THE TRUTH ABOUT BUYING A HOME: IS THE AMERICAN DREAM DEAD?

Is homeownership still part of the American Dream—or has it become harder than ever for the average person to achieve? LaRese Purnell and Colin Allen join EYL to break down the realities of buying a home, building wealth and why strong relationships can be more valuable than information. They explain how to become attractive to banks, qualify for a mortgage without traditional W-2 income and avoid the mistake of confusing loan approval with true affordability. We also discuss the five people everyone needs on their financial team, why the right attorney can make or break a deal and how poor negotiation can cost you thousands every year. The conversation also explores Gen Z’s financial future, homeownership as a modern civil rights issue, Cleveland’s $15 billion development boom, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act and how the next Federal Reserve chair could impact housing affordability across America. #EarnYourLeisure #EYL #Homeownership #RealEstate #WealthBuilding #FinancialLiteracy #GenZ #AmericanDream #PersonalFinance CHAPTERS: 00:00 Banks Aren’t Your Friend 00:21 Down Payment Myths 00:34 Renting vs Owning 00:52 Cash Income and Taxes 01:22 Meet APOA 02:32 How the Tour Started 04:11 Trust Over Information 05:26 Is the Dream Alive 07:18 Silver Rights and Ownership 08:31 Mindset for Tomorrow 11:42 Gen Z Needs Proof 13:10 Action Steps to Buy 15:32 Build Your Homebuying Team 17:51 Referrals and Due Diligence 22:39 Cleveland Real Estate Wave 27:12 Tax Breaks of Homeownership 28:43 SALT and Home Office Deductions 31:04 Retirement Reality Check 32:13 Renting Versus Owning 32:47 Know Your Audience 34:23 Buying Within Budget 35:30 Banks And Buyer Education 39:30 Debt And Student Loans 43:07 Forced Savings And Negotiation 45:24 Cash Income And Mortgages 47:27 Tax Strategy For Gig Workers 53:31 Policy Changes And Housing Supply 01:00:16 Using Equity To Build Wealth 01:01:47 Tour Dates And How To Join 01:03:55 Rates Fed And Final Wrap Subscribe and watch more videos here: https://www.youtube.com/@EarnYourLeisure Join the EYL community for deeper training and a more detailed approach: https://www.eyluniversity.com Join the number one stock club in the world: https://www.ianinvest.com See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:34Speaker 03

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• 1:47Speaker 04

  Stop getting excited every time the bank says yes. Bank is in business to do business and to make money. The bank is gonna give you $500,000, but the name of the game is not owning. It's about making sure we get it and we keep it.

• 1:58Speaker 05

  I don't have $45,000 for a down payment. Or I can't get the loan that I need to get. What's some actionable steps that the average person can take to move towards being an owner?

• 2:08Speaker 06

  I may not have to get that $45,000 to put down on a home. Maybe it's only 3%.

• 2:13Speaker 04

  No, you don't need $45,000. Do you even understand the programs that the city you live in offering you? Do you understand what a community development corporation is?

• 2:22Speaker 03

  What do you say to that faction of the audience that says, well, renting gives me freedom, right? I don't have to be tied down to a 15-year or 30-year mortgage.

• 2:30Speaker 06

  Why are you paying everything out to your landlord rather than getting a piece of that back?

• 2:33Speaker 04

  You're just buying somebody else's home when you're renting. I just need you to buy your own. And then if you don't invest nothing, at least you have that.

• 2:39Speaker 05

  For people that they get paid in cash and they don't report enough money. And then on their tax return, it's like they made $5,000. But it's like, if you try to buy a home, it's not helpful to you.

• 2:49Speaker 04

  You have all kind of other tax shelters that you can put in place that have long-term effects that you can put. Now that bottom line shows a net zero, but then assets are on the balance sheet. So when the bank looks at it, they're like, oh, no, it's not there, but it's here. If you die today, would you leave confusion or clarity?

• 3:10Speaker 03

  All right, guys. Welcome back. EYL, we have two special guests. We have LaRese Purnell and Colin Allen from American Property Owners Alliance, better known as APOA. Thank you, guys, for joining us.

• 3:25Speaker 04

  Thanks for having us.

• 3:25Speaker 06

  Yeah, good to be here.

• 3:26Speaker 04

  Glad to be in the city with you, man.

• 3:28Speaker 03

  For sure, for sure. Welcome, welcome. We have a lot to talk about. But first, for people that may not be familiar with American Property Owners Alliance, can you, can you break down what that actually is?

• 3:41Speaker 06

  Sure. Yeah, so we're a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. We were founded in 2020, kind of the height of the pandemic, right? Really to, to protect and promote the ideals of property ownership and to kind of help people who are still looking to realize that American dream of owning their own home, achieve those goals. So we do that kind of through grassroots and grass tops activation, you know, on the legislative side, but also through education in the community and getting out and trying to make sure that we can make connections and convene people and bring everybody together and have these important conversations of, of how to get folks into that or onto that ladder of, of property ownership.

• 4:19Speaker 03

  So how did you two kind of meet to, to become partners in, on this mission together?

• 4:27Speaker 04

  So we had a mutual friend, Jaron Smith out of DC. So I'm an accountant, I'm a tax accountant by day. And I own an accounting firm right in downtown Cleveland. We're one of the largest, you know, black-owned accounting firms in the state of Ohio. And I travel the country because of that business, really trying to educate our community around just ownership and building assets and utilizing tax strategies in order to do that work. So as I've been doing this work, it just kind of intersected. Jaron knew I was out on the road doing some things. I did a tour throughout about 12 HBCUs. And he said, well, I got a guy. He, he has to meet you. I want you to come to one of our tour dates. And I came as a speaker.

• 5:11Speaker 06

  Right, yes.

• 5:12Speaker 04

  And the rest is history from there. And 14 cities later, thousands of people and families have been, you know, educated and impacted. And I think it's been a great relationship. I don't know, you know, maybe I just think I, we gotta see.

• 5:26Speaker 06

  No, it's kind of crazy, right? We were just out here before we got here talking about like, it's been almost three years that we've been doing this. And I don't think either of us thought we would get here. It seems like a while, but I don't think either one of us thought we would be making the steps that we are and talking about expanding the tour and being able to reach as many people on the homeownership side. Talking about, you know, how that homeownership fits into having a financial plan, creating generational wealth for your family. I don't think we thought we'd be here. I certainly didn't think we'd be here, you know, when we started this thing three years ago.

• 5:58Speaker 04

  Absolutely.

• 5:58Speaker 03

  So as far as the, the conversations, what information do you think that people have that, that, that they do not have that you guys are actually giving them as far as the home buying process and the value of real estate?

• 6:14Speaker 04

  It's not about the information. One thing is you two are, you know, powerful in providing, you know, access to information on so many platforms across our country. And kudos to both of you. So we know it's not an information issue. It's not an access issue because of individuals like yourself. It's about how we deliver it, how we build trust. And I think that that's what we've been able to employ. Because one thing about our community that doesn't change by the zip code, it really is people are looking for hope. They're looking for change. They're looking for information that they believe that can make an impact in their lives. And, and I think that's what we bring. Because again, the IRC code that I give in Montana is gonna hit the same way it's gonna hit in Ohio, that it's gonna hit in DC.

• 6:58Speaker 04

  So it's not about the information. I think, again, it's about how we build those relationships. We bring trusted partners from those communities in. And we're able to get them, you know, where they see that, hey, this can happen. This is a reality. And I think that's what really makes us different.

• 7:14Speaker 03

  As you guys travel, I'm interested, because I mean, obviously, we go around and speak as well. From your perspective, do you think that people still see, especially this, this new population or generation, do you think that they see homeownership as part of their American dream? Obviously with the cost of living, the cost of home prices appreciating over time, interest rates being high. Do you, do you feel that people think, hey, that's still part of the American dream? Let's go chase that?

