Matt Garabedian Shares How He’s Earned $1,000,000+ Each of the Last 3 Years

Steve Trang: Hey, everybody. Thank you for joining us for today's episode of Real Estate Disruptors. So we got Matt Garabedian, aka the phenomenal investor, and he flew in from, Fresno, California as well to show how he's doing 7 figures each of the last three years, including 1.1 four year to date. And that could be a little old because that was from a month ago.

Matt Garabedian: Yeah. Yeah. We we we've been cranking this year. Yeah. Yeah.

Steve: 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. And I'm on mission to create 100 millionaires. So if that's something you're interested in, let's connect on Instagram at steve dot trang. If you're excited for today's show, please give me a wave, give me a thumbs up. And as a friendly reminder, friendly reminder, I don't charge a dime for this show.

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I'm ready. Alright. So first question, softball, is what got you into real estate? I got into real estate as of like a necessity.

Matt: You know, I got into, I was actually wholesaling subprime mortgages back in 2007, 2008. So what I would do is I'd call them real estate brokers. I go look at their their January, the credit apps and look at this guy's DTI. But back then, if you had a pulse, you'd get 100% financing stated.

Steve: Or more.

Matt: Right. And so I was learning the financial side of the business and making money. Right. And So I don't know what I was doing, but I was, you know, learning the finance side of the business. And then around two thousand and eight, I wake up one morning and trying to log into my company email.

I'm locked out. Call my manager. I'm like, Hey man, I'm trying to log into the company, you know, website here. I'm locked out. He's like, Oh, we're closed.

We're shut down. I'm like, what? Like for the day? He's like, No, dude, turn on CNN. Like, the sky is falling.

You know, just one of the Lehman Brothers looked down. Yeah. Like the whole the financial crash. Right. So I'm like, I went from making a pretty decent amount of money to zero.

And so, you know, slowly but surely, I didn't, you know, at that time, I didn't think of reserves or, you know, I wish

Steve: the party was never going to end.

Matt: Right. Yeah. I was just put it was coming in. I was like, this is it, right? I made it and make a long story short, I end up losing my house and going to foreclosure.

My car gets repossessed. And I'm like, at the same time, God thought it would be a great time for me to introduce me to my to my wife. And so I said, great. You know, now I got to take care of myself and another lady. Like, how am I going to do this?

Right. And so my grandfather, who started, my broker just called Royal Realty in Fresno. And he always told me, Matt, get your real estate broker's license. It's a license to make money. So that kind of stuck in my head.

So without much, looking, you know, going on for me, I'm like, well, you know, I'll get my broker's license. And everyone is getting out of the business and they're like, Dude, what are you doing? Like, no one's buying real estate. No one's selling real estate. Why would you be getting in?

I'm like, I got to do something, you know? So I got my broker's license and then I, I did a few things in real estate. So I started off as the traditional, you know, showing people houses, driving around town. Quickly found out I did not care for that at all. Then I did a little bit on the commercial side, so I learned how to lease office buildings.

And so I thought that was cool. But then I learned how to analyze apartments. So I started selling apartment deals to investors. Oh. And learned about cap rate, NOI, pro formas.

You know, I spoke the language as a of an investor. I like that conversation. So it wasn't so much about the location or the neighborhood or the colors. It was, what's the bottom line? Does this make sense?

I'm like, Okay, I could talk that language. So, as I started doing those deals, you know, I'm making these other guys rich. Right? I started thinking, well, how do I get on the other side of the table and be the one that's buying deals instead of just being a broker? Mhmm.

Like, well, I don't have any money. You know, I have no, you know, I didn't come with a family, you know, fortune or anything like that. So I had to figure out how I could do that. At the same time, I was in a commercial brokerage and, a guy that's been in the business some thirty years at the time, I remember him sitting at his desk and he was just like shaking his head. Then I walk in, I'm like, dude, what's wrong?

He's like, I hate this business. I hate it. You know, I've got deals that are in escrow five years, development deals. And I don't know when anything's going to close. It's it's unpredictable.

You know, especially at that time, no one was doing any commercial deals. And he's like, you know, my advice to you is, you know, you've gotta you gotta find a way to get paid consistently.

Steve: Well, I mean, that's the biggest problem with commercial. Right? So I'm it's cool that you're able to do that because, I've I've known some guys that do a lot of commercial and Mhmm.

Matt: You

Steve: just don't know when you're gonna get paid. Mhmm.

Matt: When

Steve: you you get paid, it's really well. Sure. But man, you don't know when that next check is coming.

Matt: I mean, literally, he had a deal that was in escrow for five years and he's like, I don't know when it's going to close, if it will at all. So that impressed upon me. I'm like, this guy's been in the game for a long time and he's, and he's, he's nervous. Yeah. So he was the actual one that turned me on.

She's like, I've been researching this. There's a way to buy property with no money. Like, come on. That's a, that's a scam. Right?

That doesn't No. But he's like, no, I'm serious. I've been watching this guy and he's like really flamboyant and, and he's like selling these opportunities and education. I'm like, who is it? He's like, oh, Preston Ely.

So that was my first introduction to kind of the wholesale. Like Preston's hanging out at a Starbucks, you know, and he's talking about cashing checks and, you know, going to get his hair done. And I'm like, this guy is, he's kind of, he's kind of cool. Yeah. You know, what is he doing?

So I learned about, you know, he's talking about wholesaling. Right. So I bought one of his books. Then short time after that, learned about Fortune Builders, which those guys are actually from Fresno. J.

D. And Paul Asajian and Fan Merrill are all Fresno guys. And so I bought into that program with when I didn't have any money. I kind of structured a way to get in with, having them finance me.

Steve: They financed you?

Matt: They financed me into the mastery program. They're charging like $50 now, but at the time I got in for like $12. So I put a small down payment and I just kept making the payments to them to get the information right. I mean, that's all I needed information. So, that's what got me in real estate.

Steve: So 2008, everything kind of crashes.

Matt: Mhmm.

Steve: And then you get into apartments. Yeah. We're either leasing and are showing houses apartments and then you go into Fortune Builders in Preston Ely.

Matt: Right.

Steve: At which point did you start actively

Matt: wholesaling? Well, everyone would think, you know, as soon as you learn, you just jump into it and you start making the money, right?

Steve: Well, that's the that's what everyone thinks on the outside. Yes. Yes.

Matt: I'll tell you reality. Reality was I went back to what I was felt safe doing, brokering, because I knew that I could do that and the check would come in. I had no idea. I had no proof of concept about this whole thing. Wholesaling thing is it was a it was in theory, it sounded great, but could I actually do it?

And was it real? And so I put it on the shelf for for about a year and a half, two years.

Steve: Oh, really?

Matt: Yeah. Because, you know, we we tend to to go to the safe route, right? We we want to know where that next check is coming from. And so I continue to do on what I what I felt I could do. So I'm up late one night, which I was doing quite a bit because I'm restless and I, I can't think of, I can't think straight because I'm stressed.

