So we knew kind of the algorithm they were buying. And so we would just target specific subdivisions. Yeah. >> And then we would know the value of those properties roughly, you know, before we would walk it. >> And just like with anything in wholesaling, you can make those big checks, but it's not just a uh, you know, pick up a couple calls and be done with the large or the vast majority of people that get into

it get out of it pretty quick. maybe like a mentor that came by or like was it just like an idea that popped in your head? >> I'll tell you what it was is we had two deals um which uh fell out from a lender. Okay. >> And I had at this point in the wholesaling, we're probably 3 4 years in and I had never thought about lending. You know, it wasn't my part in the chain.

My part in the chain >> was to be a wholesaler. >> A lot of people are uh promoting, you know, voice AI and you know, AI blah blah blah. But um I have a technology that has emotional detection. So it picks up the emotions that people are are saying with the tonality in their voice and that's when things become easier because now I'm just focused more on evaluating these leads rather than spending all day prospecting for

potential leads. So once you hit that point, you know that your your business is a little bit more solid. Welcome to another episode of Pick Up the Phone podcast. I am your host, Jose. I am the founder of Gets You.AI, the first emotional voice AI for real estate investors. It's not artificial intelligence, it's emotional intelligence. Today's guest is Joey Davis. Joey Davis with Spark Lending. He's wholesaled over 300 properties in his career. He's lent out over

$50 million. And just recently, he's launched get hardmoney.com. It's a free online tool with calculators and an easy way to connect with lenders. Joey, thank you for being here, bro. >> Yeah, thanks for having me. I like that emotional intelligence. >> Yeah, man. Pretty cool. >> Uh, you know, like a lot of a lot of people are uh promoting, you know, voice AI and then, you know, AI blah blah blah, but um I have a technology

that has emotional detection, so it picks up the emotions that people are are saying with the tonality in their voice. So, excuse me. Typically, whenever someone's down, you know, their tonality is going to be low and, you know, and they'll pick up on those uh nuances in the tonality, >> it'll read it and then it'll adjust itself to match the prospect's voice. >> Mhm. >> Which I think is pretty awesome cuz most up until recently, every

voice AI that I've heard sounds monotonic. It sounds like a robot. >> Yeah. >> So, this is groundbreaking stuff, man. I'm excited about it. >> That's awesome, man. I I've seen I've seen a little bit of it in action, but looking looking forward to seeing more of it. >> Absolutely, man. >> So, really, we live in an ever evolving world. If you uh if you kind of get stuck with the dinosaurs, you're in trouble, right? You're

in trouble, bro. And real estate is one of those things. You have to be ever evolving. >> Yeah. >> You know, when I started out in wholesaling, it was >> literally we would print out the uh names and numbers of real estate agents and just, you know, call them one by one. There was no technology to throw them in a text blast system or email. >> Yeah. Um, and nowadays it's just a kid in their mom's

basement who is is is great at technology, right? >> And and they're the ones beating everybody out. Yeah. So, yeah, really really cool what you're building. >> Absolutely, man. Yeah. Can't wait to bring it to the world. But, um, but man, let's talk about you, man. You know, you've uh you've accomplished a lot. You've built an amazing company, Spark Lending, getardmoney.com. Um, so I'd love to I'd love to hear your story on how you got here

today. Right. So, where are you from? Where were you born? you know, what's your upbringing like? >> Yeah, I've been kind of all over the world. I was I was born in Texas, but we moved around a lot as a youngster. My dad was a missionary. Um, so he he always decided to move us to the craziest places he could think of. So, we lived in Russia. We lived in Colombia. When I was about 12, we

settled in the UK. Yeah. >> I lived in the UK until uh 2017. So, I lived there over 22 years in the UK. >> Um, and then moved back in 2017 with the goal of getting into real estate. I previous to that I was actually in recycling. >> Yeah. >> So I had no real knowledge of real estate. Um so when it moved over to >> uh Houston um it was just kind of threw myself into

the fire and and it was right as Hurricane Harvey hit. >> So Hurricane Harvey hit >> and I didn't know anything about wholesaling. >> Yeah. >> Um and it was just kind of a baptism by fire with all these flooded houses. >> Great timing to um join real estate I think. Right. >> Yeah. Good. Kind of learned a lot. um had some, you know, great great people who were my mentors. Yeah. Um was working with a

brokerage and um yeah, it went went great and kind of it was just a natural progression from wholesaling into flipping and then eventually into lending. >> For sure, man. For sure. Um you mentioned also that you uh so your dad, what's the reason that he kind of moved moved you guys around all over the place? >> He was just a gung-ho missionary. He had a Christian publication company um and he would go around to these countries

and set it up. So, we were all always moving. Interesting. Yeah. >> So, your dad was a missionary. >> Yep. >> Very cool. I didn't know that about you, man. Yeah. >> So, you you come from a a very religious household then. >> Yeah. I mean, he's great parents, you know. I wouldn't say it's, you know, overbearing religious. He was just uh very passionate about what he did. Um >> but I think being able to, you

know, go out and experience all these cultures and kind of the way that people work and act is has helped me a lot. >> Yeah. >> So that I'm not narrow-minded. I don't have these concepts when working with different people from different nationalities and backgrounds. So, I'm real real thankful that I had that as experience as as a kid. >> That's interesting. Do do you find yourself working a lot now with international clients or >> uh

No, not not now. And and well, I mean, I guess so. Houston is so eclectic, right? Houston is so uh you know, multinational that Yes. in a way, but we're we're doing everything locally based essentially. >> Right. Right. >> And so why UK? Why did he decide to land in UK for a while? >> Yeah. I think he just um had a heart for it. um settled there and um I forget the exact year but yeah

just stayed. They're still there. They still live in the UK. >> Your parents still do? >> Yep. No kidding. >> And my sister and yeah still in the UK. >> So originally from Texas, ended up in UK. Yep. >> That's hilarious. >> From East Texas to South London. >> I guess they they love English football then, huh? >> Yeah. No, not I do. Yeah. Not not so much. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> That's awesome. And you had

um um we've talked about this in the past. You you have a recycling you had a recycling company in the UK. So So talk to me about that, man. How how was that? >> I was in recycling for about a decade. We would do uh used textiles. So we used clothing. Okay. >> So you see those bins you go around those little bins and put clothing, right? >> We had that business for a long time and

actually sold it in 2015 2016. >> Um and then was just kind of sitting on my hands trying to figure out what to do. >> My wife had never been to Texas. She's British. >> Yeah. So in 2017, we came to visit some family here on vacation and just decided to stay. So I was like, well, if I'm ever going to learn how to invest in real estate, we got to be here and got to be

doing it, right? >> So, um, yeah, that's kind of the the intro. >> Oh, >> excuse me, man. >> And I made sure to bring her in the summer. >> In the summer, >> she could survive a summer, then I know she'd be good to go. So, yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. The the summers here are pretty overbearing in Houston, Texas. Yeah. Especially coming from UK, huh? that I bet that was sort of an adjustment to make.