• 7:41Speaker 06

  I really do. I mean, I think it's borne out in, in a lot of the, the conversations that we have on the ground. We're out in the field doing public opinion polling fairly regularly, doing focus groups and, and kind of doing outreach generally. And we still see, you know, two-thirds, three-quarters of, of the American people view that homeownership as part of that American dream. But we're definitely looking at headwinds, right? And, and, and I think there's a, you, you see the things on the economic side, right? We've got challenges with interest rates, you know, and, and inflation and, and things like that crowding out. But really, you know, I think some of the things that we see, what, what we are trying to do is make it less intimidating, right? Like, I think a lot of people just don't know where to start. And, and, and I think a lot of what we do in, in these events, right, is, is kind of breaking it down

• 8:25Speaker 06

  from a friendly face and somebody who can make it really, really digestible and easy to understand, right? And to say things like, you know, no, you don't have to have 20% to, you know, down to buy a house, right? You know, if you're, if you're looking at, you know, kind of the, the, the average value of a home right now being, you know, $450,000, if you think you gotta walk in the door with $90,000 just to, just to start that journey, a lot of people don't start, right? So I think, again, kind of like LaRese mentioned here, just kind of getting that, starting that dialogue and making it a little bit less imposing, I think really, really, you know, kind of helps people get there.

• 9:05Speaker 03

  Why is wealth building America's new civil rights conversation?

• 9:09Speaker 04

  It is Dr. Jamal Bryant, who's been a big advocate of mine, you know, for, you know, a couple of decades now, you know, he says it and he just, you know, did a video for me where he talked about, you know, it's not about civil rights, but it's about silver rights. And I know you probably have heard him mention that on many occasions. But again, when I think about civil rights, that it was giving us, getting us access to when we talk about having access to schools, neighborhoods, to jobs. I think silver rights, or as we talk about the new transition to that, now it's about ownership. That's the new conversation

• 9:49Speaker 04

  about what are we gonna own? Again, we have access now, but are we now gonna create our own table? We had, we were trying to gain access to the table. Now it's about owning that going forward. So, so again, that's how I look at that. And that's what we're teaching as a part of this tour, is making sure we transition the mindset of getting access to making sure that-

• 10:10Speaker 05

  So what's the biggest mindset shift that people have to wrap their heads around and fully understand to achieve that level?

• 10:19Speaker 04

  Well, the biggest thing I truly believe as we've been doing this work, you know, for some time now, is we have to shift our mindsets from today to tomorrow. Because tomorrow is going to happen. And the reality is, you know, I think about how I grew up, you know, I grew up where we were just trying to survive. Like today, we didn't have access at times to a key to our own home. We were living in homeless shelters. We didn't have meal. We went, you know, to sleep sometime to get rid of our hunger. So the reality is, my mom was just trying to survive that day. And a lot of communities that we deal with are doing the same thing. But we have to start to train our people and give them the access to information that makes them think about tomorrow as well. And one of the key questions

• 11:03Speaker 04

  that we ask when we do this tour is, as we're talking to individuals, are two things is, if you die today, would your family, would you leave confusion or clarity? Which one would you leave? And so what we have to do is get the people that we're teaching mad. The only time you change something in life, when, is when you get mad, right?

• 11:26Speaker 06

  Angry, right.

• 11:27Speaker 04

  And y'all might think, well, okay, now you're kind of talking at them, you're getting frustrated with them, they're getting beat up in every day in life. But the reality is sometime, that's the only time we change stuff. It's like when we, when we had that coat that we loved, that we used to fit two years ago, that we can't fit today because we gained weight, we get mad and that's what takes us back to the gym, right? When our account is overdrawn, because we spent too much money on all wants, and now we can't pay the bills, guess what? We get mad and we make change. So again, that's kind of how we go at it.

• 11:57Speaker 05

  So I'm an 80s baby, Shai's an 80s baby, grew up in the early 90s. I feel like, I guess that's millennials, that would be us.

• 12:06Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 12:07Speaker 05

  I feel like, you know, our parents worked hard. They didn't make as much money as us, even when we would, you know, in our respective careers. We were doing more with less, right? Today's day and age, it feels like they're making more and doing less. Obviously, inflation plays into, you know, part of that story as well. But some of it is mindset. So I wonder how you guys are approaching the outlook of teaching this next Gen Z, Gen Y, I'm not even sure what it is, how they can build wealth, right? Do more with more.

• 12:45Speaker 06

  That's right. And really, again, I think it's like kind of leveraging what you've got, right? And changing that mindset. I think, you know, we're here, we do what we want to do, or we do what we do, because we're kind of thinking forward, looking for our families, like, what am I gonna do, right? Am I getting in that mindset of like, leaving a legacy and making sure, you know, that my kids are, you know, like your parents did, right? Like that my kids do better than I did, at the end of the day. And I think, you know, really kind of getting there and helping get into that mindset. But, you know, as we're looking to kind of expand what we're doing, you know, maybe LaRese, you know, we're looking to start reaching more directly, I think, to a lot of the younger generation.

• 13:29Speaker 04

  And, and if we want to be honest, that generation, your generation, no disrespect, is, I need to see it. Like, I need to see it. Our parents didn't have access to one of the most powerful things that we carry every day, that people look at over 300 times per day on average, is that phone. So you didn't get to see what your cousin in Atlanta was driving. You didn't get to see what your auntie was living in in LA at the same time. So again, there was no comparison. There was no, I'm getting frustrated because I don't have a big enough house like the rest of my family. But today, when you get to look at, you know, who's looking to fly us, like, I just bought this new purse, but this girl bought a bigger bag than me, so I need a bigger bag. So again, it's that.

• 14:14Speaker 04

  So you have to, and what we're shifting to, and I'm really excited, you know, to mention it here today, is that it's no more about talking about it. Next year, our tour is going to be called the Activation Tour. You have to show people the steps. You have to simplify it for them and bring it to their table and show them how we get you there. It's no more, you should own a house. That's cliche. That's the American dream. How do I get there, LaRese? How do I look at it? And how does it impact my taxes? How does it impact my savings? How do I gain equity? How do I leverage that equity? So again, we're gonna activate and make sure that we help people to get there, so that they can see, if I get it, my cousin can get it, my auntie can get it, my sister can get it. So that's where we're going with it.

• 14:57Speaker 05

  Can you give us a sneak preview of that? Because that was gonna be my next question as far as people that say, okay, I understand that you should buy a home. I understand it's better to own a home than to rent. I got all that. But I don't have $45,000 for a down payment, right? Or I can't get the loan that I need to get. Like, what is, what are some actionable steps that the average person can take to move towards being an owner?

• 15:23Speaker 06

  Right. So I, you know, one of the things that we were kind of talking about there is, you know, we look at like, building that network. And one of the things that we do through, through the events that we're, we're hosting here, and part of that convening, is to bring together, you know, realtors, mortgage brokers, folks from the banks, financial planners, right? Like, what is it that I can do? And who are the team and kind of that, the power of that team, that gets me to the point where, you know, I may not have to get that $45,000 to put down on a home. Maybe it's only, you know, 3%. Or, you know, I'm a veteran. If I'm a veteran, you know, I can get in for no money down. But there are lots of, lots of programs across the country, both, both national and state and local, that a lot of people just aren't aware of, right? So it's being able to say,

• 16:07Speaker 06

  here's somebody who's either been in your situation, or is familiar with what's going on here on the ground, and they can guide you through that process and kind of start that, that discussion there with those folks.

• 16:18Speaker 04

  And we have to stop thinking that everybody has the answers. Just because we own a home, stop thinking your neighbor sitting next to you understands what owning a home even means. What does that mean? What is that inclusive of? You know, how does that impact my life? So what we do as a part of this tour is, we bring partners that simplify the method for them. And we stop making assumptions that everybody sitting there understands the impact and how that changes their life. So again, when we talk about down payment, no, you don't need $45,000. Do you even understand the programs that the city you live in offer to you? Do you understand what a community development corporation is? So we bring them to the table. So they tell you the neighborhoods that are having new

• 17:02Speaker 04

  developments that are taking place. If you become a homeowner now, what the impact will be of that in the next five years? Are you meeting with the city officials that talk about and generate opportunities for you to move to their city and give you grants to buy that first home? So again, we try to bring resources that change lives.

• 17:19Speaker 05

  So who's the people that somebody should talk to as far as, okay, you should talk to a mortgage broker, you should talk to some realtor, I would assume, you should talk to somebody that-

• 17:29Speaker 04

  An inspector.

• 17:30Speaker 05

  Can you give us some-

• 17:31Speaker 04

  Yeah. So we got something, I'm gonna give that, but then the team is, because Colin kind of touched on it, is five, I call something to call the Power Five. Now, if you're building any, if you're saying I'm building wealth in any way, these are the five people. And the key thing, let me say prefaces before I mention who they are, is they have to talk to each other as well. You can't have five powerful people and they're taking you down five different roads, because they're never gonna get you to the same end goal, and it may cost you money. So those five people are your accountant, shameless plug, because I am one, two, your attorney, your financial advisor, your insurance broker, and your banker.

