Introduction: The Man Behind the Scenes

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hustlers, on today's episode of the Trump to Hustle Podcast, we're joined by my right-hand guy and the mastermind behind our million-dollar wholesale operation. As the operational engine of his fire buyers, he is the man who makes sure his division is executed, overseering everything from intricate CRMs and automations to scaling a full-time team of nearly 20 people. His journey is a powerful story of resilience. Growing up on the west side of San Antonio and eventually walking away from a stable six-figure corporate career at Verizon to bet on himself in real estate. He is the blunt force that helped us hit the reset button and rebuild a million-dollar wholesale company from scratch in just one day. Today we dive into his background, the transition from the tech world to wholesaling, and what it truly takes to architect a business system that can survive any challenge. Today's episode, Frank Tovar. Welcome to another episode of the Turk the Hustle Podcast for real estate investors, and I'll finish the stories, strategies, and mindset behind our hustle. I'm your host, Michael Yannis, aka Mr. Hustle. And today, special guest, real near and dear to my heart, Frank Tovar. How are you doing, man? I'm good. You? I'm good. It's gonna be a little weird. Frank is my right-hand guy. For you guys don't know, Frank's my right-hand guy, man. And Frank, you know, I I've said this multiple times. I don't think I ever said it to your face, but I said it multiple times to other people. And I'm really excited to do this podcast, man, because I really wouldn't be where I'm at in life without you, man. And that's a hundred percent true statement. And to have you on this uh podcast, I really want to deep dive and share the people and share all the hustlers that are watching on your role and what you do and where you came from before real estate to where we're at now, to what we do together, and just your operation, man. So before all that, let's start off with the way I always start off. My hustle, for you guys don't know, is real estate wholesaling, real estate subject to, and real estate flipping houses. When people think of Frank Tovar, what's Frank's hustle? Hustlers, real estate investing doesn't have to be overwhelming and you don't have to do it alone. If you've been watching from the sidelines, scrolling past deals on Zillow, or binging YouTube videos, but still not taking action, this is for you. That's why we built Hustle Academy, a community designed for new and experienced real estate investors who want to learn,

Growing up on San Antonio’s West Side

SPEAKER_00 2:15

network, and grow. Inside Hustle Academy, you'll get weekly live calls, QA sessions, and step-by-step classes on fix and flip, wholesaling, creative finance, and my favorite subject who deals. Everything you need to know to build real skills and start closing real deals. You'll join a powerful group of like-minded hustlers who are sharing wins, breaking down deals, and all pushing towards the same goal: financial freedom through real estate. If you're ready to level up, no matter what stage you're starting at, join Hustle Academy today, tap the link in the description, or visit hustleacademy.com and let's trump the hustle together.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

Frank's hustle is getting stuffed down, keeping it PG 13, right? So uh so I do real estate wholesaling, I do real estate investing, uh also subject to. And so, but the real core of what I do every single day is actually make sure your operations, our operations work uh hand in hand with whatever vision you want to execute, that's what I do every single day.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

So Frank is the mastermind behind a million-dollar operation, million-dollar wholesale operation that we've been doing for years, and Frank really takes the lead on it, man. But before we deep dive into the whole real estate, let's really take it back. For someone who is in your position running million-dollar real estate company, let's take it back, man. What's Frank's story? Where born and raised San Antonio?

SPEAKER_02 3:33

Born and raised in San Antonio, uh Santa Rosa Hospital. Uh grew up in the West Side, inner West Side. My mom went to Tapoya Middle School, uh Lanier High School. And so we grew up all along that that quadrant. I remember going under the bridge of Commer Street. Uh, I think it's Buena Vista now. I just I don't know why. I have a lot of vivid memories of that area. I think there used to be a picnic for anybody who's in San Antonio, there used to be a picnic store around there. I also have a lot of vivid memories of of that, of that too. Um bounced around. My parents, my mom moved around. Um fun fact, I didn't have a dad growing growing up for my first few years of life. Um my biological father was uh unfortunately killed. Um I think that's all I'll share right now just because I want to respect out of respect for um the family member because there's another family member involved in that thing.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Um I was about to deep dive into that, man. But I mean, I don't want to go over some boundaries of you telling me. Yeah, I mean I don't want to go into that situation, but I mean you saying that word, and that's a strong word, right? Um but as Frank, as kid Frank, not having a dad in picture. You said the word, I hate using that word, killed. That's a strong word. Yeah. But he was he was that day happened. How old were you?

SPEAKER_02 4:48

If you're yeah, so I mean, it's uh in our family, it's public knowledge, right? Uh I'm hesitant to say because that person just delivered got delivered good news right now because that person reformed themselves. I was a family member close to my mom, all that good stuff that goes along with that. Um man, yeah. It's how old were you? When did this happen? I wasn't born. You weren't born. I were not I was not born. And so it took me a lot. Well, man, this is an even deeper dive. Wow, we got there quick. So it's a deeper dive, is um as we're growing up, as I was doing a lot of work, inner work on myself, I realized that my mom grew up in grief and in trauma while I was in her belly. So when I was growing up as a kid, I always wondered why I experienced a lot of things, a lot of frustration, a lot of anger growing up as a kid. And it wasn't until I started doing work on myself that I realized that, oh crap, my mom had a lot of grief and anger. And thankfully she got through it and she did what she had to do. And my mom's like really strong. She's like one of the strong, she was my first mentor, she's my first coach. She would give me long lectures uh of not lectures, but she would give me her insights, right? She knows

Overcoming Family Trauma & Early Lessons

SPEAKER_02 5:50

she only knew what she knew. Um, but she always pushed me to be a better person, a better person. So shout out to my mom that she was able to overcome her adversity. Um my grandma too, she was a migrant worker, and it it it man, my our story is crazy. As I'm getting older and I get to understand what my actual story was. Um it's it's it's it's insanely it's insanely uh wild out there. Now, where my story picks up is I just remember being a kid watching a lot of horror movies. And so now I don't watch horror movies. I say that to say this is that as as I'm growing up as a kid, I just knew that I had to do something better. I don't know why. I every single thing that I wanted to do, it always had to be better. Whether it was coloring, whether it was doing something, whether it was selling candy, whether it was um then eventually my my stepdad came into the picture. He would take us on a paper route, delivering paper at four in the morning, uh doing all those crazy things. Uh it was a pro progression, but I always felt like this thing that I had to be better, and I don't know what that was. And even to this day I still have to be better. What age did uh stepdad come into the picture? Uh, if I recall correctly, the first memory I have of him of him is uh picking him up at Memorial Library, right down the down the street from where my mom used to work. Um I want to say six, five or six years old, something like that. Five or six, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

Now, for you guys watching, Frank and I have been working side by side for the last how many years? Uh almost a decade now, Mike. Almost almost a decade. Almost a decade we've been working side by side. I know the story. We never really deep dive into it, man. So it's crazy to see how literally, like you said, in the first few minutes we're going deep into this. And you know, this podcast leads to wherever this podcast leads, but I think upbringing and every single podcast, I always ask the individual, I want to know what the upbringing is because I think that's what leads them to today. So stepdad at the age of five, uh I don't want to harbor too much on this, on this biological debt. Yeah, yeah. What age did you know that that happened?

SPEAKER_02 7:51

Uh, believe it or not, I was told as a I remember the very same, very moment I was told this. I was told in my grandma's room we were getting ready to go to a carnival, a church carnival. Um, I was probably four years old when I was told this. Wow. How and everything. I was just like, okay, cool. At that time you can't process it. Um I remember the conversation very vividly. And so it's just one of those things where I I I recall it, but I didn't process it. I probably didn't process it until probably early in my 20s, to be honest with you, with with you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

When you process it in your 20s, and I say this because I mean there might be some person out there watching who happens to be in the same position that you might be in, who still hasn't processed it. What advice you might have someone who might be in a certain position in life, like, man, someone's been through it, right? They got the uh age that has gone to you, and you understand and you've processed and you're way more mature than you were back then. What advice would you have someone who may be in this position?

SPEAKER_02 8:44

Yeah, if you're going through a family trauma, just hit it, tackle it head-on. Ask the questions, ask the uncomfortable questions because I think we have to be curious in this life. We think we have to understand that there's gonna be a lot of things that happen to us, and if we're not curious and we don't actually seek the answers, we're never gonna know. And so we're gonna make up these stories that aren't true. I know I made up a ton of stories that weren't true, right? Because as a kid, I was, I mean, let's be real, I was I was raised by women, and so I thought that's what it was, right? And so um it wasn't until my my dad now, right, uh came into the picture and he showed me. Uh he he he um instilled some more manly traits, right? That's when everything shifted. But I never asked the questions. I didn't ask my questions again until again in my late 20s, not not early 20s, but in my late 20s. I didn't ask until then, and then it started to make sense to me. I was like, oh, that's when my guess my journey started, or that chapter started getting the closure that it needed. Yeah, it was an opening.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

Crazy how it could take almost 30 years, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So let's bypass that. So obviously the dad, and then you said uh humble. I'm sure it's humble beginnings, right? I think a lot of us in the same picture. Not humble beginnings, man. It's poor beginnings. Poor beginnings. So Frank always gets asked me on this word poor. So explain to the people that watch it, man, you know, because you know my background, right? You know, I say humble. When you say poor, man, let me get give me some rural examples, man. What does what does poor mean to Frank? What kind of experiences we have growing up?

