Overcoming Setbacks and Building Wealth Through Real Estate

 🚨 From Gardening Routes to Generational Wealth 🚨
What does it really take to build a business, survive market crashes, and create long-term wealth?

In this powerful episode of The BRRRR Investor Podcast, Alex Nahle sits down with Jorge Ruvalcaba, a seasoned landscape contractor who’s lived the highs and brutal lows of entrepreneurship and real estate investing, and came out stronger.

Jorge doesn’t sugarcoat the journey. He shares real lessons from:
🌱 Taking over his father’s gardening route and scaling it into a licensed landscape business
🏡 How landscaping can dramatically boost property value and first impressions (most investors overlook this!)
📉 Surviving the 2008 real estate crash, and what he’d never do again
💥 The mental, financial, and emotional toll of business ownership
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Why family, community, and due diligence are the real keys to generational wealth

If you’re an investor, business owner, or aspiring entrepreneur, this episode could save you years of costly mistakes.

👉 Watch until the end for insights most people only learn the hard way.
👍 Like, subscribe, and drop a comment, what part of Jorge’s journey hit home for you?

This is the episode people wish they watched sooner.

Thank you SO much for stopping by! I appreciate you!
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🏡Check out our next Real Estate event here - https://shorturl.at/jEO46 

Transcript

Alex Nahle [00:00:00]:
Welcome back to the BRRRR Investor Podcast, where our mission is to empower aspiring real estate investors in their journey towards building generational wealth. I'm here with my good friend Jorge Ruvalcaba. Jorge is a business owner, owns his own landscape company. Jorge, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today, man.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:00:21]:
Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Alex Nahle [00:00:23]:
I know, you know, we've been communicating lately and you've been very busy, so I don't want to keep you too long again, I'm glad you're here. Just want to. I've known you for about maybe we met a year, A year and a half.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:00:34]:
Maybe a year and a half ago.

Alex Nahle [00:00:36]:
Yeah, year and a half ago. And, you know, you and I have been, you know, gotten close and connected and we've been talking and so forth since. And, you know, I've gotten to know your wife as well, and your story really, you know, resonated with me. I hear different versions of your story from different people. You know, those that are, you know, having a struggle to get started.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:00:56]:
Right.

Alex Nahle [00:00:56]:
In real estate investing. And those that have started but, you know, had, you know, unfortunate situations. Right. Experience. Unfortunate situation. They got burnt, they got cheated, they. They experienced collapse of the market in the past or they maybe heard horror stories from other people.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:01:12]:
Right, right.

Alex Nahle [00:01:13]:
So with that said, that's why I really wanted you to come on and I appreciate you taking the time to be here. So tell us a little bit about, you know, Jorge, tell us a little bit about, you know, the landscaping business and what really inspired you getting into landscaping.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:01:25]:
First of all, thank you for having me here and, you know, first time doing something like this. So we'll give it a go. Anyway, so, yeah, I'm a landscape contractor. I've been in the business. I've been licensed since 1999. So 26 years ago, I've. But I've done landscaping, gardening, all that stuff since pretty much I was 6, 7 years old. I would go work with my dad on the weekends and stuff like that. Yeah, it was so fortunate that at a young age I was 14 going on 15. I lost my dad also at a really young age, at 44 years old. So after that, you know, I kind of started getting too much trouble and stuff. And I said, you know what? I told my mom I'm done with school. I'm going to just take on my dad's gardening route full time. And pretty much everything that I made was for her. Right. All the money I brought in was for her to help in the house. It was bad time. So anyway, so I kind of got pushed into it a bit, I guess you could say, you know, into the landscape part of it. But it's also what I knew how to do because I had done it for so long with my dad, you know, I. I was doing gardening, and I'm thinking, there's got to be more to it than this, you know, I said, I want to become a landscape contractor. I want to get big contracts. I want to deal with, you know, engineers, architects. That was my thinking back then. You know, city work, stuff like that. I said, I just got to get bigger contract. Said it's not going to happen. Just as a gardener, it isn't. You know, I was maybe about 20, I want to say I was about 23, 24 when I started studying for the contractors exam. I got my first go. I. I had turned everything in. They denied me. I. I said, why'd you deny me? They just thought I was too young. When I did get my license, I was one of the youngest, or I might have been the youngest at the time to actually get my contractor's license. Yeah, that's why they couldn't believe it, you know what I mean? And I was like, look, you know, I. I get it, but I. I've given you everything you asked for. All the letters of recommendation, the experience, all that stuff. So anyway, it. Third. Third time's a charm. That's when the lady said, send me all this stuff again and I'll get you a test date. So I got a test date. I passed. I got, you know, I passed the test. It was a, you know, best time of my life, you know, it was a big accomplishment for me. And so then it. It went from there, you know, slowly but surely, I started growing the business and. And I just. I like what I do, you know, I really do. I do like seeing, like, a yard that looks sad and tore up and. And just transforming brings pleasure, you know, and it brings going to, you know, your business and stuff, brings value to. And, you know, to homes and stuff like that, you know, I think curb appeal is the first thing. It's. It's like a first impression, right? So. So I just. I. That's one part I like about it. It's just how you make something ugly into something beautiful, I guess, as easiest terms, you know. Yeah. So that's similar.

