Ekabo Home Financial Freedom Mastermind Podcast
A podcast for those who do not believe they were put on this earth to work 40 to 50 hours per week for 40 to 50 years, to hopefully retire at the age of 65.
Ekabo Home Financial Freedom Mastermind Podcast
153. How to Crush Your Goals in 2026: Real Strategies for Real People!
🌟 Goal Setting and Real Estate Insights for 2026! 🌟
Welcome to the Ekabo Home Financial Freedom Mastermind Podcast! In this episode, host Niyi Adewole reflects on the past year and shares valuable insights as we approach 2026. Join us for an engaging discussion filled with strategies for goal setting and real estate success!
🔥 The Quote of the Day:
"Now is the time to really get serious about your goal planning for 2026, so that you can go out there and crush it and accomplish your goals."
— Niyi Adewole
As we approach a new year, reflecting on past achievements and setting clear, actionable goals increases our chances of success. Thoughtful preparation and commitment are key to overcoming future challenges and seizing opportunities.
🎙️ What You'll Learn:
- Reflecting on 2025: Niyi discusses the accomplishments of the Ekabo Home team, including their rise from 15th to 13th place among real estate teams in Georgia, and their ambitious goal of breaking into the top 10 in 2026.
- Emphasizing Goal Planning: As the year wraps up, Niyi emphasizes the importance of setting clear, actionable goals for the upcoming year to ensure success in real estate and personal endeavors.
- Niyi shares how he helps his team members set specific goals, such as increasing their client base or closing a certain number of deals, and how they track their progress throughout the year.
- Utilizing Technology in Real Estate: Explore how AI tools and technology can streamline operations and improve efficiency for real estate professionals, making it easier to manage properties and enhance guest experiences.
- A.J. discusses how he implemented a new property management software that improved communication with guests and reduced response times, leading to better reviews and increased bookings.
- Market Insights and Opportunities: Gain insights into the current real estate landscape, including strategies for navigating the market and understanding the importance of location and amenities in attracting guests.
- Niyi compares two properties he stayed at, highlighting how one property’s excellent guest experience led to a 5-star review, while another’s lack of cleanliness resulted in a poor rating. This illustrates the impact of guest experience on booking success.
🏡 Key Takeaways:
➤ Focus on Long-Term Goals: Setting and working towards annual goals can lead to significant achievements over time.
➤ Embrace Continuous Improvement: The journey in real estate is about learning from experiences and adapting strategies to meet market demands.
➤ Stay Informed and Connected: Building a strong network and staying updated on market trends is crucial for making informed investment decisions.
⚛️ Why This Matters:
As we head into 2026, it's essential to remain proactive and informed about the evolving real estate market. By integrating goal setting, technology, and market insights into your strategy, you can position yourself for su
🗓️ Tune in every Wednesday at 7 PM Eastern! Don’t miss out on our journey toward financial freedom through smart investments.
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Our Links
➣ Financial Freedom Mastermind Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/53083...
➣ Peer Space Host Referral Link https://www.peerspace.com/referrals/g...
➣ AirBNB Host Referral Link https://www.airbnb.com/r/niyia41
➣ Ekabo Home Network (IG, Youtube, Email) https://linktr.ee/ekabohome
Niyi Adewole is a licensed realtor in Georgia, brokered by EXP Realty. Feel free to reach out at Niyi.Adewole@exprealty.com if you would like to work with an investor friendly real estate agent.
Welcome to the Financial Freedom Mastermind Group Podcast. Here we're all about breaking free from the 40 to 50 year work pride and accelerating our journey towards financial freedom. Join us every Wednesday at 7 p.m. Eastern as we explore different types of investments that can fast track your path to financial independence. We serve as a hub for connecting with fellow members during our sessions so you can share successes, ask questions, and keep the momentum going.
SPEAKER_02:Good evening everyone. This is Niki Adawale, host of the Acaba Home Financial Freedom Mastermind Group, and I'm excited to join you today on this. Well, close to last Wednesday of the year. Actually, this is going to be the last Wednesday that we have the call this year because next Wednesday is Christmas Eve, and the Wednesday after that is New Year's Eve. And so we're definitely not doing it then. And so this is going to be our final one of the year. We're going to make it an open session because the next time we meet, it's already going to be 2026, which is crazy. And so I hope that you were able to accomplish what you wanted to do in 2025. And if not, now is the time to really get serious about your goal planning for 2026 so that you can go out there and crush it and accomplish your goals. I know that the Akaaba home team has some amazing goals that we're going after for 2026. I mentioned it on here before, but in 2024, the Akaaba Home Realty Team was able to close and be top 15. We were actually ranked number 15 for real estate teams in Georgia with EXP. And now in 2025, we moved up to the 13th spot. Our goal is a top 10 spot for next year. That's been our goal since last year. And so we've moved up and we're within striking distance. But in 2026, that's what we're going after. The Acabahome Realty team will be a top 10 team in Georgia. We are going to make it happen and go from there. AJ, how you doing, man?
SPEAKER_01:Oh, we got baby Abraham in the in the building. What's going on?
SPEAKER_02:Not much. I'm trying to figure out why this camera keeps doing that.
SPEAKER_01:It's focused in on what's most important, which is the baby, man, not you.
SPEAKER_02:Come on now. Exactly. Exactly. Happy Wednesday. How was your how was your week and year going, man?
SPEAKER_01:Good, man. Can you see me right now or no?
SPEAKER_02:Yes, I can see you now. Okay. I couldn't see you before. You had your logo, your custom logo on there. But now oh, did I?
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Yeah, yeah. I I think I might have changed my zoom setting, so I actually I can't see myself, which is fine, but yeah, I can see you.
SPEAKER_02:So come on now, dude. Oh, there hey, hey, listen.
SPEAKER_01:We both, we both yeah, as much as he wants to be a chip. We both make it happen.
