really, I'm across the world and we'll explain that in just a minute. But, let's start with you, Tom. I'm in the home of Tom Christofferson. How are you? Tom: Very well, thank you. Thanks for joining us. LS: Yeah, well, I'm excited to have this opportunity. And, mainly this interview came to be as you release your book, "That We May Be One, a Gay Mormons Perspective on Faith and Family" and you've been on the interview circuit for that. Tom: It's been an interesting journey. LS: I bet it's been very fulfilling to share your faith through, through this method. Tom: It has been a unique opportunity to be able to talk about my feelings about the Savior and the journey that I feel I have been led along. LS: Yep, obviously we'll get the, the obvious things out of the way. So, your last name is Christofferson and you are Elder Christofferson's brother. Tom: And he is my brother. LS: Oh, that's right. You are becoming more and more famous through this, these interviews. Tom: So, we are a family of five sons. He is the oldest and I'm the youngest. LS: Nice. I'm the youngest too, so I can, I can empathize with that. That's right. That's right. And now, and we'll get into your story in the book a little bit, but also interviewed the other member or introduce the other members that are part of the interview. So, we're going as far as Australia to talk with President David Checketts. How are you a President Checketts? Checketts: I'm doing well. LS: Good. And now you don't live in Australia? I think many people recognize your name here in Utah, but you generally live in Connecticut. Is that right? Checketts: Yes.

出国旅游必备-国外电话订房一篇对话就够！

出国必备旅游英语口语

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 1, 2018 10:55

Front Desk: Royal Hotel, can I help you?前台：皇家酒店，我能为您服务吗？Tom: Yes. I urgently need a room for tomorrow night, and do you have any vacancies?汤姆：我急需一个房间要明晚住，请问你们还有空房吗？Front Desk: Yes, we have. What kind of room would you like?前台：还有空房。您需要什么样的房间？Tom: I'd like a suite with an ocean view, please.汤姆：我想要一个可以看到海景的套房。Front Desk: No problem, sir.前台：没问题，先生。Tom: What is the price of the suite?汤姆：价格如何？Front Desk: It is US$ 280 per night.前台：每晚280美元。Tom: It is a little high. I'm told that your hotel is offering discount now.汤姆：价格有点高。我听说你们酒店正在打折。Front Desk: Yes, but the offer ended yesterday. I'm sorry.前台：是的，但打折期昨天就结束了。很抱歉。Tom: Oh, I see. Then do you have anything less expensive?汤姆：我明白了。那么你们是否还有其他便宜一点的套房？Front Desk: No, sir. So far it is the least expensive suite for tomorrow night.前台：没有了，先生。到目前为止，这是能为明晚提供的最便宜的套房。Tom: OK, I will take it. By the way, does the price include breakfast?汤姆：那好吧，我就预定它了。顺便问一下，房价是否包括早餐？Front Desk: Yes, it does. Now could I have your name, please?前台：是的，包括早餐。现在我能请问您的尊姓大名了吗？Tom: My name is Tom Zhang.汤姆：我叫汤姆，张。Front Desk: Would you kindly spell it for me?前台：您能拼读一下吗？Tom: That is T-O-M, Z-H-A-N-G.汤姆：T-O-M，Z-H-A-N-G。Front Desk: Thank you, I got it. And how long do you expect to stay?前台：谢谢，我记下了。另外您预计住多久？Tom: About three days.汤姆：大约三天。Front Desk: OK. Our check-in time is after 1:00pm. And see you tomorrow.前台：好的。我们办理登记入住时间是在下午一点钟之后。明天见。Front Desk: Thank you. See you.汤姆：谢谢。明天见。How long do you expect to stay?您预计住多久？赞赏就是真爱赞赏是最好的美德！嘻嘻(#^.^#)长按图片识别二维码赶紧试试！

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#125 Crushworthy Branding with Minling Chuang

Financial Fluency: How Women Thrive Outside of the 9 to 5

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2017 38:14

Minling is a geek about all things branding. Good thing too because as a brand marketing strategist and coach, she has worked with solopreneurs, small businesses, consulting companies, and big brands to strategically market and position themselves so they have an eye-popping 'It' brands that turn heads. Minling is passionate about helping small business owners uncover their unique message so they can rapidly build a list of raving fans eager to buy along the way. Branding is more than the website, logo, and graphic. Branding is perception. How you are perceived by others. So instead of focusing on the visuals, start by focusing how you can emotionally connect with your audience and building a strong bond with your potential clients and customers. This will help you build loyalty and become known as an authority brand. On this episode, Minling tells the story of her crush on Tom. Tom is so amazing. He cares about others, he gives back everyday and when Minling is with him she feels like a better person too. Who is Tom? It’s actually a brand. A shoe brand that gives away one pair of shoes for every pair purchased. The way Minling feels about Tom’s brand is exactly the way we all want our clients and customers to feel about us and our brands. Mingling talks about what individuals and companies can do to help create that kind of connection and feeling with customers. Minling also shares the story of her journey from doing marketing for big brands through an agency, to trying to start her first company and eventually coming back to her love of branding for small businesses. You can connect with Minling Chuan via her website at http://brandfameschool.com. http://facebook.com/minlingchuang http://instagram.com/minlingchuang And you can get a free Branding Masterclass right here: http://brandfameschool.com/masterclass Resources: Tom’s Shoes Minling Chuang has 8+ years of experience in branding and marketing, working on top brands such as Nestle Toll House, Lean Cuisine, Toyota, and UBM. While at Nestle, Minling launched a $54 Million product for Lean Cuisine that also won Product of the Year. Minling holds an MBA from Indiana University and a BA from the University of Southern California. She has been featured in the Huffington Post.

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Episode 001 - Buy The House, Not the Market

The Clarified Realty Podcast | Real Estate Secrets Your Agent Doesn't Want You To Know!

