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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Q Edmonds interviews Keith Rodgers, a seasoned real estate investor with over 24 years of experience. Keith shares his journey from the corporate world to real estate, focusing on owner financing and helping those shut out of traditional banking. He emphasizes the importance of discipline, long-term thinking, and the joy he finds in creating homes for people. Keith also discusses his transition into teaching and mentorship, highlighting the value of building relationships in the industry.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Keith Rodgers (00:00)
Well, something you brought up at the start of that sentence is really near and near to my heart is when you take the journey into owner finance, part of the discipline is choosing the long term over the short so early I’d have an opportunity after I put the rehab work into it to sell it on the retail market and take whatever it was, 15 or $20,000 upfront. And it was really, really hard to turn down the flip. But I just had to stay the course, take the…six, eight, $9,000 down payment from the customer and take the $200 a month for the next 20 years. And when your family needs something or when you need to pay for college or when you have these hard choices, it’s hard to turn down the flip. And, but that’s what part of the process here and part of staying the course and that discipline that we talked about. So,You know, there have been times where my family needed something over the course of the last 23 years where I took the flip. But I’ll tell you almost every time I regret it.Quentin (02:49)
everyone. Hello. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host Q Edmonds and I am excited to be here. So you’ll be excited, excited about my guest who’s done a lot of things in business. He’s done a lot of flips, done rentals, but he’s really settled into a system that works best for him. And you know what it’s all about. We lovefor everyone, the viewers, for you guys to get to peek through somebody else’s lens and learn about what they’re doing. And my guest, know, he has some nugget sections he wants to share, and I know you’re going to get great value out of this. And so I want to introduce you guys to Mr. Keith Rodgers. Mr. Keith, how you doing today,
Keith Rodgers (03:31)
And I couldn’t be better. I couldn’t be better. I’m very blessed.Quentin (03:33)
Awesome. Man, absolutely lovethat. Listen, I can tell just, you know, briefly, you know, from us just talking backstage, I can just tell that you’re a blessed individual. can tell you’re grateful and I can just see and hear the servant’s heart that’s in you. And so I want to dive into all of that. I just honestly want you to take us into your world. I want you to tell us, you know, the things that you’re focused on these days.
Maybe the markets that you’re operating in, maybe a little bit about how you got started, but pretty much I just want to turn the floor over to you. So again, you can take us into your world to see things through your lens. So the floor is yours, sir.
Keith Rodgers (04:13)
Sure. You know, I came out of the corporate world. I ended up in real estate because there were a few things in the corporate world that I did not appreciate. And I wanted to have a little bit more control over my life and not give so many others control over my life. So I set out to do that. And I’ve been in real estate for about 24 years. I’ve had some incredible mentors and they taught medifferent aspects of real estate. And, you know, so I still to this day, I manage Airbnb’s, I have my own Airbnb’s, I do flips, I have some rentals left, I sold most of those rentals, most of my rentals in May of 2022, I had an opportunity to do that.
But where I spend most of my time every day is owner financing. Looking for opportunities to carry notes that I create for people that are really shut out of the traditional banking system. These are people that generally have bad credit, but they have good incomes and they’re making progress on their credit. And it gives me a lot of joy to be able to do that.
Quentin (05:25)
Absolutely. I love that. And again, I talked about your service art. One of the things you just said, helping other people, helping people get back into homes. And I think that is admirable. think that’s passionate and it gives you a well-worth cause that I know keeps you going, keeps you motivated. And I mean, that’s how I see it, but I would love to hear from you because it’s not always easy in this climate, but what’s been the key to keeping that machine running smooth?Keith Rodgers (05:53)
You know.What I do, just being honest, what I do for a living is there’s not a whole lot that’s sexy about what I do for a living. So we need those motivations. And one of those motivations is some of the Christmas cards I receive from people that are overjoyed to get a home, right? I have people that I sell homes to that were down the street.
