The Most Dwanderful Real Estate Podcast Ever!

Isabel Guarino's Blueprint for Sophisticated Senior Sanctuaries

• Dwan Bent-Twyford/Isabelle Guarino • Season 5 • Episode 376

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Embark on an inspiring exploration of luxury residential assisted living with our esteemed guest, Isabel Guarino, who's elevating the standard for senior care. By transforming elegant single-family homes into nurturing havens, Isabel and her team ensure seniors receive top-notch care without sacrificing the comforts of upscale living. We dive into the logistics of establishing these boutique sanctuaries, discussing the impact of location, demographic focus, and the nitty-gritty of regulations and renovations. But it's not all about the bricks and mortar; it's the stories that truly bring these homes to life. From my own mother's experience in assisted living to Isabel's heartfelt anecdotes, we paint a picture of the life-enriching communities these homes foster.

Creating a legacy is more than just accumulating wealth; it's about passing down the principles of hard work and entrepreneurial spirit. We tackle the concept of generational wealth through real estate investments, offering a candid look at how property ownership can sustain financial security over time. This chapter isn't just about teaching; it’s a reflection of our journeys, from my own breakaway from conventional employment to the lessons learned from "Rich Dad Poor Dad." Join us as we share the significance of mindset, the tangible assets that anchor our fortunes, and the enduring value of shaping our future generations' approach to success.

As we wrap up, the conversation takes a turn towards the personal – the clothing we choose, the homes we curate, and the principles we uphold in our businesses. Discover how authenticity plays a critical role in my fashion choices and learn why ethics are non-negotiable in the real estate and caregiving industries. We leave you pondering the balance between doing good and doing well, as we strive to impact millions through the transformative power of residential assisted living. Thank you for tuning in, and remember, we value your time and the stories you bring to our community as we continue this journey together.

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Make it a Dwanderful Day!

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Hey everybody, welcome to the most Dwanderful real estate podcast ever. I'm your host, Dwan Bent Twyford. I'm America's most sought-after real estate investor and I am so excited to have you here for another episode. I have an amazing guest today Isabelle Guarino. I said it right? Yes, all right, I had to phonetically spell that last name out there, and she's going to share some really great information with us. If you are new to me or to Dwanderful, you can go to Dwanderful. com D-W-A-N-D-E-R-F-U-L dot com. I took Dwan and Wonderful and I made a new word, and our motto at Dwan-der-ful is people before profits. So if that is something that resonates with you, you're at the right place. It's the right time Today. We're your girl and you're going to have fun with us. So, Isabella, how are you today?

Isabelle Guarino:

I'm doing wonderful. I'm so excited to be here.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I'm so excited. You're so pretty.

Isabelle Guarino:

Oh, thank you, I love, I love the, the we're. We're matching with our purples, so it's good we're all vibing today.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I know you have the black hair and the purple and I'm the opposite. There we go.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Everyone that knows me knows I don't ever. I'm all right, guys, I'm actually going to put some gray on my hair. Y'all have been knowing me for a long time. That's a big step. That's a big step.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So we like to start off with a toast. We're trying to hydrate this water, but I think it's taking a little longer. So I have a backup. So cheers, cheers, and you guys get a drink. Cheers, cheers. Everyone take a drink. Everyone take a drink.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Everyone take a deep breath and just relax, clear your mind of all the stuff that you have going on and just tune in with us and have some fun, because you know me, you know we're going to have a good time today, okay, so we kind of just throw you straight into the wolves a little bit. So what I'd like for you to do is just like in like a sentence or two, just tell us what you do and how we can get ahold of you, and then I have all these super fun questions and we're just going to talk and chat and get to know each other and I like to be as conversational as possible. So it's like if someone was sitting with us and they were getting to know both of us. We'd all just be sitting around having a drink and getting to know each other. I love it.

Isabelle Guarino:

I love it. I do too. Yes, as you guys know, and I got the beautiful introduction I appreciate that Currently I operate and own residential assisted living homes and I teach other real estate investors exactly how to do that, so we like to. It's perfect, for you know, your precipice of this show in that we focus on doing good and doing well, cash flowing, but helping our senior community, and it's a really beautiful blend of those two things. And how you can reach out to us is by finding us on any of the social medias, at RAL Academy or going to RAL101.com. You can grab a free book, webinar, download anything you want there, or schedule a call with me or the team.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Okay, ral101.com and RAL Academy everywhere on social media. Yep, I will also start following you today. I always like to. They send me bios and stuff. I just like to get to know people. Let me just like talk and chat and find out and see what happens. So you work with the residential assisted living.

Isabelle Guarino:

Yep exactly.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And so what does that mean? Residential assisted living for a person? That's really new and they're like well, there's assisted living, there's nursing homes, there's this, this, this like what is in the slice of that. What is that?