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 16, 2016 49:16

It's the inaugural episode of the podcast and we're coming out swinging! We start off by discussing the one thing that seems to pre-occupy all of our clients whenever they go into the process of buying or selling a home -- FEAR. You'll find ways to overcome being so afraid and embracing the process, the most primary of which comes from a very odd source -- the works of Plato! Tom then takes a look at how investors took advantage of everyone's fear of the market during the crash, when everyone was running the opposite way, and made a killing buying houses when no one else was even thinking about it. We then start the conversation about what types of agents you want to avoid (the Weak Agents or WA's -- and Salesman Agent SA's) and what type of value an agent should bring to your home purchase or sale. We wrap up with our 10 Commandments or promises we pledge to provide to our audience. It's a jam-packed first episode and we're incredibly excited to be bringing it to you! [spp-transcript] Announcer: Welcome to the Clarified Realty Podcast — exposing the real estate secrets your agent doesn't want you to know. Here's your host Tom Clary. Tom: Hi there and welcome to our inaugural podcast Clarified Realty episode 001. We're so happy to took the time to give us a listen. I'm hoping that we'll have some great adventures ahead of us and we'll be able to learn a lot about the great big world of real estate together. Some introductions are in order. My name's Tom Clary. I'm a licensed real estate agent here in the state of California. My practice is located specifically in the beautiful San Fernando Valley. I'm a valley boy, born and bred, and while I handle real estate transactions in pretty much all areas of Los Angeles — Downtown, Hollywood — this is really my specialty. I work with both buyers and sellers and my office is located in the tony and prestigious enclave of Calabasas, California. You might know it as the home of a Kardashian or two and it's pretty much the Beverly Hills of the Los Angeles suburbs. Joining me today and on the rest of our podcasts will be my friend, sidekick and amazing lender, Ron Bruno. Hi there, Ron. Why don't you give us a little about yourself. Ron: Tom, thank you so much. My name's Ron Bruno. I'm with the firm, Guaranteed Rate here in beautiful Pasadena. I'm a Chicago guy originally — born and bred. We moved, my family we moved. when I was seven. Grew up in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina a nice little resort town — and as my wife likes to say, I'm a cabana boy — she she married a cabana boy. It is true. Tom: It happens! The dream happens. Ron: It does happen, exactly. I went to college at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia and moved out here fourteen years ago. Tom: Wow, you've been out here a while. Ron: I've been here for a while. I moved originally for a girl and stayed for the weather. Yes. Tom: Understandable. Sometimes the girls change. The weather here in California relatively stays the same. Ron: It's true and my professional background I for the first ten years I was in various realms in sales and marketing. Wy first job actually was advertising. Tom: OK. Ron: I've been in professional, personal finance and professional services for over eight years now starting in wealth management and moved over to the wonderful world of residential lending. Tom: Awesome, awesome, Ron… And we'll be going more in depth with Ron in our upcoming podcast number 002, where we'll be taking more of a deep dive into mortgages and how they are really the first sign post on our trip up the mountain of home ownership. Yes, even before talking to a real estate agent like me. But for this episode this is really going to be the two of us giving you a preview of what we're really trying to achieve here and give you an idea of what to expect moving forward. You know, when I first spoke to Ron about starting this podcast I told him that I wanted to make sure that if we were going to do you know to get together and talk to you guys once a week to humbly request the gift of your very valuable attention, I wanted to make sure that we were saying something completely different. I wanted it to be something that had a completely different voice and point-of-view. It had to be nothing that you could hear on another real estate-centric podcast or any other real estate content. If you're going to take your very precious time to download this podcast, how can I just, you know give you information you could just hear in a hundred of other places? And Ron and I really, you know, talked about it and I started circling around different concepts and nothing we really came up was really clicking. So I thought about it and I thought about it and I started thinking about all the clients I've worked with. Was there something about them that seemed to be a common thread? Was there something on, you know, either the buy side or the sell side that seemed to keep on coming up? And then it hit me. There was something that seemed to keep on coming up, over and over, every deal for whatever reason it just for some reason couldn't escape it. Every potential buyer I talked to was preoccupied with it. There was something here and I thought, well I could do something about that — and that thing that kept on coming back and back and back — fear. It's such a simple concept but it seems to rear its ugly head constantly in real estate. I mean everywhere I looked in my business I saw it. Fear about timing. You know? “Is now the right time to buy or sell or should I wait until next year?” Fear about inspections and disclosures… “Uh, what if I buy this amazing house but then I find out there is mold in the walls?” It's the one thing that united all these deals and it was an element of fear and I could only imagine that this fear sets in even before the process gets started, before people even make the decision to buy or sell a home. It paralyzes them. They sit in their studio apartment all huddled up on the couch under a blanket, saying “Oh, I sure would like to buy a house but what's the best choice? Should I rent? Should I buy? What if I lose my shirt, you know, like all those people did when the bubble burst?” “I'd love to start looking for a house but then I'd have to talk to one of those awful real estate agents giving me a hard sales pitch and I'm sure they won't leave me alone!” Actually that one is really a scary one. Ron: That's true. Tom: But look don't get me wrong. All of these are valid concerns, but they shouldn't ever be fears. At the end of the day, buying or selling a home or condo is not rocket surgery. Trust me I've spoken or done transactions with agents that I would consider to be the absolute best and brightest agents in the business, I mean the cream of the crop. And trust me no one is mistaking them for Mensa members or Nobel laureates. If they can understand the process, so can you, right? So getting back to fear. Look… Let's take a look at really, really good example. What do you think is the number one question I get asked over and over and over again as an agent? The first question anyone asks me when I walk into a party or some sort of networking event? Ron, you've probably got the same… The same story. What's the number one question you get asked whenever someone sees you that hasn't seen you for a while? Ron: How's the market? Tom: Yep — or is now a good time to buy? Or, is now a good time to sell? I mean am I right? It mean it's sort of cliche. Ron: It is. It is. You get people asking questions about, you know, where rates are going… What's the Fed going to do? You know, is now the right time? Should we wait? Is the… You know, are we in a bubble? Tom: Right. And it's and its foundation is really coming from fear. It's coming from a place of either, “I could lose my shirt or you know am I going to make some sort of mistake?” So, if someone comes up to me and asks me this… I mean, I'm talking about a person that that actually wants to buy, right? Not, you know, somebody who's just kind of, you know, waffling or whatever. They actually do want to buy, but they — they're asking this question seriously… What they're really saying to me is, “Listen, Tom, if I buy my house now, will I lose my money?” Fear. That's what's really at the root of it — and I'm going to let you in on the secret… About seventy to eighty percent of agents are not going to be exactly forthcoming about it if the market isn't going that person's way. They're going to twist it and turn it in a way that still gets you hooked. So, I mean, seriously? What do you think they're going to say, right? You think they're going to go, “I don't know — I hope you don't like that shirt you're wearing ‘cause you're going to lose it if you buy a house right now.” I mean, no. They're going to say whatever they can to get you to sign on the dotted line. Period. And they are everything I despise about this business and I'm sure you despise it too. So that's why it's so important you can find an agent who you can trust. And we'll go into this into a more in depth in a future episode — ways to weed out the good agents from the bad — but right now we're going to stay on topic about what this whole podcast is going to be about. So which is the fear — what can you do to reduce that paralyzing fear? Well, when I was in college at U.S.C. I took what I guess could be considered a general philosophy course, where we read Socrates and all the great philosophers and I basically learned how to argue with people using the Socratic method, which pissed my parents off to no end, right? Because I'd like, I'd come home and they'd say, “Clean your room.” and I'd say, “Is there really a room?” But there's one thing that always stuck with me. In the class that we read one of these books was called the Protagoras by Plato and I can't remember what the general gist of the whole thing was but there was this one part that really stuck with me and I think it's really important to this conversation. And, in that part, Plato — he's writing as Socrates, but it's Plato — is convincing his disciples that, you know, the five important human virtues: there was courage, temperance, holiness, justice, and wisdom — are all just names for the same exact thing. And his disciples, you know, they like go crazy. They disagree with him. “Oh oh. Whoa, whoa Socrates! How could these be the same things? How on earth could courage and wisdom be the same thing? That makes absolutely no sense!” But then Socrates, or Plato, goes through and systematically proves it. If someone has knowledge of the battlefield, they in turn have courage. If they make themselves educated about successful tactics and successful strategies, they have courage. Or, should we say — a lack of fear, right? What Plato was was trying to really teach us was that cowardice is really ignorance — and more importantly even — ignorance is cowardice. Ron: That's deep. It's a little deep — but I'll tell you something, it struck me so hard, even when I was eighteen, that I still carry it around with me, every single day — that basically, the more knowledge that I have the more courageous I'm going to be. So, anyway… If we, if we look at and if we look at real estate from this perspective — who do you think are the folks out there that aren't afraid? Well, it's the guy or girl with the most knowledge about the real estate market and real estate period. They're the ones that have you know taken time to educate themselves. The person who understands the battlefield as it were. They understand that fear keeps the scaredy cats on the sidelines while they jump in and they grab all the best deals. Look, after the crash, it's understandable that people got skittish. I get it. I mean people watched as friends and family, I mean lost their homes and lives were turned upside down. It only makes sense that there be a level of fear when people thought about the possibility of re-entering the market. But here's the thing. There were a lot of people who took advantage of this. They sat back until everyone was so afraid to buy and they swept in and basically bought everything with four