SPEAKER_02 10:04

So poor to me just means financial. It's just it wasn't even a mindset. The reason I say that is my folks, my mom and dad, um, they were always hustling and something. But poor, let me give you an example. Government cheese, right? That big old block of cheese. It was that white powder milk, the white powdered eggs, the box of white stuff that I guess we all got, uh, the paper food stamps. I love paying with those things. I don't know why. I it's like it was like a game to me. Um, what else? Man, uh pantry lines, all that all that fun stuff. Not because we didn't have, it's just because we just need a little bit of help, it looks like. And we just we always slept on I always slept on somebody's couch growing up. I remember that. Did you know that was poor or did you think that was normal? Man, that was a life. That was good. That was good living. For me, that was good living. And you just thought that was normal? Yeah, yeah. Because uh we would go, I would I miss the days, putting my parents on blast. We'd go dumpster diving. We'd go dumpster diving for just whatever it was. So I actually want to go dumpster diving now just because of the nostalgia of it and because now people throw away good stuff, but uh like at stores and stuff like that, I probably won't do that. Maybe for content, but um a lot of cool memories was us going to the dumpsters and getting stuff out. I don't know what it was, and then Salvation Army off of South Flores. That was my jam. We would just stay there all day long, and I would go and look for the husky jeans because I was a husky kid, I guess. And so uh you I guess there was a specific tag that I had to search for because I couldn't pay over that. And that was my budget for school, and so um we do that. What else do we do? Man, what am I doing? Definitely, yeah, definitely a lot, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:39

Definitely a lot growing up and probably not normal to the rest of the society, but for us, you know, especially in our demographics, it's kind of normal, right? And I think it brought us to who we are today, who I am today for sure. Yeah, let's talk about high school. What high school did you go to?

SPEAKER_02 11:49

Oh man, I went to a nerd high school, called Health Careers, shout out. Uh the Phoenix, nobody. Okay, all right. Uh so the goal was to be a doctor. The goal was to be a doctor. Why was it to be a doctor? Uh really, my mom wanted me to be a doctor.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

I think that's how it is with everybody. And I don't know, maybe in our culture or something. If you're a doctor, you made it. Yeah. Yeah. I think the same thing. If you're a doctor, your family's proud and all that good stuff. Health careers. You say nerd. How were you in school? Were you a nerd in school? Were you troubled in school and high school?

SPEAKER_02 12:16

Uh I was pretty smart. Yeah, I think I am pretty smart still. Uh, but book smart, I was definitely book smart in school and high school, and then I got more street smart as I got older. But yeah, definitely. Because it was a bunch of high performers, right? In the uh in the education sense. So everybody there was top of the top. They're cream of the crop, if as Macho Mat would say. That makes sense. What's after high school? After high school, I bounced around to a bunch of colleges. Um I I feel like I was a professional student for a long time because I was just trying to figure out my angle, right? So I did a lot of um, again, the the the pre-med stuff. Uh started out Palo Alto, went to RDLake, went out, went out to um Carnett Word, went to what's the other one that's right here? Um man, I can't remember because I literally just feel like I went to all the colleges around here. You end up getting your degree in business management, yeah. So business management, uh, don't use it. I'm just kidding. Uh it's uh it's it it just helps understand things. The the best thing, this is a stupid story. The best thing that I learned about in that whole course, in that whole uh business management was that you can take a return

10 Years at Verizon: The Golden Handcuffs

SPEAKER_02 13:20

of your clothes, your items to go to um to JCPenney and they'll take it at any time. So that was a stupid little lesson that I learned. The best thing I learned, that was the coolest thing. With or without the tags? With without the tags, and I said because my grandma would take me to JCPenney all the time. She had like the JCPenney card. She was like, whatever Amex uh Amex Black, whatever that is. Well, she was that for JCPenney. So that was just that's the only reason that that sticks right there. Uh but no, uh college was good. College was good. It gave me a lot of experience, a lot of different cultures, um, different demographics, uh what's it called? And just give me a lot of knowledge. Uh I don't think college was for me. I I wish I didn't go to be transparent with that.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

My next question, because you know, in this day and age, well, I don't know, maybe in our day and age, it's different now, I think. But in our day and age, you know, college was always forced upon, you know, you have to do it because that's what successful people do. You going through college, got your dirt, your bachelor's day in business management. Going back, you already answered the question, but going back yourself, you said you wouldn't go to college. Would you advise kids to go to college?

SPEAKER_02 14:20

No, I tell my kids if they don't if you don't want to actually tell my kids if you can be a millionaire by the time you get in high school or while you're in high school, you can drop out if you wanted to. Um the reason why I say that is because I want them to be better than me. And what does that mean? It's not accolades, it's helping people, right? That's at the core of it. But they all want to make money. And so um my kids, obviously, I'm not promoting dropping out of high school. That's just that's the that's the conversation we had with with our kids. Um but yeah, I tell my kids, yeah, you don't have to go to college to be successful in this life.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Which is true. I mean, I got my associates, but uh my associates handed to me in the army. So in the army, while I was doing physical therapy, uh they had different programs, different schools. You just show them your transcripts, and a lot of people don't know this. I just gave some college my my army transcripts and they said, all right, here's your degree. I was like, cool. But that's my degree. Uh now after college, business management, straight into the business field, workforce. What was your first position after that degree? Hmm.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

What was I doing? I was working at Verizon. I did a nice good stint at Verizon. Very grateful for that company. Uh gave me why Verizon to begin with? Uh because I had a phone bill with them, I had service with them, and I would go every single day or every single month to pay my phone bill. I'd I was one of those old school guys that goes into and pay the bill. And every single time I saw them, they were just standing around at the retail store. I was like, oh, that looks like an easy job. So that's why I went to Verizon. I was like, I just wanted an easy job. And so I got hired by them, worked my way up, ended up in the business uh in the business department, um, business sales over time. So that was that was really cool. That was really cool. How long were you at Verizon? Uh decade, yeah, 10 years. Ten years. The trend. Watch out. Just kidding.

SPEAKER_00 16:02

After a decade at a corporation like Verizon and with a business management degree, what would you think is your biggest takeaway at Verizon? That A, for life, and B, you applied in business.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

So for life was you you have to be grateful for everything that your job gives you. For a lot of people out there, they have nine to fives, they're just like, man, I gotta work, I'm working for the weekend. But if you really look up look around, like me, there was a there was a moment I was at a concert, I was a journey at a journey concert, and everybody had Verizon at the Verizon Amphitheater. And at that moment, I was like, oh man, all these people are paying for my salary. Because believe it or not, back in God knows what year I was working over there, uh, I was in my late 20s, early 30s, I was making about 80 to 100. That at that time was a lot of money at that time. And so I was very thankful for that opportunity that everybody, so I think at that time you just gotta be thankful for for the blessing of consistent work and consistent income because we all got to work. And then for business was I established a lot of sales processes, a lot of sales processes that were frowned upon while I was there, and then after I left were incorporated. And so that's when I knew I was pretty good at what I did. Why leave Verizon? Um, somebody handed me a check for for $30,000 more a year than what I was making. Uh so I went to a technology technology company uh based out of Canada, and my friend recruited me, and he's like, Hey, how much do you get paid over there? Okay, cool, go meet with this guy. And I said, Hey, this is uh this is what I want more. He's like, Okay. Like it was like that simple. Kind of like you said,

Discovering Real Estate Wholesaling

SPEAKER_02 17:40

how you just handed a degree. He was like, Yeah, okay, cool. I was like, is there an interview? No, you got it. I was like, cool, so that's why. What was it? Uh so we were doing uh it's called servers, kind of like Rackspace. So it was the it was a it was a company that um what was it called? Trying to remember. But anyways, it was it's like Rackspace where they sell hosting, cloud hosting, so computer, nerd stuff, building out stuff like that. So it was cool. A lot of great people there, a lot of smart people, very smart people, just thinking outside the box and having a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

I don't know about that one. Yeah, yeah. I think about Verizon, I didn't know about the second one. So now you got 10 years at Verizon, you're working in this technology space. What comes to mind? What pops in your head, like, hey man, I want to do real estate. I I've heard about real estate, I've seen real estate because going from business management to especially tech space to real estate, that's a big swing from left to right. What what made you go to real estate? What even had your initial thought?

