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Show Summary
In this conversation, Josh Fuller discusses his journey in the real estate industry, focusing on his unique business model that connects everyday wholesalers with hedge funds. He emphasizes the importance of mindset, personal development, and strategic networking in achieving success. Josh shares insights on the challenges of the current market, the significance of sticking to specific investment criteria, and the value of mentorship in navigating the complexities of real estate. He also outlines his future plans for expanding his business and automating processes to enhance efficiency.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Josh Fuller (00:00)
Uh, accidentally, I, uh, yeah, yeah, sort of accidentally. I, uh, I used to run an airborne assault team in the military and then I got, uh, blown up, uh, by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan in 2009. And I ended up getting out and coming back in, um, uh, came back to Texas and my next door neighbor, he was telling me a little, you know, I was just trying to figure out what I wanted to do.Quentin Edmonds (01:57)
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host Q Edmonds. Got another excited guest. Another guest that excites me here. Another person who I’m sure is going to bring so much nuggets and value to our podcast and to the platform. Listen, this gentleman brings Main Street to Wall Street. And what does that mean? I’m going to let him tell you. But I’m super excited to have him here today. Super excited to think his brain.about what he you know what he do the processes that he used and so I want to introduce you all to Mr. Josh Fuller. Mr. Josh, how you doing today,
Josh Fuller (02:33)
Good to see you guys. Thanks for having me on the podcast, man. So yeah, I mean, in a nutshell, what we do is we like, like you said, we try to bridge Main Street to Wall Street. So, you know, back when we were getting started, when I got started in 2012, a lot of people were gatekeeping, nobody really wanted to, you had to pay 50,000 for this, you know, information and this and that. And it was extremely hard to get ahold of justgeneral information. And it took me a long time to start to be able to sell the hedge funds. And then, you know, ⁓ that basically just became my thing. And ⁓ what’s cool about what we’re doing is, like, you’re getting to time travel, you’re getting to bypass all of this stuff, you’re not going to have to try to do all the things and all the years and years and years it took for us to really dial in the cap rates, the gross yields rates and being able to
⁓ Find out whose acquisitions what MSA is there they’re working in we do all of that work for you and ⁓ We we just know exactly the buy box ⁓ of what they want. So we try to help the everyday wholesalers ⁓ Get their properties over to Wall Street and we help Wall Street not have to talk to the everyday person that has all the regular questions that they’re like I’ve got ten billion dollars to spend I’m not
talking about this and that. So we just try to bridge that gap and increase in assignment fees for wholesalers.
Quentin Edmonds (04:08)
I love it man. Hey Josh, do this. Give me a origin story man. Where did the thought come from to get into this business, to get into this processing? How did you walk into this man?Josh Fuller (04:20)
Uh, accidentally, I, uh, yeah, yeah, sort of accidentally. I, uh, I used to run an airborne assault team in the military and then I got, uh, blown up, uh, by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan in 2009. And I ended up getting out and coming back in, um, uh, came back to Texas and my next door neighbor, he was telling me a little, you know, I was just trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I.Started a landscaping company that thing failed started a construction company that thing failed and I trying to figure out just what to do and my next-door neighbors like he owned like a commercial building he’s like well you ever thought about real estate and I was like I don’t want to be a realtor
know like that’s just not my thing ⁓ and so I was away I found this app called meetup.com and I went on there and I was like trying to search for anything
I love business, but I don’t want to be stuck in an office all day in a cubicle. And I love construction or building stuff in my hands, but I don’t want to have to deal with the contractors every day and nobody’s showing up and then people stiff you on payments. And I was like, just trying to find something where there’s local meetups that I can go to that have like minded people or something I haven’t even heard of yet that that could be possible.
And so I went to this, ⁓ this RIA, so R E I A I’m sure everybody here knows that is a nice little RIA. And these guys are talking about buying houses from the auction steps in 2012 of, ⁓ without licenses, you can just go up there and buy it, or you can, ⁓ go and buy it before it goes to auction. And I’m like, what the heck are you guys talking about? And so I found this gentleman named Steve Berenger.