walls. Usually with cash. Now, what do we have? Now, there's still a lack of inventory out there. We went from months worth of shadow inventory just sitting there to basically being in the desert looking for an affordable glass of water. I mean we're dealing with a housing shortage at least at least here in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley that has made home prices climb and climb. I mean sure I'm starting to kind of see that stabilize a bit but when things are all scary out there there were there were very few people that came in, investors, that took advantage of that atmosphere of fear and ate our lunch. I'm going to come… I'm going to come right out here and I'm going to let you know that I'm firmly in the camp folks who believe that homeownership is a good thing. I mean, it would be sort of weird for a real estate agent to be bearish on homeownership. So, right? You buy a house you keep it for a period time and you get more money than you started with. You can make changes and additions that add value and historically, at least, historically we're talking about an asset that appreciates. It gets more valuable as time goes on. Not to mention you don't flush your money down the toilet once a month in the form of rent. When you buy a home the money effectively goes theoretically back into your pocket. Yes, you need to come up with a larger portion of money to begin with in the form of a down payment and the payment each month may be a bit more but it's really hard to argue against the benefits. Ron: You know, Tom… You bring up a really good point and back when I was in the Wealth Management days… You know I was in wealth management in two thousand and eight, if you can believe that's when I actually got my start. Tom: Geez, you're old. Ron: It's like I timed that absolutely perfectly. But what was really interesting is you saw people like Warren Buffett and they saw companies and they saw a stock where that company was on sale. So, the value of that company didn't necessarily mean that it lost half the value. Japan, when they had the tsunami the E.T.F. for the Japanese economy didn't all of a sudden go away after the tsunami and it just so happened the next day that E.T.F. was down twenty five percent. So, real investors… They're looking at value when it's on sale and they are you know it just you know your wife she goes to Bloomingdale's and sees something that's half off doesn't mean that, “Oh my gosh, you know, the value of that bracelet is now half of what it's worth.” No. She sees it on sale and that's what investors do they see things that are on sale and when it comes to real estate when it comes to stock, there are a lot of people who see it as it's all of a sudden worth half the value. Tom: Yeah. And we'll go. I'm going to go into that in depth a little bit later on and he's but he's entirely right. I mean it's it's like a let me get to that but what I'm what I'm getting at is well look I don't consider myself a conspiracy theorist at all, right? I don't own a tinfoil hat to keep the aliens from talking to me and I don't think there's a one percent that is doing all they can to keep the other ninety nine percent down at least in any sort of organized way, but because of the scarcity and the scarce nature of real estate, we're fast becoming a nation of haves and have-nots. And when I say scarce I mean there's, there's only so much real estate out there, folks. Housing starts aren't what they used to be. Not a lot of new houses out there. Developers aren't building like they used to and when they're building it's predominantly rentals. Right? That's important. That means there are less and less places to buy and if you don't jump on the train that's speeding by you might not ever be able to get on. When the economy was burning down and and everyone else was grabbing their hats and heading for the door — a lot of very smart, informed people were running toward the fire and end up making a lot of money in the process. They didn't let fear overwhelm them and now they're in the catbird seat, holding properties that were worth more than they were then you know they were worth even two, three years ago. Even though… Even though you're not here when we're recording this I can already hear a lot of you and you're basically probably saying, “Hey, buddy… I'd love to buy a house… A condo… But I, but I can't afford it. I don't have the downpayment. I don't even make that kind of money to make a monthly payment in this market.” I get it. I get it. But that's — that's not what we're talking about here and we'll go into depth in later episodes about how you can go from having zero in the bank to saving enough for a down payment or or how you can use a down payment assistant plan… Assistance plan to purchase a home. Ron will definitely be talking about that later but you can make it happen if you want to but I'm not I'm not going to B.S. you — it's hard freaking work and takes a lot of sacrifice but it's totally worth it. But we'll get into that later. So I keep on talking about things we're going to go back into later, but I swear, we're going to get back to them later. So, so no… What I'm talking about now though is I'm talking to those of you that are still standing on the sidelines and you're hemming and you're hawing — and, Oooo… Is this the right time to buy? Should I wait another six weeks? And you're vacillating back and forth… I'm going to let you in on a little secret. If that's what you're doing, you probably don't really want to buy a house in the first place. Because — want to know how I know this? Because you didn't come off the bench during the last bottom of the market. You already missed the chance — this quote-unquote bottom you keep waiting for! So, don't B.S. me and tell me that you're some sort of junior economist or something. “I keep on hearing I should wait until next summer to buy.” Well, you know what? Those folks still out there buying houses know something you don't: you buy the property, not the market! Alright, and what the hell does that mean? OK. Well, let me give you an example. And this is right off of… This stands on basically what Ron was just talking about it was it was Saks Fifth Avenue and the bracelet. But, I'm going to I'm going to put in more kind of every day corner market kind of terms. Right? So, so you… You've probably been to a Whole Foods, right? Now, let's say this Whole Foods is right next door to a Ralphs or a Vons, right? Something like that. Now most of the time because I am not made of money, I'm going to head over to the place where there's lower prices — usually the Vons or the Ralphs. I'm not a moron. Am I going to spend more money for almost everything just for the honor of walking home with a snazzy green canvas Whole Foods bag on my arm? No. But let's say one day I'm walking into the Ralph's and I glance over and I see that Whole Foods is selling bags of grapes for fifty cents a pound — and that's a really good price. Do I say, “Oh, no, no, no… That market is way too expensive. I'm not going over there!” Once again, Hell no! I'm going to go to Ralphs and do the majority of my shopping over there and then I'll go right on over to “Whole Paycheck” and pay you know buy a few pounds of their very tasty fifty cents a pound grapes. The same goes for real estate. You buy the property, not the market. There are a lot of savvy buyers out there still finding homes they can afford. They're not sitting on the sidelines waiting for the sea to change. No! They're out there, educating themselves every day in a way that these opportunities reveal themselves to them — and then they strike. And by the way that reminds me of one of my really big frustrations about people that want to buy but are still sitting there doing, you know, watching the world pass them by. You tell me, “Well, I'd love to do it but there's nothing I can afford out there.” Or, “I can't qualify for a loan.” Oh, really??? And what exactly are you basing that on? Have you spoken to an agent like me? Have you even given Ron a call and talked to him? Has he told you that you can't? Then how can you have any real idea about what your situation is? Because reality might be something completely different. I'm going to let you in on another big secret — for buyers? You don't have to pay us for this information! You actually don't ever have to pay us at all. That comes from the seller after you move in. So what the hell do you have to lose to pick up the phone and have us run some numbers? Or for me to look around at things that may not be on Redfin or Zillow yet. Or maybe I know of areas you haven't even thought of yet. Areas that make you say, “Oh, I didn't know this neighborhood was here!” You know, it drives me crazy! And we love those kind of clients because they give us a call that you know to find out stuff because we're like, “Cool! This sounds like someone who's actually taking the time to understand the reality of where they are!” Don't get me wrong, sometimes Ron's going to give you bad news. Or, I'm going to tell you that maybe moving into Beverly Hills isn't in the cards for you when you can only afford five hundred grand. But isn't it better to know the actual facts? Knowledge cancels out fear! It at least cancels out ignorance. Am I right, Ron? Ron: Yeah absolutely. I mean when you look at having the information at your fingertips… You can go online and run every scenario and look at what the general consensus says about your particular situation and you could paralyze yourself in fear where you're not actually really doing anything. You're just basing your situation off of what the general populace says versus actually running the hard numbers. And when I look at a client, I look at them from the standpoint of “OK, here's what you qualify for now.” Right? And if that's not the number that they're looking for, then we start talking about a path of either changing the expectations — or this is how we're going to work to get you into that position. Tom: Yeah, it's an actual getting your butt off the chair and doing something instead of sitting there and going, “Oh, I probably can't. I can't. You know? Oh, I read this and I read that…” You know, you could literally… It's like the snake eating itself. You'll never, ever, ever be able to get enough information to get you off the couch unless you actually do it. You actually have to do it and the first really good step is actually calling us and finding out. We'll be happy to tell you one way or another whether you can do it. And, by the way, I want to make sure everyone understands this. This is not some sort of you know get rich quick infomercial B.S. This is, this is an actual strategy for you to really become self-reflective enough and get the real solid information about your financial situation. You know, to overcome your fear and become a homeowner instead of just being a perpetual spectator. So, anyway alright… So what is this podcast going to be really? Well, we're going to be looking in-depth, really drilling down into each facet of the process. Whether you're a buyer or seller, you're going to hear things that could potentially give you an advantage. In each episode, we're… We're planning to a look at whatever you know whatever the topic is, whether it's escrow, title, lending — from both sides of the fence. Sort of like, you know, how Law and Order does… They do the whole police work first and then they switch sides and they go to the you know the whole court/prosecution side — that's that's what we're going to be doing here. We'll start with the buy side, discussing how you can get the best deals, things you should look out for when looking for a house. Things to look for in inspections. You know, things like that. Then we're going to switch gears and go the other way. We'll grab our sellers hat, put it on, and talk about how you can avoid certain pitfalls like disclosures and negotiating repairs and end up getting the best net for your home. On each side we will go deep to really try and provide insight and advice that you've never heard before. The last thing I want you to be thinking as you listen is is, “Jesus I've heard all this stuff before” I will