Welcome to Boostly Podcast Episode 545.
In this episode of the Behind the Host podcast, guest Alex Sabio talks about his journey in the hospitality industry and how he's helping healthcare professionals become financially free.
Alex shares his story of how he got started in the industry and the challenges he faced along the way. He also talks about some of the tech side of things and how he invested in long-term rentals, made mistakes, and eventually got into short-term rentals.
He explains how short-term rentals can provide a nice tax break and how it can be a good investment for healthcare professionals. He also mentions how he started a short-term rental in the middle of the pandemic and the worries he had about it.
Overall, the episode provides insights and valuable information for anyone looking to get into the hospitality industry.
Here's the video for this episode:
Timestamps (audio)
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Transcript from the Episode
[00:00:00] Liam: Hey, hey, we are back with another episode of The Behind the Host podcast. So this is on the Boostly podcast. My name's Liam Carlan, and today we are joined by guest who is a host from the U s A. Uh, he's gonna be talking about some really interesting things, particularly how he's helping healthcare professionals, uh, get out of.
[00:00:20] Their, their current work and become financially free, which is gonna be really cool. You're gonna wanna listen to this because we're gonna talk about, uh, this host's journey on how we got started. Also, uh, some of the challenges, some of the tech and that side of things. So listen in for the next 20 or 30 minutes and, uh, yeah, see what you can learn on there.
[00:00:39] We have got live on Facebook for those listening on the podcast afterwards. Um, so if you do hear me talking about any of the things happening on screen, then uh, you'll know what. Referencing. So, uh, our special guest today, I'll, uh, I'll just introduce him and then I'll let him give his, uh, his backstory as to how he got started in hospitality.
[00:00:57] Uh, is Alex Sabio and [00:01:00] he's got five doors. They're based on, in the Smoky Mountains and also in the Gulf Shores of Alabama. And, uh, yeah, I'm really excited to, to speak with him today and have him on the show. So, welcome along Alex.
[00:01:13] Alex: Liam, thank you for having me. Really excited to
[00:01:15] Liam: be. Awesome. Awesome. So for the people listening in, um, if you can explain how you got started in hospitality, that would be an awesome place to, to get
[00:01:23] Alex: started.
[00:01:25] Yeah, I wish I had a really cool story, but I kind of had this long way till I finally got into hospitality as far as, uh, family history, um, My great-aunt actually owned a motel in on the Las Vegas strip, and for some reason that kind of always intrigued me, and it's kind of weird. My, my grandparents also owned a lot of real estate, but they had 12 kids over, I think.
[00:01:50] 30 grandkids, like hardly any of us got into real estate. And for some reason, I was one of the only ones, but started investing in long-term rentals. Made a ton of [00:02:00] mistakes. Almost every single mistake you could make was a awful investor. Uh, eventually wanted to start growing my portfolio. and I started doing some research and people kept saying, you know, start looking into short-term rentals.
[00:02:14] And I was like, what is that? I have no idea what that is. And then my, my tax professional actually, um, brought it up. She said, we can get you a nice tax break to the point where you're paying zero in taxes. And a lot of US healthcare professionals, we earn a good income and sometimes that's what it is that draws us in.
[00:02:31] And so we wind up getting into short-term rentals. Um, 2020. So not that long ago, but it was in the middle of the pandemic. Um, and it's been amazing ever
[00:02:43] Liam: since. So I mean, that's, that's quite a brave move in the middle of the pandemic. Was there any worries about starting it at that time, or, or had had, you already just made the commitment and you had to go ahead with it?
[00:02:55] Alex: Oh my God. Huge worries. And like I said, I've been an awful investor. I've, I've been [00:03:00] scammed outta money. I've had a foreclosure, I've had a bankruptcy. Like I've, like I said, I've made a lot of mistakes. And now here I was putting all of my money into a short-term rental. I'm here in Southern California and the rental is in the Smoky Mountain, so it's 2000 miles away and I never been there like prior to even hearing about it.
[00:03:21] And people I work with are like, are you crazy? We're in the middle of the pandemic. The economy might fall off the side of a cliff here. We don't know what we're doing, but I ran the numbers and it made so much sense to. and I just dove all in. I think I had like $5,000 left to my name, put all my eggs into it, and I'm so glad I did it cuz I gained so much from it.
