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What's up, my people? What up? I'm Sam, also known as the Pro Design Builder. Um, bringing to you another live stream, another live training, and today what we're gonna be talking about is market condition updates and getting clear on your why. That's gonna be extremely important. Uh reason that's extremely important is because uh as a as a coach, as an entrepreneur, uh honestly, I cannot work with anybody that has a small vision or a small why, right? If you ever want to be a real estate developer, that's not what that is, right? That requires you to have uh a lot of knowledge, a lot of uh experience, a lot of uh perseverance because you have to go through a lot of red tape, a lot of planning. Um, it's not for the faint at heart. Yes, the profits are big when it comes to uh new development projects, but they're just not handing those out, right? So, you know, you need to be a big visionary. Um, and I just wanted to kind of start there because I just feel like that's the right place to start. So uh if you don't know me, my name is Sam, also known as the Pro Design Builder. Uh, for the last 14 years, I've been a real estate, real estate uh investor. For the first five years, I was a house flipper, then the last eight years I've been a design build general contractor, and what a design build general contractor is is from concept to completion on the single point of contact for the client. So they would come to me to build a custom home, and then I would walk them through the process. I handle the architect, I handle the designer, I handle the actual construction, permitting anything that has to do with planning, ordering material, all of it. I handle every aspect of that, and what I'm doing now is I'm helping real estate investors do the same thing, right? So it all started in 2011. My wife got into med school, and she was supposed to go to med school in the islands of Anguilla, and I remember right before she was supposed to go, she wrote me a letter, and I'm reading the letter, and it essentially said, I don't foresee us having the family life that we envision. I don't foresee us, you know, um that happening. Uh, if I go to med school, then I have to go to Chicago after is a bunch of different good reasons at the time. It frustrated me, but it was the absolute right move, and you'll understand why that's important when I get to uh talking about my wife. So uh I she handed me a book, Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I I devoured that book, I grew from that book, it instantly resonated with me that what I needed to do as a uh real estate investor, and then I went to a seminar, and then I went to a second seminar just for an exclamation point, and then from there I took massive action. All right, I started uh taking massive action. I was green, uh, I didn't know what I was doing, I didn't even know what an escrow was. Uh, but I had a friend of the title company that would just tell me exactly, you know, uh what to do, where to put the escrow line, what initials to sign off, what addendums that I needed, and that's kind of how I got my first deal done. But my vision didn't stop, didn't stop there. I remember I was flipping this house, and I needed to uh get this engineering letter for because the property had uh at one point a car had ran into the side of the home, and there was a structural element that was needed, right? But it wasn't closed out on a permit, but it just came up later. And uh I remember approaching this uh building engineer, and I said, I said, Hey, you helped me out on this particular project. Uh, I want to understand, I want to become a developer. Can I come work for you for free and donate my time and da da da da da? He goes, This guy was a real jerk. He goes, he said, you can pay me 30 grand, uh, and I'll teach you everything you know. He said, as a matter of fact, 40 grand, right? And then I'll teach you everything you need to know about building, developing, etc. Right? And at that time, I was still an investor. I wasn't a design building or contractor, I was still trying to figure it out. I knew I had the end goal of being a developer, right? So uh that wasn't gonna work out for me, and and and the guy was a jerk. So I remember I had a friend in Manhattan that was a developer that I went to high school with, and at the time he had about 600 million in the pipeline of projects, he had another couple hundred million in projects that they were uh planning for, and I remember sitting in his office, and uh he was like, Sam, how do you want to get involved? And I was considering moving to New York, and he was, you know, I was like, hey, you know, uh, I want to do this, I want to do that, and and I want to learn all of the steps, da da da. And I ended up representing him on a a project in Fort Lauderdale uh that he was considered considering building. But that's here nor there. I remember leaving that meeting, and I said to him, I want to learn new development through construction. I think that was gonna give me the best lens that I needed to do, and then that's when I started my uh company from there. But I've done everything in in regards to investing, building, uh, addition, everything. I've done it all. Right, and now I am utilizing all of the all of the skills that I've learned to help other people, right? And the reason being is uh family and I don't want to necessarily live where we are living anymore, we want to travel um abroad, and this is gonna allow me the best way to do that is to have this level of flexibility. Alright, so market conditions, right? So the question I got for you is uh are you prepared with what is going to happen in your own personal economy? All right, I know just like everyone else, if you if you if you say that you can't feel what's going on, you're lying to yourself, right? Everyone is feeling this squeeze, right? I know just for for me, if I hang out at Publix, which is a grocery store, uh more than five minutes, you know, then I know I'm I'm I'm gonna get it, right? So uh the consumer really sees the economy through that lens, and I see the economy from from a very different lens, and we're gonna kind of dive into that um a little bit a little bit later, right? So when when prices go up on material, and as a contractor, I'm handling tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars in material. So