>> Yeah. Dreary, rainy weather. I mean, I knew what to expect cuz we were coming here ever since we were kids. Yeah. >> Um to visit all of our family, but yeah. She had never experienced the heat. >> Yeah. >> What was the what was the experience like selling your your textile company? What what kind of processes did you have to go through to uh make your company look financially sound on paper uh operationally sound and

then be able to actually exit on a property on a company? >> Yeah. Well, the you know the textile industry is a commodity. So the prices fluctuate just like anything gold, silver, there's a price of textiles. It all gets exported. Most of it goes to Eastern Europe um and by way of Africa via Eastern Europe >> um all depending on climates. >> So we had um you know built this business up and it kind of had

its ups and downs and then the the uh price of the commodity actually bottomed out. It >> it all had to do with China and um you know the imports into Africa with China and then reducing the the value of our goods because they could get this new product in for very cheap. >> Right. >> So at the time it was almost a um I had to sell. >> Yeah. >> Right. So we sold it to

a much larger company and then I actually went and worked for that company contractually as part of the acquisition for a few years uh before I was able to to fully exit. >> Wow, that's pretty cool. >> Yeah, it was uh learned a lot. So I I always think that, you know, people in real estate, most of them come from pretty eclectic backgrounds. They they started in different industries, but every every business you create or every

job that you had, you're going to learn some kind of skills from that that you can translate over when you're ready to kind of make that jump into uh becoming an entrepreneur. >> Yeah. >> Right. So I find myself now, you know, even in negotiation, the way that I look at contracts, which will go back to my days in the recycling, I realize, well, you know, I really learned a lot from that and was able to

implement it now >> into what I do every day. >> That's amazing. Yeah. What would you say is the biggest lesson that you learned through scaling a company, you know, and then being able to exit from it? >> Yeah. And I think it's um still to this day, and I think this is industrywide, it all has to do with the people that you bring into your business. like you have to be overly cautious about the people

that you let in, but you also can't really be scared to delegate stuff to those people. You know, if you have a really successful business, uh I can't remember what book I read this in, but or or someone just said it that you have to look at your business as if you were to step away from your business, would it still operate? Can you disappear for three months and come back and it's still in the same

position? Right. Right. And that's kind of your barometer to know that if you've hired the right people within your business. >> Um and and that's the key. If you if you don't have good people in your business, your business is going to fail. >> So that's the most important thing. Yeah. Is that's my my biggest lesson I've learned. So I've hired people where >> um you know, you're constantly babysitting them. You you can't uh delegate stuff

to them effectively. So that's that's key. uh to your point, what is what do you think is kind of like what is the things that you look for then when you're hiring people now that you have this experience? >> Yeah, sure. Um it's tough. It really is tough when you're interviewing someone. It's it's very uh you know stereotypical that all the the answers stay the same. Yeah. Um, a lot of it's really just kind of looking

at what they accomplished and and how they were able to stick it out in their current positions and getting a real, you know, uh, reasoning behind why they're not doing that anymore. Um, so yeah, I think a lot of it is just uh kind of going off past examples, you know, of what they've done >> and can they successfully implement themselves into your business, >> right? Do you ever worry about like people coming in, learning your

business, and then maybe just taking what they learned from you and Yeah. >> doing their own? Yeah, we had that a lot, especially in wholesaling. Yeah. >> So, we had a wholesaling business for, you know, five years. And um one of the biggest problems is that, you know, your A players, the guys who get in there and go and crush it, eventually they're going to go off and they're going to set up their own thing. But

you can't have the mindset that everybody who goes off and does it on their own. It's a negative thing. >> You know, you're really um benefiting off of them, their time, they're with you. Now, if they're going and, you know, especially in other industries, if they're taking your clients and, uh, you know, being a detriment to your business, it becomes a real problem, right? >> But we would always encourage our agents in the wholesale business to

get into investing. You know, start buying your own houses, start flipping, and that might take time away from our company, but we really want to invest in the success of all the people that work for us. So, it's not always a negative thing to think someone's going to come in and set up their own thing. >> Yeah. And the second thing you really want to, you know, keep focus on is, uh, how can I, how can

I benefit this person? What can I give them to make them stay within the company, right? So whether that's, you know, access to those properties, whether it's some kind of more senior role, whether it's some more responsibility, >> if you're an A player on my team, I want to make it worth your time. >> Right. >> Right. So that's that's something I find that a lot of people miss. It's just this is it. It's my way

or the highway. >> Right. Um, but you can you can implement some stuff to keep a lot of your key players. >> Yeah, it's very interesting, man. Um, cool. Well, I think you I think you definitely took a lot of that knowledge and that experience and translated into what you do today, right? So, let's get into now. Um, you know, you went to the UK. Uh, you uh got your business textile, scaled it, exit it. Uh,

what happened next? You came during Harvey. So, what what was that like moved from the UK to Texas? >> Yeah, it was kind of on the whim decision to do it. We came here on vacation. >> Yeah. >> Um and >> she came on vacation. >> We came for a summer and then realized that uh and what's even crazier is at the time we had a 10-month-old. >> Yeah. >> So, we were traveling around with a

baby. >> Um so, it was really just kind of a, you know, sitting down with a wife and saying, you know, I've always wanted to get in real estate. You know, I know that the majority of millionaires that are made, I don't know the exact stat, but it's like 8% of out of 80% of all millionaires are made through real estate. So, I knew I wanted to get in real estate, but I uh I didn't have

a firm grasp on it. I didn't I didn't even know wholesaling existed. I didn't know, you know, really how to run numbers on a rental property. Is it is it a good investment? So, by being here, I knew that I would um you know, I would I would benefit that and it would just kind of accelerate, you know, my knowledge of it. So, we came here on vacation. and we went back to the UK just to

sort out my wife's visa and then I started my real estate exam and license cuz I wanted to get licensed before I came back over. Wow. >> So, there was a short gap maybe a couple months uh while we worked on all the visa stuff. >> Um and then came back over and then yeah, then Harvey happened >> and then Harvey happened. >> Then Harvey happened >> as soon as you landed over here like >> a

couple couple weeks. Yeah. >> Before. >> Yeah. >> Wow. >> So, >> that is nuts. So, babe, we're going to move to a new uh city. And by the way, the whole city just flooded. >> Yeah. Well, we didn't know that. You know, it was funny on on the trip over here. I was telling her how, you know, Houston's problem is hurricanes. Yeah. >> And sometimes they flood. And she said, "Oh, I'd really like to see

a a storm." And then we got here and I was like, "Are you sure?" And she's like, "Yeah, I don't I don't ever want to see a storm again." >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Uh because we were out helping our neighbors, you know, we were ripping out sheetrock, we were helping wash their clothes, >> right? >> So, uh it was definitely eye opening. >> Yeah. Yeah, >> but at the time, you know, for the real estate side

of things and, you know, it was a terrible thing that happened and so many people flooded, but it threw me into the deep end and we were literally going door todoor um speaking with homeowners and giving them offers there on the spot. >> On the spot. >> Yeah. >> No kidding. Did anyone take it there on the spot? >> Yeah. Plenty. >> Really? >> For sure. Uh-huh. >> No kidding. >> Yep. >> Wow. >> Yeah. So,

we knew our numbers. We, you know, we um we knew who the buyers were at that time. A lot of hedge funds moved into Houston, right? So we knew kind of the algorithm that they were buying. And so we would just target specific subdivisions. Yeah. >> And then we would know the value of those properties roughly, you know, before we would walk it. >> Um and then a lot of it was just educating the homeowner that

if they sold, they're they're not going to lose out on their insurance checks which were coming. Um that it it's, you know, didn't have to be applied directly to the uh rehab portion of it. Mhm. >> So once we were able to overcome that um obstacle, yeah, there was we man I can't I can't even remember how many houses we contracted during Harvey. >> So we were we were we were contracting them and then wholesaling them

the same day. >> No kidding. >> Yeah. >> So I mean you you came here and you had very little knowledge of real estate. How did you pick it up so quickly to be very certain of your numbers from the beginning? >> Yeah. I mean it was first was getting a license which is is nothing towards wholesale. >> No nothing. And there's it touches a little bit on investing, >> right? >> Um but so I had

