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Show Summary
In this conversation, Tony Lopes discusses the various forms of distress in the real estate market, emphasizing the importance of self-awareness and personal growth in navigating these challenges. He highlights the need for individuals to confront their truths, evaluate their goals, and understand the pressures faced by renters today. The discussion also touches on the significance of recognizing one’s superpower and the value it brings to both personal and professional life.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Tony Lopes (00:00)
starting small is okay, right? Don’t be bashful. Don’t be shy. Don’t let that paralyze you to say, I only have money to buy a duplex. I only have money to buy three units. That’s okay. That’s how so many, you see the great names out there and I don’t wanna share their backstory or embarrass them or anything, right? But so many of the greats out there that we see, they bought like, they started with a condo, right?Quentin (01:57)
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host Q Edmonds and I’m excited to be here today, excited about my guests. I think I’ve told you this before and it never fails. They got a way of firing me up right before we press record. So today is no different. But I have someone here, you know, I love his approach. Yes, he’s an operator. Yes, he’s the GP in his own deals, but he also does coaching.He want to educate people on the real estate space, how to be better, how to thrive, how to be successful. And so I’m excited about his spirit, excited about his energy, excited about what he brings to the real estate space. And so please, I’d just love to introduce you guys to Mr. Lopes. Mr. Tony, how you doing today,
Tony Lopes (02:43)
Quentin, thank you so much for having me on. we got started before you hit the record button and man, we’re gonna have fun on this podcast. This is gonna be great. Looking forward to it.Quentin (02:49)
Yeah, yeah.Absolutely.
Listen, that’s the pact we made with each other, y’all, that we’re going to have fun. So we’re going to have some fun today. So Mr. Tony, listen, I’ll be honest. I kind of want to dive in. I want you to take us into your world. want you to tell us what your main focus is these days. I want you to tell us maybe a little origin story of kind of how you got into real estate, how you got to where you are. And then also tell us where you are in the world, if you don’t mind. Tell us what market you’re operating in. So Mr. Tony, sir, the floor is yours, sir.
Tony Lopes (03:20)
All right, that’s a lot. I hope I cover it all. Yeah, so actually, backstory is actually probably pretty timely for where we are today. I actually started in real estate because I got laid off from my corporate job. I went to school, I had gotten my bachelor’s degree, I got my master’s degree, and I thought I was set, right? Like a lot of folks, right? You have your degrees, you’re set, you’re good to go.Quentin (03:23)
Yeah, I know.Yes,
Tony Lopes (03:50)
And then I got laid off and I’m like, whoa, this was quite the blow. ⁓ and so I wasn’t financially independent at that time. I needed to go find another J O B as we say. And so, but already right there, when that happened, that was a huge inflection point in my life. Cause I’m like, whoa, I don’t want to live like this where, you know, my independence, my freedom is tied to really somebody else’s decision. I wanted to make that.Quentin (04:02)
Yeah, yeah.Tony Lopes (04:18)
So basically that’s when I started thinking about getting involved in real estate. I had a little exposure to it growing up. My parents were immigrants to this country. They had bought some real estate, some rentals. So I had a little bit of exposure. So I knew a little bit about what I was getting in, but I, you know, I never ran the business for them or anything like that. So I really had to learn it on my own. ⁓ So that was my…kind of how I got my foot into real estate was through necessity, really, not wanting to be hitched to somebody else’s car. So I really started buying small multifamilies. And I talk about this all the time, Quentin, because I want folks to understand, you don’t have to start big, like buying an apartment complex and being a sponsor or syndicator. No, you can go off like.
Quentin (04:53)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.Tony Lopes (05:14)
My first building was like a real crappy, you know, quad. It was at this, you know, classy, right? My father came by and looked at it and he said, oh, what are you doing? Have I taught you nothing? And, but I still, I still bought it. And actually I still own it today. It’s, it’s, it cash flows beautifully. So it’s, it’s hard to let go of that cash flow as you know, Quen. So.Quentin (05:20)
Yeah, right.Yeah.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
Tony Lopes (05:44)
Sostarting small is okay, right? Don’t be bashful. Don’t be shy. Don’t let that paralyze you to say, I only have money to buy a duplex. I only have money to buy three units. That’s okay. That’s how so many, you see the great names out there and I don’t wanna share their backstory or embarrass them or anything, right? But so many of the greats out there that we see, they bought like, they started with a condo, right?