SPEAKER_02:Let me figure this thing out real quick. It keeps tracking like both the faces. I think it'll stop now. There you go. Here and zoom. What's going on, buddy? Come on. Let me see this. Here we go. Do this. Sometimes these eight. There we go.
SPEAKER_01:We might have to get you an A V guy, audio visual expert in these podcasts.
SPEAKER_02:Listen, we're just gonna get it out in post-editing. This this actually never happened. Let's do it. Give me two seconds. All right, you go. Call it the day. All right, all right. That's gonna have to work for now. But dude, this is this is the last Wednesday that we're actually doing this for this year because next Wednesday is Christmas Eve, and the Wednesday after that is New Year's Eve. And so, what you got, man? How you been?
SPEAKER_01:Man, I've been all right. Um, just trying to close out the year has been like, you know, a ton of different lingering items, just in the back of my brain, I've been doing a lot of trying to focus on writing things down. And I know, like you mentioned in the past, and you know, I've gotten to this point too. Like, if it's not on my calendar, then it's like it just doesn't exist. So much has happened, it's been like a roller coaster year as I look back, and you don't even realize like how far you've come in a year until you actually sit down and reflect and like wow, like I went through this, whether that's like personal stuff, health-wise, investing, family, travel, and then you get to the end of the year and it's like, wow, like I've really done a lot. Overall, I'm very blessed and fortunate. Just really trying to put a nice boat on the end of the year, get myself organized, take some time off ashore, and then um just kind of a nice segue into 2026.
SPEAKER_02:Come on now. And that's a little bit of what I was talking about just before you hopped on. It's it is crazy, right? And and that's why it's good to write down goals because then you can look back and say, Hey, did I do this stuff? And you realize 90% of the time you you've knocked out most of this list. It's like, wow, okay, we actually hit the things that we were looking for if it was reasonable, right?
SPEAKER_01:And and within I still gotta scratch off skydiving, but uh hey, you still got two weeks? Yeah, yeah, two weeks.
SPEAKER_02:Please go somewhere warm though. Definitely not here right now. That would not be good.
SPEAKER_01:Right. I'm not even do they do skydiving in like cold temperatures or climates?
SPEAKER_02:I don't think you're allowed to because it's cold down here at 20 degrees, it's way colder up there.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it might feel like pens and needles as you're jumping off the plane and like just like paper cuts, so it might not be enjoyable.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, I I did it a few years ago in Dubai, which was amazing, by the way. Oh, it's not okay crazy, and it was like a hundred degrees out there, and it's still you could still feel the wind. But yeah, I wouldn't do it in this weather at all.
SPEAKER_01:Speaking of travel, I mean, so I definitely want to go to Dubai at some point. I think the next place me and my wife are trying to target is Japan. And um, she's been looking at some recent social media posts, and I think she's she said something along the lines of like she's seen a post saying like this is the one of the the most affordable times to go to Japan for whatever reasons, and she looked at some flights, and I think for one way, I'm not sure if it was one way or a round trip, but it was like a thousand bucks. I'm like, well, honestly, that's not that's not bad for one person. So I I would hope if if it's round trip, that'd be amazing. So uh 2,000 for the both of us, and then um I had a friend recently go over to Asia and you know, he went to China and like you know, all these other different places, and he said, like, actually, once you get there, you don't actually have to spend a ton, like it's really not that bad in terms of just like getting around locally, food, hotels, and things like that. The biggest expense is actually the flight there. So if those are the flight prices, then uh I might have to like really look into that. I've been thinking about it a lot. So I don't know, maybe maybe that'll be a 2026 or something like that. We'll see.
SPEAKER_02:I love it. That's definitely on my list. When you go, you have to let me know how it is. We actually have clients that are in the military and they're they've been stationed in Japan for like the past three years. We helped them buy a short-term rental two years ago in Georgia, and they're literally closing later this week on a long-term rental in Florida uh with us, and and and they live in Japan, and so they they love it out there. They have little kids and they say, like, this is some of the safest places that you can be. You can literally let your kid out in the street and nothing is going to happen. Whereas if you do that in the US, that that would yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I already know what you mean. Yeah, yeah. I'm curious. So, how are they? That's that's a pretty far distance, obviously, from Georgia to Japan. Clearly, they're not managing it. So, like, how did they set that piece up?
SPEAKER_02:So, so funny enough, with the short-term rental piece, they are the ones managing it. You you may have met some of the other people that are in in like the high-level mastermind groups in the short-term rentals at one of our events. I want to say you have. I think you've met either Kyle. Have you met Kyle before or no?
SPEAKER_01:If I say in a face, then I'll probably maybe remember. I mean, uh, but I've met a good amount of people in the cabo home network and things like that.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah, yeah, you definitely you definitely have. But he he's one of the people that that pay they pay a good amount to go through like this BNB Academy. And long story short, they are managing it from afar. Now we've helped them with cleaners and things of that nature to to kind of get them set up and started, uh, but they've been doing a great job in and making it happen. And now they're buying uh this is going to be more of a long-term rental, it's a duplex right near the beach. It's in Vero Beach, Florida. And so, yeah, they're excited about that one too. The main thing is using some of the the benefits that you have overseas, right, with the government to to get lower loans. And there's definitely a lot of government funding that goes into that, which is awesome. Gotcha, got you. How long have they had the one in Georgia? In Georgia, they got it in like in the summer of 23. They've had it for two and a half years, roughly.
SPEAKER_01:And I'm assuming it's going well.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. This is one, it's actually pretty dope. This is one that Ella put together, and man, there's just some cool stuff in there that that I kind of wish I had in some of my houses, which I gotta talk to her about. Like, hey, we need to we need to get some of that in my houses.
