Harness Your Dreams: The Ultimate Guide to the Power of Action

Stephen S. (00:04.155)
Welcome to the show where we interview the nation’s leading real estate entrepreneurs. And if you’re joining us for the first time, welcome to it. If you’re joining us for a second, third or hundredth time, welcome back to the show. I am here today with Melvin Landry. And today we are going to talk about his incredible story and his incredible journey over the last several decades. He is an absolute phenom. He is a college professor adjunct as he threw in there for me. He is also a procurement and supply chain guru.

but also has been a real estate investor for the better portion of the last 20 years. We’re gonna be talking about the American dream mindset and what it takes to succeed in today’s economy. So at Investor Fuel, we help real estate investors, service providers and real estate entrepreneurs, two to five X their businesses to allow them to build the businesses they’ve always wanted, to allow them to live the lives they’ve always dreamed. Melvin, thanks so much for being here today. We’re really excited to hop into the show.

Melvin Landry (00:58.158)
for the opportunity. Appreciate it.

Stephen S. (00:59.939)
You bet. man, for our audience, tell us just a little bit more about you. I know I gave you a, you have a laundry list of an intro to go. tell us, tell us man, how you got started and how you’ve gotten to where you’re at now today with your whole journey.

Melvin Landry (01:07.196)
yeah. Yeah.

Melvin Landry (01:16.366)
Oh yeah, man. So country boy grew up in a area of St. James Parish in South Louisiana. That’s where I’m from. In terms of the real estate journey, started in 2005 for me. In terms of going to the seminar and just taking action. So pretty educated. Like I mentioned, I’m college professor. have three degrees over the years.

And I’ve taught an array of classes, passion I have, helping, supporting, serving others. Real estate is a passion also as well. So like I mentioned, it started for me in 2005 and got involved and engulfed in the crash, 2008, 2009. I barred foreclosures and at the same time I short sold a couple of properties myself. So it a good learning experience overall.

tried and true to real estate, even we are 20 years later, back in the fold, still acquiring properties, looking for cashflow, getting tax benefits, et cetera. So I do a lot, I got the nine to five, it’s going well. I’m not one to complain and life is a good balance. I got a wife, beautiful wife, got a son who bears my name, Melvin III. And right now, it’s a bit of a transformational shift for me.

Stephen S. (02:32.347)
love that.

Melvin Landry (02:32.354)
You know, my wife, my wife mentioned, look, when we got married, you know, we, I had more W2s and I had fingers. So now I’m trying to shift that change. you know, I got a 10 year old son. I’m at present at baseball games, lacrosse games, et cetera. And, mindset is shift now. So I’m trying to get my time back, expand my time, family time, right? While trying to build the empire also as well to keep balance. So that’s key, man. So, yeah.

Stephen S. (02:58.107)
One of the things you said in there was, which clearly you couldn’t end up in the position that you’re in. I know you shared a little bit before the show just about how many properties you actually personally own that aren’t syndicated and all of that. But one of the things you mentioned there was taking action. I mean, you can’t achieve anything in life without taking action, but you definitely can’t get three degrees, three degrees over, over 80 units, you know, all these different things. And obviously over time it’s accumulated and

built and compounded, but how important has it been? Like how has taking action benefited you in your journey here in the last 30 years?

Melvin Landry (03:37.528)
You know, I think about if I didn’t take action, where would I be? know, you know, real estate saved my family from bankruptcy. Okay. in terms of, you know, in terms of Edward previous restaurant owners, and that didn’t quite quite so well. So, the risk tolerance goes a long way. And I’ve said, I’m pretty, I’m willing to take risk, man.

It’s just always been the nature. You know, I feel I work hard. I can play hard and afford myself to take these risks and bear the consequences. Not everything comes out perfectly. Right? So, you know, but again, taking action afforded me that education to understand the process and know what I need to do to bounce back when I fall. And look.

Been involved in businesses with my spouse and we fell pretty hard. It’s not about where you started, it’s how you get back up, run down the track and finish. And you’re talking to a guy who’s ran track in college as well as cross country. So I know a thing or two about that, yeah.