struggle… You have my promise to you I will struggle with every episode to make sure that you take away incredibly valuable information that you can't get anywhere else. Another thing that I really want to do — and don't get me wrong, I'm running into very uncomfortable territory here… I want to provide a very honest look at what the real estate business is really like. For a long time now, real estate agents, Realtors — there is a difference by the way, I will tell you about what that difference is — have earned a pretty despicable reputation. They're like a very small step above used car salesman, with like new car salesman sort of running neck and neck with us — and it's incredibly well earned. Sometimes, I hear stories stories and I go. “Yep, that's why everybody hates us.” But I've got another maybe not so big surprise… Sometimes it's even how we're trained by our brokerages to do business in the first place. It's really, I mean it embarrasses me and this whole comedy of errors has a cast of characters and we'll definitely go into this more in-depth in later podcasts — but just to give you a little bit of a taste — there's basically, there are basically three types of agents. First, there's what I call the “WA” or “Weak Agent.” Generally they're the young and inexperienced agent. They just haven't been through enough deals, or they never had a good mentor, or they haven't been in the trenches long enough to really have gotten any kind of seasoning — or even worse, they just don't care about being informed or knowing about how things work. They don't learn about their area or how to analyze comps, so they can add value to your home search or your home sale. They just — like they just passed the agent exam by the hair of their chinny chin-chin, right? These kinds of agents can be really dangerous to you and can definitely end up costing you money and a lot of hassles. They make for a very stressful transaction. Then, the second type of agent is is what I call an “SA” or a “Salesman Agent” and you probably know the type if you watch Million Dollar Listing and other T.V. shows. They wear the totally slicks suits and have perfectly shaved stubble and perfectly waxed Jaguars. And by the way, they may have lots of knowledge but it really, really becomes a question of are they really using that knowledge for your best interests or is it to get the best deal or bottom line for them? After you sign the listing agreement with them are they doing the hard work? Are they there for all the inspections? For the photo shoots, are they moving furniture around to get the best shot? Are they are they making phone calls to your lender to make sure contingencies are hit on time — or did they they just make the deal and run, right? Is there some quote-unquote team, made up of usually WA's, by the way, in the background doing the work for him or her? Well this this type of agent is slightly better than the WA, they're still dangerous to you in other ways and and we'll get into that in the future podcasts. And the last type of agent is what I call the “PA” or the “Protector Agent.” This is the type of agent you should always, always be looking for. They're the ones that not only take care of issues but they take the time to make sure you understand why there are even issues in the first place. They have a portfolio of transactions behind them and have heard about most if not all of the pitfalls that might lie upon the road ahead. Every transaction is different and has its own moving parts but generally the P.A. knows how the engine works and even when there are unique and crazy curveballs they can find the best way to solve the problem and make sure you stay protected. I know I'm a protector agent because I'm looking out for problems before they even become problems. If we're going to breeze past contingency during escrow you bet your butt, I'm going to see it coming a mile away and be trying to fix the issue before it kills the deal and makes everybody's life miserable. So, look… My ultimate goal… What I want to achieve here and I think what Ron wants to achieve here as well, is that when it comes to picking an agent or a lender, I want to give you the knowledge and ability to really see through their mindset and find an agent or loan broker that is truly looking out for your best interest. Look, I'm not going to name any names. I'm not going to call anybody out, but I do think there needs to be a real self-reflectiveness in terms of agents really coming to terms with how we are perceived by Joe Home-Buyer or Josephine Home-Seller. When I'm, when I'm with my clients, I don't consider myself a salesman — like at all. I want to be more like like a professional with them, more like a doctor or a lawyer than any kind of, “Hey kid… Hey, hey, hey… Can I help you today?“ You know, B.S. salesmen. I wear a completely different hat when I'm with my clients. And yes, if I'm selling your house, I need to market or sell your property — or if I'm trying to get you into your dream house, you know, when there are ten other offers — I'm trying to sell you and your offer, but I should never be a salesman to my client. You're the person I work for. You're my boss. I'm supposed to advise you to the best of my ability and then you tell me what to do. So, we'll discuss this a lot more along the way too. Ron: You know Tom, you bring up a good point, because there's… There's two types of professionals out there. You have professionals that are transaction oriented, which means they will do anything to close the deal, right? It's A.B.C.. Yeah right. It's Glengarry Glen Ross. Always be closing. But then you have those professionals like Tom and myself — we're relationship focused. We're looking out for your interest and we're always thinking of the long term. Because we want to help you, we want to help your family, your colleagues what have you. So if you're looking at a particular home and it's not going to be a fit and we know that, we're not going to be pushing you into anything. Tom: Right. And you know it's… I've literally had this exact same conversation with all my clients, where I basically say, “I'm not trying to sell you this house. I'm trying to sell you the house ten years, twenty years, thirty years down the line.” That's what we're talking about here. It's not in my best interest, by the way, to just sell you this — like do everything I can to hard pressure you to buy a house “I don't know if I can do it” because all you're gonna do is be thinking all the time “That Tom, he just kept, you know, kept pushing and kept pushing and I would never go back to him again. I would never recommend…” No, no, no… I want, I want you to when you walk into that house, I want you to have a feeling of, “I'm home. I'm home. This feels great. That Tom…” That's really what I'm looking for. I want to hear “Tom” associated with that amazing feeling you have about walking into that house — and I think that works the best for anybody involved in that transaction. Ron: Absolutely. Tom: And and by the way while we're talking about like the high pressure thing and everything… I was thinking about this the other day… And I'm talking to Ron, because I don't know if you have you ever heard the utter exasperation of a homeowner after their listing expires? Ron: Oh, yes. Tom: If you don't know what that means when a home is put on the market and doesn't sell in ninety… one hundred twenty days, whatever days it says in the contract between you know the agent and the seller, it's then considered to be quote end quote “Expired” and it's up for grabs. Any agent can come in and try to, you know, get the listing again. And oh, boy… oh boy do they come. Holy moly. These these poor homeowners… Look, They've already experienced the humiliation of the market rejecting their home for whatever reason, whether, you know, there wasn't enough marketing — or they just didn't want to put in, you know, the resources to change the crazy pink walls in the living room to you know some color the didn't make people throw up when they looked at it. Or, you know, more than likely you just didn't listen to the agent and priced it way too high. Right? But for whatever reason your dream of packing up and moving to Bermuda has been totally shattered — and then what happens? Ron? Ron: Yeah, so what happens is… It's in the new Realtor's handbook. You get barraged by expired listings… There is this term, “door knocking” you are essentially you assault everybody in your neighborhood. Tom: I mean they literally get inundated with a barrage of phone calls from low-life WA's and SA's and they get easily, easily fifty to sixty phone calls, all in one day. Like they come out of the woodwork — it's like a zombie movie. I've been in places, brokerages, right? Where they call the receptionist they finally call the receptionist at the front desk and they plead for the calls to stop. I mean it's disgraceful and we wonder why we have such a horrible reputation as human scum. It's ridiculous. And it's like the crowd never stops. But I mean look I take a look at that stuff. It really makes me totally understand why people want to even nix real estate agent out of the mix completely, right? “I mean I've got Zillow and Redfin — they give valuations… They tell me what's for sale. I mean, why do I need an agent anymore? How are real estate agents not just a middleman You know that does X, Y, or Z, when I can do X, Y, or Z on this here smart phone of mine? When is someone going to come along and disrupt or Uber-fy the real estate business?” Well OK. OK, right? Point taken, but listen. Two things. Two things… First, speaking for real estate agents, we really need to listen to that. That means that people either think of us as unnecessary at beset or complete a-holes at worst. We are doing such a horrible job with how we deal with our clients or potential clients that they just don't want to deal with us at all. They want to cut us out of the process completely! And the second thing really… The other side of that coin is that not only are we horrible, but we're not doing a good enough job letting them know what value we do bring to them — and by the way we do bring value, an enormous amount of value but it just may not be in the way that they necessarily expect. There was a there was an incredible article I read the other day on Inman.com. It's a… That's a… If you don't know what that is, it's a website mostly for folks in the real estate business like me and Ron — and actually this article is more like a transcript from a presentation by a guy named Jed Carlson from a company called Adworx… And he was talking about this this exact stuff and he was comparing real estate to other businesses that had, you know, gone through the quote/unquote disruption. His biggest example was the music industry where you know basically Napster came along and changed the way that we think about music. Before, when you wanted to hear your, you know, favorite song that you had, you know, you wanted — you had to go out and buy this big black disc called an album or a CD — and you couldn't just have the one song you wanted, right? You needed ten other not so great songs that came along with it. But, like, with Napster you could choose the one single you wanted and listen to it as many times as you wanted. So he started thinking if technology like this could disrupt an industry like the music business could things like Zillow or Redfin, you know, etcetera do the same with real estate? So, he was reading an article — he was reading an article. So I'm reading an article of a guy who was reading an article — from an industry expert who was asked if you could boil down what a service provider really does for the client — what would it be? And this is what he said the guy said. I'm going to read it here. “I think it's three things. The first one is they help reduce the risk. They reduce the risk of the transaction. The second one is they help carry the load, grunt work, leg work, all that stuff. And the third one is they comfort the client along the way.” Now, it sounds exactly what a real estate agent should be doing. Funny thing, he wasn't talking about real estate agents. The guy was an expert