my license and then I actually went and found a brokerage, a large brokerage here in Houston that specializes in wholesale. >> Yeah. >> Um and joined them and that I joined them right right probably the week that Harvey happened. >> So >> you joined who? >> The the brokerage, the real estate brokerage that um wholesale brokerage. Okay. >> Um and >> I had a really good partner that we were going around with Joe Estrada. I don't

know. You know Joe? So me and Joe became like brothers. Every morning we would meet up, we'd go out in the car and uh we had a whole folder full of trek contracts. >> Yeah. >> We were just going door tod door. >> No kidding. >> Yeah. >> So you joined a major brokerage here in town. Which one was it? >> Net worth. >> Yep. >> Oh, nice. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. A lot of there's a

lot of guys that come come out of uh net worth and they >> and New Western. >> Yeah. New Western and uh Net Worth and they go out there and they crush it, dude. >> Yeah, for sure. >> Yeah. And I think it sets them up for success later on in life. For sure. >> Y >> Yeah. So, uh, so you went out with Job, you guys started pounding doors, knocking on doors, you guys get a

bunch of deals. What happens after that? >> It just opened my eyes. Opened my eyes to the potential of real estate. You know, we're making, you know, 10, 15K fees on these houses or more >> on each one >> on each one. Um, and I come from, you know, >> the the the textile industry, no knowledge of real estate. Yeah. and just kind of being able to see the potential, seeing that with good systems and good

processes, this thing could really take off, >> right? >> So, >> did your wife become a believer at that point? >> Yeah, I mean, she's always been supportive. >> Yeah. >> So, whatever crazy idea I have, she's always, you know, willing to go along for the ride. And we had actually um you know, talked about, you know, buying some real estate and holding them as rentals and keeping it as as passive income. So yeah, >> you

always have these goals set out and goals are so important, but your goals always change, right? >> Right. As you go along, you realize, you know, well, this might not be the best way to do it. My first goal was >> I just kind of reverse engineered how many houses I would need to be able to live the lifestyle that I want. And, you know, I would say, well, if I can get 30 rentals, well, I'm

set. >> Yeah. >> So, let me build up enough money with the wholesale checks invested into rentals and then I'm done, >> right? >> Um, but obviously you see the reality of things as you move on and your and your goals shift. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, >> I think I think you know as you evolve and as you scale and as you grow in business I think the uh >> the goalpost or the target always

keeps moving right to adjust to your new knowledge or new experiences that you have. And I think um I think that's the natural progression of life right to to consistently develop that goal. >> And I'm a huge believer in goals you know even though they change I think it's uh >> it's it's it's so important to be able to write down your goals and kind of be able to physically see them. So, actually, I do different

sets of goals. I actually kind of break it all the way down to daily goals. So, that might even just be what your to-do list is for that day, >> and my goal is to accomplish that. And then I'll have a a year goal and then and then a long-term plan. Yeah. >> So, even if they shift, that's okay. But, you know, if you're aiming high, >> then then, you know, you're you look back and realize,

well, I might not have hit that specific goal, but I sure accomplished a lot of what I was intending to do. >> Right. Yeah. And if you have no kind of visual representation of what you're trying to do >> and you know why you're working so hard, you know, what's it all for, right? >> You got to figure that out. >> Yeah. Do you establish your goals based on something maybe like a vision? You know, there's

a lot of people that set goals based on, oh, this is the vision of what I want my life to look like, right? And then kind of reverse engineer that. Or is it is are your goals set more on just like certain metrics that you want to hit? >> Yeah. Um I mean I think they work hand in hand. I think the certain metrics that you want to hit are going to be a direct correlation of

you know how you want your life to play out. Right. Yeah. And and what your goals are is your goals are generally how do I make my life easier. >> Right. >> Yeah. >> So my whole my whole kind of uh mentality behind the goals is is all based around you know the theory of having more time. >> Right. >> You know the more time that you have the better quality of life you have >> right?

But you got to put in that effort now, you know, to be able to achieve achieve that. So I think those two work hand in hand. >> Yeah. Yeah. I agree. Uh and and a lot of people don't really realize how much time, energy, and effort is required at the beginning. Yeah. >> I mean, just an ungodly amount of effort. >> Absolutely. Yeah. And and and just like with anything in wholesaling, you can make those big

checks, but >> it's not just a uh you know, pick up a couple calls and be done with the large or the vast majority of people that get into it get out of it pretty quickly. >> Yeah. Right. Because you you have to put in the time. You got to put in the grind. You got to handle a ton of rejection. >> Yeah. >> Um and if you're not geared to handle that rejection, well, now you've

got, you know, emotional intelligence to and and really the whole purpose of that is to cut out a lot of that rejection, right? To >> to uh streamline it to be able to make more contacts, but to cut out that rejection side of things. >> Um but yeah, you've really got to learn how to absorb that. And if you if you don't have that character, that mentality, then you're not going to last. Absolutely. It's not going

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definitely nice to be able to come here and uh start making money from from when we hit the ground running. >> Yeah. Yeah, for sure. >> So, what did you do uh what did you do after that? what was your vision and what was your execution after you made some money uh wholesaling these deals? >> Yeah, I mean the first step was try to put it all back into systems, try to make it a little bit

easier because after Harvey it um you know we did benefit a lot from from that time because uh the second I kind of realized what the goal was >> um going back to kind of that antiquated method of just printing out all the realtors. >> Yeah. Um, you know, I I would set those goals where I would say I have to physically speak to 50 realtors every single day. >> Yeah. >> Right. So, I would get

in contact with them >> and even those, you know, even those ones just before Harvey hit, those ones I made a connection with, >> they were calling out to us now and saying, "Hey, I have this property over in, you know, Fleetwood, right? Uh, we need an offer on it." So, the the more that I could put money back into uh creating better systems and to build up that network, um it it just over time became

easier and easier. >> So, so really kind of when you start off with wholesaling, the reason those first six months are so tough is because you're just pushing yourself out there and your name out there trying to make connections. But once you solidify that and have enough connections, well, all of a sudden this switch flicks on and all these connections that you made, well, now they're reaching out to you. So, I would get into the office

and now I've got four or five text messages from agents who are saying, "Hey, I've got this offmarket property. Uh, we need an offer on >> and that's when things become easier because now I'm just focused more on evaluating these leads rather than >> spending all day prospecting for potential leads." So once you hit that point, you know that your your business is a little bit more solid. >> Yeah. >> And then it kind of becomes

kind of like it's uh ever living kind of being that just kind of generates its own kind of revenue from just doing the business on a daily basis, right? >> Exactly. >> Yeah. >> So what kind of systems did you start with from the very beginning? What what was important to you at the time? >> Yeah. So the first one we invested into or I invested into was um there's a owner finance guy named Mitch Steven.

>> Oh yeah. So, uh, Mitch Og. >> Yeah. I I loved his books, you know. I read The Art of Owner financing as one of my favorite books to ever get started. >> Yeah. >> Um, >> he created a texting platform for his owner financing business. I can't remember what it's called now. I think it was techcom or something along those lines. >> Um, and invested into that and then had all the buyers that we had

met, you know, during this period and uploaded them into this texting platform. And then every time we'd have a a property that would come across, instead of having to manually call all these investors to see if they wanted to buy it, now we just sent them a text message. We created a little link with a perspectus on the property. >> Um and and then just those little tweaks to your business >> go a long way. Yeah.

