How Richard Oden Used Faith, Real Estate, and Discipline to Break the Odds

Richard Oden (00:00)
And I was eight years old, had a foster dad. And he explained to me, and it just blew my mind. You’re telling me that you own the house and the people that live in the house pay you not just once a year, but 12 times a year called monthly income. I looked at that man at eight years old and said, I’m going to do that.

Quentin Edmonds (01:51)
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds. And if you follow me enough, you know I say I’m excited to be here today. ⁓ I tell you that some of our guests have a way of really getting me fired up before I come on. But this guest, he got me fired up, but he got me more inspired. Listening to his story, so many different things that align with some of my background.

Even stuff I didn’t even tell him just yet just so many alignments But I asked this gentleman a question and one of the first words that he gave me was the word drive He says he has a lot of drive and I think as you listen to how his story unfolds You’re gonna see exactly that he has just that drive. So I want to get started I am so into glad to introduce you all to mr. Richard Oden

Mr. Richard, how you doing today, my friend?

Richard Oden (02:53)
As Dave Ramsey would say, better than I deserve. And that is such a deep, true statement. We just got back from Disney World ⁓ and Disney Cruise. And so my bank account may not be better than I deserve, but I certainly am. That mouse is quite the expense for sure, but it’s worth it. It’s good times.

Quentin Edmonds (03:11)
Well, listen. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, listen, if you talking Dave Ramsey, he already told you how to afford that trip. I hear you, but I’m pretty sure you already had a structure in place so that you could do this. If you talking Dave Ramsey, if you dropping that name. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. I love it. Listen, man, I’m so glad you’re here. And I want to dive in because I think you and I have picked up on that. You and I can talk.

Richard Oden (03:20)
Yes.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes, for sure.

Quentin Edmonds (03:39)
We can do probably this thing for an hour, but I don’t have an hour’s time, right? So I’m going to dive in. I want you to tell the people what your main focus is these days. Richard, please give us an origin story, man, of how you got into real estate. We want to hear the hero’s journey. And then, man, let them know what part of the world you’re in, because people love to know geographically where you are, especially if they’re looking to connect with you and different things like that. So.

Richard Oden (03:44)
Fair enough.

Quentin Edmonds (04:05)
Tell them what you’re doing, the origin story and where you are. Richard, you have the floor, my friend.

Richard Oden (04:10)
Okay, I am in Opelika, Alabama, roll tide. ⁓ Opelika is right near Auburn University, so I’m amongst enemies. ⁓ How I got into real estate, ⁓ it’s a fantastic story if I’m allowed to say that, not because of me, but because of what God has done for me. And throughout this podcast, I want your audience to know I’m not here to brag. I haven’t done much of anything. God has done just miracles in my life, and I’m here to share that miracle with everybody.

I was a foster kid and I was given approximately zero chance to succeed. Okay. And I’m going to be real with your audience. Now. Uh, the reason I was given zero chance to succeed is a few, few reasons. Number one, when a kid moves in foster care, five different times, he has a 90 % chance of being in trouble with the law. It’s a vicious cycle. Well, I’m an extreme kind of guy. So I moved 11 times between six and 12. That’s a, so I doubled that and I added one.

And so statistically speaking, I should be talking to you behind bars and not hear my wife sew in closet. ⁓ So ⁓ how I got into it was my giant is success. I wanted to succeed so bad because I was given zero chance to succeed for that reason. And in addition to that, I had a tag when I was in foster care that ⁓ it was a sexual tag. So I’d seen things that

No kids should be seen and I acted upon those things. Not my fault, but that’s what it was. And so if you as a family or a foster family wanted to take a kid, well, you’re not going to put your own kids at risk. And they saw me as a risk and I wouldn’t take Richard Oden as a foster kid because I have kids. So I totally understand that too. But when I have those two things, I am destined to fail. Destined to fail.

And I saw David and Goliath in the Bible. saw Daniel and his lions. Then I saw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And I said, man, all these guys had one thing in common, and that’s God. And so maybe if I could find God, I could overcome these hurdles and these naysayers who say this guy will not make it out of high school. He’ll be in prison by the time he’s 18. OK, and so I said, man, I got if they could do it with God, I can do it with God. And I had a choice to make.