in mountain climbing and was talking about Sherpas, Sherpa mountain guides. I'm going to read from the transcript here because what he says I think is very important. So listen up. He says, “Now for those of you who don't know what a Sherpa is, what they are… They are a culture of about fifty thousand people that live in eastern Nepal and they're famous for their hard work ethic and being acclimated to high altitude and a lot of them make their living taking climbers up Mount Everest and K2, the most dangerous mountains in the world. So the Sherpa, I think, make a great analogy to the real estate agent in a lot of ways because they share an eerily similar set of core value propositions, right? Reduce risk. Carry the load. Comfort the client.” End quote. So, that's what — that's what real estate agents really sell — confidence. You're going through one of the biggest purchases or sales if you're a seller in your life — you want someone who has been up the mountain enough times so they know when there's an outcropping that is extra slippery… Or “Oh, those clouds on the horizon are looking pretty scary over there. We should probably camp out here for the night.” And then this guy Jed goes on to say — and he's talking about the role of the real estate agent here — talking to the client, quote, “I'm going to take you through the most difficult and treacherous and biggest transaction of your life. I cannot guarantee it will be painless or easy, but it is my job to protect you…” There's that word “protect” you, “…during the process and make you as comfortable as I can. My experience will prevent errors and when something unexpected comes up we're going to benefit from my experience. Listen, I've got your back all the way through the process, even beyond the close until you are satisfied. I am your Sherpa.” So when you tell us that you can find the house on Zillow? You know, awesome! You know, that means we can save time finding you a place. I mean, but if all you think a real estate agent is is a dog running around to find you a bone — you're mistaken. That's not where my value is. An agent's value is being your Sherpa, guiding you up the mountain, doing some of the grunt work — and if the weather turns bad, as it does sometimes in a real estate transaction — you want them to have enough experience and knowledge to guide you to a safe place. And that's that's also what I, what I'm hoping to do here. I want to help guide all of you up that rocky slope of buying or selling a home. Remember… It doesn't have to be scary. I mean, not if you know where the handholds are, or the footholds are, and I'm I'm going to help you find where they are… Guiding you… Being your Sherpa. And whomever you choose to be your agent will take you the rest of the way, you know… Ron: You know, Tom you bring up a really good point and I really, really like this and you know professionals like us being Sherpas. You know, I think a very important piece to that is also transparency. You know, we want our clients to share everything and what's going on. They don't have to necessarily share everything with everybody in the transaction, right? But, at least with with us… Because what it helps is— it actually helps us create a path. So when we find, you know, just like you're hiring a Sherpa to take you up a mountain… If you have a heart condition, that's probably something a Sherpa would want to know. Tom: I was literally about to say if you, like, if you have asthma or something like that… You know, you're probably going to want to tell the Sherpa that. “I don't know if I can make it up this mountain.” Ron: Exactly exactly. Tom: Or, if you're afraid of heights, right? You know, you might want to reconsider. Ron: But you know those are things that, you know, once we know this information — knowledge is power. So, being transparent. If you're going to go on vacation a week before we close escrow, well these are things we need to know because we need to make sure that we lay out the path and that just helps us navigate and help. Tom: Well and to go into really and hopefully not to belabor the whole sharper analogy. We're basically if you have these issues. Well then we have to pack differently. I mean we literally have to if you. You know have a heart condition we're going to we're going to make sure that we're going to have you know adrenaline or some sort of being a deferred later inside of our back just in case that somehow you start clutching your chest you know at eight thousand feet and it's much easier to plan for this you know we set foot on the mountain. Right exactly. So when you're in the middle of escrow OK yes it's good to know if these these things pop up but it's a lot easier to know all of this in advance before we're helping you with your offer and helping you get into escrow and everything else because it helps us plan and strategize when advance because we don't have we don't have the clock or I don't have a gun pointed at our heads right. Great so here I'm going to be closing up here and basically what I'm closing up with is and what I'm calling my ten commandments for this podcast The first one commandment number one I will tell you the truth once a week. Even if it hurts me what does that mean. Well that means total honesty if you need to know something as a buyer or seller My duty is to let you know even if it's counter to my best interest. It's the podcast version of fiduciary. Duty basically But here's the other side of that coin. I'm going to and like you know we were just talking about on I'm going to ask you to be honest about things too if you're you know going to take a bigger role in finding your home or selling your home than you need to hear when you're screwing up to I'm not going to coddle you here. This is about you learning the most you can and then turning around and taking action effectively losing your fear and taking action effectively if I hurt your feelings in any way please try not to take it personally but there's a chance. It's going to happen next. Commandment number two I'm going to throw more value at you then you could ever need in this podcast in this pocket as you will hear everything the kitchen and the sink. There are times where it will be very kind of inside pool and nerdy and maybe too technical but I think it's important for you to hear it in order to get the whole picture and in between you will find you'll find things that resonate with you and then you can use personally. Number three. Every episode will have a riginal information and perspective that you can't find anywhere else. So basically if you say I X I could've gone on the internet look that up. I and Ron have failed and I definitely want to hear about it. Number four. I'm going to answer your questions. If you have anything specific you want to hear about do not hesitate. Email me at Tom at clarified Realty dot com and I'll be happy to answer it for you but don't be surprised if you hear it on the next episode of the pod cast. If you're asking a question then somebody else is probably asking that question to command number five shenanigans. I am going to be on the lookout for all the latest shenanigans and cons that you need to be on the lookout for in the market your protector agent should be looking out for these two but I'm going to try to do all I can to let you know before you get burned. Harmed in any way commandment or six you will learn ways to hold your agent and other real estate professionals accountable. What should you expect for the commission you pay what behavior and ethics of the protector agent personify each episode will include specific things you should be looking for when you're working with that command and over seven. I will introduce you to incredible experts in the field when I have a guest they will be bedded to make sure that they truly know what they're talking about and are professionals I consider to be the best in the business and you will hear amazing advice you won't hear anywhere else. Straight from their own mouths commander number eight. And this is an important one. I'm going to be learning right along with you. And that's going to be one of my big criteria when planning these pod casts have I heard that stuff before is it new to me and you know and I've been doing this a while. There's probably a good chance you guys haven't heard it either. If I haven't heard it command number nine is that I'm always listening. If you have something to say whether it's some way this podcast can improve or become better I want to hear about it. I want to read your comments. We're going to be building this plane mid-flight and I always want to hear ways to make it better as a matter of fact that's why I'm leaving command number ten open. It's going to stay empty in the off chance that one that you know once you hear this. You know if there's some way that the listener has a way to make this show better and more useful to each other then maybe might have a commanding number ten. Because in the end it's. It's my show. But ultimately it's for all of you and I can't wait to see everyone get involved and do what you can to make it even better. So that's just a small glimpse at what I really hope to achieve with this pocket as I think that if you listen to these pop cast episodes I'm going to you know consider it a success if you go into your first home purchase or your first home sale and say hey this that wasn't so scary. I can do this. I got this so wrong. You got anything else you want to. Here I think only covered and I'm really excited to hear everyone's responses and feedback and I mean the ultimate joy is listening to someone who. They didn't qualify or thought I can't buy a home. They've been turned down in the past and then ultimately through the right resources they come out at the other end and we get to celebrate that. That's what I'm most looking forward to. It's an incredible feeling. And it's literally like I can only compare it to you know I'm not a drug addict but if I can only compare it to a drug. I mean I love the feeling of helping people to get into homes and and if I can help any of you in that way in terms of giving you information and making the process smoother. This is going to be a success. So thank you again for listening. I'm begging you to not let this be it. I appreciate that you've taken your precious time to listen to this podcast but I hope you come along for the ride. Well we'll have new episodes each week all packed to the rafters with a great information. Listen to the podcast interact with other listeners and let's make this a truly amazing and useful experience for everyone. I want to thank Ron and his company guaranteed rate for Linux record i Pod cast in the offices here in Pasadena. If you want to get more information or ask me questions please email me at Tom clarified Realty dot com for more exclusive bonus content between episodes please check out our website www dot clarified Realty dot com and I am on Snap Chat Twitter and Instagram my call. Sign is act clarified reality. And please check out our clarified realty page on Facebook. I beg of you please please please leave feedback and reviews on i Tunes or in the comments section on our page as Gary Bain or Chuck likes to say the back is my oxygen so I want to hear what you all are saying my amazing theme song Hey now is from the band Wolf. So that's what two apps and please go check them out and like them on South Sound Cloud will also leave a link to the song in the credits if we can they rock show frickin hard makes my teeth hurt. Go check them out for amazing tunes and just a little disclaimer Ron and I are licensed by the California Bureau of real estate my Emma last number a license number is zero one seven one five three five three Ron's is integrate and two six one five eight seven The advice we give is only for properties located in the state of California for all the other states. Please contact your local real estate agent or real estate professional and that's about it. Ron you good. All right thanks for coming by everybody and remember the greatest feeling is making someone feel at home. Take care and we'll see you next week. [/spp-transcript]