SPEAKER_02 18:31

I was at a gym and I heard some oh yeah, I had a I heard a podcast with Brent Daniels and Victor Moss of all people. And I was like, oh, I could do that. That sounds easy. And then I heard another podcast of uh another gentleman and I was like, oh, that's so simple. That's just sells. So I was real estate in real estate, I was I'm sorry, I'm gonna take a step back. I was waking up, I was feeling unfulfilled. That was the first step, right? So those are called the golden handcuffs, where um you're just like you're not feeling fulfilled, and you gotta do something, and you just gotta figure out figure out your next step. And so I wanted something more for my family, or just a different look. And so I heard this podcast was out at the gym. I was like, okay, real estate wholesaling, I've never heard of that. I don't need a lot of money. I can probably do that. That sounds really easy, sounds like a sales process. Then I heard it over and over and over and over again. I was like, yeah, that makes sense. Before that, though, I had been following you and uh I guess our old partner, Charles. And I thought I was gonna be a realtor. So this whole year, this whole year and a half, I was training myself how to be an actual agent to scale and build a sales team through uh traditional real estate. And I saw y'all, I didn't know that y'all were investors. I thought you were just training people on how to, I guess, build a better future. And so I would see that y'all would train 30, 40, 50 people at a time, and I was like, oh, cool. On the weekend on Saturday, see how I would do it. And I was like, oh, cool. And I would just follow you and just like y'all's comments, like your stories and this and that. Stay top of mine. I was like, cool, uh yeah, maybe one day I'll go meet those guys, right? Maybe one day. And somebody posted, I think it was uh Quentin. Quentin, yeah. He posted he was gonna be at it was who's that guy's name? Not who's that guy. I'm trying to recall. Marco. Marco with Hillco Homes back in the day was hosting an event where it was you, Charles, Quentin, I think that's it, we're our speaking on a stage, and I was like, Yeah, I think I don't go. I'm I don't think I'm gonna go to work today. I'm just gonna go and check out this event. And so that's how I got the bug, to be honest.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

That's a great story, and especially how that was 10 years ago, right? So time flies, and I remember that, I remember that event. It was with Marco, and it was at one of those amphitheaters, or it was one of those uh stage flip. Yeah, you were writing a scooter, and I was like, This goofball. I was writing a scooter outside. I was writing a scooter outside. Um people want to talk to me. I was like, man, let me write the scooter. That's when those birds first came out. I remember that. So I remember that that event. Yeah, it was cool to see. Uh, I didn't know the obviously the backstory at that time on when you're at. So you're at this event, you're seeing us speak. Now, for those who are watching, obviously a lot of people watch you guys are already in real estate, but you guys who are beginners and kind of see a little bit about wholesaling. Explain the difference to these guys in your words, Frank. What exactly is real estate wholesale? How would you break down real estate wholesaling to someone brand new?

SPEAKER_02 21:22

Well, real estate wholesaling is essentially you're locking up a contract, the rights to a contract, so you can sell it to an end buyer. So you're going out, you're doing the hard work, the legwork, right? Because an investor, a fix and flipper doesn't have all the time to go out and find a next deal. And so they need somebody to bring in them, bring them the deal. And so what we do, right? We do fix and flip and we do wholesaling is uh we're finding them, the seller who's interested in in selling a property, so we can assign our equitable rights and that interest in that property to another investor and buyer, right? So uh just transparently, I just want everybody to know that, yeah, we do that, but we also do fix and flip. So I just want People to stay stuck on that. Right.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

Now, going back 10 years ago, as you're in this tech sport uh tech world and you come to this event, and now you actually see face to face, you know, I'm on stage talking about real estate wholesaling, or probably sub twos at the time, I'm assuming. But real estate wholesaling and real estate sub twos, what was your initial tip from, hey, real estate agent to oh, this real estate wholesaling is a lot different? Yeah. What m shifted your mind to say, hey, why don't we just go down this route instead?

SPEAKER_02 22:26

Because the barrier of entry was so low. So with the real real estate agent, you had to go through a course, you had to go through six months or whatever that looks like. And for um, I was looking for the path of least resistance. Boy, was I wrong. Um, and so it was one of those things where like, okay, well, yeah, I'm gonna make $20,000 on this versus hey, I'm gonna go work my tell off. And because I had seen the real estate world from a very direct uh lens, right? Um yeah, I had seen it from a very direct lens, and so um I was like, man, that's a lot of work to be ghosted over and over to go show properties and all this other stuff, and I was like, nah, I don't want to do that. Little that I know, you experience it more in real estate investing than anything else, but it's it's fine.

unknown 23:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:15

And real estate wholesaling. I mean, to me, man, obviously, you know, that's one of my passions as a broker. I mean, it'll take us to become a realtor represent either a seller or a buyer for a million dollar property to do a $30,000 fee. Where in real estate wholesaling, $30,000 fees are way more common than what a traditional person, traditional agent to work with million-dollar properties. That was my first mindset back then. And it's easy to get in, right? You know, really don't need no credit, really need no income. I mean, you gotta have $10, but you gotta have the know-how. And that's what is it really boils down to. And then I said, those two guys can do it. I can do it. I can do it. Anyone else can do it, right? Gotta run around in a scooter. I forgot about that day. Run around in a scooter. So that's a journey where Frank Tovar started in real estate wholesaler or real estate in general, right? And you mentioned something back in the day, you know, me and uh Charles, my ex-partner, aka my father-in-law, we would teach anybody and everybody, man. You know, my thought process back then was, you know, it's easy. I can do it. You know, I came from the military

Quitting the 6-Figure Job: Burning the Ships

SPEAKER_00 24:10

and we were fortunate enough to scale wholesaling to million dollars a year. And I was like, man, let me just share the wealth. And and I remember those days where we had 30, 40 people come in. And at that time, you know, I not that I didn't know better, I was just so excited. Anyone who has wanted to talk real estate, you want to want to learn real estate, by all means, come into my office, let me show you everything, go do a deal, bring a deal back, or if you didn't bring a deal and you want to go do something on your own, it was it was really cool. But it took a toll on us. And um, I think you were there from the beginning of the get-go from my journey when it comes into real estate wholesaling. Um, because I think when you and I first met years ago, and I was already doing for a few years, and of course, time has has really passed on. And when you say we've been working together for a decade, man, I forget how much how much time has really passed between us. And it's crazy to see our journey from day one to where it's today. But let's talk about your first real estate wholesale deal. Your first day in the office, I want to talk about what it took you, and this is like really deep stuff here because it took a lot. I mean, we're really going back into the archives of what it takes for someone like yourself to let go of a six-figure position and say, hey, I'm gonna join these guys, do real estate wholesaling, and be all straight commissioned. Yeah. Like, what's the mindset for someone like that? Because a lot of people who who do real estate wholesaling, they're probably at a nine to five, making minimum wage. But someone like yourself was established with the business degree at a good high-tech paying job, six figures a year. That's big commitment. What was your mindset?

SPEAKER_02 25:35

Uh, one, I didn't know any better. Two, you got to burn your ships, right? You gotta you can't have backup plants because up until that point, I feel like I'd have been playing it safe for my whole life. So I was like, nah, I'm not gonna play it safe no more. If I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do it. And ultimately, Cecilia, right, my wife, she's the one that said, hey man, you gotta chase your dreams, you gotta pursue your passions. And so if it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't be sitting here next to you uh because she's the one that encouraged me. She said, Yeah, go do it. And I was like, Oh, well, we got bills. She's like, Yeah, go do it. I was like, Okay, cool. So that was it for me. It was just knowing that I had she had my back, and she's she's had my back since since we started. And then you're talking about my first deal. Man, I'm glad I took my ginkgo belobo today. Anybody that's for memory, guys. Um taking what nothing edit edit that out. I'm just kidding. Um my memory pills.

