Chris Rood Shares How He Went From Wholesaling Houses to Buying Apartments and Mobile Home Parks

Steve Trang: Hey, everybody. Thank you for joining us for today's episode of Real Estate Disruptors. Today, we have Chris Rood, and he's flown in from Lafayette, Louisiana to share how he basically is living the dream that we're all trying to chase. So it went from wholesaling to buying multifamily and getting passive income. If this is your first time tuning in, I am Steve Trang, broker and owner of Stunning Homes Realty, founder of the OfferFast Homes app, the only MLS for off market wholesale properties.

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You ready?

Chris Rood: Let's roll.

Steve: Alright. So first question is, what got you into real estate?

Chris: So back you remember Katrina, Hurricane Katrina?

Steve: I do.

Chris: So 2005, well, maybe back up before that. While I was in college, I started an oil change business on the back of my truck. Oh, really? Yeah. And, changing oil, washing cars, fixing rock chips.

By the time I was a senior in college, I was I was making like a $100 a year. I was like, I'm not, you know, I'm not getting a job. Really? Yeah. So, I graduated college, you know, did that full time, got a shop, you know, rented a shop, you know, did really well with the shop.

Right around that same time, it was 2005, 2006, Hurricane Katrina hit. And, right around that same time, we were just coming into that big bubble. We we were just coming into that big bubble. You remember the bubble we had? I think everybody was at.

So, this is before I even really had an understanding of, you know, equity and real estate and all that, but I noticed all of a sudden people that bought their house two and three years ago were selling their house and making $50.60, $70. Mhmm. So I had enough, you know, cognitive awareness. I told my wife, I said, hey, let's just let's flip our house. She's like, okay.

Let's do that. So we, we went ahead and we we painted a couple rooms, landscaped the front, put it on MLS, and what, thirty days later, we sold it and made a $128,000. I was 25, 25, 26, Patty. So I was like, okay. I just made a $125,000 in in thirty days when I when I've been working a whole year to make less than that.

I was like, you know, light bulbs went off in my head. I was like, okay. This is this is interesting. So, went ahead and bought a another piece of land on the bayou. Right?

I live on the bayou. Right? In Louisiana.

Steve: For the people that don't know, you wanna explain what a bayou is?

Chris: A bayou is like it's not a river and it's not a creek. It's like a muddy channel of water that's smaller than a river. Yeah. Born on the bayou. Right?

That's But, it's just a it's just a miniature river. But, anyway, so we bought a a a lot and we paid 80 for it. And I said, let's try to flip something else again. We put it back on the market and sold it, like, two months later and sold it for 105, made $25.

Steve: Really?

Chris: Yeah. So, it's crazy, right? So, I was like, man, this is, this is ridiculous. Now, let me back up though. The 125 I made, the 125,000 that I made, I took all that money and I bought another physical location from my oil change business Okay.

On one of the busiest streets in my town from a super distressed, motivated seller. Mhmm. He he wouldn't he wouldn't payin' his taxes. He had problems. Paid 860,000 for that overnight.

Doubled my income. So, I was like, okay. Well, you know, I'm doing good. I'm I'm playing almost Monopoly. Went ahead and, you know, flipped that land deal, made 25.

Then, I bought another foreclosure after that rehabbed it, lived in it for How long you lived there, Patty? Two years? Eighteen months. Flipped that and made 60,000. And every every time I'd flip something, I'd buy into the shop.

Right? Oh. I would roll it into into another quick lube or It was a quick lube car wash mechanic shops. Mhmm. So I ended up with about four shops.

I had the the biggest quick lube car wash mechanic shop in my town. We had four locations. We had about 33 employees. I did really, really good with that. So I got so busy with the with the quick lubes after I flipped that foreclosure.

I focused just on that because I had 33 employees. I was scaling. I was 26, 27. I was I was making close to half $1,000,000. You know, I was

Steve: a 20.

Chris: So I was like, man, I'm a stick with this. Yeah. Did that for four or five years, made a lot of money. I took all that money and I bought about $3,000,000 worth of single family homes on MLS. Mhmm.

I didn't know the wholesale game. And I didn't know you can go direct to seller and capture tons of equity. I was like, okay, let's just go on MLS and let's make 30 offers every other day. Mhmm. See if something sticks.

So, I would do that and I would I would buy marginal deals. I'd buy $80.85 cents on the dollar. Mhmm. And, did that. Scaled up to like $3,000,000 We had like 30, maybe 25, 30 single family homes.

We got them all rented. I was making, like, $10 a month passive income. I was like, man, I'm I'm a real estate investor. Yeah. I'm like, I'm I'm cool.

Right? But then 2014 hit. And for you guys when I say 2014, like, what the hell is 2014? Well, you guys' 2004 '14 was 2008. See, we we didn't miss a we didn't miss a beat in 2008.

The South was heavily dependent on oil and gas. Mhmm. We we were killing it. And so the economy was still really good. But 2014 hit, oil went from $128 a barrel to $28 a barrel.

We lost 18,000 jobs just in Lafayette. High paying jobs. These are offshore jobs. People making 80, a 100, $150,000 right out of high school. Really hurt the economy big time.

Started losing tenants left and right. Oil chain shops, I was doing about $2,200,000 a year in sales with my shops. I was making good money. That got cut in half within within probably a year, year and a half. It just, every quarter, it was sales are going down, down, down.

I was like, like, I don't, like, what am I gonna do? Mhmm. Half my rentals were vacant. I started Instead of being cash flow positive, I got to where I was breaking even, then I started losing money.

Steve: And, you're writing checks?

Chris: I was writing checks. Then I wasn't cool anymore. Yeah. Then it got to a point where I was I was I wasn't even almost profiting anymore in my shops after letting people go, scaling back, cutting back. But luckily, right around the same time, I was, you know, searching on YouTube, which a lot of you guys are probably gonna find this on YouTube.

Mhmm. And I came across wholesaling real estate. I'm like, wholesaling real estate? How do you wholesale real estate? I mean, I know you can flip houses, rehab.

So I watched a couple videos. I was like, I can do that. Well, went ahead and, tried it on my own, did a few deals on the properties I had bought and and made like marginal, like 2,000 here, you know, 2,500 there, but I couldn't put it all together. I was like, let me let me go ahead and hire a mentor. So, I hired three mentors back to back to back.

Well, like thirty days after my first mentorship, I made $47,000 by myself doing it part time while still running my shops.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: That's when a light bulb went off on my head. I was like, I can make $47,000 by myself part time while still running these quick lubes, dude, I'm in the wrong business. Yeah. So, I talked to all my managers. I threw them the keys.

I said, hey, call them, don't call unless somebody dies. I'm doing this full time. Started doing that, full time.

Steve: That was around '4 2014?

Chris: Yes. It's 02/1415. Yeah. When I started wholesaling. Okay.

About '14, I started wholesaling. So, it was, yeah, about five years ago. Then, as you know, you know, in a bad economy, it's inducive to it's a great wholesaling environment. Mhmm. So, there's deals everywhere.

Right? Yep. People are motivated. People are like, Chris, please buy my house. I'm going for a foreclosure.

I mean, I was I was crushing it. Right? So, thank God that I did that because I was able to cover all my losses. Mhmm. Because I was losing massive amounts.

I was losing $20.30 grand a month. And, I was making, you know, $50.60, 70. I kept scaling 80. Sometimes I make a $100. I'm like, man, this is where it's at.

So, I was like, I was just over the moon for this concept called wholesale and going direct to seller marketing.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: And, from there, did really, really good in some some coaching programs. They even asked me to go work in their sales department. So, I got to see the back scenes behind a coaching program

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: On top of that. And I was like, man, I can do this. Like, I I can coach. I mean, this is, you know, because all the students would reach out to me after I would enroll them for help and I'd give them advice. Like, man, you saved my business, yada yada yada.

So then I started a coaching company

Steve: Alright.

Chris: In '6.

Steve: Right around that same time?

Chris: No. Two about about a year and a half, two years later.

Steve: Okay.

Chris: Yeah. This is 2016, probably, when I when I started the coaching company. Then, from there, went to GrowthCon One. Greg Cardone's first GrowthCon in Miami. There was only 2,500 people there.

Steve: Mhmm.

Chris: Got front row tickets, you know, got to hang out with Grant, all the speakers, got hooked up with Grant, went to his office, had a conversation with him, and, you know, he talked about the wholesale model. He's like, dude, I I ain't never heard of wholesale. And he's like, this is cool. So, got got hooked up with Grant and, you know, started doing a bunch of business with him. And now, I'm just, expanding.