• 18:12Speaker 05

  And a good attorney.

• 18:13Speaker 04

  A good attorney. Now, all five of them should be good.

• 18:15Speaker 05

  Well, because some attorneys might specialize in one area-

• 18:19Speaker 04

  Speak it.

• 18:20Speaker 05

  ... and specialize in another area. And I had a situation where I had a closing attorney, and I guess she's qualified to be a closing attorney, but I have a land issue. She didn't do enough due diligence to know that I had a land issue. But she probably wasn't used to doing land due diligence.

• 18:35Speaker 04

  That's right, that's right.

• 18:36Speaker 05

  So, long story short, I kind of, and looking back on it, I needed a specialized land attorney that actually knew specifics, as opposed to just, just the title attorney.

• 18:48Speaker 04

  So let me, let me say, so, so we, let's get into it. So from that perspective, that's why we call it the Connections. When we come, when we, we bring you access, it's not about you going out and creating your own table. But when you come to our events, we are actually creating a table for you. And we're putting all the partners that are gonna help you get to where you need to get. So to your point, you buying that land, right? You having the challenges with that land. Well, the city that you're in, do you think that's the first deal they did like yours?

• 19:18Speaker 05

  Uh.

• 19:21Speaker 04

  In most cases, you know, in most cases, it's probably not, right? So now, so yeah, I forgot how y'all operate. I forgot how y'all operate.

• 19:30Speaker 05

  Nah, but, but it's just, it's, it's a real, it's a real special, but you know, you're right. It's some similar, something similar.

• 19:37Speaker 04

  Something has happened. So what I tell people is you, the first, you are doing something. There's no ideal that's a new ideal in most cases. You just haven't met the person who's done it like you. So the reality, that city that you're dealing with, guess what? You ain't, that's not the first attorney they've worked with. That's not the first attorney that title company has worked with. Well, if you know you have that sort of deal, you want to ask those sort of questions. And they are a resource to you. Ask them, hey, I'm getting ready to buy this deal. Is there an attorney that you think I should work with? One, that helps make the deal easier, right? Because they've worked with them, they were, they know their work, that their work is proven. And it could save you some dollars because it's been done before you. So that would be the advice I would give to most people.

• 20:19Speaker 04

  And then any of those power of five, you should also get referrals. Who has done and operated at your level has worked with them and what's been the outcomes? Have they delivered results? Has it been impactful? So again, and now to the real estate side of it, you talked about the broker. You talked about your title rep. You talked about your, your inspector that should be there to help you. And those individuals, people get paid to solve problems.

• 20:47Speaker 05

  Right.

• 20:47Speaker 04

  Don't try to be an expert and AI ain't gonna help you buy no home.

• 20:51Speaker 05

  Inspector, that's big, inspector's big.

• 20:52Speaker 04

  Oh, for sure. Because before I buy that house, I want to make sure the foundation not getting sucked in.

• 20:57Speaker 05

  Right, all that, all those issues.

• 20:58Speaker 04

  All those. And for my investors out there listening, like, if you've never invested before, don't you buy a house? That's not been inspected. I don't care how much they tell you, when you flip this house, you gonna make 85,000 on it. So I'm gonna go ahead and do that and it's not been inspected.

• 21:13Speaker 05

  With your own inspector.

• 21:15Speaker 04

  Your own inspector, oh, keep speaking.

• 21:21Speaker 03

  Yeah, look. And if you, if it's really clean, you might want to get your own independent appraiser. We, we've had that work against us as well.

• 21:28Speaker 04

  That's right, that's right. But, but one thing, you, you also know with the appraisers now, the bank has so many regulations now.

• 21:35Speaker 03

  That they stop.

• 21:35Speaker 04

  That the expectations are there and they have a criteria that they follow. Because they're not in the business to do real estate either. So they don't want to get stuck with a property that they're gonna lose dollars on anyway. So again, understand the institutions you work with, but go to them and ask them who they use. Again, don't reinvent the wheel.

• 21:53Speaker 06

  And, and the process, right? Like, I think this is what we're trying to help folks with, right? The process doesn't run itself. Trying to give, give, give the, give that information, right? To allow you to be the quarterback of all of this, of this team, right? And know what questions to ask.

• 22:07Speaker 04

  That's good.

• 22:07Speaker 06

  And, and, and kind of how to continue the process moving along, right? Again, to your point, LaRese, right? Like, everybody needs to talk to each other, but there needs to be somebody coordinating what all is going on. And that's gonna be the, the, the person in the middle who, you know, hired these folks.

• 22:22Speaker 05

  You actually said something that was insightful that I'm just actually just registering is like, because people, if you're just buying a home, how do you know who's a lawyer? So it's like, go to the bank and ask for a referral. Or go to the town and ask for a referral.

• 22:36Speaker 04

  That's right.

• 22:37Speaker 05

  Because usually they're gonna give you the person that's probably done the most cases in that area.

• 22:42Speaker 04

  That's right.

• 22:42Speaker 05

  Which would probably somebody that would be qualified because, because even if you get a good lawyer, they might not be specialized in that area.

• 22:49Speaker 04

  In that area or in that city.

• 22:50Speaker 03

  Yeah, they don't know the town.

• 22:51Speaker 04

  In that city, or you hire an attorney that that city don't like. And they sued that city five times. And you just came off a lawsuit and think your deal going through? Good luck with that. And you don't realize like, why am I not closing? Um, so again, and I also, and again, shameless plug, you know, as an accountant, we don't take referral fees. We can't legally take referral fees for doing that business. So for, for us, that's why in most cases, we're the quarterback. And you should be meeting with your money team, that power of five, at least two times a year. Because if you're not, guess what? You're not creating tax shelters, you're not looking at credits or deductions that impact, you know, your life.

• 23:33Speaker 04

  You're not making sure that you're leveraging, because even when you're getting into contract with that attorney, you, well, what's that outcome? What's that gonna cost you to do that? Is that a business expense? Or are you taking out your personal account and don't realize it should have ran through the business? So even the expenses you're paying them, you know, let's make sure we're looking at the tax advantages on that as well. So those are the sort of things that we're talking about during this tour. And we're letting the people ask us questions, but we're also making sure, because we know what people just don't know day to day. Because we've been doing this long enough now, that we try to bring those resources. And you'll be surprised, from Detroit to Memphis to Atlanta, you know, to Houston, people live in their city and don't even realize what they're sitting right in the room with every day.

• 24:17Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah. They don't know the local officials, they don't know the municipalities, they don't know the code, they don't know regulations, they don't know limitations. All those things you don't know.

• 24:26Speaker 04

  And you don't know, right now, in the city of Cleveland, 15 billion dollars in development is taking place. Well, if you ain't paying attention to that, like, then I'm just gonna say, I'm not just shouting out because I know y'all love New York.

• 24:40Speaker 06

  How do you know where to buy, right?

• 24:41Speaker 04

  How do you, like, if you doing business in this country and you have not considered Cleveland, I'm telling you right now, you not really doing business. And I, and I'm saying as a guy who travels this country, 15 billion dollars. So if you're doing real estate, well, guess what? What is that, what is that brown statement stadium, brand new, $3 billion stadium gonna do to real estate in the surrounding areas?

• 25:02Speaker 05

  We've been here for Cleveland for a long time. I got a friend beyond winning out there.

• 25:05Speaker 04

  Oh, yeah.

• 25:06Speaker 05

  You know, you know?

• 25:06Speaker 04

  I know, Akeem Africa, beyond, like, yeah.

• 25:09Speaker 05

  So what makes, because what makes Cleveland's attractive real estate market?

• 25:14Speaker 04

  Oh, so now let's, let's talk about this. One, when you talk about on water access. So we, we have a, we are a river and a lake city. So we have a riverfront and a lakefront. Uh, and right now, we have an airport on it that goes almost two to three miles, that the mayor is now trying to get the FFA to approve them to close that airport. So what that's gonna do is if that happens in the next couple of years, which we know that's a process, but you better get in the process now with buying the real estate around it. Because once the announcement is made, it's too late. And the reality is, that's gonna make us the future Chicago. And y'all like, oh, LaRese, you talking too big right now.