Isabelle Guarino:

Yeah, so we focus on basically assisted living, but it's in a regular residential home, so a single family home. And when I say that I don't mean a three bed, two bath, I mean a luxury, upscale home in a really nice part of town. Our homes that we own and operate, they're 10 bedroom, 10 bath homes, but they're in regular residential neighborhoods and they house 10 seniors who need help with activities of daily living. So they need help with 24 seven care. So there's caregivers there, there's an administrator there and I my role that I play is I own the real estate and operate the business. So down to about five hours of week of running those businesses, but it's a great opportunity to provide housing for seniors. That's not in the big commercial, big box setting that we all fear going into.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

We do. My mom lives in a. It used to be a women's boarding home from the 1920s. It was a women's boarding home and they turned it into um, I guess it's like assisted, like they. You know they have their own apartment. Okay, they had like a big cafeteria and they have all the games and the stuff and a bus that takes them places. So they re did this place. It was 1920. Like a boy, you know, like a women's day, but go stay at a boarding home. So they couldn't, you know, in the 20s and 30s, like women, couldn't just like travel. And it is so beautiful this, it's antique, it's so beautiful, she loves it. There's only like 100 people that live there. I tell you she's like, oh my god, because it's not like a big, giant right facility, you know, like you pull in and it looks like it's a big house, yeah, and walk and it looks like it's a big house.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, and walk in, it feels like it's somebody's house.

Isabelle Guarino:

I love that. I love that If she's doing you know coming and going and in her own apartment style it may be more considered independent living.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I think it is. I think it's just elder senior housing. Yeah, is what she's at. It's senior housing, but they always have a nurse on staff, so if somebody gets sick or whatever, I think hers is just like independent living for seniors but it's really beautiful, yeah, amazing, good.

Isabelle Guarino:

I'm glad she's having a good experience, because I do not hear about many good experiences in larger facilities, so I'm so glad she's having a great time.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

She loves it. They clean your room every day. They wash all your clothes, they cook all your meals, they make your bed. It's like mom, it's like you have maid service that I would live there. They cook all your meals. I would literally live there, I wouldn't have to do anything.

Isabelle Guarino:

There you go.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So I always thought, you know, thought it was funny my husband and I talked about um having like some senior living. I'm like you know, the people that are seniors now were like young in the 60s. Yeah, like I feel like they should have like the Rolling Stones playing and they should all be like smoking weed and being hippies again in their old age.

Isabelle Guarino:

And you know what? We always joke that if you want to open a niche home that focuses on anything right Whether it's a type of music, whether it's, you know, all female or whatever you want you can absolutely do that. Niche homes go a really long way. But we've got a home here in Arizona. It's not one we own and operate, but it's another care home called Shalom Home. Oh, but we've got a home here in Arizona. It's not when we own and operate, but it's another care home called Shalom Home and so cute. They focus on the Jewish population. We've got another one that's called Rainbow Orchard, I think, and it's focuses on LGBTQIA plus seniors and I'm like how cool. So you can definitely have fun with it and niche it up. I love that.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

We've talked about it a lot, calling it like something like rock and roll, seniors or something, and like, hey, listen, we're not going to play any of that. Soft music, rock music, all day, bands coming in. We're Colorado, here's all the pot you guys want. Go back to being in your 60s, be a hippie, I love it.

Isabelle Guarino:

I love, love it. You probably have a waiting list out the door. Oh my god probably, probably.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I'm like if I was in a place like that, I'd want some like disco and like something that takes me back to the days you know. So that's fun, all right. So now I love the fact that you have 10 bed, 10 bath houses. These are like bougie houses they're big luxury upscale homes.

Isabelle Guarino:

Yep, yep, okay, so I like that, so we have, like bougie, seniors.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

They're big, luxury, upscale homes, yeah, yeah, okay, so I like that. So we have like bougie seniors and then, with the assisted, do you guys take them?

Isabelle Guarino:

So you own more than one, three of them, and then we've taught thousands. At this point now, 10 years in the business of teaching others how to do this. All across the country. So thousands of students which represent thousands of other residential assisted living homes across the country. It's not a franchise, so I don't own any of their properties.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

See, I really like that because, like I'm 65. And so I'm coming up on that age, the boomer, like all the boomers, are dying. But the thing is we're all getting older, but we were really active when we were younger and everybody wants to be like tied down until I, I don't know, I don't know. I know for me, like all my friends, we also party and go out and go dancing and like all this stuff. So I feel like that's a really big industry for people worldwide, Cause how many there's like? How many? Like 70 million boomers or something.

Isabelle Guarino:

Oh, I think it's 74 million boomers and definitely I mean, like I always say, we're still 10, 20 years out from most boomers even needing assisted living. Because the reality is you don't move in for fun, you move in because you physically need help getting out of bed, you need help walking, you can no longer toilet or bathe by yourself, you can't feed yourself, and so that's when you need true assisted living care. You need help with three to five activities of daily living. So right now the boomers are not really in assisted living. It's more of the silent generation who's currently-.

Isabelle Guarino:

That's my mom, she's 87. Yep, but in the next 10, 20 years, it's the silver tsunami. Right, they're coming it's us.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It's us, the boomers, that's right. They better get ready. They're not going to know what happened when all the boomers start rolling in.