And I was like, dude, I will do whatever you want to man. I was like, Afghanistan was way worse than this. was like, I’ll do whatever you teach me about this. And so I had the opportunity to be able to work with him and build up his ⁓ portfolio. And he taught me, you know, a lot during the time got to have some really great partnerships with people like Steve Labis and ⁓ went to work for a little while for some one of my buddies convinced me to go do sales for his organization for a little while and then
stepped away from that. ⁓ but I’m, I’m very particular on, I’m a huge why guy. So I’m always trying to find who’s who’s the best buyer out there. So I get into data, I figure out where trends are going. And so from there, it just, it all just kind of makes sense to me. And so just after a while, I’ll be like, who’s this person? Who’s that person? And then I’m like, cold calling, cold calling, cold emailing. Nobody answers two, three, four years. So then, you know, finally,
you start to start to get in the right places, get in the right rooms and cultivate these relationships. And they’re like, you’ve ever sold to a fund before? Absolutely. Of course I have. Craig, you know, here’s our buy box. that whole sweet. And then now that one works. Now I got a bunch of them. And then a lot of them, you know, we kind of know each other now. So it just, it’s become a self-fulfilling prophecy at this point, but ⁓ never knew that this industry existed, that you could do this without a real real estate license. ⁓
But yeah, so I mean, it’s just been a blessing to be able to ⁓ work in this space. I absolutely love it.
Quentin Edmonds (08:30)
Absolutely, man. So, you know, I know you hear this and I’m gonna say it sincerely. I can’t figure out any other way to say this, but I just say what it says in heart, man. Sincere heart, thank you for your service, man. Thank you for what you’ve done. Thank you for the way you’ve served. Really, really appreciate it. Got more courage to me because I have not served. did not have the courage to serve. So that’s why I say sincerely, man. Thank you for what you’ve done. I appreciate you.Josh Fuller (08:53)
You’re worth it. ⁓Quentin Edmonds (08:55)
All right. Appreciate that, brother. ⁓ So, man, it sounds like you have definitely overcome a lot, overcome a lot of obstacles. I always have this saying, like how you say, know, knowing your why. You know, I say when you know who you are, you know what to do. When you know why you do something, you know exactly what to do in any situation that you’re in. And I also like to say destiny has no wasted moments.mean, like the things that we were involved in in the past, some skills is transferable to where we are now. And so I would love to know if there’s any personal strategies that you have identified that kind of make you the businessman that you are now. And when I say that, you know, some people go to the gym, you know, some people mediate, you know, some people talk about, you know, discipline, like are there certain personal strategies that you know, help you be the person and the businessman that you are today?
Josh Fuller (09:48)
A thousand percent. Well, I give all the glory to God and Jesus Christ. So he’s the number one thing in my entire life that’ll make anything happen. And if you go against him, he’ll make surehe’ll make sure that you have a different path. And just like everybody says, you’re the sum of your five closest friends. Right. So you have to be very careful and guarded on who you’re hanging out with. And so that’s why I spent all my 20s not going out and partying, just going to real estate meetups at seven a.m.
getting around people that are 50, 60, 70 years old, not around the 20 year olds that are just trying to sleep around everywhere. I’m trying, I need to build a business because I have ⁓ a ⁓ vision for myself and where I want to be. And one of the main things is I have an unfair advantage in business. And I think people really need to have a paradigm shift in their mind because some people look at the worst
tragedy that has ever happened to him and I’m not downplaying it, whatever it is. But my mind works that whatever that worst day of my life was is the best day of my life. Because if I was able to go through that and I’m able to survive, it’s like, okay, well, a real estate deal went bad. Still not getting blown up, you know? So like you can’t mentally hurt me. Like you can’t do it. And then so when something bad happens, like, okay, ⁓
We have to get around this. have to fix it. And I have a rule in my company. It’s like you cannot come to the table when we’re having a meeting with so if somebody comes up with a suggestion, you can’t just X and A that without having a solution. I don’t want to just be hearing like, oh, I don’t like that. I don’t like this. I don’t like that. OK, well, how can we come up with something better? Maybe it isn’t the right idea. And then.