The $275 Moment: The First $15k Deal

SPEAKER_02 26:30

First deal, all I did was pull up a tax list. We were pulling the tax delinquent list, and at that time, man, I don't know what the heck y'all were doing, man. Y'all were on something else, but y'all were like doing all this formatting and doing all this crazy stuff and whatever. And I was like, I'm not doing that. Like everything y'all did, I literally did the opposite. When I say that, I don't mean it as a diss, I mean it as uh I just had to structure it better, right? And so I would go in and I would just have uh I would go and skip trace all the numbers before I would even do it. I used to see people like going in and they did one by one by one. I was like, nah, just let me skip trace all the numbers. I guess it's common knowledge now. Back then it wasn't, so I'd skip trace all the numbers and I would just literally just sit on the phone, cold call, cold call by hand. I was literally working on an Excel sheet and I just got lucky and the person's like, yeah, I want to sell. I was like, okay, I don't know what to do. I didn't know at that time you were supposed to practice perfect, meaning practice the good scenario so you don't have to, because we all know what's gonna happen the bad scenario, meaning, yeah, I don't want to sell F off, you're crazy, that's too low. Instead, you should be practicing your um the perfect scenario, perfect roleplay, they call it. And so I didn't know what to do. Long story short, we had wanted to go to Disneyland. That's one. Second thing, oh I'm sorry, that was that was before, that was after. Okay, here's it, here it is. We're down to our last 275 dollars. And I'm just like, I don't know what's gonna happen, but cool, let's do it. So I'm just working down the list and I call. The guy says yes, and I wanna I wanna sell. I go out there. Who helped me on that deal? I want to say Charles actually went with me on that deal. Hold on. No, you were Disney money. Yeah, okay. So Charles helped me on my first deal, and so he didn't really do much. I'm kidding. Uh he talked for he he was there to support the the numbers. There you go. Okay. So he underwrote now I remember, this is coming back to me. So he underwrote the deal, and then uh I went and just presented the offer. The guy said yes. I was like, cool, how do I send a doc sign? I didn't know how to send a document, I know nothing. And so um uh I sent it out. We closed that deal. That one was $15,000. I was like, at that time, it was a really good payday for me. That was your first deal? $15,000? Yeah. The deal made $15? Yeah, 15, yeah. So I was like, oh crap. Remember, I was down to my last $275. And so it was like, uh, and so we we got uh we got that one. And then you were my Disney money. I say that because I've never seen this and still haven't seen this to this date. Uh, we wanted to go to Disney World and we had booked it. So we booked something we couldn't pay for, and I was like, I don't know how to do this. Uh we're gonna figure this out. So I had a family friend call me and say, hey, we have a house to sell. You and me actually went to the appointment, uh, and then we uh and then uh we locked up the contract. You just verbally, I was like, oh wow, that's easy because I had

Rebuilding a Million Dollar Company in 24 Hours

SPEAKER_02 29:20

never seen you in action. Keep in mind, everybody, if you're watching, he didn't talk to me for two months while I was at his office. Share the wealth. We'll bring that back. We'll talk about that here in a minute. And so and so uh Share the Wealth. Share the wealth. And so, yeah, so okay, so I I I stepped back because I was like, Oh, I've never been on an appointment with you, and that was the first time I think we've been to an appointment, and probably second time, and um, and then you made the offer, and you're like, Oh, we have to be like 45, and she's like okay. And then you made a phone call, and I didn't know what the heck was happening, and then somebody showed up and he looked around. Oh no, no, I take that back. You made the offer after the guy showed up, so you sold the deal before you even made your offer. I don't remember, yeah. So you we were there, I don't I don't remember the address. We were there, we're talking with her, building up good rapport, obviously family friend, and then she um and you say, Okay, well, let me call my partner or whatever. And he showed up, he was literally down the street, showed up in like five minutes, and he goes, Well, how much? I think you asked him how much would you pay for this? And he said like 75, and then uh I think you offered 45 or 55, one of those two. I just remember that at the end of the day it was a 25,000, $25,000 wholesale assignment fee. And so that was my Disney World money. And so you sold the deal while we had a seller there before we got under contract, and then we got the contract. I've never seen that in my life, still still to this day.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

The good old days, man. Yeah. Definitely the good old days when I was definitely in the field a whole lot more. But I mean, that first two deals, I mean, that's what, $40,000? Yeah. $40,000 on two deals, and no, you're, I don't know, you say you're making six figures on the other position, right? So six figures, $40,000, two deals. Obviously, you know, putting your money, uh, putting your mind to it and Rosetta Holeson could definitely really be life-changing if you're gonna go all in like you did, right? And that takes guts. That takes guts, it takes courage, takes support from Cecilia. And you guys don't know Cecilia. She actually actually works here in the office as well. She's our transaction coordinator, so it's cool to see uh you guys work here hand in hand and really make this to a fan. I mean your kids are next door. Your kids are co-calling next door, man. It's it's really cool to see that whole operation. Let's go back to uh not talking for two months. Yeah, man. Now because you bring that up every so often, right? You bring that up. Every often, all the time. You bring it up all the time, right? And now, like I said, back then, we were a lot of people kept coming and out. And I think it was coming to a point where I was getting burnt out, like, man, we're teaching all these people, X, Y, and Z, to really go make $15,000, $20,000 per deal, and they're not coming back, or they're just not getting it, or they won't show up for like another month, for another two hours. So I think at one point I kind of just got burnt out and I let Charles pretty much take the rent the leaves on things. And I really didn't talk to people until, all right, if they're gonna stick around, I know they're gonna stick around. And then back then we had our team, right? We had Manny and Teddy and and Maverick and all those guys, and those guys were the core, and uh it we formed what they call a core, right? And we actually I think we called it that the core. We called it the core guys that we had, and you know, we had our inner core, outer core, and you know, we really transitioned that previous company, which is HBHS, uh, which was really dominant company in San Antonio for a long time, especially when it comes to real estate wholesaling. Um, and to me, and I've said this multiple times, and uh I've said it to you, I've said it, Charles, you know, I'm a real estate investor just because I did well from the military and it really helped me transition from the military having that salary coming in to closing big deals, right? And you've been around for a long time, you know, deals were a lot easier to close back then than what it is now. So, and then this is before you got here. So I was doing it years before you were, and on top of the flips and the houses. So I really took real estate investing and applied it. I see deals and we've seen it live. We can scalp in many different ways to make multiple amounts of money on one deal. I was never really business heavy, right? I mean, I was in the army, and army taught me more about leadership, but it didn't teach me business. And when we incorporated you, and I remember this conversation with Charles, I was like, man, we need someone to run the show that makes sense. I'm a business guy. I want to be in a field, I want to be making offers, I want to be flipping houses, I want to be doing rentals. And we never had someone in that position. And it's just crazy how the stars align, and you came in, and as as you're coming in more and more, and you had what I call natural leadership abilities. No one told you what to do, you just kind of did it. And this position, to be honest, has been so long, I forgot how it even formed itself to even become what the position is. And I think at this position, we're gonna call it CEO, right? I mean, when I say CEO, you're and to be honest, you have you know, someone say CEO, I mean, you really, really run the entire office and from where you were back then to today. But going through this uh memory lane of HPHS, you know, what was your thoughts of growing it from you closing a couple deals to now you're in charge of the team?

SPEAKER_02 33:56

Well, first I want to make the distinction on you said it live. I'm the CEO now. Kidding. Kidding. Um, you know, it was uh it was a conversation. Y'all sold me the sauce really good that day. And looking back, I wish I didn't, I'm just kidding. Um it was it was more of a it was more of um an opportunity because I saw it, right? I was like, yeah, obviously I could open up my own shop, but why would I go open up my own shop if I already have all the knowledge? I'm never gonna I'm never gonna have the knowledge that y'all have if I go do it on my own. I can lean on y'all, but why? Why would we already have it there? So I saw the vision at that time from going from day to day, going to appointments and working appointments, that's fun. That's also a lot of babysitting and then um what's it called? Always hunt hungry and hunting for the next deal. And then overall, at my core, I like to build things, meaning I like to create, I like to build systems, I like to build funnels, I like to uh oversee things. That's what that's what that's what fuels me, right? And so I like to do those things

Scaling to a Team of 20: Systems & CRMs

SPEAKER_02 35:00

because I like to see when a lead comes in to a lead getting a contract. That's like my biggest joy from a lead coming in, somebody calling it, um, the system goes and collects it, it sends out the automations, we're having a conversation through AI, we're doing all this crazy stuff. So I like that. Obviously, at that time we didn't have any of that to where we're at today. And so at that time, I was like, I would love to build this architecture, if you will. Yeah. I like I like to be an architect.

SPEAKER_00 35:26

Natural feeling? I mean, why like I mean, because to me, man, that stuff's a headache. And I I said this in the beginning of this podcast, I wouldn't be where I'm at today. I mean, inspired buyers, HPS back then wouldn't be where we're at today, too, without your implementation of that business management from A to Z, that whole systems, Zapier and CRMs, and it's just a natural feeling to you. Like, what would it how would you explain it?