Isabelle Guarino:

Exactly. There's a massive need. We're currently 1.3 million beds short today and there's only 44 million in the silent generation, so we're almost doubling the amount of seniors who are coming into this particular market and there's not enough beds. So it's a big opportunity for real estate investors to start looking at this as a category, to actually start investing in.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I agree, I actually agree. So I come to you and I say, hey, I heard you on Dwan's podcast, I would like to have one of these. So do I have to get certified? Do I have to own buildings? What do I have to do with no experience at all and I'm like I've got money and I have to get certified. Do I have to own buildings? What do I have to do with no experience at all and I'm like I've got money and I want to do that.

Isabelle Guarino:

I love it. So the first thing I would always say, in any form of real estate you want to do, find a mentor and get educated, learn all my people know you learn from mistakes or mentors.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Mentors are cheaper. Yep, yep, preach it cheaper, yep. Yep, I preach it weekly. It's like listen, pay somebody else who already knows how to do it. You don't need to reinvent the wheel, the wheel's already there. Come from someone who's already done it, so you're the wheel. There we go and I come to them.

Isabelle Guarino:

Okay, I've got $500,000 and I want to make an assisted living for people Perfect. So after that's settled, you know, and you have someone that you're working with, then I would say deciding on which of the four routes you want to get started with. So first, you could buy a home and renovate it to become an assisted living home. Next, you could buy land and custom build from the ground up, or you could lease a home to use for this. So use a home that someone else already has renovated for it and you're just going to operate the business within the home. Or fourth, 30,000 group homes exist across our country today and a lot of them are being run mom and pop style about 80% where the person who owns the real estate also works in the home and cares for the seniors themselves.

Isabelle Guarino:

There's about a seven to eight year lifespan when they say I'm starting to burn out and I don't want to do this anymore. So those businesses come onto the market and so you may be able to purchase an existing business with the real estate and be up and running right away, running it as a more professional business owner hands off, not working in but working on the business.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So buy and renovate. Buy land and build one, lease something or find a group home that's already up on the market. Perfect, yeah, okay. So I call you and I'm like, okay, we're going to, we're going to buy and renovate.

Isabelle Guarino:

There you go, so now it's all about finding that perfect location. We're looking for the demographics of daughter Judy, which is actually funny because it's somewhat of you, Dwan.

Isabelle Guarino:

Like it's that 50 to 70 year old who's upper middle class, possibly making twice the median income. It's wherever they live, eat, work, sleep, play, because they don't want mom or dad 45 minutes down the road, they want them five to 10 minutes, they want them really close to where they are so they can go visit, they can go say hello. So that is our target market. So then, yep, exactly, we got to find that location and that is the key. Then, once you get the home, we're renovating it to be up to code with all of your state or county rules and regulations, which it varies all across the country, but typically we're looking for 300 to 500 square feet per resident.

Isabelle Guarino:

Most of your seniors are going to want a private bedroom and a private bathroom. They don't want to share. They are coming from their own home where they've owned the whole home. Now they're coming into a shared environment, but they don't want to share their bedroom. So, as many private bedrooms and bathrooms as we can. So, renovating the home to be up to code, whether that's adding sprinklers or fire suppression, widening hallways, doorways, you know, adding ramps, guardrails, handrails it doesn't have to be ADA compliant, but you want it as close to that as possible.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So that's your next step. That's kind of like my mom. I think her place it's not very big, it's maybe like 400 square feet, but she has her own bed, her own bed, but there's no kitchens. There's no kitchens because I think people, you know, forget, they want to have that socialization?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, and they want them to go out and eat with everyone. So she has everything but a kitchen which at first she's like oh, and I was like mom, just give it a try. If you hate it, we'll find another place to know a guy that knew the owner like of the thing and we got it right in there. And now after like a week she's like okay, why are they like? And now she's got like best friends. She's got guys that come to her door and walk her to dinner. It's like, okay, I love it. Apparently those are crazy amount of like sex and stuff going on at these places. I'm like, oh, my god, they say that. That's what they tell me. They said it's like college dorm for seniors.

Isabelle Guarino:

They say that in the independent communities it is like that, and I think that is too funny. By the time they're in our homes if they need help getting out of bed. There's not much of that going on.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

But probably not. But my mom says I'm telling you why it's like. It feels like it's a party all the time.

Isabelle Guarino:

Yeah, Just because you get old doesn't mean you're not attracted to people.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So that doesn't stop as you age. I know I always thought like, hey, I'm old, you don't care. But my mom puts on her lipstick, she fixes her hair, she puts on jewelry to go out to the lunchroom because there are men out there. I love it, she's the hot commodity. 87. She's hot commodity and she's super pretty, so she's the hot commodity. Okay, so I have it, I renovate it and then do I have to have licenses? Like, what do I need? Because I just have money and I have no idea what I'm doing yeah.

