Real Estate Cash Flow vs. Door Count: Why More Units Don’t Mean More Profit | Marcellus Alston

Marcellus Alston (00:00)
Now you know it it’s not always about doors now, because I know a lot of people that got a lot of doors, but that don’t mean they’re making a lot of money. Yeah. Okay. It’s about that cash flow. Yes, sir. Okay. I would rather have a couple of single family homes.

Rather than a a a hundred unit apartment building, if if I’m just breaking even, you could be breaking even on that big one. Yeah. But give me this little cash flow so I can grow. You know what I’m talking about? People get caught up in what things look like. It ain’t about what it looked like. What are you getting?

Quentin Edmond (02:05)
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I am excited to be here today. Y’all know when I get this big smile, most of the time it’s around somebody.

Probably close to my vicinity. And so this gentleman is born very close to where I’m at. And so I get excited when I get a chance to highlight the people that surround me. And so I’m excited about this gentleman today. Marvern Ventures LLC Marvern Ventures Capital That’s the name of his business. This gentleman is a coach, he is an investor, he is an entrepreneur, and it’s not just all about real estate with this gentleman.

And that’s what I love about him. He really wants to help people transition from that nine to five to entrepreneurship. And so I’m so excited to introduce you all to Mr. Marcellus Alston. Marcellus, how are you doing today, sir?

Marcellus Alston (02:59)
I’m doing good, man. How you doing, Q?

Quentin Edmond (03:01)
man,

I’m doing good. Thank you for asking. You are what my wife calls N you person. And so my wife, you know, she talks about when you ask somebody, you know, how are you? Most of the time they’ll say, you know, I’m doing good. But often, so so often, rarely, maybe you get somebody say, I’m doing good and you. And so sometimes people don’t throw it back to you like, I’m doing good.

You so you are an angie person, you have been very consistent since we met. be like, I’m asking you how you doing. Like, I’m good. How about you? You know, so I appreciate that, man. I appreciate that. Okay. And so Mr. Marcellus, I am a type sir, I like to dive right in. So I would love for you to tell the people what’s your main focus these days. If you don’t mind, give me a little bit of an origin story, kind of how you got into the space that you’re in, and then tell them what markets you’re operating in. And so, sir, you have the floor, my friend.

Marcellus Alston (03:50)
Okay, thank you. I appreciate that, man. Okay, well, you know, originally I was born and raised in Washington DC. that’s where I’m from. Yeah. I now live in Georgia. Okay. What originally brought me out here was the music business. I had a record label, at one point. So that’s why I called myself following the hub. And at that time the hub was here. It wasn’t in New York anymore. So I came out and

I I I I’ve done a lot of different businesses, you know what I mean? And it was always some part of the business that wasn’t a hundred percent legit, in my opinion, you know, like I ran million dollar companies. So I ran into some trouble here and there. but my life has led me to where I am today. Yeah. One hundred percent legit on all levels. inve investing in real estate.

And coaching, it all started with the credit game. I helped people with their personal credit and and I grew to business credit. Yeah. And then once I got into the investing game, I started coaching that as well. Yeah. You know, but one thing that what I always felt was missing throughout all this time was the mindset of of people as a whole.

You know what I mean? what people actually want out of life and the way they see things. But this but society is what society is, you know what I mean? You know, we go to school not to be entrepreneurs or owners. We go to school, they send us to school to be good workers. You know what I mean? Let’s just be let’s keep everybody right where we want to be a good worker. You know what I mean? And some people can’t do that. But you know, it’s all about a mind frame and a mindset.

So I’ve I’ve all this has evolved in me for a particular product that I have, and what and a mission that I have to get as many people as I can out of that nine to five mindset. Okay, I call it the matrix. I need to get people, I need to free your mind. And that’s what I’m trying to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Quentin Edmond (06:54)
I love it, man. I love it, sir. I I’m listening to your story. I hear you, you know, you was born in DC. I was born in Baltimore. They’re very close to each other. And so yeah, so some of the things that we had yeah, some of the things and mindsets that we had to overcome, is serious, man. You know, it’s serious. And so, Mr. Marcellus, I often ask this question.

Well, I make the statement, then I ask this question. So, I I say destiny has no wasted moments, right? Meaning we’re borrowing from every leg of the journey. We’re borrowing from every facet of our life, every iteration of our life. We’re borrowing from it. And it’s making us the people that we are today. So I would love to know throughout your journey, specifically, definitely transitioning to this real estate space into entrepreneurial ship.

