Introduction

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hustlers, on today's episode of the Trump to Hustle Podcast, we're joined by a San Antonio real estate investor and the owner and CEO of Morsa Homes. His story starts in El Salvador before moving to the United States at just 17 years old. Starting college, dropping out, and working different jobs before eventually finding his opportunity in real estate. Today he's built one of San Antonio's largest owner finance operations with more than 300 homes and a mission of helping hardworking families who may not qualify for traditional financing get another shot at home ownership. And he's nowhere near finished. His goal is to grow that portfolio to 1,000 homes by 2036. In this episode, we break down the journey from immigrant teenager to finding his way to building a massive real

Giving Families a Second Chance

SPEAKER_01 0:42

estate operation right here in San Antonio and the lessons, risk, and hustle it took to get there. Today's episode, Edwin Morsa. Welcome to another episode of the Trump to Hustle Podcast where real estate investors and entrepreneurs show their stories, strategies, and mindset behind our hustle. I'm Michael Giannis, aka Mr. Hustle. To my right, Skyler Moon. Let's go. Today's special guest, Edwin Morsa. How you doing, man? Very good. Thank you for having me here, Michael and Skylar. We had to have Morsa homes on there, man. Every time I see you, I know your first name's Edwin. Yes. But when I see you, I just Morsa. Everyone in town knows you buy Morsa. Everyone knows Morsa buys houses in San Antonio. I'm gonna call you Morsa. Edwin Morsa, man. I appreciate you being on this podcast, man. And just like every other podcast, Edwin Morsa. Every time we start, I always say my hustle. My hustle is real estate wholesaling, real estate flipping houses with this guy, and real estate subject two by taking over properties. When people think of Morsa, what's Morsa's hustle?

SPEAKER_03 1:42

Man, uh, let me tell you, we we buy houses, we fix them, but more than that, we are here, we're not here just to sell houses, we're here to give an opportunity to families

Immigrating from El Salvador

SPEAKER_03 1:54

who need a second chance in life. So when I think about Morsa, when I wake up in the morning, I'm always thinking about how I can make the difference today. How can I help someone? How can we help a family who's not getting approved through the traditional banking and stuff like that? So that's what I think about Morsa Homes.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

That's where hustle. Well, I'm glad that you're on here, man, because when I post houses on Facebook, I do a lot of sub twos. I know we're gonna get into your style of how you buy houses and all that good stuff. But when I sub two and I sell houses on raps, I get a lot of bad comments, man, a lot of bad negativity on wraparounds or owner financing. So I really want to deep dive into owner financing because I know that's where you specialize in and break down how important it is for these second time uh or second chance opportunities. Of course. But before we go into all this, before the over 300 houses, yes, before doing all of God's works, let's take it back to Little Morsa, man. Where's Little Morsa born and raised from? I'm uh original from El Salvador in Central America.

SPEAKER_03 2:53

Born there? Yes, I was born over there. So I moved to uh San Antonio, Texas back in 2000. And I came with a dream. I came to with intention to to prosper. Uh it's one of those things that I always think about how can I get into a specific position and how can I prosper in a different place? And I believe with all my heart, Michael and Skylar, that God brought me here with a purpose. So I believe it with all my heart. I that's what I live by.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

For some reason, I thought you were here when you were a kid. No. So the age of 2,000. I know you're a young man, but at age We're about the same age. How old were you when you came here at the 17. 17. Yes. Wow, 17 years old. How was growing up in El Salvador?

SPEAKER_03 3:37

Um, you know, we had a very, very good lifestyle. You know, my parents, they they own a business of other in El Salvador. So uh they own a swimming pool company. And so we had a very, very, very good lifestyle. You know, we we had a lot of things that, you know, not many kids from El Salvador used to have. But I always, you know, got that seed from my parents. Hey, you know, you need to own a business, you know. You always I always got that entrepreneurship mindset from my dad, you know. And that's that's that's the way I I grew in El Salvador.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

El Salvador. You been? I have not. I've got some good friends from there. They've been telling me with the new president Bukele.

SPEAKER_03 4:17

Naive Bukele.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

Yeah, he's doing a very good job. Yeah, he's turning the country around, it's safe. I have one of my friends, he's a little bit older than you guys, but he had a very tough upbringing there. I mean, he had one of his best friends at the age of eight got killed in front of him in their own backyard and like just a crazy. I mean, obviously it was you know very violent back then, but yeah, the current guy's got it supposedly on lockdown and one of the safest countries in the world now. It is prospering. So yeah, I definitely want to go check it out one day.

SPEAKER_03 4:41

So I didn't, you know, I don't I don't think Michael uh that I had a a rough, you know, background from El Salvador, you know. Thank God my parents, you know, were very involved with me, my dad and my mom, you know, they always got that part uh where they were always introducing me into hustle. Hey, you have to do something, you have to to create something.

Dropping Out to Pursue Business

SPEAKER_03 5:04

And I think that's part of what I've been able to do now, been able to create thinking about how can I create, how can I create opportunities, how can I put myself in a situation where I can create an opportunity. Wasn't there a civil war there? There was. What year was that? Um, 80s, you know, all the way 80s to probably 2000. But in the area where we live, you know, it wasn't like nothing. Yeah, it was there, but we were not so involved into that.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Affected. Yes.

unknown 5:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

So the age of 17, and your dad being an entrepreneur and good parent skills and kind of implementing to you the person who you are today. And that's cool, right? Everyone has a different stage of life. You know, I think El Salvador, I'm always gonna go to, I don't know, third world country, yeah, you know, a lot of hard work, but to each your own, right? And parents are the parents, and people are at different stages of life, and at your stay or your parents' stage in life, they were in a comfortable position having a swimming pool, entrepreneurship, pushing it on you. But as a 17-year-old, your idea to come to the United States or your parents told you come to the United States?

SPEAKER_03 6:04

No, it was my it was my parents' idea to come here. What happened is my uh my sister, she moved to San Antonio back in '89. They came to school here, they went to St. Mary's University, they graduate, and then my brother, Carlos, he moved uh in '95, and also he went to St. Mary's. He graduated too, and then the idea was for me to go to school with St. Mary's as well, and been able to graduate, but I don't think school was for me. Well, you said that was the idea.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

You said that was the idea. That was the idea. So you're here at 17, you go to school. I try, yeah. I try to go to school. What school? Uh, St. Mary's. And what were you gonna go for?

SPEAKER_03 6:43

Uh I was gonna do uh business, but it it wasn't for me. I I don't know. It was something that I I didn't I didn't feel uh related to to the system to be able to study something uh and telling you this is what you need to study and then this is the way you're gonna uh you know live life. Live life right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

Yeah, man. I've I've told Scott multiple times, I hate school, man. I just uh the whole idea of homework and studying and and projects, and yeah, man, I'm just I'm glad I did what I did. But to each your own, right? I mean, that's that's not the wrong going to school, and kudos to everyone who got a degree. So at a what age at this point were you said, hey, this is not for me?

SPEAKER_03 7:20

Oh probably when I probably when I was 19. Yeah, okay. When I was 19, what happened is when I moved to San Antonio, I realized that I can work. And since I can work now, I can make my own money. And then I I I've been the type of person that I'm always putting goals to myself. And I remember the first thing that I said, I'm gonna buy those shoes. And it was so nice, they were super nice shoes. And then I went and I said, I'm gonna save to be able to buy those shoes.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

What were they?

SPEAKER_03 7:50

Uh there were some Steve Maiden, they were yeah, it was they were like gray colors, and and they were so nice. And I said, Well, I'm gonna buy those and I'm gonna work for it. I was working at Six Flex and I was working crazy hours, but I was making money, and I realized that that's what I wanted

First Business Failure

SPEAKER_03 8:09

to do.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

I needed to and I gotta ask because if your parents push it here to go to school and you tell them that you don't want to go to school, how do they take it?