Right. Because you're trying to >> um you know get a better hold of time management. Once you get a better hold of time management, you create the lead generation beast, then everything uh kind of falls into place. >> Man, that's awesome. Yeah. >> So, you got you got the texting platform. What about a CRM? Did you get a CRM right away or? >> Yeah. Well, when I was with the brokerage, they had a CRM that provided

it to us, but yeah, I'm a firm believer in the CRM. Like, we actually, you know, we live and die by our CM CRM now for our lending business. Everything operates in there. >> Yeah. >> Um, so yeah, the first CRM was was given to us, but I've used others. I've used Pipe Drive. >> Um, yeah. You know, I've used Salesforce. I've used them all. Now we have, you know, a a specific loan operating CRM to

our lending business. >> Yeah. And I forgot to ask you, how did you, you know, like right away, you said you you you were able to find hedge funds, and I think it took me several months into being in in wholesaling when I first started to get connected to hedge funds. How did you get connected with them right away? >> It's a good question. You're talking 10 years ago now, >> 2017. >> Yeah. >> Um, >>

just connections, huh? Just talking. >> Just connection. And I think um um yeah, one or two. I think Job had one or two. Um we had met one from Vegas. I can't remember. I think we met him at a at a event or a bar or something. >> Yeah. >> Um so yeah, just kind of learning what hedge funds are looking for in their buy box and and they were good. I mean they they kind of

come in and out. They exit as as fast as they come in. >> Um but kind of knowing some of the larger ones is helpful. >> Nice. >> Y that's awesome. So then uh so then you guys have a system and so at this point um when you started scaling your your wholesaling did you do that on your own? Did you have any partners? >> No. So um back in 20 I think it was 2018 or

2019 I set up a wholesale office um and that grew it grew fast. We grew that up to uh about 20 acquisition agents. >> But did you have any partners in the Okay. >> Just just myself. >> It was just you. >> Yeah. We had we had an office manager. Uh we had transaction coordinator. >> Mhm. Um, and then we uh, yeah, we just slowly grew the team. I think when we very first started, we had

four acquisition agents. >> Yeah. >> Um, and then that's what kind of really we started working on more of the marketing systems >> and um, you know, trying to get that cost per acquisition down. So >> nice. >> Where did you learn everything about wholesaling and >> just just boots on the ground? Obviously from you know, net worth and then um, >> then just just doing it. So we had uh at that time I because of

the whole Mitch Steven thing before I got into flipping I actually got into owner finance. >> Um so I was buying you know cheap houses you know 40 50 grand houses. Um probably had like 12 or 13 of them. Yeah. >> You know only owner finance. >> Um we would we would uh find the buyers. We would just run a little Facebook ad. We'd run it in Spanish. >> Yeah. >> And then uh Yeah. Just kind

of progress that way. >> Did you say you ran them in Spanish? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Facebook ads. >> Facebook ads. So we would we would get a we would get our owner finance property. We would uh you know buy it and then we needed we needed the the in buyer. >> Yeah. >> Um so we would just create a little $100 or $50 Facebook ad and then put out there you know do >> and uh

>> and we would have I think on our first open house the we so kind of going back the funny story is the the office manager I had really awesome dude love the guy his name is Allan um found him at a car dealership. >> Yeah. He sold me my truck and I needed a Spanish speaker. So, he came and worked for me. That was my that was the first guy that came and joined when I

set up the wholesale brokerage. So, he's a Spanish speaker. Yeah. >> Um he helped me set up the ads and his very first intro into real estate >> um was showing up to this ad we had put and we put almost like an open house and we had like a hundred people show up. >> 100 people. >> It was crazy. >> Actually 100 people. >> It was like 100 people. I mean, we didn't do a headcount.

>> Yeah. >> But it was one after another walking in the door of this uh property. It was up like just city kind of area. >> Yeah. >> Um and yeah, it was it was it was pretty wild. So, we knew that any any house that we got which we knew made sense, we could do that model. Yeah. >> Uh we could sell it. >> Wow. >> And it kind of seems like it'd be kind of

an easy thing to kind of throw out there, right? You know, you know, you just uh filter out a Facebook ad, select kind of like just the Spanish industry and just let the algorithm run with it. >> Yeah, correct. >> Wow. Yeah, >> that's amazing. >> It worked well. >> That's a good idea. Um man, so what happened after that? You you guys are, you know, scaling, you guys are growing the wholesaling company. Um what what

kind of what was the peak like? What what made you kind of shift away from that and get into lending? >> Yeah, I mean the peak was great. >> Um you know, it it had its own levels of stresses. Yeah. You know, by with dealing with that many people. >> Um so we ran that for about five years and then just kind of culminated into getting into lending. Yeah. And then just for me personally, I preferred

the lending side of it. So kind of phased out the wholesale. >> Um at the height of it, it was great and then at the lowest it was bad. Just kind of similar anything. It's finding the right people, finding the right acquisition agents. >> Um constantly training them was always a big deal. So I think we could have got a lot better at the uh you know the training systems that we had. We would just manually

train every single acquisition agent that came in, right? We would spend a week with them getting them up to speed and then we would pass them all of our marketing leads which we you know paid a lot of money for. >> Right. So it was kind of kind of like a ever so self-sustaining kind of system at the at the peak of it. >> Yeah. Correct. >> Yeah. And so how did you get introduced to lending?

>> Yeah. It was just kind of um a natural thing. You know we were selling 15 20 properties a month you know on a good month. Um >> and we would just pass the leads out to local lenders. We never really found a way to monetize it, but we would kind of get to know the local lenders. We would know the ones who are really good, the ones that would kind of nurture the deal, help the

buyer, make sure it closes. Yeah. >> So, we knew the importance um from the side of lending. >> So, we knew that um you know that that lender, they understood the whole process and the model and to be able to uh make sure our deal closes. >> So, we got to know what was good in the lender and we just translated that over into our lending company. We we have been on every side of the coin.

>> Yeah. >> So to speak. We've been on the wholesaler side. So we know their stresses. We know that they want to get paid. We want they want to get their deal done. >> We know the investor side. >> Um you know we've flipped houses. We know how to you know look at the budget. We know how to look at the numbers. So all of that helped >> when we created the uh lending company. It wasn't

purely we were a bunch of finance guys that wanted to get into uh this side of real estate. >> Yeah. But what made you prompt uh what prompted you to initially want to get into lending to start a lending company? Was there maybe like a mentor that came by or like was it just like an idea that popped in your head? >> I'll tell you what it was is we had two deals um which uh fell

out from a lender. Okay. >> And I had at this point in the wholesaling, we're probably three, four years in and I had never thought about lending. You know, it wasn't my part in the chain. My part in the chain >> was to be a wholesaler, >> right? Um and then when these deals fell out, we we want I wanted to create a system that um on these types of instances that we could step in and

still get these deals funded. >> So those deals uh we we brokered out but almost as like a white label >> um where it was still our name on the lending. Yeah. >> Uh but it wasn't our capital. We weren't out there raising the capital. So when we got those two deals done, I just, you know, kind of thought, well, if we can perfect this system and and have a really good lending business that we can

see the whole thing, then it'll help us get these deals closed. >> Yeah. >> So that was my thought behind it. >> So at the beginning, it's two deals fell out and then you decided to broker the loan, >> correct? >> Basically. Okay. >> And who taught you how to do that? >> Myself, really? >> Yeah. >> You asked AI. A little bit of Chad GBT. >> This is way before Chad GBT. That's a That's a

new thing. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Ask Google. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. But I I mean I had no idea. I mean I I knew the process because I've been through it so many times. Right. >> Right. But um >> you know there was still a lot to learn, >> right, >> with the lending side of it. >> Yeah. So you uh you broker the loan and you you you do the loan on on the deal. Uh

who did you decide to broker the loan to? How did that whole process go? Uh yeah, this these two loans were uh they were through a company called Roth Capital who at the time were hitting us up already about doing a uh white label program. So our branding is all over it. >> Um we just feed the deal into them and we work with the borrower to get everything completed. Um I think we also had had

done one with Kia. Um so we had we had >> we had had the knowledge of what they're looking for when they're uh underwriting the deal. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> So now it was just a matter of implementing it in there and then learning the whole capital raise side of things, you know, speaking to banks, going to uh you know, looking for lines of credit. So that that came later. >> Yeah. Very cool, man. Very cool.

