What's up , beautiful people , welcome back to another episode of the Action Academy podcast , the show that helps you get rich , happy , successful and free with a capital F in your life and business . So you guys read the title of today's podcast episode and probably thinking what the hell , brian , what are you doing ? What are you on ? What is going on , man ? You run a real estate podcast and you're selling your real estate . What I know , i know , i know . So today what we're doing is I'm sharing my logical reasoning behind selling my real estate , that I'm going to share my emotional reasoning behind selling my real estate and get into what's next and what this next season of life holds for me , for you , for us together as an Action Academy family . The reason I'm recording this podcast episode today is I sent out my decision making in a newsletter last Thursday , which you guys should subscribe to if you don't already , and a lot of people email me back and said that my story helped them a lot and it helped enforce some decision making for them and it helped them move on to a new season of their life . So hopefully this podcast episode has a similar effect . So let's begin .
Speaker 0I have four units in the northern suburbs of Atlanta , georgia , and they're co-living properties . So they perked out about $3,400 a cash flow when they're fully rented out , and a house had both of these properties . So I put 3% down on the first and 5% down on the second one and I lived in them or occupied them for over a year . The first one I bought in 2019 , the second one I bought in 2020 . And so they were able to appreciate like freaking crazy through the COVID boom And , as all you guys know , when you house hack , you're living for free . So not only was I making that cash flow , but I didn't have to pay rent , i didn't have to pay a mortgage , so my expenses were essentially non-existent And this is what helped me get out of my corporate job and go travel around the world full time . And that's where things started to get a little shaky with the house hacks . So I was supposed to have somebody replace my unit at my house . When I went to go travel , a buddy of mine and he backed out the last second the day that I was flying to Greece And so that was vacant while I was traveling . So I said , okay , this is fine , i'm still cash flowing . Things are good , honky Dory , let's rock . So I did the whole trip . Come back , got a brand new pipe and hot , vivid vision for Action Academy both the community that was brand new and the podcast and everything that we're going to do . We're going to help a million people leave their corporate jobs by December 1st 2025 .
Speaker 0So before we get into the logical portion of my decision making here , i want to begin with the emotional side , because a lot of you guys are going through the same thing and you're in the process of changing seasons and identities as well . So before I was in the camp where I live in the house hack I live for free I was living 40 minutes north of Atlanta , georgia , in the basement of a house , so I'd never actually lived in a house . Basically , i would buy these houses . I'd live in the basement with no windows , and it was still a good existence , but it wasn't anything crazy until I had gone and traveled full time around the world And I'd seen the impact that living in beautiful places in my environment , my physical environment , had on me And I realized how important that was . So that was my first key change was recognizing the ROI on my life as opposed to just numbers on a piece of paper . So , yes , the house hacks and living for free got me the ability to go get this nice apartment in Austin Texas . So I lived in a basement for three years , guys , three years . I lived in a freaking basement in my own house to earn the right to do this . So I think sometimes people get that
backwards .
Speaker 0So fast forward the story a bit and I'm in Austin Texas , i'm in the new area , i'm not in Atlanta whatsoever anymore . Tenant decides to stop paying rent . Tenant I've had for three years Just decides hey , screw this , i don't feel like paying you anymore , i'm out . And so she was squatting and I had to evict her . Go through that entire process . We finally got her out , had to put $15,000 of cosmetic rehabs on the property And basically I looked down on the sheet of paper .
Speaker 0I said this just killed our cash flow . Dude , like . This was our cash flow for the year . We weren't making good cash flow and we were accounting for CapEx , you know all that stuff . And I was just like why are we even doing this anymore ? Why am I even thinking about this house anymore ? And that's what leads to really cool concepts . That's candidly new in my life , which is ROE . We talk about ROI all the time return on investment or cash on cash return , roe , return on energy , roe , return on effort . Now keep in mind , no property managers would take this .
Speaker 0I interviewed five different property managers to handle these houses for me and nobody would do it . And I thought about hiring a friend to do it , but it was just still mind space for me that I had to think about . And anybody that has real estate knows you still have to manage your property manager . All right , you have to manage the manager . There's never true passivity until you get into the big leagues . There's just degrees of passivity .
Speaker 0So this entire process ended with me throwing my hands in the air saying , okay , cool , we're spending $14,000 , got to do a full cosmetic rehab , full landscaping , get new tenants , screen them , manage them , do all this stuff with co-living . That sounds miserable . So a buddy of mine , cody , just said Hey , won't you sell them ? What's your return on equity ? There's another ROE . I thought about it and I said you know what ? The marginal use of my time is better spent making money through Action Academy than even thinking about real estate whatsoever or these two properties . So we did the math and selling each of these properties will net about $230,000 to $250,000 of cash . And I said , hell yeah , i could take that money . Don't know what I'm going to do with it yet , but I can file what's called the Homestead exemption . Where I lived in each of the properties , two out of the last five years tax-free . I don't even have to do a 1031 . I can just sit here with like a quarter million dollars of cash and deploy that into the next thing , whatever that may be .
Speaker 0But here's my dilemma . My identity was that of somebody that does not sell real estate . Buy and I hold , i hold forever . That's what you're supposed to do . How many mentors do I have in the back of my mind right now screaming at me and saying low fixed rate interest real estate debt is an asset in an inflationary environment . right , you buy and you hold . You become a millionaire by buying a million dollars worth of real estate and having other people pay it off . Right , and these were low interest rate houses . There was like a 3.7% on the first and a 2.5% on the other one , and they were cash flowing . So what the hell ? right ?