Right? I'm Right. I'm I'm I'm I sold off all of my shops.

Steve: No more shops.

Chris: I have one left that's still that's still losing about $10 a month.

Steve: The big one on the main street? Yeah. Okay.

Chris: No. I sold that one. I made about $300 on that one. I got lucky because a national chain bought me out on that one. I did really good.

But, the only one I have left, I'm still losing money, but we're trying to get it back going again to sell it off. But, so yeah, that's that's kind of my story, a 50,000 foot, you know, story of, you know, where I started, how I got into real estate, how I used it to, you know, to supplement my other companies. Because really, real estate catapulted me into the oil industry. Supplement my other companies. Because, really, real estate catapulted me into the oil change business because without flipping all those houses, I could've never scaled that business.

Steve: Yes. So it's funny. Right? So you got in real estate and then, well, this is I'm making more money in the oil side. Right.

Oil change side. And then they're like, actually, well, maybe

Chris: Yeah.

Steve: Maybe the real estate side. So you said that, you know, you got into wholesaling around 2014. You had a mentor to help you. But, like, what were the challenges you had when you first when you first started

Chris: wholesaling? Challenges. I would say, I I guess the money side of it. Mhmm. You know you know, I'm I I didn't flip I didn't really flip anyhow.

Like, I flipped that first house in our house, but Mhmm. I just wanted to wholesale everything. Yeah. And I I think I was scared to flip. You know, I I guess I wanted I wanted to, but I I I watched these shows.

I'm like, dude. And I talked to other flippers, like, it ain't that cool. Like, you know Oh,

Steve: it's not nearly as glorious as it looks on TV.

Chris: No. I think people glorify the flipping. Yeah. So I guess I it took me a while to wrap my mind around wanting to do that. And, you know, I am just starting to flip and and wholetail a bunch of houses.

And, you know, if you guys are watching it young, get access to private money. If if you don't have good credit, you know, work on your credit because I'm telling you right now that that's that's the the facto, the terminating factor, if you're gonna scale or not because you can't wholesale forever.

Steve: Right.

Chris: You wanna wholesale forever, but you wanna have the money. You got buyers, you got sellers, but that de facto piece in the back is being able to take down deals and having cash because then from there, it makes it adds a whole another it adds a whole another sector to your business because then you can you can take down deals and throw them back into MLS. Well, it

Steve: gives you credibility. It gives you extra strategies.

Chris: Yep. Yeah. Absolutely. Gives you options.

Steve: Especially, you know, I think a lot of these newer guys, they're getting into selling. It's you know, we're all we're all new at some point. Right. But, you know, you're you're going there advertising yourself as a cash buyer and you can't perform.

Chris: That's right.

Steve: It's kinda screwing some people over if you don't perform.

Chris: It is. It's it's hairy. It's a gray area. Always I was lucky enough. I was really successful as an entrepreneur.

I had great credit. I mean, I had, you know, I had a million and a half dollars worth of lines of credit at the bank from properties that I own free and clear. So I was very, you know, in in a position that I could take them down. Mhmm. But you're right.

There's a lot of people that that are, you know, saying they can't take deals down and they can't. So if you can't, guys, dude, just get access to private money.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: I'm it's funny because I'm just starting to use private money. Just this past month is the first time I used private money. I've been using my own capital and credit for the past five years, which is not smart because I'm scaling into five markets now, and you just can't scale with your own money.

Steve: Right. And I think the other thing you talk about too, like, you can't wholesale forever. And I think that's true. Like, wholesaling is great. It's an incredible investment vehicle or incredible vehicle for generating income.

But like you said, the the scalability is only so far you can go Yep. If you're only wholesaling. So one of the things that, I wanted to talk about because a lot of people are wholesaling. You know, people are listening, and I think it's awesome. But we're wholesaling as a as a stepping stone into something greater.

Chris: Right.

Steve: So you wanna talk about how you you went from wholesaling Yep. To Right. Multifamily, multi car, so on.

Chris: Wholesaling, it's a means to an end. Right? Right. That's all it is. It's a means to an end.

It's a very

Steve: high paying job.

Chris: It's a high pay it's a very high paying job. You definitely if you're gonna have a a if you're gonna be a professional investor, you definitely wanna wanna have a wholesaling business. I'm always gonna have a wholesaling business in my pipeline Mhmm. To capture my own deals. Right?

Right. Wrote a book about this called The Source of the Deal. You know, who makes more money? The Ford dealership or the Ford manufacturer?

Steve: Manufacture.

Chris: Right. Because why? They're the source of the deal. Like, you wanna be in first position. Right?

Steve: Absolutely.

Chris: So you always wanna be in first position. I'm not knocking wholesale. I'm always gonna wholesale, but you got to learn. It's it's a you gotta evolve. Right?

Mhmm. It's an evolution. Right? You start with wholesaling, then you get access to private money or build your own credit, then you maybe start doing some wholetailing where the where properties are not that messed up. It just needs some paint floors, throw it back in no more less Mhmm.

And wholetail it. Then you start getting a little bit more dangerous and and risque, and and you start maybe taking down some flips. But from there, you wanna take all your active income, all of it. Like, we have a bunch of sources. And we take I stay broke.

I stay broke. Like, I take all my active income and I dump it all into multifamily. You know? And we're we're scaling mobile home parks right now. We're rehabbing two mobile home parks right now.

I'm just about done with one. We're about to close on another one in Panama City Beach next week. But, basically, what what your end goal is, guys, is you want cash flow. Mhmm. It's as simple as that.

Like, you know, my goal, I want a $100 a month in cash flow. I'm at right now, I'm at about 25,000 in cash flow, positive cash flow. I want a $100 a month. If I can make a $100 a month, and, obviously, when I get to a $100, I'm a probably want 2 or $300. Yeah.

Steve: It's It's

Chris: not gonna stop. Yeah. It's never gonna stop. Okay. But it's peace of mind.

It's security. It's freedom. Mhmm. Now granted, you know, you're not gonna go from from wholesaling to that overnight. Like, you know, I started in real estate when I was 25.

Right? I'm 30 I'm 38. Right? And I'm just now granted, if I'd if I'd stuck with whole if I'd just wholesale when I was 25, I would probably be light years ahead. I'd I'd probably Oh, absolutely.

I'm at we're right at 8 $18,500,000 in holdings right now. I guarantee if I just wholesale and started '25 and known about this for you cats that are listening in your early twenties, this is the golden goose. Like, go all in on wholesaling and learn it. And then over time, you will it's a natural progression. You will evolve into multifamily if you stick with it.

Steve: So, let's talk about, like, what has to happen to evolve

Chris: into that. I love that question. So, you know, there's three things. For one, skills. Mhmm.

It's the fundamentals. Yeah. You gotta have skills because there there's three things. Right? You you need skills, then you need systems Mhmm.

Then you can scale

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: In that order. Because if you ain't got skills, you can't create any systems. And, if you ain't got no systems, you're not gonna scale. So, it's skills, systems, scale. But, the skills are the most important by far.

I hear all these Cadaddies, you know, that hit me up. Chris, I need to know the system. I just need to know the system so I can scale. So, okay? Do you have the foundation?

Like, do you have the skills? Can you can can you communicate really well? Like, what are the fundamentals? Right? Yeah.

The fundamentals like, you know, communication skills, you know, consistency, persistency, you know, those basic discipline. Like, how disciplined are you? Mhmm. Those basic things. Most people do get into wholesaling.

I mean, what's the what's the their fail rate of wholesaling right now? Ninety five percent?

Steve: I don't know what it is.

Chris: At least.

Steve: I would think it's probably more than ninety five percent.

Chris: You think it's more?

Steve: I think it's more than ninety

Chris: five percent. There you go. So that's a testament. There's no foundation because they're trying to be an entrepreneur in a house of cards. Yeah.

There's no foundation. Like, how how are you gonna scale something? How are you gonna build a house without a foundation? That's why I'm big on personal development. Right?

And and that's what Absolutely. That's what it goes back to. You know? I am huge on personal development. Mind, body, spirit.

You know, I wanna be the best version of myself. I can't scale my life or my business if me as a a foundation, as a being, is not the best that I can be. Yeah. It's not possible. So an entrepreneur is a spiritual journey.

It's it's a personal development journey because if you're not you know, you see all these guys buying courses, buying mentorships, going to different seminars and they keep failing. Like, dude, put it down. Like, go work on yourself. You're not developed enough to implement the information yet. Mhmm.

You understand that?

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: Like, you gotta be developed enough internally because it's so hard. It's gonna be, it's gonna get kicked in the net so hard sometimes. If you're not ready for it, you're gonna quit. That's right.