Alex Nahle [00:04:33]:
It's a big contributor to a flip or like, you know, remodel or rehab of property. It's the first impression, right? First thing you see when you step up to the property, right?

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:04:43]:
Yeah, exactly. And it's crazy because it's kind of. I think it's. It's psychological. A lot of people, if you see rundown landscape and it looks raggedy, they're already thinking, oh, there's. There must be more problems to this place. Right? And you see a really nice landscape, nice, manicured, or taken care of. It doesn't have to be all lavish. You know, as long as it's nice and clean, you know, it's. And then your mentality changes. You're thinking, okay, if their landscape's taken care of, then, you know, they must have taken care of the inside of the house or whatever. It's just all psychological. But it. And in all honesty, it's true too, though, if you take the time to take care and really have that nice landscape, you know, the inside of the house is also well maintained. You know, at least that's my opinion.

Alex Nahle [00:05:30]:
I mean, the way I see it is this, like, you remodel a house, right? You do an amazing job. You know, you've seen some of the work that, you know, we've done. Yeah, we put a lot of time, effort, good quality, finishes, and then you don't stage it. Right.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:05:43]:
Right.

Alex Nahle [00:05:44]:
It doesn't show the same way. Yeah, you stage it, Pops.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:05:47]:
Right?

Alex Nahle [00:05:48]:
Now, let's take a step back. You. You don't remodel a house. You know, you clean it up, you vacuum, whatever you mop before you clean it up and you stage it. It's still like it's seen differently, right?

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:05:59]:
Yes. Yes.

Alex Nahle [00:05:59]:
So I've seen a lot of properties that, you know, need to be remodeled, a lot of deferred maintenance, you know, but they're staged, and it definitely, you know, lot. So. Yeah, I understand. I totally get it. And, you know, one thing I wanted to say, you mentioned, you know, you really liked your job. I think you're very passionate about what you do. You know, from knowing you, the short amount of time that I know you want. You're. You're a father, you know, you're a husband. And, you know, and the conversations we've had. I know. I can tell, you know, you're. You're passionate about your family, your kids, your wife, your. Your job, everything you do. And. And it also reflects in your work. Right. Because, you know, we work together. You. You know, you came to the event. We'll talk about that in a little bit. You connected with. With me at the event, and that's what this event is about. Right? Empowering entrepreneurs like yourself to connect together. And see how we can be a resource to one another.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:06:49]:
Right, right.

Alex Nahle [00:06:50]:
When I met you, I had, you know, a few projects going on. I said, hey, you know, we. I. I have one that I. I need your help with. Can you come check it out? You know the Pink house. The. The Monrovia one.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:06:58]:
Yeah.

Alex Nahle [00:06:59]:
And, and, and like I said, you know, it's. It shows in your workmanship, in your promises, commitment, your pricing and all that overall, you know.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:07:10]:
Right. So.

Alex Nahle [00:07:11]:
And as far as that specific example, you know, it really helped the property sell very fast. Even the other one you did on Alice in LA. So. So you. Passionate, man. You're truly passionate. That's what drives you.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:07:25]:
Right, right, right.