I could throw my hands up and say, God, you put me in foster care in a horrible situation. Nobody says I’ll succeed. I’m gonna throw my hands up. What’s the point? Or I can get my hands together and I’ll pray to him, get on my knees and say, Lord, take my life. Take my life and help me succeed and make me even help me help other kids that are in my situation. And so I put my head down and I got to work.

And I was eight years old, had a foster dad. And he explained to me, and it just blew my mind. You’re telling me that you own the house and the people that live in the house pay you not just once a year, but 12 times a year called monthly income. I looked at that man at eight years old and said, I’m going to do that.

And I’ve built a real estate portfolio and I’m still a small fish in a big world over 31 doors. And for a kid who has dyslexia.

who doesn’t read very well, who has problems even at 43 getting out of the house because he has ADD. It’s a struggle sometimes most days to be able to do that. God did that. I just happen to be the hands that he guided. And I’m here to tell your audience, I don’t care what you got going on in your life. You can do it with God. You can absolutely do it. I’m living proof. And so that’s how I got.

got into real estate, that really is. People would ask me, what do you want to be when you grow up? I had one answer for him, a millionaire. Because in my mind, at a young kid, eight, that was the definition of success. I would redefine that definition now that I’m here, but at an eight-year-old, was my, no, no, no, how are you gonna do it? I had no idea. That’s just my destiny. And when I had that conversation with that foster dad, and I looked at him and I said, I’m gonna do that, that’s the difference between,

us real estate investors and our successful people and a lot of the other people. And I’m not dogging on that, just the facts. We jump in, we don’t dip our hands in the, or our feet in the water and then pull back. We jump in and we’re going to learn and we’re going to win or we’re going to lose. We’re going to learn and we’re still going to win either way we win. And that’s the real estate way. And that’s it. That’s how I got it.

Quentin Edmonds (09:40)
Richard, thank you, man. Thank you for taking us through the journey, ⁓ the amazing journey. I can’t remember the word you used, but I know if you said, fantastic or amazing, but it is an amazing journey. I hear you, who you’re giving praise to. It’s just not about you. It’s all praise to God, And I am going to love asking you this question, because I ask this question probably every podcast. I make a statement first, and this is the statement, Richard.

I say destiny has no wasted moments. All right. I’m going to repeat it again. Destiny has no wasted moments. Meaning no matter what you’ve been through, destiny has refined you to be the person who you are now. And it has not wasted one moment. All the hardship, all the trials, all the joys, all of it has built you. It’s been an accumulation.

to the moment in the person you are today. And it will continue after today. Moments will continue and it will build you to the person you’re going to be two years from now. But up till now, these moments have built the rich that I’m looking at. I would love to know from you, my friend, what has these moments taught you about yourself? Has it taught you discipline? Has it taught you humility? Like what has and God in the moments.

When has God in the moments and destiny in the moments taught you about yourself, my friend?

Richard Oden (11:40)
He’s taught me that no matter where I come from or what I have to overcome, that with him, all things are possible. Pretty sure that’s scripture. And it is. And I tell people all the time, look, guys, like people look at me from the outside, looking in and say, this guy, this young man’s got it made. I don’t have it made. I don’t. God made it for me. OK, I tell people this is this is my IQ. I’m not very smart. Wasn’t very good in school. I worked hard for my B’s in my C’s. I did.

Quentin Edmonds (11:49)
Yeah, yeah.

Richard Oden (12:10)
Okay, this is my net worth. Okay, there’s only one thing that can fill that gap. Y’all already know the answer is God and he did it for me. And because he did it for me, you can use me as a testimony of faith and God and drive that if this guy can do it, who struggles with a lot of things and overcome a lot of things, the rest of you can do it as well. And so

Quentin Edmonds (12:13)
Mmm.

Richard Oden (12:39)
That’s what he’s taught me. Drive, discipline, all those things are very important. Now, to be real, gotta be careful. Devil’s gonna get you where you weakest. If I’m honest, sometimes in my real estate career, I put my career in front of my family, okay? And I’m sure I’m not the only one. And so UPS offered me a buyout. I’ve been with them for 25 years, okay?

Quentin Edmonds (12:57)
⁓ yeah.