Stephen S. (04:32.635)
Absolutely now so, you know, I think one of the hardest things for a lot of people that are getting started because we’ve got a wide array of listeners to our show We’ve got people that have a lot of experience We’ve got people that are maybe exploring dipping their toes into real estate investing and you know one of the one of the things we find is a common theme as investors is The hardest thing to do is get anybody to go from zero to one because most people

Melvin Landry (04:54.434)
Yeah.

Stephen S. (04:55.951)
just get in their own way. It’s way easier to take somebody that’s doing five deals a year or 10 deals a year and get them to do 25 deals a year or 50 deals a year than it is to get somebody that’s never done anything to do one thing. So with that, like that taking action and your risk tolerance plays a big factor. What would you tell somebody that’s like maybe dipping their toes in that just doesn’t know where to start? Maybe it’s the lack of knowledge or whatever else. But how has that benefited you of maybe even going into things

in the past 20 years of your investing experience where you might not have known everything, but you still took action and it paid off in the end.

Melvin Landry (05:32.898)
say, I mean, success breeds clues at the end of the day. So, you know, I mean, I’ll take myself for example. I was never programmed or never taught from my parents because in terms of, you know, if I can go back and turn the clock and tell my 18 year old self, what would you do? The American dream has always been you go to college, you get a job, buy a house, white picket fence, et cetera. Right? I mean, that’s what it is.

Stephen S. (06:01.019)
What most of us have been taught, yeah, absolutely.

Melvin Landry (06:03.982)
That’s what we’ve been taught. Time out, let’s kill that. Let’s kind of shift it, right? Now, ain’t you talking to a guy who’s taught at 30 schools, 200 classes? You don’t necessarily need a college degree to bring success. It’s true. I mean, what are some of the things that, know, what are you listening to, right? Everyone, look.

We’re bored of the phone and social media, right? We scroll, I scroll, I’m a culprit too. But at end of the day, right? I would tell my 18 year old self, if you wanna go to college, that’s fine. You don’t necessarily have a degree to be successful. Understanding how to invest, right? They don’t teach money financing credit in school, unfortunately. They just don’t.

That’s what I’m teaching to my son at the home front now and telling him he sees what we’re doing out in the market in terms of investing, dealing with tenants and stuff like that. understanding the intricacies of it and over time getting in the right rooms, that matters. So, I mean, you may not necessarily get in the right room, but get in some room and don’t be the smartest person in the room. I pride myself on that too, because life is about continuous improvement and learning.

Stephen S. (07:10.245)
Hmm.

Melvin Landry (07:14.83)
I don’t know it all. don’t purport to know it all. And look, I have tried, I have passed, I have failed. Test and dealing with real estate alike. So that’s just a journey in life. But again, having some type of mindset to take risks, I think is key at the end of the day.

Stephen S. (07:33.659)
You mentioned getting in the right rooms. What were some of those initial rooms for you that you were able to get in or what were some of the rooms that you had to go through and realize they weren’t the right ones before you found the ones you’re now in?

Melvin Landry (07:44.558)
Look, when I started, I went to what was called a funding tour. These guys was, you you can buy real estate, can buy real estate, 100%. You know, you can get it 100%. You get the rehab budget. So I went and got in those rooms like, man, this seems pretty cool. And the thinking at the time when I did this way back in 2005, 2006, I had a supplement income, right? I got the nine to five. I’m teaching a few classes. I could always get another stream. That was my thinking back in the day. OK, so we fast forward 2005, 2007.

By the time I met my wife, I had 52 properties. And I was managing it from the middle of the country. were primarily, they were all in Pennsylvania. I had a rental in Indianapolis and I had a rental in Phoenix. I was spread across three states. I was traveling, I was single, right? So you can just, I was just making it do and trying to build a real estate empire organically and manually. again, 2008, 2009 hit, I got punched in the face.

Pretty hard. you know, this beautiful condo I had in Scottsdale, Arizona, I lost it. I lost it, bro. Bought it for 300k. I sold it for 80. So go figure. I lost it. Yeah, yeah.

Stephen S. (08:44.651)
Mm. Yeah.

Stephen S. (08:52.058)
Mm.