Alex Nahle [00:07:26]:
That's in my opinion. So I want to take a step back to, you know, what you were saying. So are you the. How many siblings?

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:07:34]:
I have, It's, it's four of us all together, so I have three siblings. I'm the youngest of all four. Youngest? Youngest, yeah. I have a brother. My brother's the oldest, and then I have two sisters and then myself, so, yeah.

Alex Nahle [00:07:47]:
Okay, well, that's pretty cool. I mean, I was. If I was to guess, I was gonna say you're the oldest. You know, you're taking over your father's business and you're going, that's awesome, man. That's commendable. Everything else is history. Right. You've. You've moved on. We've talked about how you've taken on a lot of government contracts, a lot of city contracts. Yeah, you have. I'm sure you have mixed feelings about that. What else. What else do you want to share? Like, what's the journey that you're on? Like, what do you feel the highs and the lows of being a business owner?

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:08:15]:
Exactly. Like you said, there's highs and lows, you know. You know, there's lows where, you know, there's.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:08:21]:
It's hard work is hard to come by sometimes, you know, you really got to hustle, you know, One of the hardest things is actually finding good help, you know? You know, which could be a big downfall for a lot of people. You know what I mean? As far as highs. I mean, sometimes even the. I mean, I've. I've had, you know, I think we spoke about it, and I won't get into too much detail, but I've had really bad lows, you know, and we were fortunate enough with. With the support of my whole family, obviously my wife, Fabby, which, you know, and, you know, my whole family and stuff, I was able to come, you know, rise above it. And we're still standing, you know, with all those lows. I mean, I will, I don't think I could whatever change being self employed, being my own boss, because even though we don't have a typical 9 to 5, you know, or even my employees, like they get, they're done with work and that's it, they're done. You know, we don't have that luxury. You know, I don't think we're ever done. Right. We don't have eight hour jobs, you know, eight hour shifts, you know, but with that you have, you also pretty much make your own schedule, so you get to have a little bit more freedom to spend it with family, with going to kids events, going to your kids sports events, coaching, like I know you do. And you know, I coached baseball, you know, you coach soccer, stuff like that. I mean, there's just a lot of stuff that's, that's really good about it. You know, that to me especially, family comes first. So to me, like just having, being able to make time to be with my family, that just trumps everything, even honestly big contracts or whatever it be. It was just, to me, it was always, yeah, I want to make a really good living, a really nice, comfortable living, but I want to be able to spend time with my kids. And I've been able to do it, thank God, you know, because, you know, I mean, I've hustled my butt off to do it, you know, to make my business what it is and, and be able to give me those perks from time to time, you know, so that's, those will probably be my, like my highs and lows on the, on the business.

Alex Nahle [00:10:27]:
Yeah, it's always a lot of highs and lows, that's for sure.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:10:31]:
Yeah. You know that. Then again, you're running two businesses, so you know that.

Alex Nahle [00:10:37]:
Yeah. And that's honestly like part of, you know, what makes or breaks a business. Right. It's like the, the, the lows being able to get back up and keep going. In your case, like you said, you know, it doesn't seem like there'. No, nobody can get you out of what you do because you love what you do, despite all the, the loads that you did experience, like you said. And, and it made you stronger.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:10:58]:
Right, Right.

Alex Nahle [00:10:59]:
Yeah. And you're able to reevaluate your business, what you can do differently and so forth.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:11:03]:
Yes, sir. Exactly. Exactly.