Episode 156 - "Circumstantial Evidence" and Genealogy / Tacoma Man On Adopting A Cemetery

Extreme Genes - America's Family History and Genealogy Radio Show & Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2016 49:20

Fisher opens the show following up on last week's appearance by Susan Snyder who "planted her family flag" with a personal website devoted to her family that has attracted numerous other descendants, including Fisher himself. Both Fisher and Susan were delighted to receive an email from a Cincinnati listener who ties into three ancestral couples shared by both Fisher and Susan. David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist for the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org then talks about his experience at the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference. He also shares news of the discovery of newly developed negatives of a World War I pilot killed in action in 1918. Where did the negatives come from and what do they show? David will tell you. David then jumps to the recent recognition of another aged World War II pilot who was known for more than just his military prowess. Wait until you hear what it is! Then there's word that BBC Scotland is looking for you if you had Scottish ancestors in Nova Scotia. David has all the particulars. David's Tip this week concerns a new app that allows you to snap a pic and have it go out as an old fashioned post card! He'll also have another great free guest user database from NEHGS. Next, Fisher talks to genealogical speaker, researcher, and writer Loretta Evans about "circumstantial evidence" in genealogy. How is it defined exactly and how can it help you "nail down" the line you're researching. Loretta has some great insight and advice. Fisher then visits with Bill Habermann of Tacoma, Washington. Bill has "adopted" over 1,600 people... all dead... in an overgrown local cemetery, and he's doing all he can to let you know who they are. What got Bill started on this and what has the response been? You'll love the story. Then Tom Perry from TMCPlace.com returns to talk preservation. Tom answers a listener question from South Carolina about using a national digitizing firm because no one provides the service locally. As usual, Tom has some great thoughts on protecting your most important family history assets. That's all this week on Extreme Genes, America's Family History Show! Transcript of Episode 156 Segment 1 Episode 156 (00:30) Fisher: And welcome to Extreme Genes! This is America’s Family History Show. My name is Fisher. I am the Radio Roots Sleuth, on the program where we shake your family tree, and watch the nuts fall out. Nice to have you along today. We’ve got some great guests. First of all coming up in about eight or nine minutes we’re going to talk to Loretta Evans. And Loretta talks about the use of “circumstantial evidence” when you’re trying to put together your family tree. How do you know that it’s really good enough? What can you use it for? She’s going to have that for you coming up a little bit later on. After that, we’re going to talk to Bill Habermann he is up in the Seattle, Tacoma area, and he has adopted 1,600 people. All dead. In a cemetery! And you can do the same kind of thing. He’ll tell you what he’s doing and how he’s helping people all around the country, in fact around the world, find some of their missing relatives in the Washington State area. But right now, let me get on to Boston and my good friend David Allen Lambert. He is the Chief Genealogist for the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org, fresh back from the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in Springfield, Illinois. How are you David? David: I’m doing good. It’s nice to be back on the ground in Beantown. Fisher: I’ll bet. And you had a good time there? David: We had a great time. And I want to let people know who go to conferences, no matter where it is, don’t be ashamed of wearing a lot of ribbons on your badge. Fisher: Really? Yours is practically like a loin cloth when you’re out there. [Laughs] David: Well I like to say maybe a shawl. [Laughs] Fisher: [Laughs] David: I had thirty-two ribbons on it and when I went to the Federation of Genealogical Societies gala’s 40th anniversary dinner, they had trivia and they also had a scavenger hunt. Fisher: Um hmm. David: 150 points for the longest badge put us over the top! Fisher: [Laughs] David: Myself and Mary Tedesco from Genealogical Roadshow, one of our friends and guests, all won over a thousand dollars in memberships and conference registrations and meals, we’re very, very happy. Fisher: Wow! David: So, laughing my way to the bank for the longest name badge at the Federation of Genealogical Societies and I’d do it again. Fisher: [Laughs] Unbelievable. I’ve got to tell you a story. Last week we had Susan Snyder on the show and she is the lady that set up a website and we talked about it, we did the whole segment about planting your family flag basically out there for people to find you and provide you with materials, and she’s had Bible pages sent to her and things relating to her direct ancestors. Things folks sold her or gave to her. She found me because we’re related. Well we had her on the show, and then the next day she gets a nice email from a guy, a listener in Cincinnati, Ohio, who said, “Hey, we’re related to!” and so now she’s exchanging information with him and I just love the way the show brings people together. David: It’s amazing. Just last week I got a person who has an oil painting of my third great grandfather’s sister born in 1772, and he was not really sure if his family will want it. So I told him I would give her a good home. Fisher: Yeah [Laughs] great! Wow. Hopefully you get that and when you do, send us the picture. We’d all love to see it. David: Hopefully it will be in my home some day. But I don’t want to wish him to meet his maker any time soon of course. [Laughs] Fisher: Of course. Hey what do you have for us today in our Family Histoire news, David? David: Well, the exciting story that I want to start off with is actually about photographs taken a hundred years ago by Captain William Chambers of the 49th Squadron in Kent, England. He was a recognisance photographer in World War I and was shot down in 1918 at the ripe old age of twenty-one. His camera and negatives eventually were passed on to his nephew who recent had them developed. It’s amazing! There are pictures of airplanes and pilots and people that have long since passed. But it gives us another fresh view on history from World War I a century later. Fisher: That’s incredible. What a great story. David: It really is. And I want to propose a toast to the subject of this next story. Second Lieutenant Donald Stinson now aged 93, received four Bronze Stars for his service in World War II, involving bringing guns and men and flying them to the front lines in Japan during the war. But one of the things he did, which is a light hearted note, he is responsible for bringing beer. Fisher: What? [Laughs] David: Twenty thousand cases of beer to thirsty soldiers in multiple “packiruns” if you will, to Australia and New Guinea. And I think that anyone who is a veteran could probably drink to that. Fisher: Wow, that’s great! Congratulations to him. That’s like the second week in a row we’ve had a story of a World War II vet in their 90s just getting their medals now. What is going on? David: It’s about time. It really is. Well I’ll tell you, going back a little ways to the days of immigration and to the east coast, Nova Scotia, which means New Scotland was settled by many people from the Highlands. In 1773 a vessel called “The Hector” brought 189 highlanders that disembarked and were changed in Nova Scotia forever. Now, BBC in Scotland is looking for the descendants. So if your ancestor came to Nova Scotia from Scotland perhaps on the Hector in 1773, there are passenger lists that exist, contact BBC in Scotland. Just check Extreme Genes.com. Our Facebook page will have more details for you. Fisher: That’s very cool. So the people from old Scotland are looking for the descendants of the people in New Scotland, Nova Scotia, to call back home. David: To old Scotland. Fisher: Yeah. David: New Scotland, old Scotland, it gets confusing. But BBC Scotland is obviously doing a little piece on it, so put your kilt on and go and contact them. Fisher: [Laughs] David: One of the things that I really enjoy is a good tip from a listener, and one of our listeners and someone who’s been on the show is the Photo Detective Maureen Taylor. Fisher: Yes. David: While I was in Springfield, she told me about a new type of app that she uses from the app store. There’s a variety of choices to choose from but it basically allows you to send a postcard. Take a picture with your smart phone, this company, for very cheap money, will print and mail mailable postcards for you for your relatives. So the old photo postcards you might have in your family archives, you can create new ones. Fisher: How cool is that! David: It really is. So that brings me to the NEHGS guest user database of the week which harkens back to Scotland again. We now have Scotland marriages 1561 to 1910 and Scotland births and baptisms from 1564 to 1950, in conjunction with our partnership with FamilySearch.org. Well that’s all I have for this week back here in Beantown. Talk to you soon my friend! Fisher: All right, great to talk to you again as always David. We’ll talk to you again next week. This segment of our show has been brought to you from MyHeritage.com. And coming up next, we’re going to talk to a woman named Loretta Evans. And Loretta is an instructor, she’s a researcher, and she’s got some thoughts on “circumstantial evidence.” Now, we hear people talk about it in the courtroom... does circumstantial evidence really prove a case? Well, in genealogy it actually can. And she’ll give you some examples of that and give you some other thoughts coming up in three minutes on Extreme Genes, America’s Family History Show. Segment 2 Episode 156 (11:10) Host: Scott Fisher with guest Loretta Evans Fisher: One of my favorite shows growing up was Perry Mason. And, Perry would get into heated battle in the courtroom with the prosecutor, Hamilton Burger. “Ham Burger” was what he was called. And they’d say, “Well, Mr Mason, that’s just circumstantial evidence!” And that’s what we’re going to talk about today. When it comes to developing your family history and your family tree, how does circumstantial evidence work in there and does it really matter? Is circumstantial evidence really evidence? It is Fisher. This is Extreme Genes, America’s Family History Show and ExtremeGenes.com. And my guest today is Loretta Evans, and Loretta specializes in researching the midwestern United States, and she speaks all over the place, and she’s written articles for all the big family history magazines. And Loretta’s in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Nice to have you on the show, Loretta! Loretta: Thank you. I’m glad to be here. Fisher: You know, I’m excited about this idea of helping people understand that circumstantial evidence really is evidence, and in some cases is very, very strong evidence. So let’s just start with some simple examples of what circumstantial evidence is that we may typically use all the time, right? Loretta: Right. For example, if you have a census record, and you have someone’s age, it isn’t proof of the year they were born. It gives you an approximate year they were born. Fisher: That’s right. Loretta: But it’s sort of depends on who gave the information out. If it was the mother, and this is the child, they’re pretty sure about the age of their children. But if it was a neighbor or a grandparent, they may be a few years off. Or if somebody had a reason to lie, a lot of women lied about their age in censuses, so you can’t. Fisher: I am so glad you said that! Because it’s not something that I can easily say, Loretta! [Laughs] But it is true. For some reason, more with women than anybody else, I’m just sorry, it’s just the way it is. They get younger as they get older! Have you picked up on that? Loretta: I have. In fact, somebody told me, but it may or may not be true, that someone had done a study of British censuses and they found that the average British woman aged about seven years between the ten year census records! Fisher: [Laughs] Loretta: And you know, in a sense if you want someone’s more accurate age, find them when they’re very young or very old. Fisher: Yeah, that’s right. Loretta: And they’re more likely to be honest about it. Fisher: Yeah. [Laughs] Absolutely! Well that’s a great example of circumstantial evidence. Give us some examples though, of course, of direct evidence. Just for the sake of comparison. Loretta: Okay. For direct evidence, on a death certificate, usually the person’s name, their gender, the date they died, the place they died, those are all directly given by the doctor in charge or the person who is giving the information. You can be very comfortable about those pieces of information. Fisher: Right, as long as the people really knew what they were talking about. Loretta: Correct. But for example, the birth date on a death certificate is a little bit suspect. Fisher: Right. Loretta: If it’s a baby that dies and the mother gives the information, yeah, I’d be very comfortable with that. But I had a great grandfather who died in Cleveland, Ohio in about 1900, and I’m thinking he was living in a boarding house because they got his name wrong, they got his birth place wrong, they got his age wrong. It took us a long time to convince the city of Cleveland that he really was the same person. Fisher: [Laughs] Loretta: And that we could put a headstone on his grave. Fisher: And so what you’re saying is, for a death, a death certificate is direct evidence. But a death certificate is circumstantial as far as their birth is concerned? Loretta: That’s true. Or their parents names or their parents’ birth places, they’re wonderful clues. Fisher: Yes. Loretta: And so, if you are a researcher, you take those clues and then you try to find other documents that can prove or disprove that piece of information. And then you can be more comfortable whether it’s accurate or