SPEAKER_03 8:16

Hmm, they were nervous at the beginning, but you they always seen in me, you know, that I have this entrepreneurship uh mindset. So they they knew that I was gonna figure out. I think they knew that I was gonna figure out. Now I I can tell you that I've been able to figure out 20 years, 26 years later.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

We we agree. Yeah, we definitely agree. So you're working at you come from El Salvador, the age of 19 said, hey, I don't want to be in college no more. I'm gonna go work at Six Flag instead because I want to save for a pair of shoes. Yes. What's the next steps after the pair of shoes? What's the next big goal? Man, I was uh I wanted to buy a car.

SPEAKER_03 8:51

I wanted to get a you know I wanted to get a walking to driving, okay. Hey, I wanted to get a car, you know. I wanted to kind of car. It was a Jetta. Okay. Yeah, it was a nice GLI Jetta. That's what I was able to get. And it was, you know, I started figuring out things, you know. I wanted to have my own business. I create I, you know, I created a business back in 2005. It was a construction uh business. It didn't work, it didn't work out, but you know, I had this mentality to be able to create my own business when I was uh 23, 22 years old. As young.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

As young. At a young age, we created business. It's a lie, and business don't work out. And I will tell you some of our stories on business that don't work out. But this is your show, man. So the construction going on, and why

Overcoming the Language Barrier

SPEAKER_01 9:40

didn't it work out? Money, capital, man, whatever.

SPEAKER_03 9:43

I I didn't know anything about construction. So I hired people to be able to help me to do some uh uh flips, and I was gonna be the main contractor. Uh I trusted a guy who said, Hey, do this job for me, and I will pay you on Friday. And I had four subcontractors, and uh Friday comes in and the guy didn't show up, so he never paid me. So I had four people working for me. I didn't have the money to pay them, so it was very, you know, it was it was very stressful. And I used to go to church, and then these guys were going back to my you know to my church, you know, asking for money. They wanted to talk to a pastor. And I was man, you know, I I I'm a servant of God. I believe that I'm a servant of God. How can this be happening?

SPEAKER_00 10:34

So what age did you learn? When did you learn Spanish? Before you moved, I mean English. When you moved here or after you moved here?

SPEAKER_03 10:40

Man, um I learned English uh here, here in the moved here.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

How long did it take you? English is hard. English is super hard to learn.

SPEAKER_03 10:51

Super hard. To this day I still I'm still learning. But um probably took me about five, six years practicing. So when you know I went to school for where I went for English as a second language, okay, and trying to get some some basics, but it took me a while.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

The best way is not school, I don't think. The best way is just being emerged in another language and you just you have to pick up the students.

SPEAKER_03 11:16

And just you have to practice. And I, you know, I love to read, but I love to read what I like to read. Yeah. Not someone imposing me, yeah. This is what you need to read. And that's what I didn't like about school. You know, in order for you to do a major, you're a business major, now you need to study all these things. I'm like, no, that's not for me.

SPEAKER_01 11:37

So we're learning English, we got the Volkswagen,

Hitting Rock Bottom

SPEAKER_01 11:39

we're cruising around town, yes, construction business failed. Yes. What's the next steps?

SPEAKER_03 11:44

Uh man, I I felt super low in in my life. I didn't know, you know, I thought that I was gonna be an entrepreneur, and then I started failing with all these things. So I was super low in in in and down in my life. Financial or or or mindset? Mindset. Okay. Mindset, financial, living with my parents, still here in San Antonio. And I said, man, I'm I'm super down. There has to be a better direction. And that's when I went to my to the church that I'm going right now. And that's when I met my wife. And as soon as I saw her, I was like, this is the girl. This is the girl. So uh we started dating. I got a beautiful relationship with God, with Jesus, and then I got married, you know, have kids, and I was working for Chase Bank, trying to get into uh into business somehow. And it was in that season where there was a lot of uh they were laying

Working as a Church Janitor

SPEAKER_03 12:48

off people from the banks. So as soon as I got married, six months after I got married, in December, I got home and I tell my wife, hey, I got laid off, I don't have a job. What are we gonna do? Christmas time. It was Christmas time. And man, I didn't know what to do. I started just praying and asking God for direction.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

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, 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 assuring 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. At that time, how was your financial savings? No, I didn't have any savings. That's a rough position to be in. I didn't have any position to be in.

SPEAKER_03 14:16

Yeah, no, I didn't have any savings. I was leaving paycheck to paycheck.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

Most people are. Most people are looking to paycheck or living paycheck to paycheck. Yeah. Most people are living paycheck to paycheck to they find that a next big thing for the network. So now we have no job. We had kids running around. No, I didn't have any kids. Oh, you didn't have kids. Okay. Yeah. All right. It makes it a lot easier. Yes. But Christmas time, it's a bad Christmas, no job. What's next?

SPEAKER_03 14:40

A pastor from my church, he finds out that I don't have a job, and he says, Hey, there is a a position here. If you want to work, you know,

The Dream That Predicted a Promotion

SPEAKER_03 14:51

we'll you know, we'll hire you. I said, okay, let's make it happen. What is it? He says, Well, you're gonna be the janitorial. You're gonna be, you know, cleaning the church. It was a 50,000 square footage church, uh, and they had a school. And uh I needed to wait for everyone to leave school because it was a private school, it was a charter school. And after everyone leaving the school or the church, that's when I was gonna come in and start cleaning. So around 4 p.m., 5 p.m., that's when I started cleaning the 50,000 square foot church. And man, it was it was a very humbling experience. Uh, because I had to do a lot of cleaning. I had no idea, man. And cleaning toilets, cleaning the entire church. I had no idea. It was a school.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

I've known you for how long have I known you? Uh for about 10 years. 10 years. Had no idea, man. And it's crazy to see your story. It's cool that this Trump does a podcast. This is literally the version of Trump the Hustle from. Yeah. You know, moving to a different country, being a janitor. And of course, janitor's a tough position. Being English not being your first language. And I jender is a tough position. Like you said, it's a humble, humble experience to go through the motions. And it does a lot of hard work when it becomes a janitor. There's nothing wrong with janors. You know, everyone has their position in life and you know, or whether you or they're doing in whatever part they're in life, and you know, janitorials, it's it's tough.

SPEAKER_03 16:17

It's it's a it was a very tough position because it was seven days a week. Oh wow. So you know, I couldn't even get sick.

SPEAKER_02 16:25

I couldn't become sick.

SPEAKER_03 16:26

I couldn't even get sick. Man, it was uh it was intense. I can't even get sick. Because you know, the next day there's gonna be a school or there's gonna be a church.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Because it's Sunday.

SPEAKER_03 16:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:37

So you have to have everything ready, and it was very it was intense, man. How long did that go?

SPEAKER_01 16:44

How about I ask? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:45

It was about six months. Six months. But it was amazing what happened. Uh so I started church work working at church in January. And then in May, I had this dream. There was a man who comes and talks to me in a dream. And he says, I couldn't see his face, but he was speaking Spanish with me. And I I was able just to see his hands on the dream. And he says, Look, if you are a Vidian, I'm gonna bless you. And I said, Okay. And then he shows me where I was gonna be working, and he shows me an office, and he shows me a red uh laptop, a computer. He shows, and then you're gonna be able to see your car from this window. That was in May. And then I had this dream in my heart, right? I've been thinking about this. Uh May, June, July, August, and then September comes in, and the pastor calls me and says, Mihito, uh, so you've been working here because it's a big church. Hey, you've been working here in I didn't know you had a background uh working in in in a in chase. I'm looking for a bootkeeper. And I want to see if you're interested to become a bootkeeper. And who's this? The pastor of the church. I want to hire you to become a debtor. Yes. And then he shows me, he takes me to