⁓ So I say that to encourage folks.
Quentin (06:58)
Yep.Tony Lopes (07:00)
That’s how I started. still, as an operator, still operate, you know, really my own portfolio of properties. But then I was still working at the time. And that’s another important piece, right? Just don’t sever the cord. Like still have your job. If you need your job for that cashflow, for that income, that’s okay. But if you have a roadmap eventually, you know, to build up your portfolio, great. You know,But don’t exit right away when you just have a duplex. That’s way too risky. I actually pulled the ripcord and quit my job when I was 44. I had enough real estate to be able to do that. So I basically retired at the age of 44. And I had people coming out of the woodwork at that point saying, wow, Tony, I always knew you did something with real estate, but I didn’t really know to what extent. that you could actually retire from it at 44, that’s just crazy.
⁓ and so that’s when I also started offering some, coaching services just to kind of help people. Cause so many of the stories would come out. I always wanted to buy, you know, a triplex or a six unit building. I always wanted, I always wanted God, if I had a nickel for every time I heard those stories, you know, I’d have a nice, nice pocket of change. ⁓ so, ⁓ so that’s when the coaching really started, ⁓ to help folks, do that. And I, I I was, you know, really, ⁓
⁓ really humbled by folks really entrusting me that, you know, hey, this is somebody that I worked with for years, but now he has something to share different that I want to learn. And I was just, it was really a humbling experience. And I was just so grateful for those, you know, those first clients really to trust me, to walk them through the process. So that’s a little bit about that. But then, you know, after I retired, you know, I was 44, I looked to my right, looked to my left. mean,
All my friends were still working their day jobs, right? Like I wanted to go to the beach. I wanted to go hiking. I wanted to go climb mountains. I wanted to go mountain biking, right? And all my friends were still working and it’s like, wow, this sucks. Right? Like you guys got to retire too. So I stepped forth down the path of, you know, just really building my team and getting to understand myself better. ⁓ and this is something we spoke like before you hit the record button, like,
You know, I realized, you know, pretty early on that, you know, who I was, like I wanted financial independence. I wanted freedom, but part of that was I also liked being the hands-on guy. ⁓ and so I did a lot of my own property management, property maintenance on my, my buildings. Right. And you know, sometimes, you know, people shy away from that. Some advisors.
Quentin (09:38)
Yeah.Tony Lopes (09:52)
tell them, get somebody else to do it. And maybe that’s the right decision for some folks. For me, it wasn’t because that really created what I call today my superpower, being really informed as far as property management, property maintenance, things like that.Quentin (10:04)
Yeah.Tony Lopes (10:44)
And so when I went into the working with others to buy large apartment complexes, right, youYou just don’t walk in the door and be like, Hey, I want to be a GP or I want to sponsor the purchase of this. Right. It’s like, you you’ve got to come with some credibility, something of value to the team. And so that was really my value that I brought to the team. And I’ll give you an example. ⁓ We work with, ⁓ you know, different partners and one of our partners just sent out ⁓ an email yesterday to me and my other partner.
of a property that they have.
so part of my job in all of this is not, you know, I trust him in terms of the demographics and doing the waterfall charts and all that sort of stuff. I’m going to review it obviously, right? Cause I want to be knowledgeable. But my superpower that he doesn’t have is being a, a property manager, right? Walk in, right? My, company’s called Dirty Boots Capital and I call it Dirty Boots Capital.