Richard Oden (13:06)
They offered me a buyout of $150,000. I can make a level of prosperity or wealth if I stayed with UPS another 30. I’m only 43. Okay. Or I could take this real estate thing and say, you know what? This real estate has bought me my time back with my family. And so my wife and I decided, Hey, if they’re going to give me 150 K to exit stage, right.

And that means that I can spend a lot more time with my family. The Lord has blessed us and we’ll be able to take that. And I tell people all the time, real estate will get you there slowly. It will get you there. If you stay constant, have a formula, stick to it, it’ll get you there. I’m so glad. I’m not very smart. I just have a simple formula. Okay. And it got me to where a lot of people at my work would love to be able to take this buyout. They don’t have that option.

Money doesn’t buy you happiness. Real estate won’t buy you happiness. It will buy you a lot of options. And it gave me the option to say, yes, UPS, I’m going to exit stage right. I’m going to take that buyout. I’m going to retire. And then I’m going to concentrate on the things that are my passion, my family, my real estate, possibly even starting a statistics breakers podcast. It ain’t possible. I’m going to do it. Whether we work it or not, I’m not sure if it works. But but that’s my passion. And we’ve had over 100

Quentin Edmonds (14:29)
Thank you.

Richard Oden (14:33)
foster kids in the home in the state of Alabama. And when a kid comes crying saying, I miss my mom, who better that can sit there and understand, you know what son, I understand what you’re saying and what you’re going through. Cause I did the same thing. And we’ve adopted three children out of foster care soon to be four. And so I am just so blessed ⁓ that real estate has given me the opportunity to have these options. So ⁓ we just got a

kidney patient, UPS said, you’re doing what? And I said, I’m taking FMLA for a foster kid who has stage four kidney disease. He’s got to get a transplant for two weeks. That means I’m not getting paid at UPS. I’m taking off for two weeks, FMLA. One of the hardest things I’ve ever did. And sitting with this kid who I just met, who was a selective mute, who had been beaten by his mom.

Just a horrible situation, had stage five in foster care. It don’t get any worse than that. Okay. And his kid looks at me cause he had a stomach procedure to get a few feeding tube. And he says, I hate you because my stomach is hurting and you’re not doing anything about it. told that young man, 11 years old. I told him, I said, I got you now son. I got you now because remember you’re a selective mute and you comfortable enough to tell me that. And I got him and he is happy

I don’t know what the future will hold for this young man, but I know one thing. showed him, we, my wife and I have showed him who God is and what love is. And that seed is gonna plant and this young man’s gonna, I have no doubt, ⁓ he’s gonna be just fine. I know I got off on a tangent, but getting back to real estate, just ⁓ so blessed that God gave me this opportunity. ⁓

I’m just blessed if I can do it anybody can I really feel that I really feel that way.

Quentin Edmonds (17:13)
Richard, I love it, man. Everything you said, it resonates and makes sense to me. I thank you for sharing it. And I love how, just in the analogy with David and Goliath, this is how I see it. And you can correct me if I’m wrong, but I see that the Goliath, the thing that was talking, because with Goliath, he was talking against the God of Israel.

talking against, ⁓ I mean, he just, he seen them as less than, you know, he didn’t see a future for them. By all, all extents, he wanted to make sure he destroyed their future. So when I see your Goliath, I see the things that wanted to destroy your future. But I see real estate as the stone in the slingshot. That’s what I see. I see you loaded up that slingshot.

Richard Oden (18:03)
Absolutely.

That’s it. That’s it.

Quentin Edmonds (18:10)
And you looked at that giant and you came in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ against that with that with real estate. Right. So I would love to know what real estate being that that sling, being those stones. What’s next for you with a year with real estate? How are you going to yield, continue to yield that sling and that stone? Like, what’s the next goal? What are you looking to solve a scale next with you?

Richard Oden (18:18)
Yeah.

Yeah, that’s a great question. ⁓ So obviously I’m going to carry forward on my real estate system. And I’m a single family. I own a couple of duplexes and a triplex, one commercial building. ⁓ But I am a, for the most part, I’m a one trick pony and I’m a firm believer that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Okay. And so my forte or my specialty is renting to Hispanics.

Quentin Edmonds (18:50)
you.

Yeah.