SPEAKER_02 35:47

So I guess during the internet boom, I paused for dramatic effect. The internet boom was like, hey, build out the funnels and uh click funnels at that time, Russell Brunson. And so I'm learning all that stuff. I was like, man, this is really cool, this is really easy. And for us to be actually implementing it today and what we do, and I'm I'm very anyways, um, it it's it's really exciting. Yeah, for me, it's just really cool. It's just something that I studied for so many years and that we actually implement, and I got all these ideas from all these people that are experts, and I was like, oh yeah, that's that's that's fun for me, right? Um it just I think everybody's everybody has a uh have everybody has a talent, I feel, and I strongly believe I'm one of those few people that is actually very excellent at a lot of things within business, just like you are, right? So I think I think that's what allows me to win.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

Let me ask you something. You ever thought about investing in real estate but assuming he needed perfect credit, a huge savings account, or a bank willing to say yes? That's exactly why we're excited to partner with our guy Mike Leva at Conventus. Conventus is a real estate lender built specifically for investors and not homeowners. They help people fund deals like fix and flips, buy and hold rentals, and even ground up construction. And here's the part most beginners don't realize Conventus doesn't lend based on your W-2 income or your personal credit score. They focus on the deal itself, the value of the property, and the numbers behind it. That means investors can often access higher loan amounts and more flexible terms than a traditional bank, sometimes with rates that are more competitive than people expect. So instead of asking, do I qualify? The better question becomes, is this a good deal? If you're serious about getting to real estate investing and want a funding partner that truly understands investors, reach out to our go-to guy at Conventus, Mike Leva, today using the link in the show notes and see how real estate investors are actually getting deals funded. As you're taking over the team now, you guys are not local, uh, HPGS was a really big operation uh in this peak or in this prime. And we've done a lot of deals, right? We've done hundreds of deals, thousands, we've done hundreds and hundreds of deals. We've done million dollars in wholesaling annually. You were a blunt force of that because you were at that point team lead, trying to fit that mold into who you became and that that role you pretty much created for yourself. And that's cool to see how from day one, you know, there's a lot of people that's come and gone. A lot of people that come and gone in this space, in this industry. A lot of them are still in the space, a lot of them are not in the space. You mentored a lot of people. Oh, yeah. When it takes Frank, and there's people out there who's doing deals today under your mentorship guidance from from years ago. Um, how does that feel to you? Is that something you want to do? Is that something is that a natural feeling to you? Because you've changed people's lives, whether you know it or not. Uh not just financially, because you're really strong coach-wise when it comes to life. So my life included personal life, business life, uh, family life, that comes natural to you. Think about that, like how does that operate for you changing so many people's lives?

SPEAKER_02 38:49

I talk to people, I meet people where they're at, and I want to re I talked to them as I was talking to myself, as if I was talking to myself. Because I don't want to say nobody was there for me because I had a lot of support. My aunts, my aunts for sure were definitely big support. I just didn't have that male role model figure growing up, right? So the male role model figure, as far as, hey, those life lessons and uh just teaching me things. Because I'm an elder statesman now, right? It's it's uh it just brings me a lot of joy to share what I see, right? When people talk to me, I'm not per when let me preface this. I'm not perfect, I don't have it all figured out, I don't have, you know, we're all still learning, right? I feel I literally feel like I'm a 20-year-old kid just trying to figure out life still. And so when I say this, I want it to be qualified with that with that statement. I just want people when they talk to me that they feel some sort of Christ-like Christ. As if I want them to feel like they're having a conversation. I don't want to say like Jesus is talking to them because that's that's that's way too much. But I want them to be reminded of Jesus when they talk to me. And so when I say that, again, I don't know like the scriptures in and out. I don't, I'm not like the holiest of men or anything like that, right? Because he meets us where we're at. I want them to know that when they're talking to me, that one, it's a safe space. I'm not talking about like safe pods and stuff like that. I'm talking about there's zero judgment, because who am I to judge anybody? Two is that we gotta speak favor into each other because if not, well, there's enough negativity out there in the world for us to be pinned down, right? It's like um, I think, and I'm also thinking I'm a I'm a I'm a product of Rocky, the Rocky movies, right? It was always motivating you, and it was always like get up, and make you Mick was like, get up, get up. And then, you know, uh she uh you know his wife told him, You can't win. And he's like, and he then he found a force to win. And so I think I'm a I'm a I'm a not a victim of I think I'm a um product of that. And so I want others to feel that. I want that uh it's not because oh I want to feel good about myself, it's because I want them to feel good. I want them to feel right. They say, Um, make people feel good, then they'll always remember you. And I want people to feel good, not because I want them to remember me, but because I want them to know that we had a moment in that time, right? Um, Manny was actually really good at extracting the best out of me. Uh, I love that guy. Uh I love everything that he's done, and he was probably one of the best people to extract actual true tangible information. And he's just took it and just ran with it. There's a lot of other people um that have taken our conversations to heart and they just mold it into what they want. And I always preface the conversation hey man, this is my opinion. Don't don't ever take this as the truth because you have to formulate your own thoughts. You're your own person. And so that's how my conversations typically go. That's deep, man.

SPEAKER_00 41:42

That's deep, and it's cool to see the the inner frank come out and really share your thought process on how you see life and how you pour into other people, especially like all the team core people, like I said, we we had in our in our uh prior company. Now, working for someone like myself and Charles, uh, we had we had our moments, right? Uh what were your what were some of the head? I want to say headaches, I don't know how to phrase this question, but you know, I guess there was two owners, right? And two owners can always go two different routes. One owner may want to do this and the other owner may want to do that. And we don't want to we don't have to deep dive into the whole HPHS history, but we had a lot of moments where I want to go this way, you want to go that way, and you were kind of stuck in the middle uh a lot of the times. As your position, I guess what was some of the toughest moments you had being in that company and kind of how did you deal with it?

SPEAKER_02 42:34

The dumbest thing you can have as a company is be co-CEO with anybody. That is the dumbest thing because there has to be somebody that makes the decision, there has to be a deciding factor. So that always made it tough on me. I was like, okay, well, I know we should be doing that, but we're not doing that. And so when you do that, yeah, I get it. There can be there can be two owners, right? And we're structured like that, and we're structured in the sense that in in other businesses that okay, cool, we all have a say, but ultimately there's gonna be somebody that's gonna be like, hey, this is what we're gonna do, and this is how it's gonna go. Cool, all right. As long as everybody's pieces heard. And so um that was the biggest challenge, is that you want to do something, which always made sense. Charles always wanted to do something. He had a few good ones in him. He had a few good ones. I'm never gonna diss him, uh, but we we would always butt heads a lot, like a lot. And so it was very it was it was very frustrating for me because all I wanted to do was support both of y'all. I wanted to support y'all to win, and uh it was a very, very tough battle, but now I get to do that freely, so it's really cool.

SPEAKER_00 43:42

So it was it was a tough ride. It was a tough ride, and you know, to each your own, it just and that's the way you put it, is co CEO. And I was obviously never fond of that whole co CEO thing, but you know, that was the past, and here we are now. And they came a fork in the road where um HP just was gonna split. At that point, I had a decision in my mind, uh Um, you know, my ex-partner was Charles, and we were partners for years, and I said, hey man, I really want to, really want to do my own thing for my own personal reasons. And I remember having that conversation with myself and having that conversation with Charles. And the next person I thought of was you. I thought of I thought of you. I thought of, I'd be honest with you man, I actually thought of you first before I thought of my wife on how that would affect us family-wise, because if you guys don't know, uh my ex-partner is my father-in-law, which is my my wife's stepdad. Uh, and us being as a partner for X amount of years, and I said, Hey, I kind of want to do my own thing. Um, you're the first person I thought of, man. And you're the first person I thought of. I told Charles, like, hey, man, I want to, I really want to explore um the next phase of my life. Um, and being co-CEO, it just was cool. It's just, I don't know, you can't really take full control of what you want to do when you're partners. Um, not to say there's partnerships is bad, it's just to each your own. And once I said, hey, I want to do my own thing, uh, had a conversation with Charles. The next conversation was with you. Um, I would assume that was a hard conversation to have or kind of hit you like a deer in the headlights because I don't think you were really privy to what was going on behind the scenes, but how did you take it? And what was your initial thought process of the the split? Uh I packed up my bags and I was ready to go.

SPEAKER_02 45:07

I'm kidding. Um no, no, I'm just kidding. Making light of the moment. Um so for me, yeah, it was it was tough, right? Because this is all I've known, this is what I support, this is what I built. And I was like, okay, cool. You want me to start over again? Like, come on, dude. Um that at at first, right? But then I was like, oh man, this is gonna be a great opportunity to actually build the things that I've always wanted to build. And um the only reason I was able to say a quick yes, because I said, I think you told me, like, hey man, take your time, this and that, was um I prayed about it and I said, Hey, hey God, uh, you know, if he really wants me to go, or if it's if this, I'm sorry, okay, I got you. If this is really for me, I need to hear these exact words from Mike. And the exact words that I heard from you were, hey man, I cannot do this without you. I was like, cool, that's the exact my exact prayer. And so Mike said that and I was like, cool, all right, that's easy. Oh, what else do you want? And so it's been fun, it's been fun, it's been good. But yeah, at that time it was chaos, it was a lot of emotions and uh obviously a lot of change, right? Because we're dissolving something that we built that was so good, and uh obviously just a different direction. And so, but I don't regret that obviously I don't regret the move, I don't regret it at all. Had a lot of fun over here. We've done a lot of growth. I think we've grown a lot more as men here, uh, because I think this provides its own challenges, right? But I'm okay. How can I say this? I'm okay ultimately knowing that you're the boss, if that makes any sense. Uh, that's not the right term. I'm okay knowing that you're the guy that hey, this is your deep dive into in a minute.