[00:03:44] Liam: It's, it's often a, a theme that we see on, on the behind the Host podcast is, is, is about being brave. You know, there is, um, there is that moment where there's always risk involved, but the important thing you said there is you've done your, your due diligence and the numbers worked. So is there any, uh, [00:04:00] tips or any, can you talk us through how you done your numbers just in brief so people listening in can get an idea of, of if they wanted to get started, what, what they need to look at.
[00:04:11] Alex: I think the biggest thing is find people that are experts in the industry that'll help guide you, especially if you're brand new. Cuz a lot of times you can overanalyze things and there are things that you're gonna overanalyze that really don't matter. Um, before getting into short-term rentals, I was analyzing a lot of multi-family deals and it's extremely analytic, like you are breaking down all of these numbers and so I started learning how to underwrite.
[00:04:36] large multi-family deals, like large apartment complexes. Um, and then when I put it, put those tools to, I mean, there's tons of spreadsheets out there that will help you analyze that. Uh, but when I put the numbers into a short-term rental, I said, wait a minute. This thing's generating three, four times more income than this apartment complex that I was gonna get into.[00:05:00]
[00:05:00] Um, and then it was really finding a real estate. and finding a community that invests in short-term rentals, um, that kind of put you at ease. Like, you know, you don't really need to worry about that. That's, you know, very, uh, minute detail. Um, and you're gonna just be generating so much income. But yeah, like you, I look at people that analyze like long-term rentals.
[00:05:23] They'll have like this long of all of these expenses. But what I can tell you with short-term rentals, it's much more of an art than it is a.
[00:05:31] Liam: So definitely, definitely there is, uh, there's so many more variables than, than long term isn't there Often you can get, uh, you know, price per square foot or, or, or, you know, priced up per area or per bedroom and that sort of thing.
[00:05:44] Whereas this is very much depends on the style of the place, the, um, you know, where you're advertising, who you're advertising to. All, all of that side of things all makes a difference to that bottom line income. So, going back to 2020, you've, you've invested in the Smokies. [00:06:00] How did the journey go from that first investment to where you are now?
[00:06:04] How, what was the steps? Was it, did you go literally add one every few months or, or talk us through how that happened.
[00:06:11] Alex: Well, right away. I mean, our first guest, I mean, we didn't even do it right, and I could tell you I wasn't, you know, the, I, I don't have all the answers. I kind of figure this stuff out as I go.
[00:06:20] But I remember when we launched, we got our first guest, we didn't even have linens on the, in, on any of the, the, uh, beds. And we made a mistake of going live too early and he wound up booking $500 a. Times four nights and I was like, oh my gosh, there's something here, right? Like, and my mortgage. My mortgage was almost completely paid for, for the first guest for four nights.
[00:06:45] And so right away we knew we had something. It was almost like we had an at m machine that was printing money. And like I said, I, I had been investing in long-term rentals. So what was happening is I, I had all these long-term rentals that were generating a hundred, 200, 300 [00:07:00] bucks a month, and they were kind of a pain in the butt, to tell you the truth.
[00:07:03] I'd have evictions and, you know, guests would, or attendance would leave like every year. So eventually what I started doing is, I needed to get as many of these short-term rentals as possible, and so I just started selling off all of these different long-term rentals and I would do what's called a 10 31 exchange where I would sell one property and then I would buy another one.
[00:07:23] So that's really how I scaled up pretty fast. It's cuz I did have a nice base of long-term rentals that had built up a little bit of equity there.
[00:07:33] Liam: Got it. So the model that you've got is these are bought, um, short term rental units, uh, for that purpose of, of investment. This is to, uh, to offset the tax. Is that correct?
[00:07:43] Alex: Offset the taxes. And my tax lady, she said, you know what, you get a nice tax break here. And by the way, a lot of my clients make a little bit of cash flow from it too. She should have started off with, My clients are making so much more ca cash flow and on the [00:08:00] back end that they're getting a nice tax break cuz that's really what it's been for me.
[00:08:04] Liam: That's what we'd like to call a wow moment is that moment where you suddenly go, hang on. What have I discovered? You know, is this an atm? You know, is this, uh, if, if I had more of this, I could be making so much more, which is obviously what you've then done. You've, you've, you've found something which works and went well.