So, um, so you start your your first two loans and then after that, uh, you decided to just go all in or out of that, was it like a natural progression and kind of let the wholesaling company die out slowly or was it just like boom, close-up shot, lending, here we go? >> Um, yeah. I mean, I think it was a bit of a boom. >> Yeah. >> Bit of a let's let's, you know, carry on

with the lending. It it it became a lot. It became a lot with the wholesaling. The market was down. Um, you know, >> when did you shut it down? >> Um, right after CO. >> Right after CO. >> Yeah. Right after CO. >> Okay. So, 21 or so. Yeah. 21. 22. >> Correct. Gotcha. >> So, it was just my kind of uh personal um want to get away from spending all my time on wholesaling. I I

also knew that if I wanted to build up the lending, I couldn't be spending, you know, an immense amount of time on the wholesaling and working with all the newer agents. >> Yeah. Yeah. I kind of saw the writing on the wall too, you know, like um in terms of being able to build something that's scalable, that's truly scalable >> and also exitable. You know, >> wholesaling is great to create a tremendous amount of cash. Uh

but what uh thing about wholesaling is that there's not really a lot of companies out there or private equity firms that are willing to go and purchase a wholesaling operation, right? >> Yeah. Sure. And if they are, they're they're um investing into the person that's running that company, right? You know, most companies are geared like that. You know, you have to look at what makes a company uh you know, what what are they looking at when

they acquire a company? You know, in the recycling business, they were acquiring our assets because we had all the recycling bins out there. We had the trucks, you know, we had the warehouse. >> Um we had the operational staff, the warehouse staff in there. So, they were buying something physical, right? >> When you're buying a wholesale company, you know, you're really buying the people, right? you might be buying the systems, but do they really have any

proprietary technology? >> Not really. >> Generally not. >> Um, so that's kind of, you know, most businesses that they're not looking to um, you know, just buy the name. They're they're looking to buy it and still operating the same the very next day, right? >> And that's very difficult in a business where you where you can't again step outside of it. >> Um, and it's still run as normal. >> Yeah. No, I agree. >> Such a

tough business, man. So, uh, >> yeah, it is. You know, you you learn so much with I mean, we learned lending through wholesaling. We learned it because we were working with lenders every day. And our lending partners were great. You know, we had lending partners who were exceptional. Still still love those guys. >> Yeah. >> Um but, you know, the just the the timing was right for us to kind of or for me to change my

focus. >> Um and to have a little bit more peace and clarity and be able to build something where, you know, it's scalable. >> Yeah. >> But it's also not completely reliant on the people. you know that if they step out and they go away, they start their own new thing. We're still uh still rolling. >> It's amazing. So, um what what happens after you shut down, you start with lending? Um did you take any of

the people that you had in the wholesaling operation to start the uh the lending company or? >> Not initially, but some of them do work for us now. >> Really? >> Yep. >> Okay. So, not initially. >> They they're now loan officers. >> No kidding. Okay. >> And they're doing great. They love it. >> That's amazing. So you uh so you whenever you started the the lending company then what was that process like after now you've

you know had a company textile company you scale that you exit you do the same thing with wholesaling right you start it >> shut it down >> uh you're starting from scratch again the third time right yeah third time's a charm >> yeah I mean my goal wasn't to build a 20 person beast >> for the lending it was to just build a a good name a good uh good brand >> right >> in and here

in in Houston. Um and then have the right people bring in and and you know help them or or help us you know through being loan officers. >> Yeah. >> So we're very uh small now. You know we got a team of five of us. >> Nice. >> Um so yeah it's worked out great. >> You don't need a whole lot of people. >> No. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. So when you started then um what

was that like? Who were the the first hires? How long did it take you to kind of start gaining some traction and lending? Uh there was no Hurricane Harvey that you could go and not endorse, right? So what was that process like? >> Actually, I'm probably happy I wasn't a lender during Hurricane Harvey cuz uh >> that would have been disastrous. >> A lot of flooded houses that you know you had to you had to work

through >> for sure. >> So um uh the first hire we had we had really two which was Tom who I know you know he's working with you on the uh you know gets you AI, >> right? >> So uh he was the first and also my wife. My wife came in um helped with a lot of the uh manual side of things. So, you know, document collection, a lot of it was setting up our systems,

trying to get a better flow. Yeah. >> So, those two, it was uh Tom and then and then my wife. >> No kidding. Y >> Okay. >> So, then uh and uh you said you bring your wife in there. Uh that's pretty awesome. What is what is it like working with your wife? Is she still in the business? >> No, she's not now. No. >> I mean, she still helps out where she can, but she's about

to have another baby. >> Oh, nice. That's >> We're just turning them out. >> Yeah. Yeah. That's keeping her busy. >> Yeah, exactly. >> Yeah. That's good. Uh so then Tom, your wife, uh how did you start getting business? How did you start scaling? How did you start, you know, creating systems and processes? What was that whole process like? >> Yeah. Well, I mean, I think we were in an advantageous position that uh we had the

wholesale brokerage. Um and we had a good name. We would we were kind of known to be um you know, very ethical in the way that we wholesaliled. >> So, uh anytimes we encountered these borrowers, we were always fair to them. We always tried to give them good deals. Yeah. >> Um, so when we had deals, a lot of times, you know, people would just buy them without even looking at them because they know if we

put our numbers on them, they were solid deals. So by doing that for 5 years, we had a huge database of really good borrowers. >> So I I just went back to square one and I started calling these borrowers and say, "Hey, we're lending now." Yeah. You know, I'd love to be able to take a look at your next project. >> Yeah. >> Um, and so it was uh it was a great fit because the first

borrowers that we had were borrowers that we knew. Uh we knew that they, you know, did what they said they were going to do. They finished the projects. They got everything done and that was the basis and and most of those bars are still with us now. >> Wow. >> At Spark. So, >> very easy transition then, huh? >> Very easy transition. >> Yeah. Because you already have the rolodex of people that you've been doing business

with already. >> Correct. It wasn't a cold call. It was, you know, calling someone that we've known, we've dealt with, we've we've made them money by selling them good deals. Yeah. >> And now just saying, "Hey, I'd love to be able to, you know, give you a term sheet on your next next project." Yeah. So, that's how we got our initial uh initial loans in. >> Yeah. Yeah. It's super easy transition. I want to ask you

about um the next step in your career which is you know scaling this lending company and then eventually how you got to uh how you got to start gehardmoney.com. But um first let's uh have a quick commercial break. >> Awesome. >> If you're a nationwide real estate investor, you need to go check out gethardmoney.com. Gethardmoney.com is the number one place to find local hardmoney lenders. You can connect with them directly. You can request term sheets, you