Isabelle Guarino:

So the physical home will get a license based on those renovations that you had to do to get it approved through the state. So the physical home will get that stamp of approval. Once you've got it all ready to go, Then you're going to go ahead and hire a licensed administrator. That is who's going to be running all of the day-to-day within your home. They are going to hire and fire your caregivers, make sure that they show up and that the schedule is done, the payroll is done. They're going to market the home so that new seniors come into the home, right. So they'll do the tours with the residents or as someone passes on, they'll make sure that the family has everything that they need and then refill that bed and they're really running all of the whole shenanigans within the home, whether it's a private chef and activities.

Isabelle Guarino:

Whatever the case is, they run all the day to day. So that's your key hire is your licensed administrator. They hire your licensed caregivers who do the day to day work with the seniors. So they're doing, you know, all of that direct care with the residents. So you don't necessarily have a license. The home does, the administrator does the caregivers do, but not you, and that's kind of how it works.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I love that part too, because you know if someone my age, like you said, like the daughters and the sons are like, hey, I know a lot of people my age that are interested in investing in things like that, because you know we not that I mean, we're still, we're still a ways off. You just never know she can happen next thing, you know, like you know you need an assistant place and I, if it was ever me, personally I would definitely want to be like in a more group setting than in a big giant place that's got like four floors and it feels like it's a hospital. I would hate that.

Isabelle Guarino:

Yeah, it's true and because my grandmother needed care and so we needed to find a place for her. But when my dad started this whole business, he said you know, this is not only a solution for grandma, it's a solution for me and your mom if we ever need this. And then I get to leave my kids a cash flowing business day in the family and everyone just cash flows off of it and has a place to go if and when they ever need it. So it's kind of a good solution in that regard.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And I like that too, because it helps to build generational wealth. Like, your dad started it, then you have it, then your kids have it, then that, that, that, and that's what my husband and I are all about. We own a bunch of buildings in Iowa commercial buildings in Iowa and we have all three of our kids involved. All of our little grandkids have candy machines and little things they have to run and maintain and take care of. I'm like no, it's all about like building generational wealth, take care of. I'm like no, it's all about like building generational wealth because once you get it going, you can change the entire dynamics of your family from, from, you know, my great great grandfather to my great great grandkids. It'll be a staggering difference.

Isabelle Guarino:

Yep, I love that. You have to be the start of that change if you want to see it and doing anything, like you're saying, like you know, with with the larger commercial buildings, it's like, whatever you want to do, real estate such an amazing way to create that generational wealth and be able to pass it down. Because it's really, if you're thinking about it in that regard, that long-term hold. It's really the only thing that we can count on is something physical, right, Because the dollar is not going to be the same. You could save a million now and pass it to the grandkids, and it won't be a million then.

Isabelle Guarino:

Yeah they all blow it or that or that.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I think it doesn't usually go like the people, like the parents, like me and Bill, create the wealth. Our kids kind of keep it going and the grandkids blow it because they didn't have to work for it. So it's like no, my grandkids, they're only two, four, seven and nine, and when we go to Iowa they have to clean their machines, they have to help, they have to do all like. I'm like listen, y'all are going to work. So if anybody's going to blow it, it's going to be the kids after you guys.

Isabelle Guarino:

At least you won't be around to see it, right?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I know, it's like, oh man, I'd be so devastated after we have, like we own like most of this little downtown, that we're kind of revitalizing this downtown, so my heart would be so broken if, like 50 years from now, it was back to being like just a junk hole, you know, yeah, well, hopefully not hopefully they've had me work hard.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

For you guys, you better get, keep going. But you know, I'm from ohio and he was from iowa and we were raised like we graduated high school in the 70s and back then it was like get a job, work at a factory, get married, have kids like that's what you did. And so we're the first two people in our entire family on both sides the only two that ever became millionaires, and through real estate, michael, my kids are not going to know any other way and my grandkids are definitely not going to know a way. And should I be blessed enough to meet the grandkid, the great greats, they're never going to know any other way too, because someone has to start.

Isabelle Guarino:

Someone has to start. Yep, you've got to be that that change. Uh, especially if? If that's not how you were raised. You know, I'm very, very blessed that you know.

Isabelle Guarino:

Robert Kiyosaki is rich dad, poor dad. I grew up with a dad with that mentality of even if he didn't have a lot of money at the time, he had the mentality of you make your dreams come true and you are the one in control of your destiny. Don't work to build someone else's dreams. You know what's your vision for life and let's make that come to fruition, because betting on yourself is truly the only way that you're actually going to win in life. Um and so, being raised with that mentality, absolutely, I view the world differently than many of my even friends do, because they had nine to five and work for the man and you know, and so it's, it's a beautiful thing.

