WEBVTT
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Did you know that 90 % of the world's millionaires
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invest in real estate? Well, I'm Angel with the
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Academy Presents Real Estate Investing Rocks,
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and I'm here to help you if you want to go for
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your piece of that pie. Are you new? Are you
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new to this and you just don't know where to
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start? It's okay. Are you someone that has invested
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but you feel stuck, you feel like you've lost
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momentum, you don't know where to really head
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from here? Are you a seasoned real estate investor
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who is doing great, but maybe you just want to
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hone a few skills here and there? This is the
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place for you. The Academy Presents Real Estate
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Investing Rocks podcast will connect you with
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industry experts so that you can save time, avoid
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costly mistakes, and begin living the life you've
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dreamed of all through real estate investing.
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You're already taking the first step. just by
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joining us here today. Hey guys, it's Angel with
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the Academy Presents Real Estate Investing Brock's.
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You are with us for the fall summit and this
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has been amazing. I say it I think every single
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time but these are my favorite six days of the
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year by far. I get to have amazing conversations
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with amazing experts in the space and then you
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get to hear all of their stories and all their
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experiences and all of their massive knowledge
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too and so that just makes this really amazing.
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So my friend here, Hua Wen, is going to be sharing
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a little bit about her story and we'll kind of
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chit chat about some other things, but I'm just
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excited to share her with y 'all. So, Hua, if
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you want to kind of give us a little bit about
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your background and maybe just how you got into
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real estate, maybe, and then we can move on to
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the other. Yeah. Hi, Angel. Thanks for having
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me on. So Jaime and I, our journey into real
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estate, you know, we're both eye doctors. So
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when we ventured into the world of real estate,
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we had a zero experience. So the birth of our
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little baby girl, her name's Athena. That was
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eight years ago. She just had a birthday. And
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really, that was why we decided, you know, we
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really want to figure out how to be more flexible
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with our schedule. And that was really the vehicle
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of trying to buy back our time. I mean, at this
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time, we already had two practices, we were busy
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working about 60 to 70 hours a week. And so we
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were really, really grinding. And so we just
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wanted to figure out and we didn't have diversified
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passive income, aside from the 401k and IRA.
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That was really all we had and then our practice.
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And so when we ventured into real estate, you
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know, we learned different programs, I mean,
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different podcasts, different books, like meetups,
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you name it, we were there. And so we were just
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trying to figure out different vehicles of real
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estate. And so we started off buying land. And,
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you know, funny enough, our real estate journey
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was overseas. And so we bought land overseas
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in Belize, and then we bought into a resort syndication.
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in Belize and then we did ground up construction
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built our custom home and we currently and then
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we Airbnb'd it and so that was kind of like a
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vacation home but then we Airbnb'd when we weren't
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there and then multifamily really started about
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five years ago and so that was when we started
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multifamily syndication and ever since we learned
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about that vehicle that was what we honed in
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on and focused and grew and started growing our
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portfolio in that avenue. And it's been a game
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changer. And so now I practice twice a month,
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you know. So freedom of time has been the biggest
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thing and biggest reward ever since we started
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our real estate journey with multifamily. And
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that's not like Jaime and I, like, we never take
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the lead on asset management. You know, there's
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a few projects where, you know, yeah, we get
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on the weekly calls, but somebody else is always
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the lead on the asset management because that's
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not our sweet spot. You know, we like to get
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out there. I mean, we go to a lot of networking
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conferences and meetups and, you know, so to
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speak and things. And so we enjoy, you know,
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that's a lane that I didn't think I would like
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as far as speaking out there in public. Um, but
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it's been a big vehicle of growth for us and
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I've really enjoyed it and allows us to travel,
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which we really love doing. It's kind of like,
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okay, I get to travel. I get to meet a lot of
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new people. And, um, so it's been that that's
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kind of my sweet spot is like, I love that space,
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the investor relations, getting out there, getting
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to know people. and then the underwriting aspect.
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At the beginning, Jaime and I were underwriting
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heavily. We get to know, we still enjoy that
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process, but now we've hired someone to do full
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-time underwriting where we only will look at
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it after it meets all the criteria where we can
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deep dive into it. And so we focus more on brokers
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and getting out there and just touring if something
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does meet the criteria. um but the asset management
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piece like the day -to -day and that like the
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details of like all you mentioned like yeah that's
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not our real house well it's not exactly my sweet
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spot either with properties 15 inch from the
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house so it kind of becomes our thing and and
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the thing is like when i had to go over there
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jason was still working in his w2 so jason was
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working in his w2 till the end of june so now
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if something happens he's probably going to go
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take care of it except for the two weeks when
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him and my daughter were like out of cell phone
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range and out of internet range that was I lovingly
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called that the burning it is it was not fun
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because it was like if it could go wrong it went
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wrong and so that was rough but other than that
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like we're on the weekly calls and we're we're
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the ones that get to go to the property the most
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because the rest of our GP team is out of state
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yeah Now that part I like. I love visiting all
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the properties just to see the befores and afters
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and what's going on and what's being done and
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like that part I love. Anything that I'm near
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here in DFW I'll visit because you know it's
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right by our place and then in Houston whenever
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we do a Houston you know visit we'll go drive
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by and visit all the properties. So that part
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I like to see as long as someone's running the
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details of the cafes and all that. Yeah I really
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don't get involved with the capex part unless
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they need like a connection or they need me to
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so we're a part of a really big residential group
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here too we've been investing on the residential
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side here for 15 years so we have a lot of connections
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on the residential side and if you know being
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in Wichita Falls not everybody wants to want
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to drive from DFW to do things with the property
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and so there'll be times when i'm reaching out
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to my residential friends i'm like hey who do
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you know that's a welder hey who do you know
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that can do this hey who do you know that can
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do this and Um, so I'll pass those on a lot of
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times, but that's just like a, this is who I
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found. Cause I, I've made the mistake of getting
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involved in that piece. And yeah, but you know,
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you said there's things that you don't know you
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don't like until you do them. Yeah. Um, I was
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on site for probably a week, week and a half
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working kind of in the middle of stuff, helping
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I found somebody to clean out a unit that was
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really gross. And so they had to like basically
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it's going to have to be gutted eventually, but
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like getting all the stuff out. And so I was
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there for that. And that was when that person
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was like getting in touch with me and I was like,
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wait, you don't get in touch with me. You get
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in touch with them. And I was like, oh, yeah,
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this is I don't like this part. And so. for me
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it was being so close to the property and getting
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I don't want to say like involved too much but
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my involvement was seen differently than it had
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been seen before yeah and so me and our regional
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had a conversation not not a bad one but it was
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just like hey I think I overstepped here I'm
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sorry you're better at this than I am can you
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please Well, and it was just, it was a weird
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time and she had a bunch going on and then Jason
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and Julianne were gone. And so I'm trying to
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take care of things that I can actually control
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because the other stuff that was out of my control
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was out of my control. And so I was trying to
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do the things that I could help with that I could
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control. And it passed the days while they were
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gone. Well, I cried in bed with the glass of
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wine. Yeah, but that was, I wouldn't have known.