can chat all in one single place. The coolest thing that I think about gethardmoney.com is that you have free tools built in. Um, AI comping, you have a flip profit uh, calculator, cash to close calculator. Um, what's really cool about it also is that it's 100% free. You don't have to go and buy anything. You can sign up. You can use all the tools that they have. Um, they have tools added there all the time. no

cost ever. So, if you're investing and you need lender connections, this site works nationwide. Uh if you need deal analysis, this thing is a no-brainer. There's no cost to sign up. It's just free value, free connections to any real estate lender out there. So, get go sign up getartmoney.com. All right. And we are back. So, uh we were talking about SparkLending and how you started that off. So you already had a relationship with your buyers who

ended up now becoming your borrowers and so very easy transition. >> Yep. >> Uh what was next you know uh what what was the next step in that uh process to now getting from the beginning of it what maybe four four years ago or so? >> Yep. About three years ago. >> Three three years ago to you know now to present moment. What has changed from then until now? >> Sure. So, um, but kind of leaning

back on the relationships, I I love real estate for the reason that it's so relationship driven, >> right? >> Right. Like you, you know, if you're building up the right team, anything can happen, right? Anything can help you scale. Just like I met you, right, with your marketing, your, you know, >> um, part of our team now. Yeah. >> Um, the same thing with anything from your agents to your buyers to your, uh, realtors, it's so

relationship driven. So, >> you know, whenever I meet someone who's new in the industry, I tell them that's their main focus to start with. Build up the relationships, build up your team around you, and then they'll help you with everything. Even even when it comes down to mentoring, >> right? >> Right. You know, I if I wasn't riding around with Job at the very beginning, >> we wouldn't have got all those contracts because I was not

a pro at at um evaluating a deal and being able to offer, you know, 60 to 70% on the deal, right? >> So, yeah, it's all all relationship driven. So that kind of catapulted sparked into it and then uh we got lucky with um Jackson, you know. Um so Jackson came to us. I had known him before a little bit. Um and he was a YouTuber who did YouTube videos on new construction >> and he said,

"Hey man, I want to start a channel on uh flipping houses." So it's called the groundup house flipping challenge, uh groundup house flipping business. >> Okay? and he documented his journey for his very first flip from the very beginning all the way up until uh when it closed and all the way up until when he sold the property. Now, when he documented that on uh social media and YouTube, it also helped our business a lot too

because we had a lot of exposure. So, it's uh it's a great channel if anyone wants to check it out of house. >> Yeah, absolutely. We're going to have to include a link to his channel. >> Yeah, absolutely. So, that helped a lot and we learned a lot. You know, I was never big on social media. We had marketed it on there and we had, you know, paid for clicks and and kind of what everybody does.

But I I never until I met him understood the importance of getting yourself out there, >> right? >> And once you get yourself out there, >> it's, you know, it's like going to a networking event. You go to a networking event and shake five hands and, you know, give some business cards out, but when you produce content where you're getting thousands and thousands of views, right? >> Um, it's the same thing. You're out there networking. They

feel like they know you. So, we get calls all day. People are like, "Hey, I saw you on YouTube. I watch your I watch your channel." >> Hard Money Joe. >> Exactly. Hard Money Joe. Like, what are what are your terms? What What can you do? >> Yeah. >> Um and uh yeah, it's it's been awesome. So, we've leaned heavily into that instead of uh just going down the, you know, throwing a bunch of money towards

traditional marketing medians, right? >> Um we now lean more heavily into creating uh content which is helpful for uh you know, very >> the the channel was not monetized in any way, right? It hasn't been until we uh created the GitHoney, >> right? Um, but everything we do is just valuedriven, right? So is if we're providing value to teaching people about house flipping, about DSCR loans, about rehabs. It it, you know, it helps us just by

um providing that value, it all comes back to us. >> How did you uh how did you get to know Jackson? How are you connected to him? >> Uh he was a he was >> that's a good question. He was recommended from a friend of mine >> um who had met him and then we met with Jackson and his business partner. Um, and this was prior to him getting into flipping. Um, but he he was talking

about wanting to get into flipping and I had no idea that he did social media or anything like that. So, >> Gotcha. >> We met again through a mutual acquaintance again, relationship driven relationship. >> He he introduced me to Jackson. >> Yeah. >> And so he he was he came to you and said, "Hey, I want to do a flip blah blah blah blah." Yep. >> He documented everything. And so started with you kind of from

the beginning. >> Correct. So he had no knowledge. He didn't know what offer price to give. He didn't know how to evaluate a deal. >> Yeah. >> Um so, uh he he lives in Kingwood. He wanted a deal >> kind of around him. >> So, I just started taking a look at all the wholesale deals, started, you know, trying to find him a deal to uh to be able to do a loan for him on. >>

Um and he documented the whole thing from the calls to the wholesalers to, you know, first first showing up and having New Western there with 20 people on the >> on the showing. Yeah. And he didn't he didn't fluff anything up. It was all exactly, you know, what do they want for earnest money? What is the cash to close? >> Yeah. >> Um, you know, the pain points with the contractors he had during the flip. And

it was all documented. I think people really >> vibed with it because it wasn't, >> you know, it wasn't like HGTV where this is the purchase, this is the rehab, this is the sales price, this is the profit. It was >> a true realistic insight into what it caught, what it takes to flip. Because >> yeah, >> you know, there's there's so many more moving parts to flipping a house, >> right, >> than just simply >>

those those four numbers. >> Yeah. >> Right. >> And so you were the person basically that financed the deal. >> Yeah. So we financed it. We actually found him that first deal. Um he had his own contractor who had done some work on his own house. >> Um so he brought the contractor. Um and it was in Kingwood and uh I forget who the wholesaler was. I think it was Alchemist. Um >> or Joe Huber, but

anyway, we got the deal from them. Um and it worked out to be a really good deal and he and he he made a profit on it. >> Yeah, he did. >> Yeah. So, and then he had a couple where he didn't make a profit on it. >> It happens. >> So, that's what happens in in flipping, you know. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> So, um but it was great. I loved it. Um love the fact that

it was geared towards helping people, right? >> Um and uh yeah, one thing led to another and then >> we were because social media is is not geographically specific. It's everywhere. We were getting tons of new investors reaching out from all over the country. Mhm. >> Um asking the same things. How do I evaluate this deal? How do I, you know, plug it into a calculator? Where can I find my lender? And that kind of led

to organically growing the get hard money >> where now we're um putting local lenders in every market where they can find them. There's calculators on there where they can estimate what they're going to profit on their flip, their cash to close, um their rehab calculators, DSCR calculator. So, it's all again completely free to use. Um we even have an AI comping tool on there. >> No kidding. Uh so you can comp your houses. So so it's

really just kind of a a helpful tool for new investors. >> Yeah. >> Or seasoned investors too if you you know want to mingle with your local lenders. >> Yeah, for sure. >> And so that that was kind of like a natural progression that happened though, right? Because for a while you you you guys are already doing deals. Um you you're bringing in all of the traffic that's coming in from Jackson's channel. >> Yep. And then

now you see an opportunity to now convert this into a nationwide thing. So how can we bring more value to people that are outside of our market is probably kind of the >> the nature of thinking there. Huh. >> Exactly. Okay. So we because we've only ever lent in our market. >> Yeah. >> Um there was nothing we could do for all these investors but you know pass them on to another lender. Just email uh introduction