SPEAKER_01:I know, and yeah, and to that point, like um, just it's so crazy how Airbnb has transitioned when it started out like its early uh inception phase, like Airbnb, and I think the the real definition at its core is like bed and breakfast, I think. But it was really meant for just like you know, renting out a room in your house, and then it just like expanded into this like crazy thing where now we're not just focusing on the hoteling aspect of it, but now it's hospitality and like tons of different amenities. So while I I want to strive for excellence and you know, make my units up to par and competitive because you know I'm a competitive person and I'm you know in this business to make money, obviously, like everybody else. There is like a added like a reality check to it too, because it's like you know, there's an added pressure to add all of these amenities. And you and I know that money does not grow on trees, so especially starting out, like I just closed a couple of months ago. So we're we're in the phase of trying to replenish our reserves and things like that. I think for the most part, you know, we did a pretty solid job with our listings, and you know, I think we we budgeted around like 30k for each unit. I think we were under budget for both. One of them we spent about like 26,000, and then the other one, I think we were really under budget, like I think it's like 50% under budget, so which is cool, but then it's like you know, you wanna, like I said, stay competitive and you've already poured into like to these properties all of this money and resources, and then sometimes you look around and man, I'm still not up there. Like you see other properties with like crazy stuff. Like it is it's gonna it's gonna be a point in time where you know a listing may have an amusement park in the back or something like that. And I'm just like, Man, I I don't like what else can I do at this point? Like, I feel like I have nice units and I'm putting in amenities and arcade and things like that, but man, I cannot commit compete with a Ferris Wheel. Like it is it's crazy, you know.
SPEAKER_02:So listen, I can't compete with a Ferris Wheel either. And it's yeah, to your point, it used to be like the first time I stayed in the Airbnb was 2015. I was going to Chicago and really north of Chicago to Lake Geneva for a wedding, and I booked everything last minute. So the hotel was sold out. I was like, all right, let me try this Airbnb thing. And it was literally a bed and breakfast, like you're talking about. It was somebody's house. I didn't realize it at the time when I booked it, and the lady just had like a room that I was renting, and everything worked out, thankfully, and it was fine. But that was my first experience using it. And it was only later that I started booking actual places. And now the point in time that we're in, there's so many hosts that Airbnb is really not catering to the host anymore. It's really catering to the guests because they can lose some hosts. And now the way to truly make it is exactly what you said. Like you have to put in some of these amenities and go above and beyond. But the other piece that plays into it as well, which I think gets forgotten at times, I know that you're really good at this, but also the operations and the guest experience piece. Because it doesn't take a crazy, crazy place to be able to get that five-star review from the experience, and you can rack it, rake in money from that piece because people will want to book your house if it's a four, eight or higher, you have a lot of reviews. And what reiterated that for me is I just came back from a trip to Texas. I was out there for about a week and we booked a place that had good reviews, but it didn't pop off the paper. Like it just looked like a regular BB. The house didn't even look huge. It's like, all right, three bed, two baths. Yeah, this will work. 486 rating. They've been around for a minute. Let's go ahead and book that. So we booked it. And when you get in, they had like the snacks that were sitting there, which we used to do and we've gotten away from. They had all these waters in the fridge. They had this is an interesting one that we actually needed. They had a whole roll of trash bags underneath the kitchen, sink. You know, typically those can get taken. So we've stopped doing that. We were like, hey, let's let's just do a little bit less. And now I'm like, man, we were there for a week and a half, and we probably used, and we're not throwing party or anything, but we probably used like eight or nine trash bags because you're just eating, you're throwing stuff away, you're eating out. Like, you know what I mean? So it's like, all right, and so just those small things, like they got a five-star view from us, and there's not even any real Instagrammable pieces in there. It was just a clean listing, right? That we felt comfortable in. I had all the systems working, and and if they did add that extra element of some pops, it would have been great. But because they went above and beyond the operation standpoint, man, I think you can you can win like that too. What are your thoughts?
SPEAKER_01:Got it, man. So basically, what you're telling me is the secret to getting a five-star just to give unlimited trash bags. That's what it sounds like. Exactly. Trash bags and snacks, trash bags and snacks and waters and little, you know, little trinkets around the house, things like that. Okay, cool. Noted, noted, noted. No, um, on a serious note, no, I I these are good points, and it and it really makes me think, you know, as we transition and really understand like where Airbnb is evolving into. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on, you know, what do you think from from your standpoint, and I'll give you my answer, is is more prominent or more important. Is it the guest experience or is it having a ton of different amenities? So before you go, I'll go ahead and give my answer. Um, I think it kind of depends. I will say, like, when I travel, I typically travel on Airbnb. So, in terms of guest experience, I'm not like a guest that hits up the host like every other hour asking for things. Like, I know how it is to be a host, I don't want to be bothered for my guests. So I like to, you know, reciprocate that if I'm a guest in somebody's home. I like to be self-sufficient and just like stay at the place. If there's anything like alarming or you know, something like a like an emergency issue, or if I'm really missing necessity in terms of an amenity, then yes, I'll reach out. But that's so so from a standpoint of just like experience, I think what's most important for me is kind of like the things you said, just a clean space, some of the basics, and then location, right? Like, so especially like recently, me and my wife just traveled to Destin and we stayed at a BNB and it was like right at the beachfront. So to me, it's like like that's the most important thing. And so long as it's clean, everything, you know, uh the like location is is pretty paramount to me. I don't need a ton of like amenities and you know, fools wall tables and things like that. And that's just because you know, I don't have any kids right now, so I figure if I start to grow a big family, maybe some of those things will matter. So I know I kind of went all over the place. Maybe it depends. I don't know, but you know, like in terms of the guest profile and like who you are, who you're traveling with, but just overall generally, like, do you think what is more prominent is the guest experience um or just having like a ton of different amenities in the household?