Quentin (06:10)
Yeah?Keith Rodgers (06:21)
renting the same house for the last 15 years and not improving their position in real estate at all. So, but when I say that what I do is not sexy is I’m not flipping big fancy homes. I’m not putting in, you know, all of these amazing amenities.I’m creating a home for a person that needs a home and they need an affordable home. And like I also talked about, they really are shut out of the traditional banking system. So I get a lot of joy out of doing what I do. In a baseball term we talk about, and this has been around forever, is there’s a lot of companies out there that hit home runs.
Quentin (06:45)
Yeah.Keith Rodgers (07:07)
and there’s companies that hit doubles and triples. I’m pretty much a singles guy. But I like to stack and I’ve been stacking for many, many years. Over the course of the last 23 years, I’ve been involved in ⁓ well over 3,500 houses that we’ve turned. And so it’s a large amount.Part of that is because, a large part of that is because I ran one of the largest owner finance companies in the United States. Now, I’ve been out on my own now for 17 years and done hundreds and hundreds of homes. I think 700 at the last count in the last 15 or 17 years. But it’s still one deal at a time, one small house at a time.
and you just stack it to your portfolio and just keep on moving down the road.
Quentin (07:57)
Absolutely. I love that. I love how you said it’s not sexy. One of the things about being consistent, you have a consistent lifestyle, is that consistency is not always sexy. It’s doing the same thing over and over every day. But that’s why it’s called consistency, because it brings a level of stability. It brings a level of discipline. And so I, yeah, yeah.Keith Rodgers (08:24)
Yeah, this is not anything about me. My mentor told me when I started that if I weren’t going to have discipline that this wasn’t going to work. And he was right. And but I know a lot of people and I’ve taught a lot of people in this business that that have have that discipline and have done incredibly well for their family for themselves, created freedom.So it’s really something to watch and I enjoy doing that.
Quentin (08:49)
Yeah. And you are definitely the type of person that we love to talk to because you kind of keep the main thing, the main thing. I love how you mentioned it, the not sexy. And so this is the part I like to ask people, especially guests here, because we don’t always want to talk about glamorize the success, making it seem like it doesn’t come with a process. It comes with a journey, right? And so there are moments when things get real, when a deal goes sideways or a time when you have to pivot fast.And Mr. Keith, I was wondering, would you mind sharing one of those moments for you when you had to pivot fast and things got real for you?
Keith Rodgers (09:24)
Well, something you brought up at the start of that sentence is really near and near to my heart is when you take the journey into owner finance, part of the discipline is choosing the long term over the shortAnd it’s not always fun.
so early
when I started out, I would
turn a house and
I’d have an opportunity after I put the rehab work into it to sell it on the retail market and take whatever it was, 15 or $20,000 upfront. And it was really, really hard to turn down the flip. But I just had to stay the course, take the…
six, eight, $9,000 down payment from the customer and take the $200 a month for the next 20 years. And when your family needs something or when you need to pay for college or when you have these hard choices, it’s hard to turn down the flip. And, but that’s what part of the process here and part of staying the course and that discipline that we talked about. So,
You know, there have been times where my family needed something over the course of the last 23 years where I took the flip. But I’ll tell you almost every time I regret
because I sure like having the $200, the $300 a month coming in without any phone calls because this is an owner financed home. We don’t deal with, you know, they’re responsible for all of
the things that a landlord is generally responsible for. So I just have to make sure that the taxes are paid and the insurance is paid and they’re paying their mortgage and that’s it.
Quentin (11:14)
I thank you so much. A lot of people don’t talk enough about this. And honestly, this would separate the folks from the ones that dabble and like you said, the one that’s in it for the long term. And you’re looking for that long term. There’s a saying, I like to say, and I’m kind of paraphrasing, but no, discipline is a teacher. Discipline is a teacher. And it doesn’t feel good in the moment to be disciplined, but after discipline teaches you what it produces is peace. So once you let discipline really teach you.Once it’s complete, you might not like it in the moment, but once you look back at it, you realize that discipline are actually giving you peace in your life. And I love how you said like every time you kind of stepped outside of discipline, it was like, gosh darn it, why did I do that? You know? And so again, you know, I really, really appreciate you sharing, Yeah, you know, please.