Isabelle Guarino:

My dad discouraged me from going to college. He was like waste of time, do not go. You know, and it's just so funny that that's literally you know, it's such a mindset. It actually doesn't matter how much money is in the bank, it's a mindset. And it's so important to raise your kids like that, because if that's what you want for them, then you have to change the way they think you know. Can I ask how old are you?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I am 33. Okay, so you are the age of my children I have. My son is 32. My dad was 35. When I was 30, say you're a millennial. So all three of them, they've always just worked for themselves.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It's like, hey, listen, don't get a job, there's no man to work for. Like in my dad's day, you know, working for a factory was a good thing. I mean, ohio and michigan general motors cars are going crazy. People work 30, 35 years and retired at 60 with really good amount of money. But it's like. But then my generation came along and all those places went bankrupt and out of business. And now there's like but then my generation came along and all those places went bankrupt and business. And now there's like there's no working for the man because there's a million companies and nobody keeps you and when you get this age they get rid of you for someone younger who will work for less. Yeah, yeah. So I actually did, though I actually did get a factory job right after high school. I thought, well, okay, get married, get a factory. Da, da, da.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I worked in this factory for like two weeks. I thought, oh, my God, I'm only 18. I've never been in a factory. It's 1977. I'm like why would my parents want me to work in this God-forsaken hellhole? It's boiling hot, it's June, it's the dead of the summer, it's concrete floors. There's no air conditioning, just fans. They're standing all day and after a week or two I was like, oh God, if this has to be my life now, like, kill me now. So about six weeks in they were.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

The boss came onto the floor one day. They had all these pink slips in his hands and I mean everyone got silent. Now I'm really young, it's my first job. I'm like what's happening? And this girl next to me, she's, oh my God, they're giving out pink slips. I said what does that mean? She said that means they're going to lay people off. I said what does that mean? She said it means people are going to get laid off and lose their job. And I was like begging. So they started walking my way. I was like, oh, please, give me one of those. And I did because I was a newer hire and I was so excited.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I was like, and then I noticed it's funny because it didn't even hit me till years later there was a woman I worked next to in her 40s and she was devastated. I was like why are you devastated? This is a hell hole. She's like I'm a single mom, I got three kids, this is my job. Like go get a better job, why would you want so? I, you know, being 18 and not having a lot of sympathy and not understanding the world, I can't understand why she's upset Like I'll be free, but for me I go. My dad, I got a pain slip. Oh my God, cause you know, I was raised. You can't quit your word, your word, your work ethic, and I was so happy that I I actually moved. I said I'm moving to Florida, I'm moving out of state, so I don't want to be anywhere where there's near a factory where I could get sucked into it. I actually moved out of state. That's how bad. I didn't want to do it. I love that story.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

But in hindsight I feel sorry for that woman because I get it now. I mean, I was too young, she's single, she's got kids, this is her job. She was devastated and I was just like woohoo, see you suckers later. And I'm out the door. Man, I get so excited. I told my kids you are never doing that. Yep, absolutely Never. So I have one of these.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So you have three that you personally own and then you teach other people. Yep, and so what would that look like? Am I getting some handholding? Am I going into some sort of coaching? You're obviously going to give me paperwork and tell me what I need to do and how to be successful and oversee my purchase, and things like that.

Isabelle Guarino:

Yeah, so we have an online training as well as an in-person training in Phoenix, arizona, and we're basically showing real estate investors, medical professionals, whomever who wants to get started in this industry all four of those routes how to go down them right, how to find the property, how to market the property, how to hire your staff, what you're going to need to do to get the property up to code, how to host your open house and build those relationships to fill your beds right. All the raising of the capital in the meantime, because a lot of people don't want to use their own money for investing these days. They want to use OPM, and so it's important to learn. You know the different ways to raise the capital, what you need in your business plan and your pro forma, how to protect your assets. You know all that good stuff.

Isabelle Guarino:

So we educate people on all those different steps, really A to Z, and then we show them examples. We drive them by our homes when you come to Phoenix and as well as show you virtual tours of what the homes look like from the inside out, and as well as show you virtual tours of what the homes look like from the inside out and I'm not the only one there educating in our training. We actually have about eight other team members who were past students, who sat in the class, got their homes up and running and now they're back to kind of teach and educate and help people along the way, and so it's a lot of fun. We have a great time and we host those about eight times per year, always in Phoenix, and we actually have one this weekend. So I'm really excited.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Next time I come to Phoenix, I'm coming to see you and we're going to go through some places, because I feel like that would be something that Bill and we've talked about off and on for decades. I think that's something we would enjoy having.

Isabelle Guarino:

Yeah, absolutely.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Especially for like boomers. There you go, I love it. I don't know I feel like, but you know it's really needed because, like you said, you know I wouldn't want my mom, at 87, to be in some type of hospital, vibe kind of place.

Isabelle Guarino:

Yeah.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

After she's lived this great free life, I would want her to be someplace smaller and more intimate. And you know she gets more attention and more care and I mean that's what I would want for my.

Isabelle Guarino:

Absolutely.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

My parents, and so I feel like a lot of people just like I was putting where they have to go and also things like that weren't available. You know my uncle was quite a bit older available. You know my uncle was quite a bit older and when he got into his 80s he had to live at a I don't know what it's called maybe it's assisted living but they had two people in a room it might've been we don't do any shared bedrooms but if it was like more low income.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And I hated that. But the place he was at because the amount of work he needed and the money he had and just all that he didn't have a lot of money and it had to be like some Medicaid involved and some things like that. And you know, here's this guy that's kind of traveled and been free and he used to be like in the boxing. He used to have little amateur boxing teams and all those really fun stuff and I hated that. He ended up living in a place that was so sterile and like yeah, didn't feel like a home.