SPEAKER_00 46:43

Yeah. Let me pause that for you before we go into that because that's actually one of my topics, and it's tough to have that conversation. But now that we came over here, now people don't, you guys gotta understand, Frank was pretty much running the show at HPHS, and you know, when he said, Hey, we're gonna start inspired buyers, that term inspired buyers, it's a whole story in his own. That's for a different podcast. But when I said you I couldn't do this without you, and you came over here, we really hit the reset. And you know, from day one when you started, there was really no CRMs. I mean, we're doing spreadsheets, right? We were doing spreadsheets, we were calling by our cell phones one by one. We weren't taking uh advantage of any SMS and reading this voicemails and you know, all the stuff that we have to today, AI and CRMs and just everything from back then today, it's been a big, big change. And then as we're on our peak of doing what we're doing, and we pretty much hit the reset, right? Yeah, we took no leads with us, we took no CRMs with us. Um, you know, once we left, if you will, we last we lost access to all of the uh the documents. We had a million-dollar wholesale company, we lost it in one day, and we started again the second day, right back up. And it took a lot. And I always say you're the blunt force of it. Um it was me out there doing what I'm gonna do, but you took something and you really growed it and you really grew it into where we're at today, which it took some time, it took a few months. Granted, it would take anybody a few months from losing everything from day one to starting all over again, right? From even to creating an LC to a CRM. It takes a lot to get office space. And, you know, the Inspire Buyers is where it's at today, because again, kudos to you from taking that blunt force and taking the guys and retraining and

Why Loyalty is Everything in Business

SPEAKER_00 48:15

creating a whole system from nothing. Obviously, you had the the know-how, but it's still a lot of hard work to do so. And you know, we we're here we're at today. And Inspired Buyers is our is the wholesaling operation that Frank runs. Um, and you know, kind of leading to where we're about to lead to next. Next door is the wholesale operation. I mean, those guys are coming in and out, everything's clockwork, everything's systemized. I mean, uh every day we're growing to get that system even, or you are really, to get that system even stronger from AI to really implementing all the nerd stuff, like you say, because that's not really my thing, man. Uh, and you've been doing this for years, and you've been doing this for years, and obviously you got uh a few sub twos and you're doing what you're doing and you're running the show, and you got a lot going on. It takes a lot of your time from day to day. Now, I guess we can lead into that conversation from day one, you started to kind of where you're at today. You know, when it comes to social media, everyone kind of sees me on social media doing wholesales. You know, I've done a thousand wholesale deals, we made millions in wholesaling for the last few years. You know, my second favorite thing to do is flips. My ultimate favorite is uh taking over payments, right? We call the takeover with sub twos. But being in this position, you know, as the face of inspired buyers, as the face of HPS from back in the day, to the face of having millions of uh revenue created from wholesaling, that doesn't happen without your position, right? In anyone's position. And for you to be in this position, as what I always tell every single person, hey, my right-hand guy is Frank. When someone wants to work here, hey, talk to Frank. When someone has pay issues, uh, talk to Frank. I really have this position with you that you're running the show. And to a lot of people, that's kind of like, oh, well, you're the behind-the-scenes guy, you might not get credit for what you're doing. Um, hey, why don't you go do this on your own? For someone to run the operation, what's your thought process? And I guess what you were leaning towards earlier, like not the boss, because I I never call you, I never see that position as as a boss. I I think of you as a literally as my right-hand guy. Right, right. What's your vision? What do you tell those guys and and mean that position?

SPEAKER_02 50:19

If you want to get to where you're going, you gotta have you gotta be surrounded by people, right? And so I would be silly to go anywhere right now, or anytime, when hold on, let me back up. I can't do it by myself. That's one. Just like you can't do it by yourself, right? That would just be silly. And so I keep on saying that why would I go and try to create recreate this if I've already proven it here, right? Again, challenges and wins and mega wins, and uh but why would I try to do that? Why would I try to I'm loyal, right? I don't think I'm loyal to a fault. I think I'm very loyal, right? I think uh one, you're my friend too now, right? Uh again, didn't talk to me for two months. Um uh where it's just one of those things where I'm okay being the guy that's behind the scenes. Because I think people be behind the scenes, I guess people come and tell me, hey man, we know it's you. And so that's a reward in itself. Two, if I'm a lead man a lead magnet, which you're you're I I tell you, you're like you're the face, social media. Okay, cool. Well then what room does that give me to do, right? So now I have to be great at something else, too. Well, let me be great behind the scenes, let me be great at the technical stuff and let you be great at the things that you I don't uh I mean, you ultimately we ultimately our agendas I think self-serve each other. And so I think that's why it works for us because if it was just, hey, it's all you and you're making all the money and you're not looking out for me, then it's never gonna work. But because you're one of those few people in this world that actually care about people, uh meaning the people that you do business with, uh, you actually do look out for me, right? I mean, you give you you found me a house that you could have made a hundred thousand dollars on and you said, here, here's your house. Um, this is what it is, and now we've created so many great memories. We've decorated all this crazy stuff. She's already looking for the next house. I'm being serious about that, so heads up. Um but it works because my satisfaction comes from the system itself works. I'm making you money, your life is leveling up. Then my by default, my life is supposed to level up, right? So uh Zig Ziglar says if you help enough people get what they want, you're gonna make money, right? And so I just want to be a part of that. So for me, I'm sure there's gonna be a time in a season where I have to step up and get my social media game up and be a face and be known that that um that I don't want to say my voice matters because every I know my voice matters. How can I say this? That I also have to be that lead engine for us, right? I have to pull my own weight, I guess, if that if that makes sense. But I think right now it just works for what we're doing. And I have zero egos when it comes to this. The only times I ever have friction is when people are standoffish for no reason. And that that doesn't compute to me. I like to talk to people, I like to talk it out. I think you and I have if I ever if I've ever disagreed with you, I just come to you and just talked about it, and it's never a big old argument or discussion. I was just like, cool, oh, cool, I didn't know. Cool, well, I didn't know either. Or you say, right? So it's just one of those things, man. I I'm comfortable knowing that you've got my best interest at heart. I hope. I'm kidding. No, for real. I I uh I'm comfortable knowing that that you have my my interest, but my family's interest because we do this for our families. And then two, is that we will go further together than alone. That's a fact.

SPEAKER_00 53:42

Yeah, it's definitely uh a conversation we never had, kind of face-to-face. Obviously, we know in the back of our head that it really meshes well, and you know, and for us to really speak it in in this podcast, in the Trump Thoughts podcast, kind of where we're at today from day one. It's really cool to see. And I'm glad we had this podcast to to share and talk about you know the ins and outs of what we're doing. So it it means a lot to me, man. And you know, earlier you said friend. I thought you were gonna say best friend because you're one of my best friends, but now I know. Two months, guys. Okay, that's the last time. Let's go, let's go into this, man. So let's talk about wholesaling. Because I mean that's that's the role, right? The role. When I first think of wholesaling, you actually broke this down to me a few years ago. Um, it's not wholesaling, it's sales in marketing. It's a marketing man. And I think a lot of wholesalers are watching this podcast. You know, when you think of wholesaling, we're thinking about sellers and the right list to call and how to co-call and how to pitch, and you know, how should I talk to the seller? Because this person says one way and that person says the other way. And then when I get it, I got to understand how to clear title. And once I clear title and make sure title's clear because there's uh, you know, person who passed away and there's probates and there's wills. And then when I get to that stage, and then I gotta get it sold, and I gotta find a buyer who wants to buy in that neighborhood, and I gotta make sure I market that buyer and make sure it all bundles together so I can make a $10,000 wholesale fee. That was my mindset for many years until you said, hey, that's not what we're doing here. What we're doing here is sales and marketing. Break that down for the beginner wholesalers who need to hear this.

SPEAKER_02 55:02

So uh when you're out there, you're thinking, oh man, I gotta learn real estate, I gotta learn the comps, I gotta learn the four-bedroom, four-bath, I gotta learn how to appraisal. That word comes up a lot. And I'm like, why? All you got to do is make sure that the numbers make sense. Before you do that, though, you got to find somebody who's interested. So that's marketing. You got to turn on a marketing engine. A marketing engine is getting interest in somebody. I'm sorry, getting interest from somebody that wants to potentially sell property. Now, when you do a um, when you were doing marketing, then we go into a sales conversation, right? That's when we're actually talking to somebody, pitching them the opportunity to understand, hey, this is a potential solution for you if it makes sense for you. It always has to make sense for them. And then now we start the marketing part again because now we got under contract. We're marketing the buyer, well, I'm marketing to the buyer to sell this property. So it's always just marketing and sales, right? To lead. You need leads every single time. Leads help cure problems, but more anything, close contracts and close revenue cure everything. So sales cures all.

SPEAKER_00 55:58

And that's crazy because it took me years to realize it. And that's how I knew you're like, man, this guy is really going to change the game when it comes to a business being created. Now, for a lot of wholesalers who are doing onesie twosie deals and they say, hey, I want to get my first team, what advice does Frank have for a sole wholesaler who says, Hey, I mastered wholesaling individually. I know I can scale. What advice do you have to that individual who wants to say, I want my one to three first people in my team?