So I at the time I got into, the the Facebook group, Wholesaling Houses Full Time, which was Alex Youngblood. He still does that. So I keep seeing all these guys. I mean, like, they're posting checks, dollars 15,000, dollars 20,000, dollars 8,000. And I'm looking at them and I'm like, this guy doesn't have half the knowledge and experience that I have but they're out there doing it like what's holding me back

Steve: right

Matt: so you know you know it's like kind of that thing that you you hear it's like when you're sick of your situation is when you finally snap and you're like okay I'm gonna do it now I'm I'm tired of the excuses and so I I made a decision you know and I went out and I did my first yellow letter campaign got a few calls had a guy call me he's like yeah go take a look at this house So I drive by it again, you know, not much history or experience at all. I'm sitting out front, and here's the advice that I got at the time. It was if you're not uncomfortable with the amount you're offering, If it doesn't make you physically ill, you're offering too much. That was the advice that was being given at the time.

Steve: I see that advice a lot, and

Matt: I wouldn't I wouldn't recommend it. Right? It's not it's not solid.

Steve: It's not it's not a 100% wrong. Right.

Matt: Right. There's more into it. Yeah. More into it. But at the time, that's what I knew.

Steve: Right.

Matt: So I I'm sitting out front. It's it's in a, you know, a rough neighborhood. You know, I really don't know what I can actually pay for it. But I just I get the guy on the phone. He's like, well, what will you pay?

And I sat there. It was the most uncomfortable silence I've ever felt in my life. And I worked my nerve up, and I said, I could pay you 15,000. And he says, no. I can't do that, but I could do 25.

I'm like, great. Let's do it. So he's like, okay. We'll get the paperwork ready. So I hang up.

I said, oh my god. Like, I have a deal. Yeah. At twenty five, I have no idea if that's gonna even work or not. I go back to my little office and I'm subletting little probably not much bigger than the studio, and I, figure out, okay, how do I find a cash buyer?

I I don't have a cash buyer list. And so I put my broker hat on. I'm like, well, let me run some comps. So I ran a comp. There was a house down the street that recently sold as, you know, like square footage, you know, condition, etcetera.

It sold for 52,000. So I get the, I don't, I look up the tax records. It's an LLC. At the time, I had no idea how to skip trace. I didn't know how to how to track down an LLC.

But what I knew was there was a buyer's agent that I could contact. Yeah. Called the buyer's agent, and I said, Hey, man. I got this house down the street. You recently sold one.

You know, would your buyer be interested in another one? He says what he tells me. He says, well, how much? I said, 52,000. And this is what he tells me, Steve.

He says, don't tell anybody else about the property. We'll have the money in escrow in a week. Hangs up. I'm like, no way. I'm I'm calculating I just made in my mind, I'm like, I just made $27,000 on this deal.

Like, no way this isn't gonna happen. It's it's too good to be true. Yeah. So I rush back to my office. I get the paperwork.

You know, the seller sign. I send the assignment and, they both sign. Okay. Wow. Like this this could be real.

And then for about two weeks, I was the most nervous wreck because, you know, I'm thinking, you know, is he gonna find out if I'm making money? Is the seller real? Are they actually gonna show up? And so I was calling my title officer, like, hey, is everything going cool? You know, like, I'm stressed out.

Right? And, lo and behold, seller signs, buyer funds, they call me, Matt, we have a check for you. And I that was my proof of concept. And at that point, I never looked back. And so And when was this exactly?

That was, 2010.

Steve: Okay. And then one thing you said that was really interesting was that it took you a while to even though

Matt: you knew what you knew Mhmm.

Steve: You didn't necessarily take action until you felt like you're backwards against the wall. Sure. And I think that's one of the things that a lot of people are really they want to do this. Sounds great. But they're reluctant to take the first step, and we call it kinda like YouTube University where they're just watching videos, watching videos, watching videos.

And I appreciate it. I love that they're watching the videos. Right. But at some point, they have to take action. Sure.

So, like, what advice would you give someone that's doing a little bit too much learning and not enough doing?

Matt: Overanalyzing anything is is never gonna be profitable. Right? I mean, we can all look at different ways to skin a cat, but until you take action, you're never gonna get to your goal. Right? You can't skip over all the steps and and get a check.

It's impossible. Right? So just understand that, anyone can do this business. You know, if this is not rocket science. Right?

What you have to understand is this business is based on failure. And, it's lessons. Right? So we, we, we fail forward in the business to learn and grow our skill set. So it's okay to fail.

I tell the guys in my office, and especially a new guy, say, say, go out and get your first 100 no's. I want you to get 100 no's because that, more than likely, you're probably gonna get a yes within those 100 no's. Yeah.

Steve: And

Matt: if you get to 100 no's, your pitch is gonna be better. You're gonna learn how to build rapport. You're gonna understand objections. You're gonna be able to answer, you know, professionally. And so, you're gonna up your game.

Your skill set's gonna increase by getting rejected.

Steve: Right.

Matt: I come from a baseball background, so, you know, there's Hall of Famers making millions of dollars failing seven out of 10 times. You're a 300 hitter if you're failing seven times. So I take it like, hey, fail. If you fail seven out of 10 times in this business, you're making millions of dollars.

Steve: You're doing really well. Yeah. So last week, we had on the show Don Costa. Yeah. So, you know, we haven't had anyone from Fresno on the show, and now we got two back to back.

Right.

Matt: Yeah. It's kind of a sneaky town.

Steve: But one question I have to ask you is what what makes your situation or your operation different than some of your peers in your community?

Matt: Well, you know, the way that I run my business is it more of a self development company. So I like to attract and bring in people that I could kind of mold and develop and and share with them the experiences that I have as an owner. I'm a man of faith. Right? So I tell people right off the bat, I said, God is my CEO, you know, and and I know maybe that's not PC in this day and age, but for me, I have to be in line with, my people need to be in line with my core values because I am open and honest about my faith.

I put all my trust in the Lord. And so for me to bring someone in, they need to know that I'm I'm operating at a different level. I come in and I understand there's adversity. There's there's issues that are gonna take place in the business. It's hard.

Right? But, you know, in the midst of the trial and tribulation, in the midst of our, our failures, when we have something, solid like our faith, we can take on that adversity and continue to grow through it. Because if, if we don't have because if if we don't have something to hold on to, this business will spit you up and eat you out. Yeah. You know what I mean?

And I I I'm a living proof of that. I've gone through many trials and tribulations. And so I'm here today, stronger for that because of, you know, my faith. But, what what to answer a question even more in sync is, you know, I'm a I'm a hands on guy. Right?

So I get in the trenches with my guys. You know, they they they celebrate in the wins and and the losses. So, I I, I demand a lot from them, their ethics, their, their, commitment, their work ability, you know, showing up and going through the trenches, essentially. So, you know, as you get higher and higher more people, you start to get further away from, you know, the the front line. Right?