Steve: So many times. Not sometimes. Not so many times.

Chris: Yeah. Every every couple weeks, I get kicked in the nets. So, you've got you've got to develop, you know, balls of steel. Yeah. Right?

And and there's no easy way through it. The way out is through. Like, go get kicked in the nuts and feel it, taste it, and and, well, that shouldn't have said not taste it, but

Steve: Well, taste the pain.

Chris: Yeah. Taste taste the pain. Right? So, but it it's, it's funny because, you know, I I I think a lot of cats want the easy road. Like, give me the hard road.

Like, the bigger the barrier, the bigger the payout for me.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: Like, you know. And if your purpose is not greater than the barrier, you will quit. Like, you you can't you can't hurt me. Like, my purpose is so huge. Like, I will be successful.

Like, dude, you could take all my money away right now. Take away all my assets. Make me go bankrupt. I will do it again because my purpose is greater than the barriers.

Steve: Yeah. So, as far as, like, when did you know like, when when is the right time, right, as far as, like, you know, if you're if you're wholesaling, like, I don't know. There's, like, a if you use a, monthly revenue, or a, you know, certain amount of wealth, like, when when would you advise someone to start looking at multifamily as, to to to make that not transition, but adding to their business?

Chris: I would I would say I mean, look. If if you're a young if you're a young guy and say you got a job and you're wholesaling the side and let's just say you grab a hold of a 24 unit at 65¢ on the dollar value add deal and it fell in your lap, you know, should you wholesale it and make $70 or should you maybe try to partner up with somebody that's got money and grab an equity position? Essentially syndicate Mhmm. Or partner up, you know. I would I would say, you know, as much as I wanna say wholesale and and get the cash, I think the earlier you do it, as long as you understand the dynamics of multifamily and you understand, you know, the the price, the cash flow, and you understand what you're getting yourself into and location, location, location, location Mhmm.

Then I would say take it down even if you're younger, if if you can bring somebody on. But, essentially, I I would say, but if you have no experience and, like, you don't know anything about multifamily, I would wait till you at least have a $100.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: Get a $100 in your pocket. Maybe go take down a fourplex. Mhmm. You know, do it on a gradient scale. Yeah.

But, you know, that's gonna be up to because, you know, thinking back like me now, I'm like, damn, what? Like, because I've sold quite a few multifamily before I started buying multifamily. I'm like, dude, what what was I doing? Why did why did I sell that? Why did I wholesale that?

And, you know, I regret it, you know. But hindsight's twenty twenty, but you do you you gotta have the certain skill set and knowledge. You gotta know. Like, you just can't just start buying multifamily. Yeah.

I mean, I don't care how good the cap rate is. It ain't worth getting capped. I I I I found that out firsthand.

Steve: Can you you wanna elaborate on that?

Chris: Well, my wife's sitting right there. I blame it on her. I I got this 12 plex I bought about four months ago. She's like, Chris, you know, well, I said, I said, baby, let's let's buy this, you know, I got this for 60,000, a fourplex. They were selling on MLS for 90,000.

And she's like, yeah, no brainer, Chris. It'll it'll sell in thirty days. So I close on it. The next week, my property manager goes out there to go find a problem. Like, then she hears pow pow pow pow.

And then the tenant goes, oh, they're starting early today, baby. And my my property manager says, what you mean they're starting early? It's like, they're starting early. And then, here goes, you know, dude ran across and that dude's chasing him and they're shooting at him. So Really?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Jackson Square. Look it up.

Lafayette, Louisiana. Not a not a pretty place. So, she told me, I'm not going back over there, Chris. You know? And that was the start of buying a high cap rate multifamily.

It ain't high cap. You

Steve: buy it based off pro form a or performing?

Chris: No, I was gonna flip it. I wasn't buying it to hold. Yeah. I was buying it to flip it because she said it's they they sit and they don't they sell within thirty days.

Steve: Gotcha.

Chris: At anywhere from 85 to 90. And I got it off a RVM drop, and I picked it up for 61 or 62 a unit. I was like, dude, we'll just throw it back into my list and sell it. Mhmm. So, but I bought it in October, the October, and everything slows down in November and December, you know, on MLS and and winter months.

People just don't buy that stuff. And I think that's why but it went up holding it for three months. Mhmm. And it was like a complete nightmare. Like, dude, dude, I don't even think human beings lived in there.

I was like, it was mutants. I hate to be ugly. It was bad. Yeah. So you gotta be careful about what you buy.

Like, you know, somebody you you get an email from another wholesaler saying, oh, great deal. 18 cap rate, 20% cap rate. There's a reason why it's a high cap. Mhmm. Because you're gonna catch a cap.

Steve: Okay. So if you got a deal, you know, you're, while you're, you know, doing your your regular wholesaling operation, you have an opportunity to get multifamily. You say, okay. Go, partner up with somebody.

Chris: Mhmm.

Steve: So how would you recommend someone partner up with somebody?

Chris: Go go find out who's the players in town. Like, who's buying deals. Mhmm. And then go show them the value of what you bring. Like, hey, dude.

I can like, I find deals. Like, I'm a deal finder. Like Mhmm. You know, you gotta be persuasive. Right?

Yeah. You and how do you how are you persuasive? Confidence. Confidence exudes persuasion. Mhmm.

So if I was a young cat, you know, I would go and and and go talk to a guy that's, you know, got $2,000,000 or $510,000,000, whatever it may be. And if you know he buys stuff like that, go don't tell him about the deal. Show him. Get, like, a spreadsheet showing, hey, look. This is what it what I got it for.

This is the what it's worth when I'm done. I pulled all the comps in MLS. I talked to a commercial broker. Here's all the resources. I put, like, show him.

Don't tell him. Once you show him that, you'll get him interested. But if you just go up to it, some guy that's worth $2,030,000,000 dollars, say, hey, man. I gotta do it. You wanna partner up with me and you a 24 year old cat?

You know, he's gonna laugh at you.

Steve: Right.

Chris: So you you gonna you need to back it up with some facts. Mhmm. You're gonna need to be, you know, confident, intentional, like people deny, you know, and and exude some some knowingness like you know what the hell you're doing.

Steve: Right.

Chris: Because, I mean, I I know and and I hate to say it, but there's a there's a lot of young like, I get pitched deals every day in my town. It's like and I try to help them, but it's like, you know, being that I come from a wholesaling background, some of these newer wholesalers, they they they don't know what they're talking about and they make themselves look bad. You know? They gotta educate themselves and really know and understand the deal, so I stop and I try to, you know, help them with the deal because I want them to

Steve: send me more deals.

Chris: Right? Absolutely. But it discredits them if they come in there and they they just try to say, hey, man. I got hey, Joe. I got this deal.

You wanna buy it? You know?

Steve: With, like, no background. Okay. So at which point then did you start acquiring multifamily? Family? Like, are you targeting multi family now?

Chris: Yes. We're we're we're going direct to seller right now. We're direct mail, cold calling, mobile home park owners. We just took down a twelveplex in in Panama City Beach, Florida. I'm wholetailing it.

We got it for $5.25. It appraised for $7.50 as is. Pretty proud of that one. Yeah. Should be.

Yeah. I'm throwing that back on MLS next week. Nothing stays on the market longer than thirty days. And here's the key, guys. Here's the key.

This is why I talk about wanting to find money and you gotta get access to money because, and I hate to be ugly about it. I mean, that's not not being ugly. It's just the facts of the matter. Right? These are the freshmen coming up because I used to be a freshman investor coming up buying deals on MLS.

The suckers are on MLS. The newbie investors, when you're a newbie investor, what's the first thing you do?

Steve: Talk to a real estate agent.

Chris: Talk to an agent. Yeah. Do agents have deals? Sometimes. But most of the time, they don't.

Well, if

Steve: it's a good deal Yeah. They might not make it to you.

Chris: Right. Right. But some realtors a lot of when when you're a new investor, a lot of people go to realtors Mhmm. First instead of a wholesaler because they don't even know what wholesaling is yet. And then a realtor goes and brings them to show starts sending them deals that get listed on MLS.

And now, you know, in a in a hot market like this, I can buy a multifamily and throw it on MLS and almost get full retail in the right markets.

Steve: Well and and it's crazy right now. So Yeah. That's one of the questions I have for you because the the cap rates are so freaking low.

Chris: Yes.

Steve: Like, everyone is trying to buy multifamily. I think maybe people trying to park their money because the stock market, whatever. Right. But the cap rates are really low right now, multifamily. So are you still trying to acquire and keep multifamily given the the current conditions?