• 25:53Speaker 04

  But trust me, we, we gonna see each other in the airport in passing in about five years and y'all gonna say, you said it, LaRese. Just like I said, LeBron is coming back, but you get it. I won't, I won't shift the conversation, I won't shift it, but no.

• 26:06Speaker 03

  I hope so, man, we've been to Cleveland.

• 26:07Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 26:08Speaker 03

  And, um, it, there, there needs to be some, some spice there.

• 26:12Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 26:13Speaker 03

  We need it.

• 26:13Speaker 04

  But, but, but be honest, we have a professional football team, baseball team, basketball team. We're getting ready to have a soccer team there, we have a hockey team for the size city with 400,000 people.

• 26:25Speaker 05

  Mayo Clinic, is that Mayo Clinic?

• 26:27Speaker 04

  No, oh, man, why it gonna do that to us? Cleveland Clinic.

• 26:30Speaker 05

  Cleveland Clinic.

• 26:31Speaker 04

  So I'm actually on the board of the Cleveland Clinic. So the Cleveland Clinic and you have University Hospital.

• 26:35Speaker 03

  Put some respect.

• 26:36Speaker 04

  Put some respect on our name, nah? Like, I can't, so now, all y'all listening, I did, I made sure I said Cleveland Clinic, y'all. So now, Cleveland Clinic, one of the best hospitals in the world, right there. So you have a, a, a healthcare system that, of course, we know is booming, right there, they're building that out. So right around that area, there's development opportunities. Lakefront, riverfront, where the Cavs is building a brand new practice facility, right on the riverfront, that when LeBron comes back, he have a new facility to practice in. Y'all get it, but a lot of that is taking place.

• 27:05Speaker 03

  That's where Donovan is gonna be practicing.

• 27:08Speaker 04

  Hey, I'm proud of, hey, look.

• 27:10Speaker 03

  You know what I'm saying?

• 27:10Speaker 04

  He, he is the guy, he is the guy. Say for some respect on that name.

• 27:13Speaker 03

  Number four.

• 27:14Speaker 04

  That's right, that's right, that's right, nah, but.

• 27:16Speaker 05

  New Chicago, that's interesting, New Chicago, huh?

• 27:18Speaker 04

  Yeah, so.

• 27:19Speaker 03

  Not, not according to Yo Keem Noah.

• 27:23Speaker 04

  Oh, man, so we gonna go here now, how that's funny? So, so look, I gotta go, I gotta take my glasses off of this. I gotta make you watch out, look, I gotta eat for a second, y'all, look, yeah.

• 27:34Speaker 03

  That's fire words, my bad, my bad.

• 27:36Speaker 05

  Shout out to Cleveland, man.

• 27:37Speaker 04

  Shout out to Cleveland. To Cleveland, and universities, one of the best schools in the country in Case Western Reserve. You have Cleveland State, Wright, Bond and Wallace, John Carroll, we can go on. Healthcare, education, industry is coming back. So again, I mean, we're.

• 27:53Speaker 05

  And it's still affordable now.

• 27:54Speaker 04

  It's affordable, it's one of the most affordable cities in the country. In the country. But again, not for long, guaranteed, mark my words on, on, on today. You gonna look a couple of years back and you gonna miss the wave. And you have to do it. So as you're buying those homes, since we're talking about homeownership, when you're buying in that city, show up to the city council meeting. Find out where they're building the new development, where they're building a new mall, where they're building, you know, whatever infrastructures that's gonna change. Where's Intel going? Where's Amazon going? And buy the real estate in those areas. But again, if you wait for it to come on Instagram, on TV, you don't bought it because all the developers already bought it all up. Now you paying double the price.

• 28:35Speaker 03

  We, we talk about middle America a lot, especially when it comes to AI, about, obviously, data centers are coming to middle America because of the land space, but.

• 28:42Speaker 06

  That's a whole nother conversation.

• 28:43Speaker 03

  Yeah, that's a whole nother conversation, but it, it speaks to like the space, having access to water, all these things are needed. Cleveland is, is one of those, those cities that have been brought up a lot.

• 28:53Speaker 04

  That's been on the table a couple of times.

• 28:55Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 28:56Speaker 04

  And I'm gonna stay away from that one because I want to go back home.

• 28:59Speaker 03

  This, this, the reason, this is important, and you can chime in as well. The tax advantages. When, when people buy a home, I, I think they just think of the cause that, that the house is, that they see this listed. They come to find out, property tax, right? Insurance, all these things afterwards. What are some of the advantages that people are missing when it comes to home ownership, right? Even like looking at it as a depreciating asset that you could write off? Talk about that part that people are missing, that they should be, you know, definitely putting in their notes and studying before, and definitely during the home buying process.

• 29:36Speaker 04

  So, Colin, I'm gonna let you hit it, and I'll hit it for you.

• 29:38Speaker 06

  Yeah, yeah, no, I mean, look, we're sitting here in New York, right? State and local taxes are a huge deal. You know, we do a lot of work on the legislative side, too. And one of the things that we were able to secure for homeowners last year was a quadrupling of the state and local tax deduction. So I, you know, I think this is one of the things that, you know, you kind of go through and you look at it. You know, while it may be a large bill, it's also something that you can write off at the end of the day. The mortgage interest deduction is another piece of it that if you're itemizing your taxes, you can write down that piece of your house. And then, you know, you're, you're, you're looking at the, the exclusion. When you finally go and sell your home, if it's your primary home, you're able to write off up to $500,000 worth of gain on that house when you sell it later on.

• 30:22Speaker 06

  Lurie, I'm sure has got some, some thoughts from the individual in the, in the rental and the investment side as well.

• 30:29Speaker 04

  Yeah, so Colin just broke it down. SALT, a lot of you hear about SALT, where it went from $10,000 to $40,000, taking advantage of that from a tax.

• 30:37Speaker 05

  Explain that, explain.

• 30:38Speaker 04

  So SALT is state and local taxes. But what that is, is a deduction that you can take on your property taxes. That's inclusive in that in prior years. That takes us from what we used to say itemize versus taking the standard deduction. And everybody on page two, so if y'all want me to do a tax train, I'll do that for y'all real quick. But page two, stop signing that tax return and not asking your tax account to actually review and educate you on what every line means on the first two pages. Cause after that is just schedules. On first two pages, you need to understand how that impacts you. And the name of the game is to create after-tax wealth and reduce tax liability.

• 31:22Speaker 04

  So what we have to do is, from a home ownership perspective, is understand that now you have the opportunity for it to become an itemized, you can itemize versus taking the standard. So if I can get that 40,000 SALT, that really just impacted me right there. Where if I took 13,000, or I took 26,000 from single to married. So now what that does, it brings down my taxable income. So then I can put more money in my investments. So when we talk about, you know, that from a SALT perspective, we talk about to all my entrepreneurs that, you know, you guys, you, you rock with these guys every year down in Atlanta. If you're there and you're not maximizing being a homeowner as a, as a business, you can take the home office deduction.

• 32:07Speaker 04

  So making sure you're maximizing that. So you're picking up interest, you're picking up taxes, utilities, any renovations that happen within your home office. And then there's other credits, depending on the community that you're within, that you can take advantage of. But again, homeownership is the way to go. And y'all asked a question when we started off, is that still the American dream? The reality is, we can talk pie in the sky, everybody's not gonna own a large corporation. Everybody is not disciplined enough to make sure they maximize their, their potential from an investment perspective. They're not gonna do mutual funds, they're not gonna do EFTs, they're not gonna do crypto, they're not going to do the 401k plan.

• 32:52Speaker 04

  What they say in our community, less than 23% of people will be ready for retirement. Go in a room, every room we go into America, I say, hey, the first thing we do, we, from a laughing perspective, we say, close your eyes, close your eyes and tell me, if you could have all your dumb money back, where would you be? Man, the room goes crazy, then we get started. We, we get started because people get excited. Then I ask them, keep your eyes closed. I know the pastor's cheating right now, he's looking, because he wants to see. But hey, but I say, raise your hand if you're ready for retirement, or you're, or you're on the right road to retirement. And Colin will tell you, less than one tenth of the room actually keeps their hand up. Because we don't know.

• 33:34Speaker 04

  And so homeownership gives you that asset that most people, because the reality is, you're buying a home, you're just buying somebody else's home when you're renting. So I just need, I just need you to buy your own. And then if you don't invest nothing, at least you have that. So you make sure, because if you buy it in Cleveland, and I'm not saying I need you to move to Cleveland, but if you come to Cleveland and you get that house and it appreciates, could all this development taking place? Now guess what, you have something to leave, a legacy, and you're not gonna leave that confusion with some clarity.