Alex Nahle [00:11:05]:
So with that, I want to segue to your real estate investing experience in the past, you know, before you and I met you shared with me a little bit about it. Share with us a little bit about. About that. Whatever you've been, You. You want to share what happened in the past and how, you know, you've recouped or not recouped from.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:11:24]:
Right, yeah. Well, back in 2000, it was around 2007, I would say. We did do some investing out in Vegas, my wife and I, and I was real passionate about, you know, this. This was one thing that I. I have always known, even since I was young. I said I. For some reason, I just knew I wanted to own property and. And, you know, stuff like that. Yeah, I'm just passionate about just like landscaping. I'm passionate about like. Like real estate, like, property, like, you know, owning, like, you know, stuff like that. Investing. Right. So we decided to invest in Vegas. We had three properties out in Vegas. You know, everything was going pretty good, you know, and then 2008 came, obviously, you know, and boom, everything went so bad. So also that, you know, some of our renters had to move out. The renters I was trying to get, like, after that, like, the rents weren't, you know, matching anymore. Our payment pretty much, you know, so for a while, I was able to carry it. I said, well, you know, I'll. I'll, you know, we can carry it for a little while. We'll see how long this goes, you know. And I was. I was upside down on everything, but I was able to be pain, you know, a little bit negative on everything, but I'm paying pain just to see if it. The market ever leveled out. But as you know, that took a while. So it just, you know, took a toll. And I told my wife, we can't do this no more. You know, we're. We're losing money. I was okay for a little while, you know, but no, it's. It's not. It's not going to be feasible. We can't keep doing this. You know, we. It was getting hard to find good renters. So Vegas went real hard. Went down real hard. Right. So it was really bad. It was worse than here, I think, you know, and so we just ended up deciding, you know, we can't handle this the more with that. And like I said, one of the lows in the business where I had told you, you know, I had these big lawsuits and all that stuff, so everything kind of came together, right? So we said, look, what is our priority going to be? You know, is it the properties out there are investments and all that, or I have to deal with these lawsuits and I dealt with that, took care of it. But now it's like, now we got to save our home. So it's either we save the investments or we save our home, you know? And so obviously we out there to save home, and we had to let those properties go, you know, and it's unfortunate. I mean, we had to go, you know, bankrupt. We lost the properties, the whole ordeal, you know, but, you know, here we are, we're still standing, you know, we got through it. And like, exactly like you said, it's. It's. At the time, it seems like your world is trumbling down, and it is at the time. You know what I mean? But it's how you get up, you know, how you get back to things that I think that's where you really learn why it happened or the things that happen, and then you make some adjustments. And like I told you since when we met that, my wife and I said, now we know that we have to do more due diligence, not just jump in. It just, you know, I used to be gung ho, dude. Boom, boom, let's go. You know, now I gotta hold myself, and she holds me back, and she's like, wait a minute. We gotta look deeper into this because we're not getting into that problem again, you know, so. So yeah, we kind of learned. You know, you learn.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:14:41]:
It's it's a learning experience. You know, if. If you make it out of those big problems, then it truly is a learning experience, and it truly does make you stronger, you know, wiser, I guess, whatever. And. And, you know, so if it happens again, like, without doing your due diligence, you can't control the market. But I'm saying, as far as, like, we would go in a gun hole, like, not really do our due diligence, then, you know, that's shame on us, right, if it happens the second time. But luckily we met some guy named Alex Nahle.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:15:12]:
He, he won't let us do that. It's.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:15:18]:
It's been awesome knowing you've had this year and a half. And like you said, we'll get into how we met and stuff, but, yeah, it's been. It's been cool, you know, having you as a friend, because I consider you a friend. So, yeah, so now we're like, yeah, let's go. Let's do this investing again. You know, we're. I think I'm over all that PTSD and all that, you know, so we're ready to roll.

Alex Nahle [00:15:41]:
You know, it took A while. Like it was.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:15:43]:
Took a while.

Alex Nahle [00:15:44]:
It was hard, it was scary.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:15:46]:
Especially for my wife more than me, you know.

Alex Nahle [00:15:48]:
Sure.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:15:49]:
Because I'm like I said, I'm a little bit more gung ho. So I'm like, all right, I'm ready to go, let's go. You know, and she's like, ah, wait a minute, you know, so, yeah, that's good.

Alex Nahle [00:15:56]:
You balance out each other, you know.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:15:59]:
Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. I think if I'm too extreme and so she, she kind of calls me down, you know, so brings me down to earth.

Alex Nahle [00:16:09]:
Yeah. This is awesome. So if, if you're enjoying this episode, if you're watching on YouTube, please click the like, subscribe to the channel and share this with a friend or a family member. If you're listening to this on either Amazon Music or Spotify in the comment section below, we do have the link to YouTube. Check it out as well if you'd like to watch it. So again, please subscribe to the channel. Really helps us out. So, Jorge, so after all this, despite of what you went through, you're still considering investing in real estate?