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that that is not what I want to be involved in
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if I hadn't been there because I have friends
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that they love that they love going on site and
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they love helping with turnarounds and they love
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like seeing how the flooring goes together and
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they love being in there in it and I'm like I
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don't know that I will ever do that again if
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I have to I mean we're so close if something
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happened and we needed to go up there and paint
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a wall or do something Jason I would be there
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and do that, but it was I Don't call it drama,
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but it was just the the mix Yeah, and the phone
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calls and the conversations that I just didn't
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really want to have Because they weren't fun
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I like having fun conversations and like like
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you like I'm meeting people and talking to people
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and going places So long as I don't have to get
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on a plane I will drive 16 hours to get somewhere
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I know it's weird I know it's weird I'll get
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past it someday but um no I love that part that's
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fun to me like so much so that like we were talking
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to our coach and he's like why are you making
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Jason go to these events with you he doesn't
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want to go and you're taking away from underwriting
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and It was kind of in that moment that I realized
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that the fun I have in meeting people and networking
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is the same fun he has in his spreadsheets. And
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I'm like, that's so weird. He'd rather do that
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than meet a bunch of people, right? Yeah. So
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then it was like, I was going to networking events
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on my own. And I mean, that was fine too, but
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people are always asking, where's Jason? Oh,
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he's at home, probably sitting in front of his
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spreadsheets. right. That's okay. You know, people
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stick with what they enjoy because it's not fun
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for him or, you know, and it wouldn't divide
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and conquer. It's like, it's best if he's loves
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to do the underwriting side, let him focus in
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on that and you get out there and network. Right.
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So it's, yeah. Well, and it's, it comes from
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like, he's more introverted. I'm way extroverted.
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And so I think it's just overwhelming for him.
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Yeah. No, but that's, it works. You know, that's
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good. No, it doesn't. When we capital raise,
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it's actually really awesome because, you know,
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I had friends in the beginning that were like,
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you don't have to underwrite, you're never going
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to be able to raise capital. I was like, I don't
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know. I have no desire to learn that stuff. And
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it has really hurt us. We've, we've raised, we've
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raised the one time for our deal, but we raised
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a million dollars on our first deal. That's awesome.
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And people knew and people know they're like,
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Don't ask her for numbers. Don't do it. Go ask
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Jason. And if we're coming in close to, we're
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fixing to be raised or something, Jason will
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go with me to events because I can get the conversation
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started. And then when they turn the numbers,
00:12:08.889 --> 00:12:11.750
he's right there and can take over. And so it's
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really seamless and it works really well. I like
00:12:15.389 --> 00:12:19.330
it that way. You do what works for you. You know
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what's comfortable for you and why it's enjoyable
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because and that's it's a long -term play right
00:12:23.950 --> 00:12:27.269
and so and then you improve on that and over
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time you know over time as you hear Jason talk
00:12:31.309 --> 00:12:33.669
about the numbers naturally you will pick a lot
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of that up. I have unfortunately learned quite
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a bit from just hearing it over and over again
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um I mean I won't even I won't even play around.
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When we first got started, the thing that I knew
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and understood was the equity multiple. That
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was it. And that's of all the different KPI,
00:12:59.139 --> 00:13:01.279
that's probably the one that most people want
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to know the most. So even if you don't know all
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the details of things, you have to at least know
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that one. I mean, if you know that one, you can.
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Like if you have an approximation of the whole,
00:13:12.649 --> 00:13:14.490
you have a pretty good idea of what you're going
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to be getting average per year. I mean, there's
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things you can tell, you know, that your IRR
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has to be like less than the average per year
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because you got the time value of money going
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on and there's different values going out each
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year. I mean, there's things that you can tell
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from it. I just couldn't get real specific. Yeah,
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that's okay. Yeah. So I mean, it worked out.
00:13:34.309 --> 00:13:38.360
And most people invest and you know, There's
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a few that are going to ask the detailed, very
00:13:40.860 --> 00:13:43.659
detailed numbers, but the majority of them honestly
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don't, you know. Yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah,
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they don't. They might want to act like they
00:13:51.799 --> 00:13:54.080
want those numbers, but I think they're kind
00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:55.639
of like me. And when they hear those numbers,
00:13:56.580 --> 00:13:59.919
they're just numbers. Yeah. So, but I want to
00:13:59.919 --> 00:14:02.740
turn things around a little bit because one of
00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:05.509
the things that I like to focus on is. really
00:14:05.509 --> 00:14:08.009
showing people who are paycheck to paycheck,
00:14:08.190 --> 00:14:11.809
whether that's military, law enforcement, teachers,
00:14:12.210 --> 00:14:15.090
that you can get into this without having a ton.
00:14:15.809 --> 00:14:18.269
And I think you and Jaime have a really unique
00:14:18.269 --> 00:14:22.149
take on that because y 'all didn't come here
00:14:22.149 --> 00:14:26.169
with tons and tons of money. And I think that
00:14:26.169 --> 00:14:30.230
people see the end product, they see the highlight
00:14:30.230 --> 00:14:32.070
reel, and they don't know what it took to get
00:14:32.070 --> 00:14:33.909
there. So do you mind sharing a little bit about
00:14:33.909 --> 00:14:39.240
that? Oh yeah you know like you said so I'm actually
00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:42.179
I was born in the Philippines in the refugee
00:14:42.179 --> 00:14:45.360
camp you know and so my parents fled Vietnam
00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:48.179
and so I didn't come to the U .S. till I was
00:14:48.179 --> 00:14:51.240
about eight and a half years old and so our journey
00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:55.279
was extremely rough because you know we moved
00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:58.340
around a lot. I was in Pennsylvania, Virginia,
00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:04.320
I was in I don't know 13 different schools before
00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:07.399
we ended up going to New Orleans and then my
00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:11.320
dad got a little fishing boat and you know my
00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:14.600
mom her skill set was she she knew how to cook.
00:15:14.809 --> 00:15:16.509
because she never went to school, she doesn't
00:15:16.509 --> 00:15:18.629
know how to drive, she doesn't speak English.
00:15:19.309 --> 00:15:22.070
And so, you know, we grew up in a little bitty
00:15:22.070 --> 00:15:26.429
trailer, $3 ,000 mobile home in New Orleans is
00:15:26.429 --> 00:15:28.710
where we grew up. And then it was a really rough
00:15:28.710 --> 00:15:30.730
part of New Orleans, you know, not the New Orleans
00:15:30.730 --> 00:15:33.929
people know as the fun and like we lived in the
00:15:33.929 --> 00:15:37.360
projects. And so our upbringing was really tough
00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:40.419
and my dad passed away at a young age. And so
00:15:40.419 --> 00:15:43.500
I started working by age 10 with my mom and we
00:15:43.500 --> 00:15:46.379
wound up ending up buying this like little corner
00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:49.700
convenience store in the project. And so I would
00:15:49.700 --> 00:15:52.820
go to school and then go out and help my mom.