Keith Rodgers (12:01)
I have never heardit. I’ve never heard it that way. I love it because it’s true. It does give me peace. And I’m built that way and that’s the way God made me to be. I also heard a thing that has stuck with me forever. I read a book, a gentleman had given it to me. I met him at a conference one day and he had written a book and he’s highly successful guy. And his definition was a discipline, excuse me.
was just doing the things you don’t want to do first. And I try always every day when I come in to do the hard things first. And when I do that, I get that piece.
Quentin (12:38)
Yes, sir. And I’m going tell you why it resonated with you so much, because I got it from the Bible. So when you heard it, it kind of resonated in your spirit. You said, God, like, yeah, God, that’s something that God said. So it’s just, works, man. You know, when you work, when you work these ancient texts, it worked. When you work it, it worked for you. You know what I mean? So, So I love it, Mr. Keith. So listen, let me ask you this. What are you most focused on solving or scaling next? Like, what’s the next real goal for you, Mr. Keith?Keith Rodgers (13:07)
well, you know, I still create owner finance notes today. ⁓ I’m not a spring chicken anymore. I’m 58 years old and, I’m so blessed that I have, many hundreds of notes that pay me every month. And so I, I don’t have to stretch myself. I don’t have to take the risk.quite frankly at 58, you don’t want to be taking a bunch of risk either. So, you five years ago, I’ve always been told that I’m a good teacher. I never really wanted to be a teacher. I love the independence of my life, but I started teaching a few people that asked me to help them, just local people, friends of mine.
and I really enjoyed it and got addicted to it. And so I built this small little website and this is how I’m scaling at this point is I’m just trying to teach some people that are serious about it, that have discipline in their lives and are willing to follow a pretty simple program that’s not sexy. And if they’re willing to do it, I’m willing to help.
So I started doing that about five years ago and I’ve helped a number of people, not a tremendous amount, but just in the last year, I’ve really upped that game and trying to help a lot more before I retire. And every time somebody signs up, I just really take them under my wing. so I’m not really…
concerned right now about scaling my own business. I still turn anywhere between 12 and 24 houses or create 12 to 24 new notes a year. And I continue to do that and I will continue to do that as long as I can. But that’s a far cry from what I did a number of years ago. So I really am splitting duties. And then ⁓ I love to spend time at my ranch.
and do all the things that I need to do to keep that place looking the way it’s supposed to. that’s, know, scaling is probably not where I am today. I’m trying to give back a little bit.
Quentin (15:21)
Yeah. I absolutely, absolutely loved that. I think this probably made my third time mentioning, you know, I just, hear your servant’s heart, you know, and I know you said you didn’t, you know, you didn’t set out to teach, but to me, and I think I said this to you, it’s like the natural kind of maturation of what you’re doing because you are a responsible individual. And I always said, you know, responsibility is your ability to be able to respond. And so you are responding toKeith Rodgers (15:47)
Right.Quentin (15:49)
the gift that’s inside of you is like, I have the ability to teach. I have all this knowledge. Why not help other people to be able to respond as well? So it’s just, it’s kind of like the natural kind of, I can see the natural progression. And you know, it seems to me, and this kind of takes me to my next question because you care about people. And I know there’s a lot of people that are listening that either early in their journey or they’re looking to level up. But I think it’d benefit them hearing this when it comes to building relationships.and growing your network when it comes to relationships, what has made the biggest difference for you?