Richard Oden (19:06)
I had a guy who rented from me and he found out that I owned a few properties and he came to me and he said, Richard, I don’t want you to put a sign in the yard when you have a turnover. I want to find your next tenant for you. And I said, that’s great and wonderful and all, but what’s it going to cost me? He said, well, if you’re not greedy, if you’re not greedy, it’s not going to cost you a dime. And I said, well, my father said that if you found something.

Quentin Edmonds (19:18)
Mmm!

Richard Oden (19:32)
that sounded too good to be true, it probably is. You’re going to have to explain this one to me. And he said, here’s the deal. He said, you take 26 or seven. You tell me how much you want for it. OK, I said, two thousand dollars a month. He said, I’m going go and put that house on the WhatsApp to my Hispanic community because I’m Hispanic. And I’m going to tell him the wrench 2100. And I said. So.

I don’t have to pay any of my own money for you to basically manage that property. And you’re going to go collect the rent and you’re going to go do inspections. And I’m not now paying a management fee 10 percent because I told you I wanted this amount of money. And that’s what I get every every month. He said, absolutely. I said, we’ll do that deal. And he’s got I’ve got 31 doors. He’s got about 20 of those doors. And I wish he had them all.

because that was my niche and I rent to Hispanics. Now, not to get political with you, but I’ve had more turnover since this new administration has taken office than I’ve ever had before. So at that point, a good real estate investor has to pivot, right? And so my pivot is section eight. Okay, a lot of people don’t want to build with section eight. And I understand the pros and cons to every niche, but my pivot is section eight.

Quentin Edmonds (20:37)
So

Yeah.

Richard Oden (21:00)
⁓ I do deal with a lot more turnover now than I ever have before. I still put Hispanics in there and he’s still making his money. We’re all happy. ⁓ But if I continue to have more turnovers and I don’t like that, then I’ll pivot to section eight. And in the meantime, I have a few regular traditional tenants that I have as well. just like investing, you don’t want all your eggs in one single basket.

Quentin (21:29)
man, I loved how you talked about the pivot with Section 8, man. ⁓ I loved just, mean, man, again, God gave you a strategy. He sent that person into your life. And then now that you need to pivot, you’ll pivot with the next strategy, man. And I absolutely love it, man.

Richard Oden (21:29)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Quentin (21:47)
I love what you’re doing. This has been an incredible man.

Richard Oden (21:47)
Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. In the meantime, I was going to tell the audience, I do want to start a statistics breakers podcast. I mentioned that before, and I’m also the UPS man in the stands. My job there is to get the crowd up hype. I simply remind them that fan is short for fanatic. And so when I go to the high school football games, I’m getting the crowd hype to make the other team.

have a hard time staying on sides. And my goal is three off-sides penalties or false starts. And you wouldn’t believe how many times that I’ve reached that goal. And anything above three is gravy. And so I get in there and I show the energy, get the hype. Yes, I’m that crazy UPS man. I am. But you know, I want to tell your audience, I came up with this and I don’t know that if it’s somewhere else out there, it may be, but I didn’t get it from them. What I realized looking back on my life.

is I really had to have the millionaire mindset. And the millionaire mindset for me is I don’t care what you think about me. I’m not doing all this for you. I’m doing this for me and my family. And if you dig down deep, what that means is I really don’t care what you think. Like I am the UPS man in the stands delivering wins, and I want to help other people deliver wins, whether it’s

a young kid helping a grandmother across the street. That’s a win for the day. You don’t know how many wins can add up to a mindset or a mind change that can get you from an unbelievable circumstance to even where I’m at or surpass where I’m at. OK. And I have a book I wrote ⁓ when I was in Afghanistan. Look what the Lord has done for me. And that’s that’s the whole thing. OK. He took a kid who was a ⁓

had a prostitute mom on drugs, alcohol. Dad was never in the picture. Okay. He made them, he made a guy who didn’t read very well an author, like an author. I don’t, I’ve only read one or two books for fun my entire life. Okay. And I’m still scratching my head like, what God really, you know? And so he made me an author. I wrote the book when I was in Afghanistan. It’s my full life circle squared talking about, went from a foster kid to a foster parent, my first circle.

I went from adopt a kid to and adopting three kids out of foster care, my second circle. And then I wrote most of the book when I was in Afghanistan. So when the Taliban would shoot rockets, I put you there on the ground and the things that the military was going through when I was there in 2014. I’m my biggest critic. If I had to do it over again, I struggled in English. I would hired me a ghostwriter. But, you know, I’m a big critic. A lot of people say that it’s a decent book.