SPEAKER_02:Man, so I love this question and I'm happy you asked it. And I'll give you before I answer, I'll give well, I'll give you an example of two states. So the one I just recently talked about, right? And and one that I had in Aruba when when we went there as a family for uh for Christmas. And so for the Aruba stay, we stayed in two different B and B. One that, and both of them were amenitized because we're like, hey, these look great and all that stuff. One of them had an awesome experience as well. The place was clean, there was like a broken chair, they came and fixed it. All those things were great until we paid for that. The other one on paper had a great experience, but when we got there, the cleanliness was off. There was like bugs and all this stuff all over the place, things that were broken, like all over the place that they couldn't get to. And so that really put a souring of it on that. And I'm a host too. I'm like, hey, like, dude, we gotta like what is this, right? This is not what you signed up for. And so to answer that question, I would say the guest experience matters more, right? In my mind, like that guest experience is the key to all this stuff. At the end of the day, once the guests actually start staying there, those reviews are gonna tell a lot about who else is gonna book there. But I'll say that with a caveat because the guest experience is important, but the amenities and the look and feel of the place and how it pops off of pictures is where the income and the demand comes from. So, for example, and and this is a true story, right? In this recent trip that we just took, the reason we booked that place is because it had good ratings and it was like a thousand dollars for eight days, right? After taxes and everything, it was like$1,400. Like, okay, we're here for work anyway. This, this is, this is fine, it works. There was another place that we looked at that's more similar to the place that Ella was putting together, right? And like the amenities and all the stuff that you're gonna have. And when I looked at the prices for that one for the same eight days, it was$3,300 before taxes, right? And I was actually like, man, this place is dope. Like, you think we can pull this one off? It had it had all the things, right? And I was like, man, this is cool. This is exactly what she's gonna be putting together. And so that's a difference of like what 300%? That's a difference of 300% of somebody booking that place over over your place. It's the difference between getting 150 a night versus, I don't know, yeah, like 450 a night.
SPEAKER_01:And so wow, that's crazy. So you would sorry to cut you off, but you're saying you would it sounds like you're more inclined to book the property that has a bit more amenities and is a bit more flashy.
SPEAKER_02:If it's not for work, if I'm trying to do it for family, like hey, we're taking a trip for whatever, absolutely, because you have all these amenities, it's pretty cool, but the operations have to be tight if you're gonna keep pulling in those numbers. Because when you get when you get to that volume, that dollar amount, if you have just one cleanliness issue or things that are off, it's going to get reported. But when you're at that dollar amount and you have the operations tight and the cleaning tight, my goodness, you can pull in a lot more. I think that the person that we were staying at, where we paid a thousand dollars, they're not maximizing. All they need to do, because they have the operations tight is add some more pops. Like it literally just looked bland. Like it was just like just white walls everywhere and like no real artwork or anything, but it was clean, they had all the things. They just needed to add some accent walls, put like just you know, it's a pool table in there, put put stuff like that, and you can bring in more dollars.
SPEAKER_01:Right. And to some extent, I mean, you know, I I don't know that host uh revenue situation, but depending on where they are uh location-wise in the country, like some listings I've seen is like so vanilla, and they make a killing in, you know, just because they're in different markets, like maybe some of the coastal markets. I know, for example, when you travel to uh Florida, right? Like we were lucky enough to have a really nice unit. Um, it was stocked with a lot of amenities, beach chairs, towels, and things like that. But I think that was because of the slow season. Uh, we we got a really great deal when we went to Destin. You know, you go to fast forward to to when you know they're in season and the the weather's warm and nice and things like that, you'll find a lot of listings with like it's just like bare bones, like really vanilla. And that may be due to the fact that you know it's a popular travel destination. People come for spring, but break. Everybody always wants to be on the beach. Um, so from you know, from their perspective, they're there may be like, oh, I don't I don't need to add all these different amenities if I have the location set up, right? You know, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02:It's true, it's true. And and to your point, location trumps everything. Like right now, if you want anybody get a BB on the belt line, you don't need much there to pull people in. You're on the belt line, like just go walk outside. But if you do go above and beyond, the dollar amounts can can significantly go higher because now you've got more demand for it, right? It's not like, hey, I'm just looking, you're competing on price. Because if I saw another house that was bland and similar, I would just go with that house. Now you're competing on the amenities, and so price is no longer a factor. Granted, that you have your operations and cleaning correct.
SPEAKER_01:This is absolutely true. And like you mentioned previously with us, we have our operations like pretty tight at this point. We've made a lot of different improvements, tweaks here and there. Still trying to figure out, you know, what ways I can start to incorporate AI a bit more. I've been feeding hospitables, uh, what is it called? The knowledge hub. I've been feeding that a lot more. So our operations are pretty tight. I think the cool part about our recent transaction was that I think out of all of the properties that I own, this is the most prime location. So I'm really excited about that. And then especially with the World Cup coming up. I mean, I think with that, regardless, uh theoretically, all of the properties should be booked out, but uh, especially this one, um, with it being more prime location. This is about 10, uh, 12 minutes to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Really hoping that, you know, this will get booked out. And then on top of that, we added the amenities, we added more luxury. When you walk in, it gives that luxury feel. It's not a lower end property, it's not, you know, something with the Ferris wheel in the backyard, but it's somewhere just above like middle ground, and I'm really excited for that.