[00:08:21] You know, let's, let's not do the rest of this. Let's put all my eggs in, into this, uh, into this sort of structure and into this model, which is really cool. And when did the time come, when you then looked away from, uh, the, the smokies you mentioned the, uh, the Gulf Shore.
[00:08:36] Alex: Yeah. Yeah, it's, it's kind of been a bucket listing for me coming from where I come from.
[00:08:42] Um, I, I've never thought that I would be able to have a beach home, and that's kind of always been something that I always romanticize about. Like, how on the world are these people owning beach homes? And, um, I just networked with so many different investors out there, and [00:09:00] I had a lot of friends that were in this beach community that were making good money, and I felt comfortable enough to say, Hey, you know what?
[00:09:07] I could probably realize my dream of owning a beach home and, you know, make a nice, um, you know, profit in that area. So that one took me about, uh, another. to really start getting the ball rolling. And then it was kind of like burning the boats cuz now I'm going all in at that point. Um, and this is a little over a year ago.
[00:09:28] I'm selling all my long-term rentals off because at that point I think I had one eviction and then someone else was gonna move out and I said, you know what, let's just sell 'em. And then we wound up buying three beachfront, uh, homes in the Gulf Shores of. Nice.
[00:09:44] Liam: Nice. And, uh, I mean, you mentioned two things which I want to pick up on that one is you, you had the contacts and the network.
[00:09:51] Um, so what advice would you have for, for people listening around, um, you know, building those contacts? Was, is this [00:10:00] from the net, the contacts that you've got within real estate, or is this from looking around for people who are in hospitality? What,
[00:10:06] Alex: how did that come? Oh my gosh. I think Liam r networking is your biggest r o roi, cuz networking.
[00:10:14] Networking doesn't cost you a dime. It's really your time. Just going out there and meeting other investors, I'd go on these, all these Facebook group pages and I would just obsess with whatever I learned because like you said, I felt like I had the answer. Like it was almost like I had this life hack like, oh my God, I'm making all of.
[00:10:35] Cashflow from short-term rentals and I'm not paying anything in taxes. And for me, I just wanted to shout it out to the world like this is really what I'm doing. And I, so I went on all these Facebook groups and. I wasn't expecting anything to come from it. I would just reach out to all these people and just share anything that I knew, right?
[00:10:54] And so it got to a point where I was obsessed with helping as many people as possible just answering [00:11:00] all of their questions. And then what came from that is just building like this short-term rental community where we just all help each. Right. And that's really what it came to. I mean, I found I helped all these people get into short term rentals and then they were buying in all these different markets.
[00:11:16] And because I helped them so much, they're like, of course, I'll share knowledge with you. So
[00:11:20] Liam: it's so, um, so different in this industry, isn't it, where you do find that host, for the most part, are happy to share experience, share knowledge, and it's such. It's a cool club to be in the, the kind of hospitality world because people, I guess it comes with the, the territory of, of actually hosting, you know, like is, is being, uh, amenable to people and, and helping people enjoy their stay.
[00:11:43] It kind of, Is the same with when you've got groups and communities of, of hosts together, which is really cool. So we're definitely gonna dive into the, the Facebook, uh, the Facebook group, which you've built, which is gonna be awesome. But, um, let's talk more about the, so you've got [00:12:00] these, uh, these properties.
[00:12:00] Do you self-manage or do you use a management agent? How does it work and where do you advertise to get guests?
[00:12:07] Alex: We do self-manage. It's crazy, right? I self-managed from 2000 miles away. Um, my wife was able to retire from her W2 job, so she kind of helps manage that the day-to-day, uh, operations while I still go and work.
[00:12:21] I'm getting close to retirement here, uh, hopefully soon here. Uh, but yeah, we have a P m S system, a dynamic pricing system, and now we've hired, uh, virtual assistants to kind of help us with the.
[00:12:33] Liam: Amazing. Amazing. And, uh, again, I want to dive into, into that in more detail. So you are, um, uh, we'd love to talk tech and that side of thing.
[00:12:42] So let's, let's dive into that now. What is your, what tech helps you to manage from that far away? And if I was a host sitting there thinking, you know, I know, you know, there's some great places that I'd love to invest, but I'm worried about investing from this far away. What tech has helped you specifically to, to do.[00:13:00]
[00:13:01] Alex: Well, I use, uh, pretty basic tech. Um, I use GEI for hosts as my, um, my PMs. Um, I've been looking around at different ones. Um, it's really difficult, like a lot of 'em have goods and, and some bads and it's really hard to find like the perfect one. I'm actually in a trial right now cuz I'm thinking about switching, but not really, um, in love with that one.