Isabelle Guarino:

Oh yeah, we, we unfortunately most of our residents come from big boxes.

Isabelle Guarino:

They had terrible experiences with neglect or abuse or just not getting the socialization and the you know quality care that they need and that they deserve, and so they're looking for alternative options, and so that's when they kind of come to us.

Isabelle Guarino:

And the problem is is that the Brookdale has a million, you know dollar marketing budget, and so when you search assisted living in my area, that's the first one that comes up, those big box facilities. And so these. You search assisted living in my area, that's the first one that comes up, those big box facilities. And so these smaller care homes, we just don't rank as high on SEO and we're not. We look like a regular residential home, and so when you buy you don't even know it's an assisted living. It's not you know the big sign out front, and so we are competing against them. But honestly, we find that most of our residents come from bad experiences over there and they say I have to find something better, and so when we're able to provide that love and that quality care and attention, it's a drastic difference, for sure.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I love what you do. I really do love that because that's how I feel too. I feel like the seniors, when people, the older they get, I feel like people sometimes kind of like, ah, they got sort of forgotten. Those people raised you and changed your diapers and took care of you. Yeah, Take care of them at the end and just throw them in some place and just like, oh you know, I'll do twice a year Like that's not right.

Isabelle Guarino:

It's not right. Nope, nope Got to make it. We have to have more options for our seniors, we need more beds and we need more quality people who care and want to make an impact in this industry, so it's so important for sure.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So if I'm working with your company, I can buy one of these or build one or whatever in any state.

Isabelle Guarino:

Yeah, actually, 31% of care home owners are remote owners, so they own a home in a state that they maybe do not live in. My homes are about 40 minutes, 45 minutes, away from where I live, and I like that distance because it's just enough that I don't want to go visit every day, because then that forces you to be more hands-on once you're there. You're, you know now. Now, oh, let me do this, let me do that, let me be in here. I want it to be a little bit inconvenient so that I'm not going there every day working in the business. So I visit them maybe every other month and just swing by to say hello and make sure the roof's not on fire, that's it.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I really love that too, and there's so many. The little town that we buy properties is called Clinton Iowa and back in I don't know the day I guess the silent generation day they had more millionaires living in that little area because they were all lumber barons, because the railroad, because it's around the Mississippi River, so the railroads came by with all the lumber and there's all these giant beautiful mansions I mean beautiful, and people have turned them into apartments now, but there's so many Absolutely stunning, and some of them have like 10 bedrooms. I told Bess we should buy a couple of these. Man, they're gorgeous and they're beautiful and they have all the old woodwork and the big style staircases and it's like, oh, so pretty.

Isabelle Guarino:

You just saw back in the day, it was like so fancy, that's amazing, that sounds beautiful.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I'm about to start zillowing those. Oh, there's so many. A couple of them have been fixed up and they do like tours and such and they have it decorated like for the time period and it's like, oh, people live so fancy back then, not like everyone's, why I shouldn't talk. I'm wearing like a hoodie today, so but it, but it is different.

Isabelle Guarino:

It is different, right. The world is is a lot, a lot lazier in in the way we present ourselves in our homes, right? Even I read this article that millennials are getting rid of the front room and the guest room. Right, like we're making our homes like that. There's no like formal sitting area, and that was such a thing back in the day. You had to have like that fancy room where you sat, you know, and you were quiet, and now it's just. We just live such a different life these days. So, whether it's fashion or home styles or all sorts of stuff, so it is, it is very different.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Oh, when I go on stage now, I mean I started off. You know I always wore suits and like that's what people wore. Then I was like you know what I don't want to wear a suit.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I don't want to do all that. Like I'm a girl, I don't. I want to wear like jeans and like a sweater. So I just started showing up in like my cowboy boots, my jeans and a sweater. In that I was like yeah, I feel better, I'm more comfortable and I don't like wearing suits. They don't fit me good. My boobies are big, I don't sit right here. That's what I'm wearing. Yep, there you go.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Some of the places I spoke for had meltdowns initially because every single person was still in the suit phase. Yeah, I'm like listen, all the guys can wear suits. All the girls can wear fancy dresses and high heels. I'm wearing jeans. So if you don't want me to come, I won't come, but I want to feel like myself. I like it A trendsetter. It's like let me tell me what to do. So, from the time of person. So you do all the coaching and the mentoring stuff. So I really love that too, because that is something I feel like. In a business like this, you really need to have your ducks in a row for lawsuits and things like that.

Isabelle Guarino:

Absolutely, Absolutely. You have to be protected. You have to have all your documentation with the state correct, you need that home renovated exactly how they require you to do it and you need your licensed staff. I always say slow to hire and quick to fire. If there is any funny business going on, you have to get rid of it ASAP. That's your reputation, your business and potential lawsuits on the line, and these are people's lives, and so it's so important that you put that first and really um our company motto of doing good and doing well. It's really about that balance, Like if you're just in this for the money.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

There are other forms of real estate, like head over there, right, yeah, I like doing good, doing well. Ours is people before profits. I'm mostly buying houses on people that are in foreclosure. They're losing their house. It's like, look, if you can't help them and take care of them and give them a fresh start because you just want to make a bunch of money, you should not be doing this.