Car Sales & Building an Exit Strategy

SPEAKER_03 18:14

my office. That was September 1st of 2009. He takes me to my office, to my surprise, I was in front in the office, and then I was I had a big window, I had a red laptop, and then I was able to see my car. Oh wow. Exactly the way I dreamt. But there were some details that they were not, yeah, but it was exactly the way I saw it in May, three, four months prior to that. And I was like, oh. So, and I remember that what the voice told me, just be obedient, and now I'm gonna be blessing you. I said, okay, I'm gonna work trying to figure out how I can be obedient, how can I, how can I receive blessings from God. And blessings from God, I'm not just talking about financially blessings, you know. Now I had my daughter, I was able to get my daughter Jasmine, and and and then I started working as a bookkeeper for for the charter school. And then I was uh I super involved with the kids in my church as well. So I became one of the leaders of middle school kids in my church. Now, from one day to another, my life completely changed because I started receiving salary from the bookkeeping position. And then the pastor said, Hey, but also you're helping with the youth, right? And says, You're not receiving a salary. And I said, No, I'm you know, I'm not expecting a salary. I said, Well, from now on, you're gonna receive a salary. So I was receiving two salaries from that. Oh, nice, and it was amazing. My life changed on that September 1st. Now I received two salaries. Now started looking into and I called my wife and said, Honey, think, you know, look what is happening now. Our life is gonna change. And I was doing what I like to do, you know.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

And that was some visibility too, yeah. Bookkeeping, because you had that financial background. Yeah. And then spend time with the kids. Yes. So you're getting paid to do what you love to do, man. Yeah. That's not work. Yeah. That's just living life. It's living life. How do we fast forward into real estate, man? So you're doing all that good stuff with the with the kids of the pastors at the church that you're at, the school. Where does real estate come into play?

SPEAKER_03 20:14

Man, and I'm gonna make a pause in in between because something happened. I, you know, I felt that, hey, it's time for you to get out of the church right now and get into sales. What year was that? Uh back in 2012.

SPEAKER_04 20:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 20:30

In 2012, I decided, you know, I went and I talked to a pastor and said, Hey, I think I'm looking for something else. So you don't think you had your calling? I had my calling, but it was it was something inside of me that makes me think that I need to take God outside the door, outside the building. Okay, that's a really good word to put it. So I go and I started looking uh for places to work, and I wanted to get into sales. That's one of the things that I that I realized. Hey, now I want to be able to get into sales. So I got into a a dealership, Cavender. I started working for them. And first three

Entering Owner-Finance Real Estate

SPEAKER_03 21:08

months, four months, I didn't sell anything. I was like, no, I'm not gonna, this is not for me. There's a guy, you know, it seems like there's specific situations in my life. There's always a person that comes and gives me that encouragement. Like I feel that, you know, God is putting angels in front of you. And this guy comes and says, Hey, you know, if it were to be easy, everyone will be doing it. Man, I'm gonna pray for you. And I starts, you know, after that, it was like a I don't believe in magic, but it was like one of those things, like boom, something changed. Now I start selling cars. I start selling a lot of cars. Man, I was selling 20, 25 cars a month, and I became one of the best sales, you know, people in the in the team. And but I always was telling my wife, I was missing a lot of time with with the family because I was. Spending hours and hours in the dealership. But I was telling my wife, hey, there's gonna be a time in my life that someone's gonna get me, it's gonna recruit me out of this business. I love the car industry, I love the dealership and everything, but I'm spending so much time, you know, without the family.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

That's tough. Uh that work-life balance.

SPEAKER_03 22:19

Hours and hours and hours and everything, yeah. And weekends. I was missing my own birthdays. You know, so it was intense. And then, but every single day for the last year that I was in the car dealership, I was dressing like someone was gonna recruit me out of the business. So I was getting in the mirror and I was saying, hey, you know, I'm prepared. Someone's gonna get me out. And I had my shoes, I cleaned my shoes because I was ready to meet someone who was gonna get me out of this business. Not because I didn't like it, it was just because I was spending so much time without my family. And for a year, I was like, someone's gonna get me out. Then there is a person who comes to the dealership and wanted to buy a car and wanted to buy a big truck. And and uh he couldn't he couldn't qualify for a big truck. He was able to just to qualify for a small uh Corolla. And I said, Well, this is gonna be your tundrola. Because if you buy this Corolla in six months or in a year, you do everything right. I'm not promising you anything because one of the things that I like to live my life by is not overpromise. And I said, Hey, if you do this in six months or in a year, you're gonna be able to get your tundra. Man, I help him, I spend hours with the person. I make a hundred dollars in that sale. Those were the best hundred dollars that I've done in my life. Next day he calls me and says, Hey, my boss wants to meet you. I already told him, you know, the way you helped me. And I said, Who's your boss? He told me, hey, it's Sam. I said, Really? I I don't even know who he is, but it seems like he's very well known in real estate. He wants to, he wants to meet you because I explained to him everything you did for me. So next day I go, I meet with Sam. We both align, you know, with our beliefs. We both, you know, I had this Bible verse in my heart, you know, to be strong and be courageous, do not be afraid, your God is with you. And he had it the same. And we both connect and says, Hey, I'm looking for a salesperson who wants to sell owner finance houses for me. Would you be interested? And I go and I call my wife and says, Look, this guy is telling me, you know, if y'all want to work with him. And my wife, you know, it's super wise. My wife is, you know, I have it's a gift from God. And she said, Yes, do it. I said,

Redefining Value & Productivity

SPEAKER_03 24:45

Really? She says, Yes. You're gonna change completely, you know, your work and everything, but just do it now. And I called Sam and I said, Yeah, I'm gonna do it. So I started I started working with Sam and I started learning uh the the owner finance in sales. That's how I met Sam.

SPEAKER_01 25:03

That's uh a big change, man. That's a cool story. That part you told me you were envisioning yourself being taken away from the dealership. Yes. Because of lost family time. Yes. That's that's something that most people don't say or think about, you know. They just go to work and continue grinding. Someone going to work and prepping themselves to get exited out and do something else. That's that's a cool story, man, from start to finish. Now, when you first meet Sam, because I know Sam and he is a big dude in real estate, man, back then, uh, even now, right? So back then he was, I'm sure he was doing a lot at his peak, doing a lot of real estate, and I'm sure he's doing a lot now. We've got to get him on the podcast soon. Soon. But when you first met Sam and thought of real estate, did you even have your own house when you met Sam? Yes. I have my own house. You had your own personal house. Houses or house? Tell me again. You had your own houses, or you had your only one? No, I only have one. Yeah. So then you meet Sam, and then Sam talks to you, tells you about real estate. What was your initial thoughts? I know you talked to your wife, but what about you? Like, from cars to real estate, that's uh a tough position. There's a lot of people watching this podcast, they're doing something now and working at a restaurant and having a hard time going to that next level because they think it's tough. They think it's, you know, can be reached. How are you feeling when you're in Sam's office talking about, all right, I'm gonna start my real estate journey?

SPEAKER_03 26:17

Man, um, as I said, you know, there is a lot of things that I can tell you that God is a big part of the decisions that I make. And I always try when I'm gonna make a decision, I'm always thinking about, hey, how can I how can I provide value and service to the things that I'm doing? And I go to the part of all of the talents. You know, the master leaves, right? And he says, To you, I'm gonna give you five. I'm gonna give you five talents. To you, I'm gonna give you two talents, and then to you, I'm gonna give you one talent. One of the important things he says is that he gave them based on their capacity. Each person was capable to handle five, two, and one. And it says that the master leaves and then he comes back and says, Hey, let's do numbers together. Hey, I gave you five. What did you do with the five? Oh, I was able to double it. Now I have ten. You? What did you do with the two? Hey, I was able to double it. I did four. And there is this guy who gave who got one. It seems like it's easier for him to be able to multiply one than the guy who has five. But this guy, he says, hey, I was afraid, you know, I was afraid because I know the type of man you are. And it mentions something about, you know, that it's been in my heart for years. Negligence. This guy was negligent. He wasn't faithful. And God, and and you know, God says, hey, you were faithful in small things now because I was able to give you this small things, and you were faithful with those small things, I'm gonna put you in, I'm gonna put you in bigger responsibilities. But this guy who was negligent, so one of the things that I have in my life, Michael and Skylar, is that I don't want to be that negligent. So I want to be able to say, hey, with the talents that I have, with what I have in my life, with God has been able to equip me, whether if he gave me five or one or two, I'm gonna put myself to add value to everything that I do. So when I met Sam, it was how can I add value to my relationship with him? Like being here. Hey, how can I add value to what I'm saying? You know, how can I add value to Skylar? How can I add value to Michael? And that's something that I've been encrypted in my heart. Everything that I'm trying to do is not perfect because I make a lot of mistakes. But I'm trying to add value. It has to be a win-win

Scaling to 300+ Properties

SPEAKER_03 28:48

situation where you win, I win, you win, I win. So I'm trying to be faithful with the things that I got.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

So when y'all started that process and you were trying to add value, what was your differentiator between you and the other people on the team? Because obviously you've excelled and we'll get into your story as we keep going, but you've excelled far beyond, I'm sure, what you know what he thought or what anybody thought at that point. What was your differentiator between you and all the other folks there?