Like a general that, you know, is not with this front line is is ineffective in some cases. So scaling and growing is important, but you gotta be able to stay, you know, really in touch with the people that are the face of your company.

Steve: I like that a lot, and I think we have that in common that a lot of our guys are one of our five core values is growth. Meaning, personal development. Sure. And the moment you tell me you already got to figure it out is the moment I'm looking to replace you.

Matt: Yeah. That's a scary place to be when when you when you stop learning.

Steve: Yeah.

Matt: I learn every day. I learn every day.

Steve: What were we talking before the show?

Matt: Yeah. There are

Steve: a couple of things that we were learning recently.

Matt: Absolutely. Right? Yep. So, you

Steve: know, doing my research before the show, there's another licensed realtor named Matthew Garabedian in New Jersey. Yeah. Yeah. Garabedian Realty Group.

Matt: You know, there's a funny story. So at least five or six times a week, I get asked, are you related to this Garabedian or that Garabedian? And I say, look. It's like Smith.

Steve: You know? Yeah. There's no Doesn't look like a Smith.

Matt: Go figure, right? But the truth is, you know, I'm Armenian. And so, we have a very common last name. And so both you go to, like, Glendale, California or LA or, you know, Fresno is like a little Armenia. So there's a lot of Garabedians, but no relation.

There's another my there's another Garabedian in my town, you know, another agent. Yeah.

Steve: It's just funny to see. It is. Okay. So one thing you mentioned, again, earlier, like, perseverance, sometimes you is is super important to you. Mhmm.

So you said that you've you've overcome some some big failures. Like, what are some of those failures that you've overcome?

Matt: Okay. Well, jeez. We have we have an hour here.

Steve: We got

Matt: we got

Steve: another forty minutes. Okay.

Matt: You know, I you know, just in business. Right? So, for example, when I learned about, okay, we could actually scale and grow a team, you gotta go out and hire. Well, that's like that was weird for me because I was a solopreneur guy, kind of like a lone wolf attitude. I'm like, I'm gonna go do it all myself.

No one can do it better than me. But then I learned about how these guys are scaling and growing through through through hiring. Right?

Steve: Mhmm.

Matt: So I ended up hiring two guys, and I've just poured into them. I mean, I was just spending, you know, my whole summer, it felt like, away from my kids and my family and just transferring all this knowledge that I had. Right? And, you know, I overpaid them, and I, you know, I did a lot of things that was just rookie mistakes. So I think we're we're starting to roll.

Right? We're starting to grow. My dad died. Two days later, these both these guys walk in. They had this, like, kind of straight face, and I thought, like, oh, they're gonna tell me they're sorry about my dad passing.

And they're, like, with with no emotion, they're, like, we're leaving you. I'm, like, what do you mean? They're, like, we're gonna we're we're gonna go do our own thing. And so, like, I felt like I was crushed. Like, that whole, you know, trainer competition thing Mhmm.

You know, became real. And so I had this, like, wow. Like, did I just train my competition? These guys are gonna go out. They learned everything that I taught them, and now I'm back to ground zero being, you know, a solopreneur.

Like, I've spent all this time growing them. Lo and behold, they were out of the business six months later. Mhmm. But, you know, at that time, it was scary because I'm like, I have to start all this over. But in hindsight, the growth was this, you know.

Like, now I won't make that mistake because I wanna document now. I wanna, you know, have a have a hiring process. I learned about, you know, skills and aptitude tests that we give a Colby or, you know, these types of exams that, you know, okay. Is this guy gonna stick with me? Is he really gonna go out and do his own thing?

Now, I don't really care. You know what I mean? Right. Like, most people will probably end up thinking they can go out and do their own thing, and maybe they will. But to be a business owner is a whole different thing.

Like, you have to be a different cut from a different cloth.

Steve: And it's it's funny. So I've I've spoken to this topic, three weeks ago in Houston, Holesaling Live. And one of the things I talked about is one of the most valuable skills is leadership. Sure. And this there's this fear when you're newer.

Right? When you only know sales and marketing

Matt: Mhmm.

Steve: There's this fear that you're training your competition.

Matt: Yep.

Steve: And it's not until you realize, like, this sucks. Running a business sucks.

Matt: Right? Yeah.

Steve: And you gotta train people.

Matt: Mhmm.

Steve: And sales and marketing is predictable. I put this many dollars in. I'm gonna get bought this many dollars out.

Matt: Right.

Steve: Once you get the systems, okay, you can still kinda automate things. You get the people. That's a massive wild card.

Matt: Unpredictable.

Steve: Yeah. And that's the thing that people yeah. You can they can learn your systems, but they can't they can't replace you. They can't replace your people.

Matt: Right.

Steve: And that's what's something that, you know, it's it's interesting here. You talk about how you like, man, these guys are just gonna be training my I'm training my competition, but then you realize, yeah, once they became a competition, they realize this is terrible.

Matt: Yeah. It is. It's tough.

Steve: And they're out of business.

Matt: It's tough. So but, you know, when you're in it, you think, oh my gosh. But then you forget how much work you took to get to that place. Right. You know, you gotta be a big boy or a big girl to write those checks when deals aren't coming in.

Steve: Mhmm.

Matt: And my American Express bill comes, they don't care if I had to close the deal or not. Right. Like, that marketing's going out. We paid for it. If it's not returning, I gotta write a check.

I gotta write a check for the office. I gotta write a check for the, you know, the the people that are on payroll. So all that, you know, they they don't look at. They look at, oh, this guy bringing these deals in, but they don't understand that.

Steve: They see the revenue. Yeah. They don't see the expenses.

Matt: Expenses are, you know, they're there. Let me let me tell you. Yep. Another quick story was, as we kinda start, you know, getting into you get some success in wholesaling. Right?

And then you see the, the shiny object syndrome, which is, man, I want to be a flipper. I want to be a fix and flip guy because those guys are making the real money. Not knowing that, you know, the cost of the holding cost and the the contractors that they have to, you know, go through and and the time and and all the stuff that goes into it, you don't realize that until you you you you fill it. Right? So, you know, one mistake I made was I I got shiny object.

Even though my wholesaling business was working, I one day I woke up, I'm like, I'm fixing and flipping now. So I ended up, starting five or six projects. I had a gentleman in my town, and, he came to me. He's an old school Portuguese man, very nice guy, but rough around the edges. And he built this, you know, massive apartment holding in Fresno coming off of fresh off, you know, the old country with no shoes, worked his way up through hard work.

He says, Matt, you're really good at finding deals. I've got about a million dollars in cash. I want you to partner with you. I want to partner with you fiftyfifty. And, you know, I'm like, okay.

Sure. So we start doing projects together and, you know, he's he's doing one one deal at a time, but we've got, like, four sitting. I'm like, you know, the speed of of of of this is most important. Right? You know, not holding all these projects.

That's not, you know, good business sense. Well, you know, we're we're doing a few deals, and at the time, he was going through some, a potential, like, marital problems, like a divorce. And he tells me, I'd rather keep everything in your name, you know, and and the deals are in your name. You know, the money's coming back into my account. And, you know, being kind of young in business, you you don't foresee any potential problems with that.