Stephen S. (08:58.415)
What, how is your, because you really are, you’re a phenom. I asked you before the show, I said, do you sleep? And you said that’s something you’re working on. But do you feel like what you do professionally, like for your nine to five, that for some reason you’re still keeping, which you have your personal reasons for it. We’re gonna have to figure out how to get you into just doing real estate, man, whatever that takes. what…

Melvin Landry (09:08.002)
Yeah, I’m working on it,

Melvin Landry (09:23.032)
Coming bro, it’s coming.

Stephen S. (09:24.037)
Do you feel like those things, because I think, you know, one of the big things we hear nowadays is like, can’t have, you can’t be doing too many things. You have to have singular focus, but do you feel like all of the things you’ve been doing have been related enough in the sense that you were able to systematize things to be able to manage that many properties while also working a job, teaching college, having a family? how has, walk me through a little bit of how you’ve been able to just keep up with all of that. Do you have a team? What does that look like?

Melvin Landry (09:51.566)
of mindset. You could do anything you put your mind to. So I did all those things. I wasn’t married at the time. So I had the freedom of time. So I was doing all those things. was balancing. The sleep was less, but you’re younger. You can do that as you get older. Things change. So in regards to real estate, I had a process and a system that I learned. went through a school of real estate and I invested a lot of money. Systems matter. Investing a lot of money into learning. had a coach, a mentor.

Stephen S. (09:52.859)
Mm.

Hmm.

Melvin Landry (10:21.29)
And he kind of taught me the way and he was always my third year, right? And I ask questions kind of telling me, trying to help kind of guide me the right way, right? I was always wanting to take action and kind of take the bull by the horn and just kind of go. I mean, if you don’t stay stuck in neutral, that’s where you won’t have options to get off that hamster wheel, right? So.

My nine to five does tie to my real estate journey. I’m in procurement. I’m in negotiations. I’m negotiating terms and conditions, things of that nature. Same thing with a contract. Same thing when you’re dealing with rents. Same things when you’re dealing with tenants and things of that nature. So life is negotiation, believe it or not. Whether you want to take it on or not, that’s a whole other story. So yeah.

Stephen S. (11:05.092)
Sure. So how important is it to have a coach just in general? I know you mentioned that, but tell me more about that.

Melvin Landry (11:10.776)
Key, critical. Yeah. I mean, look, you know, just I compared analogy to like a pro football, college football, Quarterbacks are on the field. They got a quarterback coach. There’s somebody whispering in their ear. Same thing with real estate. You need to whisper in your ear to kind of like maybe help.

help you go away to your thinking or help confirm a validation or maybe even, why don’t you think about X, Y, Z, right? To kind of counter to what you’re thinking, which is always a good thing to have. So, you know, I think that’s key and that’s critical. And now for me today, me and my wife, we’re partners. My wife quit her nine to five in order to help us.

get systems in place to build what we need to build so we can really accelerate faster than what I did when I was single in 2005, 2006. And we’re on that trajectory. And at the end of the day, right, she’s my teammates, my partner. Got to be on the same page. you know, that’s, know, it’s always a balance. Again, it’s a negotiation, right? Yeah. Everything, bro. Everything’s negotiable with the kids. It’s a negotiation.

Stephen S. (12:09.263)
that.

Stephen S. (12:15.781)
Sure, yeah, everything is in negotiation.

Stephen S. (12:22.779)
Sure. When did your wife become your partner in a business sense?

Melvin Landry (12:30.254)
October 28, 2022, she quit her job. Yeah.

Stephen S. (12:33.403)
So y’all have been working together for the last three years, but you’ve been married for how long?

Stephen S. (12:41.695)
Haha, didn’t tell you there was gonna be a test Twelve years, okay, so twelve years so so and because one of the most important decisions that you make is your spouse, right and From from a business standpoint you guys are now working together Working together on their systems and everything else there But how is making that decision to pick her as a spouse negotiating her as a spouse, right? 12 13 years ago. How has that benefited you today?

Melvin Landry (12:42.35)
12 years. years. 12 years. 12 years. 12 years.

Melvin Landry (12:56.856)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Melvin Landry (13:12.686)
Great question, man. think, you know, at the end of the day, I feel like I made the right choice. Right. At the end of the day. Look, we got married real, real, real late in life. I got married at what? 37. Okay. So 30, 30, 30, 35, 36. When we got married. My wife is older than me. So, you know, we knew what we knew. We were the right one for each other and a fantastic partnership, man. I love my wife.