Chris: Yeah. It doesn't matter. Like, I'm going direct to seller. If I can catch them before a real estate agent or broker catches them, I'm gonna get it for cheaper. Because what is an agent and a broker gonna do?

They're gonna try to drive the price up. I'm gonna drive the price down. Mhmm. You take them out. They're gonna they're not they're just dealing with me.

Steve: So it it's worth it to buy and hold if you're getting it directly from someone.

Chris: Absolutely. I don't care how hot the market is right now. I'm buying deals 65. I mean, we bought we bought a park in Bonifay, Florida two months ago. We paid $5.75 for it.

It appraised for $8.35 as is with and it's the gross income is $13.05. It's about a c minus park. Right?

Steve: Right.

Chris: So you talk to some people, and you and they would say, well, the market's so hot, you can't find deals like that. Well, I'm back to differ. There's baby boomers all over the place that are just unloading their deals right now because they've made their money. They've owned them for twenty, thirty years. They don't care about the equity.

You you meet them face to face. You you build a lot of rapport. You you know, you you become their friend. They'll wanna help you out. Right.

There's deals out there even in a hot market. I'm doing it.

Steve: So how are you targeting these people?

Chris: Direct mail. We're we're killing with direct mail on the multifamily side.

Steve: Yeah. So you're finding out where they live, and you're mailing them at their homes?

Chris: No. We're we're mailing the parks.

Steve: Mailing the parks?

Chris: Yep.

Steve: Okay. So hoping, like, the property manager sees it? Yeah. Gotcha.

Chris: I go after the the low hanging fruit. I don't go after the the eighty, ninety, 100 plus units because that big money's chasing that. The sweet spot is in between. And I don't go after the four and twelve. I only buy 24 units above.

That's why we're hoteling that 12, unit that 12, unit apartment complex because it's it's just too small. I want 24 units or more. Mhmm. But the when you go from 24 units to 50, that's like a little niche area where the big money don't wanna mess with it because it's not enough unit.

Steve: Too small.

Chris: And then the the smaller players, they can't afford it. They can buy a 12 or 12 plex or a four plex, but they can't buy a 24 unit. So I find, at least this is my experience thus far, is that that's where the the beefy equity deals are at.

Steve: Oh, that makes a lot of sense. Something I wanna hit on, because you you you mentioned earlier that everyone was scared during that time when oil prices dropped. You were finding deals. Because everyone that's listening not listening, but everyone that's wholesaling today, for the most part, is still pretty new, and they've only known a good market. Yeah.

They don't know a bad market. And so, like, one of the questions I I I get asked time time, like, what are you gonna do when the market changes? Like, buy deeper. But you were in that market. Yes.

So you wanna talk about what the market was like when you're, in down market?

Chris: Yeah. So there's there's there's a lot of deals. There's they're plentiful. Now investors will be a little a lot more scared. Mhmm.

So you can still sell deals because the the smart money has still got money, but they're gonna want it they're gonna want a really good deal.

Steve: Right.

Chris: So it's not like, you know, you it's a it's a down market. There's deals everywhere and it's like everybody's a buyer. Because the down market is gonna wipe out a lot of the you buyers that used to buy from you. Mhmm. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Steve: Third money goes on the sidelines.

Chris: That's right. But there's still they're still gonna you just gonna you gotta listen. You gotta have a bunch of different ways of making money. Like, you can't just depend on wholesale. Like, dude, if you got a job making $60.70 grand a year and you're making $10.20 grand wholesaling a month or every other month, dude, keep your job if you're doing both.

You know? You know, keep it you know, you wanna have multiple streams of income. Like, that's I've always done that. And that's that's one honestly, I mean, let's look back at that crash. What saved me in that crash?

Because I would be bankrupt right now. What saved me in that crash is that I Yeah. Business. I had well, the the oil change business is going under. Mhmm.

My rentals were half of them were vacant, but I started that wholesaling business. Gotcha. Right? Yeah. And I was still working in a sales department for a coaching company making $10.12 grand selling for them.

Mhmm. So I had I had this I was making $10.12 grand a month selling, plus I was making $40.50, 60,000 a month wholesaling. So that's two streams right there, but my other two streams are dead and dying.

Steve: Right.

Chris: So my my other two streams save those two streams. Right? So the point is, don't just do one thing. Like, do a bunch of different things. But you wanna keep it all in the same wheelhouse.

Like, for me, right, I got the wholesaler. I got the flipping. I got the wholesaling. We're in five markets. I have a coaching company.

We have the the multifamily, the mobile home parks. Like, my wife's a realtor. We're doing land development deals. Mhmm. Like And I'm not You don't you don't wanna be a one trick pony, but you also don't wanna be so diversified that you're you're all over the place.

I mean, I have a, you know, I have a team of You know, we have seven people working for us. So it's not like you hear me saying all these different things, like, man, this dude's all over the place. No. Like, my wife handles all the flips locally. She's working on a multi made, not a land development deal that we're about to close on.

We'll probably make 7, about $700 on that deal. You know, every market that we're in, besides the market I'm in, I have an acquisition manager. Mhmm. So I'm not spread that thin to where I'm, you know you gotta be careful and because you you go and read books like The One Thing. Right?

And they'll say, just do one thing. Mhmm. I don't necessarily agree with that. Yeah. Because I don't do one thing.

Well, why can't I do more than one thing? I do it all day every day.

Steve: Right.

Chris: You know?

Steve: Yeah. I think if you take it too literally, for sure, it's gonna be a problem.

Chris: Right.

Steve: But I think the idea is not to start too many different businesses or

Chris: Right. Spread yourself too thin.

Steve: Yeah. Try to be a jack with too many trades.

Chris: But you also don't wanna be a one trick pony.

Steve: Right. Yeah. Absolutely. So right now, you know, when you guys are buying a house are are so you're wholesaling. You're doing wholesale on traditional houses?

Chris: Correct.

Steve: Okay. So when you guys are offering on these homes, like, what do you guys typically offer on?

Chris: See, that's a good question because everybody says, man, ARV minus 70% of what I don't know. That whatever. I don't even pay attention to that. Dude, I'm making my offer on motivation.

Steve: Okay.

Chris: I base my offer on motivation. If I'm buying a house, let's Let me give you an example. I bought a house in Baton Rouge. You know, he called me. He was PPC lead.

It was a it was a hoarder. Mhmm. I walked into his house. My wife was with me. We come back from from vacation.

I was like, let's just stop when we were right here. It was in Baton Rouge heading back home to Lafayette. He had four foot of trash. I'm not kidding you. It was four foot.

I had to climb up on top and I can touch the ceiling. Mhmm. And he was pretending that he didn't live there. It was his uncle's house and I knew he was lying, which most motivated sellers lie. And he's showing me the house and this and that.

And, you know, the house ARV was probably about $2.25. My maximum allowable offer in my mind, I'm thinking I'm already I'm doing as I'm talking, I'm doing calculations. Like, my mind's running. I'm not gonna give them no more than about 90. That'd be max.

I'll probably wholesale it for a 100 Mhmm. Max. They'll probably put $60.70 grand into it and still make enough money for them. However, based off the motivation, I know he wanted to sell, he wanted to sell fast, and he wasn't shopping me. How do I know that?

Because he does he was embarrassed. He doesn't wanna show anybody else. Hey, man. Just I I just really wanna be done with this. You just gotta listen.

The motivated seller is to tell you. Mhmm. And I was like, I just wanna be done with this. So in my mind, I'm like, this guy's super motivated. Obviously, he is.

He got four footed. It's like he was making a nest. Poor guy. It was it was it was horrible. You know?

Yeah. But a lot of investors leave so much money on the table because they follow this stupid formula. Mhmm. Dude, this is a this is an art. This ain't an exact science.

Steve: Oh, yeah. 100%.

Chris: People are trying to say, like, do this every time. Like, no. Do this different song and dance every time. You gotta dance a different move. Mhmm.

So I'm looking at him. I'm like, okay. In my mind, 90. But I'm gonna offer him some ridiculous amount lower than that because I know he needs to sell and he's motivated and he probably doesn't care. So I said, man, look, I really I really need to get this furloughed.

It needs a lot of work, which I did. I need to get this thing for $40. He goes, Chris. Man, if you can do 50, you got a deal. Mhmm.

50, you got a deal. I'm thinking he's gonna come back at, like, he's gonna tell me 90 or 80.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: You see what I'm saying?

Steve: Absolutely.

Chris: So and I'm like in the back of my mind, I'm like, yes. I'm like, yes. And then I'm like, I tell you what I can you meet me in middle of forty five? He goes, yeah. Let's just go ahead and do forty five.