You're like, man, this is great. I got a guy, like, funding me. Like, we're doing deals. So we're doing projects together, and I'm holding, you know, considerable amount of money. And, one one night, I get a call, 04:00 in the morning, from his son.

He's like, my dad just got killed in a car accident. I'm like, oh, wow. Like, this is this is terrible. You know? And, he got killed by a drunk driver.

Well, I have all this cash, and it's all in my name. Right? There's no agreement. There's no JV. There's nothing in writing.

Two days later, I'm getting a knock at the door of my office of the the the wife, and she's like, I want all the money, you know, and I know you have millions of it. I'm like, wait. What a sec. I don't no. I don't.

Like, I have all this documented, and, you know, I was just trying to do the guy a favor. You know? I said the great news is I have all of your money plus the profit. Mhmm. And she's like, no.

There's way more than you're you're leaning on. I know that he came and gave you, like, actual cash money. I'm like, no. It doesn't work like that. Like, you can't take cash into a title company and close a deal.

Right. I think that's weird. Right? Like, that's not gonna happen. So, so what the point of it is, I'm trying to run a business.

I'm trying to stay focused, and I'm just getting, you know, her attorneys, you know, harassing me. I'm getting letters. I'm getting demands. Like, turn over all your bank statements. Turn over all your we're gonna freeze your account.

I mean, you can name it. You know? And so, as a business owner, you start to feel that pressure.

Steve: A 100%. Yeah.

Matt: Right? And so most people would probably tap out. They're like, this is too much for me to do. But, again, it's taught me growth. It's taught me to keep my faith.

It's taught me to learn from my mistakes. So now when I get into an agreement, it's in writing, and it's it's ironclad. Right? Because who would think their partner's gonna die?

Steve: Right.

Matt: But it happens. Yeah. You know? And so, these are some of the few experiences that I've had that have got me here today. And I still I'm The last two months have been tough for me, really tough.

Like, you know, going through and changing some of our marketing methods, cause I'm an old school direct mail guy. But, you know, the response rate's down, the cost is is heavy, you know. And so, you know, when when we're not meeting or exceeding our expectations, that money's going out, and all of a sudden you're seeing your bank account go low, low, low, and then we're like, you know, wow. You know, what's going on? Mhmm.

So it's just it's it's it's interesting. Right? And there's ebbs and flows.

Steve: Oh, 100% there's ebbs and flows. So what does your organization

Matt: look like today? Organization wise, I've got, four acquisition guys. I've got, a, office manager, processor. I've got one guy that, in the field handling stuff, and then I'm still in the disposition seat. I have a great relationships with my buyer so that's something that I, probably the last to exit.

But again, goes back to that scaling model, like, how far do I want to to exit from my business? Because there's always that fear of, you know, the further away you get. And I made that mistake, you know, some you know, there's there's, things that fall through the crack. Right.

Steve: So I've got that fear too. That's one of the reasons, honestly, why I haven't gone virtual.

Matt: Right.

Steve: It's like, how do you maintain your culture

Matt: Yeah.

Steve: Across the country? Yeah. Guys that you're not seeing, maybe even once a year.

Matt: It's very real. It's a very real concern.

Steve: So but because I'm not the only one with that concern. So four acquisition guys, one office manager, one disposition person. Yep. And everything's direct mail. Are you 100% direct mail?

Matt: No. We we I I'm in you know, I have a a a pretty solid SEO. I've got the PPC. I've got direct mail going. Doing cold calling now.

We're turning that on more and, texting. Yeah.

Steve: Yeah. Be careful. Stratton's out there. Yeah. Stratton's killing it.

Stratton's out there. He is killing it. So be careful.

Matt: We're doing a deal right now.

Steve: Oh, are you?

Matt: Yeah. Some apartments.

Steve: Gotcha. Michael Ray says, happy to hear what you're talking about with, overcoming your challenges. Kyle Federman's got a question. How are you finding people that work for you?

Matt: That would be the hardest thing you could do. I was just with, Sean Terry before this, and we were talking about this. And, hiring and firing like in like you mentioned, Steve, it's we're dealing with personalities. Right? And so, it's just like anything in a sales call.

You know, you're finding prospects and, you know, you're you're basically, you know, making your offer and seeing if there's a fit. The same thing with hiring. You've got to you've got to hire you've got to, interview 25, 30 people to find, you know, five or six that may work, and then narrow it down to one or two, however you're hiring. To answer the gentleman's question, I mean, we we do stuff we put stuff on Indeed, Craigslist. I do some videos talking about we're always looking to hire.

We are. I'm always looking for for talent. So, there isn't really one perfect way, but I would say, Indeed's been a good source for us to get, you know, quality, resumes and having those quality conversations.

Steve: Yeah. Indeed's actually, worked out well for me very recently. And I had been I hadn't been trying that. I tried, you know, like, WiresHire and all these other things. Mhmm.

And I listened to Nick Perry speak about how he uses Indeed, and that's been a game changer for us.

Matt: Yeah. Absolutely.

Steve: He's actually gonna be on the show in the next few weeks talking about how he does that. So, what would you say do you have a specialty in your market?

Matt: I mean, I'm I'm known as, you know, the wholesale wholesaler, you know, if you will, because I've kind of put myself into that,

Steve: There's not other wholesalers out there?

Matt: Well, in terms of, like, you know, I have sometimes I think, wow, I kind of pigeonholed myself into that because other wholesalers sometimes won't send me deals because they think, oh, Matt, maybe we won't close on this. But we buy I close on properties all the time. I'm a professional investor. That's, that's what I say now. You know, I have my, my main disposition strategy is wholesale.

It It just fits my model and what I like. But, did that answer your question?

Steve: It does answer your question. Or it does answer my question. So but you're you're just hitting anything and everything in Fresno?

Matt: No. We go from, now we're in from, Bakersfield to Sacramento. So I'm covering a good majority of the city.

Steve: So you and Don are running into each other?

Matt: You know, we don't run into each other that much, as you would imagine. And Don and I have a good working relationship. So there's a few times that he's called me. He's like, hey, we were working on this deal. Like, you know, can, can you take it?

And, we'll give you the next one. But, still waiting for that call, Don, when I can. But, you know, there's so many deals out there. And, you know, it's like you're in the hotbed here. Right?

So Oh, yeah. If everyone can, you know, get a piece of the pie in Arizona, I can imagine, you know, when we're in California or in the the valley, there's there's plenty of other guys that are doing deals. So Yeah.

Steve: There's only been a I wanna say twice that you run into competition. That ran into a friend.

Matt: Yeah. So it's, there's And then And then imagine all the other deals that we never know about. Yeah. Or competitors know about. So it's, it's, it goes back to that mindset approach, right?

The abundance mentality versus scarcity. And that kinda goes back to really the what what I wanted to share here today, Steve, is, there there is a lot of shiny objects out there. There's a lot of people that are striving to do more deals, gain more clout, be the next guy, do more deals. I mean, it just on and on. Right?