[00:13:24] uh, we use Price Labs as our dynamic pricing tool. Um, what you'll find is a lot of cleaners also, they have their own, um, uh, tech cuz we love turnover b and b, um, where it automatically pays our, our, our cleaners. Um, the other thing I do a little bit different than a lot of hosts, I, I put a lot of, um, Dynamic QR codes in, in my, uh, short term rentals.
[00:13:49] Um, and what I do is I go there and I videotape and put on YouTube like a video on how to operate the hot tub. Like a lot of people have never been in a hot tub before and have no [00:14:00] idea how to turn it on. And so like close to the hot tub, there's a QR code and says if you're ever having issues with the hot tub, scan this KR code.
[00:14:07] And it's a video of me. Like showing them how to troubleshoot the hot tub. So tho that's that tech. Um, and as far as. Um, helping, uh, uh, new investors. What I would say is you don't have to have like all the answers up front, like, uh, and I think that's what I struggled with at first. I remember when I got a, a property under contract, I completely obsessed and dove into every single podcast, every YouTube video I could watch, and I had to get the right, uh, like door lock in the right channel manager, the right, uh, pricing software, and then.
[00:14:43] 30 days later, I wound up changing everything. So it doesn't have to be perfect. You could learn, you're gonna make mistakes along the way, um, and find something that suits you so, I
[00:14:53] Liam: like that. Start now and get perfect later. Basically, that's just in case, right? There's so much. Totally. My story. Yeah. [00:15:00] It's so much overwhelm isn't there for, um, there's so many bits of, uh, technology that you could use as a host or so many things that you could, uh, could do and.
[00:15:11] A lot of people might be listening to this think, Hey, I need to start off with all that stuff. But the truth is, it, it gets built over a period of time, right? Where you just, you're building it up. And I loved, um, just to sort of clarify some of the, the tech, so Guesty for Hosts is an awesome pmms property management system, which helps you for your.
[00:15:28] Controlling your calendars and managing the day-to-day. Yes, you've got lamps, which helps you with dynamic pricing. So for anybody's not familiar with it, it's uh, you know, case of it'll, it'll put in the prices, which is ripe for that time, for that month, and for the area, that sort of thing, which is cool.
[00:15:45] And then you mentioned you've got this method where you're going into the units or getting somebody to film the, you know, how to work. Uh, different parts of it. And then to have the QR code is just so important. And that's something which literally anyone [00:16:00] can do cuz you've even got free QR generators.
[00:16:03] Yeah. But such an important detail to your guest. Um, cause it changes their experience, doesn't it? So that's really cool. Um, you've just reminded me of a, um, we've actually got the, we've got a Facebook community, the hospitality community, and I saw a post in there, uh, today, which basically was talking about the, somebody had stayed in.
[00:16:23] Place with a hot tub and they didn't know what buttons to press and they were sent sort of written instructions, but just didn't know what to mm-hmm. in that situation, your QR code would've solved that and been given this guest a, a great. Experience. So, uh, yeah. That's amazing. Yeah.
[00:16:38] Alex: And let's face it, people don't wanna read on vacation.
[00:16:41] Yeah. You send them like a list of stuff. The if, if it's longer than like a paragraph, they're not gonna wanna read it and they're gonna give you a bad review or they're gonna just skip it. I really try to condense my video to 30 seconds, to 60 seconds, watch this video, push this, push this, push this, and I'm trying to walk them through it.
[00:16:59] So, , [00:17:00]
[00:17:00] Liam: it's so important, isn't it? Just to have that short, sharp and video is just so much more engaging. I mean, when I get sent, getting the information you don't wanna read, especially if you're, I mean, I might read it if I'm the passenger of the, in, in the car seat, you know, like reading through on the way to the place.
[00:17:14] But a video I'll, if it takes 30 seconds to watch, I'll watch it. Whenever it comes to, you know, whenever you need it. And, uh, one of the things that I've found, which has helped me recently is, is actually we use WhatsApp a lot of the time in the uk, especially in Europe. And we've found by WhatsApp, uh, like video tours of the place across before they come, they go, Hey, thanks for booking.