Steve: Alright.

Chris: So I'm like, $45. Most people have offered that guy 90,000 and left with $50,000 on the table because they basing their offer off of this stupid formula.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: Base your offer off motivation.

Steve: Well, the reason I was asking that question because I wanna go back to the a question earlier about, you know, in a down market

Chris: Yeah.

Steve: What you were buying for. Because in a down market, you can't pay 70%. Like, it just won't work because you your holding cost

Chris: Right.

Steve: And your end buyer will not pay that. Right? So when you were buying it in the in in the down market, like, what what were you doing then?

Chris: I was buying really, really low. I mean, I was buying I was buying a 50¢ on the dollar on almost everything. Almost everything across the board Mhmm. Except for a spectacular location might have been 60. Yeah.

You just like you said, it's it's all it's all timing. It's knowingness. Like, you gotta know the inside and outs of your market. Like, how many times have you had other wholesalers call you and they're like, hey, man. I got this smoking hot deal.

I know you're a buyer and he sends you a deal and it's like retail. It happens every week to me. Multiple times a day. Yeah. It's like, you know, it's like, dude, it's not a deal.

And you you wanna help them and you because I want them to send me deals, but it's I mean, it's all day every day. So their knowingness is so low, they'll never bet it they'll never bet it do deals because all we're doing essentially is it it's arbitrage. Right? We're day we're day trading

Steve: real estate.

Chris: So it's it's information based knowing the market. All these day traders, what do they do? They read analytics. They freaking they just know. The same thing goes with real estate.

Like, it it ain't this ain't no for clowns. Right? Like, you gotta be a sharp cap to do this on a on a big scale and to actually make a lot of money. So you got a deep dive and you guys are listening to you young guys in your twenties, like, deep dive, like, network with all the realtors, know the streets, know the neighborhoods, know it inside and out. Because the more you know, like, you know, what did Warren Buffett say?

The more you know the or the more you earn screwed all that up. Something like that. Warren Buffett says something about the more you the more you learn, the more you earn. That's what he said. There you go.

Steve: Yes. I've heard that one.

Chris: Yeah. So and it's so true. Right? It's just it's it's going back to knowing.

Steve: So wants to know, when is the right time to approach someone for mentorship in wholesaling?

Chris: Man, as soon as you can afford it. That's the that's the foundation. I mean, the only reason I I'm in a position where I'm at, honestly, is because I've I've spent more money than you in personal development. Mhmm. Yeah.

I've I've probably spent and my wife, she knows because I stroke checks and she's like, you sure you wanna do it? I've I've I've spent at least $300, maybe more than that, in personal development. And that's what's made my foundation. Right? And I did that at an early age.

When I was 20, 22, I started on my personal development. I mean, I mean, my first stroke check I wrote was $25,000 Yeah. For, like, courses, seminars, doing all kind of stuff. And, and I borrowed the money. I took a loan out at the bank.

Mhmm. And and it's it's it's noncon She knows. She's laughing right now. It's nonconventional, and it's crazy, but you gotta be crazy. Mhmm.

This is not normal. Like, you gotta be off to be an entrepreneur. Like, stop trying to do what everybody else does. Like, stop following the sheet.

Steve: You can't be a normal person.

Chris: No. You can't because it's so crazy what we do that any logical thing or thinking it doesn't it doesn't make sense. Like, you can't have an engineer's mind and be an entrepreneur. I mean, you can, but it's it's tough.

Steve: Yeah. It is tough. I and I'm a I'm a former engineer, so I definitely agree with that. Okay. So then, this is probably gonna be a silly question here, but, you know, how is your business different your wholesaling business different than the the the the wholesalers in your community and your market?

Chris: Man, man, I'm I'm dynamic. I'm the most dynamic investor in town. You come to my town, like, you know who Chris Root is, and I want you to know who I am because I'm branded. Like, I I get I get so many organic deals because I'm everywhere. I tell everybody.

I'm on Facebook. I'm on billboards. I'm in your mailbox. I'm everywhere. I'm on Facebook Live.

Like, I wanna be everywhere. And I'm just dynamic. Like, I'm not a one trick pony. I can take down deals. I'm doing a multimillion dollar land development deal.

I can buy mobile home parks. I can I just bought a a mobile home park on on terms, on owner finance? You you you gotta be diversified. You you can't just do wholesaling.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: Because you're gonna quit eventually.

Steve: So your your your wholesaling operation, I mean, what what does your organization look like in your wholesaling operation?

Chris: So so I wanna own I'm not I mean, we do direct mail a little bit. We're not, like, mail. I I wanna own the online space. Mhmm. That's all I do.

I own the online space everywhere. Every market I get, I wanna own own it because I don't wanna chase motivation. I want motivation chasing me. I don't wanna work that hard. I wanna work smart.

I do wanna work hard, but I wanna work I wanna work really, really hard, but really, really smart. Like Yeah. So if I'm owning the online space, by far, definitively, I've measured it, split tested it. Online leads are the best leads Mhmm. As far as motivation.

Because why? What's the what's the psychology of somebody going on their phone typing in sell my house fast?

Steve: They're active.

Chris: They're active and they they got a they got a problem.

Steve: Right.

Chris: So I know I can scale big and wide. And if you look at all the big major brands, what are they they're all on, like, they're they're all going online like they're trying to dominate online.

Steve: Absolutely.

Chris: So you go in all the markets. I mean, I'm the I'm number one in almost every one of my markets that I'm in.

Steve: So is that pay per click only or SEO too?

Chris: Oh, no. SEO, PPC, Facebook. And that's that's I wanna that's my three main things. No. We do a lot of newspaper articles.

We do direct mail. We do some cold calling. The cold calling is mostly for multifamily. That's it. What else did we do?

That's pretty much it, man. I mean, it's networking. I get a lot of deals with networking, man. You know, just being in the know, branding. That's So,

Steve: like, give me give me some examples of what networking is.

Chris: Okay. Perfect example. I go work out every morning. Every single realtor if I if you're a realtor, I want you to know me. Mhmm.

Every single realtor, every single, contractor, I want you to know who Chris Root is. So when I work out in the mornings at a place called Rez, I work out in this huge gym, one of the nicest gyms in the country. Every realtor that passes me, hey, man. Where's my deals? Like, I know you got deals.

Like, stop stop playing, man. You ain't sending me those deals. Why am I doing that? And I do it almost every time I see them and, like, they laugh right when they see me before I even say something because they know I'm about to say, where's the deals? Mhmm.

What am I doing? I'm branding. I'm branding. I'm hitting them in the mind. So who's the first person to be top of mind when they get a pocket listing?

Steve: Chris.

Chris: Right. It's just it's simple. It's just massive obnoxious communication to the point where everybody knows who you are. Now, it takes a lot of communication to do that and it takes a lot of getting out of your own way and not giving a fuck what people think about you. That's a lot of these cats that, you know, just get into being an entrepreneur or a real estate investor, you care too much about what people think about you.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: You know, you're gonna have to get wild. You're gonna have to get loud. You're gonna have to get obnoxious. You're gonna have to communicate on a massive scale to where everybody knows who you are and what you do and what you're about.

Steve: Yeah. So when you talk about billboards, SEO, pay per click, Facebook, all these things add up. Yep. So what is your monthly marketing spend?

Chris: It's about $20 a month.

Steve: In one market or multiple markets?

Chris: Oh, no. Multiple markets. That's all we're spending about 20.

Steve: It's not too bad. I mean, billboards I

Chris: just got rid of the billboards. Okay. I I just got rid of billboards and we upped some PPC. Yeah. Because the billboards weren't, they were they were profitable Mhmm.

But not like other things. So we just let it let it go and it's great for branding. Don't get me wrong. It's I

Steve: was gonna say.

Chris: That's the reason we did it for about two years. And but I don't need to do billboard. Everybody knows me in my town, so I already get the the deals organically. So, billboards are great when you first get they're super expensive. Yeah.

That's

Steve: why I was asking about the marketing.

Chris: Yeah. No. That's why we got rid of it because it's really expensive.

Steve: Okay. So then you you mentioned, like, if you're in a market, you wanna dominate. So what markets are you in?

Chris: Lafayette, Baton Rouge. We just got into New Orleans, Panama City Beach, Florida, Pensacola, and Mobile, Alabama.

Steve: Okay. So you're in three different states? Yep. You see you have an, acquisition manager.

Chris: In each one?

Steve: In each one. Yep. What are what are they responsible for?