SPEAKER_02:So, man, and I'm excited for you because I know the energy and effort you put into this, and it is popping. And the cool thing about that spot, too, is as you start to bring in more income, you have the ability to over time add even more in the backyard. All these amenities don't have to be there day one. Like we helped another individual purchase a property out in Decatur and they crushed it on the inside, didn't do much in the backyard. And then the following year, they put the amenities into the backyard, and now they're doing about 30k more than they did the first year. In the first year, they did like 90. And so it's like, okay, this is how you can start to really optimize. And to your point, during this time period, I like I'm looking at one of my properties that stays booked. It's up in Marietta, the art house, the luxury sports art gallery. Yeah, and thank you, man. And it's a three bed, two bath with a bonus room, and then we got the ADU in the back that are rent out separately. And I'm looking at all this like, hold up, man. We we get all these bookings in the summer, and then we get the World Cup and all this stuff coming. We need to maximize and turn that bonus room into just a bedroom. It's got a window, it doesn't have a closet, we just put an open closet. Closet, right? And so long story short, I think we have a break in bookings coming up soon where somebody's gonna check out within the next week. And then there's like a two-week break. I'm planning to block that time, go up there, measure the room, order like maybe two of a full-size bunk bed to put in there, uh, move some of that stuff out and just rearrange the place. And then I want to dump some amenities in the backyard because the backyard has nothing in it right now. I'm like, man, if we just even put a fire put and maybe even one of those, I'm trying to think if I want to, but one of those pools, like the ones where you can just like blow it up, like the big tanks, like a like a like a tank pool, you can pull in a heck of a lot of revenue. And we've seen other clients do this. And and so, long story short, we're gonna be revamping as well some of the listings just to even pull more because right now it's doing good, like it's it's pulling a good amount to where it's like, hey, I got some cash flow coming in, but I think it could do even better, and I think that we can break six figures if we're able to offer a four-bed two bath that also expands if you include the ADU into a five-bed three bath with amenities in the backyard.
SPEAKER_01:Got it. That's really interesting. So I'm curious what exactly is in your bonus room right now, and I ask that because like I have a bonus room set up and we set it up into an arcade like game room. Now, I could convert it over into a bedroom, like you had mentioned, but I kind of believe that having that game room allows the listing to pop a bit more. You know, you see the foods ball table, you see the arcade, has a TV, a nice lounge couch in there, and we have a nice accent wall with some wallpaper. I could convert that into a bedroom, but I don't know from my from my thought process. I'm like, you know, I already have three bedrooms. I can make it a four, so then it would be a four, two and a half, but I'm kind of like, you know, three, two and a half, it lows the house up pretty solid. You know, I think we allow about eight to ten guests, something like that. So yeah, just curious, like, you know, what is in your your bonus room right now, and then thoughts on, you know, bedroom versus bonus room, just kind of like that whole conversation.
SPEAKER_02:So I'm gonna share my screen to show you. But what I would say is what you've done makes a heck of a lot of sense. You've essentially built out an amenity center to get people to come in and make it more luxury. This is one that I did before we were into the details on all these things, like before I knew fully how to run all the numbers. And so this is a home that we put together in early 22, right? And at least one thing that we got right was we brought in my artist friend and he did all this stuff custom. Well, the artwork itself is stuff that he sells on his site, but the paint on the walls, he came in and was like, Hey, I want to do something special here. And so it was kind of cool when he when he put pulled it all together. So that's kind of the differentiator here. But as far as amenities, we were still just focusing on the house and like, okay, let's make it like an art gallery. So it's all about the artwork. And this is what we did with that bonus room, which is just an office. It's literally a desk from home goods, a chair, and like this golf meet thing. Like, this should be a bedroom or it should be an amenity center. There should be games in here, you should be able to play. Like, we didn't maximize this at all, and it's just been booked, and we're like, okay, cool, but we should be doing more. And so, long story short, I like what you did. This is well before we got into all that. And so, pulling this out, putting a bunk in, right, to allow more occupancy and then going all in on the backyard, I think is going to allow us to do because it's still doing numbers, and this makes sense, right? To leave this piece for now, but we want to do something in the backyard.
SPEAKER_01:No, that's cool. And after seeing it visually, that makes sense. I mean, it doesn't look bad, you know, that bonus room. It's nice and clean, but you know, I've been in a situation where I had, you know, my three-bed, two-bathome. And at the time, you know, uh, we had a smaller bedroom, and it is a bedroom, it has a closet, it has a window. But because of the size of it, we were like, okay, you know, let's just leave it as an office space. But then as time went on, I'm like, are guess even really using this like that, you know, like catering it more towards uh maybe travel professionals and midterm tenants, then yes, you know, it would be nice to have a you know desk office space. But really, if you think about it, especially people as it pertains to traveling to Atlanta, uh, they're coming, they're they're coming for concerts, entertainment, um, going to the Georgia Aquarium, Mercedes Benz, things like that. Like nobody's really doing work like that. The thing, you know, what's crazy about it is like I put the office set up, the desk, the chair, like how you have it set up. And I'm I'm thinking about it in terms of myself. Like, you know, anywhere I go, I like to have just a desk because I'm always working, I'm always on my laptop, things like that. And it also helped when I'm doing work on the property. I could just hang out right there, do my work. But you know, just after analyzing everything, and we made this change almost a year ago, and it's paid dividends for sure. Nice. We say, you know what, let's just let's just remove that and we put a bunk bed in there to get more more uh more of a headcount in there. And that's worked out pretty well so far.
SPEAKER_02:So come on now. I think exactly what you said. It's one where I mean you and I would appreciate it as digital nomads. All right, but then again, this this house that we just stayed at for the past week didn't even have an office now that I'm thinking about it. I just worked at the dining table and it was fine. I was like, okay, this is good. Like it's it's not like you need a whole setup to make this happen.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. Yeah, I'm used to like my you know my monitors and all that stuff. Like I'm looking at everything right now. I can put my different screens, but it's like, man, if I'm traveling, I I probably you know don't even need that. It's a good chance that I want to get away from that, honestly.
SPEAKER_02:So exactly, exactly. So to have a whole office, I don't know if anybody is using that. So we're gonna we're gonna change that and go bunk beds in there just to get the occupancy up because there's especially in Cobb County, every single summer, regardless of what else is going on, that is where the whole baseball community descends on for all like the AAU travel baseball and all these tournaments and stuff. And so for like a two-month period, people are booking out everything from Atlanta all the way up to Marietta, and ideally Marietta, and they'll pay you uh leaps and bounds more if they can hold more people in there. There you go. Hey, get to the money, man. Come on now. Outside of that, what what are some other, and we talked about it, I guess, a little bit before, but what are some other things you're excited about for 26? You mentioned the travel, you talked about writing down goals. If you had to boil it down to just a couple things that you want to achieve in 26, what would you say?