SPEAKER_02 56:25

Yeah, you have to document everything that you're doing because if without the documentation, you can't repeat your, uh you can't do a repeatable system. So I would say you have to you have to master the marketing part, right? The intake part, which is getting the contract, all this stuff. Discovery, you have to go from A to B, B to C. You have to master every single step, clearing titles, selling the deal, deal with all the challenges before you expect somebody else to help you because you're not gonna be able, you're not gonna know how to coach to them. So yeah, you have to know.

SPEAKER_00 56:54

So now is there a big difference with someone who a wholesaler who's already at the three people uh three-person level, and they say, hey, I want to be someone like Inspire Buyers, where we have how many people on staff to include the remote team?

SPEAKER_01 57:05

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 57:05

Yeah, it's uh closer to 20 now. 20. So we got 20 people on our wholesale operation. We got close to 20 people when we're talking about full-time, right? We're not talking about part-timers, we're talking about in-office, we're talking about a remote team, our dispo team, our TC team, our social media team for someone if who's interested in really joining and hey man, I want to do something where inspired buyers where they have 20 people on the wholesale operation that's making millions of dollars a month. What advice do you have to those guys?

SPEAKER_02 57:29

Don't do it. I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_00 57:30

Um it might be an option, to be honest. Yeah, as funny as you say, that really might be a true operation, a two a true quote. And I know you're making light of it, but really deep down in why don't do it, and then give it to the guys who want to do it.

SPEAKER_02 57:43

Yeah, so I say don't do it because that's a lot of personalities that you're working with. That's one, right? You're you're putting your whole livelihood on another person. Um, and so the scalability is the people. You have to be able to find true players that are willing to follow a process that works. And so if anybody falls out of that system, then the whole machine stops working. Alongside of that comes with a lot of um, what's it called? You're gonna have to find a lot of leads, right? You have to fill this thing with leads. And so now we're at a capacity problem where potentially there's not enough leads to serve the serve the team. And so then it becomes internal bickering or just, hey, not enough until people fall out. So there's a lot of things that go into it. Now, if you want

The Importance of Time & Fatherhood

SPEAKER_02 58:30

to do it, by all means do it. Um yeah, you're gonna get there, you're gonna get to your revenue goals of five, ten million dollars as long as you keep on the marketing side of things, right? Marketing in your city has to be the number one things. We've done a lot of things this year alone, and I'm thankful for that that you actually, you know, um opened up the wallet, uh, the pocketbook to allow us to do a lot of massive marketing, and we're seeing a lot of good results with that now. Uh, we're having things fall in our lap. And I mean, we just acquired uh three, three um duplixes, soon to be two more uh because of our marketing efforts, because the engine is always continuously on. So you have to have that marketing engine on all the time for your team in order for them to scale and grow. You have to, have to, have to, have to onboard them correctly so that they understand what the expectation is, what the standards of excellence are within your system. Remember, you're the owner, they got to follow what you want them to do, not the other way around. Okay, they're there to serve your interests because you're the one that cuts the checks.

SPEAKER_00 59:32

That's hard for a lot of people. It definitely has its moments, but it's someone, you know, that that tips and uh advice you're bringing, it's everything you're saying is accurate. It's 100% accurate from the personalities to to maintaining to where it comes down to the old school quote, more money, more problems, right? You got more leads, you got more issues, you got more deals, got more earnest money out, you got a lot of issues, you got more earnest money, you got more contracts out, you got to deal with more sellers. So scaling is cool if that's what you want. But I would say if you guys who want to scale to what we're doing today, ask yourself why. Is it for because I want to do X amount of deals a year? Is it because you really want to make X amount of dollars per year? Uh I wouldn't say really understand because when you first said don't do it, that could be actually a good, good um piece of advice. Because I mean, take it from myself, man. I've been or ourselves, we've been doing this for almost a decade almost, and you know, it's not always as glam as what it can be, especially time. And time is really important. And Frank, I want to bring it up since I'm saying the word time. That's something you try to instill over me over years uh is time. Because when I first started, uh man, I just loved real estate. I love real estate, I love the hustle, I love working. I mean, you see me from always, see me till today, but always, especially back then, first one in, last one out. And I'm talking about last one out, I'm talking about midnight. I just I just loved, love, love real estate, learning, wholesaling, and and finding the leads and uh getting my day for the next day. And I was working until midnight multiple times and being in the office the first one the next day at 7 a.m. before everyone else got in. I did that for years. And we always, you know, over the years taught me and and and coached me. I say this humbly, right? As Frank got in my personal life into uh, you know, being there more time because that's something we what we can't get. Um, I said this to your face multiple times, man. Honorable father, right? You know, your father's skills are like up there and you taught that to me, uh what I'm doing in my life. I mean, material identity, man, uh, because it was tough for me. It was it was really, really tough for me.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:31

Yeah, so yeah, so we've been through our through our moments, uh been through our moments, right? And um, yeah, you got me crying on camera, dude. What's wrong with you? So fatherhood is a gift, right? And again, I don't have it all figured out. I say time because we've seen it firsthand, right? We've seen it firsthand and I got I experienced it with you. And so one thing I was always um thankful for from your mom was she showed me you showed me that it's possible to have that. That's post. And so it's possible to have a lot of love into a family, and I've never seen it. I've never I told you me and my mom grew up and we're not the best. I love my mom. I love my mom to to to no extent. I love her and I cherish her and I want the best for my mom, but I never knew what it was, and I would always ask you and I always tell you, man, was that real? Like, you know, how we we say how we how I was poor growing up, and I was like, was that you? And you would tell me, yeah, your mom was this and this, and then she was always this, and I was like, Man, that's that's amazing. And how I saw you pay for her stuff and take care of her, and you know, our private conversations about your internal family stuff, and I was like, right? Um, it was always cool to see that. And so I always wanted to remind you that before before everything, is I always wanted to remind you that, dude, your kids are small, and we don't get to experience them for so long, right? I know I got my children ripped away from me um when I was young. Thankfully, we worked it all out with their mom, and so I literally showed up one day and I was at work grinding and chasing corporate America and all this other stuff, and I showed up to the house and the house was empty. It was like furniture and everything. And so I literally lost my children overnight. And so um I won't repeat that mistake again. Thank you for that mistake and thank you for that lesson. But I tell you that we need time to enjoy on this planet, right? Uh, we need time to enjoy because what's all this hustle if we're just gonna go through our things? And I never believed in mental health, I never believed in all that stuff until it happened to me, and I was just like, okay, this stuff is this stuff is real, and so I'm a big advocate for mental health. I'm like, I'm like, dude, take time. People say, hey, I don't question it. Just tell me what you're doing, and it's all good, man. But um, time, you you have to cherish your kids, right? Everybody knows your announcement. Yeah, everybody knows common knowledge, what you're okay. So now that you're gonna be a grandfather, dude, like I'm like super jealous right now. And in a good way. Like, I'm like, dude, this guy's gonna you have no idea how good it's gonna be. Like, I can imagine what it's gonna be. I'm like, I'm ready for I'm ready to have a little kid and just bounce around. And so I think you going into this season of of of 40 40, right? And being a grandpa at the same time, like you have no idea how life is gonna be good for you. Like you have just no, your the blessings are gonna be like immense. And so I just want you to be like, be aware that, hey, cool. I want you to go to Kalahari, I want you to take your kids to the river, I want you to, you know, I know

Turn Up The Hustle: Frank’s Definition

SPEAKER_02 1:05:00

you don't like the beach and stuff like that, but they they want that, they need that, and they're gonna learn that from you, and they're gonna be like, oh, remember one time I went to the beach with dad? Oh, yeah, it was so cool. Oh, remember that one time I got stung by a jellyfish? Oh da da da da, right? They're gonna remember those things. And so time, yeah, you got your kids, they they they're all chained out and all this other stuff. They like that. You got them the million-dollar house, they like that. Who do who wouldn't like that? But I promise you, when it's your time, when it's my time, I want them to remember all the dumb stuff that I did, funny stuff I did, the things that we went to, right? So my daughter recently took uh her boyfriend to Chamagaucha. She would have never gone there if I hadn't met you and had the opportunity to make money and do these things. And so they went, and then now they took out, they took out I was at an ACDC concert and they took my wife and everybody and they paid the bill. And because of things that we did, right? Because we showed them experiences, because we took the time to show them nice things. And so that's why I tell you, just but remember to spend time because that's the One thing we're all level headed. Yeah, you have way more properties than I do, but we have the same amount of time. Everybody. We're all on the same playing field on that one.

unknown 1:06:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:13

Obviously, didn't make it go emotional, but I mean that's just the pocket, and it's just us talking, man. And you know, you really taught me how the ports of family, parts of the time, because like, you know, it could get really, uh, really into someone's head. Not the the money, just the hustle, right? I mean, I mean, obviously, Mr. Hustle, that's my goal. That's my my that's who I am, right? And it took me a lot to understand the advice that you poured into me. And I just want to make sure I say that in this podcast, and I'm glad it turned into be an emotional thing because you know, family is real key

Favorite Movie & Final Words

SPEAKER_00 1:06:40

from your kids to my mom to to just where we're at today, man. But man, uh definitely uh glad that you came on this podcast. And we've been pushing this for a while, uh, just because you're right next door, man, and you pretty much obviously we see each other every single day. So, but I'm glad we had this podcast. Now, before I start wrapping up, real quick, Trump the Hustle, you were with me when I created Turn Up the Hustle. And you know, to me, Trump the Hustle is not a model, it's not a slogan, it's not, it's it's it's a way of life for me. When it comes to Frank and Frank being there since day one, what does Trump the hustle mean to Frank?