Chris: So leads come into the office. We qualify them for motivation. We just quarterback all day. Like, you know, I I worked at a local market in Lafayette. I do I take all the leads that come through.

Like, you know, I'm

Steve: You are working them.

Chris: I'm working them. Yeah, dude. I work. Like, you come hang out with me, dude. You're not gonna eat.

You're hardly gonna sleep, and we're gonna live off of solar power and deals. Mhmm. I mean, Ben knows. She's hung out with me. You ain't gonna eat, dude.

Like, I don't eat. Like, I just I'm built that way. I wanna I I wanna work because it just that's just who I am. Mhmm. And I know I can't be in five markets in three states, but if I don't have nothing, you know, coming out with me and my wife would say, I'll drive you crazy.

Like, I'm I'm I'm I'm just like a squirrel chasing a snail all day. I need something to do. Mhmm. You know, we we have a beach house in Destin, Florida. We go there and, like, after three days, like, the I started a a wholesaling business in the Panhandle just so I can have something to do with my beach house.

That's the only reason I started a we started wholesaling and flipping out there because I can't I can't not do something.

Steve: You can't sit still.

Chris: No. I can't sit still. I got real bad ADD and just I need it. I need to do something.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: So, anyway, so leads come in. We we qualify them, and then we just we just send them out. Then from there, they they're responsible for everything after that. Following up, selling a deal. Like, I'm not a big I I I I think these guys that are you know, I don't really think I don't believe in, like, a that disposition than than a a deal coordinator.

Like, dude, the acquisition can do disposition. Mhmm. Unless you're doing 50 deals a month or even maybe 30 to 50. Dude, you don't need acquisition, disposition, deal coordinator. Like, there's too much payroll.

Mhmm. You know? Like, if you're scaling, yeah, you need all that.

Steve: Right.

Chris: But, I mean, dude, if you're not doing more than thirty, forty deals a day or a month, you don't need that.

Steve: So then how many deals are you doing a month?

Chris: We're averaging about fifteen, twenty deals a month.

Steve: Okay. And then what is your, average fee?

Chris: On a wholesale? Mhmm. Probably about $12.05.

Steve: Okay.

Chris: I'm in I'm in lower end markets too. It's all relative. Like, I'm in South Louisiana. I mean, it's a lower I mean, I love my state, but Louisiana's like glass and everything that's bad and first and everything. That's, you know, it's just it's just how it is.

It's it's not the economically, it's not the best state. Everything's it's a poor state. Right?

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: Alabama too. Alabama is not the greatest state. Now, the Panhandle Of Florida where I'm where I'm at, our margins are a lot better in Florida than they are in Louisiana.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: So I think it's relative. You know, you know, eight to twelve thousand is about an average deal on on a wholesale on a flip, 30. On a whole hotel, 40 to 50.

Steve: So how much are you flipping?

Chris: We're doing about 80%. Well, let no. Lately, it's been less. We're doing about 70% wholesale, 20% flip, 10 wholesale. Yeah.

I mean, the hotels are the best deals. I mean, but those are you don't get those every day.

Steve: No. You don't. But we all love them.

Chris: Oh, man. Do we? I mean

Steve: So you're talking about personal development. Right? So you said, you know, you dropped 300 k, which, you know, you're the only person I know that spent more than I have. So congratulations. I spent a ridiculous amount as well.

Where you know, someone that's new, like, what you know, you got personal development. You got, you know, industry specific mentorship. Like, what would you recommend for someone to start building their foundation?

Chris: First thing I do is read. I would read, read, read. You know, I I recommend five books to my students. The first book I would read is on Mindset, The Science of Getting Rich. It's the original book written on Mindset by a guy named Wallace D.

Walter, or Wallace D. Wallace, back, like, in 1918. Mhmm. -Like, the stuff he wrote about was amazing. Like, everybody thinks Think and Grow Rich is, like, the la creme de la creme of it's not.

Like, that book was written Think and Grow Rich was copied off of The Science of Getting Rich. Read that book first, then read Think and Grow Rich.

Steve: Okay.

Chris: That's gonna Those two books would be perfect for your mindset. Then after that, I would read The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, which is on habits, routines, like just being consistent and disciplined. Then The Slight Edge, phenomenal book, you know, on the and disciplined. Then The Slight Edge, phenomenal book, you know, on the little things that you need to do every day consistently over time. Then, obviously, you know, Grant Cardone's The Next Rule on action.

Right? Just taking massive amounts of action. Psycho cybernetics is one on mindset, but it's more or less, for your self belief, like how you think about yourself. The way you think about yourself is what other people think about you. Like, if you're confident Yeah.

Like, if you know you're confident, other people don't think you're confident. Like, it's just a mirror effect. And that's kinda what he talks about a lot. But there's so much knowledge and, like, value out there. Like, there's so much opportunity.

There's way more opportunity than our grandfathers and even our fathers and great grandfathers right now. Like, it's not even they didn't have YouTube. Mhmm. They didn't have Instagram and Facebook where you can watch, like, big players do what they do. Like, just deep dive, like, YouTube.

You deep dive, you know, these books, you know, but not even just that on the mind. Like, you got you got other aspects to you. Like, you got mind, body, spirit, right? Like, if you're just reading all day and like you're a massive reader but like I know, you know those people that are just like 10X readers but they don't do nothing?

Steve: -Professional students.

Chris: -Yeah. Right. Exactly. -Yeah. -Right?

Or you got those guys let's let's do the reverse. Right? You got those guys that are at the gym that are all roided up, but then they're broke, you know, like but they look amazing. They got, like, a body of a goddess. Mhmm.

Right? Because they're they're out of they're out of balance. Right? So then you got those guys that are just spiritually and morally bankrupt. You know, they're on drugs.

They're going to titty bars. Sorry for all you guys are going to titty bars. You know, just have no ethics. Right? You know, ethics is a spiritual thing, like doing the right thing.

So mind, body, spirit, right? So if you have those, you know, I'm a big faster, right? You know, I hardly eat. I eat maybe one meal a day. Now, I will eat a mean crawfish etouffee on Friday nights with my wife with some rice.

But if you, you know, let's just say you're worth $100,000,000 and you're making a couple million bucks a year, but you're one hundred pounds overweight. Like, dude, so so what? Like, you're measurable. You're measurable and rich, you know? Mhmm.

But you can't you can't enjoy money unless

Steve: your body

Chris: feels good. Right. So it's a balancing act. Right? So if you're young, my advice to you is is work on yourself.

Like, don't just work don't just read, and don't don't just work out all the time, but you're broke. Mhmm. And, or maybe you're just a super religious guy and you don't, like, do anything because you wanna be a nun or something. And God wants you to be rich, you know? So, you know, that would be my advice.

And run towards your fear, man. Like, you grow. Like, you gotta pull yourself out of yourself. Right? Mhmm.

You know, I'm gonna be speaking in front of 1,500 people tomorrow. Have I spoken in front of 1,500 people? No. The most people I've ever spoken in front was, like, 200 people. Yeah.

Am I, like, like, just don't have any anxiety about that? Of course I do have anxiety. But I wanna have anxiety. Like, I live in I wanna live in a state of fear because I'm growing massively.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: Right? And people may be like, what the what was he saying? Grow like, stay in fear. Like, I'm telling you guys, fear is because you're busting through barriers Yeah. Mental barriers.

Steve: Do what you fear.

Chris: Yeah. And you're gonna grow.

Steve: Let's see what else is. It was Wallace Wattles. That was the name. Yep. And Jeremy, Texas.

That's an awesome book list. So Chris Kennedy wants to know, you know, Christopher Kennedy. He he's created an automated system that generates leads through Google and pay per click, but let's see. I don't really see what the question here is.

Chris: Well, let's talk about that too. You know, we can all market. Right? Mhmm. You could teach a monkey how to market, but, dude, if you ain't got skills, you ain't gonna close no deals.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: Let's be real. I I can that's a big problem with a lot of, you know, guys that get into the business is they they generate all these leads. It's like, man, I'm Chris, I'm spending $5,000 a month, and I ain't close no deals. Okay, dude. What what kind of conversations you having?

Like, your people skills are terrible. Like, you gotta learn to talk to people. You gotta be persuasive. You gotta get you gotta be a likable person, especially in this business. Like, that's why people that are really good at sales really do good at this business.

Steve: Absolutely.

Chris: You know, it's You have

Steve: to connect.

Chris: You have to connect, you know. And and that's a big thing in my, you know, in my coaching program. Like, we're big on personal development and people skills and communication skills. That's, dude, that's the number one thing. Mhmm.