Quentin (11:40)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.Tony Lopes (11:53)
because I get my boots dirty walking the ground each and every day, looking at property, like climbing the ladder, walking on the roof, looking at ⁓ the HVAC units, right? I love that sort of stuff. That really just gets me jazzed. ⁓ And so it’s not really a chore for me. Yet some of my other partners that I work with, they’re like, Tony, you can go ahead and do that. I’m gonna stay in the air conditioned office and I’m gonna work on these waterfall charts.And that’s okay, they can do that. ⁓ And I bring that up because over the years of me being in real estate, I’ve realized that’s my superpowers, really property management and property maintenance, things like that. So that’s my value that I bring to the table today with my partners. ⁓ Yeah, so where we operate, everywhere from
The big areas, New Hampshire, southern New Hampshire, Florida, as well as Arizona.
Quentin (12:59)
Well, listen, man, you hit everything. You said that was a lot, but you covered a lot of ground. You answered succinctly. That was beautiful, sir. That was beautiful, man. I love it.Tony Lopes (13:09)
Well,hope, Quen, hope it resonates with like some of the folks that are watching and listening because, you know, you just don’t come out of the womb knowing some of this stuff and to have the humility to say, don’t know. Like I go to my partners and I look at the waterfall, how did you get here? You got like a two X return and like, I’m just not like walk me through it. And it’s just great to have others. And that’s where coaching is super important for folks.
Because if you haven’t done it or you’ve only done it two or three times, there’s things there that you might be missing, right? And not for nothing, I learned from my students just as much as they learned from me, right? So it’s a super fun experience we go through. It doesn’t break the bank. And I don’t take on everybody that calls me, to be honest. I only take a select few.
⁓ So I want to make sure I have time for everybody to do a really credible job for them.
Quentin (14:10)
I love everything you’re saying. I love, you know, I think I mentioned this before we got started. When you know who you are, you know what to do. Right. And I love the fact that you found your superpower and you rest in that superpower. And I love that. And to me, that’s an incredible, what I call strategy is self-awareness, knowing who you are, knowing what you fit, knowing what your superpower is. And so for me, because I always like to ask people, what is a personal strategy?that they use in their life that translates very well to business. And it seems to me that that’s a strong strategy that you have is that you know exactly who you are and you know exactly the value that you bring.
Tony Lopes (15:31)
Yeah, and you know, to be able to take some quiet moments and this is something we cover, so to speak, in the coaching and a different conversation is, you know, there’s so much distraction out there today, social media and phone calls and emails and you know, we just need to really shut that stuff down. I get it. I’m a busy guy, just like you, Quentin, just like all the listeners, right? We’re all busy, but you really have to find time to shut that down. Whether it’s once a day or once a week, whatever works for you, butyou really have to have these conversations to yourself with yourself and say, know, hey, what, what, what is my superpower? What is my, you know, my, my value to the organization? If you, even if you, know, you have a job, right? That’s, that’s okay. Like what’s your value to the organization? Like if all, you know, and I use this example, right? If, if, if, if you work in a, ⁓ in a, like a car repair business and
All you know how to do is change oil in a car. You have value and that’s great. But if your coworker knows how to change oil, do the brakes, change the points and plugs, do some, like they’re so much more valuable than you may be. ⁓ So ⁓ think about it from that perspective and just like start to write it down on a paper and say, where do you excel? Where’s your value?
Quentin (16:36)
Yes.Tony Lopes (17:00)
What sort of productivity do you bring to the table each and every day? And you know what, don’t be embarrassed. And this is where like, love doing one-on-one coaching. I don’t do group group coaching, right? Because we need to have that humility and that maybe a little bit of embarrassment to go through it and say, you know what, all I know how to do is change the oil in the car, Tony. It’s like, that’s okay. Let’s, let’s work on this. How do we expand you to be something more, right?Quentin (17:29)
Yeah, yep.Tony Lopes (17:30)
⁓and so again, you don’t come out of the womb, knowing these things, takes time, but it really first starts up here with the realization that you have to take action, right? Because if you never have that aha moment to say, Hey, all I know how to do is change the oil and that’s okay. And I want to do more than that.