[00:17:35] Here's a link to the guide or the link to what to do in the local area or here. You know, a video guide of where you're staying and it just gets so much more engagement. You always get somebody say yes, you know, reply to it, which is cool. Great. So let's dive. Obviously, I feel, uh, I've got to know where your properties are.
[00:17:54] I feel, uh, you know, myself and the audience would be able to, uh, understand the business model as to as to what you've done there. [00:18:00] Um, When it comes down to the, uh, the day-to-day sort of routines and running of it, is it yourself who's on the guest messages or is it yourself? Did you say your wife as well?
[00:18:10] Is it, isn't
[00:18:11] Alex: it. Yes, yes. Uh, it's kind of embarrassing how much time we spent. Uh, we hardly spend any time at all If you have a well-written, uh, message that kind of lays everything out. And if you're, like I said, if you have the QR codes where guests can figure stuff out, um, they don't contact you that much.
[00:18:29] Obviously, there's gonna be some guests there that contact you that, that don't know how to operate certain things, you know? But for the most part, Like I said, it's kind of embarrassing. We focus more on the business more than like the guest communication. Mm-hmm. , um, probably two times more than the guest com communication part of it.
[00:18:46] So probably five, 10 minutes a day. Mm-hmm. , but that's by that , by
[00:18:51] Liam: having a good PMs, good systems, you know, in place then, and that allows you to, to concentrate on the other areas of the business you want, want to work on. And. [00:19:00] Has there been anything which has changed? So a, a, a kind of perception that when you went into starting hospitality, has there been anything that's changed perception wise over the time that you've been doing this?
[00:19:09] So since 2020, when you first entered, you know, the world of hospitality, was there something you thought then, which has completely changed now?
[00:19:19] Alex: Uh, maybe a mindset more than anything. I think when you get your first property, there's all of these things that you worry about. And to tell you the truth, you guys are worrying too much about it.
[00:19:27] Like, I, I, I probably spent 30 hours researching the right door lock. Which door lock am I gonna get? And to be honest with you, it doesn't really matter. I mean, there is one that I prefer, but I have another house that just has a, a. Because I, we, we can't put a, a thing on there, but the one thing we start focusing in on now is K.
[00:19:51] Standard operating procedures. Imagine if we create, if we all like built a restaurant and we were just the chef and we're cooking everything, [00:20:00] but imagine if you have to call in sick or if, imagine if you wanna expand your business, there's no way you could cook in two different restaurants. And so what we really focus in on is just writing everything down on, uh, Not paper, but we do have a program and we will have, cuz there's so much to remember, like when are the permits due?
[00:20:20] Like, hey, the coffee maker is probably gonna break every six months. Go ahead and reorder it and here's the link to order it and then send it to this person. And I really focus in on that aspect of it now. because now I hire virtual assistants, and now I feel like I could just expand the business to where if I hire a virtual assistant, they can just follow it step by step by step and make it really easy.
[00:20:43] And if I have to lose, if I ever lose that virtual assistant, I could hire another virtual assistant where they can just. Uh, plug and play and just jump right in. So that's kind of the different mindset now is now I'm writing everything down on paper and there's a lot of stuff that you focus in on, like I said, as [00:21:00] an initial host, like what kind of couches and what kind of sheets that you get.
[00:21:03] And then now I'm kind of at a different level, like we really need to write everything down to, that way we can just expand the business and d.
[00:21:12] Liam: That's really cool. That's really cool. And you mentioned, um, you mentioned VAs obviously there, so if I was a host listening in on this, what would you say to somebody who's thinking about getting their first va?
[00:21:24] What, what advice would you give them? Um, a, should they do it? And B, is there any tips you'd have to, to make it an easier process?
[00:21:33] Alex: I see a lot of people that, um, don't succeed hiring a VA and I there you'll definitely get like bad ones here and there. Um, and sometimes it's the luck of the draw. Um, but what my mentality is I always tend to put the blame on me and so I always say, what am I doing to where they're not successful?
[00:21:53] Right, and that's where creating the standard operating procedure, like, I mean, I have it written down to where it's almost [00:22:00] impossible to fail. Click on this link to pay my bill, and then here's the username and then the password. I use this app so that way they can, they don't see my password. They could just log in.