Speaker 0And this leads to the quote that informed my entire decision-making process , which is my buddy , mike Ayala , who was one of the reasons I created the podcast in general . So once again , i was golfing with Mike which good things tend to happen in my life when I golf with Mike and I asked him about this and I was like dude , i feel stupid for even considering selling these . Like the cash flow , everything's rocking and rolling . And he says , okay , so over the next five to 10 years I don't think we'll see that much appreciation in the market . Do you want to continue building a portfolio of co-living properties over the next five to 10 years ? And I immediately said , oh hell , no , that sounds terrible . I don't want to do that at all . That does not fit my vision . That doesn't fit anything that I'm trying to accomplish , anything that I'm doing . That would just be a distraction to me as opposed to moving me towards my vision and towards my goals with Action Academy . And we also zoomed out a bit . And he goes dude , in your investing journey and your investing career , these two properties are going to be a blip on the radar . He's like you're going to do so many other big things in the future . You're going to completely forget that these two houses even existed . but they got you here . That's awesome , but what got you here is not going to get you there . So that is what made my decision .
Speaker 0Essentially , it all boils down to what I talk about on this podcast all the time , which is the importance of having a really crystal clear , defined vision , and I'm all in on building the Action Academy community and growing this podcast . That is literally when I wake up in the morning . That is all I think about , that's all I want to think about . When I go to bed at night , that is all I want to think about is Action Academy . I don't want to think about tenants , i don't want to think about anything else that has to do with real estate . All I care about is growing this community and growing this podcast and this platform . That's it .
Speaker 0Guys , a lot of you are listening and you're operating not one business , but two businesses , four businesses , five businesses , 10 businesses , and maybe you're just now starting your side hustle , and you don't have one side hustle . You have three side hustles and four side hustles . Guys , focus on one thing . Keep your one thing to one thing . You know wouldn't be easier to generate a million dollars income per year in one business that you're absolutely rocking a rolling on and you're focusing all your time , energy and effort on that . One thing , as opposed to four different things . Like , one business printing out a million ARR is better than four businesses that you have to operate printing out 250k If that makes sense . And also , you get increasingly difficult to beat when this is the only thing that you're focused on .
Speaker 0Like for this podcast , i can get really cool guests and make really cool , heavily edited episodes and do five episodes a week because this is my one thing that I focus on And that's why it works . I can grow the community into hundreds and hundreds and thousands of people that are all getting personalized white glove concierge service because it's my one thing , as all I think about , it's all I do all day is my community , action Academy community , which you guys should join if you're a cool kid , like right now . We're planning a Costa Rica weekend in September for Action Academy . It's going to be our first in person event that's only for Action Academy members And it's going to be probably $100,000 to throw this thing , because we're going all out And I was like man if I was focusing on a bunch of other things at the same time .
Speaker 0There's no way that we could pull this community or this podcast or this event off with the precise detail that we need to make this vision come true . So , anyways , that's what it all comes down to is ROE return on energy and effort . So I'm cashing out in June and July , we're getting the sales completed and I'll have the cash sitting and I'm stacking cash through Action Academy , through our operating account . So , going into 2024 , once Action Academy has a full team in place , everything's rocking and rolling and the systems and processes are airtight and we have a we do it instead of just me doing it , then that is when only then will I pick my head up and say cool , this is rocking and rolling .
Speaker 0Now I can move into the next stage of my real estate investing career , and then that will be the big deals , where we're not doing the small deals anymore . We're going to do really large , probably commercial , industrial space , whatever the market is allowing for . That's what we'll do , and I'll do it with a bunch of really hard hit and operating partners and throw like a million dollars of cash into there , like that's the game I want to play . I don't want to play the small games anymore . I want to play that kind of game .
Speaker 0So so in closing , some of you will think that I'm an idiot . Some of you will understand what I'm doing at the end . This is just my personal decision and how I'm thinking about this . That's best for my life , because how I want to feel in my business is light . I want to feel excited and energized . I want to grow wealth and make money the way that I want to do it . That's super fun for me , and managing those co-living house hacks It's just not where I'm am anymore . It's just a new season of life .
Speaker 0So my challenge to all of you is to examine your portfolio and look at what you've got right now and say what do I want to hold on to for the next five years ? What do I want to let go of ? Because , guys , there's going to be so much opportunity coming up in the market for people that are well capitalized and connected . And , in closing , i'll share a quote that my mindset coach , my business coach , shared with me , and I really , really like it , and that is if you're on monkey bars , you can't hold on to the monkey bar behind you and still swing forward to the new one . You have to let go of the other monkey bar to reach for the new one , to keep moving forward , and so for me , this is what that looks like I'm just swapping out my houses and monopoly for a hotel eventually .
So that is my rationale . That is why I did it . I thought long and hard on it , i talked to a bunch of people and this is my decision . So , guys , if you want to partner next year , i will be ready , willing and available , but until then , keep your one thing , the one thing . I'm keeping my one thing , the one thing , my one thing . If you want to talk about Action Academy , i'm your guy . If it's not about Action Academy , i don't have time to talk . I'm locked in and that's what I'm going to be for the rest of this year . So buckle up , let's get to work and sit tight for an amazing lineup of podcast guests this week . Talk soon .