Quentin (17:40)
Come on.Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Absolutely. Listen, this age is going to sound familiar to you, but I’m about to be 44 next month. Right. And so in this age of my life and season of my life, one of the things I’m being more diligent about is being curious. Like I am being very, very curious at this stage of my life. And when I say that curious, because as you talk, some people are scared to confront the truth about where they are.
the truth about their habits, the truth about their work and their work habits, their work ethics. And one of the things that I’m learning as I get curious is that confrontation is not a bad word. Confrontation is just confronting what’s in front of you, whether it’s an issue, whether it’s a problem, whether it’s a deficit, whether it’s a weakness. And I’m being curious more and more in my life at this stage.
to confront whatever’s in front of me. Don’t bury my head in the sand. Don’t turn away from it. Let’s look it right in the eye and say, okay, what are we going to do about it? And so as I listened to you talk about finding your superpower, me, myself, I’m learning that confrontation is not bad. Be curious about what’s right in front of you and how are you going to attack it? How are you going to go about it? And I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t always been that way, but that’s where I met you this season.
Tony Lopes (19:20)
Yeah, but you’re normal, right? Don’t yourself up like it’s it’s it’s not like, know, everybody goes through this. And that’s the thing. That’s the thing about, you know, what we do on these podcasts, you know, we try to highlight, know, hey, folks, you’re you’re out there. If you’re struggling with something, you know what I struggle to, you know, I got started in the business 20 years ago, and people would say, gee, Tony, you had it so easy 20 years ago.Quentin (19:30)
Yes. Yeah.Yeah.
Tony Lopes (19:48)
Well, let me tell you, 20 years ago is nothing like today. I had struggles back then. I was buying properties that were completely vacant. You think it’s easy going to the bank with no job, buying a vacant building? You think they want to give me money? No, they don’t. know, private lending, syndications, things like that just weren’t really a thing back then 20 years ago. So, I mean, it…Quentin (20:04)
No. Right? Yeah.Yeah. Yeah.
Tony Lopes (20:14)
It was hard for me. you know, sometimes folks are like, gee, Tony, it’s hard today. As real estate investors, we’re never happy. It’s always hard. When rates are high or rates are low, we have, there’s other pressure points. ⁓ But something I want to touch on relative to what you were saying, have that curiosity and always question ourselves. We’re getting to the end of the year. Okay. And hopefully this is timely and also value add for the audience.Quentin (20:38)
Hmm.Tony Lopes (20:42)
We know at the end of the year, we start thinking about our 2026 goals. What do we want to achieve in 2026? And that’s great. One of the things I ask folks to do or challenge folks to do is go back and look at your 2025 goals and say, did I achieve this? Did I just kind of kick it forward? Did I not give it the attention that it needed?Right? Look at those 2025 goals. And I’ve done this myself personally. So, right? I don’t look for people to do anything that I haven’t done myself and say, did I not achieve this goal? Uh, because at the end of the day, my heart just wasn’t in it. It’s just not me. It looks, man, it looks great on paper. Man, that looks great. Quentin, right? I want to achieve that. But at the end of the day, it just wasn’t really me.
Quentin (21:29)
Good onTony Lopes (21:37)
It just wasn’t in my being, ⁓ you know, or I just didn’t, you know, have the skills to do one of those goals. And so I have to go hire some people to go do some of those things because I just wasn’t the expert. thought I was, I thought I knew what I needed to do, but man, technology today is so ever changing, like, like week by week and. ⁓and I just wasn’t equipped for that amount of change. So you really have to go back and again, have that humility to say, did I fall short? And it’s okay, you’re having those conversations with yourself. It’s not like you gotta be embarrassed in front of anybody, right? If you need to have a coach or you need to have a mentor to go have those conversations, go have those conversations with them. They’re not gonna poke you in the eye or anything. If they’re a real friend or a real good person, they’re gonna help you through that sort of stuff.
So as we go into 2026, use that strategy, look at your 2025 goals and really critique yourself on where you fell short.