SPEAKER_03 29:14

One of the things that I, you know, that I think that I'm talented with is that I I love to be productive. I don't like to be busy. You know, and something that I was able to learn in the car business is not the one that makes more money. Like my first year, I sold a lot of units. I sold more than a hundred cars, but I didn't make money because I was super busy. I was discounting cars and everything. A friend of mine came and says, Hey, it's not about how many cars do you sell, it's about how much profit do you make. And that got in my heart and I said, Well, that's true. So I'm not gonna be interested on being busy and doing a lot, but I'm gonna be interested in being super productive. So when I started working with Sam and selling houses for him, my mindset was, how can I be productive? How can I add value to what he's doing? Hey, how, because back then he was selling houses as this, he didn't do any cosmetic repairs or anything like that. And something came to my heart and I said, Hey, why we don't fix it? Why we don't paint it? Why we don't do small cosmetic rehabs? But now you're gonna add more profit. If you're trying to make 35, you know, as profit, why you don't make 50 now? And you're gonna put 3,000, 5,000 into fixing a house. And then he was able to see, and he said, Okay, yeah, that's a good idea. So I was able to bring more value to what I was doing. Everything that I'm trying to do is add value to the community, trying to add value to the to my family, to my wife. You know, we don't have, I don't even know what's gonna happen tomorrow. But in the meantime, I'm gonna add value to my wife, I'm gonna add value to my kids. Everything that I'm doing is trying to add value. And that's the mindset that I have in my life.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

That's definitely a good mindset to have, man, especially when it's a win-win-win situation, right? From yourself or Sam to the buyers who bought the house to your family. So owner financing is a good uh good technique, right? Owner financing, obviously, I love owner financing, I've been doing owner financing for years. My model's a little different, you know, because I do sub twos and I know we talked about that over the uh past few years. You're with Sam. I know you have quite a few houses. Now you're at 300 plus. I would assume Sam is probably, you know, if I'm not pocket watching, Sam's probably somewhere around five, six hundred plus, I would think. Plus, yes. 600 plus. Um, and it's a lot of houses. It's a lot of houses to maintain. Um, a lot of them are rentals, a lot of them are notes. Let's talk about the process and doing your first owner financing for yourself to keep in your own portfolio

Refinancing Real Estate Notes

SPEAKER_01 31:55

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SPEAKER_03 32:51

Man, um I did everything on my own. The first one, you know, one of the first things that Sam came to me, and you know, uh, I remember when we start Morsa, it's a partnership that I have with him. Uh, and it's a beautiful partnership. It's we've been doing business together for 10 years now. And I remember uh he coming to me and asking me, hey, would you be interested to partner with me? You know, let's buy one house. You know, I'll be your funding partner. And then you do the operational part and you do marketing, you do everything. And I said, okay, I'm I'm not afraid of the challenge. So, and I remember him giving me the first check to be able to buy the house. And I said, Sam, are you sure you're doing this? He says, Yeah, I trust you. Uh, so I bought the first house, you know, I look for the first contractor, fix the house, because I already had this mentality of buying the house, fix it cosmetically, and then sell it owner finance, looking for a family uh who needs an opportunity in life. That's the whole concept. Not just looking to sell it, but I'm looking for a family who needs an opportunity in life. And that's what I did. I, you know, I created the first the first uh note. Uh it was in in McNarney on the south side of San Antonio, bought it for 70 and then to put 10,000, 15,000 and then sell it. It was it was a it was a great it was a great uh chance for me. I felt very good to be able to help the family to be uh to become home homeowners.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

Let's talk about the process, man. So you're saying that Sam was your funding partner. Is that still now today or is it is it a little different now?

SPEAKER_03 34:31

Well, uh that's every every uh he has his own role, and I have my own role. And I'm so I'm the I'm the CEO of Morsa Homes. And he's the funding partner.

SPEAKER_01 34:41

So okay, so let's kind of take Sam out of the equation for this uh question I have. So you're the CEO of Morsa Homes. You're finding these houses like companies like ours, because I sold, I've wholeselled you quite a few houses over the years, right? Yes, sold you a lot of houses, man. Yes. Should have probably got a little more on some of those houses, but now they know you're in sales. That's how I got a little lower assignment fee. But nonetheless, we it was a win-win, right? We get a lot of deals, we wholesale them to you. Yes. Now you buy them as a CEO, you buy it however you get funding, you're buying them cash. Yes. Right through your funding partner. Yes. You're doing light rehab. Yes. And then you're selling them owner finance. Yes. Now when you sell them owner finance, how do you cash out the funding partner?

SPEAKER_03 35:18

Well, uh, keep in mind I'm not trying to uh to cash out. I'm trying to keep as many as uh as many possible notes.

SPEAKER_01 35:26

So are we raising capital and using that capital to create owner financing

Navigating Subject-To Deals

SPEAKER_01 35:31

notes and just holding on to them? Yes, I'm trying to cash out. Yes. A lot of capital tied up.

SPEAKER_03 35:37

And and then I use some, you know, I've been using some banks as well to be able to refi, you know, some banks that do notes. So I've been able to work with them and trying to cash out. But majority of the cases, uh the private lenders that I have, they want to keep investing. They want to they want to keep having their money working for us. So for them.

SPEAKER_01 35:57

For them, yeah. For win, right? Back to a win-win situation. Yeah. Now I want to deep dive into something a little a little the next step. When you're saying refinancing, how are you refinancing when you already sold the house to Juan and Maria?

SPEAKER_03 36:09

Well, there are some banks that are willing to refinance some notes. You know, they're not refinancing the property, they're refinancing the paper.

SPEAKER_01 36:18

They're refinancing the paper. Yeah. And that's a little tough to understand, especially a lot of beginner investors, right? So you get buy, you get a house, cash, you sell it to a family, and I want to talk about the second opportunities and what does it take to sell to this family? You sell to them at whatever interest rate you do. Yes. The house now belongs to, I'm in this scenario, Juan and Maria. Yes. You're the bank. Yes. So you as a CEO of Morse Home, take this note that they owe you. Right. You go to a bank and say, hey, they owe me this much, they refinance at a lower rate. The lower and a lower rate. Yes. So more cash flow.

SPEAKER_03 36:49

Yes. Five, six percentage, and now it's, you know, it's amortized. And then you take that capital and you go buy another house.

SPEAKER_01 36:56

Exactly. That's really cool, man. That's a big system.

SPEAKER_03 36:59

Not not every not every bank is it's doing notes. Right, yeah. No, you gotta know. Yeah, you have to.

SPEAKER_01 37:05

Yeah, you gotta know. You can't just walk in and chase a whole sparkle saying hey, refinance my note.

SPEAKER_03 37:09

They're not they're

Preventing Foreclosures

SPEAKER_03 37:10

probably not gonna do it. There's small banks that are willing to do it, and they're they're very familiar. Not everyone is familiar with with notes. And these banks are more like credit unions or no, there are local banks, you know. There are some banks like you know that I can that can share information. Yeah, have some notes, you know, have 10. Usually they're trying to do 10 and up. They want blankets, right? Yeah, they one, it's gonna be a little bit more because there's a lot of paperwork. Uh, but you take it to the bank and you put it as collateral, and you said, hey, this is this is the the note, this is the note balance, and then this is the interest rate. And would you give me a better rate? And you get you get four or five points.