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:16:42]:
Yes. Yeah, I'm still passionate about it. Yeah. Even after all we went. Because exactly, like you said, it's. It's kind of a learning experience and I just feel like it's just the best way, especially me being self employed. Alex. And then, you know, not really. My wife has a really good job, but she's a W2, so she, I'm kind of secure under her blanket worth with. She provides the medical, the dental, like all that stuff through her job, you know, she has her, her retirement, all that stuff. Self employed. We have to make our own retirement. You know what I mean? So.

Alex Nahle [00:17:15]:
Exactly.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:17:15]:
Pretty much for me. That's, that's one tiny drive for me, which is to build landscape, to build, you know, that, that, you know, fortune just to have a good retirement. But the other one is really my kids. You know, as we've spoken in the past, you know, our goal really is. I mean, besides, I do, like you said, I want to do like I still into doing, want to do flips, stuff like that. I do want to own some stuff, rentals. But our ultimate goal is hopefully have at least one property for each one of our kids. You know, we have three kids. So that's. I think that's what keeps the drive more than anything. You know what I mean? Because times are so tough. Everything's so damn expensive. Excuse me. So expensive. It's like, you know, that's the only way I Could think we could help our kids out, you know, at least give them a property. Then it's up to them if they want to live there, they want to rent it out, or they want to cash out and buy something bigger, better. I don't know. That's, that's on them, you know, Exactly. I feel like we did our part at that point. Yeah.

Alex Nahle [00:18:21]:
But also, I mean, what I know about you is not just you leave it for them. The way I know you do it is you get them involved, you, you educate them on what you're doing and so forth. Like, you, you mentioned about your business, so that's very important because this way, you know, they're more responsible. Right. They're more involved. They know it's not like, oh, we're going to get a house. No, they're going to be participating it better, and so forth and so on. So.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:18:43]:
Right, right.

Alex Nahle [00:18:44]:
It's definitely cool to have a balance. And, you know, that's one thing you and I have in common, is family. Family comes first. You know, obviously we love what we do, but, you know, we, we. It has to be balanced out.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:18:55]:
Right, Right.

Alex Nahle [00:18:56]:
So, so with that said, you know, let's jump into I, how we met. You know, I know it's, it's a story that I, I, I don't forget, really, you know, sticks in my memory. I remember, you know, some of the people that were there at the time and so forth in the setting. So share with us a little bit about how we met a little bit before, days before that, that event.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:19:19]:
Right? Yeah. So when I, we had, my wife and I had talked and we decided, yeah, let's do this. You know, so now I'm thinking, okay, how do I do this? You know, in LA, it's so expensive. Is it even feasible to, you know, invest here or flip or do anything? You know what I mean? And I started like, you know, hearing podcasts and, and reading books and, and, you know, searching and out of state and this and that. And I was like, okay. But then, now I gotta try to know people out of state. Make like a team out of state. And, you know, and I went through that before in Vegas, you know, so I was like, you know what I need, like a sign, you know, or something, you know, from God, honestly, you know, like, and I'm searching, I'm going through Instagram and then your Instagram pops up, you know, and I see you, and then you're doing the investing here in LA and all this, and I'm like, dude, you know, this is an actual dude. Because, you know, there's a lot of stuff that they show out there that supposedly they invest this and that, but it's all baloney, right? But, you know, it. I don't know, it was just something about it that just caught my attention, and it just. It called me, you know, and I told my wife, I think this is the guy that I need to talk to, you know, and it was. Honestly, you were just like, godsend. It was like a sign he sent me, you know, And I. I believe I contacted you through it, didn't I?

Alex Nahle [00:20:48]:
I. You contacted me before coming to the event.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:20:51]:
Yes.