00:15:53.350 --> 00:15:55.769
And here, my mom, like I said, she doesn't know
00:15:55.769 --> 00:15:57.549
anything about speaking and stuff, but she could
00:15:57.549 --> 00:15:59.990
make po' boys and make fried rice and just basic
00:15:59.990 --> 00:16:03.690
things. And, you know, so I was like, you know,
00:16:03.809 --> 00:16:06.309
little entrepreneur. I was like, I was doing,
00:16:06.649 --> 00:16:09.629
I was working the cash register by age 10. I
00:16:09.629 --> 00:16:12.470
was working the kitchen by age 10. And then Jaime,
00:16:12.649 --> 00:16:15.149
very similar immigrant story. You know, he came
00:16:15.149 --> 00:16:18.629
to the, he's from Mexico and he came to the States
00:16:18.629 --> 00:16:22.049
by age five. And like his parents, you know,
00:16:22.090 --> 00:16:24.870
they've always like they lived in itty bitty,
00:16:25.250 --> 00:16:29.730
um, one side of a duplex and there's a family
00:16:29.730 --> 00:16:33.169
of five and three of them lived in like the three
00:16:33.169 --> 00:16:35.789
siblings lived in one small itty bitty bedroom,
00:16:36.230 --> 00:16:39.629
you know, probably a quarter size of my office
00:16:39.629 --> 00:16:42.509
space here. And so they lived in that for 20
00:16:42.509 --> 00:16:46.850
something years. Right. And so, um, and it's,
00:16:46.850 --> 00:16:50.860
it's So it's very low income and we went to school
00:16:50.860 --> 00:16:53.559
and then, you know, so to the epitome of trying
00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:56.679
to become a doctor, that's like, you think that's
00:16:56.679 --> 00:16:59.519
like, man, that's the American dream is like
00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:01.899
becoming a doctor. We're first ones to go to
00:17:01.899 --> 00:17:04.680
college and go becoming doctors in our family,
00:17:04.779 --> 00:17:08.779
you know, but that journey as fancy and glamorous
00:17:08.779 --> 00:17:11.740
as the title and the accolade of a doctor is
00:17:11.740 --> 00:17:16.339
the reality of it is, I mean, we were living
00:17:16.339 --> 00:17:20.279
like off of student loans, right? And coming
00:17:20.279 --> 00:17:25.200
out of optometry school, we had $350 ,000 a student
00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:27.880
loan debt. So it wasn't like we even came out
00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:30.900
with like, we didn't have a little, we came out
00:17:30.900 --> 00:17:34.099
with a big negative. And so at this point, like
00:17:34.099 --> 00:17:36.779
our parents really can't help us. This is purely
00:17:36.779 --> 00:17:40.039
living off a credit card debt and living off
00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:44.410
of student loans. And so, our first journey of
00:17:44.410 --> 00:17:46.549
like, okay, now we are doctors, we're going to
00:17:46.549 --> 00:17:50.349
go work for someone else. And, you know, our
00:17:50.349 --> 00:17:53.450
first paycheck, I was like, man, we were living
00:17:53.450 --> 00:17:56.829
off of ramen noodles. Angel, when we moved here
00:17:56.829 --> 00:18:00.450
to DFW, like we met 17 years ago. And Hyman,
00:18:00.670 --> 00:18:04.789
I graduated, we literally had about $150 in our
00:18:04.789 --> 00:18:07.569
bank account graduating. And we needed to wait
00:18:07.569 --> 00:18:11.420
to our license for us to start working. And so
00:18:11.420 --> 00:18:13.500
we moved into Arlington. The apartments that
00:18:13.500 --> 00:18:16.680
we're purchasing, we were living in a C minus
00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:20.480
apartment in a one bedroom. And, you know, so
00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:23.319
even as doctors, we lived like students, you
00:18:23.319 --> 00:18:27.619
know, and so we ate ramen, we lived extremely
00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:32.220
frugal, because we knew we had big dreams. And
00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:36.349
we knew that we wanted to really budget and have
00:18:36.349 --> 00:18:38.690
our money work for us. And at that time, our
00:18:38.690 --> 00:18:40.490
goal was just to become our own boss and buy
00:18:40.490 --> 00:18:45.069
our practice. And so to live, even though we
00:18:45.069 --> 00:18:49.970
started making six figures as doctors, we picked
00:18:49.970 --> 00:18:53.690
up extra relief work. So we constantly worked
00:18:53.690 --> 00:18:56.789
every Saturday and Sunday, and we did this for
00:18:56.789 --> 00:18:59.630
years. you know, picking up extra relief work
00:18:59.630 --> 00:19:02.170
so that we could start paying up our debt and
00:19:02.170 --> 00:19:04.710
then having enough saved so we could buy that
00:19:04.710 --> 00:19:07.450
first practice. And we lived in that one bedroom
00:19:07.450 --> 00:19:11.869
C -class apartment even as doctors. Jaime today
00:19:11.869 --> 00:19:18.210
still drives his 2004 Toyota Sequoia 350 ,000
00:19:18.210 --> 00:19:21.670
miles. I kid you not, Angel. When people look
00:19:21.670 --> 00:19:24.950
at us today and they're like, Jaime's still driving
00:19:24.950 --> 00:19:27.329
that? I'm like, at this point of our journey,
00:19:27.450 --> 00:19:31.269
We can buy any car we want, but we still have
00:19:31.269 --> 00:19:34.529
that mentality of we don't have lifestyle inflation
00:19:34.529 --> 00:19:38.690
where now we work on building assets. We work
00:19:38.690 --> 00:19:41.769
on like, I mean, a vehicle, it's great. His Toyota
00:19:41.769 --> 00:19:45.170
Sequoia does great. It has no problem. My vehicle
00:19:45.170 --> 00:19:49.309
is like 14 years old, you know, and his is like
00:19:49.309 --> 00:19:52.390
18 years old. And it gets us from A to B and
00:19:52.390 --> 00:19:55.490
it's fine, you know? But, you know, some people,
00:19:55.529 --> 00:19:59.349
they want the end result, but they don't know
00:19:59.349 --> 00:20:02.289
the journey of what it took, like the hustling
00:20:02.289 --> 00:20:05.029
and the grinding. And I mean, I've seen people
00:20:05.029 --> 00:20:08.769
from all walks of life. The immigrant story that
00:20:08.769 --> 00:20:12.670
Jaime and I share is very common. It's very common.
00:20:12.769 --> 00:20:17.529
And it's because of those hardships. How we view
00:20:17.529 --> 00:20:21.230
money is really different. You know, the value
00:20:21.230 --> 00:20:25.440
of money. because we know the effort and hard
00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:28.740
work and commitment it took to build that value,
00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:32.180
we want to maximize that. And so, you know, we
00:20:32.180 --> 00:20:37.500
do live life fully now because we have more time,
00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:41.079
but like we don't spend lavishly even till this
00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:44.960
day. Travels for us are experiences and memories
00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:49.319
and so we we enjoy that process. But like we
00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:53.539
don't have fancy stuff and we're but that's just
00:20:53.539 --> 00:20:56.640
us because that for us doesn't fulfill us. For
00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:00.259
me to donate like I have no problem with that
00:21:00.259 --> 00:21:03.380
you know but to buy or gamble or do something
00:21:03.380 --> 00:21:05.890
like that that was like oh my god that feel so
00:21:05.890 --> 00:21:10.269
wasteful. So it's just a different view of it.