I I personally have gone through, a transition in my life where I I got to the point where I was thinking, man, I need to get that that Rolex. I need to get that Porsche. I need to get this. I need because it I put my identity into those things. Right?

So it was a really important thing for me to prove myself.

Steve: Yeah.

Matt: And I got to a degree of a small degree of success, and I found that none of that was fulfilling. Yeah. You know, I found that it actually, impeded my growth. You know, I got to this point of success that I felt was a degree of success for myself, and I I shut off. I went through the what I call my wilderness period where I literally checked out mentally, emotionally, physically, in my business.

So I'd show up to my office and, you know, the guys would be like, what's up, Matt? And be like, hey. Go and shut my door. And then I'd start reading the Bible. And so God started working with me about showing me he actually put, like, eternity in my heart.

So what that means is I look at things now where, you know, a deal here, a deal there, it doesn't matter to me anymore. What I'm working on and where my calling is is to share my story because I've I've had struggles and I've had some success, but putting my faith in the Lord has brought me to a place of utter peace and joy. I don't get mad when I don't get a deal anymore. I don't I don't get upset when I see others winning. I I enjoy having fellowship.

Michael, who's watching, is another guy that I've just connected with about a month ago. We don't ever talk about real estate. When I get on the phone with him, we're talking about what the Lord's done for us in our life. And and Michael has an unbelievable story and from where he's come from and the success that he's having. We we just share our our joy without our we have our fellowship.

And and as I connected with even Sean coming over here, I mean, we talked about how great God is and what he's doing for our life. And so that's the message I wanna tell people is it's okay to have success. It's okay to strive. But God gave all of us a special gift, like he gave everyone a special fingerprint. So really figure out what God gave you because you have a certain gift that that I don't, Steve.

Like, you know, you have a great platform here. A guy like Michael's great at running rehabs, and he's and he's giving, guys that are, from less fortunate situations jobs, and he's showing them how honest work is gonna pay. And, you know, if there's a he told me the other day they got red tagged on a job, and the guys were, like, freaking out. Like, what are we gonna do? He's like, no.

You know? It it's okay. Because I gotta you know? The Lord provides.

Steve: Yeah.

Matt: And so that's what I'm the that's what brings me joy and happiness. And I I like to talk to other entrepreneurs because I've been in some big rooms. You know, I'm part of the Arite Syndicate, which is a a big, group run by Andy Frisella and Ed Mylett. And I've seen guys in there that are worth tens, 50, hundreds of millions of dollars that are have everything on the outside. The world can see a success, but in but inside, they're scared.

They're full of fear. They're empty and sad and depressed. And this is I mean, I've seen this with guys all over the real estate business. That guys that I'll never say a name here out of respect, but guys that on the outside are just absolutely killing the game. But since I've developed relationships with them, you know, I'm trying to share what the Lord has been doing for me, how to bring that peace.

Because, when we put our identity in things, when we put our identity into a bank account and that bank account goes down, it the the our our world starts rocking.

Steve: Mhmm.

Matt: Like, where where are we going with this? Like, you start thinking I'm I'm a failure. You know? I've built nothing. I you know?

And and you play this game and and, you you start getting these attacks and and things are happening in your mind, and it just it it's not a place to be. It's it's no fun. So, you know, where I'm going forward is, you know, I'm I'm I'm telling the truth. You know, I I'm telling people that there's more to life than your next deal. Use this platform that you have, your abilities, your skill sets to help others.

You know? Can you imagine being able to buy a house from someone, you know, get them out of a bad situation and and and give them a new start? You know, I think that that's amazing. Right? Or or you you take people that are are are thinking it's all about money and and fortune and the watch and the clothes and tell them, look, those things are okay, but here here's there's a bigger picture.

Yeah. You know what I mean? And so

Steve: Those things are great, but you have other purposes

Matt: 100%.

Steve: On the plan.

Matt: Yeah. I mean, we weren't created to just show up, do some wholesale deals, and flip, and then die. Yeah. You know, it's the you know, we're here today, gone tomorrow. We're like we're a piece of of dust.

And so if the Lord wills, most men can live to to their eighties. Right? I'm 40. You're 40. We're at a halfway mark.

So now I'm thinking about how I went from success to significance. Yeah. Because more money isn't impressive. More marketing strategies isn't impressive. You've had some amazing guests.

By the way, this is an amazing, platform you have here, and I'm I'm super thankful to be a part of it and to share my story. But, someone needs to step up and tell people, your your identity is not in the money. Your identity is not in how many deals you're doing or how much money you have. Your identity is what God's given you, your purpose, what you're doing with it, and how you're spreading light, joy, and, the the the news of the of the gospel.

Steve: Right. Yeah. So there is something there, though. Right? Like, it's kinda hard in that you don't wanna be measured.

You don't want your identity, right, to be your vehicles, your watches, your money. I I completely But there's certain things you have to accomplish Sure. In order to spread your message. Yes. Like, whatever your passion, your purpose, your

Matt: message Yes.

Steve: It's harder to do those things if you're not Successful. Successful.

Matt: Good point. Don't put that money or that success above your beliefs. So for me, it's God. Right? So I know that if my business is down or my business is up, I have faith in him.

The what what what I'm saying is, you know, I don't wanna get it confused because I'm not saying you should have faith in God because he's gonna shower you with more deals and money. What God does is is give you that peace and that joy and that, the word is really peace. Because as you grow in business, I don't care who you are. You talk to a Steve Jobs or to, you know, a Sean Terry or to, an Ed Mylett or to an Andy Frizzella. Degrees of success are gonna bring more and more adversity.

Okay? No one that's been successful has not gone through adversity and temptation. So how do we as as individuals weather that? Well, you've got to keep him first.

Steve: Yeah.

Matt: And, you know, in my faith, it says, you know, all things will be added unto you if you keep your eyes on heaven. Right? You know, the the the the long term, the vision that I have is eternity. So none of this this I'll trade all this because I'm I'm at peace with my lord.

Steve: Yeah. Well, I think one thing too, right, is having your identity not attached to status.

Matt: Of course. Yeah.

Steve: I think that's probably a big big thing there. So one thing you mentioned earlier, is you're talking about personal development. Mhmm. It's something that's super important Yeah. To you and your and your team, and it's super important to me and my team as well.

How do you like, what are you getting them to do? Mhmm. Right? How are you developing

Matt: I'm a I'm a pretty avid reader. Mhmm. So I I definitely will be, telling my guys to read this, read that. You know? I I ask ask them to, write down their goals and and talk and we talk about them.

Right? What are your goals? Where do you see yourself going in the next five, ten, fifteen years? Okay, so, you know, the the power of the mind is is a very real thing. So I see, including myself, you go through this, right?

So, you know, the goal is to try to get here. You know, a slow incline, and don't get too high and don't get too low. Right? Because right here is where the magic happens. Because you're on a steady growth, you know, you're improving your mind, your body, your spirit, your and all that stuff just is is a byproduct of of well, business is a byproduct of that.