• 34:01Speaker 05

  What do you say to that faction of the audience that says, well, renting gives me freedom, right? I don't have to be tied down to a 15-year or 30-year mortgage. The opportunity cost for me to try to get that, that down payment, I could use it towards investing, right? We, we see this at the lowest levels, we see it at the highest levels, right? The millionaire or the multimillionaire says, hey, I'm not going to own this home. I travel too much, I'm gonna rent this place. I love to have the yacht, I don't want to own it, I could rent it. What do you say to that faction of mindset?

• 34:35Speaker 04

  There's levels to this. And you gotta understand your audience. As speakers, let's stop missing the crowd in the moment. We go in and we just, we come in with this, you know, already baked out speech we gonna speak to, and we don't even realize who's sitting in front of us. We don't go in the cities and don't understand who's in the room. We want to know if half the crowd has bad credit. We want to know if nobody's invested. We want to know that only 25% in the room are homeowners. So again, we go in there and we're educated so we can deliver what they're looking for. And the reality is, again, what do they say? What, 60 to 70, almost 60 to like 67% of people who make over $100,000 live paycheck to paycheck?

• 35:19Speaker 04

  So what makes us think that we see all these posts, oh, we gonna invest, here's all the investments, it's all good? That's not the average American, who are we talking to?

• 35:29Speaker 05

  That's a fact, that's a fact.

• 35:30Speaker 04

  Right? Who are we talking to? So again, so what I'm just trying to do, what Colin is trying to do, what APOA is trying to do, and all our great partners, is make sure we don't lift, leave out the other one-third or two-thirds that aren't gonna do what we talking about. So again, and I'm not saying you, because you just gotta know your audience. And when we go to certain cities, if we in Boston, we might be talking about, you know, how, how we make sure we buy the 16 sweeter, or how we create the development opportunity. But when we in Cleveland, no, we ain't talking about that. Because we know where, where we're one of the most impoverished cities in America. So that's not the conversation that should even be had at this point. We gotta make sure they have a plan and a playbook so we can even get to that point.

• 36:10Speaker 05

  How do you educate people on buying a home that they can afford, not necessarily the home that they want?

• 36:15Speaker 06

  Oh, stick to the budget, right? Like, I think that's the, the, number one, what's your budget and what can you get into, right? And, and don't start off behind the eight ball, right? By extending yourself more than you're comfortable doing. But no, I, it is a tough, tough conversation. And, and, and when we're, I think one of those things that we, we talk about a lot, right? It's kind of the trade-offs, right? Do you want to live close to your job? Do you want to live close to the football stadium? You know, what is it that impacts the price of the home that you want? And, and, and what are the things that you gotta look at to get in there with that budget? Again, I think it's.

• 36:53Speaker 05

  Cause I've seen people do that, like I used to be a financial advisor. So I've seen people look what they do at 401k entirely, put every single dollar that they have into a home, but that's the home that they wanted. But it's like, did you ever think about living in a home that's not as nice? Or smaller, or like, no, I mean, like, I don't think, I think people, when they have their mindset, I got approved for this much, I got approved for $500,000, I'm getting it $500,000.

• 37:20Speaker 04

  I'm gonna tell you, this is what we teach when we're out. It's stop getting excited every time the bank says yes. Because the bank, the reality is, the bank is in business to do business and to make money at all means necessary. And the reality is, sometimes unfortunately, and we've seen that unfortunately, they've not had our best interests as a community in, in mind. So the reality is, what we have to do is make sure that again, that we have a plan. And that's why when we're doing these seminars and we're out doing the summit, it's all about education and making sure that we send educated buyers to the bank. So when they go, they know their credit. Cause it, it's like, almost like going to buy a car.

• 38:05Speaker 04

  What's the first thing they ask us when we go on the car lot? What's the first question they usually ask?

• 38:09Speaker 05

  What's the one you're looking at?

• 38:10Speaker 04

  It's so disrespectful when they ask us, what is it?

• 38:13Speaker 05

  What's your budget?

• 38:14Speaker 04

  How much you putting down? Right? How much you putting down? Like, how you gonna, you don't even, how about you ask my name first? How about you ask me what car I like? How about you ask me, did I do my research? How about you ask me, you know, do I even know this car, the price of this car? Have I done my research? So again, what we're like, again, I'm getting people, Colin's getting people, we're getting people riled up so they can be mad about the situation. Mad to create success, though. Not mad when they get stuck, because the reality is, the bank is gonna give you $500,000, but the name of the game is not owning. And this is shameless plug, I'm gonna do own it, build it, keep it. Because it's about making sure we get it and we keep it. You said you were a financial advisor.

• 38:59Speaker 04

  We can sell them life insurance, but if they wait till they get 60 to lose it because it was too expensive, it was no value in having it the last 40 years.

• 39:08Speaker 05

  That's a fact.

• 39:09Speaker 04

  So we better give them tools to make sure to keep it.

• 39:11Speaker 05

  But you said some, like, they gotta be educated to go into the bank. It's like.

• 39:16Speaker 03

  Most people throughout buying a home is the biggest purchase that most people are making their whole entire life. And most people have zero education on it.

• 39:24Speaker 04

  That's right.

• 39:25Speaker 03

  There's no primary education, there's no high school education, not even college education for the most part. So you're really going into the most important, biggest financial decision you'll ever make, completely uninformed at all. So it's like, oh, the bank gives me 500,000, that means I should buy a home 500,000.

• 39:41Speaker 04

  But it's almost, yeah, but it's almost like going and looking at your life insurance and using a life insurance calculator. Most people don't know how much life insurance. You hear online, get a million dollar life insurance. Well, a million dollars might have been good for you 10 years ago, but if you, you got a $700,000 home, you got three kids that all need to go to college, you got a wife that expects you to make a quarter million dollars a year, you got all these liabilities and all these expenses, you actually need $2 million. But nobody's doing that calculation until really with the expectation of outcomes that need to happen. So the reality is you got a million dollar life insurance, but you got $3 million in liabilities, so when you die, they lose it all anyway, and you worked your whole life for it. So it's the same thing with this.

• 40:23Speaker 04

  I'll tell you what we also did in HBCUs, and I remember a couple of college presidents saying, they were like, hey, why you guys gonna teach those subjects, LaRese? We talked about taxes. I went through taxes with these young people. And, and at first, they were like, you gonna bore the crap out of them. And then the next thing I talked about, we talked about on the tour is negotiation, the art of negotiation. So we gotta teach people the foundational stuff to make sure that they have as much disposable income to have margin. That's the name of the game is margin. Like, we gotta have more money than we have bills, right? And, and I don't want nobody being house poor.

• 41:04Speaker 04

  We don't want anybody being where you have a house, but you can't invest, you can't grow, you can't travel. We got enough people on planes with no plans, like, so what we gonna keep doing, y'all?

• 41:18Speaker 03

  I, I wonder, as you guys go across the country and you're speaking to people, what's the common theme in terms of financial struggle, right? Is it, like you said, you're speaking to college students, is it student loan debt? Is it credit cards? Is it auto, like, what's the common theme that you're continuously seeing city after city?

• 41:37Speaker 06

  I, I mean, I feel like we hear a little bit of everything, right? You know, that, that, especially with the folks just out of school, I think there's a big concern with, with student loan debt. You know, cost, cost of college continues to go up, and, and, you know, wages have not been keeping pace with it, right? I feel like we get a little bit of credit card, especially if you talk to, like, you know, older folks, even, even some of the older folks, I think, are, are student, student loan debt comes up. But, but yeah, I feel like it's a little bit of everything, or, you know, hey, I, I bought a house, or I, you know, got in trouble with a car, and, you know, I've, I've got, you know, kind of dinged up credit now. It, it, it seems to be just a little bit of, a little bit of a lot of things.

• 42:14Speaker 04

  Yeah. But, but I'll say to that point, to, to piggyback on Colin, is on the student loan side, it's like, you know, they feel like, you know, I'm getting ready to graduate, and I'm 75, you know, thousand, a hundred thousand in debt. Like, why should I take on a house that's gonna be 300,000, I'm $400,000 in debt, and I'm only 23 years old, or 24, where does that make sense? And I don't even make $100,000 a year, but I already owe $400,000. I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. And so what we're finding out is, that's why, guys, this is, like we said, there's levels to this, we have to have different iterations.