00:21:10.329 --> 00:21:14.109
But it doesn't matter what walks of life, whatever
00:21:14.109 --> 00:21:21.069
avenue. Like my mom, no formal education. And
00:21:21.069 --> 00:21:24.609
like I said, but she wound up doing small little
00:21:24.609 --> 00:21:27.009
businesses, six little small businesses in New
00:21:27.009 --> 00:21:29.490
Orleans in order to take care of the three of
00:21:29.490 --> 00:21:35.940
us as a single mom. And so it's doable. And she
00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:39.180
was able to retire after we started working.
00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:42.900
But I see it all the time now. And people even
00:21:42.900 --> 00:21:44.980
in the world of investing, I was like, even if
00:21:44.980 --> 00:21:47.819
you have a little bit, we were always saving
00:21:47.819 --> 00:21:51.140
money on the side. to invest early on like even
00:21:51.140 --> 00:21:53.599
if it was a little bit in the 401k when we were
00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:56.380
working for someone else we always allocated
00:21:56.380 --> 00:21:59.019
some money on the side where we have an emergency
00:21:59.019 --> 00:22:02.339
fund where we have money savings and then now
00:22:02.339 --> 00:22:04.319
of course we do more into the real estate world
00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:06.339
but when you're first starting off you don't
00:22:06.339 --> 00:22:08.500
have that kind of money. you know to get into
00:22:08.500 --> 00:22:10.900
that space but we always knew like we're gonna
00:22:10.900 --> 00:22:13.240
live like we're gonna live like students like
00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:15.279
Jaime and I have lived for students for a long
00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:18.140
time we know how to live the student's budget
00:00:01.479 --> 00:00:05.660
Did you know that 90 % of the world's millionaires
00:00:05.660 --> 00:00:09.080
invest in real estate? Well, I'm Angel with the
00:00:09.080 --> 00:00:11.699
Academy Presents Real Estate Investing Rocks,
00:00:11.699 --> 00:00:15.179
and I'm here to help you if you want to go for
00:00:15.179 --> 00:00:19.160
your piece of that pie. Are you new? Are you
00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:20.839
new to this and you just don't know where to
00:00:20.839 --> 00:00:25.399
start? It's okay. Are you someone that has invested
00:00:25.399 --> 00:00:27.800
but you feel stuck, you feel like you've lost
00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:30.120
momentum, you don't know where to really head
00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:33.530
from here? Are you a seasoned real estate investor
00:00:33.530 --> 00:00:35.729
who is doing great, but maybe you just want to
00:00:35.729 --> 00:00:38.490
hone a few skills here and there? This is the
00:00:38.490 --> 00:00:41.570
place for you. The Academy Presents Real Estate
00:00:41.570 --> 00:00:44.890
Investing Rocks podcast will connect you with
00:00:44.890 --> 00:00:48.909
industry experts so that you can save time, avoid
00:00:48.909 --> 00:00:52.869
costly mistakes, and begin living the life you've
00:00:52.869 --> 00:00:55.869
dreamed of all through real estate investing.
00:00:56.770 --> 00:01:00.140
You're already taking the first step. just by
00:01:00.140 --> 00:01:04.400
joining us here today. Hey guys, it's Angel with
00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:06.400
the Academy Presents Real Estate Investing Brock's.
00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:09.099
You are with us for the fall summit and this
00:01:09.099 --> 00:01:11.780
has been amazing. I say it I think every single
00:01:11.780 --> 00:01:14.019
time but these are my favorite six days of the
00:01:14.019 --> 00:01:17.939
year by far. I get to have amazing conversations
00:01:17.939 --> 00:01:20.579
with amazing experts in the space and then you
00:01:20.579 --> 00:01:22.680
get to hear all of their stories and all their
00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:24.659
experiences and all of their massive knowledge
00:01:24.659 --> 00:01:27.659
too and so that just makes this really amazing.
00:01:27.870 --> 00:01:31.430
So my friend here, Hua Wen, is going to be sharing
00:01:31.430 --> 00:01:34.090
a little bit about her story and we'll kind of
00:01:34.090 --> 00:01:36.670
chit chat about some other things, but I'm just
00:01:36.670 --> 00:01:40.310
excited to share her with y 'all. So, Hua, if
00:01:40.310 --> 00:01:41.590
you want to kind of give us a little bit about
00:01:41.590 --> 00:01:45.670
your background and maybe just how you got into
00:01:45.670 --> 00:01:47.390
real estate, maybe, and then we can move on to
00:01:47.390 --> 00:01:50.810
the other. Yeah. Hi, Angel. Thanks for having
00:01:50.810 --> 00:01:55.629
me on. So Jaime and I, our journey into real
00:01:55.629 --> 00:01:58.569
estate, you know, we're both eye doctors. So
00:01:58.569 --> 00:02:01.069
when we ventured into the world of real estate,
00:02:01.310 --> 00:02:04.129
we had a zero experience. So the birth of our
00:02:04.129 --> 00:02:07.370
little baby girl, her name's Athena. That was
00:02:07.370 --> 00:02:10.520
eight years ago. She just had a birthday. And
00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:12.900
really, that was why we decided, you know, we
00:02:12.900 --> 00:02:15.520
really want to figure out how to be more flexible
00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:18.080
with our schedule. And that was really the vehicle
00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:20.659
of trying to buy back our time. I mean, at this
00:02:20.659 --> 00:02:24.379
time, we already had two practices, we were busy
00:02:24.379 --> 00:02:28.360
working about 60 to 70 hours a week. And so we
00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:31.180
were really, really grinding. And so we just
00:02:31.180 --> 00:02:33.699
wanted to figure out and we didn't have diversified
00:02:33.699 --> 00:02:36.659
passive income, aside from the 401k and IRA.
00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:39.800
That was really all we had and then our practice.
00:02:39.909 --> 00:02:42.330
And so when we ventured into real estate, you
00:02:42.330 --> 00:02:45.189
know, we learned different programs, I mean,
00:02:45.349 --> 00:02:49.250
different podcasts, different books, like meetups,
00:02:49.389 --> 00:02:51.969
you name it, we were there. And so we were just
00:02:51.969 --> 00:02:54.270
trying to figure out different vehicles of real
00:02:54.270 --> 00:02:58.150
estate. And so we started off buying land. And,
00:02:58.150 --> 00:03:00.449
you know, funny enough, our real estate journey
00:03:00.449 --> 00:03:03.189
was overseas. And so we bought land overseas
00:03:03.189 --> 00:03:08.129
in Belize, and then we bought into a resort syndication.