Isabelle Guarino:

No, exactly You've got to live in their home.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, it's like you know, give them some love and help them get started and feel good about themselves again.

Isabelle Guarino:

Absolutely, absolutely.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I love your heart too. That is really good, okay, so tell me what is the biggest goal that you still want to accomplish and how can all of us at Dwanterful help you reach your next big goal?

Isabelle Guarino:

I love it. Our actually 10-year goal which I think we're like four years into when we set this goal is to positively impact 10 million people by providing high-quality assisted living in a residential home environment. So that doesn't necessarily just mean the seniors in the home, it also means the daughter duties, because if your parent has a terrible experience in a big box, you better believe it affects you, and so so having these homes it not only impacts the seniors but their families, as well as the care staff. You know your caregivers a lot of them when they're working in those big box facilities, the reason the care is so poor or subpar is because it's 30 seniors to one caregiver, and that's not okay.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It's not okay.

Isabelle Guarino:

It's not okay. So in our homes it's a four to one or five to one ratio and that's a lot more comfortable for these seniors. So you're also providing the caregivers a better opportunity to do the mission that was on their heart. Right, they could work at fast food or somewhere else. They chose to work in senior care. They love seniors, they want to be in this business.

Isabelle Guarino:

But then when you put them in an environment where it's 30 to one and they're rushed through their day, they you know a lot of what they want to do gets thrown out the window because they're trying to make metrics. And that's a systemic problem. That's not a caregiver problem, that's you know. It's a problem at the top, that's trinkling down to the bottom. And so in our homes we can provide that opportunity for the seniors, for the families and the caregivers. So all the listeners, if they want to help join that mission of positively impacting 10 million people with RAL, either putting your loved one in a care home instead of a facility when they need that option, or just promoting them. When you hear of someone in your life who needs this, you say, hey, have you considered a local residential assisted living home instead of the big box or opening your own Of course, yes, I love it.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Okay. So 10 million people, that's the goal. I saw all you wonderful people out there. You got to get busy and help do this and spread the word. But I, you know, having like my dad's alive, my aunts, both my three and my aunts are alive. My one aunt's 97 and she still lives at her house, but her daughter moved in with her. Wanda, she still walks two miles a day, so how cute is she. And my other, my mom's 87. My other aunt is 85. And they all still get out and they do stuff and you know, and my dad's 86, 86. Yeah, and it's like I'm just just yeah, they're all someplace really amazing or still able to be at home and with some help at home and stuff like that. And I think that's really the best way because you know we don't want our parents to go out in some horrible situation where like 30 to 1, like you, can't take care of people like that, especially assistants. They need help with the bathroom, the shower, they need help.

Isabelle Guarino:

Yeah, I agree.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I agree, it's so important and it sounds like you've got a lot of longevity in your family, so I do that's why I said listen, my, my aunt door was 101 when she died and she lived at by herself, so she was 99 and my aunt wanda's 97. My mom is 87, son is 85, and that's on my mom's side. On my dad's side he was the youngest of a bunch of kids, so all of them lived into their 80s and my grandfather into his 90s. I'm like girl, I'm going to live to be 100.

Isabelle Guarino:

There we go.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

When I do want to live someplace, I'm going to make sure it's like bougie. I love it, I'm bougie till the day I die. Okay, so let's jump some topics. Calvin, what is your favorite band of all time?

Isabelle Guarino:

Oh, can I go singer instead of band? You know I this is silly and probably embarrassing, but I love Pitbull I love some fun poppy Pitbull.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Let me tell you something. I have a house in Florida. I've been in Florida for the last 45 years. Yeah, Everyone down there loves Pitbull he's like a renowned. He's out His music. He's so sexy. My husband's like I don't get it. I'm like, oh honey, you have to be a girl to get it. Pitbull is like.

Isabelle Guarino:

You, my husband's, like I don't get it. I'm like, oh honey, you have to be a girl to get it. Pitbull is like you know. His songs are great when you're working out and you're running around they always put you in a good mood. I love it.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Now we have the Dish TV and it has all those serious radio channels. There's a Pitbull channel and so when Bill's at home, I'm just like walking around, what are you listening to? I'm like dude, it's Pitbull. He doesn't get it. As a guy I'm like listen, there's no woman on earth that doesn't think Pitbull is like, and besides that, his music is great and he's a really nice guy.

Isabelle Guarino:

He's really nice, yep, I agree.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, nothing to be embarrassed about girl. He's like one of my low key crushes. It's like, oh, if I wasn't married and I ran into hip hop, I'd be like I feel about old women.

Isabelle Guarino:

I like it.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

That's awesome. I love all dance music. At heart, I love anything dance. What's your favorite food? What do you like to eat?