SPEAKER_01:Um, I would say number one, top of my to my top of my list right now is uh trying to start a family. So I'm definitely getting the what is it, the baby fever. Come on. Like literally it's it's so crazy. Like all of my friends either have newborns or are expecting like really soon. And that's encouraging in a way because it's like, man, you know, you want to be a part of that community, you know, have people who are in the same realm or are, you know, maybe uh achieving and and striving. I just want to surround myself with people like that and then you know build that community. Um, you know, it'd be cool to just, you know, have have friends who, you know, not only are invested and interested in some of the same things that you are, but also, you know, be able to raise a you know a community of kids and you know, they hang out together and do things like that. So I don't feel like any pressure in terms like in terms of you know trying just because my friends have children, like, yeah, you know, let's get this thing started.
SPEAKER_02:Um, if your friend jumped off a bridge with you jumped off, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Um so I I don't want to make it seem like it's it's like a like a pressure. I think I said that earlier, so let me retract. But it's just like, you know, I think it already coincides with what I was already feeling and wanting, right? So I had already been wanting to do this for some time, and it's like just a coincidence, like, hey, you know, all of my other friends are you know doing the same things. So that would definitely be on the top of the list. Got some travel in there, and then definitely for sure the the World Cup. I I think that goes without saying short-term rental hosts all around Atlanta are really excited for that. I'm happy that I was, you know, able to fight for Buckhead and District. I think I forget the district, it was like 13 or 11. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever, whatever district it was, man. I said, Man, I'm showing up. And we had a really good turnout for that. I have to do more marketing on that because I I'm like all over YouTube and I'm having people sending me articles with my name on it and stuff. I'm like, what the heck? So I I want to market that a little bit just to kind of help out my social medias and things like that, but I've just been so busy. But definitely the World Cup. And yeah, that's about it. You know, me and my wife obviously will get more granular once we have our meeting. Um, but a lot to be excited about. But you know, the more most important thing is just to take it one step at a time.
SPEAKER_02:Come on now. And and I love all those things because it goes from personal to business to to kind of all the things meshed. And you're right, like it's it's awesome being able to do this journey of parenthood alongside others who are in similar space, right? Like I talked to Justin all the time about it, which is awesome, as well as a few of my guys um that I played football with. They literally, we all have, yeah, we all have babies that are either like 18 months or younger, right? And so we're all kind of you know trading notes and bragging. It's definitely like a hey, my kid is crawling before your kid type of deal.
SPEAKER_01:But but it's all good.
SPEAKER_02:It's just a little competition, right? Hey, listen, yeah, we're gonna win in the long run. But but anyway, it it's it's good to be able to have people that you can go to, even my wife, like it's crazy. Her maid of honor gave birth two weeks before she did. And so they've been in lockstep on this throughout the journey. And so it is pretty cool. So that's so the kid thing, I'm definitely with you on that. And one of the things, one of our goals actually is Abraham is gonna start walking and crawling and all that stuff within the next six months, probably. And so we want to get some help, and we also want to strategically do it in a way that's gonna set them up for success down the road. And so we're looking into our uh I've pronounced this wrong all the time, all pair, right? An all-pair program where we could bring and have you heard of this before? All pair? I have not, no. Okay, this is something they do in the Northeast all the time, like in Boston, things of that nature. And if you wanted to have a nanny come to the house and help out, that's gonna cost you X amount per day or per month to make that happen. A cheaper way of doing that, and honestly kind of better, is to do this all-pair program or all par. Don't quote me on that. I'm I'm I'm mispronouncing it. But long story short, it's like a foreign exchange person that comes in and they're still working on schooling. They have like over 200 hours of child care experience. They're usually between the age of like 21 and and like 25 or something of that nature. And and they will come and stay with your family, right? And essentially you get child care for like eight hours a day, and they speak another language natively. And so we want to strategically do this so that uh Abraham can start learning another language and kind of be multilingual. Some of my wife's friends did that when their kid was, you know, between the age of one and three. And now their kids are like seven or eight and they're speaking Spanish, they're speaking English, like like at a level that's higher than than than the parent. So I'm like, okay, that's that's kind of cool. So we're looking forward to that. Also looking forward to doing some more travels with our guy. Uh, we're heading to Costa Rica next year for a wedding and we're gonna be bringing him there. So that'd be his first international trip. So that's a reminder to myself that we need to figure out this passport thing relatively quickly.
SPEAKER_01:So International Abraham.
SPEAKER_02:International, man. He's taking a trip before I even took a trip. And then from a business side, the Cabo home team last year, the royalty team, was able to reach number 15 in the state. This year, we're on track to finish 13. Like we're 13 right now. And if nobody closes something big in the next two weeks, which I don't think anybody is, we're gonna finish number 13, which is awesome. We're shooting for top 10. And so next year we're going after that top 10 spot. I'm actually meeting with the whole team on Friday to go through their goals and make sure I'm holding them accountable to what they want to achieve. And that's a big goal for 26. And then we also want to go after getting an Airbnb out of state, whether that is the Hawaiis of the world or the Costa Ricas of the world, those are two targets that we have. And so we're looking to get that achieved in 26, which would be freaking incredible. And that's less about the numbers and more because we just like going to those two places, right? And so it's cool to be able to have all the systems and operations to actually make money on this, but then when you go there, you can stay for free and stay for as long as you want.
SPEAKER_01:Man, that makes a lot of sense. I mean, my wife have talked about that as well. I know specifically when we went to uh the Dominican Republic for our honeymoon, and we were like, man, we really love this place. So we have thoughts on that like a lot. That would be a great place to invest. I don't know the logistics of it at this point in time. I actually matched up with a realtor out there, and you know, I'm not at that point of actually pulling the trigger yet, but we've, you know, we've exchanged some contacts back and forth just to kind of you know get some communication early on. So once I am ready, she's already available. But um, yeah, that that's definitely cool. In terms of the brokerage, I mean, yeah, uh, good luck to you guys. I know you guys work really hard. Maybe uh getting a reality show. Like, you know, right now I'm watching only Manhattan on Netflix right now. I love dude, I finished the whole season in two days.