00:03:08.509 --> 00:03:12.330
in Belize and then we did ground up construction
00:03:12.330 --> 00:03:16.229
built our custom home and we currently and then
00:03:16.229 --> 00:03:18.569
we Airbnb'd it and so that was kind of like a
00:03:18.569 --> 00:03:21.330
vacation home but then we Airbnb'd when we weren't
00:03:21.330 --> 00:03:25.090
there and then multifamily really started about
00:03:25.090 --> 00:03:27.949
five years ago and so that was when we started
00:03:27.949 --> 00:03:30.610
multifamily syndication and ever since we learned
00:03:30.610 --> 00:03:33.969
about that vehicle that was what we honed in
00:03:33.969 --> 00:03:37.650
on and focused and grew and started growing our
00:03:37.650 --> 00:03:40.169
portfolio in that avenue. And it's been a game
00:03:40.169 --> 00:03:44.069
changer. And so now I practice twice a month,
00:03:44.189 --> 00:03:50.509
you know. So freedom of time has been the biggest
00:03:50.509 --> 00:03:52.969
thing and biggest reward ever since we started
00:03:52.969 --> 00:03:56.569
our real estate journey with multifamily. And
00:03:56.569 --> 00:03:58.689
that's not like Jaime and I, like, we never take
00:03:58.689 --> 00:04:01.069
the lead on asset management. You know, there's
00:04:01.069 --> 00:04:03.189
a few projects where, you know, yeah, we get
00:04:03.189 --> 00:04:06.250
on the weekly calls, but somebody else is always
00:04:06.250 --> 00:04:09.270
the lead on the asset management because that's
00:04:09.270 --> 00:04:12.189
not our sweet spot. You know, we like to get
00:04:12.189 --> 00:04:14.530
out there. I mean, we go to a lot of networking
00:04:14.530 --> 00:04:17.730
conferences and meetups and, you know, so to
00:04:17.730 --> 00:04:20.189
speak and things. And so we enjoy, you know,
00:04:20.189 --> 00:04:22.990
that's a lane that I didn't think I would like
00:04:22.990 --> 00:04:26.610
as far as speaking out there in public. Um, but
00:04:26.610 --> 00:04:29.170
it's been a big vehicle of growth for us and
00:04:29.170 --> 00:04:31.910
I've really enjoyed it and allows us to travel,
00:04:32.069 --> 00:04:35.310
which we really love doing. It's kind of like,
00:04:35.509 --> 00:04:37.589
okay, I get to travel. I get to meet a lot of
00:04:37.589 --> 00:04:40.970
new people. And, um, so it's been that that's
00:04:40.970 --> 00:04:43.610
kind of my sweet spot is like, I love that space,
00:04:44.170 --> 00:04:46.670
the investor relations, getting out there, getting
00:04:46.670 --> 00:04:50.209
to know people. and then the underwriting aspect.
00:04:50.389 --> 00:04:53.389
At the beginning, Jaime and I were underwriting
00:04:53.389 --> 00:04:56.370
heavily. We get to know, we still enjoy that
00:04:56.370 --> 00:04:59.870
process, but now we've hired someone to do full
00:04:59.870 --> 00:05:02.269
-time underwriting where we only will look at
00:05:02.269 --> 00:05:06.329
it after it meets all the criteria where we can
00:05:06.329 --> 00:05:10.490
deep dive into it. And so we focus more on brokers
00:05:10.490 --> 00:05:13.629
and getting out there and just touring if something
00:05:13.629 --> 00:05:17.310
does meet the criteria. um but the asset management
00:05:17.310 --> 00:05:19.589
piece like the day -to -day and that like the
00:05:19.589 --> 00:05:22.649
details of like all you mentioned like yeah that's
00:05:22.649 --> 00:05:25.649
not our real house well it's not exactly my sweet
00:05:25.649 --> 00:05:27.470
spot either with properties 15 inch from the
00:05:27.470 --> 00:05:32.670
house so it kind of becomes our thing and and
00:05:32.670 --> 00:05:34.550
the thing is like when i had to go over there
00:05:34.550 --> 00:05:37.769
jason was still working in his w2 so jason was
00:05:37.769 --> 00:05:41.529
working in his w2 till the end of june so now
00:05:41.529 --> 00:05:43.660
if something happens he's probably going to go
00:05:43.660 --> 00:05:45.360
take care of it except for the two weeks when
00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:47.139
him and my daughter were like out of cell phone
00:05:47.139 --> 00:05:51.279
range and out of internet range that was I lovingly
00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:53.019
called that the burning it is it was not fun
00:05:53.019 --> 00:05:55.879
because it was like if it could go wrong it went
00:05:55.879 --> 00:06:00.139
wrong and so that was rough but other than that
00:06:00.139 --> 00:06:04.319
like we're on the weekly calls and we're we're
00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:06.819
the ones that get to go to the property the most
00:06:06.819 --> 00:06:08.959
because the rest of our GP team is out of state
00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:13.050
yeah Now that part I like. I love visiting all
00:06:13.050 --> 00:06:15.389
the properties just to see the befores and afters
00:06:15.389 --> 00:06:17.250
and what's going on and what's being done and
00:06:17.250 --> 00:06:19.629
like that part I love. Anything that I'm near
00:06:19.629 --> 00:06:22.490
here in DFW I'll visit because you know it's
00:06:22.490 --> 00:06:25.170
right by our place and then in Houston whenever
00:06:25.170 --> 00:06:28.290
we do a Houston you know visit we'll go drive
00:06:28.290 --> 00:06:31.050
by and visit all the properties. So that part
00:06:31.050 --> 00:06:33.410
I like to see as long as someone's running the
00:06:33.410 --> 00:06:38.810
details of the cafes and all that. Yeah I really
00:06:38.810 --> 00:06:41.750
don't get involved with the capex part unless
00:06:41.750 --> 00:06:45.449
they need like a connection or they need me to
00:06:45.449 --> 00:06:47.709
so we're a part of a really big residential group
00:06:47.709 --> 00:06:49.490
here too we've been investing on the residential
00:06:49.490 --> 00:06:53.009
side here for 15 years so we have a lot of connections
00:06:53.009 --> 00:06:55.949
on the residential side and if you know being
00:06:55.949 --> 00:06:58.449
in Wichita Falls not everybody wants to want
00:06:58.449 --> 00:07:01.089
to drive from DFW to do things with the property
00:07:01.089 --> 00:07:04.069
and so there'll be times when i'm reaching out
00:07:04.069 --> 00:07:05.649
to my residential friends i'm like hey who do
00:07:05.649 --> 00:07:07.269
you know that's a welder hey who do you know
00:07:07.269 --> 00:07:08.550
that can do this hey who do you know that can
00:07:08.550 --> 00:07:11.800
do this and Um, so I'll pass those on a lot of
00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:14.620
times, but that's just like a, this is who I
00:07:14.620 --> 00:07:19.439
found. Cause I, I've made the mistake of getting
00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:24.519
involved in that piece. And yeah, but you know,
00:07:24.519 --> 00:07:26.000
you said there's things that you don't know you
00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.779
don't like until you do them. Yeah. Um, I was
00:07:29.779 --> 00:07:33.519
on site for probably a week, week and a half
00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:36.920
working kind of in the middle of stuff, helping
00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:39.959
I found somebody to clean out a unit that was
00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:45.060
really gross. And so they had to like basically
00:07:45.060 --> 00:07:47.279
it's going to have to be gutted eventually, but
00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:49.939
like getting all the stuff out. And so I was
00:07:49.939 --> 00:07:54.000
there for that. And that was when that person
00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:55.500
was like getting in touch with me and I was like,
00:07:55.519 --> 00:07:57.459
wait, you don't get in touch with me. You get
00:07:57.459 --> 00:08:02.740
in touch with them. And I was like, oh, yeah,
00:08:02.819 --> 00:08:07.189
this is I don't like this part. And so. for me
00:08:07.189 --> 00:08:09.509
it was being so close to the property and getting
00:08:09.509 --> 00:08:13.529
I don't want to say like involved too much but
00:08:13.529 --> 00:08:16.329
my involvement was seen differently than it had
00:08:16.329 --> 00:08:20.509
been seen before yeah and so me and our regional
00:08:20.509 --> 00:08:23.569
had a conversation not not a bad one but it was
00:08:23.569 --> 00:08:27.550
just like hey I think I overstepped here I'm
00:08:27.550 --> 00:08:32.210
sorry you're better at this than I am can you
00:08:32.210 --> 00:08:38.320
please Well, and it was just, it was a weird
00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:40.919
time and she had a bunch going on and then Jason
00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:42.539
and Julianne were gone. And so I'm trying to
00:08:42.539 --> 00:08:44.440
take care of things that I can actually control
00:08:44.440 --> 00:08:46.019
because the other stuff that was out of my control
00:08:46.019 --> 00:08:48.600
was out of my control. And so I was trying to
00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:50.120
do the things that I could help with that I could
00:08:50.120 --> 00:08:54.799
control. And it passed the days while they were
00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:59.080
gone. Well, I cried in bed with the glass of
00:08:59.080 --> 00:09:06.240
wine. Yeah, but that was, I wouldn't have known.