[00:22:11] Click billing, click on this. Like you really have it. And not only that, you have it to where, hey, every Monday, this is your task. Every Wednesday, this is your task. Every Friday this is your task. Or something like that. So that's what I would do as far as hiring a va. Really hone in on your systems initially and start creating your systems, uh, with the mindset that you're gonna hire one in the future.
[00:22:31] Cuz some people their first short term rental, they might not generate enough income to be able to hire a. Right. But start creating that system to where you finally get to two or three, then you could hire one out. So yeah.
[00:22:45] Liam: And that is, it's just so important. I know that was a mistake that I made. I thought I had my systems written down.
[00:22:50] I thought I had everything, uh, you know, done. And what I've now realized, as soon as I hired my first va, I realized how many holes there were in my and [00:23:00] things like, It can help you by taking on VA to realize what you need to write down more of for the future. Yes. I certainly improved things since, since the first va, which is cool.
[00:23:11] Yes, yes. You mentioned there was a couple of, um, couple of it's tech, which we always love to extract all the details. So you mentioned there's a lot smart lock that you prefer. Um, just for people listening in is, is who is that and why do you prefer that, that smart?
[00:23:25] Alex: Yeah, I use the Chilay gun code. Um, it's been really good for me cuz guest four hosts actually integrates with that lock.
[00:23:32] Um, and it creates the door code, the guest last four digits of their phone, phone number. Um, and it's only good from the time they check in to the time they check out. Uh, that's been uh, kind of a game changer for me cuz we used to have another lock which sent the guest a random code. and all the time they were contacting us, Hey, what's the door code again?
[00:23:51] It didn't matter how many times like I sent it to them, they always forgot. But now my message is, Hey, your uh, door code is gonna be the last four digits of [00:24:00] your phone number. And it's extremely rare that they ask for that now. So, Yeah, yeah. I'm trying to automate it as much as I can to reduce that, you know, the messaging.
[00:24:08] And so for me, that's been the game changer. They're a pain in the butt to get ahold of cuz there's a sh there's been a shortage of 'em, but it seems like they're back in supply. So hopefully , um, they'll be easier to get ahold of here.
[00:24:20] Liam: Hey, they're popular. That's why if, uh, you know, but that is fantastic because you're removing the friction for the guest of having to keep another number.
[00:24:28] I mean, we've all got numbers that you have to keep pin codes and things like that in your head. Whereas if it is just the last four digits, when that guest turns up, they're not having to overthink about it. You are removing the friction, then you're getting less calls, which, which is brilliant. So, yeah, definitely worth.
[00:24:41] So what was the name of that Look, that was it again. Uh, the
[00:24:44] Alex: Slay gun. SL on code. Okay. SL on code. Yeah.
[00:24:47] Liam: Yeah. SL on. So, um, awesome. So I kind of feel we've got to grips with the, the tech within your business. Um, one thing we've gotta ask about is your awesome Facebook community. So, um, I know, uh, it is based [00:25:00] around healthcare professionals and, and that side of things, but um, yeah, talk us through.
[00:25:06] You know how the Facebook group came about? I know you said this, you help another hosts, but what is the, what has the effect been by having a big Facebook group, uh, that you, that you own on Facebook?
[00:25:19] Alex: Well, I'm a respiratory therapist, right? Uh, so I'm in healthcare. Um, and we started in the Global Pandemic.
[00:25:26] And as you know, uh, COVID was a respiratory disease and we were absolutely slammed. And what I found is, . I mean, I'm the guy running the life support machine, right? That's me. Uh, we are the front of the front lines. And what I found is a lot of my coworkers, they're absolutely miserable. Uh, the nurses, the doctors, they all felt the same way.
[00:25:47] They're just completely overwhelmed. Like, and they're thinking, I can't do this anymore. Um, but they looked at me during, in the middle of Covid. . All of a sudden my wife was able to retire who was [00:26:00] also a respiratory therapist, and then they started saying, well, I wanna do that. I don't wanna do this anymore.
[00:26:05] I just wanna work part-time. Most of us healthcare workers absolutely love it. We just hate all the politics. And I think every career is like that. They, they have the politics at their job and they got into that career for whatever reason, because they enjoyed doing what they did. But you know, there's all these politics that gets in the.