Success in business is a byproduct of that. You can't you know? I I was, you know, at my I was at my heaviest. I was, about a year or two ago. So I knew that what's the point of becoming wealthy or rich if I'm gonna end up being sick?

So I know that's out of line. Right? Like, I can't just be, eating and and not taking care of my body, and making money because I'm just gonna end up using that money to pay for my hospital visits. Plus you have kids, and, you know, you want to be around for them. So it's to answer your question, it's you have to encompass everything.

You've gotta you've gotta sharpen your mind. Number one, you gotta sharpen your mind because that's that is the most important tool you have. A sharp mind will will will take across the gamut. You'll you'll you'll be able to have a sharp mind to get in the gym no matter when you wanted. Having a sharp mind will say, hey.

You gotta get that reading in. A sharp mind will you'll think clearer on deals,

Steve: you know. So do you have, like, a book club in the office?

Matt: Do you

Steve: have, like, everyone were reading this book for the month? What do you how do you

Matt: I I tell people what I'm reading. And so, for an example, I buy, you know, ten, eleven copies of books that I that I like. And then people that come into my office or that I mean, instead of giving them my business card, I have a little stamp. It says, you know, I put it it says, Matt Matt at Phenom Investor. And my favorite verse in the bible in the bible is Hebrews eleven six.

It says, but without faith, it is impossible to please him. For those who come to God must believe rewarder of those who diligently seek him. That's the message I wanna leave with someone along with that particular book that I I suggest. So instead of a business card, right, like, they're not gonna remember that. But, hey.

This guy, you know, he gave me this book and he put a Bible verse in it. Like, I don't know where he's coming from, but sounds like, you know, it works for him. So maybe I'll check it out. I'm planting seeds. Yeah.

I'm planting seeds. And so the and again, it goes back to, you know, who I bring into my circle. Right? I tell people what my faith is. I tell people that I, you know, I expect them to do their job, to go the extra mile, to work hard, to get into the fight because that's what it is.

Steve: Is there a particular book you've given more than any other?

Matt: Well, it going forward, it will be the Bible. But, I think, the book that I've given most is The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino. Yeah. Have you read it?

Steve: I have not read it. What do you like about that book?

Matt: It's excellent. I mean, it's all about, sales. And it weaves in to it, you know, God's message in that.

Steve: Yeah. So I didn't get the chance to ask the second half of Kyle's question is, do you use VAs? No. Alright. And, guys, remember, Matt's done, you know, a million each of the last three years.

So I want you guys you leverage this opportunity to ask them the questions that I have not asked yet. Daniel Martinez wants to know what will be your future goals in the next coming years.

Matt: Just continue serving the Lord, continue to be a, role model to my boys, be a great a better husband, instill values into my kids that, I want them to be as they grow and become fathers themselves. And really, you know, it may sound counterculture, but, you know, for me serving the Lord's everything, you know, and, business is a byproduct of that. So, I

Steve: mean, it's not a surprise. Right? Like, the the two books, every top of the Fortune 500. Mhmm. Two books that every CEO has is the Bible.

Mhmm. And Think and Grow Rich. So, like, it's not a surprise, right, that it's a byproduct.

Matt: Every principle that any if you read any sales book, for the most part, you could draw the principles that came from the bible.

Steve: Well, what surprised me was I read, what was it? It's one of Dave Ramsey's book. I wanna say entrepreneurship. I can't say for sure. But, like, he's talking about these basic principles, and then he quotes the verse in the Bible.

I was like, I had no idea It's amazing. Right? How many of these verses were there that, you know, we we consider it sage wisdom, but you have no idea that they're actually in the bible as well. It's kind of crazy.

Matt: Well, it's God's living word so it wasn't something that was written two thousand years ago and is obsolete. It's actually more relevant today than it ever was in any time period. So, I'd encourage anyone that's listening that may have never written or read the bible, start with a proverb or a psalm. And if you want to get real deep, we can talk about that. Please reach out to me.

I'd love to talk about that with anybody listening. That, that's my major, my goal. If I could turn someone to to learn about who God is, he created us. We're sitting here on this earth that's spinning at 65,000 miles per hour. We're something like, 90,000,000 miles away from the sun.

We're over here talking about real estate, which is very small thing in grand schemes. We were not here by accident. Right? So how, you know, that's what I want to impress upon all you listeners. Not about real estate.

It's about, it's about who we are.

Steve: So I do ask more real estate questions.

Matt: Okay.

Steve: Marketing. How much are you spending a month? You're talking about direct mail, which I don't know what it is about California, but everyone loves direct mail in California.

Matt: Yeah, so we're stubborn out there.

Steve: Hey, if it works, I know you guys are tracking your KPI's. Yeah, yeah, right. So what are you got? What are you spending right now in in monthly marketing? Monthly marketing?

Matt: Well, we scaled it down, but, you know, as of probably three months ago, we were about 50,000 a month.

Steve: Yeah, that's just in marketing. Yeah. Okay. And what's the bulk of that? That direct mail

Matt: broke of it was direct mail. Yeah.

Steve: Gotcha. And then what is your monthly overhead?

Matt: Well, I have a couple of different LLCs, so we're talking about just business overhead. I run my cars through there and cell phone and all that. So, you know, I'd probably say, let me retract that. I'm sorry. I would say, all in is 50 and I would say 38,000 of it.

40,000 of it is is marketing.

Steve: Gotcha. So Jason Toledo wants to know what strategies that you incorporate in the beginning of your wholesaling business to help you scale your company to where it is today?

Matt: I just leveled up my my, my circle of influence.

Steve: Yeah. Can you explain more on that?

Matt: Yeah. So being in Fresno, right, I'm born and raised there. It's a smaller community. It's it's based on agriculture so that there's no big business, you know, coming to Arizona, you know, you see, you know, a lot of different, you know, Fortune 500 companies and and big business, right? You go to Fresno, there's like one, you know, I wanna call it a skyscraper.

It's like a little building downtown, you know, but there's not you don't get that big ebb and flow of business, right? It's it's a lot of farmland, very rich farmers there, but old school mentality, right? So if I was gonna go seek out a mentor, it'd be hard for me to find a mentor in Fresno that I've come across that I would say I want to pay you for your time. So what I what I knew when I was going through my, you know, my early, growth, I'm like, I need to figure out what to do. So, since I, you know, when I started, I invested in myself.

So why stop? So I continue to invest in myself. So I got in a room that, I was blown away, frankly, because, you know, we're talking about guys that sitting at a table that are sharing the same struggles that I have, sharing the same, growth, growing pains that I have. And they're open and honest. They're like, dude, do this.

Do that. This is what I did. This is what I did. And then you've got guys that are at a whole another level level telling you don't do that. Do this.

Go ahead. And they get and they kind of give you permission. Right? So when I got there, they kind of give me permission to pour gasoline on my marketing because at first I'm like, I don't want to spend that much money. We're like, Well, dude, check your mindset.