and that was it. Or try to broker the deals out but that never >> you know was never the the greatest thing. So, >> for sure. >> Um, yeah. So, now we feel like we're building a real community and and we're continually adding stuff to the platform that's just completely valuedriven to them. >> Um, so they can, you know, use it every day. So, when they're making offers, they can calculate their offers. It's, uh, it's a

pretty cool tool. >> That's amazing, man. You guys are offering a lot of value for um, you know, any investor out there that's looking to get their first deal done. >> Yeah, exactly. >> Or their next deal, right? Yeah. So where where is most of the traffic coming from right now? From YouTube. >> Yeah, it's all coming from YouTube. >> Yeah, which is incredible. >> Yep. >> Yeah, YouTube is such a high converting great source of

medium, right? To be able to generate really good prospects for you guys. >> And it's all long long content. You know, the videos are, you know, hour long in some cases. Um so really kind of build a rapport there with these guys. They they they feel like they know us, >> right? Um, and so they feel like they can trust us when we give them these tools for them to use. >> Nice. Nice. Everything kind of

just flows easily then. >> Yep. >> Yeah. And so what kind of systems have you had to put in place now to be able to, you know, you guys are probably getting a lot of traffic through YouTube? >> Yep. >> What kind of systems do you have in place now to be able to kind of handle all the traffic? What kind of people do you have in place now? Uh, when did you start githardmoney.com? >> Uh,

about a year ago. >> About a year ago. >> Yeah. Maybe maybe slightly over >> Yeah, >> a year. Okay. >> Yep. Uh I mean the systems we use have not really changed in terms of our CRM and our loan operating system that we use for our own loans. >> Yeah. >> Um but it's just a matter of being able to quickly act on these incoming um prospects, you know, where where to filter them to >>

because previously they were all coming through the Spark Lending website, >> right? >> Um and uh now if they're, you know, not in a market that we can handle, it's just redirecting them to the get hard money to be able to find a local lender. >> Got it. >> Yeah. And so when when you say a local lender, are do you guys have now sort of like a rolodex of lenders across the nation? >> Yep. Okay.

>> We have a we have about 82 lenders that we work with. These are all smaller lenders. These are not uh you know the big national guys. We've kind of always preached that having that lender is just another part of your team. >> You know, if I have a borrower call me up and say, "Hey Joe, I really got to get this deal closed in four or five days." You know, I know that I can help

this lender get this deal done. Yeah. Um, but if they went to a Kia, you know, although their rates are are good, it's a whole different beast, right? So, I'll even walk these properties with our investors. You know, I'll comp them, I'll run them, I'll figure out uh, you know, if it's a deal, I'll tell them straight up like, "Hey, man, I wouldn't I wouldn't be buying this deal because I don't like the numbers." >> So,

I think it's very useful to have a local lender on your team. What did it take to be able to get 82 lenders already on your platform? >> Uh reaching out to them and also we're part of a mastermind. >> Oh yeah. >> That has lenders in there. We were just in Dallas a couple weeks ago. >> Yeah. Remember you told me? >> Yeah. So um yeah, that's kind of it. I mean they the lenders like

it because they get leads from investors in their market. >> Yeah. So it's a pretty easy pitch then I imagine bringing on more lenders to the marketplace. >> Exactly. Yeah. They can they can chat with the borrowers on there. they can send their term sheets through the uh platform. Um they can you know communicate with them on there almost like Facebook Messenger. So it's it's helpful for the lenders too. So it's just another uh form of

lead generation. >> Is there a cost for lenders to join? >> There's a not a cost to join and not a monthly cost but there's a cost per closed loan. >> Okay. >> So if a loan gets all the way into uh you know it's culmination of originating that loan and having an active loan then we'll charge the lender. >> Yeah. But only if a deal gets closed. >> Only if a deal closed. And how do

you guys track that? >> Uh, a lot of it is just through honesty. >> Yeah, >> I mean, we haven't got to the point where we feel like we need to go in there and create algorithms to see if these loans have closed and match borrowers. We would have the potential to do that, but >> even on our lender side, we've built a really strong community. >> Um, and they know that it's a very useful tool

to have. The best thing you can have as a lender is having leads coming in. >> Yeah. >> Um, so that's it's kind of a lot of it's based off trust right now. >> That's amazing. I think um with business, you know, you always have to have really good honest partners, right? Yep. And so, I mean, I think maybe just vetting the people out, making sure you're doing business with good people, I think is probably enough

at the beginning right now. >> For sure. And it's helped our business too with Spark because um you know, we're we're giving these lenders leads and the first time they get a lead that's from a bar in Houston, come through their website, what do they do? They reach out and say, "Hey, I have this borrower. Can you take care of them?" >> Right? So, um, it's just a, you know, it's just a community now and we

we share leads amongst each other. >> Le leads amongst other lenders, you mean? Or >> Yeah. >> Okay. Got it. Got it. >> Yeah. >> And so, the way that the system works is someone comes to your website, they maybe play around with the calculators to figure things out. Whenever it's time for them to get a quote, then they go and request a quote. Now, they have their Now they have their uh >> Your phone died.

>> My phone. Pick up. The phone died. Uh we'll keep that off there. Uh so now you have basically and we're back. Uh so the whole process is they come into your website, you're offering them a lot of value. When it's time for them to actually when when they find a a property that's worthy of them getting a quote, then they can do it on that same website. >> Yep. Correct. So, it's kind of it's kind

of like a one-stop shop for analyzing the deal, uh, getting a quote from the lender, contacting them through the platform. The whole the whole system could probably be spent or or done on your platform then. >> Yeah, that's the goal is that almost everything that you can do eventually, you can do that on the platform. >> Yeah. >> So, you know, you can find your lender, you can find your insurance agent here in a few weeks.

Um, so when you have your property and you have all the terms, you can push it out to a bunch of local insurance brokers and they'll be able to give you a quote. >> Yeah. >> So it's um it's all just, you know, finding the best product for you at the time. So if you if you have a potential loan, you can actually put it out to all the local lenders >> in your market and then

let them send you the term sheet so that you can compare them. >> And um yeah, it's just it's just a great way to be able to connect with with other people in your market. So, you're gonna you're going to create also kind of like a brokerage for insurance carriers or or brokers. >> Yeah. Uhuh. It's free for them to join. Yeah. Um and and that's everything is free with the insurance, but you know, a lot

of times us investors forget the insurance until the day of closing or the day before closing. Everyone's scrambling around trying to lock in the insurance to to let it close, right? Well, you can have your uh your deal on there and you just push it out to all the insurance agents and let them give you, you know, vacancy builder risk quotes, you know, whatever you need. >> Very very efficient then. >> Yep. >> Yeah. Get the

job done in all in one location. >> Yeah. Why do you have to jump around to 30 different and that's same uh >> same vision you have too, right? You're you're trying to accomplish not having all these different softwares that people are paying for and it's all centralized system, right? >> That has all the same benefit for a tenth of the cost. >> Yeah. like we're we're looking at all the expenses in real estate with your

you know your uh MLS license, your uh you know the the cost that you're spending on you know insurance, all of these things. We're trying to limit the cost for the investor to ultimately help their bottom line, ultimately help the speed of the transaction. >> Yeah. At the end of the day, if you can if you can make things faster and cheaper for people, it's going to be a no-brainer for them to use your product or

service. >> And no and no cost. >> And no cost. Yeah. >> Yeah. Completely free to use. >> Yeah. So, >> my my platform is just about as free as you can get. I mean, it's uh >> it's cheaper than a live human being, you know, and it's uh it's cheaper than a human being. Uh it doesn't get tired. It always shows up to work on time, right? And uh and it always follows the script. So,