00:09:06.360 --> 00:09:08.940
that that is not what I want to be involved in
00:09:08.940 --> 00:09:11.179
if I hadn't been there because I have friends
00:09:11.179 --> 00:09:14.600
that they love that they love going on site and
00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:17.340
they love helping with turnarounds and they love
00:09:17.340 --> 00:09:20.320
like seeing how the flooring goes together and
00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:23.740
they love being in there in it and I'm like I
00:09:23.740 --> 00:09:26.879
don't know that I will ever do that again if
00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:30.740
I have to I mean we're so close if something
00:09:30.740 --> 00:09:32.799
happened and we needed to go up there and paint
00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:35.419
a wall or do something Jason I would be there
00:09:35.419 --> 00:09:39.980
and do that, but it was I Don't call it drama,
00:09:40.039 --> 00:09:44.419
but it was just the the mix Yeah, and the phone
00:09:44.419 --> 00:09:47.559
calls and the conversations that I just didn't
00:09:47.559 --> 00:09:51.440
really want to have Because they weren't fun
00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:53.500
I like having fun conversations and like like
00:09:53.500 --> 00:09:55.779
you like I'm meeting people and talking to people
00:09:55.779 --> 00:09:57.659
and going places So long as I don't have to get
00:09:57.659 --> 00:10:04.200
on a plane I will drive 16 hours to get somewhere
00:10:04.200 --> 00:10:12.440
I know it's weird I know it's weird I'll get
00:10:12.440 --> 00:10:15.940
past it someday but um no I love that part that's
00:10:15.940 --> 00:10:19.179
fun to me like so much so that like we were talking
00:10:19.179 --> 00:10:21.480
to our coach and he's like why are you making
00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:22.960
Jason go to these events with you he doesn't
00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:25.820
want to go and you're taking away from underwriting
00:10:25.820 --> 00:10:28.710
and It was kind of in that moment that I realized
00:10:28.710 --> 00:10:31.610
that the fun I have in meeting people and networking
00:10:31.610 --> 00:10:34.929
is the same fun he has in his spreadsheets. And
00:10:34.929 --> 00:10:39.649
I'm like, that's so weird. He'd rather do that
00:10:39.649 --> 00:10:43.230
than meet a bunch of people, right? Yeah. So
00:10:43.230 --> 00:10:45.570
then it was like, I was going to networking events
00:10:45.570 --> 00:10:49.330
on my own. And I mean, that was fine too, but
00:10:49.330 --> 00:10:51.570
people are always asking, where's Jason? Oh,
00:10:51.570 --> 00:10:53.169
he's at home, probably sitting in front of his
00:10:53.169 --> 00:10:58.740
spreadsheets. right. That's okay. You know, people
00:10:58.740 --> 00:11:01.860
stick with what they enjoy because it's not fun
00:11:01.860 --> 00:11:05.159
for him or, you know, and it wouldn't divide
00:11:05.159 --> 00:11:07.340
and conquer. It's like, it's best if he's loves
00:11:07.340 --> 00:11:10.100
to do the underwriting side, let him focus in
00:11:10.100 --> 00:11:12.580
on that and you get out there and network. Right.
00:11:12.779 --> 00:11:14.980
So it's, yeah. Well, and it's, it comes from
00:11:14.980 --> 00:11:18.100
like, he's more introverted. I'm way extroverted.
00:11:18.379 --> 00:11:22.759
And so I think it's just overwhelming for him.
00:11:22.820 --> 00:11:26.289
Yeah. No, but that's, it works. You know, that's
00:11:26.289 --> 00:11:28.370
good. No, it doesn't. When we capital raise,
00:11:28.429 --> 00:11:30.789
it's actually really awesome because, you know,
00:11:30.789 --> 00:11:32.409
I had friends in the beginning that were like,
00:11:32.409 --> 00:11:33.909
you don't have to underwrite, you're never going
00:11:33.909 --> 00:11:36.769
to be able to raise capital. I was like, I don't
00:11:36.769 --> 00:11:40.370
know. I have no desire to learn that stuff. And
00:11:40.370 --> 00:11:46.330
it has really hurt us. We've, we've raised, we've
00:11:46.330 --> 00:11:47.570
raised the one time for our deal, but we raised
00:11:47.570 --> 00:11:50.210
a million dollars on our first deal. That's awesome.
00:11:50.710 --> 00:11:53.250
And people knew and people know they're like,
00:11:54.110 --> 00:11:57.129
Don't ask her for numbers. Don't do it. Go ask
00:11:57.129 --> 00:12:00.690
Jason. And if we're coming in close to, we're
00:12:00.690 --> 00:12:02.610
fixing to be raised or something, Jason will
00:12:02.610 --> 00:12:06.649
go with me to events because I can get the conversation
00:12:06.649 --> 00:12:08.389
started. And then when they turn the numbers,
00:12:08.889 --> 00:12:11.750
he's right there and can take over. And so it's
00:12:11.750 --> 00:12:15.389
really seamless and it works really well. I like
00:12:15.389 --> 00:12:19.330
it that way. You do what works for you. You know
00:12:19.330 --> 00:12:21.169
what's comfortable for you and why it's enjoyable
00:12:21.169 --> 00:12:23.950
because and that's it's a long -term play right
00:12:23.950 --> 00:12:27.269
and so and then you improve on that and over
00:12:27.269 --> 00:12:31.309
time you know over time as you hear Jason talk
00:12:31.309 --> 00:12:33.669
about the numbers naturally you will pick a lot
00:12:33.669 --> 00:12:36.850
of that up. I have unfortunately learned quite
00:12:36.850 --> 00:12:39.029
a bit from just hearing it over and over again
00:12:39.029 --> 00:12:43.860
um I mean I won't even I won't even play around.