You know, because I could have a shoestring budget but be a killer sales guy and just a likable guy and can close people and I'll dominate you with your $510,000 marketing budget.

Steve: Right. And that's something that I've, I've been harping on recently is that with, you know, all the information that's available today, marketing is not the challenge. Right? If you got money, you can market.

Chris: Right.

Steve: So now since everyone's on a level playing field in marketing, how are you separating yourself?

Chris: Right.

Steve: It's skills.

Chris: You're asking me that?

Steve: No. I'm saying, like,

Chris: that's something I I

Steve: a 100% believe in.

Chris: No. A 100%. And it's so elementary, but it's so the most obvious things are the stupidest things in your face that you don't see, guys. Like, it's it's skills. It's communication skills.

Well, I

Steve: mean, not too long ago, though. It wasn't as important because it was a little harder. Like, two years ago, it was a lot harder to market.

Chris: No doubt.

Steve: Right? Like, you couldn't there was not a bulk ship tracing service. There wasn't

Chris: Right. We got it made.

Steve: Yeah. It's really easy now to get in front of, in front of homeowners. Let's see what else is there. I'm trying to go through these people's questions. Big Brother in Life wants to know what your website is for coaching.

Chris: You can go to chrisrue.com and, and book a call. You know? And listen, if you if you can't afford 500 to $1,000 a month in marketing, you know, we we we generally don't take students because it's you know, we don't wanna take money. If you can't afford that, you're probably not ready for my coaching because Yeah. It's gonna cost you money, guys.

I you know, go to YouTube, get as much information you can. Get you some bandit signs. Get get do some driving for dollars. Dollars, knock on doors, like, do the hard work, do the things that are if you ain't got no money, you're gonna have to put in a lot of time. Mhmm.

Like me, I have the money to spend on marketing, so I don't have to, like, eat up my time doing the, you know, driving for dollars and all that.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: So it's it's just it's an inverse yield, inverse effect. But when you first get started, you're gonna have to do the hard work, guys.

Steve: Yep. What is your why?

Chris: Man, I potential. Like, I just I wanna like, I my I have a mastermind called potential. We do it twice here at my beach house. Like, I just wanna live like, I want my I wanna be remembered. Like, I want my kids my great I want my great grandkids to be like, hey, man.

You remember Papa Rude? You remember Papa Rude? Like, he he did some some big stuff. Yeah. Like, yeah.

Yeah. We got Rude way over there at the end of street after. I'm like, how do you live forever? Like, you leave a leave a legacy. Like, one of the biggest people in the in the world, like, their names are in buildings.

They trump like, I'm not comparing myself to Trump. But that's that's a that's a measuring stick. Like, I wanna I wanna reach for that. Right? Right.

I wanna do big stuff. I wanna

Steve: Buildings, libraries,

Chris: streets. Like, I wanna just, you know, be be be able to be remembered. Like, you know, everybody's trying to figure out how to live to a 150. Well, shit. How do you live to to be 500 years old where, you know, your great great grandkids knew you because you did something so big.

You know? That that's that's what I wanted. I just wanna live up to my potential.

Steve: Kinda like Carnegie.

Chris: Yeah. 100%. Yeah. I mean, like Carnegie is what? That was almost a 150 years ago?

It

Steve: was about a 100 years ago.

Chris: Yeah.

Steve: Yeah. Yeah. So, so elaborating on that. Right? Because, you know, you brought your wife here.

You brought your kids here.

Chris: Yep.

Steve: So, one of the things that I I see for young entrepreneurs or not young entrepreneurs, but newer entrepreneurs is this work life balance.

Chris: Then it's it's bullshit. Bullshit. Bullshit. Yeah. I want my kids to see me work like a freak.

Yeah. Because I want them to work like a freak.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: Because I want if I if I put in the hard work now, like, I work every day so that I can choose to work no day. Mhmm. Does that make sense?

Steve: Yeah. It's kinda like a Dave Ramsey. Live like no other so that one day you can live Yeah.

Chris: Exactly. So I work, like, I'll work till 10:00 some nights. I'll work seven days a week if I have if there's stuff to get done, I'm doing it. I don't put it in the back burner. And and listen, you would think, oh, he's always working.

I'm really not. Like, me and my wife go hang out, you know, a couple days during the week because I get stuff done. Like, I don't look at Sunday or Tuesday or Wednesday or Saturday. It's just, is the work there? And you see, again, okay, execute.

Get it done. Like, take all the time out of it and get it done. You know, and as far as my kids, you know, like, I still I mean, we swim with the babies every I got five kids. Like, every almost every afternoon, we swim with the babies. Mhmm.

You know? Not every, but a lot. Like, I spend a lot of time with my kids, and I want my kids to mimic me.

Steve: Yeah. And I

Chris: want them to see what I'm doing. And I wanna you know? And I make it hard on my kids. Like, I'm hard on my kids. Like, hard.

I gotta give them What does

Steve: that mean?

Chris: Like like, like, I don't give them, like, everything they want. I got a 19 year old kid that just moved to to California. I don't help him at all. He moved out there. He wanted to go to California.

I said I don't help. I bought him a car. Mhmm. I don't pay his He didn't wait seven nights. Yeah.

He he moved to California. He said that he right before he graduated high school, dad, I'm moving to California. We're one of my buddies. I said, no. You're not.

He goes, okay. So two days before he, graduates high school, he goes, dad, I'm moving to California. I don't care what you say. I said, boy. I said, no.

You're not. I said, you ain't got no skills. You never had a job. You just graduated high school. You need to come work for me.

Said, okay, dad. Two weeks later, I bought him a brand new Toyota Tacoma loadout mag daddy four wheel drive, $42,000 truck as his gift. Right? You know, for you know, and he knew and he said, come work with me and start laying some floors. Like, I want him to do hard work, like Yeah.

Painting, laying floors, installing refrigerators in the mobile homes and everything. Well, he did that for about two weeks, and then one day he woke up and his truck was in the in the driveway and it was unlocked with with the keys and we couldn't find him. And, my wife started freaking out. I was like, dude, I think Alex left. And I said, no, he didn't.

There's no way. So he wouldn't answer his phone and, like, finally a whole day passed by. I'm like, yeah, he's probably in California. So he left him with I and I called him and, he's like, yeah. I'm here.

What and then you can do about it. I'm I'm 19. What I'm gonna do about it? So he didn't have a vehicle for seven I I said, oh, I ain't helping you. He said, okay.

Because I wanna make it hard on him. Right?

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: It's character building. Like, if everything's so easy, like, you don't build no you don't build no, like, coping skills in life. So he's sitting out there seven months with no vehicle, living with a buddy, got a job at Target, like, jumping corpo pulling with people. How much do you think he learned with that experience?

Steve: A lot.

Chris: A lot. Mhmm. And, finally, after seven months, I I was like, okay. I can't do this to him no more. I bought him a a frickin' hoopty.

I bought him a 1992 Pontiac Grand Am with a 182,000 miles. No power no power steering, no AC, and the doors didn't open from the inside, and the windows don't roll up and down. I made him drive that for another five months, mama.

Steve: Was that a $500 car?

Chris: It was $1,500. Okay. I overpaid for it. I didn't like, he got I got ripped off on that deal. He drove it for, like, four months, then it, like, it wouldn't I wouldn't even start anymore.

And then he went to go trade in, and I said, like, okay. Real because I was trying to make him suffer because I want him to come back. Mhmm. But he wasn't coming back. So I was like, okay.

I'm gonna go buy you a vehicle. I said, go trade that car. And they wouldn't even take the car. They wouldn't give him any money. So I bought him a I bought him a Honda Civic, you know, a Ford Honda Civic, good on gas.

And, but, no, I'm proud of him. Like, you know, now he's working at a pizza restaurant during, at night, and then he does Uber Eats, as I call mom, where he he he drops off food. Yeah. And he's making, you know, he's making a 150, $200 a day when he works all day, and then he goes work. So but he's building life coping skills.

Steve: Absolutely. I'm

Chris: setting the foundation for him for hard work. Yeah. You know? So it's you know, I want him to suffer. Like, stop not letting your kids suffer.

Steve: Absolutely. No. That's something I'm very big very big, fan of. You know? I struggled a lot or not I.

Our family struggled a lot when I was growing up. And so it's something I always, you know, been concerned about. Yeah. Our kids suffer too. It's

Chris: And one more thing I wanna add to that. You know, speaking of family, get your get your wife involved. Like, my wife's involved in everything I do. Like, you know, she she found she found that that one of the mobile home park deals I bought, and and I bought that one for 60¢ a dollar, she found the land development deal that we're making $700 on. Like, she got all that.