[00:26:24] and so I had healthcare workers coming after me coming, wanting to talk to me day to day after day. And at the end of my 12, 16 hour shift, I would spend 2, 3, 4 hours talking to different healthcare professionals. Really what I did, and it's really just telling the same exact story I'm telling you guys right now, and it kind of inspired them to get into short-term rentals.
[00:26:46] For me, I created the community just to make better use of my time, cuz here I was spending 10, 20 hours a day giving the same exact spiel. Um, and I said, you know what? I'm just gonna start having online meetups. Then I said, you know what? I'm just gonna have [00:27:00] an online Facebook group where we can all add value to each other, where it's not just me coming at one.
[00:27:06] just with one perspective. Um, so that Facebook group has grown tremendously in the past. I think I've only started it a year and now we host online, uh, meetups once a week where we have like industry, uh, professionals and um, different realtors, different investors, kind of sharing their story. So that's been awesome.
[00:27:27] Reward for me.
[00:27:28] Liam: It sounds, I mean, the, the Facebook group has grown. I saw it's over, over 3000 people in the group in, in , which is amazing. And also, I mean, if, if there's people who are out there listening to this right now, either on the Facebook Live or listening to it back on the podcast, um, can, can anybody join?
[00:27:44] And if so, uh, how would they, how would they join?
[00:27:47] Alex: Yeah, you guys can join. I'll approve you guys. Uh, so it's on Facebook. It's called Healthcare Professionals Investing in Real Estate. Um, most of the people there are in healthcare, but I'll go ahead and approve you guys. Uh, and what you'll find, it's kind [00:28:00] of crazy, um, cuz you have this weird perception of different people, like they're, they're making so much money, they probably don't have, you know, why would they?
[00:28:09] Investing in real estate like me, but you'll find that a lot of us individuals are, we all have the same problems. We're all going through the same crap, you know, and we're all wanting more time with our family. We're all wanting financial freedom, so we, the community's been amazing. Where, doesn't matter if you're c e o of a hospital or like a respiratory therapist like me, we're all collaborating and working together.
[00:28:35] That's, it's
[00:28:35] Liam: about, um, I think at any, any level, it's about having more control over your life, isn't it? And that's what the short term rental industry does allow you to do with good systems and, and, and to be able to do that, which is amazing and, and clearly something which has worked for, for yourself, Alex.
[00:28:49] So, yeah. Um, is there any other tips or any other advice you'd like to share with anybody, uh, listening, uh, before we go onto our, uh, quickfire sort of fun [00:29:00] question.
[00:29:01] Alex: I think the question is, um, what I get all the time, like when I tell people about short-term rentals, they always ask, they start the question with these three words.
[00:29:09] But what if, hey, but what if there's a party? But what if you're buying at the top of the market and it crashes? But what if I get sued? But what if, but what if? But what if there's all these but what ifs? And I always flip, flip it around on them and I say, yeah, but what if it works? I mean, there's all of these like successful stories.
[00:29:28] I mean, for me it worked out. But what if you learn a skillset, but what if your wife was able to retire from her w2? But what if you're able to re, uh, replace your WT income? There's all of these positives on the other side of that. But I think we tend to focus in on all the but what ifs, all those negatives that can happen.
[00:29:48] So
[00:29:49] Liam: I think that's brilliant. That's brilliant advice. And, and ultimately, you mentioned that there's been times in life which, you know, investments haven't worked out and that things haven't. But from each and every one of those, you build skills, [00:30:00] you build experience, you know, and you take all of that into the next, the next venture, which is uh, which is really cool.
[00:30:05] So great. Thank you so much for that. So what we'd like to do is we get towards the end is, is ask just a couple of quick fire questions. So I know when we first came on, let's do . It's 7:00 AM over there. So, um, what is your morning routine as you, you're up and, uh, you are ready for this. So what's your morning routine look like?
[00:30:26] Alex: Uh, okay. So for me, I'm extremely streaky. What that means is I have to do something routinely. If I break that routine, I will make an excuse and not do it again. So today, uh, I, I wake up four in the morning and I go to the gym. Um, I go every single day. Today is the 96th day in a row. I've gone to the gym and it's, uh, one hour a day.
[00:30:48] Um, but yeah, I wake up early in the morning and I actually, I'm a healthcare worker, so I start. On my shift at six, 6:00 AM So I, I wake up at four, [00:31:00] get myself to the gym, and then, uh, get showered ready by five 30 I'm off, uh, to work. So.