uh, in the military, used to hate this saying. It’s like, it’s always, we’re doing it because it’s always been done that way. It’s like, well, yeah, we always used to walk through the minefields, but what if we walked around them? You know? Yeah. It’s always been done that way. I’m like, that’s why a lot of people died, you know? Like maybe, maybe we shouldn’t do this. So, you know, if something’s not working in business, I hate when it says it’s always been done that way. So like title companies will say that to me or
You know some acquisitions or dispo will say something and I’m like, yeah But have you tried this or if you tried that or they’re like, well title work hasn’t gotten back yet or The H away hasn’t gotten back to us yet. I’m like, okay Who did you call? ⁓ well, they’re supposed to call us back. Okay, give me that phone number And then I call have you guys gotten called yet? No, we haven’t gotten called yet or yes We did but we’re waiting on this. Who are you waiting on?
Well, okay, actually, there was something that this, you know, county or whatever that we needed to to get it done. And when what are they waiting on? Well, you know, blah, blah, or there’s an attorney, I’m like, okay, then you have to learn these very specific words. So like, if you if you if you’re getting to a closing, you have like, let’s say it’s a foreclosure, but for some reason, a fund needs a ⁓ survey, let’s just call it a survey. And we have to close in seven days. And the title company is like,
Sorry, they’re 21 days out. So normally, you know, there’s beginning wholesale or something. You’re like, oh great, the deal’s dead. It’s like, no, no, no. How much money can I pay you to get in the front of the line for a rush fee? And they’re like, oh, okay. So you want a rush fee. Oh, I can have that done in two days. Well, why didn’t you tell me about that before? Well, I just didn’t think you wanted to spend an extra $180. I’m like, man.
I’m making 18 grand here. I’ll give you 250, you know, and Starbucks. Like let’s, let’s work together about this, but there’s people. So whatever blocks come your way, ⁓ from other people don’t take it as, ⁓ that’s a law. could be for a great example, like, like the, ⁓ the streets in Thailand.
Those things on the road are suggestions. They’re not lost. know, the, like everybody’s going, going in and out. So if somebody comes to you and says, ⁓ well, I don’t think it can be done this way. It’s like, well, how can it be done that way? Like how could, and the, and the, we had to have it done by tomorrow, how would it do it? Well, it costs a little bit extra. I don’t have the resources at here. I’m at a skeleton crew right now. Would you, and I’m like, okay, could my team start to cold call for you or get ahold of this attorney or that attorney? And they’re like, that’d be so helpful.
and you’re pushing it along.
Quentin Edmonds (14:55)
Yeah, yeah now, I you said so many things that are just golden nuggets. So Now listen, ⁓ josh i’ma be vulnerable with you, you know, don’t judge me man, but i’ll be vulnerable with you, right?One of the things that burns my wife biscuits Is when we are in disagreement And I do not offer solution It burns her like she was like listen you you told me what you don’t like but you ain’t gave me no solution
It burns on this gets it so don’t don’t judge me
Josh Fuller (16:10)
I’m not! You’re feeling a little convicted there. That’s what I heard.Quentin Edmonds (16:15)
Bro, 100 % feeling conviction. ⁓ you know, it’s, it’s something about when you go through certain things in life, when they were designed to take you out, but when they don’t take you out, it changes your whole perspective. You literally go from having a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. You’re like, listen, if I, if I’ve been through this, I can go through anything. And so I love the nuggets that you dropped because that’s what really is impacting me.is face confronting my adversities and overcoming my adversities literally trains that solution part of my brain to say, hey, we stuck now, but let’s get unstuck. We don’t have to stay stuck. And so I’m putting this out there for our viewers, from somebody who already is solution-based focus and somebody that’s learning, solution-based focus. Listen, we in transition, it can happen. You don’t have to be stuck. And so.
That’s why I said, so many nuggets that you said that was very, impactful. So I really appreciate you sharing that.