00:12:44.220 --> 00:12:46.860
When we first got started, the thing that I knew
00:12:46.860 --> 00:12:51.139
and understood was the equity multiple. That
00:12:51.139 --> 00:12:58.559
was it. And that's of all the different KPI,
00:12:59.139 --> 00:13:01.279
that's probably the one that most people want
00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:05.039
to know the most. So even if you don't know all
00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:07.320
the details of things, you have to at least know
00:13:07.320 --> 00:13:09.980
that one. I mean, if you know that one, you can.
00:13:10.110 --> 00:13:12.190
Like if you have an approximation of the whole,
00:13:12.649 --> 00:13:14.490
you have a pretty good idea of what you're going
00:13:14.490 --> 00:13:16.789
to be getting average per year. I mean, there's
00:13:16.789 --> 00:13:18.690
things you can tell, you know, that your IRR
00:13:18.690 --> 00:13:21.409
has to be like less than the average per year
00:13:21.409 --> 00:13:23.289
because you got the time value of money going
00:13:23.289 --> 00:13:25.730
on and there's different values going out each
00:13:25.730 --> 00:13:28.250
year. I mean, there's things that you can tell
00:13:28.250 --> 00:13:31.570
from it. I just couldn't get real specific. Yeah,
00:13:31.570 --> 00:13:34.250
that's okay. Yeah. So I mean, it worked out.
00:13:34.309 --> 00:13:38.360
And most people invest and you know, There's
00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:40.860
a few that are going to ask the detailed, very
00:13:40.860 --> 00:13:43.659
detailed numbers, but the majority of them honestly
00:13:43.659 --> 00:13:48.259
don't, you know. Yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah,
00:13:48.299 --> 00:13:51.799
they don't. They might want to act like they
00:13:51.799 --> 00:13:54.080
want those numbers, but I think they're kind
00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:55.639
of like me. And when they hear those numbers,
00:13:56.580 --> 00:13:59.919
they're just numbers. Yeah. So, but I want to
00:13:59.919 --> 00:14:02.740
turn things around a little bit because one of
00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:05.509
the things that I like to focus on is. really
00:14:05.509 --> 00:14:08.009
showing people who are paycheck to paycheck,
00:14:08.190 --> 00:14:11.809
whether that's military, law enforcement, teachers,
00:14:12.210 --> 00:14:15.090
that you can get into this without having a ton.
00:14:15.809 --> 00:14:18.269
And I think you and Jaime have a really unique
00:14:18.269 --> 00:14:22.149
take on that because y 'all didn't come here
00:14:22.149 --> 00:14:26.169
with tons and tons of money. And I think that
00:14:26.169 --> 00:14:30.230
people see the end product, they see the highlight
00:14:30.230 --> 00:14:32.070
reel, and they don't know what it took to get
00:14:32.070 --> 00:14:33.909
there. So do you mind sharing a little bit about
00:14:33.909 --> 00:14:39.240
that? Oh yeah you know like you said so I'm actually
00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:42.179
I was born in the Philippines in the refugee
00:14:42.179 --> 00:14:45.360
camp you know and so my parents fled Vietnam
00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:48.179
and so I didn't come to the U .S. till I was
00:14:48.179 --> 00:14:51.240
about eight and a half years old and so our journey
00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:55.279
was extremely rough because you know we moved
00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:58.340
around a lot. I was in Pennsylvania, Virginia,
00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:04.320
I was in I don't know 13 different schools before
00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:07.399
we ended up going to New Orleans and then my
00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:11.320
dad got a little fishing boat and you know my
00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:14.600
mom her skill set was she she knew how to cook.
00:15:14.809 --> 00:15:16.509
because she never went to school, she doesn't
00:15:16.509 --> 00:15:18.629
know how to drive, she doesn't speak English.
00:15:19.309 --> 00:15:22.070
And so, you know, we grew up in a little bitty
00:15:22.070 --> 00:15:26.429
trailer, $3 ,000 mobile home in New Orleans is
00:15:26.429 --> 00:15:28.710
where we grew up. And then it was a really rough
00:15:28.710 --> 00:15:30.730
part of New Orleans, you know, not the New Orleans
00:15:30.730 --> 00:15:33.929
people know as the fun and like we lived in the
00:15:33.929 --> 00:15:37.360
projects. And so our upbringing was really tough
00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:40.419
and my dad passed away at a young age. And so
00:15:40.419 --> 00:15:43.500
I started working by age 10 with my mom and we
00:15:43.500 --> 00:15:46.379
wound up ending up buying this like little corner
00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:49.700
convenience store in the project. And so I would
00:15:49.700 --> 00:15:52.820
go to school and then go out and help my mom.