Keith Rodgers (16:21)
You know, I was incredibly blessed. I owned a We Buy Ugly houses franchise when I first started out. And I don’t know how far they are in the United States, but they’re pretty prevalent. And during that process as running that company, I met these two other individuals that were doing something really unique. And I just, one of thebest things I ever did was ask the guy to sit down and just tell me what he’s doing. I mean it’s not hard if you see somebody doing something that makes sense. Ask them, talk to them, ask them to tell you about it. Most people want to share what they’re doing and I’m here today because these two gentlemen shared what they were doing. Now we ended up being not
not just mentor relationship, but I ended up going to work for those gentlemen and learning from them for a number of years. know, Quint, one of the things that, that as an older gentleman that I’ve had to develop recently over the last five or six years is my generation didn’t learn the way that people learn today. You know, I’m sitting here on a podcast. We, this is
This is not normal for my generation, right? So what I really mean is I was told by another mentor of mine that I should start teaching or traveling with the amount of experience that I had in teaching courses and things like that. And I really thought, no, nobody does that. Nobody’s going to listen to me pay to.
I don’t know. And what I had to come around to is people just learn different. Nobody in their 20s or 30s or 40s wants to go to work for a real estate company and spend five years or 10 years learning the ropes when there are so many amazing qualified real estate investors that are willing to pour into them.
for a little bit of money. mean, a little bit of money. And I’m obviously no, no, people don’t learn that way. yes, they do. I mean, it’s, it’s remarkable. And once I even heard about it, I go, no. And then I changed everything when I understood from their position, why wouldn’t you pay a thousand dollars or $500?
to learn something from somebody that it took them 20 years to learn instead of going to work for a large company. It makes perfect sense. And so I’ve had to really change where I came from and understanding, you know, as a 58 year old, what’s going on out there and how to be a part of it a little bit, how to give back.
Quentin (19:02)
Yeah. Yeah.Keith Rodgers (19:18)
Nobody wants to come to work for me. I don’t blame them. I don’t want to work for me either. But do they want to get the experience of my 23, 24 years? Absolutely. So that’s why I enjoy the mentorship is it can be accomplished in a short period of time where you had to spend a lot of time before. So that’s kind of where the focus is at this point.Quentin (19:21)
Mm. Mm.you
Nope, absolutely. That was so, so well said. You can even try to go out there and cramp, you know, do 10 years by yourself or talk to somebody who’s done even more time than that. And they could, they can speed up your time towards your goal. And especially if you’re willing to listen and implement what’s being said. You know, a lot of us, we listen, but we never really implemented. And I think that’s what…
Keith Rodgers (19:58)
No doubt.Quentin (20:08)
That’s what separates people from, really, you know, you know, really being successful is the implementation. But getting that experience from somebody who’s been there, done that is everything. It’s everything. Yeah, yeah, I say, you know, relationship, relationships, connections is everything, you know, putting yourself in the right room with the right people is everything. So listen, Mr. Keith, listen, before we wrap, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, maybe collaborate or learn more about what you’re doing. What’s the best way for them to get in contact with you?Keith Rodgers (20:18)
It is. It is.gosh, mean, my website ownedthenote.com is just the clear and easy way to get a hold of me. And you can see what I’ve been doing. You can get a little bit more information about me and my background, what I’ve been doing. And there are just some ways to connect. There are ways to connect with a free phone call, 30 minute phone call. If you want to just…
hear my voice and see what we have to offer. So that would be the best way I would suggest.
Quentin (21:05)
Mr. Keith, sir, I thank you so much. Listen, I thank you for your time. I thank you for your story. I thank you for your perspective. I thank you for allowing us to peek through your lens. This has been a episode full of value and nuggets. And so I just thank you for being here today,Keith Rodgers (21:21)
I appreciate it. I appreciate you having me on.Quentin (21:24)
Absolutely. So there you are, everyone. Mr. Keith Rodgers. You’ve heard the story. You’ve heard his perspective. I know you found value in it. So make sure you are subscribed. There’s one just one little click of the mouse and then boom, you have these valuable conversations that’s going to let you know when they’re coming through because we’re going to continue to post them. So again, thank you, Mr. Keith. And to everyone else, we will see you on the next time.