Quentin (22:43)
Absolutely. I love it. And I’m not measuring my success against Tony’s success. Like this is not, that’s when I say about, when we talk about being curious, it’s not, I’m curious, Tony did this, I’m not doing this. No, it’s just curious about being just honest about where I’m at. You know, and it’s not to say you’re not being successful. Again, it’s just being curious and being honest. Like you said, look at the 2025 goals and let’s be curious, let’s be honest and let’s confront why we haven’t reached the goals, whatever that may be.And you guess what? It may just be okay. You may have just found success in some way else and did not reach that goal. That, you know, it’s, yeah. So hopefully that makes sense to the people that we’re talking to. And so speaking of goals, do you have any next real goals for yourself? I mean, you brought up goals. Are there anything that you’re trying to reach?
Tony Lopes (23:22)
Beautiful life.So again, from the perspective of maybe sharing something that adds value to the listeners, one of our goals, one of the things in real estate specifically that we go after today, that maybe some folks, I’m gonna share it in a little bit of a different light that I don’t think anybody or I haven’t found anybody that’s talking about it in this way. I talk about the… ⁓
⁓ the three ⁓ distresses in real estate, right? So we all know about the first distress, right? When we talk about a distressed property, maybe it has a leaky roof or it’s ugly, old windows, bad landscaping. I don’t know, it’s just distress. It just looks ugly. We know distress when we see it, right? ⁓ So we’re familiar with that first one. We’re even familiar with the second one. You know, last couple of years has been a lot of chatter about
Distressed operators folks who bought into the business. Maybe they didn’t know who they who they were what their superpower was Maybe they don’t have any GPs or staff that kind of compliment them where they fall short ⁓ So there’s distressed operators out there and that’s really come to light In the last couple of years and so the third type of distress I want to bring forward and then not a lot of folks are talking about in this way is the distressed renter
Right? ⁓ There’s a lot of pressure on renters these days. There’s been a lot of inflation over the last few years. We know about that. We don’t have to kick that dead horse. Their pays haven’t been going up in an equal fashion, unfortunately. ⁓ And there’s just ⁓ such an imbalance there. ⁓ I was looking at, ⁓ just five years ago,
The average loan on a vehicle just five years ago was $30,000. Okay, $30,000, which even now today I look at it I’m like, wow, that’s a lot of money. Here we are five years later, the average loan is now $40,000. In five years, the loan for just a car has gone up by $10,000, right? That’s a lot of money.
Quentin (25:52)
.Tony Lopes (25:55)
you know,⁓ you know, really wears on their disposable income. ⁓ And, ⁓ you know, there’s just a lot of things hitting them right now. So reason why I bring up that that third distress is because for 2026, our goals, one of the things we’re looking at is really, you know, exploiting those those three distresses in real estate, you know, distress property distress operator, and also the the distress rent or where maybe you go and you’re looking at properties and
you know, it has a 30 % vacancy because it’s distressed economy in that area. And that operator just doesn’t know how to pivot to be able to fill those vacancies, right? And be able to get it to something ⁓ more realistic. ⁓ So those are the three things we’re looking for in 2026 to really try to find, ⁓ you know, really a property we can turn around and just knock it out of the park for our investors.
Quentin (26:25)
Thanks.you
Thank
I love it. Absolutely. Well, listen, this has been time so well spent. Listen, if someone wanted to reach out to you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing, connect with you. Mr. Tony, what’s the best way for them to get in contact with you,
Tony Lopes (27:09)
Thank you Quentin. The best way is to reach me by email. I check and read and respond to all my emails. You can reach me at TonyLopes at DirtyBootScapital.com. Tony Lopes, Lopes with an S, at DirtyBootScapital.com.Quentin (27:24)
Yes, listen, Mr. Tony, you have given us such great value on this show. It’s been fun. We laughed. You’ve given us insight on mindset shift. And so listen, I thank you, sir. I thank you for your time. I thank you for your story. I thank you for your perspective. It was really, truly a pleasure doing this episode with you today,Tony Lopes (27:43)
Well, thank you for having me, Quen. This was a lot of fun.