It's not an expense. It's an investment.

Steve: Yeah.

Matt: You know, it's an investment in yourself. If you can't learn to invest in yourself, like, who are you banking on? You are you. So if you can't, you know, pull pull some money out of your pocket and and go to a guy like Steve to learn how to scale up, you're not gonna make it. You're gonna you're gonna you're gonna go the YouTube route of trying to get all this free information.

You're gonna get even more confused. And, you know, it's gonna gonna, you might get there, but it's gonna be way more expensive.

Steve: It's gonna take you longer.

Matt: 100%.

Steve: So you mentioned the Arete? Is that

Matt: how it is? Arete?

Steve: Yeah. Arete.

Matt: Is

Steve: there anything else or is that the only one?

Matt: Oh, I am in two different, real estate masterminds and then the RIT syndicate. Yeah. Okay.

Steve: You want to share where the other two are?

Matt: Yeah. One of them was the boardroom. That's that's where my, was Sean. And then Mark Evans is another. He has the DM family.

So I've been with with Mark for three years. He's helped me out a lot in my in my growth mindset and he's an unbelievable, man, father. I call him. He's a great friend of mine. So, he's he's definitely someone that I've developed a great relationship with and he's taught me.

I mean, he's like he's been doing virtual since that word virtual came out, you know? So, he's he's been able to to travel the world and and have this unbelievable business. But, it's invaluable to to get into those, relationships and the other guys that come with it. I mean, I have guys that are doing big things in the business, but what where the magic happens and when guys take to kind of take off their, you know, cape, if you will, and get real. You know?

Yeah. That's that's my experience. Like, you know, perception's one thing, but reality is another.

Steve: For sure. Raheem Owens wants to know what are some of your daily habits that have helped you scale?

Matt: Well my daily habits, you know, I get into the gym first thing in the morning. I get my workout in because that just clears my mind and, you know, definitely doing my my prayer, my bible reading, my, you know, I do that daily and then, it puts me into a frame of mind to go in and and kind of go into battle. Right? Like, I mean, we gotta we gotta work hard. We gotta get on the phones.

We gotta make offers. And, to scale, guys, that's a that's a fancy word. But really, don't don't don't be in the need to scale, right? Everyone wants to go from point A to Z their first year in real estate. Don't compare your chapter one to someone's chapter 15.

Right? I'm only speaking out of experience because I've done the same thing. I'm looking at guys. Why they go, why they do this? Why they're big over here?

Like I need to get there. And I'm thinking, man, dude, like you've only been trying to build a business since really 2016. Right? Barely three years. It's not that it's not that much.

So you gotta keep time as the, of all things being equal, right? Someone's got time on you. That's a game changer.

Steve: Right?

Matt: Right? So you gotta keep the perspective in order and then start doing what is right for you, not what you're hearing from the competitor or a guy on YouTube or Instagram. You scale when it's right, not because it's the thing to do.

Steve: Yeah. Well, and I it's something that you and I talked about earlier too, right, offline is that I met someone this past weekend that's making a half million a month. Right. Right. I was like, man, how did they get there?

And then, well, he's been doing this longer than I've been alive.

Matt: Exactly. So that that is the equilibrium. I mean, dude, that that will it's real. I'm telling you, you can't you can't force it. You can't force appreciation and you can't force you can't force growth because if you try to force it, you're gonna build it on quicksand.

It's gonna crumble. Yeah. So get your core here's your answer. Establish your core values and and and don't waver on them. Get really firm on them.

Then you hire based on and you fire based on your core values. Right? So if you don't stand for something, you're gonna fall for anything. Establish your core values, post them on the wall, tell people about them, and then find the people that are gonna be in line with your core value. And then your vision is a huge part.

What I've learned is your vision has to be big enough enough for everybody to fit inside of it. Right? So if you're saying, well, you know, I want to do 10 deals a month or 15 deals, that's cool. But a lot of guys might not fit inside that vision, right? Because they're not be not feel like there's enough growth for them.

Steve: Or is that maybe not enough for them to eat. Right. And their vision as well.

Matt: Exactly. So so some of the biggest success, you know, story like I just saw Dean Graziosi's office. Like, what's that guy's vision? It wasn't 10 or 15 deals a month. No.

I mean, I was blown away by, you know, what his operation. That's just like his media and his, you know, education piece and, you know, but credit to Dean. He was in there on the whiteboard teaching. I mean, this guy's worth, I don't know how many millions of dollars. Right?

And he's there working.

Steve: How many tens of millions of dollars?

Matt: Tens of millions.

Steve: Yeah. So Anthony Walters wants to know how many deals per month before you suggest outsourcing and hiring?

Matt: How many deals a month before you? Outsourcing for me is I can't speak to it because I've never done it. I like to have some control of it. We are just starting to hire virtual cold callers because I like to hear guys on the phone of, like, this guy has it or not. Right?

Because again, you can hire a virtual cold calling team, but if they don't know how to build rapport and close, you're gonna go through, you're gonna burn through some money or you might be getting a bunch of leads that are not motivated and then you're just filling up your pipeline with nonsense.

Steve: Right.

Matt: So for me, I would say, you know, control as much as you can. And then if if it starts to, you know, be very, you know, profitable, then you could outsource. But I mean, I like to hear guys in my office on the phone because there's growth there. I can say, Hey, why don't you say this? Or how come you didn't say this?

Or dude, get on the phone. You know, some guys just show up and sit there and like you're not gonna cut it.

Steve: No, you're not gonna

Matt: You gotta dial.

Steve: So for real deals wants to know, are your guys salary or percentage based on the closing?

Matt: I pay my guys on a on a commission basis and then, like, my my, processor office guys' salary. I pay my guys, you know, up to a certain point. They'll get $1,500 a deal. And then once we reach a certain, amount, they get 10%.

Steve: Okay. Is there, like, I guess, over 15,000?

Matt: 30.

Steve: Over 30.

Matt: Yeah. It's 29,000 or less just $15 because because here's cause we'll do deals that we make 5 or $6 on. That's like a loss for me after marketing expense, but I'm still paying my guy $1,500.

Steve: Oh, that's solid.

Matt: Right. So that keeps them eating. Right. And sometimes I'll, I'll take an l, you know, just to keep the the train moving. But, you know, we'll knock off the deal for 30 or or 50 or whatever.

And, you know, I'll give them a 10%, you know, bonus or whatever. But, that's kind of and our our average deal size is $19. So it's not like we're knocking down $50,000 wholesales all day.

Steve: No. $19 is pretty solid, though. And he also wants to know what's the first position he should hire when hiring?

Matt: An assistant. Because, you know, I don't know your how you like to operate, but for me, I you know, there's things that I don't like doing. And so, if someone could put me on a schedule, that would be ideal. For me, the first guy, well, the first two people I hired were acquisition guys. Right?