when the price increase happens, I see it a lot more and a lot faster than the consumer sees it at the grocery store or when they're buying products and stuff like that. So we're gonna be diving into um what the Fed has uh has to say in regards to interest rates, and then we're gonna dive into getting clear on your big why, your big vision, right? So uh I want to break certain things down, right? What is the Fed funds rate? All right, it's important for us to know what that is. Uh it's the interest rate banks charge each other, you know, for overnight lending, right? So the Fed funds rate is gonna be very important to understand because the Fed said that they're not going to cut the rate right now. They said that they're they're they're they're um they're optimistic about the current picture, but you gotta you have to pay attention to what they're saying, and I'm gonna break that down for you um today, right? So the rate won't will not change. They said that they do plan to cut rates over the next uh over the next year, maybe twice. And let me just explain to you exactly what happens when the rate goes up and the rate goes down, right? I'm gonna use a car note, for example. Right. So if the rate goes up, let's say you're at six percent and the rate goes up, you should probably expect to pay anywhere from seven and a half percent to almost close to eight percent when the rates go up, depending on how many how many basis points they go up. And if they go down, you'll expect to pay less, so five percent or so, because the banks don't have to pay uh as much to to trade uh to trade funds, right? So they say they're gonna keep it at the level of where is where where it's at, but one thing that you have to pay attention to uh to the Fed, they are aware that anything that they say could create a market shift, right? So they painted a picture that looks like this, but also gave us warning on on the tariff situation, which I kind of explained to you a little bit. So the feds are keeping the rate at the same labor rate currently is at 4.1 percent, which is which is good. Overall GDP is two percent, which has slowed down some, which is which is which is also uh good, but we're still we're we're still continuing to uh increase. Inflation rate is at 2.8 percent. Now, when the when the Fed started increasing their interest rate, what they said was they wanted to get down to a 2% inflation um percentage, right? That would make them feel comfortable. Right now, it's still a little bit higher than they want it to be, so that's why they kept the interest rate right where it is in hopes that it would continue to press down, right? Every time they increase the rate, it slows down consumption, it slows down spending because money is a lot more expensive, right? You'll see that also in your credit card statements when the when the when when those rates increase as well, right? So that's what's going on there. But what what you had to pay attention to is and what they kept talking about was the tariffs, right? And I wanted to break down um through the Webster's dictionary on what a tariff is, just so you're educated on exactly what it is and then what it's not. Alright, so Webster's dictionary says a schedule of duties imposed by the government on imported goods. Alright, so the best way I can describe this to you is the goods are imported, they add this extra duty on top, and guess what happens from here, right? Now the person that's purchasing it that received this extra duty, it squeezes the margin on the material, right? Now, what needs to happen for them to make profit is they gotta pass this on to the consumer. So that's how that works, right? So when we're talking about price increases and what we expect to happen, and you hear these large numbers, 240% increase and and and stuff like that, it's going to make it a lot more expensive to get business done, right? And what what that's gonna do is especially when we're talking about construction and new development, that is going to increase the price of anything new construction, right? So it's gonna be important, but what it's also gonna do is it's going to increase values of properties, right? Because it's it's a lot more expensive to execute on them. So that's what's what that's gonna look like there, right? And it's important for you to understand exactly what that is go how that's gonna affect you, especially if you want to take on any projects moving forward. So a couple companies that have been around for a very long time that are shutting their doors. Um, Macy's, big one, over 150 stores, Joanne Fabric is another one, and forever 21, all are closing their doors. So we could see that this inflation and this current environment are squeezing these big companies, and these big companies are shutting their doors. So for the last few months, we've been well, last year and a half or so, even last month, we've been seeing there's an increased number of layoffs happening, right? The jobs report happened last week, I mean last month, and the they showed a positive gain of of jobs, but what you didn't see was the jobs that were added were all part-time, right? There were way more layoffs last month, right? And this is gonna continue to increase, right? And I'm sharing this information with you not to scare you, right? The Bible says we don't operate from fear, fear is not from God, right? And we can't operate in that in that realm, right? We I I educate you on this uh market condition for so you can make the best decisions and how know and understand how to move in this changing market, right? And the other day, and and I posted it in the group, uh, I interviewed Donald Dye, which is a wealth strategist. Um tons of knowledge. I I just love talking to Donald. And he just dropped so much game on on me when it comes to building wealth and and understanding uh how to set things up, not just in my mind, but you know, for for others. But one of the things that he talks about is vision and having a big vision, right? Because the Bible says uh without vision the people perish. And anytime I'm looking at life through the lens of the Bible, I go, I ask myself, why did he feel like it was important for that to be in there, right? Without vision, the people perish, right? So that's why when I am talking to you guys and people that want to become new developers, understanding that the vision needs