I have the second title in my first title, and that’s from the foster care club to the couple comma club. OK, well, what’s the couple comma club? Well, the first number that has two cabas is a million. OK, and that’s what it is. And I achieved the couple comma club in my early 30s. And I’m scratching my head like, what? Net worth wise, ⁓ like, how do you do that again? I.Q. God, only one thing, one thing. That’s it.

God, that’s how you do it. And so I want to take these opportunities that God has given me, no longer requiring 60 hours of my work week at UPS. And I want to figure out how to, I can take my life and glorify God. And I don’t do this because he’s going to bless me, but I know that he will because I’ve seen it my entire life. And so I’m fired up to have all this extra time to glorify him. And I want to shine a light on him.

because I really know that this guy is not smart enough to be worth millions. I really know that. And if I can do it, a lot of people, keep saying the same thing over again. If I can do it and I can overcome what I’ve overcome with God, then let’s get to work. Audience, let’s get to work. What are we waiting on? What are we waiting on? Just go, just do it. You’ve got all the resources you need simply by this podcast you’re listening to right now. Okay.

The only thing you’re lacking is you don’t know what to do or you’re scared of success. What? Scared of success? Who’s scared of? A lot of people are scared of success because if they do it, they don’t know where they’re going to go. Let’s go, baby. Let’s go. You don’t have to know where you’re going to go. Just go. Just go. And so, man, I’m just I’m so blessed. am so thankful. God has done so much in my life. And if he can do it for me, he can do it for you all. And

Let’s just go.

Quentin (26:40)
Richard, my friend, man, I gotta thank you, sir. This has been fantastic. Listen, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing, man, how can they get in contact with you,

Richard Oden (26:53)
Yes, so again, I’m a UPS man in the stands delivering wins. ⁓ That’s my social media on TikTok. I’m also on Facebook, Richard Oden. ⁓ There’s a lot of things coming with me retiring in the pipe. I’m going to be selling a class, a master class on using credit cards, 0 % interest to build a real estate portfolio or save interest on a mortgage that you have. And so again, I’ve got a lot of things in the pipe. Shouldn’t be that easy.

It’s that hard to find me. Encourage you guys to Google Richard Oden Foster Care. That’s O-D-E-N, foster care. ⁓ Just a lot of incredible articles that have been written about my story. Again, it’s not about me. It’s about God and what he’s done for me. And I just encourage you to reach out, follow me, and ⁓ stay tuned because the future is bright over here in the Oden’s household and it’s looking a lot brighter.

for what God is going to do in my life. And so I’m super excited and the future is very bright. I probably should have put shades on. Hope you got that joke. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Quentin (28:03)
⁓ man, listen Richard, let me say three things to you, sir. First, thank you for your time, because your time is very, very precious to your family and UPS and real estate and cruises. Your time is valuable. So man, thank you for being here today. Secondly, your story. I tell people Jesus taught in parables. Parables, stories are so powerful.

Richard Oden (28:20)
Thank you.

Quentin (28:29)
I believe you are a living, walking parable, a living, walking out allegory that has multiple meanings. And you shared the multiple meanings of your life, even just in your book titles and just everything, man. So thank you for your story. Thank you for the gift of your vulnerability and your transparency. Lastly, man, thank you for your mindset, the way you think, brother, and bringing that mindset to this platform. I greatly appreciate you. Thank you for coming through today, man.

Richard Oden (28:57)
And it’s been a blessing. Thank you for having me and giving me an opportunity to shine the light on the Lord and what he can do for me and what he can do for you. Absolutely. Thank you.

Quentin (29:05)
Absolutely.

Well, listen, y’all heard Mr. Richard, you got the value. Check the show notes. Y’all thought I’d be talking about God on the podcast a lot. Listen, this is the ecosystem. These are the people that I’m attracting, right? Because our faith is just so important to us. We believe that it’s one of our superpowers of how God just uses and empower us. I believe he’s using and empowering you too. So check the show notes, get in contact with Richard. Definitely make sure you are subscribed here because I promise you.

I’m gonna continue to bring up amazing people just like Mr. Richard. So sir, I say thank you again. And everyone else, listen, y’all have a fantastic day.