SPEAKER_00 37:50

Are they doing them over the full 30 term or are they doing them at 15 years?

SPEAKER_03 37:53

Or it depends. You know, I've done a few with 15, I've done a few with 20.

SPEAKER_01 37:58

Okay, cool. Well, you're selling these on 30 years and then you refinance at 15. It doesn't lower the cash flow because the time has got shortener?

SPEAKER_03 38:04

Well, it's not because just the payment, you know, the payment goes drastically, you know, as far as the the interest rate, the new interest rate that I'm getting. You know, four or five, half of the, you know, what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_01 38:17

Let me get a little creative here. Let me think on my shoes, right? Because you know what I do. I do a lot of sub twos. Yes. I don't have a funding partner. You know, if I need money, I I call this guy. He's not around.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

Crazy because I call him.

SPEAKER_01 38:27

What are we doing here? So I get a lot of sub twos. Right. Let's just say it was Skylar's loan, right? His loan's already in place at a beautiful. Yeah, it's good. 3.5%. Yeah. And then we'll I'll sub to it. Now his house is my house, but it's his loan. And then I'll sell it to Juana Maria. His loan is with Penny Mac. I can, I know the interest rate is 3.5, but technically I could go to this bank. Let's just say Skylar said, Man, I'm tired of dealing with this, Mike. You subbed to my house three years ago. I don't want the loan in my name anymore. You got to figure it out. Even though we had an agreement, it's gonna be a tough agreement. I can take that Penny Mac loan that he has, my note, and then go to one of these banks and say, Hey, as long as you have the trust. The note.

SPEAKER_02 39:06

Yeah, the note, right? Yeah. As long as you have the note, yeah, you can take it to the bank.

SPEAKER_01 39:09

For all those people that watch it, man, and you know, they're always scared of this do on sale clause. It's actually one of the strongest things you can do. Yeah. Is refinance the note and do on sale. I all of my comments, do on sale, do on sell, or you can't do that. It's illegal. Uh, how are you gonna do this and how you gonna do that? Just go to notes, man. People buy notes. If you're selling to owner finance on a wrap, they'll take that position of his loan that I substitute and want the money else to owns the house.

SPEAKER_03 39:30

That's and it's it's it's a beautiful exit strategy. You know, something that I always think, uh, Skylar and Michael is you know, what is gonna be my exit strategy? How can everyone's benefit from this? You know, and and even on that, let's say uh you have multiple nodes, but I want to keep the majority of the notes. You know, I don't I want to I want to be there. I'm

Attracting Wealth vs. Chasing Money

SPEAKER_03 39:52

for the long term. Yeah, that's what I'm losing. So I'm trying to figure out how can how can we keep helping these families, in which way I can help a family. Hey, someone's struggling with payments. I can communicate with them. You know, I have a team, I have a an amazing team in Morsa homes that, you know, I probably not do, you know, uh all the things they challenge with, but they are in front, in front of me and they talk on my behalf. And they talk and they manage this situation. You know, we've been able to encrypt it the same thing, the same heart serve. Hey, someone's struggling with payments. Let's figure out how can we help this family. I don't want to, you know, I don't wanna I don't wanna get a foreclosure. I don't want to get into a foreclosure. Let me help them. Let me figure out, hey, let's say they're behind in two payments. There's a lady who was having a very tough position because she was having some uh illness. You know, I went, I met with them, I had this open policy where they can come and meet with me, and I said, What do you need? Okay, let's move. You go two payments, let's move it to the end. And it was an easy process. I was able to rewrite the note. Being a problem solver, right? I'm I'm you know, I wanna I want to be able to go to sleep and say, hey, I did everything right. And the most important thing, Michael and Skylar, is at the end of my life, you know, being able to see

Ideal Owner-Financing Clients

SPEAKER_03 41:20

uh God and telling me, hey, you were faithful with what I gave you. You know, come in, rejoice with me. You know, and that's what I wanna, that's what I want to live my life this way. I'm not perfect, make tons of mistakes, but I'm always trying to figure out that last day of my life, how it's gonna be. Am I gonna be able to be to say that I'm proud of what I, you know, what it the way I live? And not saying in a in a way that, oh, I'm better than anyone or better than other people. I'm just trying to figure out with the things that I got, with the talents that I got, five, two, or one, man, I want to get those in front of him and said, hey, I did it. You know, I'm capable, you gave me, you saw the capacity in me, and this is for you. That's what I that's the that's the way I'm trying to figure out. When I when I'm working with banks, when I'm working with the private investors, you know, I'm getting calls from private private investors telling me, hey, you know, I have some money and I want to invest it, you know, please, or don't pay me, you know, when I sell some notes, because I sometimes I create notes and sell them with the intention to sell them. I pay my my first private investor, and he's like, no, I don't want to get paid. Reuse it. So I I feel, you know, this is something that I'm always trying to figure out. How can I stop chasing money? What I prefer to do is attract money. And the way you do it is by, you know, education. You educate yourself. But the second thing is seeking for wisdom. How can I attract money? Because when you do, when you start chasing money, this is what money's gonna do. It's gonna be, you know, you're gonna be following money. But what I'm trying to figure out is how can I attract money, you know, that money is gonna feel not the money has emotions and stuff like that, but I'm trying to figure out how can money feel good the way I live my style or my lifestyle. So it's education, wisdom, and the third one is being generous. How can I be generous and see money as a tool, not as I'm in love with money? I'm trying to figure out how can I make more money so I can bless more people? How can I make more money now and I can give more opportunities to families? How can I make more money where I can get more properties and I can get investors receiving an interest rate that, you know, not everyone is receiving, or someone might be receiving. But I'm gonna be able to put my essence in any transactions that I do.

Faith, Wealth & Sufficiency

SPEAKER_03 43:54

So with Morsa Homes, I'm super, you know, focused on trying to figure out how can I add value. How can I add value to every single person with what I got? My talents.

SPEAKER_01 44:04

That's that's good, man. And it seems like you have a good heart to do what you got to do and do what you're doing. And that cool part about doing like internally a loan mod, right? Someone's behind two, three payments, push it to the back of the loan and and just keep it pushing. Yeah, it's it's really cool to see someone do that. And it's tough, right? And for those who are are watching, and we talk about owner financing, there are a lot of people who comment on why someone would buy owner financing. What is the typical ideal client you're looking for when you're saying second chance opportunity when it comes to owner financing?

SPEAKER_03 44:34

Man, I've been surprised. Believe it or not, I get some people with 700 core uh credit, but they they just don't want to deal with banks. You know, it's so complicated to be able to deal with banks. I I have a I have good credit. And I was trying to get a loan with a bank and they, you know, they gave me like a year thing to be able to come up with all the paperwork. So there's a lot of people that they just don't want to deal with banks. You know, whether if they, you know, they receive they get paid cash, they don't have a W-2, or uh they made mistakes in the past. Uh I had a lady who suffered domestic violence that she couldn't even rent a place. And she came to to one of the sales team ladies that I have, and and she said, Hey, you need to hear her story. And I met with a lady, the lady said, Yeah, I suffered domestic violence. Uh, I asked her if she has a police report. She showed me police report pictures and stuff like that. And I said, Well, I'm gonna give you a chance. You know, because you got an eviction, and because you got an eviction, no one can rent you a place. But I'm gonna give you an opportunity. Do you see yourself? Do you see yourself getting an opportunity? The lady said, Yes. Okay, now that I'm gonna you you see yourself getting an opportunity, I'm gonna help you. And we help her. Now the lady, I think she owes $10,000 in her mortgage because she's been making extra payments. She never called to complain. She's built she's been very grateful. So my ideal client is the one that has a vision to be able to say, I need an opportunity. And the houses that I sell, they're not perfect houses, but they can be a castle for many families in San Antonio. So providing that opportunity is like, man, I feel great.