Alex Nahle [00:20:52]:
I don't recall. It could have been through social media. I know you. You weren't following me. I wasn't following you. I think you were just talking me, that's all. But then, so, yeah, it's. It's. It's interesting how that happened. I mean, you know, you're. It's the right place at the right time, you know.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:21:10]:
I think so. And. And I'm not a guy that. That takes two. Like, you know, it takes me a little bit to kind of, you know, confine somebody or actually trust and because of all the stuff I've been through. Right. But for some reason, it's just. It was just like, to me, it was something that was meant to be, honestly, you know, And I showed up to the event in Studio City. It was. I believe that was the first event I went to. Right. I was nervous as hell, dude. I'm not used to being like, I'm a social guy and I talk, and I'll let you know, me, I could go on and on. Right? But like. Like, to start socializing and. And something that was kind of out of my. My norm, you know, because I'm socializing with clients all the time and. And, you know, employees and contractors and all that stuff, you know, about this stuff that I know, investing, you know, I felt like I was new to it again because, you know, like I said, I had done some investing. I. I did out of state investing without even knowing, really, I was doing out of state investing back in the day. You know, I was just like, I'm always in Vegas. I have family in Vegas. And I was like, yeah, let's do this. I can do this over here. I know Vegas, you know, I did show up to the event, you know, and I spoke a little bit about myself, how I met you, you know, how. And. And I think I did tell everybody. It was like a sign, you know, I just. I had to meet him, you know, this is the, the guy. He, this was going to be my mentor. This is, you know, it just, it just felt right, dude, you know, that. That's what it was like. It, you, you have a gut feeling, you know, as I believe as humans, we just have that gut feeling whether something good or something bad. And so, you know, I said, you know what, I'm going with it. Yeah. And we met. Year and a half later, here we are, you know, we're friends, we stay in touch, you know, and, you know, I've done some projects for you and some properties for you, stuff like that. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten my own investment yet, but that, that'll change pretty soon. You know, we'll talk about, we're working on it. Yeah. And, but, but yeah, dude, it just, like I said, it, it just seemed like a sign. It felt right. And, and here we are, you know, I met you met your wife, wonderful lady, you know, and so, you know, it all worked out, you know, and I've been going to your events. I try to go to, to all your events, at least at your, the, the Pasadena events, I try to go to on a monthly basis all the time, you know, unless I can't make it for some reason. But other than that, I try to be there. Yeah.

Alex Nahle [00:23:42]:
And I appreciate that.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:23:43]:
We've had a lot of insight in your, in your events too, you know, so you brought a lot of speakers and a lot of stuff that you're like, like odd moments, like, oh, damn, you know, I didn't know this. Yeah. So it's.

Alex Nahle [00:23:55]:
So would you say like the, the people you met at the events or the content that you've heard at the events, whether a speaker or others that are attending, would you say that really impacted your, your mindset, your viewpoint of real estate investing and kind of encourage you to even push further?

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:24:13]:
Yeah, I honestly, you know, you know how, how you, you lead by example and that's what you're doing. You know what I mean? And that's, that's the first thing I look at because, you know, you have your real estate, you know, business and you have your real estate investment and stuff like that, so there's no denying that it could be done in LA. So, so you're kind of my first inspiration where, dude, he's doing it. So, yeah, you know, and you've been mentoring me and so it's like, yeah, it could be done. And then, you know, we go to your events and then I've, there's been a lot of interesting topics in there that kind of open your mind. You're like, oh crap, you know, yeah, yeah, I never thought of this or I never imagined this or, you know, and so it just, it does open your mind to, to more of a broader spectrum, you know, and you've had speakers where you can really go either way with investing. You know, there's, there's been a lot of variety of stuff, you know, like syndications and then, you know, and just regular, you know, investing and then multi family and all these talks, you know, and even like trying to get like those business lines of credit and stuff like that, you know, to help out with your investment, you know. So it's, it's been a lot of insight, a lot of interesting stuff that has happened and, and the people I've met there have been awesome, you know, and it's, I mean it's been people from all walks of life. Dude, that's crazy. You know, it's cool. You know, from, and I've met, you know, people that are in syndications. I met people that are investing in multifamily. I've met people that are, that just invest in their neighborhood like where they live and, and they're trying to invest there and you know, and so it's, it's, it's cool. You know, all the different stories is really cool. And it does, it does kind of keep the drive going, you know.

Alex Nahle [00:26:02]:
Yeah, it's really about the people you meet along the way, you know, good or good better and different. It's just, you know, that's what makes the experience. And, and I'm glad to, to hear that, you know, you've enjoyed it, you know, that feedback is valuable. Right? That's the goal is to make sure, you know, it's, it's, it's information or people that we're going to be able to provide value for one another. Right. That's really what it's all about. So.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:26:24]:
Right.