Stephen S. (13:36.037)
Was that intentional? you waiting it out? Man, I didn’t realize we were gonna turn it into a marriage podcast, but were you guys waiting for something different or what was it about? Was it because you were just so laser focused on all of your own personal development, getting your degrees, your real estate empire, working, all of those things? Was there an intentionality behind waiting so long to find someone or was it just waiting for that right person and it just finally, it just hit?

Melvin Landry (13:42.222)
You

Melvin Landry (14:03.038)
That’s a great question. I’ll say wow. For me, I kind of had said in my mind, post 30 was going to be the right time for me. You know, I’ve had my fun, bro. know, I’m college athlete. I’ve done it all. Post 30 was kind of like in my mind. And, you know, I would say for my wife, I mean, look, she, I mean, she’d say, you know, she’s dated a lot of people, right? I mean, my wife got married at 40.

Stephen S. (14:12.601)
Hmm.

Melvin Landry (14:31.406)
41, my wife got married at 41, so she’s, you know, was tired of the crap, right? And, you know, I mean, this is who I am, you know, and I need somebody to compliment me. And she’s like, I need somebody to compliment me, and voila. It’s been beautiful ever since, man. So, and look, I met my wife in a nightclub in Las Vegas, which is unconventional. I met my wife in a nightclub in Las Vegas. So, to me, it was meant to be, okay?

Stephen S. (14:45.957)
man.

Stephen S. (14:51.948)
No way.

Sure. Yeah.

Right man. I love that. That’s so great. Yeah for I’m sure you’ve heard of Zig Ziglar maybe the sales trainer from back in the back in the 90s and all that and he used he used to talk about marriage and he used to say, know, like, know, you can meet your wife in a bar. It’s similar to like you can find you can find a good biscuit in the bottom of a trash can just might not be the best place to look but at the end of the day a quality biscuit is a quality biscuit, right?

Melvin Landry (15:01.27)
Meant to be, man. Yeah. Yeah.

Melvin Landry (15:08.376)
Yeah. Back in the day. Yeah.

Melvin Landry (15:26.316)
Hey, look, and we get folks who like, yeah, man, met my wife in the nightclub, I’m glad I did. So it’s been amazing. Amazing, man. Life’s good. Got the right partner. We’ve got a good family and I’m a happy camper, bro.

Stephen S. (15:33.563)
That’s amazing.

Stephen S. (15:41.369)
You know, I, I relate to that so much though, Melvin, because, and, and there’s a much longer backstory, which we’ll save for another time. But, you know, I originally thought the same for me. Like I wasn’t going to get married until I was at least in my later twenties. I was going to go build my success first. I wasn’t going to have kids until I was 30, cause I grew up in a household where my parents didn’t start having children until they were, till they were 29. And so they, and they got married at 21. So they got married early, but had so much time together to build that relationship that they were coming from a strong foundation.

Melvin Landry (15:49.067)
Sure.

Melvin Landry (16:08.568)
Yeah.

Stephen S. (16:11.195)
Then I ended up being 25 getting married now. I got four kids and 28 So I was like wow, you know, it’s kind of like, you know, you you make plans Lord has other ideas You know what I mean? So it’s a that’s a really cool. So I relate to that story quite a bit That in the sense, it’s just I ended up doing it backwards

Melvin Landry (16:15.212)
Okay. Okay. Okay.

Melvin Landry (16:22.646)
Amen.

Melvin Landry (16:27.97)
Yeah,

Melvin Landry (16:32.206)
All good man. Hey, no matter how you do it, as long as look, mean, happiness and just kind of keep your foot on the gas at the end of the day, right? So, yeah.

Stephen S. (16:39.481)
Right, yes sir. And so I’m kind of tying this full circle because what I found too with my wife, and I’m sure this might be the same with you and with your relationship, is having a coach is important, just like having the right spouse is also very important for your success. And a lot of times our spouses are our coaches. I can tell you how many times, I can’t tell you how many times, my wife is…

told me to do something longer than I wanted to do it or whatever that was going to push our family forward. But with those relationships and picking the right partners, picking the right coaches, what are some criteria, what do you look for in those types of relationships now as maybe moving forward or when somebody’s at that point of I need somebody that I can rely on, whether it’s a coach, a spouse, a partner, whatever that looks like, what are some of the criteria that you have of

Melvin Landry (17:11.341)
Indeed.