SPEAKER_01 46:37

I feel great. Let me ask you something. You ever thought about investing in real estate but assumed they needed perfect credit, a huge savings account, or a bank willing to say yes? That's exactly why we're starting 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.

SPEAKER_00 47:45

I'm gonna ask you a theological question. Okay. Um I've grew up in the church, I've been around every kind of pastor you can imagine, behind the scenes in front of the pews, listen to every Dave Ramsey and everybody talk about money and and faith and religion, right? And so there's the passage that you mentioned about the talons, but then there's also another passage, a parable about a man who had a lot of money. Yes. And he encounters Jesus and he said, You know, I'll do anything for you, you know, I love you, all this stuff. And Jesus said, Well, give up everything and just follow me. And he said, But I can't, you know, I've got, you know, these big houses and all the other stuff, whatever the stuff is. And so obviously he turned them away and told him he would be be cursed, right? And so there's a wide range from all kinds of different pastors. You've got the the guys that are the prosperity gospel that all you gotta do is donate ten dollars today and you're gonna have you know everything that you need, and da-da-da-da. Or the thousand that give a thousand dollar seed today, you know, and I've I've been to I was in a church

Wholesale Deal Criteria

SPEAKER_00 48:42

like that for many, many years. I didn't even realize it was wrong theology, right? Right. Sow your seed this week, and then next week it's sow your seed this week, and then a month now it's sow your seed for this one. And so there's very different, you know, thinkings behind that. But my question is, where's the actual line, right? Because I've struggled this with this personally in my life, I've seen other people struggle with it, where it is, you know, yes, you've been given the talents, and yes, you can double them, triple them, quadruple them, whatever it is. But from a personal standpoint, how does one, an individual, not necessarily you, but how should an individual judge on how much is enough to have? You know, Dave Ramsey says obviously, you know, his business is worth a billion dollars. If he goes and buys a hundred thousand dollar car, it's not the biggest deal, but does it need it? And so there's different people who give different analogies. What's your take on when enough is enough?

SPEAKER_03 49:26

When enough is enough? Um man, um, I have a lot of dreams. I have a lot of goals. Uh, you know, I want to be able to help a thousand families. Uh and something that I see, Skylar, is the more you get, the more blessings you can give. So if I'm able to do this amount with what I have right now, and I can be generous, I can help my church, I can help uh different groups, uh multiple groups, you know, I don't think that's gonna be there's not gonna be no there's no way you're gonna be able to win God in the sense of the more generous you are, and that's why I go back to I'm not chasing money, yeah, I'm trying to attract money because I'm gonna use money as a tool that I can bless others. So if a thousand families I'm gonna be able to help, you know, let you know, let's make it happen. There's no gonna be a point that I'm not gonna be able to think about, you know, trying to uh you

Goal: 1,000 Notes by 2036

SPEAKER_03 50:33

know getting more more money is bad. Yeah. The way I see it is this it's you know, if with $150, let's say $100, with $100, you can give $10. Now money says, okay, with $100, he can give $10. Let's see what he can do with $150. Now you get to $150, and you said, well, with $150, now I can do $20. You keep $130, but your capacity to retain, it's bigger. Now you get to $200, the $200 becomes I can give $30. $250, now I can give $40. 300, I can give $50, and it becomes it becomes a no limit. So for me, the what I take about money is how can I use more money to be able to be a blessing? Is there a limit? I don't want to, I don't want to get into a limit. I like a good lifestyle. I like one of the things that I like is I like to travel. Yeah. So that's my thing. I travel a lot. Uh, but I don't see it as an expense. I see it as an investment that I do with my wife, with my kids. You know, nothing that I do with them is thinking

Prioritizing Family with Real Estate

SPEAKER_03 51:47

about because when I travel with them, I'm gonna invest the time and I'm gonna invest money as well. But as soon as I get back, man, I'm gonna do a lot of deals. Yeah. I'm gonna be able to be a blessing. I'm gonna be able to get more private money. I'm gonna be able to bless my team. So for me, those type of things are investment. So I don't see there is a limit. The the answer that I can give you based on your question is I don't see a limit. You know, I'm trying to get, I'm I'm gonna go all in. I'm gonna give the best. At the end of my life, I'm gonna say, hey, I give everything that you, you know, that you put. If you see me capable to man, I I didn't have anything. I started with one. And now see the janitor.

SPEAKER_01 52:33

Yeah. Start as the janitor. I was the janitor got that first house with Sam, and then now I have a CEO of Morrisub doing a lot. You buy a lot from wholesalers in San Antonio, right? And you talk to a lot of wholesalers, uh, San Antonio, the especially the older ones, the the more dominant ones that's been around for a while. Your name is typically beyond their buyers list. What is the deals that you look for when it comes to wholesalers?

SPEAKER_03 52:52

Man, I'm looking for three bedrooms, one bath, three bedrooms, two bath, west side, south side, east side of San Antonio. That's my area. Why those sites? Are you looking at the taxes or what? I'm looking for taxes. I'm looking for something that I can sell, you know, that I can sell something that it's affordable as well. Because of the interest rate that I charge. You know, I don't want to sell something at, you know, super high on price, and the payment is not going to be affordable. So I'm always trying to figure out how I can buy on those areas, uh, and then I can sell, you know, houses that are affordable. There's some houses that even in Bear County probably are higher for what I'm selling it for. And people ask me, hey man, you're losing money and you know, you're losing some money. I said it's not about being greedy. I've done this for a while and I know, you know, that I'm still gonna make profit. I'm trying to, I'm trying to stay disciplined with the profit that I'm trying to make, increasing it. I'm always increasing 5%. But that means I'm gonna have to buy discount houses as well.

SPEAKER_01 53:54

Buying discount of houses and when it comes to wholesalers, it's pretty simple, right? Once you say yes, I think you close like in 48 hours or something. Yeah, as long as that we have the clean title and everything. And we get closed. We've done a lot of wholesale deals and transactions, and I've seen some of the houses that you have uh with your team selling them online or however they're selling them. Yeah. Uh where you buy them, you cosmetic, rehab them, push them out of financing, and you're at 300 plus, man. So it's quote to see your journey from or hear your journey from start of uh Salvador uh Salvador coming here at the age 17, all the way to 300 plus, then it goes a thousand, right? Um they go always a thousand.

SPEAKER_03 54:26

That's that's the next one. Let's see what happened after that. Hey, I'm I'm trying to.

SPEAKER_01 54:34

Strategically, yeah. Yeah. 2036. Okay. Yeah. Definitely a lot, man, that comes through, and I'm sure you have a whole system in place when it comes to note servicing, when it comes to people who are behind on rentals, because I know you have rentals as well. Yeah. People behind on, I don't know if you have your own property management company or how do you think that's a good thing? I do.

SPEAKER_03 54:50

I do have, you know, I do have a lady in my office, very smart. Yeah, she does all the rentals. We have a note servicing company that it's owned by my brother, Carlos. Uh, but it's a note servicing company. So I don't have to go that far. Just go next door and say, hey, what's going on with the notes? But it's it's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 55:09

It's a lot, it's a lot of systems plays as easy as it sounds, is just buy an ugly house, make it look pretty, sell owner financing, collect that interest rate. But that's a lot of the back ends, right? And yeah. Insurance, insurance, sell the team to sell the houses. It's a lot of process. And the cool thing is, I like what you keep saying, it's a win-win. You do this to one, of course, win, right? You get the capital you're coming in, and you're using that same funds over and over to scale, but at the same time, it's really cool to hand the keys over to a family who couldn't qualify traditionally for whatever reason. I feel satisfied with that. Yeah, that's a really cool feeling, man. And I've been in that position many times. And just like you, some of these people have good credit scores. I mean, I've sold houses owner financing to doctors and lawyers, and really they just don't want to deal with the banks. Yeah. Um, they write off a lot of taxes, right? People write off a lot of taxes, especially if you're self-employed. Uh, a lot of individuals who own businesses, they write off all the taxes. So when it's time to buy a house, my house is a little different because it's the the sub twos, right? So I look more on the higher end, because what's your average median sales price? Uh 150. 150. Yeah. So on our end, the sub two side, probably about 300. Okay. 325. So it's it's cool. Same process, right? Looking for that family, can't go on the interest rate, can't go as high as as you would probably in the houses that you're doing, right? Because it fits that motto. Yes. And so it's really cool to see your journey from 10 years ago since we met. Wow. Can you imagine? 10 years. Yeah. It's really cool, man. And very good now, brother.