Josh Fuller (17:16)
Yeah, and if you one of the one of the little things that I do inside my my iPhone is ⁓ every morning at 6am I have one of those reminders that pops up that says there’s two things. ⁓ What’s one thing that you could have improved on from yesterday and what’s one thing that you’re grateful for and like it’s extremely biblical and gratitude so ⁓ and they’veIt’s funny how many things start to come true now. They’re now they’re believing the science and all this stuff. But it’s already been it’s already been written, you know, yeah, but the same the same part of your brain that has anxiety is the same part that same up for gratitude. So when you’re thankful for this, I’m thankful for that your anxiety will go away.
Quentin Edmonds (17:59)
Yeah, so you’re gonna love this man. Two things. One, there is a book by Dr. Caroline Leaf. It’s called Switch on Your Brain. And one of her open pieces of statements is that science is just now catching up to the Bible. Like you and I, we know there are things that is written that, and listen, no disrespect to people watching. We’re not trying to make this a biblical show, but me and Josh is talking, y’all listening. These are our beliefs, right? There are things that’s written in the Bible that science is just now catching up to, right?So that’s one thing and how you say you have a reminder 6 a.m. This is my reminder 6 a.m. Is the scripture that says God is able to bless me abundantly so that in all things at all times having all that I need I can abound in every good work now tell me that’s not getting out of a fixed a fixed mindset right tell me that’s not pushing me to be solution-focused that God has blessed me that I can
No matter what situation I’m in, I can overcome it. And so I repeat that thing to myself every morning. Matter of fact, I got it set for 12 PM too. So I’m constantly telling myself, there ain’t nothing that’s in front of me that I can’t overcome. And so, man, I just, I figured you would love those two things, man, because it sounds like, you know, this is the message that you’re preaching. So I appreciate you, Just let me ask you, brother, what’s the next real goal for you, man? Do you have?
something in sight that you’re looking at that you feel like is the next real world.
Josh Fuller (19:29)
Yeah, we’re really trying to open. So right now we’re open and doing well in ⁓ in Texas, ⁓ Florida. We’re picking up right now, Atlanta, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, ⁓ Boise, Idaho, Indianapolis, Indiana. Haven’t done anything in Ohio yet, but that market is open. The Midwest is is open and quite a bit. And then Oklahoma is open a lot. OKC and Tulsa. So what we’re trying to do is get is ⁓many deals pushed through in those markets and just sticking to our buy boxes and and and really just trying to increase that. And so mean, just focusing on those things because my first mentor, that guy I was telling you about, Steve Berenger, I would he was single family housing.
That’s all he did. He had his price points that he wouldn’t go below or above. And you stick to three bedroom, two bath, two car garage houses up to four bedroom, two and a half or three bath, you know, two car garages between certain ranges. That’s it. So then I’d get the squirrel, right? I’d like, well, what about this apartment complex? What about this mobile home? What about this piece of land? You know, what about this deal in that? And every single time he’d give me Gary Keller’s the one thing you’d be like, go back and read it.
I must have read that book 14 freaking times, you know, because and I’ll still try to catch myself doing it. ⁓ Will somebody bring me an opportunity and I would I would implore your viewers viewers here to we will watch so we lost a lot of people go out of real estate in this last. ⁓ don’t know if you call recession, but this last economy cycle of of real estate. And it’s because you’re not sticking to one thing.
Now, if you’re just keep, if you’re trying to move anything and everything, I get it though. Sometimes we were not, we’re not poor, but sometimes we get broke and we have to hustle. Maybe you have to move a sub two, maybe you have to, and it drops in your lap, totally get it. But what I’m saying is you’re going to, you’re going to run, run out of your, marketing budget. You’re going to run out of the most important thing, which is your time. ⁓ if you’re just chasing all these deals and especially if you’re not in the commercial world. And I mean that by multifamily and or commercial.
especially land development to or high end homes as a very niche market. in those places like multifamily and commercial, they have things called feasibility periods. And those feasibility periods are not your regular option period where you think you’re going to make money quick and set, you got seven days, no, no, no, these things can be anywhere from 30 days to a year long minimum. And then at the end of that, most of the time, you’re not getting paid.