[00:31:06] Liam: Amazing, amazing. So what is your, um, what is one gadget or one purchase that you've made, which you has really helped you in the last few
[00:31:16] Alex: years?
[00:31:18] Um, I could tell you something that's just helped me, uh, within the last, um, month or so, but this is something called the slide deck or, or, or stream deck, right? Yeah. And I saw that Mark had it and it's like, it's almost like creating your, um, your desktop into like a smartphone where you could have icons and you just click on that and it takes you, I mean, it streamlines it so fast.
[00:31:41] Like my daily routine is click this, click this, click, click this, like that. So anyway, stream deck, highly recommend it. They're not paying me for this. I got the extra large version. I think Mark has the same thing. I'm not sure if you have the same thing. I spent, haven't spent extra money,
[00:31:55] Liam: so I haven't yet.
[00:31:56] But literally, Marcus said to me, get a stream deck. You've now said. [00:32:00] Deck. So off this call, I'm gonna go and buy a screen deck. So, uh, that's amazing. Um, what is your, what is the most recent, uh, program TV series that you've really, uh, got into that you absolutely love?
[00:32:14] Alex: Well, I don't know. I, I'm a big Game of Thrones guy and I'm like, uh, the House of the Dragons is like much watch tv.
[00:32:22] It's Sunday right now, or actually it's Saturday, so tomorrow I can't wait to watch the season finale, um, of that. So it's like, I, I, I always binge watch stuff and I hate like, um, just waiting like this, you know? But anyway, I can't get, um, you know, like the whole day stops. I have to watch that.
[00:32:42] Liam: I love that.
[00:32:42] Yeah. I was big Game of Thrones fans, especially the early part of it. And now watch The House to the Dragon. That is, it's really good, isn't it? It's, it's really recommend it, um, phenomenal. Yeah. . And we always love to end the, uh, the, the show with, um, who inspires you?
[00:32:57] Alex: Well, I think my grandparents really inspired me.[00:33:00]
[00:33:00] Um, here I saw, um, their 12 children. Um, they actually, uh, left 11 of 'em behind in the Philippines to seek out a new life in America. , um, I have four kids of my own. I can't imagine that sacrifice to leave all your kids behind. Um, so that way they can have a better life. And every single one of those kids was able to come from the Philippines to America to really have a better life for their kids, right?
[00:33:27] So they've inspired me. Um, they've both passed now since, um, you know, but they started investing in real estate. I kind of picked up the real estate bug, uh, from them.
[00:33:38] Liam: That's cool. That's cool. And what a nice way to to, to bring it to a close. So for, for, you know, I, I feel like we've learned a lot, obviously about the tech side, about, uh, managing, uh, properties for, from afar and also just mindset.
[00:33:51] This to today's, uh, podcast has been a lot around the mindset and around just taking action, which is amazing for people listening in. If they want to, uh, get in touch [00:34:00] with your portfolio. What's the best way to do so?
[00:34:03] Alex: Really active on social media. You could find me at, at the real Alex AO on Instagram. I don't know why I chose that name, it's stupid name.
[00:34:10] But if you just type in Alex ao, I'm sure I'll come up. Or Facebook. You could type in Alex AO or my Facebook community healthcare professionals investing in real estate. Find me on Facebook there.
[00:34:20] Liam: So amazing. Thank you so much, Alex, for coming on today. This has been really enjoyable and yeah, I hope the, uh, the rest of your day goes well.
[00:34:28] Any closing comments just before we close off the, uh, the.
[00:34:31] Alex: No, just thank you for having me. I'm really excited. I, I actually needed a hook up with you guys cuz my direct booking, uh, game is awful. That's something I need to improve. You don't have to have it perfect. But eventually we're, we're getting there.
[00:34:42] So we
[00:34:43] Liam: can definitely talk about that. We'll, we'll talk more about that for sure. So thanks very much Alex. And uh, yeah, take care for now. All
[00:34:50] Alex: right. Thanks guys. See you
[00:34:51] Liam: having a blast. Gonna
[00:34:52] Alex: get it on the Bruce Lee podcast, Bruce Lee. Let Bruce Lee cuz it's so hard on the tee is loose leaf picking up those rhymes.
[00:34:59] Don't [00:35:00] write it, just do it loosely.
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