Like, get your wife like, two is better than one. Like Mhmm. I don't care how badass you think you are. Like, if you got a wife that's on the same page as you Yeah. Like, we have a relationship, but we are a partnership.

Mhmm. You see what I'm saying? Like Yeah. We're on the same page. Like, we're building wealth.

Like, it's so much fun when you do it that way. Like, yeah. The sex is great, and I love my wife, and all that good stuff. But, like, do we like, we're a partnership. Yeah.

If that makes sense.

Steve: Absolutely.

Chris: It just it becomes more powerful. Right?

Steve: Yeah. So what is your biggest struggle right now?

Chris: My biggest struggle? Man, private money. Like, I I started using private money. I've gotten addicted to it. And now, like, I'm buying everything.

Like, it's like a little kid. Because, you know, before I was very careful about what I'd buy. Mhmm. But now I got access to private money. We we just took down six flips in the past two months, in just in one market.

I'm sorry. Seven flips. And and I'm like and I usually don't do that many at one time. Mhmm. But I'm not tech I'm not typically having I'm not having to rehab them and keep an eye on them.

My partner in that market is doing it. Mhmm. So now I'm just looking to, you know, scale private money. I think that's the biggest piece now. Like, I know how to find deals.

I have buyers. I have sellers. Now I'm gonna blow up the money side of it because then I can scale.

Steve: Yeah. What is your superpower?

Chris: Through communication. I'm I I if you come and if you come and compete against me, like Mhmm. Good luck. And that's not boastful. That's not I'm I've just done so much personal development that I'm just confident.

Yeah. I'm confident in my ability. I just got skills, man.

Steve: Hey. That's your thing. I I I get it. So what is the greatest lesson that you have learned?

Chris: Forgive people and and and, and just love people. Just love people, man. Like, I love people. That's why I'm a coach. Matter of fact, one of my students in here, Ben, he's he's my number one student.

I don't know if he told you that. The guy made 750,000 in in one year in my program. Like, I love that. Like Yeah. Absolutely.

To know that I helped him. Mhmm. You know, I just I love talking to people. I have that that nurturing side of me that I think that's why I like to coach. You know, some guy was on the phone with that.

He's like, hey, man. Why do you coach? Like and don't give me some BS thing if you're trying to leave a legacy. Said, Said, no, dude. I'm trying to make money.

I said, I can't leave a legacy unless you pay me. I said, I need money to leave a legacy as soon as Absolutely. So, no. I need you to pay me. It's about money.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: But in order for me to leave a legacy, I need money.

Steve: Right.

Chris: So, but, yeah. It's, it's very it's a spiritual thing for me. Helping people is a spiritual thing. Every time I help people, I just get more help. Like, somehow God, the universe, you know, whatever religion you are, like, I get help every time I help people.

Like, it's Yeah. You know? So it's just it's just funny how things work out. Right? But, yeah, man.

Just just don't don't be selfish. Like, me and my wife, like, we went we've been together twenty years. I have five kids. Like, we had the weirdest, craziest you know? She got me pregnant when I was a junior in high school.

Steve: Sandy, you're pregnant.

Chris: Yeah. You know? We had, like, a a tumultuous how do you say that word? Tremultuous? Tremultuous.

Sorry. I'm from South Louisiana, as you can tell. Relationship young. So and and we had to go through a lot of stuff where we had to both be selfless Mhmm. You know, and and and really give of ourselves.

But we're finally seeing that the fruits of our, you know, you know, it takes a long time. You know, we've been together twenty years, but we're finally getting, like, man, we're doing good in life. Yeah. You know? So and it took a lot of selflessness and sacrifice.

Dude, she sacrifices so much for me. Like, I'm working. I'm doing this. I'm doing that. You know, recently, we we've changed our whole lifestyle.

Like, we pulled all our kids out school. We bought a house. We renovating right now. We bought we're getting a a teacher, and we're homeschooling all our kids. And you notice I I brought two of my kids with me.

I would have brought my babies, but it it's been too much. But we're gonna bring all our kids with us when we travel and see the entrepreneurial journey because nobody's doing it.

Steve: No. That's absolutely true. I don't know anyone doing that. So you're in town for a reason. You wanna talk about that?

Chris: Yeah. I'm speaking at, Impact Players Tour, with Grant Cardone, Elena, Jared, Joe Gonzales, good friend of mine, is putting on the event, a slew of speakers that, you know, hitting up different aspects. We got, you know, I'm talking about wholesaling and and and other a lot of stuff that we just talked about right here. Mhmm. But every speaker's got their own little thing.

Grant will do his thing. Elena will probably talk about empire. Mhmm. Jared will probably talk on sales. Chris Nagel will be there talking probably about private money.

We just it's impact players. Right? We just wanna be impactful in people's lives, like, to give them like, let's be real. Most people are not gonna be successful at entrepreneurship because it it's so hard. But what if it's you?

Mhmm. What if you're that guy that's successful? Yeah. Dude, go for it. Like, go to an event like that.

Events like that change your life. I went to GrowthCon one, and it, like, blew my mind massively. Yeah. Ben Mearson went to GrowthCon Two. Where I met him, it changed his life.

Yeah. GrowthCon One changed my wife's mindset too. Like, she didn't wanna she's like, I don't wanna go to Grant Cardone, Chris. Like, I I wanna go shopping. You know?

But Did Grant call her? Yeah. You did. But, you know, after that, she was just, like, on board. Like, get around.

Listen. There's not a lot of people like me and you. Mhmm. There's not a lot of people like this on the planet. We're probably, like, we're top 1% too.

That's being real. Like, most people just wanna live small, go to get their nine to five job, and just live out of

Steve: Do what they were told to do.

Chris: Do what they were told to do. Like, there's not a lot of people. And the reason I'm telling there's not a lot of people is because you gotta find other people like me and you. Mhmm. And other people like me and you are at these events.

Steve: Absolutely.

Chris: Because you gotta be a little nuts to go and spend $10,000 between plane tickets, hotels, and tickets to go to this event. Like, it's it's a confront. It's gonna be a lot of fear, but it's gonna be the greatest thing you've ever done.

Steve: Yep. So they wanna go how do how do they?

Chris: Impact players forward slash tickets, or just go to go on Facebook and type in impact players. I don't wanna give you the wrong information.

Steve: Yeah. Alright. Perfect. So, think about a final thought. And then, guys, you know, we had a lot of people reach out to Max and me about our workshop coming up in September.

If you guys are still interested, in in seeing that'd be something that'd be, would work for you, go to disruptors.com, fill out the application, and then we'll see if it makes sense for you, and us to all work together. And then we got Jory Alston coming here next I'm sorry, tomorrow, to defend, you know, Miami, the honor because they were they were dragged down to one of our previous podcasts by our good friend Jamil. So, check him out tomorrow. He's gonna be talking about how he's buying properties with, no money down and 0% interest. So last thoughts from you.

Chris: Do what's hard, guys. Like, do the hard work. Like, don't be that guy that's, like, trying to look for that business that makes a million bucks a year while you're sitting on on the beach. Like, it may exist, but probably not. Mhmm.

I'm sure somebody's doing it, but, like, that's like, do you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning?

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: Confront the barriers of life. Like, do the hard stuff now and love it. Like, love the fact that you're like like, I love to be in the game. I love, like, to get beat up and because I'm growing because the journey is the destination. Everybody's looking for that destination now.

Like, I'm living in the greatest time of my life right now. Mhmm. I'm freaking doing all kind of crazy stuff. I'm expanding. I'm speaking on stages, flipping houses in three states.

Like, I'm doing stupid crazy stuff that, like, if I stop and think about it, like, woah. If I stop, I I I may, like, freak myself out. But it it's an exciting time in life, and it understand that the journey is the destination Yeah. If that makes sense.

Steve: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I love it. So if someone wants to get a hold of you, how will they do that?

Chris: So they can, they can follow me on Facebook at Chris Root Entrepreneur, Instagram at Real Estate Root. I'm I've I I pretty much do Facebook lives, Instagram stories on everything I do just to give constant content. And it's not just on real estate. Like, real estate is just what I do for a living. Like Mhmm.

I'm big on life and, you know, partnerships with my wife and friends and family and just growing as a as a being. And if you're interested in my coaching, go to chrishrude.com, book a call with my team, and pick up my free book. You can, I wrote a book called The Source of the Deal? It tells my whole story. Pick it up, at, thesourceofthedeal.com.

Steve: Yeah. Awesome. Thank you very much.

Chris: Alright. Thank you, man. And thank

Steve: you guys for watching.