Marcellus, what has the journey revealed to you about yourself? Specifically, definitely on a business level, but just overall, right? Has it made you more humble, more disciplined? Has it changed your innovation when it comes to business? Talk to me about what the journey revealed to you about you.

Marcellus Alston (08:01)
that’s a good one. That’s a good one. And it’s an easy one. it revealed to me who I was as far as consistency, discipline. I’m a winner, I’m going to win. nothing can stop me but me. You know, things like that. and it also showed me that

I I’ve never lived a regular life. Okay. I just had to tr transform my own thinking to know that there are no shortcuts. Yeah. Okay. I started young. to be honest with you, I’m gonna share the little you know, secret in my life. my mom put me in the in the in the in the drug game. Wow. You know what I mean? She got me my first connect, you know what I mean? She showed me how to be a chef.

If you know what I mean.

Quentin Edmond (08:53)
I know.

Marcellus Alston (08:54)
I’m a master. I’m a I’m a master chef, baby. Okay. And I probably was about 12 or so. Yeah. By the time I was 15, I probably had about 50 to 100,000 under my bed. You know what I mean? And everybody used to work for me. You know what I mean? So I’ve always been a boss. You know what I mean? And and I and at one point I thought that was gonna last forever. I’d be doing that forever.

But like I say, I had to learn that there are no shortcuts and you gotta do things the right way and and you know and you gotta be disciplined. Yeah. Yeah. So that that that has taught me along the way that I I know inside of myself that I I can’t be stopped. Yeah. And it’s all about consistency and discipline. And and if you have those things, it just you can never give up. Yeah. You just never stop.

You can never stop. I mean you know never ever stop. Things might look bleak. I done been to the bottom of the barrel, my brother. Bottom of the barrel. I’ve lived on the streets for real. Literally. I’ve been there. Yeah. But you’ll never be hungry on the streets. If somebody tell you they’re hungry, they lying. Because it’s easy to get something to eat. You might can’t get no money, but you can get something to eat. And that’s something I know from the inside out. Yeah.

But anyway, fast forward to today, I keep those same principles. Like I say, I’m not built for a regular life, regardless of what was told to me and everything like that. I I remember one time my grandmother told me years ago before she died, she died, she lived to be a hundred.

And some years ago, she said, why don’t you get yourself a good job and get your social security? I said, Grandma, I would never be waiting on no social security. Anything they want to give me, I’m giving it away to charity. And I feel that way today. I feel that way today. See, you gotta understand the system that we live in. Okay. They want us to retire. You you make millions of dollars in your whole life, you spend millions of dollars, and you don’t have anything to show for it.

Okay, but then they want you to retire on a third of what you’ve been making. That’s like if I say come up to you at your job and say, Sorry, man, I’m only gonna be paying you a third for the rest of your career. thank you for your service. You got something to say. You got something to say, but you’re supposed to retire and live off of that. And you know, like I know, the more you hone, the more you’re gonna spend.

So, you know, I that is something that people need to get out of. Yeah. Like I say, you know, it’s a mind thing. And I heard someone say not too long ago, let’s just say somebody came up and said, Hold up, hold on, hold on. This this world ain’t fair, right? Jeff Bezos, Elon, let me get all that money. Be okay, let me get all that money.

So let’s put all this money. What we’re gonna do, we’re gonna put all this money in one pocket. And then we’re gonna split it up evenly between everybody. Let’s say they did that, right? Yeah. Do you know that eventually that money gonna end up back in them same pockets? Because it’s a way of thinking, it’s a frame, mind frame. You know what I’m talking about? So you know we need that’s what we need to change first. Yes, sir.

Quentin Edmond (12:59)
Man, Marcellus, sir, thank you for that reflection with that answer, man. like we all have tools that are transferable. We all have innate tools.

That make us successful when we bring it to whatever our target is. You know, and so of course we’re talking about real estate today, but there are tools that we bring to this real estate industry as an entrepreneur, as a business owner that helps us thrive and be successful. And that’s one reason why I answered, I asked that question. And so I thank you. I thank you for the reflection and the way you answered that question. And of course, you know, being you you’ve hit on the word a couple of times, discipline, being structured, having systems in place.

helps us again with at what whatever business we’re in. And so I would love to know what are some operational things that you do or some operational things that you’ve put in place, let’s say the last two years that has really helped you be successful.