uh I think it's probably the best alternative to having a human being is having someone that's potentially better and then also a lot cheaper. So >> yeah, it's very interesting to see, you know, kind of everything that's happening with staffing and AI. Yeah. >> You know, with with AI replacing staffing interesting to see, you know, how that comes about in the next 5 to 10 years. >> Yeah. I think the people that are really going to

kind of set the >> foundation for kind of the next uh iteration of business is going to be the people that learn how to implement AI into businesses. Yep. >> Right. And I think that's the biggest challenge right now is because a lot of people are hearing about AI AI but you know what is AI? How do you actually implement it? How do you actually use it? Like >> you know I think that's the people that

are able to bridge that gap are the people that are really going to have you know the next the next wave of tech millionaires and potentially billionaires. You know, if you're able to figure out a way to scale one particular problem >> in an industry, then I think that's where a lot of opportunity lies. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. So, >> you're you're you're on deck already, >> man. I I am excited, you know. I am excited

right now in the voice uh in the voice AI space. There's a lot of people that are using platforms like Naden, right? Platforms like make.com, which is kind of like a voice rapper. you're connecting a bunch of different tools and you have to like set it up manually, you know, do all of these things. That's why a lot of people are charging a,000 bucks setup fee, $3,000 setup fee, 5,0007 thou $10,000 setup fees is, you know,

the most that I've heard. >> Yeah. And uh I knew that that was a big challenge because you know if we can make this programmatically and solve the solution of having an onboarding within five minutes which my platform can do now we can onboard people and I don't have to charge an arm and a leg for you to have your own voice AI with you know whatever industry you're in uh naming it whatever you want and

uh it saying whatever company you wanted to say that you're working with um letting the client program very basic fundamentals of the AI. Now we can just onboard people a lot quicker >> uh and not have to charge them anything, you know. So the barrier of entry for anyone to have a voice AI >> goes down to zero. >> Mhm. >> So now, you know, what's really stopping you from having a voice AI employee that can

fill in the gaps, that can take inbound leads, make outbound calls if you have compliance. Um it's it's a great magnificent tool and I think uh I'm really excited to be able to bring it to the marketplace. >> Awesome. Yeah, I know. We're starting to use it too. Yeah. I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do and that's in our industry. I know it's uh you can really implement this in almost any industry, right? Yeah.

Because you've got the sales side of it, you've got the uh >> assistant side of it. Yeah. You've got so many different angles that you can implement it into. >> Yeah, absolutely. Really really excited about that. It's going to be the future for sure, man. So, um, you know, we've we've even talked about doing some some AI tools with like finding out different things from, >> uh, the county, right? Finding different solutions there. So, >> so

many ways to implement AI. I think, you know, if you just learn how to, uh, especially how to code nowadays, I think that is the number one way to get ahead in my opinion. >> Bless you. >> Excuse me. Thank you. But, um, man, so I love everything. I love what you're doing with githardmoney.com. Um do you uh where do you see it going next? You know in the future in the next 5 years, 10 years

AI, you know, we're talking about AI right now. Um are you looking to implement any more sort of AI tools or things into the platform? >> Yeah, always anything to make our life simpler. You know, a lot of it's manual work where we, you know, take stuff the bars have given us and have to transpose it into our systems. >> Yeah. Um, so that'll be, you know, great when we can kind of figure out with, you

know, how AI can help us there already on the, uh, you know, kind of the lead system, the generation system along with the refinances. There's there's so many different angles we would eventually to keep up with everybody else need to implement it. >> Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely, man. Um, and I'm sure you guys are going to continue growing the the YouTube and bringing in more more clients there. >> Yeah, definitely put put uh a lot into the

YouTube this uh this year and next and just keep keep growing it. >> Yeah. Um, I love it now. I think it's uh such a great tool. Yeah. You know, so much training on there for free. >> For sure. >> Um, and we get the benefit from it. >> Love it. Love it, dude. Love it, dude. What do you uh what kind of direction do you you guys want to take the YouTube channel because I know

you work a lot with Jackson now, right? >> Yeah. Well, now it's kind of the point where um he's a more of a seasoned vet because he's on a seventh. So, it's not from the the very newbie. Um, so now if you've seen, we've started to interview a lot of other investors because there's so many different aspects of real estate, >> right? >> Um, and so many different people have different niches, right? >> So, we just

interviewed, you know, a guy who's flipping a 72 unit uh hotel. >> Yeah. >> Um, and next week we're actually going to film someone who's doing a brand new new construction uh duplex. >> Right. >> Right. We're working on one now where they're building uh little shotgun houses on on over 30 lots. >> Right. So, we're going to interview those guys, kind of uh find out, you know, where they started from, where they're trying to go,

how they're doing it. Um, just to kind of help everybody who might take a different path than the just traditional single family flip, right? >> You know, so that's kind of what we want to do is just uh, >> you know, meet meet all the different types of investors from different backgrounds, from different uh, experience levels and put them out there that hopefully people can learn on just boots on the ground. you know, it's um >>

Right. >> It's cool to see it. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Absolutely. So, that's kind of like the next phase you you would say is interviewing investors here in town. >> Interviewing investors and uh you know, seeing seeing what they're what they're doing. >> Yeah, man. That's uh takes a lot of work, man. >> Yeah. >> It's fun, though. It's it's really enjoyable. I mean, we just get out there with cameras and we just talk like we're

talking now. Yeah. >> Uh we walk through their project. We kind of see, you know, all the ins and outs of it, the different stages of it, right? It's it's not a ton of work. I don't have to do any of the editing, which is great. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> I just show up and talk to these guys and we film it. Um, and I I Yeah, I really enjoy it. >> Yeah. >> And and it

helps us now. We have really good systems. You know, when someone wants to get a loan, they come into our ecosystem and it's all, you know, streamlined. So, it takes a lot of pressure off me to not have to manually do them. >> Um, so yeah, we're in a good position now. And and it's really just kind of growing our uh >> growing how much capital we have out. >> Yeah. Um, and you know, just improving

our servicing, making sure that every borrower that comes through us has the same incredible experience. >> Yeah. >> Uh, you know, very customer driven. So, that's that's what we're we're trying to build. >> That's that's incredible, man. You guys are doing something great. I'm excited to see where you guys uh end up, you know, in the next 3 to 5 years, you know. >> Um, especially, you know, you mentioned in incorporating a lot of AI systems

into your platform. I think that really is the key to having growth, you know, and being different out in the marketplace. Um, because there's a lot of tools. There's a lot of, like you mentioned at the beginning of the podcast, a lot of dinosaurs out there. Yeah. >> Right. And so, how do you come in and >> make an impact in today's day and age? I think that is the biggest win I think that you can

do if you learn how to do that early on right now. >> Yeah. Making it easier for us, making it easier for them. >> Yeah. >> Um, and then making sure everybody makes more money. That's what it's all about. Absolutely. >> Um, well, cool, man. Uh, thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it. Uh, how can people find out more about you? Sparklanding, is there one area that they can go and, uh, connect

connect with with you? >> Yeah, if they want to reach out to me, it's just joesparklanding.com. Our website's sparklanding.com. You can uh, actually book a call on there with me. >> Yeah. >> If you want to, you know, talk about real estate. >> For sure. Cool. >> So, and then the and then githarmoney.com, too. It's free to use. Yeah. So >> cool. Awesome. Well, uh, thank you so much again, Joe. I appreciate it. And, uh, yeah,

we'll be be here on the next one. >> Sounds good. >> Thank you.