And then they quit or went out and compete. And then, you know, kind of, you know, was like, I don't want to hire anymore. And then I ended up, hiring a guy. Poor guy. Yeah.

He's still with me today. He's a great guy. Love him to death. But I didn't pay attention to him for like the first three months. I just said, I'm like, go call.

And all of a sudden, like, he's, like, bringing deals. Right? He started doing deals. And I'm like, okay. I put a little bit more on his plate a little bit more.

Now he's, like, running my company. Yeah. You know? And so, you just never know who you're hiring.

Steve: You know, it's terrible to to hire someone that way. Mhmm. But we've all done it when we first started.

Matt: Yeah. Yeah.

Steve: And you'll find that the ones that could survive then were your best people.

Matt: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah.

Steve: Because I've I I was a terrible manager

Matt: when I

Steve: first started.

Matt: Yeah.

Steve: And those are the ones like, yeah, I fired a lot of people. I let a lot of people go. But man, the ones that could survive with my crap management, now they're running my operations now that we have like a real company.

Matt: Yeah. Yeah. Go figure, right? Yeah. I mean, none of us, you know, we all get into being an owner.

None of us have experience hiring, you know, like you you have to get kind of burned in the process to know what you don't want to hire.

Steve: Hire. We have to fail just like you have to fail on your first seller's appointment. You gotta fail on the phones.

Matt: Like I said, this business is designed around failure. So the quicker and faster you could fail, and I only wanna say fail, learn. The quicker you can learn is the quicker you're gonna get to your your your goals.

Steve: Yeah. Mhmm. Roger Garza wants to know where which specific source are you getting most of your deals from?

Matt: What specific source? I mean, it's evenly matched across direct mail and SEO. Mhmm. We have I mean, I've been working on SEO since 2013, so I have a pretty strong You

Steve: can hit start.

Matt: Yeah. Yeah. So that that's been a a good thing for me. So I'd say, you know, the Internet brings in deals and so does direct mail. And now that we're kind of transitioning out of being so heavy in direct mail, I'm interested to see where the new lead source will come.

Maybe it's gonna be through, you know, texting or cold calling, so it's to be determined.

Steve: And what's your ARV range are you recommend marketing to when starting out to get decent spreads?

Matt: Oh, dude. That's that that's not a one size question.

Steve: That's probably a market.

Matt: Yeah. Specific question. Yeah. For us, you know, the we're still in that FHA two fifty and below is the sweet spot. I don't like to mess with stuff over, like, three fifty.

Steve: Me neither. What is your biggest struggle right now?

Matt: Oh, good question. My biggest struggle right now? I'm at a pretty good place, honestly. And the the the the irony of that is I've had probably the last two or three months have been some of the worst I've had in business, because we're going in that transition where direct mail started to be ineffective. And so, it just, you know, it it took a chink of out of my armor, money wise.

So, you know, in the past, I'd probably be freaked out. But, you know, I'm in a good place right now, spiritually and mentally. That I know that is this is just a a transition, and the Lord's preparing me to to get me to the next level. I I really believe that. Because I've gone through so much to get to this point.

I'm like, dude, you didn't take me this far to take me this far. Mhmm. Like, I think there's some testing going on and some things that are, you know, happening for a reason. But, what what what's kept it strong through it is my faith. Again, I I keep touching on that because it's so important for me guys to to understand that.

Yeah. And then lo and behold, you know, like, I I kind of just give it to him, and and now more deals are flowing in. We're working on some big deals right now.

Steve: Yeah. Well, you mentioned, you did you you you did or you're doing a multifamily deal.

Matt: Yeah. Yeah. Doing a doing a deal with Strat on a multifamily, and then, a couple more, multifamily deals in the pipe. I'm actually, you know, doing some duplex triplex stuff that no rehab, buy it for, you know, dollars $2.50, sell it for $3.40 in a week type stuff. So, and multifamily admirer is like through the roof.

Like, I don't get it. It doesn't cash flow. I don't understand what they're thinking, but it's appraising and it they're selling. Probably in about four years, I'll probably buying it back.

Steve: Yeah. I mean, who cares? Right? As long as they're buying it. Yeah.

Matt Larson, he was on the show a couple weeks ago.

Matt: Yeah. Matt's in the DM fam.

Steve: Yeah. Yeah.

Matt: And he

Steve: was saying, like, he's cleaning it up with with multifamily. Right.

Matt: Right. Well, yeah. Tim Brats had done a great job of of of doing that model where he's raising money, and and, you know, he went from zero to 16, like, fast. You know, he's holding a huge portfolio now. So I love multifamily.

That's where, you know, apartments is, you know, you could do, dude, like, doing, like, a fourplex is, like, four deals. You know, if you're making $10 a door on an assignment fee, it's $40, right, or or more. So it just kinda makes sense.

Steve: Yeah. Well, our assignment fee is definitely bigger with multifamily. Absolutely.

Matt: And it's easier to sell. Yeah. And there's a lot less people fishing in that pond. Yeah. You know?

Steve: Alright. So I wanna let you think about the last thoughts you wanna leave the listeners with while I make a quick announcement. So, guys, I'm finishing the year in New Orleans with Chris Rude, December. That's Skillathon. If you wanna check that out, it's bit.ly/2019skill.

And then Max and I have been getting blown up about our two and a half day workshop where we go over everything in our business. So if you wanna make twenty twenty your year, go to disruptors.com to see if the workshop will make sense for you. And tomorrow, we got a special guest, Tang Nguyen, coming in from Dallas. He's he's gonna talk about creative financing, and then we got Kyle Wilder next week, for this show. So, how or what were some last thoughts you wanna leave the listeners with?

Matt: Yeah. My last thoughts with you guys is you guys were not born, as an accident. We're all put on this earth for a reason. Like I said, we have different fingerprints. We have different skills and abilities, god given abilities.

Faith in the Lord. That's that's everything. And you'll be surprised how everything else comes together after you do that. If you put money first, if you put business first, if you put deals first, remember, guys, there's always a trade off. If If you want more success, you're trading something.

You have time with family, your health, your happiness, your well-being. But when you put the Lord first, there's no trade off. Everything comes added to that. So I leave you guys. God bless you.

I'm happy to be in this business. I'm thankful, Steve, that you allowed me on to give me this platform. And, I just pray that everybody has a wonderful, abundant life, reaches all their goals and dreams in this business because it is a rewarding business. And, I'm just thankful.

Steve: And how can someone get hold of you?

Matt: Instagram, I'm, phenominvestor. YouTube, Matt Garabedian. I have a podcast on iTunes called the Phenom Investor Blueprint, where I talk a lot about my faith and some of the stuff I shared with today, along with some business stuff. I'm an open book, guys. I'll tell you the wins, my losses, you know, where I'm not good and where I'm great at.

So please reach out to me. I am coaching some folks, helping them grow their business and, business and and, help them develop as leaders and men.

Steve: Yeah. Cool. Thank you very much.

Matt: Awesome. Thank you so much. Appreciate you

Steve: guys for watching.