Stephen S. (17:33.783)
of selecting someone for a role that’s that important.

Melvin Landry (17:37.592)
Say this, for me particularly, I would say in terms of a coach that I aspire to have, I need somebody who tells me what I, not what I want to hear, what I need to hear. I need hardcore honest facts, good, bad or ugly. Tell it to me how it is, cause I’m a straight shooter. look, if I’m screwing up something, I’m jacking up something, don’t.

Stephen S. (17:55.547)
You bet.

Melvin Landry (18:03.074)
Don’t be scared to kind of tell me what the deal is. even, even in my relationship, my wife tells me how it is straight shooters. We pride ourselves on that. So, same with a coach, you know, in terms of, kind of critical, honest feedback, I think is key and laying it out there and telling me what I need to hear, what I would not, what I want to hear, I think is key to the overall critical success. Okay. So, you know, success.

Stephen S. (18:27.963)
Love that.

Melvin Landry (18:31.938)
breathes clues, but failure is a swat away. And we’ve been there. We’ve been in part of failure where something didn’t go right. And having a coach that preaches adaptability, I think is key. Also, being able to adapt regardless of situation, I think is key and drive success. forward thinking, adaptability, and honestly, I think is key.

Stephen S. (18:45.851)
Mm.

Melvin Landry (18:59.278)
You now you mentioned coach, right? My spouse went from that perspective. We were actually looking for another. We’re looking at and have our eyes on a new coach collaboratively from a woman standpoint, but also is going to be collaboratively. You see me at the end of the day, man, regardless of kind of where you’re at situationally, I go back to the procurement adage, continuous improvement. Life is a continuous improvement. I’m always trying to figure out ways how to get better. What a relationship. It’s my Lord savior.

Stephen S. (18:59.387)
You bet.

Melvin Landry (19:27.904)
Family, business, etc. I pride myself on continuous improvement trying to figure out a way like ET say 1 % better every day Yeah

Stephen S. (19:38.071)
Keep at, keep at. And that adaptability, especially for your story, that adaptability with all the transitions that you’ve gone through has been critical to your current success. So tell me with all the transitions that you’ve gone through, with even what you’re looking forward into the future with now, what does the American dream look like for you now?

Melvin Landry (19:50.69)
Yeah, indeed.

Melvin Landry (20:04.93)
As a father real estate investor, mean, well, you know, I’ll speak to that. That’s good question. I’ll answer it now. What does American dream look like for me and my current state as I’m looking at 50?

Stephen S. (20:16.293)
Cause you’ve lived, you’ve lived probably three people’s lives. Like when you really look at it, like you, but you’ve done it at the same time. So it’s like, man, I was somebody that’s accomplished as much as you’ve already accomplished has what you already have been able to build. Like what does that look like now? Like what is five, 10 years out in the end of the future look like for you now?

Melvin Landry (20:21.302)
Ha

Melvin Landry (20:25.283)
Yes.

Melvin Landry (20:31.5)
Yeah.

Melvin Landry (20:37.486)
Big question. I’m gonna answer it succinctly. What does it look like for me now? Two to 300 rentals? Cash flowing like crazy? Okay. My son’s 10. My son wants to be a pilot. His passion is aviation. Getting him his pilot’s license so he can go fly 777s or 747s. Let him live his dream.

Right? That’s, know, it’s not about me anymore. It’s about my little guy, right? So he’s kind of coming in behind, right? So helping him realize his dream at the same time, educating him about three core values. Money, finance and credit. That is key. I can’t emphasize that enough. And if I got to, I, some, my son’s friends, I preach the same tune now.