• 42:57Speaker 04

  So when we go to churches around the country, we have a young area, we attract college students, and then we have families. Because we have to teach young kids, and as we all are doing the work, and we're saying we're responsible for our communities, we gotta teach young people how not to go in debt when they go to college. And y'all say, well, LaRese, that sound good, how do you do that? Well, how many high schools, we're, we're helping kids get to school, we're helping kids get educated, but how many people are doing, like, camps on just filling out scholarships? On looking how to research, using AI to find all the grants and scholarships that go for my industry that nobody's tapping into?

• 43:38Speaker 04

  So when I go there, that, that's, that should be the celebration at graduation, that there's $100 million in grants and scholarships going out this for all these thousand kids that are graduating, so we make sure we set them up to be future homeowners. So again, it's iterations to it, and making sure we address it at different levels based on the crowd that we're talking to.

• 43:58Speaker 03

  It feels like, it goes back to the first question of, why do we not see this as the American dream? Because I'm watching kids that are going to school, they're going into debt, the first thing, the thing is, I gotta get a job to pay back that student loan debt. They, they can't even get to the point where it's a house, then they don't pay it back, they take out loans, credit cut, now they, right, their interest rates are gonna be higher because their credit score is lower. And so it feels like, can they even get to the, the idea of having a home, let alone the other side? Like you said, there are levels to it, right? Now imagine, your parents are renters, right? We talk about eggshells. If they lose the apartment, and you're living with mom after you came home from school, and there's no way to go, now what? Right?

• 44:40Speaker 03

  So there, there's a lot of pieces here, which makes me think our, our Gen Z, Gen X, is home ownership at the forefront when there's so much debt. I'm glad you brought that up.

• 44:52Speaker 04

  But, but, but to that, go ahead, Colin.

• 44:54Speaker 06

  No, and that's what I was gonna say, it's, it's one of these things, right, where, where kind of circling back to, to, to that piece of it. You know, it's the forced savings piece of owning a home, right? If you're gonna pay your rent or your mortgage, why are you paying everything out to your landlord rather than getting a piece of that back, right? You know, and, and I think this is the big, the big benefit to, you know, kind of the average American, right, is, you know, maybe I'm not a sophisticated investor, maybe I'm not doing rental properties, maybe I'm not contributing my 401K, but if I'm paying that monthly housing payment every month, and I own that home, and I'm paying that mortgage, right, like, I'm getting a little bit of that back each time I pay my, my mortgage, and, and I, you know, should walk out of that property at the end of the day with, with

• 45:36Speaker 06

  that money that I saved, you know, and maybe I don't have to think about taking 5% or 10% off at the beginning each month to, to put into an investment or put into a savings account.

• 45:45Speaker 04

  Yeah, but even to that, it goes back to those subjects we talked about, negotiation. Like, it's real power in that, y'all. Like, people don't talk about that enough. If, just think about how many college kids, ask some of your friends them, you know, and all y'all out there listening, how many contracts have y'all taken the first time the, the job offered you out of college, the first thing they sent you, you were so happy to get that job, that you accepted the first thing they gave you?

• 46:09Speaker 06

  Thanks.

• 46:10Speaker 04

  Until I realized, I had this young guy that was sitting next to me at a desk when I graduated college, we had the same job, the same degree, I actually had a higher GPA than him, and he made $18,000 more than me. Because somebody told him that he should ask for more. He had a week and a half vacation more than me, and made $18,000 more than me, and had more benefits than I received because nobody taught me that I could have a conversation. $18,000, let's break that down, that's $1,500 a month, and for the average young kid for where they're living, that pays for the mortgage. So there's value in that. It's value, you know, in teaching them their taxes, so they understand if I put into the

• 46:51Speaker 04

  401K before I create the liabilities, before I get married and have the kids, that I can then offset my taxable income by maximizing what the company's already giving me to bring down, and I have more income hidden in my bottom line to put into that property. So there's ways to create and generate and pay that cost, but we gotta have strategies to it.

• 47:12Speaker 03

  For people, tax question, like, for people that, uh, like barbers, hair salon, they get paid in cash, and they don't report enough money, and then on their tax return, it's like they made $5,000, or even business owners that try to write off every single thing, and then they make $15,000, but it's like, when you try to buy a home, making $15,000 is not helpful to you. So, what's your commentary?

• 47:39Speaker 06

  I feel like we hear this one a lot right now, right? Looking at the gig economy and everything that's going on right now, especially with people maybe not working a W2 job, right, where you're getting paid by an employer. We're seeing this a ton, right? And a lot of it is gonna be, you know, you gotta document two years of your income and things like that. Really finding that, and this is why we're trying to bring together, you know, knowledgeable experts on this. It's finding a lender who's really experienced in, uh, uh, non-traditional income. I mean, I think some really interesting things could be coming, you know, as we're talking about, uh, you know, AI and data centers and stuff like that, cash flow underwriting, if they're able to apply that with AI to, you know, say, we, we wanna see six months

• 48:23Speaker 06

  of your ability to, to pay your own bills, right?

• 48:27Speaker 06

  It may be easier to underwrite those kind of mortgages here in the next frankly few months as that technology is evolving. But, but yeah, no, this is one that we hear, I feel like we've heard this more and more each time that we're out there and trying to help people and get folks together with the right.

• 48:44Speaker 05

  So what's, you say cash flow underwriting?

• 48:48Speaker 06

  So cash flow underwriting rather than, you know, going to the bank.

• 48:52Speaker 05

  W2 underwriting.

• 48:53Speaker 06

  Then, yeah, then saying, you know, here's, here's kind of my book, right?

• 48:56Speaker 05

  Cash flow underwriting, they'd look at your bank account and see how much money's coming in?

• 48:59Speaker 06

  What's going in, what's going out and what's left over at the end of the day? And theoretically, right, AI could make this much easier.

• 49:07Speaker 04

  Yeah, so I'm gonna say this, and, and you, you keep making my glasses fall every time you ask me these questions. So my wife is a 18-year veteran as a stylist and runs, you know, one of the largest, you know, you know, salons in the city of Cleveland. And I'm gonna tell you now, that's an industry when I first started my career, I really tapped into because the reality is, is like most things, you know, we don't believe in it because we can't see it. We don't see the results. So it's like, why should I show profit and I still can't get because the bank is denying me because I didn't set it up right? Every, like, LaRese, I can't go buy the home, I've been paying taxes and I don't.

• 49:49Speaker 04

  Let me first kind of tell you guys, now I gotta put my accountant hat on and tell you, you know, you, everybody's stuck on the profit and loss statement. Well, let's start talking about the balance sheet statement. So we just need, like, like, I could teach a whole class on this, is showing people that you don't have to show a profit on the bottom line of the statement or your profit and loss for the bank to see that you're an opportunity and they'll lend to you. It's making sure you create shelters on the balance sheet that creates assets that they'll lend against is this is powerful of showing profit on your, on your actual statement of loss. I mean, excuse me, on your, on your profit and loss. So what I've been doing is teaching, as we've been, you know, doing this tour, is teaching

• 50:34Speaker 04

  barbers, stylists on, hey, you don't have to, yes, you made $80,000 this year, and they're like, well, LaRese, like, I'm gonna have to pay, you know, almost $20,000, and let's be honest, I'm living style to style. Every time the guy comes in and sell me the TV, guess what? I'm using that cash on that. If we talking real, we talking real here, right? So let's, let's talk, right? So if somebody come in there and sell me, you know, some stuff for my salon, I'm buying that. So again, I'm moving on, I'm going from hairstyle, from cut to cut, from hairstyle to hairstyle. So how can I show them the advantage of that? So what we've been doing is teaching them that, yes, you're gonna see 80,000 on the bottom line, but guess what?

• 51:15Speaker 04

  There's accounts, you as a financial advisor know, cash balance accounts, you have corporate life insurance, you have all kind of other tax shelters that you can put in place that have long-term effects that you can put. Now that bottom line shows a net zero, but then assets are on the balance sheet. So when the bank looks at it, they're like, oh, no, it's not there, but it's here. So it's still the same benefits to it, but there's tax advantages to doing it that way. So then now I'm not only thinking about today and that home, but I'm also thinking about duly my home ownership and my investable retirement as well. Because at some point, that carpal tunnel is gonna get to you. Those feet gonna start to hurt. My wife, shout out to her, if I rub another foot, like, I'm telling you guys now, I'm

• 52:00Speaker 04

  the most rubbing foot accountant in America because of what she does, but honestly, you gotta set yourself up for tomorrow. So we do see a lot of that, and we just have to show them how to make that work. So it's.