Isabelle Guarino:

Oh, I love a good steak. I have a steak girl.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And then what's your favorite time, what's your favorite part of your day, all throughout the day, where's your place, where you're like, oh, this is great.

Isabelle Guarino:

You know, I I just had my first baby, my, my son, just 10 weeks ago, and I'm really enjoying. Um, I already loved mornings. I was always a morning girl, but I'm loving my mornings with him. There's nothing like waking up and just seeing that cute little face. So mornings for sure, oh, what's your baby's name?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Hendrix, hendrix, oh, that's so cute. Is this your first baby? Yes, oh see, I had my first at 30. So now in my day, 30 was like old to be having kids. But the millennials are like 30, 35, 37, all having babies. It's like okay. So I was like trailblazing back then. I don't have no babies on 20 years old, I'm waiting on 30. Babies are the best. I'm going to tell you something, girl. I know everybody tells you this, but they grow so much faster than you can ever get over, like they're so little, and then they're crawling and then they're walking like oh my God, what happened? It goes so fast.

Isabelle Guarino:

Yeah, it's amazing. It's so fun to watch him every day just grow and learn more skills every day.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Oh, and they're smiling and giggling and laughing and just oh, I know, I just, I love babies and I had my, all my grandbabies. I was like, oh, you forget, like how much you love babies and I had one for a long time. It's like, oh my God, okay, so I come to Phoenix, we're going to go listen to some pit bull and eat some steaks. There you go, I'll take it Okay. So one more time, because I want everything in the show notes. Tell people how to reach you.

Isabelle Guarino:

Yeah, you can find us on any of the social medias, at RAL Academy, or check out RAL101.com.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

All right. So first of all, I just want to thank you for coming on. You are just like a ball of sunshine, so I really enjoyed talking to you today and what you do. I am so on board with what you do, and my husband and I talk about this often and I'm like you know what. Now that I know you, it's like I know where to go when I'm ready to do this, because I it's just I don't know. I feel like it's something that I just I just want to do this at some point, yeah, and maybe have a nice place for my own self too.

Isabelle Guarino:

There we go.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I plan on just like rocking and rolling and just dropping dead. We don't want that. That's my plan. I'm going to rock and roll until I'm like 100 and then just poo-poo. But you know, should that not be my path? I would like to. If I had to be an assistant, I would want to be someplace where I felt a little more special and people knew me and I knew everybody. I didn't feel like I was in some strange environment. Absolutely that's what I like about what you guys do. It's absolutely amazing, all right.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So, folks, if you're new, I want you to do me a favor. If you had fun today, if you laughed, if you learned anything at all, I want you to subscribe the most wonderful real estate podcast ever. Subscribe, leave a five-star review and write something and say how amazing I am and how amazing isabel is. Follow me on all the socials. Everything is wonderful. So youtube, tiktok, instagram, threads, linkedin, all the stuff. It's really easy, and if you opt in at any of those, you will get a free ebook on how to to wholesale houses, flip your way to a fortune. Okay, so now the hardest part of the day is I want you to leave us with a parting word of wisdom, but just a single word.

Isabelle Guarino:

Oh, a single word.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Inspire Okay, I love it. Say never tell anyone, and until, because they'll be thinking about their word while we're talking and see you do like you can read. They look up and you're like you think it's like inspire. Inspire is a great word, and so everyone that watches me on the regular knows that when they hear the word inspire from you, that is their word of the week. So they're supposed to focus on the word inspire, but we want to know what it means to you.

Isabelle Guarino:

You know, lately I've just been thinking I love that I'm able to inspire people to start businesses that make an impact. And if anything, if I could be anything in this world, I would love to just be a fleck of inspiration in people's lives to help them do something that they've wanted to do or that they've thought about, whether it's assisted living or something else. I just love helping people when they come with a dream, when they come with a vision, talk through it and say let's take it to that next level, and so I want to be an inspiration more in a day-to-day life. So that's why I think Inspire came to my mind. It's been on my heart and my mind lately.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

See, now you got a chance to tell all of us what it means to you and everyone. That's what that means to Isabel. So what does Inspire mean to you? So today's word of the week Inspire and I love that word too. Because word of the week inspire and I love that word too, because part of the reason I teach is I like to see people change their finances. I like to see people build generational wealth. Like to see people that had these jobs they hated, you know, own their own business and in any facet, any facet at all, of real estate investing. So I also feel inspired to want to help other people because if I had followed my given path, I'd be working in a factory. It's like can you imagine me working in a factory? I am not a factory girl. Oh, you're not. I am just not okay.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Everyone, uh, thank you so much for being on. We'll be back next week, same bat time, same bat channel again. Thank you so much for spending your time with us today. We really, truly appreciate it. And you have a baby now. So I always tell people time is your most valuable asset. And younger people. When you're 20s, you're like 10 foot tall and bulletproof, but when you start having kids, you realize time passes really quickly. So I always appreciate that you took an hour out of your day to be with us over here at Dwanterful, so thank you for that and remember everybody that the truth is in the red letters. Okay, we'll talk to you next week. Ciao, bye, everyone. Have a good week. Make something happen, okay.