It’s about money, finance and credit in this society that we live in. If you don’t have those foundations, you’re gonna be in trouble. So I tell my son, look, you can fly airplanes, you can do whatever you wanna do, But at the same time, I’m building the foundation of rental properties. If I get hit by a bus tomorrow, you can pick it up and you can live off the cashflow and try to build that. As you get kids, we’ll teach them the same thing. So American dream is a little different. Again, for me at 47 versus what it was for me at 27.

and I’m sticking to that plan and that’s what I’m rolling with man in terms of where the focus needs to be. know, because again 50 is in the rear view mirror for me and look man, it’d be nice to be having an option if I don’t want to, right, to do what I want to do and that’s my plan. That’s what I’m kind of pushing towards.

Stephen S. (22:19.003)
Yeah. So on the topic of transitions, at 30, you weren’t necessarily planning on having kids at that point. In the sense of like, that wasn’t on the forefront of your mind. You were still in an accumulation phase. Is that fair to say?

Melvin Landry (22:35.15)
30? Yeah, was still partying. Still, yeah, man, was totally different at 30. But yeah, man, I wasn’t even thinking about marriage. Wasn’t thinking about kids. I was thinking about, hey, how can I move up the corporate ladder? I had a few, you know, so yeah, go ahead.

Stephen S. (22:38.14)
Yeah, for sure.

Stephen S. (22:50.885)
Right. And so here’s where the fleshed out question comes from. So at 30, you’re in an accumulation phase of doing it for different reasons than you are now with a family, with kids. So what was that transition from accumulation for yourself towards being legacy driven, like it sounds you are now?

Melvin Landry (23:04.312)
Yeah.

Melvin Landry (23:16.162)
wasn’t in the right room. Wasn’t in the right room. Wasn’t in the, one, wasn’t in the right room. Two, my mindset wasn’t there.

Stephen S. (23:17.915)
Mmm.

Melvin Landry (23:27.198)
And I mean, three, you know what you know. And I can honestly say three, I didn’t know any better. And that’s OK.

Stephen S. (23:35.397)
What did you do to shift that mindset? Was there a specific moment or experience that you had when those things started happening, you got married, started having kids, was there a specific moment where you realized, I need to change why I’m doing this? What did you do different in those moments to switch that mindset?

Melvin Landry (23:52.815)
Hey, look, I’ll be honest with you, man. The aha moment didn’t really hit hard for me until like 42, 43 in terms of I really need to be changing the crap that I’m doing to get better results because I know I can do better. I know I can accelerate because I did it before and when my mindset wasn’t there, particularly being involved in real estate. See, my thinking has shifted now.

Stephen S. (23:59.321)
Yeah, so recently.

Stephen S. (24:04.602)
Yeah.

Melvin Landry (24:17.186)
You know, I don’t have to take to go spend money to get in the right rooms, mentorship. I’m actually looking to deploy dollars to continually get those nuggets and being at the right, the right rooms, et cetera. So.

You know, before, right, when I was 30, 32, be like, man, look, I had a saver mindset. Now I’m an entrepreneur mindset. I mean, look, it’s just time, time, education, being around the right people, being in the right rooms, those dynamics shift. You know, I got married, right, 30. I wasn’t thinking about that, man, you know? So 40, know, 40, married, right, young son, the dynamics have shift. And I’m listening to different stuff now, man.

You know, before I’m driving in a vehicle, you know, I’m all rap. Screw this and that.

I listen to music no more when I’m in the car. When I’m by myself, I’m listening to Robert Kiyosaki, I’m listening to Ken McElroy, I’m listening to George Gammon. How can I get ahead to build a financial future for my family the way it needs to be? And even when I’m with my son, my son knows Ken McElroy, he knows Robert Kiyosaki. We do flashcards that deal with money, finance, and credit. Taking those right actions to drive those results I think are key. And again.

It’s just different for me now, man, versus how I was back when I was just partying and just doing, you know, doing what we do as youngsters, right? I mean, we all been there, so it’s all good.

Stephen S. (25:34.192)
that.

Stephen S. (25:37.979)
So if you had to like put yourself back in 2005 when you got started and you’re in that phase but you’re able to start with all of the knowledge, all of the things that you’ve accumulated, the lessons, the experiences, the failures, the wins, et cetera that you have today. If you’re able to go back to that moment and do it all over.

Melvin Landry (25:45.26)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Stephen S. (26:06.351)
What would you do different and what would you do the same?