SPEAKER_02:I love that show.
SPEAKER_01:Damn, oh wow, man. Okay, all right. So what I really love about that one is like, well, let me start with what I don't like about some of the reality shows.
SPEAKER_02:Because like grown sunset, just name them selling sunset or whatever is it?
SPEAKER_01:Those guys don't sell real estate, man. Man, what they they sell some other things, but I'm just like, I think they sell drama at the top of it. And obviously there's drama with all of it, right? That that's the thing that sells is is the especially in the entertainment industry, you want to get eyeballs and views. So there's definitely that kind of stuff with only Manhattan for sure, but I really like how they focus on the competitive nature of it. And in the midst of the competitive nature of doing deals, I think the craziest one, I think I just watched the episode where the guy that they stole from another brokerage, yes, and Peter, his name, he was representing the seller, I believe. And then Ryan was representing the buyer, and they tried to do a buyer-seller deal, and it fell through because Peter just killed it and matched that$60 million deal. Ryan couldn't get his client up to that 60. So, like that was crazy. But they focus in on the numbers, and then in the midst of that, there's like drama within that. But that's what I really I really like that show. I like how you know Ryan runs his his operations and his business like a real like a boss. So there's a lot to take from that show. Um, we're trying to finish it here soon. We didn't we didn't knock it out in two days like you. That's crazy, man.
SPEAKER_02:It's because I'm a realtor, man. This is awesome.
SPEAKER_01:I I know you ate that up, but even like I'm not even a realtor, and like I was like, man, I'm an investor. So I'm you know, I'm definitely interested in the numbers and things like that. But I was like, wow, it's something about that show that really likes to fire under me. I don't know what it is, and it I think maybe it's just because it doesn't feel it doesn't, it doesn't feel fake, it feels really authentic. I I know there's fluff into it for sure, but they're really out there doing like you know,$60 million deals,$120 million commercial complex deals, and all that sorts of stuff. So that'd be crazy. So just to like really immerse yourself into that and and and the deals that they're doing, it just kind of it's just mind-boggling.
SPEAKER_02:So and to that point, like that like that's a secret goal of mine down the road to have something like that, right? The key not a secret anymore.
SPEAKER_01:I heard it now.
SPEAKER_02:Hey, I know, I know, you've heard it now. You pulled it out. I mean, you got me excited about this piece. But the the key to all this, even just being an amazing investor. I've met over the past couple weeks some crazy investors that are doing deals that I I can only dream of. And the key to all this is time. Ryan started in 2006. His first year, he sold zero dollars. His second year in 07, he sold like nine grand, right? Like in commissions, which is like, okay, how are you even living and eating? And then he just fast forward, he did this, did that, moved up, moved up. And now his brokerage has over$4 billion sold in four years. And so when you look at it, it's one where you just got to stay in the game long enough to have all those lessons start to pay off, even like this B compared to the previous one that you put together. Uh yes, it was a lot of work to put in all the different amenities, but you had a better direction, you had the team, and you you executed.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, 100%. And I think the biggest thing you said there, the key is patience. And I think that applies to really anything in life, not just real estate. Most people they jump into something early on, they get frustrated and they want to jump shit. The most important thing is to stick with it and allow some time for growth. And I'm trying to, you know, remind myself, you know, giving advice, but I need to listen to my own advice right now because I'm a bit frustrated right now. And really, I just I I understand. I, you know, I've been in this game for some years now. Atlanta has a slow season during, you know, December to February. We're really feeling it right now. So we're trying to, you know, pull everything together, be flexible, looking for some midterm tenants and things like that. But the thing is, it's like, man, we like we literally just launched not too long ago. And it's gonna take some time for the reviews to come in, you know, just to be on the platforms for a longer period of time to really get ourselves grounded. I think the crazy thing with that is all the while I'm trying to get grounded with this listing, other listings are you know getting some years up under their belt. So really just trying to focus in on consistency, uh holding it down for the long run, right? Like with this real estate thing, you really have to be in it for the long game or the the long term. And I I'm really happy that I learned that early on because when I first jumped into real estate, like it was all of these short-term rental gurus and flippers and people saying, like, hey, quick money, you can get 60,000 in three to six months. I think that just comes from like my background. It's just like really humble, like a hardworking boots on the ground, like get out there, get up early, and just go to work. And I feel like without that foundation, maybe I would not have, maybe I would have jumped into like the get rich quick schemes and gimmicks. But I just saw that and I'm like, I don't know if if that doesn't really sound right to me. Like everything really takes time. And if you allow, you know, some time for that to grow, um, just stay in the game for long enough. I truly believe that it will pay dividends in the long term. I think it's just hurting right now because you know, getting things set up, but I'm really hoping for a positive outlook. And that's the reason that I'm still in this game today, is like, you know, just having some patience for sure.