Alex Nahle [00:26:25]:
So again, going back to what you said, like, you took action. You didn't let, you know, you didn't let it push you down and not get back up. You did make excuses, but you overcame them, right? You figured out what you need to do to take action. It, you're not, it's, you put yourself out of your element, right? You're not the type of guy that's comfortable to go out network easily and you got there, you know, you get there easily. You push yourself. That's important. Right? So, so, so kudos to you. And, and this is, again, this is, you know, the, the, the main reason I really wanted to. Your story resonated with me. I felt, you know, I'm hoping that. I'm pretty sure that, you know, it's going to resonate with someone out there that's listening or watching right now. Hopefully it inspires them to get up, take action and then everything else is magical after that. You know, once, once you get the property, you stabilize it. If it's a rental property or you know, you're going to deal with issues obviously, right?

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:27:21]:
Yeah.

Alex Nahle [00:27:21]:
If it's a fix and flip, you get it, you sell it.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:27:24]:
Yeah.

Alex Nahle [00:27:24]:
You make money, you move on. So great stuff. I'm excited for you. Right. I'm excited for you and I know with your, your work, with your kids growing up and you know, graduation and all that stuff, I know that's been kind of holding you back a little bit. But we'll, we're going to find something for you that's going to be the right thing. But I want to end it with this. I, I want you to, you know, with this conversation that we had with your past experience with where you're at now. What advice would you give? You know, 20 year old Jorge, like if someone want, as back then wants to get started. Let's talk about like real estate investing. What would you do differently? You know, the, the mistakes. Learn from someone else or take make the mistake yourself. What would you feel? What advice would you give?

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:28:11]:
Honestly? I say what my wife and I always said, like do our due diligence way better. You know what I mean? Really, really look into not only the property you're trying to invest in. I don't, you know, looking into trying to put together a good team, especially if it's out of state like we were trying to do in Vegas. Right. You got to rely on all these people. So you know, you got to make sure. And then after that also, you know, we made a couple mistakes with some renters that boy, there were mistakes. So, you know, but we were kind of in the crunch where oh, but I, I need the money right now. I need the monthly. And so that was a big no, no, you know, if you go in it like that, like where I, I just need the money. It's. It's gonna get you in trouble, you know, it's not gonna go anywhere good, you know what I mean? And we went through that. So I mean that's, I think that's my, my biggest thing is just do your due diligence as best as you can, you know, get as, gather as much information as you can. And don't hold yourself back, though. Go for it, you know, take the leap. Do it because, you know, the, our biggest enemy and our biggest that holds us back is ourselves, you know, And I mean, I could attest to it because I had PTSD for, you know, so many years, you know, toy like almost 20 years, you know, by the time I'm coming around to it again, you know, now 50, you know, so, so I, I'd say that's my biggest thing. Just don't beat yourself. Just, you know, go for it. And not everything's not going to be perfect, but things have a way of working out, you know, and, and, and when they work out, it's, it's really cool, you know. Yeah, it's a good thing, you know, so that's, that's, that would be it.

Alex Nahle [00:30:01]:
That's awesome, man. That's awesome. Well, I appreciate it, Jorge. Again, always cool talking to you. Looking forward for us to, to getting together again soon and, you know, just let's go out there, get your next investment and make. Turn things around for you, right?

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:30:21]:
Yes, sir.

Alex Nahle [00:30:22]:
You have an awesome day.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:30:24]:
All right, you too.

Alex Nahle [00:30:24]:
Coming out and then see you guys on the next episode.

Jorge Ruvalcaba [00:30:27]:
All right, thank you very much. Bye bye.

Alex Nale [00:30:30]:
Thank you all for joining us on the BRRRR Investor Podcast. If you found today's episode helpful, please hit like and subscribe to our channel for more insights. We love hearing from you, so please leave your thoughts, questions or topics you'd like us to cover in the comments section below. Be sure to check out our website, thebrrrrinvestor.com and follow us on social media @thebrrrrinvestor. Keep learning and investing and we'll see you in the next episode. I'm your host, Alex Nahle. Stay invested.