not. I think any evidence in genealogy is accurate until the next piece of information comes along that might prove or disprove it. Fisher: Right. Loretta: Somebody said it was like washing dishes. You’re all done, and then somebody walks in with another dirty glass. Fisher: [Laughs] Wow. That’s not very attractive at all. Loretta: [Laughs] I’m sorry. That image is, you know, you think you’re done, and then somebody gives you additional information that might even call into question what you think is accurate. Fisher: Sure. Loretta: I had two brothers. One born in 1944 and one born in 1950, and they both died at birth. And they were both born on July 12th. And in our family that was this kind of a “tender mercy.” “Oh, they had the same birth date.” And when the cemetery records came online, my older brother Ralph was listed as having been born on July 11th. Fisher: Oh boy. Loretta: And it was in the family Bible. There were no birth or death certificates because they were stillborn. They’re on the headstone. They carved it on the stone. Fisher: [Laughs] Right. Loretta: They forgot it being July 12th. And my mother didn’t really care, and my brother didn’t care, but it drove me crazy. And, I finally got my mother’s hospital records because some mortuary records didn’t exist anymore, and she was in her 90s and she just sighed and signed the permission slip. “Yes, you can release my hospital records from 1944.” Fisher: [Laughs] Loretta: Anyway, I got it from a place in California that had taken all of the records and they were sold there. Anyway, the hospital actually was in Utah. But he was born on July 11th. The headstone is wrong, our family Bible is wrong. Although they were born close to the same day it wasn’t exactly the same day. Fisher: Yeah. I’ve seen this before. We have a family Bible that gives the death date of my great, great grandfather, and even the obituary said December 26th 1875. But the death record said December 27th. And it appears that what happened was that he died at home, late in the evening on the 26th, but the doctor probably didn’t show up till after midnight, because the death time was put down as 12:30 in the morning. Or, they just didn’t recognize that it was a new day, at the point that he’d passed. Loretta: You know, that kind of thing happens. My uncle was born near midnight at home, and nobody looked at the clock until after he was born, but he could have been born before midnight. Nobody ever really knows. They chose one of the days and put it on the birth certificate. Fisher: Here’s another sample of a circumstantial situation that came up. I tracked down a third great grandmother, and I was very fortunate that somebody had actually been able to come up with a family Bible that put her in the family. And, it was from this very same area, so I was pretty confident. But still, how could I know for sure that she was the only person of that name from that area? And so, circumstantial evidence often involves eliminating other possibilities. I think you’d agree. Loretta: Oh, very definitely. You not only have to try to find evidence proving what you have, but you’ve got to look for are there any other possibilities that this could be, and can you prove or disprove those other possibilities. Fisher: And one of the things that’s really helpful now with circumstantial evidence, and when you have a case like this... DNA. And I was very fortunate that suddenly I found a person matching me in DNA who descended from the brother of the person I thought it to be, from a grandfather of the person I thought it to be, and a great grandfather of the person I thought it to be. Which I felt was very good confirming evidence of this otherwise circumstantial case. Loretta: That is excellent. Yeah. Fisher: So you put these things all together and then you get the confirmation, several times hopefully, from DNA. And then you can put together your case and you know, “Hey, wait a minute, I’ve got something here I can be confident in.” And that’s maybe at the point where you can publish it or put it online and share it with other people. I don’t know how you feel about it, Loretta. I like to put things together first of all on my own, keep it to myself, until I’m really, really confident in what I’ve got before I really share it. Because, as we know, once something goes public, if you’re wrong, it will take on a life of its own and live for years and years and years. And it’s really difficult ever to get rid of it. Loretta: Oh, that is definitely true. There are two major places where people put pedigrees. FamilySearch.org, another is Ancestry. The difference is that Ancestry keeps each person’s pedigree separate. Fisher: Yep. Loretta: Where FamilySearch combines everything. And your cousin could come along and change things in a while. So yes, you do want to be pretty comfortable with what you’re putting out there before you submit it. Because you could take two people who live in the same area, who have similar names and make them into one person, and make it very, very difficult in years to come for somebody to separate those two individuals. Fisher: Yeah, that’s the problem. So, that’s why it’s really important to work the negative side. Try to disprove that it’s the person as well as trying to prove it. And maybe get a little DNA help as well. And at the end, your circumstantial evidence can really prove your case. Loretta: One example we had about somebody walking in with another dirty glass... Fisher: [Laughs] Loretta: ...where we had a photograph that was of this woman who had died in Winter Quarters, Iowa. And, my husband and I visited a distant cousin one evening and she had another copy of the photograph. But it was a larger copy and somebody had copied the name of the photography studio as well as the image, and this picture was taken by Ottinger’s in Salt Lake City, Utah. Well, the woman couldn’t have died in Winter Quarters and had her picture taken in Ottinger’s in Salt Lake City because he wasn’t in business at that time. Fisher: Right. Loretta: And he was half a continent away. Fisher: Yeah! Loretta: And so, we concluded that it was the step grandmother rather than the grandmother that was in the picture. Fisher: Interesting. Well, there you go. Always making a few adjustments along the way, right? Loretta: Oh, absolutely. And, any genealogist who is afraid that somebody is going to disprove all the things they’ve worked so hard for isn’t really open enough to be a really good genealogist. Fisher: The experts are often wrong. And the best ones will go back and correct their own errors. Clean up their own mess and wash their own glasses, right? [Laughs] Loretta: [Laughs] There you go. Fisher: Hey, Loretta, delight to talk to you today. Loretta Evans, she’s in Idaho Falls, Idaho, talking about circumstantial evidence. Is it real? Is it good? Can you use it? The answer is yes! Thanks so much for coming on. Loretta: I’ve enjoyed it very much. Thank you. Fisher: And this segment has been brought to you by 23andMe.com DNA. And coming up next, we’ll talk to a Washington State man who has adopted 1,600 people. They’re all dead! They’re in a cemetery! He’s getting the word out about who they are, and you’re going to want to hear his story in five minutes. Segment 3 Episode 156 (24:50) Host: Scott Fisher with guest Bill Habermann Fisher: Welcome back to Extreme Genes, America's Family History Show and ExtremeGenes.com. It is Fisher here, the Radio Roots Sleuth, and part of my sleuthing has to do with tracking down people with interesting stories that I know might interest you. And this is a guy who I think is inspiring a lot of people around the country since his story broke recently in the Tacoma News Tribune. His name is Bill Habermann. And Bill, you work for a funeral company, yes? Bill: I do. Piper, Marley, Malinger and Oakwood are all tied together as one funeral home. Fisher: And yet, this all spills over into your hobby, as it turns out. You found a cemetery out in the middle of nowhere. I guess it's been grown over, and you've kind of adopted it. Tell us about this. Bill: Well, back in the 1880s when the Northern Pacific Railroad came out west and put a terminus here in Tacoma, they gave about 56 acres to the city for a cemetery. And back in those days, folks didn't want the cemeteries near the town, and so it ended up being out in the sticks, kind of. Well, then that cemetery became Old Tacoma Cemetery and was divided up into three parcels. One stayed as Old Tacoma Cemetery, or Tacoma Cemetery, somehow, and I haven't been able to find out how a portion of about eight acres became Oakwood Cemetery, and then off to the side of the two cemeteries. There are two acres that became the county's pauper cemetery. Fisher: And that kind of got overgrown and forgotten, apparently. Bill: Well, yes. And I gave tours of Oakwood several times, and people would ask me during the tour, "Well, what is that on the other side of the fence? I see a few headstones there, but it's pretty much just grass." And then I said, "Well, that's the county's cemetery which was closed in 1927, and there really aren't a lot of records around for it." Fisher: Now why is that? Bill: Well, I think back in the early days people just were not so record conscious as they are now. And either that or they wrote on a slip of paper and thought, "Well, I'll put it in the book sometime." And it didn't happen. Or the county said, "Well, it's up to the funeral homes to take care of the records because they're putting the bodies into the cemetery." They were each paid $4.50 per burial. So some of the cemetery records probably are just lost totally with the county, but I was fortunate enough to have the records for Piper Funeral Home which started here in 1908, and Malinger which started here in 1883. Fisher: They merged at one point. Bill: Well, they merged at one point, yeah. And then what I did, I just got curious and I looked up the folks who had some headstones and found some of them in our records and started putting that down. Somebody said, "Why don't you put this on FindAGrave because people might want to look up somebody." And I thought, "Oh, okay." And I started doing that and then going through all the ledgers here, I just came up with 1,600 folks that are... Fisher: Wow! 1600? Bill: Yeah. And that was at the time Karen did the article. Now I'm up to 1,626. Fisher: [Laughs] Of course. There's always progress. Now, would you find the names in the ledgers first? Or would you find the tombstones first and then try to track them down in the ledgers? Bill: Well, the initial 15 headstones or so, I looked for them in the ledgers, but then I just started with page one of the Piper book and looked through every page, a page at a time, and if I saw $4.50, that was a first give away that it was somebody that went into the pauper's cemetery. Fisher: Interesting. So it didn't mention the cemetery, it was the price that gave it away? Bill: Yeah, it's the price that always gets me to the page, right. Fisher: Oh, that's fascinating. So when did you start this project, and what has kept you going, and how often do you go there? Bill: Well, I started doing in on FindAGrave about six years ago. The people who own or are in control of the cemetery really don't want folks walking around in there, because several of the graves are sunk in pretty badly, because folks were put into wooden boxes and into concrete grave liners. So they tend to like to leave it looking a little rough, as it said in the newspaper article, so that everybody isn't cramming around in there looking for things. The headstones even are in such disarray sort of that I have not been able to figure out even the rows or the blocks or the plot numbers, like we have in our cemetery, to locate a specific person. And some of those folks might not even be anywhere near the headstone that's standing there. Fisher: Right. So the tombstone itself is the giveaway of who's in there, but you just don't know where the grave itself might be? Bill: Yes, right. Fisher: Wow. Bill: And some of them face east and west, and some of them face north and south, and some of them look like they could be in a row, but others have been marked just set kind of whacky. There are two Japanese headstones there that face no particular direction, you know, they're kind of out in the middle of nowhere. Those two fascinated me because periodically when I'd look over the fence I would see fresh flowers put on those two graves, and they're back from the early 1900s, and sometimes there would be small food offerings there also at those two graves. I haven't seen anything there for the last two years, but somebody was coming in there and still honoring their deceased family members. Fisher: That's amazing. Now, what have you learned about the people that are buried in there? Have you found some unusual or interesting stories about them? Bill: Yeah. There is one fellow that still kind of plagues me. His name is Taggart, and his story is sort of interesting in that he was a well known supposedly wealthy person here to Tacoma back in the early 1900s. And sad to say, his wife became insane and went to the hospital for the insane. While he, in the mean time, lost all his money, regained some money, lost it again, ended up living at the poor farm, and apparently he decided to try to commit suicide by cutting his throat with a straight razor. Well, the hospital saved him, but then ultimately shortly after, he died of pneumonia, which got a lot of people back in those days. Fisher: Sure. Bill: His headstone looks like a military headstone. I checked in the Civil War records and there are so many Patrick Taggards that I kind of lost track of did he really deserve a military headstone. But it's not carved in the way of any military headstones that I've ever found online. So he's kind of a curiosity for me. I really would like to get him a new headstone if he is military, but again, I almost run into a brick wall. Fisher: Sure. And that's the problem with common names, of course. So what about families? Have other families reached out to you from near and far to say, "Hey, you found my person I've been looking for!" Bill: Yes. I've gotten some thank you letters from folks, and on FindAGrave, they can correspond back