Marcellus Alston (13:52)
To be honest with you, the last two years have really been the strongest of my of my life. Okay, and that’s basically because I have realized to a degree what it takes as far as the discipline, as far as the consistency. It’s all about being consistent, yeah, you know, with your flow. Yeah. how you deal with people.

how you talk to people, how you talk to and deal with yourself. Excuse me one second. Let me plug this thing up here. Yeah. Well run out of juice. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, so back to that as

I’ve just learned how to structure my structure it myself. You know, I found that I I thought that I was able to remember a lot of things. I don’t know if it’s age or what, but I can’t.

So you gotta put different things in place, triggers in place to help for memory and and and different things. I got whiteboards all over the place. I got notes, I’ve got reminders, and I got my calendars, I got all I I I cut on all of my alerts.

You know, especially with the the way that my days can get sometimes, you know, like I say, I got a couple of properties that I’m working on right now and I’m dealing with I I recently had to fire a a whole crew, including the contractor. So I’ve been taking a little more into that.

for the moment. But you know, I I need systems in place to keep me grounded and keep me on point. Yes sir. Like you know, things are it’s just too many things to remember. At one point it was easy. It was just like, yeah, well that’s pretty much all I got going on. So you know those times are easy, but you know, you need the pressure, the pressure and you need to be challenged. Yeah. If it if it’s easy, you ain’t doing nothing.

You know what I mean? Period. That’s just like working out. If if you ain’t putting in the work, you ain’t doing nothing. I mean, you know, you can do anything you want to do. Do you want to grow? Do you want to stay where you are? Or do you want to fall back? Yeah. And that’s just the way life is. And you gotta make your own decision, you know, about how what you want to be, and you know, and that’s it. Yes, sir.

Quentin Edmond (16:16)
No, it’s beautiful how you talked about, you know, the gym. You know, what makes us grow, what makes the the muscles grow is holding the tension. If you go to the gym and never hold the tension, never hold weight, you don’t grow. So to your point, you’re absolutely right. You have to hold the tension because that is what’s going to develop the muscle. So I love it, man. let me ask you this, sir. What’s next for you? What’s the next real goal? What are you looking to solve at scale next, man?

Marcellus Alston (16:43)
Okay, well my next goal is to I’m getting ready to get into what what I what I call modular communities. Yeah. Okay. you know, dealing with modular homes first off, but modular communities. I wanna name some streets after my kids. Okay. So that’s what I wanna do. Not only that, syndication.

And what syndication is, we’re dealing with apartment syndication, or or I could be syndicating these communities as well. Okay. And that’s just increasing your number of doors. Yeah.

Now you know it it’s not always about doors now, because I know a lot of people that got a lot of doors, but that don’t mean they’re making a lot of money. Yeah. Okay. It’s about that cash flow. Yes, sir. Okay. I would rather have a couple of single family homes.

Rather than a a a hundred unit apartment building, if if I’m just breaking even, you could be breaking even on that big one. Yeah. But give me this little cash flow so I can grow. You know what I’m talking about? People get caught up in what things look like. It ain’t about what it looked like. What are you getting?

Yeah. What are you getting? Now you know, of course, it plays hand in hand. Yeah. That’s just like it’s about who you know. Yes, sir. Yeah. But you know, don’t get caught up in what how things look and go broke.

Yeah. You know what I mean? Living beyond your means. That’s

Quentin Edmond (18:06)
Come on.

Marcellus Alston (18:07)
where people fall. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You gotta take a step back and look at where we are. So again, another another analogy like going to the gym. When you go to the gym, you gotta know where you at. You can’t look at them big boys over there and say, Let me go stand over there with them and let me can I work out with y’all? No, I couldn’t it don’t work like that, my brother.

Quentin Edmond (18:27)
Yeah, so

Marcellus Alston (18:28)
You gotta build a foundation and stand on yours.

No you are. That’s the only way you’re gonna grow.

Quentin Edmond (18:33)
Yeah. Yeah. So man, you you you you’re right. You’re you’re literally at a at a point where I would ask this question about relationships, you know, knowing who you are, you know, knowing the right people. So I would love to know what’s your philosophy on building healthy relationships and are there relationships that’ll help you in business be successful? So talk to me a little bit about relationships, Miss Marcellus.

Marcellus Alston (18:56)
Okay, well you know, to be honest with you, man, where I’m from, relationships are far here no there or far to come by or not easy to come by, put it that way. You

Quentin Edmond (19:08)
Yeah.