• 52:12Speaker 05

  That's good information, because like you said, it's not, sometimes it's, well, A, public service announcement, you should always report the amount of money that you make.

• 52:20Speaker 04

  Absolutely. Every penny of it.

• 52:22Speaker 05

  Yep, 100%.

• 52:24Speaker 03

  Every year.

• 52:25Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 52:25Speaker 05

  Yes, no exceptions.

• 52:26Speaker 03

  You too.

• 52:27Speaker 05

  But like you said, just because you're showing all this money doesn't necessarily mean that you, you have to pay taxes on all of that money. Now you start to do the smarter things with your money to get the tax deductions.

• 52:40Speaker 04

  That's right, that's right. And, and again, that goes back to the power of five. It's a reason we gave you those. You need them all.

• 52:48Speaker 06

  You don't need one of them. It benefits small business.

• 52:49Speaker 05

  But you gotta be organized, you gotta be organized.

• 52:51Speaker 04

  No, say, say that again, Colin, because I think that if, if that missed you, if you were driving and you didn't hear that.

• 52:56Speaker 06

  Yeah, that is, the tax code is written to benefit small business, and this is back to your power of five, right? Make sure you're talking to somebody who knows what they're doing.

• 53:03Speaker 05

  But then also make sure you're organized, because like I said, a lot of these people, when you're getting cash fast, you spend it fast also. And like you said, it's just little stuff, and it's like, I think a lot of people in these industries are not organized. So at the end of the year, they might have made 100,000, but it's like, I don't have any money at all. I don't even have enough money to put into an IRA. But if it's like, if you would did it every single week, okay, every week we're gonna put this, if it's organized, it's easier as opposed to just saying, okay, I'm gonna set all this stuff up and then, because where'd the money go still, right? So it's like that organizational part.

• 53:34Speaker 06

  Don't try to be your own expert.

• 53:35Speaker 04

  So, so, so when you, when you, as we're doing this production right now, you didn't let your mechanic do the sound, did you?

• 53:43Speaker 03

  No.

• 53:44Speaker 04

  You didn't, right?

• 53:44Speaker 03

  No.

• 53:45Speaker 04

  Why didn't you?

• 53:46Speaker 03

  He's not trained.

• 53:47Speaker 04

  He's not trained to do that. So why you as a stylist think, like, what's that meme on social media? You wearing 10 hats, I'm the marketer, I'm the HR, I'm this, I'm this. Either you gonna pay now or you gonna pay later, but I guarantee you, you gonna pay. So the reality is hire an expert because they're gonna save you time, they're gonna save you cost. Because people are like, LaRese, I can't afford to have you as an accountant. But the reality is, well, you can't afford not to have me, I'm the toilet paper of the business. The reality is, it can't, and y'all like toilet paper, that was a bad analogy, LaRese, but it's necessary, right? Y'all get it, y'all know what I mean, but, but.

• 54:24Speaker 05

  It's a mess without it.

• 54:26Speaker 04

  I know that one. I'm using that now. I'll give you credit the first time. I'm using that one, I'm telling you. But no, honestly, but, but we, we gotta stop thinking that we need to be the experts at everything, and you're, my wife is cold-blooded when it comes behind that chair with those shears. But the reality is, you ask her about our money, until we got married, she said, I just didn't know what to do, I didn't trust anybody, like, you know, I mean, trauma, we can get into trauma, all that sort of stuff, childhood issues and all that, why I don't talk, you know, about that culture and that's all that. I like to look fly all the time because I'm in an industry that's lifestyle-driven, so I need my cash so I can keep and buy the latest fashions, so I can't put it in an investment because I won't stay relevant.

• 55:11Speaker 04

  We can keep going and going.

• 55:13Speaker 03

  Sounds nice. You, you really living it, my brother. That sounds, that sounds, that sounds pretty accurate. Colin, you have a unique perspective. You, you worked inside the US Senate, correct?

• 55:23Speaker 06

  I did.

• 55:24Speaker 03

  So, that's interesting, because now you're advocating for home ownership for, for the everyday person. I wonder, your time there, what did you see? Or was this something that triggered you to say, you know what? I, I see what policy is doing, I understand how it can change, I need to go step aside and do this?

• 55:45Speaker 06

  So, yes.

• 55:48Speaker 06

  You know, kind of being in there and, and literally watching and being involved in some of the writing of the tax code and the benefits that are there for homeownership, for investment property, things like that, right? It's, it's great to, to see that and then to step out, but I think the, the real thing that, that drives me and why I stepped out and said, you know, hey, I want to get into, you know, homeownership and creating generational wealth and, and, and, you know, kind of having these assets that benefit people long-term, right? It's, it is that, like, this is how the majority of Americans save for their, you know, for their families for retirement. I, I mean, that's what really, you know, kind of drives me on that front.

• 56:31Speaker 06

  Was able to kind of see how things are set up for, you know, to benefit small business, how things are set up to, to benefit homeownership. And, and again, with all that stuff that's there, I really want, you know, everybody who is able to, to be able to take advantage of those things and, and, and, you know, both have a place to live and, and be able to, you know, kind of benefit financially from, from owning that home.

• 56:52Speaker 03

  Do you see something coming down the pipeline in terms of policy?

• 56:58Speaker 03

  That could shape the way the future looks in terms of homeownership?

• 57:01Speaker 06

  Yeah, I think so. We just, just this past weekend had the 21st Century Road to Housing Act became law. It was passed by Congress a couple of weeks ago and, and went into law overnight on Saturday. So I think there's several things in there, especially on the affordable housing side, right? We're looking at changes to the way we could do manufactured housing and small dollar loans. I think are two things that could make a huge impact immediately, right? These are, you know, manufactured housing, great opportunity for somebody who's maybe a first time buyer and looking for a lower cost alternative to like a stick built house, right?

• 57:42Speaker 06

  And then on the, the, the small dollar loans, right? You know, you, you don't see banks or mortgage brokers or anybody like writing small dollar loans a lot of times because the, the, the fees and things that are associated with all those are, they're fixed, right? So like what you happen, it doesn't cost anymore to originate a $400,000 mortgage than it does to originate an $80,000 mortgage. But because those fees are, are high, the banks won't originate an $80,000 mortgage because it's considered predatory because of the, the fees that go into, to originating it. So I think some creative options around that could really help streamline permitting, right? Like where, where we are, we're just-

• 58:21Speaker 03

  Can you say that again? The permitting process in America?

• 58:27Speaker 06

  Oh, yeah. I, I mean, looking at this, right? Like, you know, here, here we are, you know, red tape, right? You know, you talk to folks across the country, I'm, I'm, you know, it's one of the things, it's probably like a 99% issue, right? Can we cut red tape and make it easier to do things? We're 6 million homes short of current demand, right? Which is one of the things that's driving home prices up. If we could just build more in the places that people want to live at a price they can afford, it would solve a huge, huge amount of that problem. And I think some of the permitting reforms and, and regulatory streamlining that are in this bill should make it much easier the next few years.

• 59:05Speaker 03

  That's on my wishlist. When they ask, what do you hope that AI can help? Make more convenient, more efficient? I say the permitting process.

• 59:13Speaker 06

  The permitting process, right?

• 59:15Speaker 03

  Why am I waiting eight weeks for you to look at a paper? That something you could just look at in 10 minutes and say yes or no? And then we can go back to the drawing board. I'm going to wait eight weeks, you say no, they gotta wait another eight weeks. We're losing time that we can't get back.

• 59:30Speaker 06

  That you can't get back.

• 59:31Speaker 03

  And things obviously need to be built.

• 59:33Speaker 06

  And, and if you are a small builder especially, right? Like, how, how do you account for that compliance, right? Like, you know, a Wall Street firm, they can kind of absorb some of that stuff. But if you're building six to 12 houses a year, right? Like, you're losing money on that deal and you're not going to be able to continue that business if you are not able to meet your own timelines or you're, you know, costing your clients on that extra money.

• 59:55Speaker 03

  And they're going to charge you for the permit.

• 59:57Speaker 06

  Absolutely, right? This is the good government side of things, right? It's like, there are certain things that the government is supposed to be able to deliver on. And, and if you're requiring permits and things like that, making it an easy process that is timely and efficient, certainly seems like it should be, should be part of the good government side of things.