So that’s why a lot of the trust fund people, and I’m not saying this about every single commercial person, every single multifamily person out there, but most trust fund people and the guys that, you know, they’re in fraternities, they’re TCU and they get passed down from their, this business from their dad and all that, and they have the ability to wait, you know, a year to get paid, do you? So you just need to take reflection on how much do I need to live in the next, ⁓
seven days, 30 days, six months, and then take that and be like, okay, this is my strategy each quarter. This is my strategy each month. And then one of the things that I was taught by my second business partner, Steve Labis, he used to run manufacturing companies. He would come in and make them ⁓ more efficient. And they were the ABCs. So, and this helps me a lot with my business. So the A items have to get done today, no matter what.
Cause like you go to bed and everybody’s in the company and you’re all crazy. got 20, 40 things to do. I don’t know what to do this and that. The A items have to get done today or the world ends. The B items have to get done this week. The C items are the filler items that are brain clutters up and they think that they’re A items, but they’re really not. And they can get done this month or this quarter, or it’s just BS that we push off. So we whiteboard this stuff every single day and the letter of importance and then.
And then you put those into your traction you put those into your you know your VTO and you look at what neat and then what what has to get done today what could get done this week and then the rest of the stuff you’ll end up finding out like I was just trying to like just fill time just to fill time just to be a you know a solo penuer that has all this busy stuff to do but you know like you have to get hyper focused on the things that make you the most money revenue generating activities, know like
I need to go build a spreadsheet or something like that versus like, need to underwrite a deal right now because it can get moved in the next hour. Well, go after the revenue generating activity. Yeah.
Quentin Edmonds (24:21)
Yeah, I love it and I never I never heard this so I appreciate you a couple things you said the Gary Keller the one thing appreciate you saying that and then the ABC the a Things that has to get done today. These are imperative They have to get done be the things that needs to get done this week and see looking out for the clutter of the things I think they ain’t but they actually not ain’t so man. I love that man I absolutely love that man great nuggets that you’ve givenListen Josh, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, learn more about what you’re doing, how can they get in contact with you,
Josh Fuller (24:56)
So our website is ⁓ wholesale, the letter or the number two hedgefund.com, not plural, singular. We’ve got the other one. We’ve got both websites, wholesale 2 hedge funds and wholesale 2 hedge fund. Or we’ve got some, the other one’s down right now. So go to wholesale2hedgefund.com, enter your property there. We’ve got Instagram accounts, we’ve got TikTok accounts, we’ve got Facebook accounts and they’re all the same name.⁓ Search us there. can find us on any social media platform. You can also email me, [email protected], foxtrot tango, whiskyinvest.com. ⁓ I respond back to that all the time. And then, you know, we’re always looking for deal submissions. They get zapped over, we get texts, we have underwriters and analysts that look at them all the time. So we’re available.
Quentin Edmonds (25:51)
So Josh man One definitely. Thank you for your time You said it yourself and I said a lot time is our most precious commodity You know that we know if you know if you know your time how valuable it is you can put a premium on your time So thank you so much for your time to definitely thank you for your story, sir Thank you for the gift of your vulnerability sharing things that you didn’t have to share But you did share and then three thank you for your perspective. Thank you for bringing your mindsetto this platform. know somebody has heard something that has helped them have a slight mindset shift around what they’re facing, even around business obstacles. And so I really appreciate you being here today, man. Thank you so much for coming through.
Josh Fuller (26:34)
Absolutely, man. Thank you.Quentin Edmonds (26:36)
Absolutely. So listen, you can’t tell me y’all cannot tell me y’all have y’all did not get that great value from Mr. Josh Mr. Fuller You can’t tell me you didn’t so definitely check him out, but definitely make sure you are subscribed here You do not want to miss out on the incredible content and the incredible people Just like Mr. Josh that we’re going to continue to interview and continue to bring it up So just I say thank you again and to everyone else. We will see you on the next time