Marcellus Alston (19:08)
know, you got hate from everybody. You know, that that but that’s human nature. You know what I mean? If if people people would love people love to see people fail.

I mean, and that’s just how it is. I mean, I wanna be honest with it. And it is what it is, but I’ve always felt that as far as relationships, you you you’re gonna get what you give. You know what I mean? So me personally, I’m gonna give respect. I’m gonna keep it 100% real because you can’t get nothing but if you’re giving out bullshit, you can’t get nothing but bullshit. I mean,

Quentin Edmond (19:42)
Come on.

Marcellus Alston (19:44)
what you give out is what you’re gonna get.

Yeah. It’s real simple. You know what I mean? And I believe in building relationships. You know, I don’t believe in, you know, anybody I talk to, I want to build a relationship, no matter what level it’s on. I’m about building relationships. The long term, the long game. That’s what life is about. You know what I mean? I could I I would rather make money together for the long term than try to beat you and for a quickie. Yes, sir.

You feel what I’m talking about? you always do better by by you know the way you treat and respect people. Me personally, I will not be disrespected. So I’m going to respect people. So, you know, I I mean you gotta be like that because that’s the way it is, and that’s the way I am. Yeah what I mean. So that’s my whole sum of about relationships. I want to build a long-term relationship. I’m gonna respect you. I expect you to re-respect me.

Yeah, yes sir. Because I demand that. So I’m gonna give that. Yes sir. So you know, so that’s what it’s about. Yeah, yes sir.

Quentin Edmond (20:46)
Sir

Man Mr. Marcellus, I appreciate this conversation, Sir. I appreciate you. If someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing, how can they get in contact with you, sir?

Marcellus Alston (20:59)
Well I’m on all platforms. Marvern Ventures Capital At @MarVernventuresCapital. That’s on Facebook and also Instagram and also TikTok and also I got a channel on YouTube called MarVern Ventures Capital TV. Okay. and then like I say I’ve I’ve got multiple pages, you know, like I say from you know, you you’ll see.

You’ll see, you know, it’s all starter of mob Marvern investor tools, just a few things like that. If if they pop up, you’ll see my logo. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Quentin Edmond (21:39)
Well, listen, sir, let me say three things to you sincerely. One, thank you for your time. I think time is our most precious commodity. So thank you for spending some time with us today. Secondly, thank you for your story. Thank you for the gift of your authenticity and the gift of your vulnerability. I believe stories they plant seeds for people. And it’s it’s nutrients in those seeds, right? And so

We don’t know when the seed is going to take root. We don’t know when it’s going to grow, but it can do that at any given time. So I think you planted some real seeds today that’ll really give people the opportunity to grow. And lastly, man, thank you for your mindset, sir. Thank you for your mindset, man. Thank you for taking your perspective so seriously. And thank you for bringing that mindset to this platform. I greatly appreciate you coming on today, sir.

Marcellus Alston (22:24)
Yeah, I appreciate you having me, bro.

Quentin Edmond (22:25)
Absolutely, absolutely. So listen, y’all heard Mr. Marcellus. His information is in the show notes. Please get in contact with him. Reach out to Marvern Ventures Capital, Marvern Ventures LLC. Do some business. But definitely make sure you’re subscribed here. Cause I keep promising you we’re going to continue to bring up amazing people, just like Mr. Marcellus.

Marcellus Alston (22:46)
Don’t forget to subscribe to Marvel Adventures Capital TV either. Y’all got it? Y’all heard it. Marvel Adventures Capital TV. Okay. that’s pretty. That’s overall a new channel. you know, I’m I’m I’m immersing myself more and more into social media. I’ve written two books, just so you know.

Quentin Edmond (23:07)
Yes, come on.

Marcellus Alston (23:09)
they’re both on Amazon. one of them is called Marvern’s

Guide to Real Estate Investing for Beginners, Marvern’s Guide to Real Estate Investing for Beginners. And I also have a children’s book teaching about responsibility, money, relationships. It’s called it’s called the the empty jar. The empty jar.

Quentin Edmond (23:38)
I love that. Mm. It’s an empty job. I love that.

Marcellus Alston (23:42)
Yeah. That’s basically just talking. That’s also on Amazon. Just teaching about money and relationships and how people are. Yeah. Yeah.

Quentin Edmond (23:53)
There he is. So y’all done heard him. He didn’t give us, he gave us even more information now. So everything he mentioned again is is is in the show notes. So get in contact with him. Subscribe with him. Subscribe here. And listen, everyone have a fantastic.