SPEAKER_03 56:29

Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_01 56:30

40? 40? 40, yeah. Wow, you just turned 40. Two days ago, man. And uh, cool thing is, man, you're my neighbor, right? Yes. You drove on my house and I always see it, man.

SPEAKER_03 56:39

Yeah, it's really cool. And my kids they love your vehicles. So it's like, oh man. Yeah. Daddy, when are you gonna get yours? Soon.

SPEAKER_01 56:50

I think you were driving by, you kind of pulled into the driveway. It's really cool, man. And I'm glad to see you flourish in that time frame. Not only are you doing what you're doing for the families, but you also create opportunities for people like us. When I say us, I'm talking about the wholesale operation. There's a lot of wholesalers that do what they do and have a reliable individual like yourself. And just real estate in San Antonio, it's a really cool, big ecosystem, right? Yeah. From someone who starts at the wholesaling operation, spend money on marketing

Working ON vs. IN the Business

SPEAKER_01 57:16

to find those families who need to sell quick, fast, and in a hurry, and then take that property, then sell it to you. And then you're doing what you're doing. We're using title companies, and you're using contractors, and then you're selling it, and your sales agent gets a team, and on and on and on. It's just a big ecosystem, and it's really cool to see the environment and it's a win-win all around.

SPEAKER_03 57:33

It's amazing. I I feel I feel blessed. I feel like this is an amazing opportunity that I have. And uh I I wanna I wanna be all in. You know, I want to be all in. I'm super, I'm super married. I love my wife, my kids. That's my thing. Uh, you know, for me, that's the most important thing. Of course, God, but my wife, that's my hey, as soon as I finish work, hey, let's go, let's go home, let's have dinner together. That's something that I'm not gonna miss it. You know, I'm gonna have dinner with my family, I'm gonna have breakfast with them, uh I'm gonna try to be present with my kids. That's for me, it's number one. You know, and and that's I and I and I believe that real estate's been able to give me this opportunity you know to be able to spend this time and invest with my wife, invest with my kids, but it's in the community.

SPEAKER_00 58:26

That's awesome. And like you were saying, all this ecosystem, and most people don't even know that this goes on. Most people, when they think of real estate, all they think of is traditional sales, traditional new builds. They don't really understand what's going on behind the scenes, but there's so many people, you know, there's tons of wholesalers, tons of guys that do owner finance, tons of guys that do fix and flip, and it's like a whole under the uh what do you call it, like an underworld that people that we're doing, and people just don't even think about it, right? I talk to my dad about this all the time. He's been in construction and he's like, I just don't know how y'all make money. It's such a bad market right now. There's tons of ways to make money. Hey, there's a limited way to make money.

SPEAKER_03 58:58

Hey, and I'm telling you, that thing about attracting money is crucial. You know, I'm always trying to figure out, and I see, you know, hanging with the right people, yeah, you're gonna be able to see, you know, their lifestyle. Hey, how can they attract? How can they be attracting money the right way, you know, and you get together, you you know, you're gonna if there's two people that are wise, you're gonna be the third one. Yeah, you're gonna be with two people that are millionaires, you're gonna be the third one. You know, and the opposite side too. Uh, but I'm always trying to figure out how can I hang with the right people? How can I hang with the people that are faithful to their wives? Hey, you know, I don't want to hang with people that are not, you know, faithful

Team Building & Delegation

SPEAKER_03 59:43

to their wives. You know, because if not, one, they're gonna think that I'm the same, or two, you know, I'm gonna get some of their things, you know, and I don't want to do that. I want to stay faithful, I want to be committed, I wanna, I don't wanna overpromise things. I want to be the the best man possible that I can within the capacities that I get. And that includes, you know, money as a tool.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:06

Yeah. The Bible says we're to be equally yoked. We either want to be equally yoked or we want to yoke. We don't want to be the we don't want to be going down, we want to yoke up.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:12

Yeah, no, I that that's you know, that's my that's the way I I try to live. As I said, Michael and Skylar, I'm not perfect. I make a lot of mistakes. But the beautiful thing is that I'm trying to be intentional. I realize faster when I'm going the wrong way, when I'm doing something, because it's been encrypted. I said, hey, I'm going the wrong way. I need to get right, you know, I need to get on my knees, I need to be praying, I need to read more, I need to figure out how I can get on the right path. That's the most important thing, man. And as men, you know, you guys, you know, and myself, we have an important task. We have to make a difference. You know, we have a big responsibility uh as men, you know, is not just to leave and be the macho and be all that.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:59

You know, we can be good business owners, we can be good entrepreneurs, you know, we can give the best to the best.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:07

One thing I've noticed too, just in this conversation, because we've known each other, but we don't really, I mean, we haven't hung out a ton. We don't, you know, I haven't gone to your office. You I don't think you've seen our operations here in a while. Um, but just from talking to you today and a few times we've talked over the phone, one thing, because I've worked with a lot of different, I've been in different industries, I've worked with tons of different people in different industries. I've actually uh mentored other business guys on how to grow their business. And one thing I can notice with you is you're very good at delegating. Um, just from the little bit of conversation we had, you know, you're not trying to do everything yourself. Quite the opposite. You're trying to find out who the best guys are in lending, who the best guys are in no servicing, who the best guys are in insurance, rental management. Whereas a lot of people who they want to grow a really big business, but they never, not that they necessarily want to do everything, but they never figure out how to stop doing everything, right? And so I think that's been a really big key in your business because a lot of people are working every day in the business as an employee of the business rather than working on the business. So you being able to go out and travel, you being able to go out to clear your mind, rethink, uh, become that's when the creative thoughts are. You know, when you're working day-to-day on the in the weeds of the stuff, it's really hard to be creative and have that creativity and think of the future planning, how I'm gonna get to a thousand notes in 2036. You're not even thinking about 2036, you're thinking about how do I get through today. And so that's one thing I can I can already tell just in your business. You've been able to do a really good job of pulling yourself out of the business, and that's really where growth comes. You know, I speak about my dad and his business. He was in the same industry for uh almost 50 years, about 43 years, and his business was stagnant all the way up until about he turned 50. He started at 15 and until about he turned 50. So I mean, a majority of his career it was stagnant. Yeah. But the reason was because he was in the one doing the business every day. He was the wallpaper hanger, he was the painter, he was the one doing estimates every morning, he was the one doing everything, and then you know, he had a big change in his life at the age of 50, and he actually figured out how to revamp that. And now at the end of his career, from 50 to about 63, he was just the guy managing the he hired a business coach and did the whole thing and pulled himself out of the business, and it's just it was amazing to see what he was doing. He was doing about 200,000 a year in sales from 15 to 50, and then from 50 to 63 grew it to almost a $10 million business. And it's crazy just because you know it's the same business. They hung wallpaper and they painted houses and painted cabinets and did the things that they do. But whenever you can finally figure out a way, and it's hard, it's a really, really tough transition. It's probably the hardest transition any entrepreneur can make is figure out how to get out of the business and work on it. And uh, but once you do that, it's crazy because you can scale and you can really do things, you know, you can multiply what you're doing.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:33

And I can tell you for sure, that's exactly what happened. You know, I was trying to figure out, I was trying to do everything on my own. But then uh I read a book with Sam, The Richest Man That Ever Live by King Solomon. In one of the chapters, it says, if you want to get far faster and in a wise