Melvin Landry (26:09.976)
So here’s what I’d do different. I would have went and invested in the four unit as a single man, house hack, and kept doing it every two years, regardless of where I was in the country. That’s what I would have did. Additionally, what I would have did, I would have sought out, I would have spent more money on mentorship than I did then. I had a saver’s mindset, okay? The mindset was different.

Build up your 401k, you retire at 70, you have this, an American dream.

That ain’t that ain’t where is that? So I get as many four units as I can. Yeah, I’d invest, invest, invest, Lives, breathe, sleep, investing instead of listening to rap music and soul music. I’d have been listening to Robert Kiyosaki back then, back then. Listen to podcast, man. So that’s. What would have done?

Stephen S. (27:03.643)
Yeah. would you have done the same? What are some of the things you did well that you would have done the same?

Melvin Landry (27:11.106)
Kept entrepreneurial mindset. You know me, like I mentioned, when I met my wife, I had more W-2s than I had fingers. I mean, kept that going, right? Realizing I’d be transition if you kind of forward think, right? I was a hard worker, man. I mean, you know, I’ve worked a lot of jobs, taught a lot of classes, maintained that enthusiasm and an entrepreneurial spirit.

I think is a key right so on the zero to ten now like 12.5 back then I was like three it’s a good compliment let me just keep my foot off the gas and just chill so yeah so enthusiasm right that’s yeah that’s what I would say in terms of pushing pushing the pave so

Stephen S. (27:55.247)
You bet. we’re kind of coming up on the end of our time, but I do have one last question because you did mention something because you have, like I said, I mean, you’ve lived several lifetimes almost or several different lives at the same time. And you mentioned something very critical in there where you said back, back in the day when you were getting started, you would have, you know, bought four units as a single man, done that every two years, et cetera, because back then you had a savers mindset of 401k long-term retire at 70.

Melvin Landry (27:58.051)
Sure.

Stephen S. (28:21.349)
But then there was a moment or there was something that you went through a season maybe where you realized that’s not it, that’s not gonna get me where I wanna go. And you have an economics background. So why do you think that that traditional path, what is it about that do you think not works and why is real estate such a good answer for people that want to actually be able to get to 70 and retire comfortably or something along those lines?

Melvin Landry (28:49.312)
I will say…

Melvin Landry (28:53.774)
You know, mean, that’s a good question. mean, look, it’s a vehicle. There’s a lot of vehicles out there. There’s a lot of different ways you can kind of accumulate wealth, if you will. So real estate has been a pillar for me and is tried and true and has been successful. So which kind of led, kind of bounce around the story, but I kind of lead this here too. you know, we accumulate all these properties on local market.

and did, using the bird method, refinanced out of 12 doors and my wife saw those refi checks and her mouth fell to the floor. Okay. The refi checks we got last year was more money than all my jobs put together. Total. Total. So I opened it for her. So if that didn’t fire her up, nothing would, right? So.

And the thing is, that, you know, I did that before, but on a smaller scale, because my mindset was small. Should have been doing that. What would you tell Melvin at 28? Hey man, keep doing it, keep doing it, keep refinancing, keep burring, keep, you know, burr your time back. I heard that on social media. Burr your time back. Ah, moment for me. That’s what I’m trying to do.

Stephen S. (30:04.283)
Yeah. Love it. Man, a great ending line. I love that. So if anyone wants to learn more about you or what you’re working on, where should they go?

Melvin Landry (30:12.888)
Burr your time back. Yes.

Melvin Landry (30:19.15)
Oh, look, they can follow. have a website, www.morelandequity.com. My wife, maiden name is Morelli. My last name is Landry. Moreland put us together. Voila. Here we go. Morelandequity.com. There’s always a story, man. Morelandequity.com. You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and yeah, man, that’s it. You can find us there. All the social channels.

Stephen S. (30:33.175)
Ha ha, love it.

That’s great. That’s awesome.

Melvin Landry (30:46.188)
passionate about affordable housing, passionate about reaching financial freedom, and changing your mindset to get there. So that’s key. Yeah.

Stephen S. (30:52.931)
Awesome, love it. Well, Melvin, thanks so much for being here. I hope you enjoyed today’s show, y’all. Just make sure if you’re not already to go ahead and hit subscribe and learn more.

Melvin Landry (31:08.408)
Thank you,