SPEAKER_02:Come on now. And AJ, I appreciate your temperament because I can't tell you how many calls I have on a weekly basis with newer investors who get into a deal, and the deal, everything is exactly as expected, but now the work is getting put in, or like, hey, a water heater just went out or something of that nature. And like, hey, can we look at the equity? And does it make sense? I'm like, listen, if it's been less than less than 24 months, it probably doesn't make sense to sell. When you're buying a property, you have to be going into that deal, looking at a minimum of three to five years. Minimum, ideally five years. Because at that time period, yes, equity is going to build up. All these things are gonna happen for you. But if you're if you're buying a property like you'd buy stock where you look at it and you're like, oh, did it go up this year? And let me sell this and move on to another one. This is not the game for you. It's all about that longevity. It definitely teaches you patience. But my goodness, the the thing that helps me is I got lucky to see the whole journey through for the first couple of properties in Kentucky, right? I bought the first one in 2016, bought it for 190. And four years later, yes, there was a lot of heartache and things that I had to go through to get fixed. I had to switch out like the siding, switch out the roof, uh, water heaters going out, all this stuff. But four years later, I sold it for 310,000 and I was able to use those funds to put it towards storage and other deals. And it's like, you know what? This does work. I just need to hang on a bit longer. And if you can make it to that five plus year life cycle, all of a sudden that home stabilizes, right? Fully stabilized, just like the other homes that you have, not this newest one that you just bought, they're fully stabilized and you start to reap all those benefits and rewards.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, 100%. Uh hit it right on the nail. I say it like this if you're not force appreciating, if you're not doing something where you're a habitual flipper, a rehabber, which requires a heavy skill set, like even myself, you know, I've been in real estate for three to four years now. I still think that I need some time to grow to get to that point. And I will at some point, right? But even just saying that, and I hear some people reaching out to me, like, you know, friends or people on social media, they're like, Oh, you know, asking for you know tips and how to get into real estate and things like that. And I'm like, okay, well, what are your goals and expectations? And they're talking about like, you know, buying something and then selling it within, you know, one or two years. And I'm like, well, what are you an experienced rehabber? No. Are you a flipper? No. Do you have any experience jumping into uh a beat up property and you know, putting in work, sweat equity, things like that? If those aren't if that does if if that doesn't, if those aren't the if that's if that's not the case, then you should not be worrying about trying to get your money back within the next one or two years, right? We are buy and hold investors. We need to sit on that, allow some for uh some appreciation, growth and equity, things like that. And then just kind of sit back and um, you know, just manage the property and see the long-term gain, uh, growth and appreciation. But I I guess so many people reach out to me all the time just trying to get rich quick. And I'm like, man, like I have these properties and I can tell you right now, like I am not, I'm far from that point. But I know, you know, sometime down the road, you know, once I have 10, 15 years built up of equity and all of these properties, then you can reach back out to me and say, Hey, how you looking? I'm like, Yeah, now my pockets are fat, you know. Come on now.
SPEAKER_02:Hey, listen, we we we slapping fives in the DR, man. We we good. And it's one of those where I think you hit a snail on the head. Like, I literally had a conversation with somebody earlier today who is 21. They came into some funds, right? They got about 200K in cash. And they're like, hey, uh I just moved out to Atlanta. I want to go and do some flips and all this stuff. I'm like, okay, is this going to be your first or your next deal? They're like, oh, it's my first one. And I'm like, dude, like, I'd spend a lot of time doing exactly what you do, walking people off the ledge. Because going into a flip is literally like riding a motorcycle on the highway without a helmet, right? Like you really need to know what you're doing and be comfortable with a different level of risk. Whereas, why don't we just go get a house hack, man? Like you've been living, you know, with roommates, things that nature, go get a house hack, live in one unit, save the majority of those funds, and then rent out all the rest. And then from there start to build out your contact list because I can give you a lot of contractors, but unless you've worked with them and intimately have built that relationship, you're not going to want to get into a whole project with somebody, right? I don't even do that. Like I work with people and I and I just slowly move them up the scale. And funny enough, I'm now at the point where I am getting into some rehabs. I actually have a deal that was listed for 225, I offered 175. It's it's located around where I live. And they came back, it's owned by the bank, and they came back at 205 with some credits. So a net of like 195. And so I'm looking at potentially putting that under contract just to go and take a look and run the numbers and see if I can make it work. But I'm super cautious, having been through all this, and I have the team members that that can give me better pricing because we've done so much with them, if that makes sense. Right.
SPEAKER_01:No, it's perfect sense. And even you, right? Like you've been in the game for 10 plus years, and you're still talking about proceeding with caution. So that speaks volumes about how much of a risk it is to get into those big flips and big money deals where you can sell something right away. I'm not trying to discourage people from you know chasing after their dreams and get into those kind of deals because in some facets uh around the country, there are some success stories where people get in and they do flips and they get a big RRI really quick. But for the overwhelming majority, that is not the case. So, you know, I just want to play by the book. I'm not reinventing the wheel. Real estate has been around for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years, and that's part of the reason why I wanted to get into real estate because it's something that's repeatable. People have had success in the past, and I can just kind of take the playbook, learn it, study it, and then just go and implement.
SPEAKER_02:So come on now. And AJ, I appreciate this conversation. My guy is trying to get some energy out, and so we're gonna we're gonna end on that note because I think that you wrapped it up really well. This game has been around for hundreds, like since since what there were kings and queens that owned all the land, like the landlords of of all the land, right? It's been around, and so no need to reinvent the will. All we gotta do is make sure we're running our numbers, sticking to those numbers, and trying to make the most of whatever market we're in. I think you did with some of the credit things with the the newest property. I'm working on doing that with a property that I believe would work as a long-term rental or a flip, ideally a flip, but if we have to keep it, we can keep it and it will work as a long-term rental once it's done. And so, off to the races, heading into 26, man.
SPEAKER_01:Man, there you go. Good luck, man. I have a lot of excitement for you, and uh, I know you'll do well. So not worried about you, man.
SPEAKER_02:Come on now. And and if I don't do well, you will hear about it on this call. And when we do do well, let's speak it into existence.
SPEAKER_01:You will hear about it on this call. Got you. Either way, good or bad. I'm here to listen to you, man. We can cry, we can cry it out on Wednesdays.
SPEAKER_02:I appreciate it. This therapy session brings me a lot of joy. There you go. All right, AJ, be safe. Happy holidays, happy Christmas, and happy new year if we don't talk before that, man.
SPEAKER_01:For sure, brother. You two, I'm on my way to go beat Desmond and pickleball.
SPEAKER_02:So listen, I'm gonna ask him who wins. All right, so so there ain't gonna be any hunting. Ask him who won last time. That's fair. All right, I will catch you later and I will be out there at some point at these pickleball games.
SPEAKER_00:Just let me know.
SPEAKER_02:See you, man.
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