to be big, right? And if the bus if the vision is big, the action will be big, right? And that's the only way for that to happen for you. So there's a few things that he he dropped on me, and I'm gonna go down through these nuggets, and I highly recommend that you check out that video if you haven't already. Uh, nothing but gems there. He talked about uh what are the biggest mistakes that that he says one of the most common mistakes that high net worth individuals make, but he said, uh try a lot of things, right? Instead of having a single focus, right? I'm gonna try this, I'm gonna try that, I'm gonna try that, right? And I call this the s the shiny object syndrome. And if you've been an entrepreneur for a very long time, you know and understand exactly what this looks like, or you sometimes may get bored with what you're doing. Yeah, you're successful at it, but then now you're kind of bored that you're doing this thing over and over and over, right? And he he was saying that you need to stay in power in this one particular area for a long period of time before you start diversifying, right? Because you gotta think about it. Once you start diversifying, you're splitting your time, you're splitting your focus, you're not as effective, right? So, anybody that wants to get into new development projects, I teach it in a way that you're running a business. This is not a single transaction, this is not a dibble dabble, let me sample, let me try this. No, it's it's it's a situation where I'm gonna show you how to become a developer, how to run the systems, how to manage people, how to plan projects, how to read plans, how to orchestrate all of the moving parts that needs to happen for you to execute, you know, on a project. So let me see where where else did he go? He goes, What roles does creative financing methods all right? So he touched on creative finance, which is gonna be important in securing different properties, right? Because of bank lending has tightened, because of credit cards and different access points to capital, um, have changed, it's gonna be important for you guys to know and understand how to creatively structure deals to obtain land and then finance your your project. That's gonna be important uh as well. And then he talked about you know making sure that you get the right ROI. So, like I said, he dropped a bunch of gems when it comes to vision, all right, and now we're gonna get into getting clear on your why, all right. Your why is ultimately very important. So I told you about my my wife um writing me a letter saying I didn't want to go to medical because I didn't foresee us having a family life, right? So then now I'm gonna take a few steps back for you, right? So I think I shared with you guys before that uh I'm a foster dad, I'm adoptive dad, I've adopted twins, uh, and I'm currently fostering now. And it the first time that I I was really hit with um the issues of foster care was in the eighth grade. I was walking home my then uh girlfriend home from school, and she told me that her stepdad was was raping her after school. Uh I told her she needed to say something, and she did, and um, and she told me that I gave her the strength to say something, but that started her journey through foster care. She landed in a great home. I was able to see that. I kept in contact with her, and I still keep in contact with her today. And then I think that was the big first time the boulder hit hit me over the head on how and why this mission work that I'm on is so important. All right, and then when I was in college, um, I think I was sophomore year of college, uh, I was asleep and I had this vision, and God came to me and told me that I was going to foster and adopt 17 plus kids. And it really resonated with me. And when I met my wife, I I told her about it, and I was like, Are you game for that? Because this is this is where I'm headed. And she was like, she was like, Yeah. And and then that's where we're that's where we're at. That's my pursuit, that's my big why. And and I share it because it comes from a deep place, right? And I've had five kids through our home. Like I said, I've adopted two kids. I'm currently fostered now. I've had a number of kids through our home, and my vision is is big because I have to provide you know for a lot as far as family goes. So getting clear on this why, right? I set that on the table, right? It comes from a deep place. I don't mind sharing it. I share all sorts of things like this that are challenging for that that I've met uh early on in my life that really drives and pushes me. So getting clear on what this why is and this vision is, and then what are the steps that are gonna be needed for you to secure the legacy of your family, right? You're gonna need to take massive action, massive steps, right? And as the economy changes, as AI continues to play a factor, AI doesn't play as big of a factor in development. Uh, the lack of experience, the lack of knowledge plays a bigger um lack, and our our industry is dominated by big conglomerates, publicly traded companies, they have big outfits, they could do large-scale projects, you know, hundreds of of homes and stuff like that. But you can do it as well, right? Like I I was a house flipper, I didn't know anything about construction, learned construction, got into uh started a construction company, expanded myself into design build, built stuff, learned how to do all of the steps required, so it's possible, right? And now you could bend the time gap that uh it's taken me a long time to to know and understand exactly how to do all of this stuff, and now you could learn to bend the time gap to kind of close that window on becoming a developer. So uh I always want this to be interactive. I know there's not a lot of people in the group right now, but I want to know where you're struggling, where are you looking to grow? Like where what questions do you have that I could answer and make this more interactive, and then we'll kind of continue to grow and build from there. So uh I hope you guys are getting a lot from what I'm sharing. I try to bring not try to bring, I bring my best stuff, all right? Because there's no other guarantee uh that we're gonna we're gonna live past today. That's just kind of how I operate. So if you ever have any questions, feel free to message me. I make myself available and we can connect there. All right.