and forth with me, and so they have thanked me and some folks have sent me information to add into my book. There's an infant that died I think age about three weeks, and the family didn't know whether the child was buried. They were so happy to find where the child was, and they sent me a copy of the baptism certificate for this infant. Although that's the only existing document there is, other than the fact that the child is somewhere in those two acres. Fisher: So, what about restoration of the cemetery? You're allowed in there and you're saying others are not, is there any interest in that on behalf of the owners or on the part of the owners to do this? Bill: I don't think so because it probably would be very costly, first of all, to mould the place and keep the grass looking nice, because here in summer everything turns yellow and dries up. The cemetery that they do own, Old Tacoma, is watered all the time with underground sprinklers, and they have their own wells, but I'm sure that they are not interested in spending probably thousands and thousands of dollars to make the cemetery look presentable. Fisher: You would think that people would have to adopt it, I guess, the descendants of those who are in there, if that was ever going to happen, right? Bill: Yeah. And because it's privately owned by Tacoma Cemetery, I don't think that they could even work that. It kind of would be a real conundrum. Fisher: Sure. He's Bill Habermann. He's a funeral director in Tacoma, Washington, and he has adopted his own cemetery up there and is getting the information he's finding up on FindAGrave. Bill, thank you so much for doing this! And I'm sure you're inspiring others who might want to take on the same kind of project wherever they are. Bill: I hope so. And thanks for the call! Fisher: Hey, this segment of our show has been brought to you by LegacyTree.com. And coming up next, we'll talk preservation with Tom Perry from TMCPlace.com. It's time to be getting ready for the holidays. He's got more great advice, coming up for you in three minutes on Extreme Genes, America's Family History Show. Segment 4 Episode 156 (37:10) Host: Scott Fisher with guest Tom Perry Fisher: And welcome back to Extreme Genes, America’s Family History Show and ExtremeGenes.com. It Is Fisher here, your Radio Roots Sleuth with my good friend Tom Perry from TMCPlace.com. He is our Preservation Authority. And Tom, good to have you back. Tom: Good to be here. Fisher: And we do have an email here from Richard Halter, and I believe it’s pronounced Sharon, South Carolina. And he said, “Fisher and Tom, I saw this ad on Facebook and my mind immediately jumped to all I’ve learned from your shows.” Now, he sent us a link to another digitizing firm that’s national. And he said, “My first thought was that they’re not going to do everything that Tom says to look for when getting your products digitized. And the same time though, I live in an area where there isn’t anything available other than big box stores which I don’t even like. Would you recommend something like this store as an option for someone who just wants to get the media digitized? I can do pictures and I’ve played with audio as well as slides and negatives and I’m getting better. I can also take video and convert it from DVD, CD and all this, as long as I can get it to the PC to work on. I’m not a professional to say the least, but I do the best I can and I’m getting better as I go. I’m a very big proponent of getting all of these memories digitized and I’d like to give people some options for things I cannot complete yet. Your loyal listener, Richard.” Tom: That’s a great email that you’ve sent us. You know, there’s a lot of things in here that are really great. I love how you want to get all your stuff digitized. You’re trying to do as much as you can which we really advocate, and then some of the things of course you can’t do. Now this place that you mentioned, I can’t really say whether they’re good or bad because I’ve asked listeners in the past, if you have good experiences with places whether they’re local or national let us know. If you have bad experiences locally or national, let us know also so that we can warn people or encourage people to go to these places. This is one that I’ve never received any information on. I’ve checked out the website, it seems legit and everything looks nice, beautiful website. They’re about the middle to high end which sometimes is good, sometimes it’s bad. Because most of the time when you see these real cheap things, you’re getting what you pay for, and it’s not very good. So they have a fair price, the price is a little higher than what we charge on our online store. But if it’s closer to you and you feel more comfortable doing it, what I would do is, always start with the smallest package kind of as a test drive and see if you’re happy with what they do. And then of course send in all your other stuff and if you’re happy let us know. Fisher: Sure. Right. And testing is a key thing. And I would imagine, aren’t there ratings involved with this somewhere online that he could check out? Tom: You know, there really should be, and I’ve thought about this before getting out there and doing some experiments with some of these different places and actually go in and give them multi-star ratings. So that’s something we’re looking at maybe in 2017, we might actually come out with a rating system. But we really need our listeners to let us know where they’ve had good experiences and bad experiences. And let us know places that they’ve used so that we can maybe start doing a rating system. I really encourage you use local places as much as you want. Use national places if you find out they’re good. You can go to shop.TMCPlace.com and get our prices. And usually if people are close to what our prices are they’re probably legit because they’re doing the right thing. If they’re way below, I say stay away. It’s not worth it. I’ve run into so much product places like that. Fisher: That’s the thing. This is not the kind of thing you really want to price shop on so much. I mean, if it’s too cheap to be true, it’s probably too cheap to be true, Tom. Tom: That is so true! [Laughs] Fisher: [Laughs] Tom: Yeah, you need to be careful. One thing that I really advocate that I think is really, really important which we have never gone into because I don’t like it. A lot of transfer places, they use high speed. So instead of like a VHS tape taking two hours to transfer, they can transfer it in 15 to 20 minutes because they’re doing it high speed which reduces your fidelity. Fisher: Of course. Tom: You know if it didn’t do that everybody would be doing it. We would do it. We could drop our prices way down. However, we wouldn’t be giving our clients the quality that they want. You know, if you’re in a situation where money is really, really tight and it’s that or nothing. It’s still scary, because I have people who come in to me and say, “Hey, we sent it to this place online that’s really cheap. We didn’t get our stuff back. Or it came back really bad. They told us our tape is bad.” And then we had to go and “undo” what the other people did. Fisher: All right. Well, what do we have coming up in the next segment here, Tom? Tom: We’re going to talk about some scanning parties we’re planning. Fisher: All right, we’ll get to that in about three minutes. This segment has been brought to you by Forever.com. And if you have a question for Tom Perry you can always write to him at AskTom@TMCPlace.com and you might get to hear your question answered on the air. From Extreme Genes, America’s Family History Show. Segment 5 Episode 156 (44:20) Host: Scott Fisher with guest Tom Perry Fisher: And we are back, final segment of Extreme Genes, America's Family History Show and ExtremeGenes.com, Preservation Time with Tom Perry from TMCPlace.com. Tom, you were just talking about a scanning party you've got coming up. And let's just explain to people first of all what a scanning party is. Tom: Okay. It’s a lot of fun. It’s not a MRI or CRT or anything like that. Fisher: [Laughs] Right. Tom: What we do is, we scan your photographs. So this is where anybody can bring in one of those sterilight 16 quart shoeboxes with the lid on. Fisher: Yeah. [Laughs] Tom: And you can pack it with your 3x3 up to 8x10 non-damaged, non-mounted, loose photos, and we can scan the whole box for you for twenty five bucks. Fisher: Wow! Tom: So it's an absolute killer deal. Fisher: And fast too, right? Tom: Oh yeah! Oh yeah! It's really fast! It’s amazing! But that's why they can't be mounted or anything like that. They need to be all organized. If you have multiple sizes, just organize your sizes together. And bring your own thumb drive. And there's no additional charge. If you want, we have 16GB flash drives for only ten bucks. Fisher: Now where are you going to be doing this? Tom: The first one we are doing is November 11th and 12th in Midway, Utah. That's kind of up in the mountains, a beautiful ski resort area. Fisher: Wow! That's going to be great. Okay, so you have a location there. Tom: Right. Fisher: So people who would be in the Utah area would go where in Midway? Tom: It’s going to be at the Homestead Resort. It’s all part of the FamilyHistoryExpos.com convention that they're having, those two days which we talked about, about a month ago. So if you want to sign up for the convention, you can come in and do that. You can come in for the scanning party. It’s going to be a lot of fun. Remember, it needs to be up to 8x10 and it’s got to be in sterilight box with the lid on. No great big posters. We won't be able to do anything like that at this time. Fisher: All right, but you can do stuff that's small, very small. Tom: Oh yeah! We can go all the way down to 3x3 as long as they're in good condition. And if you have some pictures that are starting to fade and things like that, don't think, "Oh, I can't do these." No, this is a good time to do your faded ones, because we're going to stop them from fading anymore. We'll give you a digitized copy of all of them. And then whether you want to do it next week or next year or ten years from now, you'll have the high definition file that you can go in and do color correction. Or if you say, "Hey, this is over my head. I don't want to be involved in it." You can email it back to us and then we can do the color correction as well. Fisher: Now what kind of dpi are we talking about? Tom: It’s usually about 1200 dpi. Fisher: Oh that's good! Tom: Oh yeah! It’s a really high dpi. Fisher: It’s solid, yeah. So I've done this recently, of course, I've gone ahead, all of my old home movies and videos digitized. So I've got like 110 of them on disk. I don't even know what's on them all, because I didn't even know what was on the videos when I gave them to you in the first place. The joy of it, though, is I can take them one at a time, maybe one a week, right, and transfer it in some way and edit it down to just each individual thing. We'll, here's a birthday on this video, that's separate from the time we got to meet Joe DiMaggio over here or something like that. I mean, you can separate them all out. And so, with photographs, it would be much the same. You can digitize them all. And then when you get around to it, you're there. And what a great opportunity this is… Midway, Utah, November 11th? Tom: 11th and 12th, correct. Just go to FamilyHistoryExpos.com and you can sign up for the convention if you want to go to that as well. And just remember, like you just mentioned, it’s good to get this stuff done. And I've even had people tell me that they're going to go on a long trip, so they get videos, photos, all these things scanned, and then they sit in the back with the kids and put the DVD in, and they're sitting there writing notes. So when they're driving down the highway they can sit there and watch the thing, instead of watching Aladdin or something with their kids. They can say, "Oh, yeah, this is grandma." and talk to their kids. And make sure you have your iPhone or a tape recorder running, so when you're explaining all this stuff to your kids, you've got it down. And then later on you can make a slideshow with your narration for your great, great grandkids who will never know you, but they'll be able to hear your voice describing who these people are in the photos, who they are in the videos. It just makes it so nice. Fisher: Boy! What a great idea! And you know, trapping the kids, I love that! [Laughs] Tom: [Laughs] It’s great! We're going to be doing a whole bunch this next year in 2017 working with our Going Postal stores. So we're going to have a lot of fun in 2017. Fisher: All right, Tom. Thanks for dropping by. See you next week. Tom: We'll be there. Fisher: And this segment of the show has been brought to you by FamilySearch.org and RootsMagic.com. Hey, thanks again to our guest, Loretta Evans, for coming on and talking about "circumstantial evidence." Does it really add up? And to Bill Habermann from Washington State, talking about the cemetery he adopted and how you might be able to do something of the same. Hey, and don't forget, if you're going to become your family's family history expert, you need to sign up for our free newsletter, The Weekly Genie. Do it at ExtremeGenes.com or our Facebook page. Talk to you next week. And remember, as far as everyone knows, we're a nice, normal family!

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Tomit & Luke - Jukeboxmodus (Vatertag 2016)

Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2016 60:09

Tomit & Luke im Jukeboxmodus zum Vatertag 2016.

vatertag tom it

Tomit & Luke - Jukeboxmodus (Vatertag 2016)

Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2016 60:09

Tomit & Luke im Jukeboxmodus zum Vatertag 2016.

vatertag tom it

Tomit & Luke - Jukeboxmodus (Vatertag 2016)

Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2016 60:09

Tomit & Luke im Jukeboxmodus zum Vatertag 2016.

vatertag tom it

Tomit & Luke - B2B (08.2012)

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 5, 2013 63:30

The podcast of 320 FM. Fine electronic music. If you want to listen to the DJ sets again, just subscribe to our podcast.

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Tomit & Luke - B2B (08.2012)