SPEAKER_02 1:07:09

Get to work, man. Get to work. It's work. If you do enough work in the right way, in the right operation, you're gonna get a result, right? Turn up the hustle doesn't mean go do more. That's not what it is. It's just let's get to work, let's get consistent, let's live off of an operating system and just do what you're supposed to do, right? Think people take it for the wrong thing as like, okay, well, I gotta hustle and I gotta do more of the hustle. No, man, it's just just be consistent. That's all it is. And so it's just a reminder, cool. People think, I think in real estate specifically, I don't know what's being taught out there, and I don't care, but everybody's making it seem like what we do is very simple and very easy. And so everybody's like, cool, well, I can do it too. Well, you can, but you have to follow a proven formula, proven, proven recipe for success. And people just think about host hustle culture, hustle culture, hustle culture. Cool, at some point, hustle leads to burnout. And so when we're saying turn up the hustle, we're talking about, yeah, do what you're supposed to do so your hustle can turn into a system. Your system turned into a business, and that's what I think it means to me.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:14

Well, you have it, man. Trump the hustle. And it was crazy how from that day we created Trump the Hustle to me asking on his podcast in the Trump the Hustle podcast, man, it's actually really uh satisfying for me to have this podcast at FY. Uh now my last question, I always leave with this, man, and I have an idea what you can say just because I know this guy for so long. But Frank Tovar's favorite movie.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:33

For me, it's Last of Mohicans. Why is that? I went to uh I was against watching this movie. Like, I want I don't know what movie I wanted to see at that time. We're looking through the paper back in the day, San Antonio Light, and then it says, okay, we're gonna go see this movie. Okay, cool. We go. Um, first we snuck in food. It was myself, my grandma, and my aunt. Uh, shout out my aunt Brenda. Um, and so we pulled up, she's in her Nissan stanza back in the day, and we pull up to the Wendy's right there off of 410 in Culebra, and they give us the meal, and she said, Thank you. And my grandma looks, my aunt goes, She's not gonna um charge me. And my grandma goes, Step on it. So we stepped on it, we left with free food. So it was the best junior bacon cheeseburger in my life. Snuck it into the movie theater, um, and it was like the best cinematography ever. Like I fell in love with movies with because of that. Like the scope of movies, what it looks like, the aesthetic, the sound. Uh, that movie is just jaw-dropping. The soundtrack is flawless. Yeah, it's a really great movie. You should some you should see it one day, everybody.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:36

Last of the Mohikids. Now, I think Scott asked, hey man, why do you ask what's your favorite movie in the podcast every single time? What do you think? What do you have to say about me when it comes to movies?

SPEAKER_02 1:09:47

If you want to make an impression on Mike, make sure you watch Matilda. That's one. I've never seen Matilda. I would I'd give my thumb on one day. I probably will soon. Um it goes back to the way we were raised, I think. Um I was a TV baby. I would assume you were a TV baby, meaning you were put in front of the TV and you were that was it. You grew up watching a lot of stuff because life was happening all around you. Um for you, it's just what you relate to. You relate to a lot of quotes. You have a vault of memory of weird late 80s, 90s quotes, even 2000s, and it's like a vault in your brain. And I'm just like, okay, cool. And I get probably 90% of them, 95%, I guess. Actually, I'm pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:32

95% of them. I just love movies, man. I don't know why. I just love movies and movie quotes, and everything something someone says, that movie, that movie, and just kind of relates to me. And that's why I'm always curious. Kind of judge the person by their favorite movie, and yeah, you know, less than the weekends, you know, I'm gonna say you're doing it more for the family purpose, right? Obviously, the good cinematography, uh cinematology with cinematography, yeah. Cinematography, but because of the whole situation with your aunt and that moment and just being there and being in the moment with life with your closest family. Um, so that's really cool to see. But this is Trump Dustle Podcast. Frank, any last words for those guys who are watching they want to say directly into the camera? So whether it's myself, it's yourself, it's the inspire bars moment live scaling, running a multi-million dollar wholesale operation. What does Frank have to say to the people?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:12

Uh it's gonna be a little long-winded, and I'm okay with that because we pay for the film. Uh so it's uh don't be afraid to take a chance on yourself, right? Everybody has a dream, everybody has a purpose. You just gotta be the one to make it happen. Nobody's gonna make it happen for you. God instilled this dream and this purpose in your life for a reason. And if you're created in his image and his likeness, then that by default says that you are of essence at the same time. Uh Jesus said that we would do better things than he did. So, what does that mean? That we probably have the ability to create as well and to heal and all these other things, crazy stuff that goes along with that side of uh faith. And so if you have all that on your side, so what if you do fail? What if you don't? So I'd say take a chance on yourself. Um, I I do want to go back real quick to to my mom and give her you know her kudos because without her being so hard on me growing up, I definitely would not have been here, right? And I'm not talking about like beatings and stuff like that. I mean, that's normal, right? Just kidding, mom. Chunk clubs and all that stuff. I'm saying, I'm talking about the if she wasn't so intentional of making me do the things that she wanted to do, I would have never been able to learn how to challenge people. I've never learned how to get the education, right? I was taking engineering classes at the in uh middle school and in and in early high school. I was going to colleges during the summer to learn engineering. And so if I didn't do all these things of education-wise, I wouldn't have been this intelligent person here before you. Um, so I want to give a shout out to to her and all the hard work, and then of course my brother. My brother, I would love to bring my brother Javier. You remember Javier? I would love to integrate him into the system because I think family is good at what you've done with Roger, right? And so I like that. They say don't mix family with business. I think it's one of the most beautiful things ever if you if you figure it out the right way. Um, and so I would love to one day figure out how to do that for him. And then of course, man, you are my best friend, dude. I'm not gonna I'm not I don't know what kind of uh things he thinks in his head, but you we've been through there, we've been through it all. We've been definitely at the highs, but what counts is at the lows, and you've been there for all the lows for me. So um that's that's what counts to me, and that's why um I'm glad that we're we're really good friends and that we can talk openly and that we can share anything, and then um that we've got each other's back because that means the world to me. Um there's not a lot of people that can say that about you, meaning they don't have that close relationship, and I'm thankful that we have that close relationship because that gives me peace of mind that all this that we're building is for something. If I was in a corporate job, all this would be for somebody else, and I know this is for us, and so that's what allows me to keep on building freely and to keep on pouring it not only into you, but into our families, into our culture, into our team. And so um if anybody's out there and they get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to find somebody like Mike, uh take that chance, man, because it's gonna pay off really, really well. And then you're gonna get a ball or house, you'll get nice cars and all this crazy stuff that goes along with it, nice vacations. Um, but at the end of it, you get memories that will last a lifetime.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:23

Well, there you have it, man. And Frank, it was again an honor for you to be on this podcast, man. And from what I said in the beginning, you know, you really are one of my best friends, man, and I appreciate everything you've done for me since day one. Uh, I appreciate you running the entire office, the entire office, the operation, and creating a multi-million dollar wholesale operation from scratch. And a lot of it is we're really self-taught, you know, and it took you to do what you got to do, the years of sacrifice. You see me in my highs, you see me in my lows, and I just appreciate you not only as the individual, as a man, and as pretty much my right-hand guy, man. So uh shout out to you, man. And just again, I wouldn't be where I'm at without you, man. Everyone else, guys, this is the Trump the Hustle Podcast. Guys, hope you guys got a lot of value out of this. Someone who runs a multi-million dollar operation, how can they find you, Frank?

SPEAKER_02 1:15:05

So, Instagram, real Frank Tovar, Facebook, Frank Tobar, and my phone number. I'm kidding, I might give you my phone number. So come by, visit us at the office, man. I'm gonna be more than happy to sit down and work on your agenda. Let's see how we can turn up the hustle together.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:17

And there you guys have it. So we appreciate you guys watching. Tune in to every single uh podcast that we do. Make sure you hit that like and subscribe, and as always, trump the hustle.