• 1:00:15Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:00:15Speaker 05

  So you guys said that you, you're part of the legislation that quadrupled the deduction for, right?

• 1:00:22Speaker 06

  Correct.

• 1:00:23Speaker 05

  What does that mean? Like, so you, you, you helped lobby Congress?

• 1:00:27Speaker 06

  Yeah, so the, the, the way that the alliance works, you know, we, we both did some direct lobbying on, on the provisions in that tax bill as well as organizing the grassroots, right? So getting homeowners from across the country who were impacted by that, that tax increase to be able to call their representatives and say, this is huge, this is really important to me. Running public affairs campaigns that alerted elected officials to the importance of making this change. So it's really, you know, we look at it as like, you know, kind of a 360 operation there on the, on the, on the, the lobbying and, and grassroots side of things.

• 1:01:07Speaker 05

  And that's through your organization?

• 1:01:09Speaker 06

  Correct.

• 1:01:09Speaker 05

  So you guys lobby Congress?

• 1:01:12Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 1:01:12Speaker 05

  That's part of what you got to do.

• 1:01:13Speaker 06

  So, yeah, there's a couple of pieces of the mission, right? One is, is direct action to Congress, having homeowners and people who want to be homeowners weigh in on policies that are important to them. And then actually going up and, and having folks go up and talk to the members of Congress when there's legislation being-

• 1:01:30Speaker 05

  Do you have a goal like as far as a number like, okay, we want to have 10 million new homeowners in the next five years? Like, is there like a set goal that you're trying to reach with the organization?

• 1:01:38Speaker 06

  I, I think working through that, right? Like I mentioned, we're four to six million new homes short of what could, what could, could, could meet the demand. You know, so I think really trying to figure out, you know, how many of those can we, can we, can we build with some of the policies that we're enacting? And then, you know, what, what, what, what are some of the goals that we could do to, you know, to kind of close that, the, the, the wealth gaps that we see as well?

• 1:02:03Speaker 03

  Yeah, I've been doing the work and it's, it's needed work for, for three years. I'm sure people have bought homes. Now that they've gotten the homes, there's still an educational process in terms of equity. You know, our guy MG always calls equity monopoly money, right? Because you can't touch it unless you, you make a decision on to, to touch it. So talk about that process. He locks all, all the things in that world.

• 1:02:27Speaker 06

  Yeah, no, and I was gonna say, if you want to talk more on that, again, I think you hit on a really important piece there is, it, it's not just about getting the keys and getting in the door, right? It's like, how do you keep and how do you protect that investment on the backend? And I think that's, that's one of the reasons that we have the advocacy piece is so that we can help homeowners, you know, protect that investment once they're in.

• 1:02:46Speaker 04

  Yeah, and, and for us is, you know, as a part of education is one, getting them to acquire that first home and that experience, and then it's a rinse and repeat. The reality is now that we've, we've taught them and they've been able to establish equity in that home, how do you utilize that to create other investment opportunities when it comes to real estate? Or not just, because everybody doesn't want to be in the real estate game. How do you utilize that to either invest in that business or other opportunities that will create wealth for you and your family? So again, it's, I just believe, truly believe is having, you know, experts at the table that will help guide you because there's tax impacts or tax opportunities to the, how you approach that work.

• 1:03:30Speaker 04

  And so again, that's why we try to bring all those different partners to the table to really discuss that.

• 1:03:35Speaker 05

  So for people that want to, you know, come to a seminar or receive information online, like, can you give the information, like, what exactly, the seminars that you, that you have, right? How many cities? How can people sign up? If they can't make it to an in-person seminar, can they attend virtually? Are there offline education resources that you provide? Like, break down everything that, that you have.

• 1:03:59Speaker 04

  So we, and we, so we're going to hit, you know, throughout, you know, all 2026, you know, we have, you know, about four more cities that we're going to hit. We'll be in Atlanta, we'll hit Tampa, we'll hit Akron, we'll hit Pittsburgh. And then going into 27, we have, we're slated for 14 cities that we're going to do throughout the country. And we're doing those very strategically. One, we want to align, you know, the cities that we pick that have college campuses, preferably HBCUs, so that we make sure we do activation within the communities that, that we want to service and impact, you know, tremendously.

• 1:04:39Speaker 04

  So then throughout the year, what we do is, you know, two times a year, we do a, a virtual reunion where everybody who's had access to that can come on there and that's where the connection continues. So what we do is we have our, you know, our experts that we have as partnerships, like the IRS, you know, is a national partner. We have, you know, like, you know, credit bureaus that are a partner, the 100 Black Men, which I'm the national treasurer for, you know, they're a partner. And other NARAB and other great organizations and some banking partners as well that will be on there to continue to give that information. Because some people, you know, may have come and they've learned it and got excited about it, but then they got fearful, something's stunting that, you know, next step, them taking that next step.

• 1:05:24Speaker 04

  So maybe that virtual opportunity allows for that. So again, we want to be able to touch as many people as possible. The goal is to hit at least 25,000 people in 2027. We've been very successful this year, working with the church community throughout the country and want to continue to make that impact.

• 1:05:42Speaker 03

  Yeah, this is, is an important piece and, Colin, this is probably in your warehouse. Obviously, you want to step, stay up to date with education, obviously in the world of real estate. But Fed decisions are important too.

• 1:05:53Speaker 06

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:05:54Speaker 03

  Because interest rates will kind of determine, number one, what our loan's going to be, how much, right? I know we're sitting in the sixes. I remember when it was in the twos, right? I got lucky, I got right there, I think at 3.75 is my interest rate. Talk about the impact that having a new Fed chair could have on homeownership for the next three to four years.

• 1:06:16Speaker 06

  Certainly, yeah. I mean, if the new Fed chair takes a, a, a more loose approach to monetary policy, right? And, and looks at, you know, using interest rates to, you know, kind of lower the debt, bring down the cost of homeownership, things like that. You know, I think you, you could potentially see, you know, if they decided to go that way, right? You could see some, some interest rate cuts. It seems like they're going to, right now, kind of looking like they're going to kind of hold things neutral. But those interest rates are really key to affordability for, for, for homes, right? You know, if your interest rates, I think it's- Can't give you a number on what the percentage, I think it's a 10th of a percentage point.

• 1:06:59Speaker 06

  Decreases, decreases home affordability by a certain amount, each 10th that goes up. Right. So it's, it is going to make your dollar and your budget go, go further if interest rates go down, right? You'd be able to afford a little bit more house if, if that were the case. So I think, you know, certainly the industry would like to see some decreases in rates and it would be great, you know, great for borrowers. I think we'll have to see, you know, kind of what the, what the geopolitical and, and, you know, the, the domestic political and, and finance environment kind of holds, right?

• 1:07:36Speaker 03

  Amen.

• 1:07:37Speaker 06

  But we'd love to see, love to see some cuts.

• 1:07:40Speaker 03

  I'm sure you would.

• 1:07:42Speaker 05

  Well, we want to thank you guys for coming. Can you give the website, social media, all the information that people need to have to make sure that they go to the events and get all the information?

• 1:07:52Speaker 06

  Sure. You can follow us online at propertyownersalliance.org. That's where all of our, our website registration, everything for the tour is, is housed. And then we've got, you follow property owners alliance and LaRese on, on social. We're on all the major social platforms. You know, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, X, and LinkedIn. LaRese, if you want to give yours as well.

• 1:08:19Speaker 04

  So you follow me on Larri, at LaRese Purnell on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Tik Tok. We're always posting about where we're coming and then also looking for opportunities. You know, we've had people reach out to us on social media and say, hey, come to our city. We've had a lot of mayors invite us to their communities as well to activate the work. Have had a lot of success with those partnerships as well. So yeah, just follow us up, stay, you know, locked in. We got a lot of great information and I think, again, when we shift to this activation, I promise you, you're going to see live change.

• 1:08:51Speaker 06

  A lot more coming.

• 1:08:52Speaker 05

  Well, I appreciate it. Thank you, guys. Make sure you guys tap in, get the information. It's vitally important. Home ownership is one of the ways to, like you said, shorten the wealth gap in these countries. And that's something that we've been talking about a lot. So information, it all starts with mindset and information. So we'll tap in with you guys. See you next week. Peace.

• 1:09:11Speaker 03

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