Rapid Fire: Favorite Superhero

SPEAKER_03 1:03:52

way, you have to partner with the right people. You need to find the right people that can work with you. And keep in mind, I'm always trying to figure out how I can hang with the right people. So uh I was looking for people that I can trust, but at the same time, I was looking for people that are capable, capable to understand, you know, my heart. What is the heart that I have when I'm hiring someone, making sure I'm not doing the main interview, I do the last one, which is that I'm presenting the core values that we have. Bless. Bless because we use our God-given talents to help others. Two, which is opportunity. Hey, we give an opportunity to families who need a second chance. And then uh you get team uh team player. We're looking for people that are willing to give the extra mile when they're working. And uh making sure they understand this. If they understand this, I can see that I can start preparing that person to become a leader in in my team. So my job right now is just to raise

Edwin’s Kryptonite

SPEAKER_03 1:04:57

new leaders. You know, I have someone who become a business owner and in notes. Now he's servicing 300 notes. Then I have someone uh in the construction. Now, you know, I don't have to go see every single rehab. You know, I'm not involved in many of the things because he's very well trained to know what I want. When I'm in a meeting, they see me and they know what I'm trying to say. They understand what I'm trying to say. There's another book that it's called Smell Like a Sheep. It's basically your sheep start smelling as the pastor or as the shepherd, and you get to know them very well, and you treat people well, you treat others the way you want to be treated. Now, you know, they're gonna see as hey, it's a win win situation where I want to be around, and then I'm gonna try to figure out how I can be make this person a leader, and then I'm gonna have someone in insurance, have someone working insurance full time for me right now. If something goes wrong, she's gonna call me. Let me know. Hey, there's a policy that it's about to cancel. I have a contractor, note servicing. I have a a property manager. I have my assistant, my personal assistant who's always knowing, you know, making payments to lenders. I have a bookkeeping company. There are three guys. And I have a CPA company. I have multiple people working with me. I wouldn't be able to do what I've done right now without the help of others. So delegating is crucial for any entrepreneur or businessman who wants to grow, and they have to work on the business, not in the business. I'm part of Rise Up Kings. It's a group of Christian business owners. And then I was able to learn a lot from them. I have a business coach, Michael Farlow, that I've been with him for seven, eight years. That

Connect with Edwin Morsa

SPEAKER_03 1:06:55

you know, we've been working together, moving me from asking all the time, what are you doing? What are you doing? You know, asking my employees, you know, or or the people who work with me, what are they doing? And they just feel that confidence that I can trust in them. And the most beautiful thing is real estate, it's very forgiving. If you make a mistake, you know, there's you know, there's a way you can fix it.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:17

Unless you're in a downturn, then it's not in a downturn. You definitely got a lot of movie pieces, man, and it's cool to hear your journey from start to day one to where you're at today. And it's a lot of businesses. I learned a lot about you, man, that I didn't know about, man. And you have a certain way of looking at life, and you're reading books and you're part of that program, and the way you look at life is different for most people, and like what Skylar said, it's a lot of it's hard for that entrepreneur to go from in the business to on the business. But the way with your point of view, I gotta ask this question, man, because knowing who you are, reading books. I need to know, man, what's your favorite movie? My favorite movie, man, Superman. Superman. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:53

The last one.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:54

Um Henry? Or are you talking about the

What Hustle Means to Edwin

SPEAKER_01 1:07:56

old one with the no, the old one.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:57

What's the name? Uh where you you get all the DC movie characters. I forgot what it was. It's it was before this one.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:06

Yeah, the original Superman. Uh-huh. The 80s or 90s. Yes. That one? Yeah, yeah. One with the horse, right? The one with the horse actually.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:12

Number four. Number four. Yeah. Why Superman? Uh, you know, it's something that I it's I'm always attracted to to that character. Even in my house, you know, my kids, they know, oh, Papa's getting in the sun right now. It's it's doing his Superman thing, he's getting strength from, you know, as you Superman used to go to the sun. Yeah. I I you know. I love the idea that you have superpowers to help others. That's that's always what I'm thinking. How can I help others? How can I be a blessing? How can I do something uh extra? But Superman for me is my main character. I always see. Food. But I'm telling you, I love to eat. If I'm not careful, hey, if I'm not careful, all these things that I can do, you know, I'm telling you, man, even if I'm gonna make a big decision, I I was able to discover that if I'm gonna have lunch and I'm gonna eat a lot of carbs, it's gonna get my emotions super low. So I'm trying to, if I make I'm gonna make an important decision, I'm probably gonna be fasting. Uh so my and not just spiritually thing, it's just my I'm more bright, I'm more I have more clarity. But food for me, I love to eat. That's that's my thing. I need to be careful. And uh steaks, I I I believe it's good. But uh carbs, you know, pizza. I love pizza. I probably could eat two pizzas. Favorite pizza here in town, local? Uh probably Pizza Hut. I don't know. I'm not I'm not pizza. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:55

I don't know, you know, restaurant in here, but you just want pizza.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:57

I'm trying to you know what I'm trying to stay away. I was in Costa Rica uh and I was for a I was in a I was for a month, and there is a place in Costa Rica that I ate probably almost every week there, and it was very good. And it was yeah, it's uh uh Biwab pizza. Have you had South Flow from H E B right there on No No, I try to stay away from pizza, but I'm telling you, man, uh I can't I I love pizza. I tried to stay away from pizza.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:25

Next time you do afford yourself a pizza, go to the Southflow. I think it's the best in San Antonio. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:30

It's food for me is my my kryptonite. My kryptonite. Man, I'm telling you, food is my kryptonite.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:37

And um if somebody wants to work with you going forward, wants to buy a house from you, what's the best way for them to get in touch with you? How do they look up one of your homes for sale? What's the best way to get in touch with it?

SPEAKER_03 1:10:48

Uh social media. You know, I have a sales team. We have uh four or five people in the sales team. I'm usually before uh three, four years ago, I used to get in in the middle in between, but uh now I let them handle it. It's uh Valeria, she's one of our uh maybe has a listener. We have a Facebook page, we're always posting on Facebook. We found out that that's the best way for us to sell. You know, Facebook, we're selling six, seven houses without saying six, seven. Without saying six, seven. Uh my kids are gonna kill me for that. But uh, we're selling about six, seven houses a month. So that we have a very productive team. I'm always trying. My thing is trying to put in their minds, hey, let's make it happen. How can we be productive? How can we I don't want people to be busy. Let's make it happen where we can do it and become productive.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:47

Or Morsa, this is the uh the turn up the hustle podcast, man. And the turn up the hustle to me is not a motto, it's not a slogan, it truly is a way of life. And you know me for 10 years, man, and I've been saying that since day one. What does turn up the hustle mean to Morsa?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:01

Uh for me is just being able to help as many families as I can. That's man, I need to add. I I'm waking up in the morning, man. How can I help as many families as I can or individuals, my kids? You know, how can I do it and how can I help more families? That's what I for me, that's what he means. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:27

Well, I really want to appreciate I really appreciate you taking the time to be here, and I want to commend you on all that you do. Um, just as a human being, as a man, uh, you know, you are a man of integrity, a man of honor, dignity, um, doing things the right way. I can, you know, I can I know your heart, I know who you are, and really, really want to commend you. I'm super proud of everything you've done. I'm I'm super happy for everything that you've accomplished and all that you have with your family. Have a beautiful family and beautiful relationship with your kids and your wife and with you know your your church family. And so really want to commend you on everything that you've done and give you all the flowers and kudos that you deserve. Thank you, brother. Done an incredible job coming from you know an actual third world country, um, not knowing the language and building what you have today. It's a really beautiful thing to see, and uh it's an inspiration to us and then hopefully to everybody else who's watching this episode. So thank you. Appreciate you coming on and taking the time out of here. And for those of you guys watching, again, we appreciate you tuning in each and every week to the Turn Up the Hustle podcast. As always, we try to provide value like this guy. Our goal is to provide value to you. And hopefully, you got a lot of value out of this episode this week. If you did, make sure to like, subscribe, comment, share with somebody, do all the things. And as always, is always remember to turn up the hustle. And we will see you guys on the next one. Please make it happen. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:37

Thank you.