00:15:53.350 --> 00:15:55.769
And here, my mom, like I said, she doesn't know
00:15:55.769 --> 00:15:57.549
anything about speaking and stuff, but she could
00:15:57.549 --> 00:15:59.990
make po' boys and make fried rice and just basic
00:15:59.990 --> 00:16:03.690
things. And, you know, so I was like, you know,
00:16:03.809 --> 00:16:06.309
little entrepreneur. I was like, I was doing,
00:16:06.649 --> 00:16:09.629
I was working the cash register by age 10. I
00:16:09.629 --> 00:16:12.470
was working the kitchen by age 10. And then Jaime,
00:16:12.649 --> 00:16:15.149
very similar immigrant story. You know, he came
00:16:15.149 --> 00:16:18.629
to the, he's from Mexico and he came to the States
00:16:18.629 --> 00:16:22.049
by age five. And like his parents, you know,
00:16:22.090 --> 00:16:24.870
they've always like they lived in itty bitty,
00:16:25.250 --> 00:16:29.730
um, one side of a duplex and there's a family
00:16:29.730 --> 00:16:33.169
of five and three of them lived in like the three
00:16:33.169 --> 00:16:35.789
siblings lived in one small itty bitty bedroom,
00:16:36.230 --> 00:16:39.629
you know, probably a quarter size of my office
00:16:39.629 --> 00:16:42.509
space here. And so they lived in that for 20
00:16:42.509 --> 00:16:46.850
something years. Right. And so, um, and it's,
00:16:46.850 --> 00:16:50.860
it's So it's very low income and we went to school
00:16:50.860 --> 00:16:53.559
and then, you know, so to the epitome of trying
00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:56.679
to become a doctor, that's like, you think that's
00:16:56.679 --> 00:16:59.519
like, man, that's the American dream is like
00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:01.899
becoming a doctor. We're first ones to go to
00:17:01.899 --> 00:17:04.680
college and go becoming doctors in our family,
00:17:04.779 --> 00:17:08.779
you know, but that journey as fancy and glamorous
00:17:08.779 --> 00:17:11.740
as the title and the accolade of a doctor is
00:17:11.740 --> 00:17:16.339
the reality of it is, I mean, we were living
00:17:16.339 --> 00:17:20.279
like off of student loans, right? And coming
00:17:20.279 --> 00:17:25.200
out of optometry school, we had $350 ,000 a student
00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:27.880
loan debt. So it wasn't like we even came out
00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:30.900
with like, we didn't have a little, we came out
00:17:30.900 --> 00:17:34.099
with a big negative. And so at this point, like
00:17:34.099 --> 00:17:36.779
our parents really can't help us. This is purely
00:17:36.779 --> 00:17:40.039
living off a credit card debt and living off
00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:44.410
of student loans. And so, our first journey of
00:17:44.410 --> 00:17:46.549
like, okay, now we are doctors, we're going to
00:17:46.549 --> 00:17:50.349
go work for someone else. And, you know, our
00:17:50.349 --> 00:17:53.450
first paycheck, I was like, man, we were living
00:17:53.450 --> 00:17:56.829
off of ramen noodles. Angel, when we moved here
00:17:56.829 --> 00:18:00.450
to DFW, like we met 17 years ago. And Hyman,
00:18:00.670 --> 00:18:04.789
I graduated, we literally had about $150 in our
00:18:04.789 --> 00:18:07.569
bank account graduating. And we needed to wait
00:18:07.569 --> 00:18:11.420
to our license for us to start working. And so
00:18:11.420 --> 00:18:13.500
we moved into Arlington. The apartments that
00:18:13.500 --> 00:18:16.680
we're purchasing, we were living in a C minus
00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:20.480
apartment in a one bedroom. And, you know, so
00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:23.319
even as doctors, we lived like students, you
00:18:23.319 --> 00:18:27.619
know, and so we ate ramen, we lived extremely
00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:32.220
frugal, because we knew we had big dreams. And
00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:36.349
we knew that we wanted to really budget and have
00:18:36.349 --> 00:18:38.690
our money work for us. And at that time, our
00:18:38.690 --> 00:18:40.490
goal was just to become our own boss and buy
00:18:40.490 --> 00:18:45.069
our practice. And so to live, even though we
00:18:45.069 --> 00:18:49.970
started making six figures as doctors, we picked
00:18:49.970 --> 00:18:53.690
up extra relief work. So we constantly worked
00:18:53.690 --> 00:18:56.789
every Saturday and Sunday, and we did this for
00:18:56.789 --> 00:18:59.630
years. you know, picking up extra relief work
00:18:59.630 --> 00:19:02.170
so that we could start paying up our debt and
00:19:02.170 --> 00:19:04.710
then having enough saved so we could buy that
00:19:04.710 --> 00:19:07.450
first practice. And we lived in that one bedroom
00:19:07.450 --> 00:19:11.869
C -class apartment even as doctors. Jaime today
00:19:11.869 --> 00:19:18.210
still drives his 2004 Toyota Sequoia 350 ,000
00:19:18.210 --> 00:19:21.670
miles. I kid you not, Angel. When people look
00:19:21.670 --> 00:19:24.950
at us today and they're like, Jaime's still driving
00:19:24.950 --> 00:19:27.329
that? I'm like, at this point of our journey,
00:19:27.450 --> 00:19:31.269
We can buy any car we want, but we still have
00:19:31.269 --> 00:19:34.529
that mentality of we don't have lifestyle inflation
00:19:34.529 --> 00:19:38.690
where now we work on building assets. We work
00:19:38.690 --> 00:19:41.769
on like, I mean, a vehicle, it's great. His Toyota
00:19:41.769 --> 00:19:45.170
Sequoia does great. It has no problem. My vehicle
00:19:45.170 --> 00:19:49.309
is like 14 years old, you know, and his is like
00:19:49.309 --> 00:19:52.390
18 years old. And it gets us from A to B and
00:19:52.390 --> 00:19:55.490
it's fine, you know? But, you know, some people,
00:19:55.529 --> 00:19:59.349
they want the end result, but they don't know
00:19:59.349 --> 00:20:02.289
the journey of what it took, like the hustling
00:20:02.289 --> 00:20:05.029
and the grinding. And I mean, I've seen people
00:20:05.029 --> 00:20:08.769
from all walks of life. The immigrant story that
00:20:08.769 --> 00:20:12.670
Jaime and I share is very common. It's very common.
00:20:12.769 --> 00:20:17.529
And it's because of those hardships. How we view
00:20:17.529 --> 00:20:21.230
money is really different. You know, the value
00:20:21.230 --> 00:20:25.440
of money. because we know the effort and hard
00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:28.740
work and commitment it took to build that value,
00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:32.180
we want to maximize that. And so, you know, we
00:20:32.180 --> 00:20:37.500
do live life fully now because we have more time,
00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:41.079
but like we don't spend lavishly even till this
00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:44.960
day. Travels for us are experiences and memories
00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:49.319
and so we we enjoy that process. But like we
00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:53.539
don't have fancy stuff and we're but that's just
00:20:53.539 --> 00:20:56.640
us because that for us doesn't fulfill us. For
00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:00.259
me to donate like I have no problem with that
00:21:00.259 --> 00:21:03.380
you know but to buy or gamble or do something
00:21:03.380 --> 00:21:05.890
like that that was like oh my god that feel so
00:21:05.890 --> 00:21:10.269
wasteful. So it's just a different view of it.
00:21:10.329 --> 00:21:14.109
But it doesn't matter what walks of life, whatever
00:21:14.109 --> 00:21:21.069
avenue. Like my mom, no formal education. And
00:21:21.069 --> 00:21:24.609
like I said, but she wound up doing small little
00:21:24.609 --> 00:21:27.009
businesses, six little small businesses in New
00:21:27.009 --> 00:21:29.490
Orleans in order to take care of the three of
00:21:29.490 --> 00:21:35.940
us as a single mom. And so it's doable. And she
00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:39.180
was able to retire after we started working.
00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:42.900
But I see it all the time now. And people even
00:21:42.900 --> 00:21:44.980
in the world of investing, I was like, even if
00:21:44.980 --> 00:21:47.819
you have a little bit, we were always saving
00:21:47.819 --> 00:21:51.140
money on the side. to invest early on like even
00:21:51.140 --> 00:21:53.599
if it was a little bit in the 401k when we were
00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:56.380
working for someone else we always allocated
00:21:56.380 --> 00:21:59.019
some money on the side where we have an emergency
00:21:59.019 --> 00:22:02.339
fund where we have money savings and then now
00:22:02.339 --> 00:22:04.319
of course we do more into the real estate world
00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:06.339
but when you're first starting off you don't
00:22:06.339 --> 00:22:08.500
have that kind of money. you know to get into
00:22:08.500 --> 00:22:10.900
that space but we always knew like we're gonna
00:22:10.900 --> 00:22:13.240
live like we're gonna live like students like
00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:15.279
Jaime and I have lived for students for